John Chapter 12:35-49

Be concerned with what God thinks of your life, your actions, and your decisions. What happens often is we look around and we're concerned about the people around us and what they think, and we should be to a certain degree. But you should be more concerned with what God sees, because God sees everything. You should be concerned with not just what people see of how you treat your spouse or your children while you're here at the church, but what God sees when you're at home. What if everybody in the church knew the way you handled them and led them?

Would you be okay? If not, something needs to change. He sees those things, and whatever you just went, oh, about, that's got to change, because God sees it. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of The Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. My friends, are you applying the Word of God to your life?

What should we be sharing with the world? And are you concerned with what God sees you doing? Well, let's listen as David McGee jumps into John chapter 12 with his teaching Shine Forth. So John chapter 12, verse 35 says, Then Jesus said to them, A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. And while you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.

These things Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them. And he mentions children of the light. Who is the light?

Now, this is an interesting thing. John chapter 9, verse 5, Jesus says, As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. But when Jesus ascended to heaven, we became his lights. Matthew chapter 5, verse 14 says, You are the light of the world.

A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. It's important for us to be lights in a dark world, to be sources of hope and love in a world that's dark and fearful and scary and hurting. And we need to shine forth in this world. Now, let me talk about something because I hear people say this sometimes. People say, Well, mine is a silent witness. I just prefer to let my light shine.

Yeah, well, in love, I don't mean to hurt your feelings or anything. The problem with that little strategy is your light is not that bright. Okay, I mean, it's not like people are going to watch you and get, you know, Oh, look at the glow. He's glowing. There's something about him.

Why do you have that glow? You know, that doesn't happen. That doesn't happen. And I know there's truth in, I think it was, was it Augustine or Saint Francis? Somebody said, you know, preach the gospel and if necessary use words. That's kind of cool meaning live out the gospel and I like that saying and to some degree agree with that saying. Problem is you still have to communicate to somebody how they get saved. You have to tell them.

You have to talk to them. So let your light shine. You know one of the things you can do, and this is a great way to open up a conversation when you're talking to somebody, say, you know what? Somebody at work, somebody at school, whatever, say, you know, you know that I'm a believer. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you go to church and that whole thing's important to you. You know, what is it that you think that I believe?

I'm just curious what your perception of what you think I believe is. And listen carefully to their answer. Because a couple things happen when you do this. Number one, instead of you talking, it's them talking. You're listening. And so often we're so busy trying to tell people about what we believe, we're not listening to what they're saying.

We've got a monologue going when it should be a dialogue. And when you say, okay, what is it you think that I believe? And they may think you believe weird stuff.

Well, something about, he's going to snatch you by the hair of the head or something. I don't know what all your, you know, say, well, no, no, no, no, no, that's not what, that's Harry Christian and we don't believe that. Here's what I believe and it's an awesome opportunity for you to share with them exactly what you believe.

But be lights. You understand everybody in here that knows Jesus is supposed to be sharing with other people? They may be sitting there going, oh, no, no, no, that's your job, Pastor David.

No, no, no, no, no, no. Not according to Ephesians 4. I'm supposed to equip you guys to do the work of the ministry. Do the work of the ministry? I'm not in the ministry.

Yes, you are or you should be anyway. Let me ask you a question. Do you know Jesus? Do you, if you're in here and you know Jesus, guess what? You're in full-time ministry. You are in, I know we use that term for those who vocationally are doing something in the church or something, but you understand all of us are supposed to be in full-time ministry, always looking for an opportunity to share?

And if you're open, it's amazing the opportunities that God will create for you if you're listening. As you go through and ask a cashier, how you doing? I'm not doing so good. Life is kind of hard right now.

Oh, great, glad to see. Be listening and say, oh, you know what? I used to feel like that, but now I have hope in Jesus. It's another opportunity to be a light to the world because the life lesson here is we are to be lights to our community and to our world.

This is God's plan. Jesus has given us a message of hope, of love, of encouragement, of forgiveness to offer the world. He's entrusted us with an understanding of the gospel, and we need to share that with a lost and dying world and be lights. Verse 37, but although he had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in him. That is a scary verse to me. Even though he did so much before them, they did not believe in him.

