PM John 17:1-26

[0:00] Welcome to our evening service of worship. Before we commence really, let me just give you a few intimations. Again, a warm welcome to you, especially if you're visiting with us this evening.

[0:15] My name, for those of you who might not have been here this morning, is Alan Thompson. I was preaching here this morning from Downvale Free Church in Glasgow. So, again, I'm preaching here tonight and leading this service.

[0:32] Just a few further intimations for this week. At Wednesday at 7pm, the first reconvening meeting for us this week, we have a prayer meeting and a Bible study.

[0:44] That will take the form of a missionary prayer report. And that will be led by Norman Cummings of our own fellowship here. Then, next Lord's Day, the preacher expected at 11 o'clock in the morning and 6pm at night, will be Thompson McKenzie from Downvale Free Church.

[1:04] As intimated this morning, the Food Bank, First Base, is again open to receive our contributions for those in need. There is information available about suitable, non-perishable goods.

[1:19] I think that will be cans and unopened packaging goods, food. So, if you can make that available, there is a requirement for that.

[1:30] And there is some information at the rear of the church about that, next to the box for contributions. And if you have any questions about that, then please see William Kenyon.

[1:44] And then finally, there is the Herald Mission update. Mission News and Updates is available. And that, again, is at the back of the church here.

[1:56] So, if you'd like one of these to take and pray intelligently for World Mission, then please avail yourself of that. The psalmist says, in Psalm 91 and verse 2, as we come to worship, he says, I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.

[2:19] I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you. I will sing praise to your name. O Most High.

[2:31] Well, let's just do that in our opening psalm of praise. Psalm 130. And sing psalms. Verses 1 to 8.

[2:42] And those verses read as follows. Some of those verses. Lord, from the depths I cry to you and I call to you. Lord, hear me from on high.

[2:55] Page 173. For those in your psalm books. And give attention to my voice when I, for mercy, cry. Lord, in your presence who can stand?

[3:08] If you our sins record. But yet forgiveness is with you. That we may fear you, Lord.

[3:19] And so on down to the end of the psalm. Psalm 130 from Sing Psalms. And we'll sing to God's praise. Or listen to God's praise being made.

[3:29] Verses 1 to 8. Lord, from the depths I call to you.

[3:44] Lord, hear me from on high. And give attention to my voice when I, for mercy, die.

[4:09] God bless your voice. Lord, when you're blessed and Shoot on song.

[4:20] Your God bless Hмерик the Lord. And give you our sins record. But yet forgiveness is greater, that we may fear you, Lord.

[4:49] I make my soul rich for the Lord, my hope is in His word.

[5:10] For man that lost shall wait for God, my soul waits for the Lord.

[5:30] O Israel, Israel, O God, for mercy is with Him.

[5:49] And the redemption promises His people near me.

[6:08] Amen. Father, we remember the predicament that the children of Israel, your people, your chosen people in the Old Testament had when they were in Israel.

[6:55] When they were in the house of bondage, suffering under Pharaoh. And we remember the words that you spoke to your servant Moses. As you commissioned him to go and lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.

[7:13] We remember your words that you would tell him that you had seen the predicament. You had heard their cry. And you were promising to come down to deliver them.

[7:25] Father, we thank you for the fact of your grace and your mercy. That you listened to sinners like ourselves cry to you.

[7:41] And Father, for many of us who have our heads bowed in your presence this evening. We thank you that there was for us a time when we came and we called out to you to save us.

[7:55] To hear our cry. To redeem us. To ransom us. And to bring us back into fellowship with you, the Creator and the Redeemer God.

[8:12] Father, if you were to mark iniquities, who would stand? If you were to treat us after our transgressions and our sins, then we could not be in your presence.

[8:26] But we thank you for the way of salvation that you have provided. That sinful man, sinful men and women, and boys and girls, can be brought back into communion and fellowship with you.

