John 2021

If you'd like to turn in your bibles to John chapter 10, and we're gonna be reading verses 22 to 42, And if you're new to church or you're not used to hearing the bible read and preached or even if you are, It's good to remind ourselves that as we turn to the Bible and have it read, we we are hearing the living words of God. This is not just a religious message like any other. This is not just 1 of the other messages that we might access in the world. This is altogether different because as we open these words and hear them preached, God himself is addressing us.

This is God speaking to us through his living word. And if that's true, we should give it the best of our attention, shouldn't we? We should give it all the mental energy that we can muster. God is gonna speak to us, then we want with heart and mind to engage as best we can. And to and to to prepare to hear him.

So, john 10 verse 22. Then came the festival of dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon's colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.

Jesus answered, I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works that I do in my father's name testify about me but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish no 1 will snatch them out of my hand.

My father who has given them to me is greater than all. No 1 can snatch them out of my father's hand. I and the father are 1. Again, his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him. But Jesus said to them, I have shown you many good works from the father.

For which of these do you stone me? We are not stoning you for any good work they replied, but for blasphemy because you, a mere man, claim to be God. Jesus answered them. Is it not written in your law? I have said you are God's.

If he called them God's to whom the Word of God came and Scripture cannot be set aside, What about the 1 whom the father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, I am God's son. Do not believe me unless I do the works of my father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works that you may know and understand that the father is in me and I in the father. Again, they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, and many people came to him. They said, Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true. And in that place, many believed in Jesus. This is the living word of God, and the handover to Ben to preach that to us now.

Well, hello. Good evening from me. Welcome. My name is Ben. I'm 1 of the pastors here at the church.

I wonder if you've seen that episode of Friends where Phoebe's recovering from a cold, and she sings, and she thinks she sounds amazing. Because her voice her voice is all croaky. She's like my sticky shoes. Why did you stick on me? I'm recovering from a cold.

My voice is croaky. I don't think that will make the sermon sound any better, but please bear with me. I've got an emergency glass of water there. I've taken an out of date, streps are there. So anything could happen.

It says on the box do not take out of date. That was after I'd taken it. So anyway, we'll see what happens. But let's pray, let's pray that the Lord will speak to us croaky voice or not. Father, we thank you that this is your word.

We thank you that We get to see the Lord Jesus here, and we get to see some very important truths about him. And he wants us to see them. He wants to tell us things plainly. And Lord, you have spoken plainly. And so I pray that you would give us ears to hear what it is you are saying to us tonight in Jesus' name, amen.

Okay. I was at CY, which is a Christian sailing camp in Easter earlier this year. I was doing the talks there. And every night, we had some songs before I got up to speak. And there was a girl who would go to the front at the middle, and she sang these songs.

I mean, we sang we sang well tonight, I think. She was she was there at the front in the middle. And we sang, our God is the lion, the lion of Judah. He's roaring with power and fighting our battles. And you could you could tell, without knowing anything about this girl, you could tell she was fighting battles.

And when she was singing, She was it was like the music was a balm to her soul, and she was there, and she was on her knees sometimes. It was actually quite moving to watch her. I mean, she was battling when I spoke to her and found out about her life. There was an awful lot. Things were difficult at home.

She had strange relationships with people at school, all sorts of difficulties. And yet, what was weird was, God was absolutely absent. In the way that she spoke about her life, how she dealt with her sufferings, the hope she had for the future, God was entirely absent, and all of that. And it was weird because in the song, she's singing God is fighting our battles. And yet, when you spoke to her, she's raging by herself.

God isn't there at all. I wonder if you've seen or met people who say things like, I must be part of a church that has sound biblical teaching. It must be part of a church. A sound biblical teaching. These people love to jump into theological discussions.

If they hear some people over here talking about something, swoop in and give their opinion on whether Christ has 1 or 2 natures, and they love to talk about all of that sort of stuff. And yet, really, in their life, they haven't got the most fundamental basic things about loving people. They aren't good to others. They aren't patient with others. They're not encouraging others.

Paul describes these people as clanging symbols. I wonder if you've ever come across a clanging symbol before. Just just this week, a man, a random man walking down this road, knocked on that door. While we were here. And he wanted to be ministered to, he wanted to speak to a pastor because he'd hit rock bottom, pretty much.

