A Disciple Whom Jesus Loves - Identity in John's Gospel - John 21:24-25

0:52We started working our way through John four years and two months ago. So we have finally reached the ending here. A disciple whom Jesus loved. I want us to focus this morning on this title. It's interesting how a title, as simple as a disciple whom Jesus loved, can transform so much and so deeply. One of my funniest memories in seminary, back at the master seminary many years ago, was a class that I took where we had to compress a year's worth of Greek into seven weeks. And so it really was one of the most challenging things I've ever done academically.

1:56And one of the things that happened that stands out in my mind, now keep in mind, master's seminary is for men only, and so women aren't part of the program. Now, seminary wives can be there. So a student can bring his wife and she could do the coursework. Well, in this Greek class, which they named Gladiator Greek, because we were all in a, it seemed like we were all in this gladiatorial arena, there was this one couple. They just moved over from New Zealand. And the husband was so excited about class, he says, sweetheart, her name was Barbie, you are to take the class with me. She's like, I'm not sure. He's like, no, you take it, and you're going to do the coursework. What a way to start. You know, you could have picked a whole lot of course. He picked the hardest class you could imagine. Imagine, in the whole lineup, forces his wife to do the work, basically. And what was funny about all this is she really did well. In fact, I would even grade her paper sometimes. She just outshined the other gladiators, whooped them all. And she was so impressed, the professor, that he no longer referred to his wife or his husband, her husband, Andy. He did have a name, Andy. But from that point on, he was referred to as the husband of Barbie, the husband of Barbie. And to this day, when Nancy and I talk about this couple, we still refer to him as the husband of Barbie. Kind of serves him right. I don't think he asked her to jump into another class with him again. But the husband of Barbie. See, when you're connected with somebody who has done something great or who has accomplished or somebody who is significant, then you're not really known as your own individual. You're associated with who you know. And so you could refer to me as the husband of Nancy from here on somebody. Well, John, John, one of the significant details about John's God. Is he doesn't mention himself by name. He refers to himself by a title, simply a disciple whom Jesus loves. A disciple whom Jesus loves. In fact, just in John chapter 21, verse 20, when they're walking along the beach, Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had also leaned back at the bosom, and the one who had leaned back and said, Lord is the one who betrayed you. So there, John closes out his gospel with one more reminder of who he is. He is the disciple whom Jesus loved. And it's as though John's whole identity, his whole understanding of who he is and was, was tied up in simply being loved by Jesus.

5:30Jesus is the significant one, Jesus is the one with the accomplishment, so much so that anything we could do or John could do just paled in comparison. And it's simply enough for John to be known as one who this great and awesome and significant individual is simply one being loved by him. That's how John saw himself. He saw himself as a disciple. And a disciple being loved by Jesus. All other details about his life, good or bad, were completely irrelevant to this lofty title of being a disciple whom Jesus loved. Could you imagine if you were called by the very same title or description that the Apostle John had?

6:29And yet that's the good news, isn't it? Regardless of who we are, we can all likewise be a disciple whom Jesus loves. And I don't want you to miss this big picture of the gospel. This is exactly why John wrote his gospel. He found so much satisfaction in his relationship with Christ. He could completely lose himself in Christ's love to such a degree that he wants, he writes, so that you too can be a disciple whom Jesus loves. He is not jealous for that title. He doesn't hang on. He wants to share it. And so as we wind out our, finish out our Gospel of John, I want us to look at this witness. And I want you to receive his witness. I want you to understand his witness so that you can receive. His testimony, so that you too will be a disciple whom Jesus loves, and find your satisfaction in simply being a disciple whom Jesus loves.

7:48I just want to look at John's witness. First of all, I want you to notice that it is a true witness, a true witness. Verse 24, this is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. So this is the disciple, the one whom Jesus loves. This gospel is written by one whom Jesus loves. He is testifying, the one who is testifying to these things. He is currently testifying to these things, having written them down. So John continues to testify through that which he has written. We still have John's testimony.

