 is to the glory of God, to the glory of God. And we are in John chapter 17. We're gonna be looking at verses one through five. As we come to this text, I love this text of scripture, we've been working verse by verse through the gospel of John, obviously. And we have been with the Lord as he has graciously instructed, taught his disciples on the eve of his death. We're just a few hours now from the cross. And as we've worked through John chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, and now as we come to John chapter 17, we have, as it were, reclined at the table for the upper room discourse as they ate their final meal together, the Lord and his disciples. Where Jesus at that table expressed his great love for his own, having loved his own who are in the world, he loved them to the end, loved them to the uttermost. And with great humility and great love for them, he humbled himself to wash their feet. Then he commanded us through that text that we should love one another as he has loved us. With Judas, the betrayer, finally gone, having slithered off into the night to do his evil deed and betraying the Lord Jesus Christ, we listen to the parting words of the Lord Jesus Christ in his farewell discourse with his disciples in John chapter 14, 15 and 16. He warns and he encourages, he exhorts and he prepares his disciples for what they would face after his departure from them. He tells them of the giving of the Holy Spirit. They are the vine or he is the vine and they are the branches. He tells them about this hateful world, the hostility that they would face. He talks about the Christian's peace and joy and lastly, as we looked at in John chapter 16, he talks about the importance of prayer. Three different times in his parting words in his farewell discourse, he taught these men on his last night, John 14, John 15, John 16, about prayer and he emphasizes the necessity of prayer. As the Lord begins in chapter 14, we know the disciples are troubled. They're troubled at the thought of the Lord leaving them, troubled at the thought of the Lord's departure from them and after several references to the Lord's death and departure, their hearts give way to concerns and doubts that would eventuate and nothing short for them of being a crisis of faith. There was much here that the disciples didn't understand. Much of what the Lord had taught and said, they couldn't at this point on that side of the cross comprehend. They were facing unknown and life-threatening circumstances they would eventually face martyrdom and often their fear, their ignorance, their cowardice would get the better of them. They had given everything to follow the Lord and he was leaving them. One had already betrayed him. One would soon deny him. All of them would flee and leave him alone and when they should have been pouring out their hearts to God in prayer, Jesus finds them sleeping. These are ordinary men with ordinary weaknesses, not at all unlike you and I, right? Therefore, now thinking of this and parting words to them, the Lord gives them some of the greatest blessings and greatest promises in all of the word of God and then presses upon them the urgent and critical need for prayer, to the Father in his name. Through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, every born again believer, if you've been united to Christ by repentant faith, every born again believer has unhindered access to God the Father in prayer. It's awesome thought, is it not? Hebrews chapter four, verse 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but he was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore, brothers and sisters, come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. This fearful and often faithless, often weak group of men would become men of prayer. Now Jesus had said in John chapter 15, verse 16, he said to them, you didn't choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain. To that end, the Lord says, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he's gonna give it to you. Now these disciples would carry on the great commission, the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ they'd been given as the Father had sent Jesus Christ in John 2021, Jesus Christ sends them. Now they, these disciples like us, are given a great commission, a great commission of preaching the gospel to a lost and hostile world. They're given the mission of making disciples. And so with that mission in hand, so to speak, with this power and access to God the Father and their prayers being answered, they go straight back into Jerusalem and then into Judea to Sumerian to the uttermost ends of the earth and they die bearing witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from their faithfulness, apart from their preaching of the gospel, preaching Christ and him crucified, there would have been no Christian witness in this world. Think about that reality for a moment. These men, if it weren't for their preaching of the gospel, their faithfulness of the mission that they'd been given, their faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ, there would have been no church. There would have been no New Testament, no you and I worshiping here this morning. Christianity would have died out. But did the establishment and growth of the church depend upon their strength? No. Did the spread of Christianity, did that flourish because of their wisdom