Jesus’ Heart for His People
Download MP3Good morning, church. My name is Craig. For those of you who do not know me, I am the college minister here at Redeemer, and it's such a joy and a pleasure to be with you all this morning. We're gonna take a quick pause from the story of the life of David. Jeff is actually gonna finish that up next week before we get to Easter.
Craig Millard:And our hope today is that you kinda get a quick look into what happens on a typical Tuesday night during a college gathering. And I just wanna say, it is an honor to come and preach alongside our college worship band. They are so faithful, they they lead us every Tuesday night and and I'm just really thankful, to get to preach with them because I feel I feel as if I have my team with me, as I come to bring the word to you all. So I hope it is a pleasure and a joy and good for your soul as well. You know, Joel told me at the start of the year, he said, hey, March 26th, we want you and the college band to come preach.
Craig Millard:I said, great. What am I gonna preach on? He said, you can preach on anything you want. And so I wracked my brain and I was thinking through it. I said, okay, like, I could preach on predestination or I could preach on politics.
Craig Millard:I think that would be a really good one. But for whatever reason, the sermons just didn't come together as I was thinking through that. And, I decided, since our college ministry is going through the gospel of John this semester, I decided that we would do the same thing here. Just about a week ago, we finished John 16, so today, we will be in John 17. Like I said, the college ministry, we've been walking through the gospel of John, specifically the second half, chapters 13 through 21.
Craig Millard:And if I'm honest, it's you're not allowed to have favorites, but I think it is my favorite semester of getting to preach through, really, so far, the upper room discourse, which is one of the longest recorded teachings of Jesus in the gospel. And it's been really fun as we just get to look at all the goodness that is put in, in that teaching of his, but also wrestle with some really hard things that Jesus says. We have to wrestle with, hey, Alec, what does it mean that Jesus is the way, truth, and life and nobody gets to the father except through him? Like, that's a hard thing if you don't know him. And so it's been a it's been a ton of fun.
Craig Millard:Our small groups have done a deep dive every single week with with over 90 members, in this congregation leading our college students, and so so for that, I say thank you. And on Tuesday nights, we've covered, like I said, topics like Jesus washing the disciples' feet, his claim that he is the way, the truth, and life, that he is the vine, and then also at the end of chapter 16 when he says, take heart for I have overcome the world. Like I said, we'll be in John 17 today. And as we look at this text, I wanna kinda frame where we're at. I want you to keep in mind that everything that Jesus is saying here is coming right before he's about to be arrested, tried, and crucified.
Craig Millard:All of those things are looming and and all of those things are on Jesus' mind as he knows they are coming. Jesus is praying for the disciples here knowing he has no more to teach them in this moment, and the cross is set before him. My goal this morning is that we will see rightly the work of Jesus on the cross, the work that he came to accomplish, and then live into the truths that he prays. He prays that the father will keep them, and he prays that the father will sanctify them. Let's go ahead and read starting in verse 1.
Craig Millard:When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that the son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
Craig Millard:For this is the word of the Lord. It's with you. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, we come ready to hear from your word. Father, we are expectant for you to speak to us.
Craig Millard:Though we pray that your spirit lord, we do whatever the spirit needs to do in this moment in us. That is encourage, or exhort, convict, or challenge. Father, we pray that you would do it so that we would all leave this place more in love with you and more in passion to follow you all of our days. Father, I pray that you speak through me that that none of the words that come out of me would be of my own accord, but, lord, they would be you and you alone for your name to be lifted high and nothing else. Lord, we love you and pray all these things in your name.
Craig Millard:Amen. We will continue on in the chapters you see in your worship guide, But I wanted to pause here before moving on to the meat of Jesus's prayer. Right? There's so much in these first five verses that must be understood before we look onto what he prays for his disciples. In fact, I actually challenge you in this entire prayer, this high priestly prayer that's the entire chapter, I I challenge you to go back to it because there's so much there that every time you come back to it, you're gonna see something different.
Craig Millard:Like, I it was a kind of it was a challenge for me because I'm like, oh, I could preach on that and that and that and that. We don't have the time for it and I was struggling. But here in this prayer, we see Jesus is perfectly demonstrating for us how to approach the father in prayer as he and the father are 1. There is a real deep intimacy that we see in this prayer as Jesus knows the father completely, entirely. Right.
Craig Millard:Jesus says this himself back in John 159 when Thomas asks who the father is or when they'll see the father and he looks at times and says, have you not been with me all this time? Jesus tells him, I am God. I am the father. The relationship of the trinity is beautifully on display in these first five verses. And here may I wish that we could dive into that and talk about all that comes with that, but our focus today is on the content of what Jesus is saying.
