(soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) - Good morning, Church family.

We're gonna go ahead and begin our worship. (soft music) (soft music) ♪ The mind of a God and Father ♪ ♪ Doesn't have its own will ♪ ♪ My heart is drawn to ♪ ♪ Self-desire to ♪ ♪ Help me see it through ♪ ♪ And find the path ♪ ♪ As Jesus walked ♪ ♪ Soon I shall walk ♪ ♪ How I am saved ♪ ♪ And changed in love ♪ ♪ It's time I saw ♪ ♪ The miracle somewhere ♪ ♪ Father not my will ♪ ♪ But God's will ♪ (soft music) ♪ Come in the dark ♪ ♪ The obsessed ♪ ♪ I may never ♪ ♪ Fully know ♪ ♪ The fearful way ♪ ♪ True or false ♪ ♪ Let myself I know ♪ ♪ The wondrous way ♪ ♪ To bear the cross ♪ ♪ To bear my sin ♪ ♪ My wondrous love ♪ ♪ I hope I should ♪ ♪ Before my Savior ♪ ♪ And Father not my will ♪ ♪ But God's will ♪ (soft music) ♪ I'm lost ♪ ♪ I am lost ♪ ♪ I am found ♪ ♪ I'm found ♪ ♪ I'm here and now ♪ ♪ So I will trust ♪ ♪ I will find ♪ ♪ I will rest in one place ♪ ♪ I will rest ♪ ♪ As Jesus rose ♪ ♪ So I will rise ♪ ♪ In ransom glory ♪ ♪ For the glory ♪ ♪ My holy soul ♪ ♪ All your sins I say ♪ ♪ Father not my will ♪ ♪ But your will ♪ (soft music) ♪ As we go forth ♪ ♪ God and Father ♪ ♪ Lead us daily ♪ ♪ In the fight ♪ ♪ That all the world ♪ ♪ Might see your glory ♪ ♪ And your name be lifted high ♪ ♪ And in this day ♪ ♪ We overcome ♪ ♪ For you shall see us ♪ ♪ We are strengthly one ♪ ♪ Now that your church ♪ ♪ We lift our voice and pray ♪ ♪ Father not my will ♪ ♪ But your will ♪ ♪ In this day ♪ ♪ We overcome ♪ ♪ For you shall see us ♪ ♪ We are strengthly one ♪ ♪ Now that your church ♪ ♪ We lift our voice and pray ♪ ♪ Father not my will ♪ ♪ But your will ♪ ♪ Father not my will ♪ ♪ But your will ♪ ♪ Father not my will ♪ ♪ But your will ♪ (soft music) - All right, good morning.

Welcome to Breen Community Church. Let me get started with a quick announcement. First of all, our cleaning day is coming up this Saturday, and we need as many people to sign up as possible. It's been a while, so there's a, again, we included that building and this building and the parking area and all this stuff.

If you're able to come, again, if you come here at 9 a.m. this coming Saturday, the instructions will be given and we'll spread out, and hopefully we can cover it all in a few hours, okay? So please sign up for that so we'll know that you're coming. And then praise and prayer, not this coming Friday, but the Friday after that.

And then, again, Jubilee Lunch Fellowship. Those of you who are 50 and over, or one of your spouses are 50 and over, and then the other spouse is welcome to come, okay? And that is gonna be $10, and Elder Phillip is going to be overseeing that. And so please let him know or go online and you can sign up, and that will be taking place on April 2nd, okay?

All right, let me pray for us. And again, if you are visiting us and you have a, or even if you're not visiting, you have a physical check, again, we have a box over there that you can drop off your offering, all right? Let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for our life, our salvation, your Holy Spirit that causes us to continue to persevere.

I pray that you would give us a greater vision beyond what's temporary, that we would not be constantly entangled, Lord God, with things that ultimately won't matter. Help us to have an eternal perspective in all that we do and pursue, and that this morning as we sing, give, and worship, that it would continually instill in us a vision, Father, for eternity, not temporary.

May the offering we give be multiplied for your use, 30, 60, 100-fold. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Good morning, church family.

Happy Lord's Day. Let's all rise together as we come before our Lord. (soft piano music) ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ ♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪ ♪ Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ (soft music) ♪ Let earth ♪ ♪ Let earth and heaven's saints proclaim ♪ ♪ The power and might of His great name ♪ ♪ Let us exalt on bended knee ♪ ♪ Praise God the Holy Trinity ♪ ♪ Praise ♪ ♪ Sing now praise God ♪ ♪ Praise God, praise God ♪ ♪ Praise God who saved my soul ♪ ♪ Praise God, praise God ♪ ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ (soft music) - Praise to the King.

♪ Praise to the King, His throne transcends ♪ ♪ His crown and kingdom never end ♪ ♪ Now and throughout eternity ♪ ♪ I'll praise the one who died for me ♪ ♪ Praise God, praise God ♪ ♪ Praise God who saved my soul ♪ ♪ Praise God, praise God ♪ ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ - One more time, praise God.

