Open your Bibles to John 17. John chapter 17. And I want to read one verse.
That is verse 24. You remember this is what some
have called the Lord's great high priestly prayer to the Father. But in verse 24 it says, 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." I call this message What
does Christ really want? And I ask that question because
there are so many who seem to think that He wants one thing,
but that there are forces or individuals that will keep Him
from getting what He really wants. And not only that, but it seems
like that so many kind of put the Godhead in confusion, disharmony,
saying that maybe the Father wants one thing, and the Son
wants one thing, and the Spirit wants another thing. But I want
you to listen to the Lord's words In John 6, he says, "...for I
came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will
of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me, that of all which He hath given me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, may have everlasting life. And I will raise Him up
at the last day." Now, it ought to become obvious to us in just
those verses that the will of the Father, and the will of the
Son, and the will of the Spirit, they are one and the same will. They are one God with one will, And never is there any variance
between them. As a matter of fact, the apostle
writing in Hebrews 10 calls it the witch will. He says, Then
said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of
me, He's quoting the Messiah, "...to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said, Sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law."
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second, by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
In other words, it is by Christ doing the will of God that we
are saved. And this is the exact same thing
we find here in verse 24. And every part of it states so
clearly, just exactly, what it is that Christ really wants. And he begins here, if you notice
his words, he begins here addressing God as Father. In other words, here is the obedient
Son. Here is the only one, the only
man that could ever say what he says in John 8. And he that sent me is with me,
the Father hath not left me alone, For I do always those things
that please Him." Only the man Christ Jesus could say that. None of us, no son or daughter
of Adam and Eve ever could say this, and yet this is exactly
what God requires. He says, I do always all things
that please Him. And when you go back through
this great high priestly prayer, this obedient Son has come to
this point and will go on to the cross because He has done
the Father's will. As a matter of fact, not only
does this chapter, but all of the gospel set forth not what
we have done, or even what we are to do, but rather the things
that Christ has done. Look back in that fourth verse
of John 17. He says, I have glorified Thee
on the earth. He has glorified the Father. We are to do all to the glory
of God, but only He could say, I have glorified Thee on the
earth. Only He could say, I have finished
the work. Look down in verse 6. He says, I have manifested Thy
name. I have manifested Thy name, that
is, the name or the renown or the glory of God Almighty, and
He stands here in the body as Jehovah Emmanuel. I have manifested, revealed Thy
name. No man hath seen God at any time. But the Son, who is in the bosom
of the Father, He hath declared Him, that means He hath told
Him out to sinners such as we are. Look down in verse 8, He
says to the Father, He says, I have given unto them the words,
the words. There were so many who were attendant
and present when He was giving out the bread, the fishes, the
loaves, the miracles, the healings, all those things. But the most
precious thing that He gave, He said, I have given them the
words. And on another occasion there
in that 6th chapter of John, When all the fishes, the loaves,
when everything was eaten and everybody had their bellies full,
and He began to speak to them the things concerning Himself,
and almost everybody walked away. And He looked at those men that
were left standing there, listening to Him, and He said, He said,
Will you also go away? And they replied, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Where else is there that we could
go? To whom shall we go? You're the one who has the words
of eternal life. I've given them the words. These are the words of eternal
life. And then if you look down in
verse 12, listen to what he says. He says, while I was with them
in the world, I kept them in Thy name. I kept them." He's
the one who alone keeps his people, secures his people, draws his
people. And then in verse 14, if you
notice this, he says, "...I have given them thy word." Now, not
just the words, but thy word. And that means that He has given
them Himself, Christ Himself being the Word that was made
flesh and dwelt among us. So that they are able to say
that not only are they given to Him, but He has given Himself
to them. That's why I like that verse
in the Song of Solomon. where the bride says of the bridegroom,
she says, I am my beloved's and he is mine. He says, I have given
them thy word. And then if you look down in
verse 22, He says, "...and the glory which thou gavest Me, I
have given them, that they may be one, even as We are one."
