Obedience, Prayer, and Proclaiming the Word B

You're going to grow spiritually as you see God's power on display and prayer puts you into that experience, the more faithful your prayer life, the faster your spiritual growth because God will be doing great and mighty things, which is known on an expansive confidence in his power to increase your spiritual name of the law.

If the bad guy surrenders you can be sure he understood that the name of the law carries meaning weight authority along those lines. The name of the Lord has far greater implications than you might suspect, especially for your prayers on today's grace to you. John MacArthur helps you understand the fundamentals of prayer as well as how to lead others to Christ. It's part of his study called back to basics and with that, here's John John chapter 14 verses 13 and 14 and whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I do know less will stop there from it.

What is it mean in my name.

Well, if you study the Bible you find out that anytime you see the name of God or the name of Christ that that is a concept that embodies all that he is.

My name is I am that I am God's name is the embodiment of all that is in Christ name is the embodiment of all that is what he saying is that when you ask consistently with who I am and what I will. I'll do is simply saying when you pray in accord with my will. You see, when you pray according to all that you you know you can. Be careful about that next time you pray and say Lord I like to have a new car but I just don't like this when I got. I like to have a new car and this I asked because I believe this is the will of no not try window to well.

Lord III just got this husband, Lord, how to word this Lord is there anyway I get another one this. I asked because I believe this is that no but I have this kid know I got for and for your great which it is.

This is there anyway this I asked no does make it like a little kitty pray God was mommy got was that in God like a new bicycle. Mommy said God is in death. He said I know the grammar was in the next room and she is out of here really trying to calm God force God's hand bind him by a misconstrued idea of what his promise meant I see the pray in my name really limits our prayers. I can pray.

Oh God, I pray that in this situation. This dear brother who is ill may grow spiritually may see a new vision of you may have his heart enriched in the midst of his trial.

This I asked because I believe it to be the will of Jesus Christ.

Right. That's consistent with who he is and what you know as well. It now beloved, that's precisely what it means to pray in the spirit praying in the spirit is praying consistent with the spirit of God's will, and the spirit of God is always praying in the life of the believer always effect. Romans eight says that we know not what the pray for as we ought, so the spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. In other words, in a nonverbal language between the spirit in us and the father on the throne. He always prays for us and his prayer is always answered because he knows the mind of the father. Now watch when you pray according to his will, he will do it in order that he may be glorified.

Nellis 107 he might do it anyway. But if you didn't pray that's right if it was as well to do it do it anyway but you know something you wouldn't have the opportunity to see them do it.

You would be in on it. Thus you wouldn't give him glory. Illustration. If somebody comes to a prayer meeting and stand up and they say all are the most wonderful thing happened. You know this lady that I've been sharing Christ with.

I've been praying for her for years and this week we knelt together in my house and she opened her heart and she invited Jesus Christ to come in and I'm so thrilled now she's a believer and here she is with us tonight. Thank you for praying for her. For these last few months and immediately when that happens, ripples are going to go through that and so because it will praise the Lord to go to get big grins on the phase old Lord, thank you number those people to be to be the ones who were doing what praying for and some people sitting back are going, staring around totally indifferent.

You know why they were involved see the reason to pray is not the force God's hand. The reason to pray so that you can begin on what he's doing because then you can join the hallelujah chorus easy and praise used to be a fellow in our church and that his name was Frank and Frank came up to me in the patio one time and he said Johnny said I would like to pray for you, but I don't know what to pray for and so we so would you give me three request and I said all right I thought I was little unusual.

He took out a little notebook a spiral thing they wrote down one request and another and another. And so I I just went on my way and I thought well it's a little different. See anybody do that. That way, but later on he came to me and he said about two weeks later, John. I want to check on those three request. He flew back a few pages where those three things were and he said what happened on number one, number two, number three, so we talked for about 10 minutes and I told him he wrote it all down in another column, so you request here in an answer here and I had occasion one time to visit his home before he moved back to Detroit and I noticed that he had 13 of those spiral notebooks already filled.

He was working on number 14.

I know there's a guy who seen God on display right beside him say Frank you believe God answers prayer.

What kind would you like to see. I got them indexed it a whole pile of salvation is on this page and overhear some no you see what what he was doing.

