Episode Transcript
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Please remain standing if you're able,
and turn. Let's all turn our attention
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to John, Chapter One. John
One read verses one through thirty four.
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In the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God, and
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the word was God. He was
in the beginning with God. All things
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were made through him and without him
was not anything made. That was made
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in him was life, and the
life was the light of men. The
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light shines in the darkness and the
darkness has not overcome it. There was
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a man sent from God whose name
was John. He came as a witness,
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to bear witness about the light that
all might believe through him. He
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was not the light, but he
came to bear witness about the light.
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The true light which enlightens everyone,
was coming into the world. He was
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in the world and the world was
made through him. Yet the world did
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not know him. He came to
his own and his own people did not
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receive him, but to all who
did receive him, who believed in his
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name, he gave the right to
become children of God, who were born
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not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the
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will of man, but of God. And the word became flesh and dwelt
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among us and we have seen his
glory, glory as of the only son
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from the father full of grace and
truth. John bore witness about him and
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cried out, this is he of
whom I said, he who comes after
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me ranks before me, because he
was before me and from his fullness we
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have all received grace upon grace,
for the law was given through Moses.
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Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God,
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the only God, who is at
the father's side. He has made him
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known, and this is the testimony
of John. When the Jews sent priests
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and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you, he confessed and
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did not deny, but confessed I
am not the Christ, and they asked
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him what then? Are You Elijah? He said, I am not.
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Are you the Prophet? He said
No. So they said to him,
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who are you? What need we
need to give an answer to those who
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sent us? What do you say
about yourself? He said, I am
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the voice of one crying out in
the wilderness. Make straight the way of
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the Lord, as the Prophet Isaiah
said. Now they had been sent from
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the Pharisees. They asked him then
why are you baptizing if you are neither
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the Christ, nor Elijah nor the
Prophet? John answered them. I baptize
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with water, but among you stands
one you do not know, even he
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who comes after me, the strap
of whose Sandal I am not worth thee
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to untie. These things took place
in Bethany, across the Jordan, where
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John was baptizing. The next day, he saw Jesus coming toward him and
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said, behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the
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world. This is he of whom
I said after me comes a man who
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ranks before me, because he was
before me. I myself did not know
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him, but for this purpose I
came baptizing with water that he might be
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revealed to Israel, and John bore
witness. I saw the spirit descend from
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heaven like a dove, and it
remained on him. I myself did not
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know him, but he who sent
me to baptize with water said to me
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he on whom you see the spirit
descend and remain. This is he who
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baptizes with the Holy Spirit, and
I have seen and have borne witness that
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this is the son of God.
Man, please be seated so I'm continuing
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this morning series on wisdom, series
of sermons which I intend to proclaim the
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wisdom of God as we find it
in Christ, that we might learn,
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through faith in him, to walk
wisely in this world. And Psalm one
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of four, the first sermon I
gave on this, we considered how God
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made the world in wisdom and that
his wisdom in creation is evident in the
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creation itself. Then in Coloshins one
fifteen through twenty, last week we heard
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the good news that Jesus is the
son of God who made the world,
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something that's also testified to here and
John, he who was in the beginning
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verse three, says all things were
made through him and without him was not
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anything made. That was made,
just as Paul says. In Colossians one
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fifteen through twenty, we learned that
this same God in Psalm one o four
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is this is the god of Colossians
one fifteen through twenty and also John One,
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father, son and Holy Spirit,
and that this son through whom the
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world was made, has also come
into the world that he made as a
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man. Paul testifies that when he
talks about Jesus being also the head of
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the church, that he might be
the firstborn of the resurrection of the dead.
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Can't die unless you are a man. John Testifies to that as well
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as this one who has come into
the world, that he is the the
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man who has come after him.
