Converts Convert Through Preaching Christ as cross. You can't get people to follow the truth if they're not willing to admit the truth about themselves, that they're sinners needing a Savior, and then the Savior came and He died, and now He is every bit of Lord. Or else we go back to Tozh's quote where They will. Acknowledge him, They won't obey him. And then That's a road to hell.
This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Ricky is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastorik is currently teaching through a topical series. Please stay tuned with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio, specifically, how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick as he begins his message, Dialogue with God.
Questions? And answer is still. And they all fall under or into the category of prayer. Dialogue with God. That's how.
I have entitled this evening's consideration and a text That sort of sets a direction. in which we're going John 10 Verse 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. And they follow me. Boy, how much is packed into that Well, here's the first question.
And hopefully we'll keep that verse from John in mind as we move forward. Jesus prayed for all those that would follow him. parentheses John seventeen twenty to twenty six verses twenty twenty six. And then two sub-questions go with that. How does this prayer apply to me?
And the second part.
Well actually the third part of the question. And what can I learn from it? For my prayer life.
So we'll take This We'll take the Prayer last. We'll take the first. Sub-question: How does this prayer apply to me?
Well, we learn about the deity of Christ. In this chapter, There are doctrinal statements that he makes about who he is. that really aren't found anywhere else. When he mentions return to the glory, that I would return to the glory I had before I came. It's a statement of.
eternal existence. that he is indeed equal With the Father, Self-existent. and eternal. And so, verse 3. And this is eternal life that they may know you.
The only true God And Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Nobody could say that but God. Isaiah couldn't say that they may know you and Isaiah.
So these things, if they weren't in the scripture, our doctrine, the theologians, would have even more work. Trying to put together the various truths from scripture without these key parts of the puzzle. The burden for lost souls also. Starts with God. and continues with us, that's found in this seventeenth chapter of John.
Which is Really A sermon That is a prayer, or you could say a prayer that is a sermon. Jabez prayed and his was more of a homily. And Jesus has other prayers. that he would offer up from time to time Sometimes he'd do miracles without praying, sometimes he did them with. They're always letting us know he's on a mission.
And we'll come back to some of that as we move forward. The third part is What can I learn? From it in my prayer life.
Well, this is the Lord's intercessory prayer. And Of course, as he's praying, he's purposely preaching. He doesn't have to say any of this out out loud to make it so. The only reason why he voiced it and someone was there to write it down. It's because he's teaching us.
It's a sermon. About himself, his relationship to the Father. What he wants from the church. and what he wants to do to the world. That all comes out in this seventeenth Chapter of John.
The sinner's prayer is Matthew chapter 6. Jesus couldn't make that prayer for himself. He could not say, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us, forgive us our trespasses. He can't say that. But that is a prototype of if so the question is.
You know, how does this prayer apply to me? And what can I learn from it? Well, in my prayer life, well, you go to Matthew 6 if you want to really get the template Jesus left us for prayer. three petitions to b to the father and three for a man. It's so Matthew chapter 6, the what we call the Lord's Prayer, but really is the disciples' prayer.
And you know the funny thing about that prayer, not ha ha funny, but Almost everybody in Western civilization knows it. When I was a child, I graduated from If I Should Die Before I Wake prayer.
Well, sure would lay that on a little kid. To the Lord's Prayer. And my mother taught me, and I never forgot it. Even in my worst There is as a A wicked person.
Well, coming back to this. coming out of this prayer. I pray for them, I do not pray for the world.
Well, the world is lost, but the people in the world can be saved, and that's what he turns his attention to in latter verses. Also, learning from this prayer, he says, sanctify them. By your truth, your word is truth.
So, when you have Christians putting an emphasis on love, But not truth, you don't have agape love. You have human affection. It's truth and love in that order, but not one without the other. It's like sovereignty.
Sovereignty doesn't benefit us if there's no love to go with it. That just would make God a bully. The Greek gods had that sovereignty without love, but not our god.
So in John seventeen We have this Prayer And it's between the Father and the Son, about believers in the world and those. who are to be reached. in the world. down to the ages. In this prayer, he unites us.
With the ongoing evangelical work. Of reaching the loss. John 17, verse 22. That the world may believe that you sent me.
