All right, John chapter 17. It begins with these words, Spake
Jesus. This refers to all the preceding
words of comfort and instruction and warnings that he had spoken
to his disciples in chapter 13, 14, 15, and 16, instructing the these men who would go out in
his name and preach the gospel. And it says he lifted his eyes
to heaven. I believe this indicates the
lifting of the soul and the heart to the Father, lifted his eyes
to heaven. It says two or three times in
the scripture that Jesus lifted his eyes to heaven. Now while
God is everywhere, no doubt about that, David said, Whither shall
I flee from thy presence? God is everywhere, but God's
throne is in the heavens. Our Lord Jesus Christ taught
us to pray, Our Father which art in heaven. So our Lord lifted
his eyes to heaven. He said the hour has come, the
hour. What hour? The hour to suffer,
to die, to redeem a people in the manner which the Father ordained,
that the Father might be just and justify sinners. Christ had to suffer on a cross. He had to die in that fashion.
He had to die under the curse of the law, the judgment for
our sins. So the hour has come. And he
says, Father, glorify thy son. Now as God, he needed no added
glory. He has all glory. But as the
man, Christ Jesus, as our mediator, he prays here that the Father
will support him and sustain him and help him. in his suffering and strengthen
him. Father, glorify me, help me,
sustain me, strengthen me, support me in my suffering that I may
glorify you. Glorify thy son that thy son
may glorify thee. All right, in the next verse,
as thou hast given him power, that word is authority, absolute
authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him. Now the Father has given the
Son a kingdom. He delivered the kingdom into
the hands of the Son. He's given him a kingdom, a kingdom,
an elect people, a covenant people out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, tongue unto heaven to be redeemed by him. Turn to Hebrews
7, just a moment. It says here he has a kingdom
and a covenant. It says he was made, Hebrews
7, verse 22, look at it. For by so much was Jesus made
a surety, a guarantor of a better covenant. God gave him a people
to redeem, to be called, to be glorified. He suffered in order
to bring many sons to glory. Now then, in order to gather
those people together and to himself, and that's what Paul
said he'll do, let me read it to you. It says here, that in
the dispensation of the fulness of time, he might gather together
in one all things in Christ. which are in heaven, which are
on earth, even in him, in order to gather all those people given
to him in the counsel halls of eternity, for whom he was made
sure of it, to redeem them, call them, glorify them, he's got
to have power over all flesh. Now read that verse again, verse
2, and listen to me now. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, In order to save you, he's got to have power over
everybody around you. He's got to have power over all
circumstances, and events, and happenings, because your lives
are directed by those things and influenced by those things.
You see what he's saying? He's got to have power over everybody
in order to save somebody. That's right. He's got to have
authority. My sheep, he said, other sheep
I have, which are not of this folk. I must bring them. And
they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one foe and one
shepherd. But he's got to have the absolute power over all creatures,
all circumstances, all events, all things, to accomplish that
goal. All right, he's going to give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And what's verse
3? And this is life eternal. Now
if anybody ought to listen, they ought to listen here. You hear
preachers defining life eternal, you hear other people arguing
about what life eternal is, Christ is going to tell us what it is.
This is life eternal. Christ has given me authority
over all flesh that I should give eternal life to as many
as you've given me. And this is life eternal. Life
eternal, we know, is not a profession of religion. It doesn't say that.
Life eternal is not a reformation of manners and morals. It doesn't
say that. Life eternal is not knowledge
of facts about God. Because James says, you believe
in one God. The devil believes in one God
and trembles. So Christ said, this is life
eternal. Now watch it, that they might
know thee. that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ to whom thou hast sent." What he's saying here is eternal
life is to experience regeneration and experience a revelation of
God to my heart, that I might know God. The Son of God hath
come and given us an understanding. that we may know him, not know
about him, not know that he exists, but know him, the true God. This is eternal
life, to know the true God. Paul said, it pleased God who
separated me from my mother's womb to reveal his Son in me,
not to me. Is there a difference? There
is a difference. Eternal life is the divine nature of God,
created in us. It's God who created life in
us. And eternal life is to understand
the gospel of Jesus Christ, and believe it, and receive it, and
love it, and walk in it. That's eternal life, is to know
God. Then he says in verse 4, Father,
I have glorified thee on this earth. What is it to glorify
God on this earth? The old Westminster Confession
asks the question, Catechism asks the question, what is the
chief end of man? For what purpose was man created?
