And I thought, I better go back
and read that. And then I normally don't read those out loud to
you, that's for me. And I went back and read about
the Lord washing the disciples' feet. And I got so excited. I preached for that not too long
ago. And I know what it means. I could talk to you for hours
about what it means. But boy, it was fresh. And it was new. And I got so excited, I called
my pastor. He ain't working tonight. And I said, the Lord washed their
feet, because they were clean every whit. He said, I bought
you, you're mine. That ain't gonna change. Now,
you're gonna have dirt on your feet. In this world, we looked
at that, right? Wash your brethren's feet and
we'll leave y'all something to do while I'm gone. Forgive one
another's sins as I've forgiven you. Now get after them. That's
what he's telling them. I was so excited. Oh, it was
like my brother Paul says that sometimes. He's like, I'm gonna
yell because it's important to me right now. Mary got it. She went and washed his feet
in Thanksgiving, didn't she? That's precious. All right, we'll
be turning to John 14 again. I got word that secondhand, I'll
reaffirm tomorrow that I told you before about Dee Parks and
A bunch of government things went on, and he's a veteran.
He goes to the Veterans Affairs, like I do. But they had authorized
him for some treatment, experimental treatment. And he's been going
and getting checked up, and they thought it was not doing good
for him. But apparently, the cancer that
he has, it's not growing. And so it's still pretty bad. He's got a lot of it. But the
rapid growth has just stopped. That's step one and I don't know
how many steps the Lord makes me fit, but if he's pleased to
keep him. And we ask for his will to be done and that he glorifies
himself and he knows what's right, the Lord does. Oh, we sure we,
we take our petition. That's what we're gonna look
at tonight. We ask on behalf of our brethren to our Lord for
things. But we do that because of who
he is. in his name. That's the title of the message,
asking in Jesus' name. I originally wrote asking in
his name, capital H, but that's not the phrase in common usage
in this sin-cursed, heretical world. So I thought maybe that'll
be something somebody will see and they may want to listen to,
they may want to learn something. Here in John 14, we'll pick up
in verse 8, Philip saith unto him, Lord, Show us the Father,
and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I
been so long time with you? And yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show
us the Father? Believe not that I am in the
Father, and the Father in me. The words that I speak unto you
I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he
doeth the works. Believe me, that I am in the
Father and the Father is in me. Or else, believe me for the very
works sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do
also. And greater works than these
shall he do, because I go unto my Father. This will be our text for tonight.
Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything
in my name, I will do it. I will do it. Now, we've been
in this little section here for a few weeks now, haven't we,
or a few messages. Remember last Wednesday and Sunday, we looked
at who is speaking. That's the Lord. The Lord Jesus
Christ is speaking. To whom is he speaking? He's
speaking to the 11. He's speaking to his apostles.
And what's the subject? What's he telling them? He's
the one talking. They're the ones listening. And
he's telling them something. He's saying he's God. I and the
Father were one. And he said, believe on me. You
believe that. And you believe the words that
I tell you because the words is the father's words who dwells
in me because I'm one with him. I'll tell you that, or if that's
just too hard, you've seen all the works I have done. You've
seen these miracles and you know, what works I've done in your
heart. And you know, what works I've done in your brethren's
heart. When I said, follow me and you follow me. You believe
me for that. You remember those things. Remember,
that's what I tell them to remember. We looked at the Lord's remembrances.
Those that tell you to remember. He says, I'm going away and you're
going to do greater works for the sake of the gospel. Remember
that? They performed all those miracles. We talked about them
in Acts and things. It was all for the sake of the
gospel, for the furtherance of the gospel in that generation
where they didn't have Bibles and everybody's walking around
saying they spoke on God's behalf just like they are now. And he
gave them apostolic gifts so people would hear them, give
them a hearing so that they could preach the gospel to them. Like
Peter said, you knock that stuff off, don't you marvel at me,
let me tell you about the Lord. I'm gonna tell you about Christ.
