5-31-2026 Lord's Prayer

Our scripture reading this morning is going to be two sections, because we didn't do one last week, and that way we can bring us back up to speed. It's going to be, it's Psalms chapter 119, it's going to be verses 73 through 88, and the two sections are Yod and C-A-P-H. I'm not sure how it's pronounced yet, but I'm just going to say calf. Tune in next Sunday for Bible study. Yeah, we'll describe it next Sunday. Psalm 119, starting in verse 73, Yod.

Thy hands have made me and fashioned me. Give me understanding that I may learn thy commandments. They that fear thee will be glad when they see me because I have hoped in thy word. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right and that thou in faithfulness has afflicted me. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be from my comfort, according to thy word and to thy servant. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live, for thy law is my delight. Let the proud be ashamed, for they dealt perversely with me without a cause, but I will meditate in thy precepts. Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies.

Let my heart be sound in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed. And then the next section, Kaf, which is the 11th Hebrew letter, starting in verse 81. My soul fainteth for thy salvation, but I hope in thy word. My eyes fail for thy word, saying, when wilt thou comfort me? For I am become like a bottle in the smoke, yet do I not forget thy statutes.

How many are the days of thy servant? When wilt thy execute judgment on them that persecute me? The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after the law. All thy commandments are faithful. They persecute me wrongfully, help thou me. They had almost consumed me upon earth, but I forsook not thy precepts. Quicken me after thy lovingkindness, so shall I keep. the testimony of thy mouth.

May the Holy Spirit grant us understanding of his word. So many have come to me in the days of their troubles and their trials with, I just don't know if I'm saved. I just, I don't know. Sometimes I can't wrap my mind that God would love somebody who's in such trouble as I am. Somebody who makes so many bad decisions as I do.

And I asked him, I said, well, do you believe who the Lord Jesus is? Oh yeah, according to his word, he's God in the flesh. I believe it when it says God prepared a body for Him. I believe that He's always been the Son of God from before time ever began. I believe that He's perfect, one with God the Father, one with God the Spirit.

Okay? Do you believe that Jesus Christ was sent? Do you believe that the God-man came to this world because he had purposed that there would be a people that would worship him for eternity. Oh yeah, I believe that. There's no doubt about that. It's just as plain as anything can be in the word of God. He's God in the flesh. He came here for a reason, to save his people.

You just don't believe that he saved you. No, I don't. I just, I don't know. I can't wrap my mind around it. First thing I want to say to anyone who may be dealing with that very thing, you're not alone. This man who stands before you, I don't have to point fingers at those of you I know who do the same. You know. Most of your heads are, yeah. That's me. I struggle with that too. You're not alone. You're not alone. If we're not looking to Christ, then we're not looking to the One we need.

And when we're doing our best, when everything's going well for us, we don't have a lot of need to look to somebody, do we? This is why Paul says he glories in his infirmity. This is what he's talking about. Why would anybody glory in their infirmities? Because we know that these are things that God brings to us to keep us in a position of looking to His Son.

Did He not send the snakes, the serpents, into Israel, into His people to bite them? If it wasn't Him, then He's not God. Had to be God who did that, right? Did he not send a famine against the family of Jacob up there in Canaan, in the land of Canaan, when Jacob and all of his family began to starve? Did he not send that famine so that they would seek somewhere else, like Egypt, wherein many years later they would become slaves to those families? Is that not the God that we're talking about here?

Oh folks, there's good. There's good to the waves that rock against our little ships. There's goodness to it. It keeps us looking to Him. Through our weakness, His strength is made perfect. I prayed this morning. that the Lord's message will be one of grace. Isn't it good to hear grace? I love hearing grace. You know why? It means that it's there whether I wanted it or not. I didn't have to come asking for it. Mike brought it out to me as we were walking through the door here earlier. He goes, you know, and I forget what he was referencing to it.

Do you remember the Gadarene? Remember that Gadarene guy, the crazy dude in the tombs? The one who was going around cutting himself all the time. Nobody could chain him up. Even he'd break the chain. Do you think he was looking for the Lord? That is such a picture of John Reeves.

