to John chapter 17, the Gospel
of John chapter 17. Human lips are not worthy, the
human tongue is not worthy to read these words, let alone comment on them. But necessity is laid upon us. John 17 is the Lord's prayer,
not Matthew 6. John 17 is the Lord's prayer. This is where the Lord is praying. Matthew 6 is the disciple's prayer,
the one he gave us to pray. This is the great, high, priestly
prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ to his Father. I have said so many times here,
by way of introducing a portion of scripture, that there are
three things necessary when you read the Bible, three things
necessary when you read the scripture. You need to know who is speaking.
You need to know to whom he is speaking and what he is speaking
about. And it certainly applies here.
I have used the illustration before
that if I wrote a letter to my wife and someone intercepted
that letter and they applied it to themselves, they would
be lying on me, wouldn't it? I didn't write it to them, I
wrote it to her. And they'd be lying to themselves. I didn't
write it to them. Here, God the Son is speaking. The Son of God is speaking. He's
speaking to God the Father, and he's speaking about someone. He's praying for someone. Not everyone. He says that. This is a powerful portion of
God's word. We are going to see in this who
Christ is, why he came, what he has done. We are going to
see who is saved. We are going to know who is saved,
and we are going to see where he is now. Every verse deserves
a But for the sake of time, we'll try
to cover them all. Look at verse 1. I hope you have
a Bible. This is a burning bush here, holy ground. Verse 1, These words
spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven. These words spake
Jesus, the real one, not another. This is the real Jesus whom we
shall see. Read on. He said, Father, Father,
the hour is come. The hour is come. Glorify thy
Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. Glorify thy Son. Everything God has done or will
do is for the glory of Jesus Christ. Everything God has done
and will do is for the glory of Jesus Christ. Everything Jesus
Christ did and does and will do is for the glory of God Almighty. That's what he says here. that thy son may glorify thee."
The hour has come, and the greatest hour of God's glory was not when
he created the world, it's when Christ hung on that
cross. Jesus Christ hung on that cross
was the greatest hour of God Almighty's glory. Remember when
Moses When Moses stood before the Lord, or knelt before the
Lord, and he said, Show me your glory. And the Lord proceeded
to say, I'll make my goodness pass before you. I'll declare
the name of the Lord before you. I'll be merciful and gracious. He talked about goodness. He
talked about his name. He talked about his mercy. He
talked about his grace. Where does all that sink? Show
me your glory, Lord. Show me your goodness, show me
who you are, your holy name, your just name, your saving name. Show me your mercy, show me your
grace, your glory, the essential glory of your person. Show me!"
It's in Calvary. It's at the cross. It's when
Christ hung on that cross. That's where God's goodness is
seen. That's where God's name is declared holy. That's where
God's mercy is seen. That's the mercy seat. That's
where God is gracious. That's where all the grace of
God comes from and comes through. That's the channel, Calvary.
The hour has come. Verse 2, he says, As thou hast
given him power over all flesh, glorify your Son as you have
given him power over all flesh. You see, this Lord Jesus is not
in man's hands, they are in his hands. This Lord Jesus, the right
one, this Lord Jesus is not dependent on man's will, they are dependent
on his will. This Lord Jesus is not powerless
and only can do what man lets him do. This Lord Jesus has all
power, and man can only do what he lets them do. He says, if
you've given me power over all flesh, read on, and not just
the flesh, but that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. He has power over the souls of
men. The scripture says he has the
keys of hell and death at his side. He decides who is saved
and who is damned. Man doesn't decide it. This Lord
Jesus does. Who will Christ save? Who will
Jesus Christ save? All but Lenin? No, sir. Look over at John. He said here,
as many as you have given him. John 6, turn back there. The Lord says this many times.
John 6, look at verse 37. John 6. Who will be saved? Who will Christ save? Look at
John 6, verse 37. He said, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Most people just quote the last
part of this verse, "...him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out." But the first part, and the chief part, and the part
that gives God the glory and gives Christ all the glory, says,
"...all that the Father giveth me shall come unto me, and he
that cometh I will in no wise cast out." This is the Father's will which
hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me," this is his
eternal will, his immutable will, it will never change, it will
never be altered, it will never be thwarted, it will never be
messed up, God's will. He said, I've spoken it, I'll
do it. This is it. "...that of all which
he hath given me, I will lose nothing." it up again at the last day.
