Let us turn to God's Word in
the chapter that we read, John chapter 17, and we read again
at verses 4 and 5. In John chapter 17, verses 4
and 5, I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was and thinking most particularly of
these words at the end of verse 5 where Christ speaks of the
glory which I had with thee before the world was that eternal glory
that belongs unto Christ We come, of course, to this first Sabbath
of the year. We witness the change of the
year. We see time as it hastens on,
how the days come and go, and alas, how
quickly the years pass by. He writes, it says, change and
decay in all around I see, although that change is not abides with
me. The unchanging One. Isn't that
one of the glories that belong unto the Lord Jesus Christ? We
read of Him in Hebrews 13, 8, Jesus Christ the same yesterday
and today and forever. acknowledged over the holiday
period, I've been very much taken up with thoughts concerning something
of the glories of our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, I re-read that
little work, that excellent little work of Mr. Philpot on the eternal
Sonship of Christ, His glories as the Eternal Son of God. And what a mystery we've been
thinking somewhat of that mystery of godliness that he's spoken
of in 1st Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16 and one of the hymns
that we sang last Lord's Day evening number 40 in the book
and it has that line bow down sense and reason faith only reign
here how we have to bow down before that great inexplicable
mystery of Christ, the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father, the
glories that belong unto Him in His Godhood. Even this morning
I was reading one of the hymns of John Kent. I determined that
certainly for the first part of the year I would endeavor
to read through his gospel hymns. I have an old copy of Kent's
gospel hymns and I thought what I'll do when I rise in the morning
is I'll read one of Kent's hymns and seek to meditate upon it. And I was reading the hymn it's
number 759 in Gadsby's selection and I was very struck by the
second verse in which Ken says, concerning Christ, by his sufferings,
death and merits, by his Godhead, blood and pain, broken hearts
or wounded spirits are at once made whole again. Ken's him on Christ as the great
physician. The line that struck me most
particularly was that one that refers to his Godhead. as well as all his bloody sufferings,
by his sufferings, death and merits, by his Godhead, by his
Godhead, blood and pain. Here is the hope of the sinner,
is it not, that that one who suffered and bled and died on
Calvary's cross is none other than the eternal Son of God. And so we come to consider again
something of those glories that belong unto the Lord Jesus Christ. All that work that He had undertaken
and executed so faithfully in terms of the eternal covenant. He speaks of these things here
in verse 4, I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do." This was the great mission
that he came to fulfill, was it not? The glory of the Father. He says in the language of Hebrews
chapter 10 and verse 7, lo, I come in the volume of the book it
is written of me. to do thy will, O God." He was
very much aware of that volume of the book, the book of God's
decree, that work that he had undertaken in terms of the covenant. It was all written, and he must
come and he must fulfill all that work to the very letter,
to do all the will of God. He became obedient, did he not?
