"We Belong To Jesus!" Kathryn Kuhlman John 17:9

Today we're going to have another one of those good heart -to -heart talks. And I want to talk to you about something that is the most precious thing in the whole world to my own heart. And I sincerely believe that if you are a Christian, if you've been born again, you'll feel the same way. about this portion of the Word of God that I feel. And I'm going to read it to you. And it's from that prayer of intercession. I know that we always refer to the prayer in Matthew as being the Lord's Prayer. But it really isn't. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. is not the lord's prayer it was the prayer that jesus taught us to pray it is our prayer it should never be called the lord's prayer and yet we all speak of it as being the lord's prayer it's our prayer the lord's prayer the prayer of intercession was his prayer. And it's recorded in the 17th chapter of John. How often I have wondered what the conversation really was when Jesus would go separate and apart from the multitude and talk to the Heavenly Father. Have you ever wondered when Jesus prayed, when he talked to the Father? And that's what prayer is. It isn't form. It isn't ceremony. Prayer is literally talking. When I pray, I talk to Jesus. When I come before the Father's throne and say, I come before the throne and pray, I'm not going through some ceremony. I'm not repeating something that I have memorized. God the Father is a person. Jesus Christ is a person. They are intelligent. I talk to them. I express my feelings to them. Always remember that. When you pray, you talk to Jesus. You talk to the Heavenly Father. And how often when Jesus would go separate and apart from the crowd and talk to the Heavenly Father, I've wondered just what he said. We do have one of the conversations. We have his part of the conversation. And it's recorded in the 17th chapter of John. And one of these days, I'm going to begin a series of heart -to -heart talks, and we'll begin with the very first. first word in this prayer of intercession to the very last word spoken. But today, I'm going to take just a small part of the conversation of the prayer that Jesus had with the Father. His prayer as he spoke to the Father. Let me read the 11th, 12th. 13th verses. That's the 17th chapter of John. And now I know more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. This is the picture. Jesus knew he was about to go. He knew his days on earth were numbered. He knew that when he was gone, they would be left, those that he loved. He had ministered to them. He had taught them. That fellowship was very close. He had told them everything that he felt they could understand, could grasp, and many things that he told them they did not have the ability to understand, to grasp mentally. He did everything in the world to teach them because he knew he was leaving. And now he's talking to the Father about them. He said, I am going. You and I both know that I cannot stay. They will be left. And now I want to talk to you about them. I come to thee, Holy Father. Keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now I come to thee. And these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in them. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. Go back a minute. Oh, this is thrilling. There's one thing that is definite, very definite, and that is the fact that those who've been born again, the redeemed, those who've accepted Christ as their Savior, belong to Jesus. How often you've heard me say, Perhaps, as I've dismissed the congregation, and I would know that in a second or two you'd be leaving, and I would say, and as you leave the auditorium, never forget to whom you belong. Never. I say to you this very moment, you who are living in defeat, those of you who are full of disgust discouragement, disillusioned, frustrated, lonely, heart -sick. For pity's sake, don't forget to whom you belong. You're his property. If there's one thing which above all... All else needs to be heralded far and wide, and that is the fact that to be a Christian is the greatest thing in the world. The Christian life is, from start to finish, a matter of relationship to a person. Know that. Believe that. It's a truth. It's a fact. I know stress is put on doctrine, that it's just a matter of believing, believing something. Others emphasize ethics, a matter of doing something. But Christian doctrine and Christian duty are absolutely nothing. in themselves. Doctrine is all right so far as doctrine goes. Ethics is wonderful as far as ethics can go. But Christian doctrine and Christian duty and Christian ethics are nothing in themselves. They center in and proceed from a person know that. And this impersonal view of Christian living is deadening. It throws one back upon one's own resources. And you're bound to be a failure sooner or later. If you're going to lean on your own resources, you can't do it. It is impossible to lean on your own resources, and pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, you'll never live a daily victorious Christian life doing these things, depending on your own morality, your own efforts, just leaning on ethics and doctrine. There has got to be Be this personal relationship to a person. You've got to know that you belong. There's no greater security in the whole world than feeling and knowing that you belong. So much is spoken of these days about giving your children security. When your child is given security, Security. When that little youngster knows that he belongs to a wonderful daddy. When that youngster, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years of age, knows that he has a daddy who's