Thanks for joining us. This morning If you're our guest, my name is Brian. I'm the lead pastor here, and we're really glad that you're with us this morning for our first service. We have a guest speaker. I'm going to introduce him in a moment.
We had our men's retreat up in the mountains. A number of you were there. We had a really, really tremendous time. Um Our speaker did a great job ministering to our men. Each year, we have a part of our retreat, it is a cornhole.
Tournament. Normally I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't draw attention to this kind of thing, because it's just frivolous, you know? I mean, a bunch of guys up in the mountains throwing beanbags around. But when you are the champion of the cornhole Yeah. And uh you Bear certain things as a representative of that.
I think it's only worth thanking the Lord for the ability to do it, first of all. The privilege of participating and just dominating the men in your charge. And so, anyway, I just want to thank the Lord. Glory to the Lord for that, just so you know. All right.
We had a great time. Really blessed. And one of my great thrills is to be able to have Dennis Keating come and minister the word to us this morning. I told the guys this, but there's a little bit of selfishness with me inviting Dennis up. For our men's retreat, and that is one of the great privileges is for me to be able to have as your pastor someone who has ministered to me personally in some real intimate ways be able to minister to you.
And Dennis fits that bill in a beautiful way. The Lord's used him in my life, and I'm really thankful. Dennis was a longtime pastor at Emmanuel Faith Community Church down in San Diego and now travels around speaking, teaching with Grateful Shepherd Ministries. Dennis, come on up, and Dennis says eight grandkids, three kids. And just he teaches up at E.
cola. That's where we met up at the Bible College I teach at on the Oregon coast. And we met up there. And I'm excited for Dennis to minister the word to y'all. I'm going to pray over him and commit him to the Lord.
And you guys are in for a real impactful treat this morning. Father, thank you for my friend Dennis, and I appreciate him. I appreciate him personally. I appreciate him as a friend. I appreciate his ministry.
I thank you for his profound ministry to our men this. this weekend. It was important to our men. And it was impactful. And Lord, I look forward to what you desire to bring to us through your word and your servant today.
And I pray your blessing upon him, your joy for him as he teaches us. And Lord, may you prick our hearts with your word, that we would be different people because we encountered you today for your glory. And so, Lord, we pray. We pray for our congregation. Varied burdens in this room.
There are people who need physical healing that are here this morning. There are people who need their inner lives restored, marriages strengthened, hope given to relationships, regret not catching them. anxieties no longer causing them to pause. And Lord, we give each one here to you this morning. And we pray that as your word goes forward, you would bless the hearts and lives of each in Jesus' name.
Amen. Thank you, brother. Appreciate it.
Well, good morning, everybody. Let's open our Bibles to John chapter 17. If you brought a Bible or have an app of some kind. John chapter Seventeen. Are most of you familiar with the name Johnny Erickson?
For those who are not, Johnny is a Christian author and ministry leader who's. Life was dramatically changed when she misjudged the depths. of the waters in Chesapeake Bay. and dove in, breaking her neck and becoming an instant quadriplegic. all at the age of seventeen.
It's hard to believe that that was 57 years ago. Long time. Despite her injury, Johnny developed into an accomplished painter and became an internationally known spokesperson for those living with disabilities. I watched recently an interview with Johnny. uh during which she explained how she struggled with her debilitating injury.
And life can confined to a wheelchair for six decades. Uh how has she coped?
Well, as you might imagine. She's had great highs. And she's had the lowest of lows. What helped her the most Are ten words shared by her good friend Steve Estes as she. Struggled to try and understand God's role in her accident.
and planned for her life. Steve told her this key principle that's going to be the focus of our time in the Word together. He simply said that God permits what he hates. in order to accomplish what he loves. Uh those words are profound.
They're mysterious. in many ways. Especially for anyone who has suffered any kind of trauma. or any kind of tragedy or accident. and wondered about The role of a loving and omnipotent God in that suffering.
What today is called theodicy. How does the Bible explain it? When we go through these terrible tragedies in life, and we wonder how a God who is love and a God who is all-powerful. would allow something like that to happen.
