Let's take our Bibles this morning and once again turn to John chapter 17. I'll be reading to you this morning verses 22 and 23. These verses of course make up this prayer of Jesus Christ on the night of his betrayal. John chapter 17 verses 22 and 23. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. God's Word. And the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one, I in them, you in me, that they may be perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. Thus far God's Word. Heavenly Father, these are marvelous words that make up this portion of our Lord's prayer, this prayer for oneness, this oneness which finds its foundation in you, Father, you, God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit. And it is our privilege to share in the divine nature, Father, that this oneness would be that which you desire through Christ. And he is the one. to whom it comes about, and this is His glory and your glory. I pray that you would help us in understanding these verses and applying them. To that end, I pray that you'd open our eyes, that we might behold wondrous things out of your law. And I pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. I wonder if you might take your Bibles this morning, if you have one, Join me in a little exercise in Ephesians chapter 1. And the exercise is this, as I read verses 3 through 14, that you look for the phrase, in Christ or in Him, and see how many times it appears in this particular reading. Ephesians 1 verse 3, Paul tells the Ephesians, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, in Christ. just as He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace by which He made us accepted in the Beloved, in Him. We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Indeed, this doctrinal truth, this reality that exists between God's people and his children, that we are in union with Jesus Christ, clearly is an important truth that Paul emphasizes in his letter to the Ephesians. Jesus himself emphasized this reality in his discourse prior to this prayer on that same evening. If you just turn back a page and look at chapter 15, look how Jesus describes his relationship to his father and also to his children, to the disciples and ultimately to us. Jesus says in verse 1 of chapter 15, I'm the true vine. My father is the vine dresser. And he encourages and exhorts his disciples and ultimately all of us in verse 4 to abide in him. And he in us as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I'm the vine, you're the branches. He abides in me, and I in him. There's much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. Paul is talking about it in Ephesians, Jesus is talking about it in his discourse there in chapter 15 with his disciples, and it's the topic of the prayer of our Lord here in John chapter 17. He's talking about something that's living, this union that we have with Christ, this union that is vital to our Christian experience, this union in Christ that is intimate, it is personal. It's a union which is patterned after and it is based on the relationship between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Godhead. It's the very thing that Jesus prayed for in verse 21. We looked at it last Lord's Day. In verse 21, He's making this petition to His Father. And we must remember, this is Jesus, the man, Jesus Christ, the God-man, praying to His Heavenly Father that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they may be one in Us. Christ is in the Father by virtue of His divine nature, and the Father is in the Son by virtue of His divine nature. But also because of His human nature, which exists simultaneously with His divine nature. Two natures, one person. The Father now is in the believer, and the believer is in the Father. Christ Jesus Himself is the go-between. He is the mediator. He spans that great gulf between the eternity and the temporal, and that is the role of Jesus Christ, who is the one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And here this prayer, this particular portion of his prayer, centers around this oneness. And it is because of this oneness that the Father is in the Son and therefore the Son is in the believer because of the human nature that he shares with us, bridging that gulf, that he gives the same glory to the believers, the Son gives that glory to believers, that glory that the Father gave to him. And it's because the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the believer that the love that the Father bestowed on the Son is now bestowed by Jesus Christ on the believer. That's quite a bit to take in, isn't it? quite a bit to meditate upon and grab hold of and you can't really plumb the depths of that but it is a marvelous and it is a great truth and it is an important and a vital truth. Many professing Christians come short of that. They simply think of Jesus Christ as having forgiven their sins, and it goes no further. They don't have any concept of the idea that they're in union with Jesus Christ, and by virtue of that, they are in union with God Himself. God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, God the Son. And it is this union that Jesus talks about which is such that Christians will stand out in the world and be recognized. And it will be seen that God really does love his people. For many that will be to the consternation and hatred of the world, but for others they will be drawn to it. Well, let's dig into this a little bit more. Firstly, I would draw your attention to what Jesus said, that this glory that He's received from the Father, it's His desire that that same glory be bestowed upon the