Shielded and Protected  – Covered by the Love of Christ

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

Though the faith race grows more and difficult, true believers must remember that we are covered by the love of Christ. Jesus prayed for you and that prayer goes a long way!

Introduction

Last week, we had a Sunday School lesson that covered Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, as He prayed out of agony about the cup set before Him.  Here in my sermon this week, I want to share with you another prayer of Jesus.  I want to share the prayer found in John 17 with you today because day by day, the faith race grows more and more difficult, and I want you to know that you are covered by Christ.

Jesus’ Prayer of Hope

John 17:1-3 states:  “Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,  as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.’ ”

Jesus, I want you to understand, was praying to the Father a prayer that some refer to as the “High Priestly Prayer.”  I love to call this prayer the true Lord’s prayer, and the reason why is because only Christ could pray this prayer to the Father.

This was a prayer that Christ prayed after the Feast of Passover, as He and the disciples were making their way to Gethsemane.  Therefore, Christ prayed this prayer before His prayer in the garden.  

Why and what would Jesus pray for?

Now, some wonder why Jesus, IF He is the only begotten Son of God – God in the flesh – needed to pray?  The answer is Him being in the flesh, enduring all that we endure physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  Christ was moved to pray, and, if while He was in the flesh He prayed, shouldn’t we? 

In the opening of John 17, we see that Jesus prayed with the desire to glorify the Father.  In other words, He desired to make God, His salvation, and everlasting life known to mankind.  This prayer reminds me of when the Lord told Jeremiah that His thoughts towards mankind are not evil, but are of peace, a future, and a hope (Jer. 29:11).

I don’t know about all of you, but I am thankful that Christ was a prayerful Christ, who fulfilled the Father’s will and made known the salvation of the Lord.  Without Christ, we would all be lost to sin, but again, I am grateful that Christ prayed with the hope and desire to bring everlasting life to us.

Jesus Covers the Apostles

In John 17:6, we can see who Christ rist began making His petitions to the Father for.  Jesus prayed, saying, in John 17:6, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.”

Jesus was speaking of the eleven apostles who remained with Him.  As Peter stated in 2 Pet. 1:16, “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”

Jesus doesn’t pray for the world

Let us take note that in John 17:9, Jesus said, “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.”

Jesus was being very clear as to who and who He was not praying for.  Now, some may wonder why Christ wouldn’t pray for the world?  Some may wonder if that meant that Christ doesn’t love the world.  Yet, Jesus told Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).”  

So, why didn’t Christ pray for the world?  Christ was about to, and did, lay down His life for the world.  Christ shed blood for the world.  Jesus suffered God’s wrath for the world!  By moving to lay down His life for the world, Christ moved for the world to save it.  So, what more would He need to do for the world?

When Christ makes intercession today, it is for those who have repented and come to Him!  Christ makes intercession, sitting at the right hand of God, for those who have repented and come to Him.  Therefore, as John said, the repentant sinner has an advocate, mediator, and intercessor who pleads our case to the Father (1 John 2:9).

When Christ makes intercession today, He still does not pray or intercede for the world.  Those who have not repented and come to the Lord are of the world.  Christ has done what He will for those who have not repented by laying down His life; there is nothing more that He will do for them.

A prayer to be kept by the Father

In John 17:11-12, we will see the first petition that Christ made on behalf of the apostles.  Now, I want you to pay close attention to these petitions, and you will see why a bit later.

Jesus petitioned the Father, saying, “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”

In His first petition, Christ prayed for the Father to continue to care for the eleven apostles as He was about to leave them to return to the Father.  This is a touching petition, especially when you see Christ’s reference to Iscariot.  Iscariot fell to worldly desires and their temptation as He betrayed Christ for thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26:14-16).

Jesus, having lived in the flesh, understood well the temptations of the world, as He was tempted in all points.  Moreover, Christ was tempted directly by Satan.  So, Christ prayed that the Father tend to the needs of the apostles – to provide for them and to supply their every need so that they wouldn’t fall to temptation.

A prayer to be filled with joy

With knowing the kind of world He was leaving the apostles in, let’s take a look at what Christ next petitioned of the Father on behalf of the apostles.

In John 17:13, Christ petitioned, saying, “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.”  Christ knew the world He was leaving the apostles in was a world that seeks to rob people of hope and joy.  He understood that the apostles would live in a world of trials, tribulations, afflictions, and infirmities that can kill one’s joy.

Again, this petition is touching and thoughtful, as Christ knows what the power of His joy is able to do.  You see, Christ’s joy is the peace of mind that pushes one through difficult and dark times, and the apostles certainly need Jesus’ joy and peace of mind. If you do not know, the apostles did not live easy lives, as most of them were martyred for ministering the good news of God’s salvation.

A prayer to be protected

Adding to His petition of understanding the world that He was leaving the apostles in, we will see Jesus’ next petition in John 17:14-15.

Jesus petitioned the Father, saying, “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.”

Jesus knew the world would be against the apostles!  Jesus had told them that they shouldn’t be surprised if the world hated them because the world hated Him (John 15:18).  The apostles were hated because they were not of the world and preached a message that stood against it.  

