That's such a good illustration
of Isaiah 43. The Lord said, I have redeemed
thee. I've called thee by name. Thou
art mine. When you pass through the fire,
it won't burn you. It won't kindle upon you. And
it's just what those three men understood, that even if the
Lord's not pleased to deliver us out of this fire, this fire's
not going to hurt us. And the Lord's able to make it
so not even a hair of your head will be singed, if He's pleased. But that's how unhurt you will
be spiritually, because He's redeemed His people. Now let's
go to John 11. I just want to look at two verses,
John 11, verse 41 and 42. Then they took away the stall
from the place where the bed was laid. And Jesus lifted up
his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest
me always. But because of the people which
stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent
me." The Lord Jesus is the intercessor between God and his people. Intercessor,
it just means that he prays for his people. He's the advocate
and the intercessor for his people, who petitions God on behalf of
his people. Here he stands. between God the
Father and Lazarus, who's in a tomb. He stands between God
the Father and Mary and Martha and the other elect Jews there,
and he's praying to the Father on their behalf. This is an example
of intercession. He lifted up his eyes and said,
Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me. And I knew that
Thou hearest me always. That's the word that caught my
attention. Thou hearest me always, always. And when it says Thou hearest
me always, it means the Father hears him always and gives him
his petition always. That's what it means when it
says, thou hearest me always. He always hears the Lord and
he always gives him his petition. Of course, our Lord never used
hyperbole. He never exaggerated in anything
that he said. He said back in John 8, 29, He
that sent me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone,
for I do always those things that please him. Our Lord Jesus
Christ, the God-man, is the only one who could say, I always do
those things that please the Father. And here he says, the
Father hears him always. The Father hears him always. Now, David was used to pen this
psalm, but Peter tells us in Acts 2 that David was writing
concerning Christ. And here's what the Lord said,
I foresaw the Lord always before my face. That's Christ speaking,
and he's speaking about when he walked this earth and the
Father, seeing the Father. foresaw the Lord always before
my face. For he is on my right hand that
I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice
and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh shall
rest in hope because thou will not leave my soul in hell, in
the grave, neither will thou suffer that holy one to seek
corruption. Now here you have in our text
a man who's in the grave, one of Christ's people is in the
grave, buried. And here you have Christ who
always did that which pleased the Father. And the Father was
always before His face. And He's always before the Father's
face. And He always did that which
pleased the Father. And here He is interceding on
behalf of this man who's in the tomb saying, And he says, the
Father always hears me. Father, I knew that thou hearest
me always. Now brethren, that was so when
he walked this earth, and that's so right now in heaven. The Lord
Jesus Christ is at God's right hand. He always beholds the Father's
face and the Father always beholds His face. And the Father beholds
His people in the face of Christ. He looks to Christ and sees His
people righteous. Christ is our righteousness. That's how the Father beholds
His people, in Christ our righteousness. And our Lord Jesus right now,
he pleases the Father in all things. The Father is pleased
with his person and his work. He's pleased with all the work
he finished in accomplishing the redemption of his people.
He's pleased with the work Christ accomplished in declaring God
just and justifying his people. And he is pleased with the work
Christ is doing in the midst of his church right now as the
head of the church. The Father is pleased with His
Son, always. And for that reason, the Father
always hears Christ's intercession. And Christ is always interceding
on behalf of His people. He's there between God the Father
and his people, interceding between us. And therefore the scripture
says, he's able also to save them to the uttermost that come
unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them. He's alive and He's at God's
right hand, ever living to make intercession for those He shall
cause to come to God by Him. Now our text declares why He
prayed out loud. Why did He say this? Here's why. Verse 42, He said, Because of
the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that
Thou hast sent Me. Now if there are any standing
by who do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray the
Lord would use this passage, use this word that He's given
here to cause us to believe on Him. And for those who do believe
on Him, I pray this might be a comfort and an encouragement
to always pray to the Lord, knowing He always intercedes for us and
the Father always hears Him. Our subject is Heard Always. Christ, our high priest, intercedes. He prays for his people to the
Father, and the Father always hears and gives him his petition. I want to look first of all,
say a few words about Christ being our intercessor. And then
secondly, take a few observations from the passage here, some things
we see, and then a few words for us to remember. Now the Lord
Jesus Christ is the intercessor between God and his people. That's
what he's doing right here in our text. That's what he's doing.
