John chapter 17. I was somewhat hesitant for different
reasons about looking at this passage this morning. One, because
I think to me it's the most awesome passage in God's Word. Brother Glenn made mention this
morning that I have looked at this before, but I almost despair
even in reading of this chapter. So the first reason this morning
I'm very hesitant about looking at this is for that reason. Then
of course, Brother Glenn has been going through this chapter
now for several weeks. It's the most difficult chapter
that I've ever dealt with because of verse 1. If you want to know why, it's
difficult to read. If you want to know why this
is holy ground, then you only have to begin reading in verse
1. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, this is, as Glenn aptly said,
our high priest. He is praying to His Father in
heaven. Never in the history of humanity
has a man lifted up his eyes to heaven in such a holy, obedient
manner as this man did. That Psalm that says, I will
lift up my eyes unto the hills could very well be written of
the Son of God. And can you imagine heaven at
this time? When the Son of God, the second
Adam in our humanity, lifted up His eyes and looked towards
heaven. Can you imagine the thoughts
of heaven? Can you imagine how He had smiled? How He had opened
up? God had made the first Adam to
worship God, to obey Him, to love Him. He fell into sin. Here's the second Adam. And he
never sinned. He obeyed perfectly. He did always
those things that was pleasing to the Father. And here he is
and he acknowledges himself. I have finished the work which
you gave me to do. I've done it faithfully. I've
done it joyfully. I've done it obediently. And
He lifts up His holy eyes into heaven. And He begins now to
speak to His Father. How amazing. How awesome this
is. And this is the prayer that the
Holy Spirit has written down for us. He's let us listen in
to the most glorious prayer that any man ever prayed. to the Father
in heaven. This is the prayer that I'm getting
ready to read. He lifted up His eyes to heaven
and He said, My Father, Father, the hour is come. Glorify Thy
Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. as you have given Him power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given Him. And this is eternal life, that
they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which
you gave Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify me
with your own self, with the glory which I had with you before
the world was. I have manifested your name unto
the men which you gave me out of the world. Thine they were,
and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now
they have known all things whatsoever you have given me are of you.
For I have given unto them the words which you gave to Me, and
they have received them, and have known surely that I came
out from you. And they have believed that thou
didst send Me. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but I pray for them which you have given Me. For
they are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine.
and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in this
world, but these are in the world. And I come to Thee, Holy Father."
Only time he ever made that statement. Often he said, Father. This is
the only time he ever said, Holy Father. Keep through Thine own
name those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one as we
are. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in Thy name. And those that You have given
Me, I have kept. And none of them is lost but
the Son of perdition, the Son of destruction, Judas, that the
Scriptures might be fulfilled. And now come I to Thee, and these
things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled
in themselves. I have given them Thy Word, and
the world hath hated them, because they are not of this world. Even
as I am not of this world, I pray not that you would take them
out of the world, but you should keep them from the evil. They
are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify
them through thy truth. Your word is truth. As thou hast
sent me into the world, even so I also send them into the
world. And for their sakes I sanctify
myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word, that they all may be one. As
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may
be one in us, that the world may believe that you have sent
me. And the glory which you gave
me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Father,
I will that they also whom you have given to me be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me. For you loved me from the foundation
of the world, O righteous Father. The world has not known you,
but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent
me. And I have declared unto them
thy name, and will declare it, that the love, the same love,
wherewith you have loved me, may be in them, and I in them."
We call this, and Brother Glenn said this this morning, it's
been often called the high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the prayer of a mediator
for His people. He is between us and the Father,
and here He prays for His people. Now there's two things if you're
going to be a high priest. If you're going to be a mediator.
There are two things that that involves. One, you had to offer
a sacrifice. If you were a priest, and the
priests were mediators between God and the children of Israel,
and they had to offer a perfect sacrifice, a lamb without blemish,
or a goat, or a bird, some sacrifice that was without blemish, the
Lord Jesus Christ To be a mediator, he must offer to God. If you
stand between God and sinners, you better have a sacrifice.
