Number one, I couldn't help this morning as we were singing to cross-reference the song and the words in my own thinking against Psalm 119.
! It says this,
Open thou mine eyes that I might behold wondrous truths of thy law.
And so I trust that as you were singing that, you were thinking and praying to yourself,
Lord, I just don't want to be going through the motion of singing.
I really want to consciously and deliberately be in prayer that you would open my heart and my ears, my life, that I would hear what you have to say for me.
That was one.
The second thing that I thought about, I thought, what a way to set the stage for a pastor to walk to the platform.
I have no business doing anything but speaking what is true.
And that's the reason that I began by saying, what did I say to start with?
Turn in your Bible.
I am so very thankful.
I am so very thankful that my calling and my privilege, my responsibility and the thing that you pray for
is that when I preach, that I preach the Word of God.
And that you can hold it in your hand and you can follow along and you can track and reference and understand by the prompting of the Spirit,
what is it that we're looking at and what is it that God says here?
So, we're going to look at John chapter 7.
Let me read from verse 40 a little bit to kind of set the frame.
And then we're going to pray together.
And then we're going to open up and study the Word of God together.
When they heard these words, some of the people said, this really is the prophet.
Others said, this is the Christ.
But some said, is the Christ to come from Galilee?
Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David
and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?
So, there was a division among the people over him.
Let's pray.
Father, our time this morning in prayer is without question something that is not just a habit.
It is a confession of our absolute dependency upon you for everything.
For me.
And for the enabling of the Spirit in preaching your Word,
to preach it with accuracy and with clarity and simplicity and sweetness.
That the hearts of people that love Christ are lifted up to glory in His name
and the blessing of salvation.
And that those who are here that don't know Christ,
would not slip into a Christless and hopeless eternity in hell
because they have refused the sweetness of the gospel.
And we plead with you
that you would work this morning to make Jesus clear
and winsome
and draw people to faith.
We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
I really don't remember when I first heard it.
But if there's anything you know about me,
it's that most everything I've ever said that's reasonable,
I repeated from somebody else.
There are very few original thoughts that I've had
that are anything worth ever saying twice.
Most of the things that come out of my head
that I think of on my own
happen to be rather skunky.
And so I am a gleaner from every resource that I can think of.
And I remember when I first heard John MacArthur say
that the purpose of preaching
is to really put people on the spot of saying yes or no.
Yes or no to God.
And so I am conscious and deliberate of that.
Not only this morning
because this passage is a perfect illustration of it.
But I'm under that sense of responsibility
and conviction that preaching really is about
making the word of God clear
so that people say yes, yes, yes, yes.
That's what I know God thinks
and I'm going to respond in faith.
Or, hey, I hear it, but I'm not doing it.
Can I tell you something?
Nobody's going to end up in hell.
Everybody smile because I'm talking to you.
Nobody's going to end up in hell because of ignorance.
Do you got that?
People make conscious, deliberate decisions
to refuse the clear, convincing, persuasive work of God,
whether it is in creation or in the declaration of the word.
And that's what we're doing here this morning.
And as we are working our way through John,
and I thought about taking the time this morning
to kind of give you a real quick rundown, and I won't,
but I will highlight the fact that as you look through John
up to chapter 7,
you will find over and over again
that in these short little pictures we have of the Savior,
in the same frame in which we're given,
whether it's Nicodemus or the woman at the well,
we have clear instance of individuals
making conscious and deliberate decisions.
In essence, saying yes or no.
And here we are at the most public declaration
that Christ made to point to date of His ministry.
Remember, He came at the last day of the feast and said,
hey, listen, in essence, He says,
believe on Me, you'll have everlasting life,
and you'll receive the Spirit.
And in essence, He's saying, listen,
I am the one that you believe in and trust in
for salvation and for all the blessings that God has promised.
Against that reasonable statement that Jesus made,
John wants to take the time
to have every one of us recognize
that what Jesus said was handled and responded to
in different ways.
