Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:05 Good Morning Village Church. Good morning. Good morning. If I have not had the joy to meet you, my name's Michael Fueling, I'm the lead pastor here and we are teaching through the book of John. We are in John 17 this morning. If you have a Bible, you can open up there. Um, John 17 is one whole chapter of the longest recorded prayer of Jesus. And what's really striking about this is that Jesus is praying for specifically his disciples. And then in the prayer also he says he doesn't just pray for those 11 cuz Judas was already departed. But he also says that he's praying for everybody else in the future who is going to trust in him. And so even in this prayer, Jesus is praying for each and every one of us who called Jesus our Lord and Savior. And so, um, this is a really important prayer.
Speaker 1 00:00:54 And so our focus has been like Jesus. How do we come alongside of people and how do we pray for them and over them? Uh, I wanna say just this last week, I have never had more people personally call or ask me to pray over them. And I just, I wanna say, I just appreciate that when you asked me to pray over you. There is an acknowledgement that this is beyond you. It's an acknowledgement that you actually need help in this thing. It's an acknowledgement that you've hit your, your limits. It's an acknowledgement that my, my brain can actually only handle so, so much. I find interesting that most of us know when to ask someone to pray for us. But why does it do that? Why, why, why are the scriptures very concerned that you approach someone else and have them pray over you?
Speaker 1 00:01:45 Why? Why is this a really vital aspect of being a community? It's praying not just generically for somebody when I'm at my house and they're there, but there's something very communal, personal, and present about the way the church is supposed to pray for each other. Here's what I've learned about myself. I am not the best person to pray for me. I do pray for me a lot, but I'm not the best person because do you know what? I can't see in any challenging moment, literally anything else but me. I'm obsessed with me. Pain, heartache, challenges, disappointment. They put me in survival mode and I get tunnel vision. So I I, I wrote down just a handful of common prayers over the years that when I'm in this mode, these are the kind of prayers that I throw up to God. God, help me. God fix this.
Speaker 1 00:02:47 God change their mind. God vindicate me. God, take this away from me. God heal me. God, work this out for my good God. Change my kids, change my wife, change my fill in the blank. You get, you get where I'm going. None. None of these are bad, by the way. Like I don't think God minds when you candidly in authenticity, bring your prayers to him, when somebody else prays for you though, it's sort of like the veil is lifted for a moment. And you realize in that moment it's not actually completely 100% all about about you, right? Even when somebody just prays this simple thing, God, would you help them bring you glory in this, that, that prayer just alone, like right there? You're like, okay, all right, I have to think differently. This isn't just about get me out of this. This is about how do I make you look good in this moment?
Speaker 1 00:03:45 And, and there are so many benefits, by the way, of having somebody pray for you. Um, you get empathy, you get support. I mean, sometimes just somebody else and knowing what you're going through is very healing and it's very helpful. You get another voice to bend God's ear, which don't we all want as many people like bending God's ear and our behalf, yes we do. But one of the greatest values of having somebody else pray for you is that they tend to ask God for very different things when they're not in the moment than we might even say. And I would dare say I find that when people pray over me, they are praying far better prayers for me than I do for myself. Here are some things that I, I think is just wonderful to ask God when you're praying over somebody, God, what are you doing here? God, what are you up to? God? What's your agenda in this situation? God, how will you be most glorified here? God, is this thing even about this person?
Speaker 1 00:04:50 God, can you show us how they can become more like Jesus through this? God? Does your word address this in any way? If so, would you lead us to that? Uh, I've, I've learned that as I pray for people. I think if you've prayed for people even just a little bit, you're gonna understand this that often their myopic eyesight of what's happening, it's just one thing. Get me out of this pain, this heartache, this frustration, this difficulty, this challenge. When you pray for someone, it's almost like you, you kind of intuitively know that this, this thing actually might not be about this thing. There might be more going on here and there. And there's a general principle here, which is this thing is rarely about just this thing that, that God is often up to way more than just you in any singular moment. And sometimes when you come alongside and you pray for somebody, you help them get out of their myopic vision of themselves. You help them see that maybe, maybe just maybe what you are, are going through is for someone else, which is not what most people and difficulty want to hear. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:06:06 Open up your Bibles, John 17 last week. This week we're learning how to pray for people. John 17 takes place on a Thursday night, and this is a very stressful Thursday night for everybody. And Jesus is gonna do what he so often does. He gathers the disciples and he prays over them. And, uh, I appreciate that even Jesus' private prayers and his public prayers all seem to be out loud so that people can hear. It's an interesting practice that he has. John has already clued us in that the disciples, all of them are troubled. They are anxious, they are stressed, they're confused, they're disillusioned. They, they kind of, I think know cognitively that Jesus is going to be killed very shortly, but they're having a hard time believing it, wrapping their head around all of this. And I'm really thankful that John recorded this prayer.
