Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Gen 2 is the idea, the sense of sight.
[00:00:06] Now, I haven't always worn glasses.
[00:00:09] Some of you are newer. You don't know that.
[00:00:12] Maybe some of you guys remember that when I first came here two and a half years ago, I had never worn glasses in my life, not once.
[00:00:20] I did not wear these at the end of my college career. Even a law enforcement agency required that I submit an official eye exam as part of their hiring process.
[00:00:29] So I went to the optometrist in my conscious memory for the first time. Maybe I did when I was a kid. My mom's actually here. She could probably tell me, you know, I don't know, I think it was the first time, but I received this news. He said, wow, you have great eyesight. You have 2015 vision.
[00:00:48] I was 22, almost 23.
[00:00:51] Today, I'm 29.
[00:00:53] By the time I was in seminary, I started to notice that my eyes were having trouble seeing, seeing as I looked up from the many books I was having to read. Could not see in the distance. And by the time I moved here just three and a half years later, I had just gotten used to the signs on the road being quite blurry, just having to. I just needed to know where I was going because I couldn't read what the signs said. Moving to a new area is difficult because you don't know the streets, you don't know the way.
[00:01:21] Things had gotten less clear. I finally saw an optometrist here.
[00:01:25] He told me I needed glasses. In fact, he said these words. This is basically an exact quote. He said, yeah, I definitely wouldn't want to drive with you at night.
[00:01:35] Yeah, I had like a three month old at the time, so I thought I should probably be able to see driving my family.
[00:01:43] So I got glasses the next Sunday. I even remember telling Ryan how great it was to be able to see him so clearly in the pulpit.
[00:01:50] Now, the gospel of John is set up to help us see.
[00:01:55] See clearly who Jesus is, much like glasses help those of us like me see signs in the distance.
[00:02:02] And the way that John does this is through telling of various signs. You might more often use the word miracle, but John, I think intentionally uses the word sign, as in it is signifying something.
[00:02:15] And in fact there are a group of sevens In John John two begins on the seventh day.
[00:02:24] If you look at 119 through 28, we were just studying this last week, we see that's a day.
[00:02:31] Verse 29 says the next day. Verse 35 says the next day. Verse 43 says the next day. And then chapter two, verse one tells us on the third day, if we add that up, it's been a week. Now, why is that significant?
[00:02:45] Well, 2, 1, 11 reveal the first of seven signs that John is going to teach us about.
[00:02:51] And you know, that still could be a little bit of a coincidence. But even after these seven signs, there's another week, seven days leading up to Jesus death and resurrection. And so we see these three sets of seven. I think John is trying to build his gospel with some structure. I'm usually not one to make too much of numbers.
[00:03:11] They can be abused. But John is showing us, I think, the completeness, the perfection of Christ's work on earth, just as he did in John 1, telling us that all things were made through the Word. He is making this creation connection, creation being also seven days.
[00:03:30] And all these signs, the first of which we're about to look at, are written down by John so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And. And that by believing, you may have life in his name. That is his purpose. So the shorthand, what we've been saying, the main point of John, any time you open John, remember this.
[00:03:50] Believe in the Word made flesh. It is a simple message all the way throughout. Believe in the Word made flesh.
[00:03:57] Like signs on the road, these signs in John are written down for our benefit. They say, exit here. The Son of God is here. And while they accurately and truly point the way, we still need to be able to see them.
[00:04:15] We need faith to see them.
[00:04:18] Those are the glasses. We need true faith in Christ to be able to see and comprehend these signs.
[00:04:26] Without them, we might go in the right general direction, but we won't actually see the destination, which is union with the Lord Jesus.
[00:04:35] So John 2, here's the main idea of John 2.
[00:04:39] Jesus miraculous signs reveal who he is, so we must truly believe that he reveals the Father and will keep his promises.
[00:04:50] Jesus, miraculous signs reveal who he is, so we must truly believe that he reveals the Father and will keep his promises.
[00:04:58] Read John 2.
[00:05:02] On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
[00:05:08] Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.
[00:05:12] When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. And Jesus said to her, woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.
[00:05:22] His mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you.
[00:05:26] Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons.
[00:05:33] Jesus said to the servants, fill the Jars with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
[00:05:39] And he said to them, now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. So they took it.
[00:05:45] When the master of the feast tasted. The water now became wine.
