Old Patriarch Job setting in sackcloth and ashes,
after receiving one message on the heels of another concerning
the loss of his earthly possessions, then the loss of his sons, he sat down and said this, Naked
came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return hither. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away. And what a demonstration of God's
grace that it's sufficient. Job was just a man. He was no
different than you or I. And what a testimony to the sufficiency
of God's amazing grace that he was able to do this. He said,
the Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. Naked I came into this world,
and naked I shall go out. What does a newborn baby bring
into this world? And when a man dies, He leaves
this world just exactly as he entered it, taking nothing, leaving
it all behind. Someone dies, usually a celebrity,
as we call them. Someone wealthy. And folks, ask
the question. You've heard it. I wonder how
much they left behind. And someone very wisely answered,
they left it all behind. They left it all behind. They
take nothing of their labor, but by the grace of God, I emphasize
that. Oh may God emphasize it to us
by His Spirit. But by the grace of God, we can
leave this world differently than how we entered it. Because
every son and daughter of Adam are born sinners. That's how
we enter this world. Folks sometimes say, I've been
a Christian all my life. Pardon me. No such thing. There's no such thing. We're
born sinners. Paul said in Romans 3, there's
none righteous. Not even one? Paul says, that's
right, not one. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. I used to hear that men,
I've heard preachers say that all men by nature have a thirst
within for God and they try various means to quench that thirst and
they're not able to. Well, that's not what the scriptures
say. Men by nature don't thirst after
God. If they do, God gives them the
thirst like he did the woman at the well. Otherwise they'll
continue to drink of the water of this world and continue to
thirst. We come into this world born sinners, but by the grace
of God, by God's grace, we can lead this world free of sin. Isn't that something? Are you
interested in that? We enter this world as sinners.
We're born sinners. I come forth from the womb. David
said, speaking lies. But we can leave free of sin. We come into this world condemned. Condemned. But we can leave justified. Justified. We can leave this
world ready to meet God. That's no small thing, John.
That's no small thing, is it? A sinner can leave this world,
as we all will, but we can leave ready to meet God Almighty. We
can go home, as our Lord said concerning that publican in the
parable of Luke 18, we can go home by his grace justified. And that wasn't the words of
the soul winner. or the priest or the preacher
that said that man goes home justified. It was Jesus Christ
himself who knows the hearts of all. He says, I say unto you,
it doesn't make any difference what I say unto you or what you
may say to me regarding this matter of my salvation before
God Almighty. But if Jesus Christ Himself says,
I say unto you, I'm telling you, that man's going home justified
in the sight of God Almighty, he's not guilty. What would you
give for that? What would you give to lie down
in your bed tonight and know without a shadow of a doubt,
looking unto Jesus Christ, that you have peace with God and it
is well with your soul? That's no small thing. Justified. To go home to our earthly house?
Justified, not guilty. And to go to heaven? To go to
stand before God Almighty, not guilty. We're going to come back
to John 17 in a moment, but turn back, if you will, to Luke's
Gospel, Chapter 10. Let's read a few verses here.
Luke, Chapter 10. Our Lord had sent 70 disciples
out to preach the gospel, to cast out devils, to heal the
sick. And they returned to Him. And they said, they're just overjoyed,
overjoyed. They said, Master, even the devils
are subject unto us through your name. Through your name, even
the devils are subject to us. And this is our Lord's answer
in verse 21, or rather verse 20. Notwithstanding in this,
rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather
rejoice. Rather rejoice. Let me give you
something greater than what you're rejoicing in. Rejoice in this. Your names. Your names are written
in heaven. In the Lamb's book of life, your
names are written in heaven. And verse 21, in that hour, Jesus
rejoiced. He rejoiced in that blessed truth.
In spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and the
prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father. Some people say, oh, well, that's
not right. That's not fair. Our Lord said, even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered
to me of my Father. And no man knoweth who the Son
is, but the Father, and who the Father is, but the Son, and he
to whom the Son will reveal him." It's no wonder, it's no wonder
that the Lord spoke these words in the light of that. It's no
wonder that he said, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break
through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where
thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also." You know, I've had the
opportunity to be at the bedside of some dying folks, folks that
were leaving this world. And you know, I've never heard
any of them say, not one time, I've never heard a dying man
or a dying woman say, oh, I wish that I'd had a bigger house.
