A text is found in the opening
verse of that 17th chapter in the Gospel according to St John,
John chapter 17, verse 1. These words speak Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is come, glorify
thy son that thy son also may glorify and particularly those opening
words of the Lord's Prayer here. Father, He says, the hour is
come. Father, the hour is come, the
hour of God's glory. God himself, of course, is the
creator of time, as well as the creator of space. He is the eternal one and He
appointed when time was to begin. He created it and He has ordained
when time shall be no more. He is the creator of time and
He is the appointer of time. The psalmist says my times are
in thy hand. All our times are of course in
the hands of the Almighty God. We just sang that remarkable
hymn of John Ryland Jr. concerning the sovereign ruler
over all things and it is evident that in the writing of that hymn,
young John Ryland very much had in mind those words of the preacher
in Ecclesiastes chapter 3. To everything there is a season
and a time, to every purpose under the heaven, a time to be
born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck
up that which is planted, a time to kill and a time to heal, the
time to break down and the time to build up and so on. All of these times, the times that affect us in the
various situations of life, are all under the sovereign hand
of God himself. He is the one who appoints all
of our times. here upon earth and we're very
much reminded of that. Our Unitas time horizon and we
come out of the old year and we come into yet another year,
remarkably still the day of our Lord, still the day of grace
as we come into 2013. But we're very much preachers
of time and we need to have that realization that All of these
things are under the hands of the one that we come together
to worship tonight. And what is true of us with regards
to time is also true of the Lord Jesus Christ, is it not? And in that do we not see something
of the reality of the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ? Here
is the great mystery, he is God, he is the eternal God, and yet
he is also a man, a real man, and as a man he experiences all
the limitations of time that we are so familiar with. And he speaks of a particular
time here in the text as he begins to address this prayer to his
father. The hour is come, he says. Father, the hour is come. He speaks of it then in terms
of a particular point of time. He uses a definite article, the
hour. Now, previously in chapter 12,
and there in verses 27 and 28, he speaks of it as this hour,
the hour, or this hour. There in verse 27 of chapter
12, Now is my soul troubled, what shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Father glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from
heaven saying I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. It's the same hour spoken of
there in chapter 12 that is being spoken of here in chapter 17. The hour or this hour. But then in chapter 13 it is
also spoken of but there we read of it as his hour. the opening words of chapter
13 now before the feast of the Passover when Jesus knew that
his hour Jesus knew that his hour was
come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father
having loved his own which were in the world he loved them unto
the end or there was an hour and it was ordained, it was appointed. And it was the hour when Christ
would depart from this world, just as there was that particular
time that was ordained of God when He should come into the
world. Remember the words of Galatians
4, when the fullness of the time was come. God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman, made under the law. He comes at a particular
point in time that had been ordained from all eternity. It is so emphatic,
the language there in that fourth verse of Galatians 4. The fullness of the time, it
says. Two definite articles, the fullness
of the time. That was the hour that was ordained
for the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, His coming, the great
mystery of Godliness God manifest in the flesh. But there's a time
to die as well as a time to be born. and now that hour has come,
there were other times when the Jews would have sought to kill
him as we see here in this gospel in chapter 7 and verse 30 again
in chapter 8 and verse 20 they would have taken him, they would
have killed him but it says his hour was not yet come, the hour
was not yet come but he was ever aware of that time that was ordained
of God as we see in the 9th chapter of Luke's Gospel he's in Galilee
but he must go up to Jerusalem and he knew what would befall
him there at Jerusalem at the end that the Jews would conspire
against him and he would be crucified And there in Luke chapter 9 and
verse 51 we read these words, when the time was come that he
should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. The time was come, you see. He
understands the times and the seasons. All his times are in
the hands of his God. And now the hour has come. He is to be crucified. The men
are culpable in that. The Jews are culpable. They were
wicked men who crucified him. So what does Peter say in the
course of his sermon on Pentecost? Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and with wicked
hands have crucified and slain. You see, God's sovereignty doesn't
excuse men their sins and yet God's sovereignty is absolute.
