Podcast appearances and mentions of jesus came

Dash with Carol Dixon is all about life and how to live that life positively, productively, and prayerfully. After decades of ministry, Dr. Dixon is qualified to address any topic of life from a biblical perspective. Let's listen now as Dr. Dixon shares nuggets with us about “Jesus Came to Light Up your Life.”Send us a textBecome a Dash Legacy Builder Today! For more information go to caroldixon.net/dash

As we finish celebrating Jesus' first coming, we invite you to consider precisely why Jesus came to earth in the first place. There's so much hope for the sinner in considering these things! But there's also a call: a call to repent of sin and believe the gospel. And it's this call which our Residential Counseling Director, Luke Imperato, gives in today's sermon.   Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (GNT) are from the Good News Translation in Today's English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission. Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers. Scripture taken from The Voice™. Copyright © 2012 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified Bible Copyright 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Jesus Followers Are Sinners Who Have a Savior Because “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners . . .”; Is Jesus Your Savior Too? MESSAGE SUMMARY: We are all sinners, but we now have a Savior – Jesus. As Paul tells us, in 1 Timothy 1:15-16, that the Gospel provides Salvation for all followers of Jesus, including the worst of sinners -- Paul: “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.". Also, Paul, in 1 Timothy 2:3b-6, further points out that God wants all of us to be saved by His Grace through Jesus if we only, as sinners like Paul, reach out to bring Jesus into our lives: “God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”. It is only because of Jesus the Christ that we receive the healing that we need. “I am a sinner who now has a Savior – do you”?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Abba Father, I open my clenched fists to surrender everything you have given to me. Reestablish my identity in you — not in my family, my work, my accomplishments, or what others think of me. Cleanse the things in me that are not conformed to your will. By faith I unite my will to yours so that the likeness of Jesus Christ may be formed in me. In his name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 85). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Anger. Rather, I will abide in the Lord's Forgiveness. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): 1 Timothy 1:15-17; 1 Timothy 2:3b-6; 2 Timothy 1:8-12; Psalms 89a:1-13 A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “The Struggle with Time -- Until I Determine How We Want to Use Our Time, Others Will Determine How Our Time Is Used ”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