church. Let's talk about the glory of Jesus Christ. That is God's purpose, is it not, to glorify His Son? And when I say glorify His Son, I mean glorify His Son incarnate as He came and took on human flesh to exalt Him. to absolve Jesus Christ as he is this divine person, as he is this God-man, as he is this mediator between God and the church, the one who has bridged that vast and infinite gulf, and only one who is both man and God can bridge that gulf between that which is eternal and that which is temporal and finite. Jesus is glorified in that he has accomplished this great reconciliation. Such that he who is just, that is God, and God is just. Don't ever have the idea in your head that God overlooks sin, that lets it go by and just moves on. That would make God unjust. The whole relationship between God and mankind is by virtue of that covenantal relationship based on his law. We were designed to glorify him and enjoy him forever. The great tragedy for mankind is that man chose not to do that and broke the law. Christ came and fulfilled both requirements of the law in his obedience to the law and his dealing with sin due to disobedience. And that righteousness accrued by Christ is now the possession of the believer. by faith. Christ having taken on himself the sin of the believer such that he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. And now it can be said, as Paul said in Romans, that the just, he who is just, can now justify those who believe in Christ. Those who believe in Christ are sinners. That brings together that great reconciliation. And it is that reconciliation as put on display by Jesus Christ. It is a magnificent display indeed of God's justice. It is a display of God's power because Christ really did deal with sin at the cross, paid the great debt. He said it's finished and it was proved by his resurrection. It is not only a display of God's righteousness and his justice, but also of God's mercy. Because any believer here this morning is the one who really should have taken the brunt of God's wrath or the rebellion against Him. And Christ took it for you. And that's to His glory. We read over in Colossians, in chapter 1, at verse 19, It pleased the Father that in Him, that is in Christ, all the fullness should dwell. All the fullness of what it is to be God. All the very essence of God. Not only that, but in verse 20, and by Him, Christ, to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of the cross. And it is God the Father's purpose to glorify Jesus Christ, the Mediator, the Man Jesus Christ, through the accomplishment of that great work of reconciliation, through that shed blood on the cross. But there is not only reconciliation and forgiveness of sin, there is new life that was purchased by Jesus Christ. He took away the power of sin on the cross as well as having taken away the guilt of sin. And we are in union. If you're a believer this morning, a true believer in Jesus Christ this morning, you are one with Christ, you are one with God. There are glorious implications of that. We share in His glory, His glory, not another glory, but His glory. And that's what Jesus is praying for. The glory you've given me, Father, in exalting me and lifting me up and giving me the name above every name, I now give to the church, the church that I bought with my precious blood. How? How is that glory given? Well, has not Jesus Christ received glorious titles? That which was received, does He not also give it to the church? We read about him in the prophets. He's referred to as the branch of righteousness in Jeremiah chapter 23, Jesus Christ. And it says in verse 6 that His name, this branch of righteousness, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, His name will be the Lord, or Jehovah. Every time you see in the Old Testament, Lord with a capital L and O-R-D with small capital letters, that is a way of representing His name as Jehovah, or Yahweh, His covenantal name, His personal name, that name by which He has revealed Himself to His people. And He's saying about this branch, His name will be Jehovah, our righteousness. But what's remarkable, in a few chapters later in Jeremiah, chapter 33, at verse 16, in referencing the church, Israel at the time, they're given the same name. The name that the church will be known by is Jehovah, our righteousness. That's remarkable. What belongs to the head, Christ is the head of the church. By virtue of our union with Christ, we who are the body, we have the very same title. Indeed, the glory given to the Son has been given to the Church. Christ is our righteousness. Christ, who is God in the flesh. We partake of that by virtue of our union in Christ. And we put on Christ. And we would say these very strong statements about Jesus Christ. Christ not only dwells in His Church, but the Church is part of Him. Take that in for a while. Meditate upon that for a while. Isn't that exactly what Paul is referring to in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 12? He's talking about the diversity that exists within the church, and there's diversity right here at Tekoa. We're all different, aren't we? And yet we're one in Christ. He says in chapter 12, verse 12, that all the members of that one body, and we are members of that one body if you're a true believer this morning, although many are one body. And so is Christ. Well, how else is that glory given to us, that glory that Christ received? What did the Father do for Christ? I would say to you, He's done the same for us. We have those wonderful words at the very end of the book of Hebrews in chapter 13, verse 20. We read that the God of peace, God