[8:41] Through your Son, the Lord Jesus. Father, we thank you that he was the one who came from your presence. Commissioned by you, the Father, to come into the world to save your people.

[8:56] To bring salvation. To do that great work of redemption. And we thank you that he came at Bethlehem. And he lived a perfect life.

[9:07] And that he went to the cross of Calvary. And he suffered there. The just for the unjust.

[9:18] The righteous for the unrighteous. That he might bring us to God. And so, Father, as your people, as we gather here this evening, we pray that we might have hearts that are full of thankfulness.

[9:39] As we contemplate who you are and what you've done. Especially in the person of your Son, the Lord Jesus. The only Savior of sinners.

[9:51] And Father, we ask that you might quieten our hearts this evening again as we come. To contemplate you. To contemplate your Son. To think on your Word. To give you praise and prayer.

[10:03] That we might do it reverently. That we might do it obediently. And that we might find joy and peace in your Son, the Lord Jesus.

[10:20] Father, we thank you that you are gracious to us. We thank you for this beautiful day that we've enjoyed. We thank you for the seasons that we enjoy. And that everyone around the world enjoys.

[10:33] As a mark of your grace and mercy to us all. Father, we thank you for this time to come around your Word.

[10:44] And to think of your Son, the Lord Jesus. Especially in how he cares for your people. He is the one who ever lives to make intercession for us.

[10:56] He was the one who interceded for us even on the cross. And we thank you for the words that he uttered on the cross.

[11:07] That he had finished the work. It is finished. He would cry. And we thank you that we can come to you, our God and our Father. Knowing that the work of salvation has been completed by your Son.

[11:22] And Father, we pray that we might be thankful in our hearts this evening for that thought. So Father, we pray that you might be with us.

[11:35] We pray that wherever your Word is preached this evening. Whether it's in Glasgow or Dumfries or London or throughout the world. Later in the day. We pray that people might receive salvation.

[11:50] That they might see your Son as a Saviour. And as he's lifted up, as he said, he would draw all men. All kinds of men. All kinds of people.

[12:01] To himself. Father, we thought this morning of your Son's prayer. That your people might have peace.

[12:13] That they might have joy. We thank you that you've given us your Holy Spirit. That Comforter. We pray that we might draw on him.

[12:24] And that we might not grieve him. Or quench him in our lives. But that we might continue to walk in the Spirit. So we pray that wherever your Word is preached.

[12:37] That there will be success. And that people will come to know your Son. Your provision. As a Saviour. And help us here. And as we move into a new week on this first day.

[12:52] Help us to rejoice. And be glad. For the Redeemer has come. So we pray that you might be with us. In Jesus' name.

[13:04] Amen. Now let's sing again to God's praise. In Psalm 46. Again in Sing Psalms. Page 59. Psalm 46.

[13:14] Psalm 46. God is our refuge.

[13:25] And our strength. Our ever-present aid. And therefore though the earth give way. We will not be afraid. Though mountains fall into the sea.

[13:37] Though waters foam and roar. We will not fear. Though mountains quake as waves engulf the shore.

[13:48] A river flows. A river flows. Whose streams delight. The city of our God. The holy place in which the Lord. Most high. Has his abode.

[13:59] And so on down to verse 6. The nations are in disarray. So verses 1 to 6. Of this psalm. Sing psalm's version on page 59.

[14:10] To God's praise. God is our refuge. And our strength.

[14:23] Our ever-present aid. And therefore though the earth is in.

[14:39] We will not be afraid. The nations fall into the sea.

[14:57] The waters of my Lord. Oh my brothers woo surtin.

[15:09] We will not fear. Some thumbs堂 in the sea.

[15:25] Therefore through a 루�. Come old earth's geكلite. The city of our God, the holy place in which the Lord, O Zion, is our Lord.

[15:59] God is within His holy place, the city will not yield.

[16:18] For God will come and pray for Him to be Your help and shield.

