John 17:13

John chapter 17 provides a significant setting for our discussion. If you need a Bible, please raise your hand, and we have Bibles available for you. Otherwise, I trust that everyone brought their Bible, as you are the die-hards. This is the last time that Jesus is spending with His disciples before His arrest, before He goes to the cross, and before He is put to death. It is the last time they will hang out with Him, most of them, until He returns after rising from the grave. This is the very last part of that conversation. Jesus has talked to His disciples, and now He is praying for them.

We will be in John chapter 17, starting in verse 9. But before we do that, we need to pray.

Heavenly Father, thank You so much for this day. Thank You, Jesus, for all that You have given to us and all You have done for us, Lord God. Thank You for the rain, even though it is a lot at once. We are thankful for it because we know we need it. I pray that You would be with those who are impacted by it—those who have to drive in it and those who are passengers with the people who drive in it, Lord God. I also pray for our church today. As we dig into Your word, I pray that You would speak to us, Lord God, and help me order my thoughts. Help me to glorify You as I teach.

As we all learn together, I pray that You would do all those things that You promised to do. Comfort those who are hurting, convict those who need conviction, and for those who may be wondering if You are even real, I pray that they would see and sense Your presence today as we go through Your word. Thank You, Jesus, for going before us and cleaning up our messes behind us. So, Jesus, be glorified in Your church. We give this time to You and pray these things in Your name. Amen.

Alright, let's look at John chapter 17, picking up in verse 8. This verse sets the context for what follows. Jesus is speaking to the Father, saying, "Because I have given them the words that you gave me." He continues, "They have received them and have known for certain that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me." Here, Jesus is praying for his disciples, acknowledging their belief that God sent Him.

In verse 9, Jesus states, "I pray for them. I'm not praying for the world, but for those you have given to me because they are yours." He emphasizes that everything He has is the Father's, and everything the Father has is His. Jesus is glorified in His followers. He is specifically praying for those who have believed in Him, not for the world.

This raises the question: Why is Jesus not praying for the world? Is it because the world does not need Him? No, the world desperately needs Jesus. So, what is the solution to the world's problems? Obviously, it is Jesus. God chose to reveal Himself to the world through Jesus. In the Old Testament, the prophets foretold the coming of Jesus.

In a remarkable turn of events, God decided to set aside so much and show up as a baby, as an infant. He put Himself on our planet, under our care, which is mind-boggling. He submitted to the Father as He came to us, knowing that ultimately, He would be mistreated, rejected, and killed by His own creation. This is how He chose to reveal Himself to the world.

God sent Jesus, and Jesus revealed the Father to His disciples. The plan going forward is that God uses His disciples and those who come after Him to reveal Himself to the world. So, why is He not praying for the world? Because He is praying for His followers; they are the Father's people. Jesus says, "I pray for them because they are yours." Our value comes from the fact that we belong to God.

Our value is not in our abilities. It's not in our resources. It's not in how we look, how tall we are, or how short we are. It's not about which football team we hope wins in the playoffs—anybody except the Chiefs. Sorry to any Chiefs fans. Our value comes from the fact that we are God's. That is where our value originates.

So often, we can miss that and lose sight of God's value system. All of a sudden, we start looking at the people around us as valuable only if they can do something for us. Do they make us happy? Do they provide us with resources? Are they kind to us? Do they like us? But those who don't like us? Obviously, they are not valuable in our eyes. We sometimes miss out on the value system that God has because we start viewing it through the lens of the world.

Jesus prays for his followers because of the followers' people. Our position of belonging to God is what gives us value. In verse 10, we see the perfect unity between God and Jesus when He says, "Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them." This illustrates the perfect unity between Jesus and the Father, and we see this remarkable truth that Jesus is glorified in His followers.

So, point one in your outline, if you're taking notes: Jesus is glorified when His people are in unity. This series is called "Life in Connection." We started with Life in Connection with God, then Life in Connection with one another last week, and this week we focus on Life in Connection with the world. Jesus is glorified when His people are in unity because, when we are united, we are effective, and we will see that as we continue.

In verse 11, Jesus says, "I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me so that they may be one as we are one." While He was with them, He protected them by the name that God had given Him. He guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the son of destruction, so the Scriptures may be fulfilled.

Here, we see that Jesus is leaving, or if we look closely, we see that in some way, Jesus has already left. He states, "I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world."

