(John) the Lords Prayer for Himself — Willie Mullan

And we're at John, chapter 16, 17, John, chapter 17, and we're just dealing with the first of five verses this evening, John 17. And I want to say this, that we're coming to one of the greatest chapters, not only in John's gospel, not only in the four gospels, but a chapter that has been proclaimed by many of the great scholars of the greatest chapter in the book.

It was Martin Luther who said, this is the most remarkable chapter in the most remarkable book in the world. I believe he was right. The great reformer, John Knox, said, when I'm dying I want this chapter read.

And in his last days, this chapter was read to the great reformer every day that he lived. Yes? And Arthur W. Pink, one of the greatest expositors the world has ever seen, said that in this chapter we find prayer in its sincerity and simplicity and beauty and glory, yet with a depth and height and length and breadth that no mind can ever measure.

Christ's High-Priestly Prayer in John 17

So that we are entering into the very holiest of all this evening, and I want you to be conscious of that. When our Lord Jesus Christ lifts his face to heaven, and every word of his prayer is recorded, and you're allowed to listen, and you're allowed to look, you will have to come and take the shoes off your feet and realize that you're on holy ground, if you want to learn.

So that we're entering the holiest of all this evening. First of all, I want to talk to you about the Lord's Prayer. I think we've got to get that bit clear. You know, if you take the four Gospels, and you just put them into one, and you make what has sometimes been called an harmony of the Gospels, make them in one book, one of the greatest subjects in the four Gospels is the Lord's Prayer.

It's a marvellous thing, you know, to see the Lord pray, and I think that if you do that, you'll find this out, that our blessed Lord prayed before his disciples at times, just like he's doing here. He's walking from the upper room, and he's going to the Garden of Gethsemane, and in my humble estimation, he was not very far from the book that led into the Garden of Gethsemane, and he's been coming along, and he's been teaching them, as we have seen in chapter thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, the great pastoral discourse.

And he's coming along talking, and as he's uttering these words, he just stopped and lifted his eyes toward heaven, and he began praying. Some of them probably bowed their heads.

Some of them looked at his face, and all of them listened to his words.

The Lord prayed at times before his disciples, and if you take other parts of the book, you'll find that the Lord prayed for his disciples. At times when he went out into the mountain alone, and prayed for them, that gives us another thought, that the Lord prayed without his disciples.

Yet, arising before it was day, he went out into a solitary place, and there he prayed. And all the time when you see the Lord praying before them, and see the Lord praying for them, see the Lord praying without them, seeing the Lord lifting his hands to bless them as he was leaving them, that was the very attitude that he went up to heaven.

As he lifted his hands, he was taken up. But never once did you find, or will you find in the book, the Lord praying with. I want you to get the hold of that, because that's precious. You see, friends, the Lord was the one who spoke of never-mind-pray.

Let me tell you this, he was the one who prayed never-mind-pray. You will find phrases in this wonderful, remarkable chapter that we're entering upon, phrases that nobody could pray but Christ himself.

And you will find the disciples praying things that Christ couldn't pray, so that he never prayed with them. Are you getting this? You see, the fact that he prayed, and the fact that he never prayed with them, brings forth two precious things.

The fact that he prayed showed that he was absolutely dependent upon God, of the servant of Jehovah. The dependableness of Christ is brought forth from the fact that he prayed. But the fact that he never prayed with them brings forth the precious point of his sinless death.

You see, we meet here on Thursday for prayer. And sometimes some of my brethren and sisters, bless them, they rise to their feet and they begin to confess their faults, and their flaws, and their coldness, and hardness, and carelessness, and carelessness, and indifference, and the very sins of their life.

And I have to say amen, because I'm not any better than they are.

But the Lord never had to say amen.

The Lord couldn't pray with them, because he was sinless. He can't say amen when they're saying, forgive us our trespasses. He had no trespasses. If you want to get that fact, then you go through your book and you will find that he prayed before them, and that he prayed for them, and that he prayed without them.

