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When Jesus Prayed for You Msg 7 16 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: All of us have been taught that the Lord's prayer
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  Speaker 1: is the one that begins our father, who art in heaven,
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  Speaker 1: how they'll be thy name. But that's really a prayer
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  Speaker 1: Jesus gave his disciples to pray. One of the disciples
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  Speaker 1: had said to him, Lord, teach us to pray. So
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  Speaker 1: Jesus taught them a model prayer, and his followers have
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  Speaker 1: been praying that prayer ever since. We call it the
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  Speaker 1: Lord's prayer, but it's really the disciples prayer. The Lord's prayer, literally,
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  Speaker 1: the one he prayed, is recorded in John chapter seventeen.
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  Speaker 1: By recording Jesus' words, John grants us access into the
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  Speaker 1: secret and sacred chambers of Jesus's prayer life. We get
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  Speaker 1: to kneel next to our Lord, and we get to
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  Speaker 1: hear his private conversation with his father. What is on
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  Speaker 1: jesus heart as he speaks with his father in this
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  Speaker 1: part of his prayer? He looked forward in time and
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  Speaker 1: prays for everyone who will believe in him.
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  Speaker 2: And that's us.
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  Speaker 1: Our names are on Jesus' prayer list. What a great thought.
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  Speaker 1: So turn with me now to John seventeen as I
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  Speaker 1: read the Lord's Prayer focusing on the final part in
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  Speaker 1: which he prays for his future followers. Please follow along
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  Speaker 1: with me in your Bibles as I read John seventeen,
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  Speaker 1: verses twenty through twenty six. I am praying not only
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  Speaker 1: for these disciples, but also for all who will ever
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  Speaker 1: believe in me through their message.
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  Speaker 2: I pray that they will all.
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  Speaker 1: Be one, just as you and I are one, as
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  Speaker 1: you are in me, Father, and I am in you,
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  Speaker 1: And may they be in us, so that the world
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  Speaker 1: will believe you sent me. I have given them the
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  Speaker 1: glory you gave me so they may be one as
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  Speaker 1: we are one. I am in them and you are
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  Speaker 1: in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the
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  Speaker 1: world will know that you sent me and that you
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  Speaker 1: love them as much as you love me.
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  Speaker 2: Father.
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  Speaker 1: I want these whom you have given me to be
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  Speaker 1: with me where I am. Then they can see all
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  Speaker 1: the glory you gave me, because you loved me even
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  Speaker 1: before the world began. Oh Righteous Father. The world doesn't
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  Speaker 1: know you, but I do, and these disciples know you
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  Speaker 1: sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I
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  Speaker 1: will continue to do so. Then your love for me
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  Speaker 1: will be in them, and I will be in them.
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  Speaker 3: In his sweep toward world domination. Alexander the Great was
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  Speaker 3: moving from the Hellespont all the way down toward Egypt.
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  Speaker 3: Of course, if you try follow that pathway, you see
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  Speaker 3: that it leads directly through Jerusalem. No one knew that
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  Speaker 3: more than the citizens of Jerusalem, who could hear the
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  Speaker 3: hoof beats and the roar of those Greek chariots as
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  Speaker 3: they were on their way surely to plunder and ruin
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  Speaker 3: the city of Zion. The people of Jerusalem rallied around
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  Speaker 3: the high priest named Jack, and he fell on his
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  Speaker 3: knees before God and asked what he should do to
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  Speaker 3: defend a defenseless people, to try to support the walls
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  Speaker 3: that were already weary and aching with age. God led
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  Speaker 3: him to have each person that would meet the army
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  Speaker 3: dress in white and to wear the turban, the head
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  Speaker 3: dress based on Judaistic liturgy, which had acrossed the front
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  Speaker 3: of it a gold plaque in which was engraved the
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  Speaker 3: name of God.
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  Speaker 2: And with that and nothing.
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  Speaker 3: More to arm themselves, he, with the representative body of
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  Speaker 3: white clad people, walked north of Zion's walls and stood
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  Speaker 3: waiting to meet Alexander and the Greeks Josephus, the Jewish historian,
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  Speaker 3: tells us of that epochal moment when Jew and Greek
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  Speaker 3: stood nose to nose.
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  Speaker 2: Terribly afraid.
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  Speaker 3: The High Priest stood his ground as he could see
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  Speaker 3: in the distance the dust churned up from the chariot
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  Speaker 3: wheels and the horse's hoofs. When they came within visible distance,
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  Speaker 3: something unusual happened, altogether unprecedented in Alexander's life. He got
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  Speaker 3: off his mount and stopped the army. He walked over
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  Speaker 3: a few yards and stood before the High Priest, and
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  Speaker 3: then he fell to his knees. His general said to him,
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  Speaker 3: what are you doing respecting that Jew? He said, it
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  Speaker 3: isn't the man I'm respecting. It's it's that.
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  Speaker 2: You see. I've seen a vision.
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  Speaker 3: Historians tell us that he had a dream a few
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  Speaker 3: days before, and in the dream he saw white clad
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  Speaker 3: people and the name of God, which meant nothing to him,
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  Speaker 3: but because of the intriguing association between the two, he
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  Speaker 3: had a moment of tenderness realizing this Jadowa drew from
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  Speaker 3: a sheath an ancient scroll of Daniel, and he opened
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  Speaker 3: it to what we have in our Bible as chapters
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  Speaker 3: seven and eight, and he pointed out to Alexander the
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  Speaker 3: incredible fact that two hundred years before that moment, Daniel
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  Speaker 3: had actually written that Alexander would be on his way
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  Speaker 3: to taking the world, and he would in fact overthrow
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  Speaker 3: the Persians and become great, which Alexander interpreted as being.
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  Speaker 2: The ruler of the world, which was true. All of a.
