And that's a good and right doctrine, but it's my fear that those that believe these doctrines sit there and go, I can't trust that God loves me until I've made it to the end. That there are Christians walking around, believing, regenerate Christians, seeking to honor the Lord, but when they see God and they look up, all they see is a God who's waiting to see if they make it. That should not be the case. There are Christians today walking around and going, when I hear well done, good and faithful servant, enter the joy of your father or enter the rest of your Lord. Then I'll relax. Then I'll have joy. But until then, I got to persevere. That's not the case. You will one day hear, well done, good and faithful servant, enter the rest. But that means that the work is over, and you get the second half of Christ's prayer. You get to be with him in glory, unveiled face, in the presence of God, experience the oneness. But the love you can experience today, the love that God has for the believer, that is for today. Something comically obvious was brought to my attention and I felt that it would be beneficial to share it with you guys. I own more than one shirt. My parents called me and my mom was like, it is so hard to find out which sermon you've preached because you're always wearing the same red shirt. And then Maria keeps bringing me bags of shirts and I'm thinking maybe the church only thinks I own one shirt. I own more than one shirt, and I have more shirts on order. It just didn't arrive in time, so we'll retire the singular red shirt. It's my comfy shirt, so that's why I'm wearing it. I have a bit of something in my throat today. I say that by way of apology, but also I was reminded I was kind of feeling self-conscious about maybe having to clear my throat up here too many times. There is a pastor, I won't say his name because I don't want to cause anybody to go back and listen to his sermons with a different ear, but he says the word Bible in a very peculiar way when he says it. And he's a wonderful pastor, we all know him, he's preached here before, but when he says the word Bible it sounds very strange to me. would fixate on the way he says it, and I would kind of stop paying attention. And it wasn't sin, but the enemy uses those little things to get your attention off of the message and to stop paying attention. So when you notice yourself kind of losing focus, maybe somebody moves too much, maybe they say um too much, maybe there's something weird they do with their hands, just remember it's our flesh that wants us to not pay attention. So an encouragement is when you catch yourself doing that, when you notice something like that in you, it's not just a small thing. There's a reason it's happening. There's a constantly active enemy of your soul looking for anything to do to distract you. He couldn't get you to not come here. He'll do anything he can to not pay attention. So that to encourage you, when you see those things happening, when you feel those things happening, it's intentional. Pray about it and press on. And I'll try not to clear my throat too many times today. I am done with Galatians, we're not going back to Galatians. I am doing a bit of a, I guess you could call it a topical message today. The reason is I was planning on going right to the next book and starting the next book and Kenzie and Chris encouraged me and said, well, is there anything that during your study or prayer time that you've kind of felt like, oh, this would be good to bring to the church? He says, those times between books, those are the times to kind of bring those messages. So I went back and then praying and I was like, all right, Lord, you've shown me a few things. You know, when you study a text, you kind of rabbit trail on different texts. And there was a couple rabbit trails I thought, you know, this would be beneficial. And so I started preparing one of them. And as the layers came off, it sounds like too goofy, but like I almost had to close my Bible because it felt like too much. It felt like, Lord, you're not really saying that. That can't be what that means. It's too much. And I was struggling with what text to help support what I felt that the Lord was showing me. And it's no new revelation. It's just He had revealed it to me. And John 17 seemed to be the text that lays the foundation for what the Lord showed me later on at the end of Matthew 3. And I, okay, Laura, I think this is the sermon you're going to have for me. And I want you to know it's my job to come up here, not because I think that you want to hear from me. You're not here to hear from me. You're here to hear from the Lord through his word. So it's my goal to be as consistent with the text and to deliver you only what I think the Lord would have you hear. And I think the Lord does have a message for his church. I think he has a very specific message for believers. I'm bringing this message with real hope that it encourages you to live holier lives and to love the Lord more and to have more trust in him and do away with sin more. This message isn't necessarily to manifest a new love for the Lord, although I hope he uses that in The Lost Among Us, But this is for the Christian, specifically the Christians of Grace Church Austin. This is for you guys. So before I can get to the thing I want to bring you, I have to go through John 17 to lay a bit of a foundation so that it doesn't come out of left field. And you can see the consistency with it. So