Episode Transcript
WEBVTT
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And please remain standing if you're able, and let's turn to John, Chapter
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six, verses one through fifteen.
John Six, one through fifteen. Let's
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hear God's word this morning. After
this, Jesus went away to the other
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side of the Sea of Galilee,
which is the Sea of Tiberius. In
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a large crowd was following him because
they saw the signs that he was doing
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on the sick. Jesus went up
on the mountain and there he sat down
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with his disciples. Now the Passover, the Feast of the Jews, was
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at hand. Lifting up his eyes
then, and seeing that a large crowd
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was coming toward him, Jesus said
to Philip, where are we to buy
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bread so that these people may eat? He said this to test him,
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for he himself knew what he would
do. Philip answered him two hundred Dinari
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worth of bread would not be enough
for each of them to get a little.
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One of his disciples, Andrew,
Simon, Peter's brother, said to
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him, there is a boy here
who has five barley loaves and two fish,
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but what are they for? So
many Jesus said, have the people
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sit down now. There was much
grass in the place, so the men
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sat down about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves and when
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he had given thanks, he distributed
them to those who were seated. So
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also the fish, as much as
they wanted. And when they had eaten
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their fill, he told the disciples
gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may
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be lost. So they gathered them
up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from
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the five barley loaves left by those
who had eaten. When the people saw
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the sign that he had done,
they said this indeed, this is indeed
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the Prophet who is come into the
world. Perceiving then that they were about
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to come and take him by forest
to make him king, Jesus withdrew again
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to the mountain by himself. This
is to us the bread of life,
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the Word of God in Christ may
bless it to us, he may be
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seated. What we're seeing now is
that Jesus is a controversial figure. We've
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spent some time in John Five thinking
about some miracles that he did there and
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how that inspired certain people among the
Jews to want to murder him. Now,
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at the end of John Six,
after doing some miracles, we find
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that certain people among the Jews want
to make him a king. It doesn't
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get much more stark than this.
Some people wanting you dead, others people
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wanting you to rule over them forever. Jesus is not someone that you can
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hay lightly. He's not someone that
you can sort of pass by. When
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you see who he is, when
you see his works, when you hear
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what he says and say that's interesting. It'd be like a tornado coming down
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on your house and use acting like
it was just some wind that moved by.
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It just doesn't work like that with
Jesus. Jesus is doing things here
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that are truly remarkable. We see
that in the reaction of these people,
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in fact every single person that he's
come in contact with. It's made a
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big difference. Sometimes the person reacts
in a very negative way. That's a
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bad way to put it, but, like I said, they wanted to
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murder him. And sometimes it's in
a very positive way, in the way
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that, for example, the woman
at the well believed him and went out
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and told others about him. And
so one of the reminders that we have
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here, as we think through how
John Teaches us about Jesus, is that
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we must be a paying attention.
If you're not paying attention that you are
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not seeing and you are not understanding, at even the most basic level,
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what the original what Jesus is original
audiences we're seeing and feeling. If You
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are hearing the Gospel, John's Gospel
about Jesus and and you are not having
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any reaction one way or another two
to who he is, then you're probably
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not understanding who he is. Given
the way that other people are reacting toward
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him, people of all different kinds
and all different reactions. It's always a
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quite strong it doesn't mean that we
always have to have strong reactions to Jesus,
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but you see my point. He's
important, he's remarkable and if you
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don't sense that, then you're missing
the message. You're not understanding what John
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is saying. But having heard that
and having been reminded of of what we
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are encountering here, as we encounter
the son of God in the word,
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we come now to John, chapter
six. After these people who are angry
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about Jesus, his work on the
Sabbath and these explanations, he withdraws.
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He withdraws to a mountain and we
have this famous, this very famous scene
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in which Jesus feeds five thousand people, likely more than five thousand, because
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only the men are counted here,
so we've added to that number women and
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children as well. Five thousand plus
people with five loaves, barley loaves and
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a few fish. Amazing. And
not only does he feed them with us,
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but there are so many leftovers.
