No Time to Wait

0:03Before we get to our passage, I need to let you know of an active threat that all of us need to be aware of. There are some sleeper cells that have been targeting churches in our region, in our area. Officials have been warned to let their churches know of the danger that exists and to alert them to be on guard. Our church falls into one of the categories of those that are in danger. The risk is not something that can be mitigated by our gatekeepers.

0:31We have gatekeepers here each week, in case you were curious. We have men that are either former police or military that carry on Sundays, and part of their goal is to keep us safe. Unfortunately, with this threat, this is not a risk that they're able to mitigate, nor can any authority— police, military, anything else— because it's nearly impossible to distinguish friend from foe when it comes to this particular threat. In fact, the only way for us to have any semblance of security and feel safe this morning here at church is for all of us to stay on alert looking out for any evidence of the enemy's primary weapon.

1:09Maybe you're already there, but the enemy that we're talking about isn't a human being.

1:16The enemy that we're talking about isn't a literal terrorist, although the enemy that we are talking about does indeed target and terrorize churches.

1:28The enemy under consideration this morning, the enemy before us in our passage this morning, in our text this morning, is the enemy of unbelief, hardness of heart. And the danger that it poses to us and the danger that it poses to the church is one that we need to be on guard against, one that we need to be aware of. And as Christians, we have to recognize and respond to this danger Doing all we can to work against it wherever it is found, because unbelief can render a Christian useless in the Kingdom of God and render a church useless for the Kingdom of God. So as we turn to our passage and to our text, we're actually not going to hear from Jesus specifically in this text, though it is the Word of Christ that we are reading. We're going to read and find John's commentary on what's happening here as Jesus meets the unbelief of these crowds.

2:24Crowds in a pretty terrifying way. Take your Bibles, John chapter 12, beginning in verse 36. John chapter 12, verse 36, the second half, 36b, says, when Jesus had said these things— so remember, contextually, we're still there, triumphal entry Sunday. He's been interacting with the crowds. He's been talking with the crowds that were there.

2:46He's been talking with the Greeks that wish to see Jesus when they said Show us Jesus, just like we just sang. Show us Christ. He's been interacting with all of these crowds, but not just here. Contextually, we need to have in mind the fullness of Jesus' earthly ministry. The 3 years that He's been walking amongst these crowds, the, the 3 years that He had been doing signs and doing miracles and teaching the masses, and all of the miracles that we've read about in John's Gospel, plus all of the others that John didn't record, all of the sermons, the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5 through 7, in the Sermon on the Plain, and in other messages and teaching periods.

3:24We have to consider all of this together when we read what we're about to read here when He says in verse 36, when Jesus had said these things, He departed and hid Himself from them. Though He had done many signs before them, they still did not believe in Him, 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? Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.

4:03Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 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. For they love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. Verse 36, so after Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. The word hid is intentional.

4:29It's not just that Jesus was going to not be around them anymore, it's that Jesus, in an intentional, thoughtful, purposeful act, chose to conceal himself from these crowds, from the people. In fact, the rest of His time before the cross is going to be spent with His followers, His disciples. We come to the end in John chapter 12 next Sunday of the book of the signs, as it's commonly referred to, and turn the page to John chapter 13 in a couple weeks to the book of glory. And that's focused on the final week of Christ. From there on out, the rest of the Gospel of John is focused on the cross, and Jesus is, is going to be turning His attention to His followers.

5:13But it's not just a marker of time that we read in John 12:36b. It's a tragic declaration of judgment because, verse 37, though he had done so many signs, they still did not believe in him. Think about the signs of Jesus. As I mentioned, John 1 through 12 is the book of the signs, 7 signs that John records. And we go through those signs just to remind ourselves: the water to wine in John chapter 2, the healing of the nobleman's son in John chapter 4, the healing of the paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda in John chapter 5, feeding the 5,000 in John chapter 6, walking on water, John chapter 6, healing the man born blind in John chapter 9, and then most recently raising Lazarus from the dead in John chapter 11.

6:03But it wasn't just those, was it? Because what does John write in John 20:30? He says there were many other signs that Jesus did, but these have been written that you might believe. And so it wasn't just the 7, it was the 7 plus all of the others, some of which are recorded in the other Gospels for us, some of which we probably don't even know about because they weren't recorded. But Jesus has been doing all of these, and John calls them signs because as signs they were meant to do what?

