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Many-Other-Signs-Many-Other-Things · 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 turned 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, are of
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Speaker 2: imaginations dreamed up in the pious imaginations of a devout Jew.
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Speaker 2: We have credible, attested miracles seen by men of history
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Speaker 2: who watched them happen. We do not have theoretical meanderings.
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Speaker 2: We have actual events called signs by the writer. And
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Speaker 2: that's a refreshing thing in our day and age. You
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Speaker 2: cannot tell what is myth from what is miracle, what
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Speaker 2: is truth, from what is error? John says, these men
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Speaker 2: 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 Kane 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 Capernaium,
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Speaker 2: there lived an official of the Roman government, and as
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Speaker 2: a man and as a father, he had a little
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Speaker 2: boy who was sick. This father, the official, heard that
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Speaker 2: Jesus was near in Cana of Galilee, the very place
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Speaker 2: where we were in chapter two, twenty miles away. So
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Speaker 2: the father left his sixth son, went to Jesus's side
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Speaker 2: and made a request. Chapter four, verse forty seven. When
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Speaker 2: he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea to Galilee,
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Speaker 2: he went to him and was requesting him to come
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Speaker 2: down and heal his son. Mark the words come down
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Speaker 2: just like we are. This father felt that Jesus had
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Speaker 2: to be present to do a miracle. How many people
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Speaker 2: feel that. Oh, if Jesus could simply come on the campus,
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Speaker 2: there could be a revival. If Jesus could simply visit
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Speaker 2: our home, there could be a change. If Jesus could
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Speaker 2: simply take over the books of my business are the sales,
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Speaker 2: then my business would be turned around. Listen, he doesn't
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Speaker 2: need to be here to do it. That miracle proves it.
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Speaker 2: Jesus simply said to him verse fifty, go your way.
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Speaker 2: Your son lives, And he said that twenty miles away
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Speaker 2: from where the son was sick. And the man rested
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Speaker 2: there overnight, and he got up the next morning and
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Speaker 2: was on his way to his son, and he was
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Speaker 2: met by his servants. Look at this fifty two. He
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Speaker 2: inquired of them. The hour when he began to get better.
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Speaker 2: And they said to him yesterday at the seventh hour,
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Speaker 2: the fever left him. So the father knew it was
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Speaker 2: at that hour in which Jesus had said to him,
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Speaker 2: your son lives, and he himself believed in his whole household.
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Speaker 2: Look at that another miracle. John says, this is the
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Speaker 2: second sign that Jesus performed a miracle of what of distance? Listen,
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Speaker 2: you don't have to be in a certain place for
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Speaker 2: God to step in and take over. You don't even
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Speaker 2: have to be in a church for you to express
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Speaker 2: to him a need and expect him to meet it,
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Speaker 2: or express worship. You don't have to have the surroundings
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Speaker 2: he ministers at a distance. He can span the light
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Speaker 2: years of and be there just that fast. In fact,
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Speaker 2: he dwells within you. Isn't that great As a child
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Speaker 2: of God? As Augustine says, you carry God around with you.
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Speaker 2: He's here. He handles those things regardless of the distance.
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Speaker 2: Look at chapter five and verse one through nine. Jesus
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Speaker 2: has proved himself master of quality, master of distance or space.
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Speaker 2: Here he proves himself master of time. This is the
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Speaker 2: third slide. Here's a man who has been sick by
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Speaker 2: a pool named Bethesda for thirty eight years. Verse five
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Speaker 2: tells us thirty eight years he had been in his sickness.
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Speaker 2: Stop and think about that. Some of you aren't even
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Speaker 2: thirty eight years old, longer than some of you have lived.
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Speaker 2: That man was sick. Think of the time, the sands
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Speaker 2: of 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, what 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 down?
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Speaker 2: Verse ten. And he took the loaves verse eleven, and
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Speaker 2: he gave thanks, and he distributed to those that were
28:05
Speaker 2: seated the bread and the fish as much as they wanted.
28:10
Speaker 2: Is there a problem too big? You tell me what's
28:14
Speaker 2: too big? For God? I didn't even cause him a
28:19
Speaker 2: sigh to think of the problem. His sigh was brought
28:22
Speaker 2: 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. He listened 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 all you may
30:57
Speaker 2: worry from now till is when it happens, 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.
