All right, let's open our Bibles
to John 17. I'm going through this whole
passage, and the title of these messages is simply the Lord's
Prayer. I mentioned last week that when
many people today who read the Bible, when they hear the phrase
the Lord's Prayer, they think about Matthew 6, the prayer that
the Lord taught the disciples. Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. I call that the model prayer.
That's the Lord teaching his people to pray. And I'm gonna
go over that later on in the weeks to come. But if you really
wanna see the Lord's prayer, and this is an awesome thing,
I begin to question myself, do I really, do you really, do we
all really understand how awesome it is, how great it is, how glorious
it is that we can sit down and listen as the Lord Jesus Christ,
the son of the living God, prays to his father. He lets us in
on this, and it's an awesome thing. And today I wanna deal
with the first five verses. I gave you this outline last
week, and I wanna get right into it. But let me say this first.
In these first five verses of our Lord's Prayer, we can learn
so much about salvation and the glory of God. It's like this
is the foundation laid. And the first thing he shows
us, this is verse one, is the source and the goal of salvation. And what is that source? It's
God Almighty. God is the source of salvation. He is the originator of salvation. And what is the goal? It's the
glory of God. However it comes out on the other
end, it's not going to glorify you. It's not going to glorify
me. It's not going to give us room
to boast in ourselves. It's going to glorify God. You
say, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to brag on Christ.
I'm not going to brag on you. I'm sorry if that's what you're
here for. I'm not going to brag on me. I'm going to brag on Christ.
That's what the people of God want. And to see that, one of
the scriptures that I have referenced here, 2 Corinthians 4, 6, which
says, for God who made the light to shine out of darkness, that's
the creation of the world. God's the source of the creation
of this world. God who made the light to shine
out of darkness, He said, let there be light, hath shined in
our hearts, the hearts of His people, the hearts of His chosen
people, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. And listen what the Lord says
here in the opening words of his prayer. These words, spoke
Jesus, lifted up his eyes to heaven. And he said, Father,
the hour is come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. First notice here to whom the
Lord himself is praying. He's praying as the son of God.
He's praying as the God man. That he who is God manifest in
the flesh as the mediator, the intercessor of his people, praying
to his heavenly father. And what does he do? He lifted
up his eyes to heaven. Bible says in Psalm 115 in verse
three, but our God is in the heavens. What does that mean?
You know it's not talking about altitude or geography there.
You know what it's talking about? It's talking about how high God
is above us. He is infinitely above us. That's
why I read that Romans 11 passage. Oh, the depths, the riches, the
height, the width, the breadth, of the glory of God. There's
none that compare with God. He's high, he's in the heavens.
Psalm 115.3 says, but our God is in the heavens. And you know
what it says after that? He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. You know what that means? That means if God wants it, God
will have it. If God desires it, God will have
it. He will have no unfulfilled desires. Salvation is not a matter of
God wanting to save you, but can't unless you let him. That's
not salvation in the Bible. That's salvation in a lot of
churches, so-called churches, not in the Bible. He hath done
whatsoever he pleased. And when he teaches us to pray,
over in Matthew chapter six and verse nine, he says, say, our
father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. What is
it? That's a recognition that he's
God and I'm not. That's a recognition that God
is all powerful, all wise, all glorious, and we're not. It's
a recognition that we're totally dependent upon God and he's not
dependent upon us. We need him, he doesn't need
us. You say, well that's just too much for me to take. Well,
the pride of man can't handle it. That's why God has to bring
us down. Bring us down. As one old preacher
used to say, he has to bring us down before we make our headquarters
in the dust. Because that's where we belong.
Hallowed be thy name. So it's not just distance, but
it's his glory. That's what Christ is speaking
of. He lifted up his eyes into heaven and said, Father, It's
his nature, it's his character. There's none like our God. Don't
ever try to compare anything or anyone to God. You can't do
it. That's his holiness, you know?
