Go with me, if you would, back
to John 17. One more time today, John 17. Three things stuck out to me
about this chapter. We looked at two of them already
today, and we'll look at the third one tonight. Our Bible
study this morning was on what the father gave to Christ, what
God, the father gave to Christ as the savior, as the lamb slain
for the sin of God's people, God, the father sent Christ into
this world to accomplish a purpose. To accomplish a purpose. That purpose was the salvation
of his people. And once we enter into that,
everything's over. Once a center enters into that,
he rests from all his labors before God, as God rested from
his, if God has rested from it, then so can we. God sent Christ
to accomplish salvation. The work of the hour, that's
what he referred to it as, the hour of the cross. He said, I
came for this hour. The accomplishment of that victory.
God the Father gave to Christ the Son for that accomplishment.
He gave to him power over all flesh. And every time I say that, I'm
thankful for that again. There's some wicked flesh in
this world. There's some wicked flesh right
here in this room. And every time I hear that He
has power over all flesh, the first thing your mind thinks
of is, please restrain all of that, restrain all of them. And
then in truth and sincerity, your mind goes, please restrain
all of this. Please restrain me, overpower
me. Power over all flesh. That's
the first thing he gave him number two. He gave him the ability
to give eternal life You know the Apostles in order to confirm
the Word God gave the Apostles the ability to perform miracles
Absolute miracles the Apostles raised men from the dead But Once they gave those miracles
to others, none could pass them along. Since then, men don't
have miracles anymore that ended with them. Our Lord has the ability
and he's the only one who has the ability to give eternal life. The only one. And he gives it
to whomever he's pleased to give it to. So he received power over
all flesh. He received the ability to give
eternal life and he received every elect soul that the father
gave to him throughout all the world, throughout all the generations
of the world in return with everything that was given to Christ. This
is what Christ did for his father. And it's wonderful to enter into
the fact that Christ did this for His Father. This is what
the Father wanted to happen. And when Christ did this, He
did it for the Father. Eight declarations, eight things
that He announced in this chapter. This was our message this morning. He said, I have glorified thee
on the earth. I have finished the work you
gave me to do. Nothing left, nothing left. As men go around saying, but
what must I do to be saved? Nothing left, nothing left. Just believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Trust him, just trust him. Number three, he said, I
have manifested thy name to every soul you gave to me. I've revealed
who you are. Number four, he said, I have
given them thy words. The words of God have come to
man. Number five, he said, I pray
for them. I pray for them. I have, I will. Number six, he said, I kept them. They're already kept. Number
seven, he said, I have sent them to be witnesses. Not only have
I spared them and delivered them, he said, I've put your word in
them and sent them to witness to others. And then he said,
number eight, I have given them the very glory that you have
given to me the very glory. Now this is the result of what
Christ accomplished for his people. This is the result that that
accomplishment brought to God's people because Christ did what
he did for his father. This is what that did for us. All right. This is the accomplishment,
verse 24. He said, 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." He said, this
is my desire. in the accomplishment of what
I've done. This is my will. And His will
is the will that is going to be done. It is not our will. It is not man's will. It's His
will alone. Everything that happens in this
life, everything that happens in this world is going to happen
according to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything
that happens. only according to His will. And
He said, this is my will, this is my desire in the accomplishment
of what I've done. I want them to be with me where
I am. And He said, I want them to behold
my glory. I want them to be with me and
I want them to behold my glory. What Christ has done for us is
so It's just so far above us. It is so far above us. How can
we fathom what that means? How can we fathom that Christ
said, I want them to be right here with me and I want them
to behold my glory. Look with me at John 14. This is what he said in John
14. John 14, verse one, he said,
let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. I go to prepare a place for you. I'm going to prepare it for you. I'm going to reserve a spot with
your name on it, and I'm going to prepare a place for you. Hold your place right here and
turn over to Matthew 25. A couple of weeks ago, I was
in Danville and I quoted this verse. And when I quoted it, I saw it like I'd never seen
it before. I had never seen this before. See if you can enter
into this. All right, Matthew 25, verse
31. It says, when the son of man
shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him. I'm just, um, I'm looking forward
to that. I'm looking forward to seeing
him come with all his holy angels with him. Then shall he sit upon
the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations
and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divided
his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on the left. Now watch verse
34. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, come
ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. He said, I prepared the kingdom
for you. Now think about this. He's God. Just think about this. He is
God. This is God almighty. This is
the self existent one. He is in need of nothing. He doesn't need anything. He
does not need subjects. He doesn't need praise. He doesn't
need worship. He doesn't need any of that.