I wasn't looking for anything. I thought I wanted just nothing more than my brother's shoulder to lean on and cry on. And it turned out, Somebody came in a boat. Somebody came to me where I was at, got out of the boat, walked in to the tombs that I was living in, got in and came in to the blindness that was before me. I didn't know who John was. I didn't care. All I could think about was John. Were you ever that way? Any of you folks ever get boat like that. I love grace. God came to me when I needed grace the most. Just as he does every single one of his people. Every single one of us.

You think he just came once? Are we Saved once and then that's it, it's done, we don't need it. Folks, I've heard Pastor Don Fortner, Gene Harmon, and several others preach the message of, I am saved, or I needed saving, I am saved, and I need to be saved all the time. When I stop needing to be saved, I pray it's the day the Lord takes me out of this world. we have in this flesh.

It puts me in the presence of His Son. Oh, what glorious day that will be. Unmerited favor. Grace is what I, an undeserving sinner, am in need of. Like Paul in Romans chapter 7, I cry out, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body? Death.

Like the publican in the temple pounding his chest over in the corner where nobody can see him, but the Lord crying out, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. Turn over to the sixth chapter of John, if you would. I want to express something today for you that I believe is the epitome, the very picture of grace. But before I join you in John chapter 6, I want to read from Luke chapter 24 where our Lord says to a couple of men who were on the road to Emmaus and they were complaining and talking about the events that had happened the day before where this one who they had walked with, ate with, drank with, lived with for several years They were in the presence of God Almighty Himself who walked in the flesh.

The day after He was hung on that cross, the day after He shed His blood for all of His people, these two men were ready to go back to fishing. Just like Peter, just like the rest of the disciples. They were ready to go back to doing whatever they were doing before. The Lord catches up to them on that road makes himself appear in front of them.

They didn't recognize who he was. They lived with him and ate with him, but they didn't recognize who he was. And he says this to them in verse 25 of Luke chapter 24, O fools and slow of heart. There's John. O fools and slow of heart to believe all Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? They knew that that's what Christ had been preaching them. He was very clear.

I'm going to go, we're going to go up to Jerusalem here in a couple of days. We're going to go up there and they're going to kill me. They're going to beat me. They're going to, the elders, the leaders of our religion of the religion of the people. They're going to have me killed. But that's not all. He never left it there. Aren't you thankful he never left it there? The story has always been, and on the third rise again.

Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory. Do you think it could have been any other way? Folks, if it could have been by the Mosaic law, then we wouldn't have needed Christ. We could have done the law. Like Mike brought out though, that was nothing more, nothing more than a schoolmaster to take us to Christ.

Are you in John chapter six? Our God came here for a purpose. That's what it tells us. I want to read one other verse here before I join you there in John 6. Go ahead and stay there. These are familiar words. Some of you know these words by heart. Listen to this.

This is the purpose. This is what Jesus Christ has told us over and over again about what his purpose was. In verse 5 of Philippians 2, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. This is the purpose. The body that was prepared For the Son of the Living God, the Eternal Son of God, this body was prepared.

He made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant. Is that not the epitome of grace? The All-Majestic God humbling Himself in the flesh for you and for I to serve us? You all know the story. He got down on his knees and washed the feet of those that he called my brethren. He made himself a reputation, 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.

Now where in scripture does it declare the will of God? Our Lord came here with a purpose, as we just read there in Philippians 2 verses 5 through 8. He came to fulfill the Father's will. So where does it talk about the will of the Father? Look here with me if you are in John chapter 6 at verse 37. John 6 verse 37. For all the Father giveth me, are you with me there yet? Y'all there? John 6. 37. that the Father giveth me. Does that say the whole world? Does that say all of mankind? In John 1, verse 1, we see that Jesus Christ is the one who created all things. Why wouldn't God the Father give him all mankind?

Why is it just, look here, there's a limit on it. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. See what I'm talking about? This is the purpose of God right here, and it's so clear as can be. Look, for I came down not from heaven to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. Christ was sent here for a reason, for a purpose. Folks, we can't do anything to make ourselves righteous before God.

