Brother Tom has served the church well and the publications that he has written over the years and teaching and seminaries. We are so thankful for him being with us here this morning and at this time we're going to ask him to come and to bring us the word from John 17. Good morning. Thank you for being here today. It's a an intimidating experience to be asked to speak on the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ before he was taken away to be crucified for the people for whom he was praying. These are powerful words and holy words. They're words that should not be taken lightly. They should not be dealt with in any kind of superficial and flippant way. And the depths of them not only in the words themselves and in the existential moment, but the reflection they give of what was happening within the triune God from before the foundation of the world is quite staggering to mere insects of a day as we are. So let's look at the words that the Lord has prayed for us. We're going to look at only verses 1-10. And you will recognize, of course, that the entire chapter continues these themes and is a chapter that indeed engages us in such a way to invite us into the eternal counsels of God. John chapter 17, verses 1 through 10. 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." Excuse me. This is eternal life. that they may 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 own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them, and have come to know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I'm not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them." Let's pray. Father, it is with deep humility and a sense of our personal inadequacy that we come to you as we consider the way our Lord Jesus Christ prayed in the short time before he accomplished his mission of dying for the people you had given him. And so while the Lord Jesus Christ came on the basis of his own unbroken relationship with you and on the basis of an absolute fulfillment of all that you had given Him to do and was in the process of accomplishing salvation for all of those that you had given Him. We do not come to you in our own name or with any confidence that we have completed the work you have given us to do with any idea that we have glorified you because we have fallen short of the glory of God, but we come to you only because Christ has interceded for us. We come to you because He has shed His blood for us. We come to you because He is interceding for us, even as He interceded in these moments. We ask you to open our minds and our hearts to see the power and the profundity of these things that our Lord has said, to catch a glimpse into the eternal concern you had for a people, for your own glory and for the glory of your Son, that we might become determined to glorify you in this life, to know as much as we can of your word of revelation, to be as closely conformed as we can to the holiness and goodness and righteousness of your Son who took our place under your wrath that we might receive forgiveness in eternal life. So be with us now, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen. I think it would be an oversight on our part not to realize that as the Lord Jesus Christ is praying, we have before us the kind of perfect approach that a person in our nature should have as he comes before God. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ is a complex person. He is God and man in one person. He is not two persons. He is not a tertium quid, a nature in which there's been a blending of humanity and deity without maintaining the integrity of each. But He is that single person that has both full human nature and full divine nature in one person. And as he comes, it's impossible for him to isolate absolutely the knowledge that one person has and the purpose that, the knowledge that this one person has in his two natures, the knowledge that he has in his divine nature, the knowledge that he has in his human nature, and yet there's some things that are explicable only in terms of one nature or the other. We see this very well when the Lord Jesus Christ forgives sins. And people say, who can forgive sins but God alone? And Jesus said that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. I say to you, take up your bed and walk. He had the power to heal. a person who had been lame. And therefore, if he had the power to heal and do something before their very eyes, it is clearly only divine power, that only divine power can accomplish. Then this is clear evidence that he had the power to speak the words, your sins are forgiven you, and that would be true also. On the other hand, He does things that are clearly only spoken in terms of His human nature. When He talks about only the Father, knowing that time that has been set when He will return, it is certain that in His divine nature, because that is a part of the eternal covenant, that that is not hidden from His divinity, but He is speaking in terms of the particular job He has as the Messiah in His humanity to live in accordance with the power of the Spirit and the will of the Father to be submissive to that, to speak revelation only in terms of those things that the Father has told him, even as he says in this text he's told them all the things the Father has told them. And so there sometimes he isolates himself simply to his human nature. And so there are specific statements that Jesus makes that are explained hermeneutically in terms of who Christ was and realizing He was both divine and human. Here in this passage, we see a blending. We see His claiming a glory with the Father before the foundation of the world. We also see His claiming a complete obedience to the will of the Father. And as we look at this prayer, we see Him as the perfect human coming to the Father, praying in accordance with the will of the