due to their efforts? No. We know the truth of scripture, the reality that it was God working in them and through them, both the willing to do according to his good pleasure. God gets the glory, amen? God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, God accomplished this great work. And it's by the grace of God that you and I are here this morning. God gets the glory. God accomplished this great work through those men and all the disciples that would follow after them. And he accomplished it through the means of a praying people. He instructed them to pray and they prayed. God answered their prayer. Now that should be great motivation for you and I to pray. We should be a praying people. Put your faith in Christ, right? You put repentant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and then you express that faith through prayer, through obedience. Even when we don't know what to pray for as we should, the Holy Spirit steps in to help us. Romans chapter eight, verse 26, likewise. The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. It's an awesome thought too, right? A blessing that the Spirit of God intercedes for us in prayers, in groanings which cannot be uttered. Even when we in our weakness, in our ignorance, in our frailty, don't even know what to pray for as we ought. But who else intercedes for us when we pray? Lord Jesus Christ, our great intercessor, our advocate with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father. Just like the disciples, right? We have to put ourselves in this context just like the disciples. You've been called to a great commission. You and I have been called to a great commission. We are commanded to preach the gospel and make disciples. I like the disciples. We sometimes face hostility in that, don't we? We sometimes face fear and doubt, our own ignorance. We face sin and trial and weakness. But just like the disciples, you and I are commanded to pray, to trust and obey, to labor and pray. The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and the Lord Himself intercedes for us. Romans chapter eight, verse 34, who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died. And furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us. And when the Spirit prays, when the Spirit prays, He always prays in accord with the Father's will, right? He is God, the Holy Spirit. When the Son of God prays, the Lord prays, He always prays in accord with the Father's will. He is God, the Son. Nothing, nothing will ever be denied to the Spirit of God. Nothing that the Son of God ever prays will ever be denied to the Son of God. Now that's awesome intercession, isn't it? Effective intercession. And if we are promised, in the Lord's word, if we are promised that prayer in His name will be granted, how much more actual requests from the Son of God, right? How much more will they be granted if the Lord Jesus Christ Himself prays? Now we find an example of that powerful and unfailing intercession as we come to John chapter 17. As we look at John chapter 17 together, I thought about this text that it's like you and I get to wait in the doorway, so to speak, or just inside the doorway of a glorious inner room in heavenly places. God the Father is in the room. The train of His robe filling the room, His glory filling the room, and the Lord Jesus Christ enters in. And we enter in as it were with Him in John chapter 17. We get to stand just inside the door as we listen to our Lord pour out His heart in divine communion with our heavenly Father. To stand there and listen to that conversation for anyone would be a tremendous blessing, amen? Right, better by far than standing on the mount with Peter, James and John and Elijah and Moses, right? To hear that conversation would be a blessing. And here we are in John chapter 17, and we get to listen in. We get to listen in. The Lord Jesus Christ here stands in the very shadow of the cross, and in the hearing of His disciples, and certainly in the hearing of all the saints in all ages through this very passage, the Lord lifted up His eyes to heaven and He utters this breathtaking prayer, right? Simple but profound, like awesome prayer to the Lord. Some have called it the greatest prayer ever prayed. Since about the fifth century, this prayer in John 17 has been referred to as the Lord's high priestly prayer. However, as we consider this, this is truly, truly the Lord's prayer. The example of prayer, the model for prayer given in Matthew six or Luke 11 could more appropriately be called the disciples prayer because there that's a prayer that the Lord Himself didn't pray. It was a model for His disciples. He even references the forgiveness of sins, something He Himself had no need to pray for. But here in John 17 is where the Lord Himself prays to God and we get to hear His prayer. If you think about the gospels, we see many references of the gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ praying. He often goes off by Himself to pray. It's important to note in thinking about that that Jesus Christ, the God-man, right? Perfectly sinless, the incarnate Son of God, God who took on flesh. It's important to note that He prayed. He prayed. In fact, the Lord was the perfect exemplar of prayer, frequently taking time to pray. However, in thinking about the Lord's prayer and His example of being a man of prayer, we don't often hear much of the content of His prayer. Of