6:31They were meant to convey something more than the act itself, communicate something greater than just the reality before them. For example, raising Lazarus from the dead was meant to convey the reality that Jesus has the power over life and death.

6:49And so all of these signs had been done, and yet, verse 37, they still did not believe. The verb did not believe, as it's translated in our passage here, it's the imperfect tense, which suggests it's looking back at an action that takes place in the past, but it's an ongoing action. In other words, this wasn't a singular moment of unbelief. This was a persistent, ongoing rejection of Jesus. They were continually not believing is how we might put it.

7:24This is not just looking back going, okay, well, just after Lazarus they didn't believe just one time, but maybe they would later. No, this is the fact that they had persistently and stubbornly been rejecting Jesus over and over and over again. Jesus has encountered unbelief before. In Mark's Gospel, in Mark 3:5, here's how he responded to the unbelief of the Pharisees because they were trying to trap him. They're trying to get him to heal a man on the Sabbath and be able to accuse him of breaking the law.

7:53And so in Mark 3:5, it says he looked around at them and at their disbelief, their unbelief, their rejection of him. And it says with anger, and he was grieved at their hardness of heart. And so there we see Jesus meet unbelief with anger and grief, sadness over their unbelief. Just a few chapters later in Mark, in Mark 6:6, it says he marveled at their unbelief. In other words, he saw their unbelief and his response was, are you kidding me?

8:28An example of this unbelief just recently in John, if you'll flip back just a couple of chapters to John chapter 9, you'll find the story when Jesus healed the blind man, the man born blind. And the Pharisees in John chapter 9, verse 18, it says this: the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight. So there you see in action an example of what this unbelief was like.

8:56From where we sit, we see the tragedy of what's happening here.

9:01We've seen Jesus do all of these things, and in John's Gospel we've encountered their obstinance. We've encountered their stubborn refusal to believe in Jesus. We've seen time and time again where you sit there and you say— it's all you can do to keep from screaming at your Bibles. What more do you need? What more do you want to see?

9:19He literally just raised a man from the dead. Why will you not believe?

9:27And that's where the tragedy comes in here in verse 36, as Jesus departs himself and hides himself from them. Because what we're going to find is there's going to be no more signs, no more opportunities. This group had presumed upon the patience of God for too long, and now they were going to forfeit any future chance at hearing from Jesus again.

9:50Christian, understanding the danger of that is important for us because that danger remains as much for us today as it did for them at that stage. Point number 1 this morning is this: don't presume upon the patience of God.

10:03Don't presume upon the patience of God.

10:09Can I talk to you for a minute this morning? If you're here and you would say, I'm not a Christian, don't think that you're going to have another chance to respond in faith and repentance to the message of the gospel.

10:27Young people, students, The idea that I'll deal with Jesus when I get older, I'll become a Christian when I get older, is gambling your eternity on the pleasures of the earth that you might experience tomorrow.

10:48The risk you run is we don't know when the patience of God runs out.

10:55That's true for any of us in this room.

10:59If you would sit here today, this morning, and say, well, I'm not a Christian, you are gambling eternity on whatever your idol, your god that you are choosing today for yourself is.

11:12There are many ways that God's patience can run out, certainly death. Psalm 139 says that God has written down the number of days for every single one of us in this room before any of them have come to pass.

11:3030,000 days.

11:33I think that works out to about 80 years or so.

11:40How much of that do you have left? Average lifespan.

11:46But the more terrifying thought that I'd like to impress upon you this morning is this, and that's what we find in our text.

11:53God's patience with people is not necessarily equal to the length of their life.

12:00It is not always the reality that God's patience runs out when your breath runs out.

12:06Sometimes God's patience with someone runs out before that, and we get to a place where it's too late. That's what we find and what we're seeing happen right now when it says here that that Jesus hid himself from them.

12:26We're going to get into this even more in the second point as we find out what that meant for them, but it's enough to know right now that Jesus is intentionally concealing himself so that they would no longer have the opportunity to believe.

12:42I'm sure you've made the mistake, as I have, of signing up for the free trial with every intention of canceling that before the subscription hits. You think, I gotta make sure that I cancel that subscription? Oh yeah, I gotta do that, I gotta cancel it. That's all right, I've got a week. That's all right, I've still got 3 days.

