Title: I AM THE GATE
Author: Andrew Nugteren
Company: Private

The Intercessory Ministry of Our Lord
Text: John 17:9-12
Readings: 
•	Romans 8:31-39 
•	John 17:9-12 
Last Lord's Day we looked at the very encouraging biblical truth that God chooses his people and that they belong to him from the beginning. God the Father has given us to his Son Jesus Christ and Jesus had received us and gathered us to himself. And we come to appreciate that we have received a great deal more from Jesus Christ by way of ministry than we first imagined. 
In our text this morning, as the prayer unfolds, we find this theme of the ministry of Christ to his people developed still further. Jesus says in verse 9 [read]. I pray for them, says Jesus, I am not praying for the world. Now we have to be careful here because it is not that the world is unimportant and that Jesus has no interest in it. The most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, tells us that God loves the world and that salvation is for all those who believe in Jesus. And in verses 21 and 23 of this chapter, Jesus says that he wants the disciples to remain unified in order that the world may believe that God sent him as the Son. In other words there are things that Jesus wants the world to come to see and the world has by no means been written off by God. But Jesus' focus in this prayer is on the disciples. It is the church, living still in the world that Jesus prays for. 
Let's take this one step further. Jesus is praying for his people, but what is he praying for them? Well, there are number of things and we will consider them in turn in the next few weeks. But this morning I want to focus on the prayer of Jesus for the preservation of his people in their relation to God the Father. That's rather a mouthful, I know, but let's see how that arises from the text. In verse 11, Jesus says: Holy Father, protect or guard them or preserve them, as we have it in the Greek. Then he says: Protect, them in your name, the name you gave me. My apologies, but here I have to take issue with the NIV translation. In an attempt to explain what the passage means, the NIV suggests that there is some power inherent in the name of God the Father, and that by invoking that name over the disciples, they will be preserved from harm. But the word "power" is not in the Greek. Jesus is simply praying that the disciples would be preserved in the Father's name. And that sentiment is not as difficult as it may sound because Jesus has already said in verse 6 of the prayer: I manifested your name to the ones you gave me and they have accepted your word and they know that I have been sent from you. By accepting the name of the Father, and receiving the words of the Son whom he sent, the disciples have been brought into a saving relationship with the Father. They belong to the Father as his children, members of his household, and the Father belongs to them. But they also belong to the Son because God has entrusted them to him. And Jesus does not want them to fall away from the Father and be expelled from the family. In fact, he points out that the only one who will perish is Judas - here in verse called the son of perdition or judgement in verse 12. 
So summing this up so far: We have Jesus praying for his people that they might be protected from harm - preserved in their relationship to God the Father. 
There is one other point that I want to make by way of introduction. If we compare this passage of Scripture with others, we can see that this was by no means a one-off prayer. Hebrews 7:25 teaches us that the priestly, pastoral work of Jesus carries on and he always lives to make intercession for us - that means to pray on our behalf. And in Romans 8, in the passage that we read, Paul also affirms that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God - interceding for us. Jesus is praying for us, brothers and sisters. Jesus is praying for us. He is praying, among other things, that we would be preserved in our relationship to God the Father - that we would not fall away from him. 
But the question for is now is what does this mean for us on the practical level? So what that Jesus is praying for us? 
Well, let me say first that this truth is of immense blessing when we are suffering. However much we may want our lives to go smoothly and to experience joy and happiness, we know full well that we live in a world that has been horribly effected by sin and the fact is that from time to time, we are on the receiving end of the curse that covers the ground. What did God say? By the sweat of your brow you shall eat. Yes, and the sheer effort that is required for us to earn a living today - the long hours in the traffic jams or the overtime with the husband away far more often than the wife would like - not to mention the thorns and thistles that seem to spring up in our lives. Well, God did say that the soil would grow weeds much more easily than it did crops. And there are other forms of weeds in our lives as well - setbacks - discouragements - disappointments - hurtful things. But even these are not the hardest things. What does a youngster know of the pain of an elderly person - lonely - only able to sleep three or four hours at night at best - missing a loved one terribly? Well, we know that God told our first parents of that as well. He said that death would be a part of life in this world. It is horrible, but it is true and there are times when we have to face that harsh reality. But it is a harsh reality and it can so often seem as if God is too far away to understand what we are going through. 
There is a book called Night, by an E. Wiesel, a survivor of Auschwitz. In the book, Wiesel tells of an occasion when the SS hanged three Jewish prisoners in front of the whole camp. Two were older men, but the third was a youth. As the execution proceeded, the two older men died relatively quickly, but the death throes of the youth went on for a whole half hour. Part way through, someone groaned out behind. "Where is God? Where is he?" But there was only silence and still the youngster did not die. After still more time elapsed, again the question was asked: "Where is God?" and the author says that he heard a voice in himself that said: "Where is he? He is here. He is hanging on the gallows." The point that Wiesel was making, in a very graphic way, was that God is not distant from the suffering of his people. When they are hurting, he is right there hurting with them and to say that God is uncaring is a blasphemous lie of the devil. 
See what Jesus says in verse 11 [read]. Jesus knew that very soon, he would be leaving the disciples physically. He knew he would shortly be killed, would rise again, yes, but shortly after that, he would ascend into heaven. During these last three years, Jesus has lived with these men, travelled with them, taught them. They are his friends - and very soon they would have to face his absence. Worse than that, some of them would face unspeakable torture and even death and the devil would tempt them with the question: Where is your precious Jesus now? It was precisely for that reason that Jesus wanted his disciples to overhear this prayer in which they are the focus of his pastoral attention. He wants them to know that he loves them still and that he will never cease bringing their particular needs before the throne of God his Father. 