He is praying to the Father for Lazarus and for Mary and for
Martha and for his elect there. And really, he's doing it for
you and me right here because he recorded it so we could believe. The high priest under the old
covenant, remember how there was a high priest under the old
covenant? He represented the children of
Israel. That's who he represented. There
was a lot of nations. He represented the children of
Israel. And that high priest interceded
for the children of Israel. He went in to the holiest of
holies, he went in once a year, he went in with the blood of
a lamb, and only the high priest could enter. And he sprinkled
the blood on the mercy seat to make atonement until the next
year. That pictured Christ. The Lord
Jesus Christ has entered the holiest of holies into the presence
of the Father, not with the blood of a bull and a goat, but with
his own blood. He has redeemed his people. God's pleased with
him. He's entered in. He's entered
in. Not once every year, he's done
it once. In the end of the world, he accomplished
the work and he's entered in to intercede on behalf of his
people. Now, there was no place for that
high priest to sit down because his work was never finished.
Christ sat down at God's right hand because the work is finished. But he is ever living to intercede
for his people. Christ was called to this office
of high priest from eternity. from eternity, he's always been
on the holy hill of God. God is always, he's the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. He's the high priest
from the foundation of the world. He's the king of kings from the
foundation of the world. Our Lord said to him, the Father
said to Christ, ask of me, ask of me, and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. They were the father's elect,
the father chosen by his sovereign free grace. And he said to his
son, ask of me and I will give them to you. Christ said, my father always
hears me. That means he always gives me
what I ask. Well, look at John 17, 6. Obviously,
our Lord asked for his people. John 17, 6, he says, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine
they were, and thou gavest them me. And they've kept that word.
They were the fathers. The father said, ask of me, I'll
give them to you. Christ said, and you gave them
to me. Our Lord said, you always hear me. He always answers. He always gives the Son what
He asked for. Now, is there anybody who thinks
they're too great a sinner to come to Christ and be saved by
Christ? Anybody who thinks they're too great a sinner? Listen to
what the Father said. I will divide him a portion with
the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with the strong,
because he had poured out his soul unto death. He was numbered
with the transgressors, and he made intercession for the transgressors,
and he bared the sin of many. He was numbered with the transgressors,
he bared the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. If anybody thinks they're too
great a sinner to come to Christ, there were people at the foot
of that cross participating in his crucifixion, and he interceded
for them. He said, Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do. How do you know that's who He
was interceding for? Because in John 17, in verse
9, He said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine. And He
always is heard by the Father. The Father heard Him. And the
Father from eternity gave him these people, his people, and
Christ has been interceding for us with the Father from eternity,
and he interceded for us when he walked this earth, and he's
interceding for his people now from glory. He pleases the Father
in that he makes intercession for his transgressing people.
He intercedes with the Father. You think about it. The only
reason God didn't destroy the world with Adam's sin, why? Christ
interceded for us. He stood there as our surety,
interceding for his people. The only reason he didn't destroy
you and me when we came from our mother's womb, sinners speaking
lies, Christ was interceding for us. Why didn't we die time
and time again as we went through this world when we didn't know
him, interceding for us. Why did Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego not die in that furnace? Christ interceded for them. He
always receives from the Father what he asked for, and the Father
always, always, always gives him his petition. He always hears
him. Every blessing that we have,
every blessing we have, And you name it, you name it. Spiritual,
temporal, every blessing we have is because of Christ asking on
behalf of his people and the Father giving him his petition.
Everything. He was a king, he was a priest
from the beginning. And do you remember Melchizedek?
Melchizedek is an illustration. A lot of people think Melchizedek
was Christ and he very well could have been. a pre-incarnate appearance
of our Lord. But he met Abraham, and he prayed
for Abraham to be blessed of the Most High God, and he was. That's Christ. That's Christ.
Christ intercedes that his people are blessed of the Most High
God, and that's why his people shall be blessed, because he
intercedes for us. He always hears Christ. Christ
has been the righteousness of His people before He ever even
came into this world. And the Lord has accepted us
in the Beloved, and He's heard Christ on our behalf, and He
looks to Christ our righteousness, and it's for His sake that He
answers His petition, giving us what Christ petitions our
Father for. He is our intercessor. Everything
we have is due to his intercession. Now let me give you a few observations
from this text. Now look at John 11 and look
at verse 40. It says, And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said,
Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. Now, the Lord
Jesus thanked the Father. He thanked the Father. He raised
Lazarus by his own will, by his own power. He's the Son of God. He's the God-man, the God in
human flesh. He raised Lazarus by his own
power. He said at the very beginning,
I go that I may awake him out of sleep. But our Lord shows
here by thanking the Father that his will and his power and the
Father's will and power are one. They're of one will and one power.