Speaker 1 00:06:59 Jesus, in terms of like the emotional context is hours before his arrest, betrayal, and then ultimately the next day on Friday is gonna be his crucifixion. And, and what Jesus shows us is how to pray for somebody else when their entire world is falling apart. But there's, there's even a deeper level to this, which I think is what makes John 17 honestly just so beautiful. It shouldn't be lost in any of us. That, that Jesus is pouring his heart out to God for these men while he is personally facing the greatest challenge any human has ever faced in all of human history. Have you ever been at the end of yourself and then had somebody come to you and say, would you pray for me? It is the last thing you want to do. What's interesting is sometimes I find that this happens because is I start praying for someone else.
Speaker 1 00:07:54 I realize that as just like I want them to get out of their myopic view of themselves. I also need to get out of my myopic self-centered view of myself. How do you pray for somebody? So last week we had three things. Today was the fourth thing, uh, last week. It was, be confident in your relationship with God. No, I will not reproach that sermon right now because there was a lot there. But number two, point them to his glory. First. Number three, ground them in the gospel. If you wanna go deeper there, you can listen to last week. But this week we're gonna explore, I think the most difficult skill in prayer. Seek to discern both the felt need and what God is actually up to. So learning to discern God's will is a skill. It takes practice, it takes time, and it is hard work.
Speaker 1 00:08:44 If I were to have you raise your hand and say, how many of you would like God's will to be really easy? Like everybody would say, yeah, tell me now. Have you guys ever learned that God's will is incredibly difficult? And when he does give it to you, he gives you little small pictures of it. As we said a couple weeks back in our series on the Holy Spirit, the the pattern in scripture is that God exclusively tells his people only the next right thing. That's it. And so we're trying to figure out God's will in all of this. And when you're, when you're praying for somebody else, I wanna just release you from the burden. It's not your job to fix the person. Amen. It is not your job to find out the totality of God's will for that person. That is their job.
Speaker 1 00:09:20 If you are the one in pain and heartache, it is you and God. You have to figure out God, what are you up to? And when somebody comes alongside of you to pray for you, it is their job to support you and ask, God, Lord, would you make your will for this person? Clear to them? And here's the deal, it's probably not gonna happen in that moment of prayer. It's probably gonna happen in a series of events. Maybe as you open up God's word, maybe it's gonna happen in a conversation in the future. Typically, when we ask God to reveal his will and his next step, the answer doesn't come right, then it takes a little while for God to reveal it. And if you open up your eyes and you listen attentively for the answer to the question, what is the right next step?
Speaker 1 00:09:59 The Lord usually sooner than later will show it to you, but not in the moment of prayer. So when I pray for somebody, I have very low expectations for God revealing everything that I want to them in that moment. But I have great expectations that that person will walk away in a 12 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, that the Lord is gonna show them what that right next step is. Uh, Romans 12, two gray passage on God's will. But I, I think, um, we focus so much on the beginning of it that we miss the end of it. Here's what it says, be transformed by the renewal of your mind. And so when we preach on Romans 12, two, we talk about the transforming of our minds, the renewal of our minds. And we're in the world, we need transformation a hundred percent. And, but what's next, I think is striking that by testing you may discern what the will of God is.