8:40And we know that his testimony is true. He wrote these things. What are these things referring to? Everything that he's written. And we know his testimony is true. True. That is, it's honest, full of integrity. It's reliable. His testimony is true. It's dependable. It's trustworthy. You can go out and build your life upon it. And we need something to build our lives upon, right? Any structure has to be found upon a solid foundation, right? Same is true in life. We need some certainty, some things that are true, specifically about God. We need to understand God. We need something. We need information that's true about God so that we can properly know what he expects, know what he is like, and so arrange our lives to respond to the reality that God is.

9:42Well, John, if you'll remember, John was a disciple of John the Baptist. And this whole idea of testifying and witnessing is a big issue or a big theme of John's gospel. But John, if you remember, was a disciple of John the Baptist. And reading right in the very first chapter, we read these words about John the Baptist in verse 7. He, John the Baptist, came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. That was John the Baptist. And he testified, this is the Son of God. This is who he is. He testified to Christ, this is the Son of God.

10:28John the Baptist, if you remember. Or just as John the Baptist was sent to testify to the light, so also John the Apostle was sent by Christ to testify. Remember, in John 15, 26, Jesus said, When the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me, and you will testify also, because you have been with me from the beginning. So, John the Baptist testified. There are other testifiers in John's gospel. There is the works that Jesus was doing, that's testified to a reality greater than themselves. Then there's the scripture testifying to Christ, to Jesus, that he is the Christ, the Son of God. The works testified.

11:22John the Baptist testified. We have the writing of John the Apostle, who is testifying to the light. And also, we too who have received his testimony also become testifiers to the light. You see, we couldn't really testify to the truth unless we've received the truth. But before we could even receive the truth, we have to have a true record, right? We have to have something reliable. One of the questions is: who is the we in verse 24? For who is the we? We know. We are absolutely certain that his testimony is true. Who is the we? A lot of critics use that to try to explain that John didn't write the gospel. No, he did write the gospel. He's made that very clear in the verses before. He is the one testifying. Some suggest that it's the elders at Ephesus.

12:25Sounds a little bit better, but the problem with that is you don't see any mention of those here in the gospel at all. Most likely, it's simply the apostolic community. The apostolic community. You remember way back at the very beginning in John chapter 1, verse 14, he wrote these words, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory. Who's the we? That whole apostolic community, the church that came out of beholding his glory, this same one, John knows his testimony is true, and that community, that church, that apostolic community that has received his words also know that it is true, just like they knew, just the same as they saw his glory.

13:18But the point of this verse, John took great pains to make sure that you and I had a record, a true record of the events of Christ. Cannot really go anywhere without a true witness. So, John, the gospel, is written by a disciple whom Jesus loves, and he is a true witness. He is also a selective witness, a selective witness. And these are the final thoughts that John puts in his gospel in verse 25. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.

14:07Many other things Jesus did, many other things he did, he accomplished. There's a lot of things that Jesus accomplished. And John's saying, which if you took everything, if we entered into an enterprise to write down everything that Jesus did or everything that Jesus accomplished, if we should launch off into such enterprise and cause the words to be written down that give testimony and record everything that Jesus accomplished or did, John is saying, I suppose that the world itself Would not have room.

15:02There would not be room for all the books coming off the press. You could get that picture in the tenths of the verb: if we were undergoing such an enterprise, there'd be so many books coming off the press that the world itself could not contain them. And some think that's hyperbole. John's just hyperbole. I'm not so sure that it is. Who has John revealed Jesus to be? God Himself, Creator God. All things came into being through Him.

15:53So, if we're going to write down everything that Creator God has accomplished, it's not hyperbole. I don't think the world would contain all the books. There's so much we don't know. So marvelous, so deep, some of the things we do know that I feel like we are like little boats on top of a great ocean just skiffing around. Depths of monumental truth. So. But if you think about it, and just by the way, how long do you think it would take you to read those books?

16:40A long time, right? Forever. Welcome to eternity. Getting to know God, right? Knowing God. That's what it's going to be. You're going to need an eternity to understand, to know God. That's why eternity is merely a byproduct of life with God. But think about it. Even if one were to write down all the things that Jesus did during his ministry years on earth, the volumes would be staggering, especially if you took them to the detail and you connected all the debt.

