1 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:13,400 Abel, would you please remain standing for the reading of 2 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:18,040 God's Word? Before I read it, I just wanted 3 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:22,000 to tell you that tomorrow I'll be going on sabbatical for three 4 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:26,560 months during the summer. I tell you that because I'm 5 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,040 going to say I'm going to miss you very much. 6 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,439 Look forward to seeing you in the fall, but also to ask for 7 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:35,160 your prayers. Pray for me and my wife and our 8 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:38,440 three daughters that the Lord would give us rest and a lot of 9 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:40,280 fun as we spend the summer together. 10 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:43,240 In the first part of our sabbatical we have the 11 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:48,200 opportunity to spend 5 weeks in England and Scotland visiting 12 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:52,560 pastors and church planters and missionaries and learning from 13 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:57,040 them and asking the question, what does it look like to preach 14 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:01,160 and proclaim and preserve the gospel in a post Christian 15 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,440 culture? It is a privilege every Sunday 16 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,640 to come into worship with you to preach the gospel. 17 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,280 And once more, it's a privilege to preach the gospel for you. 18 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:14,480 This morning from the Gospel of John. 19 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:17,040 Return with me to John chapter 12. 20 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:24,160 Begin reading in verse 34. So the crowd answered him, We've 21 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:27,000 heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. 22 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,000 How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? 23 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:36,720 Who is this Son of man? So Jesus said to them, The light 24 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,000 is among you for a little while longer. 25 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:43,560 Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. 26 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,960 The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he 27 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:49,320 is going. While you have the light, 28 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,280 believe in the light, that you may become sons of light. 29 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,960 When Jesus had said these things, He departed and hid 30 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,160 Himself from them. Though He had done many signs 31 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:02,320 before them, they did not believe in Him. 32 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:05,880 So the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be 33 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:08,759 fulfilled. Lord, who has believed what He 34 00:02:08,759 --> 00:02:11,560 heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the 35 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,360 Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not 36 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,560 believe. For again Isaiah said He has 37 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,160 blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with 38 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:21,800 their eyes, and understand with their heart. 39 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:26,120 And turn, and I would heal them. Isaiah said these things because 40 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,560 he saw his glory and spoke of Him. 41 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,080 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him. 42 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,080 But for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it, so they 43 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:38,760 would not be put out of the synagogue. 44 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,520 For they love the glory that comes from man more than the 45 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:45,840 glory that comes from God. And Jesus cried out and said, 46 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:50,200 Whoever believes in me believes not me, but in him who sent me. 47 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:53,240 Whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 48 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,240 I've come into the world as light so that whoever believes 49 00:02:57,240 --> 00:02:59,360 in me may not remain in darkness. 50 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:03,800 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not 51 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,640 judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the 52 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:10,480 world. The one who rejects me and does 53 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:12,480 not receive my words has a judge. 54 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:16,880 The word that I have spoken will judge Him on the last day, for I 55 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:20,560 have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who 56 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:25,440 sent me has Himself given me a commandment what to say and what 57 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:29,560 to speak, and I know that His commandment is eternal life. 58 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,680 What I say, therefore I say, as the Father has told me. 59 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:38,400 This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. 60 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:47,560 Faith is the foundational activity of the Christian life. 61 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:53,640 No, I know that might seem obvious to some of you, but I 62 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:57,200 want you to think about your daily lives as followers of 63 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:01,000 Jesus Christ. It is through faith that we 64 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,760 worship. It is through faith that we 65 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,560 pray. It is through faith that we are 66 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,960 saved. Apostle John tells us that this 67 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,840 is the very reason that he has recorded all of the things that 68 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:20,360 he has written about in his gospel, that we may believe that 69 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:25,320 Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we 70 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:30,160 may have life in his name. But you see, in our contemporary 71 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:36,280 culture, it is often assumed that faith merely belongs to the 72 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:40,560 religious, that there are two kinds of people in our world, 73 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,200 those who have faith and those who don't. 74 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:50,400 But the truth is, every single person has faith in something. 