The Sign

OVERFLOWING GRACE GOD’S LOVING FAVOR IN MY INADEQUACY RESULTING IN OVERFLOWING BENEFITS. JOHN 1:1-5 AS GOD AND CREATOR, HOPE IS FOUND IN JESUS. JOHN 1:6-18 JESUS IS THE SOURCE OF GRACE AND TRUTH, AND MAN MUST CHOOSE IF HE WILL BELIEVE IN THIS JESUS. JOHN 1:19-2:11 THE REALITY OF JESUS (AS REVEALED BY THE MANY WITNESSES) SHOULD LEAD YOU TO BELIEF. The Sign JOHN 2:12-25 THE SETTING: PASSOVER IN JERUSALEM THE STORY: JESUS CLEARS THE TEMPLE AND SEES THE HEART OF MAN. THE STORY 1. Jesus clears the temple of those who were defiling it. 12-17 2. The people question Jesus’ authority over the temple. 18-21 3. In the future, the disciples remember Jesus’ sign and respond in belief. Vs. 22 4. Jesus discerns true belief and external, disingenuous belief. 23-25 THE POINT: WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THE SIGN? THE POINT 1. The main point is about accepting or rejecting the sign and the subpoint is about a proper honor of worshipping God. The emphasis is not on the cleansing but on what were people asking for – a sign that some would reject. 2. Man’s rejection of one of the most important “signs” reveals their heart: the rejection of the resurrection of Jesus. THE POINT 3. God, not man, knows the heart of genuine belief. 4. Believing Scripture and the teaching of Christ are foundational for accepting truth. MAN MUST BE WILLING TO ACCEPT WHAT IS TRUE ABOUT JESUS. APPLICATION 1. Genuine belief does not pick and choose from Scripture what to believe about Jesus. 2. Genuine belief is more than an external excitement about “trying God”; rather, it is an internal heart response of repentance and belief to what is true about Jesus. What you believe matters! APPLICATION 3. Man can see truth before them and still reject it. 4. It is God and not man that knows the hearts of people. Our responsibility is to present truth, and then it is their responsibility of what they will do with that truth. ACCEPT THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS THE CHRIST.