[0:00] As we turn again to John chapter 9, our dear friend FBB, the formerly blind beggar, it's easy to say FBB for me, still has some things to teach us this morning by the grace of God and so we hope to mine that truth deeply as we once again reflect upon God's truth.
[0:24] But the word of God is deep, y'all, and it's much deeper than our novels and our scientific textbooks, though they have their place, the word of God is deep.
[0:38] May God give us grace to dive in and have ears to hear. Father, as we come to your word now, we pray that you would speak to us out of the depths of it.
[0:50] Lord, you would show us Christ and show us ourselves even and show us, Lord, how we might minister more faithfully in this time and place as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.
[1:04] Work in us. We, Lord, we're the weakest link here. You are strong. And so, Lord, we come to you as weak links, asking that you would be strong in us and that the light might shine in the midst of this great darkness and you might bring more and more people to a saving light of Jesus.
[1:28] Use us for your glory. Instruct us now. May we hear the voice of he who is light and may we see his glory now. Use your unworthy servant to preach your word.
[1:40] In Jesus' name. Amen. John chapter 9, beginning at verse 24. So, for the second time, they called the man who had been blind and said to him, give glory to God.
[1:59] We know that this man is a sinner. He answered, whether he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.
[2:12] They said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them, I've told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again?
[2:25] Do you also want to become his disciples? And they reviled him, saying, you are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
[2:37] We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from. The man answered, why, this is an amazing thing.
[2:51] You do not know where he comes from. And yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.
[3:05] Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.
[3:18] They answered him, you were born in utter sin and would you teach us? Jesus heard that they had cast him out.
[3:30] And having found him, he said, do you believe in the son of man? He answered, and who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? Jesus said to him, you have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.
[3:47] He said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Jesus said, for judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.
[4:02] Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, are we also blind? Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you would have no guilt.
[4:14] But now that you say we see, your guilt remains. That is the word of the Lord. Please be seated.
[4:32] You ever have someone ask you why you believe in Jesus? Not merely, do you believe in Jesus, but why?
[4:47] Maybe a little child has used their favorite word on you. Why? Why? Why do we have to go to church?
[4:59] Why do you love Jesus? Why is God invisible? Why is Jesus? I want to ask them, why can't you just say why?
[5:11] Why you got to sing it? Why? I mean, that's a good question. They're fun questions. Why? Now, often we'll say, because he saved me.
[5:25] And that's true. And it's most important. But let me ask you, but is there more we could say about that? Is there a little more maybe?
[5:36] C.S. Lewis said, I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it, the sun, I see everything.
[5:51] I see everything. He's saying through Christianity. Through faith in Jesus. Do you see everything? Do you see everything through that lens that is Jesus?
[6:07] That is the reality of Jesus. Do you see everything? We call that the kingdom of God. Everything through faith and life in Jesus.
[6:19] Jesus. So when called to the stand, and you have been and will be called to the stand, are you able to make a case for your faith?
[6:29] F.B.B. was dismissed from the stand so that his parents could take it, remember? They were questioned under oath.
[6:41] And his parents threw him under the bus out of fear. He is of age. Ask him. So this is what the Pharisees do. Now they have recalled F.B.B. to the stand.
[6:54] He's still under oath. But now things have gotten a bit different. Now he is being cross-examined concerning his previous testimony, his previous statements.
[7:09] You see, once you give testimony to Jesus, you need to be prepared to defend that testimony. We call that Christian apologetics. It's not apologizing the way we think, the way we use the word today.
[7:24] We apologize. I'm sorry for something I did. But the word apology comes from the Greek. It really means to make a self-defense. When we are apologizing for the faith, we're not saying we're sorry we believe.
[7:37] Please forgive us. We're saying we are defending what we believe. And Jesus, this is what is happening under this cross-examination.
[7:50] So let me just hit one point briefly first and move on because I think we've kind of covered it a little bit. But just keep in mind, when called to defend your testimony, remember this.
[8:04] Don't waffle on the identity of Jesus. Don't waffle. See, you may have declared who you believe Jesus is. But now the pressure comes.
[8:16] That's what's happening in verses 24 to 26. He, in his first time on the stand, he said Jesus opened his eyes and he called Jesus a prophet.
[8:27] And that was true, but not quite far enough. We saw that last time. It wasn't quite far enough. They begin to divide among themselves. That's what happens sometimes when those who don't quite know who Jesus is, they begin to quarrel among themselves about this thing.