If you approach unto the Father's presence, you better have an
atonement for sin. Because God is holy and you and
I are sinful. Are we not? So for Jesus Christ
to be a mediator, He must be a high priest. A high priest. Paul says this about our mediator
in 1 Timothy 2 and 5 and 6. Listen how he puts these two
things together. He says there is one God and
one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, listen
to the very next word he says, who gave himself a ransom. See what you have to be if you
are a mediator between God and man? You have to have a ransom.
You have to have an atonement for sin. Jesus Christ offered
Himself without spot to God. And that put away sin. John said, if any man sin, we
have an advocate with the Father. You know what an advocate is?
He's one who intercedes for one who has sinned. for one who has
fallen. He pleads for somebody who is
under condemnation. And what does He plead? He is
the perpetuation for our sins. He pleads Himself. So Jesus Christ
as a mediator, He's a high priest. And you can't be a mediator if
you're not a high priest. Because the high priest had to
sacrifice. The high priest brought the sacrifice
into the holy place to atone for sins. Jesus Christ is the
only mediator because He is the only high priest. That is the
first thing, when you and I thank you, and Brother Glenn mentioned
it here in verse 19, for their sakes I sanctify myself that
they also might be sanctified. He set Himself apart to go to
the cross and to bear our load. and to put away our sins, and
to satisfy justice. You have to do that if you're
going to stand between God and man. Now, I can stand between
you and God, and I can pray for you, and plead with God for you,
and you can do the same for me. But if God looks upon you and
says, Wait, Bruce, clerk's poor has sinned. What are you going
to offer for his sin? I say, oh, I don't know. Nothing,
because I don't have anything, you see. Well, he said, I ain't
going to accept what you want for Him. I'm not going to accept
your intercessions on His behalf. I've got to be satisfied. Where's
blood to wash His sins away? But I tell you, when Jesus Christ
stands as mediator between the man and God, and God says, I
want to be satisfied, here Christ says, here I am. Behold My hands. Behold, my son." And the Father
says, I'm satisfied. But the second thing, if the
Lord Jesus Christ is going to be a mediator, He must plead. He must plead with the Father
on behalf of those whom He represents. And that's why we get the words
here in verse 1, He lifts up His eyes to heaven and He said,
Father, Father, here He's not offering a sacrifice, but what's
He doing? He's pleading. He's making requests
for those whom the Father has given to Him. Here He becomes
an intercessor. Peter, Satan has desired to have
you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you. I
have prayed for you. That's what He's doing here.
I have prayed for you. I will pray the Father, and He
will send you another Comforter." You remember when the Lord Jesus
stood at Lazarus' tomb? He said, take me there where
He lays. They said, He's been dead all day. He's been dead
for three days. Fourth day that He's dead, He
stinks. Please don't take away that stone. He's stinking. And
the Lord Jesus once again lifted His eyes towards heaven. And
you remember what He said? This is very telling. Here's
what he said. You want to know if he's an effectual
mediator? You want to know if he can save
you and present you to God? You want to know if he can procure
God's favor for you? Well, listen to what he said.
He lifted his eyes to heaven and he said, Father, I know that
you hear me. And he said more than that. I
know that you hear me always, but because of those who stand
by, I say this, that they might believe." You see, he wants us
to know that he's an effectual mediator. If he makes a request
to God on anyone's behalf, the Father hears it. If he has a
desire of his heart for anything, the Father grants it. You say,
Bruce, are you sure about that? I'm absolutely certain about
that. Look here in Psalms chapter 21 right quickly. Old John 17
and look in Psalms chapter 21. The Lord Jesus has never had
a request that the Father denied Him. He's
never had a desire that wasn't granted. That's how much the
Father loves him. Look what he says in Psalms chapter
21, and look here in verse 2. Here speaking of the king. And
he said in verse 5, look what he said in verse 5. Verse 4.