From the opening chapters of Scripture, the narrative of humanity is marked by the presence of a tree. At the heart of Eden stood two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life offered the promise of ongoing life, while the other was strictly off limits, carrying the warning that eating its fruit would bring death. When the first humans chose to take what God had forbidden, they inherited not blessing but a cursebanishment from paradise and the inheritance of death. Since that fateful day in Eden, we have lived beneath the shadow of that curse outside of Eden, our lives marked by its consequences. Throughout this series,The Tree, we have traced Gods answer to the problem introduced in Eden. We have seen a promised Seed spoken of in the garden (Gen. 3:15), a promise preserved through judgment in the days of Noah (Gen. 69), narrowed through Abrahams only son (Gen. 22), carried forward through broken families and deeply flawed people, guarded through exile and deliverance, and entrusted to kings who both reflected Gods purposes and failed to live up to them. Again and again, the message has been unmistakable: Gods promise advances not because His people are faithful, but because He is. And then, in the fullness of time, the promise took on flesh (Gal. 4:4-7). The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). God did not merely speak againHe stepped into the story Himself (Heb. 1:1-2).Yet Luke 4 marks a decisive moment. Jesus is no longer simply the child of promise or the quiet presence of Immanuel. In Luke 4, Jesus stands up, opens the Scriptures, and for the first time publicly declares who He is and why He has come. It is no mystery that we humans are a mess. Scripture does not flatter us, and history confirms the diagnosis. We are fallen creatures living under the curse of sin. We are born spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1), enslaved to desires we cannot master (Rom. 6:16), inclined to distort what God has called good (Rom. 1:2125), and we live beneath the shadow of deathboth physical and spiritual (Rom. 5:12). Though humanity still bears the image of God (Gen. 1:2627), that image is no longer reflected as it once was. Our thinking is darkened, our lives disordered, and our relationships fractured. We were made for communion with God, yet we live far from Him. This brokenness did not occur in a vacuum. Scripture is equally clear that there is an enemy in the storyreal, personal, and malicious. Satan is the great antagonist of redemptive history, a murderer from the beginning who traffics in lies and delights in death. Jesus said of him,He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him for he is a liar and the father of lies(John 8:44). Yet even in judgment, God spoke hope. To the serpent and the woman He declared that a descendant would comeOne who would be wounded, yet in being wounded would crush the serpents head (Gen. 3:15). Death would strike, but it would not have the final word. From that moment forward, the Scriptures move with expectation. God promised His people a Deliverersomeone greater than Moses (Deut. 18:15; Heb. 3:16), someone greater than David who would reign with justice and peace forever (2 Sam. 7:1216; Ezek. 37:2428), someone who would not merely rule but redeem. Through the prophets, God revealed that peace would come through suffering, that the One who would heal the world would first bear the curse Himself. Isaiah saw it clearly:But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings and by His wounds we are healed(Isa. 53:5). This is why the announcement of Jesus birth was not sentimental but staggering. When angels appeared to shepherds living in darkness, they did not proclaim a teacher or a moral example, but a Savior:For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord(Luke 2:11). As the apostle Paul later wrote,For all the promises of God are Yes in Christ(2 Cor. 1:20; BSB). Jesus is not one promise among manyHe is the fulfillment of them all. It is against this backdrop that Luke 4 unfolds. Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth, enters the synagogue, and is handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He reads words every faithful Jew knew well: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord (Luke 4:1819; Isa. 61:12). After reading, Jesus sat down and declared,Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing(Luke 4:21). We are then told that the immediate response of those in the synagogue that day was that of admiration: And all the people were speaking well of Him, and admiring the gracious words which were coming from His lips; and yet they were saying, Is this not Josephs son? (v. 22). Now listen (or read) what Jesus said next: And He said to them, No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me: Physician, heal yourself! All the miracles that we heard were done in Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well. But He said, Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a severe famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. (vv. 23-27) Jesus mentioned two different people who had no biological connection to Abraham nor were they Jewish. A prophet called to speak on behalf of God by the name of Elijah went to Zarephath under the direction of Yahweh, to a town full of Gentiles during a time that a famine also affected Israel, and yet Elijah went to a Gentile widow who God miraculously fed and protected during that famine (see 1 Kings 17:824). Listen, the point Jesus was making is this: The widow of Zarephath was a Gentile outsiderpoor, desperate, and forgottenyet she received the mercy Israel assumed belonged to them alone. A second example Jesus gave was that of Naaman the Syrian who served as a commander of the enemies of Israel. Jesus said, And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian (v. 27). Listen to what we are told concerning Naaman in 2 Kings 5, Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in the view of his master, and eminent, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but afflicted with leprosy (v. 1). And yet, God healed him! How was Naaman healed? He was only healed after he humbled himself in obedience to the word of God delivered by Elisha the prophet (see 2 Kings 5:1-14). What was Jesus main point? He was showing that the promise of a Deliverer and redemption was never exclusive to Israel, but it was intended for all nations. When Jesus read from Isaiah and proclaimed, Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:21), He wasnt simply interpreting the passageHe was revealing Himself as its fulfillment. In that moment, Jesus was announcing His mission, His authority, and the inclusive nature of His kingdom. He declared Himself as the promised Delivererthe greater Adam, the greater Abraham, the true Israeland made clear that through Him, blessing would extend to every nation, not just one people. In Luke 4:2527, Jesus reminds His hometown that God sent Elijah to a Gentile widow in Zarephath and healed Naaman the Syrianan enemy commandermaking clear that Gods mercy is received through Jesus by faith to all who will receive it, not where privilege assumes it. There are four facets of Jesus ministry that is described in these verses: Jesus Came as Good News to the Poor for All People Jesus clarifies the kind of poverty He has in view when He says,Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven(Matt. 5:3). This poverty is not merely economic. Scripture and experience alike tell us that not all who are materially poor long for God. The poor in spirit are those who recognize their spiritual bankruptcy before Himthose who know they have nothing to offer God but their need. Jesus is good news to such people precisely because it is only through Jesus that one can have God. Those who believe themselves rich in righteousness will feel no need for a Savior, but those who know they are empty will discover that Christ is everything. Jesus Came to Set Captives Free Out from the Nations Scripture declares,For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God(Rom. 3:23). Every human being is born enslaved to sinany violation of Gods holy standard. Human experience confirms what Scripture teaches:The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?(Jer. 17:9). Apart from Christ, every one of us stands under judgment (Rev. 20:1115). This is why Jesus came. As John the Baptist proclaimed,Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!(John 1:29). When Jesus read Isaiah 61 in the synagogue, His hearers assumed He was announcing political liberation and national restoration. What they did not understand was that their deepest captivity was not Roman oppression but spiritual bondage. Jesus came to proclaim liberty to captives whose chains were forged by sin. Jesus Came to Give Sight to the Blind Who Make Up All Humanity While Jesus healed physical blindness throughout His ministry, His greater work was opening spiritually blind eyes. This blindness is not learnedit is native to us. Scripture teaches,The hearts of the sons of mankind are full of evil, and insanity is in their hearts while they live, and afterward they go to the dead(Eccl. 9:3). Like a blind man standing in bright sunlight, the human heart may sense that something is there yet remain unable to see it. The apostle Paul explains this condition plainly:But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned(1 Cor. 2:14). Only Jesus can open blind hearts to see the truth and beauty of God. Jesus Came to Bring Salvation and Redemption as Far as the Curse is Found Isaiah 61 was understood as a promise of a new agean age in which broken people and a broken creation would be restored, an age without tyranny, injustice, suffering, or death (Isa. 11:69; 65:1725). When Jesus read that passage, He claimed to be the One who would inaugurate that renewal. His miracleshealing the sick, restoring the lame, opening blind eyes, and raising the deadwere not merely acts of compassion; they were signs pointing to a greater restoration still to come (Matt. 11:45). Jesus redemption is both spiritual and physical. Though believers continue to struggle with sin and weakness in this life, there is coming a day when resurrection will make us whole:For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality(1 Cor. 15:53), whenwhat is mortal will be swallowed up by life(2 Cor. 5:4). How far reaching is the salvation and redemption Jesus was born to bring? Oh, let the anthem of Isaac Watts great hymn ring true in your heart: No more let sins and sorrows grow Nor thorns infest the ground He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found How far Christian? As far as the curse is found! Far as, far as the curse is found This is the gospel Jesus declared in Nazareth. It is comprehensive, gracious, and costly. It confronts sin, heals blindness, breaks chains, and promises restoration. And yet Luke tells us that this announcement did not lead to repentanceit led to rejection (Luke 4:2830). What Jesus proclaimed as good news, His hometown soon heard as an offense. They wanted a Messiah of their own making, not one who exposed their sin and need of a redeemer! They wanted deliverance on their terms, not salvation on Gods terms. And when Jesus made clear that Gods grace could not be claimed or secured by their religious deeds alone, admiration turned to rejection. Luke 4 reminds us that the greatest danger is not rejecting Jesus outright but rejecting Him after we think we know Him. The Promised One stood before them, opened the Scriptures, and declared fulfillmentand they refused Him. And that leaves us with the same question this passage presses upon every hearer: Will we receive Jesus as He truly is, or will we reject Him because He refuses to be the Savior we want Him to be? He is still good news to the poor, freedom for the captive, sight for the blind, and restoration for the brokenbut only for those willing to receive Him on His terms. The people rejected Jesus because He did not fit their mold of what the Messiah should be. He was not the Savior they wanted, even though He was exactly the Savior they needed. Jesus fulfilled Gods promises, but He refused to conform to human expectations. And Luke 4 presses the same question upon us today: will we receive Jesus as He truly is, or will we reject Him because He will not become the Messiah we want Him to be?

