Dan Lee
John 17:9-13, For the Joy of God's Elect

Jesus’ first petition for His disciples is found in these verses. Jesus prays that the Father would keep them in His name. Jesus prays for a special people, His disciples and He does so because He was about to physically leave His disciples. What He would no longer be able to do in His physical absence, He asks the Father to accomplish. May the Lord grant to us a greater work of His Spirit to draw us to walk in Jesus’ ways and thus live with His joy evermore in our hearts.

Dan Lee
John 17:6-8, Two Realities of Salvation

Jesus describes the salvation of His disciples from two perspectives, one from heaven and the other from earth. In heaven, salvation was the product of the intratrinitarian transaction between the Father and the Son. On earth salvation was the product of divine revelation through the word of God and the hearty response of faith on the part of believers. The heavenly realities evoke worship, humility, and thanksgiving. The earthly realities compel us to take seriously every word of our Lord Jesus Christ and act upon them by faith.

Dan Lee
John 17:3-5, Salvation for the Glory of God ...

In His prayer, Jesus defines eternal life for our benefit. Contrary to popular belief, eternal life according to the Son of God is a reconciled relationship with God that begins in the present and stretches out to eternity. Jesus also reveals to us that He is the God of eternal glory which is demonstrated through the cross which He was about to bear. In the cross of Christ, the glory of God’s grace shines brilliantly so that all the redeemed and all the angelic host would glorify God forever and ever.

Dan Lee
John 17:1-2, Salvation for the Glory of God

Jesus’ prayer in John 17 begins with a focus on the glory of God. Jesus prays that His impending death will ultimately glorify the Father and that this would come about through the granting (gifting) of eternal life to His elect. What Jesus’ crucifixion puts on display is the glory of God’s grace in salvation.

Dan Lee
Deuteronomy 27-34, Two Ways to Live

As Moses closes his final message to the children of Israel, he focuses on the consequences of obedience and disobedience. He does so by setting down before them two pathways: the pathway to life, good, and the blessing, and the other pathway to death, evil, and the curse. Along with these options for their future, he reveals to them their future in apostasy, judgment, and even a restoration afterwards. The Pentateuch closes with an allusion to the prophet like Moses to come, the Lord Jesus, who speaks from the LORD and all the people ought to hear. The call to choose life echoes throughout the ages, calling all to be reconciled and restored to God and to enter into His blessing through the Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

John 8:30-36, Freedom from Sin

Sinners are enslaved to their sins. Instead of the power and ability to say no to sinful inclinations, they are bound by their lusts, pride and selfishness and they are unable please God. The Savior promises freedom from this enslavement to sin. He directs us to two actions and two promises. He who has paid the penalty for our sins also leads us away from a life of sin to live fruitfully for the glory of God. May we all gain His wisdom to continue in His Word and thereby experience the freedom which He promises to those who follow Him truly.

John 8:19-30, The Consequences of Denying the Truth

Only fools say no to the Savior. They overlook the dire consequences to refusing Christ and denying His truth. As Jesus points out in this conversation with the Pharisees, denying the truth of Christ is to forfeit the knowledge of God, entrance into heaven and the Savior who alone can save them from their sins. We must never refuse Christ but wholly embrace Him. Always say yes to Christ.

John 8:15-16, The Testimony of God (Part 2)

We see a great deal of theology in these verses: divine omniscience and divine election. The Lord’s response to the Pharisees reveals these attributes of God. The Lord had access to divine knowledge which the Pharisees did not have. The Lord assessed people based on the Father’s choice. He accepted everyone whom the Father gave and drew to Him. Unlike the Pharisees, the Lord did not judge the book by its cover, but by a divine collaboration with the Father.

John 8:12-14, The Testimony of God

Jesus’ claim to being the Savior as the Light of the world is received with criticism by the Pharisees who argue that a self-testimony is invalid. While this may be true of ordinary humans, when it comes to the Lord, His self-testimony is true because He, as God, knows the truth and speaks truth. In this sermon we consider this facet of the attribute of God: His knowledge. God is supremely knowledgeable.