Thank you, sir. All right, John 17. John 17. While you're turning, do you
remember the threefold rule for reading the Word of God in order
to Truly understand what you're
reading. Threefold rule, do you remember?
Remember, can you name them to me? What's the first one? To my friend, who is speaking?
The second one, to whom? What's the subject? OK, who is
speaking? Christ is speaking here in John
17. To whom? Look at verse one. He lifted up his eyes and said,
Father, Christ is speaking to his Father, speaking to God. And the subject, verse 9, here's
the subject. I pray for them. Christ is praying
for his people. Jesus Christ, the great high
priest, is praying. Is he praying for the whole world?
No. Look at verse 9. I pray for them,
I pray not for the world. Well, maybe he's just talking
about the apostles then. Is he just talking about the
apostles? No. Verse 20. Neither pray I for
these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through
their words. So Christ is praying here, he's
praying to God the Father, speaking to the Father, and he's praying
for his elect, his people, God's elect. Just like the high priest of old, in the
Old Testament. You remember when he went into
the Holy of Holies? Well, everything he did, was
for somebody in particular. Do you remember who it was for? Who did the high priest do all
that he did for? That's right, twelve tribes of
Israel. Do you remember where he had
those names? He had them on his breastplate. He also had them
on his head, on a mitre. That's symbolic of our Lord who
has his people on his mind. He has them on his mind. He had
them on his mind all the days of his earthly life. Well, long
before that. He foreknew them before the world
began. And he had them on his heart,
had them in his heart, like the high priest of old. And Christ
is praying for those people right here. He's praying for his elect
people. Now, seven times in this book
He talks about those whom thou hast given me. Seven times. That's significant. Seven is
the number of perfection. But seven times our Lord talks
about or calls upon the Father for those whom thou hast given
me. Those whom thou hast given me.
You see God chose a certain number to save before the world began.
God chose or elected certain individuals before the world
began and wrote their names down in a book called the Lamb's Book
of Life, and Christ memorized it. All those names, he had them
memorized in his mind, on his heart. And God gave those people
to Christ. Scriptures talk about a covenant.
Gave them to Christ to be the surety of an everlasting covenant. What that means is that God gave
these people to Christ to save them. And he agreed to save them
eternally. An everlasting agreement. All
right? And when God named his son, when
God finally sent his son to this earth to actually do this work
of salvation, he named him accordingly. God named his own son. He says,
call his name Jesus. Why? He shall save his people,
those whom thou hast given me. He shall. Now, do you believe
that? You know, this is one of the
ways you can know you're one of the elect, is if you believe God elects. If not, if a person does not
believe it, carps at it, and argues against it, they're not
one of God's elect. We're going to see that here
in a minute, how Christ says, they keep my word. They hear
me. They believe. They keep the word.
They don't back talk. They believe it. They believe
it. All right, look at verse 6. This is where we left off. Verse
6. Well, we didn't leave off. got into it, but he says, I have
manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out
of the world. I like that. I've manifested
thy name. That's what we looked at Sunday
morning. Christ made known the name of God to us. The great
I am. I've manifested thy name unto
the men. You ought to jot this down. Psalm
22, 22 says, I will declare thy name to my brethren in the midst
of the congregation. That's Psalm 22. Oh, that's that
messianic song where Christ said those things, very things while
hanging on the cross. And it said in verse 22, for
ease of remembrance, I have declared thy name unto my brethren." In
the midst of the congregation. That's what Christ said here.
