Equal with the Father

Jeff, is this yours?

Okay, I'll put it here.

I won't put it there.

It'll interfere.

Okay, here we go.

Sorry.

Well, what are you going to do next?

Pray.

Never underestimate the significance or the importance of prayer in the preaching of the Word of God.

A Bible truth is that all of us in this room, every one of us, have issues and challenges that complicate the process of life.

Wouldn't you agree with that?

Every one of us.

And there's not a part, there's not a moment of our present existence that is not kind of troubled a little bit by the reality of our ongoing struggle with indwelling sin.

Everybody here.

And I am so very thankful for the clear, explicit teaching of the Word of God that preaching, which is a very important part of church life,

is something that relies first upon the clarity and the undeniable authority of the Word of God.

I am not up here to do anything less than to make the Word of God clear.

You didn't come here.

You didn't come here to hear my opinions.

By the way, my opinions change periodically, as yours do.

You are here in some sense to hear what does God say.

And thankfully, we have Bibles to help us know that.

We are also dependent upon the enabling of the Spirit of God because apart from the Spirit of God,

we all have ten ears.

We don't hear very well.

Is that true?

How many of you?

We don't hear very well.

It was a little while ago.

Is Judith in here this morning?

Ah, we're...

You know, she's my darling, my bride.

But a while back, she said to me, she said,

Honey, I don't know if you're having early signs of Alzheimer's or you're just not listening well.

Now, that was a very challenging thought to me because I had two very uncomfortable choices.

Now, some of you out there are young and you think, what's the deal with that?

But for me, it was like, oh, let's see.

And so I opted for that I'm not listening very well because, you know, the Alzheimer's case is like a whoa.

So it's like, we don't listen very well.

And the natural tendency is that we're all here this morning listening to ourselves more often than we ought to be.

Wouldn't you agree with that?

We're listening to ourselves.

We're listening to the world.

We're listening to our own moodiness.

Our inclination to not put Christ at the center.

And this morning, as we take the text in hand, I'm going to appeal to you that you who know Christ would do something in the flow of preaching.

Number one, that you would pray for me as I preach.

But number two, that you would pray that the Holy Spirit would help you listen.

Now, I'll tell you ahead of time what the outcome will be if that earnest and humble prayer.

How many of you understand what I just said?

If that earnest and humble prayer is prayed, it will be that in the week that follows, you will be a better listener to Jesus.

Don't you like knowing ahead of time what happens when you do the right things?

I mean, really.

Wouldn't it be nice next week to be able to walk in here and say,

Hey, listen, as a result of the Word of God making a difference in my heart,

and as a result of the enabling of the Spirit of God,

I am not so caught up with myself.

And in those moments where my heart has been inclined towards sin,

the Spirit of God has brought back to my mind the sweetness of the Scriptures

and has rescued me from that natural inclination that I have.

Now, know ahead of time, the purpose of preaching is to put you on the spot

where you respond with humility to what God has to say.

Not just now, but the whole week long.

Wouldn't that be nice?

How many of you admit that if you were listening more often to God,

your life would be less messy?

Smile at me so I know you know I'm talking to you.

My life would be less messy.

Earlier this week, boy, I hate to tell stories on myself,

but it just shows the progressive, the carnality of the heart.

We have window shakers.

How many of you know what window shakers are?

We're in the remodeling stage.

When I get to heaven, it will be all done.

But before that, I'm always remodeling.

And we don't have central air.

We have little window shakers we bought off of Craigslist,

and they're insufferably loud.

They do keep the house moderately cool.

But I was downstairs, and Judith was upstairs,

and I was trying to get her attention.

She came down the steps and said,

You're yelling at me.

I said, I am not!

Now, that was the air conditioners kind of prompting that, you know.

And then, truthfully, you know, I'm 66 and a pastor,

so, you know, I knew, stopped him.

That's not good.

But later on, I was driving somewhere to take care of something,

and I found myself beginning to struggle with anger.

Does anybody else have a problem with kind of working on their anger still,

still working at that?

You know, it's like I was just, I mean, I was livid inside.

Now, you know, settled and wasn't saying anything outside, you know.

