Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to John chapter 17, John 17. I'd like to look at verses 6
through 8. Now this is from the Lord who is praying as the great high
priest. the one faithful to his people,
loving his people. And in his prayer, in that prayer
unto the Father, he says in verse 6, I have 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."
He's saying, I have manifested, I have rendered apparent thy name, thy character unto
the men which thou gavest me, that you committed unto me. out of the world. There were twelve apostles. Eleven of them were faithful
men by the grace of God. Nothing in them. They were called by the Lord,
taught by the Lord, kept by the Lord, preserved in Christ Jesus. But according to the words of
the Lord, there was one among them that was the devil. Now
that's the Lord's word. Tears, even among the twelve
apostles, there was a tear. And they knew, those eleven,
they knew the Lord. That's what Brother Neal read
a while ago. This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, lovingly,
faithfully. The only true God in Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. And he said, I've manifested
your character, I've manifested you, your attributes unto your
people. There's no knowledge, there's
no knowledge of God, there's no understanding of God without
the Lord giving it. We just don't know. We cannot
know. We cannot perceive. Psalm 22.22
says, I will declare thy name unto thy brethren in the midst
of the congregation. will I praise thee. That's a psalm speaking of our
Lord doing that which He says right here in John 17. I will
declare thy name unto thy brethren, unto your people. So when we
hear the name in reference to the Lord, what we're talking
about is His character. His mercy and grace to His people. I'll be merciful, gracious to
Whomsoever. Psalm 20 verse 1, The Lord hear
thee in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob defend
thee. He said, I have manifested your
character being merciful to them. So the manifestation of Almighty
God is given in particular, according to the words of our Lord, to
those that the Father has given in electing grace. I have manifested,
John 17, 6, thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out
of the world. Again, we're thankful for God's
electing grace. I've manifested thy name. And here's, he's done that. And
here's what they've done. Here's their response. The scripture
says, and they have kept Thy word. I manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, thou gavest them me. And here's what they've done.
They have kept thy word. Now when it says kept, now every
believer, I mean we just went through a letter from the Lord
that obviously, I was telling Brother Neil and Brother Mark
just a minute ago, if we didn't need to hear what that letter
had to say from the Lord, He'd have never written it. He'd have
never sent it. If that letter wasn't needful,
I can tell you this, if Marvin didn't need it, the Lord would
have never given it to me. But I'm telling you, according
to His mercy and His grace, He corrected us. He corrects us
and keeps us. There's a sign of God's love
to His people. He corrects them. But He says
here, now, I've manifested Thy name unto the men, and they've
kept that word. Now, we who are so prone to leave
our first love. He said, they've kept it. They've
guarded it. They've guarded it. Faithfully
struggled with it. You know, as a believer, we had
a class yesterday and we were dealing with some things concerning
creation, the creation of man. And there's some amazing truths
that set forth in God's Word concerning God Almighty said,
let us make man in our image. And He created man in His likeness,
in His form. Now, I'll be the first to admit,
There's some things there I just don't completely understand,
but because I don't understand them doesn't mean they're not
so. It means that God Almighty has set forth that which is truth,
and Lord, let me guard it. Let me guard that word, keep.
They've kept, they have kept thy word. And then the scripture
says, now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast
given me are of thee. They have known. They soon, they'll
forsake Him. He's getting ready to go to the
cross. They're going to forsake Him. But, love covers. His love for His people covers
their guilt. That was the thing that I noticed
in this prayer. They would They would soon forsake
him. They're going to flee. When he's
crucified, they're going to flee. And he said, I gave them your
word. They've kept it. He never brought it up. Isn't
that a sign of love? You just don't bring up a fault. Cover each other's faults. Don't
magnify them. Don't bring them up. I know we
all have shortcomings and failings. You know, let's cover each other,
defend each other, pray for one another. All these words that
he had spoken, all the works that he had done as a mediator,
They were spoken by the Lord from the Father. They've known
that all things whatsoever Thou has given me are of Thee. So he said, this is what he did.
