prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus prays for himself in verses 1 to 5. He prays for his immediate disciples in verses 6 to 19. And then he prays for all believers in verses 20 to 26.

So we'll take up the first five verses referring to the glory of the Father and of the Son. But I do want to read the chapter so that we can find our bearings in the context, beginning in chapter 17 at verse 1. Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son, that your son also may glorify you, as you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him.

And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. And now, O 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 have given me out of the world. They were yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they have known that all things which you have given to me are from you.

For I have given to them the words which you have given Me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given Me, for they are yours, and all Mine are yours, and yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you.

Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost except the Son of Perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth.

Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world, and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me, and the glory which you gave me I have given them. that they may be one just as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you gave me, be with me where I am. that they may behold my glory, which you have given me.

For you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you sent me, and I have declared to them your name, and will declare it, that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them. Amen. Let us pray.

Opening Prayer

Father, thank you again for the Word of God. We pray now for the ministry of the Holy Spirit to help us and to guide us and to lead us into the glorious truth of this passage. We pray for Daniel Roersma tonight. We just commit this young man to you.

We pray that you would heal his body, that you would give him physical strength, that he would be able to to recover from pneumonia and from other illness, and that you would just bless him, bless his family and give them grace and encouragement to be a means of encouragement to Daniel. And we just pray now that you would forgive us again for our sins and our transgressions and help us to appreciate the glory of the Father and the glory of the Son. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, as I said, our Lord starts first with petitions specifically about or for Himself. He moves to the disciples, and then He moves to all believers. So I want to look at the Lord's prayer for Himself in verses 1 to 5. First, we'll look at the occasion of His prayer.

Secondly, the petition in His prayer. And thirdly, the reasons for that particular petition.

The Occasion of the Prayer

But in the first place, the occasion. Remember that Christ has just fulfilled, or rather finished, what was called the upper room discourse. Chapters 13 to 16, Jesus is with his apostles, they are in the upper room, and Jesus is preparing them for his departure. And one of the ways, or one of the means by which Christ prepares them is with theology proper.

In other words, he sets before them the truth of the triune God. He doesn't give them a pep talk. He doesn't give them some surface encouragement. But rather, He teaches them the deep things of God.

And that is the way the people of God are to be equipped. That is the way the people of God are to be encouraged. That is the way the people of God are to be strengthened. It is with knowing God that Christ will define for us what the essence of eternal life is in this passage.

It is the knowledge of God. Notice that Christ addresses the Father. It says in verse 1, Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Now, Christ has spoken about this coming hour.

It is the hour of His departure. It is the hour of crucifixion. It is the hour of death. In fact, you can go back to John chapter 12.

John chapter 12, verse 23, Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Drop down to chapter 12 and verses 27 and 28. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. but for this purpose I came to this hour." In other words, Christ says, this is the pinnacle, this is the crucible, this is everything with reference to the mission of the Son of Man.

It wasn't to start a new religion, it wasn't to set forth a moral example, it was rather to save His people from their sins. And the means by which He does this is through His death, and He specifies that it was for this hour that He comes to the world. going on in chapter 12, here, 31 and 32. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. This, he said, signifying by what death he would die. Notice in John 13, verse 1. Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

Now, Christ's hour, His death at Calvary, while it will secure the salvation of all those whom the Father had given Him, will certainly mean increased persecution for His people. In other words, the hour of Christ will produce or provoke a time of suffering and persecution for his disciples. Notice in chapter 16. 16. 1. These things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble.

Verse 2. They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God's service. So the hour of Christ's death results in a time of persecution for the people of Christ.

Notice in verse 4, "...but these things I have told you, that when the time comes you may remember that I told you of them." And then in verse 32, another reference, "...indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave me alone." And yet I am not alone because the Father is with you." Now note sort of his summary statement at the end of this upper room discourse is in verse 33. These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. We ought to appreciate the candidness of our Lord Jesus, the openness of our Lord Jesus, the honesty of our Lord Jesus.

He is preparing his disciples. He points them to theology proper. He points them to the doctrine of the one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but he also tells them the truth. There will be tribulation.

There will be suffering. There will be trial. If the world hated Christ, the world's going to hate Christ's followers. He doesn't lie to them.

He doesn't cover that. He doesn't pretend that they're going to just, you know, sing zippity-doo-dah all the way to heaven. He warns them and admonishes them that they stand prepared and be ready for it. And now he comes to pray.

After the discourse, he prays this high priestly prayer, and he says, Father, the hour has come.