Look at John 10. Our Lord says this over and over
and over. John 10, verse 11. You see, this
gives glory to the omnipotent Jesus Christ, not this puny,
pinhead failure that men call Jesus. But this gives It's an
omnipotent God who sits on a throne and works all things as to the
counsel of his own will. Christ started this out by saying,
Glorify me, and here's your glory, and here's my glory. We're going
to do what we said we'd do. John 10, verse 11, I am the Good
Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Verse 14 through 16, I am the
good shepherd, and I know my sheep. What good shepherd doesn't
know his sheep? Huh? There's no good shepherd
on earth who doesn't know his sheep, doesn't know how many
he had, doesn't know them all by name. Well, I have chickens,
and I know all them. And you may think I'm crazy,
but I've got them named. I'm a good chicken keeper. I
know my chickens. I count them every day. I know
how many there are. I know them by name. I'm watching
over them. I feed them. I take care of them.
Read on. He says in verse 15, he says,
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, I lay down
my life for the sheep. And the sixteen other sheep I
have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. I must! Why? Because I'm a good
shepherd. A good shepherd brings a sheep. He saves a sheep. Look at verse
26 through 28. You believe not. He talked to
some Pharisee, and they didn't like what he said, but he said,
I'm not concerned about it. You believe not, because you
are not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. I know them, and they follow
me. My sheep shall hear my voice,
and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish." shall any pluck them out of my
hand. And my Father which gave them
to me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. We are in this thing together,
and they are in us together." So, back to the text. God gave
Jesus Christ power over all flesh, gave him a particular people
They're called sheep, they're called elephant. He gave him
a particular people to come here to save. He talks about being
sent by the Father. What was he sent to do? Call
his name Jesus, he shall save his people from their sin. He
came to save his people. Not to try to save the world,
but to save his people. Call his name Jesus. Why? That's
what he's going to do. He shall save his people from
their sin. That's the true Jesus of the
Bible, who is Lord and King and Sovereign. And we must know the right one.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11 and Galatians 1, there's another
one out there. He said, Son, they're preaching
another Jesus, the one who tries to do some things and men won't
let him, and he's frustrated. That ain't the Jesus of the Bible,
who said in John 17, verse 2, I have power over all flesh and
I give eternal life to as many as God gave me. and know this one, they love
it. And that's life. You know, this is what it means
to be saved. Verse 3 says it. This is what
verse 3 said. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true God. God who is God. God who
is God, not the God who wants to. Wants to be and can't be
and won't let him be God. They say, let go, let God. That's
not who he's talking about here. That's not the God of the Bible.
The God of the Bible in scripture says he reigns among the armies
of heaven, inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his
hand or say unto him, You can't do that. Oh, that's an idol. That's this God who wants to
and can't. That's a figment of men's imagination.
That's their idol, and he's just like them. He has no hand but
their hand. But the God of the Bible, the true living God, In
him we live and move and have our being. The God in whose hands
we are and our breath is and all our way. This is life eternal
that they might know. Be the only true God. If you've
got another one, you'd better ditch him. He can't save you. This is life eternal to know
Jesus Christ, the real one, the one with all power, the one who
saves Everybody he comes to save. But if that's not my Jesus Christ,
I am going to trade him in. I don't want one who tried to
save me. I want one that saved me. I don't want one that came
down and shed his blood that might not mean a thing. I want
the one, the true one, who came and shed his blood, and the blood
of this Jesus puts away sin. Verse 4, Christ said, I have
glorified thee on the earth. I have finished. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work you gave me to do. As a man,
he said, I have glorified you all of sin and come short of
the glory of God. But God looked down from heaven
on this one man and said, There is a man I approve of. There
is a man who glorified me in thought, word, and deed from
the beginning. And there's a man I approve of, and I don't approve
of any but that one. I reject every one but that one,
and will only accept those in him that come to me by him."
