John- From Faith to Faith (John 21:20-25 Jeff Kliewer)

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Sermon Notes: notes.cornerstonesj.org John- From Faith to Faith

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We are going to get this party started. All right, tonight at 6 p .m.,
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right here in the sanctuary, we are having a special prayer night for Israel.
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So as all of us know, there is a war going on in Israel, and we are going to come together and pray for Israel and for peace, and also, more importantly, for the salvation of the
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Jewish people, and for all of those who need to know the Lord Jesus Christ. So tonight at six o 'clock, prayer meeting for Israel.
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We have a men's and a women's retreat coming up in April, so if you don't have the
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Church Center app, it'd be great to download that. You can sign up there, or else you can ask one of us for more information.
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On March 2nd, there is the couple's dinner. So don't forget, if you signed up for the couple's dinner, that is going to be
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March the 2nd at 6 p .m. If you signed up to bring food to the couple's dinner, there are those tin pans for bringing the food.
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You got one right there? Yeah, wave that around so people can see it. Everybody, put your pan in the air.
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No, we wanna, if you're gonna bring food, please put it in one of those pans, so grab one of those on the way out.
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That way they can be kept warm on the sternos on March 2nd. So please grab one of those on your way out, and don't forget if you signed up to come.
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The congregational meeting, the next congregational meeting will be March 11th at seven o 'clock p .m.
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That's the meeting where we vote for the elders and deacons that are up for election, and also for the budget.
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We approve the new budget for the next fiscal year. And that is not all.
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There's one more important announcement. On March 3rd, Michael, you know about this, I think, right? On March 3rd, we went to honor our brother and his family for just the amazing gift that they have been to Cornerstone Church.
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As some of you know, they are being sent by the Holy Spirit. It seemed good to the
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Holy Spirit to send them to The Rock, our church plant, to minister musically in that ministry.
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So on the, what date did I say? The 3rd,
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March 3rd. Yes, thank you. On March 3rd, we're going to have a banquet after second service.
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So please plan now to bring something if you could, just some kind of homemade item or some cookies, whatever it is that you're able to contribute.
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And we'll also pick up some sandwiches and stuff like that just to make sure we have enough. But please plan on sticking around after second service on March 3rd.
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All right, let me pray, and then we'll get into worship. Father, we are so joyful and thankful.
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Lord, even just seeing the beauty of the snow still laying on the grass. And Lord, thank you that it melted off of the roads in the parking lot, but then it still just retains that beauty in the trees and on the grass.
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And Lord, when we see the snowfall, we do remember your goodness towards us, that you have washed us whiter than snow.
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And that by the blood of the lamb, we thank you for Jesus Christ, who died the death that we deserve, paid for our sins on the cross.
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And so we give all glory to the Son of God. And we ask now, Lord, as we come into worship, that we would give you what is rightfully yours.
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You are in rightful place as King of Kings, seated on the throne in glory. And so now,
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Lord, we come with hearts to praise the King. In Jesus' name, amen.
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Will you stand with me? ♪
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Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul ♪ ♪
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Worship his holy name ♪
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Sing like never before, O my soul ♪ ♪
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I'll worship your holy name ♪
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The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning ♪ ♪
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It's time to sing your song again ♪ ♪
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Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me ♪ ♪
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Let me be singing when the evening comes ♪ ♪
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Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul ♪ ♪
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Worship his holy name ♪ Sing like never before,
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O my soul ♪ ♪ I'll worship your holy name ♪
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You're rich in love and you're slow to anger ♪ ♪
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Your name is great and your heart is kind ♪ ♪
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For all your goodness I will keep on singing ♪ ♪
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Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find ♪ ♪
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Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul ♪ ♪
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Worship his holy name ♪ Sing like never before,
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O my soul ♪ ♪ I'll worship your holy name ♪
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And on that day when my strength is failing ♪ ♪
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The end draws near and my time has come ♪ ♪
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Still my soul will sing your praise unending ♪ ♪
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Ten thousand years and then forevermore ♪ ♪
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Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul ♪ ♪
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Worship his holy name ♪ Sing like never before,
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O my soul ♪ ♪ I'll worship your holy name ♪
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Oh, I'll worship your holy name ♪ Oh, I'll worship your holy name
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Each one of us were created to worship him. Deep in our soul, that's what we were made for.
