Each time that I turn to John chapter 17, I always think about what God
said to Moses from the burning bush. Let me read that to you. In Exodus chapter 3, And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him, that is Moses, in a flame of fire out of the midst of a
bush. And he looked, and behold, the
bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Behold greater that one who is
represented there. And Moses said, I will now turn
aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And
when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto
him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses, and he
said, here am I. And he said, draw not nigh hither,
put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou
standest is holy ground. God's presence made it holy ground,
the holy God. Moreover, he said, I am, not
that I was, I am, the eternal God, the God that had no beginning. had no end, had no starting place,
or had no finishing place. My little gray matter can't comprehend
that. But God says, I'm everlastingly
God. I am the God of thy father, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses
hid his face, and he was afraid to look upon God. And when you
look at John chapter 17 and read these blessed words of our Lord
Jesus Christ, I feel much, much, as Moses must have felt, this
is holy ground. Here in John 17, we'll read the
first few verses in a moment. But in John 17, we have God the
Son speaking to God the Father. He had spoken to his disciples
about God in the previous chapters, now he speaks to God about them,
about all his people, all his chosen. Therefore, there must
be much mystery about this, isn't it? I mean, we're allowed, we're
given audience, so to speak. The God in the flesh speaking
to God his Father. What mystery? What mystery? What majesty? Therefore, there
must be much that we just can't understand. J.C. Rowe made this
statement concerning this chapter, John 17, and I fully agree with
him. He said, there are sentences
and words and expressions in these 26 verses which no one
has probably ever really completely understood. Even after all this
time, and that's exactly so, the more we think we know, the
more we realize how little we do. Look at verse 1 and 2. These words spake Jesus. Now remember, just a matter of
hours after this, he would go to the garden and be betrayed. These words spoke Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
may also glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over all
flesh, all flesh, saved, lost, all flesh, that he should give
eternal life to as many as many, not one more, not one less, to
as many as thou hast given him." The hour, the hour, the Son of
God, this hour for which time began, this hour for which the
heavens and the earth were created. This hour, which the Son of God
came into this world to do, God sending forth His Son, made of
a woman, made under the law, for this very hour. And the Son
responded, Lo, I come. Father, Lo, I come. Nobody else
could say this. They could lay claim to it, but
it wouldn't be true. God the Son said to God the Father
when he came into this world, Lo, I come to do thy will, O
my God, looking to this hour. The hour when he would trod the
winepress of the wrath of God alone, and there would be none
to assist him. There will be none to help him
when he by himself obtained eternal redemption for us. This hour
is what he speaks of. This hour is at hand. Turn back,
if you will, a few pages to John chapter 12. He speaks of it,
the nearer it got, the more often he spoke of it. This hour, John
chapter 12, verse 23. And Jesus answered them, saying,
The hour is come, the hour is come, that the Son of Man should
be glorified. Verily, verily, truthfully, truthfully,
I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. Look down at verse 27. Now is
my soul troubled, And what shall I say? Father, save me from this
hour, but for this cause, for this reason, came I unto this
hour. The hour when he would by himself,
I repeat, I love to repeat it, I love to read it. When he would
by himself, his own glorious self, purge all the sin of all
of his people in that hour. In that hour when he would emerge
from the darkness exclaiming, it's done, it is finished. That's the hour that he speaks
of here in our text. Father, the hour is come. This hour is the eternal hinge
on which eternity turns. That's so. Everything from eternity
past, as we call it, and everything for eternity to come revolve
around this hour, everything. Everything. Everything from eternity
past, when God dwelt alone, in glorious majesty, to everything
in eternity to come, when everything's wrapped up and Christ determines
that time shall be no more. Everything. Point of two, and
points back to this hour. This hour. when he would remove
the iniquity of that land, as the prophet said, in one day. My subject is this. Vital knowledge. Vital knowledge. The old writers
used to speak of a vital union with the Son of God. That's what
a believer has. That's what makes him a believer.