[16:37] The nations are in disarray.

[16:48] The kingdoms disappear. God's peace and life is mighty voice.

[17:06] The ruler melts with fear. Amen. It's a prayer that He prays on the night before He goes to the cross at Calvary the next day.

[17:52] And so He prays this prayer in the presence of His disciples on the Thursday evening before what we would know as Good Friday.

[18:02] John records these words as he heard them with the other disciples and he said, When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come.

[18:22] Glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him.

[18:32] And this is life eternal, that they know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do.

[18:49] And now, Father, glorify me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed. I have manifested Your name to the people whom You gave me out of the world.

[19:06] Yours they were, and You gave them to me, and they have kept Your word. Now they know that everything that You have given me is from You.

[19:18] For I have given them the words that You gave me. And they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from You. And they have believed that You sent me.

[19:30] I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those whom You have given me. For they are Yours.

[19:41] All mine are Yours, and Yours are mine. And I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world.

[19:52] And I am coming to You, Holy Father. Keep them in Your name, which You have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

[20:04] While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled.

[20:19] 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.

[20:40] 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.

[20:52] Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

[21:05] And for their sake, I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in me, and I in You, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that You have sent me.

[21:33] The glory that You have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and You in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent me, and loved them, even as You loved me.

[21:55] Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that You have given me, because You loved me before the foundation of the world.

[22:09] O righteous Father, even though the world does not know You, I know You, and these know that You have sent me.

[22:22] I made known to them Your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which You have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

[22:35] Amen, and may God give us good understanding of His written words. Now, before we come to look at that, let's take our psalmody again, or psalm books again, and turn to Psalm 119, in the Scottish Psalter.

[22:53] Psalm 119, and we're going to sing verses 9 to 14. How can the young keep their life pure?

[23:04] Psalm 119, and we'll sing from verses 9 down to 14. Thank you. Psalm 119, and we'll sing from verses 9 down to 14.

[23:16] Psalm 119, and we'll sing from verses 9 down to 14. Psalm 119, and we'll sing from verses 9 down to 14.

[23:26] Psalm 119, and we'll sing from verses 9 down to 14.

[23:56] Psalm 119, and we'll sing from verses 9 down to 14.

[24:26] Psalm 119, and we'll sing from verses 9 down to 14.

[24:56] Psalm 119, and we'll sing from verses 9 down to 14. Psalm 119, and we'll sing from verses 9 down to 14.

[25:26] Psalm 119, and we'll sing from verses 9 down to 14. This is the passage that we read a moment ago. As I said this morning, it's not my intention to go through the whole of this passage, as you'll be glad to hear. But we want to look at part of this prayer.

[25:39] We looked this morning at verses 1 to 5, and we want to just pick out some points, some teaching from the rest of this passage. So we're turning back to John 17.

[25:51] We saw that John 17 is this great intercessory prayer that we are allowed to listen into. John was able to pen it for us, write it down in Scripture, because he was one of the eleven who overheard this prayer, audibly made by the Lord Jesus to his Father in Heaven.

[26:13] As I said, it's his high priestly prayer. It's a prayer that he prayed on earth before he went to the cross, but it's the prayer also that the Lord Jesus is engaged in even just now, at this very moment in Heaven, as he intercedes for all his people.

[26:37] And that's something that we shall see, hopefully, this evening. This is the work that the Lord Jesus continues to do in order to bring his people ultimately to glory, to Heaven.

[26:56] We want to think about who is it that he prays for. We saw this morning that the Lord Jesus, in verses 1 to 5, we saw that he prays for himself as he anticipates going to the cross.

[27:10] We saw that this morning in verses 1 to 5. In verses 6 to 19, the Lord Jesus prays for his immediate disciples, those eleven disciples that are with him in the upper room.

[27:27] They are the people that he says in verse 6, that he has manifested the Father's name to the people whom he gave him out of the world. That's the immediate disciples of the Lord Jesus.

