Witnesses to Jesus

[0:00] Gracious Father, this morning we who are your children purchased by the blood of your Son!

[0:18] We're here together to worship you, not in our own capacity and not because of our own simplistic grasp of who you are or what you've done.

[0:42] We're gathered here because of the work of grace that found us in our sin and brokenness and gave to us everlasting life and blessed us with the indwelling Spirit who is actively engaged this morning in lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ.

[1:11] Help us to be prayerful and dependent on your work as we take the Word of God in hand with the desire that our hearts would grow in our affection for the Lord Jesus Christ and our passion to see people come to know Him as God and Savior.

[1:38] We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. I want you to turn in your Bibles this morning to John chapter 5. We're going to be looking at John chapter 5, verse 30 through 39.

[1:51] And by way of introduction, let me say, having made a commitment to preach larger portions of the passage, and any of you who have survived my many years here know that I used to be able to spend three weeks on one verse, and I have conscientiously tried to kind of get away from that.

[2:14] And there are moments where I kind of look at a passage and say, oh, Lord, there's just too much here. So I say that at the beginning, but I will be done in verse 39 when we get there.

[2:25] So with that in mind, I want you to write something on your notes. I want you to write it on your hand. I want it to be kind of fixed somewhere in the central part of your thinking this morning because it's very important for us to start out at the right place.

[2:43] And here's what I want you to hear me say. Not original with me. I think Paul David Tripp was one who, commenting on maybe something Martin Luther or Calvin said, made the comment that our hearts are idol factories.

[2:59] Our hearts are idol factories. That's true for you. That's true for me. And what we are going to be looking at this morning in verses 30 through 39 is Jesus coming into a cosmic conflict between two systems of faith.

[3:29] And we who sit here struggle periodically with being on one side or the other of those two systems. Here are the two systems that are butting heads. A performance-based faith.

[3:45] Or a grace-based faith. In this passage, what we have is Jesus coming direct, into direct conflict with the purveyors or the salesman for the performance-based faith.

[4:04] What had happened is in John chapter 5, you'll remember that after he had come back to Jerusalem, he had gone down to the pool of Bethesda, and he'd healed a man on the Sabbath of all days.

[4:16] And along with healing the guy, he said, hey, pick up your bed and walk. And the guy figured, if this guy can make me well, he probably has the right of telling me what to do.

[4:26] And so he packed up his little kit and he took off. And as soon as the Pharisees and scribes saw him hustling across the street, you know, zippity-doo-dah, you can just kind of imagine him.

[4:37] I mean, he's full of enthusiasm at having his bed no longer. He's fired up and he's walking through town. What are you doing? What are you doing? They're all fired up and they said, who told you to carry your bed?

[4:49] Well, the guy who healed me. Jesus then comes in direct conflict with these scribes and Pharisees. And by the way, they are the salesmen for the what?

[5:00] Say it with me. Performance-based faith. Hey, do we ever get caught up in kind of being performance-based? Smile at me. You.

[5:11] Yeah. We do. Right? How come I'm a good person? Well, it's because I did all these four things, right? I showed up at a church workday. I'm going to help with VBS. I've got to be good.

[5:23] Performance-based faith. Well, here were people that were selling the idea real seriously and Jesus ends up in conflict with them and there's a lot of tension in this situation.

[5:35] Jesus steps into the scene and he makes it clear, listen, it's not just that I can heal this guy, but I want you to understand that I alone have the right to save or the power to save and the right to judge.

[5:46] That's what he's already said earlier in the passage in John chapter 5. And so now we end up with this direct conflict between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees.

[5:58] And in what we find here, Jesus makes it clear that he has the right not only to save but to be the one that they listen to and the one who has the authority to command their respect and their worship.

[6:11] John chapter 5, verse 30, I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

[6:25] If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true. As we pick up this passage, we find Jesus coming face to face with his objectors.

[6:40] And instead of kind of being passive and kind of backing away from this confrontation, he steps right into it and he says, Let me know who I am. Let me tell you who I am and explain the reality of my person.

[6:54] He answers the question of, So what right do you have of telling this guy to carry his bed? Or what right do you have to tell us of how to get to heaven? Jesus said, Well, let me make it clear to you.

[7:06] I'm not here advertising myself. And what we find in the remaining passage is clear indication of the authority and the supremacy of Christ.

