Kept In The Father’s Name

Jesus prays out loud on the edge of betrayal, and what He asks for is not what most of us expect. We hear Him plead with the Father to keep His people, guard them from the evil one, and give them a joy that survives pressure, injustice, and rejection. That prayer is not only for the original disciples. It reaches forward to everyone who would believe through the gospel, including you and me, living our faith in the middle of ordinary life and a noisy culture that often misunderstands Christianity. 

Pastor Carl walks through John 17 and stops us in our tracks with Judas, the “son of perdition.” It is a sober look at the difference between being near spiritual things and actually having saving faith. We talk about guilt that never returns to Christ, the danger of self-directed religion, and the freedom that comes when we stop rehearsing our past and trust the cleansing work of Jesus. If you’ve ever wondered whether God can still use you, this message pushes back against shame with gospel truth. 

We also dig into sanctification, spiritual growth, and why Scripture matters so much: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” The Word of God does not just inform us, it transforms us, because Jesus truly died and rose again. From there we explore Christian unity as living evidence that Jesus was sent by the Father, and what it looks like to be salt and light without acting self-righteous.

If you want a clearer, sturdier way to follow Jesus in a hostile world, press play, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review to help more people find the show.

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

The Lord wants to manifest himself in you. When people look at you, they don't see you, they see Jesus. That's his prayer for us. That we might be different in this world. That we might be a witness to him in the world. And what the world does with it is one thing, but it's our job to be that witness and not in our own strength again. It's it's the Lord working.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

