0:06 But Lord now through your word, let our bosoms burn. Let our bosoms burn. Lord we pray that as it was on the mount of transfiguration, Moses would disappear, Elijah would disappear, and Christ would remain. We wanna see Christ. Lord, in this moment we're not here to hear from a man.
0:25 Let every man disappear. Let the voice of your Holy Spirit be the only thing that we sense in this very moment. We ask these things as we unpack a glorious text that you have provided us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
0:45 John chapter 17. The content of John 17 is a divine masterpiece for so many reasons, and to list those reasons alone would be a sermon in itself. This chapter is often regarded by specifically old men. When I talk about old, I'm talking about like ancient saints as the holy of holies of the bible. And one of the reasons among the myriad of reasons for that is because this portion of scripture invites us into one of the deepest parts of the heart of Christ.
1:19 And the reason being is because we are invited into one of the most intimate aspects of the life of Christ, and that is found in his praying. In his praying, nobody could pray like Jesus could pray because nobody is as intimate with the father as Jesus is except for the Holy Spirit. And you and I in our lifetime, especially if you grew up in the church, can say that you remember certain sermons that changed your life, but it is very rare for men to say that they remember what and how certain men have prayed. Jesus's prayers were just as powerful as his preaching, And we see that clearly here, because he prays in the presence of his apostles, and the apostle John was so moved. He was obviously inspired by the spirit that in this moment where Christ turns his attention away from his own and looks up to heaven, the man picks up an instrument to write on and begins to record the words from those blessed lips.
2:21 Many have said that this is the longest prayer that Jesus has prayed, but that's not true. We know that he, at one point he prayed all night to know who his apostles would be. I'm sure he had many nights of prayer. This is not the longest prayer of Jesus, this is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus. And the beauty of this prayer is not in its length, the beauty of this prayer is in the divine truths that are presented to us in simple language.
2:49 And the symphony of intercession that we read in this chapter is easily divided in three parts. One, Jesus prays for himself. And after that he begins to pray for his 12 that were chosen to be apostles and the foundation for the church. And after he prays for his 12, he then prays for those who would hear their message, the word that God had given them and would believe, namely us. Namely us.
3:16 You've been encouraged in life, I'm sure that someone has told you they've prayed for you. Now how much more encouragement can it get than to know that Christ has prayed for you? And you'll discover by tonight why that is one of the most glorious things. We often say Jesus came to this world and he healed. Yes.
3:34 He showed compassion. Yes. He died on the cross, absolutely. But how many of us understand that Jesus also prayed for us, and he still prays for us. And when you come to this text, you'll realize that every single verse is worthy of deep meditation, but again, time doesn't suffice.
3:53 I want this service and part two tonight to simply be a highlight reel to excite you, to explore the greater depths of this prayer for your own life. Because when you understand it, you will understand the goal of of Jesus. And here's the goal, you wanna know the goal of this? Why are we gonna look at to Jesus as one prayer? Because Jesus had a purpose in making this prayer known to us.
4:13 And it's found in verse 13 quickly. Would you read it with me? But now I am coming to you, he's speaking to the father, and these things I speak in the world, for what purpose? That they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. So Jesus, who had a private prayer life, made sure that this specific prayer would be heard by us, would be read by his church.
4:39 That in 2021, you would come to this text, and you would know not just any joy, he said my joy, A divine joy, a heavenly joy, an other worldly joy. From what? Hearing him pray for you and me. Seeing what he is like in this prayer, who he is, and what he will do, and the promises that he's made in this prayer. So let's read the first few verses, shall we?
5:06 Verse one, when Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, father, the hour has come. Glorify your son, that the son may glorify you. Since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him, and this is eternal life that they may know you. The only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
5:49 And now father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. When Jesus had spoken these words, verse one tells us, what words? Those glorious chapters from chapter 13 to chapter 16.
6:19 Those words that are unique to the gospel of John. When Jesus had finished teaching his disciples, he did not just pack up his bags and leave, he prayed for them. That's the job of a true preacher. A preacher doesn't just preach sermons, a preacher loves his people enough to pray for them. And that's exactly what he does here.
6:39 He instructs them, he gives them divine insight, he gives them wonderful things, and at the end of it all, he steps back and he begins to shower them with prayer. Prayer is a wonderful thing. Preaching is a wonderful thing, but prayer is a wonder still. One person said it this way, preaching is an honorable task, because preaching is the task of speaking to men on behalf of God. Speaking to men on behalf of God.
7:06 But what is prayer? It's speaking to God on behalf of men. And that's an honorable thing. That is a priestly role that all of us have been called to. Ask any preacher what's harder, preaching or praying, and if he's honest, he'll say praying.
