A Prayer Certain To Be Answered

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus' prayer in John 17?

John 17 captures Jesus' priestly prayer, emphasizing His desire for believers to be with Him and behold His glory. In John 17, we witness the Lord's great priestly prayer where He speaks directly to the Father about His redemptive work and His people. Specifically in verse 24, Jesus states, 'Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.' This prayer underscores the intimate relationship between Jesus and the Father, as well as the assurance that all for whom He prays will indeed be with Him and see His glory. The uniqueness of this prayer lies in Jesus commanding what He desires, showing His divine authority as the God-man.

Q: How do we know Jesus' prayer will be answered?

We know Jesus' prayer will be answered because He is one with the Father and fulfills all that the Father requires. The certainty of Jesus' prayer being answered stems from His divine nature and intimate relationship with the Father. Jesus, being the God-man, is in perfect harmony with the Father's will, as He states, 'I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me.' Additionally, He has accomplished all that the Father required of Him, enabling Him to pray with absolute confidence. His prayer, infused with authority, reflects the will of God and is assured to be fully answered, evidencing God's commitment to His elect.

Q: Why is the concept of Christ praying for His followers important for Christians?

It highlights Christ's intercession, confirming His commitment to the salvation and eternal life of His people. The importance of Christ praying for His followers is foundational to understanding His role as our great high priest. In His prayer, Jesus explicitly states, 'I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me.' This clearly indicates that His intercession is focused on those chosen by the Father, showcasing His love and commitment to their salvation. For Christians, this means that we are not alone in our struggles; we have an advocate before the Father who pleads for us based on His merit and for His sake. This gives believers great assurance and hope concerning their eternal security.

Q: What marks someone as belonging to Christ according to John 17?

Those given to Christ will come to Him, love Him, and love each other. In John 17, Jesus emphasizes several marks that identify those who belong to Him. Firstly, all whom the Father has given to the Son will come to Him in faith, as indicated in John 6:37. Secondly, there is a deep love for Christ, which naturally extends into love for others, as stated in John 13:35. Additionally, these individuals will have a walk with Christ, confessing Him openly as Lord. Together, these marks serve to confirm both the believer's relationship with Christ and their communal identity within the body of believers.