From the opening chapters of Scripture, the narrative of humanity is marked by the presence of a tree. At the heart of Eden stood two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life offered the promise of ongoing life, while the other was strictly off limits, carrying the warning that eating its fruit would bring death. When the first humans chose to take what God had forbidden, they inherited not blessing but a cursebanishment from paradise and the inheritance of death. Since that fateful day in Eden, we have lived beneath the shadow of that curse outside of Eden, our lives marked by its consequences. Throughout this series,The Tree, we have traced Gods answer to the problem introduced in Eden. We have seen a promised Seed spoken of in the garden (Gen. 3:15), a promise preserved through judgment in the days of Noah (Gen. 69), narrowed through Abrahams only son (Gen. 22), carried forward through broken families and deeply flawed people, guarded through exile and deliverance, and entrusted to kings who both reflected Gods purposes and failed to live up to them. Again and again, the message has been unmistakable: Gods promise advances not because His people are faithful, but because He is. And then, in the fullness of time, the promise took on flesh (Gal. 4:4-7). The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). God did not merely speak againHe stepped into the story Himself (Heb. 1:1-2).Yet Luke 4 marks a decisive moment. Jesus is no longer simply the child of promise or the quiet presence of Immanuel. In Luke 4, Jesus stands up, opens the Scriptures, and for the first time publicly declares who He is and why He has come. It is no mystery that we humans are a mess. Scripture does not flatter us, and history confirms the diagnosis. We are fallen creatures living under the curse of sin. We are born spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1), enslaved to desires we cannot master (Rom. 6:16), inclined to distort what God has called good (Rom. 1:2125), and we live beneath the shadow of deathboth physical and spiritual (Rom. 5:12). Though humanity still bears the image of God (Gen. 1:2627), that image is no longer reflected as it once was. Our thinking is darkened, our lives disordered, and our relationships fractured. We were made for communion with God, yet we live far from Him. This brokenness did not occur in a vacuum. Scripture is equally clear that there is an enemy in the storyreal, personal, and malicious. Satan is the great antagonist of redemptive history, a murderer from the beginning who traffics in lies and delights in death. Jesus said of him,He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him for he is a liar and the father of lies(John 8:44). Yet even in judgment, God spoke hope. To the serpent and the woman He declared that a descendant would comeOne who would be wounded, yet in being wounded would crush the serpents head (Gen. 3:15). Death would strike, but it would not have the final word. From that moment forward, the Scriptures move with expectation. God promised His people a Deliverersomeone greater than Moses (Deut. 18:15; Heb. 3:16), someone greater than David who would reign with justice and peace forever (2 Sam. 7:1216; Ezek. 37:2428), someone who would not merely rule but redeem. Through the prophets, God revealed that peace would come through suffering, that the One who would heal the world would first bear the curse Himself. Isaiah saw it clearly:But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings and by His wounds we are healed(Isa. 53:5). This is why the announcement of Jesus birth was not sentimental but staggering. When angels appeared to shepherds living in darkness, they did not proclaim a teacher or a moral example, but a Savior:For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord(Luke 2:11). As the apostle Paul later wrote,For all the promises of God are Yes in Christ(2 Cor. 1:20; BSB). Jesus is not one promise among manyHe is the fulfillment of them all. It is against this backdrop that Luke 4 unfolds. Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth, enters the synagogue, and is handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He reads words every faithful Jew knew well: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord (Luke 4:1819; Isa. 61:12). After reading, Jesus sat down and declared,Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing(Luke 4:21). We are then told that the immediate response of those in the synagogue that day was that of admiration: And all the people were speaking well of Him, and admiring the gracious words which were coming from His lips; and yet they were saying, Is this not Josephs son? (v. 22). Now listen (or read) what Jesus said next: And He said to them, No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me: Physician, heal yourself! All the miracles that we heard were done in Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well. But He said, Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a severe famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. (vv. 23-27) Jesus mentioned two different people who had no biological connection to Abraham nor were they Jewish. A prophet called to speak on behalf of God by the name of Elijah went to Zarephath under the direction of Yahweh, to a town full of Gentiles during a time that a famine also affected Israel, and yet Elijah went to a Gentile widow who God miraculously fed and protected during that famine (see 1 Kings 17:824). Listen, the point Jesus was making is this: The widow of Zarephath was a Gentile outsiderpoor, desperate, and forgottenyet she received the mercy Israel assumed belonged to them alone. A second example Jesus gave was that of Naaman the Syrian who served as a commander of the enemies of Israel. Jesus said, And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian (v. 27). Listen to what we are told concerning Naaman in 2 Kings 5, Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in the view of his master, and eminent, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but afflicted with leprosy (v. 1). And yet, God healed him! How was Naaman healed? He was only healed after he humbled himself in obedience to the word of God delivered by Elisha the prophet (see 2 Kings 5:1-14). What was Jesus main point? He was showing that the promise of a Deliverer and redemption was never exclusive to Israel, but it was intended for all nations. When Jesus read from Isaiah and proclaimed, Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:21), He wasnt simply interpreting the passageHe was revealing Himself as its fulfillment. In that moment, Jesus was announcing His mission, His authority, and the inclusive nature of His kingdom. He declared Himself as the promised Delivererthe greater Adam, the greater Abraham, the true Israeland made clear that through Him, blessing would extend to every nation, not just one people. In Luke 4:2527, Jesus reminds His hometown that God sent Elijah to a Gentile widow in Zarephath and healed Naaman the Syrianan enemy commandermaking clear that Gods mercy is received through Jesus by faith to all who will receive it, not where privilege assumes it. There are four facets of Jesus ministry that is described in these verses: Jesus Came as Good News to the Poor for All People Jesus clarifies the kind of poverty He has in view when He says,Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven(Matt. 5:3). This poverty is not merely economic. Scripture and experience alike tell us that not all who are materially poor long for God. The poor in spirit are those who recognize their spiritual bankruptcy before Himthose who know they have nothing to offer God but their need. Jesus is good news to such people precisely because it is only through Jesus that one can have God. Those who believe themselves rich in righteousness will feel no need for a Savior, but those who know they are empty will discover that Christ is everything. Jesus Came to Set Captives Free Out from the Nations Scripture declares,For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God(Rom. 3:23). Every human being is born enslaved to sinany violation of Gods holy standard. Human experience confirms what Scripture teaches:The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?(Jer. 17:9). Apart from Christ, every one of us stands under judgment (Rev. 20:1115). This is why Jesus came. As John the Baptist proclaimed,Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!(John 1:29). When Jesus read Isaiah 61 in the synagogue, His hearers assumed He was announcing political liberation and national restoration. What they did not understand was that their deepest captivity was not Roman oppression but spiritual bondage. Jesus came to proclaim liberty to captives whose chains were forged by sin. Jesus Came to Give Sight to the Blind Who Make Up All Humanity While Jesus healed physical blindness throughout His ministry, His greater work was opening spiritually blind eyes. This blindness is not learnedit is native to us. Scripture teaches,The hearts of the sons of mankind are full of evil, and insanity is in their hearts while they live, and afterward they go to the dead(Eccl. 9:3). Like a blind man standing in bright sunlight, the human heart may sense that something is there yet remain unable to see it. The apostle Paul explains this condition plainly:But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned(1 Cor. 2:14). Only Jesus can open blind hearts to see the truth and beauty of God. Jesus Came to Bring Salvation and Redemption as Far as the Curse is Found Isaiah 61 was understood as a promise of a new agean age in which broken people and a broken creation would be restored, an age without tyranny, injustice, suffering, or death (Isa. 11:69; 65:1725). When Jesus read that passage, He claimed to be the One who would inaugurate that renewal. His miracleshealing the sick, restoring the lame, opening blind eyes, and raising the deadwere not merely acts of compassion; they were signs pointing to a greater restoration still to come (Matt. 11:45). Jesus redemption is both spiritual and physical. Though believers continue to struggle with sin and weakness in this life, there is coming a day when resurrection will make us whole:For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality(1 Cor. 15:53), whenwhat is mortal will be swallowed up by life(2 Cor. 5:4). How far reaching is the salvation and redemption Jesus was born to bring? Oh, let the anthem of Isaac Watts great hymn ring true in your heart: No more let sins and sorrows grow Nor thorns infest the ground He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found How far Christian? As far as the curse is found! Far as, far as the curse is found This is the gospel Jesus declared in Nazareth. It is comprehensive, gracious, and costly. It confronts sin, heals blindness, breaks chains, and promises restoration. And yet Luke tells us that this announcement did not lead to repentanceit led to rejection (Luke 4:2830). What Jesus proclaimed as good news, His hometown soon heard as an offense. They wanted a Messiah of their own making, not one who exposed their sin and need of a redeemer! They wanted deliverance on their terms, not salvation on Gods terms. And when Jesus made clear that Gods grace could not be claimed or secured by their religious deeds alone, admiration turned to rejection. Luke 4 reminds us that the greatest danger is not rejecting Jesus outright but rejecting Him after we think we know Him. The Promised One stood before them, opened the Scriptures, and declared fulfillmentand they refused Him. And that leaves us with the same question this passage presses upon every hearer: Will we receive Jesus as He truly is, or will we reject Him because He refuses to be the Savior we want Him to be? He is still good news to the poor, freedom for the captive, sight for the blind, and restoration for the brokenbut only for those willing to receive Him on His terms. The people rejected Jesus because He did not fit their mold of what the Messiah should be. He was not the Savior they wanted, even though He was exactly the Savior they needed. Jesus fulfilled Gods promises, but He refused to conform to human expectations. And Luke 4 presses the same question upon us today: will we receive Jesus as He truly is, or will we reject Him because He will not become the Messiah we want Him to be?

