Chardon church of Christ

The Food That Perishes John 6:16-29   INTRODUCTION: Good morning church. We said at the beginning of this series that John’s focus was writing so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in His name. We want to put effort in learning from John, for within this gospel is much information we can use when we teach others about the Lord.   Today we will continue our study with the second part of John’s lesson in chapter 6. Please keep in mind that this is one story John records for us. In the first 15 verses, we saw the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. These thousands now have been fed. 5,000 men, and who knows how many women and children.   This amazing miracle has taken place. Now let’s read John 6:16-21 – “16. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17. got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21. Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”   I wondered why this story is in this location, it seems out of place. This chapter is about the bread of life. Yet, right in the middle, we have this story about Jesus’ walking on the water. Why is this here? Why did John record it? On the surface it seems out of place, other than depicting it as what happened next.   We will note John’s account of this is extremely brief and leaves out key parts like Peter walking on the water and sinking. There is nothing about Jesus stilling the storm. But somehow this story of Jesus on the water is useful and part of the story about Jesus as the bread of life. We need to be wise students, understanding that God did not give just one narrative and John writes with purpose. Too many commentators say this is just stuck in here and it is out of place. We know better than that. Far greater things are being developed.   Thinking back on what we have learned so far, remember that our story is colored by the Passover - exodus sequence. We noted the parallels to the Passover and exodus in the first three verses of this chapter. We noticed how the exodus scene is very much imaged, with Jesus crossing the sea, going to the other side, going up on the mountain, and then feeding the people in the wilderness—just like the exodus.   We've said before as we study John's Gospel that John is showing us that Jesus is the Son of God, so that all may believe, because Jesus does what God has already accomplished before. He's mirroring God.   The sea does play a major role in the exodus account. God rescues Israel at the Red Sea and shows His power and deliverance in that miracle. The psalmist, in recording the exodus scene at the Red Sea in Psalm 77:19, writes these words of God’s deliverance: “Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.” The deliverance from Egypt and parting of the Red Sea is pictured as God walking through the sea and the great waters. This is how the Jewish people, the Israelites, understood the exodus scene. Jesus walking on the water would have brought that to mind.   It was a concept of God leading the people, and the idea that He passed through the waters. God walked through the sea as He led them into the promised land. There is a connection to what's happening here. It is again looking to the exodus, a connection to show that it is a time of deliverance. Jesus has come, and He has come to save. He is going to deliver His people. As we look at the story now, we can see how that is played out.   I. Jesus Has Come To Save – We start with verses 16-17, “When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.” You will remember the crowds intended to make Him king. Jesus withdraws and goes up on the mountain. He has not returned and the disciples leave in a boat. They are going back across the sea to Capernaum. A. Verses 18-19, “The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.” Here is the picture. It is late, and it says they've rowed three or four miles. They're about halfway across. They are in the middle of the sea and now the wind comes up, and the sea becomes rough. Then they see Jesus’ walking on this turbulent sea, and they are afraid. B. Verses 20-21, “But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.” The story here focuses on the disciples. It doesn't focus on Peter walking on the water or Jesus stilling the winds and sea. Not the point of the story. The point of the story is in verse 21. When they knew who Jesus was, they received Him into the boat. C. That's the whole story. Once they knew who this person was who was walking on the sea, their response was… they gladly received Him into the boat. That's what John wants us to focus on. Then notice in verse 21 something that none of the other gospel accounts tell us. Immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. D. John says in these verses, they're in the middle of the lake, and now suddenly they've come to their destination. I believe this connects with what Jesus is trying to teach. In verse 12 after the 5,000 are fed, Jesus gave this command only recorded in John's gospel. “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” This is the thread being carried here in this chapter. E. Jesus has come to save so that none may be lost, and He may bring them to their final destination. 1. He has come to save, He has come to deliver. John leaves out the walking on water by Peter because he's not concerned about how Jesus stills the sea and quiets the wind. He just wants you to focus on two things. When the disciples knew it was Jesus, they welcomed Him into the boat, and as soon as He was in, they got to port. 2. I find this a fascinating sequence in the way John records it. He presents this to us so we can contrast this with what's about to happen in the rest of the story. Those who are true followers of Jesus, those who have true faith, when they see Jesus, they welcome Him. By doing so, they are delivered and brought to their final destination. 3. The rest of the story is going to show how most people don't do that. It's a contrast between those who are truly disciples and those who seem to be disciples. They claim they are followers, but they're not really followers. Watch what happens now at verse 22, and you'll see why John has shown this and how it connects together. II. Love The Savior – The crowd is still on the East side of the sea where Jesus fed the 5000. John 6:22-25 - “On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”” A. When they found Him, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 1. Think about this scene. No doubt they know Jesus did not get in the boat and go with the disciples. The disciples have left on their own. They probably saw Jesus go up on the mountain and they watched the disciples leave. 2. They get in boats and go to Capernaum and somehow Jesus is there, and they are certain He didn't take a boat! They also know He couldn't have walked all the way around the sea. So, they asked that question, when did you get here? B. Listen to how Jesus responds to this mass of people following Him in verse 26. “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” He clearly identifies a problem, and it is a problem that John has observed for us many times in this gospel. Jesus knows the hearts of the people, and there are those not following Him for the right reason. Those people did not see Jesus as God-with-us. They did not see Jesus as the light coming into the darkness. Rather, they are following Him because they want to be fed. 1. Here is the sign, but you do not understand it. Instead, you saw the sign, and you said, Wow, that was great, we got a free lunch. We know they saw the sign of feeding of the 5,000. But He's saying, you don't really see the sign. Yeah, you see the outcome, but you aren't getting the connection. 2. You don't grasp what this means. You don't understand who I am. You're into it simply because you can get something out of it. 3. They say we're going to follow you. Jesus is saying, truly, you aren't following Me. You are not true disciples. Their enthusiasm is not for who Jesus is. Their enthusiasm is for what He gives. Jesus is identifying them by saying, you're not coming to Me because you understand who I am. They do not understand Him to be the Messiah, the Christ, the Lord, the Savior, the Deliverer, the prophesied one who was going to save the people from their sins. C. Jesus does not accept that. Jesus does not accept people coming to Him for what they are going to receive. We need to consider that there is a great difference. A great difference between wanting Jesus and wanting what materialistic things Jesus gives. 1. Let me illustrate. Do you want your spouse to love you because of who you are, the person that you are, or because of all the things that you do for them? There is a big difference. 2. How about your children. Do you want your children to love you for who you are, or do you want your children to love you because of all the things you do for them? There is a big difference isn’t there? This is what Jesus is pointing out to this crowd. You're coming to me for what I can give you. 3. If we are in a relationship with God, with our spouse, for what we receive… that is, by definition, selfishness. If I am married for the only reason of what I get out of it, then it is selfishness. If I am obedient to my parents only for what they will do for me, then it is selfishness. If I only serve God because of the perceived physical benefits, then I serve out of selfishness. What someone gives—cannot be the object of our affection. 4. I submit to you this is an enormous truth, and it explains massive failures in marriage. So many marriages fall apart because the commitment is not to the person. The commitment is to what they will receive from the person. When they stop receiving from that person what they expect, they give up. True love is in the person, not in what that person does for you. D. Jesus identifies this problem to them to get them to understand. Will you love me for Me or will you love Me only for the gifts that I give? Is that the only reason you are going to follow me? Is that the only reason you are going to seek after Me? This is, I think, such an important truth today because so much so-called Christianity has been built on the idea that Jesus is here for all your whims. He is here to fulfill all your needs. 1. Jesus came to change your focus from physical desires to spiritual desires so you would seek after Him properly. Changing the selfish seeking of physical comfort and desires to godly desires. We cannot turn God into “what will He do for me?” Yet, we know that's the primary motive of many who claim to be “followers of God” these days. 2. What is God going to do for me? What is my benefit? What is God going to accomplish for me? What program is there for me? That's selfishness. That's not what God seeks. I submit to you that Jesus will give you nothing if that's the only reason you seek him. 3. Look at what happens here. Does Jesus perform another miracle and give them the bread that they are looking for? No. You're not coming to Him for the right reason... If you are coming to him for the selfish purpose of fulfilling your physical desires, Jesus does not respond to that. We need to love Him for who He is. E. This chapter is all about the concept of seeing who Jesus is and loving Him for who He is. Not just what He will give us. I wish people would hear this truth! It seems so often it is all about our self-interest. What will Jesus do for me, what will Jesus give to me? He will give you nothing if you are seeking Him for what He gives. Do not love Him for His material gifts. Love Him for He is our loving Savior and Lord. 1. If this truth were to sink into people’s hearts, then it would end any notion of asking; if we have to assemble at all services: if we have to worship: if we have to serve: if we have to give, and so forth. Those questions represent a heart that is not in love with who Jesus is, but merely in love with what Jesus gives. 2. You all have heard these things. -- Why should I have to do anything? Why do I have to get baptized? Do I really have to do good to my neighbor? Do I really have to serve somebody? Do I have to attend worship services instead of just praying at home? What do those questions suggest about a person’s personal relationship with God? 3. We are not the focal point, He is the focal point, and that's what leads into what Jesus says in verse 27. III. Labor For Lasting Food – “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Do not work for the food that perishes. That makes me stop and ask an obvious question. A. What are we working for? What is our purpose? Why are we here? What is our quest? What are we doing? What are you laboring for? What is all your effort geared after? What are you doing here on this earth? That's a very important question and it is very important to answer this honestly. What are we doing here? 1. Jesus is calling for us to stop focusing on the physical. Stop focusing on the material. That is… stop focusing on the things of this world. To truly receive Jesus, to truly be a follower of Him we need to move away from trying to fulfill physical and material wants. Don't labor for the food that perishes He says. That labor is not going to give you the joy that God is looking to give you. 2. Isaiah prophesied of that in Isaiah 55:2 when he asked the question, “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.”[NASB] When we see who Jesus is and we understand why we are following Him, and we don't follow out of selfishness, then that is going to change everything about how we live our lives. 3. We are no longer going to be driven by occupation, wealth, comfort, lust, position, power, or success. We're not going to be driven by any of those things because we'll recognize that that is food that perishes. 4. Why would we labor for those things? Why would we put so much effort into getting those things when they do not give us the joy that we think they're going to give us? Do not labor for the food that perishes. Why put effort into these things that are not of value to your soul? B. Verse 27 continues; but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. There's only one food, only one thing that will satisfy eternally and that is Jesus. Jesus is the only one that satisfies. Jesus is the only one who gives true bread. It cannot be found anywhere else. C. For on him God the Father has set his seal. The Father has authenticated and declared this is where true life is. John 5:26, “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” [ESV] He has given authority to the Son to give life to whomever He wills. True life, true joy, true satisfaction is only found in Christ. D. This causes those people to ask the really important question in verse 28. “Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”” 1. All right. Don't labor for the food that perishes, labor for the eternal food, so what work must we do to be able to do that? What work must I do to have this eternal life? I think the NIV words this very well, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 2. Important question. Since we're not supposed to labor for the food that perishes, the physical things, the material things, what must we do? E. Notice the answer that He gives here in verse 29. “Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”” That's quite an answer. You will note that He doesn't give them a long list. I want you to notice how He words that. 1. They said, what's the work that we need to do to do the works of God? Jesus replies, “This is the work of God…” God's already accomplished this. God has already done the work. There's no amount of work that you're going to accomplish to be able to say… now I have eternal life because I've done A, B, C, D, X, Y, and Z. See, He's working with this Jewish mind set of, what must we do? 2. No, you don't understand. You don't understand that God has already accomplished a mighty work through His Son. He has accomplished the work. I love how the Apostle Paul words that in Colossians chapter 2 when he speaks of the circumcision not made with hands and how you're buried with Him in baptism through faith in the powerful working of God. It's God's work. God's done the work. We haven't done the work. God has accomplished the work. F. What then is expected of His people? What is He looking for in these people? The rest of verse 29. “… that you believe in him whom he has sent.” What have we learned about believing? We might put it this way; “This is the work of God: that you believe [i.e. adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith] in the One whom He has sent.”” 1. He's getting at seeing Jesus for who He is. To recognize that this is the Savior, and let that change who you are. All that I do is for nothing if it doesn't come from the knowledge, and love, that Jesus is precious and that He is all I need. That must be the basis. 2. He is the Savior, He is the treasure, and now I labor for Him and not for the food that perishes. I do so because God has accomplished an amazing act of mercy and grace through the sacrifice of His Son. Therefore, I will labor for Him, I will give my life to Him, and I will not work for the things of this world. I will work for that which truly satisfies.   CONCLUSION: We see how this thread all came together and why the walking on the water scene was important to John defining the need to receive Jesus. The disciples on the Sea of Galilee saw Jesus as the Savior and received Him into their boat and they arrived at their destination. The crowds saw Jesus as a means to fulfill their physical desires and therefore did not have true saving faith in Him.   There's a distinction being made between His disciples and the crowd that seems to be following but they're not really disciples. Think about how that relates throughout the book. In John 1:12 we learned that believing in Jesus is to receive Him into your life. We learned that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). In the context of chapter 3 Jesus is describing being born again. We learned we must have a spiritual birth, being born from above, to have eternal life. Only when we see Jesus for who He is, will we truly receive Him into our lives. By receiving Him into our lives we experience the new birth that leads to eternal life from the Son.   A very important concept that John has been driving at. It is not just simply, I believe. He becomes everything to your life. You follow Him and nothing else. He is the treasure and nothing else. Go back to chapter 1 and read these sorrowful lines and see how John has been working with this. John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehended it.” Notice it again a few verses later. John 1:10. “He was in the world and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own and His own did not receive Him.”   This has been the theme of this Gospel. Will you see that He is the light and will you receive Him for who He is? Or will you just simply look at Him as somebody who does some neat things, who satisfies my desires, who makes my life a little better, and so therefore I use Him that way. Jesus wants people who will follow Him for who He is.   The object of our affection is not the gifts. It is the giver of the gifts. We love Him and serve Him for Him. May we develop that strong faith, and may we work to have that kind of love to see Him as He truly is and love Him for who He really is. The message is yours. If you are in need of baptism or prayers we invite you to come while we stand and sing the invitation song.     # ??? Reference: Brent Kercheville

Fighting Against the Flames Daniel 3:1–30 A person once said that there are only two things that you need to worry about: Whether you are healthy, or whether you are sick!   If you are healthy, you have nothing to worry about BUT if you are sick you have two things to worry about: Whether you are going to get better, or whether you are going to get worse!   If you get better, you have nothing to worry about BUT if you get worse you have two things to worry about: Whether you’re going to live, or whether you're going to die.   If you live then you have nothing to worry about, BUT if you die then you have two things to worry about: Whether you're going to heaven, or whether you're going to hell.   If you're going to heaven, you have nothing to worry about, BUT if you're going to hell, you have two things: WHETHER IN Utter darkness or IN THE MIDST OF THE FIRE!   This morning, we will be addressing the idea of fighting against the flames. I would like to look at an event that we are all familiar with that happened many years ago. Our text this morning will be from the 3rd chapter of Daniel.   Daniel 3 beginning in Verse 1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3 So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.   This is a little bold, isn’t it? What purpose is this going to have? Look at the size of it. It’s made to brag…. TO SHOWOFF. He invites all these people to come see it. The king doesn’t want anyone to miss this monument that is being set up for him. We think about our own lives. I’m sure we come in contact with people today that view themselves a little more important than others. More importantly, they view their own actions as important. Anytime they say to you, “I can do whatever, I want.” What are they saying about God in their lives? They’re viewing themselves more important than anyone else—including God, our creator. In verse 4 Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; 6 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”   When you hear these instruments playing, you need to fall down and worship the golden image. Notice how PERSONALLY the King gets involved in this. He goes to all the trouble of having a HUGE idol built where everybody can see it. That’s pretty plain. Not only is the image there, you are to be in awe: O, Nebuchadnezzar, how powerful you are! There are examples of false gods, but this king, Nebuchadnezzar, himself has made this image that he wants people to worship. We think about people in our lives today who may value their car more than anything. They value their jobs more than anything. It would really be the same thing as this golden image. If we let something stand in our lives that is more important than our worship to God, if it is more important than what we realize what God deserves. Then he sets aside a special day when everybody is to come and bow down to that idol. And then he makes a major musical production to announce when everyone should bow down. This musical extravaganza was all about glorifying an idol. Apparently Nebuchadnezzar isn’t sure that his command will be obeyed. He’s not sure everybody is going to bow down to his idol, so he makes absolutely sure that everybody knows that if they DON’T bow down to this idol... there’s a price to be paid. You see, this isn’t just about an idol. This is about a King and his desire to force his VALUE SYSTEM on his people.   at verse 7: So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, and lyre, in symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. He’s IMPOSING his pagan lifestyle on an entire people. And he’s doing it because he can. He’s rich and powerful and he can definitely hurt you if you oppose him. It’s kind of like the powerful people of our day who say – You WILL accept homosexuality. You WILL accept foul language in everyday conversation. You WILL accept public shaming, sarcasm, and acts of revenge. You WILL accept all kinds of immorality. Because if you don’t except these things then... there will be a price to be paid. You’ll do it or it’ll cost you your job or maybe your business or maybe your income. The rich and powerful in our society tell us that if we don’t bow down to THEIR altar... they WILL DESTROY YOU.   And so everybody bows down. It’s not worth the hassle and they don’t want to pay that kind of price for saying “NO”. Everybody bows down. Everybody, that is, except 3 YOUNG MEN from Judah – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. REMEMBER WHAT Isaiah 5:20 SAYS: They call evil good, and good evil! Now, I’m going to drop down to verse 12 of our text in Daniel 3 There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.” Hum? Tattletales! People saying, “Do you know what they’re doing over there? There are people that don’t worship.” So Obviously…. there are some people blabbing to the king. Basically, they’re saying, “Do you know that there are people who don’t follow your god.” Notice Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction in verse 13. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So, they brought these men before the king.   If you’re Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and you’re brought before the king you might be thinking “Uh oh!” He is the king.   So, I am sure we would immediately start thinking about REASONS WHY WE DIDN’T OBEY THE KING’s DECREE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! We didn’t because… You’d be thinking of all different kinds of reasons why you didn’t do it. Things like - We didn’t because we didn’t hear the sound. Or, we didn’t know the decree APPLIED TO US ALSO.   We think about people today. They give every reason why they do what they do. In verse 14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? SO HERE YOU ARE in front of the king. You’re asked a straight forward question. Is it true that you chose to ignore my decree? What would your response be?   Today we may be asked just a simple question by our own friends—are you a Christian? Or, do you think that you really need to attend services? Or, just any type of question like this? The king is asking: Did you ignore my decree? In verse 15, Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”   Notice again the question King Nebuchadnezzar asked Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – at the end of verse 15. This question and how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answer that question is the focus of the entire story. “Who is the God who will deliver you?” And how did they answer the question?   Their SO IMPORTANT ANSWER to the KING is found in Verse 17 “OUR GOD whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king” (PAUSE) Do you believe that? Do you believe that your God is mighty to save? Do you believe that your God is able to deliver you? When the king threatens them, their response is one of the most powerful declarations in Scripture: “Our God is able to deliver us… But even if He does not, we will not bow.” This is mature faith: Faith that trusts God’s power Faith that submits to God’s will Faith that refuses to compromise   The reason why so many church goers struggle in their faith is because ... they don’t. They don’t believe in a God who will have their back. They don’t believe in a God who cares. They don’t believe in a God who is able TO DO ANYTHING, so when trials and struggles come along they can’t stand up. All they can do is kneel in submission. If you don’t believe God can do things in your life... you can’t win. You have already lost. And Satan has already won. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were saying in vs 18 “We may not win... but we WILL NOT lose. Our God IS able to deliver us.   And then they said: “BUT IF NOT (if God decides that He isn’t going to save us today) be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Even if God decides not to rescue us from our fiery furnace we will not bow down. We will NOT surrender. We will NOT dishonor our God no matter what the price. Our God is mighty to save. Our God is able to deliver us. And when God steps up to defend us, there’s no power on the face of the earth that can withstand Him. Romans 8:39 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I can visualize Nebuchadnezzar sitting in his throne smugly watching as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are thrown in the fiery furnace. I can see him smile as he believes he has won. He was so angry with them for choosing to obey THEIR GOD instead of him he had the furnace increased to seven times its normal heat BUT then he glances through an opening in the furnace and ... he begins to rise from his seat. A look of shock crosses his face as he asks if they’d only thrown 3 men into the fire. Someone says “yes, only 3.” But as he looks into the furnace and he sees FOUR MEN. Where’d the 4th guy come from?   The king heats the furnace seven times hotter — because the world always increases pressure when you refuse to bow. But notice what happens: 1. They are thrown in bound… but the fire sets them free. The ropes burn off, but their bodies are untouched. Sometimes God uses the fire to burn away what was holding you. 2. A fourth man appears in the fire. Nebuchadnezzar sees someone “like a son of GOD.” God doesn’t just rescue from the fire — He joins His people in it.     You may feel like you’re in a furnace right now: A furnace of stress A furnace of grief A furnace of pressure A furnace of uncertainty But the God of Daniel 3 still steps into furnaces.   We read in verse 25 of the text “He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” The Bible tell us, when we’re faced with our own fiery trial, God will be there beside us. Here in THIS BIBLICAL ACCOUNT is a king basically saying, who is that God that shall deliver you? He was putting fear into them. There’s no way that your God is going to deliver you from what I can do to you!!! Isn’t it ironic that the TITANIC which had the statement made about it that even God Himself couldn’t sink it? This ship never made it to its destination on its maiden voyage. Hum? A little irony there.   In verse 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. We are going to do what God wants us to do.   How would you answer the question who is your God that is going to help you? Do they know the final ending? Do they know that there will be no harm to them? No. Do they know that the king is going to be upset? Yes. Do they know that there’s a decree saying they will be thrown into a fiery furnace? Yes.   I can only IMAGINE what the heat would be like IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIRE. This was a “God moment” – this was a time when I believe God was setting them up. He was putting these guys in a position where they had to make a choice. And God does that a lot in Scripture.   I hope you noticed that they come out without even the smell of smoke. God doesn’t just deliver — He restores. Some people go through fire and carry the scars forever. These men walked out without the smell of what they survived. God can bring you through something so completely that people won’t believe you ever went through it.   Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were faced with a harsh decision, a time when God had set them up to endure for righteousness. Deuteronomy 31:8 tells us of a promise that God makes repeatedly throughout the Bible “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."   This is a promise you can rely on. But this promise is only yours if you are His child. If you’ve sensed the need for a God who will stand there beside you. God’s offer is simple to accept: Believe in Jesus, repent of your sins, confess Jesus as your Lord and Master and then be buried with Christ in the waters of Christian baptism In the name of the FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT for the REMISSION of your SINS.     INVITATION

The All-Providing King John 6:1-15   INTRODUCTION: Good morning church. We completed our study of chapter 5 last time and as we return to John's Gospel, I want to spend a few minutes reminding ourselves of some of the important concepts that John has set forward in this Gospel.   First, we need to remember the purpose John stated for writing. It is always important as we study the Gospels to keep in mind the inspired author's purpose. There's a reason behind these things. It's not just simply four narratives, but it is an argument based on the author concerning Jesus. John said that he wrote “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” Now we are going to go on to the 6th chapter where John records for us the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000.   Second, we have observed in this Gospel, that John is showing us that Jesus does what God has already done. Remember the parallel between how the Bible begins, the first book, Genesis, in the beginning God, and then we have John's Gospel in the beginning the Word. Right at the start John tells us the Word is God. Then he continues in the following chapters showing us Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, by observing how Jesus is accomplishing and doing what God has already done.   Third, keep in mind that in this Gospel John has been talking about signs. His Gospel is unique in how John emphasizes the necessity of signs. He only records seven miracles and he calls those miracles signs, which means that we are not supposed to step back and just say, wow, that was a neat miracle. The miracle is to communicate something deeper. There is a deeper message, a deeper concept than just simply, He did a miracle and that makes Him God.   There is something intrinsic in the miracle that causes it to be a sign. It is a symbol, it is a communicating device to the reader, so that you will know that Jesus is the Christ, not only by His power, but also in what He does.   Please keep those things in mind as we study this 6th chapter. This chapter is one solid story, but to do 71 verses in one lesson is just not going to happen. We need to break it into pieces. First, there is the fourth great sign (John 6:1-14); then the people's efforts to make him King (John 6:15); the fifth of the seven signs (John 6:16-21); next the discussions on the other side of the lake and the extended metaphor of the bread of life (John 6:22-51); then the "hard saying" regarding the eating of His flesh, etc. (John 6:52-59); and the downward turn in the Lord's popularity (John 6:60-71).   As we go through this chapter, please keep in your mind that this is one story, one event that John has put together concerning who Jesus is. Before we introduce this chapter, let's read the first 15 verses, get a feel of what John is recording for us, and then we'll break it down into the pieces that John wants us to understand.   John 6:1-15 – “After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.”   “When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.”   “Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they sat down, about five thousand in all.” Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”   “So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”[ESV]   I. Overview – Let’s first have an overview of what is going on. We want to make some observations before we get into the details of what John is teaching us. A. The first thing I think worthy of observation is that this is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels. The synoptics record this sign as the culmination of a series of wonders, but John seems to have presented it for the sake of the discussions that flowed out of it; and it also fitted his objective of stressing Jesus' deity. 1. Since this is the only miracle that gets treatment by all four, what makes John’s viewpoint distinct? What is different about this recording of the miracle than the synoptic Gospels? I believe we do a great disservice when we take the Gospel accounts and try to harmonize them, to blend them together and make them one. If God wanted one singular narrative, He certainly could have given us one singular narrative. 2. There is a reason that John's Gospel has some different details, that are not found in the other Gospels. As I read I often wonder, why did John say that here? How come this is different than Matthew, Mark and Luke's Gospels? What is John trying to get us to understand? B. The second thing that we need to see is this is filled with Exodus overtones. Notice all the Exodus imagery that is found here. For example, John goes out of his way in verse 4 to point out it's the Passover that's coming. The Passover was given to Moses and the people of Israel when they were slaves in Egypt, and it was observed the night before the Exodus. The great Passover when God struck down the firstborn who did not have the mark on the doors. The Passover is memorial about the Exodus and how God had led the people by a mighty hand from their slavery. 1. We also notice the picture how Jesus crosses the sea and goes up the mountain. Which is exactly what Moses does in the Exodus as he crosses the Red Sea and then goes up to Mount Sinai. John records this but none of the other Gospels do. 2. John also tells us that there's a great multitude following Him as He goes. Which is what Moses did. Moses led the mighty number of Israel as he takes them across the Red Sea to Mount Sinai and into the wilderness. C. The wilderness is the third parallel. Jesus goes to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee (Tiberias). That is the side of the sea that is known for its barren hillside. The other Gospel accounts just say it's a desolate place. 1. This is observable geographically and doesn't have to be stated by John. We know that's not like the west side where there's Capernaum and there's all those cities and towns. 2. This is a desolate area as is made clear by Jesus’ question to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread…” The point is they are in the middle of nowhere and there is no place near to buy food. It's a desolate place. Just as when Moses leads the people into the wilderness. D. The Exodus symbolism continues with Jesus’ question. None of the other Gospel accounts tell us that Jesus asks the question, “Where are we to buy bread…”. It is always the question of the disciples. This is a strong parallel to what Moses asks in Numbers 11:13 – “Where am I to get meat to give to all this people?...” 1. We can see what John is showing us here, feel the weight of Passover, of Sinai and wilderness as we read this chapter. It's only going to get stronger as we read and I suggest you read the whole chapter and see for yourself though we will not get past verse John 6:15 today. 2. John is setting this up for us in the very beginning with Jesus crossing the sea, going up on the mountain. The crowds follow. They're in a desolate place. Jesus is acting just like Moses not only in His actions, but also in His words. We'll see the people draw that conclusion in verse 14. This is the one. This is the prophet like Moses that Moses said the Lord would raise up. (Deuteronomy 18:15-19). E. One other thing I note here is the story also gives a warning for future trouble. Notice verse 2, “A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.” The crowds were following Him because of the signs. We have observed that this has been a problem many times in the Gospel of John. The issue was first highlighted for us in John 2:23-25. “Many believed when they saw the signs he was doing but Jesus did not believe in or entrust himself to them because he knew what was in their hearts.” They believe because they see the signs. But there is not an inward faith that comes from seeing the signs. 1. Jesus condemned the people for this specifically in John 4:48, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” John has shown us the false, non-saving belief of Nicodemus in chapter 3 and the true, saving faith of the Samaritan woman in chapter 4. Now John is foreshadowing this same issue. He sets us the scene with the crowds coming for the wrong reason. Jesus must deal with the problem that their belief is shallow. It is not true saving faith. 2. They just simply are coming because of external events. Now let's get into the story and look at some of the things that are going on. In verse 5 we see Jesus asking the question. II. The Test – John 6:5 Jesus asks Phillip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” John tells us the number of men were about 5,000 and Matthew says about 5,000 besides women and children. Feel the enormity of the situation! That is a lot of people and there is no place nearby to get supplies. Visualize thousands of people streaming toward Jesus and His disciples. That is a huge number of people. Can you picture the faces of the disciples when Jesus asks that question? You've got to be kidding me! Look at all these people. A. Now we consider what Jesus is doing as verse 6 continues, “He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.” Jesus is asking a question to see what the response of His disciples is going to be. This is a testing of faith; would they turn to Jesus and declare that He can resolve this situation. “You are the Son of God and you can do all things”. 1. Recall what Ezekiel said when God asked him something seemingly impossible, “can these bones live?” Ezekiel responds, “O Lord God, you know.” 2. Rather than looking to Jesus for the answer and trusting Him to provide, the disciples look to self-reliance. We don’t have enough money to fix the problem. We don’t have enough food to solve the situation. 3. Consider what Jesus is doing here. I suspect Jesus is not asking His disciples to solve this problem. He's not asking His disciples to look to themselves and come up with some kind of answer. He's looking for them to see Jesus as the answer. He wants them to turn to Him and say, we don't have an answer, but You can solve the problem. You are able to deal with the situation. You are the all-providing King, You can do something. — This is the test. B. There is something important for us to recognize, we need to see our insufficiency. It's ultimately why we are tested isn’t it? It really doesn't matter what we're going through. It doesn't matter if it is the severest of severe trials. It doesn't matter if it's a minor ordeal. Ultimately, everything boils down to recognizing in the trial we are completely insufficient. We do not possess all the answers. We do not know how things are going to turn out. We cannot change the circumstances the way we would like in any event. 1. I need to recognize that I am insufficient but there is One who is all-sufficient. I am not to first turn to myself and say, well, let me see how I can solve my problem. Then if I can't solve my problem, shrug my shoulders and say, well, maybe God can do something. 2. Sad but true many of us, myself well included, turn to our own insufficiency first instead of God first. The disciples say they do not have enough money to buy the amount of food needed even if there was a place to get it from. As far as the food on hand they say; “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” C. The scene continues in verse 10, and we see something interesting; “Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.”” Then John writes, “Now there was much grass in the place…” I read that and wondered. Matthew, Mark and Luke call this a desolate place, yet several of the gospels mention the grass where the people could sit. I think there is something that is being declared here in this highly symbolic gospel. It's desolate. But where Jesus is, there's green grass. Interesting. 1. Jesus has the people sit down. With the five small loaves and two small fish available, Jesus takes the loaves and fish, gives thanks to the Father, and then distributed the bread and fish. With 5000 men and an unknown number of women and children, the disciples begin to hand out the food. The disciples keep passing out the food until the crowd had eaten “as much as they wanted.” 2. This is not a snack. This is dinner for the crowd. The crowd eats until they are satisfied. He takes the loaves and gives thanks and distributes them to those who were seated. I try to imagine a grassy hillside with 5,000 men plus women and children all seated around and the disciples distributing the fish and loaves. How long does it take to feed a few thousand people? Visualize what's going on here. This must have taken quite some time, and it says they have as much as they wanted. D. Then notice the emphasis is made in verse 12. “And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.”” They ate until they were full! Jesus supplied an abundance of food. It's a great picture because it tells us that only Jesus can satisfy. There's a great image as the disciples see Jesus is the one who is sufficient. They are not sufficient for the problem in front of them. But here is the all-sufficient King who truly satisfies. 1. Everyone eats all that they want. They are completely satisfied. They are completely filled. It is a beautiful picture. It teaches us everything else is emptiness. 2. That void in your life you feel, that emptiness you have, only God fills. Here is that picture being done in the symbol. He is trying to communicate it to them in this imagery that He has come, and He brings satisfaction to the hungry and thirsty no one else can satisfy. Only Jesus can provide. Only Jesus is sufficient. Only Jesus can satisfy. III. Nothing Lost - In verse 12 after they had eaten their fill, He told His disciples gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost. This command is not recorded in the other accounts. There is a symbolism that exists here, and I want to stress I do not think the point is “even in abundance don't be wasteful”. Not the point at all. I want you to recognize the imagery that's being given to us. A. That nothing may be lost. The bread that Jesus has offered to the people. He has come for the people so that no one will be lost. There is a deep meaning behind what has happened. He is accomplishing something here. 1. Look at verse 13, “So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.” Jesus has come so that life would be given and none would be lost. You ever wondered why Jesus made sure it was 12 baskets that were filled and not 4 or 7 or 10 or 40. 2. Why 12? Because Jesus has come to Israel and so that none of Israel will be lost. He has come to offer them life, to save them from their sins. Now, you might be thinking that this is reading too much into the text. But look at verse 14: this is a sign. “When the people saw the sign that he had done,…” 3. John identifies that there is a deeper symbolic message in the feeding of the 5,000 than the mere fact that Jesus used His divine power to fill bellies. Something greater is being taught and this message sets the tone for the chapter as Jesus will declare himself to be the bread of life. Jesus has come so that no one may be lost. He has come to gather Israel in for its salvation. All who are gathered to him will be saved. Those who are satisfied in Jesus are gathered in and will not be lost. 4. Jesus has come to offer the satisfaction that cannot be found anywhere else. Jesus has come to solve the problem of sin that we have and so desperately need someone to deal with. Jesus has come to solve that problem for us. 5. All who belong to Him will be saved or to put it another way, those who are satisfied in Jesus are gathered in and they are not lost. This is a tremendous message that we're going to see repeated in John's gospel over the next few chapters. 6. He has come to save. He has come so that none need to be lost. He has come to redeem. There is no reason for anyone to be lost because He is all sufficient, and He provides exactly what we need. IV. False Expectations – Verse 14. “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”” A. They see the symbolism. All that John laid out about Passover and Exodus and crossing the sea and how he's just like Moses. He's the one. That's what Deuteronomy says. Moses said there'd be somebody like me who would rise up. The Jewish expectation was there would be another Moses who would deliver the people. He's doing it. He is the one. He is that deliverer. He is the prophet. B. Then we see what Jesus does. Verse 15 - “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” Now, wait a minute. I thought they got it right. They're saying you're the new Moses, the new Exodus. You're the deliverer. You're the one, right? They've got it. But we've been told that Jesus knew the hearts of the people, He's able to read that they're drawing the wrong conclusion. 1. They do recognize an important truth. They have seen the sign that He is sent by God, and He is the prophet that Moses spoke of. Yet they are drawing a false conclusion because rather than coming to Him seeing Him as the savior from their sins and the life giver, they're coming to Him because they're wowed by the sign. 2. Wow, that was neat. Which is what we've seen repeatedly in this gospel. In fact, verse 26 of this chapter tells us that when they come to him, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves…”. You are coming for the wrong reason. You're seeing the signs, but you're drawing the wrong conclusion. You're not seeing me as the one who provides what you need spiritually. 3. You're seeing me as somebody who provides for you materially. Somebody who provides for you physically. Now we can have the food that we want. They are thinking physically and materially rather than spiritually. This has happened throughout this gospel. Think of the woman at the well. Jesus says “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.” She says, “Give me that water so I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” C. When Jesus feeds the 5000, they want to make Jesus a physical king who will give them all that they want. We see this point clearly stated in John 6:26. This is why Jesus withdraws from them and returns to the mountain. Just as when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the tablets of stone only to find the people acting sinful and returned to the mountain to receive the Law again, Jesus finds the wrong hearts in these people and returns to the mountain. D. Jesus has come to be their lasting eternal satisfaction. The people just want to be fed. We will leave that thought there and consider it with greater depth in the future lessons from this chapter as Jesus will explore this problem with the people’s hearts.   CONCLUSION: That's what's being displayed for us here. Unfortunately, the people just simply wanted to be fed. By that I mean they just want their desires met. They want their physical needs confirmed and addressed. They do not see that their spiritual needs must be dealt with. How often God tests us to see if we will trust Jesus to be our all-providing king.   How often He will test us and stand back and see, will the first thing on our lips be, Jesus, you are the all-satisfying king, You can do all things. You have satisfied my needs to the utmost. You have come and dealt with my sins. You have set me free from that which I enslaved myself. You have taken my defilement and corruption and cleansed me. You have placed me in your glorious kingdom and made me to be a servant of yours. In fact, a glorious servant so that you call me brother and God our father. Unbelievable.   Will we see him as that, and have the heart to trust God, no matter what happens physically in this life? No matter what transpires in difficulty and hardship? Will we see Him as the one to trust? Or do we only turn to Him for the physical, wanting Him as a God of comfort and ease.   The Lord is looking for us to turn to Him in every circumstance, whether good or bad, so that we can belong to Him and receive the true life that we need. That's what Jesus is looking for. Looking for those who will have a true, transformed life, a true saving belief in who Jesus is, and not just merely a shell, a facade, a simple, yes, He's the one who does neat things.   I want to leave you with the words of the Apostle Peter, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,…” That's the message of John. He has given us everything we need for godliness, for life, to give us all that we need. He called us so that none would be lost.   He has come to save you from your own foolish life and sinful ways. He’s come to redeem you and make you a child of God. That's what we need to pursue. If we keep that in our mind's eye, and keep that in our sight, that will lead to transforming faith. That will lead to the true belief that Jesus is looking for, to see Him as the one who provides everything we need.   Are you ready to do that? Turn away from your sins. Be immersed in the water for the forgiveness of your sins. Accept Him as the King. Submit to Him and turn everything to Him. Yield to Him and look to Him for all you need. Won't you come while we stand and sing?     # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercheville  

More Than Just a Story Mark 16:1–20 There’s a story about a wealthy man who was terminally ill. The doctor said, "There’s only “one thing” that will save you. “A brain transplant.” - It’s an experimental operation. And it’s very expensive." The wealthy guy said, - "Money is no object. Can you get me a brain?" The doctor said, - "We have three available right now. The first one was from a college professor. But it’ll cost you $10,000." The guy said, "Don’t worry. I can pay; it will make me much wiser. What about the second brain?"   The doctor said, "It was from a rocket scientist. It’ll cost you $100,000." The man said, "I have the money. And I’d be a lot smarter too. But tell me about the third brain." The doctor said, "The third brain is from a Politician. But it would set you back a million dollars." The man said, "A million dollars? Why so much for his brain?" The doctor said, "It is RARELY used." We too have unused power in us, above us, around us, it is called The GOSPEL! My wife keeps telling me I’m losing my hearing. Some husbands call it “selective hearing.”   An older couple was sitting outside in their rocking chairs one afternoon. The wife looked at her husband of 60 years and said, “I’m proud of you.” He turned to her and said, “I’m tired of you, too.” She said, “Thanks!” She looked around at the trees moving and said, “It’s windy today.” He said, “No it’s not. It’s Thursday.” She said, “Me too, I’ll go get us some lemonade!” Hopefully we won’t be hard of hearing when it comes to listening to God’s Word. It says in Mathew 11:15  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” The resurrection story of Jesus: • Is either the biggest fairy TALE ever invented; • Or the greatest miracle and the most significant event in human history! I believe it is the greatest miracle that the world has or will ever see! • I don’t know if you have noticed this observation. • But in the Old Testament when talking about the power of God; • The writers always refer to creation. • The miracle of God creating the world out of nothing. • In the New Testament when talking about the power of God; • The writers always refer to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead! • Because there is nothing greater that you can compare with it! So when you talk about the life of Jesus Christ words like WONDERFUL, UNBELIEVABLE, PRICELESS, AND “MIRACLE” are used. • He entered our world in a miraculous way; • Conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. • During his three years of ministry, the four gospels record 37 miracles of Jesus. • Remember that John 21:25 tells us “25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” • This means that Jesus performed many other miracles to these 37 that were not recorded. • So Jesus entered our world in a miraculous way; • He lived a miraculous life; • And even in death, he has that word ‘miracle’ attributed to him! Peter Larson writes: • "Despite our efforts to keep him out, God intrudes. • The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities: a virgin's womb and an empty tomb. • Jesus entered our world through a door marked 'No Entrance'; • And left through a door marked 'No Exit’”   Mark shows Jesus appearing to people in different emotional states: Mary Magdalene — grieving Two disciples — confused The Eleven — doubting and discouraged Jesus doesn’t wait for them to “get it together.” He steps into their grief, confusion, and unbelief. This is the heart of the gospel: The risen Christ meets us in our real condition, not our ideal condition. He doesn’t shame them for their fear or doubt. He calls them forward. He transforms them. Resurrection power doesn’t just raise Jesus from the dead—it raises His followers from despair.   Our text this morning is found in Mark 16:1-20. Because the empty tomb was discovered on a Sunday morning, every Sunday should be a resurrection celebration. The title of this message is “MORE THAN JUST A STORY” The resurrection is more than just an historical event. Jesus is a risen Savior, and salvation comes by believing in Him and being obedient to his will.   Verses 1-8 of our TEXT tells us: “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” 8 So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” It was The Dawn That Changed Everything The 3 women were walking to the tomb at sunrise. They carry spices, not hope. They expect a corpse, not a resurrection. Their biggest concern is the stone, not the Savior. But God had already moved the stone.   Note: God works while we worry. The women were anxious about a barrier that heaven had already removed. Inside the tomb, they meet a messenger who declares the greatest announcement in history: “He is risen; He is not here.”   Those words didn’t just change their morning— Those words changed the world. And yet, verse 8 says they fled in fear. Even good news can overwhelm us when it’s bigger than our expectations. The resurrection is not just a doctrine; it’s a disruption. It overturns despair, rewrites reality, and demands a response.   Then the angel gave them two sets of instructions. These are the same instructions we should follow today. He invited them to examine the tomb and look for the evidence. The tomb was empty, but it was full of significance. In John’s account (Chapt. 20), we’re told the strips of cloth that had covered the body of Jesus were stacked up along with the sheet covering His body.   These women had to be wondering if this was a dream. They had seen the torture and crucifixion of Jesus. They watched as His body was removed from the cross and placed in the tomb. They knew He was dead. But they were confronted with an empty tomb. In Acts 1:3 the Bible says Jesus offered the disciples many more “convincing proofs” that He was alive. If you are going to examine the evidence of the resurrection, you have to start with the empty tomb. Even the enemies of Jesus admitted the tomb was empty.   The angel told the women to go tell the disciples that Jesus was alive and He would meet them in Galilee. However, as we mentioned, verse eight of the text tells us: trembling and bewildered they fled: They didn’t tell anyone because they were afraid. I can’t really blame them. They were in shock. A little while later Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and she delivered the message.   We’ve been given the same command to “go tell” the world that Jesus is alive. How often have we been guilty of the initial behavior of the women? Like them, we are too often too afraid to share the Good News. The best tool to use is our personal faith story. Just tell people naturally what the risen Lord has done in our life.   Verses 9-14 of the TEXT “9 Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. 11 And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. 12 After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. 13 And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. 14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.”   Mark mentions that later two other people show up claiming they had seen Jesus alive. In Luke 24 we read the story of Jesus appearing to two isciples who were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, a distance of about eleven miles. They didn’t recognize Jesus. I would have loved to have been on that original walk to Emmaus, because the Bible says Jesus started with Moses (that’s Genesis) and took them all the way through the Old Testament telling how all the scriptures predicted the Messiah would suffer and die.   When they finally arrived at their house, they invited their companion to join them for dinner. Jesus, who was the guest, became the host, because the Bible says when He broke the bread, their eyes were opened and they recognized it was Jesus.   They were so excited they turned around and traveled eleven miles back to tell the disciples. I imagine they ran this time. Out of breath, I can hear one of them telling Peter, “We saw the Lord! He’s alive!” Mary probably chimed in, “See I told you!” But it says the disciples still didn’t believe.   I think we learn an important lesson from this episode. The best proof of the resurrection isn’t an empty tomb. The best proof of the resurrection is when you meet Jesus. I know Jesus is alive not because of any of the arguments about the historical resurrection. I know He’s alive because He lives inside of me and I talk to Him all the time.We can say that Jesus feels alive because: We sense His presence in prayer Ww see changes in their our lives We experience peace, forgiveness, or purpose we can’t explain   “As true Christians, Jesus feels alive because we experience Him, not just read about Him.” The fact that billions of people across centuries have claimed life change through Jesus is part of the explanation.   For example: “If someone changes your life, they feel real to you.” “If someone’s influence continues long after their death, we say their legacy lives on. Christians go further—they believe Jesus Himself lives on.”   Now, back to Verses 15-18 of the text Where Jesus then gives a mission that matches the magnitude of His victory: “15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”” “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” This is not a suggestion. It’s a sending. Notice the scope: All the world — no boundaries Every creature — no exclusions The resurrection is not private news. It’s public truth. It’s not for a select few. It’s for everyone. Jesus promises signs that will accompany believers— not to glorify the believer, but to confirm the message. The point is not the spectacular; the point is the Savior. The power of God follows the proclamation of God.   The chapter ends with Jesus ascending to the right hand of God—a position of authority, victory, and intercession. But the story doesn’t end with Jesus leaving. It ends with the disciples going. “They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them.” That’s the pattern of the church: We go. He works. Lives change. The resurrection leads to mission. The ascension leads to empowerment. The gospel leads to action.   What This Means for Us Today A. God still moves stones. The obstacles that intimidate us are often already handled by God. B. Jesus meets us in our real struggles. Doubt, fear, grief—none of these disqualify us from encountering the risen Christ. C. We are called to go. Every believer is sent. D. We don’t go alone. The Lord works with us. The resurrection is not just a past event—it’s a present power. Conclusion: The Story Continues With Us Mark 16 begins with fear and ends with boldness. It begins with a sealed tomb and ends with an open world. It begins with omen carrying spices and ends with disciples carrying the gospel. The resurrection is not the end of Jesus’ story—it’s the beginning of ours. He is risen. He is reigning. He is working with us still. So let us go—into our homes, our workplaces, our communities—and proclaim the good news that changed everything. Salvation isn’t knowing about Jesus; it is knowing Jesus. JESUS GAVE US A JOB TO DO In these final words of Mark’s writing, Jesus has given us three tasks to do. Jesus said in Mathew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” The Bible says our days are numbered and it is appointed once for a person to die. GOD IS alive! Do you believe Him? Do you know Him? Will you follow Him?

Things to Ponder Ephesians 5:15–21 The text for this morning’s lesson is found in Ephesians 5 verses 15 thru 21. These few verses are very familiar to many of us because they remind us to: Be careful how you live; don’t live foolishly but wisely. Use every opportunity because the days are urgent. Don’t be drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, giving thanks to God, and submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. A man named Bob heard a sermon on “walking wisely” and decided to take it literally. The next morning he stared at his feet all day to make sure every step was “wise.” He was so focused on his walking that he walked straight into a mailbox. He apologized to it. Later, he saw a grocery store sign that said, “SPIRITS ON SALE.” He gasped, “Revival has hit aisle 9!” Then he realized it was the liquor aisle and backed away like it was radioactive. Determined to obey the verse about “speaking in psalms and hymns,” he answered every question in hymns for the rest of the day. At the checkout, the cashier asked, “Paper or plastic?” Harold sang, “I surrender all…” The cashier quietly chose paper. That evening he tripped over his cat, spilled his groceries, and dropped his keys through the porch slats. But remembering “give thanks always,” he sighed and said, “Lord, thank You that the cat survived, the groceries mostly survived, and the keys… well… You know where they are.” Did you realize all the things we do with time? We “MAKE” time, and we TAKE time, for things that are important to us. We “SAVE” time with all kinds of gadgets and doodads. We “MARK” time, we “KILL” time, we “RACE AGAINST” time. AND (someone noted) that the worst thing you can do with time, is “WASTE” time. As I mentioned earlier… Our text today is found in Ephesians 5:15–21 The first two verses of this text tells us: 15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.   Wisdom is not merely knowledge; it is careful living. To “be careful how you live” is to pay attention to the small choices that shape character—how we speak, whom we trust, how we spend time and money. Wisdom notices the long-term consequences of short-term pleasures. The world presses us with distractions that promise fulfillment but steal our days. Paul calls us to invest our hours in what lasts: love, justice, discipleship, and gospel witness. Paul tells us to redeem the time…. but why? What’s so critical about time that it must be redeemed? Most of us would think the reason time is valuable because we only have so much of it. Sooner or later, we’re all gonna die. Now, if you’re blessed you may live 80 or 90 or100 years, but sooner or later your time is gonna run out. So don’t waste your time!!! But that is not really what Paul says here. “Redeem the time... because the days are evil.” ILLUS: What does that mean? Well, think about it this way. Do you have a bucket list? A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you “kick the bucket.” Please take a moment to think about what items you would put on your bucket list. You might have things like travel to Europe or Australia with a friend, swim with dolphins or go deep sea fishing, meet a famous person, make a HOLE IN ONE, go parasailing or jump out of an airplane. There are all kinds of things you could put on your “bucket list” - and there’s nothing wrong with those things (except maybe jumping out of an airplane 😊). And what people have on their bucket list tells you a lot about their priorities. It’s a wish list, and I think that God is OK with that kind of thing. But He warns us not to be foolish. He warns us THAT THERE IS ONE THING THAT WE MUST MAKE SURE TO NOT LEAVE OFF that list. What is that ONE THING we must not leave off our bucket list? We find that one thing in verse 17 of our text this morning. Ephesians 5:17 “Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Everything else you put on your bucket list is just for fun, but this one – this “understanding the will of the Lord... this one is serious. We live in a world of evil, and the choices we make have eternal consequences. And since God has saved you and I.... he asks us to shine our light into this dark world. Ephesians 5:8 & 10 tells us “At one time you were darkness, but now you are LIGHT in the Lord. Walk as children of light... and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.” Jesus said “You are the light of the world”. That means you and I are called to reflect HIS LIGHT into this dark world, and the only way we’re going to do that effectively is to UNDERSTAND what God’s will is. So, how do we do that? How do we learn God’s will? Well, you’d think the answer would be - read your Bible. Memorize huge passages of Scripture. Meditate on God’s Word day and night. And that is good stuff because that’s what God expects of us. But the problem is, if that’s all you do (immerse yourself in Scripture) you could end up like the Pharisees. The Pharisees knew more of their Bible than most of us, but there was something missing in their lives. And so, in place of asking us to Memorize and Meditate... Paul writes this in verse 18 of our text Ephesians 5:18: “... do not get drunk with wine, for that is sin, but be filled with the Spirit” What? What’s he talking about here? Well, he’s saying that in order for us to fully understand God’s will, we must be totally controlled by God’s Spirit. And then he makes an odd comparison: “don’t get drunk on wine” he says. That seems illogical until you understand what he’s trying to say. The command to be filled with the Spirit contrasts two masters: intoxication and inspiration. Paul’s image contrasts being controlled by wine with being controlled by the Spirit. One leads to loss of self and harm, the other leads to life, clarity, and communal worship. ILLUS: Have you ever seen someone who’s been drunk? How can you tell if they’re drunk if you’ve never seen them take a drink? Well, you can tell they’re drunk by how they walk, by how they talk, by how they think and by how they act. Everything about their drunkenness is obvious by their behavior. They are FILLED with alcohol... and it controls them. By contrast Paul says, don’t be filled with alcohol (don’t get drunk) but be FILLED with the Spirit. In other words, the Spirit should so fill you that it controls how you walk and talk and think and act. That is crucial for Christians - we need to be so filled with the Spirit of God that people know it when they see our behavior! The Christian life is not a set of isolated acts but a pattern. Small changes to your daily lifestyle become habits; small disciplines become sanctifying rhythms. So, how do we get FILLED with the Holy Spirit? Well, first we need to understand that we already have the Spirit inside of us. Acts 2:38 promises us "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.” This is important to us as Christians because Spiritual fullness is not a private emotion; it produces public fruit—joy, gratitude, mutual encouragement, and submission rooted in Christlike love. May we begin each day with a short prayer asking for the Spirit’s guidance. Ephesians 1:14 tells us - God’s Spirit “is THE GUARANTEE of our inheritance.” You can’t be a Christian without God’s Spirit inside of you. So, first we need to realize we already have the Spirit inside of us. But here in Ephesians it says we need to be “refilled” with Spirit. What’s that all about? Well, first let’s examine what Paul tells us to do, and then I’ll try to explain WHY this is so important. First, Paul says in verse 19 of our text that in order for us to be filled with God’s Spirit we need to... SING. We should be “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” Ephesians 5:19 Paul instructs believers to speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs—language that builds up, teaches, and reminds. One of the greatest singers in the Bible was a little shepherd boy named David. The book of Psalms is a collection of 150 songs (or Psalms) that the Jews sang, and David wrote half of them. He was so good at singing that people began to pay attention long before David ever confronted Goliath. In the meantime, King Saul (the King of Israel) had decided to stop listening to God, and run his kingdom his own way. So, God withdrew His Spirit from him and the King became plagued with an evil Spirit. He plunged into depression, and that EVIL SPIRIT so tormented King Saul that (on the advice of one of his friends) he sent for David to sing for him. And we’re told in 1st Samuel 16:23 that “David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.” Music has power over evil. And it has the power to bring peace to the heart and soul. So, when you’re depressed or struggling - find a song that glorifies God and sing it. I grew up with my grandma singing throughout the day various hymns as she completed housework. ILLUS: One song we could sing in most any situation in life is “This World Is Not My Home.” “This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue; The angels beckon me from heaven's open door. And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.” The chorus “O Lord, you know I have no friend like you, if heaven's not my home, dear Lord what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore.” Now, it doesn’t matter if you can sing well and with much power. The point is: find a song that glorifies God... and sing it. Use the power of GOD’S music to lift your soul out of despair and sadness. The gospel forms a community where worship is both vertical (to God) and horizontal (to one another). Our songs and words shape both holiness and practice.   Secondly - Paul tells us in verse 20, that in order to be filled with God’s Spirit, we need to be “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” Ephesians 5:20 Now, quiz time: HOW OFTEN do should give thanks? (ALWAYS) and FOR WHAT should we give thanks? (EVERTHING). There’s a lot of people who have a hard time doing that.   ILLUS: Rudyard Kipling was a great writer and poet who made a lot of money for his writings. One time a newspaper reporter came up to him and said, “Mr. Kipling, I just read that somebody calculated that the money you make from your writings amounts to over a hundred dollars a word; Mr. Kipling raised his eyebrows and said, “Really, I certainly wasn’t aware of that.” The reporter cynically reached down into his pocket and pulled out a one-hundred-dollar bill and gave it to Kipling and said, “Here’s a hundred-dollar bill, Mr. Kipling. Now, you give me one of your hundred-dollar words.” Mr. Kipling looked at that hundred-dollar bill for a moment, took it, folded it up, and put it in his pocket and said, “Thanks.” He’s right! The word ‘thanks’ is certainly more than a hundred-dollar word. I would say it is more like a million-dollar word. Thank you is one word that is too seldom heard, too rarely spoken, and too often forgotten. If we would all adopt an attitude of thanksgiving into our lives – our lives would be changed. We would cherish each day. ILLUS: Studies have been done over the years where people have been asked to write down 10 things they’re thankful for and after an extended period of time the list is often still incomplete. Many people become so negative they struggle think of 10 things they’re thankful for. BUT, when given a tablet of paper and asked to write down things they were unhappy about, or disappointed with, or frustrated about, they could fill out an entire tablet of paper... and ask for another. Why? Why are they so unhappy? Well, because most folks aren’t used to being thankful for what they have. For example, they don’t express thankfulness for the fact that they have 2 hands. Why should they? They’ve ALWAYS had those two hands. And they’ve always had the ability to run and laugh and hear and see and sing. Why be grateful for those things? As we say our evening prayers let’s try listing three things we thank God for each evening. By contrast, these folks tend to focus instead on what they DON’T HAVE. They dwell on the wanting of a better job, or a better car, or a better spouse, or a better ... whatever. And that’s why they’re so depressed – there is ALWAYS going to be stuff that they don’t have, or that they can’t possess! So they end up being miserable/unhappy people. Philippians 4:4-7 says “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice... do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Learn to be grateful for what you have (and quit focusing on what you don’t have) and you’ll be so filled with God’s Spirit that it will change how you think and how you behave. And the world around you will notice. CLOSE: I want to close by explaining WHY it’s so important to be “Filled” with Holy Spirit. We talked about HOW we could do that, but I promised to tell you why it was so critical to do that. The Bible tells us that Spirit is a very powerful force. He teaches us, He comforts us, He helps us in our prayers when we don’t know what to say. Romans 8:11 tells us that We have the same power living in us... that raised Jesus from the dead!!!! “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Being “filled with the Spirit” is all about laying hold of the full power of the Spirit God has given us. You see, in order for the Spirit to operate fully in our lives, we’ve got to make our hearts decent places for Him to reside. Gracious God, grant us eyes to see how we live, courage to redeem our time, and the fullness of your Spirit to shape our words and deeds. Teach us to sing to one another, to serve one another, and to submit to one another in reverence for Christ. Fill our homes, our workplaces, and our church with your wisdom and your joy. And it is in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Acts 2:38 tells us "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”     Sermon Contributor : David Dykes

Witnesses to The Deity of Jesus John 5:30-47   INTRODUCTION: Good morning church. In this section of John’s Gospel Jesus is proving that He is God. We started this chapter where Jesus healed the disabled man on the Sabbath. We saw that rather than the religious leaders being overjoyed seeing the sign and believing, they are concerned that He has healed on the Sabbath and begin to persecute Him. Jesus responded to that by saying, of course I'm working on the Sabbath because God works on the Sabbath and I'm God. That led them to want to kill Him. Thinking of Mark’s lesson last week, we realize these leaders have already determined what they will do with Jesus. Not based on who He is or the good He has done but based on their own concepts.   The rest of this chapter is Jesus’ testimony that He is God. Jesus showed that He is equal to the Father in person, works, power, judgment, and honor. Further, Jesus has the power to determine who will be given life and who will be raised to life or raised to judgment. Jesus rounds out His argument for His deity by presenting witnesses to His Godhood.   Let’s begin then at John 5:30-32 – “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. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.” Jesus changes His approach to the closed minds of the priests, still trying to induce them to believe. He can see that nothing He can say has any weight with them, but they should interpret the sign as Nicodemus did.   Then Jesus declares "My witness of myself is absolutely true, because I am doing the will of God who sent me." He knows they are rejecting His witness of Himself because He is the one witnessing. The Law of Moses called for one’s testimony concerning a crime committed be validated by two or three witnesses (Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15). Jesus does not need to provide any witnesses for He has not committed a crime. However, Jesus is going to offer witnesses so that His testimony will not be rejected.   I. John the Baptist - The witnesses that Jesus offers are not the witnesses that we might expect. Jesus is not just going to use witnesses to prove that He is God, but to show that those people, as well as us, have an enormous deficiency in their relationship with God. Jesus does not just say let me prove to you who I am. A. John 5:32-34 – “There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.” In verse 33 He reminds them that they sent people to John and John bore witness to the truth. Carefully look at verse 34. That's not the witness He wants to call to the stand, however. John is a witness, and that is a point that is made quite clear in John 1. B. Remember the Pharisees send various people to John to find out who John is. We saw in chapter 1; No, I'm not Elijah. No, I'm not the prophet. I am the voice crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord. 1. That is the message that John was giving, the Lord is coming and you need to get ready. Make every way straight, get your lives in order. You sent priests and Levites to John, and He bore witness to that truth, but I don't need John's testimony. In fact, I don't need the testimony of any human, He says. 2. Then Jesus says in verse 34, “but I say these things so that you may be saved”. I bring John to the stand, not because I need John to prove who I am or to act as a witness on my part. You should have listened to what John had to say. I remind you of John and what his testimony was because he spoke about Me. He said the Lord was coming. The Lord now has come. I am the One. C. John 5:35 – “He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.” This is a reference back to Psalm 132:17, where we read of the burning lamp that will come before the anointed. That burning lamp has come. That was John, and now the anointed has arrived, and that's Jesus. 1. You were so interested in John for a while, but something happened and you stopped rejoicing in that message. You heard John. You heard what he had to say. He's proclaiming the arrival of the Lord. 2. They heard John, listened to the message and rejoiced in it for a little while… for a little while. Then I believe as is common to the human condition, people go back doing the same things they were always doing. They heard the message to prepare for the coming of the Lord. They heard the message to get your life right before the arrival of God, and rejoiced in it for a little while. Then they stopped rejoicing in that message, stopped proclaiming what was about to occur. They forgot the witness of John. 3. I believe that is an important reminder for us. It is so easy for us to rejoice in the message of the Lord, to hear the good news of salvation, forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and the resurrection as we've seen in this chapter. We rejoice in it for a little while, and then go right on back doing the things that we've always been doing. It's life back to normal. We forget the glorious message that we have received, the great hope that we have in His Word, and we return to doing what we've always done. D. Jesus tells them, I say these things so that you can be saved. Hear what John says, Jesus is God. He is the Lord who has come. Don’t forget that glorious teaching of John, of this great One who has come to save us from our sins. That brings us to verse 36. II. Jesus’ Works Are a Witness – “But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.” His first witness to the stand is obvious and clear. He says all that you need to do is see what I'm doing. All that you need to do is see these works that I'm doing. A. These things should be evidence to us that Jesus is clearly God. No one else can do what Jesus has done. 1. No one can do these kinds of work. If you remember the framework of this Gospel, John has written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and he has selected seven signs in this Gospel, only seven. He's neglected all kinds of signs and miracles that could have been selected and chose only seven. 2. In fact, before John tells us the reason he wrote this Gospel, he says Jesus did many other signs which are not written in this book. Then he says, but these things I've chosen that you may believe. John has selected these signs because these are to generate faith that Jesus is God. B. These miracles we read about are not simply wow-factor miracles. Wow, He healed this guy who'd been disabled for 38 years! While certainly amazing, there's something far more that Jesus wants everybody to see. It is to generate faith that He must be God, and He is God because He's doing what only God can do. 1. His actions replicate what God has done in time past. We read about these in the Scriptures. That's one of the beautiful things that we're going to see as we continue our study through John. We are going to read about Jesus doing things that the Father had done in the past. 2. Jesus in one simple sentence, verse 36, says, I have greater testimony than John, a far greater witness, My works. If that is not enough, let's bring another witness to the stand. Verse 37. III. The Father’s Witness – John 5:37-38 - “And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.” A. The next one to the witness stand is the Father. Jesus says, I've got someone else who testifies as to who I am. We certainly have John, but I don't need him. First I have my works, and then I have the Father who bears witness about me as well. 1. We might think that what would happen next is John would show through the words of Jesus how the Father gives His testimony to the Son. However instead Jesus says, His voice you've never heard, His form you've never seen, and you do not have His Word abiding in you, for you do not believe in the One who was sent. 2. We read that and say, what kind of testimony is that? Where's the testimony of the Father? We expect the testimony to be what you read in John 1. At the baptism of Jesus, the heavens open and here is the Father speaking. This is My beloved Son. The Holy Spirit descends upon Him, and this is what we might think of as the witness of the Father. That is not the argument given here. 3. Instead, Jesus tells them you don't know God. You don't know who the Father is. That's why you don't comprehend the witness of the Father. You don't even know who He is. This is a shattering, shocking declaration for Jesus to tell a bunch of Israelites, Jewish leaders, these religious leaders, His voice you have never heard. 4. Jesus saying to us, “you haven't seen Him and you haven't heard Him”, we'd probably say, we know we haven't seen Him or heard Him. However, that's not the point that Jesus is making here. The point that Jesus is making to them is you have rejected the Father. B. Look at the three statements tied together here; “(1) His voice you have never heard, (2) his form you have never seen, and (3) you do not have his word abiding in you,” Whose voice did they hear at Mount Sinai? God’s voice. Some patriarchs saw the form of God, Jacob for example. They claimed to follow God’s word. These three things Israel held on to. 1. Yet Jesus is saying you have no relationship to the Father at all. You don't know who I am because you don't know God the Father. You aren't hearing His voice, and you aren't seeing who He is. His words are not in you. A greater messenger has come, One greater than Moses, One who is the revealer of God, and you reject Me. 2. For you to reject Me means you don't know God at all. That is a powerful statement, and in verse 38 He says, this is the reason you do not believe the One whom He has sent. You are worshiping God, believing in God, trying to do the things of God. I tell you, you don't know God. You have not heard Him or seen Him and His words are not in you. You're not children of God at all. 3. If the Father were to take the stand, His words are, you don't know me. The reason I know you don't know me is because you don't know my Son. The witness of the Father is, if you knew me, you'd know my Son. If you don't know the Son, you don't know Me. IV. The Scriptures’ Witness – Look back at John 5:39-44, “39. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40. yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41. I do not receive glory from people. 42. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” A. Jesus brings another witness to the stand. Every piece of Scripture speaks to Jesus. Think about the weight of that statement. “You search the Scriptures because you think in them that they have eternal life. It is they that bear witness about me.” 1. The scriptures in Jesus’ day are what we call the Old Testament. Everything from Genesis to Malachi bears witness to Jesus. He says, you're reading looking for life and you're failing to see Me when you read. 2. The paradox of knowing the Scriptures and yet not knowing them still exists; and it is imperative for us to know the word of the Lord truly. Knowing the common traditions with reference to it is not enough. Simply knowing what is written without believing cannot avail. Familiarity with sacred words may exist in a foul and degenerate heart. Those people to whom Jesus spoke these teachings had perverted their knowledge of the word of God in such a manner as to remove all true knowledge of it. B. How had they done this? 1. They had made the word of God of no effect by their traditions; and a perfect example of that is in this incident. These men have substituted their own petty rules in place of God's true Sabbath law. 2. They had also changed the meaning of the words God had given them. God had promised a Messiah whose qualities of glory and humiliation should have been sufficient to identify Him when He came; but some of the hierarchy instead projected two Messiahs, making one of them the lowly and suffering priest, and the other the mighty conqueror who would chase out the Romans and restore the Solomonic empire. (rabbinic literature) 3. They rejected out of hand many of the plainest prophecies, especially those projecting the call of the Gentiles to salvation (Romans 9:25-29). True knowledge of God's word is a far different thing from familiarity with Scriptural texts. The Old Testament contains hundreds of references to Christ. Scholars note at least 300-350 distinct prophecies, covering His birth, ministry, and crucifixion, with many more foreshadowing’s. C. If we want to get to know Jesus, we need to read the Old Testament because those books testify about Jesus. One reason we do not know our Lord and why we remain weak Christians is because we do not know the whole of scriptures. We come along and decide to ignore the Old Testament and wonder why we can’t figure God’s word out. Every book is speaking about Jesus. Jesus says that you can read the scriptures all that you want, but if you do not see Me in the scriptures, then you are not going to find life. 1. Worse, we might do what these Jewish leaders did. We search the scriptures, but we do not read the scriptures for what they say. We turn the scriptures into a doctrine finding mission. We memorize places where baptism is taught or where we are commanded to assembly together. We know the places to turn to so we can have an argument with people who disagree with us. 2. We do not read and take in the scriptures to find life. We study what we think we need to know. We try to boil down the scriptures to simple statements and memorize clichés. We need to read the scriptures to get to know Jesus. We do not need to read the scriptures to prove what we have always known or see what we have always seen or confirm what we already believe. 3. These leaders are criticized for how they are searching the scriptures. There is a wrong way to read the Bible. Read to learn about your God and let His word transform your life. D. In John 5:41 Jesus says, “I do not receive glory from people.” He is not interested in their approval, or in meeting their expectations. Jesus is not going to change what He is doing to satisfy the expectations of the religious leaders. He came in the name of the Father and does what the Father has given Him to do. 1. Then He says in verse 42, “But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.” Wow, I’m sure they were insulted. Verse 43, “I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.” 2. You have expectations of what you want your Messiah to be. I'm not here to be what you want Me to be, to meet your expectations, or to fulfill your wants and desires of this world. I have come in the Father's name, I am who I am, I am God. 3. He tells them, you’ll accept anybody else who comes along because they will tickle your ears and make you happy and give you what you want. You'll listen to other people because they give you what you're looking for in this life. I fear Jesus would say the same thing to people today. 4. I wonder sometimes if we want a Jesus who does for us, and we do not want a Jesus that we have to sacrifice for or give for or do anything for. He's supposed to do things for us. E. Then in verse 44 Jesus askes a question. “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” How can you believe when all that you're concerned about is what everybody else thinks? They want the glory of other people. We will see in John 12:42 that "They loved the glory that is of men more than the glory that is of God." 1. I suspect sometimes that is one of the reasons that we fail to draw closer to God. We need to find Jesus in the Scriptures and belong to Him. Instead, we seek the glory from people rather than the glory from God. 2. We are concerned about the approval of others—family, friends, or our community. We want everybody to pat us on the back, and we will do whatever it takes for them to approve of us. 3. The ways of God are not the ways of our family, our friends, or our community. Too often we can become so focused on being people pleasers and not realizing that our effort to please people is keeping us from pleasing God. We're trying to do everything else for everybody else and not seeking the approval and glory that comes from the only God. It is easy to slip into, easy to focus on, all the wrong things. V. Moses’ Witness - The final witness is Moses, John 5:45, “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father…” I'm not going to be your accuser, Jesus says. Remember He's already preached about the resurrection, that one day the graves are going to be opened and everybody is going to be raised either to resurrection of life or to a resurrection of judgment. A. Jesus says, I'm not the one pointing the finger at you. “… There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.” The great leader of Israel, the great giver of the law, Moses is the one who accuses you. B. John 5:46-47, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” For Moses to be the accuser of the people is unbelievable. 1. Read Exodus through Deuteronomy. What is the role that Moses played on behalf of the people repeatedly? Intercessor. He always stood and protected the people and would pray to God on their behalf over and over again. Jesus says, He's not your intercessor, he's your accuser. 2. How strange that those leaders, thinking so strongly that they had eternal life through Moses, were unbelievers of the writings of the great lawgiver. Such is the deceptiveness of sin, that people who truly imagine themselves to be believers are in fact no such thing! There were many prophecies in "Moses," regarding Christ. As Hovey said: "This is a perfectly clear testimony on the part of Christ to a Messianic element in the Pentateuch, as well as to the Mosaic authorship of the same." 3. Moses wrote about Jesus through direct prophecies, symbolic types, and foundational stories in the Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy). Some key references include the promised "Seed" who crushes the serpent (Genesis 3:15), Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22:1-18) the prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15), the bronze snake (Numbers 21:4-9) the Star from Jacob (Numbers 24:17) and the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12). C. The significance of the testimony of Christ here is great. God is the author of the Old Testament, no less than of the New Testament; and there is no way by which a true believer in Christ can avoid full acceptance of God's word as revealed in the Old Testament. It is true now, as it was then, that if men do not believe Moses, they will not believe Christ either.   CONCLUSION: It's a frightening warning to us that it is entirely possible for us to be able to quote this Bible backward and forward and not know one bit of our Lord and not see Him for who He is.   Well, the witnesses have been presented. Jesus is God according to John the Baptizer, according to His own miraculous works, according to the Father, according to the scriptures, and according to Moses. We must search all the scriptures, not just the New Testament, and find Jesus to which all of God’s word points. Then with open hearts we see the glory of God, not the glory of people, so that we will believe in Jesus and put our hope in Him. He is the giver of life and His very words will give life to those who hear Him and obey Him. Today is the day to accept Jesus as the Lord and submit to His words to receive life.   Pull your song books out. We'll sing the Invitation Song. We're inviting you to come to Jesus. He is God. He came to this world and He died for sins. God came in the flesh and died because of our sins.   He allowed that to happen so that we could have forgiveness of sins, so that we could be reconciled back to Him, and so that we could be redeemed, that we could have hope. One day we'd get to be with God and see Him as He is. What a great blessing that He was willing to do this. God takes on the form of a servant, and human flesh, and dies for the people that He created. There’s no greater love.   Turn to Him by repenting of your sins and be immersed in water to have your sins washed away and walk in newness of life with Him until the day that He calls you home. Won't you come while we stand and sing?   # ??? Reference: Brent Kercheville, James Burton Coffman

Two Of Life’s Most Important Questions Mark 15:1-20   This morning I would like to focus on the topic of questions. Questions fill our lives on a daily basis. Of course there are the meaningless questions: “If tomatoes are a fruit, does that make ketchup a smoothie?” “Why do we say ‘slept like a baby’ when babies wake up every two hours?” “Why is it called a building if it’s already built?” “If you’re waiting for the waiter… doesn’t that make you the waiter?” “If two mind readers read each other’s minds, whose mind are they reading?” “If Cinderella’s shoe fit perfectly, why did it fall off?” “If money doesn’t grow on trees, why do banks have branches?”   And, there are the questions that get you nowhere: ·         How old do you think I am? ·         Does this dress make me look fat? ·         I don’t know, what do you want to do?   If you have an iPhone you can ask Siri questions. She’s pretty smart at math. One day I asked Siri: “What is zero divided by zero.” Her answer was, “Imagine that you have zero cookies and you divide them between zero friends. See it makes no sense. And Cookie Monster is sad that there are no cookies, and you are sad because you have no friends.” And, of course The Bible contains many questions. In fact the first recorded word of Satan in Genesis 3 was a question to Eve about God’s character. He asked, “Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the Garden?” That wasn’t what God said at all, but the devil is still trying to get people to question God’s character. In the same chapter, God’s first question in the Bible was when He asked Adam, “Where are you?” Of course, He knew where Adam was; He just wanted Adam to admit it. God said to man, “Where are you?”   And the first question of the New Testament is man asking where God is. In Matthew 2:2, the Magi asked Herod, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?” There are many other important questions in the Bible. Job asked, “If a man dies, shall he live again?” Jesus asked, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Paul asked, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The writer of Hebrews asks, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation.” But of all the questions in the Bible, I believe the most important question is the one we are going to hear Pontius Pilate ask. I believe this is Life’s Most Important Question. In Matthew’s account, Pilate asks, “What then shall I do with Jesus?” (Matthew 27:22) I have to answer that question. You have to answer that question. In fact, that is a question that every person who has ever lived must answer.   Mark 15:1–20 describes Jesus before Pilate, the crowd choosing Barabbas, and the soldiers mocking Jesus. Several questions are asked in this passage, but one stands out as the most theologically significant: “Are you the King of the Jews?” (Mark 15:2) This question matters most because: It goes straight to Jesus’ identity, which is the central theme of Mark’s Gospel. It forces the reader to confront the same issue: Who is Jesus really? Pilate’s question becomes the pivot for the entire trial and crucifixion narrative. Jesus’ answer — “You say so” — is subtle but affirming, and it sets the stage for the charges against Him.   Pilate asks this question to the crowd standing before him: “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” “Crucify him!” they shouted. “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”   Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they finished mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. I’m going to have you each answer Pilate’s question: “What will I do with Jesus?” It’s a personal question; it’s not “What will WE do with Jesus?” It’s a pressing question, because it’s one you must answer before you die and stand before God. Life is full of choices. There have never been more choices.   When I grew up, we had NBC, CBS, and ABC, we had to move the antennae to pick up those different stations.   Today, with cable, satellite, and streaming services you have thousands of viewing choices. We used to have vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream, and today there are thousands of different flavors including peanut butter ice cream, pickle ice cream, and bacon ice cream.   But those are relatively insignificant choices. Life is full of important choices. Will you get married? Who will you marry? Where will you go to college? What career will you choose? Those are big decisions.   But the biggest choice you’ll ever make is, “What will I do with Jesus?” The good news is that God gives you a choice about what you will do with Jesus. God is too much of a gentleman to force anyone to accept His love.     In Deuteronomy 30 when Moses was poised with the second generation of Israelites ready to enter the Promised Land, he said, “God has placed before you life and death, blessings and curses, now CHOOSE LIFE!” As Joshua faced the nation after they had taken much of the Promised Land he said, “Choose you this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!” (Joshua 24:15).   When Elijah faced a nation devoted to Baal worship, He declared a God contest on Mt. Carmel. He said, “No more sitting on the fence. If Baal is God, then choose to worship him. If Yahweh is God, choose to worship Him!” In this message I want to present five different choices you can make about how you answer the question, “What Shall I do with Jesus?” 1. PILATE: You may choose to reject Him After Pilate interviewed Jesus, the Bible says, “He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.” (Mark 15:15)   Pilate was the ultimate Roman authority on this case. He had the power to release Jesus or to have Him crucified. Luke tells us Pilate went back to the Jewish leaders three times and said, “This man has done nothing wrong. He doesn’t deserve the death penalty.”   It seems clear that Pilate wanted to pardon Jesus and set Him free. But He gave into the mob mentality. In John’s account the Jewish leaders find Pilate’s soft spot. They said, “If you let Him go, you are no friend of Caesar. We heard Him claim to be a king and anyone who claims to be a king is no friend of Caesar.”   Pilate only had one boss, Caesar, and he didn’t want these pesky Jews to threaten his job. So, he gave into the political pressure and he chose his career over Christ. There are people in our culture who seem interested in Jesus. They are fascinated by His claims. But it is not politically correct to say Jesus is the only way to heaven. And some people think if they followed Jesus, it would cost them their momentum on their career track. So like, Pilate, many people reject Jesus and choose their careers over Christ. 2. HEROD: You may choose to admire Him When Pilate learned Jesus was from Galilee, he wanted to shift some of the responsibility, so he had Jesus sent to Herod Antipas, who was the governor of Galilee. This was the same Herod Antipas who beheaded John the Baptist. The Bible says in Luke 23:8, “When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort.” Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus just stood there silently. This frustrated Herod, so he started mocking Jesus and put an elegant robe on Him and sent Him back to Pilate. Herod represents those people who simply admire Jesus as a great moral teacher, like Socrates or Confucius.   3. THE MOB: You may choose to replace Him Pilate was still trying to figure out a way to release Jesus. Since there was a custom to pardon a prisoner at Passover, Pilate suggested they allow him to release Jesus. But the crowd would have none of it. The Bible says, “But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.” (Matthew 27:20) We’re told in the text that Barabbas had committed murder. So, the crowd was faced with setting free a miracle worker, or a murderer. And they chose Barabbas. By this time, Jesus’ approval rating among the Jewish elite was so low, that they preferred a hardened criminal to a teacher who preached love and forgiveness. Today, millions choose a replacement for Jesus. Even non-religious people have replaced Christ. Many atheists have replaced Christ with human reason and worship at the altar of science. Many greedy American consumers have replaced Christ with their ongoing passion to have more and more and the newest and the best.   If Jesus isn’t #1 on a list of 1 in your life, you have replaced Him with someone or something else. 4. THE SOLDIERS: You may choose to mock Him The Bible says, “They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said. They spit on him and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.” (Matthew 27:28-30) Christ and Christianity are being mocked today like never before. On one hand we are seeing some Christian movies like God’s Not Dead, War Room, Captive, and Risen. But at the same time, we live in a culture that is becoming more and more hostile toward Jesus and Christians. There has been a rise in television shows that make a mockery of our faith. Not long ago Saturday Night Live presented a vulgar spoof of the movie, “God’s Not Dead.” There are many people who will join the Roman soldiers and continue to make a mockery of Jesus and His followers. That’s their choice. 5. GOD: You may choose to crown Him as Lord So the most important question you’ll ever answer in your life is this: What will I do with Jesus? You have to answer that question. If you say, “I just won’t answer it, I won’t do anything with Jesus.” That is doing something with Jesus. Basically all of the responses fall into two categories: Rejecting Christ or Receiving Christ; Crucifying Jesus or Crowning Jesus as Lord. Turning your back on Him, or Trusting Him. God gives us the only correct answer. The only choice that will lead to eternal life is to crown Him as Lord. Have you chosen to do that? The Bible says in Ephesians 1 that “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” (Ephesians 1:4) God made a choice about what to do with His Son. And it’s the choice we should make. All around the world, there are people who are bowing down. Some are bowing beside their beds looking to heaven. Some are bowing down facing Mecca. Some are bowing down and praying to a statue of Buddha. But God makes it clear that one day every knee will bow to Jesus. The Bible says, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11).   CONCLUSION: There are some important questions that need answers, and God provides the answer.   Everybody wants to know, “How can I go to heaven?” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, the life, no one comes to the Father except through me. The Bible says, “There is no other name except Jesus under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved.” “For God so love the world that he gave His one and only son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Mark 16:15-16 “15 And he said unto them, go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Acts 2:37-38 “37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do to be saved? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” We need to realize that today, Satan is still trying to put question marks where God puts a period. I believe there are many statements in the Bible that deserve the strong emotion of an exclamation point. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, I don’t think he said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” I believe he said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John wrote, “Behold what manner of love the father has shown us that we should be called children of God!” On that morning after Jesus appeared to Mary in the Garden she ran back to the disciples. Do you think she said, “I have seen the Lord.”? No, I believe she said, “I have seen the Lord!!!!!!!” As Christians, we should be living in the exclamation points of the Bible.!” One day, the question, “What DID I do with Jesus?” will have an eternal impact on our life.  

