Please turn with me to John chapter
17, if you would, please. John chapter 17. I'd like to ask you, as you're
turning, a question. Can a sinner have any real confidence,
any real assurance and hope of spending eternity in heaven's
glory with the Lord Jesus Christ? Or will they consistently be
unsure, uncertain, doubtful, fearful, fretful of losing their
salvation if they don't live according to a certain standard? As long as a man or a woman looks
within themselves, looks to something that they do or something that
they don't do as the means of their salvation, I can assure
you they'll never have any assurance any confidence or hope of being
saved. Why? Because there is nothing
within us that would give us any hope of salvation. Do you
have confidence? Do you have assurance and hope
of redemption? Or do you look within and struggle? I have on more than one occasion
been accused of being antinomian. The first time someone called
me that, I didn't know what it meant. I didn't know whether
to thank them or punch them. But an antinomian is defined
as one who claims to be a believer or a Christian who by divine
and sovereign providence is not bound to keep the moral law found
in the Ten Commandments. An antinomian is one who believes
that they can live lawlessly in sin and still be saved. One who lives that way does not
know God. They know not God or His Word.
A true child of God is made by God to detest and hate their
sin. I am not an antinomian. I am
a sinner, yes, saved by grace. Job said, I abhor myself and
repent in dust and ashes. By God's grace, so do I. David
said, for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Beloved, my sin is ever before
me. Solomon said, he that covereth
his sin shall not prosper, but whosoever confesseth and forsaketh
them shall have mercy. That's this sinner's hope. Paul
said, O wretched man that I am. Not O wretched man that I was
or used to be, but O wretched man that I am. And if you'll
notice the next time you read that verse, it's followed with
an exclamation mark. And then he said, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? Romans 7, 24. Anyone who believes
that sin is not a big deal and excuses their sin, continuing
to live in their sin so that grace may abound, doesn't have
the first clue as to what grace is and what the scriptures teach.
And yet to trust at all in a presupposed righteousness or a good work
you do or an evil you abstain from is declaring that you yourself
somehow can merit, earn and deserve God's mercy and grace in order
to be saved. The problem with that way of
thinking is this. If you can do something to earn
merit and deserve God's grace, then you can do something to
lose it. I know from personal experience
that you cannot find any assurance, any confidence, or any hope of
redemption there. No sir. Not looking within, not
trusting in something that you do. And I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful that God in His
Word reveals that the saved sinner's salvation has absolutely nothing,
nothing to do with what we do or what we deserve. And we live
in a day where people are very bold to say, I want what I deserve. I can tell you, I don't. No,
sir, I don't. I don't want what I deserve.
I want mercy. And that is especially true when
God, by His mercy and grace, shows you what you deserve. And
this is the only way that any sinner will ever be delivered
from their sin. That being the love, the mercy,
the grace, and forgiveness found in the Lord Jesus Christ, who's
the only suitable substitute and sacrifice for sin. His righteous
work is the only righteousness that God will accept, because
His alone is perfect. And it must be perfect to be
accepted. We've never done anything perfect,
none of us have. Every true believer will be quick
to tell you, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace, which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain. And his grace bestowed upon a
sinner never is in vain. It always accomplishes what God
sends it to do. We're not justified by the law
or the works of the law, but by the faith, the faithfulness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I rejoice that my salvation
doesn't depend upon my faithfulness because it's lacking so much. But my salvation, my redemption,
my fellowship and communion with God is based upon what Christ
has done for me. And there is where our assurance
and comfort and hope is found. Saved by grace through faith.
But that grace and that faith is not by works that we should
boast. Our reconciliation to God is
a gift from Him. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. And the
only work God accepts is that finished work of the perfect
Savior. That alone is the only thing
that gives God's people any assurance, comfort, and hope of being in
heaven's glory with Christ, who is God's glory. I need not be
fearful or afraid of anything less than full salvation in Christ.