The Petition: Mutual Glorification

Now note specifically, secondly, the petition in his prayer. Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son that your Son also may glorify you. Now, in chapter 13, verses 31 and 32, He's already spoken of this as having been accomplished.

In fact, this prayer is somewhat proleptic. He's already speaking of the cross as having been completed. He has set His face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. He has set His face like a flint to undergo all that would happen to Him in that city.

He would be rejected. He would be denied. He would be cast off. He would be ultimately crucified.

So prior to that particular hour, or prior to that particular time, he's praying as if it's already a done deal. And he says to the Father, glorify your Son. And we ought to conclude from that, or we ought to infer from that, that this was indeed the highest act worthy of glorification of the Son, namely His death at Calvary. In fact, John Calvin makes this observation.

If it be objected that never was there anything less glorious than the death of Christ. Think about this. When you looked at the cross on that particular day, you probably didn't think glory. You probably weren't saying, wow, what a glorious transaction is occurring.

You wouldn't have thought that. We've marveled at the thief on the cross who looked beyond the blood, who looked beyond the guts, who looked beyond the gore, who looked beyond the torture and the suffering and the pain, and he says, Lord, remember me when you come in your kingdom. Calvin says that's the highest expression of faith in all of the Bible. That man looked through the door and saw the king who possessed a kingdom, and he cast himself upon his mercy.

But if you were at Golgotha on that day, you weren't thinking glory. In fact, the apostle in 1 Corinthians 1 says, for the Jews, the cross is a stumbling block. To the Greeks, it's foolishness. That's how the world perceives this transaction, and that's what Calvin is saying.

If it be objected, that never was there anything less glorious than the death of Christ, which was then at hand, I reply that in that death we behold a magnificent triumph which is concealed from wicked men. For there we perceive that atonement having been made for sins, the world has been reconciled to God, the curse has been blotted out, and Satan has been vanquished. You see, that's why Christ prays, glorify your son. And then note the reciprocity involved.

As Christ is glorified by the father, Christ glorifies the father. This is the means by which God is glorified. Notice verse one, father, the hour has come, glorify your son that your son may also may glorify you. You see, the purpose for which God created the world was his glory.

What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. It's been rightly observed that that's the chief end of God as well, to glorify God and to enjoy Himself forever. You see, that is the apex, that is the goal, that is where we're moving.

It's the glory of God Most High. You can see that in 1 Corinthians 15, 20 to 28. The Apostle rehearses, I think, one of the clearest explanations of what's called eschatology, or the doctrine of the last things. When Christ comes in His second coming, He offers up the kingdom to the Father, and God is all in all.

What does that mean except to say that God is glorified, God is magnified, God is exalted, God is praised, God is worship. God is enjoyed by the creature. And so Christ's prayer specifically, Christ's petition specifically, is that the Father would glorify the Son so that the Son also may glorify you. The entirety of His mission had the Father's glory as the goal.

One man has defined glory here as to clothe in splendor. It is to ascribe. It is to attribute. It is to highlight. the glory of God Most High in this particular.

Now, this serves as the basis for the rest of the prayer. He prays for the disciples, his immediate disciples, the apostles. He prays that God protects them, that he keeps them from the evil one. He prays that not that God will take them out of the world, but that God will guard them and govern them and stabilize them while they're in the world.

He then prays for his immediate disciples that they be sanctified. Sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth. And then in verses 20 to 24, he envisages all of the elect of God having been saved, enjoying the unity of father and son and spirit, and as well recognizing and beholding and delighting in the glory of God Almighty. So if anybody ever asks you, what is it about heaven that really makes you long to go there?

It's to behold the glory of God. See, some people think, oh, it's going to be this big basketball court in the sky, whatever your hobby is, a big car mechanic shop in the sky, a big hockey rink. That's probably more appropriate to Canadians, right? That's what it's going to be like.

No. It's going to be beholding the glory of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It's going to be beholding the majesty and the excellency of Him who called us out of darkness into a marvelous light. It is going to be praising Him, and worshiping Him, and serving Him, and adoring Him, and all that without sin.

It's a beautiful prospect that the people of God hold, and this is what Christ prays for in verses 20 to 24. Notice in verse 24, Father, I desire that they also, whom you gave me, may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which you have given me. For you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you sent me.

And I have declared to them your name and will declare it, that the love with which you love me may be in them and I. in them. That's our goal. That's our focus. That's our future.

So the petition is very simple. Glorify your son that your son also may glorify you.

Reasons for the Petition

Now let's look thirdly at the reasons for the petition. And there's three things I want to mention here. First, the salvation of his elect, the accomplishment of redemption, and the restoration to glory.

