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Why Should You Believe? - John 5:30-47

Taught on | Topic: Belief | Keywords: faith, believe, witness, testimony, prophecy

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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6/6/2010
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Why Should You Believe?
John 5:30-47
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
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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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. Because of What Others Have Declared (vv. 30-35)

  2. Because of What Jesus Has Done (v. 36)

  3. Because of What God Has Decreed (vv. 37-38)

  4. Because of What Scripture Discloses (vv. 39-47)

Making it More than a Sermon:
  1. Think about the word "testimony." It means "A written or spoken statement usually given in a court of law." What is your own personal testimony about the Jesus of history?

  2. Why were all of these four testimonies rejected by Jesus' enemies? What does this tell you about how humans interact with the truth?

  3. How does the Bible help confirm your own testimony about Jesus? How much time do you personally spend reading, studying and praying over the Scriptures each week?

Detailed Notes

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Topic: belief
Keywords: faith, believe, witness, testimony, prophecy

Jesus opponents said they believed in God, but they didn't believe, love and trust in Jesus. Instead they called him a blasphemer. Eight times in this text the word "witness" (marturo) appears, and four more times the word "testify," (same Greek word). Jesus calls witnesses into the courtroom of truth to explain why we should believe.  Not just because He said so.  Jewish, Greek and Roman law require two witnesses; Jesus provides four.

  1. Because of What Others Have Declared (vv. 30-35)
    1. John the Baptist
      1. Eyewitness testimony
        1. Behold the Lamb of God! John 1:29; John 1:36
        2. He is greater than I and existed before me. John 1:30
      2. Cousins
    2. Other first-hand witnesses
      1. Peter  2 Peter 1:16
      2. John  1 John 1:1-2
    3. Historic encounters (personal first-hand accounts of His sermons, miracles and changed lives)
    4. Uniform testimonies of millions of people from all over the world
  2. Because of What Jesus Has Done (v. 36)
    1. Jesus has just healed a man who was sick 38 years
    2. Not just the miracle, but the message Deuteronomy 13:1-5
    3. 34 miracles recorded in the Gospels (suspension of natural law and the enacting of supernatural forces)
    4. Jesus pointed to His works John 14:11; John 9:16
    5. Modern Miracles
      1. Where the Gospel is restricted
      2. Muslim Nations
        1. More Muslims converting to Christianity in the last 30 years than at any other time - Joel Rosenberg
        2. 6 million Muslims converting each year
  3. Because of What God Has Decreed (vv. 37-38)
    1. At Jesus' baptism  Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22
    2. At Jesus' transfiguration Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35
    3. People are more interested in spiritual things than at any time in past 40 years - George Barna
      1. They are shunning labels and pulling from contradictory belief systems
      2. God would tell them to believe in Jesus
  4. Because of What Scripture Discloses (vv. 39-47)
    1. Internal Evidence
      (66 books, more than 40 authors, over 1500 years, 3 languages, 3 continents, but they all agree)
    2. External Evidence
      1. Time
      2. Archaeology
        (Sir William Ramsey tried to disprove Luke as a credible historian. He concluded that Luke was one of the best historians ever and converted to Christianity)
    3. Prophecy
      1. Fall of Jerusalem 100 years in advance
      2. Cyrus 160 years before his birth
      3. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Messiah
        The chances of a man fulfilling 48 predictions is 1 in 10157 "Science Speaks," Peter Stoner
        (Texas filled 2 feet thick with silver dollars, the chance to select a pre-marked coin is 1 in 1017; US filled 2 feet thick with silver dollars, the chance to select a pre-marked coin is 1 in 1018; Africa and Asia filled 2 feet thick with silver dollars, the chance to select pre-marked coin is 1 in 1019)

Studying the Bible won't get you to heaven; only Jesus will. It's not how many times you've been through the Bible; it's how thoroughly the Bible has been through you. -Gypsy Smith

