One of the hymns that used to
be sung fairly often, particularly in special music, has a chorus
that reads, or goes like this, could we with ink the oceans
fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth
a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of
God above would drain the oceans dry, nor could the scroll contain
the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. I realize my subject is infinitely
above me, but I have been Just overwhelmed the last few weeks
and studying, meditating on and trying to prepare to preach to
you about the love of God. Turn with me, if you will, to
John chapter 17. And I'm going to make another
stab at it. As you know, this is our Lord's
prayer for us as our great high priest. And yet this 17th chapter
of John is more than the record of our Lord's prayer. It is an
instructive, a very instructive passage. This passage contains
that which is our Lord's desire for his people. And that which
is our Lord's desire is his determination. That which he has desired, that
which he wills, that which he has purposed, he will accomplish. If you take your time reading
this chapter again, I read it again late last night and early
this morning several times, and I noticed that 13 times, 13 times,
he uses that four-letter word that, that, specifically referring
to 13 things he was determined to accomplish, and he did what
he did to accomplish these purposes. He said, I have glorified thee
upon the earth. He said, I have finished the
work you gave me, and you've given me power over all flesh. Look at it, that. He didn't set
him on his throne for nothing. He set him on his throne that
I should give eternal life to as many as you've given me. Is
I sanctify myself that they might be sanctified. I came down here
and set myself apart that I might set them apart through your truth.
Your word is true. These I've kept them and none
of them is lost, but the son of perdition that that the scripture
might be fulfilled. Now, father, you keep them that
they may be made perfect in one. I will that they also whom thou
has given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my
glory. All right, now let's look at
chapter 17 and verse 23. That which our Lord Jesus Christ
desires, he shall have. And here in this great intercessory
prayer of our Redeemer, we find gospel truth, instructive gospel
truth everywhere. Verse 23 teaches us something
about God's love for his elect that is simply astounding. Our
Lord Jesus says to the Father, I in them and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that
thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. What an astounding statement. This passage is full of mysteries,
and I never hope to be able to comprehend them, neither here
nor in eternity. I will just simply forever give
praise to God as he instructs me in this wondrous mystery. But these profound mysteries,
as we have just little glimpses of them, oh, how they fill our
souls with wonder, with joy. with consolation, with praise. Let's look at this verse line
by line. I in them. Now that's a little
bit of an unusual way of speaking for our Lord Jesus. Often in
the scriptures, we are told that we are in Christ. We are in Christ
from eternity if we're ever in him. We're in Christ from eternity
by the gift of the Father. He trusted us to the hands of
his son as his son and our covenant surety. We are in him by divine
election, in him as sheep given to the hands of the shepherd,
in him in the spiritual mystical sense in that Christ and we are
made to be one body by God's decree from old eternity. We
are in Christ in the new birth. When we're born again, we're
born in Christ, grafted into Him. But here the passage speaks,
and our Lord Jesus here declares, that He is in us. in us in a
distinctive, unique, saving way, obviously. He is not saying I'm
in them as the omnipresent God, like I'm in all the world. That
would be nothing distinct and special about that. It's wondrous,
but nothing distinct and special. He is not saying, I am in them
as I am the Creator in the creation and in all men as the light of
all men by creation, giving all men light as they are born into
this world, light by which they are condemned, but light nonetheless,
light by which they are guilty in their own consciences so that
they go groveling about in darkness, seeking a way to God, but light
nonetheless. He says, I am in them, but he's
not talking here now about I am in them like I was here the incarnate
God dwelling upon the earth at one time, so that men saw me
in the flesh and beheld my glory. Now these things John tells us
back in chapter 1. Turn back there if you will.
Hold your hands here in John 17. The Lord says, I am in them. And all of these things John
speaks of here in this first chapter, he speaks of as being
distinct things by which Christ is made known indisputably in
the world. Look in verse one, chapter one.
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and
the word was God. Now, if you should get you a
book of Mormon that they order on TV, go ahead and order all
of them you want to and burn them, but don't read them. But
should you get one? Or some Mormon comes by your
house and says, this really ought to read as the New World Translation
suggests, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was a God. That is not so. It is not honest.
It is not according to the text. Quite literally, the text reads
like this. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was face to face equal with God. And God was the
word. This one who is the revelation
of God, he is himself God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him.
That means he wasn't made. He's the maker of all things.
