Abundant Confidence
Series: Abundant Life
Speaker: Ash Kwok
Date: 6th October 2024
Passage: John 21:1-25
00:00:00 --> 00:00:01 Let me ask you a question.
00:00:02 --> 00:00:11 Are you a diary calendar person or a digital calendar person, a physical diary?
00:00:11 --> 00:00:15 I used to be that physical diary calendar person because you could use all the post-it
00:00:15 --> 00:00:19 notes, all the highlighters, all the lovely coloured pens.
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 You could feel the pages and the texture.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 But there is a downside, isn't there?
00:00:25 --> 00:00:32 Often you'll write down the event or the to-do list and you'll never revisit the book.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:39 However, a digital calendar, although it doesn't have the nice gravitas or cool look to have
00:00:39 --> 00:00:44 a diary with you, it has the functionality that you can put hundreds and hundreds and
00:00:44 --> 00:00:51 hundreds of notifications for an event, a deadline, a to-do list, because your physical diary can't
00:00:51 --> 00:00:57 ring a bell or let you know that something is coming up unless you look at it.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:06 But the digital calendar gives me regular notifications and it makes you confident of a reality that
00:01:06 --> 00:01:10 that event you're looking forward to is actually coming up.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 It actually is happening.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 That there is a deadline to a task.
00:01:15 --> 00:01:21 That each notification, each reminder, it shapes your heart for a reality.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:27 It could be a new job, a doctor's appointment, a party, a funeral.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:33 Today's passage does exactly that.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:40 John brings all the threads, the signs, the notifications of the entire Gospel of John together
00:01:40 --> 00:01:46 and all these little notifications, all these signs point to a reality.
00:01:47 --> 00:01:53 In last week's passage, it said in John chapter 20, verse 30 to 31, Jesus performed many other
00:01:53 --> 00:01:57 signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
00:01:58 --> 00:02:07 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that
00:02:07 --> 00:02:10 by believing you may have life in his name.
00:02:11 --> 00:02:19 The reality that John wants every person who reads and encounters this book is the reality
00:02:19 --> 00:02:24 he wants you to be confident is that Jesus is God.
00:02:25 --> 00:02:30 What we see in this epilogue is that he wants us to be confident in three things.
00:02:30 --> 00:02:34 Number one, confident in Christ.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 Number two, confident in grace.
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 And lastly, confident in life.
00:02:41 --> 00:02:42 So let's pray.
00:02:43 --> 00:02:49 Kind Heavenly Father, we ask that you might help us as we see these threads and signs woven
00:02:49 --> 00:02:57 together in this passage, that you might give us confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ,
00:02:57 --> 00:03:02 the one from whom we have received grace and life.
00:03:02 --> 00:03:03 Amen.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 So keep your Bibles open at John 21.
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 We're going to dive straight into verse 1.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:09 It says,
00:03:09 --> 00:03:15 Afterward, Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the Sea of Galilee.
00:03:16 --> 00:03:17 It happened this way.
00:03:18 --> 00:03:24 Simon, Peter, Thomas, also known as Didymus, Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee,
00:03:24 --> 00:03:25 and two other disciples were together.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 I'm going out to fish, Simon Peter told them.
00:03:29 --> 00:03:29 And they said,
00:03:30 --> 00:03:31 We'll go with you.
00:03:32 --> 00:03:36 So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
00:03:37 --> 00:03:42 This is the third time that the disciples encountered Jesus since his resurrection.
00:03:42 --> 00:03:46 And the disciples in this passage are going late at night for fishing.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:52 And that's customary because they can then sell the fresh fish the next day in the market.
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 But that doesn't happen, does it?
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 No fish are caught.
00:03:57 --> 00:04:03 And that has this feeling of sense of depletion, and it'd probably be disappointing.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:07 But look at the contrast that we see in the next section in verse 4.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:14 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:18 He called out to them, Friends, haven't you any fish?
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 No, they answered.
00:04:20 --> 00:04:23 He said, Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.
