“CHRIST IN INTERCESSION” (continued) - part 5.

Jesus prayed in John 17:6: ‘I have manifested Thy Name unto the men which Thou gavest Me...’.

And in verse 12 of that same chapter, He prayed: ‘I have kept them by Thy Name...’.

Then, let us go down to verse 26 where He prayed: ‘I have declared unto them Thy Name and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them and Thou in Me.’

I would like to look at the ‘Thy Name’ of these three verses tonight and see, first, what ‘the divine Name’ actually means when we approach Him in prayer.

The purpose of this is to help us understand what it means to pray in the name of our Lord.

And, then, we will look at a passage in John to see how His Name is to be invoked in prayer.

So, first, let us look at, at least, to some extent of what God’s Name means. 

Generally, from just an earthly viewpoint, among the people of ancient times, names meant far more than they do with us now.

With us, a name is usually just a label, a distinguishing mark that we use to separate one person from another.

But - Woe to the father-in-law who has two daughters-in-law with the same name!

We have to attach another distinguishing label to each one of them to help us.

As a child, I was always fascinated with American Indian stories.

Some of the names intrigued me, names such as ‘Hawkeye’ or ‘Lightfoot’.

I did not know it then, but since that time I have come to learn that the Indians thought that the name and the total makeup of the person were one and the same.

The name, ‘Hawkeye’, for example, probably conveyed the sense of one being astute, able to see with an alertness perhaps.

The name, ‘Lightfoot’, as another example, probably conveyed a lightness in his steps, an agility in swiftness, like a gazelle, perhaps.

Well, so much for an illustration to help us to understand a heavenly reality.

As in ancient times, there was a widespread view that the name and the person were bound up together.

And, that being so, then, to believe ‘in the name’ means to believe in all that name stands for, to trust the whole person, and everything about him that resides in him.

The name of ‘Jehovah’ was on a far higher plane than that.

It was so sacred that daring to mention His Name on certain occasions was placed into the category of ‘blasphemy’.

So, when Jesus was speaking of His Father’s Name, what He was saying was no small thing.
  
Thus, ‘I have manifested Thy Name’, when Jesus prayed, was the way that summed up and stood for the sum total of Who the Father is, of what the Name contained.

We can go back to Moses to understand this better.

“What is His Name?” - was the question Moses posed in Exodus 3:13, when God gave Moses His divine command to approach the children of Israel.

Moses was trying to understand this very significant part of God’s Name.

Yes, he knew this was Yahweh Who was talking to him, but - having been given the grim responsibility of the task to which he was being called, - he wanted something more than just a name - a title - a designation.

For - he wondered what he should tell the people if they asked him the question of - ‘What is there in the name of Yaweh that will be of any help to us in the miseries we have here in Egypt?’

‘What does that name mean or signify in our present state of affairs?’ he assumed they would probably ask.

So, Moses probed into the significance of that name, the character of it, its quality - an interpretation - something of that name that he could pass on to the people to give them hope for help.

Yahweh had made Himself known to Abraham at the making of the covenant (Gen.15:7) by saying, ‘I am the Lord that brought thee out...’.

So God told Moses His Name by explaining His Name in verses 14-15 of Exodus 3.

‘Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.’

‘I am that I AM’, He said in verse 14.

He explained Himself by this Name indicating its inner significance - its meaning, that was to be eventually understood in its fullness and its past connection as the Absolute God of the fathers, the One Who was, and now is, and ever shall be in the future - the ‘I AM’.

To assure them even more, God added further, in verse 15, ‘This is My Name forever, and My memorial unto all generations.’

‘This is how I am to be remembered through all generations.’

This was to be His Name, never to be forgotten.

And - His Name was to be known - not as a title - but as His Person - His authority - His power - His reputation - His character - His Eternal significance that was before and even now is - the Sovereign over all history.

His Name was to be a memorial, to be for the act of uttering the mighty, powerful qualities and actions of God throughout all generations.

It was to be a sharing of His essence, His Almighty Self of ‘I AM...I am He, - Who is - and - I am what I and My promises, actions, and intents are.’

‘I am truly He Who exists and Who will be dynamically present with you always and in the situation to which I am 
sending you,’ was His message to Moses in that moment.

