Father, sometimes, actually, Father, just about always, it's almost always easier for me and for many of us, maybe all of us, to see how your word applies to other people and not to ourselves.
Father, we confess that we are way, way, way, way better at seeing specks in other people's eyes than seeing the planks in our own eyes.
We also know, Father, that sometimes our hearts accuse us of, our conscience accuses us of things which your word doesn't accuse us of.
Father, sometimes we're just a mess inside, hard to know what's right and what's wrong.
So we thank you, Father, for your word.
We thank you for Jesus, our blessed Savior and Redeemer, who loved us so much to die on the cross for us.
We thank you for the Holy Spirit, your Holy Spirit, who is living and active and convicts us of sin and encourages us and exhorts us and draws us to you.
Father, we thank you for all this.
And we ask that the Holy Spirit would fall with gentle but deep power upon us this morning as we think upon your word.
And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Please be seated.
Amen.
So, here's a little bit of an insight.
So, I'm already getting a bit tongue-tied.
This morning when I was driving in and all the way through the 8 o'clock service,
I kept getting convicted by the Holy Spirit that I should change my sermon.
And that's what I did.
So, this isn't actually, this is a part of the sermon I worked on all week, but it's actually not the main part of the sermon that I worked on all week.
It's very interesting.
You see, what happened is, so the very first thing I do when I'm starting to work on a sermon is I take a good English translation of the Bible,
like the English Standard Version.
And the very first thing I do is just spend some time looking at the text just in the English,
not with the help of language, helps, or commentaries.
I look at what went on just before, I look at what's going to happen afterwards,
and I try to go through the text prayerfully and quietly just with the English by myself.
And when I did that on Monday morning, instantly, instantly, I saw that there is something in the text that really directly connected to me and to the Church of the Messiah.
And I actually wrote on it a little bit.
And then as I kept going through the text, I saw other types of things.
And as the week went on, I thought, no, I'm not going to talk about that thing that sort of first I got convicted of about the text,
or I really challenged by the text, or just something I had to deal with in the text.
I moved away from that as the week went on.
But this morning when I was driving in, the Holy Spirit convicted me that that first impression of me reading the text
was what really I had to talk about that with you.
And what it is, is I don't know how many of you remember when I just read John chapter 17, verses 20 to 26,
but one of the big things, one of the big asks, of course, is that Christians would be one.
And that's why, you see, the thing that went through my mind when I first read this text
is that there's a whole pile of ministers in this city who would say,
ah, this is going to be interesting, George talking about this, because George is the biggest hypocrite in the city
if he's going to talk about the church being one, given all the things he's done.
In fact, he says this is going to be, many people would say this is going to be a very interesting sermon
because Church of the Messiah are some of the biggest hypocrites in the entire city in terms of this text.
And that's the first thing I thought of when I was reading this text.
Is that a fair description of me? Is it a fair description of you?
That we are profound hypocrites when it comes to this text.
So not only do we have to deal with whether or not we're hypocrites, and I'll explain why in a moment,
but it also forces me, forces us to talk about something which is very uncomfortable for us to talk about in Canada right now
because of cultural pressures and cultural expectations.
So it's just a bit of a difficult text.
So let's hopefully have your Bibles.
If you don't have your Bibles, I know that the words are going to be up on the screen,
but it's good to have your own Bibles to look along.
And we're going to start reading.
It's John chapter 17, verses 20 to 26.
It's the end of the prayer.
And just to remind you of the context, because this is John writing.
It's one of the four eyewitness biographies of Jesus that exist in history.
These four eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus are also in what we now call the Bible,
or the New Testament, or the Bible.
And the way that John has structured his gospel is he has spent a long time sharing with us
what went on between Jesus and his disciples,
between the time that Judas left the room to go get the soldiers
and take them to the place that he knew Jesus was going to go to outside the city
when it was quiet, late, late, late at night to pray so they could capture him.
Jesus knows that Judas is gone.
He knows the soldiers are coming.
He knows that the next day he's going to be crucified and he's going to die.
He also knows he's going to rise from the dead.
And the disciples don't know these things.
And John spends a long time sharing with us what went on with Jesus and the disciples
between, let's say, 6.30 at night and 2 o'clock in the morning.
And what John shares is that the last thing that Jesus did was pray over the men,
the 11 men who happened to be in front of him.
And the way John describes this prayer, where Jesus is praying over these 11 men,
Jesus knows that they're all going to be scattered.
