Open your Bibles, if you would,
to John chapter 17. John chapter 17. The name of
the message is sent. One word. Sent. Sent. Remember, as we study this wonderful
portion of Scripture, where our Lord is and who our Lord is praying
to, He's praying to the Father in heaven. who he's in full subjection
to, and his prayers, we will see later on in this study, that
he's interceding for us. First he prays for himself, then
in intercession he prays for the apostles, and then in intercession
he prays for us. So he's the willing servant presenting
himself to the Father, but he's also our great high priest too.
And we know that there's only one mediator between God and
man, right? The man Christ Jesus. There's only one mediator. There's
no other one. And He prevails before the throne of grace. He
prevails before the Father. And remember this too. His intercession
for us is eternal. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, isn't He? His intercession is perpetual
for us. Perpetual. So let that be great
comfort to us, and His intercession, His prayers, are prevailing prayers. He always has the Father's ear.
Always. Always. Now, eternal life is
not a profession of religion nor a reformation of manners,
nor a knowledge of facts about God. But it's an experience of
regeneration. Christ himself said you must
be born again. It's not something that we can
do. It's an operation of the Holy Spirit of God. We saw that
last week in our study. It's an operation of the Holy
Spirit of God. And it's a revelation of God
to our hearts, isn't it? By nature, we don't know God.
We think we do. But the scripture says there's
none that seek it after God. Right? Which means there's none
that run to him. None. By our nature. There's none righteous. No, not one. None at all. But it's a revelation of God
that we know Christ. He must reveal himself to us.
And this is brought forth in Galatians chapter one. The scripture
says this, but when it pleased God who separated me from my
mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal his son in
me. Remember we studied that in Sunday school in chapter one?
That God revealed himself to Paul, and he does that to every
believer, doesn't he? He reveals himself to us. Otherwise, we
don't know him. He says, to reveal his son in
me that I might preach him among the heathen, and immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood. So you must be born again. And that's the work of the spirit,
right? It's not I have faith and then I'm born again. I had
a talk with somebody today and they were trying to tell me that.
That when you ask Jesus in your heart, then you're born again.
I said, well, that's man's work, son. That's something you do. And I was talking to Brian about
it. I asked him, I said, can I get
a couple of questions for you? Do you mind if I ask? And he says, sure,
go ahead. I said, can a dead man pray? Nope. Can a dead man
let Jesus into their heart? He says, no, not at all. And
I said, a dead man can't walk an aisle, right? No. I said,
well, scripture says you and I are born dead in trespasses
and sins, and that's graveyard dead. And then it says, but God
quickens us. That's to be born again. And
then he argued against that. So his problem's not with me,
his problem's with the Bible. You see? People want something
they have to do. And then I was walking across
the road, and I was just thinking and talking to the Lord, and
I thought, you know why he's acting like that? Because the
whole foundation of his salvation is based upon him letting Jesus
into his heart. Something he's done. I'm not
going to lie to him. I'm going to tell him the truth,
which I did. You must be born again. And then when we're born
again, what happens? We can all confess this. Dave,
when you were born again, what happened? You ran to the Lord,
didn't you? Same with you, Brian. Same with you, Dee and Ann. That's
what we did. We just ran to the Lord. My. And it's Christ in us, which
is the hope of glory. Scripture says this in Galatians
4.19, my little children of whom I travail and birth again until
Christ be formed in you. See, we can't form Christ in
us. No, not at all. And you know,
Christ is the hope of glory. It says this in Colossians 127,
to whom God would make known what is the richest of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory. See, we have a hope, don't we?
We have a hope of glory in Christ, in our Redeemer. Not in anything
we've done, surely not in anything we've done. If we're trusting
even in a little bit of a pinprick of our works, then we're lost.
No, it's all what Christ has done. And eternal life is divine
life, and the life of God. 1 John 5, 20 says this, and we
know that the Son of God has come. So he's come. How did he
come? He was sent. We're going to see.
He came because he was sent, beloved. Says he, we know that
the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding. We
didn't have an understanding before. He's given us an understanding.
That we might know him that is true. And we are in him that
is true. Even in his Son, Jesus Christ,
this is the true God in eternal life. See, eternal life's only
in Christ. Only in Christ. And how are we
to have a knowledge of God? You must be born again. Then
you're given faith to believe on Christ. And who teaches us?
