We Are Not Alone

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:08.429 Brothers and sisters, let's turn our attention to John Chapter Seventeen. You're continuing 2 00:00:08.509 --> 00:00:14.910 to hear God's Word from this chapter and to consider what Jesus is telling us 3 00:00:15.550 --> 00:00:20.070 in it. John Chapter Seventeen. This morning I'm going to read verses six 4 00:00:20.750 --> 00:00:45.450 through six through fourteen. Fourteen. Let us give our attention to God's word. 5 00:00:48.369 --> 00:00:51.920 I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of 6 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:55.520 the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and 7 00:00:56.119 --> 00:00:59.920 they have kept your word. Now they know everything that you have given me 8 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:03.600 is from you, for I have given them the words that you gave me 9 00:01:03.349 --> 00:01:07.109 and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came 10 00:01:07.269 --> 00:01:11.909 from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying 11 00:01:11.989 --> 00:01:17.709 for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those whom 12 00:01:17.750 --> 00:01:22.379 you have given me, for they are yours. All Mine Are Yours and 13 00:01:23.099 --> 00:01:29.180 yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no longer 14 00:01:29.299 --> 00:01:32.659 in the world, but they are in the world and I am coming to 15 00:01:32.819 --> 00:01:38.170 you, Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given 16 00:01:38.250 --> 00:01:44.090 me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While 17 00:01:44.129 --> 00:01:46.730 I was with them. I kept them in your name which you have given 18 00:01:46.769 --> 00:01:49.400 me. I have guarded them and not one of them has been lost, 19 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:53.920 except the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now 20 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:57.239 I am coming to you and these things I speak in the world that they 21 00:01:57.319 --> 00:02:13.629 may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. Praise God. Well, as we 22 00:02:13.750 --> 00:02:19.780 have considered before, both in this chapter and in previous chapters, this night 23 00:02:21.539 --> 00:02:25.340 and which Jesus is giving these words to his disciples and in this prayer in 24 00:02:25.460 --> 00:02:31.930 which he praised to his father, we are being prepared to understand the meaning 25 00:02:32.050 --> 00:02:38.129 of his death, the meaning of his resurrection, the meaning of his life, 26 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:42.449 even now, as he sits and reigns at the hand the right hand 27 00:02:42.729 --> 00:02:46.800 of God, the Father, Almighty Jesus gives us these words in this prayer 28 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:51.840 that he prays to his father to help us to understand him, to help 29 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:55.120 us to understand our place in this world. He says, for example, 30 00:02:55.159 --> 00:03:00.870 ample that he is praying for us. He is not praying for those who 31 00:03:00.870 --> 00:03:06.229 are in the world, he is praying particularly for those whom the father has 32 00:03:06.310 --> 00:03:08.750 given him. He helps us to understand that mission that he is on. 33 00:03:08.949 --> 00:03:15.139 He comes into the world because of those whom the father has given him and 34 00:03:15.340 --> 00:03:21.500 he has is asking the father would keep them, even though he is leaving. 35 00:03:21.580 --> 00:03:27.569 All of these things help to encourage us, and encouragement we definitely need, 36 00:03:27.810 --> 00:03:30.210 because, though Jesus has left us in this world and he has not 37 00:03:30.250 --> 00:03:36.169 left us alone, the world is is hard, the world is difficult, 38 00:03:36.289 --> 00:03:44.439 it's full of disunity and trouble, and we feel this Jesus is departure from 39 00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:49.199 the world might leave us thinking that we are perhaps going to be alone, 40 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:55.830 alone, away from him, alone in a way, that the center is 41 00:03:55.990 --> 00:04:01.270 missing, that things will fall apart. And we know that God has not 42 00:04:01.469 --> 00:04:09.150 man met made man mankind to be alone. God has made us to live 43 00:04:09.189 --> 00:04:15.699 our lives in him, following him and in communion with each other under him. 44 00:04:15.939 --> 00:04:20.139 God has designed each and every one of us to have fellowship in this 45 00:04:20.579 --> 00:04:26.449 vertical way with the Lord and in a horizon mountal way with people under him. 46 00:04:28.170 --> 00:04:31.170 In this kind of fellowship with God and with one another, we find 47 00:04:31.329 --> 00:04:40.240 coherence and happiness, joy and peace. But now the the Lord that is 48 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:43.720 