He asked life of thee. And thou gavest it him, even
length of days, for ever and ever. His glory is great. Psalms chapter 21. This is speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the Father did for
Him. His glory is great in thy salvation. Honor and majesty
hast thou laid upon Him. Who is that? God has laid honor
and majesty upon His Son, Jesus Christ. For thou hast made them
most blessed forever." That's Christ, ain't it? Well, look
here what's said of it in verse 2. Thou hast given him his heart's
desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Father, you hear me always. Always. That's Christ. That's a mediator. Who needs
another one? Who needs another one? Who needs
a cold mediator? Nobody. One is sufficient. God knows He's sufficient. Christ
knows He's sufficient. You and I know He's sufficient.
And we don't need another. We don't need another. Now look
back over at our text. He says here in verse 1, We have
proof here. We have proof here. We can look
in retrospect and immediately we have proof. If we need it
anymore, we have proof that the Father hears him because He lifts
up His eyes to heaven and says, Father, glorify Thy Son that
Thy Son also may glorify Thee. You know what? Looking back now,
we see that request was answered, don't we? Father, glorify Your
Son. What does Peter tell us? Peter
says that the Father raised Him from the dead and bestowed upon
Him honor and glory. And He said He received Him up
into heaven and set Him at His own right hand, far above all
principalities, all might, all power, and every name that's
named. Father, glorify Your Son. And
He did, didn't He? He did it. He glorified Him. Why? Because the Father gives
to him his heart's desire. And the Father grants to him
the request of his lips. Oh, brothers and sisters, my
dear lost friends, what an encouragement to come to God by Christ. What an encouragement to pray
the same prayer that David prayed, Lord Jesus, plead my cause. Plead my cause with the Father.
Bring me off from this condemnation. Save me from my lost estate. Can He do that? Will God forgive
you of all your sins? For Christ's sake, He will. Will
God save you? For Christ's sake, He will. For
Christ's sake. I tell you, for Christ's sake,
God will do anything. He'll do anything that's consistent with
His will, and Christ never asks anything that's not consistent
with His will. Now, I want to show you five
things, quickly. Five places here in this chapter. Five specific requests the Lord
Jesus made for His people. There's five of them, if I've
not missed any. The best of my understanding,
here's five specific requests the Lord Jesus prayed for His
people. First one we find here in verse
11. Look at it. And now I am no more
in the world. I'm going out of the world. But
these are in the world, and I come to Thee, Holy Father, keep Keep
your eye upon them. Watch over them. Don't lose them. Keep through thine own name,
who? Those whom thou hast given me,
that they may be one as we are. Now here's my own personal opinion
of this request. The Lord Jesus had just said
in verse 2, Father, You've given me power over all flesh, that
I should give eternal life to those whom You've given me. And
then he goes over here in verse 20, and he says, I pray for not
these alone, but for those which shall believe on me through their
word. So he says this, I'm going to
give eternal life to all of those that you've given Me. And all
of those that you've given Me, they're not even born yet. But
they're going to believe on Me too. Because you've given them
to Me too. I'll give eternal life to them.
They shall believe on Me. Now here, He sees the necessity
of all of these people being kept until He gives them life. until they come to believe. So
he makes this request to his father. He says, Father, in a
word, You've given me power to save my people. Many of them,
most of them, aren't even born yet. And they're going to live
in this world of sin and danger, and the devil is going to hate
them, and he's going to try to destroy them if he can. Father,
keep them. until I give them life. Father,
keep them until I bring them to faith in Myself. Keep them
until I send the gospel to them and save them by it." That's
my opinion of what he's teaching because he goes ahead in some
other verses and makes requests concerning keeping them from
evil. Now he's concerned with this. In their lost state, in
their unregenerative state. They're lost sheep. They're in
danger up in the mountains of falling over a cliff and crushing
themselves to death. Oh, Father, keep Your eye upon
them. Guard them. Don't let them go
out of this world lost without Me. Now, do you think, brothers
and sisters, they were going to? Because they were ordained
to life. But Jesus Christ prays to that
end. Why does He do that? Because
He's ordained means to bring about the end that He's decided.
He prays Himself. If I knew who the elect of God
was, I'd still pray, Lord, save them. Wouldn't you? If He revealed
to me that somebody here this morning was lost, but they were
one of His, You think I wouldn't preach to Him because of that?