Look at how He made Himself known down through salvation history, - and I am only touching the tip of the iceberg as I have gone through parts of the Bible to convey something of what is included in His ‘I AM’.

So let us start with:

Gen.15:1:  ‘I am thy shield...’
       7:  ‘I am the Lord that brought thee out...’
    17:1:  ‘I am the Almighty God...’
    26:24: ‘I am the God of Abraham..., I am with thee
           and will bless thee.’
Ex.  3:8:  ‘I am come down to deliver’.
     8:22: ‘I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.’
    14:18: ‘I am the Lord, when I am honored through
           Pharaoh...,’
    15:26: ‘I am the Lord that healeth thee.’
    22:27: ‘I am gracious.’
    20: 5: ‘I am a jealous God.’
    31:13: ‘I am the Lord that doth sanctify thee.’
Lev.11:44: ‘for I am holy.’
Num.18:20: ‘I am thy part and thy inheritance.’
Psa. 46:10: ‘Be still and know that I am God.’    
     50: 7: ‘I am God, even thy God.’
     81:10: ‘I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out.’
Prov. 8:14: ‘I am understanding.’
S/S  2: 1: ‘I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of       
           the valleys.’
Isa. 43: 3: ‘I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One...
           thy Savior.’
       11: ‘I am the Lord...beside Me, there is no Savior.’
       13: ‘before the day was I am He: and there is
           none that can deliver out of My hand: I act
           and who can reverse it?’
       15: ‘I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of
           Israel, your King.’
    48:17: I am the Lord thy God.’
    65: 1: ‘I am found of them that sought me not:’
Jer. 32:27: ‘I am the God of all flesh.’
    46:28: ‘I am with thee;’
Ezek.12:11: ‘I am your sign.’
      1:25: ‘I am the Lord, I will speak.’
Mal.  3: 6: ‘I am the Lord, I change not.’

‘I am that I AM’, showing you every part of My essence,’ - is what the Almighty conveyed to man down throughout the ages.

Now, let us turn to John 8:58, to see there how Jesus continued what God had shown of Himself and where He made the significant statement about His relationship to His Father when He said this.

He claimed to have existed not only in the time of Abraham, but before that time. 

He identified how perfectly He possessed the same deity as the Father - His oneness with His Father - that He always existed - that He has a continuous existence in the Godhead.

He said there, ‘Before Abraham was, I am’. 

Thus, He, too, with the same inner significance said of Himself during His earthly ministry:

John  6:48: ‘I am the Bread of Life.’
        51: ‘I am the Living Bread which came down
             from heaven:’
      8:12: ‘I am the Light of the world.’
     10: 7: ‘I am the Door.’
        11: ‘I am the good Shepherd.’
     15: 5: ‘I am the Vine.’

Of course, that is also a limited list but He, too, could say 
‘I AM’, signifying the same designation in His Name as there is in His Person.

The fact that His deity, which rules over not only the natural world, but history as well, is without equal and above all time, was proven by Him from the fact that He alone manifested Himself as God.

Thus, God spoke of Himself, in Isaiah 44:6, as the ‘Beginning and the End’.

Isaiah 44:6: ‘Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

And, as God the Father said that of Himself, so Jesus did likewise, as seen in passages such as Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:13 where it is written: ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending...the first and the last...which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.’

And in Rev 22:16: ‘I am the Root and the Offspring...’

And, once again, look at John 17: ‘I have manifested Thy Name...’, ‘I have kept them by Thy Name...,’ ‘I have declared unto them Thy Name and will declare it...’.

Are we able to see the significance of the use of His Name here?

Jesus had come in His Father’s Name (John 5:43), and, perfectly interpreted and displayed His Father, His Person, to them. 

He had shown the Father’s perfection in His perfect life, in His wondrous miracles, in His majestic teaching, and in His self-giving love.

Only God’s Son was competent to do this.

Because that Name of ‘I AM’ could only have been declared in its purity and in its fullness by His Divine Son alone.

And, thus, Jesus could say without hesitation, ‘No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He declared Him.’ (John 1:18)

And John wrote in John 1:14: ‘And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.’ 

And the writer to the Hebrews put the capstone on it in Heb.1:1-2.