Well, I certainly can't explain it to you fully, but we get some important insight from an Old Testament text in Lamentations chapter 3. We're simply told this. that if God causes grief, Then he'll have compassion according to his abundant loving kindness. Notice For he does not afflict. What's the word?
Willingly. or grieve the sons of men. It was interesting in my study to see that the word that's translated. Uh willingly, literally from a Hebrew verb that means from the heart.
So we know according to our Bible that God's sovereignty requires his being a part of every grief. and every calamity. But we're assured that it gives him no joy in his heart to do so. Because as the text says, his heart is filled with compassion. For us.
His heart is filled with abundant loving kindness. to those who are grieving. It's not filled with anger and it's not filled with hatred. It's filled with an overwhelming, unending, merciful love. And it's why in Ezekiel chapter 33 we read these words: As I live, declares the Lord God.
I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. but rather that the wicked would turn from his way. and live.
So, God's not up in heaven smiling when a woman gets raped. Or child gets molested. or somebody gets bullied. or there's some kind of financial fraud. Or some kind of manipulation takes place, or some kind of racial discrimination, or the death of a child.
He doesn't get any kicks out of the pain. that comes in life. And I think it's why we're told in the Gospel of John that when Jesus stood at the tomb of his very good friend Lazarus. That a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. I've always liked that translation of the phrase because it's a literal rendering of the word.
He was deeply angry. And I've always wondered why he was so ticked off. And I think it's primarily because he was furious. furious at the pain and furious at the grief associated with death. He was angry, I think, because in his heart.
He knew this was not the way that God planned for life to be. But it's the way that life is. Because with humanity's rebellion. Sin entered the world and impacted everything good in God's creation. bringing with it all of the consequences.
associated with us living in in sin-stained bodies. As we get a little bit older, we understand that, don't we? That in this earthly tent we're groaning. A while back, I was on the trampoline with my granddaughter, my eight-year-old granddaughter. She looked at me and she said, Grandpa, you're old.
And I said to her, honey, I say that same thing every time I look in the mirror. It happens. We live in sun-stained bodies. We live in a Sin-stained world. And as a result, we have droughts and famines.
We have floods and mudslides. We have hurricanes and tornadoes. We live in the world of sin-stained people. And as a result, we have gun violence. in schools and homes.
Football celebrations. There are wars, there are rumors of wars, and I would simply tell you when those tragedies occur. It breaks the father's heart. As much as it broke Jesus' heart standing at the tomb of his good friend Lazarus.
So Did God push Johnny Erickson? into the waters of Chesapeake Bay. The answer is no. She dove in. By her own choice.
And she suffered a horrific life-changing injury. But the Bible was really clear. that God allowed it to happen. Isaiah chapter 45: I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create. Kollyama Digi.
I am Yahweh, I am the Lord who does all these things.
So why would he allow for calamity. A benevolent and sovereign God. Why would he allow tragedy? And the answer is to accomplish what he loves. See, beloved, if God has his hand in the source of the trouble.
He can also have his hand in the solution and the outcome of the trouble. And that's what we see as we read through our Bible time and again, stories. Maybe the best known story is the Old Testament patriarch named Joseph. One of the twelve sons of Israel. His father's favorite.
His brothers became jealous.
So they sold him into slavery. Human slavery is not a new thing, it's an old thing. To the heartbreak, absolute heartbreak of his father, they took his robe that dad had made for him and Killed an animal, put blood on it, and said that Joseph had died. You can imagine the heartache of a dad. Joseph heads down into Egypt.
By the grace of God. gets a good job, but then is accused of sexual assault. Falsely accused, ends up in prison. Horrible place to be. incarcerated.
But God had mercy on him even then. raised him to a position of authority. in Egypt. And a famine comes upon the land here. And the brothers come down.
Not knowing where Joseph is, believing that he's probably dead. and they show up in front of him. And after Joseph reveals himself to his brother, if you know the. text at the end of Genesis chapter 50. Mm-hmm.
Joseph says to him, Pretty clearly. As for you. You meant evil against me. That's your part, in it. But God meant it for, what's it say?
