1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Word of God. Speak. Amen. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:19,400 Last weekend my wife and I were in Minnesota to take care of some business there, but also 3 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:25,560 to visit with our grandchildren. We had an early Christmas with them, and it was fun 4 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:33,040 to see Christmas in their eyes, as it always is fun to see Christmas in the eyes of children. 5 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:40,400 Our granddaughter is now six years old, and she is missing a front tooth. This is her 6 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:45,440 first one that's been gone. It was just fun to share that time with her as she's learning 7 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:50,680 to feel what it's like to stick your tongue through that hole in your teeth. You remember 8 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:57,640 that? I remember when I was about seven years old, I had two of them gone, and I just about 9 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:04,360 wore my tongue raw, sticking it out through the hole in my teeth. It was about that same 10 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:09,520 time that there was a Christmas song that became sort of a standard at Christmas time, 11 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:16,560 and it says, all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, so I can with you a merry 12 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:24,440 Christmas. Remember that? Cute little song. Well, my Christmas list actually got a little 13 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:32,200 more sophisticated as I got older. I wanted a red rider outfit and a Daisy BB gun. Remember 14 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:40,240 those? Can you believe when we were kids we had BB guns? What were our parents thinking? 15 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:47,720 You know how it is you grow up, then your list gets different, and when you have kids of 16 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:53,520 your own, then your list includes things like underwear and socks and shirts and ties and 17 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:59,760 those kinds of things because they get the priority, right? And then as you get even 18 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:07,960 older, you find that your Christmas list really doesn't contain many needs at all. 19 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:18,880 In fact, as my wife and I thought about it this year, what do we need for Christmas? 20 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:25,080 And we concluded that, frankly, our needs are very, very few. We have a hard time putting 21 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:31,600 anything on the list that we really need. But you know that's not true of us as a human 22 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:40,280 race collectively. We as a human race have many needs, especially spiritual needs. We 23 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,800 don't like to admit those needs, but we all share them because we're all a part of the 24 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:51,120 human race. These needs that I'm thinking about correspond to four perilous problems 25 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:56,640 that we all have because of our spiritual condition. You'll find some blanks there in 26 00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:02,000 your notes and you may want to fill them in as we go along. First of all, we have this 27 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:08,360 problem and it is that we are ignorant of God. Now I understand that there are, most 28 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:14,640 people have some kind of an idea about God, even those who deny there is one. We have 29 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:19,800 notions about what we think God is or who God is, but the fact is we're really ignorant 30 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:26,000 about the God of the Bible. And so we have a need on our list, and that need is to know 31 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:33,640 the truth. We need the truth. We're ignorant. Now ignorant is not the same as stupid. Ignorant 32 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:40,120 means that we're unaware. We don't really know, and therefore we need the truth. We 33 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:47,760 also are blind, spiritually blind, and we need sight. How many times have you talked 34 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:52,200 to somebody about Jesus and you present the gospel to them and they say, I just don't 35 00:03:52,200 --> 00:04:00,000 see it? They're absolutely telling you the truth. They don't see it because we are blind 36 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:10,240 and we need sight. We are guilty and we need forgiveness. People try to deal with guilt 37 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:18,920 in lots of different ways, from medication to psychiatry to substance abuse. But the 38 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:24,000 fact is what we really need is forgiveness of the guilt that we have and we know is inside 39 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:33,600 of us. We are also spiritually dead, spiritually dead. We have no life, and what we need is 40 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:39,360 spiritual life. The Bible says that we are darkened in our understanding and separated 41 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:44,920 from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in us due to the hardening of our 42 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:52,880 hearts. That's what God says about us. This Christmas time, we as human beings have a 43 00:04:52,880 --> 00:05:00,160 list of needs that we're desperate to have filled, just as parents know the needs of 44 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:10,560 their children. God, our Heavenly Father, sees humanity's needs. In the Christmas story, 45 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:16,960 we see God going about to address the very needs that we're talking about here. God wants 46 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:23,400 everyone to know Him. He does not want us to be ignorant. He wants everyone to know 47 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:38,520 Him, so He did the most amazing thing. He came personally into the world. He created 48 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:45,240 us to know Him so that there is a part of each one of us that is innately aware of, 49 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:53,600 shall we call it, transcendence or of the supernatural. We are aware that something 50 00:05:53,600 --> 00:06:00,760 is missing, but we're ignorant of what or who it is. And whatever understanding of God 51 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:07,920 that we naturally have is marred and flawed. In fact, the writer of Romans, Paul quotes 52 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:14,360 from the Psalms, and he says, there is no one who understands, that is, understands what 53 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:21,900 is right and who God is, no one. It might be said that we are not an enlightened people. 