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What Child Is This (Selected Scriptures) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

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Speaker 1: What child is this? You know that song. That's the
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Speaker 1: theme of our message to you this morning. What child
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Speaker 1: is this who laid to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping?
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Speaker 1: Whom angels greet with anthems sweet while shepherds watch are keeping?
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Speaker 1: That's the Christmas question, really. What child is this? The
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Speaker 1: answers to that question are myriad. Some say he was
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Speaker 1: just a good teacher, but good teachers don't claim to
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Speaker 1: be God. Some say he was only a good example,
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Speaker 1: but good examples don't hang around prostitutes, drunks and dirty politicians.
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Speaker 1: Others say he was a religious madman, but madmen don't
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Speaker 1: speak the kind of words he spoke, clear and lucid
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Speaker 1: and perceptive and penetrating. nor do they draw women and
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Speaker 1: children to themselves, nor are they served by men with
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Speaker 1: the intellect of Peter and John and Luke and Paul.
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Speaker 1: Some say he was a religious fake, perpetrating a hoax
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Speaker 1: like every other would-be savior, but fakes have a way
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Speaker 1: of staying dead. Others say he was only a phantom,
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Speaker 1: But phantoms don't have flesh to crucify and blood to spill.
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Speaker 1: And many have said He didn't exist at all. He's
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Speaker 1: only a myth. But myths don't set the calendar for history.
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Speaker 1: What child is this? Pilate called him the man without fault.
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Speaker 1: Diderot said he is the unsurpassed. Napoleon called him the
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Speaker 1: emperor of love. Strauss said he's the highest model of religion.
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Speaker 1: John Stuart Mill called him the guide of humanity. Lecky
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Speaker 1: said he's the highest pattern of virtue. Picant said he's
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Speaker 1: the holy one before God. Martineau called him the divine
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Speaker 1: flower of humanity. Renan said he's the greatest among the
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Speaker 1: sons of men. Theodore Parker called him the youth with
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Speaker 1: God in his heart. Francis Cobb said he's the regenerator
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Speaker 1: of humanity. Robert Olin called him the irreproachable and the
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Speaker 1: moderns say he's superstar. What child is this? Thomas had
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Speaker 1: it right. He looked at him and said, my Lord
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Speaker 1: and my God. The evidence that Jesus Christ is in
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Speaker 1: fact God is overwhelming. In John's gospel, John begins by
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Speaker 1: stating that very fact in verse 1. In the beginning
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Speaker 1: was the Word and the Word was with God and
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Speaker 1: the Word was God, speaking More of Christ in verse 14,
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Speaker 1: John said this, and the Word was made flesh and
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Speaker 1: dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory
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Speaker 1: as of the only begotten of the Father, full of
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Speaker 1: grace and truth. And in verse 18, continued by saying,
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Speaker 1: no man hath seen God at any time, the only
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Speaker 1: begotten Son, begotten in the bosom of the Father, He
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Speaker 1: hath declared Him. What child is this? This is God
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Speaker 1: in human flesh. And there is evidence in the Word
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Speaker 1: of God, particularly in the gospel record of the life
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Speaker 1: of Christ, to prove it. For men are not asked
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Speaker 1: to believe without evidence. Twofold witness to Jesus Christ is
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Speaker 1: His knowledge and His deeds. In the gospel of John,
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Speaker 1: His knowledge was overwhelming. Nathanael was shocked that Jesus knew
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Speaker 1: all about him before he ever met him. And Jesus said,
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Speaker 1: surely you must be the Messiah, the Christ, the Son
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Speaker 1: of God. In John chapter 2, after Jesus had said
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Speaker 1: some things in the temple, the people believed on Him
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Speaker 1: and He didn't commit Himself to them. Why? Because it
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Speaker 1: says He knew what was in their hearts. He needed
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Speaker 1: no man to tell Him anything. He knew what was
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Speaker 1: in the heart of a man. Astounding knowledge. In John
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Speaker 1: chapter 4, He met a woman at a well near Sychar,
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Speaker 1: a woman whose life must have made the Sychar headlines.
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Speaker 1: It was so sordid And he told her everything about her,
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Speaker 1: never having met her. She was so shocked. She said,
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Speaker 1: this is not the Christ, is it? Later on, Peter
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Speaker 1: was trying to tell the Lord that he loved him
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Speaker 1: and his life didn't bear it out. And so the
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Speaker 1: very issue was somewhat suspect. And finally, Peter appealed to
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Speaker 1: omniscience and he said, Jesus, you know everything. You know
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Speaker 1: I love you. His knowledge was absolutely astounding. He knew
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Speaker 1: it only God knows. Thus he was God. But not
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Speaker 1: only His knowledge, His works. He said, if you can't
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Speaker 1: believe Me for what I say, believe Me for the
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Speaker 1: very works sake. He came to a wedding in Cana
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Speaker 1: and He created wine. Only God can do that. Came
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Speaker 1: to a man by a pool, He created new organs.
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Speaker 1: Came to a blind man and gave him eyes. Came
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Speaker 1: to a man who couldn't hear and recreated his ears.
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Speaker 1: Came to a man who couldn't walk and recreated his limbs.
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Speaker 1: He was God. Came to a multitude on a hillside
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Speaker 1: and created fish and bread enough to feed perhaps 20,000.
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Speaker 1: Came to a grave and said, Lazarus, come out. Four
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Speaker 1: days dead. Everything was reversed and He walked out of
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Speaker 1: the grave, His skin as fresh as a baby. He
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Speaker 1: was alive. It's not only His words, but it's His
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Speaker 1: works that tell us that He's God. What child is this?
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Speaker 1: This is God in human flesh. But there's an area,
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Speaker 1: I think, of the gospel of John that just completely
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Speaker 1: thrills me in presenting who this Christ is. And it's
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Speaker 1: made up of the claims that He made for Himself
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Speaker 1: under the category of the I Am's. He repeatedly said,
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Speaker 1: I Am, and then He said something else. And I
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Speaker 1: want us to look at these this morning. If you
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Speaker 1: have your Bible, turn to begin with to John 6.
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Speaker 1: We'll not have time to consider all of them, but
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Speaker 1: some of them. First of all, Jesus said, I am
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Speaker 1: the bread of life. Now you know, if you know
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Speaker 1: the Old Testament, that I am is the name of God.
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Speaker 1: God said, my name is I am that I am.
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Speaker 1: Jesus repeated that many times by saying, I am. And
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Speaker 1: here He says, I am the bread of life. In
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Speaker 1: verse 35 of John 6 comes that classic statement, Jesus
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Speaker 1: said unto them, I am the bread of life. Now
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Speaker 1: as we look at these I am's, we're going to
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Speaker 1: be able to see who this child is. Let's go
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Speaker 1: back to verse 26 so we understand what's going on.
