The Lord's Rejoicing in Prayer
Notes
Transcript
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.
22 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
23 Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see;
The joy of prayer and joy in prayer...
What makes you rejoice?
Pop Quiz on Rejoicing:
The Denver Nuggets win their first ever NBA championship!
Congratulations! You just won the state lottery!
Congratulations! You have just been used by God to save a soul from death to eternal life!
If you are honest with yourself...
What is the difference? There is one that is of eternal value, that will last forever — to be used by God
What should be rejoicing about? The best answer will be to know what makes Jesus rejoice.
Still in the sermon series: A Culture of Prayer
From a prayer said by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today’s lessons:
Jesus rejoiced in God’s sovereign will.
Jesus rejoiced in the salvation of souls.
Jesus rejoiced in the fruitfulness of His disciples.
Jesus rejoiced in God’s sovereign will.
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.
The Lord Jesus is always about submitting to and obeying the will of the Father.
“not My will but thine be done”
Jesus rejoiced in God’s sovereign will by praising the Father’s
election
“I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes” (Luke 10:21a)
He chose us
We were chosen not because of..
God is glorified in His choice..
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
Talk through this.. base things, the low and despised. (make this personal --- in your brokenness and imperfections, God chose you! That indeed is reason to rejoice..
For what reason?
29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
ALL GLORY GOES TO GOD!
“Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.” (Luke 10:21b)
The beauty of God’s perfect will.
God’s will is always the best and we rejoice in it..
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
In Romans, when writing about God’s sovereign will, Paul broke out in exuberant doxology:
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
Praise the Lord!
2. Jesus rejoiced in the salvation of souls.
22 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
All things have been delivered to Me by My Father.. what is it the the Lord Jesus desires more to be delivered to Him? (Amazon joke)
The background of the 70
a. His disciples
In His High Priestly prayer the Lord prayed this...
6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
The Lord desires to be delivered to Him...
b. People Who will believe in Him.
Again, from the Lord’s High Priestly prayer:
20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
The Lord desires for the lost to come to Him and find eternal life (talk)
44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Jesus is the way...
“and the one to Whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Luke 10:22c)
One of the goals of Christ’s mission is to reveal the Father.
The Spirit’s role..
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
There is a collaboration of the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in the salvation of souls..
As a church we should be in collaboration or partnership with the mission of God.
Cast the vision of Crosswind Church:
Vision Statement of Crosswind Church:
“Advancing the Kingdom of God by the fulfillment of Christ’s Great Commission Through All Generations”.
“Missional” - Alan Hirsch (God is a missionary, Mission is not a church doctrine but God’s doctrine)
“It’s not so much that the church has a mission, it’s that the mission of God has a church.” @alanhirsch
We will be examining all our ministries, if they are aligned with the vision of the church.
What is the trajectory of our prayers? (prayer team)
Why are we doing what we are doing?
3. Jesus rejoiced in the fruitfulness of His disciples.
24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.”
Jesus is telling the disciples: “You are so privileged..”
There are people who have not seen what the disciples were seeing.. us. but even at that time, a relative of Jesus, chosen by God to be His forerunner, the one who would prepare the way of His first coming did not see.. when he was in prison, John sent his disciples to inquire of Jesus:
22 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
The Lord rejoiced over the disciples seeing this..
He rejoiced over their Kingdom participation, they are seeing all these things (talk), but look at the last part:
“the poor have the gospel preached to them.”
THE GOSPEL
Let us pray that we will see with our eyes an amazing move of God --- the blind will see, the lame will walk, the dead are raised, the unbelievers will believe because the Gospel has been preached to them!
YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY THE LORD NOT ONLY SO YOU GO TO HEAVEN AND NOT HELL. HE CHOSE YOU FOR HIS PURPOSE OF BEARING FRUIT THROUGH THE GOSPEL.
16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
I can be very easy on you.. and not challenge you..to choose the easy route.. minimal Christianity… I won’t do that to you.. A pastor should desire what the Lord wants for you ----- that you bear much fruit!
SOULS
This is a source of rejoicing for the Lord and for all of heaven!
36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
Don’t you love to be part of such rejoicing? To be invited in God’s salvation army and His after salvation party (NBA)? If there is much rejoicing over one sinner, How much more if we get more???
Takeaways:
1) We should pray for the Lord’s attitude when we pray:
2) We as a church should be about preaching the Gospel (Evangelism).
1) We should pray for the Lord’s attitude when we pray:
Rejoicing over sinners who come to God.
Anguish over souls that remain away from God.
2) We as a church should be about preaching the Gospel. (All ministries are catalyzed by evangelism)
Reasons to rejoice: (Applause if you agree!)
a. We make the biggest difference in people’s lives over what matters most — the salvation of their souls!
Reasons to rejoice: (Applause if you agree!)
b. Our loved ones will be with us in heaven!
Reasons to rejoice: (Applause if you agree!)
c. We participate in Jesus’ soon coming when we send out missionaries to the unreached nations of the world!
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
LET US REJOICE OVER THE LORD OF THE HARVEST!
Pray aloud,, stand in ovation!
Baptism...
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