WEBVTT 00:00:09.070 --> 00:00:17.039 Good morning again. We are blessed to live in 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:20.320 the day in which we live. I stand here before 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:23.719 you today drinking a Member's Mark purified water. 00:00:24.179 --> 00:00:27.739 So I don't buy my water at Sam's Club, but as 00:00:27.739 --> 00:00:30.960 I was leaving Brother John's house in Louisville, 00:00:31.140 --> 00:00:34.700 Kentucky the other day, he said, do you think 00:00:34.700 --> 00:00:36.560 you might need a bottle of water? And I said, 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:38.219 well, you know, I drank all my water, used up 00:00:38.219 --> 00:00:41.619 all my water, and he gave me a few waters. is 00:00:41.619 --> 00:00:43.920 Louisville water, except probably not. It's probably 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:45.899 made in China. Let's see. Oh, Canada. It was 00:00:45.899 --> 00:00:48.840 made in Canada. But anyway, we are blessed in 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:51.179 a day in which when people are dialing in right 00:00:51.179 --> 00:00:54.579 now, watching, listening, they listen to the 00:00:54.579 --> 00:00:57.740 podcast and so on, we get the opportunity to 00:00:57.740 --> 00:01:01.079 spread God's word in a way that is completely 00:01:01.079 --> 00:01:04.019 different from what generations before us have 00:01:04.019 --> 00:01:06.700 been able to do. That also makes you think about... 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:08.439 not trying to get off a different topic, but 00:01:08.439 --> 00:01:10.579 in Revelation where it says that the three witnesses 00:01:10.579 --> 00:01:13.739 will be seen by the whole world for three days. 00:01:13.939 --> 00:01:15.680 I might not have the details exactly right, but 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:16.939 the bottom line is when you see that, how would 00:01:16.939 --> 00:01:19.159 that be true if it were not for social media, 00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:22.099 news channels, and all that kind of thing? So 00:01:22.099 --> 00:01:24.480 we are living in a day when certain scenes have 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:26.620 been set, certain things have been done for Jesus 00:01:26.620 --> 00:01:29.480 to come again, and it's incredible. That being 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:33.219 said, last week we talked about Jesus, who was 00:01:33.219 --> 00:01:36.159 the eternal first cause. Remember me saying that? 00:01:36.579 --> 00:01:38.700 So we were giving Jesus the glory for everything 00:01:38.700 --> 00:01:41.920 that happens today. And he was the eternal first 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:43.900 cause. And people go back and look at why something 00:01:43.900 --> 00:01:46.299 happened. They can go all the way back to Jesus. 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:48.640 And we read last week about how everything that 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:51.000 was made was made through him and for him and 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.340 by him. OK, so we talked about that last Sunday. 00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:56.359 And now you got the summary of that. We are going 00:01:56.359 --> 00:01:59.060 back to that same area of the Bible today. So 00:01:59.060 --> 00:02:00.840 give me a little hooter holler as we turn to 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:06.099 John chapter one. My electronics are having issues. 00:02:07.329 --> 00:02:12.849 There we go. Okay. If my microphone goes out, 00:02:12.870 --> 00:02:14.569 I may have to change the batteries because apparently 00:02:14.569 --> 00:02:16.689 they're low. All right. John chapter 1, I'm going 00:02:16.689 --> 00:02:20.650 to begin reading in verse 6. We've heard the 00:02:20.650 --> 00:02:23.110 first five verses about Jesus and how Jesus was 00:02:23.110 --> 00:02:26.270 from the beginning in 4 and so on. And then now 00:02:26.270 --> 00:02:28.150 we're reading beginning in verse 6. We're going 00:02:28.150 --> 00:02:29.509 to talk about John the Baptist. And it says, 00:02:29.530 --> 00:02:32.930 A man came, one sent from God, and his name was 00:02:32.930 --> 00:02:36.360 John. He came as a witness to testify about the 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:38.780 light so that all might believe through him. 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:42.719 He, that's John, was not the light, but he came 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:46.000 to testify about the light. This was the true 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:49.599 light that coming into the world enlightens every 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:52.919 person. He was in the world and the world came 00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:55.419 into being through him. So that he is Jesus, 00:02:55.479 --> 00:02:57.680 right? So Jesus was in the world and the world 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:00.560 had come into being through him. And yet the 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:03.919 world did not know him. He came to his own. His 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:07.219 own people did not accept him. So Jesus was a 00:03:07.219 --> 00:03:09.860 Jew. He was Jewish. And the people that he worshiped 00:03:09.860 --> 00:03:12.699 with did not understand. Even his family, even 00:03:12.699 --> 00:03:14.479 his brothers while he was alive thought he was 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:18.500 crazy. Two more. But as many as received him, 00:03:18.539 --> 00:03:21.919 and that word but is the biggest word, the most 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:24.479 important word even, probably in the passage 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:26.900 that we're reading today. But as many as received 00:03:26.900 --> 00:03:30.439 him, to them he gave the right to become children 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:33.539 of God. to those who believe in his name. Verse 00:03:33.539 --> 00:03:36.280 13 says, who were born, so this is referring 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:39.719 to us, were born not of blood, nor of the will 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:43.020 of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of 00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:46.659 God. So looking through it briefly, what we see 00:03:46.659 --> 00:03:49.219 is that we saw the word last week, who would 00:03:49.219 --> 00:03:52.719 be Jesus Christ, the word being the first uncaused 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:56.500 cause. Now we see the creator step into the creation. 00:03:56.699 --> 00:03:59.599 So for a long time, by the time Jesus comes again, 00:03:59.939 --> 00:04:01.860 People have been finding good things in creation. 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:04.900 And you could make a long list, right? There 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:06.860 used to be such a thing as called an encyclopedia 00:04:06.860 --> 00:04:08.560 that almost nobody uses anymore. But if you went 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:11.060 through the encyclopedia, you could find an amazingly 00:04:11.060 --> 00:04:13.520 long list of incredible things that God had made. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:16.560 And people get into worshiping or celebrating 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:21.139 things that God has made. Jesus was not a thing 00:04:21.139 --> 00:04:24.779 or a person. whom God had made. He was God in 00:04:24.779 --> 00:04:27.360 the flesh. So naturally, when Jesus comes into 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:29.720 creation, when he steps into creation, we expect 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:34.120 that people will see the living Christ as something 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:37.040 more significant than all the things that they 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:39.439 have been celebrating that God has made. Is there 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:41.259 something wrong with celebrating things that 00:04:41.259 --> 00:04:44.339 God has made? No, not really. But compared to 00:04:44.339 --> 00:04:46.899 God, then it becomes a problem, right? And so 00:04:46.899 --> 00:04:49.579 Jesus, the creator, steps into creation. God 00:04:49.579 --> 00:04:53.069 announces it. Through an ordinary man, John the 00:04:53.069 --> 00:04:55.970 Baptist, who is commissioned by God to go and 00:04:55.970 --> 00:04:59.269 say, look, a light is coming. He is coming. All 00:04:59.269 --> 00:05:02.350 the prophets told, foretold, all the way back 00:05:02.350 --> 00:05:05.970 to Genesis, Moses foretold this day. And here 00:05:05.970 --> 00:05:08.810 the day comes. But the one who made the world 00:05:08.810 --> 00:05:11.170 comes into it, and the world doesn't know him. 00:05:11.310 --> 00:05:16.250 But some did receive him. And for those who did 00:05:16.250 --> 00:05:21.000 receive him, everything changed. First, we see 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:25.019 God sent John and John obeyed. Look again at 00:05:25.019 --> 00:05:28.360 verses six to eight. It says a man came one sent 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:30.939 from God and his name was John. He came as a 00:05:30.939 --> 00:05:33.699 witness to testify about the light so that all 00:05:33.699 --> 00:05:36.639 might believe through him. He was not the light, 00:05:36.740 --> 00:05:40.079 but he came to testify about the light. So the 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:43.560 initiative is God's. Whose idea was it for John 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:45.980 the Baptist to step up and proclaim Jesus? God's 00:05:45.980 --> 00:05:49.509 idea, right? So we see God doing something inside 00:05:49.509 --> 00:05:52.569 creation. So God has not taken a millennia's 00:05:52.569 --> 00:05:56.449 long break, right? God is not resting. He is 00:05:56.449 --> 00:05:59.470 doing something. He initiates the coming of John 00:05:59.470 --> 00:06:01.990 the Baptist. John did not invent his ministry. 