[8:44] Is he a sinner or is he a saint? In verse 16. Keep in mind, I didn't mention this last time, but likely Nicodemus. Remember him from chapter 3? Likely, Nicodemus is in the crowd.
[8:55] The one who came to Jesus by night. He's likely, because he's a Pharisee, they're in Jerusalem. He's probably in this crowd. I would think he's on the side saying, you know, you know, can a man who's a sinner open the eyes of the blind?
[9:10] I'm hoping, I believe he's probably on that side. And they're arguing back and forth. But at some point, the opposition gets the voice. At some point, it's like Nicodemus' side goes quiet.
[9:25] And the only voice that is now being heard is that Jesus, remember they say, we know. We know. He is a sinner.
[9:38] That's verse 24. Hope you have your Bible in front of you. We know. It's no doubt in their mind. They know that Jesus is bad for business. Here comes the full weight upon our hero to come.
[9:53] No, he's not really our hero. Jesus is our hero. You know what I'm saying, right? Don't get crazy. I'm just saying, he's our guy. Our boy. Okay, how about that?
[10:05] Our boy, the full weight is coming on our boy now. And what he believes concerning Jesus. They even invoke the name of God to pressure him. They tell him, basically they say, don't praise Jesus for your healing.
[10:19] Praise God because he's not of God. Can you, they're talking about the son of God. They're talking about Jesus. And here is a low view.
[10:33] Most people in our culture and around the world have a high view of Jesus. These guys had a low view of Jesus. Can you imagine being trapped in a fire in your home?
[10:47] Unable to breathe. A fireman crashes through the door. Grabs you. You can't even see the hand in front of your face because of the smoke.
[11:00] You got no way out. And your breath is slowly, you're gagging. And this fireman grabs you. Puts his own oxygen mask on your face.
[11:13] And leads you out. Basically carrying you out of the fire. He gets outside. He takes his helmet off. You can see his face now. And he's trying to make sure you're okay.
[11:25] Are you okay? And then the mayor hears about this wonderful event. And the mayor says, I'm going to give that fireman a medal for saving you. He risked his life.
[11:35] He did everything he could to bring you out. And he's going to give him a medal. And then he says, bring the fireman up. And he points out a guy and says, that guy saved you.
[11:49] And you say, hold it. That's not the guy that saved me. That's not the guy that saved me. You're sitting there looking. That's not the guy. I'm not sure he was even there that night.
[12:00] That's what they're doing here. They're telling FB, that guy didn't save you. Now here's the thing. In their defense on this, God is always the ultimate source of our salvation.
[12:16] What they failed to see was that Jesus is the son of God and therefore the ultimate source of salvation.
[12:28] They wanted him to give, they didn't want him to give rightful praise even to God. Because if you reject the son, you reject the father.
[12:39] They didn't see that. The culture will always want you to give praise to something else for your blessings.
[12:53] Why were you healed? All the glory goes to medical science. None goes to God. And yet we know that God touched you.
[13:04] You know that Jesus touched you. You know. But the surgeon will say, man, I got great hands. And you need to be able to remind him, I have a great savior.
[13:21] And it's not you. There's always pressure, isn't it? There's always pressure. When you say you have faith in Jesus, there's always pressure to give glory to something or someone else.
[13:41] They're telling them, they're telling this man to worship their version of God. Because they're denying the son. If you deny the son, you don't know the true God.
[13:55] For he is Trinity. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. To deny either one is to deny a true vision of God. Are you with me?
[14:06] Amen. Our culture has a version of God it will accept. It's the God of love who does not demand anything and does not judge anyone.
[14:22] Who is tolerant of most any lifestyle choice. Who wants to help you reach your full potential solely by your preference, based upon your preference. That is the God our culture will accept.
[14:36] It's just not the God who exists. It's not the God of Scripture. But the pressure. Do you feel the pressure? If you're bearing testimony to Jesus, you're feeling the pressure.
[14:50] But if you're not bearing testimony to Jesus, you're in the flow. And there is no pressure there. But if you are someone who is saying to people around you through your life and lips that Jesus is Lord and Savior.
[15:07] Are you preparing to defend that statement? That truth? What is his defense at this point? He's got more.
[15:18] But what is his defense first of all in verse 25? He brings them back to what he knows God has done. He goes, he's going to go further. We're going to see it.