Speaker 1 00:10:55 Whatever it is, it's gonna be good, acceptable and perfect. And so Paul, Paul himself, I'm gonna kind of break this down very simply. In four, four words, Paul's teaching that define God's will requires asking discerning testing and evaluation We want on a silver platter. And God's like ask, test, discern, evaluate. And so e even as we see this like this, this should be a release from the person praying over someone else. Your job is to help them in this process, but you can't do this process for them. Usually. Sometimes though the Lord will give you an insight, the Lord will show you something and you can use this voice of encouragement, this voice of discernment and speak directly to them. But even then, it is theirs to try to figure out what the Lord. All this this means is that figuring out the will of God is really hard. And you have to be intentional as a, as a man learning the will of God. I found it often to be like learning the mind of a woman, <laugh>. Gentlemen, if you're lazy, you'll never get it. And all the ladies said, amen. It requires asking discerning testing and evaluating <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:12:22 And the men who know the heart of their wives practice, they do, by the way, even though they say men are simple, I I I sometimes think we're a we're pretty complicated <laugh>. And this, this cuts both directions. Proverb 20 verse five, actually I think encouragement for the men were not shallow says this, the purpose in a man's heart, it's like deep water. But a man of understanding will draw it out. That, that there is a process to drawing out and understanding the deeper things that are, that are happening. And I found it's the same way with God. So when you pray for somebody, you, you are entering into this process of helping them reframe, be God-centered, and then begin this task, joyful opportunity to discern and test God. What are you doing in this thing? So as we read John 17, one of the perks of being Jesus is he has this thing called omniscience.
Speaker 1 00:13:25 And so he being God knows the will of God, which is a little frustrating. So he can actually just go pray God's will. So if Jesus was praying over you, he wouldn't, he would just pray the thing, right? He, he he'd prayed to the deepest level. Our challenge is that I'm not omniscient and uh, I have to go through this whole process myself of figuring out God's will for my life, let alone your life. And so, like what we find here is that Jesus ends up praying the explicit will of God in John 17. And, and what I just really appreciate about this whole thing is that there are a whole bunch of felt needs in John 17 by the disciples. And you see those felt needs. And, and what I so appreciate is that Jesus just goes deeper to the actual will of God for each of them.
Speaker 1 00:14:06 And that's, and that's what we want to do. And so we're gonna do is we're gonna look at the three felt needs, and then we're gonna look at what Jesus actually prays. And I, I hope the net result of this is not only that you pray for each other more consistently, um, but that you center people when you pray for them, um, on God, get them off of themselves a little bit, even just for a moment. But also that we, we begin to pray the deeper things. We begin to ask, God, I I see the felt need and I love praying for felt needs. Should we pray for felt needs? Everybody say yes, yes. But don't stop with the felt need. Okay? God heal them. But what else are you up to? Would would you show us the deeper thing? Because sometimes and rarely the thing is just about the thing.
Speaker 1 00:14:49 All right, John 17, here's the first felt need. Uh, they want easy happiness. Anyone else? I want that. But Jesus prays for hard fought joy. Last words before he prays. John 1633, in the world, you will have tribulation. Nobody wants to hear this. If you're gonna live in this world, it's going to be hard. But take heart, I've overcome the world. And then he prays. And let's go down to chapter 17, verse 13. He says, now I'm coming to you. He's talking to the Father. And these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. When you understand the emotional context of this statement, it's ludicrous because in the other gospels, Jesus is moments away from going and praying alone, where he is filled with so much anxiety that he's sweating blood and pleading God to take this cup from him.
Speaker 1 00:15:55 If there's another way other than burying the full weight of your wrath on my body's soul and emotion, can we do that? Not my will, of course, but yours be done, right? So the fact that Jesus in this moment and this emotional context is saying and praying, God, you know, the joy that I have right now, would you give that to them? That feels ridiculous. Two things. What did, what did, what did the disciples expect? What happened when the Messiah arrived? Here's what they expected. Instantaneous global happiness and peace where they ruled with the Messiah over the entire world. Could we, could we call the entire crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Plus 2000 years so far of heartache, martyrdom in the world of believers, unmet expectations. Good. How do you guys deal personally when you have unmet expectations with God to any magnitude, let alone to the order of this magnitude?
Speaker 1 00:16:56 All right. Second, why in the world is Jesus asking for joy? Because when somebody's hurting, right? Empathy, validating grief is a good thing, is it not? The last thing you want to say to somebody who's grieving is, don't worry you be happy. That's ridiculous. <laugh>. It's interesting because I I don't think that's what he's praying here. L listen to Hebrews 12, two, Jesus, who, for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. What, how, how is it that there is a very real side of Jesus that is petrified of the cross? Physiologically his body is responding in profound ways. And simultaneously there is a joy pushing him forward. Like, can these two things coexist? Can, can deep sadness and grief and joy simultaneously exist in you? Yes. And, and, and somehow the scriptures like show kind of the full range of Jesus's emotions. And there is a reality here that he is deeply sad, overwhelmed, anxious and troubled.
