From A Mess To A Messenger - [John 20:11-18]

Bethlehem Bible Church

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April 25, 2021

00:01: Well, good morning. I would invite you to take a Bible and open it to John chapter 20 as we continue our
00:08: Relentless march through the gospel of John in fact by some estimates We'll finish this by the time
00:15: I'm about 75 Just a couple weeks in other words
00:26: What was the greatest? Transformation in history and when you want to find these things out you used to go to Google now
00:33: You go to duck duck go because you don't want everybody knowing your business If you didn't get that They're watching you, okay
00:44: One historian said that it was the greatest transformation was Europe and in this sense the pre -industrial
00:54: Revolution Europe was very agrarian very farmer oriented and after the Industrial Revolution Everybody for the most part lived in cities had factory jobs and all those kind of things and it changed the economy and then
01:09: I saw that PBS had a documentary about great transformations and Surprisingly it was about evolution
01:20: About the incredible diversity of life here on earth When I read that one it seriously
01:26: I just thought I instantly went how many of you have seen everybody's seen this meme You know Willy Wonka, and he just kind of puts his hand on his or his chin on his hand
01:35: It goes. Please tell me about that, and I'm like oh yes, I'd love to hear about You know how escargot came from you know a single cell or whatever, but I found a list of 125
01:50: Transformational leaders, and I thought this might be helpful and Then I saw one of the names on their
01:55: Simon Boulevard and for those of you who know your South American history raise your hand Okay, very famous Andrew Carnegie another good one
02:06: Industrialists in America Winston Churchill, you know what even Jesus made the list of transformational figures
02:13: And you might think oh, that's pretty good list then maybe oh, yeah sure till you get to how about this one
02:19: Tyra Banks? 125 people in history for transformation, and you're gonna pick
02:25: Tyra Banks all I can say is the internet let me down Changing search engines
02:34: Going back to Google But this morning this morning we're going to see a
02:40: Magnificent transformation take place in the life of a young woman right here in the pages of Scripture talking about Mary Magdalene Let's read our text this morning
02:51: John chapter 20 verses 11 to 18 but Mary stood weeping outside the tomb and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb and She saw two angels in white
03:09: Sitting where the body of Jesus had lain one at the head and one at the feet
03:15: They said to her woman Why are you weeping? She said to them they have taken away my lord, and I do not know where they have taken and where they have laid him
03:28: Having said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was
03:34: Jesus Jesus said to her woman. Why are you weeping whom are you seeking?
03:43: Supposing him to be the gardener she said to him Sir if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away
03:53: Jesus said to her she turned and said to him in Aramaic Rabboni, which means teacher
04:06: Jesus said to her Do not cling to me For I have not yet ascended to the father
04:12: But go to my brothers and say to them. I am ascending to my father and your father to my
04:19: God and your God Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples
04:25: I Have seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her now the gospel of John Was written so that we might know that Jesus is the
04:40: Son of God and that by knowing that by believing in that We might have eternal life
04:46: And in this passage today we see what a difference Jesus Christ can make
04:53: And the last time we were in John was actually for those of you are keeping track, and I know Bob Muto is Was Reformation Day weekend while the rest of you pagans were celebrating
05:03: Halloween We were in we heard John celebrating the Reformation Day and the resurrection
05:10: If you recall I read this quote then and it's just as apropos now from GI Packer Christianity rests on the certainty of Jesus resurrection as a
05:22: Spacetime occurrence in history in other words it actually happened all four
05:27: Gospels highlight it Acts Insists on it and Paul regarded the resurrection as indisputable proof that the message about Jesus as listen judge and Savior is true
05:42: This morning we're going to continue looking at the resurrection or more correctly the aftermath of the resurrection specifically how the
05:51: Lord interacted with the disciples after he rose from the grave and I have three
05:57: M's for you. She might be able to tell from the title those are two It could have had all three in there but I didn't
06:03: I have three M's for you number one a mess number two a messenger and number three a message
06:12: It almost sounds kind of nice a mess a messenger and a message And if we look at kind of the what
06:19: John's doing now Is he's building the case for Jesus as the Son of God these are kind of what
06:24: I would call his closing arguments he's bringing in his final witnesses his last evidence to kind of make his case and What could be better than an eyewitness to the resurrection
06:37: Mary Magdalene and seeing what an effect? Seeing the risen Savior had on her
06:44: But first we have to see her as a mess because that's what she was That's the common use of the term right when somebody is just a complete wreck we say that person's a mess
06:56: While the disciples we saw last time and I think verse 10 had returned to their homes
07:03: We see this in verse 11 But Mary but in other words in contrast of the disciples because they'd been there first they'd seen the tomb was empty and then they'd gone home
07:14: Mary stood weeping outside the tomb And this isn't some kind of you know
07:20: Sniffle grab a Kleenex just kind of dab at your eyes. That's not what they do in the Middle East This verb is the kind of loud
07:28: Wailing and crying and just tears and snot and everything coming out because she's she's into it, right?
