WEBVTT 00:00:06.706 --> 00:00:09.342 Well, good morning, Valley View. 00:00:09.342 --> 00:00:11.176 It's great to be with you on Father's Day. 00:00:11.176 --> 00:00:16.082 And in honor of Father's Day, I want to introduce a friend of mine who's a great father. 00:00:16.382 --> 00:00:18.184 He came to visit from Alabama today. 00:00:18.184 --> 00:00:20.185 Kevin, would you mind standing with your family? 00:00:20.185 --> 00:00:20.954 Just real quick. 00:00:20.954 --> 00:00:23.922 You all can stand and sit back down. 00:00:23.922 --> 00:00:26.792 Like I said, he's quite the father. 00:00:26.792 --> 00:00:28.027 Six kids. 00:00:28.027 --> 00:00:31.431 So among the fathers here today, he may be preeminent. 00:00:32.064 --> 00:00:46.311 But the reason I had Kevin stand, Kevin and I met in seminary back in 2005 and Phenix, and he was driving 2 hours to come take courses while he was a pastor on an Indian reservation out in eastern Arizona. 00:00:46.311 --> 00:00:47.579 And we connected. 00:00:47.579 --> 00:00:48.648 We became friends. 00:00:48.648 --> 00:00:53.420 We both have begun to sharpen each other at that time and just continue to grow over the years. 00:00:53.420 --> 00:00:55.688 And he went from that to become an Air Force chaplain. 00:00:56.890 --> 00:01:03.695 And if you've been in the military, you know, especially depending on your rank and what you're trying to accomplish, you can move around a lot. 00:01:03.695 --> 00:01:06.231 And so just keep their family in mind. 00:01:06.231 --> 00:01:10.903 They're passing through on their way to their new station in Alabama, just left Colorado. 00:01:11.271 --> 00:01:12.638 And so their family moves a lot. 00:01:12.638 --> 00:01:14.941 That puts a lot of strain on families. 00:01:14.941 --> 00:01:18.545 Pray for them and then also pray for him as an Air Force chaplain. 00:01:19.546 --> 00:01:22.581 Anybody who's in the military has added strain on their life. 00:01:22.581 --> 00:01:28.120 And I think there's something about trying to serve them through the chaplaincy as well that brings even additional strains. 00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:31.123 So just keep praying for their family, if you would, please. 00:01:31.156 --> 00:01:31.825 Thank you. 00:01:31.825 --> 00:01:32.325 All right. 00:01:32.325 --> 00:01:36.995 So here we are on Father's Day and we're continuing our study of the Book of John. 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:40.599 So if you have a Bible, you want to grab it, turn it open to the book of John. 00:01:40.599 --> 00:01:42.001 We're going to be in chapter 11. 00:01:42.001 --> 00:01:47.173 And if you don't have a Bible, we have copies of the Bible for free out in the connection corner. 00:01:47.373 --> 00:01:49.575 Slip out any time and grab a copy of the page. 00:01:49.575 --> 00:01:53.212 Numbers on the screen are tied into that specific Bible. 00:01:54.313 --> 00:02:00.420 And as I was preparing for this message, I was reminded of a movie I saw 15 years ago. 00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:03.590 Now probably the most moving film I've ever seen. 00:02:03.590 --> 00:02:06.558 It was called Amazing Grace. 00:02:03.590 --> 00:02:06.558 Who here has seen that movie? 00:02:06.558 --> 00:02:12.031 Amazing Grace A Number of You is about the story of the life of William Wilberforce. 00:02:12.031 --> 00:02:30.316 You may have heard of him and he really was probably the main person behind really the push to eliminate the slave trade in Great Britain in particular in that movie, watching him, watching his commitment, his dedication, the way he sacrificed. 00:02:31.016 --> 00:02:33.819 I left that theater. 00:02:33.819 --> 00:02:37.757 I think that's the one time I left a movie and I just was speechless. 00:02:37.757 --> 00:02:41.493 It seemed like for probably 30 minutes to an hour, I couldn't say anything. 00:02:43.128 --> 00:02:46.532 We said over a meal and then just stared off into space. 00:02:46.532 --> 00:02:48.835 I was so moved by that guy's commitment. 00:02:48.835 --> 00:02:51.837 I sit there thinking, What have you done with your life? 00:02:52.372 --> 00:02:55.074 You know, where's your passion for things? 00:02:55.074 --> 00:03:03.716 Just as important, it was both moving and also a bit of awakening and just praying. 00:03:03.716 --> 00:03:09.722 God help us to have that kind of passion for what's right in this world. 00:03:09.889 --> 00:03:13.759 And of course, now we can celebrate his life and the sacrifices he made. 00:03:14.259 --> 00:03:21.800 But I got to tell you, watching the movie, he was often vilified, often criticized at that time. 00:03:22.534 --> 00:03:31.211 I mean, people just questioned his every motive and he carried around the stress of that At the end of the movie, he was basically dying from ill health from all of that. 00:03:33.212 --> 00:03:41.653 And that whole movie and this passage today just reminds me of a phrase no good deed will go unpunished. 00:03:41.653 --> 00:03:43.622 And have you heard that phrase before? 00:03:43.622 --> 00:03:46.359 No good deed goes unpunished. 00:03:46.359 --> 00:03:48.328 That was true for Wilberforce. 00:03:48.328 --> 00:03:53.800 And as we look at John Chapter 11 today, we're going to see that to be the case with Jesus as well. 00:03:53.932 --> 00:03:56.468 I mean, last week we saw he raised Lazarus. 00:03:56.468 --> 00:03:59.072 He raised a guy from the dead. 00:03:59.072 --> 00:04:02.609 Now we're going to see this week no good deed goes unpunished. 00:04:03.342 --> 00:04:06.545 In fact, we're going to see four responses in this passage. 00:04:06.545 --> 00:04:12.018 So Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, and we're going to see four key responses that go through here. 00:04:12.018 --> 00:04:15.487 And then at the end, I'm going to give what I think are some takeaways for us. 00:04:15.487 --> 00:04:17.689 In light of that, all right. 00:04:17.689 --> 00:04:23.295 So, John, Chapter 11, we're going to read verse 45 and 46 to start with. 00:04:24.764 --> 00:04:31.303 Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him. 00:04:32.672 --> 00:04:36.074 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 00:04:36.809 --> 00:04:37.009 All right. 00:04:37.009 --> 00:04:43.716 So first two verses here again, this is coming off last week of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. 