Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Many Other Signs . . . Many Other Things │ Msg 1616

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Many Other Signs . . . Many Other Things │ Msg 1616 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Few experiences in life give more satisfaction than finishing a
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Speaker 1: great biography. I've said for years that we all ought
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Speaker 1: to be students of great people. By reading the life
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Speaker 1: stories of remarkable individuals who have changed history with their character,
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Speaker 1: their courage, intellect, and giftedness, we are changed. If you,
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Speaker 1: like I, have been moved by this fresh consideration of
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Speaker 1: John's gospel, which is a biography of Christ, the exalted
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Speaker 1: Lamb of God, then you have mixed feelings about its
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Speaker 1: coming to an end. We feel a profound sense of
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Speaker 1: satisfaction having concluded this great study. Yet, in all honesty,
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Speaker 1: we want the story to go on. The good news
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Speaker 1: is that the story doesn't end. The life of Christ
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Speaker 1: continues right on through us as we live in the
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Speaker 1: power of his spirit and reflect his glory to our
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Speaker 1: needy world today. And so today I want us to
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Speaker 1: consider two brief closing sections of John's gospel. First, John
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Speaker 1: chapter 20, verses 30 and 31, and finally, John 21,
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Speaker 1: verses 24 and 25.
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Speaker 2: I want to read.
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Speaker 1: Both passages for you as a foundation for this final
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Speaker 1: message in our series from John's magnificent gospel. Join me
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Speaker 1: as I read first John 20, 30 and 31. The
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Speaker 1: disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition
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Speaker 1: to the ones recorded in this book. But these are
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Speaker 1: written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus
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Speaker 1: is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by
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Speaker 1: believing in him, you will have life by the power
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Speaker 1: of his name. And now, secondly, let's look at John 21,
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Speaker 1: verses 24 and 25. This disciple is the one who
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Speaker 1: testifies to these events and has recorded them here. And
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Speaker 1: we know that his account of these things is accurate.
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Speaker 1: Jesus also did many other things. If they were all
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Speaker 1: written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain
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Speaker 1: the books that would be written.
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Speaker 3: Sir Winston Churchill lived under the pressure and demands of
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Speaker 3: an awesome responsibility. He was, as you know, the Prime
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Speaker 3: Minister of Great Britain for a large period of time,
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Speaker 3: during which time were the darkest days of England's history.
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Speaker 2: He found two.
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Speaker 3: Avenues of escape, which he often employed. Finally, he landed
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Speaker 3: on just one, which satisfied his needs. The two were
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Speaker 3: writing and painting. He ultimately wound up with the decision
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Speaker 3: that painting was really the only satisfactory escape for his life.
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Speaker 3: And someone who was an avid reader of Churchill asked
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Speaker 3: him on one occasion what it was that caused him
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Speaker 3: to turn from writing and prefer painting. His answer was
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Speaker 3: an inimitable answer as his own character. He said something
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Speaker 3: like this. The writing of a book is an adventure.
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Speaker 3: To begin with, it is a toy, almost an amusement.
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Speaker 3: And then it becomes a mistress. And then it becomes
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Speaker 3: a master. And then it becomes a tyrant. And just
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Speaker 3: about the time you're to be reconciled to your slavery,
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Speaker 3: You kill the monster, then.
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Speaker 2: Fling it out to the public. I have thought about that.
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Speaker 3: On a number of occasions as it relates to preaching
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Speaker 3: through a book of the Bible. It is an adventure
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Speaker 3: to go through a book of Scripture like the Gospel
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Speaker 3: of John. To begin with, some of you perhaps faced
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Speaker 3: it as something of a toy, an amusement. You looked
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Speaker 3: upon it as a the experience of new discovery, new hope.
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Speaker 3: There's nothing wrong with that. The intriguing attraction of something
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Speaker 3: new is part of the motivation for getting into it.
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Speaker 2: But if you have stayed with us from the time.
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Speaker 3: We began, you have begun to realize that by and
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Speaker 3: by it became a master. And had you been behind
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Speaker 3: the scenes in the study, you would have discovered that
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Speaker 3: it became a tyrant that required long hours of searching
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Speaker 3: and probing and research. And I feel that just about
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Speaker 3: the time I'm to get a grasp of it, it's
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Speaker 3: all over.
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Speaker 2: And I fling it out to.
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Speaker 3: The public in 42 tapes, half of which I wish
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Speaker 3: I could call back and sort of redo in some way.
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Speaker 2: Because at the end of.
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Speaker 3: The book, by the time we have completed the study,
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Speaker 3: as many of you who teach the word know, I've
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Speaker 3: just about come to the realization that I know where
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Speaker 3: he's going. And at the earlier study, there were some
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Speaker 3: doubts and questions. But we've come to the conclusion. The
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Speaker 3: 42nd and final message in John. Two things are true now. First,
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Speaker 3: my Bible automatically opens to John every time I turn
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Speaker 3: to it. And secondly, I have discovered that I am
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Speaker 3: beginning to think like John.
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Speaker 2: And that's not bad. I really am.
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Speaker 3: I am beginning to discover that the way he viewed
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Speaker 3: Jesus more than not is the way I'm now viewing him.
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Speaker 3: And the way that he coped with things in life,
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Speaker 3: I am discovering is the way to cope with things
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Speaker 3: in life. And I'm grateful for that. Many, many more
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Speaker 3: lessons yet to be learned, but these I am now
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Speaker 3: in the process of learning. There's always a sense of nostalgia,
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Speaker 3: isn't there, when you come to the end of a journey,
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Speaker 3: especially a journey about the most remarkable life whose shadows
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Speaker 3: ever crossed history, the God-man. Jesus Christ. There are always
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Speaker 3: new discoveries, frankly, and in fact, this final examination we're
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Speaker 3: going to make of these four verses will reveal an
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Speaker 3: observation I have never seen before, though this is my
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Speaker 3: fifth time through the Gospel of John. I've never seen
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Speaker 3: what I'm going to be sharing with you from this
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Speaker 3: perspective this morning until this past week. And so I'm
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Speaker 3: excited and I'm delighted to think that we can show
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Speaker 3: some slides of our trip as we have gone through
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Speaker 3: the book and go back and do some review from
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Speaker 3: a perspective that God has just recently and in a
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Speaker 3: refreshing way revealed. So turn to these verses, will you,
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Speaker 3: with me? Turn first to John 20 and find the
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Speaker 3: last two verses and then turn to John 21 and
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Speaker 3: find the last two verses there. Four verses in two
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Speaker 3: separate chapters, but they just tie together beautifully. I have
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Speaker 3: reference to two phrases that before this week I never linked.