[15:29] But he goes back to it. He says, whether he's a sinner, I do not know. I love this statement. But one thing I do know. That though I was blind.
[15:40] Now I see. See, before I saw the world based upon my limited understanding. My finite understanding. Before I saw the world based upon what everybody else thought around me.
[15:54] I was blind. Before I didn't even see who God was. But now my eyes have been opened.
[16:07] And I see all of creation through the lens of who Jesus is. I was blind. But now, now I see. He's bringing them back to the evidence in front of everyone.
[16:21] And miraculously changed life. His life has been changed. It's visible. They can see it. When defending your faith in Jesus, it is appropriate sometimes to double down on what he has done for you.
[16:34] In what way is your life different? And in many ways better than before Christ came in.
[16:47] Is there really a difference? The second thing I want you to see. When called to defend your testimony, ask pointed good questions.
[16:58] I mean, you understand. So you can, you know, it's not like you're actually in a court of law where you can't ask the question. See, this is the stand of public opinion, okay?
[17:09] You can ask questions on this stand. And here's where our brother shows us some really neat, some nifty moves here. In verse 27 and 28, he says, they're telling him, they're asking him again, how did he do it?
[17:23] Who did it? How did he do it? He says, listen, I've already told you and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples? What's he doing?
[17:39] He's asking them questions about their motives. This is what's driving the hostility of our culture and his culture to Jesus. I like to ask people about their spiritual background.
[17:51] Now, why do they seem so sometimes biased against Christ or against the church? These men were biased against Jesus because he threatened their position before the people and the state.
[18:06] Before the people, he exposed their ignorance of the law of God and their personal unrighteousness. He pulled the wool down. He exposed these guys. They didn't like it because the people saw them as heroes and they wanted to maintain that position of authority as heroes of the people.
[18:26] And before the state too. Because they were afraid that if he sparked an insurrection, that people, meaning people wanted to make Jesus king, remember?
[18:43] They want to make Jesus king. If that kind of insurrection occurred, the Pharisees knew that the Romans would come and bring the wrath.
[18:56] They would come and bring the hammer and crush them. It's going to happen in A.D. 70. It did happen because they did it one too many times.
[19:07] And they were afraid. They were afraid of Jesus overturning the apple cart and getting them all killed and pulled out of position.
[19:21] Don't you see that's still happening today? In communist China, the state believes allegiance to Jesus supplants allegiance to the communist state. That's why official churches must get approval by the state to exist.
[19:35] That's happening around different governments around the world. The state comes in and wants to control the narrative of the church. We're seeing it in our country a little bit more, aren't we?
[19:51] Where the state and the federal government is pushing back on what we can say. It's happened in Canada. It's happened in other countries.
[20:01] Where the state says you can't say certain things from your pulpit. This is life.
[20:15] You see, they recognize that Jesus is dangerous. And brothers and sisters, he is dangerous. He is dangerous to unrighteousness and darkness. He is dangerous to exploitation.
[20:25] He is dangerous to heavy-handed authoritarian regimes. Yes, he is dangerous. He's Aslan. He's the lion. He's untamable.
[20:37] You cannot stop him. When he gets a hold of a person, that person becomes dangerous to the forces of darkness. And the empire will always strike back.
[20:48] He and his kingdom demand. Listen, y'all. You gotta get this. He and his kingdom demand our allegiance over state, political group, tribe, family, and ethnic group.
[21:06] Allegiance to Jesus and his kingdom overwhelms you. When your eyes have opened and you see his kingdom, an eternal kingdom that cannot be voted in or out.
[21:19] Where the king of this kingdom is absolute, total sovereign. And he's good. He's good. He's loving. He doesn't make mistakes in governing.
[21:31] He cannot be bought off, bribed. There are no PACs or political groups that can sway him one way or the other.
[21:43] He had none of that here. He is the one authority we can trust above all others. Are your eyes opened?
[21:55] You see, because of living in his kingdom, we don't support unrighteousness. We don't support. We become salt and light where we live and work because we are living in his kingdom.
[22:12] You see, when you're living in his kingdom, you see everything through his kingdom, through his word. The sufficiency of his word opens your eyes.
[22:22] And you can see clearly what you could not see before and what maybe others don't see around you. Salt and light at work.
[22:33] Salt and light where you live. Salt and light at school. You become a true influencer. And you don't have to have social media to do it.
