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Guest Speaker from NBC/Ethnos

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Preacher

Doug Harkness

Date
April 30, 2023
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Passage

John 5:1-47
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Transcription

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Auto-generated - may contain small errors. Always verify with the audio version.

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I'm Doug. I just finished my second year at Nippon Bible College. Are you excited about that? That was more like a moan, wasn't it? Alright, well, first I'm going to talk a little bit about the Bible College, if that's alright.

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Thank you. One person's looking forward to it. And I'm going to call upon the pastor to pick two victims for me. Well, look who's here. Hi, Dana.

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I'm surprised you're here. Anyway, sorry. Dana loves Nippon Bible College, don't you, Dana? I sure do. I know. We're so glad you're here. That was a surprise to me. Anyway, so Pastor Josh, I need you to pick two volunteers for me.

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You know what it's for. I know what it's for. You do? You've seen this, haven't you? So if he picks you. Here's one. You got a second one.

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We need a boy and a girl. That's how this works. Oh, we need a boy. Tyler, you want to know? Alright, Tyler, you know what you're getting into here too as well. So, what's your name?

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AJ. AJ. You all know AJ? Yeah. Okay, there was a little bit of affirmation there. You have an adoring public already. Alright. This is AJ. She's one of yours, right?

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Yeah. Okay. And no enthusiasm there. We're going to work on that. So AJ, we're going to work AJ and Tyler here into a little dramatic presentation.

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You're all good with that? Sure. Yeah. You're killing me. Alright, so AJ, I'm going to give you your lines. I'm going to give Tyler his lines and you guys saw how this worked last night, but they don't know.

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So, just, you know what's expected. So I'm going to give you your lines and then you're going to memorize them and then when you deliver them, the delivery is the important part. You have to convince them that you really mean it. Can you do that?

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Yes. Now, here's a problem for you guys. I have a microphone. You don't. So, for you to make this convincing, you have to talk to, there's a police officer in the back. You get this wrong, I think you're going to be in trouble.

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So, I feel safe that you're here. Thank you. So, are you ready? Okay. Your line is, for sure, Doug. For sure, Doug.

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That's really well done. Now, did you hear that? I did. Barely? Or could it be? It was good. Okay. Convincingly, tell them again. For sure, Doug. Okay. Now, turn, face the audience because you'd never turn your back to the audience, right?

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Okay, again. For sure, Doug. Why are you laughing? Listen, you blow the whole script if you don't stay in character. Okay. Try. Try. There. Get composure. You got it?

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Breathe. Breathing's important. Okay. Deep breath. Okay. Ready? For sure, Doug. Are you convinced? Hold that.

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All right. Now, Tyler, you know your role, right? What are your lines going to be? No way. Okay. Be convincing. You've got to be loud. You've got to project. Don't forget to breathe. Convince him.

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No way. Would you ever park your car in a no parking zone? No way. See? Okay. That's good. That's good. That's good. That's good. Okay. Would you ever park your car in a no parking zone?

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For sure. Did you hear that? Do you think that's a good idea? No way. Do you think we could talk her out of it? No way. Well, I'm going to try anyway.

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Don't do it, okay? For sure. All right. She's okay now. All right? Okay. Do you know anything about Nippling Bible College? No way. Are you lying? No way. I think he's lying. Do you think he's lying?

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For sure, Doug. He was here last night, right? Yeah, for sure. Did he hear the presentation last night? For sure, Doug. I'm going to give you a second chance. Do you know anything about Nippling Bible College? No way. He stays in character so well.

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I love that. Okay. Well, I'm going to tell you a little bit about Nippling Bible College anyway. Is that okay? For sure, Doug. Okay. So, we have opportunities for you to come to Nippling Bible College, and you're probably wondering, why would anybody do that?

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Are you wondering that? For sure, Doug. Because it's an opportunity to spend one year focused on God's Word, listening to God. Everybody's here for a purpose. Do you believe that? No way.