[27:41] But then, from verse 20 to the end of this prayer, he prays for all believers, all his church, all those people who will trust in Christ through the apostles' word.

[27:57] Look at verse 20. It says, I do not ask for these alone, that is the eleven disciples that are immediately with him, but he prays also for those who will believe in me through their word.

[28:14] Through the apostolic word. So Christ tells us who he prays for. And time and again, he refers to the group of people that he is praying for, that he is interceding for, as those whom you, the Father, have given to me.

[28:36] Look at what he says in verse 9, just to pick that up. He says, I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

[28:51] And then verse 11, I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Keep them in your name, those you have given me.

[29:02] And then down in verse 24, which applies to all believers, so if you're a believer here this evening, if you're a Christian, then this applies to you also. And the Lord Jesus says in verse 24, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am, to see my glory.

[29:26] So his prayer is for a very specific group of people. He's not praying for the world, verse 9 he tells us that, but he's praying for those who have been given to him by the Father, out of this world.

[29:44] So if you're a believer this evening, this prayer is for you and I, and in fact, what it tells us is that we, can you believe it, are God's, the Father's gift, to the Son.

[29:58] Before the world was even created, we were the subjects of his grace, and his love. So the Bible sometimes, as it does here, refers to those group of believers as Christ's sheep, or Christ's own, or Christ's elect, or his chosen, but here, it's those whom have been given to the Son by the Father.

[30:27] So that's who he prays for. But why does he pray? Well, we saw a little bit about that this morning. Christ is about to leave the world, we saw.

[30:41] And he knows he's sending these disciples on a mission into the world. Verse 18 tells us, that as the Father sent the Lord Jesus into the world, he says, so I have sent them into the world.

[31:00] So he's praying for a people, who are going to be left behind, who are going to be sent into the world. And the Lord Jesus is conscious, that this is a world that will hate them.

[31:13] As it hated him. This is a world that will oppose Christians as it opposed the Lord Jesus. He's warned them of imminent opposition and trouble.

[31:28] Hatred, persecution, even death. And so he prays here for them in their mission as they go to the world.

[31:41] And he's praying that they will be sustained. that they will be effective. That they will be brought, ultimately, to glory themselves.

[31:52] To see his glory. He prays for that near the end of the prayer. So we've seen, who does he pray for? We've seen, why does he pray?

[32:03] But, what is the content of his prayer? What does he pray for? And there are just three things that I want us to look at this evening very quickly. First of all, so that you know where I'm going again with this sermon, he prays for his people's preservation.

[32:19] We see that in verses 11 and verse 15. Verse 11 says, I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.

[32:30] Holy Father, keep them, guard them, protect them, in your name. So he prays for their preservation. Secondly, in verse 17, he prays for their sanctification.

[32:47] In verse 17, he says, sanctify them in thy truth. Your word is truth. And then finally, we want to look at just verse 18, where he prays for their ongoing evangelization.

[33:04] Verse 18, as they are sent into the world to take the message of Christ in an evangelistic way, he prays for their evangelization.

[33:19] So first of all then, he prays for his people's preservation. Verses 11 and verse 15. Jesus' prayer, the Lord Jesus' prayer, from verse 9 onwards, is now for the protection and the preservation of his people.

[33:37] Look at verse number 11, we have already read it. And now I am no more in this world. So he's going out of this world. He knows that he's going to be crucified tomorrow on the Friday.

[33:50] But these are in the world. And his concern is for them. He says, Holy Father, keep. Keep through thine own name those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are.

[34:08] He's conscious that while he was physically here with them in his three years of public ministry, that he had kept them. He says that in verse 12. While I was with them, I kept them in your name.

[34:22] He had kept, he had protected, he had preserved them, he had provided for them, he had done that through his teaching, he had done that through his prayers, he had done that through his provision for them on many occasions.