That's why he was thanking the Father. He's making this known
to everybody standing by, and to you and me, that their will
are one. Back in John 5, look there with
me, John 5, and look at verse 19. The Lord answered and said to
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of
himself but what he seeth the Father do. For what things soever
he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. And he's simply
declaring there that his will and his power is one with God
the Father's will and God the Father's power. They're one God. And the Lord's showing here he's
the servant of God. He came down, he took the form
of a servant. So he's asking God, petitioning
God as the mediator in that position of a servant, bowing to the Lord
and asking the Lord. When you see there, when you
see him pray to the Father, and you see him speak and say, Lazarus,
come forth, and Lazarus comes forth, and he's thanking the
Father for doing this, he said he prayed this so that those
that stood by would believe that he was sin of the Father. That's
why he's praying out loud to the Father, so that we know God
the Father really sent him. He's really the Christ. He's
really the savior. He's the king. He's the high
priest. He's the intercessor. He's the
advocate. He's the prophet of his people. He's the resurrection and the
life of his people. He is who he claimed to be. And he's teaching us here by
this, showing us by this, to believe on him. And that was
the result by his grace, many believed on him. Believe on him. Trust the Lord and you shall
see his glory. Believe on him and you shall
see his glory. You shall see his glory. And
notice here, even before he raised Lazarus, before he ever raised
him, he thanked the Father. The miracle hadn't even been
done yet, and he thanked the Father. For you and I who believe,
we should be continually thanking the Lord as we're asking him
for things that he hasn't even done for us yet. Because if it's
his will, he will do those things and we have so many, everything
to thank him for. Every situation we're in, everything
he's brought to pass in our lives, everything that he's worked for
us in salvation, everything he's worked for us across the board,
we have to thank him for. Paul said, in everything give
thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. Now here's something else that
got my attention. Not only that he said the Father hears him
always, but this got my attention too. Christ prayed, Father, I
thank thee that thou hast heard me. You have, you've already
heard me. Now, we don't read in this passage
of our Lord praying out loud except for right here. But obviously,
he had been praying to the Father the whole time before this. Because he said, you have heard
me. You have heard me. What we do see here more than
once is we see our Lord groaned within himself. He troubled,
he was troubled within himself. He groaned within himself. Now
I've talked to people over the past month and about this passage
and heard all these different things about why he groaned and
what he was weeping for and all these different things. But this
right here really, really, it really comforted me and I pray
it will for you too. And I've never seen this before.
This is a good example of Romans chapter 8. Turn there with me,
Romans chapter 8. Christ needed no intercessor,
as we do. He is the intercessor. The Spirit
of God was upon Him without measure, but He was a man touched with
all the feeling of our infirmities. But he was praying, he was praying
because of his ability to pray and his power to pray and to
intercede as our intercessor. But I want you to see here, when
I read this, you can put the Lord Jesus here to get an idea
of what he was doing in our text. because the Spirit and the Lord
Jesus are one, the Son of God and the Spirit are one. But listen
to this, Romans 8, 26. The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities,
for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the
Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God. That's what Christ
was doing in this passage for his elect in that setting. In
our text, Christ groaned within himself. He needed no intercessor
but he troubled himself over their trouble. He was touched
with their trouble and he was interceding with the father for
Lazarus and Mary and Martha and his other elect that were there.
That's what he was doing. Now the Spirit helped with our
infirmities. The Spirit's working within us.
I'm not looking at that when I see, I'm looking at Christ
being outside of us. He's standing there outside of
them in that passage, but he was helping their infirmities.
He was. They were overcome by their infirmities. Mary and Martha were weeping.
They were wavering back and forth between faith and unbelief. There
was a lot of sin in what they were doing right there. And that's
all infirmities right there. And he's helping their infirmities.
They didn't have any strength. They didn't have any strength.
Have you ever been where your heart is just crushed and you
don't have any strength? You just can't, you can't do
anything but groan. And we see our Lord here standing
here now and he's groaning. He's groaning and he's helping
their infirmities. He's helping their infirmities.
It says, we know not what we should pray for as we ought.
Mary and Martha and those other elects, they didn't know what
God's will was in this passage, in this setting with Lazarus. They didn't know what Christ
would do. But Christ did. He did. They didn't know what
to pray for as they ought. And their infirmities were great,
but Christ knew what to pray for as he ought. And he knew
how to help their infirmities. That's what he was doing in this
text. He's groaning and he's interceding on their behalf.
This is an example of what the Spirit does within his people
when we're so weak and can't lift up our head. We see why
we need Christ to intercede for us. We see why we need the Spirit
to make intercession for us. You think about this. You could put Mary and Martha
in this place where Lazarus was. Lazarus could not do one thing,
could he? He couldn't do one thing to help
himself, could he? But Christ interceded for him.
