Alright, Brother David is going to come share our prayer tonight, right? Anything you ask, you can get. Is that right? Okay. He's going to talk about it. So if you will take your Bible turn with me to 1 John chapter 5. We'll be looking at verses 14 through 17. I'll back up and begin in verse 13, 1 John chapter 5. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request that we have asked of Him. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life. To those who commit sins that do not lead to death, there is sin that leads to death, I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. Let us pray. Father, indeed, we bow before you. We thank you that we do have the privilege of prayer. And so now I'm so thankful to be able to ask for your great name to be called holy as we have opened your word and we have read these verses and even another chapter this night. I pray, Lord, that your word might Be clear to us that we might understand the truth that you are revealing in it. And so may we see who you are first and foremost. And we thank you for Christ. He is clearly proclaimed to us in your word. He is our only hope, only hope in life and in death. Our sins can only be forgiven through him. And so, Lord, I do ask that you would turn us to turn our minds thinking to proper perspective on prayer. Indeed, it is to you and it is through Christ alone that we can pray, and even it's by the help of the Holy Spirit. And so, Lord, teach us now, and it's through Jesus that I ask this. Amen. Last week we saw that Christians can have confidence or assurance of salvation because they believe in Jesus. We know verses such as from Romans Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And that is a statement that should give great confidence to those who have called upon the name of the Lord, who are depending and trusting in Him. But the confidence for the Christian life goes further, and we will see that this afternoon and then for the next two weeks. Good Lord willing, other means that God gives or ways that a Christian might be confident tonight or this afternoon, we see Christians can have confidence in prayer. Christians can have confidence in prayer. What is the Christians confidence in prayer? Well, verses 14 and 15 tell us what this is. So let's look there. 14 First John 514. This is the confidence that we have toward him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. This is the confidence we have towards him. The Christians confidence before God comes out in their prayers. If we're confident that we know Him through His Son, if we have been reconciled with God, then this understanding of the fact that we have assurance of salvation, that we know that we have eternal life, should come out in our communication with Him as we pray. When we know that we have this good relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son, when we know that we have been given the seed of God or the very Holy Spirit of God is abiding in us, then we can begin to pray to the Lord and have confidence in this prayer. And does this mean, contrary to what Pastor Mark was saying, that I'll ask the question, does this mean that we are confident that God will answer any prayer that we pray to him? No, of course not. The second half of verse 14 explains our confidence in prayer. Second half of verse 14, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. The Christian has confidence that God delights in hearing His children pray in accordance with His will. This is how Jesus taught the disciples to pray. For Jesus said, pray then like this, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So there is this will of God focus. Christians should have a desire for God's will to be done above their will. So we pray And we ask God for what God wants to happen and come to pass. God, when we go to God in prayer, it's not like going to the genie in the bottle. Some of you can have an image when I make that statement, going to the genie in the bottle. We don't call on God in order to declare any and everything that we could possibly want or wish for and then automatically expect God to grant that wish. For prayer is the opportunity the Christian has to commune with God. Let's not limit our understanding of prayer as only the prayer of request or supplication. We pray for communing with God. We pray prayers of thanksgiving. I hope in these last few days specifically your attention has been focused upon all the things that we have to be thankful to God for. And so prayer is much. Prayer is fellowshipping with Him, lifting up prayers to Him of praise and also of thanksgiving. And of course, we pray to God for help in difficult circumstances. So prayer is our speaking with God. We should want God's will to be done in all things, even in difficult circumstances. These are some qualifications as we pray according to the will of God. And so John MacArthur can say all prayer, first of all, willingly submits to God's purposes, plans, and glory. First of all, our prayer submits to God's purposes, plans, and glory. And so confidence in prayer comes from praying according to the will of God. We must know then, what is God's will? There is. We heard in Ephesians chapter 5 that, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. I have this encouragement from the Lord. We know that we should have an understanding of what the will of the Lord is. How do we know what God's will is? And as I ask that question, I hope something is coming very quickly to your mind. For God has revealed his will in his word. God has revealed his will in his word. So we should not pray anything. That is contrary to the teaching of the Bible. This is over and again the importance of the Word of God. We hear this over and again and it cannot be stressed enough because we don't want to be left to our own thoughts and our own reason what we can come up with. We want God's thoughts. We want God's words clearly upon in our mind, in our hearts as we begin to pray. And so Jesus said, that the will of God was to accomplish the salvation of his people. And you can turn with me to the Gospel of John, chapter six, as we endeavor to pray according to the will of God. We've got to ask, what is the will of God? It's the word of God and some specifics. The will of God is to accomplish the salvation of his people. Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John, I begin reading in verse 37. All that the Father gives to me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. Jesus speaking. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my father, that everyone who looks on the sun and believes in him should have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. As we consider The will of God, we can know that it is God's will to definitely accomplish the salvation of His people. It's the will of God to save all His people through Jesus. And it's also the will of God to sanctify those same people, certainly that they will come to Jesus depending upon Christ and His work for the forgiveness of their sin, His shed blood that covers their sin, His perfect righteousness, that they can now be enabled to stand before God, be right with God. But in this life, it is also the will of God for Him to sanctify or set His people apart further and further. And so the will of God for Christians is clearly written in the Word of God. I'll give you one passage that's full of the will of God. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. I guess essentially we could begin reading the Bible and say this is the will of God and then we would know better how we ought to pray. I'm going to bring out bring out one passage that's full of the will of God. First Thessalonians chapter five, I'll begin reading in verse 12. We ask you brothers to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly and love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophecies, but test everything, hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil." That is packed full of the will of God. Certainly it's the will of God to save His people, and those that He saves, He sanctifies. He sets apart, He conforms them to the image of Christ. And oh, did Christ not make so clear to us what it means to be at peace among those He's with? Did Christ not encourage the faint-hearted and help the weak and was patient with all? Was Christ not always rejoicing and always praying and always giving thanks? And did Christ ever quench the Spirit? No, He abstained from every form of evil and Christ held fast to what is good. This is full of the will of God. Isn't the will of God so clear? God has not made our life to be a big puzzle to try to figure out. He has not, though there might be things that puzzle you. God has said that we should believe in Jesus and live our life for the glory of God, and he shows us how to do that. depending and trusting upon Christ, a continual life of coming to the Lord and focusing upon the things that He would have us to focus on, the things that He is focused on, His own glory being declared, His name being great. For this is the will of God, the Word of God. So if we're going to pray in accordance with the will of God, then we must know what He says. Before we can pray according to the will of God, we must have a desire for God's will to be done. I think this is certainly we can pray in accordance with the scriptures. But where is our desire? Do we really want His will to be done? Do we want what He wants? Again, Jesus sets the example. Jesus is savior. You must first receive Jesus as savior for the forgiveness of your sins. But second, Jesus is example. He shows the Christian how to live in a way that is glorifying to the father. So much so that like Pastor Mark quoted this morning, one instance, Jesus said that doing the will of his father was more important to him than eating. So Jesus can say my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. That's Christ's focus. That's the desire that Jesus has to do the will of God. If we're going to pray according to the will of God, I would say that we need actually a desire for God's will to be done. Thankfully, when he regenerates us, When he gives us spiritual life, he begins to change our desires. We have new desires. Jesus always wanted his father's will to be done, so he says, I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Jesus said that a person who desires to do God's will can understand the teaching of God. So turn to Gospel of John chapter 7. So you can lay your own eyes on this verse. John chapter 7, verses 16 and 17. Jesus said to them, John 7, 16. So Jesus answered them, My teaching is not mine, but it is his who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. If anyone's will is to do God's will. So, Jesus clearly had a desire for God's will, His Father's will to be done. For in the garden of Gethsemane, He prayed three times. No doubt, at the beginning of the prayer, in His humanity, He would have let that cup pass, for He knew what suffering was to come upon Him. My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass for me. But we know what is the overruling desire of Jesus because of this prayer. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Desire for the will of God is certainly a hard issue, meaning it has to do with what we love. If we love God and love the things of God, the things that He loves, then we can begin to pray according to the will of God. We can begin to have confidence in prayer because the things we're praying for, we know that this is the will of God Himself. So back to 1 John chapter 5, 1 John chapter 5 and verse 15. If we know that He hears us, of course, those are the things we pray and according to His will, He hears us, it says at the end, verse 14. If we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know we have the request that we have asked of Him. We will be confident that God hears us. As we pray again, again, what is our confidence in prayer? Our confidence is that we pray according to the will of God. You know that he hears us where we be. We will be confident that God delights in accomplishing his will. We have asked for His will to be done, and God causes His will to be done. Do you hear this connection? We ask. We're going to get to specific prayers in a moment, what this would sound like, but we're asking for something to be done, and then it is actually done. This is amazing to think that the God of the universe uses prayers of Christians to bring His will to pass. God actually answers these prayers. We have, from the scripture it says, we know we have the request that we have asked of him. So one Bible commentator says that, This is not the future tense we will have. That's not what's used here. But this is the present tense. And even in the indicative, so it does say something of actual tense, we have presently. Not just an ongoing continuous action, but we have presently. We already possess what we asked. When we ask God anything in faith according to his will, we know that he hears us and will grant our petition in his time. I think those are helpful words. Certainly, God is not bound to act on the time scale that we think he ought to act on. His timing is perfect and his hearing of our prayers is perfect and his answering in accordance to his will is perfect. But we can have confidence. As we pray in accordance with his will, this should cause us all the more to desire to know what is your will, Lord, declared from your word. Oh, let me pray truthful prayers according to what the scripture says. The Christians in Acts chapter four prayed according to the will of God and their prayer was answered. They prayed that they might continue to speak the word with all boldness, that the servants of God would speak the word with all boldness. This is what the church is praying as they begin to be under persecution. And they said, you know, while you, Lord, are stretching out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. So they prayed and they asked for the word The servants of God to be able to speak the word of God with boldness. And then it says, when they had prayed, the place where they were gathered together was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. They prayed that God would give them boldness in the proclamation of the word. And then God answered that prayer because it was in accordance with his will. It is the will of God that His truth is told. Many times Jesus would tell those that He was ministering among, it's not time to talk about it just yet. But since the Holy Spirit came down, He said, you're going to be my witnesses everywhere. And specifically, in direction to Paul, we know that the Lord sent him different places, at times would forbid him to speak the Word of God, but generally, unless we're forbidden, we know that we are open to speak the Word of God, and we pray that that might go forth with boldness. Practically, have you ever prayed that God would grant you a possession? Some physical thing? You don't have to answer that out loud, by the way. But just think, have I ever prayed that God would give me something? God, give me this car. God, give me this house. God, give me this. Or God, give me that. I think most of us would say we probably have had some prayers that included something of a physical possession. But we know for sure That if our plan, if our prayers are put forward because we have a plan to, we have a desire to love the things of this world, then that would not, that prayer would not be in accordance with the Word of God. If we say, God give me this car because it's so fast and it looks so good. And I would look so good if I had that car. That would not be in accordance with the will of God. Now, if we prayed, God, give me this car so I might travel around and be a witness of the gospel wherever I go, or God, give me this car so that I might be able to provide for my family and work and do the things that I fulfill the obligations and even have extra in order to bless others. In accordance with the Word of God, our prayers must be lifted up. We know we're not to love the things of the world. John has already told us in this letter, 1 John chapter 2, of course don't love the things of the world. All that stuff is passing away, he said. He said, desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, the pride of life, that's not from the Father, that's from the world. And so we know when we're praying, with confidence anyways, that these need to be according to the will of God prayers. Of course, it is the will of God for us to be a good worker. Pastor Mark has brought