onto death, even the death of the cross. He was obedient in
living, he was obedient in dying, and the theologians speak of
that as his active obedience and his passive obedience. And so, having accomplished all
that great work, having finished the work He can say in the words
that we have here in verse 5, And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self. with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was." And it's this particular petition
that I want us to consider with the Lord's help this morning
and I trust we find some profit in what is revealed to us in
these words that was spoken even by the Lord Himself. First of
all then, to say something more with regards to the person who
is speaking, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember those
words that we've been considering over the past weeks now, both
on Lord's Day and also on Thursday, that great summary of Christian
doctrine that we have in 1st Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16
without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh
for the wonder of the Incarnation. Unto us a child is born, unto
us the Son is given, is the language of the Prophet there in Isaiah
chapter 9. And now, whilst the child is
born, we have to recognize that the Son is not born, the Son
was given. He is the Eternal Son of the
Eternal Father. But there in that great mystery
of the Incarnation, He takes to Himself a true human nature,
that holy thing that shall be born of thee, the angel said
to Mary, shall be called the Son of God." The Son of God. He is the Father's co-equal and
co-eternal Son. This is the one who is speaking
here in the words of our text, who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God. is equal to the
Father. There is no inferiority or superiority
when we come to consider that great mystery of the doctrine
of the Trinity. We're not to imagine for a moment
that the Father is prior to the Son. That's how we would reason
with regards to natural life. The Father, of course, in nature,
is before the Son. but we're not thinking here of
natural things this is the great mystery of God and if there is
an eternal father and of course we're passing out of time now
into eternity where there is no past, present and future if
there is an eternal father then there must also be an eternal
son and so there is and he is equal I say with the father look
at the language that he employs here in the course of his prayer
in verse 24 he says father I will father I will that they also whom thou hast
given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory
which thou hast given me for thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world." How he can come, you see, and express his own
will with the Father because he is equal to the Father. when
we come to pray or we to make our request we are to say thy
kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven we
cannot in any sense speak with God on equal terms we are but
the creature is the great creator And we seek, if we pray aright,
only that God's good and perfect will might be done. And we recognize
that in His goodness to us God has appointed our prayers as
the means whereby He will accomplish that gracious purpose. And so
we wait upon Him that His will be done. And we see even the
Lord Jesus Christ as a man waiting upon God there in the Garden
of Gethsemane as he contemplates that that is yet before him that
great suffering that he must endure as he makes the one sacrifice
for sins and remember how he prays there in the agony of his
soul, O my Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless
not my will but thy will be done. He prays concerning God's will
but here Most striking words we find in this 24th verse, he
speaks of his own will. I will, that they also whom thou
hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my
glory. Or we can speak as one who is
equal with the Father, equal in glory. and also that glory
is an eternal glory, is it not? The words of our text, And now,
O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was. Christ's glory
then, we must recognize this, is equal to that of the Father
and equal to that of the Holy Spirit. The three persons in the Godhead, Father, Son,
Holy Ghost, they are co-equal. and so Christ here in John chapter
10 and verse 30 says I and my father are one he is one with
the father as his son and the Jews understood
the significance of it remember what we're told in the fifth
chapter of this gospel according to John where Christ Heals that
man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath day. And as he enrages
the Jews, they sought the more to kill him, we're told, because
he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said that God was his father. making himself equal with God. And this is why time and again
they would seek to kill him because they accused him of being a blasphemer
in saying that God was his father. In chapter 10 and verse 33 the
Jews answered him saying, for a good work we stony not, but
for blasphemy and because of thou being a man, make us thyself
God." How did he make himself God when he said that God was
his Father? And so again, when eventually
they arraign him before Pontius Pilate, what is the accusation
that they make? In chapter 19 verse 7, the Jews
answered him, we have a law by our Lord he ought to die, because
he made himself the Son of God." All the Jews understood, you
see. He is one who is co-equal with the Father. And what does
he pray here in the petition that we find in our text this
morning? He asks the Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was." With thine own
self, it's the nearest possible conjunction, it's the same glory
that belongs to the father that here belongs to the son. He is that one, of course, who
has come to reveal God. No man has seen God at any time,
the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father. He has declared it, but again
there, how emphatic the language of scripture is concerning that
glory. The preposition in, is literally
into, into the bosom of the Father. the only begotten son which is
into the very bosom of the father, so close you see is the union
between them because they are gods, father, son. and Holy Spirit, one God in three
persons. There is then that glory in the
Lord Jesus Christ which is equal to the glory that belongs to
God the Father. And then also that glory that
is His is an eternal glory. It's an eternal glory. What does
Christ say in the petition? It's that glory which I had with
thee before the world was. Before there was creation. Before
time was created. That glory that was His from
all eternity. And remember how we see Him of
course speaking as the wisdom of God. in the book of Proverbs,
and there in that great 8th chapter. It's a remarkable chapter, is
it not? Concerning the glories that belong unto the Lord Jesus
Christ as the Eternal Son of God. And what does he say? Here he is, the Eternal Word.
