CHRIST’S DESIRE FOR HIS SAINTS
A Communion Sermonpreached by Robert Murray McCheyne on January 19, 1840
Excerpted with minor editing from Memoirs of McCheyne (Simpsonville: Christian Classics Foundation, 1996)

“Father, I will that they also whom thouhast given me be with me where I am;
that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me;
for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”
(John 17:24)

This is the most wonderful prayer that ever rose from this earth to the throneof God, and this petition is the most wonderful in the prayer.

1. The Manner of thisPrayer

“Father, I will.” No human lips ever prayed thus before. Abraham was thefriend of God, and got very near to God in prayer; but he prayed as dust andashes. “I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, that am but dust andashes” (Gen 18:27). Jacob had power with God, and prevailed, yet his boldestword was, “I will not let thee go except thou bless me” (Gen 32:26). Daniel wasa man greatly beloved, and got immediate answers to prayer, and yet he cried toGod as a sinner: “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hearken and do!” (Dan9:19). Paul was a man who got very near to God, and yet he says, “I bow myknees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 3:14). But when Christprayed, He cried, “Father, I will.” Why did He pray thus? He was God’sfellow. “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man that ismy fellow” (Zech 13:7). He thought it no robbery to be equal with God. It wasHe that said, “Let there be light: and there was light” (Gen 1:3). So now Hesays, “Father, I will.”

He spoke as the Intercessor with the Father.—He felt as if His work werealready done: “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (Jn 17:4).He felt as if He had already suffered the cross, and now claims the crown.“Father, I will.” This is the intercession now heard in heaven.

He had one will with the Father.—“I and my Father are one” (Jn 10:30).One God, one in heart and will. True, He had a holy human soul, and therefore ahuman will; but His human will was one with His divine will. The human stringin His heart was tuned to the same string as His divine will.

Learn how surely this prayer will be answered, dear children of God. It isimpossible this prayer should be unanswered. It is the will of the Father andof the Son. If Christ wills it, and if the Father wills it, you may be surenothing can hinder it. If the sheep be in Christ’s hand, and in the Father’shand, they shall never perish.

2. For Whom He Prays

“They also whom thou hast given me.” Six times in this chapter doesChrist call His people by this name: “They whom thou hast given me” (vv. 11,24, 6 [2x], 9, 12). It seems to have been a favourite word of Christ,especially when carrying them on His heart before the Father. The reason seemsto be that He would remind the Father that they are as much the Father’s asthey are His own; that the Father has the same interest in them that He has,having given them to Him before the world was. And so He repeats it in verse 10:“All mine are thine, and thine are mine.” Before the world was, the Fatherchose a people out of this world. He gave them into the hand of Christ,charging Him not to lose one, to bear their sins on His own body on the tree,to raise them up at the last day. And, accordingly, He says, “Of all whom thouhas given me have I lost none” (cf. v. 12).

Is there any mark on those who are given to Christ? They are no better thanothers. Sometimes He chooses the worst! “All that the Father giveth me shallcome to me” (Jn 6:37). One of the sure marks of all that were given to Christis that they come to Jesus: “They all come to Jesus the mediator of the newcovenant, and to the blood of sprinkling” (cf. Heb 12:24). Are you come toChrist? Has your heart been opened to receive Christ? Has Christ been madeprecious to you? Then you may be quite sure you were given to Christ before theworld was. Your name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and your name is on thebreastplate of Christ. It is for you He prays, “Father, I will that that soulbe with me.” Christ will never lose you. The Father, which gave you to Him, isgreater than all, and none is able to pluck you out of the Father’s hand.

3. The Argument

“For thou lovedst me.” He reminds the Father of His love to Him beforethe world was. When there was no earth, no sun, no man, no angel, when He wasby Him, then “Thou lovedst me.” Who can understand this love—the love of theUncreated God to His Uncreated Son? The love of Jonathan to David was verygreat, surpassing the love of women. The love of a believer to Christ is verygreat, for they see Him to be altogether lovely. The love of a holy angel toGod is very ardent, for angels are like flames of fire. But these are allcreature loves; these are but streams; but the love of God to His Son is anocean of love. There is everything in Christ to draw the love of His Father.Now discern His argument, If You love Me, do this for My people.

Just as He said to Paul, “Why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4). He felt Himselfone with His afflicted members on earth. Just as He will say at the last day,“Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it untome” (Mt 25:40), He reckons believers a part of Himself; what is done to them isdone to Him. So here, when He carries them to His Father, this is all Hisargument: “Thou lovedst Me.” If You love Me, love them, for they are part ofMe.