Jesus somehow has already left, and he prays for his people, the ones that are staying. This is the first time for the disciples that they are going to be separated in this way from Jesus. They've gone out away from him for a while, but they've come back to him. This is the first time that they're going to be truly separated from Jesus, which we may not understand the same way because we have never seen Jesus face to face. We've never walked arm in arm with him. We've never shared a meal with him. This is going to be a huge shock for them, and Jesus prepares them by praying for them. He says they need protection.

What do they need protection from? It's interesting, if you look at that verse: "Holy Father, protect them by your name that you've given me, so that they may be one as we are one." What do they need protection from? It's not from a physical threat. We know this because, as we look at the life of the apostles after this, all of them except one are martyred for their faith. All except one die for their faith. So it's obviously not physical protection from death, but he says, "Protect them by your name so that they may be one as we are one." He says what I want you to protect them from is disunity. Protect their unity, Lord God. Keep them united together, which is ironic because in verse 12, Jesus says, "I protected them by your name or in your authority to the Father. None was lost except the one that was going to be lost so that Scripture would be fulfilled."

Jesus says he protected all of them except for Judas. Why is this ironic when he talks about protecting their unity? We come across here in this section an argument that has been going on in Scripture, an argument that has been going on in the church for a very, very long time. Was Judas predestined to reject Jesus, or did Jesus know that Judas would reject him and that's why he chose him? Was he predestined, or was it free will and Jesus just knew ahead of time? Am I going to answer that today? I'm going to give you an answer for that today: I don't know. Scripture in parts teaches predestination.

In other parts, the Bible teaches free will. We, on the other hand, as humans, do not have the capacity to truly grasp this. We look at this and think it is clearly one way or the other. However, the Bible teaches both, and then we encounter all kinds of problems. We have churches that build their doctrines on these interpretations, leading to separation and disunity due to adherence to particular doctrines that may be second tier or third tier at best.

Now that I've potentially angered those who hold tightly to both sides, let's look at Verse 13. Jesus says, "Now I am coming to you," speaking to the Father, "and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them." The thing that Jesus wants for His disciples is for them to have His joy.

A couple of years ago, Miles taught a message leading up to Christmas where he said, and I am paraphrasing, that we receive maximum joy when we bring God maximum glory. When Jesus glorified the Father, His joy was complete, and He desires that same joy for us. How do we attain that joy? By glorifying the Father through Jesus.

It is a little strange that Jesus is talking about joy here, especially considering that He is about to walk out the door, go to the Garden of Gethsemane, be greeted by Judas with a kiss, and ultimately be arrested, beaten, and passed from one human court to another until He is finally crucified on the cross. Yet, He expresses His desire for His disciples to have the same joy that He has.

If I knew what was coming in my life, I don't know if I would have joy. Perhaps if it were good things, I would feel joyful, but if it were bad things, that might take my joy away. However, when we bring God glory, that is when we receive joy.

So, what is the best way to bring God glory? By doing what He has called us to do. What is the primary job of Christians?

To glorify God, what was the first instruction ever given to humans? In the garden, He said to be fruitful and multiply. Multiplication is the first command that we were given.

Now, an important point: I am not talking just about physical multiplication. If you're married, great! Multiply like crazy. Go for it. You have my blessing and God's blessing. What I am more speaking about, though, is that God receives maximum glory when we do what we are called to do. We are called to do the work of an evangelist, as it says in Scripture. We are called to bring those who are far off from God close to Him. So, if we want to bring Jesus maximum glory, we must bring more people into the household of God, into the family of faith. That's what we're called to do.

Let me find my place in my notes, as I ran away from it here. Verse 14 is a good one. There are so many good ones in here. But do you notice this? As you read this passage, Jesus has a tendency to pray a little bit like me, or maybe I have a tendency to pray a little bit like Jesus, where there's a lot of repetition. Did I say that already? I don't know if I did.

It's a challenging thing to go through, but it's so good. He says, "I have given them your word" in verse 14. "The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one."

So, He says they're going to be in the world, Lord, and the world is going to hate them the same way the world hated Jesus. There are two things, or maybe three things, for us to pull out of this. First of all, when the world hates us, we should not be surprised. It should not be a shock to us when we go out in the name of Jesus Christ and seek to expand His kingdom that there are going to be people who are upset with that.

John 15:18, which is earlier in this same conversation that Jesus is having with His disciples, says, "If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you."

So, we shouldn't be surprised when the world hates us, when there's hostility.

In point two, don't allow the world's hatred to separate you from Jesus.