at the center of those things, that's at the top of that triangle, 49 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:48.959 Jesus is leaving. He says, I am leaving that's why we say he's 50 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:54.310 leading. He says I am leaving, I I'm going away, and where 51 00:04:54.310 --> 00:05:00.350 I'm going you cannot follow. How can we follow him if he's not here? 52 00:05:00.670 --> 00:05:04.470 How can we be one with one another? How can we have fellowship 53 00:05:04.509 --> 00:05:10.220 with God if the one whom we have been called to follow after is no 54 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:16.259 longer with us? How can we be together without him? These are questions 55 00:05:16.459 --> 00:05:23.050 that we might have in their questions that we experience as we feel the troubles 56 00:05:23.170 --> 00:05:26.930 and the trials of this life. And Satan whispers as our ear and says 57 00:05:27.970 --> 00:05:32.970 he's left you, you're by yourself, you're all alone. He lies to 58 00:05:33.009 --> 00:05:38.240 us and says you're going to have to figure this out. It's up to 59 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:47.839 you now. But God made man for this reason. Our chief end is 60 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:55.430 to glorify him and enjoy him forever, and Jesus comes in the world to 61 00:05:55.509 --> 00:06:00.069 save a people, to lift them up to that purpose. And God has 62 00:06:00.149 --> 00:06:03.189 not failed and God has not left us alone, and these words that Jesus 63 00:06:03.269 --> 00:06:08.459 gives to us are to help us to understand that and to remember it so 64 00:06:08.779 --> 00:06:14.620 that we might have joy, even his joy. Notice the verse that I 65 00:06:14.660 --> 00:06:19.970 ended reading where he says I am come thirteen, he says, I am 66 00:06:20.089 --> 00:06:26.970 coming to you and these things I speak in the world that they might have 67 00:06:27.769 --> 00:06:32.279 my joy fulfilled in themselves. And this weary old world, it is easy 68 00:06:32.519 --> 00:06:38.360 to lose our joy, is easy to give up and to lose hard and 69 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:44.560 to get really down, and of course that's very reasonable that that happens. 70 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:50.790 But the Lord he sets before us this promise, a promise that I'm not 71 00:06:51.110 --> 00:06:56.230 making up or just giving you platitudes, I'm just reading it from his word, 72 00:06:58.269 --> 00:07:04.740 that the joy that belongs to Jesus might be fulfilled in you. That's 73 00:07:04.819 --> 00:07:11.300 his promise, that's what he says. What an amazing thing that is, 74 00:07:11.699 --> 00:07:15.410 and he brings that to us, as he says, by telling us the 75 00:07:15.610 --> 00:07:21.850 things that we have here and and other places as well. Want to think 76 00:07:21.850 --> 00:07:27.810 about those two things, those two categories. First briefly, what do we 77 00:07:28.009 --> 00:07:30.959 mean when we're talking about joy? And then, secondly, what are those 78 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:35.079 things that he's telling us to give us that joy? And I hope that 79 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:40.800 in hearing these things, the Lord's will might be done and that you might 80 00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:46.790 be encouraged and have the joy of Jesus. In thinking about joy, we 81 00:07:46.910 --> 00:07:50.230 remember that this is an important thing that he's been emphasizing a lot. In 82 00:07:50.310 --> 00:07:56.430 the last chapter, he said in a verse twenty you will be sorrowful, 83 00:07:56.829 --> 00:08:01.139 but your sorrow will turn into joy. In Verse Twenty Two he says, 84 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:03.939 you have sorrow now, but I will again see you and your hearts will 85 00:08:03.980 --> 00:08:09.540 rejoice and no one will take your joy from you. And here in our 86 00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:15.250 passage, Jesus gives more reasons that we have to be joyful. What is 87 00:08:15.370 --> 00:08:20.410 joy? A quite as fine defines joy as the emotion of having attained something 88 00:08:20.529 --> 00:08:26.129 good, the emotion of having attained something good, and that definition to me 89 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:35.600 seems just just perfect. Joy is a happiness of completion or satisfaction of having 90 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:43.190 something on that is a good thing. Joy is a settledness. It's different 91 00:08:43.230 --> 00:08:48.870 from hope in this way. Hope looks forward to something that will be attained 92 00:08:48.950 --> 00:08:56.139 in the future. Joy Arrests and celebrates in something that has been attained now, 93 00:08:56.220 --> 00:08:58.379 of course, and all the good things of the Lord, these things 94 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:01.220 