We read God's word this evening as it is found in the gospel of John, John chapter 17. John chapter 17, we continue our series of sermons in this prayer of Jesus Christ, often called the high priestly prayer. And this evening we consider verses 4 and 5. 4 and 5 of John 17. Let's read the chapter. These words speak Jesus and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. as Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do, and now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world. Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me, and they have kept Thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given me, for they are Thine. All mine are Thine, and Thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name. Those that Thou gavest Me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to Thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world, and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee. that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as We are one. I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and has loved them as Thou hast loved Me. Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me. For Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee, but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it. that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. We read that far in God's holy and inspired word. The text is verses four and five. I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, today as we begin this sermon, we go deep, we delve into a truth called the eternal covenant of God, the eternal covenant of God. When we think about the covenant We often jump to God's covenant which He establishes or He makes with us, His people. That relationship of friendship and fellowship which is unconditional toward His people like us. But beloved, it is important for us to understand that the covenant is not first of all between God and His people. But even before there is a covenant between God and us as people, we must understand that God has a covenant within Himself, and that the relationship of friendship and fellowship that we talk about has to be, first of all, about what God has as Father, Son, and Spirit within the Godhead, within the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity is familiar and ought to be familiar to us that God is three persons and one being. A mystery and yet a reality of who God is. But what might not be so familiar to us or less familiar to us is that within that Trinity as Father, Son and Holy Spirit there is a warm, Embracing a warm conversation, a warm fellowship that takes place between Father, Son, and Spirit. And that this warm relationship of friendship and fellowship has been in existence from all eternity. Ponder that. Father has loved the Son, and Son the Father, and Spirit, and Father and Son. This is the eternal covenant of God, and something that we ponder on for a few moments this evening. In order to understand the depth of the text that we have before us in verses four and five, and really, in order to understand this whole prayer of John 17 properly, we need to understand this awesome reality of God's eternal covenant within Himself. The doctrine of the Trinity is not a cold truth that we simply know intellectually. The doctrine of the Trinity is not merely that which we are able to say as essential students perhaps, as catechism students or those who have grown up in the church. Yes, God is three persons and one being, we know that. And then move on. But the doctrine of the Trinity is about this eternal covenant of God within Himself. He's been having, especially as related to John 17, he has been having an intimate conversation within himself. That's what happens in relationships. That's what happens in a good relationship of a husband and a wife. There is conversation. Sweet communion one with another. That's what happens within relationships on this earth. If there is a good relationship between parents and children, between teenagers and other teenagers, there is good conversation with one another. Beloved, that's what has been happening within the Trinity, within the Godhead from all eternity. And so when we read and we approach John 17 again this evening and concentrate on verses 4 and 5, what we need to realize is that we are hearing, we are given that privilege of listening in on that covenanting, that sweet communion. that has been taking place within that eternal covenant of Father, Son, and Spirit from all eternity. Be awed by that. Not only, as we have said, do we overhear a personal prayer of Jesus Christ with the Father in heaven, not only do we get to hear what He prays for us in heaven right now as the Ascended Lord, we said that, but more, we get to hear what the Son has been talking about with the Father from eternity. No one else gets to hear this. We get to hear real secrets within the Godhead. And Jesus, as it were, opens the door, remember, in John 17, to the intimate conversation within the triune God. So that as we know Him, Know who he is, what he's all about, and his friendship, and his fellowship, and his conversation. As we know him better, we enjoy the life eternal. For as we considered last time, this is life eternal that we might know him, the one true God in Jesus Christ whom he has sent. In this eternal relationship of love, covenant that God, the Father, Son, and Spirit have been having with each other, there is a selflessness. That's what