54 00:06:21,900 --> 00:06:26,840 We are an endarkened people. Now, I realize there's not a word like that, but let's make 55 00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:36,520 one up that fits. We're not enlightened. We're endarkened. We need the truth. Now, it's not 56 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:42,600 that God was silent prior to His coming into the world to tell us the truth. In fact, He 57 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:48,880 wrote the truth into the creation. Into the very creation itself, God wrote the truth 58 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:55,040 that we might know He exists. Look at this verse from Romans chapter 1, verses 19 and 59 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:57,880 20. Let's read it together. 60 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:04,640 What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them, for 61 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:11,360 since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature 62 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:18,600 have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without 63 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:25,160 excuse. Notice that God has made it plain to them. What? The fact of His existence, the 64 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:31,680 truth about Him. It says His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen. 65 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:36,680 So even before He came into the world, the truth has been available, because God wrote 66 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:44,880 the truth into creation. He also revealed the truth through His providence in history. 67 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:51,400 That isn't just the way that history unfolds. The way that God provides for our needs even 68 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:58,200 on a daily basis, God reveals Himself to us. We have that knowledge of the truth. Look 69 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,200 at these verses from Paul's sermon in Acts chapter 14. It says, 70 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:10,960 The living God made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. In the past, He let 71 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:19,280 all nations go their own way, yet He has not left Himself without testimony. He has shown 72 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:26,640 kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He provides you with 73 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:32,640 plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy. Paul says that God in doing this has 74 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:38,320 showed Himself to you, whoever you are, of all the nations of the world. God has spoken 75 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:42,920 the truth in His providence. There's another text listed in your notes that we're not 76 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:47,480 going to take time to look at this morning, but in Acts chapter 17, Paul talks about the 77 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:55,920 unfolding of history itself. God has revealed Himself and the truth to all of humanity. 78 00:08:55,920 --> 00:09:02,240 So even before He came, God was making the truth available. Thirdly, I want to say that 79 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:11,480 He spoke through spokesmen or prophets to Jewish generations before Christ came. Hebrews 80 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:20,960 1-1 begins this way. In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at 81 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:28,440 many times in various ways. Now this book is written to whom? The Hebrews, that is Jewish 82 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:34,280 people, Jewish believers. And it says in the past, God spoke to our forefathers, the Jewish 83 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:40,400 forefathers, through the prophets at many times and in lots of different ways. But then 84 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:49,080 He goes on to say He has spoken in these last days through His Son. But before the Son, 85 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:57,920 in the past, God spoke through the prophets. But now, now at the culmination at the right 86 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:06,440 moment in the most unexpected, imaginative, miraculous way possible, God did something 87 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:17,520 more. He spoke through the Son, S-O-N. There are three passages in the New Testament that 88 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:24,760 focus upon Jesus Christ and tell us a lot about Him. One of them is Hebrews 1, another 89 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:32,440 is Colossians 1, and the third is John, the Gospel of John, chapter 1. And it's there 90 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:45,720 I invite you to turn with me in your Bible this morning to John, chapter 1. 91 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:52,280 Like the book of Hebrews, the Gospel of John begins with a focus upon the Son of God, only 92 00:10:52,280 --> 00:11:02,240 here it uses another name for Him. It says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word 93 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:14,120 was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word here is 94 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:24,480 Logos. Word is Logos. Logos was a, and is a Greek word. It was used of the Greeks and 95 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:33,160 the Gentiles in that day in a particular way to describe what is an unspoken word. It was 96 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:40,040 sometimes used also of spoken word, but especially it focused upon what was in the mind. The 97 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:49,120 Word that was unexpressed, the Word that was in the mind, the thought, the concept. And 98 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:58,880 what it says here is that all that was in the mind of God, the Word, He brought out 99 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:06,080 