13:00That's all right, I've still got— I can do it tomorrow. And then all of a sudden your credit card bill comes and you're going, where in— what is that? Oh, that's right, I ran out of time. And now I have that service that I didn't really want.

13:15We presume upon the patience of things all the time. God is not one to presume upon his patience with. Eternity is far too serious for us to treat like we would treat a subscription that we sign up for, thinking, I'll get around to it. Again, God's patience is not necessarily equal to the span of your life. It wasn't for this group.

13:35And you may say, well, I'm not— I wasn't there. I didn't see Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. If I saw Jesus do that, then I would believe. What makes you so sure? They saw him do it and it wasn't enough for them.

13:51You have his word. You have all of these things recorded in his word. Why would you believe that just being there would make you be any different than where you are at right now in your unbelief today? And you might say, well, okay, well then what decides that for each person? The answer is God's sovereignty does.

14:10So you may say, well then, what can I do about that if it's God's sovereignty how long his patience is going to be? My answer to you is do business with him today, right now.

14:22Christian, you may be sitting here thinking, okay, I am a Christian, I have done business with him. What point does this have to do— what does this point have to do with me?

14:312 things specifically I want you to think about. Number one is the way you think about, the way that you conceive of unbelievers in your life.

14:43Don't presume upon God's patience for them.

14:48Love them, care for them, have compassion for them, feel for them, fear for them.

14:56Think about them in, in those terms and understand, man, they've got a time that God has given to them to come to faith.

15:05And that time is running out, which drives us to our second response, church, and that is not just to feel a certain way about them, but to act towards them in a certain way. Don't presume that you're going to have another day that you'll be able to get the gospel to them later on. Don't imagine that someone else is going to give— come along and give them the gospel in your place.

15:28Don't assume someone else will come along and close the deal.

15:32Don't presume upon God's patience for them either. Have you ever— I wonder, have you ever been on a plane and looked out the windows of the plane and seen all of the just flat land and the communities and the cities? And especially at night, you can see the cities lit up at night, and you look out and you think, wow, look at that. And have you ever just felt small in that instance? Have you ever looked out and seen all of those people and thought to yourself, man, 8 billion people, and yet when you look out and you see the people and you see all those lights and you understand, and maybe you even are able to pick out cars driving along the road, and maybe you've thought about who's that person behind the wheel, at the end of the day your response is, I don't know, it's just one of the 8 billion.

16:13My concern for us, church, is sometimes we treat the people that pull in and out of the neighbors— of the driveways right next to us and the houses all around us the same way.

16:22We just think, ah, it's just one of the 8 billion, rather than thinking, man, they, they're a soul, and if they're not saved, then God's patience towards them may be running low. Jesus hid himself from them.

16:42When God's patience runs out, it results in one of two ends, the first being death or or passive judgment being turned over to their, their sinfulness. And that's what happens here with these crowds. They're not going to die, but God's patience has run out. And so we're going to pick up as we continue in this text and find out what that looks like. In verse 38, it says, so that they didn't believe.

17:02Verse 37, so that the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: Lord, who has believed what he heard from us? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 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. Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.

17:26And so as John's commentary continues here, he quotes for us these 2 passages from Isaiah. The first one comes from Isaiah 53:1, which is this: Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? The second one comes from Isaiah 6, from what we read in our scripture reading this morning. 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.

17:56The first of these, the one from Isaiah 53, is quoted for us in verse 38, and it expresses the purpose of their unbelief. They didn't believe so that this would come to fruition. So that what would come to fruition? Well, Who has believed what he has heard from us? John is saying that that refers to the teachings of Jesus.

18:18He's looking at this crowd that's hardened themselves and disbelieved and refused to believe Jesus, saying, who has believed these things? The implied answer in the original text is no one has. Or, to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? That's talking about the powerful acts of God, and John applies that to the miracles of Jesus, the signs of Jesus. Who has really understood these signs?

18:38And the answer is, well, among this crowd, no one had. And so John is grabbing Isaiah 6 and bringing it to bear and applying it to what's taking place here before our eyes with this crowd, that they're not believing because of their hardness of heart. And that's where he goes in this next quotation from Isaiah 6:10. In verse 40, he says, he has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts lest they would see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn And I would heal them.