out Ephesians chapter six. I think we can apply this to the employee-employer relationship. Bondservants obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling with a sincere heart as you would Christ, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. rendering the service with a goodwill as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this will be, he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bond servant or free. And so Barnes can say, it is better that an idle man should not have a harvest. Listen to this now. Because according to the will of God, praying according to his will must be limited to what God says he sees is best for us. This is the way that Barnes defined the expression, according to the will of God, this must limit the answer to prayer to what God sees to be best for us. So what about the idle person, the person who does not work? Barnes says it's better that that person should not have a harvest. Though he should pray for it, even though the lazy person, the idle person, prays for a good harvest, then that God should violate the laws which He has determined to bestow such favors as a reward of industry. There is a principle of sowing and reaping from the Scriptures that we ought not forget. And so the lazy person does not pray in accordance with the will of God when they say, Lord, give me a big harvest as they lay on the couch waiting on the harvest to miraculously sprout up because they've not worked the ground, they've not planted the seeds, they've not tended the field, but they're going to lay there and pray, Oh, give me a good harvest. Now Barnes says that would violate the way that God set things up. And Barnes says, Special miracle in answer to the lazy man's prayers would not be, that'd be a violation of what, how God has set up for things to work. So we can't have confidence though. It says there in the scriptures, if we pray anything according to his will, and we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we have the request that we have asked of him. And so we can, it is possible to have confidence in prayer as we pray according to the will of God. And verses 16 and 17 give us an example of praying according to the will of God. And so here's the example. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will give him life to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. You see, These verses teach us what it is the will of God for Christians to pray for other Christians who are committing sin. Have you ever seen a Christian commit a sin? Again, this is a good question. This keeps us going, right? Keeps us focused. We want to have confidence in prayer, and so we're learning how we might have confidence, and here's our example. And so let me ask you, have you ever seen a Christian commit a sin? Well, the other Christians in your household, if there are any, the ones you live so close to, the ones you see more of the details of their life than any of others, of course you would say, yes, I have seen a Christian sin before. What did you do when you saw the Christians sin? And what do other Christians do when they see you commit a sin? Certainly part of our Christian duty is to call other Christians away from their sin and back to the Lord. Certainly that would want to be something of our response to us seeing a Christian to sin. But this scripture, this passage is our focus now, and it says that we should pray for the Christian who has sinned. So how should we pray? Well, it says there, pray that God will give him life. And if God gives the sinning Christian life, that would mean the sinning Christian repents from this sin. It turns away from that sin. They believe in Jesus once again. That's the life of the Christian, you see. That they would depend upon Christ. The sinning Christian turns away and turns to Jesus as their only hope of salvation. And that is the way that God works sanctification in the Christian life. I said that it's God's will for him to save his people. It's also God's will to sanctify his people. And so as long as Christians are on the earth, they will be going through this process until the new heavens and the new earth. And by God's grace, we will see our sin and we will hate our sin and we will confess our sin and we will repent of our sin. But the process does not stop here. By God's grace, we will look to Jesus by faith, trusting in the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from our sin. Now, God is sanctifying his people as Christians pray for other Christians who are committing sin. Don't miss the importance of the prayer. We want to confidently pray. We can think of a lot of areas maybe that we say, I want confidence in prayer and we know it's according to the will of God. Let's stick to this example for a moment. It is God's will that we pray for one another, that God would give us life. If you are in sin or if I am in sin, then We can have confidence in these prayers that God will further sanctify. God will further set apart his children. And part of this process is the prayer of the saints, one for another. I hope that this will draw us to prayer. Draw us to the Lord on behalf of our brothers and sisters. Because let's not pretend now, let's not pretend that we don't have sin. Let's not act as if we are perfectly sanctified. We know that there is still the struggle against the flesh and the spirit. And oh, how we long to be done with the struggle. One way that God is giving life to His children, continuing to work in them this great sanctification and making