00:04:43.716 --> 00:04:47.754 And we get the first two of four responses right here in these two verses. 00:04:47.754 --> 00:05:00.699 The very first one, many saw what he did and believed, which is encouraging to hear so much of the response to Jesus that we read as we go is negative. 00:05:01.334 --> 00:05:07.240 But there were those who saw what he did and believed that that's the whole thrust of the book of John. 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:09.442 That's the word that comes up over and over again. 00:05:09.442 --> 00:05:11.711 John states it as his purpose in chapter 20. 00:05:11.711 --> 00:05:15.480 I wrote all these things down so that you might believe some solid Jesus did. 00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:17.449 And they believed. 00:05:17.449 --> 00:05:22.221 And if you are here, there's a good chance that that has happened in your life as well. 00:05:22.221 --> 00:05:37.403 You have heard of him, you have seen what he's done, and you believed you're in the same company with those who are here, Even though we would all say we don't perfectly understand who he was, just as they didn't, Our belief isn't always as great as we would like it to be. 00:05:37.637 --> 00:05:40.473 We still have a lot to understand and learn about who he is. 00:05:40.473 --> 00:05:43.009 But we believe, we hope in him. 00:05:43.009 --> 00:05:44.177 We put our trust in him. 00:05:46.579 --> 00:05:52.651 Now, the challenging part of this passage is the believers get the least amount of tension attention here. 00:05:53.119 --> 00:05:57.156 In fact, the second group we see, the big contrasting word is. 00:05:57.956 --> 00:06:01.293 But there's a group who believe. 00:06:01.326 --> 00:06:05.665 But some of them went to the Pharisees, told them what Jesus had done. 00:06:06.232 --> 00:06:09.334 And the contrast here is very intentional. 00:06:09.334 --> 00:06:11.204 In fact, you could almost spell it out. 00:06:11.204 --> 00:06:14.206 Some believed, but some didn't. 00:06:14.940 --> 00:06:21.447 I mean, the contrast the stage is set up in this way, some believed, but some went to the Pharisees. 00:06:21.447 --> 00:06:26.319 In fact, the Pharisees had put the report out, If you know what Jesus is up to, come let us know. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:27.586 We're not happy about him. 00:06:27.586 --> 00:06:30.589 We want to deal with him. 00:06:30.790 --> 00:06:35.995 And so a group of them say, we know what's going on. 00:06:35.995 --> 00:06:40.132 In fact, you've got to wonder if some of them just didn't come there for that very reason. 00:06:40.233 --> 00:06:44.803 They didn't really maybe care about Mary and Martha or Lazarus for that matter. 00:06:44.803 --> 00:06:48.206 They just wanted to come and make sure they could keep tabs on what Jesus was doing. 00:06:48.206 --> 00:06:50.108 That could be the key ones to report. 00:06:50.108 --> 00:06:54.947 The Gospel didn't really care. 00:06:54.947 --> 00:07:04.023 So you have those who believe number two, you have those who don't believe or who are caught up in unbelief. 00:07:06.992 --> 00:07:16.903 And it's really important for us to just dwell here for a second and recognize that there will be those who do not believe in Christ. 00:07:17.603 --> 00:07:22.641 Now, we need to do all we can to reach those who don't know Christ. 00:07:22.875 --> 00:07:24.242 We need to proclaim the gospel. 00:07:24.242 --> 00:07:26.312 We need to love on them. 00:07:24.242 --> 00:07:26.312 We need to pray for them. 00:07:26.312 --> 00:07:36.288 We need to minister to them. And yet also recognize that I'm not the Holy Spirit, pray, pursue, evangelize, reach. 00:07:37.055 --> 00:07:43.795 But unless the Holy Spirit moves in their lives, that who is ultimately will bring them to faith. 00:07:45.497 --> 00:07:54.439 I remember when I really caught fire for the Lord in college, a friend of mine, I assumed the same would happen for this friend and it didn't. 00:07:54.607 --> 00:08:00.680 In fact, as we talked, I realized this person probably doesn't even believe in Christ. 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:03.449 And so immediately that's my mission in life. 00:08:03.449 --> 00:08:06.451 That's my sole purpose now, is to save this person. 00:08:06.552 --> 00:08:16.562 And I became very aggressive presenting the gospel over and over again and really probably push this person further away out of my aggressiveness. 00:08:16.562 --> 00:08:19.564 And really partly that was because it was more about me. 00:08:19.899 --> 00:08:21.666 Let me show you how I can save someone. 00:08:21.666 --> 00:08:25.471 Let me show you how great I can be at telling others about Jesus. 00:08:25.471 --> 00:08:35.114 And it wasn't really about them, but we got to pause and take a step back and live with the difficult tension in reality that some won't believe. 00:08:36.448 --> 00:08:37.517 I don't know why that is. 00:08:37.517 --> 00:08:40.352 It's a sad reality, but it's true. 00:08:40.352 --> 00:08:43.788 We see that here in this second group. 00:08:43.788 --> 00:08:46.392 The second response to Jesus is amazing miracle. 00:08:46.392 --> 00:08:48.860 But then it goes on from there. 00:08:48.860 --> 00:08:52.398 Let's look at verse 47 and 48, the Pharisees get this information. 00:08:52.398 --> 00:08:53.265 What are they going to do with it? 00:08:53.265 --> 00:08:55.902 Look at verse 47. 00:08:55.902 --> 00:09:02.741 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the counsel and said, What are we to do for this? 00:09:02.741 --> 00:09:05.477 Man performs many signs. 00:09:05.477 --> 00:09:15.453 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. 00:09:16.923 --> 00:09:22.562 So they get the report of what Jesus has done and their response is that a couple of different layers here. 00:09:23.162 --> 00:09:28.967 First, to take note just that it says the Pharisees gathered the counsel. 00:09:28.967 --> 00:09:32.370 That word counsel there mean is the word Sanhedrin. 00:09:32.370 --> 00:09:39.544 You may have heard of the Sanhedrin Council, which was the official ruling group over the Jewish nation at the time. 00:09:40.145 --> 00:09:43.982 They were, of course, under the rule and authority of the Romans. 