The Gospel of John: The Messiah

oh i say yes lord i am available here i am with open hands counting on your grace again listen i just wanna see [Music] i say yes lord [Music] [Music] am [Music] i am [Music] oh [Music] am here i am you can have it all you can have it all here i am here i am [Music] here i am [Music] here i am here i am [Music] here i am here i am here i am [Applause] [Music] foreign for the one who gave me life [Music] nothing is a sacrifice oh use me how you want to go have your throne within my heart [Music] i hear [Music] [Music] [Music] i am available [Music] [Music] so it's my joy to say yes to you it's my honor to say yes whatever it looks like my response is yes my response is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] everything [Music] so if you can use anything god you can use here i am [Music] all my life is in your hands this whole world may hold me down [Music] [Music] i was made for something [Music] even [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] i'm [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey bethany kids i'm miss ernestine and i'm miss jane and we want to wish all of you a very happy fourth of july worst day of the year for dogs everywhere people have been blasting bombs for a month where i live around my neighborhood it sounds like i'm in the middle of world war ii and it's been like that for weeks i hate fireworks they mess with my already very shaky nerves but i do love the 4th of july yes some of my best memories were of my own children on the 4th of july and of the fun we had with our own kids it really is a family holiday the whole neighborhood used to celebrate all day we'd have bike parades and hula hoop contests great food and then we watched the fireworks they shot off at the beach near our house hey i've got some crazy facts about the fourth did you know americans will eat over 150 million hot dogs on the fourth that's good for oscar meyer company and the company that makes stomachache medicine people will spend over 1 billion dollars on fireworks this year and that's just in my neighborhood and there will be almost 13 000 firework related emergency room visits across the country boo hoo and the 4th of july should actually be celebrated on the 2nd of july because that's the day congress actually voted for independence from brittany hey i need to tell my neighbors that hey people you should have blown up the bombs on the second now go inside but i'm glad we live in this wonderful free country it is cause to celebrate yep we've sure had some ups and downs this year but this is still the best country in the whole world we need to always be praying for our country in the bible in first timothy the apostle paul tells us that believers need to pray for all people for kings and all those in authority that we may live peacefully and live quiet lives in all godliness and holiness in the book of titus he says remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities be obedient ready to do what is good and don't say bad things about anyone be peaceable and considerate and always be gentle towards everyone and in romans he tells us that god has put the leaders that are over us in place so we need to respect them i think that's what those men who voted for freedom on july 4th want it you mean july 2nd whatever i think that's what they wanted us to do hey you know what we should go get a hot dog yeah we've got to get started before all of those 150 million hot dogs are gone ew gross well we will see you next time kids happy fourth of july and god bless america well good morning bethany church family how's it going out there yes happy fourth of july and god bless america praise god for our country and the freedoms we have here also the freedom we have in christ in him we're so glad that you're with us today today we are going to celebrate god and worship him and thank him i'm going to be introducing a new song later as well and just just declaring the joy we have in god together i do encourage you to fill out our connect card whether you do the one in front of you in the seat or you can still do it online we just love to hear from you guys and know how we can be praying for you i also want to let you know that we are celebrating communion today later in the service we're going to be passing the elements around and for those of you at home just have those prepared so you can join with us as well but if you're here and even if you're at home would you stand with us today let's lift up our voice we're going to open up with a hymn just singing of god's great praise his glory and worshiping him together so let's lift up our voices let's give thanks to him i will give thanks to thee oh lord among the people i will sing praises to thee among the nations we lift you up lord for thy steadfast love great it is great to the heavens and thy faithfulness thy faithfulness [Music] [Music] glory be [Music] above the head [Music] we lift you high low we thank you jesus i will give thanks to the singing church [Music] nations for thy steadfast love is great it [Music] and my is thy faithfulness to the clouds [Music] over [Music] [Music] above [Music] glory be [Music] amen amen god we give you the glory when all i see is the bad you see my big dreams when all i see is the mountain you see a mountain and as i walk through the shadow your love surrounds me [Music] there's nothing to fear now before i am safe [Music] lifted high oh god the battle belongs to you and every fear i lay at your feet i'll sing through the night the battle belongs to you [Music] who can be against [Music] for [Music] i see jesus the ashes you see the beauty [Music] [Applause] lifted [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] you go before us nothing can stand against the power of our god you shine in the shadows you win every battle nothing can stand against the [Music] [Music] nothing can stand against the powers [Music] you win everybody [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i'll [Music] amen amen we can trust our great god the battle belongs to him and that no matter what we're going through we can have hope and confidence and faith and a positive outlook knowing that he is in control amen church and um this next song we're going to introduce is a new one and just a a beautiful picture of the idea that there's joy in the house of the lord and when you hear that or when you say that you might think i'm talking about this building and the walls and and the lights and everything but really when scripture in the new testament talks about the house of the lord is talking about the church the people of god his his household we are his household it says and i just wanted to share a verse from hebrews that talks about that it says in hebrews 3 6 but christ was faithful as a son over his household and we are that household if we hold on to our confidence and the hope in which we boast so this next song just talks about that it talks about the joy of the lord is in this place and it's in this house but when we're saying that just think about your own spirit in your own heart and just ask yourself is the joy of the lord in me today and am i sharing that am i letting that out is that is that evident in my life and today you know whatever you're doing to celebrate fourth of july is are people seeing god in me and this the joy of the lord in me and let's just share that joy together i'm gonna teach you guys the chorus before we sing the song so try to pick this up and then sing it along with us there's joy in the house of the lord there's joy in the house of