SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/7/2017
10:07 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 Intro to John 17:1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 17:1
Message of the
verse: “1 Jesus spoke these things;
and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come;
glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,”
John MacArthur entitles this chapter “The Real Lord’s
Prayer,” and this entire chapter from His commentary consists of this first
verse in John 17 and this entire chapter on John 17 has a total of 69
pages.
Last May my wife, daughter, and myself had the
opportunity to listen to John MacArthur at a church in our neighborhood as have
some friends who are friends with MacArthur and were invited to go to hear him
preach. At the end of the service the
Pastor of the church was asking MacArthur a series of questions and one of the
questions was what he was preaching on at his church in California to which he
replied that he was preaching on the 17th chapter of the gospel of
John. I have mentioned that he went
through John’s gospel very early in his ministry and then after it took him 45
hears to go through the New Testament he once again began to teach through the
gospel of John. I happened to download
the series he did earlier and now the new series is on the website so at times
I listen to both messages and also read his commentary along with at times
looking at the commentary from Warren Wiersbe.
I think today that I will quote the introduction from
what Warren Wiersbe has in his commentary and then in our next few Spiritual
Diaries I will look at MacArthur’s commentary.
Needless to say this 17th chapter will take us a fairly long
time to go through but hopefully we will have a better understanding of what is
in this most important chapter from the gospel of John.
Warren Wiersbe only has one chapter in his commentary on
this 17th chapter of John and he entitles it “The Prayer Of The
Overcomer,” and you may remember that John uses that title “overcomer” to
describe true believers. He uses the
word overcomes in the following verses:
“1Jo 5:4 For whatever is
born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the
world-our faith. 1Jo 5:5 Who is the one
who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Re 2:7 ’He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the
tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’
Re 2:11 ’He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second
death.’
Re 2:17 ’He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of
the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on
the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
Re 2:26 ’He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds
until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS;
Re 3:5 ’He who overcomes will thus be clothed in
white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will
confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Re 3:12 ’He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar
in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will
write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new
Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
Re 3:21 ’He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit
down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on
His throne.
Re 21:7 "He who overcomes will inherit these
things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
Warren
Wiersbe writes: “Most scholars who have
sought to harmonize to the accounts in the four Gospels have the Lord Jesus
praying the prayer of John 17 in the Upper Room after He had finished His
instructions to the disciples. Then He
and the disciples sang the traditional Passover psalms, left the Upper Room,
and headed for the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus had been accustomed to meet
with them and pray (see Matthew 26:30-46 and Mark 14:26-42).
“Whether
He prayed it in the Upper Room or en route to the Garden, this much is sure: it
is the greatest prayer ever prayed on earth and the greatest prayer recorded
anywhere in Scripture. John 17 is
certainly the ‘holy of holies’ of the Gospel record, and we must approach this
chapter in a spirit of humility and worship.
To think that we are privileged to listen in as God the Son converses
with His Father just as He is about to give His life as a ransom for sinners!
“No
matter what events occurred later that evening, this prayer makes it clear that
Jesus was and is the Overcomer. He was
not a ‘victim’; He was and is the Victor!
‘Be of good cheer,’ He had encouraged His disciples ‘I have overcome the
world’ (John 16:33). The word world is used nineteen times in this
prayer, so it is easy to see the connection between the prayer and John
16:33. If you and I will understand and
apply the truths revealed in this profound prayer, it will enable us to be
overcomers too.
“The
progression of thought in this prayer is not difficult to discover. Jesus first prayed for Himself and told the
Father that His work on earth had been finished (John 17:1-5). Then He prayed for His disciples, that the
Father would keep them and sanctify them (John 17:6-19). He closed His prayer by praying for you and
me and the whole church, that we might be unified in Him and one day share His glory (John 17:20-26).
“Why
did Jesus pray this prayer? Certainly He
was preparing Himself for the sufferings that lay ahead. As He contemplated the glory that the Father
promised Him, He would receive new strength for His sacrifice (Heb.
12:1-3). But He also had His disciples
in mind (John 17:13). What an
encouragement this prayer should have been to them! He prayed about their security, their joy,
their unity, and their future glory! He
also prayed it for us today, so that we would know all that He had done for us
and given to us, and all that He will do for us when we get to heaven.”
I look forward in our study of this wonderful chapter,
and pray that God will open up our eyes so that we can understand it in the way
that will be good for us and bring glory to the Lord.
Answer to yesterday’s
(difficult) Bible question: “Iconium”
(Acts 14:1)
Today’s Bible
question: “Who was the mother of Jacob?”
Answer in our next SD.
2/7/2017 10:57 AM
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