Crying Out at Unbelief
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
This is the Gospel of belief
All of these signs were written so that we would believe
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
But we’re not seeing much in results
37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
Why don’t people believe?
The opening chapter tells us that his own people rejected him
People who believed in God
People who believed in obeying him
People who were anticipating God’s salvation
But they walk away because of his hard sayings, dispute his miracles, and try to cover up the evidence that they ever happened
Why don’t the people in our lives believe?
It seems so obvious and clear to us
All those churches you pass on the way here (8) - why don’t they get it?
We might think it’s a personal failing on our part
I’m not bold enough to say anything
I don’t have the right material
I don’t know enough
Some of that might be true, but Jesus didn’t have any of those failings - and people still didn’t believe
This morning:
Why don’t people believe?
Not a comprehensive list of every reason or objection people might have
What do we do in the face of such a stubborn opposition to God?
37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
Who Could Believe?
Who Could Believe?
Isaiah gives us the reason for people’s unbelief
Quoting from Isaiah 53 - arm of the Lord
And Isaiah 6 - blinding their eyes
Isaiah 53 and 52 belong together
It explains the exciting news of God’s salvation
1 Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. 2 Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. 3 For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. 5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”
Get up and get cleaned up - God’s saving you from the bad guys
You thought you were in captivity because God was weak - well God’s going to show just how strong he is
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11 Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. 12 For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
God is showing himself as he really is - this is my name - this is my strength
God pulls a plot twist
13 Behold, My Servant will prosper; He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. 14 Just as many were appalled at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men. 15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.
He’s going to do this through a servant who doesn’t look strong or glorious at all
You’re going to look down on him just like people looked down at you in your captivity
He’s going to be even more disfigured
People are going to be shocked into silence
Because it’s going to look like Jesus
Jesus takes high and lifted up to refer to being lifted on a cross
John 12:32–33 “32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.”
John 3:14 “14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,”
Who could believe that this man was God’s salvation?
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
That’s God’s strength? His mighty arm? I don’t think so
Connect
Connect
People still struggle to see a crucified savior
The apostles thank God for their suffering - We assume something has gone wrong
This isn’t what God’s work looks like, it’s supposed to be blessings and good things!
Who can believe that God’s redeeming work isn’t despite the suffering, but is the suffering?
It’s been an issue from ancient to modern times
Docetism denying the reality of the cross
Marcion of Sinope (c. 85–160 AD)
“The crucified Christ is a phantom—God could not taste death. All that happened was a crafty illusion.”
Modern Christians deny that any of us should have to suffer from God
“Suggesting that suffering is necessary for our redemption elevates pain to divine necessity—and I cannot square that with a God who is supremely compassionate.”
— Peter Enns, The Bible Tells Me So (2014)
So people move on to alternative gospels - not that they are gospels
Prosperity gospel
Nationalism (One Nation Under God (2008) by Jon McNaughton)
Big impressive cathedrals
Pull something from passage lists “Redemptive Suffering” linked
It’s not just the miracles that people find unbelievable - but the the entire premise of a gospel that wins by losing.
They Can’t Believe
They Can’t Believe
But a message that’s hard to believe isn’t the only reason
Sometimes people don’t believe because they don’t want to
Titanic example
They wanted to believe that the ship was unsinkable
They refused lifeboats and had a cocktail party instead
They drowned in those cocktail outfits
John tells us the same thing is happening with Jesus’ audience
39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.
Isaiah’s second reason for belief - they couldn’t
It makes it sound like God is kind of a monster for causing this
He was the one who blinded their eyes - he hardened their hearts!
Isaiah has seen God in the temple
Woe is me, I am undone!
He is cleansed
He volunteers for a job
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
How does this passage work?
People think this must be predestination
How does God make them dull? By preaching the same word of salvation that we listen to
Their attitude towards the word
18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, 19 who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!”
They were open with their sin because they didn’t believe God was going to do anything about it
They had already made up their minds
9 “To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast? 10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.”
The more Isaiah tells them the message the more they mock it
Illustration: I’ve hardened my heart against the Mormon church
I’ve heard their gospel and studied it and rejected it
I spent 3 months doing it the first time
It’ll take me about 3 seconds to reject it today
The first time I heard there was curiosity - now it’s drudgery. I have to hear this again?