They're all going to be in hiding.
He knows that Peter is going to deny him.
He knows that none of them are prepared for him dying on the cross.
None of them are prepared for him rising from the dead.
In fact, none of them believe that he's going to rise from the dead,
even though he's told them that many times.
He knows all of these things.
And so John records Jesus praying over these men.
And what we're going to see here in a moment, every week,
this is the third week we've looked at this prayer,
every week I've said that Jesus prays about himself.
He prays for the men in front of him, and he prays for you and me.
He prays not just for you and me,
but he prays for the Christians who met in Uganda this morning.
He prays for the Christians who met in China earlier today.
He prays for the people who met in Sydney, Australia,
people who've met in London, England, Mississippi, in Ottawa, Cairo.
He prays for all Christians.
And my claim about that, that's what we're going to see right now,
the beginning of this third part of the prayer.
So there it is.
It said, this is Jesus speaking,
I do not ask for these only, the 11 men in front of him,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word.
Now we're going to pause there.
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.
And I'm not...
So here's what's going on.
It's very interesting.
I spoke at church on Wednesday,
and I actually mentioned this on my Ash Wednesday service at the 10 o'clock service.
I made reference to this verse, but in different ways.
This text, the word word, has sort of a double meaning,
has more than a double meaning,
but it's irrelevant to two different meanings right here.
On the first hand, on one hand, when he says,
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word,
what Jesus is talking about is that it's because of the apostolic testimony,
which we now call the New Testament,
that Christians continue to know about Jesus.
So in a very, very real sense,
it was through the word of those 11 men
who not...
They didn't all write the New Testament,
but they all had a very, very important hand
in guaranteeing that the things that were written
that we now call the New Testament
were in fact consistent with the teaching of Jesus,
reflected the teaching of Jesus.
And these 11 men had a very, very special and unique
and non-repeatable role in this
because God used them for the writing of what we now call the New Testament.
And it's through this that we also trust
what we call the Old Testament.
Our Jewish friends call it the Tanakh,
but we call it the Old Testament.
But the word word has a second...
Well, it has more than two meanings,
but it's a second word that translation or sense
that's relevant to us.
It can also mean testimony.
And that's really, really important
because it shows the importance of not only reading the Bible in church,
but reading the Bible in church is not enough.
There has to be testimony to the word.
There has to be, in a sense, an opening of the word to us.
It's one of the reasons why,
when I was speaking at church on Wednesday,
on Wednesday,
and I knew there was a Baptist minister sitting right over there
and wanted to make a little bit of a dig,
I knew there were two cradle Anglicans as well
sitting with the Baptist.
And I said, you know,
one of the funny things in the world
is that in any Anglican church today,
there will be far more Bible read
than there will be in most Baptist or Pentecostal churches.
That's just probably scientifically, objectively true,
that if you go to the average Anglican church,
there's far more of the Bible read
than in a Baptist or Pentecostal church.
Yet why is it
that virtually very few people in most Anglican churches
actually believe the Bible?
And why does the Bible have very little power?
But it seems to in Baptist churches.
And the missing bit is testimony.
You see, it's not enough for me just to say,
you know what, I'm not going to preach a sermon.
I'm just going to get up and read the Bible.
Reading the Bible is missing an important ingredient,
which is my testimony that comes from the word
and makes the word clear and plain
and encourages and exhorts and defends and challenges.
That human component of testimony
is absolutely essential.
And that's captured in these wonderful words of Jesus
when he says,
I do not ask for these only,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word.
This sort of a double meaning at that last bit,
not only the word that ultimately becomes the New Testament,
but also the fact that the apostles would go house to house
and they would go to different cities
and they would not just read the words of Jesus,
but they would explain them,
they would exhort,
they would encourage them.
And that aspect of testimony is absolutely,
absolutely essential.
So if you could put up my first point,
that would be very helpful.
And not all of them,
but there's sort of three prayers
that are the heart of this sermon.
We're going to spend the longest time on the next prayer.
This is just setting the stage.
But here's a prayer that comes out of the fact
that if you hear Jesus praying over us
and praying over the 11 men,
then probably one of the main ways
that we are to respond to this text
is to also pray.
And so I've just tried to help us
by putting something in words
that we can use as a prayer
or grow into our own prayer.
Righteous Father,
please grow in me
a humble confidence
in the trustworthiness
and truthfulness of your word
and a confidence
to bear clear witness about Jesus.
