John 17 is a very unique passage
of scripture. I call it the holiest of all
ground upon which men could tread historically and significantly. For me, the text before us is
more holy than even what took place in the garden when God
created the heavens and the earth. and gave us that first temple
pattern and that pristine foliage of trees and vegetation and water
streams, that sanctuary that he had set up for his first typical
son, Adam and Eve, a holy, holy site that was before the fall. But this ground in John 17 is
more important than that. It's more important than Mount
Sinai. where the law was given and God
spoke to his people in the book of Exodus, out of the fire, the
very voice of God was heard. And we have had the privilege
of looking at that portion of scripture and being overwhelmed
by the reality that God would speak to a whole nation at one
time. One and a half to three million
people would hear the voice of God at one time. It wouldn't be hearsay. They
would all hear the voice of God. You come to church and you hear
the word of God, there's some mediation going on between us
and God. Those people heard the voice
of God. They all did. That was holy ground. So holy,
God told the whole of the nation through his priesthood, do not
come near the mount. Tell these holy people, who are
also sinful people, that if they draw and touch the mount, I'll
kill them all. That was a holy day. The whole
nation bore record to the reality of the voice of God speaking
out of the fire. But John 17, for me is holier
ground than that. And it should be holy ground
for every believer who has an interest in the blood and righteousness
of Jesus Christ. In a real sense in John 17, you
and I, are seeing the true Isaac, not
the typical Old Testament foreshadow of Christ Isaac, but the true
Isaac ascending up Mount Sinai right now, Mount Moriah rather,
right now. This is the true Isaac typified
by the past Isaac. And he's ascending Mount Moriah,
going to Calvary with his father. And unlike Old Testament Isaac,
who raised the question, Lord, I see the fire and I see the
wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Christ knows
where the lamb is. He knows he's the lamb, and he's
not wondering what this is about. He knows this is about the redemption
of his people. He knows that. Isaac was raising
questions. Christ made three requests. in John 17 and the whole of this
which is your mediator talking to your God about you. Aren't you not to be interested
in this? Aren't you not to be interested
in what's taking place on this holy ground which only happened
once and it changed the whole of your eternal destiny? This
Isaac was not raising questions. He was making requests. And there
are three. Fundamentally, if we were to
break up chapter 17 into the three requests, verses 1 through
5 is for himself. Verses 5 through verse 17 are
for the apostles, historically. And verses 17 through the rest
of the chapter is about his elect. It's about the son. about his
apostles and about his elect. And guess what, saints? You and
I get to ear hustle on what our prevailing high priest is saying
to his father. Don't you want to hear it? Don't
you want to sneak up to the curtain and pull it back and hear what
he has to say? Do you have an interest in the
son of God? If you've got true saving faith,
you should. And this is my opinion, this
is my opinion. This is the holiest ground in
all of scripture. The holiest ground. Now, again,
this text can actually be verse by verse, very specifically and
acutely expounded, and it would take a thousand sermons to deal
with all 26 verses here. I tell you, they're so rich.
And yet all I want to do, all I personally want to do, is derive
for us today just one text of scripture. Some of you are saying,
thank you, Lord. Just one text, but we're going
to be here for three weeks. Three weeks. Because I'm praying. I'm praying. Been praying ever
since I have been lamb blasted. by what it has done for me. I'm
praying that some of you get it. I'm praying that some of
you get this. I'm praying that the veil would
be pulled back just a little bit, and that some of you would
get it, and that this would actually so profoundly change your understanding
and your walk with God, that it would compel you and propel
you into a deeper, deeper, more effectual, more precise walk
with your Savior. And I know we need that. Don't
we need that? I know we need a better walk with God. I know
my faith needs to be strengthened. I know that. I know I need to
go deeper with God. I know I need to stop playing
games with God. Don't you? I know my faith needs
to be tapped right into the midst of the heart of God so I can
do a better job at loving Him who loved me. That's what my
desire is. My desire is that this portion
of scripture today would so grip your thoughts, generate your
thoughts, regenerate your thoughts. Don't our thoughts need regenerating?
Bunch of it need just deleting. But I'm talking about regenerating
it, and I'm praying that the Spirit of God would do it. that
the spirit of God would regenerate your mind in the face of just
one line I'm going to deal with. Just one line that somehow the
door would be open because I believe that this is a portal into heaven.
I believe where I am now is a portal into heaven. I don't know who
God is going to let in and I'm hoping he lets at least one of
y'all in on this. This glorious truth that has
changed my life. Changed my life. It's glorious
truth. And when we're done with it,
my prayer is that there is a greater understanding, a greater light,
an explosion, actually, in your soul. Have you ever had that?
Where the Word of God has just exploded in your soul, just exploded
in your mind, just illuminated your mind, just knocked you back
on your heels and you knew something was going on. Have you ever had
that? No? And I'm praying that that would
touch you today. It's going to actually enhance and augment
and strengthen a term that we use around here all the time. And I'm afraid, you know, familiarity
breeds what? I'm afraid that sometimes we
can overuse terms and they therefore lose their intrinsic value and
they become simply statements that religious folk make. And
I'm praying that this actually is recovered today. It's recovered,
it's recovered. I'm praying that when you say
that you are in Christ, that you understand the magnitude
of that statement. That when you profess to be in
Christ, that you understand the significance The profound, the
deep, the eternal, the unchangeable, the immutable, the lofty, transcendent
significance of you being in Christ. That's what I'm praying
will occur as we think about this. Isn't it wonderful to be
in Christ? Isn't God economical to give us a little preposition
and then a proper noun by which we can describe our salvation? Isn't he good? Because most of
us, like I said, are from the hood and we only use short sentences. So what's your situation? I'm
in Christ. Well, what does that mean? That
means everything to me. What can you explain? To be in
Christ is to be saved. To be in Christ is to be righteous. To be in Christ is to be justified. To be in Christ is to possess
the mercy of God, the favor of God, the goodness of God, the
longsuffering of God, the hope of God, the glory of God. Can
I go on and on? To be in Christ is to have the
Alpha. the Omega and the first and the
last and the beginning and the end is to have the essence of
God to essence of eternal life to be in Christ for the believer
is everything Did you get that? That's what it means to be in
Christ in short order to be in Christ is the totality of the
Father's love for you I want this teaching to have
that kind of impact. And moreover, what I want to
take place today, I want what happened to our brother David.
