WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.120 I don't know how many of you have seen the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:09.580 I think the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which came out this summer, I think, 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:15.880 it's the third highest grossing film of all time. It passed the billion dollar mark worldwide. 00:00:16.899 --> 00:00:25.039 And they're really fun films. And in the first film, without, you know, if you haven't seen it, 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:30.239 I don't think I'm giving away anything which is terrible. But the Pirates in question, 00:00:30.339 --> 00:00:35.460 the principal Pirates in question, they fight and they fight and they fight and they fight. 00:00:35.640 --> 00:00:42.579 And they always seem to win. And the reason they always seem to win is that they cannot die 00:00:42.579 --> 00:00:47.759 and they don't need any food. I mean, you think about an army that cannot die. You know, 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:51.579 you can shoot them and shoot them and shoot them and shoot them and they just laugh and they can 00:00:51.579 --> 00:00:57.719 keep coming. And, you know, you don't have to worry about supply lines or them stopping for a break 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:02.579 to eat or any of those things. You find out afterwards it's because they're sort of dead. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:08.060 They're really skeletons in the moonlight and it's really spectacular film work and all that stuff. 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:15.200 And maybe scary for young children. But the Pirates in question, the bad Pirates in the first 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:21.180 Pirates of the Caribbean film, they are pirates who cannot die and they do not hunger. 00:01:21.579 --> 00:01:27.859 In the Gospel today, we're going to look at two miracles. And the first miracle can really only 00:01:27.859 --> 00:01:32.879 be, you know, the human effect of the first miracle can only be understood if you've thought 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:39.239 about Pirates of the Caribbean. Because in the first miracle of the two miracles that we're going 00:01:39.239 --> 00:01:45.299 to look at today, after Jesus has performed the miracle, the men there, and there's 5,000 men. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:48.759 One of the reasons I think they mentioned 5,000 men is because that would make a pretty 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:55.980 sizable army. But the 5,000 men there say this is time to throw off the oppressor's yoke 00:01:55.980 --> 00:02:03.200 and rise up in revolt and we are going to beat those Romans. Why? Because we know that Jesus 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:08.420 can heal, so it's pretty unlikely we're going to die. And he's just fed a whole pile of people 00:02:08.420 --> 00:02:14.180 with a few fish, so we'll never be hungry. And so they sort of have a Pirates of the Caribbean 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:21.580 moment and think that they can become an invincible force against the Romans. And so Jesus performs a 00:02:21.580 --> 00:02:30.920 remarkable miracle and their response is, let's force Jesus to lead us and we will rid Judea of 00:02:30.920 --> 00:02:37.620 these cursed Romans. Jesus will have none of it. Let's look at the miracles and hopefully when we 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:43.200 look at them, we'll have a different desire with Jesus than to try to make him that type of earthly king. 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:48.979 Turn in your Bibles to page 923. And we'll look at those two miracles again. 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:57.739 923. And it's John chapter 6 for those of you who brought your own Bibles with you. 00:02:58.019 --> 00:03:00.280 And we'll begin reading at the first verse. 00:03:02.939 --> 00:03:08.739 After these things, and just sort of as a bit of an aside there, after these things is just a little 00:03:08.740 --> 00:03:14.560 literary device that John does, it tells you sequence but not duration. So it means the different 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:18.860 things that have happened in the first five chapters. Sometime after that, we don't know if 00:03:18.860 --> 00:03:23.659 it's a week, we don't know if it's a month, we don't know if it's eight months, but sometimes after 00:03:23.659 --> 00:03:30.879 those previous events, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. It had two names. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:36.699 Then a great multitude followed him because they saw his signs which he performed on those who were 00:03:36.699 --> 00:03:42.780 diseased. In other words, they saw the miracles that Jesus performed on those who were sick, 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:47.960 and that he had the power and the authority to heal. And Jesus went up on a mountain, 00:03:48.419 --> 00:03:54.259 a bit of an aside, it's the Golan Heights that he went up. If you want to give it a bit of a 00:03:54.259 --> 00:03:59.780 contemporary place, that's where he was. He was in the Golan Heights, where all the contested 00:03:59.780 --> 00:04:07.280 geography and real estate is today. Jesus went up on a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 00:04:08.299 --> 00:04:15.039 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and seen a great 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:20.560 multitude coming toward him. He said to Philip, where shall we buy bread that these may eat? 