7:22 There's something about praying that demands so much from us, that demands energy, that demands mental focus, that demands even from the spirit, pull so much out of us. And Charles Spurgeon made a glorious observation concerning the text in the book of Exodus when you have Joshua fighting in the valley with the Amalekites. And what was Moses doing on the mountaintop? His hands were lifted up interceding. And the observation he made was that there is no indication that during that whole ordeal that Joshua was exhausted.
7:51 There is no indication that he needed help. But there was a man who was weary, and it was Moses. Moses was the one who needed his arms to be stayed up in the air as he interceded, proving what? That the more spiritual a work is, the moral demand of your body, The more it'll demand of your emotions, the more it'll demand of your time, the more it'll be taxing on you. And some of you know that.
8:16 Some of you know that very well, that the moment you even set yourself to pray, you get there in your room, maybe it's in the morning, maybe after your night shift, and the moment you set, what happens? You begin to yawn, you're aching, and that bed is calling your name. Isn't that wonderful? Prayer is one of the hardest things to do in the Christian life, but I'll tell you this, it's one of the most loving things you can do as well. Because again, you speak to God on behalf of men, and God hears the prayers of any person who is in Christ and is walking in righteousness.
8:45 Now we read here that he prayed, he lifted his eyes to Heaven, not like how we do today where we close our eyes, and I think we do so because we wanna avoid distraction. No. He was so intimate with the father that his eyes were set on heaven. And so he looks and he prays, and when he prays, we read something amazing in verse three. This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you've sent.
9:07 This wonderful verse that tells us the essence of Christianity, which is to know God and to know his son, which is the theme of eternity because you can't have heaven without Christ. If you want heaven without Christ, you don't want heaven. Heaven is Heaven because Jesus is there, and Heaven won't be Heaven if Jesus is not there. This is eternal life. Now this verse has unfortunately been assaulted by the spirit of antichrist.
9:33 This verse has been used to prove something otherwise than who Jesus truly is. This verse has been used for heretics to chant and to declare something false about the person that we worship, And the argument often goes like this. Now if you're serious about evangelism, if you're serious about apologetics, take note. The argument often goes that when Jesus prays this, he says that the father is the only true God. What does he say?
10:02 You are the only true God, and what they say is that Christ places the Father in the category of divine while he's in a subordinate category, where he's less than God. He is not God. He submits to God. He represented God, but he cannot have a divine essence like the father because he clearly says, and he makes a distinction, to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you've sent. But if a person truly has a desire to know Jesus and is consistent with the Scriptures, they'll realize that the opposite is being said here because Christ is presenting an equation.
10:40 An equation that is crucial, an equation that proves otherwise contrary to what critics say. Notice what he says, knowing you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you've sent. Now what does that imply? It implies this. Would a mere creature have the boldness to be able to say that in order for you to have salvation, you don't only know need to know God, you need to know me.
11:05 Does a mere teacher say such a thing? Does a mighty prophet even have the audacity to make such a statement? But Jesus Christ is obviously placing him at the same level as the father. I have the same worth, and my essence is equal to him that you need to know both the father and myself in order to know self in order to know eternal life. And so it's the opposite of what men say, men who don't know Christ.
11:28 Christ is saying that the knowledge of him is just as much as a requirement as the knowledge of the father. He joins himself with God. He partners with God in worth. And that's why in verse two, look what he says. Since you have given him, being the son, authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
11:53 You have given the son authority over all flesh? In what sense? That Christ now has, because of the father, the ability and the authority to declare who will be saved and who will not be saved. Who will have eternal life and who will not have eternal life. Who will be delivered from the wrath of God and who will remain under the justice of God.
12:14 Christ has been given such authority. And he goes on to say something amazing because when you read early on in the book of John, he expands on that thought. When you realize it, you'll realize who this Jesus is. What does he say? Go to John chapter 10 verse 28.
12:33 Jesus says in John ten twenty eight, I give them eternal life. That's the same thing he's saying here in John seventeen two. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, And no one will snatch them out of my hand. Jesus doesn't just have the authority to give eternal life. That's one thing.
12:57 The extent of his authority is that he also is able to preserve that life from any threat of that soul being snatched from that place of having divine, total, complete salvation until they receive that eternal life. Now think about that. If Jesus Christ has the authority to give eternal life, that's one thing. But also to protect and preserve the ones who repent and believe on his name until they receive it, no devil in hell, no horde of demons, nor anybody on the earth is able to strip that person's salvation away from the preserving, caring hand of Christ. Now Paul expands on that.
