1 Year Lectionary – Sixth Sunday of Easter – Sunday, May 22, 2022 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough
Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough: |
Time Stamp | Transcript |
0:22 | The holy gospel according |
0:29 | to saint john the 16th chapter [Music] |
0:40 | jesus said in that day you will ask nothing of me truly truly i say to you whatever you ask of the father in my |
0:47 | name he will give it to you until now you have asked nothing in my name ask |
0:52 | and you will receives that your joy may be full i have said these things to you in figures of speech the hour is coming |
0:58 | when i will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but i will tell you plainly about the father in that day you |
1:04 | will ask in my name and i do not say to you that i will ask the father on |
1:10 | your behalf for the father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that i came from god i came |
1:17 | from the father and have come into the world and now i am leaving the world and going to the father his disciples said |
1:24 | ah now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech now we know that |
1:30 | you know all things and you do not need anyone to question you this is why we believe that you came from god this is |
1:37 | the gospel of the lord in the name of jesus amen all right it’s recent history |
1:43 | russia invaded ukraine right that little pop quiz here to see if you were paying attention all the way back when they |
1:50 | first invaded what was the first thing the russians attacked what did they go for first and if you sit there and go |
1:56 | kiev no you’re not you’re thinking you know think in cities the first thing you have to do when you invade another |
2:03 | country we did the same thing by the way when we did that whole desert storm operation you all remember that thing |
2:08 | right what did we what did we go after first not bridges communication |
2:15 | ah you had to set down the communication ability of your foe if you knock out |
2:20 | their communications then what happens is that well soldiers out in the field aren’t hooked up to headquarters |
2:26 | properly they’re not getting the right orders they don’t know who to attack and think of it this way it’s a good tactic |
2:32 | you go after communications and then you pick off the soldiers kind of one at a time that was their first target and i |
2:39 | would note the devil knows this all too well in my time of being a christian |
2:46 | apologist and noting different heresies and stuff like this one things i’ve noticed is that where there is egregious |
2:52 | false teaching there is also false teaching as it relates to prayer and this is not an accident if you were to |
2:59 | think about it the devil is all about knocking down communication he doesn’t want you to hear properly the word of god but even more important he wants to |
3:07 | make sure that god doesn’t hear from you and so you’ll note in rome this is an example in rome uh they they well they |
3:14 | pray to saints they pray to the virgin mary when was the last time you prayed to saint teresa |
3:20 | i would note that there’s actually a saint barbara my wife is you know named barbara santa barbara right okay and i |
3:28 | find this to be quite appropriate santa barbara is the patron saint of like |
3:33 | artillery men in the military i think this works i think this works this theme fits so all of that being |
3:40 | said you’ll note though what use is it to pray to dead saints |
3:46 | are you communicating with what our epistle tech said is the one mediator between god and man christ |
3:53 | you’re not what’s the point in praying to dead saints well i would argue that the whole point is to cut off |
4:00 | communication between you and god you might as well be speaking into the air but evangelicalism isn’t any worse |
4:06 | in fact here christ says in our gospel text he says that truly truly i say to |
4:12 | you whatever you ask of the father in my name he will give it to you and you’ll know there are a lot of people who think |
4:17 | well what does that mean well to pray in jesus name is just to tack on the words in jesus name at the end of whatever |
4:24 | you’re praying for and that means that god’s going to give it to you so i’ve noted in the past that i have this |
4:29 | particular lust of mine it’s a it’s a it’s a besetting sin it’s it’s a lust for an aston martin but the more i think |
4:37 | about it an aston martin really wouldn’t be a practical vehicle up here you know what i’m saying here that thing would |
4:42 | probably skid out and be in the ditch and it would be a very expensive set of repairs you know having an aston martin |
4:48 | that just doesn’t seem to fit i think a ford’s a little better but all of that being said if i were to say lord i want |
