The Lord willing, if you return
for the service this evening at 6 o'clock, I plan to bring a message from
the book of Psalms, chapter 91, entitled, The Secret Place, The
Secret Place of the Most High God. This morning, I want you
to turn to John chapter 16. John chapter 16. Now, my subject,
why did Christ come into the world? That's my subject. Why did Christ come into the
world? I'm going to be speaking from the 17th chapter of John,
but I want to begin here at chapter 16, verse And the Savior said, speaking to His
disciples, for the Father Himself loveth you, the Father loves
you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came
from God. Then He says three things. I came forth from the Father."
He speaks of his deity, his eternality. I am a Father of one. I came
from the Father. The Father sent me. Secondly,
he said, and I've come, I am come into this world. When the Apostle John wrote the
Gospel of John, he started this way. was the Word, and the Word
was made flesh. He went on to say, And the Word
was with God, and he dwelt among us. In the beginning was the
Word, and he was made flesh. He was
with God, and he dwelt on earth with us. And the Word was And
we looked on Him. We looked on Him. We beheld His
glory. So I came from the Father and
I've come into this world. And then He said, and I'm going
to leave this world. Well, here's what we want to
find out. Why did He come? What did He accomplish when He
goes back? He said, I leave this world and
go back to my Father. Simple subject, isn't it? That's
what I'm trying to do, is preach the simplicity of Christ. Why
did the Lord Jesus Christ come into this world? And I've got
two quotes here from some of the old-timers. Some of you say
you like to hear me talk about these old-timers, but I'm an
old-timer and I like to talk about them. One of them is Horatio
Bonar. He was preaching on this subject.
Why Christ came into the world? Why He died? What did He accomplish?
And this is what He said in 1850, preaching to a congregation.
He said to all the people, while I preach this morning, I want
you to remember five things. Number one, I want you to remember
that we're not standing at the bar of God. We will someday,
but we're not there yet. You remember that. Secondly,
while I'm preaching, I want you to remember we're still living
where prayer is heard and where God answers prayer, especially
those prayers that have to do with, Lord, be merciful to me
for I'm a sinner. And thirdly, I want you to remember
that we're still living where faith, saving faith, will save
the soul of the person who exercises it toward Jesus Christ. And I want you to remember, fourthly,
as I preach, that we're yet where the Spirit of God is pleased
to open hearts. open the hearts of those who
hear the Word and who heed the Word and who believe the gospel. We're still where God hears prayer
while it's where the Spirit of God opens the hearts and saves
people. And fifthly, we're still where
grace reigns. abounding grace. Grace reigns
even though sin abounds. And we're still where sin may
be forgiven at once and forever. Let's remember that. Simple. That's what we're talking about.
Simple thing. Here's my second quote. Charles
Spurgeon gave this illustration. He said
a young lad who prayed one Saturday night at the family prayer group,
this prayer. He said, Lord, I hope our pastor
will say something tomorrow that I can understand. And Spurgeon says, yes, that's
a shame. It's a shame that prayers like
these have to be prayed. But I'm afraid that too often
adults also find it necessary to pray that same prayer. Lord,
I pray that the pastor will say something to my wife that I can
understand. He said too often preachers dwell
on high Olympus. They dwell on high Olympus among
the clouds instead of dwelling at Calvary where sinners hear
the gospel. I hope this morning as I preach
on this subject, why Christ came into the world, why Christ died,
that you'll hear something that you'll hear something that will
meet with your heart's need, effectually, for the glory of
God. And here's our Scripture. Now, John 17. John chapter 17. It says here in verse 1, these words
spake Jesus. What words? The words that he's
been speaking to these disciples through the previous four chapters,
chapter 13, 14, 15, and 16. He's been talking to his disciples
all this time. And these words speak Jesus.
And then he lifted his eyes to heaven. Lifted his eyes to heaven. You
don't have to lift your eyes to heaven to pray. But our Lord
lifted his eyes to heaven because he said, you pray, our Father
which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. He lifted his eyes
to heaven and he cried, Father, the hour has come. He prayed
about this hour many, many times, about six or seven times in the
Gospel of John. He said, my hour has not yet
come, for this cause came after this hour. Now, he says, it's
here. And Father, glorify your Son,
that your Son may glorify thee. You understand that, can't you?