13:42 Right? Neither death nor life, nor height nor depth, nor angel, nor anything in this life can separate us from the love of Christ. And that's an important truth because it says something of the power of Jesus. That Christ is able to conquer any attempt of anything in this life to try to remove you from that stance of being saved and headed towards his presence forever and ever. And if no thing has the ability to overcome the power of Christ, what does that say about the power of Christ?
14:19 That he's all powerful. He's omnipotent. He's able to stand. He's able to resist. Even with the breath of his mouth he will destroy all those who stand against him.
14:31 And it's amazing because to the Jewish mind who had heard this, because after this, remember what the Jews do, the religious leaders, right? The denominational leaders of that day. They picked up the stones and they said, we know exactly what you're saying. Why? Because Jesus knew his bible, the word became flesh.
14:51 He was the word, he knew the word, he's the author of the word, and to the Jewish ear, their mind would have gone to the Old Testament and they would have realized the claim that Jesus is making. Would you like to see the claim that Jesus is making? Go to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32. Look at verse 39. Look what God says.
15:19 See now, 32 verse 39. See now that I, even I am he, and there is no God beside me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. There is none who can deliver out of my hand.
15:42 You see what God is saying here? He's saying here that I have the power alone to preserve a soul, to destroy a soul, to keep a soul in the condition that I desire it to be. And these men who memorized the Pentateuch, these Pharisees, when they heard Jesus say that none can snatch out of my hand, they knew exactly what he was saying. You claim to have the same ability of our God, the God of Moses, the God who said to our people that none can snatch out of my hand? And they were ready to destroy him in that moment.
16:17 So what conclusion do we make? The conclusion that we make is that Jesus is Yahweh. He makes these claims, and to the Jewish audience, that is more profound than him just saying, I am God worship me. As people say, where does it say that? Further proof is in verse five of 17.
16:37 Look at chapter 17 verse five again. And now father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. Now think about what he's saying here. He's saying, I was with you before this world was molded and shaped and spoken into existence. There was there was a fellowship and a relationship that I have with you, and the person that's not saved, the person who's a heretic would say, well, yeah, well, it doesn't mean he was God though.
17:07 It means he was probably the first creation. It means that he was probably the highest angel in the ranks of angels. It means that he was he was something spiritual, but he cannot be God. But Jesus goes beyond to say that I was with you before the world existed. He doesn't just say I was present.
17:23 He doesn't say I was just alive. He said that he shared something with the father. Glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. There was a glory that Christ shared with the father. It's a divine glory.
17:42 It's a glory that solely belongs to God. It's a glory that only is appropriate within the Godhead and applicable within the Godhead. And he says here that we shared. And now if I tell you that we share something, what does that imply? You know, when a married couple, when they get married, things begin to merge and they become one.
18:01 You live in the same home, I hope. Maybe you drive the same car, you share the same bank account. There's a merging that takes place when you and that person become one. And for Jesus to say that I had something with you implies that it was something that was shared, Something that they had in common, something that they both had their name on it. And you read that and you say, well that's wonderful, but what does it mean?
18:28 Well, it means something profound when you realize that there's something in the Old Testament that God says He doesn't share with anyone. Would you like to know what it is? God shares his mercy, he loves to extend his mercy. God shares his love, he loves to extend his love. But there's one thing that God says, I will never, I will never give to another.
18:47 Isaiah 42 verse eight. Look what the Lord says. I am the Lord, that is my name. My glory, I give to no other. My glory, I give to no other.
19:11 Nor my praise to carve idols. Just in case nobody understood Isaiah forty two eight, he's repeating it in Isaiah 48. And look at verse 11, my glory I give to no other. So the father Yahweh, the divine name of God clearly tells us, I don't share my glory. Who do you think you are, Jesus?
19:40 To say that you share the very thing that the prophet said God shares with no man. Jesus says, I have this glory with him, and I'm asking you father that you would restore it because I laid aside that glory, so that I can enter into this world as a humble servant and pay for the sins of humanity. And Lord, I am longing and I am yearning to share what we had in the beginning. But God doesn't share with anyone exactly. Jesus is God.
20:10 Yahweh doesn't share, well, Christ is Yahweh. Christ is God in the flesh. Christ is the one that can say this because Christ is one with the father. You see how amazing this truth is? You see why we don't ignore the old testament?
20:26 Do you see how you can't understand your new testament without the old? And so we see here that even Paul the Apostle understood who Jesus was. He understood that this Christ shared the glory with the father, and so you know what he tells the Corinthians? He tells the Corinthians in first Corinthians two eight. None of the rulers of this age understood this for if they had, they would have not have done what?
20:50 Crucified the Lord of what? Glory. Paul believed Jesus was God. Jesus is God. Jesus is telling us he is God.