17:27One of the things I think would be most difficult is for John to select what material needs to be written. I find it hard to cut things from a sermon, and yet every week I have to cut things out. You don't believe me, but I do. We spent four years in John going through verse by verse. That's a very tedious way through John, even by. Today's preaching standards, four years and two months, verse by verse. And yet, I feel like we haven't even really gone deep as we should, as we could, or as we would like. Let me put it that way.

18:19And so, one of the difficulties or perplexities, I think, in writing something like this is John writes is selecting what's not written, what to leave out. And so, what he does write becomes extremely important. If all the books of the world could not, if all the, if the world itself couldn't contain all the books that could be written about Christ, then the one that we have is very, very important. Jesus wanted us to have a true record of that which was most important. John wanted us to have a record of that which was true, that which was most important.

19:13And one danger is that we can very quickly miss the big picture. And as we've gone through John, the way we started, John, is we quickly did an overview of the whole book of John. Now we've kind of like climbing a mountain, right? You kind of fly over, see the whole mountain. Okay, we're going to climb it. Then we got on the trail and we summited the mountain and then we've walked. Now we want to take one final look over where we've been and understand so that we don't miss the big picture.

19:48And that's what I want to do with the rest of our time this morning. John has left us a true witness, a selective witness. And I want us to take one more quick flyover of where we've been so that you will understand what totally satisfied John's soul and how his soul was satisfied, so that you too will be satisfied in this one truth of being a disciple whom Jesus loved. If this could really set in, if this could really define who you are, if you would let this truth anchor your soul, if you would build your life upon this truth and let ministry, let life happen out of that truth, out from that wealth, you will be satisfied.

20:50You will be a source of satisfaction. You will be a pillar of strength, a calm in the storm, a blessing of blessings. To the people around you. And so I don't want to miss this third element about John. He was a true witness. He was a selective witness, but he is also a satisfied witness. He was a satisfied witness. You remember in John 7:37, Jesus issued that golden invitation. Now, on the last day of the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Spirit said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.

21:44Well, John took Jesus up on his invitation. He came and he found out he is the Christ, he is the Son of God, he is the one in control. And listen, there is a great comfort in knowing that the right person is holding the positions of authority. We see that in government, we see that in families, we see that in any kind of institution. That we know when things are right at the top, eventually things permeate through the hole, right? And so here's John understanding who God is. He understands God. He understands that Jesus is God revealed, and he understands that he is the Christ. He is the one in control. He is the owner of all things.

22:30And it's just a matter of time before his influence permeates the whole. So, John took great comfort in knowing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And so, John discovered who Jesus was, but there's a second element: he also discovered how much he was loved by Jesus. And these truths transformed John. And I pray that these truths will transform you and me as well. So, what I want to do is just take a moment and just see how this developed in John's gospel. I want to go back and look at some of the major themes that John developed and see how he came to understand that he is indeed a disciple whom Jesus loves. And likewise, so that you can understand how you can come into this knowledge as well and understanding and be a disciple whom Jesus loves. So, first of all, I'm just going to go real quickly just to see an overview, and then we'll go back one more time. Major themes, six of them. And by the way, you don't have to write all this down. You can listen. I am going to put all this in a handout and give it over in the next couple of weeks. I'll send it out. But anyway, truth, belief in the truth, believing in the truth, life that comes out of believing in the truth. Peace, the peace, satisfaction, comfort, settlement of soul that comes out of the life, that comes out of the believing of the truth. And then coming out of that soul that's satisfied and fixed upon Jesus is this capacity to love, to sacrificially devote themselves to the well-being of others and to the glory of God for the final purpose of exalting, revealing the God, the God whom Jesus incarnated. So we're going to take each one of these one at a time quickly. Truth. It's Pilate who asked the question. This is a big theme in a major theme in John's Gospel: truth. Pilate asked the question, What is truth? Jesus answered the question, Your word is truth. Your word is truth, whether that word be the incarnate word or whether that word be the written word and scripturated word.