[7:17] He explains it this way. The Father's three proofs are what we're going to be looking at this morning. I love the opening lines of this passage. He makes it clear that he was not on his own mission and validating his own supremacy.

[7:31] Jesus explained that he wasn't there to do his own thing or to draw attention to himself. Furthermore, as we see in the last part of verse 30, here's Jesus saying that his one passion, his one desire was to please his Father.

[7:45] Look at the verse. I came not to seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me. I am here to accomplish what my Father wants.

[7:57] What an example that we find here. Jesus was absolutely consumed with pleasing his Father. And I questioned that in my own life. How often am I really interested in pleasing the one who appointed me and called me to the mission and task that he made me for?

[8:13] Here's Jesus making it clear that the sole ambition that he had in his public ministry was bringing attention to the purposes and the plan of the Father.

[8:30] I stop and think about many of the things that kind of get me sideways in the road, little things that I can obsess on, issues that aren't going my way, and how I get distracted by those things.

[8:40] And here was Jesus saying, listen, none of those affect me. I am focused singularly on what is my Father's will. And incidentally, what was the Father's will? It was that he be the Savior of the world.

[8:52] And how was he going to become the Savior of the world? It was by marching resolutely to the cross and dying in my place and in your place. Is there anything that you and I face in this present life that is anywhere near that same significance and challenge?

[9:08] No. And here is Jesus saying, my desire, my ambition, my affection is focused in on what the Father has directed me to do.

[9:24] It's pretty interesting to see there in verse 31. It says, if I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true. I reviewed all my emails.

[9:37] They're entirely private. And I disposed of them. Now, if what we do is take what Jesus had to say, an individual that bears testimony exclusively to themself is what?

[9:51] Now, it's not politically correct to say, but I'll tell you right now, that person's a liar. Jesus makes it clear, if I am here bearing testimony about myself, and I'm kind of posing the issue of, well, hey, this is who I am, and this is where I'm at, and this is what I've done, and et cetera, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[10:09] This self, this self-uplifting is something that by virtue of it being the sole testimony, we know that person's a liar.

[10:21] So here's Jesus saying, if I'm the only one talking about myself, then you can call me a liar from the start, and it's true. Now, having said that, Jesus then gives three witnesses that the Father gives to His deity and to His mission, and I'm going to spell those three out for you in advance.

[10:39] One is John, two are the miracles, and three is Scripture. One is John, second is the miracles, and three is Scripture. Now, I'm going to ask you a little side question.

[10:50] Whether you play rook or whether you play cards, and I'm not going to get all wigged out about that in case you're wondering, what is that game, euchre? How many of you play euchre? Don't raise your hands and give yourself away, but here's a, okay.

[11:04] When you win the bid and you get to call Trump, how many of you have ever had a hand where all the cards worked exactly, you were in total control of the game? Have you ever been there? Very rarely, you know.

[11:15] I mean, you have the ace, you have the king, you have the jack, you have the ten. You know, it's just, it's all good, right? And you get to call, let's just call it Trump.

[11:30] And as you play the cards, how many of you like to drop your low Trump first? Drop the low, how many of you like to drop the low Trump first? Come on, tell me. I like to drop the low Trump first.

[11:41] It's because it kind of leads people to have a little bit of ambition that somewhere along the line it might work out for them. Hey, you put down the little card and the guy, well, we didn't win this hand, but there's another one out there.

[11:54] And I'm sitting there with ace, king, queen, jack, you know how, and so you put the low one out. Here's what Jesus did, so you know ahead of time, and you can leave now if you want to, but it's like, you know, Jesus, he dropped small Trump first.

[12:11] He said, well, here are the proofs that I am the one to be listening to. Number one, listen to what John had to say. So we recognize the witness of John in the passage here.

[12:26] It says there is another, verse 32, who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he is born witness to the truth.

[12:40] Now stop and realize that John the Baptist had burst on the religious scene there in Israel in a rather spectacular fashion.

[12:51] It's interesting when you stop and think about John that he had come out of the wilderness dressed in a rather rugged form, and there was nothing that he did that drew people to him other than preaching.

[13:09] Do you realize that? He came out of the wilderness, and his message was pretty simple. It was, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.