You know, when we think of the word holy, I've been studying
on this subject. We think of moral purity. Well, God is morally
pure. There's no sin in God, but his
holiness is more than that. His holiness is his oneness.
There's one God. one mediator between God and
man, the man Christ Jesus. Yes, we believe in the Holy Trinity.
Christ speaks of that here. He lifted up his eyes and prayed
to his Father. He addresses God as his Father.
That speaks of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God
the Holy Ghost. That's something we can't explain,
but it's not three gods. It's not even a three-headed
God. It's one God, who subsist in three natures. How do you
explain that? How do you describe that? I don't.
I just read the Bible and there it is. We believe in one God. We're not polytheists, many gods. One God. And here's God the Son
incarnate in sinless human flesh praying to his Father. And the
Holy Trinity is necessary for our salvation. God the Father,
the source and originator of salvation. God the Son, the procurer
of salvation. God the Spirit, the applier of
salvation. All working together consistently
in unity for the glory of God in the salvation of sinners.
He speaks of an hour. He says the hour has come. That's
the time. That's not talking about 60 seconds. That's talking about a time set.
that has come. The time has come. What hour
is he talking about? Well, this is just, listen, this
is right up close to where they come to arrest him and he goes
to the cross. He's talking about the hour of
his suffering unto death for the salvation of his people.
That hour was set, listen to him, that hour was set before
the foundation of the world by God Almighty. Now think about
that. Is that not a God to be worshipped?
This is not just happenstance. This is not just bad luck. No
such thing, good or bad. This is the hour that he came
into the world to go to. And he told his disciples, Often
he would tell them as they go, he said, don't tell anybody this
because my hour hasn't yet come, my time has not yet arrived.
But now it is. And this is the most blessed,
listen, this is the most blessed hour in all of history. It's the hour that God the Son
in human flesh would come and fulfill all righteousness
for his people. What God purposed before time,
here's to be fulfilled in time. And then the Lord speaks of the
goal of this hour. He says glorify thy son that
thy son also may be glorified. You see the glory of the Father
and the glory of the Son and the glory of the Spirit are in
unison. You can't have one without the
other. And what kind of glory is he talking about? What is
the glory of God? You ever thought about that?
Some people think, well, you glorify God simply when you give
him credit for something. Oh, I didn't do it, God did.
But let me tell you something, that's not necessarily glorifying
God. You may be giving God credit
for something that he doesn't want credit for. You may be giving
God credit for something that dishonors him. There are two
examples in the scripture of that that I can think of that
there's probably more than that. But I think about those false
preachers who stood before Christ in Matthew 7 and said, Lord,
Lord, haven't we prophesied in your name? Haven't we cast out
demons? Haven't we done many wonderful
works in your name, giving you credit? And remember what Christ
said to them? Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity, I never knew you. What was their problem? Well,
preachers will tell you, they said, well, those guys weren't
sincere enough. Oh, really? Where do you find
that in the Bible? And let me ask you this, are
you planning on meeting God at judgment based upon your sincerity? Is that what you want to do? Oh my friend, you better not.
And then how much sincerity is enough? Is there any scripture
in the Bible that says now you must have this much sincerity
to pass muster at the judgment? You know what their problem was?
They were pleading what they thought God had enabled them
to do, rather than pleading totally and solely what Christ has done. That's the problem. They preached
in his name. I'm preaching in his name this
morning. They cast out devils. I've never
done that. They've done many wonderful works,
whatever works I do. But here's what I'm telling you,
my preaching, my works, that is not my righteousness before
holy God. No, Christ is, and that was their
problem. There was another man, a Pharisee,
who stood outside the temple, and he looked up into heaven,
he said, Lord, I thank thee that I'm not like other men. I'm not
like that old publican over there. Giving God credit. I fast twice
a week. I give more than my tithe. I do all this. I don't do that.
And it's, I thank Thee God. That man went away unjustified. And here's that old publican.