I've given them the glory. That is the glory that God gives
in Jesus Christ, which is the glory of His grace, the glory
of His righteousness, the glory of His salvation and His intercession,
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And the fulfillment
of God's will and God's purpose depends entirely upon what Christ
did. It depends on His accomplishments. It depends on His works. He says, I have done it. He says this to the Father as
the obedient Son, the one obedient Son who has done all these things
and who must do all these things to save poor sinners like us. And then, based on that relationship,
Father and Son, and not only based on that relationship, but
based on that obedience, that perfect obedience. He says, I
will. Father, I will. Now there are some amazing things
there. Because without a doubt, He speaks
as the fulfiller of the covenant. He speaks as this obedient Son,
He speaks as the intercessor of His people, and as the sovereign
King of glory. He says, I will. And you know,
always it seems like men in their commentaries or in their discussion,
they want to set things against each other that are set side
by side in the Scriptures. Some say, well, he's not speaking
in a command here, he's speaking as this being his desire. But the truth is, they're the
same. The desire of this obedient son
is the same as the command of this sovereign king. He says,
I will. And with that sovereign power,
with that sovereign will, with that authority, he desires and
he demands the salvation and the preservation and the glorification
of his people. It isn't going to be about man's
so-called free will. This is the will that counts. And every I want of his people,
and they every one by nature are I want to anything that pertains
to God, but every one of their I wants will be overcome and
overpowered by the I will of His grace." You say, well, what
if men and women say, I won't? They will say that. They do say
that. And they continue to say that,
and they die and perish saving that, were it not that this one
says, I will. That's the most comforting thing
to me as a preacher. That's the most comforting thing
to me as a father who's concerned about his children, his family,
all these people in this world who he knows by nature, they're
the same as he was by nature, and by nature they won't. And
if Christ said, I will, I will. There came a leper to the Lord
Jesus there in Matthew 8. And it says, "...there came a
leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean." You know what the natural fallen response is to
this whole notion of God's mighty and powerful will? The natural
response to everything that declares the sovereignty of God in grace,
in all things, the natural response is that as sinners, we imagine
that He is like us, so that when He says, I will do this or that
or the other, we interpret it as, I won't. I won't. You're saying God won't. He says,
I will. When He declares the sovereignty
of His grace, when He told it to Moses who desired to see His
glory, and He speaks of being merciful and being gracious
to whom He will, shows that He's not obligated to any, that He
does what He will, does what He pleases. You see, in our blindness,
we look at that and we fail to see the glory of it all, the
fact that He said, I will be gracious to whom I'll be gracious,
and I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. He didn't
say, I won't be gracious. He didn't say, I won't have mercy.
He said, I will. And here is the Lord Jesus Christ
in that same vein. He says, this leper comes, he
says, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Would you
like to guess what happened? And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him saying, I will be thou clean. You see, he bowed
first to the sovereign truth of if you will. He honored and
recognized him as the Lord over all. And he noted that Christ
surely had the ability to. Christ said, I will. Be thou
clean. And immediately, his leprosy
was cleansed. You see, this is the covenant
God. And He's talking, speaking in
the flesh in the same manner that He always has spoken. Listen
in Jeremiah 31, "...but this shall be the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel, After those days, saith the Lord,
I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord, for they shall all know Me, from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." And wherever
you find God's, I wills. They are immediately followed
by, and they shall. Every one of his people shall,
because he says, I will. And because he can say to the
Father, I have, he can also say, I will. And I for one will take the I
will of the Lord Jesus Christ above the so-called free will
of men at any time. Alright? What does he will? I think it'd be safe to say,
don't you, that whatever it is He wills, that's what He really
wants. He says, Father, I will that
they also whom Thou hast given Me. Now, He's not talking about
every member of Adam's race. He's talking about a particular
people. And if people would stop and
think for just a minute, if God loved everybody, and Christ died
for everybody, and the Spirit of God tried to save everybody,
and as we know by Scripture, most will perish, how would that
glorify God? What would that make the will
of God? No, His will is eternally and
lovingly toward a chosen people. Somebody says, well, God wouldn't
do that. But the truth of the matter is,
if we didn't know it by any other verse at all or any other chapter
at all than this one, we'd have to know this is the truth. His love and His will as a will
of salvation and grace is to a particular people. Look back in verse 2. 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." Christ is said to have received
glory from the Father. in order for Him to give eternal
life to everyone, to as many as thou hast given Him. I praise the day that in my own
heart He brought me to stop fighting against that indelible truth
and start crying out, Lord, I pray that you put me in that number
as one of those given to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in verse
6. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word."
They are a people that were given to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look down in verse 9. I pray
for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all
mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them."
Do you suppose that Christ would die for a group of people that
at some time later or before, He wouldn't intercede for? He
says, they're given to me. They're given to Christ, and
they are given to Christ, they are this people which are His
body. That's how they're described.
