Good morning, church.
Our sermon text today is from John chapter 17, verses 1 through 5.
It can be found in your pew Bibles on page 849.
And here we continue with Jesus on the last night of his earthly life.
He has just finished a long session teaching the disciples where he explained that he is
the way, the truth, and the life.
And because of this, he told the disciples that they should abide in him like a vine's
branches abide in the vine itself.
And Jesus further prophesied his own imminent departure from this world.
But he also gave assurance of his victory on the cross, even while warning about coming
tribulations.
And lastly, Jesus spoke to the disciples about the arrival of the Holy Spirit, who would
soon come and turn the disciples' grief into joy.
Now, in the passage we have before us, Jesus carries out one of his final acts before he
is arrested.
He prays a prayer.
And before we read his prayer, let's offer up a prayer of our own to God.
Father, we come to you today in the name of your son, Jesus.
Father, we're about to read one of the last things he prayed before he was crucified.
And we ask that you give us insight and discernment about his prayer.
Teach us, Father.
Teach us, through the prayer of Jesus, to be like Jesus.
Teach us to pray like him, to desire what he desired, and to give you glory like he gave
you glory.
And we pray this in his name.
Amen.
So Jesus' prayer goes like this.
Again, we're in chapter 17, verse 1 through 5 of the Gospel of John.
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 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.
And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the
world existed.
What is glory?
Jesus' whole prayer centers on this concept of glory.
Jesus asked the Father to glorify him, that he may glorify the Father.
He says that he was in the glory of the Father before the world existed.
And he requests that he be glorified with that glory once again.
But what is glory?
Our world will say that glory is that which is honorable or prestigious or that which is
eminent or majestic or beautiful.
And today, glorious things and glorious deeds and glorious people are those who are famous
and attractive and wealthy and powerful.
And in a way, at least, Scripture agrees with this definition.
God is glorious.
And that means he is majestic.
He's indescribably beautiful.
He's unimaginably powerful.
He possesses more honor than we can put into words.
And this is witnessed throughout all the Scriptures.
For example, we heard all these things in the passage that was read earlier today from
Revelation chapters 4 and 5, that famous heavenly throne room scene where John is taken up by
the Spirit into the throne room of God himself in heaven.
And he sees God seated on a throne, surrounded by a rainbow.
And from the throne come flashes of lightning, peals of thunder.
And spread out before the throne is a sea of glass like crystal.
And in the throne room are an uncountable number of angels focused on God and worshiping him.
It's quite a glorious scene, isn't it?
Even by the world's definition of glory.
But was this the glory that Jesus was praying for in his prayer?
Is this the glory that Jesus meant when he said,
Father, the hour has come.
Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.
Was he asking for power and authority and majesty?
Friends, what I'm going to say today is that when it comes to true glory,
the world, as with so many things, has understood part of the issue,
but is missing out on perhaps the most vital point.
The glory that Jesus is praying for in our passage before us,
the true glory that Jesus asked for,
it does involve beauty and majesty and splendor and power.
And Jesus is no doubt alluding to that glorious throne room
that we heard about in Revelation,
where everything is focused on God.
But there's something else too,
something so important, in fact,
that it involves the entire Christian message.
And if we pay attention to the words of Jesus' prayer in our passage today,
I think Jesus himself gives us a clue about this missing aspect of true glory.
You can find it in verse 1,
where Jesus says,
Father, the hour has come.
Glorify your Son.
Remember the hour it was when Jesus prayed this prayer.
He prayed this the hour before he was going to be arrested and crucified.
And so the hour,
the hour that had come,
was the hour when Jesus would sacrifice himself for the sins of the world.
And this sacrifice is inextricably linked with the glory that Jesus prays for.
And so the true glory for which Jesus prays
is the glory of laying down his life as a ransom for many.
This is the perfection of glory.
And any definition of glory,
any explanation of real, true, authentic, and eternal biblical glory,
any seeking after the glory of God must understand
that true biblical glory involves humbly submitting to suffering.
Jesus teaches us in his prayer that to obtain true glory,
you must forsake earthly power and majesty and honor
and even lay your life down for others.
This is why in his earthly ministry,
Jesus would say the Son of Man came not to be served,
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
That is, Jesus did not come to gain earthly power and majesty.