That's why they did it. For that generation and the generations
to come, the Lord gave them those gifts because we need to believe
that these men wrote this and that the Lord worked in them
to write it. We need to do that. It's so debated
nowadays. Well, a man wrote it. A man held
a pen. God wrote it. We need to believe
that. And boy, does this world fight
against it. Can't stand it, poor Paul catches the brunt of it
in our day too, doesn't he? Sexism and all these things come
up. He was a bigoted bachelor. How dare a man say something
like that? He didn't, God said it. I ain't talking to you, God's
talking to you if I tell you what he says. He gave us those
things. Peter said, knowing that no prophecy
of the scriptures is a private interpretation. Well, now I'm
just going to, I think that means this and I'm going to stick to
it. No. And that's prophecy of the scripture. He's talking about
preaching. And the prophets of old, because then he goes on,
he said, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man,
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
John wrote this, and he's telling us what the Lord Jesus Christ
said in the flesh. Do we believe him? That's his
word. It's so, isn't it? Verse 13 says,
and whatsoever, whatever it is, anything, and anything you shall
ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified
in the Son. And if you ask anything in my
name, I'll do it. I'll do it. Does this text apply
to the apostles? Yes, that's who he's talking
to, right? We've established that. Lord's
speaking, they're listening, and he's giving them a subject.
He's telling them something. He says, I'm leaving. I'm going
to give you these gifts. And he says, I've saved this from
last week. I'm going to send you out. You're going to have to do this
works. You're going to be preaching a lot longer than I preached
for three years on this earth. And while you're out there, you
ask me anything and I'll give it to you. You ask me in my name,
I'll give it to you. Does this apply to this text?
Does it apply to the apostles? Yes, the Lord is speaking to
them. What about to you and me? If we ask anything whatsoever
in the name of Christ, will he do it? No. It does not mean that. He's talking to his apostles.
He said, you ask me anything and I'll do it for you. If we
ask anything, I want a Mercedes Benz just like Janis Joplin.
You going to get it? No. Sometimes the worst thing that
could happen, probably most of the time, is the Lord did give
us what we asked for. That'd be horrible. How many
times, y'all been alive for a few minutes, how many times have
you just begged the Lord for something? Lord, please let this
pass, or please let this happen, or please don't let this happen.
And then a couple of years go by and you look back and you
say, you're wise, I'm not. I don't know what I was thinking.
I should have just rested and trusted you and ate an apple. Wouldn't get that pulled pork
sandwich I keep talking about. It's so, isn't it? This text, he's
talking to the apostles. This is applause to the apostles,
and I'm going to see if I can make good on it. I'm going to show
you this, okay? We're going to turn and look in the scriptures. John
15. Turn over the page there to John 15. John 15, verse 16. He says, you have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should
go and bring forth fruit. And that your fruit should remain
that whatsoever you shall ask of the father in my name, he
may give it to you for that fruit sake, what you're going to go
out and preach. And you will bring forth my fruit.
You need something, you're gonna ask the Father, and in my name,
and he's gonna give it to you. And you know, the world takes
that. And I thought of Matthew 18. Whatever you bind on this
earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose here is loosed
in heaven. And they say, if two shall agree on something on this
earth, it's touching the same thing, anything you ask, God's
gonna do it. And what does mankind do? They gang up together and
they have prayer meetings. We're gonna have prayer service,
and we're gonna get together, and we're gonna pray till God
gives in and does what we want. That's a mutiny. You understand
that? That ain't bowing to a holy God.
That's ganging up on him. You ain't gonna win. Or like
I said, the worst ain't gonna happen. The Lord will give you what you're
asking for. We're dumb. We don't know what he knows.
He ain't like us. That's what that is. Read on
verse 19. John 15, 19, if you were of the world, the world
would love his own, but because you're not of the world, but
I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hated you.
You're mine. And you're going to talk like
somebody that's mine. And you will walk through this
world with some faith that I've given you. And the world ain't
going to like that. Subcontractors ain't gonna like
that cash. Do you know that? Man was wiring
my house one time, had me some questions. I said, how about
you finish wiring that panel box, and then we'll talk about it.
You may really get a thing to blow. They hate you for it. They hate you for it. I called
you out of the world. I've chosen you. I've ordained you. I pulled you out
of the world. Is that what the text says at the end? That's
what it says. Turn over to John 17. John 17, this is the Lord's
high priestly prayer. John 17, verse six. Christ is praying to the Father
and he says, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou
hast given me out of the world. He just said that in John 15,
16, didn't he? And he told them there in John
14, one, he said, you believe in God, believe in me. And he
says here, I've manifested thy name unto the men which thou
hast given me out of the world. Those he's chose out of the world.
Thine they were, and thou gavest me them, and they have kept thy
word. They believe your word, Lord.
Because I told them to. He said, believe me, believe
my word, believe the works. And they have. Look down verse
eight. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest
me. That's what he said before, the
words I give you, the father using me, that's how I gave it
to you. And they have received them and have known surely that
I came out from thee. And they have believed that thou
did sent me. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them, which thou has given me for they are thine. Who's
he talking about? He's talking about the apostles.
