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Many Other Signs . . . Many Other Things Msg 16 16 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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