I like for this part of our service
to be in some sense preparatory for us taking the Lord's Supper
and here we have at the end of verse 11 It says, he speaks the Father's
keeping. Holy Father, keep through thy
own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one
as we are. So the Lord Jesus Christ has
spoken of these particular people being the gift of the Father
to Him. He has spoken of these particular people of having an
origin in heaven and not an origin on this earth. They are not of
the world and I am not of the world. These people have an origin
in God, and it is just such an extraordinary thing. It's a great
mystery. It's a great mystery, which is
beyond the comprehension of men, but it's not beyond the ability
of us to love, isn't it? One of my favourite verses in
all the scriptures is what Paul says, and it's the declaration
of all of God's children, isn't it? He says in Galatians 2.20,
I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in
the flesh, I live by the faith, the faithfulness of the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me. What was Paul doing when
that happened, when he was given for him? like the rest of us. He was just a rebel, just a rebel. The very heart of the Gospel
is in this particular truth that the Lord reveals,
and it's part of the manifestation of the Name, and it's part of
the Word that He gives, and it's part of what it is for us to
be kept in the Name of God the Father, that we would be kept
in a knowledge of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ, and our
union with God the Father, and our union with God the Holy Spirit.
Within the Godhead, the members of the Godhead, there is this
extraordinary union, isn't there? The Father and I are one. You've
seen me, you've seen the Father. The Holy Spirit comes and indwells
people. In Romans chapter 8, the Lord
Jesus Christ indwells people. Who is it? both, they're one. There is this glorious union
and the union of the Godhead is a union which is reflective
of the union of the God and all of his people who are in him.
It's at the very heart of the Gospel. It's at the very heart
of the declaration who God is. An eternal union in the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, an eternal union in an eternal covenant
in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. An eternal union in Him
who is the surety of that covenant. And I want to be reminded again
and again, and I want you to be reminded, that when the Lord
Jesus Christ, as it were, entered into that covenant before the
foundation of the world and became the surety, at that moment, God
the Father, for everything that he requires of me. And I'm thankful,
I'm so thankful. He'll see the travail of his
soul and he'll be satisfied for the joy set before him. What's
the joy that's set before him? Being in the presence of his
father, being in the presence of his father with all of his
body. We are united to him, brothers
and sisters in Christ. He gets all of the glory and
we get all the benefits of being united to him. It's at the very
heart of the Gospel is this union with God the Father and God the
Son and God the Holy Spirit. There is no understanding of
the cross without a declaration and understanding of that union.
God is just, which means that there is perfect justice in what
he does. The punishment that he suffered
was perfectly just before God for all of the sins of all of
God's people, and they were in him. We were crucified with him.
Crucified with him. At the very heart of the Word
of God is this union between God the Father and God the Son
and God the Holy Spirit and His people. You can't understand
the Scriptures without understanding the eternal covenant in the Lord
Jesus Christ. It doesn't hold together. You
can't understand what happened in eternity without understanding
that extraordinary union. At the very heart of salvation
is this union of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit and his people. It's at the very heart of justification
is this union. At the very heart of the covenant
of grace is this union. At the very heart of the name
of God is this union. At the very heart of eternity,
whichever way you look at eternity, is this union. at the very heart
of all the revelation of God. When the Lord Jesus Christ promises
to manifest the Name of God, He is manifesting the Name of
a God who is in covenant union, and there is a union between
God the Son and all of His people forever. And when he comes into the presence
of God, we come into the very presence of God in him. Everywhere
in the scriptures we read of the union of the Lord Jesus Christ
with his people. Right from the very beginning,
when he entered into that as a man born of a woman, born under
the law, and he was circumcised, we were circumcised in him, Colossians
2.11. right at the very beginning.
We're crucified, as I read in Galatians 2.20, we're crucified
with him. We died, Romans 6.8, we died
in him, with him. He was buried and we were buried
with him. That's what baptism signifies,
Romans 6.4. We was raised from the dead,
we were raised with him. Did he ascend and sit on the
throne of glory? Ephesians 2.6 says we're made
to sit together with him. Such is the union that where
the head goes, the body goes also. It must do, isn't it? The head's not gonna be severed
from the body. Does he live? Is he alive now? Him, by God's sovereign grace
united to His Son eternally, I can never be divided from my
covenant surety. God's free love from everlasting
made me one with His dear Son. Blessed union, strong, unchanging,
I am It's extraordinary, isn't it,
how this world and particularly so much this religious world
denies the doctrine of election. And yet the Lord's Prayer is
absolutely full of the doctrine of election. It's full of the
doctrine of this union. It's one of the things that's
fascinating. The most common term to describe
the children of God in the New Testament in Christ. I think it's mentioned
140 times if my memory serves me correct. Why would God say
140 times? Because we forget all the time.