Say it loudly. May it be done for good. in order to bring about this present result. He didn't cause those brothers to lie. He didn't cause them to create a great evil.
to break their dad's heart, to throw their brother. That's all on them. But he permitted it.
So that years later, Joseph could do the good of providing food for his entire family during a worldwide famine. The principle? Did you come to hear from the Lord this morning? Yes. Yeah, his message to us is pretty straightforward.
God permits what he hates. to accomplish what he loves. Why start our study of John 17 verses 1 through 5 with that idea? Simply this. the greatest proof of its truthfulness.
Is Jesus' death on Mount Calvary? God permits what he hates. to accomplish what he loves. Here's our context. John chapter 17 is part of a larger section in the scripture oftentimes called the upper room discourse.
A lot of people connect chapters 13 through 17 together. During the meal, Jesus does a lot of things, does great teaching. And at the end of chapter 16, he starts telling them again that uh his guys that he was leaving. that he was going back to heaven. And it brought great, great sorrow into their hearts.
Because they wouldn't know what to do with life without him around. And he told me, listen, I'm going there. I'm going to send the Holy Spirit, and it's going to be better. with the Holy Spirit in you. than me just being here with you physically.
But they were still overwhelmed and heartbroken. At the news.
Well, at the end, he simply says to him, Listen. The sorrow that you're feeling right now, I promise you. The pain that you're going through right now. One day it's all going to end. And that sorrow is going to be turned into joy.
She always states it. Sums it up. John chapter 16 and verse 33. We'll look at this. This will set our context and then launch us into our study.
Verse 33 of chapter 16. In the world you will have what? Tribulation. You're going to have trouble. You're going to have sorrow in this world.
Pain. Trouble. Grief. It's all a part of living in this world. Beloved, you can do everything right.
and still go through sorrow. The psalmist said, Many are the afflictions of the righteous. Can I get a witness on that? That's true, isn't it? Many are the affliction.
You can do everything right. And nobody's exempt. But then Jesus added these words. But take heart. I have overcome the world.
I have overcome. Um the world. The verb to overcome Nikao, we get the noun form of it is Nikkei or Nike, the athletic brand, means victory. means to conquer. And the reason that they and we as his followers can take heart or be courageous in the midst of trouble is because he is the world's overcomer.
By his death, his burial, his resurrection, and ascension. He overcame sin and its penalty. He overcame death and the grave. He overcame Satan and the powers that he controls. He overcame the world and its persecution.
Our Lord Jesus, by his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension is the world's overcomer. And it's interesting in the original language that John puts this in a specialized tense. He puts this in the perfect tense, that Jesus was the overcomer in the past. He's the overcomer right now, and he'll be the overcomer for all of eternity. And the thing that blows my mind.
and blows our minds. Is it the moment that we believe in him? We share in everything that he's earned. In other words, Because he overcomes We overcome, and you overcome, and you overcome. Are you a believer in the Lord Jesus?
Say amen. You're an overcomer, you, you, you, you, because you are in Christ and you are in his victory. His victory over sin is our victory over sin. His victory over death in the grave is our victory over death and the grave. It's our victory over Satan and the powers of the beast.
Our victory over the world and its persecution. We share in everything that he's accomplished. And I would simply say, because he overcomes sorrow. That we will overcome sorrow. And pain.
and grief. and anguish. That's why we can say with the Apostle Paul, but thanks be to God who gives us the what? Say it loudly. gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, no matter what tribulations, what trials, what sorrows, what griefs you might go through today or any day this week. Until we gather again next Lord's Day in this place. Be absolutely assured. He's got all of you. And you got all of him.
And that's why Paul says that we overwhelmingly conquer. Through him. Who loves us?
So, beloved, rejoice in it. Rest in it. celebrate it. As the men at the retreat would say, drink deeply of it. Take it in.
We share in everything that He has won for us. Because Jesus overcame the world, we'll overcome the world, and our sorrows will one day be turned to joy.
Somebody say, Praise the Lord, will you? That's a great hope. Christian life.
Well After Jesus finished his teaching, The guys got up and they started walking towards the Garden of Gethsemane. And on the way, Jesus apparently started praying out loud. And John heard the prayer. And he wrote it down for us. The prayer, oftentimes called the high priestly prayer of Jesus.