them more like Christ. One thing that happens in that process is Christians pray for one another who are in sin. But we see in the second half of verse 16, we see there is sin that leads to death. I do not say that one should pray for that. There is sin that leads to death. And then in verse 17, all wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. So there is sin that leads to death. And the question is, doesn't all sin lead to death? Think about it now. Doesn't all sin lead to death? We know that the wages of sin is death. So either a person's sin leads to eternal death, their eternal death because they have rejected Jesus Christ as Savior. It is possible for a person on this earth for their sin to lead to eternal death because of their rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior. When we think about the Christian sin, the Christian sin is covered by Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross. So there is a sin that leads to death though. Only the unbeliever could eternally die for their sins. Follow me here. We're talking about sin that leads to death and sin that does not lead to death and many people say different things about this. Most people focus upon eternal death for the person who rejects Jesus as they look at these verses. So the question is, As in light of verse 16, the first part of verse 16, let's remember the context. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin, not leading to death, anyone see a brother. We've been saying this throughout the letter that this is a fellow Christian. And a fellow Christian cannot eternally die for their sins. So how could a Christian sin lead to their death? Well, it can't lead to their eternal death. A Christian's sin cannot lead to their eternal death. It can only be sin that leads to physical death. And so, a sin of a Christian that God judges, brings judgment immediately by physical death. Many people wrestle with this passage, it seems, They say it's very difficult to understand because I want to make a list of sins that leads to death. So then I can know, oh, I shouldn't pray in that case. But oh, oh, here's the sins, the other list of sins that doesn't lead to death, and I can pray for those sins in that case. I don't think that that's the point of the passage. Seems to be helpful to simply understand this to mean any sin that God ends a Christian's life for committing. This would not be, again, talking about eternal death, rather physical death that God brings about as a judgment for sin that the Christian commits. So does the Bible actually teach that God would end a Christian's physical life in order to preserve their eternal life? I think that there's several passages that would point us in that direction. We know that our confidence, Christians can have confidence in prayer, and it's because we pray according to the will of God. And we should confidently pray for other Christians who are in sin. But as we wrestle with this sin that leads to death, for the Christian, we're talking about physical death, what could this be? 1 Corinthians 11. Maybe this passage already came to your mind. 1 Corinthians 11. Possibility, if this is the proper understanding of this verse, sin that leads to death. Let's begin reading in verse 27, 1 Corinthians 11, 27. Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and the blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself." We know the context here. It's misuse, abuse, and the Lord's Supper. They were using these love feasts combined with the process of remembering the Lord's body being broken and His blood being poured out. They also had a meal that was involved and some went ahead and ate up all the food and drank all the wine. So they got drunk and then others had nothing to eat. And Paul says to the Corinthians, this is not a proper observance of the Lord's Supper at all. Verse 30, that is why many of you are weak and ill and some have died, fallen asleep, you might have in your translation. If we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. You're telling me that there's a possibility that the Lord would end a Christian's life for their sin in order to preserve their soul for eternity, that they might have eternal life. I think that passage will point us that way. Also, 1 Corinthians 5. Turn back to chapter 5. We know this grievous sin that was taking place in the church at Corinth. And what are they to do with this? Verse 4, 1 Corinthians 5, 4, when you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, what are they to do with this one in sin? You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Again, is this possibly pointing us in this direction as this understanding of the passage? Because again, from 1 John, he says, if you see a brother who's in sin, commits a sin, so we're thinking the brother, unless it's a false professor, is not going to eternally die for their sin. Again, this possible physical death that the Lord brings about as a result of a sin to preserve their soul. And I know maybe this will further complicate it or give you other questions, but Ananias and Sapphira, what happened when they sinned, they were struck dead, and again, if they were believers, for sure, this could fall under this category. So should we spend a lot of time trying to make a list of sins that do not lead to death and a list of sins that lead to death? I don't think so. I think the point of the passage is that it is God's will for Christians to be living a life of holiness and not to sin. So as the Lord's teaching