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Man, he's a tough customer. Do you believe we're all here for a reason? For sure, Doug. Do you think we can convince him? For sure, Doug. That's what we do in Bible College. We spend one year concentrated in God's Word, listening to the God who created us, because we want to know why we're here, right?

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For sure, Doug. You wouldn't want to miss that, would you? No way. I know. So, a year of your life, set aside all the distractions, and ask God, the one who created me, tell me who I am, who you are, why I'm here, and what you want to do with my life.

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Is that a great investment in the rest of your life? For sure, Doug. It's going to pay dividends for the rest of your life, right? For sure, Doug. And you wouldn't want to miss it, would you? No way. I know. So, here's some opportunities for you to visit our Bible College.

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You can come to 365 Junior, if you're a junior, or 365 Senior, if you're a senior. Does that make sense? For sure. You wouldn't want to go to the wrong one, would you? No way.

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And you wouldn't want to miss going to 365. No way. Have you already signed up for this? Yeah. No way. Can I trust him?

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No way. For sure, Doug. Good. Are you having fun?

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For sure. Are you having fun? No way. How's it going to be? All right. So, you can come to 365 Junior. Are you okay? Here.

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Fan yourself with that. It might help a little bit. All right. Don't forget to bring a friend to 365. For sure, Doug. Good. You wouldn't come alone, would you? No way. Bring some friends.

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That's great. You can also come to Campus Days. So, we give you an opportunity to come a couple times a year and sit in on classes. You get to hear from the professors. You get a feel for what campus life is like.

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You get to eat in the dining hall, which is going to be exciting, right? For sure, Doug. Do you like dining hall food? No way. Well, you're going to get to try it anyway. And, and, and, you get to meet some of the rest of the students.

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Is that exciting? For sure, Doug. Don't bother. All right. I know you want to come, so I'm going to give that to you anyway. No way.

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I'm going to give it to them anyway. Now, some of you are thinking, well, you know what? Going to Bible college sounds like it's going to be expensive. It's going to cost money, right? For sure, Doug. Is that going to stop you from going?

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No way. But you would like to know if we can make it easier, wouldn't you? For sure. We have got just the thing for you. Scholarships and bursaries, the information's on the table. Help yourself to that.

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I'm not just speaking to those who are grade seven and up. I want to talk to the parents and the grandparents. Would that be okay? For sure, Doug. Do you think they'll be coming to Bible college?

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No way. I don't know. Some do. But you have children and grandchildren. We want to encourage you to send your children and grandchildren to Bible college. Is that a great idea? For sure.

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They shouldn't miss that opportunity. No way. I know. So think about it, grandparents. You will make investments in your grandchildren, won't they? For sure, Doug. What kind of investments?

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Music lessons? Sports team? Getting to a better school? Is that true? For sure, Doug. You wouldn't want them to not support their grandchildren in going to Bible college, would you?

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No way. Are you sure? No way. You're not sure? No way. You are sure? No way. Can I trust him? For sure, Doug. Okay. So scholarships and bursaries.

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You hang on to that and share it with people, okay? No way. See if he can change his mind. All right. Deacon's track. Some of you are thinking, you know what? I'd love to know the Bible, but I'm not really academic.

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I have a hard time studying and I don't like doing exams and writing papers is really like a nightmare for me. So would you like to know if there was an opportunity for you to take a Bible college education and avoid all the rigors of those difficult papers, tests, and exams and rigmarole like that?

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For sure, Doug. There it is. Deacon's track. You get to sit in on the same classes, but you don't have the same level of academic requirement, but you get a Bible school education. You don't want to miss that, do you?

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No way. I know. So a couple more things and then I'll be done. Is that all right with you? No way. I'm going to do it anyway. All right. So we are going to give each of these two, I almost called them contestants, but they're not contestants, are you?

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For sure, Doug. You are. Okay. Well, you're not really competing for this. I'm going to give it to you anyway. I'm going to give them each a certificate for $100 off their first semester if they come to Nippon Bible College.

