Summary Reading of John

[0:00] Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, good morning, church. My name is Mike, one of the pastors here at Shoreline.! And we're so glad that you're here this morning. As Andrew already mentioned, today looks a little bit different.

[0:15] So if you're new here, it's not a typical Sunday service. We are delighted to have heard testimonies. And now, to read through the Gospel of John. If you don't have a Bible, there are Bibles in the back table.

[0:29] They're bookmarked to John, and you are welcome to grab one of those and take them home with you as a gift from us. Last week, if you were here, we preached the last sermon in our almost two-year-long series in the Gospel of John.

[0:44] And so today, this reading that we're doing, it's something that we've done at the conclusion of our major sermon series. You might have remembered if you've been here long enough. Pastor Dave doing this at the end of Matthew, at the end of Acts.

[0:55] So I won't really be preaching a sermon per se, but instead I'm going to be reading selected passages from the Gospel of John with some commentary in between, only to summarize the portions that I'm not going to be reading.

[1:11] And before I get started, I just want to say, if you are here this morning and you don't believe in Jesus, whether you're in this room or you're out in the hallway and you can hear my voice, if you don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world, who is sent to reveal God the Father and sent to save mankind from sin and sent to give us eternal life, I pray that through the reading of this Gospel, the Holy Spirit would lead you to faith in Jesus' name today for your everlasting joy and salvation. That's my prayer this morning.

[1:45] For those of us that are here that do believe in Jesus, I'm praying that through the reading of this Gospel, that our hearts would be drawn afresh to absolute awe at what God has done for us in Christ Jesus.

[1:59] That this would lead us to renew our desire to walk where Jesus leads us and to witness to the truth of Christ, all for the worship of His infinitely glorious name.

[2:11] So before I begin, let us go before the Lord one more time in prayer. Father in heaven, God, Your Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, joint and marrow.

[2:29] Your Word endures forever, not like man who fades like the grass. Your Word became flesh, and we've seen Him. Jesus Christ.

[2:40] And so Lord, now as Your Word is read, would You transform our hearts? Would You help us to see Your glory and worship You with all that we are?

[2:52] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So just one more note. Normally we have stuff on the screen. We're not going to have anything on the screen today. So I want you all to just follow along in your Bibles.

[3:04] So again, I'll mention if you don't have one, they're on the back table. And just get a copy of God's Word in front of you. I'm going to try to indicate as I go exactly where I am so that you can follow. And so this is a summary reading of the Gospel according to John, written under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

[3:24] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.

[3:39] In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

[3:51] He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through Him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

[4:04] He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him, but to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name.

[4:17] He gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

[4:38] John bore witness about Him, and cried out, This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me. For from His fullness, we have all received grace upon grace.

[4:53] For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only God who was at the Father's side, He has made Him known.

[5:09] Now following the prologue, John begins the story by showing the witness of John the Baptist to curious priests and Levites from Jerusalem. John the Baptist declares himself to be the forerunner to Jesus, the strap of whose sandal, he says in verse 27, I am not worthy to untie.

[5:28] Verse 29, The next day, he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said, After me comes a man who ranks before me, because He was before me.

[5:44] In verse 34, And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. The Apostle John goes on to report the calling of Jesus' first disciples with this repeated invitation for them to come and see, to behold for themselves who this Jesus is.

[6:05] What they find is that indeed something great has come out of Nazareth and He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, and the true King of Israel. In chapter 2, Jesus then performs the first of seven miraculous signs recorded in John.

[6:22] When the wine runs out at a friend's wedding, Jesus takes stone jars used for Jewish ceremonial cleansing and He turns water into wine. And John reports in 2 verse 11, This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested His glory.

[6:43] And His disciples believed in Him. In the passage that follows, Jesus demonstrates that not only is the Jewish ceremonial system entirely fulfilled and replaced by Him, but even the very temple itself.

[6:59] Speaking of His own body, in verse 19 of chapter 2, He says, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. And Jesus proceeds to confirm His radical teaching through accompanying signs, miracles, causing many to believe in Him.

[7:16] And as a result, in chapter 3, a curious Pharisee named Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night to learn more. And Jesus confuses Nicodemus by telling him that he must be born again, born of water and the Spirit, in order to enter the kingdom of God.

[7:33] And Nicodemus asks in verse 10, How can these things be? And Jesus says to him, starting in verse 12, chapter 3, If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

[7:48] No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.

[8:04] For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.

[8:22] We find in the next episode that John the Baptist sees his ministry of preparing the way for Christ to be fulfilled. And he declares in verse 30 of chapter 3, He, that is Jesus, must increase, but I must decrease.

[8:38] And then in chapter 4, we find Jesus engaging in conversation at a well with the most unlikely person, a woman of Samaria, with whom a Jewish man would never dare to interact.