God, the Holy Spirit. teaches us the things of Christ.
The things we know now, I marvel. And I just know a little, I just
know a little we scratch. To be honest with you, that's
all I know is a little scratch. And I marvel that God's taught
me that about himself. My! Donny Bell said when he's
been preaching 40 years, it's like, remember them tin foil
balls we used to make? And you roll them up and you round them.
He says, just put a little scratch on it. That's all I know in 40
years of preaching. But that little bit we know, we just marvel
in, don't we? We marvel in it. Look what God's
showing us. My, He's revealed Himself to
us. He's revealed that He's the one true God. And this can't
come by academic studies, knowing that God's the one true God.
You can study your whole life and not know that. God has to
reveal Himself to you. And when he does, oh my, you're
confessed that he's the one true God. That's what we saw last
week, remember, in our study in this wonderful high priestly
prayer. And the Father cannot be known
except through Christ. You cannot know the Father outside
of Christ. Some people say, well, I believe
in God, but Jesus was just a good teacher. You're lost. You're lost. My, scripture says
this, Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me, John 14,
6. No other way. And in the scripture says this,
in Matthew 11, 27, all things are delivered unto me of my Father,
and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any
man the Father, save the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him. Do you know the Father? Rejoice,
because Christ has revealed him to you. And that's a miracle.
That's a miracle of grace. So with that in our minds, let's
read our text here. John 17, verses 1 to 5. We'll read the
context. We'll be in verse 3. This will be the last message
in verse 3. Christian declares in verse 1, these words spake
Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the
hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify
thee. As thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as walk an aisle. Doesn't say
that, does it? To as many as will let Jesus
into their hearts? Doesn't say that, does it? As many as will pray a prayer
and follow the Roman's road? Doesn't say that, does it? It
doesn't say that. It says this, to as many as thou
has given him, mine. And this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, which we looked at
last week. And this next phrase is what we're going to look at
tonight. In Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. God the Father
sent Christ into this world to be a propitiation for the sins
of His people. He says, I have glorified thee
on the earth. I finished the work which thou gavest me to
do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self,
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Christ
has always been our mediator. Do you know that? Christ has
always been the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
He's always been God's Passover lamb. He always has been. My, oh my. In God's plan of salvation
for his people called in the scripture the elect of God, whether
people like that or not, that's what God's people are called,
the elect of God, the chosen of God. He alone, Christ, is
the one mediator between God the Father and man. There's no
other mediator. So going to a priest and confessing
their sins for people is useless. It's absolutely useless. That
man's a sinner just like I am. That's what somebody confronted
me with years ago. They said, you go to that priest to confess
your sins? I said, yeah. And they go, why? He's just a sinner. I didn't
have an answer for him. I said, well, because the church
does it that way. And he says, Christ said, I'm
the way, the truth, and the life. And then he said, he pulled that
scripture out on me that says, there's one God and one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself
a ransom for all. And man, it's like somebody took
a sledgehammer to me. My goodness, the foundation of lies I built
myself upon just started crumbling, beloved. My, oh, my. He's the only one. He's the only
one who can save us. And last week, again, we looked
at how our God is the one true God. And we see here Christ praying
to him. He says, and this is life eternal,
again, verse 3. that they might know Thee, the
only true God in Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. So he was
sent by God. And do you know, before the mountains
were brought forth, wherever Thou hadst formed the earth and
the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.
Do you know Christ has been the Word from everlasting? Do you
know He's still the Word? From everlasting to everlasting,
He always will be the Word. Now this is something that boggles
our mind. He's the Word of God, and yet He became a man. That's
the great mystery of godliness, isn't it? My, oh my. And in Him, all the fullness
of the Godhead dwelt bodily. God, the one true God in flesh. In flesh. And tonight we'll be
looking at the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was sent by
God to this earth. He was on a mission. He was on
a mission. He was on a mission to save his
people from their sins. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 1. That was why he came to this world, you know that?
To save us. And we who are the redeemed, we say praise be to
God, don't we? It fills us with adoration, doesn't it? It fills
us with awe to think that Christ, the God-man, he left heaven.
