Well, I want to leave you with one last thing, which I believe really sums up all the things that have been said. And I want to make it very clear in just these last few minutes that God sent his son to be a mediator of joy. And as I've meditated on the glory of Jesus Christ this year, all year long, I've really come to believe that There is one supreme reason that God calls us to behold the glory of his son, There's one reason and That this that mankind would be consumed in this objective and I believe that it's it's really bound up in this idea that Jesus Christ is a mediator for joy. And you know, what's, I think what's so helpful about a realization like this is that it shows you what it means to truly be a Christian. And it shows you what God's intentions are for you.
The Apostle Paul to the Ephesians said that It was the kind intentions of his will that govern everything. And God sent his son as a mediator to be a mediator of joy, Because the happiness that comes from beholding the glory of Jesus Christ is a direct result of the happiness that God has in Himself. And the reason this is true is I think stated really clearly in both the Westminster Confession and the Baptist Confession of faith. And it's really an answer to the question, why did God the Father ordain Jesus to be a sacrifice for sinners and The Baptist confession and the Westminster confession Say the same thing it pleased God It pleased God in His eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten Son, according to the covenant made between them both to be the mediator between God and man. That word, those words, it pleased God in the confession, Tells us of the pleasure of God That caused him to send his son to be our mediator there are the pleasures that exist in The nature and the character of God are the reason are the reason that he saves sinners he brings us into his kingdom to share in his nature and You know he the Lord Jesus Christ was was anointed with the oil of gladness He was anointed by the Holy Spirit, and what is the holy?
What's the manifestation of the Holy Spirit love joy? Peace patience God has such marvelous intentions for us. And so he's he's given us a mediator of joy To raise us out of our joyless treadmill existences because that's what they really are without him Colossians 1 19 says for it pleased the father that all the fullness should dwell In him and by him to reconcile all things to himself It was out of God's pleasure that the son came from the Father You know, we we spoke of Isaiah 42 in in one of these sessions that John brought. In Isaiah 42, you see that this servant is upheld. He's the one in whom God's soul delights, And he puts his spirit upon him.
It was the delight of God given to his son to bring us into this world of delight. In fact, Isaiah 53 10 says that it it pleased the Lord to bruise him How could that be? How could it be possible to be pleased to bruise someone? Except that there be such a marvelous result from that bruising. He was pleased to bruise his son, because he desired to please the souls of his creatures.
And it was so pleasing to them. You know, we know in 1 Timothy 1, verse 11, that God is called happy. He's infinitely happy. He's Everlastingly happy he is he's blessed which which means happy and And so when we enter the presence of God at the end of our lives, what words will we hear? Enter into the joy of your master.
This is God's intention for the sending of his son. This is God's intention for Calling us to behold the glory of Jesus Christ Because you know at his right hand are pleasures forevermore. He brings us into a kingdom of everlasting joy and That's why God sent a mediator of joy, and that's why it's so beneficial It's so life-giving. It's as Jonathan Edwards said so Happifying to behold the face of Jesus Christ You know Moses desired to see the glory of God and Exodus 33 verse 18 he said Lord show me your glory And you remember how God responded? I'll make all my goodness pass before you, my goodness.
This is the love of God for sinners. So beholding the glory of Jesus Christ is the gateway to really everything that your heart desires. It's the gateway to encouragement, to strength, to satisfaction, to blessedness, to happiness, to rest, to peace, to understanding, to transformation. And it's really a gateway to the everlasting joys of heaven That's why so many preachers say God's just preparing you for heaven and one way he prepares you for heaven is he calls you to enter into his joy Through his mediator Jesus Christ because he's a mediator of joy Now it's very difficult to speak about the glory of Jesus Christ without speaking about John Owen. John Owen said that it was the greatest opportunity that a Christian has to to enjoy.
It's the greatest privilege for the for the Christian to behold the glory of Jesus Christ and He said that the greatest desire of Christ Was expressed in prayer that his people might be with him to behold his glory. That's John 17 verse 24 That was his greatest desire that his children would join him To behold the glory of his father Now I've extracted from John Owen for results that really all have to they're really summed up in the word joy But I just want to read you what John Owen has said about beholding the glory of Jesus Christ first of all Refuge the glory of Jesus Christ is the greatest Refuge you can ever have in this world. He said Christ is a sanctuary a sure refuge to all that put their trust in him and What would a troubled man? Fleeing to a safe place look for he would look for all his needs to be met to be delivered from all his fears, to be protected from all dangers. Such is the Lord Jesus Christ to all sin distressed souls.
Christ is a refuge to us in all of our spiritual sorrows and troubles. Are you burdened with a sense of sin? Are you weighed down under the oppression of any spiritual enemy? Do we as a result Tarry on these things and walk in darkness and have no light One look At the glory of Jesus Christ will strengthen us and comfort us So he maintains that it's a place of refuge Secondly It's a place of encouragement John Owen believed that beholding the glory of Jesus Christ was your greatest source of encouragement in this world. And he said it like this, The Lord Jesus Christ was not concerned that his disciples should merely see how glorious he was But that the beholding of his glory might bring encouragement strength satisfaction and blessedness to his disciples This was the whole reason why his mediatory glory was given to him.
