The Gospel Will Prevail

John 17:6-19

The time has come for Christ to depart and return to the immediate fellowship of the Father.  His disciples will be left to proclaim and defend the gospel to the ends of the earth.  They will be hated and despised just as their master was (17:6, 14).  They will be tempted to abandon the faith and succumb to the intentions of the world; deny Christ and live.  Once the Shepherd is gone, will the sheep totally scatter and the gospel be lost forever?  The answer is a resolute no!  Why? Jesus’s prayer reveals three things that give us hope that the gospel will never be lost.

First, the Father chose a people for His Son.  In verse 6-10, we see that the Father gave the disciples to the Son out of the world.  Before he creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), their names were written in the Lamb’s book of Life (Rev 17:8).  They belonged to God (John 6:37) and were given to the Son so that they could glorify the Son in the world (John 17:10).  This truth is not for the disciples only, but for every believer in Christ (Romans 9; Ephesians 1; Rev 13:8).

Second, the disciples have received the gospel.  In verses 8 and 11, Jesus tells the Father that his disciples have received the words in which you gave me and that I come from You.  In short, the disciples believed the gospel, that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah for the world. They realized that Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except through the Son (John 14:6).  This same truth the disciples took with them everywhere they went, making disciples, and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 22:18-19).  It is the same message you were given when you became a son of daughter of God, and it is the same message you are preaching to the ends of the earth.

Finally, Christ prays for their unity in the gospel.  In verse eleven Christ asked the Father to keep the disciples unified just like the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are unified.  The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live in complete harmony with one another.  Their love for each other is unbridled.  Their commitment for each other is firmly loyal.  This is how the disciples were to live and breathe and have their being.  This is how the church is to testify to the world that Christ is the Savior of sinners.

Take heart Christian, no matter how dire things may appear, or how lost the world may seem to be, the gospel will always go forth.

Father we pray that your purposes will be competed and that those whom you are calling will hear your voice.  We pray that the church will testify of the beauty and magnificence of the gospel.