You remember we were going through that series in David's life and
God had called David to the throne and he's headed there. And we
were so easily able to identify with his journey from the call
to the throne, right? We learned even last week that
our middle name is what? Trouble. Y'all may not know that,
but that's your middle name. That's what was written down
on your birth certificate in heaven. And then you had an actual
second middle name, which was called jacked up. You remember
that? Jacked up. And I told you to own it because
that is an aspect of God's love towards you while He is making
you what He means to make you to be, right? And if you don't
own it, you're gonna miss today's message, you're gonna miss next
week's message, and you're gonna miss the message that's gonna
come subsequent to that if God is merciful to us. But here's
what our beloved sister said to David, God's erring son, his
erring son, I believe it's in 1 Chronicles 25 verse 29, when
he was on his way to kill her husband. Remember that? Mad at
that brother because he wouldn't acknowledge David. And David
was in what I call a paratensional dilemma, a multi-tensional dilemma. On the one hand, he's being persecuted
by the king. On the other hand, he's being
led by the true king to his throne. But David forgot something that
you and I must understand, which will launch us into our thoughts
today. And here is what our sister said in 1 Samuel chapter 25.
I believe it is verse 29, if you pull that up. She said, David,
I want you to know something that you forgot. You are the
Lord's. You guys got that? You are the
Lord's. Now, don't we forget that sometimes?
And then she said, now a man has risen up to pursue you. That's
your middle name. Trouble. Is that true? Can I
talk to you today? Isn't that what happened to God's
typical son in the garden? Did a man rise up to pursue him?
Indeed. And were we not in Adam when
he pursued him? And in pursuing Adam, he pursued
us. Did he not? Here's what she said. A man has
risen up to pursue you and to seek your soul, but the soul
of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of life. Do you hear
that prophetic word that she said? She said, David, your soul
is bound up in the bundle of the life of the Lord, your God. What a prophetic word. I want
you to hear it now. It doesn't matter what you're
going through. It doesn't matter how fierce your enemies are as
they are pursuing you right now. You must remember that your soul
is bound. That means captive, controlled,
dominated by a purpose and a plan greater than you. My soul is
bound up in the bundle of life. You know what that bundle of
life is? Jesus. Jesus of the Lord my God. Isn't that comforting, saints?
Isn't that comforting? Essentially, what Sister Abigail
said to David was, David, you're in Christ. Everything's going
to be all right. To be in Christ is a magnificent
comfort to our soul. Is that true? Christ, our wisdom,
our redemption, our righteousness, our sanctification, and he is
our hiding place, is he not? Then be arrested by the thought
that I'm about to share with you now. Be arrested. Be arrested
by the next three weeks. Help us, Spirit of God. Child of God, do you know that
before I was in Christ, I was in God. That before I was in
the Son, I was in the Father. That before I was in Adonai,
I was in Jehovah. Before I was in Him, I was in
Him. I don't know if you get it, But if you do put your hand over
your mouth and put your face in the dust and shout silently
in your soul, amazing love, how can it be that thou my God should
do this for me? See our Lord Jesus Christ, is
so excited about his role that he makes this statement in John
17, verse six, which I want to milk and press upon your minds,
which blew me away when I read it. He said in John 17, verse
six, I have manifested your name unto the men which you have given
me. Do you see it? out of the world. I've manifested your name to
them. Now here is the line I want you to get. You ready? Thine
they were. Did you get it? Thine they were. That's the title of my message.
Thine they were. Isn't that astounding? Isn't it a stupendous thought? Isn't it crazy? But our Master
wants you to understand something so significant that there was
no space at any time anywhere where you were just a blob or
a thought or an abstract idea or some ethereal insignificant
entity in the universe that did not have the greatest interest
in all eternity for you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Now, I know only
some of us going to get it. I know only some of us going
to get it because we're just so acquainted with scripture that
we're ignorant. Before I was in the son, I was in the father.
Before I was in Christ, I was in God. I don't know about Jehovah. I was in God. Before I was in
Christ, which means I was never lost. Never lost. Never lost. This is astounding. This is astounding. So there's
about a thousand implications I could draw to this, but all
I'm gonna do is work with four points and I hope to create more
questions than give you answers. Because this is so important
for the believer who often forget who they are and where they are. and what they're going through.
This is so absolutely important. And so I guess I'll call your
attention to the first point as we work this out. Are you
ready? The first point is, by the Spirit, through the Son to
the Father. Do you see that? Now all I did
was write that note because that's the impact that the text made
on me. Let me share with you what happened to me. I'm walking
along my own merry way in my mind and in my heart as I'm contemplating
the thoughts of God. And the Spirit of God gets a
hold of me and takes me to John 17 and says, Jesse, I want to
show you something. Is that it, y'all? Is this job
to take the things of Christ and show them to me? Is that
his job? Is his job to come along every believer and bring them
to the veil and keep the veil open and said, do you have an
interest in the Savior's blood? Do you have a vital living faith
so that you want to know everything about Jesus? Let me show you
something about your Savior that he wants you to know. Now, if this is true, it's important
for me, isn't it? The Spirit of God, then, is the
means by which I am brought to hear and see Christ, and Christ
is the means by which I am brought to hear and see God the Father. Our text has as one of its support
verses, John 14, 6. Y'all should know it by heart.
