0:07 I have a question for the children. Do you have to be awake for the Lord to speak to you? Okay, that means you got the message from your memory verse. Primary class, my mind instructs me in the night. The Lord wants to speak to you even when 0:24 you're asleep. And if you can get in the habit from a young age throughout the day, Lord speak to me. Samuel experienced that when he was 8 years old. Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening. So, I think God can speak to you even 0:44 younger than that. Um you could be 1 year old and if if you're able to understand that and understand what I'm saying, Lord, speak to me. I'm listening. And if you get in the habit of doing that and if you do that at night before 1:02 you fall asleep, you know, a lot of people even in religious Christendom are in the habit of saying prayers before they go to sleep. Unfortunately, most of the prayers are, Lord, don't kill me while I'm asleep. If my If I should die before I wake, 1:15 that sort of thing. Lord's not out to kill you, children. You know that. He wants He's not willing that any should die. That any should perish. But that all should come to the knowledge of salvation. So, I say that because I used to be like 1:29 that. God was somehow going to get me when I was asleep and throw me into hell for all the bad things I'd done. It's a lie of the devil. That's why Jesus came is to make a way of salvation and he's waiting for you to repent for you to turn to turn to him. 1:44 Um and give yourself fully to him. So, do it soon. Um if you're holding off for any reason, thinking, well, I can wait one more day. That's The devil will keep making you wait one more day, one more day, one more day. Unfortunately, there will be a 2:00 time when there will not be one more day. So, if there's something you need to set right, and I'm speaking to the children so that all of us, older children, can also understand and take it to heart. Don't delay to repent, to humble 2:13 yourself. Don't wait for it. But, if you can then fall asleep, and I I try to almost every day, I believe, as far as I know, I fall asleep saying, "Lord, I want you to speak to me even now while I'm asleep, and write your law on 2:29 my heart." Write your law on my heart. God can do that when you're asleep. And if you go and you ask him, you know, our verse for this week is ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. So, tonight 2:44 when you go to bed, all of us, let's say, "Lord, I'm asking you to write a little bit more of your law on my heart while I'm asleep." And if you believe, he will do it. And you'll wake up in the morning refreshed. Even if you didn't sleep 2:59 well, there are some nights when I don't sleep well. To be honest, physically, my mind's gone. I wake up and I can't fall back asleep. But, I wake up refreshed because the Lord has spoken to me. The Lord has written his 3:13 law a little bit more in my heart. He's revealed a little bit more of himself to me even in my sleep. So, that's a wonderful verse in Psalm 16. The Lord instructs me even in in in the night. Um one of the dangers, I believe we face 3:31 uh in our church, I think it's probably true for all Christians, but I want to say especially in our church, is that we could come to Jesus for different things. Come to Jesus for something and then go on our way having received something from him. 3:50 I see that tendency in my life a lot, that I have a need in my life. It could be a spiritual need. It could be a an emotional need. It could be a physical need. And having received an answer and received the fulfillment of that need, I 4:06 continue on in my own way. But the verse that that we memorized this past week was that the steps of the Lord are directed by the the steps of a man are directed by the Lord and he delights in his way. Do you want the Lord to delight in the 4:24 way that you're going? Let him instruct you and direct your paths. And so as I look at my own life and I look at many Christians, it could be different things that we've received from the Lord and then gone away with. 4:42 We start by getting forgiveness. Hasn't it been true for many of us that we came to him to be born again, to receive forgiveness, and then continued on with our own life. He's forgiven my sins. Thank you, Lord. Now I'm going to go and live my life. 5:01 Maybe we get a wake-up call and see that God intended for you to have more than just forgiveness and then walk away from him. He didn't want to just give you forgiveness and have you walk away. Maybe you took baptism in water. 5:15 You received baptism in water and you got that and now you're going your way. Maybe you had an experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit. You were baptized in the Holy Spirit once upon a time. Jesus is the baptizer in the Holy 5:28 Spirit. Nobody else can do that. Yes, the apostles laid hands on people and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, but it wasn't the laying on of hands that caused them to be filled with the Holy Spirit. That was a symbol. 