Let us turn to the portion of
Scripture we were reading in the 17th of John, the Gospel
according to St. John, chapter 17, and verse 25. These words at the end of the
prayer of the Lord Jesus, John 17, 25. O righteous Father, the
world hath not known Thee, but I have known Thee. and these
have known that thou hast sent me O righteous father the world
hath not known thee but I have known thee and these have known
that thou hast sent me to say something then with regards to
the knowledge of God the knowledge of God not just to know about
Him to know that there is a God but the importance of that true
saving knowledge these words that we've read occur here in
the last but one verse of the prayer but if you will remember
we see at the beginning of the prayer in Verse 3, the Lord Jesus speaks
of a knowledge of God, which is saving. He says, This is life
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. And it's that same knowledge
that's spoken of in verse 3 that I want us to consider as we turn
to these words really at the end of the prayer. This prayer, this remarkable
prayer, is one that some men in the course
of their ministry have often shied away from it, feeling it
was such holy grounds that they could not really do justice to
the contents of the chapter. prayer, the high priestly prayer
of the Lord Jesus. Comparing it to the tabernacle
in the Old Testament, and of course the tabernacle is a remarkable
type of the Lord Jesus, and there in the tabernacle, besides the
holy place, was also the Holy of Holies. That that was beyond
the second veil, where was the the Ark of the Covenant and the
Mercy Seat the very place where God said He would come and dwell
in the midst of Israel there God would sit enthroned as it
were and it was referred to as the Holy of Holies well some
would say that what we have in John 17 is the Holy of Holies
in the New Testament Scriptures and so no wonder then if some
would shy away from ever attempting to preach from such a portion. I'm not saying that they are
right. God's given us all of His words.
He's given us His chapter amongst all the other chapters that make
up this remarkable Gospel that we call the Fourth Gospel, the
Gospel according to St. John. And it's written for our
learning, for our instruction, And it's not improper that we
should come and examine something of the content of it then. And
it is a remarkable prayer. Previously we see the Lord Jesus,
as it were, in his prophetic office. He's a preacher, he's
a teacher, and I referred to those previous three chapters
before we read this 17th chapter. In chapters 14, 15, and 16 we
have those remarkable discourses. as Christ is instructing his
disciples and speaking of the necessity of him going away because
if he goes not away the Holy Spirit will not come but they
can't understand so much of what he is saying and how dreadful
would be that manner of his departing from the crucifixion he was going
to die but the Lord having addressed the disciples in those previous
chapters now turns from his prophetic office and we see him more especially
now through the remaining part of the gospel in his priestly
office. And here of course we see him
as a praying priest. That's the business of the priest
to make intercessions, to make prayers. And this prayer of the
Lord Jesus is full of petitions. He comes and He prays very much
for Himself. These words make Jesus and lifted
up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
Thy Son, that's His prayer, that's His petition. Glorify Thy Son,
that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. And now He continues, verse
4, I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the work
which thou gavest me to do, and now, O Father, glorify thou me
with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was." How is he going to be glorified? Remarkably,
he's going to be glorified in all the awful terrors of the
cross, his crucifixion. But he's praying that God in
this will glorify him. But he's not just praying for
himself. In the prayer, he prays principally
for his people. He prays for the disciples. Verse
9, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. Verse 12, while I was with them
in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest
may I have kept. and none of them is lost but
the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled."