75 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:57,400 The question is not whether or not you have faith, but what or 76 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,200 who have your have you placed your faith in? 77 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:05,120 In many ways, it's a very question of the Gospel of John 78 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:07,720 through the question of the Bible. 79 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,320 What is it that you truly believe? 80 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:17,920 You see, faith is not merely an activity for the Christian. 81 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:24,760 Faith is the very activity as our lives as human beings, 82 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:30,800 everything we do, every decision we make, we live according to 83 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:35,960 what we believe. And so it's through faith that 84 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:39,920 people view the world. It's through faith that people 85 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,800 choose what rules they're going to follow and which they're 86 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:49,000 going to ignore. It is through faith that each 87 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:53,320 day we make the decisions that are before us and we decide 88 00:05:53,320 --> 00:06:00,600 which way we should go. Faith in either ourselves, our 89 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:09,040 faith, and a God who loves us. The question before us is what 90 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:14,000 is genuine faith? And this morning we are picking 91 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,920 up where we left off last week and John's account of the 92 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:22,720 triumphal entry. Not only does John describe 93 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:28,080 Jesus coming into Jerusalem in triumph and that humbly mounted 94 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:33,840 on a donkey, he also describes in great detail how people 95 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:37,760 responded. They responded with unbelief. 96 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:43,960 But in our passage this morning we see how Jesus then responded 97 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:49,720 to their unbelief. And in Jesus's words we get a 98 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,560 glimpse of what genuine faith looks like. 99 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:59,880 Jesus will use three words, 3 words that we don't often 100 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:03,640 associate with faith to teach us what faith truly is. 101 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:13,600 Walking, seeing and keeping. So the first thing that Jesus 102 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,280 wants us to know about faith is this. 103 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,480 Faith is about walking. Look with me at John chapter 12, 104 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,360 verse 34. John tells us that the crowd 105 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:26,760 answered Jesus. We've heard from the law that 106 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:30,840 the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of 107 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:34,000 man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man? 108 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:39,040 Now this is in response to what Jesus said earlier in verse 32. 109 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,240 So if you have a Bible, I want you to turn to the Gospel of 110 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,640 John, John chapter 12. If you don't have a Bible, you 111 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:47,520 can take the blue Pew Bible in front of you. 112 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:52,960 That is our gift to you. And John 12, verse 32, we're 113 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:57,840 told that Jesus said this. This is where we left off last 114 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,880 week. Jesus said, I, when I am lifted 115 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:03,680 up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. 116 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:08,840 And then John interjects and explains what Jesus meant by 117 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:13,360 this in verse 33. John says he said this to show 118 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,160 by what kind of death he was going to die. 119 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,560 Now what is remarkable is that the crowds who heard Jesus that 120 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:25,680 day needed no explanation. They knew exactly what Jesus was 121 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,600 talking about. They knew that when He said He 122 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,760 must be lifted up, they knew that He was talking about His 123 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:35,600 death. And that is exactly what they 124 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,120 have come to argue with Him about. 125 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:43,440 Look with me again at verse 34. They say we have heard from the 126 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,200 law that the Christ must remain forever. 127 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,840 How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? 128 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,600 You see, they are appealing to their own understanding of the 129 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,080 Bible when they say the word law. 130 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:04,560 By law they mean the entirety of the Old Testament Scriptures. 131 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,080 And so they're coming to Jesus, the one who's claimed to be the 132 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:12,480 Messiah, the one who's claimed to be the Son of man. 133 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:16,600 And they're saying, wait a minute, Jesus, how can you say 134 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:18,080 that? You must be lifted up? 135 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,040 How can you be talking about your death? 