When you turn to John chapter
14, now the Lord is speaking to one
of his disciples, a believer, somebody that he would soon die
for, somebody that he loved. That's who he's speaking to,
a believer. And he says in verse 9, 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? Believest thou 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 in me." Now this is a gentle rebuke to
Philip. You know, when you read these
words, you can almost feel the disappointment in the Lord's
voice toward one of his beloved disciples. Now, I realize that
as God, he's never disappointed. His will is always done. He's
never left frustrated. But we also read scriptures like,
grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you're sealed under
the day of redemption. We can grieve him by our unbelief. We can grieve him by our misconduct. You know, it said concerning
what David did in 2 Samuel 11, the thing which David did displeased
the Lord. He is not pleased with the sin
and the unbelief of his people. He's grieved. And I have no doubt
that when he speaks to Philip at this time, he's grieved with
his beloved disciple. He's grieved. Let's look back
in verse 7. He says, If you had known me,
You should have known my father also. And from henceforth, you
know him and have seen him. You see, he and his father are
one. The son is not the father and
the father is not the son, but they are one. There is such an
intimate union between God, the father and God, the son, that
to know Christ is to know the father. And to see Christ is
to see the Father. So he says, if you've known me,
you should have known my father also. And from henceforth, you
know him and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord,
show us the Father, and we'll be satisfied. It sufficeth us.
Now, how dull and stupid does this question of Philip appear?
He's looking at the Lord Jesus Christ, and I particularly appreciated
the Scripture that was read at the first of the service. Hebrews
chapter 1. There's not a chapter in all the Bible that sets forth
more the excellency and the dignity and the glory of Jesus Christ.
Where God the Father says to God the Son, Thy throne, O God,
is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Oh, what glory! What excellency,
what dignity, what greatness is in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ? And then Philip asked this. Stupid question. Show us the
father. And we'll be satisfied. Philip
was looking at God incarnate, the creator, the only view of
the father he would ever have is standing right before him.
And this request is so much beneath the excellency and the dignity
and the glory of Jesus Christ. You see, unbelief has at its
root a low view of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you want to know why
unbelief is so evil, now generally speaking, when we think of unbelief,
don't actually think of it as the worst thing we think they're
what the worst things and i believe that committed adultery or murder
robin bank or something like that surely that's worse than
unbelief for those things are evil there's no doubt about it
but why is it that unbelief is so evil why you know it's it's
the damning sin why is it that unbelief is so evil because it
has as its very root a low opinion of the lord jesus christ If you
have a low opinion of me, I can give you some reasons to have
a low opinion. I mean, if you're around me long enough, you'll
find that, you know, a lot of times people put the preacher on the
pedestal and so on. But if you're around me long
enough, you'll find out I'm just like you are, just like you are. And I'll give you reasons to
think, boy, he shouldn't have been that way. But the Lord Jesus
is altogether lovely. He's altogether glorious. All
that God is, He is, He's God. And to have a low opinion of
Him is downright wickedness and maliciousness and evil. To have
a low opinion of the Son of God, and that's what unbelief is.