00:04:23 --> 00:04:30 When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:38 Suddenly, the means of catching fish is purely from the fact that it comes from the instruction of Christ.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:43 But Jesus offers something better than catching the fish.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:47 And you would expect the disciples to go, Oh, wow, look at the amount of fish we've got.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:53 Thank you, person, who can have x-ray vision into the water, who can be an expert fisherman.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:57 Because the whole purpose of them to be out there is to fish.
00:04:57 --> 00:05:03 And their response doesn't align with that.
00:05:03 --> 00:05:04 Verse 7.
00:05:06 --> 00:05:10 Then the disciples whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:19 As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, It is the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around him,
00:05:19 --> 00:05:24 for he had taken it off and jumped into the water.
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 It is the Lord.
00:05:27 --> 00:05:32 I remember reading this, sitting down and being so in awe with that term, Lord.
00:05:33 --> 00:05:41 Because generally, as Australians and other cultures, we have an interesting relationship with authority figures.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:46 Either we joke about them or we have some inordinate fear about them.
00:05:46 --> 00:05:55 And I just sat there and imagined the deep affection that the disciples had to Jesus to exclaim, Lord, with that excitement.
00:05:55 --> 00:06:06 Because what kind of Lord or master beckons not only obedience, but love and relationship?
00:06:07 --> 00:06:11 Because the fish miracle is simply a sign.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:13 It's a reminder.
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 That's what stands out for the disciples.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:26 Because in this section already, we see little speckles of notifications that Jesus gives to the disciples of the reality that he is the Lord.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 It says,
00:06:28 --> 00:06:35 When they see Jesus from the distance of water, they think of the man who walked on water and called them not to be afraid.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:40 When Jesus calls out the fishermen in verse 5 from the distance and says,
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 Put your net on the other side of the boat.
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 And they catch 153 fish.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:54 They see the Lord who initiated the discipleship relationship with them from their boats in the very beginning.
00:06:54 --> 00:07:01 When Jesus launches into breakfast, he breaks bread like the time when Jesus broke the bread at the last supper.
00:07:02 --> 00:07:08 He then shares around the fish as if to trigger this memory when the Lord fed the 5.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:19 Because each moment is like this notification that reaffirms this reality in their brains that, yes, he is the risen Lord Jesus.
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 The Lord who heals.
00:07:21 --> 00:07:22 The Lord who saves.
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 The Lord who provides.
00:07:24 --> 00:07:26 But then, it's undeniable.
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 Jesus is who he says he is.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:36 And all throughout the Gospels, Matthew to John are speckled with those signs.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:43 That similarly point to the glory of Jesus, his divinity, his character, and his grace.
00:07:44 --> 00:07:50 And so I want to affirm and remind you of Steve's encouragement to check out the Gospels last week if you haven't.
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 And so I want to ask, we've been in John for this whole term.
00:07:55 --> 00:08:06 How have you been constantly reminded to be confident that Jesus is your personal Lord?
00:08:07 --> 00:08:15 Not a Lord or someone else's Lord or even the Lord of the world, but your Lord.
00:08:15 --> 00:08:26 The second reality that we are going to be called to have confidence in this passage is grace by the very story of Peter.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:32 Peter, if you've forgotten, is the one who rejects any knowledge or association with Jesus in chapter 18.
00:08:32 --> 00:08:40 And ironically, Jesus actually predicts five chapters later, before, that Peter will reject him.
00:08:40 --> 00:08:41 And Peter says, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:44 I will lay down my life for you.
00:08:45 --> 00:08:50 But here, Peter denies Jesus three times.
00:08:51 --> 00:09:00 And the questions that he's even asked is not even by any means close to having his life threatened.
00:09:01 --> 00:09:05 So imagine having breakfast with a close friend.
00:09:05 --> 00:09:09 And you've done the most awful thing behind their back.
00:09:10 --> 00:09:10 And they know.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 Wouldn't you expect a rebuke or a cold shoulder?
00:09:17 --> 00:09:21 Or maybe here's what you can do to repay your debt to me.
00:09:22 --> 00:09:26 But Jesus doesn't even force a to-do list of things to make up for his denials.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:28 Verse 15.
