Glory

[0:00] Well, we come tonight to lesson 19 of our study of the inner sanctuary.

[0:21] ! And this evening we're going to scratch a little bit more.

[0:36] You don't go through this at breakneck speed. And we actually were able to make it through the first half of verse 1 last time. And what I read there was, Jesus spoke these things, and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, Father, the hour has come.

[1:00] Glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You. And we talked at some length last time, you may recall, about those words, Father, the hour has come. And we're speaking there of the death, sacrificial death, the atoning death of our Lord.

[1:21] Many times in the Gospels we read that His hour had not come. And He had to kind of disappear into the crowd. But now His hour has come, and He knows He's going to be departing.

[1:37] And when we say His hour has come, we're obviously not speaking of 60 minutes. It's not on the clock. But it is an event.

[1:47] And that event, of course, is the crucifixion. And so the hour has come for those events to fall into place that will lead to the death and burial of our Lord.

[2:02] Everything that's being done is in accord with the Father's will. But the men that turned Him over to the Romans, that condemned Him in the Sanhedrin of Israel, that condemned Him in the Roman palace, they're all responsible.

[2:29] God didn't make them do what they did. They wanted to do what they did. So every one of them were responsible. And the Lord even said it would have been better for Judas if he'd never been born than what he's now faced with in eternity.

[2:48] So we read that the hour has come. But this evening, for a few minutes anyway, we're going to focus on the second part of verse 1, which says, Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you.

[3:04] Very important statement. And it comes in the midst, or just immediately after, Jesus has acknowledged that His death was imminent.

[3:17] And even facing death, and of course the Lord knew in minute detail what type of death He was going to suffer, but even then, His central concern is about bringing glory to the Father.

[3:36] Now you're not going to see this in your notes, but I was reviewing it this evening right before I left for here. And if that's the Lord's greatest concern, it stands to reason it should be ours as well.

[3:51] To do those things that bring glory to the Father. Do as I say, not as I do. Bringing the Father glory has been the hallmark of the Lord's earthly ministry.

[4:09] In John 7, verse 18, we read that the Lord was continually seeking the glory of the One who sent Him.

[4:21] And of course we know who sent Him, and that's the Father. He came here to reveal the Father to us, and to live out His life in submission and in obedience to the Father, though He is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father.

[4:38] And He actually set some of that aside. We've talked about that in the past. We're going to talk about it probably in the future. Some of the events recorded in Scripture that brought glory to the Father included the events surrounding the birth of the Lord, certainly the teaching ministry of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus, which pointed to the fact that He was legitimate when He claimed to be the Messiah.

[5:16] Anybody that can make an eye out of mud, you know, out of spitting dirt, I'm going to believe can also have the power to forgive sins, and that's what Jesus did.

[5:28] Certainly the events surrounding His death brought the Father glory, and the events obviously surrounding His resurrection brought the Father glory.

[5:39] All of these things, and many, many more not mentioned, brought glory to the Father. And Jesus actually told the crowd that He had come to this earth to accomplish the will of the Father.

[5:58] And part of that is encompassed in the fact that He now faces death. The Father put Him on the cross. Jesus willingly went to the cross.

[6:09] People say, Oh, I have a real problem with that. Well, yeah. Since my sins put Him there, I have a problem with it too. But it is nevertheless the truth. Jesus said, I have come to accomplish the will of the Father.

[6:27] He spoke to the Father from the Garden of Gethsemane and repeated that the Father's will must be done. So here we see that even at the end of His earthly ministry, we see Jesus seeking ways to bring glory to the Father.

[6:50] And we also note just a little, kind of a new twist in His request, because He also asked the Father to glorify Him.

[7:05] So we see this kind of a two-way mission here to bring glory to the Father and the Father to bring glory to the Lord. And the Father had done that many times during the Lord's earthly sojourn.

[7:21] The Father glorified Jesus throughout His earthly ministry. He glorified Him at the baptism of Jesus. And we remember how the Father spoke, you know, from heaven and said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

[7:37] Hear Him. He sent the dove, a form of the Holy Spirit, that went down and, you know, alighted on the Lord. So He was glorified at the baptism.

[7:51] He was also glorified at the transfiguration of Jesus. Like I mentioned in here the other day, how I saw that video of a rabid charismatic church in California, Bethel, I think.

[8:05] No relation to the Owasso Bethel. But in the air-conditioning system, they loaded it full of tinsel. Like, what's that stuff you throw on a Christmas tree?

[8:19] And all that stuff's blowing out. And the pastor was screaming, This is the Shekinah coming down from heaven. Well, you didn't see it was tinsel. I mean, and John MacArthur's comment was, if that was the Shekinah, everyone in that building would be dead.

