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[0:00] John chapter 17, verses 11 through 19.

[0:17] 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 one, even as we are one.

[0:33] While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction that the Scripture may be fulfilled.

[0:44] But now I am 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.

[1:01] 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.

[1:12] 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.

[1:25] May God add a blessing to the reading of his word. Would you please be seated? And pray with me. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would use this time to sanctify us in the truth, as your word says.

[1:43] As we look at another portion of your son's prayer for his disciples, help us, who are your disciples today, to cooperate with the Holy Spirit's instruction through your inspired and inerrant word.

[1:59] Make us, Lord, through this text to be more like you. And it's in your name we pray. Amen. As I was studying these verses this week, the verse that kept popping out to me, verses 11 through 19, the verse that kept popping out to me was verse 13, where Jesus says, But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

[2:29] This portion of Jesus' prayer records his request for his 11 remaining disciples. Judas had already deserted him.

[2:40] He had left to report Jesus' location to his enemies, and he would soon lead them to the place where Jesus was to be arrested, where Judas would betray him with a kiss.

[2:56] We know from the Bible that Judas never truly was a follower of Jesus. He was a false disciple. He never truly believed. He only sought profit for his association with Jesus.

[3:12] And now, with Jesus' enemies desperate to be rid of him, Judas once again seized an opportunity to cash in on his Lord one last time.

[3:27] His actions are shocking, but not altogether surprising for someone who secretly despised Jesus with their whole heart.

[3:40] And of course, Jesus knew what Judas intended. He knew that Judas was an imposter. He knew that Judas would betray him. And yet, in John chapter 13, if you remember, Jesus, in humility, knowing what he knew, got down on his knees and washed Judas' feet, along with the other 11 disciples.

[4:08] You know, that's not how you and I would think to treat someone who had such treacherous intentions for us, is it? Jesus knew all along who would betray him, that it would be Judas.

[4:22] Judas. And he also knew that the rest of his disciples, his true disciples, would respond how they would respond once Judas returned with his captors.

[4:38] Jesus knew how the disciples would respond in that moment. He says in Matthew 26, 30 through 32, When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

[4:49] Then Jesus said to them, You will all fall away because of me this night. Jesus is gone. He's talking to the 11 disciples. You will all fall away because of me this night.

[5:00] For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. So as Jesus is leading his disciples to the place where he was to be arrested, knowing that in a short time he will draw his last breath on the cross before he surrenders his spirit, he leads his disciples in a hymn.

[5:26] He leads his disciples in worship on his way to the cross. And then he makes two shocking statements. The disciples will soon desert him, but he, after he's resurrected, will reassemble them.

[5:46] And the disciples can't believe this, what Jesus is telling them, especially Peter, who was the most outspoken of all of them, whom Jesus said would deny him not once, not twice, but three times.

[5:58] Look at what Peter said in Matthew 26, 35 in response to what Jesus had said about their betrayal. Peter said to him, Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.

[6:14] And all the disciples said the same. The disciples were basically saying this, Over our dead bodies will this happen.

[6:27] To get to you, Jesus, they're going to have to get through us first. Of course, we know that Jesus' words were true, that the disciples fell asleep in the garden when Jesus asked them to pray.

[6:44] And then they ditched him when he was arrested and led away to the cross, though Peter and John followed, but at a safe distance.

[6:54] But at the cross, only John is mentioned as being there with Mary, Jesus' mother, and a few other women who followed him.

[7:05] Only John. This is shameful, isn't it? One out of eleven disciples were present at the cross when Jesus died, as far as we know.

[7:21] They had fallen asleep. They had deserted him. And then they were too afraid to be seen with him near his cross.

[7:33] They said they'd act courageously, but they scattered, just as Jesus said that they would. You know, when someone is dying, the family is notified, and usually those close family members drop everything that they are doing to be with that close family member, to be there with them when they draw their last breath.

[8:00] And if that were you, if you were on your deathbed, aren't there some faces that you would expect to be there as you were dying?

[8:13] Aren't there some faces that if they weren't there, you would be upset by that? You would want to see their faces before you saw the face of Jesus.

[8:25] Or can you remember a time when someone betrayed your trust? A promise was made, but it wasn't kept. In your hour of need, people who you thought would come to your aid, people whom you thought you could count on, were nowhere to be found when you needed them most.

[8:49] When someone who said that they loved you acted in an unloving way towards you. Have you been in a situation like that?