Verse 22, The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way
before His works of old I was set up from everlasting, from
the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no gaps,
I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills, was I brought forth. What is He saying as God's wisdom?
He is saying before ever there was any creation, I was brought
forth, He is eternally brought forth, eternally begotten, the
Eternal Son of the Eternal Father. Verse 30, Then I was by Him as
one brought up with Him. I was daily His delight, rejoicing
always before Him. Oh, that's glorious! It is equal
to the glory of the Father. It is eternal as is the glory
of the Father. This is the person, I say, who
is uttering the words that we find in our text this morning,
who comes now and prays to the Father in heaven, the hour has
come, glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. And whilst we recognize that
he is one who is equal to the Father, yet at the same time,
As we see him here in prayer we have to recognize that he
is that one who in terms of the covenant is God's servant. Now we have to distinguish these
two things, we have to distinguish his relationship to the Father
and to the Holy Spirit in terms of the Godhead In terms of the
great doctrine of God, the doctrine of the Trinity, we must distinguish
that from his position in terms of the eternal covenant. Because in the covenant, we see
him as that one who is willingly the servant of God. And so in
chapter 14, and verse 28 he says my father is greater than I. There's no contradiction between
that and what he says in chapter 10 and verse 30. There in chapter
10 and verse 30 remember he says I and my father are one. Now
they are co-equal, co-eternal in terms of the Godhead. But in chapter 14 and verse 28
He is speaking in terms of the Covenant. My Father is greater
than I. What does God say concerning
Him in the Covenant? Behold My servant. Behold My
servant whom I uphold, Mine elect in whom My soul delighteth. I
have put My Spirit upon Him. or our God's servant as he comes
to accomplish that great covenanted work the Father give us not the
spirit by measure unto him He is the anointed one, He is the
Christ and He has come not to do His
own will but the will of Him who has sent Him and to finish
His work and so here you see you can say in verse 4 I have glorified thee on the
earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do I
have finished the work which thou gavest me to do and then
later in chapter 19 he utters that word it is finished and
he heals up the ghost no man takes his life from him he has
power to lay down his life and he has power to take that life
again. So here he is you see, as God's
servant. He is that while he is a real
man. The reality of his human nature,
as human as any of us. But of course when we consider
him he is the sinless man, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners. He is made higher than the heavens. Oh, He is that One who ever pleased
the Father, who ever did the Father's will, who was obedient
in thoughts, in words, and indeed no taint of any sin preserved
from all original sin in his miraculous conception and then
in his life preserved as a holy man and yet in that human life
did he not also know and experience the limitations of our sinless
humanity that's the wonder of it is it not He knew what it
was as a man to need rest that he might be refreshed. We see
him there in chapter 4 as he must needs go through Samaria. He comes to the well at Syca
and he sits at the well. He will meet of course with that
woman of Samaria. But why does he sit at the well?
Because he is wearied. He is wearied in his journey. How he has touched you sir. with
all the feeling of our human infirmities he knew what it was
to be weary he knew what it was to weep he experienced real human
emotion there in chapter 11 of course we read of him at the
grave of Lazarus and how the Lord is so touched with the sea
when he sees the sisters Mary and Martha and their great grief
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping
which came with her, he groaned in the Spirit and was troubled. Oh, how he feels these things!
