Peter Barnes | John 17:24-26
SERMON NOTES
LOVE IN GLORY
Psalm 16:1-11; John 17:20-26
In these last verses Jesus intertwines glory, love and knowledge in a way that almost makes them interchangeable at times. Thomas Manton is right to comment that ‘Every verse is sweet’.
1. Salvation is from everlasting to everlasting.
– 17:24. Spurgeon was preaching on John 17:24 once when he exclaimed: ‘I had a thought, but I cannot express it. Easily could I step into heaven; so I feel at the moment.’
– 17:2, 6, 9, 12. The Father has given a people to the Son. The
– ‘where I am’, not ‘where I will be’ – see 7:34.
– Those whom the Father has given to the Son will see His glory – Rev.22:4; Rom.8:29-30.
2. Only the believer in Christ knows this.
– 17:25; see 1:10. Thomas Manton: ‘God out of Christ is not comfortable, but terrible.’
– Pearl Buck, dying: ‘I meditate upon how utterly lost we are in space. We bear the total isolation as we must, for however we may hope there is a God we do not hear his voice and we do not see him’. Christ says we can ‘know’.
3. The goal is mystical union with Christ.
– 17:26. Thomas Manton: ‘The Lord delighteth not only to love us, but to assure us of his love.’ We began this series on the Last Night with John 13:1. Christ concludes on the same note.