31:45
Speaker 3: I'm so glad.
31:46
Speaker 2: I thought, why, why it's stupid to worry about something
31:50
Speaker 2: like that? Here I am pastor of the church, worried
31:54
Speaker 2: about the lobe. You know, the re direction got the
31:57
Speaker 2: finest doctor you can get a hold of. Hey, analyze
32:03
Speaker 2: your worry. Basically, it's stupid. If it's impossible, your worry
32:11
Speaker 2: is a waste. If it's not an impossible situation, then
32:15
Speaker 2: correct it. But if you can't handle it, give it up.
32:24
Speaker 2: Which brings us to misfortune. Chapter nine. He proved himself
32:30
Speaker 2: master over quantity, over quality, over distance and time, over
32:39
Speaker 2: 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. And
33:58
Speaker 2: that dog was down as he years, all flopped down,
34:01
Speaker 2: sleeping right there. And she was sitting there listening to
34:05
Speaker 2: this account. And I made the comment, almost oblivious to
34:09
Speaker 2: her presence, that God on some occasions will take a
34:13
Speaker 2: misfortune and change the misfortune and correct it. On other occasions,
34:19
Speaker 2: he will simply change you to accept it. And I
34:24
Speaker 2: looked over at her, and she was looking up the
34:28
Speaker 2: big smile as if to say, I'm in that group,
34:35
Speaker 2: and maybe you are too. Maybe God has chosen in
34:39
Speaker 2: your life not to take away your misfortune, but to
34:44
Speaker 2: change you. You see, that's that's a lot harder job.
34:53
Speaker 2: You're his greatest headache. Frankly, he can handle the sea,
35:01
Speaker 2: the elements, earthquakes, storms, disasters. It's you and me that
35:12
Speaker 2: give him.
35:12
Speaker 1: The rub.
35:14
Speaker 2: Out on Redpath said, on one occasion, when God wants
35:17
Speaker 2: to do an impossible task, he takes an impossible person
35:20
Speaker 2: and crushes him. And you're in the process of being
35:27
Speaker 2: crushed to accept a misfortune, and you don't like it,
35:31
Speaker 2: and you have your fist as if to say, don't
35:34
Speaker 2: take over. This is my right. And my response is
35:40
Speaker 2: name one right you have the day you receive Jesus Christ.
35:47
Speaker 2: You received your Lord, Jesus Christ, who became the avowed
35:53
Speaker 2: master of your life. And you gave up all rights
35:58
Speaker 2: to your Lord to call every shot, every event as
36:04
Speaker 2: he pleases to shape you and fashion you into his image,
36:11
Speaker 2: the image of God's dear son. Your misfortune's notwithstanding that
36:18
Speaker 2: particular blind man reminds us that God can handle misfortunes.
36:22
Speaker 2: We can't cope with him in our flesh, but he does.
36:26
Speaker 2: And there's one final slide. You'll never forget it, of course,
36:29
Speaker 2: Chapter eleven of John, and that's where the Lord Jesus
36:33
Speaker 2: raised Lazarus and he proved himself master over death. What
36:38
Speaker 2: a great illustration. J Lazarus had been dead four days
36:42
Speaker 2: according to verse thirty nine, and Jesus said to her,
36:47
Speaker 2: did I not say to you this is Martha. If
36:49
Speaker 2: you believe, you'll see the glory of God verse forty
36:53
Speaker 2: and then people got out of the way as Jesus prayed,
36:55
Speaker 2: and then said, Lazarus verse forty three, come forth. And he,
37:02
Speaker 2: it says, he who had said these things, cried with
37:05
Speaker 2: a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth, He who had died
37:09
Speaker 2: came fourth. You picture that, stumbling out of that tomb
37:13
Speaker 2: in mummy like wrappings, is a man four days dead
37:17
Speaker 2: now living. And there was a sweeping experience of belief
37:23
Speaker 2: verse forty five. Many of the Jews who had come
37:27
Speaker 2: to marry and beheld what he had done, believed in him.
37:30
Speaker 2: You don't see a man raise from the dead without believing.
