Did you ever stop to think how
commonly we use adjectives with the word grace whenever we talk
about it? Seldom do we simply say grace. As a young man, I was satisfied,
content when I talk about God's grace to define it the way I'd
heard it defined. Grace is unmerited favor. Grace is God's riches at Christ's
expense. Grace is God's favor to a people
who deserve His wrath. But the more I taste and experience
the grace of God, the more completely overwhelmed I am by it. I'm beginning
to realize just how little I know of His grace, how utterly incapable
I am of describing it. So like you, whenever I talk
about grace, the grace of God, I about always speak of it as
God's free grace, or sovereign grace, or irresistible grace,
or effectual grace, abundant grace, matchless grace, everlasting
grace, all those terms. Many, many others we use. Adjectives
setting forth something of the wonder we have for God's grace. And should we use them all together?
Should we put them all together in one sentence describing God's
grace? We haven't begun to use hyperbole
at all. Rather, we have fallen indescribably
short of stating what little we know about God's amazing grace. The fact is, our experience of
grace, that which we know just in our experience, I'm not talking
now about what God's grace is in its depth in the heart and
being of God. I'm talking about just our experience
of grace. is so utterly overwhelming that
it defies human language to define it, describe it, and declare
it. And I've noticed lately that
those men who wrote this book, when they spoke of God's grace,
seemed to have been overwhelmed with it just like we are. Speaking
by inspiration, they use numerous adjectives in relation to God's
grace to show us the superlative, supreme excellence and infinite
greatness of the grace of our God. Let me give you a few. In
Romans chapter 5, the Apostle Paul said, the gift by grace,
which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded. Now that's the
word used in relation to grace more than any other, I believe.
Either abound or one of its derivatives. It has abounded to many. Moreover,
the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Peter speaks of God's mercy this
way, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope. For so an infant shall be ministered
unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord
Jesus Christ. We are saved, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy
Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. And the grace of our Lord was
exceeding abundant with faith and love. The Lord God calls
sinners to faith in Christ, promising, I will abundantly pardon. The
Lord Jesus speaks of abundantly satisfying his people and bids
us to come with him into his garden and eat and drink abundantly
of his free grace. In the first chapter of Ephesians,
Paul is giving us an inspired declaration of God's matchless
grace toward poor, needy sinners in Christ. In verses 3 and 4
and 5, He sent before us the mercy, love, and grace of God,
blessing us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus, and
all those things which God did for us from eternity. In verse
7, he speaks to us concerning our having redemption through
the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins, describing
for us what the Son of God did for us at Calvary. And then in
verse 8, down through verse 12, he begins to speak to us about
the great abundant grace of God as it is revealed, made known,
and manifest to chosen sinners, redeemed by the blood of Christ,
by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit. Let's begin
reading at verse 7, Ephesians 1-7. Now I want you to notice something
as we go along. Our translators give us these six verses in one
sentence, one lengthy sentence. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace, wherein, wherein, that is in his grace, he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Having made known
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Now that one
sentence, taking up those six verses, in all of its distinct
phrases, is describing for us different aspects of one subject. He's describing for us God's
abundant grace abounding toward us by His Spirit in the revelation
and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's describing both
the work of God the Son and the work of God the Holy Spirit.
He connects the two. The word wherein connects verse
6, or verse 8 rather, and that which follows with that which
has gone before it. In verse 7 he tells us that we have redemption
through the accomplishments of Christ at Calvary. And then he
begins to tell us about our experience of this grace as we come to know
it by the gracious operations of God the Holy Spirit applying
to chosen redeemed sinners that which God our Savior did for
us when he put away our sins at Calvary. In verse 7 we're
told that redemption is ours. And then in verses 8 and 9 we
read, wherein, that is, in God's free grace, he hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known, this is how
God's grace abounds to us in the experience of it, having
made known unto us the mystery of his will. The mystery of his
will. Now, when the scripture speaks
about a mystery, it's not talking about Something that's mystical,
necessarily. It's not talking about something
that's beyond grasp. Or even beyond knowledge and
understanding. It's talking about something
that is beyond the grasp, the knowledge, the understanding
of any man by nature. It's something that God reveals. And it can be known only by divine
revelation. He made known to us the mystery
of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed
in himself. Paul is here telling us exactly
the same thing that he states in 1 Timothy 1. Listen to this.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ was exceeding abundant with faith
and love which is in Christ Jesus. Now first he tells us that wisdom
is revealed in redemption. I have no question at all, there
are folks who debate, and as I studied this I read lots of
others trying to prove that this abounding of grace to us in wisdom
and prudence refers back to redemption or that it refers to our experience
of grace. And the arguments are just so
much wasted time and effort. The fact is it refers to both.