the lord today and we won't be quiet we shout out your praise there's joy in the house of the lord our god is surely in this place and we won't be quiet we shout on your praise we're gonna shout out his praise all right church let's put our hands together we worship the god who was we worship the god who is we worship the god whoever more will be he opened the prison doors he parted the raging sea my god he holds the victory there's [Music] [Music] there's joy the [Music] we sing to the god who heals we sing to the god who says we sing to the god who [Music] [Applause] [Music] away [Music] [Music] [Music] please [Music] and redeem by his grace let the house of the lord sing [Music] we praise the presence we are forgiven [Music] and we won't be out your quiet there's joy in the house of the lord our god is surely in this place [Applause] is [Music] [Music] you are oh we praise you you are surely praise god so great to sing that together that there is joy in the house of the lord as we gather as we're together before you take a seat turn and say hello to someone next to you and just share what you're doing to celebrate the fourth of july today brother all right what is going on everybody good to see you guys how are you guys doing this morning you yeah you did clap it out that was awesome you guys don't know my name is jacob allen nielsen i'm the student ministries pastor here at bethany church and tomorrow we leave for camp we're taking 52 students to camp yeah shout out 52 students and it's going to get smelly in the cabins the first day we get there as soon as those kids take their shoes off it's miserable the rest of the week but we're so excited to take students with us to camp we're so excited to be able to reconnect we're excited that today is fourth of july it's awesome that we're gonna celebrate with barbecues and different celebrations so it's gonna be absolutely awesome i live by belmont area and so we're gonna go by the belmont pier and watch the fireworks go off so my wife and i are super excited about that going with some friends as well so hopefully you guys have a good and safe holiday as you guys travel out and go different places who's having a hot dog today raise your hand if you're having a hot dog shout out okay shout out to a hot dog wow more of a hot link kind of guy but a hot dog is good next up so we are in the midst of reconnecting classes are starting were you in a class this morning go ahead and raise your hand if you were in a class this morning shout out students yes you guys were in a class thank you good job raising our hands awesome also starting next week there's going to be a couple of other classes that are going to be starting next week the next classes are going to be a new one called engaged so that's going to be starting at 9 00 a.m as well as breakthrough so we have some more classes starting next week if you are wanting to get plugged into bethany church and wanting to go to one of those 9 a.m classes there is a connect card in the seat pocket in front of you also there's an opportunity to scan the qr code and if you want to get connected in a class we'll be able to communicate with you what class would best suit your needs and so please fill out the connect card with all of your information and where we can connect you at 9am for the first hour so we're excited about that as well also i'm going to be praying for jeff as he comes up and gives us the word of god i know it was a little bit of a misdirection let me pray god thank you so much for an opportunity for us to be gathered for us to be able to celebrate our country but then also celebrate how good you are god as we complete the first chapter of john let let us be able to reflect on your word let us be able to sit and let it impact us as we go into our neighborhoods or our families let it be able to bring the light of your spirit and who you are to our friends and family that may not know you god give us an opportunity to serve you and to glorify you well god speak through jeff as he's prepared this message for us today god that you are so good in jesus name we pray amen [Music] well good morning bethany church good morning those of you who are joining us online we're so thankful that you guys are tuned in that last song of worship just the joy and and to be able to hear your voices um such a such a wonderful reminder of god's worthiness of our praise but what corporate worship is about us together as a unified body declaring the goodness of god and his worthiness of praise well this morning we're going to be finishing up chapter 1 and the gospel of john and i wanted to just kind of reflect back on some of the things that we've seen to this point you remember as we started this series that i said the first 18 verses of john function as a prologue so they basically prepare you for all the themes and ideas and concepts that you're going to encounter throughout the rest of the book we've already seen a little bit of that through the rest of of uh the passage that we've we've been looking at last week but we also were prepared for this prophetic witness of john the baptist that he's going to be this one who comes and he's going to testify concerning the light so mark did an incredible job just describing to us john's public witness to the lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world and we saw that the purpose of this entire book is so that those who have yet to believe the gospel yet to believe that jesus is the son of god the messiah that we have been waiting for would be able to connect those thoughts and place their trust in him well chapter 1 verses 19 through 51 we're going to finish up this chapter this morning is what's known as the testimonial and so when you read through it the rest of that provides almost like a narrative introduction to what you're going to encounter through the rest of the gospel so you see people testifying concerning who jesus is john in his public ministry we saw john in his private ministry last week we saw andrew testify to simon and simon is transformed by the revelation of who jesus is we see philip and he's going to find nathanael and so we'll be looking at that today but that there is this pattern that is being presented that for those who have accepted the gospel for those who have believed on jesus that the most natural thing for us to do is to find others who don't know him and to invite them to come and see the entire opening chapter establishes jesus as the object of our faith the one that we are looking to where he says as many as received him to them he gave the writer the authority to be called children of god and so now we've had some examples of those who have believed on him and we've seen the natural outworking of their faith as they invite others to see him so growing up in the church throughout the series you guys have heard a little bit of my past but i was raised in a small southern baptist church off of lakewood uh i i mean it had like the red uh fabric pews that were wooden i remember crawling up in the back and i would sleep while the pastor was talking and uh and they had like the actual wooden matching offering plates that had the red velvet you know center those of you guys have been around church for a little while so i mean my baby booties could have been bronzed and put up in the nursery that's all i knew by the time i was seven i knew that jesus was the son of god and i remember praying with the pastor pastor harold hambly we were outside of the sanctuary and i said i'm ready like i believe that jesus is the son of god and i want