Don't be surprised, but don't allow the world's hatred to separate you from Jesus. John 16:1 says, "I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling." Part of this same conversation states, "So the world hates you." Don't allow that to separate you from God. Sometimes we can be cowed by the world, or we can be so afraid of the world that it stops us from doing what we're called to do.

The third point in this call is to go into the world. Enjoy that again: the call is to go into all the world and make disciples. That's what we've been called to do. When we do that, we're going to face hostility from the world. However, we have been given a great gift that Jesus talks about right here. He says we've been given the Word of God. In Ephesians chapter 6, it calls the Word of God the sword of the Spirit, used to battle the evil one. We've been given a weapon, even though the world hates us. This is where we go to find comfort. This is where we go to find ammunition, as it were. This is where we go to find our marching orders. The Bible is where we go to find our direction.

In verse 15, it says, "I am not praying that you take them out of the world, but that you would protect them from the evil one. They are not of this world just as I am not of this world. Sanctify them by the word; your word is truth." So, what does it mean to be in the world but not of the world? It means that the world should not have a hold on us. Jesus wants us to be in the world. He wants us to be protected, and He wants us to be effective.

Why specifically does He say "in the world" but not "of the world"? Why particularly the word "in"? I think it's because very often we want to call people out of things. We want to call people out of a lifestyle, or out of a behavior, or out of a belief system. We want to pull them out of where they are. But Jesus came to pull us into His family. So often, we get those things mixed up, wanting to pull somebody out of a behavior or a lifestyle without having brought them in. When we bring people into the family of God, that's when the Holy Spirit does the work of cleaning, rejuvenation, and pulling all the junk out. But so often, we want to pull people out of something else without having brought them into the family of God.

Unity is the goal: unity with God, with each other, and with those we are able to bring out of the world and into the family of God. It's a little bit like foster care. My wife and I are foster parents. I guess we're not technically foster parents anymore, but foster care is the process where a child is removed from a dangerous situation and sent to a place that can provide temporary care, with the goal of reunification.

Reunification is the process where the child is removed so the family can address whatever needs to be taken care of, allowing the child to return to the family. That is the goal of the foster care system: reunification. Does that always work? No. Some families, for whatever reason, can't get things back together enough to care for a child.

As Christians, we have been placed in this world to find the children who have been removed from the family of God. We all came from Adam and Eve; we all came out of the garden. Historically, we all started as God's people, and now we are scattered all over the place. Our job as Christians is to find those who are hurting, those who are separated from their Father, and bring them back into the family. That is what we are called to do.

However, we need protection because we will be targeted by the evil one. We will be targeted by Satan as we try to fulfill this mission because we are a threat. Do you feel like much of a threat? Some days, I don't feel like Satan is afraid of me. Most days, I would say I don't feel like Satan is quaking in his boots, thinking, "Oh no, there's Jason." And he really shouldn't, because I am not a great person in and of myself.

When we step out in authority and follow the Word of God, we step out in the authority of Christ, doing what He has called us to do. Then we become a threat, and that is why we will receive opposition. All of a sudden, we are a danger to Satan's kingdom, and we will be treated that way.

But Jesus says, "I want you to protect them, but protect their unity most of all." In verse 17, He says to sanctify them. He states, "You sanctified me." Let me get there so I quote it correctly: "Sanctify them by truth. Your word is truth." So, He asks that we would be sanctified.

To be sanctified means to be set apart for a purpose, to be specifically designated for that purpose. The best way I could think of to describe this comes from my very brief relationship with ultralight hiking.

Why are we laughing? Ouch. I got as far as buying the gear for it. I still have the equipment; I could still do it. It's fine. The goal in ultralight hiking is to get your base weight down to as low as possible. You don't want to carry much because carrying things is hard. You can go further if you carry less. Ironically, last week we talked about forgiveness and how it's too heavy to carry. We need to get rid of that weight.

However, there are two things that every ultralight hiker will carry. They serve similar functions, but they will never be substituted for each other. There is your titanium super low-weight spork, which works as both a spoon and a fork, and if you sharpen an edge of it, it can function as a knife. Then there’s a trowel. The fork is for eating, while the trowel serves an entirely different purpose. The two do not interchange; they are both set apart for different functions. They are both sanctified for different purposes.

Sometimes we desire gifts that are not ours. We may want to possess someone else's gift. Think of it as eating from your trowel, and this perspective will help us maintain the right mindset.

Point two in your outline: The Word of God is the truth that gives us purpose. In verse 17, it says, "Sanctify them by the truth," not for the truth, but by the truth. It is the truth that gives us purpose. The Word of God is what provides us with purpose. As the people of God, our purpose is found exclusively in the Word of God. It is not found in a sports team, an occupation, a political party, or a relationship. Our purpose is found solely in Christ. Why is this important?

Unity is important. If we are beholden to anything else over our relationship with God, that will be damaging. Sue was in here last service, and she's a Packers fan, so I picked on her a little bit because Packers fans are the worst. But I'm teasing. Unity, right?

It's like you have Packers fans and you have Seahawks fans. It's okay to be a Packers fan, and it's okay to be a Seahawks fan, obviously. The problem comes in when those loyalties supersede the loyalty we have for Jesus. As soon as one of those things rises up past its place and becomes more important than the unity we have with Jesus, that's when we have problems. That's when we break relationship. That's when our unity is cut off, and that's when we become weak.

When it's sports fans, it's funny. However, when it comes to some of the other things, we start seeing real hardcore division, both in the world and in the body of Christ. We need to guard our unity. When we're united in Christ, we can draw others into the family of God.

In verse 18, it says, "As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify myself for them, so that they may also be sanctified by the truth." We are sent into the world by Jesus in the same way that Jesus was sent into the world by the Father. We see the same pattern here. We are sent to reflect Jesus as the way to the Father, just like Jesus did.

Jesus fulfilled His purpose so that we can be set aside, set apart, and sanctified for that same purpose. Jesus went to the cross and was crucified so that our debt could be paid, allowing us to stand up forgiven and then turn around and offer that forgiveness to the rest of the world. That is vital.

As I said, this is all about connecting with the world. What does any of this have to do with connecting with the world? In verse 20, it states, "I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you sent me."

What do we see here? Jesus says He prays not just for those present, but for those who will hear their word. That includes us. We are both the answer to Jesus' prayer and the continued fulfillment of His prayer.

As we bring others to Christ, it blows me away to think that Jesus, at one point, is there praying, maybe even thinking of us. He knows there are going to be those who hear, like a kid named Jason, who will come into the family, and Jesus is rejoicing about that. It is so comforting to think that Jesus was praying for us.

Then He says, "May they be one as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You sent Me." We live in a world that is so broken, divided, and shattered by all sorts of different things. Jesus emphasizes that the unity of the people, the unity that He and the Father share, and the unity that we can share through our relationship with Jesus Christ is so amazing. This unity will be a supernatural sign to people that there is a real God, and they serve Him because those people can get along. It says a lot about our world when that is the defining factor or the miracle—that they can actually get along with each other.

In verses 23, He states, "I am in them and You are in Me so that we may be made completely one, that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me." He wants us to be given the same glory that God gave to Jesus. "Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am so that they will see My glory which You have given Me because You loved Me before the world's foundation."

He wants us to be given the same glory that God gave Jesus, which blows me away until I think about what glory Jesus had. He is going to go from here to being beaten, mocked, whipped, scourged, crucified, and killed. If that is the kind of glory, I don't know about that. But the glory comes from being called children of God. We who are far off are drawn close, and we get to see the glory of God as we serve the Father.

He says that we could be completely one so that the world would know that Jesus was sent by the Father and that God loves His people. Once again, it is because of our unity as the body of Christ.

People are going to see that and know that God loves them. In verse 25, it says, "Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me. I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them." Jesus says He will continue to make the name of the Father known through His people so that the love of God and the unity of God will be in His people.

Point three in your outline, if you are taking note, is that God the Father's desire is that we continue to make Him known through Jesus. This is what God wants from us: that we would continue to make the Father known through Jesus Christ, whom He sent. These are our marching orders; this is what God wants from us. We are called to make Jesus known.

So the question arose to me: why don't we? Why is it that we seem to have a hard time doing this? Why is it that sometimes I turn down opportunities when I really should speak to someone? I was thinking about this, and the first thing I came up with was fear. Sometimes we are just afraid to do it. We are afraid to step out, afraid to say the things that God has called us to say, or do the things that God has called us to do because sometimes it is scary.

Sometimes it is scary because it might harm our position at work. Sometimes it is scary because it might harm a position in a relationship. Sometimes it is scary simply because we have never done it before. Fear can stop us.

Sometimes apathy stops us as well. It can feel like, "Eh, I'm not really that into it; there are other people who do it." I talked to someone once and suggested, "Hey, you should get involved in this." They replied, "I did all that stuff when I was younger. I don't have to do that anymore." I thought that was a dangerous spot to be in. It’s like saying, "No, I already ticked that box." That is apathy.

