John (quality: Good, Quiet, Incomplete)

[0:00] By the help of God, I would direct you to the 17th chapter of John and verse 24.

[0:30] 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.

[1:00] John chapter 17, verse 24. This chapter is essentially the Lord's Prayer.

[1:17] I hesitate to read it, and I hesitate to consider so sacred a part of the prayer as the text.

[1:37] The prayer is most sacred, but the text is the most sacred part of the prayer.

[1:51] And it has a connection with that word in the Hebrews. Let us run with patience the grace that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God.

[2:30] Father, I will that all those whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.

[3:02] Perhaps some of you understand when I say, there are things in the word of God that has caused me to tremble, things concerning his judgments, his judgments not only upon nations, but upon persons, the solemn characters such as Saul, and Ahithophel, and Judas.

[3:34] But on the other hand, there have been some sacred things that have made me tremble. And this chapter is one.

[3:48] Because, if we are not inside of this chapter, this prayer, then we are outside of the covenant.

[4:03] If the Lord Jesus did not pray for us individually, when he does pray to his Father, then, what a solemn prospect there is before us.

[4:21] There are about 54 references in this chapter to the Lord's people as they and them and these.

[4:45] And there are above 15 references to the world and every one of those references show the separation from God and a separation between those that were given to the Father and those who were reprobate.

[5:09] It's a solemn chapter, a blessed chapter. It shows to us It shows to us the separation of the wicked and the eternal union that subsists between the Lord and his people.

[5:30] And the most sacred nature of that union union that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us.

[5:52] know it's language that one feels to hesitate to utter.

[6:04] But there's this about it, my friends, as I have said. Oh, to have the witness of the Spirit that when the Lord thus prayed, that he prayed for us.

[6:21] It is the, it has a very vital connection with those three words, the three final words of the Lord Jesus upon the cross.

[6:37] It is finished, finished. And those three words belong to every one of his people.

[6:51] and those of us here, either that work was finished for us or it was not. It is finished.

[7:06] not all the work of the Holy Ghost in a sinner's heart can add one iota to it. Not all your prayers, not all your readings, your hearings can add one iota to it.

[7:28] It is finished. I pray for them. I pray not for the world. Poor world.

[7:41] Poor world. Nothing, nothing, my friends, to covet in the world. Since the fall, it is under the curse of God.

[7:58] Their pleasures are cursed. Their health and strength that they've got it is cursed. Their prosperity is cursed. Their life is cursed and their debt will be cursed.

[8:12] Poor world. I pray not for the world. new concerns as to whether the Lord prayed for you and when he cried, it is finished, that it was finished for you.

[8:32] There is another thing to be noticed in these three chapters from the 14th chapter. The sacred communion the Lord had with his dear people that you will find that he does not address his father as God.

[8:59] And right through this prayer there's not God, it's my father. He finished his work. He was the father's servant and while he was the father's servant, he addressed him as God.

[9:16] My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He didn't say my father, my father.

[9:28] He was his father's servant. He'd come and condescended to become under the law. Oh, oh, what a great work is salvation and how great is the love in the Lord Jesus in his condescension.

[9:54] But oh, with what holy and sacred joy he prays for his people. And there's just another thing of importance in this prayer.

[10:09] It says, I pray, I pray not for these alone, not for these immediate disciples that are with me, not for them alone, but for all those who shall believe upon me through their word.

[10:31] And therefore, that it is a declaration that the preaching of the gospel shall be perpetuated through all time and that the Lord Jesus his prayer reaches right through to the end of time and will be accomplished through the preaching of the gospel.

[10:59] And therefore, it does make the preaching of the gospel of first importance. I'll say again, not the man that preaches of any importance that he offers, the gospel that he preaches, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he exhorts.

[11:31] It is, to my mind, a touching point that he no longer uses the name of God in addressing his divine Father.

[11:49] He knew that all things were accomplished. And therefore, this is an intercessory prayer, praying to his divine Father.