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Speaker 1: Jesus answered them and said, verily, verily, or truly, truly,
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Speaker 1: I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye
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Speaker 1: saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the
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Speaker 1: loaves and were filled. He says you're crass, you're mundane,
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Speaker 1: you're earthy. The day before He had spent an entire
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Speaker 1: day doing miracles. From morning till nightfall He had done
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Speaker 1: creative acts. He had healed the sick. He had interspersed
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Speaker 1: with the miracles, taught them. At the close of the
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Speaker 1: day He had fed them. by creating fish and bread.
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Speaker 1: And they followed Him and the next day they met
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Speaker 1: Him and He said to them, you didn't follow Me
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Speaker 1: because of the miracles, you followed Me because you want
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Speaker 1: free food. Materialistic, crass, mundane. You ate the loaves and
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Speaker 1: you were filled in your after more. Jesus came to
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Speaker 1: offer something beyond physical food. Jesus didn't come to be
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Speaker 1: the bread man. Jesus didn't come to run a restaurant
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Speaker 1: or even to start a welfare agency. He had something
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Speaker 1: much more significant in mind. But they couldn't see past
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Speaker 1: their stomachs. They followed Him for that reason. Verse 27,
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Speaker 1: follow the narrative. Jesus says,' Don' t work for the food
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Speaker 1: which perishes, but for that food which endureth unto everlasting life.' Now,
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Speaker 1: He must be talking about something other than physical food
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Speaker 1: because everybody eats physical food but everybody dies. What kind
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Speaker 1: of food leads to eternal life? Which the Son of
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Speaker 1: Man shall give unto you. He says, I'm here to
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Speaker 1: give you food that will give you eternal life. If
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Speaker 1: you will, soul food. And I am just the one
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Speaker 1: to give it to you, for him hath God the
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Speaker 1: Father sealed. Sealed means approved. Put the stamp of approval
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Speaker 1: on it. I am the one whom God has approved
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Speaker 1: of to dispense to you food for your souls. Verse 28,
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Speaker 1: they still don't understand what he's talking about. Then said
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Speaker 1: they unto him, what shall we do that we might
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Speaker 1: work the works of God? How do we get it?
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Speaker 1: But notice how they frame the statement, what shall we
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Speaker 1: do that we might work the works of God? That
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Speaker 1: has got to be the height of egotism. Whatever makes
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Speaker 1: you think you can do anything to do the works
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Speaker 1: of God, you can't do the works of God. But
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Speaker 1: you see, they were in a works righteousness system. That
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Speaker 1: you do so many little things and God approves and
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Speaker 1: you've all of a sudden slid across the line and
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Speaker 1: you're into His category. That your goodies outweigh your baddies.
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Speaker 1: What shall we do to work the works of God?
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Speaker 1: No man ever did anything to gain God. Can't be done.
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Speaker 1: Think of the story I told you some weeks ago
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Speaker 1: about the evangelist in the days of the tent evangelism.
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Speaker 1: He was folding up his tent after the meeting, and
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Speaker 1: he was outside. He did the whole thing, you know,
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Speaker 1: preached and then took down the tent. He was outside
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Speaker 1: pulling up the pegs, putting the tent down, and a
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Speaker 1: fellow came up and said, oh, he said, I know
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Speaker 1: I missed the meeting, but what do I have to
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Speaker 1: do to get saved? And the evangelist turned to him
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Speaker 1: and said, it's too late. He said, you mean it's
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Speaker 1: too late? The meeting's over? He said, no, it's too late.
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Speaker 1: It's already all been done. There's nothing for you to do.
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Speaker 1: Then he told him all he had to do was believe.
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Speaker 1: They said, what do we have to do to work
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Speaker 1: the works of God? Listen to it. Verse 29, Jesus
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Speaker 1: answered and said to them, this is the work of God,
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Speaker 1: that ye believe on him whom he has sent. There's
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Speaker 1: a lot of people running around in this world trying
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Speaker 1: to gain God. Jesus said, I'll tell you what to do.
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Speaker 1: Don't do anything. Just believe on him that God sent. Now,
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Speaker 1: he hasn't quite yet said who this is. But he
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Speaker 1: certainly implied that it's himself. And they get the message.
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Speaker 1: And he's made a fantastic claim because he says, this
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Speaker 1: is the work of God, believe on Him whom He
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Speaker 1: has sent. Back in 3rd 27, he said, he calls
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Speaker 1: himself the Son of Man sent from God. And so
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Speaker 1: they get the message. They know he's talking about himself.
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Speaker 1: He's saying, I'm the one who gives you spiritual soul food.
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Speaker 1: All you have to do is believe on me. Now,
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Speaker 1: that's a pretty astounding claim. And like everybody, they want proof.
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Speaker 1: I mean, for you to just walk up to us
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Speaker 1: and say, you believe on me and you'll have spiritual
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Speaker 1: food is pretty far out. Prove it. Which, of course,
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Speaker 1: is ridiculous and it always indicates the character of unbelief,
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Speaker 1: you see. Because they had had enough miracles, but unbelief
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Speaker 1: never has enough. That's why Jesus never built His kingdom
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Speaker 1: on the basis of miracles, because you could never give
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Speaker 1: enough miracles to unbelief. He gave so many thousands of
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Speaker 1: miracles and even in the early churches we've been seeing
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Speaker 1: in Acts they were repeated again and again and again,
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Speaker 1: but the unbelief is still unbelief. And so they say,
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Speaker 1: prove it. And the day before He had done hundreds
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Speaker 1: of miracles. Now they bring out an interesting comparison. They
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Speaker 1: figure He's going to say, well, didn't you see Me
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Speaker 1: feed you yesterday? What more proof do you want? So
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Speaker 1: they already beat Him to the punch on that one,
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Speaker 1: verse 30, listen. They said therefore unto Him, what sign
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Speaker 1: showest Thou then that we may see and believe Thee?
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Speaker 1: What does that work? Do a trick so we can
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Speaker 1: believe you. Something really super. In the back of their minds,
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Speaker 1: they're thinking, maybe this time we'll get steak. Verse 31,
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Speaker 1: they do a little comparison. Listen to it. Our fathers
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Speaker 1: did eat manna in the desert. Now, don't do that
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Speaker 1: deal about, you know, food in the wilderness yesterday. I mean,
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Speaker 1: that's old stuff. Do an original thing. Moses pulled that one.
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Speaker 1: Our Father's got free food in the wilderness. It says,
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Speaker 1: as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven
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Speaker 1: to eat. Now, what they're really saying is this. If
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Speaker 1: you're who you claim to be, you ought to be
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Speaker 1: able to do greater things than Moses, right? If you're
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Speaker 1: who you claim to be, you ought to do better
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Speaker 1: than Moses. You provided food on one day... For 15
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Speaker 1: to 20,000 people, Moses provided manna every day for 40
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Speaker 1: years for maybe 2 million people. Can you top that? Now,
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Speaker 1: that's the implication of what they're saying. Not only that,
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Speaker 1: Moses brought it down from heaven. You just took it
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Speaker 1: from what you had. How do we know you're the
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Speaker 1: one that's sent? Then came Jesus' reply. Beautiful. Verse 32,
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Speaker 1: then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you,
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Speaker 1: take this, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven.
