Let me pray and then we'll jump into the message today. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your continued faithfulness over our lives. As we have our last service in 2017, I pray that you would help us to remember your grace and your goodness and to refocus our attention, Lord God, in preparation for the coming year.

We pray, Father God, that you would open our eyes, soften our hearts. May your word have more impact than just our ears, that our lives, Lord God, may be changed, that you would examine us and see if there's any hurtful ways in us, that our faith and our worship may truly be in spirit and in truth.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Again, can you believe it's 2017? It's the last Sunday of 2017. And again, I really feel like I just said this yesterday, and I'm sure some of you guys who've been here for a while, it's like a broken record. It just goes by that fast, that quickly.

And you get to a certain point in age where you don't realize time going on until you see your kids growing up. And then last week, again, seeing all the young children up here that didn't exist a few years ago actually come in and singing and that ministry and group growing, you kind of see the time going by as you see the children getting older.

It is really going by quick. And I was reflecting upon 2017, and there's a lot of crazy things that are going on in the world right now. You know, obviously we have the, you know, North Korea who tested the nuclear bomb this year. And I know we watch this in the news, and there is an alarm as far as the news is concerned, but it's not real to us because we're so far removed.

Sometimes we watch these things that are happening, and it just doesn't seem real because it's far off. It's another continent. It's just something that the leaders have to deal with. But the possibility of nuclear war, at least that I can remember, has never been this serious. And so, again, it just doesn't seem real to us, but these are serious issues that are taking place right now.

The persecution around the world, at least in the time that I've been a Christian, I've never seen it to this extent, where there are millions of people literally risking their lives just to get together and have worship that we're having here. This is just assumed. You know, you come to church on Sunday, and my biggest concern is make sure the air conditioner is working properly, and I've got to get here a little bit earlier just in case there's traffic, so I don't want to miss Sunday.

But there are millions of people around the world. They have to think twice when they take their children to church that are they going to be safe today. And this is happening right now. And again, there's always been persecution, but the degree of persecution that we're seeing around the world, I've never seen it, at least not in my lifetime.

But along with that, there's a lot of exciting things as well. I mean, with the persecution, there's never been a time that I remember where evangelism has become so prominent. And we hear stories of very difficult areas in the world where people are literally risking their lives, and they're experiencing revival in the midst of persecution and risking their lives and many people being martyred.

But many, many other people are also coming to faith as a result of this persecution. And so it kind of reminds me a lot of the early church. When you study the first two, three hundred years of the early church where intense persecution led to a massive spreading of the gospel, and it is taking place right now.

In fact, this morning, I got a very encouraging email from our pastors in India, and just, you know, they're preparing for our team coming. There's about 15 of us that will be leaving next Friday, not this Friday, but next Friday. And he sent me an email saying how excited they are.

And you know, one of the concerns that we've had that I shared with you was that the pastors are getting persecuted, and there was an incident where the local leader actually dragged out a Christian from his home because they refused to participate in the idol worship that the leader of that village asked everybody to participate in.

And so the pastors had to go and talk with them and calm them down, and I don't know exactly at the end how it ended, but again, the persecution in India is at a level, again, that I haven't seen. But he also said that along with the ministry that we've been doing, to going out and doing eye care and wound care and VBS and various things that we've had, he said a lot of the previous village leaders that had us come are actually asking us to come back.

And they're Hindus, and they're asking us to come back because they said, again, I'll share this with, again, the team who are going out to India, because I just got it this morning, and we're saying that because of the sacrifices and the generosity of the people who went, and many of you who've donated and helped us out with that, that the Hindus have a very good view of Christians, that you guys are kind enough to do all this, even to us, and we would have never thought of you, but you guys are coming and doing this for us.

So the Hindu leaders are actually asking us to come, to do that again in their village and how excited they are to have us come back. So even in the midst of heavy persecution, the work of Christ is, again, I haven't seen it like this. I've been a Christian for about 33, 34 years, and to this level, the hatred in the politics, the Republicans and Democrats never, ever got along, at least that I can remember, but to this extent, where you have half the country thinks the other half of the country is an idiot, and vice versa, and the kind of rhetoric and the kind of attack that both sides have on each other, and I'm just kind of curious how this is going to, what kind of fruit this is going to bear in the next election, or maybe when the Democrats come into power, and maybe there's going to be a retaliation.