And without him was not anything made that was made. In him was
life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in
darkness and the darkness Comprehended it not verse 9 That was the true
light which lighteth every man That is gives every man the light
of God in creation the light of conscience. He lights every
man that comes into the world But that's all the light you
have it won't do you any good If that's all the light you have
you'll go to hell with it If that's all the light you have,
you will sin against it till the day you die. He says, that
was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world. Look at this, he was in the world and the world was made
by him and the world did not know him. But he came to his
own creatures and his own received him not. Verse 14, and the word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory. Oh, now, that's another light
rod. That's the light of free saving
grace. We have been made to see the
light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ because
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. We beheld His glory. Of the glory of the only begotten
of the father And this is what we saw He's full of grace and
truth now back here in John 17 23 When our Lord says here I
in them He is telling us that he is in his people He is in
every believing center in a special gracious manner as he is in no
one else. I will come to you and manifest
myself unto you. Not as I do to the world, he
said, but I'll come to you. And Philip said, well, Lord,
how are you going to come to us? How are you going to dwell
with us? How are you going to make yourself known to us? He
does it in sovereign, free, regenerating grace. In divine regeneration,
in the new birth, Christ is revealed in us and he's revealed to us. When it pleased the Father who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me. He's revealed to us, yes. Revealed
to our understanding. Revealed to us by our faculties,
mental and emotional faculties that He's given us. But Christ
is revealed in us. You see, He's revealed to us
from within. I am in you. I am in you. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes
in saving grace, this is what he does. He comes to us and comes
into us. He takes up residence in His
people. He doesn't come and beg for entrance.
He comes in and makes Himself welcome. He comes in and makes
Himself at home and you're delighted to have Him. He comes in and
then we receive Him. We reach out to Him and receive
Him and embrace Him and take Him only because He's already
there. Christ says, I in them. He comes into us. He invades
the sinner's heart. I hear these, what can I say that's disgusting
enough, preachers. I was going on an interview the
other night, talking about God's a gentleman. He won't violate
you. If God doesn't violate you, you're
going to hell. If God waits for your consent, you're going to
perish. If God waits for you to do something for Him before
He does anything for you, there's no hope for your soul. If God
leaves you alone, you cannot be saved. Oh, but blessed be
God, the Lord Jesus sovereignly comes in. I end there. in a gracious way, establishing
my throne in you, communicating my grace to you, granting fellowship
with me and you together, dwelling in your heart. He is to every
heaven-born soul, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ is
formed in us. He is that holy thing begotten
in us in the new birth which cannot sin. He is in us by His
Spirit, yes. But our Lord is saying more than
that. He is in us personally. In us as a king in His kingdom. In us as the head in His body. In us as the master in His house. In us as breath in the life. So that Paul goes about in a
very lengthy way describing this mystical, mystical union. He
says, for the husband to love their wives as Christ loved the
church and gave himself for it. The wife see that she reverence
her husband. He says, husbands you nourish and cherish your
wives as man does his own body. He says, because for this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined
to his wife and they too shall be one flesh. But now that's
not what I'm talking about. The whole religious world misses
Paul's whole point. They'll write volumes and spend,
they'll have seminars and sessions. Folks pay thousands of dollars
to get some idiot to counsel them about what Paul's not writing
about. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about Christ
in the church. Husbands and wives are just a
picture of this. Husbands and wives, that's beautiful,
but that's not the important thing. That's beautiful, but
that's not the glorious thing. That's beautiful, but that's
not saving. This is. We are members of His body and
of His flesh. Bone of His bone and flesh of
His flesh. He's, I'm in Him. so that I live and move in them. Oh yes, we live and move in Him,
but He lives and moves in us. Oh, what a wondrous condescending
grace this is. Christ is in us. Therefore, because
He is in us, who is holiness, we have holiness within. Because
he who is light is in us, we shall never walk in darkness
again. Because he who is life dwells within us, we have eternal
life within us and we shall never perish. Because Christ dwells
within us now in grace, he shall dwell in us forever in glory. Now look at the next line. I
in them, and thou in me. God the Father is in Christ,
not only as one with him in the Holy Trinity, but as our God-man
mediator. You remember what Paul says in
2 Corinthians 5? God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself. The Father is in the Son, communicating
grace to us through the merit and mediation of the Son. The
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in Christ the God-man,
our Mediator. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Now, this is so very important.
