back to index2017-12-31 Jesus Is I Am Part 1
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Let me pray and then we'll jump into the message today. 00:00:08.960 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your continued faithfulness over our lives. 00:00:16.040 |
As we have our last service in 2017, I pray that you would help us to remember your grace 00:00:22.740 |
and your goodness and to refocus our attention, Lord God, in preparation for the coming year. 00:00:28.480 |
We pray, Father God, that you would open our eyes, soften our hearts. 00:00:32.900 |
May your word have more impact than just our ears, that our lives, Lord God, may be changed, 00:00:39.180 |
that you would examine us and see if there's any hurtful ways in us, that our faith and 00:00:44.400 |
our worship may truly be in spirit and in truth. 00:00:54.320 |
And again, I really feel like I just said this yesterday, and I'm sure some of you guys 00:00:59.400 |
who've been here for a while, it's like a broken record. 00:01:05.920 |
And you get to a certain point in age where you don't realize time going on until you 00:01:11.460 |
And then last week, again, seeing all the young children up here that didn't exist a 00:01:16.000 |
few years ago actually come in and singing and that ministry and group growing, you kind 00:01:23.120 |
of see the time going by as you see the children getting older. 00:01:29.040 |
And I was reflecting upon 2017, and there's a lot of crazy things that are going on in 00:01:34.840 |
You know, obviously we have the, you know, North Korea who tested the nuclear bomb this 00:01:42.380 |
And I know we watch this in the news, and there is an alarm as far as the news is concerned, 00:01:47.300 |
but it's not real to us because we're so far removed. 00:01:50.940 |
Sometimes we watch these things that are happening, and it just doesn't seem real because it's 00:01:57.780 |
It's just something that the leaders have to deal with. 00:02:00.640 |
But the possibility of nuclear war, at least that I can remember, has never been this serious. 00:02:07.360 |
And so, again, it just doesn't seem real to us, but these are serious issues that are 00:02:13.320 |
The persecution around the world, at least in the time that I've been a Christian, I've 00:02:18.160 |
never seen it to this extent, where there are millions of people literally risking their 00:02:23.360 |
lives just to get together and have worship that we're having here. 00:02:28.520 |
You know, you come to church on Sunday, and my biggest concern is make sure the air conditioner 00:02:31.640 |
is working properly, and I've got to get here a little bit earlier just in case there's 00:02:36.520 |
But there are millions of people around the world. 00:02:40.240 |
They have to think twice when they take their children to church that are they going to 00:02:48.240 |
And again, there's always been persecution, but the degree of persecution that we're seeing 00:02:52.560 |
around the world, I've never seen it, at least not in my lifetime. 00:02:56.760 |
But along with that, there's a lot of exciting things as well. 00:02:58.840 |
I mean, with the persecution, there's never been a time that I remember where evangelism 00:03:06.920 |
And we hear stories of very difficult areas in the world where people are literally risking 00:03:11.940 |
their lives, and they're experiencing revival in the midst of persecution and risking their 00:03:20.840 |
But many, many other people are also coming to faith as a result of this persecution. 00:03:25.000 |
And so it kind of reminds me a lot of the early church. 00:03:27.080 |
When you study the first two, three hundred years of the early church where intense persecution 00:03:31.640 |
led to a massive spreading of the gospel, and it is taking place right now. 00:03:36.480 |
In fact, this morning, I got a very encouraging email from our pastors in India, and just, 00:03:43.300 |
you know, they're preparing for our team coming. 00:03:45.340 |
There's about 15 of us that will be leaving next Friday, not this Friday, but next Friday. 00:03:49.880 |
And he sent me an email saying how excited they are. 00:03:53.420 |
And you know, one of the concerns that we've had that I shared with you was that the pastors 00:03:58.820 |
are getting persecuted, and there was an incident where the local leader actually dragged out 00:04:04.100 |
a Christian from his home because they refused to participate in the idol worship that the 00:04:08.580 |
leader of that village asked everybody to participate in. 00:04:12.620 |
And so the pastors had to go and talk with them and calm them down, and I don't know 00:04:17.620 |
exactly at the end how it ended, but again, the persecution in India is at a level, again, 00:04:26.040 |
But he also said that along with the ministry that we've been doing, to going out and doing 00:04:30.220 |
eye care and wound care and VBS and various things that we've had, he said a lot of the 00:04:34.980 |
previous village leaders that had us come are actually asking us to come back. 00:04:40.700 |
And they're Hindus, and they're asking us to come back because they said, again, I'll 00:04:44.700 |
share this with, again, the team who are going out to India, because I just got it this morning, 00:04:50.800 |
and we're saying that because of the sacrifices and the generosity of the people who went, 00:04:55.820 |
and many of you who've donated and helped us out with that, that the Hindus have a very 00:05:01.140 |
good view of Christians, that you guys are kind enough to do all this, even to us, and 00:05:06.340 |
we would have never thought of you, but you guys are coming and doing this for us. 00:05:08.940 |
So the Hindu leaders are actually asking us to come, to do that again in their village 00:05:14.020 |
and how excited they are to have us come back. 00:05:15.820 |