136 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:27,400 The Bible that we read, the Old Testament Scriptures, describe a 137 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:29,960 Messiah whom we believe will remain forever. 138 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:35,680 You see, they expected a Messiah who is going to come and 139 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:40,000 triumph. They didn't understand why Jesus 140 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:45,800 had to come to die. Several years ago I had a friend 141 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,000 who is struggling, not with his doubt, but he was struggling 142 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,880 with his new faith. You see, it just become a 143 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,520 Christian and with tears in his eyes, he looked at me and he 144 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:01,080 said, Paul, why did Jesus have to die for me? 145 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,520 You see, that is the most important question any of us 146 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:07,480 could ask. It's very question that the 147 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,360 crowds are asking Jesus, Jesus, how can you say that the 148 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:15,280 Messiah, the Christ, the Savior King has come to die? 149 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:22,000 You see, because they couldn't imagine that Jesus came to die 150 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:29,640 in order to conquer death, and Jesus came in triumph into 151 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:36,840 Jerusalem to conquer sin and death by going to the cross. 152 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:46,000 So they're asking what kind of savior comes to Jerusalem to be 153 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:51,800 crucified? Jesus responds in a peculiar 154 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,640 way. He doesn't respond directly. 155 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:59,280 Look with me, verse 35. Jesus said to them, The light is 156 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:01,040 among you for a little while longer. 157 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:06,160 Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. 158 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:10,520 The one who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 159 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:14,120 It's a strange way to answer a simple question. 160 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,360 They asked Jesus, who is the Son of man? 161 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:21,880 Jesus, answer The light is among you for a little while longer. 162 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:27,400 What is Jesus saying? Well, you know in the Gospel of 163 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:34,720 John that he has already said Jesus, John chapter 8, I am the 164 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:38,960 light of the world. So here in verse 35 of chapter 165 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:44,760 12, Jesus is saying the light. That is Jesus himself is among 166 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:48,600 you for a little while longer. In other words, Jesus is talking 167 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:53,320 once again about his death, and he wants the crowds to 168 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:58,600 understand that while he is with them, he's given them a command. 169 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,280 He's called them to something, and it's to walk. 170 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:06,040 Notice what he says. Walk while you have the light, 171 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:10,760 lest the darkness overtake you. And so how should we respond to 172 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:14,840 the death of Jesus? Well, Jesus wants the crowds to 173 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:18,640 know that day, and he wants all of us to know 2000 years later. 174 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:23,120 Then, in light of his death and resurrection, he's called us to 175 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:27,520 walk. It's a strange way to describe 176 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:31,800 faith. Jesus says we must walk lest the 177 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,560 darkness overtake us. The one who walks in the 178 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:36,880 darkness does not know where he's going. 179 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:40,520 If you've been with us in the in our study, in the Gospel of 180 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,680 John, you should be thinking about John chapter 1. 181 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,760 You see, John has already prepared us to hear these words 182 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:51,120 from Jesus. In his prologue, John one verse 183 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:56,240 5, John says the light shines in the darkness and the darkness 184 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:00,280 has not overcome it. So what Jesus is saying to the 185 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,720 crowds and to all of us is the light has come. 186 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:06,360 It's come to illuminate the darkness. 187 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:10,560 Jesus is here and he's calling us to walk with him. 188 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:19,800 He points out that those who remain in darkness have no idea 189 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:27,000 where they're going. Couple years ago, just when our 190 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:30,960 children reached the age where they were no longer waking us up 191 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:34,040 in the middle of the night as much, we decided to be a great 192 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,800 idea to get a dog. So now we still wake up in the 193 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:42,720 middle of the night and this even happened last night in the 194 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:44,840 middle of the night. I can hear our dog Burton 195 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:50,000 whimpering from his kennel, and I laid there thinking, surely 196 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:51,480 he's just going to go back to sleep. 197 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:56,440 But it just kept going. And so I got up in the middle of 198 00:13:56,440 --> 00:14:00,520 the night and I stumbled in the dark over to his kennel. 