If you will open your Bibles
back again to John 17, I want to talk to you for the
next little bit on this subject, glorified to glorify. Now in John chapter 1 and verse
14, the Apostle said, the Word was made flesh. talking about
the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Word. This tiny babe born in
Bethlehem's manger was declared by the heavenly host to be the
long sought after Christ. And they said, thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall glorify, he shall save his people
from their sins. And of this birth, this virgin
birth, the Apostle John said, 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. And then in John 2,
verse 11, having turned the water into wine at the wedding in Cana, John says this, this beginning
of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth
His glory. And His disciples believed on
Him. And then in John 12, verse 41, quoting from Isaiah's prophecy. Now, we've been over this before
in Isaiah. If you'll read Isaiah chapter
5, the prophet pronounces a woe on everything coming and going,
on drunkards, on this, on that. He's just woeing everything coming
and going. In Isaiah chapter 6, it says
he saw the Lord. When King Uzziah died, he said,
I saw the Lord high and lifted up. His train filled the temple. All these seraphims and cherubims
and all these things depicted in the temple, depicted in the
tabernacle. He said, they all covered their
eyes and cried, holy, holy, holy. A smoke rose from the place at
his presence and his glory. And when Isaiah saw these things,
he said, I said, woe is me. Woe is me. And in John chapter
12, verse 41, quoting from Isaiah's prophecy concerning the blindness
of natural men and their rebellion against truth, he said this of
that prophet and of that prophecy, These things said Isaiah when
he saw His glory. His glory. And then in 1 Corinthians
1, verses 30 and 31, the Apostle Paul made this grand declaration. He said, but of Him, of God,
are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And then in my text
here in John chapter 17, verse 1, as the Lord lifts up His heart
to the Father and prays for all His elect, He begins this intercessory
prayer with these words, the hour has come, glorify Thy Son. that thy son also may glorify
thee." Now what was about to take place was of monumental
importance. He calls it the hour. The hour. I want you to just
think on that for a little bit. The hour. There was a bunch of
little kids last night waiting on an hour, weren't they? Get
ready to go, getting their little costumes on and excited and ready
to go and get those bags full of candy. This is the hour. The hour. This hour divides two
eternities, past and future. This hour is the keystone that
holds the great arch of time. It is for this hour that the
great clock of time began to beat and the reason why it continues
to beat. And the reason why one day it
will be no more. For this hour, God created everything
that is. For this hour, heaven's justice
waited. Think about that. For this hour,
vessels of mercy were justified beforehand and vessels of wrath
were tolerated to exist and go on in their sin and pollution.
For this hour, Satan was permitted to reign in the earth. All Satan
did was to say in his heart. He never did anything. All Satan
did was just say in his heart. He challenged God in his heart. Jealous in his heart over the
glory that I'm talking about here this morning, this glory
of Christ. And he said, oh no. He said, I'll sit in the seat.
That's what he said in his heart. As soon as he said it, out of
heaven he went. He fell like lightning, it said,
into the earth. But here in the earth, he tolerated
and he's permitted to reign in the earth for God's purpose.
What's that purpose? This hour. This hour. Under this hour, kingdoms rose
and fell. Nations were formed and given
power. And every act of providence was
arranged to the most minute detail for this hour. This hour is the
reason for every hour that's passed and every hour yet to
come. This is the hour of glory. In this hour, Satan's rule is
overthrown. Death is defeated. in this hour,
an end made of sin and God's righteousness established forever.
In this hour, God's law is exalted and honored. And this hour is
marked by an absolute union of extremes. I looked at this hour,
and in this hour, I see life and death. Can there be two more
extremes than that? Life and death, both of them.
in this hour. Time and eternity, both in this
hour. Light and darkness, bliss and
agony, good and evil, the will of God, the will of man. What
extreme. As the crowd cried out, give
us Barabbas. Give us Barabbas. Crucify him. Crucify him. That great king Pilate gave Jesus
over, it says in the scripture, this is exactly what it says,
he gave them over to their will. Huh? But in Acts chapter 4 verse 28,
we find out that their will was but the doing of what God determined
before to be done. Man's will and God's will. What extremes. What extremes. Love and hate. Anger and reconciliation. This is the hour of glory. The
hour of hours. And the place where glory given
gives glory in return. This is what our Lord is praying
to the Father. Glorify me in this hour. My hour has come. Now glorify
me. that I might glorify Thee. Let
me tell you something. It's not the facts of the crucifixion
that's hidden to men. It's not the historical account
of it. It's the glory of it. That's
what's hidden. All through these scriptures,
He just keeps telling them about His glory. The angels declared
it. The Father declared it. He was
transfigured before their eyes. The apostles declared it. We
saw Him, handled Him with our own hands, the Word of Life.