19:11There were other times in Jesus' ministry that Jesus had concealed his truth from the crowds. In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus taught to the crowds in parables. And as he's teaching the crowds in parables, afterwards the disciples came up to him and said, Master, why do you teach to them in this way? And Jesus says, to you, it's been given to understand, but to them, I've tried to hide these things from them in an act of, essentially in an act of judgment against them. And so Jesus was concealing things even long before we get here where he hides himself now, even from them.

19:49And all of this is going back to what it says in verse 39, such a short statement, but such a terrifying statement at the same time for us to read where it says this. Therefore they could not believe. Because why? Because verse 40, he had blinded their eyes. Who is the actor in verse 40?

20:09Who is the he in verse 40? It's God. He, the Father, had blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them. See, this is the outflow. This is the progressive outcome of God's patience running out is this group has now been turned over to unbelief.

20:30This group has been turned over and hardened in their own hardness of hearts. Sometimes God does things that cause us to feel that wonder and awe, and other times he acts in ways that leave us trembling. And this is, this is one of those, or at least it should be. See, God has turned this crowd over. In the hardness of their hearts, and there was going to be no coming back from that.

20:55Second point for us this morning along those lines: fear God's right to judge.

21:01Fear God's right to judge.

21:06Look at verse 39 again. Just put your eyes on that in the text. Therefore they could not believe.

21:16Therefore, they could not believe.

21:23We fear God's right to judge us as Christians, not in the sense of having a fear of judgment.

21:29The same author writes, perfect love casts out fear. It's not a fear of judgment, but it's a fear, it's a reverence, it's a trembling before him that leaves us to say, God, you are God and I am not, because, church, This is not easy.

21:49What we are watching here unfold before our eyes is a group of people that God has turned over and hardened in unbelief to make it impossible for them to come to faith.

22:03And that still happens today.

22:10We've talked about this concept before back in John 6 as we dealt with it, but there's a reality that God is completely sovereign over our lives and we are completely responsible for them.

22:23In theological terms, it's what we call the doctrine of compatibilism, that we are responsible for the hardness or softness of our hearts towards the Lord, and yet God is sovereign over Remember that. John Piper says this, he says, no one deserves truth from God. No one deserves it. Jesus is concealing the truth here. He is confirming and solidifying the unrepentant, sinful condition of unbelievers when he joins his Father in hiding these things from the wise and understanding.

23:05We react against this, and I get it. We read this and we think to ourselves, this doesn't seem fair.

23:15My God would never harden someone's heart, turn them over to their sins.

23:26But it's a concept we're watching. Unfold in John's Gospel, and it's one that's taught elsewhere in Scripture as well. In fact, we've already read about it in John 1:11. John 1:11, he came to his own, but his own did not receive him.

23:47We have to remember that God is not putting this group into their sinful condition. That's part of who they are as human beings. Born as sinful human beings. They are born in a state prone to sin, and they are in their life rejecting the Lord, rejecting Jesus time and time again. He's not putting them into that condition.

24:08He's simply choosing based on his divine prerogative not to rescue them from that sinful condition. And that's where we want to protest. And I understand it. We want to say that's not fair.

24:21What we're dealing with here. Here— let's just call it what it is— is the doctrine of election. And another side of that is what we call the doctrine of reprobation, that there are some sovereignly ordained by God not to be saved.

24:39Take your Bibles, if you will, and flip over to Romans, chapter 9.

24:48Romans chapter 9, let me just tell you this, it's helpful in dealing with this because as Paul wrote what he writes in this passage, he's anticipating the same objections that some of you may feel right now.

25:06And I'll just tell you, it's not going to leave you at the end of the day feeling warm and fuzzy like, oh, I love the doctrine of reprobation. Nope, nobody should.

25:15But hopefully it'll allow us to, at the end of the day, along the lines of this point, fear God enough to say, God, I don't understand, but I believe it because your Word says it.

25:26Romans 9, verse 10, Paul says, not only so, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works— notice the language here— before they're born, not because of works, but because of him who calls. She, Rebekah, was told, the older will serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob I loved, Esau I hated. Paul's anticipation of our objection: What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? He understands the reaction of our heart to say, God, that doesn't seem fair.

