Back in John's Gospel, chapter
17, I want us to consider primarily the first three verses, and of
those three, verse 3. I don't know if reminiscing,
getting nostalgic, is a sign that you're getting older or
not. Possibly so, you have more to
remember, if you can remember it. But this week, I was reminded
of some things that Some folks would consider unimportant, too
simple to take notice of, especially those who are caught up in this
hustle bustle, you're going around once, get all you can get attitude,
but that's the world's attitude, not God's people. These things
that I was reminded of this past week are very precious to me,
precious memories. The first time I came here to
preach, was on December the 1st, 1996. And I stayed at the home
of a couple that I met then for the first time named Bill and
Dot Horn. What made me think of these things
was that this past Wednesday, Brother Lowe and I were out,
and I drove by there. I drove by their old home place,
their house. And that weekend, I stayed with
him. The next day, of course, Sunday, we met here to worship,
and I met a fellow by the name of Herman. Herman and Bess Manchin. If I remember right, I called
her Bessie, and she said, my name's not Bessie, it's Bess.
I said, I won't make that mistake again. And Wallace. Wallace had his own way of pronouncing
my name. It wasn't two syllables, it was
just one. Larry, Larry, come up here and
preach to us. And I came a number of times
after that. Those people I've mentioned and
your then into almost a year ago to the day, faithful Pastor
Tommy, invited me down a number of times. And they nor I had
any idea that some 16 years later I'd be standing here not as a
visiting preacher but as your pastor and Wallace and Herman
and Bill and Dot and Tommy would be standing here listening. After
this I beheld and lo, a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood
before the throne." You believe that? Oh, yes, I do. Oh, yes,
I do. If I believe God, if I believe
Christ, what we read just a few moments ago, I will also that
those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. Yes, I believe that. Stood before
the throne and before the lamb, clothed with white robes and
palms in their hands. Yes, thank God for his mighty
grace. And now they realize more than
they ever could when they were here what's most important. What's most important. Now they
don't see through a glass darkly. You need not turn there, but
that scripture, that verse, 1 Corinthians 13 and 12, for now we, we that
are still here, God's people that are still in this world,
we see through a glass darkly. Oh, but then, then, where they
stand before the throne, now that where he is, his people
that have gone before us are, they see face to face, now and
then. That'd be a good message, wouldn't
it? For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now we know in part, but then
we shall know even as I am known, Paul said. Oh yes, what's most
important? What really matters? I want each
of us, me included, to ask ourselves that question. I'm not asking,
I'm not asking, do you know the right answer? I often, growing
up, had the right answer to things, but didn't mean I put it into
practice. Didn't mean that I had experienced
it. Often, Carlos, I would tell my
father what I knew he wanted to hear. Son, did you do thus
and thus? I told him what he wanted to
hear. I'm not asking, do you know the
right answer? I'm asking, have you personally
experienced what our Lord speaks of here in John chapter 17? A
few weeks ago, we preached from the book of Job. Out of his heartache,
out of his loss, out of his mourning, dressed in sackcloth, an emblem
of his breaking heart and ashes, he made this statement. After
losing everything, material, his loved ones, his sons, his
daughters, he said, naked came I out of my mother's womb and
naked shall I return thither. I brought nothing in and I can
take nothing away. What does a baby, what does a
newborn baby bring into this world? What does a newborn baby
possess? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This is what Job meant. I came
in naked. And when a man dies, when a man
leaves this world, what does he possess, Lord? What does he
take with him? Nothing. Nothing. Just as he
came in, he goes out, and he takes nothing. He may have spent
his life, he may have wasted his life going around as we spoke
a moment ago, grabbing all he can, but when he leaves this
world, he leaves it just like he came in, naked. He takes nothing with him. Oh, but by God's grace, but Thank
God, but by His grace, we can leave this world. We can leave
this world differently than how we came in. We're born sinners,
but we can leave free of sin. Did you hear that? We're born
sinners and Adam all die. Death passed upon all men for
all have sin. Yes, we're born sinners without
exception. We came into this world as sinners,
but we can leave by the grace of God free from sin. We entered this world condemned
already, but we can leave justified. Justified. Look back, if you
will, and we'll come back to our text in just a moment. I
want you to look at something in John's Gospel, chapter 8.
