tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121836292024-03-13T12:24:40.358-05:00Matt Mitchell - Hot OrthodoxyMatt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.comBlogger3489125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-45106268315775963952024-03-10T16:38:00.002-05:002024-03-10T19:13:22.654-05:00“Now I See” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7HW4mLwAqMAml4A9Vn2s9fUvYLoV2hwsRk3K8u4dg5V2h-z3MwC2zJvAdrA_lvOPIW_LeCN3OCRIJ-xxnMudP7Ki9rUtoxkmHrr7dhxMeOm41ZLz4igNnvhgrCH_J-iOMSVnuFYVcdjgW6fnFERq6God4-oM-xgxjycEIb0ObMtWXbGUbEtz5Jw/s960/22.NowISee.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7HW4mLwAqMAml4A9Vn2s9fUvYLoV2hwsRk3K8u4dg5V2h-z3MwC2zJvAdrA_lvOPIW_LeCN3OCRIJ-xxnMudP7Ki9rUtoxkmHrr7dhxMeOm41ZLz4igNnvhgrCH_J-iOMSVnuFYVcdjgW6fnFERq6God4-oM-xgxjycEIb0ObMtWXbGUbEtz5Jw/s320/22.NowISee.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“Now I See”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>March 10, 2024 :: John 9:1-41 </b></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a delightful story. It’s just so beautiful and powerful. It's an incredibly familiar story and beloved, for good reason.</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s an amazing miracle, a sign. And there’s humorous interaction, lots of it. It makes you laugh. And there is deep truth about Who Jesus truly is. It’s a delightful story, vividly told. And it’s true!</div><div><br /></div><div>Let’s get into it together. John chapter 9, verse 1. Jesus has escaped the clutches of the Pharisees. After calling them children of the devil and claiming Himself to be pre-existent and self-existent, Jesus has slipped away from the temple grounds. Verse 1.</div><div><br /></div><div>“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’” </div><div><br /></div><div>If you don’t already know the story, you can already guess where it’s headed. Jesus encounters a man with congenital blindness. This guy could not see anything and never could see anything.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4UVL8LOLvn4?si=M0nu71Kwjl_GqLw_" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div></div><div>We don’t know his name. We are never told his name! But we are told that he has never seen anything. Life has always been dark for him. He’s never seen his mom or his dad. He’s never seen a tree or a building or the sea or the sun. He was born that way. He has eyes, but they don't work. They have never worked. He has never seen anything. Which is not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s not the way things were when God made the world. </div><div><br /></div><div>So this man’s condition raises a theological question for Jesus’ disciples. They ask Jesus in v.2, “Rabbi [our teacher], who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” </div><div><br /></div><div>How would you answer that one? How would you answer their theological question? Is it a good one?</div><div><br /></div><div>I think it’s right to make some kind of connection between disease and sin, between disability and sin. There has to be some connection. Because blindness was not intended from the beginning.</div><div><br /></div><div>But is the connection one-to-one? Does it have to be this man’s sin or his parent’s sin that caused this congenital blindness? No. The disciples are thinking like the friends of Job. I just read Job this week, and Job’s friends are convinced that Job is suffering because of specific sins in his life, and it’s just not true. Yes, suffering and disease and disability have entered the world because of our sin, but not every instance of suffering or disease or disability is the direct result of our particular sin or anyone’s particular sin!</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus’ answer to their theological question is (v.3), “Neither!” </div><div><br /></div><div>“‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s more to it but not less! His parents didn’t sin so that he was blind. And he certainly didn’t sin in the womb so that God punished him with blindness–that’s not how it works.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you are suffering from some disease or disability, don't let anyone put a guilt trip on you by telling you that your illness or handicap is because of some unconfessed sin in your life. That is not always true. This man had a whole other reason for being blind. Specifically, that God's glory, God's activity would be displayed in his life. God has a higher purpose for this suffering, for this disability. God’s going to do something with it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Instead of laying on shame, Jesus builds anticipation of glory. Jesus is going to do something big in this man’s life. Verse 4.</div><div><br /></div><div>“As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Does that sound familiar? <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/02/i-am-light-of-world-matts-messages.html">That’s our memory verse isn’t it?</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Let’s say it together again: “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” (Jn. 8:12 NIVO)</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says in verse 4, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.” I think He means that as long as He is present on Earth, He and His disciples have a divine mission to accomplish. That word “sent” is very important to Jesus in the Gospel of John. How many times has He said it already? The Father sent the Son! “Night is coming, when no one can work.” I think that probably means the crucifixion and the time of burial, when His terrible work had been accomplished. </div><div><br /></div><div>“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is convinced that He is the light of the world. Jesus claims that He is the light of the world. And now Jesus intends to prove it. Look at verse 6.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. ‘Go,’ he told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (this word means Sent).”</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s that word “sent” again! This time Jesus is doing the sending of a man to the pool named Sent.</div><div><br /></div><div>First, he spit on the ground and made some mud with His saliva. That’s the Creator of the World in the flesh making a mud-cake out of the Earth He created and smearing it on the never-seeing eyes of this man. Why? I’m not sure. Maybe there’s some kind of point about creation there. I don’t know. But it has the effect of separating the man from Jesus. Jesus actually drops out of the story here until the very end of the chapter.</div><div><br /></div><div>We follow the blind man walking through Jerusalem with mud on his face heading towards this Pool of Siloam. That the same pool that they would fill the Golden Flagon with water <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/02/at-feast-matts-messages.html">at the Feast of Tabernacles that we talked about in chapter 7.</a> This man stumbles over there and washes his face. Verse 7.</div><div><br /></div><div>“So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Can you imagine?!</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember, he has never seen anything before in his life! And now he can.</div><div><br /></div><div>Suddenly, he knows what people really look like. What water looks like. Can you imagine? As he's brushing the water from the pool of Siloam from his eyes, he catches his own reflection in the pool. He feels his face and watches his fingers touch what he sees. He can see for the first time! He lifts his head and can see Jerusalem–people bustling by on their business. He can see! Everything has changed for his man. Everything.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you think that Jesus is the Light of the World?</div><div><br /></div><div>So, what was this guy’s job, up till now? Up till now, he was a beggar. In that culture and that state of technology in that day, that’s about all he could do. But now he doesn’t have to beg. And his old friends and neighbors don’t hardly recognize him. Look at verse 8.</div><div><br /></div><div>“His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, ‘Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?’ Some claimed that he was. Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him.’ But he himself insisted, ‘I am the man.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>He looks like the guy. But that guy was blind.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the guy is like, “No, I’m that guy.” And they’re like, “What?” Verse 10.</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘How then were your eyes opened?’ they demanded. He replied, ‘The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>This guy is going to have to tell this story over and over again for the rest of his life. But he’ll gladly do it. Because now he can see!</div><div><br /></div><div>Verse 12. “‘Where is this man?’ they asked him. ‘I don't know,’ he said. They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Wait. What? All of a sudden it seems like something bad has happened. This man is taken to the Pharisees for what feels like an interrogation. The greatest thing has happened to him, and now it feels like he’s in trouble. What’s going on? Verse 14.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh. Aha. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">We've seen this movie before, haven't we [chapter 5]</a>? These guys are going to get upset that Jesus “worked” on a Sabbath by making up a mud-cake. And they're missing that Jesus gave this man sight!</div><div><br /></div><div>And this guy is saying to himself, “Oh, so that's what a Pharisee looks like.” He’s just so happy to see anything. But they are not happy. Verse 15.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. ‘He put mud on my eyes,’ the man replied, ‘and I washed, and now I see.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s our sermon title, by the way: “Now I See.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And I’ve got two big points of application to go with that title. Here’s number one:</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#1. TELL PEOPLE WHAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR YOU.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Tell your story. Give your testimony. If Jesus has done something big in your life, tell others about it.</div><div><br /></div><div>For this guy, he had been given new sight. Brand new sight! He had never had sight before, and Jesus gave it to him. And then people asked what happened, he just told them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, when you do that, it doesn’t mean that people will believe it. They may not even like it. These guys didn’t believe it or like it. Look at verse 16.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man [meaning Jesus] is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’ But others asked, ‘How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?’ So they were divided. [Not everybody responds the same way to the same story.] Finally they turned again to the blind man, ‘What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’ The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>And he was right.</div><div><br /></div><div>We know that he was more than a prophet, but He was a prophet, and in fact, He was <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-promise-of-prophet-matts-messages.html">The Prophet Moses promised in Deuteronomy 18</a>. Remember that from December? Jesus is a Man from God.</div><div><br /></div><div>All this guy is doing is sharing what Jesus did for him and what he then thinks of Jesus because of it.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s simple, isn’t it? Can you do that? Can you tell somebody what Jesus has done for you? I know that you weren’t born blind and then Jesus smeared mud on your eyes and sent you across town to wash and now you can see. But has Jesus done something in your life? Can you tell somebody?</div><div><br /></div><div>The Pharisees are not happy that this man can now see. In fact, they don’t believe that he was ever actually blind in the first place. They don’t want to believe. So they interrogate his parents. </div><div><br /></div><div>The ones that the disciples thought must have sinned so that he was blind in the first place. Their son can see, but now it feels like they’re in trouble. They are subpoenaed into presence of the Pharisees. Verse 18.</div><div><br /></div><div>“The Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man's parents. ‘Is this your son?’ they asked. ‘Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?’</div><div><br /></div><div>‘We know he is our son,’ the parents answered, ‘and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.’” </div><div><br /></div><div>They don’t sound happy, do they? No, they sound scared. Here’s why. Verse 22.</div><div><br /></div><div>“His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>They are scared. They don’t want to be cut off from their religious community. They don’t want to get into trouble because of Jesus. So they don’t tell people what Jesus has done for them. Jesus has healed their son’s eyes, and they won’t say it.</div><div><br /></div><div>They probably aren’t lying, per se, because they weren’t there so they don’t “know” firsthand, but they’ve probably already heard the story from their boy. And they aren’t willing to repeat it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Beloved, let’s not be like them. Let’s not be afraid to tell people what Jesus has done for us. </div><div><br /></div><div>So often I have chickened out. Of all the characters in this story, these two parents are the people I identify with the most, at least at first. I’m often afraid to get into trouble for Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, I don’t mean get into trouble and blame Jesus for things He never asked us to do. And I also don’t mean that we should go around look to make trouble for Jesus. We’re actually supposed to live quiet lives. But I do mean we should be ready to get into trouble just because we’re talking about what Jesus did for us. And if we never do get into trouble, then we should ask ourselves if we are, in fact, being faithful to Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, that’s the last we hear from his parents. They are done with them. But they aren’t done with the man who can now see. Look at verse 24.</div><div><br /></div><div>“A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. ‘Give glory to God,’ they said. ‘We know this man is a sinner.’ He replied, ‘Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!’”</div><div><br /></div><div>One of the most famous lines in all of church history. And it even made it into the hymn “Amazing Grace.”</div><div><br /></div><div><i>"Was blind but now I see."</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Why? Because Jesus is the Light of the World!</div><div><br /></div><div>This guy doesn’t even know what Jesus looks like! He doesn’t know if Jesus is a sinner. He just knows one thing. And he tells them what he knows, “I was blind but now I see.” It’s the facts.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is the best kind of evangelism. Just giving your personal testimony. It’s so powerful because it’s personal. And it’s just saying what Jesus has done for you. It’s hard to argue with.</div><div><br /></div><div>Though, some will try. Verse 26</div><div><br /></div><div>“Then they asked him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ [This is getting a little ridiculous.] He answered, ‘I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>I love that! I think he’s getting the picture that they really hate that he can now see and that Jesus is responsible. There’s no way to wiggle out of the obvious conclusion, Jesus is the Christ. This guy is ready to join up and follow Jesus. And find life in Jesus’ name (20:31).</div><div><br /></div><div>And it’s the last thing that they want to do. But all they can think of to do is throw personal abuse. Verse 28.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Then they hurled insults at him and said, ‘You are this fellow's disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from.’ The man answered, ‘Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. [Like me!] If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>“So I think, I think, He must be from God. Because <i>now I see</i>.”</div><div><br /></div><div>He is downright snarky, isn’t he? We don’t have to get snarky. But we do need to become bold. Who could you tell this week what Jesus has done for you? Who needs to hear it? </div><div><br /></div><div>There are people in your life that need to hear your story. Don’t keep it from them out of fear of what they will do with it. Just be faithful to share it. Maybe it’s somebody that you’ve invited to the Wild Game Dinner?</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is the Light of the World, who brought the “light of life” into your life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tell somebody. Tell manybodies. Tell everybody. </div><div><br /></div><div>“I was blind but now I see.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And don’t worry about how they will react. They might get saved! Or they might toss you out on your ear. Verse 34.</div><div><br /></div><div>“To this they replied, ‘You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!’ And they threw him out.”</div><div><br /></div><div>But Jesus never will (John 6:37). In fact, when rejected by the world, Jesus will always find us. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>“Jesus said that if I am lost</i></div><div><i>He will come to me</i></div><div><i>And He showed me on the cross</i></div><div><i>He will come to me</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>For the Lord is good and faithful</i></div><div><i>He will keep us day and night</i></div><div><i>We can always run to Jesus</i></div><div><i>Jesus, strong and kind.”</i><span style="white-space: pre;"> - </span><a href="https://cityalight.com/song/jesus-strong-and-kind/">CityAlight</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Look at verse 35. “Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ‘Who is he, sir?’ the man asked. ‘Tell me so that I may believe in him.’ </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus said, ‘You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.’ Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s point number two and last:</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#2. BELIEVE IN AND WORSHIP JESUS AS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>I love that Jesus found this man! He has gained everything and lost everything. He gained his sight and lost his synagogue.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just by being bold. But He didn’t lose Jesus. Jesus came for him. And says, “Do you believe in the Son of Man.” That’s another way of saying, “The Messiah.” “The Christ.” “The King of the Kingdom of God.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Do you believe in Him? That’s a great question, that He is asking us, too. And the guy is trying to put this all together. “Who is he, sir? Tell me that I may believe in him.” “I want to!” </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says, “You have now seen him.” Isn’t that something? He had never seen anything, and now He is looking at the Son of Man! He is looking at the Light of the World!</div><div><br /></div><div>He’s heard this voice before. This is the guy with the mud. This is Jesus. “Lord, I believe” and he worshiped him. He worshiped this man.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, you should not worship a man unless He is the God-Man. Unless He is “The I Am,” <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/03/your-father-matts-messages.html">like we saw last week.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>But it was good and right to worship Jesus, and that’s what we are doing this morning. </div><div><br /></div><div>And that’s what the Pharisees <i>refused</i> to do. They refused to believe, and they refused to worship Jesus, and it will mean their condemnation. Look at verse 39.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Wait. I thought He didn’t come for judgment. John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Right! But what if they do not believe? What if they will not believe? Then they will perish. They will enter into the judgment. They will be condemned.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus does divide people. He came into the world “so that the [physically and spiritually] blind will see and those who [physically see but refuse to spiritually] see will become blind.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And, oh boy, the Pharisees didn’t like to hear that. V.40</div><div><br /></div><div>“Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, ‘What? Are we blind too?’ [We’re the Pharisees, man!] Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>In other words, “Yes.” The Pharisees, devoted and religious as they came, were the ones, in this story, who were truly blind. Because they refused to admit it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s the principle: </div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>You have to truly see your blindness before you can truly see the Light.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>You have to admit that you are a sinner to have a Savior. These Pharisees would not admit that they were lost. So they couldn’t be found. They would not admit that they were blind. So, they couldn’t say, “Now I See.” Friends, let’s not be like them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let’s repent of our stubborn spiritual blindness and believe and worship Jesus as the Light of the World.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><b><i><br />Messages in this Series<br /></i></b><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/testimony-about-me-matts-messages.html">15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-astonishing-gift-matts-messages.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/we-have-seen-his-glory-christ-candle.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/enough-bread-matts-messages.html">16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/you-are-looking-for-me-matts-messages.html">17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/i-am-bread-of-life-matts-messages.html">18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/as-i-have-loved-you-matts-messages.html">Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/02/at-feast-matts-messages.html">19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/02/i-am-light-of-world-matts-messages.html">20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/03/your-father-matts-messages.html">21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59</a>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-24062920368166227162024-03-03T12:52:00.003-05:002024-03-05T15:11:12.341-05:00“Your Father” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-fpmoffoCLfDKqGn2B9Y6jS3v7jpHCLPMEtyft_BavNPSbG0v7bsE6WIrfrRMt5M7m1O1q177WVg6C1fEkKhLDtUFGM4ByZkMKS4-ehS_zJuH9IMFAUZBrNUlTVWyHnzBK4ZyURWt9IN2vugdxAURAB2GEp5HnM4SGo6t-nQy2V0TI5NvGgHkOg/s960/21.YourFather.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-fpmoffoCLfDKqGn2B9Y6jS3v7jpHCLPMEtyft_BavNPSbG0v7bsE6WIrfrRMt5M7m1O1q177WVg6C1fEkKhLDtUFGM4ByZkMKS4-ehS_zJuH9IMFAUZBrNUlTVWyHnzBK4ZyURWt9IN2vugdxAURAB2GEp5HnM4SGo6t-nQy2V0TI5NvGgHkOg/s320/21.YourFather.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“Your Father”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>March 3, 2024 :: John 8:31-59 </b></div><div> </div><div>Last week, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/02/i-am-light-of-world-matts-messages.html">we lit the Christ Candle from Christmas Eve and studied together our Lord’s astonishing claim in chapter 8, verse 12</a>. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>And we believe that, amen? And so did many of the people who heard Him say it that day (v.30). </div><div><br /></div><div>But not all of them. And some of those who believed it at first stopped believing it at last. Because of Who was their true father.</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hqVXXmgQ9os?si=lRY_-ODQMmsZA4MF" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Hold onto Jesus and His truth, and you will be set free.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>The goal of this sermon today is freedom, spiritual freedom. You could hear the grand promises that Jesus made about spiritual freedom when Keagan read those first few verses to us. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Set free...free indeed.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Those are beautiful, powerful words! And John says that they were spoken to some Jews who had “believed” in Jesus, at least provisionally, initially. Jesus gave them this promise. Look at verses 31 and 32.</div><div><br /></div><div>“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Doesn’t that just sound wonderful?! “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.</div><div><br /></div><div>The problem is that many of the Jews who were listening to Him that day did not believe that they needed to be set free. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/02/i-am-light-of-world-matts-messages.html">We said last week</a> that this entire chapter, chapter 8, of the Gospel of John is one big fight with the Pharisees. Jesus claimed to be the Light of the World, and they vigorously disputed that claim. They fought against Him. And they go back and forth and back and forth in a verbal battle of words. By the end of the chapter, both Jesus and the Pharisees will have said some really strong things! Some knock-down-drag-out fighting words to and about each other.</div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Here, Jesus offers to set them free if they will hold to His teaching. We’ll talk more about what that means in a little bit, but they dispute that they need to be set free in the first place. Because of who their father is. Look at verse 33. “They answered him, ‘We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve entitled this message, “Your Father,” because that’s a phrase that Jesus keeps using in this fight with the Pharisees. There’s this tug of war through the whole rest of the chapter about the true parentage, the true spiritual paternity of these people who are fighting with Jesus. And they, right back at Him, make claims about Jesus’ parentage.</div><div><br /></div><div>The question keeps coming up, “Who Is Truly Your Father?” Where do you really come from? What is your true DNA?</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, the Jews were descendants of Abraham, right? They had “Father Abraham’s” DNA. They were Abraham’s “seed,” Abraham’s offspring.</div><div><br /></div><div>And they were proud of it! In verse 33, they say that because of Abraham, they had never been anyone’s slave. Which they could not have meant politically. Because since Abraham, they had been slaves of Egypt, and the Philistines, and the Assyrians, and the Babylonians [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/03/uprooted-words-of-jeremiah.html">remember Jeremiah!</a>] and the Medes and the Persians, and the Greeks, and now the Romans.</div><div><br /></div><div>But they thought that because Abraham was their father, they were spiritually free! “We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”</div><div><br /></div><div>We call that being “self-deceived.” We all hate to be told that we are enslaved to something, but Jesus could see it clearly. They were enslaved to sin. V.34</div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (vv.34-36). Now, that’s a wonderful promise. But they weren’t sure that they needed it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says that “everyone who sins is a slave to sin” that means that everyone who gets caught up in sin gets entangled in it. And that’s true for everyone, not just Gentiles. It was true for the Jews, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sinning looks like freedom at first, but it actually is slavery. The sins that tempt you and me? They look like freedom at first.</div><div><br /></div><div>That first grumble.</div><div>That first lustful look.</div><div>That first small sneaky theft.</div><div>That first juicy piece of gossip.</div><div>That first little lie.</div><div><br /></div><div>It all seems like freedom. But it’s never just the first one. “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” And, therefore, we need to be set free.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s the kind of freedom that verse 32 is talking about. It’s not political freedom, as much as that is a good thing when we can enjoy it.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s spiritual freedom. </div><div><br /></div><div>It’s freedom from sin.</div><div>It’s freedom from Satan.</div><div>It’s freedom from self.</div><div>It’s freedom from shame.</div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus offers to give it to us.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because He is the Son. He’s never been enslaved and so He can give this freedom freely.</div><div><br /></div><div>“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And that’s the whole point of this message, and the whole point of this book. That’s why Jesus came. He is the Son! He came to save. He came to set the captives free. Amen?</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s what Jesus was doing on the Cross and what we will be celebrating at His Table today.</div><div><br /></div><div>But these people did not believe that they needed saving or that Jesus could save them. In fact, they wanted to kill Him, not follow Him! Look at verse 37.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.”</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s our sermon title: “Your father.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“You say that you come from Abraham, but you don’t act like it. I think you have a different daddy than Father Abraham.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Nu uh!” they say. Verse 39. “‘Abraham is our father,’ they answered. ‘If you were Abraham's children,’ said Jesus, ‘then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve tried to summarize this whole section in three parts, each with its own major application. Each point is what Jesus was saying to these people about their father. Here’s the first one:</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#1. YOUR (PHYSICAL) FATHER BELIEVED AND OBEYED.</i></b><b style="white-space: pre;"><i> </i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, Abraham was their physical father, but was He their spiritual father? Well, how did Abraham act? How did Abraham behave? Anybody remember what we said the major lesson of Abraham’s life was back when studied the book of Genesis in 2003?</div><div><br /></div><div>Abraham had faith.</div><div><br /></div><div>Abraham listened to God.</div><div>Abraham believed God.</div><div>Abraham obeyed God.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hear, believe, obey.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, let’s look at the Pharisees.</div><div><br /></div><div>Are they like Abraham? No, they are not.</div><div><br /></div><div>You know, we have this saying, “Like Father, like child,” right? Children naturally reproduce their parent’s qualities. But these people weren’t reproducing Abraham’s qualities. “If you were Abraham's children, then you would do the things Abraham did.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Abraham heard, believed, obeyed. “You have set out to kill me, ‘a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.’" “I don’t think that Abraham is your true daddy.”</div><div><br /></div><div>So what should we do in light of this point?</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Stay tuned into the truth of Jesus.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Hold onto Jesus and His truth, and you will be set free. Be like Abraham and hear, believe, and obey. And continue to hear, believe, and obey. That’s the point that Jesus was making in our very first verse, verse 31.</div><div><br /></div><div>“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s not just if you say you believe up front, but if you “hold” to it. If you stick with it. The word here is “remain” or the old English word is “abide.” To live in it. If you live in Jesus’ teaching, then you really are His disciples. That’s how Abraham lived! He heard, believed, obeyed. He “held” to the truth.</div><div><br /></div><div>At <a href="https://waterdam.org/resources/stay-sharp/stay-sharp-2024/">Stay Sharp this week</a>, the theme was “<a href="https://waterdam.org/resources/stay-sharp/stay-sharp-2024/"><i>Always</i> Making Disciples</a>,” and we learned what a disciple is. It’s more than just someone who says that they believe in Jesus. It’s someone who actually believes in Jesus! It’s a follower of Jesus. A learner of Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our teacher, Greg Strand, used the word “apprentice.” That’s someone who conforms themselves to someone else. They tune their attention onto their master and conform their lives to their instruction. “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”</div><div><br /></div><div>This summer our Challenge Crew is set to travel to Kansas City to grow as disciples there. <a href="https://www.challengeconference.org/challenge-2024/theme/">All of the teaching will be centered on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.</a> </div><div><br /></div><div>And as they learn that truth and conform themselves to it, they will be set free. I’m so excited for them!</div><div><br /></div><div>But these people that Jesus was fighting with were not acting like their physical father, Father Abraham. Jesus says they were acting like they had some other father. </div><div><br /></div><div>V.41 again, “You are doing the things your own father does.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, those are fighting words!</div><div><br /></div><div>If it wasn’t Jesus, I’d say that this is almost like a daytime talk show where you have these people up on stage arguing about paternity tests. Did you ever watch one of those? Don’t. It’s not worth your time. But it’s like people saying, “I think that he’s your child.” Or “she’s not my child.” And they’re arguing on camera about where these kids are coming from.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is arguing about where these children are coming from, but He’s not in the dark, and He’s not saying it for sick and sordid entertainment. He’s saying it to get the truth out.</div><div><br /></div><div>But they don’t want to hear the truth. Verse 41.</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘We are not illegitimate children,’ they protested. ‘The only Father we have is God himself.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s upping the ante, isn’t it? They’re going above Abraham now. “The only Father we have is God himself.” Ok! Verse 42. “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.” </div><div><br /></div><div>You guys aren’t God’s children! <i>God’s children love God’s Son. </i>Because God sent His Son for them. God’s Children love God’s Son. In fact, that’s how they become God’s children! </div><div><br /></div><div>Chapter 1, verse 12 said, “to all who received him [they welcomed Him, they took Him in, they loved Him], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s children love God’s Son, and these folks wanted to kill Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>God is not their father. Someone else must be. Look at verse 43.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!” (vv.43-45).</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s point number two, directed at these people Jesus was fighting with:</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#2. YOUR (SPIRITUAL) FATHER KILLED AND LIED.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Your spiritual father lied and killed. Your spiritual father is the devil! Those are strong words, aren’t they? Jesus knows their true parentage. They are children of the devil even though they are incredibly religious.</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember that! Jesus is not impressed by religiosity. It’s often just a front for depravity. We don’t just listen to someone’s pious sounding words. We look at their actions. Because behavior betrays identity. How we act shows what we truly believe. And how we act reveals who we truly are and whose we really are. According to Jesus, these folks were the devil’s own children.</div><div><br /></div><div>“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him” (v.44a).</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice, “not holding to the truth.” That’s the opposite of “hold to Jesus’ teaching.” They were the opposite of Jesus’ true disciples. In fact, they wanted to kill Jesus. They wanted to carry out the devil’s desire to kill Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>He’s always been a murderer. From when he tempted Adam and Eve to introduce death to the human race. And when he tempted Cain to murder his brother Abel. From the very beginning, he’s been killing.</div><div><br /></div><div>And he’s been lying. Jesus says it five different ways! The devil is...“not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Tell us what you think, Jesus! </div><div><br /></div><div>Does the devil speak the truth? No, he does not. </div><div><br /></div><div>So if we believe him, then it’s the opposite of verse 32, right? “Then you will know only lies, and the lies will leave you enslaved.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s the major application point for this one. It’s obvious but hard to do:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Tune out the devil’s lies.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>He is completely untrustworthy. You can’t believe anything he says. He often mixes in enough truth into his propaganda to make it sound plausible, and attractive. But it’s all deception. All smoke and mirrors and bait and switch. Tune out the devil’s lies.</div><div><br /></div><div>How do you know which ones are which? Well, that’s why we have this book. We’re supposed to compare and contrast everything we see and hear and are offered against what Jesus has taught us. And then we hold fast to Jesus’ teaching and we jettison anything that doesn’t accord with it.</div><div><br /></div><div>This week at Stay Sharp, <a href="https://waterdam.org/resources/stay-sharp/stay-sharp-2024/">Greg Strand took us through a bunch of things in contemporary life where the devil is trying to sell us a bill of goods</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>And he taught us some about how to navigate between them, steering towards God’s truth in light of God’s Word.</div><div><br /></div><div>I remember a few years ago, I was driving down the road, and I turned on my radio, and it was stuck between like two different radio stations. And one of them was a Christian station with a song about Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life, and the other was a song from another station about how meaningless life is.</div><div><br /></div><div>And I just left it right there on a the dial for a little bit and thought about the contrast.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s a picture of life for us right now, isn’t it? I’m not talking about radio station you listen to. I’m talking about what Father you listen to. Because the Father of Jesus is telling you the truth (and Jesus is that truth), and the Father of Lies is doing what he always does. Which one are you tuning in?</div><div><br /></div><div>Last month about this time I drove out to visit Isaac, and I used my GPS on my phone and I have a little thing that I plug in and can play my podcasts and GPS over the radio. But when I got into Indianapolis, the radio stations there started to bleed in, and drown out the GPS directions to get to Isaac’s house. </div><div><br /></div><div>“If you hold to my teaching, you are my really my disciples.” Stay tuned into the truth of Jesus and tune out the devil’s lies. And you will show who is truly your father. Verse 46.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>“You aren’t tuning in because you don’t want to tune in. You aren’t tuning in because you are not God’s children.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus was sinless. Jesus was guiltless. He did not deserve to die. They only reason why they wanted Him to die was because they were children of The Killer. And they have their fingers in their ears. That’s why they come back more name calling. Instead of repenting, they double-down. Verse 48.</div><div><br /></div><div>“The Jews answered him, ‘Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?’ ‘I am not possessed by a demon,’ said Jesus, ‘but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death’” (vv.48-51). What a wonderful promise! </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, of course, He doesn’t mean physical death. He means spiritual death. He means John 3:16, “will not perish but have eternal life.” He means John 5:24, “crossed over from death to life.” He means John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” He means John 8:12, “Will have the light of life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>All you have to do is believe and keep believing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Keep His word in your heart. “Hold to His teaching.” “Know the truth, and the truth will set you free” from spiritual death!</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you put your faith and trust in Jesus’ word? If you have not yet, I invite you to do so now.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, the Pharisees misunderstand that, like they have been misunderstanding everything in this war of words. V.52</div><div><br /></div><div>“At this the Jews exclaimed, ‘Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?’” (vv.52-53). </div><div><br /></div><div>They assume that Jesus would agree that He is not greater than Abraham who died. But the truth is that He is greater than Father Abraham. V.54</div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus replied, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.’” (vv.54-56).</div><div><br /></div><div>Point number three and last. What Jesus was saying to these people:</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#3. YOUR (PHYSICAL) FATHER REJOICED FOR JESUS’ DAY.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus claims that His Father (God the Father) is glorifying Jesus. That’s a huge claim! But it’s true. And if He said anything else, He’d be lying like the Pharisees (or like the devil). But Jesus also says that their father, Father Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus’ day. He says that Abraham saw it and was glad. What does that mean? </div><div><br /></div><div>Remember God gave Father Abraham some great big promises: Offspring, Land, and Blessing? Lots of blessing. Blessing the whole wide world!</div><div><br /></div><div>And Father Abraham looked down the road toward the fulfillment of all of those promises, and he rejoiced in faith that those promises were all going to come true.</div><div><br /></div><div>And we know how those promises are all going to come true–in Jesus! </div><div><br /></div><div>And that would be big enough, right? Father Abraham looked ahead to see the fulfillment of these promise and we know that that fulfillment is named “Jesus.”</div><div><br /></div><div>But the Pharisees scoff and Jesus goes even bigger. Verse 57.</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘You are not yet fifty years old,’ the Jews said to him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’ ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Whoa. What just happened? Jesus cranked the dial past 11 million. He uses that those words we’ve already seen a bunch of times “<i>ego eimi</i>” (I am) with something after it like <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/i-am-bread-of-life-matts-messages.html">I am the bread of life</a> or <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/02/i-am-light-of-world-matts-messages.html">I am the light of the world</a>. Or what could be taken to mean, “I am he.” or “I am the one I claimed to be.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And here He unmistakably just takes it by itself to decribe Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I am.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Before Abraham was born, I am!”</div><div><br /></div><div>That sounds weird to us, but it sound blasphemous to them. This is the first thing they did not misunderstand in this war of words. Look what they did in verse 59. “At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.”</div><div><br /></div><div>It still was not yet His time, His hour. But they understood what Jesus was saying. He was using the words from the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).</div><div><br /></div><div>“I am that I am.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus was claiming to be pre-existent. “Before Abraham was.” And Jesus was claiming to be self-existent. “I am.” Jesus was claiming to be God.</div><div><br /></div><div>Application:</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Worship Jesus as the I Am.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>They tried to kill Him; we should bow before Him. Jesus is God! He is pre-existent. He is self-existent.</div><div><br /></div><div>He is was. He is is. He is will be. </div><div><br /></div><div>He is worthy of all of our worship for all eternity.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div>He is God the Son, and He sets His people free.</div><div><br /></div><br />***<br /><br /><b><i>Messages in this Series<br /></i></b><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/testimony-about-me-matts-messages.html">15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-astonishing-gift-matts-messages.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/we-have-seen-his-glory-christ-candle.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/enough-bread-matts-messages.html">16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/you-are-looking-for-me-matts-messages.html">17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/i-am-bread-of-life-matts-messages.html">18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/as-i-have-loved-you-matts-messages.html">Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/02/at-feast-matts-messages.html">19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/02/i-am-light-of-world-matts-messages.html">20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30</a>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-30725549788219342872024-02-25T15:34:00.002-05:002024-03-03T12:52:19.759-05:00“I Am the Light of the World” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgm5AtfvdXVVAMbjehSrf1ddl6DXTSGblyhjE9i0wl6YuGGDZM8juIlI9X7008LZhs-cYvdGPu1Z_K2zP1YOx2t_VBiqiahhiqHv1HNVwOR1odWhp7vF7FqTmxybuF6HHvRhVzDJ9nJe2ucNZPKxc4a_92QqmKIsW7e5aWo7ttrvce0YEP7ZEfyg/s960/20.IAmTheLightOfTheWorld.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgm5AtfvdXVVAMbjehSrf1ddl6DXTSGblyhjE9i0wl6YuGGDZM8juIlI9X7008LZhs-cYvdGPu1Z_K2zP1YOx2t_VBiqiahhiqHv1HNVwOR1odWhp7vF7FqTmxybuF6HHvRhVzDJ9nJe2ucNZPKxc4a_92QqmKIsW7e5aWo7ttrvce0YEP7ZEfyg/s320/20.IAmTheLightOfTheWorld.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“I Am the Light of the World”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>February 25, 2024 :: John 8:12-30 <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>What an astonishing thing to say!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus sure has a big view of Himself, doesn’t He? This is no small claim. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus doesn’t just say that He is bright and shiny and that people should look at Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>That would be one thing. “Hey, I’m bright and shiny. I am really something to see. I have a glory about me. Check me out! Look at me. I practically glow!”</div><div><br /></div><div>But that’s not what He says. Jesus doesn’t just claim to be a bright light in the world. One of several. He claims to be THE light of the world!</div><div><br /></div><div><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HjM2zgH5bSc?si=slq1PWOWjW9NUEY6" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><div><br /></div></div><div>The “world” here is, “<i>kosmos</i>,” humanity united in sin and darkness. And Jesus says that He has slipped into the darkness of this kosmos, the darkness of the world, and turned on the lights [and is, in fact, the light of that world Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>Last time we were in the Gospel of John together, couple of weeks ago, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/02/at-feast-matts-messages.html">I pointed out that Jesus has a way of making everything about Himself.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here He says if you don’t have Him, then you have darkness. But if you do have Him, then you have light. And more than just light, you have life!</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to John 8:12 once again. I think we ought to memorize this one starting next week: “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'”</div><div><br /></div><div>Most every morning, I get up before the sun does, and I put on my heavy coat and my reflective “high viz” vest, and my heated gloves, and my boots with cleats strapped to them, and grab my...flashlight. And I head out on my walk.</div><div><br /></div><div>This time of the year it’s not as important as it is December. In December, if I don’t take my flashlight, then I often can be stumbling around on my morning hike. Maybe take a nose-dive, especially on the ice. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2021/02/my-feet-had-almost-slipped-psalm-73.html">I fell hard once in February of ‘21.</a> Ouch! I need a light or I walk in darkness.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says that we if we follow Him in life, we will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>What does He mean?</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember, seven times in the Gospel of John, Jesus says “I Am _____” and then fills in the blank with a wondrous description of His true identity. We’re going to see seven of these as we go through John together.</div><div><br /></div><div>We’ve already studied one of them in this series. Do you remember what it was? Jesus says in chapter 6, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/i-am-bread-of-life-matts-messages.html">“I am the bread of life.”</a> Bread that leads to life. Bread that endures to life. If we treat Jesus like we treat bread, then we will have eternal life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, here Jesus is promising the same thing with a different metaphor. Jesus says that He gives “the light of life.” Life eternal. Life better than anything that this world offers. Life that knows what reality really is. Life that escapes the death of darkness. Life that comes through the light. Life in Jesus’ name.</div><div><br /></div><div>Light is a metaphor here for the glorious power of Christ to create life within the believer. The light of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>John talked about this <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">way back in chapter 1.</a> He says this is why Jesus came. Chapter 1, verse 4. “In [the Word] was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” (Jn. 1:4-5, NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>I was complaining to Heather Joy yesterday about how wonderful this verse is. (Something you should never complain about.) But I just can’t capture how wonderful this promise is.</div><div><br /></div><div>What does it mean for Jesus to be the light of the world?</div><div><br /></div><div>Light speaks about power.</div><div>Light speaks about glory.</div><div>Light is about beauty.</div><div>Light is about purity.</div><div>Light is about holiness.</div><div>Light is about life.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s small word, “light,” but it is everything!</div><div><br /></div><div>And if you don’t have it, you have nothing.</div><div><br /></div><div>You have darkness.</div><div>You have emptiness.</div><div>You have ugliness.</div><div>You have impurity.</div><div>You have sinfulness.</div><div>You have lostness.</div><div>You have death.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you feel how big this is?!</div><div><br /></div><div>Think about the opposite. Jesus could have said it like this:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><i>“Whoever rejects me will always walk in darkness and will have the darkness of death.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>That is true, too. That’s how important it is to understand John 8:12. It’s the difference between light and darkness. It’s the difference between life and death.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have three points of application this morning, and they are each a matter of life and death.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#1. FOLLOW JESUS AND HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>That’s what He says in verse 12. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>The application is obvious. Follow Jesus. If you have never begun to follow Jesus, then it’s my joy to invite you to start today. He will not lead you astray. He will be your light, and He will give you life. He’s will be for you like the pillar of fire in the Old Testament that lit the way forward for God’s people in the wilderness. You will not be tripped up or trapped by your sin, by Satan, or by the world. You will be free and walk in the freedom of light. Come follow Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you have already begun to follow Jesus, then I encourage you to keep going. Stay His disciple. Stay on the narrow path. Keep following Jesus. He will light your way. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/02/what-god-has-joined-together-matts.html">Last week, we talked a lot about marriage and how our theology of marriage is a mark of discipleship.</a> </div><div><br /></div><div>We talked about a lot of ways in which we might struggle to follow Jesus and do marriage or singleness Jesus’ way, following God’s good design for our bodies, for our relationships, for our families, for our marriages. And it’s not always easy to do it that way. It’s not always easy to follow Jesus in discipleship. But it is the path that is illumined for us. Don’t go off into the darkness. Follow Jesus and have the light of life. It’s worth it! Following Jesus is always worth it. Especially in the light of eternity.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, you can feel already how Jesus is saying that there are two sides and only two sides. There is light and there is darkness, and we have to choose. In the rest of chapter 8, that choice becomes even more clear and stark. In the rest of chapter 8, Jesus gets into a verbal confrontation with the Pharisees.</div><div><br /></div><div>When I first taught on John 8 twenty five years ago, I called this section, the “Fight with the Pharisees.” It’s going to take us at least two weeks to work through all of it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Pharisees (by and large) did NOT follow Jesus. They did NOT like what Jesus said in verse 12. They did not receive Him. They wanted to debate with Him, and in fact, they rejected His claims to be the light of world. They objected. “Objection, your honor!” Look at verse 13.</div><div><br /></div><div>“The Pharisees challenged him, ‘Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>“You’re not the light of the world. In fact, you are an unreliable witness in your own defense.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I must have spoken out of turn.”</div><div><br /></div><div>No, that’s not what He says! Jesus gets feisty with them. Jesus fights back. Verse 14.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus answered, ‘Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says that He is qualified to talk about Who He is. Because He knows Who He is.</div><div><br /></div><div>And they don’t. They are ignorant. "I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going." You know what we call that? Darkness. Look at verse 15. </div><div><br /></div><div>"You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.” Not the way you do! These guys were looking at all of the wrong indicators to figure out Who Jesus was. They were focused on all of the wrong things, outward appearances. And they were missing the Light of the World.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus didn’t just make decisions about people based on a limited understanding of outward appearances. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2013/11/matts-messages-lord-looks-at-heart.html">Like His Father, Jesus looked on the heart</a>. And He knew where people really were. Because of His relationship with His father. Verse 16.</div><div><br /></div><div>“But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, think about that verse for just a second. What does that sound like? <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">It sounds to me like chapter 1.</a> Notice what Jesus says is His relationship with God the Father.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is not alone.</div><div>He is the Son.</div><div><br /></div><div>He is the Son sent by the Father. So He’s FROM the Father. He has FROM-ness to use the language we said before. </div><div><br /></div><div>But He also has WITH-ness, doesn’t He? “I am not alone. I stand WITH the Father.” </div><div><br /></div><div>He is from, and He is with the Father! So they are one, but they are also two. And two is the number of witnesses that Deuteronomy says you need to have to establish a matter! So, even by their own rules, Jesus can speak as His own witness, because He doesn’t speak alone. Verse 17.