If you will, turn with me to
John 17. Most of you know that I'll be preaching a series through
this chapter, but I want to reread portions of it every week, keep
it fresh in our minds. John 17, beginning with 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 thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom
thou sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have 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. I've 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 come 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 hast given me, for they are thine, and all
mine are thine, and thine are mine. The Lord add his blessing to
the reading of his word. The lesson this morning will
be taken from John 17, verses 4 and 5. This will be the third in a series
of messages concerning our Lord's intercessory prayer for his elect. Who are God's elect? They're
those the Father chose, whom He chose in His Son, whom He
predestinated in Christ unto the adoption of children. That's
God's elect. Last week we talked about eternal
life, that which Christ came to bestow on chosen sinners. The very life of God. What is
eternal life? It's the life of God. It's the hope of every believer.
It's a light shining in a dark place until the day dawns. It's
knowledge given us by the appearance of Jesus Christ. We know that
the Son of God has come and given to us an understanding that we
may know Him that's true. And today I want us to focus
on the work of Christ and how He glorified His Father. Let's read our text together
here in John 17, verse 4. He said, I have glorified Thee
on the earth. I have 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. There are three
things that fall in divine order in these two verses, and I want
us to look at each one and ask the Lord to open to us the Scriptures
as He did for these men. Open to us the Scriptures. Cause
our hearts to burn within us as He opens to us the Scriptures. First thing our Lord said to
His Heavenly Father is, I have glorified Thee on the earth. How? How? It's a true statement. He makes it. He can't lie. He
said, I've glorified Thee on the earth. How? He hadn't died
yet. He hasn't been through His mock
trials yet. How has he glorified God in the
earth that he talks about here in this prayer? Well, he glorified
God in everything, didn't he? He glorified God in his birth. Listen to this, there were shepherds
abiding in the field. This is what the Holy Ghost gives
us in his account of the birth of Christ. He said, there were
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks
by night, and suddenly the angel of God appeared, and the glory
of the Lord shone round about them, and they feared. But the
angel spoke, and he said, fear not, for behold, I bring you
glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord. And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
Glory to God. That's what I titled this study,
Glory, Glory, Glory. Glory to God. in the highest and on earth,
peace, goodwill toward men. The birth of Christ was promised
by God at the fall of man. He spoke about all things being
renewed through the woman's seed. But she didn't have a seed, I
know. She was a virgin, but she brought forth the Son of God. Birth glorify God in His purpose
to save sinners. Hebrews 10.5 says, When He cometh
into the world, He saith, Sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not,
but a body thou hast prepared me. If God will not accept our
sacrifices and will not accept all of these things that we present
to Him. In religion, we were told to
bring these things. Bring these things. God will
be happy with you. He'll be pleased with you if
you do this. But when He comes into the world,
He says, sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not, but a body
hast thou prepared me. Here's the sacrifice. Not what
you do for God, but what God does for you. A body hast thou prepared me. Lo,
I come in the volume of the book that's written of me to do thy
will, O God. He was born into this world as
a representative man. He was made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law. He's
a representative man. His birth was the birth of a
Savior, the promised Christ. His birth glorified God as to
the time and place. God told the exact time and place
that His Son would be born. His birth glorified God as to
the time and place in the union of God and man. God and man in
one person. It glorified God in the fulfillment
of scriptures. He glorified God in his birth. And secondly, he glorified God
in his attitude. As a child, it says, he went
down with them. Talking about Mary and Joseph.
and was subject unto them. Can you imagine? The son of God. Russell knows everything. He
knows all that. Everything's been purposed in
him. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation. And here he is, this young child,
the God-man. And he goes about his father's
business. And that's what He tells them
when they come looking for Him. Would you not that I should be
about my Father's business? I'm not here to fulfill some
dream you have about a son or a daughter. They call me Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. I'm the Savior. I'm the Christ. And they didn't have anything
to say. But it said Mary treasured those
things up in her heart. She thought about what he said.
And he went back with him and was subject. The Son of God was
subject to his parents. In Philippians 2, unveiling the
mind of Christ to us, Paul said, who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation, and took on him the form of a servant. And
being found in passion as a man, he humbled himself and become
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Let this
mind, this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
He glorified God in his attitude and he glorified God in his ministry. Our Lord was many things. He
held many offices. But one of the greatest offices
that he held was that of a preacher. When he announced that day what
he came to do and what he was doing, he said, I've been sent
to preach the gospel. And he read him that scripture
out of Isaiah. And as a preacher, the Son of
God suffered the insults and callousness and indifference
of men as He brought the good news of salvation to God's people,
and through it all, He glorified God. He preached to men and women
that He knew would never hear His words, but He glorified God
in that He warned them. He warned them. And He told His
disciples, Blessed are your ears, for they hear. Do you know on one occasion,
a multitude of men, they were scribes and pharisees and doctors
of the law, and they weren't there for a good purpose, but
when they left, he bowed his head and he said, I thank thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto
me. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in your sight." He glorified God in his ministry. He told them on another occasion,
you believe not because you're not of my sheep. Tell me a preacher out here up
and down, any woman up and down the road who's ever said that
to their people, ever. You can't find me one. To glorify God in his ministry,
our Lord suffered ungodly men in order to minister those who
shall be heirs of salvation. He glorified God in his ministry,
giving God's word to preeminence. The byword of his ministry was,
It is written. He never said, You believe this
because I'm telling you. And he could have. He was the
one person who actually could have done that, but he didn't
do it. He glorified his Father through the Scriptures. It's
written. It's written. Even Satan who tempted, he said
it's written. And it is written as the foundation
of all that he taught. And he glorified God in his miracles. He didn't just heal or cleanse
or cast out demons. to put on a show or draw a crowd.