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
00:09:33 --> 00:09:37 Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?
00:09:38 --> 00:09:39 Yes, Lord, he said.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:41 You know that I love you.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:42 Jesus said.
00:09:42 --> 00:09:43 Feed my lambs.
00:09:44 --> 00:09:45 Again, Jesus said.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 Simon, son of John, do you love me?
00:09:49 --> 00:09:49 He answered.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:51 Yes, Lord.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:52 You know that I love you.
00:09:53 --> 00:09:53 Jesus said.
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 Take care of my sheep.
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 The third time he said to him.
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 Simon, son of John, do you love me?
00:10:01 --> 00:10:06 Jesus asks him three times, do you love me?
00:10:06 --> 00:10:10 Do you love me?
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 That's the question he asks.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:17 In fact, the first question is, do you love me more than these?
00:10:17 --> 00:10:22 It's no coincidence that I think that there are other disciples here for breakfast.
00:10:23 --> 00:10:30 And Peter, previously, rashly and impulsively, was so bold in saying that he would sacrifice his life for Jesus.
00:10:30 --> 00:10:38 But now, after knowing that Christ died for his sins and sacrificed his own life,
00:10:39 --> 00:10:48 and also that he's done just a colossal failure of rejecting Jesus,
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 he cannot boast and claim no success,
00:10:51 --> 00:10:57 but humble himself and offer his life to his Lord.
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 That is grace.
00:11:02 --> 00:11:07 Grace is the benefit you receive from God without deserving or earning it.
00:11:08 --> 00:11:14 And even when Jesus gives Peter the command of following him by leading and loving his people,
00:11:15 --> 00:11:19 it's secondary to the primary issue of love.
00:11:19 --> 00:11:23 It's not, do you have a degree in sheep herding?
00:11:24 --> 00:11:28 Or have you ticked off the key competencies of being a Jesus follower?
00:11:29 --> 00:11:30 It's love.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:38 That's why when we're looking for Christian leaders for kids, youth and community groups, teams,
00:11:40 --> 00:11:45 my question is never, tell me how good you are at hanging with kids
00:11:45 --> 00:11:49 or what an amazing Canva presentation you can make.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 Show me how skilled you are.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:58 It's tell me when you started to love Jesus.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:00 Tell me about you and the gospel.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 Tell me when you first understood grace.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 Church, do we love Jesus?
00:12:09 --> 00:12:13 Do we love his grace?
00:12:15 --> 00:12:20 Often we read passages like this or even the last few weeks in the crucifixion and resurrection
00:12:20 --> 00:12:25 and think, oh, forgiveness and grace, it just makes sense.
00:12:26 --> 00:12:27 It seems normal.
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 It seems like the fair response.
00:12:29 --> 00:12:30 God's a loving God.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 Well, everyone deserves it.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:36 But I don't think that's the case.
00:12:37 --> 00:12:44 Grace that is as wide and open as Jesus' grace is a scandal.
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 We live in a cancel culture.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 And once you've been canceled, the path to redemption is irredeemable.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:57 Grace and forgiveness are not common concepts for us.
00:12:57 --> 00:13:04 And I wonder if that breeds even into our everyday relationships.
00:13:04 --> 00:13:06 Don't get me wrong.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:07 We do need to call out sin.
00:13:09 --> 00:13:10 God is a just God.
00:13:11 --> 00:13:16 But we hold on to grudges and resentments and find it harder to forgive.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:22 God is a just God and he will judge all people.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:30 But in this air that we breathe, it begs the question that something you say or do or something
00:13:30 --> 00:13:36 that other people won't like, will I be forgiven by my friends?
00:13:37 --> 00:13:38 Will I be rejected by my colleagues?
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 Am I too far from change?
00:13:42 --> 00:13:46 And maybe in the society that we live in, that might be the case.
00:13:46 --> 00:13:50 But that's not the economy of the gospel.
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 That's not the economy of grace.
00:13:53 --> 00:14:01 Peter, well knowing of what was sin, still chooses to reject Jesus three times.