A Prayer Because Jesus Came by Nicolet BellAs the excitement of Christmas fades and the in-between days begin, we are reminded that the story of Jesus is only just beginning. Because He came, everything changed—and everything continues to change.In today's episode, we look at 2 Chronicles and read about Solomon and the building of the temple. A striking truth emerges: even the most magnificent structure could never contain the greatness of God. Reference: 2 Chronicles 2:5-6 Prayer: Father, thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus. Thank you that in all of your majesty and splendor, supreme of the finest of Temples, would choose to make your home in the humblest of stables and in our humble hearts. Help us not to take your presence with us for granted. In Jesus’ name, Amen. LINKS: Read the first five days of Everyday Prayers for Christmas Follow Everyday Prayers @MillionPrayingMoms Get today's devotion and prayer in written form to keep for future use! Join the community on Patreon Discover more Christian podcasts at LifeAudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at LifeAudio.com/contact-us Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Pastor Hunter Wilkerson - Matthew 9:9-13

If we want to know what God is like, let's look at Jesus—His love, compassion, and truth.

Today, we have Pastor Sarah Slamer and Andrew Beauvais to share with us how Jesus came for the world, every tribe, every nation, and every tongue, and He came to redeem all of creation. This message reminds us that the gospel is both deeply personal and globally powerful, calling us to respond in faith, step […]

Having concluded the Christmas season and looking towards new year, we explore the ramifications of Jesus. His birth, life, teachings, death and resurrection have profound impacts on how we might live.

Today, we have Pastor Sarah Slamer and Andrew Beauvais to share with us how Jesus came for the world, every tribe, every nation, and every tongue, and He came to redeem all of creation. This message reminds us that the gospel is both deeply personal and globally powerful, calling us to respond in faith, step […]

Jesus Came to Save the World - John 3:14-21 - Stephen Watson

In a culture driven by "my truth," as well as the church often saying, "What this means to me," Jesus came into this world to bear witness to the truth. Listen and hear how the gospel shapes how we define and interpret truth.

What can you do with the measure of Faith God gave you? Jesus came to bring you Love. Receive His Love and renew your mind to be transformed into what He called you to be. Join Kenneth Copeland and Professor Greg Stephens on Believer's Voice of Victory as they talk about how God's Love is the fulfillment of the Law and opens the door for you to be conformed to His image. Learn that God wants you to know who you are in Christ, live in victory and become a world changer!

What can you do with the measure of Faith God gave you? Jesus came to bring you Love. Receive His Love and renew your mind to be transformed into what He called you to be. Join Kenneth Copeland and Professor Greg Stephens on Believer's Voice of Victory as they talk about how God's Love is the fulfillment of the Law and opens the door for you to be conformed to His image. Learn that God wants you to know who you are in Christ, live in victory and become a world changer!

Selected Scriptures

Jesus came to make you a part of His family. On this Christmas Day, celebrate God for sending His Son, Jesus, who is the greatest gift to all mankind. Listen to Kenneth Copeland and Professor Greg Stephens on Believer's Voice of Victory as they remind you how important family members are to anyone. By living in victory, you are able to raise your children to know the Love of God through you. Learn how to align yourself with God, who sees you as family, with all the rights and privileges He has given to Jesus.