Now look at it. Verse 14, I have given them by
word. and the world hath hated them,
because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
He just said that in John 15, 19, didn't he? Look at verse
20. John 17, 20. Neither pray I for these alone,
for these apostles, I'm not just praying for them, but for them
also, which shall believe on me through, what's that say in
your Bible? Their word. What word are they
gonna have? You're reading it. That's like
that lieutenant in the army. He said, I can't find this box
on this forest that's here on the map. He said, all these trees
are in the way. I said, you're standing in it. Can't see the
forest for all the trees, can you? We're reading their epistles,
the letters to Corinth, the letters to Thessalonians, to Titus, to
Timothy, Peter's letters. Through their words, they're
gonna write that you're gonna do greater works than I did. in this world,
the Lord said. You're gonna go out and you're
gonna perform all those miracles we've been looking at. You're gonna
tell people, you're gonna get a hearing, you're gonna preach
Christ to them, and then you're gonna write it down, and in 2023,
I'm gonna gather a bunch of people in Hamoul, California, and y'all
gonna sit down, and you're gonna look at it. And he's gonna use
this to call his people out, because he's prayed for them. That's something, isn't it? Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe
on me through their word. My brother Don, you say, that's
us. That's us. Paul wrote to the, his word to
the Thessalonians, didn't he? He said, we thank God without
ceasing. And I do too. Here's a little
difference. He wrote it to them. I thank
God without ceasing because when you receive the word of God,
which you heard of us, We wrote it to you, we told it to you,
we preached it to you. You received it not as the words of men. Well,
I like that fella, and he's pretty smart. He's a theologian, a real
theologian. We ought to listen to him. No,
not as a word of man, but as it is in truth. You receive that
word really as it is. It's the word of God. That's
what he said. They received him as the word
of God, didn't they? Look down verse 21, John 17,
21. This is for our benefit, and it's for Christ's glory. It's
set up this way. That ye all may be one. The apostles
and me and you right now, we're one in Christ. As thou, Father,
are in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. This is how I'm gonna do it,
the preaching of the gospel, and I'm gonna have them, a complete
word, it's a sure prophecy. Take heed how you read it. Take
heed how you preach from it too. I'm gonna give them this word,
and I'm gonna give them pastors after my own heart, they're gonna
go out and preach, and that's gonna be the way I'm gonna call in my church.
I'm gonna assemble my body that way. I wonder how many people throw
rocks at me in this state if I got out in public. I will,
I don't care. I'll keep saying it till they
kill me. That's how the Lord's gonna save. And that's how he's
gonna make you and the people he ain't saved yet one with Christ.
Because he told them apostles, you need something, ask me. Because
you're going to go out and do some working, and you're going
to do some writing, and I'm going to preserve it, and I'm going
to keep you, and it's going to be me working in you, just like a father was
in me giving me words, because we're all one. That's what's
going to happen. If God teaches you what that
means, can you spell Mercedes Benz right now? I don't care.
I'll just walk. Keep them heated leather seats.
I don't need them. Got him. That's the best news of the day
on that one. Asking these things and being given, as the Lord
was telling the apostles, that's for the gospel sake then and
it's for the furtherance of the gospel and the benefit of his
people now in our day. So he said, you need something,
you ask me. I'll give it to you. The apostles had the spirit of
God in them and more rightly knew what to ask for, for the
gospel sake, for the glory of Christ than I can ever understand. God led them by the Spirit, and
they said, we need this for the furtherance of the gospel. And
they did not consume it on their own lust. It was for the furtherance
of the gospel. They were taught of God those
things. God taught them. Those Samaritans, the Lord sent
messengers out in front of him. He had set his face toward Jerusalem.
It's time. And the messengers went out in
front to the Samaritans. They said, prepare a place. The Lord's coming
to town. Y'all get ready for him. And they didn't. They didn't
receive him. And James and John, when they
saw this, they got to town, they said, they ain't ready for you.