interlink, and so we can have joy and hope, all right, especially 95 00:09:01.580 --> 00:09:07.220 hope that God gives, because the hope that God gives is so certain that 96 00:09:07.379 --> 00:09:09.570 it is as if we have already attained it, and in some ways we 97 00:09:09.730 --> 00:09:16.409 already have, and so there is overlapping these things. But joy and particulars 98 00:09:16.529 --> 00:09:22.490 this having attained something good, even something good like hope. So then, 99 00:09:22.649 --> 00:09:28.879 in light of that, consider what Jesus is saying. He's saying I want 100 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:35.240 you to have my joy. I want you to have in yourself the fulfillment 101 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:41.629 of my joy, in other words the the feeling and the emotion that Jesus 102 00:09:41.750 --> 00:09:48.230 has of having attained all good things. He wants you to have that fulfilled 103 00:09:48.549 --> 00:09:56.580 in yourself. That's quite a thing to say. Advertisers every day promise us 104 00:09:56.580 --> 00:10:01.419 all kinds of good things. Will do this if all my plan, take 105 00:10:01.500 --> 00:10:05.139 my course, read my book and you will attain this good thing. Right. 106 00:10:05.220 --> 00:10:09.090 We get excited and we're thankful and maybe in ways we get a measure 107 00:10:09.129 --> 00:10:15.970 of those things and we have some happiness from that, but nothing compares to 108 00:10:16.009 --> 00:10:26.320 the joy that Jesus has in himself, Jesus who has every good thing perfectly, 109 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:33.799 completely and without any evil attached. That's quite a joy. Jesus who 110 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:39.789 has received the Kingship, the glorified body of the Resurrection, who now rules 111 00:10:39.909 --> 00:10:46.029 and power and authority and the heavenly places, who is surrounded by angels, 112 00:10:46.110 --> 00:10:56.139 singing his praise. Betty has joy filled with happiness and pleasure, the satisfaction 113 00:10:56.419 --> 00:11:03.259 of having all good things. That's what Jesus has and that's what Jesus wants 114 00:11:03.419 --> 00:11:11.769 us to have, not a joy in ourselves as he has it in himself 115 00:11:11.850 --> 00:11:20.360 as God, but his joy in ourselves. That's what he says again, 116 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:24.080 third verse thirteen. I'm coming to you, and these things I speak in 117 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:30.240 the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. What an amazing 118 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:37.950 thing to consider and to ponder what he is accomplishing here. This, I 119 00:11:37.149 --> 00:11:41.950 hope, adds another level and another layer for you of what it means when 120 00:11:41.950 --> 00:11:48.059 Jesus says something like I say these things that you might have eternal life. 121 00:11:48.059 --> 00:11:54.100 I say these things that you might have victory. I say these things that 122 00:11:54.220 --> 00:12:00.139 you might have a peace. This life, this abundant life that God gives 123 00:12:00.220 --> 00:12:05.570 to us in Christ is in part described in this way the joy of the 124 00:12:05.809 --> 00:12:13.970 Lord being fulfilled in us. So this is the promise that he gives. 125 00:12:13.090 --> 00:12:16.919 What are the things, then, that he says that bring us to that 126 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:22.399 joy, that give us that joy? Well, I want to point out 127 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:28.320 three of the most important things that we have in this passage. I'll list 128 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:33.230 them here and then we'll go through them each briefly. The first is because 129 00:12:33.269 --> 00:12:37.190 the father has given us to the son. This is one reason we have 130 00:12:37.429 --> 00:12:41.269 this joy and this is one reason we have, in particular, the joy 131 00:12:41.350 --> 00:12:46.980 of unity and fellowship with God and with one another, because the father has 132 00:12:46.059 --> 00:12:50.820 given us to the son. Number two is because the father has given us 133 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:56.620 his word and life. In the son, Jesus speaks things to us, 134 00:12:56.700 --> 00:13:01.409 the things that he has been given. Then and then number three, because 135 00:13:01.450 --> 00:13:09.210 the father has kept us in his name, through his name. So the 136 00:13:09.330 --> 00:13:11.649 first one, because the father gave us to the son. How does US 137 00:13:11.730 --> 00:13:18.159 relate to this joy and this joy of fellowship and satisfaction and unity and all 138 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:22.840 of these things that are swirling around us in this passage? Because the father 139 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:26.669 gave us to the son. We know that this is an important reason. 