It's a low opinion of the person of the Son of God. That's what's
behind it. That's why unbelief is so evil. If you're an unbeliever,
if you die that way, God's going to send you to hell. That's how
serious this thing of unbelief is. It's evil. It's a low opinion
of him who is altogether lovely. Is it any wonder that God becomes
so angry with unbelief because of the view unbelief has of his
son? You know, there are many people
in this room right now that I have such a high opinion of you, and
I esteem you so highly. And if somebody doesn't like
you, I don't like them. I mean, somebody's against you. I'm against
them. I don't like them if they don't like you. Now, can you
imagine how God the Father feels about those who have a low opinion
of his son? Unbelief is an infinite, infinite
evil. Verse 9, Jesus saith unto him
after he asked this question which betrayed a low opinion
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He should have said that would
be predicted across that question. Verse nine, Jesus said to him,
Have I been so long time with you? And yet. I shall not know me,
Philip. He that has seen me has seen
the father, and how sayest thou then show us the father? Now,
the son is not the father, but all that we will ever see of
the father is the son. He is the brightness of his father's
glory, the express image of his person. He is the one who in
the beginning was with God and was God. The same was in the
beginning with God. Now, so close is the union between
the Father and the Son that it said in Isaiah 9, verse 6, unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Do I understand that? No, do
I believe it with all my heart and soul? How can you be looking at me
and ask such a question as this? You know, never did a teacher
have such dull, stupid students as the Lord Jesus. And you know
that's true, don't you? We're slow students, aren't we? Verse 10, now he asked this question
to a believer. He says, Believest thou not? Believest thou not that I'm 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. Don't you believe that I'm in
him and he's in me? That the words that I speak to
you are his words, the very words of God. My words have such power. You listen to this statement
real carefully. I want you to really zero in. He's saying my
words have such power that my words and my works are one in
the same. That's the power. His words are
his works. His works are done by his words. That's the power of his words. The words that I speak are his
words. The works that I do are his works. Don't you believe
this, Philip? And he's asking this to a believer.
Believe us, thou not. Now, we who believe are far too
weak in our faith. Would you agree with that? Did you know that the greatest
sin that you and I have, and the biggest problem that you
and I have, is unbelief. Unbelief has, as I've already
said, at its root too low an opinion of him who cannot possibly
be esteemed highly enough. Unbelief is unexcusable evil. Now, like I said, we who believe
are far too weak in our faith. That is the sin that does so
easily beset us. Remember that passage of Scripture?
Let us lay aside every weight, and that sin which doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that set before
us." I don't have any question of what he's talking about. Now,
people say, well, my besetting sin's temper, or my besetting
sin's lust, or my besetting sin's some other... No, your besetting
sin, the sin that you so easily fall into, that I so easily fall
into, is the sin of unbelief. Now turn with me to Matthew chapter
17. I'm going to ask you to look at several different passages
where the Lord rebukes his children for unbelief. Matthew chapter 17. Let's begin
reading in verse 14. And when they were come to the
multitude, there came to him a certain man kneeling down to
him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son, for he's a lunatic.
You ever thought that about your boy? And sore vexed, for oft times
he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water, and I brought
him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus
answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how
long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you?
Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil,
and he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that
very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, privately, and
said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them,
Because of your what? Unbelief. It rendered them powerless. Remember that scripture I read
at the first of his servants, the service that he there could
do no mighty works because of their unbelief. Now, that's not
because it's not like his hands were tied and he couldn't do
it because they were unbelieving and that rendered him powerless.
But he could not because he would not. And he would not because
he would not. He could not. He could do there
no mighty works because of their unbelief. I said, why couldn't
we cast him out? Because of your For verily I say unto you, if
ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this
mountain, this mountain of unbelief, Remove hence to yonder place,
and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Howbeit, this kind goeth not out, but by prayer and fasting." Turn with me to Mark chapter
6, or Matthew chapter 6. Here's unbelief regarding provisions. Verse 25. Therefore, I say to you. Take
no thought. For your life. What you should
eat or what you should drink or yet for your body, what you
should put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body
more than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow
not, neither do they reap, nor gather in the barns, yet your
heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not much better than
they? Which of you, by taking thought, by worrying, can add
one cubit unto his stature, or one more moment unto his life?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spend, and yet
I say unto you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed
like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed
the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast
in the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little
faith?" Don't worry. Take no thought, saying, What
shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we
be clothed? For after these things do the Gentiles seek, for your
heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you. May God give
us grace to never worry about anything materially again. Don't
worry about it. Don't worry about it. Your Father
knows exactly what you need. Isn't that enough to satisfy
you that he knows what you need? Don't worry. To do so is unbelief. You know, we we say we can trust
him for salvation, but we can't trust him for temporal things.
