The Protégé

Jesus was often a force for disruption. At Passover, he cleared the temple, acting like he owned the place. he began baptizing in the countryside, becoming more popular than John the Baptist. He healed an invalid on the Sabbath, driving the religious leaders crazy. They asked, who does he think he is?

Today we listen as Jesus makes his claim to be the Messiah, the Son of God. Stay with us. From Chicago, this is The Moody Church Hour, a weekly broadcast of worship and teaching with Pastor Philip Miller. Today, join us for another in a long series of messages from the Gospel of John, we're calling Loved by Jesus. Our focus, the protégé.

Here now is Pastor Philip, along with worship leader Tim Stafford and Executive Pastor Bill Bertshey.

Well good morning everybody and welcome to The Moody Church. We're so glad you're here with us today. As we discover Jesus, the protege of the Father, who's come to rescue us. You know, when you interview someone, you look for their experience, their qualifications, their references, you check it all out, you get their background, because you want to make sure you have the right person for the right job.

Well, Jesus is the right person for the right job to save us, to redeem us, to show us how life works best. He's come from the Father to redeem us, and we need more of Jesus. Would you bow your heads and pray as we begin this morning? Father, we thank you for sending us Jesus, who is perfectly qualified. in every way.

For the job of Savior and Redeemer, of rabbi and teacher, of the one who's come to rescue us. Help us pay attention to Him today to be changed deeply all the way down. We pray this in Jesus' name. A benef. Isn't God good?

Aren't you glad to be here today? We're gonna praise the Lord together. Enter his gates with thanksgiving. I will enter his gates with thanksgiving. Stay in there.

But I will enter His court with rest I will say this is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice for He has made me glad Oh He has made me glad He has made me glad I will rejoice for He has made me glad He has made me gladly He has made me glad I will rejoice for He has made me glad I will enter His gaze with this King in high I will enter His court with rest I will rejoice for He has made me glad He has made me glad, oh, he has made me glad. I will rejoice for he has made me glad he has made me glad, oh, he has made me glad, I will rejoice for he has made me glad. He has made me glad he has made me glad, I will rejoice for he has made me glad he has made me glad I will rejoice for he has made me glad I will rejoice for he has made me glad I'm singing high. Thou marvelous, how wonderful And thy song shall ever be saved as love for me I'm singing thou wonderful and thy song shall ever be saved as love for me I sent unazed in the presence of Jesus and the wonder of Heart A sinner coming unclean. He took my sins and my sorrows, he made them his bed, and he bore the burden power and suffered singing alone.

How wonderful and thy song shall ever be saved for me sing it highlights how wonderful thy song shall ever be saved for me When with the ramsunding glory His face I at last shall see Till be my joy through the ages To sing of his love for me Singeth I love us I'm undercommon My son shall ever be Savior's love for me Singh I wonderful and my son shall ever be for me. Amen. Amen. Don't you just wish they could follow you around? every day.

And just remind you of how marvelous our God is. Praise God. That's the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives, right? Let's pray. Father, you are indeed.

A great God, a good God. Father. And we just thank you and praise you for the opportunity this morning. To sing praises to your name, to hear our brothers and sisters. In Christ, whose lives have been changed by the power of the gospel.

worship you this morning. We are wonderfully encouraged and blessed. And we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Please be seated. Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changes all my compassions they clustered as thou hast been the forever be great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, born in thy Lord who mercies and sees. I have been thy hand upon my living.

Great is thy forest, glorious summer praises, springs of its stars and voices of joining home with old wings to thy death for this mercy in blue. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning, no mercies I see. Why have he called thy name? Great is thy faithfulness, Lord and truly pardon for Savannah. Peace let adore thine old dear past two children to love.

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow blessings of God ten thousand beside is thy faithfulness I see I have the high land and almighty rest thy faithfulness Lord, though our hearts may be filling up with anxiety. and all kinds of worry. We come today with gratefulness the antidote of focusing on ourselves. and instead we turn to you. May our eyes be filled with your goodness.

Your faithfulness. Your greatness. Your majestic works. May we be faithful to tell all future generations all that you have done for us. and tell them of your steadfast love.

We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Who does he think he is? This is the question that the exasperated religious leaders had to be asking in their minds. Jesus had come along, he was so disruptive, you know.