They did it. They were culpable. They were
wicked men. But it's all in accordance with
the great purpose of the Almighty. It's that that God himself has
determined. And so the hour comes. What do we read at the end of
Romans 11, those three chapters, 9, 10 and 11 in Romans, remarkable
portion of Holy Scripture. We come to the end of chapter
11. For of him and through him and to him are all things to
whom be glory forever and ever. Here is the ultimate end, you
see. And what is the ultimate end
of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into this world, the ultimate
end, is the glory of God. That's what the Lord prays here.
Father, the hour has come, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may
glorify Thee. What is the end of His life?
What is the great purpose of His death? It is the glory of
God. That is the ultimate end. Now
there is a proximate or an intermediate end we might say in all of this
and what is that proximate end? It's the good of sinners. It's
the good of sinners. It's the salvation of sinners.
That's what the cross brings to those who in their very natures
are alienated from God. But the ultimate end Why? It's so plain from the way in
which the Lord Jesus Christ is praying. Father, the hour has
come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son
also may glorify thee. All things are for the glory
of God. Of him, through him, to him are
all things. To him be glory. There is a glory
of God, of course, in His great work of creation. Creation is
a revelation, is it not? And it's a revelation of the
glories that belong to God. Psalm 19, the heavens declare
the glory of God. And the firmament showeth His
handiwork, day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night
showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language
where their voice is not heard, their line is gone out to all
the earth, and their words to the end of the world, and so
on. Creation, it's a declaration,
says David, of God's glory. He reveals himself as that glorious
creator, and God's glory is also seen in the hardening of the
heart of a man like the Pharaoh. God's glory to see is to be discerned
even in the end of the reprobate. In Romans, Romans chapter 9, Verse 17, the Scripture saith
unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up,
that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might
be declared throughout all the earth for this reprobate man,
and yet his very presence in the earth is for the glory of
God. It's a fearful thing. and yet all things are to the
glory of God even the wicked for the day of judgment and then
God's glory of course on the other hand is also to be seen
in the way in which he forgives Israel all God's glory is to
be seen is it not in those who are the election of Christ when
God has mercy upon them And God brings his great salvation to
them in Numbers chapter 14. Numbers chapter 14 verse 20 he says, I have pardoned
according to thy word. See how Moses is interceding
for them here. Pardon I beseech them, the iniquity
of these people according unto the greatness of thy mercy. And as thou hast forgiven these
people from Egypt even until now. And the Lord said, I have
pardoned according to thy word. But as truly as I live, all the
earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. All God is
glorified when He comes to pardon sinners, when He has mercy upon
those whom He has set His sovereign love upon, when their sins are
forgiven. We see God's glory, you see,
in all these things, in creation, in the lives of the wicked reprobates,
in those whom He is pleased to have mercy upon and to pardon
their sins, And we see God's glory, of course, ultimately
in that great work that the Lord Jesus Christ has come to accomplish
here upon the earth. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 5, Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace wherein He has made us acceptable in The Beloved. It's all to the praise of the
glory of His grace, His work of the Lord Jesus. Verse 11,
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things are to
the counsel of his own will that we should be to the praise of
his glory who first trusted in Christ the praise of his glory in those who have trusted in
the Lord Jesus Christ here is the glory of God ultimately then
with Christ with his coming into the world and with that life
of obedience and that obedience unto death, even the death of
the cross. The hour is come, he says. Father, the hour is come. Glorify
thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. Well, turning to the text, let
us first of all consider the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Glorify thy son is the petition. In life, Christ's glory is to
be seen. We see it as he comes into the
world as the God-man. There is a manifestation of glory. We were only a couple of weeks
ago considering that remarkable statement in John 1.14 The Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
said John. We beheld His glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. There is a glory, you see, in
his person as he comes into this world there is that glory that
belongs to him as the eternal son of God and now in the days
of his humiliation as he ministers here upon the earth there is
a further manifestation of the glory in the miracles that he
performs that first miracle at Cana in Galilee In John chapter
2 this beginning of miracles did Jesus and manifested forth
his glory it says. He manifested forth his glory
and the disciples believed on him. How he keeps on manifesting glory
you see. In all that he is doing. And
those favoured disciples of course who were taken with him into
the Mount of Transfiguration, did not they see something more
of that glory? Or they were permitted, as it
were, to see through the veil of his humiliation, through the
veil of his human nature, something of the glories that belong to
his deity as God? In Matthew 17 after six days
Jesus taketh Peter, James and Johnny's brother and bringeth
them up into a high mountain apart and was transfigured before
them and his face did shine as the sun and his raiment was white
as the light. How they saw something of the
glory that belongs unto the Lord Jesus Christ. But ultimately
Ultimately, His glory is to be discerned here as the hour comes. The hour of His deepest humiliation. That's the curse death that He
is about to die upon the cross. This is the hour of His glory.
