Would you turn to the 17th chapter
of the book of John? While you're turning there, I
want to remind you to sign up for that pictorial directory
back there. It's free. You can get a picture
made of your family. Some of you don't want to have
your pictures taken. If that's the case, give us one anyway.
I mean, it'd be good. Everybody can get names together.
So I hope everybody will do that and participate in that. John chapter 17. I'd like to read the 25th and
26th verse. O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee,
but 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, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them,
and I in them. I had a very difficult time trying
to come up with a title for this message, so I have entitled it,
The Sum of the Mystery. The Sum of the Mystery. And we have that in these two
verses of Scripture. The Lord says, O righteous father,
the world hath not known thee. The same world that he refused
to pray for. Look in verse nine of this chapter.
I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. It's the same world that hated
his disciples. Verse. Fifteen. I pray not that thou
shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst
keep them from evil. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. This is the same world that hated
the Lord Jesus, that did not know him. Look in John chapter
15, verse 18. If the world hate you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own. But because you're not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hated you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they
persecuted me, they'll also persecute you. If they've kept my saying,
they'll keep yours also. But all these things will they
do unto me, unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him
that sent me. If I'd come and spoken unto them,
they'd not had sin, but now they have no cloak for their sin.
He that hateth me, hateth my father also. If I had not done
among them the works which none other man did, they had not had
sin. But now they both seen and hated,
both me and my father. But this cometh to pass, that
the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. They
hated me without a cause." Now this is the world that did not
know God. The world by wisdom, by its own
wisdom, knew not God. He was in the world, the world
was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. Now, this word,
no, it has more to do than just a cognitive knowledge. It has
something to do with love. It has something to do with approval. It has something to do with delighting
in. The world hath not known thee. They've not delighted thee. They've
not loved thee as you are. That's what that has to do with.
The world has not known thee. This world I've come into has
no love for thee. Back to our text, he says, but
I have known thee. You think of the son's knowledge
of the father. I love to think about that. He knows him all
together. He's one with the father. Look
at Matthew chapter 11. Hold your finger there. I love
this passage of scripture, Matthew chapter 11. In verse 25, at that time, Jesus
answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and
prudent and has revealed them unto babes. And here's the reason.
Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight. Now listen
real carefully. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. And no man knows the Son, but the Father. Neither
knows any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal him. Now, I've known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me. Now, the Lord Jesus knows
the Father perfectly, and how He loves His Father. Now, back to our text in John
17, 25. O righteous Father, the world
have not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known
that thou hast sent me." Now here's how they know, verse 26,
and I have declared unto them thy name. Now this is actually a quotation
from Psalm 22, the Psalm of the cross, where our Lord says, I've
declared unto my brethren thy name. And that's exactly what
he did on the cross. He declared the very name of God. Now, what
is meant by the name of God? It's very important. Throughout
the scriptures, the name of God comprehends all that God is. The name of God is the person
behind the name. The name of God is his characteristics. It's his attributes. It's his
personality. They have known Thy Name. It's
His nature. It's His holiness. It's His righteousness. It's His absolute sovereignty,
His control over all things. It's His wisdom. It's His mercy. It's His grace. It's who He is.
That's what the name of God signifies. It's who He is. Like when I call
on the name of the Lord, what I'm doing, I'm saying, Lord,
save me by Your attributes. Save me by Your righteousness.
Give me Your righteousness. Save me as an act of Your sovereign
will. Command my salvation. Save me
by Your grace. Save me by Your love. Save me
by Your mighty power. Save me by Your wisdom. His name
is who He is. It's the revelation of His person.
He says concerning His disciples, I've declared unto them thy name. The reason we know His name,
the reason we know Him is because He made Himself known. He's declared
unto us His very name. And they love your name. They
approve of all your attributes. But I believe the special knowledge
that He's talking about. is found in this phrase. He says,
I declared unto them thy name. Look at this name He gives the
Lord, and this is the only time this is found in the Scriptures.
Look at verse 25, O righteous Father. Now that's the special
knowledge that every believer has. This is what He's made known,
O righteous Father. Now, He is altogether righteous. Do you believe that? He is altogether
righteous. Righteous, unbendingly righteous. He is utterly impartial, strict,
unbending justice. He will by no means clear the
guilty. If you're guilty, he will not
clear you. If you have sin on you, he won't
accept you. He's absolutely, altogether,
completely, inflexibly righteous. And that's the God of the Bible.