25:06Metaphor for truth is light, light. It's like we have light in this room that illuminates the contents of this room. If there was no light, we couldn't see, but the realities would be here. Truth comes in so that the viewer could be brought into contact with the view. That's what truth does. It's a medium through which. We behold. Truth is light. Truth is reality from God's perspective. Truth proceeds from the Father. And in John's gospel, truth is it illumines, it draws, it awakens, it frees, and it sanctifies his people. That's what truth does. Truth emanates, it comes from God, draws, awakens, frees, and sanctifies his people. Truth. Then there's belief. I should probably write in the word believing, because in John's Gospel, belief is never a noun, it is a verb. And that means that believing is not something you have, or belief is something you have, it's something you do with the truth, or something that you are doing with the truth. John 20, verse 31, but these things 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. So believing, he wrote down, he gave you a true witness so that you could believe the witness, so that God's reality can be informing your soul, illumining your soul, freeing your soul, so that you would be taking in that truth.

27:01John 1:12, 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. By the way, in all these slides, I start at the end of John's Gospel and I go to the back. I mean, I go to the beginning. So, I end and I go. So, I started in John 20 and ended in John 1. But you get the idea that from the very beginning, he's been talking about believing. Those who believe in him are children of his. The metaphors for believing, the idea of receiving, receiving is welcoming in like a guest into your home. So, you're welcoming truth. What are you doing with the truth? What are you doing with scripture? What are you doing with the words or truth? Are you letting them come in and illumine, or are you sitting in judgment upon them? Are you picking and choosing? Are you even completely detached from it? What is your relationship to truth? Are you believing? Are you letting it in? So, the metaphors, receiving, like into your home, hearing, bringing something in through the ear, seeing the idea of bringing something in through the eyes, eating, drinking, bringing something in through the mouth. The idea of coming into the light is what believing is. Unbelief is running away, hiding from the light.

28:26Children of light come into the light, they take it in. Are informed by truth. So, belief is that spiritual action of a soul taking in God's revealed truth. What are you doing with God's truth? So, faith is not what one has. Faith is what one is currently doing with the truth. What are you currently doing with the truth? One of the things we're trying to do in our Sunday evening is not be afraid to go where Scripture takes us. Let Scripture inform us. So, we look at Christ. We're looking at the way He understood Scripture, and we're not afraid to go where it goes. Are you?

29:15Or do you know more? Do not be afraid to welcome, receive truth. And that's what John, this is what transformed him. Do you believe that God loves you? Really? Do you really believe the high? Do you believe he knows you by name? Do you believe he thought your existence into being? He thought you into being before you had an existence? Do you believe that? Do you believe that he specially cares for you? Do you believe that? Do you believe the degree that he cares for you in sending his own son? Are you taking in these realities? Are you letting these shape who you are? What you do with the truth is everything.

30:01About you. Truth. Belief. Third, life. Life. This is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. This is eternal life. Knowing God. Knowing God. How do we know God? Well, He's revealed truth. He's given truth. And how do we know that? How do we deal with that? Well, will you believe the truth? By Him revealing the truth, by you welcoming in the truth. Guess what happens? Life happens. Why? Because if you receive the truth, you're connected to the source of truth. And that source of truth is alive. So those words are alive, and the truth connects us to the source of truth. And the source of truth is the source of life.

30:55And this is eternal life, that they may know you. John 10, 10, I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly. Listen, it's prison living in darkness, not knowing reality as it really is, right? Yes, there is a thing called sin. Yes, there is a thing called judgment. He is holy. He hates sin. He is going to do away with sin. But he's also made a sin. Way for a sinner to become righteous. Do you believe that? Have you let that truth, have you let his way to become righteous in his eyes shape who you are?

31:48Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. Has eternal life isn't something that starts later. It's something you have now if you are in Christ. If you have received the truth, you have eternal life now. It's not about duration, it's about a quality of life. Duration just happens to be a byproduct of the quality. The quality is knowing God who is eternal. And guess what? If you're going to know God eternal, guess what you have to be? Eternal.

