The Teaching of Jesus

I especially appreciate Colin's song.

I think after the news and the pastoral prayer that I did, Colin's song was helpful and was very connected.

! We can trust God.

Why don't you turn with me to the book of John, chapter 7.

John 7 · chapter mention

Gracious Father, help us to understand your teaching, that we would obey it.

In Christ's name, amen.

I wonder if you've had a teacher that just made a tremendous impact on your life.

Someone that you just connected with, that taught you the material, but they taught it in such a way that not only did you remember it and understand it,

but you also kind of made that information your own.

A teacher that made the subject just kind of come alive.

A teacher that when you actually, you took the class and you were just glad, wow, I'm just so happy that I had that teacher and that material.

I have to tell you, my granddaughter has just a wonderful teacher that has just made, even so far this year, has just made tremendous inroads with her.

When I look back, I can't remember a single teacher I had in grade school or high school.

That probably says more about me than them.

I want you to know, but I can't remember a single one.

When I went to OSU, by that time in my life, I already had a wife, two kids, a full-time job.

The teachers, even though I was really interested in the material, I just loved physics.

I loved calculus.

But still, it was kind of like they were a means to an end.

I finally had one of those teachers.

In seminary, I had Dr. Crawford.

I know Linda knows him, maybe some of the others.

He was at Grand Rapids for many, many years.

He's with the Lord now.

He taught systematic theology and church history.

I can remember going there for summer sessions.

Because they would pack the stuff together for summer sessions, you would have four hours of class, four hours of lecture.

Dr. Crawford could use all four hours and then some.

When you got done with this class, and if Rich Brown and I used to just talk about Dr. Crawford all the time.

When you got done with that four-hour class, you know what you wanted to do?

Go to the dorm room and read your Bible.

You couldn't wait to just, I want to know some more.

How does that fit?

How does that fit into this?

How do these things connect together?

You were just so excited about the material.

You would stay up until early hours of the morning and then just get up and do it again the next day.

Because Dr. Crawford made God's word come alive.

He made you want to know it.

As I said, he's with the Lord now.

But you know, but I really appreciated him.

But Dr. Crawford, or the teacher that you thought of when I asked if you had one of those teachers,

can't compare with the great teacher.

In fact, in many ways, the biggest thing, the most significant thing about Jesus Christ

was his teaching rather than his miracles.

You see, in many ways, the miracles were really less consequence.

People liked the free lunch.

The Pharisees and scribes were not concerned about meals on wheels.

But what they didn't like was when Jesus Christ said,

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

I am the bread of life.

And if you don't eat of my flesh and drink of my blood, you are not part of me.

And when he said that, what happened?

Everybody left.

Except the twelve.

And even with them, he turns to Peter and says,

Are you going to go?

And what does Peter say?

I would, but where else would I go?

There's no place I could go because no one else has the words of life.

John chapter 7, verses 14 to 24.

John 7:14–24

About the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.

The Jews therefore marveled, saying,

How is it that this man has learning when he's never studied?

So Jesus answered them,

My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.

If anyone's will is to do God's will,

he will know whether the teaching is from God

or whether I'm speaking on my own authority.

The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory.

But the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true.

And in him there is no falsehood.

Has not Moses given you the law?

Yet none of you keeps the law.

Why do you seek to kill me?

The crowd answered,

You have a demon.

Who is seeking to kill you?

Jesus answered them,

I did one work,

and you all marvel at it.

Moses gave you circumcision,

not that it came from Moses,

but from the fathers.

And you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.

If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision,

so that the law of Moses may not be broken,

are you angry with me because on the Sabbath

I made a man's whole body well?

Do not judge by appearances,

but judge with right judgment.

You'll remember the context with me.

Jesus had been in Jerusalem about six months earlier,

and at that time he had healed a man by the pool of Bethsaida.

It was on the Sabbath.

And he told the man,

Get up, take your bed, and go.

Them, the religious leaders,

seeing Jesus tell this man to carry his bed on a Sabbath day,

were just incensed.

And they did try to kill him.

So much so that Jesus had to leave there.

He went back up to the northern part,

and then there's about a six-month period in there,

and then we come to right before this,

where Jesus' brothers,

his earthly human half-brothers,

had said to him,

Hey, you want to be something special?

