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John-Msg-5-28 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: We are on a safari these days through the scriptures,
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Speaker 1: and we are working toward that goal of covering every
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Speaker 1: book of the Bible. Our desire is not to look
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Speaker 1: into the minute details of each one of the books, obviously,
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Speaker 1: but to spend a bit of time on each one
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Speaker 1: and sort of get an overview of the general idea
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Speaker 1: of that book, which some call a synthetic study and
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Speaker 1: others simply call a survey study of the Bible. I
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Speaker 1: remember my first few weeks in Boston back in nineteen
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Speaker 1: sixty five. I was beginning our first full pastorate there
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Speaker 1: in the city of Waltham, and if you've ever been
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Speaker 1: to the Boston area, you know that it is it
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Speaker 1: is rather confusing to find your way around. My first
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Speaker 1: encounter with some of the citizens there was a little
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Speaker 1: bit less than friendly. I remember being totally lost, and
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Speaker 1: I pulled over and I was trying to find out
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Speaker 1: what the name of the street was, and there was
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Speaker 1: no sign. I got to the corner and there was
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Speaker 1: no sign on the corner the other street that intersected,
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Speaker 1: and in frustration, I sort of blurted out to a
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Speaker 1: fellow walking along, what street is this? And he yelled back,
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Speaker 1: why I said, I'm lost. Why don't they have street
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Speaker 1: signs here? He said, well, we know where we are.
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Speaker 1: Welcome to Boston. A friend of mine took pity on
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Speaker 1: me and took me up to the top of the
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Speaker 1: Prudential Building, which at that time and perhaps to this day,
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Speaker 1: was the largest or the tallest building in Boston. It
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Speaker 1: was about fifty stories. And while we were up there,
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Speaker 1: we were looking around the city, and he helped me
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Speaker 1: get the overall layout of that quaint old city. He said,
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Speaker 1: down here is the common and we turned around. He said,
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Speaker 1: to see that road as it leads out toward the
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Speaker 1: Cape Cape cod Is in that direction, Here's Mit. Here's
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Speaker 1: Boston University over there, a little bit further down as
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Speaker 1: brand Eyes, a little section down in Waltham, here's Framingham.
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Speaker 1: And if you take this route you can go all
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Speaker 1: the way around the city loop one. And he pointed
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Speaker 1: all out to me, and things sort of fell into place.
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Speaker 1: I was lost on other occasions, but not quite as
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Speaker 1: drastically as I had been lost before that time, because
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Speaker 1: he gave me an overview of that entire city. You
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Speaker 1: have perhaps done that in the Los Angeles area, down
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Speaker 1: in the civic center. Maybe if you're from another city.
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Speaker 1: You've been able to get up high enough to see
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Speaker 1: the whole thing in one one fell swoop, sort of
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Speaker 1: a bird's eye view. Well, that's what we're doing biblically,
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Speaker 1: as we're working our way through the Bible. It is
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Speaker 1: a frustration for perfectionists, as I've mentioned before, but it
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Speaker 1: is a wholesale delight to people who have wondered half
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Speaker 1: their lives how this book sort of fits together. So
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Speaker 1: we come in this study to the perhaps the most
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Speaker 1: beloved of of the Gospels, and for some of the
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Speaker 1: entire New Testament, the Gospel of John. It is a
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Speaker 1: precious and it is a priceless treasure. How many times
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Speaker 1: in the Old Testament do we go back to Psalms
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Speaker 1: to find comfort? Even people who don't know their Bibles
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Speaker 1: can usually quote a part of the twenty third Psalm
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Speaker 1: or the one hundredth Psalm, or even though they may
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Speaker 1: not know it is from the Book of Psalms, they
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Speaker 1: are able to quote a section of scripture and later
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Speaker 1: find out that it is indeed from that central book
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Speaker 1: of the Old Testament. What Songs is to the Old Testament,
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Speaker 1: I believe John is to the New It is a refuge.
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Speaker 1: It is a harbor. I would grant that most of us,
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Speaker 1: before the year is up, will turn to it spontaneously,
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Speaker 1: just to find comfort and rest for our souls. Ministering
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Speaker 1: to the grieving and to the dying. John is a
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Speaker 1: marvelous word of hope, bringing a word of encouragement to
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Speaker 1: people that are low and downcast. There's nothing like John
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Speaker 1: to do that. And how many times have we directed
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Speaker 1: a brand new Christian into the pages of this twenty
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Speaker 1: one chapter book that has helped them understand what they
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Speaker 1: have in Christ. It's a simple book, and yet it
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Speaker 1: is in every way profound. Martin Luther writes, never in
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Speaker 1: my life have I read a book written in simpler
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Speaker 1: words than this, And yet the words are inexpressible when
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Speaker 1: you found that truth when you dig into it. In fact,
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Speaker 1: if you read Greek, it is even easy Greek reading,
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Speaker 1: and young Greek students sort of cut their teeth either
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Speaker 1: in First John or the Gospel of John, because even there,
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Speaker 1: the old Fisherman writes in easy to read language, simple terms.
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Speaker 1: But the deeper you get into it, the more it seems.
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Speaker 1: It's mysterious. At times, it is some of the most
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Speaker 1: difficult of all the New Testament writings John's style, as
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Speaker 1: is true in his letters. And by the way, this
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Speaker 1: is not John the baptizer who wrote this. This is
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Speaker 1: the apostle, John, one of the close friends of the
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Speaker 1: Savior during jesus ministry on earth. You've heard of Peter, James,
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Speaker 1: and John, three of the closest disciples. Well, this is
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Speaker 1: one of those three. And John is the one who
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Speaker 1: stayed closest to the Lord. It seemed even at the
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Speaker 1: Last Supper he reclined immediately to his side. John was
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Speaker 1: a lover. John was a man of warm affection. He
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Speaker 1: found in Christ's security and hope as his world began
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Speaker 1: to come apart. John writes in contrasts, he has a
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Speaker 1: story that reads through the narrative that jumps from sadness
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Speaker 1: to ecstasy their stormy opposition. And then you get inside
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Speaker 1: the door. You have someone breaking a vase of ointment
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Speaker 1: and pouring it upon the body of Jesus. You have
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Speaker 1: one crisis that leads to what you think is going
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Speaker 1: to be the sudden end of everything, only to have
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Speaker 1: it turn and lead into the calming assurance of Christ teaching.