But you've never found him praying with them. It's a very solid fact. The so-called Lord's Prayer, you know, is not the Lord's Prayer at all, for the Lord could never have prayed it. Not that all we hear a lot of blabbers at times, but you have a look at it.

It's in Matthew, chapter 6. I'll come carefully to it. In Matthew, chapter 6, you get some of the greatest teaching in the whole book on prayer. I was dealing with this the other morning, and I must go lightly with it now.

The first recorded word in the New Testament on prayer, from our Master's lips, is found in Matthew, chapter 6, verse 5. And here he's talking to his believers. And he's looking at them, pulling to their face, and he's saying, when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.

Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. Well, that's the first thing the Master said in this book about prayer. He said, when ye pray, don't be like the hypocrites. You know, if ever I were asked to expound what hypocrisy is, I would have to say this.

When a man or woman stands up in the prayer meeting and closes their eyes and opens their mouths and pretends to pray to God, when away down deep in their hearts the only thing that there is, I hope everybody's listening, that's hypocrisy.

Off the deepest dive. When a man pretends to talk to God when he only wants the machine of his fellow men, he's a hypocrite. That's the first thing the Master ever said about prayer, and it's a mighty one.

And what he was just meaning was this. He said, when you pray, don't be man-conscious. Don't put talk in your ear to see that the old Baptist is saying amen. That's what he was saying. Because if you only come to hear the Baptist saying amen, you'd be better in bed.

You're only a hypocrite, no matter who you are. So the Master said. Now, here's the next thing that he said about prayer. Pass verse six and go to verse seven. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

You see, he said first of all, don't be like a hypocrite, and then he said, don't be like a heathen. You see, the heathen, even in the very days of our Lord Jesus Christ, they'd got big prayer wheels, and they'd begun turning the prayer wheel round, and it was always the same old language that was being used.

It was being repetitious. And in the kingdom of Babylon, they had a chain, and they went round the chain, and every link meant something. That's where the rosary came from. Heathen people, that's being repetitious.

When you heal, dear Lord, it's the Master's condemn. Well, look, there's none of us can laugh too much at the other, can we? The thing the Lord's teaching is this. Don't be man-conscious when you pray.

Again, don't be word-conscious. Some people, to hear them, you'd think they're just delighted and standing up and shutting their eyes and rambling on for the rest of the prayer meeting, and it is rambling too.

The Lord says, don't, don't, don't, don't. Don't be man-conscious, and then don't be word-conscious. You don't get anything by being word-conscious. Here's what he said in the middle. See verse 6? That's where I passed it.

But thou, when thou playest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret. Thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. You see, when you pray, you ought to be God-conscious.

That's the whole teaching, you know. Teaching is when you stand up, close your eyes, don't worry about men, and don't worry about words. Just get into the presence of God. And then the Lord gave them a model.

The Lord's Prayer as a Model, Not a Memorized Formula

He said, go by, watch. Verse 9. After this manner, therefore, pray ye, and I want you to put a line under the word manner. Now, I want you to get this, because I think this is very important. He did not say, after these words, pray ye.

Not at all, he didn't say any such thing. He said, after this manner. He wasn't giving them something, a wee portion to memorize. Not at all. There's some people who repeat this thing the way other folk repeat Shakespeare, and there's not much difference in either of the two.

I'm telling you.

It's only memorizing a wee phrase. The Lord said, I'm not asking you to remember a wee phrase. The Lord said, I'm giving you a model. After this manner, after this model, I want you to pray. And what a model it is when you begin to examine it.

It's in two parts. Look at it quickly. After this manner, therefore, pray ye. Watch it. First part, O Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Do you see all that? It's all God's work. Just as quickly as that, there are four petitions. That's, O Father which art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, thy will be done. He says, the model's teaching you this, that when you pray the first petition, you're in your heart ought to be, you're praying for the glory of God.

That ought to be the first petition. Every time you get up in the prayer meeting and close your eyes and open your mouth, will you remember this? That the model's teaching you that you ought to be asking for the glory of God.