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Speaker 1: Moses didn't have anything to do with it. He just
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Speaker 1: stood around and collected it like everybody else. But my
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Speaker 1: Father giveth you the true bread from heaven, for the
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Speaker 1: bread of God is he who cometh down from heaven
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Speaker 1: and giveth life unto the world. Wow, now this is
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Speaker 1: really getting heavy. He's talking about some kind of spiritual
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Speaker 1: bread and he sweeps aside their inept little analogy with
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Speaker 1: just an easy sweep. He gives them four corrections. Number one,
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Speaker 1: it wasn't Moses who gave you the manna, it was God.
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Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy 16, 4, I think it is, the text says,
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Speaker 1: Then the Lord said unto Moses, I will rain bread
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Speaker 1: from heaven for you. Moses had nothing to do with it.
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Speaker 1: In fact, Moses got so hungry to be connected to
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Speaker 1: a miracle that one time he hit the rock when
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Speaker 1: he should have spoken to the rock just so it
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Speaker 1: would look like he was doing some of this. He
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Speaker 1: wasn't doing any of it. God was doing it. Moses
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Speaker 1: only directed the manner of collection and only because God
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Speaker 1: told him what to tell him. So it wasn't Moses
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Speaker 1: who gave you the manna, it was God. Number two,
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Speaker 1: it was only manna, it wasn't true bread. I come
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Speaker 1: to give you true bread. I mean, let's face it,
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Speaker 1: the manna was only a type of the real bread.
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Speaker 1: So what I give is far better than what was there.
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Speaker 1: I mean, that was only sort of a celestial angel
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Speaker 1: food cake. What I'm going to give you is the
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Speaker 1: real stuff, soul food. Third thing that he corrects about
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Speaker 1: their little analogy is that Moses' bread gave only physical nourishment.
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Speaker 1: True bread gives spiritual life. Verse 33 says, this bread
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Speaker 1: gives life. Do you know that that manna in the
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Speaker 1: wilderness didn't give life? That whole generation did what? Died.
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Speaker 1: You say, well, manna didn't really have much to it.
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Speaker 1: It just kind of lasted one day and it didn't
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Speaker 1: do a thing for you spiritually. No, it didn't. It
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Speaker 1: didn't give life. But whoever eats the true bread lives.
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Speaker 1: Verse 54, he who eats my flesh and drinks my
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Speaker 1: blood hath eternal... what? Life. Now that's some kind of different bread.
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Speaker 1: Manna had no power to conquer death. The whole generation
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Speaker 1: that ate it died. The fourth thing that he says
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Speaker 1: to sweep aside their argument is that manna was for Israel,
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Speaker 1: true bread is for the world. The end of verse 33,
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Speaker 1: gives life to the world. Manna fell in Israel's camp,
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Speaker 1: true bread falls all over the world. So Christ sweeps
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Speaker 1: aside their petty little analogy and He says, I'm talking
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Speaker 1: about true bread that feeds the soul. But they're so
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Speaker 1: blind to spiritual reality. This is the tragedy. Then in
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Speaker 1: verse 34, they say, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
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Speaker 1: And I'm not sure they even knew what they were
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Speaker 1: asking for. You've been saying you've got it, and you've
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Speaker 1: been saying you came from God to bring it. Give
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Speaker 1: it to us. Jesus said unto them, I am the
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Speaker 1: bread of life. Fantastic claim. Absolutely fantastic. Then he says this.
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Speaker 1: Here's how to get it. He that, what's the next word?
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Speaker 1: Cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth
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Speaker 1: on me shall never thirst. You know what Jesus requires
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Speaker 1: for a man to take of that bread? Come and what? Believe.
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Speaker 1: If you're hungry, crawl up to the table and believe.
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Speaker 1: That's all. You don't have to do anything other than that. Come, believe.
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Speaker 1: I am the bread of life and faith takes me.
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Speaker 1: The hungry heart needs only one food. The food is Jesus.
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Speaker 1: He satisfies me. Does he satisfy you? You remember the
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Speaker 1: prodigal son? He left home. Why did he leave home?
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Speaker 1: He wanted life. He really wanted the world's menu. He
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Speaker 1: bailed out of that deal, collected his part of the money,
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Speaker 1: took off to live it up and eat the world's goodies.
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Speaker 1: You know what? He wound up eating pig slop. Remember?
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Speaker 1: And he was there in the sty eating slop one
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Speaker 1: day and said, this is ridiculous. Good thinking. He said,
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Speaker 1: my father is loaded. I'm not eating anymore pig slop.
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Speaker 1: He swallowed his pride and took off for the father's house.
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Speaker 1: Father ran out to meet him. Somebody said the weather
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Speaker 1: must have been icy because he fell on his neck
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Speaker 1: and kissed him. But anyway, he ran out to meet him,
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Speaker 1: took him in the house. And remember what happened? They
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Speaker 1: killed the fatted calf and they gave him a banquet.
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Speaker 1: He traded in the pig slop of the world for
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Speaker 1: what fare was available in the father's house. You know something?
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Speaker 1: There's only one place you'll ever be satisfied, and that's
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Speaker 1: in the father's house. He's got everything you could ever
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Speaker 1: want to eat. You don't need any of the world's fare.
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Speaker 1: And I'll tell you this. Whenever men have found the
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Speaker 1: gnawing hunger of their heart satisfied, it's been when they've
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Speaker 1: eaten it in the father's house. Because there and there
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Speaker 1: alone can you find the bread of life. What child
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Speaker 1: is this? this is the bread of life if you
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Speaker 1: eat of him you'll never hunger again secondly this is
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Speaker 1: the living water chapter 7 verse 37 In the last day,
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Speaker 1: that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying,
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Speaker 1: If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. Oh,
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Speaker 1: what a fantastic statement. You know, earlier in John chapter 4,
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Speaker 1: He met that woman at the well and He said,
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Speaker 1: This water you keep drinking doesn't really last. You get
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Speaker 1: thirsty again, don't you? He said, I have some water
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Speaker 1: I'd like to give you. If you drink of this,
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Speaker 1: you will what? Never thirst again. This is living water.
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Speaker 1: And then He went on to say, I am the
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Speaker 1: living water. And here He repeats the same thing, but
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Speaker 1: I want you to see it in this context because
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Speaker 1: I think it's so exciting. Notice the word cried out.
