I think everybody knows that
our pastor, Brother Gabe, this morning is preaching at Katie
Baptist Church in Fairmont, West Virginia. And let's remember
him tonight. Mike Walker is preaching in that
conference as well, and Gabe's gonna go home with him tonight
and preach for Mike in Cottageville, West Virginia this evening. So
we'll remember him, and you all know there's no service here
tonight. All right, let's turn to John chapter 17 this morning. John chapter 17. I want us this morning to see some of the gifts that God the
Father has given Jesus Christ, the son. Then I want us to see also some
of the gifts that God has given to his people through Jesus Christ,
his son. And there's no better place to
see that than in John 17. Now I'm gonna read down through
these verses and point out to you these gifts that I mentioned. Chapter 17 of John begins with
our Lord Jesus Christ speaking to his disciples before he goes
to the cross. And it says in John 17, 1, these
words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,
Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. Now pay attention here. As thou has given, you see that
word? When you give something, it's
a gift. And it says right here that the Father has given the
Son something. It says, as thou has given him
power over all flesh. That's the first thing I want
us to see. God the Father gave God the Son, Jesus Christ, all
power. Isn't that what that says? Power
over all flesh. Who's that? You and me. God the
Father gave God the Son all power over flesh. That he should give
eternal life. Oh, that God gave Jesus Christ
this power over all flesh that the Son could give something
to God's people. Eternal life. You see, God the
Father gave God the Son this power to give eternal life. Who'd he give it to? as thou
has given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal
life to who? To as many as thou has given
him. There's another gift, do we see
that? God the father gave this gift of great power to Jesus
Christ his son and his son gave that gift, took that power and
made a gift to give the people that God gave Him. Verse 3 says, And this is life
eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. That, folks, is eternal
life, to know Jesus Christ. It seems too simple, doesn't
it? If you want to live forever, No Jesus Christ but that's a
gift of God. Verse 4 says, I've glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. Here's another gift. God gave
Jesus Christ a work to do. Does it say anything in there
about what part we have in that work? Dwight, does it say he
gave you a job to do? No, it doesn't say that. He says
he gave his son a work to do. You say, boy, that doesn't sound
like a gift to me if dad comes out and says, go rake the leaves,
go cut the grass. Well, that's one of the differences
between perfection and sinful flesh. Perfection, Jesus Christ,
when his father gave him a work, he went right at it. He came
to this earth, and I'll tell you what it says right there
in that verse, he finished it. What's the last thing the Lord
Jesus Christ said from the cross? It is finished. God gave him
the gift of this work to do and Jesus Christ did it and he finished
it. Verse four says, I have finished,
I have glorified thee on the earth, I finished the work which
you gave me to do. And now, O father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. You see that
gift again? God chose a people and gave them
to Jesus Christ. Out of all the people in the
world that ever lived, God chose a people and gave them to Jesus
Christ. Isn't that what that says so
clearly? I've manifested thy name unto the men which thou
gavest me out of the world, thine they were, And thou gavest them
me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all
things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee." One of the things
that's revealed to this chosen people that God gave to Christ
is that it was all given of God in eternal purpose. Verse 8 says,
For I have given unto them the words. God gave Jesus Christ, who is
the word, you'll see that capital W later, I'll show you. And you
know what Christ did with that? He gave it to us. You got it
right there in your lap. God gave us his word by Jesus
Christ. Verse eight says, I have given
unto them the words which thou gave me and they've received
him. If we ever wonder, Am I one of
God's own? Am I one of the people God chose
and gave to Christ? You know what one of the evidences
is? Right there it says, they have received the words. When we read this do we go, Oh,
I like that. Oh, I believe that. Oh, that's
true. That's receiving the word of
God, which was given by the father to the son who gave it to this
people. that God gave to Christ. And
it says, and they have known surely that I came out from thee,
and they have believed that thou didst send me. These people believe. Why? God gave them the word. He gave us a heart to believe.
That's the evidence we have. Verse nine says, I pray for them,
and I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast
given me, for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine
are mine, and I'm glorified in them. And now I am no more in
the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee, Holy
Father. Keep through thine own name those
whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are one."
Here's that same phrase again. This gift that God made, he chose
a people and gave them to Christ. It's a gift he made to his son.
Verse 12, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in
thy name, here it is again, those that thou gavest me, I have kept. And none of them is lost, but
the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled.
