My message today will be taken
from the book of John, chapter 17. John 17. Now, the title of the message
is the Lord's Prayer. And when we preach from this
portion of God's Word, there are two or three things that
need to be made clear. The first one is this, John 17.
This is the Lord's Prayer. The entire chapter, John 17,
is the Lord's Prayer. Now that which is commonly called
the Lord's Prayer, which begins, all of you familiar with it,
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom
come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. This is,
that's the disciple's prayer. One day the disciples were talking
with the Lord and they said, teach us to pray. teach us to
pray as John taught his disciples to pray. And our Lord looked
at the disciples and he said, when you pray, you say, our Father
which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come.
That's the disciples prayer. You see, in that prayer, the
Lord taught them to pray, give us this day our daily bread. The Lord doesn't pray for daily
bread. The Lord taught them to pray
in that prayer, forgive us our sins. The Lord has no sin, so
it's not the Lord's prayer, it's the disciples' prayer. This is
the Lord's prayer. You see, the Lord left us the
full text of this prayer. The full text. This is Christ
praying to the Heavenly Father. And He left us the full text
of this prayer as an example of His intercession. which even
now he carries on for his people at the father's right hand you
know the scripture says when Christ died on the cross was
buried and rose again that he ascended to heaven and is seated
at the right hand of the father and there he prays or makes intercession
for his people he prayed on the earth when he was here in the
flesh he prayed frequently but this as far as I know is the
only prayer of our Lord recorded in its entirety. This prayer
right here in John 17, this is the entire prayer. He began,
he completed it. And this prayer is the prayer
of our high priest, our mediator, which he is. He prays for his
people, he makes intercession for us. Romans 8, 34 says, who
can condemn me? Christ died, yea rather is risen
again. who also is ascended and makes
intercession for us. And then in Hebrews 7.25 it says
he is able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. So this
is the prayer of the great high priest, the one mediator. Scripture
says there's one God and one Mediator, one who prays for us,
and only one, that's our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the effectual
prayer of intercession. And then his intercession for
us, the third thing that I think ought to be said, is the Lord
praying here. His intercession ought to encourage
us to pray. We need to be encouraged to pray. Listen to Paul in Hebrews 4.14.
If Paul's the writer of Hebrews, he said this, Seeing then that
we have a great high priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, that's
passed into the heavens, let us therefore come boldly unto
the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need. Prayer doesn't change God, or
change the will of God. It finds the will of God. Prayer
not only finds the will of God, but vows to the will of God,
and rejoices in the will of God, and changes us to follow the
will of God. If our master prayed, the servant
certainly ought to pray. Will you take your Bible and
turn there to John 17? I hope I've encouraged you to
to open the scriptures and maybe I've stirred some interest on
your part in this Lord's Prayer. But let's look at a few verses
while we have time. Verse 1, it says, Our Lord, these
words spake Jesus and lifted his eyes to heaven. Our Lord
Jesus Christ came from heaven. The first Adam is of the earth
earthy. The second Adam is the Lord from
heaven. And he lifted his eyes to heaven
because his father was there. His throne was there. His glory
was there. And the scripture says, every
good and perfect gift coming from above. So our Lord lifted
his eyes to heaven. And that's where the blessings
are. We are blessed in spiritual places with heavenly blessings. And then he said, look at verse
1. These words spake Jesus and lifted his eyes to heaven and
he said, Father, the hour has come. I tell you when I read
this prayer or preach from this prayer, I feel so inadequate,
I feel so unable to deal with it as it ought to be dealt with
because it is the prayer of my Lord, my Master, my God. It's
the Father talking, Son talking to the Father. But here he says,
Father, The hour is come. The hour is come. Now, often
the Lord mentioned this hour. To Mary, remember, when she said
they don't have any wine left to serve the guests, He said,
Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. And then to the disciples one
day, they said, trying to discourage Him from going to Jerusalem and
being and being killed, and he said, shall I pray the Father
to deliver me from this hour? For this cause came out of this
hour. This is why I came, to suffer
for my people. And again, he said to his disciples,
the hour has come. It's come, that the Son shall
be glorified. And here, in this intercessory
prayer, the great Redeemer lifts his eyes to heaven, and he said,
