Do you know, trust the true God
and Jesus Christ whom He has sent? To know them is to have
life eternal. We looked at that last week in
John 17. So if you would turn with me again to this amazing
chapter in the Gospel of John. Let's read it again. John 17, verse 3, And this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent." In order to obtain eternal life, we have
to know the true God. The true God. It's not just knowing
there's a God. That won't get it done. It's not just to know that there's
a Savior. It's not just to know there was
a man who once lived whose name was Jesus. that it's to know the true God
and the Lord Jesus Christ personally as your God and as your Savior. Life eternal, it's not an accident. It's not a thing of luck. It's
something done on purpose. by purpose, through a God of
purpose. Look at verse 2 of this marvelous
chapter. And thou hast given Him, who? Christ, power over all flesh,
that He should give eternal life to everyone? No. to as many as
thou hast given him." Life eternal, we've said this many times, is
not given to the whole world. It's not given or made available
to every man and woman that has ever lived to accept or reject. That's not what the Scriptures
teach. It's given to as many as God gave to Christ. When did
God give these people to Christ before the foundation of the
world and every single one of those that he gave to the Lord
Jesus Christ will come and they will be saved and they will have
life eternal. Well preacher, you're taking
me totally out of it. You're out of it. You're out
of it. has nothing to do with your choice,
your decision, your will, nothing. And all to do with God. Our Lord Jesus said in John 6,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. If you're one of the elect of
God and one of the children of God and a sinner saved by the
grace of God, you'll always be. If He ever loved me, He still
loves me. And that's one thing, dear friends,
that I'm absolutely certain of. I don't have much confidence
in this world, to be totally honest with you. I don't have
a lot of confidence in myself. But I've got all confidence.
in God and in Christ. And that's where life eternal
comes from. According as He hath chosen us in Him, Christ, before
the foundation of the world, you're familiar with the scripture,
Ephesians 1, you don't have to turn there, that we should be
holy and without blame before Him in love. Now people trying
to straighten up, act right, get their thing together, and
then come to God. Why? First of all, it'll never
happen. And secondly, He's the one that
makes us holy and without blame before Him in love. How? Having predestinated. Now don't
let that word fool you. Predestinated. Predetermined. Right now, I have determined
that I'm going to do something after services today. I predetermined. Now the problem is with me, there's
a lot that could happen with me that would cause it to happen
or not to happen. But with God, it's impossible.
Everything that God intends to do, He does. He's never tried
to do anything. He's never wanted to do anything.
He does. according to the purpose of His
own will. But He predetermined, He ordained
by and on purpose us. Who's that us? All those that
come to Him. All that the Father gave Him.
And to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. According to the good pleasure. It doesn't say according to your
works. According if you're a good man or a woman. According if
you decided to follow Jesus. No, according to the good pleasure
of His will. That's how we receive life eternal,
according to His will. And I'm going to tell you something,
every child of God will love that. They'll rejoice in that
truth. God did it. And why wouldn't
we? If God did it, it's done. It's for certain. It's for sure.
Salvation, life eternal is by, is on purpose, is according to
the sovereign will and power of God to adopt His children
where? To Himself. Christ is heaven. Christ is paradise. Heaven is not just a place we're
going to dwell. Heaven is heaven because who
dwells there. And Christ adopts us into children
to himself according, that's a good word to know, according
to the good pleasure of His will. It's according to God's good
pleasure. Do you find comfort in that?
Boy, I find all my comfort in that. According to God's good
pleasure to make His people what? Holy. Make His people what? Without blame. Before Him in
love. Now, you tell me that's not good
news. It'll be good news to sinners. If you're a sinner, that's good
news to you. Now this 17th chapter of John, and I've said this,
and I've heard many of you say it. One of my most favorite passages
of Scripture in the whole Bible. It's a prayer. This whole 17th
chapter of John, it's a prayer. It's the Lord's prayer. It's
the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there is a prayer
that we call the Lord's prayer, which he taught us to pray. You
know what that is. Back before schools got in a
mess, they taught us this prayer the same as they did a pledge
of allegiance to the flag. You know what prayer I'm talking
about. He taught us to pray, but He didn't pray that prayer.
You know why first and foremost He didn't pray that prayer? Because
there was no need for our Lord to pray for forgiveness. And
that's what that prayer is about. Forgive us. Forgive us, Lord. But this prayer in John 17 was
properly His. And it suited Him and Him only
as the mediator, the substitute for His people. This is His intercession. We call it an intercessory prayer,
but it's profitable to us. If God makes it so, it's profitable
for us in instruction and in encouragement and faith in Him. Now, we won't take time to read
the whole chapter, but if you read this chapter, and I recommend
that you do, I read it often. That's another reason today's
message came out of this chapter. I like to read it. Oh, no, I find comfort, joy,
peace in it. But if you take the time to read
it, here's what you'll find. In verses 1-5, our Lord and Savior
prays for Himself, and He prays for those that are His. In verses
6-10, he prays, pleads, and petitions for his people, his elect, his
children. In verses 11-16, he prays that
his people be kept. Do you know that if God saves
you, no chance of being lost because he'll keep And Christ,
as our substitute, our intercessor, prayed that we might be kept
in verses 11 through 16. In verses 17 through 19, He prays
that His people be sanctified. In verses 20 through 23, He prays
that they might be united. Do you know how we know we've
passed from death to life? By our love for one another.