He came to lay his life down as a ransom for many
and by that to gain the perfection of eternal glory.
And this is also why,
in that glorious heavenly throne room scene in Revelation,
with all the splendor and beauty and power and fame and honor
that's given to God in heaven,
there also is Jesus standing on the throne of God
as a slain lamb.
Do you remember that part of the passage that we heard earlier?
All the majesty of heaven is described in that passage,
the beauty and the grandeur,
and yet there on the throne with God
is a slain lamb, our dear Jesus,
who suffered for the sins of the world.
And the passage says that all heaven cries out about Jesus,
worthy are you for you were slain.
Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and might and honor and glory.
Jesus is worthy to receive all these glorious things
because he was slain for us.
You see, church, glory is not just what the world says it is.
True, biblical, godly glory is gained by joyfully suffering
and especially by suffering for the sake of others.
This is the glory that Jesus asked for when he prayed to the Father,
the hour has come, glorify your son.
And God answered his prayer.
He did glorify him through the cross of his suffering.
Brothers and sisters,
is this the glory you are seeking in your life?
Or are you seeking after the world's glory,
the glory that will not suffer and that will not risk
and that will not sacrifice?
The kind of glory that lords it over everyone else.
Because to seek the glory of God is to suffer for others like Jesus did.
And this biblical glory is not unique to the Son of God.
This glory is also shared by God the Father.
If we turn to Jesus' prayer, we can see this very clearly.
Jesus prays in John 17, verse 1,
The hour has come.
Here Jesus asks for that glory that we've spoken of,
that suffering glory.
But notice that just as Jesus the Son possesses
and seeks that long-suffering, self-sacrificial glory,
so the Father also possesses that same sacrificial glory.
The Son has this glory because he suffered by laying down his life.
But the Father has this glory because he so loved the world,
he sent his one and only Son to suffer.
You see, church, Jesus' prayer for glory reveals this wonderful truth,
that God's glory is made perfect in suffering.
The Son knows the glory of sacrificing himself for his enemies,
and the Father knows the glory of sending his Son to die for his enemies.
Therefore, God knows both what it is to sacrifice himself
and what it is to send his beloved Son as a sacrifice.
And in this, God's glory is perfected because he knows both of what it is to suffer
and what it is to have someone you love suffer.
Friends, I wonder,
how are you suffering today?
Is God using that suffering in your life and working it into eternal glory
like he did with his Son?
There are many kinds of suffering in this world,
and we have many kinds of suffering in our church.
But whatever you're suffering today, whatever it may be,
all of it, whether you, when you humbly submit it to God,
will be used by God to make you more like God and to share in his glory.
This is the great secret of the Christian life,
that as a Christian, whenever you humbly submit to suffering,
then you draw closer to the one who humbly suffered for you,
and he will use your suffering for his glory and also for yours.
And this is true whether your suffering is in the form of physical pain or mental pain.
It's true whether you've been harmed accidentally or harmed intentionally.
This is even true if you're suffering because of your own sin.
Then, if you repent and submit your suffering to God,
God is so glorious and powerful that he will redeem your suffering
and make it work for good by the power of Jesus Christ.
And so today, whether you're suffering because of the faith
or because you made a mistake,
whether you're suffering because someone you love is hurting
or even because you've hurt someone you love,
whatever the cause of your suffering,
Jesus knows what it is like to suffer.
And if you submit it to God,
then he will use it to make you more like him
and you'll share in his glory.
Therefore, church, if you're suffering in this hour,
be encouraged by the suffering of Jesus and his prayer for glory.
Submit to suffering.
Repent if you need to.
And remember that there is an eternal weight of glory
prepared for you and your suffering.
This is why the Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Corinthians.
He said,
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.
We're perplexed, but not driven to despair.
We're persecuted, but not forsaken.
Struck down, but not destroyed.
We always carry in our bodies the death of Jesus
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake,
that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So we do not lose heart.
Though our outer self is wasting away,
our inner self is being renewed day by day.
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory
beyond all comparison.
As we look for the things that are seen,
as we look not to the things that are seen,
but to the things that are unseen.
For the things that are seen are transient,
but the things that are unseen are eternal.
In Jesus' prayer for glory,
Jesus was looking for those unseen things in heaven
where that eternal weight of glory was being prepared for him
through his suffering.