Two Resurrections John 5:25-29   INTRODUCTION: Good morning church. One of the big questions that life holds for us is what happens after all is said and done. What happens next? When our time on this earth is done, what happens then? Everybody wants to know the answer to that. The world is full of speculations and philosophies about it.   We're in a section of John’s Gospel where Jesus is proclaiming His deity, proclaiming that He is God. Jesus also is proclaiming two powers that He has, the power of life, we read that in verse 21, and the power of judgment, verse 22. Then in verse 24 He says “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”   Next Jesus discusses a truth that there are two resurrections. One is a voluntary resurrection and the other is an involuntary resurrection. Let’s look at Jesus explanation of the two resurrections.   I.     Resurrection #1 – We will read John 5:25-27. “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.” A.   Jesus is saying this is an absolute certainty. “truly, truly”, indicates an absolute. Then He says “an hour is coming, and is now here” which is a phrase that Jesus used in John 4:23 where the Samaritan woman is asking about the place to worship. She wants to know if they should be worshipping on this mountain like her ancestors have taught, or whether they should be worshipping in Jerusalem at the temple as the Jews taught. 1.    Jesus' answer was there is an hour coming and now is, where worshippers are going to be worshipping in spirit and in truth. The idea of this time marker is that the time has come now, but it's going to be more obvious, clearer in the times to come. It would become clear, after Jesus' resurrection, and after the arrival of the kingdom as we read in Acts 2. 2.    Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that true worship is no longer restricted to a specific place (like Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim) but is now centered in "spirit and truth" through His presence. 3.    In the same way, I suspect this is the same time marker that Jesus is giving here. The time has already come in terms of the resurrection, and will become clearer. He says in verse 25, “… when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” 4.    It means the spiritually dead can immediately hear His voice and receive life, while also pointing to the future bodily resurrection. This suggests that the fulfillment of God’s promises was already occurring in Jesus ministry ("now is"), while the full, complete manifestation of that reality was still being realized ("coming"). B.   Verse 24 tells us the context (I paraphrase); those who hear My words and they believe in Him who sent Me—they're the ones receiving eternal life. They do not come into judgment, but they have passed from death to life. This is a picture of spiritual life. There's a time coming, in fact, the hour is now, where the dead are hearing the voice of the Son of God and those who hear that voice, are coming to life. 1.    Jesus and the Apostles are teaching and reminding people that they are dead. You are dead and now is the time for the dead to hear the voice of the Son of God and come into life. 2.    The time has come for them to hear the Word of God and to be moved from the realm of perishing in their sins and move into the new kingdom and new realm of life, of spiritual life, of eternal life. The hour is now, I am here, God has given Me the power of life. 3.    That reminds me of verse 21, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.” Unfortunately, I think this reminder that we are dead was not received then, or even now. 4.    We like to look at ourselves and think we're alive. We have a life going on, we're going to do this and that and we've got our schedules and plans and visions of the future. Here's how life is going to go. We are unable so many times to see how devastatingly, spiritually dead we are, and the same was true then. We forget our spiritual condition, just look at life, think we're fine, and then go on our way. C.   Do you recall Ezekiel 37? Ezekiel 37:1, “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.” Imagine you are in a valley and you are surrounded by bones. Starting in verse 2, “And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4. Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”” D.   Ezekiel, here's what I want you to do. Speak the word of the Lord and when you do you are going to see these bones come to life. Then you're going to know that I'm God. At verse 7, “So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.” Can you imagine standing there watching that happen? Verse 8, “And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11. Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12. Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”” E.   Jesus comes on the scene and says, the hour is coming, and now is here, where the dead are hearing the voice of God, and they are coming to life. What an amazing time! People are now able to receive life into their dead bones. God is picturing throughout time that we are dead in our sins. We are those dry, brittle bones. God says, I will speak my words, and when I speak those words, life is going to enter. 1.    Is it any wonder then that Jesus is saying at the time, let those who have ears to hear, let them hear? He is speaking the powerful words of life, listen to what He has to say. Verse 25 says, “the dead are going to hear the voice of the Son of God”, but see the next part, “And those who hear will live.” 2.    Are we listening to the life-giving voice of the Son of God? Are we hearing what our Lord has to say? Are we listening to the things that He is telling us to do? It is the voice of the Son of God that gives life. There's no other place to find it. It is through His words that life is going to be found, that life is put back into these dead bones. F.    John 5:26 – “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” That is almost a reiteration of verse 21. Jesus possesses life and He gives life to whom He wills, and He wills to give life to those who hear Him. 1.    When we stop listening, stop growing, we fall back to becoming dead, dry bones in the valley with no life at all. Oh, we think we are alive without Jesus when in fact we are as dead as we could be, unable to see our condition. 2.    “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14. This is the Voluntary Resurrection. The voice of the life-giving Son is speaking. Are you willing to listen so that you can arise from death to life? G.   In verse 27 we read – “And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.” We saw that in verse 22, He is the giver of life, and He gives it to whoever hears Him. He has authority to execute judgment and that brings us to the second resurrection.   II.    Resurrection #2 – We can imagine the audience with their mouths open, hearing the news that they are dead and that Jesus is God, the giver of life to those who hear His voice. These people should have known they were dead, but Jesus is teaching them, as He must teach us, that we are dead in our sins and need the life that can only be found in Jesus. A.   John 5:28-29 – “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming…” He says don’t be surprised that I have the power and authority. Notice this time He does not say “and is now”. This is something different. Jesus is looking forward to a coming hour. This is not an event that is already occurring… rather it is an event that will occur in the future. There is a time coming but it is not now, and He continues, “… when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, …” 1.    There is a time coming when everybody who is in the grave is going to hear the powerful voice of Jesus and they are going to come out. This is The Involuntary Resurrection. Think about what this looks like. Every single person who has ever lived, at the powerful word of Jesus, is going to come to life. Every person who has ever lived will hear the voice of Jesus when He returns and there will be resurrection. 2.    We are being told how powerful the words of Jesus are. The voice of Jesus is able to give life to our spiritually dead souls and is able to raise our bodies from the grave. Verse 27 performs a bridge to this thought. In verse 26 we are told that the Son has life in Himself. We see in verse 21 He gives life to whom He wills, and we have been told He gives life to those who hear His voice. 3.    We are spiritually dead but the words of Jesus will bring us life. Jesus also has the authority to execute judgment. The hour is coming when every person in the grave will hear the voice of the Lord and will come out to judgment. In this resurrection you are going to be called from your grave. Everyone who has ever died will be raised. All people who have ever lived are going to be raised from the dead. B.   We see little glimpses of that in the Old Testament. We just read one in Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones, God gives life and everyone is going to stand before Him. 1.    We see in the New Testament, further along in John’s gospel, that Jesus is going to walk up to the tomb of one of His very good friends and He is going to say… “Lazarus, come out”. There is a day that is coming where we will all stand before God. 2.    We see this again in Matthew’s account of the crucifixion, at the death of Jesus “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” C.   Verse 29 continues, “… those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” No one is excluded and there are two outcomes… either to the resurrection of life or to the resurrection of judgment. Verse 29 tells us how this will be determined. We know how this is going to go for us. Jesus tells us it is based upon what we are doing right now. 1.    Jesus is very clear about whom He gives life to and how that resurrection sequence is going to go. Our good works function as evidence, that we have truly heard the voice of Jesus. If we have done what we have seen here in verses 25 and 26, if we have heard the powerful word of Jesus and it has taken our dead bones and caused them to move to life, we are no longer spiritually dead, but we have received eternal life. 2.    Here is Jesus making a promise. When I come back, the hour is coming that all the souls are going to hear My voice. Those who have heard My voice and believed have moved from death to life; they will be raised to be with God. 3.    Our good works, our actions, function as the proof, the evidence, that we have heard Him and have been raised to life. When we lack those things it is a reflection on us. It shows that we truly have not heard the voice of God and have not moved from death to life. 4.    Perhaps this is a challenge and a test to ourselves. How do I know what will happen when everything is said and done? What is going to happen to you and to me when our Lord returns? D.   Perhaps use 1st Thessalonians 4 where we read, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” Ask ourselves, will I be going to the resurrection of life or will I be going to the resurrection of judgment? 1.    Here's how you know. Jesus says, I give life to whomever I will, and I give life to those who hear my voice. Those who hear My voice—do good works. There is a life transformation that occurs. 2.    This goes back to John chapter 3. In chapter 3, Jesus is teaching that we are all the condemned. Jesus came so that none would have to perish, but that all could be raised to life. 3.    We know what our outcome will be. There is no question. This teaching is not here so that people would walk away and say I don't know what's going to happen. We know exactly what's going to happen. It is based upon if we have heard the words of Jesus, believed in what He said, and have converted our lives and transformed our actions to follow Him. Based upon that, we will know if we are going to the resurrection of life or the resurrection of judgment. 4.    It is important for us then to look back on our lives, to look back at our actions, to look upon our words carefully and decide what does it look like for us? To which will we be raised? All of us are going to stand before God. 5.    True faith in our Lord will not leave us dead. It will lead to transformed living. It will cause us to have lives that are very different than what we've had before we came to Jesus.   CONCLUSION: I suggest that these verses are among the most instructive in the whole word of God. This is nothing less than the first resurrection, and the contrast of it with the final resurrection. The first is a spiritual rekindling of life, and the second a physical resurrection from the grave. Significantly, the Lord announced that the spiritual resurrection was already in progress, that the Son of God is the author of it, that His word is the means of it, that to receive His word was life, and to reject His word was death. What a terrible warning to those foes who at that very moment were rejecting His word, not allowing even for a moment His true interpretation of God's sabbath law, but plotting to maintain their own interpretations. Further, by rejecting Jesus' word in such a subordinate area as the sabbath regulations, the priests were light years away from receiving the profound teachings recorded here. They would remain in a state of spiritual death, and the voice of the Lord of life would sound in vain upon their stopped ears. Jesus spoke calling men to spiritual resurrection and they would not hear; but He shall speak again at the final judgment, and then they will hear!   For our Involuntary Resurrection to be favorable and enjoyable and to be going to eternal life rather than eternal punishment, it is of the utmost importance that we experience the Voluntary Resurrection now.   I would like to look at something from Colossians. In Colossians 2, the Apostle Paul uses, as he does in many places, this idea of being dead and coming to life. At Colossians 2:11, “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,”. There is a cutting that is going on, a cutting off of sins that Christ is accomplishing in our lives.   Next, “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Our life is always connected to the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead. If He was raised from the dead, then you're rising from the dead. Paul is not talking about the Involuntary Resurrection here. He means the voluntary one. Because He raised from the dead, you now can have life. In verse 13, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,” Paul says the same thing as Jesus. You're dead. You're dead in your sins. You are the dry, dead bones scattered in the valley. You have no hope unless you have the Lord. Only when the word of God is spoken over those dead bones can there be life. You were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. God made us alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of death that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.   If we want life, he says you need to be joined to Jesus. Life will come if we are joined to His death and His resurrection.   Paul does not leave it there. Colossians 3:1, “If then you have been raised with Christ,… ” He says if that's the case, if you've been raised with Him then here's what it's supposed to look like. “… seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” If you've received this life, if you are hearing the life-giving voice of Jesus, then what people will see in you and in me is not us, but Jesus. Our life is hidden in Him, you can't see us anymore, you just see Jesus. Our life, because our mind is put on the things that are above, our actions are in seeking Him, a life that is changed to follow Him and pursue Him. That's how we know that we've passed from death to life. That is why John wrote his epistle of 1st John, “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.”   We can know, just look and see. Have I been joined with Jesus and is my life hidden with Him? If it is, there is reason for rejoicing because it doesn't matter what's going to happen to these physical bodies from here on. It doesn't matter what happens to us in this life. It doesn't matter how long it takes for the Lord to return. The hope stands firm, one day we will be raised to a resurrection of life. One day the powerful voice of Jesus will be spoken, and we will go to be with our God.   If we have not put our life in Christ, if we have not been buried with Him in baptism, if we have not put our faith in the powerful working of God, then there is reason for great concern because Jesus says, you are still dead in your sins, and on the day that He returns, you will be raised to judgment. Don't let that be the result of your life.   The answer is clear. There is something that happens after death. There is something that awaits all of us. Every single human will stand before the judgment seat of God, giving an account for the things that are done in the body.   Choose today to have life. Choose today to have hope of resurrection to life rather than the depressing thought of resurrection to judgment. Come to Jesus. Believe in Him with all your heart. Confess Him as the son of God and hear His powerful words and obey those words and follow Him and serve Him. Won't you come while we stand and while we sing?     # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercheville  

Should I Hang-On or Let-Go? Matthew 16:24-26   Men who trap animals in Africa for zoos in America say that one of the hardest animals to catch is the ring-tailed monkey. For the Zulus of that continent, however, it’s simple. They’ve been catching this agile little animal with ease for years. The method Zulus use is based on knowledge of the animal. Their trap is nothing more than a melon growing on a vine. The seeds of this melon are a favorite of the monkey. Knowing this, the Zulus simply cut a hole in the melon, just large enough for the monkey to insert his hand to reach the seeds inside. The monkey will stick his hand in, grab as many seeds as he can, then start to withdraw it. This he cannot do. His fist is now larger than the hole. The monkey will pull and pull BUT as hard as he tries… he cannot free himself if he holds on to the seeds!   And there is the story of the PIRATE who obtained a great chest full of treasure. The pirate held on tightly to that chest because he saw in that chest the fulfillment of his dreams, hopes and aspirations.   He knew that the treasure was the key to his “good life”. Having already obtained a great fortune, the pirate decided to return home and after boarding the ship and having traveled a great distance from shore… a storm arose. It did not take long for the storm to overtake the ship and eventually break the ship into pieces. Eventually, the pirate and his treasure plunged into the sea. He began to sink holding tightly to his treasure. As he was sinking, all that went through his mind was how he could get his treasure safely to shore.   However, he began to realize that if he continued to hold onto that chest, he would not be able to make it to shore, and that same chest which he saw as his life... was now causing him to face death.   Reluctantly the pirate let go of that chest and began to swim towards shore. We are a lot like that pirate. We hold on to our agenda and ego thinking that they are bringing us life, however, that is not the reality. They are really pulling us towards our death and at some point, we must let go.   Sometimes we think we know what is best for our lives. Sometimes we think that we do not need someone else to control us because we are capable of making those good decisions on our own. However, I do not think we always know what is best. I believe our idea of good has been tainted by sin. Jeremiah says, “The heart is exceeding deceitful above all things.” I believe it is that deception that allows us to think we on our own can know what is best for our lives. We need to learn plainly that the power of a good and godly life is not in us alone, but it comes from Christ. We need to trust that Jesus knows what is best for us even better than we do.   Letting go can be a very difficult thing. When we let go we become vulnerable. Many people refuse to let go of things in their life because they are afraid of doing so. Whether it be a sin, some negative trait, bitterness, pride or worry we are often reluctant to simply let go. We have those things we are clinging to and refuse to let go of, however before we can get to Jesus we must let go.   What is it today that is holding you back from letting go? Is it fear of the unknown? Is it a fear of what others may think of you? Perhaps some never change because they don’t want others to think less of them. Is it unwillingness to change? Is it your pride? Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:24–26 are among the most challenging—and liberating—in all of Scripture.   They confront our instincts for comfort, control, and self-preservation, and they invite us into a life that is deeper, truer, and more eternal than anything we could build on our own. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”   Jesus begins with a word that cuts against the grain of our culture: deny yourself. This does not mean: Hating yourself Ignoring your needs Becoming passive or joyless It means: Laying down the illusion that we are the center Surrendering our will to God’s will Letting Christ—not our desires—set the direction of our lives Self-denial is not self-destruction; it is self-surrender. It is saying, “Lord, You lead. I trust You more than I trust myself.”   To Jesus’ first listeners, the cross was not a metaphor. It was an instrument of death. So when Jesus said, “Take up your cross,” He meant: Be willing to die to the old life Let go of sin that clings Accept that following Him will cost something Embrace obedience even when it is uncomfortable The cross is not a minor inconvenience. It is the place where our old self is crucified so a new life can rise.   Jesus does not say, “Go figure it out.” He says, “Follow Me.”     This means: Walking where He walks Loving as He loves Serving as He serves Trusting as He trusts Obeying even when we don’t understand Christianity is not merely believing in Jesus; it is becoming like Jesus.   Jesus reveals a spiritual truth that seems upside-down: If you cling to your life—your plans, your comfort, your control—you lose it. If you surrender your life to Christ, you find the life you were created for.   The world says: “Protect yourself. Promote yourself. Preserve yourself.” Jesus says: “Give yourself away, and you will discover who you truly are.” The life Jesus offers is not smaller—it is fuller, freer, and eternal.   Jesus asks a question that echoes through every generation: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world BUT forfeits his soul?” You MAY can gain: Wealth Success Influence Comfort Applause But if your soul is empty, lost, or disconnected from God, you have gained nothing that lasts.   The world can fill your hands, but only Christ can fill your soul. Jesus is not trying to take life from us—He is trying to give us real life.   Following Him means: Purpose instead of aimlessness Peace instead of anxiety Identity instead of insecurity Hope instead of despair Eternal life instead of temporary satisfaction The cross leads to resurrection. Surrender leads to freedom. Losing your life leads to finding it. Jesus taught that we cannot serve two masters. A ship cannot fly two countries’ flags. When we deny ourselves and take up our cross, we are allowing Jesus to take over as Lord of our lives. When Jesus is Lord it means He sets the rules. It means that we are willing to submit ourselves under His authority. Jesus taught in Matthew 7 , “Many will say to me on that day Lord, Lord, but not enter the kingdom of Heaven.” When Jesus becomes Lord, it means we concede control of our lives over to Him.   Romans 6:6-7 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. We learn that at our baptism we not only received the forgiveness of our sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, but we died. We died with Christ and our old self was crucified in Him. As Christians we do not gratify our sinful desires any longer. In other words, as a Christian there are still things that are sinful that I would LIKE to do. I am still TEMPTED to do wrong things; however, I REFUSE doing them because I am not going to gratify those desires any longer because I am not living to myself.   Colossians 3:5-10 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. If we have really died to self, then we will not give into those temptations and desires we have. The new self should be increasingly more God-like in its actions.   Ephesians 4:22-24 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. We No Longer Live to Ourselves   Galatians 2:20 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. We need to understand that we no longer live to ourselves. We have died. Let us remember that dying to self means that WE no longer live, but it is CHRIST living in us.   Why Is Letting Go of Self So Difficult? The idea of Heaven and eternity with God sounds great and perhaps many would volunteer to receive that, however the idea of signing your life away doesn’t sound too appealing, does it? We love those feel-good verses of Scripture, but we begin to squirm a little when we read of the cost of following Jesus.   We love to be in control. We get a little uncomfortable when we read about denying ourselves and taking up our cross. That doesn’t sound too appealing. William Ernest Henley in his famous poem entitled “Invictus” said, “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.” Many of us have bought into this philosophy that we are the master of our lives. We like to be in control. I would much rather be in control of a situation than have someone else in control of the situation.   I am one of those people that would rather do it myself than entrust it to someone else. That is not a good attribute. We need to learn to allow Jesus to be the master of our fate and the captain of my soul. Perhaps some feel like it is a violation of their freedoms to lay aside themselves and let Jesus take control. Perhaps they feel that this is the sign of somebody being weak and vulnerable.   Jesus taught that we must lose our lives to really find it. By that He means that we give up the project of making OURSELVES the ultimate reference point in our world. We are not number one. The universe does not revolve around us. We live in a very selfish society. The idea of sacrificing and giving up something doesn’t sound appealing to many people. We are people that want to know the price of everything and the cost of nothing. We want to get as much as we can while doing as little as possible to get it. The idea of delaying gratification seems ridiculous to many. We live by the philosophy, “if it feels good it must be right.”   What Must We do to Let go of Self? We must step down. Perhaps we need to have the mindset that John the Baptist had when he said I must decrease and Christ must increase.   We must be willing to step aside and let Him have the glory and honor of all that we do or accomplish. We must step down from our position of authority over our lives and give Him the reins. There are many tools we can use such as prayer, Bible study, service, worship, and fellowship, but the reality is we must train ourselves to be godly.   Jesus is calling you to deny yourself today! What cross is He asking you to pick up? What part of your life is He inviting you to surrender so He can give you something better? The call of Jesus is costly—but the reward is eternal.  

Jesus Is God John 5:15-24   INTRO: Good morning church. In our study of John 5 we read about Jesus healing a disabled man on a Sabbath. This man had been in this condition for 38 years, equal to the time of the helplessness and hopelessness of the Israelites as they were punished for their sins in the wilderness during the days of Moses. We suggested this maybe the reason that Jesus selects this man over all the other people who are in this covered porch area. The man's inability to move contrasts with Jesus' command, showing that spiritual life comes through Christ's word (grace) rather than human effort or strict observance (law).   Verse 9 tells us that this was the Sabbath and problems are going to arise for Jesus from the Jewish leadership. The religious leaders, focused on Sabbath rules, were spiritually blind, and couldn't see the miracle. They question the healed man about whom it was that healed him, but he did not know who it was. Later, Jesus finds this healed man at the temple and tells him to sin no more so that no worse thing will happen to him.   John 5:15-16, “The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.” These verses tell us that the healed man, goes to the Jewish leaders and tells them that it was Jesus who had healed him. This ignites a persecution against Jesus because He was healing on the Sabbath. Jesus responds to this persecution by teaching that He is equal to God… because He is God. What we are about to read is Jesus’ own defense of His deity.   I. Jesus Is Equal with God in His Person (John 5:17-18) – Jesus’ answer is fascinating. The Jewish persecution is because they are charging Jesus with doing work on the Sabbath. Rather than teaching them that healing is not work and not a violation of the Sabbath, Jesus goes the other direction and argues that He is working on the Sabbath and why that is acceptable. This is not at all what we would expect to read, and I would imagine it took the Jewish leaders by surprise. A. Listen to the statement Jesus makes in verse 17. “But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”[ESV] Jesus says, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” He is saying, “You’re right, I'm working. 1. Consider what Jesus is doing by saying those words and agreeing with them that He is working on the Sabbath. He is also making the observation that what He is doing is acceptable. It is right for Him to work on the Sabbath. 2. To understand that let’s consider Genesis 2:2-3. “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” It is not stated here that God rested from all activity, but that He rested from creation, "His work that He had done," an expression twice repeated in verse 2. In verse 3 here also, the specific thing from which it is stated that God rested is the work of creation. 3. Jewish sources acknowledge God's ongoing work (providence, sustaining life) but distinguish it from human general activity, i.e. creative, productive labor. Priests did not stop working when the Sabbath day came but were in the sanctuary working for the Lord (Matthew 12:5). 4. It was acceptable for God since He is the creator of all things, to then, “violate the Sabbath”, because He's over all things. I just think this is an interesting aside. I mean, if you must justify God for doing anything, you are probably working from a lousy position in the first place. Of course, God is working. He is sustaining all things. 5. Notice what Jesus does in verse 17. He places Himself in a unique relationship with the Father. He doesn't say our Father is working. He says, my Father is working. He excludes everybody else from this. The idea is of course; humans are under the requirements of the Sabbath Law… but God is not. Therefore, Jesus must be working. To put it another way, if you recognize that God the Father is working, then I must be working as well, because I'm God. That's exactly how the Jews understand it. B. John 5:18, “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” It is not only the persecution of verse 16, now they want to kill Him. Jesus makes the claim that He is equal with God. This is the thrust of the argument Jesus is making. My Father is still working continually, and so am I. 1. An aside here. We're living in a time where some people say that in the scriptures Jesus never claimed to be God. We will see that He claims to be God five times in this text and the first is right here. God's working: therefore, I must be working. There's no option. I must work because I'm God. God works on the Sabbath, and so do I, because I'm God. 2. Jesus does not tell them that they misunderstood, instead He is going to offer four more proofs that He is God and is equal to God in every way. II. Jesus Is Equal to God in His Works (John 5:19-20) – “So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.” A. Look at the two parts of this amazing answer that Jesus gives. First, the Son does not do things with His own initiative, but only what He sees the Father doing. Please underline the word “see.” Who can see what the Father is doing? Do you see what God the Father is doing right now? 1. No human can see what God is doing. In fact, John made that argument at the very beginning of this gospel. “No one has seen God at any time.” Here Jesus is making an extraordinary statement. I see what the Father is doing. I am able to observe His actions. 2. Humans cannot observe those actions. Humans cannot see God, nor see everything that He does. Jesus says, I see what the Father is doing. I'm not doing my own works. I'm doing everything I see God do. 3. Jesus is saying that His action has been in harmony with the will of God. That places Him in a very important state of privilege. That makes Him God, because He can see God and humans cannot see God. 4. Not only does He say that He sees God, but He says He does what the Father does. No human can do what God does. Can you be holy and pure and right so that every action you take is the same action as God in holiness and purity? ·         Can you do what God does? ·         Can you speak worlds into existence? ·         Can you say, let there be light and there is light? ·         Can you create anything? Humans do a great job at making all kinds of things, but we cannot create something out of nothing. 5. He says, I see what my Father does, and I do exactly what He does. Nobody else can do that. B. Then Jesus adds in verse 20, “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.” Not only does Jesus see what the Father does, not only does He then do what the Father does, He goes further and says that the Father reveals to Jesus everything that He's doing, everything that is going on. 1. He has full knowledge of the Father in every aspect, in every category, full understanding, because the Father has revealed it to Him. Think back to John 1:1, it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” That is very important to us, Jesus is the Word. He reveals the very message of God. Jesus reveals everything to us about the Father. He is the revealer of who God is. 2. The Son is obedient to the Father in every way and acts in such a way as to reveal who the Father is and does the Father's works and performs the Father's will. It is why Jesus later in this gospel says, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. Why? Because I do what He does. 3. He reveals everything to me; therefore, since I'm obedient to Him, everything that I do reflects the Father. Everything that I say reflects the very words of God himself. He is taking this to another level and is telling them, I'm not human. I'm God. That's why I'm working because God is working. C. Notice how verse 20 tacks on the end of that—you're going to see greater works than these. I'm going to do greater things than this. Greater signs than healing this disabled man are going to come from the Father through the Son. Of course, His greatest sign will be when He is lifted up on the cross to His death only to rise from the dead three days later. That then is the second proof. He's equal to God because He does the works of God. III. Jesus Is Equal to God in Power (John 5:21) – The third is verse 21 – “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.” A. Jesus’ claim to be able to raise the dead and give life to whomever He wills, is startling. Raising the dead and giving life are the sole works… and choices, of God. 1. Carefully observe what Jesus is arguing. He's not just simply saying, “I can raise people from the dead.” If we look back to the Old Testament, we can see the dead raised and life given. Elijah prayed to God and raised the widow’s son from the dead. Here Jesus is not claiming to be God’s instrument through which resurrection and life come. Notice how that verse ended – “… the Son gives life to whom he will.” 2. Can Elijah say that? No. No one has that power. The prophets could not give life to whoever they wanted. They all relied upon the power of God to perform those miracles, but Jesus is not an instrument through which God was healing. Jesus is the healer. B. Go back to John 1:4, “In him was life!” This is an important truth to the lesson Jesus is teaching, and the direction Jesus wants to lead His audience. Jesus gives life to whoever He wants. Jesus makes the choice. It is the prerogative of Jesus to make that determination. IV. Jesus is Equal to God in Judgment (John 5:22) – “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, ”. Just like the power to raise from the dead and give life, so also is the assertion of judgment. Who alone can judge? Only God can judge. All judgment is given to the Son. Therefore, Jesus is God because He has the power to judge. A. This is another important truth to the lesson Jesus is teaching. Jesus is the determiner of life and Jesus is the judge. Jesus deals with the two realities confessed in the Jewish faith. Only God gives life at the beginning and only God gives judgment at the end. Jesus has just laid claim to both of those prerogatives, claiming them for His own. B. This then is the fourth – Jesus is the one who brings judgment. Paul in 2nd Timothy 4:7 says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day…” V. Jesus Is Equal to God in Honor (John 5:23) – Why has all life-giving and judgment-related authority been given to the Son? Jesus explains in verse 23: “that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father…” A. The reason Jesus has all life-giving authority, and the reason that He has the authority and the power to judge, is so that everybody on earth, all peoples, will honor the Son as He ought to be honored, just as they honor the Father. 1. Conversely, to not give Jesus equal honor is to not honor the Father. Anyone who fails to acknowledge the authority of the Son is rejecting the Sender, the Father. To say that Jesus is just a prophet, just a good guy, just somebody you should follow, an interesting figure in history, is to not honor the Father. Those who say Jesus is not the Christ, but a prophet is anti-Christ. 1st John 2:22. 2. Jesus is saying, You must honor me on an equal level as God or you are not honoring the Father. You are not honoring the one who sent me. That is important today. Everybody is all “yea God”, but not everybody is “yea Jesus”. It’s just too polarizing to bring up Jesus they say, just say God. 3. You cannot honor the Father unless you honor the son. You cannot honor the Father unless you honor Jesus. It is not possible. Jesus makes that argument crystal clear right here. There is no way to honor Him unless you honor the One and only Son. You cannot leave Him out, and if you do so, that is an insult to the Father. To fail to acknowledge the authority of the Son is to reject the authority of the Father. B. Therefore, in contrast with the Jewish leaders’ charge of blasphemy, Jesus is honoring the Father because He is doing the Father’s will. His acts honor the Father. However, by them dishonoring Jesus they are dishonoring the Father. In a great turn of events, it is they, not Him, who is dishonoring God. VI. Concluding Call (John 5:24) – In verse 24, the fifth point, Jesus ties together who He is and what this means to these people and to the world. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” I suggest what Jesus just said is calling upon them to bow the knee, to submit and to serve and to worship Jesus as God. He says, “…hears my word and believes…” A. We can take those two things as passive concepts. He is not being passive with His audience. When you say that your child never listens, what do you mean by that? That they are deaf and can't hear? No, you mean they are disobedient. They do not do as they are told. 1. Hearing and believing Christ's word is equivalent to believing God who sent Him. Believing Jesus is believing God! 2. Here is another skillful advocacy of His deity. This focuses upon the true mission of our Lord's coming into the world—to bring men eternal life. The Pharisees, had they been interested in such a blessing, might have been convinced by this promise; but they were too busy with their earthly concerns to pay any attention to the great hope shown in these words. B. Jesus says, “…hears my word AND believes him who sent me…” Remember Nicodemus? Nicodemus comes to Jesus and says we know that you are from God. 1. Sounds like belief. Jesus says to him unless you are born again you will not see the kingdom of God. Then Jesus spends time trying to teach him about the need for life transformation. In John’s gospel we have been reading of people who have shallow, simple belief that has not led to life transformation. Jesus is working in each of those cases to try to get them to see that is not enough. 2. If we have experienced this life change, if we hear the words of Jesus and believe, submitting and doing what He says, believing in Him, we are experiencing that transformation from His words. C. Jesus determines the destiny of every soul. Jesus determines the judgment of every person. Jesus decides to whom He will give life. Jesus calls for the ears of everyone to carefully hear as He says, “Truly, truly” to begin this glorious teaching. Listen carefully to the words of our Lord because they are true. Whoever hears the words of Jesus believes in Him and believes in the One who sent Him has eternal life. 1. The call is to bow the knee and worship Jesus as God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is divine and has come to this world with the power of life and the power of judgment. Listen to the words of Jesus, which does not mean to merely hear what He says but to do what He says. We are to listen to the words of Jesus and believe. 2. We saw in chapter 3, and we will continue to remind ourselves of this as we go through this gospel, that saving faith is not just acknowledgment, but to be born again. Hearing and believing is to obey the words of Jesus and experience radical life transformation from His word. Those are the people who have eternal life. 3. Listen to the wonderful words at the end of verse 24: “… He (the person who hears and believes) does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” Life is defined as a person having crossed over from death to life. To pass from death to life is to be born from above. It implies a line of demarcation between those who have returned to God’s side and those who remain against Him.   CONCLUSION: Please note that this is not in the future tense. Notice how John describes this as our current condition. Jesus is the judge because the Father has given all judgment into His hand. We do not come into judgment when we hear the words of Jesus and believe. In fact, we have passed from death to life already. To use the words of the apostle Paul, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness (death) and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (life) in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).   You have life now when you come to Jesus. You will pass from death to life when you listen to Jesus and give your life to Him in submission.   Jesus gives life to whom He wills (John 5:21). Jesus gives life to those who hear Him and believe Him (John 5:24). All judgment has been given to Jesus (John 5:22). Whoever dishonors Jesus also dishonors the Father (John 5:23). How do you honor the king? The only way to honor the king is to bow the knee and submit to His authority. We honor the king by worshiping the king. We honor the king by praising the king. We honor the king by doing what the king commands. Jesus is God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Submit to your king and your God. If you have not accepted Jesus and believed in Him and submitted your life to Him, that is your starting point—believe that Jesus is the son of God who came to this world and died for your sins. Be immersed in water to have your sins washed away to enter a relationship with Him so that you can know that you have eternal life.   If you've already begun there, don't stop. Do not think you can put your life in neutral and you're good to go. Deepen the relationship. See Him as the treasure. Recognize Him and honor Him for who He is. We invite you to come while we stand and while we sing.     # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercheville

LIFE’S TRIALS: SINKING or STAYING AFLOAT? Matthew 14: 22–33 There are moments in every believer’s life when Jesus calls us out of what is familiar and safe. Sometimes it’s a new ministry, a hard conversation, a step of repentance, or a season of suffering. And in those moments, we often feel like Peter—caught between faith and fear, between the comfort of the boat and the invitation of Christ.   Once there was a tourist who was taking a tour of biblical sites, when he came to a beach on the Sea of Galilee, he saw a boat and a sign advertising, “FREE BOAT RIDE TO THE EXACT PLACE WHERE JESUS AND PETER WALKED ON WATER!!!” He boarded the boat and enjoyed the ride to the middle of the lake where the boat captain stopped the boat and announced that this was the spot where they had walked on the water. After spending a few minutes at that spot, the tourist said to the boat captain, “Ok, I’ve seen enough, I’m ready to back to shore.”   The boat captain pointing to the sign, and said, “The boat ride to the exact place where Jesus and Peter walked on the water was free, but the ride back to shore is not free, it will cost you $50 for the ride back to shore.” The tourist, shocked by the charge, exclaimed, “No wonder Peter got out and walked!”   Today we are going to examine this moment in Peter’s life when he walked on the water. We all know that he didn’t walk on the water because the boat captain was going to charge him too much for the trip back to shore. But why did Peter walk on the water? And, how did Peter walk on the water? And most importantly, what did Peter learn from the experience and what can we learn from it?   This story is not just about a man walking on water. It’s about a Savior who meets us in the storm, calls us beyond our limits, and refuses to let us drown. Please turn with me to our text for this morning’s lesson found in Matthew 14: 22–33   The 1st thing I noticed is that Jesus Sends Them Into the Storm Matthew tells us that in verse 22, Jesus “made the disciples get into the boat”. They didn’t drift into trouble. They were sent. Note: Obedience does not prevent storms. Sometimes it leads us straight into them.   So, I ask the question: Did the storm take the disciples by surprise? Absolutely! (They didn’t have a weather app). Did the storm take Jesus by surprise? Absolutely Not. So, why did Jesus tell them to get in a boat and cross the lake when He knew a storm was coming? Do you think there were some lessons they needed to learn that could only be learned in the midst of a storm? Sometimes the storms we face are the result of our disobedience and God’s correction and discipline. Other times, the storms we face come not because we have been disobedient, but because we have been obedient and we are in God’s will. Another thing to keep in mind about the storms we face have to do with God’s knowledge. While Jesus was in prayer on the mountain, do you think He was aware of what the disciples were experiencing in the storm? I believe Jesus knew and could see exactly where they were and what they were going through. But, if Jesus knew, then why didn’t He come to their rescue sooner? I trust that Jesus came to their rescue at precisely the very best time and not a moment before. Even though we can’t always see God in the midst of our storms, we can trust that God sees us and that God has a plan for our rescue.   Let’s turn our attention back to the story. Let’s see what happened when Jesus showed up. The disciples were exactly where Jesus told them to be, doing exactly what He told them to do — and still the wind was against them. Many believers assume that hardship means they’ve done something wrong. But sometimes the storm is the classroom where Christ teaches us what calm seas never could.   The 2nd thing I want to note is that Jesus Comes to Them in the Darkest Watch. It was the fourth watch of the night — between 3 and 6 a.m. The darkest, coldest, most exhausted moment. And that’s when Jesus came. Not early. Not when they still had strength. Not when the waves were manageable. A Lesson to us is that: Jesus often shows Himself most clearly when our strength is gone. He walks on the very thing that threatens to destroy them. What terrifies them is under His feet.   The 3rd thing to note is Peter’s Bold Request: “Lord, if it is You, command me…”   Peter gets criticized for sinking, but let’s be honest — he’s the only one who got out of the boat. He doesn’t move on impulse. He doesn’t test Jesus. He asks for a command. Key lesson here is: Faith is not reckless. Faith responds to the voice of Jesus. Peter doesn’t walk on water. He walks on the word of Christ.   Peter Walks — Until He Looks Away. As long as his eyes are on Jesus, he does the impossible. But when he shifts his focus to the wind, fear floods in. The main note for us is that: Fear grows when we meditate on the storm instead of the Savior. The wind had been there the whole time. Nothing changed except Peter’s focus. And yet — even in his failure — Peter does the most important thing he could do: He cries out, “Lord, save me!”   Another thing to note is that: Jesus Immediately Reaches Out. Not eventually. Not after a lecture. Not after Peter proves himself. Immediately. Jesus doesn’t let His children drown in their own weakness. He lifts Peter up and asks, “Why did you doubt?” Not to shame him, but to teach him. May we realize that Jesus uses our sinking moments to deepen our faith, not to condemn us.   The wind doesn’t stop when Peter walks. It stops when Jesus steps into the boat. The presence of Christ brings peace that circumstances cannot. And the disciples respond the only way that makes sense: They worship Him.       Over the years, some people have criticized Peter and reacted negatively to what Peter did. Some have said that Peter was conceited and was trying to be a showoff – “Hey look at me, no hands!” But Peter asked for permission and then waited for permission to be granted.   If Jesus had said, “No,” then I’m sure Peter would have stayed in the boat. But Jesus didn’t say, “No,” rather, Jesus said, “Come on.” At that moment, the smartest thing Peter could do was get out of the boat. Once Jesus commanded that Peter come, then he had better obey, and he did obey. And so, Peter got out of the boat – how can anyone criticize him for that? In some respects, I wish the story ended right there... Peter walked on the water, period! But the story doesn’t end there – we all know what happened next. The Bible says in verse 30 of our text: But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” Peter was fully walking on the water... walking away from the boat...walking toward Jesus. Everything was going great, then came the “but” – “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid.” Everything went just fine until Peter took his focus off Jesus and began to focus on the storm. How long did it take for Peter to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus? Only a second! Keep in mind that the storm never stopped raging while Peter walked on the water. The wind was still blowing, and the waves were tossing the boat about and the rain was coming down in sheets.   Many old time ministers define faith as “concentration on Jesus.” That is a great definition – how easy is it for us to be distracted by life and the storms and challenges of life, and when we do our faith can waver. But when, through faith, we concentrate on Jesus and focus on Him, then we can have peace and power, even when the storm rages around us. Just because we focus on Christ does not mean that the wind and waves are going to stop. Peter began to sink into the water, but when it happened, he immediately cried out for Jesus to help him. Do you think Peter was a swimmer? I’m sure Peter was a pretty good swimmer, he had spent his life around or on the water but isn’t it interesting that he didn’t attempt to swim. His first thought wasn’t, “I can handle this, or do it on my own,” rather his first thought was to pray and ask for help.   Peter prayed one of the shortest prayers in the Bible, “Lord, save me.” Sometimes there isn’t time for a long prayer – like when you are about to drown. Prayers don’t need to be long or detailed – they just need to be sincere and specific. No sooner than the words were spoken, Jesus’ help arrived. Verses 31–33 of our text, “31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. 33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.” Jesus didn’t rebuke Peter because he wanted to walk on the water, but He did rebuke him for his lack of faith. Peter had the faith to get out of the boat but then didn’t have the faith to sustain him. There’s a difference between short faith and long faith, or shallow faith and deep faith. But in spite of Peter’s lack of faith, Jesus was willing to help him. While Jesus continued to stand on the water, He took hold of Peter and pulled him back up on top of the water and together they walked over and got into the boat. Jesus used this teachable moment with Peter and the other disciples. And the moment they were back in the boat the wind and rain subsided and those in the boat worshiped Jesus. What aspect of the Christian life have you lacked the faith to be able to step out of the boat and try? If we are never willing to take a chance and step out of the boat, then we will never walk on water and discover what living by faith is all about. So, Let’s step out of the boat, obeying the command to walk by faith. Let’s not play it safe like the disciples who stayed in the boat, but let’s be like Peter who took a risk and walked on water and 2000 years later we are still talking about it.   But unlike Peter, we don’t have to sink, if we will keep walking by faith, keeping our eyes on the Lord. I pray that we will be great risk-takers for the kingdom of God. I pray that God will help us shake ourselves loose from the security of staying in the boat. And I pray that God will help us continue to walk on the waters of faith because we trust in God’s power and wisdom to uphold us.   Conclusion: What Is Jesus Calling You to Step Out Into? Every believer has a “boat” — a place of comfort, predictability, and control. And every believer hears the voice of Jesus saying, “Come.” Maybe He’s calling you to forgive someone Maybe He’s calling you to trust Him in a diagnosis Maybe He’s calling you to serve in a new way Maybe He’s calling you to walk through grief with faith Maybe He’s calling you to surrender a fear you’ve carried for years   The question is not whether the wind is strong. It always is. The question is: Will you keep your eyes on Jesus?   Today, if you feel the storm, if you feel the wind, if you feel like you’re sinking — cry out like Peter: “Lord, save me.” And the One who walks on waves will reach out His hand. Immediately. Faithfully. Powerfully.   The Lesson is yours as we stand and sing!  

SUFFERING: ACCEPT IT OR AVOID IT? James 1:3-11 Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over. The problems began when Chippie’s owner decided to clean Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She had barely said "hello" when "ssssopp!" Chippie got sucked in. The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie -- still alive, but stunned. Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held Chippie under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do . . . She reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air. Poor Chippie never knew what hit him. A few days after the trauma, the reporter who had initially written about the event contacted Chippie’s owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well," she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore -- he just sits and stares." It’s hard not to see why. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over . . . That’s enough to steal the song from the stoutest heart. “Sucked in, washed up, and Blown over” that about sums up how many of us feel at times isn’t it? It describes the certainty of trials and feelings of powerlessness that trials bring. An Army Chaplain had a sign on his door that said, “If you have troubles, come in and tell me all about them. If you don’t have troubles, come in and tell me how you do it.” James reminds us of the reality that even in the Christian life, there are trials and temptations. However, the Christian does not have to be a victim of his circumstance but can have victory even in times of trials and testing.   James tells us No matter what the trials on the outside, we can experience victory through faith in Christ. How do you respond when Life Deals You A Lemon?........   James doesn’t pretend suffering is imaginary or avoidable. Instead, he reframes it. He shows that suffering is not a sign of God’s absence but a space where something meaningful can grow. James says that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And perseverance leads to being mature and complete. Suffering isn’t pointless It shapes character It strengthens spiritual endurance It grows us into people who can stand firm   James is blunt: you cannot become spiritually mature without going through things that stretch you.   James connects trials with wisdom. Why? Because suffering exposes our limits. It forces us to ask questions we can’t answer alone. James says God gives wisdom generously and without finding fault. Suffering becomes the doorway to deeper dependence on God. For Christians to turn ‘tears of despair into tears of joy’ there are three things we need to obey.   And the 1st one is found in James 1:2 " Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds." Now notice that James doesn't say "if" but "when". In other words you can just count on it, Christians must expect trials. Jesus Himself said in John 16:33, “I have told you this so that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble, but be courageous-I have overcome the world!"   Some trials come simply because we are human, and this would be things like sickness, accidents, disappointments, and death. But other trials come because we are Christians. Peter tells us in 1st Peter 4:12 “Dear friends, do not be surprised by the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”   Paul also tells us in 2nd Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in union with Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” And so, because Satan fights us, and the world opposes us, we can expect trials.   But how are we to respond to these trials? James says, "Count it all joy!" Remember in Acts 5 when the apostles were pulled in to stand before the Council, after being flogged, the Bible says in Acts 5:41 “They left the Council, rejoicing to have been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name.” Let me share a poem with you which I think will help us get the point.   Count your blessings instead of your crosses; Count your gains instead of your losses. Count your joys instead of your woes; Count your friends instead of your foes. Count your smiles instead of your tears; Count your courage instead of your fears. Count your full years instead of your lean; Count your kind deeds instead of your mean. Count your health instead of your wealth; Count on God instead of yourself.   And, look what James says next in James 1:3 "For you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure." James says if Christians have the right knowledge concerning the value of trials, it makes it possible to have a joyful attitude. In other words, when we finally understand that trials test our faith, then we can know that the testing of our faith brings the best out in us.   A severe rash prompted a man from a rural area to come to town to be examined by a doctor. After the usual history-taking followed by a series of tests, the physician advised the patient that he would have to get rid of the dog that was obviously causing the allergic reaction. As the man was preparing to leave the office, the doctor asked him out of curiosity if he planned to sell the animal or give it away. "Neither one," the patient replied. "I’m going to get me one of them second opinions I been reading about. It’s a lot easier to find a doctor than a good bird dog." Doctors can give prescriptions and treatment plans, but it is up to the patient to take the prescription and carry out the treatment plan.   In 1st Peter 1:7 we can read the following thought, “So that the genuineness of your faith, which is more valuable than gold that perishes when it is tested by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Any athlete will tell you that you cannot expect to win anything if you don’t train, but the more you train the stronger you get.   The 2nd point that James is telling us today is that we can have joy in our trials because we know that testing works for us, not against us. When our faith is tested it produces patience. Romans 5:3-4 “Not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope”.   In the Bible "Patience" is not a passive acceptance of circumstances. The Greek word for patience means the ability to exhibit steadfastness and constancy in the face of the most daunting difficulty. In other words, Christians need courage and perseverance in the face of suffering. Christians need to keep on keeping on...  even when life if getting rough, even when our circumstances are difficult. And make no mistake that kind of perseverance can come only through experiencing trials. And when Christians finally accept and understand what trials can accomplish in our lives, it’s then we can have a joyful attitude toward our trials. And please don’t think, ‘well that’s easy for James to say.’   We need to remember what James himself went through. Before James was killed for being a Christian, he experienced sorrow. Remember that James was one of the main leaders of the Christians in Jerusalem who continually faced persecution from those outside the Church. James also learned that difficulties can produce patience. He never tells us to pretend that a trial is nonexistent. Instead, he wants us to recognize and rejoice that any problem can be an occasion for God to work in and through us in a way that He otherwise wouldn’t. This is what the Bible calls a "testing of our faith"; it calls us to believe in the goodness of God, and to trust that He is not only willing but able to accomplish His purposes, no matter what befalls us. Any difficulty, whether great or small, is an occasion for joy, but only when we remind ourselves of the nature of the God who loves us.   But for us to really benefit from our trials, we need to understand James’ next point in James 1:4 "And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing." To truly turn our tears of despair into tears of joy, we need to let "patience" do its work. We often want to get our trials or difficulties over with quickly, don’t we? But there are times when the best thing for us to do is to bear up under the trial patiently.   And so instead of grumbling and complaining, we should patiently endure the trial, doing good despite the trial. Now remember that James is writing to a bunch of Christians who really need to grow up spiritually. And what he is saying here is that when patience has had an opportunity to work, it produces "maturity." When James uses the word perfect, he doesn’t mean sinlessness, but "completeness, wholeness, maturity, and commitment." Webster’s Dictionary tells me that - Commit means to entrust, to give charge, to perform, to pledge. In my search for the definition of Commit I actually looked at one dictionary which did not even have the word commit in it. I guess they were not committed to commitment. And if we as Christians want to run the race well spiritually speaking, we need to develop patience and commitment. And that is only going to happen when we train spiritually. In other words we can only grow into spiritual maturity if we allow ourselves to face trails which test our faith. And everyone here knows that letting patience have its perfect work is not easy. If anything, it requires wisdom which enables us to see the value of our trials. And, Our 3rd point is found in James 1:5-8 "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways."   James says if we lack wisdom; ask for it from God because He has promised to give it generously. And please don’t think that God is going to rebuke us for making such a request, even Solomon's request for wisdom was well-pleasing to God as you can read in 1st Kings 3:7-12.   But what exactly is this "wisdom"? Because we need to be careful to distinguish "wisdom" from "knowledge." Knowledge involves information, facts, etc, whereas, wisdom is the ability or insight to properly use those facts quickly and in the right way. Knowledge comes only through His Word and we need to carefully study it if we want to know the Will of God. However, the wisdom to properly use His Word can be received through prayer. A proper prayer is a prayer asked in faith and with no doubt, otherwise, the prayer will not be answered by God. And this, according to James is the way that we can turn ‘our tears of despair into tears of joy.’ It’s having the knowledge and viewpoint that difficulties can accomplish a lot of good for a Christian. It’s being patient whilst enduring those difficulties to accomplish its work. And as we go through difficult times, it’s using the wisdom God gives us in answer to prayer to help us put it all together. And when we finally understand these things, it’s then that even trials can be seen as a source of joy for the Christian.   Solomon writes in Proverbs 30:7-9 “I ask you, God, to let me have two things before I die: keep me from lying, and let me be neither rich nor poor. So, give me only as much food as I need. If I have more, I might say that I do not need you. But if I am poor, I might steal and bring disgrace on my God”. Solomon tells us that when we are poor we may be tempted to curse God. Which is exactly what Job's wife wanted her husband to do, when they had lost everything Job 2:9 “His wife said to him, "You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don't you curse God and die?" And the problem with being wealthy is that we may be tempted to forget God. In Deuteronomy 8:10-14 before God gave the Israelites the Promised Land He warned Israel that they might forget God because of their wealth. And what happened? Hosea 13:5-6 “I took care of you in a dry, desert land. But when you entered the good land, you became full and satisfied, and then you grew proud and forgot me.”   So, here in James he’s going to share with us reasons to be joyous whether we’re poor or rich. James 1:9 “Those Christians who are poor must be glad when God lifts them up”. James says if we are "poor", then we can rejoice that we have been "lifted up." Then in James 2:5 he says “Listen, my dear friends! God chose the poor people of this world to be rich in faith and to possess the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.” And so what James is telling us here is that even if you are poor, you can still be "spiritually rich" and on an equal par with all other Christians. Revelation 2:8-9 "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: "This is the message from the one who is the first and the last, who died and lived again. I know your troubles; I know that you are poor---but really you are rich! I know the evil things said against you by those who claim to be Jews but are not; they are a group that belongs to Satan!” Now not only can the poor rejoice because God has lifted them up but if you are "rich", then you too can rejoice because you have been "humbled." Now how does God humble the rich?   James 1:10-11 tells us, “And the rich Christians must be glad when God brings them down. For the rich will pass awaylike the flower of a wild plant. The sun rises with its blazing heat and burns the plant; its flower falls off, and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way the rich will be destroyed while they go about their business.” In other words, the riches which the wealthy have are only temporary.   1st Timothy 6:17 “Tell those who are rich in the present world not to be arrogant and not to place their confidence in anything as uncertain as riches. Instead, let them place their confidence in God, who lavishly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” Now not only are riches temporary, but they are also unable to redeem our souls. Psalm 49:6-9 “By evil people who trust in their riches and boast of their great wealth. We can never redeem ourselves; we cannot pay God the price for our lives, because the payment for a human life is too great. What we could pay would never be enough to keep us from the grave, to let us live forever.” I don’t care how rich you are, you cannot buy your way into heaven. May our God bless us all as we allow Him to turn ‘our tears of despair into tears of joy.’ Let me leave you with the inspired words of a man who knew exactly what we’re talking about today. Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11-13 “I am not saying this because I am in any need, for I have learned to be content in whatever situation I am in. I know how to be humble, and I know how to prosper. In each and every situation I have learned the secret of being full and of going hungry, of having too much and of having too little. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, it was kind of you to share my troubles.”     INVITATION  

The Need to Run the Race Hebrews 12:1-3 and Psalms 5:1-12 “If you see me running, you better run too because that would mean that something is chasing me.”   “I run every day for 30 minutes, if I miss a day I add 30 minutes to the next day. This has truly been a game changer, tomorrow I’m supposed to run for 3 weeks.”   “If you’re on the treadmill next to me, the answer is yes, we are racing.”   A few years ago, a young woman named Lois signed up for her first marathon. She trained hard, but halfway through the race, everything started to fall apart. Her legs cramped. Her breathing tightened. Her confidence evaporated. She slowed to a walk and eventually stopped altogether. She stood on the side of the road, hands on her knees, ready to quit. Then something unexpected happened. From behind her came an older runner — gray hair, steady stride, clearly someone who had run many races before. He slowed down, looked at her, and said, “Don’t stop here. You’ve come too far. Run with me.”   She tried to explain how tired she was, how much pain she felt, how she didn’t think she could finish. The man just smiled and said, “Pain means you’re still in the race. Keep your eyes on the finish line. I’ll stay with you.” So, she started running again — slowly at first, then stronger. Every time she wanted to quit, the man reminded her, “Look ahead. Don’t stare at your feet. Don’t stare at your pain. Look at where you’re going.” When they finally crossed the finish line, Lois turned to thank him… but he was gone. Lost in the crowd. She never saw him again. But she never forgot what he said: “Don’t stop here. Keep your eyes on the finish line.” This Illustrates Hebrews 12:1–3 As some of you know, the apostle Paul often compared the Christian life to athletic events, and he is doing so in this passage.   “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”   “We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.” Lois wasn’t running alone. Someone who had run the race before came alongside her. In the same way, the heroes of faith — and the faithful people in our own lives — cheer us on by their example. “Let us throw off everything that hinders.” Her pain, discouragement, and self‑doubt were the weights slowing her down. We carry our own: guilt, fear, distraction, sin. “Let us run with endurance.” Endurance isn’t glamorous. It’s choosing not to quit when quitting feels easier. “Fixing our eyes on Jesus.” Just as Lois had to lift her eyes from her pain to the finish line, we lift our eyes to Christ — the one who endured the cross and now stands at the finish, calling us forward.   I like to hear stories about people who won't give up.   Quitters aren't much of an inspiration, but people who stay with a commitment even though the going gets tough are a source of inspiration to us all.   Do you remember the man who came to Jesus and said, "I'll follow you wherever you go"? Jesus told him, "Before you make that kind of commitment, you need to realize that foxes have holes and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." "In other words, if you follow me, realize that there will be difficulties. There will be times when you will not know where you'll sleep, or where your next meal is coming from. There will be difficult and discouraging times. But after you realize that, and then put your hands to the plow," He said, "don't look back."   When people start the Christian life, and then quit when the going gets tough, they can become an object of ridicule to some, and a source of discouragement to others. That's the reason Hebrews 12:1-3 is so important. In this passage Paul is not comparing the Christian life to a wind sprint, but to a marathon.   In a wind sprint you run as fast as you can for a short distance, and speed is the critical factor. But in a marathon, endurance is the critical factor, and the concern is that over the long run the runner will not “grow weary and lose heart.” The Apostle Paul was faithful. In his last letter to Timothy, (2nd Timothy 4:7-8), he wrote,  “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”   Finishing the race is critically important to all of us who would be followers of Jesus. And I believe that this morning’s text in Hebrews 12 contains at least 3 pieces of advice that will help each of us faithfully run the race that is before us.   The first piece of advice is to remember that you are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, and that you can be inspired by those who have gone before.   Notice that chapter 12 begins with the word "Therefore." That connects it with the previous chapter. And in chapter 11 the writer of Hebrews gives a long list of people who have been found faithful.   1.    For instance, in vs. 7 he mentions Noah. We can hear Noah whispering in our ear, "How long do you say you've been waiting? It took me 100 years to build the ark, and it was never easy. I tried to warn the people, but no one would listen. Yet I kept on building, and when the floods came the ark was the vehicle of our salvation. You need to keep on, keeping on, also."   2.    Next, in vs. 8, is Abraham. Abraham, called from his home in Ur to a place where God would lead him; Abraham, who in his old age was told that his wife, Sara, would bear a son; Abraham, who was told to take this precious son and offer him as a sacrifice. It wasn’t easy, but Abraham passed every test!   So, when you become discouraged, here is Abraham whispering in your ear. "Listen," "if you obey God, the world will think you’re crazy because God's ways are not their ways. But listen carefully and be true to His will."   3.    Then go to vs. 22 and the story of Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. In Egypt he was accused of crimes he didn't commit and thrown into prison. He was about as low as a person can get. Yet he remained faithful to God. Then everything changes, and suddenly he is very powerful, Prime Minister of Egypt. He has control of money and grain and food and people. And yet, when he is at the top, he is still faithful to God.   So, listen to Joseph say, "Look, it doesn't take much to be faithful when things are going your way. But when you are at the bottom, and everything seems to be falling apart, make sure that you're still faithful."   4.    The list goes on. There's Moses and Samson and Samuel and David and more besides. There is a great cloud of witnesses to cheer us on. They whisper in our ear when we become discouraged, saying, "Don't lose heart! Don't give up. Don't quit, whatever you do."   Now when we get discouraged, we need to think of the great saints in Scripture, and of others who have inspired us.   WE sing Song #222, FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. When we are discouraged, we hear their voices saying, "If we can do it, then you can do it too." Be inspired by those who have gone before and realize that at the same time there will be others watching you. You will be their inspiration, their example, and their guide.   The second piece of advice from Hebrews is to prepare for the struggles you will face. “... let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”   As I read the words, “…the sin that so easily entangles…” I think of the old Tarzan movies.   There was usually a scene where Tarzan, with his knife between his teeth, jumped into the water and swam to rescue Jane or boy or whoever was in the water. Then the music would intensify and you knew that at some point something bad was going to grab him. Oftentimes it was an enormous octopus. At first you could just see its eye. Then a tentacle would suddenly reach out and wrap around his ankle. But that’s no problem. Tarzan can get loose from that. But then here comes a second tentacle. It would grab the other ankle. Then another tentacle and another one, and soon he is all entangled and can’t get loose. Is this the end of Tarzan?   Oh no. Remember that knife in his teeth. Somehow, he is able to grab it and start cutting off the tentacles, and soon an inky cloud comes out of the octopus. And Tarzan is free! The writer of Hebrews says that sin is just like those tentacles, and that we must throw off “...the sin that so easily entangles, and …run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”   Now I'm obviously not a marathon runner. But marathon runners tell us that there are two critical times in the race. The first one is at the beginning. When you begin to run you feel so good, and the temptation is to run too fast too soon, depending upon your own strength and skill to pull you through.   The second critical time in a marathon is at the halfway point.   You suddenly realize that you still have as far to go as what you've already run, and your strength is giving out. Runners call it "hitting the wall." You've come to the end of your endurance and you're not sure if you can put one foot in front of the other anymore.   To keep that from happening in your life remember this promise, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) If you’ll trust Him, He will be the source of all you need to finish your race.   AND, the final piece of advice is this, Fix your eyes on Jesus. Listen again to a part of vs’s 2 and 3, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith… Consider Him… so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”   Jesus was opposed. Jesus was persecuted. And yet He stayed the course. He ran the race. He paid the price for our sins. Every Christian needs to hear this because it's so easy to quit. It's so easy to say, "I don't have to do this anymore."   But the writer of Hebrews says, “Fix your eyes on Jesus. He's the author and the perfecter of our faith,” and one day each one of us will stand before Him as our judge. Romans 3:23 says, “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” If you ever take the tour in historic Williamsburg, VA they will explain to you why, even to this day, we hold up our hand and swear that we will “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God" whenever we give testimony in court.   The story they tell goes all the way back to medieval times. When someone was being tried for a crime and the evidence seemed overwhelmingly against him, there was a way out. He could stand up and say, "I plead the benefit of clergy." Now when he pled "the benefit of clergy" everyone was shocked because that was the same as an admission of guilt. But it was the accused’s last hope, his last chance.   So, a clergyman would come in with a selected passage of Scripture, usually from Psalms 51, which tells of the confession of David for all the sins that he had committed. He would hand it to the accused and say, "Here, read this." It was kind of a forerunner of the lie detector test.   The law said that if the accused could read it without stammering or stuttering, he would be set free even though the evidence against him was overwhelming. But if he stumbled or stammered just one time, he was judged guilty. Usually, a guilty person could not read that passage without stammering or stuttering. So, they were found guilty. But when someone read it perfectly and was set free, they branded the palm of his hand with the brand of the cross. You see, you could only claim the benefit of clergy one time. So, whenever anyone testified in court he would have to hold up his hand so that all could see if the brand of the cross was there.   IN CONCLUSION: One day, folks, we're all going to stand before the judge of the universe, as guilty as we can be. The evidence is overwhelmingly against us. Satan, the accuser, will be there to accuse us of all the sins we have committed. Our only hope is to claim the benefit of the cross.   THAT IS WHY the writer of Hebrews says, “Fix your eyes upon Jesus because the only hope we have is our hope in Him.” So, run the race with patience. Don't lose heart. Don't become discouraged. Don't quit. Keep on running the race that has been set before us.   This morning if you're not a Christian, we invite you to come to Jesus and accept His mercy, His love, His grace, and His sacrifice on the cross. We offer you the opportunity to begin a whole new life in Him. Will you come as we stand and as we sing together?  