That's the united faith of believers, their care and love for one another
is one of the first signs of their redemption. He prays that
they might be united. And in verse 24 through 26, he
prays that they might be glorified. And all God's children, one day
when they leave this body of flesh in which they now dwell,
will be glorified. But this morning, I want us to
just consider one verse One verse only, and that's verse 20. Christ
is praying for His own, His elect, His people, His sheep, believers,
whatever you prefer to call them, but they're all His. It's His
elect, it's His chosen, it's His sheep, it's His people, it's
His believers. His sinners, if you use that
terminology, but they're His. And he prays here, he said, neither
I pray for these alone. He didn't pray for those of that
day only. He did pray for them. But he
didn't pray for them only. he prayed for every elect child
that would be born afterwards look at this verse neither pray
I for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me
through their word now one of the first things that a true
believer or a child of God learns And you know this to be so, it's
found in 1 John 4.19 and it's a very direct, simple, short,
easy verse even to remember. We love Him because He first
loved us. That's a word that we ought to
really strive to get a hold of. Because. Because. Never forget to leave that word
out when it refers to anything concerning us, really. Let me
try to explain to you what I mean. We must always remember why we
do or have anything. It's because we love God because
He first loved us. We forgive others because He
forgave us. We are gracious to others because
He's gracious to us. Is that not right? He's the reason. Because He, because He first
loved us. We're merciful to others. Not
like we should be, but we are because He's merciful to us. We are long-suffering and patient. Oh my, not like I should be.
But because my motivation for being long-suffering and patient
is because he's long-suffering and patient to me. We're gentle, good, faithful
to others. Not like we ought to be, but
my incentive The thing that makes me desire to be more and more
so is because He is all those things to me. It'd be correct
to say that He's our example in all things, isn't He? Our
good example. May we never ever forget that
we love Him because, because, because He first loved us. And every child of God knows
that to be so. They won't argue with you about
that. They won't try to tell you it's because they first loved
Him. And that's my first point. I
only have two. I'm not going to keep you long. Two points.
Here's my first. God loves His people before they
ever believe on Him. Now there's some that disagree
with that. They would Seriously disagree with it. But let me
ask you a question. Would the Lord Jesus Christ,
would he pray for those whom he did not love? In this passage he says, I pray
not for the world, but for them that thou hast given me. Would
Christ pray for those whom he did not love? Well, if he did,
he'd be a hypocrite. And he's not a hypocrite. I'm
a hypocrite, but not the Lord Jesus Christ. Men pretend to
pray for others. They pretend to pray for others
that they would not in reality lift a hand to help. There are many who bend their
knees that never bend their hearts. That's a sad fact. Now is our
opinion of God so low, dear friends, that we would try to deceive
God Himself with hypocritical prayers, which are nothing but
self-glory? Men pray before other men and
they show such concern. Do they really have it? Well,
that's between them and the Lord. But I'll tell you this, the Lord
Jesus Christ never prayed a hypocritical prayer. If He prays and He intercedes
for a sinner, You can write it down that He loves that sinner. You can write it down. If He
pleads for any man or woman, you can be assured that He chose
them. If Christ asks the Father that
one be blessed, you can for certain believe that He asked from the
heart. with love and eternal affection. It's just a fact. There are many
that confess that we're made children of God. And we are. But they think it's by some act,
will, or decision of their own. It's not. It's not. No humble student of the scripture
believes that God begins to love them when they begin to love
God. That's contrary to what the scriptures
teach. We must then conclude, dear friends,
stay with me here, that if Christ prayed for his people before
they were called, before they believed, then his intercession
for them most definitely implies his love for them. He must have loved his people.
before they ever believed on Him. There's no clearer place to look
than the Mount Calvary. You gaze your eyes upon God. Gotha is healed, dear sinner,
and there you'll see the greatest proof. Now what do I mean by
that? Did Christ die for me before
I believed on Him? I wasn't born. And neither were
you. Could Christ then have died before
I had faith? Well, some men say, and I've
heard it with my own two ears, that God foresaw that you would
have faith and therefore He loved you. Have you heard them say
that? God foresaw that you'd have faith. and therefore he loved you."
