WEBVTT 00:00:00.340 --> 00:00:02.279 Hey, if you don't have a Bible, maybe you're 00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:04.200 new with us and you didn't bring one, that's 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:07.080 totally okay. In the back there, you saw what 00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:09.839 Courtney was reading. It's a little Gospel of 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:11.359 John. That's what we're working our way through. 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:13.679 Grab one of those. Take it home with you. It's 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:16.239 yours. Write in it. Do whatever you want. But 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:20.460 don't be shy to jump up and grab one because 00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:22.679 we're working our way through it. Hey, if you're 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:26.379 new with us, my name's Caleb, by the way. Yeah, 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:30.289 thanks. Nice to meet you, too. If you're new 00:00:30.289 --> 00:00:33.049 with us, or if you've been here for a while and 00:00:33.049 --> 00:00:35.609 you just forgot what I'm about to say, is when 00:00:35.609 --> 00:00:39.679 we started this little church in my living room, 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:43.270 the vision was that we would be a group of people, 00:00:43.369 --> 00:00:48.070 no matter where you're at in life, that would 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:52.689 come together to get our eyes on Jesus. and live 00:00:52.689 --> 00:00:54.490 our lives around him that's what the church is 00:00:54.490 --> 00:00:56.750 that's what we're called to jesus has called 00:00:56.750 --> 00:00:59.049 us to that and so if you're wondering like i 00:00:59.049 --> 00:01:00.369 don't know your background i don't know where 00:01:00.369 --> 00:01:03.969 you come from some of you may never been to church 00:01:03.969 --> 00:01:06.030 some of you may have been to church you got a 00:01:06.030 --> 00:01:09.409 lot of different opinions about it but the church 00:01:09.409 --> 00:01:13.250 is simply god's people that he's calling to himself 00:01:13.250 --> 00:01:17.810 to live with our eyes fixed on him in a way that 00:01:17.810 --> 00:01:22.250 reflects him so what we do together here Is that 00:01:22.250 --> 00:01:24.629 each week we open up his word. And we say, okay, 00:01:24.689 --> 00:01:26.969 what is it about Jesus we need to learn and know 00:01:26.969 --> 00:01:30.790 about? So that as we walk out this door, that 00:01:30.790 --> 00:01:32.930 we begin to live in such a way that reflects 00:01:32.930 --> 00:01:36.170 Jesus. And live in such a way that that vertical 00:01:36.170 --> 00:01:38.250 relationship begins to affect our horizontal. 00:01:38.650 --> 00:01:42.069 And so we're a messy group of people. Because 00:01:42.069 --> 00:01:44.890 every one of us in this room is broken at times. 00:01:44.989 --> 00:01:48.569 And most of the time. Including myself. And we 00:01:48.569 --> 00:01:50.549 desperately need Jesus. I don't care, I don't 00:01:50.549 --> 00:01:52.109 know where you're at, and I don't care where 00:01:52.109 --> 00:01:53.609 you're at at this point. I'm just glad you're 00:01:53.609 --> 00:01:56.409 here. And Jesus will take you right where you 00:01:56.409 --> 00:01:59.549 sit with all the junk that you bring, and that's 00:01:59.549 --> 00:02:04.340 okay. So, yeah, so here, one of the things we 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:06.019 don't want you to do is pretend that you got 00:02:06.019 --> 00:02:09.189 it all together. Because I know it's not true. 00:02:10.129 --> 00:02:12.689 And we don't want you to bum and be fakey and 00:02:12.689 --> 00:02:15.710 act like, man, I just don't, I got to put up 00:02:15.710 --> 00:02:19.719 a front, put up a show. I don't see that reaction 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:22.639 to Jesus anywhere in the Bible. In fact, the 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:25.039 opposite is true. We want you to be real. As 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:30.500 we come together today, starting with myself 00:02:30.500 --> 00:02:34.120 and all of us, we want to come with just saying, 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:37.159 God, you can see every piece of me. You can see 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:40.180 all my brokenness. I just want to come and be 00:02:40.180 --> 00:02:44.990 okay with sitting all that at your feet. What 00:02:44.990 --> 00:02:47.870 I'm going to do is I'm going to pray because 00:02:47.870 --> 00:02:50.860 we believe that It's the work of the Holy Spirit 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:53.340 that makes a lot of this Bible come alive in 00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:55.039 your life. And so I'm going to pray and ask God 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:59.740 to do that and help me. So would you pray with 00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:01.139 me? And then we're just going to jump right in 00:03:01.139 --> 00:03:04.060 and work through those verses today. Lord, we 00:03:04.060 --> 00:03:10.919 come before you. I just pray that for some in 00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:13.439 this room that we're not pretending, that we 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:16.300 lay, that we can actually be honest and real. 00:03:17.159 --> 00:03:19.340 with where we stand in this life and for others 00:03:19.340 --> 00:03:21.840 maybe that are here for the maybe for the first 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:26.000 time and and they are skeptical lord you love 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.379 all of us and you accept us right where we're 00:03:29.379 --> 00:03:34.949 at and so lord as we unpack these really challenging 00:03:34.949 --> 00:03:38.930 verses will you by your spirit help them come 00:03:38.930 --> 00:03:43.960 alive make sense and begin to change us in your 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:49.110 name we pray amen well um You know you're in 00:03:49.110 --> 00:03:53.759 for it when one of the top scholars of the world 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:56.960 takes these verses and starts off by saying, 00:03:57.060 --> 00:04:02.669 this is a really difficult section. And so my 00:04:02.669 --> 00:04:06.490 wife will attest to the fact that it really was 00:04:06.490 --> 00:04:09.250 a challenge for me to work through this on several 00:04:09.250 --> 00:04:11.270 levels. One, to understand it. Number two, to 00:04:11.270 --> 00:04:13.469 figure out how to explain it. And then honestly, 00:04:13.710 --> 00:04:18.129 how does that apply to me? So all of those are 00:04:18.129 --> 00:04:20.089 true, and so together we're going to walk through 00:04:20.089 --> 00:04:22.970 these. But today we get to finish chapter 12, 00:04:23.129 --> 00:04:26.209 and it's a critical moment in the Gospel of John. 00:04:26.310 --> 00:04:28.529 If you've been tracking with us in John, the 00:04:28.529 --> 00:04:31.069 reason it's a critical moment is that it's at 00:04:31.069 --> 00:04:35.470 the very end of Jesus' public ministry. All of 00:04:35.470 --> 00:04:37.670 everything we've been covering in John up to 00:04:37.670 --> 00:04:41.250 this point has been a three -year period of Jesus 00:04:41.250 --> 00:04:46.279 touching down. In the lives of people for three 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:49.649 years in what we call public ministry. And after 00:04:49.649 --> 00:04:53.509 this point, after what we talk about today, the 00:04:53.509 --> 00:04:56.990 shift happens where all that Jesus does is focus 00:04:56.990 --> 00:05:02.709 on the training of his few disciples and then 00:05:02.709 --> 00:05:06.629 he goes to the cross where he dies in our place. 