Our Lord's blessed glory is something that
all of us are interested in who are believers. And our Lord,
two things God did and Christ did. He glorified His Son, and His
Son glorified Him. And there in verse five it says
this, And now, O Father, now, O Father,
glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had
with thee before the world was. Before the world was. You know,
when we consider this prayer, this is one of the most blessed
chapters in all the book of God. Christ lets us enter into His
prayer. Let us hear His prayer. And these
wonderful words of our Lord Jesus Christ as He prayed. First He
prayed for Himself. He prayed for Himself. The hour
has come. I want you to glorify your Son. Because in glorifying your Son,
your Son will glorify you. That's what I want you to do.
Do that. And then he prayed for his disciples.
Prayed for them. Father, keep them. You gave them
to me. They belong to you. You gave
them to me. You loved them and I've loved them. I've kept them.
Not one of them has been lost but the son of perdition. And
then he prays for the church that's going to come. Those of
us that are coming. I pray not only for them that
believe on me now, but them who shall believe on me. Those who
shall believe on me. And as our Savior prayed, the
words he used revealed the whole of our salvation. The whole of
it. In God's way of saving sinners.
Look what he says here in verse 2. As thou hast given him, God
gave him this power, this authority. Not only the authority, but the
power to overcome, the power to the power to put away sin, the
power to break a rebel's heart, the power to subdue a man's will,
the power to make God known to a man. So thou hast given him
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. And this is eternal life. or life eternal, that they might
know Thee, this life eternal, that they might know Thee, the
only true God. Now, if there's only one true
God, that means that every other God's a false god. Every other
idol's false. And eternal life's not only to
know the only true God, but also to know Jesus Christ, whom God
sent. You can't know Christ if you
don't know God. You don't know God if you don't
know Christ. Because they're one and the same. And the gospel,
I want you to notice this, and I've said this all the time,
and never forget this, the gospel always starts with God. It don't
start with man. Man has made the gospel start
with man. But the gospel starts with God.
It starts with God's glory. The glory of God, even before
the glory of His Son, He says, Father, now glorify thy Son,
that thy Son may glorify thee. I came down from heaven, not
to seek mine own honor, but the honor of Him that sent me. I
seek not mine own glory, I seek the glory of Him that sent me.
He said, He that seeketh His own glory, He said, God didn't
send Him. He that receives honor of one
another, God didn't send Him. So here He comes, the Son comes
to glorify the Father, the Almighty. And this salvation is revealed
to us here from glory to glory. The glory that he has here on
this earth that's going to come. And the glory that he had before
the world was, and the glory he's going to enter into again.
He said, give me the glory that I had with you before the world
was. And glorify that. I want that. And I'm going to
come right back to that glory. I had that glory, and I'm going
to go back to that glory. That's what he's saying here.
The glory Christ had, the glory God gave Him, and the glory Christ
brought to the Father. So what we have here is the glory
of Christ, the glory of salvation from eternity to eternity. And how do we deal with such
things? How do you deal with such things? We stand and utter,
O my God, how great Thou art, when I consider Thy Son Thou thus sparing, who gladly,
gladly bore it." And oh my, to talk about eternal things, God
and Christ being eternal and having glory before the world
was. And yet here He is as a man saying,
give me that glory that I had with you before the world was.
I had glory before I ever came into this world. Give me that
glory again. I want to enter into it again. Oh, how do you feel in the presence
of such God honoring truth, such truth that we're dealing with
God who inhabits eternity, who broke into time. That the Father
and the Son, their whole sole purpose is to bring glory to
themselves. And one of the ways that He brings
glory to Himself is saving wretched, miserable sinners like ourselves. I know this much, it's hard to
be taken up with ourselves if we're taken up with someone else.