This is why we follow Scripture in calling Jesus the Lord of glory
and why we confess that Jesus holds all the power
and all authority on account of the glory that he's been given.
If we return to Jesus' prayer in John chapter 17,
we see that he speaks about this power
which he has been given as the Lord of glory.
And also what our responsibility is to him because of it.
He says,
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.
Now notice what Jesus says here.
First, Jesus, as the Lord of glory, is in charge.
God has given him authority over all flesh.
So it doesn't matter who we are or where we are.
It doesn't matter what color our skin is or what our language is.
It doesn't matter what culture we are or even what our religion is.
Whether we recognize it or not,
Jesus has authority over us and everyone else.
But he uses this authority to give eternal life to all whom the God,
God the Father, has given to him.
God, in his mystical foreknowledge and from his great love,
has rescued those whom he chose from the wrath that was coming because of our sins.
And he's given us eternal life through Jesus Christ.
The only responsibility that remains for us
is to humbly submit to his judgment
concerning the gift of eternal life.
But what is this eternal life?
Jesus gives us the answer in verse 3.
He says,
And this is eternal life that they know you,
the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Jesus explains here that eternal life is to know God
and Jesus Christ whom he sent.
And as the Lord of glory,
Jesus is the focus of all things.
He's the focus of life itself.
He's the ultimate goal, meaning, source,
the cause and result of all things.
All things flow from him and all things flow to him.
And so eternal life is to know him
and God the Father who sent him.
Our responsibility, therefore, on this earth is to know Jesus.
And let me tell you,
there's nothing better than knowing Jesus.
Jesus continues his prayer.
In verse 4, he says,
I glorified you on earth,
having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
Jesus glorified God the Father on earth
because he accomplished the work
that the Father gave him to do.
But what was that work?
What was it actually?
Well, here is a beautiful truth, church.
The work which God gave Christ to perform was you.
That work was to save sinners,
even sinners like you.
His work was to save you
by defeating death on the cross
and rising on the third day.
And according to Jesus' prayer,
he finished the job.
It's already done.
I said that nothing could be better
than knowing Jesus, the Lord of glory,
but perhaps I can say
the only thing better is if that work
of bringing about a reconciled relationship with God
is not just in the future,
but has already been done by God
on the cross.
And in a way,
this wasn't just completed 2,000 years ago
in Jerusalem
when Jesus was crucified on earth.
This work goes all the way back
to the beginning of time itself.
In verse 5, Jesus prays,
And now, Father,
glorify me in your presence
with the glory that I had with you
before the world existed.
Jesus explains that not only did he exist
before the world began,
but he was in glory
with God the Father
before the world began.
And we must all understand
that by this glory,
Jesus means that true,
self-sacrificial, biblical glory
that only comes through suffering.
You see, the Father and the Son
had this kind of glory
before the world began
because before time,
the Father, in his secret wisdom,
knew of his plan of salvation.
He knew that he would send his Son to die
and the Son knew
that he would lay his life down.
This is why I think
the best translations
of Revelation 13, 18
say that Jesus is a Lamb of God
who was slain
before the foundation of the world
because in a sense, he was.
All of God's own suffering
was known by God with certainty
in his hidden wisdom
before the world began.
And so, in a manner of speaking,
that suffering was known
and experienced by God
and therefore,
the Father and the Son
were in glory with one another
from the very beginning.
In his letters,
the Apostle Paul speaks
about God's glorious plan
of salvation
which he made
before all eternity
for glory.
He says in 1 Corinthians 2, 7, 8,
But we impart a secret,
the hidden wisdom of God
which God decreed
before the ages
for our glory.
None of the rulers
of this age understood this
for if they had,
they would not have crucified
the Lord of glory.
And Paul also says
in his letter to the Colossians,
1, 26 through 27,
he says,
The mystery hidden
for ages and generations
but now revealed to the saints.
To them,
God chose to make known
how great among the Gentiles
are the riches
of the glory of this mystery
which is Christ in you,
the hope of glory.
Friends,
the sum of what I'm saying
is this,
just as God had plans
for his own glory
before the foundation
of the world,
so he also had plans
for your glory
and just as he had plans
to use his own suffering
for glory,
so he also has plans
to make your suffering
into glory too.