♪ Praise God, praise God ♪ ♪ Praise God who saved my soul ♪ ♪ Praise God, praise God ♪ ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ (soft music) - One more time, praise God from whom all. ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ ♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪ ♪ Praise Him above ye heaven behold ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪ (soft music) (soft music) ♪ Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer ♪ ♪ Greatest treasure of my longing soul ♪ ♪ My God, like you there is no other ♪ ♪ True delight is found in you alone ♪ ♪ Your grace allows a deep to fathom ♪ ♪ Your love exceeds the heavens to the moon ♪ ♪ Your grace the heavens reach ♪ ♪ Your truth a fountain perfect wisdom ♪ ♪ My highest love in my unending need ♪ (soft music) (soft music) ♪ Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer ♪ ♪ Strong defender of my weary soul ♪ ♪ My sword to fight the cruel deceiver ♪ ♪ And my shield against his hateful dogs ♪ ♪ My song when enemies surround me ♪ ♪ My hope when times of sorrow rise ♪ ♪ My joy when trials are a bounty ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness a refuge in the night ♪ (soft music) (soft music) ♪ Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer ♪ ♪ Gracious savior of my ruined heart ♪ ♪ My guilt and cross laid on your shoulders ♪ ♪ In my place you suffered, bled and died ♪ ♪ You rose Lord ♪ ♪ You rose the grave of death and hunger ♪ ♪ You rose my life to sin and shame ♪ ♪ I'm telling you this ♪ ♪ You rose the grave of death and hunger ♪ ♪ You rose my life to sin and shame ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer ♪ ♪ May all my days bring glory to your name ♪ ♪ May all my days bring glory to your name ♪ (soft music) - All right, if you can turn your Bibles to Luke chapter four and I'll be reading from verse 38 to 44.

Luke chapter four, verse 38 to 44. If I read this text, I have a quick question. How many of you had some issues finding parking this morning coming to this service? Okay, I guess those people having a hard time finding parking aren't here. (audience laughing) Okay, all right. Yeah, we're, again, starting to run out of parking so we kind of are keeping an eye on what's going on.

We do have other parking areas that have opened to us but it won't open till May. So we'll let you know when that happens. Okay, Luke chapter four, verse 38 to 44. Then he got up and left the synagogue and entered Simon's home. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to help her.

And standing over her, he rebuked the fever and it left her and she immediately got up and waited on them. While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him and laying his hands on each one of them, he was healing them.

Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, "You are the Son of God," but rebuking them, he would not allow them to speak because they knew him to be the Christ. When they came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place and the crowds were searching for him and came to him and tried to keep him from going away from them.

But he said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God "to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose." So he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that your word would open up to us not only your desire, but even our own hearts.

We pray, Father God, that you would anoint this time and that you would illuminate that we may understand and to apply and to follow. Bless this time, Lord, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. If I can put up some pictures of India to start and the reason why I'm doing this is because the text that we're looking at kind of reminded me of our ministry out in India.

And I know it's been over a month since we came back. I think it's been over a month, something like that. But again, I'm not here to report to you what happened because we've already done that, but I kind of wanted to show you what it's like. This is our medical team.

Usually we have wound care, but because we had more medical professionals this time than the previous years and we were able to get medicine. And so this is what it looked like in the villages and you can see how they are crammed in that tiny little space. This year is a little bit cooler than the other years and typically it's about 95 to 98 degrees and we're outside inside and it's pretty stuffy.

But from the moment we start until it's time for us to go home, they're bombarded like this. And then next slide, you can see Elder James trying to fight back the crowd. These ladies, even though they look innocent, they can become pretty aggressive. And so he's fighting off the crowd and this is what it looks like from the moment we begin and the crowd actually grows throughout the day.

So at the end of the day, it's not like we've seen all of them and then they go. It's like this until we have to pack up and we have to tell them we can't stay here longer because we can't stay there beyond the sun going down and it takes a while for us to go back to the hotel.

So at the end of the day, it still looks like this when we leave and then if you can look at the next picture, this is Garrett. He's a little bit more calm because I think they're intimidated by his demeanor. (audience laughing) You notice the difference? They're not pushing against him.

They're just standing there quietly, orderly. (audience laughing) Well, I wanted to show you these pictures because imagine if we're in remote villages where most of these people don't have regular access to medicine. So when they know that the doctor's in there and foreigners haven't been in these places for like 30, 40 years and so it's a very strange sight to see foreigners there, especially doctors and people who are there to help out.

And then so before, we would show up to the village and there would be hundreds of people waiting for us because the pastors would go. They would play drums and gather attention and so these foreign doctors are coming to help and so there'd be a large crowd waiting for us and we'd be able to preach the gospel to them and then we would begin the work.