And we saw His glory. But this world didn't see that.
They just saw the death of a man and a hated man at that. It's
the glory. of what happened on the cross
and the person who died on the cross to which men are blinded. In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 3,
Paul said, If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost,
in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them
that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel The glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your
servants for his sake. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. You see what's going on in this
hour? in this hour. If there's one thing I'm sure
of, it's this, this whole religious world is blind to the glory of
God in Christ. They see no more of God in His
death than they do of a good man in his death. No more. They see a great man, they see
a teacher come from God, a moral man, a compassionate man, a reformer
of me, They see a man of sincerity and determination, determination to do good, determination
to give, to do the best he can. They see a man doing everything
in his power that a man could do to accomplish the will of
God. Now, this is not heresy. This
is not hearsay. I've actually heard these statements
made from pulpits across the country. God has done all He
can do. Now it's all up to you. God's hands are tied. They're
tied. And He cannot violate the will
of man. God has no hands but your hands.
and no feet but your feet. I heard this not too long ago,
Jesus died on the cross to give every man a chance. I ask you this, where is the
glory of God in these statements? Where is the glory of God in
a sacrifice that cannot put away? This is the hour of eternity. This is not a reaction to something
that happened in time. This is the absolute sovereign
purpose of Almighty God. And it's the focal point, the
hinging point, the pivot point of eternities and time, of all
these extremes of man's will and God's will and all of these
things. Where is the glory of this sacrifice if it cannot save? Where is the glory that Christ
spoke of? The glory of God who cannot do
what he said he would do. I tell you this, just don't even
talk to me about a gospel that leaves men in their ignorance
and leaves men to themselves and leaves men to their own ideas
and concepts. Salvation is a revelation of
God. You'll stop asking those foolish
questions. You'll stop using those silly
excuses when you know something about God. That's why he says
here, this is eternal life that they might know be the only true
God. If you ever see the glory involved
in his crucifixion, you'll see something about the true character
of God. And when you do, you'll quit
asking foolish questions, won't you? Yes, you will. Eternal life
is not how long it lasts, it's what kind of life it is. It's
the life of God. It's to know God. It's to see
the glory of the Father as He manifested in the life and death
and resurrection of Christ. John says this, we know, we know
that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness. How
can you know that, John? How can you make such a claim
as that? How can you make such a claim?
How can you be so sure as to die for it, to put your life
on the line for it? How could he be so sure of such
a statement? Give up all earthly ties for
it. Give up your house for it. Give
up your job for it. How could a man be so sure of
that statement that he can do that? How can you possibly know
with such certainty as to judge the whole world? Here it is,
1 John 5, 20. Because we know that the Son
of God has come and given us an understanding. That's why. Given us an understanding that
we may know Him that is true and that we're in Him that is
true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God
and eternal life. And we know Him that's true because
He's revealed to us the glory of that hour. Let me give you
several things about this hour to think about. Let me give you
five or six things this morning. At the cross, this is what He's
talking about. He's talking about His death.
He's talking about the culmination. I finished the work that Thou
sent me to do. This is the end of it. This is
the end of it. I'm going to go to the cross.
My hour has come. This thing is coming to a head.
It's nearing its completion. He'll cry in just not very long
at all. He's going to cry. From that
cross, it is finished. And it will be finished. It will
be finished. At the cross, God reveals His
absolute authority over everything that is at this cross. Nothing can prevent the cross.
I remember, some of you don't even know Him, but I remember
we had A fellow on TV, he was from out here in Oklahoma somewhere. His name was Rex Humbart. And
he used to get on TV, and boy, he'd get worked up. And I remember
old Rex Humbart. My grandmother and grandfather
used to listen to him, and that's how I heard him. But I remember
old Rex Humbart getting all worked up on TV one Sunday morning,
and the tears were rolling down his cheek. And he said, if I'd
have been there, I'd have stopped him. The devils in hell couldn't
stop him. The Father Himself wouldn't stop
Him. What on earth makes you think?