[00:05:50] And did not know where it came from. Though the servants who had drawn the water knew. The master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him. Everyone serves the good wine first. But when people have drunk freely. Then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.
[00:06:08] This the first of his signs. Jesus did at Cana in Galilee. And manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
[00:06:19] After this, he went down to Capernaum. With his mother and his brothers and his disciples. And they stayed there for a few days.
[00:06:27] The passover of the Jews was at hand. And Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons. And the money changers sitting there and making a whip of cords. He drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and oxen.
[00:06:42] And he poured out the coins of the money changers. And overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, take these things away.
[00:06:50] Do not make my father's house a house of trade.
[00:06:54] His disciples remembered that it was written. Zeal for your house will consume me.
[00:07:00] So the Jews said to him, what sign do you show us for doing these things?
[00:07:04] Jesus answered them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
[00:07:11] The Jews then said, it has taken 46 years to build this temple. And you will raise it up in three days.
[00:07:19] But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
[00:07:22] When, therefore he was raised from the dead. His disciples remembered that he had said this. And they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
[00:07:30] Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast. Many believed in his name. And they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part, did not entrust himself to them.
[00:07:39] Because he knew all people.
[00:07:41] And needed no one to bear witness about man. For he himself knew what was in man.
[00:07:48] So, based on Jesus revelation, the revealing of the Father.
[00:07:53] We should believe him that he does reveal the Father. Therefore, we should submit to his power. And look forward to the day that we can celebrate in heaven with Christ.
[00:08:06] We should also believe that Jesus will keep his promises. Just as he kept his promise to die and rise again.
[00:08:12] Therefore, we should honor his body, the church, and be one with it.
[00:08:16] Finally, we should believe in the real Jesus. And therefore trust God's will. Rejoice in salvation and ask God to examine us and cleanse us.
[00:08:27] So first, our point number one, believe that Jesus reveals the Father.
[00:08:33] So look first at verses one through five.
[00:08:37] What we see here in these verses is that both Jesus and his mother understand who he is.
[00:08:45] At this wedding in Cana, Mary saw that the wine had run out, which is not good if you're hosting a party.
[00:08:52] We don't really see Mary's thought process, but she tells her son Jesus about it. And she's not just telling him casually as other guests. Maybe we're saying they don't have any more wine. She's not saying it like this.
[00:09:04] We know this because she tells the servants to do whatever Jesus says.
[00:09:09] She thinks he can solve this problem.
[00:09:12] I'm not sure we can speculate exactly what she was thinking. She might have just thought, I don't know what he would do, but I just want everyone to know that you should go ahead and do whatever my son says.
[00:09:24] Really. Her belief, I think, might even seem surprising since Jesus says to her, what does this have to do with me now? As a side note, Jesus speaks here respectfully. He's basically saying, ma', am, it's not my time to deal with this right now.
[00:09:41] It is not his hour.
[00:09:43] This hour is a key phrase in the New Testament and the gospel of John. The hour in the gospel of John usually refers to the hour, or the time more generally, of his death.
[00:09:57] The hour is the climax of his earthly ministry.
[00:10:01] This is what all of the events in his life are heading toward. The exclamation point of his life is the hour.
[00:10:11] Is this the hour in John 2?
[00:10:14] No, but he decides anyway to act. I think this interaction is recorded for us so that we know that even though Jesus is going to act in a magnificent way when it is his hour, he's acting now. But that future work, when the hour does come, is far greater than any of these signs we will see before that.
[00:10:38] Then verses 6 through 10, they show us that Jesus, or what he ends up doing so in having six huge stone water jars filled to the brim and, and changing that water into wine, and not just any wine, but good wine. Verse 10 says it demonstrates two lessons for us.
[00:10:59] First, Jesus has power.
[00:11:02] Specifically, power over the elements.
[00:11:06] Jesus has incredible power. These 20 to 30 gallon jugs held who knows how many H2O molecules. And he changed even these tiny molecules, morphing their composition so that the jugs were entirely full of wine.
[00:11:23] Wine, which typically takes quite a long time to make.
[00:11:27] What incredible power he has.
[00:11:31] And this act makes sense for what he was doing, he was revealing the Father.