Very clear. Glorify the Son, that the Son
may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power,
authority over all flesh. Christ has all preeminence and
all authority over all flesh. That he should give eternal life
to as many as are given him. And this is life eternal. Not
how long it's going to last. Eternal life is eternal, everlasting. But this is eternal life. It's
what it is. Not how long it'll last, what
it is. It is that they might know thee,
the true God. and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent." That's eternal life. The Son of God has come and given
us an understanding that we may know Him, the true God, and we're
in Him, the true God, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and this
is eternal life. And then our Lord used the words,
I have, eight times. in this one chapter when he's
praying to the Father. Eight times he said, I have,
I have, I have. And what he's dealing with there
is I have accomplished these very things. Eight things. I have. Now let's look at them.
It's a very simple, very plain outline. It's easy to understand. The Holy Spirit has to give us
the ability to believe it and receive it, but it's understandable. The Pharisees knew what Christ
said. They didn't believe it. And we,
I know what this is saying. The problem is we need to believe
it in our hearts. Now, here's the first thing.
He said in verse four, Father, I have glorified Thee on this
earth. Some of you folks have read some
of the old confessions of faith. The old Westminster and Heidelberg
and London Confession, these confessions of faith, and nearly
all of them start this way. What is the chief end of man? What is the chief end of man? And the answer is, the chief
end of man is to glorify God. That's what we're on this earth
for. That's why we came, to glorify God. and to enjoy Him forever. Well, no man has ever done that. No man can do that. No man will
do that. What is it to glorify God? I'll
tell you what it is. To glorify God is to love Him
with a pure heart, fervently. To love God perfectly. That's
to glorify God. Secondly, is to obey God. Always obey God. is to live perfectly
in accordance with his divine will. That's what it is to glorify
God. And Christ did that on this earth
as a man. He said, I have glorified thee
on this earth. Born of Mary, made flesh, dwelt
among us, and in this life, Almighty God loved the Father, loved the
Father perfectly. He obeyed the Father perfectly. And he obeyed the Father as long
as he lived in total submission to the Father's will. And that's
how he gave us that perfect righteousness. In the flesh. Turn with me to
Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5 verse 19. Listen to this. Romans 5 verse
19. For, as by one man's disobedience,
we didn't love God, we didn't obey God, we didn't live in submission
to His will, we were sinned by one man's disobedience, Adam
and all his posterity. Many were made sinners. So, by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. I have glorified
thee on this in the flesh. I always do those things. I always
do those things that please my Father. And of Him, of God, are
you in Christ made unto us, all we need is wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Perfect. All right, here's the
second statement. Our Lord said, Glorify thee on
this earth in the flesh as a man and I'll finish the work you
gave me to do. Let me ask you a question. What was the first words that
Jesus Christ as a man in the flesh uttered on this earth? I'm talking about our Lord when
he came to this earth recorded, the first words recorded in the
Bible having to do with Jesus Christ, our Lord, when He was
on this earth. I'll tell you what they were.
Over in the book of Luke, Mary and Joseph took the child, Jesus,
to Jerusalem on a certain feast day for a certain purpose when
He was about 12 years old. There were certain times in the
life of Jewish young men that they had to do certain things,
going to the temple and presenting themselves before the priest.
And our Lord did all those things according to the law. And they
took him up there at that time when he was twelve years old.
It was a three-day feast. And when the feast was over,
they left. And strangely, the Scripture
said they traveled a whole day's journey. And they found out he
wasn't with them. That he was back in Jerusalem
or wherever they left him. So they left and went back to
find the Savior, the Lord Jesus. And they found him. They found
him in the temple. They found him there as a young
lad discussing the things of God with these Pharisees and
Sadducees and loggers. And his mother And Joseph came
to him and they said, Son, you grieved us terribly. We have
sought you sorrowfully, wherever you be in. And here's what he
said. Here's his words immediately. Wish ye not that I must be about
my father's business. I came down here to do something.
I came down here to redeem the people. I came down here to to
obey God perfectly on this earth. And don't you want me to be about
His business? That's what I came to do. What
were the last words He said before He died on that cross? It's finished. I finished the work You gave
Me to do. That was the last recorded words
when our Lord died. And He said, It's finished! is
complete. That's why He came. I came as
a man in the flesh to glorify You on this earth, and I did
it. And I took all the sins of all my people and my body on
the tree and paid for them. And it's over. And He sat down
at the right hand of God. It's finished. The Messiah died. Cut off for our sins, not his
own. Accomplished is the sacrifice.
