My subject this morning is the
I have's of Christ. Our text will be John chapter
17 and verse 8. There's nothing more important,
more instructive, more comforting in all the book of God than the
passage before us this morning which contains our Lord's prayer.
his high priestly prayer as he is concluding his life on this
earth as our mediator and our sheriff, just before he gives
his life as a sacrifice for our sins. Here, God the Father beholds
the perfect, pure devotion of the son of his love. The disciples
heard the Lord Jesus expressing himself in intimate love to the
father and for them as he carried their needs before his father's
throne. And you and I are allowed here
to hear the Lord of glory who loved us and gave himself for
us, making intercession for our souls according to the will of
God at the throne of grace. Now, our Savior's prayer certainly
is unique in many regards. You and I, I hope, know a little
something about prayer. But this prayer is altogether
different. We pray because we have great
needs. He had none. We pray because
we have sin to be forgiven. He had none. We pray with blushing
face, constantly confessing our sin. He had no sin to confess
and nothing for which he should blush. We are full of shame and
contrition. He had nothing about him to give
him shame or to make him contrite. Our savior here comes to the
father as his perfect, obedient servant having fulfilled all
his father's will perfectly. And the prayer is all together
concerning the benefit of his disciples because of his finished
work. Our Lord Jesus speaks of his
father here, cries, Oh, righteous father, holy father. John seems particularly to dwell
upon the intimate relationship between the Father and the Son
in these last chapters of his gospel. In chapters 14, 15, 16,
and 17, 51 times John tells us that our Savior refers to his
God and our God, to his Father and our Father as his Father. He speaks here, as I said earlier,
distinctly for the benefit of his people. All through the chapter,
he's talking about his people, those whom the Father had given
him, those for whom he lived and died, those who were trusted
to his hands, those whom he had kept, and those whom he had saved
and would yet save by his marvelous grace. Now, let's focus this
morning on verse 8. John chapter 17 and verse 8. The Lord Jesus says, for I have
given unto them thy words which thou gavest me and they have
received them and have known surely that I came out from thee
and they have believed that thou didst send me. Look at the first
word. We often tend to forget or neglect
or overlook those small words that connect one passage to another. The text begins with the word
for calling our attention to that which had just preceded
it in the seventh verse. The word here takes us back to
what our savior had declared concerning himself as our redeemer. And he teaches us here that God
taught sinners know God the Son. God taught sinners know the Son. Look at verse 7. Now they have
known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given to them thy
words. I have given to them thy words. God taught sinners being taught
by the Word of God, given to us by the Spirit of God, through
the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, know the Son of God. We know Christ as he is revealed
in the Word of God. Now, there are many who vainly
imagine that faith is a leap in the dark. Nothing is further
from the truth. Faith is not a leap in the dark. Faith is based upon and arises
from the revelation of Jesus Christ in the soul by the Word
of God. I recall many years ago listening
to Mr. Falwell, who's now dead. This was his testimony. I can
give it to you almost exactly as he gave it. He said, when
I was first saved, I knew nothing about God and nothing about redemption
and nothing about Jesus Christ. Somebody just told me there was
a savior up in heaven who wanted to save me. And if I would believe
on him, I'd be saved. Now that may do for worshiping
a stump. And that may do for a good luck
charm, but that is not God's salvation. This is life eternal,
we read here in verse 3, that they should know thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. There is no salvation
apart from the knowledge of Jesus Christ, God's Son, as our mediator
and substitute. The knowledge of God comes by
the Word of God, by which faith is given. Hold your hands here
and turn to Romans chapter 17. Or Romans chapter 10, rather.
Romans 10. We'll begin at verse 13. This is a very familiar text of Scripture,
familiar to most religious people. But it's familiar in word only.