Church,
if you're suffering today,
I want to tell you
that you are not forgotten
by God.
For in the same way
that God knew
of his own suffering,
so he knows
of yours also.
And in the same way
that God redeemed
his own suffering,
so he will also
redeem yours.
Your hardship
and your suffering
were known by God
before the beginning
of the world.
Every drop you have bled,
every tear you have shed
has been known by God
and is known by God
from all eternity.
And just as the Father
and Son
were together in glory
from the very beginning,
so God is welcoming you
into his own life
through his suffering.
And then through
your suffering,
he's preparing
and strengthening you
to carry an eternal
weight of glory.
Friends,
Jesus' prayer
has covered
many important points
in our Christian life.
glory,
eternal life,
knowing God,
the power
and sovereignty
of Jesus,
the exclusive devotion
we owe to Jesus.
And there are many ways
that these comfort us.
But I want to turn now
to address those of us
who may not find
all of these truths
about the authority
of Jesus
and his sovereignty
to be comforting,
or perhaps to those
who struggle
with explaining
these truths
to others
in our community
and our world.
And let me give you
some examples.
Our world often claims
that there are many ways
to God
and many paths.
And because of this,
our world at times
can recoil
from the idea
that Jesus has authority
over everyone
or that he's the only way
to God
as Jesus prayed
in his prayer.
Often also,
our world
and even our fleshly selves,
we desire to be in power,
we desire to be in control,
we want to be in charge,
and so the idea
that eternal life
ultimately,
as Jesus prayed,
ultimately depends
not on us
but on God
and whom he chooses
can grate against us
and rankle us.
Often we want to be
the ultimate arbiter
and decider
of our fate.
And thirdly,
the world can also
be aggravated
by the idea
that for Christians,
eternal life
is to know God
and Jesus Christ
as Jesus makes clear
in his prayer.
this kind of knowing
or this kind of knowledge
can make Christians
sometimes come off
as arrogant know-it-alls
and sadly,
we can all think
of times
when this has happened.
So these three truths
that Jesus prays about
in his prayer
can for some
be troubling
instead of comforting.
The notion
that Jesus has authority
over all people
or that he gives
eternal life
to those whom God
has chosen
or thirdly,
that eternal life
is to know God
and Jesus Christ.
But friends,
if you're troubled
by one or all of these,
if you find some of them
difficult to accept,
then I want to suggest
a different way
of looking at them,
a way that I hope
will help you appreciate
their beauty
and their glory.
Let's start with
Jesus' power
and authority
over all flesh.
As we've read this morning
in Jesus' prayer,
he possesses power
over all peoples
and over all nations,
over every tribe
and over every language.
Jesus has authority
over all of them
and he will be their judge
on that day
when he returns.
But if you're troubled
by this,
remember the particular judge
we're talking about here
is the one
who loved the world
so that he laid
his life down.
Church,
if you're concerned
or worried
about your friends
or family
or anyone else
in this wide world
who has not heard
the gospel,
be comforted.
The one who has been
appointed as judge
is the very one
who in his compassion
did more to save
the world
than we can imagine.
As scripture says,
it is a fearful thing
to fall into the hands
of the living God.
But scripture also says
that that very God
is the one
who sacrificed himself
for those
in his hands.
What better judge
of the world
is there to have
than that?
If we can trust him,
we can trust that he's able
to save all
whom he calls.
And for this reason,
that final judgment
as adjudicated
by Jesus
will not only be
the most just
but also the most
compassionate judgment.
Take comfort
in that.
And now in Jesus' prayer,
he has also made it clear
that eternal life
is given to all
whom the Father
has given him.
But some people
are uncomfortable
with the idea
that ultimately
our salvation
depends on God's will
and not our own.
Sometimes this is
sort of a
raw fleshly rebellion
but other times
it's a philosophical one
with carefully reasoned objections.
But friends,
if you're troubled by this
then I want to assure you
what this means
is that at bottom
your salvation
doesn't depend on you,
it depends on the work of God.
So when you sin
or mess up
and we all do,
it doesn't mean
that you've blown it.
It doesn't mean
that when you're struggling,
when you're wrestling
with your sinful self,
when you've stumbled
in the race
or you've strayed
from the way,
it doesn't mean
that you've fallen
from grace
because it is Jesus
who saves.