I don't know what's going to happen, but I've never seen it to this degree. So the world that you and I live in, and even in just a short period in 2017, the things that are taking place, even though it may not seem real, if you take a step back and soberly examine what's going on, we have to admit that there's something extraordinary being stirred up in our generation.

Now, is this going to lead to the coming of Christ? We don't know, but we are told that as Christians that we are not to be caught off guard like the rest of the world, where the thief comes in and breaks in and be surprised by a second coming.

He told us to watch and to be sober. Watch for the signs of the times, and the signs that he told us to watch for are very similar to the things that are going on now. So again, we don't know if the previous generation, maybe they had certain things that happened and caused them to think this way, but whatever the case, we have to admit that some of the things that are taking place around us, any one of those things could explode that can affect the world.

We have to be careful that we don't respond to the current atmosphere, whether it's political, economical, or whatever it may be, like the rest of the world. Getting together like, "Oh my gosh, the world is going to end. What if the nuclear bomb goes off? What if these terrorists, they get into our country?" All of these concerns, and looking for some politician, looking for the UN, looking for something to come along to fix all of this.

We have to be careful as Christians that we don't respond to what's happening in the world like the rest of the world, because our hope is firmly rooted in Christ. Maybe there's things that are happening in your life. All of these things are political, and we're just kind of removed from them.

We're just watching it from a distance. There's probably a lot of personal things that maybe we know of or don't know of that caused your world to get rocked, whether it's a job or a relationship, whether it's an economic struggle, whatever it may be. There may be something a lot closer to you that you've been wrestling with anxiously.

But one thing that I've realized as time goes by, the most precious thing that we have is time. At some point, you think it's money, because money, you can buy this and you can buy that. But money comes and goes. There are periods when you have enough. There's a period when you have abundance.

And there are periods when you don't. And you can have that later. You can have it now. But time, once it is spent, is gone. 2017, no matter what you did or didn't do, all your regrets, you're never going to get 2017 back. That's it. You have your teens, that's your period.

If you're single, that period of singleness is going to be gone. You get married, that period, that period that God gives is that. And you don't get a second chance on that. So the older I get, I realize just how precious time is. So the question that we have to ask ourselves at the end of every year as we reevaluate, how was my time spent?

Did I spend my time or was it invested? Did I invest it on things that I value? These are important things and that was my target and that's what I ran for. Or did I just spend my time? The difference between the two is the difference between pursuing Christ and just drifting along in the world.

Just coming to church and obviously hearing sermons, being part of a Bible study, does not automatically mean that you have invested your time. To passionately pursue Christ, would you say that that characterized 2017? Or you just kind of went with the flow? It just happens that your flow happens to be a part of a Christian community.

But was there a deliberate pursuit of the things of Christ? Oftentimes we think about revival. And again, I don't know how many of you have at least spent some time praying for your spiritual life. And I'm sure many of you who have children pray often for your children, for their spiritual lives.

But how passionately did you pray for your personal spiritual life, where you are in your walk with God? How did you pursue Him? This idea of revival, oftentimes we think of us drawing near to God or God drawing near to us and how that is going to be so wonderful.

But the idea of revival is asking God to be near. And God, when He draws near, He examines every part of our lives. He examines our finances. He examines what you're watching. He examines the way you spend your time. He examines what you allow in your heart, in your thought.

Revival happens when God appears in our lives and His light of righteousness exposes all of our sin, not to simply bring us shame, but to repentance. So that through repentance that we may have this deep fellowship with God. Revival is not some superficial thing where God comes and He touches your heart and everything just feels good because God is around.

Revival happens when He draws near to us, this holy, holy, holy God. Have we been pursuing Christ or have we been just been wishing? What was our 2017 like when you examine, was it spent or was it invested? Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3, 8 through 16, "Indeed, I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, Jesus my Lord." He says everything, everything, and he's literally talking about everything.

"In light of Christ, for His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count Him as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ." He lost everything. See, Apostle Paul didn't meet Christ on the road to Damascus and opened his eyes and said, "Wow, I was completely wrong that salvation doesn't come from obeying the law." He didn't go from that and realize that I was completely wrong about Christ and say, "Wow, I was completely wrong about that," and then went home, got married, had kids, and lived happily ever after.