Why? Because my redemption doesn't
have anything to do with what I do to satisfy God. Just to
think that I could somehow satisfy God with a work of righteousness
that I do is absurd. Christ's substitution, Christ's
finished work is the only thing that will satisfy God and cause
the sinner to rest. Now I want to rest. There's nothing
left for us to do but to believe and rest. Isn't that wonderful
news? God's holy justice is satisfied
by Christ's righteousness accomplished for me and in me. Christ in me
is the hope of glory. And I've been made the righteousness
of God in Him. He took my sin, He knew no sin.
He took my sin upon Himself and made me the perfect righteousness
of God in Him. And that's how we can have hope
of eternal life, not by works of righteousness, which we've
done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. That's the theme
of this book from beginning to end. Well, Brother David, you
sound like a broken record. That's what I am. You see, I
am broken by God's grace, and this is the record that God had
given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. I am
a broken record, and so are you, if you know Christ. Here in John
17, we're given the privilege once again of listening in on
our Lord's high priestly prayer to His Father for His elect people. You know, I don't suppose in
this life we'll ever fully perceive the preciousness of God's Word.
God allows us to enter into the throne of His mercy and grace
and hear this high priestly prayer. and what a blessing it is. Our
finite minds can never, in our preaching, exhaust the love,
mercy, and grace, and truth that's found in this prayer of the Lord
Jesus. Yet this morning, I want us to
consider and look at one verse that should alone be enough to
give God's people great assurance, confidence, and hope of eternal
life in Him. Look at verse 24 with me, John
17, verse 24. Here the Lord, praying to His
Father, said, Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast
given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory,
which Thou hast given me, for Thou lovest me. before the foundation
of the world. Now I have five points, five
questions, considerations that I want us to briefly ponder this
morning. And the first is this, to whom
is this request made and who is it that makes it? That's important
to know. This request is made to God the
Father, and it's made by Jesus Christ, God the Son. And you
see, knowing that alone should give us great confidence and
assurance that this request will be granted. It will be, because
of who it's made to and who it is that makes it. The Lord Jesus
Christ, God in the flesh, says in the first three words, Father,
I will. I will. Father, this is what
I want. Father, this is what I desire. You know, I was thinking, preparing
for this, Abraham was called the friend of God, the father
of the faithful. God spoke to Abraham as a man
speaks to a friend, but Abraham never prayed this way. Abraham
prayed, I've taken upon me to speak unto the Lord and I am
but dust and ashes. There's no mere mortal sinful
human who can request their will to be done. We live in a dark
day where men and women rely their souls upon their will,
which they believe to be free. Abraham never told the Lord what
he himself willed. No, sir, he didn't. And even
when he prayed for Lot in Sodom, you remember that? Abraham never
said, Lord, I will that you spare Sodom. He never said, Lord, I
will that you save Lot. No, he pleaded with God for that
city because Lot, someone that he loved there, he prayed that
God's will be revealed to him. That's the way we pray to a thrice
holy God. He pleaded with God according
to his mercy. He prayed to God according to
his mercy. He pleaded to God, if there'd
be 50, 45, 40, 30, Lord, if there'd be 20, if there'd be 10 righteous
within the city of Sodom, will not the judge of all the earth
do right and spare it? And there was only one righteous
man in Sodom. And the Lord had destroyed Sodom,
but according to His mercy, He spared just Lot who was righteous. Now, when I say just Lot, I don't
mean He spared only Lot. He spared his daughters too.
But He spared Lot who the Scriptures declare to be just. How was he
just? Only in Christ. You look back
on his life. He didn't act too just, did he?