00:14:02 --> 00:14:08 But the disease of sin was not just the action he took, but was in his very will and mind to deny Christ.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 He had a heart of rejection of someone who he knew.
00:14:11 --> 00:14:12 He was two-faced.
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 He denied ever knowing Jesus.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 He was deceitful.
00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 He was ashamed to associate with his Lord.
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 Three times does Peter sin.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:31 But Jesus, three times does he allow Peter to realign his heart and love with his Lord.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:36 Friend, you might hear the words of Jesus on the cross.
00:14:37 --> 00:14:41 Yet you might doubt the finished work of Christ.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:51 The countless times of your transgressions, your multitudes of sins are covered by the one action of Christ, crucified.
00:14:53 --> 00:14:56 Church, you are Peter.
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 Grace for the Christian is not foreign.
00:14:59 --> 00:15:08 If you believe in Jesus wholeheartedly that you put no confidence in your works, cling nothing to nothing else but Jesus as your saving grace.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 Grace is available.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:14 Because Jesus is the means of this undeserved grace.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:23 You know that confidence that Thomas had after seeing the holes and the gaps in Jesus' hands and side,
00:15:23 --> 00:15:32 and also the confidence that those disciples earlier on had in Jesus' lordship after seeing the net full of fish?
00:15:34 --> 00:15:38 Jesus' offer of forgiveness to Peter is for you too.
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 It's so that you can have confidence in grace.
00:15:42 --> 00:15:46 You can have confidence in forgiveness.
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 He is asking you, do you love me?
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 He has forgiven you.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:56 Loving him means you are a part of his family, his flock of sheep.
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 Be confident about grace.
00:16:00 --> 00:16:09 Be confident that your forgiveness and invitation to God's flock is not by anything that you have done or is in you.
00:16:09 --> 00:16:19 Your confidence is in the steadfast character of Christ's grace, forgiveness and mercy, 100%.
00:16:19 --> 00:16:23 No returns, no take backs, done and dusted.
00:16:23 --> 00:16:24 It's certain.
00:16:24 --> 00:16:36 However, if you put your hope, life or anything else but the finished work of Jesus, you cannot have that confidence.
00:16:36 --> 00:16:47 If you are the finished work of Jesus and something else, person, then you cannot have that confidence.
00:16:49 --> 00:16:53 In Galatians 1-2, Paul warns the Christian church that you cannot add to the gospel.
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 You cannot add to God's grace.
00:16:56 --> 00:17:03 And I am warning you now, it cannot be Jesus and being a good person.
00:17:04 --> 00:17:07 Nor can it be Jesus and having perfect kids.
00:17:08 --> 00:17:13 Nor Jesus and a life I am proud of.
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 Those things will never be enough for you.
00:17:17 --> 00:17:18 And those things aren't enough for God.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:23 It didn't work for Peter because he couldn't attain perfect.
00:17:24 --> 00:17:25 And neither can you.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:27 Do you see the logic?
00:17:28 --> 00:17:36 Whatever you add and try to top off on the finished works of Jesus is simply futile.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:44 Whenever you try to add to his grace, you negate his grace.
00:17:44 --> 00:17:45 I'll say it again.
00:17:45 --> 00:17:51 Whenever you try to add to his grace, you negate his grace.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 And therefore, there is no confidence.
00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 There is no confidence in grace.
00:17:55 --> 00:18:01 You cannot have this assurance of anything abundant that Jesus offers in the book of John
00:18:01 --> 00:18:07 if your confidence, hope, faith is in anything but solely Jesus.
00:18:08 --> 00:18:13 Put your confidence in Jesus and you have confidence in grace.
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 That is grace.
00:18:15 --> 00:18:20 That's what it means to be confident in grace.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:22 So what now?
00:18:23 --> 00:18:30 How does having confidence in Christ our Lord and grace, how does that change our life today?
00:18:31 --> 00:18:34 Well, we've been looking at John and if you've joined us for the first time,
00:18:34 --> 00:18:41 I hope the passage makes it really clear that Jesus is such a forgiving and gracious Lord and Saviour.