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes unto the
Father but by me. I am the door to the Father. And the privilege that you and
I have is access to the Father by the Son through the Holy Ghost. Are you with me? We're at holy
ground. We're at holy ground like the apostles Peter, James,
and John were with Jesus on the holy mount and they heard and
saw things. Remember that? They heard and
saw things. We're on holy ground now. And
the lovely Lord Jesus, our great prevailing mediator and high
priest has chosen by his spirit to reveal this great significant
truth to you and me. And here it is. We were in the
Father. before we were in the son. And
in fact, the way this text works, Jesus says it twice. Now he's
our mediator and he's talking to the father. What a privilege. He's our mediator and he's talking
to the father. What a privilege. Father, the
hour is come. Glorify your son that your son
may also what? Glorify thee. This is the son
talking to the father. This is our mediator and high
priest talking to our God. We have an opportunity to listen
to the nature and character of His mediation for us. And here's
what I've said before, and you can have this for free. This
is really the only time that Christ is expressing His own
will to His Father. The other time is when he struggled
in the garden of Gethsemane to retain it so that his father's
will could be done. Not my will, but thine be done,
right? But this man, our mediator, the
God-man Jesus Christ, is now asking his father for things
for himself. He has a right to. He knows he's
about to accomplish eternal redemption. He's not questioning whether
or not he's going to rise again on the third day. His requests
are predicated upon his certain knowledge of the resurrection.
He knows that he will be the mediator of the new covenant.
He knows that he will be the one dispatching grace and mercy
to sinners all around the world. He knows this. And he is asking
his father to glorify himself, that is the father, through the
son to those of us who have an interest in him. The spirit of
God has let us in on this conversation. And the first thing we discover
is that as Jesus is making requests to his father, he's making requests
to his father about those, the text tells us in John 17, six,
that were his. Thine they were, and you what? Gave them to me. you see dying
they were father this is God talking to God they were yours
father I'm not talking about any kind of people I'm talking
about the people that were yours they were yours father those
that are mine are only mine because you gave them to me now watch
this now and I'll develop this more fully next week as we deal
with the Sun specifically the Sun is jazzed by the father giving
all of his people to him. He's jazzed about that. Are you
hearing me? The son is happy. Seven times
in John 17, seven times the son says, you gave them to me. You
gave them to me. You gave them to me. You gave
them to me. You gave them to me. Now the
father knows he gave them to him. This is for you. This is for you. who act like
bastards sometimes, or children that don't have a daddy that
loves them, or children who don't have a master that ever lives
to make intercession for them. Listen to me, child of God, if
you're in Christ, you were in the Father first. And the only
reason you're in Christ is because the Father who possessed you
in eternity past, in the conception of his own mind, in the covenant
of his own grace, in his purpose, in his will, in his plans, and
for God, the things he thinks are, he placed you in Christ. And the son is so excited about
that. He says to him seven times, because
this is where we're going to get into it next week. He says
seven times, Daddy, you gave them to me. Daddy, you gave them
to me. Daddy, you gave them to me. For
some of you, I'll let you in on this. This is a family affair. This is a family affair. From the epitome of heaven right
down here to this mess that we have to deal with every day,
heaven has opened up and let you know you were never, ever
an accident or insignificant. Did you get that? Did you get
it? Did you get it? You were never, ever an accident
or insignificant. And the implications are just
staggering. For me, they're staggering, because I understand how theologians
work, and I understand how Christians work, and I understand the questions
that some of y'all might even be raising on an ontological
level, on a level of eschatological things and implications about
eternity. That's all right. I don't care. Let me help you
understand. Before you were the sons, you
were the daddies. Daddy gave you to the son. That's the only reason you're
in him. And the son says it twice. He not only says it in verse
six, as he opens up making his appeal for the apostles, which
are in our historical context, the primary ones he's talking
about, but they are a micro pattern for us. Are they not? Look at
verse nine, look at verse nine. This is how he says it over in
verse nine. I pray for them. I need a high priest praying
for me. I do not pray for the world. I do not pray for the world,
but for, listen to me, those whom you have given me. Now watch how he closes it. Uh,
uh, uh, uh, uh. Because they're yours, Father.
They're yours, Father. They're yours. They're yours. So what I've taught years ago
around the economical nature of the Trinitarian persons is
that When you look at the relationship between the Father and the Son
and the Holy Ghost, what it amounts to is perfect love, perfect union,
perfect obedience, perfect correspondence, perfect reciprocation, perfect
adoration, perfect commitment one towards the other. The Son
loves everything about the Daddy. and the daddy loves everything
about the son and the holy ghost is jazzed to let us in on this
perfect relationship of which john calls love god is what that's
right and it's being revealed to you right here within the
exclusivity of god's sovereign will and his electing love to
his people is being revealed to you right now. The portals
are being opened and you are seeing God's sovereign will revealed
to you in the Father and in the Son and by the Holy Ghost of
God's electing love to you. You guys got that? Now, if being
in Christ is a pillow, being in the Father first ought to
add a whole bunch of feathers to that pillow. Am I making some
sense? If being in Christ is a comforter,
then being in the father first ought to be a big old California
king-size bed. And you will need it in the day
of your calamity when your middle name comes up and the second
hyphenated middle name comes up and you remember that you
were the fathers before you were the sons. And when you think
about what that means in terms of two persons loving you the
way they did. Crazy! Crazy! And so under our first point,
they, the spirit through the son to the father is simply an
indication saying that when you address John 17, six and John
17, nine, you are privileged to enter in by the work of the
spirit through the mediation of the son, obtaining what the
father has for you. You guys got that? So sub point
eight says, and the spirit and the son wants you to know it.
