Five Things Given to Christ

Now let's turn to John 17. There are three things that I
want to say about this chapter before we look at it, three things
that need to be pointed out if we're going to intelligently
study this 17th chapter of John, the first of which is this. This
is emphatically, without question, the Lord's Prayer. Now, that
which is commonly called the Lord's Prayer is the disciples'
prayer. We know that for two or three
reasons. First of all, they said, Lord, teach us to pray. And he
said, when you pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. And then our Lord could never
pray, forgive me of my trespasses. He couldn't pray that. He never
did. He had no trespasses. He had no sin. He taught us to
pray, forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us. This is holy ground. This is
the Lord's prayer. We're actually being permitted
to listen in on heaven. I feel as Moses at the burning
bush when I read John 17, I feel that I am standing on holy ground. This is the Lord's prayer. Now the second thing about this
prayer is this. This is what I believe. I have
no authority for this. I believe that our Lord left
this prayer with us as a specimen of the intercession which, even
now, he carries on for us at the right hand of God. He says
there in verse 9, I pray for them. I pray for them. And throughout
this chapter, I pray for them. This is the Lord praying for
his people. Some call this the Lord's high
priestly prayer, and that's what he is now. He's our high priest.
We have, Paul said, an high priest on the right hand of God who
can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities because he
was tried in all points as we are, yet without sin. Now, our
Lord prayed frequently. Sometimes he prayed all night,
but this is the only prayer of any length. prayed by Christ
that we have in the Bible. We have brief sentences which
he, like at the tomb of Lazarus, he said, Lord, Father, I know
you hear me always, and so forth. There are two or three of those
prayers through the New Testament, but this is the only prayer in
its entirety of our Lord that we have recorded. And I believe
the reason for that is he left us this prayer that we might
have a specimen or an example of the intercession which he's
carrying on right now. He's praying for us now. He ever
lives to make intercession for us. Now watch the third thing,
and this is very important, very, very important. All of these
things for which he prayed, every one of them were eternally decreed.
That's right. His glory, the salvation of his
people, the sanctification of his sheep. He said, sanctify
them. Well, they're going to be sanctified. I will that they
be with me where I am. They're going to be with him
where he is. He said, this is my Father's will, that of all
which he has given me, I'll lose nothing but raise him up at the
last day. The salvation of his people,
the sanctification of his people, the eternal glory of his church,
These things were all eternally decreed. They were as sure as
God is in heaven. But yet Christ prayed about them.
You see what I'm saying? Now stay with me. I'm not smart
enough, and you're not either, and nobody else is on this earth,
to explain the harmony between divine sovereignty and human
responsibility. They're both true. I'm not smart
enough, and nobody else is smart enough, to explain the harmony
between divine providence and intercessory prayer. These things
were going to be done. They were eternally decreed.
They were prophesied before Christ ever came. But he prayed about
them. Scripture says, God worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. Isn't that what it
says? And yet the Master said, ask and it shall be given you."
The Scripture says, God will be merciful to whom he will be
merciful, he will be gracious to whom he will be gracious.
And yet the Scripture says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. The Scripture says, the Lord
giveth and the Lord taketh away. That's what it says. And yet
it also says, you have not because you ask not. It says, the Lord giveth, and
the Lord taketh away. But turns right around and says,
you have not, not because God won't give it to you, but because
you won't ask for it. Isn't that what it says? The
scripture says, the Lord giveth to every man severally as he
will. Talking about gifts and talents
and wisdom. The Holy Spirit is the giver
of gifts, and he'll give them severally as he will, according
to his own will. And yet, Scripture says, if any
man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth wisdom to
all men liberally, and upbraideth not. So it's true. All of this was
eternally decreed. All of it was as sure as God's
throne, and yet here our Lord is, in agony, in acessory prayer,
praying and asking the Father for these very things that had
been decreed. Now, let's look at verse 1 of
John 17. It begins in John 17 with verse
1 in this way. These words spake Jesus. and
lifted up his eyes to heaven." Now the reference here, these
words spake Jesus, the reference here is to words he had already
spoken. The reference is not here at
all to the prayer he's about to pray. Now look at it. These
words spake Jesus and lifted his eyes to heaven. What words?
Well, we'll go back to John 15, verse 11. Now here, for several,
John 14, 15, and 16, our Lord is teaching and speaking to his
disciples. He's on his way to the cross.
He's on his way to this monumental event, the atonement, the redemption
of his people. And he's about to leave these
disciples and be slain and buried, and he has a lot to say to them.