00:09:43.982 --> 00:09:55.660 So maybe kind of like a city government is under a state government, but as long as they cared for the people, they were supposed to be over and didn't let anything get out of hand and the Romans allowed them to continue to be in control. 00:09:55.660 --> 00:10:00.865 It was made up of about 70 different people, a mix of Pharisees, a mix of the Sadducees. 00:10:00.865 --> 00:10:09.808 Those were the two main religious political parties that there wouldn't be political parties like we think of them, because they were also very involved in religious laws. 00:10:09.808 --> 00:10:27.726 But kind of if you mix the church leadership and the political parties together, you had Pharisee Sadducees, but then you'd also have landowners, you'd have maybe some of the royalty, some of the gentry, but all make up this council of 70 rulers, and it's kind of an impromptu meeting. 00:10:27.726 --> 00:10:30.895 They gather everyone together and they ask this first question. 00:10:30.895 --> 00:10:34.866 If you look back in verse 47, what are we to do? 00:10:36.201 --> 00:10:38.370 That phrase could be translated in a couple of different ways. 00:10:38.370 --> 00:10:39.404 In the original language. 00:10:39.404 --> 00:10:45.778 In fact, if you have an IV, it says something more like, What are we accomplishing? 00:10:45.778 --> 00:10:54.320 Which leads you to think that they're asking With all the efforts we've put forth to stop him already, what have we accomplished? 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:56.655 It's not been of any use. 00:10:56.655 --> 00:11:02.260 We've we've done nothing yet to bring about what we hope to bring about, which is getting rid of this guy. 00:11:02.260 --> 00:11:03.629 That's that's one way to take it. 00:11:03.629 --> 00:11:06.831 Another way is another way that could be translated. 00:11:06.831 --> 00:11:08.299 What are we to do now? 00:11:09.301 --> 00:11:12.571 What are we going to do now, now that all of this has come about? 00:11:13.438 --> 00:11:15.140 What steps are we going to take? 00:11:15.140 --> 00:11:17.243 How are we going to react? 00:11:17.243 --> 00:11:19.445 Because we have two main concerns. 00:11:19.445 --> 00:11:20.846 So look back at verse 46. 00:11:20.846 --> 00:11:23.849 He highlights they highlight two main concerns in the midst of this. 00:11:25.250 --> 00:11:30.089 First, it says the Romans will come and take away. 00:11:30.121 --> 00:11:34.259 Now, when I when I saw that phrase, I was reminded of the Spartans. 00:11:34.894 --> 00:11:45.037 That's a famous phrase, especially if you're into some of you're into firearms as well, that there's been a line of firearms that come out with that name when they're in particular, come and take. 00:11:45.037 --> 00:12:02.221 It was a phrase at the Battle of Thermopylae way back in 300 B.C., 400 B.C., where the Persians were coming to conquer Greece. And the Spartans said, No, you're not coming. 00:12:02.221 --> 00:12:05.191 And they so they said to him, Lay down your arms. 00:12:05.323 --> 00:12:08.594 And they simply said back this phrase in writing, Come and take them. 00:12:09.028 --> 00:12:11.263 Come and take fight. 00:12:11.263 --> 00:12:14.200 If you want my arms, you better come and get them. 00:12:14.200 --> 00:12:17.035 That's not what's happening here, by the way. 00:12:17.035 --> 00:12:19.672 Come and take The Romans are already there. 00:12:19.672 --> 00:12:21.307 They're already in control. 00:12:21.307 --> 00:12:24.076 They allow the Jews to think that they have some autonomy. 00:12:24.076 --> 00:12:27.078 They allow the Jews to think that they have their own freedoms. 00:12:28.047 --> 00:12:29.682 And that's not what's happening here. 00:12:29.682 --> 00:12:32.684 In fact, they're recognizing that they're here. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:38.190 But if we allow Jesus to go on like this, there's something else that might happen. 00:12:38.323 --> 00:12:39.557 They'll come and take. 00:12:39.557 --> 00:12:43.863 And it says specifically, they'll take away our place and nation. 00:12:45.764 --> 00:12:57.442 That phrase the last time that showed up in Jewish literature and had been in a book of the extended writings of Scripture that I've mentioned a few times called First Maccabees, it shows up in a Catholic Bible. 00:12:57.576 --> 00:13:00.578 It's kind of the period in between the Old and New Testament. 00:13:00.645 --> 00:13:12.725 And in that time, one of the Maccabees rose up, became kind of a messiah like figure, and they pushed out the other armies that were in their land at the time they came. 00:13:12.725 --> 00:13:21.801 But then they came back and they took their place and they took their people, meaning they conquered them again and they destroyed everything, flattened the temple. 00:13:22.634 --> 00:13:23.067 They're gone. 00:13:23.067 --> 00:13:26.038 We don't want that to happen again. 00:13:26.038 --> 00:13:29.041 Now is the time to act. 00:13:30.509 --> 00:13:34.813 And there comes a point in a crisis where you realize it's now or never. 00:13:35.815 --> 00:13:39.451 If if we don't move now, everything's at stake. 00:13:40.219 --> 00:13:42.721 I just finished rereading Killer Angels. 00:13:42.721 --> 00:13:43.923 Have you have you read that book? 00:13:43.923 --> 00:13:46.325 It's about the Civil War, about the Battle of Gettysburg. 00:13:46.325 --> 00:13:49.495 It's kind of a fictionalization of it, but with a historically accurate. 00:13:49.495 --> 00:13:50.863 It's a it's a great read. 00:13:50.863 --> 00:13:53.264 I got it at the library if you want to find it there. 00:13:53.264 --> 00:14:02.541 But there comes a moment in the Battle of Gettysburg, where one of the armies in particular during the Civil War, they realize it's now or never. 00:14:02.541 --> 00:14:05.344 If we don't move now, everything is at stake. 00:14:05.344 --> 00:14:06.879 If we don't take action, it's. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:09.181 It's over. 00:14:09.181 --> 00:14:10.850 And this is where they are. 00:14:10.850 --> 00:14:14.153 They see the the gravity of the situation. 00:14:14.153 --> 00:14:15.955 Jesus says, raise someone from the dead. 00:14:15.955 --> 00:14:19.892 It's not going to get any worse than this from their perspective. 00:14:20.091 --> 00:14:21.360 We've got to take action. 00:14:24.830 --> 00:14:29.033 The hard part of this is they express concern about their people. 