[22:45] You are an influencer because you are connected to people face to face. And they see you. And better, better, better.
[22:56] They see him in you. And see his light and his love in you. And that you're not being controlled by the forces around you.
[23:07] They see you living above it. And believe me, when they do, they're going to say, wow. Or they're going to say, kill him.
[23:19] Get rid of him. That's not your call. Ask pointed questions. Ask people.
[23:30] Why do you think that way? How did you get to that place? Why is Jesus so odious to you? Why is the church so horrible to you?
[23:44] Ask pointed questions. Jesus is using you. He's using you. It reminds me of what Paul says in Titus, a book that I just love fiercely.
[23:58] Titus chapter 3. It's only a few pages. But it says this, Titus chapter 3, beginning verses 4 through 8. When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us.
[24:12] Not because of works done by us in righteousness. You're not saved by your works. But according to his own mercy, oh, the grace of God. By the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.
[24:27] So that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. We're living in a new kingdom. We're heirs of this king. This saying is trustworthy.
[24:40] I want you to insist on these things so that those who have, watch this, who have believed, who have faith in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.
[24:51] These things are excellent and profitable for people. When you've been saturated by the gospel of Jesus, when all and his love has opened your eyes and washed over you and cleansed you, and you're walking with him.
[25:05] Listen, he says, give yourself to doing good. Be an influencer. Give yourself to doing good. Paul will say, especially to the household of faith.
[25:17] Doing good, especially to your brothers and sisters, but to everyone, he says. Everyone. That's how he's going to use you in that salt and light.
[25:30] That's how he's going to use you in the kingdom. By caring for people. And caring about their well-being. And asking some good questions.
[25:42] He was caring for them. They don't know it in John 9. They don't know it. But this man is reaching out to them. Third thing, when Jesus is called, when you're called to defend your testimony, be prepared to, this is my phrase, to logically state why you believe.
[26:05] Logically state why you believe. Now listen, this is where this guy goes. This man is no, he's sharp, y'all. But I believe the spirit is giving him words.
[26:16] And this is what Jesus promised, by the way. They reviled him in verse 28. Reviling, they spoke badly about him.
[26:26] You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as this man, we do not know where he even comes from.
[26:37] And then he goes, I know I said it before, so forgive me. But he does go Columbo on them. I mean, he really does. This is an amazing thing. I mean, I can see him.
[26:47] Can't you see him? This is an amazing thing. Really? You do not know where he comes from. Yet he opened my eyes.
[26:57] That's his opening salvo. That's his, here he comes. He's coming down the street now. Now he's going for the juggler. Here's his basic premise. You don't know where he comes from, but yet he opened my eyes.
[27:08] Okay. There we go. Then he begins to reason with them. We know that God does not listen to sinners. A.
[27:20] But if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. B. Never since the beginning of the world has it been heard that anyone has opened eyes with the blind. C.
[27:33] A plus B plus C. Here we go. Equals D. If this man was not from God, he could do nothing. He's doing math on these boys. He's walking them through.
[27:46] He's showing them that your position is not logical. Unbelief eventually breaks down. It may sound good up front, but all of the arguments against Jesus eventually will break down.
[28:03] All arguments against God's existence will eventually break down. Listen, we can't absolutely prove that God exists. But we can present the evidence that says, hmm.
[28:17] Hmm. He's presenting the evidence for Jesus. He's walking them through. You believe in Moses? You can believe in this guy.
[28:28] Because listen, this is what we know. Here's the thing. Biblical faith is supernatural and rational. First of all, it's supernatural.
[28:45] That's the ultimate story. Biblical faith, being born again, is a gift from God. And is that something you can reason your way into? It's the gift of God.
[28:55] He makes you alive so you can see the kingdom of God. You can see Jesus. So it's supernatural work of God. That's why we must pray for the salvation of people because nothing we can do can do it.
[29:10] Nothing they can do can save themselves. We have to pray for a sovereign work of God in people's lives. And we have to keep praying. Don't stop praying.
[29:22] But here's the thing. Once your eyes are opened, Christian faith becomes, it's very rational. In other words, it makes sense.
[29:34] But it's only when your eyes are opened that it does make sense. His eyes are open and now he's reasoning, he's doing kingdom reasoning for them.
[29:45] He's walking them through. Showing them that this really does make sense to who Jesus is because of what he's done.