He said, I finished the work you gave me to do. I finished
it. I finished it. What was the work
that Christ came to do? But to live a good life and show
us how we can live and get to God? Well, I'll live a good life,
and I'll show men that if they can do this now, they can get
to God. Is that it? Scripture talks about establishing
a righteousness. This is biblical language. It
talks about fulfilling every jot and tittle of the law. It
behooves us, he said, to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus Christ,
the man, the God-man, came to fulfill a righteousness, to live
a perfect life, because God demands that of every single human being. And when he did that, he didn't
do it for himself. He's God. He didn't do it to
show God he could do it. He's God. He did it for some
people. He lived that life as a representative,
as a righteous representative for some people. And he imputed,
not just doctrine, it's salvation. He imputed, he charged that righteous
life to some people, not all people, or else all people be
saved. Christ imputed or charged a perfect
holy life to all that the Father gave him, his sheep. He said,
charge not that sin to their account. The Father forgave them.
Who was he praying for? The sheep. Charge them with righteousness
that I did. Charge me with sin that they
did. I finished the work. He finished
righteousness. There is no more righteousness
to do. Well, wait a minute, I've got
one. I want to put myself in there. I've got something I can
get." He said, I finished it. Scripture talks about this robe
of righteousness. Over in Isaiah 45, it talks about
the king's daughters, all glorious, with this apparel wrapped by
the king's fingers himself. It would be like somebody, my
wife is a seamstress. Be like her making a glorious,
beautiful robe for me, this spotless robe. And I say, wait a minute,
I want to add something to that. Well, it's finished. She says,
I finished this robe for you, just wear it. Now, wait a minute,
I'm going to make some changes, some addition. No, wait, it's
finished. You put anything to it, you mar
it. Don't mess up my robe. And anything we add to the righteousness
of Christ is marring the road. Christ said, I finished it. And
anybody that's had it put on them, they say, it's good enough. It's enough. I finished it. I fulfilled all righteousness. And then he took their sins in
his body and On the tree, he paid the penalty for their sin. It doesn't say he tried to. You
notice how it says all the way down through here, I have, I
have, I have. You notice that? I have finished.
He said, I have glorified. He said, I have sanctified. It
doesn't say down through there, I've tried, that I want to, if
only they'll let me. He says, I have. I have. This is his glory. Now, O Father,
glorify thou me with thine own self, which the glory which I
had with thee before the world was. 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."
Christ said, Glorify me with your own self, with the glory
I had with you. before the world was. Glory is
to be with God. Glory is to be with God. The
song says, When by his grace I shall look on his face, that
will be glory for me. Heaven is called glory. That's what heaven is called
in some places. Why? Because God is there. It's
not the streets that make it glorious. It's not the pearly
gates that make it glorious. It's him that makes it glorious.
His glory. And he said here, I have manifested
thy name unto the men you gave me. God's name is his power. God's name is his glory. God's
name is . . . what's God's name? What's he saying about his name?
You know, there's only two things he says about his name. You know that? God only says
two descriptions of his name. One says, My great name, and
the other says, My holy name. And God has manifested his holy
name to some, to them that God gave him. Those that God gave
him, they fear his name. They fear to take it on a sinful
lift. They don't say, Oh! The only time they use that name
is to say, Oh, God. in worship, in fear and reckoning. Those that God gave Christ, they
fear his name. They make mention. They don't
use it flippantly, carelessly, familiarly. They don't put it
on the bumpers of their cars. They make mention. The scripture says that his name
is exalted. Everybody that God gave to Christ,
they know his name. And they don't use it. They don't use the name Jesus
carelessly, either. Read on, verses 7 and 8. He says,
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given
me are of thee. I have given them the words.
Here's another thing that God the Father gave Christ, and he
in turn gave it to us. I have given them the words which
you gave me. Christ said in another place,
he said, the things that I say, the words I speak, they're not
of myself. He becometh in his own name,
or speaketh of himself. He's not sent from God, but he
who speaketh God's word. And this is Christ, Christ the
messenger of the covenant. He came with the word of God,
and he performed miracles and signs and wonders, yes, but he
said an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. And he said, no signs will be
given. And that's all my generation
is interested in, is signs and wonders and miracles. That tells
me they don't know God. Because right here it says, the
ones that know God and have been given to Christ by God, believers,
believe his word. His word. They don't need signs
and wonders. This, like David said, he said,
open thou mine eyes to behold wondrous things. This is a wonder
to me. Wondrous things out of thy love.