00:14:29.934 --> 00:14:32.937 But you got to look at this and go, did you really care? 00:14:33.072 --> 00:14:37.475 Do they really care about the place and the nation? 00:14:37.475 --> 00:14:50.456 Were they really concerned about the people or were they mostly concerned about their own power, about their own prestige, about their own control? 00:14:50.456 --> 00:14:53.458 If we don't take action, we'll lose power. 00:14:54.125 --> 00:14:59.498 If we don't take action, they'll follow him, not us. 00:15:02.768 --> 00:15:10.174 And it's an important thing, especially if you find yourself opposed to someone else to check your motives at times. 00:15:10.643 --> 00:15:22.654 I mean, in this situation, the most powerful thing the Sanhedrin could have done in this moment to save their people is to point them to Christ and and they're doing the opposite. 00:15:23.923 --> 00:15:33.865 We've got to shield them from Christ and whatever culture, in whatever situation people face the most important thing we can do for them is to point them to Christ. 00:15:35.400 --> 00:15:45.711 Every challenge the Sanhedrin faced, every challenge the Jewish nation faced, every challenge we face will be solved in knowing Christ. 00:15:46.278 --> 00:15:48.179 Every single one. 00:15:48.179 --> 00:15:51.817 Yes, political solutions, government solutions can help with a lot of stuff. 00:15:51.817 --> 00:15:55.287 I'm not saying those are important, but you can do that all day long. 00:15:55.287 --> 00:16:08.200 And if you don't get to the heart of the issue of knowing Christ being found in Him, having hope and peace and love and joy in him having eternal life in him, that's where all the solutions will be found. 00:16:10.336 --> 00:16:12.571 And so they missed it here. 00:16:12.571 --> 00:16:16.475 In fact, this council, you know what they should have been doing when they met, they should have been meeting to go. 00:16:16.475 --> 00:16:24.750 Why is it that we're under Roman rule when we look at the history of our nation, when we fell under foreign rule, that meant we had wandered away from God. 00:16:24.750 --> 00:16:26.250 How have we wandered away from him? 00:16:26.250 --> 00:16:28.988 How do we get back to him in this moment? 00:16:28.988 --> 00:16:30.923 That should have been the conversation they were having. 00:16:32.057 --> 00:16:37.229 But no, it was how do we keep power now in the midst of that? 00:16:37.229 --> 00:16:40.065 One man does speak up and he was in charge of the council. 00:16:40.065 --> 00:16:43.067 Look at verse 49. 00:16:43.101 --> 00:16:53.479 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, you know, nothing at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people. 00:16:54.446 --> 00:16:57.448 Not that the whole nation should perish. 00:16:58.182 --> 00:17:12.096 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 00:17:13.432 --> 00:17:15.200 So here we have one boy. 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:17.135 Speak up. He was in charge of the council. 00:17:17.135 --> 00:17:23.541 He was the high priest for that year and actually he was a high priest for about 18 years during the whole reign of pilot as well. 00:17:23.541 --> 00:17:24.276 We'll get to him. 00:17:25.711 --> 00:17:27.512 But he was the one in charge at the time. 00:17:27.512 --> 00:17:30.415 And he speaks up and he makes a really interesting statement. 00:17:30.415 --> 00:17:32.550 First, he starts by offending everyone. 00:17:32.550 --> 00:17:36.888 By the way, this the translation here is not nearly strong enough. 00:17:37.423 --> 00:17:38.490 You know, nothing at all. 00:17:38.490 --> 00:17:40.325 Nor do you understand. 00:17:40.325 --> 00:17:45.830 He's like, you don't know nothing nor do you have any intellect. 00:17:45.998 --> 00:17:49.000 His one way to even get to the translation. 00:17:49.233 --> 00:17:52.136 It's almost like he's saying you're dumb and you're dumber. 00:17:52.136 --> 00:17:54.405 I mean, he he doesn't. 00:17:52.136 --> 00:17:57.409 He didn't read How to Win friends and influence people at that point in his life. 00:17:57.709 --> 00:18:04.583 Josephus, Jewish historian at the time, said the sadnesses were known for being incredibly rude even to their own people. 00:18:05.951 --> 00:18:10.855 Now, Josephus was a Pharisee, so he might have been a little biased, saying that about a sad you see. 00:18:10.855 --> 00:18:13.858 But he doesn't mince words here. 00:18:13.892 --> 00:18:16.795 You have no idea what you're talking about. 00:18:16.795 --> 00:18:25.136 He says it would be far better for someone else to die than for our whole nation to suffer. 00:18:25.136 --> 00:18:34.512 Now he's assuming that Jesus is going to try to raise up like a messiah, going to try to bring political deliverance, which would mean that their nation was crushed. 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:43.955 He doesn't really understand what Jesus is about, but he is drawing on Old Testament history here in terms of what he recommends. 00:18:44.522 --> 00:18:57.603 There was a story back in Second Samuel 20, where a guy named Sheba had raised up against David and of course Davidson's Joab since army out to crush him and he starts fleeing and he goes from one city to another trying to find refuge. 00:18:57.603 --> 00:19:00.239 He ends up in a city called Abel. 00:19:00.239 --> 00:19:01.772 He's hiding in the city. 00:19:01.772 --> 00:19:04.776 Joab and his whole army surrounds the city. 00:19:04.942 --> 00:19:05.911 They're going to see it. 00:19:06.944 --> 00:19:12.250 But one old lady in the city kind of comes out and she goes, Hey, Joab, what's going on here? 00:19:13.218 --> 00:19:13.951 What are you up to? 00:19:13.951 --> 00:19:16.020 How can I help? 00:19:16.020 --> 00:19:19.590 And Joab says, Look, I'm after one guy and he's had been there. 00:19:20.558 --> 00:19:22.760 She says, What's his name? Tell me. 00:19:22.760 --> 00:19:25.931 I'm adding some color here to how the conversation went. 00:19:26.131 --> 00:19:28.166 So what's his name? 00:19:28.166 --> 00:19:29.367 Sheba. 00:19:29.367 --> 00:19:32.069 Okay, let me go find him. 00:19:32.069 --> 00:19:35.039 She goes back in, finds this guy. 00:19:35.606 --> 00:19:37.643 I only imagine how that conversation went. 00:19:37.643 --> 00:19:40.645 Anybody seen Sheba? 00:19:37.643 --> 00:19:40.645 Where is he? Finds him? 00:19:41.078 --> 00:19:43.781 They cut off his head and toss it over the wall to him. 00:19:43.781 --> 00:19:47.653 You know, Joab holds up ID cards, get some matched up. 00:19:47.653 --> 00:19:50.355 We're good to go. They're out of there. 