John's Gospel, chapter 8. Look what our Lord said along
this line. John chapter 8, verse 20. This
is another encounter with the religious folk of His day. The
Pharisees, those holier-than-thou people, they've accused our Lord
that His record can't be true because he's bearing witness
of himself. And he said, oh, yes, it's true. It's true. But look what he says to them
down in verse 20. He gets down to what's most important. It's not their religion of touch
not, and taste not, and handle not, and go not, dress a certain
way, and act a certain way, and stand all from poor publicans
and say, God, I thank you. I'm not like other men. No, our
Lord gets down to brass tacks, so to speak. He tells them what's
important. Verse 20 of John 8, are you looking
at it with me? These words spake Jesus in the
treasury as he taught in the temple. And no man laid hands
on him, for his hour was not yet come. The hour that we read
about in John 17. Verse 21, then said Jesus again
unto them, I go my way, I go my way, and ye shall seek me
and shall die in your sins. I can't imagine a more pitiful testimony to leave
behind than that. Oh, he was a good man, he died
in his sins. Oh, he was a good husband, he
died in his sins. Oh, but he was very charitable,
he gave to so many good causes, he died in his sins. If you believe
not, that's the bottom line. If you believe not that I am
he, ye shall die in your sins. Whither I go, ye cannot come. Then said the Jews, Will he kill
himself? Because he saith, Whither I go,
ye cannot come. And he said unto them, Ye are
from beneath, I am from above. Ye are of the world, I am not
of the world. I said therefore unto you, that
ye shall die in your sins. For if ye believe not, Not that
if you're the vilest offender out there. No, no, no. If you
believe not, you're the most outstanding member of your community. But if you believe not, that
I am he. that I'm the sent one, that I'm
the only way to God, that I'm the Messiah. If you don't believe
that and you don't bow to that, which they didn't, he said, ye
shall die in your sins. That being so, and it is, it
is, it's no wonder that our Lord said on another occasion, in
his Sermon on the Mount. Don't lay up treasures for yourself
on earth where thieves break in and steal. A rust destroys
it, but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where those
things can't take place. A treasure reserved in heaven
for you, where a thief can't break in, where it can't rust
away. Oh, he said, where your treasure
is, where your treasure is, where your true love is, Where your
affection is, that which you treasure most, that which you
consider most valuable, now and in the world to come, where your
treasure is, that's where your heart's gonna be. That's where
your affection will be. That's where your love will be.
That's where your mind will be most of the time, and your heart. It will be going to where your
treasure is, where Christ himself is. Where's your treasure? What
occupies most of your affection, your heart, your thoughts? That's a good indication of where
your treasure is, where your heart is. Now look back with
me in John chapter 17. John chapter 17. Verse 1, these
words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven. As we mentioned in the reading,
this is indeed the Lord's prayer, not the other. When the disciples
came to him and said, teach us to pray, for some odd reason
that's been labeled the Lord's prayer. No, this is the Lord's
prayer. He ceased talking to them, which
he had done. From chapters 13 through 16,
these words refer to those chapters. But he ceases speaking to them
and he speaks now to God his Father. We know that our Lord
prayed much, many times. Looking through the Gospels,
we run across words like these. It came to pass in those days
that he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night
alone in prayer to God. Often he resorted to that mount,
and at the base of it, the Garden of Gethsemane. He would shortly
after this to meet Judas the traitor. But he often resorted,
finding place to pour out his heart to God. But this is the
only long prayer recorded by our Lord. The only one in the
Gospels. And this is the only place, in
verse 3 we find it, this is the only place where he refers to
himself as Jesus Christ, the sent one. The only place. The
only place that he refers to himself with that compound name,
Jesus the Christ, Savior, Messiah, Anointed, sent from God. The only place in Scripture,
the only time that he refers to himself with that complete
name. What we read in this chapter
are some very deep things. Deeper than I can fathom, very
mysterious things are spoken here by our great high priest. That must be the case. I mean,
considering what's taking place here, these words that we read
are spoken by one person of the Holy Trinity, the Triune God,
to another person of the Holy Trinity, the Triune God. By the nature of the case, they
must be beyond us. They must go deeper than we're
able to tread. God the Son, God the Son is addressing
God the Father. J.C. Rowell, I glanced at what
he had to say concerning this chapter in his commentary and
I'm so glad I did. Because he said this, and when
I read it, I said, he's exactly right. So I wrote it down. I
wrote it down. He said this concerning John
chapter 17. There are sentences, words, and
expressions in the 26 verses of this chapter which no one
probably has ever unfolded completely. You mean in the 2,000 years since
Christ's return? Among all the bright men, commentators,
expositors, theologians, there are things here that no one has
ever completely unfolded? Exactly. That's exactly right,
Louie. This is God Almighty. conversing
with God Almighty. We don't have the equipment to
enter into that. Not entirely. Another one said
this, there is no voice, speaking of our Lord's prayer here, 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. The prayer of our great high
priest to intercede. You know it was the office of
the high priest not only to offer the sacrifice but to intercede
for the people for which the sacrifice was offered. Father,
I pray not for the world. I pray not for the world. I'm
not ready to die. I'm not getting in just a few
hours ready to die for the world. I pray not for the world, but
I pray for those I am to lay down my life for. I intercede
for them. The high priest interceded as
well as sacrificed. And our Lord does the very same
thing. Just before His own forsake Him,
that's when He offered this prayer up to his Heavenly Father. Look,
if you will, back in chapter 16, just prior to this, verse
32. These are part of these words
in verse 1 of chapter 17 that they refer to. Verse 32. Behold, the hour cometh. Yea,
is now come. It's on us. It's arrived. It's
at the door. that ye shall be scattered, every
one to his own, and shall leave me alone." You shall leave me
alone. They'll forsake him. Judas has
already gone out to betray him. Peter, just an hour or so after
this, would deny that he even knows him. When they come to
the garden in chapter 18 to take him, he stands out before his
disciples and said, I'm he. You found who you want, take
me. But these have to go their way. You can't have me and my
sheep. If you take the shepherd, the
sheep go free and the sheep forsake you and flee. And he said, I'll be left alone,
alone. Father, the hour is come that
I'll be left alone. Turn back, if you will, in John,
the chapter 12. This hour has come. Was there
ever another like it? No, no. Never was up to that
time. never has been since that time.
This hour that our Lord referred to and what was about to take
place. In John chapter 12, look at verse
23. And Jesus answered them saying,
the hour is come, the hour is come that the son of man should
be glorified. Glorified, that's what he prayed,
didn't he? Father, glorify your son that thy son may glorify
you. I'm gonna glorify your righteousness,
your justice, your mercy. By what I do upon the cross,
I'm gonna glorify your grace, your holiness. Every divine attribute
will be glorified in me in this hour. Verily, verily, verse 24,
I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground
and die, that's Him. It abideth alone. Oh, but he's
the firstborn among many brethren. Therefore, in order to bring
many sons to glory, he must die. That corn of wheat must fall
into the ground and die. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. And I saw before the throne and before the lamb, a multitude,
much fruit that no man can number. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. Verse one of John 13, again referring
to this hour that our Lord mentions in his prayer. Now before the
feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew When Jesus knew that His
hour was come, that He should depart out of this world unto
the Father, having loved His own, that we're, in a matter of a
few hours, going to leave Him alone, one would curse and deny
that he was even acquainted with Him. Knowing that his hour was come,
that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having
loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them until
