John Chapter 17:14-18

I'm just so busy, Pastor David. My life is so busy.

Poor thing. So you only get like 18 hours or 19 hours in a day when the rest of us get 24? No, we all get the same amount of time in the day. The question is how are you going to spend that time? Well, I just can't find the time to read.

And love? Let me continue on this thought. Don't say you don't have time to read the Bible if you ever turn on the television. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. Today, David is teaching part five of the six-part series, The Real Lord's Prayer. And think about this. Do you make time to read the Bible? As you're thinking about that, let me introduce to you one of David McGee's associate pastors, D.A.

Brown. Welcome to the program, brother. Bob, it's good to be here. This teaching can change your life. If you can hear my voice right now, our Bibles aren't meant to simply sit on a shelf. The Word of God helps us to grow and sets us apart for special use. Today, Pastor David explains that special use as he continues in the Gospel of John chapter 17. So let's listen as David McGee shares part five of his teaching, The Real Lord's Prayer. Last week in John 17, we kind of ended up on verse 14, but there's something else I want to cover there.

But just a little background information. What we see is The Real Lord's Prayer. Now I know there's a section of Scripture that we call The Lord's Prayer in Matthew, but really that was Jesus teaching us to pray. That was not his prayer. What we have in this chapter is we have the prayer of Jesus. The prayer of Jesus, we've got an inside window and we can learn a lot by looking at what was important to the Lord and what he's praying about. Because I think we can agree that if it's important to Jesus and we're following Jesus, it should be important to us. Amen. So let's read 14 again.

I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. So Jesus is saying, you know what, I've given him your word. We talked about that last week. It's been a few minutes talking about how we got the Bible and all the men went through.

And again, you can listen to that online and review that. It's information that I think every Christian should know. Every Christian should know how we got the Bible.

I don't mean necessarily studying Greek and Hebrew, but understanding how this book came to be to us so that you can have those discussions when the enemy comes and attacks or to have discussions with people. But Jesus here says the world has hated them. He tells us in another place that we will have tribulation. So let me ask you a question. Why is it that that shocks us? Why is it that that surprises us when we have struggles, when we have trials, when we have tribulations and we're like, what's going on?

Can't believe I'm going through a hard time. Now granted, some of you, when you gave your life to Jesus, you may have not gotten the whole explanation. I mean, some people, as I watch gospel presentations, some people give this gospel presentation that will come to Jesus and all your dreams will come true and everything will be much better and you'll never have any more problems in your life.

And I'm thinking, boy, that's not really the gospel, is it? See, in some ways those problems even escalate, but whether you're walking with Jesus or not walking with Jesus, you're going to have tribulation. The question is, do you want to go through tribulation with Jesus or on your own? I want to go through tribulation with Jesus. So understand that Jesus here is saying, look, you're going to have these problems.

You're going to have these things. The world is going to hate you. So don't be surprised. Don't be shocked because the world at large has a problem with Jesus. Now, according to scripture, they tried to kill Jesus 10 times.

10 different times they tried to kill him. And what about the life of Paul? Let me share just in the book of Acts what we see Paul going through. Acts chapter 13 verse 45 says, they were filled with envy and contradicting and blaspheming.

They opposed the things spoken by Paul. Acts 13 50, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region, not just the town. Acts 14 five, and when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews with the rulers to abuse and stone them. Acts 14 19, you see we're not going, we're not just a few verses later.

They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city supposing to be dead. Acts 16 23, and when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Acts 18 six, but when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments. Acts 19 28, now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out.

Acts 20 23, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that change and tribulations await me. Those were the words of Paul. Acts 22 22, and they listened to him until this word.

And then they raised their voices and said, away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live. Acts 23 two, and the high priest in Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. Acts 23 10, now when there arose a great dissension, the commander fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them. Acts 23 12 and 13, and when it was days some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

Now there were more than 40 who had formed this conspiracy. Acts 24 five, and we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. Guys, those are just a few verses.

I could actually share more. And actually, you know, I had to, in presenting these, I had to kind of use pieces of the verses just to keep it moving. But look at what Paul went through. Now certainly since he was so opposed and so many people against him, surely we read a lot in the Bible of Paul whining and complaining and talking how tough and bad it was, and saying he's gonna quit. He wasn't gonna serve anymore. He's tired of people.