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Speaker 1: You have a miracle that is amazing in its dimensions.
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Speaker 1: And yet you turn right around and you have Jesus
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Speaker 1: teaching a simple discourse from that miracle. That's John's style.
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Speaker 1: Everybody has a style. Every writer has his own or
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Speaker 1: her own style, or every speaker has his or her
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Speaker 1: own style. John is no exception. His style is like that. Now.
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Speaker 1: I want to ask answer several questions in our study
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Speaker 1: this time, and to do so, I want to use
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Speaker 1: this as a headquarters to the book Chapter twenty, verses
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Speaker 1: thirty and thirty one. If you have your Bible handy,
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Speaker 1: I'd like you to look at that. The first question
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Speaker 1: that I want to answer is why do we have
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Speaker 1: a fourth account of the life of Jesus. Why has
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Speaker 1: God given us or why did God in those days
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Speaker 1: the first century direct four different men to write the story. Well,
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Speaker 1: we've looked at the other three. We've seen in Matthew
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Speaker 1: that Jesus is portrayed as the king, and it's a
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Speaker 1: very Jewish gospel. If you're Jewish, if you have Jewish roots,
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Speaker 1: you will really appreciate Matthew many references to the Old Testament.
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Speaker 1: We looked at Mark and we saw Jesus presented as
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Speaker 1: the servant. Luke shows Jesus to be a man, son
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Speaker 1: of man and presents many of the human sides of
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Speaker 1: Jesus life. And you identify with a narrative in Luke
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Speaker 1: because it has many human interest stories that seem to
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Speaker 1: tell us more and more of the humanity of Christ.
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Speaker 1: When you get to John's Gospel, you come to the
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Speaker 1: gospel and this is the reason God gave it to us,
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Speaker 1: that presents Jesus as God. This is the gospel that
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Speaker 1: presents the Savior as deity. If you're a student of
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Speaker 1: stained glass windows, you have probably noticed on occasion that
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Speaker 1: the Gospels are often portrayed in the form of animals
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Speaker 1: or or beasts of the field, or fouls of the
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Speaker 1: of the sky. And when you see John portrayed in
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Speaker 1: the in the stained glass, you will see his portrayal
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Speaker 1: of Christ pictured as an eagle, as a soaring eagle
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Speaker 1: that lifts up to the heavenlies. And that's that's the scope,
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Speaker 1: or that's the theme of John's gospel. His desire is
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Speaker 1: to show the reader that Jesus is God, not just
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Speaker 1: a servant, not simply the King of Israel, not only
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Speaker 1: truly man, but undiminished deity. Now he says it here,
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Speaker 1: and I'm very grateful that this book, as few of
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Speaker 1: them included, has in verses thirty and thirty one, a
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Speaker 1: special declaration of why it's written many other signs. Therefore,
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Speaker 1: Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which
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Speaker 1: are not written in this book, but these have been written.
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Speaker 1: Now watch carefully that you may believe that Jesus is
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Speaker 1: the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you
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Speaker 1: may have life in his name. John says, I have
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Speaker 1: written this gospel or this account that you may realize,
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Speaker 1: you who read these words, that he is the Son
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Speaker 1: of God, that he is very God. And you will
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Speaker 1: see that emerging through the book time after time after time.
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Speaker 1: If you miss that, you missed the gospel, you missed
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Speaker 1: the whole purpose of his writing. It helps to know
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Speaker 1: ahead of time what the theme or the plot of
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Speaker 1: a book is. That way you can catch even the
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Speaker 1: finest little nuance as soon as you stumble upon it.
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Speaker 1: One of my problems with some of the thicker novels
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Speaker 1: is it takes me fourth of the way through the
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Speaker 1: crazy thing to discover what the plot is all about,
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Speaker 1: and it's seldom won. There are several of them, usually
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Speaker 1: interwoven through the story and you have to keep them
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Speaker 1: carefully delineated in your mind. Now, John, isn't that complicated,
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Speaker 1: he says right up front. I'm writing so that you
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Speaker 1: who read will realize Jesus is God. Look again at
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Speaker 1: verse thirty. Let's sort of dissect these verses. I see
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Speaker 1: that John was very selective. Many other signs Jesus also performed.
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Speaker 1: The word signs has in mind the idea of miracles.
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Speaker 1: He did a whole number of miracles that are not
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Speaker 1: even included in my account. He did many of them,
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Speaker 1: in fact, which I purposely overlooked. They're not written in
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Speaker 1: this book, but I have selected a few these refers
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Speaker 1: back to the signs. Many other signs Jesus did parenthesis.
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Speaker 1: I've left them out parenthesis closed. But these that I
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Speaker 1: have included, I have done so for one purpose. My
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Speaker 1: motive is that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ.
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Speaker 1: He states his motive, and he uses his favorite word,
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Speaker 1: this term believe, and all of its other related terms
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Speaker 1: that come from this derivative. This term is used ninety
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Speaker 1: eight times in these twenty one chapters. It's amazing that
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Speaker 1: one book of the Bible would use the same major
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Speaker 1: term almost one hundred times. So it's obvious. John's concern
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Speaker 1: is that we may lead. And by the way that happens,
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Speaker 1: doesn't it. Have you noticed? You know, when you get
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Speaker 1: some people who are just too tough to crack, some
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Speaker 1: who are just too stubborn to listen any further to
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Speaker 1: the Christian message, you can give them a copy of
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Speaker 1: the Gospel of John, just a little paperback booklet that
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Speaker 1: includes the text of John. You can say, look, obviously
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Speaker 1: we've talked long enough. You stop listening before I stop talking,
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Speaker 1: So let me just say read this, and the person
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Speaker 1: who genuinely gives himself to the scriptures that is the
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Speaker 1: Gospel of John will realize that he's got something to
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Speaker 1: believe or reject. I have a personal friend who, early
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Speaker 1: in life, at about eleven or twelve, walked down an
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Speaker 1: aisle of a church and joined that church and was baptized.