Now, I want you to open your
Bibles with me today to the book of John. I'm going to be reading
a passage of Scripture from John 17, the 17th chapter of John.
Now, I don't know how many people would actually do this, but I'll
tell you what a blessing it would be, what a lifelong blessing
it would be. If every one of you would read
the 17th chapter of John, read it carefully, read it prayerfully,
ask God to open up to you that 17th chapter of John. I tell
you, it's just a special, special portion of God's Word. We need
to become acquainted with this part of Scripture. You see, this
is our Lord's great priestly prayer. This is the Son talking
with the Father. Our Lord Jesus Christ speaking
to the Father about Himself and about His redemptive work and
about His people whom He came to redeem. That's what John 17
is all about. These words spake Jesus and lifted
His eyes to heaven. He said, Father, and then He
began to talk about Himself, about Himself and His glory,
about His redemptive work and about His people. And if I could
just impress upon you the importance of this part of God's Word, if
I could get you just to sit a little while today and read prayerfully
and slowly and carefully this 17th chapter of John and ask
the Spirit of God to be your teacher. Now, I'm not going to
try to preach from the whole 17th chapter of John, all the
verses. I'm not going to try to do that.
Someone said one time it'd take years of preaching, years of
preaching to do justice to the 17th chapter of John. But I want
to take just one verse. If you have your Bible there,
turn to John 17 and look at verse 24. I'm just going to take one
verse and preach from this one verse. But I'll show you from
this one verse how important this scripture is. And I believe
the blessing we're going to get today from this one verse will
encourage you to read the rest of it. Now here's the title of
the message. A prayer that is certain to be
answered. A prayer, here's a prayer that
is certain, absolutely certain to be answered. Now here's the
verse, verse 24, listen to it. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they also
may behold my glory for thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world now at the very beginning of this verse the very
beginning father I will that those whom thou hast given me
be with me where I am These first three words are very unusual. No human lips have ever prayed
like this before. And no human lips have prayed
like this since then. These first three words are so
different, so unusual. Here is a man praying and he
says, this is what I will. This is what I want. I will this. You know, Abraham was the friend
of God, and he got very near to God. The scripture says God
spoke to Abraham as a man speaks to his friend. But Abraham never
prayed this way. Abraham never prayed this way
at all. Listen to the way he prayed.
When he was praying and interceding for Sodom and for Lot, he prayed
this way. He said, I've taken upon myself
to speak with God. I'm nothing but dust and ashes.
Very humbly, he never said, I will that you spare Sodom. He didn't
say to the Father, this is what I want you to do, spare Sodom.
These men always prayed God's will to be revealed to them.
But here, the Lord Jesus said, Father, this is what I will.
You know, Jacob had power with God. He was named by God a prince. God said to him, your name will
be no longer Jacob, but Israel, a prince with God. And yet the
boldest words that Jacob ever used were these, I will not let
thee go, except thou bless me. He never prayed, I will. And
then Daniel was a man of prayer, a man whom God honored. And yet
listen to Daniel. When he prayed, he said, O Lord,
righteousness belongs to thee, but unto us confusion of faith. The Apostle Paul was a man of
prayer, but he never prayed this way. He always prayed as a humble
sinner before God. But when this man Jesus Christ
prayed, he said, Father, I will. I will. That they also whom thou
hast given me be with me where I am. This is what I will. Now
how can this man be so bold? How can he pray in this way?
Here's the reason. First of all, he said, I am a
father of one. This man is the God-man. He thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. In fact, Paul, writing about
him, said, Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in human flesh. Paul said God was in Christ.
John said the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father. Isaiah
said, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name Immanuel, God with us. So Jesus Christ
could say, Father, this is my will, because He and the Father
are one. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. Secondly, because His will, now
here's where we run into trouble. His will and the Father's will
are one. What Christ willed was what the
Father willed. He said, I came down from heaven
not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. This
is my will. It's His will. And this is the
will of Him which has sent me, that of all which He had given
me, I'll lose nothing. He said in Hebrews 10, lo, in
the volume of the book it's written of me. I come, O God, to do Thy
will. by the which will we are sanctified
once for all by the offering of Jesus Christ. This man, according
to the will of God, perfected forever them that are sanctified.
So he and the Father are one, his will and the Father's will
are one, and then he prayed this way. He prayed as the Redeemer
who had fulfilled all that the Father gave him to do. You and
I can't pray that way. We've sinned and come short of
the glory of God, but Christ said, I have glorified thee on
this earth. That's a totally different way
of praying. We have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
No man on this earth in human flesh has ever accomplished the
glory of God except Christ. He said, I have glorified you
on this earth. I have finished the work you
gave me to do. And therefore, he could pray,
I will. You see that? Father, I will. Another thing in verse 6, he
said, I've manifested your name. No man knoweth the Father but
the Son, and he to whom the Son will manifest or reveal him.
Another thing, he said, I have given thy word to the men which
thou gavest me. I have kept those whom thou gavest
me. I've done all you gave me to do perfectly. I've been tempted in all points
yet without sin. Which of you can convince me
of sin? I've done all that the law required, I've fulfilled
all that justice demanded, so I'm entitled to have what I purchased.
That's right. He who spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely
give us all things? He shall see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities."
Oh yes, it's impossible this prayer should not be answered.
It's impossible this prayer should not be fully answered and his
will fully accomplished, because he said, I know the Father always
hears me, because I always do those things that please my Father.
So that is the beginning of this prayer. It ought to catch our