Be Healed, Be Holy John 5:1-14   Introduction: Good morning church. We have concluded our look at chapter four. Now we are continuing in the fifth chapter of John’s gospel which expresses proofs and evidence that Jesus is God. As you recall the purpose of John’s gospel was stated in John 20:31, “… That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name..”   Chapter 5 contains a concentrated effort of the Apostle John, going through a variety of proofs that Jesus is God. As we study through this chapter, we want to carefully analyze how John shows this to us. John sets things up with the first fourteen verses in the chapter.   The context of John 5:1-14 is the sign of the miraculous healing of a paralyzed man at the Pool of Bethesda. The Jews had a tradition that said an angel stirs the water at the pool, and the first person to enter the water after it's stirred, is healed.   I would like you to hold in mind this question and your response to it. What is the worst thing that can happen to you? I want you to just hold that in your mind as we move through this story. It's a point that Jesus is going to use with this man, and it is important for our consideration as we recognize who Jesus is.   I.     The Sign – Read with me starting in verse 1, “1, After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7. The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8. Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9. And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.” [ESV] (for verse 4 see other versions) A.   The narrative begins with revealing that this is one of the three feasts of the Law of Moses which compel the people to come to Jerusalem. Jesus came to Jerusalem, and He decided to go to a place that He does not have to go. It is not required that you walk through this gate as you come into the city. The Sheep Gate was built by the high priest as mentioned in Nehemiah 3:1, “Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate…” It was through this gate that the sheep were brought to the Temple for sacrifice. 1.    John 5:2-3 tell us He enters an area where there are five roofed colonnades by a pool of water. We are presented with a sad scene in verse 3. Here are a multitude of invalids hoping for healing if they can get into the pool when the water is disturbed. Jesus is going out of His way to walk through this area where these disabled people are lying all around. 2.    It is interesting to me that in this atmosphere, among all of people that are there, Jesus selects one to talk to. As He passes through all the people lying there, we are told He speaks to one person. Verse 5, “One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.” 3.    I can picture clearly the helplessness of all these people, the multitude of disabled people lying there. There is nothing glorious about this place. You can imagine the kind of atmosphere that would exist here. Jesus comes to this man and asks a very simple, and perhaps in our minds, obvious question. Verse 6, “Do you want to be healed?” B.   Years and years this man had been an invalid. Nothing has made him well and so hopelessness has set in. When Jesus asks him if he wants to be made well, listen to his answer: “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” These are words of hopelessness. Yes, he desired to be healed but he had desired this for so long that it seemed like there was no chance of it ever happening. To me it sounds like “of course, but it’s not going to happen”. 1.    That's what makes the next words so shocking and so powerful. Jesus says in verse 8, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” Then in verse 9, “And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.” 2.    What a picture is given here! There's no slow and painful physical therapy—no slow, and gradual improvement. Immediately he grabs his mat. This is a sign of victory. He's going to leave this area of all the paralyzed and the lame and the blind and the disabled. He is now able to grab his mat, carry it and walk through the city of Jerusalem. 3.    People would see him and some at least would recognize “there's somebody who has been lame and unable to walk for 38 years, yet he is walking.” It demonstrated his healing to all who saw him. The end of verse 9 records a forceful statement: It was the Sabbath! II.    The Conflict - Verse 10 reveals a conflict. “So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”” The Jewish leaders see this man carrying his mat on this Sabbath day of rest and they reproach him. “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” A.   I suspect this is one reason we are told in the first verse that this was a feast day. When you read the Law of Moses, you'll find that these feast days had inherent within them, holy days, Sabbath days, days of rest. In Leviticus 23 starting in verse 2 you find “These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.” These feast days often prescribed various days as holy days, and hence were considered Sabbaths because of the holy day (cf. Leviticus 23). It’s a feast day and therefore it is a Sabbath rest and not necessarily the seventh day of the week. 1.    The healed man responds in verse 11, “But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’”” He says, I'm just doing what I was told to do. I've been healed and the one who healed me told me to do this. 2.    Listen to what happens next. “They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”” 3.    Think about this for a minute. Rather than rejoice with this man who has been disabled for 38 long years, they want to know who told him to break the Sabbath by carrying his bed! They do not see the sign that the great healer of the people has come. They only see their traditions being broken. B.   Verse 13, “Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.” The healed man does not know who healed him. He did not know that the person he had been talking to was Jesus, and Jesus is not there at this moment. He has withdrawn and the crowds were forming around this man who had been healed. C.   We are at verse 14. Jesus finds this healed man in the temple. There is the man, most likely in the temple glorifying God for the healing he has received and participating in the feast day that he had not been able to enjoy previously. “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”” The first thing that strikes me, is Jesus indicates in this shocking statement, that something worse can happen! III.  Something worse can happen - Remember the question I asked you to hold in mind as we read? “What is the worst thing that could happen to you?” Stop for a moment and consider that. Picture the helplessness and hopelessness of this invalid. For 38 years he has been unable to walk and for a long time was left in this covered porch area in Jerusalem. Jesus says there is something worse that could happen to you. A.   We have a cliché of sorts that we say to one another when we are suffering. These are probably the least comforting words you can say to somebody at that moment. It is not a cliché we really like to hear, but based on Jesus’ words, the cliché is quite true. “It could always be worse.” Something worse could happen to us. As terrible as our suffering can be and as difficult as it can be to deal with the challenges we have in life, there is something worse… and that is eternal punishment. 1.    For all that we may go through in this life, all the challenges that we face, all the suffering we may endure, and for all the times that we may question God and say I don't understand the injustice that I am dealing with or the great amount of pain I am enduring… there is the reminder that there is something far worse. 2.    No matter how difficult things are, no matter how fierce the suffering is, and no matter how challenging our trials are—it is worth remaining faithful to God through those difficulties because there is something worse. It is worth maintaining our integrity as Mark taught last week. B.   It is worth maintaining our hope in God because if we do not, there is something far worse that awaits at the end, and that is the worst thing that can happen to us. C.   When I say there is something worse, I don’t mean, yes, things in this life could be worse, like “I could get hit by a bus”, which is the way we often use this cliché. There are horrible things in this world. There are horrible things that we experience. Things that will break us, crush our spirit, and seem to destroy us. There is something far, far worse than anything we can possibly experience in our bodies on this earth… Eternal punishment. IV.  Healed for holiness – I wondered, why the invalid was told to sin no more. He is to sin no more because he had been healed! A.   Let us have a visit with Isaiah for a bit, Isaiah 6. In this chapter Isaiah has a vision. In this vision Isaiah is in the throne room of God and sees the Lord sitting upon a throne with seraphim round about. Isaiah says in verse 5, “… “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”” We see Isaiah expressing his feeling of total ruin, of being undone before the holiness of God. Then we see one of the spiritual beings, the seraphim, fly to Isaiah with a coal from the altar, touching his lips, making him clean. 1.    Next in verse 8 we see the Lord asking “Whom shall I send?” and that caused Isaiah, now healed from his sins, to volunteer for service. Immediately he says before God, “Here am I, send me”. 2.    When we have been cleansed of our sins, forgiven, and see the gracious God we serve, it should move our hearts and compel us to service. It compels us to want to look to God and ask what can I do? B.   You have been healed for a purpose. You have not been healed to leave and go your own way. You have been healed to be holy. You have been healed to glorify God. You have been healed to go and sin no more. The life of holiness begins with seeing that we have been healed. This is the radical rebirth John has talked about. C.   Jesus has come to the world of spiritually disabled people and has healed you from your sins. In Isaiah we see the holiness of the Lord from the perspective of Isaiah. The seraphim are crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is filled with His glory.” God’s holiness and our healing are to lead us to service. Today we add to that thought, our healing will also lead us to changed living. We will seek pure lives because of the healing we have experienced. His healing is the catalyst for our turning our lives to Jesus. “See, you are well! Sin no more.” V.   The Meaning - Let’s step back as we conclude and consider why John chooses this miracle and what the sign is which we are supposed to learn. Why did Jesus pick this man among the multitude of disabled people? The text tells us that there was one man who had been in this condition for 38 years. A.   In John 3, we spent some time in verse 16, with the famous words that we all know so well, that God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Two verses before there was the connection that just as Moses put the bronze serpent on the pole, so also the son of man must be lifted up. John 3 paints with the wilderness wandering as a backdrop. B.   Chapters 5-6 of John are set to that historical backdrop. Chapter 6 is about the bread from heaven that God gave in the wilderness. The time marker is the Passover, when God set the people free from Egyptian slavery and took them through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. 1.    Chapter 5 began by noting that this was a feast of the Jews. We do not know which one, but all of them centered upon being slaves in Egypt and the freedom God gave to them as they passed through the waters of the Red Sea and walked in the wilderness on the way. 2.    In chapter 3 Jesus likened Himself as the bronze serpent on the pole which was erected in the wilderness because of the people’s sins, that all who look to Him would be healed. 3.    Jesus selects a man who has been an invalid for 38 years. He is utterly helpless and utterly hopeless. Thirty-Eight does not sound significant but in terms of the wilderness wanderings, it is extraordinarily symbolic. C.   Turn with me now to Deuteronomy 2:14-15. Here Moses is talking about their journey, “And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.” [ESV] 1.    You will remember the 12 that went out to reconnoiter the land. Ten of them reported “We can’t take the land”. The people of Israel listen to the 10. They rebel and try to stone Moses and Aaron. God intervenes and says, because you won't believe in Me and you will not trust Me, here's what's going to happen to you. You will all die in this wilderness. 2.    We often hear of the 40 year wandering, but the 38 years spotlight a specific sub-interval between two landmarks (Kadesh-barnea and crossing the Brook Zered), while the full 40 years speak of the entire span of wandering. 3.    The 38 years is the time frame of the death of the Israelite people, as God shows His displeasure with extremely wicked men by cutting their lives short. The hand of the Lord was against them for their sins. That is why they were in the wilderness. A journey that should have been relatively short turns into a 38 year death march because the people sinned. They are helpless and hopeless. There is no one who can help. There is no one to deliver these sinful people from their condition. They were completely lost because of their sins, their failure to obey God, and because of that they will not enter the Promised Land. D.   You probably notice John keeps pointing out water in his gospel. Every time he points it out, he's showing how that has been ineffectual water compared to the living water that Jesus offers. We saw it with John's baptism. Jesus is greater than that and brings something greater. 1.    We saw it with the water turned to wine. Remember those Jewish ritual stone jars as Jesus takes that purification water and changes it. They're no longer going to be purifying themselves. 2.    We saw with Jacob's well, remember what the woman asked? Are you greater than our father, Jacob? The well provided water that filled a reoccurring need, but the living water Jesus offered filled an eternal need. 3.    Though this man wants to be healed, he simply cannot be healed. The pool water at Bethesda, like all the water seen in this gospel so far, is ineffectual, leaving the man paralyzed until Jesus comes to heal him. Jesus’ living waters of John 4 replace the water of John’s baptism (1:31-33), the ritual purifying waters (2:6), Jacob’s well (4:14), and now this popular healing pool. E.   Here is our Lord saying, I'm greater than these things. This is who you are. You are helpless and you are hopeless before your Lord. You don't have any way out. This is your spiritual condition. The parallel to Exodus is so powerful because Moses leads the people to take them to the Promised Land. Moses failed. The people sin, Moses sins, Moses does not enter. That generation does not enter. There is failure. 1.    There is longing and looking for one who will not fail. Someone who will come and take the people who are helpless and hopeless and give them what they need. Here is Jesus coming and giving that hope. He can give that healing. He selects a person whose time there fits so well with the imagery of the nation itself. 2.    The people, ever since the very beginning, have been helpless and hopeless before God. Lost, in rebellion and in need of somebody to come and heal. The history of the Old Testament reveals that one never came. That's why the New Testament repeatedly points to the fact that the Law of Moses shows you your sins. It does not show you your way out. It only shows you your problem. It does not give you the solution. It only reveals your sin, and shows how when you stand before God, you will come up short. 3.    John tells us, God in the flesh has come. To use the words of John 1, God with us. God has now taken on flesh. God is now walking the streets of Jerusalem and He is going about bringing healing to the nation… healing to the people. He is the only one who can bring life to those in sin. Or to put it another way to what we saw in verse 14, He is the only one that can make sure that something worse does not happen to each of us. Hope and healing now walk into the scene and here is somebody who experiences it and is now called to live a life of holiness as he praises God in the flesh.   CONCLUSION: Where have you been turning for healing? We are in a world where people try to find hope and healing in all kinds of avenues and places... from books and television to vices and addictions, always trying to fill the void, always trying to find hope, always trying to deal with our need to be healed.   The Bible shows us that the yearning and waiting, the hopelessness and the helplessness, have all been pointing to one person. There is one person who can deal with all the hurt, with all the sins, and can give you what you are longing for. Jesus has come, and He is able to take away sins. He can say to you, go and sin no more so that nothing worse happens to you. He can remove the wrath. He can remove the punishment if you come to Him for healing.   If you will come and have your sins taken away… and then you follow Him and serve Him with all your heart, you will experience the radical life transformation that John has been painting in this gospel. You can be born again. You can be raised to new life, and there will be a whole new you in the kingdom of God. That is the calling that John wants us to hear and he wants us to see that the answer to that calling is only found in Jesus. Jesus is where our hope lies.   If you have not accepted Jesus and believed in Him and submitted your life to Him, that is your starting point—believe that Jesus is the son of God who came to this world and died for your sins. Be immersed in water to have your sins washed away to enter a relationship with Him so that you can know that you have eternal life.   If you've already begun there, don't stop. Do not think you can now put your life in neutral and you're good to go. Deepen the relationship. See Him as the treasure. Recognize Him and honor Him for who He is. We invite you to come while we stand and while we sing.     # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercheville   NOTES: Coffman’s commentary on verse 4: “Waiting for the moving of the water: for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water entered in was made whole, with whatsoever disease he was holden. Upon what would appear to be sufficient critical grounds, these words have been removed from the English Revised Version (1885); but it is well that they have been retained in the margin, because they explain the common conviction regarding the pool which resulted in its popularity. It would be no great thing to stumble at if indeed it was part of John's Gospel. Whatever healing ever occurred there would thus have been attributed to the power of an angel of the Lord, and what would be so unreasonable about that? The healing qualities of the waters at Hot Springs, for example; are they any less of God and his angels, merely because our chemists have analyzed them? Is there not here a tracing back to their true source phenomena which men are so ready to ascribe to secondary sources? Is not all healing of God; and do not the Scriptures teach that God's angels are servants sent forth to do service for them that shall be the heirs of salvation? (Hebrews 1:14). The spurious nature of the words here cited, however, is not to be denied. They were probably added by some scribe at a very early date to explain what was meant by the cripple's having no one to help him get into the water at the propitious moment. If there had been any virtue in the waters of the pool, it seems highly incredible that they should have been efficacious only at indeterminate intervals, only for such a short while, and, even then, only for the person who got into them first. The cripple of this narrative had surely found them without any value to himself.   NOTE 2: The Sheep Gate was a historic gate in Jerusalem's wall, crucial for bringing sacrificial sheep into the city for the Temple, located near the Pool of Bethesda, and symbolized by its rebuilding first by priests as a sign of spiritual restoration, foreshadowing Jesus as the ultimate Lamb of God and "the gate" for salvation.   Historical & Geographical Significance   Location: In the northeast section of ancient Jerusalem, near the Temple Mount.   Function: It served as the entry point for sheep and other sacrificial animals, leading them to the Temple for worship.   Nehemiah: The first gate rebuilt by the High Priest Eliashib and fellow priests during the wall restoration, signifying spiritual priorities. It was consecrated by the high priest, symbolizing spiritual renewal and the reestablishment of proper worship after the Babylonian exile.   Pool of Bethesda: Near the Sheep Gate was the Pool of Bethesda, where the lame man was healed by Jesus (John 5:2).   Symbolic & Theological Significance   Sacrifice: Represents the sacrificial system and the need for atonement.   Jesus: A powerful foreshadowing of Jesus, the "Lamb of God," who takes away the world's sin (John 1:29).   Salvation: Jesus identified Himself as "the gate for the sheep," meaning He is the only way to salvation and abundant life (John 10:7-9). The gate is symbolic of access to God, protection, and eternal life, with Jesus as the exclusive way to salvation and safety.   Restoration: Its rebuilding first signifies that spiritual renewal and focus on God must come before other tasks, setting the tone for all restoration.

Living A Life Of Integrity Scripture: Romans 12:2 A lawyer is trying to call his clients. The phone rings and their little boy, in a whisper, says, "Hello." Lawyer: "Is your mommy there?" Boy: (whisper) "Yes." Lawyer: "Can I speak with her?" Boy: (whisper) "She's busy." Lawyer: "Is your daddy there?" Boy: (whisper) "Yes." Lawyer: "Can I speak with him?" Boy: (whisper) "He's busy." Lawyer: "Is there anyone else there?" Boy: (whisper) "The fire department." Lawyer: "Can I talk to one of them?" Boy: (whisper) "They're busy." Lawyer: "Is there anybody ELSE there?" Boy: (whisper) "The police department." Lawyer: "Well, can I talk to one of THEM?" Boy: (whisper) "They're busy." Lawyer: "Let me get this straight, your mother, father, the fire department AND the police department are ALL in your house, and they're ALL busy. WHAT are they doing?" Boy: (whisper) "They're looking for me." Many in the world today think they are able to hide from God. The ancient Chinese were So fearful of their enemies on the north that they built the Great Wall of China, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. It was so high they knew no one could climb over it, and so thick that nothing could break it down. Then they settled back to enjoy their security. But during the first 100 years of the wall’s existence, China was invaded 3 times.   Not once did the enemy break down the wall or climb over its top. Each time they bribed a gatekeeper and THEN marched right through the gates. According to the historians, the Chinese were so busy relying upon the walls of stone that they forgot to teach integrity to their children.   The editor of a popular magazine, has written rather despairingly: "What is going on in North America?. . . We have no built-in beliefs, no ethical boundaries. `Cheat on your taxes, just don’t get caught. Cheat on your wife, just don’t get caught.’ Our high-tech society," he writes, "has given us everything - everything but a conscience," and integrity is a mangled casualty of our times.   Is this editor right? Have we lost all sense of decency in our nation today? Has our conscience been so damaged that we no longer recognize what is right and wrong? Is integrity simply an old﷓fashioned and out﷓of﷓favor virtue?   By the way, what is integrity? Simply put, integrity is more than just telling the truth. Integrity is doing what you said you would do. Integrity means keeping your promises. Integrity means that your words and your actions are the same. In other words, you practice what you preach. As someone has said, "Integrity is the foundation stone for eternal life."   So let’s look at ourselves this morning and ask the question, "Am I living a life of integrity?" If not, then I had better scrap my present value system, determine what is important, and change my lifestyle because my salvation depends upon it.     Remember, it was Jesus who said in Matthew 16:26, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?"   So our first question is, "What is the source of my values? I’m getting them from someplace. Where am I getting them?" Now that is a very important question, because where I get my values determines how valuable they are. As a nation, we’re largely being molded as to what morality is, what decency is, what integrity is by what we see on the TV set.   Listen to what it says in 1st John 2:15&16. 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[a]— is not from the Father but is from the world.   It’s obvious, isn’t it, that the world’s value system has always remained the same. This verse tells us that there are 3 basic world values that are constantly being conveyed to us.   The first one is pleasure. John calls it "the lust for physical pleasure." We are a culture majoring in pleasure. Do you realize that the #1 industry in the U.S. is entertainment? We spend billions of dollars every year just trying to entertain ourselves.   LAST SUNDAY, on a cold snowy morning there were only a few of us that made it to the building for worship services while there was tens of thousands of people in Denver Colorado who paid 100’s of dollars each for the privilege of sitting on a snow covered seat and watching 22 guys beat each other up as they fight over an oblong ball on a frozen snow covered field. And in the name of entertainment these spectators will be saying, "Boy, am I having fun. This is really great. I’m freezing to death, but I’m having a wonderful time." All in the name of entertainment!   Here’s the second world value – earthly possessions. John calls it "the ambition to buy everything that appeals to you." We are a culture obsessed with buying things, getting more and more things. And we love to show off our possessions, our cars, our homes, our clothing, our jewelry. We love to show those things off because We believe these things say that we are someone important.   AND, the third one is prestige. John calls it "the pride that come from wealth and importance." We come up with little labels that brand us as successful people. "I’m a CEO," or "I’m an Executive Vice President. I am someone who is really, really important."   That’s why Paul writes in Romans 12:2, 2 Do not be conformed to this world,  but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.   So we begin here. We choose for ourselves. "Where am I going to get my values?" I have only two basic choices. I’m either going to get them from the Word of God or I’m going to get them from the world. Those are the choices that I have.     Secondly, we need to determine what is important.  Job 34:4 says, Let us choose what is right;     let us know among ourselves what is good. I want to give each of us a homework assignment. When we go home, get out a piece of paper and pen, and write down the 10 most important things in our life. Prioritize them. What’s the most important? What’s the second most important? The third most important, and so on. Make a list of our values in life.   Now it is important for us to do that for a couple of reasons. 1.   Most of our values we didn’t choose. You just assimilated them. You got them from your parents. You got them from what you read, or whatever. So, it is important for you to firm them up. "I’m going to determine now what’s really important for me. I’m not going to let someone else decide that, but I am going to decide what’s really important for me." AND, 2.   most of us never think about what’s important in life until it is too late. As long as we are just cruising through life and everything is falling into place, we never stop and ask the tough questions.   We never really ask ourselves, "What are my values? What’s really important to me?" until we are bankrupt. Or until we go through a divorce. Or until a loved one dies. Then we stop and ask, "Am I living the way I ought to? Are the really important things the things that I consider important in my life?"   It’s often not until tragedy comes that we begin to ask those kinds of questions. So what I’m encouraging you to do, is to do that before the pain, and save yourself some pain, because the pain will come but you will be better prepared for it if you have already determined what’s really important to you. So make a list. "Here are the things that are really important to me."   Now how are you going to decide what is really important and what is not? The key here is perspective. Now by perspective I mean, look at it and ask, "How long is this going to last?" If it is going to last for a long time, if it is going to last for eternity, then it is really important. If it is going to last 30 years it is kind of important. If it is going to last 10 years it’s kind of important, but not as important as 30 years. And if it is only going to last for a short time, then it is not very important at all.   Now when you use that standard and compare it to what the world says are values, then notice what you come up with. Here are the 3 valuable things according to the world: The first is pleasure. Listen to Hebrews 11:25. 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. Did you know sin was fun? I thought so. Yes, sin is fun, and if it weren’t fun, no one would do it. Right?   1. The pleasures of sin are real. They’re described in Scripture. But how long does it last? A short time. Therefore it is not very valuable. The pleasures of sin last a short time. The pain of sin lasts a long, long time. So when you consider the first worldly value, it doesn’t last very long.   2. What about possessions? Paul writes in 1st Timothy 6:7, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and[a] we cannot take anything out of the world. Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a U﷓Haul? And when a millionaire dies and someone asks, "How much did he leave?" The answer is always, "He left it all." He didn’t take anything with him because what you accumulate in life is only going to be yours for the span of your lifetime. You didn’t bring anything into this world. You’re not going to take anything out of this world.   So how valuable are possessions? Not very valuable, because they’re not going to last very long.   3. What about prestige? In Mark 10:31, Jesus tells us that many people who seem to be important now will be the least important then. When? In eternity. The King James version says, "The first shall be last, and the last shall be first." In other words, there is going to be a reversal in order. People who are in front of the line who really appear to be important now, are not going to be very important at all in eternity.   And the people who don’t appear to be very important at all, are going to be extremely important in heaven. So how important is power, position, and prestige in this life? Not very important because they are not going to last very long. In fact, 1st John 2:17 sums it up saying, 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.   WITH THIS IN MIND I’m going to look at the list of 10 things that I consider important and then ask myself, "Does my life match up? Am I living in accordance with my God﷓given values?"   Now that is an extremely important question, and we need to be honest with ourselves here because the Gallup poll says, "The #1 cause of stress in our lives today is not the lack of money, and it’s not the breaking down of relationships, it’s the inconsistencies in life. It’s saying one thing and doing something else. It’s constant conflict inside." Ephesians 4:17 tells us that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. That’s no life for you...Get rid of it. Then take on an entirely new way of life – a God fashioned life renewed from the inside and working out into your conduct as God reproduces His character in you."   We’re talking about a new life here. A life centered around Christ. But many of us find it hard in our extremely busy lives to also have time for what God wants us to do.   So, Paul wrote in Philippians 4:13, "I can do everything God asks me to do with the help of Christ who gives me strength and power." With the strength and power of Jesus Christ, you can.   Paul writes to Timothy in 1st Timothy 4:16 and tells him to "keep a close watch on all that you do and think. Stay true to what is right and God will bless you, and He will use you to help other people."   I will close this morning with this story: While on summer vacation at his grandparent’s farm, Sammy accidentally shoots his grandma’s pet duck with his slingshot. In a panic, he hid it behind a pile of wood. Unknown to him, his sister Marie saw the entire thing. The next day, Grandma called on Marie to wash the dishes. However, instead of coming to help, Marie said, “Sammy said he wanted to help in the kitchen today, Grandma.” Sammy was surprised because he said no such thing. Marie walked up to him and whispered, “Remember the duck?” It was then that he realized Marie saw what had happened. This went on for several days until one day, Sammy couldn’t take it anymore! He went to Grandma and told her about everything that had happened. Instead of scolding him, his Grandma hugged him and said, “I knew all along. I was waiting to see how long before you tell me so Marie will stop blackmailing you.”   The Moral: Be honest about your mistakes. There will be others who will have no qualms about using this information against you. The more mistakes you make in secret, the heavier the burden on your conscience will be, and the easier it will for other people to take advantage of you.         

Praying Philippians 1:1-11 This MORNING I would like for us to go back nearly 2,000 years to the city of Rome. We find ourselves in a small city which has a grassroots community center started by a former volunteer who is now imprisoned for nonviolent activism. While the founder is behind bars, the center doesn’t close. Neighbors bring meals, a local church covers rent, and a group of young volunteers runs after‑school programs.   Every month the center posts a short video: the founder, through letters and recorded messages, thanks the supporters, celebrates small victories, and prays for the volunteers. The supporters respond with more donations, prayer chains, and visits. Months later the center launches a new outreach program that reaches more families than before the founder’s arrest.   It is an exciting time to be in Rome, a metropolis of gladiators, chariots, and palaces. But we’re not going to stop at the coliseum or the emperor’s palace. Instead, we’re going to look into a drab little room. Inside we see a man seated on the floor. He’s an older fellow, shoulders stooped and his head balding. Chains are on his hands and feet that are also attached by a longer chain to a Roman guard. It is the apostle Paul. The apostle who has traveled all over the world of his day. The apostle whose message has liberated people in almost every port. The apostle who was bound only by the will of God is now bound by chains, restricted by walls, accused by enemies, and scheduled for trial in the court of the cruelest of emperors, Nero. And Paul is writing a letter. I am sure it has to be a complaint letter to God, a list of grievances. No doubt he is writing the New Testament version of the book of Lamentations. You see, he has every reason to be bitter, to complain. When we face situations of what we feel are wrong doings like this we often have the urge to WRITE A LETTER to EXPRESS our feelings of anger and how we were treated UNFAIRLY!!! But PAUL doesn’t. Instead, he is writing a letter that now, 2,000 years later, is known as the “letter of joy.” And that is the letter we are going to be looking at this morning. Bobby Jones, a champion golfer, once said, "Have you ever noticed how much golfers practice? Smart businessmen have been quick to take advantage of that, developing public driving ranges where we can practice driving the ball, and putting greens where we can practice our putting." "But why hasn’t someone developed public sand traps? Sand traps are an inevitable part of the game of golf, and every golfer ought to practice ahead of time how to get out of trouble." I think that’s good advice for all of us.   Because, as we talk about being thankful for the blessings that come our way, we must admit that problems and troubles also come our way. It was Norman Vincent Peale who said, "Problems are a part of life. All of us are going to have problems right up to the moment we die. So it only makes sense, if we’re going to find ourselves in sand traps, that we learn how to get out of them. And the letter to the Philippians, written by the apostle Paul, can help us do just that.   He writes this letter while imprisoned in Rome under what we would call "house arrest." Today, courts enforce "house arrest" by attaching electronic monitors on the ankle of prisoners. But back then, they simply chained the prisoner to Roman soldiers 24 hours a day. Now that was usually better than being in a dungeon, but Roman soldiers could be cruel, and "house arrest" was not something to desire. Yet, Paul’s letter is filled with thanksgiving. And in it, Paul writes, “I always pray with joy..." (Philippians 1:3) So let’s look at the first 11 verses of Philippians 1, and see what they teach us about praying with joy. Paul begins by saying that prayer should be a first response rather than a last resort. Listen to vs. 3, "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy..." Then, in chapter 4, vs. 6, he says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." What is Paul saying? He is saying that whenever anything happens to him, whether positive or negative, he prays. That’s his first response.   He prays, "God, thank you for the blessings that you give me. God, I even thank you for the troubles that come my way. Now teach me the lessons that I need to learn from them." Paul always started with prayer. But for many of us, we wait until we’re knee deep in the sand traps of life, and there seems to be no way out of our problems. Then we call upon God and cry, "Help me. I’m in trouble." We turn to prayer almost as a last resort. Years ago a US AIR airplane crashed near Pittsburgh. The cause of that crash was a mystery, because the plane just seemed to fall from the sky. So it was with great interest that the investigators listened to the information recorded in the plane’s black box. CNN played a portion of that recording on the air, revealing that there were just a few seconds from the time the pilot detected trouble until the plane crashed. The black box revealed sounds from the cockpit: First, there was an "Oh!" followed by some profanity and a string of curse words, then came the crash, and THEN SILENCE. If you suddenly discovered that you had just a few seconds left to live how would you react? Would you curse or would you pray? I’ll can tell you what you would do. You would respond instinctively.   You wouldn’t have time to think about it. You would just respond in the way that is most natural for you to respond. Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”   So what kind of habits have you developed in your life? A story is told of a soldier who was doing guard duty on the front line in WW1. After being relieved of duty, as a Christian, he wanted to pray, to thank God for protecting him, and to ask for His continued protection. But the enemy lines were very close, and he couldn’t go far, so he just walked a little ways away from where he had been standing guard, knelt and began to pray aloud.   The sentry who replaced him heard his voice and thought he was speaking to someone in the enemy lines. So, he reported him. The officer in charge confronted him and told him, "You’ve been accused of revealing secrets to the enemy. How do you respond?" The soldier said, "It’s not true. I wasn’t doing that." The officer replied, "Then what were you doing when you were out there near the enemy and talking?" He soldier immediately responded, "I was praying." "You were praying out loud?" "Yes, I was." The officer said, "Show me. Pray right now." So the young man knelt and prayed. And when he finished the officer dismissed the charges. "Because," he said, "nobody can pray like that unless he has been practicing." So what do you do naturally when troubles come your way? Paul says that prayer should be a first response and not a last resort. Secondly, prayer should be offered in an attitude of gratitude rather than as a complaint. Nothing inhibits prayer more than a grumbling, complaining spirit. In vs. 3. Paul writes, "I thank my God every time I remember you." Now that’s an amazing statement because if you go back and read in the Book of Acts about Paul’s first visit to Philippi you’ll find that some very bad things happened to him while he was there. He could have said, "I remember Philippi and that demon possessed slave girl who followed us around and harassed us.     I remember how they arrested us, and beat us, and put us into chains, and then tossed us deep into that dark and dirty dungeon. Oh yes, I remember the terrible experiences we had in Philippi." "But no," he said, "I remember Lydia and how she and all her household became Christians. I remember casting a demon out of a slave girl and seeing her set free. I remember the Philippian jailer and his family, and all those other people who are now followers of Jesus. And when I remember, I thank my God for you." Like Paul, we have a choice. BOTH Positive and negative things happen every day. You can focus on the negative and become an unhappy grumbler if you want. But if you’ll focus on gratitude, wonderful things can happen in your life. Now, Listen to vs. 6, "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." God has a plan for your life, and for mine. There’s a task that He has called us to do, a place that He wants us to fill. And He’s not finished with us yet. Paul had developed some deep relationships with the people in Philippi. When we read his letter we sense that Paul really loves them. In vs. 5 he thanks them for their "partnership in the gospel from the first day until now." And in vs’s 7 and 8 he says, "It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. “God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus."   In other words, "I love you as Jesus loves you." When you’re in trouble it is important to have friends who will stand beside you, friends who will be there through thick and thin, that you can always count upon. You know they’ll never leave you nor forsake you. But if you’re always grumbling, self-centered and discontented, you may get attention, but it won’t last. People soon get tired of listening to complaints. Cleve McClary is an ex-marine who fought in Vietnam where he was badly wounded. He lost one eye and all of his teeth. He lost one arm and most of the fingers on his other hand. He lost hearing in one of his ears. When you look at him he’ll look back at you with that one eye and you know you have his undivided attention. He has a personality that just draws people to him.   And he’ll reach out with what’s left of his one good hand and grip your hand tightly as he exchanges greetings with you. Cleve McClary has an optimistic spirit, even though life has been tough for him. He has a special license plate on his car with the word "FIDO" on it F I D O. When asked what that means he says it means, "Forget it and drive on." "Forget it and drive on." There are times when we need to let go of our burdens and just drive on in life. So, we need to pray with an attitude of gratitude rather than complaining.   And now we come to vs’s 9-11 where Paul says, "This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God." Linda Birtish literally gave herself away. Linda was an outstanding teacher who felt that someday, when she had the time, she would like to devote herself to painting and writing poetry. When she was 28, however, she began to get severe headaches. Her doctors discovered that she had an enormous brain tumor. They told her that her chances of surviving an operation were about 2%. Therefore, rather than operate immediately, they decided to wait for at least 6 months. She was convinced that her talent had been given for a reason.   So, during those 6 months she wrote and painted feverishly. All of her poetry, except her last poem, were published in magazines. All of her paintings, except for her last one, were shown and sold at some of the leading art galleries. At the end of 6 months, they scheduled the operation. The night before the operation, she decided literally to give herself away. In case of her death, she wrote a will in which she donated all of her usable body parts to those who needed them.   Unfortunately, Linda’s operation was not successful, and her will was carried out. Her eyes went to an eye bank in Bethesda, MD, and from there to a recipient in So. Carolina. As a result, a young man, age 28, went from darkness to sight. That young man was so profoundly grateful that he wrote to the eye bank thanking them for existing.     It was only the second "thank you" letter that the eye bank had ever received after giving out more than 30,000 eyes! Furthermore, he said he wanted to thank the parents of the donor. They must indeed be magnificent folks to have a child who would give away her eyes. He was given the name of the Birtish family and decided to fly up to see them. He arrived unannounced and rang the doorbell. After hearing who he was, Mrs. Birtish reached out and embraced him. After visiting with him for a while she said, "Young man, if it’s possible, my husband and I would love for you to spend the weekend with us." He stayed, and as he was looking around Linda’s room, he saw that she’d read Plato. He’d read Plato in Braille. She’d read Hegel. He’d read Hegel in Braille. The next morning Mrs. Birtish said, "You know, I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere before, but I don’t know where." All of a sudden she remembered.   She ran upstairs and pulled out the last picture Linda had ever painted. It was a portrait of her ideal man. The picture was virtually identical in appearance to this young man who had received Linda’s eyes. Then her mother read the last poem Linda had written. It said: "Two hearts passing in the night, falling in love, never able to gain each other’s sight." We sing an old hymn that says, "What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to Him in prayer. Have you trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? You should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer." CONCL. Is prayer a first response to you? Or is it a last resort? Do you pray in an attitude of gratitude? Or are you always grumbling? When you pray, do you make sure that God receives the glory, and not you? If you’re here this morning outside of Jesus, you can change that. You can be baptized this morning to wash away your sins and to walk in newness of life. That’s why we extend an invitation. We give you the opportunity to come forward and either be baptized or to rededicate your life to the Lord. If you have either need .... Will you come as we stand and sing?                         Contributing Sermon Melvin Newland  

Continuing Education Mark 10:35-45   INTRO: Good morning church. We have reached the end of John chapter 4 in our lessons and before we start chapter 5, I thought we would take a break. As we study the Lord’s word and continue to grow, we will find we are in good company. Even the apostles had much to learn. Today we will read a bit of their continuing education. Open your Bibles to the 10th chapter of the gospel of Mark. From our text this morning I’m going to read a few verses at a time for context and then make some observations and comments. In this lesson I will occasionally refer to some scriptures without reading them. We will start with Mark 10:35-37 – “And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”” [ESV] Then skipping down to Mark 10:41 – “And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.” [NKJV] Human ambition is a fact. Perhaps not all of us possess ambition to the same degree, but it does seem that in all of us, to some extent, is a desire for advancement, the desire for recognition. Add to that the fact that the desire for “more” is something that is characteristic from the lowliest to the greatest. When ambition exists in any sort of “closed system”, it can become a divisive thing. This can be seen in job situations. It can be seen in sports teams as Mark can probably tell you. It can be seen in club settings, and, yes, it can even be found within the Lord’s church. Our text for this morning presents us with a situation fraught with peril for the apostles. Ambition has reared its head and has been discovered by those who are being, “left out”, of the request that is made. Before I am misunderstood, I want to stress that being ambitious in and of itself is not wrong or sinful. I’m not saying that, but ambition must always be tempered by other qualities.   When I was working as a manager if I had an employee whose ambition was to do the best possible job in all cases, I considered that person valuable. On the other hand someone whose ambition was to find a job that allowed them to warm a chair all day listening to their favorite music, not so much. Unfortunately for the person with little ambition they probably would not even get in the door.   I have heard it said that ambition in life usually progresses through the following stages: to be like Dad... to be famous... to be a millionaire... to make enough to pay the bills... to hang on long enough to retire.   Our situation here today involves a request that is made by two brothers, James and John.   I.     THE REQUEST OF JAMES AND JOHN - Mark 10:37 clearly sets out their request - “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”[ESV] A.   Let’s start with what these two men must have believed. They have referred here to - “your glory”. Matthew, in his account of this request says the request was made by the mother of James and John. In Matthew 20:21 we read “your Kingdom”. Mark is more direct and shorter then Matthew in descriptions, so for me if the request came directly from the Apostles or via their mother it is not an issue. It is still a request to secure for these two Apostles a ranking place in the Kingdom that is to come. 1.    What is it that these brothers are asking? Although we do not think in terms of kingdoms and such things these days, what these brothers are requesting is that they be given the greatest places within the kingdom of God. 2.    This tells us one shining thing about them—bewildered as they might be, they still believed in Jesus. It is amazing that they could still connect glory with a Galilean carpenter who had incurred enmity and the bitter opposition of the orthodox religious leaders. There is amazing confidence and loyalty there. Misguided James and John might be, but their hearts were in the right place. They never doubted Jesus' ultimate triumph. 3.    It is equally evident that they are still concluding that Jesus is soon going to ascend an earthly throne. They think in terms of an earthly kingdom like those with which they were familiar. 4.    In Luke 18:34, not in a parallel passage, but in a passage closely akin to what we’re reading here. Jesus is teaching them about what will happen in Jerusalem and at verse 34 the writer observes, “But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them… ” It was not hidden in that Jesus did not want them to understand. It was hidden because they lacked the understanding to accept it. B.   They are asking a favor as the result of a relationship. 1.    They do not grasp currently all the things that are going on and they really do not understand the ramifications of what they are requesting, but they make the request nevertheless because of a close relationship they have with Jesus. 2.    We know that James and John were part of a kind of inner circle among the apostles. In Matthew 17:1 we see that along with Peter, James and John went with Jesus into the mount of transfiguration. In Matthew 26:37 we find the same three went with Jesus further into the garden in the hour of prayer. 3.    Beyond that, there is every indication in scripture that James and John are the cousins of Jesus. Matthew 27:56 indicates that their mother is one of the women who is at the cross. She is there with Mary. 4.    They see themselves as having a very favored relationship, and out of this relationship comes this request. 5.    It’s almost as if they are a little bit shy as they ask this, because in verse 35 they’re saying; “We just want You to agree to do something and then we will tell you what it is.” Of course, Jesus doesn’t do that, does He? He wants to know; “What is it that you request of me?” C.   I mentioned this earlier and it is interesting. Was it their mother, or was it they who made the request? 1.    In Matthew’s gospel it seems that it is the mother who makes the request. Mathew 20:20. 2.    I suspect it was likely that their mother is the one who makes the actual request. The request is made at the behest of her sons, James and John, who, in typical human fashion, may believe that Jesus will give greater weight to their request if it comes from their mother. This same logic is used today by some religious people to suggest that prayer to others can intercede for us. That is not what is taught in the Bible. Jesus is our intercessor. Hebrews 7:25 – “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” Romans 8:34 – “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” 3.    I want to be sure that I commend again the confidence and the loyalty of James and John. D.   Let’s think about that for a moment. 1.    Their loyalty was well placed. They may have misunderstood about the kingdom, but I commend them for their loyalty to the Lord. 2.    That brings us to what I call a draught line: their need for more knowledge. II.    THE IGNORANCE OF JAMES AND JOHN A.   We go on and read in Mark10:38 – “Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”” 1.    They asked for this favor in ignorance of the nature of His kingdom. That is very evident. 2.    Furthermore, they were ignorant of the events that were going to transpire which would be cataclysmic, overwhelming events. 3.    Jesus refers to the cup and the baptism. These are descriptive words for experiences one is going to have which are serious, heavy and overwhelming. 4.    I’d like you to turn in your bibles to Matthew 26:37-39. In verse 37 we see that Peter, James and John went with Jesus further into the garden of Gethsemane “And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.” 5.    Listen as we read of the weight, the seriousness, the heaviness of this cup that Jesus is about to drink, this baptism with which He is about to be baptized. “Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”” 6.    Descriptive words. Of course, we know that in the texts of the New Testament baptism usually means an immersion in water, but baptism has a more general meaning than that, it something that overwhelms. Thayer’s first definition is: Baptism is used topically of calamities and afflictions with which one is quite overwhelmed: Mark 10:38; Matthew 20:22f; Luke 12:50. Indeed, in water when one is immersed the water overwhelms. Here Jesus refers to something that is going to overwhelm. 7.    It’s true that they do not understand in their ignorance what they ask. Jesus says, “Can you drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” “And they said to Him, "We can.''” 8.    They don’t really realize, YET, what has happened and what is going to happen. B.   Jesus acknowledged that they would experience the “cup” and “baptism”. “And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized,” 1.    We see what happens to James in Acts 12:1-2 – “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword,” James was killed by Herod. I’m not sure how much time passed after Jesus told them that they would drink the cup and be baptized with the baptism with which He was baptized, but this event takes place, and James was killed for his faith. 2.    In Revelation 1:9 we discover that John, who apparently died a natural death was exiled to the Isle of Patmos, as he says, for the Word of God. He is in exile. He is drinking the cup. He is being baptized with the baptism, which is an overwhelming experience because of his faith, for the testimony which he held. 3.    At the time of their request these two men, coming to Jesus as they did, had no concept, no idea of the cup of which they would later be drinking. We’re confident that we can drink the cup. We can experience the overwhelming experience that you’re going to experience. 4.    They didn’t understand what they were saying. That was out there in the future. C.   We come in Mark’s gospel to Mark 10:40 and read this: “but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 1.    There is similar language to this in Matthew 20:23 – “He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.””. In other words, what Jesus said is that privilege in the kingdom of God is not based on favor and friendship. 2.    James and John see things from a worldly point of view. They see things like political appointments to be made, favors that are handed out by those in power to those who are their friends and relatives. Don’t we see a lot of that in our world today? 3.    Jesus said that’s not the way it is in the kingdom of God. Our future blessing in the kingdom of God rests upon His grace and our obedience to the Lord. III.  NIPPING THE PROBLEM IN THE BUD A.   Here’s the problem—human ambition—and Jesus must nip this problem in the bud. Let’s come back to verse 41 in Mark 10: when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. The ambition of James & John threatened apostolic unity. 1.    The feelings of the ten apostles isn’t all that unnatural! A request has been made of Jesus. I have a strong suspicion that the request was made in private, but somehow it becomes known to the other ten. 2.    Perhaps there’s a lesson in that. The lesson is this: It doesn’t matter how secret you believe the confidence you have shared may be, they have a way of being known, a way of getting out and becoming hurtful to people. In this situation that’s what happened. The ten apostles who are not part of this request are hurt. 3.    They’re upset, and I think we can understand why. Among the apostles neither explicitly nor implicitly was there a difference in rank. Never was it mentioned anywhere, as far as ranking was concerned. Did they have different responsibilities and roles? Yes, that happened, but as far as rank none of them was more important than the other. 4.    James and John, though they may have been the physical kin of Jesus, were not more important than Peter and Andrew and Phillip and the others. The situation is a threat to apostolic unity and Jesus must do something about it. B.   Jesus took immediate, and appropriate action to defuse the situation. 1.    I’d like you to notice Mark 10:42 – “And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.” He begins to solve the problem by describing the situation in the world. You know what goes on in the world He says. People who are considered great have power and authority, and they exercise that power and authority over others. 2.    Then He says in Mark 10:43-44 – “But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” The world has a standard, but Jesus lays down the standard for greatness in the kingdom. i.      He says here it is: Those who are great are those who become servants of all—willing servants. ii.    Those who are going to be considered chiefest (interesting word) are those who serve others. There is no place in His kingdom for power, position and pride! C.   Jesus makes one final argument nipping this problem in the bud. Mark 10:45 – 1.    “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Not only is the world view not to be the view in the kingdom, there’s not to be in the kingdom a desire for position and power growing out of pride. Not only that, He says, even I the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Savior, I did not come to be served. I came to minister to others. 2.    Even the Son of God. In John 13:13-15 are verses that so clearly illustrate this lesson. At the washing of the apostles’ feet, Jesus says: “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” 3.    It’s difficult for our modern, western minds to comprehend the significance of this. In that time when a person came into a house, servants would come and wash that person’s feet. He was walking in some serious dust and his feet were dirty. It was one of the marks of hospitality for him to have his feet washed by one of the servants in the house. 4.    On this occasion the Bible says that Jesus took off His outer robes, girded Himself with a towel, and begins to wash the feet of the apostles. In other words: I, your Lord and Master did not come to be served. I came to serve. I came to minister. I may be Lord and Master, yet I will kneel to the most menial task, the washing of the feet of my disciples. 5.    He adds in this final argument that He came to give His life a ransom for many. There is in that statement without doubt His reference to His own death. His substitutionary death. 6.    In your Bibles you might want to turn to a very familiar passage in First Peter. 1st Peter 2:24 – Peter writes this of Jesus; “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” Then in 1st Peter 3:18 – “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,”. He came to give His life a ransom for many.   CONCLUSION: Human nature can at times become a problem even within the Lord’s church. Human ambition has no place among the saints of God. Zeal for the kingdom however does have a place. Repeatedly, Jesus teaches what’s real, great and good—to please and serve others. That’s the nature of life within the kingdom.   God wants us, his people, to grow in knowledge of the scriptures, both for our own understanding and so that we might accurately encourage others. Discipleship includes lifelong learning to better know God, i.e. rightly dividing the word of truth, applying His word, growing in character and serving others effectively. Let us not forget that not only are we to be learners, but we are also to be instructors and that is part of serving others. This admonition is repeated throughout the scriptures.   2 Peter 3:18: "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ". 2 Peter 1:5: "Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge". Proverbs 10:14: "Wise people store up knowledge". 2 Timothy 2:15: "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth".      We’re going to sing the song which was announced a while ago and as we sing if there are those present needing to take this opportunity to publically make known needs in their lives, you may step into the aisle and make your way to the front and let us know that need.   If you need the prayers of brothers and sisters, we would be glad to pray with you. If you’ve never been baptized into Christ, your life in the kingdom has not yet begun and you need to do that. Come believing, penitent, confessing the name of Christ, submitting yourself in loving obedience to the commandment of Jesus Christ and be baptized for the forgiveness of sin. You can do that today. Whatever the need, we invite you to come.     # ??? Reference sermon, Cecil A. Hutson, 06 April 2008  

ENCOUNTER with The WEE LITTLE MAN Luke 19:1-10   A man went for physical checkup and the nurse asked him how much he weighed. He held his stomach in and replied, "160 lbs." She got him on the scales, weighed him and said: "No, your weight is 176 lbs. The nurse then asked him how tall he was. Standing very straight he answered, "5 feet 10 inches." The nurse measured him and said, no - he was only 5’8".   Then the nurse asked him what his normal blood pressure was. After looking at her for a moment he said, "How can you expect my blood pressure to be normal??? I came in here a tall, slender man and you have already made me short and fat."   Our text is found in (Luke 19:1–10) He entered Jericho and was passing through.  2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.  3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.  4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.  5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”  6 So Zacchaeus hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “HE has gone in to be the guest of a man who is A SINNER.”  8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him,    “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.  10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”   Introduction: Jericho was bustling that day—crowds pressing in, voices rising, dust swirling. And in the middle of it all was a man who had everything money could buy and nothing his soul truly needed. Zacchaeus wasn’t just short in stature; he was short on friends, short on integrity, short on hope. Yet something in him longed to see Jesus. This is a story about a man who climbed a tree to see Jesus—and discovered that Jesus had already been looking for him.   Zacchaeus was A Man Defined by His Past Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector. Not just a tax collector—but he was the chief tax collector. He was wealthy, but his wealth came from exploiting his own people.   And, Because of that He was socially rejected He was Spiritually isolated He was Morally compromised And Zacchaeus was Personally empty   The People of that time saw the negative label placed on Zacchaeus. Jesus saw his longing to belong and fit in. Every congregation has people like Zacchaeus— some hiding in plain sight, some hiding behind success, some hiding behind shame. And many of them are quietly climbing trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of grace.   When Zacchaeus Climbs the Sycamore Tree He is displaying A Picture of Spiritual Hunger Despite his reputation, Zacchaeus ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a tree. Running was undignified. Climbing was childish. But desperation often looks foolish to the world. But in the actions displayed by Zacchaeus I believe he teaches us something essential: Spiritual hunger is the first step toward spiritual healing.   He didn’t know what he was looking for. But he knew what he had wasn’t enough.   Then we see Jesus Stop, Look Up, and Call His Name This is the turning point. Jesus stops under the tree. He looks up. He calls Zacchaeus by name. He invites Himself to Zacchaeus’s house. This is grace in motion.   Jesus doesn’t say: “Clean up your life, then I’ll come.” He says: “I’m coming in—and that will clean your life.” Grace always precedes transformation. And notice: Zacchaeus climbed the tree to see Jesus. But Jesus came to seek Zacchaeus.   I was very surprised by the reaction of the crowd that was present. The Crowd Grumbles: It seems that Grace for some reason… Offends the Self‑Righteous   When Jesus chooses Zacchaeus, the crowd mutters: “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” They weren’t wrong. They were just blind to their own need. The gospel appears to look scandalous to those who think they don’t need it.   But Zacchaeus Responds with Radical Repentance Zacchaeus stands and declares: “Half my possessions I give to the poor.” “If I have cheated anyone, I will repay fourfold.” This is not guilt. This is not religious pressure. This is joy‑filled repentance.   Grace doesn’t just forgive sin—it breaks its power. Zacchaeus didn’t change to earn Jesus’ love. He changed because he had already received it.   And then comes the declaration that “Today salvation has come to this house.” Not someday. Not after a probation period. Not once Zacchaeus proved himself. Today, right now…. Salvation has come. salvation is not a reward for good behavior. It is the presence of Jesus entering a life.   The Mission of Jesus is summed up in One Sentence “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” This is the heartbeat of the gospel. This is the mission of the church. This is the hope of every Zacchaeus in every generation. Jesus seeks. Jesus saves. Jesus restores.   Where Are We in the Story? Every person is somewhere in this narrative: Some are found In the crowd, curious but distant Some have climbed the tree, longing but unsure Some are sitting with Jesus In the house, receiving grace Some are In the middle of the transformation, living out repentance And then there are those who make up the crowd Grumbling, blaming others for their problems forgetting their own need for mercy   As I prepared this sermon a song from years back came to mind: It was sung by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel " I've built walls A fortress deep and mighty That none may penetrate I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain It's laughter and it's loving I disdain I am a rock, I am an island   I have my books And my poetry to protect me I am shielded in my armor Hiding in my room, safe within my womb, I touch no one and no one touches me. I am a rock, I am… an island ("I Am A Rock")   That’s how I picture Zacchaeus – a lonely, isolated man who has everything... except what he really wants. And then Jesus comes to town.   Now, the real question is… What does the story of Zacchaeus tell us?   It tells us there are people in this world that are hurting. And they are often men and women that behave in ways that aren’t particularly endearing. They’re often not cute puppy dog types with big soft eyes that say -"won’t you take me home?"   They are rough people. Hard edged and rude.   And they’ll try to swindle you in a business deal or rip you off when you’re not looking. Inside, they are little people who’ve built walls around themselves. Walls laced with barbed wire. They’re often NOT nice people.   AND even though they know that being like this isn’t right… They believe that’s what life has to offer… And If they let down the walls, if they are nice to someone for even a moment – they’ll get hurt and lose the protection that has for so long comforted them. Their walls are up and they know of nothing better for their lives… That is, until Jesus comes.   That’s what Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11  "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."   And, One last thing I want us to notice – Jesus came looking for Zacchaeus. He knew where he lived. He knew the turmoil in Zacchaeus’ heart.   He came to make a difference in the life a man who was small, petty and bitter. If Jesus would go to all that trouble for a man like Zacchaeus, wouldn’t he do the same for your life?   I will close today’s lesson with a story about a man named Big Jim. Big Jim was the head of an orphanage, & he had a great ability to make people feel good about themselves. If there was a little kid with unruly hair, he had the ability to make that child believe that everybody wanted unruly hair. If a kid had big feet, why he made him think that everybody envied him, that it was the "in" thing to have big feet. He just had the ability to make everybody feel good about themselves, regardless of their physical appearance. Well, one day when Big Jim was out buying groceries, the social worker brought a new boy to be cared for in the orphanage, a little boy about 9 years old who had an ugly birthmark on the side of his face.   The kid had been abused, nobody seemed to love or accept him, & he was filled with hostility. Well, when she left him, the boy began cursing her & everybody around him. Then he went over to the corner, sat down & sulked. He wouldn’t talk to anybody, not even the other kids. The kids wondered what Big Jim would do when he came back. Finally, they heard his old station wagon pull up, & they all rushed to the door, greeting him & hugging him as they always did. Big Jim walked into the room & there was this little boy crouched in the corner, with the ugly birthmark on his face. Big Jim said, "Well, what do we have here?" Someone replied, "The social worker just dropped him off.” "Well, well," said Big Jim. He walked over to that little boy & knelt down beside him. Then he swooped him up in his arms & kissed him right on that birthmark. All the kids started clapping, because they knew that if Big Jim kissed the birthmark it was all right. It made it beautiful, just because Big Jim said it was. People, that is what God has done. His love has covered us completely so that He doesn’t see the ugly parts of us any more. We are beautiful in God’s sight. He has made us beautiful. If you’re here & are experiencing the loneliness of rejection, then I want you to know that God looks beyond all those things that people might consider ugly & unattractive.   He looks at your heart. He looks for love. He looks for repentance. And He looks for commitment. If you have those things, you’re beautiful in God’s sight. If you don’t have them, God wants to take you in His arms, the same way that Big Jim took the little boy in his, & make you all new again.   The good news is this: Jesus is still stopping under trees. He is Still calling names. He is Still entering homes. He is Still saving the lost. And He still delights in turning sinners into sons, outcasts into disciples, and broken stories into testimonies of grace. We extend the Lord’s invitation. We invite you to come as we stand & sing.  

The Problem of Unbelief John 4:43-54   INTRO: The problem of belief and unbelief has really been a theme that John has been carrying in his gospel.   Part of the problem is that we often define unbelief as the total rejection of God. That's why if you take a general poll about if people believe in God, you get an extraordinarily high rating. Also if you ask people if they believe in Jesus, you get yet another extraordinarily high rating.   John, in a sense, is dealing with that and trying to show us what true belief really looks like, and in the process, exposes unbelief.   What is true belief? Who will believe in Jesus? Nicodemus came to Jesus with belief: “We know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus shows him that he has insufficient belief. Nicodemus must experience the new birth, total regeneration of the heart, to have saving faith. That same problem was illustrated in John 2:23-25. Many believed in His name when they saw the signs, but Jesus did not entrust Himself to them because He knew their hearts. Jesus is dealing with what true belief looks like and John is showing it to us. Many seem to have faith and belief in Jesus, but it is insufficient, shallow faith. John returns to this problem of unbelief in the final paragraph of chapter 4.   I. Unbelief Described – Verse 43, “After the two days he departed for Galilee.” Jesus has been in Samaria and He stayed there two days. Many in Samaria believed because of the words He was teaching. They no longer believed because of the woman’s testimony, but their faith had deepened to belief in Jesus because they heard Him for themselves. They confess Jesus to be the Savior of the world. A. Then Jesus leaves and continues to Galilee. Remember in John 4:3 that Jesus left Judea and was going to Galilee. The reason why is because the Pharisees' attention has turned away from John the Baptist and is now turning toward Jesus, recognizing that He needs to be the point of their opposition. 1. Jesus continues His journey to Galilee and a curious statement is made in verse 44. “(For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.)” John tells us Jesus is going to Galilee (which was his own country) and then inserts this parenthetical comment that He had testified a prophet has no honor in his own country. Then John writes in verse 45 “So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.” 2. That does not seem to make any sense. He is going to Galilee, where He is not going to receive any honor, yet the Galileans welcome Him. What are you telling us John? I think the things John wants us to observe are still about what belief and what unbelief really looks like. B. The first is simply this, there is a contrast being drawn to the reaction of the Samaritans and the reaction of the Galileans. 1. In Samaria Jesus has enjoyed unqualified, unopposed, and open-hearted success. When the woman returned to the town, she told them of her experience and says, you need to come and see. Is this perhaps the Messiah? All the town comes to see Jesus, and we’re told there that they then believe on Him. 2. Next Jesus returns to His own people, the Jews, and the response is not going to be the same. Notice it is very carefully worded there in verse 45. The reason why the Galileans welcome Him is because of all the signs that He's done in Jerusalem. They are not welcoming Jesus based upon a true belief in Him. 3. Jesus finds acceptance with the Samaritans but rejection with His own people. The Samaritans believed because of what Jesus said (John 4:42). This belief has led to their salvation because they recognize Jesus to be the Savior of the world. They are experiencing the life changing faith that Jesus calls for. However, this is not true with his own people. 4. They are looking for the wow factor, to see something special occur. They saw all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast, and they welcomed Him because of the signs. However, Jesus does not want “wow” belief but new birth. Jesus is not trying to generate in people’s hearts; a “wow, that was neat” belief. Jesus is trying to generate life-change, new birth, and fully transforming faith. C. We see this several times in John's Gospel. We will see it again in John 7:2f, “2. Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. 3. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5. For not even his brothers believed in him.” We're told Jesus' brothers do not believe, but what do they want Him to do? Go to Jerusalem and show who you are. Put on a big display. Show them a sign you are who you say you are. They don't truly believe, but they're saying He can do signs. 1. It is the same here. They welcome Jesus, but it is a very shallow welcoming. They only want to see some miracles. They want to see Him do something neat. 2. The despised Samaritans turn to Christ in faith and declare “You are the savior of the world”, while the historical covenant community of God either oppose Jesus or cannot progress beyond a fascination for miracles. This goes back to the point John made at the beginning of this gospel: “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11). 3. It has been a couple months but remember we read in John 2:23, “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” Jesus is not being honored for who He is but what He did. D. Do you think that this same false belief exists today? Are there those who believe in Jesus based on some shallow, physical benefit that can be derived from Him? Is there still the problem of people who are interested in Jesus and an association with Him, not to honor Him for who He is but for what they can get out of it? 1. I strongly suspect it is still very much an issue. That shallow belief, will leave them condemned. The pursuit of Jesus is often about, what does it mean for me? What am I going to get out of this? It’s not about, I'm going to follow you because I know who you are and I know how great you are and you are worthy of honor and praise. 2. It's about—I like this place because they've got good youth groups. They've got camps. They've got good music. They've got things that I really enjoy, good get-togethers, the church is nice, there's some kind of financial gain, the people take care of me. It is entertaining. 3. When we turn worship into what we get out of it or what we like, then we do not have the life transforming faith that Jesus expects. Bob Spence used to tell me that you only get out of it what you put in it. John tells us the people believe in Jesus because of what they can get from Him, and that happens today as well. People often think rather than Jesus being the treasure, the treasure is what we can get out of Jesus. 4. People are not coming to Jesus for mercy and salvation. They are coming to Him to divide inheritances, to tell others what to do, to justify their own lifestyle and decisions, and to gain something now. E. Jesus is not a hobby. Jesus is not an idol to be put on the shelf with all the other things we put up and take down at will. Jesus demands life change. Jesus calls for new birth. “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). 1. John is writing this gospel so that we will truly believe in Jesus. What John tells us should be causing us to ask the question: Why do we follow Jesus? Nearly everyone welcomes Jesus, but why do we welcome Jesus? Why do you follow Him? Why do you obey Him? What are you seeking with Jesus? Is it recognition of who Jesus is? Is He the treasure? 2. Or is it simply self-serving? What I get out of it, and the moment I don't receive the things that I think I ought to receive, I will no longer obey. I will no longer follow. I will no longer listen. 3. Often, that's what people want to do with God, isn’t it? We want Him just to be there in times of difficulty, in times of inconvenience, in times of suffering. I'll pull my Jesus idol down and He'll take care of me. God will not accept that. Jesus is looking for a life change. He's calling for new birth. II. Shallow Faith, Greater Grace – Watch how that moves into the story of the official’s son. John 4:46-47, “So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.” An official has an ill son in Capernaum. When he hears that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he goes to Cana (about 15 miles away) and asks Jesus to come with him to heal his son. A. Listen to the words of Jesus in verse 48, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” [ESV] We need to know that the word “you” is a plural “you.” Jesus is addressing the people, not simply this official. That is why several translations insert the word “people” into the text to help identify that the Greek indicates Jesus is not speaking to the official only. 1. Jesus did say it to this official, and Jesus is lumping him in with the rest of the Jews who are welcoming Him only because of the signs He performs. 2. The official persists in verse 49, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” The nobleman did not pretend to a faith he did not have but only poured out the agony of a broken heart before the only one who he knew could help. Such an outpouring of human sorrow was not lost upon "the Man of Sorrows." 3. Jesus then responds in a way that I find fascinating, compassionate and loving. “Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.” Little faith had suddenly grown strong. In Jesus' presence, under the impact of His imperative word, and in the light of all he remembered from Jerusalem, the man believed the word of Jesus. Having believed, he obeyed at once, returning to Capernaum. 4. Rather than responding with the same words of how these people lack faith, reject him or ignore him, Jesus works on this official’s heart. Now the official goes down the journey of faith like we see the Samaritans doing earlier in this chapter. His faith is not complete, as we will see in a moment, but it is forming. The man does not disbelieve. He leaves Jesus and is going back home. B. John 4:51, “As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering.” The reward of the nobleman's faith did not wait for his complete return but was brought by his servants who set out with the good news. 1. His servants meet him on the road and tell him that his son was getting better. Continuing, “So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live…”” Now listen to the end of verse 53, “… And he himself believed, and all his household.” 2. Had he not already believed back in verse 50? What John is showing us is the movement of belief. It all began with signs and wonders, then he believes in Jesus when He says, “Go; your son will live.” 3. His faith is forming. Then when he hears from his servant that the fever left his son at the same hour when Jesus said those words, it says he believed. Coming to full belief, resulting in the transformation that John has been proclaiming in these four chapters. The official’s faith has been growing and leads to the full transformation that Jesus is looking for. 4. Do we see that this is the same pattern as the Samaritans? The Samaritans first believe because they heard the testimony of the woman. Then they fully believe because they met Jesus and heard His teachings. C. John is showing us something through the actions and teaching of Jesus. Faith starts shallow. I submit to you that perhaps for most of us, if not all of us, we typically start with that very baseline belief. We didn't like the idea of eternal punishment. That was our primary motivator. That's not our motivation anymore. We may have started out of fear, and while that's a very real scare, it's moving to a love of Christ. We want to obey, not out of I don't want to go there, but out of I want to be with Him. 1. The problem is not that we start at the beginning point of belief. The problem is that so many remain there and never go any deeper to true, saving, life changing faith. We enter the first stage of belief and think it is enough. We declare that we believe in Jesus. 2. We believe He came to this world and died for our sins, but for some belief never expands beyond that. Think about how James identified this same problem, James 2:19, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”. The demons believe, but it is not a saving faith. They have the starting point of faith just like many others. 3. True belief is one that brings about radical life transformation in obedience to Jesus. This is exactly what James teaches in the rest of that paragraph. James 2:20-21, “Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?” 4. Abraham’s faith was so deep that he was willing to offer his only son Isaac to God because God commanded it! That is true belief — radically transformed faith. True belief obeys God regardless of the cost. It is important to see what John is showing us so that we understand where the people we meet might be on their journey. We need to be able to relate so that we, in love, can encourage them. D. True belief does not leave God because of inconvenience and difficulty. True belief does not come to Jesus at night. True belief loves Jesus and seeks Him, not because of what He does for us, but because of who He is, how great He is, and how I owe Him everything. We encourage those we meet to not remain with basic, shallow belief that does not lead to life change. Take the road of faith. Let your faith grow. Grow deeper with your Savior. III. The Sign – In verse 54 John writes, “This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.” John calls this a sign so we need to pay attention to the meaning of the sign. John has a purpose in picking out the seven signs. There is a deeper meaning behind these than simply, He does miracles. John is driving at something. A. Jesus has come to Cana in Galilee, the location of His first miracle where He turned the water into wine. 1. Recall in John 2 that with this turning of the water to wine, Jesus was showing that what He brought were blessings of God which were greater, superior, and more abundant than the blessings which were found through the Law of Moses. 2. Jesus is shown as being superior to the things of the Old Testament, making Himself equal to God. He is God because He does what was done in the past. He does the very works of God. We saw that with the very first verse in the first chapter of John. “In the beginning was the Word.” Here is this equation made right out of the gate. Using the creation story, Jesus is God because He does what God does. B. Jesus returns to Cana and John tells us that this is the second sign he recorded there. I wondered why John included this sign? I suspect John did so to show that the physical presence of the Lord was not required in the performance of His signs, but that His Holy Will was effective from any distance whatsoever. 1. In 1st Kings 17 we see the widow’s son had become ill and there was not breath left in him. Elijah took the boy, and prayed to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child's life come into him again.” And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.” 2. Then in 1st Kings 17:23 we read, “And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.”” 3. Elijah was there and prayed to the Lord but in John 4:50 “Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.”” With Jesus the spoken word was enough. Jesus is greater than Elijah. Jesus does what only God can do.   CONCLUSION: Jesus has the power to give life, and He can give it through His very words. This is what leads to our deeper level of belief. Jesus gives life. Notice the greatness of Jesus in the story. It is by His very words that this son lived. Jesus said simple words, “Your son will live” and the son lived. What power! When He tells you that you will live, then you will live! Listen to Jesus’ words: “… I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” [ESV] (John 11:25–26)   When you have experienced life transformation… when you go past the surface of superficial belief, come to know who Jesus is, and you love Him… here's what's going to happen. You will live. You have life. He has the power to declare it. He has promised that He will give it to all who believe in Him. This is what John is trying to get us to understand. The hanging question is, “Do you believe this?” Whoever believes in Jesus, though we die, will have life! Jesus has showed us that He has power over physical life. He therefore has power over spiritual life. Whoever believes in Jesus shall never die (i.e. be separated from God).   John said, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Life is not anywhere else. Follow Him because He is the Lord. He is worthy of our honor, worthy of our praise and worthy of us giving Him everything because He came and died for us.   Faith begins when we recognize Jesus as the son of God and recognize our need for forgiveness of sins. It is a belief that recognizes I need to escape eternal punishment because that is what I deserve because of my actions. Then it progresses, it presses on. It doesn't stay there.   If you have not accepted Jesus and believed in Him and submitted your life to Him, that is your starting point—believe that Jesus is the son of God who came to this world and died for your sins. Be immersed in water to have your sins washed away to enter a relationship with Him so that you can know that you have eternal life.   If you've already begun there, don't stop. Do not think you can now put your life in neutral and you're good to go. Deepen the relationship. See him as the treasure. Recognize Him and honor Him for who He is. We invite you to come while we stand and while we sing.     # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercheville

What Value Do You Place In A Year? Philippians 3:12-14   There is an old story about a happy little boy who went out into the field wearing a baseball cap. In one hand he carried a baseball, & in the other a baseball bat. His face bore a look of tremendous confidence. Cocking his bat, he tossed the ball into the air, saying, "I’m the greatest batter in the world!" Then he swung & missed. "Strike one," he said. He picked up the ball, examined it, & then threw it into the air again. As he swung, he repeated, "I’m the greatest batter in the world." Once again he missed. "Strike two," he said. This time, he stopped to examine his bat to make sure there wasn’t a hole in it. Then he picked up the ball, adjusted his cap, & tossed the ball into the air for the 3rd time. He repeated again, "I’m the greatest batter in the world," & swung with all his might & missed for the 3rd straight time. "Wow" he cried, "What a pitcher. I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!" As we start to prepare for a new year, & as we look back over the last 12 months, I’m not sure whether most of us would be considered pitchers or batters. One thing for sure, at times we have all struck out. What do you anticipate for this upcoming year? Are you full of enthusiasm, looking forward eagerly to what each day will bring? Or are you filled with a sense of dread, worried that this year will be worse than last year was for you? Like the little boy with the bat, may I suggest that your attitude, your frame of mind, your reaction to its events will largely determine whether this year is a year of victory or a year of defeat. The turning of a year brings a mix of relief, hope, and uncertainty. Whether you enter this time of year with joy, weariness, or cautious expectation, today is an invitation to pause, remember God’s faithfulness, and step forward with renewed purpose. Remember the ways God has led you; God makes all things new and calls us to walk forward in faith. Memory shapes our faith. Remembering God’s past faithfulness grounds our hope for the future. Faith without action remains idle. God’s grace calls for a response—small, steady steps of obedience that shape a life. A single seed planted consistently yields a harvest; so one faithful choice repeated becomes character. The Apostle Paul was never one to let circumstances conquer him. Rather, with the help of God, he was determined to win the victor’s crown. Listen as his attitude, dedication, determination shine through in these words found in Philippians 3:12-14. "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind & straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." With Paul’s words fresh in our minds, here are some suggestions to help us be all that we can be this year. First of all, recognize the value of time. How do we value ONE YEAR? To a parent, it’s watching a child grow in ways they never imagined. To a married couple of 50 years, it’s another chapter in a long story of faithfulness. To someone who is ill, it’s hope — the chance for recovery, treatment, or simply more time with loved ones. To someone who wasted a year, it’s a reminder that time is a gift not to be taken lightly.   How do we value ONE MONTH? Ask a Mother whose baby arrived prematurely. To a new parent, one month is the difference between a newborn who can barely focus and a baby who recognizes their voice. To someone waiting for medical results, a month is a long stretch of prayer and uncertainty. To someone rebuilding their life, it’s proof that change is possible in small, faithful increments.   How do we value ONE WEEK? To someone struggling, a week is proof that they made it through seven more days. To someone beginning a new habit, a week is the first sign that change is possible.     How do we value ONE HOUR? Ask someone who lies terminally ill waiting for a loved one who is late. To someone waiting for news, an hour is an eternity. To someone in prison, an hour is a chance to think, pray, or regret. To someone grieving, an hour can bring a wave of sorrow or a moment of peace. To someone you encourage in your letters, an hour might be the difference between despair and hope. And then I found this quote: A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life! Any ideas on where I found this quote? How do we value ONE MINUTE? Ask someone who missed a plane, a train, a very important engagement that would never be rescheduled. To someone receiving CPR, one minute is the difference between life and death. To someone waiting for a loved one to call, a minute is a small ache of hope. To someone in prison, a minute can be a moment of temptation or a moment of clarity. To someone grieving, a minute can bring a memory that breaks them or comforts them. To a married couple, a minute can be a kiss, a kind word, or a small act of grace. To someone you write to, a minute might be the moment they decide to keep going. How do we value ONE SECOND? Ask an Olympic Medalist, or someone who just missed having an accident, or someone saying “goodbye” to a loved one they will never see again. To a driver at an intersection, one second is the difference between safety and tragedy. To someone saying goodbye, a second is one more heartbeat together. To someone grieving, a second can bring a memory that softens or shatters. To someone you encourage, a second might be the instant they decide not to give up. The Bible says, "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, & a thousand years are like a day." (2 Peter 3:8) God deals with eternity, & therefore time is not an important factor with Him. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…” — God can transform everything. But time is important to us because we live in a limited time frame. We begin with initial stages, then go on to adolescence, adulthood, middle age, old age, & to everything that follows. We measure life in segments of time. Now, what makes something valuable? Oftentimes it is scarcity. If there is a scarcity, then that product quickly escalates in value. So, if something is rare, it is usually valuable. But if we have a lot of it, it loses its value. Now, the same is true with time. So those of us over 60 tend to look at those under 20 & say, "Don’t squander time, because it’s valuable." They reply, "No, it’s not. We have lots of time. So we can waste it any way we want." The Bible often speaks of the brevity of life. No wonder the Psalmist asks God, "What is man that you are mindful of him?" (Psalm 8:4) Statisticians tell us that the average life span is now around 76 years. If you’re under 30 then you think that is a long time. But if you’re nearing that age, you’re beginning to realize that’s not really very long at all. I ran across some interesting statistics a few years ago. Someone went to the trouble to research what people do with their time, & came up with these results: If we live to be 75, most of us will have spent 3 solid years, 24 hours a day, acquiring an education grade school, high school & college. We’ll have spent 7 years eating, 24 hours a day, some less, & some more, obviously. We’ll have spent 14 years, day & night, working. We’ll have spent 5 years riding in automobiles or airplanes. We’ll have spent 5 years talking with each other…again some more & some less. We’ll have spent 1 year sick or recovering from sickness. And get this, we’ll have spent 24 years of our life sleeping! We’ll have spent 3 years reading books, magazines & newspapers. And 12 years amusing ourselves watching TV, going to the movies, fishing, etc. That totals up to 75 years & that is what the researchers say, on average, most of us will have done with our lives. As I looked at these statistics I began thinking. Let’s suppose that you spent every Sunday of your life, for 75 years through infancy, childhood, adulthood, old age in God’s house worshiping during the Church Service. Now if you did that, how much time would you have spent worshiping God? For those of you who did the math… yes the answer is less than 5 1/2 months. But let’s double that, because you’ve always attended Bible Study. You’ve never missed Bible Study in all your life. That makes it 11 months. Think about those 5 years in an automobile & just 11 months in Church & Bible Study! Twelve years amusing ourselves in front of a TV, & just 11 months in Church & Bible Study And that is just if you always attended Bible Study & Church, & never missed! That tells us a little bit about the brevity of time, & it also tells us something about our priorities in life. The Bible also teaches us that life is uncertain. Time is like a valuable commodity in a very precious & delicate vessel. It might break at any moment & we might lose it all. So we have this moment. We don’t know anything about the future, but we have this moment & that is all that we really have. Because of the uncertainty of life, the Bible says, "Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2) Hebrews 3:15 says, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." Because life is uncertain, we must take advantage of the time that we have. Secondly, don’t be in bondage to the past. We are special beings in that God has given us the ability to remember. Your memory may be your friend or your enemy. When you remember, hopefully you’ll remember some very pleasant things about this past year, but chances are that you’ll also remember some negative things. Those negative things can cripple us & hold us in bondage to the past. That is why Paul said, "Forgetting what is behind..." Paul had a lot to forget. Paul had a very shaky past. He persecuted the church. He used his authority to kill Christians. By his own admission he said, "I am the chief of sinners." (1 Timothy 1:15) He could have walked around all his life with this tremendous burden of guilt crippling him & he would never have become the great apostle we know & love today. But Paul said, "Forgetting what is behind..." In other words, "God, I commit it to you. I seek your forgiveness for all the sins of the past, & I look forward to what lies ahead. And right now I’m going to live today the best I can." I believe that is good advice for us as well. Finally, I think that we need to establish a priority in our lives. Paul says it this way, "This one thing I do." Now Paul obviously did more than one thing. He made tents. He preached sermons & established churches. He healed the sick. He wrote books. He did a lot of different things. But he said, "The top priority in my life is to ‘press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ “ A while back an expert on the subject of time management was speaking to a group of business students. After speaking to them for a while, he said, “Okay, it’s time for a quiz.” He set a one-gallon, wide mouthed Mason jar on the table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks & carefully placed them, one at a time, inside the jar. When the jar was filled to the top & no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.” “Really?” he said. Then he reached under the table & pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel into the jar & shook it, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he smiled & asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not,” one of them said. “Good!” he replied. And he reached under the table & brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in & it filled all the spaces between the rocks & the gravel. Once more he asked, “Is this jar full?” “No!” the class shouted. Again he said, “Good!” Then he grabbed a pitcher of water & began to pour in the water until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked back at the class & asked, “What is the point of this illustration?” One eager beaver raised his hand & said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit something more into it!” “No,” the speaker replied, “that’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is this: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.” What are the big rocks of your life? - They should include these: Each day drawing nearer to God, spending time with Him in prayer, & seeking His guidance for your life through reading His Word. Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all. It was Jesus who said, "Seek first His kingdom & His righteousness, & all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33) An old beggar woman ran out of money. She couldn’t pay her rent. She couldn’t pay any of her bills. The landlord had threatened to throw her out if she didn’t soon pay her rent. She had only a candle to keep her warm, & on Christmas Day she warmed her hands over the candle. There was a knocking at her door & she was afraid to answer for fear that it was the landlord coming to kick her out. She blew out her candle & sat quietly in the dark & waited for the intruder to leave. Two weeks later she found out that the knocking on her door was the knock of a friend who had come to bring her enough money to pay her rent & pay her debts. I wonder how many have from time to time heard the gentle knock of the Savior who wants so much to come in & free them from the burdens of their sin? But they have ignored His knocking. DEAR LORD of yesterday and tomorrow, we bring our memories and our hopes. Forgive what we have done that separates us from you. Renew our hearts where they are weary. Give us courage to live faithfully in both the large and small choices of each day. Make us instruments of your peace, and guide our feet into paths of justice and mercy. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.   This morning God’s invitation is offered to any & all who would accept Him and be baptized for the remission of their sins. He came as a baby in the manger. But He also came as the Redeemer, & this morning He patiently waits for you. Whatever your need may be; whether to be baptized or to ask for the prayers of the congregation, will you come as we stand & as we sing?      