Guess what? Neither do I. Neither do I. And that's not where my hope
and my confidence and assurance is found. Not in me. And by God's grace, I'm gonna
quit looking within. And I'm gonna look to Him who
loved me and gave Himself for me. Every true child of God pleads
with God according to His mercy and His righteousness. But here
in our text, the Lord says, Father, this is what I will. None of
the prophets of old dare spake that way. Why, Daniel, Daniel
was a man of God and he was a man of prayer. And his praying, if
you remember, is what got him in trouble. It's what got him
thrown into the lion's den. Daniel never told God what he
willed God to do. Men today say, by my will, my
free will, save me by your grace. That's contradictory. It's either
by your will or by God's grace, but it can't be both. In a day
where sinners' so-called free will has in their own minds become
the means of salvation, this ought to be a great lesson for
us here. It's not our prayers that changes things. I heard
that all my life, prayer changes things. No, it's the God to whom
we pray that changes things. And he works all things after
the counsel of his own will, not ours. The apostle Paul was
a man of prayer, but he never prayed like that. All the men
of God in the scriptures prayed as humble sinners before a thrice
holy God. I think about that publican in
the temple. The Pharisee prayed thus with
himself, Lord, I thank you I'm not like this. And I thank you
I'm not like that. And I most definitely thank you
that I'm not like that publican back there in the back. But that
publican, he wouldn't look up to heaven. He pounded upon his
chest and he said, Lord, be merciful to me, thee sinner. That's all I am. I have nothing
to offer. I have nothing to give. I plead
according to your mercy. John chapter 10, the Lord Jesus
said, I and my Father are one. You see, the Lord can pray, Father,
I will. And here's the reason for his
boldness. He's no less God than God the Father himself. He said,
if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. The Lord Jesus thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. You wanna know why? Because
he was equal with God. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Thou shall call his name Emmanuel. God with us. Our Lord could say,
Father, I will, because He and His Father were one. It's not
possible that His prayer should not be answered. Not possible. Now, a lot of times we pray for
ridiculous things, don't we? and they're not granted. Because
you know what? They wouldn't be for our good.
That's the reason they're not granted. But the Lord Jesus prayed,
Father, I will. Oh, and the Father hears him
every time. That's what the Lord Jesus said
in John chapter eight. He said, and he that sent me
is with me and he has not left me alone for I always do the
things that please him. Christ's will and the will of
the Father are one in the same. Our Lord said, I came not down
from heaven to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent
me. And this is the will of Him which had sent me, that of all
which He hath given me, I will lose nothing. I will not lose
a one. Our Lord could pray this way
because His will was the will of God. Our Lord said in Hebrews
10, low in the volume of the book, it is written of me. I
come to do thy will. And Paul added, by the witch
will, God's will, we are sanctified once for all by the offering
of Jesus Christ. This man, this God-man according
to the will of God perfected forever them that are sanctified. So he and the Father being one,
his will and the Father's will is one. Now, the second question
we need to consider here is for whom does Christ pray? I wanna
know. Just maybe I'm one of them. Again,
verse 24, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given
me be with me where I am. The Lord in his prayer wills
that someone be with him where he is. Who are they? I wanna
know. The Lord tells us here who they
are. Look up at verse nine. The Lord says, I pray for them.
I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
me, for they are thine." So who are these that Christ prays for?
Well, it's not everyone in the world. He prays for them, not
the world. Who are these that Christ prays
for? They are those which the Father gave to the Son. Isn't
that what it says? It's not hard. The Lord said,
them which thou hast given me. That's who they are. Who are
they? Those who belong to God. For
they are thine. They belong to you. They belong
to God, and God gave them to Christ, and now they belong to
Him. If you're in the Lord Jesus Christ, you belong to Christ. Look at verse two, speaking of
himself as God, he says, as thou hast given him power over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. That's who they are. Because
God has given Christ all power over all flesh, Christ has the
power to give eternal life to all that the Father gave him. That's who he's praying for.
Look at verse six, I have manifested thy name, to whom? Unto the men
which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they are, or thine
they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. And friends, it is lawful, it
is right for Christ to do what he will with his own. Verse 11,
the Lord reiterates and he says, and now I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world and I come to thee, Holy Father,
keep through thy own name those whom thou has given me that they
may be one as we are. Who are these that he prayed
for? Those that he's made one with him and one with the Father. One with the Father. In our text,
there's no doubt that the Lord is talking about the elect people
of God, those that He knew before the foundation of the world,
those He gave to Christ, who now Christ prays for. And in
John chapter 10, the Good Shepherd said, My sheep hear My voice,
and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. My
Father which gave them to Me is greater than all, and no man
can pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and my Father are one. It can't be plucked out of His
hand either. They're one with Him. He's one with God and we're
one with Him. What is mine is His and what
is His is mine is what the Lord is saying. And that's the reason
this prayer will be answered. That's why Christ's will is always
done. And that's why you, the sinner,
can have such assurance and confidence and hope of eternal life. In
John chapter six, verse 37, you know the verse. The Lord said,
all that my father giveth me shall come to me. All of them,
every single one. They'll come believing, they'll
come confessing, they'll come converted, they'll come willingly. They'll come to Christ. They
won't come to the front of the church nor to the preacher or
the priest. They won't come to a man-made
altar. They won't come to the baptism
pool. They won't come to a membership
row. They'll come to Christ. Nowhere else. The Lord cried,
come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll
give you rest. Are you laboring over your sin?
