The Saviour at Prayer No.2 Jesus prays for his own

Hello, welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my lecture, and welcome to my as within this particular prayer. It's sometimes known as the high priestly prayer. I wonder sometimes if perhaps a better title would have been the Lord's Prayer.

And yet you can hardly call it the Lord's Prayer because if you do that, then you get confused with the prayer which our Lord Jesus taught his disciples to say. But in a very wonderful way, this is indeed the Lord's Prayer. It seems to me that there's almost a pattern that runs through this prayer that is a reflection on what is popularly known as the Lord's Prayer.

For example, with the latter, you start with our Father and here is our Lord Jesus addressing the Father. Not so in verse one, Father, the time has come. And the Lord's Prayer goes on, hallowed be your name.

And here we've got glorify your son, that your son may glorify you. The Lord's Prayer continues, that we might be led, or when we're led into temptation, that we might know the presence of God. Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil.

Those were the words that I was fishing for in my mind. Here in verse 11, we're told about the way that the Lord Jesus, or verse 12, is protecting and keeping care over his own. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by the name you gave me.

So you see the point. Here is another example, if you please, of the Lord praying, the Lord's Prayer. We often read in scripture that our Lord Jesus went out into a quiet place early in the morning and there engaged in intercession.

We've got no recall, whatever, in the word of God as to what he actually said. But we do have this classic example of our Lord Jesus engaging in extensive prayer, not on his own, but deliberately in the company of his disciples. I was asking you last time, when we were looking into these verses, do you pray? Do you pray regularly? What's your prayer life like? Is it efficient? Is it something that you are prepared to give time to day by day as you bring before the Heavenly Father the needs of the world? Our Lord Jesus is setting down the sort of example that you and I are to emulate.

Now, you remember the time when he offered this prayer was the most significant one. He tells us in the first verse, the time has come. And you remember my first address on this prayer actually had that as its heading.

The hour has come. When Jesus prayed. When did he pray? Well, he prayed after a sermon, and a long sermon.

He'd been with the disciples for many an hour. Prayed after a sermon. He prayed after the sacrament.

They'd had the bread and wine, you remember, the Passover meal. They'd taken bread and wine, and ultimately the disciples would recognize how those emblems were to speak especially of our Lord Jesus. They prayed before a parting.

Our Lord was soon to leave his disciples. Tell us when they prayed, or when he prayed. How did Jesus pray? Well, we're told that he looked up towards heaven and prayed.

He had his eye on the Father. He had his heart on the disciples, and on his lips were requests that poured out for their well-being. How Jesus prayed.

Why did Jesus pray? Well, because the situation was so crucial. Around the corner was Calvary. Around the corner was being delivered into the hands of Pilate and being done to death.

Around the corner, well, he'd be taken away to be with his heavenly Father, and he would leave the disciples on his own. That's when Jesus prayed, you see, with all these things just ready to break in unto his experience. So last time, as I say, we looked under those headings under the subject of the hour has come.

Now we want to speak about Jesus praying for his own, verses six to 12. Jesus praying for his own. It's good to have someone to plead your cause, isn't it? If in a court of law, you find yourself in difficulty, you're glad to have a barrister who has eloquence and an understanding of the British judicial process to be able to present your case before the magistrate, before the judge and the jury.

Well, we're told in the gospel of John, or rather in the epistle of John, that we are in the same situation ourselves as far as the Lord Jesus Christ is concerned. My dear children, I write this to you, says John, so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the father in our defense, Jesus Christ, the righteous one.

That's what he's doing here. He's speaking to the father on our behalf. So as he engages further into this prayer, let's think first of all, of his description of them.

That is his description of his disciples. In the book of Hebrews in the second chapter and the 10th verse, you read a reference to our Lord Jesus. It's actually plucked from the prophecy of Isaiah as to how he looked upon those for whom he died.

Hebrews chapter two and verse 10 speaks about bringing many sons to glory. And in the 13th verse, again, referring to our Lord Jesus and those who are following him, standing before God, he says, here am I and the children God has given me. Our Lord Jesus Christ, before the heavenly father, praying for his disciples, pleading for you, looks upon yourselves, looks upon his immediate followers as being his children.

