My text once again this morning, is from John 17. If you'd like to take your Bibles and turn there, John 17, we will be looking at verses one through 10, once again, under the heading, "Jesus Pleads For His Own." A few preliminary remarks before I read the text.

We often say to those in need, I'm praying for you. Many times, I hear you say that to me, and I'm deeply moved when I hear that. And I hope we always mean that when we say that we are praying for someone. But how much more to know our Creator, our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, prayed for us and continues to pray for us. It's an amazing thought. As our high priest, he continues to pray Hebrews 7:25, "He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." And as we come to John chapter 17 in Christ's high priestly prayer, we see that he prays especially for the security of our salvation, which in many ways is the dominating theme of his perpetual intercession, declaring to the Father that he has indeed paid the penalty for our sins in his body. For Jesus is the one who is able to make us stand in the presence of his glory, "blameless with great joy," as Jude 24 tells us.

Moreover, as we look at this prayer, we see that he prays that we might have eternal life. Why? So that we can know the true God, to know Jesus Christ, whom you have sent that we might have his joy made complete in us, which is an amazing thought; that he would keep us from the evil one, that we would be sanctified in the truth of his word; that we might be united together in the body of Christ, so that we can enjoy the fullness of inner Trinitarian intimacy and fellowship; that we would make his name known and that he would make his name known to us, so that in verse 26 of John 17, "'the love with which you loved Me may be in them, and I in them.'" My what a perfect prayer list for each of us that we would pray those things.

And in John 14, verse 31 we begin to get the context. And I want to remind you of that. In that particular passage, we see that Jesus concluded the first part of his farewell address as he prepared to make his way to the cross. And at the end of that first part of that farewell discourse, he concludes by saying, "'Get up. Let us go from here.'" That means that they left the upper room and began walking through the city towards Gethsemane. Those of us who have been there, we've walked that, we can see that in our mind's eye; and later on, in John 17 and verse one, we read that he lifts his eyes up to heaven, indicating that they were outside. He's going to pray now, the disciples are going to hear, and then at the end of the prayer in John 18 verse one, it says, "When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden in which He entered with His disciples." So in that text, we see that at this point now, he leaves the city of Jerusalem, not the upper room. He's already left there. He's leaving the city proper of Jerusalem. He's crossing the Kidron Valley, which is east of the city, and it's a few 100 feet below the Temple Mount. And he begins now to head up the slopes of the Mount of Olives towards Gethsemane, where he will be betrayed.

And as you think about it, this was the path of another treacherous betrayal, you will remember when Absalom betrayed David. This was the path that he took as we read in Second Samuel 15. So Jesus is making his way to the Garden of Gethsemane, where his anguish of soul over the cup that he was about to drink would be so excruciating that he would actually sweat drops of blood. Yet, with all this awaiting him, it's amazing to see how the selfless Savior prays for his disciples who were dismayed at all that was happening; unimaginably disappointed, and as their great high priest and our great high priest intercedes on their behalf and on our behalf, entrusting them into the Father's care upon his departure.

And what's interesting, what weighs heavy upon his heart, is recorded in verse three of John 17. And here it is, "'That they may know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.'" And of course, that is the very essence of eternal life. And in verse 13, he's going to say, "'But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world...'" In other words, he's going to speak them out loud so that they can hear him, we can hear him. Why? "'...so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.'" So he's letting us hear this prayer of how he is interceding on our behalf. And why is that? He wants us to experience the same joy that he experiences; an amazing thing, something that the world cannot offer. And it's staggering to know that the burden of our Savior is that we might experience that same soul satisfying joy.

So Jesus' ministry now is moving from instruction to intercession. There's a there's a huge shift that's occurring here. He's going to be interceding now as our Great High Priest, and this prayer is one of the most amazing passages in all of Scripture. Here we are allowed access into the holy of holies of inner Trinitarian communication. And here we glean many profound theological insights that help us understand that God has a plan. And as we began to see last week, it is a plan that was number one, predetermined. Secondly, it's a plan that is personal. And today we're going to look at two more aspects of the plan. It is perfect and it is also preeminent.