You think I wouldn't pray to Him? I'd preach to Him the more!
I'd pray for Him the hardest! And here the Lord Jesus says,
Father, You've given Me a host of men out of humanity. And they're
going to be barred in sin, they're going to live in sin, and they're
going to perish in sin if You don't keep them until I save
them. John Bunyan told the story when
he was lost. He was in the British Army, and
it was his turn to go out. They were in a battle, and it
was his turn to go out and keep watch. And he was such an arrogant,
blasphemous man. And he was ready to go out, and
one fellow stood up and said, Bunyan, I'm taking your place
tonight. He went out there on the post and was shot through
the head and killed. And the Lord later saved Mr.
Bunyan. How many of you, I just wonder,
here this morning, I can answer for myself, but how many of you
have been close to death? How many of you have been close
to death? And the only thing that stayed
the hand of death was this prayer. Father, keep them. How many times
have you been in a situation where you would have been taken
out of this world, brothers and sisters, but you were kept? You
were kept. And though you didn't know it,
this prayer had already been prayed for you and it was being
answered. Justice come up before the Father
and set down that man. He's a lawbreaker. He's guilty.
The wrath of God pleaded, let me fall upon Him. And the devil
stood there to accuse Him. But the Father said, no, no. Why? I'm giving Him the desires
of His heart. My Son has prayed for Him to
preserve Him until He gives Him life. And preserve Him I shall. Preserve Him I shall. You remember
that Gadarene that was full of devils? dwelling up in the mountain
regions there of Gadara, overlooking the ocean, the Sea of Galilee. And he was crazy. He was in the
tombs and in the mountains day and night. He was full of devils.
And can you imagine sometime him going and standing on the
edge of one of those cliffs? And the devil says, End it all,
you miserable wretch! You can't live like this! End
it! Jump and end it! And oh, just as He was ready
to plunge Himself into eternal ruin, there was an unseen hand
to stop Him. And who was it? It was the Father. It was the Father. And you just
read through the Scriptures. You read and look at that thief.
Look at that thief. What an example of this! Hear
the Lord Jesus in the 17th chapter. He says, Father, keep them until
I give them life. You go on to the 19th chapter,
and here He hangs by one of them. And He's dead in sins, and He
has one foot in the grave. And He's ready to perish forever.
And why hasn't He? There He hangs. And He says,
I'm condemned and justly so, and you and I are ready to perish.
And the Lord Jesus says in effect, Father, you've kept Him. You've
kept Him. And now here I'm ready to give
Him life. You've kept Him. Oh, brothers
and sisters, what a request. What a request. You may have
somebody upon your heart, some dear loved one this morning,
some dear family member, some child or some mom or dad, some
brother or sister, some neighbor, and you're concerned about and
you've been praying for them for years, don't give up. Don't give up. And don't wear
yourself so sick about it. If they're His, He'll preserve
them. I mean, they may sink low in
immorality. You don't know what sin they
may be involved in. You don't know how full of devils
they may be. But I tell you, if they're His, they've been
prayed for by the Savior, and the Father will preserve them. His eye is upon the sparrow,
and He watches over those whom He's given to His Son. Verse
15. Here's the second prayer right
quickly. Verse 15. Brother Larry, turn my fan off,
would you? Verse 15, look at this. I pray
for them. I pray not that you should take
them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the
evil. Keep them from the evil. Now,
don't dream that the Lord Jesus is saying, Father, I pray that
you'll keep them from every sin. I pray they'll never sin again.
If he's praying that, then that prayer's not answered, is it?
But that's not what he's saying. The Father set Jesus Christ as
a mediator and as an advocate between us and Him because He
knows sometimes His children sin. And who is it that needs
an advocate? Those who have sinned. That's
the only time you need an advocate. If you haven't sinned, dear child
of God, you don't need an advocate. You always need a mediator. But
you don't always need an advocate. If any man sinned, we have an
advocate. So the Lord Jesus is not praying
here, Father, keep them from every sin. Don't let them ever
sin against you again. But what He's praying is this,
keep them from sin's dominion. Keep them from the course, the
sinful course of this world. Keep them from the wicked one,
Glenn. You mentioned that this morning.
