We turn tonight for our text
to words that are found in the 17th chapter in the Gospel according
to Saint John. John 17, and I'll read verse
3. John 17, 3. And this is life
eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." And in particular, those
words that we have at the end of the verse, Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. Here is our text, and here is
the theme that I want to try to address with the Lord's help,
to say something with regards to Jesus Christ. whom thou hast
sent." It's the Lord Jesus himself, of course, who is speaking the
words. It's a familiar chapter, I'm
sure, the great high priestly prayer. In the previous chapters
we see the Lord Jesus addressing himself to his disciples, what
we call those valedictory discourses. His final sermon, as it were,
recorded in chapters 14 15 and 16 so the Lord speaks to his
disciples and then turning from them we're told these words by
Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said father he
turns from addressing his disciples and now begins to address his
father in heaven and it is quite remarkable prayer that we have
recorded throughout the chapter, the high priestly prayer of the
Lord Jesus. And here in this third verse
he speaks of the knowledge of God, this is life eternal, that
they might know, they, the only true God and Jesus Christ, will
know a sense, the knowledge of God, and yet there is a sense
in which the knowledge of God is something that is completely
and utterly beyond us. You think of the words that we
have back in Job 11. Canst thou by searching find
out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? It is high as heaven, deeper
than hell. The measure thereof is longer
than the earth, and broader than the seas. God is the Infinite
One. God is the eternal one. And we
are poor, feeble creatures of the day. We experience all the
limitations of this mortal life. We only know time and space. How can we begin to know that
glorious person who is the only living and true God, the one
who dwells in eternity the immensity that is God Paul says of him
who only hath immortality dwelling in light to which no man can
approach whom no man hath seen neither can see in another sense
in which we have to recognize that it's beyond us really to
know God and yet It is a truth that God is to be known and man
was made to know God. Man was made to know God. He was made in God's image. He
was created after God's likeness. And we see in the opening chapters
of Holy Scripture that fellowship that was between the God and
his creature. And God would come into the garden
there in the cool of the sky. and commune with his man God is to be known and God has
made man to know him the Lord has made all things for himself
says the wise man he's made all things for himself and we think
often times I'm sure of those words of the great church father
Augustine of Hippo that was made us for thyself and our souls
are restless till they find their rest in the earth. Men can find
nothing really to satisfy them in the vanities of this world
and how King Solomon, one of the wisest of men that ever lived
on the face of the earth was brought to recognize that. As
we see there in the book of Ecclesiastes, he pronounces that everything
is vanity. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. Where can man find any true satisfaction? It's only to be found in God
Himself. We think of the opening question
in the Westminster Confession. What is the chief end of man?
And man's chief end in the answer is to glorify God and to enjoy
Him forever. or that's where man will find
true enjoyment the people of the world they think they can
find satisfaction in all the passing things of the world all
that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of
the eyes and the pride of life and the world at its last it's
all passing away there's no satisfaction in the things of this world there's
only through happiness in the knowledge of that God who has
made us and yet are we not time and again confronted by a complete
and utter inability to really know God our innate weakness,
we are creatures and He is the Creator and He is the Eternal
God altogether above our understanding and of course it's not only a
matter of God being the creator and us being the creature there's
also the fact that we are sinful creatures we are those who are in great
ignorance Paul speaks of the Gentiles having the understanding
darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the
ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their hearts.