The Salvation of the Elect

But note first the salvation of his elect. Verses two and three. Christ says he has authority over all flesh. We should never dispute that Christ is the second person of the Trinity.

He has all authority. He was the agent of creation. He is the one in whom all things consist. So he's active in terms of providence.

He has absolute authority over all flesh. And that's what he specifies here in verse two. As you have given him authority over all flesh. Now notice he hones in now on the elect that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him.

Christ gives eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him. Again, this is not an obscure doctrine or thought, especially in John's gospel. In fact, go to John chapter 6 at verse 37. John chapter 6 at verse 37.

We'll pick up reading in verse 35. Remember, the feeding of the 5,000 at the very beginning of John chapter 6 serves as the backdrop for this discourse, the bread of life discourse. And specifically in verse 35, he says, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me. You see, there's this group of people given by the Father to the Son. In Reformed theology, we refer to this as the covenant of redemption.

It is that intra-Trinitarian covenant that transacted prior to the foundation of the world, where the Father gave a lot to the Son, and that Son's purpose, the Son's purpose was to come and save them from their sins. That's what's being shown to us. All that the Father gives me will come to me. and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out." Now notice in John 6, 39, this is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all He has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. You see how pernicious the doctrine is that teaches that we can lose our salvation?

That doesn't reflect ultimately on the person having lost salvation. It reflects on the Savior having lost one that he was supposed to save. If we maintain that a genuine believer, that a real person of God, that somebody who has come out of darkness into marvelous light can lose their salvation, that reflects on the Savior. It shows that he was weak.

It shows that he was feeble. We cannot allow that. As Spurgeon says, such a doctrine I abhor. Those whom the Father has given to the Son will be saved.

They will be secure. Remember, Matthew's gospel begins on that great triumphant refrain. He will save his people from their sins. He doesn't fail.

He doesn't come short. He doesn't lose a few, but rather specifically, he saves them. Now, when he mentions the one that was lost in his prayer for the disciples in that center section in John 17, he's talking about Judas. And it was predetermined, it was according to Scripture, that Judas would betray him and that Judas would ultimately fall away.

Judas was never saved, it wasn't like he had it, and then he lost it. So the idea that one for whom Jesus died is not going to make it into heaven is absolutely, positively unscriptural, and we ought not to hesitate to say so. Back to the high priestly prayer, we see this distinction made within the prayer itself. Notice, again, verse 2, Father, the hour has come, glorify your son, that your son also may glorify you.

Verse 2, as you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. Look at verse 6, I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Notice in verse 9, I pray for them.

I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. If I were to ask you, what are the two functions of a priest? The two functions of the priest are intercession and sacrifice. Well, it seems to follow, at least in my feeble brain, that if he intercedes only for a select group, then he as well sacrificed for that select group.

In other words, he shed his blood for the salvation of all those whom the Father had given him. The Scripture teaches what we call particular redemption, or particular atonement, or definite atonement, limited atonement, if you like that terminology. It's not the case that he shed his blood in vain. So he makes this distinction within this high priestly prayer.

He has all authority over all flesh, but he gives life, eternal life, to as many as you have given him. And then notice, thirdly, with reference to the essence of eternal life. Look at how he defines this in verse 3. Now, some would teach that this is the way by which we enter into life.

In other words, we know of God in Christ, and therefore we're saved. Now, we need to make sure that we don't sort of get befuddled in semantics, but we also understand that it's by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. That's what justification is. That's when we are saved.

And certainly, we need to know of God. We need to know of Christ. We need to know of the mediator. We need to know of that cross work.

So, you know, Romans 10, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. But I don't think Jesus is teaching the entry into salvation is the knowledge of God in Christ. The entry into salvation is faith in Jesus Christ. I think Jesus rather is describing what is really good about eternal life.

What is the essence of eternal life? This is eternal life. That they may go to that great big basketball court in the sky? No.

This is eternal life. That they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. In other words, this is what we have. This is what trumps every other bit of knowledge.

This is what is most excellent and most glorious. This is what the prophet Jeremiah spoke of in Jeremiah chapter 9. He says, let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and the rich man boast in his riches. Let not the mighty man boast in his strength, but rather let him who boasts boast in this, that he knows me.

That's where eternal life is. That's the blessing of it. That's the joy involved, the knowledge of God in Christ. That's what ought to make us get up on Sunday morning and run to the house of God.

That's what ought to make us open our Bibles each and every day. This is what ought to provoke in us a desire to pray and to express our dependence upon the living and the true God. The essence of eternal life is this knowledge of. the true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." Notice the compound object of this saving knowledge. Notice in verse 3, this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Now, typically, when a believer, when a Christian hears the word God, or we read the word God, or we theologize concerning God, we ought to think Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is the Christian God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. One glorious God in three persons, from everlasting to everlasting. There are three persons in the Godhead, the same in substance, equal in power and glory, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism teaches.