Righteous Father,
please grow in me
a humble confidence
in the trustworthiness
and truthfulness of your word
and a confidence
to bear witness about Jesus.
This isn't just a prayer for a minister.
It's a prayer for every Christian.
Like it's so wonderful
that moms and tots are going to start
and that at some point in time during that,
they're going to open the word.
And that means,
I'm assuming it's going to be Anya.
Anya, we can be praying
and we can be praying for Anya
that she is able to bear testimony to the word.
It's for the interns.
It's for what's going on
in Sunday school right now
that the teachers
can bear testimony to the word.
It's what happens in your small groups
which are so important
to be part of a small group.
It's the act of giving testimony
is something that we should be praying about.
Not only to trust the Bible
and to believe that it's true,
but to ask the Lord
that we can be competent.
I know, you know,
competent in terms of where we are in life.
I know some of you,
you lead a Bible study group,
you work demanding jobs,
you have a child which is wonderful
but also demanding,
and you do volunteer work
and you still try to bear testimony to work.
And that's obviously going to be
a little bit different
than me bearing testimony to the word
when I have far more time
to study and prepare.
But this is a prayer for every Christian
to believe and trust the word of God
and to ask that when it comes
to be able to bear witness to the word,
we can do it well,
as well as we can,
to the glory of God.
Now, I could keep going on
and on and on and on
and then I could avoid
the very awkward part.
But the awkward part,
you know, maybe what we'll do
is we'll read the awkward part,
which is verses 22, 21 to 23,
and then we'll bring it home to you
as to why it's awkward.
So Jesus continues,
that they may all be one,
sorry, well, you don't have 20 up there.
I'll say 20 and you can just catch up with 21.
I do not ask for these only,
but also for those who will believe in me
through their word,
so that they may all be one,
just 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.
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 love them,
even as you loved me.
It's a very, very beautiful
and powerful text.
For 22 plus years,
I was a priest of the Anglican Church of Canada.
For 143 years,
this congregation was part of the Anglican Church.
First, I don't know what the original diocese was
because this congregation actually is older
than the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa.
And on February 16, 2008,
this congregation voted to leave
the Anglican Church of Canada
and become part of a different
Anglican jurisdiction.
And for legal reasons,
I didn't leave the Anglican Church of Canada
right away,
which is a whole other topic,
but I left within a day
or something like that.
And I sent a formal letter
to the bishop
announcing that I was leaving
his jurisdiction
and I was coming under
another Anglican jurisdiction.
And that is why
just about every Anglican minister
in the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa
and most ministers
in the Anglican Church of Canada
would say that I
and this congregation
are in massive violation of the Bible.
Isn't that what the Bible says,
that you should pray that they be one?
George, didn't you leave?
Didn't you create division?
Isn't that a sin?
So, George,
how are you going to be dancing around up front
around this particular one?
And to...
If those of you who weren't here at that time,
which is probably many of you,
the issue becomes even harder for us
in the sense that for
the presenting issue
that led us to leave
the Anglican Church of Canada
was the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa
and the Anglican Churches of Canada
decision to bless same-sex unions
and same-sex marriages,
which for most people in Canada
is a sign that we don't like
gay and lesbians.
And we definitely stood against
the flow of the culture
in that particular moment.
So for many people
in the Anglican Church of Canada
and the United Church
and most Lutheran churches
and most Presbyterian churches,
they would look at us
and they would see
that we're acting in a hateful...
They would say
that we're acting in a hateful manner
to many people in Canada.
And at the same time,
we are in complete rebellion
against what Jesus was praying.
If I pose the problem
well enough for us,
it's really important
to pose the problem
as powerfully and accurately
as we can.
Now, I'm going to tell you
I don't think we're in violation
of this text.
I, in fact, think
that it's precisely
because of this text
that we took the actions
that we took.
But we need to sort of
do a little bit of unpacking
of this particular text.
Andrew...
Sorry, not Andrew.
Rebecca, could you put up
my first point?
And we're going to go back
to the text.
This is where I...
You know, I can't...
I guess we could toggle
back and forth
between this and the text,
but it's...
Rather than just looking
at the text on the screen,
it's really helpful
to have it in your hands
so you can go back and forward.
So here's what's going on.
Jesus became one with you
to make you right with God.
By faith in him,
you become one with him
and are made right with God.