And when he came in, invited him in, Shared a glass of water and sat and listened to him, and he spoke, and he poured out all of these problems. And he knew a bit about the gospel. And so I was speaking to him about the truths. And, you know, we've just come back from contagious not long before. So, you know, I was talking to him about there's a throne in heaven, mate, and there's a God on it.

And the judgments are all around you in the world are God's judgments upon the sin, but 1 day he's coming back. So I was speaking this to him, and he was he was doing this and nodding. And it seemed like the gospel was a balm to his soul. And I and he was from Hammersmith, and I said, mate, you need to go and find a local church because that's where you're gonna grow and become rooted and established. And as we got up at the end, As we were standing at the door, he said, you know, I know myself and to be honest, I'm not gonna go find a church.

And so he wanted to hear something, but he didn't want to hear the word of the lord, really, not really. And in this passage, what we see is we see people who claim to love the temple of God, but they actually end up chasing the true temple of god out into the wilderness. We see people who claim to love the Word of God, but they actually disbelieve the true Word of God. He's standing in front of them, and we see people who appear to be zealous for God. They're gonna pick up stones, and they raise stones against God in anger.

Matthew Henry says, daring sinners will throw stones at heaven, though they return upon their own heads. But we also get to see here The true worshipers that Jesus spoke to the woman at the well about, who worshiped the father neither on the mountain nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and truth, who go and find the real temple. So why is this here this morning? Pete said this is the most important passage in the whole bible. It is the most important passage in the whole bible.

Let me tell you why. Because here in this passage, Jesus tells us where the true temple is. Where is the place that you can go to make yourself right with God, to have your sins forgiven, to be made right with him. Where can you go to get eternal life? This passage is a matter of eternal life.

It's about your soul, and that's why tonight, at least the most important passage in the whole bible. So as Tom said, we wanna be listening, don't we? And my first point tonight is Time is running out. Time is running out. I wonder, as Tom read that, you may have had the sense of deja vu if you've been With us in the evening services here for a while, listening to John's gospel being preached, you may have got the sense of deja vu, because here we are.

We're, again, we're in the temple. Jesus is surrounded by Jews who were questioning him, trying to trap him again. Jesus is talking about his sheep again. The Jews are picking up stones to try and kill him again. Jesus is escaping without being harmed.

Again, this sort of happens again and again and again. Almost from chapter 2 all the way. That's pretty much been the repeated theme of of John's gospel, belief and unbelief, belief and unbelief. But Time is running out here, and we get a little clue as to why time is running out. Because note where Jesus is here in this passage in verse 22.

23. Then came the festival of dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon's colonade. And so the colonnade was the perimeter of the temple courts.

And so Jesus has been in the temple courts many times before. But we get the feeling that every time Jesus goes and is chased out. He's getting further and further and further out. Of the temple. And now, he's right on the edge.

He's walking right on the edge of the temple course. It's almost as if he's heading to the exit. And this is the the last time Jesus has found in the temple in John's gospel. If you turn the page and look at chapter 11 verse 56, you'll see well, look at verse 55. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover.

They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts, they asked 1 another, what do you think? Isn't he coming to the festival at all? So this is it. This is the last time Jesus is gonna be in the temple courts. He's been there many times, explaining teaching, and every time he gets persecution, and rejection and unbelief, but this is it.

And so figuratively, if you Just so happen to be here because it's the Sabbath, and you go to the temple on the Sabbath, and that's what you do on the Sabbath. This is the last chance you will have to hear Jesus. Because he's not coming back. The mouth of the lord is gonna be silenced to the people who just go to the temple courts. For the sake of it.

So listen to him now. Time is running out. My second point is this. The temple has left the building. Look at where else we start in this passage, so verse 22 and 23 again.

Then came the festival of dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus was walking in the Temple Court in Solomon's Colony. So it's the festival of dedication. That's where we start here in this passage.

And that, if you look at the little footnote at the bottom, tells you that it is Hanukkah. That's another friend's video I was watching this week. Where Ross is in their armadillo. I'm the holiday armadillo. It's very funny.