[12:08] His work was perfect. This is the, he is the rock. His work is perfect. He is perfect. And the Lord was satisfied.

[12:24] The Lord, the Father declared of him, as he viewed him, as his servant, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

[12:41] And the sacred, and the sacred, eternal union that we tried to speak about this morning, with the Lord Jesus, is their acceptance with God.

[12:57] They are accepted in the beloved. Father, I will that they also, and this is connected with the preceding verse.

[13:18] O my friends, look at this union and nature of it. 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.

[13:44] O the sacredness of it. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, so that this people were given unto the Lord Jesus.

[14:13] Thine they were, now gavest them me. There are a people who were chosen of God ere time began.

[14:34] Chosen by the sovereign, electing love of the Father, and chosen in his Son.

[14:47] Quickened into divine life, and brought into sacred union by the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit.

[15:00] What a beast. I wonder, how many of us in this chapel belong to him, because given unto him by the Father in the covenant of grace.

[15:21] Thine they were, now gavest them me. And the whole of the interest of the blessed Trinity is in the church on earth.

[15:40] The church is, is inheritance. inheritance. In the first chapter to the Ephesians, you'll see that that inheritance has two, two ways to do it.

[16:04] In whom also we have obtained an inheritance. inheritance. And down lower we read this.

[16:21] The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

[16:37] So the saints have an inheritance in Christ, and Christ as an inheritance in the saints. And the same inheritance I've read.

[16:49] Blessed people, happy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord.

[17:03] Father, I will that thou also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.

[17:21] So that everything in this life is subject to the sovereign will and purpose of God concerning his people.

[17:40] He maintains the creation. He's made a covenant with it. Seed time and harvest, summer and winter, day and night, cold and heat, shall not cease and he will be faithful to that covenant.

[18:04] But his denied is in Zion. The 132nd Psalm with which you are all acquainted is intimately really connected with this blessed chapter and this text.

[18:28] We're speaking now about this inheritance. For the Lord hath chosen Zion.

[18:42] He hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever. Here will I dwell, for I have a desire this.

[18:57] And this is a word from him who is the glory of heaven, whose person is infinite, whose glory is above the heavens, and yet the whole of his interest is in the church of God, his people.

[19:22] And this is the people given to him, for Zion is not made up of bricks and mortar. God dwelleth not in temples made with hands.

[19:38] Zion consists of his dear people, and here will I dwell, for I have desired it. and that can be said of everyone given unto him by the Father.

[19:58] And it has a foundation, and the foundation standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his.

[20:09] He knows them. He knows those in this chapel that belong to him, and every one of such it can be said, this is my rest forever.

[20:26] He dwells in his people by faith, and it can be said by every one of them, this is my rest forever.

[20:42] He who come along these views, and stopped at every one that was given to him of the father, and could say of that person and those persons, this is my rest forever, this heart.

[21:02] Here will I dwell, for I have desired it. Well, this is the people in the text. father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am.

[21:24] Now, if that is so, when the Holy Spirit quickens such a sinner into divine life, then, he will never be satisfied unless he is satisfied with the presence of the Lord.

[21:48] Nothing will satisfy the soul, a living soul, about some manifestation of the Lord himself. Nothing else can satisfy, and nothing else, I would say with reverence, nothing else can satisfy God's eternal dear son, than to have his people with him.

[22:14] That was the joy that was set before him, and the joy that is set before his people is the same joy. It is for him to present the church to his divine father, behold I and the children whom thou hast given me.

[22:40] For want of a better expression, I feel that there is a blessed sacred mutuality between the desires of the Lord Jesus and his dear people, and their desire to possess him and be where he is.

[23:03] You know it. Be honest in view of eternity, my friends. Can you say, thou hope Christ art all I want?

[23:20] And do you live answerable to that confession? would you be willing to submit if he put it to the test and took everything away from you but himself?

[23:38] That young man was a sad case, and if he was a moral, good young man, he kept the commandments from his youth up.