Father, in accordance with the character of the Father, there are many things that we can learn about prayer. And so, first of all, I want us to look at how should we pray in light of covenant reality. Certain things we notice about how Christ prayed. We see, first of all, that prayer should always arise from the promises of God. The promises of God are rich and abundant. They are scattered throughout the Scripture. In fact, there is one way in which we can see that the entire Scripture itself is one single promise, a single promise that is given that God will glorify Himself and demonstrate His majesty and His power in the salvation of a people. And then all the promises that come And throughout the scripture are a summary of or subserve that particular reality that there is a people given to the Son that will be redeemed and this will manifest the glory of the triune God. That is the promise that is given. That is what will happen in all things. That is the very purpose for which God has created the world. And so when we pray, we must always pray in light of this specific covenant reality. And this is the way Christ is praying in this particular a prayer. He is recognizing that there is a covenant that has been given him. He's recognizing there's a task that has been given him. He is recognizing that he's coming to the end of that and that the Father has a purpose in that. And so everything that arises in this, even particularly he says, I do not pray for the world, but I pray for those that you have given me out of the world. He is so specific in his knowledge and his understanding and in the discipline of his prayer that we see that it all arises out of this deep consciousness of God's purpose in the world expressed in covenant. We can learn from this the more we learn of Scripture, the more we learn of God's covenantal purposes, the more pure and educated our prayers will be. The more we can have confidence that these prayers will indeed be answered. This is what John says in 1 John 5, 14 and 15. He says, we know that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And we know that if He hears us, we have the petitions that we desire of Him. We do not have exhaustive knowledge like the Lord Jesus Christ did, but we do have not only the example of Christ and Christ as an interceder for us, but we have the Holy Spirit who knows what the will of the Father is, who prays for us as we pray. He prays, we might say, in groanings too deep for words, but He always knows what the will of the Father is and the Father knows what His will is. And so we see in that covenantal relationship, the triune covenant, how the Spirit participates in that in our own prayer life. And so we have the example of Christ. We have the promise of 1 John 5. We have the help of the Holy Spirit. And this lets us know that we pray always in accordance with covenantal reality. The more you can understand of the covenants, the more you can understand of the revealed will of God and pray for others and pray for yourself in light of that, then the deeper satisfaction and the deeper confidence you will have in your prayer life. And it will be a greater impetus to your own sanctification and your own heavenly mindedness. Another thing that we can learn about prayer in light of covenant reality is prayer should always magnify the character of God. Jesus talks about the Father. Jesus talks about the promise of the Father. Jesus talks about the will of the Father. He talks about the glory of the Father. He calls him, O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you. And so an understanding of the glory of the Father, the righteousness of the Father, the perfection of the will of the Father, the fact that what He has decreed is that which is best and that which is most righteous and is that which is to His glory. And therefore, by very definition, that which is absolutely right, the more we know about that, the more we know about His character, the more we will desire to glorify Him, the more we will desire to be submissive to Him, and our prayers will be filled with both confidence in our requests of things that are revealed, but also they will be filled with a sense of humility and privilege as we recognize the character and the eternal purpose of the one to whom we are praying. So as we look at Jesus' prayer, we recognize that always magnifying the character of God is that which is appropriate in prayer. And we see the many prayers of the Old Testament and prayers of the New Testament that spend time talking about the omnipotence of God and the power of God and how God has accomplished all things. Peter prays that he says that Herod and Pontius Pilate came together in these days to accomplish what your will had determined beforehand that should be done. And even in the midst of the evil of this world, and it seems that the powers of this world have the upper hand, there is this deep confidence that comes in a person who knows the character of God. and that God will not fail to glorify Himself, and that God will always honor His covenant. Even in these times, we're confident that this is something that God will work together for good, not only to those who are called according to His purpose, according to His covenantal relationships, but it will work for good to His own glory in the end. So, a prayer should be made with a sense that we are magnifying the character of God in the way we pray and the things for which we pray. This would be something of how Jesus summarized our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, holy be your name. May we ever hold it in reverence. May we ever realize that it is a righteous name, that it is an immutably perfect and holy name and that your purpose is that that we should seek in our prayers. A third thing that we see, this prayer in light of covenant reality. Prayer