Okay, continuing with the theme of prayer, let me look at question 180 in the Larger Catechism. A lot of these questions in the Larger Catechism are taking time to discuss in detail what we talked about a couple weeks ago when we talked about what is prayer. this whole series of questions in the larger catechism that we're moving through right now is commentary upon the shorter catechism and upon the definition that was given as well in the larger catechism. They're trying to help us understand, and last time we looked at the idea of praying to God only, That is, that primarily what was in view there is the Father, but we, you know, I noted that we don't simply limit our praying to the Father, although the Father is the principle because He's the font. He is, in fact, the root of the divinity or the divine nature. And so when we see this language of praying to God, in and through Christ. We're going to talk about praying in the name of Christ, what it is to pray in the name of Christ, and next time we have to think of the question of why this is necessary. We're going to allude to it tonight, but we really want to talk about praying in the name of Christ, what it is to pray in the name of Christ, so that there's a better understanding of that Behind all of this discussion, in the previous question, in this question, in the next couple of questions in particular, in the larger catechism, there is a bit of presumption that you are aware as Christians that we believe that there is a trinity of persons in the Godhead. As we move from what it is to pray to God, and having talked about that really, that the person of the Father is the one primarily in view, because again, he is the font of the divine nature. The Son is begotten of him, the Spirit is proceeding from him, and in the West we say through the Son, that those personal distinctions in the Godhead are important distinctions for us to observe in the matter of prayer. It's not the Father who has become incarnate. It's the Son. It's not the Spirit who has taken upon Himself the sins of the elect. That's the Son incarnate. And so as we talk about what it is and why it is, next time, we ought to pray in the name of Christ. We're focusing now on the second person, the Trinity. As I mentioned before, prayer isn't simply limited to the Father. We can't acknowledge the Father without acknowledging the Son and the Spirit. There is one undivided, divinity that they all share in common. The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily in the Incarnation. The fullness of the Godhead is to be found not only in the Father, but in the Son and the Spirit, and that by reason both of the eternal begetting of the Son and the eternal procession of the Spirit. So while we focus for a moment now on the Son in this and in the next question, just like we did last time when we focused more on the Father, we don't want to leave, in this case, the Father and the Spirit out of the equation. The whole purpose, with respect to us, the whole purpose of man approaching God through Christ is because we, number one, are creatures, and number two, because we're sinners. So in a sense, with that distinction in mind, I would say, A lot of our answer in this question, what it is to pray in the name of Christ, respects more that difference between the creature and the creator. Why we pray in the name of Christ respects more that difference that is there because we are sinners now. And we're in need of redemption. Now that's not to say that there These are categories which are watertight and separable. For us, they're not. They're no longer separable. And so as we go through again, we're going to be moving back and forth, but I want you to try to keep that in view. That the main thrust of what we're talking about right now, the main lack or want or need that we have is because we're creatures. Even if there was no such thing as sin, what we're talking about right now, why we would pray in the name of Christ, would be applicable. We would still need an avenue of approach to God, because that gulf between the Creator and the creature is infinite. And from the creaturely side, we are unable to bridge that gulf. of a reason of sin, we're also unwilling. But that's a proposition we'll discuss more in question 181. So question 180, what is it to pray in the name of Christ? An answer, to pray in the name of Christ is in obedience to his command and in confidence on his promises. to ask mercy for his sake, not by bare mentioning of his name, but by drawing our encouragement to pray and our boldness, strength, and hope of acceptance in prayer from Christ and his mediation." Now, in the sense that we're asking for mercy in this answer, there is, in fact, at least there's implied that we are in a state of misery. So again, we're not ruling out or we're not saying we shouldn't have an eye to the fact that we're sinners here. But even if we weren't, we would still need a mediator. We would still need an approach. because God, as we'll look at at the end here, God absolutely considered is a problem for us as creatures and that problem becomes infinitely more complicated. The infinity of that gulf adds to it, if you will, another infinity when we take into the equation that we're sinners. Question one, what is it to pray in the name of Christ? Well, in answer, we have to say negatively, and it's actually really the second main point that they're making here, but I want to get that out of the way first. Negatively, we should note it does not consist in the bare, faithless mentioning of his name in our prayers, nor the mere concluding of our prayers therewith." Look at Matthew 7, verse 21. It's not just mentioning his name. It's not a recitation. It's not as if we can say anything, for example, and all we have to do is say, for Jesus' sake, at the end of it, and by virtue of that, it's going to be an acceptable prayer. People who pray and want to throw around the name of Jesus in that way, they're using Jesus' name like it's a talisman, like it's some sort of magical amulet that you can add to your desire. And by pulling that out of your bag of tricks, you're going to manipulate God. You're going to get some sort of a supernatural response. It's not the bare mentioning of the name. Jesus himself warns people that on judgment day, there are gonna be people who say, did we not call on thee? Say, Lord, Lord. And he's gonna say, depart from me, I never knew you. So using the name of Jesus is not enough. Now this really goes to a lot of other discussions that we could have. Because there are a lot of groups, there are a lot of people who use the name of Jesus. They add it on to whatever it is they're doing. And they expect that they should be recognized as Christian for doing that. The Mormons want to be recognized as Christian because they name Jesus. They use the name of Jesus. They even pray in the name of Jesus, if you will, if we consider praying in the name of Jesus, bare mentioning of his name. A number of the cults will do that. There are people who are into various forms of spiritualism who will do that. But that doesn't make it Christian prayer. We're gonna talk about some very specific things that I think we should keep in mind what the Catechism has in view here, what the Bible really means when it enjoins us to pray in Christ's name. It's not enough, then, for us to produce a flourish of words using words of the saints. Look at 1 Corinthians 15.57. 