4:54 | an aston martin in the name of jesus should i then be looking in my email to see if the tracking number has been sent |
5:01 | so that i know when my aston martin is going to arrive no what does it mean to pray in the name |
5:07 | of jesus it means to pray according to his will which means you might want to spend |
5:12 | a little bit more time listening to scripture to figure out what the will of christ is what it is to pray in his name |
5:21 | is all about and if you’re sitting there going well those televangelists can copeland those guys basically say that |
5:26 | you can decree and declare and proclaim and all this kind of stuff and that means that god has to give it to you i |
5:32 | would note that james in his epistle has a few words that contradict mr copeland and others right |
5:38 | what does james say you have not cause you ask not notice how important prayer is and then |
5:45 | you ask and you don’t receive because you ask with a wicked intent in order to |
5:50 | well basically fill your passions and so that’s not what that text means |
5:57 | either but i would also note that a lot of people they have been taught and it’s a |
6:03 | terrible doctrine a terrible doctrine and you have guys who teach it kind of like uh |
6:08 | steven furtick this idea that we need to learn how to pray audacious prayers |
6:15 | would you consider your prayers to be audacious and you’re going what do you mean by that and they say things like this they |
6:21 | say things like well god is insulted by small meager prayers you need to up your prayer game and pray |
6:28 | for big things but in the lord’s prayer did we not pray for daily bread it seems kind of like a |
6:34 | meager thing here and here’s what they do they take joshua chapter 10 the story of the sun standing still right and it |
6:42 | is about prayer by the way and and then well steven furtick in his book called sun stand still you know best seller |
6:50 | right he basically says you’ve got to pray audacious prayers like well you know joshua have you prayed a |
6:56 | prayer where the sun stood still you you need to up your game and i’m going to i know this is going to |
7:02 | sound a little bit weird i agree at least with this concept that we must |
7:09 | be praying sun stands still prayers we should absolutely but what you don’t |
7:14 | recognize quite yet is that already in our divine service we have prayed some sun standstill prayers |
7:21 | we have he’s in there going all right i’m game prove it right well here’s how |
7:28 | this works all right we’re going to read the account of joshua chapter 10 the story of the sun standing still and |
7:33 | remember the old testament is type and shadow the fulfillment is in christ right |
7:39 | so we’ll that’ll be our basis so here’s the account in joshua chapter 10. the children of israel have already begun |
7:46 | their conquest of canaan jericho has fallen ai has fallen and then the gibeonites they they put on a |
7:53 | roost they put on like old clothes and moldy things and said that they had come from the long distance and they came to |
7:58 | make a covenant with israel and and israel went for it they didn’t check with god on that and turns out the |
8:05 | gibeonites were deceiving them and they actually lived locally they were in the same zip code as those guys but they had |
8:11 | made a covenant so the given unites had made peace and they weren’t they weren’t consumed and so we pick up here in |
8:17 | joshua 10 as soon as adonai zedek adonai zedek the righteous lord the king |
8:25 | of jerusalem he heard how joshua had captured ai and it devoted it to |
8:31 | destruction doing to ai and to its king as he had done to jericho and its king |
8:37 | and how the inhabitants of gibeon had made peace with israel and they were among them he feared greatly because |
8:43 | gibeon was a great city like one of the royal cities and because it was greater than a.i and all of its men were |
8:50 | warriors so adonai zedek the king of jerusalem |
8:55 | sent to ho ham the king of hebron piram the king of jarmoth jaffia the king of |
9:01 | lakish and to duber the king of eglon saying come up and help me and let us |
9:08 | strike gibeon for it has made peace with joshua and with the people of israel |
9:13 | then the five kings of the amorites and the king of jerusalem the king of hebron the king of jarmath the king of lakish |
9:19 | the king of eglon gathered their forces went up with all their armies and camped against gibeon and they made war against |
9:25 | it and the men of gibeon sent to joshua at the camp in gilgal saying do not relax |
9:31 | your hand from your servants come to us quickly save us help us for all the kings of the amorites who |
9:36 | dwell in the hill country are gathered against us so joshua went up from gilgal and he and |