26:14That doesn't seem fair that before they're born you said it's going to be Jacob, not Esau. That doesn't seem fair, God. Is there injustice on God's part? Paul says, by no means. For as he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

26:38So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. Your standing before God depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose, Pharaoh, I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you. You, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills and hardens whomever he wills.

27:13The reason Paul brings up Pharaoh is because what he's arguing there, what God is saying there, is Pharaoh was created, Pharaoh was born for the strict and sole purpose of being hardened in his heart towards God and God getting his glory over Pharaoh. Pharaoh was born without a shot of ever believing in the God of creation.

27:39You will say to me then, then why does he still find fault? Again, he anticipates another objection. Not only would we say, God, this doesn't seem fair, but God, it also doesn't seem fair because what can we do to change our own fate? If that's true, if you created Pharaoh just to be able to get glory over him as you led Israel out and he was never going to listen to you, who's never going to obey you, then, God, what can we do? Why do you still find fault with us?

28:10Who can resist his will?

28:13Paul continues in verse 20, But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, Why have you made me like this? Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? The prophets use the same analogy with Israel. Does God the potter not have the right over us the clay to fashion out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use, one vessel for dishonorable use?

28:53What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy which he has prepared beforehand for glory. It's that final point there that Paul makes that leaves us maybe not with everything tied into a bow, but at least understanding what's going on even back here in John chapter 10 as we flip back— or John chapter 12 as we flip back to our main passage. The reality is this, church, that God has created every single person He has created for one end. What is the answer to that question? What is the chief end of man?

29:42What does the Westminster Shorter Catechism say? The chief end of man is to glorify God. That applies to believer and unbeliever alike.

29:55Here's the hard reality that we need to look at in the sterile environment of theology for just a moment: the unbeliever still glorifies God.

30:07He or she simply glorifies God through suffering an eternity in hell under the just wrath of God.

30:14That's what Romans 9 is saying there at the end. What if God has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared? Prepared by who?

30:25Who creates the vessels? Who's the Creator, church? God is. What if God, desiring to show his patience, has endured— or his glory— has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared prepared by who? God.

30:43What type of vessel did he prepare in some people? A vessel of wrath prepared by him in order to what?

30:55Magnify his mercy and glorify himself in the vessels of mercy prepared beforehand as well. Church, this is not easy, but this is what I need us to understand that Scripture teaches, is that there are those that God has turned over. There are those that God has sovereignly hardened in response to their rejection of him.

31:30He has hardened them. Such that they will never come to faith in him.

31:39In Romans 1:24, Romans 1:26, Romans 1:28, this is what it means where the apostle writes, therefore God gave them up.

31:52For this reason God gave them up, since they did not see fit God gave them up.

32:03This is the risk that is run by those that are presuming upon the patience of God.

32:14God has the right as the potter over the clay to give you up such that there's no coming back.

32:28When I was growing up, I learned to play the guitar in high school. And one of the harder things about learning to play the guitar is to develop calluses on your fingers, because before you do, to press down on those wires, it's not comfortable. It hurts. You feel the pain on the tips of your fingers. And even now, it's been so long and I don't play regularly, even now when I pick up the guitar and I start to play again, those calluses aren't still as thick as they were, and so it hurts and I feel it.

33:04Y'all, that's the conscience soft to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. But if you resist him long enough, if you resist the gospel long enough, if you reject the gospel long enough, Eventually what will build up on that conscience is the same thing as those calluses on the tip of the finger, so that when you play with calluses you no longer feel it because that skin is as though it's dead on the surface. And so you can press down and you can change things and you can slide them up and down the strings and it doesn't bother you anymore because the calluses are there on your fingers.

33:43Or let me use a different analogy. Maybe you don't play guitar, or maybe you don't swing a golf club, because same thing with golf, you build up calluses on your hands. But I'm going to guess most of you in the room— I know some of you are outliers, but most of you are probably normal human beings and you drink coffee. But I'm also willing to bet that most of you in this room that drink coffee didn't like it the first time that you drank it, did you? You tasted the bitterness of it with nothing in it, and you kind of recoiled against that.

34:07Didn't you? But then over time you realize, man, it's, it's worth it. And you keep drinking it, and you keep drinking it, and you keep drinking it, and you begin to experience the benefits of the caffeine. And the taste, you get used to it. You even acquire a taste for it.