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Speaker 1: Nothing changed when he got into his adolescent and lighteen years,
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Speaker 1: he began to realize that there was no difference in
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Speaker 1: his life. He couldn't handle temptation, he couldn't handle pressures,
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Speaker 1: the peer pressure. He realized that if he continued this condition,
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Speaker 1: he was well on his way to becoming an alcoholic,
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Speaker 1: and so he went to another church, and he did
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Speaker 1: the same routine. He came forward and he joined the
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Speaker 1: church and was for the second time baptized. He got
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Speaker 1: out of high school by the grace of God and
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Speaker 1: a few teachers, and he was just about to join
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Speaker 1: the military, and he was scared to death because there
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Speaker 1: was a war going on. And so for the third time,
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Speaker 1: went to a church, came down front, joined the church,
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Speaker 1: and for the third time was baptized. He got into
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Speaker 1: the military, and I'm telling you, he went down fast.
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Speaker 1: He decided that the way he would live would just be,
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Speaker 1: you know, live fast and die young and leave a
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Speaker 1: good looking corpse. That would sort of be his motto
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Speaker 1: for life. But that didn't satisfy. He was by then
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Speaker 1: an alcoholic, and he wasn't yet twenty five twenty six
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Speaker 1: years old. He dug down in his sea bag and
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Speaker 1: he pulled out a copy of a Gideon Bible that
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Speaker 1: had been given him when he went to boot camp,
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Speaker 1: and he began to thumb through this book that he
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Speaker 1: had never ever read, and he got to John chapter three,
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Speaker 1: and he believed that moment, all of the churches, and
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Speaker 1: all of the rituals and all of the religious talk
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Speaker 1: sort of sprang free from his mind, and he began
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Speaker 1: to do business with the truth of the scriptures. And
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Speaker 1: he said later, Chuck, nothing would have reached me but
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Speaker 1: what I was reading. And he said, when I got
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Speaker 1: to that conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, I couldn't resist
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Speaker 1: any longer, and without anybody's help. Maybe that's why he
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Speaker 1: got it straight. He got it straight from God. He
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Speaker 1: simply got on his knees like a little child beside
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Speaker 1: her bed or beside his bed, and he asked Jesus
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Speaker 1: Christ to come into his life. Wonderful, simple story. How
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Speaker 1: many times could it be repeated among you who hear
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Speaker 1: my words right now? How many of us found that
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Speaker 1: the Gospel of John reached us like no other words,
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Speaker 1: and no other church could reach us. John says, that's
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Speaker 1: why I've written the book. Motive is that you may believe.
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Speaker 1: I want to. I want to settle on that for
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Speaker 1: just a minute. What does that mean? What does it
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Speaker 1: mean to believe? Frankly, it's it's tough to put into words.
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Speaker 1: Probably includes one of several things. First, an acknowledgment of
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Speaker 1: the facts as they are. Before I can believe Before
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Speaker 1: I can respond in belief, I need I need facts,
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Speaker 1: facts that are accurate, that are reliable, that are clearly
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Speaker 1: spelled out in terms that I can understand, and I
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Speaker 1: need to acknowledge that that is a factual piece of information.
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Speaker 1: So I knowledge that this is fact as it appears,
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Speaker 1: and then belief would mean I personally commit myself, or
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Speaker 1: if you prefer, abandon myself to the truth of those facts.
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Speaker 1: I rely on those facts to come true in my life.
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Speaker 1: We have various synonyms for it. Receiving Christ, accepting Jesus
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Speaker 1: as our savior. We're saying we acknowledge that what the
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Speaker 1: Bible says of Jesus is true. We see him as
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Speaker 1: more than man, as more than a servant. We see
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Speaker 1: him as the son of God who died that we
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Speaker 1: might live because he died for us, and we commit,
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Speaker 1: we abandon, we place our hope, our trust, our confidence
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Speaker 1: in him, and thereby we believe. Now that's what John says.
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Speaker 1: He's written. He's written so that he might give you
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Speaker 1: the facts that Jesus is God, and seeing the facts,
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Speaker 1: we might respond positively to them. You know, that's in
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Speaker 1: keeping with jesus desire. I think it's significant that Jesus
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Speaker 1: never asked what do people think of my teaching? You
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Speaker 1: will never come across a passage in the Scriptures where
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Speaker 1: Jesus asks, what's the word? What's the opinion of my miracles?
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Speaker 1: What are people saying about the things I'm doing? No? Always,
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Speaker 1: always Jesus questions had to do with who do they say?
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Speaker 1: I am? What's the word you pick up? Man? As
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Speaker 1: you as you traffic in the streets, as you're with
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Speaker 1: your friends, as you run around with people in your community,
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Speaker 1: what do they say about me? Who do they say?
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Speaker 1: I am? And his great concern, of course, is that
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Speaker 1: they saw that he was the son of God. Travel
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Speaker 1: back with me briefly. Will you go back to chapter one.
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Speaker 1: I want to show you where six seven times in
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Speaker 1: the Gospel of John people acknowledge the fact that he
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Speaker 1: is God. In John one thirty four, John the Baptizer
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Speaker 1: does this, I have seen where John one thirty four,
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Speaker 1: Now I have seen and have born witness that this
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Speaker 1: is the son of God. Mark that first time, and
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Speaker 1: you'll read six other times in the gospel it's said
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Speaker 1: again by different people. John the Baptizer says it here
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Speaker 1: look at verse forty nine, same chapter Nathaniel, another man.