Come to Christ. He'll give you rest. Rest, assurance,
confidence, comfort, peace, forgiveness of sin is found in coming to
Christ. Who are these for whom Christ
prayed? Verse six. They are those to whom Christ
has manifested, those to whom Christ revealed. They are those
that God gave him out of the world. Not all in the world,
that's not what it says. He called all he called out of
the world. They are in the world, but they're
not of the world. Verse seven, they are those who
know it's been revealed to them that all things that Christ had
received came from God. Now, what things is he talking
about? Well, he tells us in verse eight, he said, for I have given
unto them the words which thou gavest me, the word of life. He breathed into us the breath
of life and they have received them. not in and of ourselves,
but because God gave us the faith to receive them and believe them.
They received them, and they have known surely that I came
out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send
me. God's people have been made to know that Jesus Christ came
from God, is sin of God, and is himself God. Look at verse
12. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I
have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition,
that the scripture might be fulfilled. And in verse 13, the Lord prays
that they, his people, have joy in this world. And why wouldn't
they? Everything's been done and accomplished
for them. In verse 14, the Lord says that
they, like him, are not of this world. In verse 15, the Lord
prays that God will not take them out of the world, but keep
them from the evil in the world. In verse 17, he prays that they
be sanctified through the truth of God, that being God's word.
In verse 18, the Lord said that he has sent them into the world. And in verse 19, we see that
the Lord for their sakes has sanctified himself so that they
might be sanctified in him. In verse 20, we see that those
for whom Christ prays are all who believe on Christ through
the preaching of his word. That's who he's praying for here.
In verse 21, that they are that are in Him and in the Father,
and they are they that believe that God sent the Lord Jesus
Christ and loved the Lord Jesus, and they're saved in Him. It
just goes on and on, friends. In verse 22, they are they that
are one in Christ and have the glory of Christ in them by His
dwelling in them. In verse 23, they are those who
are made perfect, loved of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And
these mentioned in our text are the ones for whom Christ came
to seek and to save and to give eternal life. Not everyone in
the world, but everyone that God gave to the Lord Jesus. And isn't that beautiful? Salvation's
a gift. It's a gift of God. Then the
third thing we see in our text is what the Lord prays for God
to give these that He prays for. What does He will for them? Well,
it's a twofold request. He said, Father, I will, again,
verse 24. Father, I will that they also
whom thou has given me, that's who we're talking about. And
here's the first request. Be with me where I am. Be with
me where I am. Where is he? Hebrews chapter
one says he's at the right hand of the majesty on high. He's
on the right hand of God and he prays that we be with him
there. In John chapter 14, the Lord
said, I go and prepare a place for you, and if I go prepare
a place for you, I'll come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, you may be also. Now, I wanna be where he is. Hear me on this, to be with Christ
is to be like him. You say, how so? Well, no one
can live in the presence of God who is not perfect like Christ.
God cannot look upon sin and the sinner live. You've got to
be perfect, conformed to the image of a perfect Savior in
order to be in the presence of God. You've got to be perfectly
holy. To be with Christ is to forever be with Him in perfection. Clayton and Larry and I went
to Jackson, Missouri Friday night to attend that meeting there,
and we got there early, and Clayton turned on the radio, turned a
song on the radio, and he asked me if I'd ever heard it. I listened
for a minute and the name of the song was, and some of you
may know it, I'm sure it was a very popular song, but the
name of the song is, If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away. If heaven
wasn't so far away. The course of the song went like
this. If heaven wasn't so far away, I'd pack up the kids and
go for the day. I'd introduce them to their grandpa
and watch them laugh at the way he taught. I'd find my long lost
cousin John, the one we left back in Vietnam, show him a picture
of his daughter now. She's a doctor and he'd sure
be proud. Then tell them we'd be back in a couple of days.
