A while back, I was in Pennsylvania, where I
grew up, and I was driving somewhere, and I had
the GPS on, because it had been a little bit,
and it was telling me to go a certain way. But
I remember thinking, nah, I know these roads.
I grew up here. I know the back roads to the
main roads, and I know all the shortcuts. And
see, there's this special kind of confidence
that comes when you're driving roads you knew
before Google Maps existed. before MapQuest existed,
back when you had to open the Atlas or fold open
the map and drive. And see, I knew the turns,
I knew the shortcuts, I knew the back roads,
or at least I thought I did. See, what I didn't
know was that some road work was being done,
and the road that I wanted to be on was closed.
And the alternative road that I knew was actually
being totally rerouted to a different direction.
Keep in mind, this is Pennsylvania, where there's
more than one road to get to where you're going.
Like, if it's closed, go into Anchorage. Sorry.
This was like, there's like 15 directions that
you can get to the same place. And I think I
tried 14 of them. And all of the, something was
up, and I was like, what in the world is going
on? And the whole time, my map's like, rerouting,
rerouting. It was basically saying, hey, idiot,
why don't you follow what I'm trying to tell
you to do? Because I can tell you that these
are all closed. So it didn't work out. And the
map kept trying to redirect me. But I didn't
want to listen because I trusted what I thought
I knew more than the direction I was being given.
See, there's lost because you don't know the
way. And then there's lost because you're convinced
that you already do know the way. And that's
where we are in John chapter 5. See, if you remember
back to last week, Jesus in John chapter 5 is
talking to these religious leaders. These are
the Pharisees, the Sadducees, some of them who
are in training. Scripture doesn't tell us exactly
which group, but these are the people that they
know the roads. They know the lay of the land.
They know God's word. They had the scriptures.
They had Moses, their categories, their rules,
religious training, their expectations. But Jesus
is directly confronting what they thought they
knew. And near the center of the passage, Jesus
says this in John chapter 5, verse 39 and 40.
You pour over the scriptures because you think
you have eternal life in them. and yet they testify
about me, but you are not willing to come to
me so that you might have life. See, guys, last
week we were in John chapter 5, verse 19 through
29, and the big idea, the call, was look to Jesus.
If you remember these little white bracelets,
the reminder to look to Jesus, that's actually
part of the mission of our kids program, Radiant
Kids, is to have Christ -centered kids that look
to Jesus. But that's beyond just for our kids.
That's a call that we all have is look to Jesus.
And so this week, as we continue, we're still
going to look to Jesus. But now Jesus presses
us to take the next step. As we look to him,
we see the son who gives life. And the son says,
come to me. so that you may have life. So the
big idea this morning, it's simple. Come to Jesus.
We're going to walk through the passage in three
movements. First, we're going to look at these
witnesses that point to Jesus. Second, we're
going to see how the scriptures testify about
Jesus. And third, we're going to see that the
heart must come to Jesus. But before we do that,
You're not here just to hear my words. We're
here for God's words. So let's pray and let's
ask that the Lord would guide our hearts and
our minds as we open his word. Heavenly Father,
we praise you because you are so worthy of all
honor, of all praise, of all glory, of all dominion.
Lord, as we open your word this morning, I just
pray that you would be at work in my heart, in
the hearts of everyone that's here this morning.
Lord, help us to focus on what it is that you
are saying. Lord, if there are things that have
our focus, other things that we are looking to
right now, I pray that you would help us to turn
our eyes to you. Turn our eyes to Jesus. Lord,
we thank you. In Jesus' name. Amen. So I mentioned
these three movements. We're going to look verse
by verse, and we're going to start with John
chapter 5, verse 30. So when we look at what
is being said, we want to make sure that we're
being faithful to the text. We're not reading
things into it. That's called fancy term eisegesis.