Himself, who brought up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. That is the great work that God Himself did for His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God. There was glory to Christ in this. His raising up from the dead was the proof positive that He had accomplished exactly what He set out to do. He said, it's finished on the cross. And it was proved on that third day when He rose gloriously, bodily rose from the dead. We must emphasize that. Body and soul come together again in the man Christ Jesus. And that's to His glory. That says He really did accomplish that which He said He came to do, which is He come to save. Name Him Jesus because He'll save His people from their sins. And He did it. And that's to His glory. And so too the Father does the same for us, does He not? He raised Christ from the dead. Paul makes reference to that very clearly in Romans chapter 6, in talking about the new life that we have in Christ. He says there in chapter 5 of Romans 6, if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, and if you're a true Christian, indeed you have. No, you haven't been nailed to a tree. But if you're a true Christian, you not only make profession with your mouth, but something's changed within you. There's been something called being born again. That's what Jesus talked about with Nicodemus. And you must be born again, he told him. You must be given a new heart, and only God can give you that. Taking away that stony heart and giving you a new heart. And as such, you die with Christ. The old person dies, the old motivation, the old direction of life. And there is real repentance and a turning around and new desires, a new inclination in the way that we live, a desire to please God. And that's what it is to die with Christ. If you've died, if you're a true Christian this morning, you're in the likeness of his death. And if that's happened to you, then certainly, Paul goes on to say, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. There is the result of our union with Christ. There is that which the Father gave to the Son, the raising from the dead, which is now also given to us if you're a true believer. Isn't that our great hope that we look forward to? Our bodies are wearing out and getting sick and dying, but one day they will be raised up marvelously and joined again to our soul. That which is corruptible becoming incorruptible, that which is mortal becoming immortal. Indeed, that which was given to the Son and accomplished for the Son has also been accomplished for the Church, His very body. Well, what has God also given the Son? That glory that He's given the Son that now Christ gives to the Church? Well, as alluded to in the opening verses of Hebrews in chapter 1, We read in verse 3, when He, Jesus Christ, had by Himself purged our sins, paid the debt, took away the power of sin in our lives, after He had done that, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. We read in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 20, talking about the power that was exerted with Christ in the raising of him from the dead. That same power given to the church, he says in verse 20, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all principality and power and might and dominion in every name that is named. Not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." Well, Paul, having said that about Jesus Christ, that great glory given to the Son and seating Him at the Father's right hand as reward for His finished work of atonement, what do we read about believers in the very next chapter? Look at verses 4, But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, as demonstrated in the giving of his Son, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. And then look what he goes on to write. not only saved, but raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. His righteousness is ours. If you're a true believer this morning, you're clothed in it. That is what allows you to walk into God's presence. His death is ours, His resurrection is ours, the church, and so too is His ascension into heaven. You might ask, how is that to be? Well, aren't we not already spiritually present with the Lord in heaven? Is that not the case? Are we not already partakers of heavenly life? Coming to a church on a Sunday morning shouldn't just be a formal religious exercise. There should be a taste of heaven. There should be a taste of it in that you're with God's people. You're out of the world for a time. Putting aside the cares and the concerns of the weak, coming together and offering up praise and service and worship to God. And in that sense, isn't it true, therefore, that you're experiencing something of the very special presence of God when you come? God is, of course, everywhere, but he makes his presence especially known when his people gather together on a Sunday morning. That makes it so important for the assembling of the saints. Don't forsake it. It is an important part of our partaking of that heavenly life. Is it not true, therefore, although physically not in heaven, although physically not ascended yet, and yet is it not our head and our heart in heaven with Christ? Is that not the case? Aren't we already there in worship and service? Isn't that what Paul is admonishing the Colossians to do in his third chapter of that letter to them? He's saying in verse 1, if you were raised with Christ, That's another way of saying, if you've been born again, if you have that new life, if you've been regenerated by God and by God alone, if that's true about you, then seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth, for