Have you? Have you? You ever heard anybody
dying say that? Oh, I wish I'd had a bigger,
better job. Or I wish I had more money in
the bank. Oh, no, no, no. They're leaving
this world and they're going to stand before God Almighty. Now turn, if you will, back to
John chapter 17. Let's read the first three verses. I looked at some old notes where
I preached from this text several years before January 8, 2012. And on the back of those notes
I've made this note. John and Kay Copeland visited
us today and I pray that they'll come back. Almost five years
ago and they've been back ever since. What a blessing. I hope
that message has something to do with their return and I pray
that God would be pleased to make it effectual to our hearts
today. These words, verse 1, John 17,
these words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,
Father, the hour has come. The hour has come. Glorify thy
son, that thy son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal. that
they might, more literally it should read, this is life eternal,
to know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent. If I don't know him, that is
Jesus Christ, I don't have eternal life. I don't have eternal life. I'm not saved. If I don't know
Christ, I don't know God. I don't know grace. I don't know
salvation. No matter what else I might claim,
no matter what else I may claim to know, to have experienced,
if I don't know Jesus Christ, I don't have eternal life. But
if I know Christ, I have everlasting life. Is that not just what we
read a moment ago? Brother Henry Mahan, commenting
on verse 3 here in John 17, wrote this in his commentary. Eternal
life is not a profession of religion. Well, I declare, if that's all
it is, then just about everybody we know, say, because there's
not too many people that you and I know that hasn't had a
religious spasm sometime in their life. But Henry, as Henry said
here, that's not what it is. Nor is it a reformation of manners. I think I'll clean up my act.
No. Remember in our Lord's Parable
concerning the house that the unclean spirit left and came
back and found it clean, but it was still empty. It was still
empty. That's not what eternal life
is. Nor is it a knowledge of facts
about God. That's not what it is. but it's
an experience of regeneration, the new birth, the giving of
life, and the revelation of God in the heart. Our Lord said,
no man knows who God is. No man can know who God is except
he to whom the Lord Jesus Christ will reveal him, otherwise it's
not possible. Paul said, when it pleased God,
when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. Oh, to behold the Lamb of God. Eternal life is spiritual life,
divine life, and the life of God in us. To know the only true
God is not merely abstract knowledge. James spoke of that, didn't he?
He said, you say you have saving faith, You say you have faith,
you believe God. You say you believe in God, the
devils have that. The devils have that. That's
not saving faith. To know the only true God is
not merely abstract knowledge, but it is to believe Him, to
receive Him, and to love Him as He reveals Himself in Christ. The Father cannot be known. God
cannot be known savingly except in and by His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And this is no fable, is it? This is no fable. I could call
upon any believing man or woman here today And they would readily
confess, happily confess. No, it's no fairy tale. It's
not imaginary. The no Christ is no pretense. It's no aberration. Turn, if
you will, back to Luke's Gospel, chapter 24. Luke chapter 24. The disciples, perhaps, are still
in that upper room. The doors are shut, we're told,
for fear of the Jews. What's going to happen to us?
They've crucified our master. What will they do to us? And
the two disciples whom our Lord revealed himself to on the road
to Emmaus, they come and tell them, we've seen the Lord. He's not dead. He's not in the
tomb. He's alive. He made himself known
to us in the breaking of the bread. He turned aside with us
and as he gave thanks, our eyes were opened and we beheld him.
He's not dead anymore, but they didn't believe. Verse 36 in Luke
chapter 24. And as they thus spoke, these
two disciples, Jesus himself, Jesus himself stood in the midst
of them and said unto them, peace be unto you. But, but, they were
terrified. and are frightened and suppose
that they had seen a spirit. It really can't be him. It can't
be him. We saw his lifeless body. We
saw him placed in the tomb. It can't be him. It must be a
ghost. It's a spirit. It's an aberration.
Verse 38, and he said to them, Why are ye so troubled? Why do
thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. It is I myself. Handle me and
see, for His Spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me
have. Handle me and see. Touch and
look by faith. By faith, God's gift. Faith is
the gift of God. That's what Paul said in Ephesians
2 and 8. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that's not of yourselves. Faith is not something you mustered
up. Faith is not something that's
in you by nature. Faith is God's gift. You cannot
believe unless God Almighty grants you the precious gift of faith
whereby you behold the Son of God. God's gift, faith, to sinners
allows them to do exactly that. Behold the Lamb of God and beholding
Him. They live. They live. Their faith
is the evidence of life. By faith they touch Him and are
made perfectly whole. Like that woman with the issue
of blood. Man, she'd been to every clock in town. The only
thing they relieved her of was her bank account. They healed
her of that. They cleaned her out. Oh, but
she heard about Jesus Christ and said, I've got to get to
Him. If I can touch Him, if I can get to Him, if I can touch Him,
oh, and she said, I've got to make my way through the crowd.