And oh, may God make us be taken up with Christ. I don't know
if it's a grief of your heart or not, but it's sure a grief
of my heart that I'm not taken up with Him more than I am. I
was talking to a dear brother the other day, and I didn't hardly
know how to take it when he said it. He said, you know, He says,
the first thing I say every morning when I open my eyes, I say, good
morning, Lord Jesus. And he's a good, solid, gracious
preacher, but that's the first thing he says when I open my
eyes. Good morning, Lord Jesus. And it is a good morning. Because
Christ's on His throne. We know that's what we say. Brad
got up this morning to say good morning. Get up and say, Lord,
it's a good morning. Lord Jesus, I come to say good
morning to you." And he said, I thought about that, and you
know, why would I say that? And I said, you know, I felt
like it wasn't maybe as spiritual as it ought to be. And he says,
well, the Lord put it in my heart to say it. He said, and I'm honoring
Him, and I'm talking to Him. Oh, so if we take it up with
Him, Lord, if we take it up with Christ, with His beauty and glory,
there's two things I want us to see here today in this message.
Our Lord's preexistent glory, there in verse five, O now Father,
glorify thou me with the glory, with thine own self, with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was. And then not only his preexistent
glory, but his predestinated work. He says in verse four,
I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work
which thou gavest me to do. He had a preexistent glory and
he done a predestinated work. And he done it for a particular
people. For as many as God has given me. Look at his preexistent
glory. With the glory which I had with
thee before the Word of God. Our Lord asked the Father here
to restore him to his place. To his glory. And I say his proper
place. He had before the world was.
Ain't that what he says? Before the world was. Before
the world ever existed. Before there was ever a star
in the skies. Before there was ever a cloud
that went across the sky. Before this earth was ever hung
in the middle of this universe. Before the sun ever shone and
gave one ray of its light. He said before the world ever
was. Before there was ever a thing
called time, before there was ever a thing called a human being,
before there was ever a thing called earth, before there was
ever anything in this universe, when I and you dwelt all alone,
He said, I want you to give me that glory, give me that proper
place, set me, and give me all that glory that I had with you
before anything else was, when it was just me and you. Oh my, look over here in John
chapter 17, and look over here in John chapter 1. Oh, that's what I mean. Well,
how do we feel in light of such truths? You know, the Lord Jesus
had the same glory as the Father had. Glorify thou me with thine
own self, with the glory that I had with you. Whatever glory
God had, Christ had. Whatever glory the Father had
from all eternity, Christ had from all eternity. Whatever God
was in eternity, Christ was in eternity. Whatever God's nature
was in eternity and whatever it is now, Christ's nature was
that in eternity. Whatever made God to be God,
that's what made Christ to be the Son of God, the eternal Son
of God. How does the world as a Son and Father exist at the
same time? You know, I have my father's
nature, which is an Adamic nature. And not only do I have his fallen
nature, but I have his nature as Don Bell. The way he acted,
the way he carried himself, the way he moved, the way he talked,
the way he looked, the way he acted. I have so much of him
in me. I have so much of my mother in
me. But our Lord Jesus, beloved, He had the nature of God. He
had the holy, righteous, infinite, eternal nature of God. And he had that with God and
the glory that God had before the world ever was. And he said,
I want it back. I want to go back to it. Look here at John 1 and verse
1. In the beginning was the Word.
See how that's capitalized? That's the title of our Lord
Jesus Christ. The Word was with God. Not only
was it with Him, it was God. The same. Listen to it. The same. was in the beginning with God. In the beginning with God. And
all beloved, all mine. And they enjoyed one another.
Look over here in Colossians chapter 1. He had glory before
the world ever was as Creator. Look in Colossians chapter 1.
And all beloved, before the world ever was, Christ and God were
together and enjoyed one another. And He had glory before that
world ever was as the Creator. You know, this world exists because
Christ created it? Look what it says in Colossians
1 and 16. For by Him, who? Christ, were all things created. Now, there's a lot more in this
world than just this world. There's a lot of creation in
this world that we live in. And he says, for by him were
all things created that are in heaven. Everything that's in
heaven was created by Christ. We read about that new Jerusalem,
that heavenly Jerusalem. He created that. In fact, he
created it so he could be the light of it. And not only that, look what
it says, and that are in earth. Everything that's in this earth
that's been created, Christ created it. How did He create it? He
spoke it into existence. And look what else it says, whether
they're visible, whether you can see them, the things that
you can see. Oh, I can see you. I can see the stars. I can see the moon. I can see
the rivers. Babies being born. You know, we see all the things
that we see that's visible. And then there's some invisible
things we don't see. Do you know how many creatures
are in this world that you and I can't see? How many bugs are
in there you and I can't see? Them bugs that make you sick?