This happens sometimes when we forget that we were once outside the family. We were once enemies of God, and then someone spoke to us and brought us in. Sometimes it is just flat-out rebellion. Sometimes it is simply, "I don't want to." We might be mad at God for whatever reason, or we have been hurt, and so we say, "I'm not going to do it, God. I'm just not going to do it."

And then, even when we do it, sometimes we wonder why we don't have more success. Sometimes it's because we lead compromised lives. It's hard to represent God when you act like the devil. The way we act around certain people can make it very difficult for us to talk about Jesus with them.

Sometimes, it's a flat-out lack of love. Our hearts can become hard, and we may lack empathy for the people around us. This can happen because we've been hurt by someone or because we've been constantly dealing with something over and over again. Straight-up confession time: I have an extremely hard time dealing with our local homeless population. We are constantly facing this issue, and it feels like it will never end. Pretty soon, I stop seeing those people as individuals, and they become just "those."

Then I have to remind myself that those people are loved by God and that Jesus died for them. I sometimes think, "No, He mostly died for me, not for them." But I know that's not right. Our hearts can become hard, and we may lack empathy for those around us.

Sometimes, it's also due to our lack of unity. The lack of unity in the body of Christ can rob us of effectiveness. We may take one part of the body of Christ and say, "Yeah, that's a good one," while questioning another, thinking, "Man, your faith... I don't know." But wait a minute; they love Jesus and teach the Bible.

We might say, "What about North Coast?" But again, they love Jesus and preach the Bible. We often want to claim that our church is the best. I think we are the best, but only because Jesus loves us more. I'm kidding—absolutely kidding. There are Bible-believing churches all throughout Escondido and around the world that love Jesus. If someone finds a home there, praise God! If it's not my church, I'm glad it's somebody else's church.

In 2014, we went to Mozambique, and it became very clear as early as Johannesburg that this was not a place where I would naturally fit in. I looked different from everyone else, and there was a palpable feeling of hostility, specifically in Johannesburg.

As we made our way into Mozambique, it became abundantly clear that I had nothing in common with the people there. We ended up in places that had never seen a white person before. There was no indoor plumbing; in fact, there was no plumbing at all. The food was different, the customs were different, and the mannerisms were different. Besides not looking the same, we didn't even speak the same language. I found myself sitting there, thinking, "Lord, how am I going to be effective in this situation?" In hindsight, I can almost hear God chuckling.

We linked up with a local church, and although we didn't speak the same language, their church building was very different, and their worship was very different, they served and loved the same God. This became supremely evident as we worshipped together, despite not being able to understand each other. It was incredibly kind of them to learn a song in English. They didn't understand what they were singing, but they sang it so that we, the missionaries, would feel a little more at home. It was an amazing time, and we did incredible ministry together, even though we had nothing in common except for Jesus. Ultimately, as the church, the only thing we need in common is Jesus. That is where we need to protect that unity so much.

Sometimes we don't experience success because we lack tact or don't know how to speak to people. The pastor who married my wife and me, Mike Madigan from Julian, once told us a story about himself and a friend of his, a new convert, who were witnessing on the beach at Oceanside. They were walking along, with Mike talking to people while the other guy, a Marine, was engaging with others. Suddenly, there was a ruckus coming up behind them. Mike turned around to see the Marine with a guy by the neck, screaming at him about how much he needed Jesus. Mike thought, "Whoa, that's not how we do this."

Sometimes we lack tact, and that's why we're not effective. Other times, it's because we're trying to convert rather than disciple. Jesus calls us to go into the world and make disciples, but sometimes we want to just throw a tract and run away. Now, there's nothing wrong with tracts.

There's nothing wrong with handing out tracks. However, God calls us to discipleship. Discipleship is ongoing and messy. Like the conversation we were having earlier today, please don't ever use one of those money tracks to tip your waitress or waiter. It's so mean. As someone who's married to a former waitress, if you're going to tip them with that, at least tip them with real money too.

Point four in your outline: we are close to being done, sort of. We are called to be better. As the body of Christ, we are called to be better. The antidote to all the problems—the reasons why we don't and the reasons why we're not effective—is exactly what Jesus did: pray. When Jesus was afraid, he prayed. When Jesus was tempted, he answered with the Word of God. What do we need to do? We need to pray. We need to go to the Word to answer all of our questions, our weaknesses, and our feelings. We answer those with the living and powerful Word of God.