The redemption of our souls by Jesus Christ is the revelation
of God's infinite, indescribable wisdom and prudence. He hath
abounded toward us in wisdom, in all wisdom. That's in all
the wisdom there is. That's the wisdom of God. All
the wisdom there is, omniscient wisdom. Wisdom has the idea of
knowledge. I had to do a little searching
to find the distinction between wisdom and prudence. Paul didn't
use redundant words. The Spirit of God inspires him
to use the word wisdom and the word prudence, speaking of God's
grace abounding to us. Wisdom speaks of God's infinite
knowledge. In Ephesians 3.10, Paul speaks
about this same grace revealed in the gospel and calls it the
manifold wisdom of God. In 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks
of God's wisdom and tells us that the gospel is the wisdom
of God and the power of God. The wisdom of God and the power
of God that the world counts foolishness. God's wisdom, this
wisdom of God that found a ransom for our souls in his own darling
Son, is that which can be known only by revelation. And until
it is known by revelation, the wise of this world count it foolishness,
and God counts their wisdom foolishness. All carnal wisdom, everything
that men know and can know, Did you hear me? Everything men know
or can know about spiritual things without faith in Christ is foolishness. I don't care who the theologian
is who teaches you. I don't care who the pastor is
who persuades you. I don't care how much you have
been catechized and how much you have memorized. All that
you know by nature, by carnal reason, by carnal wisdom, by
that wisdom that is in you, is utter foolishness. This wisdom
must be revealed. The word prudence, it sort of
refers to wisdom, but it's more than that. Prudence speaks of
the infinitely great skill by which God exercises his wisdom. the infinitely great skill by
which he has accomplished and is accomplishing his purpose
in all things. Specifically, the infinitely
wise and great indescribable skill by which God Almighty sovereignly
arranged and rules and governs all the affairs of providence
to accomplish the redemption of our souls by the sacrifice
of his son. Now, you just let that roll over
in your mind and heart for a little while and read the scriptures
and see how God has wisely moved through history with skill that
defies understanding, much less explanation working everything
together to accomplish the redemption of our souls by Christ. God's
grace is that which is revealed in the redemption of Christ by
which he abounded toward us in all wisdom. And therefore the
gospel that we preach proclaims redemption accomplished and is
called the manifold wisdom of God. When it's revealed to us
by His Spirit, it makes us wise unto salvation. Showing us how
the Holy Lord God can be both just and the justifier of all
who believe. Showing us how that He can be,
as He declares Himself to be in Isaiah 45, 20, a just God
and the Savior. What wonderful wisdom appeared
in the contrivance of this thing called redemption. When the Lord
God said, I have found a ransom. I have laid help upon one that
is my faith. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. What wisdom is seen in appointing
a mediator for us, a substitute, such as the Lord Jesus, who is
able to reconcile God and man. What wisdom we see in God choosing
to secure and set forth his highest honor, glory, and praise and
the redemption of our souls. Can you imagine that? We see the wisdom and power of
God in creation. Just a little dab. Just a speck. Just a speck. We see God's holy
character in the law he's written on our hearts. Just a speck. Legalists love to try to urge
folks to live by the law, and they tell us the law is the perfect
revelation of God's character. I beg your pardon, if it was,
why did Christ come? No, no, it just reveals a little
bit, a little bit of God's just character, just a little. But
God sets forth the glory of His being, in the glory of His grace,
in the redemption of our souls by His Son. That's where the
wisdom and the glory of God is seen. What infinite prudence
we see in Him ruling the world with unimaginable skill and wisdom
to accomplish this. God's purpose, it's obvious to
me, in creating the universe was to show his glory in the
saving of our souls by Jesus Christ. And Adam is in the garden. And the serpent beguiled Eve. And Adam, with willing heart,
plunges our whole race into sin and curse and damnation. Looks like God's purpose has
fallen to the ground. Oh no. Adam's fall was but a
picture of God's wisdom in another Adam who was to come by whom
we would be redeemed. The Lord God promised the woman
seed to come. promised the woman's seed to
come through a man by the name of Abraham, that one in whom
and by whom and through whom all the nations of the earth
would be blessed. That is, in, by, and through whom all God's
elect in every part of the world, in every generation to the end
of time would be blessed. And then one of Abraham's sons,
a fellow by the name of Judah, has a son, and he died before
they had any children, his firstborn. And Judah promised that he would
give his daughter-in-law to one of his sons, and he reneged. He didn't keep his word. But