[9:02] If you have, you know it hurts. It hurts, doesn't it? When someone betrays our trust like that, we typically come to two conclusions about that person.

[9:15] First of all, we wish that we had never trusted them in the first place. They're untrustworthy. I wish I had never trusted you in the first place. And then second of all, we hope that they will pay in some way for how they've betrayed us, how they've violated our confidence.

[9:40] And so verse 13 is astounding to me because Jesus does something unexpected. Though he knows the disciples will be asleep in his moment of crisis, though he knows that his disciples will scatter when he is arrested, that they will hide when he is unfairly tried and desert him when he dies, he prays here, knowing all these things for their joy.

[10:07] For their joy. He wants them to hear him praying for their joy. It's amazing.

[10:21] Jesus is different, isn't he? He desires that these men would have his joy fulfilled in themselves.

[10:33] And you know, while Jesus is different, we're not all that different from the disciples, are we? We think about it.

[10:45] We're very much like them. Because I'm sure each of us can think of a time when the cost of following Christ, the cost of being associated with him felt too high for you to pay.

[10:59] You were silent when you should have spoken. You failed to act when the Holy Spirit prompted you to action. Each day, committing a list of sins, a series of mutinies against the will of God for your life.

[11:18] And sometimes we have to face the consequences that such choices produce. The promise that we have from Christ, though, is that he will never leave us and he will never forsake us.

[11:35] That he will forgive us and he will restore us. That when we wander from him, he doesn't say to us, you know what? Good riddance. We're better off without you.

[11:46] Instead, he seeks and he brings us back to himself and to safety. And so the main idea that emerges from this portion of Jesus' prayer is this, is that Jesus prays for his disciples and desires that they experience the fullness of his joy.

[12:09] Jesus prays for his disciples and desires that they experience the fullness of his joy. The bulk of Jesus' prayer in John 17 concentrates on these eleven men.

[12:23] Again, as we've gone over, Jesus would be leaving soon and they would be commissioned by him to carry out his ministry on earth. And Jesus' prayer reflects his confidence that the disciples will be successful in doing just that.

[12:37] But his confidence was not in the disciples' resolve and resourcefulness, but in his heavenly fathers. Jesus knew that the Father would hear and would answer his prayers.

[12:51] Not because the eleven men were inherently capable, but because they were part of those whom the Father had promised to give to him. And so the request Jesus makes on behalf of his disciples in this prayer are that the Father will fulfill the plans that he has for them.

[13:11] And so again, he purposely prayed out loud so that the disciples who were distressed by the thought of Jesus leaving would hear him praying for them and they would be strengthened and encouraged by his prayer.

[13:27] If you are a believer, a disciple of Jesus Christ today, you can trace your spiritual lineage all the way back to one of these eleven men.

[13:38] after Jesus' resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost and he indwelt his followers. These eleven disciples became courageous preachers and effective evangelists.

[13:53] In the face of persecution, they no longer ran and hid but endured for the cause of Christ and they did so with joy. Are you experiencing the same kind of results in your life right now as you are following Christ?

[14:13] are you joyful or dreadful? Are you courageous or fearful?

[14:26] Just as Jesus desired for his disciples then to experience the fullness of his joy in following him to know that courage and joy is not something that we must work in ourselves but something that the Holy Spirit works up in us just as he wanted them to know that so he wants you his disciple today to know the same.

[14:53] And so in our passage today Jesus makes two requests. They are requests that have been answered by the Father. If you're a disciple of Jesus Christ today you must know that these requests have been made and answered for you.

[15:08] And my hope is that as we go through these verses you will see how Jesus' requests were made and how they have been answered and that in seeing that you will have joy in following Christ.

[15:24] And so the first request Jesus makes is recorded in verses 11 through 13. Jesus prays for his disciples' protection. He prays for his disciples' protection.

[15:37] In the beginning of verse 11 again Jesus says, See here Jesus was so sure of his death and his departure that here he prays as if those things had already happened.

[15:53] For the three years he had been with the disciples Jesus had been their protector but now he was leaving them and he knew that the hostility that he encountered would be redirected towards them.

[16:06] They would now be the chief target of Satan's assault and so they were in desperate need of the Father's protection. And that's what Jesus is praying for and as he continues to make that request he addresses God as Holy Father.

[16:24] Jesus emphasizes the Father's holiness which sets the stage for the rest of this section of his prayer. The disciples are unholy men called to be holy in the midst of a sinful world but through their faith in Christ they had been brought into a purifying relationship with God.