[8:51] But Jesus asks her for a drink of water and proceeds to reveal Himself compassionately to her. Chapter 4, verse 13, Jesus said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.

[9:11] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.

[9:24] Now throughout the dialogue, the woman comes to realize that she is speaking to no mere man. The woman said to him, verse 25, I know that Messiah is coming, He who is called Christ.

[9:35] When He comes, He will tell us all things. And Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He. And as a result, if you jump down to verse 39, many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony.

[9:51] He told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them and He stayed there two days and many more believed because of His word. They said to the woman, it is no longer because of what you said that we believe for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.

[10:13] Jesus then returns to Cana in Galilee where He performs His second recorded sign in John's Gospel, healing the son of a Roman official. But jump to the beginning of chapter 5 with me.

[10:26] After this, there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.

[10:38] In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man who was there who had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, He said, Do you want to be healed?

[10:54] The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up and while I am going another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, Get up, take up your bed, and walk.

[11:07] And at once the man was healed and he took up his bed and walked. Now we learn that Jesus performed this third sign on the Sabbath, which the Jewish leaders find an egregious offense, but more egregious than this, as Jesus' claim that God is his Father, calling himself equal to God.

[11:30] And for these reasons, the Jewish leaders begin to seek to kill him. Now the rest of chapter 5 contains some of Jesus' core teachings about the nature of his identity.

[11:40] He engages with the Jewish leaders, his unique relationship with God the Father, that he has been sent to reveal the Father to the world, that to him, to Jesus, belongs honor, the same honor due the Father, that the Father has given him authority to judge, and authority over even life itself.

[12:02] Truly, truly, I say to you, Jesus says in verse 24, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

[12:17] Jesus goes on to put forth six different witnesses that testify to his identity, far surpassing the Jewish requirement for only two witnesses in court.

[12:28] Now this only serves to heighten the tension between him and the Jewish religious leaders. Now then we go to chapter 6, and Jesus returns to the Sea of Galilee where he performs his fifth and his sixth miraculous signs.

[12:42] A large crowd consisting of 5,000 men, besides women and children, they're following him and they gather around Jesus and they're hungry and all the disciples can manage to scrounge up are five loaves and two fish.

[12:55] A boy's lunch. In verse 11, it says that Jesus then took the loaves and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated, so also the fish, as much as they wanted.

[13:10] And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost. So they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

[13:24] When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

[13:39] Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.

[13:52] When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat and they were frightened. But he said to them, it is I, do not be afraid.

[14:05] Then they were glad to take him into the boat and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. On the next day, the crowd that witnessed the miraculous feeding found Jesus in the Capernaum synagogue.

[14:20] Jesus declares to them what is known as the bread of life discourse in which he explains the spiritual significance behind the feeding of the 5,000. And here's a few verses from that that sort of summarizes this.

[14:34] Down in chapter 6, verse 48. Jesus says, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died.

[14:47] This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.

[15:02] And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. Jumping down to verse 66. After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

[15:13] So Jesus said to the twelve, Do you want to go away as well? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.

[15:29] Jesus answered them, Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet, one of you is a devil. He spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

[15:45] Chapter 7, John shows the rising tension surrounding Jesus' ministry and his unprecedented claims. As the crowd accused him of demon possession and the authorities attempt to arrest him, yet to no avail, because it says in verse 30, his hour had not yet come.

[16:05] There was mass confusion and debate about Jesus' identity and it's amidst all of this clamor during the Jewish Feast of Booths in which Jerusalem would be aglow with the light of giant lanterns that Jesus proclaims in chapter 8, verse 12.

[16:21] I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

[16:34] Now what ensues is another dialogue thick with tension between Jesus and the Jewish leaders, but here's how the intense exchange concludes. Down in verse 56 of chapter 8, Jesus says to them, your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.

[16:53] He saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

[17:09] So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. Then in chapter 9 comes Jesus' sixth sign, healing a man born blind again on a Sabbath.

[17:23] Now this man was not born blind because of his or his parents' sin, as Jesus says in verse 3, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. Sandwiched between chapters 8 and chapters 10, we see Jesus demonstrating how he is truly the light of the world and the good shepherd, which he goes on to teach in chapter 10.

[17:48] Chapter 10, verse 10, Jesus says, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

[18:00] Jump down to verse 14, he says, I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.

[18:16] And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason, the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

[18:31] No one takes it from me, but I lay down my life of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again.

[18:43] This charge I have received from my Father. Another confrontation with the Jewish leaders follows in which Jesus declares unequivocally in verse 30, I and the Father are one.

[18:59] And though they seek again to bless him, he again evades them and he retreats from Jerusalem to a place where many more come to believe in him. Then in chapter 11 comes Jesus' seventh and culminating sign.