Greek Terms: marturo - to bear witness, testify
Publications Referenced "Science Speaks," by Peter Stoner
Figures Referenced - Diocletian, Joel Rosenberg, George Barna, Sir William Ramsey
Cross References: Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5; Mark 1:11; Mark 9:7; Luke 3:22; Luke 9:35; John 1:29; John 1:30; John 1:36; John 9:16; John 14:11; 2 Peter 1:16; 1 John 1:1-2

Transcript

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Why should you believe in God? Why should you believe in Jesus Christ? I was asked that question a number of times when I worked in a secular environment, almost a daily basis, people would ask, well why should you believe in God or why do you, why should I? I asked different people that this week. I actually, because it was the name of the message, I just would call people at random and say, why should I believe in God? And they, I think, they got worried like, wow, he’s backsliding or something. Why would he ask that question? I said just answer the question. Why should you or I or anybody believe in God? Why do you believe in God? And I got a number of very interesting responses. One person said, well I’ll tell you why for me because no other belief system that I looked at gave me sufficient answers for the deepest questions in my life, including science. The big, deep questions weren’t answered any other place. Another person answered by simply saying and he had quite a background, quite a sinful past, he said, I believe because of what He has done for me, how He’s changed me. That’s a great answer. Another person had a very interesting answer. He said because the alternative is so depressing. And he explained himself and it really made sense. I talked to a pastor’s kid this week. He grew up in a pastor’s home on the East Coast and he said, you know I grew up believing all my life until I was seventeen. Then I started questioning, like, well why do I believe? What is the whole reason that I believe?
So picture the scene. You’re standing in line at Starbucks—even if you go I don’t go to Starbucks—go with me here. You’re standing in line at Starbucks. You’re about three, four people deep. You’re standing there holding a Bible. And somebody behind you notices it’s a Bible and says, excuse me, is that a Bible? And you go, yep. Why are you carrying that? Why do you believe in God? Why should I believe in God? Now maybe you have an answer that’s like, you’re ready for it, it’s like, so glad you asked! Or you’re gonna stand there and go, uhh… You’re getting decaf?
Back in 1944, a British philosopher came up with what he called, and what many have called, the skeptic’s parable. This is how it goes. Once upon a time, two explorers came upon a clearing in the jungle. In the clearing were growing many flowers and many weeds. One explorer said, some gardener must tend this plot. The other explorer disagreed. There is no gardener. And so they pitched their tents and set a watch. No gardener was ever seen. Well perhaps he’s an invisible gardener, said the first. So they set a barbed wire fence. They electrified it. They patrolled it with bloodhounds for they remembered how H.G. Wells, the invisible man, could both be smelled and touched, though he could not be seen. And they waited. But no shrieks ever suggested that some intruder had received a shock. No movements of the wire ever betrayed an invisible climber. The bloodhounds never gave a cry. Yet still the believer was not convinced. But there is a gardener! Invisible! Intangible and insensible to electric shock! A gardener who has no scent and makes no sound. A gardener who comes secretly to look after the garden which he loves. At last, the skeptic despaired. And he said but what remains of your original assertion? And just how does what you call an invisible and intangible eternally elusive gardener differ from an imaginary gardener or even from no gardener at all?
So what do you do when an unbeliever asks why do you believe? Why should I believe? Jesus was confronted with that here, in a sense. You see, His opponents that He is speaking to in this section, they believed, or at least they said they believed in God, but they certainly did not believe in Him. they did not love Him. they did not trust Him. They, in fact, thought that He, because He claimed to be equal with God, was nothing more than a blasphemer. So Jesus is confronting their unbelief and His assertion is this: that the gardener has stepped into the garden, that He who is invisible is now visible and they were looking at Him. That’s what He asserts to them. The premise of the entire book of John is stated in the banner behind me, is: Believe. 98 times that word surfaces in the Gospel of John. Believe. Believe. John says I wrote these things that you might believe in Him.