Well, that's what God wants. He wants the world to believe that Jesus Christ is who he says he is, and we're the ones to carry that message now.
So now I look at the prayer, verse 20, or the verses that were part of the question, verses 20 through 26. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe. in me through their word.
Well that covers everything from the moment he s well, actually from the moment The first Apostle or Christian under apostolic authority. Gave us the first part of our New Testament. From that point forward, You could say in a printed way. But in a spoken way, well, that happened. Even while Christ was alive, they were sharing.
The truths that he had been teaching them.
So he expands his prayer to future generations of Bible-believing Christians, which is what a fundamental Christian is. The basics of our faith is found in our Scripture. If we didn't have the Bible, what would we have?
So Jesus Again It is in his prayer. Saying This is about the apostles, but he applies it to all the disciples to this very moment. Verse 21. That they may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.
Now The personal pronouns and the pronouns are very important. They, them refers usually to us. I think there's 118 references. To the Father and the Son. in this section.
Oh, that's the dominant thought. God, that's the dominant thought. Love, sovereignty, mercy, grace, all that floats around in the background of God. You take God away, and who cares? Nothing works now.
Everything breaks down. We need this omnipotent being. to put it all together. God wants unity amongst his followers. He didn't get it.
Because what he wants. Unity, not at the cost of truth. And this explains his letter to the seven churches, because not all of them were. practicing truth and so he calls him out on it. You have that Jezebel, that woman Jezebel.
You have the doctrine of Balaam. There's no unity there. There are things that he's not good with in the church. I like to quote Spurgeon at this point. Spurgeon said, Truth alone must determine our alignments.
Truth comes before unity. Unity without truth is hazardous. Understatement. Again, Burgeon. Preserve us from unity in which truth shall be considered valueless.
Could you imagine that?
Well, truth has no place here. We don't accept that kind of stuff around here. There are a lot of politicians like that. That's why you can't shame them. Truth doesn't mean anything to them.
The truth that they're going to stand before God and be judged bounces off of them for now.
So, united under the apostles' doctrine, their teaching, which is Acts 2:42, they continued steadfastly. That means there's resistance. And the apostles Doctrine and fellowship. and the breaking of bread, which turns out to be communion, And in prayer. And incidentally, Prayer is a form of communion, but communion is a, you know, it's sort of a concentrated emotional experience.
Well, it can be. It doesn't have to be. But it's sort of a zooms in on the work of Christ. that the world may believe. Converts come.
out of the world through converts out of the world. who uphold Scripture. And the fact that we still have a New Testament. means there's more to upholding Scripture than just sharing the gospel. William Tyndale died so that he could put the Old New Testament into the English language.
He wasn't the only one that died because he was translating scripture. Paul said it this way: I'm not shunned to declare to you. The entire counsel of God.
So, why would he say I've not shunned? Because people shun telling the truth about people. According to God. Then that would be your s Falsely called seeker-friendly church. A seeker-friendly church will tell the truth about God and about man and about the devil and about the world.
It will tell the truth from Scripture.
So it is a lie to call a church seeker-friendly when it withholds the scripture. It's not sharing the entire counsel of God. Verse 22. And the glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one.
So here the applications are, the lessons about praying and what God is about, we're learning from this prayer. The ideal Is what Christ is looking for. From his people united.
Now, the Christian church has always been united. on the essentials. The person of Christ, salvation, the true church. We are united on that. Where starts going?
Goofy is In the non-essential doctrines, and we fuss over Arminianism and Calvinism, and you know, you get theological rage, which is like road rage, but you just can't get to the other guy's car.
So, you know, you have to understand when someone's over, you Christians can't just can't agree on anything.
Well, we got the main thing together, we can. The other stuff, you know, we have a little fun with each other. And it's nice being right and them being wrong.
So there's no question that his people are Or Sometimes, we're not always united. But we are often divided. And the New Testament epistles tell us that's why they were written. The epistles aren't Have a nice day. Miss you.
Wish I could be there. Kaka. It's always like, you gotta fix this.