His encounter with Christ absolutely changed his perspective of what was and was not worth pursuing. So his theology about God and righteousness and salvation, once that got changed, his life changed. What he pursued changed. That's why he says, "Even though I lost everything in light of what he gained in Christ, all of that seemed rubbish." "And be found," verse 9, it says, "in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and may share His suffering, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the life." He found what Jesus was saying about the kingdom of God.

It's like a treasure that a farmer found, and he sold everything to gain it. In light of Christ, all of it was considered rubbish. How much of our Christian frustration is wanting Christ and the world? How much of our pursuit of Christ is frustrated because we're pursuing Christ and the world at the same time?

Where we know, if you've been a Christian for any period of time, you know that that is not possible. Jesus said, "The world and Christ, it is in conflict. The world is under condemnation of God." He says, "If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you." This is not deep Christian theology.

This is not Theology 401. The first thing that you learn about being a follower of Christ is that the world and his passion, it died for me. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live. And yet, if we're not careful, we live all our lives trying to prove the Bible wrong.

Why can't we have it all? Paul says in verse 12, "Not that I have already obtained this, or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus made me his own." Paul realized that the moment that he met Christ, that he died. I don't belong to myself anymore.

He didn't just open my eyes so that I can have different thoughts about Christ. He said, "He purchased me. I belong to him. And so now I try to live my life and press on to possess what he's already possessed for me." Brothers, verse 13, "I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead." You think maybe Apostle Paul might have thought that as he was being beaten and stoned, and as his countrymen were questioning his motives, as he was evangelizing and he would leave, and then the false prophets would come in, is the only reason why he's saying that to you is because he's trying to make money off of you?

Do you think in the midst of all of that, that possibly there are times when Paul may have looked back into his old life and thought, "Man, it was easy before I met Christ." That he was well-known, he could have been a member of the Sanhedrin if he wasn't already, and how privileged he was as a man, as a Jewish man.

Do you think possibly that Apostle Paul may be here saying, "Forgetting what is behind," because possibly this is a thing that maybe he wrestled with? But he says he presses on, "forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what lies ahead." How much of our Christian life is frustrated because we have this tendency that we have one eye on Christ and the other eye on the things that we are called to leave behind.

And we want to try to take as much as possible. And we all know that death is coming. We all know that. That's a fact. You don't have to be a Christian to know this. We all know this. But so much of our investment in light of eternity is for 20, 30 years.

So much of our dedication, so much of our frustration, so much of our prayers, so much of our passion is dedicated to have a good 20, 30 years in light of eternity. And yet, Paul says, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Hold true. Hold true to what we confess. Hold true to the doctrinal statements that you say you believe. Hold true to the things that bother you when other people preach it wrong. Hold true to the church that you chose to belong to because you believe in the doctrines that are being taught and that we profess.

To not just simply be a part of the church, but to hold true to these things. Not just in your thinking, not just in acknowledgment, but in our pursuit. Are we pursuing these things, or are we hoping that just through osmosis, by being around these things, that you would also be benefactors?

When you look at Apostle Paul's testimony, what he says, do you observe this as if you're in a museum, like you're observing painting? You acknowledge that, and it's beautiful. You hear other people's testimonies about their passion and sacrifice for God. Do you look at that and say, "Well, I'm very challenged by that, and I appreciate that, and we want to even glorify that, but we appreciate it like we're watching a painting.

It has nothing personally to do with me, other than it affects my affection." Or do you see this testimony as a calling from God for all of us to pick up our cross and deny ourselves and follow him? Do you see the Apostle Paul's challenge for all those who are mature to think this way, to pursue passionately what he has laid before us?

When you think of 2017, was it spent, or was it invested? There's a reason why in Hebrews it says to fix our eyes upon Christ. To fix our eyes upon Christ. Not only to gaze upon him, not only to observe him from a distance, but to fix our eyes upon Christ.

And the reason why we are challenged to fix our eyes upon Christ is because our natural tendency is to drift. Nobody drifts to passionate pursuit of Christ. Nobody drifts toward the kingdom. We drift away from Christ. We drift toward the world. And so, unless we are committed to fix our eyes upon Christ, our natural tendency is to forget.

And so the challenge for us is not just to be good listeners, not just to be good students, but participants or members of the church, but are we pursuing Christ? Are we passionately pursuing Christ? Is Christ our primary affection? For the next couple of weeks, this week and then the next time I'm up here, I want to focus our attention upon what Christ says about himself.