37:34
Speaker 2: There have come a time when these graves will open
37:37
Speaker 2: up around us in these cemeteries. The Lord Jesus will
37:41
Speaker 2: descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
37:43
Speaker 2: the archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead
37:46
Speaker 2: in Christ shall be raised first. And the Lord Jesus says,
37:51
Speaker 2: each one of you, loose him and let him go.
37:55
Speaker 2: He'll give you a glorified body, and there will be
37:57
Speaker 2: that great family reunion where the livings the saints will
38:00
Speaker 2: be caught up with the dead and will be forever
38:03
Speaker 2: with the Lord. You imagine that scene. Wow, I can
38:09
Speaker 2: hardly wait, even so, come before the second service tonight,
38:14
Speaker 2: Lord Jesus, you know you could take it before the
38:17
Speaker 2: first if you want to. A great experience, incredible. He's
38:24
Speaker 2: a master over death. That's the whole story of the
38:26
Speaker 2: Easter message Resurrection. And we sit here and we hear
38:33
Speaker 2: the message, master of quality, master of space, distance, master
38:38
Speaker 2: of time, quantity, size, nature, misfortune, death, and we walk
38:43
Speaker 2: out of this place worried to death over what we're
38:47
Speaker 2: gonna have for supper or what we're going to do
38:49
Speaker 2: this next week. So I've come up with a couple
38:54
Speaker 2: of applications already in the first twelve chapters. The first
38:58
Speaker 2: one is this, The best training for the development of
39:03
Speaker 2: your faith is human impossibility. That's the very best training
39:10
Speaker 2: for the development of your faith. If there were a
39:13
Speaker 2: glimmer of human possibility, you'd work it out. But when
39:18
Speaker 2: it gets you to the place where you can't that,
39:21
Speaker 2: he proves himself faithful. That's the beauty of it all.
39:24
Speaker 2: He pins it to the wall and you have to surrender.
39:29
Speaker 2: That's when he steps in and says, now I'll show
39:33
Speaker 2: myself strong. The best place for the development of your
39:38
Speaker 2: faith is human impossibilities. I picked up a little scrap
39:42
Speaker 2: of paper that's been sitting in front of my wife's sink.
39:46
Speaker 2: Notice who think it is my wife's sink at home?
39:49
Speaker 2: It's coffee stained, water stained, soap stained. It says, all
39:56
Speaker 2: of us are faced with a series of great opportunities,
40:01
Speaker 2: brilliantly disguised as impossible situations. And that's true. Depends on
40:09
Speaker 2: your focus. You can focus on it and say that's impossible, Lord,
40:15
Speaker 2: it's yours. Or you can focus on the thing and
40:21
Speaker 2: continue to wrestle with it and die, worried to death.
40:28
Speaker 2: The second lesson I'm learning is that the only solution
40:32
Speaker 2: for your impossibility is divine intervention. It's the only solution.
40:40
Speaker 2: I mean, he really specializes in impossibilities that proves him God.
40:50
Speaker 2: Can you imagine the mess it would have been if
40:53
Speaker 2: I had done my own surgery. I guarantee I wouldn't
40:58
Speaker 2: be back in a few days. Under a local with
41:03
Speaker 2: a mirror. I would have gotten it on upside down,
41:09
Speaker 2: I'll tell you. The doctor asked me, said, now, would
41:13
Speaker 2: 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
42:05
Speaker 2: anesthetic you know? And all that. She was kind of
42:07
Speaker 2: humming and haueing. And I said, well, if she doesn't
42:09
Speaker 2: want 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 straight
46:15
Speaker 2: in the eye and say, Dad, I love you. Six
46:18
Speaker 2: months later, I was in a serious car accident when
46:21
Speaker 2: my father came into the room. He said, son, how
46:23
Speaker 2: can you 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 AD, when he was scourged thrown into prison
47:43
Speaker 2: as a cripple, and then he was crucified Matthew the
47:49
Speaker 2: tax collector. He served in Parthia and Ethiopia among the
47:53
Speaker 2: cannibals until sixty a d. He was bound, covered with
47:59
Speaker 2: oil and asked fault and set on fire. He rebuked
48:05
Speaker 2: the fire as he prayed aloud. Father received my spirit
48:10
Speaker 2: andrew the bashful brother of Simon, I hid an endo
48:15
Speaker 2: bashful life. He became a preacher in many lands. He
48:20
Speaker 2: was the first missionary to Russia, known in those days
48:23
Speaker 2: as the Scythians, probably the most barbaric of the peoples
48:27
Speaker 2: of the first century. Taken under arrest scourged by seven
48:31
Speaker 2: men with rods, he was brought to an ex shaped cross,
48:36
Speaker 2: and he replied to the cross, Hail, precious cross, thou
48:44
Speaker 2: hast been consecrated by the body of my Lord and
48:48
Speaker 2: adorned with his limbs. I come to thee exulting and
48:52
Speaker 2: glad received me into thine arms. That he who redeemed
48:58
Speaker 2: me on THEE may by thee. And he was crucified
49:06
Speaker 2: Thomas doubting Thomas no. He was the first missionary to India.