He's the head, they're the body. They're given to Christ, Him
being the bridegroom, they're given to Christ as His bride,
as His people. Look down in verse 11. And now
I'm no more in the world, but these are in the world. And I
come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those
whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. So he identifies this particular
people, and in that same 6th chapter of John, he identifies
them again by this same characteristic. They're given to him by the Father. And he says, all, not most of
them, not some of them, But all that the Father giveth me shall
come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out. Why? For I came down from heaven
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. I will. Father, I will. that those that thou hast given
me, they're described in the Revelation as not only being
a people from among men, and a people from out of the world,
a number of people, a numberless people as far as men and women
are concerned, But not as far as God is concerned. And they're
said to be a people from Jew and Gentile. We've got a great
conflict again about to erupt in the Middle East. And it's
supposedly a conflict between the Jews and all these Gentiles
living around them. But it won't stop the salvation
of that people. whether they're Jew or Gentile. As a matter of fact, they're
described as a people who are redeemed by the Lamb of God,
redeemed by His blood from among men out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue. Christ said, No man can come
to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him, and I
will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that
hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto Me." Everyone,
because they're given to Christ. Because He's done all these things
for them. Because the Spirit will draw
them and bring them. They're every one, this people
given to Him in that covenant of grace before the world began,
they're every one going to come to Him. And He's not going to
cast out not one single one. And then He says this, I will that they also, whom thou
hast given me, be with me where I am." In truth, the elect of
God have been with Christ, have been in Christ since before the
world began. They were with Him in what some
of those old grace preachers used to call the grace union. That is, they were looked at,
viewed as, given to, looked by justice from God at, in Christ
Jesus. They were chosen in Him, Paul
said, before the world began. And then when He came into this
world, in everything that He did, they were in Him, they were
in Him in His life, and in Him and with Him in His cross, in
Him and with Him in His resurrection, and in Him and with Him in His
ascension. Seated with Him, right now. Be with Him in His Word. Be with
him in the worship of his people. Be with him. I will that those
you give me be with me where I am. Well, you could say in
one sense, Christ is in the gospel. And his people will be brought
to be with him in that gospel. He's in the true worship that
takes place on this earth, where His gospel is preached, and where
His people worship Him in spirit and truth. He says, I will that
they be with Me where I am. And they'll be with Him in all
their trials. And I know how we get sometimes.
And I say we. We get to thinking, well, the
Lord must have abandoned us. He must have left us. He's left
me out here high and dry with all these problems and troubles
and sorrows and griefs and things like that. Christ said, I'll
never leave you or forsake you. And He'll be with them in all
their trials and all their troubles and all their persecutions. They'll be with Him and they'll
be on His side in every controversy. You remember when I believe it
was Gideon, saw that man of war out in the conflict. And one
thing that Gideon wanted to know immediately was, whose side are
you on? And Christ, who I believe it
was, the pre-incarnate Christ said on that occasion to him,
I'm here as the captain of the Lord's host. Captain of the Lord's
host. And he wills that they be with
him in all of time, and through every troubles, and that they
be with him in all eternity." Because that's really what heaven
is anyway. You remember that thief? He simply
said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. There's
no doubt. The king has a kingdom. And the Lord looked to him on
that cross and He said, Today, you will be with Me in Paradise. He didn't describe it. Would
you be describing, if you had solid gold, would you be describing
pot metal? He said, Today, you'll be with
Me in Paradise. I go to prepare a place for you,
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be
also." Is that true? Absolutely true, because He wills
it. I will that these that you've
given to me be with me where I am. And note, that they may
behold my glory." You see, Christ has an essential glory as God. But here it is said to be a glory
which was given him by the Father. He was given this glory even
before He came into this world. He was given this glory, which
is His glory as the Mediator and Redeemer and Savior of His
people. And He brings us to behold just
little glimpses of His glory when He opens our eyes to the
truth. Just little glimpses. Sometimes
we get the feeling like, you know, we get a head full of knowledge
and a head full of how we've got all these things figured
out. We think we've seen some things. We've seen nothing by
comparison. He says that they might behold
my glory. When He came, there were some
beholding. It says, "...and the Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth." God has many sons by grace. He has only one eternal
Son. And when He came here on this
earth, and took upon Himself perfect humanity and walked among
us, we beheld His glory as the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. But how do we, who are so blind
spiritually, blinded by the God of this world, how do we even
begin to behold His glory? Listen to what Paul says. But