And let's also recognize he was speaking. They heard his words, and they didn't believe. You have Judas, who's just this enigma. We're going to get into that next week.

But Judas was with him for three years, heard all the words, saw the miracles, and never really believed. That's kind of scary to me. And you know what? And it can be extremely frustrating to me if I allow it. You see, what I do here is I teach the word of God because I can do that. What I can't do here is make you believe it. Oh, loved ones, I would if I could.

You know, some way I could just rub my Bible on your head till you got it in your heart, we'd be doing it at the front door. But it can't work like that. It doesn't work like that. And you need to understand that in your life as well. You can't make anybody believe anything.

The Holy Spirit has to empower you, and it has to be his words. Now, you can speak up for God and be in his life, but you cannot make them believe. And you know, people thinking they can has led to stuff like a lot of the weirdness. You see people yelling at people and shouting at people and sticking their foot in the door like they're selling vacuums or something.

I mean, if you sell vacuums, I'm not slamming you. That's a fine, I probably should find another analogy for that, but you can't make anybody believe it. And what I do here is present the truth, I teach the truth, and there are people that come here, that hear it, that don't get it, that don't get it. And to be honest, my heart sometimes wants to focus on those people, and I can't allow that.

Oh, I pray for them, I'm heartbroken over them. But the reality is there's people that are getting it, and I can't make the people who don't get it, get it. You see, because there's a thing, as I speak these truths, you have to hear the word, and you have to apply it. See, I can't make you apply what I'm teaching here on Sunday, I can't do that. Again, I wish I could.

The life lesson here is you must make the decision and take the effort to apply the teaching of God's word to your life. And I've got some paint buckets and stuff up here. See, this paint, oh, it's a pretty color, isn't it?

Look at that color. But you know what? As long as this paint is in the bucket, it's not gonna do anything. You may have 57 baubles on your shelf at home, but as long as they're up on the shelf, it's not gonna do anything. Can you imagine having a bucket of paint at your house and going, you know what, I've had that bucket, I've been looking at that bucket for three years, and my house still does not look any better. Do you know what, that's what some people do with the word of God.

I've been coming here for a year and I hadn't changed at all. Well, I wouldn't confess that too loudly, but where's the paint? Is your paint in the bucket? See, because while this paint's in the bucket, it's not gonna make anything look any better. This has to be applied to something before it makes that something look better. It has to be taken out, it has to be applied thoroughly and consistently. Because you ever seen a wall that somebody didn't apply paint to thoroughly and consistently? I have. Doesn't look so good, does it?

There's like a little roll there, a little roll there, and you're like, oh, that looks worse. Consistently and thoroughly applying the word of God to your life. Because some of us, again, have looked at it like paint. Well, you know, it's not doing me any good. Are you applying it? Are you applying the word of God? Well, I tried. Did you try? For how long? For how long? See, this is such an important part of the word of God that we don't talk about, that we don't do, applying the word of God.

And it's a lot like paint. If you use it, it will work. But if you don't use it, it won't work. Some of the ways that you can help to apply the word of God to your life, the first one is take notes. Take notes. Now, some of you are going, what do you mean take notes? I hadn't taken that.

I used to take notes in school. Yeah, why? Because I was trying to learn something. Yeah. I'm trying to teach you the word of God.

And you know what happens? And I won't get all into this, but mentally, when you tell your hand to write something, and then you visually, you see it and you write it, you learn much better. Another thing, and I've kind of mentioned this before, is listen to the teachings again. So let me encourage you in that. Again, that's why we have the CDs.

That's why we have the stuff online. So you can make application of God's word. You have to make, before this does any good, before paint makes any difference, you have to apply it. Before God's word can make a difference in your life, you have to apply it.

And these things help us make application. James chapter one, verse 22 says, and remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don't obey, you're only fooling yourself. If you just listen and don't obey, you're looking at your face in the mirror, but doing nothing to improve your impairments.

You see yourself walk away and forget what you look like. But if you keep looking steadily into God's perfect law, the law sets you free. And if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. Another verse says to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. We'll be right back with more from David McGee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, here's a word from associate pastor D.A.