What's his chief end? And the answer is to glorify
God. and has never lived on this earth
but one man who could say, I have glorified thee on this earth. I have glorified thee. To glorify
God is to love him perfectly. To glorify God is to obey him
perfectly. To glorify God is to live one's
entire life from cradle to grave in absolute submission to the
will and word of the living God, and this our Lord could say. Thankfully, because he was a
representative man. By one man's disobedience, Adam,
we were made sinners. By his obedience, by his glorifying
God on this earth, we were made righteous. I've glorified thee
on this earth. And I have finished the work
that you gave me to do." What was that work? The angel said
to Joseph, call his name Jesus, you save his people from this
sin. That's his work. Romans 3 verse 25 says God has
set him forth. Set him forth how? Set him forth
in promise? The seed of woman? Set him forth
in prophecy? virgin shall conceive, set him
forth in picture, a Passover lamb, set him forth in person,
the man Christ Jesus. God has set him forth to be a
propitiation, a sacrifice, a sin offering, a mercy seat, to be
a propitiation through faith in his blood, for the remission
of sins, sins of of those past Old Testament saints to the forbearance
of God, to declare at this time, I say, at this time God's righteousness,
that God may be just and justify the ungodliness. It's finished.
I've glorified you on this earth, and I've finished the work you
gave me to do. It is finished. Now, O Father, I want to listen
to this. Glorify thou me with thine own
self. Oh, this is awesome. Now, Father, now that I've glorified
the Omeric, performed and imputed to my people a perfect righteousness,
finished the work of redemption, I'm coming home. Back to glory. You glorify me. with thine own
self. You read Proverbs 8, we don't
have time tonight to read it, but you're familiar with it.
How that he was always before him daily his delight, in the
presence of the Father, in the glory of the Father. I'm coming
back and you glorify me with that glory which I had with you
before this thing ever started, before the world was. Now two
things about that. One is this. He is God. He was with God from all eternity.
One with the Father. He's returning to the Father's
presence, to that eternal glory. But he's not going there alone. Scripture says, lift up your
heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors.
And the King of glory is coming home. Who is this King of glory? He's the Lord of hosts. There's
more than one, isn't there? Hosts, H-O-S-T-S, that's a whole
lot of folks. He's the Lord of hosts. Now He's
coming back and He's bringing with Him a redeemed multitude, a multitude
which no man could number. As the sands of the seashore
and the stars of the sky, whom He redeemed with His precious
blood and brought back out of captivity, bringing them home.
And what he prays for himself, glorify thou me with that awesome,
eternal, infinite, indescribable, unspeakable glory which I had
with thee before the world was, and glorify all these with me."
With that same glory. Drop down to verse 20. John 17, 20. Neither pray I for
these alone, but for them which shall believe on me through their
that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou
gavest me I have given them, that they may be one even as
we are, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect
and one, that the world may know thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them as ye loved me." Our Lord is praying here. for our glory
in Him. That's exactly what it's about.
Now your glory, if I may, will be the glory I had with you before
the world was. And all these I'm bringing with
me. Because you can't separate Christ from His people, they're
one. They're one. Where He is, we are. What He
has, we have. The glory that He has, we have. That's awesome. That's awesome. All right, verse 6. I've manifested
your name unto the man which you gave me out of this world.
I've manifested thy name. Now, God's name is who he is. God's name is what he is and
what he does. And there's a scripture I want
you to turn to in Psalm 9, the 9th Psalm. Psalm chapter 9. This is going to be the theme
of our summer Bible classes. Pastor Paul Mahan is going to
speak each morning to the young people on this subject. The name of Christ. Here in Psalm
9 verse 10. And they that know thy name will
put their trust in thee. They're not going to put their
trust in them until they know your name, until they know who you
are. It's eternal life to know God,
who He is. If you don't know His name, you
don't know who He is. If you don't even know His name, you
don't know who He is. You've got to know the name. What is His
name? Well, His name is Elohim. Now,
you don't have much to do with that name. That's the awesome,
El Shaddai, the Almighty, Eternal God in spirit, no man has seen
it any time. Who dwelleth in a life to which
nobody can approach. That's right. The old Jews wouldn't
even call that name. Isn't that right, Cecil? The
fear of blasphemy. Then he said, Holy and Reverend
is my name. You don't want much to do with
that. Not in person. That's holy and righteous and
just and true. Who can stand in his presence,
he that hath clean hands, a pure heart, never lied, never lifted
his soul to vanity. Depart from me. But there's another
man, Jehovah, Jehovah, Jehovah, God my Savior, only in Christ. Only in Christ is God clearly
revealed and manifested as a Savior and Redeemer of the people. And
those seven names of Jehovah describe his character, his saving
grace and mercy. Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will
provide. That's his name, Jehovah-Jireh.