But inside, and I thought to myself,

it was just a couple, about three or four minutes of driving in the car,

and I was just beside myself, and I thought to myself,

I could hear the Spirit of God say to me this,

the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.

And then I heard the Spirit of God.

Now, what do I mean by when I heard the Spirit of God?

I don't know how to hear the voice in the right ear, you know,

because the left ear is a little deaf.

But I, here's what I believe the Scriptures say in John 16.

It says, the Spirit brings to mind the Scriptures.

That's his job.

And so the Spirit of God was prompting me, saying,

Tim, not only do you need to remember that passage in James,

but there's all kinds of texts in Proverbs that tell us that an angry man

is just a, you know, kind of a walking disaster.

And they're, bang, bang, bang, bang.

I thought, you, stop while you're ahead.

You follow that?

I bring that up because this morning,

the center of our passage is this issue.

Listen to Jesus.

Listen to Jesus.

And the truth of the matter is, is every single one of us here,

whether we are saved or not, whether we've come to faith or not,

we need to hear what Jesus has to say

because it is a matter of life and death.

It is a matter of eternal blessing or eternal heartache.

And there's not a one of us in here this morning

that does not need the help of the Holy Spirit

to enlarge our heart and open our ear

to hear the sweetness of the communication

of the glorious Savior that came into this world for me and for you.

With that as kind of a background and an outline or an opening,

and I'm kind of sympathetic to David,

who's back there trying to figure out,

when does he start so I can snap up a slide,

I want you to know that what we're looking at this morning

in John chapter 5

John 5 · chapter mention

is kind of the after effects of what happened

when Jesus came back to Jerusalem.

You remember, he came into Jerusalem,

he cleansed the temple, a lot of pushback on that,

and he went off for a period of time back to his area in Galilee,

he stopped at the well at Sychar,

and many came to know Christ.

But then he comes back to Jerusalem,

and immediately upon arriving back in Jerusalem,

he kind of walks down to the pool at Bethesda,

and he heals someone.

He heals someone.

And it's very interesting when you kind of look at the healing situation,

Jesus walks up to a guy and says,

hey, what's the deal with you?

Do you want to be healed?

And the guy hasn't even figured out who he's talking to

or who's in front of him or what is needed.

He says, yeah, yeah, yeah, well, I can't get down to the pool.

And Jesus says, take up your bed and walk.

And the guy does.

He listens to Jesus.

And so here he is, kind of,

just imagine this.

He is walking through the streets of Jerusalem,

carrying his bed with him,

and there are Pharisees who are saying,

see that guy?

Hey, how come you're taking your bed and walking like that?

And the guy, he says,

the guy who healed me said, do it.

I mean, after all, the person who heals you

has a right to tell you what to do.

Would you buy that?

And so here the guy is.

He's marching down the streets, carrying his bed.

That was not something you did on the Sabbath.

And they were kind of really wigged out about this.

Look at what happens in verse 17.

Jesus, when he had interaction with them,

he said, yeah, how come you're telling him

to carry his bed on the Sabbath?

You know, and Jesus says, hey,

my dad's on the clock right now, and I am too.

I mean, that was just like a slap in their face.

Do you follow that?

And so what we read in verse 18 is this.

It says, this is why the Jews were seeking

all the more to kill him,

because not only was he breaking the Sabbath,

bad thing to do,

but he was even calling God his own father,

making him equal to God.

What we find from chapter 5, verse 19,

to the end of this chapter,

is a very careful and pointed response

that Jesus gives to his religious challengers

to make it clear that he indeed is the Son of God.

One of the things that a lot of people seem to believe today

about Jesus is that, I mean, not people who've come to faith,

but a lot of people kind of,

Jesus was a pretty nice guy if he existed at all.

And he kind of, you know,

trundled along through life

and was a little misunderstood,

but after all, he was really about just doing good things.

And, you know, he's really not a bad guy to follow

and model our lives after,

but he really wasn't into kind of letting people know

that they had a major problem with sin

and he came to be the Savior.

That's not true at all.

Jesus very intentionally made the issue of his mission clear,

both to the spiritual leaders of the day

and to all who would listen.