These statements in Scripture, they all seem to stand against
us. How is it possible for us to
know this God? We cannot begin to comprehend Him. One of the Puritans says, we
apprehend him but we do not comprehend him we apprehend him but we do
not comprehend him we can't grasp really all that he is we read
those words didn't we in the opening chapter of the gospel
the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehendeth
it not our poor sin benighted minds cannot comprehend this
great God even when the light shines and yet here as he prays
the Lord Jesus utters the words of the text and he says to his
father this is life eternal that they might know thee the only
true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent and the one who
is praying these words is the Amen the faithful and the true
witness and so evidently God is to be known God is to be known, although
that knowledge seems to be beyond us. How is this God to be known? We can only know Him in the person
and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why I come
to the words that we have here at the end of the verse. This
one who is praying and speaking in the prayer and declares Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent he
is the image of the invisible God no man has seen God at any
time the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father
he hath declared him and God has sent him oh that's the wonder
and Christ here of course we see him as a very real man he's
in prayer And as a man, did he not live the life of faith here
upon the earth? He would spend all nights in
prayer to his Father in heaven. And how we see him here, what
a pattern of prayer. How he instructs his disciples
that when they pray, they say, Our Father, which art in heaven. And this preacher practices what
he preaches. These words by Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father. Oh, as a man how he looked to
his Father in heaven and how in the prayer he is repeatedly
addressing his Father. Verse 5, And now, O Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was." Again at verse 11 he says, Holy Father,
keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me that
they may be one as we are one. Verse 21 he says, Father, that they all
may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us. And then again, verse 24, Father,
he says, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with
me where I am, that they may behold my glory. And then, verse
25, O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have
known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me it's interesting
isn't it as we come to the end of the prayer he's still continuing
to pray to the father concerning this knowledge there's a similarity
between what we have in the third verse and what we have there
in verse 25 these have known he says that
thou hast sent me and here in the text This is life eternal,
that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom Thou hast sent. Oh, we see Him then here, and
He is addressing His God and His Father in Heaven. But when we come to the words
of the third verse, we're not to imagine that He is saying
that the Father only is God. He's not saying that the Father
only is God. It is true that when we think
in terms of the Covenant, the Covenant of Grace, the Inter-Trinitarian
Covenant, it is the Father who there represents the Godhead. It is the Father who sends the
Son. It is the Father who anoints the Son with the Spirit. The
Father there is representing all of the Godheads. But we believe in the doctrine of
the Trinity. And we see it stated quite plainly
here in Holy Scripture. The most disputed verse in 1
John 5, 7, there are three that bear record in heaven. The Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And of course, when we first
make a public profession of faith in baptism, there we confess
these gods, the triune gods, because the formula that Christ
teaches his disciples to make use of there in Matthew 28, 19,
is to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Ghost and its name in the singular. It doesn't say in the
names, plural. God has one name because God
is one. Hear O Israel, the Lord our God
is one Lord. And yet that one God subsists
in three persons. or surely here is something we
cannot begin to comprehend how can we know this God? who is
one and yet is three the hymn says where reason fails with
all its powers there faith prevails and love adores we confess him
by faith and we know the reality of the doctrine because we learn
it in salvation We see the electing love of the Father, the redemptive
work of God the Son, the great regenerating work of God the
Holy Spirit, all the persons of the Godhead involved in the
salvation of the sinner, all the three that bear record. It's
the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ. And now, time and again, of course,
we see so clearly, and it's certainly here in John's Gospel, we see
so clearly the truth of the deity of Jesus of Nazareth, that He
is the Christ, that He is the Son of the living God, the Son
of the Father in truth and in love. We beheld His glory, John
says, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth. And remember how John doesn't
only set forth that blessed truth here in the Gospel, but also
in that first general epistle. And in the second epistle also,
those short epistles at the end of the New Testament, Well John
says, whosoever transgresses and abides not in the doctrine
of Christ hath not God. He that abides in the doctrine
of Christ he hath both the Father and the Son. If we deny that
He is the Eternal Son we are denying the Father. How can there
be an Eternal Father except there be an Eternal Son?