Satan and his workers were against them and will always be against God’s servants.  Let’s remember that Satan desires to hinder the mission with a desire for God to lose what had been lost to sin.

So, this prayer from Christ was for the Father to put a head about the apostles.  You see, the hedge of God cannot be penetrated by anything or anyone, not even Satan.  Remember, in the story of Job, Satan complained about the hedge that God had placed around Job, crying to God to lower the hedge so that he could test Job (Job 1:10).  This petition, I want you to understand, was a petition for the Father shield and protect the apostles.

A prayer to remain faithful to the truth

The final petition we will see that Christ made on behalf of the apostles is found in John 17:17-19.

Jesus petitioned the Father, saying, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”

This was a petition for the apostles to remain set apart from the world by the truth.  Again, Christ understood very well the spiritual battle the apostles were about to take on.  You see, the truth was a battleground for the eleven, as they were confronted by the same religious leaders who not only stood against Christ but had Him crucified!

The apostles, Christ knew, would need to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  Christ had no desire for them to conform to a doctrine that was of the world and not of God.  So, this petition, again, is touching in that Christ desired for His apostles to remain faithful to the truth.  

You see, the apostles had an assignment that they needed to carry out full of faith.  An assignment that was important to both you and me!  This concluded Jesus’ petitions for His apostles.

Jesus Covers the Church

Now, if you’re someone who is thinking to yourself, ‘Pastor, you said that we are shielded, protected, and covered in the love of Christ.  So, what about us, Pastor?’  

Well, Jesus’ prayer didn’t stop at the eleven apostles.  In John 17:20, we will see that Jesus said in His prayer, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word…”

All of us who are of the age of the church, past, present, and in the future, Jesus has included in this prayer.  All of us have believed because of the testimony of these men whom Jesus prayed for.  We have believed in their eyewitness report, which Peter also said was inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21).

Jesus’ petitions on your behalf

Now, if you’re wondering what Jesus prayed about for His church, I will again point to John 17:20.  You see, Christ has included all of us in the petitions that He made for the apostles!

Christ understood that we would live in the same world that the apostles lived in!  So, He petitioned that His joy also be fulfilled in you so that you may live with peace of mind when the world tries you!  Christ prayed that His joy be fulfilled in you so that you can overcome your trials, tribulations, afflictions, and infirmities.  

Jesus understood that we would face a world that, at every opportunity, tries to break our spirit.  So again, Christ covered us, praying for His joy to be fulfilled in us so that His joy will lift us when senseless wars are fought, gas prices are high, grocery prices are high, and we’re left not knowing which way to turn.  

Christ understood that we would be despised and hated because we are truly unique, and so, again, He covered us, praying that His joy be fulfilled in us.  It is because He prayed for His joy to be filled in us that we’re still here, regardless of how much the workers of wickedness have tried to destroy us!

You see, Christ petitioned the Father to shield and protect us from Satan and his little minions!  Satan desires to break us and make us turn from the Lord, but he fails to realize that we are covered by Christ’s love.  As God placed a hedge about Job, He has done the same for us!  The devil can’t touch you today because Christ covered you!  Christ will not have you lost as Iscariot, the son of perdition, was.

Having been tempted at all points, understanding that we will also face off with temptation and be enticed, Christ petitioned the Father for us!  Let us understand that temptation is not just sexual immorality, but all that will lead us away from depending on the Lord.  Christ petitioned the Father to keep us – to tend to our every need so that we don’t turn to anything nor anyone else.

In a world of lies, deception, and conspiracies, Christ covered us, petitioning the Father that we also be sanctified by the truth.  As the truth was a battlefield for the apostles, you better believe we’re on a battlefield of the truth, and Christ did not want us to be carried away by false doctrines.  So, Christ prayed that we remain faithful to His truth because, as the apostles had an assignment, we also share in the same assignment of ministering the good news.

Jesus prays for unity in fellowship

Lastly, in John 17:21, we will see that Jesus prayed, saying, “that [we] all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that [we] also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Christ prayed for there to be unity in fellowship, believer to believer, and believer to God.  When you look around at the world today, you can see just how much the petition of unity was needed.  The workers of the world, evil and hateful people, have and still do put forth great efforts to divide and separate us.

The devil’s greatest work is to cause division because he knows that there is power in unity.  Satan knows that through unity we can flourish and prosper.  So, he and his works attack unity because they despise the work of love and harmony, and the joy it brings.  Again, the devil desires for God to lose what He desires the most.

No matter how much the devil desires for both God and for us to lose, it won’t happen because Christ covered us–Christ prayed for us.  Not only that, but we are standing proof that the Father answered the Son’s prayers!  Think about this:  in everything we go through, in all the works of Satan and the wicked, we still stand united today.  We are still united together because Christ prayed for us!

We are shielded and protected, covered by Christ’s love for us, and because of that,  I know that we will make it to the finish line and win this race.  As Paul said, there is nothing in this world that can separate us from the love of God and the reward that He has for us.  I am thankful that Christ covered me in His love.  What about you?