Grace Fellowship Church Pastor/Teacher Jim Rickard Sunday, May 13, 2012

John 17 The Great High Priestly Prayer of our Lord!

John 17:20-26 Jesus Prays for His Church!

John 17:23 The Indwelling of Christ Provides the Church a Perfect Unity.

Doctrine of the Indwelling of the Jesus Christ

A. The Church Age believer is indwelt by all three members of the Trinity.

1. God the Father indwells us for the glorification of His protocol plan. John 14:23; Eph 1:3-12; 4:6; 2 John 9

2. God the Holy Spirit indwells us to create a temple for the indwelling of Christ as the Shekinah Glory.

Also as a down payment of our royal inheritance, and to empower us in the execution of the Father’s plan. John 14:16; Rom 8:11; 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19,20; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 1:13-14

3. God the Son indwells every Church Age believer.

The prophecy of the indwelling of Jesus Christ is found in, John 14:19 ‑ 20.

“I am in my Father” is a statement declaring the deity of Christ.

“And you in Me”, is the prophecy of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit when we are placed in union with Jesus Christ.

“And I in you”, is a declaration of the indwelling of Jesus Christ to every Church Age believer.

The indwelling of Jesus Christ is unique to the Church Age.

B. John 17:22 ‑ 23, 26, is the verification of the indwelling of Christ from our Lord’s Great High Priestly Prayer for the Church.

John 17:22, “And the glory which You (God the Father) have given to Me (Jesus Christ) I have given to them (the Church), in order that they may keep on being one just as We are one.”

1. This is a reference to the prototype Divine Power System (GPS), by which the humanity of Christ glorified God the Father.

Now our Lord has given to us the operational GPS as the means of glorifying Him.

2. “One just as We are one.” The glory is more than the GPS, it includes the indwelling of Jesus Christ.

3. God the Father indwelt the Son in order that He might become spiritually mature. In the same way, Christ indwells us that we too might become spiritually mature.

4. There is one objective: to fulfill God’s Plan and glorify God, by growing to spiritual maturity.

5. One of the purposes for the indwelling of Christ is a sign to you that God the Father loves you just as He loved Jesus Christ.

6. John 17:26 - This love will be fully realized when you reach spiritual adulthood with personal love for God and impersonal / unconditional love for mankind.

7. Jesus Christ indwells you along with the virtue ‑ love of GPS. This becomes a reality to us when we have metabolized Bible doctrine about who and what God is.

Grace Offering

Grace Fellowship Church Sunday, May 13, 2012 Tape # Perfected by the Indwelling of Christ Great High Priestly Prayer, Part 101 John 17:23, 26; 14:19-20 James H. Rickard Bible Ministries 2012