Everything I'm talking to you about, the spirit wants you to
know, is that true? Everything I'm talking to you about the
son wants you to know now if Jesus wants you to know it you
better know it If if Jesus wants you to know how he talks to the
father For you and about you you ought to want to know it
and as our men are learning in our leadership class This is
the very reason for which he gave you faith Your faith is
to be plugged into one thing You are prevailing high priest
and mediator who is the mediator of all of the covenant blessings.
The covenant blessings are yours in Christ. Are you hearing me?
And they are only poured out through Christ. And they will
only avail you to the degree that you have an interest in
what Christ is for you as your mediator. You guys got that?
You guys got that? And so for today, all you and
I want to do is just be land blasted, laid back, overwhelmed
by the fact that this whole thing started with the Father. Subpoint
B, C and D is quick. Your election is rooted in whom? Saints, those of you who know
theology, you understand your Bible well, are we not talking about
the doctrine of election? Are we not talking about the fact
that you and I have been chosen in Christ? Is that what we're
talking about? Right. We're talking about the
glorious doctrine of election, which the vast majority of the
world despises. And I don't know how church folk
despise it, but I got a feeling that they despise it because
they don't understand it. How can you despise the revelation
of a loving father who is radically intentional and profoundly and
intimately involved in your life when your life on its own merits
is nothing but a mess? I'm gonna talk to you about that
next week. How you have a lovely mediator who's standing in the
gap for a mess. But that mess was the father's
before it was the son's. Can you get with that? That you
were a mess in God and then God took that mess and gave it to
his son. This is why he loves the son the way he loves the
son. This is why he loves the son the way he loves the son.
Because if the Father had given you to me as a mess, I'd have
given you to somebody else. This is amazing love. And the only reason you're not
falling back in your seat is because you don't realize how
horribly sinful and intrinsically unacceptable you are to God.
But God made a way. Did he make a way? God made a
way. Did he make a way? God made a way. He made a way. And the way that he made is Christ.
And that way is glorious. And it's aim and end I don't
have time to talk about. It's almost blasphemous. It's
almost heretical. But that's the nature of the
gospel. It's a scandal, isn't it? It's almost heretical. It's
scandalous because God had you in mind. You know all the years we lived.
and clowned on this earth and told God stuff up and didn't
even give him credit for bringing it. Did we mess it up? We act like we did not need God. We didn't need his air. Cut it
off for just 10 seconds, God, and show these people how much
they need your air. And he still had us bound up
in the bosom of life in Christ. Our election is rooted in the
Father. Never forget it. 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 verse 30. This is the only verse I'm going
to go to. And it's going to explore for us just briefly on the side
of the proposition. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30, where
the Apostle Paul fully grasps, and we'll see this next week,
he fully grasps the origin and root and foundation and grounds
of our election. You are not electing Christ because
you chose him. You are not electing Christ because
of something you did, good or bad. You are not electing Christ
because of your mama, or your daddy, or your church, or your
denomination, or your creeds, or your intelligence, or your
stupidity. You are only in Christ because
God the Father put you there. Did you get that? 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 verse 30 part A. But of God are you in Christ. Do you see it? Circle it. See,
this is what we call expository teaching. Do you read your Bible?
You don't see this stuff. Now you see it, don't you? But
I love that contrasting conjunction, because God has to put butts
in front of us all the time, doesn't he? Stop us in our track,
put the bumper, the road stops in the middle of the road. Slow
down, brother. Check this out. The only reason you're in Christ
is because the Father put you there. Now shout hallelujah. See it? But of him are you in
Christ. Do you see it? That's all I want
you to hold on to now. We'll come back there later.
Your election is rooted in the Father. What this means, child
of God, is that this was not an inanimate, abstract, non-personal
decision or happenstance. This was the very loving act
of your Heavenly Father, who is the highest authority and
wisdom in the universe. Is that true? Sub point C, your
election is confirmed where? In the Son. 2nd Corinthians chapter
1 verse 20. We quote it all the time, but
I want you to see it now as we are now contemplating what our
high priest says About us and the Holy Ghost has pulled back
the curtains just to let us enjoy it Here is what you and I want
to regard one more time. Are we there? Listen to this
shout of God for all the promises of God Now stay right there for
a moment. You got to get this because you
jump pass it if we maintain the framework theologically the distinction
between the three persons whose are the promises first the fathers
is that what it's saying all the promises of the father all
of them not some of them you know what that means God has
entrusted into the hand of Christ everything now this is an amazing
thought I love my boys got two of them and they got a lot coming
but they ain't got everything coming But with God the Father,
He has placed all of His desires, all of His purposes, all of His
plan, all of His will, all of His covenants, all of His desires,
all of His delights in the hand of His Son. If you're going to
get any of the promises of God, you're going to have to get them
through who? Jesus. Now watch this now. For all the promises
of God in Him are what? God always says yes to Christ. Always. Now, by inference, what
this means is Christ has done something to delight the Father.
Is that true? Christ has done something to so delight the Father
that the Father says yes to Jesus all the time. Now, don't you
want a mediator? Don't you want a high priest?