I'll say that again.
Jesus became one with you
to make you right with God.
By faith in him,
you become one with him
and are made right with God.
If you go back
and look at the text,
all this very, very wonderful
language of being one,
it's very, very powerful.
But it's not as if
all of this language
of being one
is somehow or another
separate from how it is
that a person becomes a Christian.
And remember,
Christian isn't a code word
for a good person
or a smart person.
It's a word for a person
who has become Jesus' own.
We trust Jesus as our Savior.
We trust him as our Lord.
We trust him to make us right with God.
We trust him that he will fit us
for eternity.
And we've put all of our trust,
as much as we possibly can,
on him and what he's done
for us on the cross.
And so what's actually happening
when you put your faith
and trust in Jesus?
It's actually really quite amazing.
And this text is really
bringing it home to us.
I'll read the text again.
When it talks here about how
that they may all be one
just 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.
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.
I in them
and you in me
that they may become
perfectly one
so that the world may know
that you have sent me
and love them
even as you have loved me.
The very heart of salvation
is that Jesus
leaves the glory of the Father
and the God,
the Son of God
sets aside his glory
and honor
and prerogatives
and appearance of God
and remaining fully
and completely God
by nature
takes into himself
our human nature
and becomes human
and walks amongst us.
And that means
that that is the beginning
of his profound identification
with you and me.
His offer to be
the representative
for you and me.
His offer to be
a substitute
for you and me.
His offer
to be a sacrifice
whereby he exchanges
what he has done
for what we have done
and in a very powerful way
both in a negative way
and in a powerful way.
And it's not only
the beginning
of this identification
with us
but what happens
is when by faith,
by an act
and a sense
of our heart,
we reach out to Jesus
and touch him
to be our Savior
and Lord.
Well,
what we discover
is this,
that at the very deepest level
of who we are,
Jesus embraces us.
Like,
Jesus actually
becomes closer to me
than I am to my breath.
He actually
becomes closer to me
than I am
to myself.
I can't remember
the things I've done.
I flatter myself
too much
to detect or hate
the things I've done.
I give a very good account
of why I fail
to do the good
I should do
and I give a very good account
of why the wrong thing
I did
is not actually wrong.
But Jesus
sees me perfectly
and seeing me perfectly
He is going to die
for everything
that I have done wrong.
He's going to die
for everything
that I've done wrong
to break things,
to hurt things,
to sin.
He's going to deal
with my shame.
And that means
in a sense
that He embraces it
and becomes closer to it.
The sins
that I have forgotten,
He comes so close
to me
that it goes on Him.
Like,
if you think about it
for a moment,
if there is a man
who is a terrible racist,
if there is a woman
who is completely
and utterly consumed
with envy,
if there is a man
who is spending
hours and hours
and hours
looking at
very, very, very
horrific pornography,
Jesus actually
embraces
and touches
those parts
of who we are
because He embraces us
at the most fundamental
level of who we are
and every wrong act,
every wrong thought,
every lack of forgiveness,
our memory,
our imagination,
our affections,
our desires,
there is nothing
in me,
no matter how foul
or how vile,
that does not,
is not embraced
by Jesus
and He takes it
in Himself
for me.
And so what happens
when I put my faith
and trust in Jesus?
Jesus has already
crossed the infinite distance
to come and die
upon the cross
and He has such
a close union
with me
when I put my faith
and trust in Him
that all of these things
and if you think about it,
how much of my identity
or your identity
is connected
to owning stuff
or is connected
to our memories
of terrible things
we've done in the past
or memories
of our failures
or imagination
of future failures,
how much of who
we understand ourselves
to be is connected
with all of these things
of boasting
and of pride
and of horror
and of shame
and all of these things
and all of that
is taken upon Jesus,
all of that
with nothing left over.
There is nothing
through therapy
or hypnosis
or dreams
that I might remember
about my past
and the future
that Jesus does not know
when He takes me
as His own.
There will never be,
I can still be surprised
at things I've done
in the past
and how I've hurt people
but Jesus knew that.
He takes all of that
with nothing left over
and all of the sin
and all of the shame
and all of the failure
and all of the brokenness
and all of the horror,
all of those things
that we could never share
with another people
for fear
that if they knew
that about us
they would never want
to talk to us again.
that is His.
And at the same time
as all of that
which is in me
now becomes His,
the perfect standing
and affection
and love
that He has
with the Father
becomes mine.