Craig Millard:The chapter opens with a bit of a transitional statement. When Jesus says, when Jesus had spoken these words I guess he didn't say those, but it says, when Jesus had spoken these words. This statement is important if you've been reading this gospel account in one sitting, right, as it should be read. John is signifying that Jesus' teaching to the disciples is now complete and something new is about to happen. That something new we see as Jesus lifted his eyes to the heavens is actually prayer.
Craig Millard:Jesus is going to spend his final moments before his arrest, praying his longest recorded prayer in the gospels. The focus of this prayer is he's praying for his disciples and the subsequent believers to come. And Jesus opens his prayer by stating that the hour has come. And this is a big moment as Jesus, throughout his time with the disciples, has talked about this this hour that was coming. Right.
Craig Millard:We see that in John 4 and John 5 when Jesus says there is an hour coming or an hour is coming. The hour with which Jesus has been speaking about, he declares right here in John 17 that that hour has come. And how do we know that the hour has come? Because in verse 4, Jesus boldly declares to the father that he has accomplished all the work that the father had for him here in the world, and he is about to go and glorify the father perfectly in the work that is set before him. And what is this purpose for the work for which he came?
Craig Millard:Verses 2 to 3. So that he can exercise his authority over all flesh and to give eternal life to all who will believe. No small work. Hear me. The hour that that that Jesus is speaking of here is the hour of the cross.
Craig Millard:It is the hour of atonement. It is the hour of God redeeming his people back into a relationship with him. All that Jesus' life has been building towards is coming to a culmination in the coming moments. Because Jesus, upon finishing this prayer for the disciples, is gonna get up and go into the garden in Gethsemane. He's gonna go into that place.
Craig Millard:He will be betrayed and he will be arrested. And then he will be tried unjustly. He'll be mocked, beaten, abused, and whipped as he is sentenced to death on a cross. And he will willingly, willingly walk the road to that cross to die on that cross. The king of kings, the lord of lords will be put in the most vulnerable and humiliating places as he stands nailed to a cross and dies.
Craig Millard:But as we will celebrate in a few short weeks, Jesus does not stay dead. Right? He raises from the death and he demonstrates his rule, power, and authority over all things. But you have to pause and ask, like, why? Why would Jesus do this?
Craig Millard:Why would God do this? Why would the one without sin or blemish do this? Why would the one who is powerful over all and in control of all, why would he willingly go and die? It sounds like a Sunday school answer, but it's one that we have to come back to every single day, every single moment. It's because he loves you and because he loves us.
Craig Millard:Right? The God of the universe loves you so much that he would die for you to forgive you of your sins, reconcile you back to relationship with him, in verse 2, to have eternal life. And hear me, this wasn't just something that over, you know, a few 1000 years, Jesus is like, man, they can't figure it out. They're not getting it right. What should I do here?
Craig Millard:No. God the father knew from the beginning of time that this was his plan to redeem his people. Right. Because he knew all the way back in the garden that when sin entered the world, it would break the world. And he knew that sin would sever the relationship that we have with him.
Craig Millard:And the bible teaches us, Romans 3 23, that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Every single one of us here has sinned against a holy God. In Romans 623 says that for the wages of sin is death. Meaning, Matt, that the punishment, the the the the result of your sin is that you are sentenced to death, eternal separation from God in hell. And just so we're clear, sin I'm I'm kind of a good person.
Craig Millard:Sin is anything that goes against god's perfect design for our lives. It's any time we decide to go our own way rather than God's way. God's standard is perfection to be in relationship with him. But not one of us measures up. Not one person stands without sin.
Craig Millard:Not one of us stands without blemish. And this brings us to a problem. Because god is the perfect judge, meaning he is just and sin must be punished. But he's also loving. He's a loving father who seeks to be in relationship with his people and forgive them of their sins.
Craig Millard:So how does God both demonstrate being the perfect judge while also being the loving father that he is? Jesus. He sent Jesus to this earth to be the perfect sacrifice for us. He knew that before we were even created, before the foundation of the earth was even formed, he knew that Jesus would be sent to come and redeem his people back to him. Jesus would take the place of our sin.