</div><div><br /></div><div>“In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, that should be a mic-drop moment. Jesus says that God the Father(!) has sent Him and testifies that Jesus is His Son and the Light of the World. That should be enough, right? Those are two pretty amazing witnesses.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, it wasn’t enough for the Pharisees. Look at verse 19.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Then they asked him, ‘Where is your father?’ [Huh? How about you produce him? Where is Joseph anyway? They are ignorant. Probably intentionally so. Of course, He got into a lot trouble when He said that God was His Father in chapter 5. But...He goes there again. Verse 19] ‘You do not know me or my Father,’ Jesus replied. ‘If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’”</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#2. KNOW JESUS AND HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS FATHER.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Know Jesus and know His father. Jesus says that if you know Him, you will know God the Father, as well. Now, that’s scary for those who do not know Jesus (especially those who do not want to know Jesus), but it is so wonderful for you and me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you want to know God? Do you want to have intimate knowledge of the Creator and Lord of the Universe?</div><div><br /></div><div>You know that God is high and holy and invisible and glorious and lives in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16)? Nobody has ever seen Him!</div><div><br /></div><div>But <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">what does John 1:18 say</a>? “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known” (Jn. 1:18 NIVO). If you know Jesus, you know His Father.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let me give you an illustration of this. It's a little known fact that I proposed marriage to Heather Joy before I asked her father for his blessing. In fact, I proposed marriage to Heather Joy before I had even met her father and mother in person.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, it is not a little known fact that in-laws can be a big part of a good marriage. You might be wondering, how I dared to propose without seeing fully what I was getting into. What would the in-laws be like? They were 2,000 miles away in Canada but would become a big part of my life in a short amount of time. And I was accepting them, sight unseen. Sounds dangerous right? </div><div><br /></div><div>(If not, you haven't been married!)</div><div><br /></div><div>No, because I knew their daughter. Because I had made a study of Heather Joy, I knew what I was getting into by seeking to add her parents to my family. I could have been wrong, because Heather is not a perfect representation of her parents, but I had a pretty good idea of who they were before I ever laid eyes on them. (And they turned out to be better than I ever expected!)</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, think about Jesus. According to v.19, he is the perfect representation of God to us. If you want to know what God is really like, look at Jesus. When you come to know him, you really know the Father.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is basically going to say that in the Upper Room when we get to chapter 14. He’s going to say, “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him” (Jn. 14:7-8 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>So you want to know God, study Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>The book of Hebrews says, “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being...” (Heb. 1:3 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>He is the Light of the World.</div><div>He is the Light of God!</div><div>“True Light of True Light.”</div><div><br /></div><div>We accept this, but Jesus was saying really dangerous things right there. In public. That’s why verse 20 says, “He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember Jesus said that to His brothers in the last chapter. It wasn’t His time yet. The hour of His passion had not yet come.</div><div><br /></div><div>That doesn’t mean they didn’t want to arrest Him, but they just weren’t able to yet. Even though He was there at the temple saying things like this that if you want to know God, you need to know Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I am the light of the world.”</div><div><br /></div><div>In verse 21, Jesus predicts the future, and for the Pharisees, it is bleak. Verse 21.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Once more Jesus said to them, ‘I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.’</div><div><br /></div><div>This made the Jews ask, ‘Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?’</div><div><br /></div><div>But he continued, ‘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; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.’”</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#3. BELIEVE IN JESUS AND HAVE YOUR SINS FORGIVEN.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>The stakes could not be higher. He says it three times, “you will indeed die in your sins.” That’s scary! That means that these people would die with their sins wrapped around them and go into God’s judgment.</div><div><br /></div><div>In verse 21, Jesus talked about His death and resurrection and ascension. “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”</div><div><br /></div><div>I think He means that they will keep looking for a Messiah even after Jesus’ resurrection. The Pharisees will, by and large, reject Jesus, and they will not go where He is going if they reject Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>They will stumble in the darkness. “You will die in your sin.”</div><div><br /></div><div>The Pharisees ask if Jesus is depressed and suicidal. “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come.’” I don’t think they really want to understand what He means. They are not seeking the truth. They are content to live in the darkness.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says that the divide between them could not be greater. “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; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.'" And so you will go to Hell.</div><div><br /></div><div>But! We don’t have to go to Hell. We don’t have die in our sins. We don’t have to stumble in the darkness. We can follow Jesus have the light of life. We can believe in Jesus and have our sins forgiven.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s the flipside of verse 24, isn’t it?</div><div><br /></div><div>“[I]f you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.”</div><div><br /></div><div>But the opposite is also true, “If you DO BELIEVE that I am the one I claim to be, you will have your sins forgiven.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (Jn. 5:24 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, hidden in the words of the NIV are some very interesting words in the Greek. They are going to be front and center next week, Lord-willing. Your translation may say, “believe that I am He.” Or it might actually just say believe, “I am.” Because that’s the Greek. “<i>Ego Eimi</i>.” “I am.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Like, “I am the light of the world.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Or like at the burning bush, “I am who I am...Tell them ‘I am’ sent you.”</div><div><br /></div><div>The NIV translation, “I am the one I claim to be” is very good. I think that is the sense of the words here. The correct interpretation. But you can’t help hear “I am.” “Believe I am.” But these men do not. They challenge Him again. Verse 25.</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘Who are you?’ they asked. ‘Just what I have been claiming all along,’ Jesus replied. I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world’” (vv.25-26).</div><div><br /></div><div>They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.” They didn’t want to understand. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).</div><div><br /></div><div>They didn’t want to know Who Jesus really is our Who His Father really is. But one day everyone will know. Verse 28.</div><div><br /></div><div>“So Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be [“I am” “ego eimi”] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Isn’t that amazing teaching? It’s that amazing Trinitarian teaching that the Son is never alone.</div><div><br /></div><div>He is sent but He is with.</div><div>He is sent by the Father but is with the Father.</div><div>He is not abandoned and out there doing His own thing.</div><div><br /></div><div>And everything He does is right. He always does what pleases the Father.</div><div><br /></div><div>What does that sound like? Like what the Father said at His baptism, right? Our baptism class just looked at that this morning.</div><div><br /></div><div>“This is my Son, whom I loved. With Him I am well pleased.”</div><div><br /></div><div>For He always does what please Me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to Him. </div><div>Put your faith in Him.</div><div>Believe in Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is Life in Jesus’ name.</div><div>There is Light in Jesus’ name.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because the Son is going to be “lifted up.” Did you catch that in verse 28?</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">Jesus said in chapter 3 that He was going to be lifted up</a> which could mean that He will be exalted, and of course, He will.</div><div><br /></div><div>But this kind of lifted up was lifted up on a pole. Like the snake in the wilderness. Jesus was going to be lifted up onto a Cross to die.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I always do what pleases Him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And on that terrible day, what pleased God was to crush His Son and cause Him to suffer (Isaiah 53:10), making His life a guilt offering for you and me.</div><div><br /></div><div>“[H]e was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:5-6 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>Believe in Jesus and have your sins forgiven.</div><div><br /></div><div>Verse 30 says that, “Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of that was fake faith, I’m sure. We’ll see that next week.</div><div><br /></div><div>But some of it was probably real. And He invites you and me to really believe in Him today.</div><div><br /></div><div>Believe in Jesus and have your sins forgiven.</div><div>Know Jesus and know His Father.</div><div>Follow Jesus and have the light of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now and forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because the last page of the Bible says that in the New Heavens and the New Earth, “There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 22:5 NIVO). </div><div><br /></div><div>Because Jesus was right when He said, “I am the Light of the World.”</div><div><br /></div>***<div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>Previous Messages In This Series:</i></b></div><div><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/testimony-about-me-matts-messages.html">15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-astonishing-gift-matts-messages.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/we-have-seen-his-glory-christ-candle.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/enough-bread-matts-messages.html">16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/you-are-looking-for-me-matts-messages.html">17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/i-am-bread-of-life-matts-messages.html">18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/as-i-have-loved-you-matts-messages.html">Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/02/at-feast-matts-messages.html">19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52</a></div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-44847864175942073122024-02-18T13:28:00.009-05:002024-02-21T20:29:00.502-05:00“What God Has Joined Together" [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvetJdtEQikXqEyr5vgeI-4RWegO8-_PzyOmoFN7hhOQ1nwtG5KxfWTV4UqBTsW1SyfEXtcjCfKkRI8T6WCJRHOU0NTnZryKvmCZHDUzm3jx6I5Htkg4rauW6u8qRCOcg0ZMP3xPQtgB9IjlaCtKtVwharov4bGEviRVdsExe71_oIfEusW-2H7A/s960/What%20God%20Has%20Joined%20Together.%20Lord%20of%20Marriage%20Revisited%20021824.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvetJdtEQikXqEyr5vgeI-4RWegO8-_PzyOmoFN7hhOQ1nwtG5KxfWTV4UqBTsW1SyfEXtcjCfKkRI8T6WCJRHOU0NTnZryKvmCZHDUzm3jx6I5Htkg4rauW6u8qRCOcg0ZMP3xPQtgB9IjlaCtKtVwharov4bGEviRVdsExe71_oIfEusW-2H7A/s320/What%20God%20Has%20Joined%20Together.%20Lord%20of%20Marriage%20Revisited%20021824.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“What God Has Joined Together”</b></div><div><b>Marriage - God’s Divine Design</b></div><div><b>February 18, 2024 :: Matthew 19:1-12</b></div><div><br /></div><div><i>“What God Has Joined Together.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Those words are how our Lord Jesus describes marriage in Matthew chapter 19, verse 6.</div><div><br /></div><div>The chief reason for our detour into the Gospel of Matthew this morning is that a number of you have asked me to share more about what we had studied last week at the EFCA Theology Conference in the Chicagoland area.</div><div><br /></div><div>The theme of the national theology conference was <a href="https://helps.efca.org/bundles/2024-efca-theology-conference-resources">“Marriage: God’s Divine Design – Protology/Teleology, Anthropology, Hamartiology, Soteriology, Ecclesiology, and Eschatology.”</a> Three guesses who came up with that subtitle, and the first two don’t count! Yes, it was Greg Strand! Typically big words and typically rich and robust theology. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEaumKuDYX3RVVQ5phO0RvZHmQtaCsKPaVTGJlFahNq0pbVwbSAPprOddNdQw9VAxHUwdxO1jKrUCWo1LS1t4xyvDwCVXlMW5Xq4sJNaKArZvOpq2EMIBrC-DmAG3Izhz438AIUlMiuAPt6OR3zDhvUYwAQYzkUJr2jtS-iNHyYRMD64za8D83Sg/s1080/marriage%20efca.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEaumKuDYX3RVVQ5phO0RvZHmQtaCsKPaVTGJlFahNq0pbVwbSAPprOddNdQw9VAxHUwdxO1jKrUCWo1LS1t4xyvDwCVXlMW5Xq4sJNaKArZvOpq2EMIBrC-DmAG3Izhz438AIUlMiuAPt6OR3zDhvUYwAQYzkUJr2jtS-iNHyYRMD64za8D83Sg/w200-h200/marriage%20efca.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>At the conference, <a href="https://helps.efca.org/bundles/2024-efca-theology-conference-resources">Isaac and I listened to six major lectures on the theology of marriage and a number of breakout workshops</a>, as well. I’m so thankful to belong to an association of churches that takes sound biblical theology so seriously.</div><div><br /></div><div>And what an important topic for today, is it not? Just as Keith Hurley is teaching the teens about these things at “<a href="https://lansefree.org/tft-chasing-love/" target="_blank">Chasing Love</a>” on Sunday evenings, our theology of marriage touches all of us in some way in today’s culture. There is a lot of confusion about marriage, not just out in society but within the church, as well. <a href="https://helps.efca.org/resources/the-state-of-marriage-and-the-family-changes-and-challenges-dr-david-j-ayers">The whole first lecture at the conference by a Christian sociologist from Grove City College was all about the state of marriage, changes and challenges, how we’ve gotten to where we are.</a> [All of the messages are <a href="https://helps.efca.org/bundles/2024-efca-theology-conference-resources">now online</a>.]</div><div><br /></div><div>And as we’ve been focusing here this month on LOVE, especially God’s love, vast as the ocean, and our being God’s people exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit, the first aspect of which is LOVE as Joel taught us last Sunday, it seemed to me like it might be good for us to meditate on marriage today.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kXvHr90A-Do?si=dsG3ZydLt-mUAwv_" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> </div><div><br /></div></div><div>“What God Has Joined Together.”</div><div><br /></div><div>There are many married people in this room. Some of you have been married for a long long time. Heather and I are coming up on 30 years this June. We’ve celebrated a lot of Valentine’s Days together. Some of you have seen many more! I think the Kepharts have been married for 66 years! There are also many unmarried people in this room. Some of you have recently had to bury a spouse. Some of you had to do that years ago. Some of you have been divorced. Some of you have never married. Some of you will soon marry--Reece and Hannah!. Some of you will never marry. Some of you will marry down the line. I doubt that anybody coming to Snack and Yack today with Heather and me is engaged yet!</div><div><br /></div><div>We’re all in different places, but we all need to have a good theology of marriage in place no matter where we are at in life. </div><div><br /></div><div>And Matthew 19 is a great place to start building one. Matthew 19 marks the beginning of a new section in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus has finished teaching in Galilee in the north and is now headed south towards Jerusalem. It’s a little bit further into the story than we are right now in the Gospel of John. And on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus runs into some Pharisees, and they have a test for Jesus on His theology of marriage. How do you think that’s going to go?</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s a life-hack for you. A pro-tip for living: <i>Never try to lay a trap for Jesus. </i></div><div><br /></div><div>Unless you like falling into your own traps! Let me read the first two verses.</div><div><br /></div><div>“When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is marching towards Jerusalem. You and I know what is going to happen there. And Jesus knows what’s going to happen there. It’s what we focus on this time of year. Jesus is headed towards the Cross. He’s going to be abandoned there as He pays for our sins, but right now the crowds are still following Him and He’s healing the sick among them.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then in verse 3, some Pharisees come, and they see the good work that Jesus is doing, and they see how the crowds are following Him, and they are convinced by His words that He is the Messiah, and they bow before Him and lead the nation to follow Him themselves.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just kidding. LOL. That’s not at all what they do! That’s what they should do, but it’s not what they do. No, they come to Jesus and try to trap Him. V.3</div><div><br /></div><div>“Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Let’s give Jesus a theological test and see if He passes.” They are not sincere. They are not asking this question to find out the truth. They have an agenda with this question. They want to trap Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>How does that work? Well, there was a big debate during this time about the theology of divorce. There were two major schools of thought. The school of Rabbi Shammai and the school of Rabbi Hillel. <a href="https://helps.efca.org/resources/divorce-and-remarriage-exceptions-to-the-permanency-of-marriage-dr-james-r-newheiser-jr">We learned about this in the third main message at the conference</a> from the author of this book: <i><a href="https://www.wtsbooks.com/products/marriage-divorce-remarriage-jim-newheiser-9781629953168">Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage: Critical Questions and Answers</a>.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Rabbi Shammai said that God requires divorce only in the case of adultery. But Rabbi Hillel said that God allows divorce any time a man is unhappy with his wife. Even if she burns dinner or her eyebrows get too bushy. And the Pharisees think that they can trap Jesus with this question: Which side are you on?”</div><div><br /></div><div>“If you side with Rabbi Hillel, and anything goes, doesn’t that contradict <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2018/04/matts-messages-but-i-tell-you-2.html">what you said at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:32</a>? And where does it all end?</div><div><br /></div><div>But if you side with Rabbi Shammai (and I think that’s what they really hope He will do), then you might get into trouble with Herod Antipas.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you remember Herod Antipas from when we studied this gospel together? John the Baptist (Notorious JTB) told “King” Herod Antipas that his divorce and remarriage to his former sister-in-law Herodias was not lawful. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/01/matts-messages-living-last-beatitude.html">Do you remember what happened to John the Baptist because of that?</a> Prison first. And then off with his head. That’s what happens if you side with Rabbi Shammai in those days.</div><div><br /></div><div>They think they’ve got Jesus. Maybe they’ve even stumped Him. Can Jesus answer this stumper of a question? What do you think?</div><div><br /></div><div>The last time I preached this passage, I titled my sermon, “<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-lord-of-marriage-matts-messages.html">The Lord of Marriage.</a>” Because Jesus does not just have a theology of marriage; His theology flows from His own authority. He is Lord over marriage. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Pharisees obviously don’t recognize this or they wouldn’t be asking the question this way, but that’s their mistake. Jesus pushes back. V.4</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘Haven't you read,’ he replied, ‘that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s always a sick burn when Jesus says, “Haven’t you read your Bibles?” They think they have Him stumped, and Jesus says, “I think the answer to that one is on the first page of your Bible. Haven’t you read it? I think you’re missing the point. Let’s go back and look.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus leads them on a Bible study of Genesis 1 and 2. And that’s what we did at the conference in the second major message. <a href="https://helps.efca.org/resources/marriage-a-biblical-and-theological-understanding-of-gods-good-design-dr-robert-yarbrough">The speaker, a former professor at Trinity, started in Genesis and took us all the way to Revelation, seeing what the Bible says about marriage from cover to cover.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>It’s always smart to start at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start. Jesus was saying that they are starting in the wrong place with their questions. We’ll see that they are starting with Deuteronomy 24, but Jesus says, “You’ve got to go back further than that or you’ll be missing the point.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And speaking of points, I have three points of application for today’s message.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s the first:</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#1. TRUST THE DESIGNER TO DEFINE MARRIAGE.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>That was the title of our conference, “Marriage: God’s Divine Design.” Look at v.4 again.</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘Haven't you read,’ he replied, ‘that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Marriage is God’s idea. He designed it. It’s not something that we came up with. It came from (v.4), “the Creator.” The Designer. The Original Lord of Marriage. Marriage is God’s idea, and so we should get our ideas of what marriage should be from Him. Make sense?</div><div><br /></div><div>Obviously, this flies in the face of so much of our modern culture, including among professing Christians. We want to define marriage our own way. We want to do what we want to do with it. And we figure that God (if He exists) just has to be okay with that.</div><div><br /></div><div>But that’s exactly wrong. He is the Lord of Marriage. We need to listen to Him.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Marriage, for Christians, is a matter of discipleship.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>This passage (vv.4-6) is very relevant to a whole host of contemporary issues and questions. It addresses marriage and also divorce. It also addresses same-sex marriage and transgenderism, doesn’t it? It has implications for LGBTQ.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because Jesus says (v.4) that Genesis 1 says that humans are made male and female. Two biological sexes. Different and complementary. Male and female, not interchangeable. Not changeable. And that it was good. It was beautiful. It was God’s good design.</div><div><br /></div><div>And here’s what marriage is. Jesus says that Genesis 2 says that a man (1 man, this passage addresses bigamy and polygamy, as well, a man) will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife (1 biological woman), and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one.</div><div><br /></div><div>So here’s God’s math for marriage: <i>One plus one equals one.</i> One man and one woman come together to be one flesh. One new thing: a married couple. That’s the design.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do not believe it if people tell you that Jesus never said anything about same-sex marriage.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus said, “I agree with Genesis.”</div><div><br /></div><div>The Creator has designed marriage, and it is good. In fact, it’s beautiful. God designed marriage to be a thing of beauty. Every faithful marriage is a gorgeous glorious thing for the whole world to behold!</div><div><br /></div><div>In fact, the Apostle Paul quotes this same passage of Genesis and says that every marriage is designed to be a beautiful picture of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His church! Read Ephesians 5 this afternoon.</div><div><br /></div><div>The final main message at the conference was about that. <a href="https://helps.efca.org/resources/marriage-a-picture-of-gods-design-and-a-manifestation-of-the-gospel-dr-chad-van-dixhoorn">There was a married couple who shared together on stage how they tried to live out Ephesians 5 in their own gospel-shaped marriage every day so that Jesus got the glory.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>And that’s happening in every faithful Christian marriage in this room right now. The marriages here are a thing of beauty that sing about Christ’s love for His bride and His bride’s love for Him.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div>Well done, you. Keep it up! Don’t stop now. If you're engaged or believe you should be, jump into marriage live this thing of beauty! Be a picture of Christ and His bride that sings!</div><div><br /></div><div>Trust the Designer to Define Marriage and believe that it is good and beautiful and sacred.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which also means that abuse within marriage is a terrible, ugly, anti-picture of the gospel. <a href="https://helps.efca.org/resources/marital-abuse-a-picture-of-satans-design-and-a-manifestation-of-the-anti-gospel-dr-nate-brooks">Our fourth main message was all about that, by a Christian counselor who works with victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse.</a> It was probably the most painful and sickening message at the conference. It was also a compelling Bible study of the book of Genesis which does not shy away from recounting ugly intimate partner abuse and how antithetical that is to God’s good design.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you are abusing your spouse, you are defying God’s good design for marriage.</div><div><br /></div><div>And if you are being abused, that’s not the way it’s supposed to be, and you don’t just have to take it. Get to safety. Find help. There was whole session on responding wisely to domestic abuse, and we are committed here to doing that as a church. Because God’s good design is on the line.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus taught, “[A]t the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Trust the Designer to Define Marriage.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, this passage also addresses co-habitation, doesn’t it? Living together as if you are married when you are not married. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">We talked about this recently in John chapter 4 with the woman at the well.</a> It's one of the things I'm most concerned about as a pastor as even many professing Christians are falling into this sinful error.</div><div><br /></div><div>Living together as if you are married when you are not married is not how God designed the one-flesh relationship.</div><div><br /></div><div>The one flesh relationship is for a husband and a wife. Two people who have de-prioritized all other loyalties and then re-prioritized each other as their number one loyalty on earth so that they have actually formed a new entity, a new family, a new unity. “So they are no longer two, but one.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s what marriage is, and it’s where sex belongs. “One flesh” means more than just sex, but it doesn’t mean less. Two bodies coming together in sexual intimacy is for marriage, by God’s design.</div><div><br /></div><div>When God made our bodies, He made them for sex. He didn’t make Adam and Eve and then say, “Oh no, what are they doing?!” No, Genesis says that after He made them male and female, “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28 NIVO). He knew what He was doing when He made us sexual creatures. But He gave us the gift of sex to be enjoyed within the covenant of marriage.</div><div><br /></div><div>Trust the Designer. He knows best!</div><div><br /></div><div>I know it doesn’t always seem that way.</div><div><br /></div><div>I do know that some people have <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2014/07/help-how-do-i-think-about-homosexuality_24.html">same-sex attraction</a>–persistent, unsought same-sex attraction. And they want to marry somebody of the same sex, and it seems like that would be really good to them. But that’s not how the Creator designed marriage. That’s not what marriage is. And the Lord of Marriage is calling us as His people to trust Him to do things His way and be blessed.</div><div><br /></div><div>And I also know that some people suffer from gender dysphoria. They feel great unease about their own bodies. They would rather be the other sex than what they were given when they were conceived. I empathize with that pain. It must be very great, and I don’t pretend to know the half of it. It’s part of the brokenness of our world. But I do know that my Creator is good and <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/02/matts-messages-creator-and-his-creation.html">His design for creation is good</a>. And I know that I can trust Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>And I know that some people are simply wary of marriage. They think it’s just a piece of paper. They have seen the ravages of divorce. They want to make sure that this person they want to be with is the “right person,” and so they want to test drive the relationship and live like they’re married before they are married just to make sure. And there are, unfortunately in some cases, financial benefits to living together instead of getting married. But that’s not how God designed it. That’s going against the grain of the universe. As is polygamy. And, as we’ll see, as is divorce in general.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is asking us to trust the Designer of Marriage and do it His way.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you are living together like you are married and you are not married, the Lord of marriage is calling you to repent and to either to marry or to separate. To follow Jesus and do marriage His way.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of you asked me after the conference if pastors in the EFCA were open to performing or blessing same-sex “weddings.” And the answer is no. And that if we did, we would lose our standing as pastors in the EFCA as would any EFCA church that went down that road.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.efca.org/biblical-sexuality-and-the-covenant-of-marriage-resolution-2017">In June of 2017 the national conference of the EFCA affirmed a resolution</a> that says, “The Evangelical Free Church of America affirms that God created human beings uniquely in His image as male and female, and He has designed marriage to be a covenantal relationship between one man and one woman.” Sounds like Genesis. Sounds like Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that was <a href="https://www.efca.org/biblical-sexuality-and-the-covenant-of-marriage-resolution-2017">affirmed</a> unanimously. For which I’m grateful. But I’m also grateful that at that very same conference, we followed that unanimous affirmation of God’s good design for marriage, by spending three hours in training each other how to love and serve and care for and relate to people with same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because we have been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jasoo3UDSwY">so loved</a>, we are called to love. There are probably people several people in this room that experience same-sex attraction. I’m so glad you’re here. There may be a few of you who experience gender dysphoria. I’m so glad you’re here. I’m glad that we have a single-use restroom back that hallway over there so that everyone can feel comfortable and go to the bathroom in peace. I’m sure that if someone who is trans* or queer or non-binary (or de-transitioning) comes respectfully into our meeting, checking things out, that you all will show the love of Jesus to them with sweet hospitality.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because we are trying, in God’s power, “to be God’s people in this place, live His goodness, share His grace, proclaim God’s mercy through His Son, be His love to everyone.” (Charles F. Brown)</div><div><br /></div><div>Without compromise to His truth.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div>The Lord is calling us to trust the Designer to define marriage.</div><div><br /></div><div>We don’t look to society to define marriage.</div><div>We don’t look to the US government to define marriage.</div><div>We don’t look to the Supreme Court to define marriage.</div><div><br /></div><div>They are all going to do what they are going to do. But we, as Christians, are called to do what the Lord Jesus says we should do.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, your struggle with defining marriage might be different from what we’ve talked about already today. I don’t know what everybody here is tempted to do with marriage. But left to our devices, we will always come up with a design flaw, and we need to go back to the drawing board and follow the original design as best we can.</div><div><br /></div><div>Again, in Matthew 19, the main issue was divorce. And here’s what the designer of marriage said about that. Look at verse 6.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Application point number two (and,, don't worry, they will get shorter as we get towards the end of this message):</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#2. DON’T RUSH TO AMPUTATE WHAT THE LORD HAS STITCHED.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>“[W]hat God has joined together, let man not separate.’” What has God joined together? He calls it “one flesh.” Now, that’s just a metaphor, but what a picture that is! It’s like one man surgically sewn together with one woman to form a new unity. And after the surgery heals, there’s just one entity there.</div><div><br /></div><div>And Who is the surgeon? “What GOD has joined together.” Marriage is not just something that two people do to themselves. It’s not even just something that the state does to two people. Jesus says that God puts people together into marriages. So we should be very careful about pulling them apart!</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you see how this answers the Pharisees’ question? They wanted to know when it was okay to divorce. Jesus says, “Divorce?! Uh. That’s never ‘okay.’ That’s never best. That’s never good. Divorce wasn’t the idea. Divorce wasn’t the design, the intention from the start.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t do that if you can at all help it. Don’t just amputate what the Lord has stitched together.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, I know that this is a painful subject for many us in this room.</div><div><br /></div><div>We have all been touched by divorce in our families, and many of you have experienced divorces personally. It has come closer in our extended family in recent months than ever before. I know this is painful. For some of you, it’s painful because you didn’t want it, but it happened to you anyway. For some of you, it’s painful because you know you did it wrong, and you feel the weight of that. For some of you, most of you who have been divorced, you feel some degree of shame. Even if you didn’t do anything shameful in the whole process, you still feel shame put on you by others. Even what I’ve said so far this morning might seem to pile it on further.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is confusion and hurt. When you let someone into your life so that they get all the way to “one-flesh,” and then that relationship breaks and becomes jagged, it’s got to hurt. Being in conflict and estranged and eventually divided from the person who was the closest person to you has got to have lingering effects.</div><div><br /></div><div>I know that divorces are painful. And so does the Lord.</div><div><br /></div><div>And divorce, even sinful divorce, is not the unforgivable sin. And not all divorces are sinful (at least on one side) as we’ll see in verse 9. But Jesus is saying that divorce should be avoided if at all possible. We should be extremely reluctant to divorce because what God has joined together is something we should not separate. Marriage wasn’t designed to be temporary. It was supposed to be dissolved only by death.</div><div><br /></div><div>So the Pharisees have a comeback. They don’t realize that they have already lost. They whip out Deuteronomy 24:1, and think they have answered Jesus. V.7</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘Why then,’ they asked, ‘did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?’ [Huh, Jesus? Riddle me that! Answer that one!]</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus replied, [You numbskulls] ‘Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice that word “permitted.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s where Jesus differs from Rabbi Shammai. Shammai thought that if there was adultery, then God required a divorce. “No,” Jesus says, “God through Moses permitted a divorce in those cases because of hard hearts, but He didn’t command them.” You don’t have to divorce even when there has been sexual immorality. That’s not the way it was is in the beginning. The design was for permanence. Marriage was built to last.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, we messed it all up. Hard hearts. Lots of sin. Lots of covenant breaking. Yes, divorce got allowed. (Even polygamy gets allowed for a time.) But that wasn’t the design. Don’t rush out and get a divorce! Make every effort you can to salvage that thing. </div><div><br /></div><div>I know that’s not what the world says. The world rushes to divorce. And so do many professing Christians. And again, there are solid reasons to divorce, as we’ll see in verse 9. And if you have divorced for the wrong reasons, there is plenty grace at the Cross for all repentant sinners.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the Lord of Marriage says, “Don’t rush to amputate what I have sewn together.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Divorce should be a last resort. If possible, if the conditions are right including the appropriate repentance, then lean towards forgiveness. Because, verse 9: “I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, you hear the exception there. And there is at least one other exception that Paul lays out in 1 Corinthians 7, abandonment by an unbelieving spouse. There may be more exceptions when the covenant is broken beyond repair.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the emphasis here is not on the exception of sexual immorality, the Greek is “<i>porneia</i>” from which we get our word “porn” and it means various kinds of covenant-breaking sexual unfaithfulness.</div><div><br /></div><div>The emphasis isn’t on the exception. It’s on the fact that if you divorce and remarry for the wrong reasons, you are committing adultery, breaking the 7th commandment. You’re badly amputating what the Lord has sewn together. </div><div><br /></div><div>And notice by Whose word this is. V.9 “I tell you...” Don’t miss that! That’s super important. Jesus is laying down the law here Himself. Jesus is the Lord of Marriage! And He’s saying, “Don’t do it. Don’t divorce for the wrong reasons. What God has joined together, let man not separate.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, there is an exception here. And it’s a true one. If one spouse falls into marital unfaithfulness (<i>porneia</i>), they are, in that moment, ripping up the surgery themselves and defacing the one-flesh relationship. If your spouse has done that to you, you are permitted by the Lord of Marriage to divorce them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Permitted, not commanded! I’d still say, “Make every effort. Even when it doesn’t feel like it.” Because we know that our marriages are pictures of Christ and the Church. And if we can salvage them, they can still be wonderfully beautiful pictures of Christ and the Church! We should be extremely reluctant to throw away any pictures of Christ and the Church.</div><div><br /></div><div>But it is permitted, especially if an offending spouse is unrepentant. If they are amputating what the Lord has stitched together, you certainly don’t have to pretend that all is well. But the Lord of Marriage wants us to do everything on our end to uphold it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, the disciples overreact to what Jesus has just taught. V.10</div><div><br /></div><div>“The disciples said to him, ‘If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m pretty sure that was the Apostle Peter! Sounds like him, doesn’t it? Peter was married already. He knew that marriage was a lot of work. And now Jesus says that it’s “for better, for worse, and for keeps?” </div><div><br /></div><div>You might feel trapped in a marriage if it’s for life. A life sentence.</div><div><br /></div><div>What’s fascinating is that even though that’s a rash overreaction, Jesus basically says, “Yeah, that’s right for some people.” For some people it is better to not marry. V.11</div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus replied, ‘Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. [There’s three kinds.] For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage [or became eunuchs] because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>So, surprisingly, our last application point is:</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#3. SERIOUSLY CONSIDER CELIBACY FOR THE KINGDOM.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Ironically, the Lord of Marriage says that marriage is not for everyone. Some people are (at least for a time and some for a lifetime) called to celibate singleness. </div><div><br /></div><div>And that’s not strange. We think that’s so strange. We think that’s so hard.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Celibacy is so hard!”</div><div><br /></div><div>But Jesus says, “Marriage is hard. Celibacy is just a different kind of hard.”</div><div><br /></div><div>You know what’s hard?</div><div><br /></div><div>Being born an eunuch. Being celibate because your body came out that way. Being celibate because somebody did that to you. It’s actually much easier to choose to live the celibate lifestyle than to have forced on you.</div><div><br /></div><div>But what if you choose it for the kingdom? Isn’t that quite a phrase in verse 12, “because of the kingdom of heaven?!” <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-lord-of-marriage-matts-messages.html">Last time I preached this passage</a>, I was really struck by this quote from Pastor Douglas O’Donnell.</div><div><br /></div><div>He said, <i>“The kingdom of heaven is so important that it should seem perfectly normal if someone would want to give up marriage for it.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://helps.efca.org/resources/singleness-signposts-of-the-new-creation-dr-barry-n-danylak">The remaining major message at the theology conference was by a pastor who has been a single man for his whole life.</a> And he said that there are a bunch of reasons why it can be advantageous for the kingdom for Christians to stay single, at least for a time, and for some a life-time.</div><div><br /></div><div>And if you are called to that, embrace it. Jesus says, “The one who can accept this should accept this.” </div><div><br /></div><div>And those of us who are married should celebrate those who are single right now for the kingdom. I think, all to often, we’ve treated singles as second-class kingdom citizens. But that’s totally wrong. The Apostle Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 7, as well. Single Christians are first class kingdom citizens if they are living for the Lord. And this church has an awesome history of having wonderful single people in it serving the Lord.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are many right here in this room today. If you are single right now and serving the Lord, thank you.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you for being celibate.</div><div>Thank you for being devoted.</div><div>Thank you for using your singleness for the Kingdom.</div><div><br /></div><div>You are living something beautiful, as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>You know who you are like? You’re like the Apostle Paul. </div><div><br /></div><div>And you’re like the Lord Jesus Christ. Because ironically, the Lord of Marriage never got married Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>Or perhaps it’s better to say, He’s still engaged to be married to the Church His Bride, and we await the Wedding Supper of the Lamb when all earthly marriages will be over and we all will have in full what they all pointed to in part, the relationship between the Lord of Marriage and His Church.</div><div><br /></div><div>What God will join together for eternity.</div><div><br /></div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-62833776844159245842024-02-04T11:45:00.096-05:002024-02-06T17:14:15.598-05:00“At The Feast” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-IkFX76GpQnfboe-kT6qjtUwFaKCDrf26Ij7cooKIkeJgjRBtT8TunzR1BrgyVGciV2aFa22xxykQzIeZBvlqkIaTxnOii1_LwUWBrUEVjOLkTrr0s_dfRW_O0dI9pcwboTsfVXfjfk9jrnTspF0TCDoC6o5fcUVh6TlWoMbN4-ZJL_YKiL8_g/s960/19.AtTheFeast.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-IkFX76GpQnfboe-kT6qjtUwFaKCDrf26Ij7cooKIkeJgjRBtT8TunzR1BrgyVGciV2aFa22xxykQzIeZBvlqkIaTxnOii1_LwUWBrUEVjOLkTrr0s_dfRW_O0dI9pcwboTsfVXfjfk9jrnTspF0TCDoC6o5fcUVh6TlWoMbN4-ZJL_YKiL8_g/s320/19.AtTheFeast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“At The Feast”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>February 4, 2024 :: John 7:1-52 </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Have you ever noticed that Jesus has a way of making everything about Him?</div><div><br /></div><div>The conversation that swirls around Jesus keeps coming back to Jesus. And He keeps talking about Himself, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some people are always deflecting attention from themselves. Some people are always drawing attention to themselves. Some people can’t help it if attention gets drawn to them for whatever reason. Some other people keep making themselves the topic of conversation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Most of the time, we get tired of people like that–people that make everything about them.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>But what if there was Someone that everything actually was about?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Have you made up your mind yet about Who you think Jesus really is? Have you decided yet which side you are on? The short passage that Keagan read ended with this statement, “[T]he people were divided because of Jesus.”</div><div><br /></div><div>There are really only two options. </div><div><br /></div><div>With Him or against Him. </div><div>For Him or opposed to Him.</div><div>Believe in Him or disbelieve.</div><div>Follow Him or leave.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the end of the last chapter, some of those who had been following Him decided to cut out. The options seemed to be that <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/i-am-bread-of-life-matts-messages.html">Jesus was either bonkers or bread</a>. And they decided that that Jesus must be bonkers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anybody Who thinks they are as important as bread must be “cuckoo for coco-puffs.” And Jesus insisted that He was the Bread of Life. (See what I mean about Jesus making everything about Himself?) You see that there is no middle ground. </div><div><br /></div><div>And John chapter 7 tells the story of how more and more people were divided over Jesus at the feast. This story takes place around about one week–just before, during, and at the end of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. </div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GvQVN_YByJk?si=hedlXPFNMAHhLi-t" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>Let’s get into it together. John chapter 7, verse 1.</div><div><br /></div><div>“After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus' brothers said to him, ‘You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.’ For even his own brothers did not believe in him” (vv.1-5). Let’s stop there for a second.</div><div><br /></div><div>So Jesus has been hanging around up North because the people in the South want to kill Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>Does that mean that Jesus is scared? There’s a lot of fear in chapter 7, but I don’t think it’s Jesus that shows the most fear here. Jesus is apparently being strategic.</div><div><br /></div><div>By they way, do you remember why they want to kill Jesus? He’s kind of seen as a public enemy by the Jewish Religious Authorities. Remember what His crime in Jerusalem was last time? It wasn’t <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">because He cleaned out the temple with whip or knocked over the tables of commerce</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">because Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath</a> and then said that <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">He did it because His Father is always working on the Sabbath, and so does He</a>. Remember that? John chapter 5. That’s why they want Him dead.</div><div><br /></div><div>And He doesn’t want to be dead just yet, so He’s been hanging around in the North. But His half-brothers try to egg Him on to going down to the Feast of Tabernacles.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Festival of Shelters or the Festival of Booths was one of three biggest national annual celebrations centered in Jerusalem each year. Everybody hit town and threw a gigantic party. The Feast of Tabernacles came at the end of the harvest. So it was kind of like our Thanksgiving, but it was huge. And everybody moved out of their homes for a whole week and lived in tents. This is the like the Great Israelite Camping Extravaganza. Everybody gets out their tent or builds one out of branches and leaves and stuff and remembers what it was like to live in tents for 40 years when they were rescued from Egypt and brought safely to the Promised Land. And it was full of rejoicing. It was a gigantic camping party for the whole nation!</div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus’ half-brothers are like, “Hey, Jesus! You like to make everything about yourself. You should make this about yourself. You should go to Town and do some of your miracles. You don’t get a name for yourself in Nazareth, in Pinchy. You go to Washington D.C. You go to New York City. You got London. You go to Jerusalem. How about it?”</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice that verse 5 says that they did not believe. Either they had never seen the miracles themselves or they didn’t believe what the signs were pointing to. Either way, they did not believe. Not yet anyway. So they’re trying to push Him out into the world and take center stage. And Jesus says, “Not yet.” Look at verse 6.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Therefore Jesus told them, ‘The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.’ Having said this, he stayed in Galilee” (vv.6-9).</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice that Jesus has perfect timing. He knows that there will be a time to go to Jerusalem. There will be a time to get in front of everyone. It just wasn’t that day. We’re going to see this idea of perfect timing, of Jesus’ time, Jesus’ hour not yet coming and then coming again and again in the Gospel of John.</div><div><br /></div><div>What’s interesting is that soon after they all leave, Jesus does go to the Feast. Look at verse 10.</div><div><br /></div><div>“However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. [Jesus is being strategic. He’s not going to make a miraculous splash. Though He is going to make a splash. V.11] Now at the Feast [There’s our sermon title.] the Jews were watching for him and asking, ‘Where is that man?’ Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, ‘He is a good man.’ Others replied, ‘No, he deceives the people.’ But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews” (vv.10-13).</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is there among them, quietly. Not like the Triumphal Entry. He’s not riding the donkey and with the palm branches being laid before Him. He’s got His hood up, and He’s just moving quietly through the crowd. I get the sense that He’s left His disciples behind. Or He’s asked a few of them come with Him quietly. </div><div><br /></div><div>He’s listening to the chatter. Everybody’s talking about Him. And they are divided. Is He good or a deceiver? And nobody is making big speeches in support Him because they are afraid of the authorities–the ones who are out for His blood. People are afraid of being canceled.</div><div><br /></div><div>And, about halfway through the week, Jesus decides it’s now time to speak up. V.14</div><div><br /></div><div>“Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. [I wonder what that was like? It was clearly amazing. And it threw the religious leaders into a tizzy. V.15] The Jews were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without having studied?’ [He never followed another rabbi.] Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?’” (vv.14-19).</div><div><br /></div><div>He doesn’t play around, does He? Neither do the Jews. They are locked in a conflict here. And there is no middle ground. They are like, “Where did you get this teaching?” And Jesus is like, “From God.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice how many times He says, “not my own” and how many times He says, “from him who sent me.”</div><div><br /></div><div>‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. [That’s God the Father!] If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember Who Jesus is claiming to be? He’s claiming to be God’s Son. The <i>monogenays</i>. The Son of God and God the Son. He is claiming to be God but not God on His Own, but God from God. Very God of very God. Have you decided yet if that’s Who He really is?</div><div> </div><div>Notice the promise in verse 17. “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” </div><div><br /></div><div>“Whether or not I am who I claim to be.” If you want to know if Jesus is the real deal, commit yourself to doing God’s will no matter what it turns out to be. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Start there. If you truly commit yourself to following the evidence wherever it leads, you will see that Jesus is Who He said He is. </div><div><br /></div><div>These people were not doing that. Instead of being committed to the truth, they were trying to kill the Truth. “Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?’” (v.19).</div><div><br /></div><div>They think He’s bonkers or worse. V.20</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘You are demon-possessed,’ the crowd answered. ‘Who is trying to kill you?’ [Jesus say, “Oh, how soon we forget! V.21] Jesus said to them, ‘I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. [What was the miracle? It’s the one from chapter 5 that they are so obsessed with. He healed a man on the Sabbath. V.22] Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you see what He’s saying?</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve got three points of application this morning “at the feast,” and this is the first one.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#1. LOOK DEEPER.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make right judgment.” They were so focused on how bad it looked that He had healed a man “on the wrong day” that they didn’t think about what that actually meant.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says, “Yeah, it was a Sabbath. So what? You will circumcise a boy on the Sabbath if it falls on eighth day from when he was born, and that’s cutting something off of him. I gave someone complete healing on the Sabbath.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Or as He said elsewhere, “The Sabbath was made humans, not humans made for the Sabbath. So maybe just maybe I am the Lord of the Sabbath?!” </div><div><br /></div><div>Look deeper. Commit to the fear of the Lord. Choose to do God’s will (v.17). Look deeper into the claims of Jesus, and you will be astonished by what you find.