love is, right? Remember, love is, seeketh not her own as 1 Corinthians 13 says. Love is a selfless seeking of the other. And you see that in John 17, in verse 1, when the son prays for the glorifying of the son, notice, remember, he does not pray for the glorifying of the son as an end of itself, but the son ultimately seeks Father's glory. He says, glorify thy Son, in verse 1, that the Son also may glorify thee. That's His goal. And implied in verse 1 is that the Father doesn't seek His own glory as the goal, but the Father seeks the Son's glory. And then a chapter back in chapter 16, verse 14, we find this about the Spirit. The Spirit, Jesus says, shall glorify Me, the Son, for He shall receive of Mine and show it unto you. That's beautiful. The three persons of the Trinity are not each seeking his own glory, but each seeking the other's glory. That's what it means when God seeks the glory of himself. Father seeks the glory of the son, son seeks the glory of the father, and spirit seeks the glory of father and son. And as all three persons seeks the glory of the other, selflessly they show forth true love. and covenant fellowship with each other. It's an unselfish other seeking. And notice about this unselfish love within the Trinity, within this eternal covenant that there is a giving, a giving. It's related to that selflessness, a giving. Often we find the word giving or give in the Bible. We expect it to refer to God in His grace giving to us His Son. God in His grace giving to us salvation. God in His grace giving to us blessings that which He does not give to others. In John 17, the word give or a form of it is actually used 17 times. John 17 has the word give 17 times. But only four of those times refers to God giving us something. And the other 13 times significantly refers to one of the persons in the Godhead giving to another person in the Godhead. That's the life of God in eternal covenant with Himself. One seeks to give the glory to the other. The elect are described as being given to the Son. The work that the Son has is described in our text as the work of the Father given to the Son to do. Verse 8 speaks of the words of the Father that He gives to His Son. God is a giving God. And before He even gives us anything, we must know that in that eternal covenant of grace, He has been giving to Himself as one person to another. Let us get to know this God. In knowing Him as this God of eternal covenant, we have life eternal. We consider verses 4 and 5 this evening under the theme, Glory Gained by Glorifying God. Glory gained by glorifying God. These are the Son's words to the Father as He is in covenant with Him. He says, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. That's summed up as the theme of this text is glory gained by glorifying God first, the glorifying of God finished, second, the glory of the Son gained or even earned, and the confidence of Christ, ours. We focus in on verse 4 in this first point. In fellowship, in that relationship with Father, the Son, the second person of the Trinity, prays, speaks to His Father in that fellowship, Verse 4, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Notice right away that this first verse in our text, verse 4, is a prayer, but it's not a petition. Praying is not only asking God for something, remember. Prayer includes confession, it includes praise, it includes expressions of love. And here Jesus prays, but verse 4 is an expression of confidence to God his Father. With eyes uplifted into heaven, remember as verse 1 says, he prays this expression of confidence that he has finished the work that Father had given him. to do. He confirms it with these words in prayer. The work that you have given Me to do from all eternity, the work that we have talked about from all eternity, that I was supposed to come and do, that work, the Son says, that work that I've planned, that we've planned together and we've talked about, that work, I have finished. What work is this? The Son has finished. Well, the text says it very clearly. Parallel to those first words about, or those second words, that He has finished a work, are the first words of the text. I have glorified Thee on the earth. That's the work that Jesus Christ came to do. That's the work that He is saying He finished. Glorifying Thee on the earth. I finished that. And that concept we can go through relatively quickly because we have already considered what it means to glorify God. You remember that? I'll remind you of that. To glorify God, a quick refresher, remember, is to show forth or shine forth the attributes of God. All of the attributes of God, remember, are like A shining splendor that radiates from God's very being. And to glorify God is to reflect those attributes to others. To be like a mirror that reflects and shines forth and shows forth those attributes to others. Jesus came to this earth as a human being to glorify God. That is, so that he might reflect God the Father to all around him. Remember John 1 verse 14, the Word, that's the Son, was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, and a description of that glory, full of truth and grace, two attributes of God. So Jesus Christ came to glorify God by shining forth attributes of truth and grace, of holiness and love, of God's power and mercy, and all the various attributes that God has. That's how we glorify God. He reflected or showed God's perfections. He says in verse 6, I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world. He