in His Son. The Jews also use this term by the way for God, and so as John is writing 100 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:12,160 his Gospel, he's drawing upon a word that both Jew and Gentile would recognize, although 101 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:17,040 each would have a little different twist on the meaning of it. 102 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:24,040 What we can say about the Logos is this, that the Logos is the perfect and full expression 103 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:33,840 of all that God is and wants to say. The Logos is the full and the perfect expression of 104 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:42,560 all that God is and wants to say. The Logos possesses all of the qualities that make God 105 00:12:42,560 --> 00:12:54,160 God. But at a certain point, the Logos entered into time. He existed forever, it says here. 106 00:12:54,160 --> 00:13:01,600 He existed forever. Notice in the beginning, the Word was. In the beginning, that is when 107 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:11,520 God spoke the universe that we know into existence. In the beginning, the Word was. That means 108 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:22,200 He was continually pre-existent before the beginning. The Word was as far back as it's 109 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:32,240 possible to trace and beyond that. Secondly, it says to us that there is a distinction 110 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:40,760 in the existence between the Word and God. It says, and the Word was with God. Now it 111 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:48,360 begins here to move into the realm of the mystery of God's trinity, His triunity. And 112 00:13:48,360 --> 00:14:01,040 it says that the Word was with God. It goes on to say, and the Word was God, showing us 113 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:08,920 not only is there a distinction of existence between God, as we would say, God the Father, 114 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:19,280 and the Word. But there is a co-equal existence with God. The Word was God. The way that John 115 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:26,680 writes this, you could actually put an equal mark in there instead of the Word was, because 116 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:36,760 what he's saying is the Word equals God. That's why I'm saying that the Word, the Logos, is 117 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:46,080 the full and the perfect expression of all that God is, because the Word was God. He 118 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:51,520 tells us that the Word was associated with the works of God too. He was with God in the 119 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:59,560 beginning and through Him, all things were made. When God created, how did He do it? 120 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:09,120 He spoke. He spoke. And so the Word was involved in the creation of all things in the very 121 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:18,080 beginning. But as I said, having eternal existence, He nonetheless entered into time at a certain 122 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:24,280 point. And it's at this moment in history that the Creator Himself entered into His 123 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:33,800 creation. How did He do this? Well, He became man. He became human. Verse 14 picks up this 124 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:44,360 thought by saying, the Word became flesh. The Word became means that there was a transition 125 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:52,160 here. The Word became something He was not before. Now, He always existed. He always 126 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:59,360 was. And He existed with God and He was God. But at a certain point in time, there was 127 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:08,320 a transition. Something new happened to the Word. The Word became flesh. Now, the Word 128 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:17,440 flesh here means fully human. We held in our hands a few moments ago the elements of communion, 129 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:25,600 reminding us of the body and the blood that Jesus offered up as a sacrifice for us. But 130 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:34,680 this means more than the fact that He inhabited a human body. That is true, but there's more 131 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:45,280 than that. It means that He also united Himself to human nature in that human body. So it's 132 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:51,520 not just that the Word who was forever existing stepped into a suit of human flesh and put 133 00:16:51,520 --> 00:17:02,880 it on Himself. More than that, He united Himself to our very race, to our humanness as He put 134 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:17,160 on our flesh. The Word became flesh. St. Augustine, a leader of believers in another 135 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:28,240 century, said it this way, God became man for this purpose. Since you as a human being 136 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:36,720 could not reach God, but you can reach other humans, you might now reach God through a 137 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:46,680 man. And so the man, Christ Jesus, became the mediator of God and human beings. God became 138 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:53,080 man so that following a man, something you are able to do, you might reach God, which 139 00:17:53,080 --> 00:18:01,960 was formerly impossible for you to do. What is he saying? He's saying that when you and 140 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:11,560 I follow Jesus Christ, when you and I get to know Jesus Christ, what we are doing is 141 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:25,160 getting to know God Himself. God made Himself supremely knowable by coming into the world 142 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:33,240 as one of us. In another sermon, Augustine said, God so loved us that for our sake He 143 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:42,960 was made man in time, although through Him all times were made. He was made man who made 144 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:57,080 man. He was created of a mother whom He created. He was carried by hands that He formed. He 145 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:06,440 cried in the manger in wordless infancy. He, the Word, without whom all human eloquence 146 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:22,560 is mute. I love that phrase. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy. He, the Word. 147 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:33,840 He became a human. That's how the Word came. He came, secondly, to express God to the human 148 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:43,080 race. John 14, verses 9 and 11 says, Don't you believe that I am in the Father, Jesus 149 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:51,720 speaking, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, 150 00:19:51,720 --> 00:20:04,160 it is the Father living in me who is doing His work. John chapter 14, verse 24 says, 151 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:10,840 These words you hear are not my own. They belong to the Father who sent me. Now, those 152 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:18,400 are just examples of places where Jesus says, What I am speaking to you are not just my 153 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:26,920 words. They are the very words of God. And when you hear them, you are hearing God speak 154 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:39,120 to you. That's the reason He came. He came to reveal God. Jesus is the truth that you 155 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:49,640 and I need to have to solve our ignorance of God. And there is truth in no one else 156 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:58,560 as it is found in Jesus Christ. For He was able to say of Himself, I am the way, the 157 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:10,360 truth and the life. I am, He said, the truth. Whatever misconceptions or lies you and I 158 00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:18,640 may have in our ignorance, He's the correction to that because He is the exact representation 159 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:30,040 of God's being. And God having spoken through His Son has sent no other prophets after Him 160 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:39,240 for none is needed. God said fully all that He wanted to say through His Son, the Word, 161 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:50,440 Jesus the Christ. He came to express God to the human race. Third, His words bring life 162 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:57,880 to those who listen. John 5.24, 25, I tell you the truth Jesus says, Whoever hears my 163 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:06,280 words and believes Him who sent me has, what? Everlasting life and will not be condemned. 164 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:12,800 He has crossed over from death to life. In other words, John, Jesus is saying in the 165 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:19,000 Gospel of John, when someone hears my words and believes on Him who sent me, at that very 166 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:26,000 moment He crosses over from death to life. It's not something that we wait on. It happens 167 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:32,400 at that instant of time. It's a done deal at the moment of our faith. Jesus says in John 168 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:40,800 6 and verse 63, The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. In John 169 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:48,400 chapter 10, He says, My sheep, listen to my voice. I know them, they follow me. I give 170 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:58,600 them eternal life and they shall never perish. What am I saying? The words of Jesus bring 171 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:09,600 life to those who listen. Jesus said, My sheep, hear my voice and they listen and I give them 172 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:18,200 eternal life. It is the truth that is revealed in Jesus Christ alone that brings life. There 173 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:24,680 is salvation in no other. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby 174 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:34,520 we must be saved. His life, life rather, comes through Jesus and the words He gave us alone. 175 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:40,360 But there is a corresponding truth to that. It is that His words bring judgment to those 176 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:46,360 who refuse to listen. We're talking about the word now. And what we understand from 177 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:51,880 the Gospel of John is that the words of Jesus bring judgment to those who refuse to listen. 178 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:58,600 For example, in John chapter 8, Jesus says, I know you are Abraham's descendants. He's 179 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:06,920 talking here to a Jewish crowd that is rejecting Him. And He says, I know you are Abraham's 180 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:17,160 descendants yet you are ready to kill me because you have no room for my Word. I'm telling 181 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:24,240 you what I have seen in the Father's presence and you do what you have heard from your Father. 182 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:30,000 Jesus says, you and I have different fathers. He says, I'm telling you what the Father told 183 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:35,320 me to say to you but because you have a different father you want to kill me. And He goes on 184 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:44,920 to explain that their father is whom? The devil. Abraham is our father, they answered. 185 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:50,120 If you were Abraham's children, Jesus said, then you would do the things Abraham did. As 186 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:56,800 it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from 187 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:06,080 God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the works your own father does. Notice 188 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:12,640 the emphasis here. Jesus says, I'm giving you the words of my Father. If you receive 189 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:19,640 them, He says, you will have life but if you do not receive them, if you refuse to listen, 190 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:26,720 it will bring, these words will bring judgment to you. In John 12, He says, as for the person 191 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:33,120 who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him for I did not come to judge 192 00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:39,920 the world but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept 193 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:50,720 my words. That very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. Judgment is the 194 00:25:50,720 --> 00:26:01,880 other side of salvation. Refusing to listen is the other side of listening and receiving 195 