And John 15, 11, these things have I spoken unto you that my
joy might remain in you. Now look at John 16, 1. These
things have I spoken unto you that you should not be offended,
that you should not be discouraged, that you should not fall away.
John 16, 33, look at that. These things have I spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace. Confidence assurance the
world will give you much trouble and trial but in me You're going
to have peace and I've spoken these things that you have might
have joy I've spoken these things that you might not be discouraged
I've spoken these things that you might have peace in the world
You'll have trial and trouble but in me you have peace for
I've overcome the world these words spake Jesus He had told
his disciples of his oneness with the Father, he said, you
believe in God, believe in me. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. He told his disciples he would send the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Spirit would come, another comforter. He told his disciples
of their vital union with him, he said, I am the vine and you
are the branches. Abide in me. You cannot bring
forth fruit alone. He had told them to expect persecution
and trial. He said, they'll cast you out
of the synagogue, and he that killeth you will think he's doing
God a service. He told them that the Holy Spirit
would be their teacher, that he had many things to say to
them that they weren't able to bear. But when he, the Holy Spirit,
would come, he would show them these things, and he would glorify
Christ and not himself. He told them that he would be
with them always, that he would hear their prayers, and that
he would return again. I go to prepare a place for you
and I'll return again. These words spake Jesus. And
then he lifted his eyes to heaven. Now earth had been to him a wilderness,
a desert, a prison. He was about to walk the winepress
of God's wrath, deserted, forsaken, alone. He was about to be condemned
and punished, J.C. Rouse said, about to endure his
hail, numbered were the transgressors. The agony of substitution was
upon him. So he lifted his eyes to heaven.
That's where his glory was. That's where his throne was.
That's where his angels were. That's where his rest is. He
lifted his weary, longing, holy eyes to heaven, and he said,
The hour is come. Now, eternity itself could not
fathom the depths and the heights and the length and the breadth
and the fullness and the meaning of this blessed Scripture. Ten
thousand times ten thousand sermons couldn't possibly fathom the
depth and the wisdom and the meaning of this prayer. But I
want to look tonight at five things that Christ mentions in
this prayer Five things that were given to him. I'm not talking
about what he gave us. I'm talking about five things
given to him. As I read that a moment ago,
I hope some of you tried to find those five things. They're easy
to find. I emphasized the verses when I got to them. But the first
one is found in verse 2. It says, "...as thou hast given
him power over all flesh." That he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him Now this verse contains two statements
The first of which is this now we'll learn something right here
I Regret that everybody's not here
tonight. I would like them to hear this
point right here God's gonna teach us something right here
this verse contains two statements The first is this, Thou hast
given him power over all flesh. That is, Christ as Mediator has
received from the Father universal authority over all flesh. The second statement is this,
that he should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given
him. The object of that authority That authority of the Mediator
is that he might give eternal life to the people that the Father
gave to him in the covenant of grace. Now let's look at the
first statement, just a minute. Now concentrate, if you can,
on this for just a moment. The Lord Jesus Christ, as Mediator,
has received from the Father universal authority over all
flesh. Now, no man in his right mind,
I don't care if he's Catholic or Baptist or Armenian or Calvinist
or Pentecostal or fatalist or if he's charismatic or dead-dry
doctrine, no man in his right mind will question the sovereignty
of God. God said, can I not do with my
own what I will? God said, I kill, I make alive,
I wound, I heal. God said, I make rich, I make
poor, I, the Lord, do these things. I create light, I create darkness,
I create good, I create evil. I declare the end from the beginning.
He created this world all alone in his own wisdom, by his own
power, according to his own will. He sent the flood and destroyed
it. Can I not do with my own what I will? He didn't ask anybody's
permission. He destroyed this world one time
and made this promise as he put a rainbow in the sky. I'll never
do it again, not by water. He said the heart of the king
is in the hands of the Lord, to turn it whithersoever he will,
and someday he'll end it all. Someday when he speaks, it'll
all be over. That's what the Word says. Christ
said the angels in heaven don't even know the day or the hour,
not even the Son of Man. Wasn't that what he said? But
the Father. He'll wind it up. He's sovereign.
