WEBVTT 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:13.359 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:18.399 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:22.640 Amen. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:23.440 Let's pray. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:27.280 Oh Lord, our confession is that we couldn't earn it and we don't deserve it. 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:35.520 And so the Bible says, despite those two true statements, that you give it to us anyway because you want us to have it, and we get it because of your mercy. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:43.759 It's most like the Bible to make uh the love of God about something in our experiencing the love of God about something that you're rich in, that's mercy. 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:50.320 So, God, express the richness of your mercy by opening up the truth to us today and let the truth open us up. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:53.600 We ask this in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:54.320 You can have a seed. 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:57.119 If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to John chapter 7. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:00.960 If you don't have a Bible as well on your row, I'm on page 893. 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:03.600 We're going to the Gospel of John, verse by verse. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:07.680 Uh, and today I want to talk to you about the most important question you will ever answer. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:14.480 The most important question you will ever answer, which by the way, it is not who you're voting for, how much money do you make? 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:15.599 Will you marry me? 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:16.719 Do you love me? 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:24.079 And the most important question you and I and everyone in the history of civilization will ever answer is simply this. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.159 Is Jesus the Christ? 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:28.959 Is Jesus who the Bible says he is? 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:30.000 Is he the Messiah? 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:36.319 Is he the Son of God, sent by God on a mission from God to redeem and restore the people of God? 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:40.959 Because if so, it has radical implications for your life and for my life. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:42.319 But also, look at me. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.159 You gotta be willing to flip the coin and look at the other side. 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:54.000 If not, if he isn't the son of God, like he professes to be, then you should scoff at Christ in Christianity. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:56.959 You should totally disregard all of this as meaningless. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:02.159 You should live your life however you want, because there's no connection between this life and the next. 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:12.479 Heaven's a farce, hell isn't real, and forgiveness is unnecessary because there's no standard that you're violating if there's not a God in this world. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:18.240 And so, either way, there's deep implications on either side of this question. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:23.680 This question is so important, by the way, and so central to the purpose of John's gospel that we began. 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:26.479 The very first sermon I preached was about the purpose of John. 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:31.680 Comes from John chapter 20, verse 31, where John writes, and he's getting to the end. 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:42.080 He's only got like one chapter left, and he says, These things have I written unto you, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:43.120 Let me say that again. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:50.639 He said, These things are written, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the fulfillment of every promise God has ever made. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:52.080 Also, the Son of God. 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:53.280 It's a question of authority. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:57.280 And then he says this, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:02.240 Remember just 90 seconds ago, I said that there's implications on both sides of this. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:05.919 Here's one of the implications of you not believing that Jesus is God. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:11.919 That means if Jesus is not God, then there's not a life available in him that you don't find anywhere else. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:21.120 And so what that means by extension is simply this all you can hope for, the best life you can hope for is whatever you can come up with on your own. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:23.280 Let me give you an example of what that feels like. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:29.439 Have you ever been up late at night, you can't sleep, and you're just flipping through channels and you realize there's nothing on TV worth watching? 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:35.199 And you go to the refrigerator and you think, hey, I want to eat something, you open the refrigerator and you're like, eh, I'm already fat enough. 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:36.240 Let me just close this. 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:39.520 And you're kind of awake, but you're just like, what am I gonna do? 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:43.919 That's what it feels like to be alive and not be living life. 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:46.319 Because it's just, hey, it's all up to me. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:49.199 Whatever I can come up with, this is as good as it is. 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:51.599 But here's the implications on the positive. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:53.599 Because Jesus really is the Son of God. 00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:54.319 I believe that. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:04:02.159 And most importantly, the Bible teaches that there's a life that's available to everyone, that's in him, that's unlike anything you've ever lived before. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:05.280 So much so, the Bible uses two different words in the Greek. 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:07.120 The Bible's reason they're written in Greek. 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:11.280 The Greek word for life, like we live it, is bios, just biological existence. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:14.560 The Greek word for the life that Jesus is talking about is Zoe. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:17.519 It's it's a whole it's on a whole different level. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:30.079 It's why Jesus says in a couple chapters in John 10, 10, he'll say that I came so you could have life and have it more abundantly, or to the full, or in a different way than you've ever had it before. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:35.360 And so answering this question has implications beyond what we can fathom. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:40.079 So let's just kind of read the text this morning, John chapter 7, starting verse 25. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:45.279 Some of the people of Jerusalem, therefore, said, Is not this the man that they seek to kill? 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:48.959 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:52.240 Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:57.600 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:04.240 So Jesus proclaimed as he taught in the temple, You know me, and you know where I come from, but I have not come on my own accord. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:05.920 He who sent me is true. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:07.519 In him you do not know. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.720 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:15.759 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:17.519 Yet many of the people believed in him. 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:22.079 They said, When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done? 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:28.560 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:33.120 Jesus then said, I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:35.360 You will seek me and you will not find me. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:38.160 Where I am, where I am, you cannot come. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:42.319 The Jews said to one another, Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:46.720 Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:50.800 What does he mean by saying, You will seek me and you will not find me? 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:53.360 And where I am, you cannot come. 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:58.399 So there's some confusion about what Jesus is talking about because we talked about it last week. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:01.360 Jesus reverse engineers his life around the cross. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:07.279 He comes for one mission, and that is to die on the cross in our place for our sins. 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:14.959 And he starts there and he works back, and everything in his life is centered around, ordered around, and dated by that reality. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:18.720 So all through the gospels, he will say things like, My hour is not yet come. 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:20.800 It just showed up in this passage right here. 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:22.240 The people wanted to kill him. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:26.319 They were so mad at him, and Jesus walked right to the crowd and they didn't arrest him. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:26.800 Why? 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:28.560 Because his hour had not yet come. 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:30.959 In other words, God wasn't done with him. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:33.600 He still had things that he had to do. 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:44.399 Now, you have to understand to get to why there was so much hatred for Jesus and why people wanted to kill him, you have to understand what's happened in the first six chapters of John's gospel. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:50.480 And so, if you'll allow me, let me just summarize the first six chapters of John, which is how we get to this point. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:51.279 Here you go. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:51.920 Chapter one. 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:54.720 God puts on flesh, moves into the neighborhood. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:58.079 He's not an idea, a concept, or a moral construct. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:00.240 He sends his son in love to the world. 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:07.839 And for the first time in the history of humanity, a deity comes down instead of waiting for humanity to measure up. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:09.120 Let me say that again. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:15.680 For the first time in the history of humanity, a God comes down to his people instead of waiting for you and I to measure up. 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:16.560 That's chapter one. 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:22.480 Chapter two, Jesus performs his first miracle at a wedding in Cana where he turns water into wine. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:31.199 But more than just making all the Baptists in the room mad, he's announcing that people will no longer need religious ceremonies to get clean in God's eye because that's why he's come. 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:35.279 And so basically, Jesus says, Let's drink some good wine and celebrate me. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:37.360 There's a phrase that's never come out of your mouth. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:38.079 Amen? 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:44.399 Wouldn't you want to go to a party at least once before you die where someone walks in and says, Hey, let's drink some good wine and celebrate me? 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:46.879 Now you're like, Jesus would never say that. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:49.040 That's exactly what he says in John chapter 2. 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:53.839 It's why you should read the Bible or at least go to a church where they have the courage to tell you what's being said. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:55.600 It's not just words on a page. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:59.040 Jesus is at a wedding, his mom comes to him and says, Hey, they're out of wine. 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.120 And Jesus is like, and that's my problem, why? 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:02.639 And she's like, hey, do something. 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:03.839 And so Jesus says, okay. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:08.240 And they look over and have these ceremonial clay pots, hold about six gallons of water. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:19.199 And Jesus says, fill up, and by the way, ceremonial, that means that they filled them with water and they would wash themselves in certain ways and had these religious rituals that they thought made them clean before God. 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:21.600 And Jesus is like, hey, I'm here now. 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:25.839 We're not going to count on ourselves crossing all the T's and dotting all the I's. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:31.279 So Jesus basically says to his disciples later, he says, You're clean because of the word I spoke to you. 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:34.240 You ain't got to do all these ceremonies and religious rituals. 