00:19:50.355 --> 00:19:51.390 It's way better. 00:19:51.390 --> 00:19:52.324 She recognize us. 00:19:52.324 --> 00:19:55.126 We're not all going to die on your behalf. 00:19:55.126 --> 00:19:58.696 This one guy give up this one guy, and we're all good to go. 00:19:59.765 --> 00:20:01.266 There's a precedent for that. 00:20:01.266 --> 00:20:07.372 We don't all need to be slaughtered because of one guy. 00:20:08.507 --> 00:20:13.111 Now, part of you reads this and you go, Yes, we know what he's really talking about. 00:20:13.111 --> 00:20:16.080 We know he's really talking about Jesus down on behalf of our sins. 00:20:16.080 --> 00:20:22.086 And you wonder, was was Caiaphas maybe kind of a Christian and didn't realize it? 00:20:22.086 --> 00:20:26.391 Was he one who is believed starting to believe in Jesus? 00:20:27.358 --> 00:20:31.395 But that's why John added this commentary here in verse 51. 00:20:31.395 --> 00:20:34.633 He did not say this of his own accord. 00:20:36.567 --> 00:20:40.005 He didn't say this because he believed in Jesus. 00:20:40.838 --> 00:20:43.842 He didn't even realize what he was fully saying. 00:20:44.142 --> 00:20:53.652 He didn't realize that he was repeating some prophecies that had already been said at this point back in chapter one, Behold the LAMB of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:00.558 John the Baptist had already said, This one has come to die on behalf of those who need salvation. 00:21:00.992 --> 00:21:02.760 Behold, the LAMB of God has taken away the sins. 00:21:02.760 --> 00:21:07.432 Well, Jesus has already said I have come to gather my flock who are spread abroad. 00:21:07.665 --> 00:21:10.669 My sheep will know my name and they will come to me in chapter ten. 00:21:10.801 --> 00:21:11.737 We've already looked at that. 00:21:11.737 --> 00:21:20.345 These things have been prophesied at a greater level than Caiaphas was seeing it. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:22.580 So this is the conversation. 00:21:22.580 --> 00:21:23.815 This is what he says to him. 00:21:23.815 --> 00:21:25.951 How does everyone react to this? 00:21:25.951 --> 00:21:28.953 Look at verse 53. 00:21:29.421 --> 00:21:33.392 So from that day on, they made plans to put him to death. 00:21:33.592 --> 00:21:36.795 In fact, that word plans can be resolved. 00:21:37.496 --> 00:21:42.334 Their response to this was, in fact, the third response will put on screen. 00:21:42.334 --> 00:21:43.934 We have believe unbelief. 00:21:45.304 --> 00:21:48.307 No good deed goes unpunished. 00:21:48.339 --> 00:21:50.174 Murder. 00:21:50.174 --> 00:21:52.477 Murder? 00:21:52.477 --> 00:21:52.810 Yeah. 00:21:52.810 --> 00:21:55.681 This guy raises someone from the dead. 00:21:55.681 --> 00:21:59.584 We got to get rid of him to the point of murder. 00:21:59.584 --> 00:22:05.856 From that day forward, their resolve was to get rid of. 00:22:05.957 --> 00:22:08.326 Now, how does Jesus respond to this? 00:22:08.326 --> 00:22:20.204 Okay, I don't know about you, but if someone says, hey, a whole bunch of us have determined we're going do everything we can to get rid of you, I'm going to have some different a variety of different reactions and responses to that. 00:22:20.204 --> 00:22:22.807 Personally, how does Jesus respond? 00:22:22.807 --> 00:22:24.976 Look at verse 54. 00:22:24.976 --> 00:22:34.853 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but he went from there to the region near the wilderness to a town called Ephraim. 00:22:35.820 --> 00:22:37.923 And there he stayed with the disciples. 00:22:37.923 --> 00:22:46.365 You know, we see this pattern all throughout the book of John of Jesus, ministering publicly, withdrawing privately, ministering publicly, withdrawing privately. 00:22:46.365 --> 00:22:48.333 We see that again here. 00:22:48.333 --> 00:22:50.402 He knows they're after him. 00:22:50.402 --> 00:22:54.573 He doesn't stop doing ministry, though, but he pulls away again. 00:22:56.173 --> 00:23:03.781 And the key thing to take note from this that we've seen over and over again with Jesus, he's the one in charge of the timeline. 00:23:04.782 --> 00:23:07.786 He's the one that will determine when things happen. 00:23:08.653 --> 00:23:13.724 He doesn't leave that in the hands of someone else and he draws away. Yes. 00:23:13.724 --> 00:23:16.394 But it's not to give up on ministry. 00:23:13.724 --> 00:23:16.394 It's not out of fear. 00:23:16.394 --> 00:23:30.409 It's to invest in another place for a season, in fact, to come back as things pick up speed rapidly at this point, because this verse and verse 54 no longer walked openly, That is a key phrase. 00:23:30.409 --> 00:23:33.412 That is a key turning point in the whole book of John. 00:23:34.211 --> 00:23:41.252 We've been building and building and building and man and these next the rest of the chapters, in fact, they cover just a couple of weeks. 00:23:41.853 --> 00:23:50.162 I mean, we've looked at his whole life up to this point and the time frame slows down, everything slows down, but everything picks up speed towards his death. 00:23:51.363 --> 00:23:53.064 And he knows that. 00:23:53.064 --> 00:23:58.336 But he's the one that stays in control of the timeline. 00:23:58.336 --> 00:24:01.038 So he draws away. 00:24:01.038 --> 00:24:06.545 And here we'll get to this last group who responded to his miracle, to his good deed. 00:24:07.179 --> 00:24:10.182 Look at verse 55. 00:24:10.682 --> 00:24:16.153 Now, the Passover of the Jews was at hand and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 00:24:16.153 --> 00:24:17.823 They were looking for Jesus. 00:24:17.823 --> 00:24:20.826 They were saying to one another as they stood in the temple. 00:24:21.192 --> 00:24:22.727 What do you think? 00:24:22.727 --> 00:24:25.730 You think you will come to the feast at all? 00:24:27.199 --> 00:24:34.673 Now the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know so that they might arrest him. 00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:37.675 So the Passover was at hand. 00:24:37.675 --> 00:24:43.682 This is the third Passover we see in the book of John, and it says some had come to purify themselves beforehand. 00:24:44.182 --> 00:24:45.916 There were different purification rights. 