And thereby, the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ raised Lazarus
from the dead. because Christ interceded for
him. So it is with every child he saved. We come forth dead
in sin, we can't do one thing. Why did he send the Spirit and
regenerate you and give you life? Christ interceded for you. He
knew what to pray for you. He knew what to do to help his
child, and he prayed the Father and he sent the Spirit. And so
many times, brethren, we're so weak and we're so cast down,
and you just don't know what to pray for as you are. I feel
sorry for people that think they always know what to pray for.
You ever been where you don't know what to pray for? More times
than not. But our Lord knows what to pray
for us, and the Spirit helps us and strengthens us when we're
weak and we don't even know what to pray for as we hope. Mary
and Martha here, they're believers, but they're overcome with unbelief.
They're just, you know, they just are overcome here. And he said to Mary and to Martha,
if thou shalt believe, thou shalt see the glory of God. Well, how
were they strengthened to believe Him and see the glory of God? How come they didn't just fall
away and be overcome with the son of belief? How were they
strengthened, their faith strengthened, so that they could believe Him
and see His glory? How'd that happen? Same way it
happened for the apostle Peter. Remember what our Lord said?
He said, Peter, before the cock crows three times, you're gonna
deny me. but I have prayed for you that your faith fell not."
That's how Mary Martha's faith didn't fail. He prayed for them.
He was interceding for them. Brethren, we owe everything to
Christ's intercession. He prayed the Father who sent
the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the Spirit dwells in each
of His people, dwells in His people, and makes intercession
for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. And Christ makes
intercession for His people at God's right hand. He's not groaning
now. He's risen, and he's seated at
God's right hand, but he's still making intercession. And he knows
to pray what ought to be prayed better than we know, and he sends
the Spirit and causes us to pray, just to ask help, Lord. And he presents the petition,
his petition to the Father, and the Father and the Son and Spirit
are one in their will for the salvation of his people. Everything
is owed to his intercession for us. Am I making that clear? You get what I'm trying to show
you? I hope so. Now, let's look at a few things
for us here. Knowing that the Father always
hears and answers Christ, knowing He's always heard and He's always
given His petition, that ought to make us heed Christ's word
to pray always. That's what He said to us, to
pray always. to be persistent in prayer, to
be impertinent in prayer, to never give up praying, to pray
always. Christ said, go in your closet
and pray and don't stop praying. Pray always. Let's go to Luke
18 and let's see this. He spake a parable unto them
to this end, that men are always to pray and not to faint. Now
doesn't that, if you take that word always, men are always to
pray, and you connect that with Christ telling us the Father
always hears him. Well that makes me always want
to pray, don't you? I know my mediator, my advocate,
my intercessor is always heard, so we ought to always go to him.
He said there was in a city a judge which feared not God. He didn't
regard man. He didn't fear God, and he had
no regard for man. He's showing us a really bad
man. He shows what this man did. He said there was a widow in
that city, and she came unto him saying, avenge me of mine
adversary. And he would not for a while.
But afterward, he said within himself, though I fear not God
nor regard man, Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge
her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said,
hear what this unjust judge sayeth. If this unjust judge did this,
shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night
unto them, though he bear long with them? He may wait a long
time, but he said, keep praying. Always pray. Keep going to him.
And God will avenge. I tell you that he will avenge
them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Shall he find people
believing him? Our Lord worked this raising
of Lazarus and showed us how he intercedes and the Father
hears him to cause his people to believe on him. And he says,
when I come, will there be any believing? Will there be faith?
Will there be? Well, for what should we pray?
Have you ever thought about this? I've heard people ask this, what
am I to pray for? What should I pray for? How do
I know what God's will is? What should I pray for? Go to
John 17. I believe that if we see what
Christ prayed for, that ought to give us a pretty good indication
of what we ought to pray for. Don't you reckon? If it's what
He prayed for, that's what we ought to pray for. Look here
in John 17. Our Redeemer, this is His intercession
for His people right now at God's right hand, and this is what
we ought to pray for. If this is what He's praying
for, listen, He asked the Father that His people be kept. He said there in verse 11, Now I'm no more in the world,
but these are in the world, and I've come to thee. Holy Father,
keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me that they
may be one as we are. Keep them, Father. There's something
to pray for, for the preservation of our brethren and Christ keeping
us ourselves. He asked the Father that his
joy be in us. He said in verse 13, Now come
out of thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they
might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. What is that? Pray for His joy to be fulfilled
in us? Well, it's the joy of knowing
Him. It's the joy of knowing He's your salvation. He's your
righteousness. He's your redemption. He's your
advocate. He's your wisdom. It's the joy of knowing Him.