Later on, I've manifested thy name unto the men which thou
gavest me. Thine elect. God's elect. Thine
they were. God's people have always been
God's people. Yes, they have. He loved us,
Romans says, even while we were yet sinners. Before the world
began, he says, I knew thee, for I knew thee, for I loved
thee. Thine they were, it said. Thine they were. Read on. Verse
6, And thou gavest them me. God gave all things, especially
his people, into Christ's hand. And they have kept thy word. They've kept by word. You see
this is what distinguishes the elect from the non-elect. God's elect receive his word
and they believe his word. That's what it means to keep
his word. They keep his word. Whatever God says, they believe
it. Whatever God says, they believe it. And more than that, they
love it. Right? They love it. Whatever
you say. They don't argue. I've said this
many times, that goats are prone to butt, aren't they? That's
what goats do. You mention a verse of scripture
to a goat, and he'll say, yeah, yeah, yeah, butt. Sheep don't do that. They love
God's word. They don't say, yeah, yeah, I
know, butt. They don't say that. Whenever a word from God's word
is quoted or read, they say, I love that. I love that. Whatever God says is right, it's
true, it's just because God said it. That's what God's people
believe. Whatever God said, he said, I
love that verse 128 there in Psalm 119, he said, I esteem
all thy precepts concerning all things to be right. Therefore,
I hate every false way. Don't you? How do you know you're
one of the elect? Do you esteem every word in God's
Word to be right? No matter what he said. Everything he said is right,
because he said it. Right? Whatever is written, they say
amen to it. Amen means I agree. That's what
amen means, basically. I agree. The Scripture says two
can't walk together except they be agreed. And that's not talking about
God agreeing with us. That's us agreeing with him.
You ever see these old gangster movies where it'd be some little
fella about my size? And if he was tough enough, you
know, everybody, they had these yes-men around them. You see,
you like those old gangster movies, Henry, where little fella about
my, they call him Big Al or something. And he'd have these great big
old dumb oxes, you know, all around him. And they'd be his
yes-men. Whatever he'd say, I'd say, yeah,
boss. That's right. Maybe a silly illustration, but
God's people are his amen people. They say yes to everything he
says. Everything he said is right because he said it. Now, this
thing of election, this is one glorious truth that is declared
by God in his word from cover to cover, that God has chosen
a people. Look down through these verses.
Look at verse 2. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. Verse 6, I manifested thy name
unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Verse 9,
it says it twice there in verse 6, Thou gavest them me, they
have kept thy word. Verse 9, I pray for them, I pray
not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me. They are thine, not the children
of flesh, but the children of promise, accounted for the sea. Now I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world. I come to thee, Holy Father,
keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me." Verse
12, While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy
name. Those that thou gavest me, I kept them. Verse 24, Father,
I will that they also whom thou hast given me. Be with me where
I am. Election. That's what that is,
all the way. You know, that kind of reminded
me of John chapter 10. Now right here is, if you want
to turn over there, you can. Right here is the high priest
talking about those whom God has given to Christ. He's the high priest. What's
John 10 about? Hmm? That's right, the shepherd. Talking about the shepherd and
his sheep. Look over there, John 10, very quickly. John 10, the
shepherd. Look at verse 3. "...to him the
porter openeth, the sheep hear his voice, he calleth his own
sheep." Verse 4, "...when he putteth forth his own sheep."
Verse 11, "...I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep." Verse fourteen, I am the good shepherd, and know
my sheep. Verse fifteen, As the Father
knoweth me, so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the
sheep. Verse sixteen, The other sheep
I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. Verse twenty-seven, My sheep
hear my voice, I know them. Seven times. My sheep. My sheep. Those out there. I know them. I know them. And they know me. They know me. Back to John 17. How do you know that you're one
of the sheep? One of the elect? Well, you remember
there in verse 6 where he said, I manifested thy name. God's
people, they know his name. They know his name. His name
means his character. That's what his name means. I
manifested thy name unto the men you gave me. Christ revealed,
the Father revealed who God is. His character, his attributes.