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Speaker 1: Nathaniel answered him. By the way, it was a little
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Speaker 1: struggle here between Nathaniel and the Savior. Some of these
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Speaker 1: human interest stories intrigged me at times because it reminds
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Speaker 1: me of just how much like we are today in
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Speaker 1: comparison to them. Look at verse verse forty five of
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Speaker 1: John One. Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, we
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Speaker 1: have found him. We have found him of whom Moses
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Speaker 1: in the Law and the Prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth,
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Speaker 1: son of Joseph. Nathaniel said to him, can any good
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Speaker 1: thing come out of Nazareth? Now, maybe you come from
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Speaker 1: a town like Nazareth. I came from El Campo, Texas.
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Speaker 1: What are you laughing at? I'm sure there are some
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Speaker 1: people in the big city that say, can anything good
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Speaker 1: come out of El Campo? They're still asking that. By
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Speaker 1: the way, it's not made much difference. Can anything good
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Speaker 1: come out of a military city like this, sleazy city
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Speaker 1: like Nazareth. I got a friend that was born and
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Speaker 1: raised in Hinckley, Minnesota, and he just talks about it
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Speaker 1: like it's the great metropolis of all times, Hinckley, Minnesota.
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Speaker 1: I'm sure that people in that day sort of ran
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Speaker 1: down Nazareth. It was it was. It was a place
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Speaker 1: of military barracks. The Roman soldier played the streets in Nazareth,
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Speaker 1: and so Nathaniel, knowing his geography, says with us with
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Speaker 1: a sneak, anything good come out of Nazareth. Let's read on.
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Speaker 1: Philip said to him, come and see. By the way,
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Speaker 1: that's a pretty good response. When people say things about
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Speaker 1: the Savior that you can't answer, Just get him in
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Speaker 1: touch with the real thing. Don't try to keep arguing.
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Speaker 1: I'll try to keep defending. It's like the guy that
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Speaker 1: spends half his ministry defending the Bible. Just declare it.
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Speaker 1: You know, if I were to bring a lion on
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Speaker 1: a leash up on the platform, I wouldn't have to
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Speaker 1: say no, leave the lion alone. Don't anybody mess with
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Speaker 1: my lion. I got him here, and you guys leave
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Speaker 1: him alone. You know what I do. Take the leash off.
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Speaker 1: I just tell you to watch out. That's the way
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Speaker 1: it can be with the Savior. Can anything good come
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Speaker 1: out of Nazareth? Hey, once you come check it out
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Speaker 1: for yourself. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and said him,
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Speaker 1: behold and Israelite, indeed in whom is no guile. Nathaniel
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Speaker 1: doesn't play games, no gobbledegoot, no double talk. He's straight.
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Speaker 1: Nathaniel said to him, how do you know me? Here's
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Speaker 1: the mind boggling answer. Jesus answered, said to him before
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Speaker 1: Philip called you when you were under the fig tree,
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Speaker 1: I saw you. Now between verses forty eight and forty nine,
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Speaker 1: Nathaniel drops his teeth, just in case you didn't know.
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Speaker 1: And while he's putting him back in place, he answers
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Speaker 1: Jesus and says, Rabbi, you are the son of God.
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Speaker 1: You are the King of Israel. You're exactly who Philip
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Speaker 1: said you were. What convinced him, well, a little encounter
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Speaker 1: with the Savior who told him all about himself. By
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Speaker 1: the way, just a little sidelight, I saw you when
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Speaker 1: you were sitting under the tree. Some of you here
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Speaker 1: tonight and do not know Jesus Christ. And you think
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Speaker 1: you have nothing to do with him, and he has
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Speaker 1: nothing to do with you. He has your steps marked.
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Speaker 1: It's just a matter of time. You do not surprise heaven.
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Speaker 1: You do not keep Jesus wondering. You do not have
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Speaker 1: him in mystery and awe of your life. He knows
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Speaker 1: exactly what he's doing with you and in you. It's
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Speaker 1: just a matter of time. And some of you who
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Speaker 1: have come to know the Savior and have wilfully, deliberately
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Speaker 1: walked away from him, he knows you when you're under
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Speaker 1: the tree. He knows those games you're playing. He's not
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Speaker 1: sweating it. Honestly, you get you back. Nathaniel says, behold
28:14
Speaker 1: that the rabbi the son of God. In chapter six,
28:19
Speaker 1: it occurs again, and John very carefully records Peter's words
28:24
Speaker 1: verse sixty nine. Long chapter, Jesus has just dinned the ranks,
28:34
Speaker 1: and he's given him a hard word regarding discipleship, and
28:38
Speaker 1: some of the people have begun to walk away when
28:41
Speaker 1: he spells out what it means to be a disciple
28:44
Speaker 1: of the Savior, and so verse sixty six. As a
28:47
Speaker 1: result of this, many of his disciples withdrew, and we're
28:50
Speaker 1: not walking with him anymore. Jesus said to the twelve,
28:55
Speaker 1: you do not want to go away, also, do you? Peter?
29:01
Speaker 1: We put Simon down all too often. This guy's he's
29:08
Speaker 1: ready with an answer. Simon said, Lord, to whom shall
29:12
Speaker 1: we go? You have the words of eternal life. And
29:15
Speaker 1: we have believed and we have come to know that
29:19
Speaker 1: here it is you are the Holy One of God.
29:25
Speaker 1: Now you may question my friend whether he is the
29:28
Speaker 1: son of God, but men who walked with him didn't
29:30
Speaker 1: question it. The testimony of Peter is that we've settled
29:36
Speaker 1: the case you're God over In chapter ten it appears
29:42
Speaker 1: yet again Jesus himself claims it ten thirty six. There's
29:51
Speaker 1: a hassle going on between Jesus and the Pharisee that
29:54
Speaker 1: went on all the time. You know, in reading through
29:56
Speaker 1: the New Testament, have you come across this? And I
29:59
Speaker 1: hope some of you are reading along with us as
30:01
Speaker 1: we're going chapter a day, rolling right on through. When
30:05
Speaker 1: I finished Mark's Gospel just this morning, I was impressed,
30:10
Speaker 1: and I mentioned this to Cynthia. I was impressed with
30:14
Speaker 1: the continued hassle Jesus had with opposition. It keeps coming up.