21:04 And he's praying to the father, restore to me the glory that you don't share with anyone or any man, but share with me because I am one with you. And that's a wonderful thing to consider in a world where millions of people don't believe Jesus is God. Know your Bibles, brothers and sisters, and show these texts, and watch people be faced with the truth in an undeniable way. But look at verse four. We're talking about glory this morning, aren't we?
21:31 A glory that Christ had with the father, a glory that he was going to understand once again and experience with the father after his resurrection, but there's another type of glory. There's another type of glory speaks up in this prayer. It's in verse four. I glorified you on earth. Having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
21:53 See, many Christians unfortunately have reduced their Christianity as I said yesterday to do's and don'ts, but there's another way they reduce their Christianity. Jesus said, believe in me. But is that all he said? Is that all he said? Did he say believe in me or did he say follow me?
22:12 And that's a great chasm. To believe in him is one thing, to follow him is another. And in fact, if you truly believe in him, you will follow him. And we don't just come to this chapter in chapter 17 and worship the Lord because we understand his heavenly DNA. No.
22:27 We see an example provided for us because we also see the humanity of Jesus tucked in these truths of his divine glory. Jesus says, I glorified you on the earth. He laid aside his heavenly glory, his divine glory, but he comes out on the earth now as a man, and he says, I glorified you on the earth. Laying an example for every single one of us here who desire to follow this Christ and live for this God, you will understand very quickly, I'm sure, that your journey on earth should reflect that of Christ, and it is simply this, to bring delight to the Father. That is your sole purpose in this life.
23:09 If you're a Christian, you have literally died to yourself, in the sense that your ambitions, and your dreams, and your longings, and your sins, and your impulses have been nailed to a cross. And now your existence in this life is to do one thing, glorify God. You know what that means? Well, you're gonna find out in a moment, but it means that you do what he says, and you do it with joy. You do it with pleasure.
23:40 You do it not out of force, but because God the spirit changed you now, that is your nature to some degree where you are now magnet towards living for him, and that is Christ's life in those short thirty three years. And some believers might think, you know, that's wonderful as much as Jesus was truly man, I find it very difficult to follow someone who had all those wonderful abilities and powers. There's too many difficulties in my life. My flesh is too strong. Man, the things that people say is unbelievable.
24:13 This is just the way I've always been. I have trauma. This is what I've seen. This is what I'm used to. Do you dare diminish the power of the blood of Jesus Christ?
24:25 We're just saying it. Christ has defeated every sin. And I'm all for counseling, I believe counseling is biblical, I believe pastors should counsel, but if your counseling doesn't include Christ, it's futile. If your counseling doesn't have gospel truth in it, it's only gonna go so far. If your counseling doesn't provide people a power beyond this world, then why are we any different than the secular psychiatrist?
24:50 Jesus Christ said, I glorified you on the earth. And we just think that he had a halo around his head, and he radiated light and heat, and wherever he went, he just bulldozed over people, nothing ever touched them. When in fact, he was more man than you can even imagine. In our pursuit to defend the divinity of Christ, I believe many people today have forgotten the fact that he was actually human. And he's still fully man today with pierced hands yet in a glorified body.
25:15 Truly man, truly God. Do you realize what Christ has experienced? Would you like to know that the path on glorifying God did not come with ease and grace even though he was truly God? Go to Mark chapter three to see just an example of it. And consider this for your own life and realize that this high priest can extend empathy to you and I because he knows what it's like to glorify God in a hostile world.
25:45 Look at verse 20 of Mark chapter three. Then he went home and the crowd gathered again so that they could not even eat. They couldn't even eat. Jesus preached. Jesus laid hands on the sick.
26:01 Jesus counseled, surely, to some degree, to the extent that he would miss meals so that the souls of men could be fed. I'm sure he went to bed hungry. I'm sure he woke up hungry. I'm sure his stomach growled while he stood before people, while he sat there somewhere, and there was a healing line coming one by one with different infirmities, people with demons tormenting them. He could not even eat.
26:28 There was no luxuries for this Jesus. He didn't even have a pillow in his name. But more than that verse 21, and when his family heard it, they went out to seize him. Like any good Middle Eastern family, when they realized this man is not eating. He's preaching all the time.
26:43 He's going to conferences left right and center. When's the last time he ate his meal? They went out to seize him. They wanted to say stop preaching. Come.
26:53 It's time to eat. Not only that, they were saying out loud for they were saying he is out of his mind. How about that for family? Some of us in here take the most comfort knowing that we have a mother or a father or siblings at home that support us in all that we do. Christ didn't have that.
27:10 Imagine having brothers that didn't believe in your ministry. Imagine having brothers who didn't believe your claims to being Messiah, even though they grew up with you and they realize, you know, he hasn't said one thing wrong. He's done one mistake ever since we grew up with him. They still didn't believe in all the miracles still. Imagine having your old family saying, he is out of his mind.