You see, was letting God display his power in his life by being in on what God was doing. That's the primary issue in prayer not getting what I want, but letting God display himself if residual he.

I get what I want.

That's gravy mostly important is that I get what I need right and sometimes what I need is not what I want. Point of prayer. Then, is to let God display himself on a great thing it is for people to go to grow spiritually, you're going to grow spiritually as you see God's power on display and prayer put you into that experience.

I'll take the more you pray, the more faithful your prayer life, the faster your spiritual growth because God will be doing great and mighty things, which you know not in your expansive confidence in his power will increase your spiritual maturity. So we glorify God by prayer and ninth key to spiritual growth. 1/9 way in which we glorify God. And this was very important fact I could talk on this one for a long time. We glorify God by proclaiming the word we glorify God by proclaiming the word second Thessalonians chapter 3 verse one.

Finally, brethren always got a chuckle about that because Paul says finally and then goes on for 18 versus typical preacher style.

Finally, brethren, pray for us what we are. Pray for that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified. All I like the word of the Lord is really the expression of God. He is synonymous with his word, his word in the Old Testament out of his mouth.

His word in the New Testament in the living Christ is synonymous with this person and God is glorified when his word is proclaimed in Galatians chapter 1 verses 23 and 24 we read this and of course this is regarding the apostle Paul and his conversion and subsequent ministry. It says that the churches of Judea had heard only that he who persecuted us in times past, now preaches the faith which once he destroyed the churches heard that this fellow Saul of Tarsus, who was busy persecuting the faith was now preaching the faith and what they do. Verse 24 they glorify God because of me.

Why did they glorify God because the word was being preached the word was being proclaimed. God is glorified in his word. Anytime you proclaim the word of God you're giving him glory, what is your acknowledging that it is the truth you're acknowledging that it is a life-giving word that it is a life changing word.

A life transforming word a life-sustaining word you're saying this is a powerful word alive and powerful, sharper than a two edged sword, and so forth.

When you proclaim the word of God is the absolute source of truth. You are honoring and glorifying God because he says the same thing about his word that you're saying when you hold it up as the standard. In fact, in acts chapter 13 I believe it is verse 48 says and when the Gentiles heard this, that is, they heard the message of everlasting life. They were glad and they glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed in the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region and here again, they glorified God in the proclamation of the word. Now this is so very basic and I don't want to get to basic and cover things we've covered before. But let me just say this. There is no spiritual growth without the taking in of the word. You can't grow without food right and that should be a daily process you'll come to church on Sunday and and to take in your message to say all is wonderful message.

I hope it hangs in there hold middle next week anymore than you eat dinner on Sunday and say now Lord were having a wonderful Sunday dinner and were just praying that all hold us until next Sunday. You gotta eat. Probably Sunday night and Monday, Tuesday, and so forth.

The same thing is true. Spiritually, there must be a daily feeding on the word but listen, there is a greater glory, then feeding the Tums and giving because as you proclaim the word and give it out you have a way of cementing it in your own life.

It's kind of like the little statement that says the more you give away the more you keep right. I found out as a teacher that the things I teach.

I remember the things I read, but never pass on. I forget. And so God is glorified in the proclamation of his word, the servant of God is to give a high priority to the proclaiming of the word. When you are silent about the gospel and you are silent about the word of God, and it is on your lips all the time you retired your spiritual growth you know back in Deuteronomy God said the people of Israel.

You should talk about my law. When you stand up, sit down, lie down, walking away.

It should be on your lips all the time. You should put it in a little thing and hang between your four head between your eyes on your forehead. You should put it on your wrists you put in the box and stick it on the doorposts of your house. You talk about all the time all the time all the time, the word should be literally filling your heart and your mind so that whenever you open your mouth, it comes out trouble was a grade of a great solar years back and and he said the thing that made the difference in his life. The thing that totally turned his life around was when he made a vow to God.

And this was his vow. He said God giving me the strength every time I introduce the topic of conversation. It will always be concerning Jesus kept that vow through his life every time he opened his mouth conversation about Jesus came up he saturated himself with and so saturated was he that whenever he opened his mouth. That's what happened. You know I spent so many years studying the Bible in preaching and I know if you poke me in the middle of the night and I popped up. I probably recite Bible verses or preach a sermon. I dream about spiritual things.

I have biblical dreams that's that's happened to me a lot or dreams about the church.

