Good to see you tonight. I said
this morning, I'm always joyed to be with you folks. There's a fellowship of the brethren.
Always been, hadn't it? Take your Bibles and turn with
me tonight to the Lord's High Priestly Prayer. John 17. John 17. Bishop Rowe said that
this is the most remarkable chapter in the Bible. It stands above. There is nothing like it. John Knox had it read to him
every day in his life's illness. You would have thought it would
be something Listen to the Lord pray. But here we have it. It's left for us. How great it
is that we have this John the 17th chapter. I want to speak
to you tonight from verse number two. And it's called three gifts. Can you read this verse and tell
me these gifts? It's just a simple outline. What's the first one? I'm asking to get a response.
Power? First, Thou has given him power
over all flesh. Our Lord. What's the next give? Eternal life. That He should give eternal life. It's always spoken of as a gift,
isn't it? In the Scriptures. What's the third one? Sir? As many as thou hast given Him.
There's a people given unto Him. Three gifts. Giving Him power
over all flesh. give eternal life, then to as
many as given him. This tells us that all mankind
is under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know
how that we can, how preachers in society, how they can preach
such a weak Christ. Here it says, all power is given
to me over all flesh, and all mankind is under His authority,
under His power. All flesh is. This speaks of
the power of ability, the power of authority, and He has this
as God. His brother said this morning,
co-equal. He has this authority here as
a donation of the Father as mediator, as the God-man. We find the Jewish
diction of Him is very large. There is none exempted from it. Let's turn back to the Old Testament
and the book of Psalms. I want to give you two or three
verses here in Psalms 103. In verse 19, the Lord has prepared His throne
in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over all. His kingdom ruleth over all. Turn back to Psalms 72 and verse
number 8, Here's another verse, Psalm 72 and verse 8. He shall
have dominion also from the sea to the sea and from the river
and to the ends of the earth. Psalms 47 verse 7, for God is
a king of all the earth. Sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen. God sitteth upon the throne of
His holiness." So all of these verses tell us that all is put
under Him, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There's nothing tonight that's
not under His dominion. Aren't you glad of that? That
there's nothing that's not It's all under His hands. His friends
is under His authority. His enemies also are under the
authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture says on His vesture,
King of kings and Lord of lords, judge of all, the Scripture says. And it talks about here all flesh
and that is speaking of man and it can be any flesh, I guess,
but it's speaking of man. He has the authority and the
power, and He disposes to His good pleasure. Now, earthly kings,
they have bounds. They have limits. But there is
no limit to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He reigns over
all of mankind. To the elect, there is His power. and His authority to rescue us
from sin, from Satan, from the world. He has a special charge. If you take Joseph, when he was
down in Egypt, he had power over the land, but he had a special
affection for that of his people, didn't he? And that's our Lord. He's over it all. But He has
a special affection for that of His people. He reigns over that of His church. He's called King of Nations,
King of the Saints. He had over all things to the
church. And He also has a rod of iron,
the scripture says, to that of nations. To that of the church He guides. He has a golden separate to that
of the church. The Lord reigns. Now, in taking
this verse tonight and looking at it, thou hast given him power
over all flesh. That's comfort to that of God's
children. You take comfort in this. That
it's all in the hands of Christ Jesus. Even the devil has to
have leave, doesn't he? He has to have leave, the devil
does. And when we think of Christ and
that of His hands, what kind of hands are they? We can say
loving hands, wise hands, powerful hands. It's all in His hands. He has power to save and He also
has power to damn, doesn't He? The Bible says every knee is
going to bow to Him. Call Him Lord. Say, you better do it in this
life. It will be too late. After that, you are going to
bow. Every knee is going to bow and call Him Lord to the glory
of God the Father. Scripture says, He has power
to keep. I am glad of that tonight, that
He is keeping power. We don't keep ourselves, but
He is the One that keeps us anyway. He has power to gather. He gathers
us. And so we look at it tonight
and it tells us that He has been given power. Here's that gift
of power over all flesh. Next it says that He should give
eternal life. The gift of eternal life. He
has this power and He has this power to for that of His people,
to give them eternal life. It's for their benefit and salvation. And we know this is the end that
He came. Over in the book of Matthew,
it tells us that He shall save His people from their sins. He shall. It's not a tempt, but
it is He shall. Now, I like the shalls of the
Bible. When the Lord says, I shall,
don't you? My shalls is not quite like that,
but His shalls is going to come to pass, aren't they? He shall
save His people. And over in Peter, it says He's
not willing for them to perish, but come to repentance. And I
