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Uncommitted! - John 2:23-25

Taught on | Topic: Belief | Keywords: Miracles, signs, omniscience, belief

These three verses are some of the most unusual in the New Testament. They describe a scene in the life of Jesus that explains His popularity and fame. The response of people to the miracles of Jesus is understandable. What is not readily understandable is Jesus' response to the interested and excited crowd. Though they believed in Him, He was not too energized over their kind of faith. Understanding this will help us to understand Jesus and His mission.

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1/24/2010
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Uncommitted!
John 2:23-25
Skip Heitzig
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These three verses are some of the most unusual in the New Testament. They describe a scene in the life of Jesus that explains His popularity and fame. The response of people to the miracles of Jesus is understandable. What is not readily understandable is Jesus' response to the interested and excited crowd. Though they believed in Him, He was not too energized over their kind of faith. Understanding this will help us to understand Jesus and His mission.
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43 John - Believe:879 - 2009

43 John - Believe:879 - 2009

"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name" John 20:31.

Believe:879 is an epic journey through the book of John led by Pastor Skip Heitzig of Calvary of Albuquerque. As we explore each of the 879 verses of this gospel, we'll grow in grace and in our knowledge of Jesus Christ. From His pre-incarnate existence, to His public ministry, through His death and His resurrection we'll traverse familiar territory and embark on new adventures of faith.

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Outline

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  1. The Unmistakable Clues (vs. 23)
    1. Miraculous Signs Done
    2. Mentioned without Detail
  2. The Under-Committed Crowd (vs. 23)
    1. The Beginning of their Belief
    2. The Basis of their Belief
  3. The Uncommitted Christ (vv. 24-25)
    1. His Reluctance
    2. His Reasons
For Home Fellowships:
  1. How can seeing a miracle help us? How could it hurt us? What makes the difference
  2. How does it feel for you to relate to the God who knows everything about you?
  3. Look up Romans 3:10-12. How does this fit into the truths of John 2?

Detailed Notes

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These three verses are some of the most unusual in the New Testament. They describe a scene in the life of Jesus that explains His popularity and fame. The response of people to the miracles of Jesus is understandable. What is not readily understandable is Jesus’ response to the interested and excited crowd. Though they believed in Him, He was not too energized over their kind of faith. Understanding this will help to understand Jesus and His mission.

Knowledge is supreme.  Imagine being around someone who knows everything; what you think, your motives. When Jesus healed the paralytic, He knew the thoughts of those surrounding Him.  Our text is the summation of what happened that week. 

Each portion of chapter 2 includes a statement of faith.  When Jesus turned water to wine at Cana, the disciples believed in Him.  When Jesus cleansed the temple the disciples believed the scripture.  Now, the crowds will believe. 

John's point here is that Jesus is omniscient.  He knows the soul and motivation of men and women.

  1. The Unmistakable Clues (v. 23)
    1. Miraculous Signs Done
      1. 17 times John uses the term signs (semeion)
      2. 37 miracles recorded in the gospels
      3. People's response to miracles
        1. over naturalize them, call everyday occurrences miracles
        2. explain them away as primitive interpretations
        3. hyping miracles , cheapening the idea of what they are
      4. Webster defines as extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.
      5. Skip defines as divine work wrought with divine power for a divine purpose.
      6. God is not a prisoner to His own laws. He can supercede natural law and enact another law.  Like when humans overcome gravity with thrust and lift.
      7. Why Jesus performed miracles
        1. loves people
        2. prove who he is.
    2. Mentioned without Detail
      1. We know he performed many miracles during this week
        1. lots of publicity
        2. Nicodemus referred to them John 3:1
  2. The Under-Committed Crowd (v. 23)

    They had asked for a sign, Jesus didn't do one, then He goes out and does a lot of them. He uses the signs to get their attention.
    1. The Beginning of their Belief
      1. Belief doesn't necessarily mean committed faith. James 2
        1. demonic faith
        2. dead faith
        3. dynamic faith
      2. Believed in His Name - they accepted Him on their own terms.  They were "unsaved believers" (Warren Wiersbe) .
      3. Belief in Him (Jn 8:30,31, Acts 8)
      4. Movement in John from the light of popularity to the darkness of rejection.
    2. The Basis of their Belief
      1. The people want signs not a savior
      2. Signs are never enough
      3. Faith must be based on who He is, not what He does
      4. There's a difference between knowing who someone is and knowing them personally
  3. The Uncommitted Christ (vv. 24-25)
    How Jesus responds to nominal Christianity.  In this passage, commit and believe are the same Greek word.  "They believed in Him, but He didn't believe in them."
    1. His Reluctance They had "stony ground faith" Matthew 13
    2. His Reasons - Jesus is omniscient, he knew all men. No one with artificial faith can get away with it. Hebrews 4:13

Since Jesus knows everything He knows the worst about you. He also knows the best about you.  He knows what He will make out of you.

Figures Referenced: Celsus, Porphyry, Hume, Apollonius, Spinoza, William Barclay, Warren Wiersbe, Charles Spurgeon
Greek Terms: semeion (distinguishing mark, miracle, sign)
Cross References: Matthew 13, John 3:1, John 8:30,31, Acts 8:13, Hebrews 4:13, James 2

Transcript

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Believe:879. How far will you go to find the truth? A journey through the gospel of John with Skip Heitzig.

Could you turn in your Bibles this morning to John's gospel, chapter two?

For most of us, knowledge is supreme. Absolutely supreme. There are certain things we need to know to do our jobs and to do them well. But there's another type of knowledge that isn't all that important to know. It's called trivia. It's out there, but nobody really cares except to go, "Huh." That's about all. For example, I bet you didn't know that no piece of paper can be folded over seven times. I know some of you are going to say, "I'll challenge that." You'll go home and try it---I did. I bet you didn't know that donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes. I bet you didn't know that mosquito repellants don't repel---they hide you. The spray blocks mosquito sensors so they don't know you're there. I bet you didn't know that doctors or dentists recommend that your toothbrush be kept six feet away from the toilet to avoid airborne particles that result from the flush. I know that's T-M-I, too much information, right? Like I said, I bet you didn't know that. I bet you didn't know the liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for blood plasma. See, you go, "Huh." I bet you didn't know you burn more calories sleeping than watching television. At least when you sleep, you snore or you talk or you turn over. You don't do much when you watch television. I bet you didn't know that a Boeing 747 wingspan is longer than the Wright brothers' first flight. I bet you didn't know that American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by just eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class. I bet you didn't know that Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise. I bet you didn't know that apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning. I know you're going to eat apples tomorrow. I bet you didn't know that most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin. Eww! I bet you didn't know Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined. I bet you didn't know that it takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs. And I bet you didn't know that 35 percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married. Shocking, but true.

Most everyone doesn't know those things. But can you imagine being around somebody who knew everything? Everything? Even what you think---even what you think. Well that brings us to this section. We discover that Jesus knew everything and knew all about people and all about their motives. You know, there's that great story in the Gospels where they bring to Jesus a paralytic. And He looks down at him and Jesus says, "Son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven." The leaders in the room, the religious leaders, hear this and they're just thinking these thoughts. They're thinking, "This guy is blaspheming. Nobody can forgive sins but God." The Bible says Jesus turns to them, knowing their thoughts and says, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?" Can you imagine being around a guy like that? You go up to Jesus, "You know, Lord, I was thinking." He says, "No, you weren't thinking that. I know what you were thinking and I know why you're telling Me this." It could be unnerving.

I have saved the verses that we're about to read, verses 23, 24, and 25. Just those three this morning. I've saved them because they are so unusual. When we read them they give us pause; they make us evaluate our own faith. So let's look at verse 23 through 25: "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man." There's three stories in chapter two. We've covered two; this is the last one. The first is the marriage at Cana. The second is the cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem. And the third is this short little paragraph that is an editorial statement; a summation of what happened during that one week at Passover when Jesus went to Jerusalem. In all three of these stories, there's a statement of faith that is given. For example, the marriage supper at Cana in verse eleven of chapter two. It says, "The disciples believed in Him." That was the result. In the cleansing of the temple, the next story in chapter two, it says that the disciples "believed the Scripture" and what Jesus said. Now we have in verse 23 a statement of faith by the crowds: they believed in Him. What is unusual is Jesus' response to their belief. It was not favorable. And it's because of what He knew. He knew everything and He knew everyone.