00:05:07.230 --> 00:05:10.050 And he goes and he's resurrected. And so that's 00:05:10.050 --> 00:05:12.050 the last chunk. And if you look, there's a lot 00:05:12.050 --> 00:05:15.529 left in here. But that's all a matter of a few 00:05:15.529 --> 00:05:20.300 days. If you've been tracking with us, though, 00:05:20.379 --> 00:05:24.310 through John, and we've covered these three years 00:05:24.310 --> 00:05:28.860 of his life, the big theme of John is belief. 00:05:30.019 --> 00:05:33.279 If you were to sum up all of the gospel of John 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:36.959 into one word, it's belief. It's to believe, 00:05:37.139 --> 00:05:41.769 though, that Jesus is the Savior, and he's the 00:05:41.769 --> 00:05:46.350 Lord. What John wants us to do, and what John 00:05:46.350 --> 00:05:49.310 wanted those original writers to do, is to believe 00:05:49.310 --> 00:05:54.149 that Jesus, this Jesus, is the true Savior of 00:05:54.149 --> 00:05:57.149 the world, and he wants us to put all of our 00:05:57.149 --> 00:06:01.490 life into his hands, and to say, I put you at 00:06:01.490 --> 00:06:04.910 the center as Lord of my life. That's what John 00:06:04.910 --> 00:06:07.720 is all about. Initially, he wants us to say, 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:09.560 yes, I will do that. I don't have to know all 00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:11.740 the answers, but Jesus, I put you first. I put 00:06:11.740 --> 00:06:14.500 you at the center. But then it's not just about 00:06:14.500 --> 00:06:17.220 initial belief. It's about belief that grows 00:06:17.220 --> 00:06:20.480 deep, like as trees' roots go deep into the soil. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:24.420 He wants your belief to go deep. So the text 00:06:24.420 --> 00:06:30.259 we come to today is really a summary of the book 00:06:30.259 --> 00:06:33.420 of John around the area of believing in Jesus 00:06:33.420 --> 00:06:36.500 up to this point. So this little verses in here, 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:39.100 it's kind of John going, let me squeeze it and 00:06:39.100 --> 00:06:41.439 help you understand what everything I've been 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:43.959 talking about doing, the signs, wonders, all 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:46.560 these things have been pointing to, okay? So 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:48.839 I think if you think through these verses, I'm 00:06:48.839 --> 00:06:51.220 going to give you three kind of chunks. There's 00:06:51.220 --> 00:06:53.259 three movements through these verses, okay? You 00:06:53.259 --> 00:06:55.379 got ready to write these down? The first one 00:06:55.379 --> 00:06:58.879 is the word unbelief. And that's to look at, 00:06:58.939 --> 00:07:02.420 we're going to look at that in 37 to 43, unbelief. 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:07.120 And then it looks like, And the priority of belief, 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:11.990 which is 44 through 46, and then the last part, 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:18.300 47 through 50, is the judgment of God. Unbelief. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:25.730 Let's start there. Look at verse 37. Even though 00:07:25.730 --> 00:07:30.790 he had performed so many signs in their presence, 00:07:31.189 --> 00:07:34.829 they did not believe in him. Underline, did not 00:07:34.829 --> 00:07:39.759 believe. Did not believe in him. This is... primarily 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:43.259 talking about these religious elite leaders who, 00:07:43.399 --> 00:07:46.699 for most of them, they had almost the entire 00:07:46.699 --> 00:07:50.740 Old Testament memorized that we have today. They 00:07:50.740 --> 00:07:53.579 were the ones who should know all of the things, 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:59.009 but they didn't believe. And so you get to the 00:07:59.009 --> 00:08:03.120 end of Jesus' public ministry. Many people had 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:07.899 seen and experienced Jesus, his incredible... 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:11.300 his incredible preaching, right? His selfless, 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:16.430 compassionate, loving of others. And they had 00:08:16.430 --> 00:08:21.720 seen these incredibly miraculous signs. They 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:25.220 had watched, they had seen him turn water into 00:08:25.220 --> 00:08:28.519 wine. The very first miracle they ever did. They 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:30.500 had, I mean, and that was just kind of the warm 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:35.350 -up, I call it. He had healed the official son. 00:08:35.570 --> 00:08:36.950 These are all this in John, by the way. If you 00:08:36.950 --> 00:08:38.990 look at the other gospels, you'll see a lot more, 00:08:39.090 --> 00:08:42.340 or different ones, or different things. He healed 00:08:42.340 --> 00:08:45.220 official's son. He fed thousands just with a 00:08:45.220 --> 00:08:48.559 few little pieces of bread and fish. He calmed 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:53.029 the sea. He walked on water. He healed the blind. 00:08:54.860 --> 00:08:58.080 And just a few days ago in this text, he raised 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:02.710 Lazarus from the dead. Now, John tells us, and 00:09:02.710 --> 00:09:08.389 if you look over in chapter 20, verse 30, it 00:09:08.389 --> 00:09:11.519 says, Jesus performed many other signs in the 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:14.779 presence of his disciples that that are not even 00:09:14.779 --> 00:09:18.440 written down in this book, but these are written, 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:22.950 so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, 00:09:23.230 --> 00:09:30.539 the Son of God, and that by believing, you may 00:09:30.539 --> 00:09:33.299 have life in his name. What was the purpose of 00:09:33.299 --> 00:09:36.139 all that he has done? Is that you would believe. 00:09:36.980 --> 00:09:40.320 What is the purpose of all these signs and wonders? 