to receive him as my savior shortly after that i was baptized and as many of you guys know i took the scenic route in life because i had a lot of truth that i didn't apply um but but i knew stories about jesus and i'll say this to those of you who are parents or those of you who are going to raise kids in the future the importance of bringing your family around the household of god so that they can hear the stories of scripture so that they could be familiar with them because throughout my addiction what kept coming back to me was the voice of god as i remembered him through the church through the stories that i had learned during that time and even coming out of that addiction the thing that that i think was so formative for me in those days those first days and weeks and years was just being in god's word i would be in the psalms i read it voraciously i knew that my path was starting to change that even as i was in school to do music that the more i was in god's word the more i wanted to learn about it even having the opportunity to teach here for the first time in the college group and i'll never forget the passage that i was out of second timothy and i had prepared and i remember preaching in my car to myself that's how like excited i was about it and and and then getting in there and being able to share what god had put on my heart and it just i i knew that the word of god had to be central in my life if i was going to become who i was supposed to be well the passage this morning is going to lend itself to helping us appreciate not only the importance of knowing god's word but how all of scripture is preparing us for the revelation that comes to us in the son of god in jesus it's going to show that he is the goal of all scripture and it is going to remind us and impress upon our hearts that the primary way that we come to know jesus is through his word that i think of jesus's teaching man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god and so we'll see that we're going to see that in the life of philip in the life of nathanael uh so join me as we read john chapter 1 verses 43-51 it says the next day he purposed to go into galilee and he found philip and jesus said to him follow me now philip was from bethsaida of the city of andrew and peter philip found nathanael and said to him we have found him of whom moses in the law and also the prophets wrote jesus of nazareth the son of joseph nathaniel said to him can anything good come out of nazareth philip said to him come and see jesus saw nathanael coming to him and said to him behold an israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit nathanael said to him how do you know me jesus answered and said to him before philip called you when you were under the fig tree i saw you nathanael answered him rabbi you are the son of god you are the king of israel jesus answered and said to him because i said that that i saw you under the fig tree do you believe you will see greater things than these and he said to him truly truly i say to you you will see the heavens opened and the angels of god ascending and descending on the son of man this is the word of god first thing we see jesus desires a relationship with us jesus desires relationship with us the next day he purposed to go into galilee and he found philip and jesus said to him follow me now this is such an encouraging verse and i think you you bring into this everything that we've learned about jesus this eternal creator god and you see him purposing to go to galilee in order to find philip the word purpose translates a word that means to desire to will it expresses intention jesus wanted to find philip and he knew that he had to get to galilee in order for that to happen but it wasn't just to find him it was to bring him into relationship with himself jesus wanted philip to be his disciple i i don't want us to miss the wonder of this the god of all creation the one who spoke and and everything came into existence the one who sustains all things the one who had the idea of your life before the foundations of the world were set is seeking you out because he desires to be in relationship with you that is a thought that is just too wonderful that he would make us in his image that we would rebel against his word and that he would then chase us down set his intention set his will to find us and what i love about his ways they're certainly not our ways but there are some things that we learn about the way that god works in the world that he's created is that when he wants something he gets it that when he has set his affection on you he i forget who it was that said that he is the hound of heaven right that that he once he has set his sights on you will do whatever is necessary in order to bring you to trust him but from what we've seen in the first you know few weeks of this series uh is three different ways that god touches our hearts and draws us into a relationship with him the first is proclamation right jesus john's public ministry as he proclaims jesus is the son of god i myself have seen and have testified that this is the son of god and this is what makes sunday morning so important now i know we live in a time and culture where we hear people say things like i don't need somebody preaching to me well god's word says that i'm to proclaim it that i'm to publicly read scripture that i'm to declare the same thing that john has been declaring generation after generation that the word of god is powerful to transform people's lives and even those who are most resistant those who have rejected him that when god's word goes forth it says that my word is like like rain it it will accomplish the purpose for which i send it just like rain touches the ground and causes the vegetation to go forth so my word goes out and it will not return to me void the word of god proclaimed in truth is one of the primary means that god leads a person to faith in his son listen to ephesians chapter 1 verses 13 and 14. in him you also after listening to the message of truth the gospel of your salvation having also believed you were sealed in him with the holy spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance with the view to the redemption of god's own possession to the praise of his glory you after listening to the message having believed that that one of the most important things that we can do is bring ourselves under the teaching of god's word so that his word would wash over us that it would cause us to believe and that we would grow paul was concerned that timothy would intentionally invest in this aspect of his ministry first timothy 4 13 until i come give attention to the public reading of scripture to exhortation and to teaching and later he says i want you to take pains with these things i want you to be absorbed in them first timothy 4 16 play pay close attention to yourself into your teaching persevere in these things for as you do this you will ensure salvation for both yourself and for those who hear you and and it's like i said it's why we would want you to invite those who you know are far from god to come and to be with you listen people probably that have no connection to church are going to have a hard time walking through those giant pillars out front it that that you know for those who haven't grown up in church it's such a foreign thing and yet they are way more likely to join you as you invite them to come and to sit in a service together which leads us to the second way that jesus finds us personal invitation personal invitation we are not going to spend a lot of time on this