That's one of John's points. One of his points is that Jesus was omniscient. Now it's been estimated that our knowledge today is increasing at such a rate, in fact it's increasing at the rate of 2,000 pages a minute. And this is what it means: if you were to read twenty-four hours a day from age 21 to age 70, and you could retain everything you read, you would be 1 ½ million years behind when you were done. You could not keep up with the rate of knowledge that is growing. But what John wants us to know is that Jesus didn't just know stuff, didn't just know data, facts, and figures, but He knew the soul of men and women. And He knew their motivations. So in these three verses this morning, here's how we're going to approach it. We're going to notice three elements that John brings up. We want to look at the clues, the unmistakable clues, His signs. We want to look at the under committed crowd, they believed in Him. And then the uncommitted Christ in verse 24 and 25.

If you'll look in verse 23 at one word, it is the word signs. Get used to that word---John likes it. Seventeen times in this book, he will use the term signs. Sémeion in Greek. It means miraculous sign, a miraculous sign. So here's the deal: there were at least eight days that Jesus was in Jerusalem. The Feast of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread combined one large national party. It was the biggest spiritual party of the nation that brought people from everywhere crowded into Jerusalem. Evidently Jesus, during that time, was performing signs, miracles. And they were probably a lot because it says that many of them believed; many people believed.

Here's the frustrating part. There's no details given about these signs. It doesn't say how many He did, where He did them, what He did, or the people that received them. And it's frustrating for the Bible student because we want to know more information. But not one gospel writer gives us any more details. Whatever they were, it brought a lot of P.R. on Jesus. A lot of publicity. How do I know that? I know that because chapter three, verse one says, "There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, 'Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.'" They were the kind of miraculous signs that got people's attention and gave Him publicity and now the limelight, the spotlight, is on Him. All together, 37 miracles are record by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, that Jesus performed. Amazing signs. However, the whole Bible's filled with miracles, right? From the beginning to the end. The Bible opens with a miracle---the creation of the world. The Bible closes with a miracle---the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.

Here's a problem, however. When it comes to signs, it seems that we have one of three tendencies with the miraculous. Number one, there is a tendency to over naturalize miracles. You know, we say things like, "Well every baby that is born is a miracle and every sunrise is a miracle and every sunset is a miracle and to find a parking space in the mall at Christmastime is a miracle and to find the exact amount of change that you needed is a miracle." We over naturalize them. We call everything that happens every day miracles. It's true, you and I can't cause a sunrise or a sunset, but these are naturally daily occurring things. They're not the miraculous. There's a second tendency and that is to explain them away. And typically this is what the unbelieving world does. They look at our definition of a miracle and say, "These are just primitive interpretations of natural occurrences by people who are ignorant and steeped in their traditions and all sorts of beliefs that really aren't concrete." And that has been the posture of the unbelieving world by philosophers all the way back from Selsus to Porphyry to Apollonius, in more modern terms, Spinoza, Hume. If you have philosophy courses, you know those names.

And on one hand, we go, "Okay. That's typical. We would expect the world to say that." But what you wouldn't expect and what we find is Bible commentators and even preachers wanting to do that with miracles: explain them away. For example, did you know that I've read a couple different books, several actually, where the miracle of the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea and the Egyptians being killed by the same sea, they've explained it this way. It really wasn't called the Red Sea; it was called the Sea of Reeds, or the Reed Sea. And the Reed Sea was simply bulrushes and water that was about eighteen inches deep. And so the children of Israel crossed the Sea of Reeds simply by wading through the water, walking through eighteen inches of water. Not a miracle at all. Of course they failed to explain how the entire Egyptian army was drowned in eighteen inches of water; they just kind of skip over that part. Or Jonah and the whale. They go, "C'mon, that's just a myth. That doesn't happen. It's like any fish story. You know, fish tend to grow every time you tell the story. It didn't happen." I have a set of commentaries in my library by a great scholar, but a great scholar who had problems with miracles. His name was William Barkley and he likes to explain them away. Example: the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 by Jesus? He says, "That wasn't a miracle. What really happened is everybody brought their lunch that day. But they were selfish; they didn't want to bring it out. They were hiding it, like wrapped up, until one little boy steps forward and takes his lunch out to share with people and everybody felt moved by the compassion and love of this child and they all shared their lunch with each other." That's what he says. Or Jesus walking on the water in the New Testament when the disciples are in the boat. You know what Barkley says about that? He goes, "Well, it was late at night. In fact, there was a full moon out and you couldn't see things very well and the winds often drive the boats in the Sea of Galilee toward the northern shore and so it's close to the northern shore and Jesus simply comes walking to them in the surf, like six inches of water, walking on the beach and then into the surf, but it looked like He's actually walking on the water." So here you have a Bible commentator having a huge problem with miracles.

Now that puzzles me because here we are, we human beings. In the 1950s we can make a nuclear submarine, 33 tons of metal that can go down and up 3,500 feet in the water. We sent, in the 1960s, people to land on the moon---that's us. And so here we are willing to attribute much greater power and efficiency to humans than to God. There's a third tendency and the tendency here is toward hype. Hyping up your miracles. In other words, "Your miracle can happen today! Just send in that money and you'll have your miracle! Have you experienced your daily miracle?" And all this does is cheapen the whole idea of what the miraculous really is. Jesus performed signs. Nicodemus saw that and so did everybody else. According to Webster, the dictionary, a miraculous sign is this: "An extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs." Here's my definition: a miracle is a divine work wrought with divine power for a divine purpose. And Jesus did a lot of them and only 37 are recorded and all the ones He did during this week are summed up in just a little statement like this.

Let me just kind of press this a little bit further. We look at things and go, "Wow---that was a miracle!" But think of it from God's perspective. See God is not a prisoner to His own laws. Yes there are natural laws that are in place in our universe. But God can supersede those laws and enact another set of laws. That shouldn't surprise us. We even do that. If you were to stand on a runway and look at a 747 and think how heavy that thing is and think that thing can put 500 people in it, carrying 45,000 pounds of over packed luggage in it and you're going to tell me that thing is going to get off the ground and go halfway across the world? The law of gravity would say there's no way that's going to happen. That thing is earthbound because of the law of nature: gravity. So what do we do? We simply enact higher laws to supersede the law of gravity. One is aerodynamics; the other is thrust or propulsion. You get air rapidly flowing over the surface of a foil and it creates lift. You get jets that propel it forward and all of that together will lift up that huge aircraft.

So we read that dead people come back to life and lame people can walk and blind people can see and deaf people can hear. What we have is God simply enacting another set of higher laws over the laws that He put in place. And we call it a miracle. I'll tell you something that really helped me in this. It was an example that I saw. I had a friend years ago who in the basement of his house, in Huntington Beach, California, had a train set. When I say a train set, the basement, the entire basement was his playroom for his trains. He was an adult, he was the homeowner. He had a village constructed with homes and trees and buildings and little people. It was massive and it was all controlled from afar with a remote control. But every now and then, he would step into that world himself and reach into that little city and move something around or put the train car back on the track and get it into direction. And that just served to give me a little example of what a miracle is. There's natural laws. Every now and then, God will intervene into natural law and enact a higher set.

Here's the real question: why did Jesus do miracles? What was the plan, what was the purpose? Why did He do so many? Number one, because He loves people. And He's restless in the face of human suffering. That's evident throughout the New Testament. The second reason that Jesus did miracles is to prove who He was. So people would see it and put two and two together and make a decision based upon that. It was authenticated that He was the One---the Messiah, the God. And so after He fed the 5,000, the crowd said, "This is the Prophet!" That's why He did it. In fact, Jesus says, "Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves." That's why He did it. The miracles provide evidence that this is God in human flesh. So that's the first part: the signs, the clues, the unmistakable clues, the miracles.

Look closer at verse 23. Let's look at the crowd: "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did." Ok. Here's what's interesting to me as I put the whole chapter together. Remember when He was in the temple and He overturned the tables? And the leaders said, "We want a sign! Show us a sign! After doing what you just did, give us some miraculous sign." Did Jesus give them a sign in the temple? Nope. In fact, He spoke cryptically about His own resurrection: "Destroy this temple and in three days I will rise it up." And then He leaves the temple without giving them a sign and goes all around Jerusalem doing? Signs! To a whole other group of people. So many that it says, "Many believed." What happened is it got their attention and for many people, listen carefully, not all but many people, the signs and wonders was the beginning of their faith. The beginning of their faith journey; Nicodemus was one of them in chapter three. He'll be drawn in by the signs and he'll have a private interview with Jesus and his life will change. But when you read in verse 23 the word believed that does not necessarily mean committed faith. It does not necessarily mean committed faith.

