Welcome to the Reign of Grace
radio broadcast. My name is Bill Parker. I'm the
pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky.
This program is sponsored by the members of Eager Avenue Grace
Church in Albany, Georgia, located at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany,
Georgia. I'll be bringing you a gospel
message of the sovereign grace and glory of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ from God's Holy Word. And now, the message. Welcome to our program. Now today
I'm going to finish preaching through the book of John chapter
17 on the subject of the Lord's Prayer. That's the title of the
message. This is the fourth in a series entitled the Lord's
Prayer. This is the prayer of Christ
as the priest, the high priest of God, standing for his people,
praying for his people, And it's a beautiful prayer. It's being
let in on the mind of our Savior concerning His prayer to the
Father for His people. The prayer can be divided into
three parts. The first five verses is Christ
praying in His relationship to His Father, the Son of God incarnate,
praying to the Father concerning His finished work on the cross
of Calvary This is where he was headed, going to Calvary to suffer
and bleed and die for the sins of his people. And that is the
basis of the salvation, the ground of salvation, the complete salvation
of his people as they're standing before God, where Christ bore
away the sins of his people, his sheep, God's elect, his church,
that were imputed, charged, legally accounted to him, And he brought
forth an everlasting righteousness. The Bible calls it the righteousness
of God, which is the entire merit of his obedience unto death,
and imputed it, legally accounted it, charged it to his people.
And he was made sin, Christ, who knew no sin for us, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And it's upon
that ground that Christ prays. And then, beginning at verse
6 and going through verse 19, He praised specifically for his
disciples that were then with him on the earth. These men,
these chosen men, there were 11 disciples because Judas had
betrayed him, and then there were other disciples who were
followers of Christ. These men were going to face
some of the hardest trials that would ever be known in the annals
of church history. And most of them would be martyred
for the faith, for standing and identifying publicly, confessing
Christ before men, because the world hates the gospel, the gospel
of God's grace, because it exposes sinners for what we are by nature
and by practice. Even in our best efforts to keep
the law, it exposes the wickedness of a sinner trying to be saved
by his works. And he prayed for his disciples.
He said in verse 18, he says, As thou hast sent me into the
world, even so have I also sent them into the world. Now, before
Christ, ascended unto the Father, after his death and burial and
resurrection, he taught the disciples for many days And he opened their
understanding to many things in the Word. And he ascended
unto the Father. But before he ascended unto the
Father, he issued forth the Great Commission. And in that Great
Commission, he told them to go into all the world and preach
the gospel. You see, God has a people out
of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. It's not all men
without exception, for all men without exception will not believe.
But he has a people. Christ said they were all that
the Father had given him. And he said this, he said, all
that the Father hath given me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will in no wine cast out. He went on to say there
in John chapter 6, he said, and this is the will of him which
hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I might not
lose any of them, but raise them up at the last day." You see,
God chose them, Christ redeemed them and justified them on the
cross. The Holy Spirit, under the preaching
of the gospel, will bring them to faith in Christ and true repentance. And so he said, go into all the
world and preach the gospel. God has a people, and they're
going to hear his voice. They're his sheep. You remember
Christ said in John chapter 10, he said, my sheep hear my voice.
And he said, other sheep which I have which are not of this
foe, this Jewish foe, God has a people among the Jews, but
he also has a people among the Gentiles. And Christ said, them
also I must bring. And then he went on over in that
chapter and said, my sheep hear my voice, and they follow me.
So how do we know, how do we know that Christ prays for us
in this high priestly prayer? Do we know him and follow him
and trust him and believe in him? That's the key. You come
to Christ and for salvation. Now he said, he said, as thou
hast sent me into the world. Christ himself was sent into
the world to redeem his people from their sins. His name shall
be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.
He was sent of the Father to be made of a woman. That's His
incarnation. He is God and man in one person. He was sent of the Father, made
under the law. That is, all that the law required
in its precept and in its penalty was laid upon His shoulders.
