The High Priestly Prayer - Part 3

Open up your Bibles to John 17.

So we've been on a three-week journey that kind of ends today.

Thank you for the encouragement that many of you have given me over the last few weeks

! Just in how you've been blessed just through John 17,

which is known as the true Lord's Prayer,

and also really the high priestly prayer of Christ.

And I've just sort of emphasized every week that this prayer that Jesus prays

has just blessed my life so much.

And so for quite a while I've wanted to delve into it,

just to pass it on in hopes that it would just really strengthen your heart

and refer to as the high priestly prayer.

It's just really only about 600, roughly 650 words.

It takes a couple minutes to read, but as I've been saying,

you could spend an eternity just diving into the words and phrases and implications

that are made in this prayer.

And I've been really blessed, just even in the study time of it.

One of the commentaries, I just try to narrow it down to a few good commentaries.

I have three that I've been looking at for the most part.

I try to get some more current, modern-day guys,

as well as some of the old dead guys who kind of speak to a lot of these things.

But Calvin, John Calvin, has a great commentary on the Gospel of John.

And this is something he says about the high priestly prayer.

He says,

This prayer of Christ is a safe harbor,

and whoever retreats into it is safe from all danger or shipwreck.

For it has Christ in it,

and he has sworn solely that he will devote his care and his diligence to our salvation.

Let the world then condemn us a thousand times,

this alone not to satisfy us,

that Christ acknowledges us to be his heritage and pleads with his Father for us.

So this prayer really does stand out as preeminent in many ways in God's Word.

It's, again, toward the end of what has been referred to as the upper room discourse,

or the farewell discourse of Christ in the Gospel of John.

It starts in chapter 13 and ends right here in chapter 17.

And he is preparing himself to go, to be arrested, to be betrayed, and to die.

And this is what's on his mind.

His followers are in many ways very anxious.

They're afraid because he's saying,

I'm about to leave you, and I'm going back to the Father.

So he's been encouraging them with the thought of the Holy Spirit,

how he will come and comfort them and lead them,

and even saying it's better for you than for me to go away,

and for the Father to send the Spirit.

And he's contemplating heavily the events of the cross.

And farewell prayers are very common in Hebrew culture.

And it sounds like the prayer of Moses in Deuteronomy as he's praying to God

before he's departs from this world.

And I've been giving you just sort of a rough outline of the whole chapter every week

just so you can go back.

But it's been traditionally broken up in about three different ways.

But if you look at verses 1 through 5,

you see that Jesus more or less is praying for himself.

And the focus of that is his Father's glory,

and then in return, his own glory.

Secondly, as we looked at last week, verses 6 through 19,

Jesus is specifically praying for his disciples, the apostles,

the ones he was about to just leave behind.

And he really just prays for their mission and their protection,

their preservation.

That they would remain steadfast.

And then today, we're going to look at the last part of it.

And I just find this part so humbling,

that Jesus prays in verses 20 through 26 for future believers,

which include us.

That's me and you.

And I've often given the thought of,

I know there are many people in your life that when they pray around you,

or when they pray for you,

you just feel like you could just face anything because of the depth of that person

or the relationship that person has with the Father.

And you feel like you could just go out and take on the world after a certain person just intercedes for you.

But how much more, I think, you know, that Christ himself, if he prayed for us, if he interceded for us.

But that is the reality.

He is praying for us.

And he says, if you look at verse 20, here's sort of our context.

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.

So this is us.

So with that, let's just go ahead and read verses 20 through 26.

Praying to the Father, he says,

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,

that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

The glory that you have given me, I have given to them,

that they may be one, even as we are one.

I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one,

so that the world may know that you have sent me and loved me, even as you love me.

Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am,

to see my glory that you have given me,

because you love me before the foundation of the world.

O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you,

and these know that you have sent me.

I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known,

that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Let's pray together.

Father, I just want to take a minute to just say thank you for your grace,

and thank you for the chance to gather with your people this morning.

Lord, I just pray that you would work in and through me,

knowing that there is nothing of value I can bring to the table this morning,

only what you convey through your word and by your spirit to our hearts and our minds.

So Lord, just please help us in this time.

May we just walk away from this place changed,

built up, encouraged, challenged.

