All right, everybody, this is for our Sunday evening message for March the 22nd, 2020. Appreciate you all watching these videos. You know, it's all I can do to not get in the flesh and pull my hair out. I'm putting these things together, trying to get them uploaded. At the same time, I'm trying to record the messages for our website so that we have those to put up on Sermon Audio. So in all seriousness, keep me in your prayers as I seek to do these things. Because I really just want to serve the church well. I hope to serve you all well and continue to minister to you as your shepherd. As I'm supposed to do, take heed to the flock, take heed to myself, and take heed to the flock over which the Lord has made myself and Brother David an overseer. And we know that we are to shepherd the flock of God which is among us. So keep us in your prayers. And John 17 is where we're going to be tonight. Again, I'll ask you all to pray together as a family and sing as you would like to prior to the message. But make sure you have your Bibles with you. And we'll get started here in just a second. If you want to pause, you can do that at this time. And then we'll get started in John 17, really finishing the message from this morning, part two of the greatest concern in the greatest hour, the greatest concern in the greatest hour from John 17, 1 through 5. All right, so. I want to remind you of the last verse of chapter 16 because of these times in which we live right now, but it says in verse 16, verse 33, these things I've spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. Church, we need to remember that as much today as ever. The world tribulates. We are going to have tribulation from the world. It may be through sickness. It may be through persecution, but there's tribulation in the world. But we can be of good cheer. Jesus Christ has overcome the world, and we, through faith in Him, according to 1 John 5, overcome as well. Our faith is our victory. Our faith in Christ is our victory. John 17, I showed you this morning, tried to from this text, and I know I'm missing a lot. This is a very deep passage of Scripture. But I tried to give you an introduction this morning and then begin to work through the first couple of verses. I showed you the glory for the Son, glory for the Son and the Father. And then in verse 2, I tried to show you glory and eternal life and how those two are linked together. And according to what Jesus says here, I tried to then give you some application. reminding you of our privilege of prayer, that just as Jesus is praying here as a high priestly prayer, that we have the privilege of coming to the Father through the Son and praying now. The last point of application was I asked you, what is your greatest concern in this pandemic? Because Jesus, at this most crucial hour, most difficult hour of His life, when He would face the cross, go to the cross, and suffer and die in our place, our sin upon Himself, His greatest concern was for the Father to be glorified, which is why He asked that the Father would glorify Him, that He also may glorify the Father. So important there. As we go to verse 3, I want us to look at two things. Number one, eternal life, and then number two, ultimate glory. So the first thing we're going to look at here is eternal life. Verse 3 of chapter 17 is a wonderful definition for eternal life. This is good for all the kids to learn, maybe the adults as well. If you're not familiar with this verse, we need to get familiar with it today. Because here Jesus tells us exactly what eternal life is. See verse 3. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Jesus lays it out real clear. Eternal life equals knowing the one true God and Jesus Christ, whom that God has sent. All right? Now, why is that eternal life? Well, we can say at least it is eternal life because of this. Both the Father and the Son have life in themselves. If you'll look over at John 5, verses 26 and 27, John 5, 26 and 27 for as the father has life in himself. So he has granted the son to have life in himself and has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the son of man. The father having life. It all comes from Him. All the life that exists is because of God. Even the first man had breathed in Him the breath of life. As it is with all of us, in Him we live and breathe and have our being. So this is a life that goes beyond that. This is an eternal life. John 1, 4, speaking of Jesus, says, So from the moment of the new birth, when a person has come to believe in Christ and be saved, they enter into eternal life. If you look at John 3, 4, 14-16, John 3, 14-16. We'll have you look at some passages of scripture in this study. Check this out. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have, present tense, have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have, present tense, everlasting life. Alright, let's turn over to John chapter 5 now, verse 24. John 5, 24. There, Jesus says, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death to life." So Jesus doesn't say that you will have everlasting life, but he says that he has everlasting life. What are the requirements? Please, if you're an unconverted person listening to this message tonight, that means if you've not believed, if you've not been born again through faith in Jesus Christ, Look at what he says in verse 24. That is the prerequisite, the conditions upon salvation that Jesus gives in this verse. And it is that which I would say to you. Do you hear the words of Jesus? Because He is speaking not His words, but He is speaking what the Father has told Him to speak. He is speaking what your Creator, the One who puts the breath in your body, has told Him to say, so that through believing those words, you may be saved from your sins. Again, it's