There is a faith that the Bible speaks about that falls short of being genuine saving faith, right? Doesn't James chapter two say, "You say you believe in God but even the demons believe and they tremble"? You see, it's one thing to have a recognition of who Jesus is and they all recognize Jesus as Christ, as Messiah, as the Son of God. It's a whole other thing to have an appropriation of that truth. In fact, I think James helps us out by telling us there's three kinds of faith that are possible. One is a demonic faith: even the devil believes and trembles. Number two is a dead faith: faith without works is dead. You can talk about what you believe all day long, but if there's no correspondent life change, it's dead faith. And the third kind is dynamic faith. It's real, it's authentic, and it lives on. Now notice what it says in verse 23, that they "believed in His name." They believed in His name. The Amplified Version translates it, "Many identified themselves with His party." So they're willing to accept Him as long as it's on their own terms. They'll accept Him as a miracle-worker; they'll accept Him as a healer. He's our kind of guy. Look what He does, look how powerful He is. He's like a genie in a bottle. So they're willing to accept Him as the healer of their bodies but not as the Savior from their sin. This will be evident later on.

Warren Wiersbe calls this group "unsaved believers." Isn't that an interesting term? Unsaved believers drawn to Jesus by His miracles but they will not commit himself, or themselves to Him. I want you to see the difference. Here's one instance. Turn with me to John chapter eight. Turn in your Bibles to John chapter eight, and look at two verses. This is going to help. John chapter eight, verse 30 and 31: "As He [Jesus] spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, 'If you abide [continue, keep going] in My word [that is, obey what I say], you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'" See the difference? It's readily apparent. One more passage. Turn to Acts chapter eight, just go to the right, one book. Acts, the eighth chapter. This time the story takes place in Samaria. They're up there preaching the gospel. That's where Philip is---look what happens. Acts chapter eight, verse 13: "Then Simon [that's not Simon Peter, a different guy in Samaria]---Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done." Okay, it says he believed. But watch: "When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, 'Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.' But Peter said to him, 'Your money perish with you, [now watch this] because you thought the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. [Huge difference] Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.'" Huge difference.

I want you to be aware of a movement that is happening in the gospel of John. You see it beginning here. But you're going to see a movement in the life of Jesus happen in the gospel of John where Jesus moves out of the bright light of popularity into the dark shadows of rejection---more and more and more. First, like here at the beginning, it's a bandwagon approach. Everybody's amazed and the crowds rush to Him because of the miracles that He performs. But pretty soon He's going to talk. He's going to speak. And when He speaks things like, "If you're gonna follow Me you have to die daily to yourself, take up your cross and follow Me." The words that Jesus will share with them bring deep conviction to the heart. And that conviction will eventuate in one of two possibilities: conversion or contention. They will be divided over Him and He's gonna move from being very, very popular to being rejected ultimately by the nation.

Good example of that and you don't have to turn there is in John chapter six---He feeds the 5,000. We're told this: "When they had seen the sign Jesus did, they were about to come and take Him by force and make Him their king." So Jesus escapes out of that and then He talks to the crowd and says some very, very difficult, hard things. And so some of the disciples said, "This is a hard saying. Who can hear it? From that time, many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more." Oh, they're there for a free lunch and they'll come back later on hopefully for a free dinner, but when He starts telling them truth, many of them will walk away from Him. They want the signs not the Savior. So there's a problem with signs. If you base your faith on signs, they're never enough. They're never enough. You'll be upset by the one that didn't happen. You'll be upset by the prayer that wasn't answered, by the person who wasn't healed, by the payment that didn't arrive. They're never enough.

That's the reason faith needs to be based not on what Jesus does, but on who Jesus is. So you see the difference? You can say you believe in Him. There's a big difference between recognizing Him and appropriating Him. A difference between knowing who He is and knowing Him personally. I guess it would be sort of like when I was living in California, I remember the mailman that delivered my mail. I recognized him. In fact, I had never met him but I could tell you a lot about him. I could tell you how tall he was roughly, what color hair he had, how he walked, what he typically dressed like, certain mannerisms. I knew a lot of facts about him. But one day I decided to put my hand out and actually meet the guy and we struck up a conversation and eventually a relationship and I came to know him personally. Big difference between knowing about him and knowing him personally. That's the difference here.

That takes us to the last and final thought: the uncommitted Christ. Verse 24 and 25, these are words that stop us in our tracks: "But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all [the word men is italicized, it's implied but it's not there, He knew all, He knew everything], and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man." What we have here in these two verses is how Jesus responds to nominal Christianity. Sobering, isn't it? You'll notice in verse 23 the word believe and in verse 24 the word commit. Two different words in English; in Greek it's the same exact word. In fact, in the Greek language it's a play on words. It would sound to our ears more like this: "They believed in Him but He did not believe in them" or "Many trusted Him but He would not entrust Himself to them." The Tyndale New Testament says, "He would not put Himself into their hands."

So they believed, but what kind of faith did they have? Stony ground faith. This is what Jesus said in Matthew 13: "The seed fell on stony places where it did not have much earth and immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. This is he who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy but he has no root in himself but endures only for awhile but when tribulation and persecution arises because of the Word, he stumbles." Boy, this puts a whole new light on, "Have you committed yourself to Christ?" I guess the big question is, "Has Christ committed Himself to you?"

And the reason Jesus didn't commit Himself to them was because He knew all men. He had spiritual X-Ray vision. He could look at a person and know every motive that they were dealing with. Wow. So verse 23, 24, and 25 is an editorial comment by John, sort of summing up what happened in Jerusalem. This is what he wants us to know: this Jesus had an attribute of God called omniscience. He knew everything. He could look at you with penetrating eyes and know past, present, what you're thinking, why, why are you there, where you're going to go, what's going to happen. He knew it all. I'll tell you, dealing with that kind of a person, as I mentioned, can be very unsettling. You know, we don't like it in a restaurant if we see somebody staring at us from across the restaurant. We get really nervous. We really want our privacy. But imagine somebody like Jesus who, when He looks at you, sees everything that you think is hidden. That's an attribute of God.

Hebrews 4:13 tells us, "No creature is hidden from His sight. All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account." So, sort of a large point here in chapter two is that no one with artificial faith in Jesus' presence could get away with it. He could see right through it. So to put it bluntly, you can't pull the wool over His eyes---so don't try. Here's the bottom line point: be real. Be honest. If you don't feel like this, don't do that. As Spurgeon said, "Your ordinary face will do." Be genuinely who you are because living before God with any kind of a façade is stupid. He knows everything.

Now let me close today by just giving you three quick things to go home with, three important summary principles. Number one, since He knows everything, it means that He knows the worst about you. You know how good that feels? Because in human relationships, you come into a relationship with a person, especially a dating relationship, and you get awfully afraid that if that person finds out about the skeleton in your closet that they're going to reject you; it's all going to end. God knows all about the skeletons in your closet---already. He's not shocked. Psalm 103 says, "God knows our frame and He remembers that we are dust." I gotta tell you something: God doesn't have a high expectation of dust. He knows all about you; He knows the worst about you already. Number two, because He knows everything, He also knows the best about you. He knows what other people don't know. They might know about one little thing you did wrong, one problem you had, but they don't know about all the other good stuff you've done and they certainly don't know the motivation of your heart. God does. God does. In First John it says, "If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our hearts and He knows all things." He knows the worst about you; He knows the best about you. And here's the third and final principle to walk away with. Since He knows everything, He knows what He's going to make out of you in the future. He knows that. When He looks at you, He doesn't just see imperfections in you; He also sees the finished product. The Bible says, "We are His workmanship." He sees the finished work of art.

There's a bumper sticker that says "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven." Some people put that on their car so they can speed and get away with it, I guess. Christians aren't perfect. And Christians are forgiven. But there's much more than that. Christians are God's project. He's working on you and He knows what you're going to become with His hands in your life. The best example of that is Nicodemus in chapter three, verse one. By the way, chapter three shouldn't be there. What I mean by that is the chapter breaks were added much later, after the Bible was written. And people thought that it was sort of a new thought. It's not a new thought. What John wants you to know is the difference here. Jesus knew all men. He didn't need that anybody need to testify to Him of man because He knows what is in man. Chapter three, verse one: "There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews." He's a different man. He has a different reason for coming to Jesus. He's going to be changed. Jesus is going to work on this guy and change him.