That's what religious men do who fake these things. They want
to draw a crowd. His miracles were in association
with salvation. Did you know that? He glorified
God in his miracles because they were in association with the
salvation that God purposed. There was a man over in Matthew
chapter 9 who was brought to Christ with a palsy. He was brought
there. It didn't say anything about
his faith, but it did talk about the faith of those that brought
him. And seeing the faith of those who brought him, he said
to the sick of palsy, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. And boy, those Pharisees come
unglued. They said, he's blaspheming.
Only God can forgive sins. And the Lord said, Which is easier
to say, Thy sins be forgiven there, or rise and walk? But that you may know that the
Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he saith, Arise,
take up thy bed, and go unto thy house. Every disease, every demon possession, every
illness was a picture of sinners coming to Christ. He's the great
physician of God. His miracles revealed, declared
if you will, the approval of God of this man. He's my son. The ratification of his office
as the person of Christ, and he glorified God in his miracles,
and he glorified God in his offices, all of his offices. As the head of the church, as
the great high priest of God, the prophet of God, the king,
the mediator, the savior, the surety. He's the surety of the
everlasting covenant of grace. Everything that God demands,
he provides. Jesus Christ is born a Savior. He shall save His people from
their sins. And behold, John said, the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Not sins of the
world, but sin, the curse of it. The curse of it on God's
elect. They're part of this world. You're
born into this world. You're born into this world under
the curse. You're subject to it. But He
took it away. The plague of it, the death of
it, the suffering of it, the very nature and way of it, the
power of it. And so he bowed his head and
he said, I've glorified thee on the earth. How? In everything. In everything. In the meals he ate. In the means
of transport. You go into this town, there's
going to be a guy there, and he's got this wild-ass coat tied
up. You go get him. You don't have
to ask, just go get him. And when you're leading him away,
he's probably going to ask you, you know, what are you doing?
And you're going to tell him, the master has need of it. And
he won't say a word. And he did. And the Lord mounted
on that wild-ass coat and rode it as calmly as it could be right
through Jerusalem. the meals he ate. Did he not
give thanks to God for every morsel he put in his mouth? In
the means of transport, in the places he slept, he slept in
a ship that was about to go under. He was sound asleep. In the fellowship he enjoyed,
in the providence of God, and even in the people who left his
teaching, he glorified God. And then secondly, he tells us,
I finished the work you gave me to do. What work? What's not
the cross, not His death as our substitute, this still lies ahead
and primarily what this prayer is all about. But what he's talking
about here is a finished work. So what is this work he's talking
about? Well, turn with me over to Luke
chapter 4. Let's look at that. Luke chapter 4. For there's a life purposed in
this earth by God. There's a work to be done. Luke chapter 4, verse 17. It was delivered unto him the
book of the prophet Isaiah. When he'd opened the book, he
found the place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. So we just go down to mission
churches and preach. No, that's not what he's talking
about. He's talking about poor, bankrupt sinners. He's talking about poor sinners
who don't have what it takes to hear. Sinners. Inability. He's anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor. Poor enslaved men sold unto sin. Jesus Christ, who is himself
the gospel, preached the gospel. What did he preach? He preached
himself. Huh? He said, come unto me, didn't
he? That's preaching yourself. My Father worketh hitherto, and
I work." Jesus Christ, who is the gospel,
was sent of God to preach the gospel, and he is the gospel. Is gospel preaching necessary?