Not for the Baptist. Oh, no. Don't come to the prayer meeting.

If you only pray for the Baptist. You ought to be praying for the glory of God.

That's the first thing. In fact, that's the first thing in all this. You ought to be preaching for the glory of God. You ought to be singing for the glory of God. You ought to be giving your money for the glory of God.

So man's chief end is to glorify God, taught right through your book. So the model was only giving you to show that the first part is for the glory of God. What's the second part of the model? See what it changes in verse 11.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. You see, the first part of the model teaches you that you ought to pray for the glory of God, and the second part teaches you that you ought to pray for the good of men.

That's all the model you'll ever need. And you're not to pray after those words. No, you're to pray after this manner. Make your prayer like this. This is the model that's before you. Pray for the glory of God and the good of men.

And once you've got your eyes on that, you'll know that the Lord Jesus could never have prayed it. Just fancy the Lord on His knees praying this bit. Do you see it there? Verse 12. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Do you think He ever prayed once in His life, forgive us our debts? Do you know the other portion? Forgive us our trespassers as we forgive them the trespass against us. Do you think the Lord ever prayed, forgive us our trespassers?

Do you think He was a trespasser? Well, you'll know now that the Lord never prayed any such thing. It would be a utter impossibility for Jesus Christ, this sinless Son of God, who had never won fault, who had never won debt, who never trespassed in anything, who did no sin, who knew no sin, who was perfectly sinless.

It would be absolutely impossible for Him to get down and pray that, so it comes to the Lord's prayer.

No, it was never said to be. It was just a model that He gave to man. And man can use it. But the Lord never prayed with them. It was a model for man.

But it was never the supplication of the Savior. We're coming to the supplication of the Savior this evening. And when you start John 17, you're at the Lord's prayer. And that's where we're starting now.

I thought I'd better put that bit in tonight, so even it out. Now we're at John 17. And this is a wonderful thing, because here we're actually seeing the Savior in supplication. And there's some wonderful things for us to note this evening.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples and Enters the Holiest

Now, I want you to remember that in John 13, He was in the upper room, and He began talking to His disciples. And in John 14, you remember, it began, Let not your heart be troubled. And He gave them that great word of consolation, that He was going, and that He would prepare a place for them, and that He would come and take them to the place prepared.

That was the great word of consolation. In John 15, you remember, He used that great word of illustration, I am the vine, ye are the branch. At the end of John 15, you remember how He talked about the Holy Spirit coming, and in John 16.

And last week, we noticed the new dispensation, where they are children of God, could go into the presence of God, and say, Our Father, with God in Heaven. Now, our Lord is in the upper room, when the discourse began.

At the end of John 14, the last verse is, Arise and let us go hence. And He is leaving the upper room, and He is walking slowly to the garden of Gethsemane, and as He walks, He talks. And He is telling them all about the vine, and all about the Holy Ghost coming, and all about the new dispensation, and they are all around Him, and He is talking and explaining.

And this chapter opens like this, These words take Jesus on. Lifted up His eyes to Heaven and started to pray. I want you to get this. You see, He speaks to them, and He is expounding, and He is telling them all these wonderful things.

And as He went along with them, my, it was perfectly easy. The excess for Him was absolutely free. He could stop reaching at that split second, and lift His face, and His eyes toward Heaven, and begin praying.

You know, some people seem to think that it's, it's very difficult to get into the presence of God. I've never found it so. I believe what this book teaches, that there is a new and living way, made right into the holiest of all, by the blood of Jesus.

And it will never lose its power. From the very spot where you sit now, there's a shot from your heart, right into the holiest of all, and it was opened by the blood of Jesus. And all the demons, and devils, and principalities, and cults, and sheriffs, because if they could, the blood would have failed.

So I have no trouble getting in, you know. Oh, I can preach now, and close my eyes, and get into the presence of God. So could my Master. You can see the excess. But I want you to notice this also. I want you to notice His action.

