If you will, turn with me to
John 17. We've read this for the past
two weeks, and I want to continue to read on the verses that I'm
teaching from to get them fresh in our minds. But this is John
17. Verses 6 through 10. He said, I have manifested thy
name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine
they were, and thou gavest them me. And they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all
things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the
words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and
have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have
believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou gavest me, for they are thine, and all mine
are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. If you will turn back with me now
to John 17. This is our Lord's prayer concerning
His coming into the flesh to accomplish the redemption of
His people and such things as were purchased by that sacrifice
and such things as were trusted to Him. It was by His own words,
His Father's goodwill to send Him. I came not to do my own will,
but the will of Him that sent me, and this is the Father's
will which has sent me." Time and again, He tells us that the
Father has sent Him. He talks about being sent for
the Father's purpose of grace, which was behind all that was
going on. and his love for his people behind
that. God loved his elect. He loves his elect. In this,
John said, was manifested the love of God toward us because
that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might
live through him. Whose love was being manifested?
Certainly the son's love is manifested in his death, but who sent him? The father did. And that's the
love that he taught. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. The old hymn writer, he wrote
a hymn called At Calvary. We don't sing it too often. But
here's how the verse goes, oh the love that drew salvation's
plan. I don't like that word plan,
but there is a design in salvation. And he's telling us here, oh
the love that drew this. Oh the love that drew salvation's,
oh the grace that brought it down to man. One thing to have
an eternal design It's another thing to bring it down to men,
isn't it? Oh, the mighty gulf that God
did span at Calvary. This is a prayer of him who alone
stands before God as our representative, as our substitute, as our high
priest. He's about to carry His own blood
into the holiest of all and obtain for us what we could never obtain,
eternal redemption. Who's going to do it? He is.
He is. And I cannot emphasize enough
the greatness and significance of that One who speaks on our
behalf to His Father in this prayer. There's no way that you
can over-exalt Christ. We come far short of it. This
is no less than God Himself. I hear people talk about God
speaking to them. God told me to do this. God told
me to do that. They talk about this hearing
voices or sometimes just in a vision or they hear in their mind. Would
you hear God speak? Then hear what He says in this
prayer. because this is God speaking to God. Now let me begin this morning
with a very shocking statement, maybe not to everybody here,
but it is a shocking statement to natural men. Natural men,
all those born of woman, born into this world, sons and daughters
of Adam, descendants of fallen man, natural men, They have nothing
more than a tiny hint of who God is. That's shocking to most
men. Well, I believe in God. Well,
you believe in your God. You want to find out if you believe
in God, come sit under the gospel a time or two. Let somebody tell
you who God is. All they have is a hint. of the
true and living God, to have a conscience, that which may
be known of God, he says, is manifest in them, for God has
showed it unto them. It's not a saving knowledge of
God, not the glory of His person, but a knowledge of God's disapproval
of sin. God's a holy God. He witnesses
that in your conscience. Your conscience tells you you
shouldn't do that. You can do that. Why? It's not your conscience telling
you that, it's God telling you that through your conscience.
It says He hath revealed this unto us. It's manifested in them
for God hath showed it unto them. And they have creation. The heavens,
David said, declare the glory of God and the earth showeth
His handiwork. Creation bears witness of God's
power, of God's omnipotence. The invisible things of Him,
He said, from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power
and His Godhead. There is a God behind creation. It's not Mother Nature. It's
not just a chemical formula, for lack of a better word, it's
God. And there's an order in creation.
And He maintains that order. And this ought to speak to us
something about the omnipotence of God, the power of God. The only other source of knowledge
He has is the Word of God and the witness of saved men testifying
of the grace of God in Christ. But the natural man won't have
them. He receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. They're
foolishness unto it. Neither can he know them, for
they're spiritually discerned. Natural men take some facts and
they mix them up in the apothecary of their imagination and they
come up with what they call God. This is what brought the destruction
of the world about over in Genesis chapter 6. Every imagination
of men was only evil continually. Now you read carefully what he
says was going on and you'll see what I'm saying is so. This
is not imagination of all the craziness and lusts of men. This is an imagination concerning
God. Imagination taken from the word
image. And he has an image in his mind,
but it's not God. Here's what he says, natural
men, they lavish gold out of a bag. This is what he says over
in Isaiah. They lavish gold out of a bag,
and they weigh silver in the balance, and they hire a goldsmith,
and he maketh it a god. He makes a forum out of it. Moses
went up to receive the law of God, but when he came back down,
all of Israel was dancing naked around a golden calf. Somebody
made a calf out of gold, and they worshipped. Where'd they come up with this
idea of dancing naked around a cow? That's man. That's man. He said he maketh it a god and
they fall down before it and worship. And then they have to
pick him up and bear him around on their shoulders because he
can't walk. He can't travel. And they set him in his place.