Brothers and sisters, what would happen to all the children of
God if sin had dominion over them? What would happen to them? They'd perish, wouldn't they?
They'd perish. What would happen to them if
the devil deceived them and led them back into sin? Well, what
happened to them? They perished. Sin is an awful
evil, ain't it? Oh, it's an awful thing. He'll
destroy the soul. Sin, where it reigns, will destroy
the soul. Now, take that to your heart,
dear soul. Sin, where it reigns, will destroy the soul. So the
Lord Jesus is saying here, Father, don't let evil reign over them. Keep them from that. Look how
long some of you have been on the road. You're just like me
too. Most of you thought before the
Lord saved you, I can't live a Christian life. And you couldn't
until He saved you. And ain't it a miracle of grace
that some of you have been on the road now 10, 15, 20, 30 years.
I've been on the way 33 years. Ain't that amazing? Overcoming this old flash. Overcoming
the world. Overcoming the gates of hell.
How in the world have we made it this far? That's a miracle
in itself. You look at lost people. They
just fall into sin. They live in sin. And it breaks
our heart. But I can understand that. I
tell you what I can hardly grasp is a man coming out of his sin.
I can understand how the devil deceives a man. I can understand
how a man knows the devil and has some wisdom how to deal with
him and overcome him. That's what's amazing to me.
How long have you been on the way? Quite a while, ain't you? I remember when the Lord brought
you out of sin. Evil ain't overcome you since. Oh, you fell into
sin just like the rest of us. But it ain't overcoming. He just
gets up and goes on like the rest of us. Why, brothers and
sisters? What do you attribute it to this
morning? You being brought out of your
sin, you follow the Lord, you love Him, you love His people,
you hear to hear His Gospel. What do you attribute that to?
You've got a high priest, don't you? You've got a mediator. And
he's already prayed for you long, long ago, Father. Don't let evil
have dominion over you. Keep him from sin's dominion. Oh, ain't that encouraging? Next
time temptations come, and you fall, and there you lay flat
of your face and you're broken-hearted about it all, just remember this.
You're going to get up. Just look again. Just like Jonah. Here I am in the bottom of the
sea in this wellsberry, but I'll look again. Just look again. The Master has already prayed
to that end. And you just get up and you go on. You don't despair
because the Master has prayed. Father, keep them from the evil. The third prayer is found in
verse 17. Brother Glenn made mention of
this this morning. Let me just mainly echo what he's already
said. Look what the Lord Jesus prays for His people. Sanctify
them Through thy truth, thy Word is truth. Brother Glenn, I think,
mentioned these two things. The Scripture says different
things about sanctification. And don't be scared of that word.
Don't be scared of that. It just means you're set apart. Every time you read it, just
read it, you're set apart. And there's two ways that I'm
concerned with this morning that we're set apart. One, we're set
apart in Christ. You mentioned that, didn't you?
Set apart in Christ. He is our sanctification. And
in Him, we are perfectly set apart to God. In Him, we are
holy. In Him, we are accepted. In Him,
we are without sin. Perfect before the Father. Look
here in chapter 10 of Hebrews. Look here in chapter 10. I'll
read you this because Brother Glenn made mention of it this
morning. Look here in chapter 10 of Hebrews. This is so important
to remember. In Jesus Christ and through the
offering of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are perfectly accepted of
God. We are set apart, perfectly set
apart for God. And this is the way we are. Here
is the Lord Jesus speaking in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
9. Look at this. This is the Lord Jesus and He
says to the Father, Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God. He takes
away the first. He takes away that ceremonial
law that He may establish the second, the covenant of grace,
by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ Once for all. And look what he says in verse
14. By one offering, He hath perfected forever. You can't
add anything to that, can you? Perfected. Perfectly set apart
in Him. There's another way sanctification
is used, and let me show that to you, over in 1 Thessalonians.