Craig Millard:He would bear the punishment for our sin so that we could taste forgiveness and death would be defeated. Although we did not deserve it, God freely gives it to us. Although we could not earn salvation, he freely offers it to us. And although we could not live up to his standard of perfection to be in a relationship with him, he would take the penalty on himself, defeat death on our behalf, and as he states here, reconcile us back to him and offer us eternal life. We deserve death, but he gives us life.
Craig Millard:This is the hour that has come. What a marvelous hour it is indeed. And hear me. Like, we can't move past this to get to what Jesus prays for his people. Right?
Craig Millard:Like, if if you don't rightly view what Jesus has done in your life, like, if you were sitting there and you were listening to me share the gospel and you're like, yeah, Craig. I've heard this a 1000000 times. Get to the next thing. Get to what he teaches. Well, I challenge you.
Craig Millard:Sit at the cross. Because without the cross, we have nothing. It does not matter what he says after if you don't have Jesus. Jesus is saying these things. He's gonna pray to the disciple, pray for the disciples because they know him and they had they were going to receive eternal life.
Craig Millard:So I ask you, do you know Jesus? Not know as in have knowledge of him, but know as in a sense that he has radically changed your life. Know as in a sense that that that he is your good father that you run to because he loves and cares for you. Or know in a sense that he is your God and you seek to follow him all of your days out of response to his love? Do you know him?
Craig Millard:And I think for many in this in this space, praise God, your answer is a resounding yes. And that is awesome. But I just wanna tell you a few things. I wanna point out a couple of things. 1, you never graduate from the gospel.
Craig Millard:There is no amount of theology that you can learn that's going to get you closer to Jesus. You have Jesus and that's it. And that's all you need. 2, I hope that you marvel at the cross all of your life. And everything that's about to be prayed, if you're in Christ Jesus, is for you as well.
Craig Millard:We don't have time to get to verses 20 and and on, but but Jesus in verse 20 is actually gonna say, hey, like, I know the last 19 verses, I was praying specifically for the 11 disciples, But in verse 20, he actually says, everything that I'm praying and everything I'm about to pray, actually, is I'm praying this for all believers who will come. So as we will look at the rest of the text, hear me. He's praying. Jesus, your savior, is praying these things for you if you are in Christ Jesus. And if you are in this place and you don't know Jesus, if you've not been reconciled back to relationship with him, I tell you these things that he's going to pray, the gospel with which I just explained is for you if you willingly submit your life to him.
Craig Millard:It's all offered for you freely. So as we read, I wanna focus in on 2 things that Jesus prays for the disciples. We'll see as we read he prays that the father will keep them and he prays that the father will sanctify them. Starting in verse 6. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the out of the world.
Craig Millard:Yours they were and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
Craig Millard:All mine are yours and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy father, keep them in your name which you have given me that they may be 1 even as we are 1. While I was with them, I kept them in your name which you have given me. I've guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Craig Millard:But now I'm coming to you, and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 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. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth.
Craig Millard:Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. First point, Jesus prays to the father that you will be kept by the father. Jesus opens this section of his prayer talking about how he manifested and displayed the character of the of God to the disciples perfectly.
Craig Millard:And he talks about how they have received him. Right? He mentions that he gave the disciples the words to the of the father and they believed them and believed that Jesus came from the father. Jesus is declaring to the father that the disciples were his and he knows that their faith is true. And this is a genuine declaration of their faith in him.
Craig Millard:You know, I I find this extremely reassuring because we know the the next part of the part of the text is Jesus knows is that he is declaring their faith to be genuine and true as he knows that all of them are about to desert him. He says these things about their faith when he knows that Peter is about to go and deny him 3 times and every disciple is going to run and hide in their homes as he is crucified. See, Jesus knew that the disciples were his and there was nothing that could change that. No amount of worry. No amount of doubt.
Craig Millard:No amount of sin could separate them. They were his and thus they were in the father's hands. And this takes me to the first thing, as I said, that Jesus prays for his disciples to the father. He prays to the father to keep them. Jesus says in verse 12 that he has kept them while he was here on the earth, but then he mentions, hey, it's time for me to go.
Craig Millard:And so, God, as I leave, father, as I leave, we pray, father, that you would keep them. Other translations use the word protect. So you might see that in your text. So as you're reading this, you can read it as as keeping or protecting of the disciples. But I I I like to ask questions like, why?
Craig Millard:Why with with Jesus knowing that the cross is right before him, why is this what Jesus prays for his disciples? It's because he knows that the world is ever against them. In fact, in verse 14, he says that the world has hated them for following him. In a very present sense, he knows that their faith is about to be tested greater than it's ever been tested before as he is nailed to a cross. But in a larger sense, he knows that if as they live into the things he's called them to do, their faith will continuously be tested and pushed back against.