And we're going to see that here this morning

because we have religious leaders

who come to him and say,

yeah, and who are you?

And Jesus said, well, I'm glad you asked.

Let me tell you.

So the first thing we want to see

is as he points out there in verse 19,

he says this,

Jesus said to them,

truly, truly,

and by the way,

when you hear the word truly, truly,

what is it?

What is it?

It's a literary device,

the same as using a highlighter

or a yellow marker in your notes.

What is that for?

Pay attention.

Get this.

Pay attention.

This is important.

And so here's Jesus as he starts in.

He's going to say,

listen, I'm equal to the Father

and so let me help you understand that.

He says,

truly, truly,

I say to you,

the Son can do nothing of his own accord,

but only what he sees the Father doing

for whatever the Father does,

the Son does likewise.

Jesus responded to his critics

who were really upset

that he called himself God's Son and equal

by pointing out that his actions

and his Father's actions

were exactly the same.

How many of you heard the saying,

like Father, like...

Come on.

There we go.

Yeah?

Like Father, like Son.

And there's an element of truth to that

in broad terms.

I mean, our fathers affect the way we think

and the way we act,

and we hope that's favorable.

In this case, certainly was.

Jesus makes the point.

He says,

I do nothing,

absolutely nothing,

except what my Father once done.

I want you to fix that in your minds.

So the takeaway from that is this.

Jesus healed

when the Father wanted him to heal.

Now look at the passage again.

Jesus said,

Truly, truly, I say to you,

the Son can do nothing

of his own accord.

Now the implication is not

that Jesus was kind of

some robot over here,

and when the Father said,

you know,

that's the way it kind of played out,

you know,

it's like,

you know,

going over here to the pool

and doing the guy.

Jesus was just saying,

listen,

my dad and I are like this,

okay?

And I'm doing what he wants me to do.

I'm doing exactly what he wants me to do,

and I'm doing it exactly the way he wants it done.

Look at verse 19

so that we understand this.

When he says,

I can do nothing of my own accord,

but only what he sees the Father doing,

there are two pieces in this

that I want you to understand.

For one,

he's saying,

I do exactly

the things God wants done

for the reason he wants it done.

I do exactly

what the Father wants done

for the reason

he wants it done.

Jesus had walked down

to the pool at Bethesda.

He had walked past

hundreds.

I don't know how many were there,

but we can guess

it was a gathering place

of many, many

very infirm

and troubled people,

and he walked past

all these others,

and he goes to the man,

and he says,

hey,

do you want to be healed?

Right here.

He passed the others.

He says,

do you?

The reason God,

that Christ healed

that particular man

was because

that was the man

that God the Father

had intended for Jesus to heal,

and he did it

according to the Father's will.

Furthermore,

not only is it a matter

of doing something

for the same reason,

but it's also doing it

exactly the Father's way.

doing something

for the same reason

and doing it

the same way.

How many of you

eat on the backside

of your fork?

Hello?

Anybody out here?

If I were in England

or in India,

how many of you know

that English do not eat

with the scoopy part up?

they eat with the scoopy part out.

Now,

how that works,

I don't know.

Well,

I do know

because they always use

a knife

to push the food

up on the backside.

How many of you know

that food wants

to crawl down the fork

when you have it

upside down like that?

So,

where do kids learn

to eat

with the scoopy part

of the fork

aimed the wrong way?

At home.

Right?

They do it the same way

their dad does it.

And here is Jesus saying,

I do things

for the same reason

as my father

and I do them

exactly the same way.

Imagine the absolute smack

that this was

to his critics

who are all

kind of bent out of shape

about the fact

that Jesus was healing

on the Sabbath

and here's what he says

to them.

Let's get this straight.

He says,

I healed on the Sabbath

because that's what

my dad once done

and I did it

exactly the way

he wanted it done.

On the Sabbath.

So,

here's the question.

As we grow

to be like Jesus

and is he interested

in you growing

to be like Jesus?

What's the answer?

Come on,

everybody look up

because I think

this is important

to understand.