But there’s another question after the assertion believe and that is why? Why should I believe? Why should you believe? Why do you believe in Jesus? And Jesus answers that at least in part right here. Now let me explain what we’re about to read. As I read through this section this week, I discovered a word that was repeated a lot and so that becomes really the, the hinge point for our message this morning. It’s the word witness. Witness is used over and over and over eight different times in our text. In fact, eight different times that word, the Greek word which means witness, exists. But three more times the exact same word is used but translated into English by the word testify or testimony. That’s what witnesses do. Now a witness is somebody who has seen something or heard something or experienced something and then explains what he or she has seen or heard or experienced. Typically in a court of law. So what Jesus does here, in confronting those unbelievers, is He calls in witnesses into the courtroom of truth, so to speak. He calls upon witnesses to testify as to who He is and they form the reasons why we should believe.
We’ll begin at verse 30 and go down to the end of the chapter. Jesus continues, and you can see they’re all red letters, so He’s doing all the talking: “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.” What He means by that is My witness won’t be received by you. You won’t buy into it. You won’t regard it. So He says this, verse 32: “There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. You have sent to John,” that is John the Baptist, “and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
One of the things that I appreciate about what Jesus says here is something I noticed in His whole ministry. Did you know Jesus never told people to believe in Him just because He said so? Or just because if they do they’ll feel really good about it? They’ll have a really warm, fuzzy feeling if they do. No, what He does is He backs up, giving them reasons that they should believe. Four to be exact. Now according to Jewish law, Greek law, and Roman law, you needed to have at least two witnesses to corroborate any act or fact. At least two. What Jesus does is He takes the requirement and doubles it and gives them four witnesses or four reasons to believe. Now what He does here is He appeals to real life experience. He appeals to historical fact and He appeals to prewritten documentation as reasons to believe.
Well let’s look at those four and the first one is they should believe because of what others have declared. So here’s Jesus in the courtroom of truth. He calls in His first witness. It happens to be John the Baptist, verse 32: “There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.”
John the Baptist is an example of an eyewitness testimony. He was there for a while when Jesus was there. He heard what Jesus said, he saw His life, he examined Him carefully, and he gave his own testimony about Jesus. What did John say about Jesus? Here’s one thing he said: Behold, the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world! Here’s another thing John the Baptist said about Jesus: He is far greater than I am, for He existed long before I did. That’s interesting, because John the Baptist was older than Jesus. But he’s pointing to His eternal nature. He existed long before I did.
Now here’s what’s interesting. John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins. Just to refresh your memory, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Elizabeth, the mother of John, were first cousins, making John and Jesus second cousins. To me this adds the weight of authenticity to his testimony because how many of you would ever say about your cousin, now just for a minute think about your cousin, grab a cousin that you know and put him in your mind or her in your mind, would you ever say about your cousin, my cousin is God! My cousin is the One that will take away the sin of the world! Ahh… no you would never do that. You know that cousin. You grew up with that cousin. You went to family reunions with that cousin as did John the Baptist with Jesus. And yet his testimony is unmistakable that He is the Lamb of God and He has an eternal nature.
Now John was just one eyewitness, as I mentioned. But he was not the only one. The New Testament is filled, filled, with firsthand eyewitness testimony of people who encountered Jesus and then later wrote or spoke about that encounter. Now here’s a couple more. Peter. He was sort of an unbelieving at first. Peter said later on in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 16, he writes, we did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We were eyewitnesses of His majesty. Another was John, the author of this book. And he writes in 1 John chapter 1: we saw Him with our own eyes and we touched Him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ the Word of life and now we testify that He is the One who is eternal life.
Now all of these eyewitnesses could certainly tell the difference between legend or myth or reality. And what they appealed to is an historic encounter. An historic context. They did not have secondhand religious experience. They had their own, personal, firsthand experience. In other words, they heard His sermons—firsthand. They saw His miracles—firsthand. And they saw lives of people around them change, including their own—firsthand.