Man's a fool to question God's sovereignty. No man in his right
mind will question God's authority. But there's something else right
here. He said, Father, thou hast given
me power over all flesh. There's something else here besides
the sovereignty of God. There's something here, right
here, that all men don't believe. Thou hast given me. There's something
else. Thou hast given me. Something
God the Father gave to the Son. It's something different than
just the sovereignty of God over the skies and the seas and the
clouds and the stars and the moon and the sun and this world. It's something else here. Now this is what it is. In order
to save a people, and that's what it's for, he said, you've
given me authority over all flesh that, in order that, I should
give eternal life. to as many as thou hast given
me. In order to save a people," here's what this verse means,
in order to save a people for his glory, the Father has taken
the whole world of flesh out from under the immediate rule
of God as absolute God, as Elohim And the Father in his own sovereign
pleasure has put that whorl of flesh under the government, under
the authority of the mediator, Jesus Christ. I'll show you that
in Romans chapter 9. Turn over to Romans chapter 14.
Now listen to this in Romans 14 verse 9. Christ both died and rose again
and revived, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the
living. Isaiah said, Under us a son is
given, a child is born, his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God. The what? The government shall
be on his shoulders. Christ is saying here, he's saying
something besides, I'm sovereign, I created all things, I can destroy
all things, can I not do with my own what I will? He's saying,
Father, you have given me power, authority, over all flesh, that
I should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given me.
In order to save a people for his glory, the Heavenly Father
has taken the whole world of men out from under the immediate
rule of an absolute God and put them, all men, all the sons of
Adam, under the absolute government and authority of the Mediator.
Now here's the results of that. As a result of that gracious
arrangement, a fallen race is permitted to exist. Brethren, a sinful world coming
into contact with an absolute God without a mediator would
be instantaneously destroyed, doomed to hell. Man as a rebel, from Adam's fall
to this present day, man as a rebel lives only in virtue of the sacrifice
of Christ. Christ stands between avenging
justice pure holy justice and Adam's race. He always has stood
there. If he wasn't there, we wouldn't
even have survived, not the first man wouldn't. The life of every son of Adam,
the very existence of every son of Adam, the very fact that this
world can roll on in its rebellion is because Christ is the mediator. And that's the only reason. And
as a result of this gracious arrangement, secondly, the gospel
is preached to all men. What did Christ say to the disciples?
All authority is given unto me in heaven and earth, go ye therefore
and preach. Go ye therefore and preach. I'm
holding back God's justice. I'm holding back God's wrath.
I'm the only thing between a lost world and a burning hell. You go preach it. Thirdly, as a result of this
gracious arrangement, a sincere invitation is extended to all
who will come, to all who will drink. It's sufficient. It's
infinitely capable of saving all who want it, because he has
that kind of power. He said, I've got all authority. I've got all power over all flesh. Preach it to all men. The only reason that Adam didn't
perish in annihilation under God's wrath the minute he fell
was because of this right here. God Almighty, the Heavenly Father,
gave his Son, the Mediator, Jehovah, Joshua, the Redeemer, the power
over all flesh. Now then, here's the object of
that, here's the reason God did it. that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. Thou hast given him
power over all flesh, authority over all flesh, you subjected
all flesh to his authority, to his government, that he should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Example,
here's an island out off the shore of Africa or down in South
Pacific, pagan, inhabited by poor cannibals,
sick and dying, diseased, a missionary land, a man skilled and trained
not only in the gospel but in medicine, in hygiene, in sciences,
in everything. He lands on that island. He begins
to teach the people. He teaches them to farm. He teaches
them to clean up their living conditions. They cease to eat
one another. He teaches them to plant food. They plant food
and harvest. He teaches them to build houses.
He ministers to their medical needs, to their physical needs.
He preaches the gospel. Some of them believe it and are
saved. Some of them believe it and come
to know God. But the whole island, the whole
island and everybody there has come under a dispensation of
grace to save some. You see what I'm saying? It'd
be impossible for the sun to shine down upon this world without
also influencing the rebel as well as the believer. And this
whole earth has been subjected and put under the authority of
Jesus Christ that he might save his own. Thou hast given him authority. All right, the second thing given
to him is found in verse 4. He says, I have glorified thee
on the earth. I have finished the work you
gave me to do. First of all, you gave me authority
over all flesh as the mediator. Now, you gave me a work to do.
Christ is the only one born of woman who can truthfully say,
I've finished the work thou gavest me to do. You and I never have
finished anything. He did what the first Adam failed
to do. He did it perfectly. He did it
permanently. This was the work of redemption.
What was that work given him to do? Well, first of all, it
was the earthly manifestation of the Father. Philip said, Show
us the Father. And Christ said, Have I been
so long time with you and you haven't known me? He that has
seen me has seen the Father. That's what he came to do. He
came to reveal the Father, he came to manifest the Father's
love and grace and wisdom and righteousness and all of his
attributes. And he said, now it's finished.