00:06:02.209 --> 00:06:05.189 John's message was not his own. He was proclaiming 00:06:05.189 --> 00:06:07.709 to people what it was that God had given him 00:06:07.709 --> 00:06:11.569 to proclaim. And God sent him. That's huge. The 00:06:11.569 --> 00:06:13.870 truth is you could, without getting too far ahead 00:06:13.870 --> 00:06:16.029 of myself here, you could say the same thing. 00:06:16.350 --> 00:06:19.009 about every Christian, could you not? If you've 00:06:19.009 --> 00:06:21.490 been saved through the gospel, the fact that 00:06:21.490 --> 00:06:24.290 Jesus came, lived, died, rose again, loves you, 00:06:24.350 --> 00:06:25.930 wants to be Lord of your life, has a right to 00:06:25.930 --> 00:06:28.949 be as the first uncaused cause who made everything, 00:06:29.129 --> 00:06:31.389 has a right to be Lord. If that's who you are 00:06:31.389 --> 00:06:35.529 as a Christian, then God initiated it. God authorized 00:06:35.529 --> 00:06:38.290 your ministry, which is the ministry of reconciliation. 00:06:38.290 --> 00:06:39.970 We're supposed to bring others into relationship 00:06:39.970 --> 00:06:42.930 with Christ. And the question then becomes, have 00:06:42.930 --> 00:06:45.410 you responded to being sent by God? Are you? 00:06:45.790 --> 00:06:48.370 doing what it is that God would have you to do. 00:06:48.889 --> 00:06:52.209 John chose obedience. God sent, John went. There 00:06:52.209 --> 00:06:53.930 you go. That could be a sermon right there. God 00:06:53.930 --> 00:06:56.470 sent, John went into the wilderness, into the 00:06:56.470 --> 00:06:59.529 margins of society. He was looked down upon by 00:06:59.529 --> 00:07:02.149 the Sadducees and Pharisees of his day and ultimately 00:07:02.149 --> 00:07:05.750 to prison and death. That's where his story essentially 00:07:05.750 --> 00:07:09.610 as a human living on earth ends. We know it doesn't 00:07:09.610 --> 00:07:11.529 end there because we're reading about him again 00:07:11.529 --> 00:07:14.269 today, nor will it end until Jesus comes again. 00:07:14.350 --> 00:07:17.259 And then we get to go. to heaven and maybe see 00:07:17.259 --> 00:07:20.279 him firsthand. John came to testify as a witness. 00:07:20.379 --> 00:07:22.839 A witness speaks about what is outside himself. 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:25.220 If you just give your opinion, like, I think 00:07:25.220 --> 00:07:27.420 this is true, that does not make you a witness 00:07:27.420 --> 00:07:29.759 to anything but your own opinion. All you're 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:31.519 doing is telling people what you think, right? 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:33.560 When I was in high school and I learned to write 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:36.300 essays, I would say, don't say, in my opinion, 00:07:36.339 --> 00:07:38.800 comma, blah, blah, blah. Everyone knows the essay 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:40.300 that you're writing is in your opinion. You're 00:07:40.300 --> 00:07:42.279 writing it firsthand. You're saying, I think, 00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:44.709 or I, this is true. So you don't even have to 00:07:44.709 --> 00:07:47.449 say, I think, or in my opinion. He was going 00:07:47.449 --> 00:07:49.189 to witness to that which was outside himself, 00:07:49.389 --> 00:07:52.769 something seen and verifiable. So when Jesus 00:07:52.769 --> 00:07:55.410 came, if they believed John, then saw Jesus, 00:07:55.589 --> 00:07:58.029 related Jesus to what John had said, that would 00:07:58.029 --> 00:08:00.089 also be confirmation for John, would it not? 00:08:00.310 --> 00:08:03.269 That makes observable clarity. We're going to 00:08:03.269 --> 00:08:05.110 do a little exercise for a moment. No one knows 00:08:05.110 --> 00:08:06.910 this is coming. I've not warned anyone. If you 00:08:06.910 --> 00:08:09.310 personally, other than your salvation, other 00:08:09.310 --> 00:08:10.649 than the moment that you personally accepted 00:08:10.649 --> 00:08:13.850 Jesus Christ, have seen what you would attribute 00:08:13.850 --> 00:08:16.389 to a miraculous thing happen, something like, 00:08:16.569 --> 00:08:19.629 okay, that's so crazy. That doesn't happen. Without 00:08:19.629 --> 00:08:21.970 God, that would not have happened. If you personally 00:08:21.970 --> 00:08:24.449 have seen just one event like that, I want you 00:08:24.449 --> 00:08:26.410 to read your name. Okay? One or more. One or 00:08:26.410 --> 00:08:29.189 more. Okay? So we are unanimous. Everyone has 00:08:29.189 --> 00:08:31.870 seen, everyone in this room has seen an event 00:08:31.870 --> 00:08:35.629 like that. So now you can testify to that, right? 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.559 And if I missed you, I apologize if I say we're 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:39.960 unanimous. We're almost unanimous for sure, okay? 00:08:40.059 --> 00:08:42.519 So the point is, you can testify to that one 00:08:42.519 --> 00:08:45.000 event if nothing else. God has done miraculous 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:47.159 things. Now, we could go up and say, if you've 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:49.120 seen 10, and you race in your mind, you go, oh, 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:50.600 I don't know, is it 10? Oh, I think it's probably 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:52.240 10, and we'd still get some hands, right? Have 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:55.320 you seen two dozen? We'd still get some hands, 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:57.200 right? Now, at that point, you have a hard time 00:08:57.200 --> 00:08:58.620 counting, because maybe you don't journal every 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:00.159 single thing that counts, so you think it's a 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:02.419 miracle, and you'd be kind of stretching to say 00:09:02.419 --> 00:09:06.110 two dozen, right? But the bottom line is, John 00:09:06.110 --> 00:09:09.230 had observable clarity because he was testifying 00:09:09.230 --> 00:09:13.029 to Jesus, who then would come and walk on water 00:09:13.029 --> 00:09:15.250 and calm the storms and heal the paralytic and 00:09:15.250 --> 00:09:17.210 heal the blind and bring somebody back to life 00:09:17.210 --> 00:09:20.049 and himself come back to life on the third day, 00:09:20.129 --> 00:09:23.169 right? So John had observable clarity. Everyone 00:09:23.169 --> 00:09:25.590 could see it, not just internal clarity. He is 00:09:25.590 --> 00:09:28.309 a believer. And I submit to you, it's the same 00:09:28.309 --> 00:09:30.730 way with us. When you're at a restaurant and 00:09:30.730 --> 00:09:32.789 you ask your server, do you have anything we 00:09:32.789 --> 00:09:34.500 could pray for you about? And they say, Well, 00:09:34.600 --> 00:09:37.679 no, really, I don't, whatever. Then you can say, 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:40.759 well, on behalf of God, let me say this to you, 00:09:40.820 --> 00:09:43.080 that God loves you. He loves you so much that 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:45.059 he sent his own son to die for you. He wants 00:09:45.059 --> 00:09:47.960 to be your savior and lead you every single day 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:49.779 of your life. Do you already know that's true? 00:09:49.980 --> 00:09:51.700 Oh, yeah, I already know that's true. I'm living 00:09:51.700 --> 00:09:54.379 for Jesus now. Oh, no, I don't necessarily agree 00:09:54.379 --> 00:09:56.320 with that. Okay, well, then you can say, well, 00:09:56.379 --> 00:09:59.940 I am here as living testimony to tell you that 00:09:59.940 --> 00:10:02.320 that's true. Now, you don't have to believe me. 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:04.519 People are going to believe or not believe. When 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:06.980 John the Baptist came testifying to Jesus, if 00:10:06.980 --> 00:10:08.360 you want to go this far, right, you can say, 00:10:08.379 --> 00:10:10.360 when John came testifying, some believed. And 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:12.659 those who believed, their entire existence was 00:10:12.659 --> 00:10:15.399 changed. And those who did not, it was not. So 00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:17.580 you can believe or not. I'm asking you to believe. 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:21.159 Will you? Oh, no, I'm not ready to do that. Oh, 00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:24.279 yeah, you know, I can believe that. I hear what 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:26.480 you're saying. It makes sense to me that you're 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:28.379 a living testimony to this truth. Now, what did 00:10:28.379 --> 00:10:31.210 I just do? I just shared a very short gospel 00:10:31.210 --> 00:10:33.210 with somebody who just said, I really don't have 00:10:33.210 --> 00:10:35.490 any prayer requests. You are a living testimony 00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:38.509 to a living Christ and you have met him and you 00:10:38.509 --> 00:10:40.230 have experiences with him and you have heard 00:10:40.230 --> 00:10:42.750 from him and you have the ability, as John did, 00:10:42.850 --> 00:10:47.289 to testify. It is an observable clarity. If they 00:10:47.289 --> 00:10:50.070 will believe, if they will accept, then they 00:10:50.070 --> 00:10:52.389 will immediately be saved, experience the Holy 00:10:52.389 --> 00:10:54.210 Spirit. And a moment later, they will know that 00:10:54.210 --> 00:10:56.289 everything that you were saying was true. But 00:10:56.289 --> 00:10:58.809 you're not willing to appeal. to that court. 