those several references made in the gospels, we don't know much about them. We hear the content of His prayer at the tomb of Lazarus. We get to hear some of what He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and we'll study that very soon. And we hear the content of some of His prayer at the cross. There's a powerful prayer in Matthew chapter 11, verse 25. A lot of what we know of that prayer just heartfelt and filled with theology. But here we are in John chapter 17, and we're brought near to the Lord as He prays. Think about that with me for a moment. We, in John chapter 17, we sit in His lap, so to speak, as He prays to God the Father. He addresses God as Father. Think about how personal, how intimate that is. There's a tenderness expressed in that, right? As John reclined at the table just a short time ago and laid his head in Jesus' bosom, close to Him, listening to Him. As Mary sat at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, hearing Him teach, the Lord pulls us close for this prayer. He pulls us close, but why does He do that? Why does He do that? There's several reasons. But here's one, because He wants to encourage us through this prayer. He wants to bolster our faith. He wants to build our confidence, give us strength. He wants to enlarge our hearts for both Him and our Heavenly Father. He wants us to abandon any notion of self-sufficiency. He wants us to be willing to commit all to Him who is able to keep everything that I've committed to Him until that day. He wants us to persevere and hold on to be steadfast. He wants us to press on to the end. He wants us to worship and glorify God. He wants us to believe, wants us to hope, wants us to love, wants us to obey. He wants us to rejoice. He wants us to take courage. He wants us to abide in Him. He draws us near. He sets us on His lap, so to speak, for that that we would love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And what is most encouraging to me about this prayer is that, one, how it causes us to exult in the glory of God, how it causes us to revel in the glory of God, rejoice in the glory of God, be caught up in worship over the glory of God. But secondly, what's so encouraging about this prayer is thinking that every petition that has been prayed here absolutely will be and has been answered or granted by God. Every petition granted by God, answered by God, not because we're faithful, but because He is faithful. Now, if you think about the prayer in John 17, it's broken down into three sections, really. One, Jesus prays for himself, and He prays for the glory of God in verses one through five. We'll see how those are tied up together. Jesus prays for himself and the glory of God in verses one through five. Secondly, He prays for His disciples, the 11, and by implication praying for us in verses six through 19. Praise for His disciples in verses six through 19. Lastly, He prays for the church, for the people of God through the ages. He prays for you and I in verses 20 through 26. Although in this prayer, the Lord in John 17, there's a three point outline that He gives here. There is a single unifying theme that runs throughout, a driving force, if you will, a compelling motivation. It governs and fuels the entire prayer. That fuel, that kindling on which the prayer catches fire is the glory of God, is the glory of God. As we work through verses one through five over the next couple of weeks, we're gonna see four specific ways in which that is elucidated here from this text. One, we're gonna see a passion for His glory. Two, we're gonna see a plan for His glory. Three, a people for His glory. And four, a purchase for His glory. And you'll see those on your notes. A passion for His glory. We're gonna see the Lord's own passion, His own commitment to the glory of God the Father. A plan for His glory. The grand sweeping scope of God's redemptive designs, God's redemptive decrees in history and eternity past. We're gonna see a people for His glory. Those whom God the Father has given to God the Son for His own glory. And lastly, a purchase for His glory, the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In all of this, we see the sweeping scope of God's plans and purposes in the Lord Jesus Christ and how all of that works together to the glory of God. Let's begin with point one on your notes. A passion for His glory. A passion for His glory. In John chapter 17 verse one, Jesus spoke these words. Now what words is he referring to there? The words that he spoke to them, the words that he has been speaking to them from John 13, 14, 15, and 16, his parting words. To clarify, you could say, after he spoke these words to them, Jesus in verse one lifted up his eyes to heaven, a common posture for prayer. He lifted up his eyes to heaven and he said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son so that or for the purpose that your son also may glorify you. Here at the beginning in verse one, we're introduced to this unifying theme of the prayer. Glorify your son that your son also may glorify you. As the hour has now come, Jesus Christ in this hour fixed upon the glory of God. He has a passion for the glory of God. One, there's a way in which in this prayer, specifically here in verse one, these opening words demonstrate this passion for His glory. It's interesting that word passion, right? We often think about passion being intense emotion