Righteous altogether. But not only is he righteous,
unpartial, absolutely strict, unbending in his righteousness,
he's also the righteous father. Described in Psalm 103. Turn
with me there. Psalm 103. I love this Psalm. Beginning in verse 8, this one
who is strict and unbendingly righteous is also the one who
is described as the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and
plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide. Neither
will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward
them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us, like
as a father pitieth his children. So the Lord pitieth them that
fear Him. For He knows our frame. He remembers
that we are dust. Now, here's my question. How
can God be both of these? That's the question of questions,
isn't it? Altogether righteous. Yet a gracious,
kind, and merciful Father who forgives iniquity and who's slow
to anger. How can He be both of these? This is the revelation of the
gospel, isn't it? The righteous Father. Now, man's religion presents
one of these aspects in a warped way all the time. For instance,
man's religion presents him as, in a warped way, not true righteousness,
but he's righteous, he's out, he's going to get you. If you
mess up, if you step wrong, he's going to pound you. He's going
to pound you. That's the way they look at him. Almost a cruel taskmaster. They either present him as this
righteous, unbending person who's out to punish you, or as this
doting father. who just is waiting for you to
let him bless you. He just lives to bless you. That's
the way religion generally presents him. And one of these aspects
is righteous and stern or is this doting father. But the Bible presents him as
the righteous father. Now, question. What is the righteousness
of God? What is the justice of God? That's more than we can say,
but understand this. God is righteous in this, in
every sense, but here's what I'm, what I want to get across.
There will never be one sin left unpunished. That's how righteous
he is. He won't turn his head. He won't
do the way we do. We turn our head. He will not
let one sin go unpunished. God is so perfectly, impartially
just and righteous that all sin will be paid its due. It's the
nature of God to be just. He can't just let sin be swept
under the carpet. It's not going to happen. God
is utterly, impartially righteous. And God can be that altogether,
and yet a compassionate, forgiving, loving Father. God is righteous. And we couldn't respect Him in
any other way than that. We deep down, every one of us
know that God is altogether righteous. And yet to His people, He is
a kind and compassionate Father." Now, how can that be? That can
only be understood in the Gospel. The Righteous Father. Now, there's not a more important
word or concept or thought in all the Scriptures than this.
The Righteousness of God. Let me show you this in the Scriptures.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 1. You know, in the book of Romans,
Paul's great exposition of the gospel. He speaks of the righteousness
of God no less than 38 times. But look here in Romans chapter
1, verse 16. Paul says, for I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it The gospel of Christ is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the
Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein, in the gospel, is
the... Now, before I quit reading that,
if you'd ask your average religious person, what does the gospel
reveal chiefly about God? What would they say? Love. God loves. And the Gospel certainly
does show us His love. But when Paul speaks of the Gospel,
what does he say? For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. From faith to faith, as it's
written, the just shall live by faith. The Gospel declares
the righteousness of God. Would you turn over to Romans
chapter 10? Verse 1, Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. And you know, that's my heart's
desire and prayer to God for me and for you. that we might
be saved. I want to be saved. I want you
to be saved. I want your children to be saved. Now, Paul was talking
about the Israelites who were not saved. Now, let's go on reading. He says in verse 2, I bear them
record that they have a zeal of God, but it's not according
to knowledge. Now, they're religious, They
have the same copy of the scriptures you and I have, and they're zealous. They stand for what they believe.
They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Four,
verse three, they being ignorant of God's righteousness. and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God." Now, they're ignorant, he says, of
God's righteousness. They're ignorant of His righteous
character, His His holiness, His unapproachableness, His absolute
justice. They're ignorant of that. And
if I'm ignorant of that, I will not be saved. This is knowledge
I must have, a true heart understanding that I must have. God's righteousness. They're ignorant of God's righteousness.
They're ignorant of His righteous character. And they're ignorant
of His righteousness in their damnation, in their condemnation. Now listen to me real carefully
regarding this thing of the righteousness of God. You and I can't be His
judge. Whatever He does is right. And
if He sends me to hell, if He sends you to hell, it's right. It'll glorify His righteousness. Do you believe that? We can't
sit in judgment on God. That's what most people do. They
hear of the gospel of God's sovereign grace, how God elected some and
passed by others. And they say, well, that's not
fair. It's not fair for God to save some and not save others.
All of a sudden, they become God's judge and sit in judgment
of God saying, well, I don't agree with that. Now, if you
ever come to know God's righteousness, You submit to the fact that whatever
He does is righteous. And if He passes you by, He is
righteous in doing it. Do you believe that about yourself?
