And the Word of God reads, Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Oh, righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name and I will continue to make it known that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them. Wow. I want to speak to you today from a title, His Love Remains. His love remains, amen? All right, so just a little snapshot, just going back a little bit, just to give a little review where we were last time. If you've been traveling with me through this chapter of John, 17th chapter, this is the high priestly prayer of Jesus Christ. And this is the situation. Things are getting interesting. The disciples are hearing Jesus pray. And again, again, and again, I reinforce this point. He is praying out loud. Okay, he's not praying on some mountain, not praying somewhere in some cave. Jesus was still away most times and get away from the crowd. Jesus is praying out loud. And he's doing that because he wants to encourage his disciples and he wants to teach them. Amen. And the reason why is because he is headed to the cross. Amen. He's about to complete his mission. And in a way, Jesus is leaving them because he's getting ready to die and he's going to rise again and he's going to go back to his father to receive the glory that he had before the foundation of the world. Amen. Now, of course, this frightens the disciples because they have been with Jesus about three and a half years. Jesus called them and said, come with me, come follow me. They left whatever they were doing and they just got up and they followed him. They left their lives, they left whatever, you know, vocation, their jobs, whatever they were doing, and they got up and followed Jesus. So Jesus is someone that they don't want to leave. Jesus has been protecting them, providing for them, teaching them, amen, for all this time, and not to mention, things are starting to get a little scary. It's becoming a little dangerous to hang with Jesus. Jesus is picking up some enemies. He's saying what the Father wants him to say, and there are people there who are religious folks. who don't want the people to be freed from their religious captivity and brought into the love of God. Amen? So because of that's happening, things are getting a little dangerous. So in the midst of all of this angst and anxiety, Jesus prays. He prays for them, and he's letting them know, I'm leaving you. I'm getting ready to go. but they will not be alone because his love remains. Amen? The comforter is coming. The Holy Spirit is coming. Amen? Now, just to kind of set this up here, I'm gonna go Old Testament for a minute. Turn to Deuteronomy 31, six through eight. Deuteronomy 31st chapter, verses six through eight. Let me set this up. Moses has been leading for some time. He is told by God that he is not going into the promised land. Joshua, is about to step up into leadership, amen? And they're about to transition into another level or go into the possessions of God, amen? They're moving from their comfort zone and getting ready to step into what God has for them. And for some people, that can be a little scary. even though this is what God has promised you. Amen? Leaving where you are to where you're going sometimes can be a little scary. Amen? So this is what the Word of God says. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Amen, and then verse seven says, then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, be strong and courageous for your God shall go with this people into the land the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. He's saying that twice. Amen? Do not fear or be dismayed. Moses is getting ready to die. Joshua's about to step up, and the people are saying, wait a minute, we don't know about where we're going. We don't know. I mean, we're excited, but this is a little scary. There's leadership change. There's placement change. Amen? So the promise is, God will go with you. The Lord will be with you. There are times in our lives, I don't know about you, where we feel abandonment. Amen? Change comes. Amen. And if you're not sure, You know, about what's coming, you can be a little nervous about it. Change comes and we're not sure if we can go on or if we can stay on top of things. The way that we used to do things takes a hit. Amen? And all of a sudden, we're facing an unknown future with, you know, without our familiar resources. I'm going to say that again. We're facing an unknown future, good or bad, whatever, however we look at it. There's change coming, but without our normal, familiar resources. Maybe it's a loss of a job. Maybe it's a loss of a person. Mama was here. Daddy was here. My spouse was here. I'm moving forward into this change without my normal backup. The future is right before you, but this change is big. Amen? The disciples, just like in Deuteronomy, as we see with the Israelites, the disciples experiences and Jesus was with them praying for encouragement that they would be able to move into what God has for them. But Jesus is saying, by the way, I'm going back to the Father. You're not gonna see me anymore. John 17, 20, back to our scripture text, our chapter here. Jesus is praying and he says I don't ask for all these things protection from the devil and oneness of the body and the disciples I Don't ask about these things only but for these only rather But I'm also asking for those who will believe in me through their word so not only is the prayer for the Apostles and The prayer is also for anybody who believes the gospel that the apostles were preaching. Amen. Those who heard the gospel and came into salvation, who understand that Jesus saves us from our sins by dying on the cross and takes our