that's what we'll be doing. We'll be starting in John 17, which is becoming my typical fashion. I'm going to read the entire chapter of John, and then we're going to break it. John 17, and then we're going to break it down. Before I get started, I'm going to pray for our time, and then we'll jump into John 17 and look at what the Lord would have us learn from his recorded prayer. Father God, Lord, you know what your church needs. You know what would most benefit your church. Lord, I pray that this would be it, that this would be a blessing to your church, Lord, that this would cause holier living, better communion with you, more trust in you, more faith in you, more security in the salvation that you have given us, Lord. Lord, it seems like a lot, but as Kenzie told us already, your word is infinite. Lord, this word will never find the depths of it. We'll never reach the bottom of it, Lord. And you would have us live lives joyfully seeking after you, running after you with gladness. Lord, I pray that that would be the fruit of today's message, that you would correct any textual error, any long pause, anything I might say or do that would distract people, Lord, that would not be true to your word. But I pray that your spirit would move in our time today. Amen. All right, so John 17, if you haven't turned there, turn there and you can read along. In most of your Bibles, it's going to be the priestly prayer of Jesus or the high priestly prayer. And as we heard last week, Jesus is our high priest after the order of Melchizedek. So it seems like a fitting title to start this week off with. So starting in verse one, John 17. 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 who you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the works that you have given 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 that 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 am 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. and I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world. that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world, and for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those that 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. The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfectly one, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved me, even as you love them, even as you love me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me, because you love me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make known that and make it known that they that the love with which you have loved me as with the love that which you have loved me may be in them and I in them. So at first, we're going to look at kind of what is Jesus doing here. And it's a pretty simple answer. He's praying. It's not uncommon for Jesus to pray. He was in constant communion with his father while he was on earth. A couple of verses to kind of back up that claim, Matthew 14.23 and Luke 5.16, Matthew 14.23. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up to the mount. by himself to pray, when evening came he was there alone. And in Luke 5.16, but he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. I'm going to borrow a phrase from a brother in the church I used to go to. He would often encourage believers, he's a much older brother in the faith, he would often encourage believers to steal time away with the Lord. He would say, you know, you know how you get five minutes to yourself? Oh, I got a little couple of minutes to myself. He would he would say, don't do that. Steal time away to be alone with God. If you have to steal time away to be alone with God. And that's what Jesus would do. He would constantly steal time away to be alone with God. He would look for moments that he could escape everything and go be alone with with God in prayer. But. Those prayers are not recorded for us. We don't know what those prayers were. This prayer was recorded for us. So this prayer that Jesus has being recorded for us, the first thing we should think is, why was it recorded for us? What is it about this prayer between God the Son and God the Father that has been preserved in scripture that is supposed to be speaking to us that we need to glean something from? So yes, Jesus prayed a lot, but a lot of his prayers weren't recorded. The ones that were recorded, we need to pay extra attention to because they are teaching moments. He prays out loud in the hearing of his disciples for not just the sake of prayer, but for instruction. So we're going to go through it section by section and kind of break down some of the things that we are supposed to glean from it. And I know I'm going through a very rich chapter at a very quick pace. So if there's something you've seen that others haven't, encourage us in the chat, send out an email, pull somebody aside. because I guarantee I have not pulled everything out of John 17. As a matter of fact, I would almost guarantee you three weeks from now I could preach this exact same chapter and have a completely separate sermon because of how rich this chapter is. But in verse 1, it says, When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." The first thing we see in Jesus' recorded prayers is the consistent theme of calling God Father. He's teaching his disciples, when you pray, you're praying to your Father in heaven. So he's continuing that theme. And Jesus says, makes the And then Jesus asks God to glorify himself, and this isn't a vain