</div><div><br /></div><div>I know that most of here are committed Christians. We’ve already made our big decision about this. Praise God! I hope this is just encouragement for you to keep on going in your faith. But others among us may have been drug here by someone else. A spouse. A parent. A boyfriend or girlfriend. Even a child. Or maybe you’re here because you want to be, but you’re not yet sure about Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>If that’s you, I’m so glad you’re here. Look deeper. If you have questions, bring them. That’s why we’re here. And, it’s okay if you are not there yet. But I challenge you to not stop in your search. Look deeper. Look beyond just mere appearances. Because the reality is that things are often different from what they at first seem.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, it’s almost funny this stuff about whether or not they are trying to kill Him. Jesus knows that they want to kill Him. Some of them don’t know that they want to kill Him. But lots of other people do know that they want to kill Him. And they are confused why nobody is killing Him! Look at verse 25.</div><div><br /></div><div>“At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, ‘Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? </div><div><br /></div><div>But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from’” (vv.25-27). </div><div><br /></div><div>The crowd is just buzzing! “Hmm. Jesus is still alive. Does that mean the authorities think He is the Messiah? Can’t be.” These particular folks have gotten the idea that the Messiah is just going to burst on the scene, out of nowhere. And they think they know all about Jesus. He’s from Nazareth.</div><div><br /></div><div>And when Jesus hears that, He gets loud. Look at verse 28.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts [nobody’s touching Him], cried out [LOUD], ‘Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own [there He goes again], but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.’ At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come” (vv.28-30).</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is a broken record, isn’t He? He’s a little sarcastic. “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from.” NOT! They don’t really know where He’s from. He’s from His Father. He is the Word of God. Right? This is living out <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">the Prologue of John’s Gospel</a>. This is John chapter 1 stuff:</div><div><br /></div><div>“The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.... The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (Jn. 1:5-11 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14 NIVO). </div><div><br /></div><div>And what is the Greek word for “made His dwelling?” in John 1:14? It’s the word we get the word “tabernacle” from! Jesus came to camp among us.</div><div><br /></div><div>No wonder He makes everything about Himself. Everything is about Him! Even this festival. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Jews realize that He’s claiming once again to be God’s Son, sent by God, so they try to arrest Him. But they fail. Verse 30 says “no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.” It’s coming. His time is coming. But it is not yet here. So He escapes their grasp once more.</div><div><br /></div><div>And some people listening come to faith. They look deeper and they see where the signs are pointing. V.31</div><div><br /></div><div>“Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, ‘When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (Jn. 1:12 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, and that burnt the jealousy of the Jewish leaders. Verse 32.</div><div><br /></div><div>“The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him. [And when the get to Him, they are arrested by Him. He confronts them with these words. V.33] Jesus said, ‘I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.’” (vv.32-34).</div><div><br /></div><div>We know what He’s talking about. It’s obvious to us who know the rest of the story, but it was mysterious to them. V.35</div><div><br /></div><div>“The Jews said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What did he mean when he said, 'You will look for me, but you will not find me,' and 'Where I am, you cannot come'?’” (vv.35-36).</div><div><br /></div><div>They’re just scratching their heads. They think that Jesus is going to go abroad. They don’t realize that He’s saying He’s going to go to heaven. They don’t understand where He’s come from so they don’t understand where He’s going. So they walk away in a daze.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the comes the last day of the feast. At first, He wasn’t going to go. The timing wasn’t right.</div><div>Then, He went quietly. And then the time was right to teach and to argue. And now it’s time to issue His invitation. It’s time for Jesus to get as loud as He ever gets.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, I haven’t told you yet about <a href="https://www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/yeshua-and-the-sukkot-water-drawing-festival/">the major symbolic ritual that the Jews did in Jerusalem every day of the Feast of Tabernacles.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Every day of the feast, a golden flagon (a huge pitcher) was filled with clear, pure water from the pool of Siloam and was carried in a procession led by the High Priest back to the temple. </div><div><br /></div><div>It was called “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simchat_Beit_HaShoeivah">Simchat Beit Hashoavah</a>,” “The Joy of Drawing Water.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to one scholar's description of this procession:</div><div><br /></div><div>“As the procession approached the watergate on the south side of the inner court three blasts from the shofar–a trumpet connected with joyful occasions–were sounded. While the pilgrims watched, the priests processed around the altar with the flagon, the temple choir singing [in progression Psalms 113-118]. When the choir reached Psalm 118, every male pilgrim shook a lulav (willow and myrtle twigs tied with a palm) in his right hand, while his left raised a piece of citrus fruit (a sign of the ingathered harvest), and all cried, ‘Give thanks to the Lord!’ three times. The water was offered to God at the time of the morning sacrifice. ... These ceremonies of the Feast of Tabernacles were related in Jewish thought both to the Lord's provision of water in the desert and to the Lord's pouring out of the Spirit in the last days" (Carson, 322).</div><div><br /></div><div>And I think on the last day, the priest went around the altar seven times and the crowd got loud and louder before they poured out the water! The cheering must have been deafening.</div><div><br /></div><div>Water was incredibly important to the Jewish people and was never celebrated more than at this Feast.</div><div><br /></div><div>And guess what Jesus is now going to do?</div><div><br /></div><div><i>He’s going to make it all about Himself. </i></div><div><br /></div><div>Look at verse 37. “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified” (vv.37-39).</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#2. COME TO JESUS.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>He’s inviting you and me to come to Him. He’s SHOUTING out His invitation.</div><div><br /></div><div>“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s just like what He said to the woman at the well, isn’t it? But He’s not in Samaria now. He’s in Jerusalem. He’s on CNN and FoxNews and the BBC and Al-Jezeera. And He’s saying it loudly so that everyone can here. "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”</div><div><br /></div><div>You see how He’s making his Feast all about Him? That’s because it’s all about Him. Every eye in the temple has turned toward Him at this moment. Everything stops. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was at the moment when everybody was going ballistic about the water that He said. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!” [He’s<i> not</i> scared, is He?]</div><div><br /></div><div>And He doesn’t say, “Come to God and drink.” He says, “Come to ME and drink.” And verse 38 makes it clear that the drinking of Jesus as water is another metaphor for true faith. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/i-am-bread-of-life-matts-messages.html">Just like eating the flesh and drinking the blood was in the last chapter.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>It’s totally taking in Jesus. </div><div>It’s finding your satisfaction in Christ.</div><div>It’s being fully engaged with Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>True faith treats Jesus like He’s the water we need to live. </div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Because He is the water we need to live. </i>He’s the only thing that will quench our spiritual thirst forever. If we believe in Him, then we get the Holy Spirit to life and flow inside of us. Look at verse 38 and 39 again. “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit...”</div><div><br /></div><div>This is amazing. You and I have this water flowing in us right now if we have come to believe in Jesus. That Spirit is doing this right here, right now in this very room in the hearts of every true believer in Jesus. The Spirit had not yet been poured out at Pentecost. The Third Person of the Trinity will not come in all of that fullness until after the Cross and the Empty Tomb and the Ascension.</div><div><br /></div><div>But we live on the other side of all of that! We have the Spirit living in and flowing in us in this exact way that Jesus is promising in verse 38. He has come and quenching our spiritual thirst and will do so forever and ever and ever. For those who believe in Jesus and come to Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>Come to Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>You have to decide for yourself. That’s the last third and last point today.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#3. DECIDE FOR YOURSELF.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Look deeper into who Jesus really is. Hear His invitation to believe in and drink Him up. And then decide for yourself. I can’t make that decision for you. Nobody can. Everybody has to come to that decision for themselves.</div><div><br /></div><div>These folks listening to Jesus were divided. Some were impressed. Others were not. Look at verse 40.</div><div><br /></div><div>“On hearing his words, some of the people said, ‘Surely this man is the Prophet.’ Others said, ‘He is the Christ.’ [I believe He’s both!] Still others asked, ‘How can the Christ come from Galilee?</div><div><br /></div><div>Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?’ Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Look deeper! It turns out if you look into it that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Was from David’s Royal family. But was also from Galilee. He’s both and all of that. And so much more. But you have to decide for yourself.</div><div><br /></div><div>The people were divided because of Jesus. V.44</div><div><br /></div><div>“Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn't you bring him in?’ </div><div><br /></div><div>‘No one ever spoke the way this man does,’ the guards declared. [We didn’t know what to do! He had more power in His words than you and yours.] </div><div><br /></div><div>‘You mean he has deceived you also?’ the Pharisees retorted. ‘Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law–there is a curse on them.’</div><div><br /></div><div>[Hmm. Maybe some of the Pharisees have believed. Verse 50.] </div><div><br /></div><div>Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier [<a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">Nick at Night</a>] and who was one of their own number, asked, ‘Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?’ They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee” (vv.44-52).</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Have you made up your mind yet about Who you think Jesus really is? You have to decide for yourself what you will make of Jesus. Nicodemus is beginning to speak up. He had come to Jesus at secretly at night. He started out in the dark. But it looks like he might be coming into the light. What about you?</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, Jesus has a way of making everything about Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I believe that’s because everything is about Him. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><div><br /></div><b><i>Messages in this Series<br /></i></b><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/testimony-about-me-matts-messages.html">15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-astonishing-gift-matts-messages.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/we-have-seen-his-glory-christ-candle.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/enough-bread-matts-messages.html">16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/you-are-looking-for-me-matts-messages.html">17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/i-am-bread-of-life-matts-messages.html">18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/as-i-have-loved-you-matts-messages.html">Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35</a>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-37513374128122868742024-01-28T17:02:00.006-05:002024-01-30T12:00:09.392-05:00“As I Have Loved You” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyzQbEq2Zep7_JbpBX12rUAqTNZKB-JyOl5OO_prenQjvFI2RR3EIpldpMV8UJidqn-5RjFPTa_ZM1DEDoZEmnTRPsCikVdKVhFVoRBoNTzCFuxv8LX7PlnTOfe09jUlLklZzEpm7O81lcSa-QcYS6_J4lH8m2YsCjObSOtJmGNClvQ93fhnLK4g/s960/18.5.AsIHaveLovedYou.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyzQbEq2Zep7_JbpBX12rUAqTNZKB-JyOl5OO_prenQjvFI2RR3EIpldpMV8UJidqn-5RjFPTa_ZM1DEDoZEmnTRPsCikVdKVhFVoRBoNTzCFuxv8LX7PlnTOfe09jUlLklZzEpm7O81lcSa-QcYS6_J4lH8m2YsCjObSOtJmGNClvQ93fhnLK4g/s320/18.5.AsIHaveLovedYou.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“As I Have Loved You”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>January 28, 2024 :: John 13:34-35 </b></div><div><br /></div><div>In 2024, we must grow in our obedience to Jesus’ command for us to love one another.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve skipped ahead in the Gospel of John this morning because I want to give you a taste of <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/my-annual-report-for-lanse-free-church.html">my annual report and my pastoral vision for 2024</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>We won’t get to chapter 13 for several more months. We’ve only just <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/i-am-bread-of-life-matts-messages.html">finished up chapter 6 last week</a>, but as I have been praying about what to write in my annual report for today’s meeting, my mind has kept jumping ahead 7 chapters to this “New Command” that Jesus gave His disciples in chapter 13.</div><div><br /></div><div>You know ever year I try to sum up the year with a word or a phrase. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/01/my-2023-annual-report-for-lanse-free.html">Last year it was it “good.”</a> I had been praying for a good year for us in ‘22, and the Lord gave us one, praise His name.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the word I ended up choosing for ‘23 was “<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/my-annual-report-for-lanse-free-church.html">exceptional</a>.” I had been praying that the Lord would “<i>shalom</i>” us or “prosper” us in ‘23, and I believe He gave us an exceptionally prosperous year. </div><div><br /></div><div>There has never been a year quite like 2023 for Lanse Free Church. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/07/he-restores-my-soul-sabbatical.html">One exceptional thing was the sabbatical that you gave me last year.</a> You graciously relieved me of my pastoral responsibilities for an entire quarter of the year. I was gone from May to July, and you gave me a much needed rest. <b><i>THANK YOU SO MUCH!</i></b> I can’t tell you grateful I am for that. I really needed it. I had been burning the candle at both ends, and it was exactly what I needed. </div><div><br /></div><div>But you all didn’t rest while I rested. This church went full steam ahead. The church elders and other leaders carried all of my responsibilities and you all kept the pedal to the medal on our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ! I was so proud of you, and it also showed me how exceptionally healthy our church currently is.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/my-annual-report-for-lanse-free-church.html">From my report:</a> “In 2023, the Lord prospered us with more people! Our average attendance at worship grew 11.8% to 142 people per Sunday. We have a lot more than 142 people who call our church ‘home.’ Our attendance team tracked 293 distinct people who came onto our campus on Sunday mornings in 2023. A few of those were guests from out of town, but 235 different people showed up with some regularity."</div><div><br /></div><div>The Lord also prospered us with many more members. We received 11 new members at our meeting in December, and there are 8 more for us to present for membership at today’s meeting. I’m not good at math, but that’s 19 new members since this time last year. That is a 24.3% increase in church membership in the last twelve months! That’s the most new members I’ve ever seen in my 25 years here and the most members we’ve had in my time here, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Lord is doing something exceptional among us, and I praise Him for it! I say all that and a lot more in my annual report. Come to the meeting to hear more.</div><div><br /></div><div>So what is my “vision” for ‘24?</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oyo1Z68ST2Y?si=R8LwC5deqbzbmnG4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>As I think about the challenges that lay ahead, my mind keeps coming back to our Lord’s New Command for His Disciples, “You Must Love One Another.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus gave this command to His followers on the night before the crucifixion.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was at the Last Supper. Judas Iscariot had just the left the room to go betray Him. We just learned <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/i-am-bread-of-life-matts-messages.html">last week in chapter 6</a> that Judas was going to do that. Now he’s done it. And Jesus is teaching His disciples more about God’s glory. How the Father is going to glorify the Son and be glorified by the Son–paradoxically by His suffering. And Jesus has said that He is going away and that the disciples can’t follow Him there. I can hardly wait to get to chapters13 through 17 and study that passage with you in depth.</div><div><br /></div><div>But in that context, Jesus issues this command. He calls it a “new command.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you hear the repetition? Three times in two verses, Jesus presses home this command, “Love one another.” “Love one another.” “Love one another.”</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve got three points of application this morning, and they are all basically the same thing, “Love One Another.”</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#1. LOVE ONE ANOTHER TO OBEY JESUS.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>It’s interesting that we have to be commanded to do that, isn’t it? Apparently this kind of love doesn’t just happen naturally. We have to obey Jesus to do it. There must be something hard about it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Do you find it hard to love other Christians? I do. All Christians do. Christians have been struggling to love one another ever since Jesus gave this new command. That’s because we’re sinners and we’re different from each other. We don’t all see things the same way. We don’t always want the same things.</div><div><br /></div><div>And so it’s work. It’s hard work to love one another. </div><div><br /></div><div>Love always sounds good until you have to start doing it. Think about 1 Corinthians 13. The “love chapter,” right? We love to read about love in February which is right around the corner.</div><div><br /></div><div>1 Corinthians 13 says this, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:4-8 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>That sounds great, doesn’t it? Remember when we memorized that together? <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2008/12/learning-to-love.html">2008 that was.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>It sounds great until you realize you have to actually do it.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s hard to be patient.</div><div>It’s hard to always be kind.</div><div>It takes work to not envy, to not boast, to not be proud.</div><div>It’s hard to not be rude, to not be self-seeking, to not be easily angered.</div><div>It’s hard to not keep a record of wrongs!</div><div><br /></div><div>But that’s what Jesus says we need to do with each other.</div><div><br /></div><div>Love one another to obey Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>Those words “one another” are super important. <a href="https://www.watermark.org/blog/the-one-anothers-of-scripture">They show up again and again in the New Testament. </a></div><div><br /></div><div>And every time they do, they give us another facet of what it means to love one another. I think there are over 50 times when the New Testament tells us something we are supposed to do to or with one another.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of these years, I could preach an entire year and just do a different “one another” each week.</div><div><br /></div><div>Though a bunch of them are simply “love one another” or some variation of that. John, especially, is stuck on repeating the New Command so that we get it stuck in our little brains.</div><div><br /></div><div>One another</div><div>One another </div><div>One another.</div><div><br /></div><div>It starts in many ways with knowing one another, right?</div><div><br /></div><div>I think that’s one of our major challenges as a church right now. If there are 235 regular attenders and 142 of them on any given Sunday, it’s hard for us to love each other because we don’t know each other.</div><div><br /></div><div>And every one of us has that problem. I hear that from our older members, and I hear it from our new attenders. “I just don’t know all of those new people.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And who do you think has it hardest? It’s the newer people. Because they hardly know anybody!</div><div><br /></div><div>So, I love the new feature that Jenni is doing in the bulletin, where we get to know our new members. And we have a lovely picture of Sue in this week’s bulletin and all about her. Thank you, Sue.</div><div><br /></div><div>But we really need to do this for everybody, especially those who have been here for a long time. Because not only do we all need to know Sue, but Sue needs help to know everybody else.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, there’s this amazing tool called The Church Directory. And Jenni is updating that. It’s a list of all the people who call this church their family and how to get a hold of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>And we give this to everyone who calls this church their family. We put it in their mailboxes! Have you checked out your family’s information in the directory for Jenni?</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you updated your photo? Just like we have a photo of Sue, and it’s so helpful to know who that is, we would like to have an updated photo of YOU so that people can put a name to that face. And how that face looks today. You don’t want a picture of me with wavy hair on top of my head. Nobody would recognize me. Some of your kids are tiny in those pictures, and they are not tiny any more.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the Lord has something even more powerful than the directory that we can do to solve this problem as a church family that He has also commanded us to do in the New Testament to love one another.</div><div><br /></div><div>And it’s really simple, but it’s really powerful.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Greet One Another.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>The Apostle Paul is big on that command. Greet one another in the Lord. That means to say, “Hi.” It means to cross a boundary and welcome somebody. It means to shake a hand. It means to ask, “How was your week?” It means to say, “I see you there.” With a little kid, it’s to get down on their level.</div><div><br /></div><div>And we’re doing it. I see you doing it. I see you greeting one another every Sunday. Keep it up, and do more. Don’t just greet your friends. Don’t just greet the people you greet every week. Keep greeting them, but expand. Go after others. Make it your goal to greet someone this week that you haven’t greeted yet or recently. Don’t wait for them to do it for you. Go and greet them.</div><div><br /></div><div>If everybody does it, we’ll all meet in the middle!</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t worry about whether they have been a part of the church a long time and you’re a new person. Everybody is feeling disconnected right now. So many of you feel new. If you have been coming for a month or more then you’re part of the old group now. Greet one another. Welcome one another. Ask someone their name.</div><div><br /></div><div>You might have to do it several times before you get it down. That’s okay. The Bible doesn’t say, “Remember everybody’s names.” It says, “Greet one another.” “Greet one another.” “Greet one another.” “Greet one another.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And it says, “Pray for one another.” That’s another powerful way to show love for the other disciples. When people bring up prayer requests here in church. Jot it down and then pray for them. I know you do that. Keep it up!</div><div><br /></div><div>And Denise is doing a wonderful job of keeping us updated on various prayer requests that come across on email. Do you get the prayer emails from Denise? See Jenni to get signed up for those. They come at all hours of the week into you inbox and then you can pray for them whenever you get them wherever you are.</div><div><br /></div><div>You know one of the best places to pray? It’s right here in this room. Take a prayer request from the people you greet on a Sunday, and pray for them right then and there! Ten seconds of prayer on a Sunday can be used of God to answer their need and knit you together with your brother and sister in Christ in Christian love.</div><div><br /></div><div>We’ve got to spend more time with one another. That might be just lingering a few more minutes after church on Sundays. Don’t run out the door. Find somebody after church to build fellowship with.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Bible says that need to “Show Hospitality to One Another.” To open up homes to another. To invite each other out for lunch. Everybody in this church eats. I know that for a fact. Everybody in this church eats. So the Bible encourages us to eat with one another. A bunch of us are going to do that in just a few minutes. We are OBEYING Jesus when we eat with one another!</div><div><br /></div><div>Who could you invite out for lunch or over for lunch after church? Or on a Saturday or on a weeknight?</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve got a whole list of people right here you could choose from! We need each other. We need to build community with one another. Nancy just recently gave me a little devotional page that she had read and been encouraged by from the Daily Bread.</div><div><br /></div><div>It says, “Community is essential for our growth and support. Don’t try to go it alone. God will develop that sense of community as you share your struggles and joys with others and draw near to Him together.” Amen!</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s why we have things like the Ladies Fellowship Hour and the Skacel’s Community Group. And the youth group meeting starting tonight. And the Prayer Meeting. Because we need to get into each other’s lives. In obedience to Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s not always going to be easy. Especially when we rub each other the wrong way. Another way we obey Jesus and show love for one another is to: “Forgive one another.” And to “Bear with one another.” These disciples of Jesus were going to disagree. They were going to sin each other. They were going to struggle to get along with one another. All Christians do.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Jesus wanted them to love one another and that always means being ready to reconcile and forgive and bear with each other in our weaknesses and failings. And the more Christians you have, the more sin you’re going to have that needs to forgiving.</div><div><br /></div><div>People ask me if I’m excited that our church has grown so much, and I am. But I also say, “More people, more problems.” “More sinners, more sinning.” And more people for me to hurt <i>through my sin</i>. We are going to need much grace for us to get along with another as we grow.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our older generation is much larger than our younger generation. Even a lot of our newer members are older people. So our older generation (including me) needs to bear with the younger generation, especially as the younger generation steps up to lead us into the future. And our younger generation (no longer including me) needs to bear with the older generation as you step into leadership of church family into the future. New people will want do things in new ways. And we’ll need to be patient with one another as we work it all out.</div><div><br /></div><div>And as we work it all out, we will not only obey Jesus, but honor Him.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#2. LOVE ONE ANOTHER TO HONOR JESUS.</i></b></div><div> </div><div>As we love one another, we will bring honor to our Lord. We will show that we are His disciples. That’s what He says in verse 35.</div><div><br /></div><div>“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s a “distinguishing mark” of the Christian to have brotherly love. The world will know that we belong to Jesus if we love one another. </div><div><br /></div><div>Say to the person next to you, “We get to love another in ‘24.” Ok. That was easy. Now say it to the person in front of you and the person behind you. “We get to love another in ‘24.” </div><div><br /></div><div>And when we do, the world will have to sit up and take notice. There is a great need and opportunity for Christian love in our nation and world right now. I don’t know whether you’ve noticed it or not, but it looks like it’s another national election year in America. I thought we just did that! And it looks downright divisive once again. Will those that name the name of Christ be known for their love in 2024?</div><div><br /></div><div>We have in this room Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and Non-Voters–all Christians. We will love one another in ‘24? Will the world see the Christians loving each other say to themselves, “What is going on over there? I want some of that. Those people are really different from one another. And they disagree. Maybe strongly. And yet they obviously are loving one another.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And of course, loving one another isn’t even the hardest thing that Jesus asks us to do. He commands us to love even our enemies. But that’s another message for another day. Do you see the opportunity the church has to honor Jesus in our world in ‘24?</div><div><br /></div><div>There is an epidemic of loneliness in our society right now. There’s all kinds of causes for that. But whatever they are, it’s out there. People are lonely. They may be “connected,” through social media, to more people than ever but they feel disconnected. They feel alone. What an opportunity we have to BE FAMILY for those folks! So that we can all sing, “I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God.”</div><div><br /></div><div>As we enfold people into our church family, we are honoring Jesus. We are acting as His disciples.</div><div><br /></div><div>“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”</div><div><br /></div><div><i>By this! </i>Not by what we proclaim about ourselves on our social media. Not by our bumper stickers. But by how we treat one another. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”</div><div><br /></div><div>How are you doing obeying that command?</div><div>When you read those words, what comes to your mind?</div><div>How does this sit with you this morning?</div><div>What changes might you need to make?</div><div>What is the Holy Spirit saying to you heart?</div><div>What is He putting His finger on?</div><div><br /></div><div>Because just as we have a great opportunity to honor the Lord Jesus by loving one another in 2024, we can also greatly dishonor the Lord Jesus by failing to love another this year, as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>And don’t think that even as I emphasize bearing with and being patient with and living in harmony with one another, that I don’t recognize that another key part of loving one another is exhorting one another and speaking the truth to one another.</div><div><br /></div><div>We may need to be sharp with one another at times this year because love speaks truth even when it hurts. The wounds of a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses (Prov. 27:6)! But those kinds of wounds are always for the ultimate purpose of healing. They are always patient, always kind. Never rude.</div><div><br /></div><div>“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That is the command of our Commander.</div><div><br /></div><div>Those are the orders of our Lord.</div><div><br /></div><div>And He didn’t just tell us all to do it, He showed us all how it’s done.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#3. LOVE ONE ANOTHER TO FOLLOW JESUS.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>In His example.</div><div><br /></div><div>What is new about this New Command? Why does Jesus say that it’s new? I mean the Bible has told God’s people to show love for a long time before this, right? It’s the Law of Moses to show love. Love God and love your neighbor. That sums up the Law, right? So that’s not new.</div><div><br /></div><div>I suppose it’s a little new that this is Jesus saying it to His disciples. So it’s not just love your neighbor but love your fellow follower of Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I think the real newness of this command is the new standard of what love looks like. It used to be “Love you neighbor as you love yourself.” That’s in Leviticus 19:18. And it’s still a good guide for our conduct today. Love as you want to be loved. But He goes deeper here, doesn’t He? Look at verse 34 one more time. </div><div><br /></div><div>“A new command I give you: Love one another. <i>As I have loved you</i>, so you must love one another.”</div><div><br /></div><div>He has shown us how it’s done. Earlier this very evening, He started the meal by taking a bucket and a towel and walking around the table washing His disciples feet. He acted like a servant, putting their needs about His.</div><div><br /></div><div>And in just a few hours, He’s going to get nailed to a Cross to show the true extent of His love. His love is so sacrificial and so powerful that He actually saves people eternally with it.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (Jn. 5:24 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>Because Jesus went to the Cross for you. You can cross over from death to life.</div><div><br /></div><div>And you can love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Not just to love them as you want to be loved but to love our brothers and sisters like our Savior has loved you!</div><div><br /></div><div>You can follow Jesus’ example and obey His new command. And if we do that (however imperfectly), people will have to stand up and take notice. And they will be drawn to Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>And our church will be <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/my-annual-report-for-lanse-free-church.html">exceptionally blessed</a> once again.</div><div><br /></div><div>We must love one other in 2024.</div><div>We get to love one another in 2024.</div><div>And Jesus will get the glory.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><br /><b><i>Messages in this Series<br /></i></b><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/testimony-about-me-matts-messages.html">15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-astonishing-gift-matts-messages.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/we-have-seen-his-glory-christ-candle.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/enough-bread-matts-messages.html">16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/you-are-looking-for-me-matts-messages.html">17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/i-am-bread-of-life-matts-messages.html">18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71</a>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-41050102354570149962024-01-26T08:30:00.022-05:002024-01-26T11:04:03.057-05:00My Annual Report for Lanse Free Church: 2023 in Review<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church exists to glorify God</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>by bringing people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>through worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKx5xwDbWdCOZofmX6zuvdp9V9Tsd3Oa0ZZTWUpLsayntym1fzJgsjpGQeItVLiQ_tWvjreFPbE02LU9GfpqpXpSnZ6lsa-duft_URGw7JORZLNy-zVqsweYJ4rOVB2vuwJApWf8vkBh7rDyKG2rssOjPGSRsje7jrcX9f0HLKTy6JWaAkqxkyg/s5184/LEFC_CelebSunday_10.8.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKx5xwDbWdCOZofmX6zuvdp9V9Tsd3Oa0ZZTWUpLsayntym1fzJgsjpGQeItVLiQ_tWvjreFPbE02LU9GfpqpXpSnZ6lsa-duft_URGw7JORZLNy-zVqsweYJ4rOVB2vuwJApWf8vkBh7rDyKG2rssOjPGSRsje7jrcX9f0HLKTy6JWaAkqxkyg/w640-h426/LEFC_CelebSunday_10.8.23.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><b><div><b><br /></b></div>The Annual Pastoral Report</b></div><div><b>Pastor Matt Mitchell</b></div><div><b>Year in Review: 2023</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Dear Church Family,</div><div><br /></div><div>This past year was <i>exceptional</i>. 2023 wasn’t as <i>difficult</i> or <i>tumultuous</i> as <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2021/01/my-2021-annual-report-for-lanse-free.html">2020</a> and <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2022/01/my-2022-annual-report-for-lanse-free.html">2021</a> or as <i><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/01/2022-family-ministries-report.html">pivotal</a></i> as <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/01/my-2023-annual-report-for-lanse-free.html">2022</a>, but it also wasn’t very routine either. In our 131 year history as a congregation, there hasn’t been another year like 2023. </div><div><br /></div><div>Not only did LEFC reach the milestone of being shepherded by the same pastor for twenty-five consecutive years (exceptional for us!), but you also granted me a three month sabbatical to celebrate that ministry anniversary and recharge my batteries. For an entire quarter of the year, I was graciously relieved of my pastoral responsibilities and freed to travel, reflect, and rest.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the church family did not rest! Our faithful team of Elders and other wonderful church leaders stepped up to cover all of the pastoral functions during my sabbatical and led our congregation forward in our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ. Read the other reports in these pages to get a sense of all that was accomplished. When I returned refreshed from my sabbatical, I felt so encouraged that the church family <i>missed</i> me but didn’t <i>need</i> me. That spoke volumes about how exceptionally healthy our church family currently is. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can read about our adventures in Great Britain and some of the ways that the Lord gave rest to my soul in <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/07/he-restores-my-soul-sabbatical.html">my sabbatical reflections which are included elsewhere in this annual report (along with some of the 3,000+ pictures I took!)</a>. Thank you for granting me the sabbatical, praying for Heather and me as we were away, and so graciously receiving us when we came back. It is a exceptional joy to be your pastor.</div><div><br /></div><div>And on top of all of that, the congregation unanimously decided to approve a part-time ministry staff position and begin a prayerful search for our very first Director of Family Ministry. There has never been a year like 2023 for Lanse Free Church!</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">An Exceptionally Prosperous Year</span></i></b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/01/my-2023-annual-report-for-lanse-free.html">In my last annual report</a>, I wrote, “I am praying for the Lord to ‘shalom’ us in 2023....I long for Him to prosper us more.” We had been <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2022/12/i-know-plans-i-have-for-you-matts.html">learning</a> the wonderful promise of Jeremiah 29:11 and the LORD’s plans to “<i>shalom</i>” His people with a hope and future. I was praying that God would bestow on us “the fullness of blessing and comprehensive peacefulness where everything is as it should be.” <i>Shalom</i> does not always mean financial or physical blessing, at least not in the short run, but it does mean that God provides an overriding and underlying peace in the midst of any situation and gives us firm assurance that no harm will ultimately befall us. <i>Shalom</i> is a foretaste of all of the blessings to come.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m pleased to report that in so many ways the Lord gave us an exceptionally prosperous year in 2023. He provided for us at every turn. He gave Heather and me “<i>shalom</i>” on our “<i>shabbath</i>” (peace on our sabbatical), and provided all of the resources for our church to prosper while we were off and away. Over the course of the year, all of our needs were met, all of our bills were paid, all of our missionaries were supported, and we were also able to remodel the men’s restroom and give over and above to various ministry initiatives like the FBW Missions Project.</div><div><br /></div><div>In 2023, the Lord prospered us with more people! Our average attendance at worship grew 11.8% to 142 people per Sunday. The lowest attended Sundays had 106 people present (January 1st and July 2nd), and the highest attended Sunday was Resurrection Sunday (April 9th) with 200 people counted.</div><div><br /></div><div>We have a lot more than 142 people who call our church “home.” Our attendance team tracked 293 distinct people who came onto our campus on Sunday mornings in 2023. A few of those were guests from out of town, but 235 different people showed up with some regularity.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Lord also prospered us with many more members. Including the ones we are presenting at this annual reports meeting, we have added 19 new members since this time last year. That is a 24.3% increase in church membership in the last twelve months! I’m excited to see how we are blessed by and can be a blessing to Bonnie, Sue, Les and June, Scott and Karen, Rob and Bev, Frank and Joan, Art and Shelly, Will, Joe, Denise, Darren and Judy, and Chip and Kim as they assume the privileges and responsibilities of membership.</div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>In 2023, the Lord prospered us with several baptisms. We celebrated the joy of salvation with <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-new-creation-matts-messages.html">Ron</a>, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/04/i-am-with-you-always-matts-messagse.html">Natalie, Carter</a>, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/why-did-jesus-get-baptized-matts.html">Darren, and Simon</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Lord prospered us with newborn lives. Miles and Jen were blessed with Lila, and Josh and Katie were given Claire. Our church family got to pray for both of them as their parents dedicated themselves to raising these precious girls in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Lord prospered us with new ministries. I love how the Ladies Fellowship Hour has become such a vital part of life for many of the women in our church each week and how the Skacel’s Community Group fills a similar void for some of our families. My favorite new ministry of 2023 is “Snack and Yack,” our sermon-talk-back time for kids who join one of the Elders and their wives in my office to interact about what they have just learned in church. Not only is it lots of fun, but I think it may yield a long-term spiritual harvest in their lives.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Lord prospered us with new missionaries in 2023. I look forward to seeing how our deeper partnership with Peter and Deb Bors of ReachGlobal will bring more help and hope for people around our nation going through a major crisis such as a flood, fire, or other disaster.</div><div><br /></div><div>In 2023, the Lord prospered us with great leaders and staff. Our LEFC Elders–Keith (chairman), Joel (vice-chairman), Cody, and Abe were all-stars this year shouldering all the burdens of pastoral ministry. The stalwart Cindy kept everything tidy. The unflappable Misty “held down the fort” in the church office while I was away and kept us all pointed in the right direction. And when Misty was led to transition out of the office, we were blessed by the Lord’s provision of Jenni to take her place. Jenni has a heart to serve, a desire to learn, new ideas for the future, and a fresh can-do attitude. Holly volunteered to carry the weight of leading our burgeoning new Family Ministry initiatives. Because of these and other leaders, we didn’t lose momentum even when I was taken out of the ministry equation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Praise God! The Lord exceptionally prospered our church family in 2023.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Pastoral Ministry</span></i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>For more than a quarter of a century now, I have had the high privilege of serving as your pastor which I have always envisioned as a blend of three major responsibilities: preaching, equipping, and shepherding.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Preach the Word (2 Timothy 4:2)</i></div><div><br /></div><div>In 2023, I completed one major preaching project and began another. In the winter and spring, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/03/uprooted-words-of-jeremiah.html">we finished “Uprooted,” our study of the Prophecy of Jeremiah</a>. Fifty-two chapters in thirty-six messages! I loved <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/04/great-commentaries-on-book-of-jeremiah.html">getting to know Jeremiah</a> the man and author and sharing his broken-record message about a broken covenant and the promise of a New Covenant that was on the way. </div><div><br /></div><div>When I returned from sabbatical, we launched into a study of The Gospel of John that we’re calling, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/search/label/Life%20in%20Jesus%27%20Name">“Life in Jesus’ Name.”</a> It’s great to return to John’s Gospel which I preached before twenty five years ago and to see, feel, and proclaim once again how <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-astonishing-gift-matts-messages.html">astonishingly wonderful our Savior is</a>. His truth is <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">mind-blowing</a> and <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">life-giving</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Because of my sabbatical, I only got to preach 70% of the Sundays of 2023. I was out of the pulpit for more Sundays than I have ever been since I arrived at LEFC in 1998 (16 of the 53 Sundays). Our church family, however, did not miss even one <a href="https://lansefree.org/resources/sermon-video-archive/">nourishing spiritual meal</a>! Our own LEFC Elders did almost all of the other preaching this year with Joel, Abe, and Cody taking on multiple weeks! You also heard from Kerry Doyal, Donnie Rosie, and a musical message for Mother’s Day with Jim Knepp. Special thanks goes to Keith Folmar for coordinating all of the pulpit ministry in 2023.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Equip the Saints (Ephesians 4:12)</i></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>I have often gauged my effectiveness in equipping others for ministry by noting how many ministry things happen without my presence being required. If I’m doing my job right, then very many good things are going on without my even knowing it!</div><div><br /></div><div>By that standard, 2023 was an exceptional year for equipping the saints for ministry at LEFC. In the first four months, I focused on making sure all of the bases were covered for my departure, and in the last five months I worked hard at not taking back any of the ministry roles that someone else should be doing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, I still spend a lot of my time coming alongside our ministry leaders to encourage and resource them in their efforts and get involved in what they’re working on. But I’m also increasingly trying to stay out of their way.</div><div><br /></div><div>One key development this year was seeing our Elders growing more into the pastoral side of their ministry. Joel led the baptisms for Carter and Natalie in April. Abe led the baptism for Darren and even taught his baptism class. Keith Folmar led the Child Dedication time for Lila. Cody is leading our search for the Director of Family Ministry. These may seem like small things, but I know that they are significant signs of ministry health, and I look forward to sharing ministry even more in the years to come.</div><div><br /></div><div>As in previous years, I continued to be involved in equipping ministry beyond our local church. I chaired our Allegheny District Constitutions and Credentials Board overseeing two ordinations of district pastors, coordinating the <a href="https://waterdam.org/resources/stay-sharp/">Stay Sharp Theology Conference</a>, and helping our team transition the credentialing process onto <a href="https://credentialing.efca.org/">an online portal</a>. I served on the EFCA Spiritual Heritage Committee and coordinated the book review for the <a href="https://blogs.efca.org/">EFCA Blog</a>. My book, <i><a href="https://www.clcpublications.com/shop/resisting-gossip/">Resisting Gossip</a></i> turned 10 years old in September and is still helping new readers win the war of the wagging tongue.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Shepherd the Flock (1 Peter 5:2)</i></div><div><br /></div><div>I loved spending meaningful time with our church families in 2023. When I wasn’t <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/07/he-restores-my-soul-sabbatical.html">gallivanting across Great Britain</a>, I got to visit in your homes and businesses, cheer on your talented kids at sporting events and concerts, and walk alongside you through hard things such as illnesses and deaths in your families. </div><div><br /></div><div>In 2023, I led funerals and memorial services for John Kendrick, Marie Krasinski, Carol Almgren, Albert Green, Janice Mitchell (my dad’s cousin), Rosella (Araway) DeyArmin, and Steve Lutz. I also got to spend precious time with Ron Bean and Betty Sankey in their final days.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also got to listen and provide spiritual counsel to you as you made big decisions for your life and family. It is a great privilege to shepherd people at all ages and stages of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you for allowing me into your lives and for praying and providing for me and my family, especially this year as you continued to pay me while giving me all of that much-needed time off and away. Thank you, also, for supporting the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alleghenydistrict.efca">Allegheny District</a> and my pastor, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kerry.doyal">Kerry Doyal</a>. I can’t overstate how helpful his shepherding is for me. Pastors needs pastors too, and I have an exceptional one.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">2024 Vision - “You Must Love One Another”</span></i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>As we travel through 2024, I am praying that we have yet another exceptionally prosperous year. I hope that this is the year that we find our first Director of Family Ministry. I am pleased that, after a couple of years of anticipation, we are finally getting to send a missions team to Malawi. I think we’re going to get another group of students together to return to the EFCA Challenge Conference for an awesome life-shaping experience. I expect us to make major progress on the Ark Park Pavilion project. I’m praying for more new members, new ministries, new leaders, and especially new disciples. I’m excited about our special outreaches like the Wild Game Dinner, Family Bible Week, and Good News Cruise and even more excited about our everyday witness to the gospel in our workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, and extended families.</div><div><br /></div><div>I believe the Lord will prosper us in these ways and many more as we stay faithful to our mission–“the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace” (Acts 20:24). Our message is the gospel, our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, and there is true life in His name.</div><div><br /></div><div>One crucial thing I think we need to focus on in 2024 is actively loving one another as our Lord commanded us. Shortly before He was betrayed and went to the Cross for us, our Lord Jesus gave us these marching orders:<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><i>“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”</i> (John 13:34-35)</div><div><br /></div><div>As we contemplate the busy year ahead, we need to make sure that we are focused on obeying this command, caring for one another and building each other up, pursuing each other’s best interests, and growing LEFC into an even more truly loving community.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our church family has recently grown by leaps and bounds, and that is wonderful. But it also means that a lot of us don’t know each other very well. Loving one another will start with fixing that problem. We will all need to make a special effort to greet each other (especially those we don’t know very well), linger together after worship, use the church directory and mailboxes to make connections, check on each other, invite each other out or over for meals together, and pray for one another. We need to knit ourselves together into a loving community.</div><div><br /></div><div>We’ll also need to bear with one another. Our church has changed a good bit over the last few years due to several factors including covid, culture, and the transfer of leadership from one generation to the next. New people also have new ideas about how to do things! While we are wrestling with that change and developing our plans for ministry into the future, we need to be patient with one another and bear with one another in our differences.</div><div><br /></div><div>We must love one another for the sake of the gospel. Jesus said that the world will know we are His disciples if we love one another. The flipside of that is also true. We will wreck our witness in the world if we don’t. 2024 is another national election year which threatens to be as divisive or more in our country than the last one. Our society is beset with a massive epidemic of loneliness. Our globe is rife with strife and conflict. The world desperately needs to see followers of Jesus who exhibit counter-cultural love for one another (and even for our enemies). We won’t do it perfectly in 2024, of course, but we must make it our overriding goal to obey our Lord’s command.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thankfully, our Lord Jesus has perfectly shown us how it’s done.</div><div><br /></div><div>In His Loving Grip,</div><div><br /></div><div>-<i>Pastor Matt</i></div><div><br /></div></div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-18076800233643052282024-01-21T11:45:00.082-05:002024-01-23T11:35:21.525-05:00“I Am the Bread of Life” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZiCILqHlDT-gHgQw1VOArQNzBIjNPXbPsNLgE0wmdB1xJFW-x5I_2BN_gi8V0lGofdLSTHuwOV-T2kYwMGDE6Zcsfi1Pf1I1lRAhfrVPOXmKcK99GDwKq-qBlVeJdX9A9Ly-fZ7TGC9JoFREU7yRDgnlwo_CW9I_Qwjiv_nsoawHUNsaHDy9RpQ/s960/18.IAmTheBreadOfLife.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZiCILqHlDT-gHgQw1VOArQNzBIjNPXbPsNLgE0wmdB1xJFW-x5I_2BN_gi8V0lGofdLSTHuwOV-T2kYwMGDE6Zcsfi1Pf1I1lRAhfrVPOXmKcK99GDwKq-qBlVeJdX9A9Ly-fZ7TGC9JoFREU7yRDgnlwo_CW9I_Qwjiv_nsoawHUNsaHDy9RpQ/s320/18.IAmTheBreadOfLife.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“I Am the Bread of Life”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>January 21, 2024 :: John 6:35-71 </b></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Jesus is either bonkers or bread.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>The things Jesus says! Who talks like this?! The things He says about Himself. We’re used to it. Some of us have been Christians for a very long time. Some of us haven’t known anything else. We’ve heard these things about Jesus all of our lives. So we’re used to Jesus talking like this about Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>But anybody else who talks like this either doesn’t really mean it (they are being silly or selling something) or if they do mean it, then they are crazy megalomaniacs. </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>In this passage, Jesus keeps insisting over and over again that He is the bread of life.