Jesus came to make you a part of His family. On this Christmas Day, celebrate God for sending His Son, Jesus, who is the greatest gift to all mankind. Watch Kenneth Copeland and Professor Greg Stephens on Believer's Voice of Victory as they remind you how important family members are to anyone. By living in victory, you are able to raise your children to know the Love of God through you. Learn how to align yourself with God, who sees you as family, with all the rights and privileges He has given to Jesus.

In the middle of a busy and noisy season, this Christmas Eve, Pastor Eric reminds us that Jesus meets us in our distractions. From Luke 2, we see how surrendering our attention to Him leads to clarity, peace, and purpose. If your life feels full but your heart feels empty, Jesus came for you. Study […]

In the middle of a busy and noisy season, this Christmas Eve, Pastor Eric reminds us that Jesus meets us in our distractions. From Luke 2, we see how surrendering our attention to Him leads to clarity, peace, and purpose. If your life feels full but your heart feels empty, Jesus came for you. Study […]

Pastor Brandon Bellomo 12/24/25

Because I believe Jesus came from Heaven to Earth  to show the way From the Earth to the Cross  my Sin Debt to pay From the Cross to the Grave From the Grave to the  Sky His love for me will never die

Gods Promise Was to Save Us, Not Simply Inspire Us When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, he announced news unlike anything the world had ever heard:You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end(Luke 1:3033). This was not merely the announcement of a child, but of a Kinga King whose reign would never end. For the first time in history, God took on human flesh. Immanuel became tired like us, hungry like us, exhausted like us; in every way Jesus became like us, yet without sin. He was born so that we would have One who could truly sympathize with our weaknesses, so that we might receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:1416). The angel didnt tell Mary she would give birth to a teacher or a moral example, but to a King and a Savior; One who would be call Son of the Most High and whose Kingdom would never end. What Gabriel told Mary tells us something important about ourselvesour greatest problem isnt ignorance, weakness, or circumstance, but sin. Our greatest need is redemption. We spend our lives trying to fix whats broken, but Christmas declares that God came to do what we could notto save lost sinners. This is why Jesus said: For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). God Came to Us When We Could Not Come to Him On the night Jesus was born, God did not summon kings, dignitaries, or celebrities; He invited shepherds. To the poorest of the poor, the angels declared,Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.And then heaven itself erupted in praise:Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!When the shepherds arrived at the manger, they beheld something staggeringthe Word of God in human flesh. John tells us that all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. The power that created the universe lay wrapped in swaddling cloths; the One through whom the heavens were made was sleeping in a feeding trough. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Some people walk into Christmas Eve feeling unworthy, unseen, or spiritually distant. The shepherds are proof that with God, it does not matter how far you are from Him, for He is the God who meets sinners where they areto save them, to redeem them, and to bring them out of spiritual death into new life. We have a God whose mercy, love, and grace are far greater than our worst sins and any distance we imagine exists between Him and us. As Scripture says,Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come(2 Cor. 5:17). Jesus Entered Our Darkness to Deliver Us from It The darkness Jesus entered was not merely the darkness of night, but the darkness that has covered the human heart since Eden. Ever since Adam and Eve were driven from the garden, humanity has lived outsideoutside the place of Gods immediate presence, outside in the wilderness of thorns and sweat, pain and death. Though the Creator came into the world He made, John tells us the world did not recognize Him, and even His own people did not receive Him. What the world needed most stood in its midst, and it hardly noticed. Yet this is the wonder of Christmas: God came anyway. The promised Savior entered a world marked by sin and sorrow to bring light where only darkness reigned. Christmas speaks to our guilt, our grief, and our wearinessand it does more than speak to them; it swallows them up by the light of the life of Jesus. Some of you are carrying grief, regret, despair, and hopelessness into this room. The message and promise of Christmas is that unto us was born a Savior who steps into the darkness to conquer it. Jesus Came for Those Who Know They are Far from God The message to the shepherds was simple and clear:And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10-11). Jesus was born to redeem sinners who were and are real people: real broken people, real guilty people, real overlooked people, and real people living in shame. The Bible shows us this even in Jesus family treeGod-usurpers like Adam, schemers like Abraham and Sarah, the guilty like Judah, the exploited like Tamar, prostitutes like Rahab, widows like Naomi, outsiders like Ruth, adulterers and murderers like David, and the grieving like Bathsheba. When you look at Jesus family line, you dont find a list of heroesyou find a gallery of grace. Broken marriages, moral failures, exploitation, grief, and loss. And God placed them there on purpose, to show us the kind of people Jesus came to save. Jesus came for people like them, and He came for people like us. He came to break the chains of sin and death, to reverse the curse, and to make peace by the blood of His cross. And that brings us to the most personal question of Christmas: what do we do with this Savior? Christmas is an Invitation, Not Just an Announcement John tells us thatHe was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God... (John 1:10-12). Then, John wrote one of the most astonishing sentences ever penned:The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.... (v. 14). Literally, He made His home with us. God chose to reverse the curse not by removing us from the world, but by entering itby dwelling among us in the person of His Son. Why? So that we might finally come home. I dont know where you are tonight or what youre carrying; I dont know the pain you carry or the disappointments that weigh on your heart, but I do know thisJesus came not to condemn you, but to make you whole. This Christmas Eve, the invitation is simple: come to the Light, come to the Word made flesh, come home. Jesus must be received by faith, not merely admired from a distance. This Christmas Eve, the invitation is simple: come to the Light, come to the Savior, find your light and life in Him. Conclusion In just a moment, the lights in this room will be dimmed, and one small flame will be passed from candle to candle. And as that light spreads, I want you to remember this: the darkness was not overcome by noise or force, but by the Light of Christ. That is how God came to usnot with spectacle, but with a child; not with condemnation, but with grace. Jesus entered our darkness to save us. This news is called the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here is how the apostle Paul described this News and promise of Christmas: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Rom. 1:16). And tonight, as the light moves from one person to the next, may it remind you that no darkness is too deep, no past so bad, and no heart too far gone for the Light of the gospel of Jesus Christ to overcome. As John 1:5 promises: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

1 Timothy 1:15-17

Did you know that Faith in God makes you free? Jesus came to make you free from sin and the curse. You are free to enjoy THE BLESSING of The LORD! Listen to Kenneth Copeland and Professor Greg Stephens on Believer's Voice of Victory as they discuss how Faith in God puts you in the place of being in right standing with God, like Adam and Eve were before the Fall. Learn that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross gives you the ability to resist sin, sickness, disease and every other part of the curse. Living in victory means you can experience freedom using the Name of Jesus.