What is the Best Gift We Could Receive? Isaiah 8:11 – 9:7   It was the day after Christmas. An Elder of the church was looking over the manager display when he noticed that the baby Jesus was missing. Immediately he turned and saw a little boy with a red wagon, and in the wagon was the figure of the little infant, Jesus. So the Elder walked up to the boy and asked, “Hey there! Where did you happen to find this baby figure?” The little boy replied, “I got him from the church.” “And why did you take him?” To which the boy quickly answered, “Well, about a week before Christmas I prayed to the little Lord Jesus and I told him if he would bring me a red wagon for Christmas I would give him a ride around the block in it.   This time of year brings the question: WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR? We ask children, grandchildren, spouses, and friends to give us a list of items they might like for Christmas. I would like to start my lesson this morning by asking you …. if you could ask for just one thing this year … no matter the cost… what would it be?   I’m sure that as you look around this week you will see signs of Christmas rapidly approaching. And what I want us to consider this morning is– “Signs sent by God.” The Bible contains numerous passages that are signs from God. These signs can take various forms and are often seen as a means through which God communicates with humanity. Here are some examples: The Bible describes instances where God uses natural events to convey messages. For example, the parting of the Red Sea during the exodus of the Israelites is seen as a miraculous sign. (Exodus 14:21-22). Miracles, such as the healing of the sick, raising the dead, and turning water into wine, are often considered signs of God's intervention.   The fulfillment of prophecies is often seen as a sign of God's guidance and involvement. The Old Testament contains numerous prophecies that were fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ. God was in the business of providing signs from the very beginning. After the flood, when the rainbow appeared, God told Noah it was a sign that He would not flood the entire earth like that again. So, whenever we see a rainbow, that sign reminds us of His promise. Through Moses & Aaron God gave very dramatic signs to Pharaoh to force him to set the Israelites free. And in the wilderness during the next 40 years God provided multiple signs of His power and His guidance & of His love for His people.   Isaiah 7:14 says,  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. A prophecy is a foretelling of a future event. The Prophet was given insight regarding something previously unknown. The fulfillment of prophecy would be proof & a sign that God could be believed & trusted. Sometimes a prophecy was fulfilled soon after it was made. Sometimes the fulfillment was hundreds of years later, like this one.   This prophecy was written 700 years before it was fulfilled. Matt. 1:21-23 tells us the angel told Joseph,  21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus,  for he will save his people from their sins.”  22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,     and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).    So, both Mary & Joseph received signs that confirmed what they were told. Jesus’ birth was not his beginning. It was his beginning in human form, but Jesus existed long prior - from the very beginning. In the year 1809 the world was in an upheaval. Napoleon was sweeping through Austria and soldiers from many countries were dying on the battlefield. The fate of entire kingdoms and nations hung in the balance and the world seemed on the very edge of collapse.   It was 1809... And in that same year several significant people were born. In Britain, there was William Gladstone born to become one of England’s finest statesmen. And Alfred Lord Tennyson, born to be a great author of his day. In the US - Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge. In Boston, Edgar Allen Poe began his eventful, albeit tragic, life. It was also in that same year that Charles Darwin was born. And in a rugged cabin in Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln was born.   If there had been a news broadcast back in 1809 I am sure that these words would have been heard: “The destiny of the world is being shaped on an Austrian battlefield today.” But, history was actually being shaped in the cradles of England and America. Every age has its dangers. Eventually every nation faces difficulties. Even today in the US we’re concerned with financial troubles, international terrorism, and political uncertainty. Every nation, sooner or later, will face threats and perils that will make them believe that the destiny of the world is being shaped by that day’s events. And they will see their future as bleak, dark, and hopeless. And yet, in every age, the birth of a child can make a significant impact on their destiny. Back in the days of Isaiah, the world looked dark, and bleak, and hopeless. The nation of Israel had turned their back on God and God, in His turn, had turned His back on them. It was going to be a time of darkness. A time of hopelessness. But… just a few verses later, God said there will be a time of hope and light – hope and light brought by the birth of a child.   Look at Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness     have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,     on them has light shone. Yes, Israel, you have walked in darkness. Yes, Israel you have been living in the land of the shadow of death. But there will be hope.   And then in verse 6 He tells them why. For to us a child is born,     to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder,     and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,     Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. A counselor is someone you listen to. Someone who gives you guidance or advice on things you think are important. Newspaper columnist and counselor George Crane tells of a wife who came into his office full of hatred toward her husband. "I not only want to get rid of him, I want to get even. Before I divorce him, I want to hurt him as much as he has me."   Dr. Crane thought about that for a couple of moments and then suggested an ingenious plan. "Go home and act as if you really love your husband,” He told her. “Tell him how much he means to you. Praise him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind and considerate and generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. After you’ve convinced him of your undying love and that you cannot live without him… then drop the bomb. Tell him that you’re getting a divorce. That will really hurt him." With revenge in her eyes, she smiled and exclaimed, "Beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever be surprised!" And she did it with enthusiasm. For two months she acted "as if," she loved him. She was kind to him; she listened to him. She was constantly giving, reinforcing, sharing. Two months went by… and she didn’t return to her counselor, so Crane called her.   "Are you ready now to go through with the divorce?" "Divorce?" she exclaimed. "Never! I discovered I really do love him." A counselor is someone you listen to. Someone you accept advice from. The problem for Israel is that they had gotten into the habit of listening to the wrong counselors. Look with me at Isaiah 9:19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts     the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire;     no one spares another. There were men in Israel who were giving the people bad advice. These men were advising Israelites to listen to someone other than God – mediums and spiritists and folks that said they talked to the dead. Apparently, these men were trusted enough by the people to be taken seriously. And because Israel listened to these counselors, their nation was going to suffer terribly. And so, God was telling His people: You’re walking in darkness, in the shadow of death, because you’ve listened to the wrong counselors. BUT REJOICE because unto you a child is born, unto you a son is given and He’s going to be a wonderful counselor. He’s going to be someone you can listen to and know His advice is right. You’ll be able to stake your life on what He tells you. No mortal man or woman is going to be able to be capable of giving you advice that will be anywhere as good as His. Now, I don’t want you to get the impression that I’m saying we are not to take advice. Proverbs 15:21-22 tells us, Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense,     but a man of understanding walks straight ahead. Without counsel plans fail,     but with many advisers they succeed. A wise person heeds the advice of people he can trust. A wise Christian seeks the advice of his elders. A wise child looks to his parents for advice. A wise husband talks things over with his wife And a wise women listens to the counsel of her husband. There are many skilled and trained counselors that can help you with your finances, marriage, guilt, etc.. No matter what issue you need help with, there are people out there who are trained to help you. Counselors who sincerely want to help you. You see there are many “Good” counselors in this world. But none can compare with the “Wonderful counselor. That’s because - when Jesus came – He came fully understanding the basic problem we face. Matthew 1:21-22 says Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense,     but a man of understanding walks straight ahead. Without counsel plans fail,     but with many advisers they succeed. One of the repeated pieces of advice Jesus gave people during his ministry was this: “Go and sin no more” (John 5:14; 8:11) Don’t make excuses for it. Don’t try to ignore it or explain it away. Sin isn’t going to go away on its own. We must deal with it. We must confront it. And the only way we can deal effectively with sin is to realize that only the Wonderful Counselor can help us remove sin’s power and guilt. Paul said it this way:  22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.—1st Corinthians 1:22-25 Jesus is the wonderful counselor because He IS the power and the wisdom of God. Jesus is the one who can give us the power to help us overcome sin… and the wisdom to know how to deal with our sins when we fall prey to them. The counselors of this world CAN help you with your problems. But they can only help you so much. By contrast, Jesus (the Wonderful Counselor) has the ability to help us deal with the root cause of our problems.   As Hebrews tells us: 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16 You see: Jesus understands our problems. He’s sympathetic to our failure.   But He’s too good a counselor to just let us do what we want and ignore the consequences. He knows our problems and He has counsel to help us deal with our sins. The key of course is this: listen to… and follow His advice. So, have you done that? Have you let Jesus be your counselor? Have you asked for His guidance and His advice in your problems?   God is in the business of providing unmistakable signs. Unfortunately, some people pass God's signs off as just some weird coincidence. The religious leaders asked for signs out of skepticism & unbelief. Asking for a sign when we need clarification is one thing, but demanding a sign in order for God to prove Himself is not good. Pharisees and Sadducees often challenged Jesus with questions that tested his authority and knowledge of God’s will.   They did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah or the Son of God, but rather as a clever teacher or a false prophet. We can trust in Jesus’ words and deeds as sufficient signs of his identity and authority. We can also examine our own hearts and motives when we ask for signs or doubt God’s promises. Do we seek God out of love or fear? Do we believe in Jesus as the Son of God? Do we follow him with faithfulness or disobedience?   The shepherds believed the angel, followed the sign & saw the evidence. Because they did this, they experienced a joyous event that undoubtedly changed their lives forever. Those who ignore the signs miss out on the joy that would change their lives forever too.   INVITATION: Which do you value more, the toys & trinkets of this life that will eventually crumble into dust, or a relationship with Jesus Christ that will last forever? Do you want to find what you're looking for? Follow the signs to Jesus.  

The Savior of the World John 4:27-42   INTRODUCTION: Good morning church. When we looked at John chapter 4 last, we left off halfway through a scene in which Jesus encounters a woman of Samaria at Jacob’s well.   We saw Jesus engaging in conversation with this woman, and He's trying to move her from a physical, shallow mindset toward opening her spiritual mind and spiritual eyes. This has been a common sub-theme we've seen in John’s gospel: Jesus' need to awaken people from their spiritual blindness.   That was the setup for us in chapter 1 and has been shown to us in chapters 2 and 3. Interestingly, this is going to occur again.   To set our scene, Jesus and the woman are having this discussion about living water. Jesus desires to impart living water to her. She does not understand that what He is offering is something greater than a flowing river or stream. Her assumption at this point is that He is saying, you wouldn't have to draw a bucket out of a well in the heat of the day. Jesus next tries to awaken her spiritual senses by asking her a question about her husband to get her to recognize that He is a man of God.   Seeing Jesus knows her situation, she finally understands that Jesus is having more than just a casual conversation with her. She asks Jesus, “Then where are we supposed to worship God? Here on this mountain or in Jerusalem?”   At this point we see Jesus describing to her that neither of those locations is important. Location is not it, but God is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.   Her answer to that was: when the Messiah comes, he'll answer all these things. “Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.””   I. True Satisfaction (John 4:27-34) – Read with me now, starting in verse 27, “27. Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28. So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29. “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30. They went out of the town and were coming to him.”[ESV] A. The disciples had gone into the city of Sychar to get food. I wondered if perhaps they went to get food with some foreknowledge by Jesus, to move them aside as He's going to engage this woman in a spiritual discussion. We are not told. 1. The disciples return and see Jesus speaking with this woman, and they are surprised at this. In their minds, they don't say it out loud; they marveled that He was talking with her. They don’t say anything, but it's on their minds, “What is He doing?” 2. We often see in the Gospels that Jesus knows the hearts and minds of people. Here, He uses this as an opportunity to teach the disciples. In verse 28, we read that the Samaritan woman, in her excitement, leaves her water jar, goes into the town, and tells the people to come and see a man who could be the Christ. She has been moved from her spiritual darkness and blindness. She now sees what Jesus is offering, and she is sharing the good news with the people in the town about her encounter. 3. She goes into that town, and she begins to tell the people, I have met somebody who knows my life history. When he asked me about my husband, I said I don't have a husband. He then went on and told me about all my past husbands. Is this the Christ? Has the Messiah truly arrived? Come and see. 4. That's all transpiring in the town. Notice that they are now leaving and heading toward the well where Jesus is. That scene is important to what Jesus is doing as He has this discussion with His disciples. B. The focus of the story then shifts away from the woman to how Jesus teaches these disciples. We're going to look at what Jesus is teaching and think about how we can apply it to ourselves. These are great lessons for us about what it means to be a true follower and disciple of Jesus. 1. Verse 31. “31. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32. But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33. So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34. Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” 2. Notice that Jesus is speaking to His disciples as the people from the town are beginning to make their approach. The disciples went into the town to get food. They have been on a long journey, and we saw at the beginning of the chapter that Jesus is weary. He is at the well, the disciples come back, and they are now concerned about their master and saying, “You need to eat”. 3. Jesus says something astounding to them. He says I have food to eat that you do not know about. Rightly, the disciples are mystified by this. Who got him something to eat? Has anybody seen him eat? How did he get food? C. This is the fourth time now that we've seen this kind of thing in John's gospel. They are considering only the physical and showing a lack of spiritual understanding. Jesus is attempting to move them to think beyond physical food. 1. That's why he says in verse 34, My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. My food, my sustenance, my wellbeing, everything that sustains me is in doing the will of God and accomplishing His work. That is what it is all about. 2. What we see Jesus doing is exemplifying the very answer that He gave Satan when He was tempted in the wilderness. Man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Here that is on display. He wasn't just saying that as a scripture reference, but here it is in truth. Jesus’ concern is not about having a meal right now. 3. Jesus is teaching His disciples that there is no greater satisfaction in life. To the twelve He is saying; “you can't bring me anything better or more satisfying than what I am experiencing right now with teaching this woman”— as the multitudes are beginning to make their way to that well. D. We see an excitement, and a joy with Jesus, in trying to move His disciples to think in spiritual terms. It's not about the physical. It's not about looking for what will sustain us in this world. True life, true food, true satisfaction is only going to be found in doing the will of God. That should have a very profound impact on how we perceive and live our lives. 1. The true disciple finds their sustenance in doing the will of God. That is the most important thing, and that will be what sustains us. It is not our work, wealth, marriage, or food. There are many things we often perceive to be so important. These things do not satisfy and do not sustain us. 2. The most important thing, our highest priority, is to do the will of God. That's where our joy comes from, and that's what true life is all about. That's what Jesus is showing His disciples. Now the people from the town are coming, and this isn’t the time to sit down to eat. There are bigger things to do right now because an opportunity is approaching. This is the highest, the most important thing for the disciples of Jesus. 3. Jesus is leading them to consider the true priorities in life. What should be the most important thing to me is God's will and His work being done. It is not my own physical desires, nor fulfilling my needs. It is doing the will of God. That is what is going on in this story. Their concern when they came back was not asking about the conversation with the woman or wondering why the people were coming, but… we need to eat. 4. This is the same thing Jesus was showing the woman at the well, there's nothing else that satisfies. Jesus described to the woman; “When you drink from this well, you will be thirsty again. Of the water that I'm going to give you, you will never thirst again.” This is the only place for that kind of satisfaction. Jesus has been teaching the disciples the very thing He was teaching the woman. 5. He used water to teach the woman, and now uses food to teach the disciples. I have food, and I am satisfied. I do not need anything else because this is the most important thing. E. We, as disciples, are to understand that should be the thing to drive our lives. That is what sustains us, doing God's will, seeking God's will, accomplishing His work, and it should be our highest priority. II. True Urgency (John 4:35-38) – As Jesus leads His disciples, the next thing He shows them is a sense of urgency. Verse 35. “35. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38. I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”” In verse 35, we have a picture of urgency. A. Keep in mind what has just happened - The woman has told the people; Come and see, Is this the Messiah, is this the one? Then they went out of the town and were heading to Him while the discussion between Jesus and the disciples was going on. This is not simply a theoretical statement, the fields are ripe to harvest, get to work. Jesus tells them to lift their eyes and look. What do they see? The people are coming. Do you see that the field is ripe for harvest? 1. For me, that makes sense of the story. Jesus starts by saying you are used to waiting some months between planting the seed and the harvest. Then He says, Open your eyes, right now is the opportunity, it is now we're going to be doing something. 2. This is the food of Jesus: to do God’s will, which specifically is to teach these Samaritans so they can have eternal life. Verses 36-38 describe what is transpiring. The disciples have done none of the sowing, but they will be doing the reaping as the crowd comes to Jesus. Jesus and the woman have done the sowing. Their work has led to the reaping. 3. Look, do you see all these people? Do you see the souls? Now is the time, for the harvest is ready. The seed's been planted. Now is the time to reap. You have a saying at planting, we will wait four months, and then there's a harvest. But look, we have it now! 4. There's an urgency, an excitement, and that's the way Jesus' disciples are supposed to be. There is an urgency, an intensity in longing to save souls. When we understand that true satisfaction is in God, then we will have an urgency to share that good news and help save souls, because that is the very work of God. B. Thinking of John 3:16-17, where we are told God sent His Son to save people, to save the condemned… we realize that this is God’s will. If I understand that true satisfaction, true food is doing the will of God, and God's will is to save sinners, then I must have an urgency to accomplish the will and the work of God. That is what Jesus is leading His disciples to see. 1. They were not thinking along those lines but thinking of lunch. Jesus is teaching them, I'm here to do the will of God, to accomplish His work, and that is why I was talking with this woman, because I'm here to save the world. 2. That is what it is all about. Saving people happens by talking to them, not passing by them. The disciples would have just ignored this woman. They would have said Jesus, we’ve got the food and you need to eat. Jesus says, That's not food. My food is to do the will of God. C. It is absolutely our urgency and priority to open our mouths and speak the good news to people. It is important to understand that the good news of salvation cannot be transmitted or communicated any other way except by opening our mouths. 1. It's easy for us to be led into a misnomer; if I keep my nose clean, do good moral acts, everybody will see and follow Christ that way, right? Maybe, but more likely not. What if they don't know that you're glorifying God by your good works? They need to know the reason why you're doing the good that you're doing. Doing good is good, but we must let people know why we're doing the good that we're doing. 2. We must communicate to people the reason for our hope, the reason for our actions, and explain to them that it's because we are disciples of Christ. If we are quiet and do good, people may not know that we are His disciples, and that is the reason for our lifestyle. III. True Work (John 4:39-42) – The disciples did not understand why Jesus was talking to the woman, and the woman tells the whole town that she thinks she has found the Christ. She goes into the town proclaiming that there is a man at the well who knows her life story. Now we are at verse 39. “39. Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40. So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41. And many more believed because of his word. 42. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”” A. The woman had gone into the town and told them to come and see. I would like us to consider what she knew. Did she have a master's degree in Old Testament law? How much did she have to know to be able to be effective in reaching this town? Not an awful lot. All she had to do was say, I think I found something. Why don't you come check it out with me? That's all she does. 1. She grasps that she must share this good news, and that's what she's declaring in verse 29. “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” All that I've ever done. Next we read that people believe because of her testimony. 2. I want us to consider that this is a tremendous way that disciples can reach out to the world. Simply tell people, come and see. There are many ways we can present ‘come and see’ to people, and I’ll mention a few. 3. We can speak to them and say, Come and see where I worship God. By inviting them to join us as we worship God on the Lord's day. We can invite them and say, “I want you to come and see why my life is different. It's because of how Jesus has changed me. Come and see.” 4. Listen to the word of God online. Here are some interesting links. Come and see. Look what I found in scripture. We'll sit down and read the Bible together. I want you to check out what I've checked out. I want you to experience something that I've experienced myself. B. They believed based on her testimony. They came to see, and then later they say, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves.” We believe too. 1. All of us can tell people about how Jesus has changed our lives and ask them to come and experience the same. We can tell people about the new birth that is available. We must never underestimate what we are able to do because it is the power of God and His word that saves. We are simply inviting people to come and see. 2. Consider how Jesus did it in this story. It required a conversation that penetrated through the material, physical, darkened mind, to try to open the shades, to show the light so that they could see what God is doing for them. We must do the same thing. C. I think most of us grasp that we have a world that is steeped in darkness. A world so concentrating on the here and now, and the physical, that it does not think about eternity. It does not think about the final result. People do not like to think about questions like; What's going to happen when we die? Do you think that there's a God? 1. What makes you think that there's no God? Isn't it odd all the order that's in this system? Isn't it interesting that there's a natural rhythm to music? It's even mathematical. It's amazing to me the complexities of all kinds of things in life. Why is it that these things are like this? Is there a purpose to life? Why are we here? 2. There are lots of things that we can say to people to help chisel away that physical, darkened mind set and hopefully transform it into spiritual thinking. We need to look at what Jesus did with this woman and consider that kind of conversation. D. Really the pinnacle of the story is found there in verse 42. Notice that these are Samaritans. They are a people hated by the Jews. The Messiah was supposed to be a Messiah for the Jews. These Samaritans come to a great understanding... They understand He's not the Savior of the Jews. He's the Savior of the world. They come to an amazing reality. This is the One. This is who we've been looking for, and He is for all people. 1. Consider what we've seen in John's Gospel. Jesus has come to His own already in the first few chapters and His own have not received Him. Now He's in Samaria and this whole town is saying, We believe. We know that You're the Savior of the world. 2. Here are people that you might expect to be the least receptive to the Gospel. These people that you would suppose to be the least likely, the people that we, like the disciples, might check off the list and say, they wouldn't want to hear anything about this. Let's just get lunch. 3. We can't do that. We cannot filter people ourselves. The opportunity of the Gospel must be given to everybody. That's the theme of what this book has been about. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. He is the Savior of the world. E. Many more Samaritans come to believe as Jesus stays there in Samaria for two days. John records for us an important truth as this section ends. The Samaritans recognize that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Jesus is not the Savior for the Jews alone. He is not a Jewish Messiah. He is the Savior of the world. He has come to save every person, regardless of heritage and background, not just the Jewish people. The theme of universal redemption continues to be a key theme for John in this gospel.     CONCLUSION: Let’s do a bit of a review of what happens in this encounter. The "Living Water" Misunderstanding: Jesus offers the woman at the well "living water" (eternal life/the Holy Spirit). The woman, thinking literally about the physical well, asks for this water so she won't have to keep making the strenuous trip to draw water every day. The contrast between the profound spiritual offer and her practical, earthly response creates a moment of reflection for us.   The Disciples' Confusion Over "Food": After Jesus speaks with the woman, His disciples return with food and urge Him to eat. Jesus tells them, "I have meat to eat that ye know not of". The disciples, taking him literally, whisper among themselves, "Hath any man brought him ought to eat?". Jesus used their misunderstanding as a setup for a deeper spiritual lesson: "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me".   The "Five Husbands" Exchange: When Jesus brings up her private life ("Go, call your husband"), the woman replies, "I have no husband". Jesus' response, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband," has a certain sharp wit to it. It's a statement that is both entirely true and a profound revelation of His divine knowledge.   Breaking Social Norms: The entire scenario, where a Jewish man (Jesus) engages in a public conversation with a Samaritan woman (a social and ethnic taboo), is a source of tension and a "breaking of the rules" that challenges the expectations of the time. The disciples are surprised to find Him talking to her at all.   These elements highlight how Jesus used everyday situations and common misunderstandings to engage people and deliver profound spiritual truths, often with a subtle, effective communication style that involved some form of irony or wordplay.   The secret to satisfaction is to do the Will of the Father. Jesus told the woman that the water He offers will cause us to never thirst again. Jesus taught His disciples that He has food that they do not know about, because He is sustained by doing the Father’s Will.   The living water is to continue to flow, through us, from Jesus, to the rest of the world. Experiencing grace and recognizing God’s Will to save the world, compels us to tell others to come and see the changed life that can be found in Jesus. You are the light of the world, shining in the darkness, trying to open the eyes of the blind. Do not turn off your light. Do not hide your light.   The message is yours. We are about to sing our invitation song. If anyone here has the need to be baptized into Christ, or needs the prayers of faithful people, the invitation is there for you to come forward while we stand and sing.     # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercherville

HOW DOES OUR REACTION AFFECT OUR OUTCOME? Proverbs 15:1   A few minutes before the church services started, the townspeople were sitting in their pews and talking. Suddenly, Satan appeared at the front of the church. Everyone started screaming and running towards the front entrance, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away from this form of evil. Soon everyone had exited the church except for one elderly gentleman who sat calmly in his pew without moving, seeming oblivious to the fact that God’s ultimate enemy was in his presence.   So, Satan walked up to the old man and said, “Don’t you know who I am?” The man replied, “Yep, sure do.” “Aren’t you afraid of me?” Satan asked. “Nope, sure ain’t.” said the man. “Don’t you realize I can kill you with a word?” asked Satan. “Don’t doubt it for a minute,” returned the old man, in an even tone. “Did you know that I could cause you profound, horrifying, physical AGONY for all eternity?” persisted Satan. “Yep,” was the calm reply. “And you’re still not afraid?” asked Satan. “Nope.” More than a little perturbed, Satan asked, “Well, why aren’t you afraid of me?” The man calmly replied, “Been married to your sister for over 48 years.”   This morning, we will look at how individuals handle items. As a math teacher, I have come across hundreds of equations over the years, and one stands out over all the rest… Experience plus Reaction equals Outcome. The way we react to a situation often shapes not just the immediate outcome, but also the long-term ripple effects.   If I had to put a title on this morning’s sermon, it would be our reaction decides our outcome. “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).   Our reaction is often the only part of a situation we truly control. By choosing patience, humility, and wisdom, we can transform challenges into opportunities for growth — both for ourselves and those around us. Our reactions don’t just affect outcomes externally — they shape our own hearts and way of life.   For my sermon this morning I will be using verses and stories found throughout the Old and New Testament that are very familiar to most of us. This sermon is a follow-up to my sermon from LAST SUNDAY.   We know there’s a serpent that comes to Eve. In verse two, the woman said unto the serpent: We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God has said you shall not eat of it. Neither shall ye touch it lest ye shall die. We think about all that we have in our world today—so much we are blessed with. Yet, God has said there are certain things that we are not to do. Man says: Eat, drink, and be merry. Live unto the day for myself. That’s what Satan says, but it’s not what God says.   In verse four, the serpent says: You shall NOT surely die. There is no respect for God in this equation. Eve had an experience where she is tempted with someone saying, “God didn’t mean it.” God put you in this garden. You and Adam are here. He didn’t mean that you should die.   If you eat the fruit, you’ll be as wise as God. You’ll become smarter. BUT Actually, they become more foolish, don’t they? We have a lot of individuals in our world today who say the more they study, the more they understand. We must be mistaken. The world is much older than what God could have created, and that’s what science says must have happened and many buy into this way of reasoning. We take an experience and the question is what is our reaction to the experience. We could be like Adam and Eve. We could easily give in to the temptation, or we could say, “We know what God said and we will go by what God said.”   In Genesis chapter four, we have two individuals—Cain and Abel. We know that there are offerings that take place. In verse four, Abel brought the first of his flock, the best, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. Going on in verse five, unto Cain’s offering He had not respect. Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell. The Lord said unto Cain, “Why are you wroth and why has your countenance fallen?”   We have different ways of worshiping God. There are individuals that say they don’t need to attend services. They can just read and believe what they want. They can be their own religion. They don’t need to gather together on the first day of the week like the examples we have of early Christians.   We have here two offerings. One is acceptable to God and one that’s not. How do we react to what God has said? We know God expects an offering, as the example shows. He expects us to give back our best. He expects the best of us. We have an example. How do we react to that? Based on our reaction we have an outcome.   We see that one individual that was pleasing to God, and all is well. We have the other individual whose offering was not pleasing to God. He ends up killing his brother. The outcome is not very good at all.   Let’s go on to Genesis chapter six. We have Noah. We have a time period in which it is said repent, repent. Turn unto the Lord. In verse eight Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation and he walked with God. Can that be said of us?   You hear people talk about the dash in our lives. On our tombstones there will be a dash. You live from this date to that date. What is important is what you do with that dash. We know that Noah was a just man. It’s nice to note that he walked with God. His experience is that God meant what He said. That is how he reacted to God. God is the One that we need to follow. His outcome is good. In verse 13 God says to Noah: “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.   Remember back in verse five that God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of his heart was evil continually. We look at our society. We listen to the news. We see a lot of that in our society today. We have a chance, learned from our experiences, to turn to God—to help others turn to God before it’s too late. We need to look at the outcome.     Next we think of Gideon. Gideon had a lot of people to help him. I know that Jesus said go to all nations, teaching. Over the years, when I was younger, there were ministers that came for Gospel Meetings and wanted us to go door to door and knock. Aren’t we supposed to talk to individuals about Jesus? Yet, I remember sometimes knocking on a door and honestly not knowing if I wanted someone to answer the door or not. We might have been thinking that I did my job. I knocked on the door. Nobody answered so I left. Did we really knock? Were we excited if someone answered? We have Gideon who had numbers. We might be thinking, it would be nice if we had a bunch of people with us. Four or five of you go up to the house and knock on the door. You feel a little better. There’s more strength in numbers. BUT What did God do with Gideon? We are not going to show our numbers. We’re not going to give you strength in numbers as you approach your enemy. We are going to reduce the numbers. Can you imagine what Gideon’s first thought must have been? I know what mine would be. We’re going to do what?   I think that Gideon understood when God says to him, “We have to reduce the numbers to show that I am with you.” The strength and courage that Gideon must have had. Here we have an experience. When we look at our own lives, we’re faced with a lot of this.       These aren’t just stories in the Bible. We have temptations just like Adam and others. We are asked to offer of our best like Cain and Abel. We are faced with an evil generation like Noah was. We have the example of Gideon. We look around and think there are only a few of us. What did Jesus say? The fields are ripe unto harvest, but the laborers are few. We have a few of us. It is exhausting, but we need to move on to do that.   Then in I Samuel 17 we have David and Goliath. We’ve mentioned in other sermons about the man who trusted only in himself because of his size and strength. Goliath taunted the Israelites. We know a lot of individuals that feel they have everything. There are those who are wealthy.   In the New Testament there is a rich man who says, “I’ll rip down my barns and build new ones. I’ve got a lot. I’ve got it all.” Then he hears a voice saying, “Thou fool, tonight thy soul shall be required of thee.”   What would we give in exchange for our soul? We often talk about Solomon in all his greatness and wisdom. What was his final conclusion? To serve God.   When we think about our experiences, what is our reaction? We have examples in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. A lot of times we think those are just stories. Are they? If you can really relate to our own everyday experiences many are very similar to the Biblical experiences. With that in mind……….What is our reaction? In our examples some of the reactions were good and some were bad. Some were positive. We know that Noah was spoken of as walking with God. Adam and Eve—not so much. Cain and Abel, one favored in God’s sight and one not. David and Goliath—Goliath trusted himself. Many individuals trust in themselves. Look at David who trusted in the Lord.   Remember the ten spies? What would our report have been? We know that only two came back with a positive report. When we look at things, do we look at the positive, the potential that God gives us? Or do we look at fear? Do look at what only man would see. Without God we can be defeated. Picture Gideon having that attitude. What would happen if Gideon had looked at the 300 and said, “I don’t think so.”   What if Noah had said, “I’m going to build for how many years? How big is this ark? What about rain? I’ve never even seen rain.” How many times do we say, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” When we look at what we’re blessed with, do we take the time to thank God?   We know that David was a humble man. David would bow down and thank God for what he had. Goliath, like many men in the world today, trusted in himself—his strength, his stature. How could he be defeated?   As we look at our experiences today, what is our reaction to them? Do we trust in man, or do we trust in God? In the example of the ten lepers who were healed ... Do we take the time to go back and thank JESUS?   Often in our society today we hear OK as a substitute for “thank you”. We try to teach our grandchildren that this is not acceptable. You do something nice for someone and they might just say, “Oh, OK,” instead of saying thank you and being appreciative. I think of that when we read about these ten. Can you imagine having a disease where your skin just falls off? I couldn’t even picture what that would be like. I can’t imagine the decay and uncleanness of it. The thankfulness you would feel for being healed of that. It’s not just putting a Band-Aid on a wound. Ten are healed of a terrible disease, but only one takes the time to go say thank you.   Jesus speaks about the few that will find that way. We think about the number of people who are appreciative for what they have.   In Daniel chapter six we have a description of what Daniel went through. My daughter had the opportunity to travel with her work. When she was in Italy she sent a photo of the ruins of a coliseum. I asked her if she saw any lions? Her response was “No, but I saw the doors they came through.”   I started to wonder what that would have been like. Daniel was in a pit, but it’s the same idea. Could you imagine an arena made for the purpose of watching people being eaten by lions? That was the entertainment they had, the experiences. Daniel had a choice, didn’t he? Daniel could have chosen NOT to pray to God and worship the statute like everyone else.   Yet, Daniel knew the strength he had in God, the faith he had in God. He did not know what God would do. God never said, “Don’t worry. I’ll seal the mouths of the lions.” Daniel was willing take the consequence. All he knew was that he may lose his life. It was possible that he would be devoured by those lions. This did not change his reaction to the experiences he had. His outcome was positive.   In Daniel chapter three, another popular scripture, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were told not to worship God. They ignore what everyone else was doing and continued to worship and pray. Because of this they are thrown into a fiery furnace.   Have you ever been around heat? I love to sit around a campfire as long as I have a little distance back from the fire. It starts to get pretty hot when you get up close.   Can you imagine what God has described our punishment to be? I can’t. What will it be like to be in fire like that? We know Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were safe. Their experience was to believe in God, again, not knowing what their outcome would be.   Their reaction was faith in God and His message. We know that their outcome was one of salvation. Let’s look at our own lives. We think about what has been promised.   He has promised us in Matthew chapter 25 a parting right and left, a judgment that will take place based on how we live our lives. Some will get a reward—a home with God in heaven. Others will have that fiery furnace—a lake of fire. We need to think about what the lake of fire will be like. What will the heat be like? There’s no cold water. There is no quenching of the thirst. There is no brightness. There is no light. I picture darkness.   The light will not be there. There will be constant pain and agony. I remind myself of that. We all want to think about pleasurable things. We must remember what God’s promise is, the outcome that we have. We have experiences. God, through His word, encourages us to have reaction. What is our reaction? In the book of Hebrews chapter 11, we have many experiences listed and the reaction that God expects. Look at what we have in our lives today. Look at the promise. Look at our experiences. We know that we cannot go through life avoiding all temptation. What will our reaction be? What is our path toward God? That is our R factor. We would want to have the positive. What will help us keep on that path? God’s word. As we read God’s word, we know what God wants us to do. It is a positive to keeping us on that path. Reading God’s word, praying to God, worshiping God, thanking Him for all we have, following Jesus’ example, are all items that will keep us on that path. What leads us to stray from that path? Man’s thoughts, temptation, Satan tempting us, feeling we can do it ourselves, feeling we don’t need God’s help, all can keep us from doing what we should. This morning we know Jesus asked what can we give in exchange for our souls? We know it’s a very important question to answer. What will we gain if we gain the whole world but lose our soul? Think about that this morning.  

The Lying Tongue Genesis 3: 1-8 Two little boys were at sitting together in a church during a wedding ceremony. As the couple said “I do”, one of the little boys leaned over to the other and asked, “I wonder how many wives can a man have?” The second little boy looked at his friend like he was an idiot and said, “He can have 16 wives.” “How do you know that?” The first little boy asked. “Weren’t you listening? The minister just said it. Four better, four worse, four richer, and four poorer.” I also heard of a boy in high school taking biology, and he struggled throughout the class.  He consistently received a D grade.   When the report card was mailed home, he quickly intercepted the mail and using his computer skills changed the D into a B.  He did that each grade period.   He forgot though that the end of the year report card showed the accumulated grades as well as the final.   This final report was sent out by email to his mother.   When questioned he said, "there must and been a mistake mom".  Look at the reports we got.  His mother believed him.  Ironically the teacher had retired at the end of the school year and left the school system.  Also, somehow in her leaving the file got lost.  The only record then was what the mother had, the reports that her son had handed her.  His mother took them to the school and asked why the final report differed from the reports of each grade period.   Since the school thought that was only record now available so they changed his grade from a D to a B.     The Bible tells us that God gave Adam and Eve every tree to eat from except one, and Genesis tell us there were plenty of other GOOD trees to eat from. “And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground— trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food." Genesis 2:9a So if that was true, (that they’d had all these other trees to eat from), then why did they do it? It would be easy to say “The Devil made them do it”... but it’s more than that. They picked the wrong item on the menu because they CHOSE to do so. Eve CHOSE to disobey God. Now Satan may have “talked her into it...” but SHE KNEW what God had said. She knew God didn’t want her to eat of the tree. She knew God had said that those who ate of the tree faced death. But she CHOSE to eat of the tree anyway. She made bad choices. And her first choice occurred before Satan even spoke a word. Satan said to the woman, "Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’" Genesis 3:1b-3 What did God say she couldn’t do? (EAT of the fruit) What does Eve say God said she couldn’t do? (EAT & TOUCH the fruit) God didn’t say she couldn’t touch the tree, He just said they couldn’t eat. But she CHOSE to add that little restriction. She CHOSE to add to God’s commandments. She CHOSE to improve on God’s will. And that was all the wiggle room Satan needed to begin playing with her mind. Why would that give Satan “wiggle room”? Because once you get used to the idea that you can improve on God’s Word... when you believe you can change it when you want to... when you accept that you can tinker with God’s will for your life... then it gets easier to improve on other things God commanded. There was a preacher named Wayne Smith who was something of a cut-up on stage. He mentioned once that in English Class they taught him that using 2 negatives in a sentence made a positive statement. And he said that, since that was true “The way I figure it, if I know I’m lying, and God knows I’m lying – I gotta be telling the truth!” Famous American Fibs - I'm almost there. - My phone died. - You look great. - That was delicious. - No, you haven't changed a bit. - I'll call you right back. - It wasn't that expensive. - It was on sale. - I was stuck in traffic. - I never got that message. - Your luggage isn't lost; it is only misplaced. - This hurts me more than it will hurt you. - I just need five minutes of your time. - Let's have lunch sometime.   Lying seems to be a way of life for many people. We lie at the drop of a hat. The book The Day American Told the Truth says that 91 percent of those surveyed lie routinely about matters they consider trivial, and 36 percent lie about important matters; 86 percent lie regularly to parents, 75 percent to friends, 73 percent to siblings, and 69 percent to spouses. A store manager heard his clerk tell a customer, “No, ma’am, we haven’t had any for a while, and it doesn’t look as if we’ll be getting any soon.” Horrified, the manager came running over to the customer and said, “Of course we’ll have some soon. We placed an order last week.” Then the manager drew the clerk aside. “Never,” he snarled, “Never, never, never say we’re out of anything- say we’ve got it on order and it’s coming. Now, what was it she wanted anyway?” The clerk said, “Rain!” Spouses lie to one another in the name of keeping the peace, parents lie to their own children and vice versa, employers and employees just the same. Advertisers lie to sell products. Politicians lie in order to spin things their way. But the Lord included the subject of lying in one of the 10 commandments of the Old Testament, and I believe He takes this sin very seriously. Revelation 21:8 ”But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Revelation 22:15 ”For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” Mark Twain said a lie can travel halfway around the world while truth is still lacing up her boots. It’s natural to lie, and there’s something about our nature that enjoys it. We like reading tabloids, or hearing gossip. Lying is easy, but the truth is oftentimes hard. Are you known to be a truly honest person, or do people have to question you and wonder about your genuineness? Do you have a reputation as a liar, or do people know what you say is true? Is your word as good as your signature? Do you do what you say you will do? Do you tell the truth even when it will cost you something? The Bible has a lot to say about lying: Proverbs 6 lists lying as one of the 7 things the Lord hates. “Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.” The poet said, “You can fool the public and be a secret fraud, you can try to hide your lying, but you can’t fool God!” 1.   The Origin of lying. Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees in John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” So we’re a lot like Satan when we lie. Almost every time we see the devil in Scripture he’s lying... The first time we see Satan in the Bible he lies about God to man. Lying about God to man: • Satan lies About the truthfulness of God—“Hath God said?” Questioning God’s Word is skating on thin ice. Yet many question God’s Word all the time today. We are not to stand in judgment w/ whether it makes sense or is PC or not. The Word is to stand in judgment of us, not the other way around. • Satan lies About the righteousness of God—“Ye shall not surely die”. In other words, God won’t judge you if you sin. • Satan lies About the goodness of God—“God is trying to keep back from you good things!” The next time Satan appears in the Bible is in the book of Job. This time he’s in the courts of heaven and he’s lying about man to God. Satan Lying about man to God: “The only reason Job obeys you is because you’re so good to him.” What a liar. To Adam and Eve he says that God isn’t good enough, and now he’s saying that God is too good! We see Satan again at the crucifixion. This time he lies to man, knowing that man will then lie about Jesus. He put it in the hearts of many to bear false witness against Jesus in the kangaroo court they put together. In Genesis he uses a lie to corrupt a godly man. In Job he uses a lie to criticize a good man. In the New Testament he uses a lie to crucify the God Man. In Revelation he embodies the antichrist, who tells a lie so big and believable that it brings about the end of the world. So, from beginning to end, Satan is a liar! And when we lie we align ourselves with everything that brings death, destruction, doom and damnation to this world. Sin is what leads to death, but that sin was brought about by a lie! Don’t take lying lightly. There’s no such thing as a little white lie. God is truth, and anything less than truth is wrong...IT IS SIN! 2.   The Operation of lying. Lying has many faces. Lying has many children in its family. Here’s 7 ways people often lie without even thinking about it: • Slander Psalm 101:5 “Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off:” This is lying with the intention of doing harm to another’s reputation. Some sins are worse than others in terms of damage done. If I steal from you I can return the item. But if I spread lies about you I may not be able to ever undo the far-reaching effects. There was a man who spread lies about his neighbor. Then one day he repented, and asked the minister how he could make it right. The minister told him to get some feather pillows and rip them open, and place one feather on every porch in their community. It seemed strange, but the man did what he was told. He went back to the preacher and said he was done. The preacher said, no, you’re not. Now go back and pick up all the feathers. “But I can’t” said the man. The wind has taken them who knows where!” To which the minister said, “So it is with the words you have spoken about your neighbor.” When we slander someone’s reputation we do irreparable damage. And we’ll answer to God for it! • Talebearing—this person loves to tell things. They share ‘news’. But they don’t care if their facts are correct or not. This is gossip. Rumors. Don’t spread it. Try to stop others from doing it. Don’t repeat gossip 1st Timothy 5:13 “And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.” Leviticus 19:16 “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people:” Next time you’re enjoying listening to someone gossip, remember this fact: Anyone who will gossip TO you, will gossip ABOUT you!   • Flattery—insincere praise...saying something to someone’s face that you would never say behind their back. Salesmen are often bad about this. Kids are too. Most of our children have learned how to compliment us first when they want something. Psalms 55:21 “The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.” When someone starts buttering you up, remember that they are probably about to have you for lunch! • Half truths—not telling the whole story. A parent asks their teen where they are going. “To Andy’s house.” That’s true, but they leave out where they’re going from there. You break the spirit of the law when you do this. This is why in court you swear to not just tell the truth, but ‘the whole truth.’ Half the truth equals a whole lie. • Excuses—they are just dressed up lies. The origin is Satan, the operation of lying...it comes in many forms... Now, how do we overcome Lying? Every negative command could be reworded positively. For instance. Thou shalt not commit adultery could be rephrased, Thou shalt be sexually pure. We could say today, Thou shalt tell the truth. And truth is the very character and nature of our God. Jesus said I am the truth. He called the Holy Spirit the spirit of truth. The truth sets us free! 3.   How to overcome lying: • Love the truth. This is a heart change. David spoke of ‘truth in the inward parts.’ You see, a person is not a liar because they tell lies...they tell lies because they are a liar. We need an inward change. 2nd Thessalonians 2:10 “...because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” • Learn the truth. Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Saturate your mind w/ good things, like the Word of God. The truth sets you free. It’s how Jesus defeated Satan in the wilderness, with the truth of Scripture!   • Live the truth. Ephesians 4:25 “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour:” Be accountable to others. Be open to others stopping you when you gossip or slander. Immediately confess, immediately correct, and immediately commit yourself to the truth. Right now Satan wants to sell you a lie...don’t fall for it like Adam and Eve. He’ll tell you: there is no God, There is no heaven, There is no hell, OR that there is no hurry. But today we can read from Hebrews 3:12-15 ”12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”” And, Acts 2:36-38 tells us: 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “ So, we must NOT lie to God... WE need to admit our sins and be baptized!

Singing and Giving Thanks Text: Psalms 137: 1-4 & Ephesians 5: 18-19 A woman invited a group of her friends to Thanksgiving dinner. At the table, grandma turned to her six-year-old granddaughter and asked her, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I wouldn't know what to say," the little girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say," grandma said. The little girl bowed her head and said: "Dear Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?" I would like to start by taking us on a trip down memory lane for a minute and go back to the Old Disney Movie - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. There is a famous song that says “Whistle While You Work” the Lyrics are - Just whistle while you work And cheerfully together we can tidy up the place So hum a merry tune It won't take long when there's a song to help you set the pace And as you sweep the room Imagine that the broom is someone that you love And soon you'll find you're dancing to the tune When hearts are high the time will fly so whistle while you work So whistle while you work.   This song written by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey is a perfect illustration of how we can emphasize the fun rather than the monotony of work. You might be asking yourself why am I talking about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, is he reliving his childhood - NO - but I want to talk on the subject of “Singing.” Music has had a profound influence on the culture of the United States and the world. People all over the world love to sing. I for one love to sing. Most people love to sing whether or not they can carry a tune. You must understand that there’s something positive... something healthy in the act of raising our voices in song. In fact, there’s solid scientific evidence to prove that singing is, in fact, good for your body and your mind. Singing can lift our spirits and can create a heart of THANKSGIVING! In the Bible singing isn’t just good for us it is a command to us. So we need to Keep On Singing! SCRIPTURE: Psalm 137:1-4 says By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song, and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? James 5:13 says “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.” Singing provides a direct experience and feeling of happiness. It’s a mood lifter & anti-depressant with no side effects. Singing can be done to express any of the 12 different emotions interest, surprise, joy, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, hostility, fear, shame, shyness, and guilt. But when we find singing in the Bible it is usually pointing to times of joy and rejoicing and it is so vitally connected with our worship toward God. I remember some advice my grandmother Fidler would say when I had to do something I really didn’t want to do – I can hear her say “Sing a song while you are doing it and before you know it you will be done”. She was often heard singing church songs while working around the house. I didn’t understand it then ... but what she was instilling in me was wisdom because she knew that when you have a song in your heart and you sing that song... it will change your mood, affect your attitude, alter your altitude and carry you through whatever it is you are going through. In our text the Children of Israel had been captured and are now in captivity in a strange land in Babylon. While under the oppression of the Babylonians they thought of their homeland and longed to free. They thought of the former glory they once had and began to mourn and cry utterly for what they had been taken away from. They took their harps and hung them on the tree by the river and refused to sing because of the oppression they were under. They lost their song. Singing isn’t an option in Scripture. It’s a command: Colossians 3:16 says “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord”.   Ephesians 5:18-19 says “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” Paul lays out this exhortation to let God’s Word dwell in us richly, and then, he tells us how to live out that command. The first, of course, is teaching and admonishing but then he says singing! Singing is one of the two chief ways in which God’s Word dwells in us richly. We can study the Bible to learn about God. When we sing songs based on scripture... we also learn about God... for example: we all remember the Sunday School song “Jesus Loves Me this I know for the Bible tells me so little ones to Him belong they are weak, but He is strong”. From this song we learn that Jesus both loves and cares about us AND that He is STRONG ENOUGH to overcome anything we face in our daily lives. When we sing as a congregation, we build up each other. We are hearing the testimonies of faith all around us! Singing helps to build people up emotionally and spiritually. Psalm 105:2 says, “Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works”. When we sing, we declare war against our adversary. In 2 Chronicles 20 we find King Jehoshaphat, who was an extraordinarily strong and wise man, and one who served the Lord with all his heart. He took away the idols that the people had been worshiping and turned the hearts of the people to the Lord. One day a message came to him that an enemy army was coming against his people. He at once did the right thing and turned to the Lord asking for help. He told all the people to pray and said that God would fight the battle for them. “The battle is not yours, but God’s. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD.” Early the next morning the people started out to the battle. Then he appointed certain ones as singers to go out in front of the soldiers.   This is the song they should sing, 2 Chronicles 20: 21-22 ...And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. 22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. Soon it was learned that the enemy had had a battle among themselves and had killed one another. The Lord had caused the enemy army to be destroyed before God’s people reached them. The king and his army went down to the battlefield and found so much spoil that it took three days to gather it all up and carry it home. They rejoiced and thanked the Lord for giving them the victory over their enemies that worshiped idols. When things seem to be going wrong all around you and the enemy threatens you sing praises to God and watch Him fight your battle? A singing heart... is a heart at war with the evil one and the power of sin. When you sing, you are spiritually strengthened for trials. In Acts 16 Paul and Silas are unjustly imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel, and while they are in prison they began to sing and pray and in the midnight hour God opened the prison doors. Now they didn’t leave but the prison guard and his whole family were saved. I said it is scientifically proven that singing is good for you. Well, you know I like the numbers and their meaning in scripture. The number 10 means Divine Order, there are the 10 commandments, the 10 plagues, 10 generations lived on earth before the flood, in Genesis Chapter 1 the phrase “God said” is found 10 times, the 10th day of the 7th month in the Jewish calendar is The Day of Atonement, etc. Now let me give you 10 scientifically proven benefits of singing. 1. It Relieves stress:- Singing appears to be a stress-reliever. A 2017 study measured the amount of cortisol, the stress hormone, in participant’s saliva before and after they sang. Researchers in that study found that the amount of cortisol was lower after singing, an indication that people felt more relaxed after they had sung. 2. It Stimulates the immune response:- Singing can be a form of exercise that works the lungs and other parts of the body required to project one's voice. Singing may lead to a stronger diaphragm and stimulation of circulation due to the greater amount of oxygen needed to carry a tune. There’s some evidence that singing may boost your immune system and help you fight off illnesses by producing higher levels of immunoglobulin A, an antibody your body secretes to help you fend off infections. 3. It Increases the pain threshold:- When you sing in a group, whether it’s large or small, the act of collective singing causes your body to release endorphins. This hormone can help promote positive feelings, and even change your perception of pain. 4. It May improve snoring:- Regular singing may change the way you breathe, even when you’re not singing. Researchers in a 2008 study interviewed the spouses of singers, along with the spouses of people who don’t sing. The researchers found that significantly fewer active singers snored. This led them to recommend regular singing as a potential treatment for snoring. 5. It Improves lung function:- Because singing involves deep breathing and the controlled use of muscles in the respiratory system, it may be beneficial for certain lung and breathing conditions. Studies have shown that the breathing techniques used with singing may offer benefits for people with the following conditions: chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), asthma, cystic fibrosis, cancer, multiple sclerosis and others. While singing doesn’t treat or cure any of these conditions, you may benefit from gaining strength in your respiratory muscles. 6. It Develops a sense of belonging and connection:- When you sing together with others, you’re likely to feel the same kind of camaraderie and bonding that players on sports teams experience. One of the neurochemicals released when people feel bonded together is oxytocin. Spontaneous, improvised singing causes your body to release this feel-good hormone, which may help give you a heightened sense of connectedness and inclusion. 7. It Enhances memory in people with dementia:- People with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia experience a gradual loss of memory. Studies have shown that people with these conditions were able to recall song lyrics more easily than other words. Some the singers found they remembered more than just the lyrics. For some, singing familiar songs suddenly brought back life memories they had long forgotten. 8. It Helps with grief:- Singing in a group doesn’t just help you with physical pain; it may also help with the emotional pain you feel after you’ve lost someone you love. 9. It Improves mental health and mood:- A 2018 study done in the United Kingdom evaluated 20 people in a singing program known as The Sing Your Heart Out project. The participants included people with mental health conditions, as well as the general public. Researchers found that the participants reported improvements in their mental health, mood, sense of well-being, and feeling of belonging as a result of these singing workshops. 10. It Helps improve speaking abilities:- It has been proven that people who have a hard time with speech due to a neurological condition can benefit from singing. Scientist have found that singing improves the speaking ability for people with: autism, Parkinson’s disease, and even stuttering. Singing stimulates multiple areas of the brain at the same time. This may enable people with an impairment in one part of the brain to communicate using other areas of their brain. John 10:10 says “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”. Don’t let the devil steal your song. Don't Let Persecution Take Away Your Song. John 16:33 says “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”. There is going to be persecutions that will you’re your way because our adversary is determined to kill steal and destroy you and he will try whatever he can to do this, but when persecution comes our way keep on singing. Don't Let People Take Away Your Song. John 16:22 says, “And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you”. Living in this day and age we truly see the depravity of man! Depravity speaks of the fallen nature of mankind. People are constantly hurting each other, you cannot pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV without hearing of some atrocity someone has committed against another. Sadly, it isn't just the sinner who hurt others, even Christian people hurt one another! So many times, we find that they will lie and gossip about others. They will do what we would never have imagined that they would do. Don't let people take away your song! Sing anyway! - Some words of a Song by Kirk Franklin titled (Why I Sing) – Someone asked a question Why do we sing? When we lift our hands to Jesus What do we really mean? Someone may be wondering When we sing our song At times we may be cryin' And nothing's even wrong And when we cross that river We will sing our song to Jesus The one whom we adore I love Your name Jesus Glory Hallelujah For the rest of my life Jesus You'll be the reason why I sing. I pray that I have given you more reasons to sing. Remember when you sing, you glorify God. Singing has such a unique way of bringing our heart, soul, mind, and strength together to focus entirely and completely on God. In an age of distraction, singing grabs the attention of all our senses and focuses us on God. Psalms 5:11 says “Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.” There is an awesome joy that comes upon us when we enter into that secret place of the most High.   often circumstances of our everyday lives literally become a yoke leading us down a path of despair, discouragement and defeat. Singing changes our perspective of our situation and begins to lead us to a place of hope. The Children of Israel lost their song during their captivity in Babylon, they even refused to sing I want to encourage you don’t lose your song. Revelation 7:9-10 says, “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb”. This is just a glimpse of eternity when a great multitude of people from every tribe, peoples, and languages are singing before the Lamb. On that day, will you be one of the great multitude that no one can number, singing the song of the Lamb, singing his praises? Until then Keep On Singing.  