00:10:59.029 --> 00:11:00.990 You're not willing to submit to that and say, 00:11:01.049 --> 00:11:03.450 if you believe, God will do something amazing. 00:11:03.610 --> 00:11:05.490 And I submit to you, if that's the case, then 00:11:05.490 --> 00:11:08.070 you might be doubting that God sent. You might 00:11:08.070 --> 00:11:10.289 be doubting that God has done. But if you've 00:11:10.289 --> 00:11:12.570 seen a miracle that could be attributed to no 00:11:12.570 --> 00:11:14.730 one but the God of the universe, how can you 00:11:14.730 --> 00:11:17.190 doubt? How can you be there? John pointed away 00:11:17.190 --> 00:11:20.909 from himself. Behold, he said, the Lamb of God. 00:11:21.149 --> 00:11:23.129 And then he went on to say in John 3 .30, he 00:11:23.129 --> 00:11:26.600 said, I must decrease and he must increase. Remember, 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:30.860 we talked about fasting in the spiritual discipline 00:11:30.860 --> 00:11:33.559 emphasis. There's an old you and there's a new 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:36.179 you. I hate to burst your bubble, but the old 00:11:36.179 --> 00:11:38.080 you is the one that's not telling people about 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:40.419 Jesus. The old you is the one that's not making 00:11:40.419 --> 00:11:42.759 the difficult decision to put away that sin that 00:11:42.759 --> 00:11:45.019 you feel attracted to. It's the one that's not 00:11:45.019 --> 00:11:47.700 making a difficult decision to fast and grow 00:11:47.700 --> 00:11:50.320 in the Lord in making the right decisions every 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:53.159 single day or to pray. faithfully for what it 00:11:53.159 --> 00:11:55.220 is you believe that God wants to do and so on. 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:57.100 That's the old you. And you're not willing to 00:11:57.100 --> 00:11:59.259 divorce yourself of the old you and live in the 00:11:59.259 --> 00:12:01.860 new you and share the gospel and fast and pray 00:12:01.860 --> 00:12:04.620 and serve and discipline. People go on a mission 00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:06.559 trip. They came here for a serve tour. They walked 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:08.379 away from everything. They have their house, 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:10.960 their projects at home, all of it. And they came 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:13.500 for two days to serve. And it was hard. We've 00:12:13.500 --> 00:12:15.419 seen people do that for a week. I've done it. 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:17.340 Back in the day, I've done it for a week at a 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:19.090 time. It's hard. It's hard to put all the way 00:12:19.090 --> 00:12:20.710 you get calls from home. Hey, this is going on. 00:12:20.730 --> 00:12:22.830 I really I was there. I can help you, but I'm 00:12:22.830 --> 00:12:25.210 not. I can't. Sherry and I were talking about 00:12:25.210 --> 00:12:26.690 what's going on while I was in Tennessee. And 00:12:26.690 --> 00:12:28.590 she was talking about she could help with this 00:12:28.590 --> 00:12:29.789 or that or the other thing. And she did help 00:12:29.789 --> 00:12:31.970 me some while I was down there, mostly in the 00:12:31.970 --> 00:12:34.429 like Internet stuff. And she reserved my hotel 00:12:34.429 --> 00:12:36.850 room, for example, the one time and things like 00:12:36.850 --> 00:12:38.909 that. And then she was having problems at home. 00:12:38.990 --> 00:12:41.590 I wish I could help you. But I was on mission 00:12:41.590 --> 00:12:45.299 to help my mom. But the truth is, we are on mission 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:48.240 every day. And we must divorce ourselves from 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:50.799 that old man and that old set of desires and 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:52.779 instead embrace this thing that God wants us 00:12:52.779 --> 00:12:55.200 to do. Metaphorically speaking, I'm saying you 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:57.779 need to eat locusts before you eat steak if it 00:12:57.779 --> 00:13:00.360 takes eating locusts to serve the Lord. It's 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:05.179 time we said, God sent, Dan went. God sent, Abby 00:13:05.179 --> 00:13:08.679 went. God sent, Jaden went. It's time we said, 00:13:08.820 --> 00:13:12.230 as John did, He must increase, but I must decrease. 00:13:12.529 --> 00:13:15.490 Notice John was not the light. We carry the message 00:13:15.490 --> 00:13:18.090 that has power to save. Paul said, I'm not ashamed 00:13:18.090 --> 00:13:21.029 of the gospel and we ought not be as well. Let 00:13:21.029 --> 00:13:23.649 us be willing to serve in the capacity that we 00:13:23.649 --> 00:13:26.210 were sent to serve in. Let us be found obedient 00:13:26.210 --> 00:13:29.830 and pointing beyond ourselves like John did to 00:13:29.830 --> 00:13:31.929 the light that enlightens all men. The second 00:13:31.929 --> 00:13:33.970 thing to see in the text here is that the true 00:13:33.970 --> 00:13:36.129 light came, right? John pointed to the light 00:13:36.129 --> 00:13:38.950 and it's like. The emcee gets up with the microphone, 00:13:39.129 --> 00:13:41.690 stands center stage and says, and now I give 00:13:41.690 --> 00:13:44.309 you the greatest, the best, forever and ever. 00:13:45.860 --> 00:13:47.799 And nobody walks out. But that's not what happened. 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:50.940 He said, and here he comes. And there come Jesus. 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:52.899 And that's the same thing that will happen for 00:13:52.899 --> 00:13:55.639 us when we decide. That our lives are about announcing 00:13:55.639 --> 00:13:57.899 the Lord, the Master, the Creator of the universe, 00:13:57.940 --> 00:14:01.179 the first uncaused cause. If you would say, if 00:14:01.179 --> 00:14:04.000 you will commit to Jesus, Jesus will do X. Because 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:05.879 he said, just go with the promises. Don't make 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:07.639 up extra stuff. Just go with what he said he'll 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:10.080 do. And he'll do it. And when people do it, I 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:12.200 remember I was back at East Toledo back in the 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:15.259 day. And there was a young man who came to youth 00:14:15.259 --> 00:14:17.539 vacation Bible school. And at the end of Youth 00:14:17.539 --> 00:14:19.120 Vacation Bible School that night, we were sitting 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:21.039 there and he came from a Muslim family. And he 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:24.159 says, I believe that you have a point and I could 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:26.659 follow this Jesus that you talk about. He said, 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:28.960 but the problem is I'll get disowned by my family. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:30.340 And I said, well, first of all, I'm not sure 00:14:30.340 --> 00:14:32.159 that that's true because I'd already discovered 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:34.419 in talking to him, his family wasn't really all 00:14:34.419 --> 00:14:36.799 that devout Muslims, right? I'm not sure that's 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:39.519 true. But even if it is true, I said, if your 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:42.340 family would disown you for becoming a Christian. 00:14:42.779 --> 00:14:44.399 I guarantee I'm thinking in my head, I'll take 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:45.879 him in. I'll take him in. I want to say I'll 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:48.179 take him in. But I didn't say that because that 00:14:48.179 --> 00:14:51.039 would mean that I was luring him to accept Christ. 00:14:51.100 --> 00:14:53.240 Right. I don't want to do that. But I knew I 00:14:53.240 --> 00:14:55.779 would take him in. But I said, I will guarantee 00:14:55.779 --> 00:14:59.080 you that God will provide a place for you. Guaranteed. 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:00.879 I know for 100 percent that you'll have a roof 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:03.120 over your head the day after they take you out. 00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:04.799 And I'm thinking in my head, I'll give him that 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:07.039 place. I knew I would, but he didn't. So then 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:10.279 I said, will you accept Jesus Christ as Lord 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:13.779 and Savior? If God would send somebody, if God 00:15:13.779 --> 00:15:16.620 would send somebody here right now to explain 00:15:16.620 --> 00:15:18.799 to me everything I need to know to be saved and 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:21.419 show me, he could show me something that God 00:15:21.419 --> 00:15:23.179 wants me to know about me and say, then I would 00:15:23.179 --> 00:15:24.960 be saved. And I'm like, and I asked him, I just 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:27.440 said, what am I, top living? I mean, here I am 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:28.740 and I'm explaining to you. And he said, no, no, 00:15:28.759 --> 00:15:30.720 I need something miraculous. And I said, well, 00:15:30.759 --> 00:15:34.100 listen, this is how this works. God instigates, 00:15:34.100 --> 00:15:36.820 we accept, and that's when you see the miraculous. 