It became His responsibility in the stead of His people. And
it says, to redeem them that were under the law. And then
he says that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
All of this, you see, that he is doing for his people. And
he says, even so have I also sent them into the world, into
the hostile world, into a God-hating world. And they were about to
suffer. So he says in verse 19, and for
their sakes, I sanctify myself, that they
also might be sanctified through the truth." Now, what he's saying
is this. That word sanctify, many people
abuse that word. They speak of it as being made
holy. In some senses it is, in certain
passages of Scripture. But you see, Christ himself didn't
have to be made holy. He was holy within himself. He's the Holy One of Israel,
the scripture says. And that speaks of Him, not just
simply as God. We know God is holy intrinsically,
infallibly, immutably holy. But it says Christ is the Holy
One of Israel. That speaks of not only His deity,
but His humanity. The Bible says at his birth that
the angel came to Mary and referred to the Christ child within her
womb as that holy thing. Now that was not a term of derision.
That was a way of describing the greatness and the uniqueness
of this great person. God and man in one person. And
Christ as God-man is holy intrinsically. infallibly, immutably. And he never had to be made holy. So when he said he sanctified
himself, what does he mean? It doesn't mean he made himself
holy, it means he set himself apart for a specific purpose. And what was that purpose? That
purpose was to obey the law for his people to go to the cross
and suffer and bleed and die for their sins, to be buried
and raised again the third day because of their justification,
and to ascend unto the Father as their mediator, their intercessor. Christ set himself apart for
that purpose. And he says, I did that that
they also might be sanctified through the truth. They might
be set apart through the truth. Now, how does that happen? In
the new birth. And what he does, he shows us
here that his work for us on the cross is the ground and cause
and basis of our salvation. And the work of the Holy Spirit
in the new birth to bring us to the truth and implant the
truth within our hearts in faith and repentance is the result,
the effect, you see, of what Christ accomplished. Christ's
work for us on the cross is the ground. The Holy Spirit's work
within us in the new birth is the fruit, the effect, the result. If Christ had not died on the
cross and justified us by his blood and righteousness, there'd
be no work of the Holy Spirit. And let me say this, this truth
that he speaks of, which sanctifies or sets apart the people of God,
is the truth of the gospel of God's grace in saving sinners
by what Christ accomplished on the cross. In other words, the
work of the Holy Spirit within us is to show us the glory and
the value and the power of Christ's work on the cross for us. God forbid that I should glory,
Paul wrote, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
beginning at verse 20, in his high priestly prayer, now he
begins to pray for all his people, the church, The church of the
Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the first five verses
now, he prayed in his relationship to the Father. And then from
verse 6 to verse 19, he prayed in his relationship to his disciples
who were on earth at that time, knowing what they were about
to face. But now in verse 20, he prays for his church in all
ages. Now, what is the church? The
church. There weren't churches. literally
means called out ones. Now, the church represents, the
church is the chosen of God. You know, people talk about God's
chosen people, and they'll always refer to the Jews of the Old
Testament, but they were just a picture. They were just a type
of God's eternal chosen people, spiritual Israel. The church
is the redeemed of the Lord. That is, those who were bought
by the precious blood of Christ make up the Church. And the Church
are the justified in Christ. God the Father justified His
people in Christ on the cross as Christ bore their sins away
and God imputed or accounted His righteousness to them. And
then the church are those who are born again from above, born
of the Spirit. They have come to hear and believe
the truth of God's grace in Christ, how God saves sinners by grace. They've come to embrace Christ,
to trust Him, to bow to Him. He's the sovereign Savior and
He's their Lord and their Savior. He's the King of kings and the
Lord of lords. The church are those who worship
God. in truth and in spirit, and they
follow Christ. The church are those who will
be glorified forever to enjoy his presence and his eternal
blessedness in glory." And that's the church. And here's what Christ
says in verse 20. He says, "...neither pray I for
these alone," these disciples that were with him in that day
alone. But he says, "...but for them also which shall believe
on me through their words." In other words, their testimony
will be of Christ and His glory and His power and the salvation
that He freely gives through all that He accomplished on Calvary.
They'll testify through their word. Our hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand. And all other ground is sinking
sand. That's my word. It's the word
of God through me. And I testify of that. And that's
what he's saying. They believe. Faith is the gift
of God. And let me tell you something.