199 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:04,600 And any of you who've had to get up in the middle of the night 200 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,120 and stumble through your house know exactly what Jesus is 201 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:13,080 talking about. If you're in the dark, you can't 202 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,280 see where you're going. But more than a poignant image, 203 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:22,480 Jesus is drawing on themes that are found throughout the Bible, 204 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:27,880 especially in the Old Testament, the themes of walking and light 205 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:30,920 and darkness. As we've already seen in our 206 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,440 study of John, the theme of light in the Bible refers to 207 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:41,960 God's presence, that God is a light to our path and a lamp to 208 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:45,200 our feet. And darkness refers to his 209 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,600 absence. And we experience this darkness 210 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:53,360 every single day, The darkness of our fallen world, a world 211 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:57,520 that has turned its back on God. The darkness of those who've 212 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:02,000 done wrong to us, but also the darkness of our own sin. 213 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:07,440 When the Bible talks about darkness, it is talking about 214 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:12,320 God's absence, the way that we turn our back on Him. 215 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:16,440 But Jesus is also drawing on the theme of walking. 216 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:21,680 Bible talks about walking. It's referring to life, and we 217 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:23,840 still use this kind of language today. 218 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,000 We often talk about life like a journey. 219 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,640 We'll say things like, well, I'm walking through life. 220 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:32,920 That's exactly what Jesus was referring to here. 221 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:39,000 When He calls us to walk in the light, we see this, especially 222 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,560 the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 9 verse 2. 223 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:45,400 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light 224 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:49,000 on those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them. 225 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:53,200 The light has shown. It's what Jesus is doing here in 226 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:57,280 John 12 is He's giving us an invitation to come out of the 227 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:01,320 darkness to walk with Him into the light. 228 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,720 Verse 36 He says while you have the light, believe the light, 229 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,040 that you may become sons of light. 230 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:11,440 He is connecting belief with walking. 231 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:16,400 Apostle Paul picks up on this connection in his letter to the 232 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:20,480 Ephesians, Ephesians 5 verse 8, where Paul writes for at one 233 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,560 time you were in darkness, but now you are light and the Lord 234 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:29,480 walk as children of the light. So what does all of this have to 235 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:34,200 do with faith? For Jesus to describe faith, 236 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:42,280 like walking it strikes against everything we've been taught in 237 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,440 the last 50 years of evangelical Christianity. 238 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,640 You see, we often describe faith as a decision. 239 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:59,120 We think of our belief in Jesus in ones and zeros in our digital 240 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:09,760 age, a box to check yes or no. Genuine faith is not merely A1 241 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:15,359 time decision. Genuine faith is to be lived out 242 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:20,880 each and every day. And anyone who's grown 243 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,920 accustomed to the darkness of our world knows just how true 244 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:29,280 that is. Because as we walk through the 245 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:34,560 darkness of this life, we often struggle with doubt and 246 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:38,600 questions. We believe, and yet we cry out, 247 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:43,120 help our unbelief in our own struggle with sin and 248 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:47,600 temptation. We strive after the one who's 249 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:52,000 gone before us, our trailblazer, the author and perfector of our 250 00:17:52,000 --> 00:18:00,520 faith, Jesus, the one who has invited us to walk with him, the 251 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:05,080 one who's not left us alone. As if somehow we believe and now 252 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,520 we've just got to figure out the rest of life by ourselves. 253 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:17,280 But the one who says believe in me, walk with me, because I am 254 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,480 with you, even to the end of the age. 255 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,560 First, Jesus says faith is like walking. 256 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:29,520 Second, he also tells us that faith requires seeing. 257 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,600 We cannot walk through the darkness unless we see the light 258 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:37,480 of Jesus. And John tells us that when 259 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:40,200 Jesus had said all of these things, he departed and hid 260 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,760 himself from them. Now, this is not the first time 261 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:46,440 in the Gospel of John that Jesus hid himself. 262 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:49,920 Earlier in John 8, he'd hid himself because they wanted to 263 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:53,640 throw stones at him. But now he's hiding himself for 264 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:58,000 a different reason. I think it's a sign He's hiding 265 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,240 himself from the crowds because already they couldn't see Him. 266 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:06,200 Even though they saw them, him with their eyes, they couldn't 267 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,680 truly see Jesus for who He really was. 268 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:14,280 So verse 37, we're told that though He had done many signs 269 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:16,520 before them, they still did not believe Him. 270 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:20,920 These crowds that had gathered at the triumphal entry, many of 271 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:24,000 them had followed Jesus to see what He was going to do. 272 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,280 They'd heard about Jesus and all the things He had done. 273 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,400 They wanted to see with their own eyes the man. 274 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,640 They wanted to verify all of the miracles they had heard about. 