John 17. And we'll give you these thoughts
on our heart for a few minutes this morning. And then we'll
let you go while it's still under 100 degrees. This chapter, John 17, we could say is definitely a
highlight or even the holy of holies of God's Word. And if
you're not familiar with this chapter, you should be. It is
the Lord Jesus praying to the Father for His people. It ought to be of such interest.
an excitement to us. He's praying for his own. It
is truly the Lord's Prayer. Now what we call the Lord's Prayer, recorded in Matthew 6 and Luke
11, is really a model prayer given to the disciples after
they had requested of the Lord, Lord teach us to pray. And so
the Lord gives them that model prayer that we're familiar with,
our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name and so on.
We call that the Lord's prayer. But here in John 17, truly is the Lord's prayer. And
I'll read just one verse for a text this morning, verse 24.
John 17 and verse 24. Jesus praying to the Father,
He 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 want to center our thoughts
around the first part of that verse. for the message this morning. Father, I will that they also
whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am. We might note in the beginning
that the Lord Jesus never prayed with His disciples. He prayed
alone. He would send them away and then
He would go privately into the mountain Spend entire nights
in prayer. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane,
you remember the Bible says that he did take Peter, James, and
John a little distance further than the rest. But then having
taken them a distance, he left them, and Matthew says, and he
went a little farther. He always does. The Gospel of
Luke said, He went about a stone's cast farther. So our Lord prayed
alone in the garden that night. Now, He could not pray with His
disciples or with us as we do. Why? While we cry out to God,
He is God. The praying of the Lord Jesus
Christ is deity conversing with deity. It is conversation within the
Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Before the world
was created, there was a conference held and a covenant made, and
that is why Christ came. into the world. And that covenant
was within the Godhead. It was between the Father and
the Son and the Holy Ghost. I heard an old preacher years
ago. He's gone on now, as so many are. Brother Ray Long. And he said it like this. He
said, I can imagine that that conference, yonder in eternity
past, went something like this. The Father says, We'll create
a bride for my son and put her in a race exposed to Satan's
deception. And the Holy Spirit says, and
when we do, she'll fall. And the Lord Jesus says, and
when she falls, I'll go and redeem her at any price. And the Spirit says, and when
you redeem her, I'll go and inform her that she's been redeemed
and belongs to you. And I'll comfort her and teach
her and guide her. And then the Father says, and
when the time is right, son, I'll bring her home to you to
be with you forever. So the Trinity agreed and made
a covenant And none of the three, Father, Son, or Holy Ghost, has
ever defaulted or come short in their commitment to carry
out that everlasting covenant. So in this chapter, John 17,
in the night he was betrayed, after the institution of the
Lord's Supper, he is facing a cross in the morning, and he knows
it. So he now in this chapter prays for his own. And in this
one verse, he said some tremendous things. Father, I will that they
also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. Now in considering these words
from the lips of our Lord, I want to just concentrate on about
four things, mention about four things hurriedly this morning.
Number one, the relationship by which Christ prayed. He uses
the word or the title Father. Father. It's one of six times
in this prayer that he addresses God as his Father in this chapter. First in verse One, he said,
Father, the hour has come. Secondly, in verse five, and
now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self. Thirdly,
in verse 11, Holy Father. Fourth, in verse 21, that they
all may be one as Thou, Father, art in me and I in Thee. And
then fifth here in verse 24, Father, I will, that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. And then sixth
in verse 25, O righteous Father. Father. Now our Lord had taught
the disciples, when you pray, he said, you say, our Father,
our Father. That means that all believers
are on the same level. He's our Father. I have heard
a few times through the years men lead in public prayer and
they'd be praying and they'd say, my Father. I believe that's
inappropriate. Jesus said for us to pray with
the understanding that we're all in the same level. There's
no big I's and little U's. There's nobody better than anybody
else. He's our Father. He's our Father. The Lord Jesus,
however, simply said, Father. He's not on our level. One line in that model prayer,
remember, said, forgive us our trespasses. He couldn't pray
that. He never had any trespasses or
sins. So there is definitely a distinction
between our praying and His praying between us saying, Our Father,
and Him just saying, Father. I believe He makes reference
to that in John 20 after the resurrection when He said to
Mary Magdalene, He said, Touch Me not, for I am not yet ascended
to My Father. But go and tell My brethren that
I ascend to My Father and your Father. to my God and your God. He still makes the distinction
that God is his father in a sense other than he's our father. So
he is our father only in Christ, of course. So how blessed this
relationship, father, father. You and I are so much like the
prodigal in Luke 15. We say like he did, I'll go back
to my father. And because of my poverty, and
because of my foolishness, I'll talk to him about being a servant. The father was at home watching
daily, looking down the road. You know that story, Luke 15.