He's one with the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, it's
indispensable. It can't be set aside. There can be no substitute for
it. Vital means absolutely necessary. It means absolutely essential.
Vital is most important. And as we read our text here
in verse 3, this vital knowledge, there's nothing more important. Oh, young people. You young people. There's nothing more important. By all means, get an education.
By all means, have your ambitions. Nothing wrong with that. By all
means, do the best you can. Be a good citizen, a good husband,
a good wife, father or mother. But the vital thing, the most
important thing for you is to know the Son of God. That's vital. That's vital. If none of those
other things take place, It won't determine where you spend eternity,
but this will. This is vital knowledge. Let's
read it. Here in verse 3. And this is life eternal. Here
it is. From the mouth of the Son of
God himself, the Word made flesh, speaks and says, this is life
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. You know, I think just
about every day, I get to my smartphone, I get an email from
Apple News. I didn't ask for it, but it comes. I don't pay much attention to
it. Usually I just delete them, because there's nothing there
that really interests me. But this headline catcher caught
my eye. Each time that comes to my inbox,
It has this. This is what you need to know. Well, how do you do? This is what you need to know. And you know what yesterday's
was? Saturday's was? This is what you need to know. It began this way. How to become
a morning person. Now I turned 71 years old just
a couple of days ago. How did I get by all my life
without that information? Things I need to know. And here
was another one. Here was another one. Why the
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard verdict is so chilling. Wow. But here's the sad thing. Multitudes
of people find that they say, yes, I want to know that. That's
vital. That's vital to them. And my
first thought in reading those things, things that they consider
that I need to know was this. Really? Really? Is that the best
you got? Is that what I really need to
know? Oh, no. Another was, what came first,
the chicken or the egg? Well, that's an old one, isn't
it? You know what? You know how I'd like to answer
that. I don't know which came first, and I don't care. But
you fry both of them, and I'll eat them while you try to figure
out which came first. No, no. They tried to determine
what I need to know and when I need to know it. You know,
there are people that are so caught up with social media that
They don't make a move unless it's considered a thing to do
by social media standards. That's sad, isn't it? That's
sad. Listen, the reason I used that illustration, what we need
to know, is to tell you this, something you know. Sadly, we
all know. The same thing goes on in the
religious world, doesn't it? Same thing. I drove out Lantana
Road, same way where I live. The advertisements on churches,
you know. It reminds me when I was a teenager,
just graduated from high school. And a bunch of fellas that had
gone previous summers up to Wildwood, New Jersey, told me, I need to
go with them. Houston, I'd had the time of
my life. You get a job on the boardwalk. So I went. Went with
these guys. I think there was 20 of us in
an apartment, a bunch of hillbillies, in Wildwood, New Jersey. We were
hippie hillbillies. And I did. I got a job on the
boardwalk. Time of my life, like the start
of that. Like the start of that. But here's what. The day's religion
reminds me of. I ran this little stand where
you threw darts at balloons. If you spend $100, you might
win a pencil with a feather on it. But the guy that ran the
place brought me in and he told me what to do and how to do it.
A fellow walks by with his Date on his arm. Hey buddy, don't
walk by, give it a try. Win that little girl a teddy
bear. Break a buck and try your luck. And that's what churches say.
Don't walk by, we got whatever you want. Whatever it'll take
to entertain you. You don't like a traditional
service, we'll give you a contemporary service. You don't like to sing
those old fashioned hymns of amazing grace, we'll have a rock
band in there. Whatever you want. That's sad, isn't it? That's
sad. My pastor, my former pastor,
Brother Don Fortner, I read this in one of his old bulletins,
or from his writings in a recent bulletin, but I think it went
back a good ways. But he made this observation.
He said, the only explanation for the utter insanity in this
world, especially this world's religion, their thoughts about
themselves, about God, about sin, about salvation, about Jesus
Christ, they're absolutely contrary, they're absolutely opposed to
God's own word. And Don said the only explanation
for that is this country, this nation, this world is under the
judgment of God Almighty. That's exactly right. God's going
to save his people. That's why the world exists now.