Very few pay attention to what's written here. Pay attention to
what the Scripture says. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord. Somebody is suddenly about to
die. He's hit on the street out here,
crossing the highway. And somebody says to him, said,
believe on Jesus. And he cries, Jesus saved me. He's saved. No. No, that is not
what it means to call on the name of the Lord. To call on
the name of the Lord is to worship the Lord. To call on the name
of the Lord is to worship the Lord Jehovah as he has made himself
known by his name, revealing his attributes, his character
in his word. You cannot trust an unknown savior. You cannot trust an unknown savior. Read on. How then shall they
call on Him in whom they've not believed? You can't worship Him
if you don't trust Him. And how shall they believe on
Him of whom they've not heard? You can't believe Him if nobody's
told you who He is and what He did. And how shall they hear
without a preacher? You'll never know Him unless
God sends a preacher to preach the gospel. Now watch this. And
how shall they preach except they be sent? I've come here
this morning to preach to you the word of God to each of you. And I can't do that. I prepared
the message. I worked hard, studied diligently,
prepared the message, but I can't preach unless God, the Holy Spirit,
has sent me and sends me as his messenger to you this hour. For that I beg you, pray, pray
for your pastor. for those other men whom God's
given us in this assembly and elsewhere who preach the gospel
of God's grace, that at the appointed hour, he might send his word
by his servant to your heart in the power of his spirit. How
shall they preach except they be sent as it is written? How
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace
and bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all
obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report? Now watch this. For faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the word of God. When God, the Holy
Spirit, takes the things of Christ and shows them to us, we know
from whom they proceed. They come to us from the Father's
eternal purpose of grace, unfailing, everlasting love, from his covenant
of love and grace made between the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit on our behalf. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant. So when the word of God comes
in the power of his spirit, God reveals secret things to you,
even your own election, your own redemption, your own calling,
and his covenant he makes known to you. The grace of God that
bring us salvation is effectual teaching grace. Grace gives us
an education, fitting us for heaven, making us to know God
in Jesus Christ. That's my first point. God taught
sinners know the Son of God. Now look back at our text. I
have. I have. This knowledge of Christ,
the knowledge of God that is a saving knowledge, this saving
faith in Christ arises from the fact of Christ's accomplishments
on our behalf. Saving faith arises from the
knowledge of the fact of Christ's accomplishments on our behalf.
so that the gospel comes not as good advice to sinners. No,
no, no. The gospel is not good advice.
It is good news. The gospel is not coming, telling
sinners what they ought to do, but rather it is the good news
of what God has done for sinners in his son. The Savior says,
I have, I have. Read this chapter again with
me. We're going to mark how these two words I have are used here. Our Savior speaks with finality. With regard to all that he came
here to do, he speaks with finality. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. What does that mean? Well, I
believe Jesus is Christ. What does that mean? What does
that mean? Do you have any idea? He who
is the Christ. is that one of whom all the Old
Testament prophets and types and pictures spoke. He is the
anointed one, the Messiah who would come, who would bring in
everlasting righteousness, who would make an end to transgression,
who would fulfill the law. To believe that Jesus is the
Christ is to believe that this man who was born in Bethlehem,
Jesus of Nazareth, is indeed the incarnate God and has indeed
fulfilled and accomplished everything written of him. Not that he tried,
not he did the best he could do, but he says, I have, I have. Now I want you to notice what
our Savior declares here that he has accomplished. Come my
soul, fall down at the feet of this all-glorious Savior and
trust him, worship him for all things and in all things for
he has performed all things on behalf of his people. First he
says in verse 4, I have glorified thee on the earth. Our Lord Jesus
said to his parents when he was just a boy 12 years old, don't
you know I must be about my father's business? All the while he walked
on this earth as a man, he came here to do his father's will,
to finish his father's will. In the New Focus magazine, the
last issue, Brother Peter Minney had an excellent lead article,
I hope you read it carefully, on the commandments of our Redeemer.
things the Father gave the Son to do as our covenant Redeemer,
and he fulfilled them all. He says, I have glorified thee. Our Lord Jesus lived on this
earth to God's glory, not for himself, but for us. not because
he owed something to God. He owed nothing, but we owed
everything. And as our covenant surety, he
assumed all responsibility for his people and glorified God
on the earth. Many, many years ago, I wrote
a catechism for our daughter. And the first question was, who
made you? The answer is God made me. The
second question was, why did God make you? And the answer
is, for his own glory. That I might glorify him and
enjoy him forever. God made man to glorify him. And man is a miserable failure. Adam sinned in the garden and
we sinned in him, and every man comes forth from his mother's
womb, speaking lies in rebellion to God since the day of Adam's
fall. But God made man for his glory,
and God will glorify himself in you one way or the other,
either by you glorifying him in perfect obedience and full
satisfaction through the substitute, the Lord Jesus, or by casting
you into hell to the glory of his justice and his mighty wrath. Jesus Christ glorified God for
me. Now listen to me. And I glorified
God in him. I have glorified thee on the
earth. How is that? Look at verse two.