27:28 Look at him serving God with this zeal and this extent. What's wrong with him? Where's the balance in his life? More than that, so never mind the grumbling stomach and never mind the the family members of his own that were saying that he's losing it. Look at verse 22.
27:48 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying he is possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons he cast out the demons. If anybody's gonna understand you serving God with such zeal surely would be the pastors of your day. Surely would be the seminarians and the students and the teachers of the law. No. You got the denominational leaders of Jesus.
28:10 They saying the man is not just out of his mind. The man is possessed by devils. How about that? So your own stomach is betraying you, your own family can't stand with you, and if there's any kind of fellowship you might find in some spiritual people, no. They're just as lost as anybody else.
28:29 And yet Jesus can pray in John 17. I glorified you on the earth. I glorified you on the earth. Despite all the difficulties, beside besides all the obstacles, all those things were in my way, but I was blazing on this trail to make sure that I please you. Because he says later on in John, I am not alone for the father is with me, because I do that which pleases him.
29:02 Jesus says in John four, as you know, and we're gonna speak about this encounter that he had with the woman at the well. But after that encounter where he preaches to her in such a wise amazing way, The disciples come back with food, and they ask him to eat, and he goes, listen, boys, I have a food that you do not know of. I eat of something that satisfies me to the point where it even quenches my physical hunger sometimes. And that is to do the will of my father. Yeah.
29:33 Glorifying God might not be the easiest thing, but it's the most satisfying thing in this life. With all the difficulties, with all the hardships, all the betrayals, all the accusations, things that you didn't think you would sign up for when you said yes to the call of God. And I'm sure God in his wisdom doesn't unveil everything as much as we desperately want him to because if you were to show us the whole scope of the plan, we would be in terror and say, I don't know about this. But he doesn't. But bit by bit.
30:01 And yet with all of those things, and the more on the front lines you are, the more you have to deal with demons and devils, and sometimes those things manifest through people. You still know a fullness and a satisfaction. That even if you could lay out your whole life, planned out with every resource available, it would not bring you that joy. Jesus knew that joy. Jesus felt that joy.
30:22 Jesus was sustained by that joy. And he calls us to imitate him in that same experience. And I want you to understand something. Hear it very clearly. Let's take it a step further now.
30:36 Many people say, I can't wait to get to heaven so I can glorify God. You will glorify God in heaven. I will glorify God in heaven. And we will glorify God in a way that we can on this earth. But let me reverse it.
30:46 You will not be able to glorify God in heaven as you can in this life. You only have one opportunity for the rest of eternity to glorify the father in a way in which you can't for thousands upon thousands of years. Yeah. You'll get to heaven. You'll be able to sing in perfect pitch.
31:06 Your mind will be free from distraction. You won't know temptation. You won't know sin. Your glorified body will give everything to him, everything that is due, and that's a wonderful thing to think about. But let me tell you this, you can only glorify God in this life because it's easy to say no to sin in heaven.
31:27 There's no sin there. It's easy to give God worship. There's no distraction. He's the theme of eternity. But do you realize that you can worship God now?
31:39 Every time you say no to sin, you say yes to God. When all the world wants to do their own thing, you say yes to Lord and you walk the opposite path. You are a fish that swims upstream. You can't do that in heaven. When this world is trying to build their own little empire, here you are advancing the kingdom of God.
31:57 You can't do that in heaven. You can't pray in heaven. You can't preach in heaven. You can't serve a broken and lost world that's confused by their own ideologies in heaven. You only have one chance to glorify God in a unique way, and it's in this life alone.
32:14 No wonder Satan wants to distract the church. Because we've limited glorifying God to singing a few lovely songs at a service. That's wonderful. But you can do that in heaven. You're gonna do that in heaven.
32:25 I'm gonna do that in heaven. What are the ways in which you can glorify God now that you can't do later on? Take advantage of that now. I got saved at 20. I'm now 30.
32:37 Those ten years, no exaggeration, as the scripture says, is like a breath. Like, in and out. I can't believe it. I'm scared for the next ten years. I've told the Lord that.
32:48 I said, lord, these ten years were way too fast. And one person said it this way, the older they get, the faster it is. It's like the speed limit. The higher you go, that's what it's like with your age, the faster it is. You go 30 miles an hour.
33:00 Yeah. You go 30 miles. Forty, forty miles. 50. The older you get, the faster things go.