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:39.539 God has already done it. He sent his son who 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:41.940 died on the cross. He's already done that, instigated 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:44.399 it. Now, if you just accept, you will see. Your 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:46.179 eyes will be opened and you will see that he 00:15:46.179 --> 00:15:47.840 would not do it. I don't know if he ever did 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:51.500 do it. Listen to me. Jesus is no joke. Jesus 00:15:51.500 --> 00:15:54.600 is not one of your extra cuss words. The name 00:15:54.600 --> 00:15:57.139 of Christ is what you receive and believe to 00:15:57.139 --> 00:16:00.340 be saved. No other name under heaven given among 00:16:00.340 --> 00:16:03.059 men. And as Christians, we cannot shut up about 00:16:03.059 --> 00:16:06.529 him. He is the true light. That sets him apart 00:16:06.529 --> 00:16:09.649 from every imitation, every rival and every substitute. 00:16:09.789 --> 00:16:12.250 And believe me, they're there. They will convince 00:16:12.250 --> 00:16:14.169 our children, given the opportunity to convince 00:16:14.169 --> 00:16:16.389 our children that they have gender dysphoria, 00:16:16.549 --> 00:16:18.049 then convince them that they were born in the 00:16:18.049 --> 00:16:19.730 wrong body. And they will tell them if they'll 00:16:19.730 --> 00:16:21.309 just change their gender, they'll be perfectly 00:16:21.309 --> 00:16:23.590 fine. That's all you really need. Some medicine 00:16:23.590 --> 00:16:25.590 and change your gender and you'll be fine. You 00:16:25.590 --> 00:16:26.970 won't be depressed anymore. You won't be struggling 00:16:26.970 --> 00:16:28.789 when you're going through that because it's all 00:16:28.789 --> 00:16:30.789 a lie. They'll tell you if you will embrace the 00:16:30.789 --> 00:16:33.789 animal. that's your animal. If you'll embrace 00:16:33.789 --> 00:16:35.929 that wolf or that tiger or that lion, let that 00:16:35.929 --> 00:16:37.690 person come and live in you and live with you. 00:16:37.710 --> 00:16:40.230 Let that be who you are now. You'll be fine and 00:16:40.230 --> 00:16:41.710 you won't be timid anymore. You'll be strong. 00:16:41.909 --> 00:16:43.870 You know what I'm talking about, right? I'm talking 00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:47.769 about Satan giving altar calls. And it's happening 00:16:47.769 --> 00:16:50.360 today. Just because you turn a blind eye to it 00:16:50.360 --> 00:16:52.220 does not mean it doesn't happen. Do you understand 00:16:52.220 --> 00:16:54.919 that in Toledo schools and in Northwood schools 00:16:54.919 --> 00:16:56.980 and wherever, there are teachers that are trying 00:16:56.980 --> 00:16:58.879 to indoctrinate children to believe things that 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:01.220 are anti -Christ. Yet you can't go there and 00:17:01.220 --> 00:17:03.080 talk about God, which is why it was so awesome 00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:04.519 that we were allowed to during surf tour, go 00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:06.559 and talk to the kids about God and everyone and 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.140 praying with kids that had never prayed before 00:17:08.140 --> 00:17:09.839 and praying for salvation with kids that had 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:11.700 never been saved before. And that was awesome. 00:17:12.029 --> 00:17:14.430 But believe me, the very next day or later that 00:17:14.430 --> 00:17:16.369 day, there were people trying to indoctrinate 00:17:16.369 --> 00:17:18.369 children. And they can do that because that's 00:17:18.369 --> 00:17:20.650 free speech. But you can't do that. Why do you 00:17:20.650 --> 00:17:24.309 think that the world will only try to stop us 00:17:24.309 --> 00:17:26.789 from talking about Jesus? Because Jesus is the 00:17:26.789 --> 00:17:29.309 only one who saves. He's the only real light. 00:17:29.509 --> 00:17:31.410 And nobody wants a real light to shine because 00:17:31.410 --> 00:17:34.329 that's hard on the eyes. What the light does 00:17:34.329 --> 00:17:35.869 when it comes into the world, the Bible says, 00:17:35.990 --> 00:17:40.029 he awakens people, Ephesians 5. He dispels ignorance. 00:17:40.829 --> 00:17:44.849 Darkness can't hide when Jesus reveals. He guides. 00:17:45.109 --> 00:17:47.190 He says, he that followeth me shall not walk 00:17:47.190 --> 00:17:50.650 in darkness. Jesus was looked forward to, anticipated, 00:17:51.190 --> 00:17:53.970 and necessary. The world was growing darker and 00:17:53.970 --> 00:17:57.150 darker then, and one might argue it is now as 00:17:57.150 --> 00:17:59.589 well. Jesus was the promised seed from Genesis 00:17:59.589 --> 00:18:02.190 3. He was the great light for people in darkness 00:18:02.190 --> 00:18:05.549 from Isaiah 9. And he was the son, S -U -N, of 00:18:05.549 --> 00:18:07.750 righteousness with healing in his wings in Malachi 00:18:07.750 --> 00:18:11.630 4 .2. Without him, there is no light and only 00:18:11.630 --> 00:18:14.029 shadows and guesses. Which means when you talk 00:18:14.029 --> 00:18:16.269 to your friend who is not saved and you're trying 00:18:16.269 --> 00:18:17.630 to give them advice, you're trying to sort out 00:18:17.630 --> 00:18:18.809 their problems, you're trying to encourage them 00:18:18.809 --> 00:18:20.450 or whatever, you need to understand that without 00:18:20.450 --> 00:18:23.410 Jesus Christ, everything that they come up with 00:18:23.410 --> 00:18:25.329 will be shadows and guesses. It will be best. 00:18:25.700 --> 00:18:28.140 Best action plans for a little while. It'll be 00:18:28.140 --> 00:18:31.000 a little fake light that lasts until it doesn't. 00:18:31.259 --> 00:18:34.640 Witness to the true light that has come. That's 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:38.180 what John did. And then accept his effect in 00:18:38.180 --> 00:18:40.660 your life. See by the light that Jesus gives, 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.039 not the light that the world gives. See by the 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:45.599 light and walk in the light. Let's be honest 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:48.380 about who we are. We are ministers of reconciliation 00:18:48.380 --> 00:18:50.319 on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are ambassadors 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:52.140 from heaven. We do not belong here. We do not 00:18:52.140 --> 00:18:54.210 live here. This is not our home. Based on that, 00:18:54.210 --> 00:18:55.730 then you don't need a better house, a better 00:18:55.730 --> 00:18:58.089 car or a better job. You need to the one who's 00:18:58.089 --> 00:19:00.069 building your home in heaven. The true light 00:19:00.069 --> 00:19:02.970 came. But notice then the world didn't know him. 00:19:03.029 --> 00:19:06.490 His own didn't receive him. Look at verses 10 00:19:06.490 --> 00:19:09.509 to 11 there again. It says he came to his own. 00:19:09.650 --> 00:19:14.519 So like his own, meaning his family, right? You 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:16.960 know, there was a moment in time, you might remember 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:18.559 a little bit of the story of Mary, right? So 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:22.140 Mary was impregnated by God when she was a virgin, 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:25.279 remained a virgin until after Jesus was born. 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:28.779 That's a pretty miraculous miracle. And the Bible 00:19:28.779 --> 00:19:31.000 says that Mary stored all those things in her 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:33.259 heart. Mary was the one, when she was told that's 00:19:33.259 --> 00:19:34.940 what was going to happen, she said, so let it 00:19:34.940 --> 00:19:36.980 be to your bondservant, Lord, whatever you want. 00:19:37.099 --> 00:19:39.440 She committed to this plan and stored things 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:42.230 in her heart. And yet there is a story in the 00:19:42.230 --> 00:19:44.990 Gospels where she and her sons come to get Jesus 00:19:44.990 --> 00:19:47.650 because he's become an embarrassment to the family 00:19:47.650 --> 00:19:50.750 by claiming to be God the Son after her miraculous 00:19:50.750 --> 00:19:53.430 birth, after the water was turned into wine. 00:19:53.869 --> 00:19:58.750 You see, his own family did not accept him while 00:19:58.750 --> 00:20:00.609 he was alive. But it's worse than that. It says 00:20:00.609 --> 00:20:03.779 he came to his own. And his own people did not 00:20:03.779 --> 00:20:05.819 accept him. The people in his town, they said, 00:20:05.859 --> 00:20:09.000 well, this is that guy Joseph's son. He's just 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:11.720 some carpenter or something. What does he say 00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:14.880 he is? Who is he saying he is? What is he saying 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:17.200 he can do? Well, I know one guy who got healed. 