What brought me to Jesus Christ was not some clever theological argument or doctrinal position. What brought me to Jesus Christ is when I saw the lives of people that I knew change. I looked at people who I knew and they were suddenly filled with joy and peace and purpose and I looked at them and I examined them and I thought how does that happen? How does that happen? How do people change like that? It’s Jesus that changed them and the testimony is uniform. Not just them but for the last 2,000 years, millions of people—millions of people—from all over the world, different ages, male or female, different languages, different continents. If you listen to their testimony, no matter what the cultural context would be, you’re gonna discover they all sound very similar to each other. It kinda goes like this: I used to live this way. I used to believe that. Then I came to Jesus and everything changed. Now I have peace. Now I have love. Now I have joy. Now I have hope. So there must be something to these uniform testimonies that are declared by so many people.
I’ll give you an example. Let’s say I take a banana. Here’s, interesting how bananas appear when you need them, by the way, that’s a gnarly looking banana—not a great example. Ok, let’s say I, here’s my testimony. I say to you this morning, see this banana? Before I met this banana, before I had this banana, life was purposeless and meaningless. I had no joy, no hope. But when I had this banana, I got joy and peace and love and purpose and I can now bench press 700 pounds because of this banana. Wow! Ok. So you listen to that and the first question you would logically ask is are there any other people with a similar experience? Are there any people in Albuquerque? Are there any people in New Mexico or any people around the United States or anyone in the world who can say I, too, got a banana and because of that, I have love, peace, joy, and I can, I’m very, very strong because of it? If it is the same testimony, then there’s something to it. If not, you dismiss it.
When there are that many people, with a uniform testimony about this Person of Jesus Christ, well, it’s time to listen to this person. And so Jesus, as His first witness, is John the Baptist and there were many like him. it’s because of what others had declared.
Here’s His second reason: because of what Jesus has done. Look at verse 36, He brings in His second witness: “But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.” Ok, so what did Jesus just do before this conversation? What did He just do? He just? Remember the story? Were you with us? He healed a man! He’s at the pool of Bethesda. He healed a man who had a disease for 38 years. It was a miraculous sign. It was a miraculous work and it got their attention. It was on the Sabbath day. They didn’t like that. It was a miracle—unmistakably. But they still didn’t believe in Him. Which I don’t really fault them because of that, honestly, because their own Scriptures, Deuteronomy 13 even says if a guy comes and he says he’s a prophet and he does some miracle, you be careful and listen to the message that he speaks because if the message that he speaks draws you away from the true God, he’s a false prophet. So they would naturally be skeptical. But when you put this witness, the miraculous works of Jesus, alongside the other witnesses that He calls upon in this section, it’s compelling evidence.
There’s over 30 miracles recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. When I say miracle, I’m not talking about how some people use the sun rose today, that’s a miracle. The sun set, that’s a miracle. No it’s not. Happens every day. A miracle is the suspension of natural law and the enacting of supernatural forces. That’s a miracle. Walking on water? That’d be a miracle. 30, over 30, 34 of those in the New Testament are recorded. And often Jesus would appeal to those acts as substantive proof for who He was. For example, in John chapter 14, Jesus will say, Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. And others who saw those miracles also would agree. In John chapter 9 verse 16, some of the Pharisees said, this Man Jesus is not from God for He’s working on the Sabbath but others said but how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs. So these works mentioned in verse 36 are activities and miracles that Jesus did that substantiated that He was the Jewish Messiah long ago predicted. That’s why many people believed in Him then.
And now I’m gonna throw this at you. That’s why many people today believe in Him. You go excuse me? You mean, people today believe in Him because of the miracles? I haven’t seen any miracle this week in my neighborhood. Where are all the miracles? Well, here’s where all the miracles are, not all of them, but a lot of them. There’s countries in the world that will not allow the gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached or Christ Himself to be presented. It’s closed to Him. And in those areas of the world that are not allowing the gospel to be heralded, God is bringing people to Jesus Christ through all sorts of creative New Testament means like this.