If you are here

this morning

and you are a child

of God,

do you understand

that he's left you here

instead of taking you home

so you grow

to be more like Jesus

over time?

Stop and ask yourself

the question,

am I still as moody

and as self-centered

and as easily irritated

as I was 10 years ago?

If that's the case,

there's a problem.

Everybody agrees,

don't you?

You understand that?

If you're,

how many of you know

what an OI is?

This is maybe a new word

for some of you.

The word OI

refers to

offendability index.

Write that down

on your notes

so you don't,

you can use it

with other people.

Don't apply it to yourself.

This is for others.

A high OI

is people who have

a high offendability index.

If your offendability index

is not kind of diminishing

going down,

there's something wrong.

Would you agree with that?

You see,

as we grow to be

more like Jesus,

we become more gentle.

We become less irritable.

We're not as bent out of shape

about as many things

as we used to be.

I understand

that's the way

you used to be.

But as we grow in grace,

there should be indications

of the fact

that we're changing.

And so,

here is Jesus

responding to his critics

and he says,

hey, let's get this clear.

I'm doing exactly

the way my dad

wants things done.

So how often

are the things

that you do

and the reason

for you doing them

like Christ?

How often are you

responding and acting

and doing things

exactly because

Jesus wants them done?

That's a fair takeaway,

isn't it?

Let's look at the second point,

verse 20.

Equal in communion.

For the Father loves the Son

and shows him

all that he himself

is doing.

Now,

everybody knows

Jesus loves me,

this I know.

There's another little song

that goes along with it.

Jesus loves the little children,

all the children

of the world,

red, yellow,

black, and white.

You follow that?

Jesus loves a lot of people.

God loves a lot of people.

What was Jesus saying here?

It goes back to that sign,

my father and I are like this.

He was saying that

his relationship

with his father

was one of unbridled love.

Jesus was not simply

claiming affection

and a tolerant love

that a superior

has for a subordinate.

He was speaking of

the kind of love

that comes in a

intimate communion

where both parties

are completely open

and free

and sweet

in their relationship.

And I want you to understand

that no Jew

would ever have made

this claim

that I am in this

sweet,

unbelievable

love relationship

with the father

in which

as a result of that

I know

what he knows.

Turn back in your Bible

just for a moment

to Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 29 · chapter mention

chapter 29, 29.

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 29 · chapter mention

chapter 29, 29.

Here is Moses

preaching his

concluding sermons.

And in 29, 29

he makes an interesting

statement.

It says this,

the secret things

belong to the Lord

our God.

How many of you

have had to come

to grips with that?

There are some things

about God

that you haven't

figured out yet.

In fact,

can I tell you

a little secret?

You never will.

You never will.

I remember earlier

this morning

as I was praying

and having time

with the Lord

I came up a chrono.

How many of you

have kind of

wrapped yourself

around a particular

thought and it

just kind of,

it's like looking

at the sun.

It's too much

after just a couple

of seconds.

I remember,

forget what it was,

but it was like,

oh man,

let's get,

Jared,

where are you?

Jared?

Jared speaks

about his brain

hurting sometimes.

It was one of those,

I was having a brain

cramp thinking about

these two beautiful

theological truths.

and here's what it says.

It says,

the secret things

belong to the Lord

our God,

but the things

that are revealed

belong to us

and to our children

forever.

That we may do

all the words

of this law.

There's some things

about God

that you and I

don't get,

but what Jesus

was saying is,

hey,

I do get them.

And I get them

because we are

in sweet and intimate

communion.

And my relationship

with the Father

is of such a nature

that I understand

the picture

clearly.

As I was meditating

and praying

about this passage,

I got to thinking,

what would it have

been like

to have just been

able to sit in

when God the Father

and God the Son

were talking about

the plan of redemption?

Do you follow that?

I mean,

we know that

our salvation

was planned

before the foundation

of the world.

And can you imagine

the conversations

between God the Father

and God the Son?

And man,

I have this wonderful idea

of how to save

fallen mankind.

You know,

those wretched,

miserable rebels

who hate me

and hate you?

Here's my idea.

Why don't you go down

there and die?

And Jesus says,

right on.