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:26.600 But this he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 00:04:27.420 --> 00:04:32.840 Philip answered him, 200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them 00:04:32.840 --> 00:04:38.360 may have a little. Just to give you a bit of a sense, a denarii would be what a working man would 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:46.220 get paid for a day. So imagine what an average working person's salary is, multiply that by 200, 00:04:46.220 --> 00:04:51.380 and that's the amount of money that Philip is playing around in his, within his head, eight months 00:04:51.380 --> 00:04:57.980 wages. 200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little. 00:04:58.580 --> 00:05:05.600 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, there is a lad here who has five barley 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:10.320 loaves. They would have been little, they would have been just around the size of a dinner roll. 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:17.860 Five barley loaves and two small fish. But what are they among so many? And Jesus said, make the 00:05:17.860 --> 00:05:23.659 people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down in number about 5,000. 00:05:24.019 --> 00:05:27.639 Just want to sort of pause there for a second before we actually get to the miracle. 00:05:28.420 --> 00:05:33.319 Everything that's happened in this story up until now, and the things which are going to happen in the 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:40.500 next couple of verses, all of them are trying to emphasize and heighten the fact that a miracle is 00:05:40.500 --> 00:05:47.459 about to take place. In fact, it's trying, John is in fact emphasizing or bringing out elements of the 00:05:47.459 --> 00:05:54.879 story to make it clear that when Jesus performs a miracle, it really is a miracle. And so the fact 00:05:54.879 --> 00:06:00.319 that it's in a mountainside where it would be sparsely populated, the fact that there's a great multitude, 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:08.459 the fact that obviously these people are going to be needing food, Jesus is aware of that. The fact 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:13.240 that even if they were to get eight months wages, nine months wages, for some of you that's about 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:19.120 5,000 bucks, for some of you that's maybe $100,000. But whatever the amount of money is, it couldn't 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:24.920 possibly buy enough food. The fact that the boy only has a couple of tiny dinner rolls and a couple of 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:32.319 tiny fish, even the fact that Jesus asked the people to sit down is actually something which 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:39.379 heightens the miracle. Because they're sitting down, it's ordered, nobody can say, oh, that sort of Jesus 00:06:39.379 --> 00:06:46.340 snuck in a big wagon load of food from the back while everybody's milling around, or, you know, everything in 00:06:46.339 --> 00:06:55.979 the story is heightening the fact that there are no resources there to provide the food. Verse 11, 00:06:56.619 --> 00:07:02.239 And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to the disciples, and the 00:07:02.239 --> 00:07:09.179 disciples to those sitting down, and likewise of the fish, so much as they wanted. So when they were 00:07:09.179 --> 00:07:15.259 filled, he said to his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain so that nothing is lost. 00:07:15.259 --> 00:07:21.379 Therefore, they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with the fragments of the five barley 00:07:21.379 --> 00:07:30.360 loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Now, the story once again makes clear that 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:36.019 the, I mean, it would have been a remarkable thing if you try to picture it, if you went back in a time 00:07:36.019 --> 00:07:41.680 machine and you were able to picture it. The picture is that Jesus is standing there, and he starts to 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:47.780 break the barley loaves, and as he breaks the barley loaves, he puts them into baskets, and he'd reach 00:07:47.780 --> 00:07:52.480 in and break a barley loaf into pieces, put it in the basket, reach down, pick up another barley 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:56.340 loaf, put it in the basket, and he would just keep doing that and doing that and doing that, and the 00:07:56.340 --> 00:08:01.800 barley loaves never ran out, and the fish, and it just kept getting distributed and distributed and 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:08.100 distributed, and eventually everybody that was there was able to eat as much as they wanted until they 00:08:08.100 --> 00:08:16.780 were full, and afterwards they were able to gather up 12 baskets worth of food. The story is clear that 00:08:16.780 --> 00:08:25.040 it doesn't, that it happens, this miracle happens at Jesus's hands, that it's not because Jesus taught 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:32.879 something that inspired sharing. There's no hint whatsoever about that. That's what modern people 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:38.740 sometimes, you know, think of because they want to try to avoid the fact that the story is pointing 00:08:38.740 --> 00:08:45.019 to the fact that Jesus performs a mighty miracle. In fact, this is Jesus's most public miracle, 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:52.159 and it's the only miracle which is recorded in all four of the Gospels. It's his most public miracle. 