The great redemption work is done. It is finished. All the
debt is paid. Justice divine is satisfied. The great and full atonement
made and God forgives his sinners has died. Call his name Jesus. He'll save his people from their
sin. Son of man's come to seek and to save the lost. This is
a faithful saying. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I'm chief. He died for the unjust
to bring us to God. Behold, the Lamb of God takes
away the sin of the world. That's why I came. And it's finished. Thirdly, in verse 6 of John 17,
Our Lord said, I have manifested thy name. I have manifested thy
name. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which you gave me out of this world. Thine they were,
and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. What
is it to manifest something? He said, I've manifested your
name. What is it to manifest something? Well, it's to reveal
it. It's to make it clear and plain. It's to show what it is. What it is. The disciples finally
said to our Lord, well, show us the Father. Show us the Father. And our Lord replied, have I
been so long time with you and you don't know me? He that has
seen me, he has seen the Father. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. I have glorified your name. I have manifested your name."
Now, what's in a name? The name of the Lord is His character. It's His attributes. It's His
glory. Now, I know there's seven Hebrew
words in the Old Testament That set forth the name of Jehovah,
Jehovah Sidkenu, Jehovah Salem, but I don't, and you and I don't
use those Hebrew terms, so let's use the words that the Hebrew
words suggest or represent. Set forth, make plain. To manifest
a name is to reveal it. It's to make it clear and plain.
It's to show it. And here it is. Here's his name.
The Lord will provide. That's what Abraham said to Isaac. The Lord will provide. That's
his name. He'll provide. Secondly, the Lord is thy healer. He will heal. He'll heal your
broken heart. He'll heal your sins and your
offenses and your transgressions. He'll heal them. Put them away.
Thirdly, the Lord is our banner. He's our ensign. His banner over
me is love. His ensign, according to him,
is love for us. And here's love for him, what
Clare read a moment ago. What is love? Secondly, fourthly,
the Lord is our peace. My peace I give unto you. The
Lord is our shepherd. I shall not The Lord is my righteousness. The Lord is a present help in
time of trouble. That's the Lord. That's his name.
I've manifested, I've shown it, I've set it forth, I've declared
the name of God. And when the scripture says in
Romans 9, Whosoever, whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord, not just Jesus, Not just the sovereign, but the name. Our provider, our healer, our
banner, our peace, our shepherd, our righteousness, our help. I call on him. He'll be saved. He'll be saved. That's what it
says. Whosoever shall call. on that name. That's who He is.
That's His character. That's His attribute. That's
His person. That's who He is. Henry Magan. That's who I am. What you see is what you get.
That's what I am. And that's what we're calling
on here, who He is. Who He is. And that's what we
preachers have got Let's make sure we emphasize who He is,
who He is, what He did, why He did it, where He is now. Here's
the fourth thing. Verse 8, He said, I have given
unto them the words that you gave Me. I have given unto them
the words you gave Me. Turn with me to Deuteronomy 18.
Deuteronomy 18. Old Testament is the New Testament
concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.
And everything God says in the Old Testament, He reveals in
the New. And here's what He says here about that prophet and his
words. In Deuteronomy 18, verse 18,
the Lord God said, I will raise them up a prophet from among
their brethren. talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. Like unto you, Moses, like unto thee. I put my words
in his mouth. I put my words in his mouth.
This Jesus, this prophet, priest, and king, this man, the God-man. God Almighty says, I put my words
in his mouth and he'll speak them unto them. All that I command
him And it will come to pass that whosoever will not hearken
to his word, to my word which he speaks in my name, I'm going
to require it of him." That's what our Lord said. He
said, I've come, I've come to give them the words that you
gave me. And who can reveal God the Father's
words any better than him who is called the very Word of God. He's the incarnate Word of God. You know, our Lord didn't say
here only that He had preached to them the Word or conveyed
to them the Word. He said, I've given them thy
Word. I've given them thy Word. Now,
listen to me, He opened their ears so that they can hear His
Word. He opened their eyes that they
might see the fulfillment of His Word. He wrote that Word
on their hearts and minds. And that's what it says here.
I have given them the words you gave me, and they have received
them. Embraced them. Took them to themselves. Took them into their ears, into
their hearts, into their minds. They have received them. Listen.
