Jesus’ Prayer For His Apostles
John 17.6-19
This is a very special prayer. We see into the heart of Jesus here.
Into the heart of Jesus
Deeper and deeper I go,
Seeking to know the reason
Why He should love me so -
Why He should stoop to lift me
Up from the miry clay,
Saving my soul, making me whole,
Tho I had wandered away.
Into the love of Jesus
Deeper and deeper I go,
Praising the One who brought me
Out of my sin and woe;
And thru eternal ages
Gratefully I shall sing,
"O how He loved! O how He loved!
Jesus, my Lord and my King!"
Jesus is praying for the eleven apostles. Judas was with the chief priests at this time. Soon he will lead them to the Garden of Gethsemene where he would signal which one was Jesus with a kiss. He knew the place because Jesus had oft met their with His Disciples. The previous meetings he had been a part of. This was he was absent from. It is a tragic thing whenever anyone who had been part of meetings with Jesus leaves fhe group. Many times it is over money, like with Judas. Other times it has been because of power. If God has called you to preach the Gospel do not stoop to be a king! Other times it is a woman. The gold, the glory and the girls. Money, sex and power. They have ruined souls. They have disqualified men for the ministry. They have taken them out before they knew what was happening, like Samson. Young people need to be warned. In this time of rebellion many do not listen. I remember many a times sitting with someone in danger and them not heeding the warning. It is heart breaking indeed. The end of that soul is tragic.
The devil had already entered Judas. He had betrayed the Master. It will remain a mystery forever what he was thinking. It appears by his response he was trying to force the LORD’s Hand to set up His Kingdom on earth. It could be Judas understood more than we realize. He may have come to understand that the LORD was not at this time going to restore the Kingdom to Israel. He will one day otherwise He would have told His Disciples. What He did say it was not for them to know the times and the seasons the Fathef has set by His own authority. His soul was lost. It would have been better for him if he had not been born.
Jesus is lifting up the foundation of the church.
Ephesians 2.19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the LORD.
Jesus is praying about two things these men would give themselves to:
The ministry of the Word and prayer. These are vital and to be the center of the church. The Word is be served to the people. Praying permeated the early church. We need a revival of that today.
Acts 6
| 3 "Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; |
4 "but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word."
Ministry= serving
|
1. The Word
Obedience to it
John 14.15 “If you love Me, keep My commands.”
Acceptance of it.
We either accept or we reject the Word of God. Too many have debated over it.
I have seen people try to twist scripture or isolate passages to suit their own fleshly desires.
Faith In It.
We are tested. It is often alomg the lines of our faith in God’s Word. Remember the first temptation, “Did God really say...?” Once the serpent got Eve to question God she slid right down into disobedience.
We need a rock solid faith in the Word of God. We need to listen to those who teach.
Hebrews 13.17 Obey your leaders and submit yourselves to them for they wat h over yourselves, as thdy must give an account, that they may do it with joy...
This is what Jesus is praying about!
The church in America needs a Bible Revival among other things. Abortion and Same Sex “Marriage” is wrong according to God’s Word. It is not about rights. It is about what does God say? We need to be compassionate with those in sin but not fall into accomodating or agreeing with their sin. A church strong in the Word and filled with the Spirit will respond correctly. The fact that we feel the need of endless seminars and conferences in the church of Jesus Christ shows we lack the power of the Holy Spirit and we fail to hear the Word of God.
The Direction it gives.
Mega Bus on Thursday to my Mom’s. I was at Peter Pan the night before after work we’re meeting.. they were telling me that the bus left between 11 and 12 avenues on 34 street. But the confirmation told me to go to the Portiphar. So I went to the place where I had gotten the mega bus before and was told you need to go to the board authority. Fortunately I made it in time. But I had to work a lot harder and walk a lot longer then I would’ve if I had listen to the confirmation from mega bus. Listening to God get us to where he wants us to be is the shortest possible time. If we listen to others advice rather than the word of God or even to our own hearts which are deceitful at times, we will take the long way around. Keep doing that and will lose our way. But there are people and things that God puts in our path along with his word they can get us back on track again.
2. Prayer
Praying for them.
Jesus is praying for us and He prayed for the flock as it began.
The Bible tells us he was the firstborn among many brothers. He stands and shepherds his flock. Part of shepherding is to pray for the flock to lift him up to the Lord. Intercessory prayer in the pastors life is one of the finest works he can do. It is not seen by anybody but God. He is felt in the hearts and the lives of the people under his care. Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, our great high priest is interceding at the right hand of God the Father always as we spoke about last week.
This prayer gives us insight into the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, Intercessory Ministry.
We are told that He bears up little lambs up. You see the picture of the shepherd caring the sheep the lambs when they could not walk he carries them up in his arms.
He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carriesthem close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
The head lifeguard at the Casamento Islip Town Pool, Jessica, said I’ve got this picture in my mind of you in the pool with four of your grandchildren holding onto your back. What a sight! Some of the ones that can I go to deep water will hold onto me so that they can stay above the water and go out to the deep. Jesus does that for us. When we go through deep waters he’s promised us we will match round because he’s holding us up.
Protection of this flock
He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
Full.
Full Meaure of Joy
3. Their Sanctification By The Truth.
We are to be set apart for the LORD. Friendship with this world James tells us is hatred towards God. Anyone who choses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. James 4.4
James 1.21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the Word planted in you, which can save you.
1.27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
In our lanuage
In our relationships
In our finances
In our hearts... set apart Christ Jesus as LORD...
Jesus prayed for His Disciples
Jesus is praying for you!