That's what Abraham called him. He named that place. where God
supplied the lamb in the place of his son, Jehovah Jarvan. Jehovah
will provide. That's Christ. You know him as
the provider of the lamb for himself, of himself. Jehovah Rapha, I'm the Lord that
healeth thee. He hath healeth all our diseases,
sicknesses and diseases, spiritually. He heals. Jehovah Nisa, our banner. The banner over us is love. That's
his name. Jehovah Shalem, peace. He purchased
peace by the blood of his cross. You've got to know his name.
Jehovah Raya, he's my shepherd and I shall not walk. He makes
me lie down in green pastures and leads me by the peaceful
waters and restores my soul. He's my shepherd. He's not the
God to be feared and from whom to flee and run from the mountain. He's my shepherd. He loves me. He came out there in the wilderness
and found this lost sheep and brought him home on his shoulders.
Don't everybody rejoice? I found my sheep. He always was
mine. He was mine when he wandered
away. He was mine when he was lost. He was mine when I found
him. He was mine when I brought him home. He's my shepherd. And I shall not walk. Jehovah
Sidkenu, the Lord my righteousness, oh how vital that is, the Lord
my holiness, and Jehovah Shammah, Shammai, always present. And
he said, I've manifested your name to these men you gave me. They know you in your grace and
mercy and love to me. Manifested your name. They that
know his name sure ought to put their trust in him. No, it didn't
say that. It said they will. Frank, they will. Not until they
do. But when they do, they will.
He's the only one you can trust. He's the one you ought to trust.
They that know thy name will put their trust in thee from
now on. I manifested that name to the
men you gave me out of this world, John 17, 6. Thine they were, thou gavest
them me, and have kept thy word. Verse 7 and 8, I must consider
these verses together, who, what, and how. He says, They have known that
all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. Who is
that? All things whatsoever thou hast
given me are from thee. All that my Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him I'll no wise cast out. I came not
from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of him that sent
me. This is the will of him that sent me, that of all which is
given me I'll lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day.
These men know, you know. that all things whatsoever God
gave to Christ are from God, by His choice, by His will. Now watch this, what? They know
that all things, all life, all power, all glory, all things
pertaining to the kingdom of God are vested in Christ then.
You gave them to me, you put them in my hands. Now how do
we know that? How do you know those things?
I know that God made a covenant God gave the son of people, and
God gave him all power to redeem those people. How do I know that?
He said, these men know that. Here's how they know it, verse
8. I have given unto them the words which you gave me. I've given them your word. That's
how we know anything we know about God is his word. It's not our thoughts. They're
not his thoughts. It's not our hearing. It's his
word. How firm a foundation, you saints
of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his word. The only way
you can know God is through the word. I've given them your word.
Over here in Luke 24, let's look at that. Luke 24. And here's
these men, these disciples, and what the Lord showed them and
taught them in Luke 24. Verse 44, Luke 24, verse 44,
And he said to them, These are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and
the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the scripture. That's how we know
what we know, understand what we understand. and believe what
we believe by the word. By the word. And here in John
17, verse 8, he said, in verse 7, they know now that all things
which thou hast given me are of thee. They know that. Because
I've given them your word. I've given it to them. Now, he
says I've given them the word. This is more than just preaching
it to them. This is giving it to them. That's
giving it in their hearts. It's because he says, I've given
them your word, and they've received them. And they've known surely
I came from thee, and they believe them. I give them the word, and
they receive it, and they believe it. That's a divine operation. A divine operation. And then
in verse 9 he says this, listen, Father I pray for them, I make
requests for them. The scriptures tell us that our
Lord prays for his people. He said to Peter one day, Peter
I prayed for you, Satan had desired you to sift your wheat, but I
prayed for you, that your faith fail not. In John 14, 16, he
said to them, I'm going to pray the Father, I'm going to pray
the Father for you, and he'll send you the Holy Spirit. I'm
going to pray for you. The Father will send you the Holy Spirit.
It says in Hebrews 7, 25, he's able to say to the uttermost
of them that come to God by him, seeing that he ever liveth, to
pray for them, make intercession. But he prays for them. But he
doesn't pray for everybody. Verse 9 says, I pray for them.