And so this text
is helping us
to understand
is the profound act
of union
that is involved
in salvation.
And that union continues.
It's not just a story,
it's not just imagination,
the union is mystical
and real.
That when I put my faith,
when you put your faith
and trust in Jesus,
that deep identification
and representation
and substitution
and exchange,
that deep union
and oneness
becomes real
and it continues on
into all eternity.
I am in Jesus,
Jesus is in me.
You see,
I have friends
who are gay and lesbian,
probably other bisexual
and transsexual as well.
And it can be
a very hard thing
to confess to them
that I am a Christian
and to say these,
to say that I am a Christian.
But you see,
a text like this
shows how deeply
Jesus loves
those who would
self-identify
as lesbians
and gay
and bisexual
and transsexual
because no one
embraces them
like Jesus.
And part of the Christian life
and Christian growth
is the process
whereby I begin
to lose
the way
that I use my,
maybe the fact
that I'm Canadian
or my youth
or my strength
or my accomplishments
or my power
or my money
or my sexuality
as a source
of my identity,
a source
of how I understand
myself as just
and right
and justify myself.
And part of the growth
of the Christian life
is that we slowly
start to die
to all of these things
by which we justify
ourselves
or make ourselves
think that we are whole
to receive a completely
and utterly new identity
that comes
from being embraced
by our creator
to be restored
to how he created us
to be
and to fit us
to spend eternity
in the new heaven
and the new earth.
And part of the growth
of discipleship
is getting
and learning
and experiencing
a new identity
in Christ.
I'm not going
to get into it right now.
It's a point
for another sermon.
But even most people
in the gay community
would acknowledge
that the Bible,
those within the church
who believe
that the Bible teaches
that God blesses
a gay lifestyle
or a lesbian lifestyle,
most voices
in the gay
and lesbian community
would know
that that's not true.
They would agree
with me.
They would agree
with me.
They would agree
with most of us here
if you agree
with me.
It's a delusion
for people
in churches
who are trained
to be ministers
to think
that the Bible
teaches
that God blesses
an identity
based around
a man's
sexual attraction
and sexual
knowing
of another man
or a woman's
sexual desires
and sexual
knowing
of another woman.
And the Bible
teaches
that those things
are wrong.
And to deny
that
means at a very
fundamental level
you don't believe
in the trustworthiness
and the truth
of the word
and you have refused
to bear testimony
to it.
In fact,
you are bearing
testimony
to something
completely
and utterly
different.
But this same
text,
see this very,
very same text
on one hand
it doesn't just
confront those
of us
who are gay
or lesbian
or bisexual
or transgender
it confronts
every single
one of us
because it is
in fact
a characteristic
of every human
being that we
find our identity
and self-worth
and justification
and righteousness
in something
apart from God.
And this is
a gospel text
to all of us
and we are not
bearing testimony
to Jesus
if we somehow
or another
are afraid
to say that
to certain people
because the fact
of the matter
is
the deep desire
of our heart
the true desire
of our heart
is ultimately
to be embraced
by God
our creator
and the one
for whom
we were made.