Don't you want a go-between? Don't you want somebody standing
in the gap for you, having your interest in view, that every
time they go to the Father, the Father says what? Yes! Stay there. All the promises
of God in him are yes, and in him, amen. That's a Hebrew double
idiom. That's all. God has sentenced
it. Yes and amen. Watch this now. I want you to
see this last line, because this is going to actually cause some
of you to stumble, but it is absolutely glorious. I'm thankful
for it. Here it is. Unto the glory of
God. Do you see it? See, this is all
about the glory of God. All about the glory of God. by
us. We're stupid, Lord. We're so
stupid. The Father has said yes to Christ
so that his glory might be manifested through Christ by us. Do you see it? That's why the
Holy Ghost has pulled the veil back and said, brothers and sisters,
listen to what your high priest says to the Father about you.
Do you get that? Some point B, Your election is
rooted in the Father. Subpoint C, your election is
what? Confirmed in the Son. You know what God did? He made
sure you were all right by placing all of His purposes in your elder
brother, the Lord Jesus. You guys got that? Do you guys
get that? This is absolutely astounding.
And subpoint D, finally, your election is what? Affirmed by
faith in Christ. Do you see that? So for those
of you who think expository, get it. The Holy Ghost wants
you to know this, that all of the promises of God for you are
rooted in the Father. He wants you to know that your
election and therefore the purposes of God for you in election are
confirmed in the Son. That's where you can find your
comfort, that it's all going to work out. But thirdly, your
election is what? Affirmed by faith in Christ. Stop right there. Here's what
this means. Everything that some of us are
getting excited about right now are only a reality if faith is
in your heart. It's only a reality if faith
is in your heart. If faith towards Christ, if faith
in Christ, if faith by God in Christ is not in your heart,
you guys are window shopping with us. We're in the store trying
on the clothes you on the outside of the window looking in because
the only way you can enter into these promises is by believing
Christ do you guys get that by faith in Christ and this is the
work that the Savior is going to augment next week he strengthened
his argument to the father in John 17 this way going back to
John 17 I want to show you what he does with this proposition
in John 17 verse 8 6 part D. Here's what he says. Here's what he says. This is
this is amazing to me He says I'm gonna stop back at verse
16 verse verse 5 of John 17 verse 5 starting here and now Oh father
glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had
with you before the world began I was I have manifested your
name unto the men which you have gave me you see it I Now, we
can easily raise the question, and some of you will be challenged,
what name is it that Christ has manifested to these men? You
think about it. And then he quickly says, Father,
thine they were, and you gave them to me. And watch this now,
they have what? Kept your word. You see it? They
have kept your words. Verse 7, now they have known
that all things whatsoever you have given to me are of thee. They have known that everything
that you have given to me are of thee. We're getting some insight
right now into the nature and character of the faith that was
given to these apostles as they walked with their master. Men,
remember what I said to you yesterday? Mentorship is getting inside
your head and rearranging your thoughts and bringing you into
the clarity of the objective of your thinking. A mentor makes
men into their own image. And Christ is the image of the
invisible God. And he is the mentor of every
believer. And the reason why the apostles,
at last, were able to do the will of God is because of the
effectual work of the Spirit of God through the ministry of
Christ, bringing those men and women to believe, believe what
he said. Listen to the next verse. Not
only have they known that all things whatsoever you've given
me are of thee, we don't even know that. Our faith sometimes
is so uninformed, we don't even know that. Is that true? We don't
know that Christ has received everything from the Father, because
we don't often have an interest in the Word of God at that level.
Our faith is so weak, it's so penurous, it's so flawed, it's
so shallow, because we don't go in deep enough to know the
riches that are in Christ that are ours. Verse eight, here it
is, verse eight. For I have given unto them the
words which you gave unto me, and they have what? Is that the
evidence of faith? Is that the evidence of faith?
Listen to it. And they have received them,
and they have known surely that I came out from you. And they
have what? Believed that you did sin me. What a remarkable, remarkable
commendation. But the commendation, first and
foremost, is about the effectual work of our mediator in the life
of the apostles. And secondarily, it's an affirmation
that they actually believed him. You guys got that? We will work
that out more fully next week. But watch this, saints, just
to give you a little comfort. The 11 men that he's praying for
right now, the 11 men, they're just like you and me. Down here
on the ground, See, I probably wouldn't have hung out with the
dudes in the apostles group that had the crazy names. Because
I got to think about crazy names. I can get with John, I can get
with Peter, I can get with James. But some of the other crazy names,
I couldn't have hung out with them. But they were God's precious
apostles. And what you and I are hearing
about them through their mediator is that they had a faith that
brought them all the way to the end. Do you guys see that? They
had a faith that kept them all the way to the end. And God is
pleased to let us know how saving faith works. And we'll be able
to look at that more fully. My point is, unless you believe
on Christ, nothing of what we're talking about even really matters. Point number two, point number
two, the wisdom of the father's choice to place us in his son.
Saints, when I thought about this, I said, Lord, what do you
mean when you tell us that all of your purposes for all of your
people for all eternity was the consequence of one act on the
part of the Father? What are you telling us? What
are you telling us when you tell us that you placed us in Christ
and left it alone? What are you who are the infinite,
all-wise, all-sovereign, all-mighty, all-powerful, all-knowing God? Which means, I'm gonna work this
out with you right now, just work it out in my own mind, I'm
thinking. So, now because God is all-wise, He's infinitely
knowledgeable, He has infinite possibilities and options by
which He could do anything. Is that true? Infinite possibilities
and options by which He would do anything He wants to. Like,
you and I are constrained by our ignorance, you and I are
constrained by our humanity, we're constrained by a lot of
things. God's not constrained by anything. He knows all things,
He sees all things, He himself within the framework of his own
nature and character can do anything he wants to. Will you think about
this for a moment? A God that could have done it
any kind of way he wanted to only chose one way to do it. Are you guys staggered with me?
