Okay, open up with me to Ephesians
1 again. I am excited to deliver this
message tonight. I'm very excited. By God's grace,
I'm confident that I have a message. I'm not confident of the delivery
that's about to take place, but I'm confident that I have a message.
It has blessed me. And ever since I received it,
I've been looking forward to delivering it. I want to encourage
you before we do this to call on the Lord and ask him to help
me with my delivery and help you with the ability to receive
it. and ask him to apply this to
us. If he will apply this to us,
you're not going to believe what a help this is going to be. Such
a help. We all have a purpose. Every one of us. We all have
a purpose in this life. We're going to be here for just
a few more years. And in that time, we all have
a purpose in this life. Every human being on planet Earth
wants to know what is my purpose. Every human being. Look at Ephesians
1 verse 11. It says, "...in whom also we
have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory,
who first trusted in Christ. We have been predestinated according
to the purpose of Him, and the reason we have been predestinated
is that we should be to the praise of His glory. That's our purpose. Now what does that mean? I just
said all that and we hear it and it sounds good. What does
that mean? His purpose is that I'm predestinated
for His glory. What does that mean? Turn with
me over to Romans 8. Romans chapter 8. Verse 28 says, And we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are called according to purpose. And it is His purpose. His is in italics, but it is
His purpose. But according to purpose. The
same purpose Ephesians was just talking about. Verse 29 says,
For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed
into the image of His Son. That's the purpose of predestination. Do you all believe in predestination? Yes, we do. What is predestination? Predestination is what conforms
us into the image of His Son. That's what it does, that's the
purpose of it. It says, it goes on to say in verse 29, that He
might be the firstborn among many brethren. My purpose in
this life is to be conformed to the image of my Lord. And I know that, and I ought
to know that, but it was a little bit of an eye-opening moment
for me. I thought, wow. My purpose in
this life is to be conformed to the image of my Lord. When
this life is over, I'm going to fully be conformed into His
image. And my purpose throughout this
life is to more and more become conformed into His image. That
seems like an impossible task, doesn't it? I mean, we talked
about sin a whole bunch, and our flesh seems like an impossible
task. Turn with me over to Philippians
3. In the first six verses of Philippians
3, Paul says, I used to try to work my way to heaven. That's
what he's saying. Verse 4, though I might also
have confidence in the flesh. Verse 5, circumcised the eighth
day. Verse 6, concerning zeal. He
said, I used to try to work my way to heaven. That's what he
was saying. Not anymore. Not anymore. That's not what
I'm talking about. Not salvation by works. Now look
at verse 7. But what things were gained to
me, what things I thought were going to get me to glory, what
things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win
Christ, and be found in him." not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may
know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship
of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death, if
by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead,
not as though I had already attained." What he's saying is, I'm not
perfect. not as though I had already attained, neither were
already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend
that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." He's saying,
I was called and predestinated to be conformed to the image
of Christ. That's what He apprehended me for. And I'm not perfect,
But I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also
I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." That I may apprehend what He
apprehended me for. Verse 12, "...not as though I
had already attained, either were already perfect. But I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended." But this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Paul is saying, I'm not
there. This old flesh and my sin, it
holds me back. It holds me down. But I am not
going to let that be an excuse." That's what he's saying. I'm
not going to let that be an excuse. May we all say that with him. By God's grace, we're going to
read what he has to say to us. And we are going to press toward
the mark. Hopefully tonight and however long he has us on this
earth, we're going to press toward the mark. Now he clearly said,
I'm for salvation. I'm not trying to establish my
own righteousness. Right? Here's our message for
tonight. And if God would apply this to
our hearts, you cannot imagine what a help this is going to
be. I just can't wait to get to the end. I wish I was just
on my last page of notes. Our text is John 17. Turn with me over to John 17. John 17 verse 9 says, I pray for them. That's the title
of this message. I pray for them. That's our Lord
Jesus Christ speaking. And if we desire to press toward
being conformed into His image, that's what He did and that's
what He said. I pray for them. Now, this prayer
in John 17, we know it well, don't we? Right after he prayed
this prayer, he was captured and taken to Caiaphas and to
Pilate. That's what chapter 18 starts
out saying. Okay, right after he prayed this.
We all have a thing that is troubling us. And I don't say that for
figure of speech. I'm telling you, we all have
something that is troubling us. Something that's upsetting us.
Something that's making us mad. Something that's making us sad.
Something that's just grieving us. We all do. And if we currently
don't, we will. It's right around the corner.
But let's forget about those things for just one second. And
focus on our Lord for just one second. Now He said, I pray for
them. He knew that the soldiers were
coming. Right? He told them what he was
going to do. He told them he was going to Jerusalem. He knew
that the soldiers were coming. He knew about the torture that
he was about to endure. He knew about every bit of it.