I remember when I heard the gospel very plainly and simply first by watching it on television with Dr. Graham. Second was sometime before that when a friend of mine named Gino, after being saved one Saturday night, came to me on a Sunday and told me that I was a sinner, I needed to be saved, and he had accepted Christ. My response was to pick him up by the shirt and throw him against the wall and say, "Never tell me that ever again!" And then I said, "Don't you know I've been raised in a church all my life?" And I went on to talk about how I believed. I was like this crowd. I believed in that I recognized who Jesus was. But it wasn't genuine, from the heart belief. I had not received Christ. Huge difference. When I did, when I decided to put my faith in Jesus, it was so weak and it was so frail and it was so faltering. But it was real. I really wanted to be forgiven. I really wanted to have hope in my life. And Jesus took me on as His project and began working on me. And what followed were signs. Not all my diseases being healed but the greatest sign of all: my life being changed. You could ask my friends, you could ask my family. They'd say, "Yep, he's a different dude today." They couldn't explain why, they just knew things had changed. And what I thought was impossible happened: my life changed. Jesus changed it. He not only saw the worst of me and the best of me, He saw what I would become and am still becoming by His grace.

I pray that if you haven't genuinely believed, committed wholeheartedly, that today would be the day that you do. Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, You know all men, all women, all thoughts, all motives. You know the genuine from the false. As Paul said to Timothy, "The Lord knows those who are His." You know that far better than we do. We don't know if the person sitting next to us is really a believer or not. We might think we do, but we don't know the human heart, You do. But Lord, forget about them for a minute, at least we should. We're thinking about ourselves right now, because there may be some of us who have been religious, who have been well-meaning, who come to church, who sing the songs, who say we believe, but that's a faith that is short of saving faith. And maybe we just know that because our whole life and faith and experiences seem so cold, and we want it warmed up. We want the richness of what it is to have a relationship with You, personally, authentically, through Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray for anybody here who has never yielded their life to Christ. They have never surrendered. They have never said, "I give up and I want to live for You, and I turn and repent of my sins and I turn to You completely." They've never done that---yet. Or, others are confused, because they went to a camp or they went to a meeting, and they did something. They just---they just don't exactly know what that was. They certainly don't see that in their experience today. And I pray, Father, for anyone who is in any of those camps, or a third camp: somebody knows that they walked with You but has been backsliding. I pray that today they would come back home to Jesus. And as our heads are bowed, and our eyes are closed, and we're about to end this service, now's the moment of truth. If anyone will cooperate with God dealing and moving you to accept Him, and you're willing to come to Christ today and be forgiven of your past and have Christ wholly committed to you, if you're willing to do that, if you're willing to believe in Him, if you're willing to trust Him completely, I want you to slip your hand up. Keep it up for just a minute, just so I can see it. I want to pray for you as we close. You're just acknowledging, "I need Him. I want to receive Him. I'm going to devote my life to Christ today, and it's going to be real." God bless you, and you, right in the middle. And you, and you, and you, I see all of you together. Anybody else? God bless you, in the middle. In the balcony, God bless you guys. Anyone else? Right over here to my right, on the side. And so, Father, we pray that great life changes would occur in the lives of these who have come, who raised that hand and acknowledged in their heart they want their life changed. They want things around them changed. They really want forgiveness. They want hope. Right where you are seated, I don't want to let this time pass us by, if you raised your hand, would you just talk to the Lord right now? Allow me to lead you in a prayer. Would you say this after me to Him? Lord, I give you my life. I admit I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. I trust that Jesus died on the cross and that He rose from the dead for me. And I turn from my sin and I entrust my whole heart to You, Jesus. I trust that You'll save me as I receive You as Savior and as Lord. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and help me to live for You. In Jesus' name, amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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10/25/2009
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Believe:879
John 20:30-31
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Is your faith in need of bolstering? Do you find yourself saying "Help my unbelief?" The book of John presents a unique, up close and personal look at the life of Christ, focusing on Jesus as God Incarnate. As we dive into a thorough study of each of John's 879 verses, we'll walk with disciples who were eyewitnesses of His ministry, His death, and His resurrection, and we'll experience abundant life in His name.
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11/1/2009
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The World's Most Important Word
John 1:1-5
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It may be difficult to say what the most important word is in any language, but not for the Apostle John. He begins his gospel with the identification of Jesus as, "The Word." Starting with the very beginning of beginnings, John shows us the fundamental truths about the Jesus that he writes about in the rest of this book. The language is simple and unmistakable and yet the truths presented are deep and extremely profound. Let's see how John presents Jesus and Who Jesus is according to one who was closest to Him.
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11/15/2009
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Step Into Son-Light
John 1:6-13
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I love early mornings when sunlight first comes up over the eastern sky. But if you’ve ever had the experience of the sun suddenly shining into your eyes (like when you turn westward while the sun is going down), it's not so pleasant. Most people wince when light is shined in their eyes. Jesus is presented here as being "the light of men" and "shining in darkness". But the world cries out, "Turn off that light!" How can Jesus enlighten your life and how will you respond to Him?
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11/22/2009
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One of a Kind!
John 1:14-18
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It is a mistake to think of Jesus as "one among many" options in the pantheon of deities. He is unique, matchless, unrivaled, singular, and incomparable. From His birth to His Resurrection, there is no one who even comes close to the majestic Christ. Jesus was One-Of-A-Kind! Let’s consider four distinct ways that Jesus was unique and what these mean to us today.
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12/6/2009
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The Greatest Man Meets the Greatest Lamb
John 1:19-34
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Everyone is good at something, maybe even great at something. Maybe you're a great artist or a great mom or even a great leader. Jesus said that John the Baptizer was the greatest man who had ever lived (Matt. 11:11). But John knew Jesus to be the greatest One ever—past, present and future - the Sacrificial Lamb sent to remove sin. Today we discover from John the Baptist how to witness for Christ and we look at the identity and the activity of this most unusual man.
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12/13/2009
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Are You a Follower-Really?
John 1:35-42
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You can't make it through much of the Bible without coming to the word Disciple. Just the four Gospels alone use this term 228 times. Basically a disciple is the follower of a teacher: one who observes, learns, and practices what the teacher shares. We now come to the first time John uses this term in his book. So today we assess ourselves by asking, "Are YOU a follower?" Lets look at five characteristics of the first disciples of Jesus and see if they’re reflected in our lives.
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1/3/2010
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Finding the God Who Found You
John 1:43-51
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When the first disciples encountered Jesus, they chose to follow Him--only to discover that they had already been chosen by Him! Without getting drowned in that theological tide pool, let's consider and marvel at how both of these realities work together. The Bible teaches that God sovereignly elects people for salvation while at the same time teaches our responsibility to believe in Christ. Let’s see how both Philip and Nathanael encountered Jesus for the first time.
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1/10/2010
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The Wedding Guest
John 2:1-12
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How cool (and also potentially scary) would it be to have Jesus as a guest at your own wedding! The unnamed couple at the village wedding of Cana had that privilege. Jesus was the wedding guest who brought the best gift. His first miraculous sign was performed while celebrating that marriage. But far more than just attending a nuptial party, Jesus demonstrated who He was in relation to four entities: His mother, the moment, a miracle, and His men.
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1/17/2010
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Trouble in the Temple
John 2:13-22
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A hymn by Charles Wesley begins, "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, look upon a little child..." It’s a beautiful song with a beautiful thought. However, Jesus is anything but gentle and mild in John chapter two. Here in the temple at Jerusalem, He displays His righteous anger as He overturns tables and beats the religious businesspeople with whips! But Jesus was using this trouble in the temple to predict a greater sign—the triumph of His own physical temple—His bodily resurrection!
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1/31/2010
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Nick at Nite!
John 3:1-8
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The meeting of Jesus and Nicodemus at night is one of the most famous and compelling stories in Scripture. This man's inner curiosity and spiritual thirst drove him to want to know more. What he heard puzzled and astonished him, but he heard from Jesus' own lips the only way to be saved. Jesus' words here divide all of humanity into two groups: those who are born again and those who are not.
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2/7/2010
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Extreme Makeover: Soul Edition!
John 3:9-21
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For years ABC has aired two different versions of a show called Extreme Makeover. One is a total body makeover designed to enhance the physical beauty of a selected individual. The other is a Home Edition that rebuilds or adds to a struggling family's residence. But only Jesus can give the soul a makeover; only Jesus can ready a person for eternity. Here Jesus answers Nicodemus' question of how a person can have the New Life that comes from the New Birth.
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2/14/2010
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God's Valentine
John 3:16
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Today we take a look at the Bible's most famous verse and probe its depth while preparing to take the Lord's Supper together. Though most everyone knows this verse, John 3:16 is much more than just a slogan; it is a summary statement of God's love through Jesus Christ. This single verse of scripture gives us the salient truths of God's plan of salvation in abridged form. Let's consider God's great plan for us as we unpack it phrase by phrase.
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2/21/2010
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To Grow Up, You Must Grow Down!
John 3:22-30
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"They that know God will be humble, and they that know themselves cannot be proud!" That's what British Puritan John Flavel once said. And that’s how John the Baptist once lived! John the Baptist and his followers provide some great applicational fodder for how Christians should get along and humble themselves before one another and God. For any Christian believer who wants to spiritually grow up and grow strong, he must first grow down.