They put him where they want him to be. They set him in his
place. And they carry him. And he's
standing. And they cry unto him. But he
can't answer them. And he can't save them out of
their trouble. Folks say that's an extreme example. I'd never do that. Probably not. But you wouldn't bow down to
the God of your imagination. You'd open a hymn book and sing
hymns to him. Just boy, I just, big tears in
my eyes and sing songs that's so contrary to God, I'll fly
away. Really? Jesus is not what antichrist
religion declares him to be. And natural men, they walk Paul said, beware. Beware. They will come preaching. Who's they? Religious people. Nobody else. That drunk ain't
going to preach Christ. He's talking about religious
folks. He's talking about the pastor, the preacher, or whatever
they call him, father, or whatever they call him. He's going to
come and he's going to say these things. They'll come preaching
another Jesus, another gospel, by another spirit. And I tell
you what Paul said, when they do, let them be accursed. That is in your mind. You be
free. You're not taken away from God
by turning your back on those men. You let them be accursed. They walk in the vanity of their
minds. He don't know God, and there's
none that understandeth and none that seeketh after God. And the
gist of these verses I read to you a few minutes ago is about
a divine revelation of God. This is what salvation does. It reveals the true and living
God to you. John said, we know that the Son
of God hath come and hath given to us an understanding that we
may know him that's true. that were in Him that is true.
This is the true God and this is eternal life. The gist of these verses is about
a divine revelation of God. Verse 6, He said, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. There's a name, the very name
of God. What is that? Is that what the
seabeers in my generation used to call a handle? No. No, his name is who he is. We
used to have another saying in my generation, he has a good
name. We need a roof put on or a house
painted That guy's got a good name. He's got a good name. God's manifesting His name. None
other name under heaven whereby we must be saved. But nobody's
gonna be saved apart from that. Jesus is not here to do the best
He can and leave the rest up to us. That's another Jesus.
He's not here with Hands tied by man's free will. Unable to
do what God sent him to do. That's another Jesus. Gotta have
your help. Gotta have your money. Gotta
have your dedication. This man, this Jesus of Nazareth,
is God over all, blessed forever. Show us the Father, Philip said,
and I'll be satisfied. He said, Philip, if you've been
so long time with me, have you not seen the Father? He that
has seen me has seen the Father. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. If you see Him, you're seeing
God. My dad's name was Herman. Kathy
and I died. I went to see a nephew I hadn't
seen in many, many years. And I look a lot like my dad.
And when he answered the door, he said, there's Herman. There's
Herman. Jesus Christ is the image of
the invisible God. He's the firstborn of all creation. He's the express image of his
father, the brightness of his glory. And God's name is who
He is, His true character. And here in our text, He tells
His Father, I've manifested Thy name unto the men which You gave
me out of the world. They know who You are. They know who You are. Oh, the revelation of God. God
is just. He will by no means clear the
guilty. That's what Moses said, show
me Your glory. Show me your glory. He said, OK, but you can't look
in my face. You couldn't stand that glory.
He said, I'll put you in the cleft of the rock. And when I
pass by, I'll cover you up with my hand. And I'll just let you
see my hinder parts. I'll let you see the finished
work. I'll let you see what angels in heaven desire to see. God is righteous, perfectly righteous. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. God's righteous. He's not a little
bit righteous. He's not even a whole lot righteous.
He's righteous. And God's angry with the wicked.
His wrath is actively engaged. Talks about it over and over
all through the Scriptures. And yet God is also love and
grace and mercy and He's kind. He's all these things, yet not
one to the exclusion of the other. This is the beauty of the name
of God. All of His attributes function
perfectly at all times in everything that He does. That's holiness.
