The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: I mean, it is7 so easy to lose what God has given once you get your eyes off the Lord. But with the Lord, I'm so glad to be in the arms of God.

Guest (Male): Welcome to The Healing Word. On the program today, Pastor Morris continues his study of the final week of Jesus's life on earth. And today is going to focus on the prayer Jesus prayed to protect his disciples from the influence of Satan. Let's go now hear the message for today. Jesus prays for us.

Pastor Jack Morris: The prayer that Jesus prayed for his disciples, the 12 and for all his disciples, all who will follow him. Now, last week I talked about Jesus's preparation to go back to heaven. He came from heaven. He was born in Bethlehem. The angels sang glory to God in the highest. His little body was laid in a manger. But he existed with the Father and is as old as God the Father. But he gave up all of heaven and that relationship, an intimate relationship with God, and he descended a steep that cannot be measured to come down to this earth.

And if you can ever give me a reason why he did that other than the word love, I will never know. Because I have sinned, I have broken his law, I have literally cut the heart of God with the behavior of my life. And yet he would come to save me, to save you, and all who would believe on him. He came. I'm so glad he came. I would be lost without him. We all would be. Now he's returning to heaven. He's going back and in God is going to reinstate him to the Father's own right hand, where he will forever pray for us and for our salvation and for our keeping.

Listen, friends, some of us are standing in the way of that prayer, the prayer that Jesus prayed of that prayer being answered. But God wants to hear Jesus's prayer. God has heard Jesus's prayer. And as we yield to the Lord, that prayer will be answered and we will be kept by his almighty power. Now in verse one of chapter 17, here Jesus begins his prayer. Now this prayer, this prayer is so valuable, so important. Number one, the person who's offering the prayer, none other than Jesus himself. Oh, sometimes we write our prayers, we pray them extemporaneously.

But here's a prayer that Jesus prayed and it was written down for us. If you ever would like to read a prayer that Jesus prayed, well, here it is. So the one that offered the prayer, the timing of the prayer, only a few more hours and he's going to go to the cross and die and be crucified. The timing of the prayer and the people that he prayed the prayer for. Now notice in verse one, after Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed, Father, the time has come, meaning this is why I came into the world.

Just a couple of few hours I'm going to go to the cross and bear the sins of the world. The time has come. Glorify your son that your son may glorify you. Take me back now to heaven. I've done the work that you've asked me to do. Take me back and restore me to the glory that I had, that I gave up in order to come down here to save the world. So Jesus now prays for himself that God would be with him in a very unique and very special way. He's going back to heaven.

And indeed he did go back after 40 days after the resurrection. Then in this prayer, he prays for us. You and me in verse nine, he prays for the disciples and the immediate followers. There were 120 that went to the upper room. So he's praying for God to bless them and keep them. And then in verse nine, but then in verse 20, he prays for all who will come after the 12 and come after the 120. That's you and me. He prays for us. He knew we were coming. He prays for us. Friend, I can't think of anything more important, more valuable than to have somebody pray for you.

I I I think of of AW Criswell, Dr. Criswell, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. Now he's gone to heaven. Corinne and I met Dr. Criswell so many years ago uh in California. And we were in a restaurant and he and his wife came in. We walked over to their they spoke to to us as they passed our table. Then we walked over to their table. Uh it was a great church that he pastored. But it became even greater as the years went by. And he tells the story. Now right now that church is so big and so great.

They're in to a $100 million renovation program. And the pastor said, I won't even start this until I raise the first 10 million. They have raised the first 10 million. Now they only have 90 to go. And we talk about enlarging a nursery. So but now when Dr. Criswell, Pastor Criswell tells the story I'm going to tell you now, it was 40 years after it happened. 40 years after it happened. He he looks back 40 years and he tells the story of when he became pastor of First Baptist Church. Now that's been maybe 70 or 80 years ago by now.

But he said that he was a new pastor and he was walking out into the Narthex after the service. Everybody had gone. He was the last one to leave the church. And he said there was a little old lady, very small, very petite, and she was all bent over standing there by herself. She was waiting for somebody to come and pick her up and take her home. So the pastor walks over and greets her and speaks to her. And uh the lady she's an invalid. She's very old. She's poor. And uh but she said that she wanted to come out to the church.

She hadn't she said, I can't come to church anymore. But she said, I wanted to come and see my new pastor. And there he was talking to her. And she said that she said, I can't come to church anymore because I'm I am so old. I don't have any way to come. I'm an invalid. I'm all crippled. I'm very poor. And she said, Pastor, she said, the only thing I can do for you is pray for you. Dr. Criswell said, my dear, she said, if that isn't enough, he said, I would rather you pray for me than anything else in the world that you could do.

And this is what the old the the pastor said. He was an old man when I met him. And um but he was a very young man at that time. 40 years after that time, that church had grown. This pastor had become world renowned. He had written I don't know how many books. He was made president of the Southern Baptist Convention and the largest Protestant denomination in in in the world. And he said, I contribute everything to that dear old saint that couldn't come to church, but she stayed home and prayed for me and for First Baptist Church.

