We're going to be in this for a while, and I'm going to tell you why after a while. After a while, I'll tell you why. The Lord is praying this intercessory prayer. He said he's finished the work in verse 4, I have finished the work, and of course that He's speaking of here, the work he's dealing with is the preparing the disciples. He's prepared them to know about God, and this is mostly what the prayer that he prays is about. his preparation of their mind and understanding who and what and the word and who God is and how God set the Lord Jesus Christ and on and on and on. And so he's finished his work of preparing them to know God, to know what true faith is, to know what the Bible teaches about the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he's prepared them and that says what he's speaking about you see it all the time the verse we're gonna go into is verse six is I have Manifested thy name unto the man and so it's just he's he's prepared him He's prepared him for oh Who he's gonna let me say this also that I believe that he's praying this in the in the realm of a human being He set aside his deity and he's praying as the son of man. Why'd you say that? Well, you think about it a little bit. If he's just in his deity, certainly we'd be different of him talking to the father. When he's part of the father, they're all one. But here he's kind of representing him as the son of man. He's in his humanity. He's not been crucified yet or received that celestial body. And so he's still speaking as a man. He's praying as a man. And a lot of these statements and things he makes, you can see that. And so he's done his work. He's finished his work. Uh, he's not finished what he's got his mission yet, but he's finished his work on preparing these men. And so he figured he's done his job. And so now he's presenting them. Uh, he's saying to God, what God, the father, uh, what he's taught them and their response to it. And so that kind of basically makes up a lot of this prayer. It's a long prayer. It's the longest prayer in the new Testament. And it's a prayer that just helps us to understand what is so important in our lives, what we need to learn, what we need to grasp about our relationship with God and our service of Him, what prepares us. We need to be prepared. The Bible tells you in Matthew, prepare. to meet thy God. And so there's a preparation time. We're involved now. You're, you're preparing for your judgment before God. And that God warns us about that. We're going to be warned. We're going to be judged. And so you're preparing for that judgment, whether it's good or whether it's bad. And so Jesus is dealing with these things, and I'll go through them here. Try for a few minutes to just bring out these truths. If you and I can grasp the great lessons that the Lord is the teacher, and he's teaching his disciples. If you try to get the whole picture in your mind, What are these men gonna do? They're gonna represent the whole work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's gonna turn it all over to them and the Holy Ghost of God. He's the one that's gonna, these men are gonna be so important. on laying down the cornerstones and the foundation of the church in the minds and the hearts of the people. These are the ones that God's chosen. And you see it often in here that Jesus say, the ones you've given unto me, and we'll read and read that over and over again, Jesus will say that. that the father gave the disciples unto him. And so it's a, to fathom that responsibility laid upon these disciples to represent God in this world. And certainly he knew they were going to be able to do it of their own power. And so he tells them to tarry until they be endued with power from on high. But there's a lot of things they had to have clear in their mind and be prepared. We need the word of God in our mind, an order for the Holy Ghost of God to be able to speak to us. If we don't know in our mind what the Bible is saying, how can the Holy Spirit of God say you need to do this and this and this is right and this is wrong, unless he's got something in there to deal with? When he talks on a spiritual way and manner, you need something in there, the Word of God, that he can relate to, or you can relate to, and he can bring into the forefront of your mind. The Bible says this. The Word of God says this. Jesus is preparing these, but let's look at verse six. Notice right off the bat, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. I'm gonna just go slow on this and try to give an understanding. The Lord Jesus, has manifested, exalted, lifted up the name of God. He's given understanding to these disciples, a revelation of just the attributes or the character of God. How do you know what God's like? How do you identify with God? I mean, you gotta know who he is and what he's like. And so Jesus said, I've manifested his name, what it represents, and how that you'll be able to understand when God deals with your life and God works in your heart, you'll be understand the voice of God, the ways of God, the works of God, the attributes of God, the glory of God, the power of God. And so he said, I've manifested it, I've lifted it up. I've made it clear to you. I've revealed it. I've opened it up to your minds that you have no excuse for not knowing what God is like. We got a