We want to do something called exegesis, which
is look at the text and let God's word be the
one that speaks. So we're going to go verse by
verse. So chapter 5, verse 30, it says, I can
do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear,
and my judgment is just, because I do not seek
my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
Now, depending on what Bible you have, our book
of John doesn't have this, but you might see
these letters in red. And that means these are
words that Jesus is saying. And even if your
Bible doesn't have something in red, these are
words that Jesus is saying. So when he says,
I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I
hear, and my judgment is just. Don't hear, oh,
the pastor saying he's going to judge. No, this
is Jesus's words. So we want to focus. on him.
See, Jesus is saying he's not acting independently
from the Father. He's not building out his own
platform. He's not chasing his own agenda. He's
not seeking his own will apart from the Father.
And so some of this comes back into the verses
that we were just coming through. Kind of seems
a little bit abrupt that we're jumping in and
saying, I can do nothing of my own on my own.
I judge only as I hear. This is in relation to
what Jesus has been saying to these religious
teachers. Back earlier in chapter 5, there was
this man who was... by a pool and this angel
would come and would stir up these waters and
the first person to get in and touch it would
be healed. This man was 38 years in this paralysis
and he's standing there and Jesus comes and he
heals him. And the religious leaders are like,
what's going on here? What's going on? By whose
power are you doing this? You did this on the
Sabbath. And they start looking at the law and
they start questioning Jesus. And so Jesus has
been talking to this religious leader. So this
is the continuation. And Jesus is saying, guys,
I'm not here to build my own platform, chase
my own agenda, seek my own will apart from the
Father. He says his judgment is just because
he seeks the will of his Father who sent him.
Now, back in verse 18, John tells us why these
religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus. So if
you look back in John chapter 5, Back to verse
18, it says this, this is why the Jews began
trying all the more to kill him. Not only was
he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling
God his own father and making himself equal to
God. But this doesn't scare Jesus off. He doesn't
back away from this. He doesn't soften his claim
of who he is. Instead, he shows that the Father
and the Son are not divided. The son does what
he sees the father doing. The father gives life,
the son gives life. The father judges and he
is entrusted judgment to the son. So if these
leaders reject Jesus, they're not defending the
father, defending God. They're actually rejecting
the one that the father sent. And Jesus is walking
them through and confronting this. So then when
we look at verses 31 and 32. It says this, if
I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.
There is another who testifies about me, and
I know that the testimony he gives about me is
true. Jesus is not saying here like, hey guys,
my words are false, so you need to hear from
somebody else. He's actually speaking in legal
terms that these religious leaders would have
understood. Because back in Deuteronomy, in the
law, a claim was established as truth by two
or more witnesses. So Jesus is saying, look,
it's not just me saying this. You want testimony?
God has given you testimony, and I'm going to,
within the structure of the law, actually provide
the witnesses. So this isn't just me saying this.
And so he begins to lay out these witnesses.
So first, he says how John the Baptist bore witness.
So if we look back at John chapter 1 verse 29,
John the Baptist said, here is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world. And then
in verse 1, chapter 1 verse 34, he says, I've
seen and testified that this is the Son of God.
So if we come back to John chapter 5 and we look
at verse 33, he says, you sent messengers to
John and he testified to the truth. This is what
John was saying. Here is the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world. I have seen
and testified this is the Son of God. See, John
was a witness, but John was not the destination.
John was not the Messiah. And we've gone through
the chapters where there's people coming and
they're asking, and John's like, guys, no, it
is Jesus. He is the focus. So John was a witness,
but John wasn't the destination. And then we
see in John chapter 5, Verse 35, Jesus says,
John was a burning and shining lamp, and you
were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
See, John was a lamp, but Jesus is the light.
Jesus calls John a lamp on purpose. Actually,
the word that he uses there matches the same
Greek word that would be used in the Sorry, guys.
Psalm 132, verse 17. This is a passage that these
religious leaders would have been pretty familiar
with because it was talking about the coming
Messiah. So Psalm 132, 17, and if you only have
your book of John, it'll be up here on the screen
behind me. Psalm 132, 17, it says, there I will
make a horn grow for David. I've prepared a lamp
for my anointed one. See, in Psalm 132, it's
looking. towards God's promise to David, toward
the coming king, the anointed one. So when Jesus
calls John a lamp, he's not making John the Messiah.