I don't need to see somebody healed. I've seen people healed.
But that doesn't prove to me that Christ is God. This proves
to me that Christ is God. Because God heals doesn't prove
to me that God is. This proves to me that God is. Because we don't live by, we
don't want by sight that Janice and Jambry, those tricksters,
those sorcerers of Pharaoh, they mimicked the miracles of Moses,
didn't they? Huh? Didn't they? They turned
their rods into snakes, didn't they? Your eyes can fool you,
but this won't fool you. And from that day forward, you'll
be taken with this, and you won't be taken with signs and wonders.
You say, look at that, that's all right. Look at this. That's a sign of a believer.
He manifests his name and his word to them. I've given them
your word, and now they know! I know Jesus Christ is the Son
of God, and he's come, and he's lived on earth. I know! Why do
you know? You see him? Yes! Right here. Not like Earl Roberts when I
was in bed, when he appeared in a vision. That was just the
morphine he was taking, or codeine, or whatever it was. I've seen
him go, clothed and in my right mind, no drugs, just in the preaching
of the Now they have known through the
word, and they are born again." This is the power of God, this
is the power of God. Peter said they are born again,
not of corruptible, but of incorruptible, which is the word of God which
liveth and abideth forever. And this is the word, John, he
said, this is the word, more specifically, this is the word
which by the gospel is preached unto them. Not just preaching
the Bible. Lots of preachers say that. Lots
of people say, I believe the Bible. What do you believe about
the Bible? What's the preacher preach about
the Bible? Christ crucified is the power
of God and the wisdom of God and the gospel of God. He said, I've given him the word
you gave me. They've received them. They know
that I came out from there. We saw Joshua take those people
in, didn't we, John? We saw Christ just as surely
as we'd been standing there, taking his people into the halls
of glory. We saw Joshua tearing those walls of Jericho, didn't
we? Just like we were there. Christ,
we've seen him break down that wall of partition and whip that,
we saw him whip that veil in two, and bring us to God. We've
been there. Now they know I came out from
thee. They believe you did send me.
I believe. Verse 9 and 10. He says, I pray
for them. I pray for these people you've
given me. I pray not for the world, but I pray for them which
you have given me. Christ did not come to save everybody. He came to save those the Father
gave him. And he saved them. He said, I'm
finished. He said it here when he was hanging
on the cross. He said, I'm finished. What? What did he give me to
do? Not try to save. Not to lay down my life, a sacrifice
for all, but for many. Not to shed my blood and see
who will do what they will. No! To apply the blood to God's
elect. And it says, Now he ever lives
to make intercession for who? All? No! Us! He's not willing that any of
us should perish. Who's the us? He said, I know my sheep. I lay
down my life for them. They know me, they're going to
follow me. I'm going to pick them up, I'm
going to take them to glory, save them from their sin. I pray
for them. He ever lives to make intercession
for us. He says there's one mediator
between God and not man, but men. The man, Christ Jesus. Because the Father always hears
his prayer, and everybody he prays for, God's going to save
them. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
everything. Well, this righteous man availed everything. He said
it, didn't he, John? He said, I know that you hear
me, that you always give me the things I ask for. In consequence
of this prayer, Christ was hanging on the cross, and the Father
said, Give them. How many were hanging around the cross? Who
is he praying for? There's lots around that cross.
