John 8 Part 3

God be the glory great things he has done he so loved the world that he gave us his son who gave up his life the forgiveness of sin the gates open wide he has welcomed us in oh, praise the Lord let the earth hear his voice oh, praise the Lord. Let the people rejoice oh, come to the father through Jesus his son and give him the glory great things he has done praise the Lord praise the Lord to God be the glory oh perfect redemption the purchase of blood to every believer the promise of God the violence offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus let the earth hear his voice oh, praise the Lord. Let the people rejoice oh come to the father through Jesus his son and give him the glory great things he has done praise the Lord praise the Lord oh to God be the glory oh, praise the Lord. Let the earth hear his voice oh, praise the Lord. Let the people rejoice oh come to the father through Jesus his son and give him the glory, great things he has done.

Praise the Lord praise the Lord to God be the glory. Praise the Lord.

Up to the hill of Calvary, my savior went courageously and there he bled and died for me. Hallelujah for the cross. And on that day, the world was changed. A final perfect lamb was slain. Let earth and heaven now proclaim hallelujah for the cross.

Hallelujah for the war he fought love has won, death has lost. Hallelujah for the souls he bought. Hallelujah for the cross.

What could I done? Could never save my debt too great for deeds to pay but God my savior made a way. Hallelujah for the cross afraid to sin, my life was bound but all my chains fell to the when Jesus blood came flowing down. Hallelujah for the cross. Hallelujah for the war he fought love has won, death has lost.

Hallelujah for the souls he bought hallelujah for the cross.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

And when I breathe my final breath I'll have no need to fear that rest, this hope will guide me into death.

Hallelujah for the cross. Hallelujah for the war he thought love has won, death has love. Hallelujah. All the souls he fought Hallelujah for the cross. Hallelujah for the cross.

Hallelujah for the cross.

It storm in tempest roar we cannot win this fight.

Inside our rebel heart we're laying down our weapons now we're I, we come your love is one close you on this holy ground you made a way for peace laying your body down you took our rightful place this freedom song is marching on we raise our wife. We surrender all to you all.

We raise our wife over alive. Your love. That was the cross. Lifted high. Lifted high.

We live the cross.

We live the cross.

We raise our wife. We surrender to you all to end. We raise our white flag. The world is overcome. Your love is one.

We raise our. We surrender all the.

We raise our love. Your love has a water. We live the cross.

We live the cross.

The cross.

We live the. Cross it high. Lift it high.

Father, we thank you and praise you for this day that you have given us. We thank you for your many blessings, your goodness and your mercy. And Lord, we just. We praise you and give you the glory today for great things you have done. And Lord, we thank you for your son Jesus, whom you sent for us to live and to die for us, Lord, to pardon our sins.

Father, as we begin this month of thanksgiving, we just thank you for all of the blessings that you have given us. Lord, we thank you for everything that you have done and just for being a good, good father. Lord, I pray as we now turn to your word that you will give your spirit to be with us, Lord, that it will interpret for us, that it will teach us that we'll not only hear your word, but be doers of it, that you may be glorified in heaven above. And we thank you for all of these things. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Okay, we are getting feedback from somewhere. There we go. So we are going to finish the chapter of John eight today. We left off, we began it a couple of weeks ago with the adulterous woman.

We read about the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. And then last week Jesus said that he is the light of the world. He taught us about truth. And he says if we continue with him, then we will be in truth. And then he told us this great Thing.

He says that if we would continue in his word, that we would know the truth and that the truth would set us free. We talked a LittLe bit about this last week, but we stopped in the middle of a paragraph. So we're actually going to repeat a little bit of that paragraph today just so we can keep everything for today in context. So we'll hear a LitTLe bit about truth or truth setting us free. So we're going to begin today in verse or my scripture person, I think has verse 33 coming up, or 34.

And I'm going to back up to verse 31. So the scriptures will be off for just a minute until it catches up with me. But let's begin in verse 31. Jesus said to those who have believed, he says, if you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

And they said, well, we are descendants of Abraham, and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say you Will become free? And Jesus responded, he says, truly, I tell you that everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. So if the son sets you free, you will really be free.

I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word is no place among you. I speak what I have seen in the presence of the father. So then you do what you have heard from your father. Our father is Abraham. They replied, if you are Abraham's children, Jesus told them, you would do what Abraham did.

But now you are trying to kill me. A man who has told you the truth that I have heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You are doing what your father does. We were not born of sexual immorality.