Now, why is that?
How many of you do better with examples
than you just do with kind of auditory things?
I have to confess that,
and this is my last remodel.
I've said that before,
but we now have heat in the home
that Judith and I bought over on Guernsey.
We have a hard pipe that is running hot water
through the house,
and hey, listen to me.
A boiler system is really kind of easy.
Once you watch other people do it.
And I've been,
some of you are smiling
because you have no idea what hard pipe is.
Bob, you understand.
And so, after I watched
the boiler guys doing the boiler system,
I hooked up two of them myself.
Yes!
Now, my point is,
hey, we want to see it in real life.
And what we're looking at this morning
is how people responded
to the offer of Christ
to be their Savior.
Four different pictures
that I want you to see this morning.
First of all, we see believing.
And very interestingly,
picking up there in verse 40,
when they heard these words,
remember Jesus had said to them,
in essence,
I am the one who came
to be your Savior.
And there were some
who responded by believing.
When they heard these words,
some of the people said,
this really is the prophet.
Keep your finger there on verse 40
and go back to verse 31
just for a second.
You remember earlier
in this very chapter,
it says this,
yet many of the people
believing in Him said,
they said,
when the Christ appears,
will He do more signs
than this man has done?
There were a lot of people
that recognized
that what Jesus was doing
was undeniably spectacular,
and there was no way
to deny the significance
of the things
that He was doing
apart from coming to grips with.
He was pointing attention
to His person
and His ministry
and putting them on the spot.
And so we look back here
in verse 40
and we see that John
wants us to see
the conclusion
of His public ministry
and offer,
and in essence,
He was putting people
in that spot
where they had to decide,
well, who is He?
And their confession
was more
than just an admission
that He was a pretty
spectacular miracle worker.
And why do I say that?
Look at the two different words
there in 40 and 41
with which they identify Christ.
They say,
number one,
He really is the prophet.
That is a very,
very significant statement.
And in order to help
you understand it,
I want you to go back
just for a moment.
There you are in John.
But go back to John 1, verse 21.
It is a picture of John the Baptist
after he'd had a very significant
onset to his ministry.
Remember,
a delegation was sent
from Jerusalem.
They came down
to John the Baptist.
And there in verse 21,
they said,
are you the Christ?
That was in 20.
He said,
no, no, no.
Well then,
are you Elijah?
Does anybody know
why they would ask him,
are you Elijah?
Remember how Malachi ends,
right?
Talks about Elijah's coming.
And they asked him,
well, okay,
are you kind of the one
who's going to come
in reference
and eventually
in relationship
to the coming
of our Messiah?
Okay, well,
you're not that.
No, I'm not.
Are you the prophet?
Now, by the way,
I remember driving,
I forget where it was,
Broad Street or somewhere,
and running past
one of these churches,
and it had the pastor
identified as prophet,
so and so.
You know,
yeah, I'm no prophet.
I'm a pastor.
I'm a shepherd.
There is a sense
in which I serve
in a prophetic role
in that I say,
I bring forth
what God has said,
but I'm not up here
telling you I got
a new word, okay?
It's all settled.
It's in the book.
Look,
this reference
to the prophet
is one that goes back,
and I want you
to turn in your Bibles,
to Deuteronomy chapter 18.
Deuteronomy chapter 18.
Now, it is very important.
How many of you understand
that one of the rules
of Bible study
is to pay attention
to context?
Hello?
Nod your head.
Sorry.
I know you're tracking.
I got it.
Thank you, Bettina,
for nodding.
I appreciate that.
I appreciate it.
Deacon's wives,
they got a lot
of pressure on them.
You know,
it's like,
nod your head, okay?
I appreciate you, Bettina.
I mean that, okay?
Deuteronomy 18,
we got sidetracked
with my little foray there
just for a second,
but here's the deal.
Remember context?
We pay attention
to context.
Here is Moses.
Let me read the passage.