He said, all of our successes as a result of that. Friend, it's something to have somebody come and pray for you. And I know many of you have come by and said, Pastor, I'm praying for you. But oh, if everybody would pray for me and pray for this church. Another great pastor uh in um pastoring the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England, Charles Spurgeon said this to a friend. He said, someday when you have the ear of the great king, would you call my name? Friend, we need to pray for one another. And I think I'm going to do that right now.

I think we need to do that. Everybody in this building today needs prayer. Not a one of us are without that need. And I'm going to just stop right now. Friend, really when when it comes down to it, you don't need another sermon. But you need somebody to pray for you. And I don't know how we're going to do it, but somebody close to you take their hand and do a three or four sentence prayer and then wait and let that person pray back. Now, friend, listen, don't be embarrassed to hear your own voice in prayer.

Say something for somebody that somebody is the person you're holding their hand right now. Everybody needs prayer. Lives can be changed. Brokenness can be healed. Things can be turned around and made wonderful. But some of us, listen to me friend, we are not even praying for ourselves. And we're wondering why things have happened the way they have. We need to pray for ourselves. Jesus prayed for himself. And then he prayed for us. But right now I want you to say a prayer. Pray a prayer. Just go ahead and we're going to bow. In Jesus name pray that prayer.

Let me hear a a roaring all over this congregation right now. I want to hear you out loud. Thank you, heavenly Father, for hearing our prayers as we prayed for one another. Surely heaven is smiling on this ministry today. This ministry of prayer at the Largo Community Church. We thank you in Jesus's name. Amen. The enemy dislikes anyone that belongs to Jesus and he's out to get you and to pull you down. Friend, you don't have the strength to make it on your own. He's going to zap you if he not already has zapped you.

You thought, oh, that would never happen to me. That happened to so and so. I heard so and so testify and to give a that that happened to them. But it won't happen to me. Friend, it's already happened to you, some of you. And others it's going to happen. We need this prayer that Jesus prayed. Father, protect them or keep them. We can't protect ourselves. We cannot keep ourselves. This is what Jesus said to Simon Peter. He said, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.

Now notice he starts out. Simon, Simon, where where did that name come from? That was Peter's name before Peter's conversion. Jesus changed his name from Simon to Peter, meaning you're going to be a a solid rock Christian someday. But now after three years with Jesus, friend, you let up a little bit, the devil will move in into that vacuum faster than you can imagine. And Jesus said, Simon, Simon, listen to what he says here. Simon, Simon, Satan has asked. The devil's been talking about you to God. He has come before God and he's called your name.

And he has asked or meaning in the original, he has begged God for permission to come down here and knock you out. And Jesus knew that. And Jesus prayed, Father, protect them. Protect them or keep them. And when he says he has Satan has asked to sift you. Now Jesus that you is plural in the original, meaning now Jesus turns to all of his followers and says every last one of you are susceptible to being lost and losing everything that you've testified to having. Every one of you. And then he comes back as later but he said, I prayed for you.

Now he brings it back to Simon Peter. But I have prayed for you. Satan has asked, but I have prayed for you. Is that so true? Isn't that tremendous? Satan has asked, but I have prayed for you. Oh, I thank God Jesus prayed for me. Thank God he prayed for me. Now 30 years later after Peter did the unmentionable thing, he got to hanging around with a wrong crowd. He went out and warned himself by the fires of the people of the world. His savior was being judged and condemned and sentenced and Peter is out there warming himself and somebody said, oh, you must be one of them.

Oh, no. No, I'm not one of them. In the beginning, Peter had no idea that he would deny his Lord and take an oath that he didn't know the Lord. He had no idea that he would do it. Friend, you are about to stoop to the beggarly elements of the world and do things that you would never think about doing it just a year or two back. The enemy, like a roaring lion. Now Peter, 30 years later after he did that, in his book he goes back and he says, the enemy, like a prowling lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour.

The devil's going to eat you alive. And when he takes you down, he'll take your family with him. The devil has no mercy. And this is why Jesus prayed for us. This was not just a simple Sunday morning prayer that he prayed for us. He's about to go back to heaven. And he knows that the devil is there. You know, the one thing that that that the devil is a roaring lion. One thing that he can that that that roaring lion can't swallow and he'll choke on it every time. And that's faith. Have faith in God.

Trust in the Lord. Now Peter knew what he was talking about. He was the one that failed the Lord. But now he says, be vigilant, be sober, be self-disciplined because the devil is going around. And after a while you just feel like the world has just beat you up and beat you down and everything's going wrong and you just oh what the heck. You know. And you go out and do it. Only to cut the heart of God, the God that came and died on the cross to save you. I mean, it is so easy to lose what God has given once you get your eyes off the Lord.

