THEME: BECOMING BY BEHOLDING - Cultivating A Community of Christ-Centered Worshipers (4)

2023 THEME: BECOMING BY BEHOLDING - Cultivating A Community of Christ-Centered Worshipers

CURRENT SERIES:

“Put Some Respect On My Name: I Am Him

Exodus 3:14 ESV

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”

John 8:56–57 ESV

Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”

John 8:58 ESV

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

“Jesus speaks from God

‘Jesus speaks for God

Jesus speaks as God.”~ Piper

ALL OF THIS IS BELIEVED BY FAITH

I AM THE SATISFACTION YOUR SOULS IS CHASING AFTER

I Am the Bread of Life

Jesus alone can sustain us, who are but starving beggars looking for food (John 6).

hunger and thirst- the language of longing: beyond that because those are given to point to deeper: deep seated desire for spiritual fulfilment and peace

so complex people try to meet this need in other ways

Jesus rebuKes that

John 6:26 ESV

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

then he corrects it by saying

John 6:27 ESV

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

food = anything used to satsfy a need: money, sex, success in life, like food, only satisfy temporarily

THEY SAID TO HIM

John 6:28 ESV

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

John 6:29 ESV

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

John 6:30 ESV

So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?

John 6:31 ESV

Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

John 6:32 ESV

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

John 6:33 ESV

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

John 6:34 ESV

They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

John 6:35 ESV

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

II. I AM THE YOUR SOUL’S WAY OUT OF DARKNESS

2. I Am the Light of the World: Jesus is the original and eternal source of light in the universe for us who are spiritually blind by birth (John 8).

1 John 1:5 ESV

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

John 8:12 ESV

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

LIGHT IS NECESSARY FOR LIFE

This world

Vegetation

etc

DARKNESS:

MORALLY SPEAKING

MENTALLY SPEAKING: IGNORANCE OF DIVINE THINGS

ps 51 teaches that we are all born into sin: shaped in it. This MEANS THAT THROUGH AND THROUGH WE ARE DARK: MORALLY AND MENTALLY

Ephesians 2:1 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

FOR JESUS TO BE LIGHT MEANS THAT HE IS TO MANKIND

THE MORAL LIFE OF GOD

THE MIND OF GOD

BOTH OF WHICH LEAD US OUT OF THE DARKNESS OF SIN

THEN WE BECOME LIGHTS

WE ARE LIGHTS OF THE WORLD

John 8:12 ESV

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Matthew 5:14 ESV

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Matthew 5:16 ESV

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

PAUL: RELIGIOUS BUT BLIND: CONVERTED AND CALLED:

HE WAS BLINDED BY THE LIGHT TO SHOW HIS IGNORANCE EVEN THOUGH HE WAS RELIGIOUS

HE COULD NOT FULFILL HIS CALLING UNTIL GIVEN HIS SIGHT (LIGHT OD SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION)

WE SPEAK LIGHT TO THE WORLD

2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2 Corinthians 4:5 ESV

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

III. I AM YOUR SOUL’S HELP

I Am the Gate of the Sheepfold: 

John 10:1 ESV

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.

John 10:2 ESV

But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

John 10:3 ESV

To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

John 10:4 ESV

When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

John 10:5 ESV

A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

John 10:6 ESV

This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

John 10:7 ESV

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

SHEEP WERE HELPLESS…IN A WORD: STUPID. THEY NEEDED HELP. THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THERE WERE ALL TOO MANY SHEPERDS WHO WOULD BE WILLING TO HELP…TO STEAL SHEEP

ALL TOO MANY “SHEPERD’S FOR YOUR SOUL.” BECUASE WE LACK THE LIGHT OF GOD IN OUR REJECTION OF THE LIUGHT OF THE WORLD, WE ARE SUBJECT TO BEING DECIEVD BY FALSE SHEPERDS

DOORS (GATES): NOT ONLY LET IN, BUT THEY ALSO KLEEP OUT

JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY INTO ETERNAL LIFE

THERE ARE MANY WHO WOULD SEEK TO DECEIVE YOU:

IF POSSIBLE THEY WOULD DECEIVE THE ELECT:

BUT JESUS NOTY ONLY IS THE WAY IN BUT HE IS THE PROTECTOR OF THOSE WHO ARE IN

SO WE MUST “REMAIN” IN JESUS OR ABIDE IN JESUS

THIS MEANS WE MUST TRUST HIM AND HONOR HIM AND GIVE THANKS TO HIM

WHAT DO WE SEE IN THESE THREE? ITY IS WHAT WE SEE IN ALL OF THEM:

ONLY THE SOUL THAT KNOWS IS TRUE CONDITION OF DEPRAVITY WILL SEE OTS NEED FOR JESUS

TO PUT RESPECT ON HIS NAME IS TO LIVE DEPENDENT ON HIM, WITH YOUR SOUL ABIDING - actively placing itself in a POSTURE AND POSITION OF DEPENDANCE ON HIM DAILY

PUTTING RESPECT ON JESUS NAME MEANS THIS:

1. STOP CHASING THE FLEETING AND NON SATISFYING THINGS OF OF THIS LIFE: HE IS YOUR SOUL’S BREAD: TRUST HIM

2. STOP TRYING TO FIND YOUR OWN WAY OUT OF YOUR MESS AND SIN: HE IS YOUR SOUL’S LIGHT: TRUST HIM

3. STOP TRYING TO GET PEACE BY LISTENING TO EVERYONE AND TRYING EVERYTHING: JESUS IS THE SHEPHERD AND THE DOOR OR GATE: TRUST HIM

4. I Am the Good Shepherd: Jesus knows and cares for us who are orphaned, wandering sheep without a shepherd (John 10).

5. I Am the Resurrection and the Life: Jesus is the key to escaping spiritual death for us who are hopelessly doomed to death because of our sin (John 11).

6. I Am the Way, Truth, and Life: Jesus is the accessible path, the illuminating truth, and the giver of life for us who are lost, ignorant, and dead without Him (John 14).

7. I Am the True Vine: Jesus is the source of eternal life for us who are dead and useless branches apart from him (John 15).