[8:36] They'd all die. Well, at the transfiguration, recall, that James and John and Peter were there, and the Father, as an act of grace, put them in a coma.

[8:47] So they wouldn't die. We don't look upon the glory of the Father. We saw the glory of God in the earthly ministry of Jesus, and that glory was veiled in human flesh.

[9:01] In human flesh. The Father will glorify the Lord shortly before the Passion. He glorified Him through His miracles.

[9:13] He glorified the Father through the raising of Lazarus. You may recall that Jesus prayed out loud so that people would hear Him and ask the Father to raise Lazarus from the dead, and then Jesus raised Him.

[9:26] He certainly glorified Him in His crucifixion and in the resurrection. And the Lord also will be glorified when He returns.

[9:38] When He returns. And by this I mean during the rapture, and then when He returns seven years later to establish the kingdom on earth. He will be glorified.

[9:50] I cannot understate the significance of this prayer that we're going to be going through as we draw to a conclusion in our study of the inner sanctuary.

[10:06] Here we have Jesus within hours going to go through the indignation of what are the results of six illegal trials under both Roman law and Jewish law.

[10:25] Those trials were illegal. I don't think it's any small wonder that American law is founded on British law. British law is founded on Roman and Jewish law.

[10:36] the two law systems that violated their own law put Jesus to death. For instance, in the Jewish world you couldn't have a trial at night.

[10:48] It had to be during the day. So witnesses could be brought. But there are all sorts of reasons why those were illegal trials.

[11:00] He's going to have to endure the indignation of torturous beatings. I think the passion by Mel Gibson probably captures that as closely as I've ever seen.

[11:11] Most of the paintings you see even from the masters the great masters of art you know I mean you could put band-aids on Jesus and he'd be fine.

[11:23] Well you know I believe ribs and bone and cartilage were exposed and it was horrendous beatings.

[11:35] He was apparently stripped naked on the cross. We don't see that depicted. He hung on a cross between two criminals and was killed.

[11:50] And remember that God that God in human flesh and the judge of the universe was hanging there. I cannot imagine a Roman soldier mocking him and then one day stands before him in judgment.

[12:05] And so what do we see Jesus doing moments from death? Well he's praying. Praying to the Father. Praying to forgive the people that are doing this to him.

[12:17] And there's a tremendous principle here for us. Here we have Jesus facing the greatest trial of his life and he prays.

[12:29] and we are commanded to walk as Jesus walked. So when we face trials what should we do? We should pray.

[12:41] And so Jesus in this great hour of testing turns to prayer that is designed from beginning to end to give glory to the Father.

[12:54] This whole prayer is going to give glory to the Father. And the Father is going to return that glory back from Jesus. And we're silent witnesses.

[13:05] We're the fly on the wall. Kind of glad Peter didn't speak up and say well now Lord let's you know as Peter would want to do from time to time. There is so much going on in this prayer.

[13:20] My concern is that I will leave out an important point that I will not adequately explain a word or a passage consider just these few facts and there's tons more that are found in this prayer.

[13:37] The Son bringing glory to the Father. The Father bringing glory to the Son. The disciples would bring glory to the Father by bringing glory to the Son. The disciples and those who would subsequently believe that's us will bring glory because we will share in the glory of the Son.

[13:57] The day is coming we're going to share in that glory. Now today we tell people about it. And there are really three sections to this prayer.

[14:08] In verses 1 to 5 we will see Jesus praying for himself. Eventually we'll move into verses 6 and 19 and the Lord will pray for the disciples and then in verses 20 to 26 Jesus will pray for his church down through the centuries even into the 21st century.

[14:33] And through it all the focus is on the glory of God. I want to read some words to you from Frederick Godet. If he lived a few hundred years ago, if you don't have his two volumes, I've got them at home, I'll loan them from anybody that wants them.

[14:50] Here's what Frederick Godet had to say. When Jesus prays for himself, it is not his own person that he has in view, it is the work of God.

[15:03] When he prays for his apostles, he commends them to God as agents and continuers of his work. And when he extends his regard to all believers, present or future, future, it is the object of this work because these souls are the theater where the glory of his Father is to shine forth.

[15:30] For his work and the glory of the Father are for him one and the same thing. Now the Bible tells us that God's ways are not our ways.

[15:42] And this is true in all things pertaining to God. God, it is especially true in the crucifixion of his Son. The cross was the most shameful death that anyone could experience.

[16:00] God placed his Son on a very shameful instrument of death and there put on display infinite glory. Human minds look at the cross and see the worst possible outcome for Jesus.

