With my soul all things are well
since Jesus died for me. Brother Scott Richardson put
it as only Scott can or could. He said, there's been no bad
news since I got the good news. Everywhere today, people are
confronted with the fact that Jesus Christ lived on this earth,
that he died, and that he rose again. Most every religious organization
and most every secular group today, in some way or another,
celebrate the fact of the Lord's resurrection, whether they believe
it or don't. It is a fact that cannot be gainsayed. It cannot be refuted. It is more
clearly demonstrated as a historic fact than any single event written
in history. Jesus Christ arose from the dead. But let me ask you two or three
questions. Do you know what the Lord Jesus
Christ did while he was on this earth? Do you know what he has done
since he arose and went back to glory and what he is doing
now. Do you have any idea why he did
what he did and why he is doing what he does? The answer to those
three questions is found in the last verse of that blessed chapter
we read just a little while ago, John chapter 17. The title of my message this
morning is God's Love in Us. Now while you're turning to John
17, let me make five statements concerning God's love. First,
God is love. The scripture does not say he
is a God of love. are merely that God loves, but
God is love. That's his nature. That's his
character. That's his attribute. God is
love. Apart from God, there is no love. And apart from God, really, there
is no knowledge of love. God is love. Second, God commends his love
toward us. And the scripture speaks with
distinct clarity about the love of God toward us, the love of
God for us, and the love of God in us. God commends his love
toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. So that God presents his love
to men. He shows his love to us. He brings love out of himself
and displays it to man in the sacrifice of his darling son. Not only did the Lord God give
his son to die for men, the Lord God gave his son to die for men
who wished that he should be made to die. He commends his
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. He gave his son to die for men
and women who hated him and hated his son. Meryl Hart, that's love. That's
love. One thing for a man to give himself
for a good man, a righteous man. one who he loves, one who's dear
to him, or even to one for one who is somewhat respected by
him. Many men have, in a time of battle,
sacrificed their lives to save their comrades in arms. That's
a marvelous thing. But here is God in human flesh
who gives his life for men and women who cussed him and despised
him and cried, crucify him, crucify him, folks like us. Third, the
triune God acts in love for his elect in all his works of grace
and providence. He always acts in love for his
own. All that God does in time, and
all that God has done in eternity, and all that God shall yet do
in the ages to come, He does because of His love for His own. In the Song of Solomon, chapter
3, verse 10, we're told that the nuptial chariot by which
the Lord Jesus, our Savior, carries his bride through the ages of
time is paved with love. It's paved with love so that
everything God does for his elect, he does because of his love for
them. We often say and we mean it to
our wives or to our children or a wife to her husband, her
children. Everything I've done has been
because of my love for you. But that really isn't true. That
really isn't true. There is always something selfish
involved in that. There's always something that
serves us in that. David Peterson, Everything the
triune God does is because of his love for you. Everything. Everything. No exception. The sun shines because God loves
me. And he darkens the sun because
he loves me. Everything. All right, here's
the fourth thing. God sheds abroad his love in
us by the gift of his spirit in regeneration so that he causes
us to know his love in the experience of his grace in the new birth
when he gives us life and faith in Christ. And there is no knowing
of God's love apart from God shedding abroad his love in our
hearts, causing us to know it, causing us to believe on his
darling son. And here's the fifth thing. God's
love is made perfect in us. When, by faith in Christ, we
are made to know. We're made to know. We are assured
of his love for us. His love is made perfect in us. When believing on the Son of
God, we are assured that God loves us. And that love made perfect in
us casteth out all fear, gives us boldness in the day of judgment. All right, here in John 17, our
Lord Jesus is about to leave the world. He's going back to
the Father. He told his disciples that he
would leave them and that they must abide on this earth for
a while, that they must endure unceasing trials, heavy troubles,
and great tribulations as long as they're in this world. He
promised to send his spirit to comfort these troubled disciples,
and he promised to help them. He urged them, and he urged us
simply to trust him, simply to trust him. I said to Shelby driving
back from over to Duggan Face Friday night, it's so difficult
when you are afraid. And you want to get over the
fear. You can take that little child and pat him on the chest
and hug him up close to you and say, there's no need to be afraid.