They said, we have one fatHer, God. JeSus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me because I came from God, and I am here. For I didn't come on my own. But he sent me. Why don't you understand what I say?

Because you cannot listen to my word. Oh, I wish it didn't stop right there for this particular passage. Because the next verse, we'll get to it in a. Excuse me.

Sorry. We'll get to it here in a minute, but let's unpack this. So we talked about last week as we closed. He says, if you continue in my word, a disciple is not somebody who today says, jesus, you're my lord. And then tomorrow and every day thereafter.

Seems to not care about Jesus. But a disciple of Jesus will continue in his word, continually. They will abide with Jesus. He says, if you abide in me and I in you, then you will bear much fruit. But he says, as you abide in his word, you will know the truth.

And the truth will set you free. For anyone seeking truth, anyone who says what is true, I want to know what is true. I want to experience truth and know it for myself. I'll tell you how to find it. Continue in the words of God, if you read them continually, daily, when you wake up, when you go to bed, you will know the truth, and that truth will set you free.

But how do they respond? They said, well, we are descendants of Abraham, John the Baptist. So not the author of this book. But the Baptist, he had told the Jews this. He said that God could take the rocks and raise up children unto himself.

And we need to remember that descent does not matter who our parents are or our grandparents or our great grandparents. You could be a descendant of the famous Billy Graham. You could be a descendant of David. You could descend from Abraham. It does not matter.

Our descent is irrelevant in respect to God. And whether your parents are great believers of God or not is irrelevant. It requires a personal relationship between you and Jesus Christ to be saved. And they said that we have never been enslaved to anyone. So how can you say you will become free?

I'll just repeat what I said last week when we read that they failed to remember their slavery to Egypt, their slavery to Babylon, their slavery to Greek, their slavery to the Romans, let alone their slavery to sin, which is what Jesus talks about the spiritual side of verse 34. He says that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. When sin holds you, when sin commands you, you are literally a slave to sin. You can't do anything else. You can only sin.

In fact, a discussion point I've been having with some people lately in some small group settings and one on one settings, is whether or not somebody who does not know Jesus Christ can do anything good at all. And they say, well, people do good all the time. People do good things. And I will say this, doing good things and doing good are two different things. I can do a good thing for the wrong reason, and if I do a good thing for the wrong reason, then I am still sinning because it is self motivated and so absent of Jesus Christ.

You can do no good thing because everything you do, good and evil, is self motivated in one way or another. And so you are enslaved to sin. But Jesus says that if we abide in his truth, the truth will set us free. And look at verse 36. This is where we ended last week was verse 36.

He said, so if the sun sets you free, then you will be free indeed when the sun sets you free from sin. This is not a false sense of security or a false freedom, but it is true freedom. We are now free from the curse and effects of sin in the terms of eternity. We are free to experience God, to experience joy. We have peace.

It is a true freedom. So he continues. He says, I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you.

The issue here is that they oppose his word. It's not that they oppose Jesus. They oppose what Jesus is saying. But look through history. Did the Jews not oppose the word of God?

How many prophets were sauna sunder and murdered or stoned or beheaded because the Jews did not like the words of God? And so he tells them, he says, you might be descended from Abraham, but you do not follow God. You don't worship God. You don't like the words of God. He says the words of God.

Remember, Jesus is God. He says, my words have no place among you.

There. That's a hard saying, I think, for the Jews. I think that's a hard saying for anyone.

We'll see a little bit about that as we continue on. He says that I speak what I have seen in the presence of the father. So then you do what you have heard from your father. Have you ever seen or you've heard the phrase like father, like son, like mother, like daughter? As we grow up, we tend to emulate our parents.

We learn behaviors. We learn phrases and words. We learn our morality, what's right and what's wrong from our parents. And we tend to emulate that as we grow up. And it's funny because every kid they say, growing up, I won't be like you.

I won't be like you. I'm not going to grow up and be like you. But then the older people get, you hear as you talk to more and more people who are older or have kids of their own or have grown experiences. They say, the older I get, the more I realize I'm like my mother or my father. And they say that because we do what we hear from our parents and what we see from our parents.

So Jesus says the difference between us and him is he has been in the presence of the father. In the presence of God. He has seen him. He's heard from him. He's seen what he does, and he speaks what he has seen.

But look at the opposite side. He says, you do what you heard from your father. And this word father here is singular, not plural. He's not telling them. You're all just repeating what your fathers did.