07:38: Those of you are laughing who know exactly what I'm talking about, right? She'd come to the tomb if you remember to finish the preparation of Jesus body
07:47: Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea these formerly secret disciples these disciples that were in fear for their leadership positions
07:57: Had received permission from Pilate to bury his body and they'd brought all these bandages and all these
08:06: Ointments to put on the body and then probably hadn't had time to finish it
08:11: And so the women had gone early in the morning to finish wrapping the body of Jesus preparing it for burial
08:19: She was shocked to find the stone rolled away from the tomb And Peter and John if you recall
08:27: Were faster to the tomb they beat her there But whether they talked to her after that or not, we don't know because it's not recorded for us and What could they possibly have told her that would have been of use because we read in verse 9 for as yet talking about Peter and John they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead
08:47: They didn't understand the resurrection. All they knew was the body was gone But again returning to our text here verse 11
08:57: Talking about Mary here. She is bawling her eyes out and as she wept She stooped to look into the tomb and she saw two angels in white
09:06: Sitting where the body had lain one at the head and one at the feet Now somebody even asked me after the first service
09:13: Well, you know is one at the head and one at the feet does that represent the cherubim on the mercy seat?
09:20: and you know on the top of the Tabernacle, I I don't know
09:26: You know, I mean there's a there's a bunch of symbolism that people try to import into this in fact as I was reading through all the commentaries people said well white represents holiness and purity and the radiance of God and Okay, that might all be true but I think if we just think about this as an eyewitness account
09:44: Mary looks into the tomb a Tomb that's probably not well lit right? No electricity is flip on the switch
09:50: Maybe there's some lamps in there, but it's not like daylight. What does she see the radiance of these white clothes?
09:57: What it should tell us is These are not Men in the sense that they're not out
10:04: Working the rough -and -tumble world and everything like that with these perfectly white garments. These are angels
10:09: Who don't get caught up in all that. Is it true that they're holy? Yes But I don't know that that has anything to do with the white garments.
10:18: It's just the bright light that she sees Now why were the angels there?
10:24: Why were they in the tomb? Why were they at the head and the foot of the bed where or the place where Jesus body lied we don't know but What do we know about angels?
10:38: they ministered to Jesus in times of Difficulty, is it hard to believe that since we know this that angels long to look into the things of the gospel
10:48: They long to see how people are saved That they would show up at this greatest event in human history
10:56: I don't think that's hard to believe at all. In fact, Hendrickson said the absence of angels would have been surprising
11:04: Would have been shocking if none of them showed up if they were just like not that big I I mean there might have been a competition for tickets.
11:11: I don't know but I they there's certainly a focus on The resurrection and the angels would want to have been there and look at what they say in verse 13.
11:23: They said to her Woman, why are you weeping? Now there are a number of things we
11:30: I mean S Lewis Johnson said this he said, you know that question.
11:35: Why are you crying? Said that is a mistake that many men have made Asking a woman why she's why she's crying
11:45: Now it's possible Many times I've met that was sick
11:51: It's possible that they were trying to be empathetic right? You know, like oh, what's the matter? Tell me all about it
11:59: But it seems more likely That they understanding what's taken place that Jesus is raised from the dead, right that he's no longer in the tomb
12:08: And it's a good thing. In fact, it's the greatest thing that's ever happened They're asking her why are you crying what is wrong with you?
12:18: You should be rejoicing You should be celebrating Jesus is no longer dead.