It says,
The Lord your God
will raise up for you
a prophet like me
from among you
from your brothers.
It is to him
you shall listen.
By the way,
tonight,
we are going to be
together
for a family gathering,
and I am going to be
preaching on
seeing Christ
in the Old Testament.
I do not have
any intention
of covering
all of the books,
but I'm going to give you
an overview.
This is one of those passages
that we will touch on,
and so here is Moses
in chapter 18
saying,
prophetically,
that means he's speaking
about something
that's going to happen
in the future.
He says,
The Lord your God
will raise up for you
a prophet like me.
Now,
does that mean
that the guy
would walk around
with a stick like Moses
and a robe like Moses
and kind of be
the head of Israel?
That's not really
what the reference is to.
Here's the setting.
God had come
to the nation of Israel
and he revealed himself
on the Mount Sinai,
and when he revealed himself
in his holiness,
they were absolutely terrified.
They were,
they were,
ah,
and they said to Moses,
Moses,
would you go talk to him
and then you talk to us?
By the way,
that's called being a mediator.
Do you know what I mean
mediator is?
Terrifying,
awesome,
overwhelming,
unbelievably glorious
and absolutely frightening
to the hearts of men
and they cried out
and said,
Moses,
would you do us a favor?
You kind of stand in between
and you be the one
who communicates to us
and Moses said,
yes,
yes.
God is going to send
someone like me
and you're going to listen
to him.
that's Jesus
and throughout the Old Testament
that issue of
God will send
his prophet
was something that
people longed for.
They hoped for the day
that the prophet came.
Well,
there's a second statement
that we find there
in John chapter 7
so look at it
if you will.
John chapter 7
others said
this is the Christ.
This is the Christ.
Well,
what does the word
Christ,
we all know that word.
We all know that word,
Christ.
But,
and not a big quiz here
but just out of curiosity,
does it,
how many of you know,
just nod your head
if you kind of got a rough idea,
how many of you have some comfort
that you have an idea
of what the word Christ means?
I'm seeing some nods.
Some of you are sleeping
but I mean,
I'm not talking about that.
Okay.
So,
here we go.
The word Christ means
anointed.
Right?
Anointed.
Well,
where do we get that from?
Turn in your Bibles.
We're going to run
at a couple different passages
and just to frame this for you,
look first of all
at Isaiah chapter,
I mean,
Psalms,
we'll go to Psalms first.
Psalm 45 verse 7.
I love this.
It appears also
in the book of Hebrews
in relationship to Jesus.
Psalm 45 verse 6.
Your throne,
O God,
is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom
is a scepter of uprightness.
You have loved righteousness
and hated wickedness.
Therefore,
God,
your God,
has anointed you
with the oil of gladness
beyond your companions.
Do you know what it's saying?
This is Jesus
in the Old Testament
and saying,
God has anointed you.
And by the way,
what was anointing for?
Does anybody know?
It was the way
in which in the Old Testament
individuals were set apart
for a particular
and special ministry.
God has anointed you.
Why?
To be our Savior?
To be the one
who fully and completely
reveals to us
God the Father?
Another passage,
if you will look
in Isaiah chapter 11,
verse 2.
Isaiah chapter 11,
verse 2.
It says,
And the Spirit of the Lord
shall rest upon him,
speaking of Jesus,
the Spirit of wisdom
and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel
and might,
the Spirit of knowledge
and the fear of the Lord,
and his delight
shall be in the fear
of the Lord.
And he shall not judge
by what his eyes sees
or decide disputes
by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness
he shall judge the poor
and decide with equity
for the meek of the earth.
I want you to look also,
if you would,
at Isaiah chapter 61,
verse 1,
which is probably
one of the preeminent passages
in relationship
to the coming of the Messiah.
And by the way,
the Jews were looking
for the Messiah
and they missed him.
But if you would think
for with me
just for a moment,
Jesus made reference
to this passage
in his own ministry.