He is showing John's role as a witness. And he's
actually specifically using language that would
have registered with these leaders. And that's
why John could say in John chapter 3, verse 30,
He must increase. Jesus must increase, but I
must decrease. Because John was a lamp that points
to Jesus. John wasn't trying to get glory for
himself. John the Baptist's whole ministry was
meant to say, look there, look to him. He is
the one. So John was pointing to Jesus. But what's
really interesting here is as Jesus is referencing
John as a witness, He's actually also extending
grace and mercy. So John chapter 5 verse 34,
he says, I don't receive human testimony, but
I say these things so that you may be saved.
So Jesus is actually saying, I don't need John's
endorsement. I don't need the endorsement of
man. But he brings up John's witness for the
religious leader's sake because it said for a
while they rejoiced in the light of John's message
about the Messiah. So even in confrontation here,
Jesus is actually being merciful. He's exposing
their unbelief, but he's also giving them the
testimony that leads to life. Testimony that
they rejoiced in this light as John the Baptist
was saying, the Messiah is coming. The religious
leaders are like, oh yeah, listen to this dude.
And then now they're like, oh, but maybe not
this Jesus guy. Like he doesn't quite fit the
mold of what we view as the Messiah. So Jesus
is being merciful. He's saying, look, guys, you
don't believe, but here's this testimony that
leads to life. You rejoice in John's light. I
am the one. So first John bore witness, and then
we see that the works of Jesus. their witness.
So Jesus is bringing up now a second witness.
So John chapter 5 verse 36. Jesus says, but I
have a greater testimony than John's because
of the works that the Father has given me to
accomplish. These very works I am doing testify
about me that the Father has sent me. See, the
works of Jesus testify about Jesus. See, these
signs aren't random miracles. They're not magic
tricks. They're not just displays of power. They
reveal who Jesus is. When Nicodemus came back
in chapter 3 to Jesus, he looks at him and he
says, these things you're doing, they have to
be from God. So even the religious leaders are
saying like, okay, this is not just like, you
know, the basic thing. Like, this guy's at least
a prophet because the only way he's doing these
things is if God is the one behind it. And so
Jesus is using this, is the works that the Father
has given him. And this connects back then to
what happened earlier in John chapter 5, when
Jesus had healed this man who had been disabled
for 38 years. That miracle was mercy, but it
also was a witness. Jesus was not just helping
a hurting man, he was also revealing who he is.
The healing testified, this is the one sent by
the Father. This is the Son who gives life. This
is the one who has authority over brokenness.
This is the one who has authority over weakness
and sin and death. Then John, the author John,
tells us near the end of his gospel why these
signs were written down. So John chapter 20.
verse 31, all the way at the end, towards the
end of the book here, John, the author says,
but these are written so that you may believe
that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and
that by believing, you may have life in his name.
See, the signs point to Jesus so that we would
believe and have life in his name. So the second
witness was the works and the signs that the
Father had given for Jesus to accomplish. Then
we get to this third. And that's the Father.
God the Father bore witness. So John chapter
5, verse 37 and 38. The Father who sent me has
himself testified about me. You have not heard
his voice at any time, and you have not, haven't
seen his form. You don't have his word residing
in you because you don't believe the one he sent.
Ouch. It's a hard word. See, these religious
leaders, You could say these are Bible people.
These religious leaders are men who studied,
debated, memorized, and taught the scriptures.