The word of God became flesh and dwelt among us and died for
my sins. I'm the guilty one. He's the
sinless one. I'll tell you what, I've never
found love like this ever anywhere in the world. And I love my wife
dearly. But her love for me doesn't even come close to how much God
loves his people. It's incredible. See, his love
is eternal love. His love is eternal love. My
oh my, it's wonderful. Look at this in Matthew chapter
1 verses 18 to 21. Now the birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was a spouse to Joseph
before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy
Ghost. So we see here that before they came together, she was pregnant,
bound with the child of the Holy Ghost. That which was in her
was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God. Then Joseph, her husband,
being a just man and not willing to make her a public example,
he didn't want to shame her. He was just going to put her
away. Was minded to put her away. Because he didn't know what's
going on. You know, what do you do? You've
never been with your wife and all of a sudden she's pregnant. But
look what happens here. But while he thought on these
things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in
a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take
unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her
is of the Holy Ghost. Oh my. And she shall bring forth
a son. This is the whole reason why
he came right here. And she shall bring forth a son. The doubt
shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins. That's the whole reason he came
here. He came here to save, to die
for Dave, to die for Brian. to save you from your sins. Oh
my, what a savior. And you can put, every believer
can put themselves in there. Came to save me from my sins.
My oh my. And as we consider the fact that
God sent Christ into the world to save his people from their
sins, I want us to consider and be carried away by the greatness
of our God. Now a lot of things we suffer
from in this world, we can get worked up, can't we? Very easily
we can get worked up. Very easily. I know I can. I
worked up very easily. And sometimes we see things going
on in the world, we get depressed, we get down, we get anxious sometimes,
right? But you know, there's a way for
us to not have that happen. Just think upon the greatness
of our God. When you feel that stuff starting to come, just
think upon the greatness of God. Think of who he is. Nothing is
too small for our God, is it? No matter how big my problem
is, it's nothing to God. Now he may make me go through
the fire for a while, right? But I ain't gonna get burned,
are you? No. Remember what Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego? Not even a singe on them, but
they went through the fire, didn't they? Yeah, but he was there
with them the whole time. The whole time. Oh my, he's always
with us. And one way for us to cure from
fussing and worry in our lives is to look at our great God,
just to consider who He is. And I got that from Martin Lloyd-Jones'
book today. I was reading it on John 17,
and I actually stopped and just started considering how great
our God was. And then I called Carolyn, and
I was all excited. It was just after you left, Danny. I was
all excited. Oh my, I was just lit up. And
then Carolyn and I started talking about the Lord, talking about
His greatness. And next thing you know, you're just rejoicing.
You're just rejoicing over how good God is to us. The things
of the world just kind of disappear for a while. So let us think
upon this. Because we often do get worked
up, and we often do get concerned for our loved ones, and for things
going on in this world, and our grandchildren, and children,
and friends who do not know Christ. And so let us just meditate upon
the greatness of our God. Let us meditate on the fact that
we are so small in this universe, you and I. We're just pieces
of dust. And yet God has mercy on us.
He has mercy on us. And he's loved us. We're really
animated, Spurgeon called us animated dust. Just dust that
moves around. Dust that can talk. That's all
we are. Yeah, but we're His dust, amen.
We're His dust though. That's right. So let us think
of His sovereignty. Let us think of the mercy He's
had upon us in Christ Jesus. Let us think of really who He
is. He's the sovereign God over all. And He is on His throne. And I know, I know it's easy
for us to say, me to say this, right? I'm practicing it too,
beloved. I'll practice it right along with you. Because I need
to. Now, we preachers ain't supermen. People put in religion, I know
grace folks don't do it, but people in religion put preachers
on pedestals. Never do that for me, please. I'm gonna let you
down all the time. Don't put me on a pedestal. Put Christ
on a pedestal in your heart. Lift him up, glory him, glory
in him. Be marveled with him. He's the great one, he's the
great one. My, and thinking about these
things and how great our God will carry us from the cares
of this world, just take us away from the cares of this world.
As we marvel in adoration, and that's what it is, we're marveling
in adoration, in praise. I'll tell you what, you start
praising the Lord personally on your own, you could get carried
away. And you can do it any time. I
used to do it all the time on the job site, man. I think if
somebody walked in, they'd wonder, what in the world is going on
with Wayne? I was so excited. A couple of times, I was on the
construction site listening to a few messages. And I start crying. I just start weeping. And I'm
thinking, these old big burly construct guys going by, they
must think, what in the world is that guy doing? He's crying in that room,
man. But I had my headphones on, I was listening to a sermon,
and the Lord just touches you, doesn't he? Just touches you.