You know, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say I am?" and they gave various answers, but the question, you know, ultimately he wanted their own personal confession. But the "I am" statements of John's gospel is Jesus himself basically correcting the false and superficial understanding of Christ. Majority of his "I am" statements are not given to the hostile people.

He's given to people who are coming to him thinking, "I want to follow you, Jesus. You are going to be my Messiah. I want to establish you as king." And he cuts through all of that. And again, excuse my language, he's cutting through the bull. He's cutting through the bull of all these people who are superficially acknowledging Christ and he sees through that and he sees ineffective, defective faith.

And he's countering that saying, "Now you think I am this, but this is who I really am." And so what I want to do is to take two weeks, the first week, today we're going to be dealing with the first four "I am" statements and then the next time I'm up here we're going to be dealing with the last three "I am" statements.

And it is so crucial to our faith, especially where we live. The Christianity that you and I experience, that we pay very close attention to what Jesus is saying because, again, he's cutting through the bull of superficial faith and acknowledgement. I want to look first of all for the first one he says, the first of the seven that he gives in the Gospel of John, chapter 6, verse 35, and that's the statement where he says, "I am the bread of life." Now in order to understand these contexts, we need to understand to whom he's speaking and why he's saying this and what is his main goal.

That we don't add meaning to this. The first of the "I am" statements really is cutting through where on the surface it looks like his ministry has gained ground and he's popular than, more popular than any other leader that they've seen up to this point. 5,000 people in the beginning of chapter 6 are gathered together and this is just number of men.

This is not counting women and children. So the commentators believe that, again, the common number that they give is somewhere around 20,000 people. Now even today, even in a large city, a thousand people gathered together is a pretty decent sized number. But if you go to some sports arena and they have 20,000, 30,000 people, that's considered humongous.

I don't know if you've ever been to a Lakers game. That's about the number of people that they gather together. That's a lot of people. And that's in the context of a city surrounded by millions of people. This is 20,000 people gathered in the countryside. Gathered in the countryside, 20,000 people.

So you can imagine the frenzy and excitement over Jesus that caused this many people to gather together. They were so enamored with Christ, they don't even think about food. But this miracle that Jesus performs here at the feeding of the 5,000, at least the number-wise that's given to us in the scripture, the feeding of the 5,000 is unlike any other miracle.

In comparison, Jesus performed many other miracles that would blow this miracle out of the water. All he did was multiply fish and bread. But the difference between this miracle and the other miracle was this was done where every single person in attendance ate this miraculous bread, ate this miraculous fish.

They weren't just observers. It wasn't just a friend of theirs. It wasn't just somebody that they heard of, they opened their eyes, like could that have really been? Every single person in attendance, very publicly, and even after the miracle took place, there was 12 baskets left over. Why? Why 12 baskets left over?

Because it's so inefficient. They didn't have refrigerators back then. They were going to go and sell it and make money. All of that for the purpose of publicly declaring who he is so that every single person in attendance will walk away from that saying, "I experienced this miracle." They didn't hear about it.

They didn't read about it. Then somebody didn't give their testimony about it. Every single person did. As a result of this miracle, they were so excited, it says in chapter 6, verse 14, when the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world." As a result of that, they wanted to forcefully make him king.

Understandably. This is the Messiah that they've been waiting for. Not only does he have authority, he's not afraid of the religious leaders. He's not afraid of the Roman government. I mean, and he cares for them, to even feed them, afraid that they're going to go hungry. He walks on water.

He has power over nature. Why wouldn't you want him to be king? So they wanted to. Whether Jesus wanted to or not, he's going to be our king. So on the surface, it seems like Jesus has reached the peak of his ministry. 20,000 people in the countryside are going wherever he goes.

And yet, Jesus, knowing what their intent was, he goes to the other side of the sea. When they find that they're gone, they pack up their bags with their children and they go look for him. And they finally find him in verse 25, chapter 6. And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw a sign, but because you ate your fill of the loaves." In other words, Jesus is seeing right through the bull.

On the surface, it seems like these are believers. On the surface, it seems like they love Jesus and they're all disciples of Christ. Where did you go? And Jesus said, "You're not coming to me because you saw signs. You're coming to me because you ate and you want more bread.

Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on him God the Father has set his seal." So initially when Jesus corrects them and he confronts their superficial faith, their response is then they said to him, "Then what must we do to be doing the works of God?" So up to this point, they're going along with Jesus.

Okay, I mean, you're calling us out that we don't fully understand, but exactly what is it that you want us to do? And look what Jesus' response is. Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." And he repeats this to believe, believe, believe four or five separate times.

The primary work that he calls us to do is to believe. He doesn't say go to church and read your Bible. He doesn't say join membership. He says first and foremost to believe. Now the reason why he tells them to believe is because they didn't believe. Even though in all, everything presented to us superficially looks like they were believers following Jesus, he's telling them to believe because they weren't true believers.

And as a result of that, verse 31, "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written. He gave them bread to eat." And then he says in verse 30, "What sign do you have?" You notice that in verse 14, he says, "When the people saw the sign that he had done, they believed that he was a prophet and wanted to make him a king." And then in verse 30, he says to believe and he said, "Well, show us a sign." There is something going on between verse 14 and 30.

There's something missing in what Jesus is pointing out in verse 30 versus what they said in verse 14. And I think you and I can read right into it. They were following Jesus because the bread was free, because they get free health care, because Jesus cares. Who wouldn't want this as a king?

If he ran for president, who wouldn't pick this man as your president? I can't understand who wouldn't pick him. He's sacrificial, he's giving, he's loving, he cares. You know what I mean? He has power. He's faithful. I mean, he loves children. Who wouldn't pick him as the president? And yet, this is not why Jesus came.

What you are looking for me is not why I came. It is in that context Jesus is telling them, "I didn't come to give you bread. I didn't come to you so that you can lengthen your life. I didn't come so that you can have a better life," said, "I came to save us from our sins.

I am the bread of life." In fact, even the very bread that they're asking for, the manna. Look what it says in Deuteronomy 8, 3-4. He says, "And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." He said even the reason why he allowed you to go hungry is so that when you do get fed, that you realize that it wasn't the manna that you needed.

That it wasn't the manna that he was actually giving. That through the manna, even in the manner in which he gave the manna, it's all of it to teach them that he is the bread of life. How often do we commit to Christ when we are eating and when we're well fed?

But as soon as you throw a wrench into our lives, where is God? What is he doing? How much of our faithfulness to God is contingent upon our circumstance? Looking for bread. See, he's looking right through the bull. The reason why this is so important is the distinction between what he says in verse 14 and the correction that he's making in verse 30 is not a difference between a better house in heaven.

It's a distinction between their defective faith and what Jesus is pointing out is a distinction between damnation and salvation. That's a distinction between a child of God and a child of the devil of superficially going after Christ because we think he's going to give us something, not recognizing that Christ came to bring himself.

That's what he means to them that he is the bread of life. That's the reason why in verse 66 he says, "After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him." So the feeding of the 5,000 was a record of the peak of his ministry, but at the end of the chapter is the utter failure of his ministry superficially.

They all left him. As soon as they found out what he was saying, they left him. And in the very next verse, Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, "Are you going to leave too?" They said, "Where are we going to go? I don't fully understand what you're saying, but you have the words of truth.

We believe you." And because of this belief, they endure with him. He is the bread of life. The whole reason why you and I are gathered here together is not to instruct you how to become a better father or a better mother. It's not to instruct you so that you can have better communication with your husband and wife and all of these things are helpful things.

It's not how to be a moral person so we can be good at doing this and that. That's not why we're here. You can gain that from world wisdom. There's a lot of worldly wisdom that you can gain from. I mean, I don't, you know, I'm not a fan of Oprah, but Oprah says a lot of good stuff.

You know what I mean? Has nothing to do with Christ, but there's a lot of worldly wisdom. There's no way I can give you the worldly wisdom to make all of your life better. The only reason why you and I are gathered here together is because the one who is the bread of life can only be found in his word.

Our goal is not to make sure you have a better community or you're loved or you feel accepted. All of these things are byproducts and all of these things are benefits, but that is not why we're here. Is Christ your bread? Is he your bread? Or are you looking through him to find bread?

Secondly, he says, "I am the light of the world." Again, we need to understand this in the context in which he says it. When he says he is the light of the world, it is at the end of the Feast of the Tabernacle, or oftentimes called the Feast of the Booth.