That's ridiculous. Look in Matthew chapter eight. Verse 23. And when he was entered
into a ship, his disciples followed him, and behold, there arose
a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with
the waves. I mean, this was a storm and water getting into the ship,
going back and forth. But he was asleep. The Lord was
just sleeping through this. He wasn't worried, was he? You
see, he was in control of everything. And his disciples came to him
and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us, we perish. And he saith
unto them, Why are you fearful? What are you scared of? What's
a big storm? I'm in the ship. I'm in the ship. What are you afraid of? Oh, ye
of little faith. In Mark's account, he said, Where
is your faith? Where is it? It's certainly not
an operation now. Now, with regard to circumstances,
we talked about provision. With regard to circumstances,
Lord's in the ship. There's nothing to worry about.
Why would you be afraid? Oh, ye of little faith. Look
at Matthew chapter 14. Beginning in verse 24. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary. And
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking
on the sea. Now put yourself in their place.
That would have been one eerie sight, wouldn't it? See the Lord
walking on the water, the waves crashing and the rain coming
down. The Lord's walking on the water. And when the disciples
saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It's a
spirit. And they cried out for fear. The great way Jesus spake
unto them, saying, Be of good cheer. It's I. Be not afraid, and you know,
you can say that regarding everything in your life. Be of good cheer. It's I. It's I. Don't you be
afraid. And Peter answered him and said,
Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he
said, come. And when Peter was come down
out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. He
did something that he could not do. You see, looking to Christ, I
do that which is impossible for me to do. He was doing something
that was impossible for me. Looking to Christ, believing
on him, you will do that which is beyond your natural ability. You won't be able to believe.
You won't be able to repent. You look to Christ, you'll do
both. You'll walk in a way that honors Him. You'll be justified. You'll be sanctified. You'll
be glorified. You believe Christ. All that is yours. But, verse 30, when he saw the
wind boisterous, He was afraid and beginning to
sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus
stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Now, I think
it was pretty major faith for him to get out of the boat and
walk on the water, don't you? But yet our Lord said, O ye of
little faith, why did you doubt? Look in Matthew chapter 16. Verse 6, Then said Jesus unto them, Take
heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the
Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves,
saying, It's because we've taken no bread. Now, remember, they'd
already seen the Lord feed five thousand people with five loaves
and two fishes, and four thousand people with seven loaves. They'd
seen all that. And yet, here they are. It's amazing how quickly
they forget. They said, well, he's saying
to beware of the legend of the Pharisees and Sadducees because we forgot
bread. And look at how the Lord responded to that. When Jesus,
verse 8, perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why
reason ye among yourselves? Because you've brought no bread.
Do you not understand? Neither remember the five loaves
of the 5,000 and how many baskets you took of neither yet the seven
loaves of the 4,000. How many baskets you took of? How is it
that you don't understand that I spake to you not concerning
bread, that you should be aware of the leaven of the Pharisees
and of the Sadducees, and they understood that, how could he
beg them not to be aware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine
of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Here's the one point I want to
make about this. The only way we have any true spiritual understanding
is through faith. You don't understand, then believe.
You believe, and you understand. That's the only way understanding
comes. Look in Mark chapter 16. This
is how troublesome this thing is of unbelief. Verse 9. Now, when Jesus was risen early,
the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom he cast seven devils. And she went and told him that
had been with him, and as they mourned and wept, and they, when
they had heard that he was alive and had seen of her, they believed
not. After that, he appeared in another
form unto two of them as they walked and went into the country,
and they went and told it unto the rest who neither believed
they them. And afterwards, he appeared unto the eleven, as
they said it meet, and upbraided them, with their unbelief and
hardness of heart. Those are two things that go
together. Unbelief and hardness of heart because they believe
not that which they believe on them, which had seen him after
he was risen. Now, he told them I'm going to rise three days
later. He told them and they did not believe. Now, is it any
wonder that the disciples made this request in Luke chapter
17, verse five, Lord, increase our Faith. Our faith certainly
should be strong because of the strength of the object of our
faith. Christ Jesus, He's mighty strong. He's almighty. Thank
God weak faith saved just as surely as strong faith saves.