[16:44] Unlike Jesus the disciples once belonged to the world but they were given to Jesus by the Father and were called by him out of the world and therefore no longer did they belong to the world any more than Jesus ever had.

[17:02] They'll need the Father's protection. because as Jesus said earlier in John 15 18-19 if the world hates you know that it has hated me before it hated you.

[17:16] If you were of the world the world would love you as its own but because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you. Why did the world hate Jesus so much?

[17:31] well after his resurrection Jesus' half-brothers the children of Mary and Joseph the biological children of Mary and Joseph would believe in him but before those events they doubted his claims to be the son of God and in one occasion they were challenging him to reveal himself and remember what Jesus said in response to their challenge he said the world cannot hate you but it hates me and here's the reason because I testify about it that its works are evil.

[18:07] Biblical truth sounds like nails on a chalkboard to unconverted ears to people who have exchanged the truth of God for a lie we live in a day where it's controversial to say men are men and women are women and only men can be men and only women can be women post that on Facebook and see how soon you last before they throw you in social media jail but but people hear us speaking for the truth see us standing for the word of God and this is what they say about us well they're old-fashioned closed-minded intolerant bigots misogynists right now what the world is doing in our culture is they're calling us names and you know what unfortunately Christianity in our nation has been so weakened that we are so afraid of being called names that we silence our voices that's how weak we are you know they called

[19:16] Jesus names didn't they the Pharisees they said that he was in cahoots with Satan they also said some really derogatory things about his mother and her morality or lack of it according to their claims and that Jesus say oh my goodness I can't take the name calling anymore I'm just going to shut it down father it's too much my feelings are hurt he didn't allow their name calling to distract him from his mission and neither should we why because they cannot separate us from the love of God that we have in Jesus Christ and they need to hear the truth now look at what Jesus says next to bolster his disciples faith in the rest of verse 11 through the beginning of verse 12 keep them in your name which you have given me that they may be one even as we are one while I was with them I kept them in your name which you gave me I have guarded them God's name represents all that he is and again in this case the emphasis is on God's holiness his otherness his transcendence

[20:28] Jesus asked the father to guard the disciples according to his holy name according to his holy character a character that he Jesus being perfectly one with the father reflected in everything that he did perfectly John 1 17 through 18 says for the law was given through Moses grace and truth came through Jesus Christ no one has ever seen God the only God who is at the father's side he has made him known it's interesting when we read that to me it brought to mind Exodus 34 remember where there Moses makes a request to see the glory of God and God allows him to do that but only to see the trail ends of him because no one can see him and live and so he hides Moses in the cleft of a rock and he covers him with his hand as he passes by and allows Moses to see his backside and as God walks by he declared this to Moses about himself he declared who he was his name the Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord the Lord a God merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness now those last two words love and faithfulness in Hebrew can equally be rendered grace and truth and as such they describe

[21:52] Jesus Christ the word made flesh who John says in chapter 1 verse 14 the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory glory as the son from the father full of grace and truth in other words Jesus Christ the word made flesh the son of God has fully disclosed the father to us he had provided the disciples with a perfect picture of who God is and of what God expects and he enabled or has enabled and empowered those whom he calls and whom he keeps to be visible manifestations of that invisible reality when someone is saved they are united forever into the body of Christ and to all other believers who are a part of his church which is again the body of Christ the effectiveness of the gospel the reality of the Holy Spirit's transformative power is displayed to the world when they see the common bond that people of all different races people of all different ages people of all different socio-economic backgrounds share together in him we're different but we're together and our bond is strong why is that well because of Christ our oneness despite our differences is a testimony to the rest of the world that God and only

[23:31] God can produce what they attempt to create through their man-made systems and philosophies and ideologies and it comes as no surprise to me that the more our society pushes God away the more divided it has become the more segregated we have become by our things that we can create divisions over that God breaks down when the gospel is heard and believed and shared and he brings his people together during his earthly ministry Jesus had been keeping them in the father's name which he said had been given to him he had guarded them so well that not one of them was lost except for Judas the son of destruction but again Jesus did not lose Judas because Judas was never truly his as he pointed out in John 13 18 I'm not speaking of all of you I know whom I have chosen but the scripture will be fulfilled he who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me and of course that was Judas in verse 12 here