275 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,880 And even though many of them had seen these signs with their own 276 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:43,320 eyes, John tells us they did not believe. 277 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:49,240 Even though they saw Jesus, they didn't really see Jesus. 278 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,560 And all of this, we're told, is because this is what the prophet 279 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:59,600 Isaiah said would happen. Verse 38 John says so the word 280 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:02,160 spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. 281 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,200 Lord, who has believed in what he heard from us? 282 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:07,840 And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 283 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:13,640 The Jewish people rejected Jesus as the Messiah because of their 284 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:15,880 own understanding of the Old Testament. 285 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:19,520 Jesus was not who they were looking for. 286 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:24,760 He wasn't who they expected. They expected a warrior. 287 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:29,440 They expected a king coming with a crown on his head and a sword 288 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:31,280 in his first. What they got was a king who 289 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:33,840 came to lay his life down on the cross. 290 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,040 And they pointed to their own understanding of the Bible to 291 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:46,360 prove their point. And so Isaiah tells us the exact 292 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:48,840 opposite. And this is exactly what the 293 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:53,880 apostle John does in response the crowds objections to Jesus 294 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,680 as the Christ. It's almost as if John is 295 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:59,160 saying, OK, you want to have a Bible study, let's have a Bible 296 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,320 study. You want to look for the Old 297 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:02,920 Testament Scriptures about the Messiah? 298 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:07,080 Let's go to the Old Testament scriptures and let's learn about 299 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:09,960 the Messiah. And he quotes directly from 300 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:14,320 Isaiah chapter 53. Who is believed, what he has 301 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,920 heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been 302 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:22,240 revealed word for word? What he is quoting in John 1238? 303 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:25,040 But of course, Isaiah doesn't end there. 304 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:29,840 He goes on in Isaiah 53, and he describes the Messiah like this. 305 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:35,600 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, 306 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:40,160 acquainted with grief as one from whom hid their faces. 307 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:44,040 He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 308 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:50,920 John's point is as surprising as it is ironic. 309 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:59,080 Jesus is the Messiah because he is, exactly as the Scriptures 310 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:06,760 foretold, a suffering servant, a man of sorrows who came to bear 311 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:10,720 the grief and sin of his people on the cross. 312 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:18,280 And they couldn't see it. And in their own understanding 313 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:23,720 of the Scriptures they rejected, Jesus fulfilled the scriptures 314 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:30,360 that Jesus would be rejected. When I was in college at an 315 00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:34,240 English professor who is a practicing Jew, he was an 316 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:39,480 awesome teacher, so smart and intelligent, creative. 317 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:43,960 He loved his students and we loved him. 318 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:47,800 We had a great relationship. He refused to call me Paul. 319 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:49,600 It's my Greek name. You're going to guess what he 320 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:56,360 called me. He called me Saul one day after 321 00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:59,120 class. I went up to him because he was 322 00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:03,360 talking about the Bible. And so I thought I had the 323 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:05,800 opportunity as humbly as I could to ask him. 324 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:11,720 I asked him about suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. 325 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,400 He knew the Old Testament and he knew the New Testament backwards 326 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:19,200 and forwards. And so I looked at him and I 327 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:23,240 asked him, how can you say that the suffering servant of Isaiah 328 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:27,720 53 isn't Jesus? Of all that we know that Jesus 329 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:32,000 said and did, how can you say that he isn't the Man of 330 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:38,480 Sorrows? The sad truth is my professor 331 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:44,440 just couldn't see it. He couldn't see it because of 332 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,000 what he thought the Messiah should be. 333 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,640 You see, faith, genuine faith, requires seeing. 334 00:23:53,400 --> 00:24:01,040 Not just any kind of sight, but it requires spiritual seeing to 335 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:07,480 see what only God can show us. It requires our eyes being 336 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:12,400 opened. It takes a miracle, a work of 337 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:19,000 the Holy Spirit, for us to behold Jesus as the one whom he 338 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:25,600 said that He is. They couldn't see it, and they 339 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:28,800 couldn't believe their eyes become blinded. 