I'm telling you, nothing could stop or prevent the cross. God displayed such absolute omnipotence
in the cross that you cannot resist it, you cannot refute
it, you can't turn it aside. They couldn't prevent it. Doing
exactly what they wanted to do, they did exactly what God determined
before to be done. Pilate and Herod couldn't stop
it. Satan couldn't stop it. Disciples, Peter wanted to stop
it. Jerked out that sword, took a swing. He was going to cut
the high priest's head off, but he moved his head and he just
got his ear. He couldn't stop it. I said,
I know they'll leave you, but I won't leave you. Yeah, you're
going to leave me. Everybody's going to leave me. I don't know how many times.
I was just going, just the book of John alone, I was going through
there last night and counted four or five times. Said they
let him out. He read a scripture to them.
Told them who he was. God come into the flesh. I'm
the Christ. They said they would have took
him out and threw him off the brow of the hill. That city was
up there and that synagogue up on a hill and there was a cliff
out there. And they would have took him
out and threw him off that cliff. But he passed right through their
midst. He walked right through their midst because his hour
was not yet come. They wanted to kill him because
he healed a man on the Sabbath day. But they couldn't. It says, no
man dare slay hands on him, because his hour was not yet gone. He
was a single man, not a very strong man, as men go. Platted out a whip, walked into
the temple, and whipped out the money changers. What a miracle. What a miracle. And no man laid
hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come. Oh, I tell you, He came into
this world to save sinners, and not all the devils in hell can
prevent it. He put away our sins by the sacrifice
of Himself. And all the unbelief in this
world can't... all that they can muster up cannot
prevent what He accomplished on this planet. I couldn't stop
it. I can't prevent it. God gave His Son. It says the gift of God is eternal
life. And every good gift and every
perfect gift cometh down from the Father of life. At the cross,
at the cross, God declares the glory of His absolute sovereignty. And at the cross, He declares
the glory of His immutability. God's not going to change. He's
not going to change. And that's what James is talking
about in that verse I began to quote to you. Every good gift,
every perfect gift, cometh down from the Father of lights, with
whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. I know men talk about it, but
faith does not make his sacrifice effectual. His effectual sacrifice
is what makes faith effectual. Nobody's going to believe for
whom Christ did not die. What could faith accomplish without
an atonement? What good could faith do if there
were no righteousness to impute? What good is a faith that has
no basis of hope? All the basis of the hope of
faith is in that man. That's why I tell you all the
time, it's not in the doctrine, it's in the man. The doctrine
comes from the man. Salvation's in the man. Embrace
the man, you'll get the doctrine. If what you see. And then thirdly,
I want you to think about this. God glorifies his son on the
cross with the glory of his love. Herein is love. Not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sin. God commendeth, Paul said, his
love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. And if what you see accomplished
on the cross is a willingness of God to let you go, is that what you see? A willingness of God to let you
go. If that's what you determine
when you look at that cross, you haven't seen His glory. You look at that cross and you
say, He says, I want to save you, but I can't. You've never
seen His glory, not the glory of His love. Now, if I'm reading
John chapter 8, verses 28 through the end of the chapter correctly,
All that was determined before by the purpose of God, predestinated
to a final end, called of God in eternal election and justified
by Christ, glorified in Christ, was all done because God loved
them with an everlasting love. Isn't that His argument? Who
is He that condemneth? God that justifies, isn't it?
Huh? Who's going to accuse you? God
justified you. Who's going to condemn you? Christ
died. Who's going to separate you then from the love of God? In Ephesians 1-4 it says, God
the Father chose us before the foundation of the world in Christ
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. And that in love, that you see
there, that's not talking about your love for him. You love him
because he first loved you. But that's not what that's talking
about there. That's talking about that man who in eternal election,
when God reveals to him his eternal election, his God's predestination
of him to be his son, When He reveals that to your heart in
that day and you're fully saved, been raised from the dead, have
a new body, a new soul, sin put away completely, not even the
presence of it is there, you're going to stand before Him and
know you've been loved. How are you going to know you've
been loved? Because love won't let you go. He said, I'll never leave you
or forsake you. He said, love suffereth long
and is kind. It seeketh not her own. Love
beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things,
and endureth all things. And he said, love never, never
faileth. Never. It cannot fail. It cannot fail. I can't determine to whom He'll
show it. All I can do is point you to
where to look. That's where you can discover
it. The glory of God's eternal love is manifested in His death
and those who see it love Him because He first loved them.