And it was a celebration that they did every single year to celebrate God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt. And in particular, the tail end of the celebration was where while they were wandering through the desert for 40 years, how God led them in Exodus chapter 13, it says, "God led them during the day with a pillar of cloud.

And at night when they couldn't see, God would come in the pillar of fire and then he would lead them." So whenever the pillar of cloud would move, they would move. Whenever the pillar of fire would move, they would also move. And they would settle, they would settle. So what they did to commemorate this in the Feast of Booth is that they set up a candelabra that's 75 feet tall.

And they would have that lit. And the purpose of that light was every time that they would see this light, it was one to commemorate God's deliverance of Israel and how he led them through the period of the desert. But secondly, it also pointed to the hope that they have in the Messiah.

Their Messiah was going to come and deliver them from this bondage that they're in. You have to understand that for 400 years, God did not send the prophet. They were in utter spiritual darkness. They were oppressed by the Romans, the pagans, and they didn't have their own country. They had a puppet king who wasn't even a Jew.

And so they were constantly coming to the temple, and when they saw the light, they were reminded that the Messiah is coming, and he's going to lead us like God led us in the desert. It is in that context, Jesus says, "I am the light of the world." That Messiah that you are hoping would come, I am that Messiah.

I am the light. And again, in John 8, 12, it says, "Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Whatever it is that you're hoping for to come into your life that you think will fix it, Jesus says, "I am the light.

I am the light that will lead and guide you." In fact, in Psalm 36, verse 9, the psalmist says of God, "For with you is the foundation of life. In your light do we see light." In your light do we see light. In other words, until we recognize God as our light, everything else becomes dark.

Let me give you an illustration. This poinsettia here, what color is this? Okay. It's red. I know some of you guys are going to say, "It's not really red." Okay, let's just say it's red, okay? It's red, right? But the reason why it's red is because we have all the lights on.

If we turned off all the lights and got rid of any light that's coming in, what color would this be? There is no color because the color that we see, what are we seeing? It's a light being reflected off of this material. It's just that some of the material reflects yellow.

Some of the material reflects red or whatever it is. But whatever we are seeing is not this. We're seeing the light being reflected off of this, right? I checked this with eye doctors and I'm correct, okay? Just I googled it and I talked to them after the first service.

For some reason, all the eye doctors came to the first service, okay? So what we are seeing, everything that we are seeing is a reflection of the light coming off of that. Whatever it is that you see, whatever color you see against the wall, the floor, all of that is light bouncing off of whatever material is coming off of that.

And that's what he says in the psalmist. He says, "In your light, we see light." Until Christ lights up our life, until he opens our eyes, until we recognize he is our light, everything else remains in darkness. Third and fourth, I'm going to put together. Paul says, "I am the gate." And then the fourth "I am" statement, he says, "I am the good shepherd." And the reason why I'm putting this together is because the point that he's making is a similar point and also the context is a very similar context.

The context of which he says this and what he's trying to deal with is in the context of John chapter 9 where this man who was born blind all his life, he's never seen sight. And so Jesus comes and has compassion on him and heals him and sends him to the Pool of Siloam and puts mud on his eyes and he miraculously opens his eyes.

And you have these Jewish leaders who have determined to get rid of Jesus already. They already hated him and nothing that Jesus was going to say or do was going to change their mind. And then all of a sudden they hear that this blind man's eyes were open and people were going to Jesus and giving him glory.

And so they wanted to knit this at the butt. So they bring in the blind man and said, "You weren't really born blind. This is all a trickery. No man can open your eyes." And he said, "I don't know. I don't know why you ask me, but all I do know is I was blind and now I see." And they said, "Okay, well, let me get your parents.

Maybe you're lying to us." They call the parents in and they ask the parents, "Was your son really born blind?" And they are already in fear of these leaders because they have the power to cast them out of the synagogue. And you have to understand what that means. If you were a blind or a leper or any kind of defect in your life, they automatically assume that it wasn't just physical.

They just automatically assume there's going to be some kind of sin in your life or your parents or something must have, you must have done something wrong for God to punish you like that. Kind of like Job's friends, right? God doesn't punish the righteous. This happened because you did something wrong.

So as a result of that, there was no compassion for those who are blind. So the only way that they can survive is to be outside begging for food. And even the parents had no other way to take care of him. So he was basically, if you had any kind of defect, you were cast out.