[13:21] And the preaching of John the Baptist was marked by the enabling of the Spirit, and it led to profound conviction in the nation of Israel, so much so that the scribes and Pharisees, they sent people to John and said, hey, who are you?

[13:38] What's going on here? And John, from the very beginning, made it very clear that he was not the main man. I want you to turn back. You're in John chapter 5, so just go back just a little bit to John chapter 1, verse 19.

[13:53] And this is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ.

[14:06] And they asked him, what then? Are you Elijah? Yeah, they anticipated that Elijah would come before the great day of the Lord. He said, I'm not. Are you the prophet? He answered, no. By the way, the word the prophet in this passage is referring to the statement that is made in the book of Exodus where I will send a prophet like unto me, talking about the coming of the Messiah.

[14:26] And in each case, he says, I'm not that one. I'm not that one. I'm not that one. Verse 23 says, I'm the voice. Just nobody special. I'm crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord as the prophet Isaiah said.

[14:39] Then when you skip over to verse 29, you hear him say this. He sees Jesus the next day coming towards him, and he says, behold, there he is.

[14:51] That's the Lamb of God, the one who takes away the sin of the world. The one who takes away the sin of the world. Now we go forward a little bit to verse 34.

[15:02] And here's what John the Baptist says with absolute clarity. He says, I have seen and have borne witness that this, pointing to Jesus, is the Son of God.

[15:17] It's very interesting that going back to the passage in John chapter 5, and turn back, if you will, there, Jesus says, hey, listen, you sent to John, and he bore witness about the truth.

[15:29] Not that the testimony that I received is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. At the heart of Jesus' interaction with these religious leaders was not just a belligerent combativeness, and sometimes I think we get caught up in being that way, but the underlying concern that Jesus had, even with these people, was their salvation.

[15:53] He was interested in their soul. And he says this, he was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

[16:06] I love the model that we find in John's ministry. And I think it's important for us, as we sit here this morning, to understand that as Jesus is making this issue clear of, so why should you listen to me?

[16:21] He says, first of all, it's because John talked about me. You respected John. John talked about me. And I want you to understand that the characteristic of John's ministry was that he was consumed with lifting Jesus up, even at his own expense.

[16:41] Remember when John said, he must increase and I must decrease? Let me say it again. John was consumed with lifting Jesus up, even at his own expense. So stop and ask yourself this question.

[16:54] Think for a moment back through the last week that has passed. Replay some of the clips of your conversations and ask yourself this question. How often in the last week that has passed were my conversations and my affections focused on Christ to the point that underlying the things that I was engaged in was this unrelenting interest of seeing him lifted up and Christ made plain.

[17:26] Jesus, supremely important, worthy of all of our glory. And we can sit here this morning and understand it was reasonable for John the Baptist to focus his life on making Christ supreme and significant.

[17:46] Amen? Right? Here's a point I want you to get. John's gone. I'm in his place. John's gone.

[17:59] I'm in his place. Can you say it with me out loud? Go ahead. I want to see your lips moving. And you're a good group of people to sing. I was sitting over here watching all the instrumentalists up here this morning.

[18:10] And I love the fact. We are not a church in which music is a performance. It is something we participate in together. And I'm watching the instrumentalists. If they're not blowing on something, they're singing.

[18:22] Okay. Say it with me. John's gone. I'm here. Is that true? It is.

[18:34] John's gone. I'm here. And if John's significance and value was to make Christ clear, then that's the same thing I ought to be doing.

[18:47] Well, there's another witness to Christ. The sign miracles, if you look there in verse 36. But the testimony I have is greater than that of John.

[19:00] We're playing Trump, right? We're moving up the ladder. We dropped the 10, cleaned out all the other Trumps. So now we're going to play the rook or the jack and drop that on the pile and rook.

[19:10] Okay. Jack. We're going to drop the jack. And he says, there's somebody better. What is it? It's sign miracles. Verse 36. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish the very works that I am doing bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.

[19:28] Now, I want you to understand that Jesus performed miracles that were unbelievable, undeniable.

[19:40] And the thing that really irritated his enemies was that his miracles were absolutely irrefutable.

[19:52] You couldn't discount or discredit them, and you couldn't diminish the significance of what they meant to his message. Now, I think it's important for us to take a little bit of time here and think about some background information.