[34:41] But now he's leaving. And he prays for their preservation. He prays for their preservation from three things.

[34:53] From the world. Verse 14 and verse 15. It's a world that will hate them. And so he prays for their preservation as they will live in that world.

[35:03] And then in verse 15, he prays for their preservation or their protection from the evil one, the one who controls this world. Look at what he says in verse 15.

[35:15] He says, but that you keep them from the evil one, the devil himself. And then he prays, thirdly, for their protection, in verse 17, as it were, from their selves.

[35:31] He's conscious that they are sinful. He's conscious that they have indwelling sin in them. And so they need to be sanctified. But they need to be preserved.

[35:44] And so the Lord Jesus' prayer is not to take his people out of the world, but rather for preservation and protection in this world. And so he says in verse 15, he prays that very thing.

[35:58] He says, I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil one.

[36:10] He's conscious that this people, his believing people, live in a sinful world. One which is driven and dominated and directed by Satan, the evil one, himself and his evil forces.

[36:29] That's the world that you and I as believers live in. It's the world that Christ himself had lived in. And it hated him.

[36:40] And it opposed him. And it ultimately, in one sense, humanly speaking, crucified him. And it cast him out. And it did so because he had exposed the sinfulness of the human heart as people like you and I who were opposed to God.

[37:05] The natural mind, the Bible says, is enmity with God. Man by nature doesn't like God, doesn't love God, will not obey God.

[37:19] God. John tells us just two chapters before this chapter in chapter 15 in verses 18 and 19 that this world not only hated Christ, but the Lord Jesus told them that it would hate his followers.

[37:38] Listen to these words that he told his disciples in that upper room sermon. He says, If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.

[37:50] If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you're not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this, the world hates you.

[38:09] You see, this world that those immediate disciples and all following disciples live in, this world, when confronted with a holy God and a holy people, remains hostile to Christ and to Christ's people.

[38:32] It will remain hostile as we bring the message of the gospel and of God's judgment and justice to them.

[38:46] And in that atmosphere of hostility and opposition that we may find ourselves in, the Lord Jesus prays here to the Father for our preservation and protection.

[39:04] He doesn't pray for our isolation isolation or our insulation, but he prays that we might be kept in this world, but be preserved and guarded in it.

[39:21] He's the one who has experienced everything that his followers will experience or will ever have to experience. And so, he's able to sympathize with us when we meet with that opposition and that tribulation and that hostility.

[39:43] The writer to the Hebrews says this of the Lord Jesus, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

[40:01] and he's the one who ever lives, as we saw this morning, to make intercession for his people. And so, he prays to his father, protect them, verse 15, from the evil one, from Satan's assaults.

[40:27] You know, we've got to deduce from that, and in our own experience, we know this to be true, that the world can be a hostile and uncomfortable place for God's people.

[40:41] A place where, even in 2021, we can become increasingly marginalized and rejected. And there can be a real tendency in that environment for us to retreat from this world, to isolate and insulate ourselves from the world.

[41:04] But the Lord Jesus said elsewhere that you and I as believers are meant to be salt and light in this world. Salt was a means of preserving meat in those days.

[41:20] And the Lord Jesus uses that metaphor around about his people, that we are meant to be salt and light, salt in contact with the world to preserve it, and a light that should be shining the message of the gospel, not hidden away, isolated, or insulated from this world.

[41:47] You see, these verses tell us that God has given us a message. Verse 14, it's his word. It's his word. Christ says, I've given them your word.

[42:01] And that word is to be taken by you and I as his people to this world. And so Christ prays not that we're taken out of the world, but rather prays for us as we remain in it, to serve it, to minister to it.

[42:18] And so he prays for our preservation. Do you know that you are preserved by God as his people?

[42:30] Because you're prayed for by Christ. But secondly, he not only prays for our preservation, but he prays for our sanctification.