So even in the midst of heavy persecution, the work of Christ is, again, I haven't seen 00:05:22.380 |
I've been a Christian for about 33, 34 years, and to this level, the hatred in the politics, 00:05:30.620 |
the Republicans and Democrats never, ever got along, at least that I can remember, but 00:05:35.420 |
to this extent, where you have half the country thinks the other half of the country is an 00:05:39.780 |
idiot, and vice versa, and the kind of rhetoric and the kind of attack that both sides have 00:05:46.700 |
on each other, and I'm just kind of curious how this is going to, what kind of fruit this 00:05:51.900 |
is going to bear in the next election, or maybe when the Democrats come into power, 00:05:57.780 |
I don't know what's going to happen, but I've never seen it to this degree. 00:06:02.420 |
So the world that you and I live in, and even in just a short period in 2017, the things 00:06:07.780 |
that are taking place, even though it may not seem real, if you take a step back and 00:06:12.000 |
soberly examine what's going on, we have to admit that there's something extraordinary 00:06:21.260 |
Now, is this going to lead to the coming of Christ? 00:06:24.300 |
We don't know, but we are told that as Christians that we are not to be caught off guard like 00:06:29.980 |
the rest of the world, where the thief comes in and breaks in and be surprised by a second 00:06:38.260 |
Watch for the signs of the times, and the signs that he told us to watch for are very 00:06:45.180 |
So again, we don't know if the previous generation, maybe they had certain things that happened 00:06:49.380 |
and caused them to think this way, but whatever the case, we have to admit that some of the 00:06:56.020 |
things that are taking place around us, any one of those things could explode that can 00:07:05.260 |
We have to be careful that we don't respond to the current atmosphere, whether it's political, 00:07:10.940 |
economical, or whatever it may be, like the rest of the world. 00:07:15.700 |
Getting together like, "Oh my gosh, the world is going to end. 00:07:20.060 |
What if these terrorists, they get into our country?" 00:07:22.740 |
All of these concerns, and looking for some politician, looking for the UN, looking for 00:07:32.760 |
We have to be careful as Christians that we don't respond to what's happening in the world 00:07:37.380 |
like the rest of the world, because our hope is firmly rooted in Christ. 00:07:44.800 |
Maybe there's things that are happening in your life. 00:07:47.180 |
All of these things are political, and we're just kind of removed from them. 00:07:52.900 |
There's probably a lot of personal things that maybe we know of or don't know of that 00:07:57.180 |
caused your world to get rocked, whether it's a job or a relationship, whether it's an economic 00:08:05.460 |
There may be something a lot closer to you that you've been wrestling with anxiously. 00:08:11.460 |
But one thing that I've realized as time goes by, the most precious thing that we have is 00:08:17.780 |
At some point, you think it's money, because money, you can buy this and you can buy that. 00:08:37.220 |
2017, no matter what you did or didn't do, all your regrets, you're never going to get 00:08:47.260 |
If you're single, that period of singleness is going to be gone. 00:08:51.580 |
You get married, that period, that period that God gives is that. 00:08:58.940 |
So the older I get, I realize just how precious time is. 00:09:04.060 |
So the question that we have to ask ourselves at the end of every year as we reevaluate, 00:09:18.820 |
These are important things and that was my target and that's what I ran for. 00:09:25.660 |
The difference between the two is the difference between pursuing Christ and just drifting 00:09:32.820 |
Just coming to church and obviously hearing sermons, being part of a Bible study, does 00:09:37.800 |
not automatically mean that you have invested your time. 00:09:43.540 |
To passionately pursue Christ, would you say that that characterized 2017? 00:09:53.580 |
It just happens that your flow happens to be a part of a Christian community. 00:09:57.300 |
But was there a deliberate pursuit of the things of Christ? 00:10:07.540 |
And again, I don't know how many of you have at least spent some time praying for your 00:10:13.660 |
And I'm sure many of you who have children pray often for your children, for their spiritual 00:10:18.380 |
But how passionately did you pray for your personal spiritual life, where you are in 00:10:28.700 |
This idea of revival, oftentimes we think of us drawing near to God or God drawing near 00:10:35.020 |
to us and how that is going to be so wonderful. 00:10:39.980 |
But the idea of revival is asking God to be near. 00:10:45.020 |
And God, when He draws near, He examines every part of our lives. 00:10:55.500 |
He examines what you allow in your heart, in your thought. 00:10:59.260 |
Revival happens when God appears in our lives and His light of righteousness exposes all 00:11:04.820 |
of our sin, not to simply bring us shame, but to repentance. 00:11:10.420 |
So that through repentance that we may have this deep fellowship with God. 00:11:14.540 |
Revival is not some superficial thing where God comes and He touches your heart and everything 00:11:20.740 |
Revival happens when He draws near to us, this holy, holy, holy God. 00:11:25.860 |
Have we been pursuing Christ or have we been just been wishing? 00:11:31.900 |
What was our 2017 like when you examine, was it spent or was it invested? 00:11:37.900 |
Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3, 8 through 16, "Indeed, I count everything as lost because 00:11:43.280 |
of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, Jesus my Lord." 00:11:48.380 |
He says everything, everything, and he's literally talking about everything. 00:11:53.740 |