And Jesus says, you don't actually have God's
word residing in you. Then he tells them what
exposed it. It's because they do not believe
the one the Father sent. Jesus isn't saying,
hey, you guys don't know the Bible. You guys
have failed, and you're all terrible. It's not
what he's saying. He's saying, guys, the piece
where there's failure is that you missed the
one who all of this is pointing to. That's when
Jesus says, you don't have his word residing
in you. See, this is exactly what Jesus said
earlier in chapter 5. We saw this last week in
verse 23. Jesus said, anyone who does not honor
the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
See, you can't reject Jesus and honor God. You
cannot dismiss the Son and claim to love the
Father. The Father bears witness to the Son.
So look at what Jesus is saying. He's saying,
John the Baptist points to the Messiah. The works
point. the Messiah. The Father points to the
Messiah, and Jesus is the Messiah. See, the issue
is not that God had been unclear. The issue is
actually that they don't want the one to whom
all the witnesses point. Like turn -by -turn
directions on a map, like that GPS that I chose
not to follow. All the witnesses are actually
pointing in the same direction and to the same
destination. But These religious leaders trust
what they think they know more than the actual
direction that God has given. And at least for
me, this is where the passage kind of pressed
in on my heart a little bit. See, life's not
found in the witnesses themselves. John cannot
give life. Miracles and the works of Jesus cannot
give life. Religious experience cannot give life.
Bible knowledge cannot give life. A reputation
for being serious about God cannot give life.
Jesus gives life. So come to Jesus for life.
And as Jesus continues on, he comes to verses
39 and 40, and we see this. You pour over. the
scriptures, because you think you have eternal
life in them, and yet they testify about me.
But you are not willing to come to me so that
you may have life. See, Jesus is moving from
these initial witnesses to the scriptures, which
actually is really the fourth witness that's
here. And this is kind of the center of the passage.
If we had like a crux of this passage, I think
the verse is here. would be 39 and 40. You pour
over the scriptures because you think you have
eternal life in them, and yet they testify about
me, but you are not willing to come to me so
that you may have life. Sit with the irony here
for a minute. These men, they're not irreligious.
They're not casual pagans. They searched the
scriptures. They claimed Moses. They cared deeply.
about the law. They cared about holiness, tradition,
Sabbath, religious identity. They had or they
were working on having the first five books of
the Bible memorized and probably most of the
Psalms as well. And Jesus says, guys, you missed
the point. Not because they read too much Bible.
That's not the problem. Jesus doesn't rebuke
them for searching the Scriptures. He rebukes
them for searching the Scriptures while refusing
the one the Scriptures were written about. They
had the map in their hands. They had Google Maps
telling them exactly which direction to go, but
they would not go where the map was leading.
You can know Bible verses, and you can miss Jesus.
You can know doctrine, and you can miss Jesus.
You can know the religious words to say, the
categories, the way to act, and miss Jesus. You
can defend truth in a way that actually keeps
you from surrendering to the truth himself. See,
the scriptures testify about Jesus. That doesn't
mean that every verse is like this secret code
where we force Jesus into the text. But it means
the whole storyline of scripture moves towards
him. The scriptures testify about Jesus. The
promises throughout all of God's word point to
Jesus. The sacrifices in the Old Testament point
to the ultimate sacrifice that would be made
through Jesus on the cross. The entire priesthood
and the structure and the rules and the ritual
pointed to Jesus. The temple pointed to the work
that Jesus needed to do. The kingship points
to him. The law exposes our need for him. The
prophets anticipated him. See, the scriptures
testify about Jesus. And yet, Jesus says in verse
40, but you are not willing to come to me so
that you may have life. And that's the tragedy.
See, the problem here, it's not that there's
a lack of access. For these religious leaders,
they had scripture. The problem wasn't a lack
of religious seriousness. They had that too.
The problem is not that God failed to give enough
testimony. We have John, the works of the Father,
the works, the Father, the scriptures, they all
testified. The problem here is the will. You
are not willing. See, they searched the entire
scriptures that testified about Christ. while
refusing to come to Christ. That's where that
opening story comes back in, right? They knew
the roads and the back roads. They knew Moses.
They knew Sabbath. They knew the scriptures honestly
better than probably everyone in this room does.