‘At sundry times and in divers’ manners, God spoke to the fathers by the prophets’ (Heb.1:1) in which syllables of the name of God were spoken forth.  

But it was in Christ, when He came, that God spoke the final word about Himself, His Name in all its syllables, in all of its fullest measure of divinity. (v 2 of Hebrews 1)

Other men have, from their experiences and lives, tried to explain ‘God’s Name’ to us, of what God truly is.

But, as rich and as many ways and means there have been used to explain it, it all falls into nothingness when we view the life of Jesus Christ, Who made God visible and showed man what His Name actually means and is.

And those who had been given Him by the Father received this manifestation and were kept by Him. (John 17:12) 

They were kept in His Name, - kept through Him, through His attributes and character of power, love, wisdom, knowledge, and all that He is in His Person.

Throughout the three years Christ was with them, He kept and preserved them from evil, from falling away, from false doctrine, from being overcome by temptation, from being crushed by persecution, from every device and assault of  evil. 

Danger was around them on every side.

Weakness was in them all the time.

But He kept them through His Father’s Name - through every divine virtue and every divine means of Who He was in the Oneness of His Father’s glory.

That revelation of divine perfection, majesty, and sweetness was the intent of Christ’s earthly life and is the intent and design of His heavenly divine activity now.

And, thankfully, down through the ages, He has been as surely with each one drawn into His saving love, as He was with His disciples.

In His heavenly ministry, He continually keeps each one of us and preserves us from evil, from falling away, from false doctrine, from being overcome by temptation, from being crushed by persecution, from every intent of evil. 

All the dangers, and all the weaknesses have been attended to by Him, just as they were with His disciples.

Thus, He had continuously made known God’s character, - He has been continuously declaring His attributes, - His divine identification, - His title, - His one and only Name, - the Name of Yahweh-Jehovah, - Redeemer-Savior.

Now, take all that, from both the Old and the New Testament, and much, much more, and place it all into - 
I repeat, into - the Divine Person and His Name.

And we have a glimpse of what is included in His Name when we pray in His Name.

And how are we to pray in what that Name represents?

It is Christ Who prays by making known to men His mind, - His Person, - His Name in the power of His Name. 

As the Father ‘gave’ to His Son power over all flesh so that the Son should ‘give’ eternal life (17:2), so it is through     those who likewise give themselves in intercession in His Name who will continue the declaration of it. 

And thankfully, we are not left to ourselves, in bringing that to pass.

Look at the instructions to His disciples on how it is to be done in John 14:13-14: “And I will do whatever you ask in My Name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask Me anything in My Name, and I will do it.”

Anyone who prays in that ‘Name’ can be sure that his prayers will be heard.

This does not mean that we must end every prayer with something like ‘in the Name of Jesus Christ’ or ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord’, although these are appropriate ways to conclude prayer.

It is unfortunate that down through the years, the attaching of Jesus’ Name to prayer has been used as a charm to try to command supernatural action.

If we are praying for something we would like, but which is not in accordance with all that the ‘Name’ stands for, then such prayer is not covered by what Jesus is saying.

True prayer is prayer that fits in with the ‘Name’.

We are to keep in mind What and Who it is Who is being brought to bear in intercession that makes intercession effective.

It proceeds only on the basis of what God has done in Christ for salvation and His continual ministry.

Since the Name summed up and stood for the whole person, the Name ‘Jesus’, then, points us to the incarnate life of the Son of God, to His atoning death, to the powerful resurrection, and to the ministry of His messengers anointed by Him in the strength of His Holy Spirit.

For - Jesus would grant only such petition as could be presented consistently with His divine attributes, character, and purpose. 

Thus, praying in His Name, bringing to bear all He and His Father are in divine glory, is praying in Him in His following on through with His purpose.

And it is all to bring glory to God, so that ‘...the Son may bring glory to the Father...’ (John 14:14)

Lord willing, we will go on with this next week.

Song: # 28

His Name is wonderful, His Name is wonderful,

His Name is wonderful, Jesus my Lord.

He is the mighty King, Master of everything

His Name is wonderful, Jesus my Lord.

He’s the Great Shepherd, the Rock of all ages,

Almighty God is He.

Bow down before Him, love and adore Him;

His Name is wonderful, Jesus my Lord.