1 Corinthians 15.57. The thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. through our Lord Jesus Christ, or for His sake. All of that kind of language, that's the language of the saints, but it's not enough for us to add that on. And we've mentioned some of the things, and we're going to come back to them as we go through a number of the propositions, particularly as we begin to go through the Lord's Prayer and look at that petition by petition. But we've already discussed, at least in general, that our prayers have to be offered up in terms which are acceptable to God. If we're praying for things which are contrary to the will of God, we have no reason to expect any kind of response. But more than that, as we're going to see If we're attempting to pray to God apart from His appointed mediation, we have no reason to expect that our prayers would be heard. It's not enough to get through a prayer and say at the end, for Christ's sake, or for Jesus' sake, or in Jesus' name, something like that. You'll hear that a lot. There are a lot of people who We'll add that. But if it's not more than a bare mentioning of the name, it's not really getting at the heart of what we're talking about here. Without faith and exercise, the words that are rehearsed are without profit. Look at Hebrews 11, 6. Hebrews 11, verse 6. But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." If we're going to come to God, we have to believe what? We have to believe that He is, and that He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. We have to have that confidence. There's got to be faith in exercise. Mentioning the name of Christ as if It was simply some sort of an amulet or talisman, some sort of good luck charm at the end, some sort of wistful historical reference or a tipping of the hat to the historic faith. It's not enough. Not saying that it's unimportant to use those words or to incorporate words to that effect, But if it's just an outward flourishing of words, it's not really what we're talking about. It's not really what our catechism is instructing and enjoining upon us in this question. The fact is that there are many who do this when they seek the favor for his sake without due regard to the method which God has ordained. They're doing it outside of faith. Look at Matthew 25, 11, and 12. Hosea 8, 2, and 3. Matthew 25, 11, and 12. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Israel will cry out, the Prophet says, they're going to cry out, my God, we know thee. But the Prophet says there's a problem here. There's a disconnect. What is it? They're not paying attention. They're not following the method that God has established. See, they want God to bless them, but they want Him to do it on their terms. They want God to be supplicated by them, to supply them, but again, they want to determine. They want to lay down the ground rules for God, if you will. This is why we need to learn how to pray. This is the importance as we get into the Lord's Prayer, why Jesus takes His time to teach us how to pray. And that's all part of praying in His name. We're following that order. We're not trying to approach in a way of our own devising. That'll never work. Remember, just from a creation standpoint, there's an infinite gulf. The creature can't reach the creator from the creaturely side of the gulf. If the creator does not condescend to reach the creature, then the creature is going to be without hope. When we factor in to that, again, when we factor in sin, the fact of sin, then there's another infinity being added to that. And that makes that gulf even more impossible from our point of view. We're adding another universe of impossibility to what was already impossible. It's another infinity to what was already infinite. It's beyond our ability to comprehend the gulf itself. Now, according to the method God has ordained, we're to draw nigh to God through Christ, our mediator, who is to be glorified as a person by whom we are to have access to God the Father. Look at 1 Peter 3.18. Christ is the one who is going to provide the mediation from the beginning of the creation we ought to understand that the Son of God, contemplated as incarnate, is in fact the proto-man. When the Bible says that God created man in his own image, there is in fact an element involved here presupposing that the Son of God is already mediating. And Paul tells us that all of creation was carried out that the Father created through the agency of the Son by the Spirit. So again, it's no mistaking that the Son of God is the one who is going to become incarnate. I don't want to discuss all of that right now. That comes up at a different point, but there is in fact a rationale even in the economy of the Trinity as to why the Son and not the Father, why the Son and not the Spirit is going to become incarnate. And there's already a prototypical relation between Adam and the Son of God. And that's what's being restored when the Son of God becomes incarnate. So the method of access to the Father has always been through the Son. The sun has always been the avenue of approach to the Godhead. Creation itself reflects that. Now that's why then negatively we have to say it's not just mentioning the name of Christ. It's not enough. Jesus' name is not a magic charm. And one reason that Christ may well make that comment in Matthew 7, 21, the Jews had a practice right around this time. of writing little prayers and putting the names, certain names and things on pieces of paper and putting them in amulets. There was in fact a lot of superstitious usage among the Jews and it may well be