5:41 Today you can be filled with the Holy Spirit whether somebody lays hands on you or not. It's up to the Lord of the circumstance, maybe, but Jesus is the baptizer in the Holy Spirit. But maybe you came to him for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and 5:53 received an experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit, but then you went on. And that was my testimony. I've shared that a few times in this church, I think, where I was seeking for the baptism in the Holy Spirit and came to Jesus and 6:06 cried out to him, cried out and cried out and cried out, and one day I had an experience and I left. And pretty soon my condition was worse than before I had that experience. And I share that boldly, somewhat shame- uh shamely, 6:23 but boldly, because I hope you learn from my experience with Jesus and what I learned through that was that Jesus wanted something more. Um it's possible for us to come to a doctrinal understanding of the truth. We seek to preach the real truth in this 6:42 church. As far as we know, we are preaching it from what we've seen in scripture, and I encourage you, if you're if you're here and you see something that's in God's word that we're not preaching, come and tell us. You're not preaching this from the New 6:54 Covenant. Or if there's something that we're preaching that you don't see in God's word, in our practice or our teaching, come and tell us, "What you're preaching and practicing is not in God's word." I say that boldly because as far as we 7:06 know, everything that we teach and do are what we see in the example of Jesus and the disciples and as written in the New Testament. But it's possible for us, and I believe that's perhaps our greatest danger, is that we could come to an 7:21 understanding of the truth and value that doctrine and the teaching, but that's enough. We've come to Jesus now for doctrine. We've come to Jesus for teaching, and then we've gone our way. We could even come to Jesus for an 7:39 experience of being knit together in a local church, something that we also emphasize here. We believe is true. But having been integrated into a local church and planted in his body, that could become our identity. Now, I'm a member of a local church. I'm 7:55 a member of our LCF. I'm a committed member and somehow that could be a an assurance or a sense of I'm good. Jesus wants so much more than that. I'd like to turn to Acts chapter 17 as we begin. I was reading this passage recently. 8:15 I was taken to this passage because a phrase that came to my mind. And that phrase is found in this passage here, but I'd like to just look at the passage as a whole. Paul came to this uh to to the city of Athens. And you see 8:34 something about the people in Athens that for me sort of laid bare my soul a little bit. And laid bare some tendencies in my own heart. And that's where uh the burden that I'm sharing this morning is coming from. I believe is a danger for us. We could 8:50 very well be to put it simply, we could very well be like this city of Athens, like the people here. And I want you to see what I mean by that. In Acts 17, we read in verse 16, Paul While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, 9:07 his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. Now, you might say, well, do we really have idols? And I think idols I really see idols can come in all forms and shapes. 9:25 I'm sure none of us has an actual physical idol in our house anywhere. Uh and I hope nothing in your house is an idol. Whether it's uh some toy you have or some car or your house or clothes or whatever. I hope there's nothing physical that's an idol. 9:42 We all hope we're past that. But it's possible for these things that I talked about, our experience of being having being forgiven or experiencing water baptism or even experiencing being filled with the Holy Spirit or being a part of a local 9:56 church, New Covenant Church, or knowing the real truth, it's possible for those things to become idols. And in that in that sense, the Lord showed my own heart to me. Where I imagine Paul coming here, whose passion was Jesus himself, 10:16 the person of Jesus himself. And the phrase that I was taken to that's later on is in verse 28, in him we live. Acts 17:28, in him we live, and move, and exist. That's the question that the Lord's been 10:34 asking me over the last few weeks. Is it really true that it's in Jesus alone that you live and move and exist? I mean that any point of Jesus was to be removed from you, the person of Jesus himself, more than the other idols like 10:52 doctrine, and RLCF and all these other things that could easily become idols. Making idols out of godliness. I see that tendency in my in my own in my own flesh, to make an idol out of something other than Jesus himself, and 11:07 it's a Christian idol. So, I'm convicted. Paul, whose passion was Jesus Christ, that I might know him and the power of his resurrection, he says in Philippians 3. And become a partaker with him in his suffering and in his resurrection life. 11:23 Through Paul, who was taken up with Jesus and Jesus himself, wherever he went, where he saw that something else other than Jesus was the emphasis, he was bothered. He was grieved. He was It says provoked. He was angry. Now, that was true in Athens where they 11:43 had physical