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  Speaker 3: Sudden, Josephus tells us, Alexander was overjoyed, and though a
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  Speaker 3: man of deep depression, he suddenly sloughed that off and
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  Speaker 3: rejoiced in words and promised verbally that he would put
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  Speaker 3: a perimeter of protection around Zion, and he would never
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  Speaker 3: disturb nor destroy the inhabitants of the city, nor the
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  Speaker 3: people of the Jews. And if you know your history,
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  Speaker 3: you know that the Greek army never did. I find
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  Speaker 3: a very interesting and even exciting analogy between Alexander the
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  Speaker 3: Great's experience and ours. This morning, we are coming this
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  Speaker 3: morning to a passage of scripture where we are named.
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  Speaker 3: It's one of the few places where God, well, I
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  Speaker 3: should say, indirectly names his children. And we find ourselves
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  Speaker 3: not written two hundred years ago, but nineteen hundred years ago.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ prayed for you and me.
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  Speaker 3: It gives me a joy that cannot be expressed, as
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  Speaker 3: I realize in a text of scripture there appears a
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  Speaker 3: series of requests asked on my behalf, knowing my needs
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  Speaker 3: ahead of time. I don't know of a more exciting
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  Speaker 3: introduction to a passage than that you and I are
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  Speaker 3: addressed by the Lord. But before we dig into these
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  Speaker 3: verses twenty through twenty six of John seventeen, I want
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  Speaker 3: to take a moment and say some things generally about prayer.
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  Speaker 3: Look at the insert from your bulletin this morning. The
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  Speaker 3: opposite side of the outline, you will find a chart
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  Speaker 3: which is entitled the Christian and Prayer. I want to
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  Speaker 3: take a moment and point out some categories that prayer
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  Speaker 3: will fall into, and then try to encourage you with
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  Speaker 3: the significance of prayer. People often feel that prayer is
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  Speaker 3: a chore, and even Christians wrestle with spending sufficient time
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  Speaker 3: in prayer. And I feel often because we don't know
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  Speaker 3: what we should be doing. What are some techniques that
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  Speaker 3: will help us approach the Throne of God realistically and
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  Speaker 3: successfully in times of prayer? Well, there are five categories
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  Speaker 3: that should at least be in the back of your
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  Speaker 3: mind as you pray. First of all, there is to
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  Speaker 3: be confession, which we've described as claiming the forgiveness God
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  Speaker 3: offers on the merits of his Son's blood. You and
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  Speaker 3: I get soiled and dirty, rubbing shoulders with this world,
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  Speaker 3: acting in the flesh, following the dictates of the enemy,
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  Speaker 3: falling prey to his traps. So when we come in prayer,
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  Speaker 3: we are to lay before the Lord those things that
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  Speaker 3: have interrupted our fellowship. He wants us to be pure
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  Speaker 3: in experience as we are in position. So these things
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  Speaker 3: are to be confessed to him. He will hear, and
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  Speaker 3: he will forgive, not because we deserve it, but because
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  Speaker 3: Christ made us available to God as far as forgiveness
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  Speaker 3: is concerned. Next, there is to be praise. I think
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  Speaker 3: of the five this is the most rare. You can't
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  Speaker 3: think of the last time you praised the Lord, more
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  Speaker 3: than likely in private prayer. First, we don't know what
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  Speaker 3: it means. Praise is acknowledging or exalting, or expressing glory
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  Speaker 3: to the Godhead.
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  Speaker 2: We did that this morning in song.
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  Speaker 3: Father, I adore THEE, lay my life before THEE.
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  Speaker 2: How I love THEE Jesus, I adore THEE. Spirit, I
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  Speaker 2: adore Thee.
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  Speaker 3: And in praise you adore the Father. You express adoration
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  Speaker 3: to the Lord Jesus and to the Spirit for what
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  Speaker 3: Jesus has done, for what the Spirit is doing.
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  Speaker 2: In your life.
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  Speaker 3: Praise is a glorious thing, says the Lord, and he
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  Speaker 3: longs to hear it in heaven as he listens to
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  Speaker 3: our prayer. Then there is to be thanksgiving. I think
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  Speaker 3: this is no doubt the most encouraging part of prayer,
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  Speaker 3: where you call to mind specific things the Lord Lord
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  Speaker 3: has done for you and you thank him for it.
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  Speaker 2: If you want to know how to thank.
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  Speaker 3: God, call on your children to pray. They will name
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  Speaker 3: things that you've taken for granted. So long, we are
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  Speaker 3: enjoying times of prayer in a sort of a new way.
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  Speaker 3: In our family meal times. These days, we're encouraging the
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  Speaker 3: children to pray and to mention whatever's on their heart.
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  Speaker 3: I've become increasingly aware since the children have started praying,
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  Speaker 3: that we not only thank God for food but also
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  Speaker 3: for the drink. Isn't an interesting We always say thank
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  Speaker 3: you Lord for the food, But when is the last
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  Speaker 3: time you said thank.
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  Speaker 2: You Lord for the milk, for the iced tea, for
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  Speaker 2: the coffee. Huh.
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  Speaker 3: We don't think to thank him for the things that
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  Speaker 3: without which life would be pretty bland. Can you imagine
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  Speaker 3: going through a day without a cup or without a
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  Speaker 3: sip of water?
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  Speaker 2: Thank him for the obvie yes?
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  Speaker 3: And in doing so, it's remarkable how he will bring
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  Speaker 3: to your attention those things that are not as obvious.
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  Speaker 3: In other words, you will be surrounded by thoughts of
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  Speaker 3: gratitude that goes on when you are thanking Him in prayer.
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  Speaker 3: And then there is intercession praying for others. You'll notice
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  Speaker 3: in the list of scriptures we've mentioned the John seventeen
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  Speaker 3: passage we're in because that's what Jesus does here. He
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  Speaker 3: prays for you and me, for all future believers, and
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  Speaker 3: he mentions needs that we have, and he asks three
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  Speaker 3: things of the Father.
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  Speaker 2: He intercedes.