was perfect in glorifying God. When we think about Jesus' work on this earth and we read in this text, that He has finished the work that the Father had given Him to do, our minds often think about His suffering, His work of suffering through His life and then going to the cross and finishing the work of suffering there to pay for our salvation. And beloved, that is indeed His work. That was indeed Christ's work here below, but more complete is the expression of the text. Not only did He come to suffer and die on the cross, but His work was to glorify His Father on this earth. And Jesus is saying, I have finished that work of glorifying Thee. He had done that through His life. With His words, with His teaching, He always brought forth truth in love. With his miracles, he always showed the mercy and the power of God. With his actions, his holy life, he reflected the purity and holiness of God with his compassion. In his love, he showed forth the holy love of God the Father. At the cross, he showed forth God's justice, that God will not leave sin unpunished, and yet at the same time, He showed forth God's mercy. The cross is where God's truth or justice and mercy kiss, embrace, and we see our God reflected in Jesus the Son. Christ who glorified God perfectly all his life and then at the cross. In this prayer now at the end of his life, Jesus is saying, this is all that we planned, that I would glorify you, Father, throughout my life, my suffering and death. And I have, I have. I have finished the race set before me. I have let my light so shine before men. They've seen my good works for the glory of thee, the Father. And you might be asking then, And you should, though we start with God, who He is, and the eternal covenant, and what the Son has done in glorifying the Father. You might ask this question, what does that have to do with us? What does that have to do with me? How does Jesus, doing all this work, finishing this work of glorifying the Father, all His life on the cross, what does that have to do with me? You ask that question because you know God's Word is and must apply to your life. And here's the first way it's relevant. It serves as a contrast to you and me. I have finished the work. I have glorified Thee upon this earth, Jesus says, and His point implied is this, no one else has as I have. In the original, in verse 4, when you see the word I, I have glorified thee, the I is emphasized. So much so in the original that the text can be translated this way. I myself have glorified thee on the earth. I, in contrast to everyone else, I alone, I by myself have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do. And it relates to us in that He's a contrast to us. You have not, I have not, mankind have not done this that Jesus has done. You remember what sin is? Sin literally is to miss the mark. You should know that. That's the original meaning of the word sin in the scriptures. To miss the mark. Sin is to know the target. and then miss it entirely. But do you know what the target is? The target, the bullseye that you are to shoot for and aim for is the glory of God the Father in all your life. And sin is to miss that mark. Sin is to turn away from that mark and seek someone else's glory, and usually my own glory, my pleasure, myself. God's command, God's calling to us is, seek my glory, glorify me, and mankind's plight is to seek someone else's glory. Listen to Romans 1, 21 through 23, describing the sin of mankind, because that when they knew God, God revealed Himself in the creation. When they knew God, Paul says in Romans, they glorified Him, not as God. Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the image made like to corruptible man and to birds and to four-footed beasts and creeping things. That's what man has done. Instead of aiming at God's glory, man, in knowing who God is as He's revealed in the creation, has attacked God's glory and has made idols of things here below and worship those things as though they are God. And Paul continues in Romans 3 to describe the plight of men. They're all gone out of the way. They together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. And then most relevant to our text, a few verses later in Romans 3, 23. For all have sinned, and to describe that sin, have come short of the glory of God. And what Jesus is saying in our text then is this, in contrast to all mankind who have come short of the glory of God, I Myself have glorified Thee on this earth. I have finished that work that Thou gavest Me to do. Where all else failed, I have not failed. But now here's the Gospel. The negative part of this text as it relates to us, we have said, is that Jesus has finished the work of glorifying the Father perfectly, while we have not. But the gospel, the positive of this is, is that which Jesus has done, the glorifying of God perfectly, He has done for us. in our place as our representative or substitute. Look at the word, gavest me to do. The work that thou gavest me to do, that is the form of the word given. We refer to the word given in our text and in the chapter. God gives to the Son the work He's supposed to do. But God didn't only give to the son work, he gave to his son a people, an elect people for whom he would do this work. In verse 2, notice, and you'll see that through the chapter, in chapter 17 when he refers to the elect, he uses the same word give, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Along