Who is he praying for? I'm not praying for the world,
but for them you've given me. There's thousands hanging around
that cross, though. Yep, he saved 3,000 of them, just a little
while later at Pentecost. Saved. Why? Because Christ said,
forgive them. I pray for them. Friend, don't
pray for the world. See, Christ came not to save
everybody, but to save his elect. Christ came with their names
engraved on the palms of his hands. Remember that time I told you,
I never told her this, but I'll tell her now. Teresa Patterson,
when she confessed Christ, and I was about to baptize her. I
didn't want to forget her name, so I wrote it on the palm of
my hand. And I got up in there, and I wasn't going to baptize Sherry
Anderson or Vicki Patton or Nancy Parks. I was up there to baptize
Teresa Patterson. Her name was engraved on the
palm of my hand. And I baptized her. Yeah, we
did, didn't we, Tricia? She went down under the water. She came up. He said his name,
the names of his people, engraved on the palms of his hands. And
when he went to Calvary, he says, there's no one there, my sheep.
John's sheep." And he went in there, and when
he came back out, said, Sacrifice accepted, God's please. Any time to the children, accept
it! Name, name, I pray for them,
that you've given me thereby. Love them, yea, I love them with
an everlasting love. So he gave them to Christ. What
love? You know, Bob Coffey and my sister Becky, years ago, they
showed Mindy and I the greatest honor and respect and token of
love that you could show somebody. They put in their will that when
something ever happens, if it ever happens to both of them
at the same time, they gave us their children. You see? The Father says, I love
them with an everlasting love, therefore I'm giving them to
Christ to save them. Now, go save them, son. I'll
do it. I love them. Oh, how I love them. Bring them back to me. I'll do
it. He lived 30. Is there any doubt?
Was there any doubt about the outcome of God's people? No,
God gave him all power. College nays, college nays it.
Jesus, he's going to save them. He's going to bring them back
to me. Read on, verse 13 and 14, or verse, getting ahead of
myself, verse 11. He says, I know 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. Kind
of believe he will, don't you? There he is. He gave them to
Christ. Now Christ is coming back, and
he said, Now here, here's yours. Now you keep them. You see that? It's the dialogue going on with
the Father and the Son. And the Father gave Christ to
people and said, Go save them. Do for them what they need to
be done. Save them. Live a righteous life. Pay for
their sin. Come on back to me. And so Christ
did. I finished it. I kept them. Verse
12, he says, While I was with them in the world, I kept them
in my name. Those you gave me, I've kept
them. I've kept them. Now you keep them. I'm coming
back. Now you keep them." Now we're kept. Notice 1 Peter
1 and 5 say we're kept by the power of God. God says, all right,
I'll take you from here on out. They're kept by that power. Verse
12, he says, none of them is lost. Boy, I like this. Oh, how I like this. Verse 12,
none of them is lost. But the sign of perdition of
scripture might be fulfilled. And you know who that's talking
about? Judas. He said, Had not I chosen thee?
One of you is the devil. He chose him. To save him? That's one who has all power
over men and devils. That's Jesus Christ of the Bible.
Now, he said, none of them that thou hast given me is lost. Why? He's a good shepherd. Am
I a good chicken keeper? Charles, how many chickens did
you give me a few months back? Ten. You want to know how many
I got, Charles? Ten. I count them daily. One is about
to get his head cut off. I've got ten right now. I'm a
good chicken keeper. But Christ says I'm the good
shepherd. Remember the story of Saul and
David? Saul was man's king. You know,
Saul couldn't even hold on to his asses. No pun intended. He couldn't, he just couldn't,
he was keeping asses for his father, donkeys for his daddy. He lost them. Lost his asses. Couldn't keep them. David, God
says, I've provided me a king. Where is he? He's out on the
hillside watching sheep. Has he lost any? He's a good
shepherd. He's a good shepherd. Or it says
of Christ, he's the good shepherd. No, he's great and I've kept
him. It even says of him, he's the great shepherd. He's better
than the best. What else does it say, John,
about him? He's the chief shepherd. It says
all these under-shepherds, he gives them sheep, and they try
to keep them, but they can't. Well, he's the chief. He says,
I've kept them. I'll keep them. or ever will lose a sheep." Now, that's gospel. I'm preaching
gospel. If you're a sheep, if you feel
like you're a black sheep, there you are, Vicki, you're wearing
black. You're a black sheep? He said, none of them is lost.
Those you gave me, I've kept. He's the good shepherd. He never
lost a sheep. Are you saying preacher once saved, always saved?