Oh my, it's real. It's real for us. And the Lord's
wonderful. And you know, think of this,
too. He sent his son into this world to save my soul. Each of
us can say that. Every believer can say, God sent
his son into this world to save my soul. There's so many around
us who perish, but he sent Christ to save my soul. because it pleased
Him to do so. That's what makes it so wonderful.
That's what makes it so amazing. And contemplate also the fact
that we're washed in the precious blood of Christ. All our sins
are forgiven. Past, present, and future, they're
all forgiven. Every one of them. And we're
clothed in that perfect righteousness of Christ. And God doesn't see
any fault in Wayne Boyd. That's what amazes me. I know
my sin. I know my sin now, I know my
sin in the past. And yet God looks at me now in
Christ, and like you just said, Dave, we're perfect in Him. We're
blameless in Him. I can't fathom it, I'm still
a sinner. But God doesn't see, He remembers our sins no more.
My, what a gospel. My, what a Savior is Jesus Christ
our Lord. He's absolutely incredible. So
let us think upon those things. If the world starts to creep
in, think of his unmeasured love. You can't measure his love for
us. Now he sent his son to die for us when we were enemies in
our minds towards him. My oh my. That's just incredible. And it all came about because
he purposed it and planned it. Christ came into this world.
He was sent. Look at verse 3 again. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. He was sent to save his people
from their sins. That's why he came here. You
know, God didn't go to plan B. When I was in religion, I was
a dispensationalist. And when I was in religion, I
thought this. I thought, well, the Jews rejected
Christ, and so the gift was passed on to the Gentiles. And there's
a lot of people who think that. That's a lie. God has always
planned and purposed to save a people, both Jews and Gentiles. Isn't that wonderful? And we're
Gentiles, beloved. We're dogs, according to, and
he has a people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation
who are all purchased by his precious, precious blood. David's
down there doing missionary work to the folks down there, praying
that there's God's sheep down there. My, he's sent by God to
do that. My, oh my. This is life eternal, that they
might know the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent. Now earlier in this chapter, in verse 2, our Lord talking
to the Father says that the Father has given Him all power. All
power. He is it all. He is it all. And here we see who sent Jesus
Christ. Remember, he's the word of God.
Scripture says, in the beginning was the word, right? There's
the Father, the word, and the Holy Spirit. The three are one,
right? In the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God, and the word was God. Now, the false
religions change that to was a God. A friend of mine who reads
Greek, he says they're doing Greek gymnastics when they do
that. No, He was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. He's the Eternal One. He's the Eternal Word of God.
And then later on again in John 1, it says, The Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. He became a man, bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh. Why? Because He was sent by God
to save us from our sins. We need saving, don't we? We're
sinners. Somebody says, well, I don't
believe I'm a sinner. So don't change the fact that
you're a sinner. And you need to be saved. I didn't
think I was a sinner before the Lord saved me. I didn't. Charlie
down the road, he was a sinner. You guys have heard that thing
with me. And there was a guy named Charlie. Oh, he was notorious
in my hometown. That guy, man, he's always in
trouble. I'm a good person. No. No, Wayne, you're not a good
person at all. Not at all. You're just as bad,
if not worse, than him. So God didn't go to plan B when
the Jews rejected Christ. He just didn't do that. He always
purposed that Jew and Gentile would be saved. that He has a
people out of all the Jews and a people out of all the Gentiles
that He has chosen in Christ. How do we know that? Turn, if
you would, to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. We're
going to look at a little portion here. First, I'm going to read
verses 13 to 14, which tells us, do you know we were under
the law? You know, when we were born into this world, we were
born under the law. And the law had a claim upon
us. The soul that sinneth, it must die, right? That's what
the law says. Christ, the sinless one, dies
in our place. So now the law has no claim on
us. My, we are so free, beloved. Look at this. Verse 13 and 14
of Galatians chapter 3. Look at this. This is just absolutely
wonderful. Christ hath redeemed us. It's
already done. Who did it all? Christ. Doesn't say Christ hath made
us savable, does it? Yeah. It says Christ hath redeemed
us. He did it all. From what? From the curse of the law. Oh,
we were under that law, and we are lawbreakers, beloved, by
nature. We're still lawbreakers. But praise be to God, we're saved
from the law now. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
for us. My, oh, my. I had some guy tell me, I don't
break the law. Oh, my gosh. Do you lie? Yeah, you're lying to me, man. You ever get angry at somebody?