However, in certain contexts, very often in the New Testament, we see that word God applied to the Father. And I think that's what's happening here. Jesus addresses the Father in verse 1. He speaks of God the Father in John 6, 27.

Jesus is not suggesting that he himself is not God. Jesus is recognizing the distinction that obtains between the persons of the Trinity, that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. In other words, that they may know the glorious Trinitarian God of Scripture. This is what's called a compound object.

Some actually try and take this passage and teach the subordination of Jesus. They teach the inferiority of Jesus. But I ask you, what creature could say that the very essence of eternal life is the knowledge of God and that creature? He couldn't do it.

There's no way, even as good a creature as he may have been. The only one who could say this is God himself. And this is consistent with the prophet Isaiah that we read at the outset of worship. In Isaiah 42, verse 8, I am Yahweh, that is my name, and my glory I will not give to another.

And yet here's Jesus saying, glorify your son, that your son may glorify you. This is the very essence of eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Jesus Christ is not teaching his inferiority. Jesus Christ is not teaching his subordination.

Jesus Christ, according to his humanity, is praying to the Father, but he never ceases being the second person of the Trinity. He is on par with the Father, and they together are the object of faith for the people of God. Isaiah 48, verse 11. For my own sake, for my own sake, I will do it.

For how should my name be profane? And I will not give my glory to another. Now, there are instances in the New Testament, interestingly enough, where that name God, it's the Greek word theos, where we get the word theology, meaning the study of or the doctrine of God, there are instances and occasions where theos is applied specifically to our Lord Jesus Christ. So if anybody teaches the inferiority of Christ or the subordination of Christ, not according to his humanity, but in terms of divinity, if anybody teaches that, they have to wrestle with those passages where the name God or the word God is applied specifically to Jesus.

Now, you might be asking the question, where does the Bible do that? Well, let's just look at a few. Notice in John 1.1. John 1.1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Word is Jesus. As verse 14 tells us, the Word became flesh. He dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Now, brethren, that's another very important doctrine, the eternal generation of the Son, the begottenness of the Son.

That is employed. to distinguish between the persons of the Godhead. It is not employed to teach subordination. It is not employed to teach inferiority. The persons of the Godhead are recognized by their relations, by their distinctions, and the specific distinction of the son is that he is begotten.

Notice in John 20, 28, again, just surveying some passages where the word theos, or God, is applied to our Lord Jesus Christ. Because I don't want anybody to leave here saying, well, you know, God the Father is God, and Jesus is sort of a little a God, or Jesus is sort of a little g God, or sort of some subordinate or inferior God. That's not the case. Notice in John 20, 28, it's after the resurrection when Jesus is dealing with Thomas.

And in verse 27, Jesus says to Thomas, reach your finger here and look at my hands and reach your hand here and put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to him, my Lord and my God. This wasn't an exclamation, he wasn't blaspheming, it wasn't like he hit his thumb with a hammer and he just sort of said, oh my Lord and my God.

It is directed specifically to our Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Acts 20 and verse 28. Acts 20 and verse 28. Again, something we ought to appreciate with reference to John 17 3.

The compound object of that knowledge is father and son. Acts 20, 28, therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Now it's the second person of the Trinity. It's the Lord Jesus Christ who shed his blood on the cross.

And here specifically, he is called God. Notice in Romans 9, Romans chapter 9 at verse 5. Romans 9, 5, "...of whom are the fathers, and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all the eternally blessed God. Amen." Titus chapter 2 and verse 13.

Titus chapter 2 and verse 13. Again, the New Testament application of the name Theos to our Lord Jesus Christ. Titus 2.13, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He's described there as our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

You see a similar construction in 2 Peter 1.1. I think it's the King James here that obscures this, and that's not cool. but such is life. 2 Peter 1.1, Simon Peter, upon servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And then 1 John 5.20, 1 John 5.20, and we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son, Jesus Christ, This is the true God and eternal life. So going back to the high priestly prayer, remember that Jesus is praying according to his humanity.

Remember that he is the incarnate Son of God, that he is dependent upon the Father according to his humanity. But he highlights this reality that the knowledge, that the essence of eternal life is the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ. Let me just take a moment to say, therefore, read your Bible, pray, and never miss church. Brethren, this is what it's about.

