I Want Them With Me Where I Am
First B Jackson
2022-02-01

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Okay. How is everybody? Good. Welcome to oh, good. Good.

What do you think of Nacho Night? Is it should we do a Nacho Night again? Yes. All right. Good.

Good. Nachos it is. Not next week, but in the future. Welcome, everybody. How was your day on a scale of one to five?

One was terrible and five was great. See a three, fives. I see some fives. Fives, good. A four.

Yeah. I can only imagine. Mondays can be hard. They can. But I'm glad you're here.

I'm glad you made it. And I'm glad to be together. We've been going through the book of John on Monday nights, and it's it's we've been making it more conversation style. So I read it, share some thoughts, and then open it up for conversation. But keep this in mind.

If there is a word of encouragement, if there's something from that text, a verse that really grabbed ahold of you, I want you to be able to share. We've got a little microphone, don't let it intimidate you. But there are people watching online. Hi, everybody online. Hi, mom.

And my mom watches on Monday night. She's she's my biggest fan. But before we get into the the conversation, how about we worship in song together? And we can be in storm. And

We are singing together.

God, I believe that you have brought us here on purpose and that you would like to speak to us. And so, Lord, would you give us ears to hear, a mind to to understand what you're saying to us, God, a heart that just receives, that that what you're saying tonight would fall on on good soil. That little seed, that seed of the gospel would grow. And I pray that down the hall too for all those, little ones as they're hearing the good news of the gospel, the good news of Jesus, your love and forgiveness, that we can be right with God, made right with God, and have eternal life. I pray that it it could be just explained as simply as it possibly could be, Holy Spirit, that it would make sense to those in this room and also down the hall and downstairs.

Bless every part of this. Thank you, God, for the the the church, the the body of Christ in which you're the head and all these members and all these different gifts. God, may we use our gifts truly inside and outside of this building to give glory to you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Jesus, the name above every other name. Jesus, the only one you could ever say. You. There is nothing inside you. Open up my eyes and wonder and show me who you are and fill me with your heart beating in love to those around me.

There is one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes and wonder, me who you are and fill me with your heart Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes and wonder.

Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes and wonder.

God, we make that our not just our song, but our prayer as well. In Jesus' name. Amen. You can have a seat. Alright.

Who's favorite who has a a a favorite book of the Bible? And if it is, could you just shout it out? Genesis. Genesis. Alright.

Cool. Anybody else? Daniel. Daniel. Alright.

Yep. Mine is John. John? Yep. Mine's whatever one I'm studying at the moment, and it is John.

And John 17, I wanna cover the whole chapter tonight. The heading in my Bible is Jesus prays for himself, for his disciples, and for future believers. That's you and I. The context is this. Jesus is heading toward the cross.

He doesn't have much more time with his disciples, so he's teaching them. He's preparing them. He's preparing them for difficult times ahead. Chapter 16 ended with this right here. I've told you all of this so that you may have peace in me.

Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows, but take heart because I've overcome the world. Isn't that good news right there? That good news is just as good today as it was then. We still have trials and sorrows. He's still offering peace.

That's the truth of the matter. So after Jesus says this, he looks toward heaven and we get to hear his heart in prayer. And he glorifies God and he prays for his disciples and then he prays for future believers. That's that's us, by the way. We get to hear what Jesus prayed for us tonight.

I love it. So John 17, I'll read the chapter, share a few thoughts, and then open it up for some conversation if something grabbed ahold of you too. So here's here's what it says. It says, after saying all these things, he said a lot. Jesus looked up to heaven and he said, father, the hours come.

Glorify your son so he can give glory back to you For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life. To know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work that you gave me to do.

Now, father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began. I've revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you.

For I passed on to them the message that you gave me. They accepted it and they know that I came from you and they believe you sent me. My prayer is not for the world but for those you have given me because they belong to you. All who are mine belong to you and you have given them to me so they bring me glory. Now I'm departing from the world and they're staying in the world but I'm coming to you.

Holy father, you have given me your name. Now protect them by the power of your name so they will be united just as we are. During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost except for the one headed for destruction as the scriptures foretold. Now I am coming to you.

I told them many things while I was with them in this world so that they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they don't belong to the world just as I don't belong to the world. I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to keep them safe from the evil one. They don't belong to this world any more than I do.

Make them holy by your truth. Teach them your word which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. I'm praying not only for these disciples, but also for those who will ever believe in me through their message.