[24:35] Jesus uses two different Greek words to describe how he protects his disciples the first word is keep and it speaks of protection by means of restraint and the second term is guard which refers to protection from outside danger and so what helped me kind of understand how Jesus guards protects us us is to think of football in football you have an offensive line right and the offensive line is to do what protect the quarterback and how do they do that restrain the defense from getting to the quarterback and so you'll see them back pedaling and doing all that they can to keep that defender in front of them to restrain them from getting to the guy who's making all the money right but they also serve another function as they protect or as they guard which is when the running back or the wide receiver has the ball their job is to move forward and to protect the guy with the ball from any kind of tackler who that guy can't see protecting the right of them and to the left of them and knocking them out of the way so that the ball can advance upfield in 2021 the Chiefs lost the

[26:02] Super Bowl and they lost the Super Bowl because their offensive line didn't do their job and you know what men will fail us and we as people will fail but thankfully God never fails and thankfully God is a much greater protector than we ever could be he as he says keeps those whom he has saved and he keeps them by giving them his Holy Spirit to indwell them as a guardian who guarantees that the work begun in them will one day reach its completion in the glorification that they will experience in heaven Ephesians 1 13 through 14 and him you also when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and believed in him were sealed with the promised

[27:04] Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory and so in ancient times important documents were sealed with wax and then they were stamped with either a stamp or a ring and that stamp closed the document that meant that the document was under the authority of the one who stamped it whose stamp bore their likeness or their image or their symbol so that everyone knew this document belongs to this person and listen nobody who had greater authority than the person who stamped it could open that document and there is no one greater than God there is no authority greater than him whatever he stamps whatever he seals is kept forever he safeguards those who bear his name now growing up

[28:06] I grew up in the late 80s and early 90s and one of the most valuable possessions that a kid could own during that period of time was a Nintendo and Nintendo games and when you got a Nintendo game it was a big deal and what I know that I would do and all my friends would do is when we got a Nintendo game one of the first things we do is we would break out a black sharpie marker and we would write our name on that game you know why because we would take those games with us to our friend's house or they would bring them to our houses and you know they didn't have that game but they might have wanted that game and so to keep them from getting any kind of ideas about taking that game we made sure to write our name big and bold where they could see it and it couldn't be missed these days

[29:09] I'll go with Jack to some of the used video game stores and I'm always drawn to those old Nintendo cartridges to see what they have and the ones I used to have or the ones I wish I would have had and as I go through once belonged to those games still bore their owner's name but at some point long ago the owner had discarded them eventually those games lost their worth to their owners and so they were replaced by something new something better something that gave them a greater sense of joy have you ever felt like that have you ever felt disposable like that someone ever treated you like you were valuable and then didn't as if you held value once but no longer do maybe at work you've gone through something like that maybe in a relationship you've experienced that and it's a terrible feeling isn't it?

[30:22] Listen those whom God saves never lose their value to him and what God puts his name on God keeps God keeps which brings us back to verse 13 but now I am coming to you and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in them our Lord told the disciples that he was leaving them but he was not discarding them his leaving would lead him to the cross where he as Hebrews 12 says for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God and there today as we meet and as I speak Jesus is at the right hand of the father and he is doing there for his disciples today what he was doing here for his disciples back making intercession for us and the intercessory request that he made here must have brought his disciples great joy to hear the

[31:40] Lord praying for them as he did to the father must have been a wonderful experience for them Jesus said earlier prayed that the disciples would share the fullness of his life in John 10 the fullness of his peace in John 11 and now he prays for the fullness of their joy and he specifically asks that they receive his joy the disciples would share in that joy by experiencing eternal life that Jesus made possible through his atoning death and it's a joy that all believers in every generation that has followed since them would likewise share and does likewise share Hebrews 2 9 through 10 but we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels namely Jesus crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of

[32:43] God he might taste death for everyone for it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist in bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering those whom the father gives to the son are received by him and are kept eternally secure by the indwelling of his holy spirit and his spirit working in conjunction with his inspired word also protects his disciples from falling for Satan's temptation and the world's deceptions in verse 14 Jesus says 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 see the disciples here they had received Jesus instruction and they would receive more instruction through the inspiration of the holy spirit and today we have his word and we are instructed by him to abide in it we disciples today are called to live his word we who are his disciples today are called and are responsible to put on the full armor of

[34:05] God to dress ourselves every day for battle by covering our vulnerable areas with biblical truth Ephesians 6 10 through 11 finally be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might and here's what you must do put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil as I mentioned before God keeps!