us about confidence in prayer, He says, OK, here's the practical outworking. Here's one example of how you can pray according to the will of God. And that is if you see your brother in sin, pray that God would give him life, grant him repentance. faith in Christ, that that person would be sanctified, brought away from their sin, and we can have confidence that God does that. Because these examples from 1 Corinthians 11 and Acts 5, those are exceptional examples of a person's physical life being ended as a result of their sin. We don't normally see that. Mitchell talked this morning about, out of Ecclesiastes, how many times the wicked seem to go on and on and on in their sin, you know, and the Lord is slow to bring that judgment, but His judgment is sure, no question. This immediate judgment, though, can be seen. We should pray, I think that's the thrust of the passage from 1 John 5, is that we can confidently pray for the brothers and sisters that are in sin, knowing that God, knowing that it is His will to give life to His people and to sanctify His people. We can have confidence. And you and I need to participate in this call to prayer. Christians can have confidence. Confidence in prayer comes from praying according to the will of God. So that means praying in accordance with the word of God. Oh, please confidently pray for other Christians committing sin, believing that God will give them life because it is God's will to sanctify his people. I think that's what the passage is pointing us to from 1 John chapter 5. I do also want to make one comment before we close, because many times we don't know what God's will is for a certain situation. So I have to say something about this. What kind of confidence can we have in this case? I think that we ought to have confidence that the Lord will answer the prayers of his children in the best way. We should have this confidence that God knows best. Again, Pastor Mark brought out 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Paul desired deliverance from the thorn in the flesh, and God answered Paul's prayer by telling him the purpose of the pain. And so what did Paul do. He said, three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that He should leave me. I am not saying that you should have confidence that it is always God's will for you to be immediately delivered from a physical ailment. From Scripture, I cannot tell you that. There are health, wealth, and prosperity preachers that will tell you that all day long. They will say it is not God's will that you suffer in the body. But from Scripture, I cannot say that. And we even know that Paul pleaded with the Lord, he's praying with the Lord about this, that this thorn in the flesh should leave. It didn't just lift up one prayer, but we have a record of three times. And what was the Lord's response? The Lord says that His grace is sufficient for you. The Lord says, My power is made perfect in weakness. There's a purpose for your pain, Paul, is what the Lord is letting Paul know. And so Paul then is able to see that that messenger of Satan that was sent to harass him, that was keeping him from becoming conceited. Oh, now we can see your wisdom, God. We should have that type of confidence. Again, lots of areas that the Bible doesn't tell us how God is going to choose to work in this circumstance. If it be a physical ailment would be one particularly that we don't always know. God has not said what he will do. Therefore, I will boast, Paul says, all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. We should be confident that the Lord will answer according to his will. That is what we should want. That's just a statement about some of the circumstances that we're in that the word of God does not particularly address. We can have confidence that we know the Lord and when we are confident that we know the Lord, we can have confidence in our prayer as we pray in accordance with His will. You say, I'm not getting much out of this sermon. How about let's just start with this point. Let's confidently pray for God to give life to Christians who are committing sin. This is a wonderful way. We can believe this without question. That if it's not a sin that leads to death, meaning the physical death of the Christian in judgment for that sin that they've just committed, then it will lead to life. God will give them life. And you are invited and I am invited to have a part in this process or to have something to do as we see the brother who sins. Ask and God will give him life. Oh, what a glorious thing. What great confidence we ought to have as we love the Lord, and we love one another. Let us pray. Father, I pray that you will help us to see things from your perspective, that your will would be our will, our desire. May we delight ourselves in you continually. May we further be conformed. May our thinking, Be conformed to the truth of your word by our heart's affections. Begin to love the things that you love as your word teaches us. And oh, may we begin to pray with confidence. Lord, thank you. Thank you that you give us this example and you give us your will from your word. And so we have many ways that we ought to pray with confidence, even even as we go forward throughout this week. I pray that you would draw us away from our sin and draw us to Christ further and further. And we know that that is your will for the Christians, that you will sanctify them. Thank you for such a gracious work that you're working in us. It's only through Jesus that I pray this. Amen.