[00:11:37] And in one sense, we see in the Scripture, Father is used to refer to the Father's fatherhood with the Son. But Father sometimes indicates the Father of creation that he is the Creator. This is why in Isaiah it's prophesied that the Son would be everlasting. Father, Prince of Peace, talking about the Son, he is the Creator.
[00:12:01] He is in charge of all of the elements in the universe. Jesus, then, is no mere man that went to a wedding. He is the Creator, and in that sense, the Father of the world.
[00:12:13] Therefore, he has immense and immeasurable power over the world, down to the molecule and even further, to atoms, even the spiritual, which we cannot see. Jesus has authority and power over all things that have been created. He is the Creator.
[00:12:33] Even in the flesh, Jesus retains this divine power by nature of him being being one with God.
[00:12:41] So students, submit to his power.
[00:12:44] Submit to his power in the flesh.
[00:12:49] Naturally, we are at war with God.
[00:12:53] We resist him even if we don't want to. We resist him at every turn.
[00:12:58] And so this is not a call to war. It's a call to wave the white flag, to surrender to. To God's power through Christ.
[00:13:07] You can't ultimately resist it, so submit to it.
[00:13:13] Think of ways that you might be resistant to God's power. Are you resisting him because you like your sin?
[00:13:21] Are you resisting him because maybe you just don't think about God or even religion that much?
[00:13:27] Are you resisting him because of peer pressure?
[00:13:31] Are you resisting him because of shame for what you've done?
[00:13:36] Submit to his power.
[00:13:39] Receive forgiveness. Live for Him.
[00:13:43] Jesus has power.
[00:13:47] The second lesson we get from this is that Christians will feast with Jesus.
[00:13:55] Each of these signs reveal something about Christ and His glory, specifically about what he will do at the hour.
[00:14:04] This sign hints that at the hour when Christ died, He has opened the gates. He has made the way for us to join his wedding feast.
[00:14:14] This wedding feast will be served when Christ returns in glory, reigning as king.
[00:14:21] The Bible mentions this event in Revelation 19, and we can infer that it will be a joyful, momentous event.
[00:14:30] There will be feasting and dancing.
[00:14:33] Whatever else it might actually look like, we cannot fathom such joy.
[00:14:38] So Jesus does this sign at a wedding because of these reasons. Weddings are such happy events, and it mirrors how Christ comes to get his bride. So not only is it arguably the most joyful event that humans regularly participate in, but it is the exact image of Christ and His love for the church and that marital union.
[00:15:05] So, students, if you're in Christ.
[00:15:08] Look forward to this event, to this feast. This feast is being prepared for you.
[00:15:16] Think about this. What do people do when they get a wedding invitation?
[00:15:21] Maybe you don't know. I probably wouldn't have thought, even thought twice about this in high school. But you know what you do? You put it on the fridge or you put it on the calendar. Maybe it's on the counter. You display it in some way until the day comes. It reminds you that it's coming.
[00:15:36] And maybe you need to prepare for it, especially if you're in the wedding. Or maybe you don't have a suit or a dress and you need to get one to prepare for it. If you're a believer in Jesus christ, then you can pin up this invitation to the wedding feast of the Lamb of God.
[00:15:52] You don't know the date, but it's coming.
[00:15:57] And if you're not a believer, then you should also keep it in mind, maybe pin it up because it's coming.
[00:16:06] But I would implore you to get ready. And the only way you can get ready is to repent of your sins and put your trust in Christ. And when you do that, he clothes you in a beautiful garment. He actually makes you ready. If you trust in him, you will already be ready for the feast.
[00:16:26] Verse 11 then tells us that this is the first of Jesus signs that John records.
[00:16:32] We read here that he manifested his glory, which means the glory of God was made known through this miracle.
[00:16:43] Importantly, we see also in this verse, his disciples believed in Him.
[00:16:49] Seeing God's glory in Jesus caused his disciples to truly believe in him.
[00:16:56] So if nothing else, take this as your sign to turn and trust in the Lord, just as his disciples did. Follow him. Trust Him. Look what he has done. Look at his great power. Look at. Think of the feast he is preparing for those who are in him.
[00:17:15] Point number two then.
[00:17:17] Believe that Jesus will keep his promise.
[00:17:20] Believe that Jesus will keep his promise.
[00:17:24] So as we turn then from the first section of this passage to verses 13 through 22, we see probably in your Bibles a lot of you probably have the same translation. Maybe something to effect that Jesus cleanses the temple.