And I just pray your word would have its desired effect on each individual this morning.

In Christ's name, amen.

So, does that not sort of wow you that Jesus is now not just praying for his disciples,

then he turns and he's like, I'm praying for them,

those who will believe in their word,

knowing that the apostles were going to go out,

and they were going to preach the gospel,

and the church was going to conquer, really.

The church was going to advance.

It says early on in Acts that the church devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching.

Right?

So they were, in many ways, how God started the church.

Kickstarted, I'd almost said, but not really kickstarted.

Not the way you want to phrase that.

But it's a confirmation for us to know that our faith is founded on the gospel that the apostles taught.

And they learned it, as we know, from the Lord himself.

But just before we get back into this,

I just want to emphasize that this is called, again, the high priestly prayer of Christ.

And it's because he fulfills one of the roles in our lives that we desperately, desperately need.

As sinners that are unclean, guilty, and unholy,

we need someone to stand in the gap for us,

for someone to intercede for us to a holy and righteous God.

If any of us, on our own accord, by ourselves,

tried to enter into the holy presence of God,

we would all be just consumed.

We cannot stand before God.

So Christ, as I spoke of last week,

he became the final sacrifice for our sins.

But he also gave us his righteousness to stand clean before God

and now intercedes for us as our great, eternal, sympathetic high priest.

Amazing.

We are in all need of that.

I've only been to court a few times in my life.

And a few years ago, I went to traffic court to battle a,

how do you say this all respectfully,

highest respect for law enforcement,

but a piece of junk ticket that I got.

And needless to say, I represented myself.

Like I was my own lawyer.

I was just like, this is my desk.

That's my jug of water.

I can, you know, I want to speak into the judge.

Got the cross examined, the witness kind of thing.

So, but I mean, needless to say,

I took the cops at the cleaners.

In Jesus' name.

Legally, I knew that I was justified.

The law justified me.

Like I had not broken the law.

And I could prove that.

And he could not prove that I didn't.

But I'm just telling you that I don't have that confidence at all to enter into the courtroom of the Most High.

I have zero confidence.

Negative confidence.

Very confident that I would be condemned apart from our advocate, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

You're in desperate need of someone to stand in the gap and to intercede for you.

So Christ pleads his sacrifice.

He pleads mercy.

And we are given it.

And I just find it astonishing that, I mean, think about what is in front of Jesus at this moment.

Just how terrifying that would be.

Not just the physical pain, but the spiritual torture he was about to endure.

Anytime your face is something like that, it's usually just a prayer of like, God help me.

God help me.

Please help me.

And I find it amazing that more than two-thirds of this prayer is devoted to praying for other people.

He's not praying for himself as much.

And so he's interceding for you and for I, as we see like in our text today.

There's not many places for you to turn today outside of John 17.

I've tried to cut down the turning, but I want you to look at Isaiah 53.

So hold your hand in John 17.

But it was prophesied about hundreds of years before Christ came that he would have this ministry of intercession for his people.

Isaiah 53.

And if you just look at a little part of it, look at verse 11.

And this is talking about Jesus.

It's talking about the suffering servant who would come.

And see if you can pick up on the intercessory work of Christ in these verses.

It says,

Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied.

By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous.

And he shall bear their iniquities.

That's what I just mentioned a minute ago.

Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many.

And he shall divide the spoil with the strong.

Because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.

Yet, he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors.

That's what we have.

We have a great eternal high priest making intercession for us.

And before we start unpacking the text, I just thought it would be good to reread this short but very profound quote that Robert Murray McShane shared in the 1800s on a sermon from John 17.

He says,

And that's kind of like how I want you to think as we walk through this text.

But there's only two real big things that we want to hit on as we walk through what we just saw in John 17.

First off, number one, we see that Jesus is praying for the true unity among believers.

He's praying for the true unity among believers.

It stands out all over, but just look at verse 21.

He says, he's praying that they may all be one.

And this idea of oneness, togetherness, not split up, not, you know, divided.

And so, have you ever heard, I used to kind of talk this way in my earlier Christian life.

And like many people, I think I meant well, but I also was just very ignorant about what I was saying.

And most of my earlier Christian life can be characterized by ignorance a lot.

But it goes something like this.

You've heard people kind of say this.