Go to Jerusalem during the Feast of the Tabernacle.

That's when everybody goes to Jerusalem again,

and you can just go in there and teach,

and everybody will make a big thing over you.

Jesus wasn't concerned about his own glory.

He was about completing the will of the Father.

So he said, I'm not going now.

And this passage that we're looking at today,

then Jesus does go.

Someplace in the middle of the feast.

And he goes and he starts teaching,

and people in Jerusalem,

just like people every place that he went,

are amazed at his teaching.

See, the teaching of Jesus was unique.

First thing I want you to see is that

his teaching was with understanding.

It was informed.

It made sense.

It was attractive to people.

It fit together.

We might say that it was logical.

It made sense.

Of course it was biblical.

And I'll have more to say about that

in just a few minutes.

But notice that his teaching was understandable

because it was with understanding.

It drew people to him.

Yes, people came for the miracles.

But even when there were no miracles,

people still flocked to him in such numbers

and with such aggressiveness

that many times he had to either slip away

or he had to get into a boat

and go out into the water

so people wouldn't crush him.

That crowd of people was one of the things

his enemies were attracted to.

They didn't like the fact that Jesus drew the crowds.

They wanted to be noticed for their elegant talks,

for their great-sounding prayers.

Since they couldn't refute his teaching,

they questioned and attacked his credentials.

They said, in effect,

Jesus doesn't know his letters.

He doesn't know the alphabet.

It could have been a slam,

and I think they were not above that.

It could have been saying,

Jesus doesn't even know his ABCs.

But in fact, Jesus had studied.

And all of the children of those days

were actually, well, at least all of the boys,

maybe the girls.

That's a little bit unclear.

At least some of the girls went to school.

All the boys went to school.

And we can see,

usually they went to the synagogue,

and the rabbi of the synagogue would teach them.

We can see that Jesus understood how to read.

If we look over,

I'm going to have you jumping around a little bit.

Sorry, that's the way it is.

Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Look at Luke chapter 4, verse 16.

Luke 4:16

Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 4.

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Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 4.

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Luke chapter 4.

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Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 4.

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Luke chapter 4.

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Luke chapter 4.

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Luke chapter 4.

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Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

And he came to Nazareth,

where he had been brought up,

and was his custom,

he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day.

He stood up to read.

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.

He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written.

I'll just stop there.

He goes on to read a very specific passage in the book of Isaiah

that talked about the coming Messiah.

It was a passage about him.

Now, I want you to understand, just consider for a moment,

how difficult that task is.

Because it's easy for us to just say,

well, so what, you know, Jesus read this part out of Isaiah.

We have a scroll, a complete scroll of the book of Isaiah

from about the time that Jesus lived.

It's from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

This scroll is 11 inches high.

It is 24 feet long.

It has about 54 columns that are about 6 inches wide each.

Beginning to end.

There are no punctuation marks in either Hebrew or Greek.

I don't know if it was a Greek text or a Hebrew text.

It could have been either.

Both were available at that time

and both were read in the synagogues.

Okay?

But let me just...

I know more about Greek,

so let me just give you the picture if it were a Greek one.

Okay?

If it were a Greek text,

there are no capital letters.

There are no spaces between the words.

Okay?

It is simply a 24 foot wide piece of parchment

that has letters on like a giant word find.

Okay?

Jesus opens the text to exactly the place

and he reads the message that he wants them to get

that he is the coming Messiah.

The closest that we can come to it

those of you who still use a printed Bible,

I really like using my electronic one.

It has lots of advantages.

There's only one thing I don't like about it

is when I was carrying a paper Bible

and after I'd used it for several years,

I could say,

there's a text I'm looking for.

I have no idea what the reference is,

but it's on the left-hand side of the page

about halfway down.

Okay?

That's what Jesus did.

Does that happen with a brand new Bible

just out of the box?

It does not.

It happens from spending time in it.

And so, we see that Jesus had a familiarity

with God's Word that marked his teaching

as being with an understanding of the Father

and his perfect will.

What were his enemies actually saying?

They might have been this cut

that he doesn't even know his ABCs.

They were also certainly saying,

well, he doesn't know what Rabbi so-and-so said.