Now, with that in mind, let me read John 17, one through 10.

Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said,

'Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,

even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.

This is eternal life that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.

Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.

Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You;

for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;

and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.'"

By way of review, his plan was, first of all, predetermined, as we see in verse one, he said that,"'Father, the hour has come.'" And of course, that was the hour when he would be delivered up by, "the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God," as we read in Acts two and verse 23, an hour when the Father would glorify the Son and the Son the Father. So obviously this speaks of a predetermined plan of mutual glorification.

But notice also, by way of review, it was a personal plan. One that includes sovereign grace being set upon all those whom the Father had given him; specific individuals. This included his disciples, as we see in verse six, "'...the men whom Thou gavest me out of the world.'" But we also know, according to verse 20, it expands and includes all believers. He says, "'I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.'" And then in verse 24 he will say, "'Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me, for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world.'"

Indeed, as we examined in more detail last week, this includes specific persons. It's a wonder of wonders to me that in eternity past, the Father would ordain a plan to demonstrate his infinite love to his Son, whereby he would choose for his Son a bride. He chose them by name, and he wrote them in a book of life - the Lamb's book of life - an elect group of sinners hostile to him, in desperate need of forgiveness and a righteousness beyond their own; a vast multitude of humanity that he pledged to his Son as a love, gift from the Father to the Son; pledged to him and sealed by the Holy Spirit. And in time, as I think about this personally, and certainly you can say the same thing, in time, because of that infinite love, he drew me, he drew you, unto himself in the miracle of salvation. The Father irresistibly compelled each sinner to voluntarily exercise their will and come to a place of repentance of sins and believe on the Son.

And central to this whole plan of inner Trinitarian love and glory was the Son's death. He had to become the perfect substitute to satisfy the just wrath of God, to be the propitiation for our sins, to save those whose names had been recorded in the Lamb's book of life to reconcile them to a holy God; the ones to which Jesus refers in verse six and 24 as "those whom Thou hast given Me." Theologically, we must understand the incredible implications of this. His atonement was not an act of salvation, or an act that made salvation a possibility, one whereby God would pardon sinners based upon the condition that they might believe. No, it was an actual substitution that endured the penalty of sin in the place of specific sinners chosen by God in eternity past, it ensured that they would indeed be brought to saving faith. And so on the cross of Calvary, there was a profound...just beyond our imagination, transaction that occurred between God and his Son, the Lord Jesus. And the biblical gospel presents a God who saves, not a God who enables man to save himself.

Again, bear in mind, God is not some impotent deity hoping sinners will finally respond to an altar call and accept Jesus into their heart; that is so foreign to the New Testament record, and sadly, this is the pathetic god of many pulpits today - a God whose will is subject to man's will. But the God of the Bible is an omnipotent god that actively draws his elect unto himself. And thus, Christ redeemed those whom the Father had given him with his very blood. So therefore,the cross actually - not potentially, not hypothetically - purchased the redemption for all whom the Father had given the Son before the foundation of the world.

And I might also add that because of this, our task in presenting the gospel is not to bring men to Christ, but rather to bring Christ to men. And when rightly proclaimed, in all of its truth, the Spirit of God will use that to awaken those dead sinners to saving faith and in his great mercy, cause them to be born again.

So here again, Jesus' passionate prayer indicates a plan that was, number one, predetermined. Secondly, personal. And now today, let's look at the fact that it was also a perfect plan. Aren't you glad that God has plans that cannot be thwarted? Where would we be if this was all just some random universe? And we see this perfect plan in many different waysthroughout Scripture, and I don't have time to expand upon all of them, but I want you to look at just a few here. First of all, notice, in verse four, "'I glorified Thee on the earth having accomplished the work which Thou hast given me to do.'" So here, Jesus anticipates the cross and the perfect justice it would satisfy, and this plan was perfect - first of all, I'm just going to give you a couple of reasons here - first of all, because Christ's work accomplished the work of the Father, or the work the Father had sent him to do. It accomplished the work the Father had sent him to do.