God, be merciful. Be propitious. to me a sinner. What's he doing? He's pleading
Christ. That is the propitiation. He is our mercy seat. You see,
that's what this is all about, giving glory to God. This is
his redemptive glory. The old Jewish rabbis used to
call God's glory the Shekinah. The Shekinah glory. You ever
heard that term? Shekinah means the dwelling place of God. This
is where God rests. Remember back in the tabernacle
in Exodus 25, he said, there I'll meet with you above the
mercy seat on the basis of the blood, which pictured Christ.
The Shekinah glory of God is the highest, most sacred, most
complete revelation that he can give of himself. And here's what
I'm telling you. In the person and work of the
Son of God, we see the highest manifestation of God's nature,
God's character, God's glory, God's honor that can ever or
will ever be found. Do you wanna glorify God? You
really do? Look to Christ. Rest in him. In Christ on the cross, we see
every attribute of God working consistently together to save
his people by his grace through Christ. There's two phrases in the scripture
that summarize this whole transaction. One's found in Isaiah 45. It's
called, God identifies himself as a just God and a Savior. And he says, look unto me and
be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. What do you mean a
just God and a Savior? It means this, God must be just
and righteous at all times. and yet he's still a savior of
sinners. How can a holy and just God remain
so and still save sinners like me? The soul that sinneth must
surely die. People will quote this all the
time. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And
then they'll go to Romans 6, 23. The wages of sin is death. God must give out the wage. He
must be just. Now here's the question. How
can he be both a just judge, a righteous judge, a truthful
judge, and still be a loving, merciful, gracious, heavenly
father and save sin? How can he be both? And the answer's
right here. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. How's the son going to be glorified?
He's going to go to the cross, as the surety, the substitute,
the redeemer of his people, he's going to suffer unto death, be
buried and raised again the third day because in his death, all
the sins of all of God's chosen people imputed charge to him
is put away. They're purged. They're washed
away. What does that mean? They're
legally paid for. The debt of my sin is completely
paid. It's wiped out by the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And in return, I get what? His
righteousness given to me. That's the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ. That's the origin, the source
rather, and the goal of salvation, to glorify God. Whatever salvation
you profess, however it came about, If it leaves you any room
to glory, throw it away. Repent of it. Repent of it. Look to Christ. And then look
at verse two. Here's the second thing. Here's
the success of salvation. Listen to what he says. As thou
has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou has given him. That's the success of salvation. That's the victory. He says,
as thou hast given him power over all flesh. Well, he's God,
isn't he? Didn't he already have power over all flesh? Well, this
is speaking of his acquired or earned power, which is given
to him by the Father as he is the mediator, the God-man of
his people. And he has power over all flesh
that he earned by his death on the cross. Peter said he was
made to be both Lord and Savior. He's in control to work all things
for the glory and the good of God's people. The Son's glory
would be based upon his finished work of redemption. The goal
of his acquired power would be to give eternal life to as many
as the Father had given him. And because he finished the work,
all for whom he died, all for whom he arose, all for whom he
intercedes now in heaven, shall be saved. The Father's glory consists in
the full revelation of himself as both a just God and a Savior.
And here's what Christ said. John 637, I quote it all the
time. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. He went on to say, this is the
Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he hath
given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the
last day. There's not gonna be any sinner
for whom Christ died perish. He's gonna save his sheep, he
died for them. Think about it. Here's the issue
of his intercession, and that's what this prayer is, it's an
intercessory prayer, praying for those whom the Father gave
him. When did the Father give them to him? Before the foundation
of the world. God chose a people, gave them
to Christ, made Christ his surety, their surety. Sent him to be
their substitute. And by that, by his substitutionary
work, he redeemed them from their sins. And here's the issue of
the intercession of Christ. If Christ died for me and arose
from the dead, that means he also ascended unto the Father
to intercede for me. And if he intercedes for me,
he'll give me eternal life and I'll be preserved unto glory.
That's what I know. And that's the motivation for
evangelism. Then he stand before his disciples and he said, all
power hath been given unto me, all authority. Now, go preach
to everybody who'll listen. God's gonna bring his sheep in.