Heavenly father, I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. When our Lord further develops what his attitude is like to those for whom he's praying in his description of them, he speaks of them as a gift that is well received.

They were yours, you gave them to me. We as Christians often think of the Lord Jesus as being God's gift to us and that is right. He is God's gift to us of salvation.

How often do you think of yourself and the whole company of people who are redeemed, all Christian folk, as being the father's gift to the Lord Jesus? They were yours, you gave them to me. You see the point? He's describing those for whom he prays and he's calling them a gift, well received. When our Lord Jesus is given to us as a savior, then the benefit of the gift is very much on the part of the recipient, not so we're grateful to the Lord for him.

Whereas God's gift of us to Jesus, it is for the good of the gift that we are given into the care of the Lord Jesus. Imagine the scene. A child is given to the care of parents who are going to adopt him, not the natural parents therefore.

The gift therefore is a blessing because of the ones who will receive the gift. So we are given to the Lord Jesus Christ and the blessing is actually directed to the gift because we are placed in the care of such a wonderful custodian. When our Lord Jesus prays for his disciples and describes them, he refers to them as a gift well received.

And what's more? He calls them a charge, well taught. Look at verse seven. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.

For I gave them the words you gave me and they accept them. If you've got the authorized version, you'll find that the language actually flows on there. There's not a full stop.

And they knew with certainty that I came from you and they believe that you sent me. How does Jesus refer, describe those for whom he prays? As a gift well received, as a charge well taught. They knew about him.

They'd listened to what he had to say. It's interesting, isn't it? That when Jesus speaks of his disciples here, he speaks of them in the most approving fashion. They have obeyed your word, he says in verse six and the latter part.

And sometimes you perhaps are puzzled as you read that through and you appreciate that just a little hour, a little while after Jesus has been speaking to his disciples whom he's congratulating before the father, they flee away. They're frightened when he's arrested in the garden. Isn't it wonderful to think that when our Lord Jesus reflects upon his disciples, upon his children, the forefront of his mind are those positive features, not those inadequacies.

On one occasion, you remember in John's gospel, the sixth chapter towards the end, quite a lot of people left the Lord Jesus and he spins round to the disciples and he says, will you also go away? And Peter full marks to him and says, Lord, to whom shall we go? Only you have the words of eternal life. Now it's true that there were occasions when our Lord was let down by his disciples and in a little while, in a very dramatic way. But it's also true that more than anyone else, they listened to what he had to say.

They obeyed his commands at least in degree and as our Lord stands before the father in his description of them for whom he prays, he refers to them not only as a gift well received but also as a charge well taught. And indeed, of those who deserve special prayer, those who deserve special prayer, drop down to the ninth verse, I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me. It's not true to say that our Lord Jesus never prays for the world.

On one occasion, you remember when he's on the cross of Calvary, he prays for those who are not his. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. But there is a sense in which our Lord Jesus has at the forefront of his mind folk like ourselves, those for whom he has died.

In this case, those for whom he was going to die. Lord, I'm not praying for the world. I'm praying for these men who are listening to me as I engage in this piece of intercession.

Our savior is probably somewhere between the garden of Gethsemane and the upper room as he engages in this conversational prayer with the heavenly father and accompanying him, listening to him, perhaps mesmerized by his activity on none other than the disciples. So when our Lord Jesus prays for his own, he does so by describing them. Lord God, they're a gift from you to me and I gladly receive them.

They're a charge to me and I gladly taught them. They require my prayers especially and so I intercede on their behalf. Is that your conception of the Lord Jesus in that sort of mediatorial ministry that he has between the father and yourself? He appreciates who you are, a gift that he gladly receives.

He wants you to be taught increasingly about himself as he was teaching the disciples, the charge that has been well informed. He recognizes your strengths and your weaknesses and so he intercedes prayer that specially needs to be made for you. Thus is the description that our Lord brings of those for whom he engages in intercession and the reason for this concern of our Lord Jesus is heightened by the fact that ultimately in just a little while he's going to be taken from them.