Speaker 1 00:18:14 And yet he is moving forward because he knows the joy that is going to be birthed out of what he is going to accomplish on the cross. And we, we learned something I think profoundly powerful from Jesus in John 17. Like Jesus mature Christians faith face the full weight of grief while at the same time fighting for joy. That's ridiculous. But this is what Jesus models, what do we want in grief? I want to wallow. And that is where I want it to stop. And, and there is this tension and I don't, I don't fully get it. I have never mastered it, by the way, whenever there are sad things that happen, I don't know how to simultaneously sometimes allow grief and joy or anger and joy or sadness and joy. Like I don't know how these things were like, I'm still figuring this out, but I do know that there is something here.
Speaker 1 00:19:07 And Jesus is like, listen, father, they're gonna go through it. They're, they're gonna go through unbelievable hardship. And somehow I pray that the joy that I have is I face my hardship right now. That you would give them that joy, that you would help them understand that even as they face this, give them a vision for what could be happening in this that is bigger than the pain of this moment. Because if you, if you have a vision for what could be, you can endure anything, right? Like moms and dads, will you not happily be tortured if it means your children are spared? Absolutely. And you can be grieving and for the joy set before you defend your children and sacrifice your life, you get this intuitively. Is it gut wrenching? Yes. And and here's what he's praying for these guys, they're aren't gonna face their own murder. He just told them that in the last two chapters. But, but your murder isn't gonna be wasted any more than mine. It's gonna be wasted.
Speaker 1 00:20:03 We have to, we have to understand when we're praying for somebody is that God is up to more than just this thing. And so Phil's church, when I am sad, angry, hurting, devastated, I need you to pray for me because I am selfish in my prayers. And I and I all I want, I don't want joy. I don't wanna fight for that. I don't wanna fight for, I don't wanna like trust God. I know you are gonna do something big and great through this. I don't know what it is. I don't wanna look to the future. I want to wallow for a very long time. Is anybody else with me on this? And so what we do is in prayer, it just, we, we are able to gently come alongside of somebody, not erase their grief, not negate their grief, but to draw their hearts to the possibilities of what God could be doing.
Speaker 1 00:20:49 Now there are things you can pray for somebody that you can't say to somebody. For example, when somebody's grieving, you can look, don't look at them and say it's all gonna work out. That's offensive <laugh>. But you can pray to them and say, God, I I don't know what you're up to. I do know that your word says you will work this out and we look forward to that day. So God, before that, between this day and that I pray you, you would teach them to cast their anxieties on you and feel the full weight of their grief. But Lord, may they never turn their finger against you. On the other hand, if you look at them and say, stop pointing your finger at God, you're a jerk. But there is something about going before the Lord and praying for somebody that allows you to center them in a way that sometimes your words just can't do.
Speaker 1 00:21:36 And it's, it's striking. I'm, I'm amazed the things people can say to me when they pray for me. And I've never been upset. I mean maybe you could be like make him less ugly and that might whatever, but like I've never been upset when somebody prays hard things over me. There's something very pure about that moment where even when we're praying, my brain is less defensive and my heart is open to the possibility that God may be up to something bigger than just this thing. Let's come back to John 17, verse 14. He says, I've given them your word and the world has hated them because they're not of the world. Just as I'm not of the world, lemme translate. God, I know you're expect, I know they're expecting that I'm gonna bring immediate world domination, peace and ease and they're gonna reign with me.
Speaker 1 00:22:23 And I know unmet expectations with you can be painful and leave wounds for generations. But would you give them something greater than easy happiness? Would you give them true unshakable joy that transcends momentary affliction? When you pray for somebody, remember that God is likely forming something in them far more valuable than easy happiness. And Jesus got this when he prayed over them. Feldy number two, they want safety. But Jesus prays for spiritual protection. Every trip our kids go on, what do we pray? Keep them safe, please. It is the dominant prayer of every mom and some dads <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:23:17 So my, my prayer, I, it's funny, this is not like hyper spiritual, this is just my personality. I say, God, would you give them unforgettable experiences, <laugh>. And then every mom looks at me and says, no, no, that is not what we want for our children. Stop it. And I, I don't think God minds praying for safety. I think that's valuable and good. And that is, that is a, a protective good instinct to pray. And by the way, like I don't know how all this works in the spiritual realm. And so if that prayer prevents a car accident, I'm gonna keep praying that prayer. Go for it. But look at verse 14.