And they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come
down from heaven and consume them even as Elias did? They
could. They weren't asking to do some
kind of crazy thing that was out of their realm. They could. Just like David's head general
said, I'll take his head off. And just like Peter tried to
take a fella's head off, Malchus cut his ear off, didn't he? James
and John said, we'll burn this place to the ground. They didn't
receive you. And they had to be taught. The
Lord turned to him. You remember what he said to
him? He said, you know not what manner of spirit you are. You
think you're doing right. You don't even know what you're
asking. What's wrong with you? He said, for the son of man has
come not to destroy men's lives, but to save. You want to do something
good for them people down in Samaria? Don't you go and say,
you're all wrong. Preach to them. Tell them what
God did for you. That don't mean you be their
buddy. That ain't our Armenian brethren, and that ain't my brethren
up the street, and that ain't my brethren out there, but it
might be, so I'm gonna tell you who Christ is. But don't go setting their
houses on fire. Literally, you get it? The gospel,
that's what I taught my pastor, that gospel ain't hard. I carried
that door again. It's the next last time I've
ever carried it. I'll tell you that one, I'm gonna
carry it one more time. And I thought, I got a door, nobody wants it.
Been trying to get rid of it for four years. Nobody'll take
this door. I can sell a street, nobody'll
take it. And I thought, here, I got the door. Nobody wants it. Free door, that's a good one.
Nobody wants the door. I wouldn't as mad carrying that
door one more time. Made me happy. I pray that Lord give me that
wisdom. The comforter came to the apostles
and led them. They were not asking for Mercedes
Benz. They asked for what they needed
for the furtherance of the gospel. And I had a whole bunch of stuff
wrote out there. I deleted all of it. The Lord's, those sin of
God ain't fleece in the sheep. They're producers, not consumers.
You understand? They're not out for personal
gain, for personal benefit. Whatever they needed, they asked
for. Oh, Spurgeon was on a train one time, and somebody came up,
another preacher, right? Spurgeon's riding first class,
which is probably, what, 12 cents or something, I don't know. And
he said, oh, you're riding up here? He said, I'm riding in
the economy class, back in coach. He said, I'm gonna save the Lord's
money. And oh, Spurgeon said, I'm riding in first class, because
I gotta spare the Lord's servant. Sometimes I'll pay $25 to get
an exit receipt because I'm six foot four and 250 pounds. And
it's hard to sit for five hours, go cramped up, because I got
to stand up and preach. My knees hurt. I'm old. I'm getting that
way. Well used. I ain't doing that so I can live
a high life, so I can be comfy. It's so I can preach. That's
it. Spurge was doing that so he could
preach. He could study. Don did that. He flew first class. Why?
He had to spread out and write stuff down on pieces of paper. I hope I have the wisdom to ask
for the furtherance of the gospel and not consuming on my own lust.
If the Lord was speaking all into the apostles here, then
how does this apply to us? Well, about us, right? That's what
is happening. Don't confuse that. People don't
need to confuse it and start ganging up on the Lord. They're
going to lose. Try and keep you out of a war you can't win. How
does this apply to us? Paul wrote this to the Philippians
and said, be careful for nothing. That means don't get spun up
over stuff. Don't get anxious, just calm
down. Don't worry about anything. But in everything, by the prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
unto God. That means you pray it out loud
or you pray it in quiet. You pray it in public, pray it
by yourself. Or you're asking for something to start, you're
asking for the evil that I am to stop, whatever it is. Ask
it with thanksgiving. Make your request on to God.
And the peace, doesn't necessarily say that whatever thing you ask
for is gonna happen, does it? It said the peace of God, which
passeth all understanding. You'll understand it later, you
ain't gonna understand it now. Shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. Whatever it is, pour it out to
him. Prayer, private prayer is a good training session. I struggle
with it, but I've learned a couple things in my life. You start
out asking Lord, that's progressive prayer, right? You start out
with a petition and you end in praise. You start asking things,
you say, I don't know why I asked that. I know better. And you
start looking to Him. You start remembering Him and
who He is and His word and His works. I pray for my brother
and his family that's in such trial right now. And I just,
Lord, if you, if you're pleased, just make it easy on them and
comfort them. And then you, you sent this. I don't know what
I'm doing. You know what you're doing. They're
yours. The one that you love sick. Thank you. Thank you. Make me
understand this later. Give us grace now. I'm just talking out loud what
I talk in my head when I'm driving down the road. You see how it
changes? I just got a lesson. Lord taught
me something. Our text says, John 14. I want
to look at these four words very quickly, and then I got a few
places to look at. Our text says, verse 13, John 14, 13. And whatsoever
ye shall ask in my name, ask in my name, that will I do. What is it to ask in the name
of Christ our Lord? That first word, it's four words,
right? First word, ask, ask. Who are you asking? Who are you
asking? If you're truly asking, you're
asking the Father, aren't you? You're petitioning at that throne
of the almighty, holy God of heaven and earth. That ought
to set the tone. Humility, who are we talking
to? That's who we're asking, isn't it? We're taught to pray,
our Father who art in heaven, hallowed, holy and reverend is
your name. That's who we're talking to.