Them bugs that give you pneumonia? Them bugs that give you the flu?
Them bugs, them things that come and get in your body and destroy?
Invisible? He created them. He's got control
over them. And watch this, if there's a
throne, if there's a throne in this world, guess who created
it? Christ did. Do you know why we
got the president we knew? God, Christ put him in there.
And we just will kiss the hand of Providence and say, Lord,
you put them up, you can put them down. And oh, look what
else he says, your dominions. You know where America, they
say from sea to shining sea. That's the dominion of America.
From sea to shining sea. Do you know we're from sea to
shining sea because Christ gave America that dominion? And principalities, all these
peoples in power, sheriffs and deputies and governments and
mayors and right to vote, principalities, powers, all those who have authority,
all things were created by Him and for Him and washed their
seas before everything was. And you know the reason they
exist right now? It's because He opposed them. That's the kind
of glory He had before the world was. That's the kind of glory
He had before the world was. And then, beloved, see His glory
here that He had before the world was as our surety, as head over
His own body. Look what He says there in verse
2 of John 17. He says, You've given Him power over all flesh
that He should give eternal life, watch this, to as many as Thou
hast given Him. He says, They were Yours, but
You gave them to Me. When were we given to Him? Before
the world ever was. That's why it came. And oh, He
was the head over His bodies, coming to the head of His people.
And He says this, And this is life eternal, that they might
know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent. He stood as our surety before the world. He said, I
came into the world, I'm going to go back to the world. You
gave me a work to do, I finished it, and now I want to go back
to that glory. And, oh, beloved, I tell you,
He stood good for us before we ever existed. And this is not
like me or you going to the bank and signing a note for somebody,
standing good for somebody, and if they don't make the payments
or something, they come and get you. No, no. Christ stood as
our surety. He paid all the debt we owed.
He compensated for every fault, every lack, our incompetence,
our sinfulness, everything that was against us, beloved. He took
it out of the way, and now God Almighty does not look to us
for anything. Christ already gave Him what
was required. That's what He said He'd give
His eternal life to. How many? As many as. Get your records down one of
these times and go through the New Testament and find out how
many times it says, as many as. That's a mini-ass. I'm one of
those asses, a mini-ass. I'm one of that mini. And oh,
beloved, Lord, Lord, did He pray for that glory. He wants to restore
me to that proper place before the world was. He prayed for
the glory that He had before the world was. What happened
to that glory that He wanted it to be restored? What happened
to it? What happened to it that He said,
give me that glory that I had before the world was? What happened
to that glory? I'll tell you what happened to it. He became
one of us. He became a man. That's what
happened to it. He came into this world, and
he had that glory. He was the image of the invisible
God. And yet, when he comes into this
world, that glory that he had before the world was, was veiled,
covered up in human flesh. He became a man. He so was identified
with that. He didn't lay aside His deity.
He was still God. When He was in the womb of that
virgin, He was God. When He came forth from her womb,
He was God. When He hung on her breast, He
was God. He didn't lay aside His deity. And the glory of His
deity, He still had that glory. And He didn't cease to be God.
He ceased to be able and ceased to manifest that glory that He
had before the world ever was. Let me show you what I'm talking
about. Look over here. John, Matthew 17. Keep John. Now look
at Matthew 17. Let me show you what I'm talking
about. Our Lord had glory. He had glory,
but it was hid now. It was hid in that flesh. It
was not seen as it was before He come into this world. That's
why Mary said, How can this be? I've never known a man. That
holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. shall be Emmanuel, God with us."