idols. It was true in Corinth where he said, "I am concerned that as the serpent deceived Eve, your minds will be taken up with another idol." Something other than Jesus. To a good church, 2 Corinthians 11. So, he says, 11:59 "So, he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews." And these were God-fearing people, God-fearing Gentiles. And in the marketplace, verse 17 I'm reading, "Every day with those who happened to be present." And listen to this, some of the 12:13 Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, "Ah, he's just an idle babbler." Verse 18. Others were saying, "Um he seems to be a proclaimer of strange gods." Strange deities, because he was 12:29 preaching Jesus and the resurrection. Now, listen, they were He was preaching Jesus, the person of Jesus, and these people, because they were so such idolaters, were taken up with, "Oh, this is another idol I can make out of this." 12:45 And I fear for myself and for us, dear family, that hearing the teachings of Jesus, hearing the teachings of the new covenant, and the emphasis of the way of discipleship with Jesus, that could easily become another idol for us. 12:59 Where our identity becomes in the doctrine we believe, the church we're a part of, or what we know. And all of those things are idols. Just like it was for these people. And they took him, verse 19, and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know 13:16 what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?" And I see that even, you know, we almost every week we get almost every couple days we get somebody new that we've never heard from before writes to us and saying thank you so 13:29 much for what you're preaching and the truth and broadcasting your services and sharing your videos on YouTube and helping us and the truths that you preach we don't hear them many other places we get a lot of that and I fear 13:43 that for us and for those who listen it could easily become what is this strange new teaching something else that we found. It's new yes it's different our emphasis is different yes but that is not the answer. This all of this should lead us to the 14:00 person of Jesus himself. And the very simple question I'll share at the very beginning as you think through what I'm sharing is this with all the teaching that we receive and all our meetings and prayer and all of that is Jesus more real to you today? 14:15 Is he in person the person of Jesus himself real more real to you? Are you more taken up with him himself your bridegroom? I use this analogy often. Before I was married if you asked me about marriage I could give you the philosophical 14:33 theoretical doctrinal I would say definition of marriage that marriage was a man and a woman coming together and they're made one even a Christian definition of marriage but that was all theory until I got married. Now if you ask me about marriage it's a 14:51 person whom I'm married to Megan. I can tell you about her and what she means to me and and what marriage to her actually looks like in reality. And it's not no it's no longer theory it's not doctrine anymore. And that's how you know it says that the 15:09 our marriage on earth is a picture of Jesus and the church and the longer that you've been a Christian the longer that you have been Mrs. Christ that's what it means to be a Christian Mrs. Jesus Christ you're married to 15:22 Jesus. And I ask you, what is the Christian life about? Do you say, "Well, it's about saying a prayer and asking for forgiveness and all." And that's doctrine, brothers and sisters. And the more that you walk with Jesus, the more you understand 15:38 Christianity here in your heart. If somebody in the world was to come to you and ask you, "What is the Christian life about?" You say, "Let me tell you about Jesus, the person of Jesus. What he is to me. Who he is to me. 15:52 How he is there with me in the midst of the storm." Nothing else matters. The storm is no longer the focus. And heaven is no longer even the focus. See, for a lot of Christians, heaven is the ultimate focus. I'll get to go to heaven when I 16:05 die. Is that the distinctiveness of Christianity? Then we've missed it. We've made an idol out of Christianity. If Jesus is the distinctiveness of Christianity, then you've understood it. Then it's become a life. It's become an 16:19 experience, the person of Jesus himself. Otherwise, we're just like these people in Athens. Let's go on reading. Um verse 20, "For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. So, we want to know what these things mean. Explain this new doctrine. 16:37 Talk about the new covenant life and explain it to me." And with all our Bible reading and all our book reading and listening to messages and listening to the daily devotions and the verse by verse, have we just simply connected the dots and 16:51 say, "Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This makes perfect sense." And missed Jesus. Have you understood marriage so perfectly and how it's supposed to work, but you're not actually living with your spouse. You're not actually living with Jesus. 