00:09:40.440 --> 00:09:44.009 That your belief would go deep. Okay, so why, 00:09:44.129 --> 00:09:47.159 after all the evidence, Right in front. I've 00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:48.559 heard people say this to me all the time. Like, 00:09:48.620 --> 00:09:50.960 well, if I could just see something, maybe I 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:56.049 then would believe. They all saw it. And yet, 00:09:56.070 --> 00:10:00.289 why did they not? Right in front of them. They 00:10:00.289 --> 00:10:02.889 had Jesus there. They watched him and they could 00:10:02.889 --> 00:10:05.990 find no fault in him. And yet, at the same time, 00:10:06.009 --> 00:10:09.149 he's doing all these miraculous things. And yet, 00:10:09.350 --> 00:10:12.779 why would they not believe? That's the first 00:10:12.779 --> 00:10:15.990 question. Look at what verse 38, starting in 00:10:15.990 --> 00:10:20.870 verse 38, what it says. This was to fulfill the 00:10:20.870 --> 00:10:24.049 word of Isaiah the prophet who said, and this 00:10:24.049 --> 00:10:29.710 is from Isaiah 53 .1, Lord, who has believed 00:10:29.710 --> 00:10:33.110 our message? To whom has the arm of the Lord 00:10:33.110 --> 00:10:36.210 been revealed? This is why they are unable to 00:10:36.210 --> 00:10:39.409 believe because Isaiah also said, and this is 00:10:39.409 --> 00:10:43.649 from Isaiah 6 verse 10, He has blinded their 00:10:43.649 --> 00:10:48.470 eyes and hardened their hearts so that they would 00:10:48.470 --> 00:10:51.429 not see with their eyes or understand with their 00:10:51.429 --> 00:10:56.100 hearts and turn and I would heal them. So here's 00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:59.149 what's going on. We could spend a lot of time 00:10:59.149 --> 00:11:01.669 unpacking this, but here's what's going on. In 00:11:01.669 --> 00:11:06.950 verse 38, John quotes Isaiah 53. And it's in 00:11:06.950 --> 00:11:09.590 Isaiah 53. You can go back and look at this later 00:11:09.590 --> 00:11:14.730 if you want. Isaiah 53 is a description of what 00:11:14.730 --> 00:11:18.210 we now know as Jesus, our suffering servant. 00:11:19.230 --> 00:11:23.230 It was Isaiah pointing to Jesus. And it's a description 00:11:23.230 --> 00:11:26.029 of who Jesus is. And then if you take it a little 00:11:26.029 --> 00:11:28.289 bit further, that's out of verse 1 of Isaiah 00:11:28.289 --> 00:11:30.809 53. And if you take it and you go to verses 2 00:11:30.809 --> 00:11:33.470 and 3 of Isaiah, and I have this up on the screen 00:11:33.470 --> 00:11:39.399 for you, it says this, talking about Jesus. before 00:11:39.399 --> 00:11:43.940 him like a young plant, like a root out of the 00:11:43.940 --> 00:11:48.139 dry ground. He didn't have an impressive form 00:11:48.139 --> 00:11:52.299 or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance 00:11:52.299 --> 00:11:56.559 that we should desire him. He was despised and 00:11:56.559 --> 00:12:00.720 rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:04.240 what sickness was. He was like someone people 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:09.100 turned away from. He was despised and we didn't 00:12:09.100 --> 00:12:14.460 value him. Isaiah said these things because he 00:12:14.460 --> 00:12:19.269 saw his glory and spoke about him. So why didn't 00:12:19.269 --> 00:12:25.399 they believe in him? Because he did not have 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:29.200 an impressive form or majesty. That's what he 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:33.740 says. Meaning, as a man, you looked at him and 00:12:33.740 --> 00:12:37.059 you said, he doesn't have the stuff. of their 00:12:37.059 --> 00:12:39.399 Messiah, what they expected a Messiah to be. 00:12:39.500 --> 00:12:41.940 He doesn't have the stuff. He's not the kind 00:12:41.940 --> 00:12:44.659 of Messiah they wanted. I was thinking about 00:12:44.659 --> 00:12:47.240 politics right now because it's everywhere. You 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:49.159 can't even get your phone when it's ringing off 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:50.919 the hook right now, right? But what are they 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:52.539 doing? They're presenting people and saying, 00:12:52.659 --> 00:12:56.309 here, we want these guys to be our leader. And 00:12:56.309 --> 00:12:58.289 what they're saying is Jesus says, here, I am 00:12:58.289 --> 00:13:01.350 your leader. And they're going, don't like that. 00:13:01.769 --> 00:13:04.600 You're not impressive enough. You're not pretty 00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:08.070 enough. You're not eloquent enough. Whatever. 00:13:08.149 --> 00:13:10.769 We have a standard for what we want this Messiah 00:13:10.769 --> 00:13:14.889 to be. So that was the first reason. The second 00:13:14.889 --> 00:13:20.409 reason is because God blinded and hardened their 00:13:20.409 --> 00:13:25.909 hearts. Why? Because they did not want to hear 00:13:25.909 --> 00:13:32.330 of such majesty and glory and power and holiness. 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:36.720 They wanted, listen to this, they wanted the 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:42.240 glory and the power and the majesty. They loved 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:47.639 human praise more than the praise of God. This 00:13:47.639 --> 00:13:49.519 should remind us, if we think about this, if 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:51.639 you know your Old Testament, this should remind 00:13:51.639 --> 00:13:54.820 you of a story in the Bible, in the book of Exodus, 00:13:54.940 --> 00:14:02.799 called Pharaoh. Where Moses was saying, Pharaoh, 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:05.970 you've got to let our people go. And God's telling 00:14:05.970 --> 00:14:07.590 you to let the people go, and Pharaoh's like, 00:14:07.690 --> 00:14:10.210 uh -uh. And so there's two things that you'd 00:14:10.210 --> 00:14:13.769 hear in this section in Exodus that was constantly 00:14:13.769 --> 00:14:16.110 said. It says, first you'd hear that Pharaoh 00:14:16.110 --> 00:14:20.149 hardened his heart. Right? Pharaoh did. Then 00:14:20.149 --> 00:14:22.750 the other side of that, it said that God would 00:14:22.750 --> 00:14:29.429 harden his heart. Well, which is it? Yes. It's 00:14:29.429 --> 00:14:33.139 both. So you come, so this is kind of what's 00:14:33.139 --> 00:14:35.360 going on here. There's a hardening of hearts, 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:37.700 and God's saying enough is enough. I'm hardening 00:14:37.700 --> 00:14:40.240 your heart, okay? Now, we could spend, like I 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:42.720 say, we could spend a lot of time unpacking that, 00:14:42.779 --> 00:14:44.259 and I'm sure there's questions that come to your 00:14:44.259 --> 00:14:46.620 mind, but hang on, because you come to verse 00:14:46.620 --> 00:14:52.889 42 and 43, and these are challenging. And so 00:14:52.889 --> 00:14:55.309 I think part of what this chunk is is really 00:14:55.309 --> 00:14:59.149 wanting us to hone in on verses 42 and 43. So 00:14:59.149 --> 00:15:01.610 I found them to be incredibly challenging, and 00:15:01.610 --> 00:15:03.860 so let's just unpack this. Remember, that all 00:15:03.860 --> 00:15:08.659 the way through John, we have been called to 00:15:09.389 --> 00:15:13.710 believe in Jesus as our Savior and Lord. Not 00:15:13.710 --> 00:15:17.980 to believe that Jesus exists, but to believe 00:15:17.980 --> 00:15:20.600 in. And so if you remember, we started off John 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:26.399 with an illustration of a chair. I think, Craig, 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:28.360 this was one of the critical things you talked 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:30.700 about in your journey, where we were like, oh, 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:34.500 that's what I'm missing. I know that God... I 00:15:34.500 --> 00:15:37.539 believe that Jesus exists. I believe that he 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:41.340 even is Savior. But the difference is I can believe 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:43.779 that this chair will hold me. I can believe that 00:15:43.779 --> 00:15:47.220 it has a good function. Yep, I believe that it 00:15:47.220 --> 00:15:51.000 exists. But to believe in means I rest all of 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:58.279 that in. I, okay, I trust this chair. I let go. 00:15:58.620 --> 00:16:02.590 And the chair now holds me. And so what John 00:16:02.590 --> 00:16:05.049 is shooting for is he says, I want you to have 00:16:05.049 --> 00:16:09.019 that kind of belief. Where you are trusting. 