It's not in there, is it? He didn't say anything like that. As a matter of fact, in Acts 20 24, Paul says, but none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Paul said, none of these things move me. Let me ask you a question. What moves you? What moves you?

Let me ask it a different way. What does it take to get you off track and off focus from Jesus? Maybe think back over the last few days, last few weeks. What's something that got you out of sorts, out of character, whatever terminology you might use. What did it take to move you? You know what I find in my life? Let me be honest.

I'm surprised. Sometimes I am surprised at my flesh, at how little it takes to move me, to get me whining and complaining. We all tend to do that, don't we? But Paul is such an example because see when we look to Jesus, there's a tendency to look at Jesus and go, well you know Jesus was God and I'm not God and you know we start to condone our behavior. But wait a minute, we're talking about Paul.

We're talking about Paul that got beat up, they got stoned, wound up being executed and evidently he did it with joy. That's challenging and convicting. What moves you? Only one thing should move you. That's the Lord.

That's the Lord. So let me ask you a question. Looking back, what has it taken to move you? Be careful because that same instrument, that same person, that same situation might be used to move you again. Be careful because God alone is the one that should move us. And sometimes I hear believers and I say, well I can't do this and I can't do that. You know or the team leaders come to me, well so-and-so quit serving because so-and-so looked at them wrong or you know said the wrong thing or they assumed they were thinking something bad about them and they threw up their hands and walked out.

Wow. Aren't you glad Jesus didn't act like that? And if Jesus didn't act like that, brothers and sisters, we shouldn't act like that.

Now I doubt anybody's going to come in here this morning and begin to whip you and begin to beat you and begin to put a crown of thorns on your head and nail you to a cross. And yet it takes far less for us to bolt and run, doesn't it? It shouldn't be.

It should not be. Jesus served us and we should serve the Lord. We should serve the Lord. Yet sometimes you're not going to feel like serving.

Let me be honest. I'm a pastor. You understand there are times when I don't feel like serving. There are times when stuff is just getting hammered where in my flesh I just want to throw my hands up and go, man, I'm done. I'm out of here. I'm tired of this.

There's times that happens. It may shock you to know that, but that's not an option. See, I don't consider that an option.

That hopefully makes you glad. You know, I'm not sitting there going, well, if it's a really bad week, I'll just quit. You know, I'm not thinking. Why?

Because if that was in my thought processes, I would revisit that every time I was in a place of tribulation. Well, that's not an option to me. Not serving God is not an option to me. Not serving here is not an option to me.

And you know what? If this is your church home, it shouldn't be an option to you. It's very biblical that we should be serving, that we should be given, that we should be praying for our leaders. Verse 15, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. See, a lot of times we get in the midst of a situation, what do we say? Lord, lighten our load. That's a good prayer, but you know, often what we should be praying is not Lord, lighten our load, but Lord, give us stronger shoulders to carry what you've placed on us. We're not going to be taken out of the world.

We will eventually. But Jesus is saying, you know what? Don't buy into the world. Don't philosophically and mentally and spiritually, don't buy into the ways of the world. Some people have taken this and thought, well, I'll just go live on an island by myself, and that way sin won't bother me.

Yeah, well, you're taking your sin with you. And I don't think that the church should hide within four walls. That was never God's plan. We should be influencing the world in every area, in sports, in film, in music, the arts, politics, all these things. We should be influencing the world, not the world influencing the church.

And again, we talked about this last week and the week before. You know, the fact that when we got saved, we didn't just poof, disappear, that tells you something. God has a plan. God didn't take you out. Why? Because he left you here. Why? So you could whine and complain when things went bad.

No. So you could be a light in the midst of a dark world without hope. That's why you're here. That's your purpose.

You don't have to read a 200-page book. There's your purpose, to go and tell and to be a light. Verse 16 says, they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

See, we don't belong to the world. Once you make a decision, I'm following Jesus, I'm following Jesus, you are saying, you know what, I'm no longer following the world. I'm now following Jesus. I know some people try to, you know, follow the world and say they're following Jesus.