Notice verse five, "'And now...'" "now" referring to the specific time of his death that would be followed by his resurrection and his ascension and his coronation that is yet to come, "'And now glorify Thou Me, together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.'" And here he speaks of that estate prior to his earthly humiliation, in which he, according to Philippians, two seven, "emptied Himself."  Emptied himself, not emptied himself of his deity or even of his attributes, but of his independent use of them. And here Jesus looks beyond his humiliation, and ultimately, he's praying for his coronation, knowing that his final work of redemption would save countless millions who would praise the Triune God for eternity.

And just hours later, now think about this, even though he was not physically at a point of death on the cross, he would cry out with a shout of triumph, "It is finished" the text says, "and he bowed His head and gave up His spirit." Literally, in the original, "He sent His spirit away." We can understand that the recuperative powers of an unfallen body such as his would have caused him to fully recover, so he had to give up his spirit. And this is in keeping with Jesus' earlier statement concerning his life, when he said in John 10 and verse 18, "'No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.'" So yes, indeed, dear Christian, it was a perfect plan, because it accomplished all that the Father had predetermined, in his sovereignty, to accomplish. And an omnipotent God is going to accomplish these things. And it was for this reason that Jesus shouted, "'It is finished!'" And the resurrection was proof of God's acceptance of this perfect sacrifice. You will recall in Romans four and verse 25 we read that, "He was delivered up because of our transgressions and was," catch this, "raised because of our justification." "Delivered up" is a judicial term referring to a criminal being given over to punishment, and here we see the perfect, spotless Lamb of God delivered up to the sentence of death because of our transgressions, and then he was raised up to provide the justification before God that we would never attain by our own power or merit.

And so therefore his resurrection was confirmation that the Father accepted the Son's sacrifice, one by which all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will be declared righteous. And that's what justification means, to be declared righteous based on the righteousness, the imputed righteousness, of Christ. This is an amazing validation of the absolute perfection and predetermined plan of God. Think about this. We read in Psalm 19:7 that the law of God is perfect, but we know it could not save sinful man, it just exposed his guilt, so the Son of God had to become our substitute. And it says in Romans 8:3 that he came to do what, "the Law could not do." Moreover, we know that the demands of the law could not be relaxed in any way to accommodate the weakness of men. In fact, we read in Psalm 89 verse 14, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Thy throne." So it was necessary for God to devise a plan to save sinners without any relaxation of the Law. And herein is the very heart of the gospel: that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, paid in full the sins of all those who would trust in Him, and to do that on the cross of Calvary. As we read in Second Corinthians 5:21, "He made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." And in Galatians three, verse 13, we read, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us."

But I want you to understand that his death did more than save sinners, as glorious as that is, as wonderful as that might be - but it also declared the glory of God. Now think about this. While he hung upon the cross, we see the mercy, the love, the righteousness and the holiness of God in maintaining the unalterable standards of his own law. It was on the cross where mercy and justice came together, where he saved sinners who were guilty of breaking that law. It's hard to imagine, isn't it? That's what happened there. And folks, if you want to learn more about the character of God, contemplate the cross. Look at the cross and see what really happened there.

And its for this reason, we see the glorious perfection of the cross. Think of it this way, God devised a perfect plan. In fact, I could put it this way, a perfect God devised a perfect plan that could only be carried out by a perfect Savior who died for sinners, who violated a perfect law, so that we might become perfect in him, and the resurrection was proof of the Son's perfect sacrifice, whereby we are justified. In other words, we are declared righteous in the sight of God on the basis of the righteousness of Christ. So we are no longer under the penalty of the law. We now are at peace with God. We are restored, if you will, to his loving favor. The great 19th century theologian Charles Hodge summarized the profound theology of the resurrection in this way. Quote, "With a dead Savior, a Savior over whom death had triumphed and held captive, our justification had been forever impossible. As it was necessary that the high priest under the old economy should not only slay the victim at the altar but carry the blood into the most holy place and sprinkled it upon the mercy seat. So it was necessary not only that our Great High Priest should suffer in the outer court, but that he should pass into heaven to present his righteousness before God for our justification. Both therefore, as the evidence of the acceptance of his satisfaction on our behalf and as a necessary step to secure the application of the merits of his sacrifice, the resurrection of Christ was absolutely essential, even for our justification." End quote. What an amazing thought.