They knew the categories, but the road that they
trusted in was closed. Their righteousness, righteousness
road could not give life. Their religious standing
could not reconcile them to God. Their Bible
knowledge could not become a substitute for coming
to Jesus. And guys, that same danger that these
religious leaders fell into, it's still real
for us today. I've wrestled with this myself.
See, you can use good things wrongly. We can
use scripture to avoid surrender. You can use
theology and doctrine to avoid repentance. We
can use ministry to avoid dependence on him.
We can use morality to avoid grace. We can use
Bible knowledge to avoid actually coming and
surrendering our hearts. to Jesus. So we need
to ask plainly, where am I looking for life apart
from Jesus? Am I looking to being right? Am I
looking to my politics? Am I looking to being
respected? Am I looking to being independent?
Am I looking to being needed, being seen as faithful,
being morally impressive, being the person who
knows the answer? Because none of those things
can give life. The scriptures are good. The law
is good. Doctrine is good. Ministry is good.
But none of those things are life. Because only
Jesus is life. The Bible doesn't invite us to
terminate on Bible knowledge. The Bible brings
us to Christ. So with this testimony of the scriptures,
it says, come to Jesus for life. And in verse
40, Jesus is saying, but you're not willing to
come to these religious leaders. So we come to
the third movement here is that then the heart
must come to Jesus. Because now Jesus presses
even deeper. He moves from evidence to the heart.
So when we look at verse 41 and 42 here in John
chapter 5, we see, I do not accept glory from
people. but I know you, that you have no love
for God within you. See, Jesus is saying, look
guys, I'm not needy. I'm not desperate for the
approval of man. I'm not waiting for you as religious
leaders to validate me. I'm not trying to win
a popularity contest or become the most influential
rabbi in Israel. Jesus says, I don't need human
glory, but he knows what's in the hearts of these
religious leaders. So this is something that
he's saying directly to the people he's talking
to. But I think it still kind of hits home, at
least for myself today. I don't know about you
guys. He says, you have no love for God within
you. And that's a devastating thing to hear as
these religious leaders, as people who say, I
love God. These men would have, everyone else
would have looked at them and they said, oh yeah,
they're lovers of God, clearly. They knew the
scriptures, they observed the law, they guarded
tradition, they cared about Sabbath. But Jesus
says they don't have the love of God within them.
And then he shows how he knows that. Because
when we look at verse 43, John 5, 43, he says,
I have come in my father's name, and yet you
don't accept me. If someone else comes in his
own name, you will accept him. See, if they truly
loved the Father, they would receive the Son
sent by the Father, but they're rejecting him.
And then Jesus exposes the glory system that's
holding up and is underneath their unbelief.
Verse 44, he says, how can you believe since
you accept glory from one another, but don't
seek the glory that comes? from the only God.
Ouch. Because Jesus is no longer arguing with
their ideas. He's actually going directly and
exposing what their hearts love. They accept
glory from one another. They want religious credibility.
They want admiration, status. They want God.
They do. They want to know him better. But they
also want to be seen as righteous, and they want
their place protected. And when human approval
becomes your reward, the glory of God becomes
inconvenient. That's the piece, right? Jesus
is talking to these religious leaders. But that's
the piece that struck my heart this week as I
prepared. Because how often do I come to a point
where I'm like, man, I want my own glory. And
I may not say it that way, but the way that I
choose to live often does drive right into that.
And so while Jesus was speaking to these religious
leaders, man, I got a little Jesus spanking this
week as I was reading through this. Because when
human approval becomes your reward, the glory
of God becomes inconvenient. And Jesus here is
threatening the religious leader's glory system.