[23:51] A better living man than some of us. Go sell all that thou hast and come and follow me. He went away.

[24:04] He went away. He would rather keep his possessions and lose Christ, would you? Would you? Father, I will that thou also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am.

[24:22] And that is also the nature of divine faith, to be with him where he is. And yet you're a sinner.

[24:38] And yet you wander, a wander from the God you love, sin against him, often rebel against him, often bringing to question his wisdom when things go crosswise with you, but at the same time, that new creature in the heart cannot live without him.

[25:08] You ever just feel that insip of death, and it may be in secret you confess it upon your bed, Lord, I cannot live without thee, I cannot die without thee.

[25:24] Now, if that is so, it is some evidence that you're in this twenty-fourth verse, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me, oh, be with me.

[25:41] The Lord can never be satisfied without his people. And I say again, that was the joy that was set before him, and it is the joy that is set before his people.

[25:59] And there are times when it is so warm by the Spirit that such a sinner can say, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.

[26:15] Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.

[26:30] Let's take in the promise we noticed this morning. 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 ye may be also.

[26:57] It's a wonderful mystery that this glorious Lord has such a vehement desire for his dear people and that the Holy Spirit works in his people's heart the very same desire to possess the Lord Jesus and to be where he is.

[27:24] Now you will feel this at times even in this wilderness world. If we are gathered together by the Spirit then this is a part of Zion.

[27:45] And this rest here will I rest for I have desired it is a rest of complacency.

[27:57] It is a rest of a terminus. That is to say that all the consequences and effects and benefits of the Lord Jesus in all his finished work terminate in the salvation of sinners.

[28:23] And when that has reached a sinner in his precious blood in the forgiveness of their sins and sanctifying them and making them meet for the inheritance above, it rests.

[28:41] And it is in such a way that he sees the travail of his soul and is satisfied. All this blessed satisfaction of the Lord Jesus as he sees his own work carried on by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of his people, he satisfies and rejoices that his work of redemption is effectual, rejoices as he sees in his people that his grace has saved them, that his precious blood has cleansed and healed and pardoned them, to see that his righteousness has justified them, and to see that through his sufferings he has been made perfect and that they are made perfect in him.

[29:46] This is the satisfaction that his people feel. Everything that comes from heaven in the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart returns there.

[30:06] It's like the ladder the Lord said to to my memory's gone.

[30:32] Nathaniel. He said to Nathaniel, Thou shalt see greater things than these. Thou shalt see the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

[30:55] Now that is very sacred in experience. It has to do with the text. It's the mutuality of the effect of the love of the Lord Jesus in his work and in his sufferings for his dear people.

[31:16] When he sees the success of it and sees the travel of his soul and his satisfaction and the preaching of the gospel.

[31:28] angels of God that is ministers not angels from heaven.

[31:42] His ministers are called angels in the Revelation. The seven letters were written to the angels and another thing which comes into that word is that there was an angel flying in the midst of heaven with the gospel to preach unto those that dwell on the earth.

[32:11] That was administered by the Holy Spirit flying in the midst of the heavens of the gospel and the holy scriptures to preach Christ unto his people.

[32:25] and there is an ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. Now in these mutual manifestations by the Spirit to your heart of the Lord Jesus is in this text Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am.

[32:55] and the same in a lesser measure is wrought in their hands to be with Christ which is far better.

[33:14] Paul said to the Philippians for to me to live is Christ to die is gain.

[33:29] I think it is a beautiful illustration in the hymn. Now I feel an aching void the world can never fill.

[33:43] you long for him. My soul thirsted for God for the living God.

[33:54] So it is a mercy my friends if we can trace in our experience this vehement desire for the Lord Jesus in his gracious manifestations.

[34:08] and he uses the preaching of the gospel. Yes, sometimes he will so make his presence held as to transform your soul and to bring you near to the very gates of heaven.

[34:43] Oh, his presence can be known and felt. And what a satisfaction it is. Simeon felt it the same thing right through the scriptures.