Well, according to our Lord, you just killed them. My goodness. Don't tell that
to a husband and wife. My, how many times have we got
angry at our spouses through our marriage? Never, yeah, yeah. Now you're lying to me, brother. Oh, Dave, I love you, man. But
it's true, though, eh? It's true. We're all lawbreakers.
We're all lawbreakers. But look what that says. Christ
has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a
tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the spirit of
faith. Now look at the end of this chapter. Here is just, this
is amazing what he brings forth here. Again, remember, there's
no Jew or Gentile in the body of Christ, right? We're one in
Christ. Abraham had the same faith we
have. He's saved by the same grace we're saved by. He looked
to Christ. He looked forward to Christ by
faith. We look back to Christ by faith. Look what it says here. This is just marvelous. Verse
28. There is neither Jew nor Greek.
There's neither bond nor free. There's neither male nor female.
For ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Now that Jew or Greek,
that's Jew or Gentile. That's us, not just the Greeks,
that's Gentile. Yeah, and then look at the next verse. This
is what's amazing. Do you know that God's people
are Abraham's seed? And I'm not talking about the
Jews, I'm talking about all who are born again. How do we know
that? Look at the next verse. And if
ye be Christ's, then ye are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the
promise. Look at that. And then, let's
not stop there, because the same thought is carried on in chapter
four, and we're gonna read the first seven verses along with
that to get the whole context of what, we're gonna be going
through this in our Sunday school, but I just wanted to bring this
out tonight. Look at this. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, differing nothing from a servant, though he be
lord of all. Dave, you and I have talked about,
before we were saved, no one would have known we were one
of God's elect. That's exactly what that verse is bringing out.
That's exactly, you could not tell God's sheep from a goat
before they're saved. You cannot tell the difference.
Now God knows the difference. And he knows when the time of
love will come that that sheep will be regenerated. But we have
no idea. Look what it says. But it's under
tutors and governors until the time, what? Appointed of the
Father. That's the time of love. That's
the time when we heard the gospel. That's the time when we were
born again by the Holy Spirit and given faith to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. We had no idea we were heirs.
Did we? We had no idea. Isn't this wonderful? What comfort this can bring God's
people. Look, it says here, even so, we, when we were children,
were in bondage under the elements of the world. So before the Lord
saved us, we were in bondage. Brother, we've talked about it
many times. We were in total bondage to our own sin. To our own sin. Dead in trespasses
and sins. Having a God of our own imagination
who is not God at all. Oh, God's so merciful, isn't
he? Now look at this. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under
the law." Now what does our verse say? Our verse says that Christ
was sent by the Father. And you know when it was? At
the fullness of time. At the exact time that God ordained,
Christ came into this world. save his people from their sins. At the exact time, not a second
early, not a second late, at the exact second Christ was born
into this world. Why? Look at this. He was made
of one, made under the law. Why? Why did he come? To redeem
them that were what? Under the law. There it is. That's
what we were. We were under the law. We were
under. We were heirs. We didn't know
it. You couldn't tell us from a goat. Oh, as a matter of fact,
some folks might have even said, that person will never be saved. Yeah. Yeah. You might have said,
well, he's a goat. Don't ever say that about someone.
We don't know who God's elected. I'll tell you why. Look at Paul. He was murdering Christians,
having them shoved in the prison, hauling them out of there. Paul goes through a litmus test
of what we were before. I don't have it right now, but
I'll tell you what, every believer can see themselves in there three,
four, five times in that list. That's what we were. But look
at this, look at this. He came into this world to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might succeed the adoption
of sons. And because you are sons, because
you're sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son. You must
be born again into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. And that's
what we cry now, isn't it? Abba, Father, Lord, save me.
Save me or I perish. Wherefore, thou art no more a
servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. Oh, aren't you thankful God sent
His Son into this world to redeem us from under the law? We couldn't pay our way out of
our debt. We had a debt we could not pay,
and He paid a debt He did not owe. Right? My, oh my. And note in Galatians,
or verse 4 of Galatians 4, Christ was sent into this world at the
exact time, again, that was purposed and planned by God. And then
in verse 5, that He might redeem us from under the law. which had a rightful claim upon
us. What a substitute! What a Savior is Jesus Christ
our Lord! Have you known love any greater
than this? It was love that drove Him to a cross for us. He's sinless. He's perfect. He's spotless. He lives that perfect life that
we might have that perfect coat of righteousness, the wedding
garment. Oh, it's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. So rejoice. This is why I say we should be
in awe. Think about these things when the world starts crowding
in. Think about these things. Your heart will just start singing.