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Speaker 3: The phrase in verse 30 of chapter 20, many other signs.
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Speaker 2: Jesus also performed.
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Speaker 3: And the phrase in verse 25 of chapter 21, Many
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Speaker 3: other things Jesus did. Note those two. Many other signs
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Speaker 3: Jesus performed. Many other things Jesus did. Let me tell
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Speaker 3: you what I've seen in this. And I believe God
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Speaker 3: has revealed this, has shown it in his word to me.
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Speaker 3: We know that Jesus Christ was the most unique person
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Speaker 3: who ever lived on earth because of this. In him
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Speaker 3: and in him alone dwelt two natures, side by side,
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Speaker 3: that were never mixed and intermingled, yet never absent from
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Speaker 3: one another. The first nature was the nature of undiminished deity,
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Speaker 3: The other nature was true humanity. No other person who
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Speaker 3: ever has or ever will live on this earth will
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Speaker 3: have in himself or herself undiminished deity and true humanity.
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Speaker 3: They are perfectly joined together in Jesus Christ and in
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Speaker 3: him alone. only, which means he is unique. Now, in
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Speaker 3: John 20, the writer has reference to that part of
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Speaker 3: Jesus Christ which we have referred to as undiminished deity.
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Speaker 3: The signs, another word for miracles, the miracles which Jesus
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Speaker 3: performed proved.
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Speaker 2: That he was the Son of God.
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Speaker 3: And we'll have them pass in review this morning to
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Speaker 3: remind you of those areas with which we could not
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Speaker 3: cope as man, but with which he coped perfectly, showing
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Speaker 3: that he was the Son of God. However, in chapter 21,
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Speaker 3: verse 25, John is emphasizing the humanity.
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Speaker 2: There were many other things that he did.
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Speaker 3: Human things, horizontal things, tangible things, friend with friend among
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Speaker 3: the disciples, and in any of those things, and all
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Speaker 3: of those things, he showed himself to be very manly.
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Speaker 3: Perfect humanity without sin.
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Speaker 2: Now, isn't it beautiful how they tie together?
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Speaker 3: In the first part of this study, we're going to
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Speaker 3: be reviewing chapters 1 to 12 and showing you seven
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Speaker 3: slides along the journey that we have taken of the
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Speaker 3: things that Jesus performed by way of miracle. And in
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Speaker 3: the last part of the study, we're going to be
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Speaker 3: reviewing the last nine chapters 13 through 21, where Jesus
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Speaker 3: is shown to be man, finally submitting to the cross
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Speaker 3: and then leaving this earth to be with his father.
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Speaker 3: So we have our work cut out for us. Let's
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Speaker 3: go back to John 20 now for a moment. And
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Speaker 3: let me show you three facts that are stated for
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Speaker 3: us in these two verses of chapter 20. The first
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Speaker 3: is this, and I get this from the words, many
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Speaker 3: other signs Jesus also performed, which are not written in
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Speaker 3: this book. All right, here is the stated fact. Number one,
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Speaker 3: the account is selective, not exhaustive. By account, I mean
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Speaker 3: the gospel of John, the story he puts together.
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Speaker 2: Under the Spirit's inspiration.
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Speaker 3: The account that John drew up in the form of
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Speaker 3: the Gospel of John is selective, not exhaustive. There were
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Speaker 3: many other signs that he did from which he did
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Speaker 3: not choose. But these seven he chose for a specific
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Speaker 3: purpose we'll consider in just a minute. You see, John
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Speaker 3: used some that Matthew, Mark, and Luke had used, and
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Speaker 3: he used some that no one else had used, and
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Speaker 3: he also chose not to use others that he knew of.
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Speaker 3: But he selected seven specific signs to develop his case
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Speaker 3: that Jesus is the Son of God. So it's selective
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Speaker 3: and not exhaustive. Second thing I notice, and I draw
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Speaker 3: it from the phrase, in the presence of the disciples,
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Speaker 3: many other signs he performed in the presence of the disciples.
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Speaker 3: So secondly, the events were actual, not theoretical. We do
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Speaker 3: not have a book of fables, a series of imaginations
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Speaker 3: dreamed up in the pious imaginations of a devout Jew
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Speaker 3: We have credible, attested miracles seen by men of history
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Speaker 3: who watch them happen.
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Speaker 2: We do not have theoretical meanderings.
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Speaker 3: We have actual events called signs by the writer. And
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Speaker 3: that's a refreshing thing in our day and age. You
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Speaker 3: cannot tell what is myth from what is miracle, what
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Speaker 3: is truth from what is error. John says, These men
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Speaker 3: saw it. They could testify on the stand if required.
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Speaker 3: All right, now third, and I think this is perhaps
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Speaker 3: the most significant of the three.
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Speaker 2: The purpose is clear, not vague. John tells us the
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Speaker 2: purpose he wrote his.
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Speaker 3: Book is in verse 31. Look at it, will you?
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Speaker 4: 20, 31.
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Speaker 3: These have been written... That, that's the introduction of a
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Speaker 3: purpose clause. These things have been written in order that
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Speaker 3: you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
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Speaker 3: of God, and that believing you may have life in
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Speaker 3: his name. That's clear. Don't you like it when an
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Speaker 3: author comes out and says, here.
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Speaker 2: Is why I am writing this book.
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Speaker 3: You long to have authors do that, if you're like me.
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Speaker 3: I don't like to dream and dream and dream and
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Speaker 3: wonder at the flip of a coin, what is he
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Speaker 3: going to say or why is he saying it? I
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Speaker 3: like it to be black.
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Speaker 2: And white, clear, explicit, not vague.