Real humanity is what we witness in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
then, of course, we have that shortest of all verses in Scripture,
those two words in verse 35, Jesus wept. He knew real human
emotion here upon the earth as a man he stood of course as the
surety of his people he came for that purpose to stand in
their law place and to submit to that law on their account
and to honour and magnify it by the obedience of his life
and the oblation that he made in dying when the fullness of
the time was come we are told God sent forth his son made of
a woman made under the law how remarkable it is we read of God
sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin how
he comes just where his people are he comes as God's servant
and he is serving God, of course, in terms of that covenant. He
is coming to serve God as he will pay that great redemption
price concerning all those that the Father has given to him in
the covenant. Behold I, he says, and the children
which God has given them. How he comes and identifies his
bone of their bone, flesh of their flesh. Touched with the
feeling of our infirmities, says the Apostle. tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin. This is the person who is speaking
here in our text this morning. It is Him who is the Eternal
Son of God, co-equal with the Father, co-eternal with the Father,
You can speak of that glory which he had with the Father before
the world was, and yet at the same time, it is that one who
is truly human, a real man, who comes as God's servant to execute
the work that the Father had given him to do. In the volume
of the book it is written of man, I delight to do thy will,
O God," he says. But let us come now then to consider
more particularly the language of the petition. And of course,
the whole chapter is a prayer. The whole chapter is a prayer.
He has been speaking in the previous three chapters to his disciples
in chapters 14 and 15 and 16 we see him so clearly as that
one who is the great prophet, that teacher sent from God, whom
even Nicodemus recognizes at the beginning of chapter 3. But
now when we come to chapter 17 we see him more particularly
entering into his priestly office. We see him as a praying priest
and then of course in the following chapters a sacrificing priest
as he offers up himself he's not only the priest he's also
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. But what
a remarkable chapter is this, this 17th chapter. These words
speak Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said father
Oh, He is addressing His Father now. He'd been speaking previously
to His own disciples, but now He turns His face heavenward. Father, the hour has come, glorify
Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. The whole of the
chapter is a wonder to us. But we're more particularly concerned
this morning with the petition that we have here in verse 5,
this particular petition. And now, O Father, glorify Thou
me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee
before the world was. Now, observing the connection
between what he had said in the previous verse and what he is
saying here in the fifth verse. He could say at the beginning
of verse four, I have glorified thee. I have glorified thee. And now we have the position,
glorify thou me. All Christ had fulfilled all
of those covenant engagements. He had been faithful. He had
been obedient to all the will of the Father. What does he say
in chapter 10 and there at verse 17? Therefore does my Father
love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from me but I lay it down of myself. I have
power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. Now the
words power here more literally is authority. I have authority
to lay it down and I have authority to take it again. This commandment
have I received of my Father. What is he doing? We see him
here as that one who is obedient. And he is obedient unto death.
That's where obedience ultimately will lead him, as we see in Philippians
chapter 2. He has executed the work, all
that was commanded in terms of that covenant. And so as we said
in chapter 19, when we have the record of His sufferings there
upon the cross, at the end He utters those words, it is finished. Chapter 19 and verse 30, He said,
it is finished and he bowed his head and yielded up the ghost
into thy hands I commend my spirit he says in another of the gospels
but he utters that word it is finished of course in triumph he had accomplished the work
and it is interesting to observe that the expression it is finished
there is a very close relationship to what we have at the end of
the 22nd Psalm, that great Messianic Psalm that speaks so graphically
of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the opening
words of Psalm 22, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring words that were uttered again
by Christ upon the cross?" And the very last words of the psalm,
He hath done this, and this italicized, in other words introduced by
the translators, not a rendering of any word that's there in the
Hebrew but brought in to bring out the sense as they understand
it, but literally it says, He hath done. It is finished. All that was spoken of in that
psalm was accomplished when Christ died upon the cross. and he bowed
his head and yielded up the ghost. He made his soul an offering
for sin. And so here you see in his petition,
in this particular petition he is mindful of what he has just
accomplished. And we have that promise of the
Father, do we not? in the end of Isaiah chapter
53, Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, he
shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured
out his soul unto death. Oh, here is the Father's promise. And what is Christ doing here
in a sense? Is He not praying over the promise? I have glorified
thee on the earth, I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do, and now, O Father, glorify thou me with
thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was." He is mindful then in this petition of the
promise of the Father. But how that prayer, this prayer
of the Lord Jesus Christ is heard and answered. or the Lord Jesus
Christ cannot pray in vain. The God that we have to do with
does not mock us with regards to the holy ordinance of prayer. He does not say to the seed of
Jacob, seek him I face in vain. He says I will yet for this be
inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. He says in
Isaiah concerning the works of my hand, command him. He will have his people come
and pray and he is able of course to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think. And so the Father hears and the
Father answers the prayer. Christ knew that he knew that
he was heard of the father when he prayed to the father look
at what it says previously in chapter 12 and there in verses 27 and 28 it says now is my soul
troubled And what shall I say? Father saved me from this hour,
but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father glorify Thine
own." That's his prayer. Then came there a voice from
heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. All God has glorified it, God
will glorify it again. God will hear all that He says. God will answer Him. in all his
prayers, in all his petitions, isn't this the one of whom the
Father said even at his baptism, this is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased. And not only at his baptising,
but again remember those words uttered on the Mount of Transfiguration
when those favoured disciples Those three, Peter and James
and John, saw through the veil of His humiliation, saw beyond
the human nature something of the glories of the Divine when
He was transfigured before them. And lo, a voice from heaven saying,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him. And so here in the text He prays,
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with
the glory which I had with thee before the world was." And now,
the prayer is heard, and the prayer is answered. So shortly
afterwards, so shortly after this, we see him being glorified,
even as he comes into his humiliation. What follows this 17th chapter? Well, we're told when Jesus had
spoken these words after his prayer he went forth with his
disciples over the brook Cedron where was a garden the garden
of Gethsemane into which he entered and his disciples And remember
how then in the subsequent verses here in chapter 18 we're told
of how Judas comes with a band to arrest him. But three times,
three times Christ utters those words, I have. Or even in his humiliation we
see him as the great Jehovah. I am that I am. Of course here in our English
Bible we have the pronoun He that's been added afterwards.
But how striking is the language in verse 4 there of chapter 18,
Jesus therefore knowing all things that should come upon him went
forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus
of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto
them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground. Then
asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. If therefore ye seek Me, let
these go their way." He is glorified. They fall backwards. They cannot approach Him, they
cannot touch Him. No man can take his life from
Him. He is the one who has authority to lay down his life. Well, immediately,
you see, the prayer is heard, and the prayer is answered. and
then of course we come to the glories of his dying the glories
of his death there upon the cross how he is enthralled upon the
cross or what is the cross it's a great doctrine is it not of
substitutionary atonement there we see that great truth of particular
redemption we see satan vanquished We see Christ paying the dreadful
penalty that the law requires with regards to the sins of His
people. There's a glory, is there not,
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law.
but thank be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ he has satisfied all the demands of that holy
and righteous law of God he has died and he has died just for
the unjust to bring sinners to God well what do we see there
then in the cross it's the death of death itself
is it not as the Lord Jesus Christ is glorified, as the Father hears
and answers his prayer, O Father, glorify thou me, with thine own
self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. But then ultimately, ultimately
do we not witness him being glorified as he rises again from the dead?
and as he ascends on high there we see him declared to be the
son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by
the resurrection from the dead declared to be the son of God
and the word that's used here literally means that he is here
being marked out, distinguished Here we see the glories that
belong to Him as God's eternal Son, the glory which I had with
thee before the world was. And it's seen in the great truth
of His rising again from the dead. And of course, every Lord's
Day as we come together, we mark that glorious event, do we not?
Our Sabbath is the first day of the week. It is a greater
work that has been accomplished than God's great work of creation.
