The Final Call to Faith

WELCOME:

Welcome everyone!

SCRIPTURE READING:

Revelation 5:11–14 NASB95

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!

“The Goodness of God”

Words and Music by Hillsong’

PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS

Lord, thank you for your constancy. For never turning Your back on us, for never getting frustrated with us, for forgiving our sins, for allowing us to be part of Your plan. We ask that You would look down upon this gathering of people and fill our hearts with great joy today as we focus on You. Amen!

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS

Lord, give us ears to hear Your voice and eyes to see Your glory. Would you this morning illuminate Your Word and make it known to us? Help us no to make application to others peoples’ lives, but to apply every Word to our own lives. Amen

SERMON

INTRODUCTION:

We will be finishing up chapter chapter 10 in the Gospel of John this morning. This chapter is Jesus’ final address to the public. It does not end His teaching, but it does His public call to faith. In chapter 11, Jesus will raise Lazarus from the dead and the rest of this Gospel focuses on the final week of Jesus’ earthly life.

But before He stops teaching publically, there is one final call to faith in the Son of God. Some hear it and receive it, and some reject it and eternal life.

~PRAYER~

John 10:22–25 NASB95

At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.

Explanation:

Feast of the Dedication:

Without trying to bore you, let me explain what this feast was. In 167 BC, the king of Syria named Antiochus captured Jerusalem and defiled the temple by offering a pig which was an unclean animal in Israel as a sacrifice on the alter to Zeus desecrating the temple.

Another man in Israel names Judas Maccabeus or “Judas the Hammer” who led a revolt against Antiochus taking back over the temple and rededicating the temple to Yahweh. And ever since that , Israel has held an 8 day feast commemorating this event and their hero Judas the Hammer.

The irony of this and why John mentions this feast is because the true hero in history is Jesus Christ. And it was not with hammer that He had victory, but with the cross. And this hero did not redeem the temple, but came to redeem the entire human race as the new Adam. And we also remember this hero not with an 8 day feast, but with the Lord’s Supper taken among the people of God.

(v 24) “The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Now these Jews are the religious leaders. They have been on Jesus throughout the entire Gospel so far. And this is not a question to find some clarity, but an attempt to find grounds to stone Jesus. And we know that because Jesus does tell them in verse 30 and they immediately pick up stones to stone Him after He tells them He and the Father are One.

(v 25) Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.

Jesus never did come right out and tell the Jews that He is the Messiah. But He did say it in many other ways such as the claim to be the Bread of Life, the claim to be the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23, the claim to be the Light of the World, and the claim to be the great I AM.

But even more than that, Jesus says the works that He does testifies of who He is.

The ability to turn water into wine.

The ability to heal a lame man by a simple command

The ability to give sight to the blind

Things only God could do, Jesus does and says Look at these works and you will see who I am

Bridge:

THE POINT: This is not a clarity problem that the Jews claim it is, this is a way to put the blame on Jesus for their lack of faith

They have heard what He has said, they know He claims to be the Son of God. This is not the first time they have tried to stone Him. They saw the man healed that was blind since birth. They saw the man who was paralyzed for 38 years walk when Jesus told him to walk. They knew very well what Jesus was saying,

But here they turn it all on Jesus saying, quit messing around and if you are the Messiah just tell us! If you really are the Son of God, just make it clear and quit annoying us. We do not believe you, because YOU will not just speak plainly about it.

And that is still true of many people today.

Those who lack faith, often blame Jesus for their unbelief

People are so quick to blame Jesus for their lack of faith.

They claim that the Bible is just too difficult to understand and if God had just written is more clearly, more plainly, then they would get it and follow it.

Or they blame the church and claim there are too many hypocrites in the church so they cannot go worship Jesus. Or they have been hurt by some church somewhere and so tis Jesus’ fault that they have nothing to do with the church.

Or they blame God Himself for something that happened in their life, or their childhood, or their current situation, so they say they do not believe because its God’s fault…

But the truth is, the evidence is abundantly clear. The works of God, the Creation testifies, and blaming God will not be a valid excuse.