that there were people who would have been even in his day inclined to think that all they needed to do was mention this name, this name was sort of a more powerful name in the supernatural world, a name to be named. There's more than that going on here. There's more that is being required. It's not a simple or bare mentioning of the name. So what is it then positively? Well positively, in our catechism question gives us some direction here. Positively, it's to be noted that to pray in the name of Christ is to pray, first of all, at His command, or in obedience to His command, making our approach according to His order. John 16.24. John 16.24. Good and true have ye, ask nothing in my name. Ask and ye shall receive. Jesus is commanding them to pray in His name. When we refuse to do that, we're refusing His order. When we refuse to do that, we're basically making a statement that we know better. We, in fact, think perhaps that we are able to reach our hand across that infinite gulf and make a connection, have some means of communicating with the deity. That the power lies in us or on our side. You'll hear people who are into spiritualism, New Age thinking and all of that, they'll say things like that. The power is within you. Reach inside yourself. Jesus doesn't say that. He says, look, the order is not reaching inside yourself. The order is reaching outside of yourself. The order is not turning in. The order is turning out. Your order isn't that you have power and ability and that there's some innate spark of divinity in you that allows you to ascend up on high and have this communion. You are a needy creature. Now Christ as God commands all men to pray. He commands them to offer that part of their natural duty to God. Look at Psalm 65. Praying is a part of natural religion. Men know by nature that they need to pray, that they're in need. But sin sin has caused there to be an even greater disconnect. Christ as God, commanding all men to pray, is not what is meant by this command, when we talk about an obedience to His command. What we're talking about is rather this. Christ as mediator sends His own, that is the elect, to His Father. to ask to supply of their wants. And he allows them to tell that he is the one who sent them. Very much like one who recommends a poor man to a friend. Look at John 14, 13 and 14. You're going to the Father not on your own mission, not really even of your own prompting. The natural religion is prompting you, but that's not enough to get you there. Because you don't have the ability. And you certainly don't have the desire by reason of sin. Christ's command then comes to us as a command that is in fact a disguised promise. There's a promise in this. We couldn't do this, but he tells us, he says, in essence, when he commands, he's telling us, you can't get there from here. But I can send you in a way that you can get there. You can get there from me. That said, to pray in the name of Christ is to go to God as sent by the poor man's friend. Look at Psalm 102, 17. Psalm 102, verse 17. He will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer. He won't despise the prayer of the destitute. He regards the prayer of those who are needy. And that's one of the things that just simply by acknowledging that our approach is not at our own beck, it's at His command. We're not approaching because some desire arose in us first, but because He first commanded us to do that. We're doing His bidding. We're doing it in His name. He's saying, look, I'm sending you on a mission. Now it's the kind of mission that were you to go in your own name, if you were to run unsent, as it were, you wouldn't be heard. But if you have that commission, if you have that promise, if you have my command at your back, you're gonna be heard. You're gonna be heard because I'm heard. You're going to be heard because in me that gulf has been bridged. Christ is the mediator. When we say the name of Christ, we're talking and we're focusing on Jesus in the office of mediator. Christ is not his last name. Now a lot of people tend to think that Jesus Christ means that his first name is Jesus, his last name is Christ, but the fact is Christ is his office. It's the same word in Hebrew as Messiah. Jesus the Christ or the Messiah. That is who he is by office. And who he is by office, well you see that gives him the authority to send poor sinners on this mission. Just like an ambassador. Ambassadors don't go on their own initiative. But if they're being sent by a great authority, it's foolish not to receive them on the other end. as being sent by the Great Authority. If we understand that Jesus Christ is in fact the Son of God, the Eternal Son of God, then the full authority of the Divinity is behind this command. He's commanding us to go. To go not on our own initiative, not at our own pace, not according to our own desires, but ultimately because He's told us to do it. It's a command. And if we, again, if we understand the predicament that we're in, not simply by reasoning creatures, but by reasoning sinful creatures, we should understand that in this command, Really, there's hidden a promise, because we couldn't go apart from this if he didn't tell us to do this. Therefore, it imports first of all, the soul's being come to Christ in the first place. Look at John 15, 7. John 15, verse 7, If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Yeah, if we're going to do this, if we're going to approach at His command, it means our soul first must come to Christ. We have to abide in Him. If we abide in Him, if we abide in Him, then this command is at our back. It's pushing us forward. It's giving us the authority to move and ask God. You know, someone says, where did you get the authority to ask God for this? The answer is He commanded us to do it. He commanded us to do it in the person of His Son. We didn't come on our own initiative. We didn't presume that we had some faculty or some talent or some merit or some worth. that would have made us acceptable, that would have allowed us to cross that great divide. We didn't do that. We can't. We don't have that in us. But when the soul abides in Christ, we have the authority of that command behind us, that gulf has been bridged in the person of the mediator. Whoever would pray a rite then must do as those who made the king's chamberlain their friend first, and then made their suit to the king for peace. Look at Acts 12, 20. Acts 12, verse 20. And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon, but they came with one