It's kind of crazy to think that in our finite and sinful lives, Jesus wants to be represented by us. We can get caught up thinking of all the ways we've let God down. But Jesus came and made us clean, whiter than snow, the Bible says. So you can mirror God and not worry and linger about your past sins. In today's message, Pastor Carl will remind you that you are forgiven. You no longer have to be stuck in the bondage of sin. You now walk in the freedom to represent Jesus with your life. And now here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Holy Father, keep them through your name, those whom you have given me, that they might be one as we are one. Lord, watch over them, especially in these next few hours. They're going to scatter, they're not going to know what's going on. They're going to lose their faith to some degree or another. But I pray that you would hold on to them, because they're still in the world. Verse 12 says, While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those who you gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost, except the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. So all that were given to him that have come to faith in him, he has kept hold of. They're still in the world. And he's praying for them their safety. But now he's bringing up this son of perdition. Judas is who he's referring to. The one that that uh would would um uh come against him at this point and uh betray him. And it was fulfilled of a scripture that was fulfilled, and there are a couple of scriptures that point to this in the Old Testament that showed that there would be a one that was with the Lord that uh would be trusted and yet would betray him, because he never really was of the bunch. They he never really came to that saving faith. Psalm 41, verse 9 says, Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. And what happened at the Last Supper? He gave him the bread, and he said, Go do what you need to do. And so Jesus left to go betray his friend, who he'd spent three years with. Psalm 109, 8 said, Let his days be few and let another take his office. This was an indication that his role as a disciple wouldn't last much longer. It wouldn't last as long as the rest of the disciples, uh, because his his his actions were not were not intermingled with faith. He had his own idea of how things should work, and he thought it was a good idea to betray the Lord, and when it didn't play out the way he thought it would play out, he felt guilt, but he didn't come to the Lord with the guilt. He just said, I just need to kill myself. So he went and hung himself without coming back to the Lord, so he died in his sin. And now there were only 11, and Peter probably saw this verse and said, Hey guys, in in the third or fourth chapter of Acts, I think we need to vote on another member. We need to we need to fill this 12th role. And so they they cast lots, and it was it Matthias that was was elected to be the 12th apostle, and uh that's all we ever hear about Matthias. So there's some question as to whether that was really of God or not, but I think this this psalm points to that, and somebody else filled the office. Um but ultimately a lot of commentators believe that Paul the Apostle was that twelfth apostle that was supposed to take Judas's place. And so, anyway, that's that's a good discussion to have in another way. But these things were pointing to Judas, and even in his prayer, Jesus realized that you know 11 of them were faithful and one was not, and that one was prophesied that this would happen. Verse 13 but now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world that they might have joy, my joy fulfilled in themselves. What kind of things happen in the world? Bad things. What what is happening to Jesus at this moment? He's about to be betrayed, tried illegally, and found guilty, and crucified on a sinner's cross. Um and and if he's saying if they treat me this way, they're gonna treat you this way too. So as a follower of Jesus Christ, they were heading into some dangerous times. And Jesus was praying that as they go out in the world and the world comes against them, that they would have his joy in them, fulfilled in them. And we see that in the lives of some of the apostles that were in jail, and they were praising God and singing in the midst, saying, We've been counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. May the Lord give us that attitude. May He fill us with joy as we go forward, as the world comes against us, we recognize this is what Jesus was praying for, that we'd have strength in it, and that we'd have the truth. We have the message that the world needs. The Lord is good to us. May He overflow with joy in the midst of our craziness so that people go, Wow, how can they be that way when these things are happening to them? I want what they got. Verse 14, I have given them your word. And the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I have given them my word. He is the living word, and he's given him, he's equipped us with everything we need to live life out in this world. And they need to realize that the world hates them because they hated him, but even more so because they are no longer of the world. We are all born into the world. We were all worldly to start out with. We're all born sinners, and we all respond to things that happen to us from our own selfish motives and perceptions. And the whole world does this. But when we're changed by Jesus Christ and He makes us a new creature and we look different than the world, now the world is offended by us because we think that we're condemning them because we're righteous, more righteous than thou type people, and they're all sinners, and we're all scolding them. And that's not how we are living our lives, at least it's not should it shouldn't be that way, right? We're just living our life. We're reflecting the goodness of God. We're a life that's been changed, and the world gets mad at us. But there are some people that see, you know, I see what you have, and I think I want it. What is it? And so, well, it's Jesus, and and he saved me, and I was doing worse things than you were doing, but he's changed me, and he could change you too. Do you want to be changed? Yeah. And those are the ones we need to find, but most of the world just rejects it and calls us haters, and so they hate us because we point out sin and their need for a savior. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world. Why not, Lord? Oh, take us out of here. No, I pray that you should keep them from the evil one. Oh, and again, he's saying this out loud so his disciples can hear it. It's written in the word so we can hear it. Why is it that he doesn't save us? I am take us home as soon as we're saved. It's because there's work for us to do here in the world. But that we have an enemy that comes against us that wants to thwart the work that he wants us to do. And so he prays that the effect of the enemy would be subsided and that we could be strong so that we can be the light to the world. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. They have been changed. Again, we're all born into the world, we're all born fleshly, we're all born selfish. But when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, which is hard because we got to admit that we're wrong, and we gotta admit everything that we've ever done in our whole life has been wrong. But Jesus loves us and he wants to put us on the right path. When we get to that point of salvation and we're born again, believers in Jesus Christ, we are no longer of the world, we're of him. We are begotten of him, and he's changed us. So no longer are they of the world, just as I am not of the world. And we ask that you sanctify them by your truth. Jesus says, Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. How are we sanctified, set apart, no longer part of the world, but now we're part of this heavenly kingdom? How does that happen? It happens through the word, and that's why the word is so important for us to be in, to study, to be changed by. It sanctifies us. As you sent me into the world, I have also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I am set apart. I am not doing my own will as a man. I am doing the will of the Father. And part of that sanctification, that set apartness, is in the few hours, I will be the sacrifice. I will be the Lamb of God that will save the sin of the world. My pure blood will be shed for the sin of the world. I am sanctifying myself for their sakes, so they may be sanctified in the truth. You know, everything the Lord has told us would be actually of no good to us if Jesus did not sacrifice himself on the cross for our behalf. If his blood wasn't sacrificed, we'd still be stuck in our sin. We can know everything about God, we can know everything about sin and death, and we'll know that we're trapped in it because there's nothing that we can do to earn God's favor. That's why Jesus had to come and die. Had he not died, we would have no hope. But he has died, and he has risen, and so he has sanctified himself, and thus he is sanctifying us, he's setting us apart. And the word of God, his truth, now has power in our lives, and it changes us from the inside out. Then in verse 20, he says, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all might be one, as you, the Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. What is the evidence of the truth of who Jesus is? A vibrant, real, alive church of Jesus Christ, not of Latter-day Saints, but the Church of Jesus Christ, the true church, the body of Christ, made up of believers from all backgrounds through the centuries, through the millennia, all parts of the world that have heard the gospel and have been changed. And it's funny, when you are changed, there are things that uh that you haven't, you know, revealed, you haven't uh realized before that come to life in you, and you have this love for the Lord, and you meet somebody on the other side of the world that has been changed by the gospel, and you may not understand your language together, but you talk about the Lord together somehow, and and you're and you're just excited together about it because you have this commonness because you are one in the Lord, just as the Lord is one with the Father, and it's an amazing thing, it's a supernatural thing, and it's real, it's not just easy believism, it's not just something we've made up, but this is the truth. And if you are in Jesus, you have fellowship in the body everywhere, and so when you find a true believer, you can have instant fellowship with him immediately. Isn't that a glorious thing? And he's praying this, did you notice, for us? This applies to us. He's not just praying for the 11, but he's praying also for those who will believe in me through their word. Because they went out and shared the gospel, other people came to faith, and they shared the word, and other people came to faith, and they shared the gospel, and other people came to faith, and somewhere along the line, you heard the gospel and were changed and been changed and believe, and now you have faith, and and now you are part of that group that started with the disciples that are one with the Lord as He is with the Father. Does that blow you away? It's an amazing thing, and it shows you how vast the love of the Lord is for us. And the reason, again, they did that is so that the world would believe that Jesus was sent by the Father. And plenty of the world has believed, and the world has been changed, and the world has in a lot of ways became a better place. But as things went on, of course, either the the church started to lull and and stop believing and acting and proclaiming the gospel like they used to, or that just the work of the enemy just got so great that it started to destroy uh the work that God was doing. Um, all these things, but you but and yet there is a remnant. There there is a body of believers that is strong and that do believe and go out and proclaim the truth, even if most of the the world that they proclaim the truth to do not accept it. We are called to continue to go out and declare it. Because there are people out there that will believe, that God knows about from the from the foundation of the world. People that have not come to faith yet that need to come to faith. And where are they? The Lord knows, and are we asking, Lord, lead me to those people, lead me to the ones that need to hear you. Lord, may they come to know you so that you could come and take us home. And the glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they might be one just as we are one. I and them, you and me, that they might be made perfect in one, that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. The Lord wants to glorify himself in and through his believers, his followers. The Lord wants to manifest himself in you. When people look at you, they don't see