[42:41] Look at that in verse 16 and 17. He prays for our sanctification. We need not only to be preserved and protected from the world and the evil one, but we need to be preserved from our own sinful selves.

[42:58] You see, the problem with the human heart is the human heart itself. We have this inbuilt bias as sinners to move away from God, not to grow in holiness or not to grow in sanctification.

[43:15] Now what does that mean? To sanctify. That word really means to be set apart.

[43:28] The root idea of the word sanctify really means to be set apart or to be separate to God. Just as God is holy, God is set apart.

[43:43] He's altogether different. Now there are two aspects to this word in one sense. As a believer, the Bible tells us that we are sanctified.

[43:58] We have been set apart by Christ and by God. And that's definitive. When we come to faith in Christ, we are sanctified.

[44:11] But then there's a second aspect that is progressive in its nature. It's that we are to grow in holiness as Christian believers. And so God calls us and his people, he says, be ye holy, for I am holy.

[44:28] You see, before salvation, we were separate from God. But now we have been separated from the world. and we have been separated to God.

[44:43] We belong not to the world, but we belong now to God. And that's what it means in one sense to be holy or sanctified like Christ was.

[44:59] He was sanctified. He set himself apart for God's service. and the emphasis of him sanctifying himself was that he might do the will and the work of God.

[45:22] And that's the very reason that you and I as believers have been sanctified and set apart. That we might do the will of God.

[45:34] That we might be obedient to his word. That we might do his plan. And so Christ prays not just for our preservation, but he prays for our sanctification.

[45:48] And he prays in verse 17, he says, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. truth. You see, the means of sanctification is God's word.

[46:10] We are saved through faith in the living word in Christ. And we are being saved by the purifying effect of God's word on our lives.

[46:25] sanctification becoming more holy, becoming more Christ-like, does not just automatically happen in our lives.

[46:38] You don't just become sanctified by coming to church. You don't get sanctified by being baptized. You don't get sanctified by saying a prayer.

[46:51] you, the means that God tells us, the way that we become sanctified is through obedience to God's word.

[47:05] It's as we hear it, as we study it, as we set our minds on it, as we meditate upon it, as we absorb it into our being, as we live it out, as we let it direct our lives, as we allow it to rebuke us for our sin, and correct us, it has a purifying effect upon us.

[47:36] That's why we sung that psalm earlier. How can a young man cleanse his way, as it were, by attendance to God's word? word. It's only as we allow God's word to take over our lives, as we meditate, be obedient to it, that we become fit for the master's use.

[48:06] And so the means of sanctification is God's word. But finally, look at the purpose of sanctification. It is for mission.

[48:17] It is for evangelization. The Lord Jesus says here in this prayer, in verse 18, as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

[48:37] The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. He sent them under authority to come and to do his will.

[48:50] And the Lord Jesus here sends his disciples under that same authority to take the message into this world. Donald Carson, in his commentary on John's Gospel, says these words, he says, in John's Gospel, such sanctification, creation, or setting apart, is always, always, with a view to mission.

[49:21] In other words, our lives as Christians are not only meant to be different and distinctive, they're meant to be lives that are governed by the Word of God, directed by the Word of God.

[49:40] We are not only set apart to be different, but also to be useful for God in evangelization.

[49:54] And I submit to you from God's Word that we shall only be useful in our lives to God and in evangelization in as much as we are sanctified.

[50:08] as much as we are like Christ, as much as we are growing in holiness. Yes, the world will not like it as it didn't like the Lord Jesus in his life, but we'll only be useful to God in evangelization in as much as we are sanctified.

[50:35] God. What do I mean by that? What does that look like? Well, it's one thing to come to church here, as it were, but what about tomorrow morning in the workplace or at university or the neighborhood?

[50:52] People are looking at you, aren't they, on a Monday morning? They're listening to your talk. They're watching your reactions under pressure. They're assessing your love and your patience and your kindness or your lack of it and my lack of it.

