Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, welcome to Living Hope Church. We're glad that you've chosen to join us this morning.
[00:00:05] We're in John, chapter eight. Hopefully you have your bible with you. If you don't find something that you can access a bible on, it's going to be important that we're in, that we're all looking at the same passage together. John, chapter eight. We're going to start today in verse 21. Hopefully. You also grabbed a bulletin as you came in today. Inside your bulletin, you'll find all sorts of things happening in the life of the church. On the back of that, you'll see the outline that we'll walk through today. Let's jump right in. Hopefully you have your bibles. Like I said, if you are looking there, we've been walking through kind of slowly through chapter seven and chapter eight. Just a little bit of context. If you haven't been here, Jesus is. It's about Jesus, by the way, just to clarify, Jesus is in Jerusalem. There's a major feast going on. And he is stepped into this feast about halfway through. Had some important messages that he shared with some people. And last week we saw again that it's the tail end of the feast. And so Jesus is sharing the last few, really, for us, it's a last few messages. For him, it's one last big message monologue, really, that he has. And so today we'll look at verses 21 through 30. And we'll see what God has for us there. And then the following few weeks, we'll look at the rest of what Jesus has to say in this feast. Let's read the passage together and we'll pray and we'll see what God has for us. Let's look in chapter eight, verse twelve. Jesus just said, I'm sorry. In verse twelve, he said that he's the light of the world. We talked about this last week. And he goes on to say that. That they need to look to him as the light, as the direction. We talked about this last week. Verse 21 says so. Again, he said, so. He said to them again. So this is a continuation of something he started talking about. Just we saw last week. He said to them again, I am going away, and you will seek me and you will die in your sin. What a good start. Right where I am going, you cannot come. So the Jews, that is, particularly the jewish leaders, we often say, the scribes, the Pharisees, the people who were experts in the law, the law of God. They were the ones who taught other people about God. When we see the word the Jews, oftentimes it's talking about those leaders. So the Jews or the jewish leaders speaking, engaging with Jesus. There's a crowd of people watching on in this conversation said, will he kill himself? Since he says, where I'm going, you cannot come. We'll understand that a little bit more in a few minutes. He said to them, Jesus speaking, you are from below. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you. This is really important. For unless you believe that I am he, you will. Here's the phrase again. Die in your what sins? So they said to him, who are you? Jesus said. Said to them, just what I have been telling you from the beginning. Now, if you were with us the last few weeks, actually last month and a half or so, you'll see this one big conversation that Jesus has been having. So he says, from the beginning. From the beginning of this conversation, yes. And even from the beginning of my ministry. I have been telling you that I am the son of God. So we know that now because of what he's talking about here. We have the word in front of us, verse 26. I have much to say to you, about you, that is, to the jewish leaders and much to judge. But he who sent me is true. He's speaking of his father. We know that from the passage beforehand. I declare, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him. That is the Father, God in heaven. They did not understand, they being the Jews listening on the jewish leaders. Did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the father.
[00:03:58] So jesus said to them, when you have lifted up the son of man. Then you will know that I am he.
[00:04:06] And that I do nothing on my own authority but speak just as the father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone. For I always do the things that are pleasing to him. We conclude today. He will go on later in verse 21. We'll conclude today in verse 30. As he was saying these things, many believed in him. Let's pray together.
[00:04:30] Jesus, we come before you today. We know you are alive and well. We know that you hear us as we sing songs reminding ourselves and each other even of the grace that you have shown us. Of the ability that we have to approach your throne with confidence. And to listen to the words that you want to say. We have the ability this morning to open your word, the written word, inspired by you, your spirit.