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2/28/2010
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The Nail Everything Hangs On
John 3:31-36
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Imagine if everything you valued was in a sack, hanging on the wall from one nail. It surely must be a strong nail, or you're lost! If life could all be boiled down to one thing or one word or one most important principle, what would it be? What is the irreducible minimum for everything and everyone? John answers that here, saying that Jesus Christ is the nail that everything hangs on. He determined what has been and what will be. Thus our knowledge of Him and relationship to Him is paramount above everything else.
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3/7/2010
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Refreshment!
John 4:1-14
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You know the feeling of swallowing ice-cold water on a hot day or after a savory meal—it's refreshing! That cool, invigorating sip revitalizes you from the inside out and makes you say, "Ahh!" Well, that experience is not limited to the physical realm, but is even more satisfying in the spiritual realm when dealing with Living Water. Jesus came to give thirst-quenching spiritual life to every parched soul on the planet. When was the last time you drank deeply?
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3/14/2010
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How to Lead People to Water
John 4:10-30
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The world is thirsty and doesn't even know it, or won't admit it, or will look to be satisfied by everything else but Jesus Christ. So your job and mine is to lead them to water (living water, that is). Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman illustrates perhaps the best approach for personal evangelism to be found anywhere. Leading someone to the place of spiritual satisfaction is a process that rests upon two pillars—the pillar of attitude and the pillar of approach:
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3/21/2010
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What God Really Wants
John 4:20-24
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Worship conferences, worship seminars and worship experiences abound within the landscape of the American church, but in all these there's something that seems to be always lacking—worship is confined to the activity of singing songs. When the subject is brought up in this chapter, Jesus talks plainly and openly about true worship: what it is and what it isn't. Let's explore these few verses to discover what God is seeking after and how to be part of fulfilling that.
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3/28/2010
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Spiritual Farming 101
John 4:28-42
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Farmers live for the harvest season--a time when their crops are taken in and profits are made. But crops don’t grow on their own. Seeds must be sown and plants must be garnered by a whole group of active farm workers. God is the head Farmer and we are His farmhands, all working together to produce a bumper-crop of people who believe that Jesus is the Savior--Are you in?
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4/18/2010
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Everyone Needs a Faith-Lift!
John 4:43-54
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Like any muscle in our physical body, our faith too must be exercised in order for it to develop. Faith is developed in virtually every circumstance in life, but especially in hard times. Peter put it best, "These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold" (1 Peter 1:7). Let's look at a real-life story of one who came to Jesus in his trial and had his faith lifted to a higher dimension.
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4/25/2010
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Healing Misery with Mercy
John 5:1-16
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One of Jesus' most distinguishing characteristics in His earthly ministry was His mercy toward people who were hurting. This is not astonishing, for the prophet Micah announced that "God delights in mercy" (Micah 7:18). Jesus standing among the squalid misery of sickness and hopelessness while at a feast in Jerusalem is a perfect setting to show how Christians can show mercy to a world in misery. But be warned: not everyone will be sympathetic to your cause!
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5/23/2010
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Like Father, Like Son
John 5:16-24
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The most important question you could ever ask is not, "Who am I?" but rather, "Who is Christ?" That was the supreme question Jesus presented to His disciples when He said, "Who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15). Jesus made the most astonishing claim ever when He confronted the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem here in John 5. What do these claims have to do with us today? Absolutely everything!
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5/30/2010
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Everyone Lives Forever
John 5:25-29
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My mom used to wake me up early every morning with her sweet voice saying, "Rise and Shine!" It took a few times but I eventually got up out of bed. As Jesus declares that He will be in charge of the future judgment, He too will usher the call to everyone who has died to "Rise up!" But not everyone will rise up to shine; some will rise up to suffer. Let’s consider three inevitable and unalterable truths about the future for all of us: We will all die, we will all be judged, and we will all rise again to live forever... but where?
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6/6/2010
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Why Should You Believe?
John 5:30-47
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The theme of John's gospel is "believe." The whole reason he wrote this book is so that people who read it will believe in Jesus (see John 20:31). But why should they believe? And even more applicable, why should we believe? After all, the events of the New Testament are over 2,000 years removed from us today. Jesus' confrontation with the religious leaders in John 5 tells us why we should believe. Like a skilled lawyer, Jesus calls upon four witnesses to testify to His claims and these four give the reasons for our believing in Jesus Christ.
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6/13/2010
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Lessons From a Picnic
John 6:1-14
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This story ranks in the "top ten" of the most famous miracles of Jesus Christ. In fact this is the most famous of all His miracles as it alone is recorded by all four gospel accounts. But this is far more than a Sunday school tale. This extraordinary picnic was not just a free meal for five thousand folks; it provided lessons for both ancient and modern disciples. Here are four profound truths that emerge from this lakeside lunch.
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6/20/2010
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What Storm Goers Need to Know
John 6:15-21
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Have you ever been on the ocean in a raging storm? If so, you know that a well-trained crew follows an immediate protocol until the storm is over. Their knowledge and experience about violent weather are invaluable for those who want to survive. Using the story of Jesus walking on the waves to His disciples, let’s discover a few things about the stormy trials of life.
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7/4/2010
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The Right Thing, The Wrong Way
John 6:22-29
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Our text reads that crowds of people came "seeking Jesus." That sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? And yet Jesus challenges them as to their motive because they were seeking Him (the right thing) in order to satisfy themselves only (the wrong motive). Let’s consider three monumental truths about how people interact with spiritual things in general and Jesus Christ in particular. Let’s also reconsider the starting point for anyone who wants anything to do with Christ.
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7/11/2010
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Wonder Bread!
John 6:30-50
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The Hostess Company has for years advertised that its Wonder bread "helps build strong bodies 12 ways" and that just two slices has the calcium of eight ounces of milk and the fiber of 100% whole wheat. Wow! The crowd that Jesus was speaking to would have loved that! But our Lord presents something to them far greater than what they were wanting. He knew what they needed.
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7/18/2010
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Plain Truths About the Bread of Life
John 6:51-71
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Mark Twain once remarked that "A lie can travel halfway around the world while truth is still lacing up its boots!" This section of John's Gospel has generated much confusion and misunderstanding. Even Jesus' original audience had trouble understanding His meaning, and when they did, they found the truth was difficult to bear. These "hard truths," however, are "the words of eternal life" (v. 68). Let's look at these four realities today.
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8/1/2010
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Seeing Jesus Through the Fog
John 7:1-13
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There was always a fog surrounding Jesus! It was a fog of uncertainty, of unbelief, and of conflicting opinion. He was misunderstood about both His mission and His message. His friends, His family, and His foes were often bewildered about who He was and what He was doing. That remains true even today. But in this passage our view becomes clearer. Jesus had clearly defined objectives that He reveals here and they are extremely practical for us today.
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8/8/2010
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Follow Jesus But Don't Be Religious
John 7:14-24
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Jesus clashed with religious leaders more than any other group of people. He went against their spiritual grain and challenged their legalistic ideas. Christ made it clear that He hadn’t come to establish a new religion but rather to show the way to God His Father. He didn’t give people another “system of beliefs and practices”; instead He said that He Himself was the way, truth, and life. In this public confrontation, we learn how to follow Christ in truth and not be religious.
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8/15/2010
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Standing by a Waterfall (Dying of Thirst)
John 7:25-53
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All the diverse and assorted experiences offered by this world can never satisfy the deepest longing of the human soul. What we really want isn't what we really need. The rest of John chapter 7 illustrates this truth. In the midst of a crowd of people clamoring for deep spiritual satisfaction stands the only One who can provide it. He offers them the drink that really satisfies and all but a few refuse it, preferring rather to die of thirst. How painfully ironic!
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8/22/2010
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Scribbling on the Ground
John 8:1-11
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Can you imagine what a surviving copy of Jesus' autograph would be worth today? Or what about a letter to His disciples? The fact is, there is no existing document or copy of anything Jesus ever wrote. We only have this story of Him scribbling something in transient dust on the Temple stones. Though John doesn't tell what Jesus wrote that day, his account does reveal a lot about Jesus Himself and how He interacted with three different kinds of folks.
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8/29/2010
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Blinded by the Light
John 8:12-20
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When the sun shines right in your eyes, your immediate inclination is to squint, turn away, or put sunglasses on. Light can be blinding! Though light penetrates our world, providing illumination and energy for our very existence, big doses of it can be difficult to handle. That's true spiritually as well. Jesus, by His teaching and work, illuminated this world darkened by sin. Some rejoiced in that light, able to see where they were going. But others, who'd been so accustomed to spiritual darkness, could only wince when Jesus was around.