32:27A metaphor for life is a fruitful branch abiding in a vine. That's the picture. A fruitful branch connected to the source of life. And what is the source of life? Truth. How do you connect it? By believing, taking in, appropriating, obeying. That's how you stay connected. That's how you are connected. That's being connected to the source of life. What is life? Life is union with God. And it's that kind of living that stems from knowing God. And this is what gave John. Truth came into his world.

33:15He received that truth. And that connected him to the source of life. And all of a sudden, his life took a direction. His feelings took a direction, informed by truth, a direction of knowing God. Knowing God, knowing what God is really like, transforms the soul. It's our ignorance of God that causes us to run, to hide, to be discontent, to lose ourselves, to get overwhelmed. One of the very first manifestations of life is the peace that comes.

34:07And peace is a major theme in John's gospel. And he articulates it many different ways. John 16:33, these things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace in the world. You will have tribulation. But take courage, I have overcome the world. Peace. Listen, we can be anxious about many things, can't we? We are fundamentally an anxious people. Anxious. Anxious about past failures, past sins, present circumstances. We are anxious because we feel powerless to, we deep down, we know we're not masters of our fate. We may be fearful for the future. Some of us can get so anxious and upset that our worst case scenarios start becoming our present realities because we are a hyper-anxious people. Let me tell you something. When you take hold of truth and you understand that the Christ is Jesus, you understand the goodness of God, you understand the nature of God, and you understand he's absolutely in control and you understand his intense love for you. Guess what that does to the soul?

35:39Puts you at peace, an inner contentment, a fully satisfiedness, contentment, satisfaction. And it's in the world, you're going to have tribulation. Jesus spoke. These words right before going to the cross. Sometimes we get thinking that peace is some kind of an escape, like a high or something that quickly comes down or an absence of conflict. No, Christ's peace is something that goes right through a world filled with tribulation. John 14:27, Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. Troubled. Don't let your heart be stirred. Don't let it be like unsettled waters.

36:40My peace I leave you. John 6:35 said, Jesus said, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst. So, this concept of peace is also about inner satisfaction, inner contentment. The longings are all met. The deepest longings of humanity are all met in Christ, and really met in this one thing, knowing that you're loved by him. He will supply. So, peace is Christ's gift of himself that calms, that stabilizes, that satisfies, and brings. Inner contentment in the souls of his people, regardless of the circumstances. That's what true peace is. Our world is so bent on pursuing that which doesn't provide peace, doesn't provide the satisfaction, the inner contentment. But John found that. He found that in simply being a disciple whom Jesus loved.

38:01The whole concept of peace, it's the concept of shalom. It deals with the idea of soundness, completeness, wholeness. And some of the biblical metaphors, the calm after the storm, the stability of a mountain in Isaiah 54, the optimum fruit-bearing conditions in Zechariah 8. Peace. This is where a soul flourishes. Calm, stability, optimum fruit-bearing conditions. Well, it was truth that John believed that connected him to the source of life and brought this inner peace, this inner contentment, this inner satisfaction in being a disciple whom Jesus loved.

38:56And out of that springs a Life of love. What is love? John made it very clear what love is. Jesus said in John 15:13, Greater love has no one than this, than one lay down his life for his friends. Love involves sacrifice, sacrificial devotion. That's what love is. You cannot love somebody that you when you're placing your needs before his or her needs. Love, by definition, involves elevating somebody else, prioritizing somebody else over yourself. That's why you cannot be his disciple unless you get very familiar with dying daily. You cannot love unless you learn to die daily, because love is sacrificial devotion. John 13:34, Jesus said, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. So here's his commandment: he demonstrates love. He puts the father's love, the father's love that he had for the son, he gives to them. So not only does he give his peace, he gives his love. Then he commands, he said, Now you need to go love one another like I loved you. Well, who in the world can do that?