They can't do that anymore for security reasons so now they kind of slip in quietly and we work initially with local Christians who are there and then the word begins to spread throughout the day. So by about two o'clock, three o'clock, the word has slowly spread and then they begin to crowd and so that large crowd, it grows throughout the day.

And so by the time we're finished, I mean we're exhausted, especially this trip. We go back to the hotel, we get there around six and then take about an hour, hour and a half to eat and about eight o'clock we're done and prepare for the next day but just crash, start over next day, wake up at six, six-thirty, do quiet time, morning.

And so this is what it's like throughout the whole day. When we first got into India, the very first year, we didn't know what to expect and so we had one eye doctor, Karen Aquinda, who came with us and so she did all the work. Those of you who've been with us know what it's like.

By herself, you know, and she had to make this dark room under heavy cloth, black cloth, and she's in there looking at all these patients by herself. So by the end of the day, I mean she was worn out and we did this five days. And then so at the end of the fifth day, we'd be done with the camp and then we would pack our bags and head out to the airport, which would take about five to six hours, probably about seven because we stopped for breaks.

And then we get to the airport, wait a couple hours, get on the plane, and about 25, 30 hours of travel time and then we get home. So we're knocked out by the time we come. And it's physically--it's a grueling trip. After about three, four years, it was just too much.

So we decided to cut the day Friday and so we only go Monday through Thursday. But either way, it's a grueling trip, so by the time we come back, they're knocked out for a period. The reason why I'm sharing with you all of this is because as Jesus' ministry of his healing is beginning to spread, people are crowding him.

And so in Luke 4:40, it says, "While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick." So can you imagine? These are people who don't have access to medicine, right? And Jesus is casting out demons and people are being healed. It doesn't say here, but people who had high fever and disease and eventually like the blind, they're opening their eyes.

So imagine how desperate they were the more they hear about this and how they were crowding them. And the reason why Luke mentions that while the sun was setting, while they were waiting for the sun to set, is because it was the Sabbath. So on the Sabbath--and again, there's no regulations that you can't get healed on the Sabbath, but that's basically what the tradition was.

The Pharisees and the scribes taught, "Sabbath, you can't move around, you can't do this." And so steeped in their tradition, they knew that Jesus had the power to heal, but they're waiting to be able to get to him. So when they came to him, it wasn't this gradual growing of this crowd.

They must have bombarded him all at once. So my guess is the picture that we saw, right, was probably a tamed picture compared to what was going on in Jesus' life. And this is in the beginning of Jesus' ministry. And what we saw Elder James and Garrett was doing was probably what the disciples--12 disciples were doing constantly.

They were guards, right, trying to keep people away. Remember that? Like everywhere Jesus went, the disciples would have to kind of push people away, "Don't come here," right? And that's basically what it was. So imagine that crowd growing. So by the time Jesus feeds the 5,000, Jesus wasn't going around looking for people, "Hey, we're going to have this conference over here and advertise.

You guys go and tell people." These people were following him everywhere he went. So when it says 5,000, 5,000 men, most people will believe, including women and children, there's 20,000-plus people who just couldn't leave him alone, understandably, right? He's the answer to their illness. He's the answer to people who are crippled, couldn't see, leprosy.

So you can imagine how busy his work was. So that's why it says in verse 42, "When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place." Day came. They mean from sundown until the sun came back up, Jesus was healing them all night because they wouldn't leave him alone.

That's how big the crowd was. He was laying hands and healing all of them. He was so exhausted. It says, "When day came, he tried to break away, and when they saw that he broke away, they chased him down." The crowds were searching for him and came to him and tried to keep him from going away from them, obviously.

We're so exhausted after four days, but we get to jump on our Jeeps, and then we get back to the hotel, and we have a safe haven for a few hours, and then we got to start over the next day. And then when we're absolutely burnt out on Friday, we're gone.

We get to come back home, and then we can recuperate. This was Jesus' ministry for three years. Three years they wouldn't leave him alone. And we're at the beginning of all of this. So can you imagine the exhaustion? But the question we have this morning is, what is the purpose of this?

Did Jesus come because he knew that they didn't have access to medicine, and so he went and started healing people? He knew that they were hungry people, so he went and decided to feed them. We need to understand the purpose of why Jesus is doing this, or else we'll miss the whole point.

It's a great story of how Jesus was compassionate, and a man who had authority and power over demons were doing miraculous things, and we can read about him 2,000 years ago. Here's a great man who did great humanitarian work, and then he disappeared. What is the purpose of his miracles?

We need to be careful because we can sensationalize anything that seems miraculous. It's like, oh, there must be the work of God. He's doing great things. I know that some of you guys know that there's been a lot of report of revival breaking out on campuses, and people are eager to say, oh, that must be a revival.

I'm not going to get into whether that's a revival or not, and if it is a revival, that it's just the beginning stages of that. Awesome, great. But we need to be careful that we understand what God is doing in our midst and what revival looks like and what revival really, the end purpose is.