I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Now, I don't know about you, but I've
never finished anything in my life. I get done writing a book,
for example. And no sooner do I get done than
I realize, ah, I should have done something else. And you
make some corrections, and you finish it up. Ah, got to add
something else, change this. And you make the corrections,
and you finish it up, and you send it to the publisher, and
you get it back. Ah, I left something out. I left something out. And consequently, I seldom ever,
unless you ask me something about it, someone asked me about it.
Once I've written it, I'm done with it. I don't I never look
at what I've written again. I haven't finished it. I never
finished anything in my life so that I was satisfied with
it. Complete. Did you? Our savior did. He finished all
the work the father gave him to do. He's the perfect man. What work is that? He came here
to save his people from their sins by two great works. By bringing in everlasting righteousness
and making satisfaction to divine justice. The Lord Jesus Christ,
by his obedience to the father from the cradle to the word that
he spoke when he said it is finished and bowed his head and gave up
the ghost. The Lord Jesus glorified God
in perfect righteousness so that he walked on this earth in complete
compliance with his father's will. He said, Lo, I come to
do thy will. Oh, my God. It is written in
the volume of the book. It is written to me. I delight
to do thy will. Oh, my God. By the which will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ one time with finality. He fulfilled all righteousness
for us. Perfectly obeyed God's will. In every detail, no variation,
no fluctuation, no change, no failure, no sin, in perfect righteousness,
he lived on this earth and thereby brought in everlasting righteousness.
Someone said from the time he came from his mother's womb saying,
lo, I come to do thy will, oh my God, till he gave up his life
at Calvary, he wove a garment of perfect righteousness, which
is put upon his people. It's called the righteousness
of God. And we are made the righteousness
of God in him. And our Lord Jesus did something
else. Having fulfilled all righteousness
as our mediator, our substitute and our surety, having done everything
we ought to have done, he undid all the evil we performed. By
the sacrifice of himself, he put away sin. He who knew no
sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Christ died a curse for us and
removed the curse from us. The just for the unjust that
he might bring us to God. So that Jesus Christ, by the
sacrifice of himself, by his shed blood at Calvary, fully
satisfied the justice of God. So that God has no reason to
be angry with his people. Justice is satisfied. Oh my soul
Relish the thought God Almighty Looks on his son and is satisfied
He's pleased with us in his son We don't look at verse 6. I Have
manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out
of the world manifested thy name. Thy name. Now, I'm certain that most of
you here do not know all the names by which God reveals himself
in scripture. We can think of some immediately.
El Shaddai, Elohim. We can think of the names Jehovah
Nissi, Jehovah Jireh, so on. But none here, I dare say, can
recall all the names by which God reveals himself in the scriptures. But the Savior says, I have manifested
to them thy name. Thy name. His name is who he
is. His name is that by which God
makes himself known. His name is his character. His
name are all the attributes of His being. So that when Savior
says, I manifested unto them thy name, He's saying, I came
and made God known to men. I have made God known to men. No man has seen God at any time. But the only begotten Son, who
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath revealed Him. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. In Him, that is in
Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. So that knowing Christ, knowing
His doctrine, knowing His work, knowing His Word, we know God. God as He really is. So that all who are born of God,
all who are taught of God, all to whom the Son of God manifests
God's name, know God in His true character, in His true character. Now, I don't by any means suggest
or imply that every believer is a theologian or that every
believer knows everything about God, nothing of the kind. But
every believer knows the difference between God and every false god. Every believer. Every believer.