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Is that exciting? For sure, Doug. You don't think he would say no to that, do you? For sure, Doug. Would you say no to that? No way. Okay. That's good. So for the rest of you, if you are in grade seven and above, we have a draw for you.

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Obviously, we want to start the dialogue with you because we don't manufacture students. We only educate them. So we rely on churches and families to provide us with students.

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We like to start the conversation early. What are you doing with your life? Where do you fit into this? How do you see Bible college fitting in? And if you give us your information, our recruitment department will start that conversation with you.

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They're not going to force you to go to Bible school, but start the conversation. Start talking about what are my goals in life? How would Bible college help me to accomplish that? How will going to Bible college pay dividends no matter where else God leads me?

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Does that sound exciting? For sure, Doug. Have you pulled one of these out already? Yes. For sure, Doug. He did too. Do you know that? For sure, Doug.

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He did. That's true. All right. So thank you very much, guys. And after the service, you come and see me and I will make sure you get your certificate. Is that okay? For sure. You're not going to forget? No way.

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Okay. You can sit down. You can sit down. No way. Will you tell him to sit down?

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For sure, Doug. Tell him to sit down. Sit down. All right. It's so hard to keep people in character. All right. One little other thing I want to share with you before we spend a few minutes in God's word.

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And that is, I'm actually an Ethnos missionary with Ethnos Canada. It used to be New Tribes Mission. Some of you might be more familiar with that name. And we have a wonderful training program in Durham, Ontario that's 18 months long, which requires our students in Durham to have two weeks, poles, plastic, duct tape, and four nails to build a house.

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And they will live in that plastic house for the entire month of July. The houses together we collectively call Jungle Camp. And after they move out at the end of July, because they get a month off before they go into their fall semester, the PR department seizes Jungle Camp.

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We modify the houses and we invite groups to come in for the weekends, Friday through Sunday. You live in the plastic houses and you get some really intense and fun insight into missions, the existing need, why we need training, and why we do things the way we do.

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It's a great opportunity to learn about missions, right? Right. For sure does. Thank you. You wouldn't want to miss that either, would you? No way.

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All right. So there's some information about this on the table as well. And I've talked to your pastor about it. I'm looking to get 40 people on a bus to take from Nipawin. We'll be driving right through Manitoba.

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So we can pick people up on the way even. But I'm trying to get 40 people to go down in August and participate in this. Would you want to do that? For sure, Doug.

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This was audience participation time. Have you guys... Get it. I'm glad I didn't pick you. All right. Oh, I didn't pick any of you, did I? I'm going to drag this out because now we're going to ask you to turn to God's Word for a few minutes.

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Is that right? Now I was told I have till one o'clock. Is that correct? No. For sure, Doug. All right. I find out who my friends are when I do things like that. All right.

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On a more serious note, how much time do I have? The pastor said I have as much time as I need. Well, we're staying for lunch, right?

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Okay. So nobody has to be in a hurry to get out of here, right? No way. You've got to know the cues. All right. So I told some of the children earlier this morning that I had a surprise for them.

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And you wanted to know what it was for, right? You want to find out now? Hold your breath. This is a test. See how long you can pay attention. You can pay attention in church, right? Some people think kids can't, but they can.

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Can't you? That's not the line. What's the line? Thank you. See how smart they are? Those are future Bible school students. I'm telling you. Looking forward to having you.

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And if I'm around... We worked it out yesterday, didn't we? How many years? Nine. Nine more years. Okay. If I'm still breathing and still there, I'm looking forward to having you in my class. Is that fair?

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Sure. That a girl. See how she... She's good. All right. If you have your Bible with you, and I hope you do because it's Sunday morning, turn to John chapter five. And while you're turning there, I'm going to try and weave a few threads here together.

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One is I'm with Ethnos Canada. It's my heart and passion. It's what I have given my life to. Ethnos has sent me to Nippon Bible College believing that I can be effective in my role of recruiting and promoting missions, particularly Ethnos, at the Bible school.