What is the purpose of this? Why is Jesus doing this outside of stirring people up and helping people? Was it simply because he was compassionate? So he had work to do on the cross, and then while he was heading there, he just ran into a lot of sick people.

He ran into a lot of hurt people, hungry people. So in his in-between time, he took time to take care of them. Is that what's going on? Let me make this very clear. There's nothing that Jesus did that was disconnected with his purpose. Everything he did and said was very purposeful.

Even in this, this was not something--he went to preach, and then all of a sudden all these people came, so he started healing them. His healing, casting out demons, even raising the dead, was specifically for the purpose of going to that cross. There's three things I want to mention this morning of what the purpose of these miracles are.

First of all, it clearly points to Jesus' authority and power. We've been looking at that in the previous passages, how he cast out demons, and he had the power and authority to do that. This morning, we're going to look at his power to heal diseases. But in Luke 4, 36-37, the previous text, it says, "An amazement came upon all of them, and they began talking with one another, and they're saying, 'What is this message?

For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.' And the report of him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district." So what was it about Jesus that was spreading? What was the reputation that was spreading and people were sharing with each other?

He says it's clear. His authority and his power. His authority and his power. And so that's how the previous passage ends, and then we are looking at verse 38. It says, "He got up and left the synagogue and entered Simon's home." Who's Simon? Apostle Peter, before he changes his name.

And so if you remember last time, I think it was last time or the two weeks prior, they said the archaeologists believe that they found this synagogue that Jesus was preaching in Capernaum, and nearby, maybe less than a block away, walking distance, they found where they believe was Peter's home.

That Peter's home was near the synagogue, which means most likely Peter was pretty-- more wealthy in that area than most people. So you guys who've been to India with us, you know that rec center that we use, right? And that's where they do all the teaching and all the stuff that we do.

People who live near that structure are usually more wealthy than normal people. So the poorer people, the further you come away from that building, their houses look a little bit more shady. And the people who are closer to that, because that's kind of like the epicenter of the community, which means Peter was probably a wealthy fisherman.

And that's the reason why we know that Jesus uses that house as their home base. And when he would go out to Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin, and whenever he would return, this is the home that they would go to. And this is where most likely that paralyzed man is healed, where Jesus says, "Your sins are forgiven." He goes to Simon's home because Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a fever.

So from this, we know that Peter was married, right? You can't have a mother-in-law unless you have a wife. So we know that he's married, and she has a high fever, and they ask him to help her. And the way that Jesus responds is he rebukes the fever, just like the way he rebuked the demons, right?

So it may ask, like, why does he rebuke it? Why doesn't he just lay hands and heal her? Why does he rebuke it, right? It may ask you, like, when is rebuking appropriate? If you rebuke every time you don't like something, you probably have a problem, right? You go to a coffee shop, and you order something, and say, "I said tall, not venti!" That's a problem with you, right?

It's like, "It's too salty! What's wrong with you?" So every time you don't like something, you end up in rebuke. You have a temper problem, right? There's something wrong with your personality. But when is it appropriate to rebuke? When it is clearly wrong, that this needs to be rectified immediately.

This is not something that we're going to counsel, it's going to take years to sanctify, and we're going to find a solution, and we're going to have a five-step program. It's like, no, rebuking is appropriate when it is clearly wrong. There is no debate, and there needs to be a fix immediately, right?

So if you have a child who's disobeying, and he is headed toward danger, there is no talking, right? There's no shepherding his heart. You have to rebuke him so he can stop that. Which means, when he rebuked the demons, there's no discussion, right? There's no agreement. We're going to come to an agreement.

There's no process. He said, "No, get out. Be quiet and get out." And in the same way, he rebukes this fever, because fever was not intended in God's creation. It came because of sin. That was not what God intended. In fact, the Bible says that all of creation groaned, waiting for the sons of God to be revealed.

It's because of the sin that Adam and Eve brought into mankind. It says all that they were to rule also was tainted by sin. So fever, disease, demon possession is related to sin. Jesus rebukes the fever just like he rebukes the demons. And as soon as he rebukes, it says the fever leaves immediately.

There's no process. There's no period where he feels better each day. Immediately, the fever leaves. Now you have to understand, in our day, when somebody has a fever, we don't even ask for prayer because we got an aspirin. And if it gets bad enough, you might run to the hospital.

But fever today is not something dangerous. But it says high fever. High fever over there. If you don't treat high fever, according to WebMD, so the doctors, if you have a problem with what I'm saying, contact them. If it is untreated, it could lead to seizures, brain damage, and even death.

So high fever wasn't just an inconvenience. Oh, she couldn't go to work, had to take some time off. This could be life-threatening to somebody who has no access to medicine. In fact, most of the diseases and things that have to be dealt with in Jesus' ministry were life-threatening things.