request that God would glorify himself, but it's for the sake that he would glorify God the Father. He's asking to be equipped for the work that he is here to do. Lord, you've given me a job, glorify me, that I may glorify you. And we know that Jesus has authority over all flesh because the Father has given him authority, but we also see Jesus' authority through his miracles and his miraculous works throughout the entire Bible. He has authority over disease and sickness, healing many. He has power over fish. whether to fill a net or to have coins brought out of the lake. He has power over bread and dead fish, that they would multiply at his will and feed thousands of people. He can make a fig tree wither with a word. He has power over the winds and waves, and even the demons obey him. In Christ's life, we see him express authority over every possible dominion on this planet, and everything submits to him perfectly. And with this authority, he has given eternal life to the believers, the believers that the Father has given to him. And this eternal life that he has given them is the revelation of who God is, the one true God, and that he was sent by the Father. our next section, 4, starting in verse 4 and 5, I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave to me. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. Jesus shows his love for the Father in saying that he has glorified him on earth. That is what he was here to do, and that is what he has done. Jesus did All things Jesus did was to bring glory to the Father, and he accomplished the work that he had been given. Like we are later instructed in Ephesians 2.10 that all believers, all people that follow God have good works that were prepared before them to walk in. Jesus is saying, I walked in every one of my good works. I did everything I was supposed to do, and that is glorify the Father. And now he's asking that God would glorify him for doing the righteous works that he has done. Verse six, I have manifested your name to the people whom you have given 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 that 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 come from you, and they have believed that you sent me. Almost like a recount of the good works that he has walked in, Jesus proclaims that he has made alive and known the name of God the Father to God's people. The true Israel, the ones that God himself brought to Jesus. He did none of this to make his own name great. Everything he did was to proclaim the glory of God the Father. And he proclaimed the message he had been given, that he was the Messiah, the one sent by God. Verse nine. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but I am praying for those you have given me, for they are yours. Jesus makes no stutter. He is not praying for the world. He is not praying for the unregenerate person. He is praying for the people that God has set apart for salvation. He's saying, I am not praying for the world. The average person cannot grab a Bible, flip open to this prayer and say, this is talking about me. The unregenerate sinner cannot get any encouragement from this verse. It doesn't apply to them. This applies to those that God has set aside for salvation. Verse 10, all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. And I am coming to you, Holy Father. Keep them in your name, which you have given to me. that they may be one, even as we are one. So this is the part of Jesus's prayer where he starts transitioning and explaining the oneness that he and the Father share and the believer and God share. At the same time, he is explaining that he's leaving. He's letting the disciples know, I'm leaving. This is after the Lord's Supper. He's been trying to prepare them that he's going away, and they don't quite see it yet. So he's, again, peppering throughout this prayer. I'm going to be going somewhere, and they're not coming with me. And he's praying on the behalf of the disciples. He's praying that God would keep them. And he wants them to keep them so that they share in this oneness relationship, this complete unity between God the Father and God the Son. He's praying that they be brought into this. Verse 13. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have joy fulfilled in themselves." Jesus makes it known that while he was here on earth with the disciples, with his people, he is the one that kept them. God the Father gave them. gave him people that already belonged to God, predestined before the foundation of time, and Jesus guarded them and kept them. The only one that escaped was not because Jesus was unwilling or unable to guard him. This was also predetermined before the foundation of the earth. This was so that scripture might be fulfilled, so that Jesus would be portrayed by one that loved him. And he's making it clear again that he is leaving, and he is speaking that they would have joy. He wants them to have joy. The part of this prayer is going to bring joy to the hearers of this prayer. So he is asking that they may have joy, not just that God would give them joy, but as they're listening and paying attention, he's going to unravel joyous things that will be with them when he leaves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in truth. Your word is truth. Christ continues to draw the distinction between the people of the world and the people of God. He has given them the very word of God, the message of God the Father. He has been sent and faithfully