We know that God's holy. No point in talking to us about
God who's not. We know that God is righteous and just. And because God is holy and righteous,
just and true, He will save sinners only on a basis that honors His
justice and His truth. He said the soul that sinneth
it shall die and God will punish iniquity to the full satisfaction
of justice. He cannot otherwise forgive sin
because justice won't allow it. We know that God in justice forgives
sin because Christ has fully satisfied the justice of God
for us. So don't talk to us about a God
who saves sinners at the expense of his justice. We know better.
We know that God is sovereign. This generation has no idea who
God is. No idea. No comprehension of
God's character, particularly in these two areas, righteousness
and sovereignty. This generation knows nothing
about the necessity of sinners being saved by a just God and
a savior. And no comprehension that the
God of glory sits on his throne and has his way everywhere in
heaven, earth, and hell all the time. All the time. Well, I don't,
I don't worship a God like that. That's the only God you'll ever
worship. You'll make a bargain with any other God. You'll try
to whittle him down to your size. Get him to deal with you on the
basis of what you promise him. Oh no, the only person who worships,
worships at the throne of a sovereign God, who does as he will, who
can have mercy on you or damn you, who can save you or send
you to hell, exactly as he will. And he always does. All who know
God, All who are taught of God understand that Christ is God
in the flesh. Look at the fourth thing, verse
12. Those that thou gavest me, I have kept. And none of them is lost, but
the son of perdition. Now read it. None of them is
lost, but the son of perdition. You know what that word perdition
is? Apollyon, the son of the devil. None of them is lost, but the
son of the devil. And he is lost that the scripture
might be fulfilled. It's written in Psalm 109. He
must be lost. Our Savior prayed that the Lord
God would damn Judas, and he damned him. He's the son of the
devil, the apostate, reprobate one. He is the son of Apollyon,
lost according to the purpose of God. Oh, I can't take that. Would you prefer to imagine that
he was lost in spite of everything God could do to save him? Would you prefer that? Would
you prefer to imagine that Judas fell because the Lord couldn't
help it? Would you prefer that? Would
you prefer to have God helpless before man or man helpless before
God? It matters not what you prefer.
Man is helpless before God. None of them is lost but the
son of perdition. None of God's elect are lost. The Savior says, I've kept them.
I've kept them preserved. in Jesus Christ and called. I've kept them. Because the Father's
purpose cannot be nullified. The promises of the triune God
cannot be made redundant. The work of the Son cannot be
in vain. The power of the Spirit, the
seal of the Spirit cannot be broken. I've kept them. I've
kept them. Those who are here who believe
me, Peter and James and John, Matthew and Mark, I've kept them. I've kept them. Not one of them's
lost. Oh, they were on a storm-tossed
sea one time and thought they saw a ghost, but I kept them. They all will soon forsake me,
but I've kept them. Peter will soon curse and deny
me, but I've kept them. None of them's lost, none of
them. And some who haven't yet been born, I've kept them. Through
the sin and fall of our father, Adam, I kept them. God told Adam
in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. But P.J.,
Adam didn't die, did he? He stood around for a long time.
Why didn't he die? God said in the day thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die. Well, he died spiritually, yeah,
but he's still walking around. Why didn't he die? Because in
Adam's loins was a seed who called the seed of Christ, God's chosen,
who must be born in time, who must be called by grace because
redeemed by the blood of God's Son. And he kept them, kept them
in all the days of their rebellion. kept them under the hour of calling
and keeps us still so that every heaven born soul, every sinner
may lift his heart to heaven who trusts Christ and sing with
joy in every state. We are secure. The apple of his
eye. All's well with us while life
endures and well when called to die. Look at verse 14. I have
given them thy word. I have given them thy word. The Holy Spirit takes the word
of Christ as it is proclaimed in the gospel and through the
mediation of Christ gives it to chosen sinners. effectually
gives it to chosen sinners. He speaks God's word to the Pharisees. And he says in John chapter eight,
it is to you a word of judgment, but he gives his word to his
own. You sitting there agreeing with
what I'm saying? You believe the word because he gave it to
you. Our gospel came to you, not in
word only, but in power and in much assurance as the word of
God. I have given to them thy word.