Look at verse 11, I will remain in the world no longer. So following his description of them, he makes reference to his ascension from them, his ascension from them. I will remain in the world no longer but he's been trying to tell his disciples this for some time, hasn't he? It's fallen on deaf ears, they haven't fully comprehended.

He tells them in the second verse of the 14th chapter, having allayed their fears by affirming don't let your hearts be troubled, trust in God, trust also in me. In my father's house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you, I am going there, I'm going away from you. He tries to make the message very clear for them to understand.

You get more or less the same comment made in the 18th verse when he says in that 14th chapter, though he's going to leave them, he won't leave them as orphans, in a special sense when he's taken away from them, they will be doubly blessed because there will be a bonus as a result of some prayers that he is to offer. They didn't understand what he meant at that particular point, but they were to. You see, when we in our humanity have folk who once we knew very well, taken away from us, maybe they are in different churches, maybe they're separated from the miles, maybe God forgive us if this is the case, they're missionaries who are out on the foreign field and we haven't seen them for a long time.

Recollection tends to fade. You know the proverb, absence makes the heart grow fonder. No, the proverb I want is out of sight, out of mind.

That won't be the case for our Lord Jesus. Rather for him, the other proverb, which got in on first quoting then, absent when our Lord Jesus is, when our Lord Jesus thinks of ourselves, it's a question of absence makes the heart grow fonder. He's very concerned for his disciples.

And so when he makes reference to his ascension, that he is going away from them, he appreciates that there's even more cause therefore for him to pray on behalf of them. I am coming to you, Holy Father. And so what does he preface that particular comment by in that 11th verse? Well, by recognizing the relationship that he has with the Father and the fact that it's his relationship with the Father that has meant that he has received into his custody these disciples and many others who will ultimately follow him.

Verse 10, all I have is yours and all you have is mine. And the glory has come to me through them. As the authorized version puts it, all yours is mine and all mine is thine.

And now in one sense, you can follow our Lord Jesus in this, can't you? In as much as you could perhaps pledge everything that you have to the Father and say, all that I have is yours. But Jesus doesn't stop there. He says, all that you have is mine.

I really sometimes I'm so utterly puzzled by Jehovah's Witnesses and those who have less than an accurate understanding of the deity of Christ. How in the name of sanity could anyone make that sort of prayer without implying that they're equal with God? I can say, Lord, all I have is yours, but I don't have that much, relatively speaking. I can't say all that you have is mine.

Jesus can because he is of the essence of the Father. Mine, thine, Charles Spurgeon thinks of those two words as a bell that continues to chime. Mine, thine, you gave them to me.

These men for whom I'm praying, Peter with all his weaknesses, John, Thomas, the one who doubts, you've given them to me. And he's not only thinking of the men, he's thinking of the women, not just of the 11. He's thinking of the hundreds that his life has affected.

All were thine and you have given them to me. Therefore they are mine. Now, Father, I'm going away.

I'm coming back to you. It's most important, therefore, that we appreciate you and me, the responsibility that we have for these who I am leaving here when I return to yourself. So having given a description of those for whom he's praying, he makes reference to his ascension from them.

And he does so by prefacing his remark by underlining his relationship to the Father. And he follows that by his responsibilities to them. I am coming to you, Holy Father.

But they are still in the world. You see the point? I'm coming to you. But they, they will be left here in the world.

It's so necessary then, Heavenly Father, that as I contemplate my ascension, provision is made for the well-being of these who were yours that you have entrusted to me. You see, it could have been the case, could it not, that Jesus, immediately on his resurrection, took his disciples to heaven with him. I mean, after all, on the cross, the thief is there, you remember the one who's repentant, and he says, will you remember me when you come into your kingdom? And the Lord says, well, today you'll be with me in paradise.

And now I put it to you that it would have been easy within the compass of the divine nature of our Lord Jesus that having atoned for the sins of the world, he immediately transported his disciples to be with him. But that would not have fulfilled the purposes of God. He's going to be glorified in the lives of his disciples increasingly.