since we looked at it last week but but as jesus finds us we help others find him so even in our passage this morning we see the target is not just us it's through us jesus desired relationship with philip but he also desired relationship with nathaniel and that doesn't mean that philip was just a means to some other end i mean this is a profound thought that god would choose me and would want to work through me that he would invite me into his redemptive program to see the ends of the earth come to know him right it doesn't it doesn't diminish the wonder of his pursuit of us if anything it deepens it we become co-laborers with god our lives become a catalyst through which his message and his love gets conveyed to a world that lives in darkness that just as he is the light of the world so as we are brought into relationship with him he says now you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor does somebody light a lamp and put it under a basket but they set it in the center of the house so that gives light to all who see it you or the light of the world let your light shine in such a way that men may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven he has set his sights on you but he set his sights on the people that would come to believe through you it gives us purpose i mean to know that the things that i say and the things that i do the acts of service that i do in jesus name have eternal significance in a world in a culture that lives for the immediate to know that my life is going to matter beyond this life he uses us the last thing we see jesus the last way we see jesus finding us is providential action providential action we see this in his pursuit of philip jesus goes to him personally and invites him and this is such a humbling thought for me is that god doesn't need my teaching ministry he uses it right for his purposes but he doesn't need it and and here's another humbling thought that god isn't hindered by our reservation or hesitation to share the gospel with the people that are in our lives certainly he wants to use you and and we don't get a pass on the call to go and make disciples but it would be foolish for us to think that somehow god wouldn't be able to accomplish his purposes without us i think that goes back to the previous point of just the wonder that he brings us into this story but he's fully capable about of bringing about the circumstances that will lead a person to faith now sometimes this is through direct revelation he walks right up to philip you see saul's life transformed he becomes the paul the author of the 13 letters of our new testament when he encounters the resurrected jesus on the road to damascus but i can tell you stories of people who i've talked with who grew up in other faiths who had a dream about jesus and it led to their conversion i have a friend who was attending here for a little while had significant back pain wasn't of the christian faith would go to people to to seek help pray to his god but one day somebody prayed over him in jesus name and his back was relieved of the pain to the extent that he believed the gospel from that point forward because everything else that he had tried it was when jesus name was called on there's power in his name so whether it's public proclamation personal invitation providential action i'm sure i can come up with a few more piece for you guys god is going to find what he's looking for he's going to find what he's looking for this morning we have jeff and carrie gage with us there are missionaries that we support would you guys stand up just let us all get a good look at you they have been serving faithfully in germany they're getting ready to head back we're going to have them up at the end of the service we're going to pray for them you guys can take a seat thank you um when i think about what they're doing you know whether whether we look at public proclamation or whether personal invitation we could be as creative as we want in helping people connect the dots to the gospels jeff has created an app and i want to tell you this so if you got your pens out it's c number two c story.com c2cstory.com you can find it in the app store and it is a very practical tool to help you communicate the gospel to people that are around you taking you from creation to christ his death his resurrection the the service that they have and carry meeting with women out there and you know studying the word of god with people just really entering into what has been a post-christian area for for a long long time and bringing the light of christ if you guys want to know more about their ministry their information is on the card that you guys received i'm sure they're going to be wandering around so if you have not met them i would ask go introduce yourself to them just incredible people who are serving the lord so i i actually want to take a break right here for a second and pray i'm not sure if you guys heard that there were two missionaries in haiti who recently died in a plane crash but a young man named trent hollister is 35 years old and a young man named john miller who's 43 i say young because i just turned 40. so i'm going to keep myself in that young range these two guys gave their life for christ and what's crazy is trent has a wife and three kids who didn't fit on the plane that they were on and so took an earlier plane and landed and when their their husband didn't arrive they found the news that he had died you know they're part of a ministry called gospel to haiti and they left they left america this incredible country that we celebrate we have good reason to celebrate hear that for this there are people all over the world who don't live like we live who don't believe what we believe in here and who ultimately need people like you and me to embrace that call and to center ourselves around the identity that we have as sons and daughters of god we pray for them father we just come before you and we thank you for you know a rich history of people who have given their lives in service of you god i know that the the history of the church has been rough that we truly are a fellowship of sinners before we're a fellowship of saints but in spite of us even even god threw through this body of broken people you are accomplishing your perfect will on this earth and that is amazing to me and i know that the families of these two young men they're going to have questions they're going to be grieving i'm sure there's uncertainty for his wife and kids who you know haiti is their home and what happens next god i pray that you would comfort this family that you would be merciful to them that you would provide for them that you would care for them but even as they navigate this dark season and difficult time that the hope that they have in you would be what leads them and that you would create opportunities for people to see the difference that being in a relationship with you makes as we encounter the struggles and the challenges of this life god we ask these things in jesus name amen all right this is just interesting to me so you got to forgive me because i kind of geeked out on this passage this week and and you remember last week jesus is asked the question uh you know he basically says to them what do you seek and and they ask him where are you staying and he says come and see and so you start to get a sense of a person's heart desire by the pursuit that they have well here in this passage he provides us an example of his own answer to that question that if you were to ask jesus what do you seek he seeks the lost and he