a gift, guys. It is a gift. Someone else paid the debt for us. Someone else paid for the gift. It's God who sent His Son and Jesus dying in our place that paid that price. Alright? So we look at eternal life. Eternal means it's not temporary. It is not perishable. It is non-perishable. Well, we would like to have some non-perishable food in our homes nowadays. We'd love to have a big stockpile of it, I'm sure. Non-perishable food. Food that's not going to go bad. You know, in our life, everything goes bad. The shirt that I'm wearing is going to wear out. The shoes that are on my feet are going to wear out. The body, this tent of my body right now is going to wear out. But Jesus is talking about here us having a life that's beyond this physical life, but He's talking about us having a non-perishable life. Who cares if you have non-perishable food or not? The question is, do you have a non-perishable life? because Jesus said that He is the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Him will live even if he dies and everyone who lives and believes in Him will never die. So in Christ we are sealed by the Spirit of God and we have the promise of heaven one day that awaits us. Now, so it's eternal, it's non-perishable, but it's also life, not death. not perishing, with no hope, but we have hope through Christ. It may be termed this way in Scripture. Life here means joy and pleasure. Psalm 16, verse 11, you will show me the path of life. In your presence is the fullness of joy, and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Abundance and light is a part of this life. Psalm 36 9 for with you is the fountain of life in in your light we see light so Knowing God through Christ means that we have eternal life All right, so looking back at John 17, Jesus defines in verse three eternal life. It is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. The two cannot be separated. You have to take both of them. Jesus came to make the father known. If you look over at John 17, verses seven through eight. We see this with the disciples that Jesus would have been saying these words in front of. John 17, 7-8, Now they have known that all things which you have given me are from you. For I have given to them the words which you have given me. And they have received them and have known surely that I came forth from you. And they have believed that you sent me. That's what John has been pointing to so often here. That the Son is here to tell the world that God, their Creator, has sent Him to save them from their sins. John the Baptist said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Let's go to the next point. Ultimate glory. Ultimate glory. We've seen eternal life in verse 3. Now let's look at ultimate glory in verses 4 and 5. Follow along with me, let's read it and then look at it together. Jesus says to the Father, I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you've given me to do. Verse five. And now, oh Father, glorify me together with yourself. With the glory which I had with you before the world was. Ultimate glory is what I want to talk to you about from this passage. See, ultimate glory is only found in God. This glory is what Christ had known from eternity past, according to verse 5. But He left that glory to bring glory to the Father, to bring more glory, or to bring glory from a different place. God has always been glorious, and God has always been glorified among those who knew Him. And whether it's the innumerable number of angels that's in heaven, or now man, whom God has extended His glory to, because the glory of the Lord will fill the whole earth, So man now, who was once his enemy, now gives him praise, and it's all to the praise of his glory as we've been redeemed from our sins. Jesus did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but he made himself of no reputation. Taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross. Why? As we read earlier this morning, that he would receive a name that's above every name, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Alright? So, ultimate glory is found in God and in God alone. Jesus states that here. I want you to see what I'm talking about. In verse 5, He says, And now, O Father, glorify me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. That is where ultimate glory is found. It is found in God. Now, the question I want to ask to try to help us see what this passage really means and what it's talking about is, here's the question. What do you want most? What do you want most? Heaven or God? Or I'll ask it this way. Would you be just fine going to heaven whether God is there or not? That's a tough question. Let me ask you this way, though, what do you want most, heaven or Jesus? Would you be just fine going to heaven whether Jesus is there or not? Again, it's a tough question because quite frankly, we are very worldly and we love the world. And it's something we need to repent of. And I hope the coronavirus helps us to do that as Christians, because the church needs to repent of her sins. The church needs to repent of her adultery with the gods of this world. We need to turn back to the Lord. See, the psalmist would not be satisfied with only heaven without God, because reality is. Without God, there is no heaven, without God, there is no eternity. Psalm 63, one through three. Oh God, you are my God. Early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and glory because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise you. Psalm 73, 25 and 26. Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon the earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. In Matthew 10, verse 37, Jesus said, whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. So I'm asking you the question, asking us the question, if you could go to heaven, And it doesn't matter if Jesus is there or not, would you be just fine with it? If you could go to heaven and God isn't there, either he's there or not, it doesn't matter to you. Does that seem right? And as we see from scripture, our desire, our heart's desire ought to be for God and for Christ, not for simply that which he can offer us. We want the gift, but so often we don't want the giver. We want to forget him. Jonathan Edwards once said in a sermon that I'll quote, The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints. He is the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food and their life. their dwelling place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honor and glory. They have none in heaven but God. He is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. The Lord God, He is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem. and the water of life that runs to the tree of life that grows in the midst of the paradise of God." Edwards went on to say, will be what will forever entertain the minds of the saints. And the love of God will be the everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things. They will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another. But that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield them delight and happiness will be what will be seen of God in them. Ultimate glory is found in God and in God alone. As Christ came to bring God the Father glory, we see in Him God. Because in John 1.14 it says that we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. John 1.14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And then in John chapter 14, when The disciples asked Jesus to just show show us the father and it will be enough. Jesus said to them, if you have seen me, you've seen the father. So in Christ, we find God in the flesh, clothed in human flesh, veiled in human flesh. And when Jesus went up on the Mount of Transfiguration, it was there that that glory shone. And the disciples who were there with him saw him in his glory. Christ is God in the flesh. He is the image of the Godhead bodily. And through Christ's coming, through Christ coming and dying for sinners, that opened up the world, if you will, to glorify God truly. Because now we get to experience salvation, something that angels long to look into, as we see it in 1 Peter 1. It wasn't enough just for the innumerable number of angels to see God in his glory. God would have it that man would see his glory and that he would be glorified through his enemies who were made his children, adopted into his family. I can't speak enough on that. I wish I could articulate it better. Ephesians 1 does well because all the plan of redemption, all that Jesus does, in saving us is to the praise of the glory of God. It is to the praise of the glory of his grace. In verse six is to the praise of the glory of his grace. In verse 12. It is to the praise of his glory in verse 14 is to the praise of his glory. I want to go a couple of points of application. Number one is this. You might ask, can I live for the glory of God? Can I live for the glory of God? Or how can I live for the glory of God? That's a great question. That's a great question, because that's probably the most important question that you could ask as we look at this text. Because the chief in a man, as you've heard the Westminster Shorter Catechism say, the chief in a man is what? It is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. So you might say, how can I do that? How can I live for the glory of God? I'll try to answer it from this passage. If you look at verse 4, Jesus said, I have glorified you on earth. What comes after that? I have finished the work which you've given me to do. I can tell you, Christian, that you will glorify God if you finish the work which He's given you to do. Then you might say, well, what is the work that He's given me to do? In Ephesians 2, verse 10, we know that the Scripture tells us here that we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for what? for good works. And when were those good works planned? Ephesians 2 verse 10 tells us, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. You see, God apparently has good works prepared beforehand that we as believers are to walk in. So how can you glorify God? You can glorify God by doing the good works which the Father has prepared for you to do. You might say, how can I do that? Here's what you do. You get into scripture, and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you work in His church, and you do what He's called you to do through scripture, knowing that we all have a part in the propagation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That the elect of God throughout the world may obtain salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." See, there's a lot of people in New Lock Baptist Church who are finishing the work that Jesus or that God has called them to do. You're doing the work that He's called you to do because you're faithfully serving for the cause of Christ, and many of you are doing it right here in the local church. And it's through the church that the manifold wisdom of God is being made known. Now, I want you to look at a few other passages. Jesus here in John 17 says that he's finished the work that God has called him to do. He can speak in the past tense as though it's already completed. Because on the next day, he would be hanging on the cross and then he would cry out, it is finished. The work that the Father had given him to do would be completed. Now, I want to show you some examples in scripture, mainly from the Apostle Paul about this, how this was his goal in Acts chapter 20, verse 24. If you'll look at that with me, Acts 20, 24, here's what he