The great shepherd is still calling his sheep. But this world for
generations has said, no God, no God, we'll make our own God,
a God that we're comfortable with. And God has said, so be
it. So be it. You remember what our
Lord said concerning the Pharisees on one occasion? He offended
them. They said, why do you disciples
do that which is contrary to the law? Plucking corn on the
Sabbath day and blah, blah, blah. And you remember what the Lord
said to them? You hypocrites, you white as
sepulchers, you make void God's law, you make void the Word of
God so you can keep your tradition. You remember that? Man, that's
some accusation. You would rather Set aside God's
word to keep your religious tradition. Doesn't that sound familiar?
I remember one time being in a meeting with Brother Henry
Mahan, and he made this statement. He said, if there's one place
you dare not preach the gospel, I mean the gospel of God's free
grace, that it's not of him that willeth or him that runneth,
but a God that shows mercy. You preach that, there's one
place you dare not preach at, Henry said, it's the average
church. It's the average church. You dare not preach the gospel.
Oh, the Lord said, leave them alone. That's what he told the
disciples. They seemed to be concerned about
our Lord's safety. And they came to him after that
encounter with the Pharisees, when he was pretty blunt, pretty
plain, and they got him aside and they said, Master, Master,
you might want to reconsider this. Because they stood, the
disciples, yet, at that time, stood in awe of the Pharisees. Oh, the Pharisees. Oh, those
self-righteous Pharisees. Look at them. I read that there
was a saying, if only two people went to heaven, a Pharisee would
be one of them. That's how they were looked upon.
But our Lord looked at the heart, didn't he? He looked at the heart. But they came to the Lord and
said, We want you to know, you might not be aware of this, but
you offended the Pharisees. They were offended at what you
said to them. And you remember what the Lord
Jesus Christ said to those, His disciples. Man, you talk about bad news. You talk about hopelessness. If the Son of God ever says that
any individual, any church, any community, any nation, what he
said concerning the Pharisees. Our Lord told the disciples,
leave them alone. Leave them alone. Leave them
alone. Give them what they want. Just
leave them alone. He was in the world and the world
was made by him and the world knew him not. And at the head
of the line was the Pharisees. Nobody was more of an enemy to
the Son of God than those who claim to speak for God. And finally,
the Lord said, leave them alone. They're blind leaders of the
blind. Just leave them. Leave them. Old John Newton said,
God doesn't have to send an earthquake or a cyclone or some great disaster
when he wants to punish a nation. All he has to do is leave them
alone. That's all. And we see it. We
see it every day. Those who have eyes to see, leave
them alone and look at the insanity, the utter insanity. And I'm talking
about religion that folks come up with. Transgender? Are you kidding me? Insanity. And the churches promote that
and endorse that. Is there any other explanation
than this? God says, leave them alone. Just leave them alone. Oh, but
thank God. As Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians
concerning the darkness, the delusion that men willingly embrace,
is the reason, not unjustly, but God justly says, leave them
alone. But Paul said, oh, don't forget this, children of God.
God had from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and the belief of the truth, whereby he called
you by our gospel. Oh, thank God you look out on
this dark, religious, insane generation, and you're a believer. Oh, you ought to thank God Almighty
that he didn't leave you there. He didn't say concerning you.