140 00:13:28.389 --> 00:13:33.909 We know a for securing our joy in fellowship, because Jesus says it a 141 00:13:33.149 --> 00:13:39.669 lot. Let me start with verse six. Notice how he says I have 142 00:13:39.830 --> 00:13:45.379 manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of this world, 143 00:13:45.419 --> 00:13:52.779 whom you gave me yours. They were and you gave them to me. 144 00:13:52.820 --> 00:13:56.809 So he says this in verse six twice. He says it again in verse 145 00:13:56.889 --> 00:14:01.409 seven, in Verse Nine, in Verse Ten, in Verse Eleven and in 146 00:14:01.490 --> 00:14:07.570 Verse Twelve. In almost every single verse in this passage, sometimes multiple times 147 00:14:07.690 --> 00:14:13.720 in a verse, he talks about those whom the father has given him. 148 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:18.519 He wants you to know that your joy might be fulfilled. He wants you 149 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:24.590 to know this. You have been given to him by the father. A 150 00:14:28.470 --> 00:14:31.669 lot of people would be pretty excited if they got a call from their bank, 151 00:14:31.029 --> 00:14:35.389 let's say around Christmas time, and their bank said, hey, guess 152 00:14:35.470 --> 00:14:37.580 what, we're so glad you're a customer here. We have had a banner 153 00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:41.139 year. We've chosen a few people to just give a thousand dollars to, 154 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:46.100 no strings attached. Wouldn't it be awesome to be chosen and be a part 155 00:14:46.139 --> 00:14:52.779 of that group? If that's exciting, if the mere thought of that is 156 00:14:52.860 --> 00:14:56.289 exciting, a thought of something that, of course, will never happen to 157 00:14:56.370 --> 00:15:03.970 any of us, be excited about this that the father, that God, 158 00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:11.679 the father, has chosen you and given you to the son that he might 159 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:20.320 give you everything, not a thousand dollars. That'll sure be helpful for a 160 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:28.509 month pass away, but eternal life, joy filled life, resurrection life, 161 00:15:28.990 --> 00:15:35.259 heavenly life, communal life with one another, no more biggering and fighting and 162 00:15:35.500 --> 00:15:39.340 arguing, and you did this and you did that, and why are you 163 00:15:39.419 --> 00:15:46.100 hurting me? And I don't want to just peace, total peace with one 164 00:15:46.139 --> 00:15:50.490 another, own with God. This is what he gives to us. The 165 00:15:50.610 --> 00:16:00.570 father says, I choose you for these gifts, whom you have given me, 166 00:16:00.690 --> 00:16:03.850 whom you have given me, whom you have given me. All the 167 00:16:03.049 --> 00:16:07.240 things that Jesus does, the things that we've been reading about, the things 168 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:11.240 that he says, is mere racles, are done for the people whom God 169 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:18.590 has given him. And if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you 170 00:16:18.669 --> 00:16:22.309 are one of those people because, as he tells us later on, one 171 00:16:22.350 --> 00:16:27.070 of the things that he does is he causes these people to believe, he 172 00:16:27.230 --> 00:16:33.740 gives them faith so that they might actually attain these promises, attain this joy, 173 00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:41.259 attain this unity. In giving us the Sun, God has chosen us 174 00:16:41.259 --> 00:16:45.259 out of the world to give us this joy that he has in his cell, 175 00:16:45.460 --> 00:16:52.450 in himself. In other words, our salvation, our joy, our 176 00:16:52.490 --> 00:16:57.450 unity, is found in the fellowship of God himself, in the Fellowship and 177 00:16:57.610 --> 00:17:03.519 Union between the father and the son. We could add the Holy Spirit to 178 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:07.799 from other passages. He's not mentioned directly here, but he has been elsewhere, 179 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:14.039 even recently. As Jesus is said, our union with one another, 180 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:21.829 our joy, our fellowship, our life is intimately tied, is perfectly tied, 181 00:17:22.190 --> 00:17:33.579 completely tied to the Union that the Triune God has within himself. Right 182 00:17:33.980 --> 00:17:38.779 there. It is hard to express these things, but this is why we 183 00:17:38.819 --> 00:17:47.849 call it inexpressible joy. Praise God. It's also reminds us that nothing can 184 00:17:47.890 --> 00:17:52.849 be more secure. Your salvation is a hundred percent secure. Its Foundation is 185 00:17:52.970 --> 00:17:59.920 not in your good works, your family history, your wealth, your education, 186 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:04.200 