I bet he has never heard of Rabbi so-and-so.

You're right.

Jesus didn't know

what the John MacArthur's

or the John Piper's

or the Alistair Beggs

or even the Joe Crawford's

of his day said,

but he knew the Father's will

and he did it continuously.

Second thing is Jesus taught with authority.

This fact shows up in several places

and I want you to look at two of them

really briefly with me.

The first one is in Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

I'm going to go ahead and read it.

You can look at it or you can just listen.

54 and 56.

And coming to his hometown,

he taught them in the synagogue

so that they were astonished and said,

where did this man get this wisdom

and these mighty works?

Is not this the carpenter's son?

Is not his mother called Mary?

Are not his brothers James and Joseph

and Simon and Judas?

Are not all his sisters with us?

Where did this man get all these things?

In other words,

here are the people,

his neighbors,

his friends from Nazareth,

and when he goes there

and he teaches,

they are just surprised.

They're amazed at the teaching

that he gives.

Where did he get this ability to teach?

John chapter 7.

John 7 · chapter mention

Back to where we were,

but just a few verses ahead.

The pastor will be talking about this

in a few weeks.

Here's what happened.

The scribes and the Pharisees

sent their hooligans,

their thugs,

to go get Jesus.

Go get him,

bring him here.

We'll arrest him quietly.

You guys just go get him

and kind of kidnap him at night

if you have to.

The thugs,

the officers,

went to find Jesus

and they heard him teaching.

They come back to the Pharisees

who sent them

and they said,

where is he?

We just stay on a little task.

Just go arrest this guy.

They come back and they say,

but you never heard anybody

teach like that before.

Jesus taught with authority.

It stood out.

It made a difference.

Interesting,

just an aside.

Notice the thing

that when that happens,

what the scribes and Pharisees

are really concerned about.

Well, you didn't see

any of us there, did you?

It's almost like,

I hope there wasn't anybody there

that we would know.

Jesus was different

than the scribes and Pharisees

because he quoted

not men, but God.

His teaching was never marked

by references

to the great rabbis

of his day

or the past.

He did not have to rely

on the understanding

of other people

because he had perfect

understanding

of his Father's word.

In fact,

when John said,

in the beginning

was the word,

the word was with God,

and the word was God,

and the word became flesh,

he was saying

that Jesus Christ

is the perfect imprint

of the Father.

Jesus was not only different

from the scribes

and Pharisees

in his teachings,

but he was also different

from the prophets

in his teachings.

The prophets could say,

thus saith the Lord.

And throughout the prophets,

the minor prophets

in particular,

you find them

over and over

saying that this,

we are simply the messenger

and here's the message.

We're going through

some of these minor prophets

in my small group.

And Amos, Obadiah,

Nahum, Micah,

every one of them,

there's over and over

this emphasis,

thus saith the Lord,

thus saith the Lord.

Jesus' words and deeds

are so much different

because they're at one

with the Father.

Not only because

of the unqualified obedience

that Christ had,

but perhaps even more importantly,

because he spoke

and taught

with the authority

of the Father.

Jesus doesn't say,

thus saith the Lord.

He says,

I say unto you.

You can see it

probably the best place,

the Sermon on the Mount,

where over and over again,

Matthew chapter 5

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

through chapter 7,

over and over again,

he says,

you have heard it said,

but I say to you.

A direct instruction

authoritative

declaration.

So Jesus answered them,

my teaching is not mine,

but his who sent me.

As I was studying that

over and over this week,

I kept thinking of the fact

that from his temptation

in the wilderness

to the cross,

Jesus' speech

was sprinkled

with the written word of God,

the Old Testament.

In the wilderness,

three times,

Satan tempts Jesus

from a physical need

to the attainment

of personal glory.

And each time,

Jesus responds

with a quotation

from the book of Deuteronomy.

From the cross,

in his dying moments,

the majority of the words

that he spoke

are quotations

from either the Psalms

or the book of Isaiah.

He taught God's word

and he lived it.

John chapter 5,

John 5:19

verse 19,

tells us that Jesus

always does

what the Father does.

In fact,

in the book of John alone,

there's over 30 references

to the fact that Jesus

understood

that he was on a mission

and with a message

from God.