Some are less than others. The Philippian letter is pretty much almost all positive until he gets to the two ladies that were struggling with each other. He said, You guys help them out. It was just good Christian preaching. Disruptors Interlopers They infiltrate true Christianity and attack its unity.
We've been covering that in the Revelation. Acts 20, for I know that. After my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Jude, certain men have crept in unnoticed, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God. And our Lord Jesus Christ, when he talks about turning to lewdness, well, that's Gnostic heresy.
You know, well, you know, sin is abstract. Just as long as you believe with the concrete witness, which you can do whatever you want. See, that's the lewdness that was entering in. Tozier rights. They will flatter him, but they will never obey him.
How many so-called Christians do you meet? That talk about the Lord and Christ, but they won't obey him. LS They decide as what they're comfortable with doing. Romans 16:17, I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses. Contrary to doctrine, which is the apostles, Word from Christ Which you learned Which presupposes you have to learn in Christianity.
There's a lot of that in the scripture. And then he says, avoid them. That this fellowship of 1 Corinthians 1:10.
Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you. All speak the same thing. and that there be no divisions among you. But that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Not easy to do.
Because one says I'm of Apollos, I'm of Peter, I'm of Paul. They were Creating disharmony. where harmony should have reigned. And so there will be false churches until when? Until.
Mystery Babylon is trampled to death by Secular Babylon The two of them make up apocalyptic Babylon. Verse 23, I in them and you in me. I should have asked you to turn to John 17. If you haven't already. Then it might be good.
We're almost done with this. But I missed it.
Well, no, I didn't miss it. You didn't remind me. I'm not taking the blame for that. Anyway, I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one. And that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.
So love now becomes dominant, mentioned six times in this. Prayer of Christ This is about our testimony as Christians and individuals, and the application of the things we learn. But Matthew 5:13, here's an application of Christ. You're the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?
It can't. It cannot be.
Well, that doesn't really happen unless you dilute it to the point where it's just not. Recognizable. It is then good for nothing but to be thrown down and trampled underfoot by men.
Now, of course, you personify that. This is what he's saying about. Those who are not the salt of the earth. You're the light of the world, Jesus said to the church. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
A Christian, you know, if your Christian's in the workplace, And they're doing what they're supposed to do.
Somebody's gonna notice they're Christian. Why don't you do the things we do here? And of course then it comes out. John 12, verse 32: And if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself, will convert. Convert Through Preaching Christ as cross.
You can't get people to follow the truth if they're not willing to admit the truth about themselves, that they're sinners needing a Savior, and then the Savior came and He died, and now He is every bit of Lord. Or else we go back to Tozia's quote where They will. Acknowledge him. They won't obey him. And then That's a road to hell.
Verse twenty-four, John seventeen, Father, I desire that they may also whom you gave me? May be with me where I am. That they may behold my glory. Which you ga have given me. for you loved me before the foundation of the world, Now, Christ's language, he's always mindful that he's speaking to Jewish people, and he cannot let them think that he's preaching polytheism.
That another God has come in addition to God the Father, to Yahweh.
So his language is a little veiled for that reason. Of course the apostles get To put it together a little bit better for us, and they show us attributes of Christ that match attributes of God. And no one else. I mean, for instance, if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
Well, you can't blaspheme a person But you you can insult them. And offend them, you have to be divine to be blasphemed. That's the idea.
So when Christ says blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, well, we understand that. that the Holy Spirit is divine. But then we find out later that the Holy Spirit speaks. that he can be lied to. Holy Spirit, the Bible says, spoke to Philip and said, go to Gaza.
Other cases too.
So we put these things together and we come up with an answer. And it's scattered throughout the Old and New Testament, which calls for work. Again, the scripture doesn't honor the lazy. Little sleep, little slumber, little folding of the hands. And then all of a sudden you've lost everything.
So here in verse twenty four He desires his followers to be in the same heaven as the Godhead, Careful reading of that verse. I desire that they also whom you gave me. may be with me where I am.
Well Well, where is he now? Of course it is. present and is anticipatory of the future. What does God desire?
Well, that none should perish. who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth. Matthew 20. 28, 20. And this is a very important verse.
For all that's going on in this chapter. Jesus said, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. You have to be divine to say that. Peter couldn't say that on his deathbed. Don't worry, I'll be back.