give unto them, John the 10th chapter, I give unto them eternal
life. This is Christ's gift. Now, a
lot of people has turned this around and they think they give
a gift to Christ. But it's not one's gift to Christ,
it's Christ's gift to us. And He gets the glory. It's not the merit of one's works. We have all these people today
crying up works, but it's not that. It's the fruit of His grace. It's a gift unto us. And He's
the donator of it to us. And it comes from His bounty. The gift of God is spoken in
several places in the Scripture. And it's not that of earthly
riches and things of the world, but eternal life that He gives. That's what he's ordained to
give eternal life. And that's the most precious
possession tonight that we could have. There's no more precious
possession than this. That's real happiness, isn't
it? To have eternal life. How can one be happy knowing
that one day they got to face God and go out of this world? outside of this state of eternal
life. You know, life is more than food
and raiment and all of this. And this, it says here, give
eternal life. James and other places, it speaks
in the Scripture of earthly life and it is spoken of as a vapor. And we have seen over morning
The mist come up and it goes away. It's spoken of as a breath. And we know what that means.
We've seen our breath on a cold morning. And it tells us that
it appears for a season. But this is a life, this eternal
life, is a life that is never spent. It's one that one's never
weary of living. and one that never wish an end
of eternal life. It goes on. It's eternal. You know, many men may curse
the day that they were born, but there's never been one to
curse the day of their new birth. And this life begins, is given,
regeneration, The Scripture speaks of it as a seed that can't be
destroyed. It's the life of the grace of
God that can't be extinguished. Turn with me to John, the fifth
chapter, back just a few verses or a few chapters to the fifth
chapter, verse number 24 of John. It says, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that
sent me, hath everlasting life." It's something that you have,
isn't it? He says, he hath everlasting
life. He that believeth on him that
sent me. You know, that's pretty, look
at the verse number 3 of the 17th chapter. He tells us what
this life eternal. That they might know thee, the
only true God. And Jesus Christ whom he has
sent. There is just one Christ that
he has sent. That is the one this Bible speaks of and the
English speaks of. Paul spoke and he talks about
there that he is in straight between two, that of being with
Christ. See, that's far better. And that's
where this life takes one. It's eternal. It takes you to
a better life. In heaven, doesn't it? It's that
heavenly life. The Bible says, blessed are the
dead that die in the Lord. And we come into this world as
sinners, the misery of sin. But here is that which takes
us to eternal glory, this eternal life. And we find it is dispensed
by the Lord Jesus Christ. As you read these verses in the
17th chapter here of the book of John, we notice that nowhere
else does this come from, does it? It is only from Him. We come into this world dead
spiritually, the scripture speaks, and in a state of death and condemnation. And we can't put life in ourselves.
I don't care what anybody says. You can't put life into yourself.
You can't raise yourself. People talk about raising themselves
by their bootstraps. I tried that one time. You just
mash down feathers, all you do. It's Christ. Here's His power,
and He gives this to us. And as He gives it, we were not
able to obtain it. It's a gift from Him, and we're
just thankful of that. All of this transcends that of
the first Adam, doesn't it? Here's the second Adam. The first
Adam led us into death, but here's that of the second Adam, eternal
life. He's the giver of it. He's the
author of it. He's the fountain of it. He's
the quickening spirit. We hear Him say, I am the truth. I am the way. And He says, I
am the life, doesn't He? Alive. Alive to God. In the book of Galatians, turn
with me to the book of Galatians in chapter 2 and verse number
20. Here Paul writes, and he says,
I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. Here's that life. See how he's
alive to God? See what the grace of God has
done for him, and this has made a change in his life? Of all
the people in the Scripture, if you want to read about a great
change, Paul is the example, isn't he? When you look at him. You'd think seeing him persecuting
that other church, and going to Damascus there with the church
members and all, that you'd think he was a vessel fitted for destruction,
but he was a vessel of mercy, wasn't he? God had mercy upon
him. Give him life. He says, I live,
and Christ liveth in me, and there's his life. The Scripture
goes on and speaks of old things passing away and things become
new. Isn't that what happened? Didn't
old things pass away? We begin to have new desires,
new thoughts, and different purpose in life. And this new life, it
begins by desiring the very milk of the Word, doesn't it? We desire
God's Word. You know, there's something that
those that are God's children, they desire His Word. They want
His Word. They desire it. Talk about wisdom. Go to one that is wise. And a
wise person goes to the wise, doesn't he? And he learns, as
you read a while ago. And here's that new life. Eternal life. And it's a supernatural. It's eternal life. Given. And there's faith. And this life
is lived to Christ and received from Him and comes from Him.