I pray not for the world. Christ doesn't pray for those
who live in unbelief, die in unbelief, and perish forever.
He prays for those, listen, I pray for them which you've given me.
And I'll give you four reasons why he prays for them. Number
one, the Father gave them to him. The Father entrusted them
in his care. So he prays for them. He says,
I pray for them which you gave me. You've given them to me.
To redeem, to glorify, to call, and to keep. I pray for them. Secondly, he prays for them because
they're the fathers. They're thine. I pray for them
because they're yours. Here's a beautiful scripture
in Malachi. Turn back, we were in Malachi
this morning. Let's go back again to Malachi.
In Malachi chapter 3. Malachi 3 verse 17. This is beautiful. Verse 16 and
17. Now the Lord's praying. He said,
I pray for these. I don't pray for the world. I
pray for those that you gave me. You gave them to me, responsibility
to bring them home. And because they're yours. Now
Malachi 3.16, Then they that feared the Lord spake often one
to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance
was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that
thought upon his name. And they will be mine, saith
the Lord of hosts. In the day when I make up my
jewels, my special treasure, I will spare them As a man spares
his own son, it says. Father, I pray for them. You
gave them to me. You gave me the responsibility
to keep them. I pray for them. But I pray for
them because they're yours. Because they're yours. And then
thirdly, I pray for them because in verse 10, in all mine are
thine. They're mine too. I have a special
interest in them. They're yours, but they're mine
too. All thine are mine, and mine are thine. That's the reason
I pray for them. And then fourthly, he said, I
pray for them because I'm glorified in them. I'm going to get glory out of
them. That's the reason he saves us, to glorify his name. God doesn't save you just to
keep you out of hell. He saves you for his glory. That's what
it says three times in Ephesians chapter 1, to the praise of the
glory of his grace. To the praise of the glory of
his grace. So I pray for them, because you gave them to me.
I pray for them because they're your jewels, they're precious
to you, your special treasure. I pray for them because what's
yours is mine. I pray for them because they're
my chief glory. Lord show me your glory, my glory
is my goodness. I'll be merciful to whom I will
be merciful, gracious to whom I will be gracious. Now I'm no more in this world.
Our Lord Jesus Christ as our Mediator and High Priest and
Forerunner and Crucified Redeemer is going to the Father. He's
going to enter within the Bible. He's going to reign at the right
hand of God. But his disciples are still in
this world. Verse 11, I am no more in this
world, but these are. They're in the world. I'm coming
to thee. And these disciples are left
in an unfriendly, hostile, difficult world of sin and unbelief, exposed
to evil, temptation, hardships. Father, Holy Father, keep them. Hedge them about. Keep them through
your own name, those that you gave me. Keep them, protect them,
guard them. Keep them faithful to the gospel.
Keep them faithful to their stewardship. How can we be otherwise? Keep
them in unity, keep them in love. Listen, that they may be one
as we are. One in faith, one in love, one
in purpose. One in message, one in walk.
Keep them. Turn to Matthew 18. You don't
believe this is important. You listen to our Lord over here. He sat his disciples down one
day. They'd been arguing about who was going to be greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. And he sat them down one day
and gave them an object lesson. He picked out a little child.
from the group of people that were listening to him, brought
that child up with him. I don't know how old, it wasn't
an infant, it was a little boy or girl, seven, eight, nine years
old probably. And he said to these disciples
that had been arguing about who was going to be the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven, he said, I'm going to tell you something.
Unless you be converted and changed in your attitude and spirit,
you don't see the kingdom You must be converted and become
as this little child, this little one, children of God, little
ones in the kingdom of God, little children. And then the whole
18th chapter of Matthew, he talks about these little ones, not
this little child, but these little ones who believe on him.
who are little in their own estimation, and little in humility, and see
themselves not as important but small, and dependent upon the
Father for all things. Little children. And he calls
them the little ones. Over and over again, Matthew
18. Now listen to what he says about the little ones in verse,
Matthew 18, verse 10. He talked to the world out there.
He said, Now you take heed that you despise not one of these
little ones. He's not talking about little children, he's talking
about his little ones, those who have been converted, born
again and become his little ones. For I'm going to tell you something,
that in heaven, their angels, guardian angels, do always behold
the face of my Father which is in heaven. And over in verse
6 he said, Now whosoever shall offend one of these little One
of my children, one of my believers, one of those converted ones,
it would be better for him that a millstone were hanged about
his neck and he drowned in the depths of the sea. God hedges us. That's what our
Lord is praying here in this 11th verse. Father, keep them.