God's got some sheep out there. Somebody said, well, if you believe
in election, why don't you just preach only to the elect? Well,
first of all, God tells me to preach to anybody who'll listen.
And secondly, only God knows who's his elect are. Only way
I know it is as he brings them into the kingdom. brings them
to believe the gospel. And so he told his disciples,
preach to every creature. Yeah, I'll preach to anybody
who'll listen. And pray that God will bring them to a saving
knowledge of Christ. That's what evangelism is all
about. It's not trying to find ways to get people down an aisle. Think about that. When I was
in seminary, that's what we learned. I didn't even know the gospel
then, the true gospel. But methods, you know, how to
get people down an aisle, give them what to say, put words in
their mouth, and get them into the baptistry, and then give
them a job, because you've got to keep them. That's not evangelism. Man-made methodologies, trying
to get their attention, so that the Holy Spirit can sneak
up on them? That's what one professor said.
Are you kidding me? Well, I used to buy into that
stuff till God showed me the truth. Look at verse three here. Here's the revelation of salvation.
He said, and this is life eternal. And you want to know about eternal
life? Eternal life is forever and forever and forever, but
the word eternal really doesn't speak so much of the the time
of it, as it does the quality of it. And here's what eternal
life is. Here's a definition of eternal life. That they might
know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast
sent. Now again, that speaks of the
nature of eternal life, the quality of it. It's forever and ever,
but the glory of it is its quality. Its quality is measured by the
nature of it. What is that? To know God. to
know Him intimately, to know Him not as we think Him to be
because by nature we're sinners, by nature we're spiritually dead
and depraved and all our thoughts of God are idolatry basically,
but to know Him intimately, to know Him as both a just God and
a Savior. the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom he has sent. What does that involve? Look
back at John 6. I quoted part of this. Think
about it this way. Remember he said all, in verse
37 of John 6, he said, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
So he's gonna bring them to him. He says in John 6, 44, listen
to this, no man can come to me. You see that? except the Father
which hath sent me draw him, and I'll raise him up at the
last day. How are sinners who by nature have no desire to come
to God his way, you see, we want salvation by nature, but we want
it our way. But God says there's only one
way, and it's his way. So he says no man can come to
me except the Father which has sent me draw him. Now, how does
God draw his people? Well, look at verse 45. He tells
us, as it is written in the prophets, they shall be all taught of God. God's gonna teach his people.
He's gonna reveal himself to his people. He's gonna show them
the way, the one and only way to come to him as a sinner seeking
mercy through Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. So every man therefore
that hath heard Now what is it we hear? A voice in the clouds? No. The Bible says the gospel
is the power of God unto salvation. The Bible says anyone who calls
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now how are they going
to hear? Without a preacher. And how are they going to preach?
Except they be sent. And it concludes that section, verse 17 of Romans
10, so faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Problem
is, is by nature we don't have spiritual ears, spiritual eyes. We must be born again, that's
what Christ said. Or you can't see the kingdom
of God. But every man therefore that hath heard, having been
taught of God through the gospel of who Christ is and what he
accomplished, and hath learned of the Father, How do we learn
of the Father? Ain't God everybody's father?
No. Christ told the Pharisees, you're
of your father the devil. What was their problem? Did they
have fangs and carry pitchforks? Huh? Is that what they were?
No. Did they frequent the bars and the brothels and the drug
dens? Is that what they did? No. You
know what they were doing? preaching a false gospel of salvation
by works. That's the devil's work, isn't
it? How do we learn of the Father?
We learn how he can be both a just God and a loving Father. And how do we learn that? Look
at it, verse 45, they cometh unto me, they come to Christ.
It's through the blood and righteousness of Christ. That's the revelation
of salvation. Bible says over in Galatians
chapter four, let me just read this to you. Galatians four and
verse four, when the fullness of the time was come, that's
this hour we're talking about, God sent forth his son made of
a woman, that's his sinless humanity, made under the law, that's all
salvation conditioned on his obedience unto death. Verse five,
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons. God adopts his people into his
family because of the redeeming work of Christ. And verse six
says, and because you are sons, it's Galatians four and verse
six, because you are sons, because you are the children of God.