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:14,440 the words of Jesus. So God came. And in Jesus, He expressed everything that He had to say. 196 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:21,840 The question is, who is listening? Who is listening? Jesus answers the question for 197 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:32,280 us. Did you notice it? John 5, 24, He said, the one who hears my word and believes him 198 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:43,400 who sent me has everlasting life. What does it mean to listen to the words of Jesus? Believe 199 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:52,640 me, it is more than coming to church and sitting through a sermon. To listen to the words of 200 00:26:52,640 --> 00:27:02,320 Jesus means to believe on Him. It means to have your ignorance taken away and to perceive 201 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:10,920 the truth about who you are and who God is and how you can have a relationship with Him. 202 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:19,920 But understanding that truth, then, to believe it, to place your faith, your trust in that 203 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:30,880 word. I can remember when my brothers and I would get into some tussles at home and my 204 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:36,480 mother would correct us. And there were times when we didn't listen and we would continue 205 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:41,360 to squabble. Now, I realize that that's not true of your family, but that was true in our 206 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:50,880 family and my experience. And my mother would say to us, are you listening to me? And of 207 00:27:50,880 --> 00:28:00,600 course, the answer was, we hear your voice, but we're not listening. Because you see, 208 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:12,640 when we listen, we respond. Who is listening to the voice of Jesus, to the Word of God, 209 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:21,080 the one who believes? It's important to understand that belief is active, not passive. It's much 210 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:29,320 more than merely hearing the Word of God. It's doing the Word of God. Belief is active, 211 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:40,320 not passive. It requires a response from us. Belief, secondly, is continuous, not just 212 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:46,360 historic. It's not just something we do in the past. It's something that continues on 213 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:54,040 in our lives. You see, there is a kind of belief that seems to turn the corner, that 214 00:28:54,040 --> 00:29:01,120 seems to receive God's Word, and yet in the end, it goes the other way. What happens? 215 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:08,400 Well, that belief wasn't really an active, saving belief. Because belief that is genuine 216 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:16,720 is continuous. The New Testament makes it clear that if we continue believing, we are 217 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:25,000 saved. The one who believes is the one who is listening. But let's personalize this 218 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:30,480 a little more by asking this question. Are you listening? Are you listening to the words 219 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:40,440 of Jesus? I'm not asking if you've read your Bible. I'm not asking if you've listened to 220 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:48,520 this message or some other message in church. I'm asking if you have listened to Jesus. 221 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:54,760 You say, what must I do to listen? Well, first of all, you must be quiet to listen. You must 222 00:29:54,760 --> 00:30:04,920 be quiet. We can't listen and be doing something. We have to be quiet. We have to be focused. 223 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:12,720 You must also be open to listen. I can hear things without my heart being open, but I 224 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:26,080 cannot listen to the Word without my heart being still and open to Him. How important 225 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:33,600 is it? Let me put it this way. Everything's a stake. Everything. Jesus sums up the end 226 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:40,160 of history this way. He says, I tell you the truth, the time is coming and now has come 227 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:46,440 when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. Now, 228 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:52,600 it was there in that day in the sense that Jesus raised some physically from the dead. 229 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:56,960 He says, as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in 230 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:03,920 Himself and He has given Him the Son authority to judge because He is the Son of man. Do 231 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:09,680 not be amazed at this, He goes on to say, for time is coming when all who are in their 232 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:18,840 graves will hear His voice and come out. Those who have done good will rise to live and those 233 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:26,240 who have done evil will rise to be condemned. Now, Jesus is not here giving us a detailed 234 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:33,440 explanation of how the last days are going to fall out. He's simply pointing us to the 235 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:42,160 end times and He's saying, in summary, in general, here's what's going to happen. He 236 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:51,880 says, all who are in their graves are going to hear the voice of the Word who came in 237 00:31:51,880 --> 00:32:01,960 human form and gave to us the words of God. All are going to hear His voice and those 238 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:13,640 who have listened, those who have heeded, those who have believed will hear His voice 239 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:25,640 and be raised to life. But He says, those who have not listened and who have not believed 240 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:33,000 and the works of their lives demonstrated, He says, they too will hear My voice and be 241 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:48,480 raised to judgment. You see, in the end, there are only two destinies for the soul. Your 242 00:32:48,480 --> 00:33:02,560 soul will spend eternity either in life or in judgment, in heaven or in hell. And what 243 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:14,880 determines your destiny is what you do with the Word who came in human form. Whether you 244 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:26,920 listen to His words and place your faith in them, have you done that? There's no one 245 00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:34,280 who can say, if at all is said and done, there's no one who can say, I never knew. I never 246 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:42,120 knew. Never had access to the truth because you see, God has given us the truth in many 247 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:51,040 different ways, most fully and completely in His Son. There's an ancient presupposition 248 00:33:51,040 --> 00:34:00,920 that all people involved in law know it is this, ignorance of the law is what? No excuse. 