Take your Bibles and turn with
me now to the book of Luke. Luke chapter 6. I'd like to read one verse of
scripture. Luke chapter 6, verse 12. And it came to pass in those
days that he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night
in prayer to God. This is another verse of scripture
that I read just recently. And when I read that passage
of scripture, I thought to myself, I know that the glory of God
in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ is there. I know it is. Lord, teach it to me. John 17.3 says, this is life
eternal. that they might know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." Now I've
said before, and you know this, it's not to know that there is
a God. The devils know that. But to know God, and to know
the Lord Jesus Christ, means that there is an experiential
knowledge in that new heart whereby the believer knows the Father
to be my electing God, that He chose me. It's to know that the Lord Jesus
Christ, the redeeming God, is my redeemer. That's what Job
said. I know my Redeemer, my Redeemer
liveth. And it is to know that the quickening
God, the Holy Spirit, is my quickening God. It's to know Him. This is life eternal that they
might know thee. They know you to be their God. That's what he said. I will give
them a new heart and I will be their God. They'll be my people. And it's to know that Jesus Christ
is my Savior. Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. He's my mediator between God
and this redeemed, regenerated sinner. That's to know Him. He's my Savior. That's what Thomas said. Old
Doughton Thomas. The Lord appeared to him, remember,
after the resurrection. He showed himself to Thomas.
Here, Thomas. Look at my hands. Put your hand
right here. Put your finger right here in
my side. Feel it. What did Thomas say? My Lord
and my God. You're my Lord. I know that he
is the Lord, but this is life eternal. He's my Lord. He's my
God. Now in this blessed passage of
scripture, there is a revelation of who God is and who the Lord
Jesus Christ is to His people. This is life eternal, that they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou
hast sent. That is life eternal. And may the Spirit of God give
us this morning some light and some understanding into who He
is. to His people. And it came to pass. Now from those few words, five words, from those five words
let me tell you what God's people know. They know that the Lord
Jesus Christ is God. From those five words they know
this. And it came to pass. When the scripture reveals that
something comes to pass, it means caused to arrive. It came to pass. Then it had
already been determined beforehand. because the wording means it
is caused to arrive. Its time was not yet until now,
but now is the time. It came to pass. I know from
those words that everything that happens shall surely happen according
to God's determinate counsel. They slew the Lord Jesus Christ,
wanting to, But it was according to God's eternal counsel. God had purposed. And those Jews
that took him and turned him over to Pilate, Romans took him,
crucified him. They did exactly what they wanted
to do according to God's will, purpose. He came to pass. All
things were made by the Lord Jesus Christ. All things were
made by Him. All things were made for Him. And by Him, the scripture says,
all things consist. All power has given unto the
Son, that He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given Him." That's what the Lord prayed. All power. So He rules and reigns. David
said, God's in the heavens. He's done whatsoever He has pleased. So I know this, just reading
those words, and it came to pass. I know this, that He caused it
to come to pass. He was moving all things. Power. Causing everything. And here He is, the One who orders
all these things. Has brought about this particular
moment. He brought it about. And He brought
it about for His honor. And for His glory. And for His
praise and for the good of His people. Romans 8, 28. And we
know. that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are thee called according
to his purpose. And it came to pass. So I know
this, I know that he's God because the scripture reveals that he
was the one that caused it. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, for
unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the
government shall be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. It came to pass. He's God. He caused it to arrive. Whenever
he was out in the boat, his apostles with him, that raging sea, and
he got up and spoke to him, he said, peace, be still, be still. And scripture says there was
a calm. If scripture says there was a calm, I wouldn't have even
looked for a ripple. It was calm. The disciple says,
what manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey
him? I'll tell you what manner of
man this is. He's God. But the one we know as our Lord
and Savior, God Almighty, is truly man. He's truly man. Scripture says, and it came to
pass, now listen to this, that proves he's God. Someone says,
well, you're just stretching the truth. Well, I'll tell you
this. We don't give him the honor that
he's due. We read these blessed scriptures.
Let me ask you this. How else would it have come to
pass? Who else is running this show, Brother Scott, but ask?