should always recognize our stewardship. Jesus, as he prays, said, I have glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. He says that he taught his disciples and they had received what he said, the words you gave me I told them. There was a purpose that he had and he prays in light of his stewardship, knowing those things for which he had come. He does not go beyond what the Father sent him to do. He does not do less than the Father sent him to do. He lived his life with a perfect respect and love for God. There was never a moment in any of the trials that he had that he did not love God with all of his heart, mind, soul, and strength. Everything into which he was brought, he knew that it was a part of the stewardship of his life. He knew that even the greatest difficulties that he had were that which he must endure in light of the eternal covenant because without difficulties and maintaining obedience to God and love for God and being perfected in the midst of those difficulties he could never achieve a righteousness by which his people would be declared righteous. the writer of Hebrews says, during the days of Jesus' life upon earth He offered up prayers with loud cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death. And He was heard because of His reverent submission. Even in His loud cries and tears there was underneath all of it a reverent submission. And being made perfect And he was heard because of his reverent submission. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all of those who obey him. So it was in the midst of those things that brought about the loud cries and tears that He manifest His humble submission. It was in the midst of those things that were necessary in the covenantal arrangement in eternity that in our nature He would achieve a perfect righteousness. And this perfect righteousness must be accomplished in a fallen world. must show that one who is in our nature can endure the conflict of sinful man, can endure the temptations of the demonic one, and that they can be put upon him to such a degree that he never broke his He was immutable, but this meant that He was immutable in His holiness because of His divine nature, but this meant that He must endure every onslaught, every while of Satan, every manifestation of power of Satan, every deceit of Satan, everything that could Satan through. throw His way and He never broke, He never yielded to the temptation. And at the end of all of that, all of that was necessary according to the decree that this humanity would be a perfect and righteous humanity. Christ came out of that being declared righteous, being made perfect. He became the source of eternal salvation to those who obey Him. And so this prayer is something that recognizes our stewardship. Paul prayed something of this when he said in Philippians, in this I pray that your life may abound more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent. in order to be found sincere and blameless until the day of Christ, giving thanks and living in gratitude to the glory and praise of God. And so he fills his prayer with things that are a part of the stewardship that we have, even as Christ did in this, in John 17. A fourth point that we need to see about this prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. Prayer should be permeated with a sense of the grace of God. Even Christ recognizes that this prayer is something that is a manifestation of an eternal purpose that God had to give grace to sinners. It is something that He came to accomplish. It is something that the Father would now take and He would keep them. He says, For example, in verse 11, I'm no longer in the world, but they are in the world. I'm coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name. We just sang about that. He will hold me fast. Keep them in your name, which you have given me. may be one even as we are one." He says in verse 20, I do not ask for these only but also for those who will believe in me through their word that they may all be one just as you Father are in me and I in you that they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. He knew that this was matchless grace, it was great grace that had been given to sinners. And He is praying, He is praising His Father for this. And He is setting forth before the Father the reality of the promises that are made in the covenant that they will be kept, that they will not fall, that they will receive all of the things that have been promised them in the covenant as Christ as the representative of this humanity. And so he's praying in light of the sense of grace that is given. Again, we see a wonderful example of this as the Apostle Paul prays in the book of Ephesians in the third chapter when he is setting forth this massive reality of the purpose of God in the world, beginning with verse 14. of chapter 3, Paul says, For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. that all paternity, every concept of fatherhood comes from God who is the Father. Every model, every absolute related to fatherhood is something that comes from God as Father. Every intrinsic kind of impulse that we have that is good about fatherhood comes because we are created by the triune God, and particularly in relationship to how the Father is within us. Trinity. And so He bows His knee before the Father from whom every family or all paternity in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. This is a recognition of the infinite excellence of the grace that has been given us in Christ. And Paul is praying for these saints at Ephesus in light of that, and he's giving us an example of how we can emulate the prayer of Christ Himself as He prays in light of His perfect knowledge of the grace of God that is involved in the covenant. And Paul is inviting us into this as he prays that we may