9:41 | all the people of war with him and all the mighty men of valor and yahweh said to joshua do not fear them for i have |
9:49 | given them into your hands not a man of them shall stand before you note |
9:55 | he was given a promise absolute promise victory belongs to you i’m giving them into your hand so joshua |
10:01 | came upon them suddenly having marched up all night from gilgal yeah those |
10:07 | nighttime marches that lead to a surprise attack in the morning always have a tendency to give you a slight |
10:12 | upper hand militarily right and so yahweh then threw them into a panic before israel who struck them with a |
10:19 | great blow at gibeon chased them by the way of the ascent of beth horan and |
10:24 | struck them as far as asaka and macada and as they fled before israel while |
10:29 | they were going down the ascent of bethelron yahweh threw down large stones |
10:35 | from heaven on them as far as azaka and they died so the lord himself is now fighting and lobbing stones and crushing |
10:42 | these fellows there were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of israel killed with the sword and at |
10:49 | that time joshua spoke to yahweh in the day when yahweh gave the amorites over |
10:54 | to the sons of israel and he said in the sight of israel son stand still at gibeon and moon in the |
11:02 | valley of agilent the idea here is basically kind of simple back then they didn’t have the ability |
11:08 | to do nighttime attacks and the day was getting far spent and uh you know and |
11:14 | since god had given them the promise that they would have victory that particular day uh well what did joshua |
11:21 | do he’d take a look at the situation he’s going we’re gonna take it’s gonna take another good 12 to 24 hours to |
11:26 | finish this battle we don’t have enough time so he just made the reasonable decision that the |
11:32 | sun just needed to stand still not a bad thing if you’re thinking about that takes quite a bit of faith and plus he |
11:38 | had a promise from god that they would win that day so the sun stood still the moon stopped until the nation took |
11:45 | vengeance on their enemies can you imagine being on the other side of the world all right |
11:51 | at 6 00 am the the rooster’s going where’s the sun dude right right it’s |
11:57 | it’s a great story yeah it’s a great story but here’s what the text says is this not written in the book of jasher |
12:03 | the sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a |
12:08 | whole day there has been no day like it and listen to what it says before or |
12:14 | since when yahweh heeded the voice of a man for yahweh fought for israel |
12:20 | ah this is about prayer this absolutely is about prayer yahweh heeded the voice of a man the son |
12:28 | stood still are you ready for its fulfillment it’s found in the new testament this is |
12:34 | a passage for that we had as a gospel text a few months ago luke chapter 18. |
12:39 | as jesus knew drew near to jericho a blind man by the name of bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside begging and |
12:46 | hearing a crowd going by he inquired what this meant and they told him jesus of nazareth is passing by and so he |
12:54 | cried out jesus son of david have mercy on me ah that’s a good prayer all right jesus |
13:01 | son of david have mercy eleazar have mercy on me |
13:07 | those who were in front rebuked him telling him to be silent but he cried |
13:12 | out all the more son of david have mercy on me and here it is |
13:17 | and jesus stopped his prayer caused the son |
13:24 | to stand still the son of god that’s the point |
13:30 | and i would note this then his son standstill prayer was quite |
13:35 | audacious but it wasn’t audacious in the sense of praying for like big things it was |
13:41 | really more about him crying out for christ to have mercy on |
13:47 | him so the son of god stopped and he commanded that bartimaeus be |
13:52 | brought to him and when he came near he asked him what do you want me to do for you and he said lord let me recover my |
13:59 | sight and jesus said to him recover your sight your faith has made you well and |
14:04 | immediately he recovered his sight and followed him glorifying god and all the people when they saw it they gave praise |
14:11 | to god you see that’s the fulfillment of the type and shadow which then begs this |
14:17 | question do you believe that your prayers |
14:24 | caused the son of god to stop and to hear you because i would |
14:30 | note god promises that he does jesus your mediator between you and the |
14:36 | father absolutely hears your prayers hears your calls for mercy in fact in |
14:42 | our gospel text jesus says ask and you will receive but what’s really |