12:25: He's risen just as he said every sin of Every believer has been paid for and we know that now because he's no longer in the tomb
12:40: He told you he told the disciples many times that he would rise on the third day and he had
12:50: But Mary Magdalene is so consumed by her grief She's so consumed by her mission she's there to do something specific that she thinks it's terrible that he's gone
13:06: Mary's response Shows what she was thinking about Verse 13 again the second half of it.
13:12: She said to them they have taken away my lord And I do not know where they have laid him
13:19: Well, what do you lay a dead body? She she does not understand that the resurrection has taken place
13:25: She if she wants to find him and in her mind, it's possible that even Jesus body has been stolen
13:32: But at least he's been moved. She knows that She's certain of that When we think about it, you know just from Friday night seeing the crucifixion seeing his disfigured
13:43: Beaten body up on the cross. She was there From that to Saturday and all the morning that would have gone on then
13:51: And now Sunday morning she goes there she's she's on a mission and the body is gone
14:00: She's sad. She's tired. She's not operating at full capacity. She's just Weeping and wailing.
14:09: She's frantic. She has one purpose. She wants to serve Jesus one last time Just to be near him verse 14 says having said this
14:23: She turned around and saw Jesus standing but she did not know that it was
14:29: Jesus Now there are some mysteries here, right? Why did she turn first of all she's looking at angels you ever seen angels
14:37: I Mean, I would be like That right. So why does she turn a
14:45: Lot of theories, but John doesn't really tell us What seems most likely? That the angels do something to turn her attention behind her right maybe they bow
14:58: Maybe they make some kind of gesture towards Jesus. Why because angels in the presence of God do that?
15:06: Because they're not sinful They know their place But she turns
15:14: She doesn't know that it's Jesus. Well, how could she not know that it's Jesus She just saw him on Friday Again John doesn't say maybe it was her tears
15:26: Maybe it was her belief that Jesus was dead After all, no one had ever come back from the dead right except for Lazarus Lazarus had been dead a few days and Jesus says come out
15:38: Lazarus and he comes out Everybody knew it was Lazarus but to give
15:44: Mary some Credit here. She wasn't the only one not to recognize Jesus after the resurrection.
15:52: I Sketches there's the Disciples on the road to Emmaus, right and Jesus even comes alongside and is talking to him and explains about himself, right?
16:02: And they still don't get it He appears to the disciples on other occasions and they're not really sure it's him or they don't know initially that it's him
16:16: Even in Luke in the account of the road to Emmaus. It seems that they were it says in fact in verse 16 of Luke 24
16:27: Their eyes were kept from recognizing him, right? Why was that the power of God?
16:35: So maybe it's the power of God in this sense or in this case Or maybe it's just everything that she's got going on in her eyes and who knows
16:46: But Jesus doesn't look exactly the same as he did before How could he? He was marred beyond that of what anyone else had ever suffered
17:01: Going back to the text in verse 15. Jesus said to her woman Why are you weeping just like the angels did?
17:09: Then whom are you seeking? When he asked her, why are you weeping? I mean, there's certainly an emphasis there, right?
17:19: In other words Scripture and John does this often if something is repeated? There's a reason for it and I think the reason is again to underscore the idea.
17:28: You shouldn't be crying But then he says whom are you seeking? He says whom not what
17:35: She wanted to know where a body was and the irony is of course that she's looking
17:40: Directly at the body. She's looking for Except it's not prone.
17:46: It's not laying somewhere. It hasn't been dragged off He is walking and talking and right in front of her back to verse 15
17:58: Supposing him to be the gardener. She said to him sir If you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away
18:07: Now why a gardener? Why would she think that you know, do you have a gardener in your you know funeral place?
18:17: Whatever your tomb maybe if you've been to some nice Cemeteries do they have gardeners?
18:25: Somebody has to cut the grass and make things look nice and we know what that this is the tomb of a rich man
18:32: Joseph of Arimathea, this is a nice place So it wouldn't be out of the question for there to be a gardener there for somebody to show up to take care of the grounds
18:44: Especially the day after the Sabbath right to make sure everything's in proper order Maybe he had to move the body in order to do something in the tomb.