"In light of Christ, for His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count 00:11:59.340 |
Him as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ." 00:12:04.340 |
See, Apostle Paul didn't meet Christ on the road to Damascus and opened his eyes and said, 00:12:09.980 |
"Wow, I was completely wrong that salvation doesn't come from obeying the law." 00:12:16.300 |
He didn't go from that and realize that I was completely wrong about Christ and say, 00:12:20.260 |
"Wow, I was completely wrong about that," and then went home, got married, had kids, 00:12:26.660 |
His encounter with Christ absolutely changed his perspective of what was and was not worth 00:12:36.020 |
So his theology about God and righteousness and salvation, once that got changed, his 00:12:45.380 |
That's why he says, "Even though I lost everything in light of what he gained in Christ, all 00:12:52.420 |
"And be found," verse 9, it says, "in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that 00:12:57.820 |
comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God 00:13:01.900 |
that depends on faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and may 00:13:06.540 |
share His suffering, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may 00:13:16.100 |
He found what Jesus was saying about the kingdom of God. 00:13:19.460 |
It's like a treasure that a farmer found, and he sold everything to gain it. 00:13:25.100 |
In light of Christ, all of it was considered rubbish. 00:13:31.420 |
How much of our Christian frustration is wanting Christ and the world? 00:13:39.660 |
How much of our pursuit of Christ is frustrated because we're pursuing Christ and the world 00:13:45.380 |
Where we know, if you've been a Christian for any period of time, you know that that 00:13:49.980 |
Jesus said, "The world and Christ, it is in conflict. 00:13:55.860 |
He says, "If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you." 00:14:04.740 |
The first thing that you learn about being a follower of Christ is that the world and 00:14:14.660 |
And yet, if we're not careful, we live all our lives trying to prove the Bible wrong. 00:14:25.820 |
Paul says in verse 12, "Not that I have already obtained this, or am already perfect, but 00:14:30.420 |
I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus made me his own." 00:14:35.420 |
Paul realized that the moment that he met Christ, that he died. 00:14:42.100 |
He didn't just open my eyes so that I can have different thoughts about Christ. 00:14:48.660 |
And so now I try to live my life and press on to possess what he's already possessed 00:14:55.340 |
Brothers, verse 13, "I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, 00:14:59.500 |
forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead." 00:15:05.420 |
You think maybe Apostle Paul might have thought that as he was being beaten and stoned, and 00:15:11.780 |
as his countrymen were questioning his motives, as he was evangelizing and he would leave, 00:15:17.060 |
and then the false prophets would come in, is the only reason why he's saying that to 00:15:19.660 |
you is because he's trying to make money off of you? 00:15:22.100 |
Do you think in the midst of all of that, that possibly there are times when Paul may 00:15:26.780 |
have looked back into his old life and thought, "Man, it was easy before I met Christ." 00:15:32.140 |
That he was well-known, he could have been a member of the Sanhedrin if he wasn't already, 00:15:37.780 |
and how privileged he was as a man, as a Jewish man. 00:15:42.380 |
Do you think possibly that Apostle Paul may be here saying, "Forgetting what is behind," 00:15:48.160 |
because possibly this is a thing that maybe he wrestled with? 00:15:53.860 |
But he says he presses on, "forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what lies 00:16:01.340 |
How much of our Christian life is frustrated because we have this tendency that we have 00:16:07.540 |
one eye on Christ and the other eye on the things that we are called to leave behind. 00:16:13.620 |
And we want to try to take as much as possible. 00:16:21.680 |
You don't have to be a Christian to know this. 00:16:23.940 |
But so much of our investment in light of eternity is for 20, 30 years. 00:16:30.940 |
So much of our dedication, so much of our frustration, so much of our prayers, so much 00:16:36.520 |
of our passion is dedicated to have a good 20, 30 years in light of eternity. 00:16:46.060 |
And yet, Paul says, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God 00:16:54.100 |
Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if anything you think otherwise, 00:17:00.420 |
Only let us hold true to what we have attained. 00:17:09.100 |
Hold true to the doctrinal statements that you say you believe. 00:17:11.600 |
Hold true to the things that bother you when other people preach it wrong. 00:17:16.860 |
Hold true to the church that you chose to belong to because you believe in the doctrines 00:17:24.780 |
To not just simply be a part of the church, but to hold true to these things. 00:17:29.340 |
Not just in your thinking, not just in acknowledgment, but in our pursuit. 00:17:35.300 |
Are we pursuing these things, or are we hoping that just through osmosis, by being around 00:17:41.380 |
these things, that you would also be benefactors? 00:17:46.420 |
When you look at Apostle Paul's testimony, what he says, do you observe this as if you're 00:17:54.820 |
You hear other people's testimonies about their passion and sacrifice for God. 00:17:58.600 |
Do you look at that and say, "Well, I'm very challenged by that, and I appreciate 00:18:02.340 |
that, and we want to even glorify that, but we appreciate it like we're watching a painting. 00:18:07.300 |
It has nothing personally to do with me, other than it affects my affection." 00:18:12.900 |