He prepared all that for us. He prepared all that for our
joy. Is this not the joy of God's
people when we're truly worshiping, isn't that the joy and The glory
of God's people. He said, I prepared all of that
for you. I prepared a place so you could
dwell with me. I prepared a place so that you
could for all eternity do what your heart's greatest desire
is to do. Praise me and glorify me and
honor me. He said, I prepared all this
for your blessing and your enjoyment in my glory. In my glory. Now it's all unto the praise
of his glory. That's what we're doing. We're
saying not unto us. So Lord, not unto us, but unto
thy name, give glory. All the glory goes to you, but
that's our greatest enjoyment. And he said, I did that for you.
Verse 34, then shall the king say unto them on his right hand,
come you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. I prepared it for
you. Back in John 14, verse one, he said, let not your heart be troubled,
you believe in God, believe also in me. Why, Lord? Because I'm
God. I'm God. If you do believe in
God, He's saying you do believe in Me. Verse 2, He said, In My
Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also." Our Lord said, this was
the purpose of everything that I accomplished for my people.
This was the purpose of it all. I did it so that they could be
with me where I am. live with me forever. That's
the first reason. Now go with me back to John 17. He said, I have given to them
eternal life so that they can dwell with me forever. And he
said to his father in verse 10, if you look at verse 10, he said,
all mine are thine and thine are mine. and I am glorified
in them. I'm glorified in them. Verse
14, he said, I've given them thy word and the world hath hated
them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of
the world. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them
from the evil. Keep them from the evil of it.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify
them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Father, he's
saying, set them apart through the word of your truth. By this
word, set them apart unto us. Verse 20, he said, neither pray
I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on
me through their word, that they all may be one as thou father
art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that
the world may believe that thou hast sent me." Do we realize
what he's saying there? This is what everything that
Christ did for His Father, this is what it accomplished for us.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said, I and my Father are one. And we believe
that, don't we? We don't fully understand it
because it's two persons. Father, Son, three person, Spirit.
But He said, I and my Father are one. And then this is what
He said. He said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Right here, he's saying to his
father, I did everything that I did so they could be that kind
of oneness with us. He said, I and my father are
one. You've seen me, you've seen him. And he said, I did that
so that all of our people could have that kind of oneness with
us. Verse 20, he said, neither pray
I for these alone, But for them also, which shall believe on
me through their word, that they all may be one as thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou gavest me I have given
them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, and
thou in me, That they may be made perfect in one and that
the world may know that thou has sent me and has loved them
as thou has loved me. He said, I did everything I did
in order to make me and my people so one with each other. When
you see them, you see me. And when you see me, you see
them. One, one. He said in verse 24,
Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with
me where I am. One 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 said, this is what I accomplished for my
people. This is what I did for them. Through my work, the work
that I finished, I enabled them to be with me where I am. and
I enabled them to behold my glory." No man or woman can behold Christ's
glory until Christ reveals it to them. No man or woman. No sinner is able to see His
glory until Christ enables that sinner to see His glory. But
if Christ enables, If Christ reveals it, once it's truly seen,
I mean truly seen, it can never be unseen. Once a sinner sees
it, he'll never unsee it. the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. His glory, the word glory means
His brightness, His brilliance, His greatness, His majesty. Just like when the Lord took
Peter, James, and John up on the Mount of Transfiguration,
it says, His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as
no fuller on earth can white them. You've never seen anything
so white. And it says, he was standing
there talking to Moses and Elijah in glory. The glory of glory,
his brilliance, his brightness, his greatness, his perfection,
glory. Glory also means his beauty. Like David said in Psalm 27,
we just read it. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will
I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all
the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord." The
glory of His beauty, the beauty of His glory. Psalm 29 says,
give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Worship the
Lord in the beauty of holiness. So many things describe His glory.
But Moses point blank asked him. He said, show me your glory.