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:37.200 And so Jesus basically says, fill those pots with water. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:38.879 He turns that water into wine. 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:43.759 And then he says, and by the way, the wine was so good, all his friends said, Hey, this is top shelf. 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:45.039 This isn't a two-buck chuck. 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:47.120 You get at Trader Joe's out here. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:52.879 On that box wine you got in the back of your refrigerator, like my father-in-law, who calls it Merlot. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:57.279 I'm like, you know it's Merlot, right? 00:08:57.440 --> 00:08:59.120 I got some Merlot in there if you want it. 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:01.600 Hey, that was been in there since last Christmas, Max. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:02.559 I don't want that stuff. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:04.080 I could put that in my car battery. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:06.240 I think it would come back to life, all right? 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:06.879 No. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:10.399 This was so good that people said, man, this is top shelf. 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:12.320 How many of y'all know what top shelf is? 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:13.519 Can I see your hand? 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:15.360 Yes, I see your hands up. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.799 Some of y'all are like, We're on a budget. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:20.639 Every once in a while, anniversary. 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:21.919 Yes, it was so good. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:23.440 And so here's what Jesus is saying. 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:27.440 He's basically saying, hey, I have done away with empty religious rituals. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:29.679 Let's drink some wine and celebrate me. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:32.559 Again, a phrase that will never come out of your mouth. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:33.519 Chapter three. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:36.960 Again, this is why people are so mad because they are threatened by him. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:39.919 Chapter three, he has a conversation with a man named Nicodemus. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:44.639 He's very religious, and he tells him that, hey, in no uncertain terms, religion will not save you. 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:51.440 Jesus has come so that what we do, he comes so that we can so be changed. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:52.480 Let me say like this. 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:57.440 We can so be changed by God that it's like being born all over again. 00:09:57.600 --> 00:09:59.519 And Nicodemus is like, what? 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:01.840 And Jesus is like, I know, I know. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:05.679 You can be religious and you can make a hundred on the Jesus pop quest. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:11.519 But unless I've changed you to where so drastically that it's like, man, I was born all over again. 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:12.720 Let me ask you a question. 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:17.039 Anybody in this room ever wish you could just hit the restart button and start over again? 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:21.759 Jesus says in John 3 to Nicodemus and everybody else in the world, you can. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:26.159 And people are like, oh chapter 4. 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:28.960 He meets a woman who smells like vodka and bad ideas. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:31.679 Her lifestyle requires that she sleeps in to recover. 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:34.720 He reads her mail, then forgives her for everything she's ever done. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:41.120 Her whole town begs Jesus to linger because she goes to town and says, Come meet a man who told me everything I've ever done. 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:42.559 Could this be the Christ? 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:43.519 Hear that? 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:45.759 Already the language is in the water. 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:49.039 They're like, could this be the long promised Messiah? 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:50.159 Are you kidding me? 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:52.399 Could this possibly be him? 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:57.600 Her whole town comes out and they beg Jesus to linger and love on them a little bit longer. 00:10:57.679 --> 00:10:59.279 And Jesus is like, hey, I'm cool. 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:00.559 I'm like the grateful dad. 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:02.559 I'm always in concert somewhere, okay? 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:09.519 And so he stays for two more days, and the whole town repents and comes to faith in Christ. 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:12.080 Chapter 5, he heals a man on the Sabbath. 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:12.960 Uh-oh. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:15.279 Big breaking of the rules. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:19.919 He does it to demonstrate that this isn't about just keeping rules, but about relationship. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:22.879 Not restoring people to law, but restoring people to God. 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:30.240 Then he tells this guy, hey, stop jerking around, weasel boy, because if you don't knock it off and get squared up, I'll have to really lay the wood to you. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:34.240 Actually, it sounds like this in John chapter 5, verse 14. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:37.600 Jesus found him and says, Hey, see, you're well again. 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:40.879 Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:43.120 Translation, hear this. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:47.120 You can push grace to the discipline phase, and God will discipline you. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:49.600 Not because he hates you, but because he loves you. 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:53.840 He doesn't watch people destroy themselves and just kind of go sit idly by. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:54.320 Alright? 00:11:54.480 --> 00:12:03.759 Chapter 6, he feeds 5,000 men along with their families, tells them, hey, that knowing him is better than being fat and sassy with contentment and mooching off the religious government. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:10.240 And then because he doesn't want them relating to him out of their appetites, we're hungry, so then Jesus is relief. 