your looks, your skills, nothing, all of which come up in 187 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:11.519 major ways. Lacking, lacking, lacking all the time, lacking. We 188 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:19.150 find ourselves not needing the things that we need to attain the perfectly good things, 189 00:18:22.029 --> 00:18:26.349 but God gives them freely to you. And the joy of your self, 190 00:18:26.349 --> 00:18:29.940 valuation rests entirely in that, not in yourself, but in the father 191 00:18:30.500 --> 00:18:37.140 giving you, giving you, choosing you in the sun and to the sun. 192 00:18:37.539 --> 00:18:42.650 The joy that you have is not a secret, guilty pleasure, not 193 00:18:42.809 --> 00:18:45.970 that any of you do this, but perhaps hiding in the pantry eating some 194 00:18:47.049 --> 00:18:55.009 chocolate. It is not trying to simply grab a little something for yourself to 195 00:18:55.089 --> 00:18:59.880 kind of get you through the next hour. The joy that you have is 196 00:18:59.960 --> 00:19:04.599 the joy of the Lord, given to you from all, from all eternity, 197 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:12.069 for all eternity, fulfilling all things. It is not stolen, is 198 00:19:12.150 --> 00:19:18.150 not done in secret, it is not momentary. It is all for you 199 00:19:18.829 --> 00:19:26.940 and from God. The second reason that Jesus says our joy is secure in 200 00:19:26.980 --> 00:19:32.539 the fellowship of the Lord is that because we have these words given to us 201 00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:38.490 in the Sun. Verse six, Jesus says, I have manifested your name, 202 00:19:41.049 --> 00:19:44.250 to the ones whom you have given me, I have manifested your name. 203 00:19:44.289 --> 00:19:48.049 This is his mission, this is his work, to make the father 204 00:19:48.329 --> 00:19:53.920 known. And if you've been with us going through these passes, is passages 205 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:59.920 in John you've heard that over and over and over again. This is central 206 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:06.680 to Jesus mission to make God known. This is why theology, the knowledge 207 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:14.109 of God, is so important. To Know God is essential for salvation. 208 00:20:14.190 --> 00:20:18.869 I have manifested your name, he has made it known. Verse Seven. 209 00:20:19.349 --> 00:20:23.619 Now that they know, now that they know that everything that you have given 210 00:20:23.859 --> 00:20:29.220 is from you, or that everything you have given me is from you. 211 00:20:29.619 --> 00:20:33.579 This is another thing Jesus wants us to know. He's telling us these things, 212 00:20:33.700 --> 00:20:40.690 things which reveal that they have been given to him from the father, 213 00:20:40.730 --> 00:20:45.170 or verse eight, for I have given them the words that you have given 214 00:20:45.970 --> 00:20:52.240 me and they have received them and they have come to know the truth that 215 00:20:52.400 --> 00:21:00.119 I came from you. I apologize for not yet having a very I feel 216 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:03.880 like I don't yet have a very clear way of expressing these things, but 217 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:07.109 I'm hoping that if I just keep throwing them against the wall as something will 218 00:21:07.230 --> 00:21:14.710 stick. The Lord is trying to tell us that that he that he has 219 00:21:14.789 --> 00:21:19.980 been given this mission to speak these words, but the words that he speaks 220 00:21:21.019 --> 00:21:26.460 are itself about the mission that he has been given to speak. He is 221 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:32.099 he is revealing himself, he is revealing the father, and as he does 222 00:21:32.259 --> 00:21:37.369 that, it's just it's a circle of revelation. He keeps just giving and 223 00:21:37.529 --> 00:21:45.569 giving more and more at the deepest levels, at the deepest levels, the 224 00:21:45.809 --> 00:21:52.319 father has given revelation to the son. That's why we have these gospels, 225 00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:55.720 that's why we have the New Testament, that's why we have the Old Testament, 226 00:21:56.039 --> 00:22:03.230 because God desires to make himself known in the Sun. That's why I 227 00:22:03.309 --> 00:22:07.230 began the sermon today by saying something like these are the words that Jesus is 228 00:22:07.430 --> 00:22:12.190 telling us. This is what he wants you to know, because that's his 229 00:22:12.390 --> 00:22:19.579 mission. That's why we have this this these things help us to understand more 230 00:22:19.660 --> 00:22:25.259 of what Jesus is saying about the father. Maybe I could put it this 231 00:22:25.380 --> 00:22:29.180 way. If you think about Jesus and what he says, is this way. 232 00:22:29.579 --> 00:22:33.930 It's a two step plan. Step One, God gave us to the 233 00:22:33.130 --> 00:22:40.049 son. Step to the Sun reveals that truth to us that we would believe 234 00:22:40.049 --> 00:22:47.720 him and be saved. He reveals the truth that we have been given to. 235 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:53.400 The father has given us in the son and to the son. And 236 00:22:53.559 --> 00:22:57.630 when we believe that, when we trust in the Lord, when we trust 237 00:22:57.710 --> 00:23:06.390 in His grace, we find our salvation. This is important to remember when 238 00:23:06.430 --> 00:23:11.750 it comes to joy, because when life gets you down, or to quote 239 00:23:11.750 --> 00:23:19.099 the him and sorrows like sea billows roll, what teaches you to say? 240 00:23:21.740 --> 00:23:25.579 Whatever my lot, God has taught me to say, it is well, 241 00:23:25.660 --> 00:23:30.210 it is well with my soul. What gets to that place of steadiness, 242 00:23:32.410 --> 00:23:40.289 of being okay even though it's not okay? What gets us to that place 243 00:23:40.329 --> 00:23:45.799 is hearing the words of Jesus, remembering the words of Jesus and knowing that 244 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:52.079 they are true, that the father has given us, or has given given 245 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:55.750 the son this people. He's given us to the sun, and the Sun 246 00:23:55.950 --> 00:24:03.509 has brought about our salvation. What calms our souls, what gives us joy, 247 00:24:03.670 --> 00:24:07.990 is that the words that the son speaks are true, that Jesus is 248 00:24:08.029 --> 00:24:11.539 not just another teacher, he's not just another prophet, he's not just another 249 00:24:12.539 --> 00:24:18.220 person trying to help out and make things better. He is the son of 250 00:24:18.339 --> 00:24:22.940 God, sent to reveal the love and grace of God to us in the 251 00:24:22.059 --> 00:24:26.650 world. The love and grace, the good news that we are sinners saved 252 00:24:26.650 --> 00:24:32.769 by grace, saved by this eternal plan of redemption carried out in this world 253 00:24:33.369 --> 00:24:37.529 through the Sun. This is the message that Jesus has revealed. It's the 254 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:42.440 plan that he is not only told but also enacted, so that we might 255 00:24:42.519 --> 00:24:51.039 not be separated from God but united to him enjoy. He is given us 256 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:55.950 the words that were given to him by the father, and that brings me 257 00:24:56.069 --> 00:24:59.829 finally to this last thing, that Jee is or that the father has kept 258 00:24:59.910 --> 00:25:03.549 us in these words, in this word has kept us in his name. 259 00:25:06.390 --> 00:25:12.980 Be Thinking to yourself, well, aren't words just words? How is Jesus 260 00:25:14.140 --> 00:25:19.059 revealing the words of God actual source of joy? Well, it's because of 261 00:25:19.140 --> 00:25:26.809 this number three that God uses, that God speaks these words with power. 262 00:25:26.049 --> 00:25:33.130 You see, his words are not like our words. I might command my 263 00:25:33.490 --> 00:25:38.359 dog to sit, but my dog may not sit right. But when God 264 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:45.000 commands and says something like let there be light, there will be light. 265 00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:53.109 And when Jesus speaks the words of life to one whom God has chosen and 266 00:25:53.349 --> 00:25:57.990 says, let there be light, let there be life, I want you 267 00:25:59.069 --> 00:26:03.349 to know that I am from the father and that if you believe in me, 268 00:26:03.509 --> 00:26:10.140 you will be saved. Boom, a person is saved. Those words, 269 00:26:10.220 --> 00:26:15.740 the words of Jesus, have power, and this is another reason for 270 00:26:15.900 --> 00:26:21.890 our joy. Not only has this happened, not only does Jesus reveal this 271 00:26:22.049 --> 00:26:26.930 mission, but in the revelation of that mission and to the ones whom God 272 00:26:26.089 --> 00:26:33.279 has chosen, life happens. To put it another way, he gives us 273 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:40.759 the power, or he empowers us to believe the things that he says. 274 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:45.319 He does the impossible, because we don't believe the things that God says. 275 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:52.150 Apart from God changing our hearts. He lifts US up, he makes us 276 00:26:52.190 --> 00:26:56.990 capable of joy, he makes us capable of satisfaction, of union, of 277 00:26:57.109 --> 00:27:07.859 belonging and all of these things by regenerating our hearts. And this, of 278 00:27:07.900 --> 00:27:11.619 course, is all based on the work that he has done. Jesus did 279 00:27:11.660 --> 00:27:15.970 not merely receive us from the father, from all eternity, but he went 280 00:27:17.049 --> 00:27:22.369 to the cross and he died for us in history, in real time and 281 00:27:22.490 --> 00:27:29.450 in real space. He