[00:04:55] As we spend time here, Lord, with your word before us, we want to listen. Help us to listen the things that I say. Lord, I just want to listen to you and just be a mouthpiece for what you want to say in this passage before us, for those here listening in and even later on, wherever they may be, Lord, that you would help us to listen, that you would move our hearts and our minds, that we'd be willing to be pushed and pulled outside of what we maybe normally thought or normally believed or our comfort zones, perhaps that you would take us where you want us to go in Jesus name. Everyone said, all right, the cost of rejecting Christ, I've entitled that, as you see on the screen and in your bulletins as well. Now we see this pretty clearly laid out. Jesus is saying, unless you believe in me, there's going to be a significant consequence. And that's really the crux of what we're looking at today. Now, before we get into that, I want to set the stage a little bit for both what we're reading here, but also why this even matters to you and to I. Now, obviously, it's the words of Jesus and they significantly matter, but I think today in the world and the culture that we live in, this message is incredibly relevant to maybe not what you might believe personally, but maybe you here today, but definitely where we are, even as a, and I'll use quotes, quotation, air quotes here, the religious America that we live in, or the many who are calling themselves religious and perhaps even christians. Yes, in the country that we live in, there's a term that's out there, and I want to just introduce this to you maybe for the first time, maybe not called religious pluralism. Can you say that? Religious pluralism and what that refers to, generally speaking, is the belief in two or more religious views as being equally valid or acceptable. Okay, so plural means multiple. So religious is the idea of there being plural, two more three or four or five options or opportunities that one could go on or roads that people could go on that would lend them or get them to the same result, most often speaking of heaven or being saved. So what this is talking about in the world that we live in, you're very familiar with this, aren't you, that there's this belief, prevalent belief, that I can do my life this way or I can believe this way or I can believe this way, and the end result, if I wanted to, the end result can still get me to heaven, or at least perhaps is going to put me in good graces with God. And for somebody or a church or a denomination or a person to say otherwise, like, no, you can't believe that and still get to heaven, well, that's just very exclusive. That's hateful even perhaps. And if we as Christians, as religious people, one might say, let's say the broader spectrum of things, our job is supposed to not be hateful and exclusive, but rather to be inclusive because that just means you're loving. If you want to love, well, you should let other people believe what they want to believe. Now there's a growing number, and depending on what stats you look at and what polls you look at, it's most definitely over for 50% of professing. Christians say that there are multiple ways, multiple paths to get to heaven. And that number continues to grow specifically among younger people. So the older generation says, okay, no, I see that the Bible says there's one way, but the younger folks, my demographic that is, says that there are actually many ways that you can end up in heaven. Now, if you're sincere, if you believe nice things, if you try really hard and the list goes on and on and on. Now there's also a great danger in believing this, particularly in, there's many, but there's one great one, particularly in the area of evangelism. Now, if I believe there are many ways to get to God, why should I push myself outside of my comfort zone to engage other people with the gospel? Because the gospel says there's one way, Jesus is the way. But if I want to believe or even let others believe that there's many ways, then I'm going to sit back a little bit and say, maybe the message I have isn't so important because maybe if they try hard enough, they might end up there anyway. So I'll take a back seat. And so there's this view, and I want you to kind of have this thought in the back of your head as we walk through this text, this religious pluralism that is not only believed today, but Jesus speaks to incredibly potently today in this text. And he says, unless you believe in that's one way, is that not exclusive, friends? Very much so. Now Jesus comes into this world for God so loved the world that he sent. Who? Jesus, his only son. So because of God's love for us, he made a way for us to not die in our sinse. So when we say, or when someone says perhaps that, to say that Jesus is the only way that that's either hateful or exclusive or that's pushing other people to the side, the reality is God loves you and he made a way.
[00:10:29] Without that one way, there is no other way. There is no other way to be in the presence of God. Now I want to take a step back. Just share like this analogy, this metaphor. Imagine if you've maybe if you've been up to Yolo, just up the street a little bit. There's a bridge you have to cross. There's a deep canal that's, I think, often empty. But at least in the summertime it's empty. Imagine you are hanging out with your friends and they're in the canal. They're actually in the trench. They're in the creek bed. It's dry. They're just hanging out there under the bridge. And they're sitting under the bridge. And so there's shady, it's hot outside. And you happen to walk up on the shore, up higher and you can see them down there and you look off to the left and you see some just freak thing happen. You see this massive amount of water come flooding down the creek. Are you with me so far? Now you love your friends, they're hanging out down there, they're having a good time. You most likely are not going to stand and watch, are you?