Speaker 1 00:23:51 I've given them your word. The world has hated them cuz they're not of the world. Just as I'm not of the world, I I don't ask that you take them out of the world. Remember the world is gonna murder them. He's like, I'm not asking that, that the world doesn't hurt 'em. I'm not asking that they're not gonna be murdered. I'm not asking that they're not gonna be tortured. I'm not asking, they're not gonna be crucified upside down or burned in a pot of oil or whatever happened with all the other disciples. I'm not asking that you prevent any of that. That's their job. They knew this when they signed up to follow me. They knew that inevitably was gonna be the outcome. Here's what Jesus praised for. I pray that you keep them from the evil one.
Speaker 1 00:24:33 I pray that you keep them from the evil one. What does this mean? Well, the Book of Luke actually I think tells us, so I'm gonna put it on the screen, but I think this is one of the most important verses in the gospels to understand what is happening here. Luke 2231, Jesus looks at Peter, he's also called Simon. He says Simon, Simon, behold Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat. When you look at three things, number one, like in the book of Job, Satan approached God. He wasn't polite. He didn't say, Hey God, I know there's this guy J uh Peter over here. Look, what do you think? Satan approached God demanding him. Let me destroy him. I demand it. Number two, Satan demanded permission to shake Peter's so violently that he would fall. Satan knew he couldn't take Peter's soul. That's God's, but he can disqualify him for ministry. He he, he can put him in a position that exploits his weaknesses so terribly that he'll never ever be able to pick his head up in confidence again. And he will run from the will of God. I mean this is like one of the most simple tricks that Satan plays. If I get a can get a Christian to do something really dumb and then publicize that dumb thing, then I can cast shame over them for the rest of their lives.
Speaker 1 00:26:11 It, it's very simple. And then we buy into it. We own the shame. We are the shame, I am my failure. And then we never get up and do the things God asked us to do. Demonic warfare 1 0 1, number three seem that the father said yes to Satan's request just like he did to job. Look at verse 32. Jesus says, but I've prayed for you that your faith may not fail. He doesn't say, the father said no, he, he actually is acknowledging you're about to be subjected to a set of experiences that will test your faith. And when these experiences come to you, my prayer for you is that you don't fail the fact that I'm even telling you this job didn't even get that dignity. Peter has access to information that I bet job wishes he had. And then he says this, when you have turned again, meaning after you fail, get up and strengthen your brothers. That's a huge line. Satan demanded you, the father gave him permission. And when you have failed, get up. What if your hardship is not totally or even about you at all? What if you are on display for someone else?
Speaker 1 00:27:53 What if you're on display for someone else and you're saying, God, take this from me, take this from me, take this from me, take this from me. And he doesn't. And you're like, I bagged. Why isn't God listen to me. You're dealing with the felt need. Sometimes it's actually not about the thing, it's about something that's deeper than the thing. And this is where it takes time and testing and discerning and evaluating and it takes other people coming alongside of you to pray for you and to say, God, what? What are you actually doing here? It also takes maturity to step back and say, God, I give you permission to make my life hard for the sake of someone else, maybe even someone I don't know who was jovan display for Satan, God permitted job to be functionally tortured, to make a mockery of Satan. I've just, I've learned from Job, I've learned from Jesus, I've learned from you that this thing is rarely ever just about this thing. It if you keep reading and listening to what Jesus says, I mean he's, there's a lot going on here. You learn quite a bit about spiritual protection. Look at verse 17. Sanctify them in the truth. This is all in the context of protection.
Speaker 1 00:29:21 Your word is truth as you sent mean into the world. So I've sent them into the world. But physical protection, that's not his highest value. I don't think it's wrong to pray for that. But for these guys, that's not his highest value. And for th their sake, I sanctify or consecrate myself that they may also be sanctified in the truth. Sanctified means to be made holier to be made more like Jesus. Very simple. So I notice a couple things. First, protection does not mean removal from the battle. He doesn't say keep them from difficulties, keep them from the battle. Keep them from spiritual war. No, it's actually a given. If you're gonna follow Jesus, you're gonna be in the middle of a spiritual war and they're gonna be very invested to making sure you're not aware that you're in a spiritual war. But don't be dumb, open your eyes.