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Speaker 1: In the Greek, that's a krodzen, and it means He
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Speaker 1: yelled it at the top of His voice. Jesus literally
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Speaker 1: yelled at the top of His lungs as loud as
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Speaker 1: He could, if any man thirsts, let him come unto
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Speaker 1: Me and drink. He just yelled it. You say, well,
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Speaker 1: what's He doing that for? I mean, isn't it a
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Speaker 1: little out of context that the well, we understand it, right?
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Speaker 1: Because they're talking about water and it's a well. But
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Speaker 1: what's He doing here at the last day of the
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Speaker 1: feast in the temple yelling that? Well, He had a
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Speaker 1: very good reason. Jesus was always the master of every moment.
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Speaker 1: He took every single moment and every single situation and
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Speaker 1: turned it around for His own good. That's classically God.
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Speaker 1: He does that all the time. Let's find out what
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Speaker 1: was going on. It says at the beginning of 37,
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Speaker 1: watch this, in the last day, that great day of
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Speaker 1: the feast. Now that tells us when it was. The
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Speaker 1: time was the Feast of the Tabernacles. You remember that
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Speaker 1: the Feast of Tabernacles was to commemorate the wilderness wandering
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Speaker 1: of Israel. They had wandered for 40 years in the
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Speaker 1: wilderness after they'd come out of Egypt before they entered
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Speaker 1: the Promised Land. They had lived in tents for all
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Speaker 1: those 40 years. And they always had this feast every
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Speaker 1: year to commemorate that wandering and to thank God for
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Speaker 1: preserving them, for feeding them, for providing water and all
22:04
Speaker 1: of this kind of thing. and for leading them with
22:06
Speaker 1: the cloud and the pillar. So it was a great
22:09
Speaker 1: feast of tabernacles. And it had two dominant ceremonies that
22:13
Speaker 1: kind of... just kind of overruled all the others and we'll
22:15
Speaker 1: look at both of those. The first one fits here.
22:19
Speaker 1: The worshipers, first of all, according to Leviticus 23, 40,
22:22
Speaker 1: everybody got the fruit of goodly trees or branches of
22:25
Speaker 1: palm trees or boughs of thick trees or willows of
22:28
Speaker 1: the brook and they all held them up over their
22:29
Speaker 1: heads and formed kind of a mock tent or tabernacle
22:33
Speaker 1: as a commemoration and they paraded around with all of this.
22:36
Speaker 1: And they would all march to the ceremony at the
22:38
Speaker 1: temple when the Pharisees called for it. They did this
22:41
Speaker 1: every day during the festival. They would come to the
22:44
Speaker 1: temple and they would form this kind of tent. At
22:47
Speaker 1: the same time that all of this was being done,
22:49
Speaker 1: the priest would appear with a pitcher in his hand.
22:52
Speaker 1: The pitcher would hold about two pints. According to the
22:55
Speaker 1: Jewish tradition, the priest would then take the empty pitcher,
22:58
Speaker 1: go to the pool of Siloam and scoop water till
23:00
Speaker 1: he filled the pitcher. He would then with a filled
23:02
Speaker 1: pitcher and all these people following him walk back through
23:05
Speaker 1: the water gate into Jerusalem. And as he came in,
23:09
Speaker 1: everybody would be reciting Isaiah 12, 3, which says, with
23:13
Speaker 1: joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation.
23:17
Speaker 1: The word salvation is literally the word Jesus. So they
23:21
Speaker 1: come marching in and they're saying... gloriously we're rejoicing about
23:26
Speaker 1: drawing water out of the wells of salvation. So it's
23:27
Speaker 1: a very beautiful ceremony. Here they come. They finally arrive
23:31
Speaker 1: at the temple, all these people, masses, thousands of people,
23:34
Speaker 1: and the priest comes to the altar and he pours
23:36
Speaker 1: the water. While this is being done, the Levite choir
23:41
Speaker 1: accompanied by flutes begins to sing the Hallel, which is
23:44
Speaker 1: Psalm 113 to 118, praising God. And there's a wonderful,
23:48
Speaker 1: glorious ceremony going on. And the whole ceremony was to
23:52
Speaker 1: celebrate how God provided water at Meribah in the wilderness.
23:57
Speaker 1: It was a commemoration. And on the very last day,
24:00
Speaker 1: the thing just climaxed. The mass of people had grown
24:04
Speaker 1: and now they were all there. And it was at
24:06
Speaker 1: the moment on the last day, the great day of
24:09
Speaker 1: the feast, I believe the moment that that priest walked
24:12
Speaker 1: in there and began to pour that water, that Jesus
24:14
Speaker 1: in the midst of that multitude stood up and shouted
24:16
Speaker 1: at the top of His voice these words, if any
24:19
Speaker 1: man thirsts, Let him come unto me and drink. See,
24:25
Speaker 1: he was the master of the moment. And you can
24:29
Speaker 1: imagine he let the whole nation of Israel create his
24:31
Speaker 1: sermon for him. And he just added the invitation. What
24:37
Speaker 1: child is this? The living water. It's a thirsty world
24:42
Speaker 1: we live in. You know that? Men are on the
24:45
Speaker 1: desert dying for a drink. Jesus offers life. Water once
24:53
Speaker 1: taken in, never thirst again. And so Jesus turned the
24:58
Speaker 1: dramatic moment to himself. Notice verse 37, three things. In
25:02
Speaker 1: the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus
25:04
Speaker 1: stood and cried out saying, and here's the gospel. If
25:07
Speaker 1: any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.
25:10
Speaker 1: Three words, thirst, come, and drink. That's all God asks.
25:16
Speaker 1: Number one is that you be thirsty. Do you have
25:18
Speaker 1: a need in your life? Have you recognized the empty place?
25:23
Speaker 1: Do you know there's something missing? Are you thirsty for reality?
25:28
Speaker 1: Are you scrambling around in a world that is a desert?
25:33
Speaker 1: Is your throat spiritually parched? God says, good. You're thirsty.
25:39
Speaker 1: You need forgiveness. You need hope, love, joy, salvation, heaven,
25:44
Speaker 1: freedom from guilt, clear conscience. If you're thirsty, let him what? Come.
25:52
Speaker 1: That's the second thing. Come. Approach. You see, what do
25:57
Speaker 1: you say? What does it mean to come to Christ?
25:58
Speaker 1: It means to do with your will and your heart
26:01
Speaker 1: what you do with your feet if you were on
26:02
Speaker 1: the desert and a guy was over there with a
26:04
Speaker 1: glass of water. Go to him. Third thing, drink. A
26:09
Speaker 1: lot of people will come, but they don't ever drink.
26:11
Speaker 1: It doesn't do you a bit of good to be
26:13
Speaker 1: thirsty and have it in your hand. You've got to
26:15
Speaker 1: get it inside. Drink. Drink. Appropriate. The poet said it
26:22
Speaker 1: this way. I heard the voice of Jesus say, Behold,
26:28
Speaker 1: I freely give living water, thirsty one. Stoop down and
26:33
Speaker 1: drink and live. I came to Jesus and I drank
26:37
Speaker 1: of that life-giving stream. My thirst was quenched. My soul revived.