Hanukkah, It's the festival of Hanukkah. And what Hanukkah was was a a festival to remember the rededication of the temple. In fact, Hanukkah is derived from the Hebrew word to dedicate. That's what that means. And and Hanukkah What they're celebrating was about 200 years prior to this moment.

Jerusalem was ransacked and taken over. By a guy called Antiochus, the fourth, and his army. He ransacked Jerusalem. He took over the city, and he desecrated the temple. He set up an altar for Zeus in the temple and for 3 and a half years.

There were no offerings for sin in that temple, for god's people, They didn't light the the Golden lampstand that symbolized God's presence, and so it was just ransacked. But The Macabees came in a hundred and 64 BC and took it back, and they cleansed the temple from the the the sort of the false idols They took all the idolatry down, and they reestablished the temple, and rededicated it. And the the sort of legend is that there was only enough oil to burn the the golden lamp stand for 1 night. But miraculously, the oil burned for 8 days, which is why when you see a Hanukkah sort of menorah, the lamp stand, there are 8 So 9, sorry, candle prongs. There's 1 in the middle that symbolizes the 1 oil that lasted for 8 days, and you've got 4 on either side.

So that's what's going on. They're celebrating the rededication of the temple. That's what the mood is. It's party time. They're remembering.

They're celebrating. And and they celebrate what the temple means. The temple is God's presence, among his people. Praise God, that he dwells among us. Praise God, that his his the the golden lampstand is lit, and the bread of the presence is there, and the high priest can go in and make atonement for sin.

That's what's going on. In other words, they love the temple. This is where you would put, you know, I love London sort of t shirts. Everyone's walking around with it. I love temple t shirts.

They've got the temple flags up everywhere. It's a festival saying, I love the temple. And yet, during this time, of loving the temple. They completely miss the fact that the true temple of God is standing right in front of them. Gonna get you to look look back at chapter 2.

We'll go back this time. Go back to John chapter 2 versus 19 and 20. Jesus answered them, destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in 3 days. They replied, it's taken 46 years to build this temple. You were gonna raise it in 3 days, but the temple he had spoken of was his body.

Okay? Jesus has claimed to be the temple, and he's demonstrated it to them as well over and over again. He said, I am the light of the world, the light, the and lampstand of God's presence. Jesus says, I am the light of the world. The bread of the presence, the the the manner in the wilderness.

Jesus says, I am the bread of life. Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. You can't get any more temple language than the language that the bible and people use about the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the true temple, and he's demonstrated it again and again and again. Paul writes in colossians chapter 2.

For in Christ, all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form. In Jesus Christ, God, tabernacles among his people. That is who he is. He's emmanuel. God with us.

When you look at Jesus, you see the temple fulfilled. Here is God dwelling among his people. But look at where Jesus sends up after being cast out of the temple in verse 40. So back in John chapter 10, verse 40. So Jesus escaped their grasp, and then he went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days.

There, he stayed. So though they love the temple, though they're celebrating the dedication of the temple, they're remembering the way it was desecrated, and they rededicated it, Here at the same time, they're desecrating the real temple of God. Psalm 30 is a Psalm for the dedication of the temple. And this is something that they would be reciting at this time. I would exalt you, lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

Lord, my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. You, Lord, bought me up from the realm of the dead. You've spared me from going down to the pit. And I think if you have eyes to see, that is the lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 30 is all about the lord Jesus Christ.

This specific song, the 1 that they were reciting, perhaps that day is all about the 1 that they cast out. And reject. And so Jesus, the true temple leaves the building. And so how on earth did we get How did we get to the point where the True Temple leaves the building? My third point.

Unbelief, not unclarity. So verse 24. The Jews who were gathered around him, said, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly, which is amazing. If you've been here listening to these sermons, the last few weeks and months, you'll know that that is amazing.

I hope you've seen how many times Jesus has clearly demonstrated. He is the Messiah. If you were the messiah, tell us, mate. It's it's amazing. But I wanna say, before we judge these people, I think we do something similar.

Even as Christians, I think we do something similar. Have you ever had a situation where you say, God, tell me plainly. That you exist. Or, God, will you will you just show me clearly? Play me that you love me?

I'm having a horrible time. Lord, this horrible thing's happened to me. Do you even at least see my situation? Tell me plainly. And so what is Christ's reply to us?