Living Water John 4:1-26   INTRODUCTION: Good morning church! The fourth chapter of John’s gospel tells a dramatic story of an encounter between Jesus and a woman from the area of Samaria. The point of the story is the same as all the stories we have seen thus far in this gospel: to show Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. John records this event for us as another convincing proof for who Jesus is.   The first six verses of this chapter set the scene of how this encounter comes about. John 4:1-6, “1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.”[ESV] Jesus learns that the Pharisees know that His popularity is greatly increasing. The Pharisees’ attention is turning away from John and now they focus against Jesus. Jesus left Judea and went north to Galilee, away from Jerusalem, the heart of the Jewish leadership and rule.   Before we move forward with our background of the story, I am compelled to spend a moment noting the parenthetical statement recorded in verse 2. This is a clarification of what was mentioned in John 3:22. It must be assumed that Jesus took up carrying forward God's work already seen in the labors of John the Baptist, and that the baptism administered by Jesus, (through his disciples), was God's baptism exactly like that of John. John was a servant carrying out God's orders; and Jesus was a Son doing the same thing; but in order not to mislead anyone, Jesus refrained from administering God's baptism personally, doing so only through His disciples.   Nothing should be made of the fact that Jesus did not baptize, but His disciples baptized. What one does through his agents he is lawfully said to do; therefore, Jesus baptized. Why did He refrain from doing so personally? We can think of two or three reasons, (1) to avoid any notion that Jesus was one of John's subordinates. Furthermore, although Jesus had submitted to God's baptism as preached by John, and for a time administered by Himself through His disciples, He was nevertheless above John's baptism in the sense that baptism in His name was designed to succeed it. (2) to avoid a rise of jealousies and strife later through some claiming greater privilege in having been baptized personally by the Lord. We saw this sort of thing occur in Corinth. “… one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos…”” (1st Corinthians 3:4)   I bring this up because some try to use this verse to say baptism is not necessary and they ignore other scriptures. To say baptism is not necessary doesn't make any sense when we read the New Testament, and it becomes clear that Jesus is being wise in using His disciples to baptize. I. The Scene – That brings us to this scene. Verse 3, “He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.” Jesus then leaves the southern region, Judea, and goes back to the northern region, back to Galilee. An undercurrent of opposition is growing, but it's not Jesus' time yet. I suspect that's why He's moving back to Galilee. A. We are told in verse 4, He had to pass through Samaria. Samaria was located between Jerusalem and Galilee and was the most direct route. The boundaries of Samaria varied in history; but in the time of Jesus, it was a small province about twenty miles wide and about thirty miles long. The eastern boundary was the Jordan River, and the southern line lay about seven miles south of Shechem. 1. The capital city, also called Samaria, was on an impressive butte some six miles northwest of the area where the events of this chapter happened. 2. I submit to you that Jesus did not have to go through Samaria due to geography and could have taken other routes. However, this was the selected route He took and has led some to speculate He did so for the encounter He is going to have here. We are not told. B. Next, we read, “… he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.” 1. We have enough experience with John’s gospel by now, that we know John is not just throwing out stuff about Jacob, Jacob's land, and Jacob's well. This is going to be a cog in the story, and that's why it's being laid out here for us. 2. Interesting also in verse 6 is we see a little bit of the humanity of Jesus. The apostles never denied that. In proving Jesus to be God, they never obscured or covered up the fact that He was also human, like us. Here we are told it's the sixth hour, high noon, and Jesus is weary. He is worn out, and He sits beside the well which is going to lead to this discussion with a Samaritan woman. 3. A great reminder to us about Jesus, that He is God in the flesh, experiencing everything that we would experience, going through weakness, going through difficulty, going through trial, going through temptation. He is not impervious to these things. He is worn out from walking in the heat of the sun, and is legitimately asking this woman for water, but is also going to use this as a way to draw her to salvation. C. Verse 7 begins our story. “A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”” 1. By these words, Jesus placed himself in the position of one requesting a favor, and by such a gesture assumed a social equality with her, which astonished her and led to the conversation that followed. 2. Jesus came from heaven to become a man, to take upon Him the form of a servant, and to die for the sins of the whole world. All this is fully known; but, in this specific instance of it, the humiliation of our Lord becomes epic in its depth and intensity.   II. The Discussion (John 4:9-24) -- The way this discussion unfolds is fascinating. We perceive the patience in this woman, if you consider how the dialogue goes. Jesus says, give me a drink, and she is stunned that He's talking to her. John explains why in verse 9, “The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)” A. What are you doing talking to me, she asks. Most Jews were very disdainful toward the Samaritans. This is why the parable of the good Samaritan is such a shocking parable. 1. She asks how it is that He would ask her for a drink. Jesus’ responds that she should ask Him for a drink. Think about how this discussion has started. Jesus asks her for a drink. She asks, “You are asking me for a drink?” Jesus responds, “You should ask me for a drink.” His reply to her in verse 10 is, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 2. I want us to feel the puzzlement of the beginning dialogue here. Jesus says, give me a drink. She says, “Why are you talking to me?” He responds, if you knew who I was, you would have asked me for a drink, and I would have given it to you. I can imagine her wondering, “Then why are you asking me for water if you're offering me water? What is going on here?” However she is very cordial toward Jesus. B. “If you knew the gift of God”. Here Jesus referred to himself, the gift of God to all the world. Amazingly, the supreme gift of God sat at that very moment at Jacob's well. This woman, coming to the well in the heat of the day, had suddenly confronted the Lord of life. Contemplate for a moment this woman standing face to face with God incarnate, and yet unaware of it. C. “Living water” is a reference to the water of life, the spiritual realities that lead to everlasting life in the presence of God. The metaphor was probably suggested by the thirst which had brought them both to the well. Just as the body requires water, just so the soul. If it is to live, it must drink at the everlasting fountain of God's word. D. Of course, she's intrigued. Verse 11, “The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” She asks how He is going to provide water considering He does not have anything to draw water and the well is deep. 1. The woman's response shows that she did not understand what was meant by "living water," hence the question of its source, especially since Jesus had nothing with which to draw water. This indicates to me that the woman had already figured out that Jesus was not talking about the water of Jacob's well. 2. “Where do you get that living water?” she asks. Flowing water is called "living water" in many cultures and traditions, especially in a spiritual context. In the Middle East, water is scarce and precious, and very much needed for survival. Only a few months of the year does rain fall in Israel, and the rest of the time the ancient peoples survived on still water from wells or cisterns. 3. Jeremiah, when praying for deliverance in Jeremiah 17:13 says, “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.” E. The Samaritan woman continues in verse 12, “Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” The well is where they go to get water and tradition says it was provided by Jacob. The well is of great importance, and they appreciate Jacob for it. To obtain “living water” you would need to go beyond Jacob’s well. She is saying, “are you trying to say that you can find better water than what Jacob has given us?” We can see by Jesus’ response that's exactly the point that He wants to make. F. Verses 13-14. “Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”” 1. What a great picture that is given here as Jesus explains. Here is what you have. You have a well, and when you drink from that well, you're going to be thirsty again, but when you drink from the water that I will give you; you will never be thirsty again. 2. Just imagine that idea for a moment — you will never thirst again. Then He says, it will become a spring that flows into eternal life. G. Verse 15 gives the woman’s response, “… “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”” 1. Give me this water so that I don't need to do this hard laborious work in the sun pulling up water out of this well. It's a lot of work to pull water out of a deep well. It is interesting that she is completely missing the prophetic cues that Jesus is dropping. 2. As with Nicodemus He's being subtle. He's playing the metaphor, but the metaphor is not unfounded. This is not like Jesus came up with this idea to blindside her so that she has no idea what He's talking about. The Old Testament prophets spoke significantly this way. 3. Isaiah 12:2f. “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.” Jesus is resting on prophetic imagery. When the Messiah comes, guess what's going to happen? You're going to draw water out of the well of salvation. 4. Zechariah 14:5f. “5 …Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. 6 On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. 7 And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light. 8 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter. 9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.” Same picture, living waters pouring from Jerusalem, filling the nations and filling the people. 5. In Ezekiel chapter 47 the writer describes water flowing from the temple growing deeper and wider as it goes and he says starting at 47:7, “7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. 9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.” H. If you knew who you were talking to, you would have the gift of God and receive this living water. She does not understand yet what's going on in His words. I think what's fascinating about this, is this is what happens throughout this gospel. 1. One of the features of what John the Apostle is doing is trying to show how we, the readers, are so spiritually blind and spiritually dense. When you go back to John 2, Jesus says, tear down this temple and I'll raise it up in three days. What do the people say? “They've been building the temple for 46 years.” 2. Spiritually blind. Chapter 3, Nicodemus. What? There must be a new birth? I must be born again? I don't understand. 3. Total lack of comprehension. Chapter 4, Samaritan woman, I'll give you living water. That would be great because then I don't have to carry a bucket anymore and do hard work in the sun. 4. Guess what happens at the end of this chapter? Jesus disciples come back with food and urge Him to eat. He's going to say, “I have food to eat that you do not know about”. They are going to wonder, where did he get food? How did He eat already? Failing to understand. 5. John is painting a picture for the reader. You can be spiritually blind, walking in darkness and failing to see you are walking before God. As we read this story, we are being placed as the Samaritan woman. We are the ones who do not comprehend, but we need eternal life, we need the living water. I. At this point Jesus attempts to move her heart from being physically minded to spiritually minded. He must open her eyes a little bit and lead her to understand He is not talking about material things. 1. It is important to see what Jesus does in this story, in trying to move her to see what is being offered. He is not offering an easy physical life but an eternal life. Jesus is trying to give us a spiritual life, something far greater than anything we can have or experience in this world. 2. The problem is that we are blinded by the world. Instead of seeing what Jesus has to offer, we look at Jesus and say, He's going to make things easy and comfortable, right? He's going to make it where I don't have to pull a bucket out of a well. He's going to make my life simple.   3. As we read verse 16 don’t be critical of her because Jesus must do that with us also. We get so spiritually lost, so spiritually darkened, so consumed by the things of this world. We get so caught up in all that is going on around us, so consumed by pleasures and convenience and work and joys and family—that we fail to see what the most important thing is. Jesus is offering eternal life. 4. We turn that into; you can have a good marriage and a good family, and you can have all kinds of wealth, and you can have everything that you want in this world. You can make it all comfortable and easy. That's not what we're talking about here. Jesus is trying to give you something better, and we turn it into something about comfort and convenience. J. That's why Jesus does what He does here in verse 16. “Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”” I wonder how she felt at that second where she's about to sputter out this answer, “I have no husband”. 1. Jesus responds, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” Why does Jesus do this? She responds, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.” Clearly, you're a man of God to know this. Jesus exposes our sins to wake us up. 2. It is a loving act on God's part, to come into this world and expose our sins. Sometimes it's the only way to wake up. We go along in life like everything's fine. We go to work, come home, watch TV, chill out, relax, and it is all good. Something must happen to startle us out of that, get us out of the darkness, out of our spiritual blindness. Get us to open our eyes and recognize we need something more than what this world has to offer. K. If God did not love us, He could leave us to our own devices, and say, I hope they figure it out. I hope they recognize one day that they're in total darkness, that they're spiritually blind, and that they need the light to come in. (By the way, this is all chapter one.) I sure hope they figure it all out… God's love is seen in exposing our sin. 1. You see we're just like this woman. We will take everything that God has to say and figure out how it works for me to make me happy, make me comfortable, make me have what I want to have and enjoy the things of this earth. When we are keenly aware of our sin, only then do we then begin to seek Him spiritually. Conversely, when we forget that we are sinners and we think we're good, moral people, then we go about enjoying the things of life without a care for God. 2. We turn “church” into—show up for an hour, pay our dues, then say leave me alone. I'll see you when I feel like being here. What an insult to our Lord who is trying to give us life. We turn around and say, “so what's the bare minimum that I need for that? Give me a list, and not a long one. What can I do to get by so I can get back to my stuff? I mean I’ve got things to do in the here and now.” L. The woman now perceives Jesus is from God and in verse 20 she asks a question, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” The implied question, where are we supposed to worship God? The Jews say that God must be worshipped in Jerusalem. Her Samaritan ancestors worshipped God on this mountain because Moses had commanded an altar be built here in Deuteronomy 27. Who is right? 1. Jesus' answer is great. Verse 21. “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” What a phenomenal answer that He gives. 2. God is going to be worshipped, not by location, but through Jesus. Here is the Apostle John bringing chapter 2 right back in. Jesus is speaking of Himself as the temple. You will access God, not through location any longer. You will not find atonement in Jerusalem anymore. The day is coming when you will find it through Me. You will meet God through Jesus. You will find atonement through Jesus. You will find salvation through Jesus. 3. Salvation comes from the Jews meaning that the Messiah would come from the Jewish people, He will be the source of eternal life, and He will be the one who is worshiped. Jerusalem is irrelevant, Jesus is what matters. The time will come when worshippers are not identified by their attachment to a shrine, but by the worship of the Lord. M. God is looking for people who will worship Him properly. The implication is that the worship in both places is not proper. Since God is spirit, proper worship of God is also a matter of the spirit rather than a physical location, physical posture, or external ritual. God wants worship from the heart because worship from the heart leads to proper worship. If I truly love the Lord and understand His grace toward me, then I will worship Him the way that He wants with the heart that He wants. She responds in verse 25, “… I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” She does not seem to fully accept Jesus answer. 1. Verse 26, “Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”” There is the main point of the story. Jesus is the Messiah. the one speaking to you. I know what I am talking about concerning worship because I am the Christ. I am here and that is why I can offer eternal life. 2. The light bulb clicks on. This is not an academic discussion any longer. Jesus is the Christ. Her mind must be reeling from all the things that Jesus has just said to her. If you knew who I was and the gift of God, you would have asked me and I would have given you living water. Jesus offered to give something to her so that she could experience full, true satisfaction.   CONCLUSION: Think about those words: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again” (4:14). What you are lacking in your life Jesus is supplying. We think in physical terms, we'll never thirst again. If you want to drink soda or water it will just be because you wanted to, just be for fun. It wouldn't be because you're parched.   We fail to realize that when our life is not right with God then we are thirsty and unsatisfied. This woman has had five husbands and now is on her sixth man. She is thirsting but the water she is drinking is only giving temporary relief. This is exactly the description of this world. We try something… find temporary enjoyment, only to thirst again.   What false well are we running to, only to find disappointment and loss? Jesus offers living water to the condemned, to call them to eternal life. We need to move our hearts from physical concerns to spiritual concerns. The light is shining in the world so that we do not have to be blinded by the darkness any longer. Satan blinds us with the things the world, and we do not see the treasure that is Jesus and the living water He provides. We need to see that what Jesus is offering is more valuable than anything this world has to offer. Jesus is the pearl of great value. Jesus is the treasure. He is worth everything.   The message is yours. We are about to sing our invitation song. If anyone here has the need to be baptized into Christ, or needs the prayers of faithful people, the invitation is there for you to come forward while we stand and sing.     # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercherville  

He Must Increase John 3:22-36   INTRODUCTION: Good morning church! As we study the Gospel of John we should always keep in mind the main theme of John’s writing; So “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”   There are many threads or themes in this gospel that are woven together to present the picture of the greatness of Jesus. A reminder of all that Christ has done for us, this immense sacrifice, which reaches back to chapter 1 about how light had come into the world, the darkness did not comprehend it or overcome it. In chapter 3 that thought has been retraced, describing the greatness of the light coming, but the people did not receive Him, even though He came to heal the people of their sins.   Another strand we saw in chapter 2, the miracle of turning the water to wine. We noted in that symbolism what Jesus brings is greater than what the nation had before. They had wine, but it ran out. The Old Testament prophets described wine as the blessings that are poured out from God. Christ comes and He pours out this wine abundantly, overflowing, better than what the nation had ever received before.   Then we have Jesus describing the tearing down of the temple, but He's describing Himself. A greater temple is now among you, a superior temple. The place of contact with God, the place to worship God, and the place to find atonement is no longer in a physical structure, but in the body of Christ.   In this section we're going to talk about John the Baptist again, and we will see almost the same thing that we saw in the first chapter. I wondered why John would do that. We already talked about John the baptizer saying he is not worthy to untie the sandal strap of the one who is to come, and how the one to come must increase, and he must decrease.   What are we seeing? I think we're seeing this grand strand, this great theme, that Jesus is superior, and the reasoning why is going to be laid out here in this section.   I. Glory Belongs to Jesus — Our text will be John 3:22-36 and this has a convergence of all of the themes that we've been studying. We'll break this scene into two separate parts. The first part is in verses 22-30 with an emphasis on glory that belongs to Jesus. Let's read John 3:22-30. “22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon (EE-known) near Salim (suh-lime), because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison).   25 Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”   27John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”” [ESV] A. The first thing we notice is that John does something curious, but very important. What do verses 22, 23 and 24, have to do with anything that we're talking about here? Jesus and His disciples are in Judea and they're baptizing. Then we are told that John is baptizing too, because there's some water and because John hasn’t been thrown in prison yet. Next there is a jump to a dispute between John's disciples and the Jew. What was that about? What are you telling us? 1. I suggest that what we observe is a connection being made between baptism and purification that can easily, I think, be missed. Yet it's very strongly being tied together because of what is being shown to us in verses 22, 23 and 24, the rise of what might seem to be a competition. 2. John the Baptist has been baptizing, and now Jesus is in the Judean area with His disciples and they're baptizing. Okay, Jesus is baptizing and John the baptizer is baptizing. What is going on around here? 3. John does not put things together at random. Verses 22,23, and 24 set the stage with verse 25 as the result of this scene. In verse 25 a discussion now occurs with some person or persons and the disciples of John. B. We notice it is not an argument over baptism. It says it's purification, but the context is that John is baptizing and Jesus is baptizing. We don't get any description about the details of this discussion. Then in the next verse, 26, we find that John’s disciples express concern that Jesus is baptizing as well as John. This verse also starts with a connecting word and refers to John’s disciples who were in the previous verse in the discussion with someone. 1. John's disciples now come to John and say, do you know the fellow you said we were supposed to pay attention to? Everybody's going after him now. They seem to think that's a problem. 2. What John says as a response to this is this, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.” This is an amazing statement that John makes, and it is important to see, just like we saw in the first chapter, John is not caught up in a rivalry. John is not caught up in a competition. He's not trying to compare himself to Jesus. 3. He doesn't get involved in any of that. He just simply states, God gave me a particular task, a particular mission. My job was to point to Jesus. That's what my job was all about. I cannot assume for myself anything more or anything greater than what God has given me to do. That was my purpose. That's why I'm here. That's why I was sent. C. John is not going to take glory for himself. He's not going to claim to be somebody or claim himself to be important. That's not what this is about and there's no room for that in the kingdom of God. John simply says, my job, my purpose, is to point to Him. That's what has been given to me. I'm not the anointed one. I'm not the chosen one. He is, and I can only do what God has given me to do. 1. That is such a great reminder, especially when you contrast how John later in this gospel is going to describe the reaction of the Pharisees as they see Jesus going around teaching and healing. As Jesus continues to grow with numbers and disciples and multitudes, the Pharisees are going to be outraged. They will say the world has gone after Him and they are upset. 2. John's disciples are saying the world has gone after Him, and John's response is good, excellent, that is the way it should be. Remember in chapter one, John is talking with two of his disciples, Jesus walks by and John stops and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” What those two disciples then did was leave John and followed Jesus. 3. To John the baptizer this is victory! His job was successful. That's what he understands. He's not in a competition. Servants of God know their roles, know their purpose. Here John reveals that for us and we can find this elsewhere in scripture. D. A similar situation happens to Moses in Numbers 11:26f. “26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”” 1. Same idea isn’t it? A young man told Moses there are other people prophesying! Joshua, thinking this should be done by Moses only, tells Moses, “My lord Moses, stop them!” Moses says, I don't care, that's fine. I wish everybody could do what I was doing. 2. That's what John's does here. His disciples come to John, “John, John, everybody's following Jesus.” John goes, “That's good”. Servants of God know their role. Servants of God know their purpose. Servants of God know their job. It is so important for us to understand that. It is not about competition and we experience joy when God is glorified. 3. John's purpose was to point to Jesus, to give all the glory to Jesus and tell people, go follow him. John stayed directly on that task. We notice in verse 28, “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’” John has been saying this all along, I'm not the one. There is great joy in doing the task that God has given a servant to do. E. We see a beautiful picture in John 3:29. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom… Then he says, and I’ll paraphrase, “the best man of the groom who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the groom's voice.” “Therefore, my joy is complete.” The job of the best man is not to take attention away. The best man stands back and is glad for the groom, his friend. All the glory belongs to the bride and the groom. The best man does not steal that glory, does not steal the time. He knows what his job is. 1. That's how John paints himself. I'm just the friend of the groom. My joy is complete to see this wedding occasion. My job is done. 2. Then he uses these beautiful words as a summary, He must increase, I must decrease. Isn’t that what John's disciples are saying? Jesus is out there baptizing, you're losing your followers. John goes, I know, that's exactly what's supposed to happen. People are supposed to go after Jesus and not after me. 3. This is what true success looks like. True success is not about pointing to us, bringing glory to ourselves, or drawing attention to ourselves. It is always in pointing to Jesus. That is what our task is. We have no other tasks than that. It is not about who we are, as if we're something important. It is all about deflecting the glory to Jesus. To put it another way, we don't elevate ourselves. F. We find this an amazing statement though because of what Jesus said about John in Matthew 11:11, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist…” Yet, here John saying, I must decrease, just the best man here, just doing my job, and my joy is complete because the glory belongs to Him. John gets it. 1. We do not elevate ourselves. We elevate Jesus and we elevate nothing else. Everything must belong to Him. He must receive our attention, our adoration. He must receive all of our efforts. 2. A great reminder here, there's no room for jealousy in the kingdom of God. There's no room for competition, no room for rivalry. Those things can happen on so many levels from the simplest task to the most complex ministry. But there should be no competition or rivalry within a local body of Christians. 3. We are all different members doing various things. I'm not more important than you. You're not more important than me. We all have important tasks and God given roles of what we can do as we work in this community. It's not about preachers competing about who is the better preacher. Not about who is the better song leader and not about who has a task this week that someone else had last week. 4. It's not about any of that. It is all about making sure we are pointing to Jesus in everything that we do, and we should be excited when other people do better than we do. That's what John's doing. 5. John is happy that Jesus has people following Him because that's where the glory belongs, and the same thing should happen for us. If other Christians are doing a great job in teaching, we should be like Moses. Great! Glad they can do it. It's not about me. It's about getting God's task done. It's about bringing glory to Him. 6. I like the way that Paul worded it. Paul wrote this in 2nd Corinthians 4:7 describing the apostles; “we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” If the apostles could say that about themselves; “we have a treasure given to us, we have been given the revelation of God, we have been given insight into the great mystery, we have this great gospel… but we are nothing but clay jars”, – then we most certainly should have the very same attitude that we're just vessels carrying the gospel to the world. We deserve no glory, deserve no honor, it is not about us, it is about Jesus. Jesus must increase and we must decrease. II. Jesus Is God’s Supreme Representative – Read with me John 3:31-36 “31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” This is the second part of this two-part section. In this part John is showing why Jesus should increase and everybody else must decrease. Here we find descriptions about the superior nature of Jesus, so that we would see everything does point to Him. Notice what John does as he brings us each verse almost in rapid fire, describing the supreme nature of who Jesus is. A. Verse 31. “He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all.” That's straightforward, Christ is from heaven. John is of the earth and he says; “who's more important?” Jesus is. Who has more authority? He does, because He's from heaven. 1. Therefore, He has authority over all things. All that is on the earth is subjugated to Him. Therefore, it is right and proper for all glory to go to Jesus, and none of the glory belongs to us because we are of the earth and are therefore of an earthly way. 2. Look at the comparison. I mean, how can we possibly compare? Look how great He is. He came from heaven and that sets Him apart from anybody else. Who else has come from heaven to this earth and revealed to us the mind of God? None, and therefore, He's above all. B. Look at verses 32-33. “He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.” 1. John is saying Jesus brings the testimony of heaven. That is very powerful. Who else has firsthand knowledge, firsthand revelation, and firsthand information about the spiritual and heavenly things of God? John's saying, He's got all that information, not me. He came from there. 2. John wants us to see that not only does Jesus have the authority, but we need to listen to Jesus because He has firsthand testimony. Jesus spoke with firsthand observation and knowledge. Since Jesus is from heaven, He can speak from knowledge, not theory. C. Notice what else he says there in verse 32. “He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony.” We see this continuing thread in John's gospel, nobody's listening. In John 1:10-11 we read “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” In John chapter 3 we read God loved the world in this way that he gave his only son that whoever would believe in him would not perish. But the people did not receive him. 1. Here we're given that a different way. He came from heaven. He has all authority and all knowledge. He has firsthand information about the ways of God, because He came from there… but nobody's listening. 2. John continually is pointing out nobody's obeying. Nobody's listening. People are not receiving the words of Jesus. Nobody believes Him with belief that will transform their life. Instead, they're rejecting Him. 3. John continues to build this case of what Jesus is looking for in true belief and who will receive and who will believe in Him. Yet he says in the very absolute sense of verse 32, no one receives him. D. Verse 33, “Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.” That's a complicated statement in a very condensed way, but I think it's something to the effect of this; Jesus did and said everything that God told Him to do and say. He is giving the very witness of God. He did everything that God did because that's who He is. He is God. 1. Therefore, to believe in Jesus is to believe in God. To reject God is to reject the Son. Conversely, to not accept Jesus is to call God a liar because God said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” that's my Son. 2. To believe in Him is to say, yes, God is true. God is trustworthy. God is faithful. John is telling us, we need to receive the testimony. But unfortunately, so many are not listening. It was true then and true now, people refusing to come to the light, refusing to obey, refusing to receive His testimony. E. Look next at verse 34. “For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.” In these verses is clearly the descent of the dove alighting and remaining on Jesus (John 1:33). A measureless gift of the Spirit is received by Jesus, and the inevitable corollary is that Jesus spoke the true words of God. Jesus is in full possession of God's Spirit, not merely in some manifestation of it, or some portion of it, but to the fullest and total extent. 1. Not only is He from heaven, not only does He bear the testimony of heaven, of all that He has seen up there, but everything He said are the very words of God. He wasn't making it up. He is superior because He says God's words. 2. Then he says in verse 34, without measure. The contrast is, yes, the prophets spoke the words of God, but that was with limitation, by the measure of the spirit given to them. They were the mouthpiece of God. Not like Jesus, because Jesus is the full receiving of all that. 3. Not even the apostles possessed the Spirit in the total sense that Jesus did. John gives us a picture of Jesus superior nature. He utters the very words of God. He possesses the spirit without limitation, without measure. He distributes it to others as well. F. Verse 35, “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” That pretty well sums it up, doesn’t it? He has supreme authority. How powerful it is when you get to the end of Matthew's gospel where Jesus utters those very words, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” I have all authority, do as I say, is supreme in every way. 1. We can see how this fits with what John, the apostle, is doing. Of course, John, the baptizer must decrease. Jesus is the one sent from God, speaking the very words of God, who has observed heaven itself. He can describe to us and give His testimony to spiritual things because He has been given all authority by the Father. G. The seriousness of this is brought home to us in verse 36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” This wraps up the whole chapter of what John is trying to accomplish about the work of Jesus. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. That goes right back to John 3:16. 1. Here is Jesus. He is the author of life. Notice that belief and disobedience are contrasts. He that believes … whoever does not obey … These are among the most decisive words in the New Testament regarding what is meant by "believing," or "faith" as frequently used by New Testament writers. In all instances, it is an OBEDIENT FAITH that is meant and never is some special quality of faith apart from obedience intended. 2. Salvation by "faith alone" is an erroneous tenet of human creeds and is not the teaching of God's word. He who does not obey the Son, in the practical sense, is an unbeliever; and all faith, of whatever degree, is dead without obedience as James says. 3. Note also that for the one who does not obey… “… the wrath of God remains on him.” Folks, that goes back to John 3:17-18 that we talked about in a prior lesson, the one who does not have obedient faith is condemned already.   CONCLUSION: This confirms what we read in 2:23, where we saw people were coming to Jesus claiming to believe in Him, but Jesus did not believe in them because He knew their hearts.   That set the stage for Nicodemus who seemed to have belief. He says to Jesus, we know that you've come from God. Jesus tells him, no, “unless one is born again… unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”   This shows belief is not mere acknowledgement of what we have been talking about throughout these lessons, but about a radical life transformation and service to Jesus. Belief is now contrasted with disobedience. Believing is obeying. Believing is following Christ, and transforming your life, experiencing that new birth so that you do all He says. To disobey is to not believe, to go on our own path and to do our own thing. True belief desires to do what He says and to flee from sin.   When we consider that last part of verse 36, we see it's very similar to verse 18 where he says, “… whoever does not believe is condemned already…”   If faith in the Son is the only way to inherit eternal life, and is commanded by God, then failure to trust Him is as much disobedience as unbelief. Belief and obedience are used interchangeably in verse 36. This shows our observations throughout this chapter have been correct. Genuine belief is the new birth, life transformation, so that we will desire Jesus. We will desire to obey Him and desire to flee from sin, rebellion, and disobedience. True belief as seen in the new birth, leads to eternal life. John ends with the thought he declared in verse 18, we are the condemned. There is justice there, we are all disobedient, and we are all sinful. Jesus did not come to condemn the world because we were already condemned by our actions. Jesus came to rescue the world, but if we do not have a new birth through Jesus, the wrath of God remains on us. We are still condemned and therefore wrath still rests upon us. The wrath of God rests upon us until we come to Jesus for salvation. Jesus came to save.   The question is; Will we believe His heavenly testimony and be transformed into His children?   The message is yours. We are about to sing our invitation song. If anyone here has the need to be baptized into Christ, or needs the prayers of faithful people, the invitation is there for you to come forward while we stand and sing.     # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercherville  

The Beginning & The End Revelation 22:13 – 14   There are Military Slogan’s which state that : “the overall decisions start and stop here.” Or we have heard the phrase, “The buck stops here!” And there is the famous quote from a parent … “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it!!!!!!”   When Hemingway famously wrote, "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn," he proved that an entire story can be told using a half dozen words. When the online storytelling magazine SMITH asked readers to submit six-word memoirs, they proved a whole, real life can be told this way too. The results are fascinating, hilarious, shocking, and moving.   People were asked to sum up their lives in 6 words. HERE ARE A FEW ENTRIES: “Not Quite What I Had Planned” “Well, I thought it was funny.” “Dad was Santa. Downhill from there.” “Never really finished anything, except cake.” "Followed yellow brick road. Disappointment ensued.”   One Life. Six Words. What's Yours? Jesus might have said: “I Am The Alpha And Omega.”  That 6 word statement literally sums up Jesus’ life. ALPHA was the first letter of the Greek alphabet and OMEGA was the last of that alphabet. So, Jesus (in Revelation 22) said: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”   This was literally, the last “I AM” statement by Jesus in Scripture. And it was how the Bible presents Jesus to us. Jesus was literally the beginning of all things: Colossians 1:17 says that Jesus "is before all things." And the Gospel of John describes Jesus as the “WORD” and tells us: “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:1-2   So Jesus was “THE BEGINNING” of all things… and Jesus will literally be THE END of all things. The last words of the book of Revelation are these: “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.  Revelation 22:20-21   Now, that’s all cool stuff, but what does that all mean to us? What does it mean to us that Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last?? The title connects Jesus to the God of creation, proclaiming His absolute sovereignty over history and destiny. the title means the Lord is present at the beginning and at the consummation of history; nothing lies outside His knowledge or reign. the phrase connects New Testament Christology to Old Testament declarations of God as “the first and the last,” affirming Jesus’ full divinity. And it reassures Christians that the one who began God’s plan will also bring it to completion, so the future is not unknown or abandoned. Placed at the very end of Scripture, the verse functions as a bookend: it frames the entire biblical narrative as the work of the same sovereign Lord who authored history and will bring its purposes to fulfillment. And, since the Lord claims authority over all time and the story’s end, believers can live with confidence that present suffering and unanswered questions sit within a completed divine purpose and that God will finish what He has begun.   There are Three applications for us today: Live with the end in view. If Jesus is both the beginning and the end, then every present choice matters for the final story. Let small daily acts be shaped by the final reality: worship, mercy, honesty, and faithfulness are investments in the city and in the life that flows from the throne. Embrace cleansing, not self-justification. The washing of robes points us away from self-righteous striving and toward repentance that receives divine cleansing. Encourage people to bring their failures to the Lamb and accept forgiveness rather than doubling down on excuse or despair. Open doors now as foretaste of the city. The gates of the city anticipate a community where holiness and hospitality meet. Practically, pursue communities that reflect tree-of-life values: justice for the weak, welcome for the outcast, truth-telling, and sacrificial care. These are the signs of people who already live toward that city.   In Isaiah 44:6 GOD declares “I am the first and the last” And Psalm 90:2 states: “from everlasting to everlasting You are God” And, in the first chapter of Revelation we find these words: “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’” Revelation 1:8   His story makes its way through Scripture like a common thread. Because JESUS IS the “Alpha and Omega” and the “Beginning and the End” - He IS IN CONTROL. And because He is before and behind and all around us, that makes it so that I can TRUST Him, therefore, I don’t have to be afraid.   Because Jesus is the Alpha & the Omega, the 1st and the Last, and the Beginning and the End, I don’t have to be afraid… because Jesus has it all under control.   ILLUS: As most of you know …. I have a 3-year-old granddaughter. She is cute and smart and whenever we’re together we have a great time. But one of the things that humbles me is how much she trusts me. One day while babysitting I’d only been gone from the room about 5 minutes when suddenly I hear her crying out in panic. I rushed to the kitchen to see that she’d pulled a dining room chair over to the kitchen counter and had crawled up – belly down – on the counter to reach something. And there she was - her belly on the counter, her butt in the air, and her legs dangling in space about a foot above the chair she had used. Now she wasn’t actually in any danger, but she didn’t know that. All she knew was that she was stuck, and she had no way to get down. And she was afraid!   When I got there and spoke to her, she seemed to relax. And after I helped her back down to the floor, she was happy again. But WHY did she suddenly relax when I got there? Because she believed that I had things under control. She saw that I was there to protect her – she trusted me.   When Jesus said “I am the Alpha and The Omega, the Beginning and the End…” He was saying “I am NEVER FAR AWAY from you. I have this under control, and I’ll always be on hand to protect you.” That’s how we should view the crisis we now face. In Jesus we have someone who is never far away and always has things under control.   In fact, that’s the kind of faith that David had about God back in the Old Testament. He wrote: “I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words. Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me.” Psalm 17:6-9   Notice, David did face real danger, real enemies, and the very real possibility of death. And yet he believed God had things under control… and He could trust Him. THAT’s how we can view Jesus, because He IS God in the flesh. So Jesus - being the Alpha and Omega - tells us He has things under control and that we can trust Him, but in addition to that, Jesus is not only THE Alpha and Omega, and THE Beginning and End, Jesus is MY Beginning and End. He is MY Alpha and Omega. HE has re-MADE my life so I my life is re-NEWED. It has re-BEGUN. You see I could live my life without Jesus. I really could get along quite well without Him. But it wouldn’t really be living … it would only be simply EXISTING. I would simply be “getting by” with no future and no real purpose for life. But Jesus came so that my life would be changed. When I was baptized into Christ, Romans 6:4 tells me that “We were buried … with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in NEWNESS OF LIFE.” In Jesus I have a NEWNESS of life because Jesus is the BEGINNING of that new life.   Jesus came to CHANGE our lives and offer us a NEW BEGINNING. But Jesus didn’t just come to change us and walk away. One person observed: “Alpha and Omega” means that whatever Jesus starts, He finishes.  Hebrews 12:2 says we should be “looking unto Jesus, the author and FINISHER of our faith....”   And Paul reminds us that “He who BEGAN a good work in you will bring it to COMPLETION at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6   ILLUS: I’ve noticed that there are many craftsmen and artists in this world who do something, and then get to the point in their task where they’ll say “that’s good enough.” It’s not perfect, but it’s… GOOD ENOUGH. But Jesus is not like that. Jesus is kind of a perfectionist. When He works in our lives “good enough” is never good enough.     Jesus will never be satisfied with simply beginning a good work in us and then walk away saying “I’m done.” Jesus is such a perfectionist that He will never stop working on us until He’s satisfied.   ILLUS: Some of the world’s Greatest artists have been like that. Take Leonardo Da Vinci, for example. I’m going to give you a quiz this morning and see if you know the answer: What is the most valuable and praised painting in the world? Think about it for moment… if you guessed the “Mona Lisa” you were right!   This famous portrait by Da Vinci was commissioned by a patron to celebrate a birthday. If Leonardo had simply been interested in the money, he could have painted the portrait in a month and received his payment. But money was never the object with him. It took Da Vince 4 years to paint this masterpiece… and the painting (I read) has up to 30 different layers of paint!   But, why would Da Vinci do that? Why would he keep adding more and more paint to his artwork? Well, he did that because he kept working and reworking the image until he was pleased with it. And he loved this painting so much that he never gave it to his patron. He kept it for himself for years afterward.   And that’s what Jesus does with us. He is constantly working us and reworking us. Jesus will never quite be done with us, because to Jesus… you and I are the most valuable pieces of art in existence, and He wants us to be the best that He can create! And ultimately, He keeps us for Himself because He loves us so much. As Ephesians 2:10 tells us “We are HIS WORKMANSHIP, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He prepared in advance for us to do.”   Lastly - Jesus is not just MY Alpha - He’s MY Omega. He’s not just the beginning of my new life, He is the END… the completion of my existence.   In other words - ultimately we will be a FINISHED PRODUCT. As Ephesians 5:25-27 tells us: “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”   Now, there are some people who have difficulty understanding what that means. Many may believe that the “finished product” is based on their OWN righteousness. But that’s not what is said here. The passage in Ephesians 5 says that Jesus GAVE Himself up for the church. Jesus sanctified her. Jesus cleansed her. HE DID THE WORK… not us. You can’t buy a ticket to get in because of your “sinlessness” because THAT doesn’t exist.   We are reminded of the parable Jesus told about two men who came to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee (the very essence of righteousness and holiness) and the other – a Tax Collector (the lowest rung on the moral ladder in Israel). Jesus said that the Pharisee prayed this way “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” (Luke 18:11-12) In other words, the Pharisee bragged to God that he’d never sinned as badly as the tax collector. But then, Jesus said, that the Tax Collector prayed: ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ And Jesus said “I tell you, this man (the tax collector) went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:13-14   Now, here’s the deal – you and I WILL NOT get into Heaven because of how righteous WE ARE. We’ll only get into heaven because of how righteous JESUS IS. It’s all about Jesus. If Jesus is not your ALPHA & OMEGA; if Jesus is not your BEGINNING & END; if Jesus is not your FIRST & LAST priorities … then you and I will not make it in through the gate. To depend upon our righteousness is a fool’s game.   Scripture says our righteousness will be like filthy rags unless we are washed in the blood of Christ. We do that by believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. That He is our Alpha and Omega. And we do that by acknowledging that our own righteousness isn’t enough because we’ve sinned and fall short of God’s glory… therefore we need to repent of our sins and rely on Christ’s righteousness. And by confessing that Jesus is the true and only son of the father and that – He’s the one that we rely upon and trust. And lastly, we do this by allowing ourselves to imitate Christ by dying to our sins and being buried in the waters of baptism… and then rising up from those waters to walk in newness of life. May the Alpha and Omega raise and complete within us the life he began, may our robes be kept clean by his grace, and may we walk as citizens of the city toward which all history moves. Amen.

The Condemned John 3:17-21   INTRODUCTION: Good morning church. The apostle John continues his summary of the great news concerning God’s love toward the world. John 3:16 is the statement of fact concerning God’s love. This is the way God loved the world: he gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. God’s love is stated in a factual manner. This is the way God loved us.   We have been talking about Jesus and Nicodemus and are continuing in that narrative this morning. Now the conclusion as Jesus wraps up His discussion. Jesus is trying to help him understand about the new birth, and what it means to see the kingdom of God, and what Nicodemus needs to do to be in the Kingdom.   Verse 17 continues from verse 16 identifying God’s purpose in sending His Son into the world. John is helping us grasp what God is doing through Jesus so that there is no confusion about the purpose of God’s love.   I. God’s Purpose: Salvation, Not Condemnation (3:17-18) – “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” God sent Jesus to redeem humanity, not in wrath against humanity. A. This is an important framework to have in our minds as we think about God. God did not come against us in anger. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world. This statement easily gets taken out of its context and is used to suggest that God does not condemn anyone. We're good to go because God didn't come to judge, to condemn, so we are all fine. That is not the point of what John is saying. B. Then we read verse 18. Why didn't Jesus come to condemn the world? Why did He have to come to save the world? Underline the word ‘already’. He didn't have to condemn the world for it was already condemned. There was no reason for Jesus to come to condemn the world. That's our problem. We are under condemnation, under judgment. That is the reason Jesus did not come to condemn, because we're already condemned. 1. This lesson is titled “The Condemned” for that is what we are, and that is the point Jesus is expressing to Nicodemus. He, and we, are reminded of where we stand before God. We are not inherently righteous people. 2. John 3 has made that point clear to us. There is nothing about us that God should have done anything. Think about verses 14 and 15, and ask, what should God have done to the people in the wilderness who were complaining about God's providence and Moses leadership? God should have let them die. Instead, God intervenes and saves the people from the poisonous snakes. He has Moses erect a bronze serpent, and whoever looked at it would find salvation from the venom. 3. That's where we are. We are the condemned and we will die in our sins without salvation. God didn't have to send His son to condemn the world as it was already condemned. Jesus is pointing that out and He came in order that the world might be saved through him, (That is the very purpose of Jesus’ coming, to bring salvation because of the judgment that we are under.) C. Carefully notice verse 18: not believing does not condemn us, because we are already condemned. John is moving our thinking away from believing that we are good people who deserve eternal life. Doing nothing does not mean we are in good relationship with God. We are condemned. Doing nothing maintains our condemnation. Something has to happen to change the outcome of our condemnation. If nothing else happens, then all of us will remain condemned for our sins and, according to verse 16, we will perish. 1. The problem with unbelief is it maintains your condemnation. The point Jesus is making is if you will believe, you can be set free from that condemnation. Jesus is showing us that He did not come into a morally neutral world. The first chapter showed us that light had come. Where? Into the darkness. The light did not come into something that was good and right and okay. The point is we are in sin and therefore Jesus had to come to the rescue. 2. Do not forget what we have learned in this chapter about belief. Belief is not acknowledgement or confession, but life transformation. Jesus described it as being “born again” and “born from above.” A new birth has occurred, which is also described as being born of water and the Spirit. This is the new heart and new life that seeks to obey and desires the ways of the Lord. We must experience new birth in Jesus. Jesus is the only way out of our mess. Jesus is the only way to be set free from our condemnation. Using the imagery of verses 14-15, Jesus is the only way to be healed from the death sentence of sin. 3. I imagine what Nicodemus must have felt. He thinks he's a good moral guy. He's a Jew, a Pharisee, a ruler, and a Sanhedrin member. He probably felt he was fine. He thinks he's in the kingdom of God. Then Jesus says, you're not going to see the kingdom of God unless you experience this new birth. Unless there is this radical life transformation, you are in the same boat with everyone else, condemned in sins. 4. We must understand there is nothing about us to cause God to look upon us with some great favor and say, “That's why I'm going to send Jesus”. No. We are fully condemned and it is our own doing. It is because of His great love that God sent His son to rescue us from that condemnation. D. Jesus is telling Nicodemus, you don't see your condition. You don't see that you're condemned. Until you appreciate condemnation, until you appreciate where you stand before the judge as the gavel falls, then you cannot appreciate being rescued. You can't appreciate salvation. 1. The person who doesn't know they're drowning does not appreciate the rescue. We have to see our sin and we must understand our condemnation to be able to grasp what is happening. That's why verse 19 is so powerful.   II. The Verdict (3:19-20) – Now John 3:19-20 and I’m going to use the NIV here. “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”[NIV] The gavel has fallen, Judgment is now being passed and here is the verdict. A. Imagine being in the courtroom of God and listening to this verdict being declared in our trial. “The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” [ESV]. I cannot think of more heart-wrenching words than this verdict. 1. The light has come, but we love the darkness because we are wicked, as seen by our actions. How sad! We would rather live for ourselves, than be saved from our condemnation. What staggering sinfulness! 2. The light has come into the world, and we still are living wickedly as if Jesus did not come. The light has come and there has not been life change in the hearts of the people. No transformation has occurred. B. Let’s relate this to the scene in the wilderness like Jesus did in verses 14-15. This would be like the people being bitten by the venomous snakes, the bronze snake being put on the pole to save them from the venom, and people rejecting that salvation. 1. They close their eyes and refuse to look at the bronze serpent in faith. They would rather complain and die in the wilderness than change their lives through God’s grace, and live. They would rather reject God as the source of their life and die in that desert than believe that God would heal them if they faithfully turned to him. 2. Can you imagine if the people hearing the words “look to the pole and you'll be healed”, said, “No”? “I think I'll close my eyes and just do what I want to do. I'd rather stare at the dirt and avert my eyes from that salvation”. 3. Who in their right mind is going to refuse the anti-venom? Who is going to reject the antidote to death? John says that we are. We are. We are rejecting the antidote to death because we love the darkness rather than the light. C. Jesus is the light who has entered the world of darkness. Did that darkness come to the light? It did not, the people remained in darkness. It is like the people said, “we would rather die of snake bite than love the Lord and be healed”. That's what is being declared here. That's the verdict that Jesus proclaims here. Shocking, and you have to ask: Why? 1. The answer is; the people loved the darkness rather than the light. We'd rather do what we want to do. We want to live how we want to live. We'll act how we want to act, and we'll be what we want to be. You can't tell us what to do. 2. You're right. Just stay there in the darkness and die of venom. What craziness! Yet isn’t this the very proclamation that we often make in our sins rather than turn to the Lord, our God, with all of our heart and obey Him and love him and serve Him? 3. It is saying, I would rather die in my sins because I want to be independent, and I want to live how I want to live. I hope we see what an absurd statement we are making before our God when we say that to him. 4. We’re being freed from sin. Jesus did not come to condemn us. He came to rescue us for we are already under condemnation. 5. It is when we see this condemnation that the words of the apostle Paul should spring to life in our hearts. In Romans 7:21-25, Paul described the weightiness of sin, the battle of sin, and how he says I do not do the things that I know I should do and want to do. I continue to be weighed down by my sins. Then Paul asks the question in verse 24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” D. Now when the gavel comes down there is a way for the condemnation to have been removed. There is a way to be saved from that awful verdict and that's what Jesus is trying to move Nicodemus to understand. The whole purpose of Jesus life as He walks on the earth, is to move people to understand their sinfulness, so that they can be rescued. 1. That's why I find this passage so weighty. I mean, why does Jesus have to tell people about the law of God? Why does He have to teach us about sin? Why does He have to teach us about what God demands of people? It’s not because He must condemn us, but so that we will see that we are condemned already. We need to understand the law of God so that we can see that we have fallen short. We need to see the character of God. 2. Jesus has to come as light to awaken our hearts, open our eyes, and get us to see our true spiritual condition as utterly, utterly lost in darkness. If Jesus does not do that, then no one will turn to Him for rescue. That is His purpose. 3. Jesus lays this out to Nicodemus. Do you see your condition before the Almighty God? God's love is so great that He would send His son to the rescue and deliver us from the death that comes from our sins. E. Then verse 20 becomes even tougher as He continues to speak of this verdict. “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” Why do people want to stay in darkness? Why do we refuse to come to the light, take the antidote, find salvation? He explains it very clearly. We like the condition we are in, we like how we are living and we enjoy what we are doing. What we are saying is that we prefer our sins over Jesus. We would prefer to complain and die in the wilderness than love Him and live. 1. In our desire to continue the way we are living, we try to somehow have a relationship with Jesus yet maintain our sinful ways, trying to hide them from others. Jesus is light and light exposes darkness. We cannot treasure our sins and prefer our wickedness over Jesus. When we choose evil, we hate the light. We are hating Jesus, and we run away from the light. 2. That's what He just told us, and God is calling us to do something frightening, to expose our works. God doesn't want us to hide our sins. No, God already knows them and that's why He sent His son. We're not really hiding anything, we're condemned. We cannot keep anything from Him. 3. He knows, yet what do we do? We hide them, try to conceal them and we think we're getting away with it. We don't see that we're the condemned and we think that we're fine. We're good, not as bad as other people. 4. God is calling us to expose our works. If we are doing what is true, then we will walk into the light and have our deeds exposed. Those who live by the truth willingly walk into the light, allow sin to be exposed, find cleansing, and begin the new birth / life transformation. To look at the bronze serpent on the pole, is to admit guilt and to admit the need for healing. We must humble ourselves to walk into the light of Jesus. 5. We must confess our sins and admit that we need a Savior. Stop hiding our sins. Stop pretending that our sinfulness is okay. Stop thinking that being lukewarm toward God is acceptable. Remember Mark’s lesson last week? Laodicea is a word which has come to stand for lukewarmness, indifference and compromise. Jesus also told them in Revelation 3:17, You say ““I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” They did not know their true condition. 6. Do not run from the light of Jesus. Let the light shine into your heart. Feel the weight of our common condemnation and turn from that darkness. We lay out our sins before God and expose them and stop pretending that we're okay, stop pretending that we're not the condemned for we are the condemned. 7. God knows that, yet we arrogantly will hang on to our lives, hang on to our sins and refuse to expose them to the almighty God. Stop thinking that we can have one foot in the light with Jesus and one foot in the darkness of this world. That's the picture that verses 19-20 give. III. Carried Out in God (3:21) – Verse 21 is such a great conclusion. From John 2:28 to John 3:21 there has been one thought. What a statement that is made to Nicodemus here! “But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” A. Jesus comes to a world of darkness. Here is God shining the light to us, revealing Himself, showing the love of God, being all that we need as a savior. Everything that we need to be saved, everything that we need for God as revelation, as light, as salvation, all being brought to us. 1. That is what propels us to do good works. My works, left to myself without God's intervention, continue in darkness. I'll continue to live how I want to live, do what I want to do. It is only when God reveals - this is what light is, this is what truth is, this is the way you ought to live, - that we have the desire to do what is true. 2. If we choose to walk in the darkness, we're going to continue to do the things of darkness. That is what He's telling us. Thus verse 21, “…whoever does what is true comes to the light…” You need to be part of the light. You must expose those sins. You must recognize what God has done for you. You must see the salvation that He has offered. That is what propels us to obedience. B. I’ll put it this way; fleeing sinful living is not about “I have to do this”, and it should never be presented that way. Ceasing sin is not about God being a cosmic killjoy who just won't let us do the things that we want to do. “I guess if I want to have eternal life and go to heaven, not burn in hell, then I suppose I'm going to have to stop doing all the stuff that I want to do. I'll just kind of grin and bear it. I'll just kind of put up with it and get there.” 1. So help us, if that's our attitude about God. It's about understanding everything that God has done so that I desire to get rid of all the folly of darkness living. 2. I need to grasp that I'm condemned, grasp that I deserve death, grasp that I'm dying in the wilderness, understand that I'm undeserving of any intervention on God's part. I am the creation and not the creator, I am the one who ought to give and God has no obligation to give me anything, understand that, yes He is God… Then when I see what He gave, I am compelled to good works. I am compelled to walk in the light. 3. I believe that's what he means verse 21 to say, so that it may be clearly seen that his works are carried out in God. It will become evident that our good works are being carried out in God because I see His glory, His goodness, His mercy, and I do what I am doing because of what He's done for me. All my goodness is because God has been so good to me. C. If he had not been good to me, then my actions would have remained in darkness, and I would remain in the camp of the condemned. There would have been no hope for you or for me. 1. Jesus wants us to comprehend the weight of that. It's not about what you have to do. It's about feeling the weight of God's love and goodness that will compel you to want to do what is true, compel you to leave behind sin. You will desire it. It will come from the heart, and it will no longer be, “I guess I have to do that kind of thing.” It is because of love, we serve our Savior because I see all that He has given for me. 2. Because God loved the world, He gave His only son so that we no longer have to be the condemned and perish, but can be healed and live.   CONCLUSION: The question for you this morning, what's your verdict? What's the sentence that you will receive? Such wonderful words by the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” You don't have to be condemned any longer. Understand you are condemned now, but there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus.   If we will experience that life transformation, if we will turn away from the darkness because of what God has done for us, expose our sins to God, walk in the light, give Him everything that we have, sacrifice ourselves for Him because He sacrificed so much for us, - that is what will lead to the new birth. We will have the new birth, and that is what genuine belief is all about. That's what Jesus is moving Nicodemus to understand.   How can I know that my belief is a saving belief? How can I know that I have no condemnation now? Nicodemus believed Jesus was sent from God but was told he would not see the kingdom of God unless a new birth occurred. Genuine belief in Jesus reveals itself in humble obedience. This is what verse 21 is declaring to us. You can know what belief you have. Is the model of your life to come to the light in humble obedience and submission to the Lord, or is the model to hide your sins, stay away from the light, and live as you want?   Our life is in God. Our actions are in God. Our hope is in God. Everything we do is to be carried out in God. This is the new birth. This is life transformation. Jesus is the light. Come to the light.   It is not enough, as Nicodemus believed, to say Jesus is sent from God. Nicodemus uttered those words and was told, Nicodemus, you're not seeing the kingdom of God. Genuine belief comes from a recognition that we are the condemned and He has come to die for our sins.   I believe that He is the savior, and I will love and obey and follow Him with all my heart because He has taken me out of the domain of darkness and transferred me into the glorious kingdom of light.   That is the change that He's calling us to make. Don't try to hide your sins anymore. Expose them before God. Seek Him, surrender to Him as your king, as the ruler, as the savior. Our whole life is in God. Our hope is in God. Our salvation is in God. Everything is in God that it may be clearly seen that our works have been carried out in God.   That's what it should look like as we go out every single day.   The message is yours. We are about to sing our invitation song. If anyone here has the need to be baptized into Christ, or needs the prayers of faithful people, the invitation is there for you to come forward while we stand and sing.     # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercherville

AM I JUST LUKEWARM? Rev. 3: 14-22 A young woman went to her preacher and said, "Preacher, I have an annoying sin, and I want your help. I come to church on Sunday and can’t help thinking I’m the prettiest girl in the congregation. I know I ought not to think that, but I can’t help it. I want you to help me with it." The preacher replied, "Mary, don’t worry about it. In your case it’s not a sin. It’s just a horrible mistake." Sometimes things are not how they seem or how we think they are. Sometimes we look at our lives through rose colored glasses and fail to see the faults that we may have. Perhaps we have deceived ourselves into thinking we are some sort of super saints, but in reality, we are barely hanging on spiritually.   It is important for us to regularly and honestly look at ourselves and see where we stand. That is why I want to ask you, What type of Christian are you? AND what type of Church is this?   In the 2nd & 3rd Chapters of Revelation, seven different churches are addressed. Some of the churches are harshly criticized for their shortcomings. This causes me to wonder if we were to receive a letter addressed to us what would it say? Would our faithfulness be questioned? Would we be rebuked for neglecting to do something that we should be doing.   What would the letter say to us? What sins would be confronted? What areas that have been neglected would be brought out into the open? What areas would we be commended for? In Revelation 3, we come to the address to the lukewarm church of Laodicea. I wonder if we will find any similarities between us and the church at Laodicea.   Text: Revelation 3:14-22 14“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. 15“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!  16So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.  17For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.  18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.  19Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.  20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.  21The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.  22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”     Laodicea was in the Roman province of Asia (modern-day Turkey), near Colossae and Hierapolis, in the fertile Lycus Valley. It was a prosperous trade city, famous for: Banking and finance (a wealthy commercial hub). A medical school known for producing an eye salve. A textile industry producing glossy black wool. After an earthquake in AD 60, Laodicea rebuilt itself without Roman aid—showing its pride in independence. This self-reliance mirrors the church’s spiritual complacency.   Unlike nearby Hierapolis (hot springs) where people from distant regions came to soak in warm baths and seek healing for arthritis, skin diseases, and even abdominal problems.   And unlike Colossae (cold, refreshing water), Laodicea’s water was lukewarm by the time it reached the city via aqueducts, and full of minerals. It tasted so bad that it made people sick. In fact, it became a joke in the first century world about the nasty tasting lukewarm water of Laodicea.   This physical reality becomes the central metaphor in Jesus’ rebuke. Unlike other churches in Revelation, Laodicea receives no approval—only rebuke. They were spiritually “lukewarm,” neither fervent nor openly opposed, but complacent and self-deceived. Just as their water supply was indifferent and unappealing, their faith lacked vitality. This passage is often seen as a warning against comfortable, self-sufficient religion that lacks zeal and dependence on Christ. It challenges believers to examine whether their faith is vibrant or merely lukewarm.   It appears that Jesus is saying to the church at Laodicea, if you were hot, like the springs of Hierapolis, you would bring spiritual healing, restoration, and comfort to people who suffer. If you were cold, like the water in colossi, you would refresh and encourage people who are hurting. Instead, you are lukewarm. You don’t do anyone any good and you make me sick just like your own water makes you sick. Have you ever taken a sip of lukewarm water? Usually, lukewarm is not a good temperature. We like it either hot or cold. We like our drinks either hot or cold, but lukewarm is NOT a favorable temperature. We want hot showers and cold refreshing drinks. You RARELY if ever hear anyone say, “I am burning up; I would love a nice glass of lukewarm water”.   OR, how many times do you hear someone say, “I am tired and aching, I would love to take a lukewarm bath.” The picture of lukewarm is a picture of something that has minimal uses. The Laodicean Christians were lukewarm, they were indifferent, and they were NOT good for much.   Jesus says I wish you were either hot or cold. I wish you were either cold and refreshing or hot and healing. I wonder if that same thing couldn’t be said to the church of today? Wouldn’t God want us be like the hot waters which bring about spiritual healing to the spiritually sick? OR, Wouldn’t He rather that we were like the cold waters which bring about the refreshing that can only come in Christ? John 4:13-14 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” A church that is ineffective in the kingdom is worthless. It will be spewed out of the mouth of Jesus. Let us understand that the church is not just a social club. The church is not just a thing we do every so often, but the church has a distinct message and a distinct function. We are commissioned with the task of worshipping God, encouraging one another, and introducing others to Jesus. If we fail to be effective, we are lukewarm. I wonder if we took this to an individual level what could be said of us. Are we having an impact in the kingdom individually? Are we making a difference that will last for eternity? If not, then could we be designated as lukewarm. The designation of being a lukewarm Christian or a lukewarm church is not a compliment, but it reveals uselessness for anything significant. The lukewarm church of the lukewarm Christian might be classified by indifference or a lack of care. Are you lukewarm? Jesus would rather have us be hot or cold. Let us be aware that God knows our deeds whether bad or good. He knows if we have any value or use in the church. He knows if we are neither hot nor cold. Perhaps you can deceive yourself and others into thinking that you are doing more than you are or that you are better than you are, but there is no fooling God because He knows our deeds. The question we need to answer is, what does he see as he looks at us? We see in verses 17-19 of the text: Laodicea prided itself on its great wealth. Laodicea was so rich that following a devastating earthquake in the region they refused financial aide from the emperor saying they were rich and did not need his money.   Jesus plays on their assumptions about themselves. He says, “You say I am rich; I have acquired wealth and I do not need a thing.” The problem was that they did not realize the reality of their situation. The truth of the matter was that they were, “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.”   That doesn’t sound like the description I would want for the church. There are several problems at work here.   The first was that the church apparently was not very distinct from the culture in which they lived in. Laodicea was a wealthy city, so we can assume that there were some wealthy members of the church.   Often times as a person’s wealth increases so does their ego and their view of themselves. Laodicea thought they were something great, they thought they had it all together. They thought they were special because they had more things. Perhaps they interpreted their wealth as God’s blessing upon them. There was a problem though in Laodicea among the Christians. They... like the non-Christians surrounding them in the city... took great pride in the physical. We can see throughout history that churches often times take on the personality of their culture. Secondly, the church is Laodicea had a false view of themselves. They were self-deceived. They had confidence in themselves. Perhaps so much confidence in themselves that they lost their dependence upon God. Did you catch the reality of the church there? They thought they were rich, but really, they were poor.   The problem wasn’t that they were ignorant about their financial well-being; the problem was a spiritual problem. Though they were rich in the eyes of the world, spiritually speaking they were poor. Then there is a prescription given, a chance to remedy their problem.   He instructs them to buy refined gold, white clothes, and salve for the eyes. This would remedy the problem that was given to them earlier. The refined gold would solve their poverty problem. The white clothes would solve the nakedness problem, and the eye salve would remedy the blindness problem. However, I do not believe his instructions were merely physical advice to the Laodiceans.   Perhaps they would have read this and thought to themselves, we are already rich, why do we need to buy gold, we aren’t poor. However, spiritually speaking they were poor. Laodicea was a banking center for the province of Asia during this time, and it included a gold exchange. Perhaps this is what was being played upon when they were instructed to buy some refined gold. Notice though it wasn’t at the gold refinery that they were to purchase that gold, it was from Jesus himself that they were to go to.   He is saying that you are going to the wrong place to find your wealth. Perhaps the Christians had been frequent customers at the gold refineries. Perhaps they trusted that the gold they bought would be a good investment, but they were investing in the wrong place. Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. There isn’t anything wrong with investing or being wise about one’s finances, but the problem has to do with where their allegiance was. They were devoted to their riches. Their hope was in the things they had, but they needed to buy gold from Jesus.     They needed to learn where to go to find contentment, where to find something that will really last. Buying white clothes was in direct contrast to the well-known black wool that was prominent in the area. After all, white is symbolic of purity. He calls them to buy white clothes, which will cover the shame of their nakedness.   Nakedness is the badge of sin. When Adam and Eve sinned, they realized they were naked and wanted to clothe themselves. Jesus instructs them to find white clothes, which would stand out in a culture wearing dark clothes. Perhaps these Christians would have read that and thought to themselves that didn’t make any sense. They weren’t naked. However, spiritually they were unclothed.   Galatians 3:26-27 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.   Furthermore, Laodicea was the location of a major medical school known worldwide and was the location where an eye salve called Phrygian powder was made from a local stone. The salve was said to be a miracle remedy for weak eyes. I doubt that the problem in Laodicea was a physical blindness.   If you were to go there you would find that the people may have been able to see just fine. However, they were spiritually blind. We pick up on that same language in songs like “Amazing Grace” where we sing, “I once was blind, but now I see”. The Laodicean Christians had a seeing problem that no eye salve or eye doctor could cure. The reason why was because the problem did not root in the human eye, it was a spiritual blindness. They needed help that their famous eye school couldn’t provide them. Laodicea had a focus problem.   They could see, but they were blind. They couldn’t see the most elementary and most important things. They were blinded and needed their sight restored.   This is the charge that would be given to any lukewarm Christian today, for them to repent and be zealous. A lukewarm Christian has lost their zeal, they may be characterized by indifference, but they are called to be zealous. We live in a world which can get zealous and excited about different things.     Wouldn’t it be great if the church showed the same zeal for the Lord that they do at the football games or other sporting events? People cheer, they get excited at victories and upset at losses, they get mad when there is a bad call. We need to be zealous for the Lord. Are you lukewarm? If so, repent and be zealous. Get passionate about that which is really important and of value. And FINALLY in verses 20-22 of the text: The first picture we see is of Jesus standing at the door and knocking. This is actually quite an ironic picture. We see Jesus standing at the door knocking, seeking entrance into His church, which he is the Head of, which he purchased with His own blood. It reminds me of the story of a family that went to an art gallery. They stopped at the famous picture of Jesus knocking on the door, drawn from this passage. A little girl looked up at her Dad and said, “Daddy, we would let Him in, wouldn’t we?” I often wonder is Jesus really welcome in what we do or is He standing outside seeking entrance into the church or into our lives. Is He really welcome among us? And even more than that… is He welcome on His own terms? Or is He only welcome on our terms?

Making Wise Decisions Matthew 7:13-27   A store that sells new husbands has opened in New York City where a woman can go in and choose a husband. This is fictitious, by the way. Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store only once. There are five floors and the value may increase as the shopper ascends from one floor to the next. The shopper may choose any item from that particular floor or they may choose to go up to the next floor, but once you go up you may not go back down.   A curious single woman enters and reads the sign hanging above floor number one. Floor one, these men have jobs. She is intrigued but continues to the next floor. Floor two, these men have jobs and love kids. Oh, that's nice, she thinks, but I want more. So, she continues up to the next floor. Floor three, these men have jobs, love kids and are extremely good looking. Wow, she thinks, but she feels compelled to move on. Floor four, these men have jobs, they love kids. They're drop dead gorgeous, and they help with housework. Oh, mercy me, she says, I can hardly stand it. She is tempted to stay. She doesn't know what to do. Finally, her curiosity gets to her. After a long period of time of wondering, she finally goes up to the final level, the fifth floor. With excitement, as she reaches the floor, she immediately sees an enormous sign that says, you are visitor number 31,456,012. There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that women are impossible to please.   Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store.   As Robert Frost wrote, “two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry, I could not travel both. And being one traveler alone, I stood and looked down as far as I could.” At the end, he says, “two roads diverged in a wood. And I took the one less traveled by. That has made all the difference.”   Looking that up, and of course, that was only just a snippet of the beginning and the end of that poem. It's a lengthy poem. He wrote that for a friend who was very indecisive in his life. That poem was actually written as a joke, if you look that up. It says it was kind of a humorous little joke to his friend who could never make up his mind.   Today, we're looking at facing life's daily questions. Throughout the Bible, we have numerous examples of choices made by a variety of individuals we think about some are good, as we read through the Bible. Some choices were good. Some were not so good. Some led to life. Some led to death.   The Book of Proverbs is almost entirely devoted to the comparison between the wise person and the foolish person.   Take Moses as an example. Deuteronomy 30:19-20. “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.”   That was Moses. We see in Joshua 24 verses we're very familiar with verses 14 and 15. This is Joshua speaking.   Now therefore, fear the Lord. Serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose this day for yourselves whom you shall serve this day. So choose you.   He's challenging them.   Choose who you will serve this day, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you currently dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.   Every day, we're faced with decisions. We will be wise, or as the Bible says, we will be foolish in the decisions we make. The little funny story I tried to put at the beginning. You see, it was rather foolish to try to keep thinking you wanted more and more, but that's what human society does.   Jesus gives us three important questions to ask ourselves to ensure that we are following the way of the wise and not the way of the foolish.   I. WHICH PATH ARE YOU TRAVELING ON? Question number one, which path are you traveling on? You need to know where you're going. Do you ever have that? Do you ever have that feeling that, “Oh man, I'm on vacation. I'm making great time, but I'm not quite sure where we're at. I'm not sure if I'm on the right path or not.”   Matthew 7, Jesus speaking in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:13-14, “Jesus says, enter by the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life. And there are few that find it.”   The foolish person says, “Hey, there are no boundaries. There's nothing keeping me back. I can do what I want.” The world thinks total freedom with no restrictions is the goal that we should live by.   Proverbs 14:12 tells us, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”   We can look in Proverbs 3:5-6 that tells us, “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.”   We compare these two ways—the broad way. The broad way is kind of like the interstate, the international highway. You can travel very fast. You can get cruising. When I travel on the PA Turnpike I have a moral obligation to travel the speed limit. As a Christian person, you think that limit's there for a reason. Many times though, I find that the flow of traffic is so fast that it's almost like you get caught in the current of the flow.   You think about, where's everybody going? You can travel fast, but where are you headed? You can get enticed by the many billboards along the way. You can quickly exit the highway, and at various points, as you drive along, you can quickly exit, you can partake in whatever pleasure without accountability, and get right back on the highway again.   That's what Jesus is talking about. Reminds me of that little phrase, your mother always asks you or somebody asks you, if people, if everybody else jumped off the bridge, would you jump too? In life, that's what it seems like, right? I remember as a teacher, whenever I asked a student, why they did it, well, everybody else is doing it. How many times do you hear that? That's what Jesus is referring to as the broad way everyone else is doing it, that doesn't make it right.   Then He speaks of the narrow road. It's more like that winding rural road. It's not easy to find, and therefore, it's not easy to get at. You have to be careful, and you have to look for it. I'm sure we've all done that on the GPS. You're driving along, and all of a sudden, it says, turn here, and you think, where? I mean, this is just a tiny road, are you kidding me? You have to be careful. You have to know that it's there, and you have to look for it. It's very restrictive.   The word translated narrow is from the Greek word, and from my understanding, that Greek word is tribulation, which usually means persecution, which tells us that we have to leave our baggage behind. The wise person realizes that the way to life is a very narrow way, as it's taught in the Bible.   John 14:6, Jesus says to him, what does Jesus say? I'm sure we're all familiar with this.   John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.”   We go to 1st Timothy 2:5, “for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Lord Jesus Christ.”   We're pursuing that narrow path. Pursuing it is an ongoing decision. We enter the narrow way when we first decide to follow Jesus, but we must continue daily to make wise decisions in order to stay on that. You ask for directions.   Everybody wants you to take the road, the big road. Oh yeah, I know where that goes. No, we don't wanna do that. We gotta stay focused on taking the narrow road. To head on the wide pathway to hell requires you to do absolutely nothing…nothing in your life. I don't want to just sit and do nothing. Well, in the world, that's all you really have to do to head on that wide path. Simply follow the crowd.   The second question Jesus asks us.   The first question, what path are we on? How do we know which path? II. WHO ARE YOU LISTENING TO? The second question He gives us to ask ourselves is, who are you listening to?   Matthew 7:15-22. “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly, they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit, you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit, you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name or in your name drive out demons or perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.” Depart or away from me, you evildoers. Depart from me, you that work iniquity.   Jesus is condemning more than just false teaching. He is discouraging false behavior, impure motives, and inconsistent actions. Jesus points to the fruit as the essential method of discerning what is false and what is true.   In Israel, the buckthorn plant, from what I understand, produced little black berries that could initially be mistaken for grapes. There was also a thistle that produced a flower similar to the fig. So the idea of carefully examining the fruit of the plant, the plant that they were looking at, was a familiar one to those that were listening to Jesus.   How do we tell a false teacher from a true one? We should pay attention to the content of their teaching, to their motives. Is it true fruit from God's word or is it man-centered, appealing to the ears that want to be tickled?   III. WHAT ARE YOU BUILDING ON? The third question that we ask ourselves. Jesus gives us a question of what are we building on? What is the foundation? Robert's very familiar with that as he examines buildings and whatever. What is the foundation it is built on?   Matthew 7, verses 24, 25, 26, and 27. Jesus, again, speaking in the Sermon on the Mount. “Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them is likened to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rains descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rains descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell. Great was the fall.”   When we were kids, we used to sing that. The wise man built his, the foolish man. And we couldn't wait to get to the end. You see the kids getting faster and faster. And that house went SPLAT! Sorry. We think about that and the excitement we had.   My wife and I just celebrated our anniversary, we went down to Hilton Head Island. We just recently started to do that to celebrate. It was one year from my heart surgery and our anniversary. But one of the things, it's called, if you ever go to the water, we love to see the water come in, but how dangerous it is. In the morning, early morning, you see the wave way out, and then you can see them start to come in.   Kids, if you don't pay attention, you know, the kids start putting their sandcastles, they start making the sandcastles and so on. One time when we were real young, we put our blanket and our, you know, put everything out, our chairs and everything all out. We wondered why everybody was way behind us. We thought, well, they don't want to enjoy the ocean? Yeah, and then you go up for lunch and you come back and you understand why. You're flooded, you know, everything's, the water comes in and then that's what I picture what Jesus is saying.   That sand, it's beautiful, but that water comes in and your sandcastles and so on just get washed away. There isn't substance to it. Whereas the rocks and so on, that foundation, what foundation are we building on? Jesus continues through the Sermon on the Mount to get people to think long-term.   Here's how Paul puts it in Galatians 6:7-8. Paul says, “do not be deceived. God is not mocked.”   You can fool some of the people some of the time and all of the people or whatever, but you can't fool Mom. God is really that way.   Paul says, do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that also he shall reap. For whoever sows to his flesh will reap flesh and that corruption. But whoever sows to the Spirit will, of the Spirit, reap everlasting life.   The wise person says, I'm going to plan for eternity.   What does James 1:22 tell us?   James 1:22 tells us, “but be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourself.”   I like to notice the similarities between these builders, the wise and the foolish. Notice the similarities. Both are building houses. Both have a similar life situation. They're going through storms of life. It's that storm that proves to be the difference though, isn't it? We have to understand that when we're building something, that that building is going to be tested. What are the differences between the two builders? They're two different kinds of people. They build on two different kinds of foundations. The first hears the word and builds upon it. The second hears the word, but chooses to ignore it.   The two have different outcomes. One house stands firm. The other is completely destroyed. We know that that parable is an inspiration for that great old gospel song. My hope is built on nothing less, song number 120, than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest fame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. And then we get to the chorus. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. So we have two different underlying principles.   If you're only hearing and reading the truth, but are not prepared for life's storms that come up, if your foundation is sure no storm will cause your life to collapse. Sister Mary asked for prayers for people that she knows. We all know people, I know, in our lives that need that reassurance. There are people constantly potent in life. We know that life is not friendly to us in general. Society, we have constant, face constant challenges in our lives. But God tries us and then sees what foundation we're building on.   Jesus didn't preach this message so it would sound nice or so that we could sit around and discuss it like this morning. He preached it so that we could act on it. He emphasized obedience.   I heard this the other day and I found this interesting. In the audience, I'd like just to offer you $1,440. Each one of you today--$1,440. I'd like you to ponder that. There are some stipulations though. I'm gonna give you $1,440 on your way out, maybe. But you cannot carry it past this evening. This $1,440 must be spent, used at the end of tonight, at midnight. It can be taken away from you at any time. Today, I offer you that money. But it could be taken away at any time. And you would have to spend it before midnight. And I only say that just to get your attention. Obviously, I'm not really gonna do that. I don't have that much money. But that's a comparison to what God gives us.   This person said, now that we got your attention, God gives us exactly 1,440 minutes a day. We can't go back. We have to use them during this day. At midnight, they're used up. And they can be taken from us at any time. Any time during the day, that time, those minutes can be spent. We think about, how do we use the minutes that God gives us?   My conclusion today.   Everything that is extremely valuable can be counterfeited. We think about all the things that are valuable in life. There's a counterfeit. Gold. Fool's gold. Gems. Fake gems. Gem buyers today must be aware of three types of gems that I understand. You have the synthetic gems that are lab-grown stones. They closely duplicate the natural gem's physical qualities and chemical properties. Or we have simulated gems that are man-made. The color of the simulated stone may be similar to that of a natural gem, but it is very different both physically and chemically. Or we have enhanced gems that are natural gems altered in some way to improve their look. I bring this up to say that experts advise buyers to verify a stone's value with gem testing labs.   I guess there's a Gemological Institute of America. And you can go there or have them verify before any final sales are made. It is the same with truth. Jesus is sharing throughout the Bible. We must ensure we are not falling to false teachers. On that day, we will stand alone before God. Every day, we are building a foundation in our lives based on which path we travel and who we listen to and what foundation we're building upon.   It's time for us this morning to make our decision. Have I chosen the right gate? Am I traveling the right road? Does my tree bear the correct good fruit? Am I following those who teach the truth? Is my faith being demonstrated in what I do? Do I truly know God and am I following the teachings of the New Testament?   The lesson is yours this morning to ponder those questions. And if you are in need in any way, if you are one that has not taken the steps to being baptized, becoming a Christian, we ask you to do that this morning, then consider that.   Or if you are in need of the prayers of the congregation, whatever your need is, you have the opportunity to come forward as together we stand and sing our song of invitation.