00:16:11.100 --> 00:16:15.360 You believe that the chair exists, but then also 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:18.200 that you believe in the chair. That you're willing 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:25.440 to sit in it. Look at verse 42. So after all 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:27.320 of this stuff he's talking about that they don't 00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:31.710 believe. Then he says this, nevertheless, many 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:37.970 did believe in him. Even among the rulers, even 00:16:37.970 --> 00:16:41.289 among those powerful people that knew their Bible, 00:16:41.409 --> 00:16:44.509 many did believe in him among the rulers, but 00:16:44.509 --> 00:16:49.009 because of the Pharisees, they did not confess. 00:16:49.250 --> 00:16:50.950 Underline that there. That's a critical piece. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:56.129 Did not confess him so that they would not be 00:16:56.129 --> 00:16:59.389 banned from the synagogue, for they loved human 00:16:59.389 --> 00:17:03.679 praise more than the praise of God. Two words 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.630 you need to hang on to here. First is the word 00:17:07.630 --> 00:17:11.059 believe. And then the other is confess. Believe 00:17:11.059 --> 00:17:15.069 is this inward conviction. Inward conviction. 00:17:16.789 --> 00:17:20.650 Confessing is an open identifying with what you 00:17:20.650 --> 00:17:27.380 believe. So inward conviction is an open declaration 00:17:27.380 --> 00:17:30.660 of what you actually believe. Confessing. Believing 00:17:30.660 --> 00:17:35.740 is I am convinced that Jesus is who he says he 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:39.980 is. That he is the light of the world. That's 00:17:39.980 --> 00:17:45.509 what he's been claiming. I believe that. Confessing 00:17:45.509 --> 00:17:50.160 is I believe in Jesus so much that I'm willing, 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:54.259 no matter the cost, to be known as someone who 00:17:54.259 --> 00:17:59.099 belongs to Jesus. You hear the difference? I 00:17:59.099 --> 00:18:02.900 am stepping out of darkness into the light of 00:18:02.900 --> 00:18:06.470 Jesus. That's what he's saying. So confessing, 00:18:06.470 --> 00:18:11.140 it's kind of like the in part of believing. I 00:18:11.140 --> 00:18:14.380 believe that this chair exists, but do I actually 00:18:14.380 --> 00:18:20.259 believe it enough to give all of my life to it? 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.279 And that's what he's calling us to. And so this 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:26.900 is what they're struggling with. They believed 00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:32.630 it here. Man, the other part was hard. To believe 00:18:32.630 --> 00:18:37.390 in Jesus and openly confess him as Lord would 00:18:37.390 --> 00:18:41.230 mean, I mean, this was a big call. Because it 00:18:41.230 --> 00:18:42.769 would mean that they would get banned from the 00:18:42.769 --> 00:18:44.029 synagogue. And you're like, well, that's weird. 00:18:45.029 --> 00:18:47.769 I just go to a different synagogue. Didn't work 00:18:47.769 --> 00:18:52.269 that way. Okay? The synagogue for these Jews, 00:18:52.410 --> 00:18:55.170 for this time, the synagogue was the center of 00:18:55.170 --> 00:18:59.990 Jewish life. To be banned would mean that you 00:18:59.990 --> 00:19:04.069 would now become an outcast culturally and socially. 00:19:04.430 --> 00:19:07.109 We don't even have a category for this kind of 00:19:07.109 --> 00:19:10.569 band. I'm trying to think of like, maybe in other 00:19:10.569 --> 00:19:12.710 cultures around the world right now. Like if 00:19:12.710 --> 00:19:16.470 you grew up in a Muslim country, in a Muslim... 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:22.220 and you denounced Islam and came to follow Jesus 00:19:22.220 --> 00:19:24.519 with your life, the family would denounce you 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:26.259 culturally. Everything would go against you. 00:19:26.279 --> 00:19:29.660 Right, Joe? You grew up in that? And so it's 00:19:29.660 --> 00:19:32.559 kind of like that. So to say that they were afraid 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:35.259 that if they came out that they believed in Jesus, 00:19:35.380 --> 00:19:39.740 that, man, this would affect you. Okay, so back 00:19:39.740 --> 00:19:42.640 up. To be in the synagogue is where all the business 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:47.519 transactions would happen. You know, Jay, you're 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:49.339 doing real estate. That's where all of it, that's 00:19:49.339 --> 00:19:52.339 where you learned about all of your future transactions. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:54.519 Dan, I mean, that's where you picked up all of 00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:58.519 your mechanical work. But if you got banned from 00:19:58.519 --> 00:20:00.839 the synagogue, that means all of that was gone. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:05.700 That means you're now an outcast culturally, 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:11.029 socially, and it affects your economy. It would 00:20:11.029 --> 00:20:13.509 result in loss of those business relationships. 00:20:14.390 --> 00:20:18.369 So confessing Jesus as Lord, would be costly. 00:20:21.299 --> 00:20:23.740 They're sitting there going, is it worth it? 00:20:24.869 --> 00:20:28.329 Is it worth it to actually believe in Jesus in 00:20:28.329 --> 00:20:33.500 such a way that I'm willing to confess Him? So 00:20:33.500 --> 00:20:37.960 they believed that Jesus was the light of the 00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:43.410 world, but because they were gripped with fear, 00:20:43.730 --> 00:20:46.769 they were not willing to step out of the darkness. 00:20:46.890 --> 00:20:49.390 You've got to see them still in darkness. They're 00:20:49.390 --> 00:20:51.289 not willing to step toward the light because 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:55.559 of fear of what would happen. You ever been there? 