THE LORD PRAYS FOR HIS OWN

JOHN 17:9-10

MARCH 16, 1997

 

It is an overwhelming feeling to know that people are praying for you.  When we face those situations of helplessness and need, there is a certain amount of comfort by the knowledge that you are not facing it alone; others are standing with you in prayer.  This hit home to me in a significant way during this week.  As you know, last Sunday I announced that Kevin and Edineia Millard and their children would be leaving Albania due to the tensions taking place in the country.  On Wednesday night I announced that I had received word from Kevin that they would be flying out of Tirana on Thursday afternoon in order to head to France and stay with the DeMeo's.  I was relieved that they were getting out before the trouble in Albania escalated into their city of Tirana.

 

All was going well, or so I thought.  When I got up on Thursday morning I felt impressed in an unusual way to pray for the Millards.  I continued praying and after getting to my study I received shocking news.  Neena Ashley from PRO Missions called and said very simply, "They can't get out!"  It seemed that the airport was closed due to shooting and all flights out were cancelled.  Kevin and his family were stuck in the midst of a national civil war.

 

I believe it was Oswald Chambers who said, "You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed."  Immediately, I prayed.  And I began passing word along to people via e-mail and phone calls.  People all over the U.S. and in other countries were praying for the Millards, their safety, and their evacuation.  There was a strong sense of comfort and encouragement in knowing that godly men and women across the globe were holding our dear friends before the Lord.

 

As wonderful as it was to have our friends and even strangers praying for this need, I found an even greater comfort.  It is precisely what is evident in our text.  I read and studied in between checking on the Millards and I found comfort in the great wonder that our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, prays for us.  Jesus Christ prays for His own!  What He prays will encompass the balance of this chapter.  But for now we must give consideration to why our Lord prays for us.  In grasping the why we will be left with the profound sense of adoration for our Lord.

 

Why does He pray for His own?

 

I.  Because of His relationship  

 

We could probably just make a blanket statement, "Jesus prays for us because He loves us," and that might suffice.  While that is true, it seems that with the casual use of the word "love" in our day, we might miss the depth of richness provided for us in the words of our text.  

 

I believe it is important to understand that the chief nature of prayer is relational.  By this I mean that because we have a relationship to God through Christ, we can commune with Him in prayer.  We pray based  upon the relationship we have with Christ and His righteousness as the ground of our prayers.  We are not just asking for things or offering our thanks for what God has done, we are strengthening and nurturing our relationship to God in prayer.  

 

The details of relationships affected our Lord as well.  We see His relationship to the Father expressed in this prayer, as well as His relationship to the redeemed.  The relationship is demonstrated as Jesus prays to the Father on behalf of His people.  It is important that we understand the dynamics found in this relationship.

 

1.  Showing unity in the Godhead

 

First, our Lord's prayer shows the unity found in the Godhead.  All of us would agree that there are things about the Trinity that somewhat mystifies us.  We do not grasp everything there is to know about the solitary God in Three Persons:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Three Persons of the Godhead are equal in power, glory, dignity, and strength.  Yet at the same time there is no division in them in terms of deity, essence or being.  In other words, we are not talking about three Gods, but One God who reveals Himself to us in Three distinct Persons.  Each member of the Godhead, however, has particular functions which He exercises in complete unity with the other members of the Godhead.  For instance, when it comes to our salvation, the Bible teaches that the Father ordains or chooses us, the Son mediates for us and redeems us, the Holy Spirit applies the work of redemption and bears witness to the Father's choosing and the Son's redeeming.  

 

When Jesus was praying, He was doing so as Man--man in dependence upon God.  God has no need to pray to God.  But Christ had laid aside His prerogatives as deity (Philippians 2:5-11) and as the perfect Man, He offered His prayers to the Father.  Yet in the words of His prayer we see that His appeal was not that of a sinner, like us, but as one who is equal to the Father.  His prayer expresses the great unity that is found in the Godhead.  Listen to His words carefully, "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine; and all things that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I have been glorified in them" [italics added].  

 

Now, consider what He said.  When referring to those for whom Jesus prayed, the redeemed, He stated that not only did they belong to Jesus Christ, but they also perfectly belonged to the Father.  But He continues in the next clause by stating that all things that belong to Christ or all things which Christ possesses are also possessed or belonging to the Father; and vice versa.  All that the Father has, owns, possesses, and is, that too belongs to Jesus Christ.