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Speaker 3: It is one of the greatest problems in the pulpits
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Speaker 3: of America today. The chaos of American theology can be
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Speaker 3: traced back to its roots in the rejection.
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Speaker 2: Of biblical infallibility.
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Speaker 3: Preaching is not the act of unfolding our personal convictions.
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Speaker 3: It is the duty of informing men of all that
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Speaker 3: God has spoken. To move off the pages of scripture
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Speaker 3: is to enter the wastelands of our own subjectivity. It
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Speaker 3: is scripture that plays an important role in the salvation
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Speaker 3: of men.
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Speaker 2: Not opinion.
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Speaker 3: The Bible is the divinely provided map of the spiritual order.
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Speaker 2: It contains the directions.
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Speaker 3: The markings to guide a person into reconciliation with God.
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Speaker 3: All across America today, people are exposed to the opening
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Speaker 3: of a Bible, the reading of a passage, the closing
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Speaker 3: of that Bible, and then a series of opinions that
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Speaker 3: may or may not relate to God's great truth.
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Speaker 2: And that is our problem.
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Speaker 3: John says in his book, make no mistake about it,
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Speaker 3: when you read what I'm writing, and you.
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Speaker 2: Wrestle sufficiently with the issues.
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Speaker 3: As I present them, you will come away knowing that
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Speaker 3: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
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Speaker 2: That's why I'm writing the book.
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Speaker 3: Period. It's clear, not vague. Now, I think we've made
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Speaker 3: the point clear enough. Let's go back to chapter 2
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Speaker 3: and look at a slide. I'm going to show you
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Speaker 3: to begin with that Jesus proved himself master of quality
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Speaker 3: when he changed the water into wine. It's the first
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Speaker 3: miracle that John chose to include, and he could have
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Speaker 3: chosen dozens to begin with, but he chose this one.
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Speaker 5: Why?
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Speaker 2: We are never told. Simply the Holy Spirit led him.
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Speaker 3: To record this miracle first. On the third day, there
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Speaker 3: was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother
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Speaker 3: of Jesus was there. And Jesus was invited and his
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Speaker 3: disciples to the wedding. And when the wine gave out,
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Speaker 3: the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine.
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Speaker 3: Verse 7. Jesus said to them, Fill the water pots
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Speaker 3: with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
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Speaker 3: And he said to them, Draw some out now. and
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Speaker 3: take it to the head waiter, and they took it
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Speaker 3: to him. And when the head waiter tasted the water,
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Speaker 3: which had become wine, very important four words that reveal
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Speaker 3: a miracle, he did not know where it came from.
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Speaker 3: The head waiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
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Speaker 3: Every man serves the good wine first, and when men
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Speaker 3: have drunk freely, then that which is poor. You have
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Speaker 3: kept the good wine until now.
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Speaker 2: What happened? Well, it's a miracle, so nobody.
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Speaker 3: Can explain what happened or how it happened. All we
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Speaker 3: know is that there were several large crocks or jugs
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Speaker 3: of water that were filled to the brim, and sometime
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Speaker 3: between the filling and the tasting, that water became vintage wine.
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Speaker 3: He didn't provide a cheap wine. He provided the finest
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Speaker 3: of wine. which this head waiter remarked was amazing. He
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Speaker 3: dealt with a quality need. And what happened? Verse 11,
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Speaker 3: this the beginning of his signs did Jesus in Cana
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Speaker 3: of Galilee manifested his glory, now mark this, and his
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Speaker 3: disciples believed in him. If you had been there, you
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Speaker 3: would have been facing a decision. That just happened.
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Speaker 1: Or a.
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Speaker 2: Miracle happened. And if you accept the miracle.
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Speaker 3: Happened, you will have to say God did it.
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Speaker 2: Now, if Jesus.
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Speaker 3: Is simply a man, how could he have turned water
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Speaker 3: into wine? He's not simply a man.
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Speaker 2: He is God. And this is the first miracle John
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Speaker 2: chose to prove it.
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Speaker 3: Let's go to the second one. Turn to chapter 4,
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Speaker 3: verse 46. Let's show the second slide of our journey.
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Speaker 3: Some of you will remember when we were here, we
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Speaker 3: studied John 4, 46 to 54. And as I recall,
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Speaker 3: we named the sermon, A Miracle at a Distance. because
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Speaker 3: Jesus proved himself the master of distance.
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Speaker 2: Let me give you the setting.
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Speaker 3: In the seacoast village of Capernaum, there lived an official
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Speaker 3: of the Roman government.
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Speaker 2: And as a man and as a.
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Speaker 3: Father, he had a little boy who was sick. This father,
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Speaker 3: the official, heard that Jesus was near.
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Speaker 2: In Cana of Galilee.
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Speaker 3: The very place where we were in chapter 2, 20
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Speaker 3: miles away. So the father left his sick son, went
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Speaker 3: to Jesus' side, and made a request. Chapter 4, verse 47.
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Speaker 3: When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea
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Speaker 3: to Galilee, he went to him and was requesting him
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Speaker 3: to come down and heal his son.
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Speaker 2: Mark the words, come down.
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Speaker 3: Just like we are, this father felt that Jesus had
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Speaker 3: to be present to do a miracle.
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Speaker 2: How many people feel that?
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Speaker 3: Oh, if Jesus could simply come on the campus, there
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Speaker 3: could be a revival.
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Speaker 2: If Jesus could simply visit our home, there could be
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Speaker 2: a change.
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Speaker 3: If Jesus could simply take over the books of my
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Speaker 3: business or the sales, then my business would be turned around. Listen,
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Speaker 3: he doesn't need to be here to do it. That
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Speaker 3: miracle proves it. Jesus simply said to him, verse 50,
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Speaker 3: go your way.
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Speaker 2: Your son lives.
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Speaker 3: And he said that 20 miles away from where the
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Speaker 3: son was sick. And the man rested there overnight and
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Speaker 3: he got up the next morning. and was on his
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Speaker 3: way to his son, and he was met by his servants.
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Speaker 3: Look at this, 52. He inquired of them the hour
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Speaker 3: when he began to get better, and they said to him, Yesterday, at.
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Speaker 2: The seventh hour, the fever left him.