[00:11:29] I hope not. If you love your friends, you probably are going to run over to the edge and you're going to yell down at them and say, get out of the creek. Get out from under the shade. Get out of your lawn chairs. I know you're having a great time. Now if they believed you, what would they probably do?
[00:11:48] Get out of the creek bed. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just today after church, drive over there, you'll know what I'm talking about. They would get out because they know that if they sitting in their nice lawn chairs get slammed with tons and tons of gallons of water, it's not going to go well for them. Now they could say, we'll sing songs, it'll be fine. Is it going to be fine?
[00:12:10] We will talk about how water is made up, like the material substance of water. Is that going to save them? No. We will watch videos of the desert. Is that going to save them? No, no, it's not like none of those things. There's all sorts of different things that they could do, but none of those things is going to change the actual outcome when the water comes to the place that they sit in the shade, under the bridge. So it is with us today. There is a real outcome for every one of us in its death or Jesus coming. Every one of us are going to interact with a holy and perfect God. Now, the question is not how many nice things can you do to get right with him. Jesus provided the way so that you and I could be right with him. So that when we die, when we stand before the king of Kingsley, the lord of lords, we stand before God in the judgment seat. We don't sit back and be like, well, I studied a lot.
[00:13:10] He's like, that's not how you do this. That's not how you make yourself right with me.
[00:13:15] The way that you get right with me, the holy God, is by trusting in Jesus. There is one way, just like for the people sitting in the dry creek bed, there's one way for them to be saved, and it's by getting out of the creek bed. Now, they could sit there and say, well, that's awfully rude of you to say. We have to get out of the shade. We're very comfortable right now.
[00:13:33] But he doesn't care. The person yelling down if I don't care, if that's rude of me, if I'm yelling harshly to get out because I care about them. So it is with Jesus as we look at this text. Look with me in your outlines in your bibles there, we have that understanding here. If you reject Jesus, here's the first point. Number one. If you reject Jesus, you reject freedom from sin. That is the judgment that sin brings about. The idea of heaven is accepted and desired by many. Jesus says this as I am the only way. Pastor les read this earlier. I am the only way to get to the father.
[00:14:15] Point a on your outline. We'll walk right through this text together. We understand what's going on here. Look at what jesus says. So he says to them, point a. You can just jot this in Jesus judgment. As we think about inclusive and exclusive, the judgment of Jesus includes everyone. We could say even it's inclusive. No matter who you are, where you are, it is inclusive. Look what he says. So he said to them again. And it says again because he's actually already said this before. If you look in your Bibles, chapter seven, verse 33 through 36, he almost says this almost verbatim. He adds one piece here that is really important. He said to them again, I am going away and you will seek me and you will die in your sin. Before he says, I am going away in chapter seven. And he doesn't say that you'll die in your sin here. He says, I'm going. You're going to die in your sins. That means that you'll die with a debt outstanding before God. When you see God, there's going to be a problem there. He's not going to see you and say, you are clean, you're forgiven, there's going to be a problem. This phrase is key for us Today. There's two really key phrases. This is one of them, die in your sins. The second phrase that's really important, we'll see a little later on, is how you cannot die in your sins. That is, unless you believe this reality is true for all humanity. No matter what continent you grow up on, no matter what color skin you have, no matter what gender you are, no matter how tall you are or how short you are, the reality is this is a very inclusive judgment. This is real for all humanity. Romans chapter five says this as well. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, who was that? Jesus. Just as sin came into the world through one man, Adam, Adam was the first person to sin there. Sin came into the world through Adam, and death through this sin. So death spread to all men because all sinned. Adam, the beginning, chapter five is this comparison between Adam and Christ. In Adam and Christ, romans five goes on and says, for judgment, following the one trespass brought condemnation to all. Here's what it's saying. Romans five is very clear about this as well. Sin is rampant in the world that we live in. No matter who you are, where you are, what desire you have, if you want to go to heaven, if you don't want to go to heaven, if you believe that we're just all for monkeys, whatever that may be, we see you just turn on the news. You see the world is broken, don't you?