Leave them alone. Oh no. Son of God, my son, in
the fullness of time, I'm going to send you and you're going
to live for that rebel. You're going to die for that
rebel. You're going to carry the sins of that rebel. And in
due time, you're going to call that rebel Larry Criss. I'm entrusting Him into your
hands. You're going to call Him by your grace out of darkness
into your marvelous light. And you're going to keep Him
and bring Him all the way back to the Father's house and present
Him before me without a spot or a wrinkle or any such thing. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Now
what do I really need to know? Not according to Apple News or
ABC News or Fox News or any other news. What do I really need to
know? Jesus Christ says this. According
to the Lord Jesus Christ himself, this is what I need to know. This is life eternal. Look at
it again. Verse 3. And this is life eternal,
that I may know, that I may know, thee the only true God, that
they may know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou
did sin." I need to know God. Larry Myers, you need to know
God. You need to know God. The true
God. I don't mean this God that, again,
the religious world, I'm not talking about the drunks in the
gutter or the prostitutes on the corner, I'm talking about
the men in the pulpit have pawned a different God on this generation. They sold them a bill of goods.
When I hear people, my own loved ones, my own family, brothers
and sisters, talk about Jesus Christ and I sit and listen and
I want to weep because I'm thinking, who are they talking about? That's
not Him. That's not Him. They're trusting
a different Jesus. They're trusting a different
Christ. The Lamb of Heaven sent an amazing
grace and came to trust a Christ that can't have His way. My soul,
if He needs my help, if Jesus Christ needs my help to save
me, I'm in trouble and He's in trouble. He's helpless, as helpless
as me. Oh, thank God that's not Him.
That's not Him. This Christ that requires me
to take the first step to Him, that requires dead Larry to get
up out of the grave and come to Him, that's an imposter. That's an imposter. Thank God. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,
He doesn't beg sinners to do nothing. Again, in Exodus, what did he
tell those million or three million bellyaching Jews ready to stone
Moses? Moses said, God, what am I going
to do? God said, tell them to shut up. Just tell them to shut
up, be quiet, and they're going to see the salvation of God.
I'm going to fight for them and tell them just to keep quiet.
Just stand back and watch. Salvation is of the Lord. And every beggar, every real
sinner, Brother Scott Richardson used to say, oh, I've got good
news. Y'all heard him say it. I've
got good news. The gospel's good news. I've
got good news for sinners, if I could find one. Scott said,
I can't find any more sinners. Everybody's saved. Everybody's
walked an aisle. Got sprinkled, got confirmed,
got homogenized. Everybody's made a decision for
Christ. Nobody's lost anymore. I'm not
making this up. Let me ask you, when's the last
time, child of God, when's the last time you've talked, you've
met a hungry, bankrupt sinner? There were a sinner before a
holy God, a God that demands payment, and they've got nothing
to pay. Huh? Not a sinner, but. Oh yes, I know, I guess I'm a
sinner, but, but, but. No, no, no. No buts. No buts. I'm the sinner. Like the publican. I'm the sinner. Most people are
like the Pharisee, standing up and looking down their self-righteous
nose, saying, I'm glad I'm not like him. He does now. At first,
he wished he'd have been like him, because if he was, he'd
have saw his knee of mercy. But that poor publican, oh, what
a picture of a bankrupt sinner. He wouldn't even lift his head.
I'm not worthy to even look in the direction of God Almighty.
God have mercy on me. I'm the sinner. There's not a
greater sinner in this world than I am. When's the last time
you met one? Huh? Oh, thank God for His grace,
as old old Newton said, for it's grace that taught my heart to
fear. Aren't you glad it did? Oh, you
didn't think so at the time. If someone would have told me,
God's being merciful to you. Are you kidding me? I can't sleep. I can't sleep. I mean, all I
hear in my conscience, screaming at me every hour of every day,
lost, lost, lost. And you're telling me God's being
gracious? I trotted up aisles, where they
gave the altar call, I was there. After half a dozen times, they
got tired of seeing me. They told me, you're saved, young
man. Slap me on the back. You're saved. You just believe
it. You just accept it. And I thought, what are they
talking about? They said, you're saved. And I lay down at night,
and God said, no, you're not. You lost. You lost. Come down,
sinner. You lost. You've not come down
far enough. It's not in outfits. It's not in decisions. It's not
in the water. It's in my son. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how men come to know God. It's been a few years, but it's
not been so long that I shouldn't, with all my heart, thank the
Son of God that He had mercy on me. Shame on me that I get
over that. How can I get over that? James,
there's nothing ever happened in my life to compare to that,
to come close. I'm lost. I was telling Robin
about this the other night. I said, Robin, I remember when
I was going through all those religious hoops, doing everything
they told me to do, and I still didn't have peace. And they said,
you got peace? Where is it at? You're saved. Really? I'm saved? And I was so bewildered by that. I mean, I did everything they
said. I got me a Bible. Grandma told me to get a haircut.