00:20:17.380 --> 00:20:19.740 I can't explain that. But I know seven others 00:20:19.740 --> 00:20:21.559 who didn't get healed. And if he's the son of 00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:23.660 God, I can't explain that either, right? And 00:20:23.660 --> 00:20:26.240 it says that he didn't do as many miracles at 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:29.839 home because in his home region, the people did 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:32.579 not believe the struggle with faith. And then 00:20:32.579 --> 00:20:34.680 the Pharisees and the Sadducees who memorized 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:37.000 and taught the law, they didn't necessarily follow 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:38.960 it, but they memorized and taught it. They taught 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:40.900 everybody everywhere about a coming salvation, 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:44.500 about a Messiah who would lead the people, would 00:20:44.500 --> 00:20:46.200 bring salvation not only for the Jewish people, 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:48.000 but for the Gentiles alike. They taught that 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:50.259 to everyone. Jesus came into their midst and 00:20:50.259 --> 00:20:53.460 he did not accept them. He came to his own and 00:20:53.460 --> 00:20:56.319 his own people did not accept him. But as many 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:58.700 as received him, but for as many as received 00:20:58.700 --> 00:21:02.400 him. To them, he gave the right to become children 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:05.539 of God. This is the great irony. I submit to 00:21:05.539 --> 00:21:08.299 you that since the Garden of Eden, this is the 00:21:08.299 --> 00:21:12.759 greatest irony ever. That the very people that 00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:15.460 were to produce the Messiah, the very people 00:21:15.460 --> 00:21:19.039 who had all the holy texts, teachers who had 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:22.079 sacrificed time and time and time again, the 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:23.680 only time they didn't sacrifice their entirety 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:26.779 of their history was when they were in hiding 00:21:26.779 --> 00:21:28.779 and could not. Other than that, they sacrificed 00:21:28.779 --> 00:21:32.359 faithful. And that sacrifice was representing 00:21:32.359 --> 00:21:34.759 the one. And they knew all the while that was 00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:37.740 representing one purpose, perfect sacrifice that 00:21:37.740 --> 00:21:40.000 God would make. And after that time, it would 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:41.819 no longer be necessary to sacrifice. And here 00:21:41.819 --> 00:21:44.920 comes Jesus, the perfect lamb. It's the irony 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:48.460 of ironies. It is the epitome of irony. He was 00:21:48.460 --> 00:21:52.119 in the world. The world was made by him. I submit 00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:55.859 to you that every beetle and every dog and every 00:21:55.859 --> 00:22:01.529 cow. And every leaf knew that Jesus made everything. 00:22:01.849 --> 00:22:04.150 And yet the crowning achievement of creation, 00:22:04.430 --> 00:22:07.170 mankind, including the crowning achievement of 00:22:07.170 --> 00:22:10.450 nations, the Jewish people did not. The world 00:22:10.450 --> 00:22:14.910 has no indwelling ability then to receive its 00:22:14.910 --> 00:22:17.849 creator. See, a leaf cannot be home to the Holy 00:22:17.849 --> 00:22:20.309 Spirit. A dog cannot be home to the Holy Spirit. 00:22:20.490 --> 00:22:22.849 A Jewish man who does not accept Jesus Christ 00:22:22.849 --> 00:22:25.190 as Lord and Savior cannot be home to the Holy 00:22:25.190 --> 00:22:28.039 Spirit. A lost Toledoan who does not accept Jesus 00:22:28.039 --> 00:22:30.660 Christ as Lord and Savior cannot be home to the 00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:33.160 Holy Spirit. There is nothing in a human being 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:35.779 that inherently gives them the ability to receive 00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:44.019 their creator even when he comes. But God, by 00:22:44.019 --> 00:22:48.319 his grace, but God, by his infinite power, people 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:51.400 refused, they rejected, and the dismissal led 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:53.259 to attacks against him. They picked up stones 00:22:53.259 --> 00:22:55.480 to stone him, but it wasn't time yet. And then 00:22:55.480 --> 00:22:58.240 finally, murder. They persecuted him. They took 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:00.559 up stones. They plotted his death. They cried, 00:23:00.619 --> 00:23:03.700 we have no king but Caesar. The Jewish people 00:23:03.700 --> 00:23:06.160 did that. The people that were his people. The 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:08.660 people that had the teachings. Encountering Jesus 00:23:08.660 --> 00:23:11.299 and knowing Jesus. This is not like an automatic 00:23:11.299 --> 00:23:13.099 thing. Somebody comes into your life and they 00:23:13.099 --> 00:23:15.160 tell you about Jesus. Holy Spirit is in them. 00:23:15.319 --> 00:23:17.859 And so they know Jesus. They're living with Jesus 00:23:17.859 --> 00:23:20.680 daily. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, 00:23:20.680 --> 00:23:22.640 in their opinion. But they're living with him. 00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:26.190 He's there in the room. And they walk away unsaved. 00:23:26.269 --> 00:23:28.349 The gospel is shared, but they're skeptical, 00:23:28.410 --> 00:23:30.470 or they're afraid of the decision that they'll 00:23:30.470 --> 00:23:31.750 have to make. Well, I'll have to stop living 00:23:31.750 --> 00:23:33.690 in sin, and I don't want to have to do that, 00:23:33.769 --> 00:23:36.549 at least not yet, anyway. And so they don't accept 00:23:36.549 --> 00:23:38.150 Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Encountering 00:23:38.150 --> 00:23:41.049 him and knowing him is not an automatic transition. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:45.519 There is evidence. He had done so many miracles, 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:49.079 yet they believed him not. There is power. They 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:52.690 saw his works and still walked away. Close proximity, 00:23:52.910 --> 00:23:55.650 his hometown asked, is not this the carpenter? 00:23:55.789 --> 00:23:58.910 And even his brothers didn't believe. Similarity 00:23:58.910 --> 00:24:01.730 what they expected, he fulfilled every scripture, 00:24:01.809 --> 00:24:04.890 every prophecy, but he did not fulfill their 00:24:04.890 --> 00:24:07.470 assumptions or their desires for what a Messiah 00:24:07.470 --> 00:24:10.150 would be. He came from people like them. He looked 00:24:10.150 --> 00:24:12.869 like a Jew. He had the blood, the skin, the hair. 00:24:13.069 --> 00:24:15.509 He talked like them. He knew their verses. He 00:24:15.509 --> 00:24:18.180 knew the way the temple ran. And that's why it 00:24:18.180 --> 00:24:21.109 can be said that his own knew him not. his own 00:24:21.109 --> 00:24:24.490 nationality and family. You say, but he had to 00:24:24.490 --> 00:24:26.089 be different. They knew from all the scriptures 00:24:26.089 --> 00:24:28.269 that he had to be different, right? And so if 00:24:28.269 --> 00:24:30.069 he was different, then that would end. Well, 00:24:30.089 --> 00:24:32.230 he was different in that he did all the miracles, 00:24:32.309 --> 00:24:34.569 the teaching. They said, oh, he teaches as one 00:24:34.569 --> 00:24:36.470 who has authority, not like all the others who 00:24:36.470 --> 00:24:38.509 teach. So they recognized that he was different. 00:24:38.589 --> 00:24:40.789 He was unsurprisingly different in all the ways 00:24:40.789 --> 00:24:43.009 that he needed to be. And then Pilate, who was 00:24:43.009 --> 00:24:45.549 not a Jew, stood before him and said, what is 00:24:45.549 --> 00:24:49.769 true? The failure was in not receiving him. The 00:24:49.769 --> 00:24:51.950 light was not lacking. Everything was there that 00:24:51.950 --> 00:24:54.289 was necessary. Everything is here in this room 00:24:54.289 --> 00:24:56.750 that was necessary. You're hearing the gospel. 00:24:56.869 --> 00:24:58.849 You're hearing the word of God. You're dialing 00:24:58.849 --> 00:25:01.410 in going, what do I got to do about this? Everything 00:25:01.410 --> 00:25:05.029 is here that is necessary for whatever the next 00:25:05.029 --> 00:25:09.390 step is. But notice it says, but as many as received 00:25:09.390 --> 00:25:12.210 him, verses 12 and 13. But as many as received 00:25:12.210 --> 00:25:14.529 them, to them he gave the right to become children 00:25:14.529 --> 00:25:16.789 of God, to those who believe in his name, who 00:25:16.789 --> 00:25:19.210 were born not of blood, nor of the will of the 00:25:19.210 --> 00:25:21.910 flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. 00:25:22.430 --> 00:25:25.549 Some did. In Jesus' day, facing persecution, 00:25:25.769 --> 00:25:28.309 while he was being crucified, some believed. 00:25:28.809 --> 00:25:33.049 This was all his idea. Jesus' idea. First caused, 00:25:33.289 --> 00:25:36.170 first uncaused cause. This was all his idea. 00:25:36.289 --> 00:25:38.569 It was planned. And Galatians 4 says carried 00:25:38.569 --> 00:25:41.309 out at exactly the right moment. And Acts 26, 00:25:41.710 --> 00:25:44.670 and nothing was hidden or accidental about the 00:25:44.670 --> 00:25:47.190 decision that needed to be made. Two responses 00:25:47.190 --> 00:25:50.210 led to two outcomes. Those who received him gained 00:25:50.210 --> 00:25:52.710 redemption. That means they were bought back. 00:25:52.930 --> 00:25:55.509 They became part of the family of God. Adoption. 