accord to him, and, having made blastus the king's chamberlain their friend, desired peace, because their country was nourished by the king's country. If you know that there's a problem, that there's a gulf that needs to be breached, there is in fact a great divide that you can't navigate. Best thing to do is to make friends with someone who is friends with the authority. that you need to placate. That's what they did in this case, and that's what we're doing in Christ. We have an approach because he's taken upon himself our nature. He's in the incarnation. He's clothed himself in our flesh. He's a brother according to nature. He's suffered in the flesh. He's been afflicted. He understands from the inside out the condition of man, the great gulf that separates humanity from deity. He's experienced it from our point of view. He knows what it is. He sympathizes and empathizes with us. So there is in fact an approachability there that would not be there apart from the Incarnation. There's an approachability, particularly as we begin to contemplate the infinity of sin that has created this gulf. We can make peace with God through Christ, that is, through the Son of God incarnate in the office of the mediator. All right, second. It imports the souls taking its encouragement to pray from Jesus Christ. Look at Hebrews 4, 14-16. Hebrews 4 verses 14 through 16. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. What is it we're looking to do? We're looking to find encouragement. to pray. Where can we take that encouragement? Can we take encouragement from the fact that He is God? Well, not at first, not really, not because of where we are. Our encouragement, and where we find encouragement, is the fact that God has taken upon Himself our nature. That God has made that approach to us. We don't want to try to approach that deity apart from the humanity. We can't. It's a fearful thing. So we can take encouragement from this. The very fact that God took upon himself not the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham. That he condescended to become a man and to live among men and to suffer and be afflicted among men. That's a great sense. That's a great encouragement that our souls can take in praying. You know, there's already promise of mercy in that. There's already a promise of redemption. There's already a promise of mediation. There's a promise of and an encouragement that we can come to God because God has come to us. That's why we can do that. That's why as the great high priest there's much more encouragement to be taken in Jesus than to be taken in the High Priests of the Old Testament. Remember, the High Priests of the Old Testament, they died. They had to be replaced periodically. And they were but men. They could only go so far into that approach. And the rest of that ascent to the Godhead was only typical. In Jesus, the rest of the ascent from humanity to the Godhead is real and tangible and forever united by reason of the hypostatic union. The humanity and the deity are brought together in friendship, a pact of friendship forever. and it's palpable in Christ. What was promised in the Old Testament is actualized in Jesus. The access then to heaven, well that was blocked by our sins. Look at Deuteronomy 31, 17 and 18. Deuteronomy 31, verses 17 and 18. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured. Many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? And I will surely hide my face in that day, for all the evils which they shall have wrought in that day turned unto other gods. Remember, our situation is made Much worse by reason of sin. God hides his face from us because of sin. But in Christ, the face of God is made manifest to us again. He reveals his face to us again in Christ. And we lost sight of that because of sin. He fell from a state of original integrity into a state of sin and misery. A state plagued by sickness and death, both temporal and eternal. Christ has come to reverse all of that. So he's had to take up not only our lowly condition as creatures, but our abject. condition as sinners. And sinners have no confidence to seek the Lord. Look at Ephesians 3, verse 12. Ephesians 3, verse 12. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him. In Christ we have confidence, but when Paul says that he's implying that outside of Christ we don't have confidence. Sinners have no confidence to come. Sinners are alienated from God. They're not just separated by reason of being creatures, but they're alienated. That separation has taken upon it a turn, not only for the worse, but a turn that at least from the point of view of the sinner, has a sense of permanence. Because the sinner can't see beyond that. The sinner, once the sinner is turned from God, once man turned from God, all that we could see was the darkness of the threatening, the curse, shadowing everything in the creation. That's all that we could see. You can't turn back and look and see beyond that cloud when you're in a state of sin and misery. It doesn't happen that way. So sinners have no confidence to approach God. Adam, before he fell, he had confidence to approach God, not in his own strength. Remember, God still condescended to come down and walk with him in the cool of the day in the garden. We have what is called a theophany, a pre-incarnate depiction of Christ, the mediator, even before the fall. This idea is there that God is the one who's condescending to bridge that gulf. But Adam had a confidence that God would meet him before the fall. Sinners have no confidence that God's going to meet them. There's no confidence there. Paul says that changes in Christ. Christ has come to give us back that confidence that we can turn and turn with that kind of eager expectation. We've lost it because of sin, but by reason of grace, by reason of Christ, by reason of the condescending mercy of God in Him, we have that back. Jesus Christ came down from heaven, John 6.38. John 6, verse 38. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. He came down from heaven. Notice the direction of the mercy. It's condescending love. He came down from heaven. He died for sinners. Romans 5, verse 8. Romans 5, verse 8. But God commanded His love towards us, and that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And finally, he gathers them to himself by factual calling. Isaiah 56 verse 8. Sinners would have no confidence that they could seek after God. There's no confidence. There may be a sinful presumption on the part of the wicked, but there's no confidence. That is to say, there's no real assurance that God will hear, that God will in any way be responsive. This is a large part of what lies behind So many of the rituals of pagans, cutting themselves, beating themselves, the flailing, all the ceremonies, the elaborate costuming and all of that, they're trying to get God's attention. Why are they doing that? They have no confidence. We don't need to do all of that to get God's attention. Because in Christ, God has already demonstrated that He is attentive to His people. He's come down from heaven. He's died for sinners while they were yet sinners. There was no prerequisite on our part. He gathers to Himself all of the elect by effectual calling. He then is having all interest with the father, bids them go to his father in his name and ask what they need, assuring the most acceptance. Look at Matthew 6, 9. Matthew 6, 9. After this man, I therefore pray, our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Jesus tells him, go, go to my father and pray. When we get into dissecting and looking at the petitions in the Lord's Prayer, you need to remember that. The son has all interest with his father. They share a common divinity. And so he has all confidence that the Father will receive all that he sends to him. He's every confidence. Because there is no distinction of nature. It's merely a distinction of person. From that, They take their encouragement then from his promises in the word. Look at Matthew 7, 7 and 8. Matthew 7, 7 and 8. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth, and he that seeketh, findeth. To him that knocketh, it shall be opened. Furthermore, he gives them his token with them, which the Father will own. And that is his own spirit. Look at Romans 8, 26 and 27. Romans 8, 26. Likewise, the spirit also help us with our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. The spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So he not only does he bid us to go to the Father, and having this common divinity, he has this complete shared interest, but he's also given us promises in his word, and he's given us his spirit. so that we have confidence. We do have confidence now. We're able to have confidence, and we have confidence, a confidence which is based upon both the objective promises of the Word and the subjective indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and that because of the redemption wrought for us in Christ. He came down from heaven. He made the first approach. So, praying in the name of Christ is first of all to pray at His command, in obedience to His command, and confidence in His promises. But second, it is more especially consisting in our making right use of what Christ has done and suffered for us as the foundation of our hope. that God will be pleased to grant us what he's purchased thereby. Look at Daniel 9, verse 17. Daniel 9, verse 17. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon the sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's sake. For the Lord's sake. Not for our sake, but for the Lord's sake. Use of what Christ has done and suffered for us is the same as saying, for the Lord's sake. Not for my sake, not for your sake, but for the Lord's sake. Not because of my desire or your desire, but for the Lord's sake. God has commanded it. He's put it out to us in a way of promise as well as command. And underlying it all is the work that Christ has done. There's this foundational work that He's purchased. He's made a purchase. And this contains the sum of all that we can desire when drawing nigh to Him in prayer. Look at 2 Corinthians 1.20. 2 Corinthians 1.20. For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him, Amen, unto the glory of God by us. All the promises of God In him are what? Yea and amen. That is to say, there is an assurance and it is a covenant assurance. There is an assurance that is abiding. It's not wavering. It's not iffy. It's yea and amen, it's certain. And it's certain because what he did efficacious. What he did actually accomplished what it was intended to accomplish. You know sometimes we do things we intend to do things and we don't really accomplish what it is we set out to do. When we're talking about what it is to pray in the name of Christ that's never the case what he set out to do he did and it's foundational it's absolutely foundational thus our prayers are directed to God through Jesus Christ look at Hebrews 7 25 Hebrews 7 verse 25 wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he liveth in seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Ever liveth to make intercession for those who come unto God by him or through him. It's a great fact of the existence of the Son of God, having taken upon himself our nature, that he liveth ever to make intercession on behalf of His people. To pray in the name of Christ is to depend wholly upon Christ's merits in intercession, for access, for acceptance, and for a gracious return. Hebrews 13.15 Hebrews 13 verse 15, By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. By him, we're offering up a sacrifice of praise in our desires or what we're offering up. our desires that have been consecrated to God, our desires which have been honed and formed by the Word of God, our desires which have been informed by both the command and the promise of God, our prayers depend then wholly upon Christ's merit, wholly upon His intercession, because apart from that, apart from His merits, His intercession, we are nothing. We're separated from and alienated from God. So we need His merits and intercession, first again for access. We depend on Christ for access to God, Ephesians 2.18. Ephesians 2.18, for through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Through Him, we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. There's no other access. Now, what is it to pray in the name of Christ? It's to pray in the name of that one who alone has access to the Father. If you try to approach some great personage Through the agency of someone, or on your own, someone who has no real access to the person you want to approach, it's going to be futile. But we know that Jesus has access to God. We know that. In fact, we know that there's no access to God but through Him. John 14.6. John 14, verse 6, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. And we know that they that attempt otherwise to come unto God will get the door thrown in their face. John 10, verse 9, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. Therefore we must take