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And as believers, we're allowed to enter his presence, into his throne room, because of Jesus, our mediator between God and man.
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The holiness of God should stir our hearts to praise and adoration of him. Let's sing as the angels do around his throne.
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Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come.
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♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪
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Lord God Almighty ♪
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Early in the morning ♪ Our song shall rise to thee ♪
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Holy, holy, holy ♪
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Merciful and mighty ♪
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God in three persons ♪
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Blessed Trinity ♪
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Holy, holy, holy ♪
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All the saints adore thee ♪
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Casting down their golden crowns ♪
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Around the glassy sea ♪
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Cherubim and seraphim ♪ Falling down before thee ♪
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Which word and honor ♪
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Evermore shall be ♪
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Holy, holy, holy ♪
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Though the darkness hide thee ♪
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Though the eye of sinful man ♪
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Thy glory may not see ♪
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Holy, thou art holy ♪
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There is none beside thee ♪
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Perfect in power ♪
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In love and purity ♪
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Holy, holy, holy ♪
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Lord God Almighty ♪
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All thy works shall praise thy name ♪
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In earth and sky and sea ♪
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Holy, holy, holy ♪ Merciful and mighty ♪
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God in three persons ♪
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Blessed Trinity ♪
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God in three persons ♪
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Blessed Trinity Lord, we stand before you this morning redeemed by your blood.
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Because you are worthy, we want to sing praises to your name. For you, O Lord, should receive all honor and glory and power.
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For you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.
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Lord, it's because of you that we can sing, that we can breathe, that we can praise your name.
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♪ Worthy of every song we could ever sing ♪
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Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring ♪
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Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ We live for you ♪
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Jesus, the name above every other name ♪
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Worthy is the one, the one who could ever save ♪
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Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪
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We live for you ♪ We live for you ♪
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Holy, there is no one like you ♪
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There is none beside you ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪
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And show me who you are ♪ And fill me with your heart ♪
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And lead me into love to those around me ♪
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Jesus, the name above every other name ♪
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Jesus, the only one who could ever save ♪
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Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ We live for you ♪
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We live for you ♪
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Holy, there is no one like you ♪ There is none beside you ♪
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Open up my eyes in wonder ♪
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And show me who you are ♪ And fill me with your heart ♪
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And lead me into love to those around me ♪
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I will build my life upon your love ♪
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It is a firm foundation ♪
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And I will put my trust in you alone ♪
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And I will not be shaken ♪
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And I will put my trust ♪ Upon your love ♪
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It is a firm foundation ♪
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And I will put my trust in you alone ♪
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And I will not be shaken ♪ Holy, there is no one like you ♪
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There is none beside you ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪
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And show me who you are ♪ And fill me with your heart ♪
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And lead me into love to those around me ♪
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Holy, there is no one like you ♪ There is none beside you ♪
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Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ And show me who you are ♪
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And fill me with your heart ♪ And lead me into love to those around me
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You may be seated. Let's pray.
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The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.
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The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.
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Father, our prayer is that this morning your word would be sweeter to us than honey, that we would value the words of this text more than gold, that this would be a treasure to us, that your word would be our delight.
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Speak, Lord, through your word and through me as if speaking the oracles of God, for these words are true.
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Help me, Father, and I pray for those listening that you would help each of us to hear the word of the
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Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. The year was 1957.
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Driving along an old Alabama highway, a group of friends, one of them 18 years old, riding shotgun.
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As the car traveled down the road at 75 miles an hour, the driver somehow veered, and the car flipped.
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As the car flipped, the passenger side door opened, and the guy running shotgun flew out of the car and landed on his bottom, sliding down the highway at 75 miles an hour, traveling 125 yards.
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Amazingly, after that slide, he was able to stand up, but he would spend three months in the hospital recovering from the burn wounds all across his backside and from his hands as he tried to slow himself down.
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This man, John MacArthur, stood on the side of the road and prayed,
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Lord, I will do anything you want me to do. I will be a preacher, whether the church be small or large,
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I will preach your word. Well, along came some help, and he was taken to the hospital, and of course would recover for three months.
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Two years later, for the first time, he stood at a bus stop in South Carolina and preached his first sermon.
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And ten years after that, in 1969, he stepped into the pulpit at Grace Community Church and preached his first sermon there.