College students say this a lot.

Christians just seem so divided.

We're so mad at each other all the time.

We're so, why do not, why do not denominations exist?

Why, why are we just angry with each other?

Why can't we just lay aside all our doctrinal differences and just be friends?

Jesus is the main thing, right?

Like, he's really the main thing, so why can't we all just get along?

We need to do something to create some unity, right?

You ever heard that kind of language?

And again, again, usually well-intentioned and usually well-meant.

Not always, but most of the time.

And it's a good sentiment, but again, just misguided.

And what I want to propose to you today is often people want to create unity,

which is really a false unity that comes at the expense of truth

and comes at the expense of sound doctrine.

And so two questions that I think will be good for us to examine our hearts

as well as just people that we engage with in the church.

What are the first things that people talk about when they're asked about their church?

You ever thought about that?

We've met some people in our neighborhood and some great, great people in our neighborhood.

But one gentleman that I met, though, I do believe he's a brother,

but I asked him about his church, and he just kind of went on about how great it was

because of all the programs and kids' ministries and how friendly the environment was.

And in the span of about ten minutes, just said nothing about Jesus.

It said nothing about the Word of God.

And then secondly, this is a really sort of like litmus test, if you would.

What is the gathering component of a local church?

What is the gathering component?

Often in contemporary evangelicalism, there are local churches that have a large range of gathering components.

They have an age demographic.

So teenagers, singles, young adults, whatever you want to say, elderly people.

That's like a certain age group.

They have an affinity demographic.

You know, again, married, single, college students.

That's a huge demographic.

Even just things like richer and upper class.

I know some people that would not dare enter into a building that looked like it wasn't at least a million dollars

because that's just their style.

It's like they want to.

I know people like that.

They feel like they have to stoop to go to a place like that.

So there's that.

There's this music demographic.

If you'll say, like, how cool a band is or how contemporary a service is or how traditional a service is,

and that's the gathering component.

I go there because I like the music there.

The end.

Then there's a...

This one's huge.

I would probably say this is probably the biggest one.

A program demographic.

We have a children's ministry, a youth ministry, a small groups ministry, a choir, a drama team.

You just got to find your place to plug in.

We have more outlets than the place over there for you to plug in.

So come here.

Really, there's a facilities demographic.

Our building.

Everything that we have that really offers comfortable, quote, worship environments.

So there's even people, churches, that they send out polls.

I've seen them.

I've actually just thrown them away and just said, dude, you don't need to be doing this, and just, like, threw it behind my back.

But there are people that will even take polls to see what it would take for people to come to their church.

Like, what do we have to do to get you to come kind of thing?

And I heard on a local Christian radio station a few weeks ago, which isn't a terrible station, all in all.

But for 20 minutes, I listened to this, and I just wanted to jump to the radio and scream.

But the question that they were having callers come in and just call about answer was, how do you do church?

Like, that was, like, the question.

And in 20 minutes, I heard every preference under the sun, but not once was it like, what does Christ want for the church?

It was all those things.

But the problem with focusing on demographics is, as the point of unity, is when that component is removed, the church falls apart.

Have you all ever noticed that?

I was in charge of a part of a really big church that split early in my Christian life.

And I could write a book on what I learned just through that experience.

But they had an immense children's ministry, huge children's ministry.

I mean, thousands and thousands of dollars, children's ministry, and all these higher staff people.

And it got to a point where they had to, they really felt like they needed to shut her down.

I can't tell you how many people just went, just left because of that.

As we would say, like, a golden calf inside the church, a certain component.

Or, again, I had people used to tell me, Clay, this is before I was married.

Clay, why don't you go to a big, big, big church that has a ton of singles in it, then you can find a wife there.

And I'm like, no thanks.

God will bring the wife to me.

And he did.

So, but I mean, like, yeah, like, go focus somewhere where there's a bunch of singles, or there's just a lot of people who look just like you.

This is such bull.

And it's heartbreaking.

And here's why.

Like, look, if your gathering component is anything other than Christ, it won't stand.

And, like, here's some of the questions I want you to think.

Isn't it sad that the church of Christ that he bought with his own blood usually isn't the main gathering component of why many churches get together?

That his life, his death, and his resurrection are not the central event that those people are coming around.