And look what it says here, in Matthew 17, verse 1. After six
days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth
them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before
them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was
white as the light. Now that's the glory he's talking
about. That's the glory he had before the world was. How come
it was manifested that day? So they could see it. So they
could see it. This is the glory that he had,
and this is the glory that he laid aside. He didn't look like
that until he got up on that mountain. And when he come down
off that mountain, he didn't shine anymore. He didn't glisten
as the sun. His raiment wasn't white as light.
And I tell you, when he smoked down Saul on the road to Damascus,
you know what Saul said? I saw a light above the brightness
of the sun. It was so bright that it made
him blind for three days. And oh beloved, and you contrast
that. You contrast that glory that
he had there on the Mount of Transfiguration. That glory that
he saw and the God glory that he had for the world was with
this right here. He shall grow up before him as a tender plant,
and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form, no comeliness. That don't sound like the glory
he had before the world was. That don't sound like he that
was on the Mount of Transfiguration. He hath no form nor comeliness,
and when we shall see, there'll be no beauty about him that we
shall desire him. He had that glory, and there
is a beauty about Him, but what happened that that glory was
laid aside? What happened that that beauty
was there that we shouldn't desire it? That comeliness about Him. He is despised. How can He who
had glory before the world was be despised? How can He be rejected
of men? How can He be a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief? How can we hide, as it were,
our faces from Him? How can we despise Him? How can
we not esteem Him? Huh? How could that happen, all
this glory that he had? Where'd he go? Did everybody,
did anybody say something to him? Huh? Oh my. And the reaction that men had
to him on this earth shows that his glory was veiled. Who is
this man? This man blasphemeth. He says
that he's the son of God that makes him one with God. Isn't
this the carpenter? Isn't this Joseph's son? Don't
we know his mother? Don't we know his brothers? Don't
we know him? The glory is there in him. The
glory is there in him. The glory is shining in him.
But a veil of flesh is over it, so no one can see it except... He lets them. He reveals it to
them. Huh? How many years did I call
on His name? How many years did I use His
name? How many years did I read the
Bible? But I never saw His glory until He revealed it to me. That's
the way it was on the earth. That's why Simon Peter, when
they all turned and walked away, when he said, this is a hard
stand, they all turned and said, who are you going to go to? No,
no, no, we're not leaving. We're not leaving. We've seen
you. Who do you say I am? You're the Christ. You're the
Son of the Living God. How do you know that? My Father
revealed it to you. We've seen it. We thank you,
O Father. You've hid these things from
the wise and prudent and revealed them unto who? Babies. People
don't know nothing. The ignorant don't know nothing. Oh, Moses, when he come down
off that mountain, he put a veil over his face. You know why?
Because the glory of God was shining in him, shining on his
face. And those folks couldn't look
on it. And that's the way it is with Christ. Christ's glory
is veiled in that face. And the only way you can see
that glory is for Him to let you see it and manifest it to
you. Well, He's on this earth, He had to do that. And oh, if our Lord had come
in power, if He'd come in great glory, if He'd come riding on
a big, wide horse down through the middle of Jerusalem, and
this is the time, not before Easter, when everybody would
come into town riding on that cold, and they got the palms
and said, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed be He that cometh in
the name of the Lord. This is that very day, you know,
before Christ was crucified. They done that, but had he come
riding on a big white horse with an entourage, people going before
him, coming, he's coming, he's coming, and had come and went
up to a palace and went and sat on his throne, that would have
been absolutely glorious and the right thing to be, and he
ought to have all the glory. But he didn't do that. You know
why they came? He came in the likeness of flesh. When you looked at Him, you saw
man. When you looked at Him, you touched
Him, you touched a man. When He wept, you saw the tears
of a man. When He groaned, you heard the
groans of a man. When you saw Him eat, you seen
a man eat food. He was in the likeness of flesh,
but there was no sin in that flesh. That's why it says he's
in the likeness of it. Just like us. Looked like us. Walked like us. Talked. But he
did not have no sin. That's what it means he's in
the likeness of it. We are not just in the likeness of it. We
are, simply put. And oh, beloved, here he was
born in poverty. When he was offered, you know,
the firstborn son had to be offered to the Lord and had to be dedicated
to the Lord. They offered sacrifices to offer
him to the Lord. And his parents were so poor
that the cheapest sacrifices you could offer, the minimum
sacrifice, was doves. And they offered a pair of doves.