That's the context of my thinking and I thank God for that.

God is gracious to me because he could put me somewhere else. I would have the luxury of studying the Bible, but the filling of the mind and then as you teach it. You see when you when you need to teach the word like I do, or any other Bible teacher, you have to take it and saturate yourself and saturate and saturate you can't just write it on the notes and fire off.

It's got to go through you and whatever you give away is become so much a part of you that it controls your life. And as you proclaim it. Your life is evidently glorifying God in the speaking of his word. Now frankly folksong go a step further.

If Balin's ass spoke the word of God. It would glorify God if Cyrus, who wasn't even a believer spoke the word of the Lord would glorify him. If a rotten evil Caiaphas, the high priest spoke the word of God and it came to pass, it would glorify God when ever God's word is uttered, it glorifies him. But much more so when it flows out of the life of the belief what I'm saying is you cannot grow spiritually. If you are not speaking the word of God. I believe it's a key to spiritual growth be uttering the truth of the word of God.

We must give a high priority in our lives to his word. This very essential element in second Timothy chapter 3 just to give you another thought on this. It says all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Now what's was the goal of spiritual maturity to be perfect to be mature to grow up and how do you do it all Scripture takes you along the line of doctrine, reproof, correction instruction in righteousness. Another purpose causing a clause in order that the man of God may be perfect so that the process is the process of the working of the word of God in your heart and it never works as well in her life is when you're teaching it to somebody else preaching it to somebody else sharing it with somebody else.

That's what makes it really find a route in your heart and a course in second Timothy 215 we have that very special word that says study or be diligent to show yourself approved under got a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. That phrase literally means cutting it straight.

Paul was a tent maker and he made tense by cutting the patterns out, he made tense out of goatskin and no one goat was big enough for a tent was in the super goat just one goat made a tent. They were small animals and you had to sew them up in pieces and if you didn't cut the individual pieces together, the, the pattern didn't fit and he saying unless your careful with the individual parts of Scripture. The total doesn't come together and so we are to be students of the word filling our hearts and filling our lives with this tremendous truth, and as we proclaim it.

Second Thessalonians 31 the word of God has free course and is glorified. How would glorify God by proclaiming his word to believers and unbelievers to those who will hear and those who will not. We glorify God than by proclaiming his word and as we proclaim his word and as we pray, and as we praise him and as we aim our lives that his purposes and his will. And as we love them enough to obey, no matter what it costs as we do all these things which give him glory.

We are moving in progression toward Christ likeness. There's no other way to define the Christian life then as a progress on market progress to glorifying God. And you know something it's always sort of an elusive thing because the longer I live the more failures I see in my life. It was a well you know as you go along to get easier nuggets noisier because the more you know and the more you understand the more you see your limitations and so your ever ever pressing toward the mark with never a sense of having attained in your heart you long for the day when you'll be liking for use to see him as he is. Maybe one more thought in this study attempts way in which we glorify the Lord. We glorify God by bringing others to him. Now this is the natural outgrowth of proclaiming the word were just going to spend a brief moment on this, but second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 15 second Corinthians chapter 4 in verse 15 says Paul is writing, of course, to the Corinthians, said he had them in his heart was deeply concerned in first Corinthians. He had said some pretty hard stuff. Pretty well flattened him just about everywhere you could sarcasm and everything told me to come to them with a rod and whip them at all.

He saying and so he he kind of tells him why he did this and why he talked this way in second Corinthians, and this is what he says in chapter 4 verse 15 for all three all things I've ever done in ministry to you. In fact, all the things that ever happened to me being troubled on every side. Verse eight being persecuted verse nine. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus verse 10, always having to face death for the ministry.

All these hard things that I've done are for your sake. There was a man was totally committed to the needs of others. It's all for you. What is the purpose Paul, in order that the abundant grace and that saving grace redeeming grace might through the Thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. While why do you do this what you going to town when it's hostile.

I mean why do you go will you know you're going to get persecuted you and why do you take all of this flex 20 a sneak around the back alleys pass out tracks and beat it out of town to claim the promise of word ever returns void while you confront everybody what you want up in jail. All of these things are that you may know, the abundance of saving grace why that you may think God see that the Thanksgiving of many other words he wants to add another voice to the Thanksgiving choir. He wants to add somebody else who can glorify God and I guess if you really pin me down. This is probably the greatest element of glorifying God. When you win somebody else to Christ.