Who's in control here? And it came to pass. You remember
Brother Scott said it always does. It always does. He's God. Now let me show you
that he's man. In those days he went out into
a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. You
know what I know? He's a man. He's a man. John 1.1. Oh, how many times
we've read these precious scriptures. John 1.1, in the beginning was
the Word. Now this is before He was made
flesh. Before He actually took upon Himself flesh, because I'm
going to read that in verse 14 in just a second. In the beginning
was the Word. He existed. He is the eternal,
existing One. He's God. I'll prove that to
you. He says He is. In the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. He's God. He's God. Verse 14,
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, The glory as the mediator, God-man, the Christ. The God-man
mediator. We beheld His glory. The glory
as of the only begotten of the Father. He's the only one begotten
of the Father. Full of grace and truth. Look at 1 John 1. 1 John 1, 1-3.
He is truly God, He is truly man. 1 John 1, 1-3 John says, that which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked upon, our hands have handled
of the word of life, for the life was manifested. You know
the Lord said in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and
the life, John says the life was manifested. And we've seen
it. And bear witness and show unto
you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested
unto us. That which we've seen and heard
declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and
truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son,
Jesus Christ. Look at 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy
3, verse 16. Precious passage of Scripture. 1 Timothy 3, verse 16. Without controversy. This ends it right here. This
is the truth right here. Without controversy. Great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh. Justified in the Spirit. When the Spirit of God descended
upon him at his baptism, John said, I saw the Spirit descend
upon him in the form of a dove. Justified in the Spirit. Seen of angels numerous times. Scripture declares the angels.
When he prayed, in the hour of his temptation, they came to
him after the devil had tempted him in the wilderness. When he was buried in the Garden
of Gethsemane, they came and ministered to him angels. Angels
rolled back the stone, angels spoke unto him. He said, those
that came, he's risen, he's not here. Why do you seek the living
among the dead? He's not here. He was seen of angels, preached
unto the Gentiles. Paul was the apostle sent to
the Gentiles. Believed on in the world, received
up unto the glory. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh. When the Lord of Glory spoke
with the woman at the well, He was talking to her concerning
her need. John chapter 4, John 4. 24. John 4, verse 24. The Lord says to her, God is
a spirit. And they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and truth. The woman saith unto Him, I know
that Messiah's cometh, which is called Christ. When He has
come, He will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee, I am. I am He. Our Lord is God and it came to
pass. Our Lord is man. He prayed. Now, concerning Him praying,
I want us to consider for just a few minutes. You can turn back
to Luke chapter 6 there. I want us to consider for just
a minute or two these truths. Let me ask you something. Let
me ask you a question. I want us to consider this. Did
he need to pray? Did he need to pray? Now, as
God No. No. He's God. He is the one to whom we pray. He's God. Now here's the great
mystery. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. But is Christ the anointed servant
of Jehovah? The one who voluntarily stood
as our surety eternally. He has eternally stood as our
surety. I will be the guarantee. I am the guarantor. I will make
good. According to this covenant, I'll
make good on it. As the one who submitted Himself
at the call of the Father, He by faith prayed for us. Look at Galatians 2.16. Now, you talk about thankful
when I read this passage of Scripture. Galatians 2.16. knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of, of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. And not by the works of the law
shall no flesh be justified. Now let me tell you what he was
doing right here. As our surety, as our representative,
as the one who is answering as our surety, the Lord Jesus Christ as the
man Christ Jesus. God, man, mediator. Not for himself, but for his
people. He went out into a mountain to
pray and continued all night in prayer to God. I read those
words and I know this. I have a need to pray. I have a
need to pray. My prayer, as weak and as feeble
as it is, wavering, doubting, sin is mixed with all I do. For me to consider praying for
an hour, an hour, The scripture says,
he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night
in prayer to God. And according to God's witness
to him, this is my beloved son, whom I'm well pleased. Not one
deviation. Sin was not found in him. Holy,
harmless Lamb of God. Never deviated. I can't even
try to pray without deviating a moment. He's the perfect man. God-man. And I'll tell you this,