30:21
Speaker 1: Just check it. As you read through the gospels. We
30:24
Speaker 1: get a little bit of flak, we get a little
30:26
Speaker 1: bit of criticism, we get a little bit of hate mail,
30:29
Speaker 1: and we think it's just not worth it. We just
30:31
Speaker 1: have to give up. Jesus dealt with it. It seemed
30:35
Speaker 1: virtually every day, especially as he got closer to the
30:38
Speaker 1: shadow of the cross. Here's another case in point verse
30:43
Speaker 1: thirty six. Do you say of him whom the Father
30:48
Speaker 1: sanctified and sent into the world? You were blaspheming because
30:52
Speaker 1: I said I am the Son of God. That's not
30:58
Speaker 1: clear enough for you. Across the age is same reference here,
31:02
Speaker 1: Chapter eleven, verse four. Jesus, when he heard it, said
31:07
Speaker 1: this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory
31:09
Speaker 1: of God, and then referring to himself that the Son
31:13
Speaker 1: of God may be glorified by it. Lazarus is dead,
31:18
Speaker 1: I know it. Don't panic. The Son of God is
31:22
Speaker 1: going to be glorified in this death. It's appropriate to
31:26
Speaker 1: stop right here and say something about that. It is
31:32
Speaker 1: at the crisis time of life that the Son of
31:35
Speaker 1: God becomes most precious and real. When you lose someone
31:44
Speaker 1: or something that has been dear to you, the Son
31:48
Speaker 1: of God emerges, and if you allow it to happen,
31:53
Speaker 1: eclipses the horror of all of that loss. If you
31:59
Speaker 1: do not, the vact remains, but He is ready and
32:03
Speaker 1: able to fill it that he might be glorified in it.
32:07
Speaker 1: How often, as a minister, I have seen Jesus, Christ's
32:11
Speaker 1: name glorified more in a person's death than it was
32:15
Speaker 1: in his than he was in his life. And I've
32:18
Speaker 1: seen family members brought together around the person of Christ
32:22
Speaker 1: through the death of an individual. Jesus is saying, Lazarus, Yeah,
32:26
Speaker 1: he's dead, but this is for the glory of God,
32:30
Speaker 1: that I might be glorified, the Son of God might
32:33
Speaker 1: be glorified. It's beautiful how he fills the empty spaces
32:43
Speaker 1: with his presence. That is part of the reason that
32:48
Speaker 1: the roots grow deep when the winds are strong. He
32:55
Speaker 1: comes to give stability at those times. In chapter Eve eleven,
33:00
Speaker 1: verse twenty seven, there is yet a fifth reference to
33:03
Speaker 1: his being the son of God. Jesus is present now
33:07
Speaker 1: and the scene is a panic stricken scene, and Martha
33:11
Speaker 1: is speaking. She rebukes him for not having been there
33:15
Speaker 1: when her brother died, and she said to him, yes,
33:21
Speaker 1: Lord see. He had asked her, you know, do you
33:23
Speaker 1: not believe I mean, I am the resurrection and the life.
33:26
Speaker 1: He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet
33:28
Speaker 1: shall he live? And whoever lives and believes in me
33:30
Speaker 1: will never die. Do you believe that? Now? Martha's answer
33:34
Speaker 1: she said, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ.
33:41
Speaker 1: Here it is again fifth time, the son of God,
33:46
Speaker 1: even he who comes into the world. Thomas says it
33:52
Speaker 1: in chapter twenty. You're very familiar with his comment, no
33:58
Speaker 1: reason to milk it. Thomas has been doubting. Jesus appears
34:04
Speaker 1: and says, you want proof, touch the scars, put your
34:10
Speaker 1: hand in my side. You wonder if I'm the one
34:13
Speaker 1: who was pierced on the cross with the spear, And
34:17
Speaker 1: Thomas answered twenty verse twenty eight, my Lord and my God.
34:28
Speaker 1: In twenty thirty one, we just read the verse that
34:32
Speaker 1: Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. Now that's
34:40
Speaker 1: the message of John's gospel. His motive is to help
34:43
Speaker 1: us believe. It's the book that helps us believe. You
34:48
Speaker 1: have troubled believing. Read John, you still have trouble believing.
34:53
Speaker 1: Read it again, and guess what right? Do it again.
34:58
Speaker 1: If you still st with belief, John will help you believe.
35:05
Speaker 1: He will show you why it makes sense. Now. His
35:09
Speaker 1: method is really quite simple. If you happen to have
35:17
Speaker 1: an outline in your hand, you can turn it over
35:19
Speaker 1: the other side for an uninspired chart. It's helpful, but
35:25
Speaker 1: it is not inspired. Many other charts better than this one,
35:31
Speaker 1: But I want you to see here. What in the
35:36
Speaker 1: world do I want you? Oh? Here it is at
35:37
Speaker 1: the bottom left. I was wondering what I wanted you
35:40
Speaker 1: to see here, but now I see what I want
35:41
Speaker 1: you to see the bottom left see the great miracles.
35:46
Speaker 1: John's method is this, I want to show you the
35:48
Speaker 1: signs that will help you believe. In chapter two, he
35:54
Speaker 1: turns water into wine that'll help you believe. The disciples
35:57
Speaker 1: did of them believed on him. There he heals a
36:03
Speaker 1: man's son. In chapter four, he heals a man. In
36:06
Speaker 1: chapter five, and there were those who believed he feeds
36:10
Speaker 1: five thousand, and the disciples are left one basket full
36:14
Speaker 1: of food per person they believe he walks on water.