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9/5/2010
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The Worst Way & Best Way to Die
John 8:21-30
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One person put it this way, "Death is the big flaw. Sometimes we can postpone it, lessen its physical pains, deny its existence—but we can't escape it!" Since that is universally true, why don't people take death seriously enough to plan for it? While we are alive in this world, everyone should be thinking more about the next. But what's the best (and worst) way to die?
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9/19/2010
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The Best Way & Worst Way to Live
John 8:31-36
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Everyone has an opinion on what "The Good Life" is. For some, it's financial independence. For others, it’s autonomy from government control. For still others, it’s the ability to do whatever you want whenever you feel like it. Jesus offers a different kind of freedom and a better brand of life. Here Jesus tells us what the best way to live really is: It’s the freedom to be a genuine disciple. And He tells us what the worst way to live really is: It’s the slavery of a sinful lifestyle. Today consider how free you really are and what areas of life you may still be in bondage to.
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9/26/2010
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The Devil's DNA
John 8:37-47
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Your body has 100 trillion cells. Inside each one is a nucleus and in each nucleus are DNA molecules. DNA is like an instruction manual for life with densely coded information telling each cell what to do. A simple paternity test would prove that my father was really my father. Here Jesus gives His audience a spiritual paternity test that reveals their spiritual father to be the devil himself. No matter what your physical ancestry, you can always tell one's spiritual heritage.
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10/3/2010
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Who IS This Guy?
John 8:48-59
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Jesus had friends and He had enemies. But besides those, He also had some "frenemies" (enemies who pretended to be friends). To this crowd who at first pretended to believe (v. 31) Jesus is both confrontational and controversial. This paragraph highlights three possible identities of Jesus: two of them were his enemies' accusations and one was Jesus' own claim.
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10/10/2010
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Life Hurts! Where's God?
John 9:1-12
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"Why is there so much pain in the world?" is the most frequently asked question ever! We hate it when we, or those we love, are in pain. Today we see Jesus confront a hurting world. As we do, consider these words by Elizabeth Elliot (whose husband was murdered): "If God is in charge and loves us, then whatever is given is subject to His control and is meant ultimately for our joy."
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10/17/2010
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The Truth About Your Neighbors
John 9:13-34
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Those of us who are Christians live in a sea of unbelievers who work with us, live next to us, shop where we shop, and send their kids to the same schools. Some have a mild case of unbelief disguised by religious practices. Others are more demonstrable in their agnosticism or atheism. Let's watch a local Jerusalem neighborhood struggle against faith in spite of clear evidence.
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10/24/2010
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Got Any Blind Spots?
John 9:35-41
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When you drive, you encounter "blind spots"—it could be part of your own car or it could be a tree that hides traffic on the other side. Those blind spots hinder both progress and ultimately, safety. When Jesus healed a blind man in Jerusalem, the same man was also healed of his spiritual blindness. But others who thought their spiritual perception was keen were as blind as a bat! As we consider this story, can you think of any blind spots in your spiritual journey?
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10/31/2010
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The Good Shepherd (and a bunch of happy sheep!)
John 10:1-10
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This is one of the most beloved passages to be found anywhere in Scripture. But it's not a stand-alone passage: The healing of the blind man in chapter 9 was more than a miracle. It was part of the process of Jesus forming His flock. The leadership had cast the healed man out of the synagogue. Jesus found him, accepted him, saved him, and placed him in His own fold.
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11/21/2010
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What's So Great About the Good Shepherd?
John 10:11-21
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"What's so great about being a Christian?" some people ask. The answer lies in the kind of care, provision, and protection we get from Jesus Christ, our Shepherd. Have you ever stopped to make a list of the benefits that are yours as a follower of Christ? Consider this short list of advantages that you, as a child of God, have. When was the last time you thanked Him for being your Shepherd? This would be a great week to do that!
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12/5/2010
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To BElieve or Not to BElieve...
John 10:22-42
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"In all unbelief there are two things: a good opinion of one's self and a bad opinion about God."— Horatius Bonar. It's true, isn't it? Humanism is man-centered and rejects God's existence or His relevance. But Jesus appealed to two things: the plain evidence of His supernatural works and the testimony of those who witnessed them. Jesus here asserts His deity, and the reaction is predictable—some believed while others did not believe. Which camp do you fall into?
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1/9/2011
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The Great Physician's Patient Dies
John 11:1-16
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When a doctor loses a patient on the operating table, there is a deep sense of remorse and sadness in the surgical theater. Doctors are trained to save lives but sometimes even the best trained physicians are unable to control complications that lead to death. But here we discover that Christ, the Great Physician, not only knows that His patient is sick--He allows him to die! Here are three principles about Divine Medicine that we can all learn.
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1/16/2011
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A Tale of Two Sisters
John 11:17-32
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In 1859 Charles Dickens wrote his famous work, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The story before us is set in Bethany near Jerusalem and highlights the personal relationship that two sisters had with Jesus Christ. Their broken hearts provide an excellent platform to consider how Christ deals with people in grief and loss. Let's actively probe not only their responses but ours to the incredible promise Jesus makes.
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1/23/2011
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The Strangest Funeral Ever
John 11:33-44
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According to one source, there are approximately 2 million funerals in America per year, which means that about 5,479 funerals take place every single day! Most of those funerals are pretty typical: a formal service followed by an interment. But the funeral service we're looking at was really different--and not just because of a resurrection. Here Jesus does three things that are pretty normal for most people at a funeral, but strikingly odd for Jesus.
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1/30/2011
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What to Do with Jesus?
John 11:45-57
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Any lawyer can tell you that whenever the star witness is a resurrected corpse, you have a pretty good case! But Lazarus being alive from the dead doesn’t seem to persuade everyone. And so the big issue becomes what shall we do with Jesus? The decisions made here set the clock in motion for an impending hate crime—the crucifixion of Christ. But from heaven’s vantage point, this is all part of God’s plan for redemption. Let’s see the responses and how we can make a difference.
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2/6/2011
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A Meal to Reveal the Heart
John 12:1-11
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If you were to step into the home of Simon at Bethany (Mark 14:3) on that night, you would've seen Jesus and His disciples along with Lazarus and His two sisters reclining at a low table for a meal in honor of Christ. But if you were to step into the hearts of those people, you would discover they were all very different from each other. Those inside the house and outside represent the gamut of feelings about Jesus—from adoring love to intense hatred. What a complicated meal!
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2/13/2011
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A Day, a Donkey, a Deliverer, and a Decision
John 12:12-19
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2000 years ago, on the final Sunday of Jesus’ earthly life before His crucifixion, He did the most unusual thing—He sat on a donkey and was carried into the city of Jerusalem in parade fashion. This formal presentation of Him as Deliverer was both profound and predicted. What’s the significance of such an act as this? What overarching principles emerge for us today? We’ll dig in and discover them, but today you’ve got to write them down yourself:
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2/20/2011
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Living the Right Life
John 12:20-26
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If this sermon was a book and I wanted to sell lots of copies, the title would cause it to fail. Now if it were entitled "Living the High Life" or "Living the Successful Life," then I may have a winner. But many have lived with both success and riches who didn't live right! So what is the right life? Or to frame it with a better question: What kind of life is most pleasing to God? Through a series of paradoxes, John gives us the answer—it wasn't the answer most people are looking for!
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2/27/2011
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Cross-Culture
John 12:27-36
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The term cross-culture emerges from the social sciences and typically refers to interaction of one culture or language with another. But that's not how I'm using it today. I'm thinking of it in the biblical sense, the salvation sense. Jesus' whole life was immersed in the culture of the cross and He referred to His impending death on the cross as "His hour." Let's consider today the culture of the cross of Christ: what it meant to Jesus personally and the world ultimately.
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3/6/2011
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Believe It or Not!
John 12:37-50
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Most of you reading this are believers. Some are not. Both are dangerous positions to take but for different reasons—vastly different reasons! This paragraph in John's Gospel is the summary of all that has been written, from chapters 1 through 13. It reviews the two different responses people have to Jesus and then gives us Jesus' own synopsis on faith and unbelief. Today you will be able to understand the real differences and consequences of faith and unbelief.
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3/13/2011
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A Night Unforgettable
John 13:1-5
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Some days are frozen in time because of the magnitude of an event. You will always remember September 11, 2001 and where you were when the towers fell. The night America bombed Baghdad or the night John Lennon was murdered may be permanent memories captured in your mind. This was the final night Jesus spent with His own disciples and it would be unforgettable. Let’s discover how what seem like ordinary moments can be extraordinary appointments.
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3/20/2011