Craig Millard:Or because Jesus doesn't want the disciples to stay in, like, this holy huddle and just commune with one another and not with the lost world. Right. He desires for them to go into the world and continue the mission he came to usher into the world. Right? He calls them to be a light in a dark world.
Craig Millard:He calls them the salt of the earth. And in order for light to do what it needs to do in the darkness, it must be in the darkness. And in order for salt to do what it is used for or be useful, it must be put into what is needed. Jesus knew he was calling the disciples to live in the world but yet not be of it. And this world that he was calling them into and to engage with for the for the gospel, he knows is not one on their side.
Craig Millard:Verse 15, there is an evil one who is seeking their destruction and desires to thwart their plans. Or first Peter 5:8 says that the devil is like a like a lion prowling around seeking to devour those who follow Christ. Hear me. The evil one is actively seeking to entice believers and pull them away from following Christ. There is a war for your soul, and Jesus knows this in this moment.
Craig Millard:And along with the devil working against them to pull them away, Jesus also knows that being in this world means the disciples will face trials, tribulations, and suffering like all people. In fact, in chapter 16, he he goes so far as to promise the disciples that they're going to face hard things in this life. It is expected for people who live in a broken world. Right? The effects of sin are pain, suffering, loneliness, trials, sadness, hurt, and loss.
Craig Millard:Right? All of those things have entered into a broken world. And I I can guess that almost every single one of you, all of you, have felt one of those things at some point in your life. Being a Christian does not make you immune from experiencing experiencing these things. So Jesus in this moment prays to the father to keep his disciples.
Craig Millard:He knows that their own sin, their own anxieties and doubts, their own suffering will tempt them to fall away from faith. They'll be tempted to question if if if their sin has disqualified them. They will be tempted to question if god is good when they lose loved ones. And they'll be tempted to walk away from it all as they face persecution as they live into the things he's called them to. So he prays to the father to keep them.
Craig Millard:Why does this matter? Why why do we need to be kept by the father? Why should this bring us assurance and comfort? John 10 verses 27 through 29. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Craig Millard:I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the father are 1, the one that is desiring you to be kept in the faith is in complete control over all. The one who has created the heavens and the earth and every single molecule and every created thing is the one who desires your keeping. That God declared in chapter 10 that he will lose nothing that is in his hands.
Craig Millard:This prayer of being kept is not simply a prayer. It is a promise for all of those in Christ Jesus. If you are in Christ, you can find hope and comfort in knowing that God will never let you go. See, our God, our father, is in the business of keeping his sheep when he knows that they cannot keep themselves. John 1633, Jesus commands us to take heart for he has overcome the world.
Craig Millard:There is no rule, power, or authority over our God. There is no sin. There is no doubt, question, suffering, heartache, or anxiety that can pull you from the hand of God. Before the foundation of the world, you were his. He will keep you.
Craig Millard:You cannot be severed from Christ because you were given by the father to him before any of us existed. Romans 838 declares nothing, And I mean nothing can separate you from the love of God. And and and here's the thing. He doesn't just leave you by yourself to, like, try to muster up enough faith to believe that He's gonna keep you. Right?
Craig Millard:He doesn't just ask you, okay, like, hey, I keep you, just believe it. Figure it out. No. Verse 14. He gave you his word.
Craig Millard:Right? He gave you the literal word of the living god to guide, to instruct, and to help you fight with. The evil one will attack. Right? It says that here, but the word of the lord is what we fight with.
Craig Millard:Your savior Jesus, when tempted in the wilderness, he fought back with the word of God. So why would you think that you should fight with anything else but the word? Hear me, Christian. Hear me, believer. Write the word of the Lord on your heart is what you're called to fight with.
Craig Millard:He doesn't just give you his word. Right? He says in verse 16, he gives you his spirit. The spirit of the living God dwells within you. Like, pause and think about that.
Craig Millard:The spirit of the living God dwells within you if you are in Christ Jesus. Jesus said that it is to their advantage that he leave and the spirit come. It is better for us that Jesus is not in this world and the spirit is here. Do you believe it? Is that what you cling to?
Craig Millard:Is that what you run to? The spirit the power that is within you, given to you by God. That spirit will guide, will convict, will empower and will lead you. The spirit is the very seal of your salvation and proof that you are his. And I and I really hope that we could go on because verse 20 and on, he actually talks about he he doesn't just give you the word and his spirit.