[20:10] For one, sign miracles were always done for an eternal reason. They had nothing to do with fundraising. They had nothing to do with popularity.

[20:22] And given the long history of God's redemptive work to our fallen race, it is noteworthy to recognize that in the record of Scripture we find very few little pockets of time in which sign miracles were done.

[20:37] Do I believe that God heals today? I do. I do. Do I believe that miracles happen today? Hey, you who are dead in trespasses and sin, have you been brought to life?

[20:50] Is there anything more spectacular than eternal life? Nothing. Nothing. I believe in miracles. Sign miracles, however, happened in particular times to validate and to affirm a message given at a moment, at a turning point in history.

[21:10] Namely, let's try Moses. Remember Moses kind of out there leading sheep around, tapping him with a cane, getting him to go left or right or whatever? And God says, burning bush time.

[21:21] Pah-chum. And Moses is scared to death. And he says, well, how come they're going to believe me? And God says, well, try this. Throw your staff down. Turn it into a snake.

[21:32] It's pretty spectacular. But that wasn't the end of his miracles. Remember one miracle after another? All happened during Moses' time in ministry. Elijah and Elijah, two others, significant as they were at the breaking point in a sense of God's careful ministry to the nation of Israel.

[22:02] And then we come to the ministry in the time of Christ and the apostles. Apart from that, we have no instance in Scripture of the recurring and consistent miracles like you find during these times.

[22:16] And so let me say this so you get it. Signed miracles were done to validate the appointed messenger of God in the message. And while we recognize the power of God at work today, it is undeniably true that we do not have any clear undeniable evidence of anybody today raising people from the dead.

[22:36] I mean, hey, if Jesus were around today, he could walk through Children's Hospital and flush it out. You wouldn't have to hire security guards to control the crowd in a specialized auditorium where you kind of gave voluntary donations to find seats closer to the front so you had an opportunity to get a shot at being healed.

[23:05] Jesus just bang, it happened. And by the way, when he fed the 5,000, when he raised Lazarus from the dead, I mean, one thing after another, undeniable evidence of his power.

[23:20] And so let's make this clear. Christ's miracles were undeniable proof of his deity. And it was a reason to believe that he was who he said. None of his miracles were ever contradicted or discovered to be tricks.

[23:37] There is not a supposed miracle worker today that has not ended up one time or another being interviewed and discovered that there's a little bit of chicanery going on behind the scenes.

[23:50] He didn't have an earpiece that allowed his disciples to feed him some information that he could use in a public venue. He didn't just heal a few selected individuals and let the rest go.

[24:03] It's interesting. You look at Matthew chapter 5, verse 23 and 24. It says he healed a bunch of them. And I like John chapter 10.

[24:14] Turn there if you will. You're in John, so stay there. But go over to John chapter 10, verse 38 and 39. Here's Jesus dealing with his detractors again.

[24:30] He says, hey, listen. Verse 37. If I'm not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. If I'm not showing dramatic, dynamic, undeniable evidence of the power of God working in me, don't believe me.

[24:44] And then I'll look at verse 38. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am the Father.

[24:56] What's he saying? Look at the facts right here. Miracles performed that are undeniable and they bear irrefutable testimony to the fact that I am the Son of God.

[25:10] The first witness was John. The second witness was miracles. Now remember, when you're playing cards, if you're like me, you want to drop the biggest number at the end.

[25:25] Why is that? It's just kind of like, boom! Right? I mean, that's right. That's what Jesus does now. Follow with me.

[25:36] The witness of the Scriptures. Go back to John chapter 5. Verse 37 through 39. The Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me.

[25:52] Now what's he talking about? The Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. Well, one thing that we do know, though I do not think it is a reference that bears directly on this.

[26:02] Remember when Jesus was baptized? There's a voice from heaven that said what? Does anybody remember? How many of you know? Now, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Now there's a little bit that shows up in one of the three synoptics.

[26:15] It says, listen to him. I love that part. This is my Son. Listen to him. Before we dig into this last point, I want you to recognize and I want you to have this clearly fixed in your mind.

[26:32] Don't miss this. Christ assigns the Word of God. Christ assigns the Word of God the supreme priority in by making it last in his argument for his own deity.

[26:46] And why is that true? Why does the Word of God end up being the most significant proof of the reality of the deity of Christ?