It is always a tremendous encouragement when we know that others are praying for us. When we are hurting or facing some enormous obstacle in life, and we know that other Christians are interceding for us - bringing our needs before God's throne - asking for grace and strength for us - this is something that bears us up because we know that other people love us and are concerned for us. But how much more should the prayers of Christ encourage us? It is Jesus who is praying for our preservation in our relationship to the Father; therefore how can we possibly fall away? 
Let's see how Paul puts it in that passage we read from Romans 8: [read verses 34-39]. That says it all, doesn't it? There is no event, force or power in all creation that can separate us from God's love which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. We may not be able to speak to him directly as the disciples did. We may not be able to see his compassionate expressions and hear his declarations of love. But they are all there - and they are being expressed on our behalf because he knows that it is difficult for us as we try to carry out the responsibilities he has given us in this world. Never doubt the love of Jesus for you. And if we have taken that love for granted and failed to thank Jesus for his concern and his prayers, let's rectify that situation in our lives. 
Moving, on, the fact that Jesus prays for us is a great blessing in times of personal shame and failure. If you don't commit any sin, and you never feel ashamed of yourself, you can switch off right now, for this part of the sermon is not for you. If you do commit sin and you feel unworthy of God and of Jesus Christ, then listen up. 
In verse 12 we read [read]. We are speaking here of a contrast between Judas, here referred to the one doomed to destruction, and the other 11 disciples. Judas has just gone out into the night and is even now in the process of betraying Jesus Christ to the Jewish leaders. He was making his choice. What you do, do quickly, Jesus had said to him. And we have to say that Judas was responsible for his choice - he had planned it - deliberated upon it - and even now was carrying it out. By his deliberate act of betrayal, he was showing that his commitment to Jesus had never been a matter of the heart and therefore he had never been one of those who had been given to Jesus by God the Father. 
But now, consider the others. Peter too will shortly betray Jesus Christ and deny him three times with an oath. Of course, his betrayal was not planned. He was most offended when Jesus told him he would deny him three times before the cock crowed and he was determined that it would not happen. But it was a betrayal, nevertheless, and Peter was not alone in this - for all the disciples deserted Jesus in his hour of greatest need. They didn't mean to, but they did. They failed. But let's just have a look at Luke 22:31,32 [read]. Satan was really going to have a go at Peter. Peter would be sifted like wheat. But from this interchange we learn a number of things. We learn that if it had not been within Jesus' will for Peter to be sifted, then permission would not have been given. Before Satan could to anything with Peter, he had to receive permission from God. Secondly, Jesus had already asked, in advance, that Peter's sin would be forgiven and furthermore, that he would repent and turn back in sorrow. Not only that: Jesus had also asked that he would learn a great deal from his fall and be able to strengthen his brethren when they were down and discouraged. You see? Jesus had already circumvented Peter's failure with his love and he would use it as a blessing for Peter himself and for the other disciples. And this is precisely what happened, isn't it? Peter did fall. So did the others, but Peter fell the furthest. Among the 11, he was one of the leading disciples, but his betrayal was greater then theirs. Yet from his experience, he would be able to identify with the sins of his brethren - he would know the power of sin and temptation, the ease with which we can fall into it - and he would be able to help and encourage his fellows. And before and during and after it all, there was the faithful prayer of preservation of our Lord Jesus. 
When you are in temptation and you are not experiencing victory over sin it is very discouraging. If your fall is the greater, your pain is also the greater. And the pain is also great when others around us manifest sin - people who have been Christians for many years and should know better - people who occupy positions of responsibility in the church, perhaps. What is the church coming to, we think? Will there be a future for the church, or is this the beginning of the end? Why are we so stubborn and why do we find it so hard to learn? It is because of our sin - our own personal sin and the sin of those we love. But behind that and through it and after that - there is the faithful prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ. How will we not receive salvation when he always lives to make intercession for us? And how will be not be of blessing and service in his kingdom - in spite of our weaknesses - when these are the things he is asking for? 
One other point to consider briefly: This truth about Jesus praying for us is of great encouragement when those whom we love seem to be falling away from the Father. Isn't it true, that when our children are young, we as parents want to do everything right? We teach them to pray and we read the Scriptures to them. We send them to Sunday School and then to cadets and catechism classes. But you know the old saying: Little kids, little problems, big kids, big problems. How many of us as parents reach the stage where we say: I've done all I can. I've told them a thousand times - if I tell them again, it will make them even more stubborn. I cannot change their hearts - all I can do is pray. Let me say this: When you feel that you are losing your grip with your children, that you cannot constrain or cajole them to live as Christians any more, and when you feel real agony as parents because of that, remember that there is someone else who is praying for the preservation of your children in their relationship to God the Father, and the prayers of this One must be answered. And if some of your children will be prodigals, leaving for a time and then returning, this is all in the plan of God for them. None of those will perish who truly belong to Jesus Christ. Whatever you do, don't give up. We'll have occasion to speak more of that next week. 
Let me close this morning by saying that if you do not know Jesus Christ personally, then you must find out more about him and express faith in him. Your choices are your own responsibility and you will stand before God for them but what a wonderful thing it is to be one of God's children and have Jesus pray for you. For that to happen, it is as simple as turning from your sin and coming to Jesus in faith. Remember what he said in an earlier part of our text: This is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. May God grant that each of us here may have this knowledge and this comfort. Amen.