You know, if the Lord passed me by and let me go to hell,
you know what? He would be altogether righteous
in doing so. I couldn't complain. If God saved
everybody in this room but me, He'd be altogether righteous
in doing so. There's a true submission to
His righteous character. Whatever the Lord does is right. That's the righteousness of God.
Now, they're ignorant of His righteous character. They fail
to submit to His righteousness. And here's the kicker. They fail to submit to His righteousness
in salvation. What do I mean by that? Let's
go on reading. Verse three, for they being ignorant of God's
righteousness. And here's what somebody does
who is ignorant of God's righteousness. They go about to establish their
own righteousness. They try to put God in a way
where he's obligated to say, look, Lord, I did this. You got
to save me now. I did that. You got to save me. Trying to
obligate God. They've not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God, for Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth." Now, here's
the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God. He kept God's law perfectly. And here is the righteousness
that a believer is justified by. I submit to this. I'm glad
it's this way. His righteousness charged to
my account. Actually mine. Not just some
kind of legal document that says this is the way it is. No, His
righteousness is actually mine. I'm saved by His righteousness.
Let's go on reading in this passage of Scripture. For Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. For
Moses described the righteousness which is of the law, that the
man which doeth those things shall live by." In other words,
here's the righteousness of the law, keep it perfectly, non-stop. That's the only righteousness
that the law recognizes, perfect obedience by you. But the righteousness
which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart,
who shall ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down
from above. Don't say, what can I do to get Christ to come down
here and save me? Or who shall descend into the
deep? That is to bring Christ again from the dead. Don't say,
what can I do to make what he did work for me? Don't forget
that kind of thinking. Verse eight, but what saith it?
The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That
is the Word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised Him from the dead." And that's not just
talking about believing that it happened. It means you understand
why it happened. He was raised from the dead because
God accepted Him. And He accepted what He did and
He accepted everybody He did it for. Look what it says in
verse 10. 9. God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto what? Righteousness. And with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. Now, with my heart, that means
with my understanding, with my affections, and with my will,
I believe on Him as my righteousness before God. I understand that
His righteousness is the only righteousness there is. I understand
that. Not only do I understand it,
I love this. I'm glad it's so. Not only am
I glad it's so, not only does it affect my affections, this
is the way you give me the choice. You want to be saved by your
righteousness or Christ's. I don't have to make a choice.
That's obvious. His righteousness only. Now, that's the righteousness
of God that a believer is saved by. Oh, righteous Father. Now, what does it mean to submit
to that righteousness? We submit to His righteous character.
We submit to His righteousness in our condemnation and we submit
to His righteousness in the gospel of salvation. Now what this is
talking about is substitutionary atonement. The only way I can
understand how His righteousness can be mine is through having
some understanding of what Christ was doing on the cross. Now what
was He doing on the cross? He lived a perfect life. fulfilled
God's law perfectly. God said, I'm pleased with him.
And yet he was nailed to a cross. Why? The sins of the elect became
his. He was punished for them because
they were his. When God gave them to him, they
became his. And just as truly as they became his, his righteousness,
his obedience becomes mine. And now because of that, he is
my righteous father. You see, sin has been punished
and justice satisfied. Let me show you what kind of
father he is. Turn to Luke 15. He's the righteous father. Thank
God for that. We couldn't respect him if he
wasn't this way. But he's the righteous father. Luke 15, verse
11. A certain man, this is the Lord
speaking, he says, a certain man had two sons. And the younger
of them said to his father, father, give me the portion of goods
that falleth to me. And he divided unto him his living. And not many days after the younger
son gathered all together, maybe at a million dollars. I mean,
he had a lot of money and he took a journey into a far country.