Just think back to the things that he's done here in the book of John so far. At Passover, he had come in and cleared the temple. Um Sent the money changers and the cattle running through the streets. He acted like he owned the place. Threw the religious leaders off.

Then he went out into the wilderness and started baptizing just like John the baptizer had been baptizing. This was a ritual that only the priests, the Levites, were allowed to perform. And Jesus, to their exasperation, was growing even more popular than John ever had been. And then it seemed like they caught a break. Jesus left.

He went through Samaria, up into Galilee. He was off the radar for a little bit, and they started to forget about him. But then another feast came up, and Jesus showed up again. And he healed this guy. on the Sabbath of all things, and challenged their interpretations of the Sabbath law.

Remember what he said last week? He said, my father is working, and so am I. Who does he think he is? Who does Jesus think he is?

Now, in response to all their perplexing thoughts here, Jesus is going to give us in John chapter 5 his first extended discourse in the book of John. And he's going to answer this question: just who does he think he is? And Jesus will hold nothing. Back.

So grab your Bibles. Let's open them up. John chapter 5. We're going to look at verses 18 to 47 today. And what's very interesting about this passage is it kind of reads like Jesus' resume.

His resume is made up of, you know, his experience, his qualifications, and lastly, his references. And so, what we're going to do is sort of have a sit-down interview, if you will, with Jesus today. And we're going to learn about his experience, his qualifications, and his references, his resume this morning. But before we do that, let's bow our heads and let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we pray.

today that you would help us see Jesus. See him in his glory. See him for who he really is, that we might receive him. In the ways that He wants us to receive Him, that we might have life. In His name.

Enliven us, change us. Transform us, we pray today in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. So John chapter 5, verses 18 to 47.

Just to remember the context here, I want to read verse 18, which we read last week. But it's just a reminder that Jesus has healed this man who for 38 years had been an invalid. He healed him on the Sabbath. The religious leaders had confronted him and he had said, listen, the Father has the prerogative of working on the Sabbath and so do I. And then verse 18 reads, This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

So the baseline accusation here is how do you dare make yourself equal With God, Jesus. How dare you say this? Just who do you think you Yeah. Why don't you sit down and explain yourself to us, Jesus?

Okay.

So Jesus sits down and he says, well, let me give you my resume here. Let's start with my experience. The first thing that you need to know is that I'm an apprentice. I'm an apprentice. Verse 19.

So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all that he himself is doing.

Now we're familiar with the phrase like father like son, right? Or he's just a chip off the old block or the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. In other words, we know that sons have a tendency to resemble their fathers. And that's certainly true here, but there's another layer, a deeper layer of what's going on here. Because in the first century, most sons, the majority of sons, were apprentices under their fathers.

In other words, there weren't schools and graduate schools and training, not in the way that we have them today. And so most people grew up in trades, in family businesses. And the skills of those businesses and trades were passed along through mentorship, through apprenticeship, father to son. This is, of course, what Jesus had done with Joseph. He was a carpenter, a contractor, a builder.

Jesus' father Joseph had apprenticed him in this trade. And Jesus is saying, not only have I been an apprentice of my earthly Father, I'm also an apprentice of my heavenly Father as well. And it works on the same way, same level. Here I am, I'm following my Father's lead, His example. I can only do what I'm seeing my father doing.

In other words, what he does, I do. He sets the pattern. I Follow it. And because my father loves me, he shows me everything. All his trade secrets, all his little special techniques of mastery.

He holds nothing back. The picture here is of a father who is sharing all the intricate details and secrets of his craft with his son so that one day his son might. successfully take over the family business. And why not? Jesus would say, I'm his son.

He's my father. Of course, he shows me everything, he loves me. I'm his apprentice. But not only am I his apprentice, the second thing here is that I'm his emissary. I am the Father's emissary.

Verse 20b and 21. For greater works than these will he show him.

so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he wills. Yeah. He says, look, do you think the healing I just did was impressive? You know, healing this man who for 38 years had been infirm with just a word from my voice.

Listen, I'm just getting started. My ministry is just a few months old here. The Father is just beginning to teach me all that he knows. The Father has shown me the basics, but he's about to give me the advanced stuff, and you're going to be blown away. You're going to marvel.