00:24:45.916 --> 00:24:59.631 If you were unclean, maybe you had handled a dead body or various things you could do to become unclean, which would not allow you to participate in the festival, you had to come something like six days early to prepare for that, to make sure you were ready had gone through all the steps. 00:25:01.766 --> 00:25:08.940 And so here we have a group have come and I think a word there's we can't know all their motives about why they were asking about Jesus. 00:25:08.940 --> 00:25:12.576 But I think I hear in here a hint of hope. 00:25:14.346 --> 00:25:25.022 I mean, there's fourth group, even though we have believers, unbelievers, those who want to murder him, I think here we have a group, a fourth group that says they're hopeful. 00:25:25.891 --> 00:25:28.026 Will he show up again? 00:25:28.026 --> 00:25:30.028 He's been here time and again. 00:25:30.028 --> 00:25:32.763 He's shown up and taught in the temple time and again. 00:25:32.763 --> 00:25:33.964 Could we see him? 00:25:33.964 --> 00:25:36.968 Could he come? Might we'd hear more. 00:25:37.402 --> 00:25:40.939 And maybe in the midst of that, there were those who didn't believe those who also wanted him murdered. 00:25:40.939 --> 00:25:46.044 But then that I think there's a bit of expectation and hopefulness. 00:25:46.044 --> 00:25:53.585 So we have those who believe, those who don't believe, those who want to murder him, those are who are hopeful. 00:25:54.952 --> 00:25:57.388 And as I look at these, I thought about our opening question. 00:25:57.388 --> 00:25:59.657 No good deed goes unpunished. 00:25:59.657 --> 00:26:02.661 Our opening situation. 00:26:03.428 --> 00:26:08.666 And I think probably for us, one takeaway is just to think about how we receive criticism. 00:26:10.035 --> 00:26:17.075 When you try to do something that you think is good for others and people are going to criticize you, it happens. 00:26:17.075 --> 00:26:18.809 How do you respond to that? 00:26:18.809 --> 00:26:21.813 We see how Jesus responds here. 00:26:22.180 --> 00:26:23.080 What does that mean for us? 00:26:23.080 --> 00:26:25.317 How do we respond? 00:26:25.317 --> 00:26:28.486 I'm going to spend the rest of the message here and just run quickly through two lists. 00:26:28.486 --> 00:26:32.057 One is, first, how do you give criticism? 00:26:32.057 --> 00:26:33.592 So there's two sides of criticism. 00:26:33.592 --> 00:26:36.161 There is the giving of criticism and then there's the receiving. 00:26:36.161 --> 00:26:39.396 Well, we'll talk first about how do you give criticism. 00:26:40.230 --> 00:26:43.300 So three ways, three things to be aware of as you give criticism. 00:26:43.300 --> 00:26:48.472 First, start by trying on their shoes. 00:26:48.506 --> 00:26:55.880 Let's start there before you give criticism to someone, just try to imagine what it would be like to be in their place. 00:26:55.880 --> 00:27:00.684 I remember I had a boss, one decision he made and a group of leaders made. 00:27:00.684 --> 00:27:03.954 I was very critical of to a whole lot of people. 00:27:04.422 --> 00:27:07.258 I thought that was not well done. 00:27:07.258 --> 00:27:10.194 But somewhere along the line, for whatever reason, maybe the Lord prompted me. 00:27:10.194 --> 00:27:13.198 I just thought, you know, okay, John, what would you have done? 00:27:13.798 --> 00:27:15.299 You seem to have it all figured out. 00:27:15.299 --> 00:27:16.734 You seem to know what's best. 00:27:16.734 --> 00:27:19.738 If you were in their shoes, what would you have done? 00:27:22.007 --> 00:27:23.741 And to be honest, I didn't know what I would have done. 00:27:23.741 --> 00:27:29.114 I took a step back and I thought, I don't know if I would have handled it any better than them, honestly. 00:27:29.413 --> 00:27:33.785 Now there are times where I've seen situations and I thought, This is what I've done and I think it would have been better. 00:27:33.785 --> 00:27:41.792 But it helps to just pause, put yourself in their shoes, Try to imagine what is it like to try to make that same decision? 00:27:42.059 --> 00:27:43.928 So that's number one. 00:27:42.059 --> 00:27:47.999 Try on their shoes. Number two, offer solutions, offer help. 00:27:48.465 --> 00:27:59.176 If you see something that you think isn't right and you're offering criticism also, if you can come with some solutions and maybe even some help. 00:27:59.743 --> 00:28:01.011 Hey, I saw you did this. 00:28:01.011 --> 00:28:04.015 I think it can be done this way and I'm willing to help. 00:28:05.817 --> 00:28:07.451 I had someone approached me recently. 00:28:07.451 --> 00:28:13.290 I asked their permission to share this and they just said, Look, I got a problem and I don't have any solutions. 00:28:13.290 --> 00:28:17.961 I'm just going to say that on the front end and I said, Well, I appreciate hearing that. 00:28:17.961 --> 00:28:22.733 And the tone was, let's see if we can come up with some solutions together. 00:28:23.902 --> 00:28:30.808 And by the end of the conversations we had come up when all solved, but we had come up with a few things to help address that. 00:28:30.808 --> 00:28:35.012 And this person said, you know what, maybe we don't have it solved, but I feel better about it. 00:28:35.012 --> 00:28:37.449 And I said, That's all I care about, actually, in this moment. 00:28:37.449 --> 00:28:38.415 Thank you very much. 00:28:38.415 --> 00:28:41.452 You know, it was a real good conversation. 00:28:41.752 --> 00:28:44.622 Come with solutions, offer help. 00:28:44.622 --> 00:28:48.226 Come with a tone of conciliatory. 00:28:48.226 --> 00:28:50.894 How do we work through this together? 00:28:48.226 --> 00:28:57.335 And then number three, just pause and pray for a moment before you dive in. 00:28:58.303 --> 00:29:01.172 And this is helpful in a lot of levels in life, right? 00:29:01.172 --> 00:29:03.307 Just pause and pray. 00:29:03.307 --> 00:29:10.381 And I remember reading that Abraham Lincoln, if he had a really hard message to deliver, he would write the letter, but put it in it. 00:29:10.381 --> 00:29:13.384 He had one drawer in his desk, specifically designated for that. 00:29:13.917 --> 00:29:17.721 He'd put it in the drawer and let it sit and just think about it. 00:29:17.721 --> 00:29:19.891 Do I really want to say it this way? 00:29:19.891 --> 00:29:26.096 Let me give it a day or two or an hour even, or whatever time I have just pause and pray. 00:29:26.765 --> 00:29:29.200 And sometimes he didn't move forward with it. 