It doesn't bother you that when it comes to doing church, everyone's opinions matter.

But Christ, even though the church belongs to him and he is the head of the church, his opinion doesn't matter.

Isn't it heartbreaking that thousands have flocked to local churches, even this morning,

to get a quick fix, therapeutic, sentimental, pop psychology talk that has nothing to do with Christ or his word?

We just read that in the previous verses, Christ prayed,

sanctify them in your truth.

Your word is truth.

He removed the instrument of sanctification.

You're on a bad course.

And isn't it sad that the first thing that people think of is usually a pastor personality or a program

that makes their life more enhanced,

instead of really focusing on, like, the Son of God?

Those are tragic things.

And we don't need to meet these with...

I'm more apt to be more hostile towards a pastor who kind of does this and just a congregate,

but show mercy to people and love them and tell them, like, look, Jesus is the reason that we gather,

to worship him, to be changed by the word of God.

And if that's not there, the church really won't stand.

I've even seen, you know, churches will...

The main component will be a certain ethnic group.

Or the main component will be even a certain theological persuasion,

that they think everybody else is not right there, is not where they are, and they can't fellowship with them.

It's...

No.

Jesus and the gospel are the main gathering components.

But I shudder to think, like, if the Christ that we see in Revelation in the earlier chapters,

the Christ that speaks to the seven churches,

I would just tremble to hear what he would say to us as he comes at them and he says,

this I notice about you,

and I have this against you.

Repent.

Right?

It would tremble, make me tremble to think about

what he would say to the American Western church today.

We know that Scripture and history teaches us

that unity itself is beyond human ability or innovation.

We cannot do it.

We stink at it.

Even the greatest empires in the world that lasted for hundreds and hundreds of years,

they all eventually just fall.

They can't survive.

Because human unity can't winter.

They can't make it.

And so, we want to focus on our text.

If you look at verses 21 and 22,

23,

is that what is the source of true unity?

All right?

We can see that in our text.

What we see in our text,

in verse 21,

that they may all be one,

just as you, Father, are in me,

and I in you,

that they may all be in us.

Verse 22,

the glory that you have given me,

I've given to them,

that they may be one,

even as you and I are one.

See all the emphasis here?

To pick up on this,

what we see in our text

for the basis of the unity of the church

is not something that we create.

It's not of human origin.

It's within the nature of God himself.

You see that?

Unity of all believers

is grounded in the love

and oneness that exists

within the Godhead.

It is the overflow

of the relations

between the Father,

Son,

and Holy Spirit.

They are,

if we study the Trinity,

you will see that

the Trinity is united

in their motive.

In all they do,

they're devoted

to the glory of the Father.

Christ is devoted

to the glory of the Father.

Read the first five verses

of this prayer,

you'll see that.

So they are together

on the motive.

But then also the mission.

You ever notice that?

The Trinity is dedicated fully

to the mission of redemption

in a united way.

So many observations

that could be made.

But the spiritual unity

comes from that reality

of God's redemptive lives

and our work.

So the unity

that we should be considering

is not a physical outward unity,

but a spiritual unity

founded in the Godhead.

All right,

so let's just unpack that

a little bit.

Turn to Ephesians 4.

I'm the second place

to turn today,

but...

And I'm going to read

just six verses here,

but Paul,

writing to the church

at Ephesus,

he's talking about

spiritual unity

within the church.

And let's just make

two observations

particularly from this.

verse 1,

chapter 4.

He says,

I therefore,

a prisoner of the Lord,

urge you to walk

in a manner worthy

of the calling

to which you have been called

with all humility

and gentleness,

with patience,

bearing one another in love.

You ever notice

that when a church divides

and fights

that those are the things

that are absent,

those things that we just read?

He says,

eager to maintain

the unity of the Spirit.

So there's a person

of the Trinity,

the unity of the Spirit

and the bond of peace.

There is one body

and one Spirit,

just as you were called

to one hope

that belongs to your call.

One Lord,

there's Christ.

One faith,

one baptism,

and one God

and Father of all

who is over all

and through all

and in all.

So you see

in this text

at least a couple

of things.

You see the unity

of the Trinity

in their work,

but here's a couple

of things,

two observations.

Unity is completely

a spiritual matter,

not physical.