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Speaker 3: So the father knew it was at that hour in
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Speaker 3: which Jesus had said to him, Your son lives. And
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Speaker 3: he himself believed in his whole household.
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Speaker 6: Look at that.
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Speaker 2: Another miracle.
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Speaker 3: John says this is the second sign that Jesus performed.
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Speaker 2: A miracle of what? Of distance.
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Speaker 3: Listen, you don't have to be in a certain place
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Speaker 3: for God to step in and take over.
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Speaker 2: You don't even have to be in a church for
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Speaker 2: you to express to.
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Speaker 3: Him a need and expect him to meet it. Or
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Speaker 3: express worship. You don't have to have the.
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Speaker 2: Surroundings He ministers at a distance.
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Speaker 3: He can span the light years of space and be
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Speaker 3: there just that fast. In fact, he dwells within you.
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Speaker 3: Isn't that great as a child of God? As Augustine says,
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Speaker 3: you carry God around with you. He's here. He handles
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Speaker 3: those things regardless of the distance. Look at chapter 5
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Speaker 3: and verse 1 through 9. Jesus has proved himself master
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Speaker 3: of quality, master of distance or space. Here he proves
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Speaker 3: himself master of time.
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Speaker 2: This is the third slide. Here's a man who has
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Speaker 2: been sick by.
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Speaker 3: A pool named Bethesda for 38 years, verse 5 tells us.
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Speaker 3: 38 years he had been in his sickness. Stop and
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Speaker 3: think about that. Some of you aren't even 38 years old.
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Speaker 3: Longer than some of you have lived, that man was sick.
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Speaker 3: Think of the time, the.
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Speaker 2: Sands of time.
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Speaker 3: That had poured through his life with this illness, unable
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Speaker 3: to move, paralyzed, unable to scoot up to this pool
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Speaker 3: and slide into it, thinking that the angel had visited
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Speaker 3: the waters. Totally helpless situation. And Jesus said to him,
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Speaker 3: do you wish to get well? Verse 6. The man
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Speaker 3: said to him, verse 7, I have no man to
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Speaker 3: put me into the pool. And Jesus said to him
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Speaker 3: in verse 8, take up your pallet and walk. And
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Speaker 3: it says immediately he became well and took up his pallet.
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Speaker 3: Jesus proved that there was no problem that had lasted
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Speaker 3: too long for him to handle. Are you about to
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Speaker 3: learn that in the Gospel of John? You were reminded
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Speaker 3: of that.
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Speaker 2: That's what this third slide is all about.
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Speaker 3: Some of you are saying to yourself, look, if I
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Speaker 3: had just had this problem a couple of months, it
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Speaker 3: wouldn't be that big a thing. But look, I've wrestled
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Speaker 3: with this for several years. You might be saying to yourself,
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Speaker 3: it's lasted too long.
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Speaker 4: No.
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Speaker 2: When God works a miracle, time is no problem. He
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Speaker 2: can handle anything.
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Speaker 3: His specialty is impossibilities. If it were possibilities, you could
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Speaker 3: handle it. He gets excited when it's impossible. That's when
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Speaker 3: he can handle it. That's his preferred time of operation.
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Speaker 3: Here's a fourth slide. One of my favorites, chapter six,
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Speaker 3: the feeding of the multitude. Here he proves himself master
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Speaker 3: of size. There is no problem too big. but that
26:52
Speaker 3: he cannot handle it. Here he has 5,000 people plus
26:56
Speaker 3: women and children who come and they're hungry. And the
26:59
Speaker 3: disciples are up on the mountain, verse 3, and they
27:01
Speaker 3: were sitting there with their Savior. The Jews came, the people,
27:06
Speaker 3: the multitude, they came and they were hungry. And Jesus said,
27:09
Speaker 3: where shall.
27:10
Speaker 2: We go to get them food?
27:13
Speaker 3: Philip told him all this rigmarole about how much they'd
27:16
Speaker 3: have to have for each person to have an afternoon
27:18
Speaker 3: tea and a snack of biscuits. And the Lord said
27:22
Speaker 3: back to him, oh, man, what kind of faith is that?
27:27
Speaker 3: It's at least implied.
27:30
Speaker 2: Then Andrew came with his little boy's lunch.
27:32
Speaker 3: Verse 9, he had barley loaves and a couple of
27:35
Speaker 3: little anchovies, you know, stuck in there.
27:40
Speaker 2: And Andrew, if he had stopped there, it would have
27:41
Speaker 2: been great. Lord, here's this pickled fish and some sandwich,
27:44
Speaker 2: I mean, some bread. It's all yours.
27:48
Speaker 7: Do it.
27:49
Speaker 2: But he said, what are.
27:51
Speaker 3: These among so many? So the Lord with a sigh said,
27:56
Speaker 3: have the people sit down. Verse 10. And he took
28:01
Speaker 3: the loaves, verse 11, and he gave thanks and he
28:04
Speaker 3: distributed to those that were seated the bread and the
28:07
Speaker 3: fish as much as they wanted.
28:10
Speaker 2: Is there a problem too big? You tell me what's
28:14
Speaker 2: too big for God.
28:17
Speaker 3: I didn't even cause him a sigh to think of
28:20
Speaker 3: the problem. His sigh was brought on by their unbelief.
28:25
Speaker 3: He wanted them to say simply, Lord, we cannot handle it.
28:30
Speaker 3: It is too immense. You take it. And he would
28:35
Speaker 3: have said, great. But he provided the loaves and the fishes.
28:39
Speaker 2: And guess how many baskets were left over? Twelve. One
28:43
Speaker 2: for each usher.
28:45
Speaker 3: One for each one of the guys that have been distributing,
28:47
Speaker 3: taking all the time. There's no way we're going to
28:49
Speaker 3: feed this crowd. There's no way. And they wound up
28:52
Speaker 3: with a whole basket left over. You know, the Lord
28:57
Speaker 3: does that. When he answers a situation, he often rubs
29:00
Speaker 3: your nose in it, doesn't he? He answers it so
29:04
Speaker 3: good that you say, wow, how stupid I was back
29:10
Speaker 3: to doubt his hand. And The 12 baskets full of
29:15
Speaker 3: leftover was just a quiet reproof. I want you to
29:19
Speaker 3: learn how to give me these situations. There's a fifth
29:24
Speaker 3: slide right at the base of this one. Chapter 6,
29:28
Speaker 3: verse 16. When he walked on the water, remember that great,
29:33
Speaker 3: great experience? It was evening and the disciples went down
29:37
Speaker 3: to the sea.