18:53: She doesn't know So she very nicely asked if you tell him tell me where he is, you know
18:59: Not I won't press charges, but just kind of just tell me where he is. That's all I want to know She was looking for something very specific and You know
19:12: Have you ever been in that mode where you just kind of you're looking for something you're looking and you get more and more
19:17: Frantic and you just can't find it. You need it. Like I don't know you need your notes right before a sermon You can't find them anywhere and you're walking all through the house and your wife goes, you know, did you check the printer?
19:29: Lo and behold there they are, you know that kind of thing It's amazing how we can just zero in on something and forget the most obvious solution
19:42: Will this gardener help her now note?
19:48: It seems that she Turns away from Jesus and we'll see why I say that in a minute here
19:55: Maybe back toward the two. Maybe she just wants to have another look, you know Am I really sure the body's gone or maybe it's just somewhere else in the tomb and that you know
20:03: Because I haven't really gone in there and I just saw these two brightly clad figures
20:09: Maybe the body somewhere else Mary is sad.
20:15: She's frantic. She's crying her eyes out. She doesn't even recognize Jesus. Mary is a mess
20:23: But secondly we see the messenger the messenger Mary Magdalene is about to be transformed for 16
20:34: Jesus said to her now our
20:41: English translations. I don't care what you have. They really fail to Convey, I think two things here
20:50: One is he says her name Not in Greek Certainly not in English King James proponents.
20:58: I apologize He says
21:03: Miriam. He says her name in Aramaic and I can't help but think that he says it in a soft gentle Shepherdly way.
21:16: It's a voice that she knows. Well that she's heard many many times And this is really a perfectly exemplar of What Jesus said in John chapter 10 my sheep hear what?
21:33: my voice They know me He says Miriam She's not she's not clueless anymore
21:45: She knows All of her sorrow all of her emotion all of her tiredness all of her care
21:55: Disappeared with a single word her name and here's why
22:01: I said she turned earlier because look text tells us She turned and said to him so she was facing away from him
22:09: She'd been facing him and then she turned away from him. Now she turns back and Said to him in Aramaic.
22:14: He talked to her in Aramaic. She responds in Aramaic Rabboni, which means teacher
22:21: How many times do you think that exact exchange has taken place? Where he says
22:27: Miriam and she says Rabboni I've been sure say it happened many many times
22:39: Again just think what she's going through. He was dead.
22:45: She saw it with her own eyes But that voice Miriam she knows from utter despondence to complete joy and Now we get to the controversial part we've had the fun now the controversial part verse 17
23:10: Jesus said to her do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to the
23:16: Father Do not cling to me What does
23:21: Jesus mean? I think it's fair to say he she turned faced.
23:27: Jesus said we're bone. I The most logical thing would be for her to do what?
23:34: We see it over and over again after the resurrection. What do people do they worship him? Fall at his feet.
23:41: She's probably grabbing his feet Speculation but it's probably pretty good one.
23:47: So is he telling her? After just saying Miriam get your grubby mitts off me
23:56: I Tell the grandkids, you know, they start playing with something
24:02: I want to eat or something and I say get your grubby mitts off my food. Is that what he's saying? No Absolutely, not is he trying to stress the fact that he's holy and she's not
24:19: I don't think so. I Mean a little bit later in the chapter.
24:25: What does he do with Thomas Thomas? You don't believe go ahead touch me Stick your hand on my side
24:32: It's not a matter of him becoming defiled because by the way, he can't be defiled. So how do we resolve this?
24:41: I think it's helpful to look at the second part of this When Jesus says that he's ascending what is the significance of him ascending?
24:52: First of all, we know that he's not going to ascend For 40 days, right that happens in the first chapter of Acts Luke tells us
25:00: Luke who's very careful and meticulous about Everything bases all of his writings on eyewitness testimony says
25:07: Jesus was with the disciples for 40 days And I'm gonna read
25:13: Acts 1 9 through 11 just so that we can get this fixed in our heads He says
25:18: Luke writes this as they the Apostles were looking on He was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight and while they were gazing into heaven as he went behold two men stood by them in white robes and Said men of Galilee.
25:34: Why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven
25:42: That's the Ascension. I've not yet ascended.
25:48: I think that's what he's talking about. And let's just Explore that a little bit more. Why does Jesus ultimately ascend?
25:55: In other words, here's what here's what commentators say and and what I think is right She's holding on to him.
26:02: Why because she thinks he's risen from the grave like Lazarus and He's going to be back with the disciples happy days are here again schools back in session.
26:11: We've got the teacher We're going back to the to what the way things were the things have been reversed
26:21: But what happens when Jesus? ascends Hebrews 7 25 Consequently because he's ascended he is able to save to the uttermost
26:32: Uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.
26:38: That's what he's doing He's our eternal intercessor. He's intercessing for believers
26:44: I think Jesus is correcting
26:49: Mary's thinking she wants the good old days that he's saying No better days are coming and I'm going to leave and show you that better days are coming and There's strong evidence for that right here in verse 17 when
27:05: Jesus says For I have not yet ascended that word ascended that verb there is in the perfect tense
27:13: I love perfect tense verbs and that's why I like to talk about them Why because they're not all that common and they're very specific
27:21: There are a one -time event with as you all know Because you've heard me say it a billion times million ten thousand five hundred
27:32: One time event with ongoing effects, it's permanent when he ascends he's going to ascend permanently in shorthand
27:46: It's better for her and all other believers including the disciples if Jesus leaves why how do we know that?
27:53: Because he told them that What do you say in John chapter 16? He said it's to your advantage
27:59: That I leave because when he leaves what's he going to do? He's going to send The Comforter the
28:05: Holy Spirit to be with them after the resurrection
28:12: Until the Ascension Jesus just kind of shows up He pops in and then he leaves
28:18: John doesn't tell us in the even in this visitation or in other visitations what
28:23: Jesus does after that where he goes Why? because the purpose here is not to Or is to make explicit that Jesus is not going back to the way things were he's not just hanging out with the disciples
28:36: All the time he'll show up and then he'll leave he'll show up and then he'll leave Until he finally ascends he visits them for 40 days, and then he permanently ascends
28:48: So she's been transformed from a mess to a messenger and now she's given the message point number three the message
29:00: Because of the resurrection she gets revelation now you can't
29:06: Deliver a message without well, I guess you can nowadays you can text or send an email, but you can't in those days
29:12: You couldn't deliver a message without a messenger But it's it's so odd That it's
29:21: Mary Magdalene why sorry because she's a woman
29:28: By rabbinic law a woman could not even testify in a trial. She was not considered a reliable witness
29:37: So why not John why not Peter? We don't know
29:44: John doesn't tell us but here's the thing about having
29:49: Mary be this messenger if Christianity were concocted if it were invented by these men by these very clever men who abandoned their teacher
30:01: If it were invented by them, and they wanted to first appeal to Jews, which they do
30:10: They would not have a woman as a witness. They would have made themselves the witnesses. They would have not been so foolish as To have the word about a resurrected
30:23: Savior coming from a woman Now what message does Jesus give
30:29: Mary? First of all, she says that or he says that believers are brothers of Jesus My brothers
30:39: Jesus calls the male disciples my brothers Listen to what
30:45: Hendrickson says. He says my brothers not listen those habitual quarrelers Right the guys who wanted to fight about who was gonna sit at my right hand
30:54: Those men who promised to remain loyal to me no matter what would happen But who when the crisis arrived left me and fled those men who with one exception
31:05: John the beloved Apostle were not even present at Calvary when I was laying down my life for them
31:14: None of that instead my brothers Those whom I acknowledge as members of my family
31:21: Those who share the inheritance with me those whom I love tell my brothers
31:33: Tell me they wouldn't be encouraged when they heard that Jesus told me to tell you and he said
31:38: I should call you brothers Romans 8 17 says this and if children then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ Hebrews 2 11 for he sank he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source
32:04: That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers every believer is a brother or sister in Jesus Christ, but Does that mean we're on par with Jesus?
32:20: You know, I've said this before that just as an aside, you know people often say Mormons believe that Lucifer is the spirit brother of Jesus and I go, you know, what's even more shocking to me
32:30: They believe that I was the spirit brother of Jesus At least
32:35: Lucifer was an exalted angelic being But we're not the equivalent of Jesus he calls us brothers
32:51: But we are his siblings his brothers and sisters by virtue of his death
32:56: We're adopted because the Father has drawn us and the Holy Spirit has regenerated us, right?
33:04: Al Martin said this he said the legal documents of our adoption as sons and daughters into the family of God are signed, listen, with the blood of incarnate deity.
33:16: In other words, Jesus Christ, truly God, truly man, gave up his life. Why? So that we might be adopted by the
33:24: Father. How do I know that there are categorical differences, that there's a difference between us and Jesus?
33:32: I mean, besides everything the Bible says. Listen to this text here in John chapter 20.
33:39: Jesus says, I am ascending to my Father and your Father. Not, I am ascending to our
33:47: Father. Well, why not? Because Jesus Christ is the
33:53: Son of God by his nature. He has always been the Son of God.
33:59: One commentator said it this way, the disciples must never forget that whereas his sonship to the
34:05: Father is by nature and right, theirs is only by adoption and grace in and through him.
34:11: That is to say, Jesus. And therefore, he speaks of my Father and your Father, not of our
34:18: Father. The Bible calls, or scholars call this, theologians call this, and it's not in the
34:25: Bible, but this idea that Jesus is always the Son or always the
34:31: Son of God, eternal generation. Well, what does that mean? It means that Jesus is eternally
34:39: God, the second person of the Trinity. I was reading the Athanasian Creed in between services and other times here this morning.
34:48: You must believe in the Trinity in order to be saved. You must believe it. What does it mean?
34:55: It means that God is the Father, Jesus is the Son, and the Spirit is the
35:01: Spirit. The three are different. They are equal. They have different functions, but they're equal in substance and power.
35:12: The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, and neither one is the Spirit, and the Spirit is not either one of those.
35:20: But there is no, there's, there are a lot of heresies going around about Jesus right now, but he's not eternally subordinate.
35:28: And it's unfortunate that some of our systematic theologies, systematic theologies say that, that he was always subordinate to the
35:37: Father. It's not true. He submitted in his humanity. That's what he did.
35:44: But it's important that we note that God is not three different modes, that he is in fact three different persons,
35:52: Father, Son, and Spirit. There's no hierarchy of power, but there is a difference in their function.
36:03: There is a difference in their function. And it is the nature of God to have always been three persons.
36:09: The Father generates the Son. The Father and Son send the Spirit. This is the nature of the
36:15: Trinity. Theologians also say that the Son was eternally begotten, which means there was never a time that he did not exist, and there was never a time that he was not the
36:27: Son. He's not created. He did not become the Son. He was not adopted. There are all these heresies out there.
36:34: Why am I stressing it? Because there are a lot of heresies. And I say all that to underscore the gulf between Jesus and his siblings.
36:45: He is the first of many brethren, but it doesn't mean he's the first of many equals. He is the preeminent one.
36:53: He is the way that all of us are adopted. Hendrickson said this.
37:02: He said, the same God who is the Father of Jesus is also the Father of the disciples. It is to this
37:08: God and Father that Jesus is ascending. So now that the mess that Mary was has been transformed into the messenger with the message that the disciples need to hear, we read that she goes and she is obedient.
37:24: Verse 18, Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the
37:29: Lord and that he said these things to her. In other words, how do you think John, the beloved apostle, gets these things?
37:35: How does he get these truths? She told him she's an eyewitness. Can you imagine you were your
37:42: Mary Magdalene? Just imagine that for a moment for the guys will be a little harder, but you walk in to this room where I think the disciples are probably doing what they've just been to, you know, at least
37:52: Peter and John have been to the tomb and now they're back. And I don't think they just went back to life as normal and thought, well, you know, be a good time to have breakfast or something like that.
38:03: Maybe we should go to Starbucks, have a latte. I think they were probably trying to figure out what was going on. Why was the tomb empty?
38:09: Why was the stone moved? And here comes Marian and says,
38:15: I have seen the Lord, not I have seen his body, but I have seen the
38:21: Lord. And then she tells him all these things. She was transformed from a mess to a messenger with an important message by the power of Jesus Christ.
38:36: Now I'm going to do something I've never done here before, and it's not an altar call. So relax ushers.
38:41: Don't have to come up here and remove me. We received a, a note this week,
38:46: Patty found it in the lobby and I I'm going to, I'm not going to read it, but I want to just summarize this person's points because I think it's apropos to this message.
38:58: It flows with the gospel. Listen, I don't fully understand what Christ offers me. This person wrote,
39:05: I have awful thoughts and doubts that scare me. I try to do good, but I'm not perfect.
39:10: I do love the Lord, but I don't have faith in him. I need prayer.
39:17: And I want to talk to that person, whoever it is. And I really don't know. We tried to find out, we couldn't figure it out. If I could have figured out,
39:22: I would address them. So I'm doing that now. Well, let's talk about what is Jesus offer a full pardon for all sin past, present future, his death on the cross secures forgiveness for all who believe.
39:39: And listen, we even heard this morning, what else does he offer the right to be a co -heir with him, right?
39:46: Entrance into heaven, all the riches, his perfect life grants the righteousness that we need to get into heaven to all who believe in him.
39:59: It also offers. He also offers the unconditional love of the father because all who trust in Jesus are in Christ.
40:08: Jesus, he looks at us and he cannot love us more or less because then he loves
40:13: Jesus because he sees Jesus. When he looks at us, those in Christ were chosen by the father and sealed by the holy spirit.
40:24: Again, the Trinity at work person says they have awful thoughts. Well, so don't
40:29: I, you have doubts. So do I. Then again, so did
40:35: Peter. So did Paul. So did John. So did every human being who has ever lived except for one, the
40:44: Lord Jesus Christ. You're not perfect. Good.
40:51: If you were perfect, Jesus came not to the great physician didn't come to heal the fine, the healthy, but those who are sick, those who need a physician, he came to seek and save those who are lost, meaning they understand their lostness.
41:09: If you say I'm not perfect, good, because only one person ever was the
41:14: Lord Jesus Christ. Now you say you love Jesus, but you don't have faith in him. That's tough.
41:22: That's really tough because you cannot love the Jesus of the Bible. You cannot study him.
41:28: You cannot read scripture and say, I love Jesus, but not this Jesus. That's a worldly idea, right?
41:37: If you love Jesus Christ, you trust him. Faith in him does not mean you're perfect.
41:47: It means that your desires change. It can be slow. It could be almost imperceptible, but your allegiance changed.
41:53: You feel differently about your sin. Jesus loves the unlovable.
41:59: He forgives those who seem beyond forgiveness. He offers rescue from hell and hell is a very real place where those who reject the
42:12: Lord Jesus Christ, those who do not trust in him, those who do not say, you know what,
42:17: I believe in Jesus Christ and his life, his death and his resurrection. That's where people who don't believe in Jesus go.
42:29: Finally, this person says you need, or they need prayer. Like you need prayer.
42:34: Everybody needs prayer. It's one of the things I'm most encouraged about, about our church. We like to pray for one another and I'm going to pray for this person right now.
42:43: And not only am I going to pray for him or her, but I would really honestly invite this person to contact me anytime.
42:52: Get my email address. Call me at home. I'll tell you about Jesus and what he offers.
42:58: I am a recipient of grace and I'm happy to talk about it. I don't deserve salvation, but it has been purchased for me and granted to me.
43:09: And I love to tell the story. Let's pray our father in heaven.
43:17: We want to pray. First of all, for this young person, whomever it is, just pray that your spirit would convict them.
43:25: Not only of their imperfections, their sin, which I, it seems they understand, but of what
43:34: Jesus Christ offers because of who he is truly
43:39: God, eternal second person of the Trinity who descended to earth, took on a human body, took on a human nature, was truly human, then lived a perfect life, obeyed the law, obeyed
43:54: God perfectly died a death. He did not deserve then rose victorious on the third day that Jesus Christ is not only worthy of our love and affection, but of our complete trust.
44:09: Father, I pray that even today, this young person, and for anybody here who does not know
44:15: Jesus Christ, who's not been saved, who's not had that transformation.
44:21: I pray that even this moment would be that moment that you would cause them to believe that you would give them a new heart, that you would give them new affections, that you would cause them to be a born again, that they might love and trust and rejoice in the risen savior, even