We need a substitute. The same one that the Old Testament saints looked to, that we look to now. We look back upon what he's done. They look to what he was going to do. They knew they couldn't do the law. We know that we can't keep the law. That's why we look at ourselves for what we are, sinners. Do you know the world doesn't think that they're a sinner? I didn't think I was a sinner before God opened my eyes.

Did you? I thought I was a pretty righteous dude. Sorry, that kind of sounded funnier than I meant it to be. You get my point? Were any of you in that same boat? The world does not look on itself as being sinners. The self-righteous man that came into the temple, the Pharisee, and said, Lord, thank you for not making me like him. What pompous. That was John Reeves. I'm glad I'm not like that guy Jeffrey Dahmer, eating people after he killed them.

This is the Father's will. Can you get any more clearer than that? This is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, telling you and I this very thing. This is the Father's will. There's no reason for us to guess about it. What is God's purpose for me? I have no idea. What is His purpose for you? I have no idea there, too. But, I do know this.

I know that our Father's will is right here stated. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he given me, I would lose nothing, but should raise it up again the last day. And just to be sure that he's clear on this, you think that, you know, if the Lord says something once to me, that means something. It didn't mean anything before, but it does now. It's the new heart that we read about in Ezekiel 36, the new heart that He gives us. It means something now. I didn't care before, but I do now.

And it says here, it says it twice. And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone would see it, the Son, and believe it. You see how this comes right back to what I was telling you earlier about those who feel like they just don't know if God loves them or not? They don't know if they're one of God's saved? Look what it says here. And everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him. You want to measure your salvation? You want to measure if you're saved or not? Do you believe on God? And I guarantee you, if you are believing on Him according to His Word, you're going to look to Him for everything.

I'm not looking to the good things that I do in this world. I'm thankful that the Lord has changed my want-tos. I'm thankful for that. There were things that I wanted to do that I won't even share with you now that I'm so ashamed of. I'm thankful that He's changed my want-tos, but that's not my salvation.

Salvation is when God has done for me the great things that He has done for me. And believeth on Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up the last day. That is just as clear as can be as what God's will is. Christ will lose none for whom he came to save. None. Now turn over to the 17th chapter of John if you would. I don't know. I prayed and I prayed and I asked the Lord to give me a message for you folks today that would bring comfort to you. He led me right here to John chapter 17.

It begins in verse 1 about the glory of God. And the glory of God, folks, is Jesus Christ. It's what He's done for His people. That's what Jesus Christ and Him crucified mean. These are the words faith Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said father The hour is come Glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee In these 26 verses our high priest our Advocate now remember I want to bring before you a message of grace of love The love of God for His people, the love that sent His only begotten Son to be our propitiation, our substitute, our payment.

The one that got the job done, as Mike brought out in his Bible study. He said it's finished from the cross. That means it's finished. The one who intercedes on the behalf of sinners. The one who sits on his throne this very day saying, you shall not charge him for I have been charged, guilty, executed in his state.

This one who gives the full record These 26 verses are a record of his prayer to the Father. The Lord prayed often, but this one, this one prayer is the only one that's recorded in full detail. As I read his words, it occurs to me the depth of his love for his people. Look at verse one again, if you would. These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come, glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Now, we don't need to, I wanna bring this out again, we talked a little bit about this Friday night. But I want to just point this out for those of you who weren't able to be with us.

Christ has always had all power. God didn't have to give the Lord Jesus power. But the Lord Jesus did have to earn the power as our mediator. As our mediator, he had to go into the holiest of holies, not without blood, but with his own blood. See, you couldn't just say that and it'd be done. It had to be done. Blood had to be shed.

Adam and Eve could do nothing in the garden in covering up their nakedness. The only thing that could cover their nakedness, the only thing that can cover your and my nakedness, is the covering of God. The dressing of God. To be dressed in His righteousness. It has to be perfectly, folks. It can't be just a little bit of righteousness here. It has to be perfect. That's what holy is. Holy is perfect.