know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fullness of God, that God's own gift of grace to us may become so real to us that we are overwhelmed by it, that it is something that dominates our lives, it's something that informs all of our relationships, it informs our understanding of how we are to live in this world, and we are to live with the expectation, what is called the blessed hope. We live in hope, that blessed hope that one day this love that we, in a propositional way, we speak so much of, and that in moments we feel and are filled up with it, But there will come a time when that love that surpasses knowledge, we will know it. It surpasses any cognition. It will be something that so envelops our entire lives and all of our affections and all of our perceptions that all sin, everything that is unworthy will be completely washed away. It will be done away with. And so we pray in light of a sense of the grace of God and that ultimate grace of God that is given us in the blessed hope of living in His eternity forever. So here we have the Lord Jesus Christ coming and praying, the one who was, as Spurgeon calls him, one of this high party within the covenant relationship. and yet praying in light of his own submission to this covenant. So we see something of prayer in the light of covenant reality. Now also we see in this passage, we see the elements of covenant reality. What are some of the elements of covenant reality that the Lord Jesus Christ mentions during this time? Well, one thing we see is there is a people that is given to the Son. This is a people that is given to the Son in eternity past. This is one of those things that is like the love of God that surpasses knowledge, to know the love of God that surpasses knowledge. To be given the propositions that are revealed to us in Scripture about this eternal covenant and to know that we were in the mind of God before the foundation of the world is something that absolutely staggers us. We cannot imagine that there's something intrinsic to the eternity of God that has to do with finite beings, that has to do with temporal beings, and yet that is the way it is in eternity. This is not something that popped into the affections of God or the mind of God at some point subsequent to His eternal existence. This is something that is in Him. It is something that is a part of His very eternal nature, that He has conceptions. Ah, for His own glory, that out of His glory and out of His knowledge of Himself, there is this constant welling up of a reality that is always formed into a purpose to have created beings that He will bless with infinite grace. There is a people that is given to the Son in eternity. Notice Jesus says, since you have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him. And throughout the prayer He talks about those that you have given Him. He talks about this in John 6. He talks about it in John 10. And He has given Him authority over all flesh. This means that He does not have just authority over those that the Father has given Him, but He has authority over all flesh, indeed over all created things. And He controls all flesh and He controls all created things for the purpose of giving eternal life to those that the Father has given Him. It's not that there is an isolated sovereignty here, that the world is just sort of going its own way, doing what it does and accidentally imposing itself upon the elect here and there. But Jesus is saying this pervasive idea that the entire world is under the control, is within the concept of this covenant, and specifically He's relating it to Himself. You have given Him, that is, Jesus, you have given Him, your Son, authority over all flesh, everything. For the purpose, what is the purpose? That He may give eternal life to all that you have given Him. And so Christ is indeed working all things after the counsel of His own will for the sake of glorifying Himself in the redemption of His elect. All of those persons that the Father has given to the Son, He is working everything within the created order. He is controlling all flesh. for that purpose. As Habakkuk stands before God and is disturbed about all of the evil that is in Israel and wondering why God does not act and do something about the injustice and the oppression that is in Israel, God says, well, okay, I'll let you in on what's happening. You know the Babylonians, these people who are pagans and whose, their God is their own strength. and who do so many terrible things to these nations that they have invaded, well, I'm going to bring them down here to Israel. And Israel is going to be punished by the Babylonians. And then Habakkuk said, wait, it's a little more than I wanted to know. You are too pure to behold evil. How in the world can you punish people that are more righteous with those who are more unrighteous? How can you allow the unrighteous to have power over the righteous? Now, he's changed his mind. Israel is bad, but they're not as unrighteous as the Babylonians. And so we have this model. We have, as it were, a type of the unrighteous having power over the righteous. How can that be? Habakkuk asked. And he says, well, These ones that you're calling unrighteous will not get away with it either. They're going to be punished for their idolatry. They're going to be punished for worshiping their power. So let's think about that a while. And then he objects to that also. And then he says, I'm going to station myself and I'm going to see how God will answer me. I'm asking him a question that's too hard about that. And God of course comes and answers him again. And finally at the end Habakkuk just has to say, I give up, I'm going to believe you no matter what happens even though there's no fig on the vine, there's no corn in the field, nothing seems to be going right, nevertheless you have made a promise