First 25. Jesus answered. I did tell you, but you did not believe. You do not believe. I was also at CYE a few weeks ago on a different camp.

It was a summer camp with younger kids. It was 11 to 14. And we were looking I was doing the talks again. We were looking at the theme of friendship. And and I did a gospel presentation on how God made us to be.

Friends with him, but we broke that with sin. But Jesus said, greater love has no 1 than this. To lay down one's life or one's friends. And we were looking at that talk 1 night. Greater love has no 1 than this.

To lay down one's life for one's friends. In other words, you cannot possibly have a greater love than to lay your life down for your friends. And then I asked him, and I said, look. And if Jesus laid his life down for you. And for us, what does that make us?

Silence? And then 1 girl, friends. I was like, yeah, friends. That's right. And so how does God demonstrate this greatest love of all to us?

How does he plainly show us? His love? How does he demonstrate plainly that we're his friend? Roman chapter 5 verse 8, but God demonstrates his own love for us in this. This is how God demonstrates his love for us.

This is how he clearly says it. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us, The work of the cross that Jesus did in the father's name testifies about his love for you. It testifies that while you were still a sinner, while you were at your worst, while you were dead in your sins, without hope, without life, wretched, appallingly repulsive to God. At that moment, When you were at your worst, Christ called you friend, and laid his life down for you. The work of the cross testifies about the lord Jesus Christ.

When you were at your worst, he you the most. There is nothing greater in other words. I said to these young people, there's nothing greater Jesus could ever do to demonstrate his love for you. There's nothing plainer that Jesus could say than the cross to say, I love you. I love you.

I love you. There's nothing plainer Jesus could do. Show you how much you mean to him. And so how long will you keep us in suspense if you are the Messiah tell us plainly? I did tell you but you do not believe.

This is unbelief here. Not on clarity. Jesus has spoken to us today with love from the cross. And if we don't know that, or treasure that. It's not because of unclarity.

Could it be because of unbelief? We're doing Romans 1 to 5 in the seminars. And if you wanna just grasp more tightly, the love that God has for you in the lord Jesus Christ. Then come along to that, please. Because you will see the depths of your sin, and you will see the glorious of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So come along to that. From next week in the morning. Fourth point, the sheet listened and followed. Verse 26, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice.

I know them, and they follow me. So after Jesus is forced out of the temple, he goes into the wilderness, and I I think that's interesting if you think about the tabernacle and all that sort of stuff. But he's saying the sheep follow. And so look again at verse 40 to to 42, then Jesus went back to the Jordan, to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days, there he stayed. And many people came to him.

They said, though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true. And in that place, many believed in Jesus. And so here are the sheep and they've listened and they follow him even physically out into the wilderness, and they believe him. Many believe in Jesus we're told, and look at the joy of being a sheep of the lord Jesus Christ. Verse 27, I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

That's the joy of being a sheep. Not just that God has plans for your life, not just that you can hope for a better tomorrow than you have today. The joy of being a sheep of the lord Jesus Christ is eternal life. And and this is the present tense. It's not just that my sheep will 1 day cash something in and get eternal life.

He says, I give them So if you are a sheep of the Lord Jesus, he has given you eternal life. Here and now, you have crossed over from death to life. If you have listened and followed Jesus, he's made your soul alive. You know, the book of Revelation talks about the first resurrection. And the second resurrection.

You know, the first resurrection is the resurrection of your soul because you were dead in your sins. And in faith Jesus made you alive, Did you know that that you have already had a resurrection? That is the joy of being a sheep of the lord Jesus Christ. And 1 day, he will raise your body as well, by the way. So if you like this body's a bit rubbish, he will raise that as well.

Don't worry. 1 day. That is what you get if you come to the lord Jesus And he goes on. Look how safe his sheep are. No 1 will snatch them out of my hand.

My father who was given to me is greater than all. No 1 can snatch them out of my father's hand. I and the father are 1. So follow what Jesus is doing here. No 1 will snatch them out of my hand.

They're in my hand. They're also in my father's hand. No 1 will snatch them out of my father's hand. Now, how can they be both in Jesus' hand and the father's hand? Only if Jesus and the father are 1.