It depends on who does the saving. Doesn't it? If old preacher so-and-so
saved me, if so-and-so saved me, if I saved me, made my decision
for Jesus, then no. I'm not saying I wasn't saved
like that. But if Jesus Christ saved me, yes, once saved, always
saved. I kept it. That's what he said.
Who's going to argue with him? It's a man's law. Wait a minute.
I know one. You call me a liar, Crosshead? none that the Father
give me, O Lord." He says over in Hebrews, he's going to present
them to the Father, but hold I and the children which you
have given me. God says, Are they all here?
Every one. Count them. Count them. But there are a number
which no man can number. God can. Just gives him the glory. Does this give him all the glory?
No room for doubt. Verse 13 and 14, he says, Now
come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they
might have joy. Does this give you joy? Henry,
does this give you joy? My joy, Christ said. What joy? That he's a good shepherd. That God gave him a sheep. And
you're one of them, and you're in his hands, and he's not going
to lose you. Oh, but come to wonder, Lord,
I feel it, but I'll leave the ninety-nine and go after you. That's what this good shepherd
does, man. There's one wandering off. Well, he ain't worth nothing.
Just leave him alone. The good shepherd says, Just shut down, folks! No! Hey, dogs, look at him! From
one to more, and I feel I'm going over the cliff to get separation.
No, you ain't! Thy rod and thy staff. Come on
back! Goodness! Mercy! Forgive him!
Watch the dog. Get him! Fetch him! Bring him
back! None lost. His glory is at stake. My soul is at stake. God's word
is at stake. Who can argue with this? Verse
14, he says, I've given them thy word, but the world hated them. How could anybody argue
with this and hate this? That's the way my pastor told
me that I ought to preach. He said, You ought to preach
expecting everybody to believe this. How could they not? Who
wouldn't want to? The world. Self-righteous world. Boy, would old sinners love it. Black sheep love it. You love
it, Vicki? Black sheep love it. Well, verse 14 says, "...the
world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world." Now, he says, I pray not that thou
should take them out of the world. See, Christ doesn't intend for
us to live separate from the world, but to go out in it with
the salt of the earth. He says here, I pray thou not
that thou should take them out of the world, but thou shouldst
keep them from the evil one. Keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. See, I don't have to police God's
sheep. That's not what a pastor is all
about. Some of you, there's a couple
in here that have been under some strict, strict fellow. I
mean fellows that call themselves preachers that go in people's
houses and look at their checkbooks to see how they're spending their
money. You don't believe that, do you? And Stan, they claim
to preach grace. I'm serious. Of course, there
ain't nobody going in their houses and looking at their checkbook.
I wonder if any of them have ever said that. Pardon me, Pastor,
no offense, but can I look at yours? You want to look at mine? Can I look at yours? I won't allow that. But see, I don't have to please God's
tell them where to go, and, you know, I remind us, and so forth,
whatever the word of God says, I remind us, but they are not
of the Word. You see what I'm trying to say, Jerry?
What he is saying, and what I'm trying to say, they're not of
the Word, even as I'm not of the Word.
There's no worry. I don't, you know, let me say,
I worry about us. I worry about myself. I worry. But really, I know this, he said,
my sheep won't fall away. And that's what gives this pastor
comfort. I worry about people listening
to other voices and going after strangers and going after being
deceived by these evil men and seducers. I worry about them.
I've seen it happen, and I worry. I do. I lose sleep at night.
But you know, really, Christ said they won't hear a stranger's
voice. My sheep. So in reality, when it comes
down to it, I just need to quit worrying. The sheep are going
to hear my voice, and those that follow go off somewhere else. They're just not his sheep. And
you moan and you mourn the loss of them. If you really love somebody,
you do. But then you have to conclude they're not my sheep.