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So far, I am loving it. So how do I connect Nippon Bible College and Ethnos Canada and Bible school education and church and Sunday morning and the Word of God?

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Do you think I can do this? First church. Good. That's a wonderful response. Well, we're going to give it our shot. So let me give you a little bit of background. Ethnos Canada works in typically isolated, remote places.

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Started in 1942. And our goal has and remains to take the gospel to people who have no access to the gospel. Believe it or not, still have about 2,500 people groups on the planet who have no access to the gospel.

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They might even have, in some cases, buildings with crosses on them. They might, in some cases, know the name of Jesus, but they don't know the gospel. That is something that we can do something about in our lifetime.

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We have the richest church that's ever existed. We have the best equipped church that's ever existed. We have open doors all over the place. Right now, are we being recorded? Okay.

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We have, so I want to be careful what I say about some of the access points that we have. We have, at any given time, at least a dozen of these remote, isolated people groups who are begging us for missionaries.

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You know what the problem is? We don't have people to go. I mean, church after church, where we seem to live under the assumption that we're going to hear, well done, good and faithful servant, because we're believers.

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Jesus isn't going to lie. He said, I want you to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every tribe, every people. Right? And for some reason, we got so far and we've kind of stalled, and the richest, best equipped church that's ever existed is becoming self-indulgent, and we're more consumed about ourself.

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I want to challenge you very seriously to consider the sacrifice, and it is sacrifice, that it will take to get the job done. We're going to need your children. We're going to need your grandchildren.

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We're going to need parents to say, God gave us these children not to hang on to, but to equip for a life of meaningful service that may involve them serving on the other side of the world where you only get to see them every four years.

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Can you do that? For sure, Doug. For sure, Doug. You realize only two people said, for sure, Doug. That is indicative of the problem. If you were all enthusiastic, like, for sure, Doug, what do I have to do?

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The problem would be solved if we'd do that. Are you tracking with me? That was a poke in the eye. So you can despise me, but I'm not going to quit. Okay. So, as we perform our ministry, planting churches in these isolated people groups, one of my co-workers, Dave Wright, worked among the Mangan people.

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Everybody say Mangan. Mangan. Not everybody said it. Everybody say Mangan. Mangan. That's better. Audience participation is important. I know you're not sleeping. That's in class, too.

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You don't believe me. All right. So Dave planted a church among the Mangan people, and we learned something from the people that we plant churches among as well, and I'm going to share that with you in just a minute.

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One of the things about the Mangan people is because it's an oral culture, and that's part of what we do. We teach our missionaries how to take an oral culture, develop an alphabet for them, put their language into writing, and then translate the Bible into their language so that when we're done our work among them, and it takes 30 or 40 years, they have indigenous leadership and established church and the Word of God to stand on and be self-sufficient.

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That's the goal. There's no shortcuts. It's hard, and it takes sacrifice, but all of our missionaries who have done it, without fail, all will tell me, it was wonderful. I would do it again if I could.

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Awesome. Great way to spend your life. So one of the things that the Mangan people do when they have a debt, because they have no record keeping, they don't have accounts, is let's say that Pastor Joel here, Pastor Josh, sorry, other church, Pastor Josh comes over to me and said, Doug, you know what, could I borrow a pig?

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And I say, well, sure, I have lots, and we have to keep track of that debt. You know what we're going to use? A knot in a rope. So Pastor Josh, you owe me a pig.

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Don't you forget it. I got a rope that reminds me of your debt. You with me? You see how this works? Oh, he wanders over again, and he wants a second pig, maybe a third pig or a fourth.

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You get how this works? And before you know it, Pastor Josh here is coming to you guys saying, like, I need a raise, because, like, I'm so far in debt to Doug, I got to replace all these pigs. Only one person gets that.

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Okay. It was a joke. So, all right. The main thing is, how do we keep track of debts? We put knots in ropes, okay? Or vines, they use. Now, how would you use that in Bible college?