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Basin Theology 101
John 13:6-17
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At the final Passover meal that Jesus shared with His closest friends, He gave new meaning to the bread and wine, using them to point to His upcoming sacrificial death on the cross. Today we share Communion as a church family and reflect on that meal, as well as the lessons Jesus was teaching His first followers. After dinner Jesus took a basin of water and began to wash the feet of his students and taught them life principles about stooping, cleansing and serving.
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3/27/2011
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Betrayed!
John 13:18-30
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Relationships can withstand an enormous amount of pressure, but betrayal is sure to end most. The old English word means to hand over or to deliver. Think of it: while Jesus was about to deliver the world from sin and its destruction, Judas was about to deliver the Savior over to His enemies. If you've ever felt betrayed by someone, this study will have special application to you.
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4/10/2011
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A Brand New Way of Life!
John 13:31-35
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To follow Jesus is to have a brand new way of life. When these twelve men sitting around the dinner table started hanging around Jesus, they had no idea just how new and different their lives would become. At this final meal on that last night, they were still learning just how new their lives should be. (Jesus can still teach old dogs new tricks!) As present-day followers of Christ, let’s consider three aspects of life that become new once we become His disciples.
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4/17/2011
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F.A.Q.
John 13:36-38
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An old Persian Proverb reads, "It's harder to ask a sensible question than to supply a sensible answer." Many times our questions to God are reactive—based on a sort of knee-jerk reaction to painful circumstances. Peter asked Jesus two questions of this sort. But whenever we ask God questions we must hang around to get the supplied answers. The questions Peter asked are similar to ones we frequently ask. Let's consider and apply Jesus' outstanding answer
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5/1/2011
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A Theology for Messy Lives
John 14:1-6
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Life can be pretty messy sometimes: plans fail, people leave, money diminishes, and taxes rise. There are plenty of reasons to be troubled these days but there are better reasons not to be! Life was about to get real messy for those disciples around that Jerusalem dinner table. At times like that, there are some basic instructions we need to fall back on so our hearts inside us won't be swallowed up by the mess around us.
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5/8/2011
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How Can I Know God?
John 14:7-11
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What a thought—that a mere human can know God! The agnostic asserts this is impossible. The atheist insists that the very idea is an arrogant and purely metaphysical pursuit. But one of the reasons Jesus came was to reveal God's character and nature clearly and perfectly! Let's consider two roadblocks to knowing God and four resources that help us know Him better.
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5/29/2011
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Privileges of God's Employees
John 14:12-14
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Most companies have benefits for employees: things like overtime pay, health insurance, and sick pay. In 2 Corinthians 6:1, Paul calls us "workers together with Him" (NLT renders it "God's partners"). We have been called to a high and lofty task—to be His representatives here on earth. You might say we're part of the "family business." So what has God called us to do? And how has He provided for us in terms of resources? In short, what are the benefits of being God's employees?
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6/5/2011
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Four Part Harmony
John 14:15-18
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Some of the best moments on American Idol aren't the solo performances, but when all the singers join together and blend their voices in harmony. There's nothing sweeter than well-trained voices blended together in first, thirds, and fifths. Spiritual harmony is much the same—when believers blend with the triune Godhead there is an alignment that results in a deep sense of fulfillment. And what is the note we are to sing in this spiritual song? It is the note of loving obedience!
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6/12/2011
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Promises, Promises!
John 14:19-26
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Someone once mused, "Promises may get friends, but it's performance that keeps them." No wonder God has so many friends! He makes promises and keeps them. On this final night that Jesus spent with His friends, as both sorrow and confusion assailed them, Jesus made several promises that would sustain them in the days, months, and years ahead. What about you? Will you dare to trust the promises of God? It's the only way to see if they really work.
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6/26/2011
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Peace Where You Least Expect It
John 14:27-31
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On countless American gravestones this epitaph could be written: Hurried, Worried, Buried. What a sad way to live! Fear, anxiety, and distress have literally become part of our national culture. Odd, isn't it? Though we have such abundance in this country, most don't experience abundant life—especially as Jesus described it. Sure, everyone has his or her share of trouble and anxieties, but let's consider one of the greatest gifts Jesus gives to followers—the gift of peace!
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7/3/2011
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Life-Lessons from Grape-Growers - Part 1
John 15:1-7
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My parents grew grapes on their little plot of land in Southern California. There weren't many, but enough for me to know that getting fruit at harvest depended on three things: the solid connection of branch to vine, the vigilant care of the workers, and the consistency of those things over time. Jesus, walking with the disciples toward the Garden of Gethsemane, gives life lessons to His men using the familiar example of growing grapes. With that analogy in mind, let's consider the three ways our relationship to God is described by Jesus.
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7/10/2011
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Life-Lessons From Grape-Growers - Part 2
John 15:8-11
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As we grow older, we mature. In our spiritual lives we should become spiritually mature. The Bible calls it being fruitful. Spiritual fruit is the indication that we're truly connected to Christ. But there are others, as we'll see today. Last week we examined how the relationship with Christ is described (Connected to Christ, Cared for by the Father, and Consistent Over Time). Today let's consider how this relationship is demonstrated. When we're rightly connected to God we'll be:
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7/17/2011
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What a Friend We Have in Jesus
John 15:12-17
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We can get through almost anything in life with friends to share our sorrow and divide our grief. A Chinese word for friend is peng-yu and it has a much fuller meaning than in English. It means "one who brings completion and sums up beauty." The ancient Hebrews saw true friendship as an ideal to pursue and a blessing to enjoy. In these final moments with His followers, Jesus uses a most tender term for their relationship—they were friends! What does that friendship look like?
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7/24/2011
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Why Does Everyone Hate Me?
John 15:18-25
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There is a flipside to being a friend of Jesus. That's true of any friendship. Whenever you ally yourself and make friends with someone, you will incur some enemies because of it. Likewise, some who don't like Jesus won't like us either—and we discover there are quite a few who don't! Let's find out why, and how we can raise our heads high and prevail.
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7/31/2011
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Two Thirds Is Not Enough
John 15:26-16:15
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We love God the Father who created us and God the Son who redeemed us, but what about the Holy Spirit? We hear His name a lot, but who is He? What exactly does He do? What does He want from us? The Holy Spirit is the "quiet One," active in the life of believers but sometimes not acknowledged as being vital. Oswald Chambers noted, "The Holy Spirit cannot be located as a guest in a house. He invades everything!" Today, we consider Him and His role in our lives.
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8/7/2011
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The Holy Hound of Heaven
John 16:5-11
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Having understood Who the Holy Spirit is (Person not just power; Deity not just dignitary) we now find out what He does in the world of unbelieving people. Since the greatest gift God ever gave to the world was His only Son (John 3:16) it stands to reason that the greatest sin one can commit is to reject the Son (John 16:9). How does the Holy Spirit both sentence the world as prosecutor and lead people away from judgment? And what role do we play in all of this?
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8/14/2011
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When Sorrow Turns to Joy
John 16:16-22
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The flamboyant baseball-legend-turned-preacher Billy Sunday stated, "If you have no joy in your religion, there's a leak in your Christianity somewhere!" That's not to say that life is all laughs. Hardly! Jesus anticipated His followers' deep sorrow. He predicted it. But He also assured them that their experience of sadness would be eclipsed by a greater experience of lasting joy.
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8/21/2011
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How to Send Knee-Mail
John 16:23-28
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Today you can be anywhere in the world and send or receive messages digitally via email. Sending email has eclipsed traditional mail for years now. Sending knee-mail is similar (you can be anywhere)—but with better results! You don't need wifi or a modem; you don't need an electronic device or a computer. Before Jesus left His disciples, He wanted them to get "online" with the Father and stay connected through the simple yet powerful means of prayer.
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9/4/2011
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I've Fallen, but I CAN Get Up!
John 16:29-33
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I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately succeed than to succeed in a cause that will ultimately fail! So said President Woodrow Wilson. Our Lord knows us better than we know ourselves and is not surprised by our weaknesses. We all fall and fail, even though we may commit to standing strong. What can we learn about ourselves and our God in such valleys? Even more, what kind of restoration can we hope for after our bout with failure?
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9/18/2011
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Holy Eavesdropping
John 17:1
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Imagine if you could sit and listen to Jesus talking to His Father—what would Jesus say to Him? In this prayer (which comprises all of John 17) we step onto holy ground. His instruction to His followers is now over. His preparation of them is done. He now turns His attention heavenward to talk directly to His Father about Himself, about His disciples, and about His future church. This prayer is unique for four reasons:
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9/25/2011
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The Gifts That Keep On Giving
John 17:1-5