These words speak Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven. I like to note this. You know, posture in prayer means something, but it doesn't mean everything. There were times when our blessed Lord prayed, think about the garden of Gethsemane, we will be there in a night or two, if the Lord wills.

And He went a little further, and He bowed His knees onto the ground, and put His feet in the ground, and lay down and cried, Father, if it be possible. But here He's not bowing His knees, He's just walking along, and He's preaching, and like a flash, He lifted His eyes to heaven, and began to pray.

You see, I think that the very action of lifting His eyes to heaven would tell the disciples that He's not talking any longer to them, He's talking to us, and everything grew still. You know, this old book teaches you that there's a way into the holiest of all for every believer by the blood of Jesus.

And whether you're on your feet, you can bend, don't forget, or you can see Him in different postures,.

But notice His action here, He just turns His face towards heaven.

And if any of these modernists in the school ask some of you younger ones, where's heaven? What they're doing these days, tell them the Lord looked upward, and He probably knew better than the fellow that's at the front of the class.

Audible Prayer and Hannah's Example

Now let's go on with this. I want you to get this bit. These words speak Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, I want you to get the audibility of this. You know, I really believe this. I believe we should play audibly.

Oh, I know there's a lot of people that are going to be cornered in this very point. They say, you know, I can't. You can do a lot of talk with a tongue when you're criticizing. Wonderful that your tongue tied in the prayer meeting.

Well, the Lord lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, and I believe that all the saints right down through all the ages, they came into God's presence, and they prayed audibly. The psalmist said, in the morning, those can't hear my voice.

And when you get wound up, there was... You know, people tell me that the woman shouldn't pray. Well, I'll put you in the corner for a minute or two. Have a look at 1 Samuel just now. Samuel, and the first chapter.

I want you to think about Hannah here. And we'll read from verse 9 just to get the proper connection. So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Siloam, after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord.

Verse 10. 1 Samuel. First chapter. Verse 10. And she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept so. And she bowed about and said, O Lord of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thine handmaid and remember me and not forget Thine handmaid, but will give unto Thine handmaid a man's child.

She knew what she was praying for too. Then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life. She was praying for the glory of God. And there shall no razor come upon his head. And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli, that's the priest sitting there, mocked her mouth.

That's a lovely wee bit, isn't it? He mocked her mouth. Her Hannah, she spake in her heart. Only her lips moved. But her voice was not heard. Therefore, she had been drunk. Just because she wasn't praying out audibly.

She's standing before the Lord and her lips are moving. And she's not speaking audibly. And the man sitting there who had seen hundreds of women pray and knew the order of the day, just because she's not praying out audibly, he says, you're drunk.

Tell me, what was the common practice? Go on, you tight fellas. You're in the tightest corner you were ever in. Well, aren't you? Didn't the old priest, wasn't he used with women praying?

Isn't this an exception to the rule? Doesn't he think she's drunk because she'll not speak up?

Well, go home and swallow it. It will never do you good. The Lord's praying out audibly. And if I had time, I would list you on the rest of women praying in the book too. John 6, 17. Let's go back there.

John 17. Our Lord is praying audibly. And, you know, we always talk about Him leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps. I hope you women will take this one. When you come back to the prayer meeting, you're not the dummies.

Because the Lord expects you to pray, and He expects you to pray audibly. When God gifted women to prophesy, do you think they could prophesy inwardly? Look it up. All that I'm after here is this. You can see the freedom of access, the Lord had.

Now, these words take Jesus' arms. Immediately turn from preaching to praying. You can see His action. He lifted up His eyes. You can hear His audibility. On His head. Now, here's a lovely reword. He said, Father.

That's the first word. That's how He began to break. Now, He didn't say, Oh, Father. No, He just said, Father. You know, the fatherhood and the sonship is just as big a subject as you ever tackled. Can I do this quickly for the class?

You see, if you look right away back, can I do this quickly for the class? You see, if you look right away back before the heralds and orders to the rest receives its frame, way back into that eternity of holiness that was before the world began, really, truly, honestly speaking, we should never talk about eternity past or eternity to come, because eternity is never past nor to come.