Speaker 1 00:30:06 The thing is not about the thing. Second, your personal holiness is a line of defense. Even the evil one cannot break. If he can't get you to sin, what does he have? Do you hear me? So you're sitting there, you're by yourself, whatever it is the thing right, that you're attempted to. If he can't get you to do that, he has no accusation over you whatsoever. And so what we do is we, we kind of this world, we forfeit personal holiness. The blood of Christ will cover me. And I love that the blood of Christ covers my ridiculous sin. But Paul says, should we sin more so that grace abound? No. Because it just makes you a big fat target for the evil one to be exploited and to be shamed and to fall prey to spiritual warfare 1 0 1 but your personal holiness, living according to God's word, being obsessed.
Speaker 1 00:30:54 If there's like something in my life that isn't aligned with God's word, if you will commit your life to that and when you mess up, own it and confess it. Holy smokes, what does the evil one have? And the third thing I want you to see here is that your personal holiness and transformation, and I just appreciate this, it is directly connected to you in spending time with the word of God, that there is something powerful and supernatural for Jesus as he understands the word, he gives them his words, they record his words. The apostles document his words so that the word of God could be accessible for the people of God. Because when the people of God access the word of God, powerful transformation happens. But here's the deal. This is why we kinda give up. It usually doesn't happen all at once. It happens slowly, incrementally as we do the hard thing and we align our mind to the word of God and our heart to the word of God and our lies to the word of God.
Speaker 1 00:31:49 The transformation is a slow, steady, forward motion progress. And we're like, I didn't feel anything today, so I didn't read the Bible. Cause they don't feel anything. And that's not the point. Sometimes the greatest things, they don't feel good or you don't feel anything. But over time they do their work and the deepest parts of us in our mind and our heart. And so Jesus prays over them. God, God I pray for their holiness. And I I also pray that you don't keep them from my words because their holiness is directly connected to my words. Keep my word and their holiness as the protective mechanism around their mind, their heart and their life. If you want to not fall prey to the attacks, is attacks gonna happen? The these two things for Jesus are paramount. He doesn't pray that everything would be easy. He doesn't pray for their safety cuz he already knows they're gonna die.
Speaker 1 00:32:40 They're not safe. He prays that they wouldn't give the evil one an ounce of ammunition through their holiness and through their time. And the word felty, number three, we see this throughout the disciples, um, the three years they were Jesus. But they, they want position. And Jesus prays for their unity. Who's gonna be the greatest in the kingdom of God? It's gonna be me. No, shout up, it's gonna be me. No, he loves me more like I even <laugh>. I can't to this day get over how John references himself in his gospel. Do you guys remember what he calls himself? The one whom Jesus loved? Now I know he's not sassy when he says that and God inspired it. So I'm sure it's wonderful. But like imagine if like Peter and I were hanging out, I'm like, I'm the one Jesus loves. You know, like come on, this is ridiculous.
Speaker 1 00:33:27 But I love it. It's, it's, but you see this like almost competition amongst these brothers all throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus. And what do they want? There's a real part of them that wants to be first. They want to be the most important. They want to have the most authority. They want to be able to tell all the brothers what's going on. I want, I want you to just, I'm gonna, I'm gonna read through a few verses here and uh, I want you to just watch the theme of unity. Verse 20. I I don't ask for these only this is praying for us in this as well. But for all those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one just as you Father and me and I in you, that they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me like oneness.
Speaker 1 00:34:20 I mean there's a whole separate sermon on the implications of unity for mission. We're gonna do that in a different sermon maybe. But number verse 22, it says the glory you've given me, I've given to them that they may be, what's the word? One, even as we are one verse 23, I and them, you and me, that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. What happens when a team loses more than they win? Really two options. They either lean into one another or they turn on each other. My son's, uh, fifth and sixth grade team lost every game of the season.
Speaker 1 00:35:15 We had a party. The coach was so humble and kind and these kids were together. They didn't call each other names if you would ever nothing. I was so impressed. I was like, you guys, I will take a losing season with this attitude a thousand times over than an undefeated season where your character crumbles and you become arrogant jerks. Like these, these, these boys are in fifth and sixth grade and they're, they're just a crazy group of kids. But you know what I found? I found this, this group of kids, they walked out of that season loving each other. That's rare. What happens to a team when they're fighting a battle and they're under attack, they either lean into each other or they turn on one another. Let's get more personal. What happens in a marriage when both are overwhelmed, they lean into one another or they turn on each other?