00:20:58.410 --> 00:21:01.569 Let's look at what they feared. Look at verse 00:21:01.569 --> 00:21:05.880 43. For they loved human praise more than the 00:21:05.880 --> 00:21:08.910 praise of God. So what's going on? What was their 00:21:08.910 --> 00:21:12.470 fear? It was a fear of losing human praise and 00:21:12.470 --> 00:21:15.410 approval. That's a pretty big fear. It was fear 00:21:15.410 --> 00:21:19.509 of losing human comforts. It was a fear of losing 00:21:19.509 --> 00:21:26.430 status and belonging. These things were more 00:21:26.430 --> 00:21:30.609 important to them. than the glory of God. Meaning, 00:21:30.769 --> 00:21:35.250 I do believe in you, God, but I don't know if 00:21:35.250 --> 00:21:38.029 I want to step over the line enough that it'll 00:21:38.029 --> 00:21:40.589 cost me that much. And that was the tension. 00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:46.079 It was their standing, their social relationships, 00:21:46.339 --> 00:21:49.039 their positions of influence, their reputation, 00:21:49.339 --> 00:21:54.599 their glory. And so my question, I think, I've 00:21:54.599 --> 00:21:56.900 been wrestling with this week, and I'm hoping 00:21:56.900 --> 00:22:00.430 you will too, is what things are more important 00:22:00.430 --> 00:22:05.700 to you? What do you not want to give to the Lord? 00:22:07.130 --> 00:22:09.789 And this is why this is a heavy text. What is 00:22:09.789 --> 00:22:12.549 it that you, no, I'm not ready to give that up. 00:22:15.690 --> 00:22:22.890 So what is the real problem they're having? They 00:22:22.890 --> 00:22:26.650 were, the problem was, is that they were at the 00:22:26.650 --> 00:22:29.980 center of their life and not God. So you guys, 00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:32.220 we've used this before, right? This illustration. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:36.019 This wheel has a very critical part to it. It's 00:22:36.019 --> 00:22:38.730 called the hub. Right here in the center. And 00:22:38.730 --> 00:22:41.529 in the hub, the hub is the center of this wheel. 00:22:42.619 --> 00:22:45.059 And all the spokes in this wheel that give it 00:22:45.059 --> 00:22:48.539 the life of the wheel are centered off of this 00:22:48.539 --> 00:22:54.660 hub. And Jesus is saying, belief is putting Jesus 00:22:54.660 --> 00:22:59.220 at the center of this hub. He becomes the center. 00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:03.779 Standing in the darkness, looking and believing. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:05.500 Yeah, I believe that that's important, but I 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:07.960 want to be at the center. I want to be the hub. 00:23:08.970 --> 00:23:10.910 And so here's the interesting thing that happens 00:23:10.910 --> 00:23:16.339 when Jesus becomes the hub of your life. Every 00:23:16.339 --> 00:23:20.440 spoke of your life is connected and begins to 00:23:20.440 --> 00:23:24.740 be influenced by the good news of Jesus. But 00:23:24.740 --> 00:23:26.680 if you are the center of the hub of your life, 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:29.309 then every aspect of your life, and I put these 00:23:29.309 --> 00:23:31.849 little pink things on here to kind of remind 00:23:31.849 --> 00:23:36.789 me that, you know, here's your... Oh, and I didn't 00:23:36.789 --> 00:23:39.569 see what I wrote. So here's your, we'll start 00:23:39.569 --> 00:23:41.750 easy. Here's your church. You know you can go 00:23:41.750 --> 00:23:43.430 to church and not have Jesus at the center of 00:23:43.430 --> 00:23:46.349 your life? What happens though if Jesus becomes 00:23:46.349 --> 00:23:49.809 the center? This community changes. What about 00:23:49.809 --> 00:23:52.789 work? When you go to work, if Jesus is at the 00:23:52.789 --> 00:23:54.990 center of your life, it begins to influence how 00:23:54.990 --> 00:23:59.160 you go to work and what you do. What about your 00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:02.730 family life? You're not just going and you don't 00:24:02.730 --> 00:24:04.470 come home and you're the king of the world, man. 00:24:04.630 --> 00:24:07.500 Like you come home and you function. If you are 00:24:07.500 --> 00:24:09.119 the center, you become the king of the world. 00:24:09.819 --> 00:24:11.640 And your kids are there to serve you. But oh, 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:14.279 if Jesus is at the center, then you become a 00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:17.500 reflection of Jesus in your home. And then it 00:24:17.500 --> 00:24:19.880 works out. And what about your marriage? You 00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:22.799 know that God has a plan for your marriage, a 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:25.079 design for your marriage. He created marriage. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:27.759 And he says, if you put me at the center of your 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:31.130 marriage, it changes everything. But if you're 00:24:31.130 --> 00:24:33.029 at the center of your marriage, you know what 00:24:33.029 --> 00:24:37.579 it will result in? Selfishness. It's darkness, 00:24:37.660 --> 00:24:41.259 and it doesn't work very well. I know. I do a 00:24:41.259 --> 00:24:44.259 lot of marriage counseling. Have. Don't really 00:24:44.259 --> 00:24:47.339 like it, to be honest with you. But it's important. 00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:52.289 But here's the fundamental problem, is we all 00:24:52.289 --> 00:24:54.819 want to be at the center. And so it influences 00:24:54.819 --> 00:24:56.940 every aspect of my life. And I think probably 00:24:56.940 --> 00:25:00.019 one of the biggest ones, as I've asked people, 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:03.099 I said, what's your biggest struggle? What is 00:25:03.099 --> 00:25:05.599 the hardest thing to release to the Lord? You 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:10.970 know what it is? Time. I have my agenda, Lord. 00:25:11.069 --> 00:25:13.329 I want to be at the center so every piece of 00:25:13.329 --> 00:25:16.769 my life revolves around me. And Jesus is saying, 00:25:16.809 --> 00:25:20.480 that's not what it means. I want you. I want 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:22.680 to be at the center. And that changes everything. 00:25:24.430 --> 00:25:26.589 So that's the real, I believe that's the real 00:25:26.589 --> 00:25:31.640 struggle in our belief. Is God, do I really trust 00:25:31.640 --> 00:25:34.500 you enough to release my life to you in such 00:25:34.500 --> 00:25:37.970 a way that says, all for you. You know, here's 00:25:37.970 --> 00:25:39.250 the funny thing. We're going to sing a song at 00:25:39.250 --> 00:25:42.170 the end of the sermon, all of me for all of you, 00:25:42.190 --> 00:25:45.990 right? All that I am for all that you are. You 00:25:45.990 --> 00:25:48.450 know what we love? We love all that Jesus is. 00:25:48.589 --> 00:25:50.789 If we really be honest, we love all that Jesus 00:25:50.789 --> 00:25:52.430 is, we just have a hard time with giving all 00:25:52.430 --> 00:25:57.410 of us. That's really the tension. Okay, so that's 00:25:57.410 --> 00:25:59.609 the first section. Number two, the priority of 00:25:59.609 --> 00:26:05.029 our belief. Now, this is a very powerful thing 00:26:05.029 --> 00:26:09.089 happens here in this verse. In verse 44, Jesus 00:26:09.089 --> 00:26:12.839 all of a sudden comes back on the scene. Now, 00:26:12.859 --> 00:26:14.400 if you remember the last time, it says Jesus 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:20.500 went and hid himself. He was done. Look how John 00:26:20.500 --> 00:26:24.160 introduces Jesus. Up to this point, it's been 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:26.619 a dialogue about him, about what's going on, 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:29.279 the response of people. And Jesus comes on the 00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:34.150 scene in verse 44, and he says this, Jesus cried 00:26:34.150 --> 00:26:38.170 out. Now, this is not a normal way of coming 00:26:38.170 --> 00:26:40.940 on the scene, is it? It's almost like Jesus comes 00:26:40.940 --> 00:26:44.519 up with great passion and great energy, and it 00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:49.710 says, Jesus cried out, the one who believes in 00:26:49.710 --> 00:26:52.490 me believes not in me, but the one who sent me. 00:26:52.900 --> 00:26:56.980 And the one who sees me sees him who sent me. 00:26:57.319 --> 00:27:03.630 I have come as light into the world so that everyone 00:27:03.630 --> 00:27:08.049 who believes in me would not remain in darkness. 