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You want to know? For sure, Doug. For sure, Doug. Okay, good. So, good to have people in the class here who have been in that class and seen how we've done this. When Dave and his team got to Exodus chapter 20, where we teach the Ten Commandments, right?

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How do we convey to people what the Ten Commandments is all about? That every time God gives a, you shall have no other gods before me, that we have violated that.

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We have broken it. We have a debt to God. Are you tracking with me? What a great visual. These people understood the Ten Commandments. And you know them probably, but let me rhyme them off from Exodus chapter 20.

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You will have no graven image. You will have, not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. Remember the Sabbath. Honor your father and mother. Do not kill. Do not commit adultery.

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Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. And if I've counted this right, do not covet. We have ten knots. Or, that's okay. It still works. Doesn't it? Ten, or ten debts.

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And here's the problem. They're debts they can't pay. And they can't go to mom or dad or to their place of employment and say, you know what? I need a raise because I got to pay these debts that I owe to God.

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It's a problem. Are you with me? That was the purpose of the Ten Commandments. To reveal to us that we have this debt we can't pay. Does everybody understand that? That's awesome.

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Every single one of us has these debts that we cannot pay. That's a dilemma that we can't fix. And if you're not sweating over that, you should be.

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Because one day we're all going to stand before God and we are going to give an account of our lives. And in particular, we are going to have to be confronted with the fact that we have this debt before God that has to be dealt with and paid either by us or by a substitute.

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And here's the wonderful thing about God. Way back when we saw that in our presentation today, back in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 20, when Adam and Eve chose to sin against God, God immediately said, I'm not happy with this.

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I am going to put into plan. I'm going to put into action. I'm going to put into action. A plan of redemption. And I will provide the solution to the naughty problem. Now, how is that going to work?

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Well, you saw some of it played out in some of our plays here tonight or this morning and last night. But here's the thing. When God gives Israel the opportunity to follow him at Mount Sinai and Moses gives them the Ten Commandments, if you're familiar with the story, in pride, in Exodus 19 and verse 8, they say everything that God said, we're going to do it.

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Did they do it? No. In fact, while Moses is on the mountain, what were they doing behind the mountain? Breaking these. Like tying more knots in the rope. And the reality is for all of us, we have way more than 10 knots in our rope.

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Right? We are in serious trouble. So as God works at working this plan out, I'm going to fast forward now to John chapter 5 because time is almost out.

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But I can take as long as I want and your clock at the back is wrong anyway. So don't look at it. Okay. Okay. So God works through this plan of redemption through history, through Abraham, through David, through the descendants, and gives over 350 prophecies in the Old Testament so that when his solution to this problem arrives, everybody's going to know without any doubt, without any shadow of a doubt, this is the solution to our problem.

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Does that make sense? I mean, God doesn't want us trusting in a false hope. He wants us to know there's a solution to this that is extremely expensive to God. And I don't know if you've ever given an expensive gift to somebody, but it's really insulting when they just kind of toss it aside and ignore it.

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God says, I've got you the solution to this problem, which is it is beyond price. It's actually his own son who died on the cross.

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That's what Calvary is all about, to pay for our sins so these knots could be removed. So that's where I want you to turn to John chapter 5. And I'm going to have a little bit of fun here.

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It's not unsanctified fun, but it does require to use your imagination. And I'm going to play with the English language a little bit. Is that allowed? Of course it is, because you don't want to go to sleep on a Sunday morning.

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So in John chapter 5, if you have your Bible open, I'm not going to read through the whole thing for time's sake. But I do hope that after we spend this time together this morning, you go home and you say, I've got to read that again.

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So for now, if you want to circle a couple of things as we go through this, or if you mark in your Bible, or just make mental notes, or whatever, you might want to notice some of these things. So in verses 1 through 15, in John chapter 5, Jesus healed a lame man.

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And the significant thing about this is that he healed this lame man on the Sabbath. Okay, some of you are familiar with this story. Now, it's not just that Jesus healed a lame man on the Sabbath, but he's in Jerusalem.