Many of it may not be anything to us, but to them, without access to medicine. And so Jesus rebukes, and immediately she gets up, and the mother-in-law gets up and starts serving. "Oh, you've been sick for a while. Why don't you rest? Give it three or four days. You don't want to exhaust yourself." Immediately, her healing was immediate and it was so complete that she was able to get up and start serving people.

This was Jesus' ministry. That there was clearly power and authority with this man. He was not just any person. In fact, in Acts 2, verse 22, as Peter introduces Christ to this crowd, he says, "Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus of Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs, which God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know." In other words, Jesus was proven to you.

Jesus was given to you through miracles, wonders, and signs. So first and foremost, it was to distinguish him from anybody else like him, distinguish him from the scribes, distinguish him from the Pharisees, that this power and authority was clearly marking him as somebody who was different. He had power and authority that the scribes did not have, and any other leader for that matter.

But what was the purpose of that? Just that, oh, he's a special man. He has power and authority. He's doing things that we haven't seen before. If it ends there, you would have missed the whole point. Jesus is a great man, performed miracles, he fed the poor, blind people were seeing.

If that's all we know about Christ, you missed the whole purpose of why he did what he did. The reason why he was attested with signs and miracles was to prove that this was a man with power and authority and was sent from God, that this was from God.

In Exodus chapter 4, remember the story where Moses is called and he said, "Go tell Pharaoh." Remember, even though Moses grew up in the Pharaoh's home, he spent 40 years out in the desert taking care of sheep. So after 40 years, I mean, whatever he had at the Pharaoh's home, he doesn't have anymore.

This was a lowly job that he did, and he's calling this guy to go talk to Pharaoh, humanly speaking, the most powerful king on the whole earth. He said, "Go tell Pharaoh that I told him to let my people go." So Moses' response is understandable. It's like, "You want me to go and talk to Pharaoh and not ask him, not negotiate with him, tell him that my God is telling you to let my people go?

What if he doesn't believe me?" Right? I mean, that would be the common question that we would all have. "What if he doesn't believe me?" And that's when God tells him, he's like, "Go, and I will show you." And he begins to perform miracles so that Moses would have confidence.

And then he says, "If you go and he doesn't listen," and then he says the 10 plagues. And all of that to prove that Moses was a man sent from God. It wasn't because Moses was a articulate man. It wasn't because of his authority or his talent or his potential.

It was simply to identify that this man was sent by God. So all power and authority that comes with Almighty God, he represents. And that's why Jesus performed his miracles. That there is power and authority on him by the power of the Holy Spirit so that they will know that he is from God.

In John 3, 1 and 2, Nicodemus comes to him at night because he's seen his miracles, and he wanted to make sure. And this is what it says. "There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night." Why did he come by night?

Because his friends would have persecuted him. Because Jesus already embarrassed them. These guys lived their whole lives trying to get honor through the law. It was all about them. And Jesus came. When they saw him, he says, "Repent, bear fruit in according to your repentance." In other words, your repentance means nothing.

Do you know what that means? They were actually coming for repentance. But the problem was their repentance didn't bear any fruit. It was just words. It was just, you know. They were already embarrassed, so they've already decided. The seeds were already planted in their heart, "We've got to get rid of this guy." And Nicodemus, one of them, comes at night because he doesn't want to be seen.

But if you look at it, it says they came to him at night. "Rabbi, we know that you have come from God. We." So it wasn't just Nicodemus. It was other friends who were probably discussing and were kind of on the same page as Nicodemus. Nicodemus represents these minority Pharisees coming to Jesus.

And look at what he says. "We know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." And this is exactly why he was performing miracles. So that they would realize that Jesus was not just any man.

That this was a man sent from God. We see again in John chapter 9, the same profession. If you look at, I think we put it up there, John chapter 9. Here's this man where Jesus heals his blindness. The leaders of Israel are trying to suppress this truth. This must not have happened because if this is a man of God, he's making us look like a fool.

So they've already determined in their mind they're going to disprove this. And so they get his parents to come and ask. He wasn't really blind. This is all a hoax. This is a trick. This man is not from God. And the answer that his parents give is that whether blind or not, all I know is yes, he was blind.

But whether he's a sinner or he's from God or not, ask my son. Now, if you look at that encounter, and it seems very cold-hearted because you would think the parents would stand up for him. Instead, they defer it. You know what this shows me is that the parents were probably already detached from him.

Because at that time, if you were blind, especially if you became an adult, not only was he blind and it was a hard life, they considered a curse that was on him. So in order to get the curse out of your house, he needs to get out of your house.

So this man was probably living as a homeless beggar. And the fact that the way they answer already means that it seems like they've already kind of abandoned him. So they decide to go to this man who was born blind, but Jesus opens his eyes and they bring him over and say, "There's no way that this sinner could have done this.

This is all a trick." Now, you have to understand, the difficulty, obviously, of being blind is difficult in and of itself. But at that particular time, because they considered a curse of God, they were considered unclean. So they could not function in society. They were cast out. They couldn't get a job.