29:38
Speaker 2: We're in verse 16.
29:40
Speaker 3: And after getting into a boat, they started to cross
29:42
Speaker 3: the sea to Capernaum. It had become dark and Jesus
29:45
Speaker 3: hadn't come. And the sea began to be stirred up
29:48
Speaker 3: because of a strong wind that was blowing. And they
29:52
Speaker 3: got afraid. And when they were rowed about three or
29:55
Speaker 3: four miles.
29:57
Speaker 3: They saw Jesus walking on the sea, drawing near to
30:01
Speaker 3: the boat, and.
30:01
Speaker 2: They were afraid. You bet they were afraid.
30:05
Speaker 3: You're out at dark in the middle of the sea,
30:08
Speaker 3: and all you've got is oars, and there's a storm coming,
30:11
Speaker 3: and you see somebody walking on the water coming towards you.
30:15
Speaker 2: You get a little afraid.
30:17
Speaker 3: And Jesus steps on the boat, and he says, look,
30:19
Speaker 3: I can handle this. He gave them his peace. Everything
30:23
Speaker 3: calmed down. What did he prove himself master of? Natural laws.
30:30
Speaker 3: They're telling us these days that there's going to be
30:32
Speaker 3: a massive earthquake in California. There may be. Humanly speaking,
30:37
Speaker 3: it could be a dreadful experience. And humanly speaking, many
30:41
Speaker 3: people today are trapped in the prison of fear. You
30:45
Speaker 3: listen to the talk shows these days, you'll hear them.
30:48
Speaker 3: They're calling in, asking all sorts of questions about how
30:51
Speaker 3: they can prepare, how they can know.
30:53
Speaker 2: Worried, worried, worried, sick.
30:57
Speaker 3: And you may worry from now till when it happens,
30:59
Speaker 3: whenever it may happen, and you will have wasted all
31:02
Speaker 3: that time. Because in fact, it may never happen, or
31:05
Speaker 3: even if it does, your worry would not have changed it.
31:09
Speaker 3: Don't we worry about stupid things? And this crazy ear
31:14
Speaker 3: operation that I just got over, it was an interesting experience.
31:19
Speaker 3: I sort of dreamed one night that he was going
31:23
Speaker 3: to put the ear on upside down. I can't explain why.
31:26
Speaker 3: It's a dumb thought. You know, they cut the ear
31:29
Speaker 3: off and tape it on your cheek and, you know,
31:33
Speaker 3: not to lose it. They got to hang on to it.
31:35
Speaker 3: And so when they're all through, they got to put
31:37
Speaker 3: it back on. And I remember waking up from surgery
31:40
Speaker 3: and hanging, oh, watch down there. That lobe is right
31:44
Speaker 3: on the right place.
31:45
Speaker 5: It's so good.
31:46
Speaker 2: I thought, why?
31:48
Speaker 3: Why is it stupid to worry about something like that?
31:52
Speaker 3: Here I am, pastor of the church, worried about the lobe,
31:55
Speaker 3: you know, the redirection. Got the finest doctor you can
31:58
Speaker 3: get a hold of. Hey, analyze your worry. Basically, it's stupid.
32:09
Speaker 2: If it's impossible, your worry's a waste.
32:13
Speaker 3: If it's not an impossible situation, then correct it. But
32:17
Speaker 3: if you can't handle it, give it up. Which brings
32:24
Speaker 3: us to misfortune, chapter 9.
32:29
Speaker 2: He proved himself master over.
32:31
Speaker 3: Quantity, over quality, over distance and time, over size and nature.
32:40
Speaker 3: Now he proves himself master over misfortune. In a congregation
32:45
Speaker 3: this size, surely there are those of you who have
32:47
Speaker 3: been struck with some measure of what you would call
32:50
Speaker 3: a misfortune. either in birth or your child's birth or
32:53
Speaker 3: your situation at work or some loved one or some
32:59
Speaker 3: recent report from your physician, perhaps, and you feel broken within. Now,
33:05
Speaker 3: chapter 9 is designed for you. It's a slide that says, listen,
33:10
Speaker 3: he specializes in misfortunes. Here is a man born blind.
33:15
Speaker 3: And Jesus said, while I'm in the world, I'm the
33:19
Speaker 3: light of the world, verse 5. And then he told
33:22
Speaker 3: the man to wash in the pool of Siloam, verse 7,
33:26
Speaker 3: and he washed that clay from his eyes. And it
33:28
Speaker 3: says in just a few words, the most exciting report,
33:31
Speaker 3: he went away, washed, and came back seeing. Never in
33:36
Speaker 3: his life had he seen, it was congenital blindness, and
33:39
Speaker 3: that man came back with eyes to see things he
33:44
Speaker 3: had never seen before. First service this morning, there was
33:48
Speaker 3: sitting on the front row on The last seat here
33:51
Speaker 3: in the front pew, our friend, our blind gal that
33:55
Speaker 3: comes with her seeing eye dog. That dog was down,
33:59
Speaker 3: his ears all flopped down, sleeping right there. And she
34:04
Speaker 3: was sitting there listening to this account. And I made
34:07
Speaker 3: the comment, almost oblivious to her presence, that God on
34:12
Speaker 3: some occasions will take a misfortune and change the misfortune
34:16
Speaker 3: and correct it. On other occasions, he will simply change
34:20
Speaker 3: you to accept it. And I looked over at her
34:25
Speaker 3: and she was looking up the big smile as if
34:30
Speaker 3: to say, I'm in that group. And maybe you are too.
34:38
Speaker 3: Maybe God has chosen in your life not to take
34:40
Speaker 3: away your misfortune, but to change you. You see, that's
34:48
Speaker 3: That's a lot harder job. You're his greatest headache, frankly.
