Because if that's being glad, then sure. Anyway. Well, before we turn our Bibles, or as you are turning your Bibles to John chapter 17, just one quick thing. You know the missions conference is here. And this is the 18th Missions Conference, if I'm not mistaken, yeah, 18th Missions Conference. And it begins tomorrow into Wednesday, we have the Missions Prayer Retreat, and then on Thursday to Sunday, we have the Missions Conference. And it's good to see one of our missionaries from Nigeria, our brother Peter Joshua Abutu, is already in. Others will be arriving today, in the course of the day, and others, the Lord willing, tomorrow. And as we have said in the past from the eldership, that one of the aims of a missions conference is to hear God speaking to us through his word, challenging us concerning missions, and praying and hoping that some from among us will respond and enter into the missions field. but it's also an opportunity for us to meet with our missionaries. It's like they are coming home to have fellowship with us, share various prayers and prayer items in their various mission stations as we meet in our home fellowships to encourage them and pray for them as well. But also the third thing is about raising funds for our mission work. And what we do is that we have two kinds of funds that we are raising or resources. The first is the one-off amount. The elders come up with a figure looking at the various needs and then put it as a target. raising funds. And if you walk out through that door in the foyer, there is a banner that is showing us where this one-off amount will be going. It will be going towards the working nimba. installing a water tank, there have been challenges of water there, and so there will be this amount going towards that. It's not the entire amount, but it's towards the installation of the water tank in Nimba at the Nimba Reformed Baptist Church. And then we have a contribution towards the building project in Kasama at Shalom Baptist Church, and then a contribution towards the work in Botswana, Harare Berean Baptist Church. And so what we do to make it easy for ourselves is that the missions team have come up with a pledge system, a way to fulfill our pledges. So they've come up with a white envelope. Now this white envelope is where the one-off amount pledge will be put. So this is easy for them to know that anything in white, in a white envelope, goes towards the one-off amount. And so our appeal as elders is that between now and this coming Lord's Day, as individuals You are praying how much to give towards the work of missions. As families, as couples, you are praying towards how much you are going to pledge or give actual cash this coming Sunday towards the one-off amount. And so what you do is that you can either get the envelopes at the end of the service or in the course of the week on Thursday, they'll be given out. And up to Sunday, we'll continue giving them out. So really what you need to do is, having arrived at the amount that will be given to us, the one-off amount, you simply put it in there. If it's actual cash, put it in the white envelope if it's going towards the one-off amount. If it's a pledge, that will be fulfilled either at the end of March or the next month, April. You put your pledge there so that the deacons then will put the figures together, and then we'll have the grand announcement on this coming Lord's Day in afternoon how much we've raised towards the one-off amount. And we've been amazed in the last three years just how much the Lord has moved the hearts of these people here at KBC. We've always gone beyond the one-off amount, and our appeal is that we do the same. Our target is 160, but the more we give, the more we're able to share with our missionaries as a token of encouragement from us, KBC, the Sending Church. So that's to do with the white envelope and then the brown envelope is our monthly pledge. Now rub off whatever it is that is in your mind associated with brown envelopes. Forget about it, just listen to what I'm saying. So the brown envelope is our monthly pledge. Again, at the end of our missions conference this coming Lord's Day, we will put together the pledges or the actual cash in these brown envelopes. That will be our monthly giving for the work of missions for the next one year. So this monthly giving is basically saying this is how much I'll be giving monthly up to the next missions conference. And in the past, this is where the challenge usually is. After the conference, we are normally good, and then the momentum begins to go down and we begin to fail to meet our targets. But our appeal is, please, let's just remain faithful to the pledge that we say we'll be giving monthly towards the wake of missions. Now let me assure you that if you talk to any of our missionaries, this is also one of the encouragements to them to see just how much as a church, who are the sending church, are committed to the work of missions. But it's also an encouragement to our partners as they see what we ourselves are doing in as far as supporting the work of missions. We will continue to repeat this announcement because we know that at a certain age, certain things go in and out, but we'll keep on reminding ourselves. Let's turn our Bibles to John chapter 17, and we'll read the first five verses. John chapter 17, and I commence reading. When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom 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 glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you have given to me, and now Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. Amen. We'll end our reading. We continue looking through the Gospel of John. Last Lord's Day, we considered verses, chapter 16 and verses 32 and 33. And in those verses, we learned of the confidence in the midst of chaos. And we saw the Lord Jesus Christ addressing his disciples and saying, Behold, the hour is coming. Indeed, it has come, when you'll be scattered, each to his own home, and you'll leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you have peace. In the world you have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world." And they said, for Christians, this is the confidence we have. that He who saved us from our sins is always with us. He will neither leave us nor forsake us. This morning we begin chapter 17 as we continue through our journey in this great Gospel of John. And in this journey we've encountered many glorious portraits or pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have seen his heart of compassion as it was displayed in his healing of the sick. We have seen his power revealed. as He raised the dead and fed the hungry. We have seen His grace revealed as He went about saving sinners, pronouncing forgiveness to those whom encountered Him. And every picture, every portrait in the chapters we've considered, or in the verses we've considered, has been an encouragement to each one of us, but also a challenge to those who are not Christians. that as we examine these portraits, we too can get to the conclusion that John gives to us in chapter 21, that all these things are written for us so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. That's the conclusion John wants us to reach. That's the prayer that as we go through this great gospel, this gospel of John, we too may reach to that conclusion and come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 17 also again is a portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ as the high priest. It's a glorious chapter. It's a chapter in which the God, the Holy Spirit, gives us access into the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are given access as God the Son pours his heart to his Heavenly Father. We are given access to feel something of what God the Son was feeling in this moment. And this is the last night before His crucifixion. The Lord Jesus Christ has been speaking to His disciples from chapter 13 about this moment that has come when he will be crucified. And in this chapter, in this prayer, we see firstly in the first five verses he's praying about himself. And then he prays about his disciples, his immediate disciples. And then from verse 20 to the end, he prays about those who come to believe in him, that they may be one, just as the Godhead is one. And so this prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ reveals something of the intimacy of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Father. The Bible does record for us a number of times when Jesus was praying, but in this chapter, we are given access to hear the prayers of Christ, the actual prayers of Christ recorded for us, the words, the length and also given this access to see that all these prayers centered around the events that were to come. His death on the cross. His ministry has come to an end, or is coming to an end, and he prays for himself, for his disciples, and the would-be disciples. It is recorded that John Knox, in his last hours of ill health, he asked that this chapter be read to him daily. And it was read to him in those moments of ill health till he passed into glory. And it is recorded that he found great consolation in the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so as we open up these five verses, I want you to see, I want you to note that this is not a prayer of a desperate man. This is not a prayer of a man who is depressed. but it is a prayer of triumph, a prayer of joy, a prayer of joyful expectation. It is a prayer of the one who earlier on has said to his disciples, take heart, I have overcome the world. So he's not praying in desperation. He's not depressed. But there's this joyful expectation. that the father will hear him and the father will grant this prayer and the father will glorify himself in the prayer of his beloved son. And the first thing I want us to note is that this is a passionate prayer. It is a passionate prayer. Verse one, when Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. The Lord Jesus Christ invites us to gaze upon the depth of his closeness to his Father. And when he spoke these words from chapter 13 right up to this point, The Lord Jesus Christ spoke these words, and I would like to believe that this prayer is recorded for us because Christ must have spoken these words out loud for his disciples to hear, but also to be recorded for our instructions, those that will believe or read the scriptures. And in verse one there it says, the hour has come. He lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. And this was a prayer that was stimulated by the hour of Jesus' suffering and death on the cross. It was his approaching crucifixion that prompted this prayer from the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he says the hour has come, he's not talking about in the sense of the way we look at time and think of how that if I have an appointment at 1 p.m. and that time is coming, then you say, yeah, the hour of my appointment is at