brings them into relationship with himself listen to luke 19 10 jesus speaking for the son of man has come to seek and save that which was lost that is why he came to bring about our redemption to seek us out luke 15 1-5 now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near to him to listen to him both the pharisees and the scribes began to grumble saying this man receives sinners and eats with them so jesus told them this parable saying what man among you if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them does not leave the 99 in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it when he has found it he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing that is how we need to think about who jesus is that in our most broken state as lost as we are he leaves the 99 to go after you and when he finds you he puts you up on his shoulders and he rejoices because he found what he's looking for the next thing we're going to see if you're taking notes jesus is the goal of all scripture i really struggled with the word to put in there whether it's the goal or the subject or the aim or the end or the object jesus is the goal of all scripture it says now philip was from bethsaida of the city of andrew and peter philip found nathanael and said to him we have found him of whom moses and the law and also the prophets wrote jesus of nazareth the son of joseph nathanael said to him can anything good come out of nazareth philip said to him come and see so notice how philip presents jesus to nathan first it says that jesus found philip now philip saying we've found messiah so jesus finds us so that we will find him and once we've come to recognize him for who he is we take what we found and we show it to others now the way he frames this for nathanael is going to be important as we consider the rest of this passage he says jesus is the one who moses and the prophets wrote about so already you're being introduced to this old testament background as the framework for what transpires between uh jesus and nathanael because when you first kind of read through this passage you're like what the heck is going on there what do you how does he go from you know i saw you under the fig tree to you're the son of god the king of israel and how how is he connecting those dots and what we're going to see is through the old testament there are these threads these images and these ideas that are weaved together that clearly identified jesus as the awaited messiah and even how jesus is going to take these stories and he's going to import himself and new meaning into these passages that we see and find in the book of genesis and throughout the prophets so john 1 47-48 jesus saw nathanael coming to him and said to him behold an israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit nathanael said to him how do you know me jesus answered and said to him before philip called you when you were under the fig tree i saw you so jesus is the goal of all scripture and what jesus is doing is gathering the remnant right jesus is gathering the remnant what do i mean by that what jesus says to nathanael introduces two concepts that the old testament prepares us for the first is a righteous remnant a purified people of god so when you read throughout israel's history we see that it's a history of failure and judgment and that in the midst of these prophets being raised up to speak truth to his people promises were made that even after judgment god was going to create for himself a people that had purified lips purified hearts who sought the lord who took refuge in his name that they were going to be his purified israel his purified people of god but then the second concept is this idea of hope for the coming messiah and the peace that it brings as a little aside i had the opportunity and privilege to go to a synagogue and to sit in on a class that they were offering on the new testament was basically one of the most wonderful opportunities that i've ever had and about halfway through i was the resident pastor resident jewish pastor that was my my uh in for that group and and so halfway through they're starting to ask these questions about like what's what's the baptism of the holy spirit you know what's the day of pentecost all about and and they basically hand the class off to me and i start fielding all these questions it was just it was really incredible but then i had this conversation with guy afterwards and his his biggest hang-up concerning why jesus couldn't be the messiah is that he doesn't see the peace that the messiah is supposed to bring and there's this misconception between jesus's first coming right and what he was supposed to accomplish and his second coming when he will sit on the throne of david and he will rule righteously for a thousand years so so there is this close association with when the messiah comes he is going to bring peace with him and so you're going to see that throughout this interaction now this fall we're going to teach through the prophet zephaniah you guys have read zephaniah day of the lord get ready it's going to be fun there's a reason people don't teach through the modern prophets because you got to navigate things like i'm going to wipe dung in your face and destroy all the people it's good there's promises of hope it's in the bible what it's literally in the bible just saying what he said all right so as with all the prophets there's this rhythm of like judgment and hope right um if you don't turn back to me this is what you can expect or i think of like the prophet amos where god's speaking to his people and he's like you know i gave you cleanness of teeth i brought a famine in the land but you didn't return to me i caused the reigns to go away you didn't return to me i i slayed your young men and you didn't come back to me you were worse than sodom and gomorrah but you didn't come back to me and that there was this sense of like it wasn't that god wanted to wipe his people out he wanted their attention he wanted their hearts and yet he knew that they would continue to rebel and what's profound is this warm offering of of of a promise that one day he's going to set things right he's going to make his people right listen to zephaniah this is describing this righteous remnant zephaniah 3 12-13 but i will leave among you a humble and lowly people and they will take refuge in the name of the lord the remnant of israel will do no wrong until no lies nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths for they will feed and lie down with no one to make them tremble this interaction when jesus says to him behold an israelite in whom there is no deceit it echoes this is the righteous remnant this is the people that god is bringing to himself even even in the prologue as many as received him even to those who believe in his name and here in this passage it says that they will take refuge in the name of the lord and and that what jesus says concerning nathaniel an israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit the remnant of israel will do no wrongs tell no lies nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth nathanael represents the people of god that have submitted themselves to the rule and and authority that that comes with being in a relationship with him and even his statement of seeing nathaniel under the fig tree is pregnant with pregnant with meaning right certainly you have this demonstration of jesus's supernatural power that you know before nathanael even came to him he knows who he is that he could speak of the future of peter's life and call him the