“CHRIST IN INTERCESSION” (continued) - part 6.

Last week, we looked into John 17 concerning praying in Christ’s Name. 

Tonight, let us look at praying in His Name from two different viewpoints: first, to see why believing in the Name of Jesus must precede praying in the Name of Jesus.

And then, we will be able to see the second phase of praying in His Name as being its natural outcome. 

I am going to start with John 3:18.

This may seem like a strange verse to relate to John 17 and intercession but this will be like going through the back door to understand the importance of believing in Jesus Name first. 

So let us look together in John 3:18: “He who believes in Him [Jesus] is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

And as a reminder, remember, first - that His Name includes every divine attribute that He is - it is not just a title or designation.

And secondly, remember the meaning of believe.

It is made so clear in the Amplified Bible.

‘Because he has not believed in and ‘believed’ is ampliflied to the meaning of: (trusted in, relied on, and adhered to) ‘because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.’

It makes it clear that ‘believing in’ is more than a mental assent but goes into the action of trust, reliance, and adherence to Him, without which there can be no living relationship with Christ.

Now - coming back to John 3:18, we see that this particular verse has nothing to do with the condemnation on the final day of judgment.

I read it again: ‘He who believes in Him [Jesus] is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.’

John has here given a grim reality for the unbeliever, that the unbeliever is judged here and now ‘because he does not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God.’

John has placed great emphasis on the present, on what now is - in saying that the unbeliever who refuses to believe in the Name of Jesus Christ is already under a judgment.

It is the unbeliever’s own judgment of choosing to live without the advantage of Christ’s eternal life that condemns him.

So life right now is what it is for this unbeliever because of his spiritual attitude toward the ‘Name’ of God’s Son, Jesus Christ - how he looks at that Name, how he refuses to apprehend for himself this Divine Provision for his present spiritual being.

Perhaps we should notice a little point about the Greek construction John uses here.

The two verbs translated ‘has been judged’ and ‘has not believed’ are both in the perfect tense.

In Greek, that points to something permanent, a lasting state.

John is not talking about a passing moment of doubt or unbelief in these unbelievers who are already judged.

He is talking about the person who is in a continuing state of unbelief, who blocks out the possibility that Jesus might be the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
           
And who cannot accept the fact that He is worthy of being ‘trusted in, relied upon, and adhered to’ according to all that His Name represents.

The one who is judged is already living in unbelief, continuing unbelief and wants nothing else, and accordingly - and sadly - he gets nothing else.

We can take the example of Nicodemus, the illustration that led up to this statement of John’s.

Nicodemus heard the words of Jesus with his physical ears. 

But, he did not hear them really, it seems, for - according to what Jesus explained - Nicodemus never made any commitment, at least at that moment, and thus, he placed upon himself his own judgment of continuing to live in unbelief and receiving the returns of unbelief.

So, to choose not to believe is to condemn oneself here and now in the present.

John continued: ‘Now this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.’

John is not saying, ‘God has passed judgment, and this is His sentence.’

Rather, he is saying, ‘This is what judgment means’. 

This is the way judgment works out its work in its daily outcome. 

The condemnation goes like this: light has come into the world, and men love to live in darkness instead and that brings its own consequences.

He could have said, ‘One day men will be judged for what they have done. 

One day, I will punish them because they love the darkness rather than exchange it for the light.’  

John did say that in other of his writings but that is not what he said here.

Rather, he said that to love darkness is itself condemnation and is judgment that people are imposing on themselves.

They choose to stay in darkness and do not choose to come into the light, and in so doing, they sentence themselves to a life lived in the darkness.

Thus, John says the unbeliever has not believed, (adhered to, nor relied upon) ‘the name of the only begotten Son of God’, and therefore, he is judged already, now - presently.

Now, let us turn that around and see what this means to us who believe.

It strongly implies that the eternal realities are so significant in this present life, that the appropriating of the spiritual knowledge of Jesus Christ is important for the life here on earth. 