34:20But if you're like me, now all of a sudden you're in a place where you can have a cup of coffee at 8 at night, it doesn't do anything to you anymore. Why? Because your body has built up a resistance to the caffeine.

34:32Church, our sinfulness Our rejection of Christ builds up within us an insensitivity to the gospel that can result in us being turned over and make it such that we will never be able to come to faith in Christ.

34:50And that's God's right to do that.

34:59You may be out there saying, well then, how do I know if that's me? How do I know if I'm part of the elect or not?

35:11God's answer: repent and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today.

35:19Today. Again, let's go back to point number 1: don't keep presuming upon the patience of God. Do business today. And if you're out there thinking, well, I'm not— yeah, I'm, I'm not good enough to do that. I need to clean myself up.

35:32I, I've got this sin. I've got that sin. I do this. I do that. Listen, you don't have to clean yourself up to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

35:39That's the good news of the gospel.

35:42It's not about what you bring to the table. It's what he brought to the cross and then out of the grave himself.

35:49And so if you're out there saying, well, how do I know I'm— and you're, you're all wrapped up and you're consternated over whether or not You're part of the elect. Let me just plead with you today. Come to faith in Jesus. Repent from your sins. Put your trust in him today and you will be forgiven.

36:03The same one that wrote Romans 9 also writes in Romans 10, man, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Here's one of the greatest mercies of God. Guess what? We have no idea who's in and who's out. That is one of the most amazing mercies of God that we know as Christians, that it's above our pay grade who is and who's not part of the elect.

36:33What that means is that you and I get to go to every single person who doesn't know Jesus and say, I want you to know Jesus. Repent and believe today.

36:44You say, well, Pastor, what if they've presumed upon the patience of God too long and they're turned over? That's between them and God, not between you and them. Your job, Matthew 28, is to go after them with the gospel, the good news.

36:56That's one of the responses to us fearing God's right to judge. It's not to sit back and be the holy huddle and the high and mighty and the frozen chosen and be like, well, good for us. Stinks to be them.

37:08God forbid that that ever be our mindset. God forbid that we ever boast in being part of the elect.

37:16We need to be broken over the fact that there are those that will never know Christ, and you have them in your life right now. What are you doing about it?

37:29Guys, I, I fear this is happening all around us here in our area.

37:42I think there's so many people living for everything but radical devotion to Jesus here.

37:52We're here because it's comfortable.

37:55And listen, I just want to be— listen, I'll go to church because I'm a Texan and that's what we do here. And I want to go to church. I want it to be a nice facility. I want them to have a good place that I can drop my kids off for a little while. I want there to be decent refreshments.

38:09I want worship that sounds good. And I want a 30-minute sermon from a pastor who's not going to meddle in my life and not going to try to convict me and tell me that I need to change anything about my life. And then guess what? I'll be back next week for the same thing. That's not it.

38:23If you're looking for that, you're in the wrong place.

38:27I don't want to be that here.

38:31I don't want us to be lulled into passivity here in North Texas, thinking that we're good. Because it's easy to be a Christian here, guys. God is turning people over to their sin before our eyes who are packing the parking lots of churches all around us, thinking that they're good when they're not good.

38:55I didn't preach this over in our kids' men beforehand, so they are going to listen back to this and go, what happened?

39:02Guys, I fear that we have this diet Christianity, this Christian light that's invaded the churches here, and that we're just comfortable with it.

39:13Meanwhile, people are rejecting the true biblical gospel and just playing the cultural Christianity game, thinking they're okay because they're on a membership roll, thinking they're okay because when they were little they walked an aisle or prayed a prayer or some pastor baptized them when they were 4 years old after they made some mumbling profession of faith at a VBS, and now they're okay with God. And they're living the rest of their life for all of their idols and thinking that when they get to heaven that God's going to say, well done, good and faithful servant.

39:43That's not it.

39:49We're not riding— the church is not a limousine. We don't get saved and put into a comfort comfortable seat in a limousine or a first-class seat on a plane until we arrive at our destination, which is eternity.

40:03The church is conscripting people into the service of God to reach more people for Christ. That's what we're here to do. The church is a place where we come and we say, man, I want to look more like Jesus and less like the world around us. That's what we're here to do. We're not here to be Christians who cuss a little.

40:23We're not here to bow the knee to the culture. We're here to be different because eternity is at stake and people are being turned over right before our eyes.