place in death, that we might have eternal life, trusting in, relying on the work of salvation, the work of the cross that Jesus Christ did, amen, which pays for your and my, our rebellion against a most holy God, Amen. We are now the recipients of the same gospel from the apostles. We now have eternal life because we are believing what they preach, which came from Jesus Christ himself. Jesus said, I'm not just praying for the apostles, I am praying for you, the church. Are you hearing me? Amen. We were dead in our sins. could not save ourselves. Amen. God had mercy on you and me. I don't know why, but he just did. Amen. And now, saints of God, because of this grace, this unmerited favor, amen, this mercy that we do not deserve, you and I, the church, the believers, those who believe in Jesus Christ, not only have eternal life, help me, Holy Spirit, calm down, Jamie, We are now reuniting in this perfect relationship with God. We blew it, we knew it, and Jesus fixed it. Are you hearing me? Amen. That relationship was paid for with the blood of Jesus Christ. And that relationship, saints, comes with promises. promises, as I said, of oneness, protection, victory, and the big one. Amen? That one day, he's going to take all of us home. Amen? He's going to take us all on the big one. Amen? Just want to be with you. He's gonna take us all home. So here we go, where we left off, John 17, 24. Jesus prays, Father, I desire that they also, the future disciples, you and I, Amen? Not just the 11 plus Matthias as we see in Acts, but the future disciples, you and I, the bride of Christ. He's saying, I desire, Father, that they would be with me. Those whom you have given me may be where I am. Whom you have given me may be with me where I am. I desire that the church Also with the apostles Will be with jesus where he is. What is he talking about? John 14 1 through 3. You've heard it before you can turn to it, but trust me. It's there John 14 1 through 3. He says let not your hearts be trouble Believe in god Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you." Huh? What? Uh-huh. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am, you may be also. So he's not saying anything different. Amen? He's basically saying, I want my church, my people, to be with me. Amen? This is not our home. We are in this world, but we are not of this world. And this world, thank God, is not our last stop. You know, I don't know what your financial situation is or what your status is. Maybe you've been written all your life. You never got any property or own any property, but I want you to know you got some real estate up in heaven. That's all yours. It belongs to you because Jesus gave his life, and he so desired that you would be with him, that I would be with him, that the believers be with him. I want you with me. I want you here with me also. Amen? Amen. And one day, when he comes back to rule again on the new earth, this whole earth will be ours. The whole planet. Amen? Amen. So now we get excited about that, and we should, because it's true, it's a promise of God. Amen. Jesus prepared a place for us, but as exciting as that is, I wanna say it with you, say it with me one more time, his love remains. His love remains. As exciting as that is that we got property, and we got things, and all this stuff that's going to be happening in heaven, and we're going, oh, it's going to be incredible. It's great. We're going to be singing, and shouting, and doing all that. Exciting and all that is, that's all it is. There's something even better. There's something even better. There's something more wonderful that is waiting for us than just mansions. In rooms, there's something more wonderful. Jesus said this, John. He said, Father, I desire that they would also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am. What? To see my glory that you have given me. Stop right there. Am I right about that? Yes. To see my glory that you have given me. The glory? of Christ will be seen by the believers. The glory of Christ that the followers of Christ will see, the disciples will see, is Christ as God. Take that in. The glory that Jesus enjoyed before His mission to the earth, we're going to see that. Amen? Amen. Jesus wants those that have been given to Him to be where He is so that we can see Him as He is. The glory of Christ within the Godhead, the glory of Christ in as much as he is the Son of God, the true God, amen? We will get a chance to see that. John 17, 4, 5, stay in this chapter, just a couple of verses back. Verses four through five. I have glorified you, Jesus says, on earth. I have made you known. I have shown your character. Amen. Remember I taught you that? Having accomplished the work that you have given me to do. And now, Father, glorify me with your own presence, with the glory that I had with you before the world even existed. Okay? So I'm not going to even try. Pastor Hawkins is not going to even try to describe to you What exactly this is? I'm not that deep. And I don't want to get up here and be deep and lie. OK? And I ain't trying to impress nobody. But whatever this glory is, it's bigger than having the mansions. Whatever this glory is, Jesus died to give it to us so we could see it. That means it has some kind of value that we don't really understand. Whatever this glory is, it's going to blow our minds. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Amen. Whatever this glory is, it's going to be totally awesome. And how I know that is because Isaiah, in the sixth chapter, Isaiah had a vision, he had a glimpse, just a small peek. of the glory of God. He said in the New Year King Isaiah, he said his glory filled, I saw the Lord, his glory, his train filled the temple. So much so that the angels We're sitting in heaven going, you know what? This is too much. I got two wings to fly. I got two wings to cover my body, and I got two wings to cover my eyes, because he's just too glorious. He's too awesome. He's just too amazing. I can't take it. And what he's saying is, saints, you and I, because of the blood of Jesus Christ, he paid for you and I to be transformed to the point that we'll see it ourselves. So I don't know what you're dealing with now, what is missing now, what transition you're in right now, what you are going through right now. It does not compare to this glory that we're about to see. I don't know what pain you're dealing with. I don't know your situation. I don't know what you're praying for. But it says in Romans 18, it says, I reckon that the sufferings at this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory. We're going to see something that's going to blow our minds. People talk about going to heaven and not having this and not having to worry about that, and that's good because that's true. You know, well, you know, sister girl's gone now, and you know, my friend, you know, Shaquita, she loved the Lord, and there's just no more pain, and that's good and that's true. But Jesus is saying, I want you to be with me. And I want you to see something. And it's going to blow you away. It's going to blow you away. So whenever you're going through trials and hard times and you have emotional pain, just put this into your emotional wallet at this time and pull this out every now and then when you're going through it. Just remind yourself, I have been purchased by God. The blood of Jesus is covering me. He has given me access into the kingdom in such a way to where I'm not only going to live in paradise forever, I'm going to see something that's going to completely and totally satisfy me for all eternity. And what is that? The glory of God. The glory of God. Glory that shall be revealed in us saints, glory is coming and Jesus wants us to see it. Which is really seeing him as he really is. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you. I want to see you. How did the songwriter describe it? To see you high and lifted up. Huh? Shining in the light of your glory. Huh? Huh? Pour out your power and love as we sing what? Holy, holy, just like the angels. Just like the angels, we sing holy, holy, holy. I can't describe it. I can't tell you what it is. But for the folks that have left here and gone, they are seeing this. So my sadness can be only so much. I mean, I feel it. I'm grieving. You know what I'm going through. But the other side of it is like, what is Sonny looking at right now? What is mama looking at right now? Huh? That's the truth. It is the truth. I'm not taken away from the natural grieving process. That's part of it. That's real. But just as that is real, so is what he promised. Amen? Rick, I know you've been dealing with a lot of death, so just put that in your little wallet. You know what I mean? When you remember, when you think about it, wait a minute. For those who know Christ, holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. And we can only get a glimpse of what Christ wants us to see, but the truth is we shall be changed to see it. We have to be changed to see it. So 1 John 3 and 2 says this. 1 John 3 and 2 says, beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. I got King James in my head. But what we know, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall what? See him as he is. We will be perfected to the point to where we can actually handle glory. Wow. Wow. All right, back to John 17, 24. The Word of God reads, no, yeah, yeah, it says, okay. So you can see my glory that you have given me because you love me before the foundation of the world. Kind of underline that statement, because I'm gonna come back to that, because you love me before the foundation of the world. There is something that's even more amazing than the glory. And we're gonna tap into that. This thing just has layers. Amen? Verse 25. Verse 25, and we'll come back to that in a minute. Oh, righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. Righteous Father, don't skip over that. Amen, because we're gonna have some appreciation for who he really is, amen? God is righteous. He is the righteous judge. The world will pay for their rejection of God's Son. Christ is the only way to the Father. To reject Christ is to say that your righteousness is good enough to go into his presence. Your righteousness is good enough to withstand absolute perfection. Perfection on a level that we've never seen before. The world is in shown of trouble, y'all. Amen. The father is righteous and he must repay for sins. Amen. It is only righteous of God to do what is actually right. Amen. It would not be right for him to allow wrong. Amen. And the wages of sin we all know is death. But here is the grace that has been given to us. In verse 25, Jesus said this, I know you and these know that you have sent me. Jesus's relationship with his father is perfect and totally intact. There are no issues between Jesus and his father. Amen? So the safety comes in this. It's right here. Knowing that Jesus has been sent to us from the Father to pay for our sins. That's code word. By trusting in the Father's plan for salvation, we are saved from the wrath of God because we believe the Father sent Jesus to save us. Are you seeing it? Amen. And then verse 26, really quickly, just keep going. I made known to them your name, In other words, as I taught you before, I made known to them who you actually really are, your character God. I have displayed your words, your heart on