[00:17:40] But I think we could also, and perhaps even more accurately subtitle this section. Jesus predicts his death and resurrection. So I find that to be the climax of these verses.
[00:17:52] Jesus goes to the temple because it is the Passover. That was something Jews were supposed to do if they were able. So he went.
[00:17:59] Now the Passover is one of the holiest of the holidays for the Jews because it remembered How God delivered the people from Egypt. But what does Jesus find in the temple? What does he find in God's holy sanctified house?
[00:18:15] He finds that it looks a lot more like the New York Stock Exchange than a place of worship.
[00:18:22] It is disgusting what is happening in there. It is vile. It is worldly. It is. It is evil. So with completely pure and holy motivations and feelings, Jesus angrily drives them out.
[00:18:34] You probably are familiar with this story.
[00:18:37] The key to understanding the significance of this event, however, is in the dialogue that follows in verses 18 to 22.
[00:18:46] So the Jews, if you start looking at 18 through 22, the Jews are. They're obviously angry at him. They are not pleased with this. They want an explanation. And he gives them this puzzling answer. Look at verse 19.
[00:18:59] He says, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
[00:19:04] So they think that this is ridiculous.
[00:19:07] And humanly speaking, if he meant this literally, then it would seem ridiculous.
[00:19:15] But John helps us. In verse 21, John does this sometimes. Even if we maybe could connect the dots, he just wants to make sure you. You connect the dots. He's not trying to be confusing or withholding. He is telling you, in verse 21, he was speaking about the temple of his body.
[00:19:32] He was speaking about his own body.
[00:19:35] Now, there's a lot we could say here, but here's a quick biblical overview of this idea.
[00:19:41] In the beginning, God walked with Adam and Eve.
[00:19:45] They sinned. And God no longer can because he does not, cannot dwell with sin. His presence was removed.
[00:19:55] So God gave his chosen people, later Israel, the temple, so that he can dwell in a holy space among them as close and intimate as they could.
[00:20:07] And then the New Testament develops this further so that the actual person in Christ becomes a temple.
[00:20:17] God dwells in believers now who have been made holy by Christ.
[00:20:23] If you're made holy by Christ, then God can now dwell in you in a way similar analogous to how he walked with Adam and Eve before sin.
[00:20:34] So Jesus is introducing this idea. He's shifting from the physical temple to the temple of one's body. Most importantly, he, his own God, dwells in him.
[00:20:48] That's what he's claiming in saying this. He is God. And John has testified that the Spirit landed on him and remained there. So he's also full of God, the Spirit.
[00:20:59] So he is God. God is in him. He is the temple. He is where the presence of God dwells, not this abomination that is occurring in the physical temple at the time.
[00:21:13] The promise then, that Jesus is making is that he will be destroyed or killed, and he will raise himself up in three days.
[00:21:23] If they knew that's what he actually meant, they might think that's even more ridiculous that he would raise himself from the dead in three days. You might as well try to build up the whole temple in three days.
[00:21:34] This is what he meant.
[00:21:36] Now imagine the chills of the disciples when they saw him alive again and remembered that he had said that so many days ago.
[00:21:48] Jesus kept his promise.
[00:21:50] And we can also know that he will always keep his promises.
[00:21:55] So what do we do about this idea of the temple? We can trust that he'll keep his promises, but this idea that the body is the temple is important.
[00:22:06] And so what can we do? We can honor his body.
[00:22:09] He loved the temple. He sought to cleanse the physical one. And he raised up his temple of the body. So students, if you're in Christ, then remember this, that God Himself actually dwells in you. This is not superstition. This is a promise. This is true.
[00:22:27] So honor yourself in that way.
[00:22:30] Stay away from sin, especially sins against the body.
[00:22:36] Paul brings in this idea that the Christian is the temple of God, to say this in 1 Corinthians 6, 18, 20. Flee from sexual immorality.
[00:22:49] Every other sin a person commits is outside the body. But the sexually immoral person sins against his own own body.
[00:22:56] Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
[00:23:03] You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.
[00:23:07] So glorify God in your body.
[00:23:11] If you were bought with the price of Jesus life, then treat your body as holy.
[00:23:20] Sexual sins, like pornography of any kind, premarital sex, or even near sex acts are not just sins against God, which is enough, but they're sins against yourself.
[00:23:33] They hurt you.