14:47 | interesting about the greek there ask the verb is in the present active imperative |
14:54 | which basically you can translate it this way ask keep on asking all right jesus isn’t |
15:01 | interested in you just basically asking him like kind of one-off prayers you know you know lord there’s weeds in my |
15:06 | garden this year i’d really like for those things to disappear i need to be more vigilant and praying you know the god get rid of my weeds right all right |
15:13 | but that’s kind of the point in fact jesus in matthew 7 says this ask and |
15:18 | keep on asking same idea the present active imperative ask keep on asking |
15:25 | it’ll be given to you seek keep on seeking and you will find knock and keep |
15:31 | on knocking and it will be open to you everyone who asks receives the one who |
15:36 | seeks finds to the one who knocks it will be opened or which one of you if |
15:42 | his son asks for bread will give him a stone or if he asks for a fish we’ll give him a serpent if then you who are |
15:48 | evil know how to give good gifts to your children well how much more will your father who is in heaven |
15:54 | give you good things to those who ask him |
16:01 | what should we ask him for i don’t know daily bread |
16:06 | the forgiveness of our sins that we be protected against the schemes of the devil |
16:12 | and the temptations of our own flesh that we be protected you get the idea uh |
16:17 | what about me if i’m in trouble what if my my life has gone to seed ah |
16:22 | you should pray to him as well and keep asking keep on communicating god wants to hear from you |
16:29 | oh give thanks to the lord for he is good psalm 107 says his steadfast love |
16:35 | endures forever so let the redeemed of the lord say so whom he has redeemed from trouble he has gathered in from the |
16:41 | lands from the east from the west from the north from the south some they wandered in desert waste finding no way |
16:47 | to a city to dwell in they were hungry they were thirsty their souls fainted within them then they |
16:55 | cried to yahweh in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress |
17:00 | the whole point is is that our prayers do stop christ he hears us he listens to us we can cry |
17:07 | out to him in times of distress and need we can even cry out to him in times of plenty and give thanks for the good |
17:13 | things that he has given to us is that not what paul was telling us in our epistle text but maybe i’m getting ahead |
17:19 | of myself he led them by a straight way till they reached the city to dwell him so let them thank the lord for his |
17:25 | steadfast love for his wondrous works to the children of man for he satisfies the |
17:30 | longing soul and the hungry soul he fills with good things psalm 119 says it |
17:36 | this way starting at verse 145 with my whole heart i cry |
17:41 | answer me o yahweh and i will keep your statutes i call to you save me so that i |
17:48 | may observe your testimonies i rise before dawn and i cry for help i hope in |
17:54 | your words my eyes are awake before the watches of the night that i may meditate |
17:59 | on your promise hear my voice according to your steadfast love o yahweh and |
18:04 | according to your justice give me life |
18:10 | now i’m going to point something out here you have to take a little bit of a longer view |
18:17 | but isn’t it true that each and every one of us we loathe the idea of dying i mean i really don’t like the idea i mean |
18:24 | it’s just not that great of a thing and so when we’re sick we ask god to heal us |
18:30 | when we’re suffering from a chronic illness we ask god to heal us and we pray lord give us life have you ever |
18:36 | stopped to think that those of us who are in christ jesus every single one of those prayers gets answered in the |
18:42 | affirmative and when you cry out to god in the midst of your troubles to give you relief |
18:50 | from your suffering have you not considered that every single one of those prayers is answered with a yes |
18:57 | you sit there and go well how do you figure it’s real simple |
19:02 | even if you die you will live there is a day coming when christ when he returns |
19:08 | he’s forming creating a new heavens and a new earth and in the new earth there is no pain there is no suffering there |
19:15 | is no death there is no disease and there are no weeds right it says so in the book just i can |
19:21 | prove it to you if you need me to do it right but that being the case because we are in christ we will be |
19:27 | there there will be a time when all of this passes away |
19:33 | all of our trouble all of our suffering all of our pain and our grief and we |
19:38 | will awaken in the new earth when christ calls us from the grave to life everlasting a time when all evil |
19:46 | purposes come to a stop all of our suffering comes to an end so |