hold of the mediator and come in behind him who is the one who alone can make this entrance possible. Look at Acts 4 verse 12. So Christ is the door. Christ is the way. He's the access. He's the point of entrance. and there's no other. And that's key. Christianity is an exclusive religion. Christianity is intolerant in this respect. A lot of other religions, because they're merit-based, they generally will accept the notion that anyone who is a righteous person will make it to heaven, and they define righteousness in terms of what we've done. Christianity, because it understands righteousness to be solely found and solely had in and through Christ, is exclusive. It does not acknowledge that there's salvation in any other name. There's no other way to God. There's no other hope of salvation. We don't have any reason to maintain a charitable hope that Buddhists or Muslims or Hindus are going to be saved unless, until they believe in Jesus. And that's because he's the only access, he's the door. And he said that. You know, Jesus is the one, you know, people who want to say, well, I like Christianity because I like Jesus, but I don't like Christians. Jesus is the most intolerant when it comes to these kinds of questions of any of the quote-unquote great teachers of the world's religions. Jesus makes claims that Buddha never made, Muhammad never dared make, none of the other figures in these other religions would ever aspire unto. And then on top of it all, After claiming the supreme deity, he also claims exclusivity. I'm the door. I'm the only access. And so we have to depend upon him. Christianity is a confession that we're dependent upon the Son of God incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ, for access to God. We can't just go of our own initiative. It doesn't work that way. There's no other name. All right, the second thing is that we need to depend upon Christ for the acceptance of our prayers. Look at Ephesians 1 verse 6. Ephesians 1 verse 6, to the praise and the glory His grace worthy hath made us accepted in the Lord. He's made us accepted in the Beloved, that is, in Christ. Not only do we need access, but once we have access, we need to have some assurance that our access will allow for acceptance. And our Lord Christ is the only altar upon which our gifts can be sanctified, that is, made acceptable. Look at Hebrews 13, 10-12. Christ is our altar. He's the altar upon which all of the gifts that are being offered are in fact sanctified or made acceptable to God. That's what Paul's talking about in Ephesians 1, being made acceptable or accepted in the Beloved, in Christ. The fact is this, that if the stress of the acceptance of prayer is laid upon any merit or any disposition of one's self, the prayer will not be accepted. Look at Romans 8, 7 and 8. Romans 8, 7 and 8. Because the power of unity against God is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. If it's our merit, if it's some disposition in us that is required to make our prayer acceptable, our prayers will never be acceptable. Because our flesh is enmity. Our spirit is striving against the spirit of God. Who we are by nature, particularly sinful nature, is so contrary that even if we have this access, If the acceptance depends upon us, that access will do us no good. We need our prayers to be made acceptable. And they're only made acceptable in Christ. Not only is he our door giving access, but he's the altar upon which the gifts are being sanctified. The crucified Christ only then can bear the weight of the acceptance of either our persons or our performances. Look at Romans 8.1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. There's no condemnation. What is there apart from Christ? If we're offering up, if we're attempting to offer or make Are prayers acceptable based upon our own merit, our own position, our own disposition before God? If that's really what we're trying to do, then there's only condemnation. It's only in Christ that we find acceptance. So we need Christ, His merits, His intercession, that our prayers might have access, but also that they might have acceptance. And finally, third, depending upon Christ for a gracious return of prayer. 1 John 5, verse 14. 1 John 5, verse 14. And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. If we ask anything, In accordance with His will, He heareth us. John says, look, we have this confidence. Again, based upon what? Is it something we've done? Well, no. It's what He's done. We've confidence that God will hear us. That is to say, when the Bible talks about God hearing prayer, it means God answers prayer. There's an answer that's being tendered. Puritans are called return of prayer. There's been a return. It is send it up, and now the response has been sent back. There's been a return. How do we know? There's been an answer. Well, how do we have this confidence in something we've done? No, again, it's what Jesus has done. No prayers are heard or answered but for the mediator's sake. Look at Matthew 21, 22. Matthew 21 verse 22, and all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. All things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. We have to believe, but we have no basis for our belief. That is, our faith is not founded upon nor grounded upon ourselves or something in us. It's not something that takes its rise in us, but it's something which in fact comes from God. It's something that God works in us for Christ's sake. So whatever petitions are agreeable to God's will are put up to God in this dependence. Those are the ones which are heard. Look at John 11, 42. John 11, verse 42. I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. Jesus says, look, I know you always hear me. Why? Because Christ is never offering up a prayer that's not agreeable to the will of God. So He knows, He's always heard. There's no question. And to the extent that we conform to that, we too have that confidence that we will be heard. We know. We have the command and we have the promise. Based upon that, we are positioned to seek mercy even in Christ. I think it's important before we turn to the last question I want to address, I want to point out that mediation, a lot of times people think of mediation as something that is New Testament. But the fact is that mediation was a fundamental principle of the Mosaic economy. And, as soon as that economy decayed and waxed old, look at Hebrews 8, verse 13. Hebrews 8, verse 13. In that he saith, New covenant, he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. And the one mediator between God and man appeared, 1 Timothy 2, verse 5. 