But he's saying, they all have a similar father. They all have a father who is common to all of them, who is common to all of mankind. So we'll get to that here in a minute. So he says, you have heard from your father. And they said, our father is Abraham.

They replied, just a quick thing I noticed. They can't keep their story straight in a single conversation. Verse 39, our father is Abraham. In verse 41, they say, we have one father, and that is God. Well, how many fathers do you have.

They don't seem to understand what it is that they are saying. But they said that father, our father, is Abraham. In verse 39, they replied, and he says, if you were Abraham's children, then you would do what Abraham did. There is a difference between being a descendant of someone, being born of someone, and then being of someone. And we even see that in our world around us, there are kids who their biological father is not in their life.

They're raised by a stepfather or a foster father or an adopted father. And they become like that person. So their physical descent is irrelevant in their bringing up. And Christ is touching that topic right now. They might be descendant of ABRAHAM.

His blood might be in their blood. But ABRAHAM is not their father. They don't do what AbRAHAM did. They don't have the relationship with God that ABRAHAM did. Rather, they do what we see common to humanity.

He says, you're trying to kill me because I told you the truth. Truth is an enemy to humankind. It is because humankind is naturally wicked, sinful, dark. Mankind Likes to hide under the COVID of darkness. Where our deeds, our lies, all of the wickedness we do, it can't be exposed.

And truth is a light, and it does expose, and we go. And so it is our natural enemy, and we seek to destroy it. And that's what JesUS says in verse 40. He says, you are trying to kill me because I have TOld you the truth.

And then look what he says. He says, abraham didn't DO this. Abraham didn't seek to destroy the truth. You're doing what your father does.

And so this is now the second time that Jesus has spoken of a singular father that is common to all of mankind. We're going to get to that still in a minute. But look at the response. They said that we weren't born of sexual immorality. Isn't it interesting that Jesus is talking spiritual.

And they can't get their heads out of the physical, the temporal? We weren't born of sexual immorality. They said, we have one father who is God. And JesUS says, if God were your father, you would love me because I came from God. I didn't come on my own.

But he sent me. Several months ago, when we started the book of John, either in chapter four or chapter five, Jesus taught us something. Jesus told us that you cannot honor the Father and dishonor the Son. He says, if you honor the Father, you would honor me because he sent me. You cannot honor the Father.

While rejecting the representatives of the father who he sends. It's not possible. And you cannot honor Jesus and dishonor the Father. To love one is to love the other. To know one is to know the other.

He is the exact embodiment of God. So if God were your father, you would love Jesus, because Jesus is sent from the Father, and the Father and the Son are one. And he says, why don't you understand what I say? He doesn't expect an answer to the question. He answers it.

He says, because you cannot listen to my word. He doesn't say, you won't listen to my word. He says, you can't listen to my word.

This is why I've been learning recently. I cannot argue with theology, with people. I can argue and debate with people who are saved. And we might have a difference of interpretation. We could argue and come to a conclusion, but you cannot argue with the unsaved.

Why? Because they are carnal, and we are spiritual. And the carnal mind cannot understand or comprehend the things of the spiritual mind of God. It's not possible. And so when you are in the flesh, when you are carnally minded, it's not that you can't listen or not that you won't listen, but it's that you can't listen.

It is not possible to listen and understand the words of God. So look what Jesus says. Let's read the next four verses, 44 through 47. He says, you are of your father the devil, and you carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him when he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature because he is a liar and the father of lies.

Yet because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me. Who among you can convict me of sin? I am telling the truth. Why don't you believe me? The one who is from God listens to God's words.

This is why you don't listen, because you are not from God.

As I read this, I tend to read the Bible when I'm reading on my own privately. I tend to read it in my own voice and my own words and tend to just read it kind of plainly. In fact, if anyone's listened to the Bible on recording, it tends to be like monotone. Right. And when I get here, I actually try to imagine Jesus right now as he's speaking.

He's not speaking in a soft monotone voice. Jesus is being very pointed right now, and I almost hear as I read this that his voice is a little bit elevated. Jesus is a little on the upset side right now. And he's elevated. He's being pointed.

He says, you are of your father the devil. He doesn't mince his words.

How many people have heard others say, we are all children of God? We're all God's children. Now how many people have said that? I said it. I grew up in an institution that taught that, that we're all children of God.