There's twelve baskets, baskets full,
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that we read of. Who,
who's ever seen anything like this? We
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joke about this sometimes, right,
you know, if we have a big
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meal and it seems like there's some
left and we say, Oh, it's
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a miracle, but of course we
were we we only are joking, we're
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only sort of talking about in a
simple way, about the abundance that we
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have. Can you imagine what that
would be like to actually show up to
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Thanksgiving dinner with, you know,
one bread roll on the table and then
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to leave with the whole kitchen just
full of food? Where did it come
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from? Him? I don't know. How do you explain these things?
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Jesus somehow. Clearly, they were
amazed at it's so amazed. They said
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this indeed is the prophet who is
coming to the world, and they were
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almost their force was so strong that
Jesus withdrew. He got away. I
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had the opportunity to go recently to
a softball game at the UFA. I
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haven't been in a crowd in a
while and I was reminded at the power
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of a crowd. I was also
a dance recital to last night. Again
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the crowd. They there's a power
in it and when you look out at
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a crowd and you can sort of
send something is go about to happen,
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this is what happened with Jesus.
He heard the noise, he saw their
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faces, he said, I can
see what's going to happen here and he
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withdrew. This was how strong there
was reaction. Was it seeing this abundance
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of food after this miracle? Another
thing to notice is we kind of think
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about what's going on here in this
scene. Is I think that most of
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us are used to thinking about what's
going on here, with everyone seated very
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neatly in listening to Jesus, and
that does eventually happen. But notice the
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movement. At the beginning of the
story. We read in verse two that
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a large crowd was following Jesus.
Right Jesus. They weren't all sort of
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nicely seated and then Jesus walk up
and gave his lecture. Now they were
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following him a lot. Have you
ever been followed by a large crowd?
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By me, I hope it never
happens. Jesus was followed by a very
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large crowd. They were following him
around. He goes up onto the mountain
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with his disciples, possibly to want
to be left alone. Then he looks
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down over the mountain. Any here
they come. He sees them coming,
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coming toward him. He lifts up
his eyes, we read in verse five,
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and seeing that a large crowd was
coming toward him, he says this
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to Philip. Where are we to
buy bread so that these people may eat?
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So John tells us that a lot
of people were in town because of
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the Passover and they were coming to
see the Lord. They had seen these
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miracles that he was doing. They
were seeing these things that were happening and
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that's why they were there. Another
neat, another detail to notice about the
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passage as we consider the these various
things that are going on here, is
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that the note about the Passover is
not just an incidental detail to tell us
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why there were so many people.
It is that, but it's also there
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for another reason that I'm telling you
so that you kind of put in the
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back of your mind or your back
pocket for later, and the reason is
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this what Jesus does here in this
miracle and the things that he's going to
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say later on the Nis chapter are
going to inform us and help form our
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understanding of the Lord's supper. That
will come later on. One of the
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ways in which we understand what the
Lord's supper is about, what Jesus did
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there is because of this event here, and we do that for several different
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reasons. One of them is that
both of them happen on the Passover.
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John Marks this point in all the
gospel writers do that there's a connection between
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these two events. You also see
it in the words when he had given
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thanks, he distributed it to them, and the other Gospel Writers we also
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find these words. He blessed it, he broke the bread, he gave
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it to them. These, of
course, perhaps I should says our words
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that sound familiar to you on the
are the words that Jesus also uses in
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the Lord's supper, the same verbs
in the same order. In a way,
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Jesus, this isn't the what we
think of is the Lord's supper itself.
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That will be instituted later, but
he is providing a meal here.
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He is handing and distributing out bread
in particular, also fish. But he's
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doing it in a way that will
help us to understand this later meal that
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is to come. We won't have
time to get to it today, but
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when we get to the latter half
of John Six, this will become even
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more clear when Jesus talks to him, talks to them about himself as the
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bread of life. This is my
body, which is given for you do
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this in remembrance of me. He
talks about this bread as a way of
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pointing to him as our sustenance,
as our as our life. Well,
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before we get to all of that, and that's again a prelude for you
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to begin thinking about it, I
want to finish our reflections on this passage
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this morning by considering again the miraculous
way in which all of this comes to
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us and points us to Jesus as
the bread of life and the Kingdom of
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God that is coming in him.