Listen, my father raises the dead and gives them life. And so the sun The Son gives life to whomever he wills. You think this little poolside healing, this poolside healing's got you flabbergasted, this thing? Wait till I raise the dead to life. That'll impress you.

And of course, he's tipping his hand, isn't he? Because we know in John chapter 11, Jesus will actually raise Lazarus. From the dead, it's coming. But what he's saying here is like he says, Look, the Father has sent me into the world. I'm his emissary.

I'm his ambassador. I'm his agent. I am here to do the work of my father on earth. You want to know why that infirm man is walking? It's because I wanted to give him his life back.

It was my choice. Listen, my father raises the dead and gives life, and the son can give life to whoever he wants. This is 100% at my discretion. I chose to give him. life.

That's why he's walking. Not only am I the Father's apprentice and emissary, I'm also his. Executor. I'm the executor. of the Father's will.

Look at verse 22 to 24. For the Father judges no one. but has given all judgment to the Son. that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Truly, truly I say to you, Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Jesus says, Look, the Father has made me the executor of his will. He's entrusted all judgment to the Son. All legal matters are under his authority.

And the one person Who ultimately matters, whose opinion ultimately counts in the universe is Jesus Christ. He is the judge. Of all the earth and why Has God entrusted all this judgment to the Son? He says, in order that the Son may be honored. In order that people may honor the Son.

just as they honor the Father.

Okay, now go back to the analogy of the apprenticeship and Jesus being the son taking over the family business. If the Father wants the Son to take over, and run the family business. The son is going to need the respect, the honor, the appreciation of all the employees, the vendors, the customers, everybody. How will the Father ensure that the Son is honored as he has been?

Well, the answer is he will give that son authority, right? Authority to hire and fire and do real negotiations and sign off on deals. And when people try to circumvent the son and go to the father directly, the father says, Listen, no, no, no, you talk to my son, he's running things now. And this is, friends, what the Father has done. He has given all judgment, all authority over to His Son.

And he says, Listen, I want you to respect him. I want you to listen to him. I want you to honor him. And this is very interesting because in Isaiah forty-two, verse eight. This is what Isaiah writes: I am the Lord, the Lord speaking.

That is my name. My glory I give to No other. In other words, God is very jealous of his glory. He doesn't share it freely, and yet here he is liberally sharing his honor, his glory with his son. He says, Look, when you honor him, You honor Me.

This is very significant.

Now what does it mean to honor the Son? Verse 24 says, To honor the Son means, number one, that we hear his word. To hear Jesus' word is to receive his word, is to trust in his word, to take Jesus at his word. And secondly, to believe him who sent me. In other words, to believe that Jesus is in fact God's own Son sent into the world to be his emissary, to be the executor of his will, to be the representative of God.

He says, if anyone honors the Son in this way, He has, what is it? Eternal. Life. That whoever believes does not come into judgment and condemnation, but has passed. From death.

to life. This, friends, is the language of final Judgment. at the end of time. The Bible says that one day each one of us will stand before God and give an account of our lives. And Jesus is here saying, What you do with me And my word.

Right here, right now. Has bearing on how things will go for you in the end, in the final. judgment on that day. In fact, if you believe in me now, Trust in my word.

Now he says you have to have Past. from death to life. You won't come under condemnation. But you will be alive. In other words, the verdict is already rendered in time.

The verdict that belongs at the end of time is dragged back, and it is issued now based off of belief and faith. in Jesus. Why? Because the sun gives life. to whoever he wills.

He's the apprentice. He's the emissary. He's the executor.

Well, you say, wow, that's very impressive, Jesus, in terms of experience. You have quite a bit here. But what about your qualifications? What do you bring to the table here? And Jesus says, Well, listen, there's three main skill sets that I have to offer here.

The first one is my resurrecting voice. My resurrecting voice. Look at verse 25. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. Just like I said, get up.

And the man who had been lame for 38 years, his deadened body sprang to life. Just like I said, get up then. I will do it again one day, cosmically, and the dead will rise to life. An hour is coming. And actually, it's here now, in my presence, in me.