Christ taught us that, taught the apostles that. That's the
beginning, who are we asking? It says, ask in my name. Our soul and our whole merit
to open our mouths to the living God is only that we are in Christ. that we have unity with him,
oneness with him. That's it. And he says, ask in
my name, my name, not Mother Teresa, not Saint so-and-so,
not in Spurgeon's name, that's probably coming in another hundred
years, you hide and watch it. Well, we won't be here. Not in our
own name, like that Pharisee praying thus with himself. His
name only. His name only. He says, ask in
my name. We are heard because of whose
name we ask in. Whose name we come in. That's
the only reason we're heard. I've lived a little bit of this
and understanding. I worked for a pretty high and
powerful fellow in the military and I had to call some one-star
generals one time and I said, y'all need to be down here at
this time, boss said so. hear little puny nothing like
me calling them fellas and saying, here's the time and place and
uniform you need to be, boys. Make it happen. He wants it.
That was for his benefit. That was his desire. I told you
because of him on his name. If I had said to do that stuff
because of my, I just wanted to watch you jump. How fast do
you think I got fired, Bob? I'd have been doing flag duty
down in Antarctica next week, wouldn't I? It had to have been
bad. I spoke on behalf of him. I came
in his name as his ambassador. When we call to the father, we're
asking in the name of Christ. We're in Christ, in his name
only because his name, the father says, who? I called that flooring
guy and I said, Cass Hodson gave me your number. He said, oh,
well now I'm not just some stranger bugging somebody, am I? We get
that on this earth, don't we? To ask in his name for his sake,
is to ask for Him to be glorified. That's where we ask Him is. When
we come asking in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and it
ain't for His glory, you're wrong. Wrong. Ain't gonna happen. Glorify me. Glorify my friend. Glorify my business. Glorify
whatever ain't going to happen. You better hope it don't. Or
what we appear to be such things. He's going to get all the glory.
You ever read that in verse 14, John 14, 14. When I read it,
if you shall ask anything in my name, I'll do it. What's the
very first thought that comes in my head? Something for me.
Is that you? Or are you just holier than thou?
If it ain't you're lying to yourself, you're lying to God. That's so,
isn't it? I've read that before. First
thing goes through my mind. I always say that to Janis Joplin.
I'd take a Porsche instead of a Mercedes. Something selfish
or whatever. Make my legs stop hurting, make
my back stop hurting. Save my children and get them
through school and have easy lives or something. Father, glorify
your name. That's what our Lord prayed,
wasn't it? That's what I'm gonna ask a father to make this hour
go away? Watch this. Father, glorify your name. All
costs don't matter. Do it. That's asking in his name
for his glory. That's what James told us, that
son of thunder. Everybody thinks he's so working.
No, he's got a good handle on it. When we get some maturity
and go read James again, boy, it's good. He said, you ask and
you receive not because you ask amiss. How come, James, that
you may consume it upon your lusts? You're looking out for
number one. That's why you ain't getting
it. And if you're the Lord's, he ain't gonna give it to you. He loves you.
How many times your children ask me for ice cream? You get
it sometimes, don't you? I don't give it to you every
time. I know better than you do. You don't need it all the time. Text
says, verse 13, and whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that
will I do. That, we get to the us, and we
forget what's said next. That the Father may be glorified
in the Son. You gonna ask me, I'm gonna do
it for my glory. That triune God. We got a bad
habit of thinking the Father's the Father, and that the Lord
Jesus Christ is his offspring, and that the Holy Spirit's the
assistant that helps him accomplish everything. They're one. They're
one. That's what it is to ask in Christ's
name. That's what it is. Anything else is what the scripture,
what the Lord says, vain repetitions. It ain't just an add on, you
slap on to end and go home. Everything else is vain repetitions. What should I ask for in Christ's
name? That's an audience, isn't it?
We speak to the Lord and we are heard in his name. That's more than three wishes
from a genie in a bottle. We have the ear of the almighty
God. He's gonna hear us. What's your priorities? Can I
show you some priorities, what people's asked for in the scriptures
and the Lord answered them? Let's look at it. Luke 19. Luke 19. I'm sorry, Luke 18. I'm off one.