Craig Millard:He gives you the body. Alright. He gives you community of believers to walk alongside you, to encourage you, to call you higher, to call you out, and to point you towards Christ. Live into the body of believers that surround you as they will point you to Christ, cling to to the body. Hear me.
Craig Millard:I don't I don't know every one of your stories, not even a small portion of them. But no matter where you find yourself in this moment, no matter if you're on the highest mountain peak or in the deepest valley, no matter if you're operating in spiritual health or you're at the bottom of a pit, god is near. No matter if you're walking currently in freedom or you're stuck in the cycle of sin, god is near. He is in control and he is with you and you are his. He will keep you.
Craig Millard:Right? Because the very creation of the world, you were his. And before you even knew it, you were his. And before you even can know it, you are his. He will keep you.
Craig Millard:This is a promise. Next thing that Jesus prays for, he prays that you will be sanctified by the father. Let's go ahead and reread verses 17 to 19, because I've said a lot of words. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in truth.
Craig Millard:One of the things I love most about our relationship with God is that he doesn't just save us, And like I said earlier, tell us to figure it out from there. He doesn't do the work of salvation for us and then tell us to muster up enough strength and figure out how to pursue holiness and righteousness and all the things he calls you to. No. Jesus here prays to the father that the father would sanctify his disciples. And this word, sanctify, sanctification is a big churchy word, so let's just go ahead and define it.
Craig Millard:Sanctification is the process of being made more and more into Christ likeness. It's the process of turning from sin and living into the call that Jesus has put put on your life to live holy and righteous. It's the process of growing into god who god intends for you to be according to his word. The process of sanctification is not, hear me, not one done on your own accord. God is the one who brings growth in your life.
Craig Millard:First Corinthians 3:6. God gave the growth. But this, like the keeping of the by the father, is a promise. Right? The prayer for sanctification is a promise here from the father to the disciples.
Craig Millard:First Thessalonians 43. I get asked a lot, what's God's will for my life? Well, here it is. For this is the will of God, your sanctification. The literal will of God for your life is that you, believer, would be sanctified.
Craig Millard:That you would grow and bear fruit. And this falls perfectly in line with Jesus' teaching just a few chapters before in chapter 15 when he speaks on the vine. Right. Because he spoke in chapter 15 and when talking about the vine, he said that those who stay connected to the vine, Jesus, will bear fruit. This is not a maybe statement, but rather it's an assurance.
Craig Millard:It is a guarantee that if you live into Christ, if you stay connected to him, you will bear fruit. You will be sanctified. You cannot pursue a relationship with Jesus and spend time with the father and not bear fruit. As you turn from sin and turn to Christ, hear me. It's a promise.
Craig Millard:You will grow in the fruits of the spirit. You will find victory from sin and you will grow into the person that God calls you to be. This is a promise and it's God's will for your life. It should bring you great comfort and joy. Because just like his keeping, God does not leave you alone to figure out this process on your own.
Craig Millard:He, through his spirit, will convict you of sin and righteousness and guide you by all truth, as chapter 16 teaches. The work of the spirit in your life is not simply to comfort and empower you, but it's also to convict you and to guide you to truth. Like like, how awesome is that? Like, I don't have to, like, sit here and wrestle with, like, is that my gut or is that, like, the spirit. Right?
Craig Millard:You don't do it alone. God is with you through it all. You don't have to guess and wonder what direction the Lord wants for your life, because you're sanctified by the word and the spirit which convicts and is guided and bound by the word. If you wanna know how the Lord wants to grow you or what he wants for your life or what he calls you to walk away from and walk towards, you must learn the word of the living God. Jesus stated that he gave the word the disciples the word to fight off the evil one And here we see it also.
Craig Millard:He gave it to sanctify them. You wanna grow in Christlikeness? Spend time with the father in his word. You wanna find freedom from sin? Well, write the word on your heart so that you can use it to fight when tempted.
Craig Millard:You need comfort and strength when moments when you need to persevere. Put those words in your heart so that you can speak them even when you don't believe it over your downcast soul. Christian, keep turning to the Lord and asking him to sanctify you. It is his will for your life. He will do it.
Craig Millard:In close though, I wanna point out verse 18, this kind of weird verse that's there. As Jesus is praying for the disciples' sanctification, he mentions that he has sent the disciples into the world just as he was sent into the world. And why was Jesus sent into the world? That's what we spoke about at the beginning. He was sent to save his people from their sins.