I keep stressing it for these reasons. Number one, Christ is
the full and only revelation of God. He is the full and only
revelation of God. Number two, Only as God is in
that man is that man able to be a savior for our souls. Only he who is God in the flesh
can establish righteousness of infinite worth. Only he who is
God in the flesh can satisfy justice infinitely for all whom
he represents. All that God is, is in Him who
sits yonder on that throne. And He who sits on that throne
in the flesh, sits on that throne because He came down here and
lived in righteousness and suffered and died as our representative. And now God is satisfied with
Him. Thou in me. The Father is in
the Son graciously now. And He will show Himself in and
through the Son alone forever. And He will be in the Son forever
gloriously in the world to come. John saw heaven open and a throne. And he saw one sitting on the
throne who was bright and glorious. And he saw around the throne
a rainbow, a covenant. And he saw all the people of
God bowing before the throne and worshiping him that sat on
the throne. And he saw one rising up out of the midst of the throne
like a lamb that had been slain before whom all the elders and
all the people and all the angels fall down and worship and praise
because there God is seen for all he is in the lamb that was
slain. Now look at the next line, I
in them and thou in me that, there's that word, that. I'm in them and you're in me
for this purpose, that they, who's they? These whom you have
given me out of the world. These for whom I am praying,
verse 20, is I pray not for the world. I pray not for the world. Isn't it strange? People yack,
yack, yack all the time about, oh, how God loves everybody,
how the Lord Jesus wants to save everybody. He said, I'm not praying
for everybody. I pray not for the world. Why is this important? Because if he prays for the world
and some go to hell, his prayer is meaningless. But he prays
for them who shall believe on me. If right now you believe on the
Son of God, it's because back yonder, 2,000 years ago, He prayed
for you. And because right now sitting
on the throne, He prays for you. I pray for them who shall believe
on me through the word that these men preached that you gave me
out of the world. that they, all of these chosen, redeemed
sinners, all of these who are called by my grace, all of these
in whom I come to reside and to whom I bring my grace, I pray
for them, I in them and thou in me, that they may be made
perfect. You see all this fullness of
God in Christ and all this fullness of Christ in us is designed for
this purpose and it shall accomplish it. Listen carefully. Because
God was in Christ, because God was in Christ when he lived as
a man and he died as our substitute. James Jordan has been made perfect
in justification. Perfect. Perfect. Couldn't happen any other way.
Only as God was in that man could justice be satisfied and your
sins be put away. Because this Christ, in whom
resides all the fullness of the Godhead, dwells in us, we are
made perfect and sanctification. You remember how John speaks
in 1 John 3? He says that which is born of
God cannot sin. It's born of God. Paul speaks
of sin dwelling in us. But when he speaks of sin dwelling
in us, he says, when I do that which I would not, it's no more
I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Well, Paul, what are you
talking about? Are you some kind of schizophrenic?
No. I'm a man who's been saved by grace and I still live in
a body of flesh that I despise. And that which I despise is not
me. That which is me is Christ formed
in me. It's a new man. That new man
that cannot sin. And because he Who is God in
the flesh, by His grace now dwells in us and is formed in us. We
are made perfect in sanctification, sanctified by the grace of God,
through the blood of Christ, through faith in Him. And because
Christ is both in the Father and in us, because He is in glory,
because He is within the veil, because His blood speaks there
for us, We shall soon drop this robe of flesh and be made perfect
in glory." How can you be sure of that,
Don? How can you be confident? I'm getting to the age I have
a lot of friends who are either already in glory or headed there
quickly. I talked to a good friend down in North Carolina yesterday.
He won't be with us long. How can you be confident everything
will be all right? How can you be sure? How can
you know? How can you know that we shall
be with him in glory? Because he who is God died yonder
on that tree in my room instead in human flesh. And I died in
Him. And He, who is God in human flesh,
ascended up to heaven, having put away my sins, and yonder
I sit with Him in glory. How do you know? Because I trust
Him. That's all. I trust Him. I believe Him. Oh, but pastor,
I don't have that strong of faith. The strength of your faith's
got nothing to do with it. Can you get hold of this? Oh,
I wish I had such strong faith. Strong faith is faith that just,
like that woman says, if I can just touch the hem of his garment,
I'll be made whole. That's strong. Oh, what faith
that is. That's faith that looks to Him
for everything. Trembling, weak, feeble, yes,
but looking to Him for everything. Now then, he says, he that believeth
on me hath everlasting life. He that believes on me, I've
already given him life. He shall not come into condemnation.