The hour has come. Father, the hour has come. Glorify
Thy Son. Oh, there is a glory, is there
not, in His suffering so soon? Does the Father answer that prayer?
Before they call, I will answer, says God. Whilst I am yet speaking,
I will hear. You remember how Christ, in the
very next chapter, is there in the garden at Gethsemane, going
over the brook Cedron, to that private spot where after he resorted
with his disciples, and of course Judas the betrayer was so familiar
with that life and now Judas comes and he comes with his band
of men those who have been given to Judas by the chief priests
and the Pharisees they come that they might arrest the Lord Jesus
Christ but what do we read there? When Christ inquires who it is
that they are seeking after, and they answer that they are
looking for Jesus of Nazareth, he declares his deity. I am her, he is saying. Three times. I am her. In verses 5 and 6. And then again at verse 8, in
chapter 18. As you know the pronoun he has
been introduced in the translation literally, he says I am. As soon as he had said I am they
went backwards, fell to the ground. They cannot lay a finger upon
it. Father glorify thy son. Now they are made to see something
of His glory even as they come and seek to lay hands upon Him
and to arrest Him. He goes willingly. His sacrifice is a voluntary
sacrifice. He has the authority to lay His
life down. He has the authority to take
His life again. This is a commandment that He's
received of the Father. It's not so much that men take
him, he gives himself. Gives himself as the great sacrifice
for sins. And even when they take him and
bring him before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Remember, our
Pilate's wife is much troubled because of a dream that she had
concerning this man. She tells her husband, does she
not? In Matthew 27.19, when he was
set down on the judgment seat, we are told, concerning Pilate,
his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with
that just man? For I have suffered many things
this day in a dream because of him. Or she was made to see, to understand,
was she not something of His glory? There is a glory even
as we come into the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
then of course He is glorified by His sufferings. He is glorified
by His sufferings. How does He suffer? Oh, He suffers most cruelly. at the hands of men. He suffers at the hands of his father. He makes his soul the great sacrifice
for sins. But in all of this, of course,
he is defeating all the works of darkness, vanquishing sin,
triumphing over Satan himself. Is there not a glory in these
things? In Colossians 2.14 we read of
him blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us, took it out of the way, nailing
it to his cross, and having spoiled principalities and powers, he
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Or in the cross,
you see, he triumphs over all the works of darkness, over all
the machinations of Satan. Satan is defeated by this man. Those words back in chapter 12
that we referred to, when he prays to the Father to glorify
his name, he goes on to say, now is the judgment of this world,
now shall the prince of this world be cast out, and I if I
be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said signifying what
death he should die. Oh, it was the judgment of Satan
you see. Satan thought he had triumphed.
That the Lord Jesus Christ was that one who was the victor over
that great adversary of souls, that great enemy of the saints. He is glorified by all those
sufferings that he endures upon the cross. And then, as he comes
through those sufferings, do we not see him glorified again? Now that the Roman centurion,
as he beholds these things, must acknowledge, certainly this was
a righteous man, he says. Truly, this man was the Son of
God. What did they accuse Christ of?