26:44
Speaker 1: And now I live in Him. What child is this?
26:49
Speaker 1: The living water. Thirdly, the light of the world, John 8.
27:00
Speaker 1: This is a dark world we live in. We all
27:03
Speaker 1: know it, the strange miscarriage of justice, the compulsion to sin,
27:14
Speaker 1: the intangible commodity peace that everybody reaches for and never gets.
27:23
Speaker 1: The blank bitterness of staring into the face of death.
27:27
Speaker 1: The impenetrable darkness of the future. The dimness that shrouds
27:32
Speaker 1: the greatest truths. It's a dark world. Morally, it's pitch black.
27:41
Speaker 1: In the midst of this world, there's light. The sky
27:46
Speaker 1: that night was lit up with a light, but the
27:49
Speaker 1: real light was in a manger. Look at verse 20
27:54
Speaker 1: and let's see this. And just for a little note
27:56
Speaker 1: to help us to understand, verse 20 says, these words
27:59
Speaker 1: spoke Jesus in the treasury as He taught in the temple.
28:01
Speaker 1: Stop right there. That sets the scene. The temple was
28:06
Speaker 1: a very interesting place. The whole life of Israel revolved
28:09
Speaker 1: around it and there were several courtyards. The outer court
28:11
Speaker 1: was the court where Gentiles could go. One step further
28:14
Speaker 1: in was the court of the women. The court of
28:16
Speaker 1: the women was where the women could go, obviously, but
28:20
Speaker 1: also was the place where the treasury was kept. In
28:22
Speaker 1: from there, the men could go to make the sacrifices, etc.
28:25
Speaker 1: But this was the second court and it was very large.
28:28
Speaker 1: And around the walls were 13 trumpet-shaped treasury boxes. And
28:34
Speaker 1: they had an opening at the top and then a
28:36
Speaker 1: narrowing and then a large area in the bottom to
28:39
Speaker 1: contain what was put in. And each of the 13
28:42
Speaker 1: trumpets was set aside for specific allotted taxes or offerings.
28:47
Speaker 1: For example, there was the half-shekel tax that everybody had
28:50
Speaker 1: to pay that I think went into three trumpets. There
28:52
Speaker 1: was a tax that... or an offering, I should say, that
28:55
Speaker 1: women had to give after having childbirth called the offering
28:58
Speaker 1: for purification. There were other things and each of those
29:02
Speaker 1: trumpet-shaped treasury boxes or chests were to be used to
29:06
Speaker 1: drop the offerings in. So it was a busy place,
29:09
Speaker 1: paying taxes, providing offerings, all the hustle and bustle going
29:13
Speaker 1: on in this place called the Court of the Women.
29:17
Speaker 1: the temple treasury. Now it was right in that place
29:20
Speaker 1: that Jesus speaks. Now go back to verse 12 and
29:22
Speaker 1: hear what He says. Then spoke Jesus again unto them saying,
29:27
Speaker 1: I am the light of the world. Now you say,
29:31
Speaker 1: well that's interesting, but what's He saying that there for?
29:34
Speaker 1: Doesn't He like to adapt? Why doesn't He say, I
29:37
Speaker 1: am the true treasure? That would have been good. I
29:41
Speaker 1: like that. He may have said that some other time.
29:49
Speaker 1: But he didn't say it this time. He said, I
29:50
Speaker 1: am the light of the world. Why did he say that? Well,
29:55
Speaker 1: that was claimed for him before, John chapter 1. Light
29:58
Speaker 1: has come into the world, but men love darkness, Jesus said.
30:03
Speaker 1: But in John 1, it says, He's the light that
30:05
Speaker 1: lighteth every man. Jesus had claimed to be light. John
30:09
Speaker 1: had claimed it for Him. In 1 John 1, 5,
30:13
Speaker 1: the Bible says, This then is the message which we
30:15
Speaker 1: have heard of Him and declare unto you that God
30:17
Speaker 1: is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
30:20
Speaker 1: And when Jesus said, I am the light of the world,
30:21
Speaker 1: He was claiming to be God. The Old Testament psalmist said,
30:24
Speaker 1: the Lord is my light and Jesus is saying, I
30:28
Speaker 1: am the one hoped for by the Old Testament psalmist.
30:33
Speaker 1: But why this, Jesus? Why did You say that? Ah,
30:36
Speaker 1: we're back to the Feast of Tabernacles, it's just ended.
30:39
Speaker 1: Chapter 7, we saw the last day. And you know,
30:41
Speaker 1: the second dominating feature of the Feast of Tabernacles was
30:44
Speaker 1: a ceremony known as the illumination of the temple. This
30:49
Speaker 1: was an evening ritual that commemorated the light that led Israel. Remember,
30:53
Speaker 1: they had the light at night and the light in
30:55
Speaker 1: the day, the pillar and the cloud that led them
30:57
Speaker 1: and they followed the light. And they commemorated that in
31:01
Speaker 1: this fantastic ceremony. What they did was, and incidentally, the
31:07
Speaker 1: articles that were used were no question about it, still
31:09
Speaker 1: there just days after. In fact, it's possible that they
31:13
Speaker 1: could have even remained. But those great articles that were
31:17
Speaker 1: used in the elimination of the temple still standing there
31:19
Speaker 1: would suggest what Jesus said. Let me show you what
31:22
Speaker 1: I mean. In the middle of the Court of the Women,
31:25
Speaker 1: that very court where Jesus was, they put up a
31:28
Speaker 1: giant candelabra. Then every night during the Feast of the Tabernacles,
31:34
Speaker 1: they lit candles that absolutely just filled the temple with
31:39
Speaker 1: light and the top, of course, was open so the
31:41
Speaker 1: light just came out of the top of the temple.
31:43
Speaker 1: It was like some great diamond just nestled in the
31:46
Speaker 1: city of Jerusalem and light just coming out of the top.
31:50
Speaker 1: And that was lit every night and the city was
31:52
Speaker 1: full of noisy singing and dancing and celebrating as they
31:55
Speaker 1: were remembering how God had directed them by the Shekinah
31:57
Speaker 1: glory in the wilderness. And I can clearly visualize Jesus
32:03
Speaker 1: standing in the middle of that place with that candelabra
32:07
Speaker 1: now extinguished, walking over to that thing and saying, I
32:13
Speaker 1: am the light of the world. He that followeth Me
32:17
Speaker 1: shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light
32:19
Speaker 1: of life. Now when you hear Him say it, it
32:22
Speaker 1: means something, doesn't it? He says, you've been celebrating a
32:27
Speaker 1: light that led you around in the wilderness. You've been
32:31
Speaker 1: really excited about a bunch of candles lighting up the
32:33
Speaker 1: city of Jerusalem, but I am the light of the world. Now,
32:40
Speaker 1: that is the most egotistical statement imaginable. Or it is
32:45
Speaker 1: the statement of a mental patient, or it is true.