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It's possible to give without loving but it's impossible to love without giving— Richard Braunstein. Part of God's nature is that He shows His love by His generous gifts. "For God so loved the world that He gave..." (John 3: 16). Here, in the opening lines of Jesus' prayer to His Father, He requests a gift from His Father and acknowledges three other gifts—two given to the Son by the Father, and one given by the Son to us. These are the gifts that keep on giving!
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10/2/2011
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How Followers Are Formed
John 17:6-10
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Okay, so which is it? Did I choose God or did God choose me? Perspective is everything! If you look at it from the divine viewpoint, you'll say God chose. If you're looking at it from a human viewpoint, you'll say we do the choosing. But why can't both be true? I suppose you can sit around, scratch your head, and try to ponder such imponderables, or you can sigh happily and say with a grateful heart, "I'm elated that He chose me!" But you should also ask yourself another question while you're at it—What am I going to do about it now?
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10/9/2011
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Missionaries or Monasteries?
John 17:11-19
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How can you leave your mark on the world? Most everyone wants to be remembered for some contribution made to society. Well, Jesus wants us to do that, too. In fact, He prays for that. God wants you to make an imprint on life's road so people will say, "Hey look! God's kids were here!" We can't do that by isolating ourselves. We have marching orders!
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10/23/2011
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Listen Up! Jesus is Praying—for YOU!
John 17:20-26
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What's God's general will for you? Look no further than this text! Now as we listen to Jesus pray for us, we also find what our priorities in life are to be. These words are the "Last Will and Testament" of Jesus Christ. So pay close attention and you'll get it right from the heart of Jesus Himself.
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10/30/2011
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I've Got It Under Control
John 18:1-11
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Sometimes life appears to be spinning out of control. Events happen we didn't plan for, people do things we didn't expect, we find ourselves in places we never thought we'd be in. But though you can't always control what happens to you, you are responsible for what happens in you (attitudes and responses). What do we really believe about God's authority and power in our lives? Is there ever a time when God can't say, "I've got it under control"?
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11/20/2011
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The Darkest Night!
John 18:12-27
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On a dark spring night in Jerusalem, it seemed everyone was against Jesus Christ. The religious system had long been opposed to and jealous of His burgeoning ministry. The mock trial designed to get rid of Jesus was only going through the technical motions to achieve their end. And Peter, Jesus' closest friend, was in a downward process of disassociating himself from Him. But in the midst of the darkest night, the sunrise of God's grace was beginning to shine!
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1/8/2012
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A King, a Kingdom, and a Courtroom
John 18:28-40
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What kind of a King is Jesus, and what is the nature of His Kingdom? And what does it mean to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done"? These are the questions faced in the text before us. As Jesus nears the cross, a nation denies His reign over them, while a Roman ruler questions Him and then cynically admits his own confusion and despair.
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1/22/2012
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How Do You Handle Jesus?
John 19:1-16
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Pontius Pilate was like every other person who has ever lived. The fundamental question of his life was, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" (Matthew 27:22). Everyone has to deal with Jesus, to decide about Him and His claims. In one setting, we can see how one man (Pilate) was influenced to deal with Jesus in three different ways. These three ways are how many people today still choose to deal with Jesus Christ.
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1/29/2012
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Execution of a King
John 19:17-22
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Regicide is the official word used for the execution of a king. Most countries reserve the stiffest of punishments for subjects or assassins who would kill their royalty. John records the execution of the King of kings on a Roman cross outside the city of Jerusalem. But the rest of Scripture reveals that it was more than an execution; it was sacrifice that brought salvation. The next few weeks, we will consider the cross in depth and what it means for the world and for us.
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2/5/2012
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The Cross on the Billboard of Eternity
John 19:23-24
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Did you know that the cross of Christ was always God's plan from the very beginning? It wasn't a reaction to mankind's rejection of His Son, nor was it an accommodation to a Roman and Jewish miscarriage of justice. It was according to "the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). Today we will take a journey back and connect the dots of God's unfolding plan of the cross throughout the ages.
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2/12/2012
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How to Love Your Mother
John 19:25-27
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A mother's love for her children is distinctive and irreplaceable. To watch a child suffer is crushing and almost intolerable for any mom. In this touching scene revealed in three verses, we not only see Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the foot of her Son's cross, we also learn how Jesus cared for His mother. Even from His place of extreme suffering, Jesus was thinking of others and His love for Mary is noteworthy for us.
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2/19/2012
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iThirst
John 19:28-29
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The world is filled with Apple's i-technology, which delivers on its promise to make connectivity and information readily accessible. But there is a deeper need within everyone, a thirst to be right with God, that no app or gadget can fulfill. How ironic that Jesus, the great Thirst-Quencher, would Himself be thirsty. It was part of the great exchange—His temporary thirst enabled yours to be quenched eternally!
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2/26/2012
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It's Done!
John 19:30
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While Jesus was doing His greatest work, He uttered His greatest words! Through the excruciating pain of a tormenting death, Jesus gave the most meaningful statements worthy of careful consideration. John records three of Jesus' seven statements uttered while on the cross. The sixth—and perhaps the most hopeful—is the one we consider today.
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3/4/2012
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Death Under Control
John 19:31-37
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Watching someone you love die is always a heart-wrenching experience, especially when the victim experiences great suffering. For the apostle John, the death of Jesus was likewise difficult-but he saw a glimmer of hope, a silver lining in the dark clouds of death. This death was long ago anticipated and was being carefully monitored from the control center of heaven. Today we see why that's important.
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3/11/2012
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Disciples on the Graveyard Shift
John 19:38-42
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You can find an unending supply of books, pamphlets, and articles on discipleship in Christian churches and bookstores. Many of them will be predictably regimented and conventional, giving solid biblical references and calling Christians to ardently follow Christ—all great stuff. But not everyone's spiritual journey is identical. Some disciples are unexpected, and so is their story. Here are two disciples of Jesus who've been in the background and now step forward to care for the body of Christ after His death. Let's allow their story to inspire us.
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3/18/2012
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A Not-Quite-Empty Tomb
John 20:1-10
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There was a lot of confusion happening on the first Easter morning. The resurrection had happened but it was neither expected nor accepted by all at first. Mary Magdalene ran to tell the disciples what she saw, and they ran to check out her report. What they saw was compelling evidence of a resurrection, but only one of them really connected all the dots. Let's see why.
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3/25/2012
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Hope Rekindled
John 20:11-18
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When people grieve, they usually run the gamut of the emotional spectrum, from denial to bargaining to despair to anger to eventually hope. Mary Magdalene was in hopeless despair as she stood weeping by the grave of Jesus. The resurrected Christ deals tenderly with this woman as he reveals Himself to her and conveys hope for her future. Let's glean some principles for dealing with brokenhearted people.
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4/1/2012
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From Closed Doors to the Open Road
John 20:19-23
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Our relationship with Jesus isn't a secret to be hoarded; it is a story to be heralded! The disciples were seated behind closed doors (sounds like a lot of churches). Jesus wanted them out, giving away what they had been given. Let's see how these early followers went from panic to peace, from perplexity to purpose, and from protection to power. It's a great journey. Are you up for it?
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4/8/2012
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Rise Up!
John 20:24-31
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The apostle Thomas has been noted for his skeptical attitude. In fact, we refer to a skeptic as a "doubting Thomas." In this message from John 20, we consider four ways Thomas was able to rise up from doubt and become a joyful follower of Jesus.
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4/15/2012
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Gone Fishing! (Relating to a Risen & Returning Lord)
John 21:1-14
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I am not a great fisherman. I don't do it often and when I catch something, it's pure luck! My dad was the opposite—he loved it and was great at it. At least seven of Jesus' disciples were fishermen and here we see them plying their trade after the resurrection. Some beautiful lessons can be discovered about how to live while we wait for Jesus to come back for us.
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4/22/2012
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I Failed! Now What?
John 21:15-19
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One of life's harshest realities is failure. The very sound of the word seems harsh to our sensibilities. We even harbor the age-old axiom, "Failure is not an option!" But failure is an option; in fact, it's a certainty. But discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping-stones to victory. In a post-resurrection interview, Jesus restores Peter with a fresh commission. If you have failed in your spiritual experience (and who hasn't), these principles will inspire.
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4/29/2012
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Final Instructions
John 21:20-25
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As John closes off his singular testimony of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, he features some closing words of Jesus and Peter about himself (John). These final sentences provide some instructions for us as we await Christ's return. How should we live in light of who Jesus is, what Jesus did, and when Jesus will return?
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There are 95 additional messages in this series.
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