there was a woman more righteous than Judah, he testified, named
Tamar, his daughter-in-law, who dressed herself up like a common
prostitute, hid herself, and deceived Judah. because she understood
by the revelation of God's wisdom that that birthright spoke of
the coming of the woman seed. And she said, I'm going to have
Him cost me what it may, including reputation and my own very character. And by Kamar, the seed was preserved. Read it in Matthew chapter 1.
by Tamar. Oh, you can't understand that.
I said you can't understand that. I'm talking about wisdom. Wisdom
beyond man's conception. You mean God was ruling there?
Either God was ruling there, or Satan was ruling there, one
of the two. And it was by this woman, in
her incestuous affair with her father-in-law, that the Lord
Jesus Christ is born into this world. Lot's nephew Abraham,
or Abraham's nephew Lot, rather, begets two children, from whom
came Edom and Moab. Well, it looks like God's purpose
is overturned. No, there's a man by the name of Boaz who is one
of Abraham's who must be the father of Obed,
the father of Jesse, the father of David, the father of our Lord
Jesus Christ in his humanity. And at God's appointed time,
he takes to himself a Moabite woman, born of Lot's incest with his
daughter. And that woman, too, is named
as the great grandmother of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. David,
the king, the man after God's own heart, takes Bathsheba, murders
his friend, covers his sin. Surely this is going to ruin
everything. No. No. The child born to Bathsheba and
David is called Beloved of the Lord, and Bathsheba finds her
name in the genealogy of our Redeemer. Time comes for Mary
to give birth to that holy thing conceived in her womb by the
Holy Spirit, and Mary and Joseph must somehow, this poor couple,
somehow, in the time of her extreme pain, must be brought to Bethlehem. And there the Savior must be
born, because in Micah 5, verse 2, the Scripture said He must
be born at Bethlehem. And so God Almighty in wisdom,
whose hand rules the heart of every king, whose will determines
the thought of every mind. Put it in the mind of Caesar
Augustus to do one of the most foolish things a political ruler
ever did in history. He required everybody in the
nation to go to the place of their birth to pay their taxes. The Savior is born. The wise
men come and Herod is scared to death he's going to lose his
authority. So he gives a decree and demands that the male children
be slaughtered as soon as they're born. Surely this is going to
turn the apple cart over. Everything's going to be upset
now. How shall God's purpose be fulfilled? It's being fulfilled
for the scripture said, I called my son out of Egypt. And that's
where Joseph took it when he fled from Herod's fury. The gospel
proclaims the recovering and saving of lost sinners by a substitute,
by a crucified Redeemer, which is here described as the exercise
of God's abounding wisdom and prudence. And this was a mystery,
a mystery so hidden that the world could never have discovered
it. hidden in God, hidden in His
breast, in His bosom, in His heart, in His mind, in His thoughts,
until Christ came, hidden still from lost sinners, until Christ
comes by His Spirit and reveals the gospel of His grace in us. We preach the wisdom of God in
a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom, which
none of the princes of this world knew, or can know, in whom the
God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe
not." We preach. I preach to you. I preach to
folks all over this country. Every time God gives me opportunity,
I preach a message that I am fully aware nobody can get hold
of. Nobody. Nobody. Unless God gets
hold of them. Nobody. You see, this thing of
faith in Christ, this thing called the knowledge of Christ, comes
by the revelation of God. When God, as you just read, commands
the light to shine out of darkness and shines in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And that speaks of the wisdom
of God revealed not only in redemption, but in the grace that proclaims
it. Not only in the proclaiming of grace, but in the experience
of it. The Lord God reveals this redemption by Christ according
to the riches of his grace, in the revelation of his grace,
by the power, by the omnipotent, irresistible operations of his
Spirit in the conversion of our souls. And in this he has abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he
hath purposed in himself. Like all men, we are by nature
fools. You and me, your sons and daughters
and my sons and daughters, your ancestors and mine, fools. And the most foolish fellow in
the world is a fool who thinks he's wise. That's a good description
of our race, fools. When did you ever talk to any
mother's son who didn't know everything there is to know about
God and salvation and Christ and the Bible and end time? Just
go ask anybody, they'll tell you in a heartbeat. I'm talking
about drunks in the bar. I'm talking about prostitutes
on the street. I'm talking about prisoners in the prison. I'm
talking about folks who work in this area, work in that area.