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:31.102 Sometimes he did. 00:29:31.102 --> 00:29:37.976 But there were a lot of times he would save the save the pain of making a mistake of in fact, there's a famous story of a Harry Truman. 00:29:39.376 --> 00:29:42.646 He was president and his daughter was an opera singer. 00:29:42.646 --> 00:29:46.049 And someone had written this scathing rebuke of her in a in an editorial. 00:29:47.117 --> 00:29:49.153 He read it and he was known for being hotheaded. 00:29:49.153 --> 00:29:52.656 He wrote a letter, wrote a response, and tossed it in the mail like right away. 00:29:53.057 --> 00:29:55.058 And of course, it was awful. 00:29:55.058 --> 00:29:59.963 He just tore them apart in the letter and he wished she could have got that one back. 00:29:59.963 --> 00:30:03.468 It went out a little, little too fast, pause and pray. 00:30:03.468 --> 00:30:06.471 So that's how to give criticism. 00:30:06.770 --> 00:30:08.239 How do you receive criticism? 00:30:08.239 --> 00:30:11.308 What do you do when others criticize you? 00:30:11.409 --> 00:30:15.078 And I've taken some of this list in particular from a book by Bob Russell. 00:30:15.078 --> 00:30:16.480 I just just read. 00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:19.917 He reflected on his he's a pastor, was the pastor at Southeast Christian. 00:30:20.250 --> 00:30:23.221 He reflected on his 50 years of ministry. 00:30:23.387 --> 00:30:26.457 And he said, here are some things I do different here, some things I do the same. 00:30:26.691 --> 00:30:29.693 One of the ones he talked about is how to handle criticism. 00:30:30.361 --> 00:30:31.729 So he had six key points. 00:30:31.729 --> 00:30:33.463 Number one, remember, it's going to happen. 00:30:36.201 --> 00:30:46.109 Don't be shocked if you do anything, if you take any stand of any type, unless you just play it safe everywhere, but then you'll be criticized for that, too. 00:30:46.109 --> 00:30:48.413 If you live your life, you're going to be criticized. 00:30:48.413 --> 00:30:50.315 It's going to happen. 00:30:50.315 --> 00:30:58.722 In fact, I heard a guy once say, if I want to be president of the United States, all I need is half the country to hate me. 00:30:59.891 --> 00:31:02.192 That's one way to look at it. 00:31:02.192 --> 00:31:06.263 It's almost inevitable that people are going to criticize you. 00:31:06.263 --> 00:31:09.267 Number two, consider the source. 00:31:10.734 --> 00:31:17.808 If it's a trusted friend who's bringing something of criticism, a point of criticism, it's worth really heavily weighing. 00:31:17.808 --> 00:31:25.083 And it But if someone is just trying to hurt you, Bob Russell even said, I don't give it a second of thought. 00:31:25.083 --> 00:31:25.817 I just move on. 00:31:27.184 --> 00:31:30.188 Number three, evaluate the issue. 00:31:30.387 --> 00:31:31.823 All right. 00:31:31.823 --> 00:31:34.692 Look, be willing to pause and take a step back and go. 00:31:34.692 --> 00:31:35.960 Maybe there is something here. 00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:37.028 Maybe I need to look at it. 00:31:37.028 --> 00:31:45.970 I might need to bounce it off some other people, some trusted friends I might need to pray about it might need to spend some time thinking about it, but be willing to evaluate the issue. 00:31:46.170 --> 00:31:53.810 Number four, Allow God to work in you through that situation, through the criticism. 00:31:54.612 --> 00:31:56.647 And here's what I mean. Here's what he meant by that. 00:31:56.647 --> 00:32:01.486 He gave this quote from Oswald Sanders, who wrote a book called Spiritual Leadership, and I'd throw it up on the screen. 00:32:01.486 --> 00:32:03.387 It's such a good quote. 00:32:03.387 --> 00:32:12.329 Maturity is moving from thin skin and a hard heart to thick skin and a soft heart. 00:32:12.497 --> 00:32:14.298 I thought that was such a good quote. 00:32:14.298 --> 00:32:19.470 You know, when you're immature, every little criticism, someone gives you just unravels you. You can't take it. 00:32:19.470 --> 00:32:21.739 It's thin skin and you don't want to hear it. 00:32:21.739 --> 00:32:23.875 Your heart is hard toward it. 00:32:23.875 --> 00:32:26.911 But as you mature and grow, I can take it. 00:32:27.211 --> 00:32:29.579 It can come and I can learn from it. 00:32:27.211 --> 00:32:29.579 I can grow. 00:32:29.579 --> 00:32:30.847 My heart is open. 00:32:30.847 --> 00:32:32.215 I become more teachable. 00:32:32.215 --> 00:32:37.020 I want to hear what others have to say in a way that will help make us all better and stronger. 00:32:38.122 --> 00:32:43.327 And then number five, keep focused on your purpose. 00:32:44.095 --> 00:32:47.097 In the midst of the criticism, keep focused on your purpose. 00:32:47.765 --> 00:32:49.834 Don't lose sight of the greater goal. 00:32:49.834 --> 00:32:55.940 He cited the story of Nehemiah, who's building the wall with all these people, and he has a couple of naysayers come and they want to talk to him. 00:32:55.940 --> 00:32:57.541 We just want to meet and talk with you for a minute. 00:32:57.541 --> 00:33:00.211 And he looks down from the wall and says, I can't. 00:33:00.211 --> 00:33:03.347 We're too busy doing this really important work. 00:33:03.448 --> 00:33:04.515 I don't have time for you. 00:33:05.782 --> 00:33:09.019 He stayed focused on the goal in the midst of it. 00:33:09.019 --> 00:33:15.826 And then last number six become more bold. 00:33:16.928 --> 00:33:20.999 There is a tendency when people criticize you to just turn inward. 00:33:21.031 --> 00:33:23.300 Well, I guess I shouldn't say anything. 00:33:23.300 --> 00:33:28.071 Well, I guess I should play it safe, he says. 00:33:28.071 --> 00:33:29.339 Become more bold. 00:33:29.339 --> 00:33:34.811 And in fact, that's what Jesus does, right? 00:33:34.811 --> 00:33:37.147 He doesn't say, Oh, they want to kill me. 00:33:37.147 --> 00:33:39.517 Let's shut this thing down. 00:33:39.517 --> 00:33:42.053 No, I've got a greater purpose. 00:33:42.053 --> 00:33:45.155 I got to become more bold to boldly proclaim the word of God. 00:33:45.155 --> 00:33:51.261 In fact, our theme for this year's fear, Free and Fearless, he saw that on the wall out there. 