He's concerned for them and he's praying very much for them but
not just for his disciples. He goes on of course to pray for all the elect really, for the whole church. Verse 20,
neither pray I for these alone, he says, but for them also which
shall believe on me through their words. You see, we see how that
in this prayer he is concerned for a particular people, for
the disciples and for those who also will believe on him through
the preaching of the disciples, the preaching of the apostolic
gospel, he's praying for the elect. And we're thinking here
of Christ in his priestly work, as a priest he prays for the
elect, and then he's going to go on in chapters 18, and 19,
to make the great priestly sacrifice. He is the high priest, but more
than that, he is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. And as he prays for a particular
people, so he is going to make that sacrifice for a particular
people. It's going to be restricted,
limited, to those that the Father has given to him. He's going
to do something whereby he will actually accomplish their salvation. Oh, he says, doesn't he, at the
beginning of his prayer, I have finished the work that they gave
us me to do. It's a finished salvation. It's
an accomplished salvation. As we have it there in Daniel's
prophecy. He has finished the work, made an end of sin, made
reconciliation for iniquity, brought in everlasting righteousness. Not just made salvation something
that is possible for everyone, but something that is sure and
certain for all those that were given to Him by the Father in
that eternal covenant. He prays for a particular people
as he makes a sacrifice for a particular people. And besides the petitions we should
also observe the form of his address to God. He addresses
God as his Father. Father, he says, the opening
word of his prayer when he teaches his disciples to pray, he says,
doesn't he, when you pray, say, Our Father. Oh, he's a real man,
you see, and as a man he addresses God as his Father in Heaven.
And how he goes on to address Him more particularly in verse
11 as Holy Father. Holy Father, he says, keep through
thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may
be one as we are. It's the only time in Scripture
that that name is given to God, Holy Father. And there we see
something of the awful blasphemy, really, of the Bishop of Rome,
that he should call himself the Holy Father. And, of course,
that's the way in which the poor, deluded papists like to speak
of the Pope. They call him the Holy Father.
But it's a name that Christ quite deliberately gives to His Father
in Heaven. And why does He call Him Holy
Father? Well, He's going to go on to pray that His people might
be a sanctified people, a holy people. Verse 17, He says, "...sanctify
them through thy truth, thy word is truth for their sakes I sanctify
myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth
always praying that they might be that people who are truly
a separated people a people separated to God and to the service of
God as he has come to serve the will of his father that they
might be those who are subject to all that holy will of God
who delight in all those holy precepts of the Gospel. He prays for their sanctification. It is written, Be ye holy, for
I am holy, says the Lord God. And Christ prays then that His
people might be holy people. But then here in our text, coming
to the text itself, verse 25, we have the the adjective Righteous Father Righteous Father Holy Father
in verse 11 but now O Righteous Father the world hath not known
thee but I have known thee and these have known that thou hast
sent me now what is the significance of this this name that he uses,
this adjective Righteous Father. Well, He is the Righteous One.
He is the Righteous One. He is that One who, being Righteous,
is true to Himself, true to His Word. Has He not magnified His
Word above all His Name? As the Righteous Father, He is
that One who will fulfil all His promises. As the Righteous
Father, He is that One who will answer. all the prayers of his
people. It's his knowledge of the righteous
God that makes the Lord Jesus so bold in this prayer. It emboldens him, you see, because
he knows that he is dealing with a God who is righteous, a God
who has appointed prayer for his people. And so we will hear
them and answer them. He doesn't mock us, you see.
Or the Lord Jesus himself says men ought always to pray and
not to faint. He doesn't mock us. When we're
told to pray without ceasing, it's not mocking words. The Lord
Jesus prays. When the Lord Jesus has his assurance
that he is not praying in vain, God will hear him. Well, let's
consider the text itself and something of this knowledge.
that is being spoken of throughout this verse, or this lack of knowledge
in a certain sense. O righteous father, he says,
the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me. Three times then we have
the word known, so clearly it's a significant word, and we're
thinking of the knowledge of God. First of all to say something
with regards to Christ himself, and Christ's own knowledge of
God. I have known thee. I have known thee. Oh, it's this
that is such an encouragement to him and so emboldening to
him in his prayer. He was very much a man of prayer,
wasn't he, the Lord Jesus? That was his life really. He
would continue all night in prayer. We read in Luke 6.12. Again remember in Hebrews 5 we
read of him who in the days of his flesh when he had offered
up prayer with supplication and tears unto him that was able
to save him from death and was heard in that he feared though
he were a son yet learned the obedience by the things that
he suffered he was heard in that he feared the idea of his piety the religious life that he lives
this life of prayer he's heard he doesn't pray in vain He knows,
He knows the one that He is dealing with when He comes to His praying.