00:27:08.609 --> 00:27:12.599 Guys, this is a picture. of incredible hope. 00:27:13.410 --> 00:27:17.569 Two things, two priorities about the priority 00:27:17.569 --> 00:27:21.029 of belief in Jesus. Two things. One is this, 00:27:21.190 --> 00:27:26.150 God the Father and God the Son are one. And Jesus 00:27:26.150 --> 00:27:28.309 just takes the people who really do believe, 00:27:28.569 --> 00:27:30.789 he's talking to these Jewish people, they believe 00:27:30.789 --> 00:27:34.130 in God, and now he's saying, I and the Father 00:27:34.130 --> 00:27:36.470 are one. That might not hit us the same way it 00:27:36.470 --> 00:27:40.910 might hit, but it would be a really big statement. 00:27:42.829 --> 00:27:46.230 If you say you believe in God, you have to fully 00:27:46.230 --> 00:27:50.539 embrace Jesus. That's what he's saying. If you 00:27:50.539 --> 00:27:54.759 say you believe in God, as do many people in 00:27:54.759 --> 00:28:00.200 our valley, do you fully embrace Jesus for everything 00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:05.559 that he is? Jesus, he says, if you embrace God, 00:28:05.799 --> 00:28:10.069 then Jesus is the center, must be the center 00:28:10.069 --> 00:28:12.490 of your life. Everything Jesus is doing, he says, 00:28:12.529 --> 00:28:16.119 like, I'm in. That's the first thing. But believing 00:28:16.119 --> 00:28:20.039 in Jesus, number two, is stepping out of darkness 00:28:20.039 --> 00:28:27.000 and into light. Here's what he's saying to everyone 00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:31.319 in this world. He says, everyone in this world 00:28:31.319 --> 00:28:36.390 is in darkness. He uses a very simple metaphor. 00:28:37.700 --> 00:28:40.119 We could unpack this. You may want to go back 00:28:40.119 --> 00:28:41.619 and say, what happens if I live in darkness? 00:28:41.740 --> 00:28:43.720 What are the effects of that? There's a lot of 00:28:43.720 --> 00:28:45.700 interesting effects. But he's saying everybody 00:28:45.700 --> 00:28:49.750 lives in darkness. In this whole world. And your 00:28:49.750 --> 00:28:54.240 only hope, church, is Jesus. It's me. It's Jesus. 00:28:54.440 --> 00:28:57.869 That's what he's saying. I'm the only hope. So 00:28:57.869 --> 00:29:02.430 what is darkness? Darkness is a metaphor for 00:29:02.619 --> 00:29:07.980 hopelessness and evil. It's a metaphor for that. 00:29:08.420 --> 00:29:11.299 And he's saying, so basically in this world that 00:29:11.299 --> 00:29:17.220 you live in, this is what you got. Hopelessness 00:29:17.220 --> 00:29:21.400 and you have evil. And it's just constantly crashing. 00:29:21.849 --> 00:29:25.710 around you. The older I get, the more I see the 00:29:25.710 --> 00:29:29.329 compounding effects of the hopelessness and the 00:29:29.329 --> 00:29:31.789 evil of this world. Agreed? And you guys are 00:29:31.789 --> 00:29:33.509 a little older now, you're like, man, this just 00:29:33.509 --> 00:29:37.769 won't stop. What Jesus is saying is, without 00:29:37.769 --> 00:29:44.940 me, you will all remain in darkness. This world 00:29:44.940 --> 00:29:49.480 is dark, and it doesn't have the resources for 00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:53.890 hope or the solution for evil. It's going to 00:29:53.890 --> 00:29:58.940 remain. This broken world cannot give you the 00:29:58.940 --> 00:30:02.259 hope you desire. This broken world cannot fix 00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:04.519 your marriage. It cannot fix your business. It 00:30:04.519 --> 00:30:08.339 cannot fix your comfort desire. In fact, you'll 00:30:08.339 --> 00:30:11.019 just long for more desires. You'll long for more 00:30:11.019 --> 00:30:14.849 satisfaction, and it won't match it. You can 00:30:14.849 --> 00:30:16.450 have the best hunt in the world, and it'll just 00:30:16.450 --> 00:30:18.430 like, okay, I got another one. It's got to be 00:30:18.430 --> 00:30:21.289 better next time. The world will not give you 00:30:21.289 --> 00:30:23.920 hope. That's what Jesus is saying. He says, look, 00:30:23.980 --> 00:30:28.250 I am the only thing that gives hope. And then 00:30:28.250 --> 00:30:30.809 the last verse, Jesus turns up the volume on 00:30:30.809 --> 00:30:36.529 the urgency of your belief. He's speaking about 00:30:36.529 --> 00:30:42.049 the coming judgment of sin and the hope for eternal 00:30:42.049 --> 00:30:46.559 life in God. Look what he says in verse 47. If 00:30:46.589 --> 00:30:53.650 anyone, if anyone hears my words and doesn't 00:30:53.650 --> 00:30:58.859 keep them, I do not judge him. Listen to that. 00:31:00.190 --> 00:31:04.440 I do not judge him. For I didn't come to judge 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:09.690 the world. What? Jesus just said something really 00:31:09.690 --> 00:31:14.470 important. He says, look, if anyone hears this, 00:31:14.490 --> 00:31:19.930 understand this, I don't judge him. For I didn't 00:31:19.930 --> 00:31:22.809 come to judge the world. But why did Jesus come, 00:31:22.930 --> 00:31:27.009 guys? What does it say? To save the world. What 00:31:27.009 --> 00:31:31.200 is Jesus' mission? Jesus' mission is to save 00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:34.619 the world. He says, I see your broken and hopeless 00:31:34.619 --> 00:31:36.740 world that you live in. It's a jacked up mess. 00:31:36.900 --> 00:31:39.400 Anybody agree our world's a jacked up mess? And 00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:42.079 he says, I am the hope of the world and my mission 00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:45.180 is to come and to save you from the results of 00:31:45.180 --> 00:31:49.990 a broken, jacked up world. His role is the rescuer. 00:31:50.490 --> 00:31:53.430 He is the savior of the world. He is the light 00:31:53.430 --> 00:31:56.289 that's broken into the darkness. And then he 00:31:56.289 --> 00:32:00.730 says in verse 48, look at that. The one who rejects 00:32:00.730 --> 00:32:06.049 me does not receive my sayings. Has this as his 00:32:06.049 --> 00:32:11.440 judge. The word I have spoken will judge him 00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:13.339 on the last days. Look, judgment's already here. 00:32:15.789 --> 00:32:18.069 Jesus didn't come to drop a hammer on your head. 00:32:18.450 --> 00:32:20.490 The hammer has been brought there by yourself. 00:32:23.240 --> 00:32:26.440 Destruction's already there. Judgment's there. 