you, they see Jesus. That's his prayer for us. That we might be different in this world, that we might be a witness to him in the world. And what the world does with it is one thing, but it's our job to be that witness and not in our own strength again. It's it's the Lord working. But can we get in the way of him working? Yes, we can. He says, do not resist the Holy Spirit, do not quench the Holy Spirit, but allow the Holy Spirit to do his work in and through you. That's why we submit ourselves to the Lord, that's why we surrender to the Lord, that's why we say, Not my will yours be done, as Jesus said in the garden. We'll see that in the next few chapters. That's why John the Baptist says, I need to less of me and more of Jesus. It needs to change. The glory needs to not look at me, and we need to look at Jesus. And all these sorts of things are part of our following the Lord. Deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow after him. Not my will, but your will be done. Be glorified in me, Lord, because that is the prayer you had for me. I mean, he changed the way that we prayed so that the world may know that Jesus has been sent to pay the sin debt of the world, that whosoever would believe would not perish but have everlasting life. Verse 24 Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me be with me where I am, and that they may be hold my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. I like this one. I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am. Jesus says, I go and prepare a place for you that where I am you might be also. This is the other side of that verse that I don't pray that they can't get taken out of the world, at least not yet, but I do pray that they would be with me someday. That there would be a time when their work here on earth is done and they could be with me in glory forever. The Lord desires for us to be in fellowship with him in heaven forever. He desires that for us. It's it's his heart for us. Do we believe it? Do we follow him? Do we allow him to work? And uh God the Father loved him before the foundation of the world because they they were one forever, they've always been there. God is one God in three persons, in perfect unity from before the beginning. Verse 25 O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you sent me. The world doesn't get it. But these guys that I've been with are starting to get it. And those that come after, their lives are going to change because they believe that Jesus was sent by the Father. Verse 26, and I have decided, I have declared to them your name, and will declare it, that the love which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. Why is he doing this? Why is he praying these things? He said these things, he declared these things, he shown the love of God, that the love of God might be in us who believe, and that he would be in us. When we accept the Lord, he comes and makes his home with us, we become the temple of the of the Lord, the temple of the Holy Spirit, and to be with him will be glorious. Does that resonate in your heart? It resonated in the heart of David in Psalm 27, verse 4. He said, One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. To be able to fellowship, to ask, to learn, to be with the Lord and just to soak in his beauty and his glory and his love for us. May that be our heart as we wrap up. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the prayer that you prayed for your disciples and for us. Lord, you were focused in your work. You accomplished all that the Father had given you to do. You are faithful to those who followed you even when they weren't faithful. The eleven. The eleven gained eternal life, but the one did not. Judas, the son of perdition, did not fully believe. And Lord, we pray that we would fully believe, that we would trust you, that we would obey you, that we would be changed by you, and that we would empty ourselves of things that we've learned through the years that are not of you. But that we would partake of you and be changed by you from the inside out. Lord, we ask for strength in the days and the weeks and the months ahead, for whatever comes our way, you know what's coming. But we need your strength to be able to go forth and to be salt and light to the world. That we would declare that you came from the Father to save the world from sin, and that those who we speak to would have hearts that are softened and ready to hear, to repent and to turn to you and to be saved and to be changed forever. And Lord, we long for the day when we see you face to face, when we behold your beauty, and we worship in your temple, and we inquire of you. We ask questions and you give us answers, and you open up the word and you reveal things to us that we didn't see before, but it'll be such a glorious time. We look forward to that. Even so, Lord, come quickly, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

That's Pastor Carl on Come On Up. You know, the Gospel of John was written by one of Jesus' original disciples. He's referred to as the disciple whom Jesus loved. What a sweet and intimate way to refer to the closeness and friendship that was had between John and Jesus. After all, so many of the events mentioned were witnessed firsthand by John. He was there for the transfiguration, and he was the only disciple of the twelve mentioned to be at the cross as Jesus died. He was also one of the first people to see that the grave was empty. John had an opportunity and a privilege to write about all the things that he saw and witnessed with his own eyes. He saw miracles. He was the recipient of Jesus' love and care, and he was eager for others to see and experience knowing Jesus too. That's why he wrote it all down in this wonderful book of John. Like the author, we hope that you'll take note of the ways that God has intersected your life and brought about amazing stories to tell. Write them down, share them with others, and don't be afraid to tell people about the greatest love of all, so that they can also claim that they are disciples whom Jesus loves. An easy way to share Jesus with people is by letting them know about this radio program. The Mountain Cross is a group of believers in Jesus who seek to grow in faith by simply teaching through the Bible. We meet on Sundays beginning at 10 a.m. To learn more, go to themountaincross.com. That's all for today. Come on Up is sponsored by The Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.