Believe While There is Still Time: Theological Refelctions Upon Unbelief - John 12:35-43

1:27Time is quickly passing. I've got two kids graduating from college this year. I've got another just graduated from high school. Thank you for those of you who came out and supported the event and showed your appreciation and just celebration with my family. But time is quickly passing by, isn't it? A life of faith, I am convinced, though it may be mocked by the world, is the only life worth living. And I hope this morning, as we study God's Word, that you would be drawn into a life of faith. While you have the time at all, use that time to walk in the light. Walk in the truth. Be ye believing in the sun. Because very quickly, it's going to be gone, for sure.

2:28And so, a life well spent is a life that walks in the light. You remember back in Exodus 3, Moses saw a marvelous sight. He's out there pastoring the flock of his father-in-law. And then all of a sudden, he comes near the mountain of God and he sees a bush burning with fire. Fire and yet it was not consumed. So Moses says to himself in verse 3, I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight. Why, the bush is not burned up. Now that's a curious sight, isn't it? That should get your attention. Here's something unusual, something very abnormal. Here's a bush that's on fire and yet it's not being consumed. Curious.

3:33And so that piqued his curiosity. So he goes over, he looks into it a little more, and what does he discover? The God of the universe. I hope this morning, as we walk through this passage and we think about and reflect upon a crucified Messiah. Curious. I pray this morning as we walk through this that you will come with me and step aside into this curious sight and see the man that would not be burned up, would not be consumed in death. Curious sight. It should pique your curiosity, right?

4:21Well, I pray that you will meet the God of the universe and this crucified Messiah. Well, as we pick up our passage this morning, you remember some of the events that has happened. In chapter 11, Jesus demonstrates himself as the Son of God by raising Lazarus from the dead. He has power and authority as only God does. Chapter 12, he comes in to Jerusalem as the Son of David, riding on a donkey, without a doubt, proclaiming himself as king of the Jews and coming in accordingly as scripture prophesied.

5:05And now, some Greeks come up and they want to see him. Some people who do not belong to the tribe of Israel are interested. There's something that draws them about this Jewish Messiah. And so they want to see him. So in verse 20, they go to inquire of him. And then this triggers something in Jesus' mind. As these Greeks are coming, he says, Ah, my hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified, to be lifted up, speaking of his crucifixion and be glorified.

5:46And so, come to look down at verse 32. And last thing Jesus had said, he said, and if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. But he was saying this to Indicate the kind of death by which he was to die. The crowd then answered him, We have heard out of the law that the Christ is to remain forever. And how can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is the Son of Man anyway?

6:18And then we come to our text. While you have the light, believe the light. So we come to an epic moment in Jewish history right here. From here on, you don't see this crowd anymore. They're left perplexed, bewildered. Jesus didn't fit their paradigm of Messiah. And guess what? He doesn't fit many paradigms in here this morning. And that's why you must come to the scripture and you must be informed by the light because you haven't got it all figured out. That's why we must be taught. And the sin of these Jews is that they would not be taught by the light. And so what Jesus' exhortation was to them, as he is to us, walk while you have the light, because soon it'll be taken from you.

7:14And so what we have in our passage this morning is this great epic moment where Jesus then turns away. And from here on, chapter 13, you're going to really get into the ministry of his disciples. Or ministry to his disciples. And what you have in this passage that we read this morning is John's theological reflections upon unbelief. Why did the Jews not believe? And so much of what we will be reading this morning is this closing moment of Jesus and then John's theological reflections upon unbelief. Why this Jewish nation didn't believe? And there are certainly applications and implications to us today. And so this morning, as we reflect upon John's theological reflections, so we're going to reflect upon John's theological reflections. And as we do, I hope that we will come away with a better understanding of the nature of unbelief and that it will do something in our hearts to absolutely do everything we can to avoid letting our hearts be crystallized in unbelief. That's what happened to this Jewish generation.

8:36I want us to be walking in the light and believing the light while we have the light. And really, I just want you to see four simple theological reflections upon the nature of unbelief so that you will believe in him while you still have time. First, very simple theological reflection. Wants people to believe in him. God wants people to believe in him. And this is clear from the fact that Jesus wanted the nation to believe in him. In fact, as we've been going through the Gospel of John, you have just been witnessing time and time again where Jesus comes face to face with hardened, persistent unbelief, and his exhortation is the same: believe, believe.

9:28And this is certainly in our passage this morning, you look at two very clear commands that Jesus gives them. They need to obey. Two clear commands that he gives in verses 35 and 36. And he gives them so that they can avoid something horrible and so that they can obtain something wonderful. Look at the first command. Look at verse 35. So here they are. Who is the Son of Man anyway? What is he like? What are you talking about? Jesus said, look, verse 35. For a little while longer, the light is among you. Walk while you have the light. Be walking. Be living. Be going about your daily thought life as if the words of Christ. Are true. That's what he's saying. Be walking, be living according to the light. Let me shape you. See what I am pointing out.

10:44Walk. Walk while you have the light. You see, Jesus knew that his time with them was coming to an end. You remember at that feast of tabernacles where they're celebrating the light? Jesus, in chapter 8 and verse 12, just stand, I am the light. I am the one who exposes who God is. I am the one who reveals him. As you see me, you see God. I give clarity. I remove obscurity. And he exhorted himself, walk in my teaching. Walk. Listen to what I'm saying. Walk in it. Let it shape you and you will understand God.

11:34So walking in the light involves listening, listening with the intent to understand. It involves arranging one's life as if everything Jesus was saying is true. That's what walking in, adoptively, and so belief is necessarily part of it, and that's what he's going to go on. But basically, walking in the light is thinking and acting accordingly, as if the words and revelation of Christ is accurate, true. Well, there are two consequences of not walking in the light. Keep reading in verse 35: so that darkness will not overtake you. So, here's this exhortation: be walking, be living in the light, so that darkness will not overtake you. There's a limited condition here, and there is coming behind me darkness. Walk while you have light. Jesus has brought clarity to who God is. And if you will not walk in the light, guess what's going to seize you? Darkness, obscurity. If you won't listen to Christ and you won't let Him define, you're going to bumble your way through life not knowing who God is.

12:59Walk while you have the light. Heed the warnings of the light so that you will not be seized in darkness and the judgment of darkness. You see, and here's what's interesting: the judgment for not walking in the light is what? Being overcome by darkness. If you will not respond to the light that is given you, guess what? You never will understand truth. You never will understand the light, the way. You will never understand God. You know, think about it like this: if you're out camping and it's dark, no moon, no light outside, and somebody's got a flashlight, and you're going to walk from one side of the mountain through the ravine to the other side to get to your campsite. And guess what? If you don't follow the guy with the light, guess what? You don't see what's going on around you. That's the problem with darkness, right? It hides things, it hides what's really there. And so, if you don't follow the one with the light, you're going to walk in darkness. You're going to bumble. You're going to stumble. You may fall off the cliff, right? And that's likewise with Jesus, like he came as a light into the world to give clarity, to give truth, to reveal who God is and what he's really like. And when you refuse to follow that, guess what's going to come over you? Darkness.

14:34Everything's still going to be there, but you're going to go rushing into eternity, not knowing what's ahead, right? Refusal to think and act according to the light results in you being confirmed in the darkness. And that's what happened to this generation. So it's no wonder that one of the last exhortations that Jesus Gives after all that he's said and done, walk in the light so that darkness will not overtake you, because it will. The second consequence, verse 35. Jesus says, He who walks in the darkness does not know where he's going, right? The one walking in darkness has no idea where he's going. And this is a picture of fallen man rushing and bumbling and running in to eternity, having no idea what awaits.

15:37And when you refuse to be informed by the light, that is you. When you refuse to be informed by the person of Jesus Christ, this is you. This is who he declared himself to be. The light. And those who walk in the darkness have no idea where they're going. And the expression I would even say is like, you have no earthly idea where you're heading. And so it is with all those who will not live according to the light that God has given. God has given light. Respond to that light. Be a good steward of that light. Walk in the light while you have time.

16:26Well, bring it personally. Are you responding to the light? Are you letting the light, letting the news of Jesus Christ shape who you are? Are you being a good steward with the light that he has already given you? If you're not a good steward with what he's already given you, don't expect more. That's what Jesus is. If you refuse to follow the one with the flashlight and you fall off a cliff, you really can't blame the guy holding the flashlight, can you?

17:02Second command. He gives a second command. Look at verse 36. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of the light. So his first command is be walking in the light. The second command is be believing in the light. While you have the light, be believing in the light, so that you may become sons of the light. Now, to be a son of something or a child of the light is to have the same quality, the same nature, of right? The son of so-and-so is the son of so-and-so, right? There's a likeness there. And the one who follows the light, the one who believes in the light is the one who has been birthed by the light.

17:55Kindred with the light. Isn't that a neat thought? You are believing in the light, you are kindred with the light. Well, and this is where we start seeing John's commentary come in. Look at verse 36. These things Jesus spoke, and he went away and hid himself from them. That's don't see the crowd like this again. And this is where the judgment begins. He went away and hid himself, or he was hidden, is really the proper terms. He was hidden from them.

18:41Well, it's clear just from these exhortations, all the signs that he did, everything that he did, Jesus wanted the nation of Israel to believe in him. And so we can conclude, certainly as God put Jesus on the earth, we can conclude that God wants people to believe in him. We can even bring it down further and say, God wants you to believe in him. And that's the command: be believing in the light that you have. Be a good steward of it by responding to it.

19:17Be believing. God wants you to be believing in the light. Second element. In these theological reflections. Second, God gives people good reasons to believe in him. God gives good reasons for people to believe in him. Look at verse 37. But though he had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in him. So here's John's commentary. Jesus had given Israel good reason to believe in him. Very good reason. In fact, his works were not a bunch of shows. They were authentic. They were real. He gave them many perfect signs, and he did them. The word before them is right in front of their faces. He did them right there before their eyes. He did all these works right before their eyes. And yet he did all of these before them. Yet they were not believing in him.

20:32What John is doing here, he is making it clear, the Jews are the ones that are responsible for their unbelief. Jesus, by exhortation, by word, and by deed, gave them good reasons to believe in him, so that it is irrational for them not to give him a hearing because of the mighty works that he did. He gave them ample reason to put their trust in him and certainly to listen. To him. Yet, no matter how spectacular the miracles, Jesus was constantly and repeatedly met with a stubborn and persistent unbelief.

21:14Stubborn persistence in unbelief. Don't let that describe you. One of the worst characteristics of anyone I can think of is being unteachable. They were growing in their unbelief. Jesus was doing more and more works, even raising the dead. And yet, their unbelief was getting stronger and stronger because they would not walk in the light. Well, this begs the question: why? Why? Why wouldn't they believe the obvious? It's a very deep question. And it's the question really that John's gospel seeks to answer. Why did the Jews reject their Messiah? If he's truly their Messiah, why did he reject? Why did they reject him?

22:22And I think one of the reasons that John writes his gospel is to explain why they rejected him. Jesus was clearly sent from God. They should have sought to understand him. Why wouldn't they? You see, John is not just pointing to the irrational nature of unbelief, but the persistent rebellion of unbelief. There is something that's wrong. They should believe. They should give him an audience. There's more than just the irrational. There is a persistent rebellion. And this is what deadness to God looks like. This is the condition of all men. Dead. This is what spiritual deadness looks like.

23:12Well, clearly, Israel was responsible for their unbelief. And they held on to the irrational because they did not like where the truth was taking them. And many people get off right there because they don't like where the truth is taking them. They don't like the demands of a holy God upon their life. They don't like the concept of where the truth would take them. So they opt out. In fact, just reading in John chapter 1, let me just turn there and read a few verses.

23:46In the preamble, John says this: There was the true light which was coming into the world, enlightens every man. Verse 9, he was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to His own, and those were his own, the Jewish nation, did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of the blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. So John's already laid all this out, right? Those who believe, it's no wonder that you see the high point of Jesus' exhortation here: be believing so that you will be children of the light. He came to his own, they rejected him, even though he did all these works. But the point of this is that Jesus gave Israel good reasons to believe in him. And likewise, God has given us many good reasons to believe in him, and we should believe. The testimony of nature, the testimony, the internal witness of even our own conscience speaks of creator, a moral standard, and certainly the truth revealed in Scripture. And we have the complete word here. We have so much more than this nation of Jews did that day. We see the end from the beginning. And so we have so much, so many reasons to believe. So the exhortation, be walking and be believing in the light while you have it. Well, there's a third, there's a third simple theological reflection that I want you to see here that John takes.

25:31And that is that God knows who will not believe in him. God knows who's not going to believe in him. He already knows that. Jesus knew that Israel would not believe in him. Israel's rejection of their Messiah was prophesied. In fact, that's where he goes. And here's the thought: you know, just because Israel rejected Jesus isn't a reflection on Jesus' Messiahship. It's a reflection on the Israel's followership of their Messiah, so to speak. Just because the Jews rejected him doesn't mean Jesus isn't who he said he was.

26:13And really, that's what happens here. And John's mind goes to two passages in Isaiah: the first is Isaiah 53:1, and the second is Isaiah 6:10. Look at verse 38. They didn't believe, right? Verse 37, they weren't believing in him. He told them to believe, and even though he told them to believe, they wouldn't believe. They didn't believe. And in verse 38, this was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, which he spoke: Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Isaiah is basically asking the question: who are the ones who really believed our message? And what is the message that Isaiah is prophesying? Proclaiming. You turn to Isaiah 53:1. Keep your thumb in John 12 if you want to turn there. I'll read portions of it, but this is in that section about the servant who's going to be exalted. And this section really begins in Isaiah 52, 13, where the word says, Behold, my servant will prosper. He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. And then he goes on to speak about how he was marred more than any other man. And that through his sacrifice, he will sprinkle many nations. Verse 15, kings will shut their mouths on account of him, for what they had not been told, they will see, and what they had not heard, they will understand. And he goes on, and he says, But Lord, who, who has believed this message? This one would be so exalted, this servant that would be so exalted, yet exalted through suffering, an incredible amount of suffering. Who has believed our message?

28:05And he goes on, for he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of parched ground. Jeff preached a great sermon on that on Good Friday. I don't need to go back through that, but you some observations here. Who, to whom? This is what Isaiah, to whom has believed our message? A suffering servant. Who has believed it? And to whom has the arm, the power of the Lord, been revealed? Who are they?

28:36And so, what Isaiah, just in context of Isaiah 53, it alerts the student of Scripture, one who is acquainted with the prophecies of Scripture, knew that there would be widespread rejection of the servant. There's going to be rejection of him. If you're a student of Scripture, this should not surprise you. But there's also going to be glory. And you read, incredible, that the Lord was pleased to crush him in verse 10. He was pleased to crush him, put him to grief. And then in verse 11, as a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied. He, most servant, will justify the many, he will bear their iniquities. It's interesting that once the Greeks show up, Jesus says, My hour has come. And then in verse 27 of John 12, he says, Now my soul has been troubled. Now my soul is in anguish.

29:43So all of this is already mapped out. People in Isaiah's day would not believe Isaiah's report, and the people of Jesus' day would not believe Jesus' message. Why? Still there. Why? Well, then he uses another text from Isaiah, Isaiah 6:10. Look back at chapter 12, verse 39 in John. For this reason, they could not believe. That's an interesting for this reason. So he's telling you, he's answering the question: why did they not believe? For this reason, they could not believe.

30:28And the word there involves, it's basically saying they were not being able. The idea, it's not in them to believe. Why is it not in them to believe? Why is it not within them to be in a state of belief? Why? Well, and this term involves both. I mean, this idea here involves both power and volition, ability and volition. Think of it this way. Can a good mother purposely harm her child? I say a good mother because, you know, obviously, if you purposely set out to hurt your child, you're not a good mother. And I say purposely because sometimes when you're raising a bunch of kids, you do some accident things that can really injure a child. I know one lady that left her child on top of her car in a car seat. And drove off and the kid went bouncing off, but it was fine. He was fine.

31:35But so she wouldn't, she didn't purposely do that, right? But can, let me ask you: can a good mother purposefully inject or hurt or poison their child? Can they? They're able, but they're really not. It's not in them to do that, right? It's not in a good mother to harm their child, right? We can think of it like this: Can a die-hard Aggie really root for a longhorn? It's funny. I've seen some of these things. There are some die-hard Aggies out there that I don't care if the Aggies are playing America's worst enemy, they will not root. I mean, if the Longhorns are playing America's worst enemies, they will not root for the Longhorns.

32:35Can a die-hard Aggie root for the Longhorn? Well, it's not in them to do so, is there? You know, so that's that's the idea. That's the idea. They could not believe it, was not within them. For Isaiah said again, look at verse 40, he has blinded their eyes, and he has hardened their hearts so that they would not. See with their eyes and perceive with their heart and be converted and I heal them. And this is a scary thought here. He has blinded their eyes. He has shut their eyes. We know what God has shut, nothing can be opened. He has hardened their hearts so that they would not see with their eyes, perceive with their hearts, and be converted, and I heal them. I don't know about you, but that condition scares the daylights out of me.

33:27And if you have faith and you come to a text like this, it ought to stir you. Lord, don't let this be me. Whatever it is, I don't want to be in this condition. But as you read, as you read Isaiah 6, it's remarkable what is taking place there in Isaiah 6. I read a little bit portion of it just a little while ago. In chapter 6, verse 1, Isaiah sees this vision of the glory of the Lord. He's high, he's lofty, he's exalted, the train of his robe filling the temple. He sees all this, and then he's touched his lips with a coal. And then, verse 8, then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and whom shall go for us? Then I said, Here I am, send me. And he said, Go and tell this people, keep on listening, but do not perceive. Keep on looking, but do not understand. Render the hearts of this people insensitive, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.

34:49And when you read this, you're like, What are you saying to Isaiah? Is look, Isaiah, you're going to go to these people, and they're not going to listen to you. They really don't want to hear what you have to say. They are not going to like the truth that I put in your mouth to speak to them. And so, Isaiah's ministry was largely going to be a hardening ministry. And at the end of it, the people were in a state of greater hardness to God. Same was true with Jesus's ministry to these people. They had witnessed so much, but even raising the dead before their eyes would not change their hearts.

35:39And so hardening happened. And as you look through this theology of hardening through the scriptures, there's a lot of consistency. There's a consistent pattern here. You look what happened when Adam would not listen. In the garden, judgment comes, right? He's expelled. You remember Noah's generation. Genesis 6:5. Let these words, after you see the pattern that humanity goes down without God inserting himself, this is where the condition of man ends up. Genesis 6:5. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That's where man in his hardness progresses in his hardness. And then you have widespread judgment. The judgment was right upon such a sinful condition of humanity. There's rightness in the judgment.

36:55You remember Pharaoh, right? Chapter 4 and verse 1 of Exodus. Then the Lord said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power, but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. I'm going to do you're going to do all these signs. And then here's this Egyptian ruler. And he, I'm going to harden his heart. And as you go through the narrative, Pharaoh hardens his heart. And there's this back and forth, right? And there's this hardness that's happening in Pharaoh, he should be seeing the signs and he should be equating that the God of the universe has stepped in. But he hardens his heart. He says, I'll take him on. And then what happens? Egypt is judged. The whole army is drowned in the sea. Judgment was right.

37:50He hardened, and judgment came. You see, when people do not respond to the light, they are given over to being hardened and becoming an example of what not to become. And as you keep going through the biblical record, then all of a sudden, what happens to Israel in the wilderness? We're not talking about a pagan king now. We're talking about Israel, those who've come out. Listen to this in Numbers 14:11. The Lord said to Moses, How long will this people spurn me? How long will they not believe in me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? It's like, look what I've done with this people. Their heart is hard against me. How long?

38:37He is very similar to what Jesus is experiencing, right? Listen to what it says: Surely all the men who have seen my glory and my signs, which I performed in Egypt and all the wilderness, yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not listened to my voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any Of those who spurn me. See it. A hardening and judgment. In fact, I would say judgment is the hardening. The consequences come later. But the rightness, keep them out. They don't believe. They witnessed so much in Egypt, and yet they still spurn you. In fact, you read Hebrews 3, it's all about do not hardening your heart as this generation. He came on to Israel in the time of Jeremiah. Listen to this. He's going to bring Babylon against this people, against Israel. And this is what he says in Jeremiah 6:16. Thus says the Lord, stand by the ways and see, and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is. In other words, ask where the good way is and walk in the good way. And you will find rest for your souls. This is Jeremiah speaking to his generation, but they said, We will not walk in it.

40:02And I will set watchmen over you. Listen to the sound of the trumpet, but they will say, We will not listen. Therefore, get this now. Listen to what God says in light of the hardness of Israel. Therefore, hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. There's something wrong in their heart. There's something among them. Hear, O earth. Make sure all of you get this. I am bringing disaster on this people, people I pulled out of Egypt, the fruit of their plans, because they have not listened to my words, and as for my law, they have rejected it. I could go on after example after example.

40:56But after you get done looking at Israel's history, what do you expect them to do when Christ appears? And that's what John is saying. Let's go back to John chapter 12. That's what he's saying. This is prophesied. What would you expect from this people? They would reject their Messiah. And that's what John's saying. But the fault is in them. God not only knows who will not believe in him, but he will use them. He will use their unbelief for his glory.

41:40You could spend some time in Revelation 16 and look at 8 through 10 and look at the bold judgments that are going to come upon the world in the future. And you're going to see these cataclysmic events, and you're going to hear this, but they did not repent. But they did not repent because there is a hardness and judgment. Folllows. So just the whole idea is the hardening naturally follows those who do not respond to the light. And that is why there is an exhortation here that Jesus is so clear on. I have done all of these signs in front of you. Now you walk in the light that I have given you. Be believing.

42:28God uses hardened hearts to teach people not to harden their hearts. And that's what He does with this generation. Crucified Messiah. Now that's a curious sight. There's something in it that draws Gentiles. There's something in it that draws people. This is unusual. A Messiah that is crucified. That doesn't fit the pattern what we see on earth. This past week, day off, Thursday in my office, a man comes up and said, I need to talk to you. Early in the morning, been driving. I could tell he was definitely disturbed.

43:28He said, last night, I went home early, and I found my wife in bed with my brother. And he was weeping, and he was crying. He said, I never thought I'd be so devil. I never thought I was giving my brother a place to live because he didn't have a place to live. They thought I would come home at 3 o'clock. I got off early. I came in at 1. And he said, I have a violent past.

44:02I've spent time in jail. And I can't believe this would happen. And he said, something kept me from basically killing everyone. And he said, and I was driving out, and I've been driving all around. I don't know what to do. And something told me just to turn in here. I turned in here. I came in. And here I am. I said, have you ever. I said, what's your relationship with God? Giving you the high points. This goes on for a couple of hours, but so what's your relationship with God? None. When I was young, I was kicked out of my house. I had to live in the cold. All I had was newspapers. And I couldn't understand why God would do something like that to me.

45:00Even now, I can't understand why something like this would happen to me, that God would allow my wife. And he just break down my wife. We were boyfriend and girlfriend since we were eight years old. That's the only, you know, long history. And I said, well, I understand the pain. But have you ever been in a church before? No. Have you ever read John 3:16? No. Maybe it takes a rock being thrown through your window for you to get, for God to get your attention.

45:40And that doesn't excuse the evil that's been done here. But God uses the hardness in man to teach us not to be hard ourselves. Now you know what your spiritual adultery is like to a holy God who desires a relationship with you. And he says, I have wronged so many people so much. And he just broke down. We came down right in here. We started looking at the cross. A crucified Messiah. Let me tell you about this crucified Messiah. Let me read to you John 3:16. Hadn't heard these words before.

46:23Of course, I started in 15 and 14. You know, as the serpent was lifted up, so must the Son. Of man be lifted up, so that all who would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. And I watched a man just who is filled with soul rage just come to peace and settle his soul right here before a crucified Messiah. See, let me tell you what Christ is doing. He is proclaiming who he is to the nations. And those people who understand their own sin are drawn like a magnet draws the iron. They are drawn.

47:11But those who don't see a need or think it's foolish, they're not drawn. God uses the hardness of people's hearts to teach other people not to be hard. So walk while you have the light. Love to talk more, but we need to look through the fourth point. What is God's remedy? God's remedy for unbelief. Look at verse 41. These things Isaiah said because he saw his glory and he spoke of him. Whose glory did Isaiah see? Chase the pronoun back.

48:00The His glory in 41 is clearly Jesus, but you look back as Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up. Isaiah saw Christ's glory. A vision of glory. This is the remedy of unbelief. Seeing Christ. Seeing the glory of Christ, the very one that was standing before them, doing all these miracles, was none other than the one the seraphim worship and cry, holy, holy, holy. And Jesus is saying, listen, pay attention to the light, and it will lead you to who I am and show you my glory.

48:53But if you will not walk in the light and you will not believe in the light that has been revealed, darkness will overtake you. You will be hardened. People, don't let your hearts go down this road. Be believing. Be repenting. And here's the picture of Isaiah. Isaiah says this, in the year of King Isaiah, I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, lofty and exalted, train of his robe, seraphim, holy, holy, holy, verse 3. For the fountains, the foundations and the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out. And then here's Isaiah. Here's a converted man. Here's a man who is seen, Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips. And I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. It's that vision of glory, and one instantly becomes aware of their own sin, their own failure, their own fallings, and woe is me. And at that moment, a burning coal is brought, touched his mouth. Behold, your iniquity is taken away. Your sins are forgiven. You see, the remedy for unbelief is seeing the glory of the Christ of Scripture.

50:31But you're never going to see it if you will not walk in its light and come and let it inform you. You will always have a small vision of Christ if you will not let Scripture reveal him to you. Well, there is certainly a curious sight, a crucified Messiah. Curious. A Jewish, the Jewish nation rejecting their king. And then Gentiles suddenly drawn. Now, this is strange. Jesus came with all power, all authority, yet he was rejected, crucified.

51:21Look deeper into the mystery. Look deeper. You remember, Moses saw a bush that would not be consumed, even though it was burned, and he turned aside and he met the Lord of glory. I'll tell you, Jesus was the man when crucified. He was the one that death could not consume. If you will draw near, look in the revelation of the cross. And you will not just see a man who wasn't consumed by death, but you will meet the Lord of glory.

52:06Let's go to him in prayer. Heavenly Father, do not let us remain unmoved by the sound of your gospel. Let us be walking, let us be responding. What a marvelous way to call people to yourself. You came into this earth demonstrating your power. Demonstrating your absolute invincibility, and then you go to a cross. Amazing. Father, we do not think it is foolish. We are paying attention, and we want to be drawn. We want to be drawn.

52:58We know that this is how you're calling people out of this world because your king, your king, died for his people. And that is truly, truly curious. May we be drawn.