God created all things in six days. On the seventh day God
rested. And in a sense we say He entered
into the enjoyment of all that work. It was very good. But as
we come to worship God on the first day of the week, all we
remember is that great work that Christ accomplished. When He
made that great sacrifice by his obedience unto death, even
the death of the cross. He has finished the transgression,
he has made an end of sin, he has made reconciliation for iniquity,
and he has brought in everlasting righteousness. And these are
the things that we remember. He is glorified. Glorified in
rising again from the dead. Glorified in His ascension. Glorified now in His session. He is there in heaven at the
Father's right hand. The language of Hebrews. Hebrews
1 verse 8. Unto the Son He said, Thy throne,
O God, is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness. is the scepter
of thy kingdom." Oh, it is still the year of our Lord, Allo Domini,
2016. And our Lord Jesus Christ is
still that One who is glorified and is reigning in heaven. Isn't
this our comfort even as we come into this year? Here then we
see Christ's particular petition and the Father hears, the Father
answers His prayer, He is glorified. And now, O Father, glorify Thou
me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee
before the world was." Remember how the disciples came to Christ
on one occasion and they asked that He would teach them to pray.
As John the Baptist taught his disciples There, in the opening
part of Luke chapter 11, they come with that request, Lord,
teach us to pray. Don't we need the Lord to teach
us to pray? There we have the pattern prayer,
when ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as
it is in heaven and so forth. We are familiar, I trust, with
that blessed prayer. How good sometimes to pray over
those words, that pattern that the Lord himself has given to
us. But here we see something more.
Christ doesn't just teach us to pray in that he gives us words,
a pattern, but we see him as that one who himself is a pattern
of prayer. Here is Christ as our blessed
example of what it is to pray. And so as we conclude, let's
just observe a couple of points concerning the example of our
Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, does he not teach
us the importance here of earnest repetition? There's a place for
repetition in prayer. Oh true, he says in the Sermon
on the Mount when he Prayers use not vain repetitions as the
heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their
much speaking. We don't want vain repetitions.
The poor benighted Romanist with his beads saying his Pater Nostris
and his Hail Mary's over and over and over and over and over
and over again. That's vain repetition. But there
is a place for repetition even the Lord himself repeats, does
he not? How does he open the prayer? Father, the hour has
come, glorify thy Son. That's his prayer. Glorify thy
Son. And then it's the same petition
that we have in our text. Oh Father, glorify thy Son. To repeat is not necessarily
a vain repetition, is it? When we see Christ there in the
garden of Gethsemane, what do we read? In Matthew 26 and verse
44, He prayed the third time, saying the same words. He says
the same words. Repetition. There is a place. And often times that repetition
can be indicative of real earnestness. or to come and to pray with all
our heart, Lord save me Lord save me, Lord help me ye shall seek me says God and
find me when ye shall search after me with all your heart
and sometimes that earnestness is indicative in our repeated
petition earnest repetition that we learn from Christ as the great
exemplar of prayer and then also what do we see here we see him
as one who is pleading the promises all he comes to plead the promises
of God I have glorified you on the earth I have finished the
work which they gave us me to do and now O Father, glorify
Thou me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee
before the world was. Remember that word that the Father
had given back in Isaiah 53 at the end of that chapter? Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide
the spoil with the strong because He hath poured out His soul unto
death. Oh, what does the Father say?
Because He has done this, because He has done this, I will divide
Him a portion with the great, He shall divide the spoil with
the strong. And so He's praying over that
very promise, is He not? Glorify Thou my... with thine
own self how Christ comes to plead the promises of God well
now it is for us friends to plead to plead with God when we come
to pray we are not to preach to God we are to plead with God
we are to take God's words are we not and we are to use God's
words and we are to thicken our prayers with the promises of
God this is why we need to immerse ourselves in the Word of God,
to be familiar with the Scriptures, that we might truly pray over
the Scriptures. And all our prayers, all our
petitions, of course, are to be presented in the name of Him
who is the only Mediator, even the Great High Priest of our
profession, this praying priest, the One who now ever lives to
make intercession for all that come to God by Him. Oh God, help us then to come
and to come many times throughout all the days of this year as
the Lord is pleased to spare us to plead with Christ to seek
the glories of Christ and now, O Father, glorify Thou me with
Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before
the world was. The Lord bless this word to us
for His name's sake. Amen.