And while you hold your hand on their chest, you feel their
heart just like it's beating out of their chest. And they
want to believe Papa. They want to believe Daddy. They
want to believe Mama. There's no need to be afraid, but that
heart is just pounding. And they can't stop the fear.
They may be embarrassed by it, but they can't stop it. They
may not want anybody to know, but they can't stop the fear.
And so it is with our unbelief. Bob, I'm embarrassed by my unbelief. And I want to believe God, but
I can't believe God and cast my care on Him. unless God graciously
quietens my heart and gives me faith to believe him and cast
my care on him. And yet in this prayer, the Savior
keeps saying over and over and over again, just trust me, just
trust me, just trust me. But he knew their hearts were
heavy, anxious, troubled, fearful. He knew they were full of doubts
and questions, just as we are. So just before he goes away from
them, just before he goes up to the cursed tree to die as
their substitute in their room instead, just just before he
goes away to send the comforter to them, he, as it were, takes
them by the hand and says, come on, let's let's pray together
one more time. Let's pray together one more
time. And he prays for them and for us. Not only for those who
then and there believed him, but for them also, which shall
believe on me through their work. He's praying for you and me. He's praying that we may enjoy
and experience these things he describes here. He prays, Father,
preserve them. Make my joy to be full in them. Sanctify them, unite my people
as one while they live on this earth. Bring them at last into
glory to see my glory and give them complete gratification in
the knowledge of me and of your love for me and the fact that
you love them as you've loved me. Now, let's read the last
section together one more time. Begin at verse 24. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory, that they may see all the glory that I possess
as their mediator, all the glory that I have given to them as
one with me. that they may behold my glory
which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world. O righteous Father, the world
hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known
that thou hast sent me. Now here's a text. And I have
declared unto them thy name, and will declare it. that the
love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them. Oh, let me try one more time
to talk to you as plainly as I can from that which is revealed
in this book about the love of God. As I said, my title, my
subject is God's love in us. God's love in us. What a great subject. I can't
imagine a subject of greater depth, a subject more mysterious,
a subject more inspiring, a subject more wondrous, more highly motivating
than the love of God. And I recognize something of
my own incompetence and failure as a preacher. I have been trying
to preach the gospel of God's free grace for better than 43
years now, and I'm an utter failure at that which I have desired. I've been trying to proclaim,
as I know it, the depth of man's depravity and sin, the wonder
and the richness and the greatness of Christ, my Savior, the infinite,
measureless love of God for sinners and the amazing grace by which
God saves sinners. And I haven't come close yet.
I have no hope of exhausting the theme this morning, but I
want one more time to address this matter of God's love for
us. and God's love here revealed
in us. It is infinite, infinitely full,
infinitely rich, infinitely wondrous, infinite in its vastness beyond
imagination. The love of God is a subject
so completely beyond our comprehension. that we will never grasp it really
while we live in this state here below. All we can do is make
comparisons of it. All we can do is relate it to
what we know in our experience as sinners in this world. When
the Lord God takes us out of this limitation called flesh,
and brings us at last into heaven. Still, we will continue forever
to learn of his infinite love. And yet, this is a subject that's
always indescribably delightful, comforting, and instructive. How many have been converted?
hearing of the commendation of God's love and the sacrifice
of his son. How our hearts are humbled and
broken within us when we are suddenly overtaken by a sense
of God's love, how we are inspired and motivated, just ready to
do, to give, to sacrifice anything when we're convinced of his love.
Nothing so effectually corrects us from the error of our ways
as a fresh reminder of God's love. May God the Holy Spirit
show us something of this mystery this morning. I have declared
unto them thy name and will declare it that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them and I in them. Now here our Savior speaks about
what He has done, what He would do, and why. What He has done, what He would
yet do, and why. In a word, He here declares in
the hearing of His disciples the entire purpose of His existence
in human flesh. He summarizes the whole of His
work. and asserts that the whole purpose
of all is this, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me
may be in them and I in them. The very last word of our Lord's
prayer here in John 17 concerns the love of God for us. But here
the love of God for us is made manifest by the love of God in
us. The Lord Jesus asked that we
might be filled with all the fullness of the love of God.