took our sins upon himself so that he might give 282 00:27:29.529 --> 00:27:36.559 us this joy and this life that has been promised to us from before the 283 00:27:36.680 --> 00:27:44.160 world began. And, brothers and sisters, he didn't just do it for 284 00:27:44.589 --> 00:27:48.589 this one and this one and this one, but he did it for the 285 00:27:48.829 --> 00:27:56.309 body here in the passage and other places in Scriptures. In the Scriptures, 286 00:27:56.430 --> 00:28:00.579 he describes his goal, and I think I've used this metaphor recently, so 287 00:28:00.900 --> 00:28:03.819 I'll use it again. His his goal is not to put a bunch of 288 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:10.339 of marbles in a bowl, a little bunch of marbles sort of separated from 289 00:28:10.420 --> 00:28:18.329 one another, you know, individually marbles. God's desire is to bring us. 290 00:28:18.569 --> 00:28:25.289 The metaphor that he uses is a body, one body with many members. 291 00:28:26.890 --> 00:28:33.279 He describes that body is being united to Christ, so so united are 292 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:37.680 we to God and with one another that it's not even sort of Jesus and 293 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:45.150 this other one, but it's the body of Christ all together, united together. 294 00:28:47.029 --> 00:28:52.549 This world constantly divides, it constantly separates us from God and from one 295 00:28:52.589 --> 00:28:57.059 another. But Jesus has come into the world to give us a different kind 296 00:28:59.460 --> 00:29:02.980 of joy, a joy of unity, of peace, of fellowship with him 297 00:29:02.980 --> 00:29:06.740 and with each other. Let me read again, and I'll close with this 298 00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:12.450 what he says in verse eleven. He says, Holy Father, keep them 299 00:29:12.690 --> 00:29:18.329 in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, 300 00:29:19.490 --> 00:29:26.119 even as we are one. This is God's desire for his church and 301 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:33.559 in many ways we see that expressed here and now. We see a diverse 302 00:29:33.799 --> 00:29:40.309 people from different times and places, different backgrounds, different histories, here in 303 00:29:40.430 --> 00:29:45.509 this room and throughout the world and throughout time, many, many people confessing 304 00:29:45.589 --> 00:29:51.390 the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and united in faith in him. Sadly, 305 00:29:51.430 --> 00:29:56.460 we also see that there is a we have not perfectly attained that yet 306 00:29:56.220 --> 00:30:00.859 and in some of the ways in which that not perfection has happened, we 307 00:30:00.980 --> 00:30:08.609 have much sadness much brokenness and much to do and forgiving and asking for forgiveness, 308 00:30:11.970 --> 00:30:18.410 but we can do that with confidence and joy that we are headed in 309 00:30:18.490 --> 00:30:23.000 the right direction and that we are doing it in the power of God himself. 310 00:30:25.880 --> 00:30:29.160 In other words, as I said earlier, we are not clamoring and 311 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:36.990 coercing one another in the church to get these things. We're simply living into, 312 00:30:37.349 --> 00:30:42.269 leaning into becoming more of what he has already given to us. We 313 00:30:42.390 --> 00:30:47.869 are trying to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have 314 00:30:47.910 --> 00:30:52.660 already been called old and a calling and a promise which he guarantees that we 315 00:30:52.779 --> 00:31:04.210 will receive. So be encouraged, beloved, be encouraged. The world is 316 00:31:04.410 --> 00:31:08.130 hard. I know it, you know it. More importantly, God knows 317 00:31:08.210 --> 00:31:15.210 it. He says so that there are sorrows and they will be sorrowful and 318 00:31:15.329 --> 00:31:22.599 it's okay to be sorrowful. But don't be overly discouraged, don't despair, 319 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:27.559 don't give up, but put your faith in the one true living God who 320 00:31:27.559 --> 00:31:33.589 has revealed himself in Jesus Christ on the Cross. He has revealed himself in 321 00:31:33.750 --> 00:31:37.349 such a way that we might know that all of our brokenness, all of 322 00:31:37.470 --> 00:31:45.910 our sins all of our disunity is healed in him, forgiven in him, 323 00:31:45.950 --> 00:31:51.539 and in Him we have his very joy given to us. Praise God, 324 00:31:52.059 --> 00:31:59.819 let us pray our father, we thank you for the happiness and pleasure and 325 00:32:00.019 --> 00:32:05.809 satisfaction that you give to your people, that we might know and live in 326 00:32:05.890 --> 00:32:12.009 this world in a way that is not despairing, but confident in you and 327 00:32:12.170 --> 00:32:16.039 in who you are. Lords, does not mean that we desire to over 328 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:21.319 look our sin. We don't want to sweep it under the rug or pretend 329 00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:23.480 it's not there. Lord, we just want to see it on the cross. 