I got a haircut. Wasn't going to be a hippie anymore. Get you
a Bible. Got me a Bible. Memorize verses.
Memorize verses. Oh, you're a good man. You're
saved. You're saved. God's got something for you.
God said, you're lost. You're lost. I laid down one
night and I thought, what am I supposed to do? I've done everything
these people tell me to do and I'm still lost. And I was so
confused, so messed up, So lost, thank God, that I remember thinking
to myself, it may sound odd to you, but I remember thinking
to myself as about a 23-year-old young man, is this salvation? Maybe these people are right.
Maybe I am saved. And I thought to myself, well,
if this is it, it's not going to be enough for me. It's not
going to work. I need more than this. I need
to know God. I need a new heart. I want to lay down tonight and
not worry that I'll wake up in hell. I want to know that my
sins are forgiven. And then one day, after he had
taught my heart to fear, I remember just falling down before him
like that leper. If you will. If you will. Lord, I'm confused. I don't know what to do. One
thing I know, I can't keep playing this game. I can't keep doing
what these people are telling me to do. All I know for sure,
all I know for sure, I'm lost and only you can save me. And he said, Larry, thy sins
which are many are all forgiven. And I rose, and I didn't have
to ask nobody. I didn't have to go to an altar.
No. I thought, oh, my soul. Jesus
Christ had mercy on me. And I thought, now I understood
what old Newton meant. Amazing grace. I think I know
what he meant. That old slave trader, when he
sat down and wrote after God saved him, amazing grace, how
sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. If he hadn't have written
that, I'd have wrote it. Want to put my name there next
to John Newton. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. I am blind, but now I see. Notice here, our Lord says to
know the true God can only be realized through the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's why he adds that. He's
the only mediator, mediator between God and man. So this is why we
read in our text that it might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou didst send. Salvation comes through
one man, the God-man. That's what Paul said in Romans
5. Sin, death, judgment came through one man, Adam. Oh, but
grace, grace comes through one man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Most people today think when
they hear salvation by grace, It's because man couldn't keep
God's law. Old Bunyan called it a hill too
high. Therefore God lowered his standard. The law represents
a fence so high you just can't step across it. So grace took
the fence down. No, no. God didn't lower his
standard. God is just as, God is absolutely
just. when He saves a sinner. He does
it in absolute justice because of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
would be so unjust for the Son of God, rather for God Almighty,
to hold me accountable for the sins that His Son bore away for
me on the cross. How unjust would that be? It
wouldn't be. It would be rather. God's faithful
and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
No, it's not that God lowered His standard. No, no. The Son of God met that standard.
He came to do Thy will, O God. Grace is not the lowering of
His standard. It reminds me, like I mentioned,
Rob and I are living in the church. And against the wall there's
three long, rather narrow windows, probably what, eight by two feet.
And each morning, when I go to the refrigerator, I look out
the window because there's a field right behind the church and a
pond and I'm thinking, I'm going to see some deer out there this
morning. And I'm looking out. And Robin said, what are you
doing? I said, I'm looking for deer. I said, I know there's some deer
going to come out and get a drink out of that pond. Well, several
weeks after that, I woke up and Robin's over there trying to
look out the window. But she's not tall enough. She's trying to look. I said,
honey, what are you doing? She said, I'm trying to see that deer. I said,
honey, you can't. You can't see out that window. And I said, and she did it several
times. I said, honey, did you grow a
foot overnight? Or did that window get lower?