They went out from us. They're not of us. I'll have to keep pleading with
Henry and Roberta, trying to keep them and give Henry a job
to do so he'll stay a member of the church. Make him a deacon
and make him teach Sunday school so he'll stay around and won't
leave. I'll have to do that. My sheep hear my voice. Henry
comes to hear the gospel. If he quits hearing the voice,
then Henry's gone, isn't he? If I quit preaching Christ, he'd
better go where the voice is being heard, right? If he leaves
where the voice is being heard, he's not saved. That's plain. That's my confidence. That's
my confidence. If I keep preaching this gospel,
And this whole chicken match leaves, and I've been preaching
the gospel. Then I just determined there
ain't no sheep here. Right? That's right. That's my country. My sheep here, my boy. They're
not of the world. Verse 17, and I'm sorry to get
off like that, but verse 17. Sanctify them through thy truth.
Set them apart. This is what sets them apart.
This is the reason I like to call God's people believers,
not Christians, because people use that term too lightly. Everybody
is a good Christian. I mean, no good bums, because
they made some profession of faith and quit their drinking.
They're good Christians. Believers is what separates. They believe the truth, all of
the truth. Verse 18, "...as thou hast sent
me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world. For
their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified
through the truth." Christ set himself apart to set us apart. He left the Father to come to
us, to bring us to the Father, to bring us out of the world. Verse 20, "...neither pray I
for these alone, but them also which shall believe on me through
their word." Who's that? Deborah Huff. Right then and
there, Deborah, your name came to his mind. No, sorry, it never left him. But he was thinking on you. And
you think about that, David. Two thousand years ago, the Son
of God said, No, I'm not just praying
for James and John and Bartholomew and Thomas and Peter and Andrew. I'm praying for Deborah. some doesn't want to hear this
gospel through the preaching of the epistles of James and
John, she's going to believe. I'm praying for Deborah Hutt,
Father. Isn't that great? Go ahead and give a shout. Them which shall believe. Didn't you know it says, which
I hope they'll believe if they'll give me their heart? shall believe."
Why? Faith is the gift of God, not
yourself. Verse 21, "...that they all may
be one, that we may be standing beside Mary, and Martha, and
Lydia, and Ruth, and Stands all those ladies on the
front row, dead to her feet, and somebody says, Who's she?
She's one of the Lord's own, one of his daughters, one of
the daughters of Abraham. Who's that guy there, standing
beside the Moses? Well, that's William Hodges. Who? William Hodges. Everybody knows him. Christ died
for him. Everybody in heaven has known
him from the foundation of the world. That they all may be one, as
we are one, as thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they all may be one in us, that the world
may believe The world of people, that's what he's talking about,
every tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue, even southwest Virginia
tongue, may believe that you sent me.
And the glory which you gave me, is this glorious to you? I've given them, that they may
be one even as we are one, I in them, thou in me, that they may
be made perfect in one." that the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and love them as thou hast loved me." Father,
I will. And nobody can pray like this
except the Son of God. We pray, Lord, if thou wilt. The Son of God here says, this
is what I want. I will. What? That those whom
thou hast given be with me where I am." Said, done. Father, I will. Done. There ain't
no possibility it could not come to pass, is there? He does all things according
to his will. That they may behold. What's
these wands doing? What are these wands, these glorious
wands, these shining wands? What's Deborah going to be doing?
with Mary and Martha and Lydia. Now, what are these ladies going
to be doing? Beholding his glory. That's what they're doing now.
There's a mirror, and they're beholding his glory. That's what
they do now. That's what they'll be doing
then. That's what they're doing now. Beholding his glory. which you have given me, for
you love 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 thee." Do you know this God, Joe Park? This one
that, buddy, he's God. Do you know this Christ here
that came to do a job? He did it and he went back and
sat down and he's expecting it all to come to pass. Do you know
this one? He's talking about you. They
have known that thou hast sent me, and why thou hast sent me,
and how I have declared unto them thy name, and I will declare
it." See, he's still declaring it. Stan, you're still hearing
it. It's what you heard in the beginning. It's what you're going
to hear in the end. "...that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." Oh, my, how we
love this guy. Don't we? This God, this Christ,
this gospel, don't we? That's what the saints love.
That's what the saints are singing about. That's what they love
to hear. The saints, even the angels that I look into, they
love it. They never get enough of it,
and neither do I. I must be a sheep. That's good
news. All right, Joe, we got another
hymn picked out, buddy?