00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:32.799 It's coming. Jesus is explaining why rejecting 00:32:32.799 --> 00:32:36.549 him, though, is so serious. The judgment's there. 00:32:36.849 --> 00:32:39.569 To the world that we live in, judgment is there. 00:32:40.269 --> 00:32:43.869 There's going to come a day that you will face 00:32:43.869 --> 00:32:48.250 your judgment. And what you do here matters for 00:32:48.250 --> 00:32:52.460 eternity. I know that's not a fun word to talk 00:32:52.460 --> 00:32:54.759 about, but it's the truth. And this is the last 00:32:54.759 --> 00:32:57.259 words Jesus says. And he says, look, I want you 00:32:57.259 --> 00:33:00.410 to know that I've come to this world to rescue 00:33:00.410 --> 00:33:04.309 you. Your sin and destruction will bring judgment. 00:33:04.369 --> 00:33:07.200 You've already brought it. He says, I think of 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:10.500 it this way, church. It's like a person with 00:33:10.500 --> 00:33:13.779 this curable disease. You have a curable disease. 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:16.940 And you go to see the doctor. And the doctor 00:33:16.940 --> 00:33:19.779 says, just take this antibiotic. And he sets 00:33:19.779 --> 00:33:25.759 it right in front of you. He says, if you take 00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:28.980 this antibiotic, this disease will not defeat 00:33:28.980 --> 00:33:33.980 you. The minute you take this antibiotic, it 00:33:33.980 --> 00:33:37.250 begins to reverse the effects of the disease. 00:33:38.460 --> 00:33:41.950 And you look at it and you go, I don't know. 00:33:46.250 --> 00:33:51.569 And Jesus is saying, I'm the rescuer. Take me. 00:33:52.750 --> 00:33:58.240 Don't miss this opportunity. Take it. The choice 00:33:58.240 --> 00:34:03.859 is yours. Do you choose to believe in the saving 00:34:03.859 --> 00:34:08.880 work of Jesus or to be swallowed up by the darkness 00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:12.960 you're living in? To be swallowed up and face 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:15.039 the judgment on the last day. Are you willing 00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:21.309 to do that? And Jesus has this final last thing 00:34:21.309 --> 00:34:26.829 to say. Look at verse 49. For I have not spoken 00:34:26.829 --> 00:34:32.710 on my own, but the Father himself who sent me 00:34:32.710 --> 00:34:37.949 has given me a command. I say everything I have 00:34:37.949 --> 00:34:41.469 said. I know that his command is eternal life. 00:34:42.550 --> 00:34:47.449 So the things that I speak, I speak just as the 00:34:47.449 --> 00:34:54.610 Father has told me. Boom. That's it. Mic drop. 00:34:56.429 --> 00:35:01.670 Jesus is done. He says in his last words, His 00:35:01.670 --> 00:35:05.309 public ministry is over. He now turns his attention 00:35:05.309 --> 00:35:08.349 to training those few disciples for the last 00:35:08.349 --> 00:35:11.429 days are coming. And then he's going to go and 00:35:11.429 --> 00:35:14.210 he's going to hang on the cross and become the 00:35:15.010 --> 00:35:19.360 savior of the world for you and me. He's going 00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:22.239 to go face death. He's going to take all that. 00:35:22.519 --> 00:35:25.380 He's going to go to that ugly, horrible cross 00:35:25.380 --> 00:35:28.500 where he hangs on that cross and all your sin 00:35:28.500 --> 00:35:32.960 is placed upon him. And in the midst of that, 00:35:33.059 --> 00:35:36.639 he's still crying out, believe in me. Believe 00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:41.750 in me. The question that we are faced with today 00:35:41.750 --> 00:35:50.219 is, do you believe in Jesus? Is he your Savior 00:35:50.219 --> 00:35:55.820 and Lord, really? As we close this morning, this 00:35:55.820 --> 00:35:59.000 is the imagery that I have had in my head all 00:35:59.480 --> 00:36:01.039 week as I've been working through this. And I 00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:04.119 think, I tried to find a graphic and Andrew found 00:36:04.119 --> 00:36:07.380 this one for me. And this is this picture. But 00:36:07.380 --> 00:36:09.599 I want you to picture, and not for the sake that 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:11.940 I've got it all figured out, but pretend for 00:36:11.940 --> 00:36:14.420 a second that there's this line across the front 00:36:14.420 --> 00:36:21.070 of the room. Darkness is there. It's down here. 00:36:21.900 --> 00:36:24.619 And Jesus stands there, and he is the light of 00:36:24.619 --> 00:36:31.300 the world. And he says, will you cross it? Do 00:36:31.300 --> 00:36:34.829 I step toward him? Do I stay in the darkness? 00:36:36.809 --> 00:36:39.030 Come across the line. And that's really what 00:36:39.030 --> 00:36:41.449 he's saying in all of this. He's like, I've come. 00:36:41.690 --> 00:36:43.909 Jesus says, I'm the light of the world. And here's 00:36:43.909 --> 00:36:45.989 the interesting thing. You can't see this in 00:36:45.989 --> 00:36:47.889 this graphic, but here's this picture. This is 00:36:47.889 --> 00:36:49.849 the imagery you get all the way through the Gospel 00:36:49.849 --> 00:36:53.570 of John. Is he standing there like this? With 00:36:53.570 --> 00:36:55.449 his arms extended to you, he says, come to me. 00:36:56.579 --> 00:37:02.980 As one who deeply, deeply loves you. Because 00:37:02.980 --> 00:37:04.679 what he's going to do is he's going to have arms 00:37:04.679 --> 00:37:07.920 extended like this out to you, but then his arms 00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:11.710 are like this on the cross. Where he bears the 00:37:11.710 --> 00:37:17.070 burden of all of our sins. He's going to give 00:37:17.070 --> 00:37:24.150 all of himself on that cross. And so you just 00:37:24.150 --> 00:37:27.300 simply come to this invitation. He says, come 00:37:27.300 --> 00:37:34.440 to me. And I think this morning, I can't. finished 00:37:34.440 --> 00:37:38.760 without saying, if you're here this morning and 00:37:38.760 --> 00:37:40.900 you've never stepped out of darkness and into 00:37:40.900 --> 00:37:44.949 Jesus' light, put your faith in Jesus. Please 00:37:44.949 --> 00:37:48.460 don't leave this room. Don't leave. Don't leave 00:37:48.460 --> 00:37:50.860 Teeland Middle School. Walk out of here and not 00:37:50.860 --> 00:37:53.039 putting your faith in Jesus. I know you don't 00:37:53.039 --> 00:37:57.679 understand all the pieces, but Jesus says, I 00:37:57.679 --> 00:37:59.380 didn't come to judge the world. I come to save 00:37:59.380 --> 00:38:01.739 the world. Do you want what's right and good? 00:38:02.530 --> 00:38:07.289 Come to me. So that's the first invitation. I 00:38:07.289 --> 00:38:10.500 think that but here's another kind of invitation 00:38:10.500 --> 00:38:12.920 for i think that starts with me and i've wrestled 00:38:12.920 --> 00:38:16.440 with this is do you believe but you struggle 00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:20.559 to give it all to him so it's almost like this 00:38:20.559 --> 00:38:22.159 i could keep thinking this image you're like 00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:24.400 i'm standing here i see the light i believe in 00:38:24.400 --> 00:38:26.619 the light but i'm i like this line between the 00:38:26.619 --> 00:38:28.800 two one leg over here in the darkness and one 00:38:28.800 --> 00:38:34.219 leg over here in the light just enough i think 00:38:34.219 --> 00:38:37.710 this is the challenge i wrestle with What is 00:38:37.710 --> 00:38:39.590 the fear that I'm struggling with to actually 00:38:39.590 --> 00:38:43.440 fully surrender? And I think, guys, just to tell 00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:45.860 you, I think this is an everyday challenge now. 00:38:46.340 --> 00:38:48.780 It's to go say, okay, what about, what part of 00:38:48.780 --> 00:38:51.599 me wants to keep living in that darkness? And 00:38:51.599 --> 00:38:53.559 Jesus is saying, I'm here, look, I've given you 00:38:53.559 --> 00:38:55.300 life, I've given you hope, I've given you purpose, 00:38:55.400 --> 00:38:58.719 step over the line. What is the fear that you're 00:38:58.719 --> 00:39:01.510 struggling with? What are you having a hard time 00:39:01.510 --> 00:39:06.829 releasing in your life? You want all of Jesus? 