They have received them. And they have known surely that
I came from thee. And they believed. This thing of receiving the Word
and believing the Word and knowing the Word is not just doctrine. that a person speaks and gives
assent unto, is to receive the Word of God. I was preaching
down in Mexico several years ago. Brother Milton Howard was
translating. We went out to a ranch and had
a weekend of services. And the people came from everywhere.
They came on walking. They came on these flatbed trucks,
and they came in many different ways, but there was such a large
crowd that the little church wouldn't see them. They sat out
on the patio where they'd dry coffee, just a large group of
people. And the Lord gave us some power
to preach the gospel. And after we'd finished the message,
Milton was over talking to one of the Mexicans, and they were
talking Very seriously. And I didn't know a thing that
was being said. But Milton walked over to me
and he said, you know what that man said to me? He said, I've heard you fellas
before. Time and time again. I've heard
you. This evening, I heard you. You were in there, don't you? I knew what it meant. I heard. I heard with the heart. I didn't
just hear with the ears. God opened my eyes, opened my
heart, opened my mind. And I believed the Word. I believed
it. I believed it. Now, verse 9. Here's the next
I have. He said, I pray for them. Oh,
He didn't say, I have prayed for them. He said, I have glorified
you on the earth. I finished the work. I manifested
your name. I've given them your word. Now
He didn't say, I have prayed for them. No, He did. No, He did. No, He does. But here's what
He's saying. He ever lives to make intercession
for us. His very person indicates intercession
with the Father. I pray, Father. I pray. He is now our advocate. If any man sin, we now, right
now, have an advocate with the Father. If any man sin, which
we do, we have an advocate. We have an intercessor. We have
one who pleads for us right now. That's what he's saying. I pray,
Father. I pray for him. He's our Mediator. There's one God and one Mediator
between God and man. That's the man Christ Jesus.
Not St. Jude, not the Pope, not even
the pastor. Christ Jesus. He's our Mediator. Turn with me to Hebrews 6. His
very presence, His very presence in glory is our hope. in Hebrews
chapter 6. Listen to this, verse 20. Hebrews
6, verse 19 and 20. Listen. Here's our hope. Hebrews
6, 19. Which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which entereth into that within
the veil. That's what I'm going to talk
about tonight. Within the veil. the secret place within the veil. Whether the forerunner for us
is entered in, even Jesus made a high priest forever after the
altar of Melchizedek. He's there in the presence of
God within the veil interceding One other scripture, Romans chapter
eight. Listen to this. Romans chapter
eight, verse thirty-four. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ the God. Yea, rather that's risen again,
who's even at the right hand of God, who also maketh, maketh,
maketh intercession for us. Never a breath you breathe, never
a step you take, never a mile you walk that he's not interceding
for you. Mediator has to pray. I pray
for them. I pray for them. And then here
in verse 11 of John 17, And now I'm no more in the world, but
Father, these are in the world. You and I are, too. We're in
the world, the world of tribulation and conflict and sickness. And I come to Thee. Holy Father,
keep, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given
me, that they may be one as we are. And while I was with them
in the world, I kept them. I kept them. I kept them in your
name. Those that thou hast given me,
I have kept." None of them's lost. None of them's lost. But Judas, the son of perdition,
that the scripture might be fulfilled. A fellow said, Preacher, do you
believe a person who has accepted Jesus and been saved Now, he
can fall away and be lost. Well, it depends. What's it depend on, put you?
Well, it doesn't depend on him. It depends on who saved him. Can a person who has accepted
Jesus and joined the church and been baptized fall away? Yeah,
if his mother saved him. if he saved himself, if his preacher
saved him, or if the church saved him, but if the Jesus Christ,
my Lord, who came into this world and died for our sins and paid
our sin debt and went to glory and intercedes for us, He saved
us and He'll keep us. He said here, while I was with
them in the world, I kept them, and those that thou gavest me
I kept, None of them, not one of them is lost. Turn with me
to John chapter 10. While you're finding that, let
me quote it. Being confident, Paul said, John chapter 10. Being
confident of this one thing, that he that hath begun a good
work in you shall finish it, complete it. in the day of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to John chapter 10, verse
27. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them. They follow me. And I give them
eternal life. Now, what kind of life? Eternal. It's not how long. It's what
it is. It's eternal life. It's everlasting life. It's the
life of God. It's the nature of God. It's
the person of God. My Father and I will come and
take up our boat in Him. It's eternal. How can it be lost? How can anybody lose something
that's eternal? I give them eternal life, and
they'll never perish. And neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hand, my Father, who gave them me." That's who
saved us. The Father saved us, the Son
died for us, and the Holy Spirit quickened us. The divine Trinity
saved us. Somebody asked me, can a person
that's professed salvation be lost? Depends on who saved him.