He wasn't throwing up

new things

and throwing out the old.

He was fulfilling

what God's perfect plan

from the beginning,

from the garden was.

He's not a charlatan.

He's not some kind

of respected leader

that inevitably

mixed together

different motives of,

yeah, I want to serve God,

but I'd also like

to be recognized.

In fact,

he utterly rejected

what might work

or what might appear

to be successful

in favor of his

Father's agenda.

It talks about

the characteristics

of Jesus' teaching.

But let me say

definitively and clearly

that the teaching

of Jesus

was and is

understandable.

It's not filled

with lengthy quotations

or complex words

or distant,

complicated,

philosophical

or theological

ideas.

Having said that,

this passage

that we're looking at,

Jesus lays out

what are the basic

principles

that are necessary

necessary

to be able

to understand

what he said,

to be able

to evaluate

his teaching.

Understanding

and a goal.

His understanding.

What Jesus is saying

in this passage

in John chapter 7

John 7:17

verse 17,

what he's saying

is that the question

of whether or not

his teaching is true

cannot be decided

by rigorous

debate procedures.

It can't be decided

by human logic.

It's not determined

by intelligence.

There's a moral issue.

Let me say it

in a sentence.

It'll come up

on the screen

and then I'll try

to explain

what I mean.

Accepting or rejecting

the claims

of Jesus Christ

is never a purely

intellectual decision.

It's a moral

and spiritual

decision.

what is needed

first and foremost

obviously is the work

of the Father in us.

But what Jesus

is talking about here

is the human side

of it.

The human side

it's necessary

in a right assessment

of his teaching

to choose

to do God's will.

Then you will

find it out.

Points not

that someone

has to attain

some level

of personal holiness

or God approved

level

of moral

perfection

and then they

can pass judgment

on Jesus

and his teaching.

Rather the question

is that a person

must be fundamentally

committed

to doing

God's will.

When you think

about it

that's talking

about a faith

commitment.

John chapter 6

John 6:40

verse 40

for this is the will

of my Father

that whoever

looks on the Son

and believes in Him

should have

eternal life

and I will raise

him up

on the last day.

Let's bring that down.

Maybe you're here

this morning

and you're thinking

I'm just not sure

that I understand

everything.

I'm not sure

that I understand

everything that Jesus

taught.

I'm not sure

I understand

anything in the Bible.

I'm not even sure

that I believe

what He said.

Not even positive

that He existed.

Certainly not

that He was

who He said He was.

Jesus is saying

the problem

is not your

intellectual ability.

It's not

your formal training.

It's not because

you have doubts

or questions.

The problem

is not that

you need someone

to explain it

to you better.

The problem

is your rebellious

nature.

You're unwilling

to do God's will

in God's way.

You're unwilling

to submit to Him.

To turn from

your sin

to put your trust

in Christ.

And until you

do that,

until you cry out

to God

to cleanse your heart,

to give you

repentance

and to remove

the unbelief,

you put your trust

in Christ,

there's nothing

else that really

matters.

The goal

of this understanding

must be much more

than just fire

insurance,

not just to keep us

out of hell.

it must be more

than intellectual

accomplishment.

I know more

of the Bible

verses than

anybody else.

In fact,

I've got three

Timothy words.

Okay?

I don't have any.

And I appreciate

the kids that do,

but that's not

going to get you

to heaven.

It's only an

acceptance of

Jesus Christ.

It's only

desiring

and having

the goal

to bring glory

to God.

Jesus says,

the one who

seeks the glory

of him who sent

me is true,

and in him

there is no

falsehood.

And Jesus is

clearly speaking

about himself

here.

That there's no

falsehood in him,

and there's no

falsehood in him,

because he

completely

acknowledges

and obeys

the Father.

But it has

to come from

us too.

The confessions

of the early

church,

which sometimes

I think we

should pay a

little more

attention to,

have it right.

What's the

main goal?

What's the

chief end

of man?

Some of you

might know

the answers

to these

questions.

The chief

end of man

is to glorify

God and enjoy

him forever.

Perhaps you're

here today as

a believer,

and you feel

stuck.

You do

occasionally read

your Bible,

but when you

do, you don't

really get

anything out of

it.