I manifested Thy name unto the men that Thou gavest me out of
the world. And He said they kept it. They
guarded those words. We love God's Word. We love the
Lord's promises. And they've known. They are sure. They understand by a revelation
from Me that all things whatsoever Thou has given Me are of Thee. Then verse 8, last verse that
we'll deal with this morning. He says, for I have given unto
them the words which thou gavest me. They have received them and
have known surely that I came out from thee. They have believed
that thou didst send me. Now, that last verse right there
has some amazing truth. set forth. He says, I have given
unto them the words which thou gavest me. Now that given there,
it means I have committed to them. I have granted, I have
bestowed to them. You might ask, well what's the
difference between I have manifested thy name, in verse 7, and then
I have given unto them the words that thou gavest me." The word
manifest, there in verse 6, I've manifested, I've rendered it
apparent. I've rendered it apparent. Remember
the other day when we were talking about the difference between
the devil's belief and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And
those two words I told you are the same. The devils believe,
look up the word. The devils believe and believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. What's the difference? It's right
here. Here it is right here. I have
manifested thy name unto the men that thou gavest me. I've manifested. I have rendered
apparent Now, there is an apparent rendering of truth that every
believer does have, but demons have too. There's an understanding. It's rendered apparent unto a
demon that God is God. He knows that. And he knows of
his power, but oh, verse 8, I've given unto them the words that
thou gavest me, I've committed it to them. I've given them a
heart for it. There's the difference. I have
manifested thy name, I've given them the words. Verse 7 sets
forth a rendering of something apparent. Verse 8 says I've committed
it to them. I've done something for them
that they could not do for themselves. I've given them ears to hear.
I've given my heart to believe. I've given my eyes to see God's
glory. And here's the reaction to it
in verse 8. Verse 8, like I said, this is
a wonderful verse of God's mercy. I've given, I've committed unto
them the words that thou gavest me. They have received them. That word received, again, a
lot of times we'll see words and we don't understand exactly
what they mean. They have received They've gotten a hold of. They've
gotten a hold of. Now I'm going to read you a verse
in just a second here before we close that talks about receiving
something that's just offered. The word here received doesn't
mean something was offered to you and then you took it. It's
a receiving means something that's put there. They've received it.
The only thing that just came into my mind, if I'd take an
arrow, a bow and arrow, and I would shoot it into a target, That
target received that arrow. It just went into it. It received
it. It took it. It wasn't something
offered. It didn't offer it. I just shot
the arrow into it. It received it. That's something
it's gotten a hold of. I have given unto them. They have received it. They've
known surely. There's a word received and it's
a word that means it was given. Look at Acts 17.11. Acts 17.11, this is talking about
those that were in Berea. Remember the Bereans, verse 10,
Acts 17.10.11, And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and
Silas by night unto Berea, who coming thither went into the
synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those
in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness
of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were
so. That word received, they received
the word, it means something that was brought to them and
that they were able to hear. It was like a word that was brought
to them. They received it. The word was
sent to them and it doesn't mean the same word back in John where
we're talking about it was put in. Now these were believers. But what they did was the word
was sent to them, they received it, and they received it, the
scripture says, with all readiness of mind, it means lively, briskly. But you know what they did with
it? They searched the scriptures to find out if those things were
so. So it was a word that meant something that was brought to.
And a lot of times people say, would you receive the Lord Jesus
Christ? And what they're saying, they're using a word that's out
of scripture. But they're using it in a wrong
way. The gospel is not an offer. The gospel is not an offer. The
Lord said back in John, He says, I've given unto them, I've committed
unto them, and they received it. Why? Because He put it there. He gave them a new heart. I put
a new heart in you. He doesn't ask His people, would
you like a new heart? He just puts it there. I've given
you a new heart. You know, I'm going to give you
a new heart, a new spirit. They received it. I have given
unto them the words that thou gavest me. They have received
them. And they have known surely that
I came out from thee. They have believed that thou
didst send me. They have entrusted themselves. I've used that illustration. I won't do it again. But remember
I told you, I said, I believe that chair right there will hold
me up. Devils believe that like that. They believe, you know,
but when I sit in it, I've entrusted myself to it. There's the difference. It's a difference in the work
of God within a believer. I have given unto them the words
that thou gavest me. They have received them and have
known surely that I came out from thee. And they have believed
that thou didst send me. These blessed words of comfort,
peace from our Lord, in praying unto His Father in the Spirit
of God, allowing us to hear what He has done for us. A believer
reads these words with comfort and thinking, but for the grace
of God, where would I be? I'm so thankful. He didn't offer
me anything. By grace and by mercy, he said,
I've given unto them. I've committed unto them. And
they received them because I put them there. And they've known
with assuredness. And they believe by entrusting
what we do in response to what he has done for us. That's the
evidence of the grace of God. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for Christ