Folks think about this, whereas God once condemned, he now acquits. All because of what Christ has done. Whereas he once would not allow access into his presence, he now summons us with outstretched arms because of Christ's sacrifice, all because a faithful high priest suffered and died and passed into heaven, into the presence of the righteousness of God, so that we could be declared righteous. Absolutely overwhelming. And here Jesus prays for this predetermined, this personal perfect plan to finally be completed, verse five, and "'Now glorify Thou Me together with Thyself Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.'" And for this to happen, he must go to the cross, then he must go to the grave, then he must present his righteousness before God, on our behalf, and then be resurrected, then ascend back to the Father and eventually be coronated King of kings and Lord of lords.

And may I remind you of another aspect of the perfection of this plan. Think about what happened in the temple when Christ was crucified. You will remember in Matthew 27 verse 52 that the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Mind you, this was a massive veil. We are told from historians that lived in that day, it was about six inches thick. It wasn't like a little curtain that we see hanging in our living room. It was a magnificent embroidery. In fact, we know that it took about 200 men to remove it for periodic cleaning. And you will remember that in the Old Testament, God was absolutely unapproachable. Absolutely unapproachable. No one could enter into his presence, so a veil separated sinful people from their God in the Holy of Holies. But now, when Christ suffered on our behalf, that veil has been rent; final atonement has been made, and the faithful, merciful High Priest became the propitiation for our sins - that is the satisfaction, or the appeasement, of the righteousness of God. Hebrews two verse 17 in particular speaks of that. And therefore, according to Hebrews four and verse 16, a passage we all know, "Let us therefore," in other words, in light of all of this, "Let us therefore, for draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need." Again, this was absolutely unheard of, especially to the Jewish people, because God was unapproachable.

We read in Romans five, the apostle Paul saying, beginning in verse one, "Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand." In other words, now, because of Christ, we have access to God through him. Now we stand in grace. The idea is that that we are permanently secured by the Holy Spirit in a position that will remain that way forever. This is unbelievable. Such intimacy with God was utterly foreign to the Jewish people, but today, we no longer fear God with some terrifying angst, but rather we approach him as our heavenly Father. How precious it is for our children to see their father, and in time of need, run to the father with his outstretched arms and set on that father's knee and be consoled and be protected.

For this reason, Paul said in Romans eight, beginning in verse 14, "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." He went on to say, "we have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba Father,' the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children heirs, also heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ." So again, beloved, this a perfect plan, not only because Christ's work accomplished all that the Father had given him, sent him to do, but secondly, it is a perfect plan because it cannot be thwarted. Every individual the Father has given the Son, every person for whom Christ died, every person whose name was written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world, is secured forever.

And Jesus goes on to pray to that end in verses nine through 16. If we had time, we would look at that, but here we read, or there we would read that he intercedes for the preservation of those whom the Father had given him. Verse nine, "'I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine.'" Verse 10, "'All things that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I have been glorified in them.'" So the love gift of redeemed sinners belongs to both of them. It's fascinating, if we go to John chapter 10, verses 28 and following, we see Jesus picturing the redeemed as being held in the Father's hand, being kept safe forever, never to be relinquished. And so it is not the unsaved of the world, that occupies the Savior's mind that night, but those who already possessed eternal life, even those who had never been born again; even those like me and like you. He has already established that fact. In fact, in John six, verse 37 we read that, "all that the Father has given Me" do actually come to him. Nothing can prevent that, that is the point. And each one who comes according to verse 37 it says, "'I will certainly not cast out.''"  In the original language, grammatically, it is a double negative, and what he's saying there is, each one who comes to Jesus will never ever, under any circumstance whatsoever, be cast out, will never be turned away.