O righteous Father, I have known thee, He says. Now, there's two
ways in which He has a knowledge of the one that He's addressing
in prayer. Of course, He has a knowledge in terms of the Godhead
because He is the eternal son of God. He is God. The second person in the trinity. God the Son. We speak in terms
of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Three persons in one Godhead. The great mystery of the trinity. and in God there is a perfect
knowledge that belongs to all those three divine persons because
God is one. Job says he is in one mind and
none can turn him. He knows God. He knows the will of God. He
is one with the Father and one with the Holy Ghost. Now he speaks
back in Proverbs chapter 8, Then I was by him as one brought up
with him, I was daily his delight, he says, rejoicing always before
him. Oh, how he knows! No man knoweth
the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save
the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. He has this perfect knowledge
of God because he himself is God. Distinct from the Father,
distinct from the Holy Spirit, but the three are one God, hear
O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, one mind, as Job says. He is in one mind. There's really a simplicity when
it comes to our understanding of God. We think of God as one,
one in mind, one in will, one in purpose. There's no conflict
between the three persons in the Godhead. He says previously here in chapter
10 and verse 15, As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the
Father. I and my Father are one, he says. And so he's equal to the Father.
Look at how he addresses the Father in the previous 24th verse. 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 which thou hast given me for thou lovest
me before the foundation of the world. He can come and say to
the Father, I will. Now, When we pray, of course,
we pray, Thy will be done. That's one of the petitions that
the Lord teaches us in the pattern prayer. When you pray, say, Our
Father, which art in heaven, Thy will be done. In earth as
it is in heaven. We don't dictate to God When
we pray to Him, we wait upon Him in prayer, we present our
petitions, but we come as those who recognize that all we ask
must be in submission to that will that is absolute. But Christ can say, Father I
will, and there are two verbs in the Greek here that could
be used as one verb that is stronger than the other. two different
words and it's the stronger of the two isn't just a wish this
is an expression of the sovereign will of the Lord Jesus Christ
himself because he is God and so he knows the mind of God and
he knows the will of God so we recognize that at the outset
but There's another knowledge that
we have to remember when we consider the Lord Jesus, because there
is that knowledge that he has in terms of the covenant of grace. Remember how in the covenant,
the eternal Son of God, equal with the Father, becomes the
servant of God. What does God say? Isaiah 42,
Behold My servant, whom I uphold, Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth,
I have put My Spirit upon him. Who is this servant? He's the
Anointed One. He's the Messiah. He's God's elect. He's chosen.
God has laid help upon one mighty. And this is that one that we
read of in the 53rd of Isaiah. He becomes the Lord's suffering
servant. And what is the Lord Jesus doing
in this prayer? We see Him here, of course, in
the state of His humiliation. We see Him here, not simply as
God, but as God-man. Oh, this is the man Christ Jesus
who is praying. It's the great mystery, isn't
it? The mystery of godliness. God manifest in the flesh. He
is God, yes! He is truly and really God. He
is never anything less than that. And yet, he's a man and he's
a real man. He's partaken of a... ...proud
humanity in that sense. all our sinless infirmities he
knows about all we see him as a man here in scripture he knows
what tears are he weeps weeps at the grave of Lazarus he's
about to raise Lazarus from the dead but he's overcome with emotion
he has an emotional life and he feels for Mary and Martha
and he's weeping and yet he's going to raise him from the dead
And those were not crocodile tears, they're real tears. He's going through Samaria, he's
weary, and he needs to rest, and he sits down at the well,
and he enters into conversation with the woman of Samaria, and
he's able to tell her all things that ever she did. He's the God-man,
but he's a man. And what is he doing in the prayer? Well, he is mindful of the covenants
that he had entered into with the Father, wherein he willingly
became the servant of God to accomplish the salvation of sinners. And here in the prayer he pleads
the covenants. Verse 8, he says, I have given
unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received
them. and have known surely that I
came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst
send me." He was sent of the Father, and he was sent as the
Father's messenger. He had words to speak. He's a
prophet, you see. He's the great fulfillment of
the prophetic office. We have many prophets in the
Old Testament, but in him the office is now complete. As Paul says in the opening words
there in Hebrews, God who at some time in diverse manner spake
in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, that 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. You know the
chapter. Read through Hebrews chapter 1 and see it there is
so evidently one who is equal with God. He's God. And yet he's
God's prophet, and he's God's priest, and he's God's king. These are his prophetic offices.