Isaiah chapter 61,
verse 1,
the Spirit of the Lord
is upon me
because the Lord
has anointed me
to bring good news
to the poor.
He has sent me
to bind up
the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty
to the captives
and the opening
of the prison
to those who are bound,
to proclaim
the year
of the Lord's favor.
Jesus was understood
by some
in that passage
that we are looking at
in John chapter 7.
They confessed their faith.
They said,
listen,
we've seen what he has done.
We have heard
what he has said
and we believe
he is the prophet
that God has sent
to be the one
who is the mediator
between God and man.
And he is the one
who has been anointed
to be our Savior.
That's pretty spectacular.
And so I want you
to recognize
that as you listen
to this passage
this morning
and here at the very beginning
as John is saying,
all right,
I want you to realize
some people,
everybody actually,
responds to the truth
of who Christ is
in different fashion.
The question for you
is this,
have you boldly
let others know
you trust in him?
Have you done that?
Now remember,
by this point already,
there had been
a hardening
in the nation of Israel,
particularly on the part
of religious leaders,
and if you were willing
to confess
that Jesus was the Christ,
guess what happened to you?
You got booted.
You suffered
some informal persecution
by this point.
Later it became
even more hardened.
So my question is this,
is have you boldly
let others know
that you trust in Christ?
By the way,
when was the last time
you did that?
I don't know,
but fair question, right?
How many of you realize
that in the course
of conversation,
at the end of the day,
people eventually figure out
what our worldview is,
what we value,
and what makes us tick?
Jesus is the Christ.
He's the prophet
that God has sent
to be the mediator.
Well, I want you to look
at a second response
this morning.
There in verse 41 through 44,
others said,
this is the Christ.
No, no, no, no.
I is the Christ
to come from Galilee,
and I would call this dithering.
How many of you
know what dithering is?
Anybody here know
what dithering is?
How many of you
are perpetual vacillators
between decisions?
You know, it's like,
well, should I buy
this candy bar
or that?
Not a good question
for a diabetic to pose,
but, you know,
there it is.
Right, Seth?
And dithering means
never really coming
to a decision,
but kind of bouncing
back and forth.
You know,
well,
the famous phrase
for dithering
is on the other hand.
You can be in a perpetual loop,
kind of keep on coming back
to the well,
well,
you know,
and so here we have them.
You look at this group
and there are some
who say,
he is the Christ.
Oh, well,
but is the Christ
to come from Galilee?
Interestingly enough,
the question was kind of
an early gotcha statement.
How many of you know
what a gotcha statement
is in politics?
Asking questions
that you just can't answer
without doing something
malicious to yourself.
Case in point.
Now,
don't take this personally,
but if I were to ask you,
have you stopped
beating your wife yet?
What's the answer?
If you say,
no,
I've never done,
just one word answer.
If you say,
no,
it's like,
you haven't?
Well,
I'm calling the officer,
the police.
If you say,
yes,
what happens to your character?
It's like,
you mean you've been doing that?
Yeah,
I can't believe it.
There are some kinds of questions
that are really designed
as gotchas.
And so,
when they ask this question
about Jesus,
well,
you know what?
Isn't he supposed to be
from,
you know,
they were putting together
information
without really doing
much research.
In fact,
you know,
here's the truth.
these people never really
dug for the truth
and never brought themselves
to a conclusion.
Now,
here's why I say that.
In Israel,
at this time,
everybody who was Jewish
knew what tribe they were.
In fact,
remember,
when Mary was with child
and they had to go be
registered by,
you know,
by edict from,
what was it,
Cyrenius,
blah, blah, blah,
something like that.
When I tell the Christmas story,
we'll get around to that part.
But anyway,
remember how it played out?
What did Joseph know?
He had to go to the town
of Bethlehem
because that's where
the registration
took care for his tribe.
And everybody knew
where they were
and it was easy to find out.
Stop.