See, if Jesus is right, they are wrong. If Jesus
is the son, then their rejection is rebellion
towards God himself. If Jesus gives life, then
their own righteousness and fulfillment of the
law as best as they possibly could cannot. If
Jesus is the center of scripture, then their
Bible knowledge has not made them alive. If Jesus
is the true Messiah, and he is, then their expectations
have to die. And they don't want that. They would
rather keep their glory and their version of
what the Messiah should be than to come to Jesus
for life. And then Jesus goes and he brings Moses
into the conversation. See, Moses is the one
these leaders were such students of. So in verse
45, Jesus says, do not think that I will accuse
you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on
whom you have set your hope. That would have
landed with a little bit of force, kind of like
a kick in the pants, because they thought Moses
was on their side. Guys, Moses was their defense
attorney. Jesus is turning this around and saying,
guys, Moses is actually going to be your accuser.
I'm not even the one that's directly accusing
you here. What you say you follow is the thing
that is going to bring this accusation before
the Father. So Jesus says Moses will be their
accuser, and then Jesus explains the charge.
So John chapter 5, verses 46 and 47. For if you
believed Moses, you would believe me because
he wrote about me. But if you don't believe what
he wrote, how will you believe my words? See,
they had set their hope on God, but via obeying
the law that Moses had relayed. They ended up
setting their hope a bit on Moses, but Moses
wasn't ever meant to be a hiding place. for their
self -righteousness. The law reveals God's holiness
and our own unholiness. The law exposes human
sin. The law shows that we need a better mediator,
a better sacrifice, and a better righteousness.
Put simply, the law points to our own inability
to save ourselves and points to our need for
a savior. And that savior is Jesus. The religious
leaders had taken what should have exposed their
need and turned it into a platform for their
pride. They took Moses and they made him a badge.
They took the law and they made it a ladder to
try to fulfill their own righteousness. They
took scripture and used it as defense for self
-righteousness. But Moses was never meant to
terminate on Moses. Moses points forward. All
the way back in Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse
15, Moses says this, The Lord your God will raise
up for you a prophet like me from among your
own brothers. You must listen to him. And then
a couple verses later, in Deuteronomy 18, verse
18 to 19, then the Lord says, I will raise up
for them a prophet like you from among their
brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and
he will tell them everything I command him. I
will hold accountable whoever does not listen
to my words that he speaks in my name. So when
Jesus says, if you believed Moses, you would
believe me, because he wrote about me, he's not
just grabbing some random proof text. Moses is
himself actually part of the witness. That's
witness number five now. Moses wrote about the
one they now refuse to hear. And then the Lord
speaks about him. The Passover lamb pointed forward.
The sacrifices pointed forward. The tabernacle
pointed forward. The priesthood pointed forward.
The laws exposure of sin pointed forward. Moses
wrote about Christ Jesus. So to claim Moses while
rejecting Jesus is actually to entirely misunderstand
Moses. And this is what he's telling these religious
leaders. But now the passage becomes deeply personal
because Jesus is speaking to these religious
leaders, but the human heart still does this.
My heart still does this. We want to be seen
as confident. spiritual, wise, put together,
the good parent, the faithful spouse, the dependable
friend, the strong leader, the serious Christian,
you name what it is for you. But when the approval
of people becomes our functional reward, we resist
anything that begins to threaten that image.
We resist confession because Confession hurts
the image. We resist repentance because repentance
admits need and that I can't do it myself. We
resist correction because correction feels like
humiliation. We resist grace because grace means
that I didn't earn it. And if we're honest, sometimes
we resist Jesus because Jesus doesn't come. to
admire our righteousness. He comes to replace
it with his own. Jesus doesn't say, bring me
your impressive record and I will polish it and
make sure everyone else gets to see. He says,
come to me so that you may have life. Come needy.
Come exposed. Come thirsty. Come guilty. Come
done with pretending. Come with empty hands.