Man,

that's phenomenal.

And I'm with it.

And I love it.

And I'm,

see,

Jesus is saying,

go back to that passage

in John chapter 5.

John 5 · chapter mention

He says,

hey, listen,

the Father loves me.

And he has shown me

all that he is doing.

as Jesus marched

towards the cross.

He was not walking

towards the cross

with a quiet resignation.

It tells us in Hebrews chapter 12

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

that for the joy

that was set before him,

he endured the cross.

Do you follow that?

He anticipated the blessing

and he came

with an understanding

of the work

of the Father

in its details.

He says,

let me tell you something,

Pharisees.

My dad and I

are like this.

There's one other thing

that I want you to see there.

It says there

in the latter part

of verse 20,

it says,

in greater works

than these

will he show him

so that you may marvel.

Well,

what are those two works?

One is,

Jesus makes it clear

and we're dealing now

with the matter of

equal in authority

and glory.

Okay?

Equal in authority

and glory.

And so,

we're recognizing here

that Jesus is telling him,

you want to know

who I am?

I am God the Son

and I have the right

to speak the way I do

because my Father

and I are close.

What are the two things

that he speaks of here

that are miraculous,

significant works

that are going to cause

people to marvel?

One,

the Son will raise

the dead to life.

Jesus made this statement.

He says,

I am the resurrection

and

whosoever believes in me

shall not

die,

perish.

Memorial Day,

my sister and I

went out

to where

my dad is buried.

He's buried

quite close

to where Tom Parsons

is buried

and quite close

to where

Hal Burchett is buried.

And I remember

walking past

Hal's grave,

sweet man

that served

our fellowship

as just an

unbelievably godly

deacon

and Tom Parsons,

what a blessing

he was to us

in our fellowship

in so many

different ways.

And I remember

walking past

Hal's grave

and walking past

Tom's grave

and past my father's

and thinking to myself,

hey listen,

the day is coming

that this little

place of ground

is going to be

ripped apart

and Jesus is going

to raise him up

from the dead

and we are going

to go wow.

You got that?

I don't know

what we're going

to say on the way up

but probably

Tim's going to say

wow.

And I was like,

yes.

Jesus said it.

He says,

I am the resurrection

and the life.

And here he is

telling the Jews

ahead of time,

he says,

listen,

you're going

to see some things

that are going

to make you go.

What was that?

He says,

you watch me.

I'm going to raise

people from dead.

And he did that,

right?

He did that.

Widow

with a bunch

of people

trundling her little

boy out to the

cemetery where

they're going

to bury him

and Jesus stops

the whole crowd.

I mean,

can you imagine

standing out

in the middle

of 270

when the hearse

is going by

and says,

stop.

Open the car door,

walk out,

get this guy

out of here.

I'm going

to heal him,

raise him up.

And here's

Jesus,

raises that guy.

And do you know

that his spectacular

displays of power

were of such a nature

that his enemies

could do nothing

except try to plan

to undo the evidence?

Turn in your Bibles,

if you will,

to John chapter 12

John 12 · chapter mention

just for a moment.

John chapter 12.

John 12 · chapter mention

Jesus made it clear,

I'm going

to raise the dead,

that's what he says

there in chapter 5.

But look at

John chapter 12.

John 12 · chapter mention

John chapter 12

John 12 · chapter mention

is kind of a follow-up

to what happened

in John chapter 11

John 11 · chapter mention

where you'll remember

that Lazarus,

Jesus' friend,

died.

Remember how

that plays off?

Back there

in John chapter 11,

John 11 · chapter mention

Jesus makes it clear

that he's the

resurrection of life

and raises Lazarus

from the dead.

Well,

here's how the

religious leaders

handled the evidence

of Christ's power.

John chapter 12,

John 12:10

verse 10.

So the chief priests

made plans to what?

Read it.

Kill,

to put Lazarus

to death as well.

When you don't like

the facts,

destroy the evidence.

How many of you

got that one?

The best way

to not get in trouble

when you've done

something wrong

is get rid of

the evidence.

Do you follow that?

And here's Jesus

heals someone.