Bible. We don't have Jesus with us now. We got the Bible and the one that took Jesus' place, what he's doing to the disciples. Now the Holy Spirit of God is doing the same thing to us through the Word of God. Jesus represented the Word of God and the Holy Spirit of God represents the Trinity and represents the truth. Jesus said when he comes, he'll guide you into all truth. Just what Jesus did to the disciples, now the Holy Spirit of God does to you and me. Holy Spirit of God helps you to see the vastness, the glory, the wonder, the splendor, the power, the will, the holiness, the righteousness, all these things of God. You begin to know what God is like as you read, as the Word of God opens up your mind, Great is our God and greatly to be praised. I'm saying he's exalted, he's manifested, he's given us, the Holy Ghost has helped us now, like the disciples, to understand him, understand his will, understand his work in our life. He that worketh in you. He's working in your life to will and do His good pleasure. He deals with you. He's working in you. He's training you. He's awakening you. He's prepared you. God's prepared you to bring you home. You're not ready. God wants you to be prepared. And so He's doing a work in our lives. He's conforming us to His will. He's enlightened our mind so that we understand what God wills for us, what God desires of our life, how God wants us to live, how we're going to represent him. I can't build that in your mind as strong as I want to. that you're an ambassador, you're a representation. You got a name that says, I'm like Christ. Somebody asked you, are you a Christian? And you say, yes. You're saying to them, look at me, look at me. I'm like Christ. I pattern my life after him. I live like him. I talk like him. I think like him. Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. I think like him. I live like him. He would live if he's here. I'm like Christ. That's quite a testimony to have and to live. And you got to be prepared for it, certainly. We have to grow in grace. Grace is the influence of God on your life. It's God in you. It's God working in you. It's God awakening you. God's teaching you. God instructing you. He really wants us. He really wants us. He's so proud of his son. He's so pleased with his son. His son's such a perfect example that he says to you and me, I want you to be just like him. I want you to look like him, talk like him, think like him, live like him. I want to be able to put you out there. as one that can teach others what God is like. That world out there has no idea whatsoever. The world by wisdom knew not God. That world out there knows a name. That world out there doesn't even know what Jesus is like. They don't know the Holy Ghost of God. They have no idea. You talk about it, you say something to them. They might agree, they might nod their head, but they don't know. They don't understand. They got nothing to relate to. The Holy Ghost have got nothing inside of them to help them to see it. How does the Holy Ghost of God tell people what Jesus is like? Or what God is like? The only way he can deal with you is if the word of God is put in you, if there's seed in you. If you don't have no seed, how is he going to be able to speak to you and cause you to comprehend and understand the truth? That's why we need to feed the word of God to people. constantly bringing out the scriptures and giving them understanding, helping them to know what the Bible is saying so they can relate to it. The Bible says that the preacher, his responsibility is to feed, to feed the flock. And so it's to do just like Jesus did, stand and just teach them. Keep lifting up the name of the Lord Jesus, lifting up the name of the Heavenly Father, lift up the name of the Holy Ghost of God. Help them to understand who we're talking about and what his desire is for you, what his plan is for your life, what his will is, what he desires to work in you. He's the God that is, as the Bible says in Hebrews 11, and certainly he's everything the Bible says about him, and the half has not yet been told. We go through in eternities, millions of years, and never fully comprehend it all. We got some learning to do in heaven, that's for sure. Let me keep going. He said, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Now, let me just say this. You're going to see that a number of times. And the disciples are specially chosen men, chosen M-E-N. They're men. They are the ones that God has chosen to represent him, the Lord Jesus has. That doesn't mean for a moment, that doesn't mean for a moment that he's excluded or is not accepted others. It never teaches that. The Bible tells us that he calls prophets and pastors and evangelists and teachers. Bible tells you that in the book of Ephesians, he calls them, he calls them for leadership. He calls them for teaching ability, but that don't mean they're better. That don't mean that there's, uh, somebody that, that, uh, that just as Special in a way, they are have a special calling, but they're no better than the next man in reality and truth. God may give them, God gives them authority to lead. But I mean, he has to, he has to have the right to choose the men he would know that'll stick with the truth, that'll represent him right. They'll be an example for him. Being a pastor carries with it a great