32:52
Speaker 1: And he says, he that followeth me. Did you know
32:54
Speaker 1: that Jesus isn't a light to be looked at? He's
32:56
Speaker 1: a light to be followed. A lot of people look
32:59
Speaker 1: at him. Oh, every Christmas they get their little card,
33:01
Speaker 1: and there's a little Jesus on the card. Jesus is
33:07
Speaker 1: not a light to be looked at. He is a
33:09
Speaker 1: light to be followed. The children of Israel had stared
33:13
Speaker 1: at the Shekinah glory. They never would have gotten going.
33:18
Speaker 1: He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but
33:21
Speaker 1: have the light of life. I am a spiritual light,
33:24
Speaker 1: true light. So beautifully, again, Jesus captures the crowd with
33:29
Speaker 1: a stunning dramatic use of the scene. Every man who
33:34
Speaker 1: stumbles around in the mental darkness of ignorance, who stumbles
33:39
Speaker 1: around in the moral darkness of sin, who stumbles around
33:43
Speaker 1: facing the inevitable darkness of hell, has the promise of
33:47
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ that if he just follows him, he'll have
33:49
Speaker 1: light forever. Follow him like a soldier follows his commander.
33:56
Speaker 1: Like a pupil follows his teacher. Follow him. Follow me
34:03
Speaker 1: and walk in light. You know, it's a wonderful thing
34:06
Speaker 1: to realize that we who know Jesus Christ don't live
34:09
Speaker 1: in a dark world. Paul says we're children of the day.
34:13
Speaker 1: The lights are on. I understand things. I know what
34:17
Speaker 1: this world's all about. I know why I'm here, what
34:19
Speaker 1: I'm to do, and I know where I'm going. And
34:21
Speaker 1: I understand truth because the Bible says thy word is truth.
34:27
Speaker 1: And God has placed within me the Spirit of God
34:29
Speaker 1: to teach me the Word. That's light. If you're living
34:33
Speaker 1: in darkness, what child is this? Whose star shone in
34:37
Speaker 1: the eastern sky? This is the light of the world.
34:43
Speaker 1: John 10. I am the good shepherd. Verse 11. I
34:52
Speaker 1: love this. What child is this? Listen to him. I
34:58
Speaker 1: am the good shepherd. Don't you like that? That's so good.
35:06
Speaker 1: You know, the idea of bread and the idea of
35:08
Speaker 1: water and the idea of light kind of are the
35:10
Speaker 1: ideas of coming to Christ, just salvation, believing and coming
35:14
Speaker 1: to Christ. But here's the idea of His care for us.
35:19
Speaker 1: You know something? I'm excited that my faith in Christ
35:22
Speaker 1: is personal. I'm glad that God isn't up there saying, well,
35:26
Speaker 1: let's see, now we've got a religion and we need
35:28
Speaker 1: to work this religion out. Let's see, seven million of
35:30
Speaker 1: you go over there and let's see, you four billion
35:33
Speaker 1: go over here and we'll organize. Here's the religion. God
35:36
Speaker 1: is not manipulating numbers. God is involved with individuals. And
35:43
Speaker 1: I'm glad that Jesus is seen as a good shepherd,
35:46
Speaker 1: that it doesn't say, I am the great administrator. No,
35:53
Speaker 1: I am the good shepherd. I like that a lot better,
35:54
Speaker 1: don't you? I don't want a great administrator. I want
36:00
Speaker 1: a good shepherd. And this is talking about His care.
36:03
Speaker 1: You know, the life of a... we glamorize a shepherd, you know,
36:05
Speaker 1: lovely little fields and nice little white clothes and happy
36:10
Speaker 1: little lambs and all this kind of thing and little cards,
36:13
Speaker 1: you know. And we really overdo it. And I think
36:19
Speaker 1: the whole Christmas scene is a little bit misunderstood like
36:21
Speaker 1: the kid, you know, Painted the picture with the big
36:23
Speaker 1: round blob in the corner and somebody said, what's that?
36:25
Speaker 1: And he said, it's round John Virgin. But anyway, I
36:28
Speaker 1: think we kind of fouled up the whole scene. But anyway,
36:32
Speaker 1: you might not understand that. I'm not sure I do.
36:35
Speaker 1: But anyway, I don't think we always understand. The life
36:40
Speaker 1: of a Palestinian shepherd wasn't easy. It was very hard.
36:43
Speaker 1: It was extremely difficult. There was sparse grazing area. There
36:48
Speaker 1: was very precipitous harvest. Terrain, sheep were easily lost, fall
36:53
Speaker 1: over the edge of the plateau that runs in Israel.
36:58
Speaker 1: Shepherd had a lot of work to do. There were
36:59
Speaker 1: wild animals, thieves, robbers. It was not easy. It was
37:03
Speaker 1: not glamorous. But there are several things that we learn
37:06
Speaker 1: about a shepherd that the Scripture emphasizes that I think
37:10
Speaker 1: help us to see how Jesus is the good shepherd.
37:12
Speaker 1: Number one, the shepherd cared for his sheep. He had
37:16
Speaker 1: to be very personally involved to be a good shepherd.
37:18
Speaker 1: And you know, every night when the sheep would come
37:20
Speaker 1: back into the fold, the shepherd would stand at the door,
37:22
Speaker 1: and the Old Testament talks about passing under the rod.
37:24
Speaker 1: It talks about thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
37:28
Speaker 1: And what that means in Psalm 23 when it talks
37:30
Speaker 1: about it is that when the sheep would come into
37:32
Speaker 1: the fold, the shepherd would drop his rod over the entrance.
37:35
Speaker 1: And he would stop the sheep there and he would
37:37
Speaker 1: only let one pass at a time. And as the
37:39
Speaker 1: shepherd would hold his rod, the sheep would come to
37:41
Speaker 1: the rod and he would check every sheep for any injuries,
37:44
Speaker 1: any hurts, any cuts that he might want to bandage
37:46
Speaker 1: or soothe with oil. And then he would lift the
37:48
Speaker 1: rod and let one throw at a time and stop
37:49
Speaker 1: the next one. So that he became personally involved in
37:52
Speaker 1: caring for everyone. That's what the psalmist meant when he said,
37:54
Speaker 1: thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. And so
37:58
Speaker 1: the sheep came through one by one and he grew
38:00
Speaker 1: to love each one and care for each one and
38:02
Speaker 1: take care of its hurts and its injuries. So the
38:07
Speaker 1: shepherd cared for his sheep. Look at verse 7 of
38:11
Speaker 1: chapter 10. It's so beautiful. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily,
38:15
Speaker 1: I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
38:18
Speaker 1: You say, well, how can you be the shepherd and
38:19
Speaker 1: the door? Well, the shepherd was the door. You see,
38:22
Speaker 1: in every sheepfold there wasn't a door. When the sheep
38:24
Speaker 1: were out on the hillside in the warm season, they
38:26
Speaker 1: didn't return clear to the village at night to go
38:28
Speaker 1: into the large fold there that was kept by the porter.