Spiritual maturity doesn't begin with changing your behavior; it begins with reshaping your desires. By grace, growing as a follower of Jesus means learning to want what God wants, to value what he values, and to bring your heart into alignment with his.In today's episode, we continue our sermon series from the archives, The Gospel According to Mark, as Paul explores what Jesus came to do, and just as importantly, what he did not come to do, so that we learn to ask from Jesus only what he delights to give.To hear more sermons from Paul, visit PaulTripp.com/Sermons.

Did you know that Faith in God makes you free? Jesus came to make you free from sin and the curse. You are free to enjoy THE BLESSING of The LORD! Watch Kenneth Copeland and Professor Greg Stephens on Believer's Voice of Victory as they discuss how Faith in God puts you in the place of being in right standing with God, like Adam and Eve were before the Fall. Learn that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross gives you the ability to resist sin, sickness, disease and every other part of the curse. Living in victory means you can experience freedom using the Name of Jesus.

The Christmas story doesn't end at the manger. In Luke 2, an old man named Simeon finally sees the promise he's been waiting for his entire life when Mary and Joseph bring the baby Jesus into the temple. God had told Simeon he would not die until he saw the Messiah — and on that ordinary day, the promise walked into the room. This message reminds us that God always keeps His word, and that Christmas is about more than celebrating Jesus' first coming. We are living between two promises: Christ has come once, and He is coming again. As we explore the theology of Christmas and the hope of Jesus' return, we're challenged to live with faith, urgency, and expectation as we wait for the fulfillment of God's second promise.

Merry Christmas, one of the things Jim and I say all the time on the iWork4Him Podcast is Jesus came to restore all things, All the things that were lost in the garden when Adam and Eve turned their backs on our Father. Because of Jesus we can see our Physical, Spiritual and Emotional Health redeemed and restored. No Christmas Present can do all that. You are a gift to everyone around you as you experience this redemption and restoration. Give yourself away this Christmas. 

Merry Christmas, friend.

Send us a textWhat if the parts of you that feel disqualified are exactly where Christmas begins? We sit with real questions from real people—about doubt, shame, loneliness, and whether God is angry—and respond with a clear, hopeful claim: grace moves first. Not the kind of grace that asks you to pretend, but the kind that meets you in the mess and won't let go.We unpack why the birth of Jesus is more than a nostalgic scene. If God stepped into our world, then love came looking for the skeptic, the misfit, and the tired soul who can't fix themselves. We talk about self-worth through a different lens, where identity is anchored in what Jesus finished, not how well we perform. That flips the script on fear. Perfect love casts out fear because punishment isn't hanging over believers; the cross settled it. From there, change stops being a threat and becomes a response—desires shift, habits soften, and peace begins to outrun anxiety.We also push back on comparisons. No one gets extra portions of the Holy Spirit for looking polished. You're complete in Christ, and your journey is personal, not a scoreboard. Honest conversations with God—over coffee, on a commute, or in quiet—are not rituals to impress but practices that tune your heart to his presence. And if the holidays hurt this year, we sit with that too. Jesus is near to the brokenhearted, and small steps toward community, prayer, and honesty can open space for comfort to do its slow, steady work.If you're ready for hope that doesn't flinch and peace that doesn't depend on perfect circumstances, press play. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with one takeaway that gave you courage.Support the showThank you for listening! Please help us by sharing this podcast with your friends and telling someone about what Jesus has done for you. If you would like to share your story, visit our website https://thepromoter.org/

Do you want more out of life? Jesus came to give you His life so you can live in victory. Join Kenneth Copeland and Professor Greg Stephens on Believer's Voice of Victory as they teach you how Faith is involved in receiving the life Jesus came to give you. The moment you pray, believe you receive the answer. The beginning of a victorious life begins there. Choose to receive life, real life, with Jesus Christ!

Do you want more out of life? Jesus came to give you His life so you can live in victory. Join Kenneth Copeland and Professor Greg Stephens on Believer's Voice of Victory as they teach you how Faith is involved in receiving the life Jesus came to give you. The moment you pray, believe you receive the answer. The beginning of a victorious life begins there. Choose to receive life, real life, with Jesus Christ!

Why does Christmas matter? Beyond tradition and nostalgia, Scripture presents the birth of Jesus as a real event in history with eternal significance. Hebrews 2 gives us God's explanation for the incarnation—why the Son of God took on flesh. Writing to believers tempted to drift, the author points us to four reasons Jesus came: to be our substitute, to supply our righteousness, to conquer sin, death, and the devil, and to become our merciful and faithful help. From the manger to the cross and the empty tomb, this message reminds us that Christmas cannot be separated from the gospel. Jesus did not come merely to inspire, but to save, calling us to move beyond sentimentality and to “consider Jesus.”Key Passage: Hebrews 2Key Points:Jesus Came to Be Our SubstituteJesus Came to Supply Our RighteousnessJesus Came to Conquer Death and the DevilJesus Came to Be Our Help

Dr. Nate Magloughlin - John 3:16-18

This week, we continue our Why Christmas? series in the book of Isaiah! In chapter 62, we see the Lord's promise to restore through Jesus, saving His people, giving them a new name, and rejoicing over them. Pastor Eric shares three points from the text: 1) God relentlessly speaks with His people (vs. 1-5) 2) God is relentlessly protective of His church (vs. 6-9) 3) God relentlessly rejoices over His people (vs. 10-12)

Pastor Zach Vestnys' teaching from our series through the book of 1 John titled "What Jesus Came to Destroy"Teaching Text: 1 John 3:1-10