See how surely Christ’s prayer will be answered for you, beloved. He does notplead that you are good and holy; He does not plead that you are worthy; Heonly pleads His own loveliness in the eyes of the Father. Look not on them, Hesays, but look on Me. You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

Learn to use the same argument with God, dear believers. This is asking inChrist’s name, for the Lord’s sake; this is the prayer that is never refused.See that you do not come in your own name, else you will be cast out.

Come thus to His table. Say to the Father, Accept me, for You loved Him fromthe foundation of the world.

4. The Prayer Itself

a.  “That they may be with me.”

What He does not mean.—He does not mean that we should be presentlytaken out of this world. Some of you that have come to Christ may, this day, befavoured with so much of His presence, and of the love of the Father, so muchof the joy of heaven, and such a dread of going back to betray Christ in theworld, that you may be wishing that this house were indeed the gate of heaven;you may desire that you might be translated from the Table below at once to theTable above. “I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and tobe with Christ” (Phil 1:23). Still Christ does not wish that. “I pray not thatthou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep themfrom the evil” (v. 15). “Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now” (Jn 13:36;Like that woman in Brainerd’s Journal—“O blessed Lord, do come! Oh, do take meaway; do let me die and go to Jesus Christ. I am afraid, if I live, I shall sinagain.”).

What He does mean.—He means, that when our journey is done, we shouldcome to be with Him. Every one that comes to Christ has a journey to perform inthis world. Some have a long, and some a short one. It is through a wilderness.Still Christ prays that, at the end, you may be with Him. Every one that comesto Christ has his twelve hours to fill up for Christ. “I must work the works ofhim that sent me, while it is day” (Jn 9:4). But when that is done, Christprays that you may be with Him. He means that you shall come to His Father’shouse with Him. “In my Father’s house are many mansions” (Jn 14:2).You shall dwell in the same house with Christ. You are never very intimate witha person till you see him in his own house, till you know him at home. This iswhat Christ wants with us, that we shall come to be with Him at His own home.He wants us to come to the same Father’s bosom with Him. “I ascend to my Fatherand your Father” (Jn 20:17). He wants us to be in the same smile with Him, tosit on the same throne with Him, to swim in the same ocean of love with Him.

Learn how certain it is that you shall one day soon be with Christ. It is thewill of the Father, it is the will of the Son. It is the prayer of Christ. Ifyou have really been brought to Christ, you shall never perish. You mayhave many enemiesopposing you in your way to glory. Satan desiresto have you, that he may sift you like wheat. Your worldly friends will do allthey can to hinder you. Still you shall be with Christ. We shall see your faceat the table of glory. You have a hard heart, an unbelievingheart, a heart deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. You oftenthink your heart will lead you to betray Christ. Still you shall be withChrist. If you are in Christ today, you shall be ever with the Lord. You havelived a wicked life. You have dreadful sins to look back upon.

Still, if you are come to Jesus, this is His word to you, “Thou shalt be withme in paradise” (Lk 23:43). In truth, Christ cannot do without you. You are Hisjewels—His crown. Heaven would be no heaven to Him, if you were not there. Thismay give you courage in coming to the Lord’s Table. Some of you fear to come tothis Table, because, though you cleave to Christ today, you fear you may betrayHim tomorrow. But you need not fear. “He which hath begun a good work in youwill perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” You shall sit at the Tableabove, where Christ Himself shall be at the head. You need not fear to come tothis Table.

b.  To “behold my glory, which thou hast given me.”—There arethree stages in the glory of Christ. It will be the employment of heaven tobehold them all.

First, original glory of Christ.—This is His uncreated glory, as theequal of the Father. It is spoken of in Proverbs 8:30: “Then I was by him, asone brought up with him; I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.”And again, in this prayer, “The glory which I had with thee before the worldwas” (v. 5). Of this glory no man can speak; no angel, no archangel. One thingalone we know, that we are to honour the Son, even as we honour the Father. Heshared with the Father in being the all-perfect One, when there was none toadmire, none to adore, no angels with golden harps, no seraphs to hymn Hispraise, no cherubim to cry, Holy, holy, holy. Before all creatures were, Hewas—one with the infinitely perfect, good, and glorious God. He was then allthat He afterwards showed Himself to be. Creation and redemption did not changeHim. They only revealed what He was before. They only provided objects forthose beams of glory to rest upon, that were shining as fully before, from alleternity. Eternity will be much taken up with praising God that ever Herevealed Himself at all; that ever He came out from the retirement of Hislovely and blissful eternity.