Eternity is one eternity. But for our poor finite minds, we have to turn around and look back before the heralds and orders to the rest receives its frame, a way back into that eternity of holiness before the world was.

And younger you find the eternal sorrow. And in his wisdom, the eternal son. Yes, there is no trouble at all about the eternal sonship. And I want you to get this. As you see the eternal father and the eternal son, reverently I can say that the father never had a son like that before.

He's the only begotten son, the eternal one. And then the fullness of the time came for our two worlds, and the father sent the son. And he came right down and the mighty incarnation took place and he takes upon him the form of the serpent and he's born in the death room of the virgin.

And then he grows up and comes to the place where he's going out into the surface that God had formed. And as he stands at the banks of Jordan, God opens the heavens and says, this is my beloved son. And let me tell you this, he never had a son like that before.

Never had another one like that. There never was one like that. There never was one like the eternal son.

And there never was one like the incarnate one. And then he went right to Calvary and died on the cross and his head fell lifeless on his breast and they took him down and laid him in the tomb. And the third day, God brought him back from the dead.

And Hebrews says, when God brought him into the world again, he cried to all the angels, I've risen from the dead. This is my son. This day have I begotten thee. This day. And he never had a son like that before.

And this is all unique enough. The eternal sonship, there never was anyone like that and never will be.

And the incarnate sonship, there never was anyone like that and there never will be.

And the blessed Christ who came out from the tomb and defeated death,.

There never was one like that in the world.

Friends, the fatherhood is a unique thing and the sonship is a unique thing. And in all the full blaze of the depths of this mighty truth that we're only touching the hem of the garment now, as he lifts his face to heaven, he says, I tell you friends, there's a depth in your first words that no man on earth will ever reach the heights or the depths or length and breadth and your whole chapter is like that.

But you can see his approach, can't you? Father. And then the prayer goes on, Father, the hour is come. And you not only see his access and his action, his audibility, his approach, but you see his acknowledgement.

Christ's Acknowledgment of the Hour of the Cross

You know, this is something that we can learn this evening. When we come into the presence of God and shut the door and care no longer about men and worry no more about words and phrases and eloquence and oratory, when we come to God, we must come in the full acknowledgement of the deep power of our being.

Do you see that the reason that so much trouble is tossed in the presence of God in the pale middle is because people get up so fast who have no money, who have no need, who have no nothing? The Lord says, the hour is come.

It's a small phrase, isn't it?

The hour. The hour when I'll have to be given into the hands of men. The hour when they'll take me and strip me.

And put the crown of thorns upon me and rip my back into furrows. The hour when they'll lead me out to the cross. The hour when I'll hang in agony and pain and shame and ignominy on the top of Golgotha's hill.

The hour when I must enter into death, when I must die for the unbothering. In the full acknowledgement of all the suffering that was coming, he comes into the Father's presence with perfect access, lifts his head far, the hour has come.

Acknowledging that he knew all the suffering that lay before him.

Friends, there's a tremendous thing there.

And it's only when he gets into the presence and lifts his voice, says, Father, and acknowledges his knowledge of the need of the hour, it's only then he begins to pray. Hasn't prayed yet. The petitions haven't started yet.

The Petition to Glorify the Son

Now, I want you to get to the next portion, the petitions and the purposes. I want you to watch the Lord train now. Now, when he came into the presence of the Father and acknowledges the hour has come, here is the first petition.

Glorify thy Son. That was a wonderful petition. Just a short one. It's teaching our faith. Let me know. You don't need a whole lot of words or all these wonderful ruled-up phrases or eloquent or oratory.

Just a brief groan from the heart. It's the heart and soul being poured out. Here's the faith. Glorify thy Son. You can see what it asks for, can't you? You see, there's a lot in these few verses about glory.

I wonder, could I do it for you? You see, I believe that he's asking for the glory that rightfully belongs to him, the glory that he has acquired. This is acquired glory that he's asking. The thing that he wants.