Our Savior earned all power by going to the cross and laying down His life as our mediator. our substitute, our high priest, our intercessor, the one who can sit on the throne today and say, I paid for that. He's mine. She's mine. Verse 2, as thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give, all life must come through the Lord Jesus. He guides up for a second on that. All power was given unto him to give life to as many as thou hast given him. And that's exactly what election is. It's those that God the Father has chosen for his Son to give life to.

Verse 3, and this is life eternal. Am I saved? Do I have life eternal? Here's my answer. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. See how important it was for me to point out the one who was sent? And now, O Father, glorify Thou me, with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." That coincides perfectly with what we read in John chapter 1, isn't it?

In the beginning was the word, and the word was God, and the word was God. Verse 6, he says, I have manifested thy name, Yahweh, the true name of God, the all-sovereign ruler of all that is, unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. You notice that again. Here we go. Six verses, and we've already seen twice now where he's talking about those that were given to him, a particular people, which thou gavest me out of the world, thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. I'd like to see a hands of everyone who has kept the word of God. Well, now wait a minute, now wait a minute. Before you sit there and think, not me. You belong to Christ, you can raise your hand. Folks, we are perfect. Isn't that what it said? By His one offering in Hebrews chapter 10, we've been perfected. You have.

I know you think you have it in the flesh, but you have in the spirit. The Word of God is spirit. We confuse things sometimes between what we know in the carnal self, the flesh, and what we have in the spirit. In my spirit, if I could walk perfectly, I would. In my spirit, I do.

I walk just as perfect as my Savior, the Lord Jesus, for it says right there, it says, in him, thine they were and now gavest me and they have kept thy word. That's right, Roberta. Huh. Interesting. I have kept his word because of him. because of what he's done in everything, and that includes giving me life to believe it, to believe it in him.

Verse seven, now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee, for I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed. that thou didst send me. See, there it is again. Once again, remember we said that back in verse three, thou hast sent me.

Our Lord prays for his people as our high priest. That's what the priest was to do. Remember the Old Testament thing where they would go into the temple? There was two parts to the temple. big veil that kept out everybody but the one person, the high priest. Remember that? Remember that part of the story?

And only one person could go in to where all of the wonders, the tablets of Moses, the budding rod of Aaron, all those things that they put inside of the, oh my goodness. The Ark, that's it. Kind of like the Ark of Noah. Everything of God went into that Ark. But he could go into the, he was the only one who was allowed, thank you, James. He was the only one who was allowed to go into the holiest of holies. Well, that's Jesus Christ, folks.

Have you ever heard the statement that he's a high priest according to the ways of Melchizedek? Melchizedek, there's no record of where he came from. There's no record of what happened to him afterwards. All we know is that he was a high priest that Abraham paid tribute to.

Well, that's God. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't know exactly where he came from. He's always been there. We don't know where he's gone to. He's everywhere. Oh, this is our high priest right there, and he's praying for us. He's on his knees crying out to God the Father for you and I, Roger. Can anything go wrong with that? Can anything stop when God is praying to God? I know that's kind of wild, but that's the way it is. God is praying to God. This one, and this is the grace.

I told you I wanted to bring you a message of grace that would maybe give a little peace to your lives as you go out into the world and deal with all the troubles that we have out there. Not just the troubles with the world, but the troubles with this. The troubles we have inside. And some of us have some really big troubles inside. This is grace.

God is praying to God for you and I. Look at verse 9, I pray for them. We know that they was a people. I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou didst give me, for they are thine. That's twice now in this chapter, in these very few verses, that Christ has told us that we are His. We belong to Him. We are thine, and thine are ours. You know, that just reminded me, 348. Turn over to page 348 in your hymn books. Hold your place there in the Bible. We're going to come back to it. Turn to 348. We sang this for our... I'm just going to read it.

348. Does this touch your heart? Does this grab a hold of your heart to know that we belong to God? We've always belonged to God, we just didn't know it. Everything that has come to happen in this world, even this very moment, is for God's people, those that he says, you are mine.