the end. Unconditionally. We here talk
about unconditional love. We don't have that. We can't
do that. We don't do that. We don't do
it with our children, our companions. We just don't do it. It's not
in us. It was the Son of God. He loved us unconditionally. Father, the hour has come to
suffer, to die. The hour has come to redeem His
people from their sins. By being made sin for them, This
is why the numbering of hours mattered. Did you know that? This is why in the beginning
when God created the heaven and the earth, that's why then the
numbering of hours began. It was all because leading up
to this one hour. This hour had come, the one grand
momentous event of all time. Father, the hour has come. That hour promised after Adam's
fall 4,000 years before. The woman's seed shall bruise
the serpent's head. Oh, but long before that, This
hour was decreed before time ever began, before the foundation
of the world, between the triune God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
decreed this hour, when the fullness of the time shall come, God shall
send forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
those who were under the law. Father, the hour has come. Unlike any other. Oh, this hour,
this hour, let me read it to you, or turn with me to Isaiah,
Isaiah chapter 63. This is the hour that all the
prophets spoke of concerning the Son of God. They wrote of Him. In Isaiah
chapter 63, here's the hour. Who is this, verse 1, that cometh
from Edom with dyed garments from Basra, this that is glorious
in his apparel? Isn't he? Isn't he glorious? Oh, look at him. In him righteousness
and truth shall meet. traveling in the greatness of
his strength? Who is he? He answers, I that
speak in righteousness, mighty the saved, Jesus Christ the sent
one. And then they ask, wherefore
art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that
trotteth in the wine fat? What's happened to you? Who did this to you? And he answers, I have trodden the winepress
alone. Alone. And of the people, there was
none with me. But I will tread them in mine
anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be
sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my
redeemed is come. That's the hour he spoke of.
And I looked and there was none to help because it is a work
that only he alone could do. And I wondered that there was
none to uphold. Therefore, our Lord speaking,
therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me and my fury
it upheld me. The hour of which Gabriel spoke
when he said, Joseph, Call His name Jesus. He shall save His
people from their sins. Father, the hour is come when
He shall and did accomplish... Every time I refer to that verse,
Lord, it's hard for me not to just pitch tent right there.
accomplished eternal redemption for us. One time, one time, He
entered into the holy place and what He intended to do, bless
His holy name, He did. He put away the sins of His people,
all of His people, all of their sins, completely, eternally,
forever. The hour has come. The hymn writer said, nothing
either great or small, nothing sinner, no. Jesus did it, did
it all a long, long time ago. It is finished. Yes, indeed. Finished every jot. Sinner, this
is all you need. Tell me. Is it not? Is it not? Oh, yes, it is. Look at verse
2 of John 17. As thou has given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
has given him, as the God-man mediator, He has been given power
over all flesh. When you read that in verses
like that, it's not speaking as though the Father as superior
gives power to the Son inferior. Oh, no, no, no, no. But it speaks
of it in that way because this was how He was agreed upon in
that covenant of grace, in that everlasting covenant, that the
Son to him would be given the work of redemption that we read
of just a moment ago. I had trodden the winepress alone.
That's why it speaks in that fashion. In order to save some,
the one who saves must have authority, power over all. And he does. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Therefore,
God hath highly exalted him and given him a name above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee, all flesh, saved,
lost, should bow and confess that he is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. That was given him power over
all flesh that he, that he, That is, Christ should give eternal
life. Who less than the eternal God
can give eternal life? Oh, what a proof and evidence
of the divinity of our Savior. He was man, yes, oh, but He was
God. He was the God-man, the man-God. Who else could speak this way?