Speaker 1 00:36:18 So the New Testament church was under extreme duress and persecution and there were, this is like after the Holy Spirits given, okay? There were a lot of fights. Dunno if you know this. It was like drama. And the evil one loved to bring up disunity because what happens when people are disunified, they turn on each other, that's sin. And then they become completely impotent and ineffective to multiple of these troublemakers. They're mentioned by name. Here's one Demetrius, he's mentioned in third John one as a troublemaker who loves to be first and doesn't acknowledge John's authority. It's a big deal. Trophies. He's mentioned in Third John one also as a troublemaker who loves to be first and he doesn't welcome the apostles even goes as far as to slander them. There's a guy named Alexander the Coppersmith. So if you needed any copper work, you could go to him.
Speaker 1 00:37:15 He's mentioned in second Timothy four as someone who did Paul a great deal of harm and opposed his message, Haas and PTIs, they're in second Timothy chapter two. They're individuals who've departed from the truth spread false teaching, and were causing trouble in the church. I don't know, I don't wanna be the guy named <laugh> in any of the New Testament letters in Act 15, we have a very, very sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas. Two very godly, beloved leaders in the church. And their disagreement was whether or not this other guy, John Mark, was capable of going with them. And this hard ministry. One said, no one says yes. The fight was so intense that they had to separate and go their own ways. Don't worry, they all reconciled in the end it had worked out and they're in heaven together doing great. Galatians chapter two, Paul describes how he had to oppose Peter to his face because Peter was acting inconsistently with the gospel. That is embarrassing. It even seems Barnabas fell prey to that as well. Like you start reading through the new Testa and these are just the leaders fighting with each other. That's a whole different story when you talk about the conflicts happening inside the churches. First Corinthians, I mean and second Corinthians, that whole church, they're nuts. They are not okay. If you went to that church and you were semi-healthy, you'd leave in a heartbeat and you'd move and you'd go over to Ephesus for sure. <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:38:44 Let me tell you how I have seen division ransack churches divided elder boards get nothing done. Zip most healthy leaders will leave a stagnant church with bickering. Elders divided churches are primarily focused on fighting over mission. And most mission minded people and people who are passionate for the gospel will not stay very long. So you're just left with a bunch of fighters. Divided churches are an open door for demonic warfare, salvations, baptisms and growth are generally collateral damage. You don't see it. Most doctrinally sound churches will eventually fall apart because of disunity. Almost exclusively. We're, we're gonna put big buckets here. Churches either fall apart because they abandon the gospel and the word of God or because they're disunified unity. On the other hand, isn't it great when you're in it? It is so wonderful when you and your spouse are on the same page. Isn't life amazing? And when you're not, aren't you more irritable with everybody? Like who in the right mind would choose disunity over unity? That's ridiculous.
Speaker 1 00:40:06 Unity is a gift that that reverberates for generations. It is absolutely the best environment for spiritual health. Psalm 1 33 verse one says this, behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. And and I wrote this as a warning to myself, Michael know this, if I'm sowing seeds of disunity in John 17, Jesus is actively praying against me. I don't wanna be on the negative end of Jesus's intercession and prayers. Do you? No. So what is inspiring Jesus to, to pray like this? He knows, number one, the hardship that is coming and he knows that this team is gonna be tempted to turn on each other. But number two, he also knows firsthand what it means to be unified perfectly with God, the Father and God, the Holy Spirit to live in perfect unity and the joy that comes with that.
Speaker 1 00:41:11 And when you've experienced health anywhere for the people you love, all you want for them is to know that health that brings God much glory. And so when you pray for somebody, inevitably in any hardship, there is gonna be someone somewhere in the line of fire. And maybe it might even just be God. And so we pray that their heart would be tendered to God or to those in their life that there is conflict. Because for Jesus, the will of God is unity of so, so what? Number one, remember when you're praying for someone this thing, it's rarely ever just about this thing. Ask, test, discern. Evaluate when you're praying for someone. Don't be afraid to go deeper than the felt need. Uh, there's a little funny thing about praying for somebody's needs. You can pray things that you can't say to their face. <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:42:18 And I, I don't even mean this in a bad way. I could look at you and I could say, get over it. Be happy. The Lord's gonna work it all out. And you'd be like, you're a jerk. Cuz that would be a mean jerky thing to say. Or you could pray, Hey, God, I I know you're up to something here. Would you, would you give all of us a vision to what you're doing here? And and in the process, would you just minister to them in their grief? But don't let us ever lose sight to, to the fact that you were in control. You've allowed or danger permitted all things. If if it got to them and had to go through you. So God, would you just, would you show us a glimpse of what that is? Do you, do you see how it's different?