How do you know you're one of the elect? If you know something
about his attributes. Now, the world doesn't know him
Isn't that what he said there? The world knoweth me not. Verse
25, O righteous father, the world hath not known thee, but I have
known thee, and these have known. You remember me telling you about
that fellow that called me on the phone to kind of blast me
about an article? And I said something about the
attributes of God. And he said attributes of God
aren't important. Oh, that's his name. His attributes. And he has chief attributes. If you don't know, you don't
know God. Isn't that right? What's his chief attribute? And if everybody in here doesn't
know this, I quit. What's his chief attribute? Holy. God's called holy more than any
other. Does the world know that? No, that preacher said one time,
he said, everybody knows God is morally pure, as if that's
just a known fact, you know, it's not important. If you don't
know what holy means, I'll give you a hint. God is
a consuming fire. That's what holiness means. God
dwelleth in light, which no man can approach unto." That's holiness.
Holiness. Justice. He's called a just God
for you as a Savior. Right? God's people know him
as the just one. The just one and a Savior. Sovereign? Oh, they know him
as sovereign, don't they? Huh? And they know him as merciful
and love and grace. and long-suffering, these things. But he has chief attributes,
doesn't he, Joe? That's his name. That's his name. And God's revealed his name to
us, his character to us. And here's the other thing about
his elect. They keep his word. We've already
said that. That's what Christ said. They
keep, they've kept thy word. He speaks much of God's name
in here, in this prayer, and God's word. Look at verse 6. I've manifested thy name, they've
kept thy word. Verse 8. I've given unto them
the words which thou gavest. Verse 11. I keep through thine
own name. Verse 12. While I was with them
in the world, I kept them in thy name. 14, I've given them thy word. Verse
17, sanctify them through thy truth or thy word. Thy word is
true. Verse 26, I've declared unto
them thy name. I love that psalm that says,
God has magnified his word. Can you quote the rest of it?
above all his name. And over in Revelation, there's
a verse that says that he has a name written on his thigh that
no man knows save he to whom he reveals it. And on down it says, and that
name written on his thigh is the Word. It's got to be revealed
to you, doesn't it? His character, his word, it all
goes together. God's name is who he is, and
that's what he does. And God's word declares him. We wouldn't know anything about
God, Ed, except for this, would we? All the heavens declare his
glory, and the firmament showeth his handiwork, but we wouldn't
know anything truly about the character of God, would we, apart
from his word? His word declares him. He tells
us who he is and what he's like and how he's saved. It's the
word of God. And it's significant that the world today doesn't
know him. Why? Because it remains a closed book.
They're not using it, except as a prop. All that blessed are
your eyes, they see. Your ears, they hear. See what?
Hear what? Verse by verse. of this word,
day in and day out, a steady diet. Right? Not the world. You have bursitis. My pastor
calls it bursitis. They pull out one burs, and then
they go to seed with it, at the exclusion of the rest of it.
Don't they? Huh? We compare spiritual things to
spiritual things. The Word of God. And it is God's
Word, and God's elect receive and believe it. His Word. Now
very quickly, I'm not going to have you turn. I don't want you
to turn too much. But all the way through the book
of John, our Lord talks about the Word, and isn't it fitting
that he began the whole book that way? in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. Getting right back to Sunday
morning. We never said he was God. The Word did. And he did,
too. The Word has declared his name.
He said, I've declared thy name. I am. They were looking for Jesus,
weren't they? He said, I am God. And the word was made flesh.
How plain could it get, Stan Anderson? Listen to this. I quote this
quite often. Proverbs 8. He says, All the
words of my mouth are in righteousness. There's nothing veiled or perverse
in them. They're all plain to him that
understandeth. and then that find knowledge. In this world that doesn't know
him, and argues and backtalks against it, it's a closed book
in it. He's hid these things with wide
proof. And man by searching can't find
out God. Why? He's revealed. Christ has
to reveal it. seven and eight here in John
seventeen. He says, they've kept thy word,
I manifest to thy name under the men you gave me, thine elect,
thine they were, you foreknew them, predestinate them, called
them, justified and glorified them. You gave them to me and
they kept your word. They heard the gospel and they
kept it. They believed, they received
it. Many as received him, to them gave he the power to write
and become the sons of God, which were born of God. Now," verse
7, "'Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast
given me are of thee.'" Now they know. What do they know chiefly? What do they know chiefly above
all things? They know Christ is all. That's what they know. And God has given all things
into his hands, don't they? He's Lord over all, over the
dead and the living. That's what they know. That he's
all their righteousness. That he's all their hope. That
he's all their salvation. And if they get to heaven, it'll
be all by him. They know that. That's the chief
thing they know. All things, all people, all things
have been given unto his end. Now they know, whatsoever thou
hast given me are of thee. Verse eight, And I have given
unto them the words which thou gavest me. You remember back
there where he said, the words that I speak, the Father gave me. Remember
that? Remember him saying that, sir?