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div>He says it in verse 35, then again in verse 48, and then something very similar in verse 51. And He says a whole lot of other incredible things to go along with it!</div><div><br /></div><div>And the people listening to Jesus don’t know what do with what they are hearing. But Jesus doesn’t back down. Instead He says it more strongly and shockingly than ever and forces His listeners to make a decision.</div><div><br /></div><div>Is Jesus bonkers or bread?</div><div><br /></div><div>What do you think?</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mqVIuAdC4go?si=Rud2zlZBrwA-aBf4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>Let me remind you how we got to this point in the story. We’ve been studying chapter 6 of the Gospel of John every Sunday so far this year (in ‘24). And bread has been the big theme. <i>Bread, bread, bread, bread, bread, bread, bread.</i> Bread everywhere.</div><div><br /></div><div>Except at the beginning of the chapter when there was almost no bread at all. Remember this? There was this huge crowd, at least 5,000 people. And they were hungry, and Jesus wanted to feed them, so He did. He took 5 little barley biscuits and 2 little fish, and <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/enough-bread-matts-messages.html">He multiplied them and fed the entire crowd.</a></div><div> </div><div><i>Bread, bread, bread, bread, bread, bread, bread.</i> Bread everywhere! There were 12 basketfuls of bread being lugged around by the disciples afterwards.</div><div><br /></div><div>That was the day before what Keagan read to us just now. Overnight [we read last week], Jesus sent His disciples in a boat across the lake, and then when a storm whipped up around the boat, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/you-are-looking-for-me-matts-messages.html">Jesus walked across the lake Himself to join His disciples</a>, walking on the water[!] and then seeing the boat safe to shore. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, if Jesus did those two miracles, then maybe [just maybe!] when He says big crazy things, they might be true?! But He does say some big crazy things!</div><div><br /></div><div>On this day, Jesus is teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum. The crowd from the day before has found Him, and they want to be fed again. Jesus has gotten feisty and combative with them. He told them that all they really cared about was their bellies. They were <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/you-are-looking-for-me-matts-messages.html">missing the point of the bread</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The bread was supposed to be a sign, pointing them to a bread that lasts forever. And they keep missing the point. They’re like, “Great. A bread that lasts? Give us that from now on. We’re hungry. We just love your bread.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And that’s when Jesus said (verse 35), “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s a big claim and a big promise, and it’s a wonderful invitation.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I am the bread of life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>We said last week that there are seven great “I am” statements in the Gospel of John, and that this is the first of them. Jesus says, “I am” (Greek: “<i>ego eimi</i>”) and then fills in the blank with an awesome metaphor to truly understand His true identity.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, it is a metaphor. There’s a lot of metaphorical language in this chapter. Jesus is not saying that He is literally made out of wheat or barley or some other flour, maybe gluten free. He has not been baked into a loaf or cut into slices for toasting and making a sandwich.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is a metaphor. But the metaphor is true. Jesus is the bread of life. He is what bread truly is. </div><div><br /></div><div>What is bread? What does bread do?</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, fundamentally, it keeps us alive. Bread is food, and we need food to live. Bread stands for the simplest of food that sustains life. It is the fuel that keeps humans going. And if we run out of food, we run out of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus says that He is, in some ultimate way, the true source of life. He is the bread of life. Listen to verse 35 again. “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve got four points of application this morning, and here’s the first one.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Feed on the bread of life and:</i></div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#1. BE TRULY SATISFIED FOREVER.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Now notice how He says that He is the bread of life and that what we need to do about that is to “come to” Him and to “believe in” Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>In this verse, our “feeding on” Him is not literal or physical. That’s important, I think, to keep in mind when we get a little further into the passage, and his language becomes even more shocking.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here Jesus is inviting us to come to Him (He’s going to say that again and again) and to believe in Him–which is <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">the theme of this whole Gospel</a>, isn’t it? It’s written so that we might believe in Him so that we might have life in His name. </div><div><br /></div><div>Faith (believing) leads to life (living). He is inviting us to believe that He is the bread that gives life. And it’s a life that is truly satisfying. It’s not here today and gone tomorrow. “He who comes to me [Jesus] will never go hungry, and he who believes in me [Jesus] will nver be thirsty.”</div><div><br /></div><div>We talked about this last week. Jesus is truly satisfying forever. He is not just some kind of food for our bodies but food for our souls.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of these people Jesus is talking to still have His miraculous bread in their tummies digesting as He teaches. [If it’s miraculous bread, does that make it Wonder Bread?] But they are going to be hungry again. In fact, most of them are. Jesus knows that they are looking for another meal. </div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus knows that we chase after all kinds of things that do not satisfy. But He does satisfy. And He does satisfy forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>What are you tempted to chase as your cheap substitute for the bread of life? </div><div><br /></div><div>There’s a bunch of usual suspects: Money, Possessions, Fame, Status, Sex, Pleasure, Happiness. Those are all good things but we can easily treat them as the most important thing that we believe will give us true life and satisfaction. But when we do, we always end up empty.</div><div><br /></div><div>Last week, I told you that Heather asked me what I’ve been chasing and that I didn’t want to think about it. I’d rather avoid that. But I did think about it this week, and one of my big ones recently has been the approval of others. I chase that around like it’s going to keep me alive and make feel good forever. I like to be liked and love to be loved. But all it takes is for someone to change their opinion of me, and I’m back to square one or in the negative zone. There’s no life there. It’s fake bread. Bread that will not last.</div><div><br /></div><div>But if I come to Jesus and believe in Jesus, I will never go hungry and never be thirsty–forever. He will be my food. He will be my meal. Forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>It doesn’t mean that I won’t feel longings on this side of eternity, but that there will be no longing that He will not fill both now and ultimately forever. Does that make sense?</div><div><br /></div><div>You might think it’s bonkers. But Christians have believed it be true now for 2,000 years, and I’m one of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s number two.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Feed on the Bread of Life and:</i></div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#2. BE TRULY SAFE FOREVER.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to the amazing promises that Jesus makes in verse 37: </div><div><br /></div><div>“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>What precious words!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice all of the repetition there. What did you hear get repeated?</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s “come to me” language that is what it means to “feed on the Bread of Life.” “Come to me.” That’s faith. He says that again and again. “Come to me.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And also “come down from heaven.” He’s going to repeat that like six times in this passage. He has “come down from heaven.” </div><div><br /></div><div>And there’s God’s will. “To do the will of him who sent me,” “And this is the will of him who sent me.” That’s the Father sending the Son. He talks about that a lot in this book!</div><div><br /></div><div>And the other phrase that gets repeated is “I will raise him up at the last day.” “I will raise him up at the last day.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And He’s talking there about everyone who comes to Him in faith.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you and I come to the Son in faith, then the Son will raise us up at the last day.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s the resurrection. [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">Like we learned about in chapter 5.</a>] Even if we die, one day Jesus will raise us from the dead. </div><div><br /></div><div>That’s how safe we are! Even if we die, we are safe, because Jesus will raise us up at the last day. And He will not fail. Did you hear that? Did you hear how safe you are if you believe in Jesus? Listen again. Verse 37.</div><div><br /></div><div>“All that the Father gives me will come to me [what percentage is that? 100%], and whoever comes to me I will never drive away [what percentage is that? 100%]. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me [what’s the percentage there?], but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.'"</div><div><br /></div><div>What’s the percentage there? How many of Jesus true disciples will be raised up at the last day? 100% of them!</div><div><br /></div><div>“All the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (v.37).</div><div><br /></div><div>So come to Him, right? Feed on the Bread of Life and be truly safe forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some people are afraid that they are not a part of the chosen. That they are not elect. And so they are afraid to come to Jesus and put their faith in Him in case it turns out that He doesn’t want them.</div><div><br /></div><div>But that’s not what the bibical doctrine of election teaches. The biblical doctrine of election teaches that we should come to Jesus and put our faith in Him. And trust in Him and feed on Him (so to speak).</div><div><br /></div><div>And if we come to Him, He will receive us. He will never drive us away.</div><div><br /></div><div>And if we truly come to Him, then we’ll find out that it was the Father that drew us to Him in the first place. That, in fact, we were given to the Son by the Father. Given!</div><div><br /></div><div>And that biblical doctrine of election teaches that none of those who have been given will be lost. </div><div><br /></div><div>No, we will be raised up at the last day. Look at verse 40 again. “For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And what a day that will be! Safe forever and ever and ever.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, come. Come feed on Bread of Life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Does that sound bonkers to you? That is the gospel.</div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life. That’s John 3:16. That’s John 5:24. Right? “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” </div><div><br /></div><div>What does the next verse say? “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live” (5:25). </div><div><br /></div><div>“I will raise him up at the last day.” Do you believe that? This is an invitation to believe and be saved and be truly safe forever.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>....</div><div><br /></div><div>The Jews in that synagogue in Capernaum did not believe.</div><div><br /></div><div>They listened to what Jesus had to say, these wonderful words, and their response was to grumble. Look at verse 41.</div><div><br /></div><div>“At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>“He hasn’t ‘come down from heaven.’ He’s come over from Nazareth. Isn’t Joseph his daddy? We know this guy.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Isn’t it ironic that the children of Israel are grumbling about bread from heaven? They did that with the manna, too. They are hostile. They are rejecting Jesus’ claims. They are saying that what He’s saying is bonkers. They don’t know about the Virgin Conception and Virgin Birth. They don’t believe that He has come down from heaven. They don’t see how He could be the Bread of Life.</div><div><br /></div><div>But He is. And Jesus knows it. That’s why He says (v.43):</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘Stop grumbling among yourselves,’ Jesus answered. ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life.” (vv.43-48).</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice how Jesus repeats Himself. He reiterates that salvation is, in the first place, the work of God. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>But that isn’t to keep us from coming to Him but to let us know why we do. And if we do, then the promise is that we will be raised up at the last day.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s what the Bible means in Isaiah 54, verse 13, “They will all be taught by God” that is that “Everyone who listens to the [God] Father and learns from him comes to” God the Son, Jesus. And how do we listen to the Father? We look to the Son because He’s actually seen the Father and shows us what He is like.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s John 1:18 all over again, isn’t it? “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known” (Jn. 1:18 NIVO). <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/we-have-seen-his-glory-christ-candle.html">We just studied that together on Christmas Eve.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>The Son shows us the Father who draws us to come to the Son. And when we do, we get everlasting life. Because the Jesus is the Bread of Life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Point Number Three.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Feed on the Bread of Life and:</i></div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#3. BE TRULY ALIVE FOREVER.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Listen as Jesus says it all again. Verse 49.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world’” (Vv.48-51).</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Bread, manna, bread, bread, bread, bread, bread!</i></div><div><br /></div><div>The Jews’ ate the original bread from heaven which was a wonderful gift from God, but then they died in the wilderness. But God has now sent a new bread down from heaven that is like manna but even better. This is bread that if you ingest it, <i>you will not die!</i></div><div><br /></div><div>It’s living bread! It’s not just bread that gives life, it’s bread that is alive. And if you feed on this living bread, you will live forever. And this bread is Jesus. And this bread is His flesh...which He will give for the life of the world. Because God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son.</div><div><br /></div><div>What’s He talking about? He’s talking about the Cross. He’s talking about giving His life so that we might live. And live forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you believe in that?</div><div><br /></div><div>The Jews did not. They couldn’t accept what He was laying down. They thought he was talking bonkers. Maybe talking cannibalism? Look at verse 52.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s the biggest misunderstanding yet in the Gospel of John. It’s not just <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">how can a man go back into His mommy’s tummy to be born again.</a> “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”</div><div><br /></div><div>But Jesus doesn’t say, “Oh, I don’t really mean that.” He goes all in. Verse 53.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.”</div><div><br /></div><div><i>The things Jesus says!!!</i> </div><div><br /></div><div>So, what does He mean? Whenever I read this, my mind always goes to the Lord’s Supper, but I don’t think that’s what He’s really talking about. He isn’t talking about communion here. This is long before that last supper in the Upper Room. </div><div><br /></div><div>He’s just using strikingly strong language to talk about true faith, isn’t He? He’s just saying the same thing He said in verse 35. There He said we need to <i>come to Him</i> and <i>believe in Him</i>, that’s what it means to feed on the bread of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look at these verses 53 and compare it to verse 40. Verse 40 said, “For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Verses 53 says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”</div><div><br /></div><div>They’re saying the same thing. Jesus is just using extreme language to press home the point.</div><div><br /></div><div>He’s not saying that you need to physically eat His body or drink His blood. Christianity is not cannibalism. [No, ewww!]</div><div><br /></div><div>He is saying that true faith fully internalizes Jesus.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>True faith treats Jesus like He’s the bread we need to live.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>True faith looks to the blood of Jesus, His sacrificial death on the Cross, as our only hope. Without it we will die in our sins of spiritual thirst. But with it, we will be raised up on the last day.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s a metaphor, but what a powerful metaphor!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s why He says in verse 55, “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.”</div><div><br /></div><div>He doesn’t mean that His flesh is real food in the sense that you eat it physically. He means that His flesh is real true food in the sense that this is one of the reasons why the thing of food exists in the first place.</div><div><br /></div><div>Food is a metaphor for Jesus!</div><div>Drink is a metaphor for Jesus!</div><div><br /></div><div>We take those things in to remind us that we need to truly take in Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>Does that make sense? Understood that way, it does help us when we think about the Lord’s Supper. Taking in the bread and drinking from the cup reminds us that we need to fully internalize Jesus. That true faith fully internalizes Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>But He’s not saying that we need to take communion to be saved.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s about the opposite of what He’s saying!</div><div><br /></div><div>He’s saying that we need to receive Jesus by faith and find our life in Jesus now and forever. V.56</div><div><br /></div><div>“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. [Mutual indwelling.] Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>We could spend an hour just marinating in those words.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are words of relationship there. An eternal life-changing relationship. We “remain” or “abide” or “live” in Jesus, and He lives in us.</div><div><br /></div><div>And there is so much life in there. The Father (who sent the Son) is the “living Father.” He’s alive with life-in-Himself (<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">remember that from chapter 5</a>), and He gives life to the Son eternally (<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">remember that from chapter 5</a>, we call it eternal generation) and so anyone who “feeds on Jesus” (or comes to Him, or looks to Him, or believes in Him–all the same thing) will live because of Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>And live forever! Forever. Forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you believe that? Or do you think it’s bonkers? Those are the only two choices.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Jews thought it was bonkers. And so did even some of Jesus’s followers. Look at verse 59.</div><div><br /></div><div>“He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>This is hard. It’s hard to understand, at least at first. The language is so extreme. It almost sounds like cannibalism. But even after you understand it, it’s hard to accept.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because it means you have to believe that Jesus and Jesus alone is the Bread of Life.</div><div><br /></div><div>That He is the source of true satisfaction forever.</div><div>That He is the source of true salvation forever.</div><div>That He is the source of true life forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that if you don’t receive Him, if you don’t take Him, if you don’t come to, believe in, look to...if you don’t feed on Him, taking Him into you fully, then you will be lost and not raised up on the last day. Those are the only two options.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is a hard teaching. And some who had been following Jesus around decided that they were out. “I’m out.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Many are doing that today. My friend Nick Boonstra who is the pastor at Blue Course Community Church, the EFCA Church in State College, told me and a bunch of other district pastors this week about a book called <i><a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/great-dechurching/">The Great Dechurching</a></i> describes a phenomenon that is taking place across our country.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nick reported that the book says, “More people have left the church in the last twenty-five years than all the new people who became Christians from the First Great Awakening, Second Great Awakening, and Billy Graham crusades combined.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And the book tells some of the sociological reasons for that and some of the spiritual ones and gives some advice about how the church should try to reach out in the days ahead.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of those folks will return. Some of them have decided that following Jesus is not worth it. That following Jesus is bonkers. “He is not the Bread of Life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>This did not and does not take Jesus by surprise. V.61</div><div><br /></div><div>“Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! [I came down from heaven. At some point, I’ll go back up. Would that change things for you?] The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.’” (vv.61-65).</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is not surprised. Disappointed, yes. Surprised, no. He had known it was going to be like this and even who was going to be like this. But it still made Him sad. V.66</div><div><br /></div><div>“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. </div><div><br /></div><div>Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!’ (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)”</div><div><br /></div><div>And that’s the first we’ve learned about that defection which is still to come. These disciples turned out to only be in it for the loaves and not for the Bread of Life. They abandoned Him. They turned back. They decided that the whole thing was bonkers.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Peter did not. He said, “We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” “You have the words of eternal life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>You are the Bread of Life!</div><div><br /></div><div>What do you think? Jesus is either bonkers or bread. And we all have to decide which one we think is true.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s point number four which is what gets my vote and what I want for all of us here.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Feed on the Bread of Life and:</i></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#4. DON’T TURN BACK.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>I think Jesus is bread.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><br /><b><i>Messages in this Series<br /></i></b><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/testimony-about-me-matts-messages.html">15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-astonishing-gift-matts-messages.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/we-have-seen-his-glory-christ-candle.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/enough-bread-matts-messages.html">16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/you-are-looking-for-me-matts-messages.html">17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36</a>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-1710869327388275742024-01-14T15:25:00.001-05:002024-01-16T11:51:43.702-05:00“You Are Looking For Me” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixISXi57gT7TR4w8zlmWGzdau50jnttMIP7YPYFojaE50ijlelB5FYCXIBeIOeCk0BTWvnu2n222D_aPvntyUp7149lgVIv2XaPOquSvYTgGML1sHnpwKydhN3sjUzbggH48RDtScFVlxV-anoz9tRivH9GxP6zrf9pRWSq_dwND-I1ZOcoQ8uMw/s960/17.YouAreLookingForMe.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixISXi57gT7TR4w8zlmWGzdau50jnttMIP7YPYFojaE50ijlelB5FYCXIBeIOeCk0BTWvnu2n222D_aPvntyUp7149lgVIv2XaPOquSvYTgGML1sHnpwKydhN3sjUzbggH48RDtScFVlxV-anoz9tRivH9GxP6zrf9pRWSq_dwND-I1ZOcoQ8uMw/s320/17.YouAreLookingForMe.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“You Are Looking For Me”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>January 14, 2024 :: John 6:16-36</b></div><div><br /></div><div>So often, you and I can be experts at missing the point. Have you ever missed the point of something? I sure have.</div><div><br /></div><div>I can be quite good at it, really. If you need any points missed, I’m your man.</div><div><br /></div><div>I just recently learned what the point is of that little loop on the collar of most jackets? You know which one I mean? You can stick your finger through it? It’s really small and right back there? Do you know what that’s for? Did you know it has a purpose?</div><div><br /></div><div>It turns out that loop is for hanging up your jacket. Did you know that?! I just always hang mine up by the hood or on the collar. But, it turns out, if you hang your jacket up on that little loop, then it doesn’t take up as much room on the rack, and it doesn’t fall off of the hook like my coats are always falling off their hooks! Who knew?! I was only 50 years old before I found that out. My Mom probably tried to teach it to me, but I can be an expert in missing the point.</div><div><br /></div><div>In this story, Jesus tells some people that they are missing the point of something much more important than coat loops. In this story, there is a big search for Jesus. They are looking for Him. But when they find Jesus, He tells them that they have been looking for Him for all the wrong reasons. They have been missing the point.</div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus is quite feisty on this point. He confronts these people and points out their error. He’s really quite strong with them, because He does not want them to miss the point any longer, and He doesn’t want us to miss the point either. So let’s try not to.</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pklU0Dea1mU?si=POf03J2nLvbIy9f8" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>Before we get to the part where they are looking for Jesus, we have to start with a time when they were NOT looking for Jesus, and they found Him anyway. That’s the story starting in verse 16.</div><div><br /></div><div>This story follows right on the heels of the story we studied last week, the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 men with just the 5 small barley loaves and the 2 small fish. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/enough-bread-matts-messages.html">Because of Jesus there was enough bread.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>What was the point of that miracle? We don’t want to miss it. We said last week that when you factor Jesus into your calculations, the impossible can be done. That God provides all that He requires. That was the point last week, but there much more to that story to not miss, as we shall soon see.</div><div><br /></div><div>After Jesus fed the crowd, He slipped away so that they couldn’t force Him to be a king. This wasn’t His time, and it wasn’t His way. He slipped off on His own.</div><div><br /></div><div>And, apparently, He sent His disciples off on their own across the Sea of Galilee. Look with me at verse 16. “When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them.”</div><div> </div><div>Twelve disciples in a boat. They had been on the east side of the lake, and they are headed for the west side. The lake is about 7 miles across at its widest, and it is night time. It is dark. And Jesus was, by His own design, left behind. ... And then the storm began. V.18</div><div><br /></div><div>“A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Can you imagine? I’ve never been at sea when it was rough. Heather has been. She told me about a time when she was on a ship and it was rocking and the waves were really high, coming up over onto the deck. These are twelve guys in a little boat at night. And these storms can come out of nowhere on the Sea of Galilee. It might have been really scary.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then it did become really scary, because they weren’t looking for Jesus, but He came looking for them! V.19 “When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Walking on the water?! They were three and half miles from shore, and they saw Jesus coming towards them on the water. That’s like from here to Kylertown. Imagine if it was just a lake between here and Ruth’s house, and you’re in a boat that is in a storm, and you see a man walking across the lake on the sea from there to here.</div><div><br /></div><div>How are you going to feel?</div><div><br /></div><div>We tend to joke about this. There are all kinds of “walking on the water” jokes and memes on social media. It’s like a cartoon kind of thing. Something Bugs Bunny would do. </div><div><br /></div><div>But you can’t imagine it happening in real life. They were terrified! And rightly so. This is not normal. This does not happen. You can’t just walk on the water! That breaks all of the rules.</div><div><br /></div><div>Who is this Person?!</div><div><br /></div><div>This is a Person Who rules the seas. This is a Person that all creation is under His feet.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is a Person Who makes the rules, so He can break them if He wants.</div><div><br /></div><div>So the disciples are scared. More scared by this Person than they are by the storm. And then He speaks to them. V.20 </div><div><br /></div><div>“But he said to them, ‘It is I; don't be afraid.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>And that makes all the difference. V.21</div><div><br /></div><div>“Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That sounds like another miracle to me. They just hydroplaned across the rest of the lake. I don’t know. When they took Jesus into the boat, everything changed. They were safe. In fact, that’s the point I want to make this morning about this part of the story. If we find Jesus, then we find true safety.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#1. WE FIND TRUE SAFETY.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>It’s because they received Him into the boat that they were safe.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m not saying that Jesus is safe. I was working on this message yesterday, and I wrote that down as point number, “Jesus is safe.” And then I’m like, “No, I don’t think so.” Jesus is scary. He is so powerful. He is so in control. His disciples are terrified when they see Him come.</div><div><br /></div><div>The waves are terrified when they see Him coming!</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is scarier than the storm.</div><div><br /></div><div>So if you are with Him, then you are safe.</div><div><br /></div><div>The water lets Jesus walk on it. So if He’s in your boat, it will go where it’s supposed to go.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/02/matts-messages-it-is-i.html">The Gospel of Matthew tells us</a> that the Apostle Peter walked on the water, too, for a short moment before He took His eyes off of Jesus. And Matthew also tells us that the men in the boat worshipped Jesus and said, “Truly you are the Son of God.”</div><div><br /></div><div>But John leaves out all of those details to focus on this one thing that Jesus says, “It is I; don’t be afraid.”</div><div><br /></div><div>There is no reason to fear if we find Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>What are you afraid of?</div><div>Is it scarier than Jesus?</div><div>Is it more powerful?</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you know Jesus? Then you have nothing to fear.</div><div><br /></div><div>The words (in verse 20) translated, “It is I” are in the Greek “<i>ego eimi.</i>” And they can be translated “It is I.” That is correct, and it is what Jesus was saying. </div><div><br /></div><div>But they can also be translated, “I am.” I am. And those words “<i>ego eimi</i>” are going show up up again and again in the Gospel of John, especially the seven times that Jesus says, “I am” and then fills in the blank with some amazing metaphor to describe His true identity. The first one is coming up in verse 35.</div><div><br /></div><div>And I think that we’re supposed to hear the echoes of Exodus 3:14 when Jesus talks like this. When He says, “I am,” a bell is supposed to go off in our brains that reminds us that God says that He is the “I am.” And if Jesus shows up walking on the water and says, “I am; don’t be afraid,” we should not miss the point that He is also claiming to be God Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that makes all the difference. If we find Jesus, and Who He truly is, then we find true safety.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Don’t be afraid.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, the next morning, you and I know where Jesus is and the disciples know where Jesus is, but the crowd doesn’t know where He is. And they are confused. V.22</div><div><br /></div><div>“The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus” (vv.22-24).</div><div><br /></div><div>I almost titled this message, “The Search for Jesus.” Where did He go? They are confused. And I’m not exactly sure how they figured out where He was. Perhaps those coming in the boats from Tiberias in verse 23 had seen Him and let everybody else know where to find Him. Either way, the crowd is still in hot pursuit. They found Him yesterday and got fed by Him. They are after Him again today. In search of Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>Is it good to look for Jesus? It sounds good. But it really matters why you are looking for Him. King Herod was searching for Jesus when He was a baby. He wanted to kill Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>Why did these people want to find Jesus? That’s the beef that Jesus has with them. Look at verse 25.</div><div><br /></div><div>“When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Almost like, He's doing something wrong. "We've been looking for you!"</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, here’s Jesus’ chance to say, “I got here last night by walking across the lake all by myself. Check me out!” But He doesn’t do that. He doesn’t try to impress them. And He’s not impressed by them. He’s not impressed by the crowd showing up the next day. So often, we’re impressed by the crowd. Jesus doesn’t care about being popular, if He’s popular for the wrong reasons.</div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus says, “I know why you are here. You’re here for all the wrong reasons. You’re here because you’ve missed the point.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Look at verse 26. This is the verse that we get our title from. V.26</div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” </div><div><br /></div><div>You see what I mean about Him being feisty and confrontational? Yes, they were looking for Jesus, but not for Jesus. They were looking for Jesus to get more bread. Jesus knows their hearts. He knows that they saw the miracle yesterday. They saw His power. They saw 5 loaves became 15 loaves become 50,000 loaves. And all they are thinking about is...loaves.</div><div><br /></div><div>They were looking for Jesus, but they were not looking for Jesus. They were missing the point.</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">all of these miraculous signs are signs</a>. They are not just miracles but they are pointing towards something. They are pointing towards Jesus’s identity, towards Who Jesus really is. And these folks were seeing the miracles but missing the signs. We’ve seen that again and again in this Gospel, and we’re tempted to do it ourselves, aren’t we? To look for what Jesus can do for us instead of Who Jesus really is?</div><div><br /></div><div>And the irony of that is that when we do that, we are actually setting our sights too low. We are thinking too small. That’s what Jesus says in verse 27.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Do not work for food that spoils [disappears], but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>In other words, “You guys are focused on your bellies. You are focused on the here and now. You’re focused on this earthly food. But I am offering something much greater than that. This perishable food is pointing towards something imperishable and eternal.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“And you will get it from Me.” “The Son of Man will give [it to] you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And here we are <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/why-did-jesus-get-baptized-matts.html">back to</a>, “This is my Son, whom I love. With Him I am well-pleased. Listen to Him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>We all are tempted to make this mistake, are we not?</div><div><br /></div><div>We look for Jesus to make our lives better in the here and now.</div><div><br /></div><div>We look for Jesus to heal our bodies and fill up our bank accounts.</div><div>We look for Jesus to fix our relationships and make our businesses flourish.</div><div>We look for Jesus to give us great sex lives and heal our nation and to make us happy. </div><div><br /></div><div>And to fill our tummies.</div><div><br /></div><div>We do that, don’t we?</div><div><br /></div><div>And, of course, Jesus cares about our bodies, our back accounts, our relationships, our business, our sex lives, our nation, and even our happiness and our tummies. That’s why we pray about them. But those things are all very small and temporary in the grand scheme of things. And Jesus does not exist to give them to us. They exist to point us to Jesus. Don’t miss the point.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, what do you think these folks heard Jesus say to them? What did they focus on. Jesus just said, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”</div><div><br /></div><div>What key word do you think the Jews focused on in all of that? It was the word, “work.” He said all of that, but they just focused in on that little word. One of their favorite words, “Work.” look at verse 28.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Now we’re talking. Is the answer going to be some kind of command from the Law?” They are always assuming that salvation is spelled, D-O. “What must we do?”</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you think that “work” was the key word that Jesus would have had them focus on? </div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s a trick question for you: “When is work not work?”</div><div><br /></div><div>Answer: When the “work” is faith. Because that’s not something we can boast about. It’s just trusting in the work of another. Verse 29. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>The key word that Jesus would have had them focus on in verse 27 is “give.” The food that endures to eternal life is given by the Son who has the seal of the Father’s approval. Given. And our job, is simply to believe in Him and what He has done. God spells salvation D-O-N-E. Done.</div><div><br /></div><div>All these miraculous signs were pointing us all along to who Jesus is and what He has done, and if we believe in Him, then we will be saved!</div><div><br /></div><div>Or as John says <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">at the end of this gospel</a>, “These [miraculous signs] are written [here] that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:31-21:1 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>Believe in the One that the Father has sent. That’s true safety! That’s salvation. Because God the Father sent God the Son to save us on the Cross and at the Empty Tomb.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you believe? If you have never put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I implore you to do so now. Because that’s why He came. Not just to give us happy lives in the short run but holy lives forever and ever with Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>And happy lives forever and ever with Him. Because when we truly find Jesus, we find true satisfaction.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#2. WE FIND TRUE SATISFACTION.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>We don’t just find true salvation, we find true satisfaction. Just not the temporary kind that is here today and gone tomorrow. Those loaves that Jesus was multiplying were pointing towards something must greater and more lasting.</div><div><br /></div><div>In verse 30, the crowd asks Jesus for another miracle. Verse 30. </div><div><br /></div><div>“So they asked him, ‘What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat'” (vv.30-31).</div><div><br /></div><div>Again, they are experts in missing the point. And Jesus doesn’t let them get away with it. Verse 32.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘from now on give us this bread.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe” (vv.32-36).</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, we’re going to get into this more deeply next week, Lord-willing. Jesus is going to hit this again and again from different angles the rest of this chapter. And He’s going to say it even more striking ways. But you see the main thrust of it, right?</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s another misunderstanding going on. Like <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">the woman at the well and her water</a>. And Nicodemus and the second birth. Here it’s the bread. They are focused on bread like the manna from heaven that God gave during the Moses years in Exodus and Numbers and Deuteronomy. They think that maybe the feeding of the 5,000 means that the New Moses is here and going to feed them all with some more bread and more bread and more bread as the kingdom is arriving. </div><div><br /></div><div>And they are not all wrong but they are still missing the greater point.</div><div><br /></div><div>The loaves were not just about loaves.</div><div>The bread was not just about bread.</div><div>The bread was pointing, pointing, pointing, pointing to the True Bread from Heaven.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that wasn’t just manna bread. It was Jesus Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>He said, “<i>Ego eimi</i>.” “I AM the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believe sin me will never be thirsty.” When we truly find Jesus, we find true and lasting satisfaction for our souls.</div><div><br /></div><div>Earlier in this message, I asked you what you are afraid of and if it is scarier and more powerful than Jesus. Now, I want to ask you what are you chasing after and is it more satisfying than Jesus?</div><div><br /></div><div>What are the loaves to you? (Like in verse 26.)</div><div><br /></div><div>What are you tempted to find your satisfaction in?</div><div><br /></div><div>Heather Joy asked me that question yesterday, and I deflected. I don’t think I want to think about what I tend to chase after to have my “fill” (v.26). But I need to. Because I am often aiming too low, thinking too small, thinking too much about the short-run and not about the long one, not about forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>But those loaves are here and then gone. But when we come to Jesus (v.35), we never go hungry and we never are thirsty for all eternity.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s true satisfaction. Jesus was frustrated with these people because they have seen Him and even seen Him do these miracles and still do not believe. They missed the point. Let’s not miss the point with them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because Jesus is Who we are looking for. For safety, salvation, and satisfaction forever.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>***<br /><b><i><br />Messages in this Series<br /></i></b><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/testimony-about-me-matts-messages.html">15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-astonishing-gift-matts-messages.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/we-have-seen-his-glory-christ-candle.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again</a> </div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2024/01/enough-bread-matts-messages.html">16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15</a></div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-80052919440301849212024-01-07T11:45:00.082-05:002024-01-09T11:05:12.370-05:00“Enough Bread” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfiZ95rITTOcFKtm3zP_imzzyks2XuOtsr7HmyZ2id0YJ-DEaDNXvgkPc7VRh2rFhjcOoM9VlU0Odo5tc_yMYS3J2mSumVlERh5zD-sXNmOwQqTpbnAOpkB-KA0q5rTxeZe3nlWkSB4AZ9bGQCC3FS6Ybv3g_Lh98DOh40-jngpK8pFuYLkLOIQ/s960/16.EnoughBread.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfiZ95rITTOcFKtm3zP_imzzyks2XuOtsr7HmyZ2id0YJ-DEaDNXvgkPc7VRh2rFhjcOoM9VlU0Odo5tc_yMYS3J2mSumVlERh5zD-sXNmOwQqTpbnAOpkB-KA0q5rTxeZe3nlWkSB4AZ9bGQCC3FS6Ybv3g_Lh98DOh40-jngpK8pFuYLkLOIQ/s320/16.EnoughBread.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“Enough Bread”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>January 7, 2024 :: John 6:1-15 </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus often asks trick questions.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of the reasons why I like to ask trick questions [about things like <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/why-did-jesus-get-baptized-matts.html">baptism</a> and <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-promise-of-prophet-matts-messages.html">prophets</a>] is that Jesus likes to ask trick questions. I get it from Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>His are better, of course. Sometimes my trick questions aren’t very good at all, and sometimes they backfire.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus’ trick questions never backfire. They always work. They always reveal what Jesus wants them to. They always get people thinking while <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/09/what-do-you-think-about-christ-matts.html">confounding those who need confounded</a> and helping those who need helped. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus asks one of His tricky questions in this story. John says that Jesus asked it on purpose to test His disciple Philip. And I think we can learn from that tricky question for our lives today.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let’s see where it came from.</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vb2AEYxHZHg?si=XJXmtkfxOwQjXVvl" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>We’ve reached John chapter 6, and we’re going to be here in John 6 for a few weeks. There’s quite a lot here in this chapter. Two astonishing miracles and then an important explanation of what those miracles mean and then a key a moment of decision.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today, we’re just going to make through the first big miracle. And it’s one of the biggest miracles Jesus ever did. It shows up in all four of the gospels. It’s the only miracle, except for the resurrection, that shows up in all four gospels. And it was probably the most public of all of Jesus’ miracles. It was seen by the most people all at once, though they might not have all realized that it was happening.</div><div><br /></div><div>Keagan has already read it to us, and we’ve probably all heard it before many times, but we should still try to put ourselves into the story as it unfolds and not as we know it’s going to turn out. </div><div><br /></div><div>We especially should try to put ourselves in the shoes of Jesus’ disciples named Philip and Andrew and John (who would later write it all down).</div><div><br /></div><div>The location of this story is the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Look with me at John chapter 6, verse 1. “Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near” (vv.1-4).</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you get the picture in your mind’s eye?</div><div><br /></div><div>John says that this took place some time later than the events of chapter 5. Chapter 5 was all about <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">the healing at the pool of Bethesda</a> and <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">the mind-blowing things that Jesus taught there about His Father and Himself.</a> </div><div><br /></div><div>The leaders of the Jews in Jerusalem want to see Jesus killed because of what He was saying about Himself! So Jesus has gone north again and has been teaching and healing sick people. And He’s been growing in popularity up there.</div><div><br /></div><div>The crowds are forming and following. He can’t seem to go anywhere without the crowds following Him around. He’s more popular than Taylor Swift.</div><div><br /></div><div>But John says that the crowds aren’t following Him for the right reasons. It’s not because of Who He is but because of His power. Did you catch that in verse 2? “...a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.”</div><div><br /></div><div>We’ve seen this kind of dangerous faith before, back in chapter 2 and <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">in chapter 4 where they were focused on the Power of Jesus instead of Person of Jesus.</a> And now there’s a lot of them. His popularity is mushrooming. And the crowd is getting hungry.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, John doesn’t tell us very much about this particular day, but <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/01/matts-messages-five-loaves-two-fish-and.html">Matthew</a>, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2006/02/matts-messages-dont-be-afraid.html">Mark</a>, and <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2010/02/matts-messages-who-is-jesus.html">Luke</a> do. This has been a very long and hard day for Jesus and His disciples. The other gospels tell us that Jesus has just found out that His cousin and forerunner John the Baptist has been killed. And Jesus and His disciples have been on the go so much that they haven’t had a moment to eat. And they have been followed everywhere they go. Like the Beatles in “A Hard’s Days Night.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus has just pulled His team together on a hillside for a break, probably near the Golan Heights, and it’s the time near the Jewish Passover Feast in Jerusalem, so everybody is excited about the holidays and many are going to head down to Jerusalem to take part in the national festivities.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the big crowd finds Jesus and heads towards Him. And they are hungry.</div><div><br /></div><div>And it’s at that moment that Jesus asks His trick question. A question to test, a question to teach, a question to get His disciples thinking and to reveal their hearts. Look at verse 5.</div><div><br /></div><div>“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.”</div><div><br /></div><div>So it’s a trick question. He’s not actually asking Philip to take charge. He’s just seeing what’s in Philip’s mind and heart.</div><div><br /></div><div>Philip is <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">from Bethsaida</a> which is not very far away. So he probably knows what’s available.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Phil, where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”</div><div><br /></div><div>“I don’t know. It’s really far to the nearest Wal-Mart. They’re putting in Dollar General soon, but there’s not enough food in the DG for all of these people!”</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s a LOT of people. And that’s all that Philip can think of. All he can see is how many hungry people there are coming this way. Look at verse 7.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Philip answered him, ‘Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!’”</div><div><br /></div><div>He’s got his calculator out. He’s punching in the numbers. “If we had 200 days wages (that’s two hundred denarii), more than half a year’s salary, we still wouldn’t have enough money for every mouth out here to get a bite!”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s Philip’s answer to the trick question. How did he do? </div><div><br /></div><div>The sermon title for today, by the way, is taken from verse 7, it’s just two words, “Enough Bread.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And for Philip, that’s a question–“Enough Bread?”</div><div><br /></div><div>“I don’t see how it’s possible! We can’t do it. We’re going to have to send them all home. They are on their own.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, Andrew (another one of Jesus’ disciples), has been networking. He’s a people-person. Andy’s a connector. And he’s found a little bit of food. Look at verse 8. “Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Not far enough. That’s Andrew’s answer to Jesus’ trick question. </div><div><br /></div><div>"There isn’t enough bread. There won’t be enough bread. We can’t do what you are asking.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, we all know what’s going to happen, but they did not. So it’s easy for us to judge their answers harshly. But we all do the same thing, don’t we? Jesus asks us to do something, and we say, “That sounds impossible. Can’t be done.”</div><div><br /></div><div>What should they have said? How should they have answered when Jesus asked His trick question?</div><div><br /></div><div>“Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”</div><div><br /></div><div>It might have been good to say, “I don’t know, Jesus, but I’ll bet you do. I can’t get that much bread, but I know you can.”</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s obvious that they haven’t really learned Who Jesus is yet, right? They are missing an asset as they take stock. Philip didn’t put Jesus into His calculator. </div><div><br /></div><div>The One Who <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">turned the water into wine</a>? The wedding guests didn’t know it, but the disciples did.</div><div><br /></div><div>The One Who has been healing all of these people? Maybe He can do something about the food shortage. You think?</div><div><br /></div><div>The One Who <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">has said</a> that God is His Father and that “whatever the Father does the Son also does (5:19)” because “Father loves the Son and show heim all He does” (5:20). That might include creating food for and feeding His creatures?</div><div><br /></div><div>Let me phrase the question a different way and make it an application question for us today. </div><div><br /></div><div><i><b>When Jesus asks us to do something, where will we find the resources to do it?</b></i></div><div><br /></div><div>When Jesus asks you to do something, where will you find the resources to do it? </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, we try to come up with them from all kinds of places, don’t we? We look into our own bank account. We lean on the government. We turn to our family. We roll up our sleeves and trust in our muscles. And, eventually, we get to saying, “I think it’s impossible.” “Can’t be done.” Because we have our eyes fixed on ourselves. And we aren’t counting on Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>Let me give you some examples. </div><div><br /></div><div>What is something that Jesus is asking you to do as we head into the year ‘24? (You don’t have to say “twenty” any more. We don’t think you mean 1924.) What is something that Jesus is asking you to do as we head into this new year?</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-promise-of-prophet-matts-messages.html">I’ve said it before</a>, and I’ll probably have to say it again. Jesus is saying to me, “Don’t worry in ‘24. You don’t have to.” <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2018/06/matts-messages-seek-first-his-kingdom.html">He said it at the Sermon on the Mount</a>. And He said, Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt. 6:27 NIVO). It doesn’t do any good. </div><div><br /></div><div>And I’m like, “But there’s so many things that can go wrong this year. For our family. For our health. For our finances. For our church family. For our nation. This is another probably tumultuous national election year. Are we going to have another 2020?” </div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus says, “Hey Matt, where are you going to get the resources to obey my command to not worry this year?”