They couldn't get married. They couldn't survive. So in order for him to get back into society, these leaders have to give the stamp of approval. Remember the lepers? Like in the book of Leviticus, once you get clean, you have to show yourself to a priest, and the priest has to ordain you clean before you can re-enter.

These men stood in that role. And that's the reason why his parents were afraid to go against them. And he's standing before them, trying to get him to say, "You did not experience a miracle," forcing him to do that in order to suppress Jesus' popularity. And it is that context where he responds to them in verse 30.

"The man answered and said to them, 'Well, here's an amazing thing, that you do not know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes.'" Right? Think about the boldness of this guy. He's standing in front of the leaders, and he needs their approval to get back into society.

And he said, "Well, here's an interesting thing." Verse 31, "We know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him." He's standing in front of theological PhDs. This guy was living as a homeless guy, probably begging just days ago. And he's standing before them, he's like, "I got some theology for you." "You talk great about the Sabbath and all that." And he teaches them, like this theologian.

"How can that be? What you're saying doesn't make any sense." In verse 33, "If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." Right? And they answered him, "You were born entirely in sin, and are you teaching us?" So they put him out. The very reason why the parents would not defend him was for this reason.

And yet this man in boldness stands. And he says, "I cannot deny what happened." His miracle proves that he must be from God. And then the very next chapter is where Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd." Because they were afraid of these shepherds, these false shepherds. We're preventing them from coming to God, and Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd." This is the very reason why these miracles were taking place, in order to identify that Jesus was from God.

In fact, Jesus himself says in his own words, John 10, chapter 37, 38, "If I do not do the works my father do, do not believe me." If I give you no proof, and I'm just talking, do not believe me. But if I do them, though you do not believe me, believe the works so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.

Jesus in his own words saying, "You can deny me, you can hate me, you can call me a sinner, and you won't believe me, but at least look at what's been done." You know what's interesting about this is, everything he does, he does in public. He doesn't go to a side room where he performs his miracle, and then he relies on his disciples.

It's like, "Oh, it happened, it happened." I remember years ago, when the charismatic movement was in full swing, back in the 80s and early 90s. I wanted this gift more than anybody else. I wanted to be able to heal people. We're spending so much time discipling, training. We're taking students out on the street.

We were on campus about four times a week. When I was a youth pastor, I took my whole youth group out. Elder Joe was one of them at that time. We stood in front of Irvine High School, and I had them preach the gospel in public. I had two reasons for that.

One is so that they can be trained to be bold, to preach the gospel. Second is so that the world would be crucified to them. Because they can never be cool, after you did public preaching in front of your friends. For that reason, I would take them out. I was just thinking, "But if I had the gift of healing, I would just go in front of all of them and just heal them." Then say, "Jesus is God.

Listen and repent." In my mind, I'm thinking, "If I could just have this gift." I prayed for it. Any healing service that they had, I would go. I took our youth group. Down in Vineyard, John Wimber was having this healing service. 3,000 people showed up. I said, "Anybody who has short legs." Not short legs.

One leg shorter than the other. He wasn't just calling short people. He was calling tall people who had legs that were crooked. About seven or eight of them came up to the service. They said, "Anybody who has never seen a miracle, come forward." I went up, and I took maybe about 15 of our youth group kids up.

Literally, if he was sitting here, it was just us sitting around him. John Wimber came around, and he started laying hands, healing. Then, for whatever reason, when it came to this man, he stood up and said, "Miracle took place!" People were shouting. I'm watching this, and I didn't see anything.

I'm looking at our youth group students, like, "Did you see anything? Did you see anything?" What was most perplexing was his face, because he's confused. John Wimber came around, and he grabbed him, put him up, and he said, "Oh, miracle took place! How do you feel?" You could tell, even the way he would respond, "Glory to God!" He sat down, and so we're confused.

But that day, 3,000 people went out of that room, and I bet you, even to this day, which is more than 30 years ago, to this day, 3,000 people probably went out of that room saying, "I saw a miracle." Now, I'm not saying that miracles don't happen. I'm not saying miracles don't happen.

I can do whatever he wants. But so much of close examination at that time, what I was seeing, my end conclusion is God can do whatever he wants, and he does work miracles, but what I'm seeing, this is a lot of hype, Jesus' miracles, they couldn't deny. He performed it in front of people who hated him.

And even though they wanted to discount him, even though they didn't want anything to do with him, they said they couldn't deny what they were seeing. In fact, remember when Lazarus was raised from the dead? They couldn't deny because so many people saw this. He died, and he came back.

So remember what they say? Because of this, his fame is growing. And so they actually paid to suppress this truth because they already determined in their mind that this is not from God. They couldn't deny his miracles, so they said, "I can't deny what's happening, but it must not be from God.

It must be demonic." Even after they saw the miracles. See, the difference between a lot of what we see today and what Jesus was doing is even the people who wanted to crucify him couldn't deny his works. All for what purpose? So that people would know that this was God's man.