17:07 I know I've been guilty of that often. And it's been a reminder for me in the last few weeks to say, "I want to come back to Jesus." Say, "Lord, even if I don't understand the doctrine. Even if I can't explain it, I want to 17:19 walk with you. I want to be with you and I want to know you. Now, verse 21. Now, listen to this. All the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new. 17:37 Is that a good thing? A new sermon. Never heard that verse from before. A new truth. I didn't even know that that was there. Is that a good thing? No, it may not be. Do you have a desire to hear something new every time you come here on Sunday? 17:53 If I share an old sermon, not because I'm just regurgitating an old sermon, but if it's like, "Oh, I know that truth already." You could be just like the Athenians, making an idol out of Christianity. Out of new truths that you always want 18:06 to hear. You can't hear the same message again because I know what he's going to say next. So, verse 22. What did Paul say? Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 18:23 As you read this, I know we're talk- he's talking to ungodly religious people who don't know Jesus Christ. But it's been an eye-opener for me to see myself sitting in Athens, wanting to hear something new, and always sit and 18:36 discuss some new doctrine. Oh, what does this verse mean? Oh, has the Lord spoken to you even? And it could be just a regurgitation of something new. Some new idea, some new concept. Men of Athens, I observe that you are 18:48 very religious in all respects, because while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, "To an unknown God." Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. 19:05 The God who made the world and all things in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all people life and 19:24 breath and all things. So, no human work no human work, no effort of my own can ever create a home for God. No matter how much you try to be a Christian and make your heart clean and make yourself good enough, it's never 19:43 going to be a home that God's going to live in. No matter how much you try to live this Christian life, this is what Paul is saying. No effort of human hands. Verse uh 25. Nor is he served by human hands, as 20:02 though he needed anything. Can you somehow do such a good job of living such a good life and loving your wife and loving your husband so well and taking care of the children and reading your Bible passage and and doing this and doing 20:15 that other thing and praying and doing everything right? He is not served by human hands, as though he needed anything. He's not served by human hands, as though he needed anything. But his purpose in all of this, why did 20:32 he make verse 26 one from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitations, was this, that they would seek God. This was God's purpose in it, that you 20:47 would seek him. If perhaps they might grope for him and find him. This is what Paul was telling these religious people, in all your activities and all your idol worship and all your seeking and all your praying and all your fasting and all these other things 21:04 that you're doing, God wants you to seek for him and find him grope. Look at that word grope. If perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being and exist as even 21:23 some of your own poets have said, for we also are his children. Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 21:37 I'd never seen this verse in a I don't think I'd seen it before actually, to be honest, and I'm ashamed to say that. At least not this way. What Paul is saying here that it's possible for us to make even the divine nature 21:50 like an idol. Let's read that verse again. Acts 17 verse 29. We ought not to think that godliness, Christ-likeness, the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 22:09 And when I read that, I was pierced to the heart. I was cut to the quick like we read in Acts 2. I was like, "Lord, have I made another idol out of being conformed into the image of Jesus? Is it just another cheap thing 22:23 where I understand it as a doctrine? Oh, what is my destination? Yes, it is to be conformed into the image of Jesus. It's just an idol for me and it's not Jesus himself, the living person of Jesus. I'm convicted, brothers, that my desire 22:37 to be like Christ and to be conformed into his image could be has could easily become an idol. Where it's something that some plan for my life that I've created and say, "Yes, Lord, you're going to do it." But it's not about 22:49 Jesus himself, the person of Jesus. And with all my being conformed into the image of Jesus, what is the purpose of it? Is it so that I can have a good life in heaven? So that I could somehow be be be than all the other people who are in hell? 23:03 No. That's idolatry. But to have been conformed into his death so much where I die and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me, where my being conformed into the image of Jesus is because I want Jesus to be glorified. He's so precious, he's 23:20 so worthy to me that if I can give up more of myself and empty myself more fully that he shines forth, then I've understood Christianity. And Christianity is life. I've I've seen how easy it is for me to make an earthly idol even out of godliness. 