"Confidence and Trust" Part 1 John 17 Part 4 by Kathryn Kuhlman part 4 in her "John 17 Series"

We've been talking about a very sacred portion of God's Word. That 17th chapter of John. Perhaps the most personal sight of Jesus that we have ever seen. Because when a son talks to his father, Meetings the angels even bend low. There's something about a son, an earthly son, talking man to man with his dad, is something that's very sacred. seldom do we ever get to even hear a part of the conversation. Though they usually close the door and they're very sure mom doesn't hear a word of it. Or that the little sister doesn't even get to listen in to the keyhole. It's man to man. And it's sacred. You and I have been given a glimpse of the Son of God, of Jesus in the flesh, talking to his Heavenly Father. And always keep in mind when you read this portion of the Word of God, when you remember that Jesus is talking to his Father, that Jesus has not yet died. The cross is only ours in the future. That while he is talking to the Heavenly Father, he is as much man as though he were not God. Know that. When he talks about his will, always keep in mind that even while he's talking to the Father, he has a will of his own that can be exercised. separate and apart from the will of the Father. Reminding you again, something that I told you regarding this relationship is the trust, the confidence. Everything is built on trust. Everything is built on confidence. Absolutely everything. Go back. When the plans of salvation were being laid, when the plan for man's redemption was being made, Jesus turned to the Holy Spirit with perfect trust and perfect confidence in the third person of Trinity. He offered himself, first of all, through the Holy Spirit to be given. He knew. the Holy Ghost. He knew the power of the Holy Spirit. He knew that as man he could not come to earth in the form of flesh and withstand the temptation of Satan. And he knew Satan. He knew Satan before Satan ever fell. He knew Satan when he was one of the three most beautiful angels that God had created. He knew Satan's power. That's the reason. Do not underestimate the power of the evil one. Do not underestimate the power of the devil. Jesus knew Satan when he was beautiful. Before his fall, he knew the power that God the Father had given to this created being. Sometimes I marvel. at the ignorance of men or women, when they so loosely associate with the powers of Satan. Satanic power is strong, believe me. No man fully realizes the power of Satan. And there are only two forces in the world today, the power of Satan and the power of God, the power of goodness, the power of evil. Know that. And stay just as far away from the power of the devil as you can possibly get. Before Jesus left, to know he was to come in the form of flesh, he also knew that he would stand. and face Satan in and out of his temptations. And to reassure himself that he would not yield to those temptations, he offered himself through the Holy Spirit and said, all right, you be my strength in her. That's why I say to you, those of you who are so afraid of the third person of Trinity, especially to ministers in the pulpit. You who try to steer away from the Holy Ghost and become so frightened whenever we speak of the power of the Holy Ghost and the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit, and you want to wash your hands of the responsibility of this wonderful third person of Trinity, may I say to you kindly, If Jesus could trust the Holy Spirit, surely you and I should be able to trust the Holy Ghost and put confidence in him. There was trust. There was confidence. And the Holy Ghost did not leave Jesus. He came and he came on schedule. When Jesus came up out of the waters of baptism, Who was there? The Father spoke audibly. In that moment, the Holy Spirit, oh, Jesus had not misplaced his confidence. Jesus had not misplaced his trust. The Holy Spirit was there and descended upon him. In other words, the Holy Spirit was saying, well, Jesus, here I am. You can trust me. And that was why, before Jesus went away, the very last gift that he gave to his church, and he was saying, in essence, I trusted him. He didn't let me down. I give to you the greatest gift that is possible for me to give. I give to you the same person, the same wonderful gift. You can trust him. You can put your confidence in him. He'll not let you down. And I can stand on the highest mountain peak this very moment and say to the whole world, and I wish I could shout it to the whole world, I have put my confidence in him. I have put my trust in him. And he has never let me down. Unafraid. Why? I know there will be miracles because the Holy Spirit will be there. And he'll not let you down. And he'll not let me down. God the Father had confidence in his Son. That's the reason he sent him. That's the reason he gave him. And yet when he sent Jesus, He knew he would have to go in the form of flesh. He knew that. He too knew satanic power. He too knew the temptations. And remember, Jesus had to go through these temptations because he could not be a just judge. He could not judge you and he could not judge me rightfully. There would not be complete justice in his judgment unless he had suffered everything that you and I have had to suffer in life. How often you've heard me say you cannot give to anyone else any more than you have received yourself. You cannot be a comfort to someone else. at the edge of that open