neither transgressed, and denieth the doctrine of Christ, he hath
not the Father nor the Son. Oh, he is that One who is the
Eternal Son, eternally begotten. When there were no depths, he
says, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled. Before
the hills was I brought forth, eternally begotten. the eternal
son of the eternal Father, or the one that of the person of
the Lord Jesus. And now we see here in the prayer
something of his equality with the Father. It's amazing, isn't
it? He's a man, he's a real man, and he's in prayer to his Father,
he's living the life of faith, he must pray to his Father. And
yet how he can address the Father? In verse 24 he says, Father,
I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me
for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. Only
he could speak to the Father in that familiar fashion and
say, Father, I will because he is equal to the father
when we come to pray the Lord teaches doesn't he we must say
thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven oh here is one
who is clearly equal to the father and he is
that one in and through whom we come to know God we can have
no knowledge of God savingly apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we know that it does please
God to reveal himself, to make himself known and he makes himself
known certainly in many of his works. He makes himself known
in some measure in the great work of creation. The heavens declare the glory
of God, says the Psalmist. The firmament showeth his handiwork,
day unto day uttereth voice, night unto night showeth knowledge,
and God's line goes out in all the world. What does he reveal
in creation? We see something of his great
power, his majesty, this God who is able to create
all things out of nothing. Oh, the fool says in his heart
there is no God. Where does matter come from? Ask the evolutionists, where
does matter come from? Is matter eternal? Was it always
there? Who made it? It's the fool who
denies God. He reveals himself in his creation. And we're told, aren't we, there
in Romans 1 that God has so revealed himself that men are without
any excuse. That which may be known of God
is manifest in them for God hath showed it unto them. For the
invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen. being understood by the things
that are made, even His eternal power, and His Godhead, and they're
without excuse. The fool says there's no God.
Creation declares God, reveals God, in all His greatness, in
all His glory, and then, as God has worked in creation, so He
works in providence. He has declared, hasn't he, as
long as the earth remaineth, sea time and harvest, cold and
heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. How true it is, you see. We come
now to the evening of the day. In the goodness of God we'll
depart, we trust go in safety to our own homes, retire to our
beds, go to sleep, in anticipation of the dawning of a new day.
We expect tomorrow to come because God has said it in his words.
Seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day
and night, shall not cease. And so we don't worry what foolish
men say about global warming and all those things. We look
higher than men. We look to God. We trust in God. He's a faithful
God. That's what he reveals in his
providential government. And we have the language of that
remarkable 107th Psalm, which speaks so clearly of the providences
of God in the various spheres of our lives. And now the psalmist
comes to a conclusion and says, Whoso is wise and will observe
these things. Are we wise? Or do we observe
God's providences? I know when we're young we're
always looking forward but I'm an old man and now I find I increasingly
tend to look backwards. You look back over your life
and you think how remarkable, how remarkable the providences
of God, the care of God, the kindness of God. Who so is wise
and will observe these things even they shall understand. the
loving kindness of the Lord. Let us be those who are observant
in God's providences. He reveals himself. And so he is to be known. Because he has condescended to
make himself known. But what a favoured people are
we because we have this special revelation that God has given
us. We have his word. We have the Holy Scriptures and the Scriptures of course
all bear testimony to that full and final revelation of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ. What do we see here in Scripture?
We see a God who is gracious and merciful and kind and compassionate. That's what we see in the Holy
Scriptures. We see here that there's salvation for the greatest
of sinners. And it's interesting, isn't it?
In the course of his prayer, the Lord says to the father,
sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Verse 17. All these words, and it all bears
testimony to one person. The Scriptures and the Lord bear
one tremendous name. The written and incarnate word
in all things are the same. When we come to the Bible, is
that what we do? We want to find the Lord Jesus
Christ. We want to see this revelation
that God has given to us in the person and the work of His only
begotten Son. God who at sundry times and in
diverse manners, baked in time, passed unto the fathers by the
prophets. hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,
by whom also he made the world, who being the brightness of his
glory, and the express image of his person. For no man hath
seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is
in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. God is to
be known, God is to be known, This is life eternal, that they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent. All these words then, that we
come to tonight, the end of this verse, Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent. What has God done in sending
His only begotten Son into this world? He so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, when the fullness of the
time was come. God sent His Son, made of a woman,
made under the law to redeem them that were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption of sons. What has God done? Well, as we come to the words
at the end of this third verse, Just two things I want to try
to say a little more about. Here we see the Lord Jesus as
that one who is the source of life. He is the source of all
life. And here we see that he is the
saviour of sinners. And God has sent him. First of all then, the source
of life. And we We have it, don't we,
in the remarkable passage that we read, that opening chapter,
the first part of chapter 1 in this Gospel. All things were
made by Him. He's speaking of the words. He's
John. All things were made by Him.