Secondly, he came to perfectly obey the law. He said, I didn't
come to destroy the law, I came to fulfill it. He said to John,
when John was about to baptize him, suffer it to be so, to fulfill
all righteousness. The godly life must be lived
and was lived, and when Christ said, I finished the work you
gave me to do, he's saying perfect righteousness has been imputed
and imparted. By the disobedience of one we
were made sinners, by the obedience of one we were made righteous.
The perfect atonement was at hand. He came into this world
to bear our sin in his body on the tree, and when he went to
the cross and paid the debt, he cried, right here, I've finished
the work. He cried, it is finished. The work thou gavest me to do
is so complete that nothing can be added to it, and the Son of
Man is the only one born of woman who could say it's finished. Not even a brush mark, not even
a whisper, not even a whisker, not even an atom, not even a
minute particle could be added to that perfect work. The Father
has been revealed. The perfect obedience has been
fulfilled. The perfect atonement has been
met. And it is finished. The work
you gave me to do. All right, now notice the third
thing. Look at verse 6. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me." You gave me total authority as
the mediator. You gave me a work to do. I've
done it. You gave me a people to save. Now, in this part of the prayer,
our Lord begins to speak of his people, directly of his disciples. indirectly of all believers in
every age. Six times he refers to those
whom thou hast given him. Look at verse 2. Thou hast given
him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. 9. I pray for
them, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast
given me, they are thine. 11. And now I am no more in the
world, but these are in the world, I come to thee. Holy Father,
keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name, those that thou gavest me I have
kept. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me. Now, somebody said years ago
there are three ways in which Christ receives his sheep, his
people. First of all, they were given
to him by the Father. He said, My sheep hear my voice,
and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which
gave them to me is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand." John 6, 37, he said, "...all
that my Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh
I will in no wise cast out." So they were given to him by
the Father. Secondly, they were purchased
by him on the cross. He redeemed them. The word redeemed
is to buy back, to purchase, to pay the ransom price. And
he redeemed them. They were redeemed by his blood
out of every tribe, nation, kindred, tongue unto heaven. How did he
get them the third way? They were brought to him by the
Holy Spirit. They were called out there in
the valley of sin, out there on the mountain of sin. the Holy
Spirit went after them, and they are referred to in the Word of
God as the called of Christ Jesus. Whom he foreknew, he predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his Son. Whom he predestinated,
he called. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. Three ways the Lord Jesus gets
his people, by the foreordination of the Father, by the justification
of the blood, and by the calling of the Holy Spirit. And look
at verse John, chapter 6. Turn over there a moment. Verse
38. John 6, 38. I came down from
heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. That's the work of him that sent me. And this is the Father's
will which is sent me, that of all which he hath given me I
should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. All right, now the fourth thing
in this holy, precious prayer that our Lord refers to as being
given to him. He said, the Father has given
me all authority. that I should give eternal life
to as many as he gave me. And then he said the Father gave
me a work to do, and I finished it. And then thirdly, he said
the Father gave me a people, and I've redeemed them. Now,
fourthly, verse 8, I have given unto them the words which thou
gavest me. The words. You gave me these
words. The Master had given to the disciples
the word, the doctrine, the truth which the Father gave him to
proclaim. He says, the words that I speak
are not mine, but he is that sent me. Now turn to Deuteronomy
18. Now this is important here, Deuteronomy
18. In Deuteronomy chapter 18, the
scripture Moses is writing here about the Messiah who is to come,
the Messiah. In Deuteronomy 18, verse 18,
we have this promise. Watch it. Deuteronomy 18, 18.
Watch it now. I will raise them up a prophet
from among their brethren like unto thee. Speaking of Moses.
I'll put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them
all that I shall command him. That's Christ. Thou hast given
me these words." Let's look at two or three other passages.