To be in the hand of Jesus is to be in the hand of the Almighty father, the lord, Yahweh. So do you see Jesus is claiming to be God himself? Anyone says to you, Jesus never claimed to be God, point them to this verse. Jesus is claiming to be God himself. His hand is also the father's hand.

And look at verse 31. Again, His Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him. Now they're picking up big stones here. They mean to kill him this time. He's evaded them before.

They wanna kill him now. But Jesus says to them, I have shown you many good works from the father, for which of these do you stone me? And look, verse 33, we're not stoning you for any good work, they replied, but for blasphemy because you and me, man claim to be god. How can the father's hand be your hand? You're claiming to be god.

See, they get it. They actually get it. They understand this claim that Jesus is making about himself. What Jesus goes on to say next? Used to confuse me.

I actually used to think Jesus was wriggling out of this a bit. Be like, oops. Well, you know, in your law, it says you're all gods. And so saying, oh, my God, isn't that bad because we're all gods. I actually, you know, that's not what Jesus is actually saying.

I actually think he's turning the heat up here. I think he's actually turning it up. He's he's Please pushing on this point that he is God, and you are not even more sharply. Because he says to them, Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law? I have said, you are gods.

That's Psalm 82. And he says, if he called them gods, you down here to whom the word of God came. If you down here are gods and scripture cannot be set aside. What about the 1 whom the father set apart in eternity, as his very own, and sent into the world? How much more is he God?

So if you just down here, the ones to whom the word came are God's, How much is the word God who came? You see what Jesus is saying? It's from the lesser to the greater argument. How much more am I? And so he says, why are you accusing me of blasphemy?

It's the truth. It's not blasphemy if it's true. And if you're gods, how much more god am I? You cannot stone me for this, but then look, he pleads with them. He's on his way out.

Remember? He's walking in Solomon's colonnade. He doesn't come back to the temple. And look at how Jesus pleads with us. Verse 37, do not believe me unless I do the works of my father.

But if I do them, even though you do not believe me. Believe the works. That you may know. And understand that the father is in me, and I in the father. You see the lengths Jesus is going to to get you to believe?

He's like, fine. Don't if you don't believe me, look at the works. See what the works testify to, but they don't do that. They try and seize him. But again, because his hour has not yet come.

He escapes their grasp. My fifth and final point is salvation follows repentance. It is interesting that the place Jesus goes to after chased out of the temple, is the Jordan, where John the Baptist had been baptizing. Now, it's it's the place where Jesus' Ministry began, And in some ways, his ministry is now beginning to to end because, you know, there's a long, farewell discourse. Jesus has with his disciples, and then he's arrested and crew defied.

So, you know, bookends of his ministry, maybe. Yeah. The whole tabernacle thing in the wilderness. Yeah. Maybe.

But we're actually told in verse 42, that in that place, many believed in Jesus. Now, I wanna ask why that place Why not the temple, and why are we told in that place many believed in Jesus? Well, that is the place where John had preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. We saw that this morning, didn't we? When we're looking at Mark's gospel.

So that is what the Battisms of John were all about, about the repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And so here's the picture we have painted. Jesus goes back to this place. Here's the picture that we have painted. Where people are repentant, There, they are ready to receive Christ's savior.

Salvation follows repentance when people see their sin and acknowledge their great need for forgiveness, there they see the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And they wanna follow him, and they wanna believe in him. And look again at this salvation. Verse 27, my sheep listened to my voice. I know them, They follow me.

I give them eternal life. And they shall never perish again. Here is salvation in Jesus. Here is the free gift of salvation. Given by Jesus to the sheep.

And these are sheep who have been caught up in all sorts of sins. They are stained by the sins of the world. They are not worthy to be his sheep. They are addicted to shameful things. They have no right to eat from the tree of life and live, They're they are they would be thrown out of the temple.

They're not worthy to come into the temple, but here they can come. Here they hear the voice of Jesus, and they come in repentance. And in the temple, there were 3 areas. There were sort of the the courtyards where the gentiles could be, then there were the inner courts where only sort of elders could be, and then there was the holy of holies, where God was and where only the high priests could be. And yet here is Jesus, and all of those barriers are gone.

And he calls his sheep, and they come straight to him. There are no sections of the courtyard of the temple of Jesus. You are not a second class Christian. In Jesus, is Temple. You all come through the floodgates of his love and come in to be his sheep.