And here we see him pleading with the Father in terms of the
covenant. And what does he say? O righteous
Father, the world hath not known thee. The world hath not known
thee, but I have known thee. How different to the fallen world
the fallen world has no knowledge of God doesn't want to know anything
about God doesn't want to know anything about the ways of God
or the will of God or the commandments of God just doesn't want to know
lies in wickedness all that is in the world the lust of the
flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not
of the Father but is of the world The world hath not known thee,
but I have known thee. You see, Christ's human will.
And he has a human will as well as a divine will, but that human
will is so subject to the divine will. What does he say? Lo, I come, in the volume of the
book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God, thy law is
within my heart. For he comes, you see, as one
who will be subject to that will of God. He wants to know it,
he wants to do it. My meat is to do the will of
him that sent me and to finish his work, he says. I came down
from heaven not to do my will, but the will of him that sent
me. There we see him as a child. Remember there at
the end of Luke chapter 2, goes up to Jerusalem with his parents.
As they're returning, where is the child? They suddenly realize
he's not in the company, they go back, there he is, sitting
amongst the masters in Israel. And then we're told, aren't we,
afterwards, Are we increased in wisdom and stature? And in
favour with God and with men? Or are we gross? I like this
comment I came across in a piece on the incarnation by an old
Scots minister in the 19th century, Jonathan Rankin-Anderson. and
he says this concerning the Lord Jesus with ever-expanding intellectual
power did he take up the work which was given him to do he
grows he grows in wisdom and stature ever-expanding intellectual power
he increasingly understands the work that is about He knows the
Father, He knows the will of the Father and He will be about
His Father's business. There is in this two-fold knowledge
we might say in a certain sense in the Lord Jesus of course when
we think in terms of who He is as God, His deity one with the
Father, one with the Holy Spirit He knows all the mind of God.
but here we are to think of Him in terms of the Incarnation and
the Covenant and that will, that knowledge that is always subject
to the Divine will He will serve He will serve the Father's will
He will do all that work that the Father has given Him to do
there's Christ knowledge but then also here He speaks of the believer's knowledge that
saving knowledge that the believer has the world hath not known
thee but I have known thee and these have known that thou hast
sent mine oh that's the believer's knowledge
it is only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ that we can
know anything about God There's no other way. We can
never know anything about God except in and through Him who
is the Mediator of the Covenant. We cannot find God by all our
searchings, left to ourselves. Remember the language that we
have there in Job 11, verse 7 following, Canst thou by searching find
out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? It is high as heaven. What canst
thou do? Deeper than hell. What canst
thou know? The measure thereof. Longer than the earth. Broader
than the seas. The infinity that belongs to
God. How can we ever know God? We can only know God as God reveals
Himself. And how has God revealed Himself?
He has revealed Himself in the person of His Only Begotten Son.
It is only there that we can really know anything of the true
God. All other religions are vain. How sad it is in a sense. We
know the Prime Minister who worships idols. That's sad, isn't it really?
He worships idols. He's a practicing Hindu, that's
what we're told. We can pray for him, and we must
pray for him. He may be going to be better
than many other Prime Ministers. I'm not saying we've had godly
Christian Prime Ministers. We've had Prime Ministers...
I was reading a piece in the paper only yesterday. It did
make me think a little. I mean, it was the religious
page which appears in the Times on a Saturday, and it was a piece
by a Church of England vicar, and he was talking about us having
a Hindu as Prime Minister and saying that he will have certain principles.