John 3, 34. John 3, 34. Will you look at that? "...for
he whom God hath sent," John 3, 34, "...speaketh the words
of God." for God giveth not the Spirit
by measure unto him." That's Christ. Turn over to John 6,
verse 67. John 6, 67. Then said Jesus to
the twelve, Would you also go away? And Peter said, Lord, to
whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. John 14, 10. Let's look at this
one. John 14, verse 10. This is important
here. Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the work." The Father gave him the words
to speak. Our Lord Jesus Christ, and there's
no reason to be troubled here about his equality with the Father
as the sender being greater than the sent. They're one. Christ came as a mediator. Christ came as a redeemer. Christ
came as a substitute. And Christ, though perfect God,
is also man. He clothed himself in human flesh
and sent down here as a perfect man, he was sent with a task
to perform, he was sent with words to speak, he was sent a
people to represent, he was sent with a death to die, and all
of it given him by the Father. Now, look at John 17 again. I
have given unto them the words which thou gavest me." Now, here
are three remarkable things in this same verse, verse 8, three
remarkable things. Number one, they have received
them. They have received them. They
have embraced them. While their fellow men ridiculed,
they have received those words. The second thing. And they have
known surely that I came from thee. These men acknowledged
that Christ Jesus came from the Father, while others said, he
trusted in God, let's see if God will have him now. But these
men knew that he came from God. The third remarkable thing. And
they have believed that thou didst send me." These men believed
on him as the sent one, as the Messiah, the Redeemer. While
others accused him of blasphemy, they believed. Three remarkable
things. Christ said, you gave me words,
and I came down here and I've delivered these words that you
gave me to preach. And three remarkable things.
These men have received them. These men confess that I came
from thee, and these men believe that I am the Messiah. Sing them
over again to me, wonderful words of life. Let me more of their
beauty sing, wonderful words of life. Christ, the Blessed
One, gives to all wonderful words of life, pardon, peace, glory. Let's look at the fifth thing.
Now, verse 22. And the glory which thou gavest
me, I have given them." Now, the glory given him, spoken
of here, first of all, is not the glory of his deity, because
you and I can't know anything about that, he can't give us
that. Look at verse 5, John 17, "...Father, glorify thou me with
thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was." He can't give me that. Whereas John 1, 14 says, "...the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory,
as of the only begotten of the Father." I can't, I can't, no
way I can contain that. No way he can share that with
me. Well, it's not his mediatorial glory. I know it can't be that.
It can't be his mediatorial glory, because the Scripture says this,
"...let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation, and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. And wherefore God hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, That
at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, mine, yours, and
everybody else's, and acknowledge that he is Lord to the glory
of God. That's his mediatorial glory. I can't share that. What's
he talking about here? Look at it again. And the glory
which thou gavest me, I've given them. Now listen, it has to do
with this thing of redemption. Every one of these five things.
The Father gave him authority. put the world under his government
and mediator that he might save some. The Father gave him a people
to redeem. The Father gave him a work to
perform, he finished it. The Father gave him the words
to say, the words of the gospel, the words of redemption. Now,
the Father gave him glory, which he has given to us, that they
may be won. It's a glory which we have in
this vital union with Christ. It amazes you how different reputable
writers and preachers interpret scripture. Here are several, I picked up
several writers, and this is what John Calvin says. This glory,
verse 22, the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them,
that we may be one. John Calvin says this glory is
the image and likeness of God. We are renewed and regenerated
by the Spirit of God, and we are sons of God, therefore we
have the glory of God. Well, that's true. That's true. Secondly, Bingle said this, this
glory is the power, influence, and authority which accompanied
our Lord during his ministry. In other words, Moses came down
from the mountain and his face shone. People knew that he'd
been with God. But that was said also of the
disciples, the people took note of them that they'd been with
Jesus. There was something about their life, there was something
about their message, there was something about their presence
that told people they were different, they'd been with the Lord. So
that's true, that's glory. Augustine and Thomas Manton said
this, this glory is immortality. This glory is the heavenly glory
which our Lord promised to all who believe. Well, that's true.
Let me read you a scripture. You don't need to turn. I'll
look it up quickly. In Romans 8, verse 18, listen
to this. I reckon that the sufferings
of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed in us. So we're going to have that glory
and share it with him. That's true. John Gill says this. This glory in verse 22 is the
gospel, the gospel with all of its blessings and promises and
benefits to which Paul referred when he said, the gospel of the
glory of God which was committed to my trust. J.C. Ryle said, this glory, verse
22, is the Holy Spirit. He says nothing is so likely
to make believers one as the gift of the Holy Spirit, which
Paul talked about in Ephesians 4, 3, the unity of the Spirit. And you know, when I got through
reading all those fellows, I said, they're all right. Every one
of them. This glory Christ gave, Christ
said, the glory which you gave me, the glory, the image of God,
the likeness of God in a sense, I share that. The glory is the
power and influence and authority which accompanied our Lord with
change from glory to glory. We see God's Son in the face
of Christ Jesus and with change from glory to glory, sure. And
the immortality and heavenly glory and the gospel and the
Holy Spirit, these are all the glory of Christ which he's given
to us, that we may be one. that we may be one. Five things
given to Christ. May God bless it to your profit.
Brother Payne, you lead us in our prayer, please.

Five Things Given to Christ

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Five Things Given to Christ

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