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And this is the first time that Jesus has, I'll put quotes around, violated the Sabbath in Jerusalem. And it's going to cause a big, big stir. Why would he do that?

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Maybe to get people's attention. Hey, if God were to send the solution to this problem and nobody knew about it, wouldn't that be a tragedy?

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So God wants to make sure, hey, you need to know the solutions here. So Jesus heals this lame man. Now he's got everyone's attention. And if you have your Bible reading finger and everybody's got one, okay, unless you have no fingers, then you have a Bible reading toe.

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And use that if you need to. Put it on the page at John chapter 5 and verse 16. And what does it say that they wanted to do to Jesus in John 5 and verse 16?

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They wanted to kill him. Wait a minute. God sends the solution to this problem that people have been living with for all these centuries.

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And he's been pointing to it. Here he is. And they want to kill him. Does that sound like a stupid thing? Yeah, to me too. So our plot develops.

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Okay, that's great in a drama too, right? So in verse 16, the Jews desire to kill Jesus. And take a look at verse 18. What does it say there?

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It intensifies. The plot thickens. The Jews now, who want to kill Jesus because in their eyes he's violated the Sabbath, now are more determined because, and this is extremely important, he said God was his father.

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And what does it say that means? Making himself equal with God. Don't miss that. That is critical to all this. I meet people all the time who say, you know, Jesus never really claimed to be God.

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When Jesus heals this man on the Sabbath and they come and they want to kill him, he is going to make sure, make no mistake guys, I am the son of God.

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This is what this is all about. I am the solution that God has provided. There isn't another one. And we'll see that as I take a few more minutes with you. So when they want to kill him, when they are so enraged by this declaration that he has made, that he is equal with God, he responds in the following way.

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He says, keep a look at the page there, verse 19. He says, I can do nothing, that is the works that I'm doing, including healing this man on the Sabbath without the father.

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See that in verse 19? It's important you see it in God's word for yourself. And in verse 30, he reiterates that. In fact, it's interesting as you go through this passage, how many of these things are duplicated.

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It's almost like Jesus thinks we're poor students. How many times do I have to repeat myself? Parents, you ever say that to your kids? How many times have I told you?

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At least twice, mom. When are you going to do it? Okay. So no time to dwell on parenting right now. So Jesus' response is, I can do nothing without the works of my father, verse 19.

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And I think, for one thing, there's a great application for us there. If you're still thinking you're doing something for God and you're detached from God, Jesus said, apart from me, you can do?

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Nothing. Nothing. Okay. I mean, you could stay busy. You could do a lot of stuff. But you won't be accomplishing God's purpose for you or God's purpose for redemption for the world.

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And I want to stab you in the eye again. Churches are going crazy being so busy with programming that does not fulfill the Great Commission.

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Are you hearing what I'm saying here? We're really busy about making things more comfortable for ourselves. And that's not what we are commissioned to do. We are commissioned to sacrificially make whatever sacrifices are necessary to see those lost people reached.

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Okay. Does that sound like missions to you? It should. Okay. So, okay. Make sure that what we're doing is consistent with what God wants us to do. We're staying attached.

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We're being nourished from him as we do this. Is it wearisome? Absolutely. Is it frustrating and discouraging? You got to know it. I've been there. I get it. But isn't it wonderful to know that you're refreshed daily, renewed in the inner man daily as you serve God?

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Isn't that exciting? For sure, Doug. Only one person got that. The rest of you, I crave for you that you would know what it is to wake up weary. We're at the end of a tour.

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We're all tired. But I am invigorated by the opportunity this morning to do this with you. And I believe God. I'm sustained by God because I'm big. Right? I'm looking forward to my own bed tonight.

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You don't care about that. Okay. Let's keep going here. So, Jesus says, apart from the Father, I can do nothing. Now, he gives us some examples here. Do you want to see the examples? Good.

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Okay. So, here's some examples for you. He says, keep your Bible reading, figure out, okay, what he does, I do. In verse 19, do you see that? See it for yourself.