John 12:35–50,So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 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?” 39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 “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.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 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; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. 44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”One reason this season is the most wonderful time of the year is because it's the end of the year — and that means it's an opportunity to look back and reflect on what the year was like — What are some favorite memories of the year? What are some key themes of the year that stand out? What kind of music did I listen to the most? (I didn't ask that question, but my phone told me anyway).This is the time of year when we're in a review mindset, and that fits very nicely with where we are in the Gospel of John. Because here at the end of Chapter 12, it marks the end of Jesus's public ministry — and John, the Gospel writer, has a review mindset. Just to get our bearings again on this Gospel as a whole, there are two main parts:Part One is Chapters 1-12, which is Jesus's public ministry.Part Two is Chapters 13-20, which is Jesus's private ministry focused on his disciples.Part One has been called the Book of Signs, Part Two has been called the Book of Glory. And it's worked out for us that Part One has been our sermon series in 2025 (and Part Two, God willing, will be 2026).And so here at the end of Part One, it would make sense to look back and reflect on what we've seen this year — and John actually does that for us. In today's passage, John highlights three themes we've seen so far in this Gospel, and the plan for the sermon is to unpack each one and then ask What does it mean for us? It's one thing to understand what John is saying — we start there — but then we need to know what difference it makes in our lives. That's where we're headed. Here's the first theme. It is …1. The Problem of Unbelief (verses 37–41)We see this right away in verse 37. John says,“Though he [Jesus] had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him …”You can hear the summary tone in how John says it. Even after all this time, after all these miracles, after all his teaching, still the people did not believe Jesus. That (unfortunately) is consistent with what we've seen since the beginning of this Gospel. Remember how John started back in Chapter 1, verse 10: [Jesus] was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.And that idea just gets repeated:3:19, “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light …”6:36, Jesus says, “you have seen me and yet do not believe.”7:5, “not even his brothers believed in him.”10:25, the Jews said to him, “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe…”So yeah, this unbelief is a big deal. It's been a problem from the start, and even after 12 chapters (after this whole year!), the people still don't believe. But now John is going to explain why: He takes us behind the scenes theologically and he tells us that the people's unbelief is in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Bringing in IsaiahJohn shows us this by quoting two different passages from the Book of Isaiah — and we could spend so much time on this because it's so good — but I just wanna show you two things:The first is in verse 38. Everybody find verse 38. And help me out: when you find verse 38, look at the indented quote that starts with the word “Lord.” So everybody: verse 38, the word “Lord” — if you see it, say got it. The quote says:“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”This is Isaiah 53, verse 1, and it's from the famous passage about the Suffering Servant. The context of that passage is that God has exalted his Suffering Servant and the nations are astonished by him, but the people of Israel reject him. Isaiah is saying the message has been announced, the signs have been seen, but still, Israel does not believe. In other words, Isaiah is saying the same thing John is trying to say! — and so John connects the dots: The unbelief we see in response to Jesus in his public ministry is the unbelief that Isaiah prophesied. That's the first thing to see here.Here's the second … It comes in verse 41, but track with me for a minute …John says, verse 39, in fulfillment of Isaiah 53:1, “Therefore they could not believe.” And then he quotes Isaiah again, this time from Isaiah Chapter 6 about God blinding the eyes of unbelievers and hardening their hearts. That's verse 40.But now look what John says in verse 41. And this is one you're gonna wanna see. Everybody find verse 41. Chapter 12, verse 41 — if you see it, say Got it.Isaiah said these things [what things? It's the things of Isaiah 6 that John just quoted!] because he saw his glory and spoke of him [Isaiah saw whose glory? Who did Isaiah speak of? — John is clear: it's Jesus].Seeing the King!And if you know Isaiah 6, we can never read that passage the same way again! Isaiah 6 is the famous vision Isaiah had in the year King Uzziah died. Isaiah describes it:I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple. And right away this vision includes a throne and a temple — which is interesting because the throne is the place of a king, and the temple is the place of a priest. So is this a vision of a priest-king? This is something!And the seraphim were there — these are wild-looking angelic creatures with six wings — and they called to one another (and maybe you've heard this before):Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;the whole earth is full of his glory!And the foundations shook at their voices when they called, and the whole place was filled with smoke. And Isaiah, seeing all this, was undone! He said: Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”And John says here that Isaiah was talking about Jesus. Isaiah saw Jesus — just like the people in this Gospel for 12 chapters have seen Jesus — but the difference is that Isaiah was changed, the people still refuse to believe just like God said they would. And what it means for us is this: just like there's no such thing as generic faith, there is no such thing as generic unbelief. If you persist in unbelief … if you continue to disbelieve … it means you are rejecting Jesus. It's personal to him …You are rejecting the one who has come to save you. You are rejecting the one who has come to show you God. And you have seen him — that's the point John stresses here.These unbelievers had seen Jesus — there are many unbelievers in our cities today who have heard the message of Jesus — and their unbelief is a rejection of him. That's the problem of unbelief.It's a theme in the first half of this Gospel.Here's the second theme:2. The Priority of Witness (verses 42–43)This is verse 42. Not every single person full-out rejected Jesus, because, verse 42: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 …This is fascinating: these are people who ‘believed' in Jesus but did not confess him. Which means these people must've had some kind of mental agreement — the claims of Jesus were compelling to them, Jesus made sense to them, but they kept their stance on Jesus private.They didn't want others to know that they thought positively about Jesus, and the verdict of this kind of ‘faith' is that ultimately it's not real. It's not true faith.And that brings up something really important on the topic of faith: it's that true saving faith is always personal, but never private. True saving faith is personal as in you have to believe as an individual — your parents' faith doesn't count as yours, your spouses' faith doesn't count; you, each of you, have to believe) — true saving faith is personal.But true saving faith is never private. If it's real faith, you don't keep it to yourself. That's why the apostle Paul says, Romans 10, verse 9, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.See, faith in Jesus includes allegiance to Jesus, and allegiance doesn't remain hidden. This is one of the reasons Jesus gave us baptism!Baptism is a public witness to our faith in Jesus. It's a way for us to stake our flag in the ground and say, I'm with Jesus, whatever the social cost might be. And, historically, faith in Jesus has always included some kind of social cost. In the days of Jesus — and at the time that John wrote this Gospel — verse 42 says the threat was expulsion from synagogue. That was a cost for Jewish believers: If you were in with Jesus, you were kicked out of Jewish community. That