And when they come to him, just like the high priest, he washes them from every sin. He gives them eternal life. And they shall never perish. Where people see their sin and their great need for forgiveness, there they will receive the lamb of God. Takes away the city of the world.

That's the key difference in the end, between the people who are in the temple and the people by the Jordan. And so, I wanna say, if you've come here tonight and you're unrepentant before God, if you've come here just to sort of come to the temple, But you're not ready to hear the words of Jesus, and you're not here really to confess your sin. The sins of failing to follow the cross shaped life that a Christian should live, failing to lay our life down for our friends. Failing to prefer other people's needs before our own, failing to wash the feet, of our brothers and sisters. If you haven't come tonight to the Lord in repentance, then will you not see your need for a Savior?

Who is Jesus other than just an oracle who can tell you about the future? Jesus is the lamb of God who takes your sin away. Come to him in repentance. Acknowledge your need for him that you're wrong before God. You should be cast out, and yet you can come to him.

Acknowledge that you're putting other people first. Ignore that you're demanding your rights from God. God, I demand this. I deserve to have this. I don't have it in my life.

We need to repent of that. And we need to come to him, humbly. That's what we heard this morning. Because if you don't, Repentance is essential for salvation. It's what we see here.

Jesus tells a parable, isn't he, of a Pharisee, a tax collector in the temple? And the pharisees there saying, Lord, thank you that I'm not likely sinners, but I give a tenth of all I get, and it goes on like this. And then the the tax collector stands at a distance. And it says he could not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me a sinner. And wow, what a difference?

The Jews in this passage wanna throw stones up to heaven. And here, this tax collector wouldn't even look up to heaven. Why? Because he's repentant. And Jesus said, I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.

And so as we finish, do you see the true temple of God? Do you see the true temple of God? Do you know where you need to go for eternal life? Do you see the true place where your sin is paid for? Because it's not a building.

If you're watching from home, and you're listening. In 1 sense, you're just as ready to receive, although it's a blessing to be and obviously amongst the people. It's not a ritual that takes away your sin. It's the lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. It's his blood that washes away.

Every sin. It's the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And so, do you hear the word spoken plainly? Do you hear the love of the cross spoken plainly to you. Is that plain to you?

Or do you say, lord, do you do you love me? Show me you love me. I can't see your love for me. Well, look at the cross. Do you see the plainness of God's love for you?

Spoken there. Will you come to him in repentance? Knowing your need for mercy. And look, this is the last time Jesus is in the temple. He's not coming back.

And so maybe this is the last time Jesus is pleading with you. We don't know what tomorrow brings. You might hate this service and never come back. This may be the last time. You hear the word of Jesus to come.

Believe in him and receive eternal life and so do that. Come to Christ, Emmanuel, God with us, the temple. The son of God, come to him, Follow him to the place of repentance and Christians, let's keep repenting, let's keep confessing our sins, let's not grow tired. Let's not think we've done it once. We must keep coming back to Jesus in repentance.

And if you've done that, then guess what? Your soul is alive. Your soul is alive. It's had the resurrection. You've come back from dead to life.

In him. And 1 day in glory after the resurrection of the dead, your body will catch up with your soul and you'll be glorious with him. Furthermoremore, praise God for the True Temple, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much that you have spoken plainly to us through the lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you that you plainly show us your love for us. You could not have done or said anything more than the cross to have shown us your love. We thank you that when we were at our absolute worst there, you called us friend. Though we were your enemy, you made peace with us. And you you you made us children.

Father, thank you for your incredible love for us. Help us to see that. Give us eyes to see it plainly. We pray. And lord, we pray for anyone who who loves the the physical temple, the religious activity, but despises the lord Jesus and doesn't that doesn't want him.

I pray, Lord, that you would open those people's ears, that you would speak to them, call them, that they might come out into the into the wilderness and follow him. Thank you, Lord, that in the lord Jesus Christ, we have life. He has given us eternal life. You have taken us from death to life already, and we praise you for that. Thank you, Jesus, for the joy it is to come to you freely.

Thank you that you wash us of every sin. I pray that we would always have eyes for you, the real temple in your name, amen.