[35:01] When he saw the babe his faith knew it was the son of God he waited for consolation. Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.

[35:26] Oh, to be brought to that sacred point satisfied. Let him come when he thinks best.

[35:42] Father, I will that all those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me.

[36:02] And in an earlier verse it says, And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, and the result of it that they may be one even as we are one.

[36:19] this then was a glory that was given to the Lord Jesus.

[36:32] As he is God, nothing can be given to him at all. But as the Lord's servant and in his mediatorial capacity, everything is given to him.

[36:54] His father did not withhold him, but freely delivered him up for us all.

[37:08] And hell shalt he not also with him freely give us all things so that all things were given to his church and to his people in the Lord Jesus and he brought those eternal blessings down.

[37:30] He brought life, immortality, righteousness, holiness, grace, that they may behold my glory.

[37:49] And in the first place, in this mediatorial glory, was the glory of Emmanuel, God with us. Oh, well, that as I feel myself to be, I do believe that the glory of Emmanuel, the sacred, the sacred, sinless, the birth of the Lord Jesus has been the foundation of my faith and of my hope.

[38:31] It's a mystery, the mystery of godliness that they might behold my glory, glory, the glory of a god in christ, and that in him all the fullness of the godhead dwelt.

[38:58] He did not cease to be god when he became man, and all divine perfections did meet in him, although his humanity was human.

[39:12] Yet in that humanity there was immutability, eternity, omniscience, omnipresence, and that's what gave validity, power, and authority to everything that he did.

[39:35] Now, there is such a thing as faith by the Spirit beholding that glory with such a view of it as that it joined you to the Lord.

[39:54] I do not want to speak a word presumptuously, but I do believe in my measure, that I have been joined to the Lord in his incarnation, in this sense, that he is the only foundation of my hope.

[40:18] If he were not who he is, and declared himself to be, you might as well burn the book, no use.

[40:29] God will take it into the glory of God in Christ, in taking human nature, and see the mighty eternal effect of it in his people.

[40:49] When he took human nature, he made it possible for his people to be made partakers of the divine nature. there's a union, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me.

[41:12] other is the glory of his grace, and the glory of his grace is expressed to the Corinthians.

[41:28] Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty, might be made eternally rich.

[41:47] And those riches are bestowed here. Oh, these things come down from heaven, my friends, this glory must be come down from heaven, revealed by the Spirit, and therefore your faith looks up.

[42:06] There's nowhere else to look. If we look at this world, what is it? If we look at ourselves, what do we see there? What a siftling sign.

[42:21] But, oh, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. unity. And this shows this communion with the Lord through the incarnation of God's dear Son.

[42:46] How, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. This is the unity of the Spirit. it is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down, comes down, everything comes down from heaven, that ran, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down, went down to the skirts of his garments, as the dew of Hermon, as the dew that descended, descended, upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore.

[43:40] Now, my dear friends, have you ever felt this sacred union, communion with the Lord? And under the preaching of the gospel, have you ever felt that the minister by the Spirit, in preaching the Lord Jesus Christ, does go up and down from heaven to earth.

[44:06] That angel was flying in the midst of heaven, was flying in his meditations by the Spirit to preach the gospel to men upon the earth.

[44:18] God, and there are times when faith by the Spirit will raise you up, and you'll be unconscious of anybody else in the chapel, transformed by the renewing of your mind, and have a sweet hope that when thou shalt see his glory, soon, when the work of grace is done, partner of my throne shall be, save for a sinner, love shall be.

[44:56] Oh, that sacred chapter, I hope I've done no damage to the glory of that glorious Lord. God, that sacred Lord, God, that sacred God, that sacred in the Spirit, in the Lord, Jesus Christ, as he does go up and down, from heaven to earth.

[45:23] That angel was flying in the midst of heaven, was flying in his meditations by the Spirit to preach the gospel to men upon the earth.

[45:36] Why? God, Lord, some peace to too.