33:04 Lord, I need you to help me here because this thing is only getting steeper and steeper, and there's no breaks. So help me glorify you in this next next decade, and God will surely answer that prayer. I don't wanna say it's wrong to say that we only have one chance to glorify God, but it's it's more than that. I believe we should start telling people that you only have one chance to glorify God in a way that we can't for the rest of eternity. You wanna see an example of Jesus glorifying God?
33:38 Go to John chapter seven. I love this text. I love this text. In verse one of John chapter seven. After this, Jesus went about in Galilee.
33:56 He would not go about in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews' feast of booth was at hand. You're talking about one of the feasts in which everybody from around the world are crushing themselves in and filling up the streets of Jerusalem. So his brothers said to him, the same brothers that said he's out of his mind. Now look what they're saying.
34:20 Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. Some brothers. The Jews want to kill him and they say, Go show yourself.
34:41 Go show yourself. If you're really the Messiah, if you're really who you are, you claim to be, go and don't do it privately. Everybody's gonna be in town this weekend. Go and show your strength. Go and show your glory and your majesty and your power.
34:53 Do it. Surely, they were skeptical themselves. Because look what it says in verse five, for not even his brothers believed in him. It wasn't to encourage him to ministry. They were in doubt, and they wanted to see it for themselves.
35:09 Jesus said to them in verse six, My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. I'm just trying to envision this. Like, Jesus with his brothers, his half brothers, and he looks at his brothers in verse seven, he goes, the world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testified that its works are evil. None of this sentimental stuff that we see in modern Christianity. Jesus called out sin.
35:34 Jesus said it's evil. Jesus said it's an abomination. Jesus told some people that were actually teachers of the law, that your father is the devil. I'm not saying go around telling people that. I'm just saying that Jesus testified that the world and its works were evil.
35:50 And today, we're trying to coach and train people in a new type of evangelism that says, don't say anything about sin. Just tell people that Jesus loves them. I testified that it's works, that their works are evil. Now look what he says in verse eight. You go up to the feast.
36:04 I'm not going up to this feast for my time has not yet fully come. After saying this, he remained in Galilee. So his brother said, well, you're gonna go or not? He goes, no. My time has not yet come.
36:16 I'm not pressured by you. You have a desire for me, that's one thing. But I I operate by a different voice, by different timetable. I operate with a different calendar. Now look what happens, verse 10.
36:31 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but in private. So he ended up going. And many people would come to this text and say, look at your Jesus. He's kind of deceitful, isn't he? He told his brothers that he wouldn't go up, and now all of a sudden he gets up and leaves.
36:48 How can he do such a thing? Did he lie? Was he afraid of the Jews? Was he trying to secure his own life? Why would he say something untrue as this?
36:57 My time is not fully come, you go up. And he ends up packing his bags and heading towards the same direction. People who accuse Jesus of lying or being deceitful clearly don't understand who this Jesus is. Do you know why he packed up and went? Because between verse eight, nine, and 10, Jesus said my time has not fully come.
37:16 And in verse 10, the father says, now it's time. Get up and go. Verse eight, my time has not yet fully come. Verse 10, the father says, alright, son. Head towards the city.
37:30 A sensitivity to the voice of God. A sensitivity to the leading of the spirit of God in him. A sensitivity to the exact temple that the father wanted him to walk in. And so he didn't operate by pressure. He didn't operate by the crowd.
37:48 When people were giving him suggestions, he was humble enough to hear them, but ultimately, he was governed by the voice of God. And think about the precision. Surely we all find difficulty with that in our own lives, but think about this example here. I will only move when God tells me to move. I will stay as long God tells me to stay.
38:07 And even though my own brothers might suggest something else, thank you brothers. I'm sure you love me. Obviously here you're skeptical, but God tells me when to go and when not to go. And this man, this God man was so sensitive to the voice of God that within a brief few moments where God says it's not time, God says it's time. What an amazing example here of being in step with the voice of God.
38:30 Let's go back to John 17. Once a person once a person figures out and is finally submitted to the aspect that they will live their lives for the glory of God, they they often face the next tension. And the tension after determining that your life will be lived out for God is often expressed in many ways, and this is the way people express it. I wanna glorify God, but I don't know how. I wanna live for God, but I don't know how.
39:00 My I'm convinced I want my life to be under his banner and I want to wear his badge for the rest of my days. Praise the Lord. Once you overcome that, most people say now what does that look like? How do I do that? Where do I go?
39:13 Do I move? Do I become a pastor? Do I become every single one of us, if you know this. If you really got saved, you thought at one time, I think I'm supposed to be a missionary. Right?