They said he was a blasphemer, his father making himself equal
with God, when he said he was the son of God. But now the Roman
centurion recognises the truth of what he had said, this righteous
man. He is the son of God. He is the
son of God. And then declared to be the son
of God. with power according to the spirit
of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. Father, the hour
has come, He says, glorify thy Son and He is glorified as He
comes through all those sufferings as He makes that great sin atoning
sacrifice for sins, He is vindicated Now, what is the Lord doing here
as he prays to the Father in this 17th chapter? Well, he is
pleading in terms of the covenant. There is no way in which we can
rightly understand and interpret this chapter except we take account
of the covenant. The language is the language
of that covenant. He had entered into a covenant
with his Father. before the creation of the world,
the great covenant of redemption. And in that covenant the Father
had given Him a people to be saved. And here is the Lord Jesus
Christ, He is praying for those that the Father has given to
Him. And He speaks of them throughout
the prayer. Verse 6 he says, 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
says. Again at the end of verse 8 he
speaks about I came out from thee and they
have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them, I pray
not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for
they are thine." Verse 29, "...that pray I for these alone, but for
them also which shall believe on me through their word." All
the time he's pleading with the Father in terms of those covenant
engagements. He had undertaken the work, but
the Father also had engaged in that covenant. And He is executing
that work that the Father had given Him, and He can pray to
the Father. Look at verse 4, I have glorified
thee on the earth, He says, I have finished the work that thou gavest
Me to do. And on the very basis of that
work being finished, accomplish, complete it. He can plead with
the Father that he will now glorify his life. Father, the hour has
come. Glorify thy son. And he is glorified thy son.
And he is glorified in the death of the cross. But besides Christ
being glorified in, by and through that death upon the cross, God
himself is also glorified. Thou is God glorified, God is
glorified of course in the very doctrine of the cross. He doesn't
just pray for his own glory. Glorify thy son, he says, that
thy son also may glorify the earth. Now how is the Father
glorified? Well, in all that doctrine that
is associated with that work that the Lord Jesus accomplished
upon the cross, what was the work that He came to do? It is
the work of reconciliation. Isn't the Father glorified when
sinners are reconciled to Him? Isn't this one of the great doctrines
of the cross? Reconciliation. Remember the words of the Apostle
there in The end of 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18, All things are of God,
who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation to which God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and
hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. There then
we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. What a precious truth it is.
the sinner in that awful state of alienation, separated, far
off from God, reconciled, how reconciled by the shedding of
that precious blood. Colossians chapter 1 and verse
20 we read of him having made peace through the blood of his
cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I
say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven and
you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works yet now has he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight here is that blessed word wherein the Son glorifies
the Father as he comes and reconciles the sinner unto God. All the sinners in that state
of enmity made nigh by the precious blood of Christ. The doctrine
of reconciliation, the doctrine of redemption, the doctrine of
redemption. as many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them. Where the law is transgressed,
there is the curse. And if a man should keep the
whole law of God and yet offend in one point, James tells us
he is guilty of all. All who are under the law are
under the curse. That's what Paul says there in
Galatians chapter 3. But what does Christ do? Christ
has redeemed us from the curse of the law. Being made a curse
for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a
tree. What has Christ done to the law
then? He's paid that ransom that the law demands. The redemption
price. What does the law say? The soul
that sinneth it shall die. The wages of sin is death. And
the Lord Jesus Christ has died that death. That death that was
the desert of the sinner. He has died in the room and stead
of his people. And by that very dying he has
redeemed them. The Lord has no demand upon them.
Deliver him from going down to the pit, says God, I have found
a ransom prize. Oh, this is how God has glorified
you, sir, in this doctrine of the cross. All that the Lord
Jesus Christ has done, He has magnified the Lord, He has made
the Lord honourable. He is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believes. He is the Redeemer
of His people. Father, the hour has come, glorify
thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. The son is glorified
by the father, but the son glorifies the father. In all these precious
truths, reconciliation, redemption, or propitiation also. Propitiation,
I know it's a technical term, but it's a biblical word, is
it not? It's there. We find it twice in that general
first epistle of John in the opening words of the second chapter.
We have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous
and He is the propitiation for our sins. And not for us only
but also for the sins of the whole world. That is the Gentile
as well as the Jew that John is speaking of you see. the propitiation. Again in chapter 4, here in his
love says John, not that we love God but that he loved us and
sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins. You don't find
propitiation in the modern versions. You won't find it in the NIV.