You see that?

Our passage,

indeed,

the rest of Scripture

doesn't at all

define unity

as a physical,

fluctuating,

visible unity,

of outward unity

of the church.

People just think

if we just got

all our money together

and built one huge,

huge building

that could hold,

you know,

50,000 people,

we would be unified.

We would not be unified.

And we all could gather

under one roof.

the physical,

no.

Spiritual unity

comes to us

from that reality

of the Godhead

and His redemptive work

in our souls.

So,

it's not a focus

on a visible unity,

but a focus

on invisible unity

that exists.

And then secondly,

we see in this text

that unity

is maintained

or preserved

and not created.

You see that

in verse 3?

We don't create unity.

Why?

Because it already exists

in the heart

of believers,

of all believers.

believers.

So,

that's why we're called

to maintain it,

preserve it,

keep it,

because we already

have it in Christ.

So,

one of my greatest,

I guess,

things that I've seen

that I think

demonstrate this

over the years

is a conference

that I've gone to

about four times

in the last eight years.

It's called

Together for the Gospel.

And it's in

Louisville, Kentucky.

And you have

guys from

from mainly

three different

denominational backgrounds.

You have guys

like Mark Dever,

Al Muller,

John Piper,

David Platt,

who are all

Southern Baptists.

And then they have

their best buddies

who are really

PCA guys,

Presbyterian Church.

So,

you have like

Ligon Duncan

and R.C. Spurl,

who just passed away,

but

Kevin DeYoung.

So,

you have these

Baptists and

Presbyterians

getting together.

Then you even

have a few

charismatic

biblical

gospel guys

in that group

as well.

And so,

and they joke

about it.

They,

they're like,

no,

we have some

serious differences

on church

government,

baptism,

like,

oh,

we'll debate

each other

on those things.

They have to

just kind of

joke around

and ticket each

other about

those particular

topics at times.

But here's the deal,

they're best friends

with each other.

But they love

each other.

And they,

they talk to each

other weekly

on the phone.

You know,

you have a guy

like Matt Chandler

talking to a guy

like John MacArthur

on the telephone.

Just encouraging

and praying

for one another.

And it's because

it was saying,

like,

look,

we are united

in Christ

and we are united

in the gospel.

And that,

that,

that goes over

denominational lines.

And so,

don't think of

denominations

as necessarily

a bad thing.

It actually means

that people have

convictions about

the Bible.

But don't allow

it to divide

to the point

of this person

does know Jesus,

does believe

the gospel,

and I'm not

their brother,

and I'm not

their sister

because they go

to this location.

It is a

spiritual unity

that exists.

Then,

another observation,

this is the last one,

under this idea

of unity,

true unity.

You see it

at the second part

of verse 21

and the second part

of verse 23.

Why is he praying

for unity?

So that the world

may believe

that you have sent me.

In verse 23,

so that the world

may know

that you have sent me

and love them

even as you love me.

So true unity

is evangelistic

in its nature.

Sin causes

division and hatred.

The fallen world

has plenty of that.

But the church

is meant to be

the greatest ways

that we display

our love

or the love of God

for the world

by being united

as one,

being perfectly

one.

Jesus is saying

that as believers

we have all things

in common.

And when the world

sees this,

it's attractive

because they can't

create it.

They can't maintain it.

They don't have it.

And so when they look

at the church,

they're to see

the gospel made visible.

They're to see

what things were meant

to be like

in human relationships

before the fall.

They see that

and it's supposed

to be attractive

to the outside world.

Jesus says

that you are

the light of the world.

We are the city

that is set on the hill

to be a shining example

of what God

can do.

And again,

in the church,

as believers,

we have all things

in common.

Many of you

could give testimony

to this,

that Christ

can bring together

the most different,

odd type of people

ever.

He can bring

people that have

nothing in common,

at least in our

earthly sense,

together.

together.

And I love that.

One of my,

I was definitely

a lot more

of a country

good old boy

in my high school

college years

for sure.

And when I first

became a Christian,

I went on a

mission trip

to Puerto Rico

and a kid

there recently,

I think he was

like 18,

came to know

the Lord

named Joe.

He was more

like your gothic

punk rocker,

like had long hair,

but like,

like that

when he played

the drums.