I want you to give me what I really want. You see, our Lord Jesus Christ had to go back to heaven and sit down in yon throne before he could really be our Savior. Never you forget that. My, if he had died on the cross and never got out of the tomb, then we would perish.

And if he died on the cross and got out of the tomb and didn't get back to the throne, finished. You see, he needs to go right back to be proclaimed the host of all principality and power. That's when he would be in glory.

That's acquired glory. That's something he wants. He stomped principalities and powers beneath his feet, clawed on the serpent's head, put away sin, abolished death, triumphed over the grave, went back to the glory and sat thus as the head of all principality and power.

And not only as the head of all principality and power. That's a mighty thing. But as the head of the church. Therefore, I'm absolutely sure there was no church in the Old Testament for if there was, it existed without a head.

How could the church exist without a head? No. The church is a dispensation on its own. There were Old Testament saints all right in Israel, the last nation. But this is a new thing the Lord doing, bringing Jews and Gentiles into one body and making the Lord the head of the church.

He's to be the head. He's to be the head of the new creation. Then he's to be the head of the nation. Oh, you know, this is all what he's acquired. He's defeated principalities and power. He's become the head of the church.

He's king of kings. He's lord of lords. This is what he's crying for. Father, I know the hour has come. I know I'm going down into salvation. I know all the suffering that lies ahead. But give me the glory that rightfully belongs to me.

That's his acquired glory. Now watch this, do you see it? I'll pass a verse just for the moment. See verse 4. I have glorified thee on the earth. That's his moral glory. That's different again. You see, if you really want to see what God likes, then you watch Christ on earth.

No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him. If you want to see God's love, you look at Christ. If you want to see God's grace, you look at Christ.

If you want to see God's mercy, you look at Christ. If you want to see God's tenderness, God's wisdom, God's patience, God's long-suffering. If you want to see all the moral glories of God, the God of morality, then you look at Christ.

That's the moral glory. That's the moral glory. That's something that was exhibited on earth as he walked through men. You see, he's praying for his acquired glories, and he's talking now about his moral glory.

Watch this one. See verse 5. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was lost. Friend, that's his inherent glory, his essential glory, something that belongs unto us.

It was neither acquired or moral. It was his eternal, something he had with God before the world began, something that hadn't to be acquired, something that wasn't moral, something that was eternal and was his essential glory.

So there's a tremendous subject here on the glory. But what he's praying for, in verse 2, in verse 1, is that glory that must be his because of the suffering of the cross. Now, here's the purpose of the petition.

These words speak Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. All the time, you know, he's practicing what he teaches.

He was telling us, when we come into God's presence, let this be the first part of your prayer. Let it be for the glory of God. He's coming into God's presence and he's saying, Father, the hour has come.

It's just here now. And I'm going into the hands of sinful men and to calvary and to death. Glorify me. Bring me out enough to be the head of principalities and powers and the head of the church and the head of the nation and the head of the new creation.

But only God, that thy name shall be glorified. Say, what praise. Are we learning? I hope we are. But you know, he not only made the petition, and we can see clearly the purpose of the petition, but he is the main point of the petition.

And I think this is tremendous. Now, I hope you get this, because this is difficult, but I think you will. We'll read it slowly. These words take Jesus, lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour has come.

Glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. Ours. And the word here in the Greek is according ours. Thou hast given him power over all flesh. You see, away before he came, before he left the ivory palace, it was decreed that he should have power over all flesh.

But it was also decreed that the only way he could get power over all flesh was through the cross, that you said you would give me. He's putting his finger on the promises of God. And that's how you pray anyway.

If you lend the promises of God and can get into his presence, you can put your finger on them. That's what they're there for.

He said, you decreed that I would have power over all flesh. And I want you to get that word,.

All flesh. And two or three of the scholars believe that the word that's used, therefore all flesh, it's a Greek one, it's a very difficult one to say. I'll not try it. It's a word that not only embraces man, but principalities and powers and everything else.