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Circle it. Go back and look it up later because I don't have time to dwell on it now. In verse 21, he says, he, the Father, has and gives life. And, oh, I have and give life.

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Hmm. Got it? Make a connection. Look at verse 22. God, who has authority to judge, gives me the authority to judge.

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Verse 22. God receives honor in verse 23. I receive honor. Verse 23. God bears witness in verse 37, which he points out, a little side note, is greater than John's witness.

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You went asking John, who is this guy? And you were willing to take John's testimony? Well, God, the Father, his testimony is greater than John's. And he is confirming who I am.

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And, oh, by the way, same verse, my works bear witness to who I am. Me and the Father, we're doing the same things. And what we're confirming here is that I really am the Son of God.

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Verse 36. Now, why would Jesus be saying this? What does it say in verse 34? Take a look. Look, I am telling you these things so that you can not be guilty, not be miserable, not wander around crime.

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Because God is so mean to me. He doesn't give me what I want. I don't like God. What's for lunch? We do that. And God says, wait a minute.

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I want to make it crystal clear to you that you've got a serious problem. I'm the solution. And I want to make it crystal clear that I'm telling you so you can be saved.

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This isn't just about those people over there. It's not just about the children in Sunday school. It's not just about people in Africa. You getting it? He's talking to you personally. Now, it's possible that there are people here this morning who have never reconciled to God.

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In spite of the fact that God has sent the solution, maybe you didn't know that. Or maybe you have never made it personal. Jesus wants to make sure you make it personal. Is that exciting?

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It is really exciting. Nothing would excite me more than this morning if someone says, man, I came to this morning, Doug, feeling this. I know I'm guilty before God. I know I can't do anything about it.

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And it's horrible. It's weighing me down. And like you've heard in some of our student testimonies, I've looked for something that will soothe the pain. And nothing lasts. Nothing takes it away. And I learned this morning from your message this morning for the first time from God's word that Jesus is the solution and I want that.

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Would that excite you, Pastor? So if you're feeling that this morning immediately after service, you go talk to your Pastor Josh, right? Is that a good plan? For sure, sir. That's an awesome plan. Thank you. All right.

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So now let me have a little bit of fun with the English language. Jesus has made it perfectly clear. He's the solution to the problem. All right? I am the Son of God. You guys got this right, even though you want to kill me for it.

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Me and the Father, we left no doubt about it. I'm telling this so that you can be saved. But here's 10 problems in our passage. I'm just going to go through them very quickly. And I'm going to have some fun with the English language here.

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Okay? Because there are 10 nots. Only it's N-O-T-S. All right? Keep your Bible reading finger on the page and start in verse 17. Jesus is the solution to this problem.

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And he says, but, but, the voice of the Father you have not heard. Is that because God never said anything? No. So you've never heard the voice of God.

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Are you not listening? Are you ignoring it? Are you dismissing it? It's not that God hasn't spoken. You haven't heard his voice. Oh, verse 37 again. You have not seen his form.

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That's a problem. I won't believe in God unless I can see him. Well, you're going to meet him one day. Don't leave it till that day to believe in him. He's real. Verse 38. You have not his word abiding in you.

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Maybe you're aware of it. Maybe you've memorized it. Maybe you've put it on these neat little plaques you hang around your house. I see that all the time, right? And I wonder if it's ever gotten from the plaque to the heart. You know what I'm talking about, right?

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So, anyway, I'm not going to dwell on any of these. In verse 38, he says, you do not believe the one he has sent. You're still piddled around looking for some kind of alternative to solve your sin problem.

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And there isn't one. I am the only one. He says that. You don't have his word abiding in you and you do not believe in the one he has sent. You are in trouble. Verse 40.

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You do not come to me that you might have life. I'm the solution. You won't come to me. You will not have life. Are you getting how this adds up in our passage?

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Okay, there's more. There's more. You know that because I still have knots to go here. In verse 42, you do not have the love of God within you. You don't have a love for God and you don't have a love from God in you.