Prophet? Man? Earthly priest? Angels? Who else could say, you've given
me power over all flesh that I should give eternal life? Who
else could speak that way? Only he who himself was God. Power over all flesh. In John 5 he said, the Father
had given him authority, power to give life. to give life. He said, the hour is coming that
all that are in the grave shall hear the voice of the Son of
Man and those that hear shall live. He said that hour is now. To those He calls from spiritual
death to spiritual life by His will, He has eternal life, to
give it to whomsoever He will, to as many as thou hast given
Him. When I read that yesterday, yesterday
or Friday, looking at this for a while, When I read that, our Lord's
words, power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to
as many, as many, I glanced up from my Bible at a picture in
the corner of my desk of me with my four brothers. And next to us, next to that
picture is a picture of my four sisters. We're standing on the
steps in front of my mom's house, right out to the front yard,
where just three days before that picture was taken, my father
went out to cut grass and started the lawnmower and dropped dead
in his track. 68 years old. A massive heart
attack. We came in from various places
for the funeral, and that's when that picture was taken, just
a few feet from where my father died. And I looked at it, that
picture with my brothers and my sisters, and I looked at this
verse to as many as that was given him, and I asked myself
again, Kenneth, who made me to differ from another? What have
I got that I didn't receive? To give eternal life to His many. And I'm one of those many. My
soul, what grace. What grace. Look at verse 3. Look at verse 3. And this is
life eternal. that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou didst send." That phrase,
that they might know thee, would have been better rendered
this way. And this is life eternal, to
know thee, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom thou didst send. Did you read that with me? Did
you read that with me? And this is life eternal, to
know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent. Do you? Do you? Do you? I'm not asking again,
remember what I said at the beginning of the message? I'm not asking,
do you know the correct answer? But do you know by personal experience
what our Lord just spoke? And this is life eternal. You
want to know what eternal life is? It includes everything that's
necessary to the complete salvation of a soul. A life of justification,
sanctification, and final glory. It includes all that. And you
won't find it. And you certainly won't experience
it looking in a book on theology. No. No. It rests in His hands. This is life eternal, to know
thee the only true God and Jesus Christ. My question to you and
I, do we? Do you? Do you? Do you know the only true God
and Jesus Christ? That's what he said. He said
that's what eternal life is. That's what salvation is. It's
to know God and to know Christ. The same one speaks these words,
who on the same night just before this said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life, he said to his disciples this same night. No man comes to the Father but
by me. This is life eternal, to know
thee, the only God, the only true God. What's that mean? When He says, Father, you are
the only true God, that makes everything else, everyone else,
anything else that claims to be God, a lie. That's exactly
right. In Isaiah 45, God says, why do
you pray unto a God that cannot say, that's a lie, that's a lie? Look unto me and be ye saved. For I am God and what? There
is none else. There's not another God. I'm
a just God and a Savior. Oh, that they might know thee
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. In John's Gospel chapter
1, remember what we read? No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, verse
18, who was in the bosom of the Father, He had declared Him. No man knoweth the Son. He said in Luke 10, No man knoweth the Son, except
the Father. And no man knoweth who the Father
is, who God is, except the Son, and He to Whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him. That takes a miracle. That takes
a divine revelation. That doesn't take place by walking
up here and shaking my hand. That doesn't take place by signing
a decision card. That doesn't take place by coming
to a so-called altar and kneeling down and some preacher putting
words in your mouth and then telling you everything's alright.
That's not what eternal life is. That's not what takes place
when the God the Son is pleased to reveal God the Father to a
sinner's heart. It takes a miracle. An absolute,
marvelous, miraculous work of grace in the heart. And until
that's accomplished, until that's done by the Spirit of God, I
don't know Him. Can't know Him. Can't know Him.
Not by personal experience. I can be like a parrot. and recite
words and memorize verses and sing songs and act like a Christian. But our Lord's not talking about
that, is he? He said, this is life eternal
that they might know thee, know thee. And notice the connecting
clause there in more ways than one. Know thee the only true
God and Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ. You see, you
can't know God outside of Christ. Outside of Christ, God is only
and can only be a consuming fire. That's right. Outside of Christ,
God is and can only be a consuming fire. One old writer said, I
want nothing to do with God. outside of Christ. It's God in
Christ that reconciles sinners to himself. The keys of heaven
are placed in the hands of one person only, and that's Jesus
Christ. John, I'm he that liveth and
was dead, and behold, I'm alive forevermore, and I have the keys. of hell and death. I open and
no man can close, and if I close, no man can open. Nobody knows
God except those to whom I am pleased to reveal Him." Paul
wrote to Timothy and said, there's one God and one Mediator between
God and man, and that's the man, the God-man, Christ Jesus, our
High Priest. And to know Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent, this then is eternal life. Nothing else is. Nothing else is. It's knowing
God in Christ. The phrase that we run across
most often in scripture to describe God's people is this. They know
God. That's it. They know God. They know who God is. Either
we do or we don't. Christ said, no man cometh unto
me except the Father draw him. Everyone that has learned of
the Father, this same Gospel, chapter 6, everyone that have
learned of the Father comes to me. What does God teach a man
in bringing them to his son? What does he learn? What do you
suppose? No, it's not a supposition. According
to God's Word, what does He do to a sinner and in a sinner in
bringing him to Christ? Does He teach him five points?