Second, When He became flesh.—“The Word was made flesh” (Jn 1:13).Christ did not get more glory by becoming man, but He manifested His glory in anew way. He did not gain one perfection more by becoming man; He had all theperfections of God before. But now these perfections were poured through ahuman heart. The almightiness of God now moved in a humanarm. The infinite love of God now beat in a human heart. Thecompassion of God to sinners now glistened in a human eye. God waslove before, but Christ was love covered over with flesh. Just as you have seenthe sun shining through a coloured window—sunlight and yet it shines with amellowed lustre—so in Christ dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Theperfection of the Godhead shone through every pore, through every action, word,and look—the same perfections—they were only shining with a mellowedbrightness. The veil of the Temple was a type of His flesh, because it coveredthe bright light of the Holiest of all. But just as the bright light of theShekinah often shone through the veil, so did the Godhead of Christ forceitself through the heart of the man Christ Jesus. There were many openings ofthe veil when the bright glory shone through.

When He turned the water into wine.—He manifested forth His glory, andHis disciples believed on Him. Almighty power spoke in a human voice, and thelove of God, too, shone in it; for He showed that He came to turn all our waterinto wine.

When He wept over Jerusalem.—That was a great outlet of His glory. Therewas much that was human in it. The feet were human that stood upon Mount Olivet.The eyes were human eyes that looked down upon the dazzling city. The tearswere human tears that fell upon the ground. But oh, there was the tenderness ofGod beating beneath that mantle! Look and live, sinners. Look and live. Beholdyour God! He that has seen a weeping Christ has seen the Father. This is Godmanifest in the flesh. Some of you fear that the Father does not wish you tocome to Christ and be saved. But see here, God is manifest in the flesh. Hethat has seen Christ has seen the Father. See here the heart of the Father andthe heart of the Son laid bare. Oh, wherefore should you doubt? Every one ofthese tears trickles from the heart of God.

On the cross.—The wounds of Christ were the greatest outlets of Hisglory that ever were. The divine glory shone more out of His wounds than out ofall His life before. The veil was then rent in two, and the full heart of Godallowed to stream through. It was a human body that writhed, pale and racked,upon the accursed tree; they were human hands that were pierced so rudely bythe nails; it was human flesh that bore that deadly gash upon the side; it washuman blood that streamed from hands, and feet, and side; the eye that meeklyturned to His Father was a human eye; the soul that yearned over His mother wasa human soul. But oh, there was divine glory streaming through all; every woundwas a mouth to speak of the grace and love of God!

Divine wrath shone through. What infinite hatred of sin was therewhen He thus offered Himself a sacrifice without spot unto God! Divinewisdom shone through: all created intelligences could not have deviseda plan whereby God would have been just, and yet the justifier. Divinelove: every drop of blood that fell came as a messenger of love fromHis heart to tell the love of the fountain. This was the love of God. He thathas seen a crucified Christ has seen the Father. Oh, look on the broken bread,and you will see this glory still streaming through! Here is the heart of Godlaid bare—God is manifest in flesh. Some of you are poring over your own heart,examining your feelings, watching your disease. Avert the eye from all within.Behold Me, behold Me! Christ cries. Look to Me, and be you saved. Behold theglory of Christ! There is much difficulty about your own heart, but no darknessabout the heart of Christ. Look in through His wounds; believe what you see inHim.

Third, Christ’s glory above.—I cannot speak of this. I trust Ishall one day soon see it. He has not laid aside the glory which He had onearth. He is still the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, But He hasmore glory now. His humanity is no more a veil to hide any of the beams of HisGodhead. God shines all the more plainly through Him. He has many crowns now,the oil of gladness now, the sceptre of righteousness now.

Heaven will be spent in beholding His glory.—We shall see the Fathereternally in Him. We shall look in His face, and in His human eye shall readthe tender love of God to us forever. We shall hear from His holy human lipsplainly of the Father. “In that day I shall no more speak to you in parables,but show you plainly of the Father” (cf. Jn 16:25). We shall look on His scars,healed, yet plain and open on His hands, and feet, and side, and heaven-brightbrow, and shall read eternally there the hatred of God against sin, and Hislove to us that made Him die for us. And sometimes, perhaps, we may lean ourhead where John leaned his, upon His holy bosom. Oh! if heaven is to be spentthus, what will you do, who have never seen His glory?

Conclusion

Oh, beloved, if your eternity is to be spent thus, spend much of your timethus! If you are to be thus engaged at the Table above, be thus engaged now atthe Table below.