I pray that they will all be one just as you and I are one, as you are in me father and I am in you and may they be in us so the world will believe that you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me so they may be one as we are one. I am in them, you are in me, may they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Isn't that good?

Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you love me even before the world began. Righteous father, the world doesn't know you, but I do. And these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to them and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them and I will be in them.

That's all of John chapter 17. I know it's a lot. I know it's a lot, but let's pray first and then soak in it some more. God, what a prayer. Truly, what a prayer.

We get to hear your your heart here, your desire to glorify God, to gather up your disciples, to give us eternal life, to make us one, to give us joy, to protect us from the enemy's lies, to make us holy by your truth, to be so unified that the world would know that the father sent you, Jesus. God, I pray that these life giving truths would take a hold of us. It would transform us The way that we think, the way that we live. In Jesus' name. Amen.

I just love this chapter here because you ever notice, like, when you hear someone pray, you get to hear their heart. You know, like, when I pray for my my kids, you know, what what Addie, what can I pray for you? And she'll go, I don't know. And so I'll just pray for her. But she in that prayer, she she gets to hear my heart for her.

God, would you bless her day? Bless her her little sweet personality. You know, that her she would be kind today and generous and loving. And and God, would you the way that you wire her that that she can be all that you made her to be. You know, and she's kinda gone, whatever.

You know, but but she gets to hear my heart for her. I'm not gonna cover every every every verse here, but we get to hear God's desire for his followers, for us. Here's some of the highlights. No surprise, Jesus begins his prayer with the glory of God. Glorify your son so he can what?

Give it back to you. Everything that Jesus did was for the glory of God to exalt him, to lift him up, to make much of him, to bring God's will on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus truly cared about giving glory to God. Real life application. Jesus showed the way to give glory to God so that we can give glory to God too.

That's his desire that we would also glorify God. This is one of my favorite verses. First Corinthians ten thirty one. So whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do it for what? The glory of God.

You can, whatever you are doing, whatever you're doing, working, raising kids, doing all the things that we do, doing it for the glory of God. So I just wanna make a mention of that. Here's verses two and three. Another, to give eternal life. This is the way to eternal life, to know you, the the the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

There is no doubt about it. No doubt about it. Jesus wants us to know this. The way to eternal life is to know Jesus. John is the gospel of belief, to believe in the one that he has sent.

One of my favorite verses, even more simplified, is first John five twelve. Short but profound. Whoever has the son has what? Life. Whoever does not have God's son does not have life.

There's life in Jesus and he's saying here believe in me. The invitation is there we can accept it we can reject it. He's not twisting our arm here. He showed the way. The truth remains here though, that Jesus came to give life and life to the full measure.

If you're not convinced, check out John 10. Check out John 10 when Jesus says, I've come to give life and life to the full measure. The enemy what's the enemy do? He's come to kill, steal, and destroy. But Jesus has came to give life and life to the full measure.

This is good to know. This is the kind of stuff that can actually change our lives from day to day knowing God loves me. He's laid down his life for me. He's come to give me life and life to the fullest measure. There's spiritual forces that are trying to take that away.

That there's truly an enemy that's trying to kill, steal, destroy, divide. Verse 11, what else does he pray for his disciples? Now I'm departing from the world, they're staying in the world, but I'm coming to you. Jesus is going to die, raise, and then reign in heaven. Okay.

Holy father, you've given me your name. Now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. He's saying, God, these disciples, these followers, they got some work to do. Protect them. Keep them together.

Make them one. Verse 13. I told them many things while I was with them in this world, catch this, so that they would be filled with my joy. I love this. Jesus mentions joy a lot in John.

Gladness, delight, that's joy. There's no doubt about it. Jesus wants them and us today to experience his joy, to recognize his grace and live in it. To live in it. To delight in it.

Florian, I really liked that when you said, well, how do you experience that joy? And you said, in my life, I feel like the more that I'm following and obeying, the more I experience that joy. Because I haven't separated myself from God. I'm experiencing that fullness of joy that he intended for me. I really like that definition.

Thank you. Verse 14, I've given them your word and the world hates them because they do not belong to the world. Just as I don't belong to the world. We know this. Jesus' message was and still is countercultural.

It really is. It's backwards, isn't it? It wouldn't be popular. They wouldn't be popular. And look at fifteen and sixteen.

It says, I'm not asking you to take them out of the world. Again, they got work to do here. It's not just, oh, I've got a home in heaven, so I'm just looking toward that. No, it's I I I've got more work to do right here. It says, but keep them safe from the evil one.