My friend Joel Rosenberg has written in his, well one of his books, Inside the Revolution, he believes more Muslims have come to faith in Jesus Christ in the last 30 years than any other time in human history and he said there’s evidence that would suggest, since September 11, 2001, the majority have come to faith in Christ. One of his things that he cites is the leading Saudi Arabian cleric who came out on Al Jazeer-a television lamenting the fact that 6 million Muslims a year are converting to Christianity. That’s from a Muslim cleric. Now we don’t know exactly how many are, but the fact that this cleric is lamenting the fact that an enormous amount of Muslims are coming to faith in Christ, begs the question why are they coming to faith in Christ? One, named Hormu Shariat, from the International Antioch Ministries, broadcast messages by satellite to Muslims in Europe and in the Middle East and he says, and I quote, “Every day we have stories of dreams and visions and miracles.” God is getting His message across and many are believing Him for this same reason.
Here’s one story that I got from a source. Mariam Asal, an Islamic evangelist for 7 years, she was teaching women verses from the Koran. She was teaching them prayers so they’d live an obedient Islamic life and she was on track, says the source, to become a female Ayatollah, a Shiite religious and political leader. Well, that was then. What happened after that is her mother came down or exhibited severe M.S.—multiple sclerosis. Got so severe one day she said I prayed to Allah. I’ve served you for many years of my life. I’ve given you my youth and this is what you’ve done for me? I read that. I thought, that’s interesting. I know a lot of people here who, not necessarily in this church, but in America, who pray that same kind of prayer. Well, her mom’s health deteriorated. She became disillusioned with God, disillusioned with everything, and she decided that she and her mom would commit suicide together. They’d kill themselves. They’d get everything ready and, I don’t know if it was television or radio, but some broadcast was on on one of those two sources, and as they were getting ready to commit suicide, this voice over the airwaves said, are you trying to kill yourself today? And it was a message being broadcast into her language about the gospel. She called the station. She received Christ as her Savior. She then took her mother to get an MRI sometime later and it was completely negative—no signs at all of multiple sclerosis. She knew Jesus healed her mother. It confirmed her own faith and led her mother to Jesus Christ as well.
So here’s Jesus confronting these unbelieving Pharisees and leaders, saying, My first witness? Outside testimony. Because of what others have declared. Number two, because of what I have done. Here’s the third one: because of what God Himself, God the Father, the One you say you love and worship, what He has decreed.
Look at verse 37: “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified [or given His testimony, or borne witness] of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.” Well what does it mean that Jesus is saying that His Father testified of Him? Well there’s two incidences in the New Testament where the voice of God the Father spoke out of heaven attesting to His Son. Remember what they were? One was the baptism. He’s down at the Jordan River and God the Father speaks. This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Now that’s recorded by three separate sources. Matthew, a tax guy who had no interest in religion before his conversion, Mark, who got his testimony from Peter directly, and Luke, an unbelieving doctor who became converted and then sought to give an eyewitness account of what happened. The second time is when Jesus was walking up to a mountain with three of His disciples and a voice came out of heaven after Jesus was transfigured. And the voice said this is My beloved Son, listen to Him. Now having God Himself, that is, the Father Himself, testify on His behalf, was a powerful sign to these leaders because they claimed that they believed in God. They claimed that they loved God. So what Jesus would be saying to them is even your God, or at least the one you claim is your God, who happens to be My personal Father, would bear witness and say that you should believe in Me. That’s what He said.
We live in a very interesting era in America right now. I think that it’s probably the most spiritual time of any other time. You’re thinking now wait a minute, I think we’re deeply in secular humanism. I think you’re right. At the same time, people today want to call themselves spiritual. It’s not Christianity. It’s not believing in this God of the Bible, but they want to say they’re very spiritual. That is, I believe in God. They mean a generic god. An unnamed god. An unidentified god. A watered-down god. A father figure or a mother figure god. According to George Barna, he said Americans are probably more interested in spiritual matters today than they have been in any other time in the past 40 years. And before you go man, that sounds like great news, listen to what the editor, religious editor, for the New York Times said, and I quote, “Today we are witnessing a mass movement of individual seekers who are shunning labels but drawing their belief from several contradictory belief systems.”