[00:16:47] Now the Bible gives clear description of why it is so broken. Now what's interesting too is this in verse 21, I'm going away, you can't come with me. He says, you're going to die in your sins. What's interesting too, is the Jews listening on here. They think that they're fine with goddess because they're following the law.
[00:17:09] Follow the law, follow the law. I think I can be blameless before God because I follow the law. This is why Paul later on in the epistles has to go on and on and on saying, I know that you're following the law, but that's not what's going to save you. Jesus is going to be the one to save you. And he goes on and he says, where I'm going, you cannot come. Jesus has already said, I'm leaving. You're not going to be able to come. He says, you're going to die in your sin. Now look on what he says, where I'm going, you can't come. Verse 22. So the Jews said to themselves, will he kill himself?
[00:17:47] That's intentionally sarcastic, intentionally rude to him since he says, where I'm going, you cannot come. This is not a serious question. This is a mocking kind of question. Jesus says, you're not going to be able to come with me. And they're like, are you going to kill yourself? Now here's also something that's important for us to know. When the Jews, jewish belief, jewish tradition taught this, that the act of suicide would put whoever it was in the lowest place of hell. So that's what something they believe. So for us, we don't often talk about this especially openly like this, but for them, they believe, oh, is he going to kill himself? Mocking him, saying, oh, is he going to go so far away from anybody here that he will be in the depth of hell because he's going to kill himself? They're just making fun of him. They're mocking him in this place. Church tradition, even later on, continue to teach that the act of death by suicide would bring about somebody to either lose their salvation or secondly, send them to hell, even the furthest or the worst parts of hell. It was something that was terrible. And all sorts of people have all sorts of opinions about suicide today. Now, this is not something that we talk about a whole lot, but the text brings it up. And so I would be remiss to not speak to it. Some bringing this to today for you, for me to hear death by suicide is something that this text is bringing up. But I think it's important we also know this. It's not the unforgivable sin.
[00:19:24] It does not mean that you will lose your salvation.
[00:19:30] Jesus is the way that we are saved.
[00:19:34] So though it's rarely talked about it in church, it's a real thought. We know this, you might know this, you might not know this. This is a real thought. In the lives. In the hearts of many christians, there is often much shame around the subject due to the cycle of silence and shame that continue to surround it. And then we don't talk about it. And there's more silence and there's more shame. And there's more silence and there's more shame. Sadly, the cycle of shame and silence does not bring about healing to our thoughts and our beliefs on the subject. Due to this cycle, there is even more loneliness for those struggling with these thoughts, with these feelings, because no one else knows about it. And I can't tell them because what will they think of me?
[00:20:20] They'll think that I don't have enough faith.
[00:20:25] And sometimes it's even said that if you had more faith, you wouldn't have these thoughts or these feelings, which then drives people further into themselves. I think we can say, I think I can say with pretty sweeping authority that no one is seeking those thoughts or desires. No one wakes up in the morning and says, I would like to have this struggle inside of me as to whether or not I should take my life.
[00:20:50] So realizing that it's important for us to know that this is a struggle that is real amongst the brothers and sisters that are around us as christians, even. Yes, and even those who don't know Jesus.
[00:21:03] And it's hard to take control of these thoughts. If you've ever had anxiety problems or depression problems or even temptation where your mind is wandering somewhere, just as much as that is a struggle for you. So also this struggle exists for some. Why?
[00:21:18] Sometimes it's because the pain, the hurt, the depression, the anxiety, the hopelessness of the world they're living in feels unbearable. And this sounds strange. The thought of being with Jesus sounds wonderful.
[00:21:36] Some say that death by suicide is the most selfish thing that somebody can do. And if that's you, I would encourage you to educate yourself about the real battle that rages on in the hearts of many brothers and sisters in our world.
[00:21:49] And I would encourage you to consider them as people who, yes, love Jesus and are hurting and be willing to come alongside them and not offer judgment or push them away, but welcome them into your world so they don't have to be alone in that. There's often the thought that if you might be the person or, you know, somebody or somebody's this person that's struggling thought if I tell someone they're going to make a phone call to the police, it's going to be the end. I'm going to have to go somewhere, like that's going to be it. There's many people who struggle with this that don't have a plan, that don't know what to do. They just know that they're tired of struggling. So if that's you, I would just encourage you, or you know, someone encourage you. Step out of the cycle of silence and shame and silence and shame, and find somebody in your circle that can be with you, reach out. You could call me anytime, say, like, hey, this is going on and I need help, and I promise you I will listen and I'll walk with you through that.