you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Indeed, the glory given to the Son and seating Him in His right hand is the very same glory that now, by virtue of our oneness, by virtue of our union in Christ, that Christ now bestows upon the Church. Christ was given great glory in the power and authority that he was given. That was prophesied in the book of Daniel. Those are the very words that Jesus gave to his disciples before he commissioned them. He said, look, I've been given all power and authority now. I've accomplished this great work of redemption. And the Father, by virtue of reward, has given me now this power and authority. over the government of this world, over the gathering of the church, bringing together the consummation of history, and so too the church. Has that power and authority not also been given to the church? What is that power and authority that we've been given to do? Is it not to teach and to preach the gospel? Do we not participate in the very management and the administration of the kingdom as exercised here in the local church? Don't we exercise that power and authority every time we pray the Lord's Prayer together? Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. How important are those words? Never gloss over them. You are participating in the government of the world. with those words. You are desiring the consummation of the kingdom and all that takes place in the bringing of that to pass. That is to exercise power and authority. Local congregations are given power and authority in the selection of their leaders. They are given power and authority in that they are, through their leaders, given the keys to the kingdom. That's what was told to Peter. The exercise of discipline, the exercise of participation and use of our gifts, all of these things are exercises of that power and authority that's been given to the church. Christ was given glory in the offices that he fulfilled, prophet and priest and king. Look how the church, though, is described in Revelation, chapter 1, verse 6. He's made us kings and priests. Peter says as much in his first letter in chapter 2, verse 9. We are a royal priesthood. How? We rule the world, don't we, through our prayers? We rule ourselves, don't we? Isn't one of the features of being a new creature in Jesus Christ such that we are no longer governed by our lusts and our passions? We are governed by Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit within us. We read that the kings in the Old Testament, one of the first things they did when they ascended into their office, they were required to write their own copy of the law. It was meant to impress it upon them, that they were there as kings, not as despots, but covenantal kings, accountable to God. So too do we not rule with the word written on our hearts? What's the difference? We as kings as well, but now written on our hearts They're written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit who takes what you are taught and what is preached to you and what you read and meditate upon. That's why it is so important to be regularly under the influence of God's Word. God writing His Word on your heart so that you might rule yourself and that you might be an appropriate ambassador for Jesus Christ in this world. The world can't stand hypocrites. Are we not priests as well? Don't we pray? Didn't we pray this morning for some? We pray for healing for some. We pray that God would intercede spiritually for some as well. We are given the privilege of participating in the gathering of the saints through our intercessions, exactly what Christ does. And are we not prophets as well? We are ones who are given to teach our families, to make Christ known to our children, to our neighbors, to our fellow workers, to those around us. Paul admonishes and exhorts the Colossians in chapter 3 verse 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another. Hasn't this glory that was given to the Son in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Him? You remember His baptism. The Holy Spirit came upon Him without measure. And the Father pronounced over Him, this is My Son in whom I am well pleased. And the God-man Jesus Christ was enabled to do His earthly ministry through that enabling of the Holy Spirit. So too the Church. Isn't that what Pentecost was all about? Look again in Ephesians, in chapter 4, verse 8. According from the Psalms, Paul writes this, when he ascended on high, in verse 8 of chapter 4, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. Christ has passed on this same glory and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the church, so that we might do what we've been called to do, to exercise our gifts with one another. To do that which we have to do, and everyone's been given a gift, every Christian. Everyone's been given some role in the kingdom, some work to do in the vineyard, and the Holy Spirit has been given to us, and that's to the glory of Christ, and that is a glory passed on to the church. Speaking of Christ, the psalmist David said in Psalm 45 verse 7, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness, the oil of gladness often a picture of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. But then he goes on to say you've been given the oil of gladness more than your companions. Indeed, Christ has been given the Holy Spirit without measure, but we have the Holy Spirit as well, not at the same equality of Jesus Christ, but there is a resemblance to Christ in that outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Well, not only has that glory that has been given to the