But you know what? I think those people are more miserable, perhaps, than even before they got saved. Because sitting on the fence is no way to live. If you're following Jesus, follow Jesus. If you're following the world, don't play games. Follow, follow the Lord. We're told 1 Corinthians 7 23, it says, you were bought at a price, do not become slaves of men. You've been purchased. If you've asked the Lord to forgive you of your sins, you have been purchased with the blood of the precious Son of God. You've been bought.

And so you should serve the Lord that purchased you. We'll be right back with more from David McGee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, here's a word from associate pastor D.A.

Brown. Hey, we're really excited that you've tuned in today. And if you're listening right now, we're taking a few moments in the program to pray for cities in our listening audience. So if you're listening right now, we're praying for you.

And specifically these cities in Missouri, Springfield, St. Joseph, and St. Louis, and in Montana, Arleigh, Belt, Billings, and Culbertson. Lord, thank you for the people listening in these cities. Thank you for the work that you're doing in their life.

Them listening is evidence that you're at work. Father, I pray that you would fill them with the faith to believe in what you're doing. Lord, help them to say yes to everything that you're wanting to do in their life. We pray for the city leaders, the mayor, the police chiefs, the fire chiefs. Lord, we pray that you would give them wisdom, the town council. And Lord, we pray for your Holy Spirit to pour out in these cities. Give the pastors wisdom.

Help people to get plugged into churches. And Lord, we thank you that we can ask for your help and expect you to move. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, brother.

And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Verse 17, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. Right here, we have such an overlooked verse. I can't tell you, possibly hundreds of times, I've had a similar conversation here.

Somebody comes up and says, you know, I was going to this other church and it was kind of like I give you a verse or two, maybe two verses on a good week. And I wasn't growing. And I didn't understand what was wrong. I just knew something wasn't right.

But then I came here and I've been here three months and I've grown more in three months than I have in the last 10 years. I can't count on my fingers and toes the times that I've heard that. It's not because any reason other than the fact that we're focused on God's word. And as we focus on God's word, guess what happens? You get washed, man. You get washed. You get sanctified. You get set apart. You get reminded of the truths and the promises of God.

And yes, in the process, you will probably get your toes stepped on occasionally. And that's okay because God loves you enough to do that. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. Another place tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. These are just part of the reasons why we focus on the word of God because it is an instrument God uses to change our lives. Now, if the only time you hear the word of God or you read the word of God is on Sunday morning, don't wonder if you're not growing in your Christian wall.

The answer is real simple. You're not in the word of God. If you're not in the word of God, don't expect to grow. Let me ask you a question. What of your teenage child or what of during your teenage years you ate once a week?

You think you'd be growing? No. How often does somebody have to come up to you and go, hey, have you eaten? Oh my goodness, it's Sunday. I haven't eaten since Tuesday. Has that ever happened to you?

Probably not. Why? Because you're reminded physically to eat. God reminds you spiritually that you need to eat. And if you get weak, it's from not eating.

And you know what happens? You realize the more you eat, the word of God, the hungrier you get, the hungrier you get for the word of God. Well, I'm just so busy, Pastor David. My life is so busy.

Oh, poor thing. So you only get like 18 hours or 19 hours in a day when the rest of us get 24? No, we all get the same amount of time in the day. The question is, how are you going to spend that time? Well, I just can't find the time to read. You can't find the time to read. First life lesson here, take the time to read because he took the time to bleed. Take the time to read because he took the time to bleed.

In love, let me continue on this thought. Don't say you don't have time to read the Bible if you ever turn on the television because you're lying. You got time to watch television, but you don't have time to be in the Bible. I mean, look, if you say to me, I just don't want to read the Bible, I would encourage you to read the Bible, but at least you're being honest. But when you say, I don't have time, God doesn't believe that. You don't believe that. And is that really what you're going to stand on when you get to heaven? Well, I just didn't have time to read that book.

D.L. Moody said something interesting. He said, this book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book. And I think many of us can acknowledge that when you begin to drift out of the word, you drift into the world. When you drift out of the word, you drift into the world.

I love this quote. This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts binding, its histories are true and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe and practice it, to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you and comfort to cheer you.

It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword and the Christian's character. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good it's designed and the glory of God it's end. It should fill the memory, test the heart and God defeat.

Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory and a river of pleasure. It has given you in life. It will be open that the judgment and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor and condemns all who trifle with its sacred contents.

That's quite a quote, isn't it? Peter tells us, 1 Peter 2 verse 2 says, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby. Desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow. See as you learn the word of God, as you hear the word of God, as you read the word of God, the word of God begins to read you and you come face to face as compared to a mirror in another passage lets you know, am I okay? Is everything all right? I would imagine most of you checked the mirror before you left home this morning, right?

Maybe some couple of you didn't. Your wife will be talking to you but you know there's that mirror concept of looking and seeing that's what the word of God does. And just like, you know, if you have a really bad night and you go look in the mirror and you really want to run, I mean, that's what happens sometimes with the word of God in it.

It's a mirror. It's a good thing. God wants to use the word sanctify to set you apart for special use. We've kind of twisted that word a little bit. It means set aside for special use. Really the word picture there in the Hebrew and the Greek is almost taken, well, women, if you have jewelry, you probably from time to time polish that jewelry, don't you?

Why? So that it looks nice. And you know, when you do that, somebody probably comes up and goes, wow, that's really nice. And you're like, oh yeah, look at that. That's something. That's what God wants to do with you.

He wants to polish you up and then go, look, that's my boy. Or, you know, that's my girl. Look what I'm doing in their lives. That's what the Lord wants to do in our life. In verse 18, as you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

Oh, wait a minute now. Surely Jesus expects us just to kind of hide out in here, doesn't he? I mean, it's scary out there, isn't it? That was never the plan of Jesus, that we hide out in these four walls. The life lesson here, God's design is that the church should go into the world. That the church should go into the world. Not that we passively just kind of sit here and wait for people to show up. No, but be actively inviting them, actively talking to them about Jesus and about what's going on here.

And not waiting for them to come, but going to people and sharing the love of the Lord. Jesus told us to be fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium. Amen. Well, so you know, keep the aquarium, keep it polished. Oh, don't get any of those street fish. Those street fish will just mess everything up.

That's not what he said. Be fishers of men. Quick story. When John David was a little boy, we used to, we went fishing and we didn't, I'm not a big fisherman to be honest. It's, there's long drawn out, silent periods between anything happening.

Just kill me. So I'm not real good. I like crabbing, but not fishing. But you know, I went, I took him fishing just so that we could talk, you know, just so we could sit there with a line in the water.

And so we would go every couple of weeks and we were there for the second or third time, you know, at a, at a city lake, at a park. And he started asking me questions. So dad, okay, we've got this hook and we've got this lure on it, right? Yeah. Okay. So the fish like sees that.

Yeah. You know, the sun shines down, they can see it or, you know, sometimes they smell it or whatever. And again, we had been there two or three times and we hadn't caught anything.

And he's quiet for a little while. And he said, dad, are you sure people catch fish like this? He thought there was some kind of flaw in the plan. There's not a flaw in the plan guys. Jesus has the perfect plan, but you know, you don't go to a pond and go, okay, fish, come here, jump up on the bank. Come on, come on.

No, you gotta be proactive. You gotta be inviting. You gotta be going into the world. Jesus in Matthew 28 said, and Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them the name of the father and of the son of the Holy spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you.

And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Jesus said, go, go. And what's amazing is some people say, well, you know, I really haven't been called to evangelism. What do you mean I haven't been called to evangelism? Jesus said, go, all of us. So we're supposed to be going. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him. Now, God wants you to pray this prayer so much that he died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. Jesus said he would not turn anybody away who comes to him. And he came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness.

Those who were sick, not the righteous. So congratulations, friend. You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27117, and share how God is working in your life. You know, the Bible tells us that the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. But it does cost for us to come and bring that message to you and to others in your neighborhood through radio, through the internet, and through the mobile technologies that God has gifted us to be able to use. So if you'd like to support this ministry, please go to crossthebridge.com, click on the donate button, and ask God how much he would have you give either on a one-time basis or a continuing basis each month to help ensure that the teaching of God's word continues to go out through Cross the Bridge.

Thank you so much. Well, DA, before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God, with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee. Those are terrific, and it's easy and it's free. So folks, sign up today at crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.