He chose only one way to do it. He says, here is how. I will
achieve my goal with my knucklehead saints. Think about this. Thine, that's the father. You
guys got that? They, that's the knucklehead
saints. That's the crazy saints. That's
the silly saints. That's the foolish saints. That's
the sinful saints. That's the weak saints. That's
the doubting saints. That's the unbelieving saints.
That's the vacillating saints. That's the people of God tossed
to and fro, saying yes and no, and doing it this way and that
way. I'm talking about all us. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? I'm talking about all of us. All of us with all that
mess typified in the apostles. whom God is a microcosm in Christ
is showing us how Christ kept them. Did he keep them? Did he
keep them? Did he keep those knuckleheads?
Were they knuckleheads? But they were the father's first.
And the father said, you know what? I'm going to solve this
problem. Out of all of the infinite possibilities in the universe
and beyond, in eternity past, in the scope of time, in eternity
future, there is no better way for me to achieve my goal. of
having a people for myself, to the praise of the glory of my
grace, than to do one thing, place them in Christ." Boom! Done deal. Done deal. Done deal. Done deal. Done deal. You guys with me? Done deal.
And this is what Paul means about the simplicity of the gospel.
He says the singularity of the gospel is this, that the Father
solved all of our hell-bound problems. All of our personal
problems, all of our psychological, emotional, pragmatic, monetary,
domestic problems, all of our crazy problems were solved by
one act. One act. One act. Again, again, I'm just talking
from the top of my head. So many things just started hitting
me about who God is and His love. This act that I'm talking about,
this one act, is the central epitome of God's love for you. Do you know how God loved you,
child of God? He said, here, son. That's it. Here, son. That's how God loved
you. Did you get it? That's how he
loved you. And if he doesn't do that, he
doesn't love you. Because none of your problems
get solved, but by this one magnanimous act. Did you get that? One act
solves all your problems. And this is crazy. It solves
all of God's problems with us. Because see, we are God's problem. I got about 10 more minutes with
you. Some of you will get it. Some of you guys will be ready
to partake of the Lord's table with me and be so happy because
you're going to see in the emblems of the bread and the wine everything
I'm talking about. Everything that I'm talking about. This
infinite being called God, who is the quintessential essence
of love. demonstrated by one act, the
securing for all eternity, everything that pertains to me when he placed
me in his Son. See now, every time you think
about being in Christ, this is just going to exponentially enlarge
your affections towards the Father. Is this true? exponentially enlarge
your affections toward the Father. I'll talk about more of that
as I get to my third point. I just want you to get it. God
help us get it. Help us get it. And again, when
I think about people who play down the doctrine of election,
they distort it, oppose it, or any wise diminish this doctrine
of God's electing love in Christ, I'm sure that they are blind
to the sublime nature of love exhibited in what I call the
inner Trinitarian relationship, the inner Trinitarian relationship,
the love of the Father, the love of the Son, the love of the Holy
Ghost, the love that they had for each other, the love that
they demonstrated towards each other in obedience to each other
and in loving reciprocation to each other, the love of the family
of the triune God. Are you hearing me? That love
have as its tangible object You and me. You guys getting that? The perfections of the Father's
love for us, the perfections of the Son's love to us, and
the infinite pouring out and perfections and effectual working
of the Spirit's love in us. You got it? This is what is meant
by John when he says God is love. And again, these have implications
that reach so deep, so deep. But God is not ashamed, nor is
the Son of God, nor is the Holy Ghost to call us his children. Is that wild or what? Those of
us who act most of the time like the children of the devil, Is that true? God calls us sons of God. Isn't
that what the text says? Beloved, it does not yet appear
what we shall be. Is that true? It doesn't appear
that way right now. Somebody has to have a vital
interest in Christ and a knowledge of God's word to be persuaded
that you are a son of God. They look at us and they follow
us, they go, uh, uh, uh. Don't, I don't see it. And what
you say is John said you wouldn't see it. It does not yet appear. Is this good? Is this good? Is
this good? Stay right there. I know what I'm doing. I know
what I'm doing. I know exactly what I'm doing.
And this is only for people whose hearts aren't hardened. This
is only for people who God has opened the portal to show you
His glory. This is the only place you rejoice.
You don't rejoice anywhere else but in this. This is the thing
you rejoice in. Our elders said rejoice in the
Lord. This is what I'm talking about. You don't rejoice in your
feelings, your circumstances, your frame. You rejoice in this,
that the Father owned you and placed you in Christ. and solved
all your problems in him. I swear you rejoice. That's where
you rejoice. Because the hell that's coming
tomorrow, doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter what it
is, so long as God doesn't give you some crazy disease like Alzheimer's
and dementia where you forget. But right now, while you're listening
to me, here's the joy that you have. I don't care if I forget,
long as God don't forget, I'm good to go. I'm good to go. Is that true? Is that true? It
wasn't. And God ain't forgetting. Is
he forgetting? No. His mercies are everlasting.
God's promises are yes. He never says no in Christ, right?
So when I get crazy and forget God, forget you, forget myself. I've got a God who secured my
eternal destiny in Jesus Christ. Let me move to my third point.
So what we are seeing in our second point, the wisdom of the
Father's choice to place us in the Son is rooted in His expressed
and explicit statement in Matthew 3, 17. This is my beloved Son
in whom I am what? You guys see the connection now,
right? The honor and delight of obligating us to Christ. Isn't
that crazy? And then as I stated already, and I'm going to develop
this more fully next week, the personal privilege of the Son
to do it. The personal privilege of the Son to do it. Father,
you gave them to me. You gave them to me. Do you understand
how it feels when your father gives you something to do for
him? Can you see that? Can you see
the celebration of Christ towards his father? for having placed
all of his elect from the beginning of time to the end of the world,
from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, every one of his
knucklehead elect, every one of us, every one of us, to place
us in Christ. And the son said, Father, you
gave them to me. And the sense of responsibility
on Jesus' part, that responsibility has, as its overshadow, as its
buoy, this. His father gave them to him.