I doubt he would have done it if it wasn't He tells us in Hebrews chapter
2 that this gospel was first spoken by the Lord and was confirmed
unto us by them that heard Him. He's a gospel preacher and that's
what he's reading to us. And no matter where our Lord
went, He preached the gospel. Secondly, He says here in this
passage that He sent me to heal the brokenhearted. Hearts broken
up over sin. Heart broken. You ever been heartbroken? That's what, when he sends true
repentance to a sinner, when he gives him faith, he brings
him down to where he can see what he is. Oh, my soul. He's brokenhearted. Hearts broken by sin and the
effects of it, and the misery of it, and the penalty of it,
and the nature of it. There's no balm to soothe a broken
heart except Christ. And then thirdly, he said, I'm
sent to preach deliverance to the captives. What's that? That's a slave. You ever think of yourself as
a slave? That's what we are. A conquered prisoner put into
service by the conqueree. The strong man. He rules over
his palace and all his goods until a stronger than he comes
upon him. We're servants to sin. Our walk, Paul wrote, is according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience. We were by nature children of
wrath, even as others, and sin reigns, and you do service to
Satan and are taken captive at his will. That's what he's talking
about. You're going to set the captives
free. Without Christ, you're a captive,
whether you know it or not. It's the preaching of Christ
that brings deliverance to the captives. And then fourthly,
he talks here about being sent for the recovering of sight to
the blind. Is he just talking about preaching
to blind folks? No, we're all blind. What about all these religions
out here? I'll tell you what our Lord said about them. And
these men had far greater knowledge of the Scripture than what these
men up down here had. And here's what he said, they'd
be blind leaders of the blind. That's what he called them. The light they pretend to have
and are convinced that they have is nothing more than darkness.
And if that light is darkness, then how great is that darkness?
But our Lord is light. He's light. His words, His ministry,
even His person in Him was light and the light was the light of
men. And then fifthly, He come to set at liberty them that are
bruised. What's He talking about there?
Beaten down, downtrodden, bruised by a life of sin. Has your sin
not left you bruised? I told my children, I said, I'm
going to tell you something. I've been down the road. I'll
tell you wherever a pothole is. I'll tell you how I know. I fell
in every one of them. Now, if you want to go down and
fall in them yourself, you have at it. But I'll tell you where
they are. You don't have to fall in them. He come to set at liberty them
that are bruised, broken down, downtrodden, bruised by life
of sin. Life leaves you bruised, don't
it? Life will cut your heart out. The picture is that of a captive
being beaten into submission. That's what the picture is. Listen to what he says over in
Isaiah chapter 1. He said, why should you be stricken
anymore? Huh? You'll just do what you
want to do. You'll just keep on sinning.
You'll just keep going away this world. Why should you be stricken
anymore? He said, from the sole of the foot even to the head,
there's no soundness in it. There's nothing there but wounds
and bruises and putrefying sores. They hadn't been bound up, neither
mollified with ointment. That man. Christ comes and set
at liberty them that are bruised. Bruised by a life of legalism
and worldly religion and works religion and free will religion.
And then sixthly, he was sent to preach the acceptable year
of the Lord. What in the world is that? That's
a jubilee. There was one year And it was
the year of 50 years. And in that year of Jubilee,
if you had sold yourself into bondage, if you had sold your
property, some of them even sold their children into slavery,
no matter what you did, full restoration is all given back
to you. That's the acceptable year of
the Lord. Christ is our Jubilee. He said, he sent me to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. And then lastly, our Lord prays.
And he said, glorify thou me with thine own self. In this world, our Lord humbled
himself. He didn't appear as God. though
he was and possessed all of God's perfections at all times. He condescended to perform the
work of the mediator. He came, he said, to do the will
of Him that sent me. He appeared in the flesh to accomplish
our redemption. He appeared in the flesh to provide
us with a righteousness acceptable to God. He appeared in our flesh
as a servant of God, and as such become obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. He appeared in the flesh to manifest
the saving knowledge of God. Philippians 2, 9. Wherefore God
also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every
name. that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and
things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord. Lord of what? Lord of creation,
Lord of providence, Lord of salvation, Lord of the dead and the living,
Lord of lords, King of kings, the blessed and only potent. Every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. What's he
praying for? He's praying that that glory
that was bestowed on him from the beginning as the mediator
of God's sheep, the Savior of God's sheep, glorify thou me
now with that glory which I had with thee before the world was. You're not going to see Christ
return in humility again. How's He coming? In all the glory of His Father's
house. And that's what He's praying
for here. Glorify Me with your own self. Oh. It was the glory which He had
with the Father before the world was. Redemption is a Purpose
work. Righteousness is a purpose work.
And all his offices are designed to accomplish the purpose of
God in salvation. And he said, I finished the work. But the glory of it was veiled
for just a little while. In all things it said it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful
and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. to make reconciliation
for the sins of his people. And while here, most saw nothing
more than a man. Albeit he was a great man, they
gave that to him. He was an amazing man. He was
a wise man. But they wouldn't let him be
anything other than a man. They couldn't see it. And truly he was a man, but his
deity was veiled. And his prayer now is about his
father's glory being unveiled. What does a believer see when
he sees Christ? He sees the unveiled glory of
God. That's what he sees. God who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in
our hearts. What are we going to see? the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's what he said. Now, all these things that I've
done, you use them for your glory, and glorify thou me with thine
own self. These men that are around me
that I'm praying for, you unveil your glory in me to them. May the Lord