00:25:55.509 --> 00:25:57.670 They got the right to become children of God. 00:25:57.730 --> 00:25:59.930 But those who refused did not receive and did 00:25:59.930 --> 00:26:03.130 not know him. They received neither. Proximity 00:26:03.130 --> 00:26:05.369 is huge. The parable of the four soils, right? 00:26:05.450 --> 00:26:07.809 What is the one thing that all four soils in 00:26:07.809 --> 00:26:10.849 the fourth parable of four soils has? Proximity. 00:26:10.869 --> 00:26:13.170 The seed is the word, Jesus goes on to explain, 00:26:13.430 --> 00:26:15.410 and some of the seed fell on the path, some fell 00:26:15.410 --> 00:26:18.089 on thin soil, some fell on thorny soil, and some 00:26:18.089 --> 00:26:20.410 fell on good soil. All of them have proximity. 00:26:20.490 --> 00:26:22.990 That's hugely important. The prodigal son, what 00:26:22.990 --> 00:26:25.750 did he have before he left to go spend all his 00:26:25.750 --> 00:26:29.930 inheritance? Proximity. He had proximity, and 00:26:29.930 --> 00:26:32.759 it's huge, and God provides it. For those who 00:26:32.759 --> 00:26:35.319 might receive. So if you're here today, you have 00:26:35.319 --> 00:26:37.359 proximity. That means he provided this so that 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:40.000 you might receive whatever it is that he intends. 00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:42.400 The ability to receive him is offered by God. 00:26:42.680 --> 00:26:45.200 So we should receive. He came near so that we 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:47.559 could take hold. Receiving him means believing 00:26:47.559 --> 00:26:50.559 on his name. That was verse 12. Those who believed 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:53.019 on his name. Receiving him is not something that 00:26:53.019 --> 00:26:55.650 we can take credit for. or a work that we've 00:26:55.650 --> 00:26:57.849 caused, I want to say this very plainly, as much 00:26:57.849 --> 00:26:59.410 as I want to see every person in this church 00:26:59.410 --> 00:27:01.809 sharing the gospel, wherever you go, every opportunity 00:27:01.809 --> 00:27:04.630 you get, if you go to the restaurant and share 00:27:04.630 --> 00:27:07.089 the gospel and somebody gets saved, it really 00:27:07.089 --> 00:27:10.230 has nothing to do with you. All you did was what 00:27:10.230 --> 00:27:13.079 you were created and reborn to do. Now, if you 00:27:13.079 --> 00:27:15.759 go to the restaurant and refuse to share the 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:18.079 gospel and somebody does not get saved, now it 00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:20.519 has something to do with you. You received a 00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:22.799 commission and failed to walk it out. You received 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:25.200 the power as a witness and failed to live as 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:27.680 a witness. You pointed to yourself, oh, thank 00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:29.640 you for my water. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank 00:27:29.640 --> 00:27:31.339 you. You bowed your head in the middle of the 00:27:31.339 --> 00:27:32.500 restaurant so everyone could see you praying. 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:34.259 You may have prayed out loud so the tables around 00:27:34.259 --> 00:27:35.960 you could hear you praying, but you didn't ask 00:27:35.960 --> 00:27:38.099 anybody to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 00:27:38.180 --> 00:27:40.079 So what does that say as a Christian? So you 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:42.460 could be culpable. for what you didn't do. But 00:27:42.460 --> 00:27:44.819 if you serve God the way you are supposed to, 00:27:44.980 --> 00:27:47.720 God gets the glory and all you will be doing 00:27:47.720 --> 00:27:50.279 is what you are supposed to do. I do not pay 00:27:50.279 --> 00:27:52.599 my daughter to clean her bedroom because she's 00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:54.380 supposed to clean her bedroom. And if she does 00:27:54.380 --> 00:27:56.839 not clean her bedroom, then she has her freedoms 00:27:56.839 --> 00:28:00.099 restrained by way of correction until she gets 00:28:00.099 --> 00:28:02.440 that done because she's just doing what she's 00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:04.700 supposed to do. God's not going to pay you to 00:28:04.700 --> 00:28:07.039 come to church. He's not going to pay you to 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:09.740 praise his holy name. God wants to bless you 00:28:09.740 --> 00:28:11.240 and will deliver blessings into your life and 00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:14.140 does so and is doing so all the time. You think, 00:28:14.180 --> 00:28:16.180 well, I've been faithful. I showed up to church 00:28:16.180 --> 00:28:18.180 seven Sundays in a row. So God should give me 00:28:18.180 --> 00:28:20.220 a new insert, whatever it is that you need. You're 00:28:20.220 --> 00:28:22.160 just doing what it was that you're supposed to 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:24.259 do and be. We are the called out assembly of 00:28:24.259 --> 00:28:26.000 believers. You're supposed to be worshiping him. 00:28:26.119 --> 00:28:27.880 You're supposed to be going to bed at a reasonable 00:28:27.880 --> 00:28:29.619 time on Saturday night. And you're supposed to 00:28:29.619 --> 00:28:31.440 be studying your Bible all the time. So when 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:32.920 you get here and I start preaching, you go, oh, 00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:35.130 yeah. This makes sense. This is what I was just 00:28:35.130 --> 00:28:37.049 studying. God's talking to me the same way he's 00:28:37.049 --> 00:28:38.829 talking to Pastor Dan. You should be doing that 00:28:38.829 --> 00:28:42.710 because you have been born again. Not of blood, 00:28:42.750 --> 00:28:44.369 nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will 00:28:44.369 --> 00:28:47.450 of man, but of God. It's not our heritage, our 00:28:47.450 --> 00:28:50.130 effort, or our decision apart from the grace 00:28:50.130 --> 00:28:54.769 that God has given. Notice also, though, we want 00:28:54.769 --> 00:28:57.410 the benefits. We are being adopted. I want to 00:28:57.410 --> 00:28:59.109 be able to be called a child of God. If you don't 00:28:59.109 --> 00:29:00.369 want to be able to be called a child of God, 00:29:00.410 --> 00:29:02.109 then you don't understand God. Does God owns 00:29:02.109 --> 00:29:04.329 it all? Ultimately, there will only be those 00:29:04.329 --> 00:29:06.029 who are called the child of God who will be in 00:29:06.029 --> 00:29:07.670 the kingdom of God, and that will be heaven, 00:29:07.730 --> 00:29:10.269 and everywhere else will be hell. We want the 00:29:10.269 --> 00:29:13.349 benefits, adoption, heirship. Behold what manner 00:29:13.349 --> 00:29:15.869 of love it is that we should be called the sons 00:29:15.869 --> 00:29:18.369 of God, John would later write in 1 John. We 00:29:18.369 --> 00:29:20.910 want the benefits. Even lost people who don't 00:29:20.910 --> 00:29:23.029 want Jesus want the benefits, if they understood 00:29:23.029 --> 00:29:25.119 what they are. And sometimes they fake being 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:26.940 saved so that they can get some of the benefits 00:29:26.940 --> 00:29:28.500 because they don't want to actually be saved 00:29:28.500 --> 00:29:30.740 so that their lives can be changed. We've got 00:29:30.740 --> 00:29:33.619 churches, grand churches, big churches sometimes, 00:29:33.819 --> 00:29:35.700 thousands of people sometimes who are really 00:29:35.700 --> 00:29:38.240 living out the teaching that says you go to the 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:39.980 ends of the earth to make one convert and make 00:29:39.980 --> 00:29:41.880 them place as much a son of hell as you are because 00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:44.039 they're not committing themselves to the Lord 00:29:44.039 --> 00:29:46.519 Jesus Christ. They're not receiving Christ. That 00:29:46.519 --> 00:29:48.859 brings us to our conclusion then. This is the 00:29:48.859 --> 00:29:52.099 equation of all creation since Jesus created 00:29:52.099 --> 00:29:55.259 it. God acts, right? There was nothing and no 00:29:55.259 --> 00:29:57.299 one and God acted. That's how it started. He 00:29:57.299 --> 00:30:00.200 is the first uncaused cause. God acts. That's 00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:03.759 how every transition in the story, every redemption, 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:06.599 every massive change, it all starts with God 00:30:06.599 --> 00:30:09.720 acts. And then his people respond. You see that 00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:11.039 here, right? That's what we've been reading in 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:13.680 the text. God acted. Jesus Christ came into creation 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:16.259 and the people who were supposed to be God's 00:30:16.259 --> 00:30:18.799 people responded. Many of them responded badly, 00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:21.180 poorly. We'll talk about that in a second as 00:30:21.180 --> 00:30:22.759 part of the conclusion. But there were those 00:30:22.759 --> 00:30:25.059 who responded positively, believed on the name, 00:30:25.059 --> 00:30:27.700 and received. So God acts, his people respond, 00:30:27.980 --> 00:30:30.980 and the story changes. Something new. Something 00:30:30.980 --> 00:30:32.920 that seems new. It's not really new. There's 00:30:32.920 --> 00:30:34.480 nothing new under heaven, but there is a new 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:37.079 aspect, a new... I remember when I got saved, 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:38.299 I told my wife, I said, I don't know what it 00:30:38.299 --> 00:30:40.279 means exactly, but I know it's going to change 00:30:40.279 --> 00:30:43.799 everything. God acts, we respond, and then everything 00:30:43.799 --> 00:30:47.500 is changed. So God starts something. In the beginning, 00:30:47.539 --> 00:30:50.210 it was, let there be light, right? Interesting 00:30:50.210 --> 00:30:52.470 to notice, by the way, in creation, when God 00:30:52.470 --> 00:30:54.670 said, let there be light, had there yet been 00:30:54.670 --> 00:30:58.130 a sun or a moon or stars or a lamp or a candle? 