Folks who are well educated, folks who are uneducated. Everybody
knows everything they know about God. Just mention His name and
they'll tell you all about it. They'll tell you all about it.
Fools who think they're wise. Believers are men who become
fools for Christ's sake. who acknowledge themselves fools,
knowing nothing. Fools who must be taught of God. And God has given us now the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, putting
wisdom in the hidden part, as David speaks of it. He's given
us, as Paul says, the mind of Christ. so that we know all things. The anointing, so that we know
all things. That is, we are given by divine
grace, by the supernatural revelation and work of God the Holy Spirit,
the ability and the knowledge to have the knowledge of all
things spiritual. Understanding the things of God. Understanding the mystery of
God's will. Understanding His purpose. In
these two verses, verses 8 and 9, the Apostle writing by inspiration
comprehends the whole work of God the Holy Spirit in us. From the first almighty work
of his grace in regeneration until the finished work of his
grace when he presents us in glory. How we ought to admire
and give thanks to God our Father for His matchless grace who chose
us, adopted us, accepted us, blessed us in Christ from eternity. How we ought to extol and honor,
praise and love God the Son who redeemed us with His blood and
obtained for us the forgiveness of sins. And how we ought to
extol, honor, praise, love and adore God the Holy Spirit. who abounds toward us in wisdom
and prudence, making known to us the mystery of his will. You remember what Pharaoh called
Joseph back in Genesis 41? He gave him the name Zathnathpenea,
the revealer of hidden things. God the Holy Spirit is truly
Zathnathpenea, the revealer of hidden things. So essential is
his work that none can be saved without him. People talk about
God predestinated you and elected you to be saved, you're going
to be saved no matter what, I beg your pardon. You're not going to be
saved without Christ redeeming you. Somebody says, well, if
Christ redeemed you, that's it, that's salvation, nothing else
matters, that's the only thing. I beg your pardon. You're not
going to be saved except God the Holy Spirit give you life
and faith in Christ. Ain't going to happen. The work
of the Father in eternity, and the work of the Son at Calvary,
and the work of the Holy Spirit in time in the experience of
grace, all three are vital to our salvation. His it is to take
the things of Christ and reveal them to us. He convinces chosen
sinners of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. His idea is
to give us the knowledge of, and faith in, and acquaintance
with the Son of God. And until God the Holy Spirit
quickens and regenerates our hearts, we are dead in trespasses
and in sins, children of wrath, even as others. I love what Robert
Hawker said on this passage. He said all the actions of the
newborn child of God, leadings to the throne, access to the
throne, acceptation at the throne in Christ, are the immediate
work of God the Holy Spirit. And so Paul prays that the Lord
God would grant to us the spirit of wisdom and knowledge in the
revelation of Christ. Now, what does it mean here about
the mystery of his will? By the abounding revelation of
His grace, abounding toward us in all wisdom and prudence, in
all the wisdom and skill of His infinite being, God the Holy
Spirit hath made known unto us the mystery of His will according
to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself. Now let
me tell you exactly what that means. He let us in on His eternal
purpose of grace. that purpose of grace in which
he took such great delight in eternity. He set his purpose,
he set it all out before us in Christ, and reveals to us that
our names are written in heaven before the world began. He's
done so bringing immortality and life to light by the gospel,
causing us to hear the good news of our salvation accomplished
in Christ. Let's see if that's it. Look
in verse 13. We'll look at this in a little more detail in a
few weeks, Lord willing. In whom you also trusted. That is, trusting
in Christ. After that ye heard, now look
at this, the word of truth. Quite literally, the word of
the truth. What is that? The gospel of salvation. You know what it says, Doug? Not quite. We missed a word,
didn't we? What did you hear when God saved
you? What is it a sinner hears when God gives him faith in Christ?