If you could
put up the next
point
Rebecca
the believer's
union
with the Godhead
right
when Jesus
here is talking
about
I'm in him
and he's in me
and the father
is in Jesus
and Jesus
is in the father
and I am in Jesus
and therefore
the father
is in me
and it's all
this very
very complicated
complex
but wonderful
language
the believer's
union
with the Godhead
forms a unity
among believers
that bears witness
to the Lord Jesus
to the ends
of the world
and here
at this point
in time
we are
we do have
a lot
to say
we have
to confess
that we have
been sinful
here
that there
is far much
far too much
division
amongst Christians
and we just
have to confess
that it's very
easy for us
to know
that a person
is a true
Christian
and yet
for us
to nourish
suspicion
or envy
or jealousy
or refusal
to have fellowship
with them
and this text
should prick
our conscience
if you could
put up the
final point
turning it
into a prayer
righteous father
please grow
in me
grow in all
true Christians
deep bonds
of affection
and partnership
and mission
so that every
people group
will know
that Jesus
loves them
and died
to save them
righteous father
please grow
in all true
Christians
deep bonds
of affection
and partnership
and mission
so that every
people group
will know
that Jesus
loves them
and died
to save
them
you see
I guess
I probably
should have
spent a bit
longer
on the
previous
point
but this
stay here
with this
because this
sort of
captures
the point
what Jesus
is talking
about
isn't
institutional
unity
he's not
talking about
uniformity
and what he's
doing is he's
directly challenging
the many many
different ways
that the visible
church can have
unity
which is actually
not the right
type of unity
that he's wanting
it for
and we don't see
it as much
in Canadian
culture
it isn't seen
as much
when they look
at the Anglican
Church of Canada
we see it often
when we look
at other
countries
or other
parts of the
world
where we see
the horrible
horrible
things
when a unity
of a church
is based
on race
or the unity
of a church
is based
on politics
or the unity
of the church
is based
on class
or the unity
of the church
is based
on particular
sexual
preferences
and the unity
of the church
is based
just on some
type of
ethnic
continuity
a friend of mine who goes to a large, large ethnic church in the city
he asked me a couple of weeks ago how many people I had at my attendance
and I told him and he said, well we had a lot more people at our church this past Sunday
it's a funny thing to have a conversation with him because he's an atheist
but he was at the church service and I said, oh that's interesting
but I said, you only wanted that church so you could make business connections
and he smiled and said, I left a big stack of my business cards at the back table
and then he said, you know what, that's why everybody goes to my church
I don't know if any of us believe any of that stuff
but it's a great place to meet real estate agents and doctors and lawyers and dentists
and promote your business
he smiled, he confessed that that's why they met
and we would see that and we would say that that's abhorrent
so it is, we came to the conclusion
that the visible church known as the Anglican Church of Canada
had turned its back on the doctrine
that Jesus Christ is Lord
that he is the one who determines what is right and wrong
he is the one who determines how salvation works
he is the one who determines how sanctification works
and we came to the conclusion that the visible church
known as the Anglican Church of Canada
had departed from maintaining the very, very basic fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith
and if we wanted to continue to be in fellowship with Anglican churches and others
that were true to the word
we had to separate from them
so that we could reconnect
and continue to be part of the wider church
and that by the way is objectively true
80% of all the Anglicans in the world
we are in fellowship with them
80% of all the Anglicans in the world
we are in fellowship with them
it's one of the reasons Deanna
I don't think she's able to be here today
that she's with us
rather than another church
I just have a few minutes left
and there's another very important act
ask in this prayer
and I want to still look at it
and it has to do with this very important doctrine of hope
actually the way I had originally designed this sermon
was that my whole sermon was primarily going to be about hope
and the difference between hope and pessimism
and hope and optimism
and hope in lesser goods
and hope in the supreme good
and it was this that I had developed my whole sermon around
that the Holy Spirit convicted me
that I had to talk about
the first ask more than the second ask
but I still like to at least leave us with the second ask
so if you just read along the next ask
the final ask that Jesus makes
verse 24
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
O righteous Father
even though the world does not know you
I know you
and these know that you have sent me
I made known to them your name
and I will continue to make it known
that the love which you have loved me
may be in them
and I in them
and just before we get to the point
in verse 26
I have made known to them your name
I shared with you last week
I don't know if you
if you sort of cottoned on
or if you were here
when in the New Testament
and in the Old Testament
when it uses the word
the name of God
it's
it's trying to point
at a bigger reality
the analogy that I used
is if we wanted to refer
if I referred to Wall Street
you know that I'm not just talking about a street
Wall Street is a way for me to talk about capitalism
and banks
and investment
and stock markets
and all of that
a whole big world of things
if I talk about Hollywood
I'm talking about actors
and stories
and movies
and a whole range of things
and in the same way
when people refer to the name of God
it isn't just as if God has this big deal
about having his name right
name is a short form
for describing who God is
the truth about who God is
the truth about who he isn't
the truth about why he has acted
why he is acting