And look in chapter 4, in verse 1. If you want to see some of the
grace of your grace brother, twist their face up right a minute,
mention these two words, progressive sanctification. Just mention
that, progressive sanctification. And one of the first things they're
going to say to you is, I believe we're accepted in Christ. I believe
we're sanctified in Christ. Then you have to go back there
and read Hebrews chapter 10 that I just read to you. Surely we're
accepted in Christ. Surely we're set apart, holy,
sanctified in Christ. But there's another way this
word is used, too. And Brother Glenn looked at it
this morning. Look here the way it's used.
Look in chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians. Look in verse 1. Furthermore,
then, we beseech you, brethren, we exhort you by the Lord Jesus,
that as ye have received of us how you ought to walk, and to
please God, so you would abound." What? More and more. Of course, it says in verse 2,
For ye know what commandment we gave you by the Lord Jesus,
for this is the will of God, even your sanctification, your
separation, that ye should abstain from fornication. that every
one of you should know how to possess his vessel, his body,
in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence,
even as the Gentiles which know not God, that no man go beyond
and defraud his brother in any matter, because the Lord is the
avenger of all such, as we have forewarned you and testified.
For God has not called us to uncleanness, He has called us
to holiness. Verse 9, "...as touching brotherly
love. You need not that I write it
to you, for yourselves are taught of God to love one another, and
indeed you do it towards all the brethren which are in all
Macedonia. But we beseech you, brethren,
that you increase..." That's sanctification, isn't it? That's
just it. Brother Glenn said it so aptly
this morning in the Sunday school class. When we're born into this
world, what are we? We're newborn babes. And we start
sucking the milk of this Word. Just like these little babies
here this morning. When our babies was born, they didn't scoot them
up to the table and say, give her a big steak. Did you? Milk. Milk. And as they drink
the milk, they grow. Then what happens? We're not
little babies anymore. We're young men. Ain't that what
you said, Glenn? We're young men. Then we start
eating young men's food. And then we grow into what? Adults. Fathers. That's what the Lord
Jesus is talking about. Father, sanctify them through
Thy truth. Thy Word is truth. It doesn't
mean you're getting better in yourself. If somebody thinks
that's what the Lord was meaning, the saints are just getting better
and better, and they've got a more higher opinion of themselves,
and they say, boy, I'm not as bad as I used to be. You know
the thing about sanctification, you become worse in your own
eyes. If you think you're getting better,
that's not sanctification. Being sanctified means we grow
in grace and knowledge. And as we grow up, boy, we grow
down. I've heard of you by the hearing
of the ear, but now my eyes see you and I repent in dust. Oh,
wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? That's a sanctified man act.
But it means your faith abounds, your love abounds, these graces
in your heart, you grow. Don't you trust the Lord more
now than you did the day He saved you? Can't you face more trials
now than you did a week after the Lord saved you? Well, sure
you do. You know more of Him now. You trust Him more now.
You're more patient. You're more kind. You're more
tender. That's what He's talking about. Sanctify them. Set them apart from this world.
And do it through Your Word, and do it more, and do it more,
and do it more. It's a progressive work, brothers
and sisters, and it's going to be carried on as long as you're
in this world. And it never reaches perfection
in this world. But I beg of you. Be always present. Be always present to be more
separated for His glory. And ask Him for grace to do it.
Because it ain't something we do in ourselves. It's God that
worketh in you to will and to do. And it must be important.
It must be important because you're the Lord Jesus ready to
go to the cross. And He prays to that end. He
prays to that end. There are things in our lives
that we need to lay aside. We need to grow. There are things
we need to take on. We need to grow. Back over to our text. Fourthly,
and quickly, is this one in verse 20. Two more, and I'll do this
one right quickly. Look in verse 20, John 17. Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe
on me. Now, I tell you, here's the confidence
that he has in his intercession. He doesn't pray in doubt, does
he? He doesn't say, Father, I am
going to the cross, and I'm doing something just in general for
everybody. I'm just dying for everybody without any exception,
and I'm going to come back up there where you are, and I'm
just hoping and praying that somebody will, of their own free
will, take hold of this and believe it. Or I hope that you'll call
some of these preachers that's real smart, and they got a slick
tongue, and they can talk them into believing. That ain't what
he said at all. He has so much confidence. in
the Father's purpose. He has so much assurance in His
atoning sacrifice. He has so much assurance in the
ability of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Word. He says
they shall believe. What are they going to believe?