39:23 I'm supposed to give up everything and go to some unknown place and lay my life down. That's a wonderful thing. I'm not shooting that down. And we wrestle, we pray, and we listen to messages, and we ask pastors, and we talk to others, what do I need to do to glorify God? And some look at what the example was just provided and say, oh, if I only had that kind of sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
39:44 If I only knew step by step. We all want that. If you truly some of us have felt that tempt Lord, I wanna know exactly where you want me to go at what time. I want you to know what restaurant you want me to go eat, what shirt you want me to wear. Some people in their childlike faith have thought that at one point.
39:59 Maybe not for you. But it's much more simple than we can think. We don't have to make this thing too complicated. Jesus did not make it complicated at all. Because he says here in verse four, I glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
40:13 You wanna know what that means? Verse six. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. I have manifested your name. Now, another nail in the coffin to seal the deal that Jesus Christ is in fact God, because you know this, don't you?
40:36 That a name in the Bible does not just have some kind of reference or a label to identify somebody. A name represented somebody's character. It said something about their even calling. It said something about who they were. And that is truly seen in God himself, all the names that he gives of himself to tell us something about who he was.
40:55 Jesus even does it with one of his own. God does it with Jacob, naming him Israel. Name speaks of identity, yes, but name speaks of the the person that you are, the thing that you represent, the the qualities that you hold. And Jesus said, I have manifested your name, and he said it earlier when one of the disciples just said, hey, Jesus. Just show us the father and we're good.
41:16 And he goes, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. If you've seen me, you've seen the father. You wanna know what the father's like? Look at me. But there is a principle here.
41:30 There is a principle here in line with glorifying God because Paul says in Ephesians five one, be imitators of God. Christians, be imitators of God. Christians, your life call as children of God is to represent him as as best as you can by the power and grace of God. You wanna know what it's like to glorify God? One simple thing.
41:55 Wherever you are, whatever season you're in, manifest his name. That's it. And you know what's so lovely about this? He says, I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Some of us think that the only way we can really glorify God is if we become some kind of a figure that touches the world.
42:16 That can be true for some of us, but Jesus had his own world, so to speak. God in his sovereignty pulled some out of the world, and in Jesus' inner circle, his mission was fulfilled. I've manifested your name to them. And you this morning, God has given you your own world. He's giving you your own audience.
42:33 There are people that God has allowed. He has placed your birthing place, your neighborhood, your workplace, your school, everything. If you're in Christ, nothing is by accident. And that is your audience. There are some that God has allowed you to be in front of so that they can witness the potential of you manifesting his name, and it's as simple as that.
42:53 Who has God allowed you out of this world to know, to be in relationship with, to be in fellowship with, to do life with. Once you determine that, once you know that, all you need to do you don't need to figure out the next step. You don't need to figure out what mission place you need to go to. All you need to do is what Christ did and manifest his name. And I wonder how many of us can really say that that is the mission that I'm on.
43:22 I'm fearful that so many people are wondering what they wanna do for God, that they're missing the the very purpose of what it means to glorify him. It's just wherever you are, radiate him. Forgive like he forgives. Serve like he serves. Love like he loves.
43:36 Speak truth when you can speak truth. Correct when you need to correct. Show compassion when you need to show in the world that God has ordained for you. Isn't that lift the burden off your shoulders? I hope it does.
43:49 It makes your commute a lot different. It makes waking up in the morning for your nine to five a lot different. Which family did God allow you to be born into? Oh, my family. You don't understand my family.
44:04 Jesus understands. You don't understand my siblings drive me nuts. Okay. Jesus understands. My parents, they're the most misunderstanding, old school mindset, I can't do.
44:18 Jesus understands. Manifest his name to them. Where do you work? What kind of rebels do you live with? What kind of blasphemies do you hear in the office?
44:33 Where do you study? Or you're going to get a degree? No, you're there to manifest the name of God. Manifest it. What is your social media look like?
44:46 Now I'm gonna step on some toes. Are you ashamed to manifest the name of God? You have a platform. You have followers apparently. Do people see Christ in you?
45:02 The only access that they might have to your life, the only platform that you might have in this life, and you have Christians who are embarrassed to share divine truth that will set men's souls free. I manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. So who's in your world? And the best way to manifest the name of Christ is to know who he is. And once you determine who he is, and once you get that in you, when life squeezes you, Christ comes out.
45:43 And I wanna make this call or this clarification before we close. I can guarantee you, I can guarantee you, you set your life on this path, you will be in an adventure, and you will know a quest and a journey, and you will know uphills and downhills, and you will feel as though you are in a story written by God, and it's incomparable to anything else in this life. You know, I was reading a chapter. I wasn't planning to say this. I was I'm going through the book of Isaiah, and I was reading one of the prophecies of Isaiah where he proclaims the final judgment on the earth, and I had never seen that in this chapter in the book of Isaiah, he spells out what it will be like in the days of the tribulation.