38:30
Speaker 1: They would go into a little fold that had been
38:32
Speaker 1: put up on the hillside. It was just a little
38:34
Speaker 1: ring and it was just an opening for a door.
38:38
Speaker 1: And all the sheep would go in and then the
38:39
Speaker 1: shepherd himself would lie down across the opening and go
38:43
Speaker 1: to sleep. He was the door. You know what that is, beloved?
38:49
Speaker 1: That's security. Once you're in God's fold, Jesus Christ is
38:53
Speaker 1: the door that keeps you there. He became the very door.
38:58
Speaker 1: He never entrusted the security of the sheep to anybody
39:01
Speaker 1: but himself. And every believer is secure... on the basis
39:07
Speaker 1: of the care of Jesus Christ Himself. And over in
39:12
Speaker 1: chapter 10, verse 27, my sheep hear my voice, I
39:15
Speaker 1: know them, they follow me, I give them eternal life,
39:17
Speaker 1: they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out
39:21
Speaker 1: of my hand. We're secure in Him. He cares for us.
39:28
Speaker 1: Not only does He care for the sheep, but the
39:30
Speaker 1: good shepherd leads the sheep. I had one occasion when
39:37
Speaker 1: my uncle took me out to the desert one time
39:38
Speaker 1: to run around with some sheep in the desert. And
39:42
Speaker 1: I learned a little bit about it, that you don't
39:45
Speaker 1: herd them around, you lead them. And then I used
39:48
Speaker 1: to work in high school on a pig ranch in
39:49
Speaker 1: El Monte and we had thousands... what a way to work
39:52
Speaker 1: your way through high school, right? But I did. And
39:56
Speaker 1: it's different with hogs than it is with sheep for
39:59
Speaker 1: a lot of reasons. One of them... I' m not going to
40:01
Speaker 1: go into all of them... but one of them is that
40:03
Speaker 1: you don't lead pigs. You get this long rod that's
40:09
Speaker 1: got electric potency and you come behind them. At about
40:16
Speaker 1: five miles an hour, see, and you just start, you know,
40:21
Speaker 1: really giving them a shot. And then they, whoo, and
40:24
Speaker 1: they go. You have to drive them from the back,
40:27
Speaker 1: you see. Same thing with cattle. Sheep, if you're the shepherd,
40:30
Speaker 1: you just get out in front, they follow. They follow you.
40:36
Speaker 1: Isn't it a wonderful thing to realize that Jesus isn't
40:38
Speaker 1: hurting us all over the place, but that everywhere we
40:42
Speaker 1: ever go, He's been there? Everything we ever go through,
40:45
Speaker 1: He's already been there because we're following Him. It's fabulous.
40:50
Speaker 1: He's not shoving us into things and giving orders from
40:53
Speaker 1: the rear. He's in front. He's already made the way,
40:59
Speaker 1: cleared the path, says follow. The only time you ever
41:02
Speaker 1: get messed up is when you step off the path
41:04
Speaker 1: that He cleared. Then you are in trouble. That's when
41:10
Speaker 1: you get into the thorns and the thistles and it hurts.
41:14
Speaker 1: And so the good shepherd leads his sheep. Every step
41:18
Speaker 1: you'll ever take in your life, Christian, Jesus has already
41:20
Speaker 1: been there if you're following him. And the sheep don't
41:26
Speaker 1: follow a stranger. They follow him. The third thing that
41:31
Speaker 1: I see in this is the shepherd loves his sheep.
41:34
Speaker 1: Look at verse 14. I'm the good shepherd and know
41:38
Speaker 1: my sheep. You can substitute the word love for know.
41:41
Speaker 1: I've told you many times the word love is used interchangeably.
41:45
Speaker 1: The word know, I should say, is used interchangeably with
41:47
Speaker 1: a deep love. We've seen it in the Old Testament.
41:51
Speaker 1: God says, I know Israel, which means I love them.
41:55
Speaker 1: Cain knew his wife and she bore a child, which
41:57
Speaker 1: means the intimacy of love. Know and love are the
42:01
Speaker 1: same so many times in Scripture. And here, let's just
42:04
Speaker 1: substitute the word love. I am the good shepherd and
42:06
Speaker 1: love my sheep and am loved of mine as the
42:09
Speaker 1: Father loves me, even so love I the Father. Isn't
42:12
Speaker 1: that exciting that we're all tangled up in a love
42:15
Speaker 1: relationship with the Trinity? The shepherd loves, I'm so glad
42:18
Speaker 1: he loves me personally. I don't understand it, but he does.
42:22
Speaker 1: The good shepherd cares for his sheep, leads his sheep,
42:25
Speaker 1: and loves his sheep. And the shepherd in Palestine was
42:29
Speaker 1: the same way. He became attached to those sheep so
42:31
Speaker 1: that if one was lost, he'd spend a night trying
42:33
Speaker 1: to find that one sheep. And you know, when you
42:36
Speaker 1: live your life alone out there as a shepherd and
42:38
Speaker 1: the only friends you have are sheep, they become meaningful
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Speaker 1: to you. The last thing about the good shepherd is
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Speaker 1: he dies for the sheep. Verse 11, I am the
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Speaker 1: good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
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Speaker 1: You say, boy, a guy do that's nuts. A guy
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Speaker 1: die for a bunch of sheep? They did. In Palestine,
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Speaker 1: you see, the shepherd was absolutely responsible for the sheep.
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Speaker 1: He herded and cared for the sheep that were really
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Speaker 1: owned by another man in most cases. In Amos 3,
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Speaker 1: verse 12, I found an interesting verse that speaks about
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Speaker 1: a shepherd who tried to get a hold of some
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Speaker 1: legs and a piece of an ear out of a
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Speaker 1: lion's mouth to prove that the sheep had really been
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Speaker 1: eaten by a lion, that he hadn't himself killed the
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Speaker 1: sheep or he hadn't been negligent. In fact, the law
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Speaker 1: says in Exodus 22, 13, if he be torn to pieces,
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Speaker 1: then let him bring it for a witness. If something
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Speaker 1: happened to the sheep, you have to bring in the
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Speaker 1: remains to prove that it was not your own fault.
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Speaker 1: That was to prevent any would-be shepherd from taking over
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Speaker 1: a flock and running away or killing them. Dr. W.M.
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Speaker 1: Thomason in the book, The Land of the Book says,
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Speaker 1: and I quote,' I have listened with intense interest to
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Speaker 1: their graphic descriptions of downright and desperate fights with savage beasts.