Because it's the object of faith that saves. It's not the faith
that saves. It's the object of the faith. But how we ought to
have a faith that glorifies Him. Is He worthy of complete trust? Is he worthy of complete commitment? Is he worthy of complete surrender? Go back to our text in John chapter
14. He says in verse 11, Believe me. Oh, that's a powerful
statement. That's a command. Believe me. Trust me. Rely on me completely. Believe me that I am in the Father
and the Father in me or else believe me for the very works
sake. Look at my works. I raised the
dead. Who's the only one who can do
that? Who's the only one who can raise somebody from the dead?
Who's the only one who can create matter that was not there before
and bring it into existence? Who's the only one who can give
sight to the blind? Who's the only one who can control
the weather? Believe me, for the very work's
sake. Turn with me for a moment to Matthew chapter 11. Now, when John had heard in prison
the works of Christ. Now, remember John at this time.
John the Baptist is who our Lord said was the greatest of them
born among women. None is greater than John the
Baptist. He was the one who Came in the spirit and power of Elijah. He was prophesied in the Old
Testament as the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had
seen the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw the spirit descend like
a dove upon him. He heard the voice from heaven.
This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. This man's
special. John the Baptist. He's the one
who, when he was in his mother's womb, he leaped at hearing the
sound of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a special person John
the Baptist was. But now he's been taken from
this sphere of excitement and usefulness, and he's stuck in
a prison. And he begins to doubt. Somebody
said, John the Baptist couldn't doubt. Yes, he could. He's flesh,
just like you and I. He has unbelief, just like you
and I. Look what he said. Now, when John had heard in prison
the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples. And said
unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Go and show John again those things which you do see and hear.
The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor
have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me." Back to our text in John 14. He says in verse 12, Verily,
verily. Well, there's something very important
when the Lord says this. Anything He says is important.
He says, Verily, verily, truly, truly, I'm giving a double to
this. I want you to hear what's being said. Verily, verily, I
say unto you, He that believeth on me the works that I do, shall
he do also. Now what's that all about? He
that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do also.
I'm going to read you quite a few scriptures that has this word,
believeth. Mark 9.23 says, All things are possible to him that
believeth. Mark 16.26 says, He that believeth
and is baptized, the same shall be saved. John 3.16 says, God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3.18 says, he that believeth
on him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name
of the only begotten Son of God. John 6.35 says, he that cometh
to me shall never hunger. And he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. You know, I got to thinking about
that. Do I know anything about that? Believing Christ. Believing that
he is my salvation. I'm not hungering for anything
else. And I'm not thirsting for anything else. I'm satisfied
to be saved by him. John chapter 7 verse 38 says
he that believeth on me, as the scripture says, out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water. John chapter 11, verse 25, I
am the resurrection of the life. He that believeth on me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And he that believeth on me shall
never die. Now, do you believe this? John
chapter 12, verse 46, I am come a light into the world that whosoever
believeth in me should not walk in darkness, but have the light
of life. I have life as to how God can
love me, how God can accept me through the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 1244 says, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but
on him that sent me. And John 1412, the scripture
I just read. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
that he that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he
do also. Raised anybody from the dead
lately? Controlled the weather lately?
You healed anybody lately? You given anybody that was blind,
sight? What's he mean when he says,
the works that I do, shall he do also? Now, he's not just talking
about the twelve disciples. He did give them miracle working
power. I mean, Peter and Paul both were used to raise men from
the dead. But he doesn't just say, just my disciples. He says
in a full, broad, complete way, he that believeth on me, the
works that I do, shall he do also. Now this can only be understood
in light of the great, glorious truth of the believer's oneness
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one. Jesus Christ the Lord
became one with me. what I am on the cross. He was
made sin. Now this is, who can understand
this? He never sinned in his own person.