As I've mentioned already, this miracle is
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a miracle. It's extraordinary and it's
not just an amazing trick or something like
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that Jesus is doing something here that
only God can do. Only God can
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create something out of nothing, only
God can take five loaves of bread and
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feed a crowd of thousands. And
we've seen the work of Jesus and these
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miracles several times before, with the
official son that was healed, with the
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water that was turned into wine,
with the way in which he spoke into
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this woman's life at the well and
John for this is important not only because
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it proves his divine nature, that
the works that he is doing are the
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works that have been given to him
by the father to do, as we
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read in John Five, but that
the salvation he brings is different. It's
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characterized by something that is that is
different from much of what we experience.
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The Salvation Jesus is bringing is not
of this world, and that's one of
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the main points here, of of
this passage. It's one of the main
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things that we are intended to learn
from here and Jesus's other signs. We're
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not merely to marvel at the fact
that Jesus pitied these people or that provided
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for them, but the way that
he provided for them is important. Why?
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Let me mention a few reasons.
One reason is that the miraculous nature
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of Jesus signs point to us his
nature, the nature of his salvation and
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the kingdom that is coming, and
in that it is a comfort to people
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who are oppressed and trapped by the
world. In other words, the way
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that Jesus Salvation comes, which is
not from this world. Right, you
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don't just turn five loaves and defeating
five thousand people, a few fish and
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defeating all of these people. The
fact that Jesus is war, salvation and
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kingdom is coming, not of this
world, is a great comfort to people
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who are oppressed in the world,
who feel trapped by the world. A
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great example of this might be Joseph. Remember Joseph's story in the Old Testament.
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He was trapped by the world in
all kinds of ways. First in
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a difficult family situation where there was
all kinds of conflict between him and his
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brothers, brothers who eventually sold him
into another kind of entrapment, slavery.
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He was a trapped in this way. Then after that he was trapped in
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an impossible work situation where, despite
his his faithfulness and is doing his good
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work, his boss's wife was trying
to trap him and put him in a
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difficult, challenging situation where she wanted
him to commit adultery with her, of
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course, against God's law, against
her own marriage, against his work relationship
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with his owner employer. Joseph was
trapped in a difficult family situation. Joseph
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was trapped in slavery. Joseph was
trapped in a difficult work situation and and
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we're relationships there. Then after that
he was trapped at a prison, unjust
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imprisonment. On top of that poverty. Probably we can add that all kinds
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of other things. Joseph, though, was reminded that his salvation would come
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from God, which was not of
this world, that, though all of
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these things were holding him, oppressing
him, trapping him, there was someone
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who stood outside of all of that
who could save him did save him through
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miracles, amazing things, dreams and
visions and amazing acts of Providence. You
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can think of other people who have
been trapped. Hannah, constantly belittled and
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troubled by Pannina, unable to have
a baby but wanting one so badly,
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or Moses trying to lead his people
that God had told him to lead lead
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them out from Egypt, out from
his adopted Father Pharaoh, but seemingly but
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facing and seemingly unbreakable wall of Pharaoh's
heart. Can you imagine what it would
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be like to persevere after the first
plague didn't work, or the second,
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or the third, or the fourth, or the fifth or the sixth or
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this set? How many times is
this going to take? This is impossible.
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We are not getting out of Egypt. But they did, didn't they?