[00:22:52] There's all sorts of resources out there that can help educate you as a follower of Jesus. As someone who loves Jesus on this subject, it's real. We can't ignore it completely. This is something that was real 2000 years ago. People died by their own hands and today it is real as well. Now you're probably wondering like, wow, that's not. This is heavy. What do we do with this? First, just sit with that for a second. Like, be aware this is real in our world, in our community, around us, maybe people that you even know.
[00:23:24] The reality is this. Salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone. Not in feeling like a good christian or having all of your life put together. Because we have that belief, don't we? I have to have my whole life put together.
[00:23:38] But the reality is Jesus is the way to salvation. Amen.
[00:23:43] The struggles that we walk through, we walk through together and we're walking towards heaven together.
[00:23:49] B, on your outline is this Jesus.
[00:23:53] Jesus salvation does not include everybody. It is exclusive because they have to trust in him. Look what it says in verse 23. He said to them, you are from below. And he's actually making like a reference back to what they were just talking about in regards to suicide. Remember, they believed that that would send anybody and everybody to hell, the furthest parts of hell. And so now Jesus is going to use this kind of parallel with them and says, well, you just kind of mockingly said, I'm going to go to the lowest parts and you're way up here. Now he turns the table on them and he says, you are actually from below. I am from above. Him speaking about the earth and he is from heaven. You are of this world. He clarifies this. I am not of this world. I told you that you would, what's the phrase? Die in your sins.
[00:24:42] This is not something that they like to hear. You would die. You will die in your sins. For this is the second key phrase here. Unless you believe this is a theme in John. Believe. Believe that. And then in your bibles it might say this, that I am he, you will die in your sins. The real language here, if you look this up, this phrase in the original language, here's what it actually says. Unless you believe that I am, what does that make you think of Jesus saying I am.
[00:25:16] Remind you of the burning bush, Moses, right. And there's a burning bush in front of him. And Moses says, well, who should I say sent me when he's been told to go to Egypt? And the voice from the bush. And this is when the correct answer is God says, say that I am sent you.
[00:25:35] And so now Jesus making a very clear connection. He doesn't say, believe that I'm a nice person. Believe that I'm a good teacher. Believe that I wish the best for you. He says, believe that I am clear deity reference here. I am God is what he is saying.
[00:25:53] He goes kind of back to his message here in a little bit. He says, what you want to mock me about? Just put that to the side for a minute. What's most important right now is that you believe that I am God. And what's key here is unless you believe that you will die in your sins, all people, we see this throughout scripture, are born into sin. Jesus claim of deity is nothing new to those listening. What they believe is not just what they need to believe is not just his identity, that he is goddesse, though that is important, but also realize that they must put their life in his hands.
[00:26:34] And this is where even today there's a clear struggle with many, even those who call themselves christians. Yes, I believe that Jesus came. I believe that he died for my sins. I believe that he's a good teacher and all of those things. And I don't want to put myself in his hands. Here's what he's calling them to do. I am God. You say you put yourselves in the hands under the authority of God. Well, that's me. So if you truly want to not die in your sins, you have to recognize the authority that I have over you, not just that you say that God has over you. Now, Jesus clarifies this a little bit more in verses 25 and 26. Look in your bibles and you can write this in.
[00:27:14] Jesus identity and purpose is not a secret. He says, I am. And their follow up question to his statement is. So they said to him, who are you? Verse 25. Look in your bibles there. Who are you? And the language, the original text, the way it's phrased, is this, you?
[00:27:33] Who are you?
[00:27:36] Even though in English you is the end, in the original language you is actually at the beginning. And then it says, you who are.