As the God of Jacob is glorified in the presence of Pharaoh, as Joseph stands before Pharaoh, and as the Israelites come down, and ultimately they take up lodging in the land of Goshen. So God will be glorified on this earth as those who have been given to the Son by the Father remain here and live out their life for his honor and for his glory. But when the Son in the sensitivity that is his considers being removed from this world, having given a description of those for whom he prays, having recognized the nearness of his ascension from them, he reminds the Father of the relationship that he has with the Father and of the responsibilities that he has for these who are his own.

And so he goes to what shall be our last point for this morning. He moves on to his intercessions. Verse 11b, his supplication for them.

Holy Father, he prays, protect them. Holy Father, keep them as one. He asks for their safety and for their solidarity.

While he was on the earth, he was looking after them as a good shepherd. He had his hand upon the sheep. Occasionally he used the staff.

He used his crook. He kept them in line, but he's gonna be removed from them. And so he says, Holy Father, speaking of the essential nature of the Father and the holiness that he wants his disciples to reproduce in their own lives.

Holy Father, protect them. There are many things that our Lord could have asked for his disciples from the Father in this high priestly prayer, but what he majors in upon are these two important requests. Secure them, Lord, keep them, watch over them.

When they first came into a relationship with me, they were untrained, untutored men. They have, as it were, touched the skirts of a Jew, the greatest Jew that ever there was, your son. They have learned from me.

And for three years, I have looked after them as a shepherd, the sheep, as a mother hen, a charge, but I'm coming to you. Holy Father, protect them. Isn't it marvelous that our Savior is so sensitive in the way that he prays for his own? He supplicates for their safety.

He prays for their solidarity. Holy Father, protect them by the part of your name, the name you gave me so that they may be one as we are. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe.

The little team, they hung in together while I was around. Now, it's so important that they remain united when I've gone because the whole of saving purposes, the divine program for the redemption of the world at the human level is going to be entrusted into their care and keeping. Father, protect them.

Let them hang in together. Let them remain united. I've not lost any, but the one who was doomed to destruction, Judas of Cariath, who had an evil spirit within him, when even he came into my ranks and therefore he is in no way an exception to the rule.

He was never one of mine. The ones who you gave me, I have kept them. Now, Lord, may they be kept safely.

May they be kept in unity. May they be kept securely when I have gone. So that's how I understand this particular passage of scripture, as Jesus prays for his own, his description of them.

He sees them and you and me as a gift well-received. He sees them and us as a charge well-taught. He sees them as deserving special prayer, his description of them, his ascension from them.

It causes him to underline his relationship with the Father. Thine they were and thou gavest them me. It causes him to underline the responsibilities that he has for them.

They're still in the world and I will have gone. That presses in upon him, therefore, to urge in his supplications for them, for their safety and for their solidarity. And what Jesus prayed 2,000 years ago, he's praying for you and for me right now.

Thanks be to God for such a compassionate, sensitive Savior. Let's sing his praise in what shall be the last hymn for this part of our service. 400 and 48.

400 and 48. Let's stand and sing. Let's stand and sing.

♪ Thine forever, Lord of all ♪ ♪ Here's to thy throne above ♪ ♪ Thine forever may we be ♪ ♪ Here in this dying sea ♪ ♪ Thine forever, Lord of all ♪ ♪ Here's to thy kingdom rest ♪ ♪ Savior, guardian, heavenly friend ♪ ♪ Holy and last to the end ♪ ♪ He is our great and trembling shield ♪ ♪ Savior, only in thy care ♪ ♪ Lead us, Lord, from earth to heaven ♪ Father, we thank you that amongst the innumerable company that you've given to the Lord Jesus, we find ourselves. We praise you that our Savior emphasizes before us our strengths rather than our weaknesses and provides the cover for all the defects and blemishes in our spiritual department. We're just asking, Father, that as he prays for us so we may pray for ourselves and pray faithfully for one another.

We thank you for this classic prayer. We thank you for the sensitivity that throbs into every verse. We just ask that you will grant to us a similar sensitivity to yourself, Holy Father, and to one another.

Keep us men and women schooled in the academy of prayer because we ask this for the sake of the man of Calvary whose blood was shed that we might be redeemed for the one of the empty tomb who was raised again in the power of an endless life that he might underline his authority to grant salvation. Father, we thank you again for Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior. Amen.