Without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men. He is the source of our
very natural lives. It's from him that we have our
being. You know, life is a favourite
word with John. He uses the word life many times. Reading through this gospel,
observe, time and again John uses that word. He uses it also
of course in his epistles. He says later, doesn't he, in
chapter 10 and verse 10, I am come that they might have life
and that they might have it more abundantly. He's not just the
source of our natural life, but he has come to give us new life
and spiritual life and eternal life. And that's a remarkable
portion that we find in the final chapter of the first letter of
John. There in 1 John 5 verse 11 the
Apostle says, This is the record that God hath given to us eternal
life and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath
life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God, that she may know that she have eternal life, and
that she may believe on the name of the Son of God." John is writing
these things for a purpose. And of course, he's writing under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It's not just the words of John,
it's the word of God through his servant John. And he tells
us here that he's writing for a purpose. He's writing unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may
know that ye may know that ye have eternal life. And you see
the evidence of this eternal life here is faith in the Son
of God. Oh, can we not examine ourselves
in the light of the Word of God Are we those who are believing
in the Lord Jesus Christ? If we're believing in the Lord
Jesus Christ, truly believing in Him, we have eternal life. This is why He has come. Look at what the Lord says previously
here in the second verse of the prayer. As thou hast given Him,
speaking of the Son, that thou hast given him power over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him." Martin Luther says here, to give
eternal life to others is the work and power of God alone. To give eternal life to others
is the work and power of God alone. And that's what the Lord
Jesus Christ does. He gives eternal life. It's life
eternal. To know Him. Not just to know
about Him. We can fill our heads with that
sort of knowledge. We can know all about Him. But
to know Him in reality, how John knew Him. That which was from
the beginning, he said, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands
have handled of the Word of Life. for the life was manifesting
and we have seen it and bear witness onto it well that's the
knowledge that we have to have that Christ is so real to us
we see him with the eye of faith those who bear the mark of his
sheep we know his voice, we follow him we handle him, we feed upon
him this is the life that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to his
people what a life is this and he can do it because he is the
eternal son of God he has power and authority to give such life
as this oh remember what he says there at the grave of his friend
Lazarus and there are the sisters Mary and Martha grief-stricken
they are, and the Lord addresses Martha, doesn't he? There in
chapter 11 and verse 25, I am the resurrection and the life
is as he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall
he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
die. Believers have this. Of course
believers die physically, but they never die spiritually
they have that eternal life that carries them even through death
because with them it's absent from the body it's present with
the Lord all this life comes from him new life from him we
must receive before for sin we rightly grieve or we must at
the very outset know that Wonder of regeneration, being
born again, of the Spirit of God, born from above. We can
know nothing at all until we're born again. You must be born
again, says the Lord Jesus. A new life we have to receive
from Him and then, oh, we grieve over our sins. We have to look
to Him and trust in Him. He is the source of life. He's
the source of our natural life. He's our Creator. By the Word
of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them
by the breath of His mouth. He is that Word, as we saw there
in the opening chapter, in the beginning was the Word. And the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made
by Him. Without Him was not anything
made that was made, and in Him was life. And the life was the
light of men. He's the source of life but he's
also that one who is sent for a purpose and the great purpose
is salvation, is it not? What do we read here? We read
of the true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. He's addressing
the Father and he speaks of the true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. We can only understand this prayer
when we think in terms of the of the covenant the covenant
of grace because there is an inter-trinitarian covenant the
persons in the godhead father son and holy ghost of covenant
the covenant of peace that is between the both between the
father and the son together with the spirit And it's not surprising
when God creates, there in Genesis chapter 1, He creates simply
by His Word, doesn't He? He spoke and it was done. That's
what it says. He spoke and it was done. God said let there be light and
there was light. But then when we come to the
sixth day and the creation of the man who's going to be made
in God's image and likeness, he doesn't work in that fashion. Rather, there, at the end of
Genesis 1, we have that consultation between the persons in the Godhead.