[51:11] They're assessing your priorities. Are they different? Are they distinctive? They're watching to see, are you really different?

[51:26] Do you really reflect the mind of Christ and the life of Christ? or is it just words? Do they see the fruit of the Spirit in your life?

[51:44] Love, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness? Or do they see somebody who's cranky and obnoxious and in your face love?

[52:01] You see, the means of reaching the world is changed, different, distinctive, sanctified believers.

[52:16] believers. The Lord Jesus said that, didn't he, while he was here? He said, if they see your good works, it will lead them to glorify their Father in heaven.

[52:34] He didn't say if they see you going to church, because in the Lord Jesus' day, lots of people saw very religious people going to the temple, but it cut no ice with them, didn't it?

[52:49] The means of reaching this world, the means of reaching the people of Dumfries, or of Annan, or of Glasgow, or wherever, is through sanctified believers' lives, people who obey God's word, who are different and distinctive.

[53:09] Yes, we live in a hostile world, a world that is increasingly marginalising Christians. We shouldn't be surprised at that.

[53:22] Believers need to be preserved and kept by God whilst we're in it. This world is trying to squeeze you and I into its mould.

[53:35] It's a subtle and it's a dangerous and insidious world, isn't it? And it's drawing us all the time away from God. We need to be sanctified too.

[53:50] We need to be separate from it, set apart to God. And our whole lifestyles need to be different and distinctive. And obedience to God's word is the key.

[54:04] And as we go in evangelism, we have the assurance from God that as he was with Christ, he will be with us as we go under the same authority.

[54:21] You know, what is the take-home message? There may be a couple of take-home messages, but one of the things that we need to realise that in this world where we will have tribulation, we need to remember that we are loved by the Father and are being prayed for by Christ and we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit himself.

[54:46] God is for us, the Holy Spirit is in us, and Christ prays for us. till his prayer is honoured and we see his glory with our own eyes in heaven.

[55:05] May we be enabled to live our lives to the pleasure of God until we see Christ face to face. May we be enabled to live in this world lives that are distinctive and sanctified to God.

[55:23] Let's pray together. Father we thank you that your son continues to pray this prayer for our preservation. He continues to pray this prayer for our sanctification that we might become more like him and so that one day we will arrive in heaven to see him as he is.

[55:48] The one who set himself a part to do your will. Father help us those of us who are believers to live lives that are obedient to you.

[56:02] We confess that so often we do not want to bow to your word. We want to go our own way and do our own thing.

[56:14] Father help us to understand that your ways are always best. Father for those in this hall this evening who do not know you, for those who hear your word wherever it is preached this evening who do not know you, we pray that they might come to faith in your son the Lord Jesus.

[56:39] us. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen. Now we're going to finish by singing a hymn and I'll read that hymn to you.

[56:52] It's the hymn take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee. Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.

[57:05] Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love. Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.

[57:17] Take my will and make it thine. It shall be no longer mine. take my heart. It is thine own. It shall be thy royal throne.

[57:29] The final verse says take my love. My Lord I pour at thy feet its treasure store. Take myself and I will be ever only all for thee.

[57:46] To God's praise this hymn take my life and let it be and we'll listen to that. Thank you William. my life and let it be cause she pray and Lord to thee take my moments and my days let know this Jesus grace take take my hands and let them lose and the impulse of thy Lord take my feet and let them be swift save undcanoki in the earth take my�s and let them be and me filled with messages from me.

[59:21] Hate my silver and my gold. Now that I would like with hope in my intellect and use every power that songs shall take my will and make it high it shall be no longer high.

[60:05] Take my heart it is my own it shall be my loyal throne.

[60:21] Take my love my Lord I pour and my feet his treasure store take myself and die for me ever only all for thee me to be with the time and now may the blessing of God Almighty the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit be with us and remain with us always Amen Amen Amen Amen Thank you.