He mentions, he's talking to his 12 disciples here, and he
mentions that Judah would betray him. Verse 13, and now come I
to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might
have my joy fulfilled in them, in themselves. Now look at this,
I have given them thy word. Is there anything more clear
than that? Jesus Christ gives his people
a great gift. It's this word. All the answers
are in here. The questions are all in here,
aren't they? But the answers are all right
here. And our Lord says in verse 14, I've given them thy word
and the world hath hated them. Because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. If you want to make somebody
angry sometime when they ask you a question, answer them out
of the word here. Boy, that can get people upset.
And yet, that's why we ought to give this answer. This is
the only place there's any power, any truth, any substance, anything
to say about eternal matters and about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 15. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the
world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They
are not of this world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify
them. Now that word sanctify means
a couple of things. It means set them apart. How'd
that happen? God the Father chose them and
set them over here in Christ. He sanctified them. The other
thing it means is he made them holy. How'd that happen? God
gave the son of people. And they were broken. They were
a mess. They fell in Adam. So what did
in order to be holy what happened? Jesus Christ came down here to
live a perfect life. And when he died he gave him
that holiness. He sanctified him. So verse 17 says sanctify
them through that truth. Thy word is truth. If we read
all of this word we come to this conclusion. We're sinful. Jesus Christ is holy. We died,
he gives us eternal life. He lived for us and he died for
us. He sanctified us through the truth. Verse 18, as thou
has sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into
the world. To do what? To tell who Jesus
Christ is and what he did and why he did it and where he is
now. Verse 19, and for their sakes I sanctify myself. Jesus Christ set himself apart,
he was in glory. And this gift God made him of
his people, they fell, they died. Jesus Christ set himself apart
and came down here to do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves,
make us holy. He said that he sanctified himself,
that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray
I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on
me through their word, that they may all be one as thou father
art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that
the world may believe that thou has sent me and the glory which
thou gave us me. Here's another gift. God the
father gave the son all this glory. What did Jesus Christ
do with it? He said I gave it to them. Now
we don't much feel like we're very glorious do we right now?
But do you know the minute we leave this world we die and go
to glory? You know what we are? We're glorified. We're made perfect in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Because verse 22 says, the glory
which you gave to me I've given to them that they may be one
even as we are one. I in them and thou in me. and
they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and has loved them as thou hast loved me. Father,
I will, here's the will of Jesus Christ, that they also, whom
thou hast given me, there it is again, be with me where I
am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me. For
thou loves me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father,
the world hath not known thee, But I've known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto
them thy name, and I will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. Let me summarize
this for you, what you just heard there. Seven times, seven times we read
there that God the Father gave to God the Son a people. That's
one of his gifts. Two times we read that God the
Father gave God the Son all glory to do with as he pleased. We
read then that God the Father gave the Son power over all flesh. We read that God the Father gave
the Son his word. And then in case anything was
missed there, it says God the Father gave God the Son all things. Don't let there be any doubt
about who's in control of this thing. Jesus Christ has got it
all. God the Father gave it to him.
But then what did God the Son give to his people? He says his
word. He made a gift to them of his
glory. He gave unto them the gift of
eternal life. And then in case there's any
doubt, God the Father gave Jesus Christ the Son all and you know
what it says about these people he gave him? They get it all. They get it all. That's all in
one verse. I mean one chapter here in the word of God. Now
whenever a gift is given we decide we want to make someone a gift.
The first decision that we make is what will the gift be? One
chooses the gift to be given. You know, is that ever the other
way around? Do you ever say you're gonna get a gift for your sister
and you go to the store, do you walk in and you stand there and
you wait for something to go, give me, give me, no. Say, I'm the perfect gift. No,
that's ridiculous, isn't it? Gifts don't choose to be given.
And listen, we didn't choose Jesus Christ. God the Father
chose us. and gave us to Jesus Christ.
No gift chooses the giver. Seven times in John 17 it says,
God the Father chose a people to be a gift to his son. God
first chose us, we didn't first choose him. And then we may ask,
well, where did God get this gift? Let me illustrate that
this way. If you want to make a gift or
give a gift, where do you get it? There's only two ways you're
going to do that. Number one is you decide I'm
going to make a gift to give you. Or the other is I'm going
to go purchase a gift to give you. Isn't that where you get
your gifts? You make them or you purchase them. Well, that's
exactly what God the Father did with this exception. He didn't
do one or the other. He did them both. He did them
both. You and I. We either make it
or we purchase it. God the Father turned to Genesis
1. Let me show you, first of all, he made the gift. In Genesis
1, God made the gift that he intended to give to his son.