Amazing Love John 3:16   INTRO: Good morning church. We will be continuing our look at John’s Gospel and are reading this amazing message that John is teaching concerning salvation. We have reached John 3:16 which I think is probably one of the most recognized verses in scripture. It is frequently quoted, and so is Matthew 7:1, though these days Matthew 7:1 is probably quoted more and sadly, all too often by those who do not understand it.   Our focus today is John 3:16 which we all know well, though I hope not so well that it no longer has any impact. I want to talk about the significance of what is being summarized by John here.   We will start with a review of lessons on the New Birth to recall the context and remind ourselves what is going on in this scene. I’m not going to have a lot of new verses to look at today and mostly refer to what we have already learned in previous lessons.   We're still in Jesus' discussion with Nicodemus, and you will recall that as we ended chapter 2 John pointed out that there is “belief” on the part of the Jews, but it is insufficient belief. They are believing because they see the signs that Jesus is doing, but it is not leading to life transformation, so Jesus does not believe them or entrust Himself to them. Jesus knows their hearts and the shallowness of their belief.   Nicodemus comes to Jesus, and he shows some belief. He recognizes and admits, confesses - that Jesus has come from God. Jesus turns to Nicodemus and tells him, unless you experience the new birth, unless you're born again, born from above, you're by no means in the kingdom of God. This leads into a discussion back and forth about what this new birth is all about.   We looked at the imagery Jesus used in John 3:13 when He says no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the son of man. We then compared it to what Moses said in Deuteronomy 30 and Paul’s reference to Moses in Romans 10:5-8. We saw this salvation is going to come about by God bringing it to the world.   Next, we read John 3:14-15 and found the parallel in the Book of Numbers where the people of Israel are complaining and rebelling against God. There we see them dying in the wilderness, being bitten by serpents that have been sent to strike them for their error. The people cry out to Moses to do something, and God tells Moses to put a bronze serpent on a pole, and those who would look upon it would be healed of the venom.   Jesus then parallels that to Himself in these verses, “… even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”   I. For God Loved The World In This Way – That brings us to John 3:16 and I’m going to read it from the Holman Christian Standard – “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” I think this is useful as it captures a little bit more of what Jesus is saying about salvation and what is being offered. A. The idea is not merely to describe the intensity of God's love, which is I suspect often how it's portrayed and read, God SO loved the world. Obviously, the intensity is there. God is clearly describing the depths of His love for His people. 1. However, the Greek word for “so” houtos, occurs over 200 times in the NT and almost without exception it is an adverb of manner, not degree. I suggest that intensity is not the full idea but that it is describing - this is the way that God shows His love. 2. If we are looking for any declaration to know that God loves people, that God loves His creation, this is what we are to look to… this magnificent event… that God sent His son. 3. That's the idea of ‘so loved the world’. This is the way that He loved the world. This is how He showed His love. This is the proof, the demonstration. The Apostle Paul would write about God’s love for us in Romans chapter 5, Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is how we know that God's love exists for us. This is how we can see it. 4. We may have experienced this ourselves or seen others wonder: how do I know that God loves me? We look for something contemporary that God is going to do. He is going to keep me alive, give me lots of money, make sure my dog never dies. People can come up with all kinds of things as to why I'm going to know that God cares. It is as if we are saying, God, if you'll just do this, then I'll know you love me. 5. How God shows He loves us though, is this one grand event that we can always point to. This is how you know the love of God. This is how it has been forever displayed… that He gave His only son. B. I submit that is a statement that should cause us to stop and wonder; how can it be possible for the infinite, all-powerful, Holy God to love finite, weak, sinful humanity? Have you ever thought, how can God do this? How about, why would He do this? We are awful, sinful, rebellious, wicked people who deserve absolutely nothing, and you are the holy, right, just, God. How can you possibly love us? We are a mess. 1. I mean, think about the scene in the wilderness, which is what Jesus connects to in verses 14 and 15. When we read the book of Numbers, I think all of us become a little shocked. The people are wandering in the wilderness and they are complaining at every turn. 2. They are complaining about what they are eating. They are complaining there is no water. They are complaining about the duration, complaining about Moses leadership. Complaining that they are not getting to keep the stuff that they had back in Egypt. They are complaining that Egypt was better than where they were going. They are complaining and complaining. 3. How can God be so good to these people? They are sinning, and then they are compounding their sins. They are essentially saying to God, you are a worthless God, you do not care about us. We would have been better off without you. We should have stayed in Egypt. Life was better there. How dare you be a God to us that would take us out of that place? You are just awful because you are not giving us what we want, your care is terrible. 4. In fact, your leader is terrible. Remember how they rise up and tried to stone Moses and Aaron so they could go back to Egypt. (Numbers 14:10). Why does God not just turn His back on them? Why not do that to us? 5. This is the verse. This is the summary statement of what it is all about. In such staggering words that God would love a wicked world. God. loves. us. He loves people. He loves His creation. C. It is important that we get to the heart of that. We must get a grasp of that—that kind of depth of love that God has for every single human being. 1. Paul tries to bring that to us in a number of ways when he writes in Ephesians - Ephesians 2:4, “4. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,”. Rich in mercy because of the great love that He has for us. 2. Then in Ephesians 3:17f, “ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” 3. What Paul tells us here always strikes me whenever I read it. He says, “I want you to know what cannot be known. I want you to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. You are never going to find the end of the love of God.” 4. That is what John 3:16 does. It gives us this amazing thought that there is no boundary to God's love. His love is so vast, and it is so amazing. II. God Gave - Throughout the pages of scripture we see God loving and providing… and as we see here in verse 16… giving. He is giving to His people. A. That is something that should shock us as well. It is easy to read; God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. We kind of blow through that—but think about the concept of what that means. 1. It is the creation that ought to be giving to the creator. It is not the creator who ought to be giving. He is God. We are the ones who are in debt. We are the ones who should be giving everything. What staggering words! He is the one who gave. We are the ones who should be giving back to him. 2. Yet, we read that God gave. God sacrificed. In the face of the rebellion of this world…God gave. While people are sinning, while people are enemies of God, God is giving a means for salvation. God is giving a way to bring people back. B. I think that again connects us to the imagery of verses 14 and 15. As the people are dying in the wilderness because of the serpent bites, did God have to do anything? 1. I mean I look at it as, Why should God do anything? You are complaining. You don’t like the way I am taking you? You don't want to go to The Promised Land? You think you are better off dying? -- There you go. -- This is what you asked for. You don't want to be with Me, you don't want to have a relationship with Me, then why should I do anything for a rebellious people? 2. We can not just assume God. We must appreciate God. God is by no means needing to do anything on our behalf. He does not need to act in any way. The understanding that God would look at a corrupted, wicked, detestable creation like us and still love and give… should never grow old and fail to stagger our hearts. 3. It should be shocking when we see that in Numbers. The people are openly declaring their rebellion to God. God still gave them a means of salvation. If they looked at the bronze serpent on the pole, they would be healed. C. God made a promise hundreds of years before His Son's arrival. He would give. Isaiah in a fabulous prophecy wrote, “ For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6). Here is the picture that God, looking down time, is ready to give His only son. 1. That's what we have observed in our study of John. He is one of a kind. He is the unique one. That is the idea of being the only begotten—to be the one and only. He is unique in every way because He is God. He is divine. He has come and died for our sins. 2. That brings us in the middle of verse 16. III. Everyone Who Believes In Him - It's important not to take this part out of its context of what Jesus is doing with Nicodemus. Nicodemus has expressed belief. He's expressed acknowledgment of who Jesus is. You are come from God. Yet we see that Jesus then turns, tells him, no, you're not getting it. You don't have the belief that I am looking for. A. As John chapter 2 ended, we see people are believing, but Jesus is not entrusting or believing them because He knows their heart. This isn't the belief that He is looking for. He is not looking for some kind of confession. He's not looking for the recognition that Jesus came from heaven. Even the demons believe, that's basic belief. That does not fit the context of what John has been talking about. 1. What Jesus is teaching Nicodemus is about new birth. I know it's been a while, but remember new birth is about life transformation. That's what He is describing. There is a life transformation that occurs. It's like having a new birth. It's a whole new you. It's not minor modifications. 2. People readily accept reformation, the modification of the whole to remove an error. But restoration, the replacement of the whole? Not so much. (Matthew 18:3) 3. People who have true belief are those who experience this kind of radical, life transformation that's being pictured here. To be joined to Christ means that there is going to be a change. 4. I suggest what John does and what Jesus is driving at, and this is critically important for us to grasp, is that true belief means there is life change… otherwise it's not belief. It's unbelief. B. This verse has been used to suggest a person can have whatever kind of belief they want to have and it's going to be alright. 1. These words are really quite sharp. They should be very pointed to our hearts. Unless there is a massive life transformation in belonging to Jesus, it's not belief. It is simply unbelief. I think that’s what took Nicodemus back by what Jesus said. 2. Nicodemus is told you're not seeing the kingdom of God. Nicodemus is like you have to be kidding me. Look at me. I'm a religious guy. I'm doing all these things. Here is Jesus saying, you don't understand. It is about a massive change. We will have a transformation to follow Christ. 3. In essence then, Jesus is telling Nicodemus that there is no middle ground. There is no middle ground for us as we stand before God. We either have this life changing belief or it is unbelief altogether. True belief will always lead to this life transformation. 4. It is a critical condition that God then gives to us. I think that's what's important for us to see when we recognize what God has done. How can it not lead to life transformation when we get a handle on God’s love and what God gave? C. If we truly believe it, if we truly believe that God has given so much to wicked rebellious people like us, if we really hold on to that truth, we have to change our lives. 1. Otherwise, we don't believe it at all. We're simply saying I want to do what I want to do, and I don't care that you gave so much. I don't care that you love us so much. I don't care that you have provided a means of salvation. 2. That's what we are saying. Without life transformation it is a declaration of unbelief. We are saying to God it simply does not matter. IV. Perish Eternally - What is so fascinating about that, is what it teaches us. Not everybody is going to be saved. That's the implication of what He says in verse 16, “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” There is a connection which needs to be made to Jesus—a true belief that must occur. We must connect to him… otherwise we're going to perish. A. Notice how He describes that in verse 16. Whoever believes in Him should not perish. This is the condemnation that we are under. Again tie this to the wilderness episode as we see Jesus does. Everybody in that wilderness is going to die. They're being bitten by poisonous serpents. They're done. There is no hope. They will all perish. Except - God then gives the offer of salvation. If you look at the serpent on the pole, you'll be saved. B. We usually come at this the wrong way I suspect. We think; I'm a good moral person so I’m going to be ok. I don’t do bad things. Those people over there, they are the really bad ones. They are the ones that are not going to be saved, but me, I’m not that bad. 1. We are coming at this from a completely wrong angle. We have to understand we have all been bitten by the serpent. Sin is coursing through our veins. The venom of death is over all of us. There is no “it’s going to be ok”, there is no “we are good people”. There is no “I’m not that bad”. — We are dead, it’s over. We are all going to perish. 2. Except - God so loves the world that He gave His Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish. We can not start from the basis I don’t need God, I’m ok. He is trying to get us to understand that we are in big, big, trouble just like those in the wilderness, who were going to die unless God intervened and we are going to die in our sins unless God intervenes. Thank God that He did intervene. C. In Ezekiel’s prophecy God relates through the prophet the relationship between sin and punishment, like in Ezekiel 18:24, “24. "But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.” 1. We have done abominations. Can we live? We most certainly cannot. Sin has been committed. We shall surely die, and our blood be on us for it. We have nobody to point to but ourselves. The sin and the stain of guilt is resting right on our shoulders. 2. Is that what God wants though? In Ezekiel 18:23, “23. "Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?'' says the Lord God, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live?” Here's God saying I don't want that. That's not what I want to have happen. Do I take pleasure in this condition? No. Do I want people to perish? No. God has done everything to make salvation possible. That's why we see the depths of God's love here. This is how we see what God has done for us. This is what is so magnificent about what has occurred. 3. We are perishing in our sins because of what we have done. We are destined to die because of our sins. We are under His wrath because of our actions. We have violated the holy laws of God. We have separated ourselves from him. D. God sent His son so that anybody who will believe in Him doesn't have to perish but can have eternal life. Does God want people to perish? If He did, He wouldn't have sent His son. 1. All God had to do was sit back and say, My law is holy, right and good. Do these things and you will live. He would have been right, just and good in every sense of it, to stand back and say there is nothing faulty with His law. Just do it and live. 2. God loves His creation. He knows that every single one of us will fall short. He has created a way for us to be saved. God had to intervene. God steps in. Those who will experience the new birth will have eternal life, will be saved from their sins. I want to leave you then with just one thought.   CONCLUSION: How can Jesus not be everything to us? How can He not be our treasure? Remember the parable of the treasure? That's the heart of what that parable was all about in Matthew 13:44. Jesus said “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”[ESV] Such a simple parable, teaching this very idea.   When you understand what God has done through Jesus, you will recognize that He is the treasure. You forsake everything to go get the treasure. You want to be with Him. You want that life transformation. You want to no longer be the sinner who does whatever they want to do. You want to transform into the image of His son. You want to be holy as He is holy. You want to love as He loves, because we see what He has done.   Superficial belief does absolutely nothing. That is what Nicodemus is hearing from Jesus. Life transformation is going to occur when we recognize Jesus as the treasure, because of what He has done for us.   I submit to you that when we sin, what we are saying is we have a greater treasure than Him. That is what idolatry is. We are placing something higher than God. We are saying this is more important to my heart, more important to my desire. Sin is the turning away from God as our treasure. Saying this is better for me. This is what I want to do.   The question is then, what is your treasure? What is keeping you from experiencing the life transforming belief that He is calling you to have? Look at what He has done. There is nothing else for God to do. We are dead in our sins. We are dying in the wilderness because of our own error.   God has intervened. God said if you will just believe in my Son, have a relationship with Him, come to Him and be changed, you’ll no longer live for self but make Jesus your treasure, serve Him and obey Him passionately.   Understanding what He has done is all about Him being your treasure. May this verse not be something that we easily buzz through, but feel the weight of the summary of what Jesus says. He has intervened. He has saved us from the weight of sin and death.   The message is yours. We are about to sing our invitation song. If anyone here has the need to be baptized into Christ, or needs the prayers of faithful people, the invitation is there for you to come forward while we stand and sing.   # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercheville  

CSI EVIDENCE OF THE EXTENDED DAY Joshua 10:1-16   SEEING IS BELIEVING “A 5th grade student called his teacher and said that he couldn’t come to school because snow had fallen from the roof and broke the awning, which fell down to the front door, and so they couldn’t get the door open. He said that his parents left for work through a window, but he had to stay at home because the window couldn’t be locked from the outside. The teacher gave him zeros in each subject that day for such a dumb excuse for not coming to school. The next day his parents came to school and presented photos of the 3 meter wide ice lump and a completely broken awning.”   For all of us who may at times contemplate the truths of the Bible ... here's something that shows God's awesome creation and shows that He is still in control. Did you know that the space program is busy proving that what has been called a "myth" in the Bible is actually true? Mr. Harold Hill, a consultant in the space program, relates the following development.   "I think one of the most amazing things that God has for us today happened recently to our astronauts and space scientists at GreenBelt, Maryland. They were checking the position of the sun, moon, and planets out in space and where they would be 100 years and 1000 years from now. We have to know this so we won't send up a satellite, and have it bump into something later on in its orbits. We have to lay out the orbits in terms of the life of the satellite, and where the planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down. They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the centuries and it came to a halt.   The computer stopped and put up a red signal, which meant that there was something wrong either with the information fed into it or with the results as compared to the standards. They called in the service department to check it out. They found there is a day missing in space in elapsed time. They scratched their heads and had no answer.   Finally, a Christian man on the team said, "You know, I remember the Bible mentioning about the sun standing still."   They didn't believe him, BUT they didn't have an answer either, so they said, "Show us." He got a Bible and went back to the book of Joshua. There they found the Lord saying to Joshua, "Fear them not, I have delivered them into thy hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee."   Joshua was concerned because he was surrounded by the enemy and if darkness fell they would overpower him. So Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun stand still! That's right — "The sun stood still and the moon stayed — and hasted not to go down about a whole day!"   (Joshua 10:12-13)   The astronauts and scientists said, "There is the missing day!" They checked the computers going back into the time that it was written and found it was close but not close enough. The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua's day was 23 hours and 20 minutes — not a whole day.   They reread the Bible and there it was "about (approximately) a day" These little words in the Bible are important, but they were still in trouble because if you cannot account for 40 minutes you'll still be in trouble 1,000 years from now. Forty minutes had to be found because it can be multiplied many times over in orbits.   As the Christian employee thought about it, he remembered a different time in the Bible where it said the sun went BACKWARDS. The scientists told him he was out of his mind, but they once again got out the Book and read these words in 2 Kings that told of the following story: Hezekiah, on his deathbed, was visited by the prophet Isaiah who told him that he was not going to die. Hezekiah asked for a sign as proof. Isaiah said "Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees?"   Hezekiah said "It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return backward 10 degrees." Isaiah spoke to the Lord and the Lord brought the shadow ten degrees BACKWARD! Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes! Twenty-three hours and 20 minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in Second Kings make the missing day in the universe!" Isn't it amazing?   So, you have probably figured out that our text for this morning’s lesson is found in the 10th Chapter of Joshua: “There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel.” Joshua 10:14 Joshua called out to God… and made an brave request. Joshua 10:12 says “At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, ‘Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.’”   Now why would Joshua make such a loud and public statement? Because he had a promise from God: The LORD had told Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you." Joshua 10:8 So Joshua had a PROMISE… but he also had a problem. The battle wasn’t finished yet, the enemy had not yet been conquered, and he was running out of daylight.   So Joshua called on God to do the unthinkable: Make the sun stand till until we’ve whipped the enemy.   ILLUS: In December of 1944, Adolf Hitler had launched a surprise attack known as the Battle of the Bulge… and 1000s of Nazi troops and tanks advanced through Allied lines, creating havoc and confusion. To make matters worse snow had been falling for days and a heavy fog blanketed the area, effectively shielding the Nazis from Allied air attack. General George Patton had wheeled his entire army to strike the southern shoulder of the enemy - but he realized that without air support, the Allies would be in trouble.   So, on December 22, on General George S. Patton’s order, Chaplain James H. O’Neill wrote a short prayer for fair weather that was printed on cards and distributed to the soldiers of the Third Army.   The next day, December 23, soldiers awoke to bright clear day and looked up to see the air filled with Allied planes attacking the Nazi forces below... and the war ended 19 weeks later.   A good general knows when to call on God for help. But now here’s the deal. If God DIDN’T make the sun stand still (as the Bible says) this story in Joshua 10 is just a story. If the sun didn’t stand still the Bible lied and verse 14 has no meaning for us.   As you might imagine, skeptics & atheists mercilessly mock this supposed miracle because it defies every known law of nature. Here’s the problem: The surface of the earth - at the equator – revolves at a speed of roughly 1,000 mph. And the Earth orbits the Sun at an average speed of 67,000 mph.   For the sun to stand still in the sky the earth would have to stop revolving, or at least slow down dramatically. Gravity would be suspended, and (in theory) the world would collapse.   Just to get a small idea of how that would work, imagine going down the road at 80 mph with your car loaded with all kind of boxes and loose materials. And suddenly you have to stop to avoid a deer in the road. If you can visualize the chaos… of items flying all over the place inside your car as it stops at that speed – well, you can have a vague idea of what would happen if the earth stopped and stood still in the heavens.   There are those who say that science doesn’t allow for things like that to happen. Things like the sun standing still in the sky! It would have been a bizarre miracle that defied all known laws of physics.   There is one small detail that these skeptics OVERLOOK! You see, we believe that our God Who created the world in 6 days, Who designed everything that exists, and Who holds everything in the palm of His hand, can do anything He wants anytime He wants to without asking our permission.   Hebrews 1:3 tells us Jesus “upholds the universe by the word of his power.” The problem for skeptics is that they can’t imagine a God who could defy the laws of physics. But, in fact, every miracle in Scripture defies the Laws of Physics: The Creation; Noah’s Flood; the parting of the Red Sea; the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in a fiery furnace, the feeding of the 5000, raising people from the dead; and (ultimately) the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.   THEY ALL DEFY the Laws of Physics. That’s why they’re called miracles. You see, the laws of physics aren’t really Laws. It’s not like some legislative body had gathered and passed laws that governed the universe that we need to obey or we get fined or pay a ticket. The laws of physics are essentially observations of what normally happens in nature. You can count on these things happening time after time.       Now, when it comes to BIBLICAL miracles, the laws of physics were violated over and over again because something “changed.” And what had changed was this: God showed up. God created the laws of physics, and so He CHANGED them as He desired. That said, is there any PROOF of the Biblical statement that the Sun actually stood still?   • The Greek historian Herodotus (more than 400 years before Christ) wrote that when he visited Egypt, the priests there showed him an ancient manuscript which told the story of a day which lasted about twice as long as a normal day.   • French intellectual, Fernand Crombette translated many of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and found that among those hieroglyphics is the story of Joshua’s long day.   • There was also a Chinese account from an ancient manuscript that recounted a period of time during the reign of Emperor Yau which coincides with the days of Joshua, that mentions a time when the sun stood still.   • And, on the other side of the world, the Aztecs and other ancient Indian cultures in Southern, Middle and Northern America ALL TELL OF A TIME when there was a “Long Night” where the sun refused to rise in the sky.   These accounts provide reasonable confirmation that those folks likely observed that miracle in their day. Jesus said: “If you have the faith of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20 Now, why would God include this story in Scripture? What can we learn from what happened that day? Well, it can be summed up in that one scripture: “There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.” Joshua 10:14 God heeded the voice of a man, AND GOD FOUGHT FOR HIS PEOPLE.   We live in a harsh world. People are gonna hurt us, insult us, persecute us, rob us. You name it, if an evil person can think of something evil to do they’ do it. Evil exists and we won’t entirely escape it. And Jesus was very honest about this: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 This story of Sun standing still is important to us because we need to realize that God stepped up and did a mighty thing all because Joshua asked Him to. So, what’s God trying to tell us? He’s telling us He’s powerful enough to do anything that needs to be done.   On a hill called Calvary there stood an old rugged cross – the emblem of suffering and shame. They crucified My Savior. They had beaten Him, and insulted Him, and mistreated Him, and then they nailed him to a Cross. And Bible says from the 6th until the 9th hour there was darkness in the land. From Noon until 3:00 pm…. the Sun REFUSED to Shine.   In Joshua’s day – in answer to prayer – God made the SUN to Stand Still, and that miracle gave His people victory over their enemy. And on that dreadful Friday when Jesus died on the cross, the Sun was in its place… but it refused to shine. It was on that day - God gave YOU and I the victory! What a Mighty God We Serve!”   God can do anything, from parting the crossing of the Jordan, to the destruction of Jericho, and even causing the Sun to stand still in the sky. But the most powerful miracle God ever did was when Jesus rose from the dead to give us hope for an eternal life with Him. “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”  Romans 8:31-32   God can do anything… but He’s ALREADY done the most power thing He could possibly do for us. He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him (that’s you and me) shall have everlasting life. JOHN 3:16 There is more to come concerning that verse next week.   INVITATION     Reference Sermon : Jeff Strite

A New Birth – part 2 John 3:7-15   INTRO: Good morning church. Open your Bibles to John chapter 3. We're right in the middle of Jesus' discussion with Nicodemus. Recall also that as we ended chapter 2 John pointed out that there is “belief”, on the part of the Jews, but it is insufficient belief. They are believing because they see the signs that Jesus is doing, but it is not leading to life transformation. Therefore, we see Jesus does not believe them or entrust Himself to them. Though they believed in His name, they are still going to crucify Him. Their belief, based upon signs, is not causing them to turn to the Lord.   In chapter 3 we are introduced to Nicodemus. He is a Jew and a ruler of the Jews. He is a Pharisee. He is a member of the Sanhedrin, and we saw last time that later in the Gospel we will find out that Nicodemus has become a believer. That erases a lot of our skepticism about Nicodemus and causes us to consider that Nicodemus is sincerely seeking answers from Jesus.   Nicodemus comes to Jesus and in verse 2 says, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus turns to him and says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”[NKJV]   The last lesson left off in the middle of Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus about who will see the kingdom of God. That indicates to Nicodemus that all his righteous works and all the works of the Law which separated him as a Jew from the Gentiles are not enough to enter the kingdom. Instead, a new birth must occur to see the kingdom. Nicodemus cannot understand how this can be. How can he, as an adult, experience a new birth? How can a person start all over and go back to the beginning? It is impossible. Jesus agrees with the impossible nature of the flesh accomplishing this new birth. What is born of flesh is flesh, but what is born of Spirit is spiritual. This new birth though has been part of God’s plan as evidenced by the allusion to the prophecy of Ezekiel. In this prophecy God spoke though Ezekiel of the people being made clean by being sprinkled with clean water and receiving a new heart and new spirit. Life is being given to the people through the Spirit.   Nicodemus is taken aback by that. Nicodemus as well as the Jewish nation believe that they are part of the kingdom of God because they are Israel. They were “born into the kingdom”. They are children of Abraham. They have kept the various works of the law. They have been circumcised on the eighth day, separated themselves from the Gentiles, kept away from unclean foods and the like.   How can it be possible for Jesus to say to Nicodemus, he must be born again, that he must experience a new birth? In verse 4 you see this incredulous response by Nicodemus. How can a man be born when he is old? Are you suggesting that I need to start over and begin again, and that the things that I have done in the flesh toward God have been useless? We see in verse 5 that being born of water and born of spirit is what is necessary. Jesus reaches back to Ezekiel 36 where we see this new birth described as being born of water and born of spirit and pointing out in verse 6 that being born of flesh will only beget flesh. A spiritual birth is required to belong to the kingdom of God.   I. Life Through the Spirit (3:7-8) - We pick up in the middle of this discussion at verse 7. Jesus says, “Do not marvel that I said to you, `You must be born again.'”[NKJV] You can’t easily see it from this translation, but two different pronouns are used. The first is a phrase “to you”, Do not marvel that I said to you, referring to Nicodemus. The second “you”, You must be born again, is not singular but plural. Jesus is speaking broadly of the whole Jewish nation when He says “You must be born again.” A. He broadens it to the nation. You are all thinking you're in the kingdom of God. All of you think that you are children of Abraham and that you're fine. Don't be shocked that I just said you need to have a new birth. Don't be shocked that I said that you need to be born of spirit and born of water. You should not be surprised by these things because life is going to come through this new birth, and that's exactly what the scriptures prophesied. B. That brings us to verse 8, perhaps one of the more complicated verses. “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Jesus tells him that he should not reject a doctrine merely because he does not understand it. 1. After all neither can the wind be seen, but its effects are well known, and no one doubts its existence or power. This is to help Nicodemus believe and understand the invisible power of the new birth. 2. We might put it like this; the act of baptism can be seen; but forgiveness, clean conscience, and receiving the Spirit cannot be seen. Like the wind, though invisible, its power is nevertheless profound. 3. Previously we suggested that Jesus is making a connection for Nicodemus to look back to the scriptures, to Ezekiel. Being born of water and being born of Spirit has a very strong allusion to Ezekiel 36. Remember what we read there in Ezekiel 36:26f – “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” C. Let’s turn back to Ezekiel, and this time to chapter 37. Ezekiel 37:1-14 employs the vision of the valley of dry bones. As we learn in the first half of verse 11 this represents the state of Israel. “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel…” 1. One could not imagine in those days that a restoration of Israel was even possible. Their nation had been destroyed; their king had been captured, blinded and carried away to Babylon to die; countless thousands of the people had been slaughtered; most of the people had been carried captive to Babylon; their beloved Jerusalem was destroyed; the Temple had been plundered and burned. No words could describe how dead and hopeless the people felt. 11b “… They indeed say, `Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!'” 2. In verse 3 Ezekiel is asked the question – “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel answered, "O Lord God, You know.” The nation is gone. Jerusalem is destroyed, and the question is asked, can the people be revived? Can the nation exist yet one more time? 3. This vision of dry bones is an appropriate illustration, it is like a whole army had been slain, their bones left to bleach in the sun and are suddenly being raised to full life and strength! Ezekiel rightly answers, Lord, you know. 4. Ezekiel 37:5f – “`Thus says the Lord God to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. "I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.'''” God is going to bring these bones back to life. D. Remember Nicodemus is a teacher, and I am going to suggest a connection to John’s gospel. In Ezekiel the Hebrew word, rûwach, (roo'-akh), can be translated wind, breath, or spirit. It's the same word all throughout this chapter and we see it in verse 5 as, “Behold, I will cause breath, (rûwach), to enter you, and you shall live”. Then in verse 14, “I will put My Spirit (rûwach) in you, and you shall live,…” It's the exact same word there. Breath, spirit, wind, it all comes together. God is saying, I am going to give you… life. 1. When the breath of God enters these bones, life is going to come. We can understand the imagery. How did Adam come to life in Genesis 2:7? As God breathes into man, what happens? Life comes into the body. It's that idea of breath, spirit, wind -- this is God giving life. 2. Look at Ezekiel 37:9, “9. Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, (rûwach) prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, (rûwach) `Thus says the Lord God: "Come from the four winds, (rûwach) O breath, (rûwach) and breathe (rûwach) on these slain, (why?) that they may live.'''''” Breath is life. Spirit is life. When the spirit comes, then there's life. 3. Going back to John 3:8, I think Jesus is making this connection to Ezekiel 37 for Nicodemus. John 3:8, “The wind, (pneuma) blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit (pneuma).” Guess what? In the Greek, same thing happens. Pneuma means, wind, breath, or spirit. 4. Notice what Jesus has done. Nicodemus said, how can this be? What Jesus does is take Nicodemus mind back to the scriptures to show him, no, this is something that God has said was always going to be needed. 5. You are part of a dead, broken nation that has no life. However, in Ezekiel 36, God spoke of a cleansing by water, sprinkling water on the people. There is hope, they will receive a new spirit, a new heart. They will desire the Lord and follow Him. The nation will live again. 6. Nicodemus, how can you ask; how is this possible? Think about what Ezekiel said. The nation is dead and it needs redemption. A new birth is necessary, and life will enter again. This is God’s doing—that is how. E. Jesus using these images, is going to chide Nicodemus. You're a teacher in Israel. You should know what the scriptures say about these things. That's why Jesus is using these Old Testament images to get him to see this is exactly what the prophets said was going to happen. 1. New birth has always been promised. Restoration has always been looked forward to. You will recall in the book of Amos, after blasting the nation for eight and a half chapters, he speaks of a restoration. Isaiah also speaks of restoration. 2. Jesus is indicating this is exactly what God said was going to happen. Why are you so unnerved that I say you need a new birth to see the kingdom of God? Ezekiel said this very thing. F. In John 3:8, please carefully read the end of that sentence. “… So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Read it carefully. 1. It does not say, “so it is with the Spirit”. That's not what is being said here. It says, “so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” He's not talking about the nature of the Holy Spirit. He's talking about those who've been born of the Spirit. This is describing them. 2. Jesus is pointing out the new birth comes by the power of God. This is what Nicodemus doesn’t understand. I've done everything I'm supposed to do. New birth is from God. Not by you being circumcised, staying away from Gentiles, eating only clean foods, and the like. 3. The point is that God's power is bringing people into the Kingdom of God. These dead bones can live. but these dead bones can't come to life by our power. That's what Jesus said back in verse 6. What's born of flesh is flesh. We're dead in our sins. We're not going to be able to bring ourselves back to life. We need God to do something to make life possible. 4. In Ezekiel God said, I'm not doing it for you, but for my glory. That's why this nation is brought back to life, it is to glorify God. That's the message that Jesus is now giving Nicodemus. This isn't by your words, nor by your actions. This isn't about what you can accomplish. Remember John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” It's not by your visible works, but by the invisible work of God. 5. It is a description of the transforming power of God in the lives and the hearts of people, and you see the outcome by their works. You see it in the transformed life. This is what the new birth is all about. What did Ezekiel 36 say? I'm going to give them a new heart and a new spirit. What are they going to do? They will keep My commands. They will obey. This is what can be observed in those who are born of God. II. The Means of the New Birth (3:9-15) - That brings us to verse 9 and I think Nicodemus is starting to grasp the impact. “Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?''” I submit to you the rest of this section is Jesus' answer to this question; how can these things be? A. John 3:10, “Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?” Jesus’ response is indicating; I'm not telling you something new or something different. This is what the scriptures said was going to happen. B. Verse 11, “Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.”[NKJV] Notice we're still in the plural. You, all of you, (including Nicodemus), have not been listening. In fact, you haven't been listening to anything we've said. Notice Jesus uses “we” and “our”. We are teaching you what the scriptures have always said. We are teaching you what is truth. We're teaching you what we know, but what's the problem? You (plural), you do not receive our testimony… and guess what? That's been a historical problem. 1. The nation does not listen to the servants of God, and I believe Jesus is pointing that out right here and saying you're doing it again. You said that I've been sent from God. (Remember verse 2—“Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God”) Then why aren't you listening, Nicodemus? If you say, “we know you're from God”, then why don’t you believe our testimony? Why aren't you doing what we teach? Jesus is saying something that Stephen would later use in the book of Acts. 2. That leads to verse 12. “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” Jesus says you people don't understand these earthly things. What does He mean by that? Here's Jesus talking to Nicodemus and saying, I just spoke of being born again and you took it as being born of the flesh. You did not understand it. You said, “Do I go back in the womb?” He speaks of the whole nation. You people don't understand the earthly things. 3. Consider how that connects to John 2:23-25. What did we see there? They're seeing the signs and the miracles, right? There's no life transformation. There's no life change. They're “believing”, but it is incomplete belief. They aren't doing what is needed to come to eternal life. 4. This is essentially what Jesus is saying in verse 12. I'm doing these signs, yet you all are still not coming to true faith, true belief, life transformation. If you don't have that happen, how are you going to understand the spiritual truths when I teach them? 5. If you can't understand based upon what I'm doing, by My works, understand that you need to get on board and change your life to follow me, then why should I suppose if I sit down and explain to you great spiritual truths that you'll understand any better? You won't. The point is their unbelief is perpetuating their spiritual ignorance. 6. How often do we see this in the parable accounts? We saw it in chapter 2, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” You don't understand the spiritual things I'm saying to you. You aren't grasping the truths that I'm giving to you. If you don't change your life based upon the signs, you're certainly not going to believe in the teachings. If you do not believe, you're not going to be able to change. 7. That's true today. Tons of people say they believe. Where are the changed lives? I think Jesus would say the same today. He has given us the witnesses, His word, and yet people don’t study, they do not try to understand, they’re bored with it, they are tired of hearing it. They claim belief and yet do not receive the spiritual teachings. It doesn't make any sense. C. That's what He's telling Nicodemus. I've done these signs. I've done these works you can see and yet you still don't truly believe. There's still no life change. That is why you are not in the kingdom of God. D. At verse 13, “13. "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15. "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”. I suggest there is something notable going on in this simple statement. Jesus connects this directly to Moses in verse 14 and we need to ask ourselves how does this connect with the conversation being held? 1. If verse 13 is saying, the only one who can understand these heavenly things is Me, the son of man, because I'm the only one who's ascended and is also descended, then why is He being so critical of Nicodemus and the Jewish nation for not knowing the spiritual things? 2. He just told Nicodemus you should have already known these things. Aren't you a teacher of Israel and you do not know? You can't even understand the earthly things. Even further, if Jesus were to say, no one has ascended into heaven except Himself, that hasn't happened at this point. E. I want us to consider there's something more going on here. The reason I suggest that is as we've seen throughout our study so far, nearly everything that John says has an Old Testament analogy, doesn't it? Every time He says something, we go back to the Old Testament, and we find the image there. We get to do it again here with this imagery as well. Where we need to go is Deuteronomy and in particular chapters 27 through 30. We are not going to be able to spend the time reading four chapters, however I suggest you take the time at some point to read it. 1. Here is a summary of what is going on. You will read of blessings and curses. This is the final speech by Moses, giving the law again and a description of blessings if you keep my commands and of curses if you do not. The curses for rebellion by Israel are very graphic, all laid out in the text. What Moses does in the middle of this is tell them… you're going to fail. 2. Deuteronomy 30:1, “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you,” Folks, it is going to happen and when it does, “ you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul,” 3. Let’s turn to Deuteronomy 30:6, “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” You see how Moses sounds like he's in John 3 right now? There's going to be this change of heart, circumcision of heart, a new heart. 4. In verse 11 Moses says, “For this commandment which I command you today, it is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off.” Then he immediately tells how that’s going to happen. “12. It is not in heaven, that you should say, `Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' 13. "Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, `Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' 14. "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.” 5. In the New Testament, Paul quotes Moses in Romans 10:5-8, “5. For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);” 6. You were given that commandment, and you will fail, every single one of you. You'll be accountable for your sins. There's going to be a time, when my people will love the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul. It won't be impossible this time. You will not say who is going to ascend into heaven to make this possible. The word will be near you and these things will happen. 7. I submit to you that is what Jesus is doing in the imagery of John 3:13 when He says no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the son of man. F. Nicodemus knows Jesus is from God and admitted it. Yet he wonders; How can the new birth occur? How can this new life occur? How can radical transformation occur? We are unable to keep the law. Cursed is anyone who doesn't keep what is written in the book of the law. What are we going to do? 1. The Son of Man has descended to bring healing. No one will have to say “who is going to ascend into heaven to make it possible?” We can't do it ourselves. Jesus is saying no one must ascend into heaven. Why? Because the Son of Man has descended. That's why. 2. Next John 3:14-15, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” G. There are two parallels here and the first is found in Numbers 21. The people were complaining, you brought us out here to die Moses! There is no belief in God in the slightest. God sends fiery serpents into the camp. The people are bitten and they begin to die. They turn to Moses and say, Entreat the Lord for us. Lest we all perish. God tells Moses “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 1. In the broad sense the serpent stood as a symbol of life for the dying Israelites. All of them should have perished, but it was by God's provision that He graciously offered new life. 2. All of them should have died. All of them were complaining. However, not based on them but based upon God's grace and goodness, He offers life to the nation again and gives them an opportunity to be saved—to have a solution. The same is true for what Jesus is describing. 3. God has graciously provided for us today, through His word, which is near us. There can be spiritual life, new birth, eternal life, for rebellious sinners. None of us should be able to be healed from our sins. None of us should be able to have life. It is completely undeserved. What is deserved is punishment for our sin. H. God intervened with life by sending the Son. Which brings up the second parallel. Just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent and all who looked upon it found life, Jesus says in verse 14 the Son of Man must be lifted up. Jesus says I'm going to the cross so that everybody who believes in me, with true belief, is going to find life. 1. We are dying with the poison of sin coursing through our veins. We need life. Jesus comes, and intervenes. He descends. We cannot help ourselves. 2. There is no way we can achieve new life on our own. We cannot ascend into heaven and find help. God descends from heaven and offers help. Jesus becomes the new birth. When we come to him that is how we find life. That is where we find healing. That's where the radical transformation begins.   CONCLUSION: I know this was a bit detailed and I ask you to please consider taking some time to study it on your own. When we look at what Moses said, we see that God promised life is going to come to the people. There's going to be a day when it wouldn't be physical Israel, but it will be His spiritual people. Life will enter dead bones. A new heart, a new spirit will be given to them and they will live. When we are reading about the Spirit we are not reading about something mystical, fantastic coming into our heart, whispering in our ear. It is just simply a message of life that comes to you.   New birth equals life. The Spirit comes, that is life. When we experience new birth life is given to us. It equals being in the Kingdom of God. We don't see the Spirit but we see the result. People born of God reveal life transformation, people desiring to obey God, and striving to keep His commands.   The message is yours. The invitation is there for any who have a need to be baptized into Christ, or those who need prayers of faithful people, to come forward while we stand and sing.   # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercheville

A New Birth – part 1 John 2:23-3:7   INTRO: Good morning church. We are going to continue in our look at John’s Gospel today. We want to put some effort in learning from John for within this gospel is much information we can use when we teach others of the Lord. Remember John was an eyewitness to these events, and he writes as such. Our text is John 2:23 through John 3:7. This will be a two-part lesson with the focus on the conversation Jesus has with Nicodemus. Let’s start reading at John 2:23, “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.”[ESV] A very curious kind of statement, especially as it sits between the cleansing of the temple and the discussion with Nicodemus. We will see though this is a connector to Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus as we continue.   In verses 23 and 24 the same Greek word is translated as believed when it says “many believed in his name”, and as entrust (or commit) when it says “Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them.” Another translation put it “…many trusted in His name when they saw the signs He was doing. Jesus, however, would not entrust Himself to them…”[HCSB] You might say Jesus is not believing them even though they're believing in Him.   Why does Jesus have this skepticism about people? The answer is that Jesus knows the heart of every person. He knows what is within them and He is able to determine their level of belief. They may have been enthusiastic over what He did, but Jesus saw beyond that, and He recognized they were not committed to Him in terms of faith. The language indicates to me that Jesus knew the reality of their trust, how deep it was, or more to the point, how shallow.   John is pointing out something important to describe what true belief is. True belief is not just merely an acknowledgement of “who” Jesus is because of the signs that He performs as we note… “many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.”[ESV] People see the miracles, they see the power that Jesus is wielding, and yet that is not enough to cause the people to have a change of heart that true belief calls for.   It is not simply recognition that; here is somebody special because he can do miracles. It should be “He's clearly from God, and therefore I should listen to Him, follow Him, and obey Him”. I think that is why John ties this to the Passover. It is going to be these very people who are believing in Jesus, who are going to turn around and crucify the Passover lamb.   Some of these very people in a short while are going to turn Him over for trial, and when given the opportunity to release him, they're not going to call for His release. John is observing that within their hearts, though they seem to be believing, they have not come to faith in Jesus. Their belief is shallow. Their hearts and their lives have not changed. They are just acknowledging the miracles that Jesus performed.   Jesus teaches this in the parable of the Sower. In that parable He speaks of the Word of God being sown on different kinds of hearts, and yet in many of those various soils, the Word of God doesn't take root and grow.   There is a hearing of the Word of God, and in some cases there's even some action toward God, and yet it does not last. We do not see the kind of change of heart and life that true faith calls for. I suspect John is setting us up with this thought before we read of Jesus and Nicodemus. Let’s see how Jesus is going to handle who Nicodemus is and who he represents.   We'll go ahead and read through verse 15 though we will not be able to discuss all of that today. John 3:1-15 – “1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.””   “3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.””   “7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.””   “9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.”   “12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”[ESV]. There is a lot going on here. Let’s examine what is being said, a section at a time, and see what we can learn from it.   I. The Necessity of the New Birth (3:1-4). We are introduced to Nicodemus in verse 1 and we learn a few things about him. First, he is a Pharisee. We have studied enough to know this is usually not a good thing. Second, he is described as a ruler of the Jews, and later in John's Gospel, we will become aware that he is part of the Sanhedrin, the religious ruling body of that day. Nicodemus is someone of importance and he wields a lot of power. A. We also see from verse 2 that it is his desire to speak to Jesus. Even though Nicodemus is a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jews, we should withhold some skepticism, because when we get to the end of the Gospel, we find Nicodemus’ involvement. We are going to read that after the crucifixion Nicodemus brings the burial spices. Then he and Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus, bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews and placed it in the tomb. 1. We do not know if Nicodemus becomes a follower of Jesus at the end of this discussion, or if it is sometime later. But John makes it very clear in chapter 19, that this very man who has this conversation is going to have great concern for the body of Jesus and helps prepare His body for burial. 2. What Nicodemus says here in verse 2 is fascinating and fits very well with John 2:23-24. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Here is a statement of belief—we know that you are from God. The words "we know" indicate the profound effect which the mighty signs of Jesus had produced in the very center of Judaism. These words admit others knew of the heavenly origin of Jesus. Though only one of the great signs John selected for this Gospel had been recorded at this point; Nicodemus' words, along with John 2:23, show that many signs had been wrought. 3. For no one can do these signs … How amazing that with such evidence before them, so few, were touched in their hearts sufficiently to eventually lead them to Jesus. 4. Why do these people believe? Because of the signs that are being done. However, there seems to be something lacking with Nicodemus. Remember Jesus knows what is in man. Notice what Jesus says to Nicodemus in verse 3. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” B. Imagine you are Nicodemus for a minute and consider what a shock this statement would be. You are a Pharisee. You are a careful follower of the Law of Moses. You are a dedicated person, a ruler of the Jews and a member of the Sanhedrin. Yet Jesus, who you know is from God just told you, you cannot see the kingdom of God. This is not the sort of statement Nicodemus would be expecting to hear! 1. What Jesus is beginning to reveal here and what John wants us to observe, is yes, you have some belief. We know you're from God. But that belief is incomplete. Jesus is telling him there is more needed. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you're born again, only then are you going to see the kingdom of God. 2. I think it is important for us to consider Nicodemus. A devote Jew at that time, with all of his obedience to the law, all that made him a Jew, circumcised on the eighth day, separation from the Gentiles, eating of clean and refusing unclean foods, all the various marks that set him apart as being a child of Abraham, being able to trace his lineage back and saying, this is who I am. As they would say, “we are the recipients of the promise.” 3. Then for Jesus to turn and indicate, no, you're not seeing the kingdom of God—had to rattle Nicodemus. I suspect that leads Nicodemus to ask in verse 9, “how can these things be?” We notice though that unlike the rich, young ruler who turned away when he was told he lacked, Nicodemus asks. He wants to know; What are you talking about? How can this possibly be the case? Surely I’m doing things right. What Jesus then describes is that there is a necessity for a new birth. C. Let's talk about the answer that Jesus gives here in verse 3 when He says, unless one is born again. There's an interesting word here which some translations render as born from above. This adverb actually means both. Strong defines the word (ἄνωθεν ánōthen, an'-o-then) as; “from above; by analogy, from the first; by implication, anew: -from above, again, from the beginning (very first), the top. 1. This word is used later in John's gospel, in John 3:31 and John 19:11. We have this double meaning, and John continues to use it through this gospel, born again, born from above. 2. We also notice that Nicodemus understands this as being born again because in verse 4 he says, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” D. The idea is a recognition that something new must occur. That image of something new is used throughout the New Testament by almost all the writers. For example, Peter uses this image in 1st Peter 1:22-23. He says, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;” In this image though, Peter uses a different Greek word that means; begat again, born anew, born again. This word does not mean born from above. It's a different word. 1. This verb solidifies the idea of born again as something new. Ok, so listen to what the Apostle Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” He said you're a new creation. In Galatians 6:15 he told them, “For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” What matters is being a new creature or a new creation. What is being described in this imagery of a physical birth, is your need for a spiritual birth. There is a new birth that is going to occur. 2. We don't hear the phrase “born again” quite as much as we used to. I suspect there has been a lot of misunderstanding of what was being described by that phrase. What we're talking about, a new life, new creation, new person, is that complete transformation that's found in Christ. So, we're not talking about physical birth, but about a spiritual birth. You are being born spiritually and if you are born it follows there is growing to do. E. Nicodemus response to this is interesting yet not unexpected in the literal sense. Verse 4, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” I can think of three potential ways to look at what Nicodemus is saying here. 1. One possibility is that what Nicodemus is doing is being sarcastic and dismissive. How can a person be born when he is old? What do you want me to do? Go back into my mother's womb? I think we can reject that explanation. I have a hard time thinking of Nicodemus completely throwing out Jesus' words and saying that's ridiculous, because of what Nicodemus does later. 2. Another possibility is he's being a bit dull. He does not grasp what the spiritual discussion is about and has no idea that Jesus is talking on a spiritual level. When Jesus says be born again, what Nicodemus hears is climb back into my mother's womb and be born again. a) Possible, I suppose, but this is a teacher, a ruler of the Jews, a religious leader. This is supposed to be a spiritually minded man. He is part of the Sanhedrin. He would have known the scriptures but of course knowing and understanding are not always the same thing. We see that all throughout the Gospels. b) The way the discussion unfolds though, I submit to you that what Nicodemus does is continue the metaphor in his response. That's what he says back to Jesus, you're talking about some kind of birth, but how is that going to be possible? 3. I think Nicodemus grasps what Jesus is saying and is recognizing the seeming impossible nature of Jesus’ teaching. In essence, Nicodemus is saying, “Isn’t it too late for such a change?” Jesus is teaching that you need to experience a whole new birth, become a whole new person, a new creation, being born from above to be in the kingdom of God. F. If this is true, then I need to start life all over again. How am I going to do this after so much life has already passed by? Nicodemus saying if I as a Jew, a child of Abraham, a careful follower of the law of Moses, a keeper of the works of the law, a Pharisee of Pharisees, (if we were to borrow Paul's words), a ruler and teacher of the Jews and a member of the Sanhedrin, am not in the kingdom of God, then how do you suppose that I'm going to participate in this new birth? How am I supposed to be born again? 1. Nicodemus has spent a large part of his life learning and growing in knowledge of the Law of Moses. He has dedicated himself to this path. I suspect to him within the idea of a new birth is the concept that all this is wasted and he must start over from scratch. 2. Nicodemus is having difficulty with what Jesus is saying, and I suggest to you that Nicodemus is not being obtuse or sarcastic with what he says in verse 4. He's not intentionally trying to be rude to Jesus but struggling to grasp the meaning. How can this be? What are you saying, that I must start completely over? Is that really going to be possible at this point in my life? 3. As we talk to people today, we find those who have difficulty grasping the call of the gospel. Consider how often that occurs when Jesus teaches people. For example, when Jesus says how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, remember the disciple’s reaction? It was, “Who then can be saved?” Here Jesus uses the idea of new birth to tell Nicodemus something is still lacking. Notice how Jesus expands upon that in an answer to try to help him understand. II. The Explanation of the New Birth (3:5-8). Verse 5, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Here Jesus expands on the explanation to Nicodemus. A. At verse 6 Jesus is agreeing with the impossibility Nicodemus states because Jesus says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 1. The first thing we notice is that being born of flesh always carries the idea of human weakness, it reminds us of our shortcomings in the flesh, and to speak of the flesh is always a reminder that we don't live up to God's standard. 2. Paul in Romans 7:14 – “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.” This new birth cannot be something physical; it must be something spiritual. All who are of the flesh recognize that we are under sin. We have fallen short, and we need something from God to help us. A spiritual birth is needed. That's what Jesus is pointing out. B. Being born of water and the spirit is an answer to the problem that Nicodemus faces. --- How is this going to work if, with all his achievements. all his obedience and all his accolades, he is not in the kingdom of God? How is it going to be possible to be part of the kingdom? What does it mean to be “born of water and the Spirit?” How is this an answer to Nicodemus’ confusion about how it is possible to experience a new birth? C. Let’s look at Nicodemus knowledge of the scriptures. This language of water and Spirit are found in the Old Testament as those prophets looked toward the restoration of God’s people. Please turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel 36:22-29. 1. There are a few places where the Old Testament speaks of a water birth or water regeneration, water cleansing along with a spirit cleansing, but not many, and Ezekiel 36 is perhaps the largest explanation of these two concepts being joined together. 2. Ezekiel is prophesying about what his people will become one day. God is explaining what is going to occur in verse 22f. “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.” Stop there for a moment and appreciate what God says. D. God says, what is about to occur is not because of you, it's not because you’re good, it's not because of anything useful to you, but because My name must be glorified. I must be considered holy among the nations, and you have ruined My reputation because of your sins. 1. Therefore, God says, I'm about to do something not for your sake, but for My glory, I'm going to vindicate My name. He lays this out - this isn't about us, this is about God. God's glory, that's always what it is about. 2. In the last analysis, salvation was undeserved by ancient Israel, as it is also undeserved in the New Israel. There is no such thing as salvation from God being merited, deserved, or earned by the ones saved. The reason for ancient Israel's return from captivity was not their merit, but the glory of God and His eternal purpose. E. Now verse 24 – “24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” Here we see what God is going to do. In verse 25 there is a cleansing with clean water that is going to wash away all the filthiness, the defilements. 1. In verse 26 a whole transformation is going to occur within these people. They will be given a new heart and a new spirit. The heart of stone will be taken from them. God will put His Spirit in them which will lead them to carefully obey God’s laws (27). Notice the connection between water and Spirit. The imagery of spiritual birth and revival is filled through this paragraph. 2. The people saw themselves as being born into the covenant, children of Israel, the children of Abraham—we’re good… and they rebelled against God's law. People today say—“we’re good” and all the while they are in rebellion. God says no, those that are My people, My children, that will enter My house, are not going to be like that. 3. This picture of total transformation is the imagery of what this new birth is about and I believe Jesus is giving this to Nicodemus to help him understand. Nicodemus had the background of knowledge to understand that God spoke of what was going to happen. The days were coming when His people would experience a complete and radical transformation, becoming a new person through a new birth so that they would follow the Lord and be in a renewed relationship.   CONCLUSION: Entrance into the kingdom of God will not be just because of who you are or because of your achievements under the works of the law. There is to be a change of heart, a change of life, a radical transformation that will occur. Those who enter the Kingdom will be the ones who will obey.   The apostle writers all used these different descriptions of what the people of God would be like; new life, new heart, new spirit, new birth, new creation—people that would wholly follow the Lord. God would then take away that uncleanness. The idea is what would be within His people is not a spirit of wickedness or a spirit of rebellion or a spirit of worldliness… but a spirit of godliness.   We know many see the phrase “born of water” and say “oh, that just means be baptized” then think no more about it. Nicodemus cannot understand how he is not entering the kingdom of God. Nicodemus is a ruler of the Jews and a Pharisee, yet these things do not mean that Nicodemus is in the kingdom. It does not make any sense for Jesus to be telling Nicodemus that what he is lacking is baptism. “If you would just be baptized, then you would be in the kingdom.” That does not fit what Jesus is teaching, nor does this fit with what Ezekiel prophesied. What Jesus is talking about is bigger than baptism.   Revelation 7:14. Those who had “washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb” did not mean merely baptism, but stood for people who had given their lives wholly to Jesus and had died faithfully for him. The image included baptism but was not speaking exclusively of the baptism act. In the same way, baptism is included in the new birth, but Jesus is not saying just get baptized. Rather, the picture is bigger than baptism. The new birth is the change of heart from stone to flesh, the removal of uncleanness, and the faithful desire to obey all His laws. This is what Ezekiel is picturing, and this is what Jesus is saying is necessary to enter the kingdom of God. Therefore, a different birth is needed. A spiritual birth is needed, because what is born of the Spirit is spirit.   The message is yours. The invitation is there for any who have a need to be baptized into Christ, or those who need prayers of faithful people, to come forward while we stand and sing.   # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercheville  

And The Walls Came Tumbling Down Text: Joshua 6:6-20   Tom is 71years old and loves to fish.  Tom was sitting in his boat the other day when he heard a voice say,  ‘Pick me up.’ He looked around and couldn’t see anyone.  He thought he was dreaming when he heard the voice say again, ‘Pick me up.’  He looked in the water and there, floating on the top, was a frog. Tom said, ‘Are you talking to me?’ The frog said, ‘Yes, I’m talking to you. Pick me up… kiss me and I’ll turn into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen. I’ll make sure that all your friends are envious and jealous because I will be your bride!’ Tom looked at the frog for a short time, reached over, picked it up carefully, and placed it in his front pocket. The frog said, ‘What, are you crazy? Didn’t you hear what I said? Kiss me and I will be your beautiful bride.’ Tom opened his pocket, looked at the frog and said,   ‘Nah, at my age I’d rather have a talking frog.’ With age comes wisdom.    “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho, Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down.   You can talk about the men of Gideon, you can talk about old King Saul. But there's none like good old Joshua at the battle of Jericho.”   Jericho is commonly believed to be one of the oldest cities that had ever been built and it is said to be the oldest known WALLED city ever built. It was extremely daunting. Heavily fortified. Encircled by 2 rings of walls. The 1st wall stood between 12 to 15 feet high and the inner wall was 32 to 41 feet in height. The illusion created by the two walls from ground level, would have seemed to stand nearly 10 stories in height. Nobody would have thought that anybody could destroy it.   But then one day - the walls just came tumbling down. And the once mighty symbol of paganism was destroyed.   Sometimes a building just has to come down, and the bigger buildings require experts who know how to strategically place explosive material in just the right places, and those explosives are detonated in such a way that the structure collapses straight down in a matter of seconds!   But when the walls of Jericho fell, Joshua didn’t have a team of engineers. There were no explosive charges. In fact, Joshua didn’t have much to do with what actually brought those walls down. It was God that destroyed the city – all Joshua and the Israelites had to do was show up.   So, here’s a question – Did this really happen? Was Jericho destroyed the way the Bible says it was? You know, there are people who scoff at stories in the Bible like this, where something dramatic and miraculous occurs.   It doesn’t make any sense to them that the Israelites just marched around Jericho a few times and the walls collapsed. They just can’t believe that would happen, so they dismiss it as… a myth. BUT was it? Was it just a myth … or did it really happen?   Back in 1990, Time Magazine had an article that said: “Jericho’s fall was one of the most dramatic events recorded in the Old Testament. But for generations scholars have debated whether the Israelites’ assault on Jericho was a fact or a myth….   But, Recent discoveries at Jericho have been largely consistent with the Bible story.” One such article can be found in the March 5th, 1990 Issue of TIME MAGAZINE.   So WHAT did the Bible say that was consistent with the evidence? Well, for one thing, archaeologists found that the walls of Jericho fell straight down in a way that was suggestive of a sudden collapse. You see, when most cities were conquered – their enemies breached the walls from the outside so that the walls would be caved INWARD.   But archaeologists discovered Jericho’s wall FELL DOWN… not inward. Just as the Bible said. The Bible ALSO says that the Israelites were told to set the city on fire. Archaeologists found that much of Jericho was covered by a thick layer of soot. When they used radio-carbon dating on that soot, they found the soot was formed about 1400 B.C. The date the Bible indicates Israel invaded Canaan.   A question: How Long Did It Take Israel to Conquer Jericho? ANSWER: 7 DAYS. Now, one way to conquer an ancient walled city was to starve it out. Just surround the city and wait till they ran out of food. But the evidence shows that Jericho had plenty of food. Archaeologists found several jars full of barley throughout the city. In other words, they weren’t starved into submission. They had plenty of food to last for weeks. So, the city fell within days… just like the Bible said. So, Jericho fell just the way the Bible said it did. It’s a cool story but what did God want to teach us by destroying that city? Well, first - Jericho was a great city. It was imposing and it was virtually invincible. There was no city quite like it anywhere in Canaan. And yet God told Israel to destroy that city FIRST – BEFORE they did anything else.   WHY? Well, God had Jericho destroyed FIRST because it WAS an imposing and virtually invincible city. It was a little bit of SHOW and TELL. First, it was a little show and tell for Israel. If Israel could take Jericho nothing could stand before them. Conquering Jericho was to be a faith builder for them.   But, in order to build that faith, Israel had to act on faith.  Hebrews 11:30 “By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days”. It was their faith that brought the walls down.   Think about it… God gave Joshua specific instructions for the men of war to march in silence around the city -- once each day for six days. And they were carrying the ark of the covenant as a sign of God’s presence among them. On the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times. And at the appropriate signal, the priests would blow their trumpets, and the people were to give a mighty shout.” AND THE WALLS CRUMBLED.   In fact, there was ONE OTHER instruction:   “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout...” Joshua 6:10   Now, that was a good instruction, because if I’d been marching around Jericho with the Israelites, I know what I might have been tempted to say: THIS IS SILLY; “This doesn’t make any sense”; “WHY are we doing this?”   When Israel FIRST came to the Promised Land, there was a lot of talking going on. The 1st time they came to the Promised Land, 10 of the 12 spies began to TALK about how they couldn’t take the land. They TALKED about how big the Canaanites were. “They brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, ‘The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height… and we seemed liked GRASSHOPPERS’” Numbers 13:32-33   “Then, the people began to TALK. They grumbled in their tents saying, “The LORD hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.”” Deuteronomy 1:27   You know what these folks did? They TALKED themselves out of faith. They TALKED themselves out of the Promised Land. They even went so far as to say God hated them. So, they ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 yrs. And so, now, at the walls of Jericho, God said: “Don’t talk. Just do what I tell you to do.”   The only way they’d take the city was by faith, because “without faith, it’s impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6   You see, when we GRUMBLE – when we TALK about things that annoy us – that’s not a good thing. It shows that we’ve not prayed and not trusted God. It reflects our desire to play God, as if our grumbling could change the course of life.   Paul warned the church at Corinth: “Do not grumble as some of them did and were destroyed…  I Corinthians 10:10   We all tend to grumble when we get upset, get annoyed, get angry because things aren’t going the way we want them to and so we grumble. I’ve done it! You’ve done it… We’ve ALL Done it. But I’ve decided I’ve got to stop that. So, whenever I find myself beginning to grumble… I try to remember that I’m not God.   WORDS TO HANG ON THE MIRROR AND LIVE BY: ·         I Will Not Grumble. ·         I will pray ALL that I can; ·         I will do WHAT I can; ·         But I will trust God for ALL that happens because I have been called to be a Man of Faith. ·         And Men and Women of Faith don’t grumble… they trust God.   When we trust God to lead us in our lives; in our church; in our nation. We’ll begin to see God do mighty things and He will lead us in victory over our fears. When we determine NOT to Grumble, God will lead us to bring down the walls that challenge our faith. And the walls of Jericho will fall before us.   Conquering Jericho was a SHOW AND TELL for Israel to increase their faith. But it was also a SHOW AND TELL for the Canaanites to increase their FEAR. If Israel could destroy Jericho in such a dramatic way, no other tribe stood a chance. God intended to strike fear into the hearts of His enemies, and from that day on, the other tribes fell like dominos. And in a few short months, most of Canaan was in Israel’s hands.   But why was God so intent on destroying the people in Canaan? What had they done wrong? In 2 Peter 3:9 we’re told that “The Lord… is patient with us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”   But apparently, with the people Canaan… God’s patience had run out. God told the Israelites: “It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”  Deuteronomy 9:5   The Canaanites were a morally corrupt society engaged in practices that were detestable to God, things like child sacrifice, temple prostitution, bestiality, and other forms of sexual immorality. God basically said “These folks don’t want to repent. And so God decreed that Jericho was to be destroyed. And ALL its people were to die. (PAUSE) Well, not quite ALL of them died.   Joshua 6:25 tells us “Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.”   Rahab had made a deal with the 2 spies Joshua sent into Jericho. And then she hid Israelite spies. But why would she do that? Why hide these men? Well, she hid them… because she had FAITH. She told the 2 spies: “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts sank and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you.” Joshua 2:9-12   She believed what she’d been told about the power of God at the Red Sea, and Hebrews 11:31 tells us “BY FAITH the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” She was saved from judgment because she had faith in God.   BUT WAIT A MINUTE. Rahab was a prostitute. She wasn’t a nice person. She’d been as sexually immoral as anyone else in Jericho, and yet… she received mercy. Why? Why would she be saved from destruction? Because she had FAITH in God and she was willing to honor Him in her decision to hide the spies. And when that happened… her past was forgotten. She ended up marrying a Jewish man named Salmon and became the mother of Boaz…who married Ruth. And Rahab the harlot became one of only 4 women who were listed in the Gospel of Matthew as one of Jesus’ ancestors. Rahab impressed God that much by her faith… that God honored her memory.   Now… here’s the point. Faith that changes us is all that matters to God. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done. All that matters is that you’re willing to have faith in Jesus and be willing to turn your life over to Him.   “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever BELIEVES (has Faith) in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”          

“Stepping Into the Miracle: Remembering What God Has Done” TEXT Joshua 3:7–4:11   An elderly woman walked into the local country church. The friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the flight of steps. “Where would you like to sit?” he asked politely. “The front row please.” she answered. “You really don’t want to do that”, the usher said, “The pastor is really boring.” “Do you happen to know who I am?” the woman inquired. “No.” he said. “I’m the pastor’s mother,” she replied indignantly. “Do you know who I am?” he asked. “No.” she said. “Good,” he answered as he quickly exited to the back of the building.   Back in the 1920’s the US Govt began talking about controlling the flooding of a river in the West called the Colorado. They intended to build the largest dam ever constructed in the US, and they also wanted this dam to supply electricity and a stable water supply to the growing population in the 7 states in that surrounded this river.   Thus, in 1928 President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill authorizing the building of this dam … and work began in 1931. It took 5 years to build this huge project, involving 6.6 million tons of concrete (6.6 million tons of cement would be enough to pave a 16 foot wide highway from San Francisco to NYC). They also had to build a city from scratch just to house the 1000s of workers that were employed for the 5 years it took to complete the project. The Dam was such a monumental structure that it has stood for nearly 90 years and receives upwards of 7 million visitors every year.   I am obviously referring to the Hoover Dam. Now, remember … it took the US government 5 years, using 1000s of workers who laid 6.6 million tons of concrete to stop the flow the Colorado River. Do you realize, God could have done that in a single day. In fact, He did do something like that several 1000 years ago … at the Jordan River.   Imagine standing at the edge of the Jordan River. Behind you is the wilderness—years of wandering, waiting, and wondering. Ahead lies the Promised Land, the fulfillment of God’s covenant. But between the two is a river at flood stage. Impassable. Intimidating. And yet, God says, “Step in.” This is where Israel finds itself in Joshua 3. And it’s where many of us find ourselves today— on the brink of something new, something promised, but something that requires faith to cross.   “And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.’” — Joshua 3:7   God tells Joshua that He will exalt him before the people cross. Why? Because leadership in God’s kingdom is not about status—it’s about trust. God is affirming Joshua’s role so that the people will follow with confidence. NOTE: When God calls you to lead— whether in your family, workplace, or ministry— He equips you with affirmation and authority. But you must be willing to step forward before the waters part.   Just like the priests had to step into the Jordan River before it parted, we’re often called to move forward before we see results.   In our story today… the Israelites had been led by God to the edge of the Jordan. We’re told that when the priests carrying the Ark stepped into the flooded waters of the Jordan River the waters coming down from (upstream) stood and rose up in a heap quite a distance away. The waters literally stopped. It was as if someone had built an invisible dam that created a wall of water towering over the Israelites as they crossed on dry ground. The waters backed up as far back as a town named Adam which was about 10 miles North of them (the distance from here to the Painesville courthouse). And they walked across the riverbed of the Jordan like walking on dry ground.   For the next few months they’d be fighting Canaanite armies on their home turf, and Israel needed to be shown God’s power. So, God brought them to the Jordan river… for a little Show And Tell.   In Joshua 3:10- Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that THE LIVING GOD IS AMONG YOU and that he will without fail DRIVE OUT FROM BEFORE YOU the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan… and when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”   The priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant had to step into the water before it stopped flowing. The miracle didn’t happen until their feet got wet. We often want confirmation before commitment. But God calls us to move in faith. The waters won’t part until we step in. What river are you standing before today? What step is God asking you to take?   So, as soon as they’re at the edge of the Jordan, God leads them into the waters. The feet of the priests touch the Jordan, and the waters pile up in a heap on their right. Then, the Priests stepped out into the middle of the riverbed - and that’s where the priests stood until all the Israelites crossed the river and reached the other side.       Then a man from each of the 12 tribes picked up a big rock from the riverbed and carried it out of the riverbed to be set up as a memorial to God’s power. And another 12 huge stones were piled at the place where the priests had stood in the riverbed and THAT pile of stones was also a memorial. Then Israel made camp at a place called Gilgal not far from the mighty city of Jericho.   Now, that’s a cool story… but what difference does it make to us? Why should we care what God did there? Well, Romans 15:4 tells us that “whatever was written in former days (the Old Testament) was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”   So, what could God possibly have meant to teach us in this story of the crossing of the Jordan. (PAUSE)   WE ARE TO ALWAYS Remember What God Has Done One group of 12 huge stones were picked up from the riverbed and made into a memorial on land… and there was another 12 stones set up in the middle of the Jordan – also as a memorial. And when this 2nd group of stones were placed IN the waters of the Jordan and the waters were released by God… those stones would be buried in water. And that part of the story bothered me.   Why would God want 12 stones in the river as a memorial? You’d never see them there! That didn’t make any sense. And so that troubled me, until another minister pointed out that when Israel crossed the Jordan… they left their past behind them. All the hardships of their former life were going be buried in the cold waters of the Jordan… just like those stones. After the crossing, God commands twelve stones to be taken from the riverbed and set up as a memorial. Why? Because we forget. We forget the miracles, the provision, the faithfulness. What are your memorial stones? What moments in your life testify to God’s power? The twelve stones taken from the riverbed were a physical reminder of God’s miracle. They told a story to future generations.   Years ago, an old time minister baptized a man in Lake Superior. It was late October and about 9:00 PM. The minister had been studying with the man and his wife about what the Bible taught about baptism The man was hesitant for a long time and then finally said, “Yes, I want to be baptized tonight – RIGHT NOW in Lake Superior.”   In case you don’t know… Lake Superior is a cold lake. Average temperature (year-round) is about 38 degrees AND this was late October. The waves were running 3 feet high. The water was very cold.   They intended to walk out waist deep into the water, but only made it about knee deep. The minister laid the man down into the water as the waves washed over him. And the man was baptized that night… into Christ.   When they got back to the man’s home for hot cocoa and a hot soak for their cold feet the minister asked the man why it was so important that he wanted baptized that night in Lake Superior. The man boldly answered: “I was in the army, an officer in the infantry during the Viet Nam war. I saw and did things that no man should see or do. And I wanted my sins buried in the deepest and coldest place…” ·         That’s what God told us takes place in baptism.  ·         Romans 6:3-4 tells us “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”   ·         When we rose from the waters of baptism, our sin and shame stayed in the water. And that’s why the 12 stones were set up under the waters of the Jordan. All of Israel’s past REMAINED under the waters of that mighty river. So that made sense. That explained why the stones were set up in the middle of the riverbed and would be buried under its waters.         ·         But then (the next question would be) ·         why set up the other 12 stones on land? ·         Well… Joshua told the 12 men who carried these stones: “take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, THAT THIS MAY BE A SIGN AMONG YOU. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel A MEMORIAL FOREVER." Joshua 4:5-7   So, what was the purpose of the 12 stones they brought out of the riverbed to set up on land? It was a Memorial. A place to remember what had been done that day at the Jordan. You know, Jesus gave us a way to REMEMBER what He had done for us. Paul wrote the Corinthians and told them that “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’” I Corinthians 11:23-25   ·         COMMUNION IS OUR MEMORIAL. ·         When we take of it each week, we are REMINDED of what Jesus did for us. When we eat of the bread we should remember that Jesus’ body was broken for us. His body was wounded and bruised, and His flesh and skin were torn. As Isaiah 53:5 tells us “he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.” And the bread reminds us of that suffering.   The priests stood in the middle of the river until everyone crossed. Their obedience created a path for others. REMEMBER: Your faith walk isn’t just about you. When you trust God, you create space for others to follow. Your courage can be someone else’s confirmation.   Conclusion: Joshua 4:11 says, “And when all the people had finished crossing over, the Ark of the Lord and the priests came to the other side.”   The journey ends with God still in the center. This story isn’t just about a river—it’s about a rhythm. God calls. We step. He moves. We remember.     FINAL Questions What “Jordan River” are you facing right now? What step of faith is God asking you to take? What memorial stones can you set up to remember His faithfulness?   Closing Prayer “Lord, thank You for going before us. Help us to step into the waters with faith, knowing You will make a way. May we never forget the miracles You’ve done in our lives. Let our stories be stones that testify to Your goodness for generations to come. Amen.”    