And we had

like zero in common.

And he became

one of my

closest little buddies.

Like we were

so tight

because we had

Jesus in common

and that's all

we talked about

was Jesus.

Nothing in common

in the natural.

I have many

other friends

that are scattered

over the globe.

I'm sure many

of you do.

You just have

to bump into

somebody

who's another

believer somewhere

else in the world

and you're like

immediate connection.

This person

knows Jesus.

That spiritual

unity that I'm

talking about.

So don't think

of it in terms

of the natural.

Please don't.

So that's

the first thing

that Jesus

prays for

is true unity

among believers.

And then

secondly

and lastly

Jesus prays

for the future

glory

of believers.

And I hope

you're encouraged

by this.

Verse 24

Father

I desire

that they

also whom

you have

given me

may be

with me

where I

am

to see

my glory

that you

have given

me

because you

love me

before the

foundation

of the

world.

So at the

outset of

Jesus'

prayer

if you look

back in

the first

five verses

he's asking

that the

father would

restore him

to that

point of

glory that

he had

with the

father

before

creation.

He's asking

for that

intrinsic glory

that rightfully

belongs to

him as

the son

that's been

in a way

veiled while

he was here

on the

earth.

So he's

asking for

that but

then he

throws in

there

verse five

where he

says glorify

me in your

own presence

with the

glory that

I had

with you

before the

world

existed.

All right

so here's

how we're

going to

do this.

I want you

just to

think.

I want you

to ponder

the most

beautiful sight

you've ever

seen or

the most

beautiful noise

you've ever

heard.

Just think

about what

that could

be.

It could

be a

sunset over

the ocean

or the

mountains,

a stunning

musical

concert or

a monumental

sporting

event.

And when

you get it

in your

head,

let's just

make two

observations

about that

event.

There's

usually two

things that

happen.

One,

something in

us long for

someone else

to be there

with us to

share that

event.

You ever

notice that?

We say,

wow, this is

so amazing,

so glorious,

so awesome.

I wish,

fill in the

blank,

so and so

is here with

me to see

this or to

hear this.

And especially

the people that

we love and

we're close

to, we

want that to

be the

case.

And I

believe that's

in a way

what Christ

is saying.

He wants

us to be

there to

behold his

glory that

he had with

the Father

before the

world existed.

So that's

amazing.

That's the

first thing

that sort of

comes to our

mind is the

longing for

someone else

to be there

to experience

what we're

experiencing.

thing.

Then secondly,

underneath that,

we don't just

want to behold

something magnificent

from a distance.

We don't want to

just see it far

off and just

stare at it.

We really want to

be in the middle

of it.

We want to

become a part

of it.

You ever

notice that?

I remember the

first time I was

with Jonathan

Laws, but Andy

Truett took the

same trip with

me.

But the first

time I ever

went to the

Scottish Highlands,

I was on a

bus, and when I

was looking out

the window, I was

like, this is

awesome.

I wanted to

dive through the

window, like drop

me off now and

let me get out

there and be a

part of that.

Let me dive in

that place.

I remember as a

little kid listening

to the Braves win

the World Series

on the radio on

my bed.

Braves won,

Braves won.

I was like,

dang, I wish I

was there to

let me be a

part of that

celebration, to

be in the

middle of that.

And so when we

see something

magnificent, we

just don't want to

look at it from a

distance.

We want to

become a part

of it.

C.S.

Lewis said this

about glory.

He said,

we do not

merely want to

see beauty,

though God

knows that is

bounty enough.

We want

something else

which can hardly

be put into

words.

we want to

be united

with the beauty

that we see,

to pass into

it, to receive

it into

ourselves, to

bathe in it,

and to become

a part of it.

And that's

what I believe

heaven will be

like forever

with God, to

behold the

Father and the

Son and all

their glory and

all their

majesty.

We'll become

there with it,

a part of it,

in it.

God's

love.

And Paul

wrote, I

mean, how

great is

this?

It's better

than anything

this world

has to offer.

It's greater

than anything

you can

imagine.

Paul said

in 1 Corinthians

2,

what no eye

has seen

nor ear

has heard

for the heart

of man

imagined

for what God

has prepared

for those

who love

him.