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And he has been standing in that pulpit for 55 years.
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The endurance of faith, the perseverance of faith, the word of God says to the believer of the servant of God, he will stand for God is able to make him stand.
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There was a young mother of a seven -year -old who recently ordered all of John MacArthur's books.
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And it came in a package so large that when she took them out of the packaging and stacked them up, they stood taller than the seven -year -old child.
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And she delighted in the fact that she would teach her son the word of God through the writings of John MacArthur.
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Now, of course, John MacArthur, like any minister, is prone to err, and we don't agree with necessarily everything he ever said in the history of his life, but we recognize that he is a faithful servant of the
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Most High God. And it was God who granted him these six decades in a pulpit, preaching the word of God.
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We, in a sense, have our own John, who exemplifies endurance here at Cornerstone Church, our associate pastor, having finished his work in the military, and then civilian service as an engineer, at about 70 years of age, decided to go back to seminary.
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A lot of people would choose to enjoy retirement, but he enjoys serving
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God. And so he now serves as the associate pastor, along also with the young guy,
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Tim Robinson, as one of our associate pastors here. Now, it doesn't matter how many years the
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Lord gives you. It is a blessing to be given the strength to be able to stand for so many decades.
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But David Brainerd was one who had a very short -lived ministry to the
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American Indians. Back in the times just before the birth of this country, he was preaching the gospel, but as a young man he became sick and he died.
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His journal leaves a legacy of a life of faith lived right until his last breath.
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So whether you are long -lived, like John MacArthur, or your sojourn in this world is short, like David Brainerd, or like the thief on the cross who only knew
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Jesus for a matter of hours before he entered into eternity, what matters is that you persevere to the end.
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What matters is that your faith endures to your last breath where it becomes sight.
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Endurance is the subject this morning. About 10 years ago, I wrote this poem, and it draws off of a famous poem that begins this way.
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Only one life, it will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.
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To that I added, I used to read those words on my grandma's wall, and I was there that day to see her fall.
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I watched the medics come and pump her chest until my dad spoke up and said, let her rest.
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She lived her life, now it's past. She lived for Christ, her reward will last.
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When my eyes were young, I couldn't see that far. I heard an eternal song, but only read the first bar.
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Now my eyes are older, and they're looking out to an eternal kingdom I've been reading about.
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This life is heavy, but disappears like a mist. 2 ,000 years ago is like two days when life flowed from the wrist of a
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Savior once given and still calling for this. Here I am, all in, letting this life go for the eternal bliss.
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I find it interesting that I thought I was old 10 years ago, but in the process of life, you recognize that it is a mist, it is a vapor, as Ecclesiastes talks about.
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The more you look back, the older you get, and you look back on the course of your life, the more you realize that it is only a vapor.
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And how true it is, only one life, it will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.
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My grandmother was a wonderful example of endurance to the end. She was so excited about that 80th birthday and our family flew in from Florida and all of us were there together, a family reunion from Idaho and California and all of Washington State, the family coming back together.
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And after she enjoyed that birthday, the next morning she passed on to glory. But hers was a testimony from the
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German World War II, immigration to the United States and the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma, and then the rigors of an immigrant life, but faithfulness to the end, endurance.
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And never did I see anything but the sweet, kind spirit of one who knows the
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Lord Jesus Christ. I see the same in my father, and I've shared about his endurance of faith, that in my mother's loss of memory through really advanced
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Parkinson's, she's in a memory care unit and he goes daily to care for her.
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This is one of the great examples of the endurance of faith that I have witnessed. I find it more impressive to see the endurance of faith than the feats of strength.
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Sometimes you will see someone do some great thing, like Samson, for the glory of God.
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And of course we give glory to God for these things, but endurance that lasts for decades is something to behold.
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The church at Smyrna described in Revelation was warned that they would endure 10 days.
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And it spoke of an imprisonment and possible martyrdom. But my dad just this last week endured 10 days where he felt like he was in prison because he wasn't allowed by the memory care unit to go in and see my mom because he was sick.
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And so for him, those 10 days was like a prison sentence. And now this morning he's back in there with her again, where he wants to be.
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Because his heart is to love her and to care for her all the way through.
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As John would say, little children love one another. I see faith in my father, but that faith is worked out in love.