You know, he's not going to be a bad Prime Minister because
he's a Hindu. He's going to operate in terms
of the teachings of that religion. I mean, there were things in
the article that one despaired of really but he made some interesting
points by indicating that we've had we've had prime ministers
and he mentioned Winston Churchill amongst them who were often governed
by the stars Astrology. He wanted to read
their star sign. And that's what he said, that's
what Winston Churchill would do. He thought the stars were
saying certain things and things should be done on certain days.
He spoke about Neville Chamberlain, of course, brought up as a Unitarian. He believed in the doctrine of
the Triniton. We've had all sorts of men in that high office, the
Prime Minister. And we can pray for the present
man who occupies that high position. The powers that be, they are
ordained of God and we are to pray for kings and all those
in authority. We read of the Thessalonians
how they turned from idols to the living God. Can we not pray
that God might turn the man's heart from his idols that he
might come to know the living and true God? And we can only
know God in and through the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There is no other way to know God. Christ has authority to make
God known. And we see it here in the prayer.
That second verse says, Thou hast given him power. Literally
authority. Thou hast given him authority over all flesh, that
he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." No man hath
seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. The only
begotten Son, He is the Word of God, is He
not? And how significant is that name that is given to Him? And
we have it there, of course, in the opening chapter of John.
And the Word made flesh dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. The name Word, it indicates communication. How
do we communicate with one another? By words. We speak to one another,
we write to one another. Well, He is God's Word to us. God reveals Himself in and through
His eternal Son, who is the eternal Word of God. And here, He says at the end in verse 26,
I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it. All this is what He does, He
comes to reveal God. Remember, previously, in chapter
14, as the Lord begins those discourses, those hereditary
discourses, he speaks to Philip. Philip says to him, Lord, show
us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have
I been so long time with you? And yet I shall not know me Philip.
He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and thou sayest so,
then show us the Father. Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works
I do. He is that One, you see, who comes to reveal God. In Him are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. All the treasure of knowledge.
We can only know God through the Lord Jesus Christ. These
have known that Thou hast sent Me. They know that this is the
One, this is the true Prophet of the Lord. This is the promised
Messiah. This is the Christ of God. Go back. Go back to the beginning. Go back to the Garden of Eden. And what do we see there? We see man, woman, made in God's
image, created after God's likeness. What's happening there in the
form? that's recorded in that third chapter of the book of
Genesis. What do they do? They reach after a knowledge
of God. An unlawful knowledge. That's
what they're reaching after. They want to know God in an unlawful
way and what's the consequence before. How does Satan tempt you? Remember the words that we have
there, Genesis 3, 5, God doth know that in the day that ye
eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as
gods, knowing good and evil. You see, like, she wants this
knowledge. She wants to be one who has such
a knowledge of God. That's the temptation. Your eyes
shall be opened, ye shall be as gods. knowing good and evil,
grasping after an unlawful knowledge of God and the fall into sin and the
separation from God and the alienation with God so far off now from God, no more
any fellowship with God and that was it all restored, how is the
whole business made right? Well, no, there is such a knowledge
of God that we could hardly ever conceive ourselves. No man knoweth
the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father
save the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal it. And again, you know, it's that
stronger of the two verbs, to whom the Son willeth to reveal
Him. All the sovereignty of the Son,
He has authority to make God known, to make God known to sinners. This man who so willingly identifies
with sinners He came not to call the righteous but sinners to
repentance. What a friend of sinners is this
man. Why he eats and drinks with the
sinners. They're his friends. He wills
to make God known to them. And as they come to saving faith
in Him, what is the consequence of that when they put on the
new man? If any man is in Christ Jesus,
he's a new creature, a new creation. He's put on the new man which
is renewed in knowledge, it says, after the image of Him that created
him. He's renewed in knowledge. He'd
lost that knowledge of God. He was lost there in the Garden
of Eden, lost in paradise. When Adam and Eve reached after