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:58.620 Many of them took place in small villages, small crowds. This took place in front of potentially 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:07.120 20,000 people, and it's his most public miracle. And so it's not, the text is making clear that it's 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:14.360 not a result of Jesus's teaching and people being inspired to share, and in fact, all of the historical 00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:21.980 detail and physical detail, it's not poetic way of talking about the need for sharing or a poetic way 00:09:21.980 --> 00:09:29.720 of talking about Holy Communion. Everything in the story points to a miracle. And I'm going to make 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:36.379 it as hard as possible for you to believe it. What this miracle means is that there was more 00:09:36.379 --> 00:09:44.340 matter in the universe after Jesus performed the miracle than before. That's what this is saying. 00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:49.940 If you could weigh up all of the matter in the universe, if scientists could calculate that right 00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:56.780 down to the gram, and then after this miracle was over, there'd be more grams in the universe than 00:09:56.780 --> 00:10:08.480 there were before. The story is the story of an act of creation. Many of you have maybe heard me say 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:13.280 before how if you could go back in a time machine, you'd be able to see this. If you went back in a time 00:10:13.280 --> 00:10:18.900 machine, you'd be able to see that. And it's because I want to try to bring out to us that the Bible 00:10:18.899 --> 00:10:25.079 believes, and I believe, that these things really happen. It's a story about really, really occurred. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:30.720 One of the things that we couldn't do if we went back in time is we couldn't actually see the very, 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:36.399 very beginning of creation because obviously there's, in a sense, nowhere for us to go back to in our time 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:47.500 machine. This miracle is a miracle of creation. It is, in a sense, the book of Genesis. It is, 00:10:47.500 --> 00:10:55.740 in a sense, these people saw something similar to what the angels would have seen in the first days 00:10:55.740 --> 00:11:05.139 of creation when God created stuff, and only the angels would have seen it. And the disciples 00:11:05.139 --> 00:11:15.159 had the opportunity to, in a sense, not in a sense, the disciples had an opportunity to watch 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:24.480 Jesus create bread and fish out of nothing before their eyes. Isn't that astounding? 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:30.839 Yeah. You know, one of the things which I ask you to pray for me for, 00:11:31.579 --> 00:11:39.220 it's really easy nowadays in Christian circles to try to, you know, to try to, in a sense, 00:11:39.220 --> 00:11:48.240 downplay the sheer offense of the miracles and the sheer offense of the authority claimed by the 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:53.720 Bible and the Word of God and the authority claimed by Christ. And one of the things I ask for you to 00:11:53.720 --> 00:12:03.100 do for me is ask that I always have the gift of clarity to try to bring out exactly what is in the 00:12:03.100 --> 00:12:12.639 Bible with its full power. That I would much rather have you say, gosh, that's, you know, I used to 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:17.259 think that I like the Bible, but if that's what the Bible says, how can anybody possibly believe it? 00:12:17.300 --> 00:12:23.080 I'd rather have somebody say that after one of my sermons than think that my sermon was really 00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:28.060 beautiful or eloquent and made me think of communion and made me think of flowers and daisies and 00:12:28.059 --> 00:12:36.500 butterflies and all of those types of things that, I mean, this is an astounding thing. The disciples 00:12:36.500 --> 00:12:49.000 get to see Jesus create matter in front of them. This is the book of Genesis. This is astounding stuff. 