They couldn't deal

with the evidence

and say,

let's figure out

how we're going

to destroy the evidence.

Well,

Jesus said,

going there in

John chapter 5,

John 5 · chapter mention

he says,

let me tell you

something.

As the Father

raises the dead

and gives them life,

so also the Son

gives life

to whom he will.

The Son,

Jesus,

will raise the dead

to life.

Secondly,

the Son

will judge

all mankind.

Let me have you

think with me

just for a moment

back to the passage

in Genesis chapter 18.

Genesis 18 · chapter mention

And just for the sake

of time this morning,

understand that in

Genesis chapter 18

Genesis 18 · chapter mention

is where God reveals

to Abraham

that he's going

to trash,

he's going to destroy

the city of Sodom

and Gomorrah.

And he's going

to destroy them

for their wickedness

and for their

sexual misbehavior.

And here is Abraham

who knows that Lot

is in that city

and he starts out

his little appeal,

he says,

shall not the judge

of the whole earth

do right?

That's his,

God's the judge

of the whole earth.

Now,

we have some

wishy-washy theology

out there that,

have you ever heard

somebody say,

well,

I'm not the judge?

That's true.

That's true.

You don't have the right

to send anybody to hell.

Clear that one

out of the air.

But do you have

the right to call

a rotten watermelon

a rotten watermelon?

The answer is yes.

Huh?

Do you have

the responsibility

of identifying

what is right and wrong

according to the authority

of the word of God?

Yes,

we don't condemn.

We don't,

we're not the ones

who execute the judgment

but we are the ones

who can recognize

right from wrong.

And here's Jesus saying,

let me tell you something,

I'm not just the one

who recognizes

right and wrong,

I'm the one

who will be the judge.

And when Jesus said

what he did,

look at that,

verse 23, 22,

the father judges no one

but has given

all judgment

to the son.

I want you to think

about this very carefully.

I want you to look at me.

I want you to look at me.

Here's the deal.

The day is coming

when all humanity

will be judged.

And those who have resisted

the grace of God

and refuse to believe

in the Lord Jesus Christ

are going to find

that the one who judges

their unrepentant

and rebellious spirit

will be the very one

who died for their sins.

That's pretty significant.

That is a profound,

that's a profound

indication of the sympathy

and the tenderness of God.

Do you understand

what I'm saying?

He gives to the one

who came to be our Savior

the right of condemning

those who refuse

what he did for them.

Turn in your Bibles

so you follow the thought here

over to Acts chapter 17

Acts 17:31

verse 31.

Acts chapter 17

Acts 17 · chapter mention

is Paul preaching

in the Agora

in Athens.

The Athenians did not have TV.

They didn't have Netflix.

But they found entertainment

in sitting around

and just jawing

about various, you know,

philosophical

and theological ideas.

They were great at debate.

They go on and on

about everything, you know.

And they heard,

hey, Paul's in town.

You know what?

He believes in the resurrection.

You're kidding me.

So they had Paul show up

and he preached

a wingdinger of a sermon.

Started out pretty gentle,

but let's get down

to verse 31

because that's where the real,

he pulled the trigger

on the truth.

He says,

it's not that he didn't

pull it earlier,

but here he says,

because he has fixed a day

on which he will judge

the world in righteousness

by a man whom he has appointed

and of this he has given

assurance to all

by raising him from the dead.

The very one.

God the Father.

God the Father.

Sent.

To this world.

To die for my sins

and for your sins

will be the one

who judges you

in the eternal day

if you reject him now.

And it says in the book of Hebrews

what a sober thing it is

to face the wrath of a God

who in his holiness

judges sin

and who his mercy

has sent the Lord Jesus Christ

to be our Savior.

when you walk away

from that blessing

and say,

I am not going

to yield my life

and my own

eternal destiny

to anybody

but myself.

So let me have you close

by looking at verse 24.

Truly, truly.

And by the way,

what does truly, truly?

That's yellow marker.

That's an ink line

underneath the verse.

You know,

it's a truly, truly.

Jesus is saying,

hey, get the point.

I say to you,

whoever hears my word

and believes him

who sent me

has eternal life.