responsibility. You can't be just any old body and live any old way and have any old kind of home life. Everything about a preacher, just the Bible tells the qualifications what they have to be. And so these men that were chosen by God He says, you give them to me. You made the choice. And he says, notice he says, thou givest me out of the world. They're not of the world. They're not part of the world. They're not involved in the world. They're out of the world. He got them out of the world. He picked them out of the world and they belong to him. Thine they were and thou gavest them me. They belong to you. They've surrendered to you. They've given their life to you." He said, "'Thine they are, thine they were. Thou gavest them me, and they have," notice, "'kept thy word.'" Says, "'These men that you've given me,' he said, "'are men that hear the Word, and it affects them, it stays with them. They don't just bounce off. It's not crowded out. It stays with them. They're good ground. These men were good ground, if you want to use the parable of the sower. They were men that heard the Word of God, And it just, it wasn't something that was, you know, that you didn't pay no attention to, something that, you know, that wasn't any value to you. It was something you really wanted to hear. It's something you put value to. It's something that you desired to keep. Something you'd work at. to retain it, you'd memorize it, and you'd study it, and you'd love it. Oh, how, oh, the psalmist wrote, oh, how I love thy law. It is my meditation. It's my meditation, day and night. You read in where God told him about exodus, Put the Bible verses all over your walls, on your post, outside the house, everywhere your children or your family will look. Just plaster it with the word of God. Well, that wouldn't be very beautiful. Who would want something like that? God. There's nothing more beautiful than the words of God. Nothing more precious, nothing more valuable. I don't care what you have, there's nothing more valuable to you than the word of God. And it really does show how much you care about it, how much you love it, how much you value it by how much you read it, how much you meditate on it. how much you observe to do according to all that's written therein, you really apply it to your life. It's not just words on paper. It's a lifestyle to you. It's God speaking to you. It's you receiving the will of God, the message from God on how he wants you to live, what pleases him with your life. What is his will for you? And so you receive the engrafted word, which is able to save your soul. Continue to save. There's a saving progression that continues in your life. It's not that easy believism, just get in. No, it's a continual saving you from the old life and saving you from the old man. You know this is true. And you put on the new man and put off the old man and you constantly put on the new man and put on the new man. That's saving you all the time. It's doing that. It's transforming your life. I think call it growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said they've, they didn't just hear it and they don't just know about it. They live it. They love it. They cherish it. They read it. They've kept it. They've kept it sacred in their heart, memorized it, read it over again and again. I was trying to remember, I read a book, and some of the men in the prison were Christians. They were able to put most of a New Testament together from what different ones in that jail had memorized. And so some knew some parts and some knew other verses, and they could almost piece together a lot of the New Testament. Most communist nations, when they go to their extremes, try to burn every Bible they can find. They did it in the Soviet Union. They did it, they doing it constantly in China, in North Korea. It's death to you if they found you with a Bible. And what do we do with it? Do you keep the Bible? Do you keep it in a, do you keep it close? You keep it in your heart. You retain it. You do your best to try to, I think, keep us to retain. Isn't that what it means? Thy word have I hid. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Father, I told them. And they received it. But they not only received it, they kept it. They'll tell you what it says. It's part of their life. It's a reality. It's a living word, as you read Hebrews 4, that speaks to your heart, that awakens your life. It's something that's alive. Something that's real, something that's fresh. It isn't something that's old and ancient and just out of time. No, it's fresh. As if it was just written to you. He says, they keep my word. They kept thy word. Now, verse seven, they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. All things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee." Everything that you've given me in this life, they realize it was you. They realize you is the one that sent it. You're the one that give it to us. You're the one that watched over us. You're the one that give us the power. Everything thou givest me are of thee. He's the one that's given the strength, overcoming power. I realize it all comes from you. I realize your blessings, your safety, goodness of God. How's that? The goodness of God in the land of the living. Failed to believe lest I see the goodness of a God to me. Every day that you open your eyes, you