330 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:29.759 We want to see it and to know our sin in the forgiveness of 331 00:32:29.880 --> 00:32:35.349 it, in the healing of it. Please help us to know that more 332 00:32:35.430 --> 00:32:42.829 and more, to resist the the the the temptations of the evil one who 333 00:32:42.829 --> 00:32:45.819 would divide us and break US apart, who would make us think that we 334 00:32:45.940 --> 00:32:50.700 are not worthy of these things and that, for that reason, we ought 335 00:32:50.740 --> 00:32:57.579 to despair. Lord, teach us that we are not alone, both with 336 00:32:57.819 --> 00:33:04.809 each other and with you. Help us to know that as we progress along 337 00:33:04.930 --> 00:33:08.369 this journey, in this road, on this road, as we walk in 338 00:33:08.450 --> 00:33:12.880 the way and in the truth and in the life, help us to know 339 00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:17.519 that we belong to you, that you are our God and that we are 340 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:22.079 your people, that we are not here by accident, that we have not 341 00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:27.079 snuck in, that we have not found ourselves in a place that we ought 342 00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:30.869 not to be, but that we are here because of your love and your 343 00:33:30.990 --> 00:33:39.589 grace, because of your choice and not ours. And, Lord is do 344 00:33:39.750 --> 00:33:44.380 teach us these things and, as you help us to know them, give 345 00:33:44.460 --> 00:33:53.380 us that joy by that is inexpressible, that peace that is infinite, that 346 00:33:53.500 --> 00:34:00.130 will never end. Lord, we have sorrows now, but we look forward 347 00:34:00.170 --> 00:34:04.329 to the day when we will see you again in our hearts will rejoice completely, 348 00:34:05.690 --> 00:34:09.760 knowing that our joy will never be taken from us. Teach us to 349 00:34:09.840 --> 00:34:15.960 be satisfied in all good things and to know that they come from you. 350 00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:22.440 We pray, Lord, that this Gospel, this good news that Jesus has 351 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:29.190 delivered in the world and made manifest, would go out from US and into 352 00:34:29.309 --> 00:34:32.590 all the world. We pray in particular for our neighbors and our families and 353 00:34:32.710 --> 00:34:37.940 our friends here in Tucson. We ask that in the various places that you 354 00:34:38.380 --> 00:34:42.940 have placed us, in, the various callings to which you have called us, 355 00:34:43.659 --> 00:34:47.179 that people would come to know and to see what it means for the 356 00:34:47.300 --> 00:34:53.409 Gospel to be at work, what it means for Jesus to have done the 357 00:34:53.610 --> 00:34:59.250 things that he has done. Lord, let us hear, let the let 358 00:34:59.369 --> 00:35:06.130 these people here and see these things of the Lord in us, that they 359 00:35:06.130 --> 00:35:10.679 might come and join us on this journey, that they might come and be 360 00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:17.320 pilgrims with us, not tied to this world but citizens of Heaven. Lord, 361 00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:24.110 we also pray for our missionaries and the churches that they are planting, 362 00:35:25.190 --> 00:35:31.150 the future ministers and elders and deacons that they are training, I'm the people 363 00:35:31.269 --> 00:35:36.219 that they are calling, and asked that you would bless their work. We 364 00:35:36.340 --> 00:35:43.659 pray for those that we support and and and and and pray for. We 365 00:35:43.780 --> 00:35:46.739 asked that you would watch over them and keep them, that you would bless 366 00:35:46.820 --> 00:35:53.210 them in every way. Finally, Lord, we pray for our particular needs 367 00:35:53.250 --> 00:35:59.769 here in our congregation. We pray for those who are sick and asked that 368 00:35:59.809 --> 00:36:02.730 you would heal them, that you would make them well. We also pray 369 00:36:02.809 --> 00:36:07.400 for those that are unemployed or underemployed, those who are looking for work. 370 00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:14.880 Help, help them to find what they need, that they might provide for 371 00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:19.630 themselves and their families that they might be generous to others. Lord, we 372 00:36:19.710 --> 00:36:22.789 asked that you would provide for us our daily bread. We also asked that 373 00:36:22.789 --> 00:36:28.590 you would provide us contentment, that you would give us food and clothing and 374 00:36:29.510 --> 00:36:32.300 that that would be added to godliness and that we would grow. And these 375 00:36:32.420 --> 00:36:38.940 things we pray, all these things in your name. Men