00:30:58.390 --> 00:31:02.549 No, light was created without sun, moon, stars, 00:31:02.710 --> 00:31:05.250 lamp and candle. So we think that the source 00:31:05.250 --> 00:31:08.650 of light is the sun or stars. When we're in the 00:31:08.650 --> 00:31:10.230 dark in the country, we think now there's the 00:31:10.230 --> 00:31:12.849 moon is out. It is full today and there's stars. 00:31:12.890 --> 00:31:14.589 And so it's light amongst the trees and I can 00:31:14.589 --> 00:31:17.329 find my way to navigate. God created the light. 00:31:17.630 --> 00:31:19.490 before he created the things that make light. 00:31:19.569 --> 00:31:22.130 And when we are in heaven, it will be God himself 00:31:22.130 --> 00:31:25.329 and the mighty throne of God, Jesus Christ, who 00:31:25.329 --> 00:31:27.029 will be the light. There's no need for a sun 00:31:27.029 --> 00:31:29.410 there. And there won't be one, ever. There may 00:31:29.410 --> 00:31:31.890 be something like it on the new earth that God 00:31:31.890 --> 00:31:33.990 is creating, but there will not be any source 00:31:33.990 --> 00:31:37.009 of light in heaven other than God. God created 00:31:37.009 --> 00:31:39.349 light before he created the sun, the moon, and 00:31:39.349 --> 00:31:43.140 the stars. And so, God starts something. Think 00:31:43.140 --> 00:31:45.339 about this. God calls Abraham. Before God ever 00:31:45.339 --> 00:31:46.859 promised to make him a great nation, God called 00:31:46.859 --> 00:31:50.400 Abraham. God sends Moses. God reduces Gideon's 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:53.980 army down to 300. God calls Mary. God sends Paul. 00:31:54.240 --> 00:31:58.039 God sent John. And God sent his son. God's people 00:31:58.039 --> 00:32:00.160 respond, sometimes faithfully. Abraham went. 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:03.259 Moses went. Joshua obeyed. Mary submitted. Peter 00:32:03.259 --> 00:32:05.559 and Andrew followed. Paul went to Macedonia, 00:32:05.640 --> 00:32:08.740 but sometimes terribly. Adam hid. Israel complained. 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:12.039 Jonah ran. Israel refused to enter Canaan. Judas 00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:15.279 betrayed Jesus, sometimes with uncertainty. Yes. 00:32:15.940 --> 00:32:20.900 How? I can't. I'm not able. I don't want to. 00:32:21.019 --> 00:32:24.720 Either way, God's initiative puts them at a decision 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:28.279 point. God started it. Now you must decide. I 00:32:28.279 --> 00:32:31.000 must decide how we're going to respond. That's 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:33.299 how it has worked since the very beginning. Their 00:32:33.299 --> 00:32:35.920 response then leads them to the end of themselves. 00:32:36.200 --> 00:32:38.869 Abraham had a promise, and so he went. But you 00:32:38.869 --> 00:32:41.509 know what he didn't have? A son. Moses had the 00:32:41.509 --> 00:32:43.690 calling. But you know what he didn't have? An 00:32:43.690 --> 00:32:46.529 army. Pharaoh had the army. Israel had the command. 00:32:46.809 --> 00:32:49.950 But the Red Sea blocked their way. Gideon had 00:32:49.950 --> 00:32:52.609 the assignment. But only 300 men to face tens 00:32:52.609 --> 00:32:55.670 of thousands of enemies. David had the courage. 00:32:55.910 --> 00:32:58.230 But Goliath was still nine feet tall. Wait for 00:32:58.230 --> 00:33:01.390 it. And wore a helmet. And had a shield man. 00:33:01.609 --> 00:33:04.329 When David walked out to face Goliath, he didn't 00:33:04.329 --> 00:33:06.210 put his helmet on. And he dismissed his shield 00:33:06.210 --> 00:33:08.509 man. Because he said, they're sending out a child 00:33:08.509 --> 00:33:10.710 against me. You can't kill somebody with a sling 00:33:10.710 --> 00:33:14.009 who has a shield man. Elijah had the altar when 00:33:14.009 --> 00:33:15.730 he faced the prophets of Baal. You know what 00:33:15.730 --> 00:33:19.309 he didn't have? Fire. Daniel had faith. But those 00:33:19.309 --> 00:33:22.230 lions in that pit, they were hungry. Mary had 00:33:22.230 --> 00:33:24.569 the promise, but she was still a virgin. The 00:33:24.569 --> 00:33:27.450 disciples had the great commission. Go ye therefore 00:33:27.450 --> 00:33:30.549 to the ends of the earth. Can you imagine if 00:33:30.549 --> 00:33:33.230 I said to you, and you thought I had some kind 00:33:33.230 --> 00:33:35.700 of authority to do so, if I said, we. We right 00:33:35.700 --> 00:33:39.059 here are now responsible to reach every last 00:33:39.059 --> 00:33:43.000 human being who lives and will ever live with 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:45.319 the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if we don't do 00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:47.859 it, if we don't find a way to do it, millions, 00:33:48.220 --> 00:33:51.140 eventually billions, will rot in hell for eternity. 00:33:51.400 --> 00:33:54.000 You'd be like, that's nuts. That's crazy. You 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:56.759 can't possibly. How can you hang that on us? 00:33:56.880 --> 00:33:58.599 How can you make me feel like I'm responsible 00:33:58.599 --> 00:34:01.000 for reaching the world and baptizing them in 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:02.960 the name of Jesus Christ? How can I do that? 00:34:03.309 --> 00:34:05.410 And that's what Jesus did. He gave them the Great 00:34:05.410 --> 00:34:09.050 Commission while they were 12. Peter had the 00:34:09.050 --> 00:34:12.150 sermon. He knew what Joel had said in Joel 2. 00:34:12.309 --> 00:34:14.670 He memorized it from when he was a kid. He knew 00:34:14.670 --> 00:34:17.630 what was to be expected. But Peter couldn't change 00:34:17.630 --> 00:34:20.889 anyone's hearts or even be understood that the 00:34:20.889 --> 00:34:22.250 crowds that were coming from all over the world, 00:34:22.329 --> 00:34:24.030 he was supposed to go out and preach to them. 00:34:24.130 --> 00:34:26.570 And they couldn't even understand him. Paul had 00:34:26.570 --> 00:34:28.849 the calling, but he was sitting in stocks in 00:34:28.849 --> 00:34:30.989 a prison waiting to be put to death. Oh, and 00:34:30.989 --> 00:34:32.929 by the way, what was he doing? singing praises 00:34:32.929 --> 00:34:35.590 at midnight because Paul knew what we're discovering 00:34:35.590 --> 00:34:39.190 today. John the Baptist had the testimony, but 00:34:39.190 --> 00:34:42.650 he couldn't make anyone see. God brings the story 00:34:42.650 --> 00:34:46.389 to the point where only God can finish the story. 00:34:46.570 --> 00:34:48.809 When you came to be saved, when you became a 00:34:48.809 --> 00:34:50.130 Christian, which I hope you have, and if you 00:34:50.130 --> 00:34:52.969 haven't, please do. At that moment, for me, it 00:34:52.969 --> 00:34:54.750 was a realization. I think it was for us too. 00:34:54.849 --> 00:34:58.309 It was a realization that we just can't do what 00:34:58.309 --> 00:35:00.449 needs to be done. There's no amount of money 00:35:00.449 --> 00:35:03.760 or strength. or talent or craftiness that will 00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:06.460 ever get us a ticket into heaven. We just can't 00:35:06.460 --> 00:35:07.920 do it. Somebody's got to do this. Who's going 00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:10.440 to do it? Oh, God sent Jesus to do it. Okay. 00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:13.719 So when I begged God to be saved after God had 00:35:13.719 --> 00:35:15.440 already three times promised me that he would 00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:17.139 save me if I would just turn my life over to 00:35:17.139 --> 00:35:19.739 him, I begged him knowing that on the third time, 00:35:19.820 --> 00:35:23.099 if he didn't, I wouldn't. And that's it. That's 00:35:23.099 --> 00:35:25.340 how it works. The whole system that God has created 00:35:25.340 --> 00:35:29.469 is like this. God acts. We respond. God leads 00:35:29.469 --> 00:35:32.369 us to the end of ourselves where you can't do 00:35:32.369 --> 00:35:35.250 this. You're not able. You don't have the strength 00:35:35.250 --> 00:35:37.769 to pay for your own sins. That's a funny thing. 00:35:37.769 --> 00:35:40.269 It's like, well, if I didn't accept Jesus Christ, 00:35:40.289 --> 00:35:41.650 my Lord and Savior, I'd have to pay for my own 00:35:41.650 --> 00:35:43.550 sins. So you think what? You'd be crucified? 00:35:43.630 --> 00:35:45.849 That only works if you have no sin. So the paying 00:35:45.849 --> 00:35:51.489 for your sins now is eternity. It is an eternal 00:35:51.489 --> 00:35:54.050 payment. You start paying and you never stop 00:35:54.050 --> 00:35:58.400 paying. That's what we face. And so we need somebody 00:35:58.400 --> 00:36:01.679 who had no sin to die a sinner's death so that 00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:05.019 we can be free, forgiven, and have eternity with 00:36:05.019 --> 00:36:07.619 God rather than eternity apart from him. John 00:36:07.619 --> 00:36:10.739 could witness, but only God could cause new birth. 00:36:10.880 --> 00:36:14.780 And it's the same for you. Hear me. You can witness. 00:36:15.159 --> 00:36:19.500 You are called to witness the power of the Holy 00:36:19.500 --> 00:36:21.760 Spirit, God's Holy Spirit in you. It said in 00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:25.019 Acts that the Spirit will come upon you so that 00:36:25.019 --> 00:36:28.780 you can be my... That's what the power of the 00:36:28.780 --> 00:36:31.320 Holy Spirit is for. Will he cast out demons? 