Know The Truth – The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:11-15 is the “Model Prayer” given so that Jesus’ disciples would know how to pray. John 17:1-26 is the “Lord’s Prayer.” Let us look at what Jesus taught in His prayer.
First, we see Jesus praying to the “Father,” not to Mary, nor the Holy Spirit. One must remember that the Father gave Jesus authority over all mankind as well as authority to give eternal life. Jesus was sent to the earth to do the work of the Father. Jesus came to glorify the Father. Jesus was “with” the Father “before the world was.” The disciples had been in the world, by their keeping the “words which thou [the Father] gavest me…” their receiving separated them from the world. John 17:1-8.
Second, we see that Jesus prayed for His disciples. Jesus was glorified by His disciples. He prayed that “they may be one, as we are.” Today, we do not have this unity! There are over three thousand denominations and they teach different doctrines. The Holy Spirit said, “…that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” 1 Corinthians 1:10. Is Jesus glorified by those who claim to be His followers, however, they are divided? John 17:9-11.
Third, we see that the disciples of Jesus were hated because they received the Word of God that Jesus had given them. His disciples lived in the world. Jesus prayed to the Father that “thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” He wanted them to be “not of the world” as He was “not of the world.” Jesus’ prayer for His disciples was that they
Fourth, we see Jesus praying that His disciples be one. BDAG Lexicon defines “one” as “a single person or thing, with focus on quantitative aspect, one…in contrast to the parts, of which a whole is made up…we, though many, for one body…you are all one…” There is only one “body,” Ephesians 4:4, and that body is the church for which Jesus died, Acts 20:28. The one body is “the church” that one is added to by “the Lord,” Acts 2:47, that is, “the kingdom of His dear Son” that the Father translates one into when they have been “delivered…from the power of darkness.” Colossians 1:13.
Is the church, or the kingdom of God’s dear Son necessary? If not why did Jesus die for the church and the Father translated the saved into the kingdom of God’s dear Son? When one is “born again” they enter into the kingdom. John 3:3-5. When one is saved, they are added to the church by the Lord. Acts 2:47. One becomes a member of the “body of Christ”, 1 Corinthians 12:13; a child in God’s family, 1 Timothy 3:15; a priest in His temple, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17; a stone in His building, 1 Peter 2:5; and a member of Christ’s bride, Ephesians 5:23-32.
Only the saved will be in heaven. Examples of those who were saved in the New Testament: Acts 2:14-42; 8:5-13; 8:30-39; 9:17-18, 22:6-16, 26:12-18; 10:34-48; 16:13-15; 16:25-34; 18:8; 19:1-7. One must hear, believe, repent, confess and be immersed according to these examples! John 12:48.