[00:27:44] This tone they have is not actually, I want to know Jesus. I want to understand his identity, but rather I want to make fun of this person. I want to mock him. I want to put him down. This is a great and wonderful question. If it's said with an honest, sincere heart, isn't it? Imagine if somebody walked up to you said, I've heard a lot about this whole christian thing. I just want to know who Jesus is. Will you tell me, who is Jesus?
[00:28:09] That's a great question, but when it's mocking, they're not actually looking to understand the identity, the purpose of Jesus. And that's why he says, I'm not going to get back into this. He says, just what I've been telling you, Jesus again, we talked about this kind of a little bit last week as well. He's been saying some of these same things over and over and over again. And just like you, if you said something over and over and over again, after a while you just say, I'm not going to tell you. We've already done this over and over and over again. You are clearly not listening. John's gospel just clearly shows the identity and mission of Jesus. Even at the end he says, these are written that you may what, believe that Jesus is the Christ, that he's the messiah, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John's very, very clear about that. Why aren't people looking today for Jesus?
[00:29:07] The question came to my mind when I was thinking through this a little bit. Why aren't people today looking for Jesus? First, perhaps imagine the people under the bridge, right? Why aren't they moving? Well, firstly, they may not know that water is coming towards them, right? Probably not if they're sitting there and maybe they do know. Let's say they do know and they're still sitting there. The question then is, why don't they care?
[00:29:32] Why don't they care? Maybe they think it's not really going to be a big deal. God will make a way.
[00:29:41] Why do they think there is a better way? Maybe somebody in the chair next to them is saying, it's okay, it's okay. The water will probably just go around us. It's okay. I'll stand up and the water will go under me. It's going to be okay. We don't understand the severity of what Jesus is laying before us. Jesus replies to them in verse 26. Look in your bibles. He says, I have much more, much more to say about you. You people who are supposed to be guiding people towards God, who's ignoring the work and mission of God, much more to judge. But he who sent me is true. That is the father is true. What he says is true. And I declare to the world what I have heard from him. Here's what he's saying. I could say a lot more to judge you, your actions. I could say this for a long time, but I have important things that I need to do. God has sent me to declare truth to the world. And if you're not ready to listen, I'm gonna go find somebody who's ready to listen. Jesus's identity and purpose will be realized at the cross. That's the .2 on your outline. We'll move through .2 and three pretty quickly here. Jesus's identity and purpose will be realized at the cross. We've already seen Jesus lay out very, very clearly to these people who are listening in and to us today, that religious pluralism, right? The idea that there's many ways to get to heaven just doesn't work. There's only one way. He says, unless you believe in me that I am, that I am God, is what he says. And then it says in verse 27, something interesting that maybe catches you off guard. It says, they did not understand. And some of us, if you read through John chapter seven through chapter eight, you would say, how do you miss the identity of Jesus? It's very clear. He says who he is, where he's from, and what he's trying to do. And he says that some did not understand.
[00:31:29] You might ask the question, why did they not understand?
[00:31:32] Jesus says earlier on in chapter six and seven, I think as well, he says, if you wanted to understand, you would understand. You know, people like that, they ask you a lot of questions when you know they don't really want to understand. And no matter how much you try to explain it, they still say, I don't get it. It's so frustrating, isn't it?
[00:31:50] They sit there, I don't understand. I don't get it. Also, we see that there is blindness in their hearts. Jesus talks about this in Matthew 23, talks about spiritual blindness that is covering the hearts, the eyes of many. They don't want to believe. John chapter one, verse eleven, says that many of his own did not receive him. This is true. We see this coming to reality here. Jesus, verse 28. We see that Jesus, in response to their awareness and lack of, their confusion and lack of understanding, tells them that one day you'll understand. It's like you tell someone over and over, they say, I don't understand. And then he's like, one day you'll get it. One day you'll mature. We might say this to somebody, one day you'll mature. One day you'll have an experience, and you'll understand what I'm talking about. People used to say that to me before we had a son, right? They were like, you know what? You just don't understand the love that a father can have for a son. But one day you will and now I do. Right? So it's one day. And here you think one day you will. And when is that one day gonna happen? In verse 28, he says, when you have what lifted up the son of man. What is he talking about here?