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  Speaker 3: By the way, if you're going to pray, interceding prayers,
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  Speaker 3: intercessory prayers not only make a list of names, but
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  Speaker 3: make a place in your list for answers. The Lord
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  Speaker 3: delights in not only hearing those needs but also giving answers.
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  Speaker 3: And it's exciting to look back a few months and
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  Speaker 3: see answers. Record the answers that God gave It's also
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  Speaker 3: good to share the answers. If you're faithful in asking
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  Speaker 3: someone else to pray for something, be equally faithful in saying, say,
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  Speaker 3: I want to tell you the result of your prayers.
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  Speaker 3: God said no, or God said yes, and let me
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  Speaker 3: tell you what he said. Or God opened this door
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  Speaker 3: which was a whole new thing. Another thought, and it's
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  Speaker 3: no extra charge for this. When someone says, would you
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  Speaker 3: please pray for me, and you say yes, I will,
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  Speaker 3: but you don't, it's all. It's often happened, hasn't it.
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  Speaker 3: They come back and they say, say, thank you for
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  Speaker 3: praying because of such and such. Be honest enough to say,
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  Speaker 3: you know I didn't Wait a minute, now, wait an,
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  Speaker 3: let's go back a minute. No, that's part of honesty.
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  Speaker 3: Admit freely that you didn't. You do that one time,
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  Speaker 3: and it's remarkable how it will break the habit.
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  Speaker 2: That's remarkable. Fifth, there is to be petition.
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  Speaker 3: Asking God for things that you need, and there's nothing
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  Speaker 3: wrong with that. God is pleased to hear the things
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  Speaker 3: that are on your heart, and he will not give
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  Speaker 3: you your greeds, but he will give you your needs.
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  Speaker 3: He may even help rearrange your whole system of priorities
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  Speaker 3: I appreciated in the prayer that was offered. Before the offering,
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  Speaker 3: when Ken led, he said, remind us Lord that whatever
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  Speaker 3: can be replaced with money isn't really that important. That's
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  Speaker 3: not bad, is it.
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  Speaker 2: It's a good reminder.
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  Speaker 3: Remind me Lord of such and such. Bill interceded when
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  Speaker 3: he prayed for those in Guatemala City. You may not
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  Speaker 3: know one person by name, but you're asking God to
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  Speaker 3: superintend that scene and take charge. You see, the real
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  Speaker 3: benefit in prayer comes right back to you. There is
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  Speaker 3: no therapy like the therapy of time spent on your knees.
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  Speaker 3: May I add a real indictment from James. You do
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  Speaker 3: not have because you do.
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  Speaker 2: Not ask mates. Husbands.
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  Speaker 3: The last time you prayed by name for your wife,
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  Speaker 3: naming specific needs. Wives are your husbands. You know, it
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  Speaker 3: is terribly difficult to criticize somebody you've prayed for almost impossible.
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  Speaker 2: Men in business. When's the last time you went.
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  Speaker 3: Before God and said, Lord, this business is getting out
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  Speaker 3: of hand, out of my hands, and maybe that's the
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  Speaker 3: way you want it. It's to be in your hands.
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  Speaker 3: Give me a new you know you can begin a
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  Speaker 3: whole new ministry. Begin home Bible classes or group classes
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  Speaker 3: or evangelistic gatherings, and never pray and miss some of
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  Speaker 3: the best things God has for you. I have a
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  Speaker 3: good friend who preaches series on prayer morning and night
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  Speaker 3: six weeks Sunday morning Sunday night. He did deep tool study,
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  Speaker 3: exegetical study, he read on the subject, got all ready
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  Speaker 3: for the series, and he sat down at this bench,
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  Speaker 3: and just before he stood up to pray and to preach,
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  Speaker 3: he realized he had not spent one minute in prayer
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  Speaker 3: on that series. You can preach a sermon having never prayed,
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  Speaker 3: but folks will know it. You see, prayer is significant.
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  Speaker 3: I want to give you some verses, and if you
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  Speaker 3: have no other thought this morning than just the thought
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  Speaker 3: of prayer, at least take these down because I'll help you.
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  Speaker 3: Here are some things to remember about the significance of prayer,
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  Speaker 3: and maybe it is what God wants you to hear
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  Speaker 3: and nothing else this morning. First of all, Jesus said
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  Speaker 3: men ought always to pray and not to lose heart.
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  Speaker 2: That's Luke eighteen one. Write that down.
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  Speaker 3: We are to pray at all times not lose heart.
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  Speaker 3: Jesus goes on to talk about that in Luke eighteen.
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  Speaker 3: But that's the first verse. Here's another one, one Timothy two.
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  Speaker 2: One.
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  Speaker 3: The apostle Paul said, I would that first of all entreaties, supplications, interersation,
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  Speaker 3: the giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings,
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  Speaker 3: and for all those in authority.
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  Speaker 2: Pray for those that are your superior moms and dads.
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  Speaker 3: Pray for your children that are having trouble with their teachers,
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  Speaker 3: and pray for the teachers having trouble with your children.
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  Speaker 3: Pray for a boss that's becoming relentless in his demands unfair.
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  Speaker 3: Pray for a wife that's decided to leave, or.
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  Speaker 2: A husband the same.
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  Speaker 3: Pray for the proceedings that God would intercept and intervene
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  Speaker 3: and work. Oh, prayer turns it around. It won't change
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  Speaker 3: the scene necessarily, but it'll change you. It is impossible
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  Speaker 3: to keep a spirit of bitterness as you pray for someone.
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  Speaker 3: It just washes it out. One Timothy two to one.
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  Speaker 3: Pray first, and then one more first Samuel twelve twenty three.
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  Speaker 3: Far be it from me that I should sin unto
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  Speaker 3: the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.
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  Speaker 2: You On Samuel twelve twenty three.
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  Speaker 3: I've just got to add this one Ephesian six eighteen.
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  Speaker 2: It's part of our armor.
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  Speaker 3: Pray at all times. Now, that's the significance of prayer.