In hearing the gospel. If you are called to hear God
speak, His word in your heart, you hear the gospel, the good
news of your salvation. He shows you that Christ redeemed
you. He shows you that God chose you. He shows you that you are
His by giving you faith in Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Grace was
ours. Salvation was ours. Acceptance
was ours. Holiness was ours. Justification
was ours. Forgiveness was ours. Glorification
was ours. The inheritance of grace was
ours. Before ever the world was. Before ever we knew we needed
any of those things. All were ours in Christ. But we knew nothing about His
will until He came in His grace and gave us faith in Christ.
I read a story sometime back about a man in the 19th century
who had fallen on hard times. He lived somewhere in the north,
I don't know where. He didn't have much of a job, didn't have
much money, and he was leaving, getting on a steamboat, going
down the Ohio River, desiring to make a new life for himself
in this place called New Orleans. And so he scraped together what
money he could, and he got on a boat. bought him a ticket but
he didn't have anything left for any frills and he just knew
he couldn't eat in the dining car or in the dining room where
all the folks went in there every day three times a day and got
all their lavish meals and so he got him some cheese and crackers
and stuffed them in his pockets and when other folks would go
off to dinner he'd sneak off in the corner by himself and
he'd have a little cheese and crackers and hope that's his
steak they got about halfway down the Ohio River and he's
Going off into his corner and some fella saw him. He said,
buddy, where are you going? Dining car is this way. He said,
oh, I won't be eating in the dining room. And the fella said,
why not? He said, well, to tell you the
truth, I just don't have the money. So I just spent everything I could
buying this ticket to go down to New Orleans. And I'm all right. I packed me some stuff that I
can eat and I'm getting along all right. And the fella said, why
would you do that? He said, well, like I said, I
don't have the money to eat in the dining room. And the fella
said, uh, look at the bottom of your ticket. Looked at the bottom of his ticket.
Bold capital letters. All meals included. And he didn't
know it. I've seen that happen many times
myself. Occasionally I'd get bumped up to the first class
when flying. Never paid for it, but I'd get bumped up there occasionally.
You know, I've been guilty. I've been guilty. First time
I flew, first class, I didn't know everything was provided.
And as you can know from knowing me, I don't go flown without
eating. So I'd always carry something to eat with me. And I look kind
of foolish. Because everybody sitting up
there in those nice seats, they get all they want to eat and
drink, no charge, taken care of. God the Holy Spirit comes
and reveals Christ in the center. And it's what it says. Look at
the ticket. Everything's included. Everything's included. You mean
nothing to be bought? Nothing to be earned? Nothing
hinging on anything? Nothing. All done from eternity. And it's yours in Jesus Christ
the Redeemer. It is the work of God the Holy
Spirit that causes us to know our interest in Christ. That's
what is meant by Him making known to us the mystery of His will.