49:14
Speaker 2: Finally was imprisoned, ultimately tortured by pagan priests martyred by
49:20
Speaker 2: being stabbed repeatedly with spears till he died. The writer John,
49:29
Speaker 2: so many people feel that John lived in a quiet
49:32
Speaker 2: retirement on the island of Patmos, never bothered. You haven't
49:37
Speaker 2: read the story. He ministered faithfully in Ephesus for many years.
49:42
Speaker 2: He founded the churches of Smyrna, Pergamus, Sartists, Philadelphia, Learicea,
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: hunted 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.
50:53
Speaker 3: 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 faith.
51:04
Speaker 3: With our own blood.
51:07
Speaker 2: That book will make a difference. That's about prayer, very
51:17
Speaker 2: serious moment. We do not take it lightly. That's paused
51:22
Speaker 2: just before our Father. You may realize for the first
51:28
Speaker 2: time in the staggering series of events that have passed
51:32
Speaker 2: before your ears, that you're the farthest thing removed from
51:38
Speaker 2: that kind of dedication. Either you don't know Jesus Christ
51:44
Speaker 2: and you need to come to know him, or you
51:47
Speaker 2: may know the Lord Jesus and simply be walking in
51:50
Speaker 2: the flesh, never genuinely walked fully in the power of
51:56
Speaker 2: the spirit, just driven from passion failure to failure. Maybe
52:06
Speaker 2: you want to talk about that, or maybe you don't
52:09
Speaker 2: need to talk to anyone but God, and as His child,
52:13
Speaker 2: you say, Lord, I confess to you this is my lifestyle.
52:18
Speaker 2: I lay it before you and shame. I claim your forgiveness.
52:25
Speaker 2: Bring me to that place of commitment and dedication. Make
52:30
Speaker 2: me part of the.
52:31
Speaker 3: Gospel that's still being land.
52:37
Speaker 2: Come now, Christians, let's wrestle personally, individually with what we're
52:43
Speaker 2: going to do with what we have learned. The greatest
52:52
Speaker 2: requirement and risk in all the world our father is
52:55
Speaker 2: to be exposed to biblical truth.
53:01
Speaker 3: We who live in the light have no business trafficking.
53:05
Speaker 2: In the dark. We have learned truths of abiding, washing feet,
53:14
Speaker 2: truths of resting, the truth of what it means to
53:18
Speaker 2: be wholly.
53:20
Speaker 3: Dedicated, even to death. But we live as as a means.
53:30
Speaker 3: Those who live our whole plan and life. Deal with
53:35
Speaker 3: us and merely our Father, and bring us to that
53:39
Speaker 3: place where we're willing to say the cross.
53:44
Speaker 2: What a glorious thing to accept.
53:47
Speaker 3: It is his plan for me. Thank you for our
53:51
Speaker 3: study today and for the year. We speak with your
53:55
Speaker 3: son and not man, in the.
54:02
Speaker 2: Loving name Jesus christ O pray Amen.
54:08
Speaker 4: The preceding message, many other signs, many other things was
54:13
Speaker 4: copyrighted in nineteen seventy six, nineteen eighty eight, two thousand
54:17
Speaker 4: and twenty eighteen, and the sound recording was copyrighted in
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Speaker 4: twenty eighteen by Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All rights are
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Speaker 4: reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is
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Speaker 4: strictly prohibited.