[26:56] Let me have you think about this very clearly. Where's John today? Where's John today? He's awaiting the resurrection. Do you follow that?

[27:07] Isn't that true? He's in heaven, but he's also, his body is awaiting the resurrection. And so, is John around today to talk to us? No, he's not. And the people who had miracles performed on them.

[27:19] Where's the guy who had the privilege of being raised from the dead? Is Lazarus around? No, they're not around. But what is still here with us? We have the Word of God. We have the testimony of the Word of God.

[27:32] And I want you to understand that the Bible makes it undeniably clear that the Word of God is the supreme testimony to the supremacy of Christ and to his deity. Let me have you think about the importance of the Word in the life of the believer.

[27:47] However, turn to Luke chapter 16 where Jesus hammers the issue of the supremacy and importance of the Scriptures. Luke chapter 16, verse 27.

[28:01] By the way, the account that we have there is a rich man and Lazarus. And the rich man ends up where? Where does the rich man end up? Does anybody know the story without looking at it? He ends up in hell.

[28:12] And in hell, he's pretty concerned that his brothers don't come there with him. So what does he ask as a privilege?

[28:23] All right, all right. I have to stay here. I understand that. I can't leave here and go tell my brothers not to arrive here. But would you send somebody back from the dead to tell them not to come? Look at what we find there in verse 27.

[28:38] Verse 28. 29. And Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said, No, Father Abraham. But if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.

[28:50] He said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. I want you to understand this.

[29:05] What the Bible tells us is supremely powerful. And is the most important convicting power that there is. As a result of the supremacy of Scripture, in dealing with spiritual issues, one of the things that I would encourage you to do, is make it a characteristic and habit in your life that when you think thoughts, when you have emotions, when you have affections, that you always govern them and balance them with the Scriptures.

[29:47] And by the way, the easiest place to do that is here. When we are singing, as an example, this morning we were singing, Where Shall I Go?

[30:00] Or, how's that go, John? Help me here. I forget the words. Where else can I go? Where else can I go? And then the song recites John chapter 6.

[30:12] And we'll get there someday, Lord willing. Remember? Remember the disciples, everybody else? Jesus does the feeding of the 5,000. People really tickled with Him. They want to make Him king. And then He preaches this wingdinger of a sermon.

[30:24] And everybody leaves. The crowd goes. And Jesus turns to His disciples and says, Are you packing up and leaving too? And what do they say? Where are we going?

[30:36] You got the words of life. Now, here's the point I want to make. The Holy Spirit is not obligated to honor anybody's poetic license.

[30:50] Do you understand that? The Holy Spirit is obligated to honor the Word of God. It abides forever. It's settled in the heavens. When we get to heaven, we will still delight in the Word of God.

[31:03] And so when we are together, it is the Word that is supreme. It is the Word that is the center of who we are and what we rely upon. My heart is broken when I see people whose lives are frustrated and broken because of their neglect for the Word of God.

[31:32] And Paul, Jesus says, Hey, listen. John's out there, yeah. And the miracles, they bear testimony. But let's get this straight.

[31:43] The thing that really hammers the issue of who I am is the Scriptures. Are the Scriptures important? In Luke chapter 16, we find that they're important enough to get the matter of heaven and hell clear.

[31:54] But then over in Acts chapter 15, verse 12 through 15. And I'm just going to recite this because of time. But in Acts chapter 15, you have the early church arguing about whether or not Gentiles should be added to the church without becoming Jews.

[32:09] And we find the same pattern of argument. There's personal testimony. There's pretty spectacular evidence of God being at work.

[32:19] And then Simon. And what's Simon's other name? Help me here. Peter. Peter says, And to this the Scriptures agree. I like that.

[32:30] That is like a bang. It's the Bible that settles the question about what we believe. Now, why does Tim Knoyer believe what he does about monogamy? Why do I believe that murder is wrong?

[32:44] Why do I believe that the unborn are to be allowed to live freely in the womb until God brings them forth? Why do I believe that homosexuality is a sin against God? Only because the Word of God tells me.

[32:55] No other reason. It's because God's Word says it. So I want you to understand this morning that the Word is the greatest testimony to Christ.

[33:08] And it's very interesting that the people that Jesus was talking to didn't get it. Now, look at the passage. Go back to John chapter 5. Verse 38.