And the parents knew this, that if they crossed these men, that they can kick them out and they can't get a job, they'll lose their standing in society. Whatever it is that they had, once you get cast out of the synagogue, the whole community is going to cut you off.

So in fear of that, they backtrack. It's like, "Well, you know, that is our son, but if you really want to know, you're going to have to ask him." So they deflect the responsibility toward the son. The son comes back, the man comes back, and he has this conversation with them in John chapter 9, verse 24.

You don't have to turn there, but just look what he says. So for the second time, they called the man who had been blind, said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "Whether he is a sinner, I do not know.

One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." I don't know. Again, he's saying, "You're asking me, you're asking my parents, now you brought me back and he kind of already knows their motive. They're not seeking truth. They're trying to get at Jesus." And he said, "I can't deny, like I don't know all this theology.

I didn't study. I don't know the laws, but I can just tell you, I was blind. I know you're trying to discredit that, but I was blind, but now I see." They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I have told you already and you would not listen.

Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciple?" I'm like, "My, think about the boldness of this guy. This guy was a beggar all his life and he's talking to the leaders of the community who can literally ruin his life again." So think about his boldness.

If you were a blind man and all you could do to survive was to beg, for the first time you open your eyes, now you can live a normal life. And for him to live a normal life, he needed to be accepted by these men. He knows what it means.

His parents knew and that's why they were afraid of him. But him, if they cast him out, he would be cast out completely. So the very thing that he probably wanted all his life, to be normal, to be accepted, to be able to be in the synagogue, to walk into the temple and give worship to God, if they cast him out, all of that would be taken away from him.

He would have the exact same life, except that he could see. And yet he stands up to them. He sees exactly what they are doing and in his boldness say, "I know exactly what you are doing. Do you want to be his disciple too?" And clearly they get ticked off in verse 28.

And they reviled him saying, "You are his disciples, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." And the blind man answered, "Why, this is an amazing thing. You do not know where he comes from and yet he opened my eyes.

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of the man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." Again, here is a guy, probably he was born blind all his life.

He had no study, probably knew very little of theology. He's lecturing these men who are probably scholars of the Torah and he's telling them who God is. Who was the one who was blind? He was physically blind, but the men clearly were blind. He's instructing them about who God is.

And as a result of that, they answered him, verse 34, "You were born into utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out. It is in that context Jesus shows up and he tells this man who's been just cast out, who stood up to these false shepherds.

And he's encouraging him and telling him, "I am the door that all these sheep were trying so hard to be accepted by these men. Don't worry about them. Have courage. I am the door. I am the gate. The gate that they just kicked you out of, don't worry about that.

I am the gate. They take you outside the city, I am outside the city. All these people are living in fear of these false shepherds. I am the good shepherd." He's giving this man courage, even though on the surface it may seem like you lost everything. You gained everything because you believe in me.

That's what he means when he says he is the gate. He says in 1 Timothy 2.5, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." There's no other way for life. He didn't give us many different ways to come to him.

He is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through him. He is our door. He is our shepherd. As much as I would like to say that I am the shepherd of this church, I am not. I'm a sinful man with selfish desires, just like you.

And the best that I can do is to point you to the good shepherd. The best that I can do as an underling for the real shepherd is to tell you who he is and what he has done. In John 10, 14 to 18, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd.

I know my own, and my own know me. Just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father, I lay down my life for the sheep." Any other shepherd that comes into your life, any other place that you put confidence, when it no longer benefits them, when you no longer benefit them, they will leave.

Friendships, parents, even your own children, because there's only one shepherd who will lay down his life for us. And that's exactly what he did. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice, so there will be one flock, one shepherd.

For this reason, the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up. This charge I have received from my Father.

There is no shepherd that knows your pain like the good shepherd. There is no shepherd that will be as patient with your faults as the good shepherd. There is nobody who knows your crying in the dark. No one knows your anxieties, no one knows your concerns, no one knows your background as much as the good shepherd.

It is to our detriment that we put our confidence in anyone, anything, any system outside of Christ. When we think of 2017, could you say that you pursued Christ? Knowing what we know of Christ, and we're only halfway through, how much of our faith is reflective of the superficial faith of people who follow Christ, where we have one eye toward Him and one eye toward the world, working so hard to have it all.