attention. Here is a man, the God-man, praying, Father, I will. And he could pray that way because
he and the Father are one. He said, he that hath seen me
hath seen my Father. He could pray that way because
his will and the Father's will are one. He could pray that way
because he's done everything that God required of a man perfectly. His prayer will certainly be
answered. All right, the next question
then has got to be, here we've got a prayer before us that will
be answered. It shall be done. Isaiah said
he cannot fail, he cannot be discouraged. So here's the next
question. For whom does he pray? When he
says, here's the son talking to the father, here's the great
prophet, priest, and king, here's the great king of the kingdom,
asking that someone, someone be with him where he is. And that someone shall behold
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father,
full of grace and truth. Now who are these people? for
whom he prays. Well, he tells you no less than
six times. That's the reason I want you
to read this chapter. No less than six times he tells
you for whom he prays. In this one chapter. Twenty, how many, 24, 25 verses
and he tells you six times for whom he prays. Look at verse
9. Have you ever seen this verse
before? Verse 9, John 17, 9. Look at it in your Bible. Verse
9. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. Christ said, I don't pray for
everybody. I don't pray for the world. If he prayed for the world,
he'd have the world. If he prayed for everybody, he'd
have everybody, because his prayer must be heard. His prayer must
be answered. He cannot pray contrary to the
will of the Father. But I don't pray for the world.
I pray for them. Who is them? Well, look at the
next line. I pray for them which thou hast
given me, for they are thine. and all mine are thine, and thou
gavest them me." I pray for them. You see, he uses this phrase
over and over and over again, six times in this passage. Look
at verse 2. Thou hast given me power over
all flesh, that I should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given me. I pray not for the world, I pray
for them which thou hast given me. Because you've given me authority
over all flesh, that I should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given me. Look at verse 6, I've manifested
thy name. To whom? Unto those which thou
hast given me. Look at verse 12, I've kept them.
I've kept them in thy name. I've kept whom? I've kept them
which thou hast given me. Those which thou hast given me,
I have kept and none of them is lost. Look at verse 11, Father,
I pray for them. Keep through thine own name.
Those whom thou hast given me. And now at verse 24, our text.
Father, I will. I will. This is my will. This
is the Son's will. This is the Father's will. And
this is the will that shall be done. He doeth according to his
will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. That's what Daniel wrote. He worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. That's what Paul wrote
twice in Ephesians 1. Father, I will that those whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am. In other words, the
Lord Jesus declares that the Father has the same interest
in these people that he has because they're the Father's people too.
Look back at verse 9 again. What did he say? I pray for them. Father, I will that those whom
thou hast given me. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. I pray for them which thou hast given me. For they
are thine. This is why I pray for them. They're yours. And
all yours are mine. And thine are mine, and mine
are thine. What is mine is yours. He said,
my sheep, here are my boys. And I give them eternal life.
And they'll never perish. My Father which gave them to
me is greater than all. And no man can pluck them out
of my Father's hand. I'm a father of one. My father
gave them to me, and what's mine is his, and what's his is mine.
That's the reason this prayer certainly shall be answered.
Well, let me ask this question. Is there a mark? Is there a mark
whereby these people may be known? I know God knows them. He said,
I know my sheep. I know my sheep, and am known
of mine. But is there any way that They
may be known by others. Is there any way that they may
know that they're His sheep and His people and one whom the Father
has given to the Son? Is there any way you can know
and I can know? Oh, yes. There's a certain mark, a certain
mark. You know what it is? They come
to Christ. He said in John 6, 37, all that
my Father giveth me will come to me. They will come to me. They'll come believing. They'll
come confessing. They'll come converted. They'll
come lovingly. They'll come willingly. But they'll
come to Christ. They'll come to Christ. Psalm
110 verse 3 says, Thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power. They'll come. I'm not saying
that they must come to the front of a church or come to a preacher
or come to an altar. They come to Christ. He said
in Matthew 11, come unto me. All ye that labor and are heavy
laden, I'll give you rest. You come to me." And this is
a sure mark of those people for whom Christ prayed and who were
given to Him by the Father. They'll come to Him. They'll
come to Him. As many as believed on Him, to
them gave He the privilege to become sons of God. The second
mark of these people is this. They love Christ. Whom having
not seen, ye love. Though you see him not, now you
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. He said, Peter,
do you love me? Yea, Lord, thou knowest I love
thee. Then feed my sheep. That's the bond between the Savior
and his people. He loves them and they love him.
We love him because he first loved us. One of the apostles said, if
any man love not the Lord Jesus, let him be accursed. Let him
be anathema, maranatha, under a curse, the Lord's coming. They
come to Christ. They love Christ. I'll tell you
another mark. They love each other. By this
shall all men know you, my disciples, if you love one another. He that
loveth not knoweth not God. God is love. And then another
mark of these people, they walk with Christ. They're identified
with Christ. They confess Him. It says in Romans 10, if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord. And believe
in thine heart, God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. So there is a mark. They may be known. They may know
that they know Christ. And they may be known that they
know Christ. Because they come to him. All
that my Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh
to me I let no wise cast out. They love Christ. They love each
other. And they walk with Christ. All
right, here's the third thing that I want to mention from this
prayer. Now, first, Father, the Son says, I will. And the people
for whom He prays, those that Thou hast given Me. Well, what
does He ask for them? What does He pray for them? Well,
look at it. What does He pray for them? Two
great and wonderful things. Two great and marvelous things.
First, He says that they may be with Me where I am. I pray