delivered it, and the world hates his followers just like the world hates Christ. They're not permanent residents of this world. It's not their home. They're not accepted. And he's not just making the distinction. He's not just saying, well, these people, you know, they're here, but they're hated. He's making the similarity on how they are like Christ. The world hates them like it hated me. They don't belong here. This isn't my home. He's bringing in similarities between the believer and himself in how the world is treating both of them equally. And he doesn't pray that they would be removed from the world. He doesn't pray that they would be completely shielded from any of the hardships. He prays that they would be kept and that they would be kept from the evil one. That while they're here, while they're here to do what work they have to do, that God has given them to do, that they would be kept from the evil one. Jesus says, I have been the one keeping them this whole time. I am leaving. So now I'm appealing to my father, Lord, you keep them. I won't be here to keep them. Sanctify them, sanctify them in truth, your word is truth. He's asking that they would be sanctified and purified unto good works for God the Father. That like Christ, they would be made clean enough, not clean enough, but they would be made clean and able to do the purpose and the will of God the Father. Verse 18, as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they may also be sanctified in truth. Again, Christ mentions he was sent by the father into the world to do a specific work, and he has done it. He has kept himself clean, he has consecrated himself, and he has done the work that needed to be done. And he's asking the father, sanctify them. Sanctify them so that they can do the good work. This isn't a sanctification for the sake of sanctification. He's wanting them to continue the work he's done. He's wanting God to keep them. And what Jesus does kind of in the middle of this prayer is he clarifies something, I believe, for our benefit. Because as I've been reading and explaining, it would be fairly It'd be fairly easy to read through this text and go, OK, Jesus is praying for his disciples. And then you kind of just cut it off and leave it there. He's talking about leaving and them staying. He's talking about the works that they're going to do. He's saying that he's kept them. He's constantly letting them know, I'm leaving, I'm leaving, I'm leaving. OK, he's just talking about the 11, the 12 minus 1. But no, in verse 20, he opens up the real people that need to be listening and paying attention to this prayer. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word and that they may all be one. They, including current Christians, 2023 Christians. So this is now all including modern day Christians, that they may be all in one. So we now need to be paying attention to the oneness versus, because this is including us as well. that they may be all 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. So have you been saved by the words of the apostles? If you're here, the answer is yes. You've been saved by the words of the Apostle. I was. I was actually saved by John 637. John 637, all that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. John 637. Is that the word of God? Yes, it's the word of God. It's what we tell the children every Sunday. But this is specifically the words that the Holy Spirit burdened John to write down and that God the Father through his power, kept and preserved through us all the way through throughout church history. And there's countless sermons and people that can attribute their salvation. But I can guarantee you one of the reasons that this verse was preserved was so that a broken young man in 2013, living in his brother's attic, completely broken over the conviction of his own sin, would remember a verse he heard when he was a kid in Sunday school, that if I come to God, he will not cast me out. So this is definitely talking about me, because not only am I a believer, but I'm a believer specifically because of the words that the apostles have recorded for me. And the same can be said for you. So we should be looking at this high priestly prayer a little more differently. It should stick a little bit more, and I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know if you have read through this. So we've touched on it a few times, but now we're really going to start diving more into this oneness relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and the believer. We don't use oneness language very often. We don't have a lot of things to compare it to. We have two things, but we don't have two things that, when they get brought together, become one thing. The only real thing we have is marriage. And that's also a kind of a type and shadow. The only thing I can think of is, like, if you've ever tried to make your own dressing, if you've ever, you know, you get oil and vinegar, and you mix it together. And if you shake it hard enough, it stays. But if you let it sit, it separates. Or I think of, like, the old phrase, like, they're like oil and water. So if I take some oil and I put it in a jar and I take some water and I put it in a jar and I mix it really violently, it kind of looks like they're together, they're one. But slowly, over time, a couple minutes, you'll see a layer of oil on top and a layer of water on the bottom and they're separate. And that's not what God is saying