The Father gave me, told me. The words that I speak I heard
and learned of the Father. The Father gave me the words
that I should say, and he that is of God heareth God's word." He said, "...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." They have believed
that thou didst sin made." Let me close with reading this verse
to you. Christ said, I've given them
your word, O Father, and they've kept it. They've received it. And they
know now, surely. Blessing blood didn't reveal
it. But you revealed it to them. They know that I came from thee,
and they believe you sent me." Now here's what John said a little
later on. John, who wrote that gospel later
on, wrote this epistle. And he said, Beloved, believe
not every preacher. Try the preachers, whether they
are of God. Because many false prophets or
preachers have gone out in the world. And hereby you know the
Spirit of God. Every preacher that confesses
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And everyone that confesses not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. What
does that mean? Christ said, They believe that
I came from you, and you sent me. What does that mean? Well,
to come from someplace, that means you had to be there before
you left. There's a world of people out
there who say that Christ was created. Created. That he existed. He did not exist beforehand.
He only existed when he was born on this earth. But they're not
from God. That means that to believe that
he came from God and God sent him means to believe that he
existed beforehand. That Proverbs 8, I was with thee
in the beginning. From everlasting to everlasting
thou art God. He is the eternal God. Oh, a
child is born, yes, but the Son is given, the eternal Son, and
you've got to call his name the everlasting Father, the mighty
God. That's who he is. It's not just
a man. Oh no, this is God manifest in
the flesh. Anybody that says he's not is
a liar. And those preachers who preach
that he is, that's the Spirit of God. But not just that. He
says that they believe that you sent me. That you sent me. Now, if I send my daughter, if
I send her and say, Go down to my study down there and such
and such. What does that mean? That means
I've got a job for her to do. I sent her, right? And all that
means, when God sent his Son in this world, that means God
had a purpose. known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. God had an eternal purpose ordered
in all things that are sure, and he sent his Son to accomplish
it. Son, go save my people, mine
elect. Establish righteousness. Shed
your blood to pay for their sin. Save them, every one of them,
but I shall save them. That's what it means to believe
that God sent it. God had a purpose It sent his
son to accomplish it. And the last verse there in 1
John says, oh, now we know to have an understanding that he's
the true God. He's the true God. God sent him
with a job to do, and he got it done. And because of that,
I'm saved. I'm one of his legs. And that's
all my salvation. All right, let's stand. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your word. Thank you so much for revealing
it to us. Oh, you've hid these things from
the wise and proven, from a world of people you've hidden them.
But oh, there's a world of people that you've revealed them to.
Out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue, even us,
we remember we were Gentiles according to the flesh. We are strangers to the covenant
of promise that you revealed this blessed covenant to us.
How we thank you for revealing Christ the Word to us. Thank
you, Lord, reveal him more fully to us. We know him part. We preach
him part. would help our unbelief. We know
it comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. It's all
your Word. It's all up to your Word. You uphold all things by
your Word, which is Christ. We ask that you would ever keep
us looking to the Word, keep us in the Word, hide thy Word
in our heart, that Christ live in us, we pray in his name. Amen. you. I'm going to see if I can get
a picture of her. Oh, there she is. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm going to go ahead and do
that. I'm going to do that. Thank you. It's been a long time since I've
been home. It's been such a great time for me. It's been such a
great time for me. It's been such a great time for me. Thank you.