God speaks to himself. God says, let us make man in
our image after our likeness. Whereas in the creation of the
man, so in the salvation of man as a sinner, there is a consultation
between the persons in the Godhead. And in the outworking of the
covenant of grace, of course, we see clearly how whilst the
Father is there, we might say, representing the Godhead, it
is the Son who becomes the willing servant of the Father. Behold
My servant whom I uphold, Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth.
I have put My Spirit upon him. He is the servant of the Father,
though as the Eternal Son He is equal to the Father, and He
is anointed with the Spirit, He is the Christ, and the Spirit by whom He is anointed is God
the Holy Ghost, the third person. This is the wonder, isn't it,
of the whole plan of salvation, the outworking of that great
covenant. And now the Lord Jesus here in
the prayer is very much praying in terms of that covenant. He says in the text that it is
life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. He's the sent one. He's sent by the Father. He's
the Father's servant. He will do the Father's will.
My meat is to do the will of him that has sent thee, he says,
and to finish his work. I must be about my Father's business. and He is obedient to all the
will of the Father, and obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. And how He prays here. Verse
4 He says, I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. Again at verse 6 He says,
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me
out of the world. He was given a people to save,
to redeem, and what does he do with these people? He manifests
himself to them. He makes himself known to them.
He reveals himself to them. That is part and parcel of his
blessed work. And what is he doing in the prayer?
He's praying for them. Verse 9 he says, I pray for them.
I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given
Me, for they are Thine." Oh, these are the ones that He has
come to save. They are those who were chosen
in Him before the foundation of the world. He is God's first
elect. Mine elect in whom my soul delighteth,
says the Father. And all the elect that are chosen
in Him, they are one with Him. And here he is praying for them.
A very particular prayer. A very particular prayer. Not for the world, he says, but
for them which have given me. He's a priest. He's a praying
priest. He prays for a particular people.
He's going on, isn't he, in the following chapters 18 and 19
to do his work as a sacrificing priest. That's what we read in
the following chapters, his great work of laying down his life for the
sheep. You see, as a priest he has a
particular people, we're particular Baptists. We believe that the
Lord Jesus Christ has actually accomplished salvation for a
particular people. In that sense the atonement is
limited, but it's not really limited, it actually accomplishes
something. It's limited by those who say
that he died for everyone and yet everyone is not saved. Christ's death did nothing for
multitudes because they're lost. No, we say he actually accomplished
salvation. It's the outworking of the covenant. And it's all under the sovereign
hand of God. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth His Son. This is Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons. They receive their adoption,
their eternal adoption. They receive it through the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ as He has come into this world. But
I do, I love the language of the Apostle there in Galatians
4. When the fullness of the time
was come. The fullness of the time. Two definite articles. It is
a certain point in history. It is that that God ordained
from before the foundation of the world, before any creation.
that day of Christ's birth was foreordained, the fullness of
the time God sends forth His Son and as with His coming into
the world, His birth, so also with His dying, so also with
His dying. Oh, what does He say here in
the prayer, right at the beginning of the prayer, Father, the hour
is come the hour is come glorify thy son that thy son also may
glorify thee always going to be glorified in that cruel death
of the cross because he's going to accomplish a great work by
his obedience unto death even the death of the cross he's going
to save a multitude of sinners But that hour is ordained of
God, foreordained from all eternity. And he was aware of that. Back
in Luke 9.51 we're told, when the time was come that he should
be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. When the time was come There
were those times, weren't there, when the Jews would have stoned
him, they accused him of blasphemy. Twice there in, well, in this
Gospel of John, in chapter 7 and verse 30, and again in chapter
8 and verse 20, they would have stoned him, but we're told his
hour was not yet come. His hour was not yet come. He
would die at the appointed time. He had power to lay that life
down. He had power to take that life back. No man could take
that life from Him. He is the Lamb of God, yes, to
take it away, the sin of the world. He's a sacrifice, but
He's also the priest. And as the priest, He lays down
His life. No man takes it from Him. Oh, what a man is this, the one
who was sent. Jesus Christ whom they were sent.
and sent on this mission to save sinners. We're not to think,
you know, that because he's God, he just goes through all of this
and he's like a stoic. He can pass through all of this
on feeling. No, it's not like that at all.