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  Speaker 3: The message is not on prayer generally, however, it is
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  Speaker 3: on Jesus prayer for us. Let me point out the
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  Speaker 3: three things that he prayed for in the time we
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  Speaker 3: have remaining. He actually practiced when he preached. He not
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  Speaker 3: only said men ought always to pray.
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  Speaker 2: He prayed. He prayed. Just before Calvary. He prayed.
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  Speaker 3: When he got to the garden. He was on his knees,
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  Speaker 3: sweating as it were great drops of blood in prayer.
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  Speaker 3: Prayer is a labor. The hardest work you can carry.
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  Speaker 2: On is knee work.
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  Speaker 3: Every ugly thought you can imagine will invade your mind,
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  Speaker 3: every temptation, every noise will interrupt.
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  Speaker 2: What as it.
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  Speaker 3: Dwight hel Moody said, Satan will do anything to keep
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  Speaker 3: you off your knees, even if it's adjusting a window shade.
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  Speaker 3: It's easy to do everything but pray. Jesus prayed, he
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  Speaker 3: said in verse twenty. I do not ask in behalf
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  Speaker 3: of these alone, but for those also who believe in
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  Speaker 3: me through their word. See the words those also. That's
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  Speaker 3: where your name belongs. He prays for you because you
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  Speaker 3: have believed in Jesus Christ, if you are a Christian,
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  Speaker 3: from the words of those apostles who have passed them
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  Speaker 3: down through the centuries to faithful men who have put
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  Speaker 3: them in the text, and now it's being preached in
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  Speaker 3: our generation. So he mentions you. You see the outline
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  Speaker 3: of chapter seventeen, in case you were not here last
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  Speaker 3: week or you've forgotten. Jesus prays for himself verses one
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  Speaker 3: to five. He prays for his eleven disciples six to nineteen,
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  Speaker 3: and then he prays for all future believers twenty through
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  Speaker 3: twenty six. And there's the transition right there, not only
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  Speaker 3: for these the eleven, but for those those saints that
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  Speaker 3: will believe through their word.
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  Speaker 2: For what does he pray? First?
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  Speaker 3: He prays for spiritual unity. That's verses twenty one through
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  Speaker 3: twenty three. Now, let your mind land and your eyes
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  Speaker 3: fix upon these three verses for the next few minutes.
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  Speaker 3: I want you to consider unity from perhaps a dimension
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  Speaker 3: you've not thought of before.
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  Speaker 2: Twenty one.
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  Speaker 3: Here's what he's praying that they may all be one
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  Speaker 3: verse twenty two. The glory which thou hast given me,
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  Speaker 3: I have given to them, that they may be one.
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  Speaker 3: Verse twenty three, I in them and Thou in me,
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  Speaker 3: that they may be perfected. The margin reference reads perfected
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  Speaker 3: into a unit, that the world may know that Thou
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  Speaker 3: hadst sent me. All right, there's the prayer. First of all,
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  Speaker 3: he prays for spiritual unity.
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  Speaker 2: Now, I think it is significant.
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  Speaker 3: Friends, as we look ahead, as Jesus did from that
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  Speaker 3: vantage point just before the cross, and he considered all
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  Speaker 3: of the needs of the believers yet to come, he
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  Speaker 3: mentioned first unity. That's the very first thing he mentioned,
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  Speaker 3: top on the priority list. He could have prayed for
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  Speaker 3: a million things, but he prayed for this first and
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  Speaker 3: things Lord, I think in his mind was this, There
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: will come all different things against my body, the church.
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: There will be all sorts of ages and all sorts
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: of isms. There will be all kinds of crises, just
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: as a regular diet. Between now and when I come
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: back to get them and call them home, keep them
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: in a unit, bond them together. Now to describe that,
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: I find it helpful to go back to verse twenty
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: and mention a specific matter in which we must be
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: in a unity or in a unit. First, there is
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: unity of belief. You see verse twenty. How it closes.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: Those who believe.
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: In Me, you will never be in unity with another
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: person in the spiritual sense if that person isn't a
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: believer in Jesus Christ. He may be great, may be good,
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: may be extremely creative, in fact used of men in
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: this world to make sweeping changes and be helpful for society.
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: But if you're looking for spiritual unity, that root must
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: be the same. It must be in Jesus Christ is yours.
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: Can you look back to a time in the past where,
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: at some juncture you came to know Jesus Christ. You
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: called him your savior for the first time. He invaded
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: your life, just as he had invaded this earth with
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: his presence, and you accepted the gift of eternal life,
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: and you called him mind that time.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: It seemed as though almost.
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: Every week a pastor Bill, who works in counseling with individuals,
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: comes across people who have been here and they've thought
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: through the situation and they've heard the gospel presented. They say,
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: you know, we've been coming time after time after time,
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: but I don't think we know Christ. It happens in
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: our church information class people come and they begin to
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: get information about the matters of the church, and they discover, oh, well,
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: you're talking about it something I've never experienced, coming to
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: know Jesus Christ in a personal way. So it's a
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: joy to lead individuals to Christ.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: You see, being.
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: In a movement or in a church where the Gospel
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: is presented doesn't mean you're in unity with everyone else
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: here unless you know by faith Jesus Christ.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: So there's unity and faith, unity and belief.
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: When I was mustering out of the service up in
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: the Berkeley area, I was on foot, didn't have a car.
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: I wanted to go to church, and so I walked
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: to an area where there were several churches. I chose
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: one by name. It was a great stone structure. I
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: walked inside, great massive doors, and there was a vast narthex,
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: and in it were huge pictures, portraits of people, great
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: people in panorama. There was Mahattan mc gandhi portrayed, and
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: there was Abraham Lincoln.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: There was Jesus of Nazareth.
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: There was, as I recall, one of the reformers, one
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: of the philosophers, I believe it was Socrates. There was
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: the President of the United States at that time, Eisenhower.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: Several different individuals. And right above and.
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: Great bronze engraving on this bronze plaque were the words
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: you are all the sons.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: Of God dot dot.