Then, as if that promise of security were not enough, Jesus adds this in verse 39 that quote, "'This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given me I lose nothing but raise it up on the last day.'" "It" referring to each person who has died and who is therefore part of the "all." He will raise up each person on that last day, the time of the believer’s future judgment.

In verse 40, he adds, "'For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.'" So here, dear friends, the Spirit reveals the perfect, unalterable saving plan of God, to save, to preserve, to resurrect, every single sinner who places their trust in Christ as Savior. And for my brethren who believe that somehow a person who is genuinely born again can do something to lose their salvation, I would humbly ask, how can you possibly look at even this passage of Scripture, not to mention many others, and still believe that man is the final arbiter in salvation, rather than God? How can you possibly do that?

Dear friends, man can no more lose his salvation than he can gain it. In Romans eight, we read that there is "nothing that can separate us from the love of God," not even our own sin, our own stupidity. First, Peter one, beginning in verse three, we read that we have an inheritance, "which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice..." Beloved, you must understand we are part of his plan. This is not our plan. Do you really think that man can opt out of God's plan? Do you really think that we can override his sovereign election? Do you really believe that the securing work of the Triune Godhead is insufficient to preserve you to the end? Do you really believe that mere man could thwart the decreed purposes of Almighty God? Do you really believe that Christ's work as mediator on our behalf is somehow deficient and ineffective? Do you really believe that the work of the Holy Spirit can be undone? I mean, think about this. Do you believe that we can be untransformed? Do you believe that we can be unborn again? Do you believe that this new creation can revert back to the old? We are told that we have been partakers of the divine nature. What...can we decide, well, no don't want that, let's go back to the old nature. Surely you don't believe that.

Do you believe that somehow, we can overrule the Holy Spirit's promise to indwell us forever, to seal us for the day of redemption, to guarantee our future inheritance, to baptize us into union with Christ and into the body of believers? Do you really believe all of that is ultimately contingent upon us? Do you really believe that we can overrule him, that all of his works are invalid and must be rescinded, that somehow, we have the power to reverse those things? You know, I've heard so many people say, "Well, yeah, but I know that that person, you know, came to saving faith in Christ. I know that that person was born again, but then they renounced their faith, so they lost their salvation." Dear friend, I would humbly say, if you've ever said that, if you believe that, you might think you know, but you didn't know for sure. I mean, think of Judas. He had the 11 fooled, did he not? But he was a devil from the beginning, as we read in John six and verse 70. You see those who profess Christ, then renounce him, are people that have deceived themselves from the beginning. First John two, and verse 19, we read that "...they went out from us," why? "but they were not really of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us, but they went out so that it would be shown that they all are not of us."

You know, the disciples had to learn the lesson of hypocrisy early on; the danger of self-deception. And I see this all the time in professing believers who live a double life, and many times they don't even know it themselves. They have deceived themselves. They've gotten caught up in churchianity, they've gotten caught up in tradition. They're chameleon Christians, just like Judas. Oh, they can look so godly, but in reality, in their heart, they really don't love Christ. They have no desire to live for his glory, to deny themselves daily, take up their cross, follow him. They're Christian in name only. Of course, this is so typical, especially in our culture of churchianity. But you know, God sees the heart. In fact, Jesus made such a warning, such a stunning warning. In Matthew seven and verse 21 he says, "'Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.'" And of course, doing the will of the Father is a matter of a transformed heart. One whereby God, in his infinite mercy, has raised us from spiritual death to spiritual life, the miracle of regeneration, so that we literally love what God loves and hate what he hates. And that grows as we grow in Christ; when a heart is wicked, eventually the hypocrisy will be exposed, the self-deceit will be exposed, and a person will apostatize, proving that they were never born again. But folks, make no mistake, every single individual that the Father has given to the Son as part of that love gift, as part of that bridal church, every person for whom Christ died, every person whose name was written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world will be secured forever, because God's plan has been perfectly accomplished, and it cannot be thwarted by man or by devil.