But if we stop right here, you would also miss the whole point because it wasn't just, "Oh, he has power and authority, and he was a humanitarian, and he fed a lot of people, and he healed people." Clearly, he did that because he was a man from God. But if we stop here, we miss the whole point because the reason why he does that is the third reason, to get a platform to preach about the kingdom of God.

The whole reason why we are out in the boonies of India is for the same reason. We go out there, and we, our doctors and DBS and various things that are doing, is after they leave, it's like, "Wow, why are these people coming all the way over here? You know what our superpower is?

Money." They say, "Why are these rich people here?" That's what they say. "Why are these rich people?" They say, "These rich people who are Christians, who are doctors, who are living in nice homes, compared to them, we're multi-billionaires compared to them. Why are they here?" After we do that, they're curious, so they ask the pastors to come back.

They ask them, "What do you believe? What are you preaching? What is Christianity about?" Everything that Jesus did was to identify authority and power, and this authority and power was given to him because of God, so that, he says in verse 34, 33, "I must preach the kingdom." When they came to him, said, "Don't leave us because we need you to continue to heal.

I have my mother, my brother, my uncle who is sick," and they wouldn't let him go. Jesus says, "No, I have to go because I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also. For I was sent for this purpose," so he kept on preaching in the synagogue of Judea.

He didn't say, "God sent me to heal. God sent me to do this and that." Although that was part of his ministry, he said, "All of that so that I can preach about the kingdom of God." That's exactly what it says in Hebrews 1. 2. "For this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.

For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? After it was first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will." God attested that this man, Jesus, was from him.

So therefore what? Just to marvel? Just to honor him? Follow his example? No. Just to pay attention to what he had to say. Pay attention to what he was saying. They didn't have a problem with what he was doing. They loved what he was doing. Who wouldn't? They loved what he was doing.

You know what they hate about Christianity? It's not your life. Christians are one of the most generous. When you have a disaster out in Ukraine, you know who's over there? Christians. When they don't have water in Africa, you know who's over there? Christians. You know, in Aceh, a little part of Indonesia where it's like 99% Muslims and Christian missionaries could not get in there because they would literally die from going in there.

And then the flood came. Earthquake happened and 80,000 of the people in that area just died instantly because they got submerged under water. And then for the first time, Christians were able to get in. So Christians in large number and millions of dollars of aid went in through Christian hands.

And then it opened the door to the gospel. And what they were saying was, "Where's our brothers, the Muslims? How come they're not coming?" So Christians went in with the aid and it opened the door to the gospel to be preached there. Even the Muslims were thanking the Christians for the aid.

They didn't hate Jesus because of what he was doing. They hated Jesus for what he was saying. In Matthew 9, 6 through 8, when they came to have the leopard or the lame man healed, remember what Jesus does? Instead of healing this man, he says, "Your sins are forgiven.

They're offended." We want you to heal him. And then Jesus says to them, "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your bed, and go home." And he got up and went home.

But when the crowd saw this, they were awestruck and glorified God who had given such authority to men. They were awestruck because of his miracle. And Jesus said, "The only reason why I'm performing miracles is so that you would know that I came to forgive sins." All of this happens to identify him as a man of God.

And the primary reason why he came was to forgive sins. In fact, you know what's interesting is, Luke 4, 41, as the demons are going out, they're crying out. They're shouting, "You are the Son of God!" Right? Which is true. They recognized him way before anybody else. "You are the Son of God." But look at Jesus' response.

"Rebuking them, he would not allow them to speak because they knew him to be Christ." Right? This is why we do inductive Bible study. We have to ask the question, they were professing the right doctrine, and yet Jesus would not let them speak. Wasn't the purpose of the miracles so that they would know that he is from God, that he is the Christ?

So why does he muzzle them when they profess the very purpose of his miracle? Are you following? Right? It's a good question. The reason why is because Jesus knew once they realized who he is, that they were going to forcefully make him king for the wrong reason. And that's what happens in John 6, 14-15, after performing all these miracles.

Thousands of people, right? It started with a small crowd, but by this time, feeding of the 5,000, thousands of people would not leave him alone. And so he feeds all of them. And at the end of that, it says in verse 15, John 6, verse 15, "So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone." Jesus saw right through them.

He said, "You want me to be king because you want to eat. You want me to be king because you want me to heal you. You want me to be king because you're blind and you want me to open your eyes. You want me to be king because you have somebody who died and you want me to raise them.

You don't want me to be king because you know who I am. You don't want me to be king because you want your sins forgiven." And it's in that context Jesus says, "I am the bread." You're looking for the bread through me, but I am the bread. You're hoping to find a better life through me.

He said, "I am the life." You're looking for a better way. You're hoping that I would point you to the better way. Jesus says, "I am the way." And as a result of not what he did, but what he said, they turn away from him. They no longer follow him.