[34:31] those whom he saved but make no mistake that you and I have a responsibility to ever be in his word for our benefit and for our protection and for the protection of those whom we love how foolish would it be for a soldier to get all of this gear all of this armor to protect his vital organs and then in the midst of battle say you know what I'm going to ditch this stuff I don't need it anymore!

[35:04] in his cross hairs and as the Bible says he prowls like a lion and he is seeking someone to prey on and like a lion they don't go after the strongest animal in the herd they go for the weakest they go for the vulnerable you know why they don't care I don't they don't have nothing to prove I'm hungry and I want to eat and the easy meal is don't give him the opportunity by not wearing your armor so that he can tear you to pieces Jesus says in verses 15 through 16 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 you see isolationism is not the Lord's will for you or us he no he says you go back out there is a battle and my expectation the

[36:11] Lord's expectation is that his people engage in this battle and to engage in this conflict you must arm yourself with his word with his truth and collectively we as his people are called to march forward and take ground back from the enemy in this we have nothing to fear we have nothing to fear because Jesus has promised us that he is with us that he will protect us and what Jesus prays for gets answered by his father and so listen what your family needs what the place where you work needs what your neighborhood needs what our church needs is for you to be the warrior that Christ has called you to be speak the truth do it in love but speak the truth counter satanic lies with gospel truth don't be afraid don't forget that greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world those 11 ordinary men and they were ordinary there's nothing spectacular about them but they met

[37:37] Jesus and Jesus transformed their lives and after the day of Pentecost they received the Holy Spirit and the Bible says that they turned the world upside down did they have any more of the Holy Spirit than you and I do right now did they have the Spirit in greater measure than you and I do right now no but here's the sad reality the world has a greater hold on us than it ever did on them so why are we so ineffective the world has too great of a grasp too great of a hold on those who should be warriors for the truth and for the cause of Christ but since you have such a guarantee of protection from Christ since you have been a recipient of such unmerited grace and love since you have the guarantee of eternal life how should you live how should you live next

[38:43] Jesus make the request and prays for his disciples sanctification Jesus prays for the disciples sanctification verses 17 and 18 again sanctify them he says in the truth your word is truth as you sent me into the world so I have sent them into the world so having prayed for their spiritual protection from the world Jesus continued by asking the father to sanctify and purify them as they prepared to engage the world with the gospel it wasn't enough that they be safeguarded from outside evils they must also be internally conformed more and more to the likeness of Jesus Christ John MacArthur said the idea of sanctification is the setting apart of something for a particular use accordingly believers are apart to serve the Lord exclusively so that the believer desires to obey God's commands and walk in holiness sanctification is accomplished by means of the truth which is the revelation that the son gave regarding all that the father commanded him to communicate and is now contained in the scriptures left by the apostles sanctification is a translation of the

[39:59] Greek word meaning holiness or a separation in the past at salvation when God granted you justification once and for all positionally he made you holy in Christ you have been sanctified in that regard but now as you since that day have come to know Christ you should be progressing in sanctification becoming more like Jesus there's three phases of this there's the justification first of all and then there's the sanctification that comes through maturity you by the power of God by the Holy Spirit living in your life are becoming more like Jesus as the power of sin has less control on you and then finally the end of sanctification comes in glorification when we go to be with the Lord Philippians 1 6 says and I am sure of this sure of this that he began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of

[41:02] Jesus Christ when God begins a work in someone whom he saves he finishes that work the disciples would desert Jesus but later be restored by him and then commissioned by him to fulfill!

[41:19] his mission and you know maybe you've lacked courage when the cost of following Christ seemed too great of a price to pay or maybe you've been caught sleeping when you should have been prayerful giving in to what your flesh desires instead of what Christ commands and if that's you then listen this is this is our Lord crying out to you through his word today don't waste your life don't waste your life indulging your dying flesh of what it wants but give your best to him knowing that he gave his best for you 1 Peter 1 3 through 5 blessed be the God and Father of our

[42:19] Lord Jesus Christ according to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable undefiled unfading kept in heaven for you who by God's power are being guarded through faith for our salvation ready to be revealed in the last time don't waste your life pursuing earthly treasures that corrupt and do not satisfy verse 19 Jesus concludes this portion at least and for their sake I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified by the truth see Jesus was preparing to finish his God given mission to redeem his people and so the language he uses here harkens back to the Old Testament and to the day of atonement remember there the priest had to go through a ritual cleansing before they could offer the sacrifice likewise that animal also had to be consecrated before it could be slain and its blood brought into the place where