34:59
Speaker 3: He can handle the sea, the elements, earthquakes, storms, disasters.
35:10
Speaker 3: It's you and me that give him the rough. Alan
35:15
Speaker 3: Redpath said on one occasion, when God wants to do
35:17
Speaker 3: an impossible task, he takes an impossible person and crushes him.
35:25
Speaker 3: And you're in the process of being crushed to accept
35:28
Speaker 3: a misfortune and you don't like it. And you have
35:31
Speaker 3: your fist as if to say.
35:34
Speaker 2: Don't take over. This is my right. And my response is,
35:40
Speaker 2: name one.
35:41
Speaker 3: Right you have. The day you received Jesus Christ, you
35:47
Speaker 3: received your Lord Jesus Christ who became the avowed master
35:54
Speaker 3: of your life and you gave up all rights to
35:58
Speaker 3: your Lord to call every shot, every event as he
36:05
Speaker 3: pleases to shape you and fashion you into his image,
36:11
Speaker 3: the image of God's dear son, your misfortunes notwithstanding. That
36:18
Speaker 3: particular blind man reminds us that God can handle misfortunes.
36:22
Speaker 3: We can't cope with him in our flesh, but he has.
36:26
Speaker 3: And there's one final slide. You'll never forget it, of course.
36:28
Speaker 3: Chapter 11 of John. And that's where the Lord Jesus
36:33
Speaker 3: raised Lazarus. And he proved himself master over death. What
36:38
Speaker 3: a great illustration. Lazarus had been dead four days according
36:42
Speaker 3: to verse 39. And Jesus said to her, did I
36:47
Speaker 3: not say to you, this is Martha, if you believe,
36:49
Speaker 3: you'll see the glory of God, verse 40. And then
36:53
Speaker 3: people got out of the way as Jesus prayed and
36:56
Speaker 3: then said, Lazarus, verse.
36:58
Speaker 2: 43, come forth.
36:59
Speaker 3: And he who had, it says, he who had said
37:04
Speaker 3: these things cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
37:08
Speaker 3: He who had died came forth. You picture that, stumbling
37:12
Speaker 3: out of that tomb in mummy-like wrappings. is a man
37:16
Speaker 3: four days dead, now living. And there was a sweeping
37:21
Speaker 3: experience of belief. Verse 45, many of the Jews who
37:26
Speaker 3: had come.
37:27
Speaker 2: To Mary and beheld what he had done believed in him.
37:30
Speaker 2: You don't see a man raised from the dead without believing.
37:34
Speaker 3: There will come a time when these graves will open
37:37
Speaker 3: up around us in these cemeteries. The Lord Jesus will
37:41
Speaker 3: descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
37:43
Speaker 3: the archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead
37:46
Speaker 3: in Christ shall be raised first. And the Lord Jesus says,
37:51
Speaker 3: each one of you, loose him and let him go.
37:55
Speaker 3: He'll give you a glorified body, and there will be
37:57
Speaker 3: that great family reunion where the living saints will be
38:00
Speaker 3: caught up with the dead and will be forever with
38:03
Speaker 3: the Lord. You imagine that scene.
38:06
Speaker 2: Wow.
38:08
Speaker 5: I can hardly wait.
38:11
Speaker 3: Even so, come before the second service tonight, Lord Jesus.
38:16
Speaker 3: You could take it before the first.
38:17
Speaker 4: If you want to.
38:19
Speaker 3: Great experience. Incredible. He's a master over death. That's the
38:25
Speaker 3: whole story of the Easter message.
38:27
Speaker 2: Resurrection.
38:30
Speaker 3: And we sit here and we hear the message. Master
38:35
Speaker 3: of quality, master of space, distance, master of time, quantity, size, nature. misfortune, death,
38:42
Speaker 3: and we.
38:42
Speaker 2: Walk out of this place worried to.
38:45
Speaker 3: Death over what we're going to have for supper or
38:49
Speaker 3: what we're going to do this next week. So I've
38:53
Speaker 3: come up with a couple of applications already in the
38:56
Speaker 3: first 12 chapters.
38:58
Speaker 2: The first one is this.
38:59
Speaker 3: The best training for the development of your faith is
39:06
Speaker 3: human impossibilities.
39:08
Speaker 2: That's the very best training for the development of your faith.
39:12
Speaker 3: If there were a glimmer of human possibility, you'd work
39:16
Speaker 3: it out.
39:18
Speaker 2: But when it gets you to.
39:18
Speaker 3: The place where you can't, that he proves himself faithful.
39:22
Speaker 3: That's the beauty of it all.
39:24
Speaker 2: He pins you to the wall and you have to surrender.
39:28
Speaker 3: That's what he does. steps in and says now I'll
39:33
Speaker 3: show myself strong the best place for the development of
39:38
Speaker 3: your faith is human impossibilities I picked up a little
39:42
Speaker 3: scrap of paper that's been sitting in front of my
39:44
Speaker 3: wife's sink notice whose sink it is my wife's sink
39:48
Speaker 3: at home It's coffee stained, water stained, soap stained. It says,
39:56
Speaker 3: all of us are faced with a series of great opportunities,
40:01
Speaker 3: brilliantly disguised as impossible situations. And that's true. Depends on
40:09
Speaker 3: your focus. You can focus on it and say, that's impossible.
40:14
Speaker 5: Lord, it's yours.
40:18
Speaker 3: Or you can focus on the thing and continue to
40:21
Speaker 3: wrestle with it and die worried to death. The second
40:28
Speaker 3: lesson I'm learning is that the only solution for your
40:33
Speaker 3: impossibility is divine intervention. It's the only solution. I mean,
40:41
Speaker 3: he really specializes in impossibilities. That proves him God. Can
40:50
Speaker 3: you imagine the mess it would have been if I
40:53
Speaker 3: had done my own surgery? I guarantee I wouldn't be
40:58
Speaker 3: back in a few days under a local with a mirror.
41:08
Speaker 3: I would have gotten it on upside down, I'll tell you.
41:11
Speaker 3: The doctor asked me, he said, now, would you like
41:13
Speaker 3: a local or would you like a general? Doctors ask
41:17
Speaker 3: dumb questions under pressure. I said, I'd like three generals.