with the work that Father gave to the Son, He gave to the Son names. Names of the very people written in the Book of Life. So imagine this, beloved. It's not exactly how it went, but imagine it. Imagine as though you could hear the voices of Father and Son and Spirit in that eternal covenant, a fellowship from all eternity. Imagine them talking from all eternity, even before you existed and before the world existed. Father said to the Son, Son, I give to you a work. that you must do as part of our plan, our amazing plan. And the son said, I voluntarily take that work, the work of glorifying thee. And father said to the son, son, glorify me in the place of a certain people. And the son said, what people? And the father said, I give to you not only work to do to glorify me, but I give to you these names, the names of these people, the names written in the book of life, these specific people, I want you to go and glorify my name in the place of them because they fail in this, they will fail in this. And the son said, I go in love for thee my father, I go to do that work. for my elect people. And now in time, in John 17, the son is speaking again to the father and saying, you know that plan, that conversation we've been having from eternity? I have finished the work that thou gave me to do for my people. I have glorified thy name. in their place, I am their righteousness. I am the satisfaction of the justice that they deserve to come upon them. I have lived in their place for thy glory. I have done all good works for thy glory because that is needed for the salvation of these people. So that though they fail, They failed today and every day to glorify God as they are. This will be their righteousness. It is just as if they have always glorified God perfectly. Not because they've done it personally, because I have done it for them in their place. I've finished it. I've accomplished it. Listen, beloved, this is the heart of the Gospel, spoken from the heart of our Savior. As He came to the end of His work on this earth, this should be everything to you. This is what thrills the soul of the true believer, to hear sons say with that confidence to the Father, I have finished the work of glorifying Thee in the place of My people. Romans 5 verse 19 puts it this way, for as by one man's disobedience, that's Adams, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, that's Christ, shall many be made righteous. We're counted as righteous. We're counted as those who have perfectly glorified God. Beloved, in Reformed theology, there is a distinction made a good distinction made between what is called the passive obedience of Jesus Christ and the active obedience of Jesus Christ. It's something that needs to be emphasized more in our churches. A recent Standard Bearer article that you should read describes it. But the passive obedience of Jesus Christ doesn't refer to the inactivity of Jesus Christ, but rather passive refers to the passion or the suffering that Jesus Christ came to do in obedience to the Father. And that is often emphasized. God gave Him the suffering that He had to do, the passion He had to endure in our place. But there's also what is called the active obedience of Jesus Christ in distinction from His passion or His passive obedience. And that is the obedience of God, the doing of all good works to the glory of God, in obedience to all the commandments of God. Jesus didn't just suffer for us. My beloved, you need to understand by faith that He perfectly obeyed all of God's commandments for us also. He lived a life of glorifying God with many good works in our place. So that we can put it as strikingly as this, you don't have to glorify God for your salvation. You don't have to do good works to God's glory for your salvation. That's not to say we don't. We will and thank, seek to glorify God and do good works. The child of God will. But it's not for your salvation. It's not to gain it. Because Jesus says in this text, I have finished that. I've done it all. I've obeyed in their place. They don't have to obey to gain that salvation anymore. It's done. It's finished. That's the radical, beautiful gospel. The proud and self-righteous need to hear that. And that's you and I by nature. That's you and me by nature. Don't try to add to Christ's work for your salvation by imagining that your good works in any slight way contributes to his work, to gain his favor. He says to you who are proud, who tend to want to add to his work, he says to you, I have done it today. I finished it. Don't contradict these words by trying to add to his work. The Arminian notion is contradicted by Christ in this text. There are many notions that Jesus has done most of the work for salvation, for really all people in all the world, and now it's up to man to do this, to accept Him, to fulfill a condition. And Jesus says, no one can accept that work. There's not left up to man. I will work in man to believe. I have finished the work. I have fulfilled all the conditions. Not only do the proud and the self-righteous need to hear that, but the despairing and the doubting need to hear this word. Some of you are in that place. Perhaps wallowing in sin, that the law, especially is preached strictly, shows you your sin is great. Every day you do not meet his requirements. You do not glorify God as you ought. And what Satan does to those who are despairing and doubting is say, there is yet more that you must do in glorifying God to gain his favor. And Jesus says to you who are despairing and wallowing in sin, no, there's no more. There's no more you have to do. There's no more glorifying Him. There's no more good works you must do to gain, to earn His favor because He has done it all. He truly has. That's what you need to hear Him pray. As He says this with confidence, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do for My people. I have glorified thee on the earth in their place. That Son of God, our representative in doing that, deserves glory. Here's a principle of God's law to receive glory in heaven You must perfectly glorify God. Jesus did. He's saying that in this text. I have perfectly glorified God. And thus he earned, he merited glory for himself. That's what he's praying in verse five. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. He is saying in that verse, verse 5, that because he has finished glorifying God on this earth, he deserves to be lifted up to the glory of heaven. That's the significance of the word now. It's a small word, but an important one. Now means in these circumstances just described. In the circumstances I just described of me finishing the work of glorifying thee on this earth, my people. It's time that I am rewarded for it. Now glorify thou me with thine own self for the glory which I had with thee before the world was. We sang in Psalm 24 those words, who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? And the answer, remember, he that hath clean hands and a pure heart. Whoever walked uprightly. Have you? Then you don't deserve to ascend to the hill of the Lord, but He does. What Jesus is saying here is, I have. And so I deserve to ascend to the hill of the Lord and stand in His holy place. And so God, as Philippians 2 verse 9 says, hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. Jesus describes His glory which He deserves in two ways. First, He describes His glory which He deserves as a glory in the presence, the close presence and fellowship of the Father. That's the significance of the words, with thine own self. He says, with thine own self. Now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self. That means in the closest experience of fellowship with Father. Children, do you know what Jesus looked forward to in heaven more than anything else? And what you and I are to look forward to more than anything else in heaven? To be near. To be near to God. To be so near and so close in friendship and fellowship with Him. That we know him better than we ever knew him before. And to enjoy his close presence forevermore. That's what we look forward to in heaven. That's what Jesus looked forward to. That he might have and enjoy that close fellowship and fellowship. And he looked forward to that because while he was on this earth, though he did not lose that covenant with God, though he did not lose that fellowship with God, the experience of it was difficult. Especially when he hung on that cross, remember, and he cried out, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? It doesn't mean that father and father stopped loving the son and that the covenant was destroyed between father and son, but rather that the experience of the son was far, he felt far away from God. Now he's saying in this text, I finished the work and so bring me close, bring me close to thee, that glory. And secondly, the text describes, this glory is that which I had with thee before the world was. It's proof that the Son is God, very God, deity. He eternally existed with the Father. He's co-eternal, co-equal. Now, bring me back to that glory that I had before the world was, the Son said. Before the incarnation, remember, before He came, children, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, before He became a human being, God the Son existed. He always has. And in His eternal existence, He shone brightly, He shined brightly with all the attributes of God. While on this earth as a human being, of course, that glory was not taken away from him, but it was hidden, it was veiled, it wasn't experienced by the Son in his human flesh. And so he's praying now in this text, that which is hidden, that which is veiled while in human flesh, cause it to shine forth with the brilliance that I had before the world was. Restore me to that glory that I had before. Give, He is saying, that which I have earned. But there would be something different about this glory which the Son would be restored to. Something different than the glory that He had before the world was. You know what it is? No, it wasn't that He was going to shine any less brightly. It wasn't that He was going to be any less close to Father than He was from before the foundations of the world. But here's a difference. A difference that leads us to another aspect of the Gospel. He would be given this glory in human flesh. Let that sink in. Before His incarnation, He had glory, tremendous glory, equal with the Father, in close fellowship with the Father, but it wasn't in human flesh. He took on human flesh in His incarnation, and now He's praying that God would lift Him up in human flesh. with the glory that he had before the world was children. A misunderstanding, a common misunderstanding among young people and children and perhaps also adults is that when Jesus rose and ascended into heaven, he stopped being human. He wasn't a human anymore. He became God again and lost his human nature. That's not true. The wonder of his resurrection and ascension is