grave unless you too have had a death. You cannot bring comfort to someone with a broken heart unless you have had your heart broken. You cannot talk the language of the hungry unless you have hungered. Do you understand what I'm saying? If you've never been hungry, If you've never suffered the pains of hunger, how can you sympathize with one who is hungry? Do you know what I am talking about? God the Father will not be our judge. The Holy Spirit will not be our judge. But we stand one day. We say we'll stand before the judgment seat of God. But Jesus Christ will be the judge. He's the one who'll judge you and judge me. Because he's the only one who can judge righteously. Because he's the only one who has been here in the form of flesh. He knew temptation. He knew sorrow. He wept. He suffered as much man as though he were not God. He hungered. He had to have all of these things in his own life to be able to judge us righteously. I could weep. When I think of these things, millions live and die and never think of these things. Christians live and die, still conceited in their spirituality, and yet how little they really know regarding the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to come back to the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Old Paul understood. Paul knew it. When Paul was going through his suffering, he understood the very thing that I'm talking about. He understood it all. That's the reason he could talk about the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. The mercy. The compassion. of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship, the communion of the Holy Spirit. Mm -hmm. I pray the Holy Spirit shall make that which I'm trying to say, and yet I feel that I do not have the ability to say what I really feel on the inside, what I really know. The Holy Spirit will have to give you. this beautiful revelation, and when you see it, your consecration will be greater than ever before. Your love for Jesus will be greater than ever before. The plan of salvation will be more real to you. You'll have a truer meaning of what it means to be a Christian. For me to live is Christ, and Christ is love. You'll have a better understanding of your neighbor's troubles and heartache. There'll be greater racial understanding. We've got to get back again to this thing of trust. We've got to do it. We've got to get back again to confidence, to trust. We must. It's a fundamental principle of God himself. The whole thing is based on trust and on confidence. And so Jesus was saying to the Father, You put your confidence in me. I'm soon to come back. I haven't failed you. My work is done. I've finished the work which thou gavest me to do. I still have not healed it. And now the last act. I'm... yielding my will to your will. And your will includes my death on the cross. It includes the crown. It includes the spit of the angry mob. It includes being crucified between two thieves. All of that is in your will. and so even though in the flesh i might shrink from these things nevertheless i yield my will to your will i'll do it that's the reason he could say i have finished the work which thou gavest me to do oh to be able one of these days to stand in his glorious presence knowing that we've surrendered our will the father that we've carried out his plan and then when the last sermon will have been preached the last day's work would have been done to be able to say i have finish the work which thou gavest me to do. Now watch. The entire prayer changes. He's talked about himself as the Son of God, referring to himself as the Son of God, as Jesus Christ. Then he comes to the personal part. I. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I'm coming back now, Father. For again, I'm coming back in the position as great high priest with the glory that I once knew before I came in upon the flesh. I again placed myself on coming back to the position. The Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost. Now he does something. He now talks about you and about me. Not the world. There's a part in this conversation that few people understand. Very... few people understand. Get this glimpse. As surely as Jesus had confidence in the Holy Spirit, as surely as God had confidence in the Son, it was all based on trust and confidence. We come now. to men and women. He places trust. He places confidence in us. There's nothing more. No person is bound by any law to be a Christian. No individual who has ever been born or will ever be born will ever be forced. To serve God. It's all by choice. The whole thing is by choice. You choose. I must make the choice. It's something that's personal. A husband has to make the choice. A wife must make the choice. They're children. It's something that's personal. It's an individual thing. And before Jesus went away, do you know the responsibility that he gave to men and women knowing it was still of their own choosing? That's why years ago, I remember so well when someone was talking of a saint of God who one night had this dream. It made a great impression on me. I cannot tell you all the details, but I only remember a part of what was said. When Jesus came back to glory, and one of the saints who'd gone home to glory prior to the coming of Jesus said to him, But what? If Peter should fail, what? if john should fail what if men and women should fail in carrying out your plan jesus said very tenderly i am counting on them i have no other plans