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The fact that the Lord works outside
of the powers of this world is
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a great comfort to those who are
trapped by the world. If you are
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trapped and find yourselves in need of
comfort, whether it's in relationships or your
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physical state or your place in society
or whatever it is. And we are
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blessed with so much freedom, but
nevertheless we and many people around the world
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find themselves under the power of the
world and needing comfort and hope and perseverance
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to continue. When God reveals these
miracles to us, not just doing things
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that sort of take this piece of
creation in that piece of creation and kind
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of move them together in another way. That's what we do all the time,
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but he works outside of this world
with a power that is divine in
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the power that is you need eek. Only to him we are reminded that
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salvation is possible, no matter how
hard it is, no matter how deep
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the slavery is, no matter how
great that wall is, God can break
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it down. So He provides hope
and comfort and perseverance for us. And
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of course there's no better way in
which this is shown to us than in
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Jesus himself, who died, who
was eventually murdered, took on our sins
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and nevertheless rose again from the dead, forever taking us out of the bondage
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and slavery that we have to sin, so that we might belong no longer
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in a dominion of darkness, as
Paul says in Colossians, but that we
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might belong to a kingdom of light. My chains fell off, my heart
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was set free, I rose,
went forth and followed thee as we saying
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earlier, the miracles of Jesus,
in the way that he is coming,
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as he feeds the five thousand,
and is he does these other things as
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that another way to remind us,
remind US another, another thing about the
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world, one it brings us hope
and perseverance. It also reminds us not
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to be enchanted by it. On
the one hand, we can be remembered,
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we can remind ourselves and be reminded
by God's word that no matter how
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dark it is, there is light
in God. But it also reminds us
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not to be fooled by by the
false light of this world. All that
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glitters is in gold. Right to
see these, these miracles of Jesus,
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to sit there on the grass and
eat the bread and eat and and to
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a take of the fish, and
to see this man who is obviously a
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prophet, the Prophet prophesied by Moses, tells us that something else is going
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on. We get so zeroed in
and so focused on the things of this
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world, the things of this life. It is so helpful to be reminded
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from God's own mouth, God's own
word, that this world is not all
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there is. Sometimes those those those
reminders come in very hard ways. You
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Remember Nebuchadnezzar on his roof, looking
out on his great kingdom, so proud
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of all that he had done.
Instantly God turns him into a kind of
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beast. Or going back to Moses, from Pharaoh's perspective, Moses and the
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people felt trapped. Will we ever
bet let go? Pharaoh felt selfassured,
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strong, powerful. I withstood this
God of Moses. One, two,
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three, four, five, I
can keep going. Bring it, Moses.
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Sorry, Pharaoh felt very strong.
Indeed he was. As far as
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it went. There are ways in
which we can look out on our kingdoms,
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on our lives, on the things
that we do, on the things
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that we create, and we can
be overly confident in them. The miracles
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of Jesus, the fact that Jesus
is bringing about not just some bread for
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us to eat, but a kingdom
that is going to come into this world
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with power and will never end,
is a reminder not only that we can
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be set free from this world,
but not to be entrapped by it either,
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to not give ourselves over it as
Judas did thirty pieces of silver.
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How Sad. Of course. I
know how hard it is, I know
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how strong the temptations are, how
much it seems like the things of this
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world really are worth running after.
But let the miracles of Jesus, this
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one included, remind you how suddenly
all can be lost and how quickly all
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can be gained. God is the
one who is in control, and he
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has brought what he has a brought
his son, he has sent his son
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into the world to establish something that
is eternal, unchanging, everlasting. Don't
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put your hope in the things of
this world, even in your next meal.
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Let God provide it all. And
so when we pray the Lord's prayer
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and we ask for our daily bread, really pray that depend not on your
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own strength, on your own wisdom, on our economy, is on our
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systems, on our the ways in
which we may can transport and all the
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rest. Our food depend ultimately on
God. He's the one who gives us
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every meal. He's the one who
gives us the bread of life that we
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might enjoy and eat of the Lord
and live forever. We also find joy
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in these things, because this is
the nature of our salvation. We find
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joy comfort in these things. We
also might notice that Jesus, you,
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is pleased to use ordinary things to
accomplish these extraordinary ends. He uses this
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question to Philip. Where are we
to buy bread so that these people may
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eat? Of course Jesus wasn't confused, he was being a leader. He
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was asking a question to test one
of his disciples, to open up a
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vein of discussion, to prove something
to be true. Jesus uses this question.