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: An ellipses meaning it's not complete, but that's enough for you.
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: To read Galatians three twenty six. It had the reference.
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: I turned to a testament and I read it, and
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: the last part of the verse says, you were all
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus. They
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: weren't all sons of God.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: Unless they were.
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: In Christ Jesus, excluding no one. Now, I'll tell you
• 28:30
  Speaker 3: the humanistic world of ours, it just ripples with anger
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: when they hear words like that. But you see, Jesus
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: Christ wrote the rules.
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: In order to be in the.
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: Family of God, you need to know Jesus Christ and
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: have that unity in belief. That's why the Lord says,
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: keep them in unity, let them start at the same place.
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: By the way, when you start with Christ, that gives
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: everybody a basis of identity. You're admitting you're a sinner.
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: You're realizing he died for your sin, and you're taking
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: him on for all the merit that you need, and
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: you just live in the light of that merit. The
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: rest of your days. No no need for any pomp,
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: pompous oaths running loose, or any pride. We're just sinners
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: saved by grace. That's where you find unity. Let me
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: look also at verse twenty two. With you the glory
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: which thou hast given me, I have given to them.
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: Now back at verse six and verse eight. The Lord
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: mentions having given the men the name of God. Verse six.
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: Remember last week we talked about that, and verse eight
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: he gave them the words from God. We talked about
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: how this word name suggests the idea of resources. Lord,
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: I've drawn upon your reas sources. Father, I have had
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: your resources, and I've given those to them. They have operated,
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: begun to operate in your power, your resources soon to
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: be your spirit and his empowerment. I've also given them
• 30:15
  Speaker 3: your word, not then in tangible form as we have
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: it that is in completed form, but we have it
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: today as the Bible, and in light of your word
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: and your resources. I give them your glory and have
• 30:30
  Speaker 3: them walk in unity in your resources and in your word.
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: In other words, they're going in the same direction and
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: they're drawing on the same resources. Now I want to
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: clarify what he's not praying for. He never prays for uniformity.
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: Uniformity is absolute similarity of organization, style, personality, or philosophy.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: That's uniformity.
• 31:06
  Speaker 3: If you want to see uniformity, all you've got to
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: do is make a trip south to San Diego and
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: check the next graduating class from the Marine Corps boot camp,
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: and you will see a row of people who are
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: in uniformity. They look the same, they sound the same,
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: they act the same. But that's not the body of Christ.
• 31:31
  Speaker 3: The body of Christ is not uniform. Let me add something,
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: nor does he ask for unanimity. You can be in
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: unity with somebody but disagree with their opinion. Unanimity means
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: absolute agreement of opinion. Isn't that great to know that
• 31:48
  Speaker 3: you can disagree with somebody but still love him. It's
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: hard for many people, in the rigidity of their concepts
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: of Christianity to think that you can disagree and still
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: be in union. You could disagree with something I say
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: from the passage of Scripture and we still be in unity.
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: You may be wrong, but we still have time.
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: I've said several times before, I'm so glad I didn't
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: put that into print three years ago, because I've changed
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: so much in my opinion since then. So what if
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: somebody disagrees. Should that affect unity? No, that's childlike pityism.
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: If I could coin a word, in fact, it doesn't
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: even say in union, absolute coalition and tight affiliation within
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: the ranks.
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: That's what the Oral Council of Churches wants to do.
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: The National Council.
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: Wants to put everybody in a union under one pontt
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: and say that's unity. No, that's that's union. But for
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: many there's no faith in Jesus Christ. See, let me
• 33:04
  Speaker 3: give you an example. Then we'll go to the next
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: thing you prayed for. Let's start in history and just
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: starting to give a panorama of people and think about
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: them living at the same time worshiping together. Okay, let's
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: start with Saul of Tarsus, Paul the Jew who became
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: the Apostle of Christ. Add doctor Luke the physician, a Greek,
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: not a Jew, different background, different style. Third, let's put
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: Tertullian church father, passionate, fiery zealot. Let's add him to
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: the group. Different all together from the other two.
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: Let's pick up the.
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: French speaking Bernard of Clervaux, the Roman monk who wrote
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: some of the fine hymns believer in Jesus Christ and
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: spoke of him with devotion, completely different style. And the
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: morning Star of the Reformation, John Wickliffe, who gave his
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: life for the translation of the text into the English language.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: Different style altogether.
• 34:08
  Speaker 3: Let's go a little further and get George Whitfield, who
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: was the Calvinistic Church of England evangelist. Let's throw in
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: Charles Hadden Spurgeon, the Baptist Calvinist. Let's pick John Wesley,
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: the Free Will Methodist founder, and Dwight L.
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: Moody of America.
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: All right, now, put them all together under one steeple,
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: and you're gonna have trouble friends and neighbors. You're never
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: gonna get a unanimous vote. You're not gonna get agreement
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: in style or theology or the whole modus operandi of
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: a local church. But you're gonna find unity. You know
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: that makes some people ripple inside, because, like Jacobson writes
• 35:06
  Speaker 3: in her book, lonely people in I think it's packed
• 35:15
  Speaker 3: pews and lonely people. She describes it. How, in order
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: for you to enjoy unity, you've got to agree, even
• 35:24
  Speaker 3: with style, that's man made. I don't think Jesus Christ
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: is half as disturbed over the various denominations as people are.
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: I choose not to worship at some of those because
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: that's not my conviction. But I just returned from a
• 35:46
  Speaker 3: pastor's conference at an evangelical conference ground, where some were
• 35:51
  Speaker 3: there who probably only a handful agreed with me across
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: the board. But man, did we have unity. One of
• 36:00
  Speaker 3: them love the Lord Jesus loved this book. They just
• 36:04
  Speaker 3: had different training, different background. They just didn't dot every
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: eye or cross every tear the same way. Some of
• 36:11
  Speaker 3: them they left undotted and uncrossed. You see, I am
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: deeply concerned that as we grow in knowledge, we're not
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: growing in grace, that we're turning out little boxes and
• 36:26
  Speaker 3: think we think like little boxes. And if it doesn't
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: fit in my box, it's.