You can't

really say that

you've learned

anything about

God since you

were in

children's

programs.

You have

some success,

at least for a

time, of

controlling the

sin in your

life.

But it

comes back to

the same

areas over

and over

and over

again.

Jesus tells

us how

falsehood

enters us.

We seek

our own

glory rather

than the

glory of

the one

who sent

him.

Maybe you

want to

look good

in front

of your

spouse,

in front

of your

children,

children.

Maybe you

want to

look good

in front

of your

parents,

for

coworkers,

classmates,

neighbors.

You want

people to

recognize you

as being a

pretty good

Christian.

Maybe you

just want to

look good in

your own

eyes.

The way to

grow in

understanding

God and

his will

is by

making it

your goal

to do

his will

for his

glory.

Psalm 40,

Psalms 40:8

verse 8,

I delight

to do

your will,

oh my

God.

Your law

is within

my heart.

You know,

that almost

always calls

for a

humbling.

We humble

ourselves

before God

and before

others.

we say

to him,

it is my

own selfish

pride,

my humility,

I need to

confess my

sin,

I need to

repent,

and I need

to change.

Jesus'

teaching was

unique.

It was

understandable

when we

come in

obedience and

faith.

And finally,

Jesus'

teaching was

gospel-focused.

I want to

read the

passage.

I know I'm

already in

trouble,

so hang

with me.

Has not

Moses given

you the

law,

yet none

of you

keeps the

law?

Why do

you seek

to kill

me?

The crowd

answered,

you have

a demon.

Who is

seeking to

kill you?

Jesus

answered them,

I did

one work

and you

all marvel

at it.

Moses gave

you circumcision,

not that it

was from

Moses,

but the

fathers,

and you

circumcised

a man on

the Sabbath.

If on

the Sabbath

a man

receives

circumcision,

so that the

law of

Moses may

not be

broken,

are you

angry with

me?

Because on

the Sabbath

I made

a man's

whole body

well?

Do not

judge by

appearances,

but judge

with right

judgment.

Next week

we're going

to see the

reaction of

the people

to Jesus'

teaching,

but the

fact is

that they

do not

react with

surprise.

They do

not react

with confusion.

They don't

say,

what in the

world is he

talking about?

Here we

are talking

about how

to know

God's

will,

how to

be able

to judge

Christ's

teaching,

how to

understand

all those

things,

and what

does he

do?

He goes

off talking

about Moses.

For us,

that is what

it sounds

like,

but for

them,

that's not

what it

sounds like,

because Jesus

starts with

what I call

a duck

question.

Okay?

Duck

questions are

questions that

you do not

need to ask

because you

already know

the answer.

Okay?

I'll give you

the perfect,

the best example

possible.

Moms,

your child is

there,

and you say,

would you like

an ice cream

cone?

And the child

says,

Mom,

you know,

I've really been

thinking about it.

I've kind of had

a lot of junk

food lately.

I really think

you probably

should give me

something that's

a little more

healthy.

Why don't you

give me some

vegetables,

and I'll just

pass on the

ice cream today.

That's probably

not what they

say,

right?

Well,

Jesus is

saying,

didn't Moses

give you the

law?

And they're

saying,

well,

of course he

did,

you dummy.

We know

that.

And Jesus

turns it right

around and he

said,

but you don't

obey it.

Why was it

so significant?

Because Jesus'

opponents prided

themselves on

knowing God's

will.

They thought,

yes,

we got that

down.

We know

God's will,

and the

way we

know it

is we

know the

law.

Jesus

says,

not a

single one

of you

obeys it.

He's

pointing out

to them

that mere

possession of

the law

can never

guarantee

sanctity.

And in

fact,

possession of

the law

without

obedience to

the law

is the

path of

condemnation.

The law

is the

school teacher

that shows

us our

need for

Christ.

Jesus

moves directly

from here

to reveal

the hearts

of the

leaders by

reminding

them of

their actions.

Just six

months earlier

in John

John 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5,

he heals

a man and

they immediately

want to kill

him.

Now here

he is at

the feast

of tabernacles.

I got to

quickly explain.

Feast of

tabernacles.

So you know

what this is.

This is the

time when the

people of

Israel celebrated

the fact that

God brought

them out of

the land of

Egypt and

he put them

into their

own land,

a place of

rest and

peace.