My heart was singing as I was putting this message together.
Oh my! This is wonderful. So rejoice,
beloved. Be in awe. Be in wonder that
Christ has redeemed us. He purchased our souls. How? With the shedding of His precious
blood. That's the ransom price. His blood, his life, his life
for the sinner he willingly gave. My, oh my. And the believer in
Christ says, that's me. That's me. And now, think of
this, we're redeemed out from under the law. What does that
mean? That means it has no claim on us. None. Hey, hallelujah, man. It has
absolutely no claim on the believer And now we live a life Loving
our king and lovingly serving our king Not for anything we're
gonna get but all because of what he's done for us What he's
done for us. Oh, he saved my soul He saved
my soul is wonderful Now let's read verse 3 again. It says,
And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Now note the
word and here. It's a connecting word. It's a connecting word. And Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent. So it connects to the fact that Christ here is giving the
plain warning that the Father is the only true God. He's praying
to the only true God. And he cannot be known, this
one true God cannot be known outside of Christ. Outside of
Christ, you cannot know the Father. And we see the only true God
as opposed to the idols of the Gentiles. The Gentiles had many
gods, but they weren't alive. This is the one true God. Christ
is praying to the one true God, the Father, who sent him. The
word of God was sent into this world by the Father to redeem
his people from their sins. And see the words, Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. The word sent there has a threefold
meaning. It points to his deity. And it
says, we believe that thou comest forth from God. So it points
to his deity, that he's God. It also refers to his incarnation,
that he became a man, that the word of God became a man, which
we just read when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
his son made of a woman, Galatians 4.4. And lastly, it signified
his office as mediator and redeemer of the people that God gave to
him. Because we're going to see this prayer is called the high
priestly prayer for a reason. Again, the first five verses,
he's praying for himself to the Father that God would glorify
him. And in the next verses, he's
speaking about the apostles, and then he's speaking of all
the elect of all the ages. And he's in his meditatorial
office when he's doing that for the apostles and for us. Oh,
it's incredible. It's absolutely incredible. For
this reason, he's called the apostle and high priest of our
profession. And apostle means sent one. He's the sent one. We see that in our text, don't
we? He's the sent one. Look at John 17, 3, and this
is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. My, oh my. I'll tell you what, if you know
the Father and the Son, the Father is revealed in Christ Jesus,
then you have eternal life. If you do not know the Father
or the Son, you do not have eternal life. Just playing his day. Vicki and I used to run into
people, we called them God people, because they'd mention God but
not talk about Christ at all. Well, you can't know the Father
except through the Son. You can't know Him. I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. John 14, 6. So clear, isn't it? Now I'm going to have us go through
a few verses here. We're going to stay in the book
of John. Turn, if you would, to John chapter 3. We're going
to stay in the book of John. We're going to start in chapter
3, and we're going to look at these verses here that tell us
that Christ is sent from God, mostly by his own words. And
if you want to write them down, I'll give you the addresses,
too, if you want to write them down for further study. The first
one is in John chapter 3, verse 17. It says, for God sent not
his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through him might be saved. So we see there that God sent
his son into the world. And then, down in John chapter
3, verses 34 to 36, the scriptures declares, for he whom God hath
sent speaketh the words of God. For God giveth not the spirit
by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son and
hath given all things unto his hand. He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
But look at verse 34. for he whom God hath sent." Again, Christ
is speaking about himself here. And then over in John chapter
5, a couple chapters over, John chapter 5, we're starting verses
36 to 39. John chapter 5, verses 36 to
39. But I have greater witness than
that of John for the works which the Father hath given me to finish,
the same works that I do bear witness of that the Father hath
sent me. So we see right there that the
Father sent Christ. He goes on again in verse 37.