Or do you see this testimony as a calling from God for all of us to pick up our cross 00:18:20.780 |
Do you see the Apostle Paul's challenge for all those who are mature to think this 00:18:26.140 |
way, to pursue passionately what he has laid before us? 00:18:33.140 |
When you think of 2017, was it spent, or was it invested? 00:18:39.420 |
There's a reason why in Hebrews it says to fix our eyes upon Christ. 00:18:47.500 |
Not only to gaze upon him, not only to observe him from a distance, but to fix our eyes upon 00:18:53.300 |
And the reason why we are challenged to fix our eyes upon Christ is because our natural 00:19:00.340 |
Nobody drifts to passionate pursuit of Christ. 00:19:10.980 |
And so, unless we are committed to fix our eyes upon Christ, our natural tendency is 00:19:19.080 |
And so the challenge for us is not just to be good listeners, not just to be good students, 00:19:25.300 |
but participants or members of the church, but are we pursuing Christ? 00:19:42.460 |
For the next couple of weeks, this week and then the next time I'm up here, I want to 00:19:46.860 |
focus our attention upon what Christ says about himself. 00:19:50.620 |
You know, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say I am?" and they gave various answers, 00:19:54.700 |
but the question, you know, ultimately he wanted their own personal confession. 00:19:59.160 |
But the "I am" statements of John's gospel is Jesus himself basically correcting the 00:20:07.360 |
false and superficial understanding of Christ. 00:20:10.700 |
Majority of his "I am" statements are not given to the hostile people. 00:20:14.860 |
He's given to people who are coming to him thinking, "I want to follow you, Jesus. 00:20:23.660 |
And again, excuse my language, he's cutting through the bull. 00:20:29.420 |
He's cutting through the bull of all these people who are superficially acknowledging 00:20:33.500 |
Christ and he sees through that and he sees ineffective, defective faith. 00:20:40.880 |
And he's countering that saying, "Now you think I am this, but this is who I really 00:20:46.780 |
And so what I want to do is to take two weeks, the first week, today we're going to be dealing 00:20:51.220 |
with the first four "I am" statements and then the next time I'm up here we're going 00:20:54.580 |
to be dealing with the last three "I am" statements. 00:20:57.060 |
And it is so crucial to our faith, especially where we live. 00:21:01.860 |
The Christianity that you and I experience, that we pay very close attention to what Jesus 00:21:05.620 |
is saying because, again, he's cutting through the bull of superficial faith and acknowledgement. 00:21:12.340 |
I want to look first of all for the first one he says, the first of the seven that he 00:21:16.340 |
gives in the Gospel of John, chapter 6, verse 35, and that's the statement where he says, 00:21:24.700 |
Now in order to understand these contexts, we need to understand to whom he's speaking 00:21:29.980 |
and why he's saying this and what is his main goal. 00:21:36.880 |
The first of the "I am" statements really is cutting through where on the surface it 00:21:43.580 |
looks like his ministry has gained ground and he's popular than, more popular than any 00:21:50.460 |
other leader that they've seen up to this point. 00:21:53.380 |
5,000 people in the beginning of chapter 6 are gathered together and this is just number 00:22:00.340 |
So the commentators believe that, again, the common number that they give is somewhere 00:22:06.380 |
Now even today, even in a large city, a thousand people gathered together is a pretty decent 00:22:14.220 |
But if you go to some sports arena and they have 20,000, 30,000 people, that's considered 00:22:19.540 |
I don't know if you've ever been to a Lakers game. 00:22:21.860 |
That's about the number of people that they gather together. 00:22:25.260 |
And that's in the context of a city surrounded by millions of people. 00:22:30.140 |
This is 20,000 people gathered in the countryside. 00:22:36.660 |
So you can imagine the frenzy and excitement over Jesus that caused this many people to 00:22:43.480 |
They were so enamored with Christ, they don't even think about food. 00:22:47.320 |
But this miracle that Jesus performs here at the feeding of the 5,000, at least the 00:22:51.980 |
number-wise that's given to us in the scripture, the feeding of the 5,000 is unlike any other 00:22:59.020 |
In comparison, Jesus performed many other miracles that would blow this miracle out 00:23:07.220 |
But the difference between this miracle and the other miracle was this was done where 00:23:10.780 |
every single person in attendance ate this miraculous bread, ate this miraculous fish. 00:23:20.860 |
It wasn't just somebody that they heard of, they opened their eyes, like could that have 00:23:25.640 |
Every single person in attendance, very publicly, and even after the miracle took place, there 00:23:37.620 |
They were going to go and sell it and make money. 00:23:40.460 |
All of that for the purpose of publicly declaring who he is so that every single person in attendance 00:23:47.500 |
will walk away from that saying, "I experienced this miracle." 00:23:54.620 |
Then somebody didn't give their testimony about it. 00:23:59.020 |
As a result of this miracle, they were so excited, it says in chapter 6, verse 14, when 00:24:05.380 |
the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the prophet who 00:24:13.020 |
As a result of that, they wanted to forcefully make him king. 00:24:19.140 |
This is the Messiah that they've been waiting for. 00:24:22.620 |
Not only does he have authority, he's not afraid of the religious leaders. 00:24:28.820 |
I mean, and he cares for them, to even feed them, afraid that they're going to go hungry. 00:24:40.380 |
Whether Jesus wanted to or not, he's going to be our king. 00:24:43.460 |