And yet was before him, because he
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was before him, after, before, before, after, what is it,
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John? Let's both. Because Jesus
comes after him as his younger cousin
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in a way, well, not
in a way exactly, that comes after
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him as as his a relative,
as a younger coversin, comes after him
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according to Time, comes after him
in First John Proclaims the Kingdom of God,
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and then Jesus following that. And
yet John Proclaims that this man,
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this cousin of his, this Jesus
of Nazareth, he's not even worthy to
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untie the strap of his Sandal.
Why? Because he was before me.
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How much before he is God,
John Says, the son of God,
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who was from the beginning with God, the father. So Paul tells us
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in Colossians that this Jesus, that
John Speaks of two and that the John
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the Baptist is testifying to is a
voice in the wilderness preparing the way of
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the Lord, that he is the
key to wisdom. Remember that from Colossians,
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true wisdom. Remember Paul's prayer.
He says, we have not ceased
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to pray for you, he says
to the Colossians, asking that you may
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be filled with the knowledge of his
will in all spiritual wisdom, isdom and
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understanding, so as to walk in
a manner worthy of the Lord, bearing
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fruit in every good work and increasing
in the knowledge of God. If you
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lost track a little bit there,
just caught recalled your mind all the Times
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that wisdom and knowledge and understanding came
up in just those few, those few
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short sentences. It's piled up with
that kind of language. This is what
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we are to be filled with,
filled with knowledge of his will and all
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spiritual and understanding. But it's not
a head knowledge, wisdom in the Christian
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life is not a mere information dump. He what does he say? So
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that we can walk in a manner
worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit and
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every good work and increasing in the
knowledge of God. This Jesus, then
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that, and that's why John,
I'm sorry, that's why Paul tells us
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about Jesus. That's why John tells
us about Jesus and invites us to come
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to know him here in this Gospel, John The author of this and John
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The baptist, proclaiming this Lord,
proclaiming this one who is a light to
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the world, another word that signifies
life and Whiz, tem and salvation.
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This light to the world should result
in a kind of growing and a change.
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That happens in US right you know, this is how light works.
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When when you are in a dark
room and you turn on the light,
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a change happens, a dramatic change
happens. You can see things that you
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couldn't formally see. You Act in
a new way. Perhaps you move faster
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instead of slower, you are quicker, you make better decisions. The light
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changes things. By the light we
see, by the light we walk.
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It is the key to our living, not just living in this action and
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that action, but life itself,
to enter into life and even eternal life.
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And throughout the New Testament this is
a very high theme, that the
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great that in order to receive wisdom, in order to grow in the ways
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of the Lord, you must come
to know Jesus more and more, that
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Jesus is the key to understanding these
things. We begin on milk and simple
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things, but we move to meet
through the understanding of God's will as it
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is given to us in Jesus Christ, and because wisdom comes to us in
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Jesus Christ, and because Jesus Christ
is the very son of God, God
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himself, God of God, light
of light, very god of Very God,
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we can safely say that the wisdom
of God that is manifest to us
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in Christ is ultimately never ending.
It's a treasure of wisdom that continues on
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and on and on and on.
It's a light that never grows dim that
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just goes brighter and brighter and brighter
the closer you get to him. And
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so in this way we can never
say that, as I said, that
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knowledge or wisdom is a mere in
a merely intellectual thing. It's a relational
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thing, it's an effective thing.
Jesus says he comes into the world as
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the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
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It's power. It's not a mere
set of facts or bullet points on a
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page. It's more than that.
To understand what it is to fear the
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Lord, to understand what it is
to walk in his ways, to understand
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what it is to bear forth fruit
of godliness, you need to understand who
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the Lord is and the Lord who
cannot be seen has made himself manifest.
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We read in John One, in
Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible
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God, and in him then we
begin to not just understand something about him,
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but to know him. To Know
God in the deepest sense and truest
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sense is not just to know a
handful of things about him, it's to
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know him like two lovers looking in
each other's eyes knowingly. Right, they
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are remembering when they do that.