[16:16] In reality, the cross was his ultimate victory. It was victory. The followers of Jesus saw in the cross nothing but ultimate tragedy.

[16:30] How in the world is this going to help anything? How could anything good come from the death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary? But what was ultimate tragedy then was ultimate triumph to the triune God.

[16:45] And I'll tell you there's a blasphemy that's being broadcast primarily by the American church some American churches small c that says if you believe this story then God the Father is a child abuser.

[17:08] He's a horrible child abuser. God that'll raise the hair on the back of your neck. Jesus had absolute confidence in the perfect will of God.

[17:25] I'd been there saying can't we rethink this? Let's go to plan B. When will plan B kick in? The Lord submitted himself to that perfect will.

[17:41] And he did this in spite of the fact that he knew where this was all leading. it's to the cross.

[17:52] It was the most costly of events in his life. Not just death is in mind here but he who knew no sin can you put your grasp your hands around it can you put your mind around it he knew no sin never not even in the mind the eyes the subconscious he knew no sin and he who knew no sin became sin for us and that's where it was leading him he became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God through him he who knew no sin would become sin in the eyes of the father and in fact and we all know the story the father was going to close his eyes to those events as his sin bearing son hung on that

[18:53] Jerusalem sky in that sky the whole world turned dark black couldn't see I think the father closed his eyes would not look upon the sin that filled his son by the way and I'm going to throw this in for free I think there's a central reason why I believe firmly that Jesus will come back someday there's some in the church that don't believe that he will go to heaven and that will be the end I think he will come to this earth and I'll tell you why I believe that guys the last view the world has of Jesus right now is that of a criminal hanging on a cross in a Jerusalem sky covered in blood and spit and flies that's the last view the world has of

[19:58] Jesus not believers but the world the father will not permit that to be the last view that this world has of his son they will see him as the glorified Christ riding on a horse of war coming to smite those that have raped and pillaged his church that's what they're going to see did Jesus know the will of the father do we even have to ask that he knew it to the minutest detail did Jesus know the outcome of passion week you know he didn't have to go watch the passion when it went through the theaters he knew in minutest detail then when did he pray the father commands his children to pray

[21:00] Jesus was obedient as we are to be do as I say and not as I do during his earthly ministry Jesus was in total submission to the father in spite of the fact he was co-equal co-eternal with the father part of that submission involved a very active prayer life a very active prayer life knowing the will of God did not cause Jesus to turn away from prayer Jesus knew what the father was going to do next but he didn't sit around and say well I have to pray about that I know it's going to happen but that's a very important principle Jesus knew in advance but he still prayed and that's a wonderful example an important principle for us

[22:03] God wants to hear from his children he wants us to pray he wants us to ask him to do the things that he's already said he's going to do but he wants to hear it from us let me give you an example God knows who he's going to save he's so confident in that that the scriptures tell us that he wrote every name person down in the lamb's book of life that would be saved and he wrote them down in ink before the foundation of the world was ever laid he wrote them down with this being true why do we pray for the lost God already knows who's going to be saved nothing is going to thwart that

[23:31] God I'm going to give you two reasons to pray for the lost first we pray for the lost because God told us to now we can stop there can't we do we need any other reason we don't need another reason God told us to and we could stop right there that's enough reason in itself to justify prayer God tells us to so we are to do it but there's another reason that is equally powerful though perhaps not equally comprehensible although I think we can get there somehow God takes the prayers of his saints that's the church as we pray for the lost and somehow he weaves those into the fabric of future events

[24:34] I don't know how he does that I don't have a clue how he does that God can tell some saint in heaven I saved you before the foundation of the world I wrote your name in the Lamb book of life but he can also say I saved you because you had a grandmother who had callous knees praying for you and I heard her prayers he could say that and be equally true now I can't understand that but God's got that all figured out I remember when Jim Merritt preached here and Jim later became president of Southern Baptist convention you can catch him on TV out of Georgia he's been in my home I've been in his but the night in his house when I was heading to New York City when I was in the FBI great guy Jim told us when he preached here he said

[25:34] I am the product I'm a minister of the gospel because my grandmother got on her knees every night and prayed that God would raise up in her family a minister of the gospel that's why I am a minister of the gospel and then he said she died five years before I was born just amazing amazing and we can't reconcile that in our heads but God has got that all figured out our prayers make sense to God especially as the scriptures promise that the Holy Spirit will take charge of our prayers and speak to God and it says in groans before the throne that we can't understand and our dear charismatic friends have taken that to mean the tongue singing that has anything to do with that it's a language between the

