"Love and Trust" John 17 Part 3 by Kathryn Kuhlman part 3 in her "John 17 Series"

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.