We have been having some good heart -to -heart
talks about something that isn't very sacred.
Can I tell you how I feel deep within me as we
discuss this prayer, this wonderful communion
that Jesus had with the Father? Do you realize
that here in this 17th chapter of the book of
John, We literally are listening in to Jesus
talking to the Father. That's sacred. That is
very sacred. I always remember something that
happened years ago. I was calling Mama in Concordia.
And I said to the operator, I would like 124
Concordia, Missouri. That was always our telephone
number in Concordia ever since I was a little
girl. We never had another number. 124. That
was the telephone number of Joe Kuman's house.
And... I always knew that on the other end, Mama
would be answering and I would say, Mama. And
she would come back as though she was the most
surprised person in the world. Catherine, she'd
say. And nobody could say Catherine like my Mama.
That's the reason why I get home to glory. Thousands
and thousands will be there. Some will say Miss
Coomans. Others will say Catherine when they'll
see me. But out of the thousands, I'll recognize
Mama's voice. Even though I may hear her voice
before I see her when she says, Catherine. And
one day... the operator forgot to close something,
you know, at the switchboard. And I heard her
say, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick.
Listen, listen, listen in. Miss Coleman's talking
to her mother. She never dreamed I heard it,
you know. And so I knew someone. Somewhere was
listening in to the conversation that I was having
with Mama. You see, whenever I read the 17th
chapter of John, I always feel as though I'm
listening in to something that's very personal.
We had the privilege of listening in to Jesus
talking to the Father. And these words spake
Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and
said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy Son,
that thy Son may also glorify thee. As thou hast
given him power over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
him. And this is eternal life. that they might
know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on
the earth. I have finished the work which thou
gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which
I had with thee before the world was. And see
something. always do this entire portion of this
communion. He was talking about the Son. It was
something that was very impersonal, really. His
first desire, and this to me is vitally important,
his very... first desire was that god the father
would receive all glory that he would be glorified
glorify thy son why that the sun may glorify
thee always his first thought His first purpose,
you and I should learn much from this. Oh, you
and I should be very careful to get the real
truth of this. As Christians, we have but one
purpose for living. We should have but one goal
in life, and that is to glorify God in everything
that we do in our daily lives. We should so live,
we should so act, that our actions will glorify
God. That was the real purpose that Jesus had
in life. Pause a moment. As he walked this earth,
and you saw the miracles that were performed
through his life. As he spoke. Now, in the light
of this, you go back again and read the Bible.
Read his words that he spoke to the multitude.
Read again regarding the manifestation of the
power of God. And keep in mind that everything
that he said, everything that he did, every action,
he had but one motive. God the Father would be
glorified. He was not trying to bring any glory
to himself. Not in one instance. It was always
that God the Father would be glorified. And he's
reminding the Father now, glorify thy son. Why?
That the son may glorify thee. thee. He did not
take glory by me that I may grow up by thee.
No. No. One purpose. If I receive any glory from
men, if men see the miracles that are performed
and through the manifestation of the power of
the Holy Spirit, They see the supernatural. Father
God, it has all been for one purpose. The ultimate
purpose is that you get the glory. This means
much to me. Oh, this means so much to me. I cannot
begin to tell you how much this means to me.
Now we go a little deeper. Then we reach his
second desire. And this is found in the fifth
verse of the 17th chapter of John. And now, O
Father, glorify thou me with thine own self,
with... the glory which I had with thee before
the world. Pause a moment. He does not say the
sun. Heretofore, he's talking about the sun.
Now he places himself in a different category,
in a different position entirely. Before, it
was... the Son. He called himself Jesus Christ.
Now it's becoming very personal. Glorify me with
the glory that I had with thee before the world
was. Now he was expressing his desire for return
to that of which he emptied himself when he became
a servant. and was made in the likeness of men,
and being found in fashion as a man, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,
all the glory of the cross. And I want you to
see something, because sometimes I think whenever
I make the statement that Jesus, when he came
in the form of flesh, was as much man as though
he were not God, that there are those who almost
shrink from that statement. Whenever I say that
being in the flesh and as much man as though
he were not deity and divinity and that he could
have yielded to temptation, there are those who
shrink from it because they feel that he was
absolute deity at all times, even when he walked
this earth in the flesh, that he could not. possibly
have yielded to temptation, but he could. There's
a reason even in his conversation with the Father.