Lord, show me your glory. And if any of us want to know
what it is, we ought to ask him. We ought to ask him, Lord, show
me your glory. Really, show me your glory. This
is what the Lord said to Moses. He said, get in my hiding place. You want to see my glory? Get
in the shelter of my rock. and suffer my wrath in the safety
of my hiding place. That's my glory. You know, if
we have ever committed a sin, and I don't know, maybe you have,
I'm kidding. We have all sinned, all have
sinned. And if you've ever committed
one sin, All of the wrath that God has must come down on you. All the fury, and if I can say
this word with it, all the hell, all the fire, all the brimstone,
just one sin. You know how we categorize sins,
great sins, little white lies, big sins. I don't care how small
it is. One sin, if we commit one sin
according to the holiness of God and the justice of God, because
He must do what's right, all of the power that God has must
be poured out on us in the absolute eternal punishment of our sin. Now, once that is revealed to
a sinner, horror strikes, fear strikes. And then once the Holy
Spirit of God reveals that He put the sinner in Christ and
poured it all out on Christ while we were tucked up safely inside
Him, and Christ bore the wrath and the judgment to a point where
He was so horribly disfigured, no man has ever looked like that.
to the point that God manifest in the flesh cried to his father,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Once a sinner sees
how I as a sinner can be made right with God, and it's not
my little petty things that I'm gonna go do, it's because Christ
bore all the wrath that God had for me. Once a sinner sees that,
he will have seen the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Absolute
glory. When He said, I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy, He said, that's my glory. That's my glory. For all eternity,
every time we look at Him, we will behold His glory. Every time. We just sang, how
can it be? In verse two of that song says,
as at the cross I humbly bow and gaze upon thy thorn-crowned
brow and view the precious bleeding form by cruel nails so bruised
and torn, knowing that thy suffering was for me, in grief I cry, how
can it be? How can it be that God should
love a soul like me? How can that be? Turn with me
to John 20. John 20, verse 19, it says, Then the same day at evening,
being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where
the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus
and stood in the midst and said unto them, Peace be unto you.
And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side.
Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then
said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you. As my Father hath
sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he
breathed on them and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
Whosoever sins you remit, they are remitted. unto them, and
whosoever sins you retain, they are retained. But Thomas, one
of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus
came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the
Lord. But he said unto them, Except
I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my
finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe." Thomas had not yet seen Christ's
glory. He had not yet had Christ's glory
revealed to him. Verse 26, And after eight days
again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being
shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
Then saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger and behold
my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side
and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, my Lord and my God. Oh, the savior of my soul, my
rock, my hiding place, my safety. Every time we look at Christ
for all eternity, we'll have the blessed privilege of beholding
his glory. Every time that song that will
be glory. And I enter into this so much,
I can appreciate all of this. That song says, friends will
be there I have loved long ago, and I'm looking forward to seeing
them again. Joy like a river around me will flow, and I'm
looking forward to experience that. He said, yet just a smile from
my Savior I know, will through the ages be glory for me. Every time I look at him and
I see my Savior, That will be glory for me." His great glory
is in showing mercy to sinners. So back in John 17, verse 24
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.'" O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee,
but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent
me, and 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." Now, he said, the love that you have loved
me with. What I have accomplished for
them is that that same love that you have loved me with, that
same love is given to them. That same love is in them. That's what Christ did for us. He made us to be one with the
Father, one with the Son, one with the Spirit, one with God's
love, one with God's life. One with God's glory. Joint heirs. Joint inheritance. Family members
with God. Same love, no difference. I'll
ask myself this question. You ask your own self this question,
honestly. I have a wife and two children
sitting right here. Who do I love more? Who do I love more? I understand
that we have different relationships involved, but who do I love more? Go through your mind. Of those
whom you love, which one do you love more? There's no difference. There is no difference. When
the father looks at the people Christ redeemed, there's no difference.
He loves us just when he looks at his son and looks at his same
love. Well-pleased with his son, well-pleased with us. Beautiful,
beautiful. Perfect, perfect, spotless. Same,
same love. We don't just have total redemption. Christ earned for us a higher
place with God than we even had to start with. Adam was confined
to the earth. We get to go live with God. God
had to come to Adam. He now brought us to him. raised with Christ, seated with
Christ. That's what he did for his people. And it is marvelous. It is so
marvelous. I'm going to quote this again.
I've quoted it a lot. I'm going to quote it again because
it's so true. Could we with ink the ocean fill
and were the skies of parchment made? where every stalk on earth
a quill and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of
God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain
the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. It's amazing grace,
isn't it? It's amazing grace. All right,
let's all stand together.