Destroy This Temple John 2:18-22   INTRO: Good morning church. Today we will continue in John chapter 2, John 2:18-22. Last time we saw Jesus had declared that those who were ruling in the temple complex had profaned the temple because of the commerce that they have been conducting there.   Jesus has challenged their authority to do this, and He has driven out the animals, sellers, and the money changers from the temple courts. The Jews want to know by what authority Jesus is doing these things and that in and of itself is a pretty sad statement. They do not see Jesus’ cleansing as; Here is the Lord entering His temple, being zealous for pure worship, telling them this is my father's house and clearing out the traders, as we noted was predicted in Zachariah 14:21. Rather than being introspective about this, they want to get back to doing the things they've been doing.   They say, “Who gives you the right to do this? “Who do you think you are to come in here and upset things that we've been doing all this time? “Who says that you have any authority to overturn our tables and to drive out these animals?”   That's where we are in our text in John chapter 2. Let’s reread starting in verse 13 and then pick up in verse 18 to get the whole scene.   John 2:13-22, “13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”   18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”[ESV]   This is an interesting turn of events. The religious leaders say, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?”[NAS] In other words, “Who do you think you are? “We need some authority before we believe you.” This is certainly going at Jesus directly. That is why the disciples remember this phrase; zeal for your house will consume me. The leaders are challenging Jesus’ authority, wanting to justify their own actions, discredit Him, and get back to the ‘worship’ they want to have it in the temple courts. Therefore, Jesus says He will give them an appropriate sign for their problem.   I.     The Sign - Jesus’ response is fascinating. Verse 19, “…Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” A.   One of the things that we need to contextually consider is that John has quite a habit of marking out misunderstandings throughout this gospel. In particular he backs up a lot of them right here. 1.    Think about what we saw as a lack of understanding when Jesus performs the miracle of turning the water to wine at the wedding in Cana. Remember the master or steward of this feast had no idea where the wine was from. He said to the groom, “You have saved the best for last.” There we see a misunderstanding. Here again, the people, as this statement is made, do not understand what Jesus is talking about. 2.    When we get to chapter 3, we are going to see Jesus engage Nicodemus. Nicodemus does not understand what it means to be born again or born of the spirit. 3.    When we get to chapter 4, the woman at the well, does not understand what this living water is that Jesus is offering. B.   I suggest what John is pointing out is that people do not understand. They do not comprehend His purpose. They do not observe Him as the Son of God, yet. People do not understand who He is. We will see this misunderstanding again in chapter 6, and chapter 13. It is going to keep happening in John's Gospel for us to observe. Keep that in mind as we look at this text. 1.    What the Jews say in verse 20 is interesting. “The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”” Immediately they begin to think about the physical temple as Jesus is standing in the temple complex. They think Jesus is talking about this physical structure. 2.    Jesus knew the hearts of men and He knew what was precipitating from the temple cleansing. They think He is talking about the temple itself. Recorded elsewhere Jesus is going talk about the destruction of the temple. That is not the point here. At this point, we are given the picture of them not understanding. They do not realize what Jesus is talking about. 3.    I have read this expansion of the Temple was started around 18 B.C. by Herod the Great. The Temple itself was functional within three and a half years from the start of construction, allowing for dedication and worship. 4.    As an aside, while the main structures were largely completed during Herod's reign, construction at the complex continued for decades, possibly until the 60s AD, as reflected in Josephus' reference to additions under the procurator Lucceius Albinus (c. 62–64 AD). A year or so later the Jewish revolt against Rome begins in Judea. In response Titus leads in the Roman forces around 69 AD. Jerusalem is conquered and the temple (and much of the city) is destroyed in September of AD 70. C.   This misunderstanding is crucial in what John tells us. Repeatedly, this statement Jesus makes will be the linchpin to get Jesus killed. That's why verse 17, “zeal for your house will consume me”, is a critical, prophetic statement. A prophetic statement made by David in Psalm 69. The disciples are seeing the prophecy here as well and applying it to Jesus. 1.    Let’s look at where we see this; like in Matthew chapter 26, when Jesus is on trial and they're unable to find any witnesses to convict Him and put Him to death. Matthew 26:59f – “59 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’””[ESV] That's not what Jesus said, not even close to what Jesus said. 2.    Then we see Jesus on the cross. What are the people saying as they go by Him in Matthew 27? Matthew 27:39f – “39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”” 3.    This statement by Jesus becomes a central peg to what the Jews are going to use against Him. He said the temple of God was going to be destroyed. That's the reason we should crucify Him. Then as the people go by, if you're really the Son of God, then come on down. You said you could do something miraculous like destroy our temple and raise it in three days. Here we are killing you. You're truly not God, are you? D.   When we look carefully at it, we see that Jesus doesn't say that He would destroy the temple. He said that they would. He says destroy this temple. That's what you are going to do, but I'm going to raise it up three days later. 1.    Jesus is telling the Jewish leaders questioning Him; You are in the destroying process. You are the ones that are destroying the temple. That might have caused them to understand things a bit differently if they had truly listened to what Jesus was saying. Unfortunately, they didn't. 2.    Jesus is prophesying His death and is referring to Himself as John narrates in verse 21, speaking about the temple of His body, and is making this prophetic statement. We see how closely that connects to the prophecy of David, zeal for your house will consume me. He says that to them; You're going to destroy this temple, but I'm going to raise it up in three days. E.   I strongly think this is the reason why John is so closely connecting this event to the Passover. We saw this in verse 13. John starts this by saying it’s the Passover to show us that this death is not accidental or merely an incident in history. Jesus is the prepared Passover lamb who is going to die for the sins of the world. 1.    His zeal for His Father, His desire for pure worship and a right relationship with God is going to get Him killed according to the plan of God because He is the lamb that is to be slaughtered. It is interesting to see John work this together. Here he is pointing out that Jesus is causing hostility. He is making enemies. They are going to consume Him because of His zeal. 2.    John is subtly saying that this is all according to the plan. He is the Passover lamb. Just because all this hostility is pouring upon Him does not mean that this is outside the bounds of God's purposes. Everything is going according to plan as the Passover lamb is being prepared to be sacrificed for the sins of the people. F.    I have a question right here. Why does Jesus call Himself the temple? Why does Jesus intentionally bring about this misunderstanding? If Jesus had only desired to predict the resurrection then He could have done so like He did in the other Gospel accounts. Matthew 12:39-40, Jesus answered them – “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” He could have emphasized resurrection alone. He doesn't do that here. He intentionally ties Himself to the temple by calling Himself the temple. II.    Destroy the temple. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Why is Jesus doing that? Why does Jesus want to connect Himself, His body, to the temple concept? A.   Let’s look in the Old Testament and put ourselves in the mind of Israel for a moment. Begin to feel the weight and the significance of what the temple meant to those people. 1.    The most obvious thing about the temple of God is, of course, this was where the presence of God was. This was the image of the relationship of God being with His people. The idea of the tabernacle and also of the temple, is that God is with us. His presence is with us. 2.    It symbolized a relationship with God, and that we are in His good graces. When we read those prophetic images, like the one in Ezekiel where God leaves the temple, it is meaningful to say that God is no longer with His people. He's no longer in relationship with them and judgment is due them. B.   We also should consider what made the temple extremely important is that this is where atonement was made. This is where people came for atonement. We've observed in Acts, and our study of the Old Testament, that there are three times the people had to come to Jerusalem to be able to give their offerings and sacrifices at the temple. Here we have atonement images in all three instances as a reminder of what God was doing for them. 1.    Atonement was made in the Holy of Holies. The high priest would go into that place where the Ark of the Covenant was, sprinkling blood on the mercy seat. This was the place where God was meeting His people, where atonement was being found and mercy would be dispensed. 2.    Consider also the significance of what was in the Ark of the Covenant. That imagery reaches into this as well. There's a reason why there are three things that are contained in that Ark of the Covenant. a.    The first thing that's always noted is the tablets of stone symbolizing the law of God. This is the memorial of God giving His laws. It is a memorial of the covenant with His people. b.    Remember also Aaron's rod is in the Ark of the Covenant. It played an important part in the miracles of God's deliverance of the people out of Egypt. It is a reminder of God's powerful hand, the miraculous deliverance that God would give the people. c.    Third, we also see a pot of manna. That showed God’s provision as they wandered through the wilderness. God miraculously is providing and taking care of His people. These three things were not just idle things in the Ark of the Covenant. 3.    From top to bottom, the temple has all kinds of symbolism. The place where God’s presence is symbolized. It was in there where mercy and atonement are found, where blood was sprinkled. Including what was inside the Ark of the Covenant, symbolizing the covenant and the law, and God's deliverance, and God's blessings. The temple was a very important structure. It embodies all of what God had promised for Israel from His presence to His blessings to His deliverance. C.   Jesus transfers all of that imagery, all of that symbolism onto Himself. It is staggering to think of all that power, of what the temple stood for to Israel, and all that was included in that imagery. 1.    Jesus transfers all that meaning and places it directly upon Himself. This is where we come in contact with the Father and have a relationship with the Father. 2.    What we're going to observe is Jesus showing the irrelevance of the temple altogether. Jesus is saying by referring to Himself as the temple, this is where God is. This is where you come to the Father. This is where you learn about the Father. In Jesus you find a relationship with the Father. Coming to Jesus now rather than the temple is how one finds atonement. When you come to Jesus now, there is where you find mercy. 3.    Jesus is the embodiment of the law. The tablets of stone are not relevant and not necessary. Jesus embodies all of the law not only in His fulfillment, but also in His revelation. Hebrews 1:1-2, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” He is the embodiment of the law of God. He is the place where God miraculously delivers His people. He is a prophet like Moses who delivers people out of their spiritual bondage of slavery to sin and brings them deliverance and brings them into covenant relationship with God. 4.    It also pictures a pouring out of blessings. A picture Paul would use throughout Ephesians. Every spiritual blessing is in Christ. They are no longer tied to the temple. They are not being tied to a physical structure or being tied to the physical Israel. D.   Perhaps most important in what John is telling us is the temple was the place where you worship God. That's what this has been about. Their worship is corrupted. That is a warning for us today as well. Somebody once said when asked how to handle corruption in a congregation; “Remember What Would Jesus Do, and then consider—overturning the tables and making a whip of cords is within the realm of possibilities.” 1.    Jesus comes into the temple complex and what's the problem? It's a marketplace. It's not a place of prayer. It's not a place of thanksgiving. It's not truly a place of worship anymore. It's a place of buying and selling, and graft. It's about business. 2.    Jesus is the place of worship. If you're going to worship the Father, you must be in connection with Jesus. He is now that very location. I think that is the significance of what Jesus is doing, what He is driving at, and is so important for us to understand when we see He would be crucified and then raised from the dead three days later. 3.    I marvel at this imagery that the true temple of God is now going to be revealed in Jesus. Yes, they are going to destroy this temple in that they are going to destroy the human body, but Christ is the temple that can not be destroyed. This is the place where we come in contact with God. There's nothing that you can do to get rid of that. E.   What a contrast that is to the physical temple that would be overrun, rebelled against and destroyed again and again. All the problems that would happen in Jerusalem and the temple, even to what we see today, is completely irrelevant now because that has all been transferred to Jesus. Jesus is the location. 1.    What Jesus is doing is not merely cleansing the temple; He is replacing the whole thing. He is not cleansing the temple and getting the Old Law back on track. 2.    He says what you're doing is wrong. You're out of fellowship with God. Your worship is improper. He's eliminating the whole thing and replacing it and saying you need to come to me. F.    This is a theme that we will see again as we go forward in our look at John’s Gospel. Let me preview. 1.    Think about Nicodemus in chapter 3. What's He telling Nicodemus about being in the kingdom of God? You must believe in the Son. 2.    What's He telling the woman at the well? You have to come to me. He tells her that worship to God will not be on the mountain nor in Jerusalem. We don’t care about temples in Jerusalem anymore. Christ is the total replacement. 3.    Jesus is the true center of worship. The risen Lord is the place where God is revealed, where forgiveness is found, where the renewal is known, and where God's fellowship is experienced and forever maintained. G.   Jesus is doing something extraordinary here and we can see why the antagonism would be so great. I suspect, even if they had begun to understand what Jesus was saying, it probably would have pushed them faster to killing him. Jesus is showing them the true temple. When you worship Jesus, you're worshiping God. When you come to Jesus, you find the forgiveness of God. When you come to Jesus, you find the mercy of God. When you come to Jesus, you find the deliverance of God. When you come to Jesus, you find the blessings of God. When you come to Jesus, you find the covenant law of God. Zeal for your house will consume me is exactly the point that John observes for us.   CONCLUSION: I’ll mention a few points to consider as we wrap this up. The first, we see John noting that the Jews ask for a sign. They are asking, what authority do you have to come in here and cleanse the temple? Who do you think you are? The New American Standard says, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?”[NASB] Here Jesus uses resurrection as His authority. That is really important. You need to believe in who I am. When I rise from the dead that settles everything. It does, it proves that He is divine, that He is God, and that everything He said about His relationship with the Father is true. He has the right to say that these people are out of relationship with God. He has the right to tell people that the only way to come to the Father is through Him. The only way to worship God properly is through Him. He has the right to tell people if you seek any other path, you're going to destruction. The reason why He can do that is the resurrection. Destroy this temple, and I'll raise it up in three days. The resurrection becomes the proof.   We note verse 22. “When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”[ESV] After the resurrection, the disciples now understand this. When the resurrection happens, they think back to this and realize that is the authoritative moment.   That gives us great hope. Now if you want to know why you don't have to listen to anybody else, anybody else who claims to be a prophet or somebody sent from God or claiming to have a special revelation or thinks they have something that's worthy of sharing from God, it is because you can't trump resurrection. Matthew 17:5 – “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” You find this also in Mark 9:7 and Luke 9:35. The resurrection shows us this is the Son and we need to listen to what He has to say.   Second, what's John's purpose in this gospel? So that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. These events have that intended effect.   Remember what we saw at the wedding in Cana Jesus performs the miracle and verse 11 tells us, and His disciples believed him. Jesus reveals His glory, the disciples then believe in who He is. It does the same thing here, verse 22, when He's raised from the dead, what do they do? They believe the scripture and they believe everything that Jesus said.   Third, Jesus is the place where God comes to His people. Jesus is the place that we need to turn to. The more that I study this gospel, the more I am astounded by loose Christianity in the world that declares, you can find any way you want to God. When I hear this I realize they have not studied John very well because John is very adamant, scene after scene, driving home the point that Jesus is the one true way.   The only place to find worship in God is through His son, Jesus Christ. It is the only place that we find atonement, mercy, forgiveness, blessings, and deliverance. There's no other.   Jesus is that one place. John is placing the supremacy of Christ in our hearts. Teaching us to appreciate who He is, seeing Him as way more than just a man, far more than just a prophet. Not just somebody who did good works.   He is somebody to be obeyed, to be awestruck by, to be revered and to follow because He is the only way to God and there is no other.   The message is yours. The invitation is there for any who have a need to be baptized into Christ, or those who need prayers of faithful people, to come forward while we stand and sing.   # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercheville  

Matthew 5:7-16 A wealthy businessman lay on his deathbed. His preacher came to visit and talked about God’s healing power and prayed for the businessman. When the preacher was done, the businessman said, “Preacher, if God heals me, I’ll give the church a million dollars.” Miraculously, the businessman got better and within a few short weeks was out of the hospital. Several months later, the preacher bumped into this businessman on the sidewalk and said, “You know, when you were in the hospital dying, you promised to give the church a million dollars if you got well. We haven’t received it as of yet.” The businessman replied, “Did I say that? I guess that goes to show how sick I really was!”   A few years’ back two guys interviewed thousands of people, and they published their findings in a book called The Day America Told the Truth. Of those surveyed, 91% said that they lie on a regular basis. 86% said they lie to their parents regularly, 75% said they lie to their friends, 68% said they lie to their spouses. 50% said they regularly called in to work sick when they weren’t   Proverbs 22:1 – “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” What is your reputation? Do people see you as someone who has set a good example to follow? Do they see a correlation between what you profess and how you live? Is your home, your place of employment, and your community influenced by how you live your life?   Listen to what Jesus said about how our relationship with Him should impact those that live around us; Matthew 5:13 – “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Salt has a number of uses. It adds taste to food, melts ice, creates thirst. But in the first century salt was used primarily as a preservative. Jesus’ audience didn’t have refrigeration—when they butchered meat or caught fish they packed the meat in salt to preserve it. You can still buy country hams that are salt-cured. When Jesus said that you are the salt of the earth, He acknowledged that decay is inevitable in a fallen world. Left alone, culture will always deteriorate, without Christ the world will rot. Jesus was saying that your job is to preserve truth and conserve Godly values in society. You permeate the world and help maintain wholesomeness in the culture. Jesus said that if salt loses its saltiness it’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and tromped on like sand in a path. Technically, Sodium Chloride cannot lose its saltiness, but the salt mined from the Dead Sea was so polluted with other minerals that it lost its preserving abilities. If a Christian becomes polluted by the sin and philosophy of the world we lose our preserving ability. Our job as Christians is to add flavor and create a thirst for God Matthew 5:14 – “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden” Light does one particular thing: it dispels darkness. Light illuminates a potentially dangerous path and makes it safe. Christians are to be luminaries along the path to God. We’re to be spotlights showing the way to salvation. The role of God’s people has always been to be light in the darkness Isaiah 49:6 says, “I will...make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” Matthew 5:16 – Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.   A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as if one problem was solved, but a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on the stove and soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last, she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.   In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ‘Tell me what you see.’ ‘Carrots, eggs, and coffee,’ the daughter replied.   Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, ‘OK, BUT what is your point?’   Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. BUT each reacted in a different way.   The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to boiling water, it softened and became weak.   The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.   The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they changed the water.   ‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?   THIS MORNING I WANT TO ASK EACH OF US… Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?   Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship, or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?   Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity?   IN TODAY’s TEXT JESUS TELLS US A FEW WAYS TO HANDLE ADVERSITY 1st SHOW MERCY Matthew 5:7 – “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. One of the best ways to influence the world for Christ is to show mercy to the hurting. Jesus told a parable about a man who was mugged and left for dead along the Jericho highway. Two religious men came by, saw his condition, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, a man of despised race, came by and had mercy on him. He bandaged his wounds, took him to a nearby hotel and paid for all his medical expenses.   Jesus asked the crowd, “Who did the right thing?” Everyone in the audience agreed—the one who showed compassion on him. Even the most cynical skeptic instinctively knows mercy is good. Mercy is a bridge. It’s a bridge that God built so He can relate to you and me. It’s also a bridge we have to build if we’re going to relate lovingly to others. The greatest example of mercy is found in Jesus Christ at the cross. It’s a fulfillment of Psalm 85:10 – “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.”   2nd HAVE A PURITY OF HEART Matthew 5:8 – “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” The heart is the center of our being. It’s the master control area of life Proverbs 4:23 –“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”   The heart is the source of all of our trouble Matthew 15:19 – “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, and false testimony.” Psalm 19:14 – “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” The world respects people who are genuine and pure in heart. So, may we strive for a pure heart. To be pure in heart means to have pure thoughts and genuine motives. There is a consistency between your beliefs and behavior. A person who is pure in heart is sincere and authentic.   3rd … Jesus tells us to BE A PEACEMAKER Matthew 5:9 – “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” “Peacemakers release tension, they don’t intensify it. Peacemakers calm the waters, they don’t trouble them. Do you recall when David and his angry warriors were galloping toward the home of the rancher, Nabal, armed for battle? Nabal had arrogantly refused to pay David’s men what was due them. Nabal’s wife, Abigail, sized up the coming bloodshed and took action. She prepared a catered meal for David and his men; rode out to meet them, fed them, apologized for her husband’s ignorance, and pleaded for forgiveness. She defused the hostility and war was averted. David said, “May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day” (1 Samuel 25:33). Abigail was a peacemaker. She was perceptive to the problem. She sacrificed her pride and energy to avoid conflict and she facilitated reconciliation. David was so impressed that when Nabal died several days later, he asked Abigail to marry him. Sometimes you make peace by avoiding a potential conflict with someone else. A peacemaker absorbs the hurt and sacrifices self to maintain a positive relationship.   And 4th Jesus warns us that we should EXPECT PERSECUTION FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS Matthew 5:10-12 – “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Notice the reason for persecution: It is for the sake of righteousness. Sometimes when you’re merciful, pure, and peaceful, your standards tend to incriminate others and that may cause them to attack you. Jesus was perfect yet the world crucified Him. If we seek to follow Him we must anticipate some opposition. All around the world there are people who face life and death because of their faith. Sometimes when you try to be salt and light, you can be the victim of intense opposition. Jesus said, “If you are persecuted, don’t whine, don’t holler “foul,” and threaten to sue for every dime. We are to rejoice and be glad for three reasons: 1. First, you’re in good company—that’s the way God’s prophets were treated. 2. Second, your reward in heaven will be greater. 3. Third, when the world sees us respond with joy instead of anger, they will be attracted to Jesus Christ. Paul and Silas were arrested in Philippi, beaten by the jailer, and placed in stocks in a damp, inner dungeon. Instead of complaining to the jailer about their abuse, the Bible says, “Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God.” And the prisoners heard them.   I am sure they had heard all kinds of profanity from the inner dungeon, but never singing and praising. Then an earthquake shook the entire prison and everyone was freed. The jailer prepared to commit suicide because he was responsible for them. But Paul called out, “Don’t harm yourself, we’re all here! The jailer called out, “What must I do to be saved?”   Why was he so receptive to the gospel? Why did he listen to Paul’s instruction and then be baptized the same night? Because when Paul and Silas were persecuted, they rejoiced and praised God. Our reputation is important and it should reflect Christ. What we have as Christ followers is not because of what we’ve done but because of what Christ has done. We have salvation and an eternal inheritance not because of anything that we could do but because of the good name of Jesus Christ. We have a wonderful place to spend eternity because of a Savior who has gone there to prepare a place for us.  

  John 2:12-17   INTRO: Good morning church. Last week Mark began teaching on the section of scripture we call the beatitudes where Jesus sat down, His disciples came to Him and He began to teach them. Today we will look at Jesus teaching them in a different way.   Our text is John 2:12-17. The Apostle John begins this section, that we often describe as the cleansing of the temple, by calling it the Passover of the Jews. He concludes the section in verse 23 by again noting that it's the Passover feast of the Jews. I suspect that John noting this is the Passover twice indicates there's something important we should look for. There is some critical symbolism here in this observation that it is the time of the Passover. It is important to keep in mind that John's gospel is not in chronological sequence. That is not his purpose. This gospel is in theological sequence, in that John is choosing signs and events to argue a particular theological point. His focus is that all would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He's not just telling us about the life of Jesus, and not just recording various events. He's selecting events and selecting signs that will validate his point in this theology of who Jesus is as the Son of God.   That is important for a number of reasons. First of all, it is sometimes argued based upon John's gospel, that Jesus cleansed the temple twice. It has been suggested that what we see here in John 2 is an early cleansing, and then in Matthew 21, Mark 11, and Luke 19, we read about a cleansing that occurs near the end of His life. I am not sure about that. Instead I suspect what has occurred is that John has moved this event into the front of his gospel for some reason.   One reason for my thinking this is that none of the gospels record two of these events. If there had been two, the other gospels would probably have recorded them. We would expect to find two events in the gospels that describe a more chronological sequencing of Jesus' life. I note though, the other gospels only record a cleansing once.   I suspect John is pulling it forward and sticking it after the wedding at Cana and before the discussion with Nicodemus for some reason. Let’s start thinking about what John is doing here. What is his purpose? Keep that in mind.   We also note that the Gospel of John is probably the Gospel that was written last. The contents and the structure of this Gospel presuppose the reader's familiarity with the three synoptic gospels. According to tradition this Gospel was written at the end of the first century AD. Therefore John has no reason to recap and rehearse what are in the other gospels. He has a purpose. He has a point.   John does not have to write this gospel like a newspaper reporter recording all the facts in some particular sequence. He's already told us he has a purpose. John isn't marking Passover so that we would have time markers and know that three years went by.   When John mentions a Passover, I suspect he's got some kind of Passover symbolism that he's inserting with this sign or event.   With that in mind, let's read the whole story. I.        Temple Court Scene – John 2:13-17, “13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”” A.     It is the Passover time that tells us every male Jew from all over the land is coming. This is one of the three appointed times when male Jews had to come for their offering and sacrifices. It would have been a very busy scene. 1.      Verse 14 records that in the temple complex are found those selling animals and birds, and those changing money. These animals and birds were required offerings in the Jewish sacrifices; however, can you imagine a Jew who lived in Rome ensuring that his animal made the trip all the way to Jerusalem without any blemish? It became an element of convenience to purchase the offering when you arrived. I have also read at some point the worshipers were required to purchase them from the temple functionaries and were not allowed to bring their own. 2.      On top of that, the money changers are there because the scriptures describe what would be called a temple tax in first century times. Each person was to give what would be a half shekel as part of their census. You can find that described in Exodus 30:12-14. 3.      Also the only money allowed be used in such purchases or tax was the coinage controlled by the temple. The denarius and other coins were prohibited, probably due to the image on the coin. Thus, with the temple concessionaires having the only supply of animals and a supply of money by which they could have been purchased, there was ample opportunity for graft. II.      Jesus’ Response - Jesus does not simply scold them and say, you shouldn't be doing this; it is not an appropriate thing to do. This is a pretty ferocious act we see as He takes some cords, binds them together and drives them all out of the temple. Not only that, but He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. A.     This is quite a disturbance, quite a scene that is taking place in these temple courts. I suspect getting the attention of all the Jews coming there. They are looking to purchase these animals and pay their tax, and Jesus comes in like a tornado, completely obliterates the tables and runs the animals off. 1.      What are you doing Jesus? What is going on here? Aren’t they just providing a service of convenience to these people as they try to worship God? I think the description that Jesus gives in verse 16 is important to be able to understand what He is driving at. 2.      Notice in verse 16 He says, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” This is what John records, now let’s compare it with the other gospel accounts. In Matthew 21:13 “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” In Mark 11:17 “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” Luke 19:46, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” It appears in the other gospel accounts; the problem emphasized is they are cheating the people. 3.      Apparently in the exchange rate of the coins and the purchasing of the animals they are making unfair profit. In the synoptic accounts it sound like they are taking advantage of this process. We notice that's not the point Jesus makes here as John highlights. B.     John does not emphasize Jesus’ point that the merchants have made this a den of robbers. Nor is Jesus criticizing not bringing their offerings from home. The issue is clear that the problem is business was being done in the temple courts! That's what He identifies. Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade. You've turned this into a marketplace. 1.      That's the idea Jesus drives at as John points out. What is at stake here is people are no longer focused on worshipping God in this complex. What should have been a place of reverence, a place of prayer, a place of praising God, has now turned into a supermarket. 2.      We can imagine all the hubbub that is going on with this trading. That is Jesus’ point. I think this offers us a reminder about the nature of our worship. I first want to make a caveat that it is important to recognize that the temple, or the church building, is not the point. The point is NOT to say, within these walls God lives and that’s why this merchandising shouldn't be happening. No, that is not the case. 3.      In fact even regarding the temple itself, God didn’t actually live there. Stephen said in Acts 7:48 – “Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?”” Stephen referred to the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 66:1f. Even Solomon understood that for all the glory of what he built, God doesn’t actually live there. 4.      The parallel for us is not to suggest that God lives here. The parallel is that this is supposed to be a place of worship. The purpose wasn't for them to set up tables, make money, turn it into a marketplace, rip people off, if that's what they're doing. That's not what is supposed to be going on. This is supposed to be a place of devotion to God; of worship, of prayer, of encouragement, of fellowship, and of learning. It is where hearts are supposed to be turned to God in a focus that is strictly on God! C.    This is an important message in our day and time especially. In a time where churches are increasingly engaging in selling branded items like apparel, accessories, and study materials, driven by a desire to foster a sense of belonging, promote their activities, and _ generate _ revenue. I'm not kidding. Some are suggesting that selling merchandise can be a way to generate income to support their ministries and operations. 1.      This is a tremendous reminder that our purpose is not to come here and find a way to be comfortable, a way of convenience. That is not why we are here. Our purpose here is not to make money. Our purpose here is not to take your money. It's not about buying or selling. May we never do so. 2.      That's what these Jews had done to the temple courts. It had turned into a kind of marketplace and lost the singular focus of coming to worship God. That's what it should all be about. I believe that worship to God should be in our minds as the clear purpose of why we do the things that we do. 3.      Our singular focus should be worshiping God, and I believe that is what we learn from what John says. It's not about all the peripherals. When we come together, it should be coming to glorify God. D.    When we come together, let's and avoid focus on anything else. This is what Jesus is criticizing them about. What a massive distraction is going on in these temple courts. Here you are, you have come to worship together and you have this hubbub, this marketplace of buying and selling, vendors calling, animals and birds making racket, this massive distraction from worship. 1.      It is a reminder to us to put aside distractions and come to the fountain of living water. That is what we're supposed to be doing. It is so easy for us to get sidetracked and become distracted with so many other things. 2.      We can do it mentally as well, because we are so concerned about the things of the world and the cares of the world and the schedule of the day or of the week or our phones. 3.      Consider how often and how easy it is to turn the worship of the true and living God into a consumer-driven experience. A funny YouTube video that I've seen is a thing that is called “What if the church was run like Starbucks?” I don't know if you've ever seen it or not. It's quite funny when you start trying to turn church into a business and you recognize the foolishness of what occurs. 4.      This is not about a consumer experience. In fact, coming here is not about our comforts. It's not about our convenience, and it's certainly not about our desires. We come here because we are keenly aware that we want to serve and worship God, and that is our primary focus. 5.      Jesus is indicating that the distractions these Jews were bringing about was an enormous problem because it was turning the hearts of the people and turning their focus away from the worship that should have been going on. We need to take great care that what we are doing is not causing people to no longer be able to worship God in a focused way. E.     This cleansing of the temple is showing Jesus as the loyal son who has come to set right the worship that has gone wrong, to cleanse it of impure activity, to get people focused on the right thing. He does this in such an interesting way because what He does has messianic implications, though not directly stated. Yet, in the words “… My Father’s house…” we see the indication of the unique sonship of Jesus, and a focus on the messianic import of this event of cleansing. As A. M. Hunter noted, "The cleansing is far more than a Jewish reformer's act; it is a sign of the advent of the Messiah." 1.      Nowhere will we find in the Old Testament the direct statement saying when the Messiah comes, He will cleanse the temple. There are allusions to that idea however. Like In Zachariah 14 where he is talking of “The Coming Day of the Lord” and then in the very last line of Zechariah he says “And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.” Here's Zechariah making a curious prophecy of the wiping out of that kind of activity. 2.      Malachi begins Malachi 3 by speaking of the Lord coming to His temple and they will then begin to offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord. What happened is they had allowed chaos to rule here rather than it being the place of coming to worship God. 3.      The church in Corinth was also admonished for letting chaos rule in 1st Corinthians 14 which concludes “… all things should be done decently and in order.” What Jesus is doing is removing the barriers that are interfering with true worship of the living God. 4.      If we are properly putting our hearts on God and worshiping Him the way that we should, then we can't help but come away encouraged and lifted up. They didn't understand that. They had put the cart before the horse. III.    The Disciples’ Reaction – John 2:17 - The disciples reaction is interesting. Look at what John says about this in verse 17. “His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”” The reason why I find this fascinating in light of what Jesus does, is they do not remember a scripture about God’s wrath. I find it interesting that it is not wrath that the disciples think of. A.     It's zeal that comes to their minds. I think that is important for us to observe, because too often this text has been used to suggest that Jesus is in a fit of fury. He went all Clint Eastwood on them… Not from the perspective of His disciples. 1.      They do not perceive what Jesus is doing as wrath, but rather a calculated approach on Jesus part of telling them, look, this isn't the way it ought to be. He is zealous for that. He is concerned about what is going on in the house of worship. 2.      The scripture the disciples remember is in Psalm 69. In Psalm 69:7-12 we see the cause of David’s suffering. King Saul had classified David as an outlaw and is seeking him. In Psalm 69:9 David says, “For zeal for your house has consumed me…” How had it consumed him, eaten him up? It had precipitated the murder of the high priest and his entire family (close friends of David), and it had launched Saul's army in their ruthless hunt to seek out and kill David. 3.      David in a statement of sadness is calling out to God for salvation. He is overwhelmed and this is a psalm of despair. Notice it in Psalm 69:7, “For it is for your sake (speaking of God) For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's sons.” Why has this happened? Why are you enduring this hostility David? Why are you dealing with all of these reproaches and difficulties? Verse nine is the answer. “For zeal for your house has consumed me…” 4.      David is not saying he has an overwhelming emotion of zeal. That's not the point. David is enduring hostility because of the zeal he has for the Lord's house. The reference here is to the tabernacle of course. Had David been zealous for that? Certainly! Where did he take the sword of Goliath following his God-given victory over the Giant? He took it to the Lord's house, the tabernacle. That action, along with the sackcloth, the fasting, and the other acts of devotion adequately establish the truth that David did indeed exhibit a genuine "zeal for God's house." 5.      That's the point that's being described here by David. He wants others to understand that his zeal for the Lord's house has led to this intense hostility. This is the reason why he feels like he is suffering. This is the reason why he is sinking and has floodwaters overwhelming him. Others don’t seem to understand his commitment to the Lord. They don't understand his zeal and love for God. Because of that love for God, he is being eaten up and consumed by the hostility coming at him. They are trying to destroy him. They are trying to kill David. B.     That's the backdrop of Psalm 69 brought forward to Jesus and to what John tells us. Jesus in this temple cleansing, is putting things right with God. He is calling for a cleansing of heart and showing a concern for the true worship of God and calling for people to have a right relationship with God. 1.      Because of His zeal and His concern for this right relationship and the calling for the people to have a right heart, He's going to endure hostility. He is going to be consumed. That's the picture that is being offered here. That's what the disciples are thinking. It is going to bring about hostility. 2.      I suspect the hostility is already starting, and that’s one of John’s intentions in pulling this forward. It is for us to see the start of hostility that Jesus is going to receive because of His zeal and His love for the father. It was precisely this manifestation of the Savior’s zeal that set in motion the murderous animosity of the religious apparatus in Jerusalem, which never relented. It is only going to grow and intensify. 3.      Here in John's account the words of Psalm 69:9 are prophetic. Zeal for your house, it's going to consume me. It is looking forward and saying this is what is going to happen. John is putting it together now in this scene. Look at the His love for God; look at His zeal for right and true worship. It will consume Him. C.    The rest of Psalm 69 is also interesting. I intentionally cut that off the last part of Isaiah 69:9 which says in full, “For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.” God, I know I'm dealing with the hostility toward you because of my love for you, and my devotion for you. Their hatred for you now turns and comes upon me. Thus David expresses this in his love for God. He is enduring suffering and Jesus in His love for God will be enduring suffering as well. D.    This passage is quoted by the Apostle Paul in Romans 15:1-4. “1. We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4. For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”   CONCLUSION: There are two fallouts that will occur because of our zeal and our love for God. The first is; if we truly love the Father, then we are going to deal with one another appropriately, graciously and kindly. That's how Paul begins in Romans 15:1-2.   Jesus did not please himself. Because of that, we know we are not in the business of pleasing ourselves. We're in the business of watching out for one another. In the process, there will be issues. We will be in second place. We will be concerned about what our actions and what our words mean for other people.   My love for God, my zeal for him, will bring that about. We certainly see that in the life of Jesus. We absolutely observe this as we begin to go through the pages of John. We're going to read about His love for the Father that shows the kind of compassion He has for the people, how He could look at people who were going to be His enemies and crucify Him and still be moved with compassion for them and the desire for them to be saved. The reason why, is because of His great devotion to the Father.   The other side of that coin is that in our zeal for the Father and our love for the Father, there is an expectation of hostility. There is an expectation of resistance from those who do not understand. The disciples experienced it. Jesus experienced it.   That is exactly what the apostle Paul is teaching in Romans 15. When we display that same fervency and devotion to our Lord and in our worship to Him, then just like David, just like our Lord's disciples, and just like our Lord Jesus Christ, we are going to suffer for the cause. We will endure reproach; we will bear with suffering what will come upon us, in our zeal for the things of God.   It already occurs in many ways. How often people think you're strange because you came back here because of your zeal for God. They say, well, you know, that's kind of kooky. You just need to go every once in a while, right? You know what? You guys are just kind of over the top. It happens from very subtle levels to very extreme levels where you will stand face to face against someone who's an enemy of the cross.   You'll be called upon to stand in your faith and say, I confess Jesus and I love Him with all of my heart. I will not deny Him and I will not cower and I will not hide my faith and love for Him. There is a need for a reminder that when we do that, there is always a strong reaction to it. The world today continues to have a strong reaction to those who profess their faith openly and declare their love and devotion for Jesus. We should not be surprised by this, it was predicted. This is exactly what the prophet is saying. Zeal for our Lord will bring about these kinds of difficulties. I pray that as we wrap up, we all have zeal so that it will bring about right action, and right words with one another.   Second, it will firm your foundation to deal with those who will oppose you as you try to do what is right, holy, and good for the sake of Jesus Christ. Lord willing, next Sunday, we'll get to look at the rest of this section where Jesus is talking about the destruction of the temple.   The message is yours. The invitation is there for any who have a need to be baptized into Christ, or those Christians who need prayers of faithful people, to come forward while we stand and sing.   # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercheville    

MATTHEW 5:1-6 "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?" With a timid voice and idolizing eyes, the little boy greeted his father as he returned from work. Greatly surprised, but giving his boy a glaring look, the father said: "Look, sonny, not even your mother knows that. Don't bother me now, I'm tired." "But Daddy, just tell me please! How much do you make an hour," the boy insisted. The father, finally giving up, replied: "Twenty dollars per hour." "Okay, Daddy. Could you loan me ten dollars?" the boy asked. Showing his restlessness and positively disturbed, the father yelled: "So that was the reason you asked how much I earn, right? Go to sleep and don't bother me anymore!" It was already dark and the father was meditating on what he said and was feeling guilty. Maybe he thought , his son wanted to buy something. Finally, trying to ease his mind, the father went to his son's room. "Are you asleep, son?" asked the father. "No, Daddy. Why?" replied the boy, partially asleep. "Here's the money asked for earlier, " the father said. "Thanks, Daddy!" rejoiced the son, while putting his hand under his pillow and extracting some money. "Now I have enough! Now I have twenty dollars!" the boy said to his father, who was gazing at his son, confused at what his son had just said. "Daddy, could you spend with me one hour of your time?" Time is too precious to spend it all on work! Appreciate your loved ones. Don't take them for granted Several years ago there was a cartoon depicting a preacher standing at the back door of the worship auditorium shaking hands with people at the conclusion of the worship service. One man is shaking the preacher’s hand and looking very intently into the preacher’s eyes. As he does so, he says, “Powerful sermons, sir. Thoughtful, well-researched. I can always see myself in them ... and I want you to STOP using ME as an EXAMPLE!” Jesus preached those kinds of sermons His messages always hit home and people either loved Him or hated Him because of it. This morning, we start a study of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which is recorded in Matthew 5-7. --I’m calling it, “Words of Wisdom for Heavenly Living” Toward the beginning of His ministry, Jesus took His disciples to a mountain retreat and drilled them in the fundamentals of following Him. Matthew. 4:23-26 gives us a summary of Jesus’ ministry leading up to this point: “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.” Matthew 5:1-2 – “Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying...” Jesus grabs a teachable moment with His disciples --There’s one theme that runs consistently through this entire teaching segment: Christ-followers are to think and act differently than the world around them. We’re not supposed to be thermometers adjusting to the moral climate of our environment. --We’re to be thermostats setting the standard for the culture. Jesus is calling those who claim to follow Him to be an authentic counter-culture (one that is the opposite of) the culture of the world He is asking us to live distinctive lives --showing others the joys of being part of the “royal family” We are to be a viable alternative to worldly living --So much so that we make goodness and integrity attractive The Sermon on the Mount is not a complete theology. --It is, however, practical theology. The message of the Sermon on the Mount is relevant for everyday living as a follower of Christ. It is not a system of laws for the Christian. --It’s about submission and obedience to the will of God. The Sermon on the Mount is not the requirements to enter the Kingdom. It’s not the plan of salvation But it is the guidelines to follow once you’re in the Kingdom The Sermon on the Mount is Christianity 101 for every believer The Bible reminds us that we’re in a battle between kingdoms: the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God --We’re told which kingdom ultimately wins the battle. The important thing is who you chose to serve. I want this church here in Chardon to not just grow in number but to grow in integrity and character I want us to grow in maturity and become more like Christ I want us to be people who, in such a positive way, live differently from the world that people are drawn to Christ like a magnet The Sermon on the Mount is actually comprised of several sections This first section talks about seeking God’s blessing. It’s made up of short sayings called The Beatitudes It means to be content, to have an inner joy The Beatitudes are the right attitudes to have --They define the right mind set for the believer The Beatitudes are eight essential virtues to receive God’s blessing. These virtues should build on each other and become increasingly evident as we mature in the faith. They are a series of progressive steps The first four deal with our relationship with God and the last four with our relationship to others. --We’re going to look at the first four this morning --Mt. 5:3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “Blessed are the poor.” Jesus loved the poor such as the widow who only had two mites and Lazarus, the beggar who ate crumbs from the rich man’s table. But God doesn’t automatically favor the homeless or the bankrupt. --The book of Proverbs teaches that poverty is sometimes the result of laziness, drunkenness, gluttony, or indulgence in pleasure. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Blessed are those who recognize that they are spiritually impoverished. --This is an honest evaluation of ourselves realizing we’re not able to do much on our own.   There’s something worse than being broke and that is not knowing you’re broke. People who have no money and keep buying on credit are in deeper trouble than those who have no money and admit it. The very first step in coming to God is recognizing that you are spiritually broke. You have no resources of value to offer God. The Bible says our righteousness is as filthy rags before God. Remember the parable of the Pharisee who worshipped next to a tax collector in the temple? The Pharisee boasted of his spiritual riches: “I fast, I tithe, I keep the law. I’m good! I’m better than that tax collector,” he said. The tax collector just humbly prayed, ”God be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus said the tax collector went away justified; the Pharisee did not. As long as we’re proud of our goodness and feel self-sufficient we’re out of God’s favor. When we see ourselves as spiritually bankrupt we’re ready to turn to God for His help and receive His riches. Without a doubt, one of the most popular hymns in America is Amazing Grace. I know that you know the first stanza: Amazing grace! How sweet the sound! That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see. One day a minister was addressing a group of men, he took a large piece of paper and made a black dot in the center of it with a marking pen. Then he held the paper up before the group and asked them what they saw. One person quickly replied, "I see a black mark." "Right," the preacher replied. "What else do you see?" Complete silence prevailed. "Don't you see anything other than the dot?" he asked. A chorus of no’s came from the audience. "I'm really surprised," the speaker commented. "You have completely overlooked the most important thing of all ... the sheet of paper as a whole." Then he made the application. He said that in life we are often distracted by small, dot-like disappointments or painful experiences, and we are prone to forget the innumerable blessings we receive from the hand of the Lord. But like the sheet of paper, the good things are far more important than the adversities that monopolize our attention. Someone has written: "As you travel down life's pathway, may this ever be your goal: Keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole!" Yes, rather than concentrating on the trials of life, we should fix our attention upon the blessings being offered. Let us say with the psalmist, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits" (Psalm 68:19) If you fail to understand the poverty of your spirit, you cannot come to Christ for blessing. But what blessing we receive when we admit our poverty and depend on Christ’s provision. When you quit relying on your own goodness and turn to God, He forgives, He saves, He puts His righteousness in you. Then, and only then are you promised the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:4 – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” What type of mourning and grieving is Jesus referring to? Is he talking about acceptable mourning over the loss of a loved one? Grieving over opportunities that we failed to take advantage of? Agonizing about things that didn’t go our way? No. Jesus is talking about mourning and grieving over our sin. One of the problems of our day is that we have failed to comprehend the seriousness of sin. Oh, there are people who strongly speak up against certain behaviors but they fail to examine their own lives. They’re quick to point to the sins of others but they are spiritually blinded to their own wickedness. They’re full of the deadly sins of pride, arrogance, self-righteousness, and a judgmental spirit. The word translated as “mourn” is a word that points to the heart-rending, soul-wracking , eyes- overflowing-with tears kind of mourning. It’s the strongest of all the words in the original language that refer to grief and sorrow. It recognizes the loss of something important. --It understands that there is a hole in the heart that needs to be repaired. We need to despise sin... so it follows that --We should especially despise our own sins. We’re told over and over in Scripture to repent of sin—to recognize how much it offends the heart of God and then grieve over it. James 4:8-10 – “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” Does it break your heart when you sin against God? Or do you superficially and nonchalantly say, “Yeah, I sinned. So what?” Do you experience a godly sorrow that leads to repentance? 2 Cor. 7:10 – “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” Repentance has become a neglected word in the church. We sit in our pews Sunday after Sunday, thinking that God ought to be glad that we have agreed to bless Him with our presence. One of the central events in our worship service is the partaking of the Lord’s Supper. The Bible tells us that when we do that, we proclaim the death of Christ. Why did He have to die? It’s because we are SINNERS! We aren’t good. We aren’t nice. There’s nothing about us that is lovely or attractive in the spiritual sense. Rom. 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It has been said: “Repentance precedes the blessing of God. A lack of repentance shuts off the power of God. There will be no revival or renewal without repentance. And there will be no repentance without godly sorrow. Until we come to the place where we truly mourn over our sin, we will never see the hand of God revealed.” The great thing is that when we show that godly sorrow and repent, God comforts us. Oh, what joy to know our sins are forgiven. We’ve come humbly before God in a godly sorrow that produces repentance. We want to change our life and God blesses our efforts. Not because of who we are, but because of what He has done! Not because of what we’ve done, but because of Who He is! God is a perfect, compassionate Father. He is sympathetic toward those who mourn for their sin. Charles Swindoll: “God loves the broken heart, the bent knee, and the wet eye.” AN ATTITUDE OF MEEKNESS Mt. 5:5 – “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” The world encourages aggressiveness They want to see someone fight for what they get They teach a culture of “Go for all the gusto you can” and worship the self-made person Atheist Friedrich Nietzsche said, "Assert yourself. Care for nothing except for yourself. The only vice is weakness, and the only virtue is strength. Be strong, be a superman. The world is yours if you can get it." What do you think of when you think of a meek person? You probably wouldn’t consider it a compliment if someone said, “You are the meekest person I know.” You probably think of someone who is insecure, unassertive, or timid That’s not what the Bible means by meekness. Meekness is not timidity or indecisiveness. The Biblical word ‘meekness’ means “strength under control.” It was a word used to describe a horse that had been taught how to respond well to the bridle and bit. When a powerful horse is under control of its rider, it’s a meek horse. It’s under the authority of the one who guides it. The meek animal surrenders himself and allows the rider to control him. Meekness is an inner attitude that results in controlled reactions. Consider these people whom the Bible describes as being meek: Abraham Moses David Jesus They all did brave and courageous things When Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek,” He was commending those who had surrendered their strong, self-will to the authority of God in their daily lives. The meek surrender to God’s will. They respond to the slightest tug of His rein, no matter how strong or powerful they may be. Someone: “Meekness is allowing the One who is meek and lowly at heart to rule our lives, our emotions, our behavior.” Jesus promised the meek would “inherit the earth.” Jesus was saying that the meek will share with Him as heirs of the Kingdom of God. We think the assertive – the self-promoting – are the ones who will get ahead. But Jesus promised that in His kingdom, those who are submissive to Him will inherit the leadership of the earth. A HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS Mt. 5:6 – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Most of us in the United States have no real concept of real hunger or real thirst. God has blessed us with an ample supply of food and abundant water supplies. Is. 55:2 – “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what is does not satisfy?” What are you hungry for? What do you crave every day? If I could read your mind what thoughts would you be most focused on? Are you hungry for wealth, popularity, status, sex, pleasure, golf, fishing, shopping? What are you passionate about? Jesus said that we’re blessed when we hunger and thirst for righteousness. We receive God’s favor if we hunger and thirst to be close to Him and live like Him When you’re a spiritual child you don’t have much of an appetite for spiritually healthy food. You want junk food. You pig out on emotion and excitement. But when you mature spiritually, you hunger for the worship of God, the fellowship with Christian people, and the study of God’s Word. 1 Pet. 2:2-3 says that we ought to “crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” Ps. 42:1-2 – “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” The Christian is hungry and thirsty to be close to the heart of God. Jn. 6:35 – “Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.’” When Prodigal Son was hungry he turned to the husks that he was feeding the pigs. When he was starving he turned to his father. Even though Moses had a close relationship to God, he asks God in Ex. 33:13 – “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.” David in Ps. 63:1 – “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Moses, David and Paul already knew God in a very deep sense But what they meant was that they wanted to know Him more intimately, personally, and powerfully. They had a hunger and thirst for God. They had a passion for Him. CONCLUSION: A. Do you see how different the Christian is in attitude and spirit? The world says, “Blessed are the rich, the proud, the self confident, they will get ahead.” Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The world says, “Blessed are the funny, the light-hearted, the positive thinkers, they will be popular.” Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are genuinely sorry for their sins; I will comfort them with grace and forgiveness.” The world says, “Blessed are the independent thinkers, the assertive. They will gain respect from people and be powerful.” Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek who humbly submit their strengths to my authority; they will inherit the earth.” The world says, “Blessed are those who are hungry for success, the ‘Type A’ personalities who are ambitious enough to make their mark in the world.” Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are hungry for a relationship with me; they will be filled.” Everything the world has to offer you will leave you empty, guilty, but only Jesus forgives, saves, and satisfies. Ps. 34:8 – “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”

  John 2:1-11   INTRO: Good morning church. Little Johnny was watching his father, a preacher, write a sermon. “How do you know what to say?” asked Johnny. “Why, God tells me”, his father replied. “Oh,” said Johnny, “then why do you keep crossing things out?”   I feel a bit like Johnny’s father when preparing a lesson from the Gospel of John. It is not that the Lord did not provide valuable information through His apostle nor that it is hard to understand. It’s more like there is so much information in so few words that I struggle at times to express it clearly.   Our text for today is John 2:1-11. Keep in mind that John uses the word sign over and over again, and this is going to be the first of the signs that John will give us. As we mentioned at the beginning of this study, John’s Gospel is highly symbolic and highly spiritual. John’s purpose for this gospel is stated toward the end of his writing in John 20:30-31 – “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”[ESV]   John does not describe what Jesus does as miracles but as signs, and we mentioned that a sign is something that has a message that goes beyond what we see at first glance. Jesus, in this book, is continually showing us that He is fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament. He wants us to understand John 1:1, “in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, and the same was in the beginning with God, and all things were created by him.”   I’m thinking now of Genesis 1:1, “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Our creator has come to the earth, and these signs are uniquely designed to picture for us God having come down in the flesh to show His glory to man and bring salvation. All of those things then are exciting, and the signs, looking at it that way, are very unique.   John chapters 2 through 4 are a introductory section of this gospel because it is a picture of the old passing away and something new that has come. By the way, God is always about a new creation. He created all of us, we sin and when we turn to Christ He makes us… what does Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 5:17?… a new creation.   He's always recreating what we foul up and bringing it to completion and bringing it to where it ought to be. We see this here. There's new wine in chapter 2. There's a new temple that is given later in chapter 2. In chapter 3, there's a new birth, and in chapter 4, there's a new worship.   What we will find is something new has come with Jesus that outweighs and outshines anything that we saw in the Old Testament. I hope that makes sense.   I.        The Context - We will begin at the end of the text, John 2:11 – John records, “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.” A.     This is the first of Jesus signs. No other gospel writer mentions this miracle. It is the first, and that is significant or else John would not have noted it. Something that is the first is often introductory; it sets the tone for what else is to come. We will need to discover why this was the first sign. 1.      Since John included only a few signs in this effort “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God”, I suggest each is very significant and we need to put effort into understanding each of them. John only chooses a few and the changing of water to wine is unique among all the other accounts. We don't learn about this miracle elsewhere, even though it's the first. 2.      I believe John is using this as a message that's going to tell us something deeper about Jesus and His kingdom. Rather than doing, as I have done, and maybe you have as well, reading this quickly and say yeah, Jesus turned water to wine, this is a wedding feast, ok, and then continue reading. Let's realize the significance of this particular sign. B.     You will notice in verse 11 that the sign “manifested His glory”. Remember, if you want to keep that in context… back at John 1:14, “and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as the only son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” That is thematic for the book of John. John is constantly talking about Jesus showing His glory. 1.      Well what does that mean? It's Jesus showing us the true attributes of God and who He is. Why would that be important? Again, in context refer back to John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” He has made Him known. Jesus makes God known through His identity as the Son of God and the incarnation of God in human form, revealing God's character, nature, and ways, to humanity. 2.      Philip later in John 14:8 will say to Jesus, “show us the Father, and it will be sufficient for us.” Jesus looks at him puzzled, as you can imagine, and says, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” He's showing God. When He shows His glory, He's showing something about Him that is God-like, that only God can do, that cannot happen any other way but God. With that understanding let us look for the meaning of this sign. C.    Oh, one other thing in verse 11 that's important. The scripture says “the disciples believed in him.” As we read about this sign in a moment, note that not everybody at the wedding feast knew that Jesus had changed water to wine. This is secretive, if you will, this is a secretive miracle. Mary knew about it certainly as did His disciples. The governor or master of the feast perhaps knew about it. The servants who brought the water changed to wine to the master of the feast certainly knew about it. But that's it from what we read. 1.      This is early in His ministry and I suspect He did it just for the disciples. Few others really knew, and we'll see why that takes place in just a moment, but it was important that Jesus do it this way. He's preparing His disciples. 2.      He is not ready to show himself to the world, and He makes that fairly clear to His mother when she told Him about the wine running out. That is the introductory context. Now let's look at the scripture. II.      The Story - John 2:1-4, “1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”” Cana of Galilee is not far from Nazareth. It's just a little village, and you might imagine that since it is not far away the people who are getting married are known to Jesus, to Mary and the family. We are not told the details but in verse 2 we are told they are invited. A.     That is interesting to me. With all the things that Jesus has to do with His purpose to go into the world and to show Himself and to try to get the people to recognize Him, yet He takes the time to go to a wedding feast. B.     These wedding feasts are tremendous occasions. They're quite different from ours. They go far beyond what we do. 1.      All of us here, I'm sure, enjoy weddings. We love the celebration. We love the people there, and we want to see them happy, it's fun, there's a lot of talking, and just great little celebration for, what? Two or three hours? This celebration, this feast lasts for a week. 2.      These people are in a society in which they work hard for everything they have, and they do not have much from our view point. When some couple you know is getting married, and they invite you to their wedding feast it is a big deal. We might think this Saturday night we're going to go to a wedding. No. For them, it’s we're going to spend a week at a wedding. It's a great celebration. It's just the best of the best. It is such an honor to be a part of a wedding, and the feast that's provided there. 3.      Jesus makes reference to weddings several times in the parables. These were significant events, and it was one of the great enjoyments of that age. Jesus took a week out of His life, His short life, His short ministry, to attend a social function. He never forgot His purpose, and the social function lent itself to the purpose that He had. C.    Place yourself at that wedding now and imagine the beauty of the scene. -- Then suddenly we read these words in verse 3, “… the wine ran out…”. Again that's not like one of our weddings, hey, we're out of punch, somebody run down to 7-Eleven. Nope. This is a one-week feast. A lot of people have come, and wine is a key beverage in the Eastern culture. It was not viewed as we view it today. I have been told that it was common to mix water with wine, typically three parts water to one part wine as mentioned in Talmudic sources. 1.      Not much reading is needed before you discover wine is a big thing in the Bible. After the flood, Noah is described as planting a vineyard. Vineyards feature in parables, stories, history, prophecy, and poetry throughout scripture. That's the picture that we have here. It was an important part of what they did. 2.      The wine ran out, and what's the next thing we know? Mary takes it upon herself to correct the situation. This always brings questions to our minds. She may have been a responsible person at the feast or just a take-charge lady, but she intends to do something about it… Regardless, Mary takes charge immediately, and she goes to Jesus, and says, the wine's run out. The implication I think, is “You need to do something”. III.    The Discussion (2:4-5) - Jesus' reply is in verse 4 – “…“Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.””[ESV] Here we see the discussion between Mary and Jesus. In reading this I would not be surprised if you were not as perplexed as me about what is said. A.     Mary says, “they have no wine” and you listen to Jesus words, “woman. What does that have to do with me? My hour's not yet come.” Then Mary's fascinating response to this, she turns to the servants and says, “do whatever he wants”. You feel like you've really missed a whole conversation here. Jesus sounds like I'm not doing anything. What do I care? Mary turns around and says he's about to do something. 1.      I suspect we see the key in verse 5 where we have a positive response from Mary. Whatever Jesus said to her, Mary understands it in a positive way. 2.      She tells the servants whatever he says to do, you do. I think that should color how we interpret what is going on in this dialogue. Let's look at what Jesus says now piece by piece. B.     The use of this word “woman” to address His mother seems a little harsh to us in English, but in the language of the time it was not so. Vine’s puts it this way; “… used in addressing a “woman”, it is not of reproof or severity, but of endearment or respect.” We should note that when Jesus is speaking to His mother from the cross in John 19:26 He uses the same word. C.    As to the rest of His question Jesus gives an idiom, making translation into English a bit difficult. Literally, the phrase is: “Woman, what to me and to you?” Well, what does that mean? The idiomatic expression asks rhetorically what the two parties in question have in common in the situation, and has the effect of distancing them. I suspect it has to do with Jesus’ action being according to God’s will, His plan. 1.      The rest of this verse has been viewed in various ways such as; "they are not yet completely out of wine," or "it is not time for me to step in yet," or "it is not yet time for me to show my glory," or as Barnes put it, "the proper time for his interposing there had not arrived,". This is all speculation of course, since we are not told. 2.      I submit to you based upon the context that Jesus is distancing Himself from Mary with this problem. Why the formalism of man to his mother, except he is distancing Himself from the request that's being made? Then to say this idiomatic phrase, what to me and to you in Jesus’ response is in effect to say, we don't have a joint effort in this matter. 3.      Next this phrase, “My hour has not yet come” occurs frequently in John’s gospel. Ten times Jesus speaks about “His hour” in this gospel. God works to His own plan. 4.      It seems to me that this sign is limited in who knows it occurred. I note that what Jesus did here is not widely declared. His mother, His disciples and the servants who brought the wine know. Beyond that we do not see it acknowledged. Jesus is operating on God’s timetable. 5.      We note that Mary doesn't argue with Him about it. Verse 5 – “His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”” She just turns to the servants and says, “Whatever He says to do, do it.” Whatever that is, it is in His hands and do whatever He tells you to do. It sounds to me that she knows Jesus is going to handle this in His way. Now let's go on and take a look at the greater story here. Start looking at the significance. IV.   The Sign (2:6-10) – “6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.””[ESV] Now we can get to the issue, the sign itself. Verse 6 is a critical part that we need to start with. A.     There are six stone water jars (or water pots in some translations) for the Jewish rights of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. I notice how John clearly explains this detail so it will not be missed. These are not drinking jars, they are not wine jars. They are for ritual and ceremonial cleansing. They are stone jars so that there will not be any defilement. 1.      In the Old Testament, Leviticus 11:29-38 talks about clean and unclean things. In verse 33 you find that if an earthenware vessel (i.e. pottery) becomes unclean it is to be broken. The Jews held that the stone jars used for ritual purification were not susceptible to contamination or defilement in the same way that pottery or other materials were. 2.      These ritual washings were not only the washing of hands and things like that, but also the washing of pitchers and bowls and utensils. That's the setup John records for the sign that Jesus is going to give us. B.     Okay, with that in mind, there are many observations to make about this sign so let's look at them and then we'll make the appropriate application. First observation we make, the wine has run out and yes, this is a big deal for the wedding, but it’s a way bigger deal than that. It is not the purpose of Jesus to keep people from having social difficulties. That's not the point. 1.      Wine constantly throughout the Old Testament was a symbol of joy and was a symbol of the blessings of God. You can find that all over the place, for example... Psalm 104:14-15 – “You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart.” Or Proverbs 3:9-10 – “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.” If we have wine, then we have God's blessings and He is with us. 2.      Here we have this very fascinating picture being given to us of these first century Jews being out of wine. When you are out of favor with God, you are no longer receiving the blessings of God. It’s all been taken away—the blessings of God have dried up. Jeremiah 38:33 talks about the judgment on Moab – “Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;” I suggest there is an important symbolism in the very simple statement, “the wine has run out”. It is the end of the line for the Jewish nation. 3.      No more is God pouring out His blessings upon the people. Consider what the Old Testament prophets indicated when they were looking forward to a time when the wine would be restored as symbolism of the blessings of God, the restoration of God's covenant to the people. Isaiah 25:6 – “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” The picture here is of a great blessing that is being given. When God returns and pours out His blessings this is often described as feasts and banquets and pouring of wine. 4.      In his prophecy of a future blessing on Judah Joel 3:17-18 writes, ““So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it. And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Shittim.” When God is in Zion, God restores the people and restores their relationship, what is going to happen? The wine is going to flow off the mountaintops. We have this imagery of flowing wine as a picture of the coming of the messianic age. 5.      Amos prophesying of the restoration of Israel writes in Amos 9:13-14, “13. “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. 14. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 15. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God.” In this restoration imagery is a picture of restoring of fortunes, restoring of blessings. 6.      When the wine runs out, God's blessings have dried up. You're out of favor with God. When the wine is flowing, God's blessings are flowing and you are in favor with Him and you are in a relationship with Him. I suggest this symbolism is here, in this very subtle statement, “the wine has run out”. C.    Second, Jesus uses the purification jars and thereby removes them from currently being used in ceremonial washing. That is very important to this issue as well. If you would touch something unclean, you became defiled. You then would need to do this cleansing to become clean. Not only yourself but other things that became unclean, dishes, cups and so on. Jesus goes out of His way to use these jars and involve the servants in full view of His disciples. 1.      He could have made wine out of nothing. He could have used common drinking elements or the existing wine containers and kept the wine from running out. No, He intentionally uses these and there is a point to that. 2.      There is no longer a need for this ritual cleansing, Jesus has set that aside. He has eliminated it because He is bringing the true cleansing, true purification. He brings the true cleansing, purification and washing that the people really need. That is the second picture we see in this sign. D.    Third, the wine runs out, but Jesus brings the wine. I think that is critical to what is going on here. The wine has run out, but Jesus is bringing the blessings of God. We already talked about when the wine runs out as symbolic of being: no longer in favor with God, no longer in relationship with God, no longer receiving the blessings of God. 1.      What does Jesus bring? Jesus brings the relationship with God. Jesus restores the blessings. Jesus is the way to be able to have relationship with God. Here you have a continuation of that imagery. 2.      The wine itself is not the point. This is about the restoration of blessings. God's blessings are found in Jesus, not in the old system, not in the ritual cleansings. He is the one who brings purification. He is the one who brings restoration. Restoration of God’s blessings cannot be found anywhere else. E.     Fourth, Jesus brings wine that is better. Did you catch that? The statement made by the master of ceremonies here is very important to the story. There in John 2:9-10, “When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first,…”” Look at the last part of verse 10, “… But you have kept the good wine until now” 1.      What is implied here is the wine now being served is better then the wine that was previously served. You have kept the good wine until now. You brought something better. 2.      Here is another forceful illustration by Jesus. The blessings that Jesus brings are better than anything the people had experienced before. They are greater and better. 3.      Anything that the Law of Moses offered is diminished in light of what Jesus brings. His covenant, His blessings, His promises, His restoration is better than anything from the Law of Moses. Better than anything the people had ever experienced up to that point. 4.      The relationship that people can have with the Father through Christ is superior in every way to what existed in the time before Christ. The wine is described as better. Better blessings, better covenant, better promises, a better relationship with our God. F.     Fifth, Then we notice something else as well, this is something all the commentators go crazy about. When you go back to verse 6, how much wine did He make? Each jar holds twenty to thirty gallons and there are six of these. That is somewhere between 120 and 180 gallons of wine. In verse 7 we read, “Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.” The jars were full, no room for anything more. That is a lot of wine! 1.      Jesus offers an abundance of blessings and grace. He brings more. Remember that goes exactly to what John has done at the very beginning of this gospel. How did he begin this great gospel? That in Christ “from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace”. 2.      This is overflowing grace. You received grace and mercy in the Law of Moses, but now Christ has come and you are receiving grace on top of grace. Or as the NIV says, grace in the place of grace already given. 3.      Here is the imagery of abundance. It is the overflowing grace of the kingdom now available to all people.   CONCLUSION: John was an eyewitness of the reported occurrences, as he himself writes. As such he was able to give clear particulars as "about the tenth hour" (John 1:39), "six water pots of stone" (John 2:6) and "153 great fishes" (John 21:11).   We mentioned before John’s Gospel is highly symbolic and highly spiritual. Consider the points that come from this gospel. First, all of the old ways are being challenged by Jesus, everything about the old covenant, its ritual system, its cleansing system, its tabernacle system, and its temple system. Jesus did not come to tidy up the old system, to get the Law of Moses back on track, to fix it or put a band aid on it. He came to fulfill the old. He came bringing a better covenant with better promises, with better blessings, with an overflowing of grace.   Second, Jesus provides new wine that surpasses anything that existed before. He gives things that are better and it makes everything else obsolete. That is what is so fantastic about how John records the story. Purification will not be found through the Law of Moses. Purification will not be found through these externals or through the ritual washings. Purification is now found through Christ and He surpasses anything that Judaism could have had or could have understood, all of it being made obsolete.   Third, the Messiah, the greatest blessing that God has poured out, has arrived. Why is this the first sign, the beginning? Because this shows the arrival of the Messiah and the blessings that are tied to His kingship and His Kingdom.   He has arrived with His kingdom and Jesus came with a new way and a new system calling for people to change. It is a call for radical restoration to God, to turn away from the old way, to turn away from the Law of Moses, a call to receive the abundant grace that is only found in Jesus and can't be found anywhere else. What a way for John to kick off the gospel. After laying this foundation; here is the Lamb of God, here is the Son of God, the Son of Man, the King of Israel, and here is the Word of God, the one and only God who brings grace upon grace.   In God’s plan we learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.   Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done this, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.   # ???   Reference Sermon: Brent Kercheville  

Matthew 16:24-26 24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? I heard a story about a group that went white water rafting on a particularly dangerous stretch of river. The raft came to a spot known as “the hole,” where a powerful whirlpool threatened to spin and then spill the raft. Sure enough the raft overturned and everyone inside was sucked down by the current. One woman clung tightly to the raft, frantically trying to keep her head above water. What she did not realize was that by doing so she was also in danger of being dragged underneath the raft by the current and smothered by the very thing she was attempting to use to save her life. Her friends, who had let go of the raft made their way to the security of a nearby rock, they pleaded with her to let go of the raft and let the current and her life jacket do the work. At first she was unwilling to do so. Finally, she decided to let go, she released her grip and disappeared under the water. A few moments later she popped up further down the river and was pulled to safety. Letting go can be a very difficult thing. When we let go we become vulnerable. Many people refuse to let go of things in their life because they are afraid of doing so. Whether it is a sin, some negative trait, bitterness, pride or worry we are often reluctant to simply let go. Sometimes we feel much safer holding on, but we do not realize, like the woman holding onto the raft that the thing we are holding onto is a great danger to us. I am reminded of the story of when the disciples were out at sea and a great storm came. The Bible tells us that the disciples were afraid, they feared for their lives. At that moment they became even more afraid because they saw what looked to them like a ghost walking out on the water towards them. As the figure drew closer they saw that it was not a ghost, but it was in fact Jesus. Then Peter asked the Lord to allow him to come to Him on the water. Peter climbed out of the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus. Peter is often criticized for his over-zealous moments, but Peter had the faith to let go of the comfort of the boat and come to Jesus. We all have our boats.  We have those things we are clinging to and refuse to let go of, however before we can get to Jesus we must let go. What is it today that is holding you back from letting go? Is it fear of the unknown? Is it a fear of what others may think of you? Perhaps some never change because they don’t want others to think less of them. Is it an unwillingness to change? Is it your pride? Jesus taught that anyone who wants to save his life must first lose it. Before we can find true life, we must deny ourselves. What Does It Mean to Let Go Of Self? An old farmer frequently described his Christian experience by saying, “Well, I’m not making much progress, but I am established.” One spring while he was hauling some logs his wagon wheels stuck down to the axles in mud. Try as he would he could not get the wheels out of the mud. Defeated he sat a top of the logs viewing the dismal situation. Not long afterwards a neighbor happened to pass by and said to the farmer, “Well, I see you aren’t making much progress, but you must be content because you sure are established.” Letting go of self is more than just being well established. There may be some of us who are very well established, but who are not growing. There are some of us who may refuse to let go of self and take up our cross. Jesus taught that we cannot serve two masters. A ship cannot fly the flag of 2 different countries. When we deny ourselves and take up our cross we are allowing Jesus to take over as Lord of our lives. When Jesus is Lord it means he sets the rules. It means that we are willing to submit ourselves under his authority. Jesus taught in Matthew 7 , 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." When Jesus becomes Lord it means we concede control of our lives over to Him. Romans 6:6-7 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. We learn that at our baptism we not only received the forgiveness of our sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, but we died. We died with Christ and our old self was crucified in Him. As Christians we do not gratify our sinful desires any longer. In other words as a Christian there are still things that are sinful that I would LIKE to do. I am still TEMPTED to do wrong things, however, I REFUSE to do them because I am not going to gratify those desires any longer because I am not living to myself. I am not living my life seeking to make myself feel good. As Christians this dying to self ought to be marked by a distinct change in character. Colossians 3:5-10 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. If we have really died to self then we will not always have to give into those temptations and desires we have. The new self should be increasingly more like God like in its actions. Ephesians 4:22-24 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. We No Longer Live To Ourselves Galatians 2:20 "20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." We need to understand that we no longer live to ourselves. We have died. Let us remember that dying to self means that WE no longer live, but it is CHRIST living in us. Why Is Letting Go Of Self So Difficult? Mark 10:17-22 17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” 20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. The idea of Heaven and eternity with God sounds great and perhaps many would volunteer to receive that, however the idea of signing your life away doesn’t sound too appealing, does it? We love those feel good verses of Scripture, but we begin to squirm a little when we read of the cost of following Jesus. We love to be in control. We get a little uncomfortable when we read of denying ourselves and taking up our cross. That doesn’t sound too appealing. However, the invitation to be a Christian is totally free, but the call us for us to remove ourselves from the controls. II Timothy 3:2 William Ernest Henley in his famous poem entitled “Invictus” said, “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.” Many of us have bought into this philosophy that we are the master of our lives. We like to be in control. I would much rather be in control of a situation than have someone else in control of the situation. I am one of those people that would rather do it myself than entrust it to someone else. That is not a good attribute. We need to learn to allow Jesus to be the master of our fate and the captain of my soul. Perhaps some feel like it is a violation of their freedoms to lay aside themselves and let Jesus take control. Perhaps they feel that is the sign of somebody that is weak and vulnerable. Jesus taught that we must lose our lives to really find it. By that he means that we give up the project of making OURSELVES the ultimate reference point in our world. We are not number one. The universe does not revolve around us. We think we know what is best. A pirate was returning home from a long journey, he had spent many years lying, stealing, and cheating in a far away land. He has accumulated a great chest full of treasure. The pirate held on tightly to that chest because he saw in it, something of much more value than just jewels and gold, rather he saw in that chest the fulfillment of his dreams, hopes and aspirations. He knew that the treasure was the key to his “good life”. Having already obtained a great fortune the pirate decided to return home and after boarding the ship and having traveled a great distance from shore a storm arose. It did not take long for the storm to overtake the ship and eventually break the ship into pieces. Eventually, the pirate and his treasure plunged into the sea. He began to sink holding tightly to his treasure. As he was sinking all that went through his mind was how he could get his treasure safely to shore. However, he began to realize that if he continued to hold onto that chest he would not be able to make it to shore, and that same chest which he saw as his life... was now causing him to face death. Reluctantly the pirate let go of that chest and began to swim towards shore. We are a lot like that pirate. We hold on to our agenda and ego thinking that they are bringing us life; however that is not the reality. They are really pulling us towards our death and at some point we must let go. Sometimes we think we know what is best for our lives. Sometimes we think that we do not need someone else to control us because we are capable of making those good decisions on our own. However, I do not think we always know what is best. I believe our idea of good has been tainted by sin. Jeremiah says, “The heart is exceeding deceitful above all things.” I believe it is that deception that allows us to think we on our own can know what is best for our lives. We need to learn plainly that the power of a good and godly life is not in us alone, but it comes from Christ. We need to trust that Jesus knows what is best for us even better than we do. We live in a very selfish society. The idea of sacrificing and giving up something doesn’t sound appealing to many people. We are a people that want to know the price of everything and the cost of nothing. We want to get as much as we can while doing little to get it. The idea of delaying gratification seems ridiculous to many. We live by the philosophy, “if it feels good it must be right.” We do not like to deny ourselves any pleasure or anything in the world. We think the more we have and the more we indulge in… the more successful we are. In Genesis 25 we read a story about two brothers Jacob and Esau. The Bible tells us that Esau was a rugged man who loved the outdoors. He was a Daddy’s boy. Jacob on the other hand was a momma’s boy. One day Esau came home from hunting and was starving. Jacob just happened to be cooking up some stew. He offered Esau some stew under one condition. Jacob would give Esau a bowl of stew if Esau sold him his birthright. Esau agreed. Now, the birthright would have been a big deal. It would have meant an extra portion of inheritance. Esau could not deny himself anything but could only live for the now. Many of us are like that today. Jesus came on the scene and called us to be willing to sacrifice, deny ourselves and give up our fleshly desires. There is a quote that says “The WISE gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”. What Must We do to Let go of Self? We must step down. Perhaps we need to have the mentality that John the Baptist had when he said I must decrease and Christ must increase. We must be willing to step aside and let Him have the glory and honor of all that we do or accomplish. We must step down from our position of authority over our lives and give him the reins. There are many tools we can use such as prayer, Bible study, service, worship, and fellowship, but the reality is we must train ourselves to be godly. We must understand the reward. Let us understand that the life of denying self and taking up your cross is the good life. It is a better life to live. Philippians 3:7-9 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; Paul was able to say looking back on his life that dying to self was the best decision he ever made. Did he make sacrifices? Certainly! Did it cost him? Greatly! However… it was worth it. He no longer was living based on his righteousness. When we die to self we lose the righteousness of our own, but we gain the righteousness of Christ. It is worth the sacrifice because Jesus is Lord no matter what. The reward is great for those who die to self. Philippians 3:18-20 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, There was a psychology professor who walked around on a stage while teaching stress management principles to an auditorium filled with students. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the typical “glass half empty or glass half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, the professor asked, “How heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?” Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a couple pounds. She replied, “From my perspective, the absolute weight of this glass doesn’t matter. It all depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute or two, it’s fairly light. If I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm ache a little. If I hold it for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feels to me.” As the class shook their heads in agreement, she continued, “Your stresses and worries in life are very much like this glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and you begin to ache a little. Think about them all day long, and you will feel completely numb and paralyzed — incapable of doing anything else until you drop them.” INVITATION

Luke 10:25-37 Good morning. I hope your week went well. My brother, Mom, and I are going to Chicago in a few weeks' time. My brother and I are going to go check out the Comic-Con they have up there. There's cool stuff you can see and do, so we like to go to those. We've gone to one in Pittsburgh and one in Cleveland. We thought we might as well go to Chicago. Mom and Dad are tagging along. They'll be checking out the city while we're there. One thing I always notice, and I think most people notice when you're in big cities like that, is there's a lot of homelessness. There's a lot of poverty. In a place like that, there are a lot of people. You see people living in the tallest buildings you may ever see. Rich, poor, people just making it, people doing well, everyone alike. You pass by a lot of people every day who, honestly, I'm not sure will make it to the end of that day. That somewhat brings me to today's lesson. We will be in Luke 10:25-37 for this lesson. If you recognize that, it is the parable of the Good Samaritan. I will start with verses 25 through 27. “On one occasion, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. Teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What is written in the law, he replied. How do you read it, he answered. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. And with all your strength and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.” The lawyer here is referencing Moses' words in Deuteronomy 6:5-6. These are the Lord's commandments to us not just to love our God, but to love our neighbors as well. These are the cornerstones of being saved and the essence of being a follower of Christ. To love your neighbor as you love yourself. What does this look like? There are plenty of examples in the Bible. Many times Jesus attended to the poor and the weak. In Mark 12:28-31 it says, “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer. He asked of all the commandments, which is the most important? The most important one, answered Jesus, is this, hear O Israel. The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. And with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this love your neighbor as yourself. There is no command greater than these two.” These commands are repeated many times throughout the Bible. Constantly, you hear them throughout the entire thing because they are important. That is because we need to understand them, and we need to know them. To make sure that we hear this, and we notice, it's repeated. Moving on through verses 28 through 29, it says, “You have answered correctly, Jesus replied. Do this and you will live. But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, And who is my neighbor? The lawyer asked, Who is my neighbor?” A reasonable question, but one he surely knows the answer to. It is my belief that he just does not want to admit that his neighbor is everyone. He wants it to be only the people he believes it should be. Really, he is asking, who must I treat neighborly? Am I allowed to choose? Can I pick and choose the people I treat like neighbors? Or must I treat everyone like a neighbor even if he does not want to? In Romans 12.20, we are told, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” In other words, we are meant to treat our enemy like a neighbor because that sounds neighborly, right? Feed him, give him something to drink. If we are to treat our enemies neighborly, then as Christians, we ought to treat everybody as neighbors? If we are supposed to treat the people who are against us, then we should treat everyone that way. In verses 30-32, it says, “A priest happened to be going down the same road. And when he saw the man, he passed by the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.” Notice who passed over the man here. Notice who they were. It was a priest and a Levite—the spiritual leaders of the day, the people who had authority and power. These are people who were respected. Notice, they just walked by. They saw the man and did nothing. They were not without reason, of course. They could have assumed that it was a ploy. It was a robber trying to get them in close to take their things, or that there were other people waiting for someone to just come by and help and lead people into a trap. That’s not a bad assumption, but as leaders of their people, as spiritual leaders and representatives of God, They should have known, and done better. As the lawyer earlier mentioned, you must love your neighbor as yourself. The men here did not even have the decency to ask the man if he was okay, nor to show him the love and compassion of actually taking care of him. It seems like, they didn't even spare him a second glance. In 1 John 4:20, it says, “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot[a] love God whom he has not seen.” Christ is calling these people out here, not only for not being neighborly, but for not loving God himself. If you truly loved your brother or neighbor, then you would help them in their time of need. Here though, they just pass on. They do nothing. These religious leaders, according to Christ, and what we are told, they do not know God. If they did love their neighbor, they would know God. Here, they clearly do not. Continuing verses 33-35, it says, “But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was. And when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him into an inn, and took care of them. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.” This Samaritan showed this man kindness. It is interesting that Jesus chose to use a Samaritan as the person to show the man kindness. As many know, Samaritans were not looked at kindly at this time. They were a lower class citizen. They were seen as inferior. They were racially mixed people and were looked down upon because of this by society at the time. Jesus uses one here to emphasize that everyone is our neighbor. Because if a Samaritan man is showing kindness to the man, then so should the Jews of the time as well. If the Samaritan can know God, then so can everyone else. Christ seems to like to use Samaritans in the Bible. We have him using one in His experience with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. It makes sense though they were looked down on, as I said, during that time. Christ would go out of his way to show that his gift is meant for everyone. You do not need to be of this heritage or this people to be saved or to have salvation. Only you must go through Him. It is a gift anyone can accept, and I think that's why he used the Samaritan man here to emphasize that, and to show that anyone can know God, not just this person or that person. In Galatians 3:13-14, it says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” Christ's gift is for all, for everyone who surrenders themselves unto him. Not just for the Jews, not just for this people, not just for the people living in this nation or that nation or by these parents or that parent, but by everyone who comes to him. In verses 36-37, it says, “which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers? The expert in the law replied, the one who had mercy on him. Jesus told him, go ahead and do likewise.” Notice how the lawyer didn't say the Samaritan. He actively goes out of his way to not mention his heritage and instead calls him the one who had mercy. This goes to show the prejudice towards the Samaritans at the time. Even with Jesus in front of him giving him examples of a man acting neighborly. He refused to even call him a Samaritan as he was, as Jesus called him. This could be a stretch, but I think this just shows the own arrogance and ignorance in the lawyer himself. I ask you when you go out into the world do not be like the priest or the Levite. Be like the Samaritan. Be a neighbor to all. Feed the hungry and take care of the sick. First, if we love God, we must love our neighbors as well. In Mark 12:30-31, it says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your strength, and with all your soul. Second is this, love your neighbor as yourself.  There are no commandments greater than these.” Christ loved us more than we can ever imagine. It is our job as Christians to replicate that love. I'm not saying when you go to Cleveland or Chicago to grab every homeless person off the street and build a house for them, but if you see a person, who for some reason got stabbed or shot, take care of them. Call 911. Get the paramedics, and until you are sure they are safe and in better hands than yours, stay with them. If you have a dollar to spare for someone who looks like they might need food, spare them a dollar. If someone looks like they need someone to talk to for a second, maybe sit down and talk. Act neighborly with the people you see. Act neighborly with those around you, not just in the big cities, not just in the extreme circumstances, but every day. I'll never forget, there was one day I was working at Giorgio's. I was delivering food. It was the last delivery of the night. It was like 10:30. And this man opens the door. I slightly see in his apartment, and it's just a mess in there. The guy was probably a hoarder. It was in the small apartment complex. He just starts talking, and he's talking and talking. Mom's back at the shop. I'm thinking Mom's probably fine. I'll just let this guy talk because it seemed like he hadn't talked to anyone in a while. I leave there 30 minutes later after he was done talking about race cars and this and that. That's acting neighborly. The man wanted someone to talk to. He was obviously lonely. You can find these situations anywhere. I ask you, if you wish to serve the Lord, act neighborly as the Samaritan man did. Treat not only your physical neighbors, but everyone you come across on as a neighbor. Christ loved all of us more than we could ever imagine, and it is our duty as Christians to try and replicate that love. If you've not come to Him, if you have not been baptized for the remission of your sins, if you have not confessed to the world that you believe Christ is the Lord and Savior, I ask, be baptized and repent. Thank you. Please stand up and sing number 596.