40:25In our own strength, we're not going to do it. You cannot. Carry this thing, this command out without death to yourself and without an inner contentment and an inner peace that you are loved like this. That's where it comes from. So, on a human level, love is the sacrificial devotion to another person's well-being, regardless of the sacrifice or the worthiness of the person. I'll read that again: love. This is how I would quickly summarize it on a human level. We love one another. Love is the sacrificial devotion to another person's well-being, regardless of the sacrifice or the worthiness of the person. And we're called to love.

41:14You want to exhibit Christ? That's how you do it: by loving. John 14:31, Jesus said, This, but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded me. Get up, let us go from here. So, there's another level of love. That's on the God level. How do we express love to God? Well, love is the sacrificial devotion to God's glory by obeying Him regardless of the sacrifice because of His worthiness.

41:49You see the difference there? On a God level, with sacrificial devotion, obeying Him regardless of the sacrifice, because of the sacrifice of the Him. He is worthy. So, how do we go and we love somebody else, devoting ourselves to another person's well-being, regardless of the sacrifice, because the worthiness of the individual who commissioned us, not the worthiness of the individual that we're commanded to love. So, this truth invaded John's world. He welcomed the truth into his heart. That truth connected him with the source of life, brought about an inner contentment, a total satisfaction. And the overflow of that was love, love to God, love to one another, all to God's glory. Other theme, John's gospel, glory. John 17:22, Jesus said, The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, just as we are one. I have given, not I'm going to give it to them, but I have given. Now, what is that?

43:13John 11:40. Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? John 2:11, this beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested his. Glory, and his disciples believed in him. What was his glory? He has given his glory to his disciples. John chapter 2:11, he manifests his glory. What did he do? He transformed the water into wine. He did something only God could do. So, what was Christ's glory? John 1:14. John tells us, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. What was Christ's glory? His ability to manifest his Father. That was his glory. He could manifest God. He was the only unique one, the only unique begotten one, but his glory was to manifest God. And he did so in word and deed. He did so in power. He did things only God can do. It's clear that God was with him.

44:36That was clear. But it wasn't just the power. It was the character that he manifested. He manifested the character of God. And this glory, Christ has given to his people. Not only did he give his peace, not only did he put his love in his people, but he gives them his glory. What is that glory? The ability to manifest God. That's what he shares. As image bearers, as redeemed image-bearers, we are given the ability to manifest God.

45:29So, when you think about manifesting God, that's what John's gospel is about: manifesting God. What's the best way you manifest God? Sacrifice, love. How do you love? You've got to understand that you are loved. That's got to come out of that inner soul contentment that you have been loved and are loved the way he wants you to love, because in that, God's glory is displayed. So, how do you get there? How do you become a disciple whom Jesus loves? Receive the truth. Truth is given.

46:10The call is to you today. He is calling people to follow him. He wants you to follow him. He wants your soul anchored upon this truth. Receive it. Let it in. Let this shape you. You'll be connected to the source of life. Out of that source of life will come that inner contentment. You see, connected to the source of truth. Is the spirit of truth, and the benefits of that source will come in, put your soul at rest, and a desire and a love for God's glory. So, the question: as we close out John's gospel, I don't want you to miss the big picture.

46:55John was a disciple whom Jesus loves. He wrote so that you and I could be come a disciple whom Jesus loves. Who are you? Are you content in being a disciple whom Jesus loves? If you're not, you can be. The call is to you today to come, accept Jesus as your Lord, Savior, and His sacrifice for you, repent of your sins, invite him in. But can you imagine having the same title as John the Apostle? Well, he was a true witness, he was a selective witness and a fully satisfied witness, and he is not protective of his title, but gladly wants you to share that title.

47:54Jesus Christ, Son of God, absolute sovereign, loves you too. The absolute degree. Let that truth in. Respond to it. And then go out here and let that truth shape the way you live. Let's pray. Father, we do ask that you shape us according to the truths that John gave us, the reliable witness. Father, help us, forgive us, for we can quickly say we are a disciple of Christ, we can sing lofty songs, and yet they seem so far from our hearts. Father, transform us by these truths. Help us to believe. And thank you. Thank you that you do love us.

48:57Father, help us to respond to your love in the way that most pleases you. Only your Spirit can do that, and we ask you to do that now. In Jesus' name.