[00:32:59] The cross.
[00:33:01] One day you will understand my identity and my purpose, why I am doing what I did. Then you will know that. Here's the phrase again. I am. Then you will know that I am, that I am God, and I do nothing of my own authority but speak just as the father taught me. Then he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone. Jesus clarifies again his identity is one with God. And you'll understand that one day we would be remiss to forget that over and over. When we consider sharing the gospel with someone, we're talking to someone about Jesus. If you left out the cross, do you feel like you're leaving out a big part of Jesus? Right. Like, that's major in the story of the gospel. That's central to the power of the gospel. Then you will. When you lift up the son of man, then you will know that I am. It says, I am he there in English, three words. But real words are real language. That I am. You will know Jesus is God as he submits even to the father's will to save mankind. Remember the centurion, when Jesus is hanging on the cross and he says, truly this man was the son of God. He realized that Peter in acts chapter two and chapter four, when he's preaching to the Jews, he's preaching and he's preaching. And then many of the people we see were saved. They realized the man we put on the cross, wow, he was the messiah.
[00:34:29] The cross was and is a key point of consideration of power as we understand the identity and purpose of Jesus. He goes on to say in verse 29, God is with me. He's not left me alone. I'm not abandoned here, and I'm always doing the things that please him. That last verse there, let's look at that verse 29. Just briefly. There's something that's important for us to understand here, this key concept. You cannot separate pleasing God from obeying God. How many of you want to please God?
[00:35:01] Okay. A few of you. Cool.
[00:35:03] So, most of us, we have a desire to please God with our life, but we're sometimes okay saying, I don't know if I want to actually live for God, or I don't know if I actually want to take the things that the word of God says as authoritative in my life. Like, I would like to take the word of God at times, and I'll put it over there sometimes, and then sometimes when life is hard, I'll go pick it up again, and then I'll use it for a while, and I'll hope that my life gets better. And then after that, I'll put it back over there rather than living a life sitting under the authority of the word of God. Many times, though, we hope, even while the Bible's sitting over there, maybe it's over here, maybe it's above me. I hope. I just. I want to please God. I want to do what's right with God. And if I don't, if things go poorly, I think maybe God's mad at me. By the way, just because things are going poorly doesn't mean that God's mad at you. It doesn't mean that God's punishing you. There are plenty of times we see this in scripture, we see this in our life as well, that hard things happen even as we're sitting under the authority of the word of God. One of the things we see from Jesus here is I please God as I walk in obedience to God. So you want to please God? It looks like this. It looks like walking under the authority of the word of God. It doesn't look like me doing my life my own way. It doesn't like me looking like I have good intentions in my life or even me trying to be nice to people, that suddenly that just pleases God. It looks like this. Living under the authority of God. We can't separate this, friends. Obedience pleases God.
[00:36:33] Obedience pleases God .3 this to all those readings should bring a smile to our face when we remember the purpose of John's gospel, that people would believe that he is the christ, and by believing in him, the promise comes true that you will have life in his name. Though many people here that Jesus is having a conversation with reject him and say, I want to do things my way, I think living under the law is enough. We're going to reject you as deity, as God. We're going to try to do life our own way and think that we're not actually going to die in our sins. All of these different options out here. There were those. I said this at the beginning, remember? There's a crowd of people already watching this interaction. There were those in the crowd. It says many. As he was saying these things. Many. Can you say many? Many. Not one or two. Many believed in him. This is a great way to end this passage because we see that through the message of Jesus hitting against hard hearts over and over and over again. There were soft hearts out here as well, and Jesus knew that. That's why this conversation continues to persist amongst people who have hard hearts, because he knows there are people with soft hearts who are listening, who are ready to receive the message that Jesus has now. It's always interesting to me if we try to bring the Bible to life a little bit. Who were some of these many, I wonder? Do you think Nicodemus was there listening?
[00:38:06] Maybe. Do you think this might have been one of the key parts in his life? I think, I believe Joseph of Arimathea, maybe random people with no position or influence, kids who were there, little boys and girls who were listening in, teenagers who were there, moms and dads, people like you and I, standing and watching jesus have this conversation with these religious leaders who are rejecting and resisting, and the people watching on the moms and dads, the teenagers, the boys and the girls are going, wait a minute.