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Jesus uses the fish from this unnamed
boy, uses they loaves, uses
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the disciples, distributing and taking these
things up. This extraordinary thing that Jesus
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does in the world, this amazing
Kingdom of Grace and power and glory,
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and he uses us, unimportant people, unimportant things, water, fish,
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bread, ordinary things, and this
is how God continues to work. He
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uses ordinary people to witness to his
kingdom and to do its work. Ordinary
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people, ordinary things, but extraordinary, eternal, everlasting miracles. How exciting
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it would have been to be that
boy, I think, when we witness
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to sinners, when God brings them
out of darkness to life, when he
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opens their heart and sets them their
feet free on new paths, when they
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lose their taste for the stale and
rotten bread of this world and gain a
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desire for the bread of Heaven,
because of the things that we say,
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because of the with things that we
do, we are that boy, we
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are his disciples, we are being
used by him to do these amazing things.
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I think this point is so remarkable
because it means that not only do
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we experience these blessings, but we
in a way become the blessings themselves.
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This is how rich an abundant God's
mercy is. One of the other things
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that's proved by this miracle. When
God does the when God gives us our
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daily bread, he's so often doesn't
merely give us our daily bread. He
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provides for US abundantly. Think about
that when you eat your lunch today.
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Think about that as you hear his
word now, the abundance with which he
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provides for you. Praise God.
So let me speak to you, then,
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who may not know Jesus. I
mean both those who are very familiar
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with him but do not yet love
him or walk with him or serve him,
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and I also mean those who are
hearing about Jesus, perhaps in a
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new way or for the first time. As our Savior spoke in this story,
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he tells the people to sit down, to eat and be filled.
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They could have doubted. They could
have said, we don't see food,
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we don't see store houses of food, we don't see waiters, we don't
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see tables. They could have doubted, they could have left, maybe some
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dead, who knows? But we
do know, however, is that everyone
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who sat down on the grass that
day at the command and the promise of
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Jesus were nourished by him. Yet
for a few more hours, through his
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miraculous power, and those who believed
not only of the bread that he put
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in their mouths, but believed in
him, is the bread of life.
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They are nourished eternally. There are
given the promise of eternal life. If
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you think this miracle is amazing,
consider this as only a sign to the
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greater one that he would perform when
he gave himself, when he broke himself
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and was broken, that we might
have life in him, eternal life,
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both for the nourishment of our bodies, which we will receive glorified on the
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last day when he returns, and
to our souls. With all that being
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said, my question to you,
then is, will you not sit down,
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he says, eat, drink.
Come to me, you who are
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weary and heavy, laid and entrapped
and in slavery and brokenhearted and wounded and
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dying, and I will set you
free, I will heal your wounds,
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I will bind your broken hearts,
you will not leave hungry and hopeless and
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disappointed. All who stay and sit
before him and expectant faith will not be
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disappointed. It's Jesus, this one, who is healing the sick, this
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one who is providing this bread,
who ultimately will give him, give us
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himself, this overflowing life, this
overflowing love, this overflowing hope and comfort.
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Indeed, he is the Prophet who
has come into the world. This
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is not the reason to kill him
or walk away from him. It is
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the reason to listen and gather to
him every hour, every minute of every
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day. Jesus, of course,
ends all of this by escaping, not
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because he didn't want to provide them
more, not because he didn't want to
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be their king, but because he
didn't want to do it on their terms,
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on their worldly terms, on the
terms in which they had in their
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mind about the power and the force
of this world. Jesus was would become
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their king and the king of all
who believe and put their heart their faith
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in him, Kingdom of all the
world, but he would do it not
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through the world, the world's glory
and the world's power, but the glory
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and the power that comes from heaven, through the Cross. And this is
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good to us, because if Jesus
was our king, apart from the cross,
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he'd have to kick us all out
of his kingdom. They'd say you're
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not worthy to be here, you're
not worthy to belong. But Jesus comes
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in humility, Jesus comes in grace. Jesus comes from through the Cross so
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that we might be transferred out of
a dominion of darkness and into the Kingdom
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of God, his beloved son,
not because of our greatness, but because
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of his. So with that,
let us be grateful people. Let us
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sit down and eat and feed on
the Lord, Jesus Christ, of course
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when we take the Lord's Supper,
as we will this evening, but every
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time you hear the words of him, the Prophet of God, hear his
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words, believe them, take them
in. They are your life. Let's
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pray