No, no, no. Does He have to understand election?
No, no. No, He don't have to understand
that. He'll rejoice in it afterwards. But it's not necessary. He can
know that, have a head knowledge of, and just be puffed up. What
does God teach a man? What happens when a man has learned
of the Father? Louis sent me an email the other
day. I'd asked him to teach me something. He said, well, I can teach you,
but I can't learn for you. Smart aleck. But he's exactly
right. He's exactly right. God teaches
affectionately because we learn, we get the lesson. You know what
God teaches a man? You know what a sinner has learned
of the Father in coming to Christ? He learns that he's lost. He
learns something about who he is and who God is for the first
time in his life, and when he does, he'll wake up. He'll wake
up. He won't sit and snooze. He'll wake up. For the first
time in his life, he wakes up. He wakes up spiritually. Because
God has opened his heart and dropped a live coal from off
the altar. He's dropped eternal life into
his heart. He's made a new creature, mysterious
Nicodemus. And he wakes up. And it's my
soul. What's happening? I'm lost. For the first time in my life,
I realize I'm lost. I'm lost. And I can't save myself. And everything I've been doing
is worthless. All my... Leafs, my robe of self-righteousness
that I've been weaving by my religious activity. God says
it's a filthy rag. I can't stand it, get it out
of my sight. I'm naked before a holy God. I realize that if I've learned
of the Father. And I learned something else.
If I've been taught affectionately by the Father and He doesn't
teach any other way. I learned something about who
he is. He's not the old man upstairs. No, that's an imposture. That's
a lie. That's not the true God. No,
he is that high and holy one that inhabiteth eternity. God is that one who says, I am
God and there is none else. God who says, I will in no wise
clear the guilty or pass by iniquity. The God who demands and will
not accept anything else than absolute perfection. Now try
that on. Try that on. That'll make your
fig leaves wither. Come on. But he teaches something
else, doesn't he? Oh, the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ. The law was our schoolmaster,
and that's the lawful use of the law, that every mouth may
be stopped and everyone become guilty before God. And I look
to Sinai with its thundering and its lightnings, a demonstration
of God's holiness and my sinfulness, and I find no peace there. No,
just condemnation and lightning and thundering. So I turn and
I run. Where can I go? God is on me. God's going to persecute me.
God's got to cast this sinner into hell. And I just fall down
before Him. And I look up. And oh my soul,
look what He's done. The law was my schoolmaster.
To bring me to Christ. To chase me to Christ. Where I cry, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. And he says, Larry, thy sin,
which are many, are all forgiven thee. That's what it is. The learn of the Father. It's
no wonder Paul said, I don't want to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Lazarus was raised from the dead
and he knew it. And he knew who did it. This
is life eternal to know God. I don't come here preaching my
opinion. That's not why you asked me to
come here to be your pastor. There's already dozens and dozens
of men around here giving folks their opinion. Oh no, we come
here preaching what thus saith the Lord. And this is the issue. Listen now. This is the issue. Do I know Him? That's all that matters. That's
the issue. Christ said, this is life eternal,
that they might know Thee, the only true God. Do I know Him? Another Him expresses it like
this. The sinner that truly believes and trusts in his crucified God,
his justification receives, redemption is full through his blood. All
the faith that lays hold on the Lamb and brings such salvation
as this is more than mere notion or name, the work of God's Spirit
it is. Oh, yes. And by that, as a result
of that, we can say with the apostle, I know whom I have believed. I know Him. I know Him. And as we'll see in a few moments,
I am His and He is mine. This is life that they might
what? Doubt, question, wonder? No, that they might know Thee,
the only true God. And John afterward would write
in his epistle, and this is the record that God has given to
us eternal life. And this life is in His Son. He heard this prayer, I believe,
don't you? Almost the exact words. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son hath not life. It doesn't matter
what else he has if he doesn't have the Son, if he doesn't know
Christ. Christ said, I know my sheep,
and my sheep know me, and am known of mine. My sheep hear
my voice. They recognize it, and they prove
it by following me. Brother Henry Mahan said this
on verse 3, of John 17. Eternal life is not a profession
of religion, nor a reformation of manners, nor a knowledge of
facts about God, but it's an experience of regeneration and
revelation of God in the heart. Eternal life is spiritual life.