00:39:07.840 --> 00:39:10.400 But you really don't want to give all of you 00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:15.440 to him. It's like you say, Lord, I want you to 00:39:15.440 --> 00:39:19.139 be the hub. But I really struggle. I really want 00:39:19.139 --> 00:39:22.000 to be in there. But how about this idea? I'll 00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:26.590 let you be the hub. But this spoke and this spoke 00:39:26.590 --> 00:39:29.130 and this spoke are not going to be connected. 00:39:29.190 --> 00:39:32.019 They're going to be connected to me. We'll just 00:39:32.019 --> 00:39:34.889 do that. How does that work? How does that work, 00:39:34.969 --> 00:39:37.849 guys? How does this wheel roll? That those spots 00:39:37.849 --> 00:39:42.190 are not connected. It doesn't. And he says, look, 00:39:42.289 --> 00:39:44.590 what is it in your life? Is it your time that's 00:39:44.590 --> 00:39:46.650 so valuable? You say, God, I like you. I like 00:39:46.650 --> 00:39:49.880 all the things about you. But I don't want to 00:39:49.880 --> 00:39:51.320 give you my time because that's pretty precious 00:39:51.320 --> 00:39:57.159 to me. I like all of the things about you, Jesus. 00:39:58.309 --> 00:40:01.889 I like the saving part especially. But when it 00:40:01.889 --> 00:40:13.090 comes to my money, no. That's mine. I could go 00:40:13.090 --> 00:40:14.929 through and make you feel really bad right now. 00:40:15.199 --> 00:40:17.590 That's what I'm not going to do, okay? But I 00:40:17.590 --> 00:40:19.349 want you to sit there and say, God, what is it 00:40:19.349 --> 00:40:21.630 that I need to wrestle with? Because I'm not 00:40:21.630 --> 00:40:24.380 the Holy Spirit. I'm not here to make you feel 00:40:24.380 --> 00:40:28.219 guilty. That's not my job. The job of the Holy 00:40:28.219 --> 00:40:31.639 Spirit is to convict you so that you will surrender 00:40:31.639 --> 00:40:39.130 it all to him. So here's the thing, though, I 00:40:39.130 --> 00:40:44.000 think has to happen. You have to believe in a 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:47.860 Jesus that loves you so much that his plan is 00:40:47.860 --> 00:40:53.059 for good. It's like, Chase, with your kids. You 00:40:53.059 --> 00:40:57.289 said, don't do that. You tell your kids not to 00:40:57.289 --> 00:40:59.980 go touch the hot stove because you love them. 00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.320 You know it will be harmful for them. But they're 00:41:04.320 --> 00:41:06.320 looking like, I got this, Dad. I don't need you. 00:41:07.250 --> 00:41:12.409 I know what's better. But Jace didn't tell his 00:41:12.409 --> 00:41:15.070 kid not to touch the hot stove because he didn't 00:41:15.070 --> 00:41:17.789 like his kids. He says, I love you so much. I 00:41:17.789 --> 00:41:21.500 want you to be safe. I want to give you hope. 00:41:22.110 --> 00:41:24.030 I think that's what Jesus is saying. He says, 00:41:24.050 --> 00:41:27.329 I'm the rescuer. Step out of the darkness and 00:41:27.329 --> 00:41:31.800 into the light. So your response today, church, 00:41:31.929 --> 00:41:34.050 and I just encourage you, for those of you that 00:41:34.050 --> 00:41:36.690 have never placed your faith in Jesus, I'll be 00:41:36.690 --> 00:41:40.050 in the back today. Jared and Bob will be back 00:41:40.050 --> 00:41:41.429 there. And if you want to just come and talk, 00:41:41.489 --> 00:41:43.769 you got questions you're not sure about, I'd 00:41:43.769 --> 00:41:45.969 love to pray with you and walk you through that. 00:41:47.110 --> 00:41:49.230 For the rest of this room, I just ask you that 00:41:49.230 --> 00:41:51.769 during our time of response today, will you please 00:41:51.769 --> 00:41:56.650 wrestle with what it is you're hanging on to 00:41:56.650 --> 00:41:59.449 that you're not willing to surrender to the Lord? 00:42:03.519 --> 00:42:14.150 Give it to him today. Lay it down. Band, why 00:42:14.150 --> 00:42:19.920 don't you come up? As we go to our time of response, 00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:23.500 we always go to the communion table. We always 00:42:23.500 --> 00:42:26.679 come back to this place where we go up there, 00:42:26.780 --> 00:42:28.940 we grab this piece of bread, and we grab it and 00:42:28.940 --> 00:42:32.659 we dip it in the juice, and the body, it says, 00:42:32.699 --> 00:42:34.820 the body of Christ is broken for you, and his 00:42:34.820 --> 00:42:38.309 blood was shed for you. Do this and remember 00:42:38.309 --> 00:42:40.150 to me. Every time you gather together, if you're 00:42:40.150 --> 00:42:42.789 a follower of Jesus, we do this every week to 00:42:42.789 --> 00:42:47.260 be reminded. To be reminded of that sacrifice 00:42:47.260 --> 00:42:50.820 that Jesus gave for you, where he gave all of 00:42:50.820 --> 00:42:55.610 him for you. And as we come to that, he says, 00:42:55.650 --> 00:43:00.059 eat of it. Take of it. It's free. And I'm going 00:43:00.059 --> 00:43:02.619 to pile. See, what I'm giving you is grace upon 00:43:02.619 --> 00:43:06.250 grace upon grace. I've given it all to you. And 00:43:06.250 --> 00:43:08.710 so if you go and you take communion today, know 00:43:08.710 --> 00:43:12.820 this, that he has given everything for you. But 00:43:12.820 --> 00:43:15.119 use it as an opportunity to say, God, I want 00:43:15.119 --> 00:43:18.219 to give it all back. I want. I want my life to 00:43:18.219 --> 00:43:21.300 be a reflection of you. You're not earning God. 00:43:21.380 --> 00:43:25.219 You can do nothing to earn God's favor. He's 00:43:25.219 --> 00:43:27.900 done it all for you. That's why it's called grace. 00:43:28.980 --> 00:43:32.880 It's free. But he does want us to respond to 00:43:32.880 --> 00:43:44.559 that grace. Why wouldn't we? Let's pray. God, 00:43:44.599 --> 00:43:46.820 this struggle is real. It's released to you because 00:43:46.820 --> 00:43:49.860 we believe fundamentally in our hearts that we 00:43:49.860 --> 00:43:55.130 know better. And the arguments that are in our 00:43:55.130 --> 00:43:57.650 head for not letting go and not releasing are 00:43:57.650 --> 00:44:01.469 real. And so I pray by the power of the Holy 00:44:01.469 --> 00:44:06.500 Spirit that you will break into our hearts. You'll 00:44:06.500 --> 00:44:10.710 transform our lives. That you will help us step 00:44:10.710 --> 00:44:13.409 out of darkness and into the light in every little 00:44:13.409 --> 00:44:16.889 spoke of our life. That you will be at the center. 00:44:19.630 --> 00:44:20.530 Help us, Jesus.