We need to be reminded. I need to be reminded again and
again and again. Each time I look at my flesh
and look at what I've done, I need to be reminded, look away, look
away. People object to the doctrine of election and predestination
and that's the very heart of the gospel, it's the very heart
of the glory of God. You listen to what Ephesians,
what Paul says in this letter to Ephesians, and take note of
the in him or in Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in heavenly places. What a great place for all my
blessings to be, in heavenly places. They can't get tarnished
by anything down here. in heavenly places, in Christ. According here, as he has chosen
us in him, elections about him, isn't it? You're elected in him,
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before him in love. It's his love language,
isn't it? Having predestinated us under
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will. to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he has made us acceptable. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will
according to his good pleasure, which he had purposed in himself,
that in the dispensation of the fullness of time he might gather
together in one all things in Christ. both which are in heaven
and which are on earth, even in him." In whom? Also, we have
obtained an inheritance. How do you get an inheritance?
Because of your association. You're being a member of the
family, aren't you? An inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his will. who first trusted in Christ God
the Father entrusted his son with his name and with his glory
and with all of these people that the Lord Jesus Christ has
promised to bring back to him holy and unblameable and unapprovable. in whom also you trusted. If
you have faith, it's faith in Him. After you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of all salvation, in whom also after that you believed,
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. At the very heart of what happened
on the cross is that union. That eternal union that the Lord
Jesus Christ has with all of them at the very heart of the
resurrection is this union with God the Father, God the Son.
I love what he said to Mary in John 20 verse 17. He says, I'm
ascended. I'm not ascended yet, but I go
to my brethren and say to them, I'm ascending unto my Father
and your Father, to my God and your God. We love to quote that
verse in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 30. It says, How do you
get into God? But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. You keep them. You keep them
in your name. I've kept them in thy name. You
keep them through your own name, that they may be one. The heart of everything that
we have is in this union, isn't it? The very heart of wisdom,
to go back to 1 Corinthians 1.30. is in union. The very heart of
our righteousness is in union. The very heart of sanctification
and redemption is in this union. The Lord prays for them. He's
not praying for this world. He prays for them, I'm not praying
for the world. In verse 10 he says, all mine
are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. This prayer, this is the beginning
of the Lord speaking about this unity, this union between him
and his people, this eternal union. But listen to what he
says further down in John 17 verse 21, he says, that they,
he says, I pray for these, neither pray have I for these alone,
this is for us, this is a prayer for the believers in this day
and age, but for them also which shall believe, there's absolutely
no doubt about the Lord having a people who will believe. They
shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one. As thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one. Where's the unity? In
us. That the world may believe that
you have sent me. He goes on to say, I in them
and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. And that the world may know that
thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. What a place to rest your head
on the promises of God. What a place, what a place. Verse 26, I have, this is the
finish of his prayer before he goes to the cross and to the
garden. I have declared unto them thy
name and will declare it that the love How can holiness dwell in something
as sinful as this flesh? There's one simple answer, isn't
there? The sin is all gone. There's nothing left. There is
a new creation in each of the children of God, according to
Ephesians 4, created in righteousness and true holiness. Why can't
God live with them? He must live with them. for him
to live with. This is the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He came into this world as a
great shepherd. He said, I have other sheep which are not of
this fold. They're my must bring, John 10, 16. I must bring them. And they shall hear my voice
and there'll be one fold and one shepherd. And he says further
down in John 10, 30, I and my father are one. One. Listen to what he says in John
6. You can turn over there if you like. It's just so extraordinary,
isn't it? The more you go looking into
the word of God, the more glorious it becomes. In John 6, 56, he
says, he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth
in me. If we live upon his broken body
and live in this world upon his shed blood, as all of our righteousness,
of all of our sin bearing, of all of our acceptance before
God, he dwells in those people and they in him. He and the Father
indwell each other, John 10 38. The Father is in me and I am
in him. He says, do you believe it? He's
asking them, do you believe that in John 10 38? John 14, if you turn over there,
this is just a theme that is echoed throughout this upper
room discourse in so many remarkable ways, and yet then rounded up
and encapsulated in this prayer. In John 14, 10, he says, He doeth the works. Believe me