41:25
Speaker 3: I want to be out totally, completely. Do not want
41:29
Speaker 3: to wake up while you're still doing your thing over there.
41:32
Speaker 2: So they did. It was fantastic. Plugged me in.
41:36
Speaker 3: I was out.
41:38
Speaker 2: Never been so quiet in all my life. Just absolutely black.
41:43
Speaker 2: And woke up and it was done. That's the way
41:45
Speaker 2: it ought to be.
41:48
Speaker 3: Man, these people that can handle natural childbirth and stuff
41:53
Speaker 3: like that. I told you that when they first took,
41:59
Speaker 3: you know, one of our babies was going to get
42:01
Speaker 3: born and they asked Cynthia what kind of anesthetic, you know,
42:06
Speaker 3: and all that. She was kind of humming and hawing.
42:08
Speaker 3: And I said, well, if she doesn't want to, you
42:09
Speaker 3: can give it to me. I'd like to have it.
42:14
Speaker 4: Look.
42:15
Speaker 3: In a situation that's fraught with threat, when you cannot
42:19
Speaker 3: handle it, plug in the divine plan. Now back in
42:24
Speaker 3: chapter 21, the beauty of the message closes with the
42:29
Speaker 3: things that Jesus did.
42:33
Speaker 2: Not just a distant deity, but those things that only
42:36
Speaker 2: he can handle. Hey, listen.
42:38
Speaker 3: Chapter 21 refers to things that are still going on,
42:41
Speaker 3: just like chapter 20. Many other signs, many other things.
42:46
Speaker 3: He's still doing the miracles. He's still doing his works.
42:51
Speaker 3: What were some of the works that he did to
42:52
Speaker 3: prove himself that he was man? Well, chapter 13 tells
42:57
Speaker 3: us that he demonstrated humility. He washed their feet. Chapters 14, 15,
43:06
Speaker 3: and 16 remind us he identified with their needs. He
43:11
Speaker 3: told them, don't let your heart be troubled. He told them, look,
43:14
Speaker 3: the world is going to rip you off. Don't be
43:16
Speaker 3: stumbled by the world. They're not going to understand. You're
43:20
Speaker 3: going to be outnumbered and outvoted. Press on.
43:24
Speaker 2: And he entered into their feelings. Who will ever forget
43:27
Speaker 2: chapters 17, 18, and 19?
43:30
Speaker 3: The arrest and the trials and the death as revealed
43:34
Speaker 3: in John. Wasn't that a study? When God just taught
43:37
Speaker 3: us about the crucifixion and those trials. And he hung
43:42
Speaker 3: and slumped and died. And then he came back from
43:46
Speaker 3: the dead. And he visited them. And he pronounced peace
43:50
Speaker 3: on them. And he encouraged their friendship. Remember he called Peter.
43:54
Speaker 3: And he told Peter you follow me. And he said
43:58
Speaker 3: what about John? Don't worry about John. You follow me.
44:01
Speaker 3: That lasting friendship. And then the book closes. Just like that.
44:09
Speaker 2: Very God.
44:13
Speaker 3: True man. And if all the books were written, the
44:18
Speaker 3: world couldn't contain them. When I view this personally, I
44:24
Speaker 3: come up with two answers. First, when Christ is the subject,
44:29
Speaker 3: books are continually unfinished. I challenge you to write a
44:33
Speaker 3: book on the work of Christ in your life. You'll
44:37
Speaker 3: never finish it. It's as current as today. You're still
44:43
Speaker 3: part of the gospel of John being relived and reiterated
44:47
Speaker 3: and reviewed by the world. When Christ is the subject,
44:53
Speaker 3: all the books are incomplete and unfinished. When Christ is
44:56
Speaker 3: the object, I learned also that lives are continually changed.
45:03
Speaker 3: When he's the object of your life, you're continually changed.
45:09
Speaker 3: Happened to Josh McDowell. The familiar apologist of our day,
45:14
Speaker 3: young man, brilliant, travels from university to university telling people
45:18
Speaker 3: about Christ, defending the faith. Some people don't realize, but
45:24
Speaker 3: in the book he wrote, Evidence That Demands a Verdict,
45:26
Speaker 3: he gives his testimony at the end where he wrestled
45:29
Speaker 3: terribly with bitterness toward his father because his father was
45:33
Speaker 3: an alcoholic. The word was spread all around Josh's high
45:37
Speaker 3: school that his dad was the town drunk. And he
45:41
Speaker 3: was embarrassed and finally became embittered. There were times that
45:45
Speaker 3: he locked his father in a barn when company came
45:51
Speaker 3: and he told the company that his dad was away
45:53
Speaker 3: on business and he was actually sleeping off a drunk.
45:58
Speaker 5: Bitterness grew.
46:00
Speaker 3: And finally, Josh came to the feet of Jesus Christ
46:03
Speaker 3: by faith. And he says, when I became a Christian,
46:07
Speaker 3: God's love somehow took that hatred and turned it right
46:10
Speaker 3: around to love. Love so strong that I was able
46:13
Speaker 3: to look my father straight in the eye and say, Dad,
46:16
Speaker 3: I love you. Six months later, I was in a
46:19
Speaker 3: serious car accident when my father came into the room.
46:22
Speaker 3: He said, Son, how can you love a father such
46:25
Speaker 3: as I? And I said, Dad, six months ago, I
46:29
Speaker 3: didn't have the capacity to do it. But through Jesus Christ,
46:32
Speaker 3: I can love you and other people as well. 45
46:37
Speaker 3: minutes later, his father got down on his knees and
46:39
Speaker 3: committed his life to Jesus Christ. 13 months later, he died.
46:43
Speaker 3: That's not only true of Josh McDowell, it's true of
46:49
Speaker 3: the disciples. Ever studied the disciples after the Gospels?
46:57
Speaker 5: Most haven't.
47:00
Speaker 3: The only view you have of Peter or Matthew or
47:02
Speaker 3: James or One of the other disciples is sort of
47:07
Speaker 3: a struggler with the faith. Oh, their lives were changed.