It's the joy that Christ has in beholding us, robed in His
righteousness. It's His joy that He gives. In
contrast to a sad and morose, sullen spirit, that's what He
asks for, that my joy might be fulfilled in them. Christ intercedes
that we be kept from the evil. He said in
verse 15, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the
world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. That's something to ask God for,
to keep us from evil. He said, He asked the Father
that it would be sanctified through the preaching of the gospel.
He said in verse 17, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word
is truth. As thou has sent me into the
world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for
their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified
through the truth. He set himself apart. He didn't
need to be made holy, that's not what he means by sanctification. He set himself apart and he lived
and died for his people so that his people might be set apart
by him. through the preaching that declares
his person and his work, how he sanctified himself and sanctified
his people by doing so. He perfected us forever by his
one offering. It's this man. We wouldn't have
a gospel if he hadn't done this. And this was his prayer, Lord.
He's praying, Lord, sanctify them. Set them apart through
your gospel. Grow them by your gospel. Teach
them by your gospel. Cause them to be a separated
people by your gospel. That's something to pray for.
Christ interceded here for you and me. Way back there when He
prayed, He was interceding for you and me sitting here today
that believe. Listen, verse 20, He said, Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe
on Me through their word. That's every believer He's ever
called throughout the ages up to you sitting here right now.
He interceded with the Father that we be called through their
word. And so you have. He intercedes
for our oneness in Him. He has to follow that Father
make us one. Listen, that we might know that
He, the Father, loves His people with the same love as He loves
Christ. Do you know that's how much the
Father loves you? That's how much, just like He loves His
son. And this is how we'll have oneness, if you know that that
brother's sister is loved by God the Father the same as he
loves his son. And just remember that, and don't
doubt it. It's something to pray for. Verse 21, John 17, 21. That
they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe
that thou hast sent me. and the glory which thou gavest
me, I've given them that they may be one, even as we are one,
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect and
one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast
loved them as thou hast loved me. Those are some good things. We'll look at those more in depth
when we come to them in this study of John, but that's what
he asked the father for. That's what he's still asking
the father for. That's what we ought to ask him for. And Christ
said in our text to the Father, He said, Thou hearest me always.
So God the Father hears Christ. He gives Christ the desire of
His heart always. And for you who are standing
by, Christ prayed this out loud and then worked this miracle
to show the Father always gives Him His petition. And He did
it so that we would believe on Him. If there's any that's standing
by that don't believe on Him, believe on Him. If you go to
Christ asking for mercy, you will receive mercy from Him.
You will. If you go to Him asking for mercy,
I don't care who you are, I don't care I don't care. You will receive mercy from Him.
If you really go to Him asking for mercy, He's never turned
anybody away that comes asking for mercy. He shall save you.
He shall save you. And He's the resurrection and
the life. He shall save you. So behold Him, work this. He
really worked this. Believe Him. He really worked
it. It's right here in the Word of God. You know what our biggest
problem is? Not believing this book right here. That's our biggest
problem. This really happened. I believe this happened more
so than I read what I read in the, on the Website today on
the front page of the news on the internet. I believe this
happened more surely than what I read there Or what you read
in the newspaper? Believe that this he really he
prayed the father and the father Gave him his petition he raised
Lazarus from the dead he can raise you he could save you and
me this really happened And for you who believe, what better
encouragement to pray always, always. I mean, just get alone
and pour out your petition to Him. Everything. He already knows
everything. Go to Him and tell Him and confess
your sin to Him. Go to Him and ask for what you
need and tell Him you don't even know what you need. That's very
often. Lord, I think this is what I
need, but I don't even really know what I need. You know what
I need, Lord. Would you give me what I need?
Your will be done. That's what we're asking. That's
what's going to be done, is his will. And pray always to Him. He's teaching us to always acknowledge
Him, to look to Him rather than lean into our own understanding.
We want to act just that fast. He said, don't lean to your own
understanding. Come to me and ask me and take
a lot of time at my footstool and I'll intercede for you and
I'll give you exactly what you need. That's what he's teaching
us. Every blessing we have is due
to Christ interceding with the Father, and that's why we have
everything we have. Why has it, since you believe,
you have sinned every day, all day. It's not in comparison to
other people, it's in comparison to Christ who always did that
which pleased the Father. You haven't always done that.
but you've received mercy from Him every day. You know why?
Christ interceded for you. We owe everything to Him, always
interceding, and the Father always hearing Him. That's why His people
have what we have. Christ interceding. Go to Him. All right.