00:12:49.000 --> 00:13:01.299 And, you know, there's a law of thermodynamics. And, you know, one of the things that might, 00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:05.320 this is just as incredible a thing as it is today as it would have been, like people know that you 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:08.700 can't create matter out of nothing. I mean, you don't have to have, you don't have to know the 00:13:08.700 --> 00:13:14.480 first law of thermodynamics. You could be a farmer, you could be a fisherman, you could have 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:19.240 virtually no education. Everybody other than mentally ill people would understand that you 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:26.519 don't create matter out of nothing. And in a sense, what happens is a lot of people think that science 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:32.240 tells us that miracles like this can't happen. But even the first law of thermodynamics, it just says 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:37.480 that in a closed system, you can't have matter and energy being created out of nothing. In a closed 00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:44.200 system, it's constant. And in those of us who know science, and those of us who are physicists, 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:52.039 and those of us who are chemists, and philosophers, what this miracle is saying is that if it's true, 00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:59.420 we don't live in a closed system. Because that's all that the mirror, that's all the first law of 00:13:59.420 --> 00:14:05.259 thermodynamics says that if you're in a closed system, you don't have this happening. But if there 00:14:05.259 --> 00:14:11.220 is a God who's created all things and can create whenever he wants, then we have just seen Jesus 00:14:11.220 --> 00:14:17.560 being like the Father on the first and second, third and fourth and fifth and sixth day of creation, 00:14:18.060 --> 00:14:26.860 creating out of nothing. Just astounding. And then the story continues. Verse 14, 00:14:27.560 --> 00:14:33.340 then these men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, when they'd seen the miracle, 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:38.740 the fact that he'd created food, they say, this is truly the prophet who has come into the world. 00:14:38.740 --> 00:14:44.600 So therefore, when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take him by force to make him 00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:52.100 king, he departed again to a mountain by himself alone. Just a little bit of an aside here. And one 00:14:52.100 --> 00:14:57.180 of the things which really struck me as I was thinking about this text all week and meditating upon 00:14:57.180 --> 00:15:03.960 this text was this idea that they wanted to take him by force and make him king. And you know, 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:13.660 one of the dangers for those of us who are honest, you know, who know Jesus is that it's a constant 00:15:13.660 --> 00:15:25.120 temptation for us to want to force him into our mold, force him and make him to do or to baptize or to 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:33.039 agree with or to back up or to use his authority to do what we would like to accomplish. It's a constant 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:39.000 temptation for Christians. And this, just as we could look back and think, well, how ridiculous of 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:46.320 these people to want to force Jesus and make him a king. But once again, you know, as I was reading the 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:52.799 text this week, I realized I'm those people. There are times in my life that I want to force Jesus 00:15:52.799 --> 00:16:00.240 to do what I want to do or back up what I think or I say or my dreams or my hopes or my program or my 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:06.519 agenda so that, you know, he appears to be king, but it's still my agenda which is being forced. And 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:13.319 it's just that once again, the Bible warns us of a great spiritual danger. We are to understand that 00:16:13.319 --> 00:16:20.620 Jesus is sovereign, that he's free. And the thing which the Bible is constantly inviting us to know is 00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:31.200 is the virtue of surrender to him and obedience to him, to allow Jesus to be himself and rule in my 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:39.580 life according to his will, his plan, his agenda. That is the Christian life. Now we see, you know, 00:16:39.620 --> 00:16:45.019 one of the things which is so amazing about this story is that it dawned on me as I was meditating upon 00:16:45.019 --> 00:16:51.220 it. That I think it's, I can't remember where it is in the Bible right now, but Jesus is described as 00:16:51.220 --> 00:16:57.399 being the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. And in a sense, in these two stories 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:04.400 of Jesus, we see the Alpha and the Omega. We see a story that makes it almost as if we could be there 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:09.339 in the first or second or third or fourth or fifth or sixth day of creation. And then immediately after 00:17:09.339 --> 00:17:16.480 that, we see a story of Jesus as the Omega. We see a story of heaven. We see a miracle of the new 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:24.220 creation. And we see Jesus as the Alpha and the Omega, all in these two stories, one after the other. 