It's not our believing that saves us. Now, think about this with
me. Read the scriptures. Our believing
is a gift from God. That's what the Lord says in
Ephesians chapter 2, for by grace are you saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. My friend, if you've ever come
to see yourself as you really are in your sinfulness, and the
only way you'll do that is by the power of the Holy Spirit,
you'll realize that if left to yourself, you would never believe,
not the truth, not the Lord of glory. You'd go on in your unbelief. So it's not our believing that
saves us. It is Christ and Him alone who
saves us by God's grace, through His blood and His righteousness. And believing is not a choice
that we make. It is a persuasion that God brings
us to, by His Spirit, through the truth, to look to Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. You see, if you could say to
someone, well, I was saved because I believed, then you might as
well say, well, I was saved because I'm a better sinner than other
sinners who wouldn't believe. But you know that's not the case.
Christ is the Savior. And we believe in him. You see,
believing has an object, and that's what he's saying here.
He said, I don't pray just for these disciples that are with
me alone, but for them also which shall believe on me, he said. Through their word, through their
testimony, they look to Christ and to him alone. Verse 21, he
says, "...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." Now what he's talking
about here is the union and the experience of that union with
Christ through His people. They are brought into fellowship
with the Father and the Son by the power of the Spirit, and
they become one with Him. Now, we are one with Him in divine
election before the foundation of the world. We are one with
Him by representation on the cross of Calvary. You see, Christ,
when He kept the Law, He didn't do it for Himself, He did it
for His people. When he died for sin, he didn't
die for his own sins, he died for the sins of his people. They
became his by amputation, and amputation alone. In the book
of Psalms, there are many Psalms where the Savior is represented,
and he'll talk about his sins. He'll say, my sins. Well, they
were his by amputation. They were laid upon him. They
were put in him. You can't put sin into somebody.
Sin's not even put into us. We're born in sin. and were born
spiritually dead and depraved. And sin is a matter of the heart
because of our unlawful, unholy, selfish desires and hatred of
God and unbelief and ignorance and darkness that pervades our
inner person. But you see, Christ, He died
for the sins of His people. He was buried and rose again
the third day for His people. He ascended unto the Father for
His people. And then we are brought into
union with Him by the power of the Spirit in the new birth when
we look to Him, when we believe in Him and repent of dead works,
and we become one with the Father and the Son. And He said He did
this, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Now,
when God brings all of His people to final glory in Christ, The
whole world, now even the unbelieving world, will at that time, they
will see that Christ was sin of the Father, that He was truly
who He said He was. They'll see it too late, sad
to say, but they will see it. They'll be forced into submission,
that's what it will be. The Bible says, for in that day
every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. And those who do not believe
in Him in this life by the power of the Spirit, who die in their
sins, who die in unbelief, they'll confess it, too, forcibly. They'll be brought to their knees
by the power of a just God. And then he says in verse 22,
he says, "...and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them."
that they may be one, even as we are one." Now, what is that
glory? Well, Christ did a work, and he finished that work. It's
not an incomplete work. I've heard people say or speak
in this way, that what Christ started on the cross, the Holy
Spirit finishes in the new birth. Not so. You see, Christ didn't
start anything on the cross. He said himself in John 19, he
said, it is finished. What Christ did on the cross
is a completed work. And thereby he was glorified
of the Father. He was raised again from the
dead, and he ascended unto the Father. And that's the glory
that he speaks of. He says, the glory which thou
gavest me. And what he's talking about is
he finished his work, He put away sin, the sins of His people.
He brought in righteousness and justified them. And based upon
His finished work, He was raised from the dead and He ascended
unto the Father. Now that's the glory that He
freely gives to His people. The glory that you've given Me,
I've given them. Now it was given to Him based
on his finished work. And by the way, now what I said
before, some people who say, well, what Christ started, the
Holy Spirit finishes, no sir. What Christ completed has its
fruit in what the Holy Spirit accomplishes in the hearts of
His people. But the Holy Spirit causes His people to look back
at the finished work of Christ. You see that? Now, it was given
to Christ Because he earned it. He finished it. He completed
it. But he gives it to his people freely. We don't earn it. We don't deserve it. We did nothing
to attain it or to maintain it. It is freely given." And he says,
I've given them. And he says, "...that they may
be one, even as we are one." That's speaking of our final
glory, when we will be perfectly conformed to the image of Christ.
All who are in Him, all who believe in Him. And look at verse 23.