situations. They know who you are because they have seen me. And I will continue to make your name known. You see it, isn't it? Here it is. There it is, right there. Jesus is leaving. But he's leaving someone called the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. So his love, even though he's leaving, his love remains. What are you saying, Pastor? Jesus left the disciples, but he's bringing the Holy Spirit. And that is the one, that he is the one that causes the love or the revelation of God to continue in the believers. Amen? Amen. We get saved. Amen. The Holy Spirit comes to us at the moment of salvation. We grow in his word, he begins to reveal who? The Father, amen. He reveals the Father's love. They will not see Jesus anymore, but they are not alone because his love remains. And his love here, as we see in scripture, is none other than the Holy Spirit, amen. Do we have that? John 16, 13 through 14, and we're almost done. When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak of his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak. And he will declare to you the things that are to come. Here is the verse. 14, he will glorify me, Jesus saying, the Holy Spirit, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. This is the truth that the Holy Spirit will continually lead and guide us into all truth. Jesus sends him, the Holy Spirit, as my daddy taught me, points to Christ. Christ points to the Father. They are all God. There is one God, three persons. but they are in perfect order. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes revelation of who Jesus Christ is. That revelation is exactly the same as the Father. Are you catching it? So we are growing in revelation. Jesus said, I will basically cause my spirit to live inside of you. You will know and grow in revelation of the Father because I will continually make my love known to you. Go back to John 17, 26. I made known to them your name and I will continue to make it known. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, for what purpose? That the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them. Okay, here we go. The love that the Holy Spirit reveals is a love relationship between, guess what, the Father and the Son. Wake up. That love is revealed to us through the Holy Spirit for a specific purpose. Possibly two, but the first one is this. That you and I would be encouraged. That we would know that the Holy Spirit is teaching us about the relationship that we're already in. Did you catch that? Okay. The ultimate root of the final hope of men lies in the love of the father for his son. This eternal relationship of love that existed before the foundation of the world is what you and I are now in. Jesus is wanting us to have the Holy Spirit so that we will know the love that the father has for his son and that love will be in us and that Jesus himself will be in us. Here's the reason why. We can get excited about heaven and we can be grateful that we're not going to hell, but heaven and not going to hell is not the big picture. The big picture, saints, help me, Holy Spirit, say this, is that the Father loves you just as much as He loves His Son. And you and I are already in that relationship. Watch this. Okay, you know the scripture, John 14, 4 through 6. And you know the way that where I'm going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you're going. How can we know the way? How do we know how to get there? Jesus, you're leaving. You're talking about all this leaving. Where are you going? How do we get there, Jesus? How do we get there? Jesus says to them, you know, I am the way. I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. It's not just heaven, saints. It's who's in heaven. Oh, come on, somebody. Jesus, he said, he is the real destination. It's not about the place. Heaven is not so heavenly without Jesus Christ being in it, is what I'm trying to tell you. There's going to be some glory that we're going to see that's going to satisfy us so much to the point that when we see Jesus, that's all we will need. Now, we can't feel that right now because you and I are so messed up and mixed up in our sin. We have to be transformed in order to even appreciate this. And that's why we can't stay here the way we are. We've got to transform in order to see Jesus as he is and really appreciate him. So what he's saying to you, see somebody in the back is getting it. What he's saying to you is not just I am the way to the heavenly gates. I am the way, the truth, and the life into this relationship that you would never get into if I had not died for your sins. What he wants you to see is the love of the father. The father loved the son. Okay, all right, all right. We will be able to absorb perfect love in the same way that the only begotten son can receive it from his father. Are you hearing that? I believe there is a joy that is so amazing that is coming to the believer, something that we could never experience here. Amen? We get a glimpse of what's coming, but we don't have any idea of what it feels like to have perfect love showered on us. We're clueless, huh? That's why this world system throws every distraction it can at you. It wants you to be like, I'm getting out. I'm getting out my mama's house. And as soon as I can get to Johnny, that's going to be it. And we live our whole lives trying to be satisfied by Johnny and Susie. And I'm telling you, saints, that's not it. There is another level of love that is coming to the believer that we can't even fathom. Are you hearing what I'm saying? It's before the foundation of the world, saints. OK, here we go. Psalm 1611. I don't know if I gave it to you, sweetie, but it's