00:17:24.339 --> 00:17:30.899 One moment, it is as if he is the creator who created everything in the book of Genesis. In fact, 00:17:30.959 --> 00:17:36.379 he is revealed as the creator in the book of Genesis. And the very next minute, he is revealed 00:17:36.380 --> 00:17:42.240 as the Jesus of the book of Revelation. Let's continue reading verse 16. 00:17:43.180 --> 00:17:49.980 And when evening came, his disciples went down to the sea. Jesus is off in the mountain by himself 00:17:49.980 --> 00:17:54.300 alone. We know from the other gospels that he spends hours and hours and hours in prayer with 00:17:54.300 --> 00:18:00.060 his father. And so the disciples go down to the sea, get into the boat, and went over the sea toward 00:18:00.060 --> 00:18:05.640 Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them. Then the sea arose, 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:10.900 because a great wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, 00:18:11.360 --> 00:18:18.060 they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat, and they were afraid. 00:18:19.120 --> 00:18:26.200 But he said to them, it is I, do not be afraid. Then they willingly received him into the boat, 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:32.340 and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. Each of the gospel writers sort of, 00:18:32.339 --> 00:18:37.639 what happens in this is that there's like several miracles that all happen, all within moments of 00:18:37.639 --> 00:18:43.419 each other. One of the gospel accounts focuses on the fact that Peter is able to walk in the water 00:18:43.419 --> 00:18:50.279 with Jesus. And another miracle account emphasizes the fact that Jesus was also able to calm the sea 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:56.839 and stop the storm. And this miracle account emphasizes the fact that in a sense, Jesus was able 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:02.659 to instantly move a boat from the middle of the sea to the edge of the sea. And at the same time, 00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:07.720 all of them, all of them, all three accounts of this miracle in the gospels, all of them emphasize 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:13.919 the fact that Jesus was actually walking in the water. It's a big, big lake. He's in the middle of 00:19:13.919 --> 00:19:19.179 the lake. There's no sandbars. There's nothing like that. He comes walking in the distance, whether 00:19:19.179 --> 00:19:24.459 they're seeing him through the lightning flashes or however it is that they see him, they see him walking 00:19:24.460 --> 00:19:30.200 on the waves to him. You know, once again, friends, pray that I always have the clarity 00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:38.100 that we can see the miracle for what it is. And my hope is that when we see the miracle for what it 00:19:38.100 --> 00:19:43.160 is, we don't say to ourselves, this is just too incredible for me to believe. And I reject, 00:19:43.420 --> 00:19:48.779 I reject it. That's not my hope. My hope is that when we have the clarity to see the miracle 00:19:48.779 --> 00:19:55.420 for the fullness and the power that Jesus really has, that we understand why it's so important for 00:19:55.420 --> 00:20:07.079 us to trust him and why it's so important for us to worship him and why it's such a wise and good 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:15.740 and holy thing to surrender all of your plans and ambitions and hopes and dreams into the hands of 00:20:15.740 --> 00:20:23.980 Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. God, the Son of God, the Lamb of God who 00:20:23.980 --> 00:20:30.680 takes away the sin of the world, that there is nothing wiser that you could possibly do than to 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:38.720 surrender yourself into the hands of Jesus. And so in this miracle, we see a miracle which is one of 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:43.359 the, there's only two or three times in the New Testament where we have what's called the miracle of the 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:51.819 new creation, where something happens which does not fit with the normal created order. And in a sense, 00:20:52.159 --> 00:20:58.899 what we are seeing is a glimpse of heaven. In a sense, what we are seeing is a glimpse of the future 00:20:58.899 --> 00:21:05.959 when there is a new heaven and the new earth and where we have resurrected bodies and where our 00:21:05.959 --> 00:21:11.319 spirits are not in rebellion against God, but are fully and utterly redeemed and are in complete and 00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:17.359 utter unity with the Father, are completely and utterly at peace with the Father, rejoicing the 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:22.179 Father, accepting the Father, obedient to the Father. Our spirits are completely and utterly at 00:21:22.179 --> 00:21:27.700 one with the will of our Heavenly Father. And our bodies have been remade and the entire created 00:21:27.700 --> 00:21:32.720 order has been completely and utterly remade. And in this new heaven and in this new earth, 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:39.379 our bodies and our souls will have the whole relationship. And even our bodies will have a whole and 00:21:39.380 --> 00:21:45.100 