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The endurance of faith is pictured in his love. As we turn now to the last six verses of the gospel of John, you have endured well, you have persevered to the end.
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We finish now the book of John. It's been more than a year that we have spent in this glorious gospel.
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And as we have progressed through the last two chapters, we saw the appearances of Christ to various witnesses.
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Mary Magdalene, faith replaces her delusions. The disciples, faith replaces their fear.
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Thomas at the end of chapter 20, faith replaces his doubt.
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The fishermen, faith overcomes their idleness. And last week,
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Peter, faith overcomes his independence or we could say his spiritual pride.
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And now we come to the last figure, the last resurrection appearance, if you will. It's the same episode on the shore that began in John 21, but now the spotlight shifts off of Peter onto John.
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Let's read it. Here is a picture of perseverance in faith.
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John is a picture of one who has given faith as a very young man, and that faith will endure through decades as he waits on the coming of the
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Lord. John 21, verses 20 to 25. Peter turned and saw the disciple whom
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Jesus loved following him, following them. The one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said,
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Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man?
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Jesus said to him, if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?
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You follow me. So the saying spread among the brothers that this disciple was not to die.
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Yet Jesus did not say to him he was not to die, but if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?
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This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things and who has written these things.
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And we know that his testimony is true. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did.
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Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
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So here in the final six verses, John himself becomes the central character.
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Spotlight on John. And we will see in him a perseverance that will remain if need be until Christ comes.
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Of course, we know 2 ,000 years later that John did not make it that long.
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He died in the year 100. 100. In ripe old age.
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But John himself here serves as a type of all who receive faith and keep that faith, who endure in the faith.
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Peter will tell us in his second epistle in the first verse that we have obtained a faith as precious as theirs, the faith of the apostles.
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Faith is something that is obtained. In fact, it is something that is given. We obtain it by the gift of God.
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Philippians 1 .29 says it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him.
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Suffering is part of God's gracious plan for our lives, for our sanctification.
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But that verse tells us that it is given of God in the same way that faith is given.
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You have been granted not only to suffer, but to believe. And vice versa.
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Believing is a gift. And this is one of the things that John wants to highlight.
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And the way he does this is very interesting. The book of John is absolutely a masterpiece.
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John was a young man as a follower of Christ. And he had decades of pastoring before he wrote this book.
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Decades to digest the things that he saw. And the word that came from him, he was carried along by the
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Holy Spirit, but it was still the output of his own mind. The doctrine of inspiration holds that the
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Bible is at the same time fully the Word of God, and it is particular to the author's mind and intent.
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That is this human element. But the Holy Spirit actually intended every word that comes from the writing of the author.
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So in 2 Timothy 3 .16, it says, All Scripture is God -breathed. God actually breathed out these words.
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That word Scripture is graphe. And what it means is the actual writing of these words came from God.
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It's not that John was inspired. Although he was the vessel that God used, it was the very words themselves that came from God.
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But John is writing from his particular frame of mind. So he has digested these things.
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And when he tells the story of Jesus, I want you to know where he begins and where he ends.
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Very important. In the beginning was the
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Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God. He was
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God, says John. He begins with Jesus Christ. And that's intentional.
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That from the first verse in the introduction, John 1 .1 to 1 .18, the spotlight is entirely upon Jesus himself.
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And he emphasizes the new birth that does not come from the will of man, but comes from God.
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And grace upon grace, he will say in that introduction. Point being,
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John will include himself in the story, but he does so strategically as an anonymous, no -name disciple that he includes from chapter 1 until here in chapter 21, verses 20 and 21, where we are.
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You begin to see him in the spotlight only here. So he ends with himself as an example of one who has received faith and will keep the faith by grace.
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Notice in verse 21, Peter saw John. He said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man?
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Well, so much in the gospel was leading up to this point. Turn back with me, and we'll just look at a couple of these. John 1 .37.
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John has written himself into his own gospel, telling his faith story, and he does so as the anonymous disciple.
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In John 1 .37, the two disciples heard John the Baptist say, Behold the
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Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And so they left John the Baptist and began to follow the
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Lamb. As in Revelation, true disciples follow the
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Lamb wherever he goes. John becomes a follower of the
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Lamb, because John the Baptist told him. But notice in verse 37, he doesn't give his own name.