that he was glorified in human flesh. And that leads us to the gospel, I said, because that which Christ has earned in human flesh, He has earned not only for us, for Himself, but for us. The glory that He has earned close in fellowship to the Father, shining with the attributes of God, is the glory that He has gained, He has earned for you and me as well as for Himself. Philippians 3.21, He shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned, how? Like unto His most glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. We will shine with the attributes of God. Jesus Christ, Jesus in human flesh, shines with the attributes of God, with a brightness that is indescribable in the closest presence with Triune God, where we might know Him even as we are known. Jesus prays, now do this for me as I have earned. But the implication is he has earned this glory not only for himself, but for us, his elect people. The confidence of Jesus Christ in this prayer has been implied, but we focus on it to close because his confidence is our confidence. His confidence is shown by his posture. Remember, he's lifting up his eyes into heaven. He is certain that where he looks is where he will be soon. And he's confident that he will soon be victorious even though he will have to go to the cross before that. But notice the confidence is expressed in the words of the text. Confidence is not only expressed in the posture of Jesus Christ, how He prays, but in the verb, the verb tense. Jesus uses what is called the perfect tense when He speaks of His work being done. He says, not this, He does not say this, I will glorify Thee on the earth, I will finish the work, but rather He says, I have. Glorify thee. I have finished the work. But put that in the context. Think. Put that in the context. He still had to go to the cross where he would say, remember, children on the cross. At the end of his life he said, it is finished there. Same word in our text. That doesn't sound quite right, does it? He has to still do the greatest part of the work yet. of suffering and dying on the cross, how can Jesus say, I have finished, as though He had already done it, when the cross was not yet done? And the answer is, Jesus is so confident, He is so certain, that He will finish that work, that He will triumph at the cross, and that he'll gain this glory, that he speaks as though it is already done. In the Old Testament, there's something in the Hebrew language and grammar called the prophetic perfect. The prophets of the Old Testament often did this. They would speak with this tense, called the prophetic perfect. Predicting that which would take place in the future, but speaking about it as though it had already taken place. Because they were so certain that God's Word would be fulfilled. And Jesus takes on that kind of language here in the text. And He says, I have finished. I have glorified Thee upon this earth. As though the cross was already done. Because He means by that, with confidence. It is as good as done. Beloved, that same confidence the author and finisher of our faith gives to us when we hear him pray, I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do. I have glorified thee on this earth for the salvation of my elect people. Salvation earned is done. The glory of heaven for you and me is as good as done. The believer is confident in that. Jesus prays later on in verse 24, Father I will that they also whom Thou has given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which Thou has given me. And God the Father will answer Jesus' prayer and glorify us His people in the end. So beloved, even before your work on this earth is done, you still have work to do, not to earn your salvation, We have worked in service of Christ, in thankfulness for what He's done, before your work is done on this earth. And even though you fall short every day, glorifying God, though you try, you seek to glorify Him by the Spirit in you. You can be certain, as Jesus was certain, that your glory in heaven, in close fellowship with God, is as good as accomplished. You can speak of it in that perfect tense. I have finished the work my father has given me to do. I have glorified him perfectly, not because I've done so personally. Because He has done so for me. And I know I have glory. And heaven is my possession. Does that leave the child of God to live however He wants? Because He is so certain of glory? No. No. The true believer in knowing and being confident of this bursts forth in thanksgiving. Glory be to God. Let my life, let my soul, let my body be for His praise all the way unto glory. And the only reason, the one reason I want to receive that glory in heaven that I'm sure to receive is so that I may glorify Him all the more. And that perfectly. Amen. Holy Father, God of eternal covenant within thyself, we praise thee for sharing thy covenant with us. We marvel at Jesus who perfectly glorified thee in contrast to us who fail in this and fall short every day. We thank thee that he was our representative who did the work and finished it for us. We thank thee that his glorifying thee was so perfect that He has earned for Himself and for us, His people, glory unspeakable. Give us, we pray, with the preaching of Thy Word, a confidence, assurance that we need. And with that assurance, give us a great gratitude so that we truly seek to glorify Thee in all that we do and say. These things we pray. For Jesus' sake, a praise in heaven right now. Amen.