Knowing full well that God said, "You cannot have it." Either you believe Him and follow Him, or you don't believe Him and embrace the world. He is the good shepherd. He lays down His life for us. He hears our prayers in darkness. He is our refuge. He is our strength.

He is our insurance. He is our comfort. He is our provider. He is our Lord. Every year, at the end of the year, we think about 2017, what happened, and then we plan for the 2018. All of that ultimately, isn't it about our life? How do we live in 2017?

And we evaluate that so that we can live better in 2018. So we make resolutions. And yet Jesus said, the very reason why He came is to give us life. I have come to give life and to give this life abundantly. So every year we evaluate. Every year we look at, well, what are the things that we are pursuing?

And again, and I want to encourage you not to just like, okay, we're pursuing Christ because I'm committed to the church and I'm a member of this church and I'm doing these covenantal things. You can do all of that and not be pursuing Christ. And you know that. As Paul said, forgetting what is behind, straining toward what is ahead.

I want our church, as we again are looking at the last year of 2017, to not just to be hearers of the word, not to just be good Christians on Sunday, and not just be committed Christians when you are with church members, but to examine every aspect of our lives and to see if Christ's our bread, is Christ our light?

Do we believe He's the gate? Do we believe He's the good shepherd? And that the answer to everything that I wrestle with is found in Christ and Christ alone. That you would believe this as the primary pursuit of your life and to live that truth as passionately as we can.

We are not in this world permanently. We are here temporarily. We are sojourners who will come like a mist and disappear tomorrow. And so for this short period of life, to live as passionately as we can, pursuing Christ, not simply because you can live, not simply because that's what's best for you, but because He put us as light in darkness, because there is a world that is also going to live for a short period.

But when they die, they don't have heaven waiting for them. When they die, there's a second death waiting for them. So for this short period of life, put away the sin that so easily entangles. Put away the temptations that you've had your eyes on and you just refuse to let go.

Put away the sin of temptation. Put away the pride. Put away your treasures that you've allowed in your heart and said it was okay. And recognize and pray to God, "Open my eyes to see how fleeting my life is. I am only here for a short period." Whether you are in your teens, whether you are in your fifties or sixties or seventies, we are only here for a short period.

Give your life to Jesus. And I know I'm talking to the church. And I know I'm talking to our members. And I know I'm talking to a lot of you who've been raised in the church, who give faithfully and who are faithful members of Berean Community Church. And I'm asking you and I'm pleading with you.

In 2018, give your life to Jesus. Give it to Him. Let Him be your shepherd. Let Him be the gate. Let Him be your treasure. Let Him be your bread. Let Him be your light. And let's stop messing around with this world. It's fleeting. A nuclear bomb may go off, it might end.

A world war happen, it might end. You may get in a car crash, it may end. We don't have forever. Let's pray the same prayer of the psalmist. Let me see how short this life is, so that whatever it is I've been pursuing may be seen with eternity. And to believe.

Believe. Believe with all your heart. Would you take some time to pray with me? Let me pray for us and then I'm going to ask you to continue to pray on your own. Heavenly Father, we are sheep who is in desperate need of a shepherd. Open our ears, Father.

We have become too comfortable with our surroundings. We have relied too much, Lord God, upon our finances, upon our government, upon where we live, upon the assurances of our bosses for our future and our companies. We've relied too much upon the promises of this world. The only full well that God of this age is our enemy.

I pray, Father God, that you would renew genuine faith. Help us, Lord God, to cut through the superficialness of our worship, of our dedication. We want you, Jesus. We want to know you. We want to love you. We want to worship you. We want the whole world to know what you've done.

That there is hope in the name of Jesus Christ. That you would raise up people, Father God, for the harvest. As a harvest is truly plentiful and the workers are few. We beseech you, Father, to send more workers into this harvest. We ask for revival. We ask, Lord God, that you would search us and know us.

And you know, Father God, better than we do, our sins, the compromises that we make and how that frustrates us in coming to you. I pray, Father God, that you would raise up a church that will pray and to confess and to be honest, that we would have genuine faith.

That Paul's testimony of willing to suffer, that he may know you, may not simply be something that we admire, but our own testimony. So we pray, Father God, what we are unable to do, that you would do. Answer our prayers. In Jesus' name, amen.