That is a great request. Our Savior asked that we might
be filled with all the fullness of God himself, for God is love. He says, Oh, righteous father,
I want these to know your love by putting
it in them, filling them with that love. And that's the very
beginning of the experience of grace. Turn to Romans chapter
5. Romans chapter 5. When God comes to sinners in
saving power and grace, He puts in us His love. Now let's see this. Therefore,
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory
of God And not only so, but with glory in tribulation also. Knowing
that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and
experience hope. Now watch this. And hope maketh
not ashamed. Hope maketh not ashamed. I have hope of everlasting glory.
I have hope that when I close my eyes in death, I will open
them in heaven. I have hope of immortality and
eternal life. And I know that people laugh
at that. I know they do. Soon the Lord Jesus will come
again and this body that goes back into the dust and if it's
allowed to decay and return to the dust the Lord God will raise
this body up in a perfect glorified body and in my flesh I will see
God my Savior face to face with these eyes and not another and
folks laugh at that well This might not be the best way to
put it, but the last laugh will be on you. The last laugh will be on you.
This hope maketh not ashamed. It maketh not ashamed. Well,
how can you be sure? Look at the next line. Because. This is the reason hope makes
not ashamed, because. The love of God, God's perfect
love. is shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. This hope makes not
a shame, because I know God, the triune God, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, God who made the universe, God who's angry
with the wicked every day. God who must and shall punish
sin. God who made hell for the damned and heaven for the saved.
God loves me. This hope makes not ashamed. He sheds broad his love in our
hearts that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Now, let me show you four things
back here in our text. Four things. First, our Savior looks backward. And here gives us a summary of
his entire life and ministry. I have declared unto them thy
name. I have declared unto them thy
name. When Christmas comes around,
Easter comes around, if you look at the history channels, those
things you know that are supposed to be so learned and brilliant
and so non-sectarian and take no religious issues, all that
stuff you know. You turn on PBS and watch their
things, everybody talks about the life of Jesus. And it's amazing
to me that they always begin by asserting that what we've
always believed is not right. It's close, but it's not right. They always begin by asserting
that. So you have at the beginning an undermining of Holy Scripture. Let me tell you something. Let
me tell you something. You can learn all the historic
data Concerning the life of Jesus and his death and his resurrection
and never know God But the Savior says I had declared
unto them thy name With that our Lord Jesus is declaring that
He came on this earth in human flesh and And all the days of
his life, these 33 years he had lived up to this hour, he says,
in all this, I have made God known to men. I declared to men
who God is. Now listen to me and hear me
well. There is no salvation without
knowing God. And there is no knowing God apart
from Jesus Christ. No, knowledge is not salvation,
but there's no salvation without it. The Son of God came down
here in human flesh and dwelt among us so that we who are but
weak flesh, we who are but sinful men might know the eternal, infinite,
incomprehensible God who can only be known by self-revelation. Who can only be known by self-revelation. You can go out there in the fields
and pull aside one of those heifers and talk to that heifer all you
want to about God. and read about it, and pray about
it. And if you get the heifer to kneel down with you and pray
with you, it's not going to help the heifer a bit, because he
can't know God. She can't know God. Can't know
God. Well, Brother Don, that's dumb.
I know. I know. The heifer is you. You. You can teach a dog tricks. You
can teach an animal to do things. You can teach them to act different
ways than is their nature. But you can't reveal God to an
animal. And you can teach men tricks.
And you can teach them to act different than they would otherwise
by nature. But you can't teach men to know God. But God can. God can. The Lord Jesus came
down here to make God known. Our Savior's own account of his whole life in ministry
is here stated. I have made known unto them thy
name. The meaning of all this, the
meaning of everything that he has done, the meaning of all
his life on this earth is just this. He stood here in human
flesh. And he said, look at me. Look
at me. I am. Look at me. I am. And thus declares who God is. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father, he said. He, this man in human flesh. This man who never learned anything,
this man who reveals God is himself God in the flesh. As the Father
was and is revealed only in Christ, so it is only by Christ that
he's revealed to us and in us. Turn back to Matthew chapter
11. Matthew chapter 11. Contrary to what men and women
have heard all their lives, contrary to what folks will hear all over
the world today, knowing God is not something that comes by
your decision. Knowing God is not the result
of your free will. Knowing God is not the result
of you deciding that you'll accept Jesus as your Savior. Oh, no. God is known only by self-revelation. only by Christ Jesus revealing
himself in you. That means if you know God, he's
going to make himself known to you and in you. I can't do that
for you. Your mama and daddy can't do
that for you. Your husband and wife can't do that for you. We teach you about God, we teach
you the things of God, we instruct you in the facts of scripture,
we teach you the doctrine of scripture, and we are responsible
to do so. But nobody can make you know
God but God. If God leads you to yourself,
hell is your place of torment forever. Matthew chapter 11,
verse 25. Say, what theology book did you
get that out of? Matthew's Gospel, chapter 11,
verse 25, the Son of God speaking. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. I thank
thee, he said. I thank thee, because thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed
them unto babes. What's he saying? God, I think
you folks are lost. No. He's saying, God, I thank you
that it's not up to me. I thank you that you've hid these
things in the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes.