when he brings the believer into unity with himself. What he's saying is he mixes oil and oil. And there's no separation. You can't unseparate oil and oil. This oneness that God is trying to explain is a perfect unity that doesn't have a tearing point. It doesn't have a breaking point. It's complete. He's saying that the glory, he says that this unity is more than just an outsider getting to look at it. You get to You get to be part of it, and I'm not saying we Christians are the extra member of the Godhead, but being participants in the glory, yes, that's what we see in the next verse. Verse 22, the glory that you have given me, sorry, the glory that you have given me, I have given to them. that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and love me, even as you love them. God the Father glorifies Jesus. And the glory has been transferred to the believer. Yes, this sounds like too much. This sounds like, okay, we're humans, we're sinful, and I look at myself in the mirror, I don't see glory, but that's what the text says. That is what Jesus has said. This is why this prayer was recorded. We can accept That's a word we like. Our bankrupt account is being filled with Christ's perfect account, His perfect righteousness. We don't really deserve it, but we have to accept that for salvation. We have to accept that we get His perfect account. We talk about the great exchange, how the Lord's righteousness is now on the believer and we are viewed as righteous before God. OK, that's a bit much, but you know, it's it's what we need to accept to make it to heaven. But glory that that we're given glory. This isn't just so you don't go to hell. That's not what salvation is. Salvation isn't just not going somewhere. It's it's going all the way the other direction, all the way into Unity with God. It's going further than the angels. The angels have to stay afar, cover feet, cover face, and they get to proclaim holy, holy, holy. But we get to go further. As the verse said, the holy of holies, the one place the only the high priest could go. We get to go all the way in and not just view, but participate. We get glory. Do we receive the same level of affection? in this glory, in this unity that Christ receives? Yes, that's what the verse says. You don't need to argue with me, you would need to argue with the verse. You would need to argue with all of the verses that God has preserved in his word to say when the Bible tells you that you sent me and loved me and loved them even as you loved me. Let that sink in, let it sink deep in. You're not just accepted. You're not just forgiven. You're not just pardoned. You're loved. OK, yeah, God loves me because God is love. No, no. You're loved to the same degree that God loved Jesus. Does God love Jesus? Yes. How much? With an infinite amount. Then we'll spend an eternity trying to learn what this means for us. And at this level of finding out that we're one with Christ, that we get glory with him, that we get the same love that Jesus got, you would think, okay, that's it. That's the top. That's got to be the end of the prayer. But Jesus keeps asking for more from his father. There's another degree he asks for the believer. Verse 24, Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I go, may be with me where I am, and see my glory that you have given me, and because you loved me before the, you have given me before, because you loved me before the foundation of the world, Christ wants us with him to see his glory in heaven. He's asking that these believers, these forgiven believers, would get to see His glory, would actually get to make it where He is and dwell with Him. This isn't pride. This isn't like a five-year-old saying, come look at my new set of Legos. I want you to come look at it so you can bask in awe at how great I am. He's saying, Lord, I want to show them the greatest thing in the universe. I want them to see it with their own eyes. Kenzie talked about stars and galaxies and things. They'll all go away. They're all finite. They're all temporary. And but God is saying, what's the greatest thing I can possibly show these people that you have given me? I want to show them my glory. There's nothing greater. There's no greater thing he can show for us. That's the most loving thing he can do, is show us the very best thing. And he closes, oh, righteous father, even though the world does not know you, I know you and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name and I will continue to make it known that the love with which you love me may be in them and I in them. Why has he done all of this? Why has he done this work? Why has God the father sent God the son to make known the name of God to people who don't deserve it? Because he loves us with a love that doesn't begin with us. You hear all of these things and you want to say, well, I don't deserve it. I shouldn't be loved like that. The Bible agrees with you. You don't deserve it. You shouldn't be loved like that. Nothing in you is lovable. But that doesn't stop the fact that he gave you this love and now it's yours. He has given it to people that don't deserve it. Wicked, evil, murderous, lustful, hateful people that have rebelled over and over again. All we have done is rebelled. He has saved us in our rebellion and given us the love that we rejected in the first place. There's a false view that you've heard in many churches. It's super known in American Christianity. Well, why did God do all of this? Well, why