And the Father himself which hath sent me hath borne witness
of me. Ye have neither heard his voice
in any time nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding
in you. For whom he hath sent him ye believe not. So it's the
scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life. And they
are they which testify of me. And then John 6, 28 and 29, then
said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work the
works of God? Jesus answered and said unto
them, this is the work of God that you believe on him whom
he sent. Now look at that. It's the work of God that you
believe on Christ. So many people think it's something
they have to do, but scripture right there says, And John 6,
29, this is the work of God that you believe on him whom he has
sent. And in John chapter 6, verses 37 to 39, all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I will now wise cast out. For I am come down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
Again, this is the Lord saying, he just keeps repeating this.
One commentator said, John, throughout his gospel, is bringing the verticalness
of Christ coming from heaven down to earth and going back
up to heaven. It's incredible. My, it's incredible. And then John 6, 37 to 39, all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh
to me I will not cast out, for I am come down from heaven, not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will, which has sent me again. He says it
twice there. That of all which he hath given me, I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And
in John 6, 40, scripture says, and this is the will of him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on
him hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. And then John 7, verses 28 and
29, then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, you both
know me, and you know whence I am. And I'm not come of myself,
but he that sent me is true, whom you know not. But I know
him, for I am from him, and he has sent me. Again, he tells
us twice there again. So we see this is a reoccurring
theme that our Lord's telling them that he was sent by God.
John 8, 42, Jesus said unto them, God were your father you would
love me for I proceeded forth and came from God neither came
I of myself but he sent me John 10 36 say ye of him whom the
Father has sanctified so set apart and send into the world
thou blasphemous because I said I am the Son of God so again
we see he was sent into the world and we know it's by the Father
then John 11 verses 41 to 44 John chapter 11 verses 41 to
44 scripture declares this then they took away the stone from
the place where the dead was laid and Jesus lifted up his
eyes and said father I thank thee that thou has heard me and
I know that thou hearest me always but because of the people which
stand by I said it, that they might believe that thou hast
sent me." Now, we've read these portions many times, haven't
we? And do you see how that little word is there? You sent me. You sent me. You sent me. He
just keeps repeating it, doesn't he? And we sometimes just read
right over that, don't we? But it's so important to know
that Christ was sent into this world. He came willingly. He
came willingly. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud
voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead, come forth. That's just like us. We're dead.
That's a picture of you and I in our natural state. Wayne, come
forth. Right? It's true for all of us.
We come out of religious bondage, or we just come out of the world,
don't we? Wrapped up and still bound up. And you know what?
When we hear the gospel preached, something falls off. Another
piece of grave clothes fall off. Oh, I'm liberated. I'm free.
I'm free in Christ. Oh. And he that was dead came
forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes. And his face was
bound with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, loose
them. Take those things off and just let them go. Oh, isn't that
wonderful? He's freed us, brothers and sisters. If the Son has set you free,
you're free indeed. Oh, it's wonderful. Now let's go back
to our passage. Do you know six times in John
chapter 17, he says he was sent by the Father? We're going to
close with these little sections here. This is amazing. Six times
in this little section right here. First one is in John 17,
3, which we read in our text. We'll read it again. And this
is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God
in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Again, sent by God. Look at verse 8 of John 17. For
I have given unto him the words which thou gavest me, or unto
them, the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them,
and have known surely that I come out from thee, and they have
believed that thou didst what? Send me. There's twice. And then look at verse 18. As
thou hast sent me into the world, now look at this, even so I also
sent them into the world. We're sent into the world, beloved. We're living epistles, yeah.
We're sent into the world. Spread the gospel. That's the
whole reason we're here in Alma, is for the furtherance of the
gospel. That's the only reason our church exists, is for the
furtherance of gospel. We're sent into this world, beloved.
Isn't it wonderful that God chose us, brought us together, and
then allows us to be a partaker in the message going forth? It's
absolutely wonderful. What a privilege. What an honor! Oh my! And you know, if He sent
us into the world, He's with us. He'll not leave us comfortless,
right? He's given us the Holy Spirit,
but He's also right beside us. He's that shepherd that never
leaves our side. Yeah, I read something about
a shepherd, the crook and the, the crook and the, it's just
to draw us back. It's not to beat us, not at all.
The crook is just to draw us closer. The shepherd's crook
is just to bring us gently, gently closer. The shepherd never uses
it as a weapon, except unless he's fighting a wolf. Then he'll
take that staff to that wolf. But the little sheep just gently
puts it around their neck and just gently pulls them back.