It didn’t matter how many times Jesus told them the truth
Every time they heard it they rejected it out of hand
Connect
Connect
We should be careful that it doesn’t happen to us here
Have you ever resented a message that’s a little too personal?
There was nothing incorrect about the message - you just didn’t like that mentioned your shortcomings
Why I like going through books: If I’m stepping on your toes I’m just preaching the next passage
We end up like a surly teenager being told to clean their room or get a job. “Yeah, I know! I’m working on it!”
And the more it’s brought up we just get bitter about it or ignore it entirely
People, us included, can’t believe because
We think we know better
Because we’ve made up our mind that it’s too unbelievable
We’re afraid
They’re Afraid
They’re Afraid
42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
Intellectually they couldn’t deny the truth of Jesus
There was no other explanation for the miracles
His arguments were convincing
Everything was right along with scripture
But they were afraid of what believing would cost them
These are the authorities
Jairus - ruler of the synagogue
Nicodemus - a ruler or authority of the Jews
On a similar level to the chief priests
These are people with influence
If they start confessing Jesus they’re put out of the place where they receive and use their influence - the synagogue
The lose any glory they receive from man
Connect
Connect
This is seen all the time when teaching the gospel
What will my family think?
What will the religious group I’m already a part of think?
I can’t accept the bible because I’ll lose my entire network!
It’s a confession
I care more about what people think than God
I want their glory, their praise, their esteem more than God
They are putting creation up and above the creator - fearing man more than God
It’s relatable
Ever been in a group of new friends or co-workers when the group-think suddenly reveals itself?
You realize everyone is much more liberal or conservative, or have some strong opinion that you don’t
You start to get quiet so you don’t out yourself and lose their glory
Summary
Summary
All of this is at work in the crowds that Jesus preached to, and it’s happening with the people we reach out to.
They can’t can’t believe in winning through dying
They’ve already shut the truth out
They reject it out of fear
So what do you when someone is to stubborn or too afraid to believe in the gospel?
Cry Out
Cry Out
44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.
Edit slide to full stop “And Jesus cried out”
Jesus keeps crying out
It’s what Isaiah did
Isaiah asks “How long?”
11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste,
You cry out until they’re in the grave
You don’t stop crying out because you’re dismissed
You don’t stop crying out because they don’t believe you
You don’t stop crying out because this is the bible belt and it’s hard to convince people
You don’t let your fear stop you from crying out
You cry out until the world ends
It’s a hard job
Tucson: 38 positive responses out of nearly 1,000 invitations
We stop crying out to the world because we’re crying to God in despair
So Jesus has some words to keep us motivated
Cry Out for God’s Glory
Cry Out for God’s Glory
44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.
It’s not up to you to make people believe
You can give them good reasons
You can hope to inspire faith
But you cannot make someone believe - that’s on them
It is up to you to show them the Father
Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father
Whoever sees you needs to see the same
No matter how anyone reacts, God’s worth showing off
Illustration: I’ve become one of those parents who likes showing pictures of my kids
I know most people don’t care
They’re worth showing off anyways
God’s glory is something worth showing regardless of how he’s received
He’s too great to not share, over and over again, to everyone we meet
Even though they don’t believe in his glory, we give him glory by crying out that we do
And anytime they try to shut us down we say no - God’s to great
Cry Out of Desperation
Cry Out of Desperation
46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
Jesus kept crying out because he wanted to save people
He saw people in darkness and without a clue as to where they were going
And he wasn’t even mad about it
He was desperate to save them from the impending judgment
Illustration: You ever see those videos of car pile-ups because of fog or ice?
There’s always a person trying to stop all the cars coming down the road
Does he just shout “Stop” as they go by?
He keeps on shouting and waving and jumping up and down
And every car that comes crashing in is a disaster that fuels his desperation
We can’t lose our desperation
Especially in light of Jesus' final comment
Cry Out In Confident Expectation
Cry Out In Confident Expectation
49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
We cry out because we believe it will work
This is God’s word and God’s authority
It’s just as powerful as it was in Genesis 1
It’s going to provide eternal life
It worked for you
It wasn’t like a light switch though
Someone had to persist to get you right with God
And what an exciting thing when we see it work
Conclusion
Conclusion
People won’t believe for lot’s of reasons - lot’s of reasons you can’t control. All you can do is follow Jesus and keep crying out.
People aren’t going to believe, but you aren’t going to stop.