[26:36] Holy Spirit and the Father we don't even hear that we're not privy to that it doesn't have anything to do with what is passed off today as in the tongues movement Jesus teaches us to pray in this chapter even more than that portion of scripture we refer to as the Lord's Prayer there there's another point to be made concerning this prayer we call this the high priestly prayer John 17 and as was mentioned last week this prayer forms a transition between Jesus earthly ministry and his heavenly ministry and the earthly ministry was to reveal the father and to draw all whom the father had given him to himself and that includes those who would believe down through the ages up until our time his heavenly ministry which he's now transitioning to is to intercede for all believers who are living out their lives in a sin dominated does anyone doubt that a sin dominated

[28:02] Christ rejecting Christian hating Christian bashing world he has he is and in John starting in verse 1 he's now begun his intercessory ministry which goes on to this day and he started it on earth just hours before his crucifixion so here we see the transition he is interceding for his children the great section of the word of God dealing with the intercessory work of Jesus is found in Hebrews 414 to 1025 in John 17 we catch a glimpse of Jesus in the role of the great high priest now go back remember the high priest in Israel Leviticus Leviticus chapter 16 specifically and once a year on the day of atonement he went in to intercede for the people to offer sacrifice after sacrifice that was a 24 hour ceremony that was the one where they put a rope on him because if he messed up and

[29:18] God killed him like he did they had to reel him out like a fish they couldn't go in after him they'd die they'd be in the presence of the glory of God so here he is now entered into his high priestly rope interceding for his children now this prayer is by far the longest prayer of Jesus recorded in the Bible and there is no parallel in it anywhere in written language nothing like this but we also have in this prayer the deepest most profound words in the Bible but delivered in the simplest and most straightforward format possible very understandable we can never plumb the depths of this prayer but every time we read and meditate on it we come away with a fresh understanding these are the words of the late

[30:18] Dr. James Montgomery Boyce great man of God he's on the radio by the way Sunday morning 830 to 9 I listen to him on the way to church here's the words of Dr.

[30:30] Boyce this prayer contains the simplest of sentences though the ideas are profound it is proof that the difficulty we have understanding God's truth is not in the complexity of the truth itself or in the language with which it is conveyed as if it were logarithms or German philosophy but in our own ignorance and sin and spiritual lethargy we're just spiritually lazy that's why you don't understand a lot of this try as I might I don't think I can overstate the importance of this prayer it is the inter trinitarian conversation between the second person of the trinity and his father like the disciples we are granted the privilege of listening in and as we listen we must remember that this is a profoundly holy moment guys we find ourselves on holy ground when we get here we're on holy ground it is certainly the most profound and holy conversation ever recorded through this prayer we are still ushered into the holy of holies we enter in there we sit at the feet of the trinity and we become the silent onlookers the hearers of holy conversation and it is here that we find our great high priest at work on our behalf that's stunning that's stunning this is a timeless prayer and it has been the constant companion of true believers down through the centuries

[32:26] I believe if I had to spend the rest of my life on a deserted island or some far away prison cell this chapter would be the perfect cell mate if I was given one chapter of the bible I would take this one the truth in here is inexhaustible I read one of the greats today I can't remember it might have been J.C.

[32:54] Ryle I'm not sure but he said we have eternity to try and understand this prayer we'll be picking gold nuggets out of this prayer or diamonds out of this prayer in eternity it's inexhaustible as Jesus prayed he knew that the eternal plan of God for the redemption of mankind was unfolding next step the cross the atoning sacrifice the plan had been worked out in an awesome trinity in the shroud of eternity there was no heaven there was no earth no universe there was the triune God Father Son and Holy Spirit Dr. Schaefer captures that beautifully there was conversation there was love there were promises made plans to be carried out all in the shroud of an eternity that we can't even in our minds come to grips with and now it is coming to fruition because redemption of the fallen mankind was the goal and the prize

[34:11] Jesus faced the cross with both triumph and resolve the cost was immense and the results glorious and what is the father really doing here he's laying the groundwork calling out a people for the sake of his son who will worship and praise his son for eternity and I have people all the time say well why does God need people in heaven and they will invariably say well he's lonely he needs companionship guys he's calling out a people for his son he's not lonely he's not lonely he's calling out a people that are going to praise and worship and glorify his son and all that will be passed through to the father this is a time for the church to realize each individual member of our church needs to come together and realize the church is the closest we will ever come to heaven on earth that's what the church is designed to be heaven on earth and actually when we die or the

[35:32] Lord comes back for us when we transition into the glory of heaven we're not supposed to really notice a whole lot of change we should already be doing the things that we're going to be doing in heaven which is glorifying Christ and the father