did God send the Son? Well, why did God send the Father? Well, there was something missing in heaven. You were missing. So God had to make a way for you to come. You know, there's this triune Godhead existing before the world, before the universe, and there was just something that was missing, and it was you. So God made a way for you to come. He created you. You've made mistakes because you're human, and he's made a way for you to come. And of course, I will reject that completely. You are not what was missing in the triune Godhead. You were not what was missing. But there was something missing. Before you grab your hymnals and throw them at me, let me explain. The thing that was missing was that God was not able to display all of his attributes. So God is loving. God is patient. God is kind. God is merciful. God is wrathful. He's just. Well, there's no justice in the triune Godhead. There's no justice between Father, Son, and Spirit. There's no wrath. Jesus isn't wrathful towards the Spirit. There's perfect unity. There's perfection. There's no need for mercy, because no one's ever done anything to deserve mercy. So God chose to do the best thing, which was create a people that he knew would fall, so he could demonstrate all of his attributes so that he could make known exactly who he is to a people. He wants to show how merciful, how loving. We can see this in Romans 9, starting at verse 22. What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory to vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he has called not from the Jews only, but from the Gentiles? He is desire to show off his attributes and make known every facet of who he is. Every attribute of God is perfect and deserving of worship. He's just with the wicked, it's a perfect justice and he should be worshipped for it. He's merciful to the sinner, it's a perfect mercy and he should be worshipped for it. He's patient with the believer, it's a perfect patience and he should be worshipped for it. And all of this so that we would bear witness and bring him glory, and we do, we bring him glory because of who he is and how he has revealed himself to us. But even in bringing him glory, we don't bring him anything. God receives nothing from us. We're never the initiator of any good thing that we bring to God. We are only the recipient. God is never the lesser in any exchange. Look what's recorded for us in Acts 20, 35. In all things I have shown, let's go to the last part. The Lord Jesus himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive, and God always does the more blessed thing. So we bring him glory, but we bring him glory because he has given us the attributes and the faculties to do so. In us bringing him glory, we are recipients of his grace in doing so. Okay, so I told you at the beginning, Matthew 17, all of the things we've been going through is to lay a foundation for the actual thing I wanted to share with you today. And we're still not there quite yet. We've got a little bit more to go, a little bit more foundation stones before I kind of drop this on you. And I promise you it's not being over-exaggerated and it's not meant to, I don't know, draw you on for a longer sermon unnecessarily. But we're going to take just a look at baptism and where it fits in the Christian life so that we can look at this next section here. Because we know baptism does not save us. It is not being baptized that is the regenerate act. It's faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone. We've been going through that a lot. It's not the baptism. Our baptism for the believer is a declaration of what has happened. Our baptism is a declaration that I have died in my sins. Our baptism doesn't save us any more than the Lord's Supper is what actually makes us a participant in Christ's sacrifice. Our baptism is a symbol. So I'm going to use some of the verses that were given to help see this symbolic language so that we can move on. In Colossians 2, starting in verse 12, Paul says, we're told, sorry, Colossians 2, 12, we read, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith, in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead, and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses. We see here that this is not talking about a physical water baptism. It's talking about the state of a believer and what it, these are pictures that people can understand to understand what's really happened to them. We trust in God. We trust that God raised Jesus from the dead and that will be our lot in life also, because we have been buried with him, and the life we live is not ours. That's what Paul says in Galatians 20. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 22. Paul is not saying he's been physically crucified and that's what's put to death the deeds of the flesh. He's saying that crucifixion that happened to Christ, that's been given to me and I have died. It's not my physical death that counts as death, it's Christ's death. and the life I live, even though it's me walking around, the me that's walking around is dead. The me that is doing these things is dead, and the reason I'm doing them, the motivation I'm doing them, the will behind them is the same will that drove Christ when he was on the earth, the will of Christ. So I am not the one doing these things, it's Christ that's been doing these things. So it's not physical crucifixion, it's not physical baptism. Okay. We're ready to go to our last verse. And it is