Yet on Calvary's tree, he was made to cry out, my sins, not
Todd's sins, but my sins as a heavy burden are too heavy for me. My sin actually became His sin
to where He became guilty. And the proof that He became
guilty is God killed Him. God wouldn't have killed Him
if He wasn't guilty, if He didn't deserve it. God wouldn't do that. He's always perfectly just. Christ
Jesus actually got what I had coming, became what He had coming.
And God killed Him. And just as truly as He became
one with what I am, I become one with who He is. And what he did, so when he kept
the law, I kept the law. When he performed good works,
I performed good works. Remember when he said to John
the Baptist there in Matthew 3, 17, thus it becometh us to
fulfill all righteousness? You see, when Jesus Christ fulfilled
the law, somebody else did. Everybody he represented. So,
he that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do
also. And this is my confidence. I
can't even express how much I rejoice in this. That the very life of
the Lord Jesus Christ, his works, are my works before God. And
I can come with such confidence, with such boldness. His life
is my life before God. I love that. I just can't. It
becomes more glorious to me. Let me tell you where full assurance
comes from. You struggle with assurance?
Full assurance comes from being fully assured that He's everything
in salvation. That's where full assurance comes
from. You become fully assured that He's everything in salvation,
you'll have full assurance. Now, if you think you have anything
to do with it, you're not going to have full assurance. But if you're fully assured that
He is all in salvation, you will enjoy this thing of full assurance. The works that I do shall He
do also. Let's go on reading. And greater works than these
shall He do. Because I go unto my father. He will use you to bring more
people to the saving interest in myself. That's what he's saying,
I'll use you to bring more people to the saving interest in myself.
In this sense, you know, the Lord. The Lord, when he died
on the cross, he didn't have many followers, did he? As a
matter of fact, the world would have looked at his death as the
death of a failure. The death of a defeated, frustrated
failure who he tried to get something going and it just didn't work
and there he dies. But let me tell you something
about his death. They thought it is a failure, but because
of his death, they're going to be 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands
and thousands saved because of his death. And you know, his
death is his death. I was talking to somebody just
a couple of weeks ago and they were they were arguing against
the idea that Christ died only for the elect. And they said,
I believe that he intended only to save the elect, but I believe
he died for everybody, which I can't. I have such a hard that
doesn't make sense. But I said to this fellow, I
said, you can tell me that Jesus Christ can die for somebody and
they wind up in hell. And he said, well, that's the
way I understand it. And I said, now, listen to me. The only hope,
and I can say this with such conviction, the only hope that
I have is that Jesus Christ died for me. That's the only hope
I got. I got nothing else. Nothing else. That's the only hope I got. And
if you tell me that he could die for me and I could wind up
in hell anyway, you've taken away the only hope that I have. The only hope I have is his great
successful redemption, that he redeemed everybody he intended
to redeem. And we've got a glorious message
to preach that is going to be successful. The Lord is going
to call out his sheep, and you know, he's going, we're going
to do greater works than these. He said, because I go to my Father. Verse 13. Now, here's where the rubber
meets the road with faith. And whatsoever you shall ask
in my name. Let me repeat that. And whatsoever you shall ask
in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If you ask anything in my name,
I'll do it. Now somebody's thinking, I've
asked things in his name, and he didn't do it. Well, that being the case, I don't
believe you really asked in his name. You might have used in
thy name, but you meant something else. Because if you ask in his
name, he has promised, I will do it. Now, what is this thing
about asking in his name? It's not just attacking his name
at the end of our prayers. We make all these requests that
we say in Jesus name, almost a lot of folks use that kind
of like an abracadabra. You know, I mean, we use the
magic formula and how it's going to work. You know, you've got
to pray in Jesus name. That's what makes it work. That has
nothing to do with it. When I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus,
there are three things that I'm doing. First, that prayer is
going to be heard not because I'm praying it, but because I'm
united to Him and He presents that prayer before the Father.