And you know it's true because at a word I just turned water into wine, and with my word I snatched a little boy from the brink of death, and at a word I have just reversed 38 years of infirmity in this man. And just as my Father's word spoke forth and brought life from the darkness, now my word is speaking forth and bringing life from the darkness. And one day I will do it again on a cosmic scale, and the dead will rise. Because that's rooted in the second skill I bring to the table. which is my inherent vitality.

my inherent vitality. Verse 26, as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in him. Self.

So friends. Listen, it is true that we are alive and God is alive, but... but in very different ways. Humans are alive because God breathed into Adam the breath of life in the very beginning. Remember this?

He animated Adam's spirit with his own breath. The breath of life. gave him the image. of God. And this is passed down to us, this dual identity of who we are.

We are both physical and spiritual beings. We have physical bodies and we have the spirit of the breath of God in us.

So animals only have the physical. Angels only have the spiritual. But as human beings made in the image of God, we have both bodies and souls. Physical and spiritual dimensions. We're amphibians, if you will, and we can crawl out from the water onto the land.

We live in both spiritual and physical dimensions. We're amphibious like that. and in both physical and spiritual dimensions. We are contingent beings. We are dependent beings.

We're derivative. In other words, we don't have life in and of ourselves. We need to draw life from other sources.

So, on the physical side, we need food, we need water, we need air, otherwise, we die. And on the spiritual side, we need a loving life connection with God. He is our nourishment, He is our life, our strength, our everything. In other words, our life is not a renewable resource. It's always depleting, and it is fueled and sustained by things outside of us.

But God's life, friends, is very, very different. God has life in Himself. He is self-existent. He is self-sustaining. He is non-contingent.

He's independent. He's an originator of life. God's life is 100% self-generated. It is 100% renewable. He is the fountainhead of life.

When Moses asked God for his name, what did he say? He said, I am. That I am. In other words, I am the self-existent one. See, Jesus says here: the Father has life in himself.

And he has granted that the Son may have life in himself as well. Just as the Father has renewable, non-contingent life. in himself. The Son also has renewable, non-contingent life in himself. This is the reason, because of this fountain of life within Jesus.

This is the reason for his resurrecting voice. It's inherent in his vitality as the Son of God, which undergirds his third skill set that he brings to the table here, which is his judicial authority. his judicial authority. Verse 27. And he, the Father, has given him authority to execute judgment.

Because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of life. of judgment. I can do nothing on my own.

As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just. Because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. He says that God the Father has given Jesus not only the authority to raise the dead, but the authority to exercise final judgment over them. Over humanity because he is the son. of man.

Now, this phrase, the Son of Man, is Jesus' favorite title for himself. He uses it all the time, and it speaks at one level of his humanity because he is truly man. but it also speaks of his divinity because he is truly God. This title actually comes from Daniel chapter 7. Verses 13 to 14.

Let me read them for us here. Behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a Son of Man. And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion.

which shall not pass away. and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Right before Jesus returned to heaven, he looked at his disciples and he said, Listen, all authority in heaven and in earth has been given. to me. All authority.

He is the Son of Man. Not only will he raise the dead, But he will preside in judgment. and he will render the verdict. And those who have done good will go to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil will go to the resurrection of life. of judgment.

And Jesus' judgment, he says, will be completely just. Because he is impartial. He's free of conflict of interest. His only concern is to uphold perfect justice according to the Father's will.

Well Jesus is telling us, friends, that every person in world history will one day stand before him. for judgment. No one will get away with their crimes. The people who shoot up schools and then take their own lives will answer one day for their choices. That the architects of genocide and Holocaust and ethnic cleansings will finally be held.

accountable in perfect justice. And at one level that's very reassuring, isn't it? We need to know that justice will be meted out. in the end. But at another level, it's quite frightening.

To think of standing before God, giving account for, as Jesus says in Matthew 12:36, every careless word we've ever spoken. to have everything exposed. It's frightening. How can anyone stand in that day? Because we're all marbled beings, aren't we?

We all have good and evil coexisting, intertwined in our souls. How will we survive? that judgment day.

Well remember verse 24? Remember what Jesus said? Truly, truly, I say to you. Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life. He does not come into judgment.

but has passed From death. to life. Jesus is saying, what you do with me And my word today. has direct bearing on how things will go for you in the final judgment. In fact, if you believe in me today, It means that you have have passed from death to life.