[33:20] Stop just for a moment.

[33:32] How many of you are aware that Islam puts a great deal of attention on reciting the Koran in Arabic? How many of you know that? There are hundreds of thousands of people in this world that recite the Koran by memory from chapter 1 to the end of it.

[33:53] It's a fairly robust book. I have a copy of it. And they recite it in Arabic and they don't know a single word. It is part of their religion to memorize the Koran.

[34:07] If you want to be a religious and spiritual person. During Jesus' day, the way in which you kind of earned your way up the food chain of religious approval was you learned the Torah by memory.

[34:27] You could recite it. That's the reason one of the stinging slaps that Jesus gave to His enemies was He'd say, Have you never read? I mean, it's like, duh.

[34:38] It's like, of course I've read. But you don't get it. And here's Jesus saying, you know what? You don't get it. Look at verse 38. You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one He has sent.

[34:52] Okay? Go back to verse 37 just for a moment. His voice you have never heard. His form you have never seen. You do not have His word abiding in you.

[35:06] Now, why is it? Why is it that Jesus could correctly say these people didn't get it even though they could recite?

[35:19] So, start in Genesis 1, 1, and I want you to carry on to Genesis 2. How many of you here could do that? I mean, we're all good with John 3, 16, but we're kind of stuck after that.

[35:32] Why is it that? The Pharisee could recite the entire Torah, five books of Moses with his eyes closed. Jesus said, you don't get it.

[35:45] It's not in you. Why is that? Why is that? Look at what He says here. Look at the end of verse 38 and the last part of verse 39. You do not believe the one He has sent.

[35:56] Why don't you understand the Scriptures? Because you're refusing what the Scriptures are about. Verse 39.

[36:07] It is they that bear witness about me. So, when anyone says no to Christ, they shut down their ability to understand the Bible or to grasp the central message of the Scriptures.

[36:23] Why is that true? Because Jesus is the person that the Bible is all about. Every part points to Him.

[36:35] And learning to look for Him and to love Him unlocks your grasp of the sweetness and the significance of the Word of God. When you get caught up in any other piece in the puzzle, the supremacy of Christ can become diminished and you lose sight of Him.

[36:51] And so, I would encourage you this morning, as you think about the Scriptures, always ask yourself the question, where is Jesus in all of this? A little sidebar advertisement. This evening, as we are preaching, or I'm going to be preaching in the book of Proverbs, one of the things that is the core of the lesson this evening is this, is that when we are in the process of gathering Proverbs for the sake of wisdom and living, we never can forget that Jesus is the center, the very perfect part of the picture that we're looking for.

[37:22] Always, always, where's Jesus in this? And so, this morning, my question to you is this, is as you think about the Lord Jesus Christ, is He the center in your life and the picture that you have focused on?

[37:43] Do you recognize that He is the one about whom all the Scriptures bear testimony? And so, when you read the Scriptures, is it a desire to be able to check off on your list and be able to say in the lobby, hey, I'm one of those people who does my devotions?

[38:03] Or is it that you have an ambition and a desire to grow to love the one who is the lover of your soul? As you read the Scriptures, do you want to grow to know Him more that will be the consuming affection and passion of all of eternity?

[38:16] Or is it just something to kind of laboriously do so you can say you've done it? That's the way the Pharisees went about that business. Are you here this morning as one who sees Jesus as the center of the story and the one that you desire to know?

[38:35] Or is He just something that's added on the side that you tag in occasionally? I wonder if you're here today and you don't know Christ.

[38:46] And if you are here this morning and you find the prompting of the Spirit working at you and you're saying, man, there is this emptiness in my heart. There is this void. There's this hollow part.

[38:59] And nothing can satisfy my soul. I want you to know that Jesus is the answer. He came into this world to die for your sins and to remove the offense between you and God so that you could come by faith and brokenness and say, I am a sinner who deserves the judgment of God, but I realize that Jesus died in my place.

[39:23] And I trust Him to save me and change my life. And can I tell you something? One of the beauties of the gospel is that not only do we have everlasting life, but when we come to faith, we don't have to stay the way we are.

[39:34] How many of you are happy where you are? Huh? When we come to faith, we don't have to stay where we are. The Spirit of God comes into the believer and helps us grow in grace.