40:38And what are we doing about it? You say, well, Pastor, we can't save everybody. I get that. We can't save anybody, but we can be used by him.

40:50So again, God forbid that we ever be content with just saying, well, the doctrine of election exists and I'm on the inside. Too bad about the people on the outside.

41:04Verse 42, nevertheless, the good news is there were still some there that did believe, in other words. Despite this, 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, for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. This is an interesting section, and I think it challenges 2 groups of people in our midst this morning. Like I said, I do believe that these are genuine believers. The word nevertheless that you see there in verse 42 sets them them apart from the group that was just being talked about, those that have been turned over, those that have been hardened.

41:44So, I do think that these are genuine believers, but their faith is in a state of infancy, so much so that they're afraid to go public with their faith because they're worried that the Pharisees are going to kick them out of the synagogue, and they fear the praise of men more than they fear the praise of God. They desire the praise of men more than they desire the praise of God. And John chapter 9, in their defense, that That did happen. The man born blind, what happened to him? He was kicked out of the synagogue.

42:08So their fear is not unfounded. Here's why I say this challenges, I think, 2 groups of people in our midst. I think, number one, this challenges the mature Christian because it challenges us to say, man, there are people who come to faith in Jesus, and yet it's going to be a process to get them to the place that they're willing to go public for the— with their faith and really begin to rid their life of the sin that we see in their life. Sanctification is a process. Sometimes people are saved and it's like they go into AP sanctification right away.

42:40They're just killing sin left and right, and they're on fire for Christ, and there's just an explosive growth in Christlikeness. There are other people that get saved and it's like turning a cruise ship around. It takes a minute. There are habits, there are thoughts, there are processes. That need to be unlearned, that need to be replaced, that need to be— that need to be put to death in their life.

43:03And that's going to take some time. They're going to be moving. They're just not going to be moving as fast as you want them to be moving. And so I think this challenges us as those who may be more mature believers to say, we need to allow for a category like that. But second group of challenges is the new believer, the immature Christian, the younger Christian who is still harboring a reticence to count the cost of following Christ because there's idols in their life they don't want to let go of.

43:29John's not saying that this is a good thing, he's just saying this is a thing. And so it's, it's right for us to say, man, let's go, let's get the ship turned around. What can I do? How can I get there and, and get this thing turned around more quickly? Let me help you in that.

43:43So this challenges that person too to say, okay, I do have some idols in my heart that I'm afraid of letting go of for what it will cost me for following Christ, it challenges them to say, I need to let go of some things.

43:55Following Jesus in the first century cost more for these people to go public with their faith than following Jesus in the 21st century costs us to go public with our faith. Not to say that it doesn't cost us anything, but regardless, we need to understand there is a cost to following Jesus. And there's a threat that accompanies that of loving the acclaim of man more than the praise of God, which still very much exists today. In response to that, what do we do? Point number 3, final point this morning is this: count the approval of God worthy of the cost.

44:27Count the approval of God worthy of the cost. We've been talking about unbelief, right? There are those that presume upon the patience of God too long, those that are turned over in their unbelief. This is where unbelief meets the believer. This is where we have an unbelief that causes us to doubt whether or not it's really worth following Jesus, to give up the things I'm going to have to give up to follow him.

44:47I've committed my life to him, but you know what? Sanctification, I don't know if it's really worth giving all that up. At our house, we have one of those stationary bikes that you pedal on and don't go anywhere, um, that we've been suckered into buying. And, uh, we have it. And on that, there's one of those screens and there's the instructor on the other side.

45:05And the instructor on the other side, here's what I always find amazing, is that instructor on the other side is the most encouraging person I've ever met on the face of the planet, most of the time. They're telling me how great I am, they're telling me how great I'm going to look, they're telling me that I'm doing a great job, they're telling me how much, you know, sweat equity is good, and, you know, whatever they're saying, all their catchphrases here. But the reality is, they don't know what I'm doing. I could be just sitting on that bike doing nothing, just watching them. And they're still going to say all of the same things to me.

45:33And I'm going to sit there and be like, man, that's so awesome that you think I'm so great and that I'm burning calories right now. I'm not, but thanks for your encouragement. I appreciate that. The encouragement from a fitness instructor on a screen is worth about as much as the praise of the world in the end. It amounts to about as much value as the fact that your neighbors think that you're cool, or your coworkers don't feel awkward around you because, hey, you cuss like they do.