00:18:41 --> 00:18:49 I hope that the confidence of this grace and this Lord is so mind-boggling that when you truly consider it,
00:18:49 --> 00:18:52 it becomes one of the most essential parts of your being.
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 But have a look at what it meant for Peter.
00:18:57 --> 00:18:57 Verse 20.
00:18:57 --> 00:19:02 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:07 This was the one who had leaned his back against Jesus at the supper and had said,
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 Lord, who is going to betray you?
00:19:11 --> 00:19:16 When Peter saw him, he asked, Lord, what about him?
00:19:17 --> 00:19:21 It's almost like he's forgotten the reality of Jesus' offer of grace.
00:19:21 --> 00:19:25 Something else, someone else matters to him.
00:19:25 --> 00:19:31 In John, there's this sort of undercurrent of this rivalry between him and John, the beloved one.
00:19:32 --> 00:19:38 Peter earlier hears about his untimely, unpleasant death and he wants to compare with John.
00:19:38 --> 00:19:42 But Peter wants to do something completely on the periphery.
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 He focuses on that matter.
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 And so what does Jesus say?
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 He replies in verse 22,
00:19:47 --> 00:19:54 If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?
00:19:55 --> 00:19:59 He completely shuts him down and says, it's none of your business.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 What does he say?
00:20:02 --> 00:20:05 He says, follow me.
00:20:06 --> 00:20:10 Peter, if I am your king, if I am the lord of your life,
00:20:10 --> 00:20:13 and even though you are awful, I still love you,
00:20:14 --> 00:20:18 focus on nothing but following me.
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 Follow me.
00:20:22 --> 00:20:27 I think there are three trajectories that Jesus calls people to follow him in this passage.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:32 I'm going to briefly mention the first two and then go in and zone in on one.
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 Feel free to come and grab me after if you want to ask more about the first two.
00:20:36 --> 00:20:41 Number one, following Jesus looks like leaning into community.
00:20:42 --> 00:20:48 There is a clear correlation that this passage connects between a follower of Christ and his community.
00:20:48 --> 00:20:52 And that's what we actually see earlier in Peter's restoration.
00:20:52 --> 00:20:55 Feed my sheep, feed my lamb, take care of my sheep.
00:20:56 --> 00:21:02 So the believer is to love and lean into relationship with other believers.
00:21:03 --> 00:21:06 Number two, self-denial.
00:21:07 --> 00:21:12 In verse 18 to 19, Jesus prepares Peter for the ending that is about to unfold.
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13 And it's quite unpleasant.
00:21:13 --> 00:21:18 And Jesus says to Peter that he will eventually stretch out his hands.
00:21:19 --> 00:21:26 And those who know what lies for Peter is that he dies on an upside-down cross, hands-wide.
00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 Like it says in Luke 9 to 10,
00:21:29 --> 00:21:34 self-denial is the response as a follower of Jesus, taking up our cross.
00:21:34 --> 00:21:42 But the last one I think will shock you, and you might think it's really odd, but it's this.
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 Have breakfast.
00:21:45 --> 00:21:52 Do you remember Jesus' response when they realised it was him?
00:21:52 --> 00:21:56 It wasn't first, hey guys, I've just revealed myself to some of you.
00:21:56 --> 00:21:58 Why can't you tell it's me?
00:21:58 --> 00:22:00 This is, remember, the third time that he's appeared.
00:22:01 --> 00:22:02 Do you need to go to Specsavers?
00:22:02 --> 00:22:06 It wasn't a rebuke though either, was it?
00:22:07 --> 00:22:09 He didn't smack the back of their heads.
00:22:09 --> 00:22:11 He says in verse 12,
00:22:11 --> 00:22:20 They knew it was the Lord Jesus, not just because of the signs,
00:22:21 --> 00:22:26 but because this is the Lord who engages with them by inviting them into relationship.
00:22:28 --> 00:22:31 There's something that we as the reader, excuse me,
00:22:31 --> 00:22:36 has to see that the image and symbol of their relationship being breakfast.
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37 Why is it breakfast?
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 Why is it bread?