Holiness is not how long you wear your dress or how short
you cut your hair. Holiness has to do with the wholeness
of God. And Jesus Christ was ever with
God. Isaiah said he's a just God and
a Savior. Zechariah said he's just and
having salvation. And Paul said he's just and justifier
of them that believe on Jesus. Peter said he died the just for
the unjust that he might bring us to God. And He's faithful
just to forgive us of our sins, John said, and cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. And to save sinners, Christ must
come and represent Him before the law, satisfy divine justice,
provide Him with a righteousness, and arrange for His regeneration. Everything that it takes to get
that man from here to glory, Christ has to do. He has to do. This revelation is given by the
Son. It's given by the Son. This is
a revelation. I don't know if you... We ain't
much more than a handful. I didn't even know how many cups
filled up with wine this morning. I filled so many. Come up short,
I'll go pour you another. Do you even have an inkling of
what a privilege it is to even know in your head who God is? If you think I'm exaggerating
this point, go talk to any of your relatives, especially your
religious relatives. Go talk to them. You'll stand there with your
mouth open. You just won't believe what you're hearing. I saw a clip on Facebook earlier
in the week from my Nephew's wife he died She's always
has been for years. I don't know last 10 years. She still puts things on there
And she said but I know that my dad is my angel Show me anywhere in the scripture
where any man become an angel he just I Oh, God must do for us what we
cannot do for ourselves. And this revelation is given
by the Son. It's demonstrated in His birth,
His life, His death, His resurrection, and plainly declared in the world
through the preaching of the gospel. And what you hear in
this place every week is only heard just in a few places. And
what these men heard came from the Son of God their Savior,
and what they heard was a glorious revelation. I'll never forget
the first time I heard this. It was a revelation to me. Nothing
I had ever heard or read anywhere. And then secondly, I want us
to see those who received this revelation. He gave this glorious
revelation of the name of God to a people given Him by His
Father. It's given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of God. It's not given to them. Lord,
why don't you declare these parables to them? Why speak in these parables
and you tell us what they mean, but you don't tell them? Because
it's given unto you. That's why. Our Lord prayed in
the garden, this prayer. And he said, I've given them
this revelation, and the ones I give it to are the ones that
you gave to me. I don't know if you've ever come
to grips with this or not, but it's not in the purpose of God
to save all men. That was not His intention and
not the purpose behind the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was given power over all flesh that He should give eternal life
to as many as the Father had given to Him. The good shepherd,
he said, giveth his life for the sheep. He told Mary before she brought
forth the child, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. And then if you go back to the
last few chapters in the book of Revelations, He has these
books, and he opens these books, and he judges everybody out of
those books. We were told when I was growing
up, this was your works. Well, maybe some of them are
written in those books, but it won't be a plus for you if it
is. It'll be evidence of your guilt.
But here's what it says over there. We're going to cut through
the chase, get to the bottom line. Here it is. Whosoever was
not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake
of fire. I don't care what they did. Huh? They were cast into the lake
of fire. Well, how can you say that? Maybe there was one out...
No, there's none that seeketh after God. There is no one anyway. Election carries with it all
the provisions of grace. Is that right? Read 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. God has from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. All these provisions are already made. Provision was made and a covenant
struck for a people of God's choosing. And He calls those
people. He establishes churches in places
where He has a people. It's not determined by the free
will of those who decide to let God save them. Salvation is a
provision of God who chose to save a people in His Son to manifest
the glory of his name. Listen to this. It can't get
any plainer than this. He said, you've not chosen me.
I chose you. You were sitting at the receipt
of custom when I called you. You wasn't seeking me. You was
a tax collector. You was out there on a boat fishing
when I passed by. You had no more idea who I was
or the ministry or anything else. I passed by and said, I'll make
you fishers of men, follow me. You have not chosen me, I chose
you. And I tell you, if you hadn't
come to grips with it, you better. Because this is the only door
of salvation there is. God chosen people. Otherwise,
it says that right in the scripture, we'd be like Sodom and Gomorrah. He said, you're not of the world.
But I've chosen you out of the world. And that's why the world
hates you. You told them God chose
you. You want to see somebody get
mad, tell them that. God has a people. Let me ask you this, what if
he didn't? Huh? What if he didn't? He looked
down from heaven to see if there was any that did any good. If there was any down there seeking
after the Lord, he said there was none. Now what if God didn't
choose, what if God didn't make provision for those chosen people?