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The two disciples heard him say this. Verse 40 will tell that one of those was
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Andrew, the brother of Peter. But here John introduces himself merely as the other.
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There are just two disciples that had been following John and now go to follow.
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Now notice this will become a theme through John. 13 .23, here at the
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Last Supper, it's a heavy moment because Jesus is grieved. He knows that Judas is to betray him.
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And John here introduces himself again as one of his disciples whom
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Jesus loved. He names everybody else.
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He names Peter and Andrew and tells the story of Thomas and many other names are given in his gospel.
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But here, he simply calls himself one of his disciples whom
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Jesus loved. He's anonymous at this point. Notice again in chapter 18, verse 15.
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Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple.
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Since that disciple was known to the high priest, notice how strategic it has become at this point.
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It would be so much easier for John to say, since I knew the high priest, but what does he say in verse 15?
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Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he does not use the first person.
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He refers to himself in the third person intentionally masking his own identity and building to the moment that we have at the end of the gospel.
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He does it again in chapter 19, verse 26.
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When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, now it's as if the disciple whom
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Jesus loved is a moniker to describe himself whereas he's never yet given himself as the author.
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Isn't that interesting? He's become here in the story the disciple whom Jesus loved.
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At the last supper, whoever he had been closest to Jesus, it was the love of Jesus given to John that entrusted
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John with that secret information. Whoever it is to whom I give this bread after I dip it, it's he who will betray me.
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The other disciples didn't even know who it was, but the disciple whom Jesus loved was entrusted with that information.
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And now he's become the disciple whom Jesus loved. And that's the point. Chapter 20, verses 2 -8 you have that story of the two disciples.
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If you read it again, you'll notice he doesn't say, I outran
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Peter. He does mention it a couple times that he ran a little faster than Peter, doesn't he?
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But the point is he keeps saying, the other disciple. The other disciple. And that culminates in verse 8 when the other disciple who had reached the tomb first Now again, this other disciple is the one whom
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Jesus loved. He simply goes into the empty tomb and his physical sight of evidence becomes faith in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
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And that is the gift of God. That is the love of God shed abroad in John's heart that in verse 8 he sees the empty tomb, and whereas others were still struggling,
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Mary was caught up in some delusions until she herself was set free John says in verse 8 of chapter 20 and believed.
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And the point of all this is to give credit and glory to God for opening his eyes.
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He even masks his own identity so as not to steal away any of the glory unto himself.
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John the Baptist will say he must increase and I must decrease. In the same way
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John the Apostle decreases himself and holds himself to the very end in order to keep the spotlight on God and give glory to God for his own belief.
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In verse 8 and believed. It was God that revealed this unto him.
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And then lastly back to the passage where we are today the final six verses of the book.
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When Peter turns and says what about him? And John records this.
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He's wanting us now to consider himself. Not as the author of his own salvation but as one who has received a faith as precious as the others.
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Remember when I told you guys recently that my favorite book outside of the Bible is Trusting God by Jerry Bridges.
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Remember that? And many of you have read it? And that is one of the great books ever written.
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But for my part this week another book has replaced that one as my favorite.
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And that may only last a short time and if I read another one that catches my fancy. And I don't think everybody would love it because the first half of it is pretty thick philosophically speaking.
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But it was really the second half of the book that just lit me up with joy. That book was
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The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther. Written in 1525.
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It was the book that was really the seminal piece of Luther's work. His greatest work.
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But what was so beautiful about that is that in the second half of the book Martin Luther says
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I call two champions to my case. And the first is Paul.
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And he shows by the text of scripture. Verse by verse. That Paul intentionally demonstrates that the will of man is bound in sin.
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Romans 1 through 3. That the will of man is a slave to sin and dead in sin.
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And then culminating in chapter 9 that it is not of the will of man but upon God who has mercy.
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And he shows, Martin Luther shows that this faith that we receive is the gift of God.
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Beautifully stated. His second champion in bondage of the will was none other than John.
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And he shows throughout the book of John how John intentionally demonstrates that it is not of the will of man that people come to saving faith.
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He directly says that first of all in John 1 .13. Not of him who wills.
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But the new birth is the gift of God. And a few verses later it is grace upon grace that grace grants faith.
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And so John says in chapter 3 verse 8 the wind blows where it wills.