Brown. Hey, Bob, we're excited about all the people who are tuning in today, and we want to take a minute to pray for the listening audiences in these cities. Hamburg, Indiana, Cherokee, Iowa, Creston, Des Moines, Marshalltown, also in Kansas, Emporia and Hutchinson. God, we thank you for everyone tuning in today. Lord, we pray that they would be ready for you to speak to them. Lord, if some are sick, we pray that you would please heal them. And God, we pray for the pastors and churches in this area, that the churches will be reignited in their faith. Lord, that they would turn to you with all their heart, soul and strength to love their community. And Lord, that these pastors would be reminded, you have called them. You are going to bless the work that you've called them to do and that they would not grow weary in doing good. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. In verse 38, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled what you spoke.

Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He's quoting Isaiah. Isaiah 53.

You may want to read that in your quiet time. It's a messianic chapter, I mean, it's talking about Jesus being the Messiah. Verse 39, Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again, He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.

Verse 41, These things Isaiah said when he saw his glory and spoke of him. Understand, what, and this is a scary thing, scary thing for me as a pastor, Jesus is saying that they can get so blind they can't see anymore. Do you understand that as you hear the gospel and if you feel that tug on your heart and you don't respond to the gospel, don't feel consolation in thinking, well, I've heard it one more time and so I'm a little bit closer.

No, if you heard it one more time and you felt that tug and you rejected it, friend, you're one step further away. As a matter of fact, if that keeps happening, at some point you can sit and you can hear the gospel and you won't feel a tug at all. And that's a dangerous place to be. A dangerous place to be.

I don't want anybody to be in that place. You know, whenever as a believer you're convicted of your sins, be thankful. Be thankful because that means the Holy Spirit is at work in your life. That's a gift from God.

That's a gift from God. You don't want to be in this place where these people got so hard-hearted they couldn't hear from the Lord anymore. And the thing that's merciful is we never know when a person is in this place. Years ago, I traveled around and spoke to a youth group, a bunch of young kids. And some of them came to the Lord. Two days later, one of the kids that was in that group, 17 years old, was out playing basketball. Fell over, died.

Massive aneurysm. 17 years old. I don't know if he was one of the ones that received the Lord that night or not. I sure hope so. I sure hope so. Don't mess with that line. Stay away from that line. If God tugs on your heart to come forward here one morning, man, respond to that. If the Lord tugs on your heart to ask Him to forgive you, respond to that.

If the Lord tugs on your heart to turn from something, then turn from that. And the fact that you're hearing this this morning, you know what that means? That's good news. That's good news because no matter what you've done, God has given you another chance.

The fact that you can hear this means that there's hope. God's given you another chance. He's given you another chance. Use that chance.

Take that opportunity to respond to Him because you don't know how many chances you get. Oh, we think we know how many chances people get, don't we? We think that we can actually look at some people and go, ah, no hoping Jesus for him.

He's gone too far. No hoping Jesus for her. You know, oh, well, she's an exotic dancer. He's a rock star. She's a prostitute. He's a drug addict. She's a lesbian. He's a homosexual. There's no hope for Jesus in them.

Oh, friend. There's no hope for Jesus for those folks. There's none for us because either Jesus can forgive every sin.

Yes, and I did use sin. Either Jesus can forgive every sin or He can't. Either He can save to the uttermost or He can't save at all.

He saves to the uttermost. There's nothing anybody can do that the Lord can't forgive, including you. Whatever you've done, the Lord can forgive you and He wants to do that if you'll ask Him.

But there are lines in here and this is a scary place. 2 Corinthians 6, 2 says, for He says in an acceptable time I have heard you and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Again, if you're here this morning, don't harden your heart. Don't go, okay, well, I can do this next week or two weeks from now or a month.

Don't do that. Man, today can be the day. If God's tugging on your heart to repent, maybe you've been wandering. Today can be the day. Don't resist that tugging.

Don't resist that tugging. Verse 42, nevertheless, even among the rulers, many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. Now we get in our minds that none of the Jewish leaders believed in Jesus. This verse plainly says that they did. Many among the rulers, many believed in Him.

Many of the Jewish leaders believed in Jesus. Verse 43 points out a problem. Therefore, they love the praise of men more than the praise of God.