rock when his yet he was going to fail jesus and deny him just just the supernatural knowledge that jesus has but there's way more going on and and to be able to explain how nathaniel goes from nothing good can come from nazareth to you're the son of god the king of israel fig trees you ever want to do a study throughout scripture that's just it would it would just be fun would blow your mind study trees throughout scripture starts with the tree in the garden ends with a tree in the kingdom right but but trees throughout is just a wonder fig trees so 50 over 50 times you read about fig trees and there's this this dance that they're doing right that in one sense they represent judgment and in another sense they represent prosperity and peace you guys remember the first time that we encounter fig trees in the garden of eden adam and eve had sinned against god they had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they realized that they were naked and in their shame what did they grab they grabbed some fig leaves right and they tied those together they made for themselves coverings these fig leaves were an image of failure they were an image of shame of disobedience and yet what was a picture of the fall and of separation and alienation from our relationship with god would become this beautiful picture of peace and blessing god would redeem that but especially the peace and blessing that would come from messiah so that's the context that it finds itself in not just peace and blessing but peace and blessing now so closely associated with the rule of messiah that that to to see these two interactions um you can't you can't see them separately how did how did they get there how did this fig tree become so closely associated with messiah you remember um israel's history david sins against bathsheba things start to go downhill for him he had secured all of the resources right to build this temple for god and god said to him look you're a man of bloodshed you're you're not putting this house together for me but i'll use your son and so there's this kind of like high point in the history of the nation of israel where solomon is sitting as king on the throne they are ruling the land that god had promised them from dan to beer sheva there was there was no enemies that they were fighting against within their own land and this is what it says in first kings 4 25 so judah and israel lived in safety every man under his vine and his fig tree from dan even to beersheva all the days of solomon so while solomon is king the kingdom is united everybody is at peace this was the high point of israel's history and after solomon dies it just goes downhill fast right the kingdom is split up you've got the northern 10 tribes in israel you've got the southern judah and benjamin and they they would remain divided eventually because of their sin the northern ten tribes would be taken in and assimilated into assyria as they came in and wiped those guys out and eventually judah would fall to babylon there would be apostasy there would be idol worship and even though in the southern kingdom there would be moments where there were good kings who would bring about you know revival that would kind of turn people's hearts back it was never lasting it was neverlasting and so this picture of when everything was the best that it could possibly be becomes this image for the hope that would come when messiah would appear listen to zechariah 3 8-10 now listen joshua the high priest you and your friends who are sitting in front of you indeed they are men who are a symbol and behold i am going to bring in my servant the branch for behold the stone that i have set before joshua on one stoner seven eyes behold i will engrave an inscription on it declares the lord and i will remove the iniquity of that land in one day in that day declares the lord every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree now you can see why nathanael responds the way that he does when jesus says before philip called you i saw you under the fig tree and and certainly it's conjectured to say what was nathaniel doing while he was sitting under the fig tree some people like to think that he was praying that he was meditating on scripture whatever he was doing when jesus said that to him it immediately identified him as the son of god and as the king of israel as the awaited messiah so that's that's our next point jesus is the awaited messiah john 1 49 nathaniel answered him rabbi you are the son of god you are the king of israel now both of these designations the the this you know son of god king of israel are both messianic and nature now i know i've been using the word messiah messianic what do i mean by that it's it's just the translation when you read christ in the new testament it's it's the same word it means the anointed one of god and that throughout the old testament there was this promise whether it was the branch or the suffering that the messiah was going to come now psalm 2 marries these two ideas of kingship and sonship psalm 2 6-8 absolutely recognized as a messianic psalm but as for me i have installed my king this is the lord speaking but as for me i have installed my king upon zion my holy mountain the messiah speaking i will surely tell of the decree of the lord he said to me you are my son today i have begotten you ask of me and i will surely give you the nations as your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possession so nathaniel's response explicitly identifies jesus as the messiah and it demonstrates the point that philip makes when he attaches jesus to what moses and the prophets wrote everything that the old testament had been preparing us for finds its fulfillment in the person of jesus now this means that the kingdom of god has been inaugurated right now that jesus is here now that he has come the kingdom of god the place where god's rule and reign take place that has been inaugurated it will eventually be consummated right now we're being invited to take a knee and to confess him as lord there is going to come a time when he returns where everybody will take a knee and that's the grace of this time that we live in i know that there is a sincere desire that jesus would return i think of what peter spoke and he said you know the lord is not slow in his coming as some count slowness but he is patient he is not wanting any to perish but that all would come to repentance this is a very short window of time that we have to help people see the truth of the gospel but until then his kingdom advances through those of us who receive him and take refuge in his name and so the last thing that we're going to see today is jesus is the latter jesus is the latter i know that's a funny way to talk about jesus but you'll see what i mean in a second john 1 50-51 jesus answered and said to him because i said to you that i saw you under the fig tree do you believe you will see greater things than these and he said to him truly truly i say to you you will see the heavens opened up and the angels of god ascending and descending on the son of man and so the close of the testimonial kind of sets up the next section that we're going to see in john's gospel john chapter 2 through 12 is known as the book of signs right the book of sons there there's a bunch of critical theory about how the book of john was composed but it's very evident you get to chapter 2 and all the way through chapter 12 jesus is performing signs that demonstrate that he is the son of god so in next week's passage we're going to see him turn water into wine in john chapter 