Luke 18. Verse nine. And he spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and
that always goes hand in hand with something else, and despised
others. I'm so right and they're so wrong.
They trusted in themselves. The Lord was never very tender
and kind to those self-righteous Pharisees. He was harsh with
them. He gave them a parable. Verse 10 says, two men went up
to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. Pharisee stood and prayed thus
with himself, with himself, Luke 18, verse 11. Pharisee stood
and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I'm not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican over here. That fellow sitting outside,
he ain't even good enough to come in here. I thank you, you've made
me different. So good, I fast twice in the week. I give tithes
of all that I possess. and the publican, the one that
probably didn't give tithes of all that he possessed, the one
that didn't fast twice in the week, the one that was unjust
and an adulterer and an extortioner and everything else, because
he's a publican, crooked tax collectors, a mafioso. He wouldn't
even go in, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as
his eyes unto heaven. We need to get this, y'all got
it? Is everybody on at Luke 18, verse 13? We there, north, south? This is important. The publican
standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but he smote upon his breast, saying, he was praying in Christ's
name, God be merciful to me, a sinner. In Christ, in his name, in his blood, in
his ability, in his person, in his word, in his work, to be
merciful to me, a sinner. Every single sinner needs mercy. I pray we don't take that for
granted. I pray I don't take that for granted. If we see our
sins and we see our need of mercy, mercy means we're not getting
what rightfully we deserve. We rightfully earn that. If what you read earlier, those
that's been forgiven much, he gave the examples of 550 or whatever. If Christ paid it all, that means
I owed it all. You get it? We need mercy. Well, if we pray
like that, well, if on behalf of Christ's blood, his person
and his work, we said, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner,
because I need it. I'm a sinner. I've ruined it all. Verse 14,
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other. Justified. That ain't just as if I'd never
seen it. You ain't. Paid for. It's gone. Blotted
out blood. Far as east is from the west.
We all need to pray for that, don't we? If we pray for mercy,
pray for mercy. You know, it takes a lot of steam
out of our anger. You mad at the world or somebody
else or Uncle Sugar or somebody? You mad at somebody? You ain't
mad at nobody no more. I need mercy. They don't need
mercy. I need mercy. What about our anxious thought?
Oh, what's gonna happen? Oh, be merciful to me. I'm a
mercy beggar. I ain't worried. If you got something
real big, hot and heavy on you, do you care that they're putting
a speed bump in down there in town or something? No, you don't
care about that. It's nothing. This world's nothing if we know
that we need mercy. If God shows you you're a sinner,
it's you and him alone, and the world gets shut out. Your children
don't matter. Your grandbabies don't matter. Your mom and daddy
don't matter. Nobody does. You need mercy. Turn over Luke
5. That's a good thing to ask in his name, isn't it? Luke 5.
I'll try to hurt. Luke 5, verse 12. Here's where that leper was cleansed.
And it came to pass, Luke 5, 12, and it came to pass when
he was in a certain city, behold, a man full of leprosy, plumb
full of it, who seeing Jesus fell on his face and besought
him, he prayed to him, saying, Lord, Lord, if thou wilt, it's
your will, but if you will, Thou canst, you have all power. Make me clean. Make me clean. Cause he's just wanting rid of
that leprosy. He's a mercy beggar. He didn't care about that leprosy.
I need mercy and I need to be made clean. I need the remission
of sins, but I don't just need a zero balance. I don't just
need to hit the reset button. I need to be clean. I need the
blood and the water. I need to be justified and I
need to be sanctified. I'm vile. I'm wretched. I need, I need
you to forgive me for what I've done. And I need you to cleanse
me because of what I am. Because if it's just gone away,
I'll do it again. I can't be in your presence that
way. I'd have a righteousness. Clean every wit. There in John
13, 10. He told Peter, he said, you'll
clean every wit. I bought you. Blood in the water's on you.
Now you're going to walk through this world, you're going to get
dirt all over you, on your feet. And your brethren's going to have
to wash it off, get down in toe jam and all kinds of nasty things
and calluses and bunions and dirty business. Forgiveness is
dirty business. It's not, this ain't a Disney movie. I said
that before. Harlot's not a Disney character. And bearing burdens
ain't something you watch on TV. And I've seen a lot of people,
they agree with all those things. And then when the hard times
come, I said, why I can't tend right now, it's just too rough.
This is what we're talking about. That's the dirt. It ain't nothing. If you had mercy, ain't nothing.