23:40 Let's turn to John chapter 1. John 1 He begins by exalting the deity of Jesus, how Jesus was God and is 23:59 God. He's always been God, even when he was here on the earth. In the beginning was the word, that is Jesus Christ. In the beginning was Jesus. He wasn't called Jesus back then because he was given the name Jesus when he came to 24:11 this earth. He was the son. He's called the word here. In the beginning was the word, the second person of the Trinity, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God, all things came into being through him, 24:28 and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being. Apart from Jesus, you and I came into being. Without him we couldn't have come into being. This isn't just Jesus, the one who died for me and can forgive my sins. I 24:44 realize that my very existence depends on him. It started there at the very beginning long before I even came to this earth and sinned and needed a savior, and needed forgiveness, and needed baptism in water, and needed the 24:57 baptism in the Holy Spirit from beginning to end I need Jesus. I can't exist without him. So I Jesus says later on, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you abide in me, you will bear fruit. So, apart from him Santosh didn't come into 25:14 being and couldn't come into being. That's true but you as well. And then listen to this, in him was life. And the life was the light of men. In Jesus was life. Have you tried to find life in something else? Now, the world is 25:31 trying to find life in success, sports, money, relationships, pleasure. They're trying to find you have a good life. Have a good life. And it's easy for us to think we're that much better than because my life is now I'm a part of this church or I 25:46 understand the doctrine. It's very clear in Jesus is life. And if you haven't if you're not in Jesus, if you're not in him, you don't have life. Whatever else you have, whatever other right understanding of doctrine, whatever other everything else that 26:04 seems to be in a nice little order is not life. In Jesus alone is life. In him was life and the life was the light of men. This is This is what John says. You look at what he says later on, Jesus himself says in John chapter 5. 26:23 John 5 verse 26. For just as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. The Father has life in himself and he gave to the Son to have life in himself. 26:42 And so, I see that it's very easy for us to come to Jesus wanting something from him. Wanting Jesus to give me something. to give me forgiveness, to give me this and that, even the baptism of the Holy Spirit, other than wanting Jesus 27:00 himself. And I have a few things that are on my mind regarding the things that we might want from Jesus. Um further down we read in John chapter 5. Let's continue reading here. Um John 5:33. Jesus says, "You have sent to John, 27:18 and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was the lamp that was burning and was shining." He's talking about John the Baptist. "And you 27:33 were willing willing to rejoice for a while in his light." And I thought about this, that what was it like in that in that day when there were disciples of John. You know there were disciples of John as well? These were What did John preach? John 27:49 wasn't preaching some other false truth. He was saying, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." And there were disciples sitting in John's church listening to him preach about Jesus, who never went and followed Jesus. 28:06 Listen to that carefully again. Here was John preaching about Jesus. He came It says he came with as a lamp to shine to Jesus, to point out, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." And that's what he 28:18 preached. And there were disciples who sat in John's church listening to him preach about Jesus, who never actually came to know Jesus. Do you think that's possible for us? Could we be a church of John the Baptist? We're preaching about Jesus. 28:33 We're we're we're saying he is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And we could be sitting here listening to more and more preaching about Jesus, but we've never actually come to know him. The church of John the Baptist I call 28:47 it. And there are such churches today. It's very easy for us to know I mean, what what do you think the disciples of John the Baptist sat there and listen, wow, Jesus is amazing. Yeah, he is. But you know, the person of Jesus was actually there down 29:01 the road somewhere. There were a few of John's disciples who left John's church to follow Jesus. And they were the ones whom through whom God built his church. I don't know what happened to the disciples of John the Baptist. I don't 29:14 know where they are today, to be honest. But God couldn't use them to build his church to further his kingdom. My fear is that I could be sitting in John the Baptist church. Not the church that Jesus is building. A church that's 29:28 preaching about Jesus, that has baptism in in water. John's disciples were baptized. He did baptize in water. But they weren't following Jesus. They didn't leave his church. And if you're sitting in John the Baptist church, and 29:41 it's not a physical church. You know, there is no such church as John the Baptist church, at least not that I know of. But spiritually, you could be sitting there, learning, even at RLCF, learning about Jesus, hearing about Jesus, 29:54 hearing the preaching that says, "That's the lamb of God. That's Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." But you never actually follow him. Cuz you hear the right teaching. And in John the Baptist church, they had right teaching. 