He is often troubled in soul. He's a man and he has a real
soul and he agonizes. And look at the language that
we find him using on another occasion when he prays to his
father. In chapter 12, verse 27, Now is my soul troubled,
he says, And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour,
but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy
Son. Rather, glorify thy Name, he
says there. Glorify thy Name. Then came there
a voice from heaven saying I have both glorified it and will glorify
it again. He's troubled. When we see him
there in the garden of Gethsemane struggling with the will of the
Father. Why his meat is to do the Father's
will. That's his meat and drink, he
does the will of God always. But he has a human will and that
human will must be subject to the divine will. And there in
the garden how he agonises, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. Oh he struggles with his father
in his prayers and he's in an agony. in praying and his sweat
is like drops of blood, his sacred body bathed in bloody sweat. He feels, you see, feels these
things. He's a real man. And yet, he's
never anything less than true Almighty God. Oh yes, we go on in the following
chapters to see him as a sacrificing priest. That's true, that's what
we have in in 18 and 19 but here in chapter 17 we see him very
much as an interceding priest and there he prays I pray for
them I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast
given me for they are thine and then later verse 20 he says neither
pray I for these alone but for them also which shall believe
on me through their words all he prays and of course now having accomplished his priestly
work upon the earth as a sacrificing priest having made one sacrifice
for sins forever he's risen from the dead and he's ascended on
high and he's entered heaven itself and there he ever lives
to intercede God has exalted him the Prince and the Saviour,
to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins.
He's exalted now. He's glorified in heaven. And this man, you see, he has
a wondrous authority. He can give eternal life. because
he's God but he can do more than that he can forgive sins he can
forgive sins and remember there's that incident early in his ministry
recorded there in the second chapter of Mark those men who come with their
friend their paralyzed friend and they want to bring him to
Jesus that the Lord might heal the man. And there's a great
crowd, a great crush, and they're in the house, and it's one of
those flat-roofed houses, and they manage somehow or other
to clamber onto the roof, and they present their friend. And
Jesus saw their fight, it says. And then he turns to the man
who's sick of the palsy and says, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the
scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Why does this
man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
only? And immediately when Jesus perceived
in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto
them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it
easier to say to the sick of the palsy thy sins be forgiven
thee or to say arise and take up thy bed and walk but that
ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive
sins he saith to the sick of the palsy I say unto thee arise
take up thy bed and go thy way into thine house and immediately He arose, took up the bed, and
went forth before them all, insomuch that they were all amazed, and
glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. Or does
He have power to work eternal life in the souls of men? Well, He also has power to forgive
sin. you see in the Lord Jesus Christ
what we see is God and we can only know God in this man no
other way of knowing God in this man we see the full revelation
of God and because he is God he gives
life he is the source of all life and because he is God he
also gives the forgiveness of sins nor the way of knowing God,
no man knoweth the Son but the Father neither knoweth any man
the Father save the Son and he to whom soever the Son will reveal
him or we can only know him the true God through Jesus Christ No man hath seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
He hath declared." We read those words there in John 1.18. We should desire above all things
to know Him. That was Paul's great desire,
wasn't it? That I may know Him. that I may know him and the power
of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made
conformable unto his death what do you want to know? or do you
want this knowledge above every other knowledge you could ever
possess to know that God is? well you can only know God in
Jesus Christ there's no other way and it's life eternal that's
what he says This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Just now we're going to sing
a hymn of Isaac Watts, 1095, and the verse, Till God in human
flesh I serve, my thoughts no comfort find, the holy just and
sacred three are terrors to my mind. we can only know him, you see,
as a saviour God in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh God, grant that such knowledge
might be yours and mine, that we might be those who have a
real, living, vital, saving, experimental knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We delight in him, in his person
and in his work. grant His blessing on His Word.
Amen.