OK. Don't worry about it. It says this. You make known the path of life. In your presence, there's fullness of joy. And at your right hand, pleasures forevermore. What he's saying is heaven without the presence of God is nothing. What makes heaven so heavenly is the love the Father shows the Son that we get to get involved in because we are now in the Son. Are you hearing what I'm saying? It's not just about the streets of gold. It's about receiving this approval, this love that says, listen, I know you was a mess. I know you did everything that I told you not to do. I know you one day got saved and you still didn't do it perfectly right. But I want you to know because Jesus did it perfectly right, you are now going to receive my unimaginable, awesome, perfect love. Are you getting it? Am I nailing it in yet? What we are searching for? Down here, doesn't even compare. It's not even close. We have no idea of how wonderful this love really is. And I'm looking, I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to it. Amen? So back to 24. And I'll just end it this way. 1724. Get it? All right. Father, I desire they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you love me before the foundation of the world. In the future, saints, those of us who believe in God, We will be with Christ in eternal glory and enjoy with Him the love He experiences with the Father before the foundation of the world forever and ever. In eternity, those who love the Son, because we are in the Son, we will be able to experience the full magnitude of God's love for his son without any hindrance, without any distraction, without any interference, without any presence of sin. I know it's above us and I know it's hard to even conceptualize, but that's what's coming. We will be so transformed and able to appreciate and receive this perfect love. Right now, we can't do it. I can't do it right now. I got too much on my mind. I come into church with everything else that's going on. All of my problems, all my issues. During the week, I'm struggling to stay in the Word. As I'm praying, God, help me to get in the Word. Help me to pray. Help me to turn off basketball-wise. Help me turn off Oakland teachers' wives. They ain't even making no money. Just something to distract us. You know what I mean? Help me turn it off, God, so I can focus on you. He's saying all of that will be gone, and you and I will be in a place where we can receive the Father's love in full perfection. Amen? And then the last part, and I'm done. Verse 26. Verse 26. Okay, I guess I'll read it. You happy yet? Nope, I gotta read it, sorry about that. I made known to them your name and will continue to make it known that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them. This love, saints, that we receive even now, we have it now, we don't have it in perfection, but we do have it now, amen, it's an outflowing love, okay? Let me teach you for a minute. This love is not just for the encouragement of the believer, for us to be aware of the love that we have. But it's a transforming love that causes us to be like Christ. So what we have here is the love of the father to his son, that the son has purchased for us that we are now invited in, that we enjoy for ourselves, but also so that that particular kind of love, resurrection power love, will be now in you and me, not just for ourselves, but for others. It's, I want me in you. That's what he's saying. I want this love in you. So if you're struggling to figure out how to deal with that boss that's unlovely, if you're struggling in how to deal with that family member that you cannot forgive, if you're struggling to deal with those neighbors that are just on your last nerves, if you're struggling to deal with those children that are just not able to conform and they're not obedient, Children that have broken your heart, they've grown now. And they're doing everything you told them not to do. If you're struggling to know how to deal with all that, he's saying, you've got to have me in you. You've got to have my love in you. Are you hearing what I'm saying? So the goal is not just, ooh, I'm going to heaven, so am I. I'm going to heaven, so am I. That's not it. It's bigger than that. It's I have his love so much to the full that it begins to flow out of me to when I see that boss that's coming for me, I can love them with the love of the Lord. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Hi, son. How you been? What'd you do this week? OK. Well, I'm praying for you. Mama loves you. Mama loves you. Oh, Jesus. Are you hearing what I'm saying? So you don't lose your joy because you already know you've got this love. Come on. You can stand where you are no matter what happens. Huh? I will not be moved because I've already received the love that the father has for the son. He feels the same way about me. I am beginning to understand that. And now I can walk out here and do what the son did. Love unloving people. Talk about changing the world. There it is. How can I be more like Christ? Fill up on that love. Ask the Holy Spirit. You know what? He will lead and guide you into all truth. Let's not be rocket scientists and geniuses with the words to the point to where we can't learn nothing new. He leads you and guides you, and I've said it before, into the truth that you already know deeper and deeper and deeper. It's a surface thing at first, but after a while, you begin to understand, no, no, this is about the Father's love. This is about the Father's love for me, and about the Father's love through me. Amen? His love remains. Not just for you, but for others too. Amen? I'm done. Amen. On grace I saw, there on thy stand, all of the proud deceased.