driven toward an object, right? There's also a way of using the word passion that describes the Lord Jesus Christ, His suffering and death for sinners. And both of those, both of those senses come to bear here. There are ways in which He demonstrates a passion for His glory, a passion for the glory of God. The first way in which He demonstrates a passion for His glory is simply by the fact that He prays, simply by the fact that He prays. Someone might ask, right? Why does He pray? Why does He pray? He knows these things will come to pass. He Himself being God in the flesh, He is sovereign, omniscient. God is sovereign over all things, so why pray? Specifically here, He prays because He trusts, as you and I do, He trusts in the promises of God. And so He prays here for God to fulfill His promises. Now think about the example of the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer, put yourself in His shoes, so to speak, and the example that He provides and think about your own life. The Lord Jesus Christ and His incarnation trusts in the promises of God. And so He prays for God to apply those promises, to fulfill those promises. The Lord Jesus tells them, but He tells the disciples in John 14 that He'll come back for them. He goes away to prepare a place for them and He'll come back to receive them to Himself so that they can be where He is. And then here, He prays in John 17 for the Father to grant that they might be with Him where He is. You see how that works? According to John 1, He is the creator of all things. Without Jesus Christ, nothing was made that was made. He is fully God, the image of the invisible God, the expressed image of His person, the one who sustains all things by the word of His power. In John chapter 17, among so many other places, we see that He is not only God, but fully man, the word made flesh dwelling among us, Emmanuel, right, God with us. And even from this prayer, you get the sense of what's intended by Paul in Philippians chapter two, that the Lord Jesus Christ made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. He emptied Himself in one sense, as it were, of His glory. And from Philippians chapter two, in His incarnation, we know that He becomes something that prior to He was not. He considers our weakness, if you will. He stoops to our level. He condescends to humble Himself and to suffer humiliation, being obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And He does all this for His own people. This is the incarnation. And in verse five, considering His incarnation, considering His humiliation, considering the fact that now He has taken on flesh, making Himself of no reputation, He prays in verse five for the blessed state that He once enjoyed with God the Father. He says there, and now, oh Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was, this is the glory of the incarnation. In His incarnation, He is, as we are, dependent upon God to fulfill His will through Him. He's dependent upon God. He trusts in God. Not only does the Lord hear in that position, glorify God in His humility, not only does the Lord glorify God in His obedience, not only does He glorify God in His submission, but He glorifies God in His dependence, in His dependence. He is sinlessly perfect, fully God, but here He is dependent upon God. And all of that is expressed in the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ prays. The fact that He prays gives glory to God. John chapter 14, verse 10. Jesus says, the words that I speak to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the works. In John chapter 12, verse 49. Listen, He says, I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me gave me a command what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak. Lord Jesus Christ, He is obedient to the Father. He is submissive to the Father. He's under the authority of God the Father, but He glorifies God in His dependence upon the Father. And that fact is expressed here in His prayer, in the fact that He prays. There's so many other verses that, especially through the Gospel of John that sort of express the same truth, but in His incarnation, the Lord Jesus Christ is dependent upon God the Father to fulfill all His will. And that dependence, that submission, that obedience, all expressed in prayer. Now you and I have to do the same, don't we? If the Lord Jesus Christ, how much more you and I pray, depend upon God and in your dependence upon God and your faithfulness to pray, God is glorified. Paul said in Philippians chapter two, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And many would say, why pray? Maybe they don't allocate time to pray. Maybe they don't think that prayer is that important. We are called, just like the disciples, we're called to live a holy life, right? We're called to preach the Gospel. We've been given to a great commission. We're called to love and disciple others. Well listen, just like for the Lord Jesus Christ, if you and I don't avail ourselves of the appointed means that God has given to accomplish His will through you, and those appointed means include prayer, then nothing happens. Nothing happens apart from faith expressed in prayer to God. If it's going to happen for you, it's gonna happen through the means of prayer because the means of prayer is an appointed means that God has provided for accomplishing His will in you and through you. You wanna be