Look at verse 18. As thou hast sent me into the
world, even so have I also sent them into the world. The Lord in chapter 20 of John's
gospel says to his disciples, he breathed on them and said,
receive ye the Holy Ghost. As my father had sent me into
the world, so have I sent you into the world. We, uh, give
great honor to our missionaries. And one of the missionaries is
here, brother Gruver, brother Heller. One of our missionaries
comes in. We, uh, do our best to roll that red carpet for them.
And that's right. That's right. We ought to. We
ought to give them great honor. Those men who serve God in places
most of us wouldn't want to visit, much less live, give them great
honor, honor to whom honors due. But let me tell you something.
We have sitting here a room full of missionaries. Bob Duff, if
God's called you by his grace, you're a missionary. Scent of
Christ. Our purpose in this world is
to serve our God as his witnesses. Our Lord said, ye are my witnesses. You know what that word witness
is? It's the word for which we get
our word martyr. Martyr? Martyr? But brother Don, a martyr
is a man or a woman who lays down his life in the cause of
Christ. Bobby Estes, if you know God
and if I know him, he graciously compels us continually to lay
down our lives in his call. So that we live not to ourselves,
but to him who loved us and gave himself for us. Look at verse
25. The Savior says, I have known
thee. I have known thee. It is written,
no man knoweth the father but the son, and he to whomsoever
the son will reveal him. And yet here is a man who says,
I have known thee. This man knows God's perfection
and his glory. his secret thoughts and purposes
and designs, his covenant, his promises and his blessings, his
love, his grace and his goodwill to his people. He knows all the
mind and will of God for this man is himself God. He knows God perfectly. He knew no sin, but he knows
God. He knew no evil, but he knows
God. He knew no corruption, but he
knows God, for he is himself God. Now this gives special power
and meaning to verse 26. I have declared unto them thy
name and will declare it. Watch this. That the love wherewith
thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them. He who alone knows God has declared
to us the mind, purpose, will, and character of God, so that
the very same love the Father has to him is in us. And he who is God himself, in
the fullness of time, in the fullness of his infinite love
and matchless glory, manifestly dwells in us forever. I don't
know about you, but I call that grace, glorious free grace. The son of God comes and takes
up residence in the hearts of chosen sinners and causes the
very love of God for his son to be in us. The love of God
shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost so that now God's
love is made perfect in the believing center. We believe on the Son of God,
and believing the Son of God, have assurance that God, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost loves us perfectly. And perfect love casteth out
all fear. All right, look back at verse
eight again. I have given. I have given. Here's my third
point. Not only is it true that saved
sinners know the Savior. And we know the Savior by all
the work that he has done. But thirdly, this salvation that
is ours in Christ is the free gift of God's free grace. He gives us His Word. He gives us life. He gives us
faith. He gives us understanding in
His will. He gives us redemption and righteousness
and sanctification. He gives us an everlasting inheritance
in glory. Salvation is not the offer of
God. It is not something that God
presents to you, won't you pretty please take it. Salvation is
the gift of God. It's the gift of God. So that
when God comes in the power of His grace, the sinner lives and
finds himself believing God. Believing God. Faith in Christ
is not something that is conjured up by man's will. Faith in Christ
is not something that you get if the preacher gives you the
right opportunity and strikes while the iron's hot. Faith in
Christ is not the result of singing a dozen verses of Just As I Am
and getting you to raise your hand and slip out the aisle and
come down front and say, I accept Jesus as my Lord. No. No. Faith in Christ is that which
arises from the irresistible work of God the Spirit in the
heart. A moment ago you would not believe
and could not believe, but God comes in grace and suddenly you
find yourself believing Him. I believe God. I believe God. Now I trust the Son of God. Look at verse 8 again. I have
given to them the words which thou gavest me. God's people receive the word
of God and the words of God. The word refers to the whole
revelation of gospel truth given in the book. The whole revelation. I love what Donny Bell said years
ago. Somebody said to him, said, you don't believe that story
about the whale swallowing Jonah, do you? He said, I sure do. How
could you believe that? It's in God's Word. He said,
in fact, if the book said that Jonah swallowed the whale, I'd
believe it. Believers receive God's Word, the whole revelation
of God. Well, I'll receive it if it makes
sense to me. If you receive it, it'll make sense to you. Till
you do, it won't. Believers receive the whole revelation
of God. But that's not all. He said,