If we're afraid, 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of sound judgment." If we're apathetic, Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don't give up." If our problem is rebellion, Ezekiel 2:8 says, "And you, son of man, listen to what I tell you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I'm going to give you." If we're compromised, James 4:4 states, "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God? So whomever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God."

If there's a lack of love, we can refer to 1 Corinthians 3, where we spent a lot of time last week. It says, "Therefore, as God's chosen one, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a grievance against another, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are to forgive others." If the problem is unity, it's the very next verse in Colossians 3:14: "Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity."

If we lack tact, Jesus says in Matthew 11:29, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul." But see, the thing is, it's not enough just to know the verses. We can memorize verses, and we probably all know that person who has all the verses memorized, yet there's still something missing.

It's not enough to know the verses; we need to pray. Yes, we need to know the Word, but we also need to pray. Then, we need to take that radical third step, which is to obey. Very often, we wait for something other than stepping out in obedience. We wait for the Lord to give us a sign. I put it in the Word, but I want another sign. No, it's in the Bible. That's enough of a sign. Well, I'm waiting for a sign. Don't do that. We need to know the Word of God. We need unity with God in prayer and submission to God in obedience.

Turn with me, if you will, to Hebrews 4. We're going to start in verse 11. In Hebrews, the author is talking specifically about Jesus as our rest. In verse 11, he says, "Make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience." Make every effort so that we don't fall into the same pattern of disobedience. We tend to have patterns of disobedience. We tend to struggle the same way with the same things at the same time. Here, Scripture tells us to make an effort so that we don't fall into the same pattern of disobedience. Alter things so you don't fall in the same place.

In verse 12, it states something that we cannot do. I cannot judge your thoughts and intentions the same way that you can't judge my thoughts and intentions. All we can see from one another is actions. But the Word of God is incredibly good at cutting through a lot of our smokescreen and going right to our thoughts and intentions. It says in verse 13, "Everything that we do is laid out before God, and we are called to give an account."

In verse 14, it says, "Let us hold fast to our confession." What is our confession? Our confession is that Jesus is my Lord. That I hold on to. When everything else is falling apart around me, I can hold on to that and go.

You know what? Nothing is going to snatch me out of His hand. We need to hold fast to that confession. We have a Savior. We have Jesus, who understands what it is to be tempted. Now, He did not fall into temptation. He was tempted and did not sin, but He understands temptation. He gets us. Therefore, He says, let us approach the throne of grace boldly.

Imagine being able to approach God's throne with boldness, to go and say, "Yes, I belong here." Because, you know what? I don't feel like I belong there. I don't. But it's Christ in me that allows me to find that grace, to be able to approach boldly. It's the Christ in me that allows me to go to somebody and say, "Hey, how are you doing, man? I'm Jason. What's your name?"

Talking about boldness, between the services today, I was talking with somebody. He said, "Dude, you got to hear this." I was like, "Okay." Part of me was thinking, Is this a sales pitch? He goes, "No. I heard from Miles that he wasn't feeling well, and so my daughter and I were praying for him." His daughter is like six, and they were praying for Miles to get better.

But then he said his daughter suggested, "Well, we should also pray that if he can't do it, we should pray for whoever else is going to be preaching, that they would be bold." He told me that, and I was like, "Ugh." This girl has not completed junior high. She hasn't completed grade school. She hasn't read the entire Bible, I'm assuming. She has not gone to seminary. She doesn't hold advanced degrees. But she loves Jesus.

And Jesus said, "I want you to pray for this." That same Jesus is alive and working in us. We can approach the throne of grace with boldness to find grace in our time of need and receive mercy.

The worship team is going to go forward. We're going to worship together.

Heavenly Father, what an incredible privilege, Lord Jesus, it is to approach your throne, the throne of grace, and receive mercy, not because of our fantasticness, Jesus, but because of you. You told us we can approach with boldness and that we can receive mercy. Father God, we can approach you because you're the same God that speaks to a six-year-old with your words and intentions, Lord. You are the same God that can unite people who don't speak the same language and don't live the same way.

Lord, you are the same God that can take a church full of all kinds of different people, from various backgrounds and walks of life, with every difference imaginable, yet still have unity. Lord Jesus, help us to guard that unity. Help us to celebrate that unity with each other. And Father God, help us to be ruthless with the things that divide us.

Thank you, Jesus. Let's worship, Jesus.