30:08 The teaching about Jesus, but they never actually followed him. Now, you look at what happens to this this such a church later on, Luke chapter 5. Luke 5. Look at Look at the characteristics of this church. You would think it's a 30:25 very, very godly church. Luke 5, it says about these disciples of John, the people sitting in John's church, you know, they fasted more than the people in Jesus' church. If you came to a church and saw that they had fasting and prayer every week, 30:43 it and prayer for what? About Jesus. Who are they praying to? They're praying to Jesus. This is the church of John the Baptist. Fasting and praying to Jesus, but not actually knowing Jesus. Wow, it's it's pretty serious. I'll tell 30:59 you why, because I could think I could look at my own life and see, "Lord, I pray to you. I read your word and I have a desire to to understand this more fully and I fast. I take time out and I make sure that I don't brag about it and 31:13 all these things I'm doing right. But I'm sitting in John the Baptist church hearing about Jesus, fasting for Jesus, praying to Jesus. Verse 33, they said to him, "The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers. In fact, the disciples of the Pharisees 31:30 also do the same, but yours eating and drinking." So, if you came into a church and found a one particular church is spending a lot of time fasting and praying, and another church, they seem to be having a good time. They're they're 31:43 eating and drinking. And if you don't know how to discern the spirit, if you're judging things, if you're assessing things by what happens outwardly, you see this group of people fasting and praying or singing or spending a lot of time in prayer, and 31:58 then this other group of people just seem to be living normal lives, BUT IN THEIR HEARTS THEY'RE TAKEN UP WITH JESUS. HE IS THE ONE THAT EXCITES them while they're eating and drinking. Whatever you do, whether you eat or 32:10 drink, do it as unto the Lord. And what nobody else can see is that that Peter sitting over there in his eating and drinking, he's taken up with Jesus. And it's because Jesus is there with him that he likes to eat and drink. 32:22 Meanwhile, the disciples of John the Baptist over on this side and the Pharisees over there in the OLD COVENANT, THEY'RE FASTING AND they're fasting and praying and they're having long meetings and all of this, but they're not taken up with Jesus. They 32:34 haven't left that church to follow Jesus himself. You see the end result of this a few chapters later, Luke chapter 7. The disciples of John the Baptist The disciples of John the Baptist one 32:51 day went to visit Jesus' church. Luke 7 verse 18. And then they came back and the disciples of John reported to John about all these things. And so John, you know, this is a sad story. John the Baptist was the greatest man born of woman women until Jesus. The 33:11 greatest man in the old covenant was John the Baptist. Jesus made that very clear. And yet you see what happens when you're not really taken up with Jesus himself. You're taken up with the right doctrine. You're taken up even with preaching 33:24 about Jesus and having revival meetings and having I mean John the Baptist, you read in Matthew chapter 3, throngs came to be baptized with him. Even ungodly centurions, the Pharisees came to him. Tax gatherers were coming to him. Lives 33:35 were being changed, but the end result was that no, weren't taken up with Jesus. Now it's not something that they could really experience under the old covenant. So let's not fault John. But Jesus will let's continue reading. He 33:48 says at the end of this passage that the least person in the kingdom of heaven in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist. Why? Because you and I dear brothers and sisters, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God 34:03 is to be taken up with Jesus. It's to be taken up with Jesus. John the Baptist couldn't experience that. That's why the one who is least in the kingdom of God because Jesus is a person is greater than John the Baptist. That's 34:16 like saying the person who has been married for one day and actually loves his his wife or her husband is greater than the person who's been studying marriage for 50 years. Let Let say that again. The person who's been actually married 34:33 for 1 day and actually loves his husband his wife or her husband is greater than the marriage student who's been studying it for 50 years. And it if you haven't experienced that yet or you've lost your way along the way, dear brothers and 34:50 sisters, come back. Come. He invites you to come and renew your