Esther 4: 1–17 As you’re turning to Esther 4 this morning, I want to give you a little background to the story we’ll be reading. Nearly 500 years before Christ, and about 50 years after Ezra had led the Jews back to Jerusalem from their captivity in Babylon (they’d been sent into captivity due their sinful and unrepentant hearts) many of the Jewish people still live the land of Persia under the reign of a King named Xerxes. Now, Xerxes was a pagan who was known to be a cruel and unpredictable man. We’re introduced to him at the beginning of the book of Esther where he has staged a grand festival designed to exhibit the power and wealth of his Kingdom that lasted for over 6 months. And at the end of that festival he held a 7 day feast filled with food and drink. In his drunkenness he called for his beautiful queen, Queen Vashti, to come and parade before guests. She is offended by his request and promptly refuses. This in turn enrages the King… and he deposes her. After he has had time to reconsider his anger he seeks to find a replacement for Vashti. His counselors advised him to hold a beauty contest and from amongst the most beautiful women of the land, to choose a new queen. And that’s how Esther became the Queen of Persia. Shortly thereafter, we’re introduced to the villain of the story. He’s an ambitious and arrogant noble by the name of Haman. Haman was a favorite of the King and he has apparently done something that has allowed him to be placed in a position of high honor. The King passes a decree that commands all his officials must bow down and honor Haman whenever he passes by. But there was one man in the city that refused to do this. Esther had an uncle named Mordecai who was a righteous man, and he wasn’t going to bow to anyone other than God. Esther 3:5-6 says that “When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.” Haman schemed about how to carry out this plan, and finally he spoke to the King and told him "There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will put ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury for the men who carry out this business." Esther 3:8-9 Because the King trusted Haman’s judgment, the King decreed that all the Jews should indeed be eliminated. With that much of the story now in our minds, let’s turn to Esther 4:1-17. OPEN: During the height of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln found refuge going to church services there in Washington, D.C.. He would go with an aide, sit quietly with his stovepipe hat in his lap. He would listen intently as the minister would open the Scriptures and teach God’s Word and lead the congregation in worship. The war was tearing the nation apart and it tore at his soul as well. He’d just lost his own son, and now Lincoln was grieving, and needing comfort and nourishment for his soul. The preacher finished his message and the people began to leave. The president quietly stood up, straightened his coat, took his hat in hand and began to leave. His aide stopped him and said, "What did you think of the sermon, Mr. President?" Lincoln answered, "I thought the sermon was carefully thought through, eloquently delivered." The aide said, "You thought it was a great sermon?" Lincoln replied, "No I thought he failed… he did not ask anything of us." The preacher hadn’t asked his congregation to do something great. He hadn’t challenged the people, or the President of the United States, to do more with their lives. And that disturbed the President, because Lincoln saw his nation in turmoil and saw himself struggling with a deep pain and loss. Abraham Lincoln understood one central truth out of the Bible… and that was: • when life is difficult • and the world is filled with struggles and hardship and pain …that’s when God calls upon His people… to DO something It’s a repeated theme throughout Scripture that when God comes into contact with people … they are MOVED to do things. Sometimes they’re moved to do great things • Like Noah building an ark • Moses leading the people out of the slavery of Egypt • Joshua taking down Jericho • Or David taking out a giant Other times, when people come in contact with God … they do little things that make a big difference because of God’s power. • A little boy shares his meager lunch with Jesus, and as a result over 5000 people are fed. • Then there’s the woman who met Jesus at the well and then went back to her village and told them who she’d met… and the whole community came out to see Him and their lives are changed. Again and again, throughout Scripture, we see people rise up to do great things, or small things. And they all make a difference… because God made a difference in their lives. Thus, when the occasion arises – and we don’t – something is wrong. That brings us to our story this morning Mordecai is frantic. He has obeyed God. He has refused to bow in worship of another man. He has done the right thing. And his obedience has brought about the threat of annihilation to his people. They will soon be destroyed… and it is his fault. So, He tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth, throws ashes on his head and makes his way to the walls of the palace where he cries out in bitter tears. But he’s not allowed into the palace, because no-one in sackcloth is allowed inside. Now, Esther hasn’t heard about the edict of the King yet and she has no idea what danger her people are in. But there’s no ignoring the loud cries of her uncle outside her home. So she sends one of her attendants out to find out what is wrong. Mordecai sends the attendant back - with the news of Haman’s plans along with a copy of the King’s edict. Mordecai’s is very clear on what he wants: He expects Esther to DO something about this impending disaster. He expects her to go and talk to the King. Because he realizes that she’s the ONLY one who can anything about the problem. But Esther doesn’t want to. She doesn’t want to get involved. She explains that this is NOT a good time to be approaching the King. In fact, there’s NEVER a good time to approach the King because he’s a dangerous man… and she might be putting her own life in danger if she tried. Now, why doesn’t Esther want to intercede for her people? Why doesn’t she want to approach the King? What emotion is behind her refusal? She’s afraid One of the major reasons why YOU and I might not DO something, why we would not want to obey God is because we’re afraid. Fear comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes. A psychologist at Yale once compiled a list of some of peoples’ most prominent fears Fear of failure... Fear of commitment... Fear of trusting others... Fear of thinking or speaking publicly... Fear of being alone. And he could have gone on and on with that list. Fear is a very real emotion in people’s lives. It controls us, it limits us, it enslaves us. And God doesn’t want that. He doesn’t want fear to rule our lives And so, repeatedly throughout Scripture, He tells us “Fear Not” Someone once noted that this command occurred repeatedly throughout Scripture, and so they did a search of all the places where “Do not be afraid”, “Fear Not” or a similar command appeared in the Bible. What they found surprised them. They found that the command is found 365 times in the Bible. One for every day of the year. I don’t believe anything happens in Scripture by chance. I believe the reason this command occurs 365 times in the Bible is because God doesn’t want a single day of our lives to be dominated by fear. So… how can I overcome fear? Well, you and can overcome your fears the same way Esther overcame hers. The first lie of fear if you ignore a problem it will go away. If God brings a problem to YOUR attention… He probably wants YOU to do something about it. And that’s what Mordecai was trying to tell his niece Esther 4:14 states: “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” This verse emphasizes the importance of purpose and courage. Mordecai urges Queen Esther to recognize her unique position and the potential impact of her actions, suggesting that her role may be part of a larger divine plan. It challenges readers to reflect on their own responsibilities and the significance of taking action when faced with difficult decisions. Mordecai overcame his fear by doing what he could. And that is what he was telling Esther as well. So, the first key to overcoming fear is to realize: If it is to be, it may depend on thee. The 2nd Key to overcoming fear is knowing that: If you don’t go… trouble will grow. If you see a problem and you could have done something about it but you didn’t (you left it to someone else to do) the problem won’t go away. It might be fixed for a little while, but it will come back. That’s what Mordecai is telling Esther in verses 13 and 14 when he says: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish…” Esther 4:13-14 If God believes something is important enough to bring it to YOUR attention (and you don’t do something about it) He’s not going to be happy with you. And you don’t want God unhappy with you. Isaiah put it this way: “Do not… fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread” Isaiah 8:12-13 And that’s pretty much what Mordecai is telling Esther: Don’t make God mad... you won’t like Him when He’s mad. Oddly enough… it’s fear of God that helps us deal with all our other fears. Psalms 34 puts it this way: “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them… Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.” Psalms 34:7&9 Now, somehow that seems counterintuitive. How could adding one more fear to my life help me control other fears I might have? ILLUS: As I thought about that, I came across this story. A family had a dog named Lady. She was collie and was the friendliest and gentlest dog you could have. Now, dad was a no-nonsense farmer who believed that a dog’s place was outside the home. The only concession he made was that Lady could be out of the weather if she stayed down in the basement. If Lady ever dared to venture past the basement door into the kitchen, she was promptly punished. One night there was a terrible storm. Lightening and thunder filled sky and Lady was terrified. She ran up out of the basement seeking protection. But Lady didn’t come to either of the kid’s beds. She didn’t even seek out the comfort from the mother of the family. Right in the middle of the night, Lady bounded up the stairs, into the parent’s bedroom and went right up beside the dad. In her mind, there was only one place that was safe from the dangers of the night… in the arms of the one she feared. She figured if he was powerful enough to rule the home, he was powerful enough to protect her in her danger. God’s recipe for conquering our fears is to realize He is the only one we need to fear. If we fear Him - if we place His desires above everything else - He has the power and the desire to protect us from anything we might fear. Esther faced a problem she didn’t know how to handle and so she decided to get serious about her prayers. She told Mordecai: "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." Esther 4:16 She was saying: I fear the King of Persia… but I fear the God of Israel more. And so, I will obey God. But first I’m going to get spiritually prepared for the challenge. Now, I’m not going to tell you the rest of the story. It is Suffice to say – Esther wins, Haman loses (big time). But realize that Esther won ONLY because she overcame her fear. And she overcame her fear by realizing 1. It was up to her to deal with the problem. 2. If she shirked her duty, the problem would not go away 3. That in order to meet the challenge, she had to some serious fasting and prayer. She overcame because she made a choice. Her choice was between fearing God more… or fearing the unknown CLOSE: A long, long time ago, in a war that took place in the Middle East, a spy was captured and sentenced to death by a general of the Persian army. The general was an unusual man and he had adopted a strange and unusual custom in such cases. He permitted the condemned person to make a choice. The prisoner could either face the firing squad or pass through… the Black Door. As the moment of the execution drew near, the general ordered the spy to be brought before him and was asked: "What shall it be - the firing squad or the Black Door?" This was not an easy decision and the prisoner hesitated but ultimately chose the firing squad - preferring it to the unknown horrors that might wait for him behind the ominous and mysterious door. Not much later, gunshots filled the air, and the spy lay dead on the ground. The general, staring at his boots, turned to his aide and said "You see how it is with men; they will always prefer the known way to the unknown. It is characteristic of people to be afraid of the undefined. Yet I gave him his choice." The aide was curious and asked: "What lies beyond the Black Door?". The general smiled grimly and replied, "Freedom… and I’ve known only a few brave enough to take it." The one thing that we fear most in our lives is the unknown. The unforeseen. The uncontrolled. This fear has the ability to immobilize us and haunt our dreams. It is when we’re faced with such fear that we most need to make a choice: Will we trust God, or give in to our fears. For it is only in trusting God that we can find freedom in our lives.

Text: Judges 6 & 7 While sports fishing off the Florida coast, a tourist capsized his boat. He could swim, but his fear of alligators kept him clinging to the overturned craft. Spotting an old beachcomber standing on the shore, the tourist shouted, “Are there any gators around here?” “Naw,” the man hollered back, “they ain’t been around for years!” “Feeling safe, the tourist started swimming leisurely toward the shore. About halfway there he asked the guy, “How did you get rid of the gators?” “We didn’t do nothin’,” the beachcomber said. “The sharks got ’em.” I would like to try something new this morning… for part of my sermon I would like to take on the role of Gideon, Therefore … I will be speaking in first person as if I am Gideon…the son of Joash, of the family of the Abiezites, the tribe of Manasseh and the nation of Israel. There are those who say that I am a great warrior. And it is true that i have always fought against the enemies of Israel. But there was a time that I was little more than a flea on the back of a dog. Let’s imagine the dust of the threshing floor clinging to our sandals, the faint whisper of fear in the air, and a simple farmer—Gideon—hiding his grain from raiders. In that moment, God breaks in and calls me “mighty warrior.” How often does God see more in us than we see in ourselves? • My family was poor, afraid, even worshipping idols. • Yet in (Judges 6:12), while Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” • NOTE: God’s vision for us isn’t limited by our history or mistakes. He invites us into who we can become. I find it interesting that God called me …Gideon “MIGHTY WARRIOR” while I was hiding from the enemy! 😊 Ask yourself: What label is God giving you today? How different is how God sees you from how you see yourself? The Midianites had been raiding our land for several years now. They took what they WANTED and killed who they would. My one consolation was that I was able to pay them back AT LEAST in part… for the pain they had caused our nation. But they were a powerful and malicious people and many of our people fled to hide in the mountains and the hills and even holes in the ground. When the angel of the Lord found me, I was ALSO hiding. I was in my father winepress threshing wheat, hoping that the Midianites would not find me and take away what little food I could supply for my family. It was there that the angel of the Lord found me. And he said to me: “The Lord is with you Gideon. You have been chosen by God to deliver Israel from their enemies. God will be with you and together you will crush the might of Midian in a single night.” Have you ever seen an angel? Neither had I. I had no idea who this man was. But what he said, and the way in which he said it spoke to my heart. God still cared for us even though He had turned His face from us. He had lifted His hand of protection FROM over us and delivered us into the hands of our enemies because of the sinfulness of my people. We had worshipped other gods and offered sacrifices and prayers in their names. And God was furious. It’s not that we intended to anger God. We still offered prayers and sacrifices to Him. But we figured – if one God is good (shrug) THEN many are better. And so, all across the land there were altars and idols and there were prayers and sacrifices made in the names of pagan gods. And God was not pleased. NOTE:WE SHOULD NOT TRY TO CHANGE GOD’s LAWS into what WE WANT oR THINK they SHOULD BE! Deut. 4:2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. Rev. 22:18-19 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. Even in my father’s field there was an altar that the villagers frequently offered their sacrifices at. An altar to Baal. And around the altar there were Asherah poles, placed there in honor of the goddess of fertility. And God said to me “TEAR DOWN THAT ALTAR AND BUILD FOR ME A PROPER ALTAR IN IT’S PLACE! Go into your father’s herd and take the 2nd bull and slaughter and offer it as a sacrifice on my altar. Then cut down the Asherah poles and use them for wood to burn the sacrifice.” And that just what I did… at night… while everyone in the village was asleep. I didn't want anyone to know that I had destroyed the altar and cut down the Asherah poles, because I knew they would seek to kill me if they did. It wasn't long after that that the Midianites returned to our land to ravage our crops and steal from our homes. They came with their allies the Amalekites, and with people from other eastern tribes, and settled in the Valley of Jezreel. Those who dared to look down into their camp said that the Midianite forces were as numerous as a hoard of locusts and that their camels were as could no more be counted than you could count the sand on the seashore. Those who tried to count their number seemed to agree that there were at least 120,000 armed men in their camp. It was then God said to me: “Gideon, the time has come to raise an army to drive out the enemies of Israel.” And so I went to the city square and found the horn that we used to call people to war. People came running in from the fields and out of their houses. And when they came into the village square I told them what God had said to me. That it was time for us to rise and throw off the shackles of the Midianites and go to war. We sent out messengers to the far reaches of the tribe of Manasseh, and also the tribes of Asher, Naphtali and Zebulun. And within a few short days men began to arrive at our village. Ultimately 32,000 men encamped around my home. Thirty-two thousand men had come to be led into battle with me as their leader. Thirty-two thousand men!!! How many men did the Midianites have again? 120,000? And we had 32,000? 120,000… against 32,000? And I looked up to God and I said: “We need to talk. If You truly want to send me into battle with our enemies outnumbering us about 4 to 1, I need a sign to prove that it is truly your will.” And I had decided on just the test that could prove it was indeed His will. When I was younger I noticed that when I entered in my father’s winepress in the morning, the floor glistened with the dew of the night. • in (Judges 6:36–40) Gideon tests God with a fleece And so I said to God, please do not be angry, but if it your will to send us into battle with this size of a force, allow me to put a fleece from the flocks of my father on the floor of his winepress. If it is Your will, make it so that the floor is dry, and the fleece is wet. And so I placed the fleece on the floor, and went to bed. When I got up the next morning, what do you think I found? That’s right. The floor was completely dry, but the fleece was completely soaked. God had spoken. He was calling me to go to war. But still… I only had 32,000 men. That’s hardly an army that would overwhelm the Midianites. What if I misunderstood God in this test? And so I said to God, please don’t be angry, but just to make sure I haven’t misunderstood Your will, allow me to do just one more test. Allow me to place the fleece on the floor of the winepress one more time. And in the morning, if the fleece is dry and the floor is wet THEN I’ll know it was your will. And that is what I did. And then I went to bed. The next morning I got up, and guess what I saw? That’s right, the fleece was dry, and the floor glistened with the dew of the night. And then I knew this was God’s will. And 32,000 men – with such an awesome God at our back – it could be done. It was a respectable force in the hands of a mighty God. Yes! I could do this. I could lead these men to victory over the Midianites. They only outnumbered us 4 to 1! It could be done! We were men of Israel. We were bold and courageous and able to stand against the pagans and defeat them. But then God said (pause)“Gideon… you have too many men.” WAIT! WHAT? SERIOUSLY? We only have 32,000! But God said, tell the men that whoever is afraid may go home to their tribes. Well, that’s not so bad. These were brave men of the nation of Israel. These were men of courage and strength and their anger with Midian would overcome any supposed fear. I would hardly miss the ones who would leave. And so I mockingly addressed the men. If any of them were afraid, they were welcome to leave and return to their homes. And 22,000 men folded their tents and left! I only had 10,000 soldiers remaining. But still, it was more men than I’d ever led into a battle before. It could still be done. I might yet be victorious in a battle against our nation’s enemies even with just 10,000 men. But then God spoke to me again. “Gideon, you still have TOO MANY men. If you were to win with such a force, Israel might be tempted to believe they had won against Midian by the force of their own arms, rather than by the power of My arm.” And he told me take the army down to the banks of the river and observe them as they drank from its streams. • God whittles Gideon’s army from 32,000 down to 300 (Judges 7:2–7). And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” 6And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. 7And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” • The point: the victory is God’s, not ours. When we rely on OUR strength, we take the credit. When we rely on GOD and HIS STRENGTH, HE gets the glory. OUR Takeaway should be: When life’s battles feel overwhelming, remember: God doesn’t need our vast resources— He needs our available heart. Now, according to Judges 7:16 – 23 I divided our men into 3 companies and gave each man a trumpet and empty jar to cover their torches. Then I explained to them where they should position their men around the camp of our enemies and sent them to their places. When it seemed that our men were properly positioned I blew my horn, and – as one man – our army broke their jars to reveal their torches and blew their trumpets. The night was lit up with the blaze of our torches and our trumpets spoke with the judgment of God upon the camp of Midian. And all of our men shouted “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon.” It was such an overwhelming sight and such a thunderous sound that the camp of the Midianites erupted in fear as each man ran from their tents and grabbed for their swords. In their confusion, they believed that we were in the midst of their camp and they began to turning their swords on one another. And the slaughter that night… was terrible. Those who survived cried as they fled from the valley and we chased them all the way out of our land. And the Midianites never returned to bother us again. • Note: A few faithful, obedient hearts can turn the tide of an entire nation. Challenge: Who is in your “300”? Whose faithfulness encourages you to step out in obedience? That night changed me. It was on that night that I realized all that God had meant to teach me. I had learned that I was being called by a God who wanted my total allegiance. He was a God who would not tolerate any other god, or any other treasure to stand between myself and Him. If I was to be used by God, I needed to destroy and remove from my life anything that would compete for my affections. Matthew 22:36 – 37 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. AND, Revelation 3:16 – 17 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. I also learned that the God I came to serve was a powerful God. He was a God who could protect me from the anger of my neighbors. A God who could speak to me by my own personal fleeces and by the dreams of my enemies. And He was a God who could destroy a mighty army with a force of only 300 men. THAT is the God that I serve! A God who would stand beside me and protect me in times of trouble. A God who could bring strength to my life and peace to my heart. Conclusion & Invitation Gideon’s life reminds us that God: Sees our potential … far beyond our self-image. Gideon’s life reminds us that God: Wins His greatest victories through our humble surrender. Gideon’s life reminds us that God: Uses small bands of faithful hearts to accomplish His purposes. Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Calls us to keep Him at the center, lest victory turn to vanity. What fears do we need to lay before GOD this morning? Let’s step out, trusting that the same Spirit who empowered Gideon is at work in us. God’s not finished with you yet—your “mighty warrior” identity awaits. Do you know the power of God in your life that can give you courage and strength? Do you have the kind of peace that only God can give? If you don’t, we offer a time of invitation for you to make that decision for Him this morning.

Mark 1:14-15 INTRO: Good morning church. Little Jenny was standing on a stool in the kitchen and she was helping her mother by drying dishes.   She was looking at her mother and she noticed that in that beautiful auburn hair that her mother had, there were some gray hairs. So she looked at her mother and she said, Mom, why are there gray hairs in your hair?  Her mother said, Well, Jenny, whenever you misbehave, whenever you do something to cause me trouble, worry and aggravation, one of my hairs turns gray. Oh, Jenny said.  She thought a minute.  And she said, Why does grandma have all gray hair? I invite you to open your Bibles to the gospel of Mark 1:14-15 and read what happens after John the Baptist is delivered up; Mark 1:14-15 – “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.””[ESV] If you compare the gospel of John with the synoptic gospels, you will discover that Jesus did not go immediately from His baptism and wilderness temptations into His great Galilean teaching ministry. What you will discover if you compare the feasts that are mentioned which Jesus attended with the timing of these events, is that about a years time separates His baptism from the beginning of His ministry in Galilee. One writer has called this year of time “a year of obscurity”. The style of Mark’s Gospel is quick-moving and dramatic. His gospel being one of swift and vigorous action, and one of his favorite expressions being straightway. What Mark does is move immediately from the temptations into the Galilean ministry. Mark does not mention anything about this year of time. Mark simply dates the beginning of the Galilean ministry at about the same time John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod. I want to consider this before we continue our look at John’s Gospel. I. BUT WE SHOULD AT LEAST MENTION THE “UNMENTIONED” PERIOD. I think it is important for us to at least make mention of that period of time. A. We might ask ourselves the question, and I do ask myself, why was this one year of time omitted from Matthew, Mark and Luke? Yet, prominently mentioned in the Gospel of John? 1. The answer has to be speculation for we simply are not told why that year is omitted in the synoptic gospels. I can speculate, and I will, that very simply it was not the time for His teaching ministry to begin. 2. But keep in mind that the gospel of John has a different purpose from the synoptic gospels. The purpose of John’s gospel is to confirm that Jesus is the Son of God. The events of that one year of time are very significant to this purpose of John’s gospel. B. I want to mention a few of the events in that year of obscurity. 1. Let’s look at John chapter 1 again. At the start of the chapter we find these familiar words; “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then at verse 14 “the Word was made flesh”. 2. The gospel of John begins in chapter 1 with the affirmation that Jesus Christ IS deity. As we continue in chapter 1, we discover where John the Baptist gives his testimony that Jesus is not only the Son of God, not only deity, Jesus is “the lamb of God which will take away the sins of the world” in Verse 29 3. In chapter 2 of John’s gospel there is the first recorded miracle at Cana of Galilee. John tells us in verse 11; “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.” 4. In chapter 3 there is this very important interview that Jesus has with a man whose name is Nicodemus. Here we have the information “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”. Questions are asked about what that means. 5. Then in chapter 4, which I find a very interesting chapter in John’s gospel, is the interview He has with the Samaritan woman at Jacobs well. What an incredible interview that is, and continues with His going into the city and there teaching for a period of time and many of the people of Samaria, not the Jews, many of the people of Samaria believed that He was the Messiah. 6. A little later in John’s gospel in chapter 4 at verse 46 there is the healing of the nobleman’s son. One of the interesting things about this account is that it is presented in such a way as to show that this miracle is indeed a miracle. This was not just an ordinary getting over a disease situation. The timeline shows the miracle. 7. Then in chapter 5, we have the healing of the infirm man at Bethesda. Shortly there after, there is the beginning of the Galilean ministry which is where we are in the gospel of Mark. II. JESUS PREACHED “THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD”. Mark tells us that Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom. A. The Jews for so long looked for news of the kingdom. 1. Since the Babylonian captivity, there had not been a legitimate king in the nation of Israel. 2. Indeed since the Babylonian captivity, for almost the entire period to the present time Israel had been a vassal or tribute state. Always under the thumb of some conquering nation. 3. In scripture there is so much prophecy about the kingdom. For example in the 9th chapter of the book of Isaiah. There at verses 6 and 7 is this prophecy; Isaiah 9:6-7 – “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David,” ah,… that is what these people knew. That is what these people remembered. They were anticipating this ruler and his kingdom. They were looking for news of this coming! ”and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” 4. Or in Daniel’s prophecy in the second chapter at verse 44; Daniel 2:44 – “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, remember that this prophecy comes out of the period of the Babylonian captivity, In the days of these kings, here we find the explanation being made to Nebuchadnezzar, God shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” No wonder the Jewish people were anticipating, and seeking news of the coming kingdom. B. Jesus came preaching of the kingdom of God. 1. The kingdom of God is frequently mentioned in the teaching of Jesus. 2. You remember in Matthews’s gospel, chapter 6 verse 10, in what has been called the model prayer. We find these words; Matthew 6:10 – “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” So at the very beginning of His public ministry Jesus is declaring the coming of the Kingdom. 3. Interestingly, what should have been wonderful news for Jewish audiences, turned “sour” when His enemies started to use His kingdom claims to accuse Him. The coming of the Kingdom was good news! The gospel, good news, glad tidings. The very thing that should have been such wonderful news was used to accuse Jesus and ultimately send Him to the cross. III. SOME OF THE “SPECIFICS” OF HIS MESSAGE A. “Jesus came...preaching...and saying... We begin to look at the sermon outline if you will, of what Jesus preached. We discover that… 1. He did not come to compel anyone to do anything they did not want to do. He came preaching and saying. 2. He came with a message ... and it was up to each individual as to how they would respond to that message. 3. Turn if you would to a beautiful text which is well known to us; Matthew 11:28-29 – Jesus says; “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”[ESV] We can accept what Jesus came to offer, or we can reject what He came to offer... but it is our choice, the decision is ours to make. Remember Mark says, Jesus came preaching and saying. B. The first point of His sermon outline was this;… its time. “The time is fulfilled...” it says in Marks gospel. Let us turn back there for just a minute. 1. When He says in verse 15 “the time is fulfilled” in the original language Mark used the word for “time” that refers to a “set, or proper time”. He does not use the word used for chronology, chronological time, or elapsed time. He used a word for which we might use the word “appointment”. This is the time that God has appointed, this is the set time, and it is the proper time. The time is fulfilled. 2. In Galatians 4:4-5 – Listen; “But when the fullness of time had come, (there is that expression, the fullness of time) God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” “...when the fullness of time had come...” 3. That word fulfilled, is descriptive of the fact that all of the Old Testament had been looking forward to this time. This appointment which God had established, as we understand, before time began. It is the time the Jews were looking forward to. What we need to remember about this expression is that all of the things that are going to transpire now are not accidental; it was not a “happening”. This is the time God had established for His purpose. C. Mark continues with the outline point; “and the kingdom of God is at hand...” 1. Now remember, the Jews have been looking forward to this kingdom for many, many years. Jesus says the kingdom is at hand. They might ask; “how ‘at hand’ is it?” 2. Jesus answered that question in Mark 9:1 where He says, “And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”” This is different from the prophecy of Isaiah and the prophecy of Daniel. This is not a “dim future hope” any longer. “…there are some standing here”. Imagine that. Some of those very people who were hearing Jesus say those very words… would actually see the Kingdom of God come. Heightened anticipation, for the coming of the kingdom. 3. When it came (on the day of Pentecost following Jesus’ resurrection), it was not the kind of kingdom that people had expected ... but it did come. D. The third point in His sermon outline was “Repent...” He came preaching, repent. 1. Jesus, just as did John the Baptist, stressed the message of repentance. 2. As time would ultimately prove, many of the Jewish people, particularly their religious leaders were so entrenched in their traditions that their view of God was warped, twisted, and distorted. Remember what Jesus told the religious leaders in; Matthew 15:1-3 – “Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” 3. How could they believe in the gospel message if they could not see beyond the traditions which governed the religious life of the Jews, see past the corruptions of the Mosaic faith that they had created? How could they see past that and accept the gospel of the kingdom? No wonder Jesus taught them to repent. 4. Keep in mind; it was a tradition-bound religion which sent Jesus Christ to the cross at Calvary. E. There was a fourth point to His sermon outline. “… and believe in the gospel” Repent toward God, and believe in the gospel. 1. Looking at Luke’s gospel; Luke 2:10-11 – “And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” In verse 10 we see the words good tidings or glad tidings. Those two words are translated from the same word that we usually translate the word “gospel”. What the angels are saying is; we bring you a gospel to share, because a gospel is good news. Then they go on to say what the good news is – it is of the birth of Christ the Lord. 2. When Jesus came preaching, “Believe the gospel”, that is tantamount to His saying; believe… in… me. - Believe in Jesus. In John’s gospel, the eighth chapter, John 8:24 Jesus says, “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”[ESV] 3. He preached the gospel and He said believe it, believe in Me. Something else about this word gospel, I’ll read now from 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 where Paul is reminding them of the good news, the glad tidings, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, here Paul gives an admonishment, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” a. Paul explains to them one more time, it is by the Gospel he had preached to them that they had been saved, and by that Gospel, if they continued to believe it, they would ultimately receive their heavenly reward. b. Paul continues; “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” That’s gospel, that is good news. c. Jesus said “believe the gospel”. Believe in me. These horrible events, from our perspective perhaps, begin to take place. He is killed, He is buried and then the wonderful event of the first day of the week, He is raised from the dead. Folks, in those things are our great hope! The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is “gospel”! F. Having read that, let’s turn back to 1st Corinthians 1:22-23 – “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, To whom did Jesus come preaching; “The time is fulfilled”, “The Kingdom is at hand”, “Repent”, “Believe the gospel”? To whom did He come with that great message? To the Jews… a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,” We should remember that the Jews to whom Jesus came preaching were steeped in years of human tradition which had warped and twisted not only their understanding of the word of God but their understanding of God Himself. 1. No wonder that it was necessary for the Jewish people to repent toward God, before they could accept the gospel message. They had to repent toward God before they could ever possibly believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. 2. I need to say this; the repentance that Jesus preached to the Jews is not the same repentance to which the apostle Peter gives attention in Acts 2:38. In Acts, these are people who are believers, are commanded to repent and to be baptized. That repentance comes following a person’s belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and are prompted by that belief to be sorrowful for their sins and to turn away from them. Turning toward God in obedience to the gospel. 3. The Jews needed to repent toward God for their years of warped thinking about God and His word. They needed to believe the gospel. Recall how often the Jews demanded Jesus to perform a sign for them while He was on the earth. a. For example Matthew 12:38-39 – “38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” b. Also Matthew 16:1 – “And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.” Why was Jesus condemning them for doing this? 4. They were holding on to their faulty thinking and traditions. Their request was putting themselves in the driver’s seat. Perform a sign so that we can evaluate you and test your claims. We will decide if you are who you say you are. Such people set themselves up as God, sets themselves up as judge, rather than recognizing that Jesus is God and Jesus is the judge. 5. Jesus was not going to yield to their requests which would have in effect turned Jesus into nothing more than a performer on demand. This also represents humans today who reject God because they demand God to do something for them as a condition to follow him. 6. The Greeks did not create conditions that God was to meet. Rather they create structures of thought so as to maintain their delusion to be able to explain life and the universe. These people think they are academic, scientific, powerful, and philosophical. God, if He exists, must fit into their philosophical worldview and thinking if He is going to be acceptable to them. That leads me to think of that line from Hamlet “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”. G. You will notice that with each of these groups there is the basis of self-centeredness. In both cases the individual says that I have the right to approve God. I will determine if God is right for me and if He fits my view of life and my expectations. CONCLUSION: Paul continues in 1st Corinthians 1:24-25 and tells us that “to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” We find that Christ is the answer to both groups. The Jews desire a sign and the sign they were given was Jesus and the resurrection. The power of God was on full display through the cross of Jesus our Lord. Also, the Greeks desire wisdom and they were given Christ who is the wisdom of God on full display. The cross of Jesus is the most breathtaking display of God’s wisdom. The world’s rebellious self-centeredness is what ensures that it cannot understand the cross. So what the world dismisses as foolishness God proves to be greater than human wisdom. What the world writes off as hopeless weakness, God proves is stronger than any human strength. Mark takes Jesus immediately in his gospel from the temptation scenes, to which Mark gives only a little space, and moves the narrative hurriedly in to the activities of the Galilean ministry. In this brief statement made in Mark’s gospel chapter 1 that we read here, I would suggest to you that we have the outline for all that Jesus taught in the days that were to come. If the Lord is willing we will continue next time in John’s Gospel chapter 2 where we encounter the Wedding Feast in Cana and the conversion of water to wine. In God’s plan we learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church. Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing. # ??? Reference Sermon Cecil A. Hutson 19 March 2006

By Jerad Allen Good morning. Happy Father's Day to all the fathers in here. I'm pretty sure there's quite a few of you. I hope everybody's week went well and it wasn't too much hassle. The other day I was going through YouTube and I saw a channel with things that fathers typically teach children—how to tie a tie, how to change a tire, things like that. The whole purpose of this channel was to teach children without fathers what he wished his father would have taught him if he had a father in his life. In 2022 estimates were roughly 18.3 million children were growing up in the United States without a father. That is almost one in every four children. It's been three years, but I have a feeling those numbers are still roughly the same. A lot of things can happen without a father in the household. Poverty rates go up, crime rates go up. Life, by all means, gets harder. That's because the father is an instrumental part of the family. They have a great deal of responsibility and take care of a great deal of things. They are an essential part in growing up. Today we will be going over some lessons and some things the Bible has to say about fatherhood. About what it is and what it should look like. To start off, if you would turn to Genesis 22, we will go quickly through verses 1-18. You might recognize this if you were here during Bible study because Mark went over it a little bit. I will read verses 1-3. “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.” We are told to do as the Lord commands. We are told to do what He tells us. Abraham was very much willing to do this. He trusted the Lord. He trusted His ways. When the Lord told him to sacrifice his son, he did not blink. He rose up, and he went. In Philippians 2:8 it says, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” This is obviously talking about Jesus. A lot of the time, I see being a Christian and being a follower as trying to imitate the Lord, and trying to act as Christ-like as possible. If Christ himself was obedient to the point of death, then so must we. We must be willing to put our bodies, our children perhaps, on the line. As fathers, sometimes you must put yourself and your family in harm's way if that's what the Lord commands. That is what Abraham is thinking he is doing here. Moving on to verses 4-8, it says, “Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.” Both of them went together. Of course, Abraham knew there wasn't a lamb. He was under the full assumption that he was going to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Though there is another lesson here, I think, in looking at what the Lord will provide us with. The Lord will provide for us if we are hungry. If we need food, he will make sure we have it. If we are thirsty, he will give us drink. He will give us what we need. He will never put a challenge ahead of us too great for us to handle. In 1st Corinthians 10:13, it says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” In Matthew 6:33-34, it says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added unto you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” How does this relate to Father's Day? As it is the Holy Father's duty to provide for his children, to make sure we have food and water when we need it, to make sure we are not tempted beyond our own capabilities, it is the earthly fathers’ to provide for his family and his children and their needs. In 1st Timothy 5:8 it says, “but if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” It is the duty of the father and the household to provide for his family, to make sure they are fed, to make sure they have what they need to go on, to make sure that they have the capabilities and ability to walk this world and to walk through life. Moving on to verses 9-10, it says, “And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.” As Christians, we must be willing to put our bodies on the line when serving the Lord. When Jesus and his disciples were traveling, they were often worried that those who they were going to come against, many times Jews were going to bring harm upon them, or crucify them. That eventually did happen. If the Son of God and those who traveled with him were able to put their lives on the line, and put their bodies through physical torment, then we should be able to do the same. In Romans 12:1- 3 it says, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” In these verses, our bodies are described as living sacrifices. Not as Abraham is about to do to Isaac here and kill his son as a sacrifice to the Lord, but we are to put our bodies as living sacrifices on the line. To follow the Lord's will, to put His will above ours, to cast out these earthly pleasures and sins that we take forth, and to not indulge in them. To sometimes put ourselves in harm's way to complete His will. It is the duty of Christians to do such. Moving on to verses 11-13 it says, “And an angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here I am. And he said, Lay not thine hand on the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God. Seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his thorns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.” This was, at the end of the day, a test. It was a test on Abraham's willingness to do what the Lord asked him—a test on his faith in the Lord. A test if he truly believed. He believed that the Lord was righteous and His one true God. Even with something as outlandish as asking him to kill his son, Abraham was positive that there was a reason behind it. That whatever the reason may be, it was holy. It was glorious, and that it would please the Lord. He passed this test because he was willing to do that. Verses 14-16 say, “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh (I can't really pronounce that) As it said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. The angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of the heaven the second time. And said, By myself I have sworn, saith the Lord. For because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son.” (Pay attention to the wording here.) Hast not withheld thy son, thine only son. This sounds familiar, right? It's kind of how the Lord sent down his only son to be sacrificed for the remission of our sins. It sounds exactly like that, right? The Lord was not asking him to do something that the Lord himself would not do here. He is asking him to do something he hasn't done yet. The Lord will send down his son to be a sacrifice that will save us. The ram is a burnt offering, but it is still an animal. Christ's sacrifice gave us something more. It gave us salvation. In John 3:16 it said, “God so loved the world that he gave his only son. That whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” He loves us so much that he would give His only son. It is the duty of fathers everywhere to love Him so much that if the day asks, they will put Him above anyone else. I think here we can see that yes, while fathers have a duty to their families, to their children. First and foremost, your duty is to the Lord as it is for all of us. He takes priority. He takes all because he is greater than the rest of us. Verses 17-18 say, “that in blessing I will bless thee. And in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven. And as the sand which is upon the sea shore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice.” Later in Galatians 3:16 it says, “now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say and to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one and to your offspring who is Christ.” We can all receive this blessing by following in Abraham's footsteps, by obeying the Lord. We can receive the grace God has given us by following his commandments and obeying him, by confessing that Jesus, the seed of Abraham, is the Son of God and our Savior. By looking Ephesians 6:1-4. We can see how fathers are supposed to nurture their children. These verses say, “children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. That it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonishment of the Lord.” Children at the end of the day are the next of kin. They are the ones who will take your place, who will continue your work. We have a duty to the Lord and that means that we need to make sure things are in place for when we are gone as well. That it is good if we ourselves are obedient and spread the word of God, but we are only here temporary. Fathers must bring up their children, must bring up the next generation, to continue the work when they are gone. In Proverbs 2, it says, "train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is old, he will not depart from it." A father has a big responsibility here to train their children to do right by the Lord, to train and educate their children on what is right and what is holy. No wonder crime and poverty rise when fathers are out of the picture. No wonder children are lost and confused ever more so when fathers are out of the picture because it is a father's duty to help them learn these things, to help them find their way, to train and nurture them. Moving on to Joshua 24:15, It says, “and if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve. Whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. It is the duty of the father to choose the direction in which their house will go. Will they live in sin? Will they choose earth? Will they choose worldly pleasures? Or will they follow the path of God? It is the father's responsibility to steer this ship. It is the father's responsibility to make sure and correct it if it sways, if it varies, if it moves. This is one of the roles of the father. In Colossians 3:19-21, it says, “Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. It can be a little tough for fathers, right? They control the ship, but they can very easily make it sway as well. If the father is not kind, if the father angers their children, they may be discouraged, and they may lose their path. The father has a vital role. Their presence can very much aid in this. At the same time, if a father fails, that could be worse. That could sway those children into a life of sin. Moving on to Luke 15:20-22, it says, “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.” This is the parable of the prodigal son. In here, we are shown a father whose son had lost their way, who had sinned against them, but cursed their name and left. And when he returns, this father did not shoo him away. He did not yell at him. He welcomed him back with open arms to his family. No hesitation. No matter how much he wronged him, it is the father's duty to welcome back his children. This is because the Heavenly Father does the same with us. In Romans 10:9 it says, “Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Despite our sins, despite our failures, fathers, mothers, children, everyone's, despite all of these things, despite everything we have done, there is still a way we can be saved. If we turn to the Lord, follow in the steps Jesus has laid out for us, and follow in his path, the Lord will welcome us back like the father in this parable—with open arms, with joy, with thunderous screams of happiness. That should be the same for fathers. As the Lord does, so should we. If He is willing to welcome us back, then we should be able to do the same with our family members, with our children, with our mothers and fathers. No matter how much they have wronged us, when they return, we should open our arms. To close this out, I just want to repeat this. Romans 10:9. “Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” If you have not done that, I just must ask, why? Why wait? Death's knocking at any given moment. It will not wait for you. So why wait? Confess, repent, be baptized for the remissions of your sins, and walk with the Lord as commander. Happy Father's Day, and thank you.

By Jerad Allen Good morning. I hope everyone's week went well. We have another one coming up and it just feels like we're always going through another week. I was born in 2004. The pop culture I have been raised in has had a lot to do with Marvel movies. You might have heard of them. These are comic book inspired movies that are sometimes taken right from the comics they're based off of. Because comics are a medium that is never supposed to end, they're supposed to keep going through the years. I think the first Superman comic was back in the 30s and they're still publishing them today. As a result, whenever they write a character off or kill them off, eventually down the line some writer is going to want to use that character again so they resurrect them. Sometimes to explain these resurrections they put years of explanations into these stories. Resurrection, the raising of the dead, seems impossible to us. Today's story that we will be going over is in John chapter 11 verses 1 through 44. This is the death and resurrection of Lazarus where Jesus took a man who had fallen to illness and raised him in front of his sisters. Starting at verse 1; “Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair.) The sisters sent word to Jesus, Lord, the one you love is sick. When he heard this, Jesus said, this sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it.”[NIV] Here we're just given some context. We are told who Mary is. We are told who Martha is. We are told that Mary was the one who poured perfume on Jesus and cleaned his feet. We are also told about glory and how this death will result in glory to God. What does that mean? What does God's glory mean? In 1 Corinthians 10:31 it says, “so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” We are told that every action we take should be to glorify the Lord, to put Him up, to put up His power, show His glory. Here we are told it is a way to honor God, a way to show respect, a way to glorify Him and give Him credit. In Romans 3:23 it says, “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” This tells us that the glory is something we don't necessarily have. This isn't something we have attained. This isn't something that we possess. This is something we fall short of and can only try to recognize and try to see. To try and answer what glory means I think would probably take a whole sermon to itself. These are just some quick intercessions on these first couple verses. Moving on, verses 5 through 8 says, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. And then he said to his disciples, let us go back to Judea. But Rabbi, they said, a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you and yet you are going back?” Jesus was well aware of the danger that awaited him there. He was very aware that there was a threat on his life and that it might be ended if he returns. In 2 Timothy 3:12 it says, “Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Jesus' actions here tell us that this persecution should not get in the way of our job, of what we are here to do. I think it's interesting who Jesus is afraid of as well. These aren't the Gentiles. These aren't the sinners. It's the religious leaders of the day. It is the people who are leading the church, who are leading the temple. These are the scholars that are after Jesus. This tells me is that not only should we be worried about persecution from those who have gone against God and outwardly rebelled. It is those who say they are with him. It is those who say they are Christians. It is those who say they are religious. It is those who pretend to have faith to further their goals, to justify their actions. Slave owners in the 1800s and 1700s were famous for reciting scripture as they whipped their prisoners. As we go on, we will undoubtedly see and face Christians, Jews, Muslims, and other people who claim to follow God. They will come at you. They will come to persecute you for telling the truth, for calling them on their lies. They very well may be more dangerous than the Gentiles or sinners that have outwardly rejected the truth. Moving on, verses 9 through 10 say, “Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world's light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” It's hard to see in the dark, right? Imagine the sun was out. Imagine there are no lights in this room. You really wouldn't be able to see me, would you? Especially with this black shirt on, it doesn't help. You'd probably trip over something. You can't easily get where you want to go without being able to see the path. This is what it is like to walk through the world in a spiritual sense without Christ. In John, verses 8-12, it says, “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have light of life.” Even though the sun is shining, if the lights are on, and physically we can see, without Jesus we might as well be walking in the dark, because we will just continue to stumble and fall and trip because spiritually we are lost. Spiritually we have no idea where we are. We can't make out our surroundings. We will continue to trip and fall. Verses 11-16 say, “After he had said this, he went on to tell them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up. His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he went to natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.” But let us go to him. Then Thomas, (also known as Didymus), said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”” The Lord is showing his own power here. He knows Lazarus has passed. He knows he is not here anymore. He knows he is gone without being there. He tells the disciples, Be glad that this is the case, so you may see my power, so you may see my strength. I find this a little crazy at this point. They have seen Him walk on water. They have seen Him calm storms. They have seen Him do this and that. He still thinks they need more to see. I think that tells me that even if Jesus was right in front of us, even if he was staring at us in the face and did things, you could not imagine proving who He is. Many, most, still would not recognize Him as God, as the Son of the Father, as holy. This also shows the disciples' own thoughts on what was about to happen. Thomas said that we may die with Him. They had no intention on coming back from this. They thought fully that the Jews were going to capture and kill them all. They were ready to die, which I think shows their courage and their strength and their faith in the Lord. While He still wanted to show them more, they obviously still had some pretty strong faith to be able to trust in Him so much that even though they believed they were going to die, they knew they were going to die with the Lord. In verses 17 through 22 it says, “On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him. But Mary stayed at home. Lord, Martha said to Jesus, If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Martha's words here are quite reasonable. She knows who Jesus is. She recognizes His power, His holiness, and His grace. She's well aware of the fact that if he was there, her brother would have been fine. There are two ways you can take her words here. You can take it as an accusation on why didn't You save my brother? Why did he die? Or just regret that He wasn't there at the right time—He arrived late. He just wasn't there when Lazarus fell sick. I think it's probably more on that explanation. Martha is just sad that things played out the way they did. I also think that those last words in verse 22, “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask is exactly that, an ask.” An ask to bring her brother back because again, she's aware. She has faith in the Lord. Moving on to verses 23 and 24. “Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha answered I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Martha has heard Jesus talk about rising in the Lord, about being saved and having eternal life through Him. Earlier in John 3:16, John talks about this being the case. Martha is aware of this, and her reaction to Jesus saying your brother will rise again is with this context. He will rise in a spiritual sense with the Lord in heaven and live eternally. It seems like she's a little disappointed in that because she won't get to see her brother again in this life. She understands her brother will live eternally in heaven, but is saddened that he is not here anymore. Obviously, later on in the next few verses we realize he means in a physical sense, and not so much in the spiritual. Moving on to verses 25 through 28. “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live. Even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord”, she replied. “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who is to come into the world”. After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The teacher is here, she said and is asking for you.”” Jesus is asking if she has faith. Does she have faith in Him? In His power? Does she have faith that He is who He says He is? She replies, yes. Jesus also talks about himself in the “I am” sense. I am the resurrection and the life. Jesus does this a lot. He talks about Himself in these “I am” statements. We have another example in John 8:12, and in John 10:11 “He says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” In Revelations He says, “I am the alpha, the omega. The beginning and end. Who is and who is to come, the almighty”. Jesus uses these “I am” statements not to say I am like a sheep, but to say I am the power. I am glory. I am God. He is all. He is in all of us. He is here with all of us. As God sees all, knows all, and is all. He is talking about His power. He is referring to his strength. He is referring to Himself in these ways. Because of who He is. It's a little hard to comprehend. Honestly I still don't think I fully understand it. That might be something else I want to look into a bit more for a sermon. Jesus is talking about Himself in these “I am” statements because these are the things He can do. He was at the beginning. Moving on to verses 29-31. I says, “When Mary heard this she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village. But was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went, they followed her supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.” Notice how the verse specifies her haste. It specifies how quickly she got up and went to Him. Originally she stayed back wishing to mourn, wishing to continue to think about her brother and the loss. As soon as she heard that Jesus had called on her specifically, she wasted no time. She was ready to go. She was up and at it. She was going to Him. She was not going to waste another second mourning in her house while the Lord had asked for her. This is the sort of haste we should all have when called by the Lord—when the Lord calls upon us. When we are called to do something even if it's as simple as walking two miles to where He is. Moving on to verses 32-35 it says, “When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Where have you laid him? He asked. Come and see, Lord. They replied. Jesus wept.” Mary immediately after seeing Jesus had a similar response as her sister, Martha. She had regret that Jesus was not there, that he just sadly was not there when her brother was sick because she knows, as her sister does, that he could have saved him. I don't think that she is blaming Him here. It is simply just mournful regret. She is saddened that things transpired the way they did, knowing that under different circumstances it could have been different. Something bad happens and you think, man, if only this happened or this happened or this person was here and this person didn't do this and this and this and this. We see how Jesus is moved by her and the others that are grieved. We see that He is saddened. Why is this the case? He knows exactly what he's about to do. He knows he's about to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knows those tears are going to vanish and be replaced with joy. Why is He sad? It's because He's empathetic. He understands us. He's human just as much as He is God. When you see people sad, when you see people mourning, it should move you. It should make you sad. Others' tears, tears are in a way contagious. Their sadness moved Him despite Him knowing that He was going to raise him. That Lazarus was going to be raised from the dead. They were sad. In Hebrews 4:15 it says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet he did not sin.” When picking leaders and picking people to represent us in Congress, the presidency, or this or that, we want them to be able to relate to us. We want them to be able to understand our position, to understand where we're coming from, to understand our thought process and view on things. It is the same way with Jesus. Jesus came to earth, and we can be reassured that we do not have a God who does not understand us, that does not understand our plight and our struggle with sin. He is very much aware of it. He lived it. He was tempted in the same way we are tempted, in every way that we are tempted. Yet, unlike us, he did not fall short. Unlike us, he did not give in to the temptation. He kept his glory. He stayed strong, and he never sinned. He never fell like we have, like all of us have, like Adam and Eve did, like David did. Unlike every other human, he alone did not sin. Yet, he understands us because he was tempted. We do not have a God who does not understand us. We have a God who has lived with us, who has lived for us, and we can be reassured that he understands us better than we understand ourselves. In verses 36 through 37, it says, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”  Some of the Jews understood what was going on, but others showed their arrogance and ego. They questioned the Lord and cast doubts on Him. When I read this, I think about the lawyer who was questioning Jesus in Luke 10:25 through 37. When he talks about the Good Samaritan, Jews were prideful and spiteful toward Jesus. It is no shock that when given the chance, some of them fully blamed Jesus for this man's death, instead of just being sad that things transpired as they did. In verses 38 through 40, it says, ““Take away the stone”, he said. “But Lord”, said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there for four days””. Jesus asks them to have faith and to trust in what he is doing. Oftentimes, He asks people if they believe Him, and He tells them all they need is faith. Let's look at Matthew 14:30 through 31. It says, “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me. Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. You of little faith, he said. Why did you doubt me?” This was when Peter was walking out to the water, walking out to Jesus on the water, but fell when he became distracted by the storm around him. Jesus chastised his lack of faith and asked him why he doubts Him. This parallels our life. Our lives are that storm on that sea. The storm is all around us. There is war, conflict, and destruction everywhere. There are so many things that can distract us from the Lord. If we keep our eyes on Him, we can continue to walk on the water and walk towards Him and continue to walk straight if we have faith. If we look at the storm around us, if we get caught up in its destruction, we will lose focus. We might let our faith waver. Jesus tells us to walk to him, to walk on that water. We must have faith and not let the storm distract us. When Martha asked why they would open it, even though it would smell really bad, He asked them to have faith, to trust Him, to not let the odor distract them from Him. In verses 41 through 42, it says, “So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”” When going over these verses, one thing I saw, one from, I can't think of the name commentator, but they were saying that all the miracles Jesus performed asked for the message that he was sending or the idea that he was trying to convey at the time to show the power of the Lord and that Jesus is the son of God. He was not always granted what he has asked. In Matthew 26:39, it says, “Going a little forward, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, My father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me, yet not as I will, but as you will.” When Jesus performs a miracle, when Jesus does anything, it is to further the Lord's will. It is to further God's will as we should do. He knows that even if it will not benefit him, even if it will cause him pain and suffering it still needs to be done. When he calls upon God here, He is making sure that the people understand that he has approval, that God is with Him, that God is behind him and that He is the Lord, that He is the son of God. “When He had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “take off the grave clothes and let him go””. Here this man is risen from the dead. Many times Jesus had performed miracles. Many times he continued to perform miracles. Until His own resurrection, until he was raised from the dead, none were as great as this. He raised a man from the dead, shown all those there that not even death, something so infinite, something so definitive to where in a comic book, a fictional thing we make up, sometimes people put years of work into explaining resurrecting a character that doesn't exist. Even this cannot hold Him back. He has dominion even over death. To follow him, we can expect that the Lord, that death will never truly hold us. While we may not be jumping out of our graves, we will be born anew and find life in God. In John 14:6, it says, “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” In Him we can find everlasting life, not in this physical world, not with this grass, not with these houses, not with this wood, not with this, but with the Lord, with Him, with God, in heaven for eternity. With that in mind, I ask if you have not been baptized for the remission of your sins, if you have not repented and turned back to God and followed him and been faithful, why wait? Death is waiting around the corner at any time. Jesus may be a four days travel away and He may not resurrect you. Death can come at any point. Do not wait for it. Thank you.

JOHN 21:1-14 OPEN: About 50 years ago I went with my WIFE’S FAMILY on vacation up in Canada at a place called North Bay. It was a great place. Beautiful lake, rustic cabin, and there was the fishing. You remember the part in the story of the disciples out fishing where they’ve been out on the lake all night long? That’s me. If anybody’s not gonna catch a fish… it’s me. Frankly, it’s a lot more fun to fish if you’re actually catching fish. (Tell story about Jack and I making a bet on who would catch the next fish.) The story we’re looking at this morning talks about another fishing story… But the story actually began a few days before this. A few days before, Jesus has had a Passover meal with His disciples and we’re told that “when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same. (Mark 14:26-31) Well, we all know the rest of that story. Jesus was arrested. Peter denied Jesus 3 times before the cock had crowed twice. AND all the disciples scatter like sheep. It’s not their finest moment! Three days later Peter hears the tomb is empty, and he hears about the angels and that Jesus has risen from the dead… and he runs to see if it’s true. And it is!!! The tomb IS empty! But then we're told that that Peter "went away, wondering to himself what had happened." (Luke 24:12) There’s a song called “He’s Alive” that tells the rest of the story this way: “…something strange had happened there, but just what, I did not know. John believed a miracle, but I just turned to go. Circumstance and speculation couldn't lift me very high. 'Cause I'd seen them crucify Him and then I saw Him die. Back inside the house again the guilt and anguish came. Everything I'd promised Him just added to my shame. When at last it came to choices - I denied I knew His name. And even if He was alive… it wouldn't be the same.” There are many scholars who believe that that’s exactly how Peter responded to the resurrection. He was despondent and filled with anguish. It wasn’t that He wasn’t excited to see Jesus risen from the dead. It’s just that he KNEW he’d betrayed Christ. He knew he’d failed. He knew that he’d made a promise and then did exactly what he said he wouldn’t do. And when at last it came to choices - he denied he knew His name. And even if Jesus were alive… it wouldn't be the same. So, what’s he gonna do about it? Well, he’s going fishing. And he’s not going fishing for a couple of hours… or a couple of days… or a couple of weeks. He’s going back to what he knows. He’s failed at being a follower of Christ, BUT he knows how to fish. And it’s at this turning point in his life that Jesus comes to pay him a visit. It’s been a miserable night. They’ve been out all night and they’ve caught nothing. And then this stranger appears on the shore and asks how they’re doing. "Friends, haven’t you any fish?" "No," they answered. He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Now… why would Jesus do this a 2nd time? I mean, I can understand why Jesus would have done it the 1st time. He was trying to get their attention. Trying to convince them that He was the one they should follow. Trying to get them to realize they needed to abandon their fishing and be His disciples. What I found interesting about Peter’s response to that first miracle was: “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’” (Luke 5:8) Now, isn’t that interesting? Jesus did His first miracle for Peter, and that made Peter realize he was a sinful man. And now Jesus has done that same miracle all over again all because Peter ALREADY believes he’s a sinful man. And not just a sinful man… but an empty, useless, worthless man. So, Jesus comes looking for Peter, because PETER needs “looking for”. Peter needs something that only Jesus can give. Peter needs forgiveness. You know, people deal with their sins in the strangest ways. Some folks deal with their sin by trying to hide it behind good deeds. We call that kind of thinking karma. Karma is the belief that if you do enough good stuff in your life you can cover up the bad stuff. Peter had been a big believer in Karma. That’s how he’d lived his life. You see, Peter worked at being more righteous than the ones around him. When Jesus said he was going to be betrayed – disciples would run away, do you remember what Peter said? “Even though THEY all fall away, I will not.” Why would he say that? Because he believed he was more righteous than they were! He wanted to impress Jesus with his superior righteousness so Christ wouldn’t see the dark struggles and doubts that lay just beneath the surface. He was hiding his sinfulness behind the fact that he could be more righteous than anyone else. Now, we can expect that kind of behavior from pagans. That’s the only hope those outside of Christ have to feel good about themselves. If they can just be better than their neighbor or their boss, or their friends they can somehow feel justified. But there’s a lot of people in churches that are like that too. They live their Christianity trying to show how much better than others they are. They compare their giving to that of others. They compare their superior attendance. They compare their position and influence. They are impressed by their own religious activity – because as long as they can be better than you are – then they can forget their sinfulness. The Bible talks about that kind of mindset in 2nd Corinthians 10:12b “When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.” In other words, if you go to comparing yourself with others in the church you show that you’re not very smart! ILLUS: People like that remind of the story of the two men who were out in the woods one day. You remember the story? They see a bear, and the bear sees them and chases them. They’re running for their lives when all of a sudden one of them stops, sits on a stump and starts to put on his running shoes. “Are you crazy?” says the 2nd man. “You can’t outrun that bear?” “Don’t have to outrun the bear,” said the 1st man. “All I have to do is outrun you.” Folks like that think that if you can “out-righteous” the next guy (religiously out-run them) then God will pay more attention to the other guy’s sin instead of their own. The only problem is you can’t out run that bear!!! Unless your sinfulness is removed you can out-run/out-righteous anyone you want to… but the bear is still there. Your sin WILL catch up with you. So, one way people deal with their sin, is to try to hide that sin behind good deeds. Another way folks deal with their sins by trying to hide THEMSELVES. That’s what Peter’s been trying to do. He’s wanting to go back to his fishing. That way he doesn’t have to face Jesus again. That way he doesn’t have to see Him and remember how he failed Him. So Peter’s trying to hide from Jesus. That’s what two other people in Scripture tried doing. Remember when Adam and Eve were in the garden? They ate of the tree they shouldn’t have eaten of and then they “heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they HID from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” Genesis 3:8 Now, why on earth would they hide from Him? Because if He didn’t SEE their nakedness maybe He wouldn’t KNOW they had sinned. ILLUS: I’ve done that. In the past, I’ve been praying and I get to the part where I’m confessing my sins to God… and suddenly I stop. And I think to myself - IF I tell Him about that sin, then He’ll KNOW what I’ve done and He’ll hold it against me at the judgment. Now, what’s wrong with that picture? Is there any sin you’ve EVER done that God doesn’t know about. Of course not. Even if you don’t confess your sins to God… He STILL KNOWS. He knows your very thoughts as well as every word or deed you’ve ever done. There’s nothing you could possibly do or think that He doesn’t know about. The only way to fix the problem is to come to Jesus. There’s a wonderful promise in 1st John 1:9 that says “If we CONFESS our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from (most of our) unrighteousness.” Is that what it says? NO. It says “if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from ALL of our unrighteousness.” But first I have to confess those sins. First I have to come to Jesus. But Peter won’t come to Jesus… so Jesus goes to Peter. As I was thinking about this, a passage from Ephesians came to my mind “everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: ‘Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’” (Ephesians 5:13-14) Jesus is the “Light of the World” and now Jesus has come to shine His light on Peter. So, how did He shine that light on Peter? Well, He sat down with Peter and he ate with him. And they talked about it. And Jesus wanted to confront Peter’s failure before it got worse. When Jesus sat down with Peter, He didn’t condemn him or insult him or to reject him. Jesus sat down with Peter to confront his sin, but He confronted Peter because HE wanted to win Peter back. So He sits with him and eats with him and He TALKS with him. And do you know what Jesus says: “Peter, do you love me?” “Peter, do you love me?” “Peter, do you love me?” THREE TIMES Jesus asks Peter that question. Why would He do that? Why ask Peter that question 3 times? Well, for one thing… Peter’s a little on the slow side. It takes Peter a little time to catch up. We see that again in Acts 10 where God wants to send Peter to talk with the first Gentile converts. Three times God sends the same vision to Peter, because it takes a while for Peter to catch on. But more even more that that, this is the most important question anyone can answer. If you don’t love Jesus… nothing else matters. Jesus once said “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15 Notice, Jesus didn’t say if you want to be holy, or righteous, or accepted you’ll keep my commandments. He said: IF YOU LOVE ME ILLUS: I once read the story of a woman who’d been married to a very mean man. He didn’t like the way she kept house. He didn’t like the way she did laundry or ironed his clothes. He didn’t like the way she dressed. He constantly criticized her for everything. Early on their marriage he handed her a list of 25 rules for her to follow. She hated it… and she hated him. You can imagine how frustrating it was to her to have to constantly check her list to see if she was pleasing him - and to staying out of trouble. She usually failed miserably and each time, he belittled her all over again and he made her feel miserable and small. Then, one day much to her great joy… he died. Soon, she fell in love with and married a wonderful loving man. They loved each other very much. She practically broke her neck to please him – and even brought him breakfast in bed. One day, she ran across that old list, and the feelings of anger and inferiority returned. But, suddenly she began to laugh! As she checked the list, she realized that she was now doing it all for her new husband. Why? Because she loved him. Peter… do you love me? Sing this song with me “Oh, how I love Jesus, oh how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus because He first loved me.” Now, what’s interesting was that - after Jesus asked “Do you love me?” - He told Peter to do something. "Feed my lambs." "Take care of my sheep." "Feed my sheep.” If you love me: feed my lambs, take care of my sheep, feed my sheep. WHY? Because your Christianity isn’t about YOU. Christianity isn’t about your personal desires and wants. Jesus saved you… so you could become like Him. You remember John 3:16 “For God so loved the world…” Well, there’s a 1st John 3:16 and it says this: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us…” Almost sound like JOHN 3:16 doesn’t it? But then it finishes off this way: “… and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” In other words - if you want to be like Jesus, you need to love like He loved. Feed His lambs. Take care of His sheep. Feed His sheep. Do you love Him? Then that’s what you and I need to do. THIS is what love for Christ is all about. (sing) “Oh, how I love Jesus, oh how I love Jesus Oh, how I love Jesus because He first loved me.” One last thing. Until you realize you are a sinner in need of forgiveness you’re never really going to love Jesus. Until you realize you need Jesus more than He needs you, you’re not going to love Him like you should. You see that’s what Peter’s problem had been all along – he thought Jesus needed him. Peter viewed himself as Jesus’ muscle. His protector. No one was going to touch Jesus as long as Peter was around. Jesus “needed” him. Peter figured he was OK… just the way he was because Jesus needed him. But it was only when he realized he’d failed… sinned… he’d really messed up… that he knew how much he really needed Jesus. And that’s where this meal down on the shore helped him realize that truth. From that day on, that was Peter’s message: you’ve sinned, you’ve failed – you need Jesus. Everywhere Peter preached he made sure his audience knew they’d sinned. At one point the Sanhedrin complained “… you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Were they? Were they guilty of Jesus’ blood? Of course they were. They had sinned and failed. And so have you. And so have I. We need Jesus. In one of his most famous sermons in Acts 2 Peter tells the crowd “God has made this Jesus, whom YOU CRUCIFIED, both Lord and Christ." Acts 2:36 He wanted to bring them to the point where they NEEDED Jesus. To the point where they wanted to LOVE Jesus. And when you love Jesus – you’ll keep His commandments When they heard this (they had sinned) they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Acts 2:37 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38 If you love Jesus, you’ll come to Him on His terms INVITATION