Well, unless you're Roman Catholic, I guess you can go for that, but it's wrong. Verse 25, O righteous Father. The world has not known you. But I have known you. and these have known that you sent me.
His disciples. Which is not only the twelve apostles, or well, eleven. This is assurance. Jesus saw what the church would be without Judaism. Nobody else could really see that.
And such a hard time he had to raise up Paul to really Drive that point home. And all of the apostles were a little sluggish. coming to that realization. Here's a great lesson from the Lord's Prayer. Father is Christ's name for God.
Only one time does he refer to God. In a personal sense, as God, and that's when he's quoting scripture while he's on the cross. He says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But every time else, well, sometimes he says, Your Father. You know, your Father in heaven already knows what you need.
Sometimes he says, Our Father. When you pray, pray, our Father.
Sometimes he says, My father.
So his own word for God is Father. What is packed to that? When you pray, you say, Our Father. You don't say our Mother, we say, Our Father.
Well well, he's the perfect father. And so packed into Christianity. The our fathers The revel is a revelation of God about Himself. For us. He makes the stipulation, our Father who is in heaven.
As opposed to our fathers who are on earth, regardless of how good of a father you may have. They're never going to be as good as God the Father. And regardless of how bad a father you may have had, don't confuse. God in heaven with him. Verse 26, I have declared them a very good idea.
I have declared to them your name, and will declare it. That the love with which you loved me May be in them. And I in them.
Well, we know later that the Holy Spirit's going to be a big big part of that. But for him to say, I will declare it.
Well, when he's done with this prayer, he's going to cross the Kidron, he's going to go into the Garden of Gethsemane. Is going to be arrested, tried, and crucified.
So, what's this? I will be with them.
Well, you know. Where two or more gathered, there I am in the midst. How can he do that unless he's divine? You have to be ubiquitous to pull that off.
Well, he is. Peter is not, none of the apostles are ubiquitous. Peter doesn't want to hear your prayers. They don't want to hear your troubles. There's nothing you can do about them.
He's got his own way done now. He doesn't have any more problems. Anyway. His telling us these things should be inspiring. How does this benefit my prayer life?
How do I learn from this?
Well, it's inspiring. Name is nature, will and character. For example, If I say That's a robot. Automatically, you know it's the other hand free will. It's a robot.
The nature of that name means it doesn't have a free will. When we say about God, Well That doesn't give us any the only part of the nature is that And the world doesn't even know what that means. You have to tell them. If you say to some worldlings, What does God mean? They most of the time get it wrong.
They think he's still got some problems. He's like them. They make him in their image instead of being made in his image.
So we have to help them with that. He's self-existent, for example. He's eternal. From eternity, past. Our eternity is forward.
His is past, present, and future. He is sovereign. He is love. He is omnipotent and all-knowing. That's why Jesus had to say, Your Father in heaven already knows what you're going to pray before you ask, otherwise, he's not omniscient.
So, the next part of the question is: how does this prayer apply to me?
Well, I already said it. But I give a little bit more. Jesus said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, humans. You don't preach to ducks. I mean, you can practice on them.
But it's a little quacky. Luke 19.10. For the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost. That is our purpose as Christians. You can go to the workplace, I have come to seek and save that which is lost.
And I can look around and see that there are many of you that need to be saved. and could do a better half cut if this could. Anyway, otherwise. What use is love if we're not if we're going to leave the lost? What good is love?
If God has already selected who's going to heaven, if He chose. Then what good is love?
Well Because one of the questions, a couple of the questions coming, not tonight, are about Armenianism, Calvinism, Reformed theology, and I'm committed to not having theological rage. at just the fact that they're getting away with things that I think are wrong. and which automatically makes them wrong if they disagree. But Spreading The good news. That's what we're here for, and what can I learn?
from it in my prayer life. Thanks for tuning in today to Cross Reference Radio, where Pastor Rick has some answers for various questions that have been asked. We can't fully express how grateful we are that you've been with us today. But if you're ever looking for more teaching and content from us, you're welcome to subscribe to our podcast. Just go to your favorite podcast app and look for Cross Reference Radio.
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