19:51 | god hears our prayers and every one of those prayers for relief |
19:57 | for the end of trouble for the end of suffering for the end of persecution even vindication in the face of |
20:03 | persecution christ hears those prayers and he’s going to answer all of them with a big yes |
20:10 | at the end of the age all because christ has bled and died for our sins so that we do not get what we |
20:16 | deserve you’ll know that our sin separates us from god but christ has |
20:21 | reunited us with the father by his reconciling death on the cross and so |
20:26 | god hears our prayers and he hears our pleas for mercy and we can even cry out |
20:32 | to him like those around the throne of heaven how long oh lord |
20:38 | and what’s the answer given to those who cry such a prayer just a little while longer |
20:44 | just a little while longer and he will act so they who draw near who persecute me |
20:51 | with evil purpose they are far from your law but you are near to me o yahweh and all your commandments are true |
20:58 | long have i known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever |
21:03 | and here’s where i think we can consider another aspect we’ll go back to the military metaphor here |
21:10 | it’s really popular to talk in our days about spiritual warfare right and you have people out there with youtube |
21:16 | channels talking about all the great things that you can do in spiritual warfare and they really kind of sound |
21:22 | like a bunch of wingnuts right you know they’re decreeing and declaring and tearing down strongholds and casting |
21:28 | demons out of heaven and stuff like this and i always when i hear somebody do this i sit there and go have you even |
21:33 | read ephesians 6 as we read this |
21:39 | account of the armor of god this very famous passage pay close attention to the role the |
21:46 | prayer takes in spiritual warfare all right here’s what it says |
21:52 | ephesians 6 finally be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might i could |
21:58 | do a whole sermon on that yo if you think you’re going to get through this life and you’re going to live the christian life on your strength |
22:04 | ufta right that ain’t going to work it’s just it’s not going to work if you think about the themes that we’ve been working |
22:10 | through the past few sundays two sundays ago we talked about suffering because christ has promised us there’s going to |
22:16 | be sorrow now but joy when he returns and he’s preparing us for the difficulty of this life last week he promised us |
22:23 | the gift of the holy spirit the helper who gives us strength to endure |
22:28 | right who gives us the strength to mortify our sinful flesh and now here |
22:33 | christ is outfitting us with prayer and you’ll note that in this context |
22:39 | then we don’t do the christian life in our own strength the person who tries to live the |
22:45 | christian life in their own strength is called a casualty it’s just not possible |
22:50 | and why would you do it anyway if you think about it the business world works out the concept of i would like to start |
22:57 | a business with other people’s money all right this is how the world operates right you’ve seen that that program |
23:03 | called shark tank right all these new gizmos and gadgets and these entrepreneurs coming up and pitching |
23:08 | their product trying to get other people’s money to back their business and and it’s always a big win when oh |
23:15 | yeah we’re going to invest a hundred thousand dollars we expect this kind of percent it’s a big win for them when |
23:20 | other people’s money is invested into the business i would note when it comes to the christian life you have god’s |
23:27 | strength at your disposal why on earth would you try to live it in |
23:32 | your own might it makes no sense so be strong in the lord and in the |
23:38 | strength of his might and now put on the whole armor of god so that you may be |
23:43 | able to stand against the schemes of the devil you mean the devil’s scheming against us yes the devil hates you and |
23:49 | he has a terrible plan for your life that’s how that works all right we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood |
23:56 | we wrestle against the rulers against the authorities plural against the |
24:01 | cosmic powers plural of this present darkness and against the spiritual forces plural of evil in the heavenly |
24:08 | places it sounds kind of dire if you think about it |
24:13 | right this is a good fight we’re not going to survive this one all right therefore because this is the case we’re |
24:20 | all already at war we’re called the church militant now therefore take up the whole armor of god |
24:25 | so that you may be able to withstand in the evil day having done all to stand |