46:29 I was like it was like what I said yesterday. Lord, I thought I I thought I figured it out. And I grabbed my pen and I started highlighting things, and I was just stuck on that chapter that morning. And I saw something in there that blessed my heart tremendously, and I want you to see it. So go to Isaiah 24 and realize something of the fulfillment that comes with serving God.
46:58 When Isaiah describes these days, he essentially describes the sorrow of the end times, and he highlights something. Look at verse six of Isaiah 24. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. When God begins to discipline this earth, this world, and the people in it, there will be very few people left.
47:28 He's speaking about the population of humanity. But look at verse seven. The wine mourns. The vine languishes, all the merryhearted sigh. The mirth of the tambourines is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
47:51 No more do they drink wine with singing. Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. Verse 10. The wasted city is broken down. Every house is shut up so that none can enter.
48:02 Sounds familiar, right? Notice what he's saying here. There's a day coming that the highlight of people's weekends that live from party to party to party. And like you know this, right? Before you were saved, you couldn't do anything social without being intoxicated.
48:26 The Lord is prophesying here that there is a day coming when the party is over. The clubs won't have their music bopping. The people won't be celebrating. The people will not even be able to have anything of worth of enjoying. The wine will mourn.
48:45 Everything will come to an end. So I wanna tell you that the joy of this world has an expiration date. And not just at this time in world history, in their lifetime. It will come to an end. But look what happens here in the same setting, in the same experience as God is stripping the world away from all its security and its false pleasures.
49:11 Look what's happening in verse 14 in terms of the righteous. They lift up their voices. They sing for joy. Over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the West. Therefore, in the East give glory to the Lord.
49:24 In the coastlands of the sea give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. From the ends of the earth, we hear songs of praise of glory to the righteous one. So while the world stops singing, the righteous will continue to sing. When the world is robbed of their fake, hollow, exciting, trivial things, our joy remains. Our happiness is not affected.
49:51 Our satisfaction is constant. It will be there even as the world is being devoured. You can only know that if your heart is set on glorifying the father. And I wanna tell you it's more simple than you can think. Not simple in the sense that it's gonna be easy.
50:07 Simple in the sense that we don't have to make it so complex. I have manifested your name to those that you have given me. And the Holy Spirit will help you and he will show you and you'd be amazed to know how wonderful it is to live for this master. I can tell you this, joy is not being a public figure for Christ. The romance of traveling and ministering People who cares if people know you?
50:37 Actually, it's like it's not really fun all the time. But being known by God and knowing that you're fulfilling his will whether the world recognizes it or not. One preacher gave this beautiful illustration and I end here. Sometimes if you travel into a forest, you might see beautiful flowers and he gave the illustration that there is some forest out there that might even have just one beautiful rose just planted there, glittering, brimming with brightness. And the question he brought about was this, what's the point of God creating such a beautiful, attractive thing only to hide it in the middle of a forest where no man can see it?
51:26 Why would God do such a thing? Would he not wanna display the glory of his creation? Would he not want to showcase his his creativity and his ability? Why would he tuck something away away from the eyes of man? For one sole reason, he sees it.
51:43 Because he takes pleasure in it. He finds delight whether man sees it or not. And it's no different than your life and mine. Whether man sees it, studies it, praises it, curses it, doesn't matter. God sees it.
51:57 And when he sees it, he takes delight in it. I pray that that would be the reality of your life. Tonight, we're gonna see how Jesus not just prays for himself, but prays for us. And you'll realize how powerful those prayers are and how they affect you in this life and in the life to come. Let's pray.
52:38 This is eternal life that they may know you, The only true God and Jesus Christ whom you've sent. Father, we declare that your son is glorious and that he is our God and our king. Lord, we pray with the example that has been laid before us, we would follow in it. Help us simplify this thing into one simple mission to manifest your name. Manifest your name to our children, to our husbands, to our wives, to our coworkers, on our social media.
53:25 To not be ashamed of you, but to declare you. Not just in word, but in deed. Lord, we pray that in this place, we would realize, if we have forgotten or even convinced otherwise, that the song of the sinner will come to an end. That the joys of this world, all the viral videos and all the worldly award systems and all these things will melt away, but our joy will remain. Fill us again with the realization that there is a food that doesn't have substance, doesn't have flavor, doesn't have a recipe.
54:07 It's a food that comes from obedience. Help us realize that this is where we will know constant wholeness and a completion with our sense of identity and purpose in this life. Lord, perhaps there are some people in here who admire you but don't follow you. Speak to their hearts. That you've come into this world to save their hearts.
54:36 And that you want them to know the joy that is in you. Lord, thank you for revealing to us your love in these short few verses of this prayer. Now we pray to you in response and glorify your name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