In Genesis 1, verse 26, we read, and God said, let us make man
in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over
the sea and the fish and fowl and the whole earth. And then
look at verse 27. So God created man, he made man
in his own image, and the image of God created him. Male and
female, created he them. Any question there? God made
the gift he was gonna give his son. Turn to Acts 20 with me. God made the gift, but then he
also had to purchase the gift. You say, well, if he made it,
it wasn't as his? Yes, but you know what the gift did? Oh, the
gift destroyed itself. God made Adam in the garden,
and you know what Adam did? The one thing he shouldn't do.
He went and ate of the fruit of the tree, and he died. I mean, what kind of gift would
it be if, let's say, Lacey decided to give for her sister's birthday,
give Bethany a hamster? And right before you gave it
to her, it died. You're gonna give her a dead hamster? Say
that, whoa, oh, no, no. God didn't give his son a dead
people. We died, but God didn't give us to him in that shape.
You know what he did? He said to his son, I'm gonna
give you this gift. And Jesus Christ said, well,
I'll purchase him. I mean, you created him. And
now I'm going to go buy him. Buy him? He bought him back from
death. Look here in Acts 20 verse 28. What was the price that was paid?
You see, Adam disobeyed God, sold himself into sin, and the
gift now had to be purchased or redeemed from sin. This gift
of people God gave to Jesus Christ is called in the word of God
his church. And God's word teaches that these people, his church,
was bought for a price, and it was a great price. Look at Acts
20, verse 28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made
you overseers, to feed the church of God, which what? He hath purchased
with his own blood. The price of this people was
the blood of Jesus Christ. He had to die in their place. His blood covered their sin so
that now they have life again and his righteousness which he
lived all the years he was on this earth he gives to them.
So now it's not a dead gift, it's a living gift. We have life. Where did we get it from? Jesus
Christ gave it to us. It's a gift of God. Now we tend
to think of good gifts as costing a lot, a lot of money. And this
gift was much more and much more expensive than all the money
in the world. It cost God the Father his most precious possession,
his son. You know we wrap gifts up and
that you know we purchase things for people we love and we dress
them up. You know how God the gift, we
needed to be dressed up. We'd done something to ourselves.
We died. We didn't smell good anymore.
We were dead in trespasses and sin. And Jesus Christ came down. He shed his blood to cover our
sin. And then he lived his whole life perfectly. If you looked
at his life, you went, oh, that looks good. That's perfect. Oh,
that's just right. That's exactly right. You know
what he does then? He gives that to us so that when
he presents us to his father again, we're all wrapped up. We're a beautiful gift. We look
perfect in the sight of his father. That's called the gift of eternal
life. Because natural man cannot comprehend
or understand the reasons and the motives of God, we resist
the truth by nature. We refuse to believe the word
of God, which reveals the purposes of God and salvation. And I want
to very quickly give us four very brief Very brief reasons
why God did this in this gift he gave as he did. Turn to 1
Samuel 12. This won't take long. Four sounds
like a big number to the kids who've been sitting here this
long already, but it won't take long, okay? Turn over to 1 Samuel
chapter 12. The first thing we need to see
is that God the Father had the right to do it however he chose
to do it. David wrote in the Psalms, our
God is in the heaven, he done whatsoever he pleased. David
also wrote in Psalm 135, whatsoever the Lord pleased, that's what
he did. And by nature, we don't like
anyone being, you know, y'all hear the kids anymore, they,
I bet, Adam's a school teacher. How
many times have you been told over the years, of late especially,
you tell somebody what to do, and they look up at you and go,
you're not the boss of me. You ever heard that? Yeah. We don't like having a boss over
us, do we? You're not the boss of me. I got some news for us. God is the boss of us. God's
the boss of everything. And that's almost not like giving
him enough credit for who he is. He's more than the boss.