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:11.840 No, Jesus is the truth. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:17.360 And so while these people are fat and sassy and go to bed and they want to make him king by force, they're like, you know what? 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:19.200 This guy could make our lives better. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:22.960 Jesus leaves in the middle of the night because he doesn't want to surface following. 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:25.759 And now chapter 7 shows up. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:30.639 The ruling religious party can't stand him and they're looking for any way they can to get rid of him and kill him. 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:34.080 It's like, if you want the modern-day equivalent, it's like the media and Donald Trump. 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:36.000 Have you noticed everything Donald Trump's fault? 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:37.840 Global warming, Donald Trump. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:39.919 I'm fat, Donald Trump. 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:41.200 It's everyone's fault. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:42.240 Now, listen to me. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:44.559 Don't check out some of you like, I hate Donald Trump. 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:45.440 I don't care. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:47.519 I don't agree with everything the man says. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:50.879 I don't like the way he talks about women, but I do know this. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:53.519 All of the problems in America are not his fault. 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:56.320 And you gotta stop copping out and pointing your finger. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:59.120 But it's a frame of reference, it's a snapshot. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.720 Look at the way the media and Democrats talk about Donald Trump. 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:06.320 That's the way people, the ruling religious leaders, felt about Jesus. 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:09.600 They loathed the mention of his name. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:11.519 They could not stand him. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:16.240 It was just like, oh! But ask yourself this question. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:18.080 He's standing right there in the public. 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:19.279 We just read. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:23.200 People in the in the city were like, hey, isn't this the guy they want to kill? 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:27.440 Hard, how hard can it be to kill a guy that's preaching in public? 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:29.200 But they didn't. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:29.919 Why? 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:33.840 Because somewhere in the back of their brain, back there by their cerebellum, their brain was itchy. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:38.639 They were like, I think he he might honey get the kids. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:44.879 This might be he might really be God. 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:45.919 That's what he's saying. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:48.320 Now, why did I tell you all of that? 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:50.639 Because we live in a culture. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:51.360 Look at me. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:56.000 We live in a culture that wants to appreciate Jesus and not worship Jesus. 00:13:56.159 --> 00:14:00.159 We live in a culture that wants to say, hey, uh, I think Jesus was a good man. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:02.080 He was a moral teacher, and blah, blah, blah. 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:03.679 That means nothing for you. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:09.600 But the moment you say, I believe Jesus was the Son of God, ro-ro, C. 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:09.919 S. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:12.559 Lewis was a brilliant man. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:14.879 He was a professor at Cambridge University. 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:16.720 He was once an agnostic. 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:18.720 He understood this issue very clearly. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:19.600 He wrote these words. 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:20.080 Hear them. 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:26.159 I'm trying here to present anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him, about Jesus. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:33.120 And it's this I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:36.080 And that is the one thing we must not say. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:42.960 A man who is merely a man was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:49.840 He would either be a lunatic on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:51.200 You must make your choice. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:56.159 Either this man was and is the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:03.759 You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:09.440 But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:11.840 He has not left that open to us. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:14.080 He did not intend to. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:29.759 In other words, Jesus didn't live the life that he lived and died the death that he died and did the things that he did, just for you to shrug and kind of go, Gandhi, Jesus, Muhammad, they're all up there together on the Mount Roshmore of American spirituality. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:31.440 No, no, they're not. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:37.120 So, what does it mean for me if Jesus is real, that he really is God? 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:38.639 It means three things this morning. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:41.919 Number one, it means that God has had a plan all along. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:44.399 It means that God has had a plan all along. 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:45.679 You say, What do you mean? 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:55.120 There was this expectation of when the Messiah, when this promised deliverer, that God had promised, when this Messiah comes, he's going to be a certain way. 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:57.759 And three of them are referred to right here in John chapter 7. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:15:59.120 I'll point to them briefly. 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:04.799 The first one's in verse 26, and they believe that the Messiah was somebody that no one will know where he's from. 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:06.399 No one will know from where he's from. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:08.720 It's so mysterious that no one can know for sure. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:10.879 He'll just kind of show up, poof. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:13.759 And yet the Bible does the exact opposite. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:22.879 In the Old Testament, it's full of these what's called prophecies, which are promises that God makes about the coming of the Messiah, and Jesus fulfills every one of them. 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:25.600 All the way from the manner in which he would be born. 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:30.080 Sounds like this in Isaiah chapter 7, and a virgin shall conceive and give birth. 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:31.440 Now ask yourself a question. 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:34.480 If you were making something up, would you start there? 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:38.000 Think about it. 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:39.200 You're smart people. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:44.639 You're like your kid coming in and go, hey dad, I'm a virgin, but I'm kind of with child. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:47.200 Your name ain't Mary girl. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:49.679 No, you wouldn't start that. 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:51.600 It is intellectually preposterous. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.679 But yet that's a promise the Bible made. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:56.559 And it's a promise God fulfills in the New Testament. 00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:00.080 The Bible's full of these prophecies, and Jesus fulfills every one of them. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:00.639 Why? 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:04.160 Because God is not afraid of going on the record to demonstrate two things. 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:06.640 Number one, the truthfulness of Christianity. 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:10.640 It is provable, it is verifiable, the truthfulness of Christianity. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:13.039 And secondly, the existence of a plan. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:15.119 The existence of a plan, what does that mean? 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:16.720 That means that God is not a deist. 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:29.839 A deist is someone that believed that God created, they'll say, oh, God created the world, but he just kind of spun it like a basketball on his finger, and then he just went and sent it out there into orbit, and he sits idly by and watches it come unhinged. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.079 That's not the Bible's view of God. 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:33.279 Not at all. 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:41.759 And so when we say they all had this belief that no one will know where he's from, they were kind of like, well, we know where this guy is from. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:44.160 He can't be the Messiah, right? 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:46.240 Here's a second thing they believed about the Messiah. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:48.880 They believed the Messiah would perform miraculous signs. 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:50.480 It's verse 30 and 31. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:52.960 They're like, hey, look at verse 30. 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:57.920 So they're seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:10.000 Again, there's this sense that not only does Jesus believe that he's on a mission from God, but people believe there's something different, supernatural, God ordained about his life, that they're like, hey, his hour is not yet come. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:11.039 Verse 31. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:12.720 Yeah, many of the people believed in him. 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:16.799 They said, When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done? 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:20.400 Remember a few minutes ago when I just summarized the first six chapters? 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:23.119 They were like, man, this guy's done so much stuff. 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:28.559 If he's not the guy, I mean, who's gonna do more miracles than this? 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:40.960 By the way, when you think about this, you gotta ask yourself, you're seven chapters in, and already he has so upset the religious establishment that they took out a hit on him. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:45.119 They took out a contract, they're gonna kill Jesus because they can't stand that. 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:52.160 Now ask yourself, what does Jesus so believe about his mission that he's willing to endure death to see it fulfilled? 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:55.680 What does he believe about his mission? 00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:59.200 That he's willing to endure death to see it fulfilled. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:01.359 Here's the third thing they believed about the Messiah. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:03.119 This language was in the water of the day. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:06.319 They believed he will come from Bethlehem and be of the lineage of David. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:07.519 It's verse 42. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:08.400 It's later on. 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:09.599 We'll get into that next week. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:11.200 Now he hear it again. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:15.039 They believed he'll be from Bethlehem and he'll be of the lineage of David. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:16.400 Remember back in Luke 2? 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:18.960 That's the promise that God made in the Old Testament. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:20.000 He fulfills it. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:22.000 Luke chapter 2, verse 10 and 11. 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:30.319 The angel appears to announce the Savior's birth, and he says, To these shepherds, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:35.759 For unto you were born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:37.200 Now stop right there. 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:40.000 This past week was a crazy week. 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:41.279 It was a fun week for me. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:42.559 I got to do things I love. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:43.680 I call it pastoral care. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:44.880 Some people call it counseling. 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:48.319 Had seven teen counseling appointments. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:49.519 One more time. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:52.480 Seven teen counseling appointments. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:53.440 That's not a complaint. 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:57.039 I had a front row seat to seeing people's life changed. 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:01.279 And so one of the appointments was a lady I see who doesn't go to this church or any church. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:03.519 She said, I just somebody told me about you. 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:05.680 And the first time she came, I said, Why are you here? 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:11.599 Tell me what makes you want to seek out a stranger, much less not a stranger, but a preacher, and ask for help. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:14.559 And she said, Well, I drink myself to sleep every night with red wine. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.119 If that doesn't work, I take sleeping pills. 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:21.039 And I thought, you are in a great place, ma'am. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:25.519 Because the rest of you dignified Baptists come in and go, I don't know what my problem is. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:27.119 My wife thinks I should be here. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:28.400 I don't think I have a problem. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:31.519 She was like, I will drink a whole bottle of red wine. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:36.319 If that doesn't work, I'll start on a second one, and then I start popping sleeping pills like they're tic-tac. 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:39.599 And I thought, a real life sinner. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:41.200 Thank you, Jesus. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:45.200 And she said, Well, and I said to her, I said, you know what? 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:51.200 One of the first things I want you to understand is that God says to you, you don't have to live at the mercy of your fear. 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:53.359 And she says, Well, I don't have fear, I have anxiety. 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:57.839 Anxiety is your experience of your deep embedded soul fears. 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:04.240 She told me this week, and I've been sitting for a while, she told me this week, she said, You are the smartest man I know. 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:07.200 Here's a question for you. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:08.640 And by the way, I didn't believe that. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:12.240 But is it does anybody ever say something to you that you know is not true? 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:16.720 And you're there at the fork of the road, you can clear it up or you can just kind of go, Well, thank you very much. 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:17.680 I try. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:22.240 I was just sitting there, and the Holy Spirit is like, You gonna let her believe that, moron? 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:25.599 You and I both know you're dumb as a mud fence, okay? 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:33.680 And so I said, actually, your recovery and your sobriety and your progress is not about me, it's about God. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:36.799 And I and I referenced Luke chapter 2, verse 10. 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:46.720 I said, Remember when I said to you that one of the promises that God made, one of the incarnational promises God made, incarnational, so you have to use these big words and counsels to people know I got degrees. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:48.960 I said, God hung flesh on it. 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:51.200 God manifested, He was real. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:54.559 It wasn't like trying to catch butterflies, you know, with your hand. 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:56.720 He says, Hey, fear not. 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:57.920 Why? 00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:59.759 Here's why I bring you. 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:03.359 Good news of great joy that will be for all people. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:04.079 Why? 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:08.640 Because to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:17.680 I said to her, I said, God so does not want you to live at the mercy of your anxiety, which is your soul fear response to fear, the things that bring fear in you. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:22.160 It's your response to sin that you've done and sin that's been done to you. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:25.039 That's why you have dis-ase in your spirit. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:27.440 You have dis-ease in your emotions. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:30.160 That's why you're uncertain, which is why you drink. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:31.599 Drinking's not your issue. 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:33.599 You've not dealt with your core problem. 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:34.960 This woman has worked hard. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:41.359 She told me that this week, she said, Yeah, every once in a while I have a glass of wine, but I don't even think about it anymore. 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:45.920 And I said, That's because you realize you don't have to fear. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:46.400 Why? 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:54.319 Because God sent a Savior who happens to be Christ the Lord, the Messiah, the fulfillment of every promise God ever made. 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:55.279 Look at me, beloved. 00:22:55.680 --> 00:23:00.799 Peace is the byproduct of experiencing everything God created you to have. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:02.640 Let me say that again. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:07.440 Peace is the byproduct of experiencing what God created you to experience. 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:11.119 I don't mean physical stuff, I mean spiritual truth. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:16.960 And so I sat there and watched a woman who is a totally different human being. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:20.799 And it's all because, see, we have to, why are you telling us this? 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:27.119 We have to track back our behavior to our Christology, to what is our Christology and what's true about Jesus. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:37.279 And what's true about him is that you don't have to live a prisoner to your fears because under you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:38.319 Hear that again. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:47.599 That means that God crashed into humanity at a specific time, at a specific place for the fulfillment of a specific promise. 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:54.559 That's what we mean when we say, hey, now remember all this was under number one, that God's had a plan all along. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:57.119