And it's for this reason our preservation in the world, that is our preservation in the world, that Jesus is praying here. Verse 11, he says, "'And I am no more in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We are.'" In other words, as I leave, Father, I'm leaving them in enemy territory. Satan is going to be active. Their flesh is going to be active but protect them. Don't allow their flesh and Satan to lead them astray, protect them, preserve them, and do so according to your predetermined, personal and perfect plan. A plan that is also fourthly and finally, a preeminent plan.

You know, all other plans of man and of Satan are doomed to failure, right? How many times have we made plans, and it didn't work out the way we planned? Right? Man makes his plans;God determines his steps. But God's plan is the most excellent plan of all. It is unsurpassed. It is unrivaled. It is unparalleled because it glorifies the Creator, the Sustainer, the Redeemer, Redeemer and the consummator of all things, the Triune God, who is the essence of glory. And this, dear friends, of course, is what captivates the Savior's heart as he prepares to go to the cross, as he prays for his disciples, as he prays for all of us on that solemn night.

Again, verse one, "'Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son that the Son may glorify Thee.'" Verse five, "'Now glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father.'" Verse 22, and, "'The glory which Thou hast given Me, I have given to them that they may be one, just as We are one.'" Glory, glory, glory. You hear it, over and over here. And this is one of the reoccurring themes in John's Gospel. In fact, as we study John's gospel, we see that the term is used 41 times, more than all of the other gospels combined. And Jesus is concerned now about his glory, that he might glorify his Father, because to glorify one is to glorify the other. And the glory to which he refers to is the indescribable, ineffable manifestation of the character of God that is revealed in his creation, that is revealed in his works of redemption, in his word, in his church, in his elect and certainly in the person and the work of Christ.

The Old Testament. Hebrew term for glory, "kavod," comes from a root word that means heavy or weighty. And it carried the idea of the heaviness of something, and that was connected to the worthiness of something, like we would say something is worth its weight in gold. And so it was used in a figurative sense to suggest something that was impressive or of a worthy person. And in the New Testament, the Greek term is "dóxa," for glory. We get our word doxology from that. And it takes its meaning from the Old Testament. In fact, in the Septuagint, we read that "dóxa" is often translated, "shining" or "radiance," "the radiating of the glory of God." You remember in Isaiah's vision, he saw the glory of the pre-incarnate Christ, the Lord Jesus, sitting on his throne; this brilliant, ineffable light of his glorious presence. And it was so overwhelming that it caused him to say, "Woe is me, for I am ruined."

So here in John 17, Jesus is praying that we will see the essential nature of God and all of his actions and all of his works, so that we can be absolutely awestruck over who he is, over what he has done, is doing and will do. And sadly, this is hardly the kind of God that is worshiped in so many churches today; churches that are man centered, rather than God centered; where, ultimately everything revolves around man and his needs, rather than God and his glory.

And folks, this should be the dominating theme in our prayer life. "Oh, Father, help me to give you glory in how I treat my wife, how I treat my children, how I treat my co-workers, how I live my life in front of other people, because I want to live for your glory." And we know that Jesus glory was was veiled in his incarnation, veiled by his human flesh, and yet it partially broke through that veil on the Mount of Transfiguration. You will remember when somehow, he peeled back his flesh and the effulgence of the light of his glory, you will recall, emanated from him.