That's how poor they were, just could offer dust. Offer dust,
huh? And he earned his living, our
Lord Jesus Christ, until he entered into the ministry. He earned
his living as a carpenter. And he never had a house, a home,
after he left, that he said, this is my home. Every one of
us is going to go home this afternoon. Get in our own beds or get in
our own chairs? Our Lord never had that. He said,
the Son of Man hath nowhere to lay His head. Now He says, I
want that glory that I had with you before the world was. But oh my, while He's here, He
don't even have a place to lay His head. Huh? Oh, while here
on earth, He didn't have that glory He had with the Father
before the world was. That's why Paul says, you know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that though He was rich,
For our sakes, he became poor. And then back over here in our
text, he says, Glorify thou me with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was. There in verse 5. You know, our
Lord is going to return from where he came. If he came from
glory, he's going to go back to glory. Look in verse 28 of
John 16. Oh, glorify thou me with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was. He's going to
return to that glory. He says here in verse 28, I came
forth from the Father, and am come into the world, and again
I leave the world, and I go to the Father. I left you, Father. I come here.
What happened in that time? He became one with us. Going
to go back to glory. Go back to the Father. And He
is saying, it's time for me to return. It's time for me to come
back where you are, to return to the glory that I had before
the world ever was. But the astounding thing is,
is this. Here's the astounding thing.
He'll go back to God as God, as He was before the world ever
began. He'll go right back to being
God like He was when He was on this earth. He'll go back into
that glory. But He'll also go back there as a man. When He took that flesh upon
Him, He didn't cease to be God. But once He became identified
with us, He's going to take that humanity with Him back there.
So He's going to be a God-man that's going to enter into that
glory. And that's the glory, He says, Father, I will that
they behold My glory! Oh, my, in eternity! in eternity,
absolute deity, Son of God, and when He turns to His glory, He's
going to return as God-man, as our representative, and He'll
restore that glory that He voluntarily laid aside. Look with me at Psalm
24. We quote this all the time and
speak of it. This is what's going to happen,
Psalm 24, when Christ Ascended back to glory. When
he stood there and those disciples watched the gravity lose its
hold and he was going back to glory. And he says, why stand
here gazing up? Them angels said, you know, the
one you see going is going to come in the like manner. This
is what was going on when he was going up. Psalm 24. Look
down at verse 24. Excuse me, verse 7. Psalm 24,
7. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, And be ye lifted up, lift up
your everlasting doors, lift them up, open them up wide, and
the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up
your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King
of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the
King of glory. That's what's happening. When
our Lord mellowed gravity, that's what they was doing, when He
went back to glory. Those gates were open and wide,
and they were getting to hail Him back and receive Him with
such adoration and worship. Oh my, we're back to that glory.
Now let me hurry and tell you something about this predestinated
work. I could stay on this for a long, long time. Oh, the glory
that He had. But look here at this predestinated
work, back over here at John 17. He had a preexistent glory. And it always says there in verse
4, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have, watch this, I
have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Finished
the work. What work? Well, he had a work
before the world was. He says he stood as a lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. We were redeemed, not with silver
and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as a Lamb slain,
who was verily foreordained." When? From the foundation of
the world. And oh, beloved, what was this
work? What was the first part that he had in this work? He
was Jehovah's righteous, sir. God shall see the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. What was the first thing he done?
He was to reveal God. He was to reveal God. Look what
he said here in verse 6. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. I made you known to them. And
when he says, I manifested your name, I manifested your character.
I revealed who you was. I made them to know who you are.
Ain't that what eternal life is? Back in verse 3, this is
eternal life, that they might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. He come into this world
to reveal God. That's what's so wondrous about
Christ, that it's impossible for a man to know God without
knowing Christ. Because Christ is the one who
comes to reveal God. He was the express image of His
person, the brightness of His glory. And he says, no man has
ever seen God at any time. The only person who has is the
Son. And guess what He come to do?