That's what the Lord does with us. We start wandering, he just
gently pulls us back, beloved. In love, never in anger, always
in love. Just gently pulls us back. Oh,
it's wonderful, isn't it? Now let's look at the fourth
one here in verse 21. 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,
we keep seeing this. And I only went through the book
of John. It's in other places in the New
Testament as well. John 17, 23, I in them and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one, again, that the
world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as
thou hast loved me. Now, let that one sink in. Again,
he says, that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast
loved them, as thou hast loved me? The Father loves us as He
loves Christ? I can't even fathom that. I believe
it. I believe it because the Word
of God says it. But those are waters I'm drowning in. Let us
just think upon that. God the Father loves us as He
loves Christ. Do you know why? Because He's
the head and we're the body. We're one with Him. We're members
of his body. Isn't that beautiful? And the
only reason he loves us is because we're in Christ. Outside of Christ,
there's just wrath and condemnation. And then look at the sixth one
in verse 25. Look what this, oh, the title he gives the father
here. Oh, righteous father. That's our God. Oh, righteous
father. The world hath not known thee,
but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent
me. And that's, look at that. So we who are born again, we
know, we believe what Christ says. We have been had revealed to
us that Christ was sent by the Father, and we believe it. I
didn't know that. Before, not in the way I know
now. Not in the way I know now. You know, I used to think, oh
yeah, Christ came into the world, but I had no idea that He was,
you know, I always used to hear He's the Son of God, but that
He's actually the Word of God? And that the only reason I know
Him now is because He's made Himself known to me and to you?
Marvel at that. Just be in awe of that. Just
be in awe of that this week. The Lord Jesus Christ was sent
by God as a sin offering for the sins of his people. Sent
by God. He's God's Passover lamb. He was sent to save us from our
sins. He's the second Adam. You know
what he sent? He sent to establish a righteousness
for us. You see, the first Adam fell,
right? He fell. But Christ is the second
item. He establishes a righteousness
so perfect for us. You know that scripture says,
be holy as God is holy? You know how that's true for
us? Only in Christ. Not in ourselves, eh? You look
at that and say, I can't be holy. But in Christ, we're holy. As
a matter of fact, we're unblameable. We're faultless in this sight. Remember, all because of Christ.
We're still sinners upon this earth. Any man or woman tells
you they're not a sinner, they're lying. Because saved people will
tell you, we're saved sinners. Saved by the grace of God. But
God doesn't impute our sins to us. Because they were imputed
to Christ. And he paid it all. Hence the
words, it is finished. It's perfect. It's done. He finished
the work, right? It's finished. He finished the
work of redemption. It's absolutely done. So if it's finished, is
there anything for you and I to do? To save our souls? No! We can't save our souls in the
first place, but there's nothing for us to do. It's already been
done. It's already been done. And it can only be done by Christ,
the sinless One, sent by God, the Word of God incarnate. And
He's finished the work the Father has sent Him to do. Look at this. Look at verse 4. I have glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. It's done. Finished. Finished. He finished the work
of redemption, right? And he wrought out a perfect
righteousness. What he's saying there is I've wrought the perfect
righteousness out for your people. Now I'm going to go to the cross
and die for them. Now I'm going to redeem them. And I'm going
to go there willingly. And every one of them will be
on my mind when I'm dying there. And say, how can that be? Because
He's God. He knows every one of His sheep
by name. Every one of us, beloved. He
knows the hairs on our head. They're numbered. And unlike
the first Adam who failed to do God's will and bought sin
into this world, the second Adam has come and satisfied all that
God demanded to perfection for our souls, for the redemption
of our souls. So God's law has no claim on
us, right? Because we've been redeemed from
what? From under the law. Hallelujah! That's good news. And you know what? He's not left
anything undone. He's not left anything undone.
There's nothing for you and I to do. Nothing. When He said it's finished, it's
finished. There's nothing. Nothing undone. It's perfect.
It's complete. Oh my. And Christ says that He
praised the Father and gave Him the glory that He had with the
Father before the world was. Now unlike Moses and David, the
Word of God existed for all eternity. Remember that. He came into this
world to save us, but He existed for all eternity. Long before
He came into this world, He shared glory with the Father. Angels
worshiped Him. Long before He was sent into
this world to save us from our sins, He was God the Word. He was God the Word. And He left the glories and splendors
of heaven to save us from our sins.