Again, there are spiritual forces at work. There is an enemy. They do not belong to this world any more than I do that keep them safe there. I don't think that's so much being physically protected because those followers, weren't physically protected. They laid down their lives for the gospel.

I think it's more spiritually protected from the evil one, from his lies, from being deceived, from being divided, from abandoning their faith like he mentioned in chapter 16. Keep them safe from that, that they would remain in me. So how would he how would he do that? Well, here here in 17 it says, make them holy by your truth. I I think in order to keep them from being deceived from the enemy, being divided, from being deceived, that they would need to combat those lies with God's truth.

Make them holy by your truth. Teach them your word, which is truth. And we know from chapter 16 that the Holy Spirit was gonna lead them into that truth and remind them of that truth. But what I'm seeing here in John chapter 17 is that Jesus is giving them everything that they will need to face those difficult times ahead. To combat those enemies' lies, to be one, to not divide, to not abandon their faith, to have the courage to testify about Jesus.

Real life application and I believe this wholeheartedly. I believe that Jesus gives us everything that we need so that we can combat the enemy's lies, be one together, to not abandon our faith, and to have the courage to testify about Jesus. Which brings us to 20 where he prays for future believers, for you and I. What does Jesus pray for you and I? He says, I'm not just praying for these disciples, but I'm also praying for those who will ever believe in me through their message.

So, we have the message, the good news of Jesus, love and forgiveness, because they shared it with somebody. Who shared it with somebody. Who shared it with somebody. Who shared it with somebody so that we would share it with somebody until he comes again. That's God's plan.

That's his plan. There isn't a plan B. His plan is that his disciples would share, who would share, who would share until he returns again. I was thinking about this today and you see these little square cards and it's got the QR code on it. I just thought, please make those disappear tonight.

Take one, hand them to a friend. It's not so much that I don't wanna promote first B, I wanna promote Jesus. You know what I'm saying? This is just a place that we can teach people about Jesus because we go through the Bible. But we want people to know Jesus.

Please take one of those cards, hand them out, give them out. Verse 21, this is huge. I pray that they will all be one just as you and I are one. As you are in me, father, and I'm in you, and may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. One together unified just like Jesus and the father one.

Not all exactly the same but together. That illustration of the vine and the branches from John 15, That one has been sticking with me so much because I think so Jesus says, I'm the vine, you're the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you'll bear fruit. But I think there's a picture of unity in that vine. I'm going use a tree in this example because we're more familiar with trees.

I think there's a picture of unity there that when we together, the branches if you will see all the branches on that tree When we stay connected, when we abide, remain in the vine, in that trunk, the centre of that tree, Jesus, and we rely on him as the source and supply so that we can love one another. We're one. We're together. Like all those branches, they're different. They're different shapes, they're different sizes, they're in different locations, but they're all right there.

They're looking for their source and supply right there at the centre. I think that's a beautiful picture of us looking to Christ so that we can be one tree. Catch the last part of this verse. And may they be in us so that the world will believe that you sent me. That here's how it works.

When we show unity, it's the evidence that Jesus really is holding us together. Real life application. Sometimes church gets weird, doesn't it? Is. It's weird.

We come from all different backgrounds. And we have all different personalities. It gets weird in here. And it's supposed to. I am convinced that it's supposed to get weird in a church.

Not like a we're just so uncomfortable. The more we have Christ in common, the more comfortable we are around one another. Even though we are so different. Are you with me? We're not all alike.

That's a good thing. Jesus does that on purpose. And as long as we remain in him and he in us, loving one another the way that he loved us, he will hold us together. There's no doubt about it. He's gonna unify us.

I'm convinced of it. But the enemy has a different plan. And that is to separate and to isolate. God works in community. The enemy works in isolation.

What Jesus is saying here is hold on to that truth. His word is truth. Stay connected. Remain in him so that we can be one as Jesus and the father are one. Here it is again.

May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24, bold highlight underline it. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. I think that's the second time that we've heard Jesus say, I want them with me where I am. Jesus loves you.

He's crazy about you. He wants you to be with him where he is. How do I get there? Through belief. By believing in him.

Friends, there's no doubt about it. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began. Amen. Verse 25. Righteous father, the world doesn't know you, but I do.

And these disciples know you sent me. They believed in him. And then 26, and we'll end with this one. I have revealed you to them and I'll continue to do so. And that's what he did through the power of the Holy Spirit.