So on the surface, it seems like Jesus has reached the peak of his ministry. 00:24:49.060 |
20,000 people in the countryside are going wherever he goes. 00:24:54.620 |
And yet, Jesus, knowing what their intent was, he goes to the other side of the sea. 00:24:59.900 |
When they find that they're gone, they pack up their bags with their children and they 00:25:04.900 |
And they finally find him in verse 25, chapter 6. 00:25:09.060 |
And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when 00:25:13.420 |
Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me not because you 00:25:17.180 |
saw a sign, but because you ate your fill of the loaves." 00:25:21.180 |
In other words, Jesus is seeing right through the bull. 00:25:27.060 |
On the surface, it seems like these are believers. 00:25:30.620 |
On the surface, it seems like they love Jesus and they're all disciples of Christ. 00:25:35.780 |
And Jesus said, "You're not coming to me because you saw signs. 00:25:39.700 |
You're coming to me because you ate and you want more bread. 00:25:43.360 |
Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, 00:25:47.700 |
which the Son of Man will give to you, for on him God the Father has set his seal." 00:25:53.100 |
So initially when Jesus corrects them and he confronts their superficial faith, their 00:25:57.820 |
response is then they said to him, "Then what must we do to be doing the works of God?" 00:26:04.360 |
So up to this point, they're going along with Jesus. 00:26:07.700 |
Okay, I mean, you're calling us out that we don't fully understand, but exactly what is 00:26:13.980 |
Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." 00:26:20.940 |
And he repeats this to believe, believe, believe four or five separate times. 00:26:26.300 |
The primary work that he calls us to do is to believe. 00:26:30.460 |
He doesn't say go to church and read your Bible. 00:26:38.460 |
Now the reason why he tells them to believe is because they didn't believe. 00:26:44.900 |
Even though in all, everything presented to us superficially looks like they were believers 00:26:49.660 |
following Jesus, he's telling them to believe because they weren't true believers. 00:26:55.720 |
And as a result of that, verse 31, "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written. 00:27:02.740 |
And then he says in verse 30, "What sign do you have?" 00:27:07.980 |
You notice that in verse 14, he says, "When the people saw the sign that he had done, 00:27:12.420 |
they believed that he was a prophet and wanted to make him a king." 00:27:14.820 |
And then in verse 30, he says to believe and he said, "Well, show us a sign." 00:27:20.660 |
There is something going on between verse 14 and 30. 00:27:24.020 |
There's something missing in what Jesus is pointing out in verse 30 versus what they 00:27:30.780 |
And I think you and I can read right into it. 00:27:34.860 |
They were following Jesus because the bread was free, because they get free health care, 00:27:44.100 |
If he ran for president, who wouldn't pick this man as your president? 00:27:53.020 |
He's sacrificial, he's giving, he's loving, he cares. 00:28:11.060 |
What you are looking for me is not why I came. 00:28:15.660 |
It is in that context Jesus is telling them, "I didn't come to give you bread. 00:28:20.540 |
I didn't come to you so that you can lengthen your life. 00:28:22.580 |
I didn't come so that you can have a better life," said, "I came to save us from our sins. 00:28:32.420 |
In fact, even the very bread that they're asking for, the manna. 00:28:39.220 |
He says, "And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did 00:28:44.660 |
not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live 00:28:50.700 |
by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." 00:28:57.160 |
He said even the reason why he allowed you to go hungry is so that when you do get fed, 00:29:03.580 |
that you realize that it wasn't the manna that you needed. 00:29:07.880 |
That it wasn't the manna that he was actually giving. 00:29:11.160 |
That through the manna, even in the manner in which he gave the manna, it's all of it 00:29:19.880 |
How often do we commit to Christ when we are eating and when we're well fed? 00:29:27.640 |
But as soon as you throw a wrench into our lives, where is God? 00:29:34.600 |
How much of our faithfulness to God is contingent upon our circumstance? 00:29:46.160 |
The reason why this is so important is the distinction between what he says in verse 00:29:50.040 |
14 and the correction that he's making in verse 30 is not a difference between a better 00:30:00.520 |
It's a distinction between their defective faith and what Jesus is pointing out is a 00:30:10.880 |
That's a distinction between a child of God and a child of the devil of superficially 00:30:16.480 |
going after Christ because we think he's going to give us something, not recognizing that 00:30:27.640 |
That's what he means to them that he is the bread of life. 00:30:30.280 |
That's the reason why in verse 66 he says, "After this, many of his disciples turned 00:30:38.960 |
So the feeding of the 5,000 was a record of the peak of his ministry, but at the end of 00:30:43.360 |
the chapter is the utter failure of his ministry superficially. 00:30:49.120 |
As soon as they found out what he was saying, they left him. 00:30:51.680 |
And in the very next verse, Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, "Are you going to 00:30:59.860 |
I don't fully understand what you're saying, but you have the words of truth. 00:31:06.600 |
And because of this belief, they endure with him. 00:31:13.660 |
The whole reason why you and I are gathered here together is not to instruct you how to 00:31:20.680 |
It's not to instruct you so that you can have better communication with your husband and 00:31:23.640 |
