Protection

Well, good evening to you all.

Glad to be here.

We are beginning a new series this week, and a while ago we were asking ourselves what

that series would be.

We were praying and thinking about our church, our community, the people we love, and trying

to figure out what do we need to hear right now?

Where do we need to go?

And the word that kept coming to mind was the word comfort.

That I think, as I've talked to a lot of people and reflected in my own spiritual place right

now, I have a hunger for comfort.

Because I think there's a lot of anxiety in the world, particularly in our country.

And so as we began to think about that, we began to wonder, and I began to kind of reflect

on this reality that we don't often talk about in the Christian life.

Normally when we talk about Jesus, and when we learn about Jesus, and we think about Jesus'

ministry, we think about his earthly ministry.

We think about the fact that he came 2,000 years ago, that he had about three years of

active ministry as a young adult, and then his ultimate death and resurrection as the

kind of climax of that time.

So that's what Jesus did 2,000 years ago for us.

But since then, for the last 2,000 years, he's been doing something else for us.

And the fact is, he's been praying for us.

The Bible says in a couple of different places, in Romans and Hebrews, that Jesus now actively

intercedes for us.

That right now, as we're sitting here, Jesus is praying for us.

And that thought fascinated me.

It's not something I've thought much about.

And there's a place in John's Gospel, which we just heard Dan read in John chapter 17,

John 17 · chapter mention

where Jesus, in full view of his disciples, see normally he would go off and pray by himself,

but this time he chooses to pray out loud in full view of his disciples, so that they can

hear what he's praying.

It's as though Jesus wants his disciples to know his heart for them.

That when he prays for us, these are the things that he asks on our behalf.

And so we're going to spend tonight and the next two weeks looking at John chapter 17,

John 17 · chapter mention

and Jesus' prayer for his disciples, and then it says,

for all those who become disciples through their word, which includes us who came to faith through

the scriptures.

And so we're going to look at these themes, these petitions that Jesus prays on our behalf.

And starting tonight, we'll look at the first theme, which you see in verses 11 and 12,

and then in verses 14 and 15, that Jesus prays for our protection.

That he prays that we would be safe, that we would be strengthened, that we would be secure.

He prays for our protection.

And so we'll see a couple of things.

We'll see why we need this protection.

Why would Jesus find it necessary to pray to the Father that we would be protected.

And then secondly, we'll see how do we get this protection.

So why we need it and how to get it.

Let's pray.

It's a mystifying, staggering thing to know that as we close our eyes here,

and we turn our attention to you and we pray to you that you're praying on our behalf.

And so we simply ask tonight that as we open your word, that you would align our hearts,

align our prayers, our imaginations, our longings with your prayers,

which reflect your heart for us.

And we pray this in your power, Lord, by the power of your spirit,

in the name of your son Jesus.

Amen.

So why do we need protection?

Why for 2,000 years might Jesus, in the very throne of heaven,

be interceding on our behalf and praying for our protection?

And if you look at John chapter 17 and verse 8, it shows us this kind of pattern.

John 17 · chapter mention

In verse 8 it says,

The Father entrusts Jesus with his word.

Right?

Which is the message of salvation.

This is God's great plan to rescue his people through Jesus.

So God entrusts Jesus with this message.

And then it says that Jesus then entrusts his disciples with that word.

And because of that, they come to have a relationship with God.

And then further down in verse 20,

it says that his disciples, by definition as disciples,

then take that same word that they received,

and they pass that word on to other people.

Who Jesus says will come to believe through their word.

He's talking about us.

Right?

All those who over the generations have come to faith in Jesus

through the written word of his disciples,

which we call the Bible.

So this is a receiving and then a passing on of this word.

But because this is happening,

it plunges those of us who have received that word into peril.

And here's the peril in verse 14.

It says,

I have given them your word, them meaning us,

and the world has hated them,

because they're 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.

So in other words,

the moment we become disciples,

the moment we receive the word of Jesus Christ,

though we are saved from sin and death,

we enter into a life that is fraught with peril.

In other words,

we are confronted immediately

by two daunting opponents

that will challenge us for the rest of our life here.

And this lays out those opponents,

the world and the flesh,

or I'm sorry,

the world and the evil one.

The world and the flesh sort of go together,

and then the evil one.

And so what I want to do

is just focus a little bit on

what does it mean by world,

what does Jesus mean by world,

and what does he mean by evil one?

And I want to clarify first the world,

because by world,

I want to make it clear

that Jesus is not saying,

he's not meaning by this

the whole world and everybody in it, right?