what he's done
what he's doing
what he will do
why he did what he did
why he's doing what he's doing
why he's going to do things in the future
it's all connected to the heart
and the character
and the very nature and identity of God
and so what this is saying here in verse 26
I've made known to them your name
and I will continue to make it known
that the love which you have loved me
may be in them and I in them
it means that God continues to teach us through his word
the Holy Spirit will continue to bring us
to deeper truths in the word
so that we have a clearer and clearer understand
through the word of who God is
and what he's done
and who Jesus is
and who the Holy Spirit is
and the nature of sin
and the nature of our need
and the nature of the church
that God will continue to reveal
more and more and more truth to us
as we read the word
but the big thing is
if you could put up this final point
here's the big thing in closing today
the big ask
Jesus
the ask that Jesus makes
he shares his heart with you and me
he says
to George
and he says to Missy
and he says to Leah
and he says to Daniel
and Christine
and he says
and to Anne
and he says to each of us
you know what is in my deep deep deep heart
for each one of you
what is in my deep heart
for each one of you
is that day
when you stand in my presence
and you don't only see my glory
but the word for seeing or beholding
is also a word for entering in
or participating in
what I'm really looking forward to
as I pray over you
is for you to know
that I am so looking forward
to that day
when you stand before me
face to face
right now you are frail
and you are weak
right now you are beset times
by doubts
and by worries
and by anxieties
right now some of you
are very great in the world
and some of you
are failures in the world
and some of you feel like failures
or feel like great
but there will come a time
and that is what I am praying for
there will come a time
and I am looking forward to it
when you stand in my presence
and you stand in my presence
I have redeemed you
and you can stand in my presence
and you will see me as I am
it will no longer be faith
but you will see me
and when you see me
you will see my glory
and when you see me
and you see my glory
you will be like me
and you will enter into
and participate
and drink
and eat
and breathe
and be at one with
my great glory
and that is my hope
for every person
who knows Jesus
and God made us to hope
I don't know what Jeremiah said
in the learner's exchange
but Buddhism has something
seriously wrong
one of the things
George
somehow that triggered Siri
maybe we're saying Buddhism
said it was wrong
Siri was going to challenge me on that
it was seriously wrong
yeah yeah
oh that's why I said Siri
ah
okay
it's just so weird
eh
anyway
I guess you couldn't hear that
because it's a bit far from the mic
but
God made us as human beings
not just to always live in the moment
but God made us as human beings
to be fruitful and multiply
and being fruitful and multiply
means that you want to bear fruit
which means you look to the future
my wife loves gardening
she's already making plans
about the seeds that she's going to buy
and other types of things
that she can plant them
so she can see fruit
and it's not a bad thing
in fact
hope
this view of the future
and a concern for the future
is a food for the soul
we need to hope
and we struggle
we might struggle with optimism
we might struggle with pessimism
but what God wants
and that's what he's trying to express
here in this prayer
is that Jesus wants us to pray
something like this
righteous father
please grip me with the gospel
and so free and heal my heart
that day by day
I will feed on the sure
and certain hope
that I will behold
and enter in
to the eternal weight of glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ
you see
Jesus tells us
that this is his desire
so that we know
what his desire is
sometimes our discipleship
will be very hard
sometimes being a faithful witness
of Jesus means
that people will not like us
they won't want to invite us
to their parties
we might lose promotions over it
we might lose placements over it
because we bear witness to Jesus
and that can be very hard
and in the midst of hardship
we still hope
and Jesus wants us to feed
on the promises
that he has made
that are sure
and trustworthy
and certain
and the sure
and trustworthy
and certain promise
that he has made
is that one day
if we are in him
we will behold his glory
and enter into his glory
and as we walk
and as we live
and as we plan
and as we do what we do
as we deal with failure
and as we deal with success
in the midst of all of that
Jesus wants the Holy Spirit
to move within you
in a mighty and powerful way
that you might live each day
day by day
with hope
the sure and certain hope
let's bow our heads
actually please stand
Father we thank you for Jesus
we thank you that he saw
everything there is to see about us
that he sees the things
which are really bright
and shining
and glorious
and beautiful
and he sees the things
which are dark
and dank
and ugly
and evil
and still he loved us
and still he was willing
to die on the cross
for us
and still he was willing
to embrace
all of who we are
all of how each one of us is
and take that into himself
that he might bear
the consequences for it
and he might give us
his glory
and his goodness
Father we thank you
for Jesus
we ask that you would grip us
with the gospel
and what it is
that Jesus has done for us
and who he is
and that you might fill
each one of us
day by day
with hope
Father you know
we you know
that we have to have hopes
for other things
for for meals
and jobs
and you do not despise
those things Father
but we know
that all of our lesser hopes
are purified
and made perfect
by this deep Christian hope
of what our ultimate end
and destiny is
amongst the changes
and chances
of this fleeting world
that you have called us
to see and behold
and enter in
to an eternal weight of glory
the eternal weight of glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ
our Lord and our Savior
so Father
grow hope
within us
and we ask this
in Jesus' name
Amen