What if he didn't bless them with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ according as He's chosen them
in Christ. Man always presupposes man's
free will. Everything he does is based on
man's free will. And what you're saying, preacher,
when you talk about election, you're taking away all the responsibility
of men. No, I'm not. I'm not closing
the door on anybody. I'm trying to point you to the
open door. There's one door, and that door
is Christ. Except the Lord of Sabaoth had
left us a seed, we'd have been like Sodom and Gomorrah. And
I'm going to tell you something else, election is not the reason
for damnation, sin is. That's the second thing that
man knows nothing about. He doesn't know anything at all
about his sin. If God ever convinces you of
sin, he'll have to convince you of salvation. There's no way
in your mind that you could ever think about yourself being saved
apart from His grace. Election is the reason for salvation,
not damnation. And it's not a closed door to
keep men from believing on Christ, but an open door with full provision
that all might not perish. The redemption of God in Christ
is given to His elect. Paul said, We speak the hidden
wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained
before the world under our glory, which none of the princes of
this world knew. For had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. You think about who crucified
Him. The heads of the most powerful
government in the world were involved in it. The heads of
the only people who ever had an inkling of who God was, Israel,
their high priest was involved in it. The chief priests that
were under them appointed over their various duties. They were involved in
it. The Sanhedrin, the highest council
in Israel, was involved in it. This wasn't a bunch of heathens
out there who came up with this idea of crucifying Christ. This
was people who everybody thought knew God. Had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of Glory. But as it is written,
I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him. But God, he said, hath revealed them. God hath revealed them unto us
by His Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the
deep things of God. Are you here this morning with
a true knowledge of God? Understanding? Awed by His character
and divinity? Awed by His grace? Seeing how
He can save sinners without compromising His name? understanding that you're secure
in the person and work of His Son, then thank God for the election
of His grace. Because that's where it comes
from. That's where it comes from. Thine they were, He said, and
thou gavest them me. And then lastly, I want us to
see and think about the means of this revelation. He tells
us here, and they have kept thy word, thy word. Now they have known that all
things whatsoever thou hast given me are thee. For I have given
unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received
them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they
have believed that thou didst send me. I'll never forget down at the
old church, my oldest daughter had come to visit, and my granddaughter
was on her way back to the nursery. And she stopped. The pulpit was
here, and there was a door similar to that that went back to what
we were using as a nursery. And she stopped, and I looked
over at her, and she said, Paul, she said, are you going to say
the words? And boy, that hit me like a knife. It's funny how the Lord speaks
to you. Now speak to me through this little girl. You gonna say
the words? And boy, I teared all up and
I said, I sure hope so. The Lord said, I gave them the
words that you gave me. Oh, I hope that's what I'm doing
this morning. I'm hoping I'm giving you the
words that my father's given to me. Our Lord carried to them, these
men, given to him by the Father, the words of salvation, the words
of eternal life. He said, you go preach my gospel
to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. The Jews at Antioch mocked Paul
and Barnabas and spoke against those things that they preached.
They said it was necessary that the Word of God should first
have been spoken to you. Not read to them, spoken. They
stood up and preached the Gospel, preached the message of this
book. But seeing you put it from you
and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. For so the Lord commanded us,
saying, I have sent thee a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest
be for salvation. and to the ends of the world. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad. I'm going to tell you when you're
going to get glad. When you finally see that what you're hearing
has been sent to you from God, oh, you're going to be glad.
They were. They were. They'd been bounced back and
forth by these Jews and proselytized by them and heard this and heard
that and been a part of this and that and told this and that. All of a sudden, the Word of
God was preached to them and boy, when it hit, it hit like
a ton of bricks. When they heard this, they were
glad, now watch this, and glorified the Word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life, believed. And the Word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region. Oh, the gift of the words
of life. There was a day when I walked
in the vanity of my mind, hanging on words and phrases and really
made no sense at all. Had no semblance to the Word
of God. and how ignorant, how confused,
how deceived I was, why did I go? I think because
of the affections and testimonies of people that
I loved and knew, and I rested my souls on their
lies. Peter talked about vain things
that they had received by the tradition of their father. He's a preacher, he's a pastor,
he has a degree, he went to seminary, he's not ignorant. My nephew
asked me one time, he said, how can somebody like me who never
donned a door of a church, how am I supposed to know out here
with all these churches, how am I supposed to know who's telling
the truth and who's not? I never had anybody ask me that
before, and I was just quiet for a little while. And then
all of a sudden it hit me. I told him, I said, you never
will, but for the grace of God, you never will. You won't come. We've had, I don't know over
the years how many people we've had. We had three ladies that
came. They were beauticians. They cut my wife's hair and stuff. They loved to travel church to
church, and she invited them, and they come up here. And boy,
as soon as I sat down, they were gone. Out the door. And how many have done that?
But for the grace of God, yeah, I don't care how clear you make
it, but for the grace of God, you'll never know the difference. These words are gifts. given
unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. And
he said, I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me,
and they have received them. The first miracle of God is the
gift of hearing. The second is to receive them.
To receive them. They received them. Oh, that
God would give us the spirit of truth to know and receive
what we hear as the gift of God. In receiving his word, they've
known all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. They understood that through
his word. And oh, how different we'll hear
when we believe that that one speaking is sin of God. May the Lord give us each the
spirit of wisdom and truth to know the difference.