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You're still living in the flesh. You're condemning one another. You're judgmental. And you're miserable. Do you know people like that? I know people like that. And, oh, you know what?

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I used to be one of those. You know, and I don't think I'm miserable today and I don't want to be miserable. I am so glad God has delivered me from that. I love my life.

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I love my job. I love what I do. I don't love everything about it. But I love that God has freed me from my guilt and my sin and my knots are gone. Redemption is a wonderful freedom and release and a great life.

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So anyway, I have to keep going here. Okay, he says in verse 43, you do not receive me even though I have come to you in my Father's name. You do not seek the glory of verse 44 that comes from God, only from God.

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Where are you seeking glory? That kind of prestige or reputation or, you know, something makes you feel like I'm something, eh?

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Have you noticed? If not, I can tell you about it. Right? We all crave some kind of recognition, some kind of affirmation.

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Everybody needs it. We're created with that. And we get it from our creator who says, you are unique. I created you. There isn't another one like you and that doesn't make you special. It makes you unique.

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And I've got something very, very unique just for you that nobody else has. Is that awesome or what? You can miss it. That's what Jesus is talking about here. He says in verse 46, you do not believe the writings of Moses.

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Now, gag on that one because he's talking to Jews here. Wait a minute. You're telling us that we don't believe Moses. You've got to be kidding me. If you did believe in Moses, what does he say?

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Then you would believe in me. Ooh, gag. And the final one is verse 45. Because of all these things, you've got the guilt. You know the solutions here.

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You're refusing what God is offering you freely. And so what does it say in verse 45? You don't have a hope. Apart from God's solution, there is no hope, friends.

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And if you came today not knowing Jesus, you came with your knotted rope, you're going to go home with your knotted rope. There is no other solution. Anything you try to alleviate that problem will end in failure.

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And it's eternal in its consequences. You don't want that to happen. So I'm going to conclude here very quickly with a couple of just further things. I want you to know how great and awesome our God is.

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He points out here that if you're trying to trust anything apart from Jesus Christ to relieve you from your sin debt, it's going to end in failure. He wants you to know that. But look at the opportunities that he gives in verse 24.

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I absolutely love this. Jesus knows who he's talking to. I mean, he's the one that's outlined this for us. And he still says to them, look at it in verse 24. This is our God who knows our sick, willful, awful, stubborn hearts.

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And he says, look at whoever hears and believes will have what? Hallelujah. The opportunity is still here for this crowd here today as it was when Jesus spoke these words.

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And sadly, when Jesus gave these words in John chapter 5, they declined. Therefore, they remain hopeless, even though they had in their possession God's word.

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They are still hopeless and without God in the world. Very quickly, you know, Paul talks about Gentiles who don't even have the word of God, have never had opportunity to hear the word of God. In Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 12, he says they are without God and without hope in the world.

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It's our job to bring them hope. Can we do that? Awesome. That's our job. And I like to see 100% of the church committed to that. Romans chapter 10 verses 9 to 15 tells us that if we confess the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart, right, we'll be saved.

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But he also points out that those who call will be saved, but they can't call if they don't believe, and they can't believe if they don't hear, and they can't hear without preaching, and they can't preach without sending.

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And as a church, it's our job to fill in all those blanks. So I hope you're looking among your congregation and say, wow, there's potential ministry, there's ministry, there's a missionary, and getting behind them and encouraging them before the world persuades them that success looks like money in the bank and a new car.

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However, that's not success, and Jesus is not going to be impressed if that's all we have for him. So I want to thank you for the opportunity to present Nippon Bible College to you this morning.

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I want to challenge you for missions. I want to challenge you to check your focus. And if you don't know the Lord Jesus, I want to urge you as passionately as I can this morning, don't, don't say no.

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There is no other hope. Pastor. Pastor. Pastor. Pastor. Pastor. Pastor. Pastor. Pastor. Pastor. Thank you.