That is, life right now is what it is because of what we are able to know spiritually now about the ‘name’ of the only begotten Son of God.

It has been said before, and bears repeating, that effective praying is based on a living relationship with Jesus Christ.

For it is only in that living relationship that one knows the power that is operating in that Name in his own life.

The penitent sinner prays on the basis of God’s promise when he asks for forgiveness, for it is by the prayer of his sincere seeking and asking that the Kingdom of God opens to him.

As a praying believer, he then prays on the basis of his relationship to the Father through God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and, thereby, enters into His eternal purposes in his praying.

We must never forget that Jesus Christ is the great Intercessor, the Mediator between God and man - the One in Whose hands God has put His conquering and expanding forces to work toward the ultimate realization of His plan.

In His trusting confidence in the believer, who but God could say to such a believer, ‘All things whatsoever you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.’? (Matt.21:22)

And who is to command and direct the ‘all things’ for which a believer asks?

Is it not Jesus Christ to Whom all power and authority in heaven and in earth has been given? (Matt.28:18)

The power of His Name has no limitations in extent or things.

What He now exerts, has to do with His divine initiation, His divine inspiration, and His divine results as it works its wonders in the believer.

God has given Him the vast and matchless inheritance of all eternal power and authority so that He can charge us to ‘come boldly to the throne of grace’. (Heb.4:16)

There is nothing on earth nor in heaven, for time or eternity, that God’s Son, Jesus Christ, does not have under His control. 

For He is ever praying in His heavenly ministry since Prayer is His law and His life, and in partnership with the Holy Spirit, He is praying through believers who alone know the power of His Name and the unfailing success of His ministry.

So, His Kingdom is established in power and made to move mountains with His conquering force.

Paul knew that. 

He could confidently report that ‘He[Christ] is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think’ (Eph.3:20). 

And Paul certainly was not standing under any kind of self-imposed judgment when he said that.

Thus, the one who does not grasp and appropriate the Provision of Jesus Christ in this design of the spiritual understanding of things is ‘judged already’, as John 3:18 says.

But the one who believes in Jesus Christ is not judged - his judgment is all bound up in Him Who is the living, conquering power in prayer.

So, believing in His Name and all that it represents precedes praying in His Name. 

That is well established - there is no other way!

There is another important side to this call to intercession that we should consider. 

We find it in John 15:14-16 - this is the side that makes it a spontaneous outflow from the believer.

John 15:14-16: “You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you...I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you. 
...I have chosen you and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in My Name, He may give to you...’.

‘You are My friends’, He told His disciples, and - of course - He sealed that fact in His prayer of intercession for them.

He had called them ‘friends’ and proved it to them by making known to them whatever He heard from the Father.

When He told them what He heard, the voice of the Father spoke through the Son. 

It was as though God was speaking to them ‘face to face, as a man speaks unto his friend.’ (Ex.33:11) 

It was with the divine depth and fullness of communications that Jesus Christ deemed Himself bound and able to convey the message to those He loved and who loved Him.

And - miracle of miracles - He also included us in the circle of His Friends who were to become one with Him: v 20 -
‘Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe in Me through their word;...’. (John 17)

I am sure you would agree that one of the true riches of this natural life is a true friend.

A true friend is always near and he becomes a part of you, a part that you can never just slough off.

As Prov.18:24 says, the one friend who is a friend indeed outweighs the many, for this is the friendship that deepens into that concern for one another’s welfare.

Prov.18:24 - ‘...there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.’

The love of a true friend is constant, with a love that is faithful, present at all times, even in the times of adversity when it might be severely tested.

In fact, it is in such times of adversity that this strong friendship stands out.

Prov.17:17 - ‘A friend loves at all times,...’.

On the other side are those ‘friends’ (and I purposely put quotes around ‘friends’) who are nominal friends, who are friends to one’s undoing, who may bring a man to ruin and loss.