God has given his glory for our encouragement Isn't God good to do such a thing for us? Thirdly Satisfaction Owen believed that the only thing that could satisfy the soul was the beholding of the glory of Jesus Christ. And so he said it like this, only a sight of his glory and nothing else Will truly satisfy God's people the hearts of believers are like a Magnetized needle which cannot rest until it is pointing north so also a believer magnetized by the love of Christ Will always be restless until he or she comes to Christ and beholds his glory You know, is there any restlessness in your soul? Run to Jesus Christ behold his glory and fourth transformation He believed that the beholding of the glory of Jesus Christ was the only source of any true or good transformation in our lives and so he said indeed it is by beholding the glory of Christ that believers are gradually transformed into his image and then brought into the eternal enjoyment of it The It is his image It's himself. It's his nature.
It's his character. It's all of his ways. It's everything about him and He continues Because they shall be forever like him for they shall see him as he is The Apostle Paul stated this The Apostle Paul stated this very succinctly in 2 Corinthians chapter three, verse 18. But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. It's by beholding the glory of Jesus Christ that we are changed.
And I think we should just ask ourselves, how much change do we need? Lots of change. And there really is only one single solitary way For that change to happen in a right and a blessed way And that is by beholding the glory of Jesus. If you notice the words, the verbs in this verse, they're in the present tense, and they're in continuous action. Beholding, that's ongoing.
You behold the glory of Jesus and you're saved, but you have this ongoing beholding of the glory of Jesus, because you can't get enough and you always need more. It's ongoing, it's beholding, and then it's being transformed. Again, that's something that just continues to happen. This is progressive sanctification. And it happens by beholding the glory of Jesus Christ.
So it pleased God in his eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, to be the mediator between God and man. Now I want to take you right back to the very first message that was delivered from this platform. And if you remember the heart of that message, it was really this. If you want to behold the glory of Jesus Christ, it's it's not a mystical transcendental experience It's very simple It's beholding The beauty of Jesus Christ in his word if you want more of the glory of Jesus Christ Look no further. It's all here.
He is on because glory is on every page Everything you need is found in this book. He is sufficient for everything that's going on in your life because his glory Saturates everything in your life everything in your life And so This really is just an affirmation of of what the Bible says and how the Bible actually ends The Bible ends by saying don't you dare? Tamper with one single word of this prophecy It's perfect. It's pure. It's everything you need.
It's sufficient. It's infallible. It's immutable It's the Word of God. And it is of the glory of Jesus Christ himself so as we go from this place I want us just to recognize finally after hearing all these marvelous messages And boy have I loved the messages is Is just to remember that Jesus Christ is the mediator of joy and He has designed to bring you into that joy by beholding the glory that's contained in his words. And that's really the simplicity of this entire gathering that we've had.
And I pray that God gives us such hunger for that, and that he would give us more awareness of his presence, that he would draw us into his presence like never before. But one thing every Christian knows, the more you behold the glory of Jesus Christ in his word, The more you're drawn into his glory That's just the way we're wired Whatever you behold you're attracted to and let that be both an encouragement and a warning So that you find yourselves And I find myself Only beholding the things which are the gateways to my greatest Everlasting need and that is everlasting joy So I pray God would really bless all the things that we did here. It's been such a delight to be with you and have many conversations and to sit and enjoy the messages. One of the secrets of this conference is that I come here and I really don't have anything to do. Our team does everything and I sit here and I hear the preaching.
And in a lot of ways, it's like a retreat for me. And there there are many wake-up calls For Me at these conferences and I'm telling you there were many wake-up calls for me at this one So I'm so thankful also to You know the men who came to preach here. You know if you're not if you're if you're not a person who? Has been called to preach you might not understand the labor the trial the energy The racking of your head, you know the whole matter of preaching Shows you how stupid You are how worldly you are how poor you are with words? How little grasp you have of heavenly things and you and you you wrangle with God and your mind and your emotions and and your language and you You cry out to God and often God God doesn't give you exactly Everything that you need until the last moments and you're crying out to God.
I want you to recognize There was an enormous Outlay of energy and prayer and crying out to God on the part of the men that came and preached here They cried out to God for you and For them Let's not let their investment be in vain. Let's pray. Father, this really has been such a treat. It's been such a thrill to look at the words that describe how beautiful you are, and oh Lord, that you would make us like David Who said one thing have I desired of the Lord? That will I seek That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his sanctuary. In the secret place of his tabernacle he shall hide me. Lord that you would find us hiding, hiding in the joys of your presence, beholding the glory of your son, everywhere we walk. We thank you that we can take this everywhere we go. So I pray, Lord, that you would give us such a heart for it.
In Jesus' name, amen. Two things. First of all, if there's anyone here whom God has been pressing on and you know you're not converted.