00:22:40 --> 00:22:44 This is a culture where hospitality are about feasting.
00:22:45 --> 00:22:50 It's like the Prime Minister inviting you to his house for a bowl of oats every day.
00:22:52 --> 00:22:55 Breakfast is ordinary and regular,
00:22:56 --> 00:23:04 but the extraordinary fact is that you're having porridge with someone who matters.
00:23:04 --> 00:23:04 Have confidence.
00:23:05 --> 00:23:15 Have confidence that following Jesus starts and continues by having breakfast with Jesus,
00:23:16 --> 00:23:21 remembering that his bread, his body was broken for you.
00:23:23 --> 00:23:25 And it continues that way.
00:23:25 --> 00:23:29 It started by you loving him and having a relationship with him,
00:23:29 --> 00:23:31 and it doesn't stop.
00:23:31 --> 00:23:35 It's the regular rhythms of a relationship with the extraordinary one,
00:23:36 --> 00:23:39 the creator of the earth and the heavens.
00:23:40 --> 00:23:44 Jesus Christ, who is the saying yesterday, today, and tomorrow,
00:23:46 --> 00:23:51 is people who can follow the whims and ways of our world and our own voices.
00:23:52 --> 00:23:57 What we need is a regular digital reminder,
00:23:57 --> 00:24:00 not just a one-time diary entry.
00:24:01 --> 00:24:06 I want to specifically talk to the one who has been listening to sermon after sermon,
00:24:06 --> 00:24:09 who reads the Bible and is tired.
00:24:09 --> 00:24:11 You know John 3.16.
00:24:11 --> 00:24:14 You know that eternal life is for the one who believes,
00:24:15 --> 00:24:17 but you really aren't feeling it.
00:24:18 --> 00:24:21 You feel like your relationship with Jesus is a little dry,
00:24:21 --> 00:24:24 so you've stopped valuing the Bible,
00:24:25 --> 00:24:26 church is just optional,
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 rather than essential.
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 This is for you.
00:24:32 --> 00:24:34 The measure of your feelings,
00:24:35 --> 00:24:37 nor how tight you grasp onto Christ,
00:24:37 --> 00:24:39 is not what keeps you in Christ,
00:24:40 --> 00:24:45 but by his measure of endless love and abundant grace,
00:24:45 --> 00:24:48 and how he has grasped hold of you.
00:24:49 --> 00:24:54 Don't let those feelings or doubts define your relationship with Jesus.
00:24:55 --> 00:24:59 Your part is to simply not let go,
00:24:59 --> 00:25:02 to follow him.
00:25:02 --> 00:25:04 Follow me, he says.
00:25:05 --> 00:25:08 Sometimes we doubt the means because we have no zeal.
00:25:09 --> 00:25:10 Reading the Bible today,
00:25:10 --> 00:25:12 it didn't feel like much.
00:25:12 --> 00:25:14 This passage is saying, zero in.
00:25:15 --> 00:25:17 Don't doubt what's keeping you,
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18 continuing with Jesus.
00:25:19 --> 00:25:23 Your will, your affections, your heart, your mind,
00:25:23 --> 00:25:26 all of it will come in alignment with Jesus
00:25:26 --> 00:25:29 as you continue to seek his grace.
00:25:30 --> 00:25:34 Don't doubt the means of preaching the gospel to yourself daily.
00:25:34 --> 00:25:37 Don't give up gathering with his people.
00:25:38 --> 00:25:41 Seeing Christ's character in a passage that you read,
00:25:42 --> 00:25:45 you know, the next steps that we keep mentioning about
00:25:45 --> 00:25:48 aren't for you to tick a to-do list box
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 so that you can earn your way to Jesus.
00:25:51 --> 00:25:55 They are there to encourage you to position your life
00:25:55 --> 00:25:58 in a way that helps you build confidence
00:25:58 --> 00:26:02 in the grace that you have already received in Jesus.
00:26:02 --> 00:26:06 It's a means of grace to see the signs of Jesus again,
00:26:06 --> 00:26:09 to see his character, his promises.