my great hope that I am filled with a church full of believers, more mature and well-read than I am. And when I go through this, you all smile and say, we saw that last year. Keep going. We're gonna be in Matthew chapter three, starting in verse 16, and I'll set it up for you a little bit while you get there. This is the baptism of Jesus. This is John the Baptist baptizing people at the Jordan River, and Jesus comes to be baptized, and John tries to prevent him, and Jesus lets John know this has to happen. John concedes, okay, I'll baptize you, and this is what we read. Starting in verse 16, And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him. And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. If you've ever read this passage or you've gone through Matthew, you know that this is the beginning of Jesus's earthly ministry. After this, he goes to be tempted in the wilderness, and this is a clear picture of God's approval of Jesus and everything he is about to do. He sends the helper to be with him in the form of a dove, and we see that God, that Jesus never lacked the help and the support of God the Father at any moment during his earthly ministry, and that really is the context of this verse. That is what this verse is saying. But if you'll grant me, I believe that we have a veiled truth in here that we can pull out and be very true to scripture. Let's see here. All right, let me find my notes here. Aha, I scrolled down too fast. That's what it does. If you'll grant me, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, working on the heart of an unregenerate sinner through, as Kenzie said, the Word of God, that is how we are saved, by hearing of the Word of God. And when the Spirit finally breaks the will of the unregenerate sinner, causing him to cry out, Father, save me, With faith that is provided for by God. That center is immediately regenerate. And at that moment he is crucified with Christ and it is at that moment he is veiled in the glory of Christ. He has the righteousness of Christ. Everything about that centers life is changed in an instant. Saving faith comes faster than the speed of light. So that the first cry father save me is responded with the heavens opening and God the Father looking at you, sending the spirit to dwell in the now regenerate believer and proclaiming to heaven, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. It is at that moment you have favor with God and it never leaves. It is at that moment you are in this oneness love relationship with God, the father and God, the son. It is at that moment he clothes you in the power he equips you and he never leaves you with the same degree that he never left Christ. It is. been my concern and my fear as I read this, that it's too much. I'm attributing too much to the believer. I'm giving too much grace or too much glory to the believer. I'm either bringing God down too low or I'm lifting the lever up too high. But there should be a gap. And I am here to tell you, Christ closed that gap between the believer and God, the father. There is no separation. There is only a oneness and unity. And it is now it is on the earth now. It is your life now. Jesus talked about all of the things that the Father gave him, all of the things that the Father did, all of the equipping, all of the loving, all of the provision, and he says it now. And then he says, now do it to my disciples. Do it to those that follow me, not just them, those that would be saved after me. Give them what you gave me now. At no time was Jesus ever not viewed in love for God the Father, except when he was dying for our sins on the cross, and that you don't have to do. And it has been my fear that good doctrine, poorly executed, has robbed people of their joy and walkingness. Because we believe in the solace. We went through the solace. We believe in faith alone, grace alone, the glory of God alone. We believe in the tulip. We believe that we're totally depraved, yet there's nothing good in us. We believe that. And we believe in the pea. We believe in perseverance of the saints. And that's a good and right doctrine, but it's my fear that those that believe these doctrines sit there and go, I can't trust that God loves me until I've made it to the end. That there are Christians walking around, believing, regenerate Christians, seeking to honor the Lord, but when they see God and they look up, all they see is a God who's waiting to see if they make it. That should not be the case. There are Christians today walking around and going, when I hear, well done, good and faithful servant, enter the joy of your father or enter the rest of your Lord. Then I'll relax. Then I'll have joy. But until then, I got to persevere. That's not the case. You will one day hear, well done, good and faithful servant, enter the rest. But that means that the work is over and you get the second half of Christ's prayer. You get to be with him in glory, unveiled face, in the presence of God, experience the oneness. But the love you can experience today, the love that the God has for the believer, that is for today. Let's pray. Father God, thank you for your Word. Oh, what a wonderful Word that you have preserved for us and opened to us. Lord, I pray that your Spirit would move freely among your people and that their love for you would grow, their giving towards you would grow, time, money, resources. Lord, that with this truth we would walk Holy your lives because you love us. Oh Lord, be