If the religious leaders
had been able to do
research
to deny Christ,
don't you think
they would have checked in
on this major issue
of where he was from
and what his family background was,
et cetera, right?
I want you to know
that it's not just
the 21st century
and politicians
who have research teams
behind the scenes
who are trying to dig up dirt
on candidates.
It happened before.
And I assure you
that people were digging
at this issue
of who Jesus was
and when they made this statement,
well, you know,
Jesus is from Galilee,
and, you know,
David and Bethlehem
and all that,
which you see in verse 42,
it would have been
very, very easy for them
to really get to the information
if they'd wanted it.
How many of you realize
that sometimes
we don't make decisions
and the way we avoid
making decisions
is we avoid asking
hard questions
or being around people
who will help us
with hard questions, right?
I'm reminded
a little bit
as I remember
studying and thinking
about this,
it reminded me of
Elijah's confronting
the nation of Israel
on Mount Carmel
there over in 1 Kings
and just kind of
stick it in your mind
for later on.
1 Kings chapter 18,
verse 21,
when Elijah had the showdown,
he alone
and all the fancy,
decked out,
superbly religious
prophets of Baal,
remember they had
the dance off,
you know,
and those guys
were just going at it
and when it's all finished
and they were exhausted,
you know,
kind of Elijah wanders over
and says,
would you guys pour water
on that thing?
And then, you know,
anyway,
before he started out,
he says,
why do you halt
between two opinions?
If God is God,
serve him.
If Baal is God,
serve him.
You know,
let's cut to the chase.
Let's decide.
And there are some of you
here this morning,
truth of the matter is,
you keep dithering
on the issue
of who Jesus is.
Can I tell you
that's not wise?
There's ample evidence
and the purpose
of the evidence
is to bring you
to the spot
of saying,
he is the Christ,
he is the one
who God sent
to be my Savior
and I'm not going
to turn my back on him.
Third,
there are those
who decided
against the evidence
and that's
something people do.
You look there,
if you will,
in verse 44,
some of them
wanted to arrest him
but no one
laid hands on him.
I'll kind of give you
a little bit of background.
Actually,
earlier on
in the life
of Christ,
by this point,
the Jewish leaders
hated him enough
that they intended
to put him
to death.
Now,
he had a public
and popular following
and so,
they were concerned
with how they
would be received
and so,
they thought
the best way
to really
do Jesus in
was to catch him
in something
that he said.
I am not
positive of this
but there's a passage
in Proverbs 10,
verse 19
that we all
bear testimony to.
Let me kind of
recite it for you.
It says,
when words are many,
transgression
is not lacking.
What does that mean?
If you talk long enough,
you say something stupid.
Let me go further.
If you talk long enough,
you say something wicked.
And so,
they were kind of,
they knew their own hearts.
I mean,
just open the mouth
and insert foot.
Worse than that,
open the mouth
and out comes ugly.
And they figured out,
well,
if we listen to Jesus
long enough,
we're going to catch him
at something
and when we catch him,
it's gotcha.
Well,
they sent out
police officers,
you know,
officers of the temple
and they said,
we want you to kind of
lurk around on the sides
of wherever Jesus is teaching
and we want you
to keep track
of what he says
and when he says
something that's wrong,
grab him.
How'd that work out?
Back they come.
Verse 46,
put your finger on it.
The officers answered,
now this is probably
a rare illustration
of absolute truth
in the face
of the consequences.
The officers answered,
no one ever spoke
like this man.
That just blows.
I wanted to preach
a sermon
on that one sentence
because it just,
it's stunning.
The most impressive thing
about Christ's public ministry
was not his miracles.
It was his teaching.
So back they come
and they say,
no one ever spoke
like this man.
Now by the way,
stop just for a minute.
does that mean
that Jesus was so intelligent
and intellectual
that people were kind of awed,
you know?
No.
Listen,
the mark of true genius
in communication
is making profound truth
simple enough
for the seventh grader
to understand it.