And there he wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, what
a wasteful, extravagant young man. I mean, you think he blew
this large inheritance. And when he had spent all, there
arose a mighty famine in the land. And he began to be in want. He began to be in need. He didn't
have anything else. Now he doesn't think about his
dad yet. He went and joined himself to a citizen of that country
and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. That's the lowest
thing that could happen to a young Jewish man. And I think this
represents human religion. And he would have fain have filled
his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man
gave unto him. And when he came to himself,
O blessed time, when the Lord lectured, because you should
come to yourself, he said, How many hired servants of my father
have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? Now
I'll arise, I'll go to my father, and I'll say unto him, Father,
I've sinned against heaven, before God, and before thee, and am
no more worthy to be called thy son. I don't even expect to be
made thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and left that land,
and came to his father. And I can imagine all the things
that must have been going through this man's mind. How will he
receive me? Will he receive me at all? What's
going to happen? And he arose and came to his
father, verse 20, but when he was yet a great way off, his
father saw him. And I have no doubt he was looking
for him. And he had compassion. And he
ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. The Scripture says,
kissed him with many kisses. Oh, he was overcome to see his
boy come home. Verse 21, And the son said unto
him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and I sighed to him no
more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his
servants, Bring forth the best robe. What's that? The righteousness and merits
of Jesus Christ. Bring forth the best robe and
put it on Him. And put a ring on His hand. Eternal
love. And shoes on His feet. Grace. to walk in faith. And bring hither the fatted calf,
and kill it, and let us eat, and be merry. For this my son
was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found, and
they began to be merry." Now you see this righteous Father,
merciful, gracious, that I can come to, and I probably think
He's probably going to knock me down, but He is filled with
compassion, and kisses me with many kisses, receives me, puts
the best robe on me, and a ring on my hand, and shoes on my feet."
Now, back to our text in John 17. O righteous Father! This is something every believer
knows. Oh, righteous Father. This is the knowledge of the
Gospel. Oh, righteous Father. The world hath not known Thee,
but I have known Thee. And these have known that Thou
hast sent me, and I have declared unto them Thy name. Righteous
Father. And we'll declare it. You know,
one of the things about the Gospel is we need to hear it over and
over, don't we? We need to hear it over and over. I need to hear
about how he's my righteous father continually. I've declared unto
thy name and will declare it. Now, look at this. That the love
wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in thee. Now here we have a divine knowledge
given by a divine instructor. And it's caused by an indwelling
love and an indwelling Lord. An indwelling love. And let me
say this. The Lord intends for every one
of his people to have some understanding of this. So you listen carefully.
If you don't have an understanding of it, I trust the Lord will
give you an understanding of it today. The love wherewith
thou hast loved me. This love that God the Father
has towards God the Son is a love of complacency and delight. It's not an unconditional love.
When people talk about the unconditional love of God, there's no such
thing. He doesn't love anybody unconditionally. You see, if
He loves you, it's because you're in Christ and He sees you as
altogether lovely. That's why He loves you. It's not this unconditional
love that religion tries to spout. That's a non-entity. There's
no such thing. This is the love the Father has for His Son. He
looks at His Son and His Son is altogether lovely. Oh, He
sees the beauty and the holiness and the glory and the faithfulness
of His Son, and He says, I'm well pleased. I think of the
Father watching His Son for the 30 years that He walked upon
this earth in obscurity. Nobody knew Him, but the Father
did. Oh, the Father looked on Him
and said, This is My beloved Son, the Son of My love in whom
I'm well pleased. Oh, I'm so pleased with Him.
When He was baptized, He comes up to John the Baptist, and John
the Baptist said, I have need to baptize of thee. He said,
suffer it to be so, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness. And he baptized him. And when he comes back up
out of the water, a voice came from heaven. This is my beloved
son, in whom I'm well pleased. When our Lord took James and
John and Peter up on the Mount of Transfiguration and was transfigured
before them. And the scripture said his face
shined like the sun and his raiment became white and glistening.
Peter answered, Peter always got to say something. Lord, it's
good for us to be there. Let's build three tabernacles,
one for thee, one for Moses and one for Elijah. At that time,
a voice came down from heaven. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. Hear ye Him." Don't you worry
about Moses or Elijah. You hear Him. Now this love that the Father
has to the Son is eternal. It never had a beginning and
it'll never have an ending. This love He has to His Son is
infinite. He could not possibly love Him
more. And he could not possibly love
him less. Now, that exact love, our Lord
says, that you have to me, you have to them. And it indwells
them. Now, do you hear that? The same
love that the Father has to the Son. That love of complacency
and delight. That love because He's lovely.