They don't like the idea of propitiationary sacrifice. Why? Because it speaks
of that Godhood aspect. Sin affects us The sinners. Sin makes us guilty. And we are
worthy of death, we are worthy of an eternal condemnation. And
our sin, the guilt of it, must be expiated. It is expiation. Christ has done that. That is
the man would ask it. But there is a God would ask it. Sin is
an offence to God. God is angry with the wicked
every day. He is a God of wrath, a God of
justice. And he said, God would accept
you, sir. That we are to understand in that word propitiation. He
has satisfied the justice of God. He has made peace through
the blood of his cross. O Father, the hour has come.
Glorify thy Son. that thy son also may glorify
thee." These precious truths, these great doctrines of the
cross, the very heart of the gospel. And of course this doctrine
of the cross, is it not to be the subject matter of preaching? Isn't this what the preaching
of the gospel is about? It was to Paul. What does he
say? in the opening chapter of 1 Corinthians,
but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block
and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called
both Jews and Greeks Christ, the power of God and the wisdom
of God. All Paul is so determined in
these things. The preaching of the cross, he
says, is to them that perish foolishness, All but to us which
are saved is the power of God. I determine not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This is the doctrine
that is to be preached. It's the doctrine of salvation,
is it not? That cross work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world
is crucified unto me and I unto the world says the Apostle. It's
everything. The dying of the Saviour upon
the cross and of course it's that that we come to remember
presently. When we sit around that table of the Lord and those
blessed elements are said before us the bread in the cup. This is my body, he says, which
is broken for you, this do in remembrance of me. This is the
cup of the New Testament in my blood, this do you, as often
as you drink it, in remembrance of me. This is our salvation,
you see, and here is the Lord Jesus Christ, he's praying over
it, the hour has come. And it's the glory of God, it's
the glory of the Father, it's the glory of the Son. In his highest work, redemption,
see his glory in a blaze, says William Gadsby. And again he
says, would we view his brightest glory? Here it shines in Jesus'
face. Oh, this is our privilege, is
it not, to see something of the glory that belongs unto God. All the attributes of God come
together. That's the amazing thing when
we consider the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, his life,
his death, his resurrection, all that concerns him. But within
him principally of that great work upon the cross, the psalmist
says, mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace
have kissed each other. God is not only merciful in the
cross, but God is just in the cross. That's the amazing thing. God pardons sins and yet at the
same time God condemns sin. That's the cross. Sin is condemned. Christ suffers. But oh the mercy
of God, the sinner is pardoned. God is just and the justifier
of him that believeth in Jesus. or that we might be those friends
who know that we have an interest in these things. These things,
they minister comfort to our souls. We feel ourselves to be
such sinners. Do you feel that? And you see
that there's nothing that you can do in order to save your
soul. Nothing. You feel your complete
and utter inability. That's what sin has done to you.
Totally deprived. unable to do a thing to help
yourself and yet the glory of God in the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ the very purpose of Christ coming into the world
as he begins his remarkable prayer and addresses his Father in heaven
Father the hour has come glorify thy son that thy son also may
glorify the Lord. The Lord be pleased and to bless
this work for his namesake. That is now seen in head number 114. Mateus Franconia 31. The sons
of earth delight to spread their fame abroad, to glory in their
worth and might, but such are not of God. The heavenly word
declares, and faithful is the word, that Israel's seed, the
royal heirs, shall glory in the Lord. In number 114. The sons of earth delight to
spread their fame abroad, To glory in their work and might,
but such are not told God. The heavenly word declares, and
faithful is the word, that Israel see the royal heirs shall glory
in the Lord. In Jesus they shall trust, From
first to last, each one Through Jesus shall be counted just And
boast in Him alone Amen, the word is good My trust
is in His name I have redemption through His blood and I will
shout His name. He hears my sad complaints and
heals old wounds and wounds. Hosanna to the King of saints
His ways are just and true His words I love to tell And
wish the world to know And where the son is honoured well, the
father's honoured too. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all. Amen.