But see, he wasn't looking for a servant. He had servants. He was looking for a son. And
this morning, the Lord is not waiting for us to come to Him
in the capacity of a servant. He's not hiring any help. And we need not talk to Him about
qualifying as a dishwasher or janitor or anything else. No.
He's not really looking for servants. He's looking for his sons. Now,
Satan has used this in our time, I believe more than ever, on
some very, very fine people. Oh, to emphasize all this about
how much God needs servants and how that Christianity is all
about our getting down in the gutter and showing people we
care. May I say that you cannot care enough and you cannot do
enough to change a single heart. That's God's business. That's
his department. What all that stuffy is, all
that religious mess is, is just another version of you shall
be as God's. You can earn your way, you can
make your way, you can do it, but not so. Not so. Now back to Christ praying. He
speaks the title Father. Father. He speaks this here on
covenant grounds, in covenant relationship. He's talking with
one he's talked with from eternity. He's talking with one he's concerning
things agreed on in eternity. And he said back in the first
verse, father, the hour has come. What hour is he talking about? The hour that I finally cannot
dodge anymore and they're finally gonna catch up with me and crucify
me. No, he's not talking about that The hour has come one hour
the hour of his approaching the cross The hour agreed on before
the world was created The hour for which the world was created
There's no other hour like this hour. I Verse 1, Father, the
hour has come. Verse 5, now O Father. Verse
11, Holy Father. Verse 21, that they all may be
one Father. And now in verse 24, Father,
the relationship by which He prays. Then the next thought would be
the realm in which He prays. And this is really, really big
to me, the realm in which he prays. He's not here begging
for something on the basis like we do. But
he says, Father, I will. I will. This is my will. Now, we mentioned already about
its basis in a covenant made in eternity past. Now he reaches
forward. Christ is on his way physically
to Gethsemane and then on through the night, carried to Pilate's
hall, crucified in the morning. But this night he speaks as if
all that's already done. If you'll notice that in this
prayer, he said in verse four, I have finished the work. which
thou gavest me to do." Had he finished it? Not physically. Not physically. He's not to go
to the cross till in the morning. But he's reaching beyond the
present moment. He's appealing to the oneness
of the relationship with his father. He's appealing to the
trust of the father that it will be done. And he speaks as if
it's already done. Verse 11, and now I am no more
in the world. Well, physically he was. Verse
13, and now I come to thee. Not right now. He's got a cross
waiting in the morning. But Christ prays as having already
accomplished it all. And the realm or the reach of
this prayer is in the two words, I will. Father, I will. He said in chapter 6 and verse
38, I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the
will of Him that sent me. And he made similar statements
several times. But here, and oh how great this
is, for the first time Christ says, I will. I will. This is what I want. He is not
here and now saying to the Father, not as I will, but as thou wilt. He said that. But now he's embraced
the realm or the reach of his finished work. And he says, Father,
I will. This is what I want. And he's
doing it on the basis of having qualified to pray in his own
merits. have He earned the right, having
attained to the realm of petitioning the Father in His own name with
the simple words, I will. Father, I will. Now you and I
could never pray like that. You'd be foolish to pray to the
Lord in the merits of yourself. I had a person a while back said
to me, I'm just praying that the Lord will do such and such
because I've been pretty good lately. Never. Santa Claus wants to know
if you've been good. God wants to know if you've been
perfect. That's his standard. It's never been anything less
than that. So you and I this morning approach
God in the name and in the merits of Jesus Christ. or we perish. God demands perfection, and it's
in the perfection of His dear Son that we can come to God. So you and I can't pray like
this, Father, I will. But He could. So can you see
where He's at now? He's earned this. It's not, Oh,
Father, please hear. Oh, Father, please forgive. Or,
Oh, Father, for Thy sake. No, it's, Father, I will. I will. Before this, He had said, I delight
to do Thy will, O God. But now that He's done it, He
says, Father, I will. Here's what I want. Well, how
did He get here? I'll tell you how. Look with
me in this same chapter, in this prayer. Look with me at the phrase,
I have. In verse 4, He says, I have glorified
thee on the earth. Again in verse 4, I have finished
the work thou gavest me to do. In verse 6, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me. In verse 8, I have
given unto them thy words. In verse 12, those whom thou
gavest me I have kept. Verse 14, I have given them thy
word. Verse 22, and the glory which
thou gavest me, I have given them. So having accomplished
all these I have's, reaching forward to include the
cross, I have suffered and died. On this basis, he now prays,
Father, I will. I want this. I want this. I've earned this. So there's
the relationship by which he prayed, Father. There's the realm
in which he prayed, I will. The third thought would be the
redeemed for whom he prayed. And we'll not linger here too
long because we've already referred to several of these verses. in
which he identifies the subjects for whom he prays as those which