</div><div><br /></div><div>And I say, “I don’t know! I don’t think it can be done. I don’t think there will be enough bread.”</div><div><br /></div><div>But that’s me. You folks don’t have that problem. Let’s do another one.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is asking us to talk about Him with our unbelieving family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. We are called to be bold and do evangelism. Donnie said last week, “I will tell of all your deeds.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you going to do that this year? Are you going to tell people about Jesus and His good news? Where are you going to find the resources to do that?</div><div><br /></div><div>“I don’t know. I don’t think it can be done. It’s impossible. I don’t think there will be enough bread.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus is saying, “Don’t forget about me.”</div><div><br /></div><div>We have a small missions team that we believe has been called to go visit our missionaries in Malawi on our behalf. It’s going to cost approximately $7500, and we have almost exactly one third of that with 209 days to go. And I hear Jesus asking, “Keith, Steph, Mary Beth, where are you going to get the funds to follow me to Africa in August?”</div><div><br /></div><div>“He asked this only to test [them], for He already had in mind what He was going to do.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s the principle: <i>If the Lord requires something, the Lord will provide it Himself.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Now, He uses lots of things to do it, including His people, but He doesn’t just send us out there on our own with nothing but our wits and our works and our own resources.</div><div><br /></div><div>He doesn’t just tell us, “Don’t worry.” He says, “I am with you.” Or as Donnie said it last week, “The nearness of God is my good.”</div><div><br /></div><div>He doesn’t just tell us, “Make disciples of all nations.” He says, “And surely I will be with you to the very end of the age as you accomplish My mission.”</div><div><br /></div><div>I mentioned the election season. Here’s another command that Jesus has laid on us. “Love your enemies.” “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Lk. 6:27-28 NIVO). And that includes on social media.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think a lot of professing Christians come up to that one and they say, “Can’t be done. Impossible. There will definitely not be enough bread for that tall order.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus is like, “Have you forgotten about Somebody?”</div><div><br /></div><div>What is Jesus asking you to do and where will you find the resources to do it?</div><div><br /></div><div>The answer to this trick question is to trust the One asking the question. Because the resources are in Him. He is the resources. He is the bread! {But that’s later in the chapter.}</div><div><br /></div><div>Right now, at this point in the story, they have just tiny little bit of bread and a tiny little bit of protein, of fish. Probably salted or pickled as a bit of relish to go with the dry bread.</div><div><br /></div><div>Barley bread was the poorest of poor meals. And there’s only enough here for a little boy. Philip and Andrew think it can’t be done. There won’t be enough bread.</div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus says, “It’s time to eat! Call everybody together and tell them it’s dinner time.” Verse 10.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.”</div><div><br /></div><div>5,000! </div><div><br /></div><div>Over the holiday, our family got to gather at my parents house in Ohio for one last hurrah before they sell it. My brother’s family came in and all of us were there, and we sat down for one last meal together in “the old homestead.” I’m so glad it worked out for us all to be there.</div><div><br /></div><div>But imagine if my Mom and Dad didn’t go shopping and didn’t make dinner for us. The fridge was bare. The oven was empty. And Mom came out with a little Happy Meal. And there’s 15 of us there staring at this little Happy Meal.</div><div><br /></div><div>There were 5,000 men at this. And that doesn’t count women or children. There could have been 10,000 people? 15,000 people? 20,000 people?</div><div><br /></div><div>The Bryce Jordan Center has 15,261 seats. Anybody been in there? Imagine the BJC was full, and someone said, “Everybody sit down, we’re going to eat now. We have 5 barley loaves and two small fish. Hope you’re hungry!” That’s this situation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look at verse 11. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten” (vv.11-13)!<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div>Enough Bread! It’s not a question. It’s a exclamation!</div><div><br /></div><div>Verse 12 says that they all had enough to eat. In fact, it’s stronger than that, the Greek indicates that they were all full, all satisfied, and then they had leftovers. They had more than enough bread!</div><div><br /></div><div>A lot of people have wondered if there is symbolism in the twelve baskets, and maybe there is. Maybe it has to do with the twelve tribes of Israel or something.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I think it’s more simple than that. I think that Jesus made sure there that all twelve of the disciples had to carry around a basket afterwards so that they got the point of the trick question.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Oh yeah, there’s enough bread here.”</div><div><br /></div><div>We need to factor Jesus into our calculations.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s also the like collecting the manna in the wilderness, and Jesus will have more to say about that as we go further into chapter 6.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the picture here is abundance. It’s blessing. It’s overflowing bounty. It’s the Kingdom! <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">It’s life in Jesus’ name.</a> Because of Jesus they had more than enough bread. Because Jesus is more than enough.</div><div><br /></div><div>Like Donnie read last week in Psalm 73, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:26 NIVO). And if He’s our portion, then we will always have more than enough, amen?!</div><div><br /></div><div>Why did Jesus do this miracle?</div><div><br /></div><div>I think it’s obvious that He did it out of compassion. The other gospels tell us that. And I think it’s really neat that He did it out of compassion for people who didn’t deserve it, and weren’t even necessarily coming in faith. Remember, this crowd is there for the wrong reason. But that doesn’t stop Jesus from blessing them with dinner. Jesus is so compassionate. He is so gracious and generous.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of you may struggle to believe in this miracle. You doubt that miracles ever occur. And this is a big miracle. It is impossible unless all the other stuff about Jesus is true, as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I believe it. I believe this happened. I believe there were eyewitnesses. And that’s why we have it recorded for us in this history book. And I believe that this is Who Jesus is. He’s this compassionate. He’s this gracious. He’s this generous.</div><div><br /></div><div>And He’s this powerful. He can do this and so much more. This is incredible power. It’s quiet. He still doesn’t wave His arms and say, “Abracadabra.” He just acts like the Creator He is and makes bread where there was no bread.</div><div><br /></div><div>And He provides what He requires. I think He did this, not just to be compassionate to His dinner guests, but to show His disciples that He will do for them what He asks them to do. They just have to trust Him. He will provide and provide and provide. Much more than enough. And, therefore, we can do whatever He asks us to do because He will provide whatever we need to do it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” “I can do everything [He asks me to do, including die a faithful death!] through Him who gives me strength.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, next week, Lord-willing, we’re going to see how the crowds reacted to all of this. It’s really quite humorous and quite sad. But we can see in verse 14 what direction they are headed. </div><div><br /></div><div>“After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s not His time, and it’s not His way. He’s going to wait for His time and do it in His way.</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice who they think He is. “The Prophet.” <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-promise-of-prophet-matts-messages.html">Remember what we learned about that just a couple weeks ago.</a> They are right! Jesus is the Prophet. He is more than a prophet but He is a prophet, and He is the Prophet that Moses promised in Deuteronomy 18.</div><div><br /></div><div>But they mistakenly thought that meant that they could, in the heat of a Passover Feast moment, forcee Jesus to become the Messiah King that rescues them from the Romans.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Jesus is the Messiah, and He is going to rescue His people, but He’s going to start by rescuing them from something much worse than Rome.</div><div><br /></div><div>He’s going to rescue them from sin.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><br /><b><i>Messages in this Series<br /></i></b><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30</a><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/testimony-about-me-matts-messages.html">15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47</a></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-astonishing-gift-matts-messages.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again</a></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/we-have-seen-his-glory-christ-candle.html">Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again</a> </div><div><br /></div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-86386777673680759772023-12-30T09:10:00.015-05:002023-12-30T13:12:57.255-05:00Books I Read in 2023<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.sayers.org.uk/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKz8PqO9nkAz-0zRmWcBoflR7TzFQ9opaVa9_x4WCYoQ-z0TOD8tl54ezcUk2yuJ_NL0_iYVqThd-ZwYmgrMKc2lHACuJdwXMTVCJg1UxqaL3rJQdbS-g0VBjKHQTkMVM1PNZLLxhfZUos3IS8G_QkN1GXgOAZv2e3NG81UqcEy8tle4I0rKdnJQ/w320-h320/dls.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Matt’s Books Completed* in 2023:</b></div><b> </b><div><br /></div><div>1. <i>Murder Must Advertise</i> by Dorothy L. Sayers [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2005/08/lord-peter-wimsey.html">Lord Peter turned 100 this year!</a>]</div><div>2. <i>Running with the Horses</i> by Eugene Peterson</div><div>3. <i>Smart Brevity</i> by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz</div><div>4. <i>The Sea Mystery</i> by Freeman Wills Crofts</div><div>5. <i>Golden Ashes</i> by Freeman Wills Crofts</div><div>6. <i>Bully Pulpit</i> by Michael J. Kruger [See the <a href="https://blogs.efca.org/posts/no-more-bullies-at-church">EFCA Blog review</a> I coordinated.]</div><div>7. <i>The Pit-Prop Syndicate</i> by Freeman Wills Crofts</div><div>8. <i>The Nine Tailors</i> by Dorothy L. Sayers [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2005/08/lord-peter-wimsey.html">Lord Peter turned 100 this year!</a>]</div><div>9. <i>The Message of Jeremiah (The Bible Speaks Today)</i> by Christopher J.H. Wright</div><div>10. <i>Jeremiah (Kidner Classic Commentaries)</i> by Derek Kidner</div><div>11. <i>Jeremiah (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries)</i> by R.K. Harrison</div><div>12. <i>Jeremiah (Understanding the Bible Commentary Series)</i> by Tremper Longman III<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>13. <i>Jeremiah: From Sorrow to Hope (Preaching the Word)</i> by Philip Graham Ryken</div><div>14. <i>Jeremiah (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: 21)</i> by Hetty Lalleman</div><div>15. <i>Jeremiah (Focus on the Bible)</i> by Michael Wilcock</div><div>16. <i>The Book of Jeremiah (New International Commentary on the Old Testament)</i> by J.A. Thompson</div><div>17. <i>The Book of Jeremiah (New International Commentary on the Old Testament)</i> by John Goldingay</div><div>18. <i>The Leavenworth Case</i> by Anna K. Green</div><div>19. <i>On Getting Out of Bed</i> by Alan Noble [See the <a href="https://blogs.efca.org/posts/a-letter-to-the-modern-church">EFCA Blog review</a> I coordinated. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/my-top-books-of-2023.html">One of my 2023 Top Books!</a>]</div><div>20. <i>The Flourishing Pastor</i> by Tom Nelson</div><div>21. <i>The Winners</i> by Fredrik Backman</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/07/he-restores-my-soul-sabbatical.html"><i>During my sabbatical</i></a>:</div><div><br /></div><div>22. <i>The Thursday Murder Club</i> by Richard Osman</div><div>23. <i>The Man Who Died Twice</i> by Richard Osman</div><div>24. <i>The Bullet That Missed</i> by Richard Osman</div><div>25. <i>The Loss of the Jane Vosper</i> by Freeman Wills Crofts</div><div>26. <i>How It Went</i> by Wendell Berry</div><div>27. <i>Crime at Guildford</i> by Freeman Wills Crofts</div><div>28. <i>The Last Call</i> by Ann Cleeves</div><div>29. <i>The Seat of the Scornful</i> by John Dickson Carr</div><div>30. <i>Jumping Jenny</i> by Anthony Berkeley</div><div>31. <i>Trinitarian Dogmatics</i> by D. Glenn Butner, Jr. [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/my-top-books-of-2023.html">One of my 2023 Top Books!</a>]</div><div>32. <i>The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: 1899-1936</i> edited by Barbara Reynolds [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/07/he-restores-my-soul-sabbatical.html">While visiting Oxford!!</a>]</div><div>33. <i>Death of a Train</i> by Freeman Wills Crofts</div><div>34. <i>The Cornish Coast Murder</i> by John Bude</div><div>35. <i>Gaudy Night</i> by Dorothy L. Sayers [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/07/he-restores-my-soul-sabbatical.html">While visiting Oxford!!</a>] [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2005/08/lord-peter-wimsey.html">Lord Peter turned 100 this year!</a>]</div><div>36. <i>Murder by the Seaside </i>edited by Cecily Gayford</div><div>37. <i>Inspector French and the Starvel Tragedy</i> by Freeman Wills Crofts</div><div>38. <i>The Black Spectacles</i> by John Dickson Carr</div><div>39. <i>The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers (1937-1943)</i> edited by Barbara Reynolds [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/07/he-restores-my-soul-sabbatical.html">While in London!</a>]</div><div>40. <i>Till Death Do Us Part</i> by John Dickson Carr</div><div>41. <i>Communion with God </i>by John Owen, abridged by RJK Law</div><div>42. <i>Called Back</i> by Hugh Conway</div><div>43. <i>Here Lies My Wife</i> by Edmund McGirr</div><div><br /></div><div><i>After my sabbatical ended:</i></div><div><br /></div><div>44. <i>Is Hell Real?</i> by Dane Ortlund</div><div>45. <i>The 39 Steps</i> by John Buchan</div><div>46. <i>You Have Arrived At Your Destination</i> by Amor Towles</div><div>47. <i>The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams</i> by Daniel Nayeri</div><div>48. <i>Mr. Bowling Buys a Newspaper</i> by Donald Henderson</div><div>49. <i>Losing Our Religion</i> by Russell Moore [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/my-top-books-of-2023.html">One of my 2023 Top Books!</a>]</div><div>50. <i>The Rasp </i>by Philip Macdonald</div><div>51. <i>Busman’s Honeymoon</i> by Dorothy L. Sayers [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2005/08/lord-peter-wimsey.html">Lord Peter turned 100 this year!</a>]</div><div>52. <i>Barder’s Murder</i> by Edmund McGirr</div><div>53. <i>A Murderous Journey: Piron’s Last Case</i> by Edmund McGirr</div><div>54. <i>The Last Devil to Die</i> by Richard Osman</div><div>55. <i>Sir John Magill’s Last Journey</i> by Freeman Wills Crofts</div><div>56. <i>The Prophets and the Apostolic Witness: Reading Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel as Christian Scripture</i> edited by Andrew T. Abernethy, William R. Osborne, and Paul D. Wegner</div><div>57. <i>Your Brain’s Not Broken </i>by Tamara Rosier</div><div>58. <i>Pastoring Small Towns</i> by Ronnie Martin & Donnie Griggs [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/my-top-books-of-2023.html">One of my 2023 Top Books!</a>]</div><div>59. <i>Inspector French and the Box Office Murders</i> by Freeman Wills Crofts</div><div>60. <i>Final Acts: Theatrical Mysteries</i> edited by Martin Edwards</div><div>61. <i>Embracing Complementarianism </i>by Graham Beynon and Jane Tooher [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/my-top-books-of-2023.html">One of my 2023 Top Books!]</a></div><div>62. <i>The Floating Admiral</i> by the Members of the Detection Club</div><div>63. <i>Intentional Interruptions</i> by Jonathan Thomas [This one is out of order as I read it before my sabbatical in pre-pub form but didn't get my own physical copy until I returned. <a href="https://www.christianfocus.com/contributors/2670/matthew-c-mitchell#endorsements">See my endorsement at Christian Focus</a>!]</div><div>64. <i>The Christian Standard Bible,</i> M’Cheyne Reading Plan </div><div><br /></div>---<br /><br />* As I say every year--these are books I finished reading this year, not the ones I started or the ones I didn't get done. That list would be a <i>lot</i> longer (and kind of depressing)! I read a bunch of them for escapist fun, a few for/with my family, and a lot of them just to learn and grow. They aren't listed (perfectly) in the order I read them. Some of them I am reading for a second or third time (or more!).<br /><br />And as I also say each and every year--I'm not endorsing these books just because they are listed here. Some of them are really good and some are really bad. Most are somewhere in between. Read with discernment.<br /><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-book-lists.html">Here's the article where I explain why I post these.</a><br /><br />Lists from previous years:<br /><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2022/12/books-i-read-in-2022.html">2022</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2021/12/books-i-read-in-2021.html">2021</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2020/12/books-i-read-in-2020.html">2020</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/12/books-i-read-in-2019.html">2019</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2018/12/books-i-read-in-2018.html">2018</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2017/12/books-i-read-in-2017.html">2017</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2016/12/books-i-read-in-2016.html">2016</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2015/12/books-i-read-in-2015.html">2015</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2014/12/books-i-read-in-2014.html">2014</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2013/12/books-i-read-in-2013.html">2013</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2012/12/matts-books-2012.html">2012</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2012/01/matts-books-from-2011.html">2011</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2010/12/books-read-in-2010.html">2010</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2009/12/books-of-2009.html">2009</a><br />2008 (<a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2008/06/semi-annual-book-list.html">first half</a>, <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2008/12/closing-books-on-2008.html">second half</a>)<br />2007 (<a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2007/07/half-year-of-books-2007.html">first half</a>, <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2007/12/other-half-of-year-in-book-reading.html">second half</a>)<br />2006 (<a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2006/07/half-year-of-bibliophilia.html">first half</a>, <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2006/12/rest-of-2006s-bibliophilia.html">second half</a>)<br />2005 (<a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2005/07/half-year-of-reading.html">first half</a>, <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2005/12/closing-books-on-2005.html">second half</a>)Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-66326866673536082882023-12-30T09:10:00.010-05:002023-12-30T13:06:08.012-05:00My Top Books of 2023<div><div><div>For me, 2023 was a strange year for reading books.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/books-i-read-in-2023.html">I did read</a> more books than I did <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2022/12/books-i-read-in-2022.html">last year</a> (nearly back to <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2021/12/books-i-read-in-2021.html">the level of 2021</a> but nothing like what I used to accomplish in years gone by) but mostly lighter stuff for relaxation and entertainment, especially classic detective fiction. I obviously needed the mental break of my sabbatical, and, thankfully, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/07/he-restores-my-soul-sabbatical.html">I got the rest I desperately needed</a>! I continued to <i>start</i> books and read <i>at</i> books and <i>buy</i> books and listen to podcast interviews <i>about </i>books, but I didn't finish <i>reading</i> very many non-fiction books as I used to. I didn't write any full length books reviews, though I did get to coordinate <a href="https://blogs.efca.org/">a few reviews for the EFCA Blog</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The literary highlight for me in 2023 was <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/07/he-restores-my-soul-sabbatical.html">motoring up and down the United Kingdom</a> following in the footsteps of some of Heather and my favourite authors: C.S. Lewis (The Kilns!), J.R.R. Tolkien (Addison's Walk, The Eagle and Child!), Beatrix Potter (Hilltop!), Agatha Christie (Greenway!), Ellis Peters (Shrewsbury!), and especially Dorothy L. Sayers. </div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57lCExUjXaTqm5ZBkLJyrtLaBPINEYqh9RlnTIvOizsrc14_1NSSVpooexTBve_a4s9Q1ARBqEVs3YhUanBTGbkaVha4I0srhqUUeEHbtThEZNAUYXfDpRu5VRX1u9-QCpopwC21-GwO98wRly_8rHMnN76tJDCXSV7vOieej5s_j3XPK3uAJhA/s4096/IMG_20230517_082111379_HDR.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4096" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57lCExUjXaTqm5ZBkLJyrtLaBPINEYqh9RlnTIvOizsrc14_1NSSVpooexTBve_a4s9Q1ARBqEVs3YhUanBTGbkaVha4I0srhqUUeEHbtThEZNAUYXfDpRu5VRX1u9-QCpopwC21-GwO98wRly_8rHMnN76tJDCXSV7vOieej5s_j3XPK3uAJhA/s320/IMG_20230517_082111379_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ship Inn, Formerly <a href="https://www.gatehouse-of-fleet.co.uk/index.php/visitors/history/10-visitors/history/59-doroth-l-sayers-in-galloway" target="_blank">"The Anwoth Hotel" of DLS Fame</a></td></tr></tbody></table>Sayers' famous fictional sleuth, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2005/08/lord-peter-wimsey.html">Lord Peter Wimsey</a>, turned 100 this year, as he first appeared in her novel <i>Whose Body</i> in 1923. Heather and I first discovered her and him in 2000 and have read through the entire Wimsey canon numerous times. This summer we not only visited DLS-connected locales in Oxford and London but traveled out to Gatehouse of Fleet and Kircudbright to stay in the very same hotel Sayers actually wrote <i>The Five Red Herrings</i> and to explore the artists' community featured in the story. At the very same time, I started reading my way through <a href="https://www.sayers.org.uk/">Barbara Reynolds' collections of Dorothy L. Sayers' letters</a> (two down now, three to go). What a delightful privilege to have those experiences!</div><div><br /></div><div>We also stopped at nearly every bookshop we encountered and brought home some beautiful editions. We even visited <a href="https://www.hay-on-wye.co.uk/">Hay-on-Wye, a town in Wales that is the world's largest secondhand and antiquarian book center</a>, with more bookshops per person than anywhere else. It was hard to pull ourselves away!</div><div><br /></div><div>And for the first quarter of the year, my reading was focused on <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/04/great-commentaries-on-book-of-jeremiah.html">finishing the reading of several excellent commentaries</a> to be able complete <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/03/uprooted-words-of-jeremiah.html">a yearlong study of the Prophecy of Jeremiah</a> for Lanse Free Church.</div><div><br /></div><div>All that to say, for a good part of the year, I wasn't accomplishing that much discretionary reading of Christian non-fiction that developed my mind and soul.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>And yet, I did actually read some really good books in that vein* in 2023, and these are the ones that rose to the top of the pile:</b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><br /></div></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.ivpress.com/on-getting-out-of-bed" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="375" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4dTvf29S4IOCex86sUte__OUV3CZ04Dj7TC_K2MZqZ9fOzYExG7aHjV2OpIKMXoaJ64uceBJxEuMwlaFjV3_4SIEwWu051FP208SdhtB6LaoNRvUrjfUvXhOBVFapLkrasC1doslwmO4Ppw5gXDxaH4q7AHMdW8ZyaNASG13Yuk3jSFvGmRY-hA/w144-h200/ongettingoutofbed.jpg" width="144" /></a></div></b></div><div><b><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.ivpress.com/on-getting-out-of-bed"><i>On Getting Out of Bed</i> by Alan Noble</a></span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>This short book is hard to describe, which is one of the things I love about it. It's basically an extended elegiac essay on how hard just living life can be and how it's still worth doing (and how that helps to do it). Noble is clearly working out his own mental health issues within a Christian framework and sharing his work with others who might benefit from it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The review we published by <a href="https://blogs.efca.org/posts/a-letter-to-the-modern-church">Kate Loomis at EFCA Blog</a> captures well my experience of reading <i>On Getting Out of Bed:</i></div><div><div></div><blockquote><div>"I love <i>On Getting Out of Bed</i> because it reads like a letter of encouragement to the church. He talks about the importance of our witness, our modeling to others that life is good. The way he thinks and talks about this difficult topic is a picture of the modeling that he describes. His writing, simultaneously complex and simple, wraps around itself, weaving the experience of mental suffering through the simplicity of the gospel and returning always to the question at hand, “Why live?”</div><div><br /></div><div>He is not having the last word, but rather inviting us to participate in the conversation and to draw on authors and artists who speak to us, just as he cites T.S. Eliot and others. He describes the narrow way that all Christians are trying to walk, and he includes those who might have seen themselves as disqualified because of their mental suffering. His message is a reminder that mental suffering is common to everyone, that getting out of bed in the morning is a way of praising God for the goodness of His creation. He urges us to keep on doing it. Through the pages of this book shines a brother who cares about our souls, an encourager of the brethren, a fellow traveler on our way home."</div></blockquote><div></div></div><div>It's not for everyone (Noble's style will put some off just as it pulls others in), but for those it's for, it will really help them.</div><div><b><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><i><a href="https://bakeracademic.com/p/trinitarian-dogmatics-d-glenn-jr-butner/412552" target="_blank"><br />Trinitarian Dogmatics</a></i><a href="https://bakeracademic.com/p/trinitarian-dogmatics-d-glenn-jr-butner/412552" target="_blank"> by D. Glenn Butner, Jr.</a></span></b></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bakeracademic.com/p/trinitarian-dogmatics-d-glenn-jr-butner/412552" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgJLbN5USaVsZ9Pnaox2j5BdzSemCEtzf8ufDxvBUNrmoTMDmhJPUC86vGKvXMm1aoVFtdo_c8A-YNzTmSUGRc1xJtD7Kd9w8h5QV19BE3FF3fI1NJMcZ7MsUYsvvLdSv18-0Tde0vYEJrEyj0k_9FdEvq88LxhPP1Lr_YzWlYiyWej0c0vyABw/w133-h200/trintydog.png" width="133" /></a></div><br /></div>My quest to grasp and enjoy the Christian doctrine of the Trinity continues. A book about the Trinity has made the last seven of these top book lists.</div><div><br /></div><div>This year, the best book I read on the Trinity is by Glenn Butner which won the Christianity Today 2023 Award of Merit for Academic Theology. <i>Trinitarian Dogmatics</i> is different from other books because it explores the "grammar" of the constituent sub-doctrines that add up to a fully-orbed teaching on the Trinity, and it does it thematically/conceptually instead of historically/chronologically. So it's more of an "introduction" but on a high level. At times it soared above my level of comprehension, but even then I could tell that the author was being judicious and even-handed with his scholarship. I will be grabbing it off of my shelf to review as I need a deep refresher on what various terms mean. </div><div><br /></div><div>Another thing I enjoyed about this book was how Butner wove in theological contributions from different world cultures than our white Western ones. We need more of that kind of cross-cultural conversation in our systematic theology, and I appreciated Butner's approach to it as a model.</div><div><br /></div><div>I hadn't set out to read this book. It had been recommended to me by a trusted friend, but I hadn't ordered a copy. But then it was just sitting there on a bookshelf at this <a href="https://g.co/kgs/G4VJ6h">sweet little Christian bookshop in Edinburgh</a>, and I took it as a sign. I'm glad I did, and I'm looking forward to Butner's next book which promises to do the same thing with Christology.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/709965/losing-our-religion-by-russell-moore/"><i>Losing Our Religion</i> by Russell Moore</a></span></b></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/709965/losing-our-religion-by-russell-moore/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="298" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCqeHvpbgl61VH7rtDREgOpirKRn8u2Sl4miYQHm1AtXsiwg_BsV50CBL0RncA9Q_jBZFOU-JFk3QjJfjs3sDTLXXWQf6V0RABOkvb6y4HFWJ8xdtuaG0eWvRmI9MpGhL5yBbiJMdx0UkevA3f-wegX2gYLO-tQPu47kZQMINOdHECFVJ_t4bIg/w133-h200/losingreligion.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Evangelicalism as a theological and social movement is on bumpy ride in America. As a prominent and sometimes prophetic voice Russell Moore, the editor-in-chief of Christianity, has taken quite a few of the bumps and lumps himself. I read everything he writes, including <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/newsletters">his weekly newsletter, "Moore to the Point."</a> <div><br /></div><div>I find most of Moore's writing to be beautiful and life-giving, often giving words to what I inarticulately feel. It's also surprisingly playful and replete with seemingly paradoxical language. I love how Moore juxtaposes.<div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Losing Our Religion</i> is sober and somber yet still hopeful. Moore laments where American evangelicalism has been and maps a way forward, mainly by returning to our roots and truly living out our stated values. It's far from the last word on the subject, but Moore always has an important word to offer.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.bhpublishinggroup.com/product/pastoring-small-towns-2/"><i>Pastoring Small Towns</i> by Ronnie Martin & Donnie Griggs</a></span></b></div><div><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.bhpublishinggroup.com/product/pastoring-small-towns-2/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="724" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggGglPbF9EwdqTegsVhXpSVIwFmbEYPaIVZYWYOPs6KjutQfiJPM9vyK_mF75FGO3QmRqcLTgmu6CMpIAxi4_d-g7fy1snUIvZ1SPuVUR_SH4BNJZjEEZ_o-rrV_kKmmyWNnZvqkpNxhk1-L2OhPKtHTnzhyvZwX0dZ58QE9QuE67NibXNKRusHQ/w141-h200/pastoringsmall.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. It was written on a subject dear to my heart by one of my friends with one of his friends. Pastoring in a small town is my life's work. I've been serving in Lanse (population ~400) for over a quarter of a century. What might these guys say that would be helpful to me?</div><div><br /></div><div>My friend Ronnie Martin is a transplant to small town living. Until about ten years ago he had spent most of his life in urban southern California and touring the America with his electropop band. His friend Donnie is more of a small town native. </div><div><br /></div><div>I really appreciated what both of them had to say about pastoral ministry in a small context (dovetailing with the insights from my all time favourite book on small-place ministry, <i><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2020/12/my-top-books-of-2020.html" target="_blank">A Big Gospel for Small Places</a>).</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Ronnie brought a "outsider-moving-inside" perspective. As a newcomer, he didn't pretend to have all of the answers which was refreshing. He also captured a lot of "what it's like" in ways I couldn't have because I've been embedded in it so long. Both authors brought a lot of Scripture into application for small-town ministry context in ways I appreciated. A group of pastors met on online all Fall to talk through what we got out of it. It wasn't dynamic or dramatic, but neither is this kind of ministry most of the time. As a review from a UK reader, "<i>Pastoring Small Towns</i> does what it says on the tin."</div><div><br /></div><div>["Honorable mentions" for books I read in 2023 in the category of pastoral ministry include <i>The Flourishing Pastor</i> by Tom Nelson and <i>Bully Pulpit</i> by Michael Kruger. Both are highly recommended.]</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.thegoodbook.com/embracing-complementarianism"><i>Embracing Complementarianism</i> by Graham Beynon and Jane Tooher</a></span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thegoodbook.com/embracing-complementarianism" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="400" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqI-G6U5kOwQ-fsAO5W08Slkin_uEj_6f99lU3NqSRnQNdy5RVJl-qYULAGI-B8T3g74OGBVXv3uqJpdIZz08luCLjQmeMVI64GKTSvmvmILqbJ-6tFQttasyxoRoq7qCho0jETvhVNlOd4o2yC9ec1YkzZD9c-f_CkKYrdfD6ldgFcw3o0kdag/w200-h196/embracingcomp.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Complementarianism is the Christian teaching that men and women are significantly the same (in essence, worth, and salvation) and significantly different (in specific responsibilities and roles) and significantly need each other to become what God intended us to be. Women and men <i>complement</i> each other. This is true in both marriage and in ministry. This book focuses on the ministry of the church. </div><div><br /></div><div>Most books on complementarianism spend a good bit of time arguing for the position and exploring the biblical basis for it (a good and much needed thing). Graham Beynon and Jane Tooher lay those things out briefly in a couple of the chapters but mostly assume that they are talking to those already-convinced who are looking for help in turning the concepts into reality. So it's not an argument but a guide. At the same time, they also don't turn it into a nuts-and-bolts manual. The authors don't tell you exactly what to do and what not to do. They help church leaders<i> think</i> through their approach and put their convictions into practice. Tooher and Beynon are from the UK and Australia and from different denominational structures. They recognize that complementarianism is going to look different in different contexts.</div><div><br /></div><div>I really appreciated how the authors modeled a healthy complementarianism as they wrote together. The book is generous, careful, and thoughtful. There are no caricatures nor pretending or assuming that embracing complementarianism will be simple or easy to do in our current cultural context. But it's positive, as well. This work is worth doing and worth doing well. I can see Bible-believing churches using this book to good effect, maybe as a game-changer for some. It's also very well written and easy to read. </div><div><br /></div><div>Extra: This morning right before finishing this post, I listened to an excellent podcast on the topic of complementarianism from the FIEC leaders conference in the UK: <a href="https://fiec.org.uk/resources/is-complementarianism-unjust">Different, Yet the Same: Is Complementarianism Unjust?</a> by Linda Allcock. She also highly recommended <i>Embracing Complementarianism</i> as a key resource.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div> ***<div><br />* As I’ve said before [<a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2013/12/my-top-books-of-2013.html">2013</a>, <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2014/12/my-top-books-of-2014.html">2014</a>, <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2015/12/my-top-books-of-2015.html">2015</a>, <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2016/12/my-top-books-of-2016.html">2016</a>, <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2017/12/my-top-books-of-2017.html">2017</a> <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2018/12/my-top-books-of-2018.html">2018</a>, <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2020/12/my-top-books-of-2020.html">2020</a>, <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2021/12/my-top-books-of-2021.html">2021</a>, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2022/12/my-top-books-of-2022.html" target="_blank">2022</a>], this list is not necessarily the best books that were published that particular year or the most enjoyable either. I intend it to be a list of the fairly new Christian nonfiction books I read:<br /><br />- that had the most personal impact on me, my thinking, my heart.<br />- that I was the most consistently enthusiastic about.<br />- that I kept coming back to again and again.<br />- that I couldn't help recommending to others (and recommend without reservations and significant caveats).<br /><br /></div></div></div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-43725424847791437642023-12-24T20:00:00.001-05:002023-12-24T20:00:00.154-05:00“We Have Seen His Glory” Christ Candle Lighting 2023 [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk0Uhv7Vb1IEOlAdooktW_wUz3u0U9Q1SICDvfUFnXXcf7mgZwFtq63LT11_LZCz5XNKb_nUlMKtGB0A_iDS1i7JyemCG9sDXwBZNyWsuPMHL_-56DcgKo4vOujTAJr-D-mnUaul5ZyAy7hbukOLeOvDh4jPS5QNJnDQZcZZETwgYkPymc_A-uAQ/s1920/pexels-david-bartus-1677008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk0Uhv7Vb1IEOlAdooktW_wUz3u0U9Q1SICDvfUFnXXcf7mgZwFtq63LT11_LZCz5XNKb_nUlMKtGB0A_iDS1i7JyemCG9sDXwBZNyWsuPMHL_-56DcgKo4vOujTAJr-D-mnUaul5ZyAy7hbukOLeOvDh4jPS5QNJnDQZcZZETwgYkPymc_A-uAQ/s320/pexels-david-bartus-1677008.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“We Have Seen His Glory”</b></div><div><b>Christ Candle Lighting :: Christmas Eve</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>December 24, 2023 :: John 1:1-18</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Everybody, listen closely.</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen closely because tonight I’m going to tell you some of the deepest truths in the whole world, some of the most profound truth in the whole universe.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is the stuff that makes sense of everything including all of the stuff you’ve heard read and sung and played tonight. </div><div><br /></div><div>It’s the story behind the story.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s what was going on with Mary and Joseph and the Angels and the Shepherds in that “crazy” story that Keith read in the Gospel of Luke. </div><div><br /></div><div>It’s the deep truth of the Gospel of John chapter 1. The ancient Prologue of the Gospel of John in the holy Scriptures.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you are our guest tonight, welcome. We’re glad you have joined us here. As a church family, we have been studying the Gospel of John together ever since the beginning of August when I got home from <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/07/he-restores-my-soul-sabbatical.html">my sabbatical</a>. You can actually <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/search/label/Life%20in%20Jesus%27%20Name">go back and listen to all of the messages from the Gospel of John so far online</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>We’ve actually reached chapter 6 as a church family, and we will return to it at the first of the year. We’d love to have you join us on Sunday mornings at 10:00am as we learn Who Jesus really is and how we can <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">life in His name.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>So we have studied this passage once already this year, and <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">we said then that every phrase is full of fireworks.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>I wish these candles were fireworks instead so that every time we lit up one on these profound statements, it just fired off in all directions. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>That would be a Christmas Eve to remember!</i></div><div><br /></div><div>But these bright candles will have to do. We’ve been lighting them now for four weeks.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the first Sunday of Advent, Scott and Karen <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/advent-candle-1-word.html">lit this first candle</a> and then read John chapter 1, verses 1 through 3 which says these breathtaking things:</div><div><br /></div><div>“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”</div><div><br /></div><div>John begins before the beginning. He rewinds the tape to the beginning. All the way to the very beginning and before that. Before there was anything. When all there was was God.</div><div><br /></div><div>Before the beginning, there was this Person called, “The Word.” The expression, the communication, the message. The Word.</div><div><br /></div><div>And this Someone called “The Word,” the Bible says, was <i>with</i> God. He existed in perfect intimate fellowship with God the Father for all eternity. They had <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">what we called</a> “with-ness” “togetherness.” The Word and God were with one another.</div><div><br /></div><div>But it’s more than that. It goes on to say, “and the Word was God.” The Person called “The Word” was, is, and always will be God Himself. He is fully God in every way. And at the same time (forever), He is also with God.</div><div><br /></div><div>And He’s called The Word because He Himself is God’s message to us. He is God’s self-expression. God’s communication. He is God speaking to us.</div><div><br /></div><div>And when God speaks, we should always listen.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Are you listening?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>And that’s just candle number one! Do you see what I mean by “every phrase is full of fireworks?!”</div><div><br /></div><div>On the second Sunday of Advent, Frank and Joan and Jim and Eli and Kailyn <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/advent-candle-2-true-light.html">lit our second candle</a> which gave a second name for this amazing Person called “the Word.”</div><div><br /></div><div>They read John 1:4-5 which names Him as “The Light.” Listen:</div><div><br /></div><div>“In him [the Word] was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” And verse 9, “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”</div><div><br /></div><div>This says that this “Light” Person was coming into the world. </div><div><br /></div><div>What does the word “advent” mean? We haven’t said it yet, and some of you have been waiting:</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming tomorrow! Jesus has come and is coming again.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>“The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s what was going on that first Christmas! There is a battle raging between light and darkness, and when Jesus came, the darkness lost.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus said, “I am light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Are you following Him? </i></div><div><br /></div><div>Because you have to choose. On the third Sunday of Advent, D.J., Desiree, Jacob, Eli, and Eden–<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/advent-candle-3-to-all-who-received-him.html">lit our third candle</a> and told us that we have to choose.</div><div><br /></div><div>They read chapter 1, verses 10 through 13 which says that when the Word arrived, the world rejected Him. </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: normal; white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>It says, “He [the Word] was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. [Did not know Him. Did not want to know Him.] He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>They rejected Him. He was their Messiah. He was their Christ. He was everything that had been promised, but they said, “No thanks. We don’t want you.” In fact, they went so far as to kill Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the darkness does not ultimately win. The Word comes back to life, and then He gives life to those who will believe. Verse 12.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Supernatural, eternal life for those who receive Him instead of rejecting Him. Which are you?</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Have you received Him?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>If you have not, we invite you to. You will never regret it.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you have received Him, then you can legitimately say that God is your Father! You have become one of the “children of God.” And there is no greater privilege than that!</div><div><br /></div><div>And here is how He did it. The fireworks just get more brilliant.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just this morning, Roper and Lita <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/advent-candle-4-word-became-flesh.html">lit our fourth candle</a> and read John 1:14 which tell us the astonishing thing that the Word did.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Word Who was in the beginning.</div><div>The Word Who was WITH God.</div><div>The Word Who WAS God.</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to this. This was what was happening near that manger.</div><div><br /></div><div>“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”</div><div><br /></div><div>The Word of God who was fully God became fully human and came to live among us as Jesus Christ. That’s what we call the miracle of the incarnation, and we have gathered here tonight to worship God because of it.</div><div><br /></div><div>“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”</div><div><br /></div><div><i>“Glory hallelujah to the newborn king!”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>If this doesn’t blow your mind, what will? The Word of God, who was fully God, became fully human and came to live among us as Jesus Christ. And John says, “We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”</div><div><br /></div><div>We have seen the glory of God the Son who came (advent) from the Father (because He was WITH the Father) and He came full of grace and truth.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Bible calls him the “the One and Only,” which emphasizes how unique He was.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is no one else like Jesus.</div><div>There is no one else like Jesus.</div><div>There is no one else like Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>He is in a class by Himself. He is in a “genus” by Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>He is Ultra-Unique.</div><div>He is Unparalleled.</div><div><br /></div><div>He is God’s Son in a completely singular way.</div><div><br /></div><div>You and I can become God’s sons and daughters by adoption and by new birth. We just said that with candle number three. But Jesus is God’s Son by His eternal nature. He is not just the Son of God, but He is God the Son. The Only Begotten Son. God the One and Only!</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you see how this is the deepest truth in all the universe?</div><div><br /></div><div>This is Who God is!</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Are you worshiping Him?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>There’s just one more candle to light to radiate the truth of Who Jesus is and what He has done. And it corresponds to the last verse of the Prologue of the Gospel of John. Chapter 1, verse 18.</div><div><br /></div><div>“No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.”</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: normal; white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>I don’t know if my brain can take on any more wonderful news! This says that God can be known because of Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>Known. You can know God.</div><div><br /></div><div>It says that “no one has ever seen God” (meaning God the Father), so that all of those times that God showed up in some way in the Bible were just partial, just shadowy, just glimpses of His glory.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nobody has ever seen God except God. But[!] God the One and Only, the God Only Begotten, God the Unique Son Who is at the Father’s side (with God and now from God), has made Him known.</div><div><br /></div><div>God the One and Only Son has taken on humanity and made God the Father known.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s why He’s called “The Word” because He is the Message of God come in the flesh so that we can know God Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>Isn’t that wonderful?!</div><div>Isn’t that astonishing?!</div><div>Isn’t that glorious?!</div><div><br /></div><div>We have seen His glory.</div><div><br /></div><div>The glory of the One and Only.</div><div><br /></div><div>O come let us adore Him!</div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-57653625626766793342023-12-24T11:45:00.065-05:002023-12-27T14:57:35.186-05:00“The Astonishing Gift” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnxeD5S6xmkvzxi1wIbEoAfcPoyKPqHYkZ1WrtuLGF2DnUy36vR2Ya6slP8jzvtmni1uZIArAf7AW902O5iOvc50NZvwtqM7URr38guzKg-C726rbEKgvpH7QA8mOfoFj7IjecdJi1gqw5Lsk1EKwz9h8v-o2kFSiEZR6hfPx4Z7PIuYeYXp2VA/s960/15.75.TheAstonishingGift.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnxeD5S6xmkvzxi1wIbEoAfcPoyKPqHYkZ1WrtuLGF2DnUy36vR2Ya6slP8jzvtmni1uZIArAf7AW902O5iOvc50NZvwtqM7URr38guzKg-C726rbEKgvpH7QA8mOfoFj7IjecdJi1gqw5Lsk1EKwz9h8v-o2kFSiEZR6hfPx4Z7PIuYeYXp2VA/w320-h240/15.75.TheAstonishingGift.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“The Astonishing Gift”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>December 24, 2023 :: John 3:16 </b></div><div><br /></div><div>You can open your Bibles if you want to, but everybody here should already have today’s passage memorized. </div><div><br /></div><div>We’ve been working on it for months and months as a church family, and many many of us had it memorized long before that.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s John chapter 3, verse 16. Let’s all say it together:</div><div><br /></div><div>“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s the meaning of Christmas, isn’t it?</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YVSWTnmTLVo?si=g2IBw3O6wuXyoO2G" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>What is the most astonishing gift you’ve ever been given or have given to someone else for Christmas?</div><div><br /></div><div>Just about everybody here is slated to give and/or receive at least one gift tomorrow. Big or small. It’s a wonderful time of the year for giving gifts. Heather’s brother David and his family are visiting this week from western Canada, and Heather has been so looking forward to doing a gift exchange with them tomorrow. She loves to give gifts to those she loves. It’s wonderful to have you guys with us. And I can’t wait to see what you got me this year.</div><div><br /></div><div>We all love it when our gift really hits the spot, right? You give someone a gift, and they open it, and it’s exactly what they always wanted?</div><div><br /></div><div>I remember when I was a little kid, I got a “Millennium Falcon” spaceship from “Star Wars” as my Christmas gift, and it just lit up my life! It even had the little secret hiding place from the movie for my action figures.</div><div><br /></div><div>What have been some of your favorite gifts to receive over the years at Christmas time? Have any of them been astonishing? </div><div><br /></div><div>“Oh, you shouldn’t have.”</div><div><br /></div><div>What have been some of your favorite gifts to give?</div><div><br /></div><div>The reason why the giving of gifts is so appropriate at Christmas is because Christmas marks the giving of the greatest gift ever given.</div><div><br /></div><div>Last Sunday, a group of us visited a dozen homes of our church family and sang Christmas carols in their front yards. At the end of every song time, we would pray for the folks in that home or ask them to pray for us, and we were always praying John 3:16 for them. “Thank you, Lord, for giving us the greatest gift ever. Because you so loved the world that you gave your One and Only Son.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes, it’s hard to remember that that’s what Christmas is all about. Because there are a lot of distractions out there. Even the giving of gifts to one another can add to that distraction. Especially the endless shopping for gifts for one another, am I right?</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, I’m not saying that we all need to spend an astonishing amount of money for Christmas every year! It might be much wiser for us to keep the gift giving simple in our families and focus our generosity elsewhere, especially when our funds are limited. We should think about those who do not have much at all and give in that direction. </div><div><br /></div><div>It’s easy to get distracted, even by the gifts, from the greatest gift ever given. So let’s think about it together once again.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">We actually studied John 3:16 just a couple of months ago</a> as we have been working our way through the Gospel of John, so we won’t go over the context and all of the fine details like we did back then. Check the <a href="https://youtu.be/oCwU5jMANXk">YouTube of that message</a> this afternoon to go back over all of that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today, I just want us to focus on how astonishing this gift really was. Because this is, quite frankly, mind-blowing. And if it’s isn’t mind-blowing, then we don’t really understand it.</div><div><br /></div><div>We’ve been learning some pretty astonishing things together the last few months. For example, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">God is Son and God is Father.</a> (And He is also Spirit.)</div><div><br /></div><div>God the Father has <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">eternally begotten His own Son.</a> God has a Son, and He is also God! </div><div><br /></div><div>As the Nicene Creed says, the Son is:</div><div><br /></div><div>“God from God, Light from Light</div><div>true God from true God,</div><div>begotten, not made,</div><div>of one Being with the Father.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Or as the Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word (that’s the Son), and the Word was with God (and, as the Son, from God) and the Word WAS God.” That is God the Son. And there is only One of Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>Those are some pretty astonishing things! We’re going to go over them again tonight as we light all 5 of these candles.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>God has a Son, and He’s His...what’s the Greek word here? “<i>Monogenays</i>.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Only Begotten</div><div>Ultra Unique</div><div>One and Only Son</div><div><br /></div><div>We’ve seen this over and over again in the Gospel of John. God has a Son, and He is in a class by Himself. There is no one else like Him. And the Father loves Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>We’ve seen that again and again, haven’t we?</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">John chapter 5.</a> “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.” (Jn. 5:20).</div><div><br /></div><div>Or two weeks ago <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/why-did-jesus-get-baptized-matts.html">at His baptism</a>. The Father saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>Or last week when we talked about <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-promise-of-prophet-matts-messages.html">Jesus as The Ultimate Prophet</a> when He was transfigured, and the Father says, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matt. 17:5 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>The Father loves the Son. He loves Him so much!</div><div><br /></div><div>And so that makes it so astonishing, so breath-taking, when we read John 3:16, and it tells us that God “so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son...”!</div><div><br /></div><div>And it wasn’t a giving like giving Him away in marriage or something like that. Like we might say, “I give my son to the world,” and all we mean is that he is leaving the nest and making his way in the big bad world.