 

Can you make that same assertion?  Surely all that we have belongs to the Lord, but certainly, all that God has and is does not belong to us!  We cannot make such a claim unless we want to be guilty of lying and blasphemy!  But that was not the case with Jesus Christ.  He prayed as a Man, yet at the same time He is also God.  And He is not a lesser-God than the Father.  He is not in any way inferior to the Father.  There are no attributes the Father has which the Son does not have.  There are no powers which the Father possesses which the Son does not possess.  There is no glory which the Father contains that is not also clearly in the Son.  All that God was, is, and shall be, He was, is, and shall be in Jesus Christ!

 

So we see the unity between the Father and the Son in this prayer.  Jesus was not asking something that would be contrary to the will of the Father.  That is why I can assert that the very essence of the will of God for your life is found in this prayer.  All that Jesus Christ prayed fully accorded with the will of the Father.  If you want to know how to live the Christian life and what things ought to be priority for you in living for Christ, then study in John 17 what Jesus prayed concerning His people.  Jesus prayed to the Father because of the unity in their relationship.  He prayed for us because that was the good pleasure of the Father for His Son, the Mediator.

 

2.  Revealing uniqueness in relationship

 

Second, there is another relationship that comes into the picture of this prayer.  It is the relationship which Jesus Christ has with the redeemed.  There is a profound assertion our Lord makes that should encourage each believer and bring every unbeliever to his knees.  "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me" [italics added].  Jesus Christ does not pray for those who do not belong to Him, at least not in His prayers of mediation.  Other than His merciful prayer at the cross, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing," all the prayers of Jesus are focused upon the ones He redeems.  The world, that whole system of personalities, philosophies, attitudes, and practices that are against God and His will, has no part in His prayers of mediation.  Jesus' concern is for those for whom He has died to redeem.

 

Again, I would point out that the balance of this prayer in John 17 deals with the specifics of what Jesus is asking on behalf of the redeemed.  At this point we are seeing the clarifications of why He asks on our behalf and for whom He makes requests.  It is for those whom He died that He also intercedes.  He states emphatically, that His prayer is not "on behalf of the world."  There is an important corollary, that those for whom Jesus died, He also prays; and those for whom He prays, Jesus also died.  His death was specifically for those whom God purposed to redeem before the foundations of the world.  His blood was not shed carelessly or in a wasted manner, but every drop of His atoning blood was applied to specific sinners to redeem them from the curse of sin and remove their enmity with God.  There is no one to whom the blood of Christ has been applied that is not part of the redeemed of the Lord.  George Newton, a Puritan preacher of the 17th century, shows the stress laid by these words upon the doctrine of particular redemption [or limited atonement].

...is it a likely thing that Christ should die for those for whom he will not pray?  That he should offer up himself a sacrifice for those for whom he will not intercede?  That he should spend his blood for those for whom he will not spend his breath?  That he should give his life for those for whom he will not give his word?  Will he do that which is abundantly the greater for them, and then refuse to do the less?  [George Newton on John 17, 177].


But do not all people belong to the Lord by right of His creation?  Yes, indeed, but the words of our text point to an even more specific and special relationship.  It is the relationship that has been effected by redemption.  It is those "whom Thou hast given Me" (v. 9) and for whom Jesus has given eternal life (v. 3).  And who are they?  They are the ones who have "draw[n] near to God through Him."  "Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" [italics added, Hebrews 7:25].  Jesus intercedes for those who have drawn near to God through Him.  That is simply coming to God savingly through the merits of Jesus Christ.  It is a relationship of faith in Christ, depending upon His merits alone, that brings the sinner to God.  Those for whom Jesus died, He will also save.  And those whom He saves, He will also continually intercede.  It is all a matter of relationship.

 

II.  Because of  His stewardship

 

Our Lord takes seriously His divine offices on our behalf.  We've all been distraught when hearing about those in political offices who fail to discharge their duties.  Some of the trouble that has occurred in Albania has been the result of a dereliction of duties by the President of the country and his chief officers.  But there is never a lack of faithfulness by our Lord in His stewardship to the holy offices which He has received from the Father.  As our Prophet, Priest, and King, Jesus Christ is ever faithful.  As the One who sanctifies us, along with the Holy Spirit, and glorifies us, He exercises His divine offices in faithfulness.  He is ever conscious and on-duty for those "whom Thou hast given Me."