In many other places in John's gospel,

it makes it very clear that God loves this world,

and he loves everybody that he's made.

So that's not what Jesus is talking about.

In this particular place,

the world refers to a mindset.

It's a particular worldview.

Being of the world

is essentially living life

in a way that denies the reality of God.

It's denying or ignoring God

in the world that he's made.

This is what it means to be of the world.

So Blaise Pascal was a brilliant

17th century mathematician and physicist,

and he had a kind of dramatic conversion to Christianity.

And then he began to write his thoughts

on various aspects of Christianity,

and particularly focused time

on reasons that people would reject Christianity

or not believe it or be opposed to it.

And he reflects on this,

and in these reflections,

which came to be known as the pensées,

he makes this fascinating observation.

And Pascal actually contends

that no one is neutral when it comes to God.

That no one is neutral.

He says this, he says,

men despise religion,

and by that he means Christianity.

They hate it

and are afraid it may be true.

So he's saying,

when it comes to Christianity,

no one is neutral.

So you can have,

on the one hand,

you can have the kind of outspoken critic

who vilifies and caricatures

Christianity and Christians at every turn.

Right?

You can also have the very thoughtful agnostic

who has really well-reasoned arguments

against the Christian faith

and has thought it through.

And then you can have the person over here

who says,

you know,

I am just not a religious person.

I've never thought about it.

It's never even crossed my mind.

I'm not spiritual.

And I've not ever spent a moment of my time

thinking about this stuff.

It just does not matter to me.

I'm totally indifferent.

And what Pascal would say

is that all of these people

actually, deep down,

despise God.

They may not know it.

They may not feel it.

But he says,

deep down they do.

And the reason he contends

is because we know deep down

that if there is a God

that we cannot simply live as we choose.

Or if Christianity is true,

it means ultimately

that we're not the ones in control.

And he says,

knowing that,

it fills us with fear.

And that fear leads to our despising God.

Thomas Nagel,

who's an atheist and a philosopher at NYU,

practically admits this in his writing.

He says,

I want atheism to be true.

I mean, think about that.

Most of us like to think

that we're detached, neutral,

evaluating the evidence.

He says, no, no, no.

If I'm honest,

I want atheism to be true.

I want it to be true.

And he says,

and I'm made terribly uneasy

by the fact that

some of the most intelligent

and well-informed people I know

are religious believers.

So see,

as much as we like to think

we're detached,

neutral observers of the evidence,

Pascal would say,

and Nagel would agree,

that we are rooting

for none of it to be true.

And I think that,

you know,

to give one more example,

you see this very often

in the scientific community.

And those of you

who are scientists

know this.

Now,

that's not to say

there aren't Christian scientists.

There are many brilliant Christians

who are scientists.

And my wife and I

were just recently this week

at an event

with Dr. Francis Collins,

who's the head of the NIH

and one of the most brilliant

scientists out there

and an ardent

and passionate follower of Jesus

who led us

in singing hymns

playing his classical guitar.

And so there are scientists

out there,

many of them.

But there does exist

within the scientific community

a subset of people

who seem almost

irrationally devoted

to materialistic causality.

In other words,

they're devoted

to explaining

all of this

in ways

that do not necessitate

God.

And one in particular,

I find this kind of

a fascinating admission.

Richard Lewontin

is a geneticist at Harvard

and here's what he says.

He says,

it's not that the methods

and institutions of science

somehow compel us

to accept a material explanation

of the phenomenal world,

but on the contrary,

that we're forced

by our a priori adherence

to material causes

to create an apparatus

of investigation

and a set of concepts

that produce material explanations.

No matter how counterintuitive,

no matter how mystifying

to the uninitiated,

moreover,

that materialism

is absolute,

for we cannot allow

a divine foot

in the door.

Now, in case you didn't catch

what he's saying there,

let me just tell you,

what is he actually saying there?

He's saying there's nothing

in science that compels us

to reject God.

Rather, it's because

it's the opposite.

It's because we start

from a place

of assuming there's no God.

And then that constrains

our approach to science.

Our entire approach

to exploring and making sense

of the world

begins from a place

that rejects the idea of God.

In other words,

the mentality that is,

according to Jesus,

of the world.

Right?

So this is a mindset

and a worldview.

And I do want to make

the distinction here.

We're not just talking

about the difference

between Christians

and non-Christians.

Right?

It's very common

and very easy

for all of us

who are Christians,

even those of us

who have been Christians

a long time,

to claim faith

and yet nevertheless

live of the world.

In other words,

live as functional atheists.

Right?

We claim faith,

but when you look

at our lives,

there's essentially

a functional atheism.

Right?

And so that would be

of the world.

But the real concern

in Jesus' prayer

isn't just being

of the world.

As much as that

is a concern,

Jesus is actually

equally,

if not more,

concerned

about the second enemy

or opponent

in the Christian life.

The one who's actually

behind all of this.

And in verse 14,

Jesus prays,

I'm not asking you

to take them

out of the world,

but that you keep them

from the evil one.

You see what he's saying there?

He's saying,

the real problem,

my real concern

isn't that there are

a lot of people

who are of the world,

who reject this idea of God.

That's bad enough.

He says,

but the real concern

and the real danger

is the one

who is behind

that mentality.

And this is not something

that we talk about

a lot at Advent,

but from time to time,

I think it's important

to come back to

the fact that

at the core

of Christian faith,

one of the things

that we believe,

because we see Jesus

acknowledging it,

is that behind

all of the evil

in the world,

there is actually

a personified being.

There is actually

a personal entity.

And that being

is relentlessly

opposed to God

and all that God

has made.

And the objective

of this being,

the evil one,

is to rob God

of glory.

And he does that

by destroying

all that God

has made,

including us.

See,

we're casualties.

The real aim

is to rob God

of his glory.

But we're the way

that happens.

Right?

And so Jesus is saying,

my real concern

is not just the mindset,

it's the one

who drives the mindset.

The one who is

literally hell-bent

on robbing God

of glory

and destroying

everything that he's made.

And you see,

since the beginning

of time,

since the beginning,

since human beings

first called out

to God,

Satan has been

trying to convince us

that we're better off

without God.

You see that

in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

You're better off

without him.

You will be more free.

You will live

a better life.

You'll have more options.

You'll have

a greater array

of possibilities,

more fulfillment,

if you can just do away

with this antiquated notion

of a higher power.

That's been happening

ever since human beings

have walked the earth.

So this is the first thing

Jesus' prayer

teaches us.

That there is a danger

out there.

That the core problem

in our lives,

the core problem

is actually

a spiritual problem.

And the true enemy

is a spiritual enemy.

That that's the real problem

with the world.

Now I want to reflect

on the implications

of that before we move

on to the next point.

The real enemy

is a spiritual enemy.

What difference

does that make for us?

World War I broke out

and when that happened

the British Empire

at that point in time

was vast

all around the world.

And when war broke out

the British Empire,

the war office

sent a telegram

to all of their outposts

and it said

war declared

arrest all enemy aliens

in your district.

And so a couple of days later

they get a return telegram

from this remote

British outpost

in Africa

and it said

have arrested

ten Germans,

six Belgians,

four Frenchmen,

two Italians,

three Austrians

and an American.

Please advise,

who are we at war with?

They just arrested everybody.

But what's the point?

The point is

if we don't know

who we are at war with

we're going to waste

all of our time and energy

fighting the wrong enemies.

fighting the wrong battles.

We have to know

who the enemy really is.

Our struggle is not

against flesh and blood.

Which means it's not

ultimately against

other people.

So our struggle

is not against

Donald Trump,

right?

As many headlines

as may claim it,

he is not the evil one

that is being talked about here.

Our struggle is not

against his supporters

or people who voted for him.

Our struggle is not

against Hillary Clinton

or her supporters

and people who voted for her,

right?

Our struggle is not

against liberals

or right-wing nuts

or the alt-right

or atheists,

right?

Our struggle is not

ultimately against

flesh and blood.

Now I'm not saying

these differences aren't real

and I'm not saying

that they don't matter,

but what I am saying

is this.

We need to face

a fact here.

Satan is waging

a spiritual proxy war

against God.

Do you understand that?

It's like what's

happening in Syria.

We're getting caught up

in a conflict

that is bigger than us.

We're the means,

we're the pawns

on the board.

We're being used.

We're getting caught up

in a spiritual proxy war

that Satan has waged

against God.

He has no hope

of victory.

It's already certain

that he's lost.

But nevertheless,

he fights

and thus we fight.

Right?

So when we obsess

over the latest

source of outrage

or when we fire off

a rant on social media,

when we pass around

inflammatory articles,

when we wring our hands

and when we roll

our eyes with contempt,

all of the while

we are fighting

this proxy war.

And don't you understand

that Satan

absolutely delights

in our outrage

and our political obsession

and our fear

and our division.

He delights in it

because that is his agenda.

That is robbing

God of glory.

It's tearing

his creation apart.

The point is,

I think if we really

believed that the real enemy

was a spiritual enemy,

we would spend our time

very differently.

I'll just speak for myself.

I think if I really

believed this,

if I have a hope

of leaving here

and actually believing

and hearing what I've

just said to you,

I think I will change

how I spend my time.

I'll spend less time

obsessing on social media,

reading the news

for the latest

insane headline,

and I'll spend more time

on my knees.

Because that is how

this battle is fought.

That's what Jesus is doing.

Right?

So that's the first point.

Why do we need

God's divine protection?

Because we have

a spiritual enemy

who works unceasingly

to tear us away from God.

And a spiritual problem

requires a spiritual solution.

So that brings us

to the next part of this,

which is,

if that's the reason

we need protection,

then how do we get protection?

What kind of protection

is Jesus praying for?

And he says in verse 11,

I'm no longer in the world,

but they are in the world,

meaning us.

And I'm coming to you,

Holy Father.

Comma.

Keep them in your name.

Keep them,

you, me, all of us,

keep them in your name.

Now, what does it mean

for God to keep us

in his name?

Well, it doesn't really

make sense unless you know

that God's name

actually means his character.

So think about,

think about God's character,

all that we know of him,

all that he's revealed

himself to be,

all that he's done in history,

his character.

That's his name.

It's summative

of his whole identity.

And in the Bible,

particularly in the Psalms,

it talks a number of places

about God's character

being like a refuge,

a source of protection,

right,

a place of safety.

Now, what does that mean?

How does that actually work?

And the only image

I can really think of

to convey this,

with apologies,

comes from this science fiction book

that I read not too long ago.

And in this science fiction novel,

there's this planet

in a solar system,

and the planet is very close

to the sun.

And in order to get

to this planet,

you have to fly very close

to this really huge sun.

And the problem is

is that most spaceships,

when they,

if they just try to fly

directly to the planet,

the cosmic rays

from the sun

will tear the ship apart.

It'll,

they'll rip it apart

and disintegrate it

in space.

And so the only way

to get to this planet

is this giant shield ship

that they've built.

And it's a shield

that blocks the rays

of the sun.

And so the ship

flies out to meet you.

And that if you pull

your ship alongside

the shield ship,

and you fly

in the shadow

of that ship,

it escorts you

safely

to the planet.

In other words,

you find safety

in the shadow

of this great shield

that is blocking

those rays

that would otherwise

tear you to bits.

So Psalm 91,

which we just read,

says,

he who dwells

in the shelter

of the Most High

will abide

in the shadow

of the Almighty.

So it's the same image.

I would suggest

it's a very similar image.

That as we are moving

along with God,

allowing God's will

to shape our decisions,

to shape our priorities,

to shape how we spend

our time,

we're allowing Him

to guide and direct

our steps.

And as we're doing that,

we're moving,

we're keeping in step

with God and His will

and His word

that we are staying

in His shadow.

We are moving with Him

through our lives

from beginning to end.

And as we do that

and stay in His shadow,

His character

shields us

from things

that would otherwise

tear us apart.

Now you say,

well, what does that mean?

Well, let me give you

a couple of examples.

We could go through dozens.

I'll just give you two

for the sake of time.

Think about

the struggle

that many of us have

with anxiety.

Anxiety.

Right?

Fears about the present.

Fears about the future.

Fears about all of the things

that are uncertain

in our lives

and in our country.

Fears about our health.

Uncertainty about what news

we might get the next day.

Right?

Think about all of the ways

that anxiety

bombards us.

And this anxiety

can be like

those cosmic rays.

Right?

It can beat down on us

until it feels like

it is tearing us apart.

And here's the thing

you need to understand

about anxiety

is Satan can use anxiety

to tear us apart

from God.

Can begin to use anxiety

to convince us

listen

you're all alone.

There's no God.

He doesn't care about you.

He threw in the towel

a long time ago.

You're on your own.

And unless you take control

of your life

and make it happen

for yourself

you've got no hope.

So you better get going.

And so what do you do?

You begin to try to grab on

to greater and greater

control in your life.

And here's the sick paradox

with anxiety

for those of you

who struggle with it.

The more you try

to control your life

the more it ramps up

your anxiety.

It's a vicious cycle

and all you do

is drive yourself crazy.

That's the cosmic rays

tearing your ship apart.

And the only hope

is to turn to God

and allow the shadow

of the Almighty

to be our refuge.

And what that means

is we turn in our hearts

and in our minds

to the character of God.

And we begin to preach

the truth

of who God is

to our own hearts.

We remind ourselves

that God is good.

That God loves us.

Right?

That God is in control.

And that as bad

as things might get

Jesus will one day

crush Satan

under his boot.

And we preach

these things to ourselves.

So we say

whatever comes

it may not be easy

it may not be

what I would have chosen

or what I would prefer

it may not be

the decision

that I would have made

but whatever comes

I know that it's coming

from the hand

of a good God

who loves me

and who's promised

himself to me

and who will never

let me go.

And whatever happens

it will be exactly

as he intended it.

That's

sheltering ourselves

in the shadow

of the Almighty

so that the things

that would otherwise

tear us apart

are deflected

by a God

who's greater than us.

Right?

One more example

would be the struggle

that many of us have

with inadequacy

which is hard

when you come to D.C.

and you're all

bright and brilliant

and have done amazing things

but you get to D.C.

and you feel like

everybody else

fits that description

but not necessarily me.

And it can breed

this ongoing sense

of inadequacy.

I'm not good enough

and people are smarter

and more well read

and more accomplished

than I am.

And what that can do

is it can drive us

to constantly feel

a kind of low grade despair

like we're failing.

You know,

I turned 40 this year,

right?

What?

Yeah, I turned 40.

You know that?

Dan groans.

Yeah, I turned 40

and I'm thinking,

man, so many people

have done so much more

than I have at age 40.

I can't believe I'm 40.

That much of my life

is gone.

Inadequacy, right?

And Satan can take that

and he can begin to say,

yeah, you better get on it.

You better start

making things happen.

You better start

making a difference.

All the things you wanted to do,

if you don't do them now,

you're never going to do them.

You need to get on the stick

and maybe you need

a different job

and maybe you need

more education.

Maybe you need to start

doing this.

And all of a sudden

you start doing

more and more and more

and your life

can just become this churn

of unceasing accomplishment

trying to make sure

that you're staying abreast

or just ahead

of everybody around you.

It'll tear you apart.

But then again,

you come into the shadow

of the Almighty

and you begin to trust

God's character

and you begin to preach

to yourself

and you begin to remind yourself

that God's approval

is the only approval

that matters.

And you begin to remind yourself

the truth of the gospel

that God is absolutely

delighted in his children.

He is delighted in you.

He is delighted in you.

And the reason is

because he has done

more for you.

He's done everything for you

already in Jesus Christ.

And there's nothing

that you can do

to add to that.

You're never going

to make yourself

more impressive,

more attractive,

more anything to God.

He's already done it all.

He is crazy about you.

And you preach to yourself,

he's crazy about me.

He loves me.

Not only does he approve of me,

he embraces me.

And you begin to remind yourself

that there's nothing

that I can do

to change that.

And you know,

there are countless examples

like resentment and anger

and lust and greed

and insecurity.

All of these things

that can be like

those cosmic rays

that will tear us apart

in the sky

unless we have a shield

or a refuge.

The shadow of the Almighty,

right,

being kept in his name.

So of course we see

this is why things like prayer

and scripture matter

in the Christian life.

Not because some pastor says

you better be reading

your Bible.

But where do you think

you get all of that stuff

to preach to yourself about?

We have to preach

and to pray these truths

into our hearts.

It's the only way it'll work.

We have to all be

amazing preachers.

Every single one of you.

You have to learn to preach

and you have to preach

to yourself

every single day.

So just to kind of

draw all this together,

Jesus knows,

Jesus knows

that the evil one

will do everything

in his power

to convince you,

to convince me

that we are better off

without God

and that we need

to do it on our own.

And because Jesus knows

that Satan

will never stop

trying to convince us

of that fact,

Jesus will never

stop praying

for our protection.

and so that's

what Jesus does.

Before the Father

on the throne of heaven,

right now as we sit here,

he is praying

that we would find

refuge in God,

that we would find shelter

in the shadow

of his wings.

And I don't know

what is bombarding you

right now,

I don't know

what is hammering you

and feels like it might

tear you apart,

but probably most of

in this room

have something like that.

I do.

And Jesus is praying

that you take refuge

in the character of God.

And if you ever doubt

that God hears

and answers our prayer,

remember that Jesus himself

prays this for us.

So whenever you pray

for God's protection,

you can know

that that prayer

has already been answered.

It's already been answered.

Let's pray.