[00:38:36] This guy makes sense.
[00:38:38] And not only that, the stuff he says matches his life. He doesn't look like a complete hypocrite. I mean, I know those guys are supposed to know all the things, but they can be jerks sometimes. But Jesus, I mean, he's telling them, this is kind of nice to watch.
[00:38:56] And he also, as we saw just a couple weeks ago, he loves people who are hurting. He loves people that are lost, and he's willing to tell it how it is.
[00:39:09] So why did they believe? Maybe because they heard the truth about the consequences for their sins. Maybe because they realized that life is short and they don't have a solution for the problem of sin they realize is very real in their life. And maybe because they thought Jesus life was consistent with his message.
[00:39:28] We have to ask this question before we close.
[00:39:31] Do you believe that Jesus is God?
[00:39:35] Do you believe that he came and he died a death, an excruciatingly painful death on a cross, not because it was fun, but because he loves you and he loves me. And he realizes the sin problem that you and I have is real and will bring about us being separated from a God who loves us for eternity. And he says there is one way. Remember Jesus in the garden? He's praying. If there's any other way, he doesn't say, oh, good, I'm glad there's 15 other ones, because if that's the case, I'm not doing this. If there's any other way, if we look clearly at what God's word said, there is no other way to find salvation other than the person and the work of Jesus Christ.
[00:40:25] As we consider this passage, some of it may be very relevant in your life and in your hearts and your minds. Maybe it's important for you to hold these things true in your heart and mind as you engage with the people around you. I see a clear warning here, a clear warning in this passage that I hope none of you miss.
[00:40:42] God cares about right teaching.
[00:40:48] God cares about right teaching. So as you might hear and interact with people, and this might be you, I don't know, hear phrases like, I think Jesus meant go back to God's word. They might be well intentioned in phrases like that. There's a lot of nice people who hope the best for people and lead people away from Jesus.
[00:41:12] I think Jesus meant go back to what he actually said. Phrases like, sincerity matters most to Jesus. Well, there were some pretty sincere people. And Jesus said, unless you believe in me, you will what? Die in your sins? There's also some beliefs out there that Jesus love, it is so powerful. And yes, friends, it is so powerful that God's love will overcome all judgment. If that were the case, why did Jesus go to the cross?
[00:41:43] God's love, yes, is demonstrated in Jesus coming and dying in our place so that we don't experience his judgment. I'll get right with God later. When is later? I don't know. Right. The water is coming down the canal. When it's going to get here? I don't know. It's going to corner that bend and it will be too late. You don't know when Jesus is coming? I don't know. This is why we see the urgency again, not just in Jesus voice, but hopefully in our voices today as well. Because we don't know when Jesus is coming back, but we know it soon.
[00:42:18] And I hope that you are right with Jesus today.
[00:42:21] Let's pray today. Lord Jesus, we come before you today. We rejoice that we are able to see and know you as a God who loves us and cares for us, that stepped into a world that is broken and hurting, to offer healing, to offer help, to offer a way for us not to sit under the judgment of the Father, that we would not die in our sins, but rather die in the earthly bodies, but our spirits would live on in the presence of you. Thank you, Jesus, that you made a way help us here today, to be encouraged by that, to rejoice in that truth.
[00:42:58] For those here perhaps, that are struggling and where their theology is and what they should or shouldn't understand about you or what your word has to say. Lord, I pray that your spirit would open the eyes of anyone in that place that we would truly understand.
[00:43:13] For those here today, maybe we're not sitting under your authority, but hoping that things are good between them and you, Lord, that they would be gripped today, personally and powerfully gripped today. But you, your spirit, maybe those hurting today, struggling in loneliness, Lord, that you would give them courage to step out and reach out for help. That you would help us as your body to rejoice with those who are rejoicing, to weep with those who are weeping.
[00:43:41] We do this, Lord, because you've shown us how to do this. And you've given us your spirit to direct us as we do in Jesus name. Everyone said.