In the rear view mirror, we'd watch them wave. Yeah, and losing
them wouldn't be so hard to take if heaven wasn't so far away. Now the song goes on to say that
while in heaven, the one singing would find his old bird dog and
take him hunting one more time. And that's the perception that
the world has of heaven. That place that everybody and
their dog is going. But heaven's not what people
think. I don't know much about heaven, only what the Word of
God says about it. But I know this much about heaven,
and it's all I need to know. Heaven will be heaven only because
Christ is there. Christ is heaven to the child
of God. Heaven's not pearly gates, streets of gold, a heavenly resort
where you hop from one cloud to another. No, sir. Heaven is
where the redeemed sinner will forever praise and worship the
Lamb of God who took away their sin. Heaven is where we see Christ
and we'll be just like Him. For when we see Him, we'll be
just like Him, conformed to His perfect image. And then the second
part, of that request brings us to our fourth consideration,
and I'm almost done. How will these for whom Christ
prayed be identified and recognized? How can I know that I'm a child
of God? How can I be identified? Verse
24, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me
be with me where I am. Now, look at this, that they
may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest
me before the foundation of the world. Those for whom the Lord
prays are those to whom God has revealed Christ and His glory."
Do you see Christ and His glory? That's how you're identified.
Those for whom the Lord prays are those to whom God has revealed
Christ and His glory to. They're the ones who see Him
as He really is. They behold His glory, the glory of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Look at verse
three, and this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. You see,
the child of God has been made to know God in truth. They've beheld His glory. It's
been revealed to them that Christ is full of grace and truth. Christ
is not simply a far escape from hell. That's how a lot of people
preach Him. Christ is not a far escape from hell. Christ is the
deliverer from sin. That's Christ's glory. The child
of God beholds this glory in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
the fifth and the final thing for us to consider is this. Why did God grant the Lord's
request? Well, I think we've already answered
it, haven't we? Look at the last line of the verse in verse 24. Why did God grant Christ's request? For thou lovest me. before the
foundation of the world. That's why. That's why. Christ doesn't plead our works.
Aren't you glad? He doesn't plead what we've done.
He doesn't plead what we've said. He doesn't plead what we've given.
God grants our Lord's request. He does so for Christ's sake.
God does this for us because He loves His Son. No other reason. He loves us and He saves us for
Christ's sake. He receives us for Christ's sake. He blesses us for Christ's sake. He forgives us for Christ's sake. I'd do anything for my children,
and I know you would too. I'd do anything for my grandchildren.
Anything within my power, I'd do. And if I, being evil, know
how to give good gifts to my children, how much more so God? But you see, there's a limit
to what I can do. I'm like the Apostle Paul. If
I myself could be accursed, that my children and grandchildren
and friends and relatives could be saved, but I can't. I can't, but there's no limit
with our God. And that's exactly what he did.
He became a curse for us because he who hangeth on a tree is the
one who's cursed. He died the just for the unjust
that he might bring us to God. There's no limit with our God.
He's able to save to the uttermost. He's able to do exceeding abundantly
above. Not just abundantly above, but
exceeding abundantly above. Brother Mahan said that he heard
a preacher say one time that he made a reservation in heaven
40 years before. Brother Mahan said, I sure hope
he didn't make that reservation in his name. You see, that reservation
has to be made by Christ. It has to be made in His name,
and it has to be made for His sake. Be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you." God answers the wonderful, precious
request of Christ for one reason, for his sake, for his sake, for
Christ's sake. That'd be another way to wrap
my salvation up with three words, for Christ's sake. That's why He saved me. That's
why He forgave me. Oh, may God be pleased to reveal
these things to you for His glory, for your good, and for Christ's
sake. Amen.