24:31 | firm note here there’s nothing said about taking territory again i i’ve i’ve preached on this |
24:38 | before but i’ll kind of emphasize this we’re called to armor up and |
24:44 | stand |
24:52 | you know it’s a little easier if we’re on the move right right standing really standing |
24:58 | that that means we’re just kind of open to all kinds of attacks but again we’re fighting with christ’s might not our own |
25:05 | so we’re called to stand and then he says stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth |
25:12 | boy that’s a concept that’s kind of disappeared today truth right the belt of truth keeps your pants up if you |
25:18 | think about it and i guess that makes sense since we say liar liar pants on fire you know so you know |
25:24 | lies seem to get well to strip you of your pants so the belt of truth keeps your pants up very good all right and |
25:31 | let’s see here a belt of truth having put on the breastplate of righteousness this is the righteousness of christ and |
25:38 | you’ll note it protects us from taking a gut shot from the enemy which would be mortal and the shoes for your feet |
25:44 | having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace ah we’re fleet-footed when it comes to sharing the forgiveness |
25:50 | of sins love the picture and then in all circumstances take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all |
25:57 | the flaming darts of the evil one never could figure out why a shield would put out flaming darts until i did a little |
26:03 | bit more research turns out in roman army kit okay as you think in centurions we’ve all seen their shields right those |
26:10 | little round things well the roman army used to put a big amount of well |
26:16 | leather on the outside of those shields and then before a battle they would soak their shields all right so when the |
26:22 | flaming arrows of the enemy come in and hit their shield the the moisture stuck |
26:28 | in the leather would help extinguish the darts it’s a little baptismal reference if you think about it right you know i |
26:35 | just had to get a plug in for baptism right |
26:40 | so so it let’s see all circumstances take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of |
26:47 | the evil one take up the helmet of salvation the sword of the spirit which is the word of god that’s our only |
26:52 | offensive weapon i suggest learning how to wield that thing that means listening to it reading it marking it inwardly |
27:00 | digesting it right and then here it comes all right now that we’re all kitted out got the whole armor of god |
27:07 | and we’re standing and in come the flaming arrows of the |
27:12 | enemy of all the forces of darkness in this present age and here’s what we’re |
27:18 | supposed to do pray at all times with all power and supplications |
27:24 | it makes sense if you think about it it’s like okay you know think of you think of the grunt the guy who’s never actually been |
27:31 | to war you know that that soldier who’s never seen battle yet always and again like the worst thing ever is that first |
27:38 | battle because you know you’re going to either end up dead or you’re going to quickly become a hardened veteran so you can just see this guy straight out of |
27:44 | boot camp well what am i supposed to do all right well we’re going to put all your armor on all right got it all on |
27:50 | what do i do now we want you to stand here okay now what well you see that guy over |
27:56 | there and those forces of evil yeah here come the flaming darts what that what is that guy going to do |
28:03 | right put the shield up and what do all guys in the military do when they’re under |
28:08 | fire they get on the horn help we’re taking fire here we need help we need help help send in send and recruit |
28:14 | senators right this is what you’re supposed to do all right it’s a good picture i like it spiritual warfare sounds really |
28:20 | terrifying and what are we supposed to do while standing while all these arrows are coming in get on the horn and start |
28:26 | praying right we need an a-10 warthog right now god yeah right have you seen those |
28:31 | things in action right and that’s the idea pray pray at all times with prayer |
28:37 | and supplication to that end keep alert with all perseverance continuing to make |
28:42 | supplication for all the saints who should we pray for pray for ourselves pray for the other people pray for all |
28:48 | we’re all in this predicament together it sounds scary if you think about it nothing here about decreeing declaring |
28:53 | commanding and controlling or tearing down strongholds it’s all about praying |
28:58 | all right and also he says pray for me so the words may be given to me and opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of |