340 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:34,080 So the question for us is, what is it that you really see? 341 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:38,680 Do you really see Jesus for who He is? 342 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,280 And if you did, how would you really know? 343 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,520 Well, John tells us that Isaiah saw Jesus. 344 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:53,840 I want you to look with me now, Isaiah 12 or John 12 verse 41. 345 00:24:55,680 --> 00:25:00,880 John tells us Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory 346 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:04,120 and spoke of him. Did you hear it? 347 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,640 John just said that Isaiah the prophet saw Jesus. 348 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,640 Isaiah the prophet in the Old Testament before Jesus was ever 349 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:22,880 born, prior to his incarnation, Isaiah the prophet saw the glory 350 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:27,240 of Jesus. Well when did Isaiah see Jesus? 351 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:33,640 I think Isaiah tells us in Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah 6 verse 352 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,280 one. And the year that King Isaiah 353 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:40,880 died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high, and lifted 354 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:44,920 up, and the train of his robe filled the temple, and above him 355 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:47,840 stood the seraphim, and each had six wings. 356 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:51,600 With two he covered his face, with two, he covered his feet 357 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:54,960 with two, that he flew. And one called to another, and 358 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,120 said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. 359 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:00,960 The whole earth is full of his glory. 360 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,600 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of 361 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:07,880 him who called, And the house was filled with smoke. 362 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:14,880 And I said, Woe is me, for I am lost for a man of unclean lips, 363 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,120 and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. 364 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:23,400 From my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 365 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:32,360 Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus Christ, and he was undone. 366 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:37,320 All he could do was to fall down at his feet. 367 00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:46,320 If you have truly seen Jesus, it's all you can do but fall 368 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:50,880 down and humility at his feet. So my question for you and me, 369 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:55,480 is this, What version of Jesus do you see? 370 00:26:57,640 --> 00:26:59,720 Is it a Christ that you can control? 371 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:04,200 A Christ that you can put into a box and take out when you want 372 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:08,800 him? Or is it the same Christ that 373 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:14,040 Isaiah saw? Christ brings you to your knees. 374 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:19,120 Don't you want to see Jesus like that? 375 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:28,160 Faith requires seeing. It requires us to see the 376 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:35,520 Apostle Paul called things unseen, the things of Jesus that 377 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:41,080 lead us to worship him. So the 3rd and final thing that 378 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:47,080 Jesus teaches us about faith. Faith leads to keeping Jesus in 379 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:51,280 verse 44, cries out to the crowd and he gives them this 380 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,720 invitation and invitation that he gives all of us as well. 381 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:59,000 Whoever believes in me believes not in me, but him who sent me. 382 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,720 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 383 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:07,280 I've come into the world as light so that whoever believes 384 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,200 in me may not remain in darkness. 385 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:14,200 In other words, what Jesus is telling the crowds and what he 386 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:18,040 is telling you in me is this. If you believe in Jesus, your 387 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:22,560 life cannot stay the same. Everything changes. 388 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:27,560 If Jesus is who he says he is, if he is the Son of God, if he 389 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:31,360 is the Messiah, if he is our Savior King, if he really did 390 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:35,120 die and rise again, if he really is coming once again to make all 391 00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:38,560 things new, then everything in our lives must change. 392 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:45,240 We cannot remain the same. We cannot remain in darkness. 393 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:50,240 Jesus says, and I think the apostle John heard these words 394 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:55,080 of Jesus and he had them in mind when he wrote his first letter. 395 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,120 First John. I want you to listen to his 396 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:04,960 words in first John chapter 1 and listen to where he got these 397 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:11,280 ideas from John one verse 5. John says this is the message 398 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:16,720 that we heard from him and proclaim to you that God is 399 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:19,880 light and in him is no darkness at all. 400 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:24,040 If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in 401 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,480 darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 402 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:33,000 But John is saying in first John I think is an echo of Jesus's 403 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:37,320 words here in John 12. Whoever believes in Jesus cannot 404 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:41,840 remain in darkness. So John goes so far to say this 405 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,640 that if you are a follower of Jesus, if you say you were a 406 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:50,680 Christian and let you remain in darkness, if you claim Christ 407 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,520 yet remain in sin, that makes you a liar. 408 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:59,640 Strong words. It's a very definition of 409 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:05,480 hypocrisy that Christians would claim to follow Jesus and yet 410 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:09,240 remain in darkness. Yet John doesn't stop there. 