I give them thy words. The words are parts of the whole. So that as the word of God comes. My sheep say, well, you've given
me some things to think about today. My sheep say, well, I'll
go home and consider that. No. My sheep hear my word, they
hear my voice and they follow me. So that when the servant
of God comes and declares the words of God, the various parts
of the whole revelation, the sheep hear it and receive it
and believe on the son of God. And the more we receive of his
words, the parts of the whole, as we understand the revelation
of God, the more we believe and rely upon the savior. And the
clearer is our knowledge of him, the more we grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is Christ, our prophet,
who effectually teaches us by his spirit and gives us the words
of God. Turn back to Deuteronomy chapter
18. He gives us the words of God
and causes us to live by them, just as he told Moses he would. Deuteronomy 18 and verse 18. I will raise them up a prophet
from among their brethren like unto thee. You see that? And
Moses said, they won't hear me. I know that. But I'll raise them
up a prophet like you from among your brethren. And I will put
my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that
I shall command him. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak
in my name, I will require it of him. Now, as I said earlier,
if you want to look at it in John chapter 8, the master spoke
his words to the Pharisees. And he said, the word that I
speak to you shall judge you. He speaks his words to men, knowing
full well that his words spoken to men will rise up to condemn
men. And yet he spoke the words faithfully.
So it is with God's servants. God gives us his word. And I
know that the word that I preach to you will be to you if God
speaks by me, either a word of life under life or of death under
death. It'll either be a word giving
life or a word increasing condemnation. That's what God declares. so that you may stick your fingers
in your ears and run from God's, I will not hear. But you will
never silence God's word. In hell, the word you hear today
will only scream in your ears with increasing torment to your
soul forever and forever. But he doesn't just give his
word or speak his words to his chosen. He gives his words, so
that his words spoken to us is a word of life, giving faith,
causing us to look to him, life-giving words, life-restoring words,
life-preserving words. Years ago, Mr. Spurgeon told
of a young boy he saw sitting on the front row of the church
at Tabernacle, and the little boy would sit and lean forward
and cut both his hands behind both his ears. And he sat like
that during the whole service. And Spurgeon met him at the door
and he said, son, are you having trouble hearing me? He said,
oh, no, sir. No, sir. If I noticed you had
your hands cut behind your ears and seemed like you had trouble
hearing me. Oh, no. He said, he said, Mama told me this morning
that if God speaks to me, he'll speak his word by his servant. And if God speaks, I don't want
to miss his voice. Oh God, speak your word. And let your chosen hear your
voice. And by the voice of God, the
dead shall live. 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, the word
of life. Men come to Christ when you hear
the gospel of your salvation. The gospel comes to you and suddenly,
somehow, by a mystery no man can explain, God the Holy Spirit
makes you to understand that Christ redeemed you. And you
believe on the Son. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. the gospel of his free grace.
We're born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by
the word of God, which lives and abides forever. To those
who believe not, the words of Christ are words of judgment
and condemnation. To those who believe, his words
are life. Life everlasting by the power
of his grace. Look at our text one more time.
Here's my last point. All saved sinners receive God's
son. Receive God's words, know God's
son, and believe God's revelation of himself in Christ. I have
given unto them the words which thou gavest me. And they've received
them. They've received them. You start
to tell folks about things of God, try to witness to them,
and they say, but, but, but what about this verse? But what about
that? That's goat's language. They but at everything. God's
people receive his words. And receiving his words, know
his son. know Jesus Christ, whom to know
aright is life eternal. And receiving God's word and
knowing his son, God's people walk before him, believing God's
revelation all their days in peace. We receive his word and
receive his son and receive his salvation. For I have given unto
them the words which thou gavest me, And they have received them,
and have known surely that I came out from thee. And they had believed
that thou didst send me." Do you believe that Jesus is the
Christ? That He actually did save His
people from their sins? That He actually did redeem His
people with His blood? that He actually did fulfill
all righteousness, if you believe. Flesh and blood hasn't revealed
it to you, but my Father which is in heaven. And we, who are
born of God and taught of God, confess with David, not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name be glory forever
and ever. Amen.