Breaks down into three components. Verses one through five, he prayed for himself. Verses 6 through 19, he prayed for the 11 original guys. And then verses 20 through 26, he prayed for you. Pray for me.
and prayed for all. future believers. Who would trust in Christ as a result of the testimony of the 11 original guys? Our time together, we're going to look at this prayer that Jesus prays for himself. And we're going to see how Uh The principle that God allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves.
is revealed in Jesus' prayer. And how it impacted his perspective of his agony on the cross. And my heart's prayer for you and for me. for us, Lifeline community here. Is that as we look at our sorrows and challenges today and this week?
If we can look at him the same way that he did, we'll find hope. That the Lord will use them to accomplish what He loves in our lives. God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves.
So let's dig into our text. And notice first, Jesus' prayer reveals his certainty. Of the existence of a plant, chapter 17, verse 1. When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. In this context, hour is not a reference to chronological time, 60 minutes.
It's more about the timing of his death, burial, resurrection, and his ascension. And up to this point in time in chapter 17 in John's Gospel, Jesus had told the original guys over and over again, my time has not yet come. My time has not yet come. It's not yet the time for me to die.
Well, as he's walking toward Gethsemane, He says, my time is here. I am about to die. And even in that very subtle comment, We see that he understood that His suffering. It was not just some random act of violence. It was an hour that was planned, and eternity passed.
So When Jesus headed to the cross, God the Father was not up in heaven slapping himself the forehead saying, How is this happening to my only begotten Son? Colgotha was not just a tragic accident. But an event pre-planned. Mm-hmm. Peter acknowledged it in the very first sermon he ever preached.
Acts chapter 2. That our Lord was delivered over by the what's it say? Predetermined plan. and foreknowledge of God. He was delivered over in the Greek language, the horizon.
It's the boundary out there. In other words, the father saw where all of this was going before it ever happened.
So it wasn't just godless people. but an hour determined in advance and predicted throughout the scriptures. It was the hour, Genesis 3:15, when the serpent's head would be crushed. It was the hour in Isaiah 53. where he would be pierced for our transgressions.
It was the hour when all of those symbolic shadows of the animal sacrifices and the blood that was shed. 'Kay. picture would be fulfilled in its ultimate reality when our Lord died upon the cross. Hebrews chapter 10. It was the hour when he earned righteousness for everyone who believes.
2 Corinthians 5. It was the hour when you're my hour certificate of debt. Colossians chapter 1 was paid in full. And I would say that the market is a very good thing. Pre-planned.
No surprise. But a part of the Father's plan. established before the world began. I found myself wondering what that conversation was like between them. You think God laughed?
When his son agreed to die on the cross. I think Abba was smiling. When his son said, I'll do it. My guess is he didn't like it at all. My guess is that he hated it.
But he allowed what he'd hated. in order to accomplish what he loves. And can I say to you the same thing is true with the pain that you experienced? The heartache. McGrief.
Your suffering, pain, disappointment, your trauma isn't simply the random result of choices made by you or against you by others. Nor does God take any pleasure in what happened to you. He hates it. But be certain of this. as part of a much bigger plan.
that God has predetermined for your life. That's what he told the guys when they asked about the man born blind in John chapter 9. Remember that? Whose fault was it that this guy's blind? Who sinned that made this happen?
Nobody sinned, Jesus said. Just part of a plan.
so that the works of God might be displayed. In him. Not just bad luck, not just mutant genes. Product of a plan. that he took no pleasure in the limitations of blindness.
I don't know, have you come to that place yet where you've accepted your grief and your pain? Part of a plan? I don't know you. But I'm sorry for the grief you've gone through. Disappointments, whatever it is.
But all we see in Jesus, he's absolutely certain. There's a plan for this. And It's a good plan. See his request. Verse 1.
Glorify your Son. Honor your son. Honor me for what I'm about to go through. The pain, the suffering. And we don't always connect those together.
Most of the time we keep them apart, the whole idea of honor. and suffering. But the whole irony of the request is that Jesus knew that his greatest honoring would come from his greatest agony. He was fully confident. That the greatest shame or being hung naked.