was a real issue for Jewish converts in the early church. And there was a similar issue with Gentiles, because to say “Jesus is Lord” is to say that Caesar is not Lord — and that was a head-turning statement to make as a subject of the Roman Empire!So no matter how you shook it back in the day — it didn't matter who you were or where you were from — there was no way to truly believe in Jesus that did not involve a social cost, or at least risk. Now that's history, but it's also still the case today … In fact, true story …Social Pressure TodayI heard last week from a credible source that there has been an underground Bible study going on with a group of Somali Muslims and 12 of them have embraced the claims of Christ — which is amazing — however, currently, none of them are willing to make it public. Because could you imagine the cost? (This is real. And we should pray for these 12 individuals — that their faith would go all the way, not partial faith, but true saving faith in Jesus Christ.)True saving faith is not private, and it says Jesus is worth the cost.And we have to be careful here, because we can think that this cost is just out there and it doesn't really affect us. But that's not true. It doesn't matter if your context is Islam or Progressivism or Alt-Right politics, there is social pressure everywhere to not be all-in with Jesus.And it's in different ways and in different degrees, but you know it's there … in your workplace … at your school … on your team — And what's dangerous for us is that in many of our circles it's respectable to be okay with Jesus as long as we're not over the top. Like: being spiritual is good. Talking about your ‘faith' is fine. But don't be all about Jesus. Don't love him that much.That kind of pressure might be more subtle than the pressure of Islam, but the irony is that the dynamic is the same: it's allowing social pressure to dictate what we do with Jesus.And John tells us in verse 43 what the real issue is — it has to do with what you love the most. John says the reason these partial believers did not go all-in with Jesus is because, verse 43:“they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”And look, I don't know about you, but this gets my attention. I never want to do this. Never.But it makes me wonder if this disordered love that John is talking about is always part of failed witness. Like in those moments when we have opportunity to be public about our faith and we choose not to, do we choose not to because we love the glory of man more than the glory of God?What John is talking about is part of a universal human weakness — we care so much about what other people think.And that's one reason public witness is so important. Because it puts feet to our faith. It shows that we're not just here because our stomachs are full or because we're enamored by miracles, like the way we've seen people be in this Gospel. But we are truly all in with Jesus. We believe in Jesus, and we want people to know, whatever the cost. That's the priority of witness.Here's the third theme:3. The Purpose of Advent (verses 44–50)Now I'm not just saying this because it's Advent. Look at verse 44: And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.Jesus repeats that he has been sent — and of course, he is referring to his first Advent. He's talking about Christmas! That he came here — and what was its purpose? Why did Jesus come? He's very clear about it, verse 46: I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.That's clear enough, but Jesus really wants us to get this. So he tells us again, verse 47:If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.And that sounds a lot like what Jesus said in Chapter 3. Remember back in Chapter 3, verse 17, Jesus said plainly: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.There is no ambiguity in the first half of this Gospel. This is the purpose of Jesus's first Advent: Jesus came to save. The Miracle of ConversionAnd one of the reasons Jesus stresses so much that he came to save, not condemn, is because a lot of people end up condemned — and Jesus wants to explain why. Here's the reason: it's because they don't believe in him. In his first Advent, Jesus came to bring salvation, but judgment happens when people reject his salvation. Judgment is what people bring upon themselves by rejecting Jesus who came to save. And their unbelief is judgment already — the blinding and hardening that Isaiah talked about is God giving people over to what they want. This is how the theologian D. A. Carson puts it: God's judicial hardening is not the capricious manipulation of an arbitrary power that curses morally neutral or even morally pure beings, but it is the holy condemnation of a guilty people who are condemned to do and be what they themselves have chosen ( 448–449, abridged)Listen: If you don't want Jesus now, you don't get Jesus later.And that would have been every single one of us apart from the grace of God. Everyone of us who believes in Jesus has the same story if you go back far enough — it's the sovereign grace of God! He chose us in Christ before the foundations of the world and set his love on us, and in the fullness of time he sent Jesus to save us! But we're all born broken and bent away from God, and our only hope is if God does something about that. And he does. By his Spirit through our hearing the gospel, God brings dead hearts to life — we hear the announcement of who Jesus is and what he's done, and we believe. That's the miracle of conversion:Long my imprisoned spirit layFast bound in sin and nature's night;Thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray,I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;My chains fell off, my heart was free;I rose, went forth and followed Thee.That is how Christians are made! Yes, God is at work. He's the one behind it, but what concerns us is what we do with the message of Jesus now.And that's what makes this passage so remarkable. One More InvitationVerse 44 — notice the first few words. John tells us, verse 44:“And Jesus cried out and said…”That might not seem like a big deal, but we need to compare it with how this passage started in verse 36. This is the end of last week's passage. Verse 36, Jesus said:“While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” [Then John comments] When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.Jesus has been saying, I will not be here much longer, and while I'm here it's your chance to believe. And then he withdraws. He leaves. It's an exit. Verse 36 could be the end of Jesus's public ministry. It seems like it is!But in verse 44 Jesus comes back out. He shows back up to this crowd that's kept rejecting him, and he does it to make one more invitation. He cries out to give one more chance: I am here to save! Believe in me!Hey, I want you to know that I'm so thankful that Jesus is the kind of Savior who gives one more chance — second chances, third, fourth, fifth chances. It took a lot of chances for some of us, and I know it did for me. Look, my whole childhood was chances — chances to believe over and over again, and then one day, I did. I'm so glad Jesus didn't give up on me. Isn't it amazing that the last thing Jesus does to close out his public ministry is give that one more chance? To offer grace one more time. That seems to me like the best way to end the first half of this sermon series. …Maybe you're here and you've heard about Jesus a thousand times, here's one more invitation…Jesus Christ came to this world to save. That was the purpose of Advent. It's the purpose of Christmas. Jesus came to save, and everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Would you believe in him today? Just tell him:Jesus, I can't save myself and I'm tired of trying! You came to save me and I believe you!That's a prayer of faith, and that's the invitation for everyone, right now.And that brings us to the Table.The TableFor those of us who have trusted in Jesus, if you've put your faith in Jesus, this Table is a continued public witness each week that we belong to him. When we eat the bread and drink the cup, we are saying: We are united to Jesus Christ by faith, and we give him thanks!

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In this sermon on John 12:35-50, Pastor Jonathan Parnell concludes part one of the Gospel of John by expounding upon the three themes John gives us so far, and the difference they each make in our lives today.

In dying, Christ de-fanged the devil. How? By covering all our sin. This means that Satan has no legitimate grounds to accuse us before God.