He's everything. He created us. He purchased us. He gives us life. He breathed
life into us when we were dead. He has the right to do anything
he wants with us. And that's what this says here
in 1 Samuel 12 verse 22. Have you got it there? For the Lord will not forsake
His people. He will not forsake His people
for His great namesake, because it hath pleased the Lord to make
you His people. God has the right to do what
He will with what is His. And you know what this people
is? We're His. To do with this He pleases. And God's not right
because He does certain things. Did you hear that? God's not
right because he does certain things. Let me tell you, whatever
God does, that's what's right. That's what's right. If he determined
to choose the people and give them to Christ, then that was
the right thing to do. He's always right. The second thing I want us to
see, and turn to Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah 32. The second thing I want us to
see is that God has the right to do as he will and he also
has the might. This one verse ought to be enough.
This one verse ought to remove all doubt about God's ability,
God's power to do whatsoever he is pleased to do. Jeremiah
32 verse 27. Behold, I am the Lord, the God
of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for
me? No, no. I tell you, you ever been given
a job? It's too hard for you. Can't do it. Can't do it. Not
with God. Let's not ever make the mistake
of turn to Mark 10 just a minute. I want us to see a scripture
there. For you and me, it would be not just hard, it would be
impossible. We must never make the mistake,
however, of judging God's power or God's
ability by the puny limitations of our flesh. Just because we
can't do something, let's not be so foolish as to think God
can't. Nothing's too hard for God, but
with us, With us, in Mark 10 verse 27, we read, And the Lord Jesus,
looking upon them, said, With men it is impossible, it is impossible,
but not with God. For with God all things are possible. It wasn't hard for God. to do what he did. It wasn't
hard for him to make this great gift to his son. It wasn't hard
for God the son to do what he did for us, to come and I mean
it seems impossible for us because we're so puny. But don't make
the mistake, God has the right to do it but he had the might
to do what he did as well. And then the third thing, turn
to Acts 15 with me. God not only has the might, he
not only has the right, he also had the sight. Because he sees
the end from the beginning. God does what is perfect always. In Acts 15, have you got verse
18? Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world. He knew what he was going to
do in the end before he ever set out in the beginning. Find
Isaiah 46. God not only has the vision to
determine what to do, but he knows what is wise and what is
best to bring about his glory and the results he desires. In
Isaiah 46, look at verse nine. This is a portion of scripture
Brother Roy read. Remember the former things of
old. He said, for I'm God and there's none else. I'm God and
there's none like me. I declare the end from the beginning
and from ancient times, the things that are not yet done, saying,
my counsel shall stand and I'll do all my pleasure. You know
what his pleasure was? to choose a people, give them
to his son, and have his son go redeem them, save them from
their sin, and give them what they needed to be brought back
to him, holy and perfect with eternal life. All of these are
the gifts of God. But God not only has the might
and the right and the sight to do all his will, he's got one
other thing. He has the light, the light. Now turn to John 1 with me. Turn
over to John 1. This is our last scripture, John
1. Have any of you ever been to, I know some of you have been
to a concert. When I was younger I went to
some concerts, but maybe you've seen them on TV where somebody's
performing. And what'll happen is that there's this This big
place full of people and there's a stage there and the lights
are up and people are buzzing and talking and carrying on and
what have you. And then all of a sudden the lights go down and
this spotlight comes on. And out comes a performer, usually
carrying a microphone, and they come out there and the place
goes berserk. People clap and applaud and cheer
and carry on and what have you. And you know what's amazing about
that? This person hasn't done a thing yet. They haven't done
a single thing. And everybody's out there, yeah,
whoa, boys, yeah, yeah, yeah. They haven't done a thing yet. What's wrong with that? I'll
tell you what's wrong with that. The word of God declares what
Jesus Christ has done and who he is and why he did it. And
you know what? You can't even get people to
come and hear about it. Listen, he's not in the spotlight. He's
not the spotlight. He is the light. And if we don't
have the light, we don't see who he is, what he's done, what
he did and where he is now. Have you got this scripture,
John 1? Nowhere in the word of God does it make this more plain
what I'm saying in John 1, And you got it here in verse,
look at verse six. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. Now, the same came for a witness
to bear witness of the light. You see that, has that got a
capital L in your Bible? That means when we spell, when
we say the word been with a little b, it means been, b-e-e-n, he's
been there. He's been around. If I put a
capital B on the word been, B-E-N, we mean a young man. We mean
a person, don't we? Okay? This light, capital L,
is not the word like coming out of these bulbs here or the sun
shining. This is a person called the light,
L-I-G-H-T. And John wasn't the light, capital
L, that's not who this is. No, he came for a witness to
bear witness of the light, verse seven, that all men through him
might believe. He was not the light, but was
sent to bear witness of that light. And that's what, Brother
Gabe is not our savior. The preacher is not the savior.