He shows us that our names are written in heaven. When we are
made to see the vast pile of our sin reaching up to heaven,
our hearts break within us. Our Lord says, blessed are the
poor in spirit. They shall be comforted. Blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. They that
are poor in spirit, for they shall be filled. As Ezra put
it, when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle,
and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat
down astonished. And at the same time, he shows
us our sin. The plague of our hearts. He
shows us Jesus Christ crucified by the same almighty operation
of His grace causes us to see our sins washed away in the blood
of our Redeemer. So that when the iniquity of
Israel shall be sought for, there shall be none in the sins of
Judah. They shall not be found. That is grace. It's like a vast,
vast ocean. burying in its bosom the high,
high mountain of our sins. Grace, the vast infinite sea
into which God Almighty has cast our sins behind His back. The
precious blood of Christ is the vast sea of infinite fullness
that rises above the highest watermark of transgression, iniquity
and sin, and the aboundings of it. That's how it's described,
where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That was the
purpose, which he purposed in himself, because he was tickled
to death to do it. And that's the mystery he reveals
to us. Now, look briefly at verse 10.
I can't give you just a little bit here in the next three verses.
We'll come back to them, Lord willing. Here the Holy Spirit speaks of
a great gathering. The gathering together of all
things together in Christ, at the time appointed by God, is
called in the book of Acts, the time of restitution of all things. That in the dispensation, that
is, he's revealed Christ to us, he's abounded toward us in grace,
according to his purpose, that he purposed it himself. That
in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and
which are on earth, even in him." Here, the Spirit of God opens
to us the very heart of God. That which has occupied the infinite
mind of the Almighty from everlasting. That which is always on His mind. That which is always the determination
of His heart. That which has been from everlasting
and is today exactly the same, God's heart determination. And that is the glory of Jesus
Christ. set forth before all the world in all the works of His wisdom
and prudence and providence. When He gathers together all
the hosts of His elect, all sinners chosen of God from eternity,
every sinner for whom He died, every soul for whom He made intercession,
He gathers them together and presents them with exceeding
joy, holy and without blame before the throne of God Almighty to
the praise of the glory of His grace. Imagine what His glory shall
be when He comes in that great day to be glorified in all His
saints and admired, what a word, admired in all them that believe. The greatest desire of this wretched
sinner's heart is to glorify Him. And there's coming a day when
I too shall glorify him perfectly and forever. Verse 11, in whom also, I'm not done with
this grace yet, I'm not done with this superabundant, abounding
revelation of grace yet, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. And that tells
us four things, let me just state them for you. First, we were
predestinated to the eternal inheritance awaiting God's saints
in heavenly glory, whatever that is, whatever it includes. All
who were accepted of Christ from eternity were predestinated to
this blessed possession of the sons of God by adoption. Our
great God, in all the affairs of time, works constantly, all
things together, to accomplish this purpose of His grace, to
bring His elect into the possession of their predestined inheritance. Third, this inheritance, whatever
it is, however vast, however indescribable, is all together
in Christ. It is an inheritance that we
have by him, from him, with him, and in him. Indeed, he is in
the fullness of his glorious, gracious being, the inheritance
itself. And fourth, we've already got
it. Ephesians 2.6 says, when Christ
was raised from the dead, we sat down with Him in heavenly
places. It's already ours. Hebrews 12
tells us that we have already come to Mount Zion, the city
of the living God, the General Assembly, and Church of the Firstborn,
whose names are written in heaven. Turn back to John chapter 17. John 17. The Lord Jesus is here giving
us His high priestly prayer. Now Paul says that in Christ
we have already obtained this inheritance, John 17, 5. And
now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was. This is talking about the mediatorial
glory the Father gave the Son, giving Him dominion over all
things, as our covenant surety, as the land slain from the foundation
of the world. The glory which He hid all the
while He was in this earth. And now He says, Father, give
me that glory. Give me that glory. Now look
at verse 20. You see what He says? He said,
the glory You gave Me, I shall give them. Is that what it says? The glory you have given me,
I have given to you. So this glorious inheritance
which we have already obtained is the very same inheritance
that Jesus Christ the God-man, our Mediator, because of the
success of His obedience, now possesses in heavenly glory as
God's anointed one. Why? Why? Why on this earth? Why on this earth? Why under
heaven? Why did God Almighty choose me? Why He love us? Why He redeem us? Why He accept us? Why did He call us? Why of all
people in this world, of all the useless, vile, ignorant fools
in this world as he abounded toward us in all the wisdom and
prudence of his grace and salvation. That we should be to the praise of his
glory who first trusted in Christ.