If you've had, had your soul cleaned forever, you've been
given a new heart. And he has a, what did the Lord
do? That person, if you will, you
can make me clean. Look at verse 13. And he put forth his hand
and touched him. He touched the leper. He didn't get leprosy, the leper,
but got Christ. He put forth his hand and touched
him saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed
from him. That just happened to take place
too. You asked for that mercy. You
asked for that cleansing right there in his name, because of
him, because of who he is, because he can. And if it's his will,
he says, I will. That's something to ask for.
Turn to Matthew 14. Matthew 14. Verse 25. Matthew 14, 25. And in the fourth watch of the
night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. When the
disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled,
saying, it's a spirit, and they cried out for fear. After that
storm and things, commercial fishermen scared, pretty big
storm. And then now on top of it, here comes a spirit. It went
from bad to worse. But straightway, verse 27, Jesus
spake to them, saying, be of good cheer, it's I, be not afraid.
He spoke to them, it's me, don't be afraid. He commands fear to
be gone, fear's gone. If he declares himself, that's
the absence of fear. If our victor comes to us and
said, it's me, and you know who the great I am is, no fear, right? Verse 28, and Peter answered
him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on
the water. If it's you, it's you, you bid
me to come to you. That's you, I will come to you.
Not for just me to walk on the water. I want you to draw me
to you. Is that a prayer? Is that asking
in his name? Forgive me, cleanse me, draw
me to you. I encourage us, me and us, all
of us, to ask the Lord for this. Ask him. Those times you're so
afraid, You have no idea of the peace and the comfort we could
have if he's pleased to draw us unto him. Bid us unto you,
Lord. Wouldn't that be amazing? In
Christ, wretched sinners, we're allowed to come and we are encouraged
to come and approach that throne of grace. only in him you get
that don't you come walking by your own don't cause you don't
you come walking because you made a decision for jesus back
and when he was a teenager no no no no no you come because
of him and he says come unto me all you that labor and heavy
laden i'll give you rest my burden's locked my yoke's easy come to
me come to me now how you put on the whole
armor of God. Let me tell y'all a little secret.
You don't put on your own armor. Them guys didn't, and some of
the generals nowadays don't either. That Roman armor had to be laced
up in the back, and it was heavy, and it was different parts, and
all that stuff. How can I come to him? Well, just make a good
decision. Take the first step. No, no man can come to me, except
what? The Father draws him. So what
do we pray? The Lord bid me to come. You
can if you want. You can make me clean. You can
give mercy. You'd like to show mercy. And
you can have me come to you. I want to go to you. Bid me come.
Bid me to come. We need to have the faith to
even ask of those things, don't we? The Lord has to give us the
faith to ask him to bid us to come. You ain't got to turn to
this, but the apostle said to the Lord, they said, increase
our faith. He said, forgive your brethren. How many times? We
need numbers. And he said, infinite. And I said, increase our faith.
We have to believe you to forgive our brethren. Get a hold of that
one. And I said, Lord, increase our
faith, the faith of Christ. He's the object of our faith.
He's the author of our faith. He's the finish of our faith.
Yet in him, we possess it. Isn't that something? That's
amazing. And he told Peter, he said, Peter,
Satan's going to sift you like wheat. He wants to. He said,
but I've prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we
were drawn close, had our faith increased and would just be cool
as a cucumber? What's going to happen? I have
no idea, but he does. Lord does. Does the Lord know
what's going to happen? Does he love us? Is he a faithful
father? Okay. I'll calm us right down. Solomon
said, trust in the Lord with all that heart and lean not to
that own understanding and in all by ways, acknowledge him,
acknowledge him and he shall direct our paths. Turn one more
place. Luke 23. Luke 23. We need mercy, we need cleansing,
we need to be drawn near and have the faith to ask for those
things, have our faith increased. Here in Luke 23, verse 39. Luke 23, 39. And one of the malefactors,
which were hanged, railed on him, saying, if thou be the Christ,
save thyself and us. But the other, answering, rebuked
him, saying, Dost thou not fear God? That's who you're talking
to. What was he reminding those apostles
of? I'm God. Right? He's going to
teach his people that. Dost thou not fear God, seeing
that thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly. We're sinners. That's us. We deserve to die
on this Roman cross. For we receive the due reward
of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. He's done
everything for the glory of God. Remember what we ask amiss? Because
it's on our lust. He didn't do this for him, he
did this for another. He laid down his life for his friends.