That it is finished, that the future verdict rendered at the end of time is actually issued right here, right now. Because the sun gives life. to whomever he wills. For God so loved the world. That he sent his one and only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish.

But have everlasting Life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world. But in order that the world might be saved, Through him.

Now that's quite a resume, isn't it? Apprentice, emissary, executor, A resurrecting voice. Inherent vitality, judicial authority. Wow, Jesus, this is impressive. Do you have anyone who can vouch for you, give you some references here?

Verse thirty-one. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. Just pause for a moment. Jesus is saying, look, anybody can pad their resume. And if I were the only one saying these were my, you know, my skills, my experiences, that would be one thing.

You could dismiss me out of hand, but it's not true. I have some references here. I have five references I want you to see. Number one is John the Baptizer. My first reference is John the Baptizer, verse 32.

There is another who bears witness about me. And I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

So the first reference is John the Baptizer. Remember in chapter 1, verses 27 and 28, he said, I baptize with water. but among you stands one you do not know. Even he who comes after me. the strap of whose sandal I'm not worthy to untie.

And then the next day, in verse 29, he said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin. of the world. And in conclusion, in summary, back down in verse 34 of chapter 1. John says, and I have seen, And I have borne witness that this is the son of Gone. And Jesus says, okay, that's my first reference.

John the Baptizer. He told you. then I'm the Son of God. The second reference is my authenticating works, my authenticating works, verse 36. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John.

For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. He goes, look at all the works I'm doing, all the signs I'm doing. The Father has given these signs to me to exercise as proof of who I am. That's why I turned the water into wine. It's why I cleared the temple.

It's why I healed the boy with the fever. It's why I just healed the man on the Sabbath who had 38 years of infirmity. These are all signs. They're all witnesses. They are all demonstrations of the power and authority that the Father has vested in me.

This is my second witness here. My second reference is the authenticating works that I'm doing. And a third reference is God the Father himself. God the Father Himself, verse 37, and the Father who sent me. has himself borne witness about me.

His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you. For you do not believe the one. whom he has sent. The Father is borne witness about Jesus, friends. In his birth, God sent angels and a star to announce the birth of his son.

At his baptism, the father spoke and announced, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. And in every miraculous sign, every exercise of power, the Father's endorsement of the Son rings. Out. And so, in rejecting the Son, friends, they are rejecting the Father as well.

He is the third reference. The fourth reference is the Holy Scriptures. Look at verse 39. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. And it is they that bear witness about me.

Yet you refuse to come to me. that you may have Life. The scriptures point at every turn to the person and work of Jesus, friends. And here you have the religious leaders who are experts in the Bible. They understand it inside and out.

They think eternal life is to be found in searching the scriptures. And all these scriptures are pointing inexorably to the person of Jesus, the word of God pointing to the word of God, Jesus, who is the fulfillment of it all. And he says, I'm right here in front of you. But you won't come to me. I have life.

But you will not have it. The scriptures are the fourth reference.

Now there's a little bit of an aside here in verses 41 to 44. Jesus looks at the religious leaders and he can tell they're not happy with him. They're very upset. In fact, John has already clued a sin that they intend to kill him. And so he has this little aside, verse 41, I do not receive glory from people.

But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Gone.

Basically, what Jesus is saying here is: He says, Look, I know I'm not popular with you right now. I'm not receiving a whole bunch of praise and glory and honor from humans, from you people. But I see the depths of your heart. I know what's inside of you, and you don't love God. Because if you loved God, you would love me.

You would receive me. Here I am. I have come from the Father. I bear his name and everything. I'm here in the family business name.

Yahweh and Son bringing life since the foundation of the earth, right? I mean, here I am, I carry the family business name, you won't even receive me. The irony is that if a fake Messiah showed up, And started doing little magic tricks and whatever, and claimed to be Messiah in his own right and name, you probably would receive him. He'd be popular. He'd be a political hero.

You'd be interested in all the fame and fortune and human glory he would bring your way. But here I am right in front of you. The glory of God incarnate in the face of Jesus Christ. Here I am, and you will not receive me. You're not interested.

The fifth and last reference here. is the prophet Moses. The prophet Moses, verse 45. Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses.

on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me. for he wrote of me But if you do not believe his writings, How will you believe my words? He says, look, you pride yourself on being faithful to the Torah. to the writings of Moses, to the law of God.