00:33:51.261 --> 00:33:54.298 As you're coming in, it's something we're talking about as a church. 00:33:54.298 --> 00:33:55.532 All year long. 00:33:55.532 --> 00:34:04.541 How do we walk in freedom of sin and how do we become more fearless to proclaim the Gospel, to boldly proclaim the gospel to others? 00:34:05.777 --> 00:34:10.847 One of the things we're doing as a church is reading through this book Living Fearless, and we still have lots of copies out of it. 00:34:10.847 --> 00:34:14.251 If you want one, it's on your own pace. 00:34:14.251 --> 00:34:16.621 It's just there for you to read and be encouraged by. 00:34:16.621 --> 00:34:22.427 But I'll tell you, there's a story in here that sums up this whole concept. 00:34:22.760 --> 00:34:26.097 Here's a guy who's a muslim and a group of Christians witness to him. 00:34:26.097 --> 00:34:36.440 He comes to know Christ and he says his first reaction is, I got to tell my whole family this and my family, he meant extended family, more like tribe. 00:34:37.742 --> 00:34:39.811 So he goes to his uncle, who's kind of the tribe leader. 00:34:39.811 --> 00:34:46.717 And I really want to share with my entire Muslim extended family what Jesus has done for me. 00:34:47.217 --> 00:34:48.552 Will you gather everyone? 00:34:51.121 --> 00:34:52.889 Are you sure you want to do this? 00:34:52.889 --> 00:34:58.429 Because if you do this, more than likely someone will want to kill you. Yes. 00:34:58.929 --> 00:35:00.864 This is so important to me. 00:34:58.929 --> 00:35:00.864 I've got to do this. 00:35:00.864 --> 00:35:02.599 So he gathers everyone. 00:35:02.599 --> 00:35:12.143 400 people come to hear him talk about how Jesus, 400 Muslims come to hear him talk about how Jesus has worked in his life. 00:35:13.411 --> 00:35:21.751 So he shares with everyone He leaves three days later, three of his cousins find him, drag him out into the desert. 00:35:22.085 --> 00:35:26.289 They shoot him between the legs, hoping to cause lots of damage. 00:35:26.456 --> 00:35:28.259 Shame him, castrate him. 00:35:28.259 --> 00:35:31.262 They leave him for dead. 00:35:31.295 --> 00:35:33.463 A couple of shepherds find him. 00:35:33.463 --> 00:35:34.699 They take him to the doctor. 00:35:34.699 --> 00:35:35.932 They're able to save his life. 00:35:35.932 --> 00:35:38.068 But the doctor says you'll never have children. 00:35:39.269 --> 00:35:42.273 Forget Father's Day, never have children. 00:35:42.572 --> 00:35:44.208 You'll never walk again. 00:35:44.208 --> 00:35:46.677 You're lucky to be alive. 00:35:46.677 --> 00:35:49.679 But he recovers from both. 00:35:49.713 --> 00:35:52.617 He. He's able to walk again. 00:35:52.617 --> 00:35:54.818 Fathers, children. 00:35:54.818 --> 00:35:57.822 And after he recovers, he goes back to his uncle. 00:35:59.489 --> 00:36:02.460 I don't think they heard me right. 00:36:03.327 --> 00:36:06.329 Will you gather them again? 00:36:06.329 --> 00:36:08.632 What are you talking about? 00:36:08.632 --> 00:36:10.534 You know, those same guys are going to be there. 00:36:10.534 --> 00:36:12.670 His Christian friends says you're crazy. 00:36:12.670 --> 00:36:14.838 Don't do this. 00:36:14.838 --> 00:36:17.842 Gather them again. 00:36:17.942 --> 00:36:19.777 400 people come back in. 00:36:19.777 --> 00:36:22.612 His very cousins are on the front row. 00:36:22.612 --> 00:36:24.949 I forgive you. 00:36:24.949 --> 00:36:26.583 You obviously didn't understand me. 00:36:26.583 --> 00:36:29.085 I misspoke. 00:36:29.085 --> 00:36:32.889 Somehow what I said didn't come across clearly about what Jesus has done in my life. 00:36:32.889 --> 00:36:35.893 Let me share again. 00:36:36.460 --> 00:36:41.132 Two days later, here come the cousins again, dragging him back out to the same desert. 00:36:41.132 --> 00:36:43.367 This time a knife gun didn't work. 00:36:43.367 --> 00:36:46.204 Let's stab him to death. 00:36:43.367 --> 00:36:46.204 Dump him in a ravine He's bleeding out. 00:36:48.371 --> 00:36:52.043 A group of Muslim soldiers find him some of the military on exercise. 00:36:52.043 --> 00:36:55.813 They find him, they take him, they get him healed up. 00:36:55.813 --> 00:36:57.882 But then they ask him, How did this happen? 00:36:57.882 --> 00:37:00.150 Who did this? Oh, it's my own family. 00:37:00.150 --> 00:37:02.219 What do you mean? Why? 00:37:02.219 --> 00:37:04.387 I told him about Jesus. 00:37:04.387 --> 00:37:05.755 Who's Jesus? 00:37:05.755 --> 00:37:08.759 Why would he cause that kind of reaction? 00:37:09.092 --> 00:37:10.327 He tells them about Jesus. 00:37:10.327 --> 00:37:13.898 They're so moved about his courage, about his boldness, about his faith. 00:37:14.565 --> 00:37:17.568 They go and arrest those family members. 00:37:21.005 --> 00:37:26.510 And I read this guy's story, you know, right away. 00:37:26.510 --> 00:37:39.690 Do I have that kind of boldness when I do that, when I have gone the first time, I'd like to think that I would, but also probably know I probably wouldn't have. 00:37:40.224 --> 00:37:41.626 Definitely not the second time. 00:37:45.195 --> 00:37:50.768 Free and fearless continue to speak the word of the Lord without fear in the midst of criticism. 00:37:52.202 --> 00:37:58.376 Keep getting bold, stay bold, speak the truth and love, but keep proclaiming truth. 00:37:58.708 --> 00:38:01.711 We're in a world that doesn't want to hear truth at all. 00:38:02.579 --> 00:38:06.884 Keep proclaiming the truth of the gospel. 00:38:07.652 --> 00:38:20.231 Let's pray God thank you that you will not fail us. 00:38:21.164 --> 00:38:24.168 You have not failed us. 00:38:25.068 --> 00:38:26.469 Help us. 00:38:26.469 --> 00:38:33.811 In the midst of criticism, in the midst of a world that says we don't want to hear about Jesus, we don't want to know about Him. 00:38:35.813 --> 00:38:57.068 Help us to continue to proclaim the truth of the Gospel boldly help us to walk in faithfulness to who you are, to lean on you for that strength, to not try to do it in our own strength, to not make it about us, but about you got an upgrade today. 00:38:57.068 --> 00:39:08.012 Everyone here who doesn't know you, they would come to find hope and significance and meaning and purpose and life everlasting and life abundantly. 00:39:09.579 --> 00:39:12.583 They would find that anew today. 00:39:13.717 --> 00:39:15.652 Jesus, we love you. 00:39:15.652 --> 00:39:18.155 We pray all this in your name. Amen.