We're not going to heaven because we're good. We're not going to heaven because we're virtuous. We're not going to heaven because we've somehow arrived. We're going to heaven by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

It's about what we believe. That's what distinguishes us from the pagan. It's what distinguishes us from the Jew. It's what distinguishes us from the Muslim or the Buddhist or whoever.

It is what we believe and we need to know what we believe. We need to take Peter's words seriously in 2 Peter 3. He says, grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's not just a suggestion.

That's not just for a few within the context of the local church. That's not just for the Saturday morning theology study. That's for each and every believer. That's for each and every Christian.

Everybody who names the name of Christ has a responsibility and a blessed privilege. It's not a responsibility like taking out the trash. It's a responsibility that is completely a privilege. We get to know and understand who God is and who his son Jesus Christ is.

You see, we need to be about that. We need to enter into this new year committed to reading our Bibles, to praying, and not missing church. You see how I do this? At the end of the year, we typically take a little time off, and so I preach sermons that I've preached before.

If you follow the trajectory, they're usually the same theme. The last Sunday before we enter into the new year, I typically tell you in the morning and evening, read your Bibles, pray, and come to church. This morning, I pretty much harped on the coming to church aspect. So tonight, read your Bibles and pray.

This is the best way to approach a new year. I often look at people at the gym. You see this rush for membership in the first week of January. And by February, it's the same old group again.

We make these resolutions, and we're going to do it this time. And yet, we don't follow through. And I think believers are like that. I'm going to read my Bible this time.

And they get to Leviticus, and they say, well, that's it. I'm done. It's over. Don't do that.

Persevere. You know, something is worth having, it's worth persevering for. And the knowledge of God, according to our Lord Jesus, is something worth having. This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Yes, eternal life means not going to hell. Yes, eternal life means not suffering the wrath of God. Yes, eternal life means going to heaven. Yes, eternal life means seeing those we love.

I have this idea that if we recognize Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in that marriage supper of the Lamb, we're certainly going to recognize each other, and that's definitely a boon to consider as to why we want to go to heaven. But the blessedness of heaven ultimately is the knowledge of God. The blessedness of heaven is the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And this is what he says to us.

This is how he describes it.

The Accomplishment of Redemption

Now notice, secondly, under the reasons for the petition, the accomplishment of redemption. Verse 4, he says, I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. This refers to what is called the active obedience of Jesus Christ.

Active and Passive Obedience

The passive obedience is related to his death at Calvary. It doesn't mean he was passive in the sense that he didn't participate. Obviously, he participated. He bore the shame and the the curse of the cross, he bore the wrath and fury of God the Father.

Just a distinction that's made. I'm not exactly sure why passion, but this is the distinction that's made. You've got this passive obedience, the death on the cross, and here he highlights the active obedience. These answer to the two blessings involved in justification.

We believe the gospel, and what happens? We are justified freely by His grace. Justification means the forgiveness of sins. That is secured for us by Christ's death at Calvary.

That is secured for us by the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. But in justification, we also receive the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, and it's received by faith alone. Well, what righteousness? It's that righteousness of the 33 years that he lived on this earth.

It's that righteousness that he refers to here. It's that act of righteousness that Paul refers to in Romans chapter 5. He speaks of the one man's disobedience, bringing death to all. but the one man's obedience, the one man's righteousness brings life to all, all in him, and that's what Christ is highlighting here. He speaks of it as having been accomplished.

He speaks of it as good as done. I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. Again, not an obscure doctrine in John's Gospel.

Last week, when we looked at Zechariah 3, I mentioned the fellow called N.T. Wright. And N.T. Wright sort of mocks the idea of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.

He mocks it like in a courtroom. Is there a gas or a vapor that the judge orders go and overcome the particular person? And as Ian Duguid says with reference to that scene in Zechariah 3, we precisely have a courtroom, and God does put these righteous robes upon this sinful man. If the active obedience of Jesus Christ is not imputed to the elect, we are forgiven, but we're kind of back at the tree, and we need to fulfill all righteousness in order for entrance into heaven.

But that's not the gospel. Gospel is not me having to secure my salvation. Gospel is Jesus Christ saves his people from their sins. Jesus Christ does that by bringing forgiveness and by achieving a righteousness that is imputed to his people and received by faith alone.

I hope that you all follow that, and I hope it encourages your heart. And I hope that when we die, we'll say it with J. Gresham Machen, I am so thankful for the active obedience of Jesus Christ, for there is no hope without it. John chapter 2, verses 16 and 17.

I want us to see the emphasis on the active obedience of Christ in John's gospel. Not confined to John's gospel, but certainly on display in John's gospel. John 2, 16 and 17. And he said to those who sold doves, take these things away.

