The Power of Two or Three

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Rob McFarlane 0:59

The title of my sermon today is The Power of Two or Three. Let's read Matthew chapter 18, verse 19, and verse 20 from the English Standard Version of the Bible. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them. What a wonderful promise. Jesus promises a special blessing on unified prayer, emphasizing the spiritual power when believers join together in agreement. Jesus did some things as our substitute and others as our example. Jesus, we'll see, by his example, often called three of his disciples to be close to him in crucial moments. They are Peter, James, and John. This inner circle teaches us the importance of having friends that we can pray with, walk in unity with, and share our lives with. Today let's look at three examples of Peter, James and John with Jesus. Number one, they were invited to join Jesus in his ministry. Let's look at Mark chapter 5, verse 37 to 42. And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand, he said to her, Teletha Kumi, which means little girl, I say to you, arise. And immediately the girl got up and began walking, for she was twelve years of age, and they were immediately overcome with amazement. Jesus often brought Peter, James, and John together with him for ministry, as seen in this example in Jarius's house. They came together and were able to pray together in this situation. Well, in that day in history, they had professional mourners who were paid to come and weep and wail. And when Jesus came in and he said, She's not dead, only sleeping, and they began to laugh, he put them out, and he only took the girl's father, mother, and his three friends in to this time of ministry with him. We need to put out of our lives the mockers, the negative influences, and we need to embrace people who can pray with us in faith and unity as we seek God to intervene in the ordinary course of nature. Faith and unity, praying in agreement is powerful, and it only really requires two or three. I want to encourage us to make sure we have people that we pray in agreement with when we are ministering or when we are stepping out in faith into all that God has called us to. Number two, we see that Peter, James, and John were with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Now I would say this was a high point in Jesus' ministry on earth. And we need people who will celebrate God's glory and goodness with us. Let's read about it in Mark chapter 9, verse 2 to verse 9. After six days, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and he led them up a high mountain by themselves, and he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said, Rabbi, it's good that we are here. Let's make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, this is my beloved son, listen to him. And suddenly looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. We need friends who will experience the glory and goodness of God with us. They went up on a mountain together. They experienced a supernatural presence of God together. They heard God speak out of the cloud together. And then they came down the mountain, and Jesus charged them not to say anything about it until he had risen from the dead. It's very interesting. We need people who we can bring into our confidence and share God's goodness and grace in our lives with them. And we need to be able to hold in confidence some of the things that people share with us and only share them at an appropriate time. I think it's really wonderful that we see God's power displayed on the Mount of Transfiguration. When God is at work in your life, when He's speaking to you, when He's showing you wonderful things, do you have a group of friends that you can share that with? To encourage one another and strengthen one another. We need those who can come with us as close companions to witness and affirm God's glory at work in our lives. And we need to share these experiences with others. So we see Jesus took his three friends, Peter, James, and John, the inner circle with him when he ministered. And then thirdly, we see that Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him into the Garden of Gethsemane. This, I would say, was a challenging or low point in Jesus' ministry. Let's read about it in Matthew 26, verse 36 to 38. Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, Sit ya while I go over there and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, who we know to be James and John, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. And he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me. Now we know that this is when Jesus went and uh and he asked the Lord, if this cup can be taken from me, let it be so, but not my will, your will be done. We know this was a difficult and challenging time in Jesus' life. And he invited Peter, James, and John to support him in prayer during his anguish in the garden. Jesus asked these three disciples to watch and pray. Jesus invited Peter, James, and John to support him in prayer during his anguish in the garden. Jesus asked these three disciples to watch and pray, inviting them into his sorrow and struggle. He valued their presence. It's interesting that they fell asleep, and we need to learn a lesson from this. We can invite people into our difficult seasons and experiences. But there are times when we need to be able to get into God's presence alone and have them stand with us, and we might feel like they disengaged or asleep or not with us in that struggle. But we need to understand we don't draw our strength from them, but we draw our strength from God. I think it's important for us to have people who go with us to the high points, people who go with us to the low points where we can ask for prayer and support for one another. We all need friends that we can invite into our confidence and who will pray with us at the high points, at the low points, and in the adventures of ministry. Jesus gathered his closest three, Peter, James, and John, to go with him into the challenges, the blessings, and the adventures of his ministry. We also need people who will stand with us in times of joy and struggle. I encourage you to prayerfully consider who you could invite to be your two or three. I like to call this a prayer triplet. And I think we need to recognize that Jesus didn't bring all his disciples, all 12 with him, or the 70 with him, onto the Mount of Transfiguration or into the Garden of Gethsemane or when he raised that young girl from the dead. What we need is just a small handful of people. And I think we need to prayerfully consider who we could invite into that circle. I think you can't practically be involved in more than one prayer triplet. And I think in that same way, if you invite someone into your prayer triplet and they decline, don't be offended. We need to understand and appreciate that we all need to count the cost. And if we're going to make a commitment to pray regularly with a small group of people on a week after week basis, we need to count the cost so that we know that we can fulfill our commitment. So I encourage you today to prayerfully consider who you could invite into a prayer triplet. Let's pray. And as we do, ask the Holy Spirit what he wants to say to you, what he wants you to do as a result of what you've heard in today's sermon. Let's pray. Father God, thank you for Jesus and for his ministry, for how he lived as our example, and thank you that he brought Peter, James, and John the inner circle into confidence in his life. They were with him when he ministered. They learned from him and he took encouragement from them. They were with him on the Mount of Transfiguration where he experienced the glory of God, and in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he experienced sorrow and anguish before his crucifixion. And Lord, we pray that you would give us wisdom on who we could invite into our inner circle. Friends who can pray with us and we can pray for, so that together we may grow into all that you have for us. Holy Spirit, speak to us now and show us what you want us to do as a result of what we've heard in today's sermon. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.