That puts salvation back in the hands of man, doesn't it? That's
saying that He loves us because we first loved Him. Now, if I'm
going to be honest with God, honest to you, and most importantly,
honest with myself, the only thing that God would have foresaw
in me was that I had no faith. No life. No will. Is that right? Let's just be
honest with ourselves. As one old preacher used to say,
it's just between us girls. Let's just be honest about it. Can any man or woman truly, truly
say they believed on Christ in and of themselves? I tell you
this, no true believer will say that. They'll never say that
faith came to them without the gift of God. Not a believer. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And if we stop right there, there's
a marvelous, marvelous truth. That is how we're saved. We're
saved by grace through faith. But the apostle says, and that's
not of yourselves. You know, I'm convinced he put
that there because we, by nature, would think it was. It's not
of yourselves. Then what is it, Paul? It's the
gift of God. That's what it is. for the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. God's gift to us, dear friends,
is not the cause of His love, but His love is the cause of
His gift. Now you think about it. That
just sounds reasonable, doesn't it? I mean, that just makes good
common sense. But you would be amazed. You're
a minority that believe that. You are. And you know how I know
that? Because narrow is a great gate. Narrow is the way, and straight
it is that leads to life eternal. And broad is the gate and the
way. eternal damnation. Would I dare say that I love
you because I gave you a gift? That just wouldn't make any sense
at all, would it? Let me ask you this, did your
natural father, did your earthly father love you because he fed
you and clothed you? That's getting the cart before
the horse. No, He clothed you and fed you because He first
loved you. His love was prior to His gift.
And it's even more so with God. I can assure you that if God
purchased me when I was dead in sin, doesn't it just ring
home that He must have loved me first. If I was dead, what
could I do that would cause Him to be mindful of me? Even when we were dead. Dead in sin. hath quickened us
together with Christ by what? Grace! Grace! You're saved. And you, being dead in your sins
and uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with
Him, having forgiven you all your trespasses. Colossians 2
verse 13. How much more then is that true
of God? If our Heavenly Father, our Lord
said, if you Being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children. How much more shall your Father which is in heaven
give good things to them that ask Him? That's from the lips
of our Lord Himself. He says here in our text, neither
pray I for these alone but for them also. I'm so glad He put
that in there, for them also, which shall believe on me through
their word. Now that brings me to the second
point, but I won't dwell here long. What is the good of preaching
the gospel? There are many this day and time
who say, I hear you talk, and you talk about the sovereignty,
and you talk about election, and you talk about predestination,
and all these things, and you believe that God loves His people
and that His elect, His people, His chosen will certainly be
saved. Then let me ask you, what's the
good of preaching? Have you heard them ask that?
Have you ever been asked that? What's the good of preaching?
What's the good of having a church service and preaching? We know from the Scriptures,
dear friends, that God loves a multitude that no man can number. And people ask, what's the good
of preaching? If God loves and wills to save
His people, then why preach? The problem with this way of
thinking is only God knows who his people are. You and I can't
pick out a child of God and elect. I'll tell you what, nine times
out of ten we'd pick wrong. I'll bet you if not ten out of
ten. We're looking for something outwardly.
God looks on the heart. We'd tell you that one, that's
a child of God right there. We don't know. God knows. And He commands us to preach
the gospel to every creature. What's the good of preaching?
Well, God uses the foolishness of preaching to save those who
believe. God uses the preaching of the
gospel to fetch these diamonds out of the dunghill. What's the good of preaching?
One old writer says, it's just like a diver goes into the depths
of the ocean to fetch up pearls of great price from the bottom. God reaches down in the depths
of the gravity and fetches his chosen pearls. Isn't that what
he does? God's chosen the foolishness
of preaching to save those elect. We must preach the gospel because
verse 20 here says, others shall believe on me through their word. That's not a singular thing either. They, that's plural. shall believe
on me through their word. God's chosen sheep shall believe
on Christ through their word. God uses preaching. Is that not how you were saved?
Well, it's just there again. Is that not how you were saved?
By hearing the gospel through a preacher. Now, I don't want to make light
of these things that I'm fixing to mention, but God does not
say that those who will believe will believe by reading, by studying,
or even attending a religious service. That's not what He said.
Studying, reading, and attending church. Don't make light of that.
That's important. That's usually the effect, though,
not the cause. Isn't that right? God uses preaching. Preaching. Oh, I remember when
I heard it. It was by a preacher. It was
by a preacher. And he had a message from God. And I don't know, I can't tell
you how it affected anyone else that day that heard it. I can
tell you how it affected me. For it wasn't after the wisdom
of God, because the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." Friends,
it's God's purpose and decree within Himself. It's His sovereign
good will and pleasure to save sinners by true gospel preaching. It was how God, without any motion,
movement, or merit in the creature, chose to reveal Himself to fallen
but elect sinners. That's how He does it. That's
how He chose to do it. God was resolved from all eternity
to save. Not the wise, not the prudent,
not the scribe, not the disputer of this world, not the talker,
not the worker, but them that believe in His Son. And he does it by preaching. And I don't know, I suppose,
if I had truly, truly knew that like I should in my heart, I
may not have ever wanted to be a preacher. God made me willing
even to do that. It's such a responsibility for
God Almighty to open up this Word and declare His truth. But that saving look unto Christ,
that look of those who trust in Him and commit their care
and the keeping of their souls to Him, regardless of how weak,
mean, evil, despicable they are, are saved by the message of Christ
and Him crucified, and it's through preaching. That's how God saves the lost.