Of course not. Of course not. Jesus Christ,
God did not lower his standard. No, Jesus Christ met that. He
meant that. This is what we read in Acts
13. Paul preached and he said, I
want you to know, I want you to know that now you're justified
from all things through this man, from whom you could never
be justified by the law of Moses. Isn't that a blessing? What do
I need to know? I need to know the Son of God. James, I can't take your word
for that. I can't take a preacher's word for that, or a soul winner,
or just pick up a card and says, well, now, if you've decided
for Jesus, sign on the dotted line and mail this in and let
us know so we can put you on our tally sheet. No. I want to know God. I want to
know Christ. It's not enough for me to take
you at your word, for you to tell me. No, I don't want a second-hand
knowledge. Christ said, I know my sheep.
I know my sheep. He offended him again, didn't
he? Because he told him Pharisees, you don't believe me, because
you're not my sheep. I'm not talking to you. You're not my sheep, he said.
Oh, my sheep. I know my sheep. I've always
known my sheep. And my sheep are going to hear
my voice. You don't believe because you're not my sheep. But my sheep
are going to hear my voice and they're going to follow me. I
know my sheep. But that's not all he said, did
he? He said, and they know me. They know me. They know me. It's a heapsight
different than knowing the Word of God and knowing God the Word,
isn't it? Doctrine is one thing. But the
Word made flesh is another. I want to embrace the Son of
God. I want to know Him. And that's what grace does. The
prophet said, don't let the wise man rejoice and glory in his
wisdom. But if you want to glory and
rejoice, glory and rejoice in this, that you know the true
God. Pitchy tent right there. Paul
said, God forbid that I should glory, saving the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, but you can glory there.
You can glory there all you want to. You can never overdo it.
You can never go too far. Knowing the Son of God experimentally. This is what he speaks of in
our text. To know Jesus Christ. When Paul
sat in that prison cell waiting for the executioner to come,
take him out, and most likely behead him. He wouldn't be crucified
because he was a Roman citizen. That was against the law to do
that. But he sits there in that cold dungeon cell, and he writes
Timothy, and he says, Timothy, try to get here before winter,
because it's cold here. He says, everybody forsook me. Nobody wants to be identified
with me. But he said, nevertheless, the Lord stood with me. The Lord
stood by me. But he said, Timothy, try to
hurry. Bring my cloak and bring those parchments, those Old Testament
scrolls. Even up to the last minute, Paul
wanted to learn more about the Son of God. I wonder if you would have went
in that cell and asked the Apostle Paul, Paul, what's important
to you now? Your life's almost over. Just
a little while now you're going to go out to face God Almighty. What's most important to you? And He answered that, didn't
He? He said, I know whom I have believed. I know whom I have believed.
And I'm persuaded that He's able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day. I mentioned earlier, we talked
before service, some of us, about those dear brethren that have
gone on to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you imagine what
they must be doing? Gary, Peggy, Ruby, Brother Bruce
Daley, so many at Grace Baptist Church, so many at Fairmont Grace
Church. When Brother Bruce Crabtree's
wife, Jo, was called to glory. Gail Poor, y'all may know her,
it's Steve's sister, goes to Bruce's church up there. She
was talking to Robin on the phone after Jo had gone to glory. And Gail told Robin, can you
imagine, can you imagine Jo stepping into glory? And there's
Don Fortner, and he probably said something like, Joe, when
did you get here? And that big booming voice. Oh,
I mentioned to you young people, but to every one of us, this
is life eternal, that you might know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom God did send. May the Son of God be pleased
to reveal Himself afresh to us that know Him. Oh, for a fresh
beholding of the Son of God, that He might again ravish our
hearts to where we can't get over His marvelous mercy and
grace. And to you that don't know Him,
He delights to show mercy. He delights to show mercy. May
He be pleased to reveal Himself to you. And then you'll know
God and Jesus Christ and have eternal life. God bless you.
Thank you for your attention. Is that right?