I've got to get to Him. Perhaps she got down upon her
hands and knees. Maybe that's why she touched
just the hem of His garment. But she said, I must touch Him. He's the great physician. Oh,
and everyone who touches by faith the Son of God, like that woman,
find that they are made perfectly whole, that I might touch Him.
Turn back, if you will, to 1 John. 1 John chapter 1. Jesus Christ is no ghost. He's
no aberration. He's no figment of our imagination. He's the Son of the living God.
And when God is pleased to grant faith to a sinner, they know
that He's the Son of God. They believe on Him. Verse 1
of 1 John 1, that which was from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked
upon, and our hands have handled. Handle me and see, our Lord said. The word of life, for the life
was manifested, and we've seen it. And bear witness and show
unto you that eternal life. which was with the Father and
was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you." John says, I'm not telling you a tale. This
is not a fable. We're telling you the truth.
That you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship
is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ and these things
write we unto you that your joy may be full. John saw him on
the Isle of Patmos. And John said, when I saw him,
I felt at his feet as dead. And he came and touched me. He
touched me and said, John, stand up. It is true I was dead. I was dead, John. I really did
die. But behold, I'm alive forevermore. And I have the keys of hell and
of death. Thank God Jesus Christ arose
and he lives forever. And Paul said, because he ever
liveth, he's able to save to the uttermost. I need such a
savior as that, don't you? One who is able to save me to
the uttermost. A savior, so called, that needs
my help will be no help to me. He will be no use to me. A savior
that needs my assistance to save my soul, that makes him in trouble
and me as well. I need one who's mighty to save. I need one who doesn't say, take
the first step, but comes to the depraved grave of my spiritually
dead soul, he who is the resurrection and the life and says, don't
take the first step, live. Lazarus, come forth. That's what
I need, the mighty God, Jesus Christ himself. And being that,
he ever liveth. Therefore, Paul says he's able
to save to the uttermost. Someone said from the guttermost
to the uttermost. He brought me up out of a horrible
pit, the psalmist said. Out of the Maori clay. He brought
me up. He reached down his hand for
me. David, it sounds like you're
saying that God did it all. He did do it all. He came to
where I was. He reached down the arm of omnipotent
mercy and grace and He brought me up. He didn't offer to do
it. He didn't attempt to do it. He
did it. And He set my feet up on a solid
rock. And He established my goings.
And He put a new song in my mouth, even praises. unto our God. Yes, he's able to save unto the
uttermost. He himself said, and I give unto them, that is
my sheep, eternal life. I give unto them eternal life.
They don't earn it. They don't deserve it. I give
it to them, eternal life, and they shall never perish. Well,
if They should ever perish, then it couldn't be eternal life.
But they shall never perish, neither shall any man. Oh, I
love how the great shepherd of the sheep talks, don't you? So
sure, so certain, so godlike. And none shall pluck them out
of my hand. Our Lord gives spiritual life
that never ends. He gives us Himself, who is life. Because I live, He said, you'll
live also. The same life in the head is
in every member of His glorious body, the church. He gives us
His righteousness, which entitles us to life. He gives us the earnest,
or pledge of life, which is His Holy Spirit. This life is here
with Christ in God and is sure and certain and secure. After all, someone asked, what
kind of head is Christ if his body should perish? What kind
of shepherd if he allows his sheep to ever perish? What kind
of husband is Christ if he allows his bride to perish after all? What kind of priest is Christ
if his atonement fails? What kind of physician is Christ
if the patient dies? And what kind of king is Christ
if he allows any of his subjects to be lost after all? Joseph
Hart put it this way. He said, if ever it should come
to pass that sheep of Christ might fall away, my fickle, feeble
soul, alas, would fall a thousand times a day. That's exactly right. Lester, that's exactly right.