249 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:07,960 People might say, well, I'm ignorant and it's true, but it's no excuse because we have the 250 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:20,520 truth. We have the truth. The question is, are we listening to the truth? Christmas is 251 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:26,680 about God sending the logos, the Word into the world that we might know who He is, that 252 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:34,760 He might meet our need of ignorance by revealing to us the truth. God wants you to know Him, 253 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:45,040 God wants you to have a relationship with Him. That's what Christmas is all about. 254 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:52,840 King Abdullah II of Jordan is a very popular monarch, perhaps more popular outside of his 255 00:34:52,840 --> 00:35:02,160 country than in some parts of his country, but nonetheless, he is a man who leaves with 256 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:10,560 a certain mystery about him. He's unusual. For example, King Abdullah dressed as an ordinary 257 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:17,720 old man. He put a white beard on himself and he went out dressed in typical Arab street 258 00:35:17,720 --> 00:35:26,680 clothing and went down to a government building to wait in a long line with the common people. 259 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:31,520 While he was there, he engaged them in conversation because he wanted to listen to their point 260 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:37,840 of view. Now, that wasn't the only time that he has done this. He has also circulated around 261 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:46,320 Amman driving a taxi cab and picking up people and talking to them. He passed himself off 262 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:52,520 on another occasion as a television reporter because he was trying to find out what people 263 00:35:52,520 --> 00:36:00,480 think. I think that's marvelous for the king to do that. I commend him for doing it. But 264 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:05,400 it's not what our king did. You see, our king didn't need to come down here to listen to 265 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:14,000 us to find out what our needs are. He knows our needs. But our king did come. Our king 266 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:26,840 came dressed humbly in our likeness that he might tell us the truth because he knew that 267 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:34,960 was our greatest need. And he wants us to know the truth and to believe the truth so 268 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:46,160 that we can have a relationship with him again. For when we persist in our lives in darkness, 269 00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:59,400 we eventually die in our sin and are separated from God forever. Are you listening? Yesterday, 270 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:06,920 I met a man who was brought into my office by some family members. He's had a hard life. 271 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:16,320 He fought in Vietnam a couple of years. That left some burden. Through his life, he has 272 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:23,400 experienced a lot of alcohol and substance abuse. He's had a very hard heart toward God. 273 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:31,480 He would not listen to God. But about a month ago, some things happened in his life that 274 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:37,880 caused him to come to live with some family members who are part of our church. And he 275 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:46,720 came to their home different. There was something about him that was broken this time. And he 276 00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:56,160 began to listen to them as they shared Jesus. And as he has listened over the last few weeks, 277 00:37:56,160 --> 00:38:04,160 he had come to the point of realizing that he needed Christ. And so yesterday in a very 278 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:12,960 simple prayer, he simply believed on Christ. And at that very moment, that man passed out 279 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:20,880 of darkness into light. He passed out of ignorance into the truth. He passed out of death into life. 280 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:29,960 And now Jesus is going to be at work in his life, making him a brand new person. That's what 281 00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:39,760 Christmas is all about. That's why Jesus came. That's why the Word was spoken to you, that you 282 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:49,440 might know God. Will you trust Him today? Let's bow together. Father, I pray that there's some 283 00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:58,440 friend here who has maybe heard many times but never listened. He or she would listen today. 284 00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:15,400 And in listening come to know Him who is the Word. Father, we thank You for Jesus who is the 285 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:26,440 living Word. We thank You for all the truth that we have in Him. And I pray that we will live each 286 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:35,960 day listening and believing and following. I pray that following Jesus will bring about the 287 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:46,040 kinds of changes in our lives that you so desperately want us to experience. Lord, so often we're busy. 288 00:39:46,040 --> 00:40:00,720 We live in a noisy world. We're not quiet enough or open enough to hear Your voice. So in this 289 00:40:00,720 --> 00:40:10,440 moment we quiet ourselves and we open our hearts. So word of God speak. Speak to us. Give us the 290 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:21,880 grace to believe and to listen. Amen. If you would like to pray with someone today about how you 291 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:41,520 might listen to the Lord.