hand. No. When the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, the hour has come, He's referring to the God-fixed, ordained time for His death, resurrection, and subsequent ascension and exaltation. The Lord Jesus Christ is referring to the time that God the Father, way back in eternity, and God the Son, and God the Spirit determined beforehand that His Son would be sent into this world to die for sin and would be raised again from the dead. And when he says the hour has come, it's a reference to that fixed God-ordained time when the Son of God, who finally been nailed on the cross for He taking upon himself the sins of the world. And therefore John wants us to see God's unmatched sovereignty over the life and death of his son. John wants us not to lose sight of that. He wants us to see that everything that was going to happen to the Lord Jesus Christ is under the sovereignty of God, is under God's control. All the events that would come, the betrayal by Judas Iscariot, is under the divine control of God. And hence he pray, the hour has come. It's a passionate prayer. Let me take you back to the early years of the days of the Lord Jesus Christ. You will recall when you read in Matthew chapter two, King Herod wanted to kill the baby-born Jesus, the newborn baby. And he went killing all the babies at that time. But he did not lay a hand on the Son of God because his hour had not yet come. Or consider the account in Luke chapter four, having read the scriptures and he says, this has been fulfilled in your hearing. And the scribes and the Pharisees were fuming at Jesus. And they could not lay a hand on him because the hour had not yet come. And when you read in John chapter two, the wedding at Cana, When he did that miracle again, he reminded them the hour had not yet come. And you go in through John chapter 7. Again, Jesus, when he had said in John chapter 7 and verse 30 that he had been sent by God, and he challenged the hearers that it is this God whom you do not know. And the text said that they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him. Why? Because his hour had not yet come. Try to imagine the wicked rage of the Pharisees and the scribes and the people that were present as they were fuming at the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet we are told, no one laid a hand on him. They were determined to kill him. They were determined to arrest him. But as it were, it was like there was this invisible force that kept their hands at bay. They could not lay a hand on them. Even though they were fuming with fury, they could not do any further than what God had determined would happen at that particular time. They were seeking to arrest him. But they all failed, not because they lacked courage or not because they were outnumbered. Remember, Christ was only alone with his friends, the 12. It was because the hour fixed by God for his son had not yet come. And now John records for us that as a son of God is praying, he says, Father, the hour has come. This moment is here. And in the next hours, the Lord Jesus Christ will enter into the garden of Gethsemane. And he will suffer alone. There he will rest with his father. If there is any other way, let this cup pass away from me, yet not as I will, but that your will be done." In few moments, he would now be betrayed, handed over to the authorities to be nailed and crucified. When John says the hour has come, he's saying the alarm on heaven's clock has sounded. The day and hour decreed in eternity past is finally here. The predetermined plan of God has reached its apex, its climax. The hour of redemption is here. And everything that would transpire in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus being arrested and then being followed by a trial. and then eventually being crucified, it did not catch him by surprise. It did not catch God the Father by surprise. This was the hour in which everything pointed to the Son of God. came into this world, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life. The hour in human history, unlike no other historical history was here. The son of God, the creator of all things, God himself will finally be nailed to the cross for the redemption of the world. It is the climatic moment. Everything from Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 was leading to this moment. All the Old Testament prophecies were leading to this moment. And we today look back to this moment. And so as the Son of God prays, He prays passionately that the hour has come, the time planned is here. Father, glorify yourself. We've planned this in eternity, have come to execute the plan. And Lord, as I come to this moment, Everything is under your sovereign control. And John wants us to understand that when we think of God's sovereignty or God's sovereign control over all things, including this very hour when the Son of God will be nailed to the cross, it should not simply be a theological idea. It must be something in which we find great comfort, so that even in those moments of uncertainty, moments of trials, we can look back to the sovereignty of God and say to ourselves, He has ordained all things that will come to pass. And therefore, I can go to Him and plead with Him to uphold me in this moment. And this is assurance that Christ had. And this is assurance that all those who are in Christ do have." A passionate prayer. But secondly, we see that it's a personal prayer. It is a personal prayer. The last part of verse one and verse