Do not make my father's house a house of merchandise. Then his disciples remembered that it was written, zeal for your house has eaten me up. That was said because zeal for God's house has not eaten us up. We're just not that motivated for the house of God.

We're just not that concerned for the house of God. So if there isn't a champion, if there isn't a substitute, if there isn't one who secures this for us, we are in dire straits. Notice in John 4, 34. We saw this this morning in the scripture reading.

The disciples say in verse 33, has anyone brought him anything to eat? Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. That's the food of Christ is to do the will of the father and to finish his work. I mean, imagine these disciples just perplexed.

Lord, Lord, Lord, you gotta eat. Oh, no, no, I don't need to eat. Well, what do you mean? Is somebody giving him food?

It's like he's speaking in riddles to them, because they're not tracking with the reality, just like we wouldn't, that there is actually a human being, in this case, the second person of the Trinity, actually wanting to do everything the Father says. It's pretty mind-blowing that someone said this and someone meant it. You see, we need that in order for our salvation. Notice in John 6, we've already looked there, we can look back at verses 38 and 39.

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all He has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. Notice in John 8, 29. John 8, 29, and he who sent me is with me.

The Father has not left me alone, for I always do those things that please Him. I always do those things that please Him. Can you say that? No, you absolutely, positively can't.

I am not going to argue with you at all, because I know there's no way that you can say this, but you have a champion, you have a victor, you have a savior, you have one who did say it and who meant it. Notice in John 8, 55. John 8, 55, Yet you have not known him, but I know him. And if I say, I do not know him, I shall be a liar like you.

But I do know him and keep his word. Do you see why these religious leaders didn't like him? Do you see why there was such enmity against the Son of God and His earthly ministry? I'll be a liar like you.

Well, what do you mean by that, Jesus? Jesus wasn't, you know, he wouldn't fit in the modern snowflake culture. Jesus would offend people. He would go to university campuses, and he would offend.

He would come into churches, and he would offend. He would say the sorts of things that he says, and he would offend. He would tell people, you are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father, you want to do. If you go back a little bit in John 8, that's what he says to the religious leaders.

Now, brethren, again, I never justify this, but I can understand on an earthly level why they picked up stones to throw at him. Especially when he asserts that he is, I am. Before Abraham was, I am. Another ascription of deity with reference to the Son of God, to himself.

But in terms of the active obedience of Christ, he always does what the Father said to do. John 12, we've seen it already. John 12, 27 and 28. Notice as well in John 12.50, and I know that His command is everlasting life.

Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak. John 14 and verse 31. John 14, but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

So my point is, is that everywhere in this gospel record, and we see it in the other gospels as well, Christ highlights this aspect of his ministry. Now, the theology behind the imputation of Christ's righteousness is specifically found in Romans chapter 5. You see it as well in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. So there's a theological explanation for why Christ did specifically what Christ did, and that is the active obedience of Jesus Christ, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, is imputed to believers.

It's received by faith alone. It is one of the aspects of justification that we receive when we, by grace, look to Christ in faith. We're forgiven of our sins, and we receive that righteousness. And Christ highlights that.

Now, I mentioned earlier, and I don't want to go too far afield here, but it does bear repetition, this whole idea of the covenant of redemption.

Covenant of Redemption and Grace

See, what we see Christ doing here in the Gospel records is accomplishing what the Father gave Him before the foundation of the world. In other words, the Father said, here's a miserable lot of wretched sinners. You can read John Flavel on this. It's beautiful.

It's glorious, where He personifies God. He personifies the Son. And the Father gives to the Son this miserable lot of sinners. And Christ accepts the task.

Christ says, I will pay their debt. I will fulfill all the obligations. And I will do. everything required to save them. That's what the gospel records show us.

It is that eternal transaction between the persons of the Trinity being fleshed out in history. In other words, it's the covenant of redemption that is the basis for the covenant of grace. But with reference to the covenant of grace, we need to remember that it was a covenant of works for our Lord Jesus, so that it would be a covenant of grace for us. The covenant of grace for the believer is the covenant of works kept for us by Christ.

In fact, Burkoff mentions this relationship more in terms of the covenant of redemption. He says, the covenant of redemption, or though the covenant of redemption is the eternal basis of the covenant of grace, and as far as sinners are concerned, also its eternal prototype, it was for Christ a covenant of works rather than a covenant of grace. You have to appreciate this. There's a sense, brethren, where we are saved by works.

Well, we are saved by our works, just not our own. Because they're terrible. They're bad. They're horrible.