an unlawful knowledge, Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and
evil. Oh, but what is that that's restored? In Christ the sons of Adam boast
more blessings than their father lost, says the hymn writer. How
true it is, more blessings than was lost. An inconceivable knowledge
that we come to have got in Christ Jesus. All the treasures of wisdom
the knowledge, life eternal, to know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. And we see it time and
again here in the Scriptures, there in 2 Peter 1 and verse
3. According as His divine power
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness
through the knowledge of Him." All things that pertain unto
life and godliness through the knowledge of Him, the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look at what he's saying
here at the end of the prayer. in the last verse, the verse
following our text, where he says, I have declared unto them
thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. And that word,
that, is really introducing a purposive clause, literally, as his strength,
in order that I have declared unto them thy name and will declare
it in order that there's a purpose in what he's doing why is he
declaring this name to them? in order that the love wherewith
thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them it's the whole
force of Christ's prayer that really rest in these final words. The main thing to be attained,
you see, is this knowledge. To know the will of God, to know
the heart of God, to know the love of God. Spiritual union,
experimental union with God, I have declared unto them thy
name and will declare it in order that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them and I in them. Union with Christ. Union with God. All that was
lost in the Garden of Eden, all that is the dreadful consequence
of our sin, alienated from God, separated
from God, made nigh by the blood of Christ. The believer's knowledge,
it's a saving knowledge. Oh, it's salvation, it's life
eternal. But then, just briefly, to say a little with regards
to a lack of knowledge. Or the world's lack of knowledge. Solemn words, searching words. The world has no knowledge of
God. The world hath not known The. The world rejects Well, we know the fool, the foolish
man says in his heart there is no God. Atheism. But all men are not atheists,
are they? We can't say that. There might be some who are that, who deny any God
at all, but I would say that the majority of people are probably
agnostic. It's interesting. Where does the word agnostic
come from? Maybe you'd like to do a little bit of research into
words. I find the etymology of words
quite interesting. Where are words come from? Where
does this word agnostic come from? Well, it comes from the
very word that we have here in the text the world hath not known
it's the word agnosis agnosis the world hath not known
no knowledge no knowledge how sad how solemn it is having
the understanding darkened alienated from the light of God through
the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their
hearts. That's the world. Even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a reprobate mind. We'll read the consequence of
that lack of knowledge there. Solemn words in Romans chapter
1, aren't they? Because they did not like to
retain in their knowledge anything of God, He gave them over to
a reprobate mind. What do men do then? They do
what's right in their own minds. They have no thought of God,
they're without Christ, having no hope without God in the world. Now we have to examine ourselves. He says, I have known thee, and
these have known that thou hast sent me. Do we know that? Do
we have that knowledge? We know that this, this is the
Christ, the Son of God. As Peter confesses
here at Caesarea Pilipi, Whom do ye say that I am? Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. All this is life eternal to know
thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom they were sent
or that we might know something of the desire of Paul what was
his great desire that I may know him or that I may know him and
the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings
being made conformable unto his death that's death to self that's
dying to self and that's living to the Lord Jesus Christ, or
the Lord granted. It might be my portion, it might
be your portion. Amen. Well, let us conclude our worship
tonight as we sing the hymn 771, the tune Rimmington 395, To know my Jesus, crucified by
fire, excels all things beside. All earthly good I count but
loss, and triumph in my Saviour's cross. Solemn, searching words. Maybe we look to ourselves and
we feel, can we really sing such a hymn as this? Well, God help
us to at least aspire after these things. as we come to sing God's
praise in the hymn 771, the tune 395. I'll be good, I can but love,
And triumph in my Saviour's grace. Knowledge of all terrestrial
things, E'er to my soul true pleasure brings, Love is but
in the Son of God, Not joy but thrill, All whom I know and love in all,
And all His wondrous grace exalt, but part with all and follow
Him. Lord, may I live by every law,
be patient on every cross, There they are, my Savior made, Though
I'm despised for His deeds. At last beware, my Jesus is,
and rise to everlasting life.