healed relationship with the entire created order. And right now, our wills desire things which are 00:21:45.100 --> 00:21:50.200 not in keeping with the Father. And sometimes our wills do desire things in keeping with the Father, 00:21:50.340 --> 00:21:55.440 but our bodies can't always do what our wills want to do. And there's this, in a sense, chaos and 00:21:55.440 --> 00:22:02.420 dislocation in our souls and in our bodies and in our persons and in this created order. And this is a 00:22:02.420 --> 00:22:12.360 miracle of the new creation. Jesus, in obedience to the Father, needs to cross the lake. And his body 00:22:12.360 --> 00:22:19.800 is in complete and utter submission and obedience to his soul, which is in complete and utter obedience 00:22:19.800 --> 00:22:28.300 to the Father. And we see what we will experience in the new heaven and the new earth. We see the book of 00:22:28.299 --> 00:22:35.639 Revelation. John would have a vision many years later of the book of Revelation, but in a sense, 00:22:36.019 --> 00:22:44.259 he doesn't see anything he didn't see upon the Sea of Galilee. And he doesn't see anything that he 00:22:44.259 --> 00:22:50.980 didn't see on the Mount of Transfiguration, the second miracle of the new creation. And he doesn't see 00:22:50.980 --> 00:22:58.279 anything he doesn't see than after the resurrection when Jesus appears into a room with locked doors, 00:22:58.279 --> 00:23:07.059 windows, the third miracle of the new creation. He doesn't see anything he hadn't first seen in the 00:23:07.059 --> 00:23:19.759 person of Jesus. We see the future. We see Revelation 23 and 24. John was an eyewitness. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:29.339 You know, it's in light of all of this that we can listen to Paul's prayer in Ephesians chapter 3, 00:23:29.480 --> 00:23:36.059 which was the text epistle which was read today. Listen to Paul's prayer, that he would grant you 00:23:36.059 --> 00:23:40.680 according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the 00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:47.059 inner person, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in 00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:53.859 love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, 00:23:54.240 --> 00:24:00.899 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:06.799 Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:11.440 according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the church, 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:19.340 by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Let's pray to the Alpha and the Omega. 00:24:19.340 --> 00:24:19.620 Amen. 00:24:19.620 --> 00:24:19.700 Amen. 00:24:19.700 --> 00:24:21.360 Let's pray to the Alpha and the Omega. 00:24:21.360 --> 00:24:21.779 Amen. 00:24:21.779 --> 00:24:23.779 Amen. 00:24:23.779 --> 00:24:25.779 Amen. 00:24:25.779 --> 00:24:27.779 Amen. 00:24:27.779 --> 00:24:29.779 Amen. 00:24:29.779 --> 00:24:31.779 Amen. 00:24:31.779 --> 00:24:33.779 Amen. 00:24:33.779 --> 00:24:35.779 Amen. 00:24:35.779 --> 00:24:37.779 Amen. 00:24:37.779 --> 00:24:39.779 Amen. 00:24:39.779 --> 00:24:40.779 Amen. 00:24:40.779 --> 00:25:10.759 Amen. 00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:12.759 Amen. 00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:14.759 Amen. 00:25:14.759 --> 00:25:16.759 Amen. 00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:42.759 grâce. 00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:44.759 Amen. 00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:47.759 Amen. 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:48.759 Amen. 00:25:48.759 --> 00:25:49.660 Amen. 00:25:49.660 --> 00:25:49.700 Amen. 00:25:49.779 --> 00:25:50.920 Amen. 00:25:50.920 --> 00:25:52.759 Amen. 00:25:52.759 --> 00:25:54.779 Amen. 00:25:54.819 --> 00:25:55.759 Amen. 00:25:56.759 --> 00:25:56.980 Amen. 00:25:56.980 --> 00:25:57.900 Amen. 00:25:57.900 --> 00:26:01.440 and are the most glorious thing in the entire universe, 00:26:02.019 --> 00:26:06.400 that you would set all your glory and splendor and power aside 00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:11.600 to die upon a cross for me, for these people here. 00:26:12.660 --> 00:26:14.000 Such love, Jesus. 00:26:15.340 --> 00:26:18.200 It is hard for us to understand, 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:22.700 and all we can do is thank you. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:26.080 Thank you that you who are the Alpha and the Omega, 00:26:26.080 --> 00:26:27.380 the Creator and the End, 00:26:27.900 --> 00:26:29.820 that you would willingly die on the cross, 00:26:30.140 --> 00:26:33.840 bearing my sins, bearing our sins and the punishment that we deserve, 00:26:34.800 --> 00:26:38.240 that you would so willingly subject yourself to this, 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:39.640 all out of love for us. 00:26:41.100 --> 00:26:43.920 Jesus, that is such a great miracle, and we thank you for it. 00:26:44.080 --> 00:26:45.080 Thank you for your death. 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:46.600 Thank you for your cross. 00:26:47.080 --> 00:26:48.300 Thank you for your resurrection. 00:26:49.019 --> 00:26:50.620 Thank you for your unfailing love. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:53.000 May your power work in us. 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:55.240 In Jesus' name, amen.