He continued to reveal God the Father to your disciples, to to future believers, then your love for me will be in them and I will be in them. Amen. So be it. Help us, Lord. So that's all of John chapter 17.

I know I know it was a big chunk to bite bite off. But again, stood out to me is hearing God's heart through Jesus to give glory to God. That was his mission, to give glory to God, to do God's will on earth as it is in heaven. To gather up the disciples, all who would believe, to give eternal life, To make us one so that we're unified. To give us joy.

To protect us from the enemy's lies. That one really stood out to me this week. Because truly the enemy wants to divide us and isolate us. Isolation is nobody's friend. People are hurting right now.

I just had a conversation with someone and I thought, it's heartbreaking because I can see how the enemy is isolating. And then the lies we believe. I'm not good enough. I'll never make it. I shouldn't be around people.

Nobody likes me. I mean, all these things, these lies that we tell ourselves. And Jesus is going, no, you're dearly loved. I want you to hang on some other people who are feeling the same way and combat these lies with truth. To make us holy by his truth.

To be so unified that the world would know that the father sent Jesus. So that's what stood out to me. But I want to open up to you. If there was something, a verse, something that grabbed ahold of you from that chapter, from chapter 17, I would love for you to be able to share it. So I'll open up to you.

I've got a microphone. Know that you do not have to share. Don't feel obligated to share. If there are crickets in the room, you're like, Carl, would you just sing a last song, please? I'd love to.

But if there was something from John chapter 17 that God put on your heart, I wanna open it up to you. I'll give you a minute to think about it. Sometimes Blake likes to open this up and it just gets the conversation rolling.

Just to break the ice a little bit, but the verse if you read this whole chapter like we just did, I can count the ways the number of times where Jesus draws a line between him and God and back and forth, and they are one and the same. And and I feel like that's the point that he's really trying to break through is that it's a line that that these come back and forth. And if I look at one verse in particular, you gave them to me and they kept your word. Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you. Mhmm.

Now they know that everything that I have is a gift from you is a verse that really sticks out for me after I listen to the whole thing. And I realized that it's all about a line between Jesus and God and seeing that those are one and the same. And everything that I have is a gift from God. There's a there's a a saying from doctor Lockridge that I like a lot. It's everything above nothing is what I'm grateful for and what God has given me is everything above nothing.

And everything that I have is a gift from God. And then if you, again, flip it to where it's a line between Jesus and God, it's like, all of these blessings that I have in my life, where did they come from? I believe, to bring in a little different side of the spectrum, like one of Newton's laws is every action has an equal equal and opposite reaction. And there's so many good things in my life that I haven't done this many good things. So I don't know where it comes from.

And then the answer is is when I look at it, everything, they know that everything that I have is a gift from you. And you can see that grace that comes from the atonement and the sacrifice of Jesus. All of these blessings that come from that, from him, which is that line between them from God. And so chapter 17 is about that, is that line between Jesus and God and how Jesus keeps saying they're the one and the same. And then Jesus says, everything that I have is a gift from God.

And so I think all of these blessings that I have in my life are a gift from the grace that comes from from Jesus. And it's not be Lord knows it's not because of I've done I've done all of these amazing things that given me this life and given me these children and all of these blessings that I have. It's not it's not because I deserve them. And so where is the action that all of these things come from? Action and reaction.

The action is not atonement, and the reaction is all of these blessings that I have in my life.

Amen. Thank you Blake for sharing that. Now they know that everything that I have is a gift from you. And then we can share in that response too. God, everything that I have is a gift from you.

Is it working? Yes. The whole scripture, it's so good. It does good to my heart just to close my eyes and and hear the the scripture. So, Lord, please help us to store the scripture in our hearts So we can stay focused on you and fighting as the enemy as we heard tonight.

One one verse that I love very much actually. It says, I'm praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. Jesus prayed for the disciples, but if you look at the scripture, how God preserved for us, I am one of his disciples. That mean he prayed for me, and for my ministry, and for all that I do. And another part that I love in this verse is that I too have a message to share.

In other words, I am I'm a servant. I am a coworker with Jesus. I am supposed to take the message around me to the to the people to share the good news of God. You might not be a pastor. You might not be a missionary.

You might not be an awesome speaker like our brother Nick. But we can share the the good the the goodness of God just one neighbor, just one coworker. If we in this world take the serious call and say, Lord, help me to win one soul for you. I think our our our our message, it's it's there. Our work is proclaimed.