 

I use the word stewardship quite intentionally.  Jim addressed this idea on Wednesday night when he spoke on the subject of church membership and giving.  We are to be stewards of all God has entrusted to us, that is, we are to faithfully manage and utilize everything in life with a consciousness that all belongs to God and must be used for His glory.  In much the same way, we are reminded by this text that the Father has entrusted the elect to the Son for the faithful exercise of His duties.  Apart from Jesus Christ's faithfulness in every way, we have no hope nor future.

 

So, why does Jesus pray for His own?  He is a faithful steward over the household of God...

 

1.  As Mediator

 

We have already noted that this prayer is chiefly mediatorial.  It expresses the truth that Jesus Christ has "accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do" (v. 4).  That statement refers to the specific work of Jesus Christ dying on behalf of sinners to atone for their sins, to satisfy God's righteousness and justice, and to take away the enmity between God and man.  Jesus Christ appeared in the heavens for us, before the throne of the Almighty, and offered His own blood to satisfy all of the demands of God.  As High Priest, Jesus both offered the sacrifice and became the sacrifice for sinners.

 

Paul reminds us, "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time" (I Tim. 2:5-6).  We cannot mediate for ourselves because we are not qualified to do so before the throne of God.  Even Aaron and his sons had to offer sacrifices for their own sins before they could appear before God on behalf of the people.  But Jesus Christ appeared once for all, offering one sacrifice for sins for all time, and sat down at the right hand of the Father, having completed [accomplished!] the work the Father sent Him to do [Heb. 10:10-12].

 

So when we desire to appear before the Father, we do so through the work of our Mediator, Jesus Christ.  What right do you and I have to approach the throne of God?  What right, with all of our sinfulness and rebellion, do we have to dare ask God for the needs of our lives or even dare to offer worship to His holy name?  That right comes through our Mediator who pleads His own righteousness and blood on our behalf before the Throne.  "He always lives to make intercession for them," the writer of Hebrews tells us (Heb. 7:25).  The reminder of the work of Christ is ever before the Father when we, as sinners, approach the Throne.  We are to come boldly before the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16; 10:19-21).  We have a new confidence due to our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, who faithfully serves as our Mediator.  He prays for us because He remains our High Priest:  "since we have a great priest over the house of God..." (Heb. 10:21).

 

2.  As Sanctifier

 

We will notice as we study the remainder of John 17 that our Lord addresses the whole subject of sanctification.  This is a very important word for us to remember.  Though it differs in function from justification, it is inextricably linked with justification.  Some have the mistaken notion that you can be justified or declared righteous before God, but not be sanctified as well.  That is something that you decide to do later or perhaps opt not to do.  Such teaching is foreign to the teaching of God's Word!  He who justifies us also sanctifies us. "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption" (I Cor. 1:30).  Sanctification is that ongoing process by which we are purified and made holy in our actual practice.  It begins when the work of justification has been applied to our lives.  Jesus Christ "became...sanctification" to us.   It continues whether we desire it or not!  And if we are a true believer we will certainly desire it (I John 2:3-6; 3:1-10).

 

I believe that one of Paul's comments to Titus frames this truth with clarity. 

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed [hence, justification] and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds [hence, sanctification].  (Titus 2:11-14)


Notice that with the salvation comes immediately those changes in character, attitudes, and actions.  Then coupled with the work of Jesus Christ is both His work of redemption and His purifying us or sanctifying us.  To come to faith in Jesus Christ is to receive the benefit of His work as Sanctifier.  Certainly, the Holy Spirit continues this work, just as He applies the work of redemption.  But it is no less a work of Jesus Christ and a provision contained in redemption.

 

And so we see Christ praying on behalf of His own.  He prays particularly for this work of sanctification to continue, for all that He has done within us to be manifest in its magnificence.  "He that began a good work in you will continue it to the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).  Our Lord intercedes for us as a good steward of His atoning work.  He does not save us to drop us.  We are hearing plenty of complaints these days about the poor follow-up that churches are doing with their converts.  My brethren, when Jesus Christ saves someone He also follows up on them--that is sanctification!  This certainly does not mean we have no responsibility as a church.  We are involved in this work.  But you can be sure that our Lord does not throw away His redeeming work in someone's life.  Such is the nature of our great High Priest in His stewardship.