Since some of you
are seventh graders,
I'll say fifth grade.
Okay,
but keeping it simple enough
that people can get
their hands around it
is the thing
that characterized
the ministry of Christ.
So,
you know,
in relationship to this,
I kind of struck by here,
remember,
these are people
who denied the evidence
and they were desperately
hoping that Jesus
would say something wrong.
They assumed
that Jesus was like
they were.
Now here's something
that really blows me away
when you stop and think about it.
Jesus never said
a single word,
a single word
that was unjust,
inaccurate,
or ungodly.
One of the things
that I pray about
more often
than I used to
is that I won't say
things that are wrong.
I'm a verbal person.
I was born that way.
Probably a couple weeks
after I was born,
I was talking
in full sentences
to my chagrin
or to my parents' chagrin.
Talk, talk, talk, talk,
and shut up.
Okay,
so here's Jesus
never said a wrong thing.
Wow!
Think with me
just for a moment
to James 3, verse 2,
and I'll just recite it.
For we all stumble
in many ways,
and if anyone
does not stumble
in what he says,
he is a perfect man.
And that's our Jesus.
Isn't that right?
Can you see him there?
Everything he ever said
was perfect,
and people were
hanging on his word
hoping to crucify him,
and he never blew it.
I want to be like him.
I want you to look
at one more case
before we come
to deal with the issue
of your heart.
Nicodemus is pretty spectacular
in the midst of this.
You find here
that Nicodemus
in verse 50,
who had gone to him before
and who was one of them,
said he was one
of the Sanhedrin.
He says,
hold it, guys.
We're all about the law.
We know the law.
We are the specialists.
He says,
does our law judge a man
without first giving him
a hearing
and learning what he does?
Now,
you probably want to say,
okay, well,
Nicodemus gets a pass.
You see,
they'd already decided
that Jesus was guilty,
and they were ready
to kill him,
and here's Nicodemus
standing up and saying,
hold it, hold it, hold it.
But remember,
remember,
if you were to go back
to John chapter 3,
verse 2,
Nicodemus had already
been through this process.
He'd come to Jesus
in chapter 3,
verse 2,
and here's what he said,
we know that you are
a teacher come from God,
for no one can do
these signs
that you do
unless God is with them.
Nicodemus
had information,
but just like the other group
that was willing
to kind of dither
and vacillate
back and forth,
Nicodemus was unwilling
in practical terms
to pull the trigger.
So,
what will you do?
That's the most important issue
this morning.
I want you to understand
what I said
at the very beginning
is undeniably true.
The purpose
of biblical preaching
is to put people,
every time they hear,
to put people
on the spot
of saying yes
or no to God.
God's speaking to you
this morning.
And here's what he says,
he says,
Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners,
and there are some of you
sitting here this morning
that do not know Christ,
and you know
that you don't know Christ.
I think about the passage
in 2 Corinthians
where Paul says this,
knowing therefore
the terror of the Lord
we persuade men.
Do you know what that means?
By the way,
I don't persuade
with intellect
or exceptional genius.
He is just talking
about a passionate,
winsome appeal
that those who are
sitting here today
that do not know Christ
would come to faith.
Here's what you need to know.
God is holy
and will judge sin.
We stand justly condemned
before a holy God,
and we are given
an opportunity
to respond to the free gift
that God gave to us
of His only begotten Son
who came to this earth
and took upon Himself
the form and flesh
of a man
to be the perfect sacrifice
and substitute
for my sins,
for your sins.
And when Jesus stood up
at the last great day
of the feast,
and when Jesus spoke
to the woman at the well,
in essence,
He was saying
the same thing
that comes to you
this morning
in the teaching
of the Word of God
saying this,
you are desperate
in your sins
and need Christ
as your Savior,
will you say yes?
Will you humble yourself?
Will you admit
that the evidence
is undeniable
and you need Christ
alone?
So,
that's the decision
for the unbeliever.
Do you follow that?