He says, "...I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made
perfect in one." and that the world may know that thou hast
sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Christ in
them, and thou in me, the Father in Christ." What's he talking
about? He's talking about a union that is indivisible. Christ,
the Father, was in the Son, engaged all that he was in the Son, in
the person of the God-man. And the Son of God incarnate,
you see, resides in His people by His Spirit and by His Word. And He says that they may be
perfect in one. Now, that has a twofold meaning,
I believe. Number one, that they may be
perfect in one as a church body. Now, we go back to the church,
that's who He's praying for. Christ is the head of the church.
His redeemed ones, his justified ones, his called out ones are
his body. And as the world stands right
now, not every one of his sheep have been called into the fold.
In other words, the church here on earth has not yet been perfected
in that all of God's elect have not come into the fold, but they
will. And then the second meaning of
this is, again, final glory. that they all may be gathered
up together, they'll be raised from the dead, just as Christ
was. He's the firstfruits, and we're those which follow. He's
the firstborn among many brethren, and we will be made perfect in
ourselves. And he says that, and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them,
and hast loved me." In other words, at that time now, when
the church is glorified together, and perfected within themselves,
being made perfectly conformed to the image of Christ, again,
the world will see that Christ was sin of the Father, that he
loved his people and his people loved him. So listen to verse
24. He says, Father, I will, that
they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. This is the will of the Father
and it's the will of the Son, that they be with Him where He
is, that they be glorified together with Him. And He says, who are
they? Those whom thou hast given Me. They were given to Him. They're
His. Again, they were His by divine, sovereign, electing grace
before the foundation of the world. They are His by redemption,
He paid the price. They are His by adoption. They
are His by justification. They are His bride, the Scripture
says. He gave them His righteousness
to justify them before God. They are His by new birth. And
He says, I will. And He says, that they may behold
My glory, which thou hast given Me, for thou lovest Me before
the foundation of the world, the eternal love of God. What
a glorious subject that is. They'll see this glory. They'll
see it in Christ. And he says, they'll behold my
glory. We behold his glory, the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and we behold it now when we're
born again by the Spirit, when we believe the gospel, and we
see the glory of Christ in him crucified. But when we're glorified
with him, when we're taken to heaven, we'll see his glory perfectly. John said that. He said, beloved,
We don't yet see it perfectly. We're now the sons of God now.
We see it through a glass darkly, Paul said, but then we'll see
him as he is. And he said, for thou lovest
me. Verse 25, O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee,
but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent
me. How do we know the Father? The
world doesn't know him. The world seeks after a God who
will save them and bless them based on their works, based on
their efforts, and that's not the God of the Bible. My friend,
if the God you serve will save you, keep you, or reward you
based on anything but the saving work of Christ on the cross,
his blood and righteousness, if that's your God, he's not
the God of the Bible, he's an idol, he's a false God, a dead
God, you don't know the true and living God. And that's what
he's saying, righteous Father, the Father who is both a just
God and a Savior. The Father who is both a true
and just and righteous and holy God, and yet merciful and gracious
and loving. He says, the world has not known
thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou
hast sent me. How do we know the Father? Through the Son.
God the Father sent forth His Son to be the Savior of His people. In verse 26, this is the last
verse of John 17, he says, "...and I have declared unto them thy
name," who you are, his attributes, "...and will declare," he'll
continue to declare, he declares it and he continues to declare
it, "...that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in
them, and I in them." Now the Bible says, hearing is love.
Not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son
to be the propitiation, the sin-bearing sacrifice, the bloody, dead sacrifice
that brought satisfaction. That He might be the propitiation
for His people. You see, how do you experience
and know the love of God? Through Christ. How do you know
the Father? Through Christ. How do you become
one with God? Through Christ. Where is your
redemption, your hope, your peace? In Christ. I hope this has helped
you to understand the Bible, the Scriptures, and the Gospel.
If you'd like to get a copy of this message, listen to the announcer. He'll give you the details. The
title of this message is, The Lord's Prayer, Part 4. I hope
you'll get all those messages, The Lord's Prayer, Part 4. And
I hope you'll join us next week for another message from God's
Word. We're glad you could join us
for today's message. If you would like to receive
a copy of this message, or if you would like more information
about Eager Avenue Grace Church, remember we are located at 1102
Eager Drive in Albany, Georgia. You can call us at 229-432-6969. or visit our Reign of Grace website
at www.rofgrace.com. Thank you, and may the Lord be
with you.