They love the praise of men more than the praise of God. Proverbs 29, 25 says the fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be saved. The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be saved. The life lesson here, be concerned with what God thinks of your life, your actions, and your decisions. What happens often is we look around and we're concerned about the people around us and what they think, and we should be to a certain degree, but you should be more concerned with what God sees, because God sees everything. You should be concerned with not just what people see of how you treat your spouse or your children while you're here at the church, but what God sees when you're at home. What if everybody in the church knew the way you handled them and led them? Would you be okay? If not, something needs to change. What if everyone in the church knew how you handled your finances and what you gave?

Would you be okay with that? See, it indicates that we're much more concerned with what other people think than what God thinks, because, friend, God sees that all. He sees those things. And just, you know, whatever you just went, oh, about, that's got to change, because God sees it. Forget everybody else seeing it.

Forget if we put it on the screen, or we're not going to do that, but forget if we put it on the screen, what that moment would be like for you. Know that that moment's coming with the Lord, and make those changes. Verse 44, then Jesus cried out and said, he who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me, and he who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as a light into the world that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness.

Your attention, please. I understand the darkness is scary, and I also understand that, you know what, when you're in the dark, the light can be a little bit scary, but it's much preferable to be in the light. And see, God doesn't, you know, it's like if you walk up in maybe your attic, or your garage, or wherever your storage place is, and you turn on the light, and your first reaction's going, ooh, you know? God's kind of like got this high beam flashlight, and he points it one area or something, and he goes, okay, I want you to get rid of that.

I want you to grow in that area. And he points it to something else. That's the issue now. And he does that in a merciful way, so we're not overwhelmed, and it's a beautiful thing. So I understand, but we need to be walking in the light even as he is in the light, and Jesus continues in verse 47. And if anyone hears my words and does not believe, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. Now, there's balance to that scripture, so let's read on. He who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges him. So it's not that they escape judgment. It's that Jesus is not judging them in this instance.

The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day, for I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me gave me a command that what I should say and what I should speak. What if you were dying of a deadly disease, and you sat in front of your doctor, and your doctor said, you know, at one time, we did not have a cure for what you have, but now there is a cure. Now there is a cure for the disease that is killing you.

Would you respond by going, well, is there just one? That seems kind of narrow-minded, doctor. It seems kind of bigoted that there's only one cure. No, you would be grateful that there's a cure at all. See, there's a disease that's killing people in this world.

It's called sin. Friend, there's not a lot of cures. As a matter of fact, there's only one real cure, and that cure is Jesus and what he did for us, and I'm not thinking that's narrow-minded.

I'm not thinking that's bigoted. I'm just believing what Jesus told us, and I am grateful that there is that one cure because I am desperate for that cure. As I say these things, as I say, there's no other way. I'm just repeating what Jesus said.

We'll get into that in a couple chapters. That's what he said. I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except by me. I'm offering you the way to heaven, the way to be forgiven, and whether you've found yourself wandering and you know this or you've never prayed this prayer before, you need to pray it this morning, and perhaps during this message sometime you've felt the tugging of the Lord on your heart. That's God.

That's not something I'm doing. That's what the Holy Spirit is tugging, and you know what? If you sit there and you resist it, one day it'll go away, and that'll be a very sad day, but if this morning you're convicted of your sins, you're convinced of your sins, or this morning you realize that you've never prayed that short, simple prayer saying, Jesus, please forgive me because I've done wrong. I have sinned, and I want to follow you, and you need to pray that prayer, friend, the prayer that will set you free. That's the way the truth of salvation can be applied to your life as an individual. It's not enough just to know this, but the application has to be made, and you need to make it personal. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven, and I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life, and I've done wrong things. I have sinned, and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things.

Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name, amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. Jesus said He would not turn anybody away who comes to Him, and He came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness, those who were sick, not the righteous. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ, or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117, and share how God is working in your life. You know, the Bible tells us that the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord, but it does cost for us to come and bring that message to you and to others in your neighborhood through radio, through the Internet, and through the mobile technologies that God has gifted us to be able to use. So if you'd like to support this ministry, please go to crossthebridge.com, click on the donate button, and ask God how much he would have you give, either on a one-time basis or a continuing basis each month to help ensure that the teaching of God's Word continues to go out through Cross the Bridge.

Thank you so much. Well, D.A., before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee. Thanks again for listening, and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.