And outside of this life that He gives unto us, man just lives
for his self. We've all noticed this, haven't
we? We were like that too, wasn't we? Just self, self. Isn't that
what man's all about, his self? But this is what changes a man
when he puts his life within, gives out of life. We ought to be thankful tonight
that He saved us, and a word is used as He's rescued us. We've been rescued. Now, that's
important to know, and that gives praise to our Redeemer, that
He's rescued us. And that's what He's done in
that of His salvation. And He's given us eternal life,
and now we're pardoned. Here's that life that is lasting
and enduring, and Christ preserves it. And I say unto you tonight,
nothing's going to destroy this life. It's His life. And it's a free gift. It's not
sold. You know, the Bible says that to come without money and
price. He's the donor of it. It's not
wages. The Bible says the wages of sin
is death. But the gift of God is eternal
life. It's a free gift. It's free in
all the respects that it's unbought. You can't buy it. And let's see,
he's the giver of it. It's unsolved also. Man goes a different way until
the Lord brings him. I realized this a long time ago.
The Lord just left me. I just go on the way that I was
going and you would too. You have to admit that. You just
kept on going. Aren't you glad tonight that
He sought you? The Bible says, you will not
come to Me that you have life. And it's like Lazarus there in
the tomb and Christ came to that of the very grave and addressed
him and says, rise and live. The Bible says He came to seek
and to save the lost. Now, let me tell you this. He puts His life within you so
that you can answer the call. He puts His life within you.
Can a dead man answer the call? He puts His life within you so
you can answer that call. And He calls us. The Bible speaks
of the shepherd always seeking that of the sheep. And here Jesus
Christ, He's appointed. He came. He's a giver of eternal
life to that of His people. He says, I give unto my sheep
eternal life. Next, it says, to as many as
thou hast given Him, There is given to the Lord Jesus Christ
a people. They are His, by the way of reward
in the eternal covenant of God. Isaiah 53, that great important
chapter in the scripture, it says, Thou shalt see His seed. It talks about Him prospering.
It talks about the travail of His soul. And he shall be satisfied. There's two seeds in this world.
One of them is Christ. There's a people given to Him
by the way of reward. There's a people given to Him
by the way of charge to be redeemed, and justified, sanctified, and
glorified. Turn with me to the sixth chapter
of the book of John. Just turn back a few pages. Verse
37, All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Now I hear the last part of this
quoted over and over, and it's good to quote it. And Him that
cometh me I will in no wise cast out. But they always leave out
the first part. It says all that the Father giveth
me is going to come to me. They've been given to Him. He's
going to have it. And He says I 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 is sent me, that all which
He has given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again
in the last day. This is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up in the
last day." Sounds pretty certain to me all
this, doesn't it to you? So, there is the Lord Jesus Christ,
and there's a people that's put to His account. God has trusted
Christ with that of the elect. If He trusted Him, you can trust
Him with that of your very souls, can't you? The Bishop of your
soul. I like that, the overseer of
your soul. He says, power over all flesh
to give eternal life to those who is given to Him. They're
going to be with Him. Look at verse 9 here. I pray
for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which Thou has given me, for they are Thine. Look at verse number 11. Those
Thou has given me, that they may be one as we. Twelve. While
I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those
that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, except
that of the son of perdition, that scriptures might be fulfilled."