1 Timothy 2, verse 5, For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. That divine principle began to display itself in him. Hebrews 9, verse 15. Hebrews 9, verse 15, For this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were unto the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. What was happening in the Old Testament is this. All of these sacrifices, all of these offerings, all of this temple worship revolved around a principle of mediation. There were priests involved, a high priest. There was a holiest of all, right? These were all pictures. A pattern in heaven was said to be the origin of this temple cultus. the worship that they had, but it's all picturing forth this idea of mediation. That we can't simply approach God without some kind of mediator. The entire Old Testament economy, or the Mosaic economy, is based upon this idea. that men need someone to stand in the gap between themselves and God. Without that, there's not going to be any kind of approach possible. So they have that principle and As that economy, that mosaic economy, waxes old and decays, that is, it goes away, there's an unveiling of the great antitype, Jesus, who is the mediator of the New Covenant. And that divine principle of mediation is on display from the very beginning in Jesus. Even before He entered the holiest of all with His own blood, He declared to His disciples, plainly, His unique position between God and man. John 17, verse 3. John 17, verse 3. And this is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. he in his high priestly prayer and so many other places we could we could multiply examples like this out of the New Testament again and again and again Jesus declares himself in terms which are unique if you think about this in the Old Testament the prophets of the Old Testament are never being charged with saying things that would make themselves equal with God or that would in some way confuse themselves with the divinity. We don't see this kind of charges against the Old Testament prophets. But throughout the Gospels, we see this charge again and again. And Christ, not only does He not run from that charge, Christ provokes a response from those people that is very often a very sharp response because He does not recede from that charge. So He's telling us again and again, in uncertain terms. There's something unique here going on. There is this principle of mediation which was in types and shadows. Now there is in front of you the reality. What all of that was pointing toward is in the process of being fulfilled. So we see statements made, you know, in John's Gospel. Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. Now in our case, the fact is this, prayer in his name, when offered with the enlightened understanding and the believing heart, is just the believer's recognition and acceptance of Christ as his alone sacrifice and intercessor before God. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 19. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 19. The way that God was in Christ What is it we're doing then? What is it to pray in the name of Christ? Well, it's to recognize and accept that Christ alone is that sacrifice, that He's the intercessor, that He is the incarnate embodiment of this divine principle of mediation. That we must have someone who as Job said, a kinsman redeemer who can lay his hands on the shoulders of the two parties in controversy and make reconciliation. Now Paul tells us the parties in controversy are God and man and that Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and man. So the name of Christ then in a true believer's prayer That is, when we say in the name of Christ, in Jesus' name, for Christ's sake, all of those kinds of things when we pray, what it should, rather than just being a blank or a mindless vocalization, What it should do is it should connote and evoke the richest conception of and utterance of all that Scripture teaches of the divinity, incarnation, sacrifice, and intercession of Him which we call Christ. Look at Proverbs 30 verse 4. What is his name? What is his son's name if thou canst tell? A Christian says, I can tell you. I know his name. He's the father. I know his son's name. It's Jesus. I know, I know because He's revealed, Jesus has revealed Himself in the face of the Son. We come to know the Father in the Incarnation. He's unfolded or revealed to us the mercy of Christ. In His sacrifice, He's made that redemption. And by His intercession, He's made us and all that we have and all that we do acceptable before God. That's what we mean when we invoke the name of Christ in our prayer. That's what it ought to mean. That's what you should be thinking about, contemplating. It should be ever-present to you. It shouldn't just simply be a rote repetition, a vain repetition. Christ alone is the Redeemer of God's elect. Look at John 1.14. We beheld His glory as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father. The express image of the Father in the Son. It's there. It's palpable. We can perceive the Father in the Son. The Son has come to reveal to us the Father, and that by the Spirit. He's the Redeemer. in the name of Christ ought to bring all of this to mind. So the last question I want to touch on just briefly is sort of the reverse of this, just so you can contemplate this a little bit before we get into the next question, the why. What should be the result of contemplating having to do with an absolute God? That is to say, If we had to do with God apart from Christ, if we had to do with God that is the principle of divinity without a principle of mediation, what would that be like for us? It may be a little hard for us to conceive of it in terms of the creator-creature distinction, but the Bible does have a lot more to say because of where we are in history. It has a lot more to say about what it would be like for us, I think, in terms of man's fall into sin. The fact is the thoughts of having to do with an absolute God cannot but fill us with utmost distress and confusion when we consider ourselves as guilty sinners and God, out of Christ, as a sin-revenging judge and a consuming fire. Look at Hebrews 12.29. God is a consuming fire. In other words, outside of Christ, particularly as we contemplate that we're sinners, God is the definition of God. Sounds remarkably for perishing sinners like the definition of hell. God is a consuming fire. It's the same kind of