46:01Not everyone had openly rejected Jesus. There was this crowd and they were wrestling with this. And again, this still happens today. I remember a testimony, a story of a man in India who was from a Muslim family who came to faith in Christ, and yet he had not yet been baptized because being baptized was that final step that was going to expose him as a Christian and mean the loss of all of his relationships with his family, and he was going to suffer financial hardship, familial hardship. In some cases, in some extreme cases, there's even a threat to the safety of such a person.

46:36So that's an example of what this looks like in that context. How about in our context? What does it cost us to follow Jesus? Well, here's some things for— that it might cost you to follow Jesus. Time.

46:49Yeah, it costs that. Comfort, ego, reputation, success. Maybe success, business success, financial success, academic success. Those of you who are students, it may cost you your academic success to truly follow Christ the way he's calling you to follow. Relationships, sometimes even family relationships, can be cost because of our Following Jesus.

47:15Work— you could lose your job. Freedom, depending on how things break in the next 4 years. It could cost you your life eventually to follow Christ. Okay, so is all of that worth it? Is it worth it?

47:30Well, let's look at what might make it worth it. Eternity. Thinking about being with Christ, desiring to be faithful. To God, saying, I value being faithful to the Father, being a man or woman of integrity, not being somebody here this morning that you're not the rest of the week. That's what makes following Christ publicly worth it.

47:55The Great Commission, reaching people for Christ. If you're not willing to go public with your faith, you're gonna have a hard time leading anyone to faith in Christ. I think the Great Commission makes it worth it. Having the, the peace in, in, in of a community that loves you and supports you and is willing to be here to, to walk that road with you, to pray for you. Having a clear conscience before God, knowing that this is what God does desire of us.

48:20He wants us to be his ambassadors. Again, it's hard to be his ambassador if we're not willing to go public with it. Sanctification, growing in Christ's likeness. And just worship. He is worshiped.

48:32He is exalted as we live out our faith publicly. C.T. Studd was a British missionary to China, India, and Africa, but before that he was a world-renowned cricket player. He decided to walk away from the sport and in doing so sent shockwaves through England and the cricket world at large. People were asking, what would make someone give all of that up?

48:56What would cause someone to walk away from thousands of adoring fans and a life of ease and comfort to venture into the jungles of Africa in dangers from wild animals and cannibals? C.T. said this in response. He said, how can I spend the best years of my life living for the honors of this world when thousands of souls are perishing every day? How can I spend the best years of my life Living for the honors of this world when thousands of souls are perishing every day.

49:36There's a day coming when all of us will stand before the Bema Seat of Christ.

49:40The question is, what's that day going to look like for us? What's it going to look like for you, Christian, that is? Will you have lived a life having counted the cost to follow Jesus and have the reward that comes with it? Or will you be, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, saved but only as through fire? I hope for those in this room there will be plenty of reward to lay back at the feet of Christ.

50:09The reason we don't fear the judgment is because of what we're about to observe together. I'm going to ask our ushers to prepare for our communion time together, because as we turn now to the Lord's Supper, this is the reason why we don't fear. It's not because we're in the right church or go to the right place or live in the right part of the country or any of those things. The reason we don't fear judgment or being turned over or any such thing anymore is because what Christ has done for us by taking our place and suffering the judgment of God on our behalf.

50:41As we come to the Lord's table, there are a few things that we need to be mindful of and careful of. We need to be careful first and foremost of a lack of conversion, meaning this is for those that are believers in Christ. If you're not a believer, just let these elements pass by you. Second thing is we need to be careful of a lack of confession. For those of you that are Christians, as these elements are passed, I would encourage you to take time to examine your heart like King David and pray, Lord, try me, search me, know me.

51:07If there's any grievous way, any sin in me, I want to know it that I can confess it and repent it— repent of it. So pray and ask God for forgiveness for any sins that do come to mind. Then the third danger is a lack of concentration. It's important that we pay attention to what we're about to do, that we give intentional thought to what we're about to do, to what these elements represent— the death of Christ for us— so that we aren't going to be turned over in the hardness of our hearts. So as the elements are passed, the music plays, take the elements, and then we will take them together corporately when I come back up in just a moment.