[43:30] God's presence resided in other words both priest and sacrifice had to be set apart for this holy task when we come to the New Testament it shows that Christ Jesus is our great high priest but he differed from the priests of Israel in this crucial way not only did he as the priest offer the sacrifice that was necessary but he was the sacrifice that was offered he was both the subject and the object of his priestly work in this moment our great high priest was setting himself apart for the task that lay ahead of him in just a short amount of time brother and sister the grace you've received did not come cheaply God the son set himself apart to die for your sins to bear God's wrath and atonement for what you've done to receive what you deserved he's given you his protection he's sealed you with his

[44:43] Holy Spirit he's begun to work in you now that he will one day complete he has sanctified you he is sanctifying you how then will you live you you know we're we're in our society desperate for for things that make us feel protected warranties for example insurance for example and we feel safe having that little piece of paper that tells us that you know something goes wrong just call this number and show this piece of paper how much more should we feel protected and safe in knowing that Jesus Christ the son of God has died for our sins God has given us his Holy Spirit and he will bring us one day into his glory forever the main point of application for our time together is this desire the joy that Christ desires for you desire the joy that

[45:47] Christ desires for you you know I've I've gotten the opportunity and I really enjoy helping coach Jack's baseball teams and last year was the first year where kids were pitching instead of coaches and you know coaches we lob it right in there it's a strike just about every time kids are a lot more erratic and so one of the fears that a lot of our boys had was that they were going to get hit by the ball and we were trying to tell them hey it's okay it doesn't hurt that bad and also you get to go to first base and in our league if you're at first you might as well be on third because nobody's going to throw you out stealing and in that case you're just 90 feet or less than that in our league from scoring this is a great thing but they couldn't get it especially one kid who was a strong kid and who could crush the ball but he was afraid of getting hit he was so afraid of getting hit that he wouldn't swing the bat at all and he if you get hit big deal go to first base but more importantly you are missing out on the point of the game which is to get the swing the bat and then finally something clicked and he began swinging the bat and he started getting hits and all of a sudden baseball was fun and then when they got hit they realized you know it doesn't hurt so bad especially then they got hit in a helmet where there's protection and it was kind of like oh that felt cheers you as the hero yay thank you for taking that one for the team and so for me when I read these verses that's what

[47:31] I feel like the Lord is saying to us don't be afraid to swing the bat don't be afraid to wield the sword he's with you he will be with you nothing can change that what this world needs more than anything is for Christians to be like Christ and let's not be afraid to be like Christ three questions of application question number one what relationship does Jesus expect his followers to have with the world according to this prayer what relationship does Jesus expect his followers to have with the world according to this prayer and then read James 4 1 John 2 15 17 and then what do these verses teach about worldliness and how it affects our relationship with God question number two what does the church's unity or lack of it communicate to the world about Christ what does the church's unity or lack of it communicate to the world about

[48:36] Christ! finally how should Jesus' request for his disciples protection and sanctification change the way we live change the way you live how does the joy he offers differ from the type of joy that the world offers so I'm going to pray we'll have our invitation hymn and I invite you during that invitation to be thinking about that question in light of what you've heard through God's word how then should you live in what ways have you been fearful that you need to be courageous in what ways have you been silent where you need to speak and you ask the Lord to reveal those things to you and you pray for his help and he will help you let's pray Lord God we thank you that you are a God who does too is yours forever and

[49:36] Lord despite our sinfulness despite our shortcomings despite how often we've been a coward when we should have been courageous despite how often we have been dreadful when we should have been joyful Lord you continually lift our face to you and you forgive us and you pick us up and you set us back on the path that you have for us and we're so thankful to have a savior like you God we've seen in your word that your expectation is that we go and that we share the gospel that we should know that you have protected us that you have guarded us that you have sanctified us and that you are sanctifying us and that Lord what you've begun will be completed God may we walk in this truth may we live in light of this reality Lord may we be people who walk by faith and not by sight and may you be pleased with all that results until that day when we are in your presence and we see your face and we hear you say to us well done good and faithful servant enter into the rest of your master until then

[50:40]  Lord may we be active and diligent to do what you've called us and commanded us to do in Jesus name I pray amen