And there are some of you
here today
that need Jesus.
But how does it relate
to us as believers?
That's practical
because most of you here
are believers,
right?
Here's your job.
You're the yes or no crowd.
You're called
to do the same thing
in essence
that I'm called to do.
Isn't that right?
Hello?
Am I right?
Your lives
are all about
being in the front lines
of helping people
see Jesus
is the Savior
and bringing them
by grace
and pleading
with them
to come to grips
with the need
of their soul.
Is that why
you draw breath?
Why is it
that through John
we keep on having
these little pictures
where we find out
who Jesus is
and then
so what are you
going to do with it?
So what are you
going to do with it?
So what are you
going to do with it,
right?
Woman at the well?
Wherever it is,
John 6,
John 7,
it's putting you
on the spot
of either trusting
in Jesus
or being an instrument
to help people
come to faith.
So here's what
I would ask
and I close
with this.
if this is
the recurring
theme of John,
who is Jesus
and what are you
going to do with him?
There are those
here this morning
that need Christ
and I would plead
with you,
don't walk out
those doors
saying no.
That will have
eternal consequences
that is beyond
imagination.
and for you
who have come
to faith,
line your life
up with that
very singular
affection and
ambition that you
by his grace
having been drawn
from darkness
into light
are an ambassador
to let other people
know who he is
and why he came.
let me tell you
something.
When it's all
said and done,
when your life
is at its end,
what you have
done with the
sweetness of the
gospel is going
to stand out
as preeminently
important.
And I would
plead with you
to decide.
yes.
Knowing Jesus
as my Savior,
I am going
to live my life
with a passion
to lift up
Jesus
for the glory
of the cross.
Let's close
in prayer.
Father God,
this morning
as we
take the
scriptures in
hand,
we understand
that you've
given us a
picture of
your Son.
You've given
us a picture
of your Son
first for those
who are here
that do not
know Jesus,
that this morning
their hearts
would be drawn
to see the
hopelessness of
their condition
and cry out
upon Christ
as Savior.
You've given
us also who
are believers
a picture of
your Son
that we with
ambition and
affection,
delighting in
the privilege
we have of
being delivered
from darkness
into life,
would live our
lives with a
more conscious
and deliberate
passion to
see Jesus
lifted up.
That we
would do
more than
just sing
about Him.
That the
way we live
our lives
would reflect
His glory.
And the
things we
say when
you open
the door and
give us the
opportunity would
draw wounded
and hurting
people to
understand that
Jesus came
into the world
to be the
Savior of
all who
call upon
Him.
We ask
this in
Jesus'
name.
Amen.
Let's stand
together as
we sing.
And as we're
singing this
morning, let
me tell you
one of the
things that
goes with
preaching and
talking about
putting people
on the spot
is that
sometimes along
with that
comes the
issue of
going ahead
and going
on public
record.
And I would
encourage you
if you are
here this
morning and the
Spirit of God
is saying,
hey listen,
this is what
you need to
do.
Some of you
may need to
say, I need
Christ as my
Savior and I'm
humble enough that
I'm going to let
others know that.
I'm going to cry
out to Him to be
my Savior now.
You do that as
we're singing this
song.
It may be that He's
calling to be part
of our fellowship
here and you need
to come forward
and say, this is
where God wants
me, this is where
He wants me to
connect and serve
and be part of a
team that lifts up
Jesus.
There may be some
of you here today
that need counsel
and prayer and
there's a brokenness
in your heart
that you can't
solve and you
want others to
pray with you.
You come forward
as we sing this
song in closing.
Amen.
So sweet to trust in
Jesus just to take
Him at His word.
Why are you coming
forward, hon?
I want to be
baptized.
Amen.
Do you know
Jesus as your
Savior?
Yes.
I'm going to...
He'll be baptized.
Thank you.
There in verse 40 and 41.
When they heard these words, some of the people said,
this really is the prophet.
Others said, this is the Christ.
Thank you.