It's divine life. It's a life of God in us. When I was reminded of that,
I remembered George Whitfield's experience. I have the two-volume
biography of his, about him, right there. Just outstanding.
Most of it is autobiographical because it's taken from his journal,
his own words. Listen to what he wrote in his
journal. He wrote this, looking back,
and he speaks of the time when he was a student at Oxford University. the same time that John and Charles
Wesley was there. And he joined their so-called
Holy Club, a member of the Holy Club. And he nearly, and would
have, apart from God's mercy, nearly killed himself trying
to appease God. Listen, he wrote in his journal,
I'll begin to fast twice a week for 36 hours together. I prayed many times a day. I
fasted myself almost to death. Another young man in that club
did. Died. I fasted myself almost to death
all the 40 days of Lent. during which I made it a point
of duty never to go less than three times a day to public worship,
besides seven times a day to my private prayers. Yet I knew
no more that I was to be born a new creature in Christ Jesus
than if I had never been born at all." If I had never been born at all. He became so weak They had to
carry him up the steps to his room and put him in bed. And
even there, when they thought he was surely going to die, he
was still by his own works, his own effort, his own prayers,
trying to recommend himself to God. Continued that way, on his
deathbed, until... until but grace, Lord, Someone
put in his hand a little book that had been written years before
by another young man who went through much the same thing and
the name of that little book was The Life of God in the Soul
of Man. And Whitfield read that and he
thought, I must be born again. And he went to God's Word. This
is life eternal, that they might know Thee, to know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou didst send." Turn with
me as we close this message to Matthew's Gospel chapter 7. Matthew
chapter 7. You remember the question? This is life. That's the statement. This is
life, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Do you? Do you? In Matthew chapter
7 verse 21, our Lord speaks of a sad, sad, but absolute certain,
He's absolutely certain. He said it will be that way.
It will be this way. And it's so sad, especially when
I read about these many, this multitude, And I think they may include some of my own
flesh and blood. Oh, God, don't let that happen. Don't let that happen. Let it
be among the many that you give eternal life to. Verse 21. Our
Lord said, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven. What just about everybody does
today, don't they? Everybody's a Christian. Can't
hardly find a lost man anymore. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. But he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. And what's
the will of the Father which is in heaven? Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is my beloved Son. Hear
ye Him. Verse 22. Many were saying to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done
many wonderful works? Their claiming to know Him didn't
matter, did it? Convincing themselves that they
knew Him or talking themselves into it didn't change the sad
fact, did it? They didn't know Him. All their
works didn't matter whatsoever. The only reason... There's only
one criteria, only one reason for entrance into glory, into
heaven, into the presence, and with acceptance before a holy
God, only one, and that's this. Do I know Him? That's it. Look what he says
in verse 23. Then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you. I never knew you. They couldn't
know Him if He didn't know them. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. In another place our Lord said,
And so shall the king say unto them on his right hand his sheep,
those that knew him, Come ye, blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Which will you hear? Depart from
me or enter in? Come in. Been expecting you. Come into the joy I prepared
for you before the world ever was. Oh, if you by His adorable
and matchless grace can say, I know Him, then let's join together. If you know Him, let's join together
in singing that hymn as we close the service for the law, lead
us in it with I am his and he is mine.