They're miserable. The best that we can do are like filthy rags in the sight of Holy God. The very most virtue that you or I could pony up is still disgusting when measured according to Scripture. I mean, what's the great motivation for any good work?

Love to God, love to our fellows. Isn't that the first and second great commandments? Everything you do, you do with love to God and love for man? Probably not.

I mean, I can only speak with certainty for one of us in here, but I don't think you're a whole lot different than me. I mean, every single thing we do, we do with an eye to the glory of God. Most likely, no. If you say, well, yeah, I do that for 23 hours of the day.

I would really like to see just for 23 seconds of the day that this actually transpire. You see, for Christ, the covenant of grace was a covenant of works. He kept this for us, all of the obligations laid upon Him by the Father, He does for us. He says, for Him, the law of the original covenant applied, namely that eternal life could only be obtained by meeting the demands of the law.

As the last Adam, Christ obtains eternal life for sinners in reward for faithful obedience, and not at all as an unmerited gift of grace. And what He has done as the representative and surety of all His people, they are no more in duty bound to do. The work has been done, the reward is merited, and believers are made partakers of the fruit of Christ's accomplished work through grace. Now, Berkhoff is not suggesting license, He's not suggesting that we continue in sin that grace may abound.

Berkhoff is dealing with justification. Christ paid the debt. Christ fulfilled the obligations. In justification, we are forgiven, we have this righteousness, and therefore the work is accomplished.

Our salvation is wrought out It's finished. It's applied by the Spirit. That does not militate against sanctification and the people of God living in light of that truth and seeking, by God's grace, to be holy and to live lives that adorn their doctrine. But our salvation is not contingent upon our acts. our doings, our obedience, our merit, our law-keeping, for then we would never be saved.

It's all about Him who said, my meat is to do the will of Him who sent me. In other words, brethren, see where your hope lies. It is in Jesus Christ and in Him alone.

Restoration to Pre-Incarnate Glory

And then finally, Jesus speaks of the restoration of His glory in verse 5. And now, O Father, glorify me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

That Word became flesh and dwelt among us. There's a sense where the Lord Christ, according to His role as mediator, is exalted now to the right hand of the Father. He has all authority and power in heaven and on earth, and He has a name that is above every name. And the Lord Jesus Christ prays for a restoration to that glory, having accomplished the work that the Father gave Him.

Application

Well, in conclusion, I hope that we have seen that Christ is indeed the second person of the Trinity. He is deity. Christ is God. And we need to know that.

We need to appreciate that. And we need to realize that for our soul's safety and benefit. I think one of the arguments of Athanasius with reference to the deity of Jesus was that only God himself could save fallen humanity. I quite like that.

I think that's a great explanation. Only God himself could save fallen humanity. Not creature. No creature could do what Christ It had to be the second person of the blessed Trinity who assumed our humanity with all of the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin.

He had to undertake on our behalf to do what God called him to do for us men and for our salvation. Secondly, the essence of eternal life is the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God, the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, read your Bible and pray.

Understand certain things concerning God. The love of God. Our confession says that God is most loving. Have you ever pondered that?

Have you ever just thought for a moment that God is most loving? What does that mean? That means that His love will not increase because it can't. His love is most loving.

You don't go up for most. It's as loving as it can be. But as well, it will never decrease. All that God is, He is for His people all the time.

This doctrine with reference to the providence of God. Brethren, we need to understand God's providence. We need to understand who God is. One of the things that we've seen in the studies in our confession of faith is that chapter 3 of God's decree comes right after chapter 2 of God the Holy Trinity.

And you say, wow, Butler, that's a cutting-edge insight. There's a reason for it. The decree is not Islamic fatalism. The decree is not blind faith.

It is the God described in chapter 2 of the Confession that is carrying out His holy will for the good of His people, according to His goodness, according to His kindness, according to His mercy. Brethren, it's only an appreciation of that that leads believers to confess with Paul in Romans 8 that God works all things for good. We have to know God in order to know that passage, that even the miserable things, the terrible things, the horrible things, God is working those things out for the good of His people. See, that's the context in Romans 8.

Paul is not suggesting God works out, you know, bags of money for the good of His people. God works out vacations for the good of His people. We already know that. We need to know God works out misery, pain, affliction, and suffering for our good.

And so this knowledge of God ought to include the providence of God. It ought to include the covenant of God, the covenant of grace, the covenant of works, the covenant of redemption. These aren't just theological constructs imposed by 17th century theologians on the Bible to make theology hard. No, once you get your mind wrapped around what God is doing in these covenants, you say, wow, the covenant of grace is the covenant of works kept for us by our champion, by our mediator, by our Redeemer.