You know what it’s like? It’s like if you go to a salad bar and you can pick whatever you want, right, on the salad bar? And some of the stuff you think, why would I ever put that on my salad, but it’s there, and so you put it on there and somebody else says, I don’t like that but I like this, so your salads look very different, though it’s salad. Now that’s exactly how people are approaching spirituality today. It’s sort of like saying, um, I’ll take a small order of Christianity, please—hold the guilt. I’m on a guilt-free diet. I’d like a side of Hinduism and a side of Buddhism, because that’s cool. And maybe a few New Age spices because, you know, we’ll just spice it up a bit. And so what, what God would say to them is that this god that you believe in, this generic god that you believe in, is real. There is a God. And He would tell you—believe in Jesus. Even God the Father testifies that.
Here’s the fourth and final reason or witness, if you will, in the courtroom of truth, and that is because of what Scripture discloses. Verse 39: “You search the Scriptures,” now some believe this is put in the imperative. It could be rendered as a command: Hey, you! Search the Scriptures! Either way, it makes sense. “For in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify [or bear witness] of Me.” Verse 45 is interesting: “Do not think that I shall accuse to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.”
You know, they were all into the Torah. Man, we believe in the Torah! The first five books of Moses. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Moses, man, he’s our guy! Jesus says, really? He’s your guy? If you believed him, you’d believe Me because he wrote about Me! And then He concludes, “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” In other words, His fourth witness is the Bible itself that has predicted Him. You go the Bible? How’s that a reliable witness? I mean, it’s just a book! Everybody has a book. Every religion has its book. Every holy belief has its holy book. There’s so many holy books out there, why is the Bible so reliable? I’ll tell you exactly why really briefly. For two main reasons. One is, let’s call it internal evidence, the other is external evidence. Internal evidence, just look at the Bible itself. 66 books, not one, 66 books written by more than 40 authors over 1500 years, in 3 separate languages, on 3 continents, and those who wrote it had different backgrounds. And they wrote about the most controversial subjects like the Person of God, the origin of man, the problem of evil, the meaning of life. And oddly enough, all of those authors of those 66 books from all those different time eras, happened to agree.
You go, so? Ok then I give you a challenge, you ready? Here’s the challenge. Find ten people, just ten, from your own neighborhood, who have the same educational background, speak the same language, have the same culture, and have them write two paragraphs on the meaning of life and see if any of them agree with each other. Probably not. Or here’s another experiment. Take, take 25 medical books over the last 1500 years, and treat a patient based on the information therein. What would happen if you did that from Harvard Medical School all the way to voodoos and whatever country? You’ll kill them! So this is very unique. The internal evidence of the Bible itself.
Then there’s the external evidence. We don’t have time to get into it, like the history. The Bible has survived time, even though it wasn’t written on permanent stuff like stone or clay tablets like the Babylonians, but parchment and perishable products. And it’s survived the time when people wanted to get rid of it. Do you know in 303 BC, for example, Diocletian, the emperor, put out an edict that all the churches should be destroyed and all of the copies of the Bible in the Roman Empire, should be destroyed? Anybody caught with a copy of the Scriptures was killed immediately. And between the second and fourth century that was the kind of persecution going on—the Bible survived it.
Then there’s archaeology. And anybody who’s ever tried to discredit the Bible archaeologically has failed. I have tons of examples of this. One most notable one that comes to mind is Sir William Ramsay. Now he was a, he was a man who was a very well-known during his time, very well-known archaeologist, and he said that he could disprove the writings of Luke and he thought it was important because Luke wrote a Gospel and the book of Acts. So he wanted to discredit him as a credible historian. He spent years of research and travel in Greece, Turkey, the Middle East. And finally published his findings and he shocked the academic world when he said, number one, Luke was one of the best historians ever, and number two, he announced, that he, himself, Sir William Ramsay, had converted to Christianity as an archaeologist. Number three, with external evidence, is what Jesus alludes to in verse 39 and that is prophecy.