To tell you about Him. To let you see Him. To let you
touch Him. To let you handle Him. To let
you look upon Him. I am the Word of life itself.
And I tell you, I manifested Thy name unto the men. And watch
this, who Thou gavest me out of the world. You know the reason
we know God? Christ gave us His name. Manifested
His character to us. That's the whole reason we know
Him. Oh my, you know when Moses said up there on the mountain,
Lord show me your glory. You can't see my glory. I've
got to hide you. I want to see your glory. When the glory of
God is in Christ, I'm going to hide you and you're just going
to see the backside of my glory. Now, beloved, we see more than
the backside of God's glory. We see that God's glory manifested
in the face and person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Come on, won't
you see this, talking about the name of God. Exodus 2 with me
right here. Exodus 6, excuse me. Exodus 6. You know, talking about revealing
the name of it. He said, I've manifested your
name. The first work he had to do in
this world was to make God known. Every Jew says, you know, here
O Israel, the Lord our God is one. But oh my, they didn't know
God. Ain't that what our Lord Jesus Christ says? You neither
know me nor my Father. He says, you're your father the
devil. So everybody didn't know God. They had Bibles, they went
to the synagogue, they prayed, they faked tithes, they done
all kinds, but they didn't know God. In Exodus 6, here's the
name that God made. Here's the name that Christ manifested. Exodus 6, verse 2. God spake
unto Moses and said unto him, I am the Lord. In the margin
it says, I am Jehovah. Jehovah. And I appeared unto
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob. And this is the name of
God Almighty. And I appeared unto them by the
name of God Almighty, the one who is sovereign, the one with
all power. But by my name Jehovah was I not known to them. Now
I want you to know My personal name. My saving name. My covenant
name. Jehovah Jesus. Jehovah Yahweh. The name Yahweh is the same name
as Jesus in the New Testament. And that's why He said, I want
you to know that name, that covenant name. They didn't know me, but
as God Almighty, now they know me as a covenant God. And now
back over here in John 17, not only did He come to manifest
the name of God and unto those that the Father gave Him, He
said there in verse 26 of John 17, I have declared unto them
thy name. And what's this? And I will declare
it. Not only have, but I will. If you hear the name of God today
in your heart and your soul, it's Christ by the Holy Spirit. And not only that, but he gave
us the words of the Father. This is the work that he sent
to do. Look in verse 8. He come to give
us the words of the Father. He said, not only did I manifest
your name unto them that you gave me out of the world, but
he said, I gave unto them the words that you gave me. I gave them seventeen and eight. He said, I've given unto them
the word which I have. What does that mean? That means, he said,
when I speak, I'm speaking exactly what my father spoke from heaven,
from eternity. The words that I speak unto you,
they don't come from me. He said, they come from my father.
That's why we say here, we say, thus saith the Lord. And that's
what the prophet says, Christ is saying, I'm giving them the
very words that you gave me. The word that's in me, that's
what I give unto them. He gave us the words of the Father.
When we hear Christ's voice, we're hearing the Father's voice.
And when we get to glory, this is the only book that God's going
to be. This is the book God's going to open to judge us in,
and the books will be opened, and this is the book that God's
going to judge men by. And so, here's an astounding
thing, what's this? I give unto them the word which
thou gavest me, and this is what? That's just absolutely astounding.
It makes you just go, oh! And they received him! Oh, did he give them? Yeah, that's
right, I believe that, that's true. Oh yes, that's the word of God.
Oh, we received Him. And then He came not only to
do that, to reveal God to manifest His name and give us the words,
but He came to give us eternal life. Then in verse 3, give us
eternal life. And that eternal life is that
we might know God. That we might know God. And oh,
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. And oh,
beloved, And he came here to do this. And then not only that,
but, beloved, he came here to fulfill the law, Moses' law.