In fact, I grew up singing a song called I am a child of God.

But when you get to know God and know his word and what his word says, this idea that we are all God's children is a lie. It's a lie constructed of the devil. The devil wants you to believe that you're already a child of God because if you believe you're already there, then you don't seek to get out of where you are. You're complacent and content. And so it's actually a lie that the devil has taught us.

The reality is that every human being born is other father, the devil. God is our creator, but he's not our father until we are saved. Satan, the devil, is our father. And that is common to every human, every man, woman and child. You are of your father the devil and you carry out your father's desires.

Look at that. Look at humanity. And look what they were doing. Is humanity emulating God or emulating Satan?

We already established that we tend to emulate our parents and humanity emulates the devil. Look at how it describes the devil. He was a murderer from the beginning.

There's no truth in him. He tells lies. He speaks from his own nature. He's the father of lies. Look at humanity.

We were murderers, we're adulterers, we're liars, we're thieves. And where does this all come from? It comes from our own nature. Just like when Satan speaks and lies, it says he speaks from his own nature. When we murder and steal and lie and commit adultery, it is coming from our own nature.

And whose nature is that? The nature of the devil. So Jesus tells them, you are not children of God. He's very pointed about it. You are not children of God.

You are children of the devil. And that is true to humanity. And then he says, he continues. Verse 45, he says, I tell you the truth and you don't believe me. You don't believe me.

And he challenges them. Who among you, in verse 46, who among you can convict me of sin?

Something interesting. As you read the Bible, as you read historical, even extra biblical historical documents about Jesus, do you know no one had ever accused jesus of a sin. Not even the Pharisees, the very people seeking to kill him. None of them have ever accused him of a sin.

In fact, when they finally have him crucified and convince Pontus pilate to lift him up on that cross, when the Romans crucified a criminal, they actually nailed a plaque above their head that stated their crimes, that they were guilty of, that they were convicted of. Do you know what the crime that Jesus was guilty of? That was written on his plaque above his head? It was written in three languages. Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic.

And his crime was that he was the king of the Jews. That is what they actually killed him for. That they charged him with when they sentenced him to death, was being king of the Jews. They could not find. This is a guy they could not find anything to charge him with.

No sin, no adultery, no self. No self serving, no self will, no theft. They could not find anything to say about him, except he says, he's our king. And that is what they convicted him with.

He says that the one who is from God listens to God's words. And this is why you don't listen, because you are not from God. And we have to remember, when we're arguing with people who are not Christians or not say that we know or not say they're not from God. Arguing is pointless.

They're not from God. They will not, cannot listen to God until God gives them a change of heart.

The Jews, they respond and they say, does this man have a demon? Look at verse 48. The Jews responded to him. Aren't we right in saying that you're a Samaritan and have a demon? Jesus says, I do not have a demon.

On the contrary, I honor my father and you dishonor me. I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it and judges truly. I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. This is a promise.

If we abide in his word and keep it, we will not see death. We won't.

But what are we talking about? Because listen to how the Jews respond to hearing that. Verse 52. The Jews then said, now we know you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets.

Yet you say, if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.

As we read, something we learn about the Jews is they only think in the physical, temporal realm. They are totally blind to the spiritual things. They are totally blind to the fact that they have a spirit, that their spirit is dead, that they're bound to sin, and that there is eternal punishment and temporal punishment. That they are different things. They are totally blind to it.

Jesus did not mean when he said, you will never see death. That your physical bodies won't die. What Jesus did mean though, is that your spirits will not die. Rather, we read in chapter six that our spirits actually do the reverse. They're already dead and they come alive.

We pass from death into life. And that once your spirit comes alive, it will never see death. It can't. It will not taste it. But they are only thinking of the temporal.

But they ask a great question. Verse 53. Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets who died? Who do you claim to be?

I read that with, and I imagine as I read it, the voice of the Pharisees saying it. Sarcasm. Are you greater than Abraham? Oh, you're so high and mighty. Well, Abraham was the father of faith.

He's the father of this great nation. You're not greater than he is. Look what Jesus says, though, about Abraham in verse 56. He says, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and he was glad.

And in verse 58, he says, truly, I tell you, before Abraham was I am.

I'm going to read the last verse, verse 59. So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple. So Jesus actually makes a very profound statement. They say mockingly, are you greater than Abraham?

And Jesus says this. Before Abraham was I am.

Abraham, just so you know, by this point, has been dead for about 2500 years.