Father, the hour is come. The hour. The hour. What hour is this? Well, my friends,
it's the hour of redemption, decreed from all eternity. It's the hour, the grand and
great hour of the fulfillment of God's eternal covenant made
in Christ before the foundation of the world. It's the hour which
Abraham saw. Christ said, he saw my day, and
he rejoiced. It's the hour which Moses wrote. It's the hour to which all the
types and patterns and pictures pointed. When Abel slew that
lamb, he was pointing to this hour. When Moses and the people
of Israel killed the Passover and put the blood on the door,
they were pointing to this hour. This is the hour to which all
the types pointed. This is the hour when the Lord
would bear all the sins of all his people, of all generations,
and put them away. This is the hour for which he
came into the world. That's the reason it's so powerfully
stated here. Father, the hour is come. It's the hour of all of history
points to and looks to, and it's the hour that all things after
that hour look back unto." He said in verse 1, glorify thy
son, that thy son may glorify thee. What does this mean? The Lord Jesus Christ is praying
to the Father to glorify him. Well, Christ as God does not
need to be glorified. He has all glory. No glory can
be added to Christ who is God in human flesh. But what he's
praying here is this, he prays to be sustained and strengthened
in his, in bearing our sins on that cross. He prays to be supported
in this hour of agony and suffering. He prays to accomplish the victory
over sin, over Satan, and over death. He prays to be raised
and exalted and seated at God's right hand. And he prays that
in all of this, all of his work, that he might glorify the Father
and glorify the character of the Father in the redemption
of his people. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
prays this way, and oh, that we might learn to pray this way. Father, glorify thy Son, that
thy Son may glorify thee. Honor the son. Why? That the
son may honor thee. Supply the needs of thy son that
he may be used for your glory to meet the needs of someone
else. Maybe we could learn to pray that way. The apostles said
to us though, you have not because you ask not and when you do ask,
you ask amiss that you may consume it on your own lust. We pray,
Lord bless me. Why? Honor me. Why? Prosper me. Why? Glorify me. Why? Glorify me that I may glorify
thee. Honor me that I may honor thee.
Prosper me that I may be used in your kingdom for your glory,
for the good of your people. Make me a blessing. Glorify thy
son that thy son may glorify thee. How did the son glorify
the father? He glorified him in his holiness. Our Lord Jesus Christ here on
the earth as a man, made of woman, made under the law, tempted in
all points as we are, yet without sin, glorified the holiness,
the holiness of God by perfecting a perfect righteousness for his
people. The father said, this is my son.
in whom I'm well pleased. He not only honored the holiness
of God, he glorified and honored the justice of God. Hanging on
that cross, bearing our sins, suffering our death, paying the
penalty, he enabled God to be just and justifier. God's righteousness
and God's peace met at Calvary. God's love and God's truth met
at Calvary. He honored the justice of God
and the holiness of God and the wisdom of God. This blessed way
of salvation was decreed in the wise counsel of God. Christ is
the wisdom of God. Oh, I know the preaching of the
cross is to them who are perishing foolishness, but to those who
are saved the preaching of the cross is the wisdom of God. Not
only the power of God to save and the power of God to redeem,
but it's the wisdom of God. We see the great mighty wisdom
of God in redeeming a people in such a way that his character
is glorified. His justice and righteousness
is honored. And our Lord Jesus Christ glorified
the love and grace of God. Nowhere is the love of God seen
like in Calvary's cross. And our Lord Jesus Christ glorified
the faithfulness of God. God will be faithful. He has
not failed of one thing that He promised. God is faithful. Great is Thy faithfulness. Glorify the Son, that the Son
may glorify Thee. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, that as it is written, He that glorieth Let
him glory in the Lord. Do you see that? All right, notice
verse 2. Now watch this. I'm going to
help you a little here if you'll stay with me. Verse 2. Our Lord
prayed on. He said, As thou hast given him,
the Son of Man, thy Son, power, authority over all flesh, that
he should give Eternal life to as many as thou hast given him
now listen to me Two things are evident from this statement,
and this is the Lord praying now. This is the Son of God and
He prays father glorify the Son that the Son may glorify thee
as thou hast given me authority power over all creation over
all flesh That I should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given me." And the first thing that's evident here is
this, Jesus Christ, far from being the weakling that men insinuate
and the weakling and the frail, defeated reformer that many men
preach, Jesus Christ has all power and all authority and universal
rule over all creatures and over all flesh. That's what he says.