36:20
Speaker 1: In chapter six, he heals a blind man who is
36:23
Speaker 1: suffering from congenital blindness. And there's a theological question as
36:27
Speaker 1: to who is guilty, the man or his parents, and
36:30
Speaker 1: Jesus sets that asize is neither. I want you to
36:33
Speaker 1: believe from this experience, and he uses this handicapped situation
36:38
Speaker 1: to help people believe. And then, of course, as we
36:40
Speaker 1: just saw in part chapter eleven, he raised Lazarus from
36:44
Speaker 1: the dead, and there are those who they believe. I mean,
36:49
Speaker 1: they've been mourning and they've been going through all his
36:52
Speaker 1: rigmarole over the death that seemed a time ill timed, meaningless,
36:59
Speaker 1: unfair day. And after Lazarus comes out of that tomb,
37:04
Speaker 1: they believe, they believe the signs that Jesus use it.
37:13
Speaker 1: Let me give you a definition of a sign as
37:18
Speaker 1: it relates to miraculous events in the scriptures. It's a
37:22
Speaker 1: term that means an act of supernatural origin with deep
37:35
Speaker 1: meaning behind it, and an act of supernatural origin with
37:42
Speaker 1: deep meaning behind it. But get this, the act is
37:50
Speaker 1: of secondary importance. What is important when you find a miracle,
37:58
Speaker 1: especially in the Gospel of John, is not so much
38:01
Speaker 1: the act itself, though that is amazing. It is gleaning
38:07
Speaker 1: or gaining the meaning behind it. That's why Jesus, after
38:13
Speaker 1: doing a miracle, will stay and will present a discourse.
38:19
Speaker 1: Sometime it's only a few statements. Sometimes it lasts the
38:22
Speaker 1: rest of the chapter and on into the following. You see,
38:26
Speaker 1: the purpose of the miracle was to help people realize
38:30
Speaker 1: this man's from God, this individual is in fact supernatural
38:37
Speaker 1: in origin. But behind it all is a desire to
38:41
Speaker 1: show them some deep, profound truth, usually about himself personally.
38:53
Speaker 1: Now the next question is how does John present his
39:00
Speaker 1: his stuff? How does he present his message? Keep looking
39:05
Speaker 1: at this chart, it'll save you a lot of turning.
39:10
Speaker 1: Notice there's a hinge in the book, Hinge, a hinge.
39:14
Speaker 1: Between chapters twelve and thirteen, there is a pivot point,
39:19
Speaker 1: like a door swinging on a hinge. It's an opening
39:22
Speaker 1: into the book. Look at the difference between the first
39:26
Speaker 1: section and the last. In the first there is an
39:29
Speaker 1: emphasis on his public ministry. He's healing, he's working, he's teaching,
39:37
Speaker 1: he's reaching, he's pursuing. There's a growing ground swell of
39:42
Speaker 1: interest in him, and it's public public, public, public feeding,
39:47
Speaker 1: public ministry, public healing. But in chapter thirteen he gets
39:53
Speaker 1: alone with his men. There's a conference that lasts through
39:57
Speaker 1: these five better part of five chapters. It's called the
40:02
Speaker 1: upper Room discourse, which means that Jesus met in a
40:08
Speaker 1: second story apartment or house or flat with his men,
40:13
Speaker 1: and he taught them some of the most important truths
40:18
Speaker 1: they would ever hear, to help them into that transition
40:23
Speaker 1: when he's gone, and equally to help us today as
40:29
Speaker 1: we cope with life. Let me suggest something here, if
40:38
Speaker 1: you struggle at times wondering exactly what God is saying
40:42
Speaker 1: about the impact Jesus ought to have on your life.
40:48
Speaker 1: Digest thirteen through seventeen of John. Some people will send
40:55
Speaker 1: you quickly to the Letters of Paul, and I love
40:58
Speaker 1: those letters, But I don't think enough is said about
41:02
Speaker 1: these five chapters in John's Gospel. For the Lord pulls
41:06
Speaker 1: you aside with as though one of his own twelve
41:10
Speaker 1: and communicates to you some truth about himself about the
41:15
Speaker 1: life that you're living. Struggling with dealing with, You will
41:20
Speaker 1: learn about abiding in Christ. You will learn about the
41:23
Speaker 1: importance of leaning hard on the Holy Spirit for his
41:26
Speaker 1: power to get you through the lean times or the
41:29
Speaker 1: low tide of your life. John thirteen through seventeen, unfortunately,
41:36
Speaker 1: is a is a forgotten passage of scripture to far
41:41
Speaker 1: too many Christians today. It's a conference time. When you
41:47
Speaker 1: get into eighteen, the suffering really starts, and nineteen is
41:50
Speaker 1: his crucifixion and on into the resurrection chapter and his
41:54
Speaker 1: final epilogue or chapter of assurance in chapter twenty one.
41:59
Speaker 1: So there's a ministry in the last part of the gospel.
42:03
Speaker 1: Look at the difference in timing in the first section
42:06
Speaker 1: of the gospel. There are three years that pass chapters
42:10
Speaker 1: one through twelve, but when you get to thirteen, you
42:13
Speaker 1: only have a few days before we've come to the
42:16
Speaker 1: end of his life and he's put in a grave.
42:23
Speaker 1: This has led some to refer to the keys that
42:25
Speaker 1: unlock the book as a as a back door key,
42:28
Speaker 1: and a side door key, and a front door key.
42:35
Speaker 1: Look at them. We're right here at the back door.
42:38
Speaker 1: So look at chapter chapter twenty, verse thirty. Again. Many
42:49
Speaker 1: other signs Jesus performed in the presence of the disciples,
42:52
Speaker 1: which are not written in this book, but these have
42:55
Speaker 1: been written that you may believe. That's chapters one through twelve,
43:00
Speaker 1: these that have been recorded. Did you notice all the
43:02
Speaker 1: miracles or in the first twelve chapters. The first section
43:07
Speaker 1: of the book is designed to give you the information,
43:11
Speaker 1: the facts, the reliable scoop the truth concerning Jesus of Nazareth,
43:22
Speaker 1: and that believing you might have life through his name
43:25
Speaker 1: that takes you into the last part of the book
43:28
Speaker 1: where you read of his death and of his resurrection.