The Jews do not believe because they cannot believe

John 10:26–30 NASB95

“But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. “I and the Father are one.”

Explanation:

“But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep”

Here we come to one of the most controversial truths in all of the Bible. The doctrine of election. That God elects some people to be His, and those that are elected hear, believe, and follow Jesus.

When I was going to seminary, a pastor told me, don’t let them turn you into a Calvinist! So that was my ambition, I will not go down that road. But after studying the Bible, particularly verses like this, how do you come to any other conclusion?

I don’t know if this can be much more clear in the Bible. Jesus says very clearly and directly: the reason these Jews do not believe in Him, is because God has not elected them to believe in Him.

There is a divine initiative that lies behind anyone’s positive response to Jesus. Often we do not know this in the beginning when we come to faith. We think it was all us. I repented, I turned, I changed my life, I decided to follow Jesus and then I got saved.

But truthfully, it is the other way around. Jesus intervenes in our lives, opens our eyes to see Him and only then do we choose to follow Him.

This does not mean that it is all God, and we are walking around like robots waiting to be redeemed or not redeemed. There is the divine side in election but there is also the human responsibility in election. For those called, must respond my repentance and faith.

John 6:44 ““No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

John 6:37 ““All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

The question then is how do I know if I am one of Jesus’ sheep?

He tells us in the next few verses:

SHEEP FOLLOW JESUS: “My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me”.

Sheep hear what Jesus says, not just with their ears, but with their hearts! Obedience is a characteristic of the sheep.

Sheep follow Jesus. It’s that’s simple. They live the life that Jesus calls them to live, they obey His commands, they are truly dedicated to Him.

Sheep follow Him when it’s hard

Sheep follow Him when we the other way looks better

Sheep follow Him when it leads to suffering

Sheep follow Jesus when it makes no sense

Sheep follow Jesus, because that is a characteristic of the sheep

SHEEP HAVE ETERNAL LIFE NOW: “and I give them eternal life”

Eternal life begins in this life. It is a gift God gives to the sheep and begins the moment one is born again.

Everyone is born with the gift of physical life, but one those who are born again are given eternal life.

He will die a physical death, but will immediately be ushered into heaven to live eternally with Jesus. He will never be separated from His Shepherd.

This is the reward of following Jesus.

Not the reward of church membership

not the reward of baptism

Not the reward of giving

SHEEP NEVER FALL AWAY: “And no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, has given them to Me; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

They do not stay faithful for a few years or even a few decades and then stop following. They remain with Jesus until they draw their last breath.

Notice Jesus says, “My Father is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand”

That is no person, power, no thing has the power to take the sheep away from the shepherd.

That means no woman no matter how beautiful she is

That means no amount of money

That means no drug, drink, or pill has power to take the sheep away from Jesus

They are secure

“I and My Father are one”

Now remember the accusation of the Jews above: Be clear so we can know! Its Your fault we do not believe in You. How much more clear can it get here?

He is not saying that He is the Father: This is two separate persons (I and My Father).

But even though they are different persons they are of the same essence: both divine

Essence is like saying that you and I are both humans.

And birds are of the same essence as other birds.

But all the divinity that God the Father is, Jesus is. There is no difference in power, sovereignty, omniscience…they are of the same essence.

Application:

This section should teach us something about evangelism:

We do not know who the sheep are, so everyone deserves to hear the gospel AT LEAST ONCE.

1) No one can discern who is a sheep or who is a goat. That ability belongs to God and God alone. And in my experience, God converts the most unlikely people that we would never think.

2) Just because someone does not believe at some point in their life does not mean they will not believe later on. Sheep May come to faith at many differnt points in their life.

I heard the gospel as a young man, never responded to the gospel until I was an adult. I was one of the sheep the whole time.

The same may be true about your family members, friends, children, neighbors. And we will see an example fo this at the end of this passage.

Someone may reject the gospel at some point tin their life, and believe it and receive Jesus at a later part in their life.

Our responsibility to preach the gospel and live a life that testifies to that gospel.