wife and all of these things are helpful things. 00:31:26.560 |
It's not how to be a moral person so we can be good at doing this and that. 00:31:33.520 |
There's a lot of worldly wisdom that you can gain from. 00:31:35.960 |
I mean, I don't, you know, I'm not a fan of Oprah, but Oprah says a lot of good stuff. 00:31:43.840 |
Has nothing to do with Christ, but there's a lot of worldly wisdom. 00:31:47.960 |
There's no way I can give you the worldly wisdom to make all of your life better. 00:31:52.920 |
The only reason why you and I are gathered here together is because the one who is the 00:32:05.000 |
Our goal is not to make sure you have a better community or you're loved or you feel accepted. 00:32:09.880 |
All of these things are byproducts and all of these things are benefits, but that is 00:32:20.720 |
Or are you looking through him to find bread? 00:32:23.040 |
Secondly, he says, "I am the light of the world." 00:32:27.560 |
Again, we need to understand this in the context in which he says it. 00:32:31.960 |
When he says he is the light of the world, it is at the end of the Feast of the Tabernacle, 00:32:40.440 |
And it was a celebration that they did every single year to celebrate God's deliverance 00:32:49.000 |
And in particular, the tail end of the celebration was where while they were wandering through 00:32:55.920 |
the desert for 40 years, how God led them in Exodus chapter 13, it says, "God led them 00:33:04.160 |
And at night when they couldn't see, God would come in the pillar of fire and then he would 00:33:09.400 |
So whenever the pillar of cloud would move, they would move. 00:33:13.000 |
Whenever the pillar of fire would move, they would also move. 00:33:17.040 |
So what they did to commemorate this in the Feast of Booth is that they set up a candelabra 00:33:26.920 |
And the purpose of that light was every time that they would see this light, it was one 00:33:31.280 |
to commemorate God's deliverance of Israel and how he led them through the period of 00:33:37.720 |
But secondly, it also pointed to the hope that they have in the Messiah. 00:33:42.560 |
Their Messiah was going to come and deliver them from this bondage that they're in. 00:33:47.120 |
You have to understand that for 400 years, God did not send the prophet. 00:33:56.180 |
They were oppressed by the Romans, the pagans, and they didn't have their own country. 00:34:00.200 |
They had a puppet king who wasn't even a Jew. 00:34:04.120 |
And so they were constantly coming to the temple, and when they saw the light, they 00:34:07.600 |
were reminded that the Messiah is coming, and he's going to lead us like God led us 00:34:12.660 |
It is in that context, Jesus says, "I am the light of the world." 00:34:18.040 |
That Messiah that you are hoping would come, I am that Messiah. 00:34:23.360 |
And again, in John 8, 12, it says, "Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but 00:34:31.200 |
Whatever it is that you're hoping for to come into your life that you think will fix 00:34:39.920 |
I am the light that will lead and guide you." 00:34:41.640 |
In fact, in Psalm 36, verse 9, the psalmist says of God, "For with you is the foundation 00:34:53.320 |
In other words, until we recognize God as our light, everything else becomes dark. 00:35:07.360 |
I know some of you guys are going to say, "It's not really red." 00:35:15.640 |
But the reason why it's red is because we have all the lights on. 00:35:18.920 |
If we turned off all the lights and got rid of any light that's coming in, what color 00:35:27.880 |
There is no color because the color that we see, what are we seeing? 00:35:32.840 |
It's a light being reflected off of this material. 00:35:35.040 |
It's just that some of the material reflects yellow. 00:35:37.480 |
Some of the material reflects red or whatever it is. 00:35:44.120 |
We're seeing the light being reflected off of this, right? 00:35:47.240 |
I checked this with eye doctors and I'm correct, okay? 00:35:51.160 |
Just I googled it and I talked to them after the first service. 00:35:53.800 |
For some reason, all the eye doctors came to the first service, okay? 00:35:58.400 |
So what we are seeing, everything that we are seeing is a reflection of the light coming 00:36:02.760 |
Whatever it is that you see, whatever color you see against the wall, the floor, all of 00:36:06.120 |
that is light bouncing off of whatever material is coming off of that. 00:36:16.440 |
Until Christ lights up our life, until he opens our eyes, until we recognize he is our 00:36:36.000 |
And then the fourth "I am" statement, he says, "I am the good shepherd." 00:36:38.400 |
And the reason why I'm putting this together is because the point that he's making is a 00:36:42.800 |
similar point and also the context is a very similar context. 00:36:47.560 |
The context of which he says this and what he's trying to deal with is in the context 00:36:52.120 |
of John chapter 9 where this man who was born blind all his life, he's never seen sight. 00:36:58.800 |
And so Jesus comes and has compassion on him and heals him and sends him to the Pool of 00:37:02.800 |
Siloam and puts mud on his eyes and he miraculously opens his eyes. 00:37:07.680 |
And you have these Jewish leaders who have determined to get rid of Jesus already. 00:37:11.760 |
They already hated him and nothing that Jesus was going to say or do was going to change 00:37:16.280 |
And then all of a sudden they hear that this blind man's eyes were open and people were 00:37:26.000 |
So they bring in the blind man and said, "You weren't really born blind. 00:37:32.000 |
I don't know why you ask me, but all I do know is I was blind and now I see." 00:37:36.080 |
And they said, "Okay, well, let me get your parents. 00:37:40.720 |
They call the parents in and they ask the parents, "Was your son really born blind?" 00:37:46.120 |