sanctified, pray, and labor. You wanna overcome sin. You labor, strive, and pray, and pray. You wanna share the Gospel. You wanna be effective as a witness for Christ. You labor in evangelism and you pray. You pray and you evangelize. Unless we avail ourselves of this appointed means, nothing happens. The Lord Jesus Christ proves this here by praying. Do you see? If the Lord prays in order to bring about the will of God, then you and I should pray. If you think about it here, the Lord knew everything that was gonna happen. He knew what awaited Him. He knew the direction that He was going. He said it's for this purpose that I've come to this hour. He's going to lay down His life at the cross. All of God's promises and plans in Christ will be fulfilled, and yet the Lord comes to Him now in John 17 and prays for these very things to happen. Praise for God to fulfill His will. And God works through the prayer. These are not empty words. Do you see? These are not empty words. The Lord Jesus Christ prays, God glorifies Himself by answering those prayers by giving the Lord what He prayed for. The Lord will glorify Himself by answering your prayers too. When we pray in Jesus' name, we are given what we've asked for so that the Son is glorified and the Father is then glorified in the Son. God uses the means of prayer to accomplish His plans and purposes. When we pray, we express faith in God. We express dependence upon Him, and God gets the glory. If you presume to do that in your own strength, right? If you presume to accomplish that in your own energy, in other words, you're not praying, you're not depending upon God, who gets the glory, you do, so to speak. Romans chapter eight. It's if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live, right? It doesn't say if in your own strength, if in your own confidence, if in your own willpower, if by your own efforts, if by your own fences, if by your own doing, it's if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. God gets the glory. So he demonstrates a passion for the glory of God by the mere fact that he prays, by the fact that he prays. Secondly, he demonstrates a passion for the glory of God in the way in which he prays. Demonstrates a passion for the glory of God in the way in which he prays. He begins his prayer here in verse one by addressing God as Father. The Aramaic term was Abba. Greek translation of that word was Pateir. Here it's an intimate term, a personal term. It doesn't mean daddy. Children would use it and adults would use it. It was an intimate personal term that meant father. Father, here translated as father. In verse 11, it's holy father. Down in verse 25, it's righteous, oh righteous father. The expression here, father, very rare in the Old Testament, only 15 times in the Old Testament altogether. There's no evidence whatsoever that pre-Christian Judaism ever used this term. Very uncommon, most likely not at all, preceding Christ, that father was used in the way it's used here. But it's very common on the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. More than 100 times in the Gospel of John that father is used in this way, only 15 times in all of the Old Testament. More than 165 times in the four Gospels and only 15 times in the Old Testament. He demonstrates a passion for the glory of God in the way in which he prays. The way in which he teaches us to pray. Matthew, Matthew 6 and Luke 11. How does he teach us to pray? Our father, right, hallowed be your name, your will be done. Now, the disciples pick up the use of that term. They must have reveled in it, right? Calling God their father. Because you see it all over the New Testament. Paul, a common reference to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. One commentator said this. When Jesus says father, and the Christian stands by his side and listens, then across a thousand subtleties and sophisms, nay admits innumerable mysteries impervious to his intellect, baffling the finite mind as it attempts to comprehend fully its own relations with the infinite. He knows that the eternal and ultimate is personal. The poor, sinful man looking up into heights immeasurable finds and touches with trembling but real faith close beside him. No mere abstract cause, no blind tendency, no soulless nature personified and deified by fancy or by wish, but one God who knows wills and loves unspeakably and with a tenderness that cannot be imagined. He is personally holy, the personally faithful, the personally gracious. He is the father, nothing less than all that can be denoted or implied by that dear and living word. We have a personal salvation. None of this impersonal anyone, it's personal, it's direct, it's intimate, it's you and I, it's the people of God. We draw into this prayer again, sitting on a lap, so to speak, of the Lord Jesus Christ as he prays to our father. He says that it's a term used by one in Christ who knows he can never be an orphan, amen. So he glorifies God, do you see? In the way in which he prays, addressing him as father. Thirdly, he demonstrates a passion for the glory of God by what he prays, by what he prays. By the fact that he prays, by the way in which he prays, but here specifically by the content of his prayer. By praying here for that which brings glory to God, by praying for his own glory at the cross, he prays for the glory of God, reveals his passion for the glory of God. He says, father, the