and you will keep it. And so we see that even in that, in Habakkuk, we have this type of Christ, of the just dying for the unjust at the hands of the unjust. And we see God controlling all of these things for the purpose of His people. So Jesus is saying, you have given Him authority over all flesh, everything in the world. Jesus controls it. Why? that He may give eternal life to all that you have given Him. In verse 10 He says, all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. They have exactly the same people. Those that the Son received from the Father are the sons, and they are the fathers. All mine are yours, and yours are mine. He also mentions this, if we look at John 6 verses 37 and 44 we see Jesus operates on the basis of this fact that there are certain persons that are given to Him in verse 37. Beginning with verse 35, Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. Whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me. and whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. All of those that the Father gives will come, and you can be sure that when they come, He will receive them, and they will receive forgiveness of sins, and they will receive the work of the Spirit. He will never cast them out. We see also how He refers to this in verse 44. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. and I will raise him up on the last day." He will hold them fast. He will cause them to persevere. So those that come to Him, they come to Him because the Father draws them. Why does the Father draw them to the Son? Because He's already given them to the Son. He's given them to the Son in eternity and now in time. He draws them to the Son and when they come to the Son, they are sealed with the Spirit. They are the sons. They're forgiven because of the death of the Son. They're declared righteous because of the righteousness of the Son. They will be resurrected because of the resurrection of the Son. They will endure because of the intercession of the Son. He will never cast them out and they have the hope of eternal life and they will experience it. We see this reality set forth in Titus chapter 1 verses 1-3 where again the Apostle Paul is talking about this God who makes promises and how He will fulfill these promises. Paul, a servant of God, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began, and at the proper time manifested in His Word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted. by the command of God our Savior. And so Paul's preaching is bound up in an understanding of this eternal covenant and all the promises of it and the persons, the high contracting parties that are the persons involved in this. And so it relates to the faith of God's elect their knowledge of the truth that is receiving the divine revelation that is preached and that is taught by which we are more and more conformed to the glory of Christ. And it accords with godliness as we are transformed in the image of Christ as we live lives of holiness because of the power of this word. in the hope of eternal life, that is the reality that we have that we desire to be with Christ, we desire to be with the triune God, we desire to see His glory, we have the objective reality that this is promised to us and so we know that it will happen, the hope of eternal life. which God and all of these things that happen here in time, this preaching, this faith of God's elect, their growth in the knowledge of the truth, their growth in Godliness, the hope that manifests itself in their spirit and in their minds of eternal life has been promised before the ages began. Now to whom was it promised? Well, we can say, well, it's talking about us here, so it's promised to us. And that wouldn't be a wrong answer. But of course, we didn't exist then in any reality except in the purpose of God. So he was not making a promise to us in particular in our own persons, but he was making a promise to us in the person who was our perfect representative. And as the high contracting party on our part was the Son of God and this promise of the people. These people were given to him in this and it was promised that they would come and so Christ is praying in light of this very thing that has been revealed to Paul about how this was promised before the ages began. This covenantal relationship of which the son is deeply aware and to which he has committed himself in this life of a holy righteous person in the midst of a fallen world, in the midst of a rapacious people, in the midst of a polluted people, in the midst of a hostile people, in the midst of those who are enemies of God, who do not seek God, who have no fear of God before their eyes, whose feet are swift to shed blood, who have their mouths full of cursing and bitterness, who have the poison of asps under their lips, whose throats are polluted and filled with deadly poison. All of these things, he lived his life in that midst. A promise had been given to him that he would save them. And he has committed himself to that. We see in chapter two of Titus. For the grace of God has appeared. Well, it has appeared. How has it appeared? It's appeared in the incarnation, and it has appeared in the crucifixion, it has appeared in the resurrection of Christ, but also it has appeared, this grace that was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, this promise, it is this covenantal relationship. The grace of God here has to do with all of these individual things that are part of it, but it has to do in the larger picture, as Paul is saying here, the covenantal promise, the covenantal purpose, that God had has now appeared. This grace that is in Christ Jesus, this grace that is a constituent element of the very nature of God Himself that had to be manifested and could only be manifested if there were fallen creatures, this grace that exists