He knew about the whip. He knew about the thorns. He
knew about every bit of it. He knew he was about to hang
on that cross naked. He knew about the shame. He knew about the humiliation.
He knew about the agony that he was about to endure. He knew
that all of the sins of all of His people were about to be pressed
in Him, and He knew that they were all about to be taken off
of His people. They were about to be relieved.
And all of those sins were about to come off of them and be pressed
into Him. He knew that. He knew that He was about to
be separated from God. How do you even say he'd been
with? He was God, but he was with God, and he'd been with
God, and he is God, but he's about to be separated from God?
God is about to die, but God cannot die? He knew he was about to be separated
from God. He knew he was about to lay in
that grave. And this is what he said, and
this is what he did. I pray for them. I pray for them. That's the exact
same thing that He commands us to do. The exact same thing. Let's see it with our own two
eyes, okay? I pray the Lord would conform us to His image. Go with
me to Matthew 6. Matthew 6 verse 9 says, After this manner therefore pray
ye, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom
come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us. Us. How many times in our prayers
do we say, me and my. I prepared this Tuesday and I was praying today that the
Lord would bless me in the meeting. Lord help me would you and I
started realizing I'm about to preach on this tonight and I
started praying Lord would you bless brother Joe And would you
bless Brother Andy? Convicting. How many times do
we say, I, me, and my? I am so guilty of this. I'm so
guilty of this. Verse 11, give us this day our
daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors. and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if you forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses. Lord, do this for us. Help us. I am not the only one with problems.
I'm not. We all have them. Help us. Forgive
us. Lead us. Deliver us. And our Lord says to us as you
pray this, forgive men with an honest, sincere heart. Forgive
men. And He's not talking about the men you like. I like you. But that's not who He's talking
about. He's not saying forgive the men
that you want to forgive. He's saying you forgive the one
that you think is unworthy of your forgiveness. Look at chapter
five, verse 43. You have heard that it had been
said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say
unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you and pray for them. which despitefully
use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your
Father, which is in heaven. For He maketh His Son, it's His
Son, that ball of gas that we see every morning, it's His Son. And he maketh his Son to rise
on the evil and on the good, and he sendeth rain on the just
and on the unjust. For if you love them which love
you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans the
same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more
than others? Do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven
is perfect. What he's saying is, press toward
the mark. That's what he's saying. Press
toward the mark. That's how we're going to be
one day in his kingdom. That's exactly how we're going to be.
Turn with me over to Luke 6. Luke 6 verse 27 says, But I say unto you which hear,
love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them
that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, bow up at him,
and put your foot down like a man, and say, I'm gonna tell you something
else, you're not ever gonna. I'm sorry, that's not what he
said. Verse 29, and unto him that smiteth thee on the one
cheek, offer also the other. And him that taketh away thy
cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. Let him take it all.
He's saying, I give it all in the first place. Let him take
it all. I'll give it right back. Verse
30, give to every man that asketh of thee and of him that taketh
away thy goods, ask him not again. Why? Why handle it that way? Why do that to them? Because
that's what my Lord did for me. That's what my Lord did when
I spit in His face and rebelled against Him. That's how He handled
it with me. And I have been purposed to be
conformed into His image. That's my purpose. To the glory
of God. Pray for them. Does this mean
it's never okay to pray for myself? No, it doesn't mean that. Go
to Luke 18. Luke 18 verse 10 says, two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus within himself, God, I thank Thee that
I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar
off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast saying, God be merciful to me. He said,
me too. Be merciful to me, a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other. For everyone that exalteth himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
I personally do pray that God would be merciful to me. I sure
do. Lord, teach me. Cause me to be
a better servant. Cause me to be a better messenger.
a better husband, a better father, a better brother, a better friend. Cause me to be that. I want to
be that. But I want to show you something, okay? Go with me back
to Romans 8. All this is just so amazing to
me. Romans 8, verse 26 says, Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as
we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered." The Spirit of God is praying
for me. The Spirit of God is praying for you, each one of
God's children. The Spirit of God is praying
for him. He knows what things we have need of. He really does. So his commandment to us is,
and his example to us is, to pray not so much for ourselves,
but for each other. Pray for each other. Turn with
me over to Philippians chapter 1. Philippians 1 verse 8 says, For
God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels
of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love
may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment.
that ye may approve things that are excellent, that you may be
sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled
with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto
the glory and praise of God." Paul said, I'm praying all that
for you. I pray that your love would abound. I pray that you would be without
offense. I pray you would be filled with
the fruits of righteousness. I pray all that for you. Colossians
chapter 1. Look at Colossians chapter 1. Verse 9 says, For this cause
we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for
you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge
of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." Now
let me illustrate to you what he just said. Do you want the knowledge of
His will? Yes. Do you want wisdom? Yeah. Do you want spiritual understanding? Yes. Do you want other people
to have more knowledge and more wisdom and more spiritual understanding
than you? Or do you want to have more than
other people? We pray, Lord, give us all wisdom
and knowledge and understanding. But do you know what this flesh
is saying deep down and the sin in me is saying deep down? Lord,
give me just a little bit more." Isn't it? I pray that everybody
would grow, but I want to grow a lot. I want to keep telling
people what I know. Isn't that something? Pride.