though there's no record of the subject, of what he was saying,
and I never would even remotely try to speculate on what he was
saying, but I can with assuredness know that his prayer was not
for himself. I know it wasn't. Let me prove
that to you. Matthew 26, 39. Now I know this,
as God I know God doesn't change. So
I know this. He's not going to pray one thing
one place and then pray a different way another place. I know what
He did pray here. Matthew 26 verse 39. Listen to this. He's in the garden
before His crucifixion and He went a little further. and fell
on his face and prayed, saying, O my father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. I know this, that his prayer
was not for himself, but for the Father's will as the submissive
servant. Here is God humbled himself And
I know this concerning his prayer and found elsewhere in Luke 17
again. How often do I go back to this
chapter? I know this, he was praying for
his people. I know that. John 17 verse 9
says, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine. Verse
20 of John 17, Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also
which shall believe on Me through their word. I know this, He is
there as the representative of the sheep. He is there as the
Savior of His sheep. He is there praying for them. And by His faith, This, my brethren,
is the righteousness in which we're robed. His obedience. This obedience right here is
what robes the believer. This is the robe that we stand
before God accepted in the Beloved. Prayed. He prayed that they'd
be kept in this world, prayed for them to be sanctified and
taught through the hearing of the gospel, prayed for their
oneness with Himself and with each other, and finally prayed
for their eternal presence with Him. Father, I will that those
that You've given me be with me where I am. So here we can
Rest assured, he was praying for the Father's will for his
people. He came into this world to save
his people, save sinners, save his people. But I want us to
look, and just as I conclude here, I want you to look at these
following verses at what happened What was recorded next after
he prayed all night long? Prayed unto God. Here he was
submitting himself to his father on our behalf. He had no need. We had all need. Praying to God
for us as he intercedes for us. He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. And I want you to look what happened
the next day. Now you think about this. He prayed all night long,
Pat. All night long. And I want you
to look what was recorded next. And when it was day, He called
unto Him His disciples, and of them He chose twelve. Obviously
there was a bunch of them. There were more than twelve,
I know that. He called unto Him His disciples,
and of them He chose twelve. whom also he named apostles,
Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew, his brother, James
and John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, the son
of Alphaeus, Simon, named Xolites, Judas, the brother of James,
and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. He prayed all
night long. And the scripture revealed, when
it was day, he called his disciples together and chose out of them
his 12 apostles. You say, well, surely he wouldn't
have had to have prayed about that. The scripture gives us commandment. In 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 17-18,
pray without ceasing. In everything, in everything,
in everything, give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. Let me ask you this. Do I have
a need to pray for everything? Do I have a need for that? Obviously
the answer is yes. He did for his people what they
needed. What God commanded Christ performed. He prayed all night long and
the next morning got up Got up from praying, never said he went
to bed, he got up when it was day. He called all of his disciples
together and he chose out of them 12 apostles. Our Lord, even now, Hebrews chapter
9 verse 24 declares this. Christ is not entered into the
holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Making intercession for His people. Hebrews 12, 24 says, and to Jesus
the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling
that speaketh better things than that of Abel. That blood that
ever speaketh right now. Oh thanks be unto Him, and to
the glorious record that is given in God's Word. And it came to pass, he went into a mountain, God
in human flesh, and continued all night in prayer unto God. And when it was day, he called
his disciples together, and of them he chose out of them twelve
apostles. Lord, teach me. Help me to pray. Help me to seek. And let me ever remember that
as I behold the frailty of my flesh, and I know you that know
him do too. You know it in you. Let us always
remember that our prayers, the prayers of the saints, are offered
by Him through His merit, the incense of His merit unto the
throne of God. And our prayers as weak and feeble
and frail, the Spirit of God that helpeth us with groanings
that cannot be uttered, when we don't even know what to pray,
helpeth our infirmity. And God Almighty hears the miracle
of God's grace for Christ's sake. Hears our prayer and accepts
them in His merit. Here's the one praying for us
right now. Lord bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake.