(BONUS EPISODE) October 26, 2025 - Sunday School with Peter D. Jones IV - Jesus Prays for His Disciples - John 17

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for embracing the commission

of the Father. Both of you had to cooperate in

this, in the Holy Spirit as well, and we're very

grateful for the incredible lengths. I mean,

really, the whole universe is built just as a

stage for this story of redemption and restoration.

play out, but the incredible, incredible lengths

you've gone to to reconcile sinners to yourself,

of which we are definitely part of the number.

And I thank you that it's not a one and done,

and we're on our own to struggle through this

life and hopefully make it stumble across the

threshold of heaven. into an inheritance that

we have. But your power, as Erica reminded us

this morning about your power, power in the truth,

and part of the truth that we find in your Word

is that you are protecting us. The same power

that is protecting our inheritance and reserving

it in heaven is also protecting us as well. And

you keep us in your hand. And we stray often.

We stumble often. But scripture says the righteous

man stumbles seven times and he gets up. And

so I thank you for each person that's drawn here

today. All of us are drawn as Christ is lifted

up. And I pray that you would be lifted up here

in our hearts and before our eyes that we would

behold your beauty, Father, in the face of the

Lord Jesus. And thank you for His high priestly

prayer here. which points to his ministry now

as our intercessor, who is able to identify with

us and is a faithful high priest. And we thank

you for that, Lord Jesus, that you are willing

to continue to suffer through your saints. It's

an amazing thought to think that we, as part

of your body, you feel the pain, the persecutions,

what happens to these believers in Nigeria, you

are there. Even as you told Paul, why are you

persecuting me? And so we know that you're not

unaware of these things and unaware of the pain

in our own lives as well. And the injustice,

the darkness, the disappointment and despair

that we feel in this world, we thank you that

it's not the final chapter. That you are working

it out together for good. Help us to understand

these things. Apply them. Believe them and obey

them today, in Jesus' name, Amen. Last time we

started talking about the topic of joy, and I

want to ask you again, my intent last time, we

ended up talking about a lot of other things,

and that's not necessarily bad, as long as we

don't stray too far from Scripture. Anytime you're

reading a part of Scripture and studying it,

It has connections to other parts of Scripture,

right? And that's appropriate for us to delve

into these topics. And we're going to do that

today, Lord willing. We've got a number of Scriptures

in both Old and New Testament that deal with

this topic of joy and rejoicing. And I kind of

primed the pump a little bit last time, but I

want to ask you again if you've given any more

thought to that or considered... What joy is

and how does it compare to something say happiness,

right? It's always an acronym. Your mom told

me years ago. Joy is Jesus others in yourself.

You put Jesus first others before you in yourself,

right? I didn't know if you said that we weren't

here last week, but I remember her saying that

stuff with me. It's hard. It's hard to do that.

That's right. It's even sometimes hard. I may

be shunned, but it's hard sometimes for Jesus

first. You know, we say that's what we want to

do, but our simple desires and our nature is

to look out for number one. If we sit here and

say we don't do that, then we're not truthful

with ourselves. Yes, that's very true. Very true.

I think the joy is. Being like the flag that

flies over the life of the person in which Jesus

is Lord We can remember seeing that in our brother

who's more service we just participate in that

he was a person Do it not just giddy, but he

really had the joy in his heart. Yes, it is That's

right, and I was reflecting about that fact I

I had some thoughts, you know, I had no idea

what the service was going to be like, you know,

and it was long enough. They didn't need to have

an open mic. But sometimes you do at these things.

You have an open mic and somebody can come up

and, you know, friends, you know, can reflect

on the life of the person that's passed. If that

had happened, you know, I had several words,

but I was, you know, I wrestled with how do you

summarize somebody like Hunt and I think that...

You heard that word a lot of people use it yesterday

in his service is joy, right? He was very a very

joyful person, you know and big smile, you know

and So which is good because I've been reflecting

on that and and in our text Jesus So if you get

your notes in front of you there, we've been

through points number one and two on our outline.

Okay Remember that we are in the middle section

of this high priestly prayer. This is the longest

prayer that Jesus prayed, recorded for us in

Scripture. Not the longest that he prayed, but

it's the longest that we have of his prayers

recorded. I don't know how to say that in a way

that makes sense. You know what I'm trying to

say? We have other prayers of his, little snippets,

but this is by far and away the longest recorded

prayer of Jesus, okay? And it's got, it's structure

is very simple. It's got three parts to it, hence

the notes, right? The first part that we looked

at is verses one through five, Jesus prays for

himself. The section we're in now is Jesus prays

for his disciples and that's these verses six

through 19. And then starting with verse 20 and

going to the end of the prayer, Jesus prays for

all believers. which would include his disciples,

but it's touching every time I read verse 20.

It's, I can't help but be moved sometimes emotionally

by reading that, that he prays for you. And the

prayer, if you're a believer in Jesus, you do

so through the testimony of the scriptures, right?

And so touching to see him pray for us as well,

right? So we're in that middle section. He's

been praying for his disciples and We've looked

at the first two points there. Jesus expresses

his desire to be glorified. I'm sorry, I'm looking

at the wrong outline. Jesus characterizes the

disciples as those who show they are God's by

obeying his truth, right? Six through eight.

I don't want to belabor that. Point number two,

Jesus requests that the Father protect the disciples

in the world system. And this is... Remember

that... This is the final chapter of five chapters

that are collectively known as the Upper Room

Discourse, right? The first four chapters, Jesus

is giving them information, is giving them truth,

is a better word to say. And Erica's opening

was good because it reminded us that there is...

power in God's truth, right? The Word of God

is living and active. It's sharper than any two

-edged sword. It's able to judge the thoughts

and intents of the heart. I like to say the Bible

is the only book that reads you as you're reading

it. And so it does have power, and God's truth

given to us changes us if we let it. And if the

Holy Spirit also is taking it and illuminating

it, there's people, I say that because the Bible

by itself doesn't save you, right? We've already

seen that in chapter five, verse 39 and 40, where

he tells the religious leaders, you search the

scriptures diligently because in them you think

you have eternal life, but these are they which

speak to me and will come to me, right? So simply

reading the Bible, and they had made a whole

life. lifetime of studying the scriptures and

they had this whole thing where they had, you

know, all their accomplishments and their rabbi,

rabbinic commentaries and so on. Which, by the

way, modern Judaism is very different. It's really

allowed for the most part, okay? There's exceptions,

but for the most part modern Judaism has allowed

their I'm trying to remember the names of these

documents, but basically the collection of their

traditions and rabbinic commentary to eclipse

the scriptures in their own faith. Well, I forget

where I was going with all that. Oh, the truth,

yes. So Jesus has given them four chapters of

truth about the Father, About the Holy Spirit

right and about Himself and what's happening

and the whole point of this and you hear this

in that second point there in verses 9 through

12 Reflected in his prayer. What's what's on

his heart as he's? Talking to them through these

five chapters is that they might be protected

He is hours away from the cross and he has been

with them for three years and he's been able

as the shepherd to to guide and protect them.

And when there's some false teaching that comes

in and their minds are kind of distracted and

they start like sheep going down the wrong path,

He's able to speak the truth of God and bring

them back to proper thinking, to correct thinking.

But He's not able to do that. So He's committing

them to the Father. And we looked at how many

times those words keep and kept and then give

and given are used, right? And it's this idea

of trading some valuable things around, right?

And they have also kept, they've taken the treasure

of God's Word and God's truth and they have kept

it by obeying it, right? And protecting it. And

we are called to do the same. In line yesterday

with one of the brothers, he's struggling, one

of the guys at the Bible study, is struggling

because the church she's involved with is increasingly

sliding more and more left and liberal. As they

abandon the moorings of Scripture and they have

a low view of Scripture, they are going more

and more left and he's struggling with that.

His wife has already started going to a different

church. And I was like, I think your wife has

the right idea. You know, I'm trying to tell

them gently, but you know, you need to take a

stand for the truth. You can't, what fellowship

does light have with darkness? It doesn't. And

it hurts because you know people, right? These

are people you know, you care about, and you're

talking about essentially breaking fellowship

with them and going somewhere else. And it sounds

easy for us, but if you're really in the middle

of it, it's tough. having influence in unsaved

churches and God work and bring these unsaved

people to Christ? I think so. I've been reflecting

a little bit on it. That's kind of what he was

saying. He said the Lord still has me there for

some reason. I didn't want to disagree with him

because I don't know. The Laodicean Church was

an unsaved church. Kind of the way it's described,

it sounds a lot like many of the modern mainline

churches that are like that. They're wealthy

and rich and think they have need of nothing.

But Jesus says it's interesting because in the

other churches he's there in the midst of them,

but in Laodicea he's outside the church and he's

knocking to be let in. And I was thinking about

that and he says if anyone hears my voice, which

means that there are, remember in John 10 he

said my sheep hear my voice, right? So there

are some in that church that are still his, and

he's calling, you know, let me in. So, yes, I

think there's a place for that, perhaps, but

I know he's, in his case, he's not getting fed.

I come to the Bible study, I'm like, the Bible

study isn't church. You know if you get serious

is correct, you know, if you've got a couple

bad apples in a barrel eventually the other ones

are gonna rot as well and it's kind of a good

analogy because If you're still stuck in this

church, that's not feeding and not doing not

you may be Turned into that you know I'm saying

you may follow that because everybody else is

following it well Even if you're strong, you

know, you may think okay, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe

I'm even though I'm trying to search scripture

out So we need to pray for this man, because

I'm sure that it's a struggle, especially that

his wife has left the church, and without him,

it wasn't a unity thing. That's right. To me,

that's not good. It needs to be a choice for

both, but I just think about that apple thing.

I don't know why I brought that up, but if you've

got a couple bad apples in a barrel, or in a

bag, or whatever, the rest of it is going to

rot as well. Seems like if it gets permeated,

then you... Like 11, about a year ago. Yeah,

like a little bit of 11 ago. But Paul said too,

bad company corrupts good morals. So yeah, you

can pray with me about that and talking to him.

Back on this, I'm sorry to talk about this, but

back on this thing about the disciples, what

I'm reminded of with is, you know, they blamed

on him, you know. We live on the side of the

cross, so all we have is the Holy Spirit and

the Word. But they had him physically. They could

see him walk. So they leaned on him. They didn't

understand until after the resurrection that

the power of the Holy Spirit. That's why I love

14 is when he says, I'm going to leave you as

orphans. And he had that in mind when the upper

room discourse was in the back of his mind, I

think. Because he knew what he was going to have

to tell them. That's why I think he prepared

him when he said that to them. He said, this

is why I'm not going to leave this orphanage,

because it's coming. They were like, nah, you

know, nah. They just didn't get it. I mean, they

didn't. That's right. And so it was not ever

the reason for it. They also didn't know how

spiritually vulnerable they were, I think. Well,

they were trying to decide who was going to be

the best. Right. You know? Right. But anyway,

I just know that we're very, very fortunate to

live this side of the cross. That's right. Amen.

We're blessed, actually, because we have not

only the Holy Spirit, we can't walk with Him

physically, but we can walk with Him physically,

but we have the Word of God that we can read,

and the Holy Spirit works there. If you allow

the Holy Spirit to work in your life. That's

right. That's right. And that's the key is not

just the Bible, but the Holy Spirit as well.

He takes the Holy Spirit. Do you think the Holy

Spirit speaks to us? Yes, through His Word. I

know, but like, tell you, because I was listening

to a broadcast of, I think it was Focus on the

Family, and they were talking about how, you

know, a lot of people have to hit rock bottom

before they'll come to Christ, and this lady

was talking about an example of this man who

was, there was, I guess, a homeless person, and

he hadn't prayed before he gave him money. And

then so he gave him some money and then it's

like the Holy Spirit told him it's like I almost

had him if you happen to give him this money.

Do you think God does that? Do you think he tells

us this kind of stuff? You know like it almost

made it feel like it was this man's fault because

he made the wrong choice to give this man money

and now this homeless person is not going to

get saved. What does Scripture say about that?

All who the Father has given me what? will come

to me. So if the Holy Spirit tells you something

that you know from Scripture isn't true, the

Holy Spirit is not the Holy Spirit. You've got

to be really careful about these little inklings,

and I hear that all the time, right? People,

oh, you know, that's a really strong impression.

I mean, something like that happened to me recently

where with Hunt, when he was still alive and

I heard that he was at Elizabeth House, that

Friday and and I was thinking about what am I

do that Saturday and you know my kind of the

usual you know how it is you got an open day

and you're thinking about what you can do and

all that and I just I just just kept coming back

to my mind again and again I got to go over there

going to see him and we had tried to get get

in touch with Monica hadn't worked out you know

get over to visit him when he was in the hospital

so anyway I was just like I'm not gonna say anything

I'm just gonna show up I'm just gonna show up

and and and one thing led to another. I wasn't

allowed back there because it's, you know, unless

the family comes and gets you, you know, and

anyway. So Monica did come out and got to see

him and spend a little time and then she was

like, hey, let's see if the Bible study man can

come the next day. And the next, you know, we

just set that up. Well, I'm convinced that that

was The Lord, you know, I think He was involved

in that. There's no doubt about it. And a lot

of men have thanked me for that and so on. I'm

like, well, okay, but the Lord, you know, I was

just trying to be obedient to what I think the

Lord wanted me to do in that situation. But that's

different than, you know, putting my faith and

trust in some kind of voice that I think is telling

me something over here, right, that doesn't align

with Scripture. The Holy Spirit uses this primarily

to speak to us. And it's just like the Lord Himself,

right? He didn't come speaking His own words,

but He tells them, what you hear me say is the

words I give you are from where? The Father,

right? The Father. The very beginning of this

Gospel. He is the Word of God, right? He is the

means by which God is communicating what He wants

us to know. Colossians, I'm starting to study

Colossians. Colossians chapter 2. He is the express

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

image of God. Everything that God wants us to

know is being given to us through the Son, and

the Holy Spirit is in cooperation with that as

well. But through, in fact, verse 20, right?

I pray for those, not just the disciples, but

for those who will believe on me through their

testimony, right? So Jesus has given... gave

the truth to these men that came from the Father.

The point I'm trying to get to is the Holy Spirit

isn't out on His own over here telling us stuff,

right? That doesn't align with God's Word. And

I hear the Holy Spirit get blamed for a lot of

things that are not Biblical. The same thing

is true with near -death experiences, right?

It's very popular right now. Someone so died

and they came back and they tell us all this

stuff. And some of those stories get way off

base. I'm like... Don't know what you saw but

ain't it ain't the heaven that let's talk about

here, you know, right? To do good We don't we

don't have to have a Holy Spirit to tell us to

do that right because we have a scripture we

know what to do so for instance working in good

news club I didn't have the Holy Spirit tell

me you need to work on the good news stuff. I

seemed to need, and I done it. Now you could

argue, was that from the Holy Spirit? Well, I

think you seemed to need. And it aligns with

scripture, so you do it. And you have a desire.

Yeah, and so you do it. So everything that you

do does not have to necessarily be told of you

by the... by the Holy Spirit. It has to align

with Scripture. That's the only criteria. I'll

tell you how, you know, Jesus says in John...

He gives us a lot of really good insight into

how the Spirit works in John 3, when He says

that the Spirit is like wind. In fact, it's a

play on words, right? Because the word Spirit

itself is... is the Greek word pneumo. We get

pneumonia from that, right? It has to do with

wind and breath really is what it is, okay? So

there's a little bit of a play on words and what

he's saying there is that the spirit is like

the wind. You didn't see where it came from,

you don't see where it's going, but you do see

its effects. So are also those who are born of

the spirit, right? In other words, as Paul says

in Galatians, the fruit or the effect. of the

Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness.

So the point is, number one, we don't control

the Holy Spirit. He's not obligated to do what

we want, right? Who's He listening to? Listen

to the Father and the Son, right? And remember,

even Jesus told them, He said, He was very clear

about the order of authority. He said, I don't

order the Holy Spirit. I'm going to ask the Father

to send the Holy Spirit. So the Spirit is listening

to the Father. We don't control Him. Secondly,

we don't see Him directly when He's working.

But you know the Holy Spirit has worked by His

effects. And I think that's very important. You

see the effect. And what's the effect? Well,

fruit is the scriptural way of talking about

effect. a changed heart, right? The joy that

we're talking about is one of those ingredients,

one of those effects of the Holy Spirit's work.

And same with what you're saying, Larry. We know

that, and back to your point, sweetheart, is

that you don't know going forward in life Should

I do this? Should I do that? You know, and so

that Saturday, you know, I had other plans, but

it just kept coming to mind again and again.

We didn't know Hunt was going to pass away that

Tuesday. No idea. I mean, we thought, I mean,

the hope was that he was going to be at Elizabeth's

house for a little while and then go back home

and you know, maybe have some more months of

recovery or whatever. But it was just a strong

desire, and I'm like, okay, all right, and I

really think this is maybe what the Word is telling

me to do today, and I need to do it and make

priority and do it. And in hindsight now, I look

back and I say, okay, yeah, I can see where God

used that, right? I think it's the same with

you, Larry. But some rebuke like that that, well,

he's not going to get saved now because you gave

him that money, and I was trying to work in it.

I wouldn't say that. You just lose a blessing

in your own personal life. If you feel led, and

I guess that's a loose term there, if you think

you need to witness to somebody and you don't

do it, that's not going to determine the outcome

of God's election. Right. That just steals your

blessing and yours because you didn't do it.

That's right. We have a good example here in

John, right? Remember at the beginning of John

when the disciples were called and were given

the calling for five disciples, including John

himself and Andrew, Peter's brother, right? They

were disciples of John the Baptist. And when

Jesus came, remember He came to be baptized and

then He was... Other gospels tell us that he

was driven immediately after that into the wilderness

for 40 days, tempted. The other gospels don't

tell us what John tells us, is that after that

temptation, Jesus came back to where John the

Baptist was. And John the Apostle and Andrew

were still there as disciples of John the Baptist.

And Jesus comes back and then John the Baptist

says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the

sin of the world. And apparently it was two days

there that Jesus was hanging out. And John kept

pointing his disciples to Jesus, and then John,

the apostle, future apostle, and Andrew said,

hmm, let's go follow him. And so they start following

him, right? And remember that whole story, it's

in John. And Jesus turns around and says, where

are you going? Well, I don't know. We want to

see where you are. You're going to stay, right?

And this is kind of a funny scene in a way. He's

like, come and see. Years later, John 15. Jesus

tells him, you did not choose me, but I chose

you to go bear fruit. Oh, wait a minute. We're

the ones who decided it, John the Baptist. Remember

when you were there, John the Baptist doing his

thing, and we started following you? What's that?

The Holy Spirit's already working, right? So,

going forward, we don't know. You pray about

things. You do know God's moral will, right?

So if something is morally wrong in Scripture,

that's sin, right? Divide like that. But for

all these other things, what do you want to do?

Do that, you know, and trust it to the Lord.

If it's a really big decision, you know, something,

pray about it. Get wisdom, you know, and try

to make the best choice you can. And then watch

God in hindsight use it in ways you never thought.

So I'm sure all of us have had an experience

of what we thought we were, we were following

the story. It didn't bear fruit and we stopped.

And I guess that's normal, you would think. I'll

give you a good example of where I struggled

with that earlier, some decades ago. We had a

missionary family in this church that came for

a while and they were kind of part of us sending

them and we were supporting them. We personally

were giving to them for several years and they

went to where they were going to serve a couple

years struggle didn't work out and they came

back and back to the states and we're not doing

that anymore Oh great, you know, I thought the

Lord was gonna and and finally it dawned on me

You know, why was I giving in the first place?

Was it because I wanted to see some result that

I thought I wanted in other words You can't look

at giving, whether it's financial or giving of

your time or your resources or your speech, you're

talking to somebody, whatever. You can't look

at any investment you put into the kingdom of

God with the same eyes that you look at the stock

market. When you put some money in the stock

market, you want to be careful about, does this

investment have a future where I'm going to get

an ROI? kind of thing. And we take that thinking

and we apply it to our investments in the Kingdom

of God and you can't do that because you don't

know what God is going to do with it. And God

is not looking at the gift, He's looking at what?

Your heart. He's looking at your faith as you

give it. So even if those missionaries come back

or you don't get the result you thought you were

going to get out of it, is it... That's really

where you have search your heart was I just doing

this for me for my glory? Because I was excited

about some outcome as I do because I want to

see God's kingdom his name advanced and see him

pleased and However, he whatever he wants to

do with it is not up to me. You know I'm saying

it's a different way of thinking for believers

You tell them, you know, God's knocking on your

heart, you know, come see me. We're going to

pray and receive Christ and we do. And then they

grow up and it all fizzles out. So that's kind

of the same thing, isn't it? In a way, yes. Yes,

it is. You know, you really, I really believe

that because I was really pouring all of this,

you know, my whole heart, soul, mind into my

kids, that they would come to Christ. by a certain

age, I really believed that. And it didn't happen,

and so that's kind of a hard pill to swallow.

Especially when you see other people's kids that

are in Christ, and their parents did the same

thing. It's like, well, does God love them more

than He loves me? Because their kids got saved.

Why couldn't my kids get saved when they were

10 or whatever? You know? So it doesn't make

sense. You have to in that and really in all

situations get your eyes off of the results And

get your eyes where? Where does the writer of

Hebrews tell us looking unto? Jesus the author

in fact this is this is really good setup because

that's what joy is rooted in That's the essence

of joy right there. That's the real secret of

joy is is that that I am Scripture admonishes

us to rejoice in circumstances. Well, yeah, okay,

rejoice. I'm thinking of Philippians 4, right?

Rejoice in the Lord, right? I will say it again.

Rejoice. Why did Paul have to say that twice?

He's distracted with everything else. We're looking.

for joy and everything else. Alright, so let's

get to our point here, okay? Our text. Point

number three on our outline. Jesus requests that

the Father sanctify the disciples from the world

system. And we started this last time. There's

verses 13 through 19. Let me read that if you

want to follow along. John 17, 13 through 19.

He says here, 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. 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

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 may also be

consecrated in truth What going on there yes,

it's a lot Yes, yes and since you brought that

up remember that in this context of these five

chapters, it's very important that we understand

the word world as Jesus intends for it to be

understood. It is not everybody and everything,

it's not earth, it's not even broader human culture.

It's specifically that system that they were

born and raised into. And so when he's saying

here that the world has hated them, that's past

tense, right? That's not talking about, well,

that's talking about me. Well, in a way it is,

okay? The world will hate you, we know that,

okay? But we know that from other scriptures

as well where Paul says all those who desire

to live godly will suffer persecution, okay?

You can expect that, Christian, even if you're

not in Nigeria and China. You can expect pressure.

You can expect people... Like my friend, it's

one of the things that I think he's struggling

with in this church that he's in. If you leave

that sort of perspective and you go follow after

these sort of backwoods country churches over

here that are extreme and they actually take

the Bible literally, then you're kind of looked

down on intellectually. You're just a little

out there, okay? So there's pressure there, too.

Anyway, the point is, That is all true, but that's

not his point here. His point here, remember,

he's praying for his disciples who were born

and raised in that system, and that system hated

Jesus, and it's going to hate them too, right?

So yes, you see the word world in here a lot,

and that's important. I don't want to focus on

those verse 13 this morning, but I'm coming to

you, of course, speaking to the Father, and these

things I speak in the world. Notice another thing

that's very important. Remember this whole section,

The main theme in here that we there's a lot

of things going on But the main trunk line that

we don't want to miss okay that all the other

limbs are growing off of okay is truth It's truth.

So even in verse 13 This this joy is sandwiched

between truth. It's hard to miss it It's hard

to see it at first, but once you see it, it's

hard to unsee it, right? So these things I speak

in the world what things? the other four chapters.

He just laid out for them the plan of what's

coming, right? He warned them that the world,

he is leaving and the Holy Spirit is coming and

the Father is working and you can now go and

pray in my name and the world is going to hate

you. They're going to kick you out of the synagogues

and they're going to think that when they kill

you they're doing God a service and all of these

kinds of things. He's told them this. which is

nothing less than God's truth. He's given them

to God's truth, right? So that's that. I speak

in the world that they may have my joy, right?

That's the contents of the sandwich here, okay?

Fulfilled in themselves. And then look at verse

14. I have given them your word. So that's the

same thing. He says it twice, right? I've spoken

these things to them and then I've given them

your word, right? He isn't saying, I've spoken

to them about other unrelated things. Oh, by

the way, I've also given them your word too.

The joy is sandwiched in between these statements

affirming the power of God's Word. Reputation.

Okay? And the importance of God's Word. And that's

not an accident. Notice he says, my joy, right?

And last time I pointed out to you that earlier

in chapter 14 verse 27, okay? He calls it, my

peace I give to you. Not as the world gives,

do I give to you, but I give, my peace, right?

And when we studied my peace, he's not saying,

hey, you can get peace in the world and you can

also get it from me. What he's saying is, the

peace that I give you is a different kind of

peace than the same, you get, we call it the

same word and it's confusing, right? But it's

really the different kind of peace than what

you get in the world. And in that context, the

peace that Jesus had, now remember, what's he

facing as he's talking to them? The cross! It's

hours away from bearing the sins of the world,

right? And the wrath of God is about to be poured

out on him and he's talking about, I have peace

and I have joy. What? If anyone had the right

to say, I'm really disturbed, you know, and I'm

really depressed and I'm hopeless in this dark

hour, it would be him. But he's talking about

my peace and my joy. And there's a secret there,

if you'll pay attention, that Jesus' peace and

joy are not dependent on circumstances. They

have nothing to do with what he's about to face.

they have everything to do with the fact that

God is fully sovereign and in control and Have

everything to do with the fact that even though

he's about to face the darkest Time that any

human being has ever faced you and I haven't

faced anything like what he faced and we never

will thank God Okay But as he's about to to to

take on God is about to take on God as Sin and

be the sin bearer for us He's talking about peace

and joy because he knows some truth. The writer

of Hebrews tells us that he scorned the cross,

despising the shame. Why? Because he looked beyond

that to the joy set before him. He knew that

the cross was not the end. He's not going to

go to the grave and stay there and then go to

hell and that's it, right? He's going to go to

hell and back for you and I. but he's going to

be resurrected and he's going to ascend to heaven

and he knows that on the other side of that God

is in control of all of those circumstances and

it's part of yes the darkest part but it's part

of this larger grand plan that will ultimately

result in glory and redemption and restoration

right and revelation of God to all of us and

to to praise and worship of him and of the Father.