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: Wrong, says who you see?
• 36:39
  Speaker 3: Well, says the guy that taught me, who said he
• 36:42
  Speaker 3: was right. This is the basis, friend, and I challenge
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: us constantly. You see, the pastor who is worth his
• 36:52
  Speaker 3: soul keeps studying and keeps discovering his levels of ignorance
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: in days past. And as I do that, I am
• 37:04
  Speaker 3: amazed at the grace of God, how he put up
• 37:08
  Speaker 3: with me when there were days in my ministry when
• 37:11
  Speaker 3: the only thing people knew under my ministry were the
• 37:14
  Speaker 3: things I didn't agree with, negative and petty and narrow
• 37:19
  Speaker 3: and rigid. I'm not saying we are to give an inch,
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: a half an inch, or the smallest infinitesimal part of
• 37:28
  Speaker 3: an inch in faith in Jesus Christ, the authority of
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: the Word of God, drawing on his resources and exalting
• 37:35
  Speaker 3: his name. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about
• 37:39
  Speaker 3: the garb that might be on top of those things.
• 37:43
  Speaker 3: I've long since, well recently and more recently than not,
• 37:48
  Speaker 3: ask God to help me become more tolerant. That bothers
• 37:53
  Speaker 3: some of you, But I am very much at peace
• 37:57
  Speaker 3: with that.
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 38:00
  Speaker 3: Verse twenty four look at your Bibles like you're looking
• 38:05
  Speaker 3: at me right now. Why don't you do that?
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: Okay?
• 38:10
  Speaker 3: Twenty four says here's a second thing I pray for.
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: Father.
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: I desire that they also whom thou hast given me
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: be with me where I am there you are. Second request,
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: eternal destiny.
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: Lord.
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: I pray that where I am you will be, they
• 38:28
  Speaker 3: will be with me. I am going to your presence.
• 38:34
  Speaker 3: I pray that they will be with me. He's asking
• 38:37
  Speaker 3: for that destiny. Did you know that your eternal destiny
• 38:41
  Speaker 3: was an answer to it? Will be an answer to
• 38:43
  Speaker 3: jesus prayer. Not a great thought. This is a great
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: defensive verse for eternal security, by the way with which
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: some really wrestle. If the child of God, whom God
• 38:55
  Speaker 3: has given to the Lord Jesus, is not secure, then
• 38:58
  Speaker 3: the answer is the Lord says no to some and
• 39:01
  Speaker 3: yes to others. But the Lord Jesus said, Lord, I pray,
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: it's my desire that those be with me whom you've
• 39:08
  Speaker 3: given me were there, And look at the other part
• 39:12
  Speaker 3: of it, the reason that they may behold my glory.
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: This is a little different kind of glory.
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: This is exciting. This is one of those verses that
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: sort of.
• 39:22
  Speaker 3: Lays dormant and then all of a sudden explodes in
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: your mind when you think it through. I pray that
• 39:28
  Speaker 3: they might be with me where I am, that they
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: might behold my glory. You know, the apostles never did
• 39:35
  Speaker 3: see Jesus in his glory. I suppose glory would have
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: to do with light, the resplendent splendor, the shine. It's
• 39:46
  Speaker 3: a shallow word, but it suggests the idea the uh.
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: Shakina of heaven.
• 39:54
  Speaker 3: When the Lord Jesus took his seat by the Father,
• 39:56
  Speaker 3: he was surrounded by that glory that he had s
• 40:00
  Speaker 3: set aside for those thirty three years. And the Lord
• 40:03
  Speaker 3: Jesus's Lord, I Father, I longed that my children be
• 40:08
  Speaker 3: with me and see me in my glory. Won't that
• 40:11
  Speaker 3: be great? Hey, don't feel too badly for those that
• 40:15
  Speaker 3: have passed on. They wouldn't come back if they had
• 40:18
  Speaker 3: a choice. They've seen the Lord Jesus in all his glory,
• 40:23
  Speaker 3: and earth can't compare to that. It was about seventy
• 40:27
  Speaker 3: years ago that there was written a little devotional book
• 40:31
  Speaker 3: of verse entitled Immanuel's Land and Other.
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: Pieces by Arc.
• 40:39
  Speaker 3: It was the work of a modest woman named Anne Cousin,
• 40:44
  Speaker 3: who had given her few Years on Earth. She was
• 40:47
  Speaker 3: only thirty two when she wrote it. Few Years on
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: Earth to a study of Samuel Rutherford's diary and life.
• 40:55
  Speaker 3: Samuel Rutherford was a Scottish reformer who died for the faith.
• 41:00
  Speaker 3: He had meditated much on the glory that surrounds the
• 41:04
  Speaker 3: Lord Jesus, and in this particular book there are the
• 41:10
  Speaker 3: nineteen verses. Really in all that appear in the heymn
• 41:15
  Speaker 3: we know today is the Sands of Time, one of
• 41:18
  Speaker 3: my favorite and I'm sorry to say it's not in
• 41:21
  Speaker 3: our Hymnal listen to two of my I feel the
• 41:26
  Speaker 3: choice verses. The sands of time are sinking. The dawn
• 41:31
  Speaker 3: of heaven breaks, the summer morn I've sighed for the
• 41:37
  Speaker 3: fair sweet morn awakes dark dark hath been the midnight.
• 41:42
  Speaker 3: But day's spring is at hand, and glory dwelleth any
• 41:47
  Speaker 3: Manual's land.
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: The bride eyes.
• 41:51
  Speaker 3: Not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. I will
• 41:55
  Speaker 3: not gaze at glory, meaning earthly glory, but on my
• 42:00
  Speaker 3: King of grace, not at the crown he giveth, but
• 42:05
  Speaker 3: on his piercing hand. The lamb is all the glory
• 42:10
  Speaker 3: in Immanuel's land, that beautiful.