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Speaker 1: And when the thief and the robber came, the faithful
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Speaker 1: shepherd has often to put his life in his hand
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Speaker 1: to defend the flock. I have known more than one
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Speaker 1: case where he literally had to lay it down in
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Speaker 1: the contest.' Here's an illustration. A poor faithful fellow last
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Speaker 1: spring between Tiberius and Tabor, instead of fleeing, actually fought
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Speaker 1: three Bedouin robbers until he was hacked to pieces with
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Speaker 1: their con jars and died among the sheep he was defending.
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Speaker 1: End quote. There's something significant about somebody who would do that.
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Speaker 1: And Jesus was the good shepherd, and you know He
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Speaker 1: gave His life for His sheep. He was born to die.
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Speaker 1: Practically speaking, on a human basis, when the shepherd dies,
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Speaker 1: the sheep are finished. They're defenseless. That's not true with
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ because He was not only the good shepherd,
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Speaker 1: He was, and next, the resurrection and the life. Sure,
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Speaker 1: He died, and for three days the sheep were scattered.
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Speaker 1: Zechariah said, smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered,
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Speaker 1: and they were, but only three days. Three days later,
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Speaker 1: He came out of the grave and gathered His flock.
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Speaker 1: He is the resurrection and the life, chapter 11, verse 25.
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Speaker 1: Jesus arrived at the home of Mary and Martha where
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Speaker 1: Lazarus had died. Jesus says in verse 25, I am
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Speaker 1: the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me,
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Speaker 1: though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever
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Speaker 1: liveth and believeth in me shall never die. He says,
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Speaker 1: I am the resurrection and the life. And death couldn't
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Speaker 1: hold him. G.B. Hardy says in his little book, Countdown,
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Speaker 1: that men only really need to answer two questions. Number one,
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Speaker 1: has anybody ever cheated debt? And Hardy says, I looked
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Speaker 1: around the world and I checked out the graves of
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Speaker 1: Muhammad and Buya and they're still occupied. And then I
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Speaker 1: checked Jesus and it's empty. And then I studied the
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Speaker 1: evidence and I found that he did rise from the dead.
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Speaker 1: And I said, good, that's question number one. Question number
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Speaker 1: two is, did he make a way for me to
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Speaker 1: cheat death? And then I read his words and this
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Speaker 1: is what he said, because I live, what? ye shall
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Speaker 1: live also. And I said, that's the one I put
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Speaker 1: my faith in. What child is this? What child is
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Speaker 1: this who stood by Lazarus four days dead and said, Lazarus,
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Speaker 1: come out? And Lazarus did? What child is this who
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Speaker 1: went into the grave and three days later burst out himself?
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Speaker 1: This is the resurrection and the life. You say, how
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Speaker 1: can I have that life that He provides? Simply, verse
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Speaker 1: 26 at the end says this, Believest thou this? Works? No. Faith.
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Speaker 1: And I love this. She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord,
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Speaker 1: I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God,
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Speaker 1: who should come into the world. That's all it took.
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Speaker 1: That's all He asks. What child is this? The resurrection
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Speaker 1: and the life. John 14, 6, I just allude to it. Listen.
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Speaker 1: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth,
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Speaker 1: and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, what?
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Speaker 1: But by me. What child is this? The way, the truth,
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Speaker 1: the life. Before man fell in the garden, he had
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Speaker 1: three things. Communion with God. He walked and talked with God.
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Speaker 1: The knowledge of God. He knew God and God alone.
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Speaker 1: The life of God. He had life. Then he fell.
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Speaker 1: Three things happened. Bang! He lost communion with God. What's
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Speaker 1: the first thing he did? He hid. Communion was over.
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Speaker 1: Fellowship was finished. The second thing he lost was the
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Speaker 1: pure knowledge of God. Now he knew good and evil.
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Speaker 1: And his mind was messed up. He got what Paul
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Speaker 1: calls a reprobate mind. Third thing he lost was life.
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Speaker 1: In the day that you eat, you shall surely die.
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Speaker 1: Every man born into the world since then has been
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Speaker 1: born without fellowship with God, without the pure knowledge of God,
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Speaker 1: and without life. And Jesus entered into the world and
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Speaker 1: said this, I am the way back to fellowship with God.
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Speaker 1: I am the knowledge about God, the truth. I am
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Speaker 1: the life of God restored to man. He is everything
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Speaker 1: that man lost in the fall. What child is this?
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Speaker 1: Let's pray. We think of the words, Father, of Simeon. who,
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Speaker 1: picking up the baby Jesus in the temple and cradling
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Speaker 1: him in his arms and looking into the little face
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Speaker 1: and knowing it was Messiah, said to Mary these words,
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Speaker 1: This child is set for the rising and the falling
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Speaker 1: of many. And Simeon had it right, God. He knew
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Speaker 1: that Jesus was the crux of human history, that men
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Speaker 1: either rise or fall according to what they do with
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. We think of Pilate. When he was approached
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Speaker 1: by the leaders, they said, don't put, I am the
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Speaker 1: King of the Jews Put, he said, I am king
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Speaker 1: of the Jews. And Pilate said, what I have written,
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Speaker 1: I have written. Father, this child is the king and
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Speaker 1: we know it. And we think of the writer of
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Speaker 1: the song, what child is this who laid to rest
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Speaker 1: on Mary's lap is sleeping? whom angels guard with anthems
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Speaker 1: sweet while shepherds watch or keeping. This, this is Christ
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Speaker 1: the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing. Haste, haste
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Speaker 1: to bring him praise, the babe, the son of Mary. Oh, Father,
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Speaker 1: we know who he is. Bread for the hungry, water
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Speaker 1: for the thirsty, light for the darkened, good shepherd for
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Speaker 1: the lost sheep. Resurrection and life for the dead. The way,
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Speaker 1: the truth, and the life for those separated from thee. God,
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Speaker 1: we would ask that no one would leave this place
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Speaker 1: this morning not knowing Christ. For Christmas is a mockery.
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Speaker 1: Christmas is nothing. Jesus' life is wasted unless he is
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Speaker 1: born in them. God, move upon the hearts of those
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Speaker 1: who have never received Christ by faith. Speak to those
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Speaker 1: who are trying to earn salvation by works. Show them
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Speaker 1: there's only a matter of coming and believing. This we
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Speaker 1: pray in the name of Christ. Amen. You've been listening
51:05
Speaker 1: to John MacArthur, Bible teacher with Grace to You. For
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Speaker 1: free access to all of John's lessons and a listing
51:11
Speaker 1: of study Bibles and books available for sale, visit Grace
51:15
Speaker 1: to You's website at gty.org. John MacArthur and Grace to
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51:25
Speaker 1: policy is available at gty.org, and it includes instructions for
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Speaker 1: and limitations on duplicating this digital file.