You see, you double the potential don't if I can glorify God with my life and I when someone else to Christ, and that make somebody else who has all the potential to God is glorified when we bring others to him.

And frankly, that too is a part of spiritual growth. One of the keys to spiritual growth is winning people to Christ because that adds another voice to those who praise and thank the Lord. It's so important that we see that these are all simple things that we know to say all spiritual growth.

You know belongs to those who are so far above me and tries to read the Thomas a campus imitation of Christ and I used to read about mystics you know who could kneel and pray for 8 to 10 hours and and that have little holes in the in the wood floors you know and I used to read about Robert Murray McShane who would stand at his pulpit and he dropped his head and his Bible and great floods of tears would gush out of his face and soil the pages of his Bible and the and the tear stained pulpit, then I would read about these kinds of people seem to walk with God, and the level it's incomprehensible.

Read a book by EM bounds called power through prayer and this man was consumed hour upon hour upon hour with prayer and I'd say to myself, you know its use right I mean II just never get to that level that's that's because God uses everybody in a different way but spiritual growth is not some mystical thing for somebody way off, and some spaced out spiritual distance. Spiritual growth is very simple to matter of obedience a matter of loving the Lord. It's a matter of praying, praising, believing, confessing sin, proclaiming the word bearing fruit.

All of these things and winning people to Christ that simple. That's the element in your life that's going to mean maturity and the sooner we focus on these simple basics, the sooner we're going to see the spirit of God changing us into the image of Christ from one level of glory to the next, but bow together in prayer. Father, we thank you for our study, we thank you that you've given us some very simple and basic principle that we can apply to our lives to grow spiritually.

God help us to be discontent with where we are like the apostle Paul ever hunger in our hearts to know him in a greater way to be more like that we might manifest your fullness in this world. Your praise Christ men and this is grace to you with John MacArthur. Thanks for being with us. Today's lesson is part of John's current series titled back to basics down, still thinking about our duty to proclaim God's word. You know Jon, I think we can say in the year 2020, with all the upheaval that's come with it.

This has actually been a helpful test of grace to use resolve to keep doing what we've always done and that is to proclaim biblical truth with all the chaos that this ministry has endured. This year we've had the opportunity either to trustor not to trust the sufficiency of Scripture to trust that the Bible is not only what people hunger for this is what they need the most. I think that showed up that all around us and you know not only a grace to you, but at Grace Community Church were I pastor and where you're an elder.

We have seen an explosion of hunger for the truth. People know there's deception in the world and this is been a year like no other year in my long lifetime. There are always problems and you can go back and identify some pretty serious problems. Some catastrophic years like a 9/11 there. There been some things that affected this nation. But there is never been anything that carries this kind of fear and what is generating this fear is a kind of an eschatological sense that this is never going to be what this country was or what we wish would be. In other words, there's there's an angst that has deeper deeper impact on people because they don't think there's a way out of this.

It can't get any better. I think the because of that, there's been an amazing sifting and ministries. This is not of this is not a popular time for sort of a glorified Ted talk, this is not a this is not a time when people want to hear some sentimental stuff this is not a time when people want to rush to hear somebody tell them how wonderful they are. Some positive message.

This is time for truth.

People are really terrified all the masks indicate their fear, and even though the fear may be nowhere near the proportion that it's being sold.

We have a globe of fearing people and when when you get to a point of fear where you really think maybe it'll never be the way it was. Or the way I wanted there.

There's a need for something far more profound and far more divine and that is because all of our ministries to literally explode with interest as people come rushing to the truth of all the times in my life for us to be proclaiming the truth. This seems to be the most impactful. The most widespread interest in the truth that I've ever seen in my lifetime people are turning to us from secular organizations asking us to weigh in with biblical truth.

So I think the depth and in height and length of breath of this fear has driven people to think seriously and that kind of serious thinking will drive them to seek divine truth and and we been able to be there in this hour, and all of our ministries have just exploded. By the way you make this possible in your year-end giving will guarantee will be able to keep doing the next year yes friend. This is really an important time for the ministry.

About 25% of our budget needs are covered by gifts we receive at the end of the year to help us keep encouraging people with biblical truth in 2021.

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