4 we're going to see him heal the nobleman's son in john chapter 5 we'll see the healing of bethesda in john 6 the feeding of the multitude john 9 the healing of the man born blind john 11 the raising of lazarus lazarus and then in chapter 2 we're prepared for what would be the seventh and final sign destroy this temple and in three days i will raise it again and so the resurrection the death and resurrection of jesus being the last sign that he is who he claimed to be but what these signs point to is is what's important and it is that through jesus we have access to god this statement you'll see the heavens opened and the angels of god ascending and descending on the son of man is a direct reference to genesis 28. those of you guys who are familiar with genesis i'll say it 100 times you don't know genesis you're not going to understand the rest of scripture but he takes this very specific moment in the life of jacob before israel is formed before he has his name transformed where god reveals himself to him jacob the conniver the one who steals his brother's birthright he's going to find a wife and as he's on his way he takes a a break to get some sleep in the middle of the field and he puts a rock under his head and he has this dream listen to genesis 28 12-17 he had a dream and behold a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven and behold the angels of god were ascending and descending on it and behold the lord stood above it and said i am the lord your god the god of your father abraham and the god of isaac the land on which you lie i will give it to you and to your descendants your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed behold i am with you and will keep you wherever you go and we'll bring you back to this land for i will not leave you until i have done what i have promised you and joker awoke from his sleep and said surely the lord is in this place and i didn't know it he was afraid and said how awesome is this place this is none other than the house of god and this is the gate of heaven you see jesus in invoking this passage is identifying himself as the latter that he is the one he is the the gate of heaven he is access to the father he's the mediator of the new covenant notice that there's the abrahamic covenant language in there as god renews that covenant with jacob well now that promise has been fulfilled in jesus we participate in a new covenant because jesus has fulfilled the abrahamic covenant that he's the descendant of abraham that brings blessing to all the nations of the earth i love this quote the the divine messiah is the latter the bridge the mediator between heaven and earth he is the one through whom man can have access to and fellowship with god and he is the only ladder he is the only way to the father the only one who can mediate who's both fully god fully man who has lived a perfect life in obedience to being tempted in every way was completely faithful to the father so that paul can write to timothy and say there is one god and one mediator also between god and men the man christ jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all the testimony given at the proper time these the these first verses in this first chapter has been about testimony and jesus's death is a testimony to us of god's love for us but ultimately that he's the way for us so what do we do with this couple thoughts just as a response search the scriptures i don't know what your relationship is to the word right i don't know if you've got like a daily devotion maybe you spend five minutes in it fifteen minutes in it if you are not regularly reading his word clearly you can see that this book is other the the coherence and just you know over 40 different authors over you know thousands of years and you've got this coherent story of god speaking through the ages and bringing about a yes and amen to every promise that he's fulfilled jesus says man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god some of us walk around starving right search the scriptures jesus says you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life it is these that testify about me and you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life we need to be in his word one of the most practical things that we could do about this it's okay to have questions right it's okay to have questions there there are i still have questions i and i have not been resolved of all my ambiguities concerning the things of god i have a whole lifetime to you know ask those questions and dig deeper and and learn but notice nathaniel's response when philip first comes to him can anything good come from nazareth listen as you're sharing your faith with people you don't have to have all the answers and it's okay if they have questions because there's an opportunity even in that to say you know i don't have a good answer for that but i'm willing to do some research and maybe we can you know seek out some answers together as to how we might deal with whatever this question is it's okay to have questions and the last is maybe you're here you're watching online maybe you would not describe yourself as having a personal relationship with jesus today's the day to climb the ladder today is the day to climb the ladder that we come to the son of man the son of god the messiah and we simply receive what he's offering to us and himself and if that's something that you would like to do or if that's something that you'd like to learn more about please catch me after the service my contact information is on the website give the church office a call we would love to spend time with you and to share more about what being in a relationship with jesus means well for those um who are in a personal relationship with jesus we have the opportunity to participate in communion and uh i'm gonna pray just um that god's word would continue to be sealed in our heart but even as the worship team comes up give you guys a chance to prepare your hearts as we partake in communion so let me pray father god we thank you so much thank you for giving us your word jesus thank you for speaking light into the darkness of our hearts i thank you for the promise that your word won't return void thank you for the grace to wrestle with the questions that we have god i pray that your word would just be sealed in our heart that your spirit would just move that you would bring to remembrance the things that we need to remember when we find ourselves in temptation or in trial that your word is a lamp into our feet and a light into our path and so as we come into communion god we pray purify our hearts for a sincere love of you and as we remember the great sacrifice that you made on our behalf god would would it compel us to help others come and see in jesus name amen well as we partake in communion and we've got the ushers coming around and bringing the communion elements i just say you know communion is about relationship this table does not make sense if you've not put your trust in jesus and really the table just invites us to come to come honest when we read about the requirements of this table or at least the way that we take it in a manner that reflects uh an understanding of what's been done for us that it just says that you know we're not coming in an unworthy manner if there's things in your life that you need to confess to god it does not mean come perfect it just means come honest right this this table is about what jesus did to bring redemption for all the ways that we would fall short but then the other talks about community and that if you were