So Jesus says, before Abraham, 2500 years ago existed I am. But let's talk about these words. I am. What was Jesus saying when he said I am? Well, obviously we know that he is saying he existed before Abraham.

Right before Abraham. I am. I was here before him. But these words are more powerful than that. Because look at the reaction.

It's recorded that they actually picked up stones to throw at him. So what is it about these words I am that they picked up stones to throw? That's got to be impactful, right? In some way meaningful.

Look with me at Exodus 314.

Moses is in the wilderness. And he sees a bush that's on fire, but it's not being consumed. And he goes up to that bush and he ends up talking with God. And God sends Moses back into Egypt to get his people. And Moses says to him, what should I say?

Who should I tell them sent me. Valid question. You're not going to go and say, hey, bush that was on fire said to come and get you.

Who do I say? Sent me. Look what God says. So Moses asked God in verse 13, if I go to the Israelites and say to them, the God of your ancestors has sent me. And they asked me, what is his name?

What should I tell them? In verse 14, God replied to Moses, I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites, I am has sent me to you.

Now I'm getting some weird looks here in person. So let me ask a question. What does God mean when he says, I am who I am? Thus tell them I am has sent me? Well, I am.

That I am means to put very plainly, the self existent one I am. That I am means I exist solely of myself.

Thus I am became a divine name for God because it meant self existent. And God was never created. We know that about God. So now look what happens here in John when Jesus says, before Abraham was, I am, he's not just saying, I exist before Abraham, but he's invoking the very name that God gave Moses to tell the Israelites who he was. He's saying, before Abraham was I am.

He says, jesus says right here in verse 58, I am the self existent God.

For those who want to say Jesus never proclaimed to be God, look at this verse and look at the reactions of the Jews. If that wasn't the name that Jesus was invoking when he answered them, why did they pick up stones? Well, they picked up stones because they heard him invoke that particular name and they accused him of blasphemy, for he was claiming to be the very person who spoke to Abraham, who made the abrahamic covenant, who spoke to Moses. Earlier in this chapter, he proclaimed to be the very pillar of fire that led the Israelites through the wilderness. He claimed, very boldly, to be our creator God.

And when they went to stone him, he was hidden. They couldn't stone him. He was hidden. He vanished and went out of the temple. That ends this chapter.

However, it does not end this message. There is one more passage we're going to look at. It'll only take a minute as we examine something about what Jesus said earlier in this chapter. He said that you are of your father the devil, not of God. Turn with me to Matthew seven.

I want you to see something about being of your father the devil or of father God, Matthew seven. We're going to start in verse 13 and we are going to go through verse 23.

When the scriptures come up, we're going to begin in Matthew 713. We're going to go through verse 23. I'm just going to read it, and then we'll talk about it real quick. He says, enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide, and the road broad, that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it.

And how narrow is the gate, and difficult. The road that leads to life, and few find it. Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravaged and wolves. You'll recognize them by their fruit are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles. In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit.

A good tree cannot produce bad fruit. Neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. But every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you'll recognize them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord.

Will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, do many miracles in your name? Then I will announce to them, I never knew you depart from me, you lawbreakers.

I picked this passage to close today because it drives home a point. Not everyone who says, I'm a child of God, as a child of God, not everyone who says, I'm a Jew, or I'm a Baptist or a Pentecostal or a Methodist, or a Christian or whatever, are children of God.

Most people, look what it says here about this wide gate. It says that this gate is broad, or the gate is wide, and the road to it is very broad, that leads to destruction, and many go through it. But look at the road and gate to heaven, right? Narrow is the gate, and difficult, the road that leads to life, and few find it. Not everyone who comes and says, I'm a Christian, or I'm a Jew, or I'm a child of God, is a child of God.

But look what a lot of these people will say in verse 21. Jesus says, not everyone who comes to me on the day of judgment and says, lord, Lord. Will enter the kingdom of heaven. So there'll be many who get there and drop to their knees and say, lord, Jesus. And he's going to say, I don't know you.

He's going to reject them. And these same people, look at verse 22. These same people, they're going to say, well, Lord, we prophesied in your name. We went to church every Sunday, and we stood behind pulpits and preached in your name. We performed miracles, healed the sick.

We did all of these things in your name. And he would still say to them, depart from me. I don't know who you are. So what is it? Well, what are they trusting?