Spit upon. people walking by The greatest shame of his life would result in the greatest glorification. of his life. And what the guys thought was the worst possible outcome. They would soon consider their greatest blessing.
God permitted what he hates to accomplish what he loves. On a hill far away. stood an old rugged cross The emblem of Suffering and shame. And I love that old cross. We're the dearest and best.
For a world. of lost sinners. was slain.
So I'll Cherish. The old rugged cross. See? See, that's what's happening here. The very worst.
is used for the very best. And because of that, he willingly accepted what. D. A. Carson calls the profanity of Golgotha.
Knowing it would lead directly to the fulfillment of God goods plan. for glorifying him.
So he asks Honor me, Father. for what I'm about to endure. But that wasn't the only outcome he was asking about. The ultimate purpose, verse 1: glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you. See, by also looking at the cross from the perspective of giving God the Father glory.
Jesus could see even more good that his suffering would bring. Not only his glory, but Abba's glory as well. And that's why he, for the joy set before him, endured the cross. despising the shame. The glory sat down now at the right hand.
of the throne of God. And so the joy that he has now is in his own honoring, but also in the honoring of the Father whose plan it was. to permit what he hates to accomplish. what he loves. And the lesson for us is that.
By viewing suffering from an eternal perspective, it allows us to see a good purpose. Forward. But please don't misunderstand. It does not for one moment stop the pain. It doesn't.
It doesn't for one moment magically Take your grief away. It doesn't end the depression. It doesn't stop the nightmares. It doesn't perform, we talked about this at the men's retreat, it doesn't perform what one author calls a spiritual bypass surgery. It doesn't slap a Bible verse on any kind of pain.
And says, get over it. Sure doesn't for Johnny. My niece has been on Johnny, when they call it her get up team. Where Crystal goes in with a group of women one morning each week. and helps Johnny get out a bit.
It takes a team over two hours. just to get her outer bit. And I would tell you that God takes no delight in the overwhelming hardship of. of her life. Nor does he.
Enjoy the hardship you endure.
So how do you get through another day? by having confidence that God's good plan. that the suffering that you're going through It will not go on for all eternity. Jesus' suffering ended with his resurrection. and his ascension.
And because his suffering ended, your pain and your grief will end someday too. And according to the scriptures, you're going to be rewarded for all the pain you've been through. Thus, the Apostles' perspective. 2 Corinthians 4. This momentary light affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
We can't even Can't even fathom. If you're in the midst of it, just hang on. Just hang on. If you're battling the loneliness of the single life, That's just hair.
So hard. If you buried a spouse, Or have a spouse get upside down on you. There's a regret. kind of paralyzes you. an emotional pain that just I pray at Lifeline Community nobody will simply say to you.
Just pretend like nothing hurts. Our kids would say it a certain way.
Sometimes life is hard. But if you just hold on. God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves.
He's got a plan. He's got a good plan. And according to Jesus' prayer. It's a plant for exaltation. Why is it right for him to pray for himself?
Wrap this up. Verse 2, glorify your Son. Since you've given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. In this context, authority refers to his power and right to forgive sins and grant eternal life to all who believe. And why did he have that right?
because of his suffering and sacrificial death on the cross. And that's what allows us to have the personal relationship with him and with Abba. Verse 3: And this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, in Jesus Christ. whom you have sent. He's the only pathway to a relationship with the one true God.
Because he is the only person who has ever lived a perfectly sinless life. It's not delusional boasting. Verse 4. I glorified you on earth. That's what he did for 33 years.
You ever wonder why 33 years? Is because he lived an absolutely sinless life as a child. And as an adolescent, And as a teenager, and as a young adult, and as a mature adult, he hit every single stage of life and lived absolutely. Sinless. And that's why, verse 4, having says, having accomplished the work which you gave me to do.
He's the only baby who was ever born to die. And as they walked towards Gethsemane, He prays that nothing is going to stop him. from accomplishing finishing the work that God had given to you. him to do. And as a result, He proved he was worthy.
He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore, God has what? Highly exalted him. bestowed on him the name which is above every name.