47:11
Speaker 3: Remember Peter? He preached the great Pentecost sermon and God
47:16
Speaker 3: used him to found the church in Jerusalem and set
47:18
Speaker 3: up the theology that Paul developed. And finally, Peter was
47:23
Speaker 3: crucified upside down with praise coming from his lips. James,
47:29
Speaker 3: the son of Zebedee, the fisherman, well, he was faithful
47:33
Speaker 3: to the end and then he was beheaded. for his faith.
47:37
Speaker 3: Philip labored for Christ until 54 AD, when he was scourged,
47:42
Speaker 3: thrown into prison as a cripple, and then he was crucified. Matthew,
47:48
Speaker 3: the tax collector, he served in Parthia, in Ethiopia, among
47:53
Speaker 3: the cannibals, until 60 AD. He was bound, covered with
47:59
Speaker 3: oil and asphalt, and set on fire. He rebuked the
48:05
Speaker 3: fire as he prayed aloud, Father, receive my spirit. Andrew,
48:12
Speaker 3: the bashful brother of Simon, he didn't end a bashful life.
48:17
Speaker 3: He became a preacher in many lands. He was the
48:20
Speaker 3: first missionary to Russia, known in those days as the Scythians,
48:24
Speaker 3: probably the most barbaric of the peoples of the first century.
48:29
Speaker 3: Taken under arrest, scourged by seven men with rods, he
48:33
Speaker 3: was brought to an X-shaped cross, and he replied to
48:37
Speaker 3: the cross, Hail, precious cross. Thou hast been consecrated by
48:46
Speaker 3: the body of my Lord and adorned with his limbs.
48:51
Speaker 3: I come to thee exulting and glad. Receive me into
48:55
Speaker 3: thine arms, that he who redeemed me on thee may
48:59
Speaker 3: receive me by thee. And he was crucified. Thomas?
49:08
Speaker 2: Doubting Thomas?
49:09
Speaker 4: No.
49:11
Speaker 3: He was the first missionary to India. Finally was imprisoned,
49:16
Speaker 3: ultimately tortured by pagan priests. martyred by being stabbed repeatedly
49:22
Speaker 3: with spears.
49:23
Speaker 5: Until he died.
49:27
Speaker 3: The writer John. So many people feel that John lived
49:31
Speaker 3: in a quiet retirement on the island of Patmos, never bothered.
49:37
Speaker 3: You haven't read the story. He ministered faithfully in Ephesus
49:40
Speaker 3: for many years. He founded the churches of Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea,
49:47
Speaker 3: and Thyatira. And then John was captured by the emperor,
49:53
Speaker 3: who threw him into a cauldron of boiling oil. He
49:57
Speaker 3: miraculously escaped with scars. But he was viewed as a
50:01
Speaker 3: result of that superstitiously by the emperor, who got him
50:05
Speaker 3: out of the Roman Empire. And put him on Patmos
50:09
Speaker 3: to die in silence. And while on Patmos he wrote
50:12
Speaker 3: the revelation of Jesus Christ. And he was haunted and
50:17
Speaker 3: hunted by enemies for his faith. Augustine says that that
50:24
Speaker 3: author is too credible to contest the account. The story
50:31
Speaker 3: goes on. You see, friends, it's one thing to go
50:36
Speaker 3: through the book of John. It's another thing for that
50:40
Speaker 3: book to go through you. That's the test of exposition.
50:47
Speaker 3: Not how much of the truth can we get through,
50:51
Speaker 3: but how much of that truth can get through us.
50:57
Speaker 3: I don't know what your future is, don't know what
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Speaker 3: mine is. We may live to see the day when
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Speaker 3: we pay for our faith.
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Speaker 6: With our own blood. That book will make a difference.
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Speaker 6: Let's bow in prayer.
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Speaker 3: Very serious moment. We do not take it lightly.
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Speaker 5: Let's pause just before our Father.
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Speaker 3: You may realize for the first time in the staggering series.
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Speaker 5: Of events that have passed before.
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Speaker 4: Your ears that you're the.
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Speaker 3: Farthest thing removed from that kind of dedication. Either you
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Speaker 3: don't know Jesus Christ and you need to come to
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Speaker 3: know him. Or you may know the Lord.
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Speaker 5: Jesus and simply be walking in the flesh.
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Speaker 3: Never genuinely walked fully in the power of the spirit.
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Speaker 3: Just driven from passion to passion. Failure to failure. Maybe
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Speaker 3: you want to talk about that. Or maybe you don't
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Speaker 3: need to talk to anyone but God. And as his child,
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Speaker 3: you say, Lord, I confess to you, this.
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Speaker 4: Is my lifestyle.
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Speaker 5: I lay it before you in shame. I claim your forgiveness.
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Speaker 5: Bring me to that place of commitment and dedication.
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Speaker 6: Make me part of the gospel that's still being lived.
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Speaker 3: Come now, Christians, let's wrestle personally, individually, with what we're.
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Speaker 5: Going to do, with what we have heard.
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Speaker 3: The greatest requirement and risk in all the world, our.
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Speaker 5: Father, is to be exposed to biblical truth. We who
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Speaker 5: live in the light have no business trafficking in the dark.
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Speaker 3: We have learned truths of abiding, washing feet, truths.
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Speaker 4: Of resting, truth of.
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Speaker 5: What it means to.
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Speaker 4: Be holy, dedicated, even unto death. But we live as.
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Speaker 6: Angels, those who live our own plan in life.
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Speaker 4: Deal with us severely, our Father, and bring us to that.
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Speaker 5: Place where we're willing to say the cross, amen. What
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Speaker 5: a glorious thing to accept.
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Speaker 4: It is his plan for me.
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Speaker 6: Thank you for our study today and for the year
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Speaker 6: we spent with your son.
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Speaker 4: In God's name, our Lord.
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Speaker 5: In the loving name of Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 4: We pray. Amen.
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Speaker 7: The preceding message, Many Other Signs, Many Other Things, was
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Speaker 7: copyrighted in 1976, 1988, 2000, and 2018, and the sound
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Speaker 7: recording was copyrighted in 2018 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
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Speaker 7: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
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Speaker 7: commercial use is strictly prohibited.