that all whom you have given me be with me where I am." Where
is he? Well, Hebrews 1 says he's at
the right hand of the majesty on high. He's in the heavens. He's within the veil. Within
the veil. He's in the presence of the Father.
He's on the right hand of God. And he prays that we might be
with him there. You know, that's what He said
to his disciples before he, after he arose from the grave, or before
he went to the cross, he said to his disciples, I go to prepare
a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I'll come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, where I am, there you may be also, where I am. Father, let's pray. That those
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. And I'll tell you this, to be
with Him is to be like Him. Because no one can live in the
presence of God who is not like Christ, perfectly holy. To be
with Him is to forever be with Him. To forever be with Him. And to be with Him is to never
die. Because the last enemy that He
shall destroy is death. And to be with Him is to be satisfied. David said, I'll be satisfied
when I wake with His presence, with His likeness in His presence.
And he said, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my life, and I'll dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. Father, I will that all whom
Thou hast given me be with me where I am, where I am. And then
notice the next word, to behold my glory. Now he doesn't say,
I want them to be with me where I am so they can shake hands
with mother again and one another again and behold one another
again and behold their own glory and behold their own works and
count their crowns. He said, I want them to be with
me that they may behold my glory, my glory. And I'll tell you,
His glory is a threefold glory. And I'm in an area now that men
know nothing about. Nothing. Very little. And that's
the glory of God. But I do know the glory of Christ
is threefold. First, there's His original glory.
His original glory. Majesty. Brightness. The brightness of the Father's
glory. He said, Father, glorify Me. with the glory which I had
with thee before the world was." Now you don't know anything about
that and I don't either. But he said in Proverbs 8, I was
daily his delight with him before he made the stars, before he
made the earth. I was with him daily his delight. So there's something about his
original glory. We're going to get to see some
of that. And then there's his redemptive glory. The Word was
made flesh. and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory." What glory? His redemptive glory. The glory
of His mercy. The glory of His grace. The glory
of His redemptive work. John said, I saw Him. I heard
Him. I touched Him. The Word of Life,
eternal life, that eternal life which I saw, I declare unto you. And Moses says, show me your
glory. And God says, I'll be merciful. That's my glory. I'll
be merciful to whom I will. That's my goodness. And I see
that glory of Christ. And then thirdly, there's His
eternal glory. It says, the God of all grace
who hath called you to His eternal glory. Now, I don't know a lot
about that, but I do know Paul Went up there to the third heaven
one time. He said, whether I was in the body or out of the body,
I don't know. But I heard things that it's not possible for me
to utter. That glory. The glory is eternal
glory. The glory God talks about in
Revelation 21, when He says, there'll be no more pain, no
more sorrow, no more sickness, and no more darkness, and no
more night, and no more death. The former things are passed
away. I make all things new, God said. And God will be their
God and dwell with them and they'll be His people and He'll wipe
all tears from their eyes. That glory. Father, I will that
all of those You've given me be with me where I am to behold
my glory. My glory. And behold it forever. Now watch this last line. Why
should the Father do this for you and me? For what reason does
the Lord Jesus ask the Father to cleanse us, and forgive us,
and redeem us, and receive us, and let us stand in His presence
and share the glory which Thou hast given me? Christ said, I've
given them. Why? Well, He tells us right here. Father, I will
that those whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am, that
they may behold forever My glory. For Thou lovest Me, before the
foundation of the world. He doesn't plead your works,
or my works, or your profession, or my profession, or what you've
done, or what you've said, or what you've given, or how many
souls you've won. He doesn't say you're worthy.
He doesn't even plead God's love for you. He said, you do this
for them, for my sake, because you love Me. Scripture says that
in John 3, the Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things
into His hand. He that believeth on the Son
hath life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life.
The wrath of God abideth on him. Christ said, you love them for
My sake. You receive them for My sake. You look not on them,
you look on Me. You judge them not, you judge
Me. Bless them for My sake. Love them for My sake. Receive
them for My sake. You do this because you love
Me. I've got three children and some grandchildren. daughters-in-law
and a son-in-law. If they were to ask me, Father,
would you do this for me? I'd say, anything I can, I'll
do for you. Anything within my power, I'll do for you. Well,
let me tell you something. If you, being evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly
Father give good things to them that ask Him? And this one who's
asking Him, or telling Him what He wants, what He wills, is His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you, he praised
for me and for you. And he said, you bless him because
you love me. Because you love me. I heard
about a preacher saying this week, he made a reservation in
heaven 40 years ago. Well, I'll tell you this, I hope
he didn't make it in his name. I hope he didn't make it in his
name. That reservation better be made by Christ in Christ's
name, for Christ's sake. Because that's the only way God
will ever save, love, keep, or glorify any son of Adam is for
Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. And He tells
us to love and forgive one another even as God for Christ's sake
forgave us.

A Prayer Certain To Be Answered

What does the Bible say about Jesus' prayer in John 17?

How do we know Jesus' prayer will be answered?

Why is the concept of Christ praying for His followers important for Christians?

What marks someone as belonging to Christ according to John 17?

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A Prayer Certain To Be Answered

What does the Bible say about Jesus' prayer in John 17?

How do we know Jesus' prayer will be answered?

Why is the concept of Christ praying for His followers important for Christians?

What marks someone as belonging to Christ according to John 17?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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