And I'm telling you, all of it. Points to me. Moses was writing about me. The Torah points to me, and if you believed him, you would believe. Me.

And I'm telling you, on the last day, I'm not going to be the prosecuting attorney. Moses well. Because he wrote about me. And you didn't listen to him. It's quite a resume, isn't it?

It's quite quite a list of references. What does it mean for us? What does it mean for us? Two things. quickly as we close.

Number one, Jesus is the only one really able to help us. Jesus is the only one really able to help us. Friends, if the Bible is right, and it is, by the way. Our life is contingent. We are dependent beings.

Our life is derivative. And just as we have to eat and drink and breathe in order to live physically, We need a life connection with God in order to live spiritually. But each one of us in our sin When we sin, unplug from the only source of life in the universe that is there spiritually. And so we die on the inside. And no amount of good deeds Self-help.

good intentions. or religious effort can make a dead person live again. It's impossible. But Jesus can. With just a word.

Jesus can make us alive. He could do it right now spiritually inside of us, and one day he will do it physically as well. Only Jesus is able to help us, really, friends. Because he's the only one who can resurrect us. See See, if we were just lost, if that's our biggest problem, we're just lost, all we need is someone to give us directions.

If we're just sick, all we need is somebody who can heal us. If we're just ignorant, all we need is a teacher. But if we're dead... The only thing that can help us is a resurrection.

someone to resurrect us. The religious leaders asked, who does he think he is?

Well, he told Martha As he's about to go raise Lazarus from the dead in John chapter 11, verses 25 and 26, here's who he thinks he is. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe?

Death.

Now how does he pull that off, friends?

Well, this is the gospel. That Jesus died in our place and for our sake. that he took our condemnation. Our death that we may have life. In His name, He rose again.

To defeat death and Satan and sin, to liberate us and set us free. This is why he came. And the second takeaway for us Today is, listen, if Jesus is for us. We have so much to be thankful for. If Jesus is for us, friends, we have much to be thankful for.

Remember, Jesus said, He calls out to us, truly, truly, I say to you: whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has, has present tense, has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to death. to life. And friends, today, if you have believed in Jesus' word, if you've received his teaching, if you've trusted that he is sent from the Father to be the Savior of the world, if you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the good news is you will never have to face him as your judge because you have embraced him now as your Savior. And you are alive today.

Because of him. You have passed from death to life. No condemnation. The verdict from the end of time has been declared and issued right here on the basis of who Jesus is. Yes.

And friends, listen. Nothing. can take that away from you. Nothing could take that away from you. In Jesus, we have so much to be thankful for.

You are alive today because of Him. Aren't you glad? Aren't you amazed at who this Jesus is? Who does he think he is? He is the resurrection.

and a life. Let's worship him together. Let's pray. Father, we thank you. For Jesus Christ.

who is our living hope. The one who speaks, and the world changes, the dead rise. And everything is made new. Through him. He is the rescuer.

He is the Redeemer. He is the recreator. He is the resurrection and the life. There's no one Like Jesus. These claims are out of this world.

And we believe. That Jesus is the Son of God. That he is Savior of the world. That he is life Come for us. We trust.

Ourselves, our fate, our future, our history, all that we are into His. Nail-scarred hands, his resurrected life for us. We believe. We hear his words, his voice. and believe he is the one sent from you.

Help us to trust him. Help us to throw all the weight of our souls and life upon him. Help us to Experience life in His name. Through his power. We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen. On today's Moody Church hour, we heard Pastor Philip Miller with another message in a series he's calling Loved by Jesus: the book of John. We heard about the protégé. Jesus, who's now making his case to be the Messiah, the Son of God.

Next time, don't miss the Profit. Jesus in the first of his three offices of prophet, priest, and king. The Moody Church Hour is a listener-supported ministry. We count on the ongoing financial support of listeners like you. Together, we share solid biblical teaching that transforms lives across America and around the world.

You can call us at 1-800-250-0. Mm-hmm. That's one eight hundred two. 2155001. Online, you'll find us at MoodyChurchHour.com.

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Mm-hmm. This broadcast is a ministry of The Moody Church.