Thou hast given me, by divine decree, authority, power over
every living creature. And the second thing that's evident
here is this, that the object of God giving him total authority
and total sovereignty and total rule and total authority over
all flesh is that he might or should, by his divine work, effectually,
accomplished God's purpose and redeem a people listen to that
in other scriptures John 335 the father loved the son and
had given all things into his hand Isaiah 9 verse 6 unto us
a child is born unto us a son is given and the government the
government government of what the universe shall be on his
shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Of his kingdom there is no end."
Matthew 28, 18, our Lord spoke to his disciples before he sent
them out to preach and he said, all authority in heaven and earth,
all authority, not designated, not part, all authority is given
unto me in heaven and earth, all power. Now I want you to
listen to a scripture from 1 Corinthians 15 that I imagine most of you
have never considered. 1 Corinthians 15, 24. Now listen to this. Then cometh
the end when Christ shall have delivered up the kingdom to God,
even the Father. This is the end. When he shall
have put down all rule, all authority, and all power, for he must reign. rule in undisputed sovereignty,
for Jesus Christ must rule and reign till he put all enemies
under his feet. And the last enemy that shall
be destroyed is death. And when, and when all things
shall be put under, defeated, subdued unto him, then shall
the Son also himself be subject unto God, the Father, that put
all things unto him, that God may be all and in all." Preacher,
what's that saying? It's saying this, that from before
the foundation of the world, back before God by Christ made
the world, that in an everlasting covenant of grace, for he was
the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, that back in eternity
past, before the world began, In all eternity, God put, God
the absolute God, put the world and creation under the mediatorial
reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. As surety and redeemer, the purpose
was made, the purpose was decreed, God will have a new heaven and
a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness and a people like
Christ. He'll redeem a world which will
be a fallen world. And back before that world was
ever made, he put the whole universe, the whole world, under the mediatorial
kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ and the mediatorial reign of
Jesus Christ. And it was by Christ that he
made the world and for whom he made the world, unto whom he
gave all things. And as a result of this gracious
arrangement, a fallen race is permitted to exist. Do you know
what would have happened when Adam fell? Had not Adam and his
sons and his posterity been under the mediatorial reign of a surety
and a redeemer? He would have been annihilated
in a moment. A sinful world, a sinful man
coming in contact with an absolute holy God would perish. Would
perish immediately, like the angels of old, who kept not their
first estate, but who sinned and were reserved in everlasting
chains of darkness unto that great day. Why didn't they survive,
preacher? They had no mediator. They had
no redeemer. For he took not on him the nature
of angels, but the seed of Abraham. Before the world began, Almighty
God, the absolute, holy, eternal God, put his creation and this
human race under the mediatorial reign and rule of the Lord Jesus
Christ, his surety, the surety of the everlasting covenant,
whose blood is the blood of the everlasting covenant. And that
mediatorial reign began back in eternity, and it's still in
force. And when Christ shall have accomplished all that he
was designed to accomplish, he's fulfilled all that God decreed
from all eternity, saved every one of his sheep, his elect,
given him by the Father, has brought the last child home,
and the last member of God's true church. Then, when all power
and rule and authority in heaven Earth and hell has been subdued
by him. Death will be the last enemy
destroyed. And Satan in the bottomless pit
and all rebels and all unbelievers. Then shall Christ triumphantly,
victoriously as the great conquering mediator and ruling son deliver
up the kingdom unto him who gave it to him. And all things may
be subject to God and God may be all in all. And that's where
it is now, as a result of this gracious arrangement, this mediatorial
kingdom given to Christ. That's what Christ is praying
here. He's lifted his eyes to heaven. That's where it all is.