But with the Lord, I'm so glad to be in the arms of God. Remember you sang that just a moment ago? Are you in the arms of God or in the arms of the devil? You're in somebody's arms today. You have a choice of who's going to put his arms around you. And I would encourage you today in Jesus's name. Look to him and let him embrace you and love you and keep you. I mean, there is so much out there, persecution. Oh, you people aren't getting their heads chopped off today. People aren't being fed to the lions today.

It's a secret, invisible line devouring that that is going on. But you can be kept. You are kept. You don't have a thing to worry about as long as you keep your focus on Jesus. Somebody say amen. Keep your focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, sin stalks before it leaps. It doesn't happen in a moment of time. No, something has been going on. Something has been building. That roaring line has been creeping, creeping, creeping. And then he finds you in a vulnerable state and he bounces on you and down you go. Friend, keep your eyes on Jesus.

Look to the Lord. Follow the Lord Jesus and all of his ways and he will bless you and he'll direct your path. He'll keep you. You'll not stumble. You'll not fall. Now notice he says, Father, protect them. How? You still with me? By the power of your name, the name you have given me. Now what name did God give to Jesus? He gave to Jesus the name Emmanuel, God with us, God with me. To acknowledge that, to give thanks for that, to wake up every day and say God is with me. Emmanuel, I'm not alone with my problems and my difficulties and and the things that are happening to me.

Now again, remember this is Jesus's prayer, his last prayer, his intercessory prayer. He's going back to heaven and he knows that you and I need to be kept. God with us, Emmanuel. Let me tell you, that name first appeared in Isaiah chapter seven a couple of thousand years before Jesus came. Ahab Ahaz was the king of Judah. Judah was being threatened by enemy armies coming in and taking over. Ahaz decided he needs the help of other nations. And he looked to the nation Assyria because Assyria was the strongest nation on earth at that time. Well, the prophet Isaiah came and said, listen, Ahaz, King Ahaz, don't look to the arm of flesh.

Don't look to Syria. Look to God. You're weaker than those nations that are coming in, but God will give you strength and you'll overcome if you'll look to him. Did Ahaz look to God? No. He he kept his eyes on what he could do and what he would try to do, what he thought he could do. Now they didn't have a Bible back then. They didn't have the opportunity of turning to a chapter and a verse and reading it and getting their faith built up. So Isaiah said to Ahaz, ask God for a sign. God will give you a sign that will help build your faith.

Friend, you have the Bible, but you stop reading it. I know you have. Things wouldn't have happened to you if you had been anchored in the word of God and and kept reading the Bible. It wouldn't have happened. But when we go away from the Bible, we hold that Bible near our hearts in the beginning of every sermon and we pray. It's the word of God. It's your bread. It's your strength. It's your all and all. And without it, you're without Jesus. And without Jesus, you're without Emmanuel, God with you. So I Ahaz didn't pray for a sign.

But then Isaiah said God's going to give you a sign. God's going to send a virgin. And in that virgin's womb, God himself is going to come. His name will be Jesus, but God will give Jesus the name Emmanuel, God with us, God with us. Friend, I want you to think of where you are right now and what's going on in your life, in your family, in your career, whatever is going on. And I want you to think Emmanuel. Think Jesus whose name is Emmanuel. And then in Matthew chapter seven, the virgin gave birth. They called his name Jesus.

The prophecy of Jesus being called Emmanuel became a reality. There's your strength. There's your strength. You don't have to walk alone. But if you choose to walk alone, you'll walk out of the light and you'll walk into darkness. And in the darkness you can't see. You are absolutely, inevitably going to stumble in that darkness, in the word of God, in the word of God. Now Paul said this to Timothy. He said, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Notice Paul said, I know there's some things that I can know.

There's a lot of things I don't know. But I know in whom I have believed. I know there can be a relationship with God. I know I can live victorious in this world. I know I can resist and overcome temptation, not in myself, but in Emmanuel, God with me. God is there. I know whom I have believed. I believed in him. Oh, it's not what happened back there when I was a little boy, 12 years old, and I started believing in him. And now at my age, I'm still believing in him and I'm still trusting in him.

And he is still precious even more so today. I know in whom I have believed and am persuaded. I'm persuaded that God's able to do what I can't do, that God's able to keep me in a world that is out to to get me, to destroy me. I know God is able. I'm persuaded of that fact. There there's no vacillation in my mind whatsoever. None whatsoever. I know and I've committed to him what I've committed to him. And what is it that I've committed, that you've committed? You've committed your eternal soul to him. And that eternal soul that God put in you, God has that soul in heaven.

Your name is in heaven in the book of life. God is keeping you, watching over you, blessing you, praying for you. Think about it, friend. If nobody else prays for you, Jesus is praying for you. And his prayer is going to be answered. He's going to take you through. It's going to be victory in Jesus for you as long as you know Jesus and you have Emmanuel with me.

Guest (Male): If today's message strengthened your faith, we invite you to stand with the Healing Word through your prayers and your generous support. Every gift helps us take the gospel to more people who desperately need to hear that Jesus still saves. Join us tomorrow for another Healing Word message. Until then, blessings on you.