And so he's willing to go through all of that,

yes, because of his love for us, but also because

he wants to bring glory to the Father. Remember

how the prayer started, right? Glorify yourself.

You know, I've glorified you, now glorify me,

right? He's interested in glory. That's on his

heart as well. And the secret to that is, again,

don't miss this, the truth God so the things

that he has imparted to them that he's been telling

them That truth is the soil in which this joy

grows Not and that's very important because they're

about to face The darkest time that in their

lives up to that point right especially who?

Peter right He's got three days of ruminating

on Jesus' look at him. Can you imagine that?

I mean, that look burns. I think it's Luke that

tells us about that, that Jesus turned and looked

at him at that final denial, right? Can you imagine?

I mean, I can almost see that look myself. It

just burns through the scriptures in our eyes.

Peter whipped bitterly, right? even in the midst

of the tears and the depression and the disappointment

in your own, I swore I was going to stand with

Him and all the others would do better. I'd even

die with Him and here I am denying Him in front

of some servant girl, you know, and my joy, my

peace, not rooted in circumstance. It's truth,

you know, my truth I live with you, which is

peace, joy, you know, but those attributes don't

mystically come, you know, they come to the Holy

Spirit. I always thought whenever he said, my

peace, I live with you, my joy, I live with you,

that he was speaking directly of the Holy Spirit.

Is that off base? Well, the Holy Spirit. You're

not going to get peace and joy without the Holy

Spirit. Yes, but the means. So I'm leaving you

the comforter. And I'm leaving you in peace.

I'm leaving you in joy. And how does that come

without the Holy Spirit? The means by which the

Holy Spirit brings that is by helping us to really

understand and apply and live in the truth. And

they have to work, they work hand in hand. In

other words, and that's an important point, David,

thank you, because to hear a lot of... people

talk today about the Holy Spirit you would almost

it's almost like he's been assigned to this sort

of mystical drug in a way that you sort of moves

in and I just feel so peaceful you know you heard

my story about the time that I went to the doctor

some years ago and had some back pain and and

I thought anyway it turned out to be some muscle

pain back there and getting older and she It's

actually physician assistant. She she gave me

some muscle relaxants, you know there this will

help you feel better to you kind of Okay, so

I'd start taking them. I was so chill man. I

was driving Nothing bothered me, which is saying

a lot for me, right? So I But I was just not

motivated I didn't want to get out cut the grass

do any of that kind of stuff, right and and but

this Holy Spirit Sometimes it's presented like

that. Well, all you need is you don't have joy

and peace in your heart. Well, just just get

the Holy Spirit man Well, the Holy Spirit isn't

first of all isn't a drug right? We know that

he's not a mystical force He's a person and he's

he is not again He's not listening to us and

what we want. It's not a pill that you take to

get the outcome you want He's listening to God

the Father right who has Your sanctification

in mind and and so he's going to use the Holy

Spirit who then uses or the Holy Spirit I should

say in cooperation with father is going to use

the truth of God. Here's how this works Remember

how Paul what Paul said when I was a child I

what? Thought like a child. I spoke like a child

acted like a child, but now that I've become

a man I put away childish things Paul's point

is that as you grow up in your physical life

The things that bothered you or that concerned

you or that were a fear to you or source of frustration

for you as a child change, should change, as

you get older. Why? Because I'm bigger now, right?

Well, somewhat. But really because you have learned

many things that are true now, that were true

then, but you understand it better now. Let me

give you a great example. As children, probably

all of us at one point or another were afraid

when the lights went out at night, right, in

the room. Afraid of the dark. Common fear. Now,

do you struggle with that? I like it. Rick's

always in the dark, isn't he? Yeah. No. You know,

when I go down to the basement now and I'll turn

the lights out, sometimes it's dark. I mean,

it is pitch black down there, right? There's

no light at all. anywhere, not even a little

LED or something. And it just, the other day

it struck me, I was just, cause I knew where

the other door was and I was turning the light

out and walking over there and it didn't bother

me at all. And I was like, you know, as a child,

I'd have been, and my girls were really afraid

of the basement. You know, they tell us now,

we wouldn't want to go to the basement without

daddy, you know. Well, point is, and I told them

when they were little, there's nothing there

in the dark that's not there in the light. Right?

As an adult, you know that, but as a child, you

don't know that. So Paul's point is that as we

grow in truth of God's Word, you learn more and

more about who God is and what He has promised.

And then, here it is, sports fans, how trustworthy

He is and how you can really lean into His sovereignty.

And He really will not let you down. And as you

learn to, as it were, timidly at first but more

and more as you grow as a believer put more and

more weight onto God and and and trust in him

and faith you know what scripture calls that

growing in faith that's what that is faith is

again it's not just belief but belief in truth

and it's my part of the truth and as I take the

faith that is the body of truth that God has

delivered in his word and it becomes part of

my thinking and I assimilate and I let it work

into how I think and how I view the world and

view what's happening in my life more and more

as I grow in that and then as like Larry was

saying a second ago and as you look back and

you see those times of fear and disappointment

and how God worked even in those dark points

in your life and But he turned things around

and now you're in a place that's very different

than where you thought you would be. And you

start to learn to trust more and more. God's

Word is true. He can be trusted. Right? And then

that builds faith and strength for the next trial

that comes. And you're a little stronger for

that. And guess what God is doing? It's how He

works. And we know that He has promised, what?