We need to know God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, with reference to assurance. What's a boon to your assurance? You? Probably not.

Do you ever wake up on a Thursday feeling terrible and say, but I'm a great guy, that's going to help me get through the day? I hope not, because you're not going to get through the day. On Thursday morning, when you wake up and it's terrible, you need to think about, we serve a great father, a great son, a great Holy Spirit. We need to think on this God with reference to our assurance of salvation.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. Why does Moat say that? Because sweet frames come and go.

Sweet frames are often in demand. Sweet frames are not often the norm and ordinary for the people of God. If we trust in sweet frames, we're going to be a miserable lot. We trust in the blood and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then with reference to this knowledge of God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the activity of eternity. In other words, if you've got a problem with Bible study now, what's heaven going to be like? You need to start conforming your mind to what's going to happen in the eternal state. Remember, it was Rick Anderson that sort of explained heaven in this sort of way.

You know, when you take a kid, perhaps, to Disneyland the first time, each corner they turn, their breath is taken away. They see something. It's that kind of a thing. And he says, heaven's going to be like that.

It's constant, fresh understanding and knowledge of who God is. It's not the case that we'll ever exhaust it. It's not the case that you could put the Pacific Ocean in a glass. You could put the Pacific Ocean in a glass earlier and sooner and quicker than you could explain the glory of the infinite God to the creature.

You just can't do it. It's not the case we're going to learn everything there is to know about God, and then we're just going to chill. No! The knowledge of the activity of eternity is growing in our knowledge of who God is and who his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

As mentioned this morning, we need to know this God. We need to know his Son with reference to worship. Do we come in here just to charge our batteries? Do we come in here just for social intercourse?

Do we come in here for entertainment? Do we come in here for an emotional charge? Do we come in here for an experience? No, we come in here to worship the God of absolute holiness and righteousness, the God who says to the prophet Malachi, if sons honor their fathers and servants honor their masters, if I'm a father, I'm a master, where is the reverence due to my name?

Well, it's the knowledge of this God that ought to promote that sort of biblical worship. And then the knowledge of God and Christian responsibility. I already cited 2 Peter 3.18, but grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's duty.

Again, it's blessed privilege duty. It's great. It's wonderful. It's like, you know, your mom telling you, I command you to eat cookies.

Okay, that's a duty that I want to engage. I want to obey that mandate. You see, brethren, we have that responsibility because God wants the people of God to be mature. God wants the people of God to think His thoughts after Him.

God knows that for the people of God to represent Him accurately, they need to be a people of the book. This is Paul's point in Romans 12, 2. Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by what? By emotions, by experience, by mountaintops, by the renewing of your mind.

How is that mind renewed? It's by putting your nose in the book. It's by showing up and hearing sermons. It's by going to Bible study.

It's by comparing Scripture with Scripture. It's by reading our Confession of Faith. It's by studying our Confession of Faith. It's by reading good Christian books.

In Hosea's day, the Lord through the prophets said, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for me. Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. Hosea 4, 6.

So it's not a small thing. We are called to exercise this responsibility in dependence upon the Holy Spirit to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And if you're not a believer here tonight, the answer, with reference to belief, is to look unto Christ. It's not just to know that God sent his son into the world, it's to believe that Christ is in fact the mediator.

Christ is in fact the one who took the sins of his people, took them to the cross, bore them in his own body on the tree and satisfied divine justice. Look to Christ and you will have everlasting life. Well, let's pray.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your grace and for your mercy. And we pray that as we enter into a new year, that we as your people would not only profess the faith, but would live in light of it, and that we would see that great blessing of the knowledge of God and of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Give us help in these things.

We confess our sluggishness at times. We confess our coldness at times. We confess our dependence upon you and pray that you would supply the Holy Spirit to do that which is lacking in our own hearts and in our own lives. Go with us now, we pray, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed.

Scripture References

• Isaiah 42:8; 48:11
• Jeremiah 9:23-24
• Hosea 4:6
• Matthew 1:21
• John 1:1; 1:14; 2:16-17; 4:33-34; 6:35; 6:37; 6:38-39; 6:39; 8:29; 8:55; 12:23; 12:27-28; 12:31-32; 12:50; 13:1; 13:31-32; 14:31; 16:1; 16:2; 16:4; 16:32; 16:33; 17:1-9; 17:24; 20:27-28
• Acts 20:28
• Romans 5:19; 8:28; 9:5; 10:17; 12:2
• 1 Corinthians 1:23; 15:20-28
• Titus 2:13
• 2 Peter 1:1; 3:18
• 1 John 5:20