And we are to rest in this principle knowing that there are some who are sheep, and there are some who are not.There are some who will hear your witness and come to faith and there are some who will hear your witness and never come to faith, because they are not Jesus’ sheep.

Secondly, this should comfort us greatly

If you are. Sheep, you will never fall away. You have eternal life. You are in the hands of the Father and the Son.

We had a discussion Wednesday night about eternal security because all the warnings in Scripture about falling away and to persevere.

If you are a sheep, you will persevere. You will trust. You will obey. You be faithful, becuase it is a characteristic of the sheep. Those who do not, simply are not sheep.

One Final Gracious call to Believe

John 10:31–36 NASB95

The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

Explanation:

I want to first explain what is going on here in the first part of these verses because Jesus mentions other ‘gods’ and that can be confusing. Secondly what does any of this have to do with Jesus who says He is the Son of God?

Jesus is quoting a verse from Psalm 82. And what He is doing is using OT Scripture to make a rabbinic argument justifying why it is absolutley fine to call Himself the Son of God.

Psalm 82 and is not referring to other ‘gods’ or deities. This reference to ‘gods’ is talking about human judges who were appointed over Israel but were unfaithful and judging people unjustly and God is the speaker in this Psalm and He is rebuking them and calls them ‘gods’.

How do we know they are mere men? Because in that Psalm, God say they will die like mere men.

Why then does He refer to them as ‘gods’?

Because they were in a position of power. Just like a judge today. They could execute justice or withhold it. Take people’s lives or spare them. They were appointed to a highest power.

What Jesus is saying is that if God can call mere men ‘gods’ then surely it would be appropriate to call Jesus who is God in the flesh the Son of God.

And to this response: they see He is right and have nothing to say.

What wisdom Jesus has, and can never be shown to be wrong.

And then Jesus gives them one final act of grace to believe:

One final Gracious Call to Believe

John 10:37–39 NASB95

“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.

These are Jesus’ last word to the Jews in this Gospel. They have criticized Him, plotted against Him, and for the second time they picked up stones wanting to kill Him.

But instead of condemnation, or rejection, He offers one final plea to believe. One last try to get these hard hearted Jews to swallow their pride, look at the evidence and believe in Jesus.

He even tells them that even if they do not believe what he says, then at least believe what He has done. LOOK AT THE OBVIOUS MIRACLES YOU HAVE SEEN WITH YOUR EYES AND TURN TO JESUS.

What a picture of Grace. Opportunity after opportunity for them to turn to Jesus before their final chance.

And what do they do?

They try to seize Him but it was not His time so He slipped away like He had done before. They hardened their hearts and refused to turn and be saved. They denied the evidence right there in front of them.

Application:

1) What a Savior.

What would you do in a situation like that? Probably walk away and secretly think….I’ll be seeing you from Abraham’s bosom! But not Jesus. Jesus tries and tries to get them to open their eyes and see who He really is.

Maybe that is your story. Maybe you were one of the ones staying in your rebellion. And Jesus kept calling until you finally turned.

2) Maybe this is Jesus’ final call to you this morning

And then I wonder how many I have preached their final call to on a Sunday morning, or Wednesday evening? How many have heard the final call in this room, before never receiving another one EVER.

Maybe Jesus has been calling you week after week, month after month, year after year, and your time is about up. Don’t waste the grace….it will not be there forever.

Some gospel seeds do not sprout until later on in life: stay faithful

John 10:40–42 NASB95

And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.” Many believed in Him there.

I want to close and just think about the faithful witness of John the Baptist.

He has been in the picture since chapter 2, but his faithful witness of Jesus has left a mark in the hearts of the people.

It was John that planted the seed, and eventually God gave the increase.

I want us to be people who live this truth out. That we are like John, planting seeds everywhere we go. Faithful witnesses to Jesus.

But that Gospel sharing with little or no conversions can get discouraging.

And it is here that we find encouragement. This was likely three years after John’s witness, those seeds planted stayed their in their hearts, and finally began to bear fruit.

1 Corinthians 3:6 NASB95

I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.

Plant seeds, and trust God with the timing of the growth.

~PRAYER~