So Jesus prayed for us, for our ministry, but also we are coworker with him. With the same message that he proclaimed when he came here. The same message that he gave to the disciples to proclaim, we have the same message. Yeah. Isn't that value?

I think that's amazing. Praise the Lord. He hasn't changed. Hallelujah.

Yep. The good news is still the good news. Thank you so much for sharing

that. I

think about this verse called that we read. I think my mind had a bunch of accidents in my life, so I think everything that I can I think, like, get above that problem, get above that accident, It's like and it's not it's it was not only luck? It's because Jesus and love and God tried to tell me something, tried to tell me, I am giving you these opportunities because I went to you to do something. And it's something that I give account within these verticals. Everything that I have, everything that he gives me is for a reason, and I'm trying to discover that.

I think it's, like, wonderful to know that.

Yeah. Amen. Yeah. Amen. Absolutely.

Yep. And and I I I I think about it a lot that we're here on purpose. You're here on purpose, and God isn't finished yet with you or I or us. Not yet. Not yet.

There's work. There's work to do. And and that's what I see in John chapter 17 is he's preparing them. Hey, guys. You've got some work today to do.

It's gonna get tough, but my peace I leave to you. My peace I give to you. It's not as the world gives. Don't be troubled. Don't let your heart don't don't don't let your hearts beat.

Go ahead, Nick.

Oh, yeah. So the one thing that you were just on that verse that that they belong to you. That I think that's one of the reminders because we're not, like, on layaway or the test period for is Christ gonna want us? We'll see how this goes, and then we'll we'll decide that that we already belong to him once we give our life to him. We're already in, and it's just a matter of living out that reality for the rest of our lives and living like that's that's the truth, you know, because we already are the Lord.

We already are owned by him once we submit to him and we give our life to him. Like, we're in the club, so start acting like it, essentially. So I think that's comforting to me sometimes because I feel like there's just days where you're like, wow. I did not act like a Christian today, or I did not act like I work at a church. Sorry, Carl.

Right back at you.

You know me. Yeah. We have Well, you guys aren't looking. Yeah. Yeah.

But but it's like but that's that's the thing. We're already we're already the Lord's. You know, we we can count on that. And and those insecure feelings we have, those moments of feeling like, I do not belong amidst this group of people. Or even I think about the, you know, sinner who comes and beats his chest and repents and stuff like that and recognizes that he's the fallen sinner.

Jesus points him out as being the one who's holy, and I just feel like my chest is sore sometimes. Like, Lord, I just keep messing up. I'm so sorry. Yeah. But it's it's comforting to me, though, to to know that we're already his.

Me too. Me too. And to know that he's he's chosen us Yeah. Chosen us. And called us set us apart.

And then he says, I want them to be where I am. Like, he means that. He wants us to be where he is. He wants us to have eternal life. We get on our I think we're our own worst enemy sometimes.

And we get in our way thinking, I don't deserve it. I don't earn it. Yeah. You're right. Neither do I.

Neither do any of us. That's what grace is. It's we don't deserve it, and yet he gives it anyway. It's great news. It really is.

It's great news. But the more I think that we can really mess this message up by thinking that we've earned it or done something to deserve it. And that's just not the case. He's giving it away.

And you can see the disunity in that too. Like, we're we're in unity with Christ when we realize we need him. Yep. Just like all those branches need divine.

Yep. When we can stand together and go, God, we're broken people. We are broken people. Let's stop comparing ourselves to, well, they're more broken than than I am. I doubt it.

Yeah. Yeah. Anybody else from from John chapter 17? Got a thought? I love I love what you shared.

Alright. Well, I'd love to close in song if you'd stand and we'll sing with me. This is kind of a kind of a love song to God here.

I will sing, sing, sing to my God and my king. And I will love with this heart you gain. You've been good always. Let's sing that again. I will sing, say, say to my God and my king.

Oh, I'll stay away. And I will love love I will love love with this honor that you've made.

Amen. God, truly, you have been good. And I think of us sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Give thanks. And that's what we have endeavored to do tonight, but I pray that we would continue to do that throughout the week, just wherever we are and whatever we're doing, that we could give glory to you just as as Jesus, you gave glory to the father, that that would be our our heart's desire too.

That we'd wanna give glory to you and and because we're thankful. Because we're truly thankful. Amen. Amen. And this is the way to have eternal life, to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to Earth.

Amen.