Apostlers of the Righteous Father
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Celebrating what it means to be known, loved, and sent by the 'Righteous Father'.
Text: John 17:25-26
Date: 04/19/2020, the Combined service.
Series: "John: Encountering Love" Part 173
Description:
As Jesus comes to the end of His High Priestly Prayer, He asks the Father to endow His disciples (and through them the church) with two great gifts: that they would truly know the Father as both loving and righteous; and that they would share and reflect the love the Father has for the Son. We will attempt to scratch the surface of these amazing and glorious requests and recognize them as marks of the gift of true belief. But wrapped around this great revelation is the concept of "apostling", and how Jesus intends to spread His Gospel throughout a dark and recalcitrant world. We will analyze this crucial process as we recognize and accept the call of our Lord to be "apostlers" of the Righteous Father.
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I. Introduction, Mark 4:30-32.
II. Exposition of the text, John 17:25-26.
A. Context
B. On the knowledge and love of the Righteous Father.
1. The significance of "Righteous Father", vs. 25a.
a. Noticing a parallel, John 17:11.
b. Exploring God's Love and Righteousness, Num. 14:18.
i. Perfect righteousness, Rom. 3:10, Matt. 5:48.
ii. Unfathomable love.
iii. Brought together in Christ, Psa. 85:10.
c. The importance of knowing God completely.
i. If God is known only as "righteous".
ii. If God is known only as "Father".
2. On knowing the Father, vs. 25b-26a.
a. A knowledge the world cannot have, vs. 25b, Rom. 1:21-22.
b. A roadmap of God's glorious self-revelation, vs. 25c-26a, John 13:20.
i. The knowledge of the Son.
• A statement of intimacy, John 1:1-2,18, 8:19, 10:15, 12:49-50, 14:7, Matt. 11:27.
• A statement of authority, John 10:37-38.
ii. Passing the knowledge of God to His disciples, 1Pet. 1:10,12, John 1:16-17.
iii. The importance of knowing Jesus as the Apostler from Heaven.
• A key point of knowledge, John 17:21,23,3,8.
• Another mark of true belief, John 3:16-17.
• A gift from the Triune God, John 15:15, 11:25.
iv. Knowing the name of the Father, vs. 26a, John 17:6, 11-12.
v. Continued revelation, John 17:20.
3. On the love of the Father, vs. 26b.
a. A love reflecting divine love, John 17:23-24, 13:35.
b. A love revealed in Jesus, John 1:14, Luke 23:34.
c. Imparting the love of the Father, John 3:16, 6:56.
d. The indwelling of the Son, John 15:9, 14:23, 6:35.
C. Interpretation, John 17:18.
1. The Apostle of Heaven.
2. The Apostles.
3. The "apostlers".
III. Application
IV. Conclusion