Their words. Their gospel. And He says, I
pray for them. Most of them are going to be
these old dead dog Gentiles. But I pray for them. For what,
Lord? That they may be one. that they
may be one. And you and I have been studying
in Ephesians chapter 2, you who sometimes were for all are made
nigh by the blood of Christ. He is our peace who hath made
the one. One. There is one church over
all the earth, just one church. I don't care if you're male or
female. I don't care if you're black or white. I don't care
if you're American or Russian. I don't care who you are. If
you're in Christ, you won. You won. And He prayed to that
end, didn't He? And the Father heard Him. Lastly, fearfully,
look in verse 24. Now what do we have in this prayer? Well, we have our past. Father,
keep Your eye on them. Preserve them. Don't let them
go out of this world without first coming to Me. Keep them. And then we have the present.
Keep them from evil. Father, sanctify them. Father,
make them one. That's the present. And now He's
going to deal with the future. Boy, that's the thing about salvation.
I'm in every aspect of your life. He's got it covered. If you look
back, and there you were lost. Oh, my soul, you look back on
it now. Don't you look back on your lost life now, and it scares
you. Oh, it scares you. The times
you could have gone out of this world, but He provided it. He
kept it. And then He brought you to Himself.
You believe on Him. You just believe on Him. You
believe His Gospel. You rest yourself upon Him. And
now He comes to the future. And look what He says for the
future in verse 24. Father, I will. This is my desire, that they
also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they
may behold my glory." Oh, He's got you covered. As we say sometimes,
He's got your back. He's got your back. He's got
your face. He's got your side. He's got
you covered all around. The Lord says three wonderful
things here. It's amazing. When I read this
and I thought, how in the world? What am I going to say about
this? He has these three requests in this one little verse. First
of all, look at it. I will that they be with me. Ain't that wonderful? How could I possibly stop and
explain that? What can I say about this? Be
with me. Be with me. I tell you, I love
my wife. I love you guys. You've got relatives
that you love. I love this world. I don't love
the course of it. I'm not interested in dying. And you're not either. But boy, when you think of this,
be with Him. Be with Him. He's worth more
than anybody here. Wouldn't you rather be with Him
as anybody here? Paul said, brethren, he said,
I'm going to fix. He said, I'm going to straight.
He said, I've got a desire to depart and be with Christ. Which is far better. Far better. Oh, he said, Timothy, I love
you dearly. I love your company. Oh, if you was here, I'd hug
your neck, he said. But I'm ready to depart. Ain't
that what he said? The time of my departure is at
hand. He said, I'm looking forward
to it. Far, far better. Why? I'm going to be with Him.
I'm going to be with Him. To be with the Lord Jesus Christ. The wise man said, a good name
is better to be desired than precious ointment. And the day
of death is better than the day of one's birth. How could that
be? Be a believer. Die a believer. And I tell you, the day of your
death will be much better than the day of your birth. It will.
Why? Because you're going to be with
Christ. To be with Christ. Second thing he made in this
request, and look at this, that they may be with me where I am. Sometimes, people may not say
it, but they'll imply it. that we shouldn't talk too much
about heaven. And we shouldn't express a hope of going there. You know, they think that's some
kind of presumption. If you say, oh, I want to go to heaven. Ah,
you shouldn't talk like that. That's presumption. Well, here
the Lord Jesus Christ prayed to that end. And if He prayed
to that end, shouldn't you and I think about heaven? Shouldn't
we talk about it? Shouldn't we desire it? Where
is Christ? Peter says he's gone up into
heaven. Father, I pray that they'll be with me in heaven. If you're
here this morning and you think, Lord, heaven, think of the alternative. Ain't but two places, you know.
There's where Christ is. And there's that other place.