Just think

about that,

the immensity

of glory

that we

will get

to see

and we'll

be there

with all

the redeemed

throughout the

whole history

of the church

to take it

in and

we'll become

a part of

it.

Then another

observation that

we can make

is this means

we will have

unhindered

fellowship

with the

Godhead.

The sweetest

times of

fellowship that

you and I

have had on

this earth,

just think

about that

time.

It could be

in the middle

of anything

and you've

had these

wonderful

moments

with the

Father

where he

seemed to

almost manifest

his presence

to you

in a very

unique way.

You just

felt his

nearness

in an

abnormal

special way

and your

heart was

just overwhelmed

with joy

and gratitude

and you

wished you

could just

kind of hit

pause and

stay right

there.

You know

what I'm

talking about?

And you

just wished

that that time

would not

leave.

However,

we get just

glimpses of

Christ here

and there's

interference.

There's always

something that

steps in to

kind of end

that moment.

We have

hours of

contemplation

but then

our quiet

time with

the Lord

is interrupted.

We get

hungry,

hangry,

for some

of you.

You get

tired.

There's a

knock at

the door.

There's a

phone call.

There's a

stupid text

message.

There's all

kind of stuff

that just

distract us

from that

moment that

we're enjoying

with the

Father.

Naturally,

so many

things can

just happen.

And it's

kind of like

we're going

toward heaven

and then we're

just like pulled

back down,

kicking and

screaming.

Like,

no!

Leave me

in this

place.

But,

but,

when we

die,

when this

mortal

shell is

peeled off

and our

souls are

set free

and we

go to

glory to

be with

the Father,

we will

have

uninterrupted,

unhindered

fellowship for

all eternity

with the

Son and

the Father.

Eternity

will be

spent,

not by us

trying to

pay God

back and

give Him

what He's

due,

but we

will enjoy

the grace

of His

kindness

to us.

You won't

be bored.

Boredom

is something

that the

human,

fallen human

nature

struggles

with.

We get

tired of

the same

thing.

But the

closest you

could probably

get to is

those of you

who have been

around kids,

have kids,

grandkids,

nieces and

nephews,

whatever,

want something

they love

to do.

They find

something that

they like

and they

want it

done again

and again

and again.

And it

never ever

gets tired,

never gets

boring.

And I feel

like that's

how heaven

will be for

us.

We will

not grow

weary of

the glory

that we are

beholding.

Rather,

eternity

we will be

spending,

as Paul says

in Ephesians

2,

that all

this has

been done

so that in

the coming

ages,

he might

show the

immeasurable

riches of

his grace

and kindness

towards us

in Christ.

I was

debating on

whether or

not to

read this,

but if

you're able

to gird

up the

loins of

your minds,

just listen

as the

old term

goes to

this great

quote.

I try to

shy away

from quotes

because I

know some

people like

three-quarters

of their

sermon are

close.

I'm like,

you should have

given me

something to

read.

But,

this is

Spurgeon on

John 17.

He says,

I doubt

not that

there will

be many

joys in

heaven which

will amplify

the joy

that we

have there.

I feel

confident that

our meeting

our departed

friends,

the society

of the

apostles,

prophets,

priests,

martyrs,

will amplify

the joy

of the

redeemed.

So,

yeah,

we're going

to enjoy

seeing many

of the

people who

have gone

before us

and after

us in

heaven.

He says,

but,

still,

the sun

that will

give them

the greatest

light

will be

the fact

that they

are able

to see

the glory

of Jesus

Christ.

And now,

there may

be many

other

employments

in heaven,

but they

are mentioned

in this

text,

the chief

one,

that they

may behold

his glory.

Let us

pass as it

is in a

panorama

before our

eyes,

the great

scenes of

glory that

we shall

see after

death.

The moment

the soul

departs from

this body,

it will

behold the

glory of

Christ.

The glory

of his

person will

be the

first thing

that arrests

their attention.

There we

will sit

in the midst

of the

throne,

and our

eyes will

be caught

by the

glory of

his

appearance,

and oh,

how the

Christian will

stop at the

foot of his

master's throne

and look

upward,

and the

tears could

be allowed

in heaven.

Tears of

rich delight

will roll

down our

cheeks when

he looks

and sees

the man

enthroned

and says,

I often

used to

sing of

you on

the earth,

crown him,

crown him,

king of

kings and

lord of

lords.