hour has come. Glorify your son so that your son also may glorify you. His hour has come. This is the hour of the cross. It's the hour in John 12 where the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies. It's the hour toward which the entirety of scripture has been driving. It's the hour toward which the entire gospel of John has been pushing. And to this point, he's frequently made clear that his hour has not yet come. In John chapter eight, verse 20, if you remember him in the temple, no one could lay hands on him because his hour had not yet come. In chapter seven, three different places, they couldn't take him because his hour had not yet come. He didn't go up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles because his hour had not yet come. Now, in John chapter 17 in the shadow of the cross his hour has finally come. His hour where plans made in the eternal decrees of God will come to fruition. And all of that comes to fruition through the substitutionary and atoning work of the Lamb of God on the cross. Now that reality, his hour has come, doesn't cause the Lord Jesus Christ to respond in a despairing fatalism. It doesn't cause the Lord to despair. It causes the Lord Jesus Christ to pray. It provokes him to prayer, a trusting, faith-filled prayer. And so at this hour, the Lord prays and his first petition in John chapter 17, verse one is glorify your son, glorify your son. Now we also ends this opening section of that same request, verse five. And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. His references to this hour are always connected to his glory. Flip back a couple of pages to John chapter 12. Let's see an example of that. John chapter 12, this hour is connected to his glory. His hour has come and so now he prays glorify your son. Look at John chapter 12 and drop down to verse 23. When the Greeks came up to worship at the feast, the Lord responds in verse 23 and says, but Jesus answered them saying, the hour has come that the Son of man should be glorified. And he makes that statement. Most assuredly, verse 24, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me and where I am there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, him, my father will honor. Now, verse 27, my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? My father saved me from this hour but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, in this hour so to speak, glorify your name. References to this hour are connected to his glory. Back in John 17, his first petition then glorify your son. He's gonna glorify his son in this hour. We'll talk about what that means. Now think about it with me for a moment. For a mere man to utter this prayer would be blasphemous, right? Glorify me, who could utter such a thing? Such an unattainable position for a created being to attain to Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses to presume, to ask God to glorify you. God who is worthy of all glory to glorify you. But then here, Jesus Christ is no mere creation. He's no mere man. He is God the Son. This request in and of itself is an expression of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God the Son. Now God has frequently stated that he will not share his glory with another. Turn with me quickly to Isaiah chapter 42. Isaiah chapter 42. God will not share his glory with another. Isaiah chapter 42, and listen to verse one. Behold, my servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights. Who is he speaking about here? The Lord Jesus Christ, right? This is one of the servant songs of Isaiah. He's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. He says in verse one, I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out nor raise his voice nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoking flax he will not quench. He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the coast lands shall wait for his law. And all these are ways in which the Lord Jesus Christ glorifies God the Father. Thus says God the Lord who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it. I the Lord have called you in righteousness. Who's the you? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And will hold your hand. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, to those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord. That is my name and my glory. I will not give to another. What is he gonna do in John chapter 17 in answer to the Lord's request to glorify him? The Lord is going to glorify him. God is going to give him glory. What does that say about the Lord Jesus Christ? Says that he is God the Son. He is God the Son. God said that he will not share his glory with another and yet here he's going to share his glory with the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over to Isaiah 48, just a few pages to the right. Isaiah 48 and look at verse nine. God says, for my name's sake I will defer my anger and for my praise I will restrain it from you so that I do not cut you off, speaking of Israel and you could say by implication the wicked. Verse 10, behold I have refined you but not a silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction for my own sake, for my own sake I will do it. For how should my name be profaned and I will not give my glory to another? Look at Daniel, Daniel chapter seven. Daniel chapter seven, couple of books to the right and again, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ look at verse 13, Daniel chapter seven, verse 13. Daniel says, I was watching in the night visions and behold, one like the Son of Man, who's that? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. This is because Jesus Christ is God. Glory for the Lord Jesus Christ is his right. Glory is essential to his eternal nature. Verse five, he prays and now, oh Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you from before the world was. Look at Revelation chapter four with me. Revelation at the end of your Bible. Revelation chapter four. Listen to this, beginning in Revelation four, verse nine, in the throne room of heaven. Verse nine, whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying, you are worthy, oh Lord, to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they exist and were created. Now speaking specifically there of God the Father, but who also according to John chapter one created all things without whom nothing that was made was made? The Lord Jesus Christ, here he is worthy to receive glory and honor and power. Then in chapter five, I saw on the right hand verse one of him who sat on the throne, a scroll written inside and on the back sealed with seven seals. Then I saw strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and to lose its seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it. So I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and to read the scroll or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, do not weep, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has prevailed to open the scroll and to lose its seven seals? And I looked and behold in the midst of the throne of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then he, the Lord Jesus Christ came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Now when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song saying you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. How does the Lord Jesus Christ glorify God the Father by redeeming God's people, by being the lamb who was slain from before the foundation of the world and redeeming his people to God by his blood? It says in verse 10, you have made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on the earth. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing and every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them, I heard saying blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb forever and ever. The reason that the Lord Jesus Christ can be glorified here is because Jesus Christ is worthy of glory. Jesus Christ is God the Son. God the Father who said, I will not share my glory with another glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. And why does he glorify him? Because all of the promises of God are yes and amen in him. He redeemed us to God the Father. He has an eternal plan. His redemptive purposes from eternity past all fulfilled in Christ, God the Son. He's worthy of glory. Amen. What is that glory back in John 17? What does that glory consist of? One, that glory consists of the fact that he is the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. We've seen that in several texts, specifically now in Revelation. He is the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. So when the Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 17 verse one, praise Father, glorify me. The hour has come, glorify your Son. He's speaking of his atoning work on the cross, of his blood shed for sinners, of his body given up in death to redeem his people, to fulfill the plans and decreed purposes of God from before the foundation of the world. He is the lamb slain. And in that, the Son is glorified, right? The hour has come, God, glorify your Son. In other words, take me to the cross. Take me to the cross. There, the grain of wheat dies. The Son of man is lifted up. And when he is lifted up, he will draw all peoples to himself. And in that, the Son of God is glorified. Secondly, what does that glory consist of? Secondly, it consists of that, which is distinguishable from his humiliation. Look at verse five with me again. He prays here in verse one, Father, the hour has come, glorify your Son. Then he says something in verse five, it's interesting. He says, and now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory, he says, and that glory is described as that, which I had with you from before the world was, right? So I think about it this way, that glory certainly consists of the perfect, sinless lamb of God going to Calvary's cross to secure all the promises of God. But it also consists of that, which differentiates the glory, which he had with the Father from before the world was, and his incarnation as humiliation. You could say that glory there means clothed with splendor. The glory that he had with the Father before the world was was a glory in which the Lord Jesus Christ was clothed with splendor. Myriads and myriads of angels worshiping him, perfect unity and love and glory within the Godhead. And when the Lord Jesus Christ came, we saw that in Philippians chapter two. He emptied himself, so to speak, of that glory, and he took on the dirt of our existence, the walk, the mud of this earth to suffer at the hands of men in order to redeem us. That glory is the splendor, the majesty that the Lord Jesus Christ enjoyed in heaven with God the Father before the world began. But