[29:57] Wow. You know, it amazes me that today we, sometimes we treat like our faith is anti-intellectual. We don't want to reason.
[30:10] We just want to feel. And our feelings are good. Emotions are good. They're part of our humanity. Amen to that. But listen, don't put them against reason in Scripture.
[30:22] The Bible is a book, which means you're supposed to read it. And that means you have to follow the logic and flow of thought, which I'm trying to do as I work through these passages.
[30:34] It makes sense when your eyes are open. Because watch this, watch this. They saw the same evidence he saw. They reasoned with him and still rejected what he said.
[30:53] Because there has to be a supernatural gift of the Spirit before the reasoning makes sense. Who is Jesus?
[31:08] Is he a dead man? Did he rise again from the dead? Reason by itself says dead people don't get up from the grave. I can point to you.
[31:19] I can give you several reasons to believe, and you should know these, by the way. Several reasons to believe, historically, that Jesus rose from the dead. One, women were the first witnesses to his resurrection.
[31:32] In that culture, women's testimony was not held up in court, allowed in court. Women were not considered to be, they were foolish, of course, were not, the men, the people who believed this, women were not considered good witnesses.
[31:47] Too emotional, I suppose. So why does the gospel make women the first witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus?
[32:01] Huh? Not a reason to believe. The tomb was guarded by likely Roman guards or temple guards, either one, who knew that if they lose a body, likely they themselves will lose their body.
[32:18] And they just let these guys walk in and steal the body. Woo boy. That takes, that takes more faith than anything to believe that. Third, the apostles.
[32:30] What happened? How did they change? How did they go from hiding, running, and scared, and all of a sudden lions telling people about Jesus and willing to die for their testimony? How did that happen?
[32:41] If he was dead and buried because they stole the body themselves and hid it, why would they then die for their own hoax and make no money? Get me paid?
[32:55] I'm going to push my life now. There are reasons, and there are more, to believe in the resurrection of Jesus. But listen, you're never reasoning your way into the kingdom.
[33:08] The work of God has got to come. The Spirit of God has got to fall. And your, or your testimony or your defense of your testimony will not be believed. Pray.
[33:19] Pray for the Spirit to fall as you give testimony and as you're being cross-examined. Pray. Because Jesus said, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him or grants him.
[33:33] That's John 6, 44 and 65. Reasoning. Paul, speaking in Acts 19, 89, he entered the synagogue for three months, spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
[33:50] 1 Peter 3, 15, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy. Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you.
[34:05] Yet do it with gentleness and respect. This was the way of the apostles. They used reason. They presented the facts. They actually sought to persuade people of the truth of Jesus.
[34:16] Don't stop doing that, saints. It's a good thing. But in doing that, pray for the Spirit to fall so that their lives can be truly transformed.
[34:27] and they might see the light and be granted the gift of repentance. Well, lastly, real quick, when called to defend your testimony, don't be surprised by insults and rejection.
[34:44] That's what happened. Okay, one more thing after that. That's what he got, I want to do this real quick. He got insulted and rejected. They reviled him and then they kicked him out.
[34:56] So what happens next? When called to defend your testimony, trust in the Lord to be your comfort and defender. When you, listen, when you're in the lions then, you're going to get, you might get bit.
[35:12] Daniel didn't get bit, but you, but he could have. You might get nibbled on. You might even get chewed up and spit out on occasion.
[35:22] But listen, Jesus finds you. Jesus found him. You saw, you remember how that ends? He finds him. In verse 35, he finds him and he went looking for him.
[35:35] I love how the fact that Jesus went and found him. He didn't have to go looking for Jesus. Jesus knew what was happening. He knows what's happening with you and he is with you to comfort you and to give you greater light.
[35:49] Listen, this man didn't know who the Messiah was. Jesus says, do you believe? He's giving him more light so he can come to a full understanding and a full salvation. He says to him, do you know who, do you believe in the Son of Man?
[36:03] He says, well, who is he? This is the first time he's ever seen Jesus face to face, y'all. This is finally it. He sees him with his own eyes and Jesus is broadening his, he's blowing up his understanding.
[36:15] I am the Messiah. I am the Son of Man. I believe. Boo! Do you believe? Jesus wants to grow your faith in the midst of your defense against the darkness as you defend and your faith in Jesus and continue to hold fast.