One hundred percent. If Christ saved My father saved
him. He saved him. No man is able
to pluck him out of my father's hand. I am a father of one. John 18 again. Verse 18. John 18, verse 18. He says, As you have sent me
into this world, Even so, have I also sent them into this world. You know, a lot of times people
who get religion, and they join secret orders and secret groups and things like that,
and they keep it to themselves. Our Lord said, as you sent me
into this world, I've sent them into the world. I've sent them
into the world to be my witnesses. He said, you'll be my witnesses
in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and other most parts of the earth. He said, I send you forth as
lights in a dark day. I send you as seasoning for tasteless
meat. I send you as a sweet fragrance
of Christ. I send you out into the world
to witness, to preach, to teach the Word, to tell others about
Christ. Let me show you a Scripture.
Matthew 5. Matthew 5. All of you are familiar with
this. Matthew chapter 5, verse 13. Listen. Matthew 5, verse
13. You sent me into the world. I
have sent them. Matthew 5 verse 13, you're the
salt of the earth. If the salt has lost its flavor,
its power to perform its duty, wherewith shall it be salted?
It's thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden
under the foot of men. You're a light of the world.
A city set on a hill can't be hid, neither do men put Light
a candle, put it in a bushel, under a bushel or right on a
candlestick. So it gives light to all that's
in the house. That's what our Lord called us
to do. I sent them to be lights to a dark world, to be salt to
tasteless meat. And listen, you let your light
so shine, whoever you are and wherever you are. Let it shine.
Let it shine that men may see your good works. What you believe. Whom you believe.
How you believe. How you live. How you treat others. How you love others. And glorify
your Father which is in heaven. You know, I want you to look
at a scripture in John 12. John chapter 12. This is kind
of an illustration of what a person can be just their presence. their
attitude, their conversation, their deportment around others. Watch this right here now. In
John 12, verse 3. Verse 2, Then they made him a
supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that
sat at the table with him. And then Mary, took Mary a pound
of ointment, of spikenard, very costly, very precious, and very
aromatic fragrance. And she took it and anointed
the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and wiped His feet with her hair.
And you know what happened? Nobody said a word. He was sitting
there and she She came and took that precious ointment and perfume
and they called it breaking the alabaster box and broke it open
and just covered his feet. And you ought to have that odor,
that fragrance went all over that house. That's what it says
here. It said, and the house was filled
with the odor of the ointment. You know, we should. and could
and ought to live in such a way that we don't have to just hammer
people with a doctrine and hammer people with what we believe and
hammer them with controversy. Just be a Christian. Just be a God man, God's man. If I was a woman, just be a loving,
gracious, kind husband and wife and child and school teacher
and whatever your profession is. Just be what you ought to
be. And you'll smell that place.
People are going to take notice. Take notice. Two men came to
13th Street Baptist Church on Sunday. came in and sat in my
Sunday school class. And after preaching the message,
they came down front to speak to me. I wanted to know who they
were. Two strange men. They said, we work at Armco Steel
Mill. And he named two men of our congregation
that worked there with him. And he said, we just came because
of these men Wondering if there's any more like them down at your
church. Is there any more like that? They, you know, I don't know
whether they knew the five points of Chalcedonism, those men that
came to here, but they knew somebody was different. Somebody was different. And they wanted to know what
the difference was. How'd that turn out, preacher?
You don't ever know. I just know. I'm telling you
what. I don't know how the ointment set well with everybody, but
I know it set well with those people sitting there. Here's
the last one. In verse 22. I have. I have.
Verse 22 of John 17. Verse 22. and the glory which you gave
me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and thou in them that
they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know thou
hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. When by
the gift of his marvelous grace I am accorded in heaven a place.
Just to be there and look on his face will through the ages
be glory to me. The glory that you gave me, I've
given them, that they may be one. The world may know that
you sent me and have loved them even as you loved me." Could
we sing that song, number 505? Oh, that will be glory for me.
Glory for me.