[19:15] We see that Jesus' friend Lazarus is sick, but verse 4, when Jesus heard it, he said, this illness does not lead to death.

[19:27] It is for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. But Jesus arrives on scene in Bethany after Lazarus has already been dead for four days.

[19:43] Lazarus' sister Martha approaches Jesus, verse 21, saying, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

[19:54] But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give it to you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.

[20:06] Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

[20:20] Do you believe this? She said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world. And in this story we see Jesus weep, angry and broken over the devastating effects of sin in the world.

[20:39] And this anger, this holy anger, this compassion moves him to act. He orders the stone to be removed from Lazarus' tomb and lifts up the prayer to the Father.

[20:53] And when he had finished these things, verse 43, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth.

[21:10] Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go. Ironically, it is this very act of power and compassion that becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back for the Jewish leaders resolve themselves to have Jesus put to death.

[21:28] But John shows us how God is wielding their evil schemes to bring about the salvation of Israel and not only Israel but the world. Jesus then retreats to be with his disciples until just before the third and final Passover that we see mentioned in John in which he and his disciples return to Bethany to the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus and it's there that Mary anoints Jesus' feet with expensive ointment and wipes his feet with her hair.

[22:00] Chapter 12, verse 12. The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast that is Passover heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem so they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him crying out, Hosanna!

[22:16] Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord even the King of Israel. And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it just as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion.

[22:29] Behold, your King is coming sitting on a donkey's colt. The crowd's jubilant response to Jesus arriving in Jerusalem exasperates the Jewish religious leaders as they say to one another there in verse 19, You see that you are gaining nothing.

[22:49] Look, the whole world has gone after him. Indeed, some Greeks come to Jerusalem seeking Jesus which triggers him to announce in verse 23 the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

[23:06] Jesus teaches here that he would display his kingship in a way entirely unexpected by the Jews yet entirely in submission to the will of the Father and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, he says in verse 32, will draw all people to myself.

[23:24] So though the light of the world has come, his own people have thus far rejected both his words and his works resulting, according to John, in a judicial hardening of their hearts by God.

[23:36] They are unknowingly rejecting the very one sent to save. Having been rejected by the Jews at large, Jesus retreats to spend his final hours with his closest followers modeling and teaching for them in an intimate setting the key lessons that they need to know to be his disciples even after he returns to the Father.

[23:58] Chapter 13, verse 1, Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

[24:15] During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.

[24:31] He laid aside his outer garments and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

[24:45] Upon finishing this humble act of love and service, Jesus says to them in verse 14, If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

[25:00] For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. They then share a final meal together and it is during this meal that Jesus reveals the identity of the one who was about to betray him, Judas Iscariot, by handing him a morsel of bread dipped in wine.

[25:22] In verse 30, So after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out and it was night. With the betrayer removed and only his true followers remaining, Jesus launches into what is known as the upper room or farewell discourse, which contains some of the most cherished teachings of Christ in the Gospels.

[25:45] I think we spent about eight weeks going through these chapters and I won't read them now, but 13 through 17, the upper room discourse and the high priestly prayer. In these chapters, Jesus explains to his disciples that through faith in him who is himself, the way and the truth and the life, disciples are brought into a mutual sharing in the divine life of Father and Son, now and forever, confirmed by the indwelling Holy Spirit and they're sharing or abiding in him, the true vine.

[26:17] Jesus says, I am the true vine. This abiding results in the abiding fruit of love and of joy and of peace and therefore, though opposition awaits, the disciples need not fear.

[26:29] They need not be troubled. They can boldly face whatever lies ahead, bearing witness to the truth in the Spirit's power like Jesus has done. For Christ has overcome the world and its ruler.

[26:40] He has united them to himself eternally and he will bring them safely home to glory, which he is preparing for them. He closes this time of teaching with a prayer cosmic in scale, giving insight into the divine dialogue between Father and Son.

[27:00] He prays for his and the Father's glory through the accomplishment of his mission. He prays for the preservation and the sanctification of his disciples and all future disciples to come.

[27:11] He prays for the world to see the holiness and unity of the church and be drawn to saving faith in him for eternal life. And this is eternal life.

[27:23] Jesus says in chapter 17, verse 3, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Jesus Christ, who you have sent.

[27:34] Immediately after, Jesus and the disciples go to a garden where they encounter Judas leading a mob armed with weapons. Chapter 18, verse 4.

[27:48] Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, whom do you seek? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am he.

[28:01] Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.

[28:13] Jesus answered, I told you that I am he. So if you seek me, let these men go. This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken. Of those whom you gave me, I have lost not one.

[28:25] Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into its sheath.

[28:38] Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me? In the scenes that follow, Jesus is unjustly tried before the high priest Annas.

[28:51] Resolved to drink the Father's cup, he chooses to endure the injustice. And meanwhile, Peter, unable to handle the pressure, denies Jesus not once, but three times.