Son now bestowed on the Church, so too the love that has been given to the Son now bestowed upon the Church. And again, Jesus is speaking in the context of oneness. Christ has been loved from everlasting. Is that not true? And yet, what does he say about the church? Again, in Ephesians 1 verse 5, the church having God having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will. Not just His will, but the good pleasure of His will. Is that not an allusion to the love that He has for the Church as well? Isn't that what the ancient Church was told as Moses recorded it for us in Deuteronomy 7? Verse 6, God speaks to His church, His people, You are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples. Why? But because the Lord loves you. That's why He chose you. So too for the church chosen in Christ. How? To everlasting as well, not only from eternity past, but for everlasting. God's love to His Son and likewise His love to the church is unchanging. It's steadfast. It's interesting if you turn to Psalm 136. Psalm 136 has 26 verses. Interesting thing about that psalm is you can immediately learn half of it within seconds. 26 verses. Why? Because we have the phrase, His mercy endures forever repeated 26 times. Some have encountered endless praise songs, repetitive, repetitive, repetitive, that are sometimes offered up in worship services. And those who have been criticized for that, just this rote repetition. And they say, well, doesn't the Bible do that? Are we encountering that in Psalm 136? We see that phrase, His mercy endures forever, 26 times. Isn't that rote repetition? Well the answer to that is, yes it is, but give me 26 reasons to say it. Which is exactly what the psalmist does there. And clearly that's the point, His steadfast mercy endures forever. That's what we're presented with in that psalm. Well, you might say, but aren't there times in my Christian life where I've offended God, I've known I've sinned against God, and He's angry with me? And He's grieved because of what I've done? Isn't that the case with those that you love? Aren't there occasions with those who love one another when you're angry with one another? It doesn't mean that the relationship is broken. We see something of that in Jeremiah. Jeremiah lived during the days of real rebellion and God finally chastening his people in the destruction of Jerusalem and the people going off into exile. But look what he says there. Jeremiah 31 at verse 18. He says, I've surely heard, Ephraim, and he's referring to his church, his people, bemoaning himself. You've chastised me. He's saying, Ephraim's saying that about himself. And I was chastised. I was like an untrained bull. Restore me, and I will return, for you are the Lord my God. Surely after my turning I repented, and after I was instructed, I struck myself in the thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, because I bore the reproach of my youth." Many Christians feel that way. They've sinned, and they've come to the realization of it, and they're terribly distressed about themselves. But look how God responds to that. Does He free him, my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord." That is the language of a parent to his child, not to a judge and a prisoner standing in the dock. Yes, there are times when God is angry and grieved by us in our sin, but that does not break the relationship. That does not break his love. Isaiah echoes the same sentiment in Isaiah 54, verse 8. God saying to his people during a time of chastening, he says, with a little wrath, I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you. Says, and look how he puts it, the Lord, Yahweh, Jehovah, your Redeemer. You see how we're called to remember He uses the name of God that is His covenantal name, that covenantal name of His covenant of grace, which is an everlasting covenant. It cannot change. His love cannot change for His people. And He also refers to Him as My Redeemer. If you're a Christian today, Christ has redeemed you. He's brought you back. You think He'll let you go now? He paid a tremendous price for you, even the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Will He let go now? He will never do that. Paul reminds the Corinthians in examining themselves in chapter 11, the very passage we use to give us instruction on the exercise of the Lord's Supper. He says there in verse 32, when we are judged We are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned by the world. You see the difference? God may be angry and displeased with you, but he will not let you go. His love is an everlasting and steadfast love if you are in Christ Jesus today. And do as the Puritans would say to do. When God uses the rod with you in chastening, kiss the rod and see how quickly he drops it. is this bestowing of glory by Christ, the glory given to Christ, the bestowal of love to the church by Christ who was given love by the Father. This all, as Christ mediates it, is the go-between. This is a demonstration and the manifestation of the perfect unity of the body. God in the Son, the Son in the Church. It is the consummation of Christ's work. It is the consummation of His glory. That's how Paul describes it. Again, back to Ephesians in chapter 1, verse 10. He talks about that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, meaning when it's all said and done, when the consummation of this age comes to pass, it's God's desire that He might gather together in one all things in Christ, which are in heaven and which are on earth. in Him. Is that not the knowledge and the understanding of that and the grasping hold of that? Is that not incentive? Is