He's the author
and perfecter
of our faith.
And as the Apostle Jude writes,
God is able
to keep you
from stumbling
and to present you
blameless
before the presence
of his glory
with great joy.
My friends,
how wonderful it is
to have our eternal life
procured and protected
by God himself.
He is the one
who will bring you
to repentance.
He is the one
who will make you
to stand on that day
when he judges
all flesh.
And he's the one
who will pick you up
when you have fallen
and will give you
fruits of repentance.
As I said earlier,
Scripture declares
that it is a terrible thing
to fall into the hands
of the living God.
But Jesus also says,
I give them eternal life
and they will never perish
and no one will snatch them
out of my hand.
How terrible it is
to be in the hands of God
but how wonderful it is also.
The Apostle Paul explains
this mystery
of our salvation
depending on God
yet also intertwining
with our will.
He exhorts the Philippians,
he says,
work out your salvation
with fear and trembling
for it is God
who works in you
both to will
and to work
for his good pleasure.
Now lastly,
Jesus in his prayer
says that eternal life
is to know God
and his son
and some people
interpret this
by claiming that Christians
have some kind
of special knowledge
that is only available
to a few.
And if you encounter
a Christian
who thinks this
is the kind of knowledge
Jesus is talking about,
they sometimes can come off
as a sort of holier-than-thou,
know-it-all kind of person.
But this isn't the knowledge
that Jesus is talking about here.
The kind of knowledge
that Jesus has in mind
is not informational knowledge,
it's relational knowledge.
The knowledge that he's speaking about
is that kind of knowing
that you experience
when you know
a person intimately
heart-to-heart
and face-to-face.
And in this case,
the person that you know
is God himself.
And when you know him,
then you understand
just how little
and insignificant you are.
And you see the gravity
of your sins
and you understand
God's righteous anger,
but also his love
and his mercy.
And then you're humbled.
And then you begin to realize
that what really matters
is not what you think about God,
but what God thinks about you.
And you understand
that God does not like
the sins you have been committing.
And then,
as he leads you to repentance
and you feel his forgiveness,
you realize that nothing compares
to knowing God
and his Son, Jesus Christ,
and being known by him.
But friends,
after all this,
if you are perhaps
still hesitant
to share the good news
of Jesus with others,
out of fear
that you may come across
as arrogant
or mean-spirited,
if that's a challenge
you're facing,
then here's what you should do.
Remember the glory
for which Jesus prayed
and seek after it.
Father, he prayed,
the hour has come.
Glorify your Son.
And then he went to the cross
for the sins of the world
and then the world was changed.
So you also,
when you seek after
the glory of Jesus,
when you lay down
your life for others,
then your neighbors
will listen to you.
When your friends
and your neighbors
see the love of God
poured out in your heart,
when they see your patience
and your humility,
when they see
your long-suffering,
your joy and hardship,
your willingness
to forgive,
your quickness
to repent,
and your desire
to bear the burdens
of others,
then they'll also
see Jesus in you
and then they will
listen to you.
Friends,
hear an exhortation
from the book of Hebrews.
Therefore,
since we are surrounded
by so great
a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside
every weight
and sin
which clings
so closely
and let us run
with endurance
the race
that is set before us,
looking to Jesus,
the founder
and perfecter
of our faith,
who for the joy
that was set before him
endured the cross,
despising the shame
and is seated
at the right hand
of the throne of God.
Let's pray.
Father,
we ask in the name
of your son Jesus
that you would make us
to know his glory,
that you would prepare us
for that eternal
weight of glory.
Father,
I pray for those
right now
who are suffering,
who are in despair,
who are perplexed.
I pray, Lord,
that you would give them
immense comfort now.
I pray, Father,
that as the sufferings
of Christ
overflow in their lives,
that the joy of Christ
would also overflow in them.
Father,
I pray that as a church
we would be united together
in the fellowship
of the sufferings of Jesus.
Father,
I pray that you would teach us
how to weep
with those who weep,
how to mourn
with those who mourn,
and how to rejoice
with those who rejoice.
Father,
I pray that you would
perfect us
whenever we suffer,
that you would help us
to run the race
with perseverance
for the joy
that is set before us.
And we pray this
in the mighty name
of Jesus.
Amen.