The love of the son towards the father was such that the son
delighted to do his will. Delighted to do his will. He came delighting to do his
will. Many implications. I'll deal
with it next week. Because the assignment that the
father gave to the son was not without an enormous amount of
trouble. Just because it was you, Arthur.
It was just you. The moment the father placed
you in the hands of his son, the son had all kind of trouble
to deal with. You understand that? As soon
as he placed you, Arthur, in his head, as soon as the son
said yes and he started descending from heaven, hell was coming
after him. As soon as he was incarnate in
the womb of that blessed virgin Mary, all hell was coming after
Arthur in Christ. That brother had a task to fulfill
from glory to glory to get here, to leave and get back safely.
All because he loved his father and he loved you. Are you guys
hearing what I'm saying? Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? This is so very important. So very important. It's a massive
work that I don't have time to unpack today. You can say thank
you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you. Especially for those
of us who can't handle but 30 minute sermons. Point number three. The glory
of the Father towards us is sealed in Christ. It's almost redundant,
it's not. Three things I want you to get
out of this, three set points I want you to get out of this,
because again, these are layers I want to unpack as we move from
the Father to the Son next week. For the believer who can grasp
this, what I'm talking to you today about, all glory belongs
to the Father. For the believer who can grasp
what I'm talking about, Your job being informed by this gospel
truth is to give all glory to the Father. Right now, your heart
should be bursting with joy. Is it? It should be bursting
with absolute joy. And the primary, not exclusive,
but the primary object of your affections and thoughts right
now is your daddy. Is your daddy. You should know
that he is the beginning and grounds of all glory. He's called the Father of Glory. Is that right? Ephesians 1.17.
Pull it up. I want them to see it. He's called
the Father of Glory. He's called the Father of Glory. You guys got that? Here's what Paul wants you to
get out of this. And this is the impact I'm trusting
the Spirit of God is making right now. Watch this. I'm praying
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ Next line. The Father
of glory. Got it? All glory resides in
the Father. All of it. All of it. All of it. All of it. That's the way we are to think.
If I had time, I'd show you your mediator talks like that. All
things that I have, Father, are from you. I have taken that which
you have given me and I have given it to them crazy He is
called the father of glory That he may give unto you the spirit
of wisdom in the revelation of the knowledge of who Christ Because
Christ is the key Has he given you that spirit today? Are you
guys are you guys seeing it operate right now in your heart as our
understanding is being enlarged and around the transaction of
the triune Godhead, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, the Father giving
us to the Son, the Holy Ghost letting us know it, and the massive
implications that fall out from that. This is what he wants us
to do every time we come together. Contemplate the bits of God,
the depths of God. There is nothing more important
than for you to know who God is. That's verse 3 of John 17. And this is eternal life. That
they might what? Know you. Are we getting to know
God a little bit better today? Are we getting to know the Father
a little bit better today? A little bit better today. He's
called the Father of glory. Quickly then, do you know who
the Son is called? What the Son is called? He's
called the Lord of glory. He's called the Lord of glory.
That is first Corinthians chapter 2 verse 8. So the father is the
father of glory He is the origin of glory. He's the grounds and
being of glory, but Christ is the Lord of glory Do you know
what that means? He possesses the father's glory
Intrinsic to himself and he dispatches it in everything that's made
He possesses the Father's glory intrinsic to Himself as being
very God of very God, but as the mediator of God's glory,
He dispatches the Father's glory everywhere. Am I making some
sense? There is no knowing the Father's glory apart from the
Son, who is the quintessential glory of God. He is the Lord
of glory. He is the exact and precise representation
of His Father, and as such, He emanates the glory of God in
everything. Y'all got that? Boom, boom, boom,
revelations. Now watch this. I'm gonna share
with you one more point on this. I'll go to my last point and
I quit, I promise. You will never see the glory of God, which is
in Christ, that emanating glory that encompasses and fills everything,
unless the Holy Ghost, who is called the Spirit of glory, remove
the veil from your eyes. You won't see it. You will not
see His glory until the Spirit removes the veil. Stay with me
now. Stay with me. This here is the most sensitive part. That's
our third message. When I get to the third person, this is
the most sensitive part. You can see conceptually ideas
about God's glory. But until you actually see His
glory, nothing changes. Do you hear me? Nothing changes
you intellectually because you're created in God's image. You can
intellectually surmise ideas about God's glory Nothing changes
until the Spirit of God removes the veil and the glory of God
penetrate your mind and your heart and your being and bring
you into a saving revelation of God in Christ, that's second
Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6 and That's 2 Corinthians 4, verse
6. You see, when John said, in John 1, verse 14, and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the what? Not
everyone beheld it. Not everyone beheld it. Judas
rolled with them for three and a half years. And the glory of
God was right there in his face in proximity, closer than any
human being could be. And he missed it. And here's
the evidence. When you miss it, something will
come along for which you will trade it in because you presumed
you saw it. When in fact the matter, it was
still veiled. Remember what our master said
in John 17, all things that are yours are mine. And I have shown
them who you are. And I have given them the words
you have given me. And they have known that I came
out from you and return again to you because they are yours. Are you guys hearing me? Are
you hearing me? This matter of the revelatory
work of the Spirit of God is merely the pulling back of the
veil so that we actually see Christ in His glory. And the
impact of that revelation is supposed to compel you to seek
Christ. Are you hearing me? It's supposed
to compel you to seek Christ. Got to milk this just a little
bit longer, especially for some of you younger ones who are right
on the brink. You're right here. You're right here right now.