within God has now appeared, bringing salvation for all people. Well, who are the all people? The all people has to do with Paul's deep awareness that he is called as a Jew, as a Pharisee, as a one who felt superior, who felt that he was not a sinner, as one who looked down on all the Gentiles as sinners. Now he sees that that is simply not true, that the grace of God has enveloped not only the Jews, but has enveloped the Gentiles, people of every tongue and every tribe and every nation, this grace of God, this covenantal relationship from the foundation of the world, from before the foundation of the world has now appeared, and it appears in this surprising manner, this outrageous manner, this thing for which He Himself was accused of blasphemy. And that Christ was accused of blasphemy for the things that he said about this and how even in his own life he opens himself up to the Samaritan. He opens himself up to the Gentile woman. He opens himself up to the Greeks and says when the Greeks come and ask for him, Christ says, the hour has come. The Greeks are asking for me. The hour has come. And so now this grace of God has appeared, which is bringing salvation to all sinners all over the world. Everyone who is a sinner, there are people within those realms, within all of these groups, that will be brought to saving grace, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope. There we have it again. of the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a peculiar people, a people for his own possession, those people who he has set apart for his own ownership, a peculiar people, a people of his own possession. who are zealous for good works. And so the prayer that Jesus gives is offered in light of the fact that there is indeed a people that is given to him. The second thing that we see is an element of the covenantal reality. There's a work to be completed. There's a work to be completed. He says that the hours come. Glorify your son that your son may glorify you. Since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all you have given him. 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. So there are several pivotal points in the life of Jesus in which he becomes aware that sort of a milestone has passed, that some particular test, some particular idea, some particular event has happened that demonstrates that a thing has happened that shows his work is coming to its completion. His work is now like the coming of the Greeks. My hour has come. He says this several times. And here He says, I have accomplished the work. Well, He hasn't died yet. He hasn't been resurrected yet, but He knows virtually He's come to the time where these things are now inevitable. Things are going to be moving fast. He's put Himself in this position where this is going to happen. I've accomplished the work. So we see that there is a work to be completed. He's very careful about the work, this work that you have given me. Everything that has happened up to this point has contributed to it, and now we've reached a particular point where it is clear that this work is being accomplished in a perfect way. In chapter 12, we see this reality as one that I have just mentioned, where the Greeks have come. Notice the language of Jesus first of all in verse 23, Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Verse 27, now is my soul troubled, what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I have come to this hour. Verse 31, Now is the judgment of the world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. So that was a pivotal moment, knowing that these things had come to pass. It was inevitable that they would happen after these questions. We see this continued, Jen, in chapter 19, verse 30. And Jesus is on the cross, He has first of all refused the wine and then at the last He receives the sour wine and He says, it is finished. And He bowed His head and gave up the spirit. But the fact that He was anticipating all of these things is seen early in His ministry in John 5 verses 30 through 32. He says, I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. And then in verse 36, but the testimony that I have is greater than that of John, for the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. And so in this prayer, Jesus recognizes that the things that the Father has sent Him to do, the things that will lead immediately to the salvation of His people and to His own glorification, they have, in essence, as it were, they have been accomplished. I have accomplished the work that you gave me to do. There's a work to be completed. Another thing that we see that is involved in this covenantal reality, there is a message to be given. This is not simply a work that is to be done, that is to be left to our own interpretation. If it were left to our own interpretation, then it would turn out exactly as it did with the Jews. They make up lies about it. Well, someone came and stole him away, though they knew it was not true. Because people will not believe, even though one is raised from the dead, if they're left to their own propensities, if they're left to their own sinfulness, if they're left to their own judgments. And so not only must there be the redemptive act itself, and not only must there be the coming of the Holy Spirit to make us receive that, but there must be the explanation of what has happened. We must be told that He died the just for the unjust. We must be told that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We must be told that He has made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. We must be told that the resurrection has implications, meaning that He is the firstfruits and that all of those who know Him will join Him in this resurrection and join Him in this incorruptible immortality. We must be told these things. And so Jesus is saying that He has told them. Now He also tells them in verse 6, He says, I've manifested your name. to the people whom you gave me out of the world, yours they were, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Verse eight, I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them, and have come to know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. Now the chapter right before, they begin to understand what he's saying. In verse 29 of chapter 16, His disciples said, ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech. Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you. This is why we believe you came from God. Now, this is true, and Jesus understood. This is what he's saying. They've come to know. They've come to believe this. But he also tells them, But don't be overconfident just because you know, because there's still some tests coming and you're going to fall away, but I'll draw you back. So there's always this reality that we need to be convinced over and over of our weakness and of our sinfulness so that when He does hold us fast, we know that it is His grace that does us. It is His revelation that informs us. We're always dependent. But Jesus is continuing what He has said in verse 12 of chapter 16. He says, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak and He will declare to you the things that are to come. So this is the covenantal relationship of the Spirit. He receives things too. He speaks exactly what is in accord with the covenant. He speaks what He hears. The Son does what He's been instructed to do. Everything is in accord with the covenant and the work of the Father, Son, and the Spirit and the people that are given to Him are given to Him with this very purpose, and He reveals these things to them in order that they may be no guesswork about what has actually happened. And so the Spirit continues this, and we see this reality in the apostles as they have this great confidence that the Spirit is speaking through them. They know that they're speaking the words of truth. They know that the Spirit is revealing these things to them. Paul says that this revelation of the mystery of God was given to God's holy apostles and prophets. He says that the things that are freely given to us of God are revealed to us. These truths are revealed in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. The Apostle Peter is confident that what he is saying and what he is preaching is something that's been revealed to him by the Spirit and he must keep speaking it. And as long as he's in this body he has got to make sure that they are able to draw these things to their remembrance. And so there's a consciousness on the part of the apostles that they are indeed fulfilling what Jesus promised in John 16, 12, that while Jesus was here, He told them everything it was possible to tell them. They had crossed the threshold, realizing that Jesus' words were revelation. Jesus' words were giving them things that they could not know otherwise. Jesus' words were clear and plain, but Jesus warns them, but wait a minute, there's more coming. There's more persecution, but there's also more revelation. And so, at this point though, in this prayer, Jesus opens this up to us, showing us that in eternity past, the explanation, it was decreed that it would be given, so the Spirit says what He's told to say. The Son has done what He is told to do, and now the people are being drawn, and the Father will confirm them in their position as being the people of God. So there's a message that is to be given. The fourth point that I want to make out of this, just very briefly, there is a glory that is to be shared. Notice how many times he talks about the glory that I had with you to pour the foundation of the world, and then at the end he wants them to see my glory that you have given me because you love me. before the foundation of the world. And he says, I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. There is a glory that is shared. The completed work of the Son will manifest the true glory of the Father. Verse five, the pre-mundane manifestation of a single and simple glory exhibited in a way that can be discerned by created limited beings. The simple eternal immutable glory of God is shared by all three persons of the Trinity. And yet, in an appropriate and fitting way, this glory is manifest in this created order to people who cannot absorb such infinite wonder and infinite excellence all at one time, and so we have to receive it in parts, though it exists, what we might say, it exists in simplicity. But nevertheless, it is a manifestation of the eternal reality of God, and we see it in part, we enjoy it in part, But nevertheless we can affirm propositionally because of revelation that it exists as a whole in an unchangeable and infinite way. And so the father is glorifying the son by supporting the son in this arduous task he has of dying and absorbing his own wrath, the wrath of the father upon him. He sustains him in that. The Spirit is sustaining him as he moves to that point. But as he is on the cross, he has to sustain it all by himself. Now were he merely man, he could not sustain it. And so the infinite glory and the infinite applicability of this moment of atonement is present because of his deity. But his deity does not diminish the reality of what he suffered in his humanity. Were he not truly human, then he could never pay a price that sinful human beings owe. So we see the wisdom of God. This one person is the only one who could possibly manifest the purpose of God. There is no other person who has ever existed anywhere in any religion, any rule giver, any mystic, any religious guru, anyone who sets forth aphoristic truths of all different kinds of things could never give a path to salvation. It can only be done by one who is God and man, who can take the wrath