4. JESUS PETITIONS OUR PRAYER TO THE FATHER

Our Lord Jesus pleads for His own people. When He puts on His priestly breastplate, it is for the tribes whose names are there. When He presents the atoning Sacrifice, it is for Israel whom God has chosen, and He utters this great Truth of God, which some regard as narrow, but which we adore, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world.” The point to which I want to call attention is this—the reason why Christ prays not for the world, but for His people. He puts it, “For they are Yours,” as if they were all the dearer to Him because they were the Father’s—“I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which You have given Me, for they are Yours.” We might have half thought that Jesus would have said, “They are Mine and, therefore, I pray for them.” It would have been true, but there would not have been the beauty of Truth about it which we have here. He loves us all the better and He prays for us all the more fervently because we are the Father’s. Such is His love to His Father, that our being the Father’s sheds upon us an extra halo of beauty!

Because we belong to the Father, therefore does the Saviour plead for us with all the greater earnestness at the Throne of the heavenly Grace. But this leads us on to remember that our Lord had undertaken suretyship engagements on account of His people— He undertook to preserve the Father’s gift—“Those that You gave Me, I have kept, and none of them is lost.” He looked upon the sheep of His pasture as belonging to His Father and the Father had put them into His charge, saying to Him, “Of Your hand will I require them.”

As Jacob kept his uncle’s flocks—by day the heat devoured him and at night the frost—but he was more careful over them because they were Laban’s than if they had been his own. He was to give an account of all the sheep committed to him and he did so—and he lost none of Laban’s sheep. His care over them was partly accounted for by the fact that they did not belong to himself, but belonged to his uncle, Laban. Understand this twofold reason, then, for Christ’s pastoral prayer for His people.

He first prays for them because they belong to the Father and, therefore, have a peculiar value in His eyes. And next, because they belong to the Father, He is under suretyship engagements to deliver them all to the Father in that Last Great Day when the sheep shall pass under the rod of Him that counts them. Now you see where I am bringing you, tonight. I am not going to preach, at this time, to the world any more than Christ, upon this occasion, prayed for the world, but I am going to preach to His own people as He, in this intercessory prayer, pleaded for them. I trust that they will all follow me, step by step, through this great theme, and I pray the Lord that, in these deep central Truths of the Gospel, we may find real refreshment for our souls

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This Article is by Peter Collins – In a sales career spanning more than 53 years, Peter Collins has focused on helping and bringing out the best in others – whether it involves training or mentoring salespeople, managers, business consulting to SME’s. Since the 1970’s Peter has built a reputation as a Nationally and Internationally Published author, and has 68 business books to his credit, but he is mainly known for one book based on the Audio Tape series of the same name, Over 50 Ways of Closing the Sale. Peter had his first book published in 1969 and now has over 133 books in all, including Business, Marketing, Sales, Free Publicity, Body Language, Music and over 30 Christian books to date. Peters books have sold over 2.5 Million copies of his books over 49 years. In his personal life, Peter has been sought after as an encourager and motivator that has given of his time and talents freely despite his busy schedule. Subsequently, he has assisted churches, pastors, community and charity groups, as well as individuals through his teaching, training, development and on-going mentoring.

4. Jesus Petitions Our Prayer to the Father

4. JESUS PETITIONS OUR PRAYER TO THE FATHER

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