</div><div><br /></div><div>But this was actually an exchange. God gave His Son as a sacrifice for the world. That’s what it’s talking about. John is talking about the death of His One and Only Son. That’s the gift.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Apostle John never got over what He was led to write here. John thought about this all the time.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2013/02/matts-messages-god-is-love.html">When he wrote his letters</a>, John said this. 1 John chapter 4, verses 9 and 10, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”</div><div><br /></div><div>You see how astonished John was? And he was the one who wrote John 3:16!</div><div><br /></div><div>We didn’t love God, and He gave His Son for us?! “This is love!”</div><div><br /></div><div>You see, that’s all bound up in the word, “world.” We think, “God so loved the world,” and that’s amazing because the world is so big. But it’s actually amazing because the world is so bad. Just about every time that John uses the word, “world,” he’s talking about humanity united together in rebellion against God. The “world-system” we might say. Because the world is so sinful, this is such an astonishing gift.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don’t know how many times I have preached John 3:16 at somebody’s funeral, and I always say something like this, “I have 3 sons and a daughter(!), and I know that I'm supposed to love people, and I want to be a loving man, but it would be really hard for me to give one of my sons or my daughter for anyone. Much less one of my enemies!</div><div><br /></div><div>But God gave His one and only Son to save those who will believe.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Isn’t that astonishing?! What an amazing Giver this God is!</div><div><br /></div><div>I have a friend who says, “Our treason is the reason for the season.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God didn’t just send His One and Only Son to show us the way to Him. He GAVE His One and Only Son to be the Way that we come to Him. He gave His One and Only Son to die on the Cross for our sins and come back to life to give us life. And that’s just shocking. It should leave us breathless. We do not deserve this. This is all grace. It is all GIFT.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Apostle Paul never got over this either. Misty put up a bold gold bulletin board out there that we’ve all been looking at the last few months. It has 2 Corinthians 9:15 on it, and it very simply says, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-wonder-of-it-all-matts-messages.html">One time I looked up that word for “indescribable” in the dictionary</a>, and it means, “You can't describe it.” Which does not mean that we shouldn't try. There are words to describe God's gift, but there aren't enough words to do it justice. Does that make sense?</div><div><br /></div><div>The King James Version has "unspeakable gift" in 2 Corinthians 9:15 which might give you the idea that it's forbidden to talk about this gift. “Speak not of this gift!”</div><div><br /></div><div>And that's clearly not what Paul meant. But the King James also might give you the idea that there just aren't words to use. It's unspeakably good.</div><div><br /></div><div>The ESV, the English Standard Version says, "inexpressible" gift. You almost get the idea from the ESV that you not only run out of words to describe this gift, but you run out of words altogether. It’s just so astonishing!</div><div><br /></div><div>Just slow down and think about it. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>How do we apply this astonishing truth to our lives in 2023 and soon to be 2024?</div><div><br /></div><div>Let me suggest five quick things. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#1. BELIEVE.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>That’s what John 3:16 says we need to do. That’s our “part.” God has astonishingly given His One and Only Son, THAT whoever BELIEVES in him shall not perish but have eternal life. That’s whoever. That’s you and me and anyone else. But only those who believe.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you don’t believe, then Jesus’ death is not a gift for you. You have to receive it for yourself.</div><div><br /></div><div>All gifts are like that, right? If someone hands you a gift tomorrow morning, and you refuse it, if you leave it unopened, it was “given,” but it wasn’t received. Believe. </div><div><br /></div><div>I know it’s hard to believe. I almost called this message, “The Incredible Gift.” Because it’s almost too astonishing to believe. But this is the gospel. This is the greatest news in the all of the world, and it’s true. Believe it! Put your trust in God’s Gift of His One and Only Son.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#2. BE AMAZED!</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Rejoice! Marvel! Wonder! Allow yourself to be astonished. This is amazing stuff. Don’t let it become “old hat.” I struggle every year with that. It’s my job to rehearse these truths every Christmastime, and it’s kind of easy to get king of bored with Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Angels, Wisemen. Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Angels, Wisemen. Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Angels, Wisemen. Twenty six years now.</div><div><br /></div><div>But not if we stop and think about what John 3:16 says here!</div><div><br /></div><div>Not if it’s real. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Be amazed!<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#3. BE LOVING.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>That’s where the Apostle John goes with it next in verse 11 of chapter 4 of his first letter.</div><div><br /></div><div>Again he says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. [Then he writes...] Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”</div><div><br /></div><div>We’re going to see that again and again as we go further up and further into the Gospel of John. We have been loved with an astonishing love, so we need to learn to love one another in a way that makes the world gasp. And to love even our enemies in a way that makes the world shake their heads in astonishment. Be like Jesus and be full of love.</div><div><br /></div><div>And be like Jesus and be full of peace.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#4. BE PEACEFUL.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>What I mean here is that if you and I are loved like this, then what do we have to worry about? What trouble should trouble us if we are loved like this?</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2015/03/matts-messages-for-us.html">Romans 8:32 says it this way, </a>“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32 NIVO). He will! If He did the hardest thing ever in giving up His One and Only Son, then nothing can or will stop Him from taking care of all of the easier things. So you and I can live lives of peace and confidence.</div><div><br /></div><div>And loud joy!</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#5. BURST OUT WITH THE NEWS!</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>John 3:16 is too good to keep to ourselves. Let’s tell go up on a mountainside and tell the world!</div><div><br /></div><div>The astonishing news that God so loved them that He gave His One and Only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.</div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-78291968000880557522023-12-24T08:00:00.003-05:002023-12-24T08:00:00.147-05:00Advent Candle #4: "The Word Became Flesh"<div><b>LEFC Family Advent Readings: “We Have Seen His Glory”</b></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/four-red-pillar-candles-on-white-surface-1677008/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUniobW4pYLs9WhxLnRfnW-r0rljpe00rNFxQ5N_Z60HWfyGNu9-vLY9Mi_Gb0i8CNAjWvKtdB0jQKeyID55SgHbcSzFvgp4QCMB6_Jz3Qjs72fqigeaoGrvkPg57hGV3AGleHnv-85UAAP8ORQ0nmyGXv8mb05a5Vz5ruUDNHi_sW5vHAnUxgnw/s320/pexels-david-bartus-1677008.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>John 1:1-18 :: December 24, 2023</b></div><div><b>Week #4: “The Word Became Flesh”</b></div><div><br /></div><div>“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.</div><div><br /></div><div>During our Advent Readings this season, we have been meditating upon the glory of the One and Only Son of God Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. There is no one else like Him. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE AGAIN.]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Our first candle taught us the amazing truth that Jesus is the eternal Word of God. When God wanted to tell us about Himself, He sent His Son as the Message.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE AGAIN.]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Our second candle reminded us that Jesus is the true light of humanity. When Jesus came, the darkness lost.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>[LIGHT THIRD CANDLE AGAIN.]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Our third candle radiated the truth that Jesus must be welcomed. When we receive Him by faith, we become the beloved children of God by new birth.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>[LIGHT FOURTH CANDLE.]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Our fourth candle proclaims to us the astonishing truth that the eternal Son of God became a human being just as we are.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>[READ JOHN 1:14.]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The Word of God, who was fully God, became fully human and came to live among us as Jesus Christ. This is the miracle of the Incarnation.</div><div><br /></div><div>As <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/hark_the_herald_angels_sing_glory_to" target="_blank">the carol</a> sings:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>“Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see;</i></div><div><i>Hail the in’incarnate Deity,</i></div><div><i>Pleased as man with men to dwell,</i></div><div><i>Jesus, our Emmanuel.”</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Let us worship Him forever in wonder and glorious joy.</div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-50736337508354972562023-12-17T11:45:00.097-05:002023-12-19T12:17:41.130-05:00“The Promise of a Prophet” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggqOECmPXTxzhmixEjbdSPH6qR2-rwCL0wR9wO2JjV24Bbe0AlGS_qznofk9OAgnCTOGcsFsPL0fjHMed5aaJknsHYUaaFSPKARNFSvhl5s6FMflXPzg8s0UOzLwBleYCVqX4JmVCH1KhM4lsGmvRUXU1GsD-uNDtjNLSgzSlSQQ3Km7jrYjxTzw/s960/15.5.ThePromiseOfAProphet.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggqOECmPXTxzhmixEjbdSPH6qR2-rwCL0wR9wO2JjV24Bbe0AlGS_qznofk9OAgnCTOGcsFsPL0fjHMed5aaJknsHYUaaFSPKARNFSvhl5s6FMflXPzg8s0UOzLwBleYCVqX4JmVCH1KhM4lsGmvRUXU1GsD-uNDtjNLSgzSlSQQ3Km7jrYjxTzw/s320/15.5.ThePromiseOfAProphet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“The Promise of a Prophet”</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>December 17, 2023 :: Deuteronomy 18:9-22</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I want start this morning with another trick question.</div><div><br /></div><div>Everybody seemed to enjoy <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/why-did-jesus-get-baptized-matts.html">last week’s trick questions about baptism</a> so much, I thought we might start this week with another question that might seem a bit tricky to begin with. Here we go.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Is Jesus a prophet?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>How does that question strike you?</div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>My initial gut reaction is to say, “No.” Because saying that Jesus is a prophet feels like a kind of downgrade from everything we’ve been reading about Jesus in the Gospel of John, especially, mostly recently, in chapter 5. No, Jesus isn’t a prophet. He’s the Son of God and God the Son! Is that your gut reaction, too?</div><div><br /></div><div>But notice that the question is not, “Is Jesus ONLY a prophet?” That would be an easier one for Christians like you and me. No, Jesus is not JUST a prophet.</div><div><br /></div><div>But He is a true prophet of God, is He not?</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3_a8q_3gh6U?si=iHA85kVWTFJ_Quk8" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>What is a prophet? A prophet is an divinely authorized spokesman for God. A prophet is a person supernaturally given actual words from God to speak to other people. Sometimes, not always, the prophet even tells the future. A prophet is an divinely authorized (from God) spokesman for God. A from-God supernatural-spokesman for God.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, given that definition. Is Jesus a prophet?</div><div><br /></div><div>Let me ask this question. <i>Is Jesus THE Prophet?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>If you remember in John chapter 1, the Jewish religious authorities were investigating John the Baptist and <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/why-did-jesus-get-baptized-matts.html">asked John who he thought he was.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>And John said that he was not the Christ, not the Messiah. And so they said, “Ok. Who are you then? Are you Elijah? “I am not.” And then they asked him, “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” (Jn. 1:21 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>What were they talking about? “The Prophet?” Well, that’s what our passage today is all about. </div><div><br /></div><div>Deuteronomy 18 is a promise of a prophet. I almost titled this message, “The Prophet’s Prophecy of a Prophet to Prophesy,” but I thought that might be a bit much. But that’s what it is. What you have before you is an ancient passage of holy scripture that promises that God will raise up a prophet to speak for Him to His people.</div><div><br /></div><div>And here’s how ancient it is. It was written over 3,000 years ago! Today, we’re going back more than 3,000 years. More like 3,500 years to book of Deuteronomy. </div><div><br /></div><div>Most of Deuteronomy was written in Hebrew by Moses to give instruction to the second generation of Israelites who were actually going to get to enter into the Promised Land. Moses is getting the people ready for what they were going to experience in Canaan and telling them how God expected them to live as His people there.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, you can thank Heather Joy for this sermon being so short and focused today. I’ve been thinking so much about <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/testimony-about-me-matts-messages.html">what Jesus said at end of chapter 5</a> when He told them, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me” (Jn. 5:46 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>And I was going to do a whole sermon this week called “What did Moses write about Jesus?” And I was going to do everything Moses said about Jesus in Genesis and everything Moses said about Jesus in Exodus, and everything Moses said about Jesus in Leviticus.</div><div><br /></div><div>And Heather was like, “You’re going try to preach the entire Torah in one message? Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”</div><div><br /></div><div>And I’m like, “Oh yeah, I should probably just focus on one thing.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And this is the one I landed on. I’ve never gotten to preach through Deuteronomy in the last twenty-five years, so here’s a chance to study it some together.</div><div><br /></div><div>Before he gives the promise of the prophet, Moses warns the people to not become like the pagan nations current living in the Promised Land– especially in how they tried to predict and control the future. Let’s start in verse 9. Deuteronomy 18:9.</div><div><br /></div><div>“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so” (vv.9-14).</div><div><br /></div><div>Moses says that the people of Israel were going to be tempted to act like the people of Canaan especially in adopting these occult practices that Yahweh hated. He calls them “detestable” or “abominable.” He hates them.</div><div><br /></div><div>He hates them for many reasons but a big one is that they all encourage relying on powers other than Him. And Moses gives a long list of them. In fact, the longest list of occult practices in the whole Bible.</div><div><br /></div><div>Moses says that the Israelites are to reject them all. And sadly, all of these are still present in the world today. And, sadly, it must be said that the should be roundly rejected today by followers of Christ. These are not the ways to know the future or shape the future or to make decisions.</div><div><br /></div><div>And those that practice them are playing with infernal fire. This is serious stuff. Don’t play with it. I know it’s popular. And it might seem harmless and fun. And it might even “work” sometimes because of demonic power behind it.</div><div><br /></div><div>But it’s rebellion against the true God. Moses says it’s one of the reasons why the Canaanites are going to be judged and dispossessed and driven out of the Promised Land. Israel should not then do the same things they did!</div><div><br /></div><div>And they don’t need to do any of that cruel and crazy stuff because God is going to give them a prophet. Look at verse 15.</div><div><br /></div><div>“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s the promise of a prophet. God has promised a divine spokesman for God from God to God’s people. </div><div><br /></div><div>And that’s good news in so many ways. For one, just that God loves to communicate. He’s a talking God, a speaking God. He doesn’t leave His people in the dark. And we know that Moses is going to die. He’s really getting up there. I think he was around 120 years old when he died. But the words from God were not going to stop with Moses. God was promised to send a prophet.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let’s look and see what this promised prophet is going to be like.</div><div><br /></div><div>For starters, he’ll be a gift. Look at verse 15 again. “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me.” </div><div><br /></div><div>That “for you” means that God will give this prophet to His people as a gift. He’ll be aimed at God’s people. He’ll be “for them.” They will not be left alone. They will not have to wonder what God is like or what God wants. He will raise up a prophet for them.</div><div><br /></div><div>And <i>from</i> them. That is to say, this prophet will be an Israelite. Moses says, “from your own brothers.” He won’t be a foreigner. He won’t even be an angel. He will be a human. An Israelite human “brother.”</div><div><br /></div><div>For His people, from His people and LIKE Moses. Did you catch that? Verse 15, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me...”</div><div><br /></div><div>Moses is the model. Moses is the prototype. He’s being doing the prophet thing already, so they will be able to recognize the fulfillment of this promise, because they’ve already seen something like it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, in what way will this prophet to come be like Moses?</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe a lot of different ways. Moses lived a pretty amazing life. Just read the books of Exodus, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/testimony-about-me-matts-messages.html">Numbers</a>, and Deuteronomy. I won’t preach them all this morning to you though I’m sorely tempted!</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s one thing Moses did. He mediated a covenant between God and his people. He interceded. That’s where Moses goes in verse 16.</div><div><br /></div><div>“For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you remember that (Deut. 5:23-27)? When they encountered God at Mt. Horeb (which is Mt. Sinai), the mountain on fire, and they were scared almost to death at His glorious holiness, and they asked for a mediator. And God gave them Moses. He allowed Moses to be a go-between.</div><div><br /></div><div>Moses now says that this prophet will be a kind of go-between like that for them. They will hear from God through the prophet. </div><div><br /></div><div>But it will be God’s own words that they hear. Look at verse 17.</div><div><br /></div><div>“The LORD said to me: ‘What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God has promised to give to His people a prophet who has His very own true divine words placed directly in the prophet’s mouth.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which could be a painful thing. Remember a year ago how the Prophet Jeremiah talked about it being <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2022/05/oh-my-anguish-my-anguish-matts-messages.html">like a fire in his mouth</a>? It burns. </div><div><br /></div><div>And the people were supposed to listen because these word the very words of God. And God was going to back them up. Moses warns in verses 20 through 22 that some false prophets were going to pretend to be true prophets and pretend to speak in His name. And they were not only to be rejected, but under the old covenant, they were to be executed. That’s how serious this was. Look at verse 20.</div><div><br /></div><div>“But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.’</div><div><br /></div><div>You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?’ </div><div><br /></div><div>[Well, here’s one way. V.22] If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Last year around this time, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2022/11/under-yoke-matts-messages.html">we met a prophet named Hananiah in the book of Jeremiah</a>. Anybody remember him? Hananiah took that wooden yoke off of Jeremiah that he had had to wear and broke it all up. Remember that? And Hananiah said that in just 2 years, God was going to restore Judah and bring the exiles back and put the king back on the throne and break the yoke of the king of Babylon.</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember that? That was exciting and encouraging and exactly what everybody wanted to hear. </div><div><br /></div><div>And it was false. As false as 2+2 = -2. And within the year Hananiah was dead.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Beware of listening to people <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2022/10/i-did-not-send-these-prophets-matts.html">who only tell you what you want to hear.</a></i></div><div><br /></div><div>The true prophet from God tells you what God says, whether you want to hear it or not, with God’s own true words in His mouth. And what he says comes to pass. It’s not just wishful thinking. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is God’s Word.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, who is this prophet who was promised?</div><div><br /></div><div>I think it was Joshua.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>And I think it was Samuel.</div><div>And I think it was Nathan.</div><div>And I think it was Isaiah.</div><div>And I think it was Jeremiah. [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-word-of-lord-came-to-me-matts.html">See Jeremiah 1:9!</a>]</div><div>And I think it was Daniel.</div><div>And I think it was Ezekiel.</div><div>And I think it was Zechariah (that’s a crazy book. I read it this week.)</div><div>And I think it was Micah.</div><div>And I think it was Malachi. [Remind me to preach on Malachi next Advent season!]</div><div><br /></div><div>I think that Deuteronomy 18 applies to a long line of faithful prophets whom God graciously gave to His people, from His people, mediatorially speaking God’s own true Words that God Himself placed in their mouths.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I also think that this is a passage for Advent.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think that not one of those prophets ever could fully fill up the promise of this prophet.</div><div><br /></div><div>I mean, a prophet “like Moses?” The Book of Deuteronomy ends by saying that no “prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face” (Deut. 34:10 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>Nobody had reached his stature as a prophet, a divine from-God spokesman for God. Whom the LORD knew face-to-face. Somebody whom could mediate a whole new covenant. </div><div><br /></div><div>And the Jews thought that nobody have ever reached that level either. Year after year, the Jews kept reading Deuteronomy 18 again and again and again, and they believed that God was going to one day send a prophet who would fill that bill like nobody ever had.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s why they asked John the Baptist, “Are you THE prophet? Are you the Promised Prophet of Deuteronomy 18?" And John said he was not.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, who do you think it is?</div><div><br /></div><div>Was there a prophet who was <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2017/12/matts-messages-search-for-jesus-christ.html">spared from death in infancy</a> like Moses was?</div><div>Was there a prophet who <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2018/02/matts-message-jesus-sermon-on-mount.html">taught on a mountainside</a> and gave a new law there like Moses did?</div><div>Was there a prophet who brought <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-new-covenant-matts-messages.html">a whole new covenant</a>, mediated for God’s people like Moses did?</div><div>Was there a prophet Who was faithful in all of God’s house and even over God’s house? (To use the language of Hebrews chapter 4.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Was there ever a prophet like Moses (or even greater?) whom the LORD knew face to face.?</div><div><br /></div><div>Who fits this bill?</div><div><br /></div><div>For His people. From His people. What does that sound like? It sounds like John 1 to me. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/advent-candle-3-to-all-who-received-him.html">It sounds like what the Clarks read to us this morning.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Like Moses. As a mediator. With God’s own true words in His mouth.</div><div><br /></div><div>What He says comes true. If He said that He was going to die and then take His life back up again, then that’s exactly what would happen.</div><div><br /></div><div>Who does that sound like to you?</div><div><br /></div><div>I think it sounds like Jesus. He is not just a prophet. He is THE Prophet. And everything He says is true.</div><div><br /></div><div>John says, He is full of grace and truth (1:14).</div><div>Jesus Himself says He is the truth (14:6).</div><div><br /></div><div>His mouth is full of the very words of God <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">because He is the very Word of God</a>!</div><div><br /></div><div>I only have one point of application for today, but it’s a big one. How should we live if Jesus is The Prophet par Excellence? What did verse 15 say?</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>“You must listen to Him.”</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>In verse 19, God says, “If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.” There will be consequences if God’s prophet is ignored, and they will be dire.</div><div><br /></div><div>Verse 22 says that if a prophet is false, then “Do not be afraid of him.” And so I think the opposite is also implied. If the prophet is true, then you should have a holy fear of him and what He says. “You must listen to Him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>That’s what God said <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/03/matts-messages-like-sun.html">at the Mount of Transfiguration</a>, isn’t it? Where Jesus “face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light: (Matt. 17:2 NIVO). And who appeared there with him?</div><div><br /></div><div>Moses and Elijah! Two of the world’s greatest prophets.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then there’s that voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, whom I love [<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/why-did-jesus-get-baptized-matts.html">like at His baptism</a>]; with him I am well pleased...Listen to him!" (Matt. 17:5 NIVO)</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to Jesus. Are you doing that? Are you listening to Jesus? In all of your life? </div><div><br /></div><div>Are you listening to what Jesus says about Himself? That’s what we’re doing as we study the Gospel of John. We’re going hear seven major things that Jesus says about Himself. The “I Am’s.”</div><div><br /></div><div>He’s said <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">some mindblowing things about Himself</a> already.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div>Are you listening?</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you listening to what Jesus says about His Father? John says that “No one has ever seen God [the Father] but God the One and Only [Son], who is at the Father's side [known face-to-face1], has made him known” (Jn. 1:18 NIVO). If that’s not true prophecy, then I don’t know what is!</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you want to know what God is like? <i>God</i> wants you to know what God is like!! That why He sent His Son.</div><div><br /></div><div>“You must listen to Him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to what He says about Himself. Listen what He says about God the Father. Listen to what He says about God the Spirit. Don’t wait until we get to chapter fourteen. Jump over there and read it for yourself.</div><div><br /></div><div>He says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (Jn. 14:16-17 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>How’s that for a prophecy?</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to the Prophet Jesus. Listen to what Jesus says about you.</div><div><br /></div><div>Same chapter. Chapter 14. Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (Jn. 14:1-3 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>How’s that for a prophecy? Listen to the Prophet Jesus. Are you listening to Jesus?</div><div><br /></div><div>I must confess that I’ve let my heart be troubled recently. I’ve listened to the world, the flesh, and the devil and they all want to tear me down. I’ve listened to my fears. I’ve listened to my own internal prophecies of how my life is going to work out. That’s what worrying is, isn’t it? Believing in your own bad prophecies? I’m a terrible prophet, but for some reason I keep coming back to listen to myself. I need to listen to Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is the Prophet Jesus. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2015/12/matts-messages-take-heart-christmas-eve.html">My favorite passage of scripture. </a>John 16:33. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to the Prophet Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>The second Moses has come, and He is much greater than the first one!</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to what the Prophet Jesus says about salvation.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">Back to John 5.</a> Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word [my prophecy] and believes him who sent me [who put the words in my mouth] has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live” (Jn. 5:24-25 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>“You must listen to Him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And have life in His name.</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you listening?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's an extra chorus to "What Child Is This?" to correspond to today's message:</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>"This this is Jesus the Prophet</i></div><div><i>Whom Moses Promised That God Would Send</i></div><div><i>Haste, haste to listen to Him</i></div><div><i>The Babe, the Word of God”</i></div><div><br /></div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-89758694521284640212023-12-17T08:00:00.007-05:002023-12-17T08:00:00.134-05:00Advent Candle #3: "To All Who Received Him"<div><b>LEFC Family Advent Readings: “We Have Seen His Glory”</b></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/four-red-pillar-candles-on-white-surface-1677008/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpI8lICq-OBWRb-mQEmzrUs9HExR2E9spLw0tUZL7RCUbivWyocD8NQ8Uz-I3kMhaWRUxpKcyVfP-aWn6sW1w1TbLwzFTAV6sOlcZOHjlTKpKBoGmKxh-kYNWecKCdcIz3_J6OrIP7CRtAjWS-ExzU-HxkCcUTANDrv4YBVLtVc36KPz9RWbra4w/s320/pexels-david-bartus-1677008.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>John 1:1-18 :: December 17, 2023</b></div><div><b>Week #3: “To All Who Received Him”</b></div><div><br /></div><div>“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.</div><div><br /></div><div>During this year’s Advent Season, our readings focus on the glory of the One and Only Son of God Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. There is no one else like Him. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE AGAIN.]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Our first candle proclaimed the incredible truth that Jesus is the eternal Word of God. When God wanted to tell us about Himself, He sent His Son as the message.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE AGAIN.]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Our second candle taught us that Jesus is the true light of humanity. When Jesus came, the darkness lost.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>[LIGHT THIRD CANDLE.]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>But not everyone was happy that God sent His One and Only Son. Our third candle radiates the truth that Jesus must be received.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>[READ JOHN 1:10-13.]</b></div><div> </div><div>The Word appeared, but the World rejected Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet those who do receive Him in faith become God’s beloved children through a new birth. </div><div><br /></div><div>As the <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/joy_to_the_world_the_lord_is_come">carol</a> sings:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>“Joy to the world! The Lord is come;</i></div><div><i>Let earth receive her King;</i></div><div><i>Let every heart prepare Him room,</i></div><div><i>And heav’n and nature sing.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>What lavish joy is ours forever when we receive Jesus with open arms and open hearts!</div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-54306001010929198602023-12-10T11:45:00.087-05:002023-12-10T17:46:48.004-05:00“Why Did Jesus Get Baptized?” [Matt's Messages]<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5vg5UGf0rL5IqwzOK0ov463q0XUirEv_9lc1L4h2J1Qse_puq3g9LXnj_vhCOAfjgFmN6qs12vm3y2KBhSifaf_KjVBFPruzp4FIwSmEJC9rVQCQH1YupuYgppz7_9R4iDMoh0g34M-FrrDFFuEFb6-u_YVtkU11tAhaYyiiSIxHN0QyqkeZWQ/s960/BaptismDec2023.WhyDidJesusGetBaptized.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5vg5UGf0rL5IqwzOK0ov463q0XUirEv_9lc1L4h2J1Qse_puq3g9LXnj_vhCOAfjgFmN6qs12vm3y2KBhSifaf_KjVBFPruzp4FIwSmEJC9rVQCQH1YupuYgppz7_9R4iDMoh0g34M-FrrDFFuEFb6-u_YVtkU11tAhaYyiiSIxHN0QyqkeZWQ/s320/BaptismDec2023.WhyDidJesusGetBaptized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>“Why Did Jesus Get Baptized?”</b></div><div><b>Worship in Christian Baptism</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>December 10, 2023 :: Matthew 3:13-17 </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Today before Simon and Darren step forward to be baptized, I want us to do a little Bible study in Matthew chapter 3 and try to answer the question together, “Why did Jesus get baptized?”</div><div><br /></div><div>Because there is probably some overlap and also some gap between why Jesus got baptized and why Darren and Simon are getting baptized this morning.</div><div><br /></div><div>We often say that someone like Simon or Darren is “following the Lord in water baptism” or “following the Lord’s example in water baptism.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus got baptized, and so should we. But His baptism (because He’s Jesus!) is bound to be at least a little bit different than ours. Why did Jesus get baptized?</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fRPwe4vDELA?si=BjbKqGQOGlHeAA6T" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>Everybody who has taken our church’s baptism class knows that there is a quiz in the middle of it which has trick questions. I always say, “There is no test, but there might be a quiz.” And I’ve taught the class, and now Abe has the taught the class, and both of us have given this quiz that is True or False and everybody who takes it, passes. </div><div><br /></div><div>But there are some trick questions on it. Let me show you three of the questions:</div><div><br /></div><div>This one shouldn’t be tricky for this church:</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>True or False? <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Baptism gets you into heaven.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>That one’s false [very false!], and it has never tricked anyone in our classes. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2022/01/to-suffer-for-doing-good-matts-messages.html">Water baptism does not save anyone</a>. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/04/matts-messages-he-saved-us.html">Jesus saves people</a>, and we receive that salvation <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2017/07/matts-messages-i-live-by-faith-in-son.html">by His grace through our faith</a>. And not by works (like baptism!) so that we cannot boast.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Baptism is <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2015/01/matts-messages-new-you.html">a visible picture of the invisible reality of our salvation</a>. If you had to get baptized to go to heaven, then the <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2009/04/matts-messages-between-two-bad-guys.html">Thief on the Cross</a> was out of luck because he never was baptized. And Jesus was wrong to say to him, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That one’s false. How about this one?</div><div><br /></div><div><i>True or False? “Our church practices baptism by immersion because it is fun to see people get dunked in the water.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>That’s a trickier one. We do baptism by immersion, and it is fun to see people get dunked in the water. Here goes Simon and Darren!</div><div><br /></div><div>But that’s not the main reason why we do it. The main reason we immerse is because every baptism described in the New Testament seems to be by immersion, including Jesus here in Matthew 3. John the Baptist (Notorious JTB) didn’t just sprinkle a little water on Jesus’ head or splash some on Him up on the beach; they got down into the Jordan river together. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">Remember chapter 3 of John’s Gospel</a> said that JTB was baptizing at “Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And even more importantly, we do immersion because of how it pictures death and resurrection. When Simon is laid back into the water, it will remind us of Jesus going down into the grave, and when Darren is brought up out of the water, it will picture Jesus coming back out of the grave alive! That’s the main reason why we do it this way though we love and respect Christians who do it differently.</div><div><br /></div><div>But here’s probably the trickiest question that we ask on the quiz. So if you haven’t taken the baptism class yet, you’ll be ahead.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>True or False? “Jesus didn’t need to be baptized since He didn’t sin.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>That’s a tricky one. I think it depends on what part of the question you put the most emphasis.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why did Jesus get baptized? Did He need to?</div><div><br /></div><div>I think that even John the Baptist had that question. Let’s look more closely at Matthew chapter 3.</div><div><br /></div><div>Matthew chapter 3 begins with telling us all about the ministry of John the Baptist. We don’t have time this morning to go back over all of that. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2018/01/matts-messages-baptism-of-jesus.html">It could make a good Bible study for you this afternoon.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>It’s a lot of the same things we learned about JTB as we’ve been going through the Gospel of John, especially in chapters <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">1</a>, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">3</a>, and <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">5</a>. John is the Voice from Isaiah 40 calling, “Prepare the way for the Lord.”</div><div><br /></div><div>John’s trying to get God’s people ready for the Messiah. John is not the Christ, but He’s pointing people to the Christ. John says that he baptizes “with water for repentance” (v.11) (to symbolize repentance), but there is One coming after John who is more powerful and more wonderful and much greater than John. And that One to come will baptize them not just externally with water but internally with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The fire of judgment and purification.</div><div><br /></div><div>John said that he wasn’t worthy to untie that One’s shoes. He wasn’t worthy to even be his servant. John wanted to decrease and see the Messiah increase. John was a voice (and as we saw last week) a lamp that burned and gave light to highlight <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/12/advent-candle-2-true-light.html">the True Light who was coming into the world.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>And then...Jesus came to John to be baptized.</div><div><br /></div><div>Isn’t that strange?! Look at verse 13.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.”</div><div><br /></div><div>The One that John has been preaching about shows up on the scene! And John, somehow, knows that. We don’t know all of what he knew when, but he’s obviously gotten memo by this point because, John says, “I’m not sure about this.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus shows up and says, “Okay. I’m here to be baptized.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And John is like, “Uhh. Are you sure? I think we might be getting this backwards.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Imagine meeting the Messiah and the first thing you do is tell Him that He’s probably wrong! V.14</div><div><br /></div><div>“But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Are you sure about this? Because I think it’s the other way around. I’m not worthy to tie your shoes. I’m certainly not worthy to baptize you. And I don’t think you need repentance.”</div><div><br /></div><div>See, I think that JTB would answer our trick question as “TRUE.” Jesus didn’t need to be baptized since He didn’t sin.</div><div><br /></div><div>All these other people coming to John needed to be baptized to symbolize their repentance. Some of them, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, wouldn’t admit it, but they needed it as much or more than most. But not Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>John need the baptism of the Spirit and of fire that Jesus would bring. Jesus didn’t need to be baptized for repentance. You and I need to be baptized to symbolize our repentance. Simon and Darren are saying today that they repent of their sins. But Jesus didn’t need to be baptized for repentance.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, Jesus did need to be baptized.</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “Oh yeah, you’re right. What was I thinking? I don’t need to be baptized. That’s for you guys.” And He also doesn’t say, “Oh, yes, I must repent. I am a sinner just like you.”</div><div><br /></div><div>No, what does He say? Look at verse 15.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>So, I think that Jesus might answer our trick question as “False.” He did need to be baptized (even though) He didn’t ever sin. Jesus says, in effect, “Yes, let’s do it. I do need to be baptized. It’s the right thing for us to do to ‘fulfill all righteousness.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus doesn’t need to be baptized for repentance, but He does need to be baptized for righteousness.</div><div><br /></div><div>What does that mean?</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, it probably means <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-baptism-of-jesus/">a whole bunch of things</a>. We could probably <a href="https://ligonduncan.com/jesus-baptism-to-fulfill-all-righteousness-820/">meditate on it all day long</a>. It means at least that it was “right thing” to do. His baptism fulfilled all righteousness because it was righteous for John and Jesus to do it.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I’m sure it means a lot more than that. You might remember <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2020/04/following-jesus-gospel-of-matthew.html">from our study of Matthew a few ago</a> that “fulfill” was one of Matthew’s favorite words. It means “to fill up,” “to bring to fullness,” “to actualize.” He often used it to describe what Jesus was doing to the Old Testament Scriptures. He was filling them up.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here, Jesus is saying that His baptism will bring righteousness to fullness. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?!</div><div><br /></div><div>And here’s where the principle of identification takes front and center. Baptism is, at heart, an identification with something or someone else. The one being baptized is getting immersed into something that stands for something. They are being included, absorbed, connected, identified in baptism.</div><div><br /></div><div>As Simon and Darren get baptized today, they are identifying with Jesus. They are identifying themselves as sinners who need washing. And they are identifying with Jesus's death and resurrection. Buried with Jesus in death, raised with Jesus to new life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, with what or whom do you think Jesus was identifying when He got baptized?</div><div><br /></div><div>With us, right? Jesus was identifying with us and with our sin.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why did Jesus get baptized?</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><b><i>#1. TO IDENTITY WITH US.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>When He went down into the water with John, Jesus was proclaiming His solidarity with us sinful humans whom He had come to save.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s the whole point of Christmas, isn’t it? <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">That the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.</a> That He became like us as humans. And even more than that, He became like sinners.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s what the Old Testament was teaching, too. That’s what Jesus was “fulfilling.” Listen to this from Isaiah 53, verses 11 and 12. </div><div><br /></div><div>"...by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."</div><div><br /></div><div>I think that's what it means for Jesus to fulfill all righteousness! Jesus was baptized to be numbered with us, to bear our sin as our substitute, to go to the Cross, and to give us His righteousness!</div><div><br /></div><div>What a great exchange!! Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s a big part of the picture of what Jesus was doing that day. So that when Darren and Simon get baptized, they are picturing the flipside of that. They are going to down to symbolize their sin being put to death with Jesus and coming back out with Jesus’ righteousness resting on them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus had to do it. Jesu had to get baptized to picture what He had to do on the Cross. To fulfill all righteousness.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then when He did...all heaven broke loose! Look at verse 16 again.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Then John consented [so Jesus was dunked]. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Wow! Just wow! I can’t imagine what that was like. It was like nothing else. The heavens broke open. It was cataclysmic and apocalyptic.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the Holy Spirit of God descended on Jesus and came to rest on Him. The Spirit looked like a dove. I’m not 100% sure why. Perhaps like how the He hovered over the waters of creation in the beginning.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">But remember what John the Baptist said about Jesus in John chapter 3?</a> He said that God gave Jesus the Spirit “without limit” (Jn. 3:34, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2016/12/matts-messages-root-of-jesse.html">see also Isaiah 11</a>). That’s the picture here.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the whole Trinity is here working together with “inseparable operations.” One God in Three Persons. Not just the Son who is being baptized, not just the Spirit like a dove, but also God the Father speaking from heaven. And listen to what He says!</div><div><br /></div><div>“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Why did Jesus get baptized?</div><div><br /></div><div>Not just to identify with us, but...</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#2. TO BE IDENTIFIED AS GOD’S BELOVED SON.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>By God the Father Himself. Which is just exactly what we’ve been learning the last three weeks in John chapter 5, right? John chapter 5, verse 20. “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.” (See also John 3:34!).</div><div><br /></div><div>You just hear that Fatherly delight in His divine voice. “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” “It was right for Him to get baptized. It fulfills all righteousness. Everything He does makes me happy! I sure love Him!”</div><div><br /></div><div>“This One is My Son.”</div><div><br /></div><div>He’s My “<a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html"><i>monogenays</i></a>.” He’s My “One and Only.” My “only begotten full of grace and truth.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Isn’t that amazing?! </div><div><br /></div><div>So that we are all the more amazed when He tells us that <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">He so loved us that He is going TO GIVE this beloved Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life</a> (see John 3:16).</div><div><br /></div><div>And that’s why Jesus got baptized and why Simon and Darren are getting baptized today.</div><div><br /></div><div>They are saying to the world that they believe in Jesus and have received His free gift of eternal life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here are four points of application from this Scripture: <i>Repent. Receive. Rejoice. Retell.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus did not need to repent, but you and I do. We need to turn from our sins and trust in the Savior. If you have not yet, don’t delay. Make this the day that you repent.</div><div><br /></div><div>And receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior. He took on your sin and took your sin to the Cross. He died for your sin so receive Him as your Savior today. To “all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (Jn. 1:12 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>And then rejoice that you will not perish but have eternal life. You have “crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). You have every reason to celebrate every day of your life and forever. “Repeat the sounding joy!”</div><div><br /></div><div>And tell and retell of your salvation to everyone who will listen. Recount your story. Restate your testimony. Retell of your salvation to the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that’s what Simon and Darren are now going to do.</div><div><br /></div><div>Would you men come forward to tell us your stories?</div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-76762472906301216602023-12-10T08:00:00.003-05:002023-12-10T08:19:56.390-05:00Advent Candle #2: "The True Light"<div><b>LEFC Family Advent Readings: “We Have Seen His Glory”</b></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/four-red-pillar-candles-on-white-surface-1677008/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyFz5ODOjYq5e_X75NZXZisXWJ_KBxDECf6Yv5NE8ey6jQgL4uPm-WD55XSFc2nVyck4mSa4hO8DYs93NzbMZr2kdure1I49KxrZH-OD88otjRPF4P7mL8TEJ1t-3VPfFOwO0c_kMFwfZ4z-3uUjFKrLaRZFspBpzIt_0BisHs1aVIG9F5Qn3nsQ/s320/pexels-david-bartus-1677008.jpg" width="320" /></b></a></div><b>John 1:1-18 :: December 10, 2023</b></div><div><b>Week #2: “The True Light”</b></div><div><br /></div><div>“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.</div><div><br /></div><div>During this year’s Advent Season, our readings concentrate on the glory of the One and Only Son of God Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. There is no one else like Him.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE AGAIN.]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Our first reading proclaimed that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus is the eternal God speaking to us through His eternal Son.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE.]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Our second candle names Jesus as the light of humanity.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><b>[READ JOHN 1:4-5.]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus Himself is like a candle–shining into the shadows of our world, exposing what is wrong with us, and leading His people into bright truth and goodness.</div><div><br /></div><div>He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>As <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Come,_O_Come,_Emmanuel" target="_blank">the carol</a> sings:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>"O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer</i></div><div><i>Our spirits by Thine advent here;</i></div><div><i>Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,</i></div><div><i>And death's dark shadows put to flight."</i></div><div><br /></div><div>At that first Advent, “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”</div><div><br /></div><div>When Jesus came, the darkness lost.</div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-8383759581801086582023-12-03T11:45:00.100-05:002023-12-04T09:04:44.808-05:00“Testimony About Me” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd2rnjsA6B7T-fBBiMylyR7-dGM6_L30ijeHvS1h-V6lypThTSQQATOm81EKoTgDuepfTegeiaaPHoPnaQab7EP9LstSQP2eHNUKEYkdCDsFZxv_xi1mEvGSAlOXAfowUWGddHx8ZPqW_8GfFif8IpdYwHCRTtm6xEORH3CFJSRAGPA8X6sfrRZA/s960/15.TestimonyAboutMe.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd2rnjsA6B7T-fBBiMylyR7-dGM6_L30ijeHvS1h-V6lypThTSQQATOm81EKoTgDuepfTegeiaaPHoPnaQab7EP9LstSQP2eHNUKEYkdCDsFZxv_xi1mEvGSAlOXAfowUWGddHx8ZPqW_8GfFif8IpdYwHCRTtm6xEORH3CFJSRAGPA8X6sfrRZA/s320/15.TestimonyAboutMe.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“Testimony About Me”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>December 3, 2023 :: John 5:31-47 </b></div><div><br /></div><div>“Do you solemnly swear that the evidence you shall give to the court in this matter shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Yes, I do so swear.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you ever had to do that? Have you ever had to give testimony in court? I’ve done it a couple of different times as a witness in a couple different kinds of court cases.</div><div><br /></div><div>This passage (John 5:31-47) is all about testimony. “Testify, testimony, witness, testifies, accuser, testified.” Testimony is a major theme in the Gospel of John which is concentrated in this short passage.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s like there is a big cosmic court case going on and various witnesses are being called to give testimony. And the testimony is being weighed, and sifted, and judged–as valid or invalid, as true or false.</div><div><br /></div><div>And here’s the question that these expert witnesses are being asked to testify about, “Who is Jesus?” “Is Jesus Who He has claimed to be?”</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D8W0fuHSNAY?si=-fXYBhB7cHYVhWQ7" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus has made some pretty big claims, has He not?!</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember what we heard just last week? <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">Remember those mind-blowing, brain-bending claims that Jesus made about Himself?</a> This is the same chapter. This is the same story. Jesus is still talking at the same time to the same people.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus has healed a man who had been lame for 38 years. With just a word. “Get up. Take up your mat and walk.” And that’s exactly what happened.</div><div><br /></div><div>But it was a Sabbath, so the Jewish Religious Authorities got mad at Jesus for work done on the Sabbath. And Jesus said, “Yeah, I’m working on the Sabbath. Get used to it. God does that.” He said it this way: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (Jn. 5:17 NIVO). Remember this?</div><div><br /></div><div>And they understand what He was saying. He was claiming to be equal with God. So they “tried all the harder to kill Him” (v.18). </div><div><br /></div><div>They wanted to kill Jesus. They heard what He said about Himself, and they rejected it with all their hearts. They rejected Him. And they tried to kill Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Jesus wasn’t done. He had more to say about Who He is. He said that not only is He equal with God, but He is in an unique way, the Son of God. He is God the Son. And He is perfectly in harmony with God the Father. “The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does.” Remember that? That’s verse 20. Profound!