Uphold Moses' law. It's all the whole of God's Word. I finished the work. I finished
the law. I upheld the law. I honored the
law. I obeyed the law. And now, Father, honor me with
it. Glorify me. And I'll tell you
something else He come to do. He come to make atonement for
sin. He come to put sin away. Look what He said here in verse
19 of John 17. And for their sakes I sanctify
myself. Now what in the world does that
sanctify mean? He said, I sanctify myself. Is He going to make Himself more
holy? Is He going to make Himself more righteous? No, when he says,
I sanctify myself, I'm setting myself apart. I'm setting myself
apart. I set myself apart to your will,
to your word, to your name, to your law, to your justice, to
your wrath. I set myself forth. I set myself
forth. I sanctify myself. I set myself
apart to be a sacrifice. I sanctify myself by bearing
sin, by being made of curse, by shedding my blood unto death.
And I'll tell you something, beloved, this is the last sacrifice
that was ever offered as far as God was concerned. And it's
the only sacrifices of all the sacrifices that's been offered
of all times by all men of all ages. This is the only sacrifice
that ever actually put away sin. Oh, beloved, look what else he
said here. And for their sakes I sanctify
myself. And here's the results of it.
That they also might be sanctified or set apart by what? The truth. What truth? The words
that he gave us. And I tell you, he made atonement
for all sin. He said, what did he say back
there in verse nine? He said, I pray for them. I pray
not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me. For
they are thine. So when He made atonement, He
didn't make atonement for everybody. For as many as the Father gave
Him, to those He gave the words to, to those who received the
words, those He gave the name to. And, O beloved, He made atonement
for all sin, for all the sin of all of His people, for all
time. And this breaks my heart, and
James brought it out the other day. You know, and Floyd come up and
mentioned it too this morning. Right there in the Bonds of the
Sun song, it says, There is as much sin left in me as I started
with. But I thank God who loved me,
chose me, redeemed me, and sanctified me through the blood and righteousness
of His Son, Jesus Christ. Oh, to grace I am greatly indebted.
Daily I am constrained to be. When we feel our sins, and we do sin, those sins were paid for before
we ever committed them. Now that'll break your heart
whenever you just take it upon yourself to go do something dishonorable. The sin you're going to commit
in your mind today and in your imagination with your mouth,
Christ already put it away. Bless you in his holy name. That's
the only way in the world we can be saved. That's the only
way in the world we can have any peace. The only way in the
world we can have any If we had to bear the guilt of our sin
sometimes when we feel it, and had to face God with it, we'd
never make it. But to bless His name that they
all are gone, He took them all away. And then He come, and I'll say
it and I'll hurry. He come to save His elect and
save them eternally. He says in verse 2, As thou hast
given Him power over all flesh, authority, might, strength, ability
over all flesh. And watch this, that he should
give, not earn, not merit, not work, but that he should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this kind
of eternal life I'm going to give them, that they're going
to know you, God. They're going to know you, my
Father. And they're going to know me. They're going to know
me. And look what else He's going to do for them. Not only is He
going to save them eternally, but He's going to keep them and
preserve them. Look what He says down in verse 12. It says, verse
12, Well, I was in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those thy gave us, me I have
kept, and none of them is lost. Going to preserve them. Now down
in verse 15, look what He says. I pray not that thou shouldst
taketh them out of the world, but thou shouldest keep, keep
them from the evil one. So he's going to keep us. Father,
keep through thy own name those which thou shalt keep. You keep
them. Your name's at stake here, Father. If you don't keep them,
you'll lose your name. You'll lose your honor. You reckon
that's going to happen? Nah. And the work is finished. Ain't that what He said in verse
4? The work is finished. I have glorified Thee on the
earth. I finished the work. It's done. It's done. And now, Lord, I want my reward. I want my glory. And now, O Father,
glorify Thou me with Thine own self, which I had with Thee before
the world was. And, O Beloved, what is that
glory? Whatever it is, He's in it right
now. Whatever it is, that's where He is right now. Whatever He
had before the world began, that's what He has right now. That position
He had with the Father before the world was, that's what He
has right now. Don't He? Ain't you grateful?