[39:45] And by the way, does He help us grow in grace by just kind of dropping breadcrumbs and doing nice things and everything sweet and easy? What's the answer? Hello. It's going to be uphill all the way.

[39:56] But does it get better as you move down the road? What's the answer? Speak to me. Yes. Yes. Yes. And so I would plead with you this morning as you sit here, I want you to challenge your heart to say, How important is Jesus in my thinking?

[40:16] Is He my Savior? And am I conscious and deliberate in my desire to grow to love Him and know Him? Or do I need Christ as my Savior this morning, and I set aside the arrogance of my heart, and I confess with humility my brokenness and the judgment that I justly deserve, and yet Jesus took for me.

[40:39] Let's close in prayer. Holy Father, this morning we look at the Lord Jesus Christ, and we recognize that He is the center, the very person with whom we have to do.

[40:58] The one who is the Savior and the judge. And this morning, as we rejoice in the sweetness of the gospel, we recognize that there's no reason for us to be uncertain about the Savior that we worship.

[41:12] There are some of us here this morning who have taken our eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ and off of Your Word, and as a result, our lives are complex, far beyond our ability to handle. And I would pray that this morning we would humble ourselves enough to say, I need Jesus.

[41:30] I need to release my own idolatrous heart from this baggage of my self-centered thinking, and I need to make Him supreme. There are some of us here today that do not know Christ, and today is the hour of salvation.

[41:44] And Lord, we who know Christ plead with You that You would bring about conviction that leads to repentance and salvation today. We ask this in Jesus' name.

[41:56] Amen. Let's stand together as John leads us in our closing song, and let me encourage you. If you're here today and you need Christ as your Savior, I want you to know that you can be saved right where you sit.

[42:07] You don't have to come to the front to come to know Christ. But it isn't a bad idea to humble yourself and go on record and say, I need Jesus, and I'm willing to step forward and let that be known.

[42:20] And if you're here today and do not know Christ, I plead with you, don't walk out those doors saying no to God. That's a dangerous thing to do. I would encourage you, if you are here today as a believer and you know Christ, but you have allowed the issues of life to fog your picture of the sweetness of the Savior, I would plead with you right where you sit, say, listen, I rededicate my heart and my life to be centered on Jesus and make his word the thing that is my comfort and my encouragement.

[42:50] There might be some of you here today that need to be obedient to the matter of baptism or being part of this fellowship. As God leads you, you respond to that as we sing this closing song. Precious cornerstone, sure foundation, you are faithful to the end.

[43:42] We are waiting on you, Jesus. We believe you're all to us.

[43:58] Precious cornerstone, sure foundation, you are faithful to the end.

[44:15] We are waiting on you, Jesus. We believe you're all to us.

[44:31] Let the glory of your name be the passion of the church.

[44:42] Let the righteousness of God be the only thing that burns. that the saving love of Christ be the measure of our lives.

[44:56] We believe you're all to us. Only Son of God sent from heaven, hope and mercy at the cross.

[45:27] Let the righteousness of God be the only thing that burns. You are everything. You're the promise. You are everything. You're the promise. Jesus, you are all to us.

[45:41] You are everything. You're the promise. Jesus, you are all to us. Let the glory of your name be the passion of the church.

[45:54] Let the righteousness of God be the holy flame that burns. Let the saving love of Christ be the measure of our lives.

[46:09] Jesus, you are all to us. Jesus, you are all to us. Let the glory of your name be the passion of the church. Let the righteousness of God be the holy flame and burning. Let the glory of your name be the holy flame and burning.

[46:27] Let the saving love of Christ be the measure of our lives. Let the glory of Christ be the measure of our lives.

[46:38] Let the glory of your love. Let this past. Let this past.

[46:51] Let this past. Let this past. Let this past. Let this past. Let this past. Let this past. Let this past.

[47:01] And forever we will worship Jesus, you are all to us.

[47:19] Jesus, you are all to us. Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to him be glory forever and ever.

[47:55] Amen. Amen. Thank you.

[48:56] Thank you.

[49:26] Thank you.

[49:56] Thank you.

[50:26] Thank you.

[50:56] Thank you.

[51:26] Thank you.

[51:56] Thank you.

[52:26] Thank you.

[52:56] Thank you.

[53:26] Thank you.