thirdly, what does that glory here consist of? It consists of an unveiling, if you will, a revelation. A revelation of all that he is and all that he's done. If you look at John chapter 17 and you drop down to verse 23 or verse 22, there's a hint of it here referenced in these verses. John chapter 17, verse 22. And the glory which you gave me, I have given them that they may be one just as we are one. I am them and you and me that they may be made perfect in one. And that the world may know, the world knowing glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, right? That the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. Verse 24, Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am so that they may behold my glory which you have given me. There's a sense in which that glory when the Lord prays, Father, glorify your son. That glory that he's referencing also pertains to a revelation of all that Christ is and all that he's done, that we may behold him as glorious. He wants to be glorified and is worthy of glory for us to see him glorified. Now that prayer isn't a self-serving prayer. It isn't a selfish prayer, Father, glorify your son. It's not a self-indulgent prayer in any way, shape, or form. You think about the sinlessly perfect and pure motives of the Lord Jesus Christ? That prayer for the Father to glorify, certainly the son is worthy of that glory that that prayer for the son to be glorified, for the father to glorify his son has a purpose. And that purpose is the Lord Jesus Christ's one driving passion. All must be subject to this one driving motivation and that is the glory of God. John 17, verse one, Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come, glorify your son so that your son also may glorify you. In other words, Lord Jesus Christ praying for his own glorification so that the father would be glorified. His motive, his compelling passion is the glory of God. He's done everything with that as his motivation, the glory of God. He always does those things which please him. The glorification of the son certainly bound up with the glory of the father. As the son is glorified, God the father is glorified. But the glorification of the son leads to the glorification of the father. And how is that? How does that work? Think about it, for all eternity, he will be praised as the one who was obedient even to death, even to the death of the cross in submission to his father whom he loves. The Lord's obedience, the Lord's suffering, the Lord's dependence, the Lord's death designed in the eternal councils of the Godhead designed to glorify God the father. The work of Christ, the person of Christ magnifies God's grace. It magnifies God's love, God's mercy. Magnifies his perfect righteousness. Magnifies God's justice. Magnifies and glorifies God. The one who so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ lived perfectly and fully to the glory of God. His passion is the glory of God. Thought about the first question of the catechism. What is your chief end? What is my chief end? What were you made for? You were made to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Glorifying him in your enjoyment of him. Your purpose, the reason for which you were made is to glorify God. We're to love the Lord our God, heart, soul, mind, and strength. We're to obey him. The one who loves him obeys his commandments. We're to put our faith and trust in him. We're to live our life to the glory of God. We're to pray to the glory of God. We're to love and obey to the glory of God. We're to preach the gospel to the glory of God. If you think about it, if you're here today and you've never turned from living life for yourself, which is such an abhorrent sin against your creator, think about it. God is worthy of glory. The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to redeem God's people so that God the Father would be glorified. He went to his death for sinners. And you would presume to live for yourself, for your own glory, for your own indulgence, for your own selfish desires. What horrendously, offensive sin against your creator. You were made, you were made to glorify God. If you don't live for his glory, then you will glorify him in your damnation. The smoke of your torment will magnify his wrath. Will magnify his justice. Will magnify his holiness. Will magnify his righteousness for all eternity. Or believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn from your sin. Put your faith and trust in him. And you in Christ by faith in the power of the Spirit can glorify God with your life as you were intended to do. And one day will glorify him for all eternity in heaven. Praising and worshiping forever the Lamb who is slain. The Lord Jesus Christ is worthy to receive glory. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, we long, Lord, to worship you, to praise you, to glorify you as you are worthy to be worshiped and praised and glorified. We know that one day, Lord, by your grace and your mercy shown to us in Christ, we will stand with the saints in heaven, unfettered, unhindered by sin and praise your glory. We love you. We thank you, Lord, for this word, your word. Thank you for the example of our Lord Jesus Christ whose driving passion was the glory of God. And may we, God, in him, live to your glory. Our great desire is to glorify your name. We love you and thank you for this time together. In Jesus' name, amen.