[00:23:35] Your body is affected by them in unique ways. Your brain is rewired to crave and lust after more sin.
[00:23:45] Other practical effects happen to your body.
[00:23:49] And if the Spirit lives in you, you cannot indulge in this.
[00:23:55] Your sinful nature is warring with your heavenly one. But God has given you what you need to resist.
[00:24:02] Your sin might be winning, but it does not have to win. It doesn't have to have the last say. You can fight it with God's help through the Church's help.
[00:24:14] And speaking of the Church, we should also honor Christ's body by loving the Church. The Church is referred as His Body in the Word.
[00:24:25] A youth student honors the Church in several unique ways.
[00:24:29] You might be a member, maybe you don't know if you've been baptized by us or were baptized and then your family joined, then you are considered one. And if you are a member, then you love the church by being involved. It's simple.
[00:24:45] Come to members meetings.
[00:24:49] I would love to see you there.
[00:24:51] Look for ways to serve. Get to know the church members besides other youth students.
[00:24:58] Be engaged in worship in a way that models healthy engagement for young Christians.
[00:25:04] You can truly be involved.
[00:25:06] Now, you might not be a lever, or maybe you are, but you haven't taken the steps to join and have been baptized. And you're in a unique place. And there are still ways that you can be involved. You can honor and love the church. And I would love to talk to you and help you think about that.
[00:25:23] The church is Christ's body, the temple of the Lord. And Christ is zealous for God's house.
[00:25:32] He has passion for where the Lord dwells. So honor his body and believe that he will keep his promises to raise it up.
[00:25:43] Point number three, Believe in the real Jesus.
[00:25:49] So as we get here, we're now looking at the last three verses of John 2. This little subsection, verses 23 through 25, and they're interesting.
[00:25:58] So at the Passover feast, remember, he went in because of the Passover. And at this Passover feast, a lot of people saw what Jesus was doing because a lot of people were there for the Passover. So there were many eyewitnesses to what he had been doing.
[00:26:12] And based on the other Gospels, we can assume that he was doing more signs and miracles than just the water into wine.
[00:26:19] John is just isolating some of Jesus's signs to make his point.
[00:26:24] So as you read, you might think, yeah, look at that. Cool. Many believed in his name in verse 23. That's good.
[00:26:32] But John subtly, like he's Lee Corsa, says, not so fast, not so fast, verse 23. When they saw the signs that he was doing, they believed in his name. When they saw the signs that he was doing.
[00:26:50] So there's tension here.
[00:26:52] The signs are indeed intended to reveal the Father's glory, which should make people believe, right? Remember, the disciples believed when they saw what he had done.
[00:27:03] But John is showing that these people merely believed because of the signs. This phrase, because of the signs is left out when it speaks of the disciples. There's a difference.
[00:27:15] And how these people and the disciples believed these people's belief. Their belief was shallow.
[00:27:22] It was shallow. There's nothing to it.
[00:27:26] We cannot have a shallow faith that is mesmerized by signs and miracles.
[00:27:32] Signs can Be mimicked by evil.
[00:27:36] We don't think about this much.
[00:27:38] When Moses went before Pharaoh, God turns his staff into a snake.
[00:27:42] But the magicians of Egypt are able to replicate that.
[00:27:47] They even replicated a couple of the plagues against Egypt.
[00:27:53] Today, healing and other miracles can be observed in all sorts of places, so called churches. Yet those churches preach sometimes a false gospel, a totally different gospel, one that says, have enough faith and be healed, be wealthy, be prosperous.
[00:28:12] This is evidence that signs can be mimicked by evil.
[00:28:16] Don't be lured because you see something fantastic. They need to have the real gospel. They need to know the real Jesus to validate the signs. Otherwise it's mimicry by the evil one.
[00:28:29] So we cannot just believe because someone does something, even something seemingly miraculous.
[00:28:35] That's not what Jesus makes Jesus the real Jesus.
[00:28:40] The miraculous doesn't make him who he is. We have to believe in the real Jesus because he is the real Jesus.
[00:28:48] If we just believe like these Jews did, then that's just transactional. He does something amazing and I cheer and throw money in the plate.
[00:28:59] That is transactional.
[00:29:01] We no longer see Jesus on earth performing these signs now, right? He is in heaven. He's not here. So no one could believe today if there was only this kind of belief. This is a shallow belief, but a lot of people live this way. And Jesus knows it.