00:26:09 --> 00:26:14 This is the regular notifications versus the one look diary.
00:26:15 --> 00:26:21 Be regularly notified to be confident of life and grace in Christ.
00:26:21 --> 00:26:25 This is how David Mathis puts it in his book,
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 Habits of Grace.
00:26:28 --> 00:26:32 I can flip a switch, but I don't provide the electricity.
00:26:33 --> 00:26:36 I can turn on a faucet, but I don't make the water flow.
00:26:36 --> 00:26:39 There will be no light and no liquid refreshment
00:26:39 --> 00:26:41 without someone else providing it.
00:26:41 --> 00:26:46 And so it is for the Christian with the ongoing grace of God.
00:26:47 --> 00:26:51 His grace is essential for our spiritual lives,
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53 but we don't control the supply.
00:26:54 --> 00:26:56 We can't make the favour of God flow,
00:26:56 --> 00:27:00 but he has given us circuits to connect
00:27:00 --> 00:27:02 and pipes to open expectantly.
00:27:04 --> 00:27:06 Our God is lavish in his grace.
00:27:06 --> 00:27:09 He is free to liberally dispense his goodness
00:27:09 --> 00:27:12 without even the least bit of cooperation
00:27:12 --> 00:27:14 and preparation on our part.
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 And often he does.
00:27:17 --> 00:27:20 But he also has his regular channels,
00:27:20 --> 00:27:23 and we can routinely avail ourselves
00:27:23 --> 00:27:26 to these revealed paths of blessing
00:27:26 --> 00:27:30 or neglect them to our detriment.
00:27:32 --> 00:27:35 Reading the Bible is not just about consuming the knowledge
00:27:35 --> 00:27:41 but hearing the words from whom you have received grace.
00:27:43 --> 00:27:46 Confession comes not from a place of guilt and penance,
00:27:47 --> 00:27:49 but confidence that because of God's grace,
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 he will forgive.
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 Gathering with his people on Sunday
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 or with your community group
00:27:54 --> 00:27:56 is not your weekly social club,
00:27:57 --> 00:27:59 but the flock of broken people
00:27:59 --> 00:28:02 who regularly share the news of grace.
00:28:03 --> 00:28:05 You know that frozen yogurt place?
00:28:05 --> 00:28:07 They have yogurt on tap,
00:28:07 --> 00:28:10 and all you want to do is rest your head under that tap,
00:28:10 --> 00:28:12 mouth wide open.
00:28:14 --> 00:28:16 Grace is on tap.
00:28:19 --> 00:28:22 Jesus is inviting you to do what seems impossible.
00:28:23 --> 00:28:25 It's having frozen yogurt for breakfast,
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 mouth right under the tap.
00:28:27 --> 00:28:36 Friends, we've had a whole turn of John,
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 and I want to ask you this.
00:28:38 --> 00:28:40 What has it been in this series
00:28:40 --> 00:28:44 that has grown your confidence about Jesus?
00:28:45 --> 00:28:48 What has made you more confident that he is God,
00:28:49 --> 00:28:52 he is your Lord and your Saviour?
00:28:52 --> 00:28:56 What has made you more confident about the grace
00:28:56 --> 00:28:56 that Jesus offers?
00:28:58 --> 00:29:00 What has made you more confident
00:29:00 --> 00:29:04 about living a life with and for Jesus?
00:29:04 --> 00:29:04 What has made you more confident
00:29:04 --> 00:29:06 than the eight years he willrando has
00:29:06 --> 00:29:06 good news.
00:29:07 --> 00:29:10 So in Sinarsi your life
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12 we've had this beginning
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 how many questionsution and Надsten
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 are left up
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 what has made you more confident
00:29:15 --> 00:29:16 for her life
00:29:16 --> 00:29:18 and LYMART
00:29:19 --> 00:29:21 once again
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 I want you to see
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 what his head partner
00:29:23 --> 00:29:25 along規制
00:29:25 --> 00:29:25 for his job
00:29:26 --> 00:29:28 in the Dr knocks
00:29:28 --> 00:29:34 in the industr