 

3.  As Glorifier

 

Our Lord prays for us for He has yet more that He purposes to accomplish in our lives.  The day will come when we will be glorified before the Lord with all the saints in heaven.  We will be removed from the presence of sin and understand fully the power of the cross and resurrection over sin.  All of the radiant glory of Christ's redemptive work will shine forth through us as displays of His grace.  He will be glorified by glorifying us.

 

It is interesting that Jesus views this glorifying as not just a future tense experience, but something that is at the same time a present reality.  "And the glory which thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one" (John 17:22).  There is something about this glory of Christ, the essence of His being, the majesty of His divine Personhood, that He has given to us.  

 

This can best be seen by noting the last phrase of our text, "And I have been glorified in them."

 

III.  Because of His workmanship

 

Yes, He glorifies us; but because of what He has done in us, He is glorified in us as believers.  The key to understanding this is recognizing that we belong to Christ and consequently to the Father.  Since we belong to the Father and Son, our Lord works in us so that His glory might be displayed through us.  We might say that He has a "major investment" in us, so He continually intercedes for us that His glory might be shown through us.

 

When I visit the local high school, I notice that there are various displays of the worth and glory of the school.  There are trophies that describe various accomplishments in academics, sports, and music.  There are banners hung in the rafters of the gymnasium that proclaim the same worth and glory due to accomplishments.  You might say that the trophies and banners announce the glory and worth of a school.

 

When the blood of Jesus Christ is applied to the account of a sinner, that sinner becomes a trophy and banner to proclaim the worth and glory of our great God who has shown forth grace and mercy to us.  We become displays of what Christ has done.  Paul expressed this same idea very clearly in the epistle to the Ephesians.

 

"For we are His workmanship [lit. 'work of art'], created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).  Right after the much-quoted passage concerning being saved by grace through faith, the apostle reminds us that we are the workmanship, the handiwork of God through Christ.  All of the changes brought to bear upon us, all of the difference in our affections, all of the transformation in our attititudes and interests is due solely to the work of God in our lives.  The apostle even goes so far as to tell us that the angels learn about the great glory and wisdom of God by seeing Christ's glory in us:  "...in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places" [italics added, Eph. 3:10].  All the glorious things God has done in redemption are reflected in a brilliant display of glory through the redeemed.

 

I agree with Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who stated, "We are meant to be a living proof of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ has finished the work which his Father sent him to do" [Safe in the World, 94].  He does this both internally and externally.

 

1.  Internally

 

How is Christ glorified in us?  He is glorified by accomplishing what the Father purposed Him to do in the elect.  He came to save a people for Himself, who would be zealous for good works.  He would be "the first-born among many brethren."  But the natural tendency in all of us is not to live for God nor serve God nor discipline ourselves for godliness but rather to live for ourselves.  So, in order to display His glory in us, our Lord had to change each of us from the inside-out.  Jesus Christ did not just come to deal with the symptoms of our sinful lives, but to address the root cause of our sin with His mighty, redemptive power.

 

We must have the enmity removed between us and God.  That enmity causes a constant sense of condemnation before the Law of God.  We tremble to think that we will face the severity of divine judgment.  But in Christ, the enmity is taken away and we are no longer under condemnation!

 

We must have a new nature because our natural man is corrupt in affections and desires.  So, in Christ we are made new creatures, so that the old things, the old patterns of our lives, the old affections and idolatries, are passed away.  We live in a constant sense of newness.  Every morning when we awaken, we are refreshed by that sense that we are no longer the same person, but are new in Christ.

 

Consequently, our desires are affected.  We begin to love the things of God, love the Word of God, love obedience.  What had been obnoxious to us before concerning the Christian life, now becomes our great delight.  All of these things are happening to us internally.  A work is going on in our lives that can only be explained in terms of the mighty work of God in Christ.  It is a "display of the fullness of God, the glory of Christ is the manifestation of what Christ is" [Marcus Rainsford, Our Lord Prays for His Own, 164].  Jesus Christ is revealed in us as our Prophet, Priest, and King.