The same love that the Father has to the Son, He has to every
single one of His children. Everyone He's a Father to. Everyone
who believes. And His love is never unreciprocated. We love Him because He first
loved us, but we love Him. All that He loves. Love him in
return. Oh, they see him as altogether
lovely. Now, look at our text, John 17,
26. That the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them and I in them. Now, here's why his love indwells
us and I in them. Christ in you. the hope of glory. Turn with me for a moment to
Colossians 1. I want you to see this. This is such an important
verse of Scripture. Colossians 1. Verse 27. To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you. Christ in you. The hope of glory. You see, it's not what he gives
to us. That is the hope of glory. It's
what he is to us. Now let me repeat that. I want
you to get a hold of that. It's not what He gives to us that's
the hope of glory. It's what He is to us. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse
30 says, But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is maiden
to us. Wisdom. Righteousness, sanctification,
holiness, and redemption, complete deliverance. That's what He is
to me. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
2. Paul says in verse 20, I am crucified with Christ. Isn't that what we confess in
baptism? When He died, I died. That's my hope, that He did what
He did as a representative for me. I was in Him. I am crucified
with Christ. I'm dead. Nevertheless, I live. I live right now before God.
I live. Yet not I. but Christ liveth
in me." Now understand this. I live myself. I have faith.
I repent. I love God. I do all those things.
It's me, not somebody else. But I know this, the only reason
it is, is because Christ liveth in me. That's the only reason.
I know that so clearly. I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh." I live
by the faith of the Son of God. I live off His faithfulness.
I don't live off my faith. I live off His faithfulness.
That's what I believe. His faithfulness, His obedience, that's what I
live off of. I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me. and gave Himself for me." Now
that would be meaningless if that was true of every individual.
If He loved everybody without exception, I love all men without
exception, I give myself for everybody, that would be meaningless
because you might wind up in hell anyway. But oh, here's the
believer's hope. He loved me and He gave Himself
for me. That's my hope, that He loved
me. and gave Himself for me. I don't frustrate, I don't render
void the grace of God, for if righteousness came by the law,
then Christ is dead in vain. Now, how can I know if Christ
lives in me? You know, I remember hearing somebody say
once, they heard concerning Christ
living in the believer, And they said, seems like if he was living
in us, he'd stick out. And it does. It does. But if that's what you're thinking
about, looking where he's sticking out of you, you're going to struggle. What is the evidence that he
lives in me? Is it because of how I live? Now, I want to live
to honor him. Oh my, I don't want to sin. I want to live in a way that
glorifies him. But here's the evidence that
he's in me. It's not how good I'm living. Look in Ephesians
chapter 3, verse 14. For this cause, I bow
my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the
whole family in heaven and earth is named. That's my name. My
name is His name. My salvation is in His name.
I'm saved for His namesake. Verse 16, that He would grant,
that He would graciously give you, according to the riches
of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the
inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts, Al, by faith. What is the evidence that Jesus
Christ is in me, dwelling in my heart? What is the evidence? I am relying on him. I'm relying on Him as my wisdom. I'm relying upon Him as my righteousness. I'm relying upon Him as my sanctification. I'm relying upon Him as my redemption.
And I really believe this. If He didn't do it all, there's
no hope for me. I am relying on Him. Now that, my dear friends,
is saving faith. If you rely on Him, it's because
Christ lives in you. One last scripture, turn to John
chapter 9. John chapter 9. Some religious fellows were questioning
this man that the Lord had given sight to. And they said, now, how were
your eyes opened? Verse 27, he answered them, I've
told you already, a man named Jesus opened my eyes and you
didn't hear. Wherefore would ye hear it again?
Will ye also be his disciples? Then they reviled him, and said,
Thou art his disciple, but we're Moses' disciples. We know that
God spake unto Moses, As for this fellow, we know not from
whence he is. The man answered and said unto
him, Why, herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from
whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know
that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a worshipper
of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth, Since the world began,
was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was
born blind? If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.
They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in
sins. Dost thou teach us? And they
cast him out." They excommunicated him. Jesus heard that they'd
cast him out. And when he found him, he said
unto him, Dost thou believe? on the Son of God. And he answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might
believe on him? Now, he didn't really have faith
yet, did he? Does thou believe on the Son
of God? You see, faith is believing that He is God the Son. You remember
that Ethiopian eunuch? What hinders me from being baptized?
If you believe with all your heart, you may." He said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe He's the uncreated,
eternal Son who must save everybody He died for because of who He
is. He answered and said, Who is He, Lord, that I might believe
Him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen Him, and
it is He that talketh with thee. And He said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him. Wherever that is, you have Christ
dwelling in the heart. And this is the sum of the mystery.
Righteous Father. This is the knowledge that a
believer has. Righteous Father. righteous father, and the same
love that God has to his son, he has to everybody who knows
him as the righteous father. And everybody who knows him as
the righteous father has Christ dwelling in them. That is the
sum of the mystery. Let's pray together.