I know it. You're right here, right now. Pastor, what does
that mean? Here's what this means. When God the Spirit has actually
pulled back the veil, He's tugging on your heart to come in. Come
into the revelations of Christ. And what that's going to feel
like experientially is a sense of, on the inside, you simply
abandoned everything for that. Everything for that. That in
that moment for you, This is the most important thing in my
life. Nothing else matters. Nothing
else matters but knowing Him. I see now that God has given
a door. This door is open. I see His glory. Something is
compelling me to go in. Are you ready? Go in! Go in! Are you with me? Go in! Go in! And what it looks like pragmatically
is every day you get up with Jesus on your mind as the highest thought of all
your thoughts, as the sweetest among 10,000, as the lily of
the valley, as the bright and morning star, as the rose of
Sharon, all that he is. is what you are supposed to be
highly esteeming every day of your life. That's faith in its
affections towards Christ. Are you hearing me? Are you hearing
me? Not a casual interest in Him. A radical, radical interest
in Him. Radical interest in Him. A sacrificial
interest in Him. A suffering-oriented interest
in Him. are ready to suffer for his namesake,
are ready to be feeling ashamed and ridiculed and ostracized
and told you're crazy, because you're in love with him. Because
faith works by what? You're in love with him. When
you see it, young people, hear me now, because God's saving
young people. He'd love to help you get out
of this crazy mess you're setting yourself up for. Are you setting
yourself up for some crazy mess? Tell them, old people. They're
setting themselves up for some crazy mess. And if God can get
a hold of you early enough, He can save you from a whole lot
of crazy mess. From a whole lot of crazy mess.
Look at me. Look at me. Christ will save
you from a lot of crazy mess. He saved me from a lot of crazy
mess. He got me out of trouble. He
delivered me from iniquity and sin and rebellion and the consequences
of it and put me on a straight path and chained me to his grace. I was a slave of grace by the
mercy of God. And it took away old friends,
bad friends, raggedy friends, unnecessary friends. And it put
good friends in my life and good mentors in my life and good people
in my life. You take the one step into Christ. Lord, come get me. That's what
you do. Because the work of the Holy
Spirit is to reveal this to you. Fourth and final point. An eternal transaction of the
Father and Son disclosed in what? Yeah. It's made known to us.
And it's modeled here in John 17. Again, we'll take this up
next week and show you this. But the curtains are pulled back
and you guys get to see this amazing relationship between
the father and the son. Is it crazy? Now, right now,
this is a monological commentary. Only the son's talking. You hear
me? Only the son's talking. But next
week, I'm gonna take you to places where the father's talking back
to the son. And here's the crazy thing. They talking about us. Some of you will get it. David says, your thoughts towards
me are more than the hairs of my head. I cannot number them
and they are beyond my capacity to even comprehend. Before I
had a being, you thought of me. All of my members were written
down in your book, even before my substance was manifested.
How great are your thoughts towards me, O God. Anybody in the house
with me right now? Is anybody feeling good right
now? Are you feeling good? Are you feeling good? You ought
to feel good. You ought to feel good. See, again, this blows
me away. This blows me away. It blows
me away. an eternal transaction of the
Father disclosed and modeled, three sub-premises, and we'll
have the offering and the Lord's table, a promise between them
both alone. Y'all got that, right? That's
Psalm 7, verse 2. Many of the Psalms in the Scripture
of Galatians, chapter 3, verse 17, plainly says all the promises
were made to one seed, and that seed was Christ. All the promises
were made to one seed, and that seed was Christ. You guys got
that? Secondly, it was a promise made before the world began. Is that crazy? First, Titus chapter
1 verse 1, pull it up, verse 1 and 2. I want to show you something
right here. I want to show you something about this. I'm going
to make a statement about what I am meaning by we were in the
Father before we were in the Son. But listen to the language
that Paul uses around God's eternal purpose of grace. And these are
passages that for those of you who are growing in your knowledge
of God, don't run past these passages. These are the passages
that let you in on the fact that God had purposed things in your
life before you even had a being. Titus chapter 1 verse 1, Paul,
a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to
the what? Faith of God's elect. There go
that ugly word again, elect. And the acknowledging of the
truth. Did I tell you the truth today?
That's the way the gospel works. It tells the truth Watch this
watch this down watch this now and the acknowledging of the
truth which is after godliness verse 2 in hope of what? The preaching of the gospel is
supposed to expand your hope in the very thing for which God
has apprehended you which is eternal life and So your hope
abounds the more you hear the gospel. Has your hope abounded
today? Has it abounded today? Is your hope larger today than
it was when we started? And it's in regards to eternal
life. And again, John 17 3, this is
eternal life. You and I are experiencing eternal
life right now. Are you ready? Here it is. In
hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before
the world began. You got it? Final sub point. A priority of
relationship is what I'm talking about. You guys got that? A priority
of relationship. Do you see that last point? Not
a chronological event. A priority of relationship. If we were the fathers before
the world began, and if before the world began, he placed us
in the son. This is not a matter of a chronological
event. This is a matter of a priority
of relationship. Are you guys hearing what I just
stated? And this is what Christ wants us to know. He wants us
to know that we are bundled up in the bundle of life of the
Lord, so secure that not only are we the sons, but we are the
fathers. Isn't that what he says in John
10? My sheep hear my voice, and I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish, neither shall anyone pluck them out of
my hand. my father, which is greater than
I. And no one will pluck them out
of his hand. We have two enormous hands encompassing
our eternal destiny. Amen.