 

Do you know the reality of this mighty work of God within you?  Can you say with Paul, "...but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day?" (II Cor. 4:16)

 

2.  Externally

 

But the internal work does not go into hiding.  From the internal work we find the glory of Christ being displayed externally so that Christ is evident in us.  When you consider this it has to overwhelm you!  To think that we who are so undeserving are brought into such a relationship with God through Christ that the glory of Christ radiates through us, that is...glory!  There is a very distinct reason for such glory to be displayed and that is so the world about us might see for themselves a testimony of God's work in Christ.

 

I would point out to you that while Christ is working in us, we are not just to be sitting there like the proverbial 'bump on the log'.  As He works in us, then we are responding by actions, attitudes, and affections that display the grace of God.  Even our countenance gives tribute to His gracious, saving work.

 

We would all agree that if an angel manifests the glory of God that is a very natural thing.  When the angels appeared at the empty tomb of our Lord and gave testimony to the resurrection, the gospel writers record that they were in "dazzling apparel."  There was a radiance and a glory that shown through them.  But we expect this because they are angels.

 

But we do not expect such glory to shine through sinful men!  Yet our Lord declared, "And I have been glorified in them."  These poor vessels of clay, dead in trespasses and sins, sons of Adam, imprisoned by sin, bound by spiritual darkness and deadness,...these very ones are now liberated in Jesus Christ so that He has been glorified in them!  Do you see the contrast?  An angel who dwells in the presence of the Almighty in heaven is supposed to be radiant.  But there is an ever greater reflection of glory when it shines through the weakness of our flesh.  

 

If a jeweler wants to display the brilliance and beauty of a diamond to you, he does not put it against the backdrop of a white cloth.  Instead, he places the diamond on a black velvet cloth so that against the dark backdrop you can see every hue of the diamond's glory.  God has displayed the glory of His Son against the backdrop of our humanity!

 

Now there is a very practical side to this matter of externally displaying the glory of Christ.  To be sure, you cannot work up His glory.  If the Lord has not done a saving work internally, there surely cannot be an outward display of His glory to the world.  But if He has done such a work in you, you can rest assured that He desires to show forth the brilliance and beauty of His holy life through you.  So, what are you to do in relationship to this display of His glory?  Lloyd-Jones has written, "Our business is to manifest, to make a display of, the glories and the power of our Lord Jesus Christ" [81].  While He is at work internally, we are not to be passive.  We are to actively seek to manifest this glory through our trust, obedience, service, and faithfulness.  Let me mention just a few ways that we can glorify our Lord in our daily lives.

 

We glorify Him by believing Him and by recognizing His glory.  We are to give ourselves to knowing Christ in His fulness, to understanding all that the Word of God teaches concerning Him.  We are to believe His promises and to live as those who have a Redeemer.  We are to see His wisdom and power in salvation, expressing our praise and offering our worship for what He has done for us.

 

We glorify Him by acknowledging that Jesus Christ is everything to us, that there are no rivals when it comes to our affections for Him and our love for Him.  It is tragic that so many people who profess to know Christ live as though He has little place in their lives.  They show more affection for the world and the pleasures it offers than for the Lord Jesus.  Look at your desires, your affections, your longings.  Are they for Jesus Christ or for the world?  Glorify Him by casting aside every ill-placed longing and give yourself to adoring Him.

 

We glorify Him by telling others Who He is and What He has done.  The world about us needs to know Christ.  We are the ambassadors God has sent into the world to tell them of our great Redeemer.  The world does not understand Christ.  The whole idea of the cross is senseless and maybe even silly to the world.  So we must proclaim with passion the glories of Jesus Christ and His saving work, so that sinners might be brought out of darkness and into the light through Christ.

 

We glorify Him by living in such a way that Jesus Christ alone is the explanation of our lives.  We set our minds to living out the demands of disciples by the strength of the Holy Spirit.  We seek to know what pleases Christ and we give ourselves to it without reservation.

 

Conclusion

 

Because we are in relationship to Christ, because He has a stewardship over us, because we are His workmanship, He prays for His own.  By that same token, because we are in relationship to Christ, because He has faithfully exercised stewardship over us, and because He has worked His glory in us, we must never satisfy ourselves with anything less than seeking to live to the glory of Jesus Christ.  I remind you that you do not exist for yourself.  You are in this world for the glory of Christ.  Live like it, my friend.  And you can, for He prays for you.

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