I don't

know why

we,

my grandmother

took me to

church when I

was a child.

I don't

remember hardly

anything.

Okay?

Didn't make an

impact on me,

I'm afraid,

until later

in my life

when my

life was a

mess and I

thought,

oh wow,

I went to

church when I

was little,

maybe I

should go

back there.

But anyway,

here is this

feast of

tabernacles.

The one thing I

do remember

is for some

reason our

Sunday school

teacher had us

make tabernacles.

They had us

make these

little tents

out of

branches and

stuff.

I have no

idea why.

But it

did leave an

impact on

me.

That's what

happened.

What they

had was a

national

camping day.

They all

took their

tents from

wherever they

lived,

they went to

Jerusalem,

they set the

tents up,

or sometimes

they were just

lean-tos,

okay?

They set them

up in the

streets of

Jerusalem and

they prayed and

worshipped God

for delivering

them out of the

house of bondage

and bringing them

into a land of

plenty.

it's a picture

of redemption.

And that's

where Jesus

is.

He's right

there in

Jerusalem

teaching.

And he

brings up

Moses.

There's a

message here.

Jesus says

the healing of

the man on

the Sabbath was

a cleansing of

the whole man.

And just like

the partial

cleansing that

circumcision is

supposed to

illustrate,

the cutting off,

removal of the

condemnation of

the world and

the corruption of

the world and

the making his

children his own

and marking them

out as his.

Just like that

circumcision

overruled a

strict keeping of

the Sabbath,

Jesus says the

complete healing of

the man overrules

the strict keeping

of the Sabbath.

Because the

Sabbath was made

for man,

not man for the

Sabbath.

Jesus'

healing of that

man then becomes

a fulfillment

of Old Testament

circumcision.

redemption of

On the very

day that

served as a

sign of God's

Old Testament

purpose of

redemption and

rest.

Jesus'

reasoning is

insistent that

his activity is

fulfillment of

that redemptive

purpose of God.

By the statement,

he's making the

point that his

teaching, his

miracles, his

activity is the

fulfillment of the

redemptive purposes

of God.

Finally, in their

approach to God's

will, if it were

one where they

were one of faith,

they would soon

discern that Jesus

is not a Sabbath

breaker but the one

who fulfills both

the Sabbath and

circumcision.

The problem,

however, is really

that they have no

relationship with

God.

They know the

law of Moses,

but there's no

relationship there.

And Jesus points

this out to them

and in so doing,

he brings them to

the point of

decision.

He says,

righteous judgment

results from

right relationship.

relationship.

So how about you?

Righteous judgments

come from right

relationship.

Have you come to

the place where you

have a personal

relationship with

Jesus Christ?

Have you come to

the place where your

relationship with

Christ so impacts

you that when you

read the Bible,

it's not, oh,

this stuff doesn't

make any sense,

but it's, that's my

Savior.

do you seek to

obey God?

Are you trying to

change?

Pastor Kenoyer has

been saying a lot

recently, and it's

exactly true, you

don't have to stay the

way you are.

You know what the

sad thing is?

Most people that I've

come into contact

with in ministry want

to stay the way they

are.

They don't want to

change, at least not

if it means giving up

any of the sin that

they're involved in.

Do you want to

change?

The Holy Spirit is

there to help you, to

bring you to that

change in life.

But you have to say,

yes, I repent.

I'm the one who is

wrong.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

maybe this morning

that someone needs to

make a decision.

In the Sunday school

class this morning, we

were talking about the

fact that Paul labored

and toiled to make his

people mature in

Christ.

Maturity is the goal.

Gracious Father, I pray

that you would work in

people's hearts.

That if there's someone

here who has just been

playing the games, they

think they know God's

will because they know

the law.

They think they know

God's will because they

look good.

That you would reveal to

them where their heart

really is.

And they would come to

the place of accepting

your son Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, it's also

with believers.

So many times we can

change, but we don't

want to.

Father, I pray that you

would work in

individuals' hearts,

believers here today,

to draw them to the cross

again, that they would

repent.

By doing so, they would

begin the process of you

changing them.

I ask it in Christ's name.

Amen.

Thank you.