if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves, your servants, for
Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God." You say, I'd
sure be glad I could see that shekinah glory that shined in
the holy of holies of the tabernacle. Well, I'd be glad I could see
the glory that shone around Christ when He's transfigured there
on the Mount of Transfiguration. But I can tell you this, that
is nothing. Peter says this, that is nothing
compared to the glory that is revealed, the glory of God in
the face or person of Jesus Christ when He's revealed to a sinner's
heart in the gospel. As a matter of fact, here's the
way Peter described it. He said, I was there. I was there on that mount. I
saw the Lord transfigured. But he said, we have a more sure
word of prophecy that we would do well to take heed of, to listen,
and to study, and to hear this gospel. He said, until the sun,
that bright sun, the sun of righteousness, arise in your heart with healing
in its wings. What are the wings of the sun? The beams of the sun. The light
of the sun. And that's where all our healing
is at. That's where the healing of our
souls is. Our sin-sick souls. And it comes to light to us in
that more sure word of prophecy when God reveals the Son of Righteousness. That's Christ Jesus and Him crucified. You see, I said, this can never
happen apart from the revealing work of the Holy Spirit, but
it is His will to reveal it to this people, because the will
of the Son and the will of the Spirit, they're the same, that
they may behold My glory. That means a little more than
just see it. It means to see it, and to have
delight in what you see." And one day the Apostle said, we'll
see Him as He is. Paul writing to the Corinthians,
he said, "...but as it is written, I hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God." Father, I will. That those that You have given
me, that they be with me where I am, and that they would behold
my glory which Thou hast given me, He says, for thou lovest
me before the foundation of the world." The Father loved the
Son, not just in this divine essence, but in this role and
in this character of the Redeemer. as the Son who'd come in human
flesh and accomplish this great work of salvation." He said,
Father, you loved me before the foundation of the world. But look back up in verse 23. He says, "...I in them, and thou
in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the
world may know that thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them
as thou hast loved Me." Now you put that together. Father, you
have loved them as you have loved me, and you loved me before the
foundation of the world." Men think in our day it's a great
thing to say to people, God loves you. But the gospel is much more
than that. The gospel is, God loved you. As a matter of fact, Most of
the references of God's love to His people in the New Testament,
they're in the past tense. Oh, He never changes, so they're
in the present too. But they're all spoken of in
the past tense to give Him glory. He loved us when we did not even
physically exist. He loved us when we fell in our
father Adam. He loved us when we came forth
from our mother's womb speaking lies. He loved us in all those
days of rebellion because He loved us in Christ Jesus. And He loved Him before the foundation
of the world. How can the Father love these
people as He does His Son? He said, Doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again? Who does he lay down his life
for? That was the shepherd talking about the sheep. I lay down my
life for the sheep, for these that the Father gave me, loved
in me before the world began. Now I ask you, Will Christ get
what He really wants? Absolutely. And that makes my
next question this. Is what Christ wants what you
want, what I want? It may not be popular. It may
exclude some people that I love dearly. But I want what Christ
really wants. He's not trying to do anything.
He's not waiting to see if what he wants will come to pass. He
said, Father, I will that these that you've given me, that they
be with me where I am, that they behold my glory because you've
loved them as you love me. They'll all come to Christ because
the shepherd said, I'll bring every one of them. Are you coming
to Christ? You see, that's what the life
of a believer is. It's to whom coming. We're always coming to Him. We
have no other hope. We have no other salvation. We
have no other righteousness. We have no other blessing. We're
always coming back to the fountain. It's like drinking and eating.
I drank water yesterday. I had to have some more today. I ate food yesterday. I have to have some more today.
Why? Because that's my natural life. And Christ is the life
of His people. If you can do without Him, if
you can do without His gospel, if you can do without worshipping
Him, then you've not come to Him. But I can tell you, this
obedient Son who has done all things that please the Father,
and it pleased the Father to bruise Him, And it pleased the
Father through the preaching of the cross to save them that
believe. He's going to get all He wants. And that'll be His glory. That'll
be His glory. Father, this day we thank You
for the matchless, wonderful, marvelous Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. and for His total success for
the accomplishment of that one will of the Godhead, which is
to save all your people in such a way as to get all the glory
and praise and honor for yourself, because you're the only one that's
worthy of it. Lord, bow our wills and truly
from our hearts enable us to pray. Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven." Thank you for free salvation. Thank you
for a Savior who saves us. Thank you for that work accomplished
for sinners, that He came into this world to save sinners. Lord, we pray that You would
call Your people unto Yourself, that there might be a host of
saved sinners, whose praise is to You alone. Help us, we pray,
for we ask it in His blessed name. Amen.