[00:29:16] He knows if you're faking it. He knows if your faith is shallow. And you know why.
[00:29:25] He sees your heart.
[00:29:26] He doesn't need glasses to see. Like me, he can see your heart clearly.
[00:29:32] So even if you have everyone on earth fooled, you cannot fool God.
[00:29:37] He will not entrust Himself to you. He will not give Himself to you if you are faking your faith.
[00:29:44] And since we want genuine belief in that, Jesus will know your true heart.
[00:29:49] Here's what you can do. First, you can trust in God's will.
[00:29:54] By that I mean don't be obsessed with signs and wonders, with miraculous gifts or the promise of healing. In the now.
[00:30:03] Christians trust God no matter what.
[00:30:07] We can trust the real Jesus even when we need a miracle in our lives and we don't get one. We can trust him no matter what. That's what Christians do.
[00:30:18] We'll see in John 20 how Jesus trusts the Father even while hanging on a cross.
[00:30:24] Trust God's will no matter what.
[00:30:28] Second, we can rejoice in your adoption.
[00:30:33] We should be much more obsessed with the reality that through Christ and through your faith you are welcomed into God's family than any sign you might see that is real. That is what Jesus accomplished. That's what his signs are pointing to.
[00:30:49] If we miss what they're pointing to and we're just looking at the sign, but we're not seeing where it's directing us to go, we're going to miss the destination.
[00:30:56] That's real.
[00:31:00] Has your mom or dad ever said something like puckets show up on time, Smiths have integrity. Something of the sort like this.
[00:31:09] It might be different, maybe in some way, maybe not.
[00:31:13] Maybe you've seen it in a movie at least.
[00:31:16] The reality and the truth behind statements like this is that we represent our families, even if that's increasingly unpopular. To think if you're in Christ, you now represent God's family in all you think, say and do.
[00:31:32] So what does this mean?
[00:31:34] How do you now choose things like what music to listen to, what words to say, what activities to enjoy, even how much food you eat?
[00:31:45] This is another instance where I'll encourage you guys to think specifically how this will affect your everyday life in your small groups. And if you're on the fence, then come to Jesus and be welcomed into his family, no matter what your story is like.
[00:32:01] Third thing we can do Ask God to examine your heart and convict you of sin.
[00:32:07] I think of Psalm 139:23 24, which says, Search me, O God, and know my heart.
[00:32:15] Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
[00:32:23] Pray that verse and see how God might reveal your sin to you and then flee from it.
[00:32:31] And he might also reveal to you ways in which you act in unbelief. Which leads finally to the fourth thing we can do. Ask God to cleanse you of unbelief.
[00:32:43] In Mark 9:24, a man responds to Jesus, a man who even has faith, at least in some measure in Jesus. And he says, I believe.
[00:32:53] Help my unbelief.
[00:32:56] Even our belief can be mixed with unbelief in this life.
[00:33:01] Sometimes our actions don't seem to follow our hearts or our minds. We believe, yet we keep acting like we don't.
[00:33:10] We keep sinning. We keep trusting in our own works. We live without thinking of God at all until things go bad.
[00:33:18] But that is just living in unbelief. It's functional unbelief so aspire to live each day for the Lord, believing in him more and more.
[00:33:29] But you need his help. And God gives you his help through His Spirit. His spirit gives you the ability to believe and to flush out unbelief.
[00:33:40] So believe in the real Jesus, not something else. Not in your works or the works of some popular figure.
[00:33:48] Believe that Jesus reveals God. Look to him and love him. Believe that Jesus will fulfill all his promises just as he did the one in this passage, dying and rising again.
[00:34:00] The first sign and the others that are coming help us to see who Jesus is, to see whom we have believed.
[00:34:09] Jesus signs reveal who he is, so we must believe in him and that he will keep his promises.
[00:34:17] Let's pray.
[00:34:22] Father, we pray that for those who struggle with this that you would help our unbelief make us live more consistently. Lord, we need your help.
[00:34:34] We so often do the things we do not want to do and we want to honor you. Lord. Help us.
[00:34:41] Lord, we thank you for your son, Jesus, his power, the promises he made and kept.
[00:34:48] Lord, grant faith and true belief to those who do not yet know you, that they would experience the joy of knowing who you really are. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