So that the name of Jesus Every knee shall bow. Heaven, earth, under the earth. Every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is what? Say it loudly. Come on.
See you, Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Someday. He's going to get everything that he deserves.
Someday. every agnostic and every Anglican. every Buddhist and every Baptist. Every evangelical and Episcopalian. Every Muslim, every M Mennonite.
Everybody's gonna bow to someday. Then he asks one last thing, verse 5: Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. To be born as Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, had to. empty himself. He didn't stop being God.
just gave up the right to use certain Oh. expressions of his deity.
Well, as he anticipates his death, his burial, his resurrection, and his ascension. Back to heaven, he praise. Father, would you reverse that self-emptying process? Restore to me the heavenly splendor and magnificence I had with you. in your very presence back before the world existed.
And as I thought about it, you know what he was saying? I just want to come home. I just want to be with the one that I love. And I don't know if that resonates with you. Are you just tired of the pain down here?
Welcome to the club. Have you buried a loved one? and just want to go home. Ready to be just finished with the craziness. Hold on.
Your day will come. You'll get home, your pain will be reversed, your fortunes will be restored, your sorrow will be turned to joy. And Jesus was so confident that he prayed. Bring me home, Father. Honor me with your presence like we had before I came to Earth.
And the thing that I think is important to realizes that uh Request for glory. that Jesus would be restored. It's going to be different than the glory that he had before the world began. Because we know We know that Jesus is now glorified in a human body. that you didn't have before.
And even more significantly, the glorified body will still bear the marks of his suffering on the cross. Remember after his resurrection? with doubting Thomas. Go ahead, put your fingers in. Go ahead.
Why does he bear those marks?
So that it'll be honored for all eternity. For what he's accomplished on that cross for us. And it's why Every believer will sing. throughout eternity. Worthy is the Lamb who was.
What's it say? Slight. Perceive. power and riches and wisdom and glory and might and honor. For all eternity.
So that every time you and I and we will look upon him. We'll be reminded of what it costs for all of our wounds to be healed. Your future. is wholeness.
Wellness. An end of all the suffering and the pain. That's what's awaiting us. The fulfillment of what he accomplished upon the cross. When he bore our sins in his body so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by his wounds you were healed.
That spiritual healing now becomes full and complete. The promise of God is fulfilled. I will restore you to health and I will heal you of your wounds, declares the Lord.
So what are you suffering right now? They're not worthy to be compared. with the glory that is to be revealed to us. All of the emotional and the psychological and spiritual suffering, the hardships that he's permitted. Even though he hates them.
Is being and will be transformed in the glorious quality that he loves. And that's true of the physical scars. With the slowly body of arts. transformed. and to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him.
even to subject all things to himself. I have no idea how he's going to do it. No idea. All I know is he's going to make all things new. For close to sixty years.
Johnny has used that horrible injury as a pathway for sharing the good news and hope of the gospel with others. It has not for one moment ended her chronic pain. But it has helped her hold fast to the grace of God in all of her affliction. and allow her to long for the hope of glory. And Johnny says the first thing she's going to do when she gets to heaven is dance with Jesus.
So We all face unexplained challenges in life and Maybe some of them might come even this week. Whatever happens. If we can trust him through the pain and confusion. Hanging on sometimes by the smallest of faith. He promises that one day.
Either in this life or the next, he will exponentially atone for every tear and abundantly reward us for every hurt.
So even with tears in our eyes and chronic pain in our lives. Let's hang on and believe. Did you come to hear from the Lord this morning? He permits what he hates. to accomplish what he loves.
So let's hang on in belief, okay? All right. Thank you for your patience with me. Let's pray. All right, everybody take a real deep breath, will you?
What is it, Lord? What are you saying to me and to us? We want to hold on. You know our strengths and you know our weaknesses.
So, I pray that you would help me this week, help us this week. To trust you. By faith. Believing. That you're going to work out your good plan in your time.
And in your way.
So strengthen us. for the journey. And show your power through our weakness. Most of all, I'm not sure. Pray that you would exalt your son.
Lord Jesus, that you would be lifted high, what I do, what we do. today and each day this week. We pray. For your honor, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Yeah,