Is Jesus talking to you

this morning?

And the answer is yes!

He is.

Those who hear

and believe have life.

Those who refuse

will be judged

for all eternity.

whoever hears my word

and believes him

who sent me,

that's God.

The Father who sent him

has eternal life.

He does not come

into judgment

but has passed

from death

to life.

I want you to stop

just for a moment.

If you're sitting here

and you do not know Jesus,

here's what I want you to do.

I want you to think with me.

I want you to think

just for a moment,

just kind of,

you've lain in bed

at night

and thought about

some of the wicked,

despicable things

that you've done.

We've all done that.

Here's what the Bible says.

Romans chapter 8

Romans 8 · chapter mention

says this,

there is now therefore

no condemnation

to them who are

in Christ Jesus.

Do you understand that?

Why is it that

there is no condemnation?

It's not because

God just kind of says,

eh, no big.

No, sin's not a problem

for me.

It is a supreme problem

for God.

And yet,

He sent Jesus Christ

to die in your place,

to die your death,

and to satisfy

the penalty

of a holy God

against your sin.

And He has provided

salvation

if you will come

with humility

and brokenness

and say,

I stand justly condemned

before a holy God.

But I believe

what Jesus did.

He came in my place

and He died my death

and He has satisfied

my debt

and I believe in Him.

And those who believe

in Christ,

they move from death

to life.

Death

to life.

I want to encourage you

this morning

as you listen carefully,

I want you to understand

that at the heart

of your faith,

if you're here this morning

and know Christ,

is that if you are

a child of God,

one of the things

that characterizes you

is that He has opened

your ear

and given to you

the ability

to hear Jesus better.

Isn't that right?

Isn't that right?

Isn't that right?

So a practical question

this morning is

stop and think.

Do I hear Him better today

than I did

a year ago?

Is there less

dissonance?

Is there less

selfishness?

Is there less

bitterness?

Is there less

covetousness?

Is there less

anger?

If you are His child,

one of the things

that I can tell you

is that the grace of God

will work

to help you grow.

And my appeal to you

would be this.

If you're His child,

be one who seeks

that growth

rather than resist it

because guess what

I can tell you about

when you resist His grace

when you're His child?

He's going to get you

there anyway.

And so I would appeal

to you this morning,

hey listen Lord,

I want to grow.

I want my life

to indicate

an ear

to the

Word

of Christ.

I want you

to bow your heads.

And as Jeff

comes up to lead us

in our closing song,

I want to quietly

ask you

a very pointed question

without anybody

looking around

this morning.

I want you to stop

and ask yourself

the question,

do I know

Jesus Christ

as my Savior?

That's not complicated.

Yes or no?

Do I want

to continue

resisting

the prompting

and the pleading

and the gentleness

of the Spirit

of God

that is working

to convict me

of my sin?

Do I want

to keep resisting

that?

Or will I

with humility

and brokenness

humble myself

and say,

I recognize

I am

a sinner,

bankrupt

and broken

and one

for whom

Jesus died

and rose again?

will you

in the face

of the reality

of the condition

of your soul

respond in faith

and say,

Jesus,

I need you

to be my Savior

and I trust you

to save me?

And if that's

the prayer

of your heart,

I would plead

with you this morning

to humble yourself

and slip up your hand

and say,

I trust

Jesus

as my Savior.

Slip your hand up.

Lord Christ,

we are thankful

for the fact

that the Word

makes the issue

of heaven and hell

clear

and your Spirit

is actively

at work

bringing people

to a point

of saying yes

or no

to the clarity

of Scripture.

thankful

also,

Lord,

that your

winsome

and gentle

Spirit

continues

to deal

with us

after we

leave this

place.

And I would

plead that

you would

draw those

who are here

that need

Jesus

to the cross

and that

you would

convict those

that are

His children

and your

children

to grow

in a

desire

to hear

your voice

more plainly

and more

clearly

and to

be more

like

you.

We ask

this in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Let's stand

together as we

sing our

closing song

and as we're

singing this

it might be

that Spirit

of God

has prompted

your heart

this morning.

There's something

you need to

respond to.