that is due to us and can provide a righteousness that we must have, and that can only be done by Jesus Christ. This is why Jesus is called the wisdom of God. It's why the cross is a manifestation of the wisdom of God. No other being could do this except Jesus Christ, the God-man. No other one could devise such a plan except the triune God, as each person of the triune God manifests the full glory of God in ways that are particularly fitting to their own personhood. And so Jesus is talking about that He has glorified the Father on earth, And he asks the Father to glorify me in your own presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed. He says glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. And so in Ephesians 1, 5, and 6 we see that in election we are to praise the glory and the grace of the Father. We see that in atonement We are to praise the Son, He who spared not His own. In Romans 3, 21 through 26, we see that He was that it's because of the death of Christ, because He was set forth as a propitiation for our sins that God can be just and yet justify those who have faith in Christ. And that's because we have all fallen short of the glory of God. We see it in resurrection that Christ is raised by the glory of the Father. We see it in His return that when He returns He will give everything back to the Father that every tongue will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The Father, the Son has glorified the Father. He will continue to glorify the Father. He does all of His work out of the manifestation of the glory of the Father and this is His own glory because it is a glory that is shared in eternity. So we see a shared glory. We see a unified reality of righteousness and holiness and glory and purpose and redemptive love present in all three persons of the Trinity as is manifest in this particular prayer. This is the way in which God shows who He is. His glory means His weight. It means that which He is in Himself. And He's showing that which He is in Himself. He's showing something of His eternal essence by the way in which He redeems sinners. He is showing that there's a potentiality of mercy within His nature which could not be demonstrated without those who need mercy. There's the potential of justice in His nature which could not be demonstrated without those upon whom justice must be manifest. There's a potentiality of of receiving the praise of others and that others can love Him even as He loves Himself which could not be unless there were finite creatures who have come to see His glory and come to see His grace and come to see His wisdom and desire to love Him and to praise Him and to learn more of Him throughout eternity. All of these things that are resident within God in eternity are made manifest and made true by the redemptive work of Christ and Christ is praying in light of that. Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed. And the last point is there is an intercession for the people of God. Well, I mean, it's an obvious truth in this, isn't it? That's why Jesus is praying. So this prayer, he's praying for those who will believe on him. He's praying for those that the Father has given him. Then in Romans 8, 32 through 34, we see, he who spared not his own son, meaning the Father did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all. all of those that He has considered the elect of God, as He has talked about this, how shall He not also along with Him freely give us all things? Everything that accompanies salvation, everything that arises in salvation arises out of the death of the Son. He has given us the greatest thing in setting forth His beloved Son to die for us, He who spared not His own Son. Therefore, we can be assured that He will give us everything else that He has determined will bring us to the place where there is the hope of eternal life and praising Him forever. Who shall lay the charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised. Who is at the right hand of God? Who indeed is interceding for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? So tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword, as it is written, for your sake we're being killed all the day long. We're regarded as sheep to be slaughtered, knowing all these things we're more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I'm sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so the Lord Jesus Christ is offering this intercessory prayer in light of the determination in eternity that these things would come to the people. And under the realization that they will only come to the people as a result of his having accomplish the work that the Father gave Him to do in dying for sinners. Do you have before the throne of God above? Does anyone know enough of that to sing a verse of it? Is it in the? All right, let's don't just stumble through it, but anyway. Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea, a great high priest whose name is love, whoever lives and pleads for me. My name is graven on his hand, my name is written on his heart. I know that while in heaven he stands, no foe can bid me thence depart. What a great confidence there is because Jesus has interceded for us, has died for us, and continues to intercede. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for all of your goodness. We thank you for the love that you have shown in Christ because you loved him fully as your beloved son before the foundation of the world, and you gave a people to him that would praise him forever, would be grateful to him forever, and would see your glory in his own person and work. So we pray that you administer to us even now by your spirit that we might love you, that we might honor you, that we might obey you, and that we might live ever in the hope of eternal life. We pray it in Jesus' name, amen.