Oh yes, she has blue eyes,
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Oh yes, he has dark hair. They're not simply listing off a set
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of things in their minds. Right. They are knowing each other, relating
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to one each other. Rate it
relating to one another. Of course that's
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not separated from knowledge, but it's
much more than just bare knowledge. Paul
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talks about this to titus when he
tells titus to preach the whole counsel of
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God concerning Christ. If the people
are to grow and devote themselves to good
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works, you want your congregation,
Titus, Pastor Titus, you want your
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congregation to be zealous for good deeds, to be loving the Lord Jesus Christ
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or Lut and loving one another,
then you need to tell them about Jesus,
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about this thing and about that thing, and he has a big list
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there. You should go read it
in titus three. Preach these things,
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teach these things, don't give up
on these things. Through them people will
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learn to love as they have been
loved. And John Speaks about this when
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he talks about our knowledge of God's
love. In First John, he'd when
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he talks about our our knowledge of
God's love and our faith in God's love,
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are receiving that as intimately connected to
our obedience to God's love. Now,
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when I'm talking about love here,
I'm not getting far afield from wisdom,
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am I? Is the wise person, a hateful person? Is the
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wise person an angry person, a
deceitful person, one who acts against love?
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Or is the wise person one who
is filled top to bottom with love
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in their hearts, who knows how
to perfectly give that love to other people?
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You know people like this right the
person who knows exactly the right word
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to say the right time and just
warms your heart with Christian love, the
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person who, at the exact right
time and and in the exact right way,
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knows how to come for you,
or maybe even admonish you and warn
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you of a warning for which you're
thankful, because it's not either too hard
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or too soft, but it's truth
spoken in love. To be wise is
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to fulfill the Lord's commands in a
careful way, in a way that is
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proper and and and in a in
an accord with the right season and the
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right timing. Means and ends connected
together. Wisdom, law, love,
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they all to go together and they
all come to us through Jesus. Another
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aspect of this that we've also been
considering as we consider wisdom and Christ,
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who is our wisdom, is the
way that wisdom always acts in accord with
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reality. Right. Why is acting, why is living? Is always done
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in accordance with what is real and
what is true. Right if I'll give
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you an example of this in a
moment, but let me just say this.
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When you come to a passage like
John, it's hard to say,
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if I could put it in this
way, there's anything more real than this.
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There is John Out in the wilderness, you know, with this hairy
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clothes eating locusts, people coming out
the fair at what everybody's going what's going
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on here? And John says,
I'll tell you what's going on. I'm
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here to prepare the way of the
Lord, the Kingdom of God. And
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in fact there's one coming after me
whose sandals I'm not even unworthy, I'm
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not even worthy to untie. And
then one day Jesus comes and John Points
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at him and he says, behold
the lamb of God, who comes to
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take away the sins of the world. That is intense. And if that's
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not intense enough, this great respected
Prophet that people are streaming out of the
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cities to come in here then is
pointing to this man and saying this one
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I'm not even able to I'm not
even worthy to touch, because he is
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the son of God. Then is
he is baptizing them there and the Jordans,
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the heavens open up John, or
the God himself, but God,
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the father, declares this is my
son, and the Holy Spirit descends on
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him like a dove. Can you
imagine? There are moments in history that
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change everything. Right, we focus
sometimes on on on wars or leaders,
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on World War One, World War
Two or the civil war eleven or maybe
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we think about particular things within our
communities. Are Our families. That was
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the day that our third child was
born, or that was the day that
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we got married, or that was
the day that grandma died, or any
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number of things. These sort of
moments, these significant things that happen that
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change us. Right, there's nothing
bigger than this one, this event of
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God coming into the world and taking
on the form of a man, taking
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on human flesh, that he might
die on a cross to take away our
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sins. What could possibly be bigger
than that? It affects it affects everything,
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every moment and time before it and
after it. Nothing is more ultimate
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than God and here he is,
acting at this crucial moment in history,
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revealing himself and his wisdom that had
long been hidden. That's why, if
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you want wisdom, if you want
to walk wisely in this world, you
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can't ignore this. How could you
walk according to reality and ignore the most
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important thing that has ever happened that
ever will happen? Imagine you walked into
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a room where the light was on, but you acted as though the light
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were off. Okay, just imagine
that in your minds. First moment.