He's holy. That's God and that's God's man
and that's God. Can you explain that? No, that's
so. Who are you talking to? And he said unto him, unto Jesus,
verse 42, Lord, here's a prayer. Remember me. He's asking in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. You just remember me. That's
it. What about all the details? What
about the crowns of jewels in your crown? That's garbage. Hmm. You remember me. I may not remember
you. You remember me. Jesus said unto him, verily,
I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Ain't gonna be long now. Lord, because of Christ, because
of his person, because of his word, because of his work, being
made one with him by your doing, you did it. Because of that,
have mercy on me. Make me like Christ. Wash me,
make me like Him. Draw me near to Him. Keep me
nestled up close to Him. I'm prone to wander. You draw
me in. Crease my belief in Him, my faith
in Him, my trust in Him. Lord, enable me to trust Christ. Make me. Let me, make me, enable
me, however you want to work. That's what I want to do. You
do the work and then make me trust Him. And remember me. Remember me. Don't remember me
as me. Don't remember me as Kevin Thacker,
born of Sue and Paul Thacker. No, no. You remember me as I'm
in him. When you look at me, don't you look, don't you look
at what you all see. Lord, you look at Christ, who I'm in. You
see him. Remember, remember him. Remember
me in him. What's the culmination of these
three messages we've been looking at? Lord's been teaching them
some things, a whole lot in a short period, isn't it? He said, you
don't get it now, you will, hold on. It'll take some time, took
them some time. If we remember, when we go to
that throne of grace, who he is, And we remember His word,
what He said, and the word that He spoke through these apostles
that wrote this word to us and the prophets of old, Old Testament,
New Testament, we remember His word, we look at it. And remember
His works, not just His works He did on this paper, what it
says He did, or what it says in some doctrine, remember that
work He's done in us. He saved me. If He saved me, He'll save anybody. If I remember those things, who
he is, what he said, what he's done, what am I to ask? Do you still remember that Mercedes
I was talking about? Seriously, what do we have to
ask? We go from petition to praise. Lord, I'm at rest right now. I'm content. I want to rejoice
in you. I'm thankful. You thankful? I
am. Henderson, as we age, he knew
from experience, he was young and he was old. David was young
and he was old. I used to be younger. And as
the days go on in this vapor, it goes, Lord, let this happen
or don't let this happen or give me the grace to get through this
or something like that. You're right. Whatever it is, it's right. I'm going to need strength. I'm
going to need my faith increased. I need mercy and I need cleansing
and I need drawn near. and just remember me, he will. Remembering, remembering,
remember the remembranceers, those watchmen on the walls of
Jerusalem, remembranceers, that's still a term in England now.
They remind things through the king. We remember his person,
his word, and his work, singular. No work can ever be done like
he's done. He laid down his life for his enemies while we were
still in sin and hated him. His working through his apostles
to give us more of his word. Look how much word he gave us. That's a lot of words. Him giving us the remission of
sin and his blood, he gives us his righteousness, his faith,
his drawing us to him, him remembering me, not me remembering him. If
that stirs up your pure mind, what does our prayer in his name
become? Thank you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you. We go from
petitions to praise, from asking what he's doing, to giving us
the grace to bear it, to thanking him for what he has done and
who he is. Our God is God. That makes me
happy. Maybe it's strange to thank him for him being him,
but I'll do. I'm grateful. I have great Thanksgiving. Add one thing on, I'll close.
What is His name that we pray in. He said, you pray in my name,
you ask it in my name, I'll give it to you, to those apostles.
What's his name? His name shall be called Wonderful.
Is it wonderful to you? Wonderful, Counselor. Do you
need to talk to anybody else? The mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. of the increase of his government
and peace, there shall be no end. If you've got comfort and
you think he's wonderful or not, that's going to get sweeter.
If you're alive spiritually, God's going to grow you. It may
just be fingernails and hair. We may not grow out a little
bit, but that's going to get sweeter. The increase of his
government and peace, there should be no end upon the throne of
David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it
with judgment and with justice from henceforth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. He's going
to do it. His word says so. I believe him. He's going to do it. The Lord
ain't out of business, is he? He's going to keep us. When we're
made like him, he's going to do everything he says. That's
contentment, isn't it? He'll keep us, draw us near when
we walk out the door. Make us remember these things
on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Saturdays and throughout the
week while we're sleeping. That'd be good, wouldn't it?
All right. If you will, let's turn in our hymnals.