that not motive? Is that not reason that God who has given through Christ such glory and such love, should we not give that back in service to God and worship to God? And for many, and you might be one, Your God is too small. That's how J.B. Phillips put it in his book written several decades ago. The title of the book says it all. Many Christians have such little views of God, little views of our Savior, little views of sin, little views of the great mercy that's been bestowed upon us. Is it any wonder, therefore, that one of the prayers that Paul offers up to the church at Ephesus, we find it there in Ephesians chapter 3? He says there, I pray, in verse 17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and the length and the depth and the height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Brothers and sisters, isn't it comforting to know that His love really is eternal? that it's unchanging and everlasting, that he's absolutely dependable, we'll let one another down. And other family members and friends will let you down. God will never let you down. He is dependable. He is trustworthy. That's why Peter exhorts his readers in 1 Peter 5-7 to cast all your care upon him. Why? Because he cares for you. That's why. That's a good reason, is it not? Never fear that if you're a true believer this morning that God would take His love away from you. That love is from everlasting to everlasting. Paul asks this question in Romans 8, verse 39, Who shall separate us from the love of God? You oftentimes come short, don't you? We all come short in our lives, failures, but do not fear. Christ will never leave us, never forsake us. Why, for God not to love you, He only could do that if He ceased to have love for Christ, and that could never be. We are upheld by God through Christ, even as Christ was upheld during times of great affliction and suffering. Was He not upheld by God the Father in the garden as He poured out His heart? as His great drops of sweat like blood came before Him, ministering angels came to Him, even at that hour. Was He not sustained even on the cross? Not experiencing that felt presence of God, He cried out, My God, why have you forsaken Me? And yet God upheld Him on the cross, that He might endure that wrath that was poured out upon Him. So too for you, whatever affliction, whatever difficulty that you go through, you have the very Spirit of Christ dwelling in you. That's how Paul describes Him in Romans 8. A distinct person, the Holy Spirit, and yet so identified with the work of Jesus Christ that He's called the Spirit of Christ, and he says about Him in Romans 8.26 that the Spirit helps us with our infirmities. But finally this morning, There are many in this world who rest in the truth in the Bible. God is love. That's true. That's a verse in the Bible. That's His very essence. But they wrongly claim that love of God if they don't have it mediated to them through Christ. Indeed, God loves the world. There is a general compassion and pity that God has for all mankind, even those who will never come to Him through Christ, who remain unrepentant, who remain going their own way. God really does desire that all will come to Him through Christ. But that is in no conflict to His electing love, that the elect really will come to Him. But woe to anyone who claims that covenantal and everlasting love for themselves without Christ. That electing everlasting love only is bestowed upon the church through Christ. It was bestowed upon Him. It's bestowed only on those and only those who come to God through Jesus Christ. And that by faith, that too a gift. We read this in Psalm 2 verse 12. Kiss the son or embrace the son, we read there, lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. God is patient right now. This is the day of salvation. This is the day of seek the Lord while he may be found. But the son has accomplished his work of redemption. The Son has opened up the way of access to the Father through that reconciliation accomplished through His life, suffering, death, and resurrection, and now His intercession. But there's coming a day when Christ will come again as a great judge and great power and authority. And now is the day to kiss the Son lest He be angry. And you perish in the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. But we read these final words of verse 12. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him, Christ Jesus. And may that be true of each one sitting here this morning. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, what a marvelous petition Jesus offers up here, that His glory, that marvelous glory bestowed upon Him by You for the accomplishment of His work, that Christ out of love out of that union that we have with Christ would bestow that upon the church. That love poured out upon him, now poured out through him upon the church. And indeed you are love, but it is that everlasting steadfast love that is only appropriated through Jesus Christ. All else who make that claim without Christ will be lost. What a confounding and a weeping and gnashing of teeth on that day who've rested in such a false idea of the nature of your love. That love came at a great cost. The sending of your son, his humbling, his condescension, his suffering, his death. But now he's raised. We serve a risen Savior. And he still says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. I'll give you rest. But he also said that he was the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to you except through him. May that indeed be true of all of us this morning. And we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.