43:34
Speaker 1: The gospel is simply believing that Jesus Christ died for me,
43:44
Speaker 1: paying the penalty for my sins and that he was
43:48
Speaker 1: raised victoriously bodily from the grave and lives today. For me,
43:55
Speaker 1: this is the gospel. That the Lord Jesus died and
44:00
Speaker 1: was buried in proof of his death, and that he
44:03
Speaker 1: was raised and was seen in proof of his resurrection.
44:09
Speaker 1: We have made that message a terribly confusing, muddled mess.
44:16
Speaker 1: And it need not be believing. That Jesus Christ paid
44:21
Speaker 1: the penalty for my sins, and that he died in
44:24
Speaker 1: my place on the cross, that he went to the
44:28
Speaker 1: grave dead and came out of the grave alive. That
44:34
Speaker 1: is what I must believe. I may even have some
44:37
Speaker 1: theological questions. I may even have some questions and struggles
44:42
Speaker 1: concerning the virgin birth. I may not have all the
44:45
Speaker 1: things wired regarding his coming again, I may not have
44:48
Speaker 1: that put together. But the gospel has to do with
44:53
Speaker 1: his death and his resurrection. Forgive me if that's too
44:55
Speaker 1: elementary for many of you. But there are some people
44:58
Speaker 1: listening right now who don't know that. They are the
45:03
Speaker 1: ones who have tried church after church after church, and
45:06
Speaker 1: they are the ones who have tried baptism and communion
45:09
Speaker 1: and dedication and rededication and rededication. Some people, the most
45:15
Speaker 1: dedicated folks in the world, but they're still without Christ.
45:20
Speaker 1: Come to terms in your heart with his death and resurrection.
45:24
Speaker 1: Believe that that it was on your behalf. You've got
45:29
Speaker 1: the Gospel. Believe it, accept it, just as if I
45:33
Speaker 1: were to give you this piece of paper and say
45:35
Speaker 1: take it, and you take it. You've got it. These
45:42
Speaker 1: are written that you may that you may know that
45:45
Speaker 1: you have eternal life. This life is in his son.
45:49
Speaker 1: He that has the Son has the life. He that
45:51
Speaker 1: does not have the Son does not have the life.
45:55
Speaker 1: The Gospel has nothing to do with a church whatsoever.
46:01
Speaker 1: Now that church plays a vital part in your spiritual growth.
46:04
Speaker 1: Believe that. But at the time of being converted, you
46:08
Speaker 1: do not need a church. You don't need a preacher,
46:11
Speaker 1: you don't need religion. You need simply the death and
46:15
Speaker 1: resurrection of Christ. I think that's clear. Huh. Let's go
46:20
Speaker 1: to the side door. Chapter sixteen, verse twenty eight. Got
46:25
Speaker 1: a hurry up now, some of you guys are starting
46:28
Speaker 1: to shake your watch. I realize we're getting close here.
46:32
Speaker 1: Look at sixteen twenty eight, Jesus says, I came forth
46:36
Speaker 1: from the Father and have come into the world. I
46:43
Speaker 1: am leaving the world again and going to the Father.
46:47
Speaker 1: That's one of the most profound complete verses regarding the
46:52
Speaker 1: Lord Jesus you'll ever find. Now, look at how it
46:55
Speaker 1: breaks down in the Gospel of John. I have come
46:58
Speaker 1: forth from the Father. That's chapter one, verses one to eighteen.
47:03
Speaker 1: And in that part of the Gospel, John presents Jesus
47:06
Speaker 1: as God, as having been very God, and in the
47:11
Speaker 1: presence of God fellowship face to face with the Father,
47:15
Speaker 1: as a member of the Godhead. Came forth from the Father,
47:20
Speaker 1: and I have come into the world. That's chapter one,
47:23
Speaker 1: verse nineteen through chapter twelve. Okay, you might just write
47:27
Speaker 1: that in right there in the margin of your bible.
47:29
Speaker 1: I have come into the world. That's the first twelve
47:31
Speaker 1: chapters of the Gospel. And I'm leaving the world again
47:36
Speaker 1: that's thirteen through nineteen. That's when he left them. And
47:43
Speaker 1: ultimately I'm going to the Father. That's the ascension, chapters
47:47
Speaker 1: twenty and twenty one. One more key, we're through chapter one,
47:54
Speaker 1: verse eleven. Let's take verse ten with it. He was
48:06
Speaker 1: in the world and the world was made through him,
48:09
Speaker 1: and the world did not know him. He came to
48:14
Speaker 1: his own that's chapters one to twelve and those who
48:21
Speaker 1: were his own did not receive him. That's thirteen through nineteen.
48:30
Speaker 1: But as many as received him to them, he gave
48:34
Speaker 1: the right to become the children of God, even of
48:39
Speaker 1: those who believe in his name. That's twenty and twenty one.
48:46
Speaker 1: Now I want to tell your tendency. Your tendency is
48:51
Speaker 1: to think, well, what about so and so. I'm concerned
48:59
Speaker 1: about out that person responding, Please look at chapter twenty one,
49:10
Speaker 1: just as a final glimpse. Here chapter twenty one, Jesus
49:15
Speaker 1: has brought Peter back to dignity and forgiven him and
49:18
Speaker 1: told him to feed his sheep, and he's going to
49:21
Speaker 1: use him and to get out there and get the
49:24
Speaker 1: job done. And so he looks at Peter verse nineteen.
49:33
Speaker 1: Jesus had said this, signifying about what kind of death
49:35
Speaker 1: he would he would glorify God. And when he had
49:38
Speaker 1: spoken this, he said to Peter, follow me. Now, watch carefully.