</div><div><br /></div><div>There is only one God but that one God is Son and that one God is Father (and is Spirit, too, we will learn before long). And because God is Son and God is Father, they do everything together perfectly. </div><div><br /></div><div>So that Jesus can do what only God can do. Like give life! He has life-in-Himself so He can give it to whom He pleases. And He has authority to judge. He is the Son of Man. And one day, Jesus says that He will speak and that “all who are in their graves will come out.” And He will judge everyone. Every single soul. And He will do it perfectly to the perfect satisfaction of His perfect Father who sent Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>Isn’t that mind-blowing? Isn’t that totally amazing?!</div><div><br /></div><div>What do you think about all of that? It’s either true or it’s false, but either way it’s a big deal. Those are big things to say. Imagine if anyone else said that they are God the Son. With God for all eternity, was God for all eternity, from God from all eternity. Life in Himself and will judge every single soul after raising every single dead person there ever was–with a word.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s what He was saying about Himself that day. That was His own testimony about Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the Jews rejected it. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (Jn. 1:11 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>And so in the rest of the chapter Jesus shows them where they went wrong.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">I said a couple of weeks ago that this chapter is like a case study in how NOT to respond to Jesus.</a> And right here Jesus gives the master class lesson on that.</div><div><br /></div><div>He shows them step by step by step where they have gone wrong in judging the evidence about His case by calling forth multiple further corroborating expert witnesses. And when He’s done, Jesus says that one day His unbelieving hearers will stand trial themselves and will have to deal with the fact they have misjudged Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>You and I can learn from this. We can listen to what Jesus says about them and do the exact opposite ourselves. Let’s make that our goal as we listen again to these witnesses that Jesus calls to the stand to give testimony about Him. By my count, there are five of them. </div><div><br /></div><div>The first one is Jesus Himself. Look at verse 31. “Court is now in session.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid” (vv.31-32).</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, what is Jesus saying there? I don’t think He’s saying, “You cannot trust my testimony. I might be lying to you. I may not have told you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” I don’t think that’s what Jesus is saying when He says, “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid.”</div><div><br /></div><div>I think He means that you don’t have to just take His word for it. “You don’t have to believe what I’m saying if I’m the only one saying it.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s why. First off, in their judicial system, you had to have at least two witnesses to establish a fact in their courts of law. It didn’t make it false if you only had one witness, but the second witness was required for establishing something, like a conviction. </div><div><br /></div><div>So Jesus is saying, “Yes, I’m saying some big things, but I’m not alone in saying it. I can call at least one other witness who will testify to the same things.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And Who do you think is? You might guess John the Baptist from what He’s going to say in verse 32, but I think it’s a much greater witness than that by what He says in verse 37. </div><div><br /></div><div>It’s God the Father! And that’s the second reason why it’s important that it’s not just Jesus’ testimony alone but the Father’s, as well, because that’s exactly what He has just claimed, isn’t it? That the Son and the Father do everything inseparably in perfect harmony because they are one.</div><div><br /></div><div>If Jesus’ testimony was different from the Father’s, then it should be rejected! But Jesus says, “There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that His testimony about me [there’s our title for today] is valid.”</div><div><br /></div><div>He’s going to say more about that in just a few verses. But for now, we enter His testimony into the record. He solemnly swears that He is the Son of Man and the Son of God and God the Son. And salvation is found only Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>As He said in verse 24, “I tell you the truth [the whole truth and nothing but the truth], whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (Jn. 5:24 NIVO). Do you believe this testimony about Him?</div><div><br /></div><div>We call the next witness. His name is John. Verse 33.</div><div><br /></div><div>‘You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is talking about what we read about in chapter 1. <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">John’s Testimony about Jesus. </a></div><div><br /></div><div>Remember they sent a delegation to ask John who he thought he was? And he said that he was not the Messiah but he had come to point people to the Messiah. He was the Voice!</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says that John’s testimony was true. Now, when Jesus says that he doesn’t accept human testimony, I think He means that He doesn’t rest His case on human testimony. If John got it right, great. If John got it wrong, no big deal.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now if Jesus got it wrong, we’re in big trouble. If the Father got it wrong, we’re big trouble. Jesus’ whole case rests on divine testimony. But John got it right. He was the Voice. And if these people listened to John, they would be saved. </div><div><br /></div><div>And they did listen to John...for a time. They got all excited about John for a little bit. When John was preaching against the authorities and sticking it ot the man, the crowd was eating it up. But when John pointed at Jesus and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” then they didn’t want to hear any more.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, I would love it if this were said of me when I die, “He was lamp that burned and gave light.” That’s what I want to do. I want to be aflame for Jesus and shine His light. Even if that means I get snuffed out by those who hate the Light.</div><div><br /></div><div>So that’s John. His testimony about Jesus corroborates Jesus’ testimony about Himself, but there is much weightier testimony to come. Verse 36.</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus calls witness number three: His own works.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says, “Even if you don’t believe because of what I say, look at what I do!” </div><div><br /></div><div>Look at <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">the water turned to wine.</a></div><div>Look at <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">the nobleman’s son healed from afar</a>.</div><div>Look at <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">this man walking around carrying his mat after 38 years of lying flat</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Watch me.” Jesus is saying, “Watch me. Watch what I do, and that will testimony about me.”</div><div><br /></div><div>He’s going to do many more miracles as the chapters of John roll on. And they are all signs. </div><div><br /></div><div>And <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">John the Evangelist says</a> that Jesus “did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:30-21:1 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>Look at those signs and ask yourself, “Is Jesus Who He claimed to be?” Because they are corroborating testimony, too. If Jesus can do heal like this, then maybe He can bring back the dead. And if He can bring back the dead (Yes, I’m looking at you, Lazarus), then maybe He can bring Himself back from the dead. He lay down His life only to take it up again. And if He can do that, then maybe He can die for our sins and come back to life to give us life and then bring back everyone from the dead to be judged.</div><div><br /></div><div>“[T]he very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me” (v.36).</div><div><br /></div><div>But that’s not all! Here’s another witness. Witness number four. Jesus calls God the Father to the witness stand! Look at verse 37.</div><div><br /></div><div>“And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent” (vv.37-38).</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, there a lot of different ways to think about how the Father has testified concerning the Son.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of the chief was through the Scriptures which is where Jesus goes next.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I tend to think that He’s talking in verse 37 about His baptism. Lord-willing we’re going to go Matthew chapter 3 next Sunday and look at Jesus’ baptism when we do a couple of baptisms here ourselves.</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember what God the Father said at Jesus’ baptism? John the Baptist was doing the dunking, “And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’” (Matt. 3:17 NIVO). That’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, Jesus says here that they have not heard the Father’s voice, but I think He means that they haven’t been listening. They have their ears blocked. They have also not seen his form...[look at verse 38]...nor does [the Father’s] word dwell in you, FOR you do not believe the one he sent.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“The Father has been saying, ‘This is my Son,’ but you refuse to listen.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“This is my Son!”</div><div>“This is my Son!”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And they are saying, “Let’s kill Him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Their problem is not that they don’t have enough evidence or testimony to consider. Their problem is that they don’t want to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which is crazy because they spend their lives studying and studying and studying the Word of God. Look at verse 39.</div><div><br /></div><div>“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (vv.39-40).</div><div><br /></div><div>These guys knew their Bibles. They were always at Bible study.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible Bible Bible Bible Bible.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of them had the entire Old Testament memorized. They were looking in the right place, but they were going about it all wrong. They were trying to get eternal life from Bible study. "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that <i>by them</i> you possess eternal life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Eternal life does not come by diligent Bible study. The Bible exists to show us Jesus. The Bible exists to lead us to Jesus. The whole Old Testament exists to lead us to Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>Holly told me last week that they studied the entire story of the Bible at the Advent Waffle Party last Sunday because the entire story of the Bible is about Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>How could they miss Jesus?! Answer: <i>They wanted to miss Jesus</i>. He says, “These are the Scriptures that testify about me yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (vv.38-40).</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice that this is calling trustworthy witness number five. The Scriptures. They testify about Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>And also notice that the problem is not the Scriptures. It’s the heart of the people studying the Scriptures. They refuse to come to Jesus to have life.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have four quick points this morning of application, each of them the opposite of what these people were doing wrong, and here’s the first one.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#1. COME TO JESUS TO HAVE LIFE.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>That’s the whole point of this whole gospel. We can have life in Jesus’ name. Or we can refuse to have life in Jesus’ name. That’s our choice. But that’s the only choice. There is no eternal life outside of Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>Even in the Scriptures. You can study the Bible until you are blue in the face, but if you aren’t studying it to come to Jesus, if you aren’t willing to receive Jesus, then you won’t get what the Bible is saying.</div><div><br /></div><div>And you won’t get what the Bible is offering, either. </div><div><br /></div><div>Come to Jesus to have life.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#2. LOVE GOD FROM YOUR HEART.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says that they have not been doing that. Look at verse 41. </div><div><br /></div><div>“‘I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.”</div><div><br /></div><div>How could they go so wrong as to want to kill the Son of God? Well, they didn’t love God, why wouldn’t they want to kill His Son? </div><div><br /></div><div>Again, Jesus says that doesn’t “accept” praise or recognition from men. That doesn’t mean that He doesn’t receive our worship. It means that He doesn’t live off of it. He doesn’t need it. He doesn’t live for our opinions of Him. Just like in verse 34, Jesus doesn’t build His case from humanity’s take on Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>If we get it wrong, He is still the Son of God and God the Son. He doesn’t need humans, but He does know them. As we saw in chapter 2, verse 25, <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">He knows what’s in us.</a> John said, “He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man” (Jn. 2:25 NIVO).</div><div> </div><div>And in this case, He knew that was in them was hate. “You do not have the love of God in your hearts.” Which could be either love for God or God’s love in their hearts. It probably means both. If you know the love of God for you (<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2013/02/matts-messages-god-is-love-part-two.html">which always comes first</a>), then you will love God back. But if you don’t know God’s love then you won’t love God back.</div><div><br /></div><div>And they certainly did not. And it was clear from how they rejected God’s Son who came under the authority of God the Father. Look at verse 43.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says that these guys want to be deceived and are ripe for being deceived and will soon be deceived. They will accept <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/11/fakes-and-snakes-matts-messages.html">fakes and snakes</a> and false teachers and <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/11/birth-pains-matts-messages.html">even false messiahs</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>But they won’t accept Him. They won’t love Him, the Genuine Article.</div><div><br /></div><div>Beloved, you see how this bothers Jesus? How sad and angry it makes Him? It’s because God is so loving. <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">God so loved the world</a> that He sent His One and Only Son, and the world said, “No thanks.” “We don’t love you.”</div><div><br /></div><div>We need to be different. We need to cultivate a love for God from our own hearts. And the best way to do that is to dwell on the love of God that came to us first.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let’s say our memory verse together. Just think about this. Don’t let it get old and stale. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>How else could we respond to that than to love Him back from our hearts?! </div><div><br /></div><div>And seek His approval. Look at verse 44.</div><div><br /></div><div>“How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” Jesus says these people were so focused on what other people thought of them that they forgot to think about what God thinks of them above all.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let’s make that point number three.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#3. STRIVE FOR GOD TO PRAISE YOU.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Or as Jesus says, “make an effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, of course, we can’t do that on our own. We can’t do that in our own power. We can’t do that by mustering up good works that come from our fallen nature. And yet, we can trust God and obey Him and seek to please Him <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2019/12/well-done-matts-messages.html">so that one day He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Not “Perfectly done, O perfect servant.” But “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That comes from living a life of faith. Of keeping our gaze on God. Of wanting to please God above all else.</div><div><br /></div><div>These people were not focused on pleasing God even though they were very religious! They were very religious in large part to try to impress their neighbors. They were people pleasers and not God-pleasers.</div><div><br /></div><div>You know how you know? What happens when God wants you to do something unpopular with people? That’s when you know if you are striving to please God or just to please other people.</div><div><br /></div><div>For example, when God shows up as Jesus and says, “Follow me.” And the crowd says, “Crucify Him.” Which side are you on? Whose opinion do you really care about?</div><div><br /></div><div>My mentor in pastoral counseling wrote a really great book called, <a href="https://prpbooks.com/book/when-people-are-big-and-god-is-small-second-edition"><i>When People Are Big and God Is Small.</i></a> That’s when we have our priorities upside-down, isn’t it?</div><div><br /></div><div>Where are the places in your life where you care much more about doing what other people want you to than what God does? We all have them. I have them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Strive for God to praise you. Care about what God cares about most of all. God be BIG and people be SMALL. It’s easier said than done, but it’s very freeing and joyful in the end. And it’s the opposite of what these people were doing. They were rejecting Jesus because most everyone around them was, too. </div><div>He didn’t look like what they expected or wanted. He didn’t fulfill the picture that they thought Moses had painted of the Messiah to come, but they were all wrong. He was exactly what Moses had promised. Look at verse 45.</div><div><br /></div><div>“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” (vv.45-47).</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s that fifth witness again, the Scriptures. The Jews were in love with the Scriptures, especially the Law of Moses. The Torah. But they were missing the whole point of the Torah. Jesus says that the Torah was about Him. All of what it said about a Messiah to come? About the Advent of the Messiah? That was Jesus all along. “But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" </div><div><br /></div><div>They aren’t. They can’t. They won’t. And they will be lost. Because Jesus is saying that there is another trial coming. And this time, the question before the court will not be, “Who is Jesus?”</div><div><br /></div><div>It will be, “Who has rejected Jesus?” And Jesus says, He will recall the previous witness for the defense to be a witness for the new prosecution. The Scriptures written by Moses will be called to give testimony, and those who ignored what they said and rejected Jesus will themselves be rejected. How scary.</div><div><br /></div><div>Beloved, let’s do the opposite.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#4. BELIEVE THE TESTIMONY ABOUT JESUS.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Believe what Jesus says about Himself.</div><div>Believe what John the Baptist said about Jesus.</div><div>Believe what the Miraculous Works of Jesus say about Jesus.</div><div>Believe what God the Father says about His One and Only Son.</div><div>And believe what the Scriptures say about Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>And you will not perish but have eternal life. </div><div><br /></div><div>And that’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><br /><b><i>Messages in this Series<br /></i></b><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/to-your-amazement-matts-messages.html">14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30</a>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-56041809232288265282023-12-03T08:00:00.022-05:002023-12-03T08:00:00.148-05:00Advent Candle #1: "The Word"<div><b>LEFC Family Advent Readings: “We Have Seen His Glory”</b></div><div><b>John 1:1-18 :: December 3, 2023</b></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/four-red-pillar-candles-on-white-surface-1677008/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUniobW4pYLs9WhxLnRfnW-r0rljpe00rNFxQ5N_Z60HWfyGNu9-vLY9Mi_Gb0i8CNAjWvKtdB0jQKeyID55SgHbcSzFvgp4QCMB6_Jz3Qjs72fqigeaoGrvkPg57hGV3AGleHnv-85UAAP8ORQ0nmyGXv8mb05a5Vz5ruUDNHi_sW5vHAnUxgnw/w320-h213/pexels-david-bartus-1677008.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>Week #1: “The Word”</b></div><div><br /></div><div>“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.</div><div><br /></div><div>During this year’s Advent Season, our readings will contemplate the glory of the One and Only Son of God Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. There is no one else like Him.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><b>[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE.]</b></div><b> </b></div><div><br />The Gospel of John begins with these incredibly profound words:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>[READ JOHN 1:1-3.]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>John begins before the beginning. He says that, before the creation of the world, there was Someone called “The Word.” </div><div><br /></div><div>And John teaches that the “The Word was with God.” The Word existed in perfect intimate fellowship with God the Father for all eternity.</div><div><br /></div><div>And furthermore, “The Word was God.” This Person called “The Word” was, is, and always will be God Himself. He is fully God in every way.</div><div><br /></div><div>He is called “The Word” because He Himself is God’s message to us. He is God’s self-expression. God’s communication. He is God speaking to us.</div><div><br /></div><div>When God speaks, we should always listen. And the way to truly listen to God is to look to the Son of God because He is the eternal Word of God.</div><div><br /></div><div>God shares Himself through His Word.</div><div><br /></div><div>As <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/o_come_all_ye_faithful_joyful_and_triump">the carol</a> sings:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>“Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning</i></div><div><i>Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv’n;</i></div><div><i>Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!</i></div><div><i>O come, let us adore Him.”</i></div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-17473648421027787932023-11-26T11:45:00.093-05:002023-11-26T17:54:57.134-05:00“To Your Amazement” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJGx57ahCyIIjurQyV_104bZ03jlbrw8HKTqlwVbMSzHuWFC-xVGMI5EPRAqb9T8jjn67BWgxGJldAwb5U5A-6SeMSJneD2TXrqEGwzti177t2sywE0Wi6f-0wvhWcl3GAY6PigF8wBbRzsDoiJqnrNzLIgLoNxJ-zkcoN6yNthnbF7JcNQnKvVA/s960/14.ToYourAmazement.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJGx57ahCyIIjurQyV_104bZ03jlbrw8HKTqlwVbMSzHuWFC-xVGMI5EPRAqb9T8jjn67BWgxGJldAwb5U5A-6SeMSJneD2TXrqEGwzti177t2sywE0Wi6f-0wvhWcl3GAY6PigF8wBbRzsDoiJqnrNzLIgLoNxJ-zkcoN6yNthnbF7JcNQnKvVA/s320/14.ToYourAmazement.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“To Your Amazement”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>November 26, 2023 :: John 5:19-30 </b></div><div><br /></div><div>I would tell you to put on your thinking-caps, but they will probably get blown off by this passage today!</div><div><br /></div><div>This is one of the most mind-blowing sections of all of holy Scripture. This is the “deep end of the pool.”</div><div><br /></div><div>In fact, there’s a word that we will probably be using a lot this morning that we should just get out there. It’s the word, “Wow.” You might want to practice saying it, “Wow!” Some of you will want to elongate it to two syllables, “Wowza!” Go ahead and say that. “Wow!”</div><div><br /></div><div>Because one of the most important applications of this passage for our lives today is simply to be amazed.</div><div><br /></div><div>I took the title for this sermon from verse 20 where our Lord Jesus tells His hearers that what He is teaching them is going to be “To Your Amazement.”</div><div><br /></div><div>The King James Version has, “that ye may marvel.”</div><div>The New Living Translation says, “you will be truly astonished.”</div><div>The Christian Standard Bible has, “you will be amazed.”</div><div><br /></div><div>So what Jesus is teaching us here is supposed to hit us like a ton of bricks. It is supposed to tax our capacities. It is supposed to bend our brains and blow our minds. And at the same time, we are supposed to receive it.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, let’s do that. Let’s receive it by faith and let it blow our minds. Let’s take the plunge into the deep end of the pool and swim in our amazement.</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RjM3EZ-y91o?si=rTCVq53KZNGQJ-9s" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>I have four points of amazing application this morning, and here’s the first one:</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#1. MARVEL HOW GOD IS SON AND FATHER.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Be amazed to see how God is Son and God is Father.</div><div><br /></div><div>To really get into this, we have to back up and remind ourselves <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">what we read last Sunday.</a> Verse 18 told us that the leaders of the Jews were trying to kill Jesus. To kill Him!</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you remember why? It’s because He said two words: “My Father.” To refer to God. He called God, in a way nobody else can, “My Father.” And that made the Jewish leaders want to put Jesus to death.</div><div><br /></div><div>Can I say it? Wow! </div><div><br /></div><div>Do you remember the story? Jesus was walking through the crowd at the pool of Bethesda, and He saw a man lying there who had been unable to walk for 38 years. And Jesus healed that man with a word. He simply said, “Get up! Take up your mat and walk.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And the guy was immediately healed and took up his bedding and walked away. Probably danced away. Wow!</div><div><br /></div><div>But this healing happened on a Sabbath day, and that made the Jews mad because this man was now carrying something on the day of rest, and that broke their rules. And so they came after Jesus for healing him and persecuted Jesus, probably with verbal assaults. Fighting words.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Jesus did not apologize or back down. Instead, Jesus said (verse 17), “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too, am working.” And that’s why they wanted to kill Him. Look at verse 18. “For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (Jn. 5:18 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you see the logic?</div><div><br /></div><div>Think about this from their perspective, because they have a point. How many gods are there? What has been <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2022/03/impress-them-on-your-children-matts.html">engraved into the Jewish mind</a> since the beginning of their nation?</div><div><br /></div><div>“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is [how many?] ONE” (Deut. 6:4 NIVO). “Yawheh our God, Yahweh is ONE.” </div><div><br /></div><div>There is only one God, so if anyone else comes along and says that they are God, then that would make two gods, right? And the Jews have learned over and over again (<a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/03/uprooted-words-of-jeremiah.html">often the hard way</a>) to reject all other gods. Anyone who sets up another god should be rejected, and, under their law, put to death.</div><div><br /></div><div>So this guy, Jesus, comes along and says, “My Father is working...” even on the Sabbath, and these guys are no dummies. They know that He’s talking about God. God is the only One Who works on the Sabbath without breaking the Sabbath.</div><div><br /></div><div>God rested from creating on the Sabbath, but He didn’t stop all of His working, did He? If God stopped working on the Sabbath, we would all be in trouble! And Jesus says that He Himself is working on the Sabbath, as well, because He is God’s One and Only Son. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is saying that He stands in an unique Son-Father relationship with God. They think it’s blasphemy, and it would be...if it were not true! Verse 18 again, “He was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”</div><div><br /></div><div>If God has a Son, what does that make the Son? God, too. Right? If a human man fathers a son from his own nature, then the son is human, too. If God has a Son that comes from His own nature, then that Son is God, as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>But here’s the thing–there are NOT two Gods.</div><div><br /></div><div>See, the Jews were concerned that Jesus was setting Himself up as a second God, independent from Yahweh. A second God that would inevitably compete with Yahweh. The Son versus the Father.</div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>But Jesus says that it’s not like that at all.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is only One God. Only One Supreme Being and that One God is Son and is Father.</div><div><br /></div><div>{And we’ll learn later on in this book that God is Spirit, as well. But we’ll just deal with one mind-blowing idea for today!}</div><div><br /></div><div>The Son and the Father are not independent of one another. They are in perfect unity. They are in fact One.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, you know this already because you have memorized John 1:1. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">Remember that?</a></div><div><br /></div><div>“In the beginning was the Word...” Remember the “The Word” is another name for God the Son. He was in the beginning before creation. He is eternal.</div><div><br /></div><div>“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was WITH GOD.” That shows distinction and intimacy, right? WITH GOD. Back in July we called it, “With-ness.” They are perfectly together.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>And then how does the verse end? “The Word was with God...and the Word WAS God.” Always. For all eternity.</div><div><br /></div><div>With-ness and Was-ness. Is-ness. God the Son is with God the Father and the Son is God just like the Father is. And they are not two Gods. But they are Son and Father.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which gets us into our passage for today. [Yes, that was all by way of introduction.] Look now and marvel at how God is Son and Father. Verse 19. The Jews want to kill Him, so...</div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus gave them this answer: ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these” (vv.19-20).</div><div><br /></div><div>Wow! Just try to wrap your mind around this. It’s okay if it doesn’t go all the way around. It’s meant stretch us. Be amazed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says that He tells us the truth. Literally, that’s “Amen and amen.” “Yes and Yes” “Truly and truly.” This is how it is. Listen up! “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”</div><div><br /></div><div>See how close they are? They are not in competition. They are, in fact, in perfect harmony, like a perfect Father and Son. In fact, fathers and sons are actually like what They are! They are the prototype of Son and Father!</div><div><br /></div><div>In the ancient world, <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/sermon/how-can-god-have-a-son/">most sons grew up to do what they saw their father doing</a>. So Jesus, for example, grew up in the home of His adoptive father Joseph. And Joseph was a construction worker. A “<i>tekton</i>.” Sometimes translated “carpenter,” so Jesus would have learned by watching His adoptive dad doing his trade and would have also done that trade himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>“See. Here’s how you make a chair. You make one now.”</div><div><br /></div><div>In these ways, sonship was, most often, apprenticeship. And Jesus says that God is something like that. God the Father works. He does all kinds of God-things. Like healing on the Sabbath.</div><div><br /></div><div>And, guess what? God the Son does all kinds of God-things, too! In fact, all the same things. He doesn’t do anything on His own. He does everything with and like His Father.</div><div><br /></div><div>Theologians call this <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/doctrine-inseparable-operations/">“the doctrine of inseparable operations.”</a> You can impress Greg Strand with that one next time you see him at Stay Sharp. “I was thinking recently about the doctrine of inseparable operations.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Verse 19. “Whatever the Father does the Son also does.” Which shows that they are both God and one God. With-ness and was-ness. They share their very being, and they share all of their actions.</div><div><br /></div><div>And they share all of their affections. Verse 20. “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.” Wow! You can marvel at that one forever and a day. The Father delights in the Son. He loves Him. They are not in competition. They are in perfect harmony. The Father doesn’t hold anything back from the Son. </div><div><br /></div><div>And then Jesus kicks it up a notch! He says, “Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.”</div><div><br /></div><div>What “greater things” is Jesus talking about?</div><div><br /></div><div>I think it’s “greater things” that simply healing someone on the Sabbath with a word. It’s greater than all the miraculous things we’ve seen Jesus do so far–<a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">knowing things about Nathaniel</a> and the <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">woman at the well</a>. Turning <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">water into wine</a>. <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">Healing the nobleman’s son</a>. Healing this man who has been lame for 38 years. </div><div><br /></div><div>Greater things than healing. What could be greater than healing? How about raising the dead?! Look at verse 21. “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Wow! Only God can raise the dead, right? Only God can give someone new life. Jesus says that just as the Father does that, even so He can do it, too. And does. He gives life to whom He is pleased to give it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is going to have more to say about that in just a few verses. This pattern gets repeated several times here. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Father does something, and so therefore, the Son does, too.</div><div>The Father does something, and so therefore, the Son does, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>But in verse 22, Jesus says that the Father has delegated something to the Son to do that, in some way, even the Father won’t do! Look at verse 22.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son...”</div><div><br /></div><div>Wow. How’s that for amazing?! “To your amazement” is right! </div><div><br /></div><div>God the Father can judge (and I’m sure that because of inseparable operations, He still does judge in some way as verse 30 will make clear), but He has entrusted the Son to be the executor of judgment in a way that no one else is.</div><div><br /></div><div>So now you know Who your ultimate judge is going to be. You know the name of your judge. It is “Jesus.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And here’s why the Father has given judgment to the Son. Verse 23.</div><div><br /></div><div>“...that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.” </div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#2. HONOR THE SON AS YOU DO THE FATHER.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>That’s why the Father has given Jesus the job of judgment, so we should make every effort to honor Him. Honor God the Son as we honor God the Father.</div><div><br /></div><div>You see the logic here? Imagine going to a master craftsman’s shop and finding a father master craftsman and a son master craftsman working together in perfect master craftsman unity.</div><div><br /></div><div>And you want their best craft item their list. And the father craftsman says, “We will make you one of those. In fact, my son will make it for you. He can do everything I do just as well as I do. So I’m going to give this project to him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you see how that honors the Son? It says that He has everything the Father has. It says that He is everything the Father is. He is the father’s equal in everything. Including in eternal judgment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, the analogy breaks down, of course, because in the master craftsman’s shop, the father and the son are different beings, not just different persons. And the craftsman son had to learn his craft. He isn’t eternally a perfect craftsman, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>God the Son and God the Father are one eternal being. </div><div><br /></div><div>But the truth shines through. God the Father has honored God the Son with the job of judgment to show that He is equal with the Father. He is God.</div><div><br /></div><div>He is God the “<i><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">monogenays</a></i>.” He is God the One and Only! </div><div><br /></div><div>And we should honor Him. Because if you don’t honor Jesus, you are not honoring God the Father. Do you see that?</div><div><br /></div><div>There a lot of ways to dishonor Jesus. You can treat Him as lesser than the Father. <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ddifXMaUySqPhnTBFPv70?si=f407290d2dfc4ce6">Many heretics have done that over the centuries.</a> You can treat Him like just a good teacher or a moral example. Or even just a prophet. Many of today’s world religions say that Jesus is a great prophet. </div><div><br /></div><div>But if you don’t honor Jesus as God the Son, you are not honoring God the Father.</div><div><br /></div><div>A bunch of people got together over some waffles this morning down that hallway to talk about how to honor Jesus this Advent Season. I was so encouraged to hear about that.</div><div><br /></div><div>How are you honoring Jesus right now?</div><div><br /></div><div>Some people want to make Jesus out to be just a nice person. But that will not do. Because of what He said here, right? I mean if someone says this about Himself, he’s either a colossal liar or a crazy lunatic or the Lord Himself. Right?</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you heard that “tri-lemma” before? C.S. Lewis, who died 60 years ago this last week, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/6979-i-am-trying-here-to-prevent-anyone-saying-the-really">made that argument really strongly in his books</a>. Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. Those are the only options for Someone who talks like this.</div><div><br /></div><div>Isn’t this amazing how Jesus talks about Himself? This is shocking stuff. For a human to run around saying that all people should honor Him or they are not honoring God the way they should, is just breath-taking! No wonder they wanted to kill Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>You see how close He says He was to God? He was saying that He was WITH God and He WAS God!</div><div><br /></div><div>And if you don’t honor Him, you aren’t honoring God!</div><div><br /></div><div>And He says something even more amazing. Look at verse 24. This is incredibly important. What a crucial truth from the lips of Jesus! Verse 24.</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘I tell you the truth [amen amen], whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s our next verse to memorize as a church. Everybody should have this one embedded in your mind and heart. Because your eternal destiny rides on it. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#3. HEAR THE SON AND BELIEVE THE FATHER.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Again, see how they are in perfect unity. Listen to verse 24. “‘I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>What a precious truth. Just think about it. “...he has crossed over from death to life." A person in that state has gone from heading to hell to heading to heaven. A person has crossed over being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive. </div><div><br /></div><div>And that person will not be condemned. They are forgiven. They are free. They are redeemed. They are not under eternal judgment. Instead, they have eternal life! Do you see how this is life and death? This is eternal life and eternal death.</div><div><br /></div><div>You and are born headed towards eternal death. We deserve condemnation because of our sins. We deserve to persish. But Jesus has come and died in our place for our sins. He has been sent. He he has been given.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">In the words of John 3:16,</a> “God so loved the world that He GAVE His One and Only SON that whoever BELIEVES in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s the same truth here. Whoever hears the word of the Son (the word of the Word!) and believes him who sent the Son [that’s the Father!] has eternal life [right now!] and will not be condemned [ever!]; he has crossed over from death to life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you crossed over?</div><div><br /></div><div>Everybody has to do it or they are still on the side of death. If you don’t know if you have crossed over, it is quite possible that you have not. And some who think they have not because they haven’t listened to word of the Son calling them to repent and believe in what He has done and what He has done alone for eternal life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you crossed over?</div><div><br /></div><div>Some aren’t sure exactly when they crossed over. That’s okay. I can’t remember when I was born, but I know was because I’m alive. What’s important is to have made the cross over to life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hear the Word of the Son and believe the Father Who sent Him to die in your place and you will have eternal life (right now) and will not be condemned (for eternity).</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s the gospel! That’s the good news of Jesus Christ, and it’s the best news in all of the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>And it’s what Jesus is to up to right now. Look at verse 25.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I tell you the truth [again, amen and amen], a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.”</div><div><br /></div><div>The timing there is really important. Notice that it’s about a time that is coming and has now come because Jesus has come and is coming again. </div><div><br /></div><div>The dead here are, I think, spiritually dead. They are dead in their trespasses and sins. They haven’t crossed over yet. But the Son of God has now come and called for their faith, and those who hear His call and respond in faith will live. They will have <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">life in Jesus’ name.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Have you heard His voice calling to you? And have you responded by believing the One Who sent Him? If so, then you have life.</div><div><br /></div><div>How is it that the Son can give us this life?</div><div><br /></div><div>If you thought this couldn’t get any more amazing, you have another think coming. Because in verse 26, Jesus kicks it up another astonishing notch. Verse 26.</div><div><br /></div><div>“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Wow!</div><div><br /></div><div>So the Son can give life because He has life in himself. And He gets that life in Himself in some way from the Father. Notice that it does not say that the Son gets His life from the Father. It’s more complicated than that. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Son is not like every other living thing in creation that gets its life from the Father. The Son is like the Father. He has life in Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is only true of God. God is self-existent. He is uncreated. No one created God the Father. That’s part of what it means for Him to be Yahweh which is related to the word for “Is” or “Be.” When God says, “I am.” God is self-existent. He has life in Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, Who created the Son? No one! The Son has eternally existed as the Son. As the Son of the Father. And the Father has eternally granted to the Son to be self-existent. To have life in Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>They both have the same Godness. The same uncreated self-existence. And Father has given it to the Son by virtual their eternal relationship of Father and Son.</div><div><br /></div><div>The big theological word for that is “eternal generation.” Eternal Father and Sonship. </div><div><br /></div><div>And the preposition is “from.” So the Son is not just <i>with</i> God and <i>was</i> God but is always also <i>FROM</i> God. He has eternal with-ness and was-ness and from-ness. And you see why I call this the deep end of the pool! Wow.</div><div><br /></div><div>And this is why the Eternal Son has Eternal Life to give to you and me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because He has unlimited, self-generated, self-replenishing life in Himself to dispense as He pleases.</div><div><br /></div><div>And He also has authority to judge. Verse 27.</div><div><br /></div><div>“And he [the Father] has given him [the Son] authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is the One predicted in the Old Testament Who would come to be the judge of all humankind and the Savior of His people (cf. Daniel 7:13).<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div>As we saw in verse 22, the Father has entrusted to the Son the authority to judge. The authority to decide forever where someone spends their eternity. Jesus says that that authority belongs to Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>And then He says this. Verse 28.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Do not be amazed at this...”</div><div><br /></div><div>I can’t help but laugh when I read that because everything He has said here has been amazing. </div><div><br /></div><div>I don’t think he actually means to not be astonished. I think he means, don’t let yourself be so shocked that you can’t receive what I’m saying. That you say, “Oh, that can’t be true.” Because...you ain’t seen nothing yet! V.28</div><div><br /></div><div>“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out–those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me” (vv.28-30).</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus says, “Hold onto your hats, because there is a time coming (and unlike verse 25 it’s not yet come) when I am going to say the word and people won’t just be healed, people are going to come out of their graves.</div><div><br /></div><div>In fact, ALL WHO ARE IN THEIR GRAVES will come out!</div><div><br /></div><div>At the voice of Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>In chapter 11, we’ll see a foretaste of this when Jesus says to a dead man, “Lazarus, come out” and Lazarus walks out of his tomb alive. If He had not specified Lazarus, every grave would have opened. Wow.</div><div><br /></div><div>“[T]hose who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” And Jesus will decide.</div><div><br /></div><div>What will He use to decide? Jesus will look at our lives and see if they have evidence of faith in Him. That’s what He means in verse 29, “Those who have done good.” He doesn’t mean those who have live clean moral lives and done more good than bad. He means those whose lives have been changed because they have put their faith in Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>He just said in verse 24 that those who will not be condemned are those who heard the word of the Son and believed the Father. That’s the same people as verse 29, “Those who have done good.” And “those who have done evil” in verse 29 are those who have never crossed over from unbelief to faith, from death to life. We are judged by our works to see if they show we have faith.</div><div><br /></div><div>We are, of course, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-truth-of-gospel-book-of-galatians.html">not saved by works but by faith in Jesus and Jesus alone.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus will know. And He will judge justly. He will judge in perfect harmony with His Father.</div><div><br /></div><div>He is not some independent rival god that threatens the Father. He is God the Son eternally begotten of the Father, from the Father and with the Father, seeking to please the Father in everything. He echoes verse 19 in verse 30.</div><div><br /></div><div>“By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me" (vv.28-30).</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#4. PREPARE TO BE JUDGED BY THE SON TO PLEASE THE FATHER.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Are you ready for that?</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s no fooling Him. You and I will not get off on a technicality. The judge will not make any mistakes. He will see if we have faith in Him or not. He is bent on pleasing His Father, and there is no injustice in His Father.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the day is coming soon. Either the day of our death or the day of His return.</div><div><br /></div><div>To our amazement.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><b><i><br />Messages in this Series<br /></i></b><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/pick-up-your-mat-and-walk-matts-messages.html">13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18</a>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-28707021121619662562023-11-19T16:35:00.004-05:002023-11-21T09:59:54.216-05:00“Pick Up Your Mat and Walk” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYd5FHxerc3TrLjXKZSy2OIYS_58aezQjCIOxEvE2ziGXB2em2idmgf5GakjqwyNOBjd0_sJQ7gK-hvuqvstp0eD1SafMOpFgteukdMkenmSu-OWt0U5xspKm_pgY2ha3DQ0EPZlTsgrS-yzeggo02U-4wXcbQXJu4PgUnkXe36i8q_IwGe-iv5w/s960/13.PickUpYourMatAndWalk.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYd5FHxerc3TrLjXKZSy2OIYS_58aezQjCIOxEvE2ziGXB2em2idmgf5GakjqwyNOBjd0_sJQ7gK-hvuqvstp0eD1SafMOpFgteukdMkenmSu-OWt0U5xspKm_pgY2ha3DQ0EPZlTsgrS-yzeggo02U-4wXcbQXJu4PgUnkXe36i8q_IwGe-iv5w/s320/13.PickUpYourMatAndWalk.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“Pick Up Your Mat and Walk”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>November 19, 2023 :: John 5:1-18 </b></div><div><br /></div><div>In many ways, this is a story about how NOT to respond to Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of the reasons why God gave us this story in His scriptures is to show us how some people responded poorly to Jesus so that we can learn from what they did wrong.</div><div><br /></div><div>That actually happens a lot in the gospels, especially in these middle parts of the story when Jesus begins to have more and more conflict with the Jewish religious authorities. That conflict started already in chapter 2 <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">when Jesus cleared out the temple</a>, but it continues here to grow and grow and grow.</div><div><br /></div><div>In our passage for today, it grows to the point where they are already starting to try to kill Him. How <i>not</i> to respond to Jesus!</div><div><br /></div><div>But I’m getting ahead of the story. The story starts with a miracle.</div><div><br /></div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KFRgKIJ-GY4?si=M4mJUUbaNl1krd5a" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><div>Let’s go back to verse 1 of chapter 5.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie–the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Do you get the picture in your mind’s eye?</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus has returned to the South at some point for a feast of the Jews in Jerusalem. We’re not sure which one. It doesn’t matter for this story. What matters is that Jesus is there. And He’s not just in Jerusalem. He’s visiting the pool of Bethesda (which probably means “The Home of Mercy”) which is a great name for this particular place.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because there is a lot of suffering there. A lot of need for mercy. There was this pool near the Sheep Gate, and it had five covered walkways (colonnades, which are a row of columns that have a ceiling across them to provide shade for those walking or laying under them). </div><div><br /></div><div>Many scholars believe this is the <a href="https://www.seetheholyland.net/pools-of-bethesda/">same place as the two pools near St. Anne’s church in modern day Jerusalem</a>. If so, the pool was about as large as a football field and as much as twenty feet deep.</div><div><br /></div><div>And there were hundreds of disabled people lying around it. “A great number,” John says. Some were blind. Most could not move on their own. They were paralyzed or too weak to walk.</div><div><br /></div><div>This must have been a very sad place. This was not a hospital. This was a place where people went after they had gone to the hospital and there was nothing more the doctors could do. They couldn’t work. They weren’t getting better. They were just there.</div><div><br /></div><div>And I’m not surprised to find Jesus there. Jesus always waded into places of suffering. You and I might avoid a place like this, but I’m not surprised to see Jesus there.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, apparently, one of the reasons why these people hung out there was that they believed there was “power in the pool.” <a href="https://www.billmounce.com/monday-with-mounce/where-did-v-4-go-john-5-4">Some of you have an extra verse in your Bible that was probably added later</a> (not by John) that says something like these people were “waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted” (Jn. 5:3-4 NAS).</div><div><br /></div><div>Those words are not in the earliest and best manuscripts, so they were probably not written by John, but put in there later by a scribe who wanted to help readers understand <i>why</i> those folks were gathered around the pool.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s likely that the pool was fed with an underground spring, so from time to time the waters did bubble, and it would be easy for people to latch onto that and hope that it meant an angel would heal the first person in. Power in the pool! People will latch on to all kinds of things when they have very little hope.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, Jesus was there and saw all of this, and he specifically saw one man who had been lying there for 38 years. Almost four decades of lying there, weak and powerless and paralyzed and unable to get around on his own. Look at verse 5.</div><div><br /></div><div>“One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’” (vv.5-6).</div><div><br /></div><div>Isn’t that an interesting thing for Jesus to ask? You might think it might be obvious. And maybe it was. Maybe that was a no-brainer. Of course he wanted to be well, to be whole, to be healed. Who wouldn’t?! But Jesus doesn’t tend to ask no-brainers, does He? No, Jesus often asks questions to get to our hearts. “Do you want to get well?”</div><div><br /></div><div>If this man was healed, his whole life would change. For one thing, he’d have to go to work. He has been “on disability” for 38 years. He’s had to live on the charity of others for four decades. We don’t know how old he was. Maybe that’s all of his life. His identity would change. He would no longer be defined by his disability which sounds great, but who would be now? Does he even want to find out?</div><div><br /></div><div>He has not sought out Jesus. Jesus has picked out him. And so Jesus asks, “Do you want to get well?”</div><div><br /></div><div>And you and I know that all of Jesus’ healings are just a foretaste, a picture of the greatest healing ever–healing from our sins–salvation.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, I think this is a great question for us to hear Jesus asking us too, “Do you want to get well? Do you want to be saved? Do you want ultimate healing? Do you really want your life to really change?” Do you?</div><div><br /></div><div>This man does want to be healed. He says that’s why he’s there. Verse 7.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>He obviously doesn’t know Whom he’s talking to. He is fixated on how he can’t get to the power in the pool. He doesn’t realize the power of the Person right in front of him.</div><div><br /></div><div>But he clearly does want to be healed. So Jesus...just heals him!</div><div><br /></div><div>He doesn’t ask him to believe in him.</div><div>He doesn’t get him over to the pool.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">Just like last week,</a> Jesus just says the word and it happens. The Word gives the word, and it comes to pass. Verse 8. Our sermon title for today.