Such friends are not really friends, at least not in a Scriptural sense, for there is no real care nor concern for the welfare of his friends.

The world terms them ‘fair weather friends’!

But - the distinguishing mark of a true friend, particularly of a true Christian friend, is his concern for the welfare of his friends.

And, you see, it is Christ’s friends alone who are concerned with ‘Christ’s glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.’  (John 1:14)

A number of weeks ago, when we looked at the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, I stated that there seem to be those in the Christian world who could care less about the glory of God.

And that that was an area each believer needs to search out before the Lord on his own and come to a settled place concerning it.

Well, this is the plane on which that is settled - the plane of Christ calling His own “His friends” and dealing with them on that ground as ‘friend with friend’, a True Friend with His true friends.   

His own, who have already proven His transforming power within themselves, cannot confine that glorious change within themselves - they must, they cannot do otherwise, but be concerned with the shinning out of His glory.

One of the peculiarities of Christianity is this strong personal tie of real love and intimacy that binds Christ’s own to Himself.

Here, today, is this One Who is the Object of passionate attachment and love deeper than life to millions and millions of people, and will be to the end of time and on to eternity.

It is a perpetual bond that unites men with Christ today.

There is nothing in the whole history of the world in the least like that strange bond that ties you and me to Jesus Christ, our Savior.

And for us, it is true that ‘You are My friends’ (John 15:14), makes this prayer of John 17 as real as our very existence is.

To us here, two millenniuns later, these words of His come to our hearts direct - ‘You are My Friends’.

And the paradox of 1.Peter 1:8 remains a unique fact in the experience of humanity: “Jesus Christ, Whom, having not seen, you love; in Whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

His friendship is what enlarges our understanding of the nature of God, to help us know what kind of God God is,
to understand what Jesus taught and lived out about Himself before His friends, for He said in His prayer, ‘I have declared Thy Name and will declare it to them.’  (17:26)

It is through His friendship with us that we learn that there are no limitations in that friendship, no misinterpretations of His heart, no alienation possible, no change to be feared.

There is absolute rest for us all there, a losing of ourselves in Him, becoming nothing, to find that in our impotence, there is power - great, great prevailing power.

This is one lesson we learn from observing Peter, whose self-elevating notions were gently brought low to humiliating impotence by his Redeemer-Friend, Jesus Christ, Who - after His Resurrection exchanged Peter’s weakness to this great prevailing power. 

And, in Peter, as in all His own, the purpose which Christ’s initial and originating friendship has had in view is set forth in the words of ‘go and bring forth fruit’ (John 15:16) and pray ‘whatever you ask of My Father...’.
 
‘That you may bring forth fruit...’ is the effect of obeying the ‘go’. 

And, that, ‘whatsoever you ask the Father in My Name, He will give to you’ is the provision needed to ‘go’ and to ‘...bring forth fruit.’

Here is the naturally spiritual outflow of things!

Here are living men and women, in all diversities of character and circumstances, but with this stamped upon them all - Christ’s friends, lovers of Him who know both the Father and the Son and are loved by Him and His Father.

John 14:21: ‘...he who loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love Him,...’.

Christ’s friends, living close to Him, bearing fruit spontaneously, have prayers answered for they will be in accordance with His disposition and His will. 

The songwriter wrote, and it has blessed me over the years: 

‘O, the pure delight of a single hour that before Thy throne I spend, When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend!’

‘Friendship with Jesus, Fellowship divine, O what blessed sweet communion. Jesus is a friend of mine!’ 

In closing, let me sum this all up by saying this: it is our ‘believing in’, our adherence, our trust, and reliance on the Name of Jesus Christ and all that it represents that makes us His Friends.

And our friendship with Him is what fixes our desire to serve Him in an intercession ministry.

Take these things tonight into your heart and ponder them the week through as we allow the Holy Spirit to just melt our hearts more each day toward this onging work of Christ in us.                  
                   Let us close in prayer!