49:45
Speaker 1: You'll see human nature. Peter turning around. I love this,
49:54
Speaker 1: saw John. That's the disciple whom Jesus loved, following the
50:01
Speaker 1: one who had leaned on the back on his breast
50:03
Speaker 1: at the supper and said, Lord, who is the one
50:05
Speaker 1: who betrays you? That's John. Peter seeing him, said to Jesus, Lord,
50:14
Speaker 1: what about him? What about this man? Isn't that typical? Oh?
50:24
Speaker 1: I understand, Lord, if you want me to fall, But
50:27
Speaker 1: what about my roommate. I understand what you're saying to me?
50:33
Speaker 1: But how is it that you will spend more wasted
50:41
Speaker 1: hours looking at someone else's need to respond? Then you
50:48
Speaker 1: need to give it up. Look at what Jesus said.
50:56
Speaker 1: Jesus said to him, If I want him to remain
50:58
Speaker 1: until I come, what is that to you? You follow me?
51:05
Speaker 1: If I want John to stand there till he gets
51:08
Speaker 1: dust on him, If I want John to die there
51:12
Speaker 1: and to turn into a skeleton, what is that to you?
51:17
Speaker 1: You follow me? You're a comparative kind of person. Some are.
51:25
Speaker 1: One of the reasons you can't really walk closely with
51:27
Speaker 1: Christ is you don't understand why God's doing such and
51:30
Speaker 1: such with him. Leave that between God and him. God
51:37
Speaker 1: saying to you, you follow my son. You take care
51:45
Speaker 1: of Peter, I'll take care of John. You believe who'll
51:59
Speaker 1: believe this myth? Each It's very simple. Only those who
52:04
Speaker 1: are willing to acknowledge the facts as such and are
52:09
Speaker 1: willing to give themselves without reservation to the object of
52:16
Speaker 1: the facts, to Jesus Christ. That's who will believe. I've
52:26
Speaker 1: always found it fascinating, this guy that walks on those
52:28
Speaker 1: tight ropes between those high buildings. Philippe Petit is a
52:34
Speaker 1: guy's name, a little French guy that crawls up those
52:38
Speaker 1: buildings illegally and pulls those tight wires between them. Remember
52:45
Speaker 1: when he some time ago, thirteen hundred and fifty feet high,
52:47
Speaker 1: he walked across the buildings the Twin Towers World Trade Center, Manhattan, turbulence.
52:58
Speaker 1: The wind is really strong, and you know it. It
53:04
Speaker 1: was believed that as he tightened that up, the tension
53:08
Speaker 1: would increase from five tons to a thousand, it would
53:11
Speaker 1: certainly snap. One older man gave him some advice. He said,
53:18
Speaker 1: you need to buckle a small wire to your belt
53:23
Speaker 1: and then to the end of that cable, so that
53:25
Speaker 1: if indeed that thing snaps, catch you. Petite responded to
53:33
Speaker 1: use a safety buckle contradicts the ideal of high wire walking.
53:40
Speaker 1: You should take your life, not just your body onto
53:45
Speaker 1: the wire. That's belief. No handmade buckles, no special preparation
53:57
Speaker 1: on your part so that you helped. You just get
54:02
Speaker 1: out on a wire It's a scary thought, isn't it.
54:11
Speaker 1: But that's faith. Let's bow together. Okay, some of you
54:20
Speaker 1: folks are pretty weary tonight, had a big day. Maybe
54:27
Speaker 1: it's a good time just to just to give yourself
54:32
Speaker 1: back to the Lord's care. I don't I don't need
54:37
Speaker 1: to repeat all the things we've heard here in the
54:39
Speaker 1: application of this book. You don't need that. But one
54:44
Speaker 1: thing has stood out to you. God said one thing
54:47
Speaker 1: to one person and something else entirely to somebody else.
54:52
Speaker 1: For some of you, it's just the need to abandon
54:54
Speaker 1: yourself by faith to that wire. Don't believe me, believe
55:01
Speaker 1: this book. It'll hold you up, it won't snap, and
55:06
Speaker 1: you won't lose your balance. He commits himself to you.
55:10
Speaker 1: But he says to you, step out on that wire,
55:15
Speaker 1: get on out there. It's a perfect moment for you
55:20
Speaker 1: who've never believed the gospel to take it now. It's
55:23
Speaker 1: the gift of eternal life. Maybe it's been very, very muddled,
55:30
Speaker 1: confusing to you. Just believe what you've heard, Lord, our God,
55:46
Speaker 1: please forgive us for the hours we've spent comparing our
55:50
Speaker 1: walk with someone else's. Are trying to right the wrongs
55:55
Speaker 1: of what appeared to be to us an injustice, some equity,
56:02
Speaker 1: some unfair treatment, some mystery. Spending our life looking over
56:08
Speaker 1: at John rather than dealing with our own personal life
56:13
Speaker 1: like Peter had to do. Help us to hear what
56:17
Speaker 1: you're saying to us. Follow me. For some that's a very,
56:24
Speaker 1: very difficult walk. They've believed in you. But now the
56:30
Speaker 1: waves are high, and the currents are strong, and the
56:33
Speaker 1: ocean is deep, and there's no land in sight. Some
56:38
Speaker 1: are very lonely at this moment, some frustrated and disturbed,
56:45
Speaker 1: anxious with cares that they can't seem to solve. I
56:51
Speaker 1: pray that you will do what no man, no woman
56:55
Speaker 1: can do. Bring peace to that soul. Make it well.
57:05
Speaker 2: With them. Father, do that soon, in the name of
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Speaker 2: Jesus Christ, who heals, who restores, renews. The people said amen.
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Speaker 1: The preceding message, John, that you may Believe was copyrighted
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Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty two, and the sound recording was copyrighted
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Speaker 1: in twenty twelve by Charles R. Swindell, Inc. All rights
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Speaker 1: are reserved worldwide.