Hedge them about. Protect them. Provide for them. Guard them. Send thy angels to
guard them lest they dash their foot against a stone. And then verse 12, he said, while
I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. I kept
them. And those that thou gavest me,
I've kept. None of them's lost, but the
son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. Now then,
how are you going to handle that picture? Well, this way. Turn to Deuteronomy 29, 29. How come one of them was lost?
Deuteronomy 29, verse 29. He's lost because he never was
saved is the first reason. He never was one of God's elect.
He's always the son of perdition from the beginning. But here's
the way you can handle verses like this is verse 29 of Deuteronomy
29. Why the Lord does what he does.
The secret things. belong to the Lord our God. Those
things which are revealed unto us by the Spirit through the
Word, they belong to us and our children forever, that we may
do all the words of this law. So the scripture tells me that
none of the elect will be lost. Our Lord said plainly, he that
hath begun a good work will finish it. He plainly says, I give my
sheep eternal life and they'll never perish, no man will pluck
them out of my hand. But Judas, evidently, was never
God's child. He was a reprobate from the beginning.
I think that's clear. And the reason, if I can give
a reason, it may be supplied in Exodus chapter 9, if I can
give a reason for the existence of Judas. In Exodus chapter 9,
the same reason for the existence of Pharaoh. to serve God's purpose. That's it, to serve God's purpose. Turn to Exodus 9, verse 15. God has made all things for himself,
even the wicked, for the day of evil. That's right. Exodus 9, verse 15, talking to
Pharaoh. But now I will stretch out my
hand, that I may smite thee, and thy people with pestilence. Thou shalt be cut off from the
earth, and in their deed for this cause have I raised you
up. I have raised you up for this very cause, for to show
in thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout
all the earth." And Judas falls right in that same category.
Serve the purpose of God. That's right. I don't want to
serve that purpose of judgment, do you? I want to bring glory
to his name, the name of his mercy and grace. All right, verse
13. And this is important. Listen. I'll give you a moment more.
Now I come to thee, and these things I speak in the world,
that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I speak these
things in their presence. He's talking to the Father. But
he's speaking these things in their presence, before them,
that they might not be afraid or distressed, but that they
might have the same joy that he has in the redemptive work,
his exultation, his return. Aren't you glad he gave us this
prayer? That their joy might be fulfilled in themselves, that
there's joy in them. Hope and confidence and comfort,
that's why he's given us this. He said, why didn't he go in
the closet and pray this? Because he wanted us to have the joy
of what he's saying. That's it. Now, I've given them
thy word. Like I said, this is more than
just owning a Bible and hearing the word preached. It's to give
them the word in their hearts. I've given them your word, and
the world's hated them. Why does the world hate them?
For the very reason they hate Christ. He spoke the truth, the
truth of God. And because they're not of this
world, even as I'm not of the world. And this verse I want
to look at before I close. I pray not that you should take
them out of the world. I don't think our Lord ever intended
for his people to be separated from all the other people. I
think these Christian communes and Christian workshops and Christian
schools and Christian villages and I think they're contrary
to the will of God for his church and his people. He means for
us to live among people, as witnesses. That's right. He said you're
the light of the world. And a light's not put under a
bush, it's put on a candlestick and it might give light. And
salt is not put away in the cabinet, it's put on the meat so it'll
give a flavor. And he means, I'm glad when our Lord came to
the earth, he didn't live in the synagogue. Where did they
find the Lord? They found him eating and drinking
with sinners. Pharisees, well, they stayed
down at the synagogue. They stayed in the temple. They
walked around in their religious dress and stayed away from the
people. Over in Isaiah, God says, you're stinching my nose, you're
smoking my nose, you're running around saying I'm holier than
thou. Stand back! Don't come near me, I'm holier
than you are. Don't come near me. He said,
you are a smoke in my nose. He means for his people to live
among people and be witnesses of his grace and his mercy. Well,
can we walk among this world in integrity and faith and truth
and godliness? Yes, because he says twice, verse
16, they are not of this world. I'm not of this world. I have
the Spirit of God. So sanctify them through thy
truth, thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the
world, even so have I sent them into the world. For what purpose? As a witness. You shall be witnesses
unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts
of