That's how God comforts the saved. Because of the preaching. The word that our Lord speaks
of concerning those who believe is a word from God, but it's
also a word of experience. And allow me just for a minute
to explain what I mean there. God saved me through the preaching
of the Gospel. It's through Christ and Christ
only and Christ always. I know that. This is life eternal.
That you know the true God in Jesus Christ, the sovereign Savior. But what is the good of preaching?
It's good to acquaint sinners to the true God and to the true
Savior. What? Think ye of Christ, the
preacher said. Whose son is he? My experience
of grace is that the sovereign God has mercy on whom He'll have
mercy. And He has compassion on whom
He'll have compassion. That's my experience of grace.
God does as He wills in the armies of heaven with the inhabitants
of earth. And none can stay His hand. None
can say unto Him, what are You doing? Have you experienced that? You absolutely have. You know
it to be so. God's not a little mealy mouth
trying to do something, God. My experience of grace, dear
friends, is that Christ is all in it all. There's no salvation
in any other. Only Christ, who was God, was
made flesh. Is that right? It was Christ
only who was God that lived perfectly, that died without sin in the
sinner's place. You know of any other than Christ
that did that? It's only Christ that was made
sin so that the believer might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. It was only Christ that rose
from the dead. It was only Christ that ascended into glory. These
are the words of truth in Scripture and also in experience by the
believer. You that trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ, you sit there right now knowing in your heart these things
are so. But God, who's rich in mercy. If it hadn't been for but God,
you'd have never come. Your will was not to come, and
you had not the ability to come. You know this to be so. true preachers stand before the
lost and the redeemed with God's Word in their hearts. They preach
the truth which is not only found in the scriptures but also the
truth that they've experienced in their own hearts. When we
speak that which we know and we testify of that which we've
seen, we've felt, we've touched, we say that we know. We know
that the Savior will pardon sinners because He pardoned us. Those of you who know and trust
Christ this morning, you know that He saves sinners. You know
why? Because you consider yourself
to be the chief. You know that God pardons, because
He pardons you. We believe that sinners will
be converted to God, not only by the preaching of the Gospel
that we find in the Bible, but by the preaching of the Gospel
that we find in our hearts. I can tell you assuredly that
Christ Jesus came to save sinners, because He saved me by His grace. You see what I mean? Now, I'm
not saying that we go out and just preach experiences. If we're
going to do that, we just have testimony day and night. Every
time we get together, somebody stand up and give a testimony.
That's not what preaching is, but it does come from the sinner's
heart. It's an experience of grace.
It's an experience of mercy. It's an experience of faith.
Where my faith come from, God gave it to me. And if you didn't get yours from
God, you didn't get it. This rings true to every child
of God. If Christ saved me, then there's
hope that He might save you. You that are yet without Christ. How long, let me ask you, will
you halt between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him. How long? How long will you halt? You're not promised tomorrow.
Today is the day of salvation. And I tell you, it's no accident
that you're here. It's no accident that you hear
these words. It's no accident that you are
hearing the truth about the true God and the true Savior that
God sent. This is life eternal. Are you interested in life eternal?
Does it interest you or does it not? If not, why do you come? I'm
not trying to be ugly, I'm just asking. If you're not interested
in life eternal, if you're not interested in the things of God,
you better off stay home. Church attendance sure won't
save you. If you come because someone you love comes, that's
not going to save you. It's a good place to be, but
it's not going to save you. Do you have that interest? Do
you desire life eternal? Well, I tell you this, only God
and Christ, through the preaching of the gospel, will snatch you
up from the dunghill where you wait to be condemned. Joshua
24 15 and I close and it's saying if it seemed evil unto you to
serve the Lord choose this day Choose you choose you This day
whom you will serve Whether the gods of your father and I point
out to you since we're not turned there. That's a little G gods
You're going to serve the little G gods which your father served
that were on the other side of the flood? Are the little G gods
of the Amorites in whose land you dwell? But as for me and
my house, we will serve the L-O-R-D, capital, Lord. This may be the Lord Jesus here
in John 17 prayed for you. If He did, you'll come to Him.
If He prayed for you, you'll hear. If He prayed for you, then
you'll believe. I'm certain of that, and that's
the only reason that you'll ever come.