And they are already in fear of these leaders because they have the power to cast them out 00:37:56.480 |
If you were a blind or a leper or any kind of defect in your life, they automatically 00:38:06.120 |
They just automatically assume there's going to be some kind of sin in your life or your 00:38:09.320 |
parents or something must have, you must have done something wrong for God to punish you 00:38:17.200 |
This happened because you did something wrong. 00:38:19.440 |
So as a result of that, there was no compassion for those who are blind. 00:38:23.600 |
So the only way that they can survive is to be outside begging for food. 00:38:27.180 |
And even the parents had no other way to take care of him. 00:38:29.640 |
So he was basically, if you had any kind of defect, you were cast out. 00:38:34.360 |
And the parents knew this, that if they crossed these men, that they can kick them out and 00:38:40.600 |
they can't get a job, they'll lose their standing in society. 00:38:44.320 |
Whatever it is that they had, once you get cast out of the synagogue, the whole community 00:38:53.160 |
It's like, "Well, you know, that is our son, but if you really want to know, you're going 00:38:59.840 |
So they deflect the responsibility toward the son. 00:39:02.960 |
The son comes back, the man comes back, and he has this conversation with them in John 00:39:10.920 |
You don't have to turn there, but just look what he says. 00:39:15.360 |
So for the second time, they called the man who had been blind, said to him, "Give glory 00:39:22.000 |
He answered, "Whether he is a sinner, I do not know. 00:39:24.600 |
One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." 00:39:29.240 |
Again, he's saying, "You're asking me, you're asking my parents, now you brought me back 00:39:38.240 |
And he said, "I can't deny, like I don't know all this theology. 00:39:42.800 |
I don't know the laws, but I can just tell you, I was blind. 00:39:47.240 |
I know you're trying to discredit that, but I was blind, but now I see." 00:39:54.400 |
He answered them, "I have told you already and you would not listen. 00:40:00.960 |
I'm like, "My, think about the boldness of this guy. 00:40:04.040 |
This guy was a beggar all his life and he's talking to the leaders of the community who 00:40:13.480 |
If you were a blind man and all you could do to survive was to beg, for the first time 00:40:20.000 |
you open your eyes, now you can live a normal life. 00:40:22.820 |
And for him to live a normal life, he needed to be accepted by these men. 00:40:28.880 |
His parents knew and that's why they were afraid of him. 00:40:31.080 |
But him, if they cast him out, he would be cast out completely. 00:40:36.800 |
So the very thing that he probably wanted all his life, to be normal, to be accepted, 00:40:41.480 |
to be able to be in the synagogue, to walk into the temple and give worship to God, if 00:40:46.800 |
they cast him out, all of that would be taken away from him. 00:40:50.160 |
He would have the exact same life, except that he could see. 00:40:55.520 |
He sees exactly what they are doing and in his boldness say, "I know exactly what you 00:41:05.160 |
And they reviled him saying, "You are his disciples, but we are disciples of Moses. 00:41:10.480 |
We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes 00:41:16.120 |
And the blind man answered, "Why, this is an amazing thing. 00:41:19.540 |
You do not know where he comes from and yet he opened my eyes. 00:41:23.280 |
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does 00:41:31.400 |
Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of the man born 00:41:37.640 |
If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." 00:41:40.720 |
Again, here is a guy, probably he was born blind all his life. 00:41:45.360 |
He had no study, probably knew very little of theology. 00:41:48.560 |
He's lecturing these men who are probably scholars of the Torah and he's telling them 00:41:59.040 |
He was physically blind, but the men clearly were blind. 00:42:03.840 |
And as a result of that, they answered him, verse 34, "You were born into utter sin, and 00:42:16.400 |
It is in that context Jesus shows up and he tells this man who's been just cast out, who 00:42:27.760 |
And he's encouraging him and telling him, "I am the door that all these sheep were trying 00:42:42.920 |
The gate that they just kicked you out of, don't worry about that. 00:42:46.840 |
They take you outside the city, I am outside the city. 00:42:51.520 |
All these people are living in fear of these false shepherds. 00:42:57.640 |
He's giving this man courage, even though on the surface it may seem like you lost everything. 00:43:03.280 |
You gained everything because you believe in me. 00:43:07.760 |
That's what he means when he says he is the gate. 00:43:09.640 |
He says in 1 Timothy 2.5, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God 00:43:20.120 |
He didn't give us many different ways to come to him. 00:43:32.340 |
As much as I would like to say that I am the shepherd of this church, I am not. 00:43:38.960 |
I'm a sinful man with selfish desires, just like you. 00:43:44.640 |
And the best that I can do is to point you to the good shepherd. 00:43:50.120 |
The best that I can do as an underling for the real shepherd is to tell you who he is 00:44:00.380 |
In John 10, 14 to 18, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. 00:44:07.780 |
Just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father, I lay down my life for the sheep." 00:44:14.400 |
Any other shepherd that comes into your life, any other place that you put confidence, when 00:44:18.980 |
it no longer benefits them, when you no longer benefit them, they will leave. 00:44:28.400 |
Friendships, parents, even your own children, because there's only one shepherd who will 00:44:43.300 |