interested in him. That he belongs to that daddy. That youngster has security. That's the greatest security a child can have. When he knows mentally and knows with all of his heart that he belongs to somebody. Oh, that wonderful feeling of belonging. And I feel sorry for the youngster today who does not have that security. That youngster who lies awake at night and can't sleep, feeling as though he just doesn't belong. That nobody really... That nobody loves him enough to discipline him. Nobody really cares enough to reprove him. I feel sorry for that youngster. The youngster who doesn't have that security that somebody is interested in him. Somebody loves him. Somebody cares about what he's doing. That somebody cares enough to be interested in the fact as to whether he's good or bad. My friend, the greatest security that a human being can have is the security of knowing that he belongs to Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. It's the greatest security that I have today. It's the greatest security that you can have. To know that underneath all of the uncertainties of life, underneath are those everlasting arms. underneath all of our problems, anything that I might face, I know within my heart that there is one who's interested, that there's one who knows and one who loves and one who cares. I belong to him, the very son of the living God. How often I've talked to you. about that great conference that took place. So far as we know, there were only three of that great conference. The greatest conference that we have any consciousness of that ever took place. Whether the angels were there, I am not sure. I doubt. where the angels sat in and listened as the three were in conversation, the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost. No, I do not believe the angels were there. I do not believe that they witnessed the sight. Because you see, even today, the angels cannot fully understand. God's great plan for redemption. Because angels, being created beings, were created with bodies. They are spirit, but they have no soul. You cannot find anywhere in the Word of God that angels were created with souls. Bodies, yes. Spirit, yes. That's the reason all flesh is not the same flesh. Only man was created with the soul. Just man. Body, soul, and spirit. There is no salvation. There can be no salvation, no redemption for angels. That's the reason angels cannot fully understand God's plan for redemption for man. But when God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit started this great conference table and plans were laid for the redemption of man, it was Jesus. who offered himself through the Holy Spirit to God the Father to be given, to come as flesh, to come in the form of man, to take upon himself the form of man and walk this earth, becoming as much man as though he were not God. Knowing that the body of a woman would encompass that which God himself would form. It was only after Jesus offered himself through the Holy Spirit to be given that the Father was able to give his Son. as recorded in John 3 .16. But something else happened at that great conference table. Evidently, the father said, All right, son, my only son, I will give you as a gift those who will accept this great partner. They shall be yours. They're yours. They shall be your property. They shall be your possession. You say, Miss Kuman, isn't that going a little far? Isn't that just a figment of your imagination? No. That's exactly what this scripture means. Watch. And I read it again. And now I am no more in the world. But these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me. You have given them to me, Father. They are my property. You belong to... Jesus, if you've been born again, if you're a Christian, those that thou hast given me, I am his property. You are his property. God the Father will never be our judge that day when we stand in his wonderful presence. Jesus himself will judge us. We're his property. We belong to him. That's the reason I have a right to say to you, remember to whom you belong. All that is his is yours. I'm his. By him created, I am his. By him redeemed, I am twice his by original right and by purchase when I was lost. I am his by the ransom of his blood, his by the conquest of his spirit, his by my own free consent, his in body and soul in a state, his entirely, his exclusively, and because I am his. He will defend me. He will correct me. He has a right to correct me. He is and he will make use of me. He will love me. He will delight in me. I'm his property because I am his property. He will claim me against all rivals and opponents. He's interested in what I do. Mm -hmm. I'm not my own. I'm not the church's. I'm not the world's. I'm not man's. I'm not the law's. I'm not Satan's. I'm his. I belong to him. And because I do belong to him, I'm not the property of time, nor of care, nor of business, nor of necessity, but of... Christ. For I am his. I am my beloved. None else possesses either right or the power over me except according to his will. I'm not my own. Nothing can come into my life. Nothing can touch me if I am living in the center of his will. but what he allows and he permits. He'll give me of his own strength. He'll give me of his righteousness, his wisdom, his holiness, his salvation, his glory. His God is my God. His Father is my Father. His brethren, my brethren. His heaven, my home. Is there a greater security? There you are living in defeat. There you are in the very depths of despair. Frustrated, surrounded by anxiety and fear. Look up in this moment. Look up. Remember to whom you belong. The Christian life is a personal relationship with a person. God bless you.