And he said, Father, the hour has come. This is it. Glorify
thy son, that thy son may glorify thee, as thou hast given him
authority, rule, power. Preachers that preach are defeated
Jesus. Who try to preach a Jesus that
wants to and can't, who wills to and folks won't let him, who's
frustrated and defeated and confused. Like this superstar Jesus that
talked about didn't know where he came from what he's doing
here and where he's going That's not the Son of God. That's not
the Christ of the Bible the Christ of the Bible must reign He always
has reigned and ruled and he will reign till he's put every
enemy under his feet And as a result of this gracious arrangement
you're alive today as an unbeliever While he calls out his own the
whole world benefits from his grace the whole world benefits
from his mercy to his church all things are yours Paul wrote
to the church even life and death and the world is yours because
Christ has authority and power and rule over it and it's existing
today for your good he said you've given me authority over all flesh
In order that, I should give eternal life to as many as you
gave me." God will have a people. Old Jonathan Edwards, one of
the first presidents of Princeton, wrote a book one time on the
design of redemption. And in it he said this, God's
grand and glorious design in redemption is to restore the
ruins of the fall. God's grand and glorious design
in redemption is to put down all things contrary to himself. God's grand and glorious design
in redemption is to put away where it can do no more harm,
all evil and all death. God's grand design in redemption
is to have a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness
that can never fail or fall. God's grand design in redemption
is to have a people to populate that heaven, a holy people just
like Jesus Christ. And before the foundation of
the world, when God purposed and decreed and designed to accomplish
this purpose, He put it in the hands of His Son and sent Him
to effect it and to accomplish it. And let me tell you something,
that's what He's doing. And the program's on time and
on schedule. And there'll be some people who
will glorify His mercy and there'll be others who'll glorify his
justice but everybody's gonna glorify God that he should give
eternal life look at this statement here our Lord prays he said glorify
me that I may glorify thee you've given me authority power over
all flesh that I should give eternal life man I tell you I'm
interested in that like nothing else Eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. What is eternal life? It's not
how long it's going to last. It's the quality of it, not the
quantity. You see, eternal life is the
life of God. God is eternal. Eternal life
is the life of God. It's the life of God in the soul.
It's life that can never die. It has no qualities of death
because God is life. Eternal life, spiritual life,
as opposed to the flesh. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and flesh is made of the dust, and will go back to
the dust. But this eternal life is spiritual life. This eternal
life is the gift of God. He said, Thou hast given eternal
life. This eternal life is a holy life.
Being the life of God, and being spiritual life, and being born
of God, it cannot sin. Well, in verse three, our Lord
defines eternal life. He doesn't stop there. He said,
you've given me authority over all flesh that I should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given me. And then without
pausing, he prays, and this is eternal life, that they might
know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast
sent. When our Lord speaks of eternal
life, he's speaking not of the length of it, but the quality
of it. You see, eternal life is salvation. Eternal life is
regeneration. Eternal life is a new birth.
Eternal life is a restoration of the life that was lost in
Adam. In Adam all die. In Christ, made alive. When a man has eternal life,
he has what he did not have before in the flesh. When a man has
eternal life, he knows what he did not know before. He knows
God. When a man has eternal life,
he is what he was not before. He's a new creature, a new person
in Christ Jesus. When a man has eternal life,
he is a son of God, an heir of God, and a joint heir with Jesus
Christ. Now in closing, Our Lord said,
I've glorified thee on the earth. I've glorified thee in life and
love and obedience and walk in all ways. He did indeed glorify
the Father. And watch this. I have finished
the work you gave me to do. What is that work? To redeem
a people. To bring about a kingdom of righteousness. Who gave him that work to do?
The Father. What did he do with it? He finished
it. Nothing needs to be added. How
do I participate in it? Believe on the Son. He that hath
the Son hath eternal life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life.