Then Spurgeon

has a little

verse that he

writes,

he says,

millions of

years our

wandering

eyes shall

over our

savior's

beauty's

grove,

a myriad

of ages

will adore

the wonders

of his

love.

It's not

going to

get old.

Psalm 16

says,

in God's

presence is

fullness of

joy,

and at his

right hand

there are

pleasures

forevermore.

It won't

become boring.

For the

believer,

that's where

we all

long to go

and we

long to

be.

so,

another

thing,

and the

last thing

to mention

here,

you see

in verses

25 and

26,

that Jesus

really also

prays for,

we have like

a foretaste

now of that

glory.

See the

beautiful words

that he's

used here,

righteous

father,

it's this

idea that he's

having confidence

in the one

he's praying

to,

to bring

these things

about.

But he

says,

the world

does not

know you,

but the

son does,

and the

son has

made you

known to

those whom

you gave

him out of

the world.

And you

may say,

like,

yes,

heaven sounds

great,

but it

seems so

far away.

It seems

like that's

just such a

far-fetched

thing,

like we're

here on

this earth,

stuck on

this earth.

Well,

a couple

things.

First of

all,

that might

not be

true.

Some of

you could

be a

lot closer

to glory

than you

think.

None of

us know

the hour

that the

father may

send the

son back.

None of

us know

when he'll

breathe our

last.

We're just

tempted to

think that

we're just

going to

walk around

here forever.

And some

of you are

already having

problems

physically,

and you

know why

this can't

be it.

I hope

that that's

a joy to

you and

not something

to be

afraid of.

Because if

what we're

reading is

true,

that should

be something

that our

hearts should

long for.

But here's

kind of the

deal.

The good

news is that

we don't have

to wait to

get a

foretaste of

that glory

that's ahead

of us right

now.

A foretaste.

Christ initially,

if you read in our

text, he's like,

I have made

you known

to them,

and I will

continue to

make it known.

So, he's

saying, I will

continue to

show them

who you

are.

And this

is true

for us.

We initially

are shown

the Father

when we're

born again

in regeneration.

We initially

get to

behold him.

We're created

to be new.

We have eyes

to see that

we didn't

have before.

And then

the Father

gives us

the Spirit,

and he

continues to

make him

known

throughout

our lives

and

sanctification.

And so,

knowing Christ

and walking

with him,

enjoying him

is something

that we

can experience

right now.

Right now.

He is with

us every

hour of the

day,

wherever we

go.

He said

earlier in

John 10,

I've come

that they

may have

life and

have it

abundantly.

He's not

talking about

the fancy

new car.

He's saying

it like,

this is the

life that I

will give

you,

that you

are with

me.

And that

fellowship you

have with

me is to

have an

abundant

life.

So in

our text,

even now,

we get to

experience that

love of the

Father,

and we get a

head start

on eternity

by going

deeper into

what Paul

calls the

unsearchable

riches of

Christ.

We get to

start that

now,

and to

taste and

see that

the Lord

is good.

We have

that.

God,

and so I

hope that

many of you

have experienced

this.

I hope that

you're seeing

this prayer of

Jesus answered

in your life,

that you can

see the unity

of the church,

and see that

really is

something that

you really

possess with

other believers,

and that you

are longing for

the glory to

come.

You don't

really want to

stay here

forever.

That you want

to go and

behold the glory

that the Son

had with

the Father

before the

world existed.

Many of you

have been very

close to

crossing over

into the next

life.

I have,

and I can

tell you,

like,

nothing brings

you more joy

and more hope

and more comfort

than knowing

that that's

what's waiting

you on the

other side,

that Jesus

is there,

ready to

receive you

into glory.

so I

pray that

all of us,

as Psalm 73

says,

whom have I

in heaven

but you?

And on

this earth

there is

nothing that

I desire

beside you,

and that my

heart and my

flesh may fail,

but God is the

strength of my

heart and my

portion forever.

So we

conclude

John 17

today,

and I

pray that

it has

been

enriching

to your

heart.

Continue to

go back

and read

over it

and dive

into all

the riches

that are

there.

Let's pray

together.

Let's pray

together.

Let's pray