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Can you imagine?!!! Just think about that. For 38 years, his legs did not work. And Jesus just said, “Get up!” and he could get up. Jesus said, “Walk” and he could walk!</div><div><br /></div><div>He knew it immediately. “At once.” BAM! Just like that. He could stand up and walk. Can you imagine what that must have felt like? I cannot. But this man was living it.</div><div><br /></div><div>And everyone around Him praised God and began to trust in Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Uh, no. That’s NOT what happened.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Remember, this is a story about how <i>not</i> to respond to Jesus. Verse 10 says that this man quickly encountered people who got <i>angry</i> that he was healed. Because of the day when Jesus did the healing. Look at the end of verse 9.</div><div><br /></div><div>“The day on which this took place was a Sabbath [uh oh], and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, you heard that right. The Jewish Religious Leaders find this guy taking a stroll on the Sabbath, and they get in his face about it. “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s your takeaway?! That’s what you are focused on?</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve got three points of application I want to make this morning about how to not respond poorly to Jesus, and here’s the first one:</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#1. DON’T MISS JESUS’ POWER.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t miss the power of Jesus. These guys are totally blind to what Jesus has just done. They don’t even see it. All they see is a guy carrying his straw mat on a Saturday morning.</div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div>The guy tries to tell them. Verse 11.</div><div><br /></div><div>“But he replied, ‘The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'”</div><div><br /></div><div>“I was just healed. From 38 years of paralysis! This man made me whole again. And he said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ So I did”</div><div><br /></div><div>And what part of that did they hear? All they heard was that some guy told him to break their rules. That’s all they hear. V.12</div><div><br /></div><div>“So they asked him, ‘Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?’ The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there” (vv.12-13).</div><div> </div><div>Now, just for the record, it was not against the Law to carry a mat on the Sabbath. The Law forbid work on the Sabbath, so if you were a professional mover, you probably shouldn’t have been carrying beds around. You need to take that day to rest. That’s a day of rest.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the Jews had made all kinds of rules about the Law to make sure that no one ever got anywhere close to breaking the Law (though they had plenty of loopholes for themselves when it suited them, too). And one of their rules was to not take possessions from one place to another on the Sabbath.</div><div><br /></div><div>And this guy was taking his bed somewhere. His straw mat. Oooooh.</div><div><br /></div><div>They were missing the point of the Sabbath, but they were missing the power of Jesus altogether!</div><div><br /></div><div>“Who does He think He is? Telling you to carry something on the Sabbath?”</div><div><br /></div><div>I don’t know? Maybe the guy who just worked an amazing miracle with nothing but a simple sentence? “Pick up your mat and walk.” And look at me walk!</div><div><br /></div><div>There are a lot of ways that we can miss the power of Jesus. The man who was healed might have missed the power of Jesus if he had said he didn’t want to be healed after all. The Jews missed the power of Jesus because they were focused on their rules. </div><div><br /></div><div>You and I might miss the power of Jesus because we just don’t slow down enough to see it. One of the great things about the Thanksgiving holiday is that we are given an opportunity to slow down and think about all of the amazing wonderful things that Jesus has done for us. So easy to take them for granted.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><br /></div><div>It strikes me that this man never thanks Jesus in this story. At this point in the story, he hasn’t even learned His name!</div><div><br /></div><div>But it’s nothing like how hard-hearted these leaders were. They heard about this healing, and all they could think about was how their rules were being broken.</div><div><br /></div><div>They should be praising God and seeking out and following Jesus. But instead they are locked in bitterness and focused on themselves.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t miss Jesus’ power.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#2. DON’T MISS JESUS’ POINT.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>The point of the Sabbath, or the point of His healing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus runs into this man once again, later on. We don’t know how much time has passed. But the man is still healed. And Jesus finds him and has a warning for him. Look at verse 14.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Wow. Those are ominous words, aren’t they? They are supposed to be. The last time these two people met, Jesus said, “Do you want to get well?” And this time, Jesus says, “See, you are well...” So He reminds this man of what Jesus did for him. But Jesus says, that’s nothing compared to what is coming if you do not repent.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Your suffering of being paralyzed was nothing compared to what that suffering represents–judgment. Something much worse.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is not saying that if this man continues in his sins that he will be paralyzed again. That’s possible, of course, especially if his sins are dangerous ones! </div><div><br /></div><div>But he's saying that just like the healing was a foretaste of something glorious to come, his past suffering was a foretaste of something dreadful that is coming for all who remain in their sins.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s the point. And Jesus says, don’t miss the point. Repent!</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember, Jesus is after our hearts. He’s not just after our bodies. He cares about our bodies. He wants us to be well.</div><div><br /></div><div>But <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">just like we saw last week,</a> Jesus has something much more important in mind than our physical health and life. He is aimed at our spiritual health and life!</div><div><br /></div><div>“Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” Something like Hell.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, of course, we can’t just “stop sinning” like turning off a faucet or switching off the lights. But we can repent of our sins and trust in Jesus for salvation and sanctification. We can turn away from whatever sins have had us in their grip and take an off-ramp through faith in Jesus and what He did on the Cross and at the Empty Tomb.</div><div><br /></div><div>What sins do you need to stop? What changes do you need to make in your life?</div><div><br /></div><div>You can’t just do it yourself any more than this guy could have gotten himself into the pool. But Jesus is here to heal, and not just our bodies. But our souls. He can give us power to say NO to temptation. And, by faith, to live holy lives that please Him. That’s the point. That’s the point of all of the good gifts that He has given you. </div><div><br /></div><div>It would be easy to go into Thanksgiving this week and praise Jesus for all of His gifts, and then turn around and use all of those gifts for selfish sinful purposes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus gives us His gifts to enjoy and to show love with, to be holy with. Don’t miss the point. “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” You don’t want to go to Hell. Stop.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don’t know if this guy did that. I don’t know what he did with the healing Jesus gave him. I don’t know what he did with the warning that Jesus gave him either. He’s not a great example. Even here, it doesn’t say that he was grateful. In fact, it looks like he turns tattletale on Jesus. V.15</div><div><br /></div><div>“The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.”</div><div><br /></div><div>At least he now gave Jesus the credit. It have been the blame! But there was no mistaking Who it was Who had healed this man. It was Jesus. Number three and last.</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#3. DON’T MISS JESUS’ PERSON.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t miss Who Jesus really is. This man has identified his healer as Jesus. And that healing took place on a Sabbath, so that puts Jesus directly in the crosshairs of the Jewish Religious Authorities. Verse 16.</div><div><br /></div><div>“So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Apparently it would have been okay if an angel had healed in the man in the pool on a Saturday, but it wasn’t any good for Jesus to do it with a Word on a Sabbath, especially if he was telling people to walk around with their mat in their hands on the Sabbath. Oh no, not that.</div><div><br /></div><div>So the Jews press in. We don’t know exactly what the persecution looked like. It was harassment at least at this point. And how do you think Jesus will take that?</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you think that Jesus will apologize? “I’m sorry. I was just trying to help.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you think that Jesus will defend Himself? “Let me try to explain how my actions actually fit within your rules.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Or do you think that Jesus will go on the offensive?</div><div><br /></div><div>Look at verses 17 and 18. “Jesus said to [to those persecuting Him], ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.’ For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” Don’t miss the Person of Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>We’re going to get into this more next week and the following week, Lord-willing. It’s some great stuff!</div><div><br /></div><div>But here’s the basic logic: God rested on the Sabbath day, right? Right! But He also has to work on the Sabbath day or we’re all in a world of trouble. If God stops His work, then everything goes to pot, right? So God can’t break the Sabbath right? He’s Lord of the Sabbath.</div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus says, “Yep, and He’s my Dad.” “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too, am working.” </div><div><br /></div><div>You see, the Jews are not wrong about Who Jesus is claiming to be. They get it right in verse 18. He keeps calling God His Father in a way that you and I can’t. In a way that only the One and Only Son can call Him Father. They are just wrong in believing that Jesus is wrong!</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus does not deny working on the Sabbath. He just says that’s what God the Son should be doing.</div><div><br /></div><div>“So, yes, you’ve got it right. I’m saying that I am God the Son.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And that makes Him equal with God. Don’t miss that! Don’t miss that Jesus is not just some healer. He’s not just the Messiah. He isn’t just the Son of God. He’s God the Son!</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s why they want to kill Him. Because they think He’s blaspheming. Because this is Who He says He is. Which leads us to answer the question for ourselves.</div><div><br /></div><div>Who do you believe Jesus is?</div><div><br /></div><div>So this is how NOT to respond to Jesus. Don’t miss His power. Don’t miss His point. Don’t miss His person. Because the power is not in the pool. </div><div><br /></div><div>The power is in the Person of Jesus of Jesus Christ. Let’s worship Him!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>Messages in this Series<br /></i></b><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42</a></div><div><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/11/your-son-will-live-matts-messages.html">12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54</a></div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-44580931362433094242023-11-12T13:16:00.005-05:002023-11-12T15:41:16.812-05:00“Your Son Will Live” [Matt's Messages]<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibDv6e28O8Ct9vLUIHiWIT1OVeY7wo-hxUlTD-0fNBZ8iLLFMk02CP8mIlap2ZphFu3wwNvVTDNVBw3tZABI3IgEpVEA-37csBMOqHdRJABCXfPg27OujOTaEYJh91qbQHHTd-fcdnn_AOreYQXZZuXPtuDm92uCJvim51D4omM6EOwWkZnRPCBg/s960/12.YourSonWillLive.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibDv6e28O8Ct9vLUIHiWIT1OVeY7wo-hxUlTD-0fNBZ8iLLFMk02CP8mIlap2ZphFu3wwNvVTDNVBw3tZABI3IgEpVEA-37csBMOqHdRJABCXfPg27OujOTaEYJh91qbQHHTd-fcdnn_AOreYQXZZuXPtuDm92uCJvim51D4omM6EOwWkZnRPCBg/s320/12.YourSonWillLive.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>“Your Son Will Live”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>November 12, 2023 :: John 4:43-54 </b></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Why do you believe in Jesus?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>It’s good, from time to time, to take a look again at why you put your faith in Jesus Christ in the first place. If you believe in Jesus, and I assume that most of us here do, why do you?</div><div><br /></div><div>What led you to put your faith in Jesus Christ?</div><div>What reasons do you have for trusting in Him?</div><div><br /></div><div>There doesn’t have to be just one reason. In fact, there are probably many for most of us. But it’s good to take stock from time to time and ask our hearts why they believe.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because there are some really good reasons out there and there are also some bad reasons to believe. Reasons that are built on false assumptions or faulty foundations. And if those reasons were found to be weak, then our faith might be shaken or even fall away.</div><div><br /></div><div>In today’s story, Jesus warns the people He’s talking to about how they might be building their faith [in Him!] on the wrong foundation. And I think that we can really learn from it for our lives today. Let’s take a closer look. Starting in verse 43.</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ay_7xfAq93Q?si=NkQ4tL0ejez_mz1O" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>“After the two days he left for Galilee.”</div><div><br /></div><div>This story picks up right where we left off two weeks ago. <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">Jesus had met the woman at the well in Samaria and had that life-changing conversation about spiritual thirst and living water.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>And she had believed in Him. And more than that, <a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">she had told her neighbors, her fellow Samaritan villagers about Him, and they had believed in Him!</a> And they had invited Jesus to stay with them for two days, and He did!</div><div><br /></div><div>What a miracle! Jews and Samaritans living together in harmony with the Messiah among them. They had come to believe for themselves (v.42) that Jesus “is the Savior of the world!” Not just for Jews. But for half-breed Samaritans, as well. And more than that, even for the Gentiles.</div><div><br /></div><div>So those two days are over now and Jesus continues on His journey. Remember in this Gospel the story started up in Galilee in the region where Jesus had grown up. And then He had gone down south and visited Jerusalem and <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">cleaned out the temple</a> and <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">met with Nicodemus</a>. Now He’s headed up north again. He had to go through Samaria. But now He’s headed back towards his home town.</div><div><br /></div><div>And He does not expect it to go all that well. V.44</div><div><br /></div><div>“(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus knows how this works. Local boys are often not taken seriously, especially if they have a negative evaluation of their hometown. It’s one thing to come back home and praise your town, but if you act like a prophet upon your return and tell your hometown everything that they need to change, it’s easy to get discounted right away. Jesus said on multiple occasions that a prophet has no honor in his own country. And, yet, He still goes there.</div><div><br /></div><div>But what’s really strange is what it says in verse 45. </div><div><br /></div><div>“When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Isn’t it interesting to read verse 44 and then verse 45? You might have expected from what Jesus said in verse 44 that they were going to kick Jesus out not “welcome him!”</div><div><br /></div><div>But John thinks that verse 45 fits perfectly with verse 44, and I’m sure he’s right. Because, look at how they welcomed Him by why they welcomed Him. “They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.”</div><div><br /></div><div>They had their eyes on the power of Jesus. Word was getting around that Jesus could do things. These Galileans had seen it for themselves. Jesus was powerful, and they welcomed Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>They believed. They had faith, of a sort, because of what they saw.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that’s kind of dangerous. We’ve seen a faith like this already in the Gospel of John. Remember the end of chapter 2? Verse 23.</div><div><br /></div><div>“...while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man” (Jn. 2:23-25 NIVO). Remember that?</div><div><br /></div><div>There is a kind of superficial “faith” in Jesus that is not always lasting faith because it’s built on the wrong things. And Jesus always knows. He knows that this “welcome” is not necessarily a good thing. Because they aren’t really trusting in Him, they are just eyeing His power. And thinking about what that power could do for them.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s what’s on Jesus’ mind when this royal official shows up on the scene. Look at verse 46.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Got the story in your mind?</div><div><br /></div><div>Where is Jesus? He’s in Cana in Galilee. That’s the same place <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">where He did that first quiet miracle we read about in chapter 2.</a> Jesus turned the water into wine and saved the wedding and brought them all joy. And His disciples saw it and believed. It was a sign. Remember that it was sign? Like a signpost? <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXK8EIwqlRbKCEqLu9Zao4W-lD7eel1ci0fjMJLyCXnF548sLOnXdmA3CHMqQy52rtYF81Y3C51fn7Zcpr3P1_-KljIbK1JvwHWtKU6_b3k73pI92ABl721p4Pb_v9m5tK_LkFl_UZn1B7JDUvlxyK7mWQ2mL1eHoMHow0sc1pmUVV316fMKV5BA/s4096/i%20love%20wales.jpg">Like my sign with the Welsh Dragon that says, “I {Heart} Wales” on it?</a> </div><div><br /></div><div>That miracle was a sign, for the limited group who saw it, that Jesus is the Messiah.</div><div><br /></div><div>So Jesus is back at that location, and He gets a visitor from a town about 20 miles away, Capernaum. And this visitor is a royal official. We don’t know his name. He was probably a Gentile and a member of the household of Herod Antipas who ruled that area. He was probably rich and powerful.</div><div><br /></div><div>He could have bought anything he wanted, but all of his money could not buy the life of his son.</div><div><br /></div><div>His son was sick.</div><div>His son was dying.</div><div>His son was, in fact, almost dead.</div><div><br /></div><div>Can you imagine how he felt?</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of you don’t have to imagine. You have had your children be very sick. Some of you have had your children die. Heather and I had a daughter who died in utero. We never got to dedicate her on a Sunday morning. We’ve rushed children to the hospital. Some of you were children who were very sick. Some of you may have been very close to death. It’s not hard to imagine this man’s desperation.</div><div><br /></div><div>He’s not just a royal official. He is a dad. A scared dad. And he’s come to Jesus because he’s heard that Jesus is powerful. </div><div><br /></div><div>So that makes what Jesus says in verse 48 feel so harsh. This is what He says:</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,’ Jesus told him, ‘you will never believe.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s a rebuke. That’s a clapback. This man comes begging Jesus for help, and Jesus responds with these strong words, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe.”</div><div><br /></div><div>For Jesus to talk this way, there must be something more important to Jesus than saving the life of this child. And that is calling these people to genuine saving faith in Him. </div><div><br /></div><div>Notice that this rebuke is not just for this man. The “you” in verse 48 is plural. That’s why the NIV has “you people.” He’s rebuking all of the folks in the crowd who are just there for the miracles. They are just there for healings. They are just there for the power. They have their focus in the wrong place. </div><div><br /></div><div>They are focused only on what they can “see.” </div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve got two points this morning summarize the truth of this story, and here’s the first one:</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#1. SEEING IS NOT BELIEVING.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>We normally saying, “Seeing is believing.” Or, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus rebukes these people from having to see miracles to believe in Him. He says that they won’t believe unless they see. And He’s intimating that that approach is faulty. It’s going to lead them astray. They are focused on the wrong thing. They are seeing Jesus as some kind of a magician or like a vending machine. If you do the right thing, then the power will come out.</div><div><br /></div><div>They are focused on the spectacle. They are focused on the miracle. They are demanding that that see first and then they will believe.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Jesus knows that seeing is not necessarily believing. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can see these miracles and not put your faith and trust in Him. We’re going to see that again and again the Gospel of John. People are going to be healed by Jesus and instead of believing in Jesus, some people are going to hate Him more. </div><div><br /></div><div>When Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead[!], the Jewish religious leaders are going to start scheming up how to kill Lazarus again and to kill Jesus, too. And they do! Seeing does not always lead to believing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes it does, and there is nothing wrong with seeing.</div><div><br /></div><div>These miracles are signs. They are signposts. You are supposed to see them and believe. But you don’t put all of your focus on the sign. You don’t keep staring at the sign, but at what the sign is pointing to.</div><div><br /></div><div>If the sign says, “Bridge Out Ahead,” you don’t keep saying, “What a beautiful sign” as you drive on by focusing on the sign. “I really like how PennDOT designs those signs!” No, you put on the brakes!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>And you also don’t say, “Unless the sign says the bridge is out, then I will just drive wherever I want. No matter if the bridge is gone. I demand a sign or I will just drive!” That’s what Jesus is saying. These folks are demanding a sign or they will not believe. And Jesus says that they are too focused on what they have seen and what they can see. They are too focused on the power of Jesus and are missing the Person of Jesus. And that’s more important than even our life and health.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I ask you again: Why Do You Believe In Jesus? What are the reasons you put your faith in Him?</div><div><br /></div><div>I think a lot of people “believe” in Jesus because of what He can do for them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus can cure my cancer.</div><div>Jesus can put my family back together.</div><div>Jesus can get me a better job.</div><div>Jesus can lift my depression.</div><div>Jesus can save my business.</div><div>Jesus can heal my child.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, Jesus can.</div><div><br /></div><div>But what if Jesus doesn’t? Some people have taught that Jesus will do all of those things if you just believe. And if they don’t happen, then you must not have had enough faith. That’s called the “Prosperity Gospel,” and it is poison.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have seen a lot of people walk away from Christianity because bad things happened to them or to their family, and they are “mad at God” or “disappointed in God.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Their cancer came back.</div><div>Their parents got divorced.</div><div>They lost their job and got a worse one.</div><div>Their depression did not go away.</div><div>Their business went under.</div><div>Their child died.</div><div><br /></div><div>And they hit the road. The lost their faith. Because their faith was built on the wrong foundation. They had been focused on the power of Jesus instead of the Person of Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>He didn’t keep promises<i> He had never made</i> and so they walked away.</div><div><br /></div><div>Seeing is not believing. “We walk by faith not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). Don’t focus on what Jesus can do for you. Focus on Who Jesus is. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is not being callous to this man or to the crowd. He is raising their gaze to something higher than even health and life. “I am not a magician or a miracle-dispensing vending machine. I don’t give out miracles on demand. And if you build your faith on seeing my miracles, you are going to be disappointed, and your faith will fail you. I won’t fail you, but your faith will fail.”</div><div><br /></div><div>When people walk away from God because they are mad at Him for not doing the thing they wanted Him to do, I feel bad for them. I keep praying for them. But I am not surprised and I am disappointed in them because they have clearly put their faith in the wrong thing. They have put the focus of their faith on the blessings of God instead of the God of the blessings. The gifts instead of the giver.</div><div><br /></div><div>Are the gifts bad? Are miracles and signs and wonders bad? Are blessings bad? </div><div><br /></div><div>Of course not! This is the season when we most give thanks for all of God’s blessings. But we give thanks on mountains high and in valley low. We give thanks wherever we go.</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you been praying for something recently? Maybe something big. And have you told the Lord that unless He does what you are asking for, then you will no longer believe? Maybe you haven’t said it in so many words, but it’s in your head.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Seeing is believing, Lord. We’ll see if you come through. And then I’ll believe.”</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s the kind of dangerous faith that Jesus is rebuking here.</div><div><br /></div><div>What if God says, “No” to the thing you are praying for most fervently now? And you can’t imagine why He might say, “No.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Determine right now to keep on trusting Him even if you can’t see it. Even if you don’t see it. Seeing is not believe. Believe, even if you cannot see.</div><div><br /></div><div>That doesn’t mean stop asking. It doesn’t mean stop praying desperately. It just means stop demanding that your will be done or you won’t believe.</div><div><br /></div><div>This man takes the rebuke. He doesn’t offer an excuse or try to defend his shaky faith. Very wisely, he just keeps asking the One Who has the power to save his boy. Verse 49.</div><div><br /></div><div>“The royal official said, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>What a beautiful prayer! He asks Jesus to travel 20-25 miles to Capernaum to wield His healing power and save his son. And Jesus...does not come. But He does heal! Jesus does care. Jesus does the miracle. After that rebuke, you might have thought that He was going to say, “No,” but He doesn’t.</div><div><br /></div><div>He has used the moment of everyone’s attention to focus on what was even more important, but in His grace He speaks the word to the heal the child. Verse 50.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Jesus replied, ‘You may go. Your son will live.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s our sermon title for today. It’s shows up again in verse 53.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Your son will live.” It’s literally in the present tense in the Greek, “Your son lives.” And not just that he’s not dead yet, but he’s healed. He’s going to be alive tomorrow. “Your son lives.” “You son will live.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And here’s the most amazing thing, verse 50. </div><div><br /></div><div>“The man took Jesus at his word and departed.”</div><div><br /></div><div>He turned around and left. </div><div>He didn’t beg Jesus any more. </div><div>He didn’t beg Him to come with Him.</div><div>He just believed what Jesus said and headed home.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s how much he believed. Look at verse 51.</div><div><br /></div><div>“While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. [What good news!] When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, ‘The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.’</div><div><br /></div><div>Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he and all his household believed. This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, did you catch it? Did you see how much He believed?</div><div><br /></div><div>We’re amazed (and rightly so) that the boy was healed at the exact time that Jesus said, “Your son will live.”</div><div><br /></div><div>But when did this man learn of this? It was the next day, right? The servants said, “Yesterday, at the seventh hour.” That’s 1:00 in the afternoon.</div><div><br /></div><div>How fast do you walk? I walk about 4 miles an hour. I try to walk about 4 miles every morning before breakfast, and it takes me about an hour. So if it’s 25 miles from Cana to Capernaum, and it’s downhill most of the way, it seems like he could have gotten home the day before. Especially if he thought he was never going to see his son alive again. It seems like he could have been home before bedtime.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, we don’t know why he took so long to get home. Maybe he was exhausted from the uphill journey to get there. Maybe he couldn’t travel at night because of treacherous conditions. We don’t know. But we do know that it was the next day he go there, and I can’t help but think that he took his time because he believed the word of Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>Verse 50 said, “The man took Jesus at his word...”</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s point number two and last:</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#2. BELIEVING IS SEEING.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>When we put our trust in Jesus and what Jesus has promised, then it gives us a kind of spiritual sight. We see Who Jesus is and trust that He will do exactly what He says He will do. We see it! With the eyes of faith. </div><div><br /></div><div>And then, one day, we see it with our own physical eyes. There are many things that God has promised that we do not yet see. Heaven is one of them. Our full salvation in the New Heavens and the New Earth. We are told about them, and we have a taste of it, but it’s still our hope. Paul says, “But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” (Rom. 8:24 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>But one day our faith will be made sight. If we believe, then we will see. Believing is seeing.</div><div><br /></div><div>This man believed in Jesus with the eyes of faith. And He believed what Jesus said. He believed Jesus’ promise. He believed the word of the Word. And He saw what Jesus had promised come true.</div><div><br /></div><div>And so did his whole family. So they all believed. Including, I’ll bet, his boy. Who lived!</div><div><br /></div><div>Which was a sign. Verse 54 says that it was another sign that pointed to Jesus being the Messiah. Jesus did it long distance. From far away. But Jesus did it. Verse 54 says, “Jesus performed” this sign. And it was another signpost for those with eyes of faith to see that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. And you know what happens to people who believe--they have life in Jesus’ name.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you believe in Jesus? <i>Why</i> do you believe in Jesus?</div><div><br /></div><div>Is it just because He is powerful? Because He can do something for you? Or do you simply believe just because of Who He is? Believing is seeing.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><div><br /></div><b><i>Messages in this Series<br /></i></b><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/ripe-for-harvest-matts-messages.html">11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42</a>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12183629.post-38571095996121852642023-10-29T11:50:00.002-05:002023-10-29T14:53:01.193-05:00“Ripe for the Harvest” [Matt's Messages]<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimNF4pigrckOgkPWH7rMCvXX4QTCMFqE3eYjpqhBXc50S32lbwFlg9Ubm5CV0BmVklb0Cd6KYTYO92Tfc_KrjOyFfLBjPkFedNE9hXLE8WYemGOtG517KL4TTDnW7_kJsZ7waGWyGy_rsjDKVsX32qMkMYNtlHF-meaFPCSd8Xi-FzmKxdWVwmsw/s960/11.RipeForTheHarvest.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimNF4pigrckOgkPWH7rMCvXX4QTCMFqE3eYjpqhBXc50S32lbwFlg9Ubm5CV0BmVklb0Cd6KYTYO92Tfc_KrjOyFfLBjPkFedNE9hXLE8WYemGOtG517KL4TTDnW7_kJsZ7waGWyGy_rsjDKVsX32qMkMYNtlHF-meaFPCSd8Xi-FzmKxdWVwmsw/s320/11.RipeForTheHarvest.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>“Ripe for the Harvest”</b></div><div><b>Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John</b></div><div><b>Lanse Evangelical Free Church</b></div><div><b>October 29, 2023 :: John 4:27-42 </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Today, we’re all going to go to school to be better farmers.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll bet you didn’t expect to hear that.</div><div><br /></div><div>I grew up on a farm. Did you know that? We had about seventy acres, and we rented those seventy acres to a full-time farmer. So we didn’t actually farm it ourselves, though we did help get the fields ready by picking out the rocks each Spring.</div><div><br /></div><div>And I was pretty clueless about how farming worked when I was a kid–not paying attention–so I won’t be teaching you anything from my personal store of knowledge. </div><div><br /></div><div>I’m going to be sharing with you what Jesus said about farming in John chapter 4. And the kind of farming Jesus was talking about was reaching people with the good news about Himself. Our evangelistic mission.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus just used farming as an inroads illustration for His disciples to understand what He was trying to teach them about evangelism.</div><div><br /></div><div>I love that this story landed on this Sunday. It’s a perfect story to consider for a Sunday right at the end of harvest season, right before Winter starts knocking at our doors. Next Sunday will be in November, and we’ll start singing about the harvest coming in. Well, Jesus has a lot to say about the harvest. In fact, our title for today comes right out of verse 35 where Jesus uses the phrase, “Ripe for Harvest.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And He’s not talking about soybeans or corn. He’s talking about people. So this is also a perfect story to consider for a Sunday when we have a quarterly meal and meeting where we gather together to remind each other about the main thing around here.</div><div><br /></div><div>We have a saying at Lanse Free Church that we got from others but have made our own, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. And the main thing is the gospel of Jesus Christ.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Just as a farmer will always be focused on the harvest to come, we who are followers of Jesus Christ should keep our eyes on the harvest that He has promised for His kingdom.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I’m getting ahead of the story. Let’s back up to verse 27 and start there.</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OYcN2NOeltw?si=7O57UvFRzMMykmvo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>This is right where we left off <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">last week</a>. We stopped in the middle of the story of Jesus’ noon-time conversation with a Samaritan woman next to Jacob’s Well in Sychar. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you remember, Jesus has been full of surprises. He has plopped down to rest in the heat of the day next to Jacob’s Well while His disciples have gone into town to buy some food. Jesus is fully human and pretty tired and very thirsty. And when a Samaritan women came up to the well to draw some water, Jesus, surprisingly, struck up a conversation with her. Remember this?</div><div><br /></div><div>Jews and Samaritans don’t mix. Most Jews would have never even been there much less made friends. Especially across gender lines. A Jewish man is talking to a Samaritan woman?!</div><div><br /></div><div>And you remember how the conversation went? Jesus asked her for water and then used that request for water to offer her Living Water–the eternal refreshment that comes from believing in Him. <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">Living Water</a>! </div><div><br /></div><div>And we saw how her understanding of Jesus changed over the course of their conversation. Jesus went from being, in her eyes, just a thirsty Jewish guy, to a bold and gentle Jewish guy who was willing to talk to her and to even touch something she had touched, and then to a miraculous prophet. Because Jesus somehow knew all about her life. He knew all about her choices, her spiritual thirst. And He knew all about what had been done to her, too. He knew her shame–she had five broken marriages, and she was currently living in sin with another man.</div><div><br /></div><div>And Jesus kept on talking to her, pursuing her, loving her even though He knew all about her. And even when she tried to change the subject and talk about worship instead, He still stayed focused on reaching her heart. And then when she brought up the Messiah, He actually revealed to her that He was the Messiah! </div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus hasn’t been this straightforward with anyone so far in the whole Gospel of John, but He said to this woman (verse 26), “I who speak to you am he” (Jn. 4:26 NIVO).</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s where we had to stop last week. And this week (v.27) picks up from that moment. Now we get the rest of the story. Verse 27. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, ‘What do you want?’ or ‘Why are you talking with her?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus’ disciples come back from Weis or Wegmans with some plastic bags in their hands. (Or however it worked in those days). And they are shocked to find their Rabbi, their Teacher talking with a woman. And a Samaritan woman at that!</div><div><br /></div><div>They are so shocked that they can’t even get the questions they are thinking out of their mouths. “What do you want?” “Why are you talking with her?”</div><div><br /></div><div>We know the answers. We know that she wanted water. And, even deeper, she wanted what that water pointed to–fully-forgiven, shame-free eternal life.</div><div><br /></div><div>And we know what Jesus wanted too. He wanted her heart. Jesus wanted her her spiritual thirst to be quenched through faith in Him. That’s why they are talking to each other. Jesus is not sexist or racist. Jesus is not misogynist nor xenophobic. Jesus is on the hunt for her heart.</div><div><br /></div><div>Or to speak in farmer terms, Jesus wants her to be harvested. In a good way! He wants her to be a part of the crop of the kingdom, the crop for eternal life.</div><div><br /></div><div>And I think that, here, He gets what He wants. Look at what she does. Verse 28.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’ They came out of the town and made their way toward him” (vv.28-30).</div><div><br /></div><div>I think that her life is changed from this moment on. And you know why I say that? </div><div><br /></div><div>Because she left her water jar! The very thing that had brought her out there in the first place. She left it behind. And she went after her neighbors. </div><div><br /></div><div>I love how this woman does evangelism, don’t you? </div><div><br /></div><div>You can do this. She goes to her neighbors, some of whom probably hate her. Many of whom probably scorn her. Some may have been her friends. It doesn’t matter. She goes back to them and talks to them about Jesus. “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice that she doesn’t have all of the answers. She doesn’t have everything figured out. She is not a perfect theologian. But she has met Jesus, and she wants others to meet Him, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>You and I can do this, too. We don’t have to have to have a perfect presentation all prepared or to have answers to every question that someone may ask. We just have to be bold enough to invite our neighbors to “come and see.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Just like Jesus invited those first disciples to check Him out in chapter 1. This woman invites her neighbors to give Jesus some consideration. </div><div><br /></div><div>“Have you ever considered the claims of Christ?” You and I can say that to someone else. That’s not hard. “Have you ever thought about Who Jesus is?” You could say that. “I am a believer in Jesus Christ. What do you think of Him?” Or you and I could invite someone to read the Gospel of John together.</div><div><br /></div><div>This woman says, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did” which is an exaggeration, but He certainly knew some of the darkest parts of her life. And yet He still cared about her.</div><div><br /></div><div>“He says that He is the Messiah. Could this be true? He’s a Jew. He has against Him. I wish the Messiah was a Samaritan. But I think He just might be the Messiah. Come and see.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And they do! John says that they “made their way toward him” (v.30).</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, keep that in your mind as we read the next part. See those villagers walking back towards Jesus and His disciples as they have this conversation and Jesus begins to take them to Farmer’s School. Verse 31.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Meanwhile his disciples urged him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’” Remember He’s really tired. He’s been really thirsty. It’s the middle of the day. He’s probably ravenous, too. They have traveled many miles. They want Jesus to eat something, but He’s looking over at the town back where the woman went, and I think He’s got a great big smile on His face.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then He looks at His disciples, and says, “Oh yeah, this is a great time to take these guys through some Farmer School.” Look at verse 32. “But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’ Then his disciples said to each other, ‘Could someone have brought him food?’”</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s that misunderstanding thing again, right? Jesus, enigmatically, says that He is not really hungry because He has unknown food. And they assume that He’s talking about physical food. Just like <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">Nicodemus thought He meant physical birth</a> and the woman at the well thought He meant fresh well-water. But, of course, He doesn’t. This kind of “food” is something much deeper, much more important, and much more satisfying. Verse 34.</div><div><br /></div><div>“‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his </div><div>work.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Farmer School lesson number one (of three):</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>#1. EAT THE BEST FOOD.</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Farming is hard work, and farmers need to keep their strength up so they need to eat some of the best, most nourishing meals that there are out there.</div><div><br /></div><div>But what Jesus says is the best food for Him is different from what anyone might expect. Jesus says that His food is the food of obedience. “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” “That’s what I find the most satisfying.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus is not saying that He’s never going to eat again. Or even that He’s not going to eat soon. This is a Guy who just asked a woman for a drink of water. He has physical needs that will need to be met.</div><div>But Jesus is saying that all of those things take a back seat to doing what God has sent Him to do!</div><div><br /></div><div>“Eating the best food” means prioritizing the mission.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Put the Kingdom first.</i></div><div><i>Do the will of God.</i></div><div><i>Finish the work that He has for you.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>That is the best food.</div><div><br /></div><div>Where are your priorities? Where are mine? Because we are tempted to chase every other thing in life like it is ultimate. Like “that’s the stuff!”</div><div><br /></div><div>Just like we run after all kinds of other things to quench our spiritual thirst (like we said last week), we are tempted to put anything and everything ahead of sharing Jesus with those around us.</div><div><br /></div><div>So often, we act like something else is the main thing. But obedience to the Great Commission is the main thing! And the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. </div><div><br /></div><div>And it’s not just the main thing. It’s the the most satisfying! Jesus doesn’t just grit His teeth here and fast from food. He says that this is His food! He finds obedience to be satisfying. “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And He did, didn’t He? Jesus was obedient even death, death on the Cross where He said, “It is finished.” And even in that He was finding satisfaction. Obedience was His food.</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you found that to be true in your life, as well? Sometimes I’m the happiest when I have been able to get past myself and what I consider to be my “needs” and just be obedient in the mission that God has for me. I call it, “Doing the thing.” I’m not just spinning my wheels or playing pastor, but I’m doing the thing that God put me here to do, “Doing the thing.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And I love it when I see this church “doing the thing.” I loved it that at two events in the community this week, we had our people handing out Scripture and showing up to show the love of Jesus to folks. Keeping the main thing the main thing. That’s the stuff! That’s the best food!</div><div><br /></div><div>And, amazingly, people will often respond favorably. </div><div><br /></div><div>That’s lesson number two of Farmer School:</div><div><i><b><br /></b></i></div><div><i><b>#2. SEE THE RIPE FIELDS. </b></i></div><div><br /></div><div>Look at verse 35. “Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together” (vv.35-36). </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, a farmer always knows that he or she has to be good at waiting. Apparently, they had a saying back then and there, “Four month s more and then the harvest.” They probably said it when they did the planting. “I put the seed in and then I have to be patient. Four months more. Four months more.” So the farmer has to see the ripe fields in his or her mind. They are still future.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Jesus says that because He is now here, the fields are ripe. Even now, He says. You see that in verse 36? “Even now...even now...” Something big has happened so that the disciples needed to see that the harvest had begun. </div><div><br /></div><div>See the ripe fields. Or literally, the “white” fields. A field of grain is ready to be harvested when the heads are white. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now think about this, what do Jesus and the disciples see right then? What is in their field of vision? Remember verse 30? The townspeople making their way towards Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>Many commentators have wondered if the townspeople are wearing traditional Samaritan white robes as they flow out of the town and walk towards Jesus. I don’t know, but it sound good!</div><div><br /></div><div>Either way, Jesus could see the potential harvest to come. And He wanted His disciples to see it, too. “Open your eyes...look at the fields.” With spiritual eyes, with the eyes of faith.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s not always going to seem like it, but the harvest has begun. It’s here. It’s coming. People are ripe to come to Christ. I know that it doesn’t always seem like it. I often feel like nobody is interested in coming to Christ. Especially the younger generations. But what they really aren’t interested in is fake Christianity and the lies that they have been shown and sold about what Christianity is and isn’t. Many of them are hungry for the truth and when they found out Who Jesus really is, they will want Him, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve read <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/jesus-movement-this-generation/">some encouraging reports</a> of spiritual awakening among Generation Z, the young people who are young adults right now. They see the world differently than older generations, but they are hungry for something, and many of them are going to find that Jesus is the answer to what they are seeking. We need to assume that and go out and share Jesus with them in boldness and love. And assume that He will save many and not few.</div><div><br /></div><div>We need to see the ripe fields. Even now. Verse 36.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Even now the reaper draws his wages [the job is done], even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>This is Farmer School Lesson number three (and last):</div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><i>#3. SOW, REAP, AND REJOICE!</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Sow, reap, and rejoice. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nobody reaps if nobody sows. Right? </div><div><br /></div><div>You don’t have to be the one who sows to reap. That’s the point that Jesus is making in verse 38. He says that others have done the hard work of sowing and the disciples are now reaping the benefit of their labor.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think that’s people like <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">John the Baptist</a> and all of the prophets in the Old Testament. They’ve been sowing, planting seeds about the Messiah for a long time.</div><div><br /></div><div>And now, these disciples get to reap the benefits of their hard work. And that’s okay! In fact, Jesus says, it’s great. The sower and the repear are glad together (v.36). “Glad together.”</div><div><br /></div><div>But if no one ever sows, then there will be no reaping. So, there’s really a call here to sow. To plant those seeds. To consider it “your food” to get out there and introduce people to Jesus. To say, “Come and see...could this be the Christ?”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Could this One be the One you are looking for?” </div><div><br /></div><div>Who might you need to talk to this week? Where might you sow seeds of the gospel? You never know where you might reap then! You never know who you might to talk and find out that someone else has been talking to them and the ready to jump into the boat. They are ready to get picked off of the stalk.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sow, reap...and rejoice!</div><div><br /></div><div>What a joy it is when people finally come to know Jesus as their Savior. Jesus says there are parties in heaven when one sinner repents. And there are parties here on Earth, too. And nobody begrudges anyone else for their part in it. Sometimes we sow. Sometimes we reap. And whenever there is reaping, we rejoice. Together.</div><div><br /></div><div>Especially when there are many! When the harvest is huge. And that’s what happened in this story. Look at verse 39.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.”</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s two miracles for you, right there! </div><div><br /></div><div>First, that many of these Samaritans BELIEVED because of this woman’s testimony. This woman. This Samaritan woman who had been loaded down with shame. She points them to Jesus and they believe.</div><div><br /></div><div>And you know what happens when you believe in Jesus, right? <a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">You get life in His name</a> (John 20:31).</div><div><br /></div><div>And here’s the second miracle. These Samaritan townspeople asked this Jewish Rabbi to stay with them for two days! The wall of hostility had been knocked down. Ethnicity and race and culture and gender wars were no longer the factors that kept them apart. Jesus had brought them together. Jesus had sown and now was reaping. And everyone was rejoicing. V.41</div><div><br /></div><div>“And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.’”</div><div><br /></div><div>“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16 NIVO). And this man, Jesus is the Savior of the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>These folks came to believe that for themselves. I love that “for ourselves” in verse 42. They aren’t content to let someone else believe for them. They have trusted Jesus for themselves. </div><div><br /></div><div>Have you trusted Jesus yourself? Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world?</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s interesting that they say, “of the world,” right? He’s not just the Savior of Israel. But also the savior for the half-breed Samaritans. And also for the Gentiles. We’ll see that next week, Lord-willing. Gentiles like you and me. Have you trusted Jesus yourself? Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world? And do you know Him as your own savior?</div><div><br /></div><div>If so, we all rejoice! </div><div> </div><div>If not, we all invite you to do so now. Check out Jesus and finding out what He did on the Cross and at the Empty Tomb, come to know Him as your own Savior from your own sins and for eternal life. On that day, many believed. “Many more” it says. What a day of rejoicing that must have been.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let me ask this question for us as we close:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>What if Jesus had not bothered? </i>What if Jesus had not bothered to speak to this woman at this well? What if Jesus had allowed her to change the conversation, and He just stopped pursuing her. He just stopped sowing. He just stopped planting. What if He had just gotten a drink and something to eat and been satisfied with that? What if the Farmer never went out to sow? What if obedience was not Jesus’ food? When then?</div><div><br /></div><div>Let me ask it this way for all of us potential farmers:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>What is your food? </i>Not what did you bring to share at the meal today, but what is the most important life priority for you so that you would call it your sustenance and satisfaction? What is your food?</div><div><br /></div><div>Next question: <i>Can you see the fields? </i>Do you see the potential reaping that could be done here in our area and around the world as we engage in God’s redemptive mission? Can you see the fields of the people around you? Are they white? Are they ripe? The harvest has begun. </div><div><br /></div><div>Last question: <i>Are you sowing? </i>Because if nobody sows, nobody reaps. But if we keep sowing–if we keep the main thing the main thing–then we will reap, and together we will rejoice. Because we know that this man Jesus really is the Savior of the world.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>***<br /><br /><b><i>Messages in this Series<br /></i></b><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/that-you-may-believe-matts-messages.html">01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/in-beginning-was-word-matts-messages.html">02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/08/johns-testimony-matts-messages.html">04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-first-of-his-miraculous-signs-matts.html">05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/this-temple-matts-messages.html">06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-must-be-born-again-matts-messages.html">07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/god-so-loved-world-matts-messages.html">08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21</a><br /><a href="https://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/above-all-matts-messages.html">09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36</a><br /><a href="http://matt-mitchell.blogspot.com/2023/10/living-water-matts-messages.html">10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26</a></div><div><br /></div>Matt Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07270416631376832060noreply@blogger.com0