29:05 | the gospel for which i am an ambassador in chains is it any wonder then that our epistle text says this paul says i urge |
29:13 | that supplications and prayers intercessions and thanksgiving be made |
29:19 | for all people this is what the church militant does |
29:25 | this is what spiritual warfare is all about praying we pray for kings and hall |
29:31 | who are in high positions have you noticed that uh god seems to have well |
29:37 | come back onto the political scene a little lately have you noticed that i mean all of a sudden out of nowhere roe |
29:44 | v wade is about ready to be overturned that’s amazing that’s a miracle oh and i |
29:50 | love the fact that nancy pelosi has been forbidden to receive the lord’s supper praise god |
29:55 | right this is the answers to many a person’s |
30:00 | prayer your prayers and mine god hears our prayers so we pray then for our those |
30:08 | who are in high position so that we may lead peaceful and quiet lives godly and dignified in every way this is good it |
30:14 | is pleasing in the sight of god our savior and listen to these words who desires |
30:21 | all people to be saved now don’t let the calvinist know this but all here means all okay i just want to make that clear |
30:27 | it doesn’t mean some it doesn’t mean the elect it means all okay i looked it up in the greek ponta |
30:33 | all it means all god desires that all people be saved and here’s where we should pay attention if you pray |
30:39 | anything according to the will of christ he hears you god wills for your salvation he wills |
30:46 | for the salvation of your neighbors he wills for the salvation of your co-workers and your friends |
30:52 | pray for them pray for them he wills that you be sanctified this is |
30:58 | the will of god that you’re be sanctified pray that god the holy spirit would continue to give you the strength |
31:04 | that he would sanctify you that he would convict you of your sin that he would |
31:10 | drive out of you the desires to pursue sin and give you new desires to obey him |
31:16 | and to serve others right all of this because we are saved hear |
31:22 | the will then of god when we pray for our sanctification when we pray for our salvation when we pray for the salvation |
31:28 | of others god hears us when we pray for our political leaders god hears us yes |
31:35 | we can even pray for joe he needs a lot of prayer if you haven’t noticed right |
31:42 | and here’s the reason there is one god there is one mediator between god and man and that’s christ jesus and he is |
31:48 | the one who gave himself as a ransom you see we were all under the dominion of |
31:53 | darkness held in bondage against our will deceived into sin itself |
32:00 | with no hope but christ shows up and he gives the ransom for your sins and mind which is |
32:07 | his own precious blood and there is no way to begin to measure the worth of the |
32:14 | blood of christ you see god so loved you he loved me he loved all of us |
32:20 | that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life and this |
32:27 | means that he doesn’t just care about you now believing in him he’s giving you |
32:33 | everything you need to get through this life and on into the next |
32:38 | repent of your well kind of weak tepid |
32:46 | distracted prayers repent of all the ways in which you |
32:51 | think the prayer doesn’t do anything like it doesn’t really matter |
32:57 | it does it is a great gift given to us by christ and it is for us who have been |
33:04 | reconciled to god james says the prayers of a righteous man avails much |
33:10 | and you are clothed in the righteousness of christ we have been duped by the devil |
33:17 | distracted by well the fiery darts of the evil one |
33:22 | we’ve exchanged this great gift of prayer for silence |
33:29 | and as a result of it many times it could be said of us we don’t have because we do not ask |
33:37 | so let us with confidence then boldness draw into the throne of grace |
33:44 | so that god can hear us we can lay out our pleas of mercy to him he hears us he |
33:50 | stops he he acts he promises that he will answer yes to |
33:55 | our prayers and relieve us from our all of our troubles this is most certainly true all because |
34:02 | of our crucified and risen savior and i would note christ himself modeled this |
34:07 | type of prayer and even willingly despite praying multiple times to the father that the |
34:14 | cup would pass from him he yielded he willingly yielded his life to the father’s will that he |
34:20 | could bleed and die for our sins so that we can be saved |
34:26 | it’s a lot to think about much to consider much to repent of prayer isn’t nothing |
34:35 | it’s practically everything in the name of Jesus amen |
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