I thank you that salvation is God's doing. Read on. Thou hast hid these things in
the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things
are delivered unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. That's all. The knowledge here
spoken of is the knowledge Christ gives. I have known thee, and
these have known that thou hast sent me, and I have declared
unto them thy name, and will declare it. It's not knowledge
you pick up as a matter of book learning. It's the knowledge
given by Christ. And it is this knowledge that
distinguishes God's elect in this world from all other men. Throughout this chapter, our
Savior says, the world has not known thee, but I've known thee
and these have known thee. These have known thee. God's
people know God. Sinners saved by God's grace
know God. The people who are born of God know God. They know
the living God in Christ Jesus, for he has revealed himself in
them. All right, here's the second thing. Our Savior looks forward
to that which he would yet do. His work on this earth was not
quite completed. He's come now to the last day
of his life. And he says, I finished the work
which thou gavest me to do. And that must be referred to
something that he had finished as a man. As the full age of
a man, he had lived in obedience to the father, bringing in everlasting
righteousness, which no man could bring in. But there's more to
salvation than righteousness brought in. Sin must be put away
and he will say in chapter 19 in verse 30 after he has died
as he's dying as our substitute it is Finished and that refers
to the whole complete work of redemption Accomplished by his
obedience unto death as our substitute So here our Savior looks forward
first. He looks back to what he had
done for 33 years and now he looks forward to that which he
is about to do and and would go on doing through the ages
of time. He says, I have declared unto
them thy name and will declare it. I've come here to make sinners
who cannot know God otherwise to know God. I've come down here
to declare to men who God is. And that's what I've done throughout
the days of my life. In every breath I've drawn, I've
been making men to know who God is. And this is what I shall
do from this day forward. I will yet declare your name. Go with him to Gethsemane and
see him in the agony of his soul as he anticipates being made
sin for us. And he cries as he sweats blood
falling to the ground. Oh, my father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
thy will be done. And thus he declares, father, There's no way under heaven whereby
sinners can be saved except I take the cup of all your fury and justice
and wrath and begin to drink it with this
agonizing reality. I, your son, must be made sin
that sin may be put away. But his agony doesn't end at
Gethsemane, it begins there. Go on to Calvary and see him
as he bears our sin in his own body on the tree. You see, God
when he pours out on his son and makes all the sins of his
elect to be his sons, when he bears in his body our transgressions
and our iniquities, when he, by some mysterious, unexplainable
transfer of justice and grace, is made sin and guilt for us. And now the holy triune God draws
out his sword and cries, Awake, O sword, against one that is
my fellow, and smite, and slay the shepherd, because he made
sin, deserves to die. And the Son of God in infinite
love draws the sword into his own
heart until justice sword is swallowed up in his holy humanity
as he breathes out the ghost. He says, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. See yonder, seated on the throne? That's the same man. He'd gone back to the Father
because justice is satisfied. Sin is put away. And now, only
now, can God be just and still be my Savior. Only now can God,
without bending His character, without altering what He is,
without breaking His own law, only now can God be merciful
and still be true. And the Lord Jesus declares the
Father's name. Now we know who God is. Now we know him. Do you know
what he said about himself in Isaiah 45, 20? He said, behold
me, a just God and a savior, a just God and a savior. Now I see how God can forgive
me. Now I understand how God can
both punish my sin to the full satisfaction of his justice and
forgive my sin entirely, completely, and forever because Christ died. And we'll declare it. If he speaks by this preacher's
voice this morning, He's still fulfilling his promise
to the Father. P.J. Nevels, he's declaring to
you one more time God's name. He does it every time he speaks
the gospel by the voice of one of his servants. I will declare
it. I will declare it. In the day
of judgment, he will declare God's name and all men will know
who God is. He will declare God's name in
his righteousness and casting every unbeliever into hell justly
on the basis of what they have done, because you choose. To stand before God, you dare
to stand before God, presuming that you are good and worthy
of heaven. And the Lord God will make you
to see your works for what they are and cast you into hell. And
as you cry out for mercy, you'll scream, Amen, God's right. And he will declare to all the
universe his great name, just and justifier. righteous and
true, merciful, and yet by no means clearing the guilty. As
he says, Don Fortner, come on. Come on. You fully deserve everlasting
life. Because you're one with my son.
and my son's obedience unto death is your obedience unto death
by which justice is satisfied and righteousness brought in. All right, here's the third thing.
Why did he do it? What's the reason? What's the
reason? That the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them. That the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life for the sheep. The master says,
the father loves me because of my perfect obedience. Thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world. The master says, the father loves
me eternally. His delights were with me. The Lord God declares that his
delight is with his son. Behold, my beloved son, in whom
I am well pleased, hear ye him. God speaks from heaven and says
he's well pleased with his son. Now, the Lord Jesus says, I have
declared unto them thy name and will declare it. That the love. Bobby Estes, are you listening
to me? That the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them. Oh, wondrous, glorious, magnificent
revelation of God. The love with which he loves
his son is the love of God for me, shed abroad in my heart by
the Holy Ghost given to me. Through the sacrifice of Christ
as my substitute, by the merit of his blood, by the merit of
his righteousness, Being one with him, I'm loved of God as
he's loved of God. So that while he walked on this
earth, while the son of God walked on
this earth, do you ever imagine, has the thought ever crossed
your mind? It may be. Somewhere between Bethlehem and
Mount Calvary, he ever questioned the fact that his father loved
him. You reckon he ever did? No. What about when he cried,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Read the whole psalm. He's fully aware of God's justice
on him, of God's wrath on him. And yet he's fully assured that
the father loves him and is delighted with him. Fully assured. Fully assured. When he's tempted of Satan, driven
into the wilderness. Oh, has the has God quit loving
me? No, no, no. He's fully assured
of it. I get to use my daughter again. When she was a little girl, I
frequently caused her great pain on purpose. If she didn't do what I told
her to do, or I'd been out of town, I came home and her mother
told me she had done something she shouldn't have, she got to
go get the paddle. I kept it in my desk drawer.
And we went to the bedroom and closed the door, just me and
her. And I wore her butt out. And she squalled. Did you ever like it? She never liked it. I'll tell
you what else I did. I never let her leave the room
and put that paddle away until I was confident that she was
confident nothing had changed in my love for her. I don't believe she's ever questioned
it. I don't believe she has. Why am I so? Why am I so? Why am I so? Should I ever question
God's love for me? Why? The Savior died for me. And the Lord God Almighty Speaks
by his spirit within and by his word and says this This is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased Here's a fourth thing and I indeed and I in them. That's what God does when he
saves the sinner. He puts Christ in you, the hope
of glory, giving you faith in Christ, sheds abroad the love
of God in your soul, so that you can lift your eyes to heaven. And so, my father, And now do so with the knowledge
of his perfect love. Cast out all fear. Cast out all
fear. And I can lift my heart to God. When colder than a winter's freeze,
and harder than steel, as unfeeling as the grave, and call God my
father. Call God my father. And in the
day of judgment, have no fear. No fear. No fear. I hope. Should you gather around
my bed when I'm breathing my last breath, you will see no
fear in me. No dread. No apprehension of
any kind. That's my hope. That's my hope.
But Merle Hart, if you stand there and hold my hand while
I tremble like a crying baby scared of his own shadow, once
that's over, And I stand before God, no fear. No fear. How come? Because God loves me
with an everlasting love. Even as he loves his dear son. And that means all is well with
my soul. All is well. All is well. God make it so for you. Would
you have that love that cast out all fear? He that believeth
on the Son of God hath everlasting life. Come to my Savior now and
go home with the assurance of the love of God in you.