that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe
for the very work's sake. John 14, 20, just turn there
a minute. There's a remarkable promise
from our God in the time of His love and the time of the new
birth. In John 14, 20, he says, in that day, there's a day coming
when you shall know, all of God's children know this, All of God's
children will know this. They'll know three extraordinary
things. That I am in my Father, and ye
in me, and I in you. We're always dealing in great
mysteries and one of the great mysteries is the great mystery
of Christ and his church. They are one flesh. And in Genesis
chapter 2 we have this remarkable description which we've looked
at on several occasions of the creation of Eve. The Lord caused
a deep sleep to fall, Genesis 2.21, to cause a deep sleep to
fall upon Adam and he slept. And he took one of his ribs,
and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the
Lord God had taken from man, he made woman and brought her
unto the man. And Adam said, this is now bone
of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because
she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his
father and mother, his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife,
and they shall be one flesh. This cause, the same in Ephesians
1, he's talking about this as a great mystery. He's speaking
of Christ and the church. Listen to what he says in Genesis
5 verse 2, talking about the creation of them. Male and female
he created them and blessed them and he called their name Adam. They have the same name. We bear
His name. What a glorious union. What a
glorious union. What an extraordinary union.
A union of love, a union of grace, a union in the name of our God. with the branches everywhere
he's talking about this glorious union between him and his people
we are one with him he says keep them keep them in your whole
holy father keep them in your name that they might know that
they're one they're one with us i love what moses said isn't
it here shall in exodus 19 he said you shall be the true Israelite
God, a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, and you
shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And
then in the New Testament, Peter says, you are a chosen generation.
You're a royal priest and a holy nation, a peculiar people, a
set apart people, a special people, that you should show forth the
praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light. the church is called holy. Why? Because he is holy and everyone
in him is holy, as holy as he is holy. That's why so close
is that union that in Jeremiah 33 and Jeremiah 23, he's called
the Lord our righteousness and she's called the Lord our righteousness. There is a union. The Lord Jesus
Christ married his church. He made her holy in his holiness
and is, by God's covenant engagement, all of our wisdom and all of
our righteousness and all of our sanctification. As I said
earlier, there's no understanding of the cross without an understanding
of eternal union, that all of those people that God gave into
the hands of His Son were with Him when He died on Calvary's
tree. And God poured out His infinite
wrath that His holiness demanded upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and
the wrath of God was poured out upon all those in Him. We've
paid the judgment. It's finished, isn't it? We now
come into His presence with boldness. We come with confidence. We come
because He calls us I shed my blood for them, and
not one of them is ever going to be lost. This is a glorious
union. This is an eternal union. This
is a union which began before the foundation of the world.
This is a union that brought the Lord Jesus Christ to the
cross of Calvary. This is a union that's gathered
His people wherever they are gathered in His name throughout
time. This is a union which continues
on forever. we have? What's heaven about?
It's been with Him. It's been with Him. We have a remarkable Saviour. Father I will. Verse 24 of John
17. This is His will. I will that
they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that
they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou
lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father,
the world has not known thee, but I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me, and I have declared unto
them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me love language, this union. The
love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
we thank you and praise you for your word. We Thank you and praise
you for the manifestation of the name of God Almighty that
only comes to us by the revelation that the Blessed Holy Spirit
does when he takes the things of the Lord Jesus Christ and
he shows them unto us. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you that he gives his word and his word causes his people to
believe and to simply trust what he has said. Oh, our Father,
we thank you for such a glorious salvation. We thank you for the
precious Saviour and we thank you, Heavenly Father, for the
precious blood. And may we be enabled by your
grace and by a simple childlike faith, Heavenly Father, to feast
upon your Son, to eat his flesh and to drink his blood and to
know that he is in us and we are in him. We thank you, Heavenly
Father, that there is such a wonder in salvation, that we can come
as little children and rejoice in wonderful things that are
just beyond our comprehension, but we thank you and praise you
that you've written of your dear and precious Son,
that your children in this world and throughout eternity might
live in the joy and the peace of believing. Make us to do so,
our Father, for the glory of your dear Son. In his name we
pray and in his presence we come We thank you, our Father, for
your Son and for the glory of his gospel. Amen.