O Savior, to the rock, that is higher than I. My soul in its conflicts. That's the battle between our soul and the flesh. The battle that we read about in Friday night study back in 2 Samuel chapter 3 verse 1. The long battle. If you don't think it's long, ask Mike Loveless. He can tell you.

O safe to the rock that is higher than I, my soul in its conflicts and sorrow it would fly. So sinful, so weary, thine, thine would I be. Thou blessed rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee. I pray for them. Back in our text in the Bible, John 17 verse 9. but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine all mine are thine and thine are mine and i am glorified honored in them how do we honor how do we glorify our lord by making sure we're not taking any glory for ourselves By reminding ourselves, oh, would you see that? I'm right down the middle of the fairway.

I know I throw that out a lot, but that's me reminding myself. That's me reminding myself that I steal the glory from God all the time. It's hard. It's hard in this flesh not to take a little glory for yourself, isn't it? It's hard not to say, oh, I'm so smart. I figured that out all on my own. Verse 11, and now I am no more in the world, but these. These very ones that he is praying for, these very ones that we see the epitome of grace in praying to God.

Do you think God the Father's not listening to God the Son? Do you think there's ever a chance of that? Not if they're the same one. Not if they're one and one. Nope. God the Father is always going to hear what God the Son prays for, and he's praying for you and I. And he says here, now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. Now I don't have enough time to finish the rest of this chapter, so I want to jump ahead a little bit. Go to verse 24.

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known, here it is again, that thou hast sent me. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. Turn over to the 13th chapter of John, if you would. John chapter 13, and I'll bring this to a quick close here.

Can I confess something? I normally try to get up at 4 o'clock and put together something that I've been thinking about all week. I haven't had anything to think about all week. Might be why I rolled over and went back to sleep at 4. So finally the dogs got up and moved and woke me up. I looked over and the clock was five o'clock and I thought, you know, I got to get up. I got to do something.

Came over next door here to the church, to my office, and tried to read scriptures, read articles, go through old messages, go through other pastors' messages. I looked at three different messages from Henry Mayhem this morning. I looked at two different messages from Don Fortner. One from Clay Curtis.

And I just couldn't get anything going. I don't know what led me over there to the 17th chapter of John, other than the Lord. But that's how whatever I've had to say over the last 30 minutes has come together. Kathy asked me three times this morning when I went over to fill up my coffee or do whatever. You got anything? No. I'm blank. I was really afraid that I was going to have to stand up before you folks this morning and say, I'm sorry, I don't have anything for you. But the Lord gave me something to read. Just for some reason, John 17 was there, and I said, here's the blessings of God right there, the Lord's Prayer.

Let's just read that. And look how he brings grace to us. This is the God that loves us, folks. I can only assume that he's giving you a little piece to know how much he loves you and gave himself for us. And it's all for this one reason, to glorify Him. Father, glorify Me. My people will glorify Me. Look at verse 31. Therefore, when He was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified to him, God shall also glorify him and himself, and shall straight away glorify him.

Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You shall seek me, and as I said unto the Jews, whither I go you cannot come. So now I say to you a new commandment I give unto you. Check this out, Mike. Look at what it says next. This goes right along with his Bible study. This is the law of God. A new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if you have love one to another.

The only thing on my heart today was to come here and bring a message of hope to you. to tell you about God's grace, to share with you what God has done for me. That's all I got. I really don't have anything else. Every Sunday, if you come back next Sunday or next Friday, you're going to get the same thing.

It might be from a different part of Scripture, I hope it will be, but it's going to be the same thing. It's what God has done for us. The good things that He has done for us, He saved us. He's been gracious to us when we deserve nothing but His wrath. If God so loved me and forgave me of my sins, past, current, future, how shall I not have love for the brethren? As God has forgiven me for Christ's sake, God help me for Christ's sake to be a forgiving person of them whom ye have sent into my world.

5-31-2026 Lord's Prayer

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5-31-2026 Lord's Prayer

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