done with sin. Of course I want to be done with sin. God loves me. Give more. Of course I want to give more. God loves me. That it would not be fear that if we make it, Lord, but we would be singing and looking forward to the day when we make it. Because just as your father never let go of Christ, Lord, we can be assured you will never let go of us. Amen. OK. So now we transition to the Lord's Supper, which is our next segment. By way of reminder, the silver vessel with the cups is juice. The gold vessel is wine. And we do just come up in a line when we have the time. But today for the Lord's Supper, I'm going to go over a verse I'm pretty sure I've already went over before for the Lord's Supper, but like I said, we'll never reach the bottom of the Bible, so there's more in it. And I think it's a good contrast to look at after this message of oneness and unity with God. So we're going to start in Exodus chapter 3, starting in verse 4, and that's where we're going to begin looking at some texts. It won't be our only text. And this is the Day of Atonement. God's giving rules to Aaron and Moses. It says, when the Lord saw that he turned aside to seek... Wait, no. That's the last time I did the Lord's Supper. I need to name these better in my notes. Okay. Sorry, it's Leviticus 17. That makes more sense. If anyone in the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among the people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. Therefore, I have said to the people of Israel, no person among you shall eat blood. Neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat the blood. God tells Israel, this is the list of what you have to do. These are the do's and don'ts of the Lord's Supper or of the of the sacrifice that will be accepted. This is the only way it's going to be accepted. And he says, Don't eat the blood. And we know from... I think it was Reese's Hebrews this morning, that there's an area in the temple that you can't even go into, and even the priests can't even go into, only the priest. And this blood that is sprinkled, that's the blood it's talking about. This blood that purifies everything. It's only brought in there, and it's this, and there's no participation from the Jew. You do this, and I will atone for your sins for another year. This was never a washing or a purifying. This was a covering. And you see this distance between God and his people, and it's a right distance. There should be a separation between a holy God and an unholy people. So God has created this distance. He gave them, mercifully, a way of atonement, but there's a distance. Now let's look at the new covenant in Luke 22, starting in verse 15. Jesus speaking, and he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Can you see the contrast in God making a rule-based system that keeps His people accepted to a degree, but separate? And Jesus' opening sentence, I have longed to eat this with you. That is the Lord's supper. We are remembering this new covenant. We are remembering that we get to eat it with the Lord, that there's no longer this separation, that we're his people, and his people mean we have perfect unity with him. The Jews were God's people, but there was a place they could not go. There was an entrance that they could not get to. There was definitely a separation between them and God. And what Christ is saying is I have opened all of those doors. So you come all the way in and you eat with your God. You participate of my blood, my flesh. It doesn't get any more intimate than this. And the commonness of sharing a meal with those that you love, that is to be the reminder of me. It's not a long lofty ceremony where you hike up a mountain and you have to kill 100,000 animals. It's a meal. It's something so familial. Many of you, how many of you ate with your family today before coming into church? Or you're looking forward to going and eating with someone that you care about after this because you love them and you love being around with them. That's what he's given us. That's what he's given us to remember with him. A unifying, homey, loving covenant. So, Kendra, if you want to come up, we're going to participate in the Lord's Supper. And this isn't ceremony. It's ceremony by necessity because we have, you know, plates and wine in a church building and we don't want to destroy the carpets. But this was a meal with his disciples. We make it a ceremony not to add something the Bible doesn't, but to kind of bring it to our attention. But it's common bread, it's common wine, it's common juice. It's the fellowship with Him that we want to remember. Brother Raymond, if you want to start. So, Okay. So taking after the model that the Lord has given us, we pray and we'll take the bread. Father God, Lord, you have given us such a wonderful picture, a wonderful covenant to be reminded of our intimacy and closeness and fellowship with you, Father. Lord, let us not lose sight of the holy and the common, but let's not lose the comfort of the common because we fear the holy Lord. Amen. Father, blood is where the life is. That's what your word teaches. That is the symbol of the blood. Below the blood has been poured, so we're participating with the wine. Or which is a symbol of what was been done, but is also a refreshment. And that is what we get. We get refreshment from being with you from being in you or from being in this covenant. Refresh us, Lord. Amen. If you guys want to stand, we'll sing one last hymn tonight.