Speaker 1 00:42:59 I, I'll tell you something. There are some things you can't say to me, but when you're praying over me, my heart is tender and open to the Lord in a different way. And so what I've just learned is pray bold things over people. Now I'm not gonna say I pray that you <laugh>, there's so many funny things you can say. It's just offensive. Now I want, I want them to pray God's will. I want them, I want them to open and open their eyes to see God, you might be up to something here. God, would you show them what you're up to? Would you, would you help them with their joy? I know that grief and the pain is overwhelming. Would you, would you protect their joy? God, I know they're mad at you right now. God, would you tenderize their heart to you and show them what you're up to? There are things you can legitimately pray over somebody and it will be accepted that you should probably never say to their face unless you have a great relationship.
Speaker 1 00:43:47 Number two. Lastly, if you're not a Christian, God is only up to one thing in your life and that is your salvation. Whatever the hardship, whatever the challenge, whatever the thing in front of you, the thing behind the thing is that God is working in your life to bring you to the point where you see that Jesus Christ is not just God but your God. That Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and your place. Are there good things happening in your life? All of the good things are there to give you a glimpse and a shadow of the kindness and goodness to God in your life. Whatever's going on in your life. Here's what you need to understand. Everything is allowed, ordained, or or permitted so that you might see Jesus and believe in him as your God. This is the end destination.
Speaker 1 00:44:39 And so if you ask a Christian to pray over you and you are explicitly not a Christian, like one of the things I would probably pray over you is say, God, would you show them what you're up to in this and who you are? Would you show them the beauty and the truth of who Jesus is? Because here's what I know, the will of God before anything else is for you to know Jesus personally. And so whatever it is, it is designed to bring you to a place where you personally trust in Jesus. And might I, might I throw you a bone? Sometimes people have to be brought to their lowest place until they're humble enough to call the name of Jesus. Do not force God to bring you to the lowest place because you're too prideful to admit that you need a savior. Don't make him do it.
Speaker 1 00:45:35 And if you even have an inkling, if you know in your heart that Jesus Christ is your God and that he died in the cross for your sins, do not make him take you low just so that you can be ready to trust in Christ at any time. Anybody who believes in Jesus Christ that he was God, that he died in the crossroads sins was raised from the dead, you can believe in him and be saved today. You don't need to wait for him to take you down. And if he does, and there's a whole bunch of people in this room, I'm looking at a handful of you, God had to take you to nothing before you had the humility or before he could, you could call on him. That was not necessary. And most people will tell you that they wish they would've done it sooner.
Speaker 1 00:46:17 And so maybe you're here and you're already watching the Lord work in your life. You're already watching him take some things away and you have this hunch that, that all of this is designed, all of this is here to point you to Jesus. And I would just say personally, trust in Him today for the very first time. If that's the decision that you are ready to make, let somebody know. Pray to God, tell him you believe in him. Ask him to save you and let somebody know that you came with come talk to one of us up front. We would love to take an opportunity to pray with you, to encourage you and to champion you and to celebrate with you that you have personally trusted in Jesus, that your sins are forgiven, that your eternity is secure, and all of it is because of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 00:46:56 Shed for you in your behalf. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we'll lift up my brothers and sisters in Christ to you and, and Lord, we, we want to be bold as we pray. We also want to center one another on you. Lord, we just all confess, we are all prone in our own hardship and our own challenges and our own difficulties to be obsessed with ourselves and to want nothing more than the inconvenience to go away. But God, I pray you would, you would give us even a heart to pray for deeper things. What are you up to? What are you doing? And I pray you would protect us from the evil one. Not that we wouldn't be shot at, not that we wouldn't be in the battle, but that we would refuse to bend the need to sin so that he can never accuse us or shame us.
Speaker 1 00:47:48 But God, when we do, I want to just say thank you for the blood of Christ that covers us, that redeems us. I'm thankful for stories like Peter, after he failed Jesus, you went up to him and you recommissioned him and you picked up his head and you did not let shame be what defined him. You took away that dart of the evil one and I, God I, I just, I pray for the holiness of the men and women, students and children in this church that as we face temptation, we would rise above and we would be faithful to you. Lord, as we kind of pull back from all of this, may you build at Village Church, even those who are visiting a commitment to pray for one another boldly for the felt need and for the thing beneath the thing. Would you reveal your will and what you're up to? We ask all of this in the mighty, powerful, saving name of Jesus. Amen Will church. Amen.