I want to go to heaven, don't you? I want to go to heaven. It's because He's there. He's
what makes heaven heaven. That they might be with me. And
lastly, look at this. That they may behold my glory. Now consider this. What is His
glory? This is why I keep preaching
on this chapter. When I get on it, I just want
to sit down and say, one of you fellows, come up here and you
try. Is that what you feel like sometimes? You come up and try
it. I've failed miserably. And here,
how in the world am I supposed to explain to you the glory of
Jesus Christ? I just know this about it. I
know these two things about it. He mentioned it here in verse
7. He said, Father, they believe that You've given all things
unto My hands. You've given Me everything. They
believe that. The Father loves the Son. and has given all things
into His hands." Jesus Christ possesses everything. That's
His glory. That's His glory. There's nothing,
brothers and sisters, in this world, in the universe, heaven
or hell, that doesn't belong to the Son of God. It's all His. Everything is His. But secondly,
this is His glory too. Listen to Colossians 2 and verse
9. dwells all the fullness of God, the deity, bodily. In Jesus Christ, the fullness
of God dwells. What's in God? What is God? God
is love. God is love. Wouldn't you love
to see the love of God? Wouldn't you love to behold the
love of God? It's in Christ. The grace of
God, it's in Christ. Mercy, forgiveness, life eternal,
everything concerning God, the fullness of it is in Jesus Christ. And he says, Father, I want them
to be with me that they may behold it. No, I can't show it to you. I can't even grasp it myself.
But I'm telling you this, brothers and sisters, there's coming a
day when Jesus Christ will show it to you and me. We'll behold
His glory. We'll see His love, His goodness,
His grace, His mercy, His saving merits as we longed to see Him
here and couldn't. We'll see Him as He is. And never again will we say,
it's a point I long to know. Does He love me? Yes, He loves
me. He'll show you how much He loves
you. All the saints down through the ages, this is what they wanted
to see. Moses said, Lord, show me Your
glory. And he says, You can't see my
face. You just can't see my face. I'll put you in that little cliff
of a rock and I'll pass by you and I'll show you my back parts. I'll show you my high end." That's
what literally that reads. And he passed by Moses, and he
moved his hand, and he said, Moses, I am the Lord, gracious. I am the Lord, I'm good. I am
the Lord, I'm merciful, forgiving transgressions and sins and iniquities. And you know what Moses done?
Oh, Moses said, I can't stand any more of this. And he falls
on his face and he worships. The brothers there in heaven,
we won't see his back parts. We'll see his face. We'll see
his face. And we'll grasp it. That's what
that word means. Grasp to discern, to understand,
to be a spectator. It will be just like going to
some game and you are there in the stands and you are watching
it and taking it all in. There we will be in heaven with
Him. And we will just sit in there and He is showing us His
glory. And we are taking it in. And verse 13, and this is the
closing. Why does He let us in on this prayer? I told my wife this morning,
30 minutes, 53 minutes. Why does He let us in on this
prayer? Look in verse 13. Now I'm coming
to thee, and these things I speak in the word. This prayer, I'm
praying. I'm letting them in on it, that
they might have my joy. fulfill in themselves. What does this do for your heart
when you read about your Mediator pleading your cause for the Father?
What does that do to your faith? Don't that strengthen you? Don't
it just bubble you over with His joy? You see, brothers and
sisters, He's much more joyful about saving us than we are about
being saved. It does you good to know that
He is saving you. It does Him much more good to
save you. He delights in His office. He
delights to plead your cause. He delights to pray for you.
For the joy that was set before Him, He endeared the cross to
do it. And I tell you, He is God's right
hand this morning. And the Scripture says this about
Him. He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God
by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercessions for them. If there is not a mediator between
God and man this morning, I never tell you to come to God. But
because God has set one there, I not only ask you to come, I
command you in the name of God, come to God. Delay no longer,
come to God right where you sit. Don't move a physical muscle,
but cast your heart upon Him and say it. I'm not telling you
a prayer to pray, but say this in your heart, Oh God, in Christ,
Through Him, because of Him, I come to you. Save me. And give yourself up to Him. Give yourself up to Him. Let's pray.