And look at what they're doing. They're saying, didn't we do this? Didn't we do that? We did all of this for you. Their trust is not in Jesus.

Their trust is in their works. That's what they're trusting in. They're trusting that in their baptism, in their church service, and in the deeds that they do, that is what's going to save them. And we know that we cannot be saved by our works. And it's all self motivated.

You can see it's self motivated in their plea to Christ. Real God pleasing works do not come out of motivation of self to preserve yourself, to go to heaven. They come out of a love to God for what he has done for you. So back in verse 21, Jesus says, lord, not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father in heaven. That's what he says.

Only the one who does the will of my father in heaven. So the will of the Father in heaven is not to prophesy and drive out demons and do many miracles. Because he says that to those people, he denounces them when they proclaim that, what is the will of God in heaven? What is it that actually gets us into heaven? What does he mean by that?

We're going to turn to another scripture. Back in John chapter four, verse 34.

It looks like I somehow grabbed the wrong verse.

All right.

John 640. There we go. Sorry, guys. John 640. So what is the will of God?

John 640 says this for the will or for this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the son and believes in him will have eternal life. And I'll raise him up on the last day. So the will of the Father is to believe in the Son that he has sent to see him and to believe in him, to trust in him, to receive him and accept what it is that he says that is the will of the Father.

And short of receiving Jesus Christ back to our chapter today, he says that you are of your father the devil, not of God. Short of accepting that, look what the Jews are doing. If we went back to John chapter one and actually read what happened. It says that Jesus came to his own people, but his own people received him not. But to everyone who received him, he gave to them the power to be the sons of God.

Right. So moving from the devil as our Father to God as our Father is to receive the one whom the Father sent, which is Jesus Christ.

As we close today and look here at go to our ending and to our prayer, Jesus gave us a promise today.

Jesus says this in verse 51. He says, truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will not taste death. That is the promise of God, that he will not taste death. And so if you are ready today to no longer be a child of the devil, to no longer do the desires of him, which is to murder and to steal and to lie and to cheat and commit adultery, and do all of those things that lead to death, but to pass from death into life, Jesus tells us that if we would confess him before our fellow man, he would confess us before the Father, which is above. But doing that begins with admitting something, admitting that we are sinners, that we are depraved in ourselves and there's nothing we can do.

And believing that Jesus Christ is that self existent one, he is the I am that sent Moses to the Jews who are captives in Egypt, to believe that he's the creator of the world and that he actually came here and lived and died for us. And to believe that he rose again and confess him is our God, Lord, king and savior forever, and remove our crowns and submit to his. And if you are ready to do that, if you believe all of those things, then you can be a child of God. In our closing prayer that we're about to have, I'll help you verbalize that. The prayer doesn't save you, that belief and confession saves you.

That prayer will help you verbalize it to God. And then he says, confess me before your fellow men. So I invite you to let us know that Jesus is your God. Share that with us and your fellow men, and also allow us to welcome you into the kingdom. Immediately after our closing prayer, we will partake of the Lord's supper that he gave us to remember his death and his sacrifice for us.

So please stick around after the prayer to partake of that with us. And then I hope that everybody has enjoyed their extra hour of sleep knowing that next time it happens, you lose an hour.

And then I'll see all of you on Wednesday evening at 630 mountain time right here in Zoom. As we we have two weeks left in the book of Daniel. We got Daniels, eleven this week and twelve next week before we go to the book of Revelation. With that said, I'll be here if anyone needs anything immediately after service. And I look forward to seeing you all next week.

Let's pray. Father, I admit that I am a sinner, that I cannot save myself. And, Lord, I know that I am depraved of myself. I know there is nothing I can do to merit my salvation or to come out of this hole that I have dug. But, Father, I do believe that Jesus Christ is the great.

I am the creator of the heavens and the earth. I believe that he came here and lived here perfectly sinlessly. That he died for me. And I believe that the one who created everything was also able to raise out of the grave, give him victory over sin and death. And Lord Jesus, I confess you as my God, my king and my savior today.

Lord, I will follow you the rest of my life. And I am ready to remove my crown and submit to yours. Father, I pray as we depart here that you will be glorified. I pray, Lord, that we can cling to your promise that you will lead us, that you will light the way, that we will never thirst and that we will never taste of death. Father, I pray that as we go out into the world, we will be reflectors, imitators of your son, so that you and your name will be glorified on earth as it is in heaven.

And we thank you for all of these things. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.