says. Speaking to the Ephesian elders in Miletus, he says, But none of these things move me, verse 23, except the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy in the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus. to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. So Jesus, or rather Paul, wanted to finish his race with joy and the ministry which he had received from the Lord, and it was to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Next, if you would flip over to 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9. See, the thing about it is every one of you, if you're in Christ, the Lord has good works for you to do. None of us should sit back and say, well, I just don't have anything to do. He has good works for us to do. He has a ministry for us to take part in. Ephesians 4.12 even says that elders The pastors, teachers, and those who are gifted in teaching in the church are to do so to equip the saints for what? For the work of ministry. So everybody in the pew here at New Life has work of ministry that you should be involved in. So, 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24. Do you not know that those who run in the race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now, they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but you for an imperishable crown. Therefore, Paul says, I run thus, not with uncertainty, thus I fight, not as one who beats the air, But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. Paul disciplined his body so that he could finish the race well. Second, rather Philippians chapter three, Philippians chapter three, and then we'll look at second Timothy. Philippians 3. Notice what Paul says in these verses. It is his greatest desire in verse 10 of chapter 3 that he would know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death if by any means he may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Verse 12. He says, not that I've already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which I have also been laid hold of in Christ Jesus. Verse 13. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Paul was running the race, he was pressing forward, forgetting what's behind. He was moving forward in the work of the Lord. 2 Timothy chapter 4 summarizes all of this for us. 2 Timothy chapter 4. Here at the end of Paul's life, this is what he says in verse 6. 2 Timothy 4 verse 6, For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved His appearing. So, we as a church, as Christians, can finish the work that Jesus has given us to do. That work will always have to do with glorifying the Son, that the Son might glorify the Father. So, if whatever your work is, whatever you're claiming that your work is for the Lord isn't glorifying Him, if it isn't making Him known, if it isn't magnifying Him, then I promise you it is not the work of the Lord. But what Jesus is calling us to do will draw others to Him and will appoint others to Him and will make Him look great. That's what Paul desired. Let that be the desire of every one of our lives by the grace of God. I hope that makes sense to everybody. We all have work to do. In Colossians, the young pastor of the church in Colossae there at the end of the book was told to take heed to the ministry which he had received from the Lord to fulfill it. Every one of us in the church have ministry that we need to be engaging in. Every one of us. Last thing I'll say this as application is that living for the glory of God will never cost us as much as it cost Jesus. because He left glory to put on the veil of human flesh, and suffered the wrath of God, having taken on His soul our stain of sin. He bore it gladly, because the joy that was set before Him, enduring the cross and despising the shame, now being set down at the right hand of God, But us, we live a life ruled by the devil, bound in sin, destined for death, one that knows only passing pleasures of sin, and we are then born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance. which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, that's reserved in heaven for us, who we are then kept by the power of God, through faith, for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. So, though living for the glory of God may seem to cost us some things, maybe money, reputation, favor, earthly pleasures, ease, sleep, comfort, convenience, or even perhaps our lives, That pales compared to what the Son of God gave up. The Son of God gave up glory with the Father. Why did he do that? That the Father might be glorified through the saving of the elect of God who were then made his treasure, made his trophies of grace. and all that, that we might bring praise to Him, that we might praise the glory of His grace. And we can say to that, praise be the name of Jesus Christ. That's all I have for this evening. I want to finish by asking you, do you need to be saved today? Do you see how God loves you and how He gave His Son for your sins? Christ left glory. The plea to all of us is to repent of our sins, to do so now, and to believe in the glorious Son of the glorious God. And if you do that because of his great love for us, we then are able to partake of that glory ourselves as we are one with the father and with the son. I love you, church. Continue to pray for our country and our world, those who are suffering, and let's be the church. Look for opportunities to share the good news and remember that as we go, and I like what someone said the other day, we are practicing social distancing But we don't need to practice social disengagement. You can witness to someone and be six feet away from them. Share the good news of Jesus as the Lord opens opportunities for you to do so. I love you. I hope we can gather back together real soon. You're sent.