You search the Scriptures—they’re testifying about Me! There are events in the pages of Bible that are foretold in incredible detail even before they happen. Very specific predictions. Here’s one. Actually, here’s two in one chapter. Isaiah chapter 44 describes the fall of Jerusalem and when it was written, it was written 100 years before Jerusalem fell. You say well that’s a lucky guess. Ok, here’s number two in the same chapter. The same chapter names the guy who will rebuild Jerusalem. He’s actually written by name in that chapter as Cyrus of Persia and that was written 160 years before he was born! Here’s how it works. Let’s say in my pocket right now are ten pennies and they’re all marked: 1, 2, 3, 4, all the way to ten. And then I make a prediction: Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m about to reach in my pocket and select penny marked number one. What are my odds? Well there’s ten pennies. One in ten are the odds. So I go down and pick it out and go, wow, he defied odds! He picked out penny number one! You all applaud, I would hope. And then I announce, ok, ladies and gentlemen, watch this now. I’m gonna select penny number two. Well now my odds decrease exponentially. It’s not one in ten or one in nine, it’s now one in 100 that I can select sequentially and if I predict to you that I’m gonna select, in order, penny 1, 2, 3, 4, all the way to ten, now my odds decrease to one in 10 billion. And here’s my point. God repeatedly stacks the odds against Himself by writing about things before they happen in incredible detail because they testify of Jesus. One of my favorite little books that I have, by Peter Stoner, called Science Speaks, is where this mathematician analyzes 48 predictions the Bible writes about Jesus Christ, 250 years or more before He was born—48 predictions. And using his scientific background and the principal of probability, Dr. Stoner said, and I quote, “We find the chance that any one man in history to fulfill all 48 prophecies would be 1 in 10 to the 157th power.” Now you go what does that mean? Well here’s a little visual. If you took the entire state of Texas and filled it two feet thick of silver dollars, you marked one of those multimillions or billions of silver dollars and you marked it, the odds of one person finding that one silver dollar would be in 1 in 10 to the 17th power. If you fill the United States of America coast-to-coast two feet thick full of silver dollars and premarked one, the odds of a person finding the one you premarked is 1 in 10 to the 18th power. If you took the continents of Africa and Asia and filled them two feet thick of silver dollars and premarked one, the odds of somebody finding that would be 1 in 10 to the 19th power. What he just said is for one man to fulfill 48 of these predictions is 1 in 10 to the 157th power and he concludes, “In 100 billion years, there is no chance that the prophecies Jesus fulfilled could be fulfilled without God.” Verse 39, look at that once again because it applies to us: “You search the Scriptures”. We do, don’t we? I know I do and I know you do. You search the Bible. You love Bible study. But it says, “for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”
Here’s what I want to say. Studying the Bible won’t get you to heaven. Only Jesus will. They missed the whole point in their meticulous study of the Bible. It’s a warning to us. It’s not about the Bible—it’s about the Author of the Bible. It’s not Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and Holy Bible. It’s the Bible points to Christ and if I know the Bible but I don’t know its Author, guess what? I’ve missed it all. As Gypsy Smith used to say, “It’s not how many times you’ve been through the Bible, it’s how many times the Bible’s been through you.” And so we’re confronted with some powerful testimony, powerful witnesses, this morning. Where others have said what Jesus has done, what the Father has declared, and what the Scripture itself discloses as reliable testimony. Jesus says that’s why you should believe.

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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1/24/2010
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Uncommitted!
John 2:23-25
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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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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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6/13/2010
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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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