In fact, in John 6, 41-42, "Therefore the Jews were grumbling about him because he said, 'I am the bread that came down out of heaven.' They were saying, 'Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph?'" Why does he keep saying that he's from God? Remember the last time they said that?

Isn't he son of Joseph? They wanted to throw him off a cliff. He says, "Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down out of heaven?'" And then in John 10-32, "Jesus answered them, 'I showed you many good works from the Father.

For which of them are you stoning me?' The Jews answered him, 'For good works we do not stone you, but for blasphemy. And because you, being a man, make yourself out to be God.'" Jesus knew. Maybe the demons knew. That even the right profession, that they were going to come to him for all the wrong reasons.

They're still the king. They're still at the center. They wanted a better king to serve them. But they needed to recognize the greatest problem was within them. It was not their blindness. It's not their hunger. It's not politics. It's not early death. It's not cancer. It was within them.

Their souls are corrupt. Sin has so devastated every part of human experience that even the best of things, once human beings get involved, it becomes corrupt. Until they recognized that, Jesus was only a source, a different source, maybe a better source. And we're hearing more and more people who don't want to offend the other people and say, "Well, Jesus is a good way.

Maybe you think he's the best way. But how can he be the only way?" He is the only way because he's the only one who has authority to forgive sins. He's the only one who absorbed our sins upon himself. He's the only one who took the punishment that you and I deserved.

If all Jesus is is an avenue for a better life, yes, Jesus is a way. Maybe a better way. Maybe a worse way. But he's just a way. The Bible says that there is no mediator between man and God other than the man, Christ Jesus. Because the only way that we can have a relationship restored with this holy, holy, holy God is to deal with our sins.

And this is the reason why Christ came. Jesus healed, but many more people were not healed. Jesus fed 5,000, 4,000. But there were many, many more people who are still going hungry to this day. He cast out demons, but myriads of demons are still possessing and wanting to harm.

He raised a few from the dead. A majority of the people died. And what is common to every single one of these people, that whether they lived a little bit longer life, whether they were blind and now they were able to live the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years with sight, whether they couldn't walk and as a beggar, and as a result they were able to get a job, get married and have children, every single one of them died.

They just saw a little bit better. They walked a little bit better. They had a bit more food than they did before. But every single one of them still died. Christ did not come simply to make hungry people fill their stomachs. He didn't just come so that lame people can walk a little bit better.

He didn't just come so that somebody who was blind could live with sight on their path to death. He came to deal with death itself. And the only reason why He did all of that is so that you would know, that I would know, that He has the authority and the power because God sent Him.

So the core of Christianity is not His power and the miracles and the blessing that you get because you prayed and better job that you got or you were sick and He healed you. That you thought you were going to die and then you lived a little bit longer.

You had financial problems and God healed you and your business got better. That's not the point of Christianity. Every good and sometimes what perceives to be bad, ultimately, is so that you would know that there is salvation in no one else but Jesus Christ. That's why He's doing what He's doing.

That's why for three years He put Himself in those shoes. That's why He traveled as far as He did. That's why He humbled Himself. That's why He was so tired on that boat. Even the professional fishermen were afraid to dive and He couldn't wake up because He was so fatigued and tired.

That's why He absorbed our sins upon Himself on that cross. And that's why He invites us even to this day. He doesn't promise a long life. He doesn't promise a better relationship. He doesn't promise a better marriage. But He promises a better eternity. Only Him and Him alone has the power and authority to forgive our sins.

My prayer is our generation, as much as we talk about we must preach the gospel. This is the gospel. Not treating hunger. I'm not saying that's not important. It's important. As Christians, we should exemplify who Jesus is. But if all Jesus is, is an avenue for you to have a better life, your eternal place is no different than those who rejected Christ.

If all Jesus is, that you're coming to church hoping that if you're a faithful Christian, that somehow your marriage will be fixed, that your children will be better, then you are in no better position than the Pharisees who crucified Christ. Because you still have not found the answer for your sins.

Christ and Christ alone. That's why this temporary band-aid that most of the world looks for, actually is a curse for our generation. Because we're fed, because we have housing, because we're able to go to school, put money in retirement, we think that that's the blessing of God. That is not.

If you don't know Christ because of that, that's actually your curse. Come meet Christ. Know Christ. And any other Christ that you come to is not the Christ of the Bible. Let's pray. Again, as our worship team leads us, let's take some time to pray. And ask God for a sense of urgency.

How long are we going to be here? Some of us, five years, ten years, 20, 30 years at most. Some of you may be here another 50, 60, 70 years. But every single one of us, this is temporary. Whether you're in first class or coach, it's temporary. Let's live with an eternal perspective.

Let's live in a way that at the end of our life, on our deathbed, that we're not going to look back the next last 50 years and say, "Ah, I wish I lived with eternity in mind." Let's begin that today, not on our deathbed. Let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us.

Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's pray.