Romans 8 .28. We know, not we feel, we know that

God works all things together for good. Those

who love Him will call to corn His purpose. That's

hard when you're sitting in the doctor and you're

hearing a cancer diagnosis, right? It's hard

when your children aren't where you want them

to be, okay? It's hard where, it's hard in, you

know... job stress, whatever, you know, all of

these things that we face, and we all face trials

of many kinds, James says, but we know some things,

right? And because we know these things, our

joy is preserved. And it's not happiness, right?

It's not happiness. Jesus is not talking about

happiness here. He's about to face, even before

the cross is the garden, right? He's right after

this prayer right here is when I believe that

He separated the three disciples, Peter, James,

and John, and then he went himself a little distance

from them to call out in prayer and even, as

Luke says, sweat great drops of blood. He was

humanly speaking with the high level of anxiety

about what's about to happen to him. They're

still under that. He is still rejoicing in the

fact that God is in charge of all these things

and he is playing it out, even if I don't understand.

where it's going and how we're going to get there.

I know we'll get there. Because like a child,

I trust my daddy, right? I trust him. He knows

what he's doing. And unlike human daddies that

don't know everything and do fail their promises,

our Heavenly Father will not fail every promise

He has. And as Erica said this morning, that

power that, Paul, we're going to talk about it

next time we're willing when we... get together

again for our study in Ephesians, that power

there, four words for power that are mentioned

in Ephesians 1 .19, God's working, God's ability,

His mighty power, His strength, all of those

words there become the spring head and it's like

a river that flows to the rest of the chapters

in Ephesians that basically tells us there's

no obstacle that you face that's too big for

God. The world of flesh and the devil, as mentioned

in chapter 2, can't stop Him. Death can't stop

Him. Your sin can't stop Him. There's nothing

that can stop God. His purposes in your life

will be accomplished. And thank God for that.

And so that is the basis then of this joy. We

can rejoice, and by the way, joy is the noun

rejoices the verbal form, right? So when you

see that in your English, it's the same root

word in Greek, but it's just a noun and verbal

form. Okay, so let's look at a few two texts

of Scripture. These really speak to this and

sort of hammer the point home for us. Let's turn

first to a very well -known verse here. In fact,

My wife has that on the front of her bag there.

Psalm 37, you want to read that for us? Psalm

Psalms 37:4

37 verse 4. In English, it makes it sound 37

-4, right? 34. 37 -4. Prepositions are a hard

thing in some of these source languages. In English,

our prepositions are very, very specific. I went

through the cloud. I went over the cloud. I went

under the cloud. I went around the cloud. All

of these things add subtle differences. And so

in some of these other two languages, Hebrew

and Greek, they kind of depend on more broader

context to get the preposition right. And so,

in English, it makes it sound like He'll just

give you what you want. Delight yourself in the

Lord and He'll give you what you want. It's better

to translate it, though, I think, given what

Scripture teaches here. And you could translate

it this way. He will give you the desires for

your heart. In other words, kind of confirming

what we talked about a minute ago, that the Lord

works in and through our desires. And I know

that's true in my life when... when I really

got saved, I now had new desires that weren't

there. I wanted other people to know what I was

learning. I was excited about it, and the scripture,

boom, opened up. And now I have a desire to read

the scriptures, you know, and whereas before

it was a chore, you know, I've got to do this,

check the box. And now it's like, man, like Erica

was excited this morning, right? This is what

God's shown me. She's excited about it. That's

good. That's good. That's new desires. I got

to pursue Him, study Him. Study Him. Study the

word, but what's the prerequisite delight yourself

in the Lord, right? That's another that's kind

of a synonym for joy is Delight take take delight

and that's a choice right to to delight yourself

That's part of the trust and and there's an it

is an excitement there even even when you're

facing a difficult circumstance Emotionally you

don't want to do that. But there's a it's another

part of you where you know, okay I know this

is part of what God has, and He's going to bring

glory to Himself in my life, and growth in my

life, and maybe other people. I don't know what

that future is going to be like, but I know it's

a bright future. So there's a delight there.

Again, not in the circumstances. It doesn't say

delight in circumstances, or delight in happenstance,

or delight in your money, delight in health.

It doesn't say any of that. It says delight where?

In the Lord. to go the opposite way, the claimant

group uses that as something to say, well, if

I pray hard enough or long enough or whatever,

then I should get whatever I want. So if it's

taken out of context and used in a way, that's

one of the passages they use. That's right. That's

right. But they never define what delight yourself

and the Lord means, right? And then you have,

as Paul Zurich in our study likes to say, a coin

-operated God. I put my little thing in and I

get what I want out of my little God. Which by

the way, that's a hallmark of an idol. If your

God never disagrees with you, you have an idol.

If your God always follows your little prescription

for stuff and you get the little thing out at

the end, like with the monkeys, they pull the

little lever and the little food pellet falls

out. If your little God gives you the little...