Jesus Christ is the savior. And the purpose of the preacher
is to tell us about the light, capital L-I-G-H-T. And it says,
verse eight, he was not that light, but was sent to bear witness
of that light. That was the true light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He is in the
world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him
not. He came unto who? His own. Who's his own? The ones God the
Father gave him, this gift. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not, until the light came on. But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become who? The sons
of God. Now there's something to think
about. He has made us, if we see the light, you know what
he's made us? You're a daughter of the true
and living God. We're the sons of God. That's just almost too much to
comprehend. You know how we got that way?
For the foundation of the world, God the Father says, I'll choose
them, and son, here they are. This is my gift to you. And even
though we fell in sin and Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ came down
here, and what'd he do? He redeemed the gift. He gave
his blood, he shed it for them, he redeemed them to himself.
And it says, verse 13, These sons of God, those that believe
on his name, which were born not of the blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but they were born
of God. He created them and he purchased
them. And the word was made flesh. The word, see that capital W?
If I say here's a bunch of words, that's little w. If I say here's
the word, capital W, we're talking about Jesus Christ again. And
the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. You see, folks, folks
at a big concert, the light comes on and they start applauding,
and he hadn't done anything yet. Jesus Christ has done it all. And we won't worship him. By
nature, we won't. But if God turns the light on,
He shows us the light. You know what we'll do? Oh, we'll
worship him, all right. We'll come and bow at his feet
and say, what hinders me from being baptized? Can I follow
him? Can I become his? I want to be
one of his. And I heard this said one time
that when I mentioned this, oh, that applause is for what they're
going to do. Okay, have it that way if you
like. All right. This performer could come up
there and start trying to sing and his voice cracks and it And
he gets off key and he trips over the cord and falls down.
One of them fell down the stairs recently, I read somewhere. A big performer got there and
just fell all over the floor. Yay. No, no. That's not how it
works, is it? No. Let me tell you something.
Have it that way if you want. We ought to worship Jesus Christ
for what he's done. But I tell you what, we also
ought to worship him for what he's going to do yet. Because
you know what that is? He's coming back for those people
God gave His Son. He's coming back and get us.
And when He does, He's going to take us where He is. And then
we'll see the end from the beginning too. We'll know as we have been
known. If you want to applaud Him for
what He's done, we should. Let's applaud Him for what He's
yet going to do. He's fought the perfect fight. He sings the
song of grace with perfect pitch. I hope one day I can sing like
that. What a blessing that'd be. I want to praise him for
who he is, what he's done, where he is now, what he's yet will
do. He'll accomplish all the purpose of God because he has
the right, he has the might, he has the sight, and he has
the light. I'll quote this scripture to
you, 2 Timothy 2.19. The foundation of God stands
sure. Having this seal, the Lord knows
them that are his. You know how he knows them? The
Father gave them to him. It was a gift. Do you ever get
a gift? Have you got some gifts that you've received sometimes
that It doesn't matter how long ago you got them. They're still
just, oh, they're so precious to you. You remember who gave
them to you? You remember when you got them?
You remember all about them, don't you? I tell you, God the
Son is just this protective of the gift. He's not gonna let
anything happen to us. He's gonna fulfill all the word
here. He's gonna one day receive us,
take us to the Father who'll receive us. For who we are, we're
the sons and daughters of God. That's good news, isn't it? That's
good news. And that's the gospel of Jesus
Christ. All right, let's bow together. Our Heavenly Father, we give
thanks for this good news. We're grateful for thy word.
We're grateful that you've chosen us in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That he's done for us all that we need to have done. Lord, we
pray for the blessing of thy grace in the days ahead. Bless
this place, bless this people. Lord, call out a people to worship
thee. Lord, raise up a mighty work
if it can be thy will here. Bring Gabe home safely to us.
We pray your blessing this morning and tonight and in the days ahead. Lord, give us wisdom in all we
do and say, and we'll give thee thanks in Christ's name, amen.
Hey, love, have you got a closing hymn picked out? 352, 352. We'll
stand together and sing that closing hymn.