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.
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,
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
together.