Blessing that you want every time you have an

idol Billy had his hand up go ahead bill jump

in there bro, okay It's the Lord's will it's

gonna be his way Because he's gonna be boy fighting

over it sometimes we see things Oh my gosh, why

didn't that happen? Why didn't that happen? You

know circumstances happen People get sick, people

die. The whole scheme of the whole thing is that

the Lord's glorified. That's why Jesus did this.

He was doing the will of the Father to glorify

Him. That's why He went to the cross because

that's what God wanted Him to do to take away

the sin. That was His way of doing it. Where

we saw it, where we asked Him, Lord, if this

shepherd could just cut past for me. He didn't

have doubts. He was just, I think, getting reassured.

Is this your will? And that is the whole thing,

I think, a lot of times we, and myself, we go,

oh, really? Why, why, why? But if we really back

up and let it happen, not that we sit there and

just be like a puppet, but search the scripture.

Why is this happening? And it's all gonna be

to glorify Him. I might be totally wrong the

way I say it. I'm trying to say it, but to glorify

Him is what? His will is because it's all pointed

to Him. It's all pointed to Him. If your pain

in life brings glory to God, are you okay with

that? Maybe. I mean, that's really kind of the

question in front of us, right? It's hard. But

we have to hold our head up and know that endurance

to the end is where it's at. We must endure,

there's no way. So we have to go through uncomfortable

times, but joy still comes. That's right. Our

joy may not look like your joy because you don't

understand what people really value. And you

know, in church we really should be sensitive

to that too, right? You'll hear me sometimes

I'll pray up here about that, you know, in the

services and say, and ask the Holy Spirit's blessing

and say it, I like to say it this way, that I

don't know where everybody's been this week.

Maybe it's been a hard week. Maybe it's been

just another week. Maybe it's been a great week.

I don't know, right? I don't know. And a lot

of times you go to churches, you know, I've been

to some churches where I feel like it's a pep

rally, right? You come in and it's all jacked

up. Let's get jacked up for two hours and celebrate

Jesus and we'll take our Jesus pill and we'll

feel good until Monday, right? and you come back

into the depressing circumstances that you're

in. Paul says in Romans 12, I can't remember

which verse, 12, 13 or something, but he says,

weep with those who weep, rejoice with those

who rejoice. I think that's a great verse. I

have that in the top of our men's, I maintain

two prayer lists for two different Bible studies,

and that's the verse I have up there. Remind

all of us, that's as body of Christ as we were

to do. I just love that. Weep with those who

eat, rejoice with those who rejoice. Whatever

your week's been like when you come here, we're

gently calling all of us again to get our eyes

off of the circumstances and off of us and what

we're feeling at that moment and look where?

Look to Him. Why? Because that's the soil out

of which our peace and joy grows. But we get

our eyes off Him and to everything else, right?

And then that happens even when things are going

great too, right? I mean, if you think about

it, yes, we call them trials and they're hard

times. When times are going good, that's a trial

too. Because now, isn't that what the Lord said

that would happen to Israel? He says, when you

get into the land and you get blessed and you

move into these cities you didn't build, you

reap the fruit of plants that you didn't plant

and everything else, and then you'll forget God.

You'll forget me. You'll forget that I brought

you here. And so our sin nature is terrible,

right? And that's why we have to gather regularly.

And the whole point of this really is, yes, to

comfort and encourage each other, enjoy the fellowship.

But really, we kind of want to turn our eyes

back to Jesus, right? Looking unto Him, the author

and the fact of our faith. Because He's the one

who's in charge. It's God's plan. He's in control.

He has a purpose in mind. Whether your week has

been wonderful, has just been another week, or

it's been terrible, whatever it is, God's still

in charge. He's still on the throne. You've been

bought with a price. You're not your own. He

has a higher purpose for you. He has an inheritance

in heaven reserved for you. His power is protecting

you now. Even it doesn't look like it. You know

what I'm saying? That's the basic message. Because,

again, our peace, our joy, our hope all grow

from the soil of that trust in God. Faith and

trust in what he says and knowing that's why

we open the word a lot to preach this right because

we want to know what God is saying and it adds

to your faith and as you add to your faith you

trust that and you lean on to it and You find

God didn't fail you and it just it strengthens

you and you grow as a believer All right, and

we're out of time So good discussion is really

good good Father your word has so much to say

when we start looking at this About trusting

you instead of trusting our circumstances which

we do so easily we're always looking at that

and yet We know from our from experience in our

own lives and then also as we watch other people

who get so afraid as they're looking looking

down and looking around and and and full of fear

full of anger full of anxiety because they have

no hope, really, but we have hope. Not in the

way things look now, but hope in you. And thank

you that you have given us your precious word

which told us how we got here, why the human

race is here, why the universe is here, and then

where it's all going. And our little tiny, tiny,

tiny little sand grain life compared to the grand

scheme of things, is not insignificant to you.

You care about us. As Peter says, cast all your

cares on Him because He cares for you. Love that

intimacy, Father, that you want each and every

one of us to have the same kind of peace and

joy that our own Savior here models for us as

He is hours away from sin bearing on the cross.

facing the worst point ever in human history.

And he can talk about peace and joy, and we can

as well, when things are not going the way we

think they ought to go. Remind us of this, especially

in those dark hours, the dark night of the soul,

as the Puritans used to talk about. Father, knowing

that all believers go through it, and we all

need to be tested and reminded that you can be

trusted. And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen.