John 20:30-31

1:02I think many of us are aware of the expression that success is not what you know, but who you know, right? I think we've heard that's a well-known saying. It's not what you know, but who you know. And that seems to be a well-established saying, at least certainly in corporate America. But what that Expression captures is this idea that the doors of opportunity open based not so much on what you know, but who you know. That if you have connections to people of influence or people who are in the administration of things or somebody who's well connected, that doors can open because of them, not so much because of what you know. In fact, gauged by the way people like to name-drop. You know, let me tell you something was going on. By the way, did I tell you I met the vice president the other day? Name-drop. Oh, by the way, yeah, you know, I know the head of that organization. You know what? The chief of police called me up the other day and just wanted to see Donald Trump called me and just wanted to get my advice on something. You know, the name-droppers, right? We can easily do that. And the idea is that we all too often establish or connect our identity to whom we know.

2:42And we base our significance or insignificance based upon how well we are connected. I remember when I was working at my first engineering company, I got a call from a woman, it was here and locally. And she was checking on the status of her project. And as I picked up the phone, I heard these words: I am Mrs. Tom Light. I didn't know who Tom Light was. Now, I know now he runs a big, one of the main figures with car dealership in our area. But just the way she said, I am Mrs. Tom Light, and I wanted to see how my project was doing. Well, that's a very effective way to get an answer. Yes, ma'am, I'll get right. I didn't know who Tom Light was, but I knew he was really important, and you're connected to him, so I'm going to get right on it. Yes, ma'am, I'm on it.

3:40The question is: how well are you connected? How connected do you see yourself? Are you connected to anyone significant? If we based your life on the value of your life by how well you're connected, how would you measure up? At a more personal level, to what degree do you attach your significance to another person? Well, John found his life in being loved by Jesus. Talk about being well connected. He found the satisfying thing in all of life is to be a disciple whom Jesus loved. You know, his name doesn't even appear in the gospel, he is simply.

4:31Contented and delighted in this one idea. I am one whom Jesus loved. There is not a higher title. Remember early on in John, some of the very first words that he heard come out of his Lord's mouth were: Come and you will see. Come and you will see. John heard our Lord speak. He followed Jesus. He went where Jesus went. He got to know Jesus. He heard the things he said, and his life was transformed. He was transformed from a son of thunder to a disciple whom Jesus loved. And therein he found what life is all about.

5:27And so then he writes. He writes his gospel to share with us that which absolutely captivated his soul, that which came to him to be more valuable and more beautiful than anything else. And he writes to share that with us. His gospel is his testimony of who Jesus is. His testimony is what he found in. Jesus. And he writes it so that you may find what he found. So come and see. Come and see through the pages of John's Gospel, through the words he chose. Come and see, see the Christ that he sets before us.

6:22So John's gospel is his testimony to who Jesus is, and it's his invitation to you to also be a disciple whom Jesus loves. Last time we left off, remember in verse 30, John writes about signs. Therefore, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these have been written so that you may believe. So he writes, he selected his material. There's a lot of things he could have written about. There's a lot of signs he could have told us, but he specifically chose a certain amount of signs that would be adequate to communicate who Jesus was and is.

7:22And remember, a sign isn't something you just stop at. A sign points to something else. And when Thomas saw the scars, he looked at Jesus. And as Jesus exhorted him to be believing, he looked at the scars and he believed. He believed what the scars were testifying to. He didn't just believe, okay, Jesus, you're back from the dead. He understood what the scars were pointing to, the reality that Thomas's Creator, God, and Lord of his life was standing right before him, inviting him into an intimate and close relationship. And Thomas says, My Lord and my God.

8:13He followed where the signs led. And that is what John wants us to do. He wrote these so that you would take to heart what these signs imply and say about this one that came from Nazareth and what it says about you who are connected to him. So we got really just started last time, looking at the purpose of John, and that's where we're going to go. So he wrote all these signs with a purpose. He wrote his gospel with a purpose. And now we're going to step through that purpose one point at a time, one word at a time, one phrase at a time, so that we can understand what John's threefold purpose was for his gospel and is.

9:18So, first, John wants us to exercise faith. He wants us to be a people of faith. Verse 31: But these have been written, so that you may believe, so that you should be believing, so that you may believe. It's interesting about how John uses the word faith in his gospel. Now, suppose the Aggies play LSU this year. Let's suppose that comes off. And let's suppose that the Aggies win 98 to 0. Would that be a good game? That would be a good game, right? At least if you're an Aggie, right? In fact, you would leave and you would say, that game was all about the Aggies. All about the Aggies.

10:19Well, you know what John does with this verb and noun? You know, when he talks about faith, In his gospel, 98 times he uses the verb form. Do you know how many times he uses the noun? Zero. 98 times. Faith is an action, it's something in motion, it's what something, what someone does. It's not what someone has. In John's mind, faith is what somebody does, not what he has. I often hear people say, well, repentance isn't a part of salvation, isn't a necessary component in the process, in the whole part of salvation. And they'll largely point to John and they will say, well, John doesn't use the word repentance. But when you really understand how John uses the word faith, you understand that he's talking about the very same thing.

11:39Faith is coming out of yourself and into another. It is a process. It is an action. It's what somebody does. Faith is movement towards Christ and all that he is. It's not departure from him. It's not something you have, at least in John. Mind. It is something you do. It is to be exercised. And John wants you exercising your faith. He wants you to be a people of faith. Because faith takes us out of ourselves and it connects us to the object of our faith.

12:20And that's why the object of our faith is very important, isn't it? It's not just that John wants us to be people of faith, but he wants us to have faith in the right object. So the purpose of John is for us to exercise faith, but that to exercise faith in the right object. And what is that right object? It's a person. But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. You see, it's not just about being having faith. It's about having faith in the right person.

13:00Because faith takes us out of ourselves and attaches us to that object. And if that object isn't any good, guess what? Your faith isn't going to take you anywhere. Your ruin will be that with the object. You have faith in a boat with holes in it, it's going to sink. And you will go down with the boat. So, John wants us to have faith in the right object. What is the right object? Jesus. Jesus is the Christ. That's the first confession. He wants you to believe that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the expected Messiah. The word Christ is Christos, comes from Greek. The word Messiah is Hebrew, but they basically mean the same thing: Messiah, Christ. The word for Messiah, anointed one. Jesus is God's anointed one to rule over all humanity. He is God's king.

14:13His dominion is forever. Subjection to him is forever. And the blessed of the earth are those who come under his dominion. The cursed are those who persistently oppose him. So don't oppose him. Be receiving him, right? That's what John wants you to do. Subjection to him is forever. And that's a good thing. That's a good thing in God's mind. He has raised up somebody that he is absolutely delighted in to be the ruler of humanity. God delights in his word. Ways.

15:02And that's why he elevated him to this position, so that we too would delight in his ways. So that all humanity would delight in his ways as God delights in his ways. Second object, aspect of this object, is that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the Son of God. The one that God has ordained to rule over, to take care of humanity, is none other than God Himself. Jesus is God incarnate. God come to us.

15:49He possessed both a human nature and a divine nature. Jesus is God in human form. And that's exactly why God the Father has purposed that all would honor God the Son to the same degree that they honor God the Father. He is God. And this is good news. This is John's good news. Good news isn't just that God has his Christ ruler. That says really nothing about who that ruler might be. It's not all that comforting to have somebody who just has absolute power and absolutely who's going to take office and never go out. That in and of itself isn't all that comforting. In fact, that could be very terrifying. But the good news is the Christ is Jesus. That's what John is. Let me tell you about Jesus. The Christ, God's anointed one, is Jesus.

17:07That peasant from Galilee, that one. That's his anointed one. God's Son is Jesus. That's the good news. God's Son is Jesus. The one to whom all of creation belongs is Jesus. The kind peasant from Galilee, that one. The one who loved people, the one who listened to people, the one who took time with people, the one who cared for people, the one who provided for people, that one. That's the anointed one. That's God's Son. And we can delight in him. Praise God that that's.

18:00Who he gave to humanity. I am thankful that the care of my soul is not left in human hands. And let me be very candid with you. Let me tell you what one of my debilitating sins is. Let me tell you what one of my frequent temptations is to not care and to walk away. You see, it's a lot easier not to care than it is to care. Sometimes it's a lot easier to walk away, disengage, go off, do your own thing. That's the problem with a lot of men today. We disengage.

18:57Sometimes staying in and caring is the hardest thing you'll ever do. I am so thankful that God did not leave the care of my soul or anyone else in human hands because our love is limited. My love is limited. My ability is limited. This is not, I am so comforted. I am so excited. I am so delighted that God has given Jesus the care of humanity. He doesn't disengage. It is God Himself. He is omniscient. He knows everything about us. And He stays engaged.

20:19He cares. That's exciting. That's good news. He knows everything. He has all the power and He cares and He stays engaged. And He's going to take care of God's creation because He delights in His Father. He delights in creation. He delights in all that is good and bringing about all that is good. And He's raising up people who will think and do the same. Jesus. God's Son is Jesus. God's Messiah is Jesus. Let all the earth. Earth, rejoice.

21:03Let you who sit here today rejoice, and it is Him, and do not be afraid to come into His light. He is good. You can come into the light, trust Him, come, be done with your sin, do not defend your sin, do not excuse your sin, do not blame your sin, own your sin, come into the light, He is good, be transformed from a child of thunder to a disciple who Jesus loves. You see, God looked down to see if there is someone. He looked down, He had to see if there is anyone who is competent enough to reconcile Father God with sinful humanity. There's none.

21:52He looked down to see if there was anyone who could atone for the sins of the world. There was none. He looked down to see if there was anyone competent who could abolish death forever, and there was none. He looked down to see if there was anyone who could devastate Satan's empire and destroy his influence forever and uproot the lies from the human heart, and there was none. He looked down to see if there was somebody who could save humanity in every sense of the word.

22:29He looked down to see if he could. There is anyone that could bring in true righteousness and maintain it forever, and he found none, so he came. That's the good news. God sent his son into the world as Earth's Messiah, the blessed. O kings, listen, do not fight him. O individuals, O people, do not fight him. So, the purpose of John, I'm sorry. So, the purpose of John is to exercise faith. It's for us to exercise faith in the right object so that we would truly know how to live, so that we would truly live.

23:38Look back, verse 31. He's concerned about the outcome of our faith. Faith in the right object leads to a certain outcome. Verse 31: But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have. Life in his name, that you may have life in his name. You see, Adam's sin and our personal sins, you know what they do? They set us on a trajectory of growing isolation from God. That's the history of humanity. You can read about it and then you can look around.

24:23Growing isolation from God, that is death. Are you alive today? Listen to me. Everyone, I don't care how old you are, listen to me. What is the trajectory of your life? Are you growing in isolation from God or are you growing in a direction of relationship with him, a maturing relationship? You see, in order for you to be one of God, to be a disciple whom Jesus loves, you need a change in direction. And God sent his son into the world so that you would know it's safe to come into the light.

25:01Come into the light. Connect with him. And you know what faith does? Believing does? It takes us out of ourselves. It takes us out of the responsibility to care for ourselves, and it connects us to another who will care for us. Don't you want to move out of the responsibility to care for yourself? If you're the one looking out for yourself, you. Never will know peace because there will always be some insecurity. There'll always be something else to add. There'll always be something imperfect, always something undone. It'll never be complete. You'll never have total confidence in yourself, and you'll always be using people around you. You'll always be moving in a direction of trying to serve yourself and take care of yourself, and you'll never know peace, you'll never know satisfaction, and you'll never know life.

25:58But when you put your faith in Jesus, you move the care of your soul to somebody else, and you trust Him, somebody who is far more competent to care for your soul than you are or anyone else. He's the only unique Son, He's the only one where life is. And let me tell you: when you come to Him, when you move the centrality of your trust away from yourself into Jesus, all of a sudden, peace comes in. An assurance that, you know what, He is going to take care of everything. You know what? He is God Himself, He knows everything about me. Took that into consideration on the cross.

27:00He has dealt with my past. He has promised a sure future. Therefore, I can truly live right now. Life in his name. Life in His name. So, the purpose of John, very straightforward. He wants us to exercise faith in the right person in order for you to truly live. That's why he wrote all of this. Second, I want to talk to you about the essence of true Christianity because true Christianity is tied so directly to the purpose of John. The correlation is very clear.

27:52The essence of true Christianity. First of all, it's about the life of God in the soul of man. That's what Christianity is about. You see, God said, I'm going to make man after my own image. And so, what he does is he wanted man to mirror himself. And so, when you think about who we are, we are people, and we image something. We image either our Heavenly Father or we image the Prince of this world. We're imaging. We just radiate image.

28:37So at the God level, it's about the life of God. He delights in creation. He started this whole thing. He loves to create. He loves people and he celebrates the good. And so what we are to do is to do the same. We are that physical representation of God. When we delight in him, we mirror him. We image him. And we are to take joy in creation. We are to love people. We are to take joy in relationships. We are to celebrate all that is good. And as we see the good, delight in the beauty, that reflects from us. That's why he created.

29:21So at the God, so true Christianity is God. Jesus Himself is that full embodiment, that unique Son who embodied all and reflected without spot, wrinkle, the Father Himself. So true Christianity is about God transparent in us. Another aspect of the essence of true Christianity is that true Christianity is based upon a Correct confession of Jesus. It's a recognition of who Jesus really is. Jesus is both Lord and God. He is the Christ, and He is the manifestation of God in human form. He is the Christ. He is the manifestation of God. Any confession, listen, that denies Jesus' full deity, or his substitutionary death for his people, or his rightful position as Israel's king, or his God-given authority and lordship over every human. Anyone that denies any of those is not Christianity. It's not true Christianity. He is Lord, and he is God.

30:52But third, the essence of true Christianity isn't just about a high confession, it's about a personal relationship with him. And sometimes I think this is where many people can get lost. Somehow they tie their Christianity to the endless pursuit of a perfect doctrinal statement and somehow think that because they can write and articulate a perfect doctrinal statement, that they have somehow embraced Christianity. Listen, I teach theology, I love theology, I love it, I spend my life studying these great and wonderful truths, but they are not to stop there. They are not, it's not Not Christianity isn't just about putting your name on a correct doctrinal position. It's about personally relating to Him as that correct doctrinal statement makes.

31:45In other words, I see a large disconnect between our profession and the way we really think. We say all these wonderful things. Jesus is my Lord. Jesus is my God. He died for me. And we can all of a sudden get that. But then, do you really take that down to the core of who you are? Does that theology really shape who you are? Ah, my Lord and my God came for me. Why is it that we have bad days?

32:18Yeah, we live in a world full of trouble, for sure. But there is something that if you believe, really believe, you can face the worst days with a joy and a peace that is incomprehensible. The problem is, we really don't believe what we say we believe. And John wants us to make sure the essence of true Christianity isn't just articulating the right things. Yes, we need to articulate the right things and give ourselves to that, but that articulation needs to be embraced at the heart level and taken in.

33:00Or we're not walking in Christianity. You can grow up under the best doctrinal statements and be totally apostate from him and never make the connection. Some people have said some of the longest journey is from the head to the heart. Sometimes that's true. But Christianity is about a personal relationship. Fourth, the essence of true Christianity is about life in his name. His name. Here is the location of life. It's in his name. Whose name? Jesus. God's anointed is Jesus. God's Son is Jesus.

33:54Our past is forgiven. Our future is secure. Get on with life. Live. Live. I date myself with this illustration, and I've told it before. Pinball, right? You guys remember pinball? No, you don't. Some of you do. Does anybody remember pinball? Okay, let me tell you: okay, pinball, this big steel ball goes down, you bang it around, and when I would be on my run my bread routes when I was young, there was some. Places that had pinball machines, and I loved to play the pinball machines, but every once in a while I'd win a free ball. And I don't know if you remember, if you knock down the right targets in the right order and stuff, you get a free ball. Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, it's like you've got a free ball. Go for it. The other ones, and there I would go. I would play that ball harder. I'd take more risks. I would go. And that's when pinball was the funnest because I knew I had nothing to lose. That's what I think life's about here.

35:03Go. Your past is forgiven. Your future is secure. Go, live, love, follow him. Go. That's what John's message is. Life in his name. Now you're ready to live. Now you're ready to give. Now you're ready to die for something truly worth living for. It's not all about yourself anymore. Life in His name. You see, life isn't just about duration, it's about quality. It's about a kind of living. But the essence of true Christianity is also being a witness to his name, a witness to his name. Listen, the goal of all of Christian ministry is to bring people to the point. That they recognize that Jesus is God's anointed ruler, God's Son, and that by believing in Him, you may have life in His name. That is the goal of missions, that is the goal of all the ministries, that is the goal of every meeting we have up here, every relationship that we develop up here, everything, the community, everything we have is geared around that. Witness as we have received the life of God, as we experience the life of God, as we delight in the life of God, then that puts God on display. So, first, He satisfies us, He lets us come, He lets us know His favor is upon us, and nothing is ever going to change that. So, go and live, it is eternal, and you are satisfied in that. And you come out and you recognize that God's ruler is good, He is not an ogre trying to keep you from the good, He is the exact opposite. He is excited about the good and excited to share the good with you, and so He gives you His rules, His laws. They are bonds of freedom, they are keys of freedom, and He gives them so that you may truly live and witness to Him. Well, are you now? Let me ask you this question: Do you know anybody significant that you're connected to if you're a believer? Believer in Jesus, guess who you're connected to? God's anointed ruler, God's Son. It's not what you know, it's who you know, right? Do you really think you're connected to him? Do you really have a relationship? Let me tell you again: John wrote these signs. He has the power to transform, he can turn water into wine. He healed a royal official's son by the power of his word. Do you believe that he still, you could go to him today and that you could ask him like this official, asked him to heal his son? Do you believe you could go to him and that just the power of his word can change something? That's who you're connected to if you have faith in him.

38:14He healed the paralyzed man at Bethesda. Miracle of total healing. He has power over the whole body. He fed the 5,000. He can create things. He walked on water. He has authority over the environment we live in. He can heal the man born blind. He can give sight to human faculties. He raised Lazarus from the dead. He's the author of life. Do you know anybody that has a resume that can outdo that? Listen, John found the meaning of life to be bound up in Jesus' love for him. That's where he found his life. To be loved by Jesus is the great. Status one can ever obtain.

39:04The greatest thing you could ever have at any time, in any dimension, is to be loved by Jesus. It's the greatest status you will ever obtain. His love is worth so much. It's worth more than all the wealth and the treasures of every human civilization for all time. His love is worth more than all that. Imagine all the wealth of all, and I'm saying, yes, by far and away, his love is worth more. His love serves us more effectively and lavishly than all the collected efforts of all the slaves, all the servants, all the attendants, all the ministers of all of earth for all time could ever do for you.

39:54His exceeds all that. His love is priceless. And that means it's not for sale. To earn it is to cheapen it, to bring it down to our level. No, it cannot be bought, cannot be purchased, but it's the best thing that you could ever obtain. And the good news of the gospel is it's granted. It's given. Do you really believe God loves you? Respond to that love. He grants it. Something that's worth more than all the treasures, all the servants. And listen, you know what coming to him looks like?

40:43Turning away from the trajectory of growing isolation and turn and embrace and move into a way of growing connection. You know how you do that? You simply ask him to forgive you of your sins. If you've never done that, if you've never began a journey with Christ, you can begin today by simply saying, Lord, I am a sinner. Please forgive me. I turn to you. Please look upon me with the favor that I have just heard about. That's what I want. And he will save you in an instant. And let me tell you what you can expect the rest of your life to be like. It will be one journey step after another journey step of understanding just how much God loves you. That's what life becomes when you're in Christ. I'm not saying the life is easy, but it is a discovery. It is a journey of learning more and more just how much you have in Christ.

41:55Life becomes a journey of understanding how much God loves us. And this is good news. Believe it. Come out of yourself and connect yourself to the good news. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for John's gospel. We thank you for these four years of the rich and rewarding study that we've had so far. We thank you for the work that you did in John's life. We thank you for these words that he has left to testify to you, that invite us to come and see how good you are, and that they serve as an invitation that we could come to know you more intimately and more deeply. Thank you, Father.

42:57Thank you. Give us believing hearts. Turn our hearts to you. Nothing good is going to happen unless by your Spirit you come and sow these truths in our heart. Cause them to grow. Cause us to be born anew. Cause us to grow. We respond to you, thanking you for these truths. Let us come out of the darkness and walk in their light. In Jesus' name.