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Where it wishes. It desires. The point there is that there is a freedom in the wind.
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Who among us would think that we control the wind upon the plains?
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There are plenty of people who push out a lot of hot air. But even they wouldn't be so presumptuous to think that they are controlling how the winds blow across the plains of the earth.
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The wind blows where it wishes. Nobody knows where it's coming from or going. And so it is with those who are born of the
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Spirit. There is freedom of wind. It's God who directs the wind. And in the same way
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God sends forth His Spirit to a Nicodemus to open the eyes of his heart.
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It is God who does this. And John will prove this point and strengthen it in chapter 6 verse 44.
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I want to show this one verse to you and then we'll return to the end of the chapter.
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Here in one verse all the doctrines of grace are summarized in a verse.
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We may not say that it's fully expounded but the verse would be incoherent without the doctrines of grace.
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And some of you don't fully understand what are the doctrines of grace but it is enough to understand that salvation is of the
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Lord. That it is fully the gift of God and His free will in granting a heart of flesh to those who have a heart of stone.
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And John will take pains to demonstrate that the eyes of the blind are opened in the same way
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John ate that we are saved. The Pharisees couldn't see that spiritually though they had physical eyes to see.
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And dead Lazarus must be brought and called forth out of the grave because he can contribute nothing.
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This theme runs through John but in John 6 44 as Martin Luther explained to begin this reformation but as all of us should understand no one can come to me unless the
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Father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day.
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There in one single verse you have total depravity. No one can.
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It is not within the dead beholden will. The human will that is a slave to sin cannot come even if offered the outward call of grace.
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No one can come says John in verse 44 quoting
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Jesus total depravity unless the
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Father the Father he's a part of this equation that the
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Father must elect it is the Father's work to bring someone alive when they were dead and this depends on his will his freedom unconditional election.
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It says the Father who sent me draws him this drawing is irresistible grace.
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If I try to draw someone after something I might fail because their will might be set against my will but when the
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Father draws his power accomplishes that which he seeks to do and we're shown that because the ones who are so drawn will be raised up on the last day.
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It says him a particular person singular and the same one will be raised up a definite atonement made for that him not broadly speaking but the one who is drawn particular redemption and lastly and this is the major point of my sermon today and I will raise him up on the last day those who are brought and drawn to the son to believe in him to have faith in the son of God which is the work of the
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Father in his freedom those who believe who are genuinely born again will endure to the end they cannot lose their salvation because their salvation was the gift of God they are kept by the very
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God who saved them that is perseverance of the saints to make it safely to the end notice it's a bit different than the moniker once saved always saved because John takes great pains in the course of this book to remind us that it is only those who are genuinely saved that will persevere and the persevering will show forth the genuineness of that salvation you follow so in John 6 66 they depart even though they were followers and John 8 31 they're believers but then they don't believe how could this be
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John is showing us that there are some branches that will be cut off John 15 2 because they never bore fruit
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Hebrews 3 14 Hebrews 3 6 Colossians 1 23 the whole book of first John demonstrates this truth again and again that the genuinely saved will persevere in the faith and by that fruit will demonstrate that they were truly saved in the first place so rather than once saved always saved
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I like to say if saved always saved meaning if they genuinely were born again they will always be saved but some people will look the part
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John 15 2 of being in Christ connected to the vine only to discover over time that they never bore fruit and the vinedresser will cut off that branch they will be separated from the church in time so what does
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John teach us in his writing and then also in his example he demonstrates for us the perseverance of faith that the same faith that was born in him from above when this young man was told by John the
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Baptist hey there's the Lamb of God and he simply followed and then at the wedding in Cana he saw a miracle and he believed it's the
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Messiah this was the gift of God to John and this young man walked with Christ and was the closest to his heart not because John loved him but because he loved
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John and so John says and he identifies himself as the disciple whom
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Jesus loved and he makes himself obscure of no account even nameless and anonymous throughout the gospel to say this faith did not come from him it was always the gift of God and in the same way he will persevere so now go back to John 21 and we'll take two verses in the middle of this passage and then just quickly wrap it up but in John 21 22 to 23 what is the point because in this passage we will go on an adventure in missing the point let me say something about that how many of you have heard that the
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Bible is subject to so many interpretations one person interprets it this way and another that and who is to say what is right in the post modern world interpretation is left in the eye of the beholder whatever you see there is right for you and they do that not only with the
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Bible but also with language itself it's putty for you to mold with your own hands and meaning comes from within it is to be made by you to interpret the world but is that the world view of our
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God no because Jesus is the truth and he reveals truth and truth is what it is now here's the problem there are so many interpretations because people miss the point
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God does speak clearly and this was one of Luther's primary arguments against Erasmus who upheld the
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Roman Catholic position that Erasmus always said everything is obscure and ambiguous who could really know what the text is saying so don't debate on these things but Luther says no when
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God speaks he is to be understood watch what happens in verses 22 and 23
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Jesus said to him if it is my will that he remain until I come what is that to you you follow me now watch the adventure in missing the point so the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die that's what they read into it that's what they took away from it yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die but if it is my will that he remain until I come what is that to you
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Jesus had a point and they took something else now
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John is an example to us of one who lives a long time by the time this gospel is being written the other disciples have all been martyred and John alone is left and there's something strategic about John including this he's pointing us to his life of endurance but they've missed the point and decided that he's actually going to live until the second coming not the case we can clearly say now 2000 years later the point however is this if it is my phalo my will my desire the freedom of the will of the
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God of the universe that John remain same word from John 15 to that he abide that he continue he was already clean according to John 15 for which harkens back to John 13 in the washing of the disciples feet you are clean here what
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John is telling us is that Jesus will keep John until his coming or until John dies but that John is safe in the potter's hand he's already clean he's already saved and just as he came by faith to the son of God he will remain because it is
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Jesus who is keeping him and not the other way around now there is a will in the saved person the regenerate person is now alive and no longer a slave to sin and can fix that will on endurance and so Peter follow me focus on that John follow me endure focus on that Christian listening to this sermon set your heart set your mind on following Christ and here
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John is the example for us evident that he would live longer than the others and be this picture of endurance that we need to hear about this young man receiving a precious faith would then see his lord ascend to heaven and watch him go and John would live six decades persevering in the faith through many years of peace growing as a pastor we learn that he moves to Ephesus in Asia Minor and there he pastors the church he writes his epistles from there we also learn that under the reign of demission at some point persecution breaks out and John is in Rome standing for the gospel of Jesus Christ when the emperor commands that he be martyred like the others they throw him in a vat of boiling fish oil so as to kill him but as miraculous as it was that John McArthur could slide across the road at 75 miles an hour and stand up in the same way
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John was preserved by the power of God and did not die in that oil got out of the the vat and the emperor soon decided to exile him to Patmos he sent away as an old man to a rocky island with no accommodations and yet in that state he stands on the shore and he prays and in the spirit on the
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Lord's day Revelation 1 10 he's visited and receives a vision which we now have in our precious
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Bibles as the book of Revelation and then
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John under a new emperor Trajan in 96 takes over for Domitian who dies and there again is a time of peace and John returns to Ephesus at that time there's a heretic named
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Serentis who says that Jesus was actually only an ordinary man not virgin born and the spirit of Christ descended on Jesus at his baptism and then departed when he was on the cross this heretic this
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Gnostic teacher named Serentis came into the same house where John was and contrary to political correctness
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John physically ran out of the house saying I won't be under the same roof as this man so strongly did he condemn the heresy of Serentis but there are touching moments in his last years as well 90 something years old just before he died the records indicate that he would always say again and again just what he said in 1st
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John little children love one another he would tell the Christians love one another you have faith now love give your love to one another there was even an episode just before he died where he had gone to a bishop in Asia Minor and this young man had come to faith and John said
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I want you to disciple him raise him up in the faith love him show him the way of Christ and this young man was baptized and John returned to Ephesus but over those years the bishop was negligent and this little boy grew up and left the faith of his youth he became a robber and he joined a band of robbers that was controlling a certain hill outside of the city when
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John came back to the city now picture him the year is probably around 98 AD 99 he comes back to this town and he visits the bishop and he asks about the boy and the bishop cried and he said he's been lost to us he serves
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Satan now he's joined the robbers up on the mountain this old man barely able to walk did not stay and lament with the bishop but got up and went to that hill and the old man climbed the hill and John came to the band of robbers and they took him captive which he told them was what he wanted take me to your leader because that young boy had grown up to be the leader of the band of robbers and the church fathers record this episode that when he saw the boy the boy hung his head in shame and tried to leave and John said do not go he called him back and called him to stand and he reminded him that Jesus died for sinners like him and there is still hope for him and chasing down this wandering sheep leaving the 99 to go off after the one
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John tracked him down and before that day was over the boy broke down in tears repented and spent the rest of his days as a follower of Jesus Christ you see this is the perseverance of the saints on the part of John that he remained in the faith and he remained faithful as a minister following Christ going wherever sent he was willing to die on that hill and he said as much which is part of what broke that boy's heart but also the keeping power of God that even if some wander as a prodigal
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God is still able to bring them home to send a John to them to send you to them because the means that God uses to keep his own includes us going after the prodigal going after the lost one so the big point of the sermon and we close it here in John 21 is that it was the will of God that brought salvation to us and it was his power that keeps us in the faith notice then in verse 24 and 25
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John still doesn't give us his name he never gives us his name but he does identify himself here as the author of the book this is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things and who has written these things and we know that his testimony is true he's bearing witness to what he saw with his eyes not a blind faith he saw the empty tomb and he's testifying now verse 25 now there are also many other things that Jesus did were every one of them to be written
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I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written is that literally true if you remember that Jesus is not man only but God in flesh that whereas Jesus walked this earth and was finite in the number of things that he did he was all the while sustaining the entire universe by the word of his power books upon books could be written about how he maintains the rings of Saturn and the most distant galaxies he is actually the author of everything and so John speaks quite literally the world itself could not be could not contain the books that could be written about our
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Lord Jesus Christ John would have us focus all of our life upon him and give all glory to him for our salvation and so we close the book of John after a long tour through it where I think is very much an appropriate place to end and that is with John as an example for us of persevering will you persevere to the end will you endure will you be found in your last years ministering with more passion than you had when you were young return to your first love finish well none of us know how much time we have left
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I'm sure when John MacArthur was riding in that car he did not expect the car to flip the door to fly open and for him to be flung out of the car that could have been the end instead
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God had given to him six decades of ministry in a pulpit none of us know how long we will be here but remember this life is a mist and live every day for the glory of Jesus Christ I'm going to close in prayer and I'd like you to pray as well the saying is trustworthy if we have died with him we will also live with him if we endure we will also reign with him let's pray father we thank you for your word this morning my hope and prayer
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Lord is that you have encouraged all of us who believe to continue in the faith that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God that in this endurance we would not grow weary and lose heart but rather that we would set our eyes upon Jesus the author and the perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the father
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I pray for anybody here that is considering giving up on the
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Christian faith giving up on life itself for Jesus is life
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I pray Lord that you would restore them to their first love I pray that you would help all of us to endure to the end and make us more like John as he was more like Christ that even in his last years as an old man he was chasing down the wandering sheep even so send us
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Lord here we are offering our lives afresh and anew that our lives would always entirely be for the glory of Jesus Christ in whose name we pray amen
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I believe in Christ risen from the dead he now reigns victorious his kingdom knows no end through his resurrection death has lost its hold
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I know on that final day our eyes as Jesus rose on that day we will see you shining brighter than the sun on that day we will know you as we lift our voices one to that day we will praise you for your never ending grace and we will keep on singing on that glorious day what a blessed hope thrown out tired and worn we will spend eternity around our senior store though we grieve our losses we grieve not in vain for we know our crown of glory waits beyond the grave on that day we will see you shining brighter than the sun on that day we will know you as we lift our voices one to that day we will praise you for your never ending grace and we will keep on singing on that glorious day hallelujah what a day it will be for at home with you my joy is complete as I run into your arms open wide
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I will see my Father who is waiting for me hallelujah what a day it will be for at home with you my joy is complete as I run into your arms open wide
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I will see my Father who is waiting for me my
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Father who is waiting for me on that day we will see you shining brighter than the sun on that day we will know you as we lift our voices one to that day we will praise you for your never ending grace and we will keep on singing on that glorious day on that day we will see you shining brighter than the sun on that day we will know you as we lift our voices one to that day we will praise you for your never ending grace and we will keep on singing on that glorious day and we'll keep on singing on that glorious day now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy to the only