[29:07] The Jews bring Jesus then before the Roman governor, Pilate, who questions Jesus, yet finds no fault in him. But the Jews demand his death, trading him in for the release of a renowned criminal instead.

[29:22] And Pilate, chapter 19, verse 1, took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe.

[29:38] They came up to him saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.

[29:49] So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, Behold the man! When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, Crucify him!

[30:04] Crucify him! Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him. But despite Pilate's efforts to release Jesus, in the end, he cares more about his reputation than the truth.

[30:21] And he caves to the pressure of the Jews who keep chanting, in verse 15, Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him! Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king?

[30:32] The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. Jumping down to verse 28.

[30:46] After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill scripture, I thirst. A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.

[31:02] When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. So on this third and final Passover mentioned in John, the innocent Lamb of God becomes the condemned and crucified Passover Lamb to atone for the sins of the world.

[31:29] And on the onset of this third and final Sabbath mentioned in John, the Son of God, completes the work assigned to him by the Father to bring wholeness, to bring true rest to mankind for all eternity.

[31:44] In his account, John shows how many Old Testament passages written hundreds of years prior are fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

[31:54] He who saw it, John writes in chapter 19 verse 35, has borne witness. His testimony is true and he knows that he is telling the truth that you also may believe.

[32:10] It seems that Nicodemus himself has come to believe. He demonstrates this by honoring Jesus at the cost of his own reputation by providing for him a proper burial.

[32:21] And so the light of the world is wrapped in linen cloths and laid not in a manger but in a cold, dark grave.

[32:34] There's still two more chapters. Chapter 20 verse 1, Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

[32:49] And Mary runs to tell Peter and John who raced to the tomb. John wins, right? To find that Jesus' body is missing. His grave clothes are just lying there on the bench where his body had lain.

[33:01] And in that moment, John records in 20 verse 8, he saw and believed. Peter and John return home but verse 11, Mary stood weeping outside the tomb.

[33:15] And as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. And they said to her, Woman, why are you weeping?

[33:27] She said to them, They have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him. Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing but she did not know that it was Jesus.

[33:41] Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away.

[33:54] Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to the Father but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.

[34:15] Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her. The risen Lord Jesus Christ goes on to appear to his fearful disciples, filling them with his peace, commissioning them to bring that peace to the world in the Spirit's power.

[34:37] Then he appears to Thomas, leading Thomas out of doubt and into faith in his name. And then John writes, verse 30 of chapter 21, Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

[35:10] In chapter 21, John closes with an epilogue, driving home some of the key themes of his gospel. Christ's radical love and forgiveness to unworthy sinners.

[35:24] Christ's gentle pursuit of our hearts. Christ's call for us to abandon sin and self and devotedly follow him wherever he leads. Our need for his empowerment to make any of our kingdom efforts fruitful.

[35:41] His desire for us to share and enjoy intimate fellowship with him. His unceasing lordship and infinite glory. John's closing words of this gospel, chapter 21, verse 24, he writes this, This is the disciple who was bearing witness about these things and who has written these things and we know that his testimony is true.

[36:09] Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

[36:22] Please pray with me. Amen. Father, the world itself could not contain all that could be written about what you have done in the person and the work of Christ.

[36:45] God, our puny minds fail to grasp the height and the depth and the breadth of your love for us. But I pray that even as we have heard your word read and summarized, God, that you would lead us further, deeper into all that you are.

[37:14] What even angels long to look into has now been revealed, the mystery has been revealed to us through the gospel of Jesus Christ. In which the Gentiles have been made participants, partakers of Christ, of the gospel.

[37:34] We've been given access to the very promises of God made to the Jews of old. We too are children of Abraham, children of God, because of what Jesus has done.

[37:50] Indeed, we had no merit of our own. God, in this room, we are all unworthy. We have all gone astray.

[38:04] There was no one good. There was no one righteous. Except Christ. Except you, Jesus Christ.

[38:14] You are the righteous one. You are the exalted one. You are truly the man. The man. The perfect human.

[38:26] That none of us could ever be. The epitome of what humanity is meant to be. And because you have died for us and atoned for our sins and raised to life, we can now be redeemed.

[38:39] new. New. New creations. God, I pray that someone in this room today would become a new creation through faith in your name.

[38:55] And God, I pray that all of us who believe in your name would be drawn to worship you and to give our lives devotedly to you, to passionately pursue you, to forsake the idols of our hearts and give all to your name, to your kingdom, to your agenda, to furthering the gospel in this world.

[39:20] The true light has come. The darkness has not overcome it. And would you keep shining your light in this world. God, for our good, for the good of this world, for the good of mankind, for your endless glory, for you alone are worthy, we pray.

[39:36] In Christ's name. Amen. Thank you.