two. The hour has come. Glorify your son that the son may glorify you. Since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. The one praying is the only begotten Son of God. The one who is one with the Father in power and authority. The one who has been with the Father in eternity. The one who was with the Father when everything was being created. The one, as John says, everything was created through him and by him. The very one who said, let there be, and it came into existence. He's now the one who is praying. And as he's praying here, he's not just praying that this would pass quickly, but he's saying that, Father, glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. The glory of the Son leads to the glorification of the Father. And this is not a self-centered prayer. The son prays that as he is glorified, this will ultimately result in the father being glorified. Even in this moment, he has the glory of the father. He wants the father to be glorified. And what is this glory that he's talking about? The glory of God is the visible expression of His being and His perfection. The glory of God is the visible expression of His being and His perfection. Or another way to put it, it is the outward display of God's worth. It's the outward display of God's worth. And he's saying, glorify your son that the son may glorify you, that the world may know your divine perfection. Let it be visible for all to see. Let's use an example. Think about the glory of the presidency. or the presidential office, what is the glory of the presidency? You know, it is the trappings that surrounds the president. Those of us who stay within the same radius of the president, we know 10 minutes before he passes, no car is allowed. And sometimes you'll be seated in your car, You know, all kinds of evil things go through your mind, but you say, no, God, sanctify my mind. You're looking at this officer who's standing in front of your car, and you're saying, if I just stepped on my crutch, I think he will move. Then I can go. But then you remember, you know, the speed at which the motorcade of the president passes, I'll be caught. But all I'm saying is the glory of the president's office, it's those things. The secret service at his disposal. The motorcades when he's passing. That even when you're on the highway, you just see lights in your mirror. Someone coming and he's saying, out! There's no negotiation, doesn't matter where you park, out! That makes you to know that whoever is in that office is a different person altogether. Because the visible expression of the authority of the office, he's seen wherever he is. Now, in the Bible, the manifestation of God's glory is displayed all around us. The scriptures tell us the heavens declare the glory of God. Creation speaks forth the glory of God. Now hear the Lord Jesus Christ when he prays. He's praying for the full glory of God to be displayed. And he's saying, Father, glorify me. And in verse 5, he says, and now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. The Lord Jesus Christ, in a sense, is saying, while I've been here on earth, this glory has been vowed. Him being born through the virgin, Him becoming man, His incarnation shows us that His glory was vowed. And as he walked through the streets, no one recognized him as God, because the flesh veiled his glory. And we cannot even imagine, to think of how it was in eternity past, the glory of the son. We can only see what the scripture says. And now he's saying, glorify your son, that your son may glorify you. saying, let the world see who truly I am, that in turn, I may glorify you. And Joan has given us some of the portraits of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you read the gospel, we see some of those portraits being displayed, healing of the sick, feeding of the multitudes, turning water into wine, walking on water, casting out demons. We see something of the glory of Christ being displayed. But Jesus Christ is not asking for these little pictures, but is asking for the full radiance of God's glory, the splendor of the Godhead, the worship of angels and saints that is due to him as the King of kings. He's talking about his majesty, his kingly privileges, where no one will rebel against him. And he's saying, glorify your son. It's a personal prayer that, Lord, let that which is true of me shine forth. in full radiance for the world to see. And then the third thing we see is that it's not just a personal prayer, but it's also a priestly prayer. A priestly prayer. Verse 2 through to verse 5. since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom 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 glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you have given to me. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. The prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ here shows the work, he came to the work of a priest. It's a priestly prayer. And what do priests do? In the Old Testament, what were their job description? Their job description was for them to intercede for the people before God. The prophets will represent God before the people, and the priests will represent the people before God. And the Lord Jesus Christ, we see He's praying. And as He's praying, He's interceding for us. but also we see that it's not just interceding for us, but also the job of the priest was to offer sacrifices in the temple before God, to atone for sin, and atonement and redemption was what the priest would do. He would take the lamb before God to atone for the sins of the world. And we see this in the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. Atonement and redemption is rooted in the petition that the Lord Jesus Christ gives. And he says, since you have given him authority over our flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him, And this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you've sent. And the Lord Jesus Christ is showing us there that the path of glory of the Son of God rests on Him giving life, eternal life, to those who come to believe in Him. And then in verse 4 and verse 5, he picks it up and says, I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you have given me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking as if everything has happened and it's done. He's saying, this is why I came. I was born. This is the moment. And my eyes are fixed. on that moment to be hung so that through my death, sin may be atoned for, and God the Father will be reconciled to sinners if they believe in Christ, if sinners put their trust and faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when the Lord Jesus Christ says there that I've glorified you, He's highlighting the substance of Jesus' requests. And then he also goes on to say, I give eternal life. It's talking about the substance of his mission. Father, glorify me with the glory that I had before the world began. That's my request. But Father, I have given, you've given me authority that I might give eternal life. Verse four, I glorify you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. This was my mission. It is finished. You've given me authority and my mission is accomplished. And my authority you've given me is that so through me I might give eternal life to those whom you have given me. And this is accomplished. It's finished. I've done it. This is why I came to represent the people you've given me before you. When they believe in me, you will accept them in me. And the Lord Jesus Christ describes eternal life as a relationship. So this is eternal life, that they may know the true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. So this knowledge is not just intellectual or information, it's experiential knowledge, coming to know Christ. His power of sins forgiven, coming to know Christ, not just an additional information or facts, no, coming to experience the forgiveness of sin. And Jesus Christ says eternal life is to know the only true God and to know Jesus Christ whom God has sent. And as he prayed as a priest, his desire is that the world may come to know him as Lord and Savior. This is why he came. This is why he suffered. This is why he died on the cross, that the world, when they believe in him, may come to know the true God and to know Jesus Christ. whom God had sent. And the work of Jesus Christ as our priest continues as he intercedes for us before his Father's throne this very day. Those of us who are Christians, he intercedes for you by name. He prays for you, He knows your situation, and He's given you eternal life that you may know the true God. He still offers His life for the atonement of your sins. Those of you that are still wallowing in sin, He wants you to experience this eternal life. He just doesn't want you to have additional information that Jesus lived and died. He just doesn't want you to have that simply as some fact you've picked along the way. No, He wants you to experience eternal life, and eternal life is you knowing God. And you cannot know God if you do not know Christ. You cannot know God if you do not know Christ. Your claim that you know God outside of Christ is false, because no one can come to the Father except through the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, he stands this morning proclaiming his authority over all things, but also passionately praying that you may turn away from sin and come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that you may experience him forgiven, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that you too may sing with the rest of us as we'll be singing in testimony to what God has done for us. As we look back on that moment when this took place, and we're able to say with the hymn writer, What a wonderful change in my life has been brought since Jesus came into my heart. Floods of joy, oh, my soul, like the sea billows roll since Jesus came into my heart. Since Jesus came into my heart. Since Jesus came into my heart. floods of joy, O my soul, like the sea billows roll, since Jesus came into my heart." This is a testimony of one who has experienced the forgiveness of sin and is living in full assurance of sins forgiven, not because of anything in them, but because of the one in whom the Father is well pleased, the Lord Jesus Christ. And there are only two possibilities as response to this message. Either submission to Christ and pleading for the forgiveness of sin, or the suppression of this inescapable truth about Jesus Christ. And where do you stand this morning in submission to this revealed truth as you call upon him to forgive you of your sins, or you are suppressing this truth in rebellion against this God? And to suppress the truth of this God, is to walk in the wrath of God. And to die in that state is to go to hell, where there will be no forgiveness of sin. And in hell, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Turn away from sin today so that you can join us in that song of testimony to what Christ has done. Amen.