00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:33.500 Yes. Will he heal the sick? Yes. Does he give 00:36:33.500 --> 00:36:36.360 Holy Spirit gifts by his presence? Does he make 00:36:36.360 --> 00:36:39.380 fruit of the Spirit abundant in those who he's 00:36:39.380 --> 00:36:41.559 present? And yes, all that's true. But the power 00:36:41.559 --> 00:36:45.019 of the Holy Spirit is for the witness, Jesus 00:36:45.019 --> 00:36:49.139 said. Do you believe it? Jesus said. God initiates, 00:36:49.179 --> 00:36:52.480 we respond, we come to the end of ourselves. 00:36:53.079 --> 00:36:55.440 Every man who's ever taken the woman that he 00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:59.219 desperately loves and cares about said, he realizes 00:36:59.219 --> 00:37:01.599 I cannot love her the way that she deserves. 00:37:01.739 --> 00:37:04.159 She deserves more than I will ever be able to 00:37:04.159 --> 00:37:06.340 give. That alone would lead me to want to be 00:37:06.340 --> 00:37:09.280 saved, to love. I was ruining my marriage, my 00:37:09.280 --> 00:37:10.940 legal marriage. I didn't really have a marriage. 00:37:11.099 --> 00:37:13.539 I was ruining it. I thought maybe I could be 00:37:13.539 --> 00:37:15.920 a good husband. Maybe I could be a good father. 00:37:16.409 --> 00:37:19.030 Maybe I could be a good man, not by virtue of 00:37:19.030 --> 00:37:21.489 my strength or my choices, but by something that 00:37:21.489 --> 00:37:24.150 I know I cannot do. And I submitted to the Lord 00:37:24.150 --> 00:37:27.489 Jesus Christ. And while I may not be good, I'm 00:37:27.489 --> 00:37:30.010 a whole heck of a lot better than I was. God 00:37:30.010 --> 00:37:33.110 has sent the light and he has come near to us 00:37:33.110 --> 00:37:36.730 today in this message, in this word, in his Holy 00:37:36.730 --> 00:37:39.809 Spirit presence in this room. You are at a decision 00:37:39.809 --> 00:37:43.690 point. Can you honestly admit to yourself that 00:37:43.690 --> 00:37:46.329 there are things? that go beyond what you can 00:37:46.329 --> 00:37:49.849 do? And if so, will you submit those things to 00:37:49.849 --> 00:37:52.050 the risen Savior, to Jesus Christ who is the 00:37:52.050 --> 00:37:54.010 light? He is the light that lightens all men. 00:37:54.309 --> 00:37:56.989 He will dispel the ignorance. He will overcome 00:37:56.989 --> 00:37:59.809 the weakness. He will make you a witness to anyone 00:37:59.809 --> 00:38:02.690 who will come into contact with you while he 00:38:02.690 --> 00:38:07.380 rides in you. If you have received him, go as 00:38:07.380 --> 00:38:10.199 John went. He was sent. He was obedient. And 00:38:10.199 --> 00:38:12.579 all the while, in kind of crazy ways, he was 00:38:12.579 --> 00:38:15.099 pointing away from himself. I am not the one. 00:38:15.199 --> 00:38:18.019 I am not the one. Let's get used to saying, I 00:38:18.019 --> 00:38:21.559 am not the one. But I know the one who is. And 00:38:21.559 --> 00:38:24.000 he is with me in class. And he is with me on 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:26.179 the job. He is with me at the restaurant. And 00:38:26.179 --> 00:38:28.599 he is with me at the cash register. And I submit 00:38:28.599 --> 00:38:30.260 to you, if you're not going to live for Jesus, 00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:31.900 if you're a Christian, and you're not going to 00:38:31.900 --> 00:38:34.380 live for Jesus, then don't go to your job and 00:38:34.380 --> 00:38:36.780 take the devil there. Instead, don't go to your 00:38:36.780 --> 00:38:39.519 job and... fail to witness for Christ and be 00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:41.679 culpable for what you didn't do. Don't go to 00:38:41.679 --> 00:38:44.260 your school and not live for Jesus for crying 00:38:44.260 --> 00:38:46.320 out loud because Satan's there. He's got his 00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:49.219 altar call going on. Take the life that is Jesus 00:38:49.219 --> 00:38:52.079 Christ into every conversation. Everyone should 00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:56.039 know for whom you live. And when it's like that, 00:38:56.139 --> 00:38:59.800 those who believe will receive and they will 00:38:59.800 --> 00:39:02.199 be adopted into the family. And that's what they 00:39:02.199 --> 00:39:04.260 need because the family that they're part of 00:39:04.260 --> 00:39:06.900 right now has a bad dad. He's going away for 00:39:06.900 --> 00:39:08.590 a long time. And they're going to go with him. 00:39:08.710 --> 00:39:10.789 And we don't want that. Witness to the light. 00:39:11.110 --> 00:39:13.070 The light that's been sitting up here on the 00:39:13.070 --> 00:39:16.849 stage this entire time. This light, this light 00:39:16.849 --> 00:39:19.829 that's coming from this wall. That light, that 00:39:19.829 --> 00:39:21.929 little light that's been reused probably, I don't 00:39:21.929 --> 00:39:25.019 know, infinite number of times. That little light 00:39:25.019 --> 00:39:26.900 that's coming from that wall started when God 00:39:26.900 --> 00:39:30.469 said, let there be light. And I brought this 00:39:30.469 --> 00:39:32.869 lamp in here today. And I was going to, we're 00:39:32.869 --> 00:39:35.030 going to have it up here by the pulpit. And I 00:39:35.030 --> 00:39:37.699 was going to just, I was just going to. Maybe 00:39:37.699 --> 00:39:40.539 demonstrate that the light. See, here's the interesting 00:39:40.539 --> 00:39:44.909 thing. The light of Jesus Christ is in the meat. 00:39:45.880 --> 00:39:50.480 It's in the dogs and the cats. It's in the smiles 00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:53.079 and the handshakes. The light is there. And the 00:39:53.079 --> 00:39:55.659 funny thing is, Romans 1 says that all creation 00:39:55.659 --> 00:40:00.139 testifies. That light testifies every day to 00:40:00.739 --> 00:40:03.380 the love of Jesus Christ. God doesn't send anybody 00:40:03.380 --> 00:40:06.920 to hell. Well, Satan and the demons, right? But 00:40:06.920 --> 00:40:10.539 no human being. And you don't have to go. And 00:40:10.539 --> 00:40:12.039 I look around the room and I see most of you 00:40:12.039 --> 00:40:13.760 are professing Christians. And I say, so you 00:40:13.760 --> 00:40:16.019 say you're not going. Now you have a job to do. 00:40:16.059 --> 00:40:18.860 You've been sent. Witness. You've got a pocket 00:40:18.860 --> 00:40:22.159 full of tickets. Hand them out like crazy. Take 00:40:22.159 --> 00:40:26.139 everybody you possibly can with you. You know, 00:40:26.139 --> 00:40:28.480 I said the greatest irony ever. The greatest 00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:31.460 irony ever to this point in time in the story 00:40:31.460 --> 00:40:34.880 was that the light that was Jesus Christ came 00:40:35.110 --> 00:40:38.460 to earth, which he created among people. which 00:40:38.460 --> 00:40:40.920 were his people who had all the truth and it 00:40:40.920 --> 00:40:43.079 was not known. I submit to you, there is a greater 00:40:43.079 --> 00:40:47.309 irony today. It is the irony that those who are 00:40:47.309 --> 00:40:50.969 on their way to heaven, those who are children 00:40:50.969 --> 00:40:53.489 of the living God, who would send his own sons 00:40:53.489 --> 00:40:56.449 to die so that people could be saved, that those 00:40:56.449 --> 00:40:59.429 people would not tell others. That's a greater 00:40:59.429 --> 00:41:03.380 irony. That's a sickness and is one to be killed 00:41:03.380 --> 00:41:06.860 among us. You choose to live the life that God 00:41:06.860 --> 00:41:08.940 has given you to live now. And that includes 00:41:08.940 --> 00:41:12.570 your witness to the light. I am not the light. 00:41:12.730 --> 00:41:16.250 I cannot help you. Be saved. Be eternal. You 00:41:16.250 --> 00:41:18.030 were made eternal. You will spend eternity somewhere. 00:41:18.489 --> 00:41:21.909 But Jesus Christ is the light. He is the one. 00:41:22.050 --> 00:41:26.030 And it must be less of me and more of him. And 00:41:26.030 --> 00:41:28.780 I would ask you to do the same. I ask the priest 00:41:28.780 --> 00:41:31.639 team to come forward at this time and to lead 00:41:31.639 --> 00:41:37.480 us in our final hymn. If you're here today and 00:41:37.480 --> 00:41:39.320 you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord 00:41:39.320 --> 00:41:42.769 and Savior, I ask you to do that now. believe 00:41:42.769 --> 00:41:46.949 on the name of the one whom God sent. You say, 00:41:47.030 --> 00:41:48.190 well, I don't know exactly what it's going to 00:41:48.190 --> 00:41:50.289 mean. That's what, that's the point. God asks, 00:41:50.329 --> 00:41:53.230 we respond, and then that brings us, we come 00:41:53.230 --> 00:41:54.730 to a point where it's beyond what we can do. 00:41:54.769 --> 00:41:56.909 It's beyond ourselves. We're trusting in him 00:41:56.909 --> 00:41:59.349 daily to do whatever he's going to do, make it 00:41:59.349 --> 00:42:02.500 whatever he's going to make it. So get beyond 00:42:02.500 --> 00:42:04.420 yourself right now. It's okay, Jesus, I'm for 00:42:04.420 --> 00:42:06.260 you. And then if you're here today and you realize 00:42:06.260 --> 00:42:08.360 you've not been living for the Lord the way you 00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:10.619 said you would, then you can turn back and say, 00:42:10.619 --> 00:42:12.690 it's okay, Jesus. Whatever this is going to look 00:42:12.690 --> 00:42:17.019 like. I'm beyond what I can be. Help me. Be for 00:42:17.019 --> 00:42:20.320 you, whatever it is that you have. As we sing, 00:42:20.360 --> 00:42:22.400 if you stand with me and sing with me, and then 00:42:22.400 --> 00:42:25.119 if the Lord so leads, you just respond to all 00:42:25.119 --> 00:42:27.219 of it. I hope that we made all of it through 00:42:27.219 --> 00:42:27.760 the same program.