That's true, oh, that we would know it more, that we would feel
it more. If ever it should come to pass
that sheep of Christ might fall away, my fickle, feeble soul
at last would fall a thousand times a day. Oh, but to him who
is able to keep you from falling, I on thy promises depend that
you shall keep me till the end, and so he shall. Verse 1, here
in John 17, these words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes
to heaven. He stopped talking to his disciples
and began to speak to God his Father. This is the only place
in the four Gospels that he refers to himself as Jesus Christ. The only time, John. The only
place. The sent one. Christ, the Messiah,
the anointed by the Father. sent to save his people from
their sins. That's what he came into the
world to do. That was the mission of the Son of Man. He came down
from heaven to save his people from their sins. These words
spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven. Oh, there's some
very deep, mysterious things spoken by our Lord here. They
must be that are words of God the Son to God the Father. One
commentator said this, there are sentences, words, expressions
in these 26 verses which no one probably has ever fully unfolded. That's exactly right. That's
exactly right. Another said there is no voice
which has ever been heard either in heaven or earth more exalted,
more holy, more fruitful, more sublime than this prayer. Truly, read this prayer and we
must say with another, never a man spake like this man. The prayer of our great high
priest. He interceded. Do you remember
the high priest? He not only offered sacrifice
for the people, he interceded for them. The same ones that
he sacrificed for, he interceded for. And that's what our great
high priest does here. He intercedes for those he's
about to lay down his life for. Look at verse 9 here in John
17. He said, I pray for them. I pray
not for the world. Oh, oh, my, my, did we... Well,
I can't stand that. Folks say, well, I just can't
stand that. Well, if you're one of his sheep, you won't have
a problem with it. I pray for them. I pray not for the world. You mean Jesus Christ is going
to lay down his life for people that he didn't even pray for?
No, no, no. He said, that's not what I'm
doing. And that's not what I'm praying for. 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. He says, Father,
the hour is come. Having loved his own which was
in the world, we read in John 13 and 1. Therefore, before the
feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come,
that he should depart out of this world unto the Father. Having
loved his own which was in the world, he loved them unto the
end. We read of that hour in chapter
12 as well, verse 23. And Jesus answered them, saying,
The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except the corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit. There's no question about it,
no doubt about it. Father, the hour has come. The
hour to suffer, to die, to redeem his people from their sins, to
be made sin for them. This hour, the greatest, grandest
event of all time. This is the hour promised after
Adam's fall. Oh no, it was much, much longer
than that was. It was promised way before that. The hour appointed by God before
time began. This hour when He who knew no
sin would be made sin for you and I that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. This hour when He would bring
in an everlasting righteousness. That's what He said. when he
would put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, when he would make
an end of transgressions, when he would remove the iniquity
of his people in that day. Jesus Christ came to do that.
In short, he came just as the angel told Gabriel he came for,
to save his people from their sins. Oh, I like that. I like that. I love to read of the accomplishments
of my glorious master, what he obtained, what he did for me. That's why, as we said last Sunday,
that upon doing so, he exclaimed, Finished. Glory to His name. He got the job done. I hear people
talk about Jesus tried to do something. Jesus made something
possible. That gives me no comfort whatsoever. Oh, but when I read, when I read
He entered one time into the holy place and He obtained eternal
redemption for me, oh, I can rest on that. When I read, he
by himself purged my sins, oh, I can rest on that. Can't you? Oh, nothing either great or small.
Nothing, sinner, no. Jesus did it, did it all long,
long ago. It is finished. Yes, indeed. Finished every jot. Sinner, this
is all you need. Tell me, is it not? Is it not? Have you read the article? by
Bruce Crabtree. I can't mess it up. I like it,
don't you? He wrote, my sins have already
been punished and atoned for. And either they were or they
weren't. I mean, there's no in-between. Either Jesus atoned for my sins
on the cross or he didn't. He either then and there put
away sin without it being contingent upon anything done by any sinner
in time. He either then and there got
the job done or he didn't. That's exactly right. And thank
God he got the job done. And I can't mess it up. I'm in
Christ, Bruce wrote, accepted and complete, sealed into the
day of redemption, in Christ now and in Christ forever, and
I can't mess it up. If I could mess it up, Louis,
if I could mess it up, if I could put my finger in this glorious
work of the salvation of my soul, if I could do it any place, Anyplace,
I would do it and I would mess it up. I would mess it up. Oh,
but my comfort lies in this. Jesus Christ had by himself obtained
my eternal redemption. And thank God, I can't mess it
up. Bruce said, and I agree. I've
done the same. I've messed up everything else,
but thanks be unto God, I can't mess this up. I can't mess up
the work of the Lamb of God. I can't mess that up. Bruce said
it's unmessed up-able. And thank God that it's so. As
the God-man mediator, He has been given power. Is that not
what he said here in verse 2? Father, you've given me power
over all flesh. In order to save some, he has
been given power over all, that he might give eternal life. Who
but God can do that? That he might give eternal life
to as many as thou has given him. Oh my soul, to as many as
thou has given him. Am I one of those? Am I one of
the many? Oh my son of God, am I one of
those that God entrusted into your hands and that you promised
to be surety for? Someone that would be accountable
for me? Am I one that you promised the
Father you would be responsible for? Am I one of your blessed,
chosen ones? Last night, after I had read
these words again and again and again, I looked up at a little
picture sitting above my desk. In one frame was a picture of
me and my four brothers. The very next one to it is a
picture of my four sisters. We're standing on the front steps
of my mom's house in 1993, October the 11th, 1993. And just three
days before that, just a few steps from where we were standing,
my father came out to cut grass and had barely got started when
he had a massive heart attack and fell dead to the grass. That's
why we were gathered there. His funeral had been just a day
or two before. And I looked at the pictures
of my brothers, whom I dearly love, and my sisters, whom I
dearly love. And that question came to me. Who's made you to differ from
another? Who made you to differ from another? And like John taught this morning,
I thought about that as well. Oh, amazing grace. That's the
only answer. That's the only explanation.