thou hast given me. Matter of fact, he says this
seven times in this prayer. He refers to this, those whom
thou hast given me, those whom thou hast given me. You see,
Christ is not praying for anyone not included in that everlasting
covenant set and sealed in eternity past. So many people think that
the Lord is fighting a losing battle. He's trying to get everybody's
attention in this world and He's not able to get many people's
attention. There's too much other exciting stuff going on. No,
He gets the attention of those whom He wishes to get the attention
of. Matter of fact, He is open and
plain about it in verse 9. He is far more plain than today's
religious world can swallow. Look what he says in verse 9
here. He said, I pray for them. I pray
not for the world, but for them which thou hast
given me, for they are thine. His prayer is a definite prayer
for definite subjects. His atoning death was a definite
atonement. He never died to make salvation
possible for everybody. He died to make salvation certain
for those whom the Father had given Him. That's what He's saying
in this chapter and all through the New Testament. He said in
John, I lay down my life for the sheep. This is one of the
things that keeps many good people from coming to this church, and
I know that. Because I, as the pastor, won't
ignore the words of Christ and preach that He died for sheep
and goats. And that He's doing the best
He can to try and convert Adam's race. He's not doing it. He died
for His own. Fourth and finally, in this verse,
the request that Christ actually prayed for. He requested several things for
us through the course of this chapter, but the specific request
of our text in this verse, first part of 24, it extends on into
the latter part, but we're looking at the first part. Here it is,
that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. That's what he prayed for us,
that they be with me where I am. Well, where was he? Well, now
physically, he was weary. He was tired. He was in a world
rejected and hated. He was facing a cross in the
morning. He was considered the lowest
and most despised of any person in the history of the world.
That's where he was physically. Is that what He wills for us?
Is that what He's praying for us? That they be with me where
I am? No, no. When He says that they
be with me where I am, He means the realm in which I am. Reaching
beyond all the sufferings and pain, beyond all the hurts and
heartaches of this life, And His prayer has been answered.
Many times through the years, He's taken me to where He is. I'm not talking about this stuff
you read on the scandal sheets about dying and seeing this bright
light and all that stuff and then coming back. I'm not talking
about He's taken me where He is like that. I'm talking about
taking me where He is in acceptance with the Father, at peace with
Him. Oh, His prayer's been answered.
He's taken me there many times in my spirit. And my spirit's
been raptured. Oh, all these guys talking about
the rapture. I've been raptured a few times.
Huh? Apostle Paul was while he was
here too. All God's children are. We're
there with Him positionally all the time. But to be there in
spirit, While still in this flesh, it's so wonderful to have the
Lord just do something special. I'm not talking about people
jumping benches. I'm talking about warm your heart and give
you strength to go another mile when you don't think you can. All those times are limited. And those times are limited in
measure. But thank God for them. But He's
praying this for us. To see ourselves in Him and with
Him as complete in Him and having already conquered in Him. And
in Him we already have. This is not some future pie in
the sky somewhere He's talking about. This is for the dirty
here and now. This is for grace for you to
face tomorrow. Matter of fact, he prays in verse
15, Father, I'm not asking you to take them out of the world.
That's not it. No, he's talking about, but that you let them
know and feel and be assured sometimes with a reality to be
able to be with me where I am and see themselves in this realm
of acceptance with you. This morning, I don't know the
circumstances of everyone present here. Matter of fact, I had no
idea who all would be here. I knew some folks were going
to be gone. I didn't know who would or wouldn't be here. I'm
glad you're here. But I'm saying this, I don't
know everybody's circumstances. I don't know where you're at.
I don't know what you're facing tomorrow. I don't know what your
troubles are, your heartaches are. And I'm really glad if all
is well in your life. If your health's good, your home,
your family, your marriage, your finances, your children, your
relationships, I'm really glad for you if everything's good. But I know there's some sitting
here this morning And probably most of us are hurting over some things
we can't fix and facing some things we don't
have the answer for. Mountains just too steep to climb
and valleys just too deep to cross. And certainly it's not wrong
to ask the Lord to solve problems and change these things and relieve
us of burdens. But what we really need this
day and every day is to experience in some measure the answer of
this prayer our Lord prayed for us. To enter in some measure
this realm of Christ's existence. To be with Him where He is. beyond the circumstances of the
storms of life, into the certainties of our salvation in Him. Oh,
blessed, blessed truth. Father, I will that they also now has given
me be with me. where I am. You know, the disciples
got into trouble oftentimes when they weren't with Him. But when they were with Him,
everything is all right. So the prayer this morning is,
Lord, let me be with You where You are. Thank you for listening.
Let's stand together.