411 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:12,920 He goes on and describes another kind of hypocrisy in verse 7. 412 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,920 He says, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we 413 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,280 have fellowship with one another, and the blood of 414 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:20,920 Jesus's Son cleanses us from all sin. 415 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:26,120 But if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth 416 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:29,840 is not in us. In other words, if you say you 417 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:33,040 aren't a Sinner, well, that also makes you a liar. 418 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:40,040 It's a double hypocrisy. On one hand, anyone who claims 419 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:44,120 Christ and remains in sin is a liar, but on the other hand, 420 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:46,960 anyone who says they're not a Sinner is a liar. 421 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:51,240 And So what do we do? Because if you look at yourself 422 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:54,800 and your life honestly, I think every one of us would say I'm a 423 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:58,480 hypocrite. And according to what Jesus and 424 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,880 Apostle John are saying, we're all liars. 425 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,640 What do we do? We must come out of our 426 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:14,560 hypocrisy and come out of hiding and hear Jesus's gracious 427 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:18,160 invitation to us. Verse 47. 428 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:23,520 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not 429 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:27,200 judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the 430 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:28,880 world. What does he mean? 431 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:34,360 Well, His words are words of life, words of salvation, not 432 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:38,360 words of condemnation. We're not condemned by the words 433 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:40,800 of Jesus. No, we condemn ourselves when we 434 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:45,360 reject his words. So Jesus goes on to verse 48. 435 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:49,120 The one who rejects me does not receive my words, has a judge. 436 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:52,160 The word that I've spoken will judge him on the last day. 437 00:31:54,320 --> 00:32:00,640 Anyone who rejects the words of Jesus and the free offer of the 438 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,920 Gospel that through his death and resurrection we have life is 439 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:08,720 choosing death and so hear his words. 440 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,360 Jesus is calling us to keep them. 441 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:19,080 He ends like this verse 50, the last words of Jesus in his 442 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:22,800 public ministry. Jesus said, I know that his 443 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:27,560 commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore I say, as 444 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:31,880 the Father has told me. New Testament scholar Leon 445 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:36,040 Morris points out that Jesus's words here are important as he 446 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:40,280 describes his commandment. Notice what he says. 447 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:45,040 His commandment is eternal life. Jesus does not say his 448 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:46,920 commandment is about eternal life. 449 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:51,040 Nor does he say those who keep my commandment will have eternal 450 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:54,480 life. No, he says his commandment is 451 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:59,000 eternal life. So what is Christ's commandment? 452 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:06,000 Well Jesus said repent and believe the good news, the 453 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:11,480 gospel. Jesus said love the Lord your 454 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:17,000 God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your 455 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:24,200 neighbor as yourself. Jesus said come to me all you 456 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:28,400 who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. 457 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:35,040 Jesus said abide with me for apart from me you can do 458 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:40,080 nothing. Jesus said it is finished. 459 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:49,960 His commandment is eternal life, and He has called us to walk 460 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:57,640 with him, to see Him, and to keep His words because in his 461 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:04,800 words we have salvation, we have victory, and we have joy. 462 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:09,000 Let's pray. Father in heaven, may we now 463 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,560 live lives that walk with your Son Jesus. 464 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:18,639 May we see him as our light. May we keep His commandments and 465 00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:22,719 abide in Him alone. We pray now as we sing this 466 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:26,920 final song and go from here, that we would live lives of 467 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,800 faith. That's your Holy Spirit. 468 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:35,560 We put our faith into practice and we see that you are with us 469 00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:39,480 every step of the way. We ask this in the strong name 470 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:42,000 of Jesus Christ, Amen. Let's stand and sing.