He is referring to Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
the deity. And then he turns right around and
talks about me. I. One moment he's talking about
himself. as the very son of the living God. Absolute
deity, absolute divinity. Then he comes back
again, referring to himself as he was when he
walked this earth, clothed in flesh. As much
man as though he were not God. Let's go to the
glory of the cross. The shadows were gathering.
Presently he crossed the winter torrent of the
cedars into Gethsemane. Then all the darkness
of the cross enveloped him. But even then, he
said, Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou
wilt. He's referring to the will of the Father
and his own will. Being in the flesh, he had
a will that he could exercise separate and apart
from the will of God the Father. Just as much
man as any human being living and breathing this
hour. sitting here right now talking to you,
I have a will that I can exercise separate and
apart from the will of God. You as an individual,
as long as you can feel the old beat of the heart,
as long as you are in this body of flesh, you
have a will that you can exercise. A wheel separate
and apart from any man, any woman. Separate and
apart from the wheel of God. Even though I have
been called in the ministry. I steal. as long
as there's life in my body, have a will that
I can exercise. I can say this very moment, I'm
tired of carrying this responsibility. I can't
carry it any longer. The load is too heavy. All
I've known all of my life has been hard work.
Give it to somebody else. Let somebody else do
it. Let me exercise my own desires, my own will,
my own pleasures for the rest of my life, whether
it be a matter of months or a year. I have the
ability. I have the will to say I'm tired. Let
somebody else do it. The only thing that keeps
me surrendering my will to the will of God is
my love for Him. And for souls, that's the only
thing. I'm not forced to do what I'm doing. I'm
not compelled to do it. It's love. I do it because
I love him enough. Because I love souls enough.
I love you enough. It's a thing of... wanting
to do. It's a matter of choice. Therefore, beloved,
Jesus is talking about the same thing that I
am talking to you about right now. Proving that
he was as much man as though he were not God
when he was in the flesh. Proving that he could
have yielded to selfish desires. when he said,
Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
He was still reminding the father that not only
was his body surrendered to him, not only did
he have but one purpose for having come, and
that was to glorify the father but also reminding
the father of the one all -important thing the
surrendering of his own will to the will of the
father and now he is but a matter of hours before
the cross there was never a moment of defection
from the doing of the father's will Even though
in the presence of the gathering storm there
was a shrinking, he was human. Here as he talked
to his father, he desires for himself first the
cross because he knew the will of the father.
And let me say it softly. There are some things
it is so hard to say because they refer to matters
which speech defy. My father, I emptied myself
to come to this level. I never want to come back
except by the way that accomplishes the purpose
for which I came. I do not want to come back
having you disappointed in me, ashamed of me.
Remember the scripture talking about the Father
who first trusted in Jesus. Oh, there's trust.
There's confidence to this entire plan of salvation.
It's mold and what meets the eye. We talk about
it so glibly. We take it so lightly. We talk
so lightly about being born again. We talk so
glibly about this experience of regeneration.
Before we talk about Christians and non -Christians,
we take it so lightly. When this plan of salvation
is so involved, my friend, do you realize that
everything hinges on trust and confidence? Everything.
And to this very day, in living, in life itself,
trust and confidence is one of the greatest things.
And that's the reason the world is in the condition
it is today is because we have lost trust and
confidence. We've lost it in God. We've lost
it in the Word of God. We've lost it in each
other. There never was a time when there was
less trust and confidence in each other than
we have this hour. Recently, I'm hearing on every
side of me people saying, I don't trust anyone.
I don't trust people. We've gotten to the place
where a wife doesn't trust her husband. A husband
doesn't trust his wife. Children no longer trust
their parents. Neighbors don't trust each other.
Employees do not trust the employer. And then
we come to the place where we don't even trust
God. We don't even trust this... promises. The
whole plan of salvation was really based on trust
and confidence. Jesus had to trust the Holy Spirit
to be his strengthener. God had to trust his
son knowing that he would become the form of
flesh. And Jesus had to Trust you and trust me.