Craig Millard:That same rescue mission Jesus was sent on is the same mission he gives his followers. If you are a follower of Christ, you are to live as a sent people. Your purpose, above all else, is to glorify God. But one of the main ways you do that is by being a steward of the gospel. We are to be a people who proclaim the name of Jesus to a fallen world.
Craig Millard:Right? Because, like, if if heaven and hell are real, there is an urgency that we must have if we have the words of life. Right? Because if hell is real, that means that everyone who does not know Jesus will spend the eternity separated from him. How much do you have to hate somebody to not tell them about it if you have the words of life?
Craig Millard:Do you live with this mission? See, I find it really interesting that Jesus he mentioned the disciples being sent in the middle of 2 verses on sanctification. There's probably a lot of reasons that are above my understanding for this. But I wanna charge you with one that sticks out to me. You know, I I I sit with students all the time.
Craig Millard:Students who love Jesus, love him dearly. And I sit with them and they tell me about their fraternity brother or sorority sister or their friend or family member who does not know Christ. And they follow that with the statement like, yeah. I know I need to share. And I said, okay.
Craig Millard:When are you gonna do it? How are we gonna do it? They say, oh, Craig Craig Craig Craig Craig. You you don't understand, Craig. Like, I have too much sin in my life to proclaim Jesus.
Craig Millard:I don't wanna be a hypocrite. Or Craig, no no no. I like, I'm still being discipled. Like, we need to meet up some more times. I need to grow in sanctification first.
Craig Millard:Or, Craig, they might ask me a question that I don't know the answer to. Hear me. These are literal lies from the devil himself to keep your mouth shut. Jesus does not say in this passage to go and achieve full sanctification and then be sent. No.
Craig Millard:He says, as you are being sanctified, live as a sent people. Do you know Jesus? Then you have all that you need. 1st Corinthians 2 1 through 5, Paul says it this way. And I, when I came to you brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
Craig Millard:For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling and my speech and my message were not implausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of god. I saw this beautifully displayed when we were in Cuba just 2 short weeks ago. I had the immense privilege of sitting in a home with this grandmother who when we asked, hey, what do you know about Jesus? She said, I don't I don't know if I've heard of him.
Craig Millard:We had the immense privilege to sit with her for over an hour, like an hour and a half, and we gotta sit there and walk her through the entire story of the Bible with her. And we gotta watch as the scales were removed from her eyes as she was coming to understanding. And then and then she you saw joy enter her soul. And then she professed faith in Christ. Right?
Craig Millard:It was this awesome, awesome picture and that in itself was beautiful. But what was even more cool is we got up, we prayed for her, we talked to her, gave her a bible, connected her with a local church, and then we went on to go to another house. And we went about the day, but then we got back into the van. And there was another group there. One of our other groups.
Craig Millard:It's hey. Were you sharing did you guys share with the grandmother who had a granddaughter with red hair sitting with her? I said, yeah. We did. Yo.
Craig Millard:What's what's up? She said, oh, well, we were in her daughter's house. And that grandmother, upon receiving Jesus, ran ran to her daughter's house and to tell her about who she had just met, that she had met the savior of the world. That granddaughter, we had forgotten to ask if she understood. Looked to grandmother and said, grandma, I don't I don't I don't understand what they were saying.
Craig Millard:And praise be to god that her grandmother did not say, hold on. I gotta go be discipled first. Hold on. I got some sin in my life I need to to get over. Or I need to learn some theology before I can share this.
Craig Millard:No. No. No. She boldly opened her mouth and proclaimed that salvation comes through Jesus and Jesus alone. And their granddaughter put her faith in Christ.
Craig Millard:Praise god. Hear me. Our going and being sent is not saved for the people that have gone to seminary or people who say stand on this stage. Our being sent is for every single believer. Being sent is for all believers.
Craig Millard:And being sent is a work of the Lord in us. You do not go alone. You go as you are being kept by the father. You go as you are being sanctified by the father. And we go knowing that He is the God of salvation and He will save His people.
Craig Millard:Let's pray. God, I admit that far too many times, God, I've I've raised past your work on the cross. I forget that you're keeping me and sanctifying me. Lord, and I keep my eyes on myself, and then I wonder where you are. Father, I pray for me and everyone in this room, father, that we would sit at your feet.
Craig Millard:Lord, that we would marvel at what you've done for us. Lord, I pray that we'd live into the truth and promise that lord you have you're keeping us and that you will sanctify us. And as we do that, lord, may we go and be a sent people to a dying world. Father, we love you and pray all these things in your name. Amen.