And again, when the angry mob came to arrest Jesus in the garden. You remember in John 18, verse four, they said, or he says, "'Whom do you seek?'" They answered," in verse five, "Jesus the Nazarene." And He said to them, 'I am He.'"  In Greek, "egō eimi", a staggering statement. He answered by using his covenant name, the covenant name of God; the title that he used to describe himself for example, in John 8:58, where he told the unbelieving Jews, "'Before Abraham was born, I am.'" In other words, he referred to himself in the present, continuous tense, because he has always, and he will always exist. And so this is a title indicating his self-existent. He is the uncreated, creator of the universe, the self-existent, pre-existent, God of glory. There has never been a time when he didn't exist.

And so in verse six, when he said to them, "'I am He,'" what happened? "They drew back and fell to the ground." Don't you wish you could have seen that. That's one of the things I'm going to ask the Lord. Can you run that one back? You know, I'd love to see that. What a picture of man's utter helplessness in the presence of a holy God.

Moreover, in John 17, Jesus prays for that same glory that blinded the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, the Shekinah, that ineffable, dazzling, brilliant, blinding light that God would use when he would materialize himself, and for the glory that he later revealed to us through his servant, the apostle John in Revelation 21 where he describes the splendor of the eternal state. He's praying for all of us to see this and we will the astonishing grandeur, for example, of the New Jerusalem that will descend from heaven. Revelation, 21 beginning in verse 22 he said, John says, "I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are in its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb." This is what he's praying for that we will all see. Folks, do you share Christ's passion for the glory of God? Do you long to live for His glory? Do you long to see him glorified on this earth.

Henry Martin, a 19th century English missionary, to the peoples of India and Persia, understood this all too well. The story goes that he was the guest of a Muslim friend for dinner, and his host described to him a painting that he had seen of Jesus bowing down before Muhammad. And Martin tells us what happened next, and I'm quoting him here.

"I was cut to the soul at this blasphemy. Mirza Seid Ali perceived that I was considerably disordered, and asked what it was that was so offensive? And I told him, 'I could not endure existence if Jesus was not glorified; it would be hell to me, if He were to be always thus dishonored.' He was astonished, and again, said, 'Why?' 'If anyone pluck out your eyes?' I replied, 'there is no saying why you feel pain; it is feeling,'"

and here's why,

"'it is because I am one with Christ, therefore I am thus dreadfully wounded.'"

Child of God, I hope this is the passion of your heart, and I hope that as you contemplate what happened there in Christ's high priestly prayer, that you will make it your priority to live to the praise of his glory. That that will be a dominating theme in your prayer life, that that will be the theme of your private worship, that that will be the theme of your public praise, that that will be the motivating force of your evangelism, and the primary reason why you long to see him face to face. This is why we sing, is it not? This is why we read his word. This is why we submit ourselves to the preaching of his word. So I challenge you to meditate upon these great themes; great plan of God, one that was predetermined, personal, perfect and preeminent.

Folks, this is where history is headed, and it doesn't matter whether it's China, Russia, North Korea, America. It doesn't matter who or what's in charge. This is where it's headed. And Christ will be glorified. If you're here today and you really don't know him - so many of these things are foreign to you - I just pray that you will humble yourself, that the Spirit of God will bring conviction to your heart, and that you will see Christ in all of his glory where he has been presented to you today, so that you will renounce the delusion that somehow you are the master of your own destiny, and that somehow you're good enough to enter into the kingdom, or that somehow you can play the Christian game that is so typical of our culture; be around the right people, go to the right church, say the right things, but in your heart you have no real love for Christ. Dear friend, don't be deceived. I pray that today will be the day that you will come to saving faith in Christ and truly be born again and live to the praise of his glory. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for the eternal truths of your word. Thank you for the way they bring us into your presence this side of glory. Thank you for the way they can penetrate even the most recalcitrant heart. And I pray that that will indeed be the case today. And for all of us who know and love you, Lord, may we live to the praise of your glory in ways that perhaps we never have before, especially as our minds go back and contemplate what happened in Christ's high priestly prayer, where he interceded on our behalf, before he went to the cross for our behalf, and the way he intercedes for us, even this day. We thank you, we give you praise, in Jesus’ name, Amen.