ought to say thanks. Your first statement to God ought to be thanks. You wake up and your heart ought to be filled with gratitude. I think sometimes I'll pray along this line. I'll say, Lord, it was a quiet night. Thank you. Nobody in the church, no emergencies. No deaths. No house burning. Nothing wrong with any children. It's just peace and quietness. Phone didn't ring. We're all safe. Our country's safe. Could have been invaded. Thanks. ought to be the first words. It comes out of your mouth that he does it all. He's watching over us. What does the Bible say? Our Heavenly Father, as long as that song goes, watches over thee. He cares for us. He protects us. And when you recognize that, we live and move, Being how? In Him. It's all because of Him. It's not because you take the right vitamins. It's not because you're just safety conscious. It's not because that. You're alive today because God give you grace and health and life. He watched over you. certainly a message of to where we ought to have it known whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. An aim at thanking God all the time, giving him thanks for his goodness. A close of this, I pray for them. No, for I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me. and they have received them, and have known, they understand them, known surely, and this, I tried to, I looked at a couple of different views of this, but you look at it carefully. He said, and they have received them, and have known surely, that I came out from thee." Now, what is Jesus, the Son of Man, what does he call God? I believe he's also got the name the Son of Man and the Son of God. And I believe with all my heart, I've read different ones, they vary different things on this, that I came out from thee. You know what your Bible says, Calvin? I came out from thee. I came out from you. I come out from you, God. I came from you. He's the heavenly, he's his heavenly father. In the physical realm that he's living in at this time, and he's lived in that realm until after he was crucified, he cast aside, he laid aside his deity so he could live a life, an example, the same way we could. And he's saying that, I'm willing to be corrected. As I said, I've read other men, but I believe with all my heart that what he's saying here, that I came out from thee And they have believed that thou didst send me. I came from you. And he says, they believed it. They believed that thou hast sent me. Certainly he did. Uh, God sent his son. Um, I believe that's what the Bible says that God sent his only son, only begotten son. came from the father. And certainly, certainly the seed that Mary received was of the father. And so he's speaking here. He's not speaking here of his deity. How do you know? Back up in verse number 5, he says, I had with thee before the beginning the world was. And so he's understated his human side here, that he sent him, he gave him, notice it says, that I came out from thee and they have believed. They believed that, that God did send me. Now, let me say just one statement here, one or two. Why did the Jews reject Christ? They didn't believe this. They didn't believe Jesus was the Son of God. Am I not right? They didn't believe he was the Matthias. Am I right? Isn't that why they rejected him? They didn't believe that. He says they believe it. That world out there, the Jews don't believe it. They still don't believe it. They still don't believe he's the Messiah, that he's the son of God. And he says, Father, you made a good choice. You picked some men that believe what I said, that I came from thee. I'm telling you, the Bible answers the questions. I had a lot more I won't reach you this morning. But it certainly, he did come. He came from the Father. Amen, amen, amen. And he lives today with the Father. Amen, let's stand. Sing them over to me again. Wonderful words of life. Words of life and beauty. And that's the words about the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything about him is wonderful, glorious, marvelous, and something we can bask upon, feed upon, enjoy. Thank God for loving us so much that he sent his only begotten son. Amen, amen, amen. That's the truth that this is bearing through. Father, in Jesus' name, help us to understand better, more, clearer, I pray in Jesus' name. Help us to receive the word and be like the disciples. I've failed on the disciples different times, thinking they just were kind of a rough crew that didn't know anything. And this prayer is sure changing my mind. You didn't pick a bad crew. You didn't pick men that weren't valuable. You pick some men you can be proud of, thankful for, and they didn't fail you. They went on to die for you. Forgive me for any thought that I'd have that they were just a few men that really didn't understand. My, they must have understood a lot. They've kept it. They understood it and believed it with all their heart. and went on to die for it. May the study of your word increase our faith to where it can be said of us that we believe the Bible, we live by the Bible, and we died by the word of God, we believe it was true. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. You're going to lose the license. You're going to lose the license. You're going to lose the license. You're going to lose the license. Are you guys coming to service this evening?