language we find in hell. That is, outside of Christ, being in the presence of God is hell. That's why the psalmist says, if I make my bed in hell, thou art there. It's not the absence of the presence of God that's going to make hell such a terrible thing for those who are perishing. It's the presence of God in hell. Because outside of Christ, God is a consuming fire. Now, thinking thus of God, we may as well recoil in fear as our first parent did immediately after his fall. Look at Genesis 3.10. Genesis 3.10, and he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. What did sin do? Sin made apparent to us what divine condescension had bridged prior to our sin and that is that there was this infinite gulf and now this infinite gulf has been exacerbated by our sin. We should fear. Again, God is obliged in honor, as God of infinite holiness, he's obliged to separate and banish sinners from his comfortable presence, they being liable to the curse and condemning sentence of the law. Again, Matthew 7, 23. Matthew 7, verse 23. an absolute God, a God outside of Christ, there is no comfortable presence. There's no point of view at which to approach this God. Paganism is famous for its various contrivances at trying to find an avenue and some kind of a way of appeasing this God. You know, they devise all kinds of strategies for making an approach to God. Unbelievers are constantly facing this problem. What are they going to do? They're going to come before this God, and they're not equipped for it. They need an approach, but there's no comfortable way. Remember, sinners don't have any confidence that they can approach to God. So that if we were to take Christ out of this equation, there's no confidence. We have no confidence. We have no sense of assurance that God will, in fact, respond to us in any kind of comfortable way. God is not a comfortable presence for those who are outside of Christ. After all, what is He? He's a consuming fire. It's a fire of His purity and holiness, burning. By reason of this end, the divine terror makes us afraid, and His dread falls upon all such who are out of Christ. Look at Hebrews 2.15. There's a bondage, there's a fear of death, there's a divine terror. Why is it, again, why is it people are afraid of death? What is that fear of death that men have? The fear of death is that ultimately they know that they will stand in judgment. Very often, in fact, believers have a greater fear of death as it approaches than unbelievers because believers have a heightened sense of where they're going and what's going to happen, which is why we pray for dying grace, why we pray that God would assist us at that time. But all men, to the extent that they experience any kind of fear or terror, It's contemplating God apart from Christ. And if we have a realistic assessment of the righteous judgments of God, it should make us tremble. It should drive us to Christ. It should, in fact, cause us to have recourse to Him. It should drive us out of ourselves. And that's what he's come to do, to deliver those who all their life long were subject to fear. There is, however, in the gospel then not only an invitation to come, but in fact, and this is very important, there's a discovery in the gospel of the great mediator whom God has ordained to conduct his people into his presence and who has procured liberty of access to him. Look at Hebrews 10 19 and 20. Hebrews 10 verses 19 and 20. Having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh. The gospel doesn't simply invite us to come. That would be an accomplishment. If we knew that God was inviting us to come, that in and of itself would be something. But we would still be up against the fact that we are standing in need of a mediator. We need this principle of mediation. And we are not equipped to be mediators in our own cause. We're not able to do this. We need another. We need someone who can stand in, who's been on both sides of the fence, if you will, both sides of that divide, and can join together the two that were in enmity. All right, Christ is the revelation then, the discovery in the gospel. is that God himself has taken upon himself to do this very thing, to become the mediator, to embody in himself this divine principle of mediation. God then has for this end erected a throne of grace and encouraged us to come to it. and given many great and precious promises, whereby we may hope for acceptance in his sight." Look at Hebrews 4.16. Hebrews 4.16. Let us therefore come boldly into the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We can come boldly. Why? Well, it's the throne of grace. There's been a remarkable discovery in the Gospel. that the Eternal God has taken up our cause in our nature, that He's made access to the Father through the veil of His flesh, that He, in rending His flesh, has torn open that veil, that is the thing that divided us from the holiest of all, the Holy of Holies. Christ has done this in His flesh. He's brought together the two that were apart. He's made of two one in Himself. He's united the divinity and the humanity in his person. He's given expression to all of the concerns of the deity. And he's elevated and put to rest all of the weaknesses and the debts of the humanity. Now these promises being all established in Christ and the blessings contained in them having been procured by his blood, we having liberty in coming to plead what he's done and suffered as what was designed to be the foundation of our hope of obtaining mercy, we're said to come and make our supplications to God in the name of Christ. Look at Philippians 4, 6 and 7. Philippians 4 verses 6 and 7, be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. What is it then to pray in the name of Christ? It is in fact to embrace in your petitions. this divine principle that you stand in need of mediation and recognizing that that mediation, the sacrifice, the intercession necessary to our reconciliation to God has taken place for us in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it means to pray in the name of Christ. Now we've already begun to allude to why this is necessary in particular, and that is our sin, which is going to be the subject of the next question, question 181. We'll take that up next time. Still Waters Revival Books is now located at PuritanDownloads.com. It's your worldwide, online Reformation home for the very best in free and discounted classic and contemporary Puritan and Reformed books, MP3s, and videos. 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