He goes on, he says, all of mine are thine, and thine are mine. Do you realize that you belong
to both, father and son? Thine or mine, mine or thine. So the flock is committed to
the Lord Jesus Christ. They're put in His hands for
saving, for keeping. I want you to notice in this
passage of Scripture, verse 23, the last part of it. And this
just, I have to stop when I read this. He is speaking to the Father,
and He says, Thou hast sent Me, and He says, Thou hast loved
them as Thou hast loved Me. Did I read that right? That is what it says. Thou hast
loved them as Thou hast loved Me. You know, we wouldn't have believed
that if it wasn't written there for us. I can see how He loves
the Lord Jesus Christ. But He loves us in Him. It's
in Him. Bishop Rowe said one time, he
said, Christ had a perfect son. What'd He want with us? He had
a perfect son. Now, look at verse 24, the last
part of it. He tells us, Father, says you
love us meet before the foundation of the world. So if he loved
us as he loved Christ, he loved us from when? From the foundation
of the world, didn't he? I like that verse found over
in Jeremiah. I've loved thee with an everlasting
love. I like that, don't you? So, His flock is committed to
Him for saving, for keeping. Their names are written in the
Lamb's Book of Life, for the Lamb slain before the foundation
of the world. John the 10th chapter says, He
calleth His sheep by name. And there's a day coming. Hebrews
tells us that the Lord is going to say, behold, I, the children,
say I has given me. That's the final wind up, here
they are. You've given them to me, put them in my hands, and
here they are. I've brought them through. I've
redeemed them. They're given to me. I've carried
for them. And by the way, the high priest
in the Old Testament He carried the tribes of Israel from the
breastplates, didn't He? The Lord, our High Priest, carries
our names. Carries our names. And none of
His lambs is going to be forgotten. Because, as we said this morning,
He sits on the right hand of the Father. He's the interceder. He speaks good words for that
of His people. In this passage of Scripture
here, in the 17th chapter of John, He talks about His disciples,
and He said, they've kept Your Word. Now, did they keep it perfectly? Those disciples? He says, they've
kept Your Word as a tenor of their lives. They desired His Word, kept His
Word. He speaks good things for that
of His people, and He's going to see them all come together.
Scripture puts it like this, that He confesses before God. It says, You confess before men,
I confess before God of you then. He's going to present His bride
one day, and it's all going to be in triumph. His very bride. As I said long ago, behold I
and the children which thou hast given me. So here's these three
gives. He has power over all flesh.
All authority and power. And that He is to give eternal
life. He's the giver of eternal life. The only giver. There's none other. No other place. It's a giver. He's the Giver. And He says He gives it to as
many as thou hast given Him, as a people given to Him. And
He gives them eternal life. There are those that confess
to Him, those that believe upon Him, that follow Him. That's
His people. They know Him. As it says here
in verse number 3, They know Thee, the only true God, in Jesus
Christ, whom Thou hast sent." And it talks about believing
in whom He has sent over and over in the Scriptures in different
places. It talks about Christ says, He sent me, and believing
upon Him that He sent Him, that He's the one that sent me. Take
these thoughts and may the Lord use them for you. The growing
grace, knowledge of Him. I just like this passage of Scripture
all the way through here. It goes on down, it says, I've
glorified thee on earth, and I've finished the work which
thou gavest me to do, and I've manifested thy name, and he talks
about the world, and he talks about himself and the world,
and he talks about the Christian and the world. So you can study
that and look at it as he speaks to us in this passage of Scripture.
What a great passage it is. Verse 24, I spoke at my father-in-law's
funeral, and I said to the people, I said, I'm going to use a verse
that I would like for myself. And that's, I spoke upon this
verse, Father, I will, that the also whom God has given me, be
with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. What a great verse. Behold His
glory. One day you're going to behold
His glory. I don't know how I don't speak
much about that, but I just know that we're going to behold His
glory. He's a glorious Son of God. I
thank you for this day, and thank the Lord and His province that
we're here, and may His blessings rest upon you. Father, thank
Thy Word. May that we look at it, and think
about it, and study it, That we in turn just think about what
You've done for us. And that You're the giver of
eternal life. And You've given us life that never ends. This life that will be with Thee
throughout all eternity. And we're just thankful. And
we know that the wedges of sin is death. There's no way we could
earn this, buy it, but Thou art the giver. And it's a free gift. We thank Him. We praise Him.
Bless His people. We pray in Christ's name, Amen.