And that love will not let you go. And then fourthly, God glorified
His mercy in the death of His Son. Paul put it this way in
Ephesians 2, but God, who is rich in mercy and for His great
love wherewith He loved us even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ by grace, are you saying, and
hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. I love these words, rich in mercy. I tell you, if you're ever in
need of it, you'll rejoice in them too. Rich and plenteous,
he said, plenteous in mercy. Actually, God's more willing
to be merciful than men are to be shown mercy. What is mercy? Anybody here know
what mercy is? It's God's not giving to you
what you do deserve. That's mercy. That's mercy. And where this mercy of God is
seen in its glory, it's seen at the cross. Listen to how Paul encourages
those believers over in Titus. He said, we ourselves also were
sometimes foolish. deceived, serving divers' lusts
and pleasures and living in malice and envy, hateful and hating
one another. Boy, that sums me up, I'm telling
you. But after that the kindness and
love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we've done, but according to his mercy, he
saved us. by the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost when He shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior. That is, He took us and in that
revelation of the Spirit, He showed us what Christ accomplished
on that cross for us. Mercy. And being justified by
His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life. And then fifthly, at the cross,
God manifested the glory of His grace. There was grace from the
very beginning, provenient grace. You can go all through the Bible
and find grace. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord, didn't he? There was grace in the garden.
There was grace at the altar of Abel. There was grace all
down through time. He speaks of this great grace.
There was provenient grace going before. Gracious promises, gracious
providence, gracious tithes, gracious prophets, preachers,
priests. But grace, the glory of it, came
by Jesus Christ, didn't it? That's what he said, grace. He's
not talking about things of grace. He's talking about grace. Grace,
pure grace, came through Jesus Christ, grace and truth. where
is unmerited favor glorified as it is at the cross. I love
this old hymn. He said, all the love that drew
salvation's plan and all the grace that brought it down to
man. Think about that. Think about
that. The wonder, the majesty of what
God has determined to do and the grace to bring it down and
reveal it to us just weren't. Just one. Oh, the mighty gulf
that God did span at Calvary. And then lastly, the glory of
God's justice was manifested at the cross. The final judgment
of Christ will not glorify God's justice as much as it did at
the cross of Christ. His eternal destruction of all
those who believe not will not glorify His justice like Christ
did on the cross. I tell you, when God gives us
eyes to see the glory of God's righteousness in the death of
His Son, we see His justice in its proper light. Every precept
of the law upheld, every sin received of its due recompense
and reward, every sinner held until the full satisfaction of
the law is achieved. I don't know where men get these
ideas, but God does not forgive sin by wiping it out or by turning
his back on it or erasing it or pretending like it never was
there. It has to be paid for. It has
to be paid for. Actually, God does not forgive
sin by pardon alone. He pardons men because their
sins have been paid for. And God forgives sins through
the death of a substitute. He established that in the garden.
He demonstrated it at the altar of Abel. He confirmed it on the
cross of Christ. We're justified, He said, freely
by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. whom
God has set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood to
declare His righteousness in His justification of all those
that believe. Glory, glory in this hour. And men not looking to this hour.
When I say these things, they just totally ignore everything
that I'm saying about the glory that's revealed in this hour,
and they won't come back just like the Jews did and talk about
what Mom and Pop said. Well, why do you transgress the
traditions of our elders? Who do you think they're talking
about? Mom and Pop. They told them it's how things had to be,
so that's how things had to be. Why do you transgress the law
of God with your traditions? That's what Christ asked them. I'm telling you that glory is
not in these things. That glory is at the cross. Go
to the cross. You want to know is this thing
a universal atonement or is this thing particular redemption?
You want to know those things? Go to the cross. What happened?
Did He accomplish what He went out there to do? Did God actually
clothe Him in this glory? Was that glory accomplished at
the cross? Then why are these people perishing
in hell for whom He died, if He died for all men? That can't
be. It cannot be. It makes God a
liar, a liar. All of the universal love, love
faileth not. I read it to you in the scriptures
just a little while ago. But if He loves all men, and
some men are in hell, then love failed, didn't it? Reason these
things from the cross. Go to the cross where the glory
is revealed, the glory of His justice, His mercy, all of these
things, His authority, all of these things at the cross. They're
at the cross. That's the basis of how God saves
sinners.