It doesn't say in order to be the children of God, it says,
because you are the children of God, how do you know? By redemption,
God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father. How do we come to Abba Father,
Papa, Papa? Through Christ. You see, without
Christ, God is not your spiritual father. Without Christ, he's
your judge. And he will judge the world in
righteousness. We read that in that Psalm 96.
The Bible says that God has commanded all men everywhere to repent
because he's appointed a day. into which he will judge the
world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, that's
Christ, the God-man, in that he hath given assurance unto
all men and that he hath raised him from the dead. You see, I've
got to have a righteousness that answers the demands of God's
law and justice. I don't have one, I can't work
one. The only way I can get one is if God graciously gives it
to me, imputes it to me, charges it to me. That brings us to Verse
four of John 17. Here's the ground of salvation.
Look at it. The glory of the Father, the
glory of the Son, the salvation of all for whom he died is grounded
right here. Look at it, verse four. I have
glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. The finished work of Christ.
That's the ground of my salvation. It's not a work that he starts
and then I finish. It's not a work that he makes
available if I put my stamp of approval on it. It's not a work
that is completed and enacted and set in motion by my believing,
no. It's his finished, completed
work. And what did he do? He put away
the sins of his sheep, his church, his people, all that the Father
giveth. and he brought forth an everlasting
righteousness of infinite value that enables God to be both a
just God and a Savior. That's his righteousness that
God has imputed, charged, accounted to me. That's his blood. I'm washed in the blood of Christ.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name, on Christ, the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
That's what he's talking about here. The Bible says in Romans
10 for that Christ is the end, the finishing of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believe. And so the gospel of
God's grace declares a finished work done for a specific people. The gospel of God's grace preaches
salvation conditioned not on the sinner, but on Christ alone. And he fulfilled those conditions.
And so we can say, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ. We can say, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
he's risen again. Seated at the right hand of the
Father, making intercession. And then, look at verse five.
This is the fifth one. Here's the eternal nature of
salvation. Look at verse five. And now,
O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was. This is an eternal matter. from
a God who is eternal in himself. It is based upon a covenant that
is everlasting and eternal. God's eternal plan before the
world was salvation is no afterthought with God. It's no plan B. God
sending his son into the world was not a plan B. It wasn't contingency
plan. It was the only plan from the
beginning. This is the way God saved Abel,
Enoch, Noah, Abraham, David. Go on up. And if you're saved,
it's the way God saved you. That's right. Paul wrote to Timothy,
2 Timothy 1.9, he spoke of a salvation which was given us before the
world began in Christ Jesus. Given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. If you're a believer, here's
what I know about you. You're a sinner saved by grace.
You're a walking, talking miracle of God's power and grace. And
you were marked out for it before the foundation of this world. This involves the issues of God's
electing grace, even predestination, that word that people hate today,
but they don't know anything about. The nature and character
of God in light of our utter depravity and sinfulness. Why
is this important? Why is it even necessary? You
know, preachers that I grew up under, they'd tell you, well,
you don't have to deal with that, you know, just leave that out.
Why is it important? Why is it necessary? I'll tell
you why. The glory of God. If God didn't put it in this
book, then I would say, yeah, we don't have to deal with that.
But my friend, it's right there in the book. He's praying for
a glory that he had with the Father before the world began,
before the world was. In beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That's the glory
of God, isn't it? That's a great salvation. That's
a salvation that we can bank on. Because it's all conditioned
on Christ. It's all based upon his finished
work. And when he knelt there and prayed
for his people, we'll see more of that as we go on through these
verses. That's what gives us assurance of salvation. Christ
is in heaven right now making intercession for his people.
I'm a sinner. If it weren't for God's power
and grace, I'd fall away in a second. But he keeps me. He blesses me. He preserves me. He won't let
his people go.