[36:34] Jesus is with you and to give you further light in the midst of that struggle. You will grow in Jesus by being a witness. You know, you know what, you know what people always fighting in churches and arguing and fussing?
[36:48] Because they're not witnessing nobody. Because when you're witnessing, when you're sharing the good news with other people, you are preoccupied with knowing Jesus, walking with Jesus so you can tell them more about Jesus.
[37:05] When you're not doing that, you've got nothing to do. You're like, you're a soldier with a rifle and no one to shoot. And so what do we do? We shoot each other.
[37:20] And that's what's happening in the church around this country. We're busy shooting each other over stupid stuff. Politics and stuff that we know ain't biblical. But we're waffling on the truth.
[37:34] When you're waffling on the truth, our sexuality goes out the door. Go read Romans 1. Romans 1 shows you that when we deny the truth, the first thing that happens is sexuality goes crazy. Go back and read it.
[37:45] It's right there in Romans 1. And so even the church gets waffly and confused. And we fight each other and we don't because we're not busy bearing witness against the darkness bringing the light of Christ to bear on the needs and issues of our culture.
[38:06] Get busy. Let Jesus make you light and you won't have time to worry and fight against your brothers and sisters because now you will love anybody who's shooting in the same direction you are.
[38:25] And we'll go into battle together. All right. I gotta stop. Time's that clock. That clock's wrong. It should comfort us, family, to have a faith in Jesus that is logical and makes sense.
[38:40] It's not just believing in the facts or believing in the evidence though. Faith in him is not anti-intellectual but it is more. It is the gift of God by his spirit.
[38:52] That means again no one can reason their way into the faith. FB presented clear reasons and clear evidence why Jesus is of God and yet they were rejected because people will view those facts differently and even dismiss them.
[39:07] You need God's act of grace and mercy to transform. So we pray because only the Holy One can do it and when he does, when he does, faith in Jesus becomes the way of seeing everything including the facts.
[39:26] They make more sense and they become clear. Scott Oliphant in his book Know Why You Believe which I commend to you. Know Why You Believe. It says it provides a foundation for everything we think, do, and believe.
[39:39] Faith in Jesus. It gives proper perspective on us and on the rest of the world. Faith in Jesus. I can see now. When we were in the UK Dr. Ellis preached a sermon here I believe called Mind the Gap.
[39:55] Y'all remember that? Mind the Gap. Well we experienced it as we rode the train from Manchester to Edinburgh, Scotland. You know the train when you get off your trains there's actually a gap between the train and the platform.
[40:10] It's a sizable gap. You could get hurt in that thing. So they always tell you to mind the gap. Well there's another phrase too that we learned on that train in the UK. Just like us they're taking being careful to monitor terroristic activity.
[40:26] And you know we're told to watch out for bags right in airports today in our America. Same thing. They say watch out for a bag that's been left there by itself. They say the same thing but they have a nice little phrase for it.
[40:39] They say see it say it sorted. Sorted. S-O-R-T-E-D. Sorted. I like sorted. That's a good that's a good message for us even in doing and sharing our faith.
[40:55] See Him. See Him. Keep your eyes on Him. Go to the Word. Stay in the book. Let the Word of God show you Jesus.
[41:06] See Him. Keep seeing Him. Keep your eyes on Christ the author and perfecter of your faith. See Him daily. See Him constantly. See Him in all of life. See Jesus right?
[41:17] Then say it. Say Him. Say Him. Speak Him to a culture that's blind. Speak Him. And He will sort it.
[41:29] He will do the sorting. He will bring the sheep. He will separate the sheep from the goats. He'll do the work. He'll do the heavy lifting. He calls us.
[41:41] If we see Him then He calls us to say it and let Him sort it. Will you? Will you sign up for that? Will you give yourself to the kingdom?
[41:52] To the Christ of the kingdom? Whom you say you see? He sees you. And that's why He came to die. He saw you.
[42:04] He said it. And He's got you sorted. Let Him use you now. Father, in Jesus' name help us.
[42:15] Help us, Lord, as we seek to bear witness every day. but especially tomorrow as we go to Bayberry. Lord, may we may we speak of Jesus and may we be prepared even to defend our faith in Jesus.
[42:32] But may we do so with gentleness and respect knowing that you are at work and only you can change hearts. Do it for your glory. Save someone.
[42:43] Please. In Christ's name. Amen. Amen.