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: What in heaven.
• 42:17
  Speaker 3: It is not only a place, it is a person.
• 42:21
  Speaker 3: It is a person like we have never seen, because
• 42:24
  Speaker 3: he is in the glory of God, and we will
• 42:28
  Speaker 3: see him, as Dennis Guernsey describes close fellowship, at times
• 42:33
  Speaker 3: close enough to see his poores.
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: Not good.
• 42:38
  Speaker 3: We will see our glorious Savior face to face, an
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: intimate term used by the writer of scripture. We'll see
• 42:47
  Speaker 3: him close enough to see his pores, to see his scars,
• 42:55
  Speaker 3: in all his glory, the Lord Jesus's father. I don't
• 42:59
  Speaker 3: want him to miss that. Make sure that becomes a reality. Third,
• 43:05
  Speaker 3: he prayed for our relational love spiritual unity twenty one
• 43:11
  Speaker 3: through twenty three, eternal destiny twenty four, relational love twenty
• 43:19
  Speaker 3: five twenty six, Righteous Father. Although the world has not
• 43:24
  Speaker 3: known THEE yet, I have known THEE, and these have
• 43:28
  Speaker 3: known that thou hast sent me, and I have made
• 43:32
  Speaker 3: known thy name to them and will make it known.
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: Look, now here's the.
• 43:38
  Speaker 3: Third request, that the love where without its love, me
• 43:42
  Speaker 3: may be in them and I in them. What do
• 43:46
  Speaker 3: you ask for, well, he said, Father, the same love
• 43:51
  Speaker 3: you have for me in sending me demonstrating it. I
• 43:57
  Speaker 3: pray as I am in them, they might have that
• 44:00
  Speaker 3: kind of love, so that it reaches out, it grows,
• 44:05
  Speaker 3: it's expressed, it isn't hidden. One thought that grips me
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: at times, and I just haven't words to describe it,
• 44:13
  Speaker 3: are thoughts of thanksgiving, the fact that God loves me.
• 44:21
  Speaker 3: You know, anybody would love the Lord Jesus. I feel
• 44:25
  Speaker 3: they don't, but they should. But who should love people
• 44:30
  Speaker 3: like you and me? You know, when you've really made
• 44:33
  Speaker 3: a mess of it and you've just had one royal flop,
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: as you look back on a week and you go
• 44:41
  Speaker 3: to bed Saturday night saying he still loves me, It's remarkable,
• 44:47
  Speaker 3: isn't it.
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: It's remarkable.
• 44:51
  Speaker 3: I read the story this past week of a little
• 44:54
  Speaker 3: hunchback boy in Sunday school who had memorized the verses
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: along with all the other kiddos in his class, and
• 45:01
  Speaker 3: one evening, one Sunday evening, he was to come front,
• 45:04
  Speaker 3: up to the front and recite the verses and then
• 45:06
  Speaker 3: walk off the stage. And, as children can be cruel,
• 45:14
  Speaker 3: one cruel youngster, when he saw the little boy stumbling
• 45:19
  Speaker 3: on the stage, yelled out, hey, cripple, why don't you
• 45:23
  Speaker 3: get the pack off your back?
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: You could have heard a pin drop as this little
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: boy stopped and just dissolved in tears.
• 45:33
  Speaker 3: All of a sudden, the man got up and walked
• 45:36
  Speaker 3: down the aisle.
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: And came and stood by the boy and put his
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: arm around him.
• 45:41
  Speaker 3: He says, I don't know what kind of person would
• 45:43
  Speaker 3: say something like that, but I just want to say
• 45:46
  Speaker 3: that the most courageous person in this room today is
• 45:50
  Speaker 3: this little boy. You see, he's my son, and I'm
• 45:57
  Speaker 3: proud of him. And it reached down and just picked
• 46:02
  Speaker 3: up that little deformed child and carried him back to
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: the sea. And I thought as I read that that
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: is exactly what God does for us and the bruised,
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: hunched back, broken fashion of our lives. We do our best,
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: and then we stumble and make a mess of things.
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: As it were. The Lord Jesus says, no, you're mind.
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: I'm proud of you. I love you.
• 46:38
  Speaker 3: I want to tell you, folks that if you meditate
• 46:42
  Speaker 3: long enough on the sinfulness of your sin and the
• 46:48
  Speaker 3: gracious mercy of God in accepting you in spite of it,
• 46:55
  Speaker 3: through Jesus Christ, it'll turn your love life upside down.
• 47:02
  Speaker 3: You won't have a moment's thought toward pride. The proudest
• 47:08
  Speaker 3: people I know are those that haven't yet gotten really
• 47:10
  Speaker 3: a hold of the glimpse of their own sin. I
• 47:15
  Speaker 3: find three specific applications in this matter of spiritual unity,
• 47:19
  Speaker 3: eternal destiny, and relational love, and they're simple, but I think.
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  Speaker 2: They'll speak to hearts. First. To grow in unity requires
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  Speaker 2: giving in If you plan.
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  Speaker 3: To be a person of unity, You'll have to give in.
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  Speaker 3: Don't give an inch in areas of absolute biblical truth.
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  Speaker 3: But when it comes to style, be flexible, be broad,
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  Speaker 3: be open, be gracious. I think God uses people that
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  Speaker 3: have a wide tolerance level. I'm just seeing how much
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  Speaker 3: he can use that kind of thing. So learn with
• 48:09
  Speaker 3: me in that area, will you. Let's together, as we
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  Speaker 3: grow in unity, let's give in. Second, to know our
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  Speaker 3: destiny requires giving up. You cannot keep your way and
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  Speaker 3: get to heaven. If you're going to get to heaven,
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  Speaker 3: you're going to have to go God's way. You're going
• 48:36
  Speaker 3: to have to give up your plan and take on
• 48:39
  Speaker 3: Jesus Christ. Now wait a minute, I'm not talking about
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  Speaker 3: giving up sin. I'm talking about simply believing in Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 3: receiving the gift of eternal life, that's all. And he
• 48:52
  Speaker 3: does a marvelous work of transformation within. When I preach that,
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  Speaker 3: sometimes people will say that sounds like easy believism. My
• 49:00
  Speaker 3: answer back is, well, what's hard believism? Can anybody define
• 49:05
  Speaker 3: hard believism. If it's belief, it's belief. If it's faith,
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  Speaker 3: it's faith. If it's not of works, it's not of
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  Speaker 3: works not one. Give up your humanism and take on
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  Speaker 3: his divine plan, the gift of eternal life. He'll give
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  Speaker 3: you christ if you take him at his word, He'll
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  Speaker 3: handle that part of the transaction. To know your destiny
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  Speaker 3: means giving up. Third, to show his love means giving out.