This is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. It's
because of his amazing grace. You know, I'd heard that hymn.
Well, I hadn't really heard it, but all my life, and it didn't
mean nothing to me. It meant nothing to me. until
one day when, as old Newton wrote, grace taught my heart to fear. Oh, man. Grace taught my heart
to fear. God found this sinner. The great
shepherd came to where I was, and he got me lost. He got me
lost. For the first time in my life,
I realized I'm lost. I'm lost. I'm going to leave
this world and stand before God Almighty lost. I'm going to spend
eternity in hell, lost forever, cast into outer darkness and
there's nothing I can do about it. God, grace has taught my
heart to fear. But old Newton went on the right.
And grace, that same wonderful, amazing grace relieved all my
fears. And he said, how precious, remember? Well, brothers and sisters in
Christ, do you remember how precious did that grace appear the hour
you first believed? Verse 3 said, and this is life
eternal, to know thee, the only true God. Do you know Jesus Christ? Do you believe on the Son of
God? Then you have eternal life. Do you want to know what eternal
life is? It includes everything necessary for the complete everlasting
salvation of a sinner. The life of justification, sanctification,
and final glory is the product of God's amazing grace. The psalmist
said, the Lord shall give grace and glory. The Lord shall give grace and
glory. If you've tasted his grace, you're
going to behold his glory. In this same prayer in John 17,
he said, Father, at verse 24, I will also that those whom you've
given me be with me where I am that they might behold my glory. Oh, Father, I want them with
me. Like Bobby sang, not till then
shall I know what a debt of love I owe. Oh, to know Him, the only
true God, you won't find that in books of theology, but only
in Him who spoke these words, from Him who declared, no man
cometh unto the Father except by me. Outside of Christ, God
is and He can't be anything but a consuming fire. Outside of
Jesus Christ, that's all God is to a sinner. It is God in
Christ that reconciles sinners to himself. The keys of heaven
are in the hands of Christ alone. There is one God and one mediator
between God and man. And it's not Mary, and it's not
Pope, and it's not preacher, and it's not Baptist. It's Jesus
Christ, the Lord, the God-man. whom God did send, this is life
eternal. This is how God's people, as
we read in 1 John 5, are often described in scripture. They
know God. They know God. Either they do
or they don't. Christ said, no man has seen
God in any time, but he that is in the begotten of the Father,
he has revealed him. When Lazarus was raised from
the dead, He knew it. He knew it. And he knew who did
it, too. How important is this? There's
no eternal life without knowing Christ. God had given us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. Not in the church, not in
the water, not in the doctrine, but in the Son. That's the issue,
to know Him. The only entrance to glory, to
heaven, into God's presence, acceptance rests right here and
nowhere else. Do I know Jesus Christ? Peter, whom do men say that I
am? What's the opinion out there
about me? Of course, he knew. Some say
you're John the Baptist, risen from the dead. Some say you're
Jeremiah, perhaps Elijah or some great prophet. Who am I to you? Who am I to you? If the Son of
God stood here this morning, looked directly at you and said,
Who am I to you? Who am I to you? Peter said,
You're the Christ. You're the Christ. You're the
Son of the living God. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona,
for flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you. You didn't come
to this knowledge on your own. My father's done this. My father's
revealed this to you, which is in heaven. No wonder, Paul said. And if you by his matchless grace
can say the same, can truly say, I know whom I have believed,
then let us join together in praising the God of all grace.
for His unspeakable gift, Jesus Christ Himself. This is life
eternal, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
He did send. God bless you.