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Kids, can you picture that?
Can you imagine how silly a person would
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look who is in a room acting
as if the lights were off when the
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lights were on right, carefully feeling
around the walls, trying to find a
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lights which, but with their eyes
open, sort of, I don't know,
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bumping into things, knocking over a
light. They look ridiculous. He's
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what are you doing? The light
is on. You're not acting in accordance
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with wisdom. Why are you closing
your eyes? It's the same thing.
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The light of God has come into
the world, it's shines in the darkness,
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and yet the world closes its eyes
and its blindness and stumbles around,
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even hides from the light, which
is nothing except light and goodness and joy.
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The Sun, and it comes up
in the morning. It affects your
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whole day, doesn't it? We
even frame our time this way, right.
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It's how time it's press just how
it is. It's reality. From
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Sun Up to sundown, from morning
tonight right. Every moment of your day
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is affected by this the from the
clothing you wear to the decisions you make
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to the places you work. All
kinds of things are affected by by the
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Sun. But the sun and the
sky, as bright as it is,
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is affecting, as powerfully effective as
it is, is in our lives,
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is not the highest and most ultimate
thing. It is the sun of God.
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And if you are be a fool
to ignore the sun, how much
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more of a fool would you be
to ignore the one who made the sun,
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the true wisdom, the one who
indeed will cause the sun itself to
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melt like wax in the sky when
he returns to establish a new heavens and
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the new earth? You have to
take Jesus into it account. Jesus talks
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about this and some of his parables. Like the foolish virgins who didn't prepare
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for the bridegroom, for the bridegroom
to come, there was a reality that
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they all should have been aware of
and yet failed to be or like the
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foolish man who builds his house on
the sand, failing to account for the
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reality that sand does not hold a
house. It's a foolish thing, it's
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a stupid thing to act against reality. Well, what John is saying here
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at the beginning of this Gospel,
what Um what Paul says in a Colossians
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one, what we read in Psalmono
four? This is all about reality.
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Look at the world, look at
history, look at what God has done.
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He has caused these works to be
remembered for a reason. That he
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might make himself known to you,
that you might hear and walk accordingly.
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So in these verses, John One
and other places, do you hear them
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the call to heavenly wisdom? Do
you seek to make good choices, smart
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choices, things that will bring you
advantage, by ignoring reality or by living
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in its light? Do you know
Jesus? Have you heard about how he
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has come into the world, how
he has conquered the world through his death,
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not by a sword in his hand, but by nails put through them.
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On the cross he died and in
doing so, Jesus Christ put death
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to death and he has our of
darkness. He was bringing us into the
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light of salvation, into eternal rest, as John says in one hundred and
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twenty nine, he was the lamb
of God, like all the old sacrifices,
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except he was the final sacrifice which
all the old sacrifices pointed towards,
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the lamb of God to take the
sins away, the sins of the world.
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Wisdom sees these things clearly. So
Open Your eyes and if you find
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them shot, if you find it
difficult to see, if you find it
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hard to believe, what ought you
to do? Clamor back into the darkness.
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No, pray to the God of
this world. Pray to the God
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who has made the world to come. Pray to him who has revealed this
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light and is shining it in the
dark places. Ask him to shine it
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in the dark places of your life
and of your heart, of your sins
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and of your doubts, and to
draw him close to you. Ask him
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to open your eyes that you might
see. And you know what, he
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answers those prayers. If you have
any doubt about that, go and read
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more of the Gospels. Read about
person after person after person coming to Jesus
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and saying, Jesus of Nazareth,
save me, and over and over and
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over again he does, including opening
the eyes of the blind. Let's pray