in conflict with anyone if there's a ruptured relationship that you would take the opportunity to go and be reconciled to that person god sincerely desires the unity of our church and says that by that unity people will know that he is the son of god so as the worship team leads us in some song i'll give you some time to just pray and we'll come back and partake together [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] what an incredible love that he would sacrifice his life in order to assure that he could be with you for forever this opportunity and and these are symbols right that that we take in our hands the body of jesus that was broken for us that as we eat it we remember that our redemption cost his life jesus says take this is my body which is broken for you as often as you eat it do so in remembrance of me in the same way he took the cup he said this cup is the new covenant which is my blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins but the new way that we relate to god our father is mediated through the blood of his son and so as we partake we do so in remembrance of him paul said as long as we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim the lord's death until he comes we have all just borne witness jesus he's messiah he's the savior of the world well at this time i'd like to invite jeff and carrie gage up and we're going to have the ushers bring around the offering bags but we wanted to take a second they're going to be leaving in about a week or so yeah heading back to germany uh where they're going to be serving the lord and helping people come to know jesus and so would you guys um how do we want to do this i don't let me back that up i'm gonna lay hands on him you guys stay seated so let me pray pray for our offering and pray for the gages god thank you so much for your faithfulness to our church in this season thank you for the many ways that you've allowed us to participate in things both in our city but around the world i thank you for jeff and kerry and just for their story how they were led to become missionaries and to leave to leave everything to follow you god i pray that you would bless them as they prepare to transition out god that you would just go before them and all the details i pray that you would protect them from spiritual attack even as they touch down and start to redevelop relationships we know that our adversary hates what they're doing hates what they're doing and so i pray god that by the power of your spirit you would give them boldness confidence that you would give them opportunities to develop relationships that would result in people trusting you god that you would provide for all of their needs and may their lives be an example to us that maybe while we haven't been called to germany each of us have been called to our neighborhood to our city to serve you and to make you numb thank you for your faithfulness in providing for us financially god we just ask that you would multiply that which is offered today and allow it to be used to glorify yourself the city and this world in jesus name amen oh lord we receive from you today god the lord make his face shine upon be gracious and give you peace keep you make his face shine upon you be gracious [Music] face toward you and give you peace [Music] lord bless you and keep you make his face shine upon you be gracious [Music] we receive from you um [Music] ah [Music] and your family and your children and their children and their children maybe [Music] his favorite [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] he is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] and [Music] [Music] for you [Music] your blessings just um our god who blesses us and fills us so that we can pour out for him [Applause] so throughout the summer we wanted to especially celebrate different groups of volunteers here at bethany church so if you have art right now participating in youth ministry or you have participated in youth ministry as a small group leader in the worship band we want you guys to stand up really quick go ahead and stand up yep stand on up these awesome people help lead students to jesus that they spend their days working going to school and then on wednesdays and sundays they come and want to see your students transformed into passionate disciples of jesus you guys may sit down so specifically today we wanted to celebrate kevin mayfield huh yeah shout out you guys don't know who kevin mayfield tom is he has been serving faithfully and humbly in youth ministry over 15 years 15 years our junior hires aren't 15 years old longer than they've been alive existed on this earth he has been serving in youth ministry in different capacities as a small group leader but for the entire time as a worship leader for youth ministry and so today we wanted to say thank you for your service that i know that this is a time and i know you're such a humble guy we just wanted to say thank you for all that you've done from me to all of the students to everybody that you've influenced that you have created a space where students are able to worship god freely so thank you so much for that as a sign and a token of our appreciation he has a certificate for 15 years it's crazy it's been 15 years yeah when uh yeah when i met kevin college ministry here my human um and when when people talk about him as being humble like he's he's not in it to make much of himself but he's in it to make much of jesus and he is incredibly gifted incredibly gifted musician and i know from the times that i've walked in there that you've created and helped create an environment where people that are in our student ministries can encounter the love of jesus and experience him in worship and so i am thankful for your faithfulness and ministry and i know the countless countless lives have been touched for eternity and so this is a certificate of appreciation for your 15 years of faithful service in hebrews 6 10 says for god is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you've shown for his name in serving the saints as you still do wow ministry may look different i know your heart and i know that your continued pursuit is to see jesus glorified so we love you yeah i'm going to pray for kevin uh we're also sending off some students to camp so we're going to pray for their hearts just that god would be at work making himself known father thank you so much for kevin god i just pray that your blessing would be over him god i pray that he would feel and sense your divine pleasure and delight in his life god i pray that he would be able to one day even you know 10 15 20 years from now be able to see the fruit of the seeds that were sown through his ministry to the students at this at this church god we pray for the students that are heading out to camp this week god i pray that you would wreck their hearts i pray that they would hear your word and that they would just be brought to a deep sense of love for you because of the love that you've given to them god i pray that you'd bring them back changed committed devoted passionate disciples of your son jesus bless the staff bless them stinky cabins just extra blessing for them treasures in heaven god i pray that you would just see them there safely see them back thanks for this morning in jesus name amen god bless you guys have a great [Music] week [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign

Channel: Bethany Church Long Beach

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Length: 96min 38sec (5798 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 04 2021