That is not the image of Christ, Gabe Stoniker. That's not the
image of Christ. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross." That's what he did. What did God the Father do in
return? Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given
him a name which is above every name. Under the inspiration and
the work of God, the Lord calls Paul right here in Colossians
1.9 to say, For this cause we also, since the day we heard
it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might
be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom, all
of it, and spiritual understanding. Usually the preacher doesn't
want anybody to know anything, so they won't challenge him.
By God's grace, by God's grace, I pray that you
might be filled, just filled, with the knowledge of His will,
all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Go with me to 1 Thessalonians
5. Our Lord said to his father back
in John, he said, I knew that thou hearest me always. He was in constant communication
with his father. So in his image, here is our
exhortation. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 17 says,
pray without ceasing. You mean all the time? As often as lies within us. As often as God will bring it
to our minds. Pray, let's pray that God would bring it to our
minds. Lord, would you remind me to pray more? And would you
remind Brandon to pray more? And would you remind Chris to
pray more? And would you remind Caleb to pray more? Right? We're going to catch ourselves
a lot doing that now. And it's a good thing. It's a
good thing. We have no shortage of things
to pray for. We know a little bit about each
other's trials. And let's pray for each other without ceasing.
Without ceasing. The Lord will bring to our minds.
Verse 23 says, 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 23, And the very God
of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray, God, your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that for you. I pray that
for you. That your whole spirit and soul
and body be preserved blameless until the coming of Christ. Lord,
keep us all. Keep us all. Verse 25 says, Brethren,
pray for us. Pray that for me. I'm going to
be driving down the interstate tomorrow. Pray that for me. Pray
that the Lord would keep my spirit and keep my soul and keep my
body. I know a lot of preachers who aren't preaching anymore.
Pray the Lord would keep me. Look, mine's on the same page. Look at 2 Thessalonians 1 verse
11. Wherefore, also, we pray always
for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling and
fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work
of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
may be glorified in you and you in Him, according to the grace
of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray that for everybody
we can think of in this congregation. Everybody. Let me show you why. I'll show you why. We all have problems. Here's
my exciting part, okay? We all have problems that we
think are important, and they are. All of us. We all have troubles that are
a big deal to us. They are. They really are. We all have things that we greatly
desire to have relief from. All of us. Here is the medicine. I'm about to show you a scripture.
And this is the medicine for wallowing in the misery of
my own troubles. I'm telling you the truth, if
I've ever told you the truth. This is the medicine. Nobody
wants to wallow in their own misery. It's sad, and I do it
all the time. Here is the medicine to pull
me out of my troubles. Turn with me to James chapter
5. James chapter 5 verse 13 says, Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Pray for what? Help from his own troubles? No. Verse 14 says, Is any sick among you? Let him
call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him. He's
not saying pray for yourself, he's saying let somebody else
pray for you. Verse 16 says, confess your faults,
not your sins, but your faults one to another and pray one for
another. Is any among you afflicted? Here
is the remedy. It's a real remedy. Let him pray
one for another. Let him pray for somebody else. Look at verse 16. It goes on
to say that ye may be healed. If you want to be healed from
this trial, Start praying for somebody else. That's what he's
saying. As soon as you do, you're going
to notice that most of your brethren's problems are greater than your
own. Our dear sister, I know that
most of you have not met her, but our dear sister, Tammy Fannin,
buried her only son this morning. 33 years old. And she buried her
only son. What problem do I have that could
be worse than that? I don't care what it is. As long
as I have Hannah and Isabella and Sophie, I'm good. You know
what I mean? If I'll spend my time dwelling
on and praying for the problems of my brethren, I will completely
forget about my own. No time to think about it. Does
that make sense? That's our Lord's commandment.
That's our Lord's example. By God's grace, we want to be
like Him, don't we? We want to be just like Him.
Lord, give us, give us a heart to say, I pray for them. I pray for them. Lord, I'm going
to say me, help me. Every time I hear me, Change
it to us. Somebody else needs just what
I need. Somebody else needs more than I need. Give us a heart
to say, I pray for them. I hope the Lord will bless that.
Let's stand together.