• 49:36
  Speaker 3: It requires giving out. Please, don't think for a moment
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  Speaker 3: that you really have Christian love if it's not expressed.
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  Speaker 3: I have never seen Christian love undemonstrated. I don't think
• 49:55
  Speaker 3: there is such a thing as unexpressed. Christian love doesn't
• 50:00
  Speaker 3: mean you're always effervessing, or always writing a nice letter,
• 50:03
  Speaker 3: or always preparing a meal, whatever, But it means that
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  Speaker 3: there is some expression of some kind in your love
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  Speaker 3: relationship for other believers. You know, there's a tragedy connected
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  Speaker 3: with the story of Alexander. Even though he saw his
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  Speaker 3: name in scripture, not literally, but the whole style. Even
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  Speaker 3: though the scroll of Daniel was unloaded on him, and
• 50:26
  Speaker 3: he saw it and realized it and correctly interpreted it,
• 50:30
  Speaker 3: he died in a matter of a few years. He
• 50:33
  Speaker 3: was only thirty three. He died a debauched alcoholic, a
• 50:38
  Speaker 3: broken and feudal genius who was willing to accept his
• 50:47
  Speaker 3: name and see his profile in scripture, but never willing
• 50:53
  Speaker 3: to give himself to that God that he respected. It's tragic,
• 50:58
  Speaker 3: isn't it. Some of you you have seen profile in
• 51:01
  Speaker 3: scripture the child of God today, But in all honesty
• 51:05
  Speaker 3: you have to say, you know that's not me. I'm
• 51:09
  Speaker 3: not in unity because I don't know Christ. My whole
• 51:12
  Speaker 3: destiny is confusing to me. I've never come to know
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  Speaker 3: the Savior and believed in him. And as a matter
• 51:20
  Speaker 3: of fact, the whole area of love is a farce.
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  Speaker 2: There's no love in my life.
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  Speaker 3: Well, you see, Christ says, I've come to rescue you,
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  Speaker 3: to save the hunchbacks, to deal with those that are
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  Speaker 3: broken and broken and bruised, and those that are sinful.
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  Speaker 3: He didn't come to deal with a righteous came to
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  Speaker 3: deal with people like you and me.
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  Speaker 2: He wants to do that right now, even before we
• 51:47
  Speaker 2: go home. Let's let him do that.
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  Speaker 3: May we bow together just before we pray? Hey, the
• 51:56
  Speaker 3: Lord might have spoken to you in an area that
• 51:58
  Speaker 3: wasn't even mentioned from the pulpit. You might have come
• 52:04
  Speaker 3: to terms this morning with something that has gone unchecked
• 52:07
  Speaker 3: long enough. It's related to perhaps tolerance and acceptance. Maybe
• 52:14
  Speaker 3: it's related to right faith or right belief. You've been
• 52:19
  Speaker 3: trying to work your way into heaven. You can't do that,
• 52:23
  Speaker 3: not of works. Or maybe you've wrestled this morning with
• 52:28
  Speaker 3: the fact that that matter of Christian love is just
• 52:30
  Speaker 3: beginning to.
• 52:31
  Speaker 2: Haunt your steps. You just cannot seem to get that together.
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  Speaker 2: Could it be that the Lord Jesus is really not
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: your savior.
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  Speaker 3: If that's true, there's no reason to perpetuate that problem.
• 52:50
  Speaker 3: You can come to no Christ right now, right where
• 52:54
  Speaker 3: you're sitting. You don't have to demonstrate anyway. All you
• 53:00
  Speaker 3: need to do is receive Jesus Christ. He'll take care
• 53:04
  Speaker 3: of the giving up. He'll put you in a whole
• 53:09
  Speaker 3: new frame of mind and change your attitude within.
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  Speaker 2: So that it's a matter.
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  Speaker 3: Of taking on, not giving up, just replacing temporal and
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  Speaker 3: civil things with eternal things.
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  Speaker 2: Christian.
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  Speaker 3: I wonder if the truth were known, you could write
• 53:30
  Speaker 3: down one sentence. Would it say something like, Lord, this morning,
• 53:38
  Speaker 3: I am under conviction about this particular thing, and I
• 53:42
  Speaker 3: want you to do something about it in my life.
• 53:47
  Speaker 3: Can make a note of that this rainy afternoon, come
• 53:52
  Speaker 3: to terms with those.
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  Speaker 2: Things, pray about it.
• 53:55
  Speaker 3: At least Father the work of application is really by
• 54:02
  Speaker 3: your specialty. And so I asked that, as we've not
• 54:07
  Speaker 3: lingered and delayed the end of this service, but just
• 54:12
  Speaker 3: taken time enough to call to mind some matters of importance,
• 54:18
  Speaker 3: that you might lead your children into correct paths, and
• 54:24
  Speaker 3: you might deal with those that are not your own,
• 54:27
  Speaker 3: so that their misery and unhappiness and lack of peace
• 54:30
  Speaker 3: might sustain until they find their rest in you. Make
• 54:38
  Speaker 3: it clear, Father, make it simple and clear that no
• 54:43
  Speaker 3: one would misunderstand. I pray this Father in Jesus' name.
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  Speaker 2: Amen. The preceding message