You see, prayer has to do with life and faith. Behold, he prayeth
is what the Lord said about Saul when he struck down on the road
to Damascus. Behold, he prayeth. He never prayed before, but now
he is. Life has to do with faith. I pray in his name. What I mean
by that is, Lord, I know that the only way this prayer will
be heard is as thy son brings it before you. And if he brings
it before you, it's heard. We pray in His name because of
union with Him. We plead only His merit. And
we ask for His glory. Now, whatever I'm asking for,
Lord, it's Christ that must bring this prayer to you or it won't
be heard. And the only thing I'm pleading is His merit. And
I only want this if it glorifies You. And truly, I say, let Thy
will be done. If what I'm asking doesn't bring
glory to you, I don't want it. Now that's what it is to pray
in his name. We ask. You know what prayer
is? It's asking for stuff, isn't
it? Have you ever prayed a prayer
when you didn't ask for anything? I never have. Not once. I mean, I want to, I want to
pray I want to praise Him. I want to thank Him. I want to
do all those things. I really do. I want to praise
Him and honor Him as I should. But every time I pray, I'm asking
for something. Lord, have mercy on me. Lord, forgive me. Lord,
give me the grace to do this. I tell you, one of the bad things
always, change so-and-so. I'd be afraid of changing me.
Remember that. Next time you're praying that
the Lord will change somebody, pray that He'll change you, not them.
But how do we ask? How do we pray? We pray in the
name of the Lord Jesus. And he says, ask and you shall
receive. That's a promise. I've asked and I didn't receive
and you didn't ask. You were bargaining. You were
trying to make some kind of payment. You were trying to strike a deal
with God, saying I'll do this if you do that. No, ask and you shall
receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
to you for everyone that asks. Receive it. And he that seeketh,
findeth. And to him that knocketh, it
shall be opened to him. Now, that is a promise from the
Lord Himself. This is the power of His name.
If you ask anything in His name, He said, I'll do it. That's a
promise from Christ who cannot lie. I love there in John chapter
4. when the Lord said, if you knew, if you knew who it was
that asked you for a drink, what you'd have done? You'd ask Him. If you knew, you'd ask. And if you'd ask, He would give
thee this living water. Now here is faith. I come into the very presence
of God only in His name. And I ask Him for things. You
know, you and your kids ask Him for things. And we're His children.
We're His children. And He delights in answering
the prayers of His children. We ask Him for things. And we
truly ask that first, we might be heard only united to Him.
We plead only His merits. And we say, Lord, if this be
for Your glory. If this be your will, if this
be for your glory, let it be done, and if not, I do not want
it. Do you feel that way? I really
do. May the Lord enable us, first
of all, to be men and women of great faith. You know, the Lord
only marveled at two things. One, unbelief, and the other,
the greatness of somebody's faith. I want to be somebody of great
faith. Somebody who believes just like
a little child. Believes the Word of God. And
I want to be somebody who is always asking the Lord for things.
True men and women of prayer. Asking the Lord to bless the
preaching of the Word. Asking the Lord to call out a
people for His glory. Asking the Lord to glorify Himself
in this place. Asking the Lord to empty me of
myself and give me the grace to deny myself. to take up my
cross daily and to follow him. May God give us the grace to
be a praying, asking people. He said, Whatsoever you ask in
my name, that I will do. Do you believe him? Be bold. Ask for great things. What's that song, hymn by John
Newton? Come, my soul, thy soup prepare,
for Jesus loves to answer prayer. He himself has bid thee pray,
therefore will not tell thee nay. Thou art coming to a king,
large petitions with thee bring, for his grace and power are such
that none can ever ask too much." Let's pray.