And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. 00:44:45.740 |
I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice, so there will be one flock, one 00:44:52.260 |
For this reason, the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 00:44:57.580 |
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own accord. 00:45:01.300 |
I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up. 00:45:09.640 |
There is no shepherd that knows your pain like the good shepherd. 00:45:15.940 |
There is no shepherd that will be as patient with your faults as the good shepherd. 00:45:24.220 |
There is nobody who knows your crying in the dark. 00:45:30.420 |
No one knows your anxieties, no one knows your concerns, no one knows your background 00:45:37.940 |
It is to our detriment that we put our confidence in anyone, anything, any system outside of 00:45:49.260 |
When we think of 2017, could you say that you pursued Christ? 00:45:57.740 |
Knowing what we know of Christ, and we're only halfway through, how much of our faith 00:46:03.460 |
is reflective of the superficial faith of people who follow Christ, where we have one 00:46:09.900 |
eye toward Him and one eye toward the world, working so hard to have it all. 00:46:17.240 |
Knowing full well that God said, "You cannot have it." 00:46:23.300 |
Either you believe Him and follow Him, or you don't believe Him and embrace the world. 00:46:49.680 |
Every year, at the end of the year, we think about 2017, what happened, and then we plan 00:46:55.220 |
All of that ultimately, isn't it about our life? 00:47:01.140 |
And we evaluate that so that we can live better in 2018. 00:47:08.660 |
And yet Jesus said, the very reason why He came is to give us life. 00:47:14.520 |
I have come to give life and to give this life abundantly. 00:47:23.340 |
Every year we look at, well, what are the things that we are pursuing? 00:47:26.820 |
And again, and I want to encourage you not to just like, okay, we're pursuing Christ 00:47:30.720 |
because I'm committed to the church and I'm a member of this church and I'm doing these 00:47:36.260 |
You can do all of that and not be pursuing Christ. 00:47:43.380 |
As Paul said, forgetting what is behind, straining toward what is ahead. 00:47:49.100 |
I want our church, as we again are looking at the last year of 2017, to not just to be 00:47:57.900 |
hearers of the word, not to just be good Christians on Sunday, and not just be committed Christians 00:48:05.620 |
when you are with church members, but to examine every aspect of our lives and to see if Christ's 00:48:22.600 |
And that the answer to everything that I wrestle with is found in Christ and Christ alone. 00:48:30.340 |
That you would believe this as the primary pursuit of your life and to live that truth 00:48:48.380 |
We are sojourners who will come like a mist and disappear tomorrow. 00:48:52.860 |
And so for this short period of life, to live as passionately as we can, pursuing Christ, 00:49:01.980 |
not simply because you can live, not simply because that's what's best for you, but because 00:49:07.860 |
He put us as light in darkness, because there is a world that is also going to live for 00:49:17.460 |
But when they die, they don't have heaven waiting for them. 00:49:21.100 |
When they die, there's a second death waiting for them. 00:49:24.600 |
So for this short period of life, put away the sin that so easily entangles. 00:49:33.980 |
Put away the temptations that you've had your eyes on and you just refuse to let go. 00:49:44.720 |
Put away your treasures that you've allowed in your heart and said it was okay. 00:49:50.520 |
And recognize and pray to God, "Open my eyes to see how fleeting my life is. 00:50:02.140 |
Whether you are in your teens, whether you are in your fifties or sixties or seventies, 00:50:18.500 |
And I know I'm talking to a lot of you who've been raised in the church, who give faithfully 00:50:21.780 |
and who are faithful members of Berean Community Church. 00:50:24.940 |
And I'm asking you and I'm pleading with you. 00:50:45.860 |
And let's stop messing around with this world. 00:51:02.860 |
Let me see how short this life is, so that whatever it is I've been pursuing may be seen 00:51:33.580 |
Let me pray for us and then I'm going to ask you to continue to pray on your own. 00:51:40.300 |
Heavenly Father, we are sheep who is in desperate need of a shepherd. 00:51:50.980 |
We have become too comfortable with our surroundings. 00:51:56.620 |
We have relied too much, Lord God, upon our finances, upon our government, upon where 00:52:02.860 |
we live, upon the assurances of our bosses for our future and our companies. 00:52:09.940 |
We've relied too much upon the promises of this world. 00:52:15.940 |
The only full well that God of this age is our enemy. 00:52:21.220 |
I pray, Father God, that you would renew genuine faith. 00:52:26.060 |
Help us, Lord God, to cut through the superficialness of our worship, of our dedication. 00:52:42.900 |
We want the whole world to know what you've done. 00:52:46.600 |
That there is hope in the name of Jesus Christ. 00:52:50.740 |
That you would raise up people, Father God, for the harvest. 00:52:55.300 |
As a harvest is truly plentiful and the workers are few. 00:52:59.100 |
We beseech you, Father, to send more workers into this harvest. 00:53:06.640 |
We ask, Lord God, that you would search us and know us. 00:53:10.660 |
And you know, Father God, better than we do, our sins, the compromises that we make and 00:53:19.180 |
I pray, Father God, that you would raise up a church that will pray and to confess and 00:53:23.100 |
to be honest, that we would have genuine faith. 00:53:26.340 |
That Paul's testimony of willing to suffer, that he may know you, may not simply be something 00:53:36.820 |
So we pray, Father God, what we are unable to do, that you would do.