What he said. Either it's so. Meryl Hard, take these things
out and burn them. Throw them away and forget it. It's all
a joke. One of the two. One of the two. Well, how do you know that his
blood's enough that that'll get the job done? Because this one
who is in me, and this one who is in the Father, and this one
in whom God is in all his fullness, he's sitting on the throne in
the veil where his blood bleeds for me. And He has power over
everybody and everything to give eternal life to as many as the
Father's given Him. Because this great, glorious,
gracious, omnipotent, omnipresent Christ is in us and all God's
elect are in Him, the number of the saved shall be made perfect
in the end. When you read the book of Revelation,
And you read about 144,000. You might say, well, does that
mean just 144,000 will be saved? That's all. That's all. Just
144,000 taken in a spiritual sense. That is a perfect number out
of all the tribes, of all the people of God represented in
the children of Israel. Each one had a specific number
making up the whole. God has his elect scattered throughout
all the world, and he will gather the tribes of his chosen out
of the world, and he will gather them, everyone! Not one will
be lost. The city has 12 foundation stones. named after the twelve tribes
of Israel, and twelve gates named after the twelve apostles. And
the city is all one in Christ Jesus the Lord. One foundation,
one holy temple. He is the city. He is the temple. He is the light. And the city
is as high as it is long, and as deep as it is wide. What on
earth does that mean? It's perfect. It's foursquare. Put the plumb line anywhere.
It's just right. Just right. Not one's missing.
Not one. How come? Because He who is God
in flesh came down here and died. Now He sits on His throne and
He's going to take care of it. Now watch this. I in them and
thou in me that they may be made perfect in one. that the world
may know, wow, that thou hast sent me." We sometimes sing, everybody
ought to know. Everybody ought to know. Everybody
ought to know who Jesus is. And I want you to know, But I'm
going to tell you something. When he gets done, everybody's
going to know. Everybody's going to know who
he is. Everybody's going to know he's the sent one of the Father.
Everybody's going to know he's accomplished redemption. Everybody's
going to know that he's an almighty and a willing Savior. Everybody's
going to know who he is. Everybody. To their everlasting
torment. And that's not all they're going
to know. Look at the next line. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me." Thou hast loved them as thou
hast loved me. Thou hast loved as thou hast loved me." Oh, may God now shed abroad His
love into your hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
His grace and glory in you and to you. The Father loves us as
He loves His Son. You didn't hear that, did you?
The Father loves us as He loves His Son. He loves Christ as His Son and loves Him as our Mediator. The Father Loved him when he
assumed human flesh. When he said, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O my God, the father smiled at him and said, That's
my boy. That's my boy. That's my son. The father loved
him while he walked on this earth in perfect righteousness, in
perfect obedience. That's my son. This is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. The father loved him. Oh, how
he loved him. I can't explain this. I can't explain what I can't
understand. I can just tell you what I know the book teaches.
Oh, how he loved him when he poured out his wrath on him. When he hid his face from him.
There's his son. at the apex, at the zenith, at
the very pinnacle of His holy obedience to the Father, made
to be sin for us. And the Father loves Him. Loves Him. Oh, how He loves Him. And He cries awake, against one that is my fellow,
the object of my deepest love, and smite this shepherd. Because justice cannot be ended. Justice must be satisfied. Sin must be punished. And the
father turns his back on his son and slaughters him. and yet never ceases to love
him. Because the father loves the
son, he made him to be head over all things. He put all things
in his hands. He's determined that in all things
His Son has the preeminence. The Father's love for His Son
is an eternal, immutable, indestructible love of unceasing
complacency and delight. Now that, I just don't have any
difficulty grasping. That's easy enough. That's easy
enough. But here our Savior says, that's
how God loves you. Thou hast loved them. as thou
hast loved me. Now this is what happens when
God saves a sinner. The love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us. Jesus Christ, the God of glory,
that man, died in my room instead. Oh, my soul, it's so. God loves me. God loved me from everlasting. That means everything's alright.
That means He performs all things for me. That means He smiles
on me. That means He delights in me.
That means my soul shall soon be where He is who is in me. What would you do to have an
interest in that love? Oh, preacher, I'd do anything. I'd do anything if I could just
know God loves me like that. That Christ died for me. That
heaven and salvation is mine. That pardon is mine. That sin
is gone forever. That I'm made free in Christ.
I'd give anything. I'd do anything. Would you give
nothing? Would you do nothing? That's it. You see, faith in
Christ is doing nothing. Faith in Christ is resting in
His love. Oh, may God now make you to know
the wonder of His love. in Christ Jesus. Amen.