This is the invitation of Jesus. See, there's
a lot of scripture. I spent some time this week
looking at all the scripture where Jesus says,
come to me. But I just want to focus on two because
these encapsulate the invitation of Jesus. Matthew
chapter 11 and verse 28. It says, come to me,
all of you who are weary and burdened, and I
will give you rest. And then in John chapter
6, verse 37, he says, everyone the Father gives
will come to me, and the one who comes to me
I will never cast out. Guys, that's not an invitation
to your reputation. That's not an invitation
to your Bible knowledge, to your church attendance,
to your ministry involvement, to your role, to
your moral record. This is an invitation to Jesus
himself. Come to Jesus for life. And as we look
to Jesus, we're not looking at an idea, a symbol,
a distant teacher, or this general religious
concept. We are looking to the Son of God who
gives life. And the one we look to is the one
who says, come. So here's the question that we
have to ask, that Jesus presses to the religious
leaders, but it's the same question even now
for us today. Have you come to Christ? Have you
stopped looking to your own righteousness? Have
you stopped trying to make Jesus fit your expectations?
Have you stopped using religion to protect yourself
from surrender? Have you come to Jesus for life?
See, John 5, 30 through 47, this is often taught
as a courtroom scene. And I believe that's faithful
to the text. But Jesus is not merely just trying
to win an argument. This is not a, case closed,
you rejected me, that's it. The sentence is coming
and it's hell. See, the witnesses all testify.
John points to Jesus. The works point to Jesus.
The Father points to Jesus. Scripture points
to Jesus. Moses points to Jesus. And every single
one of those witnesses is saying the same thing.
Life is not found in the witness. Life is found
in the one they are the witness to. John chapter
5, verse 40. Jesus says to the religious leaders,
but you are not willing to come to me so that
you may have life. So this invitation is for
everyone. It's just the same as it was for the
religious leaders Jesus was speaking to then.
Come to him. If you don't know Christ, come to
Jesus for life. Not after you clean yourself
up. Not after you understand everything. Not
after you become religious enough. Not after
you prove you're serious. Come to him now. Come
guilty. Come needy. Come exposed and empty -handed.
See, Jesus, he doesn't need people who have life
figured out. He invites sinners who need life
from him. He says, come to me. all of you who
are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
And he promises, everyone the Father gives me
will come to me, and the one who comes I will
never cast out. So let's stop looking to our
own goodness. Let's stop looking to our own record.
Stop looking to your own excuses. You can't make
yourself right with God. Come to Jesus because
he is the son sent by the father. He is the lamb
of God who takes away the sins of the world.
He's the one Moses wrote about. He's the one
scriptures testify about. He's the one who died
and rose again so sinners could have life in
his name. Come to Jesus for life. And if you
do know Christ, If you say, Jesus is my Lord
and Savior, I have come to Jesus. Coming to Jesus
is not only the beginning of salvation, it's
also the shape of discipleship. We come to him
with the places that we're pretending, and we
continue to submit those before him. We keep
coming to Jesus. The places where we're striving.
The places where we're defending ourselves. The
places where we're trying to earn what Christ
has already given. The places where we're seeking
the approval of people more than we are seeking
the glory of God. Becoming Christ -like is not
moving past Jesus because we made a one -time
decision to come to him. It is learning to keep
on coming to him. It's learning to bring more
of ourselves to Jesus, to bring our sin, our
shame, our ambition. our weakness, our ministry,
our relationships, our marriage, our parenting,
our work, our fears, our anxiety, our need for
approval. Guys, there's so much more that we
need to surrender at the feet of Jesus. And when
we look to Jesus and come to him with all of
it, Jesus doesn't merely show us the way to life.
He says, I am life. So look to Jesus and come
to Jesus. for life. Let's pray. God, you are
so good. You have given us your Son, Jesus Christ,
who came as the perfect sacrifice, the fulfillment
of the law, to do a work that we could not do,
to live a life that we could not live free of
sin. to be beaten, to be nailed to the cross,
to bear the sins of the world, to have died,
to have been buried, and to have risen again.
Thank you for the shed blood of Jesus. Thank
you for the call to come to you for life. Lord,
I pray that we would be willing. We would be
willing to look to Jesus to come to him for life.
You are good. We thank you so much for that free
and wonderful gift. We pray this all in Jesus'
name. Amen.