marriage vow to him and spend 1 day with Jesus. That'll be much more beneficial to you and useful to you than those who have studied the Bible 35:09 for 30 years but have never come into that life. That's why you could start today. You don't have to wait 10 years, 20 years. You don't have to go to seminary. You don't have to say, "Lord, what all do I need to do before I can have that?" 35:20 He says, "Today you can be married to Jesus today if you've never made that vow." The person who's been married for 1 day, for whom marriage is a person, is greater. This is the least in the kingdom of God. The person who's been 35:36 married for 1 day, for whom marriage Jesus is a person, marriage to Jesus is an experience, Jesus is their bridegroom as a person is greater than the person who's been studying about marriage under the old covenant. All they could 35:50 do was study. The law was a pointer to Christ. The law was a tutor, Paul says. All it could do was tell you about what marriage what a wonderful marriage you can have. What a wonderful marriage you can have. And for 30 50 years if you 36:04 studied what a wonderful marriage you can have, it was still theory. And the day you got married, it became a reality. So, let's continue reading. See what happens to the the end result. Why am I using this as an example? Because you 36:16 see the end result of simply studying about Jesus, knowing about Jesus. So, John the Baptist himself, the teacher, sends two of his disciples, verse 19, to the to Jesus saying, "Are you the 36:34 expected one?" Listen, what what sad words. Here was the man who pointed out to Andrew and to James and John or whoever the two disciples were and said, "Hey, that's the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 36:50 That's the Messiah." But John himself could never know Jesus that way as a bridegroom. He says that in John 3. The The friend of the bridegroom it rejoices, but the bride has the bridegroom. We look at that We'll come back to Luke 37:09 7, John chapter 3. It It is sad words in a sense. John 3. Why is it that John could never come to 37:28 that experience that you and I are entitled to? Because he says here, he was under the old covenant. The Holy Spirit had not yet been given, couldn't come and dwell within him. John 3:27, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from 37:41 heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of him to point you to the Christ.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but he says, 'I'm just the friend of the bridegroom.'" 37:58 And that's that's the essence of what I'm saying today. Do you want to be the best man at the wedding or do you want to be the bride? Th- Th- Those are the options. You could be a part of the planning, the wedding planning and all that. You could 38:11 plan the bachelor party. You could be standing next to the bride bridegroom and rejoice with him over what a wonderful person he is, or you could be the bride who actually knows him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom, 38:25 but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him Is that your testimony? You're standing next to Jesus. You're hearing him. Stands and hear him, rejoices greatly because of the bride. The because of the bridegroom's voice. 38:40 So, this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease. Now, what a John was still an amazing man. He saw the new covenant as it were from a distance. He saw the bride. And he saw that his calling was to tell 38:55 Andrew and tell James and John and tell some people in this church, "Hey, you can be the bride." And you don't Don't you think there must have been a longing in John the Baptist's heart that says, "You mean I can't? The invitation's not for me to get 39:10 married? No. You know, God has a plan for those people under the old covenant. I don't know all of that. But, I know what my invitation is. What a tragedy it WOULD BE HAVING HEARD the message of John the Baptist, having read the Old Testament, 39:22 if I say, "You know what? Well, I'll just be content to attend the wedding and stand there as part of the bridal party. I'm a friend of the bridegroom." And Jesus says, "Oh, I wish that you would know me. That was my goal that you would be the 39:36 bride. That's why I sent John the Baptist." You see the end result of this in Luke. Go back to Luke 7. Now, John is standing there and you know, the same man who said those words in John 3 says, "I'm starting to have a few doubts." 39:50 And there are Christians who the time comes in their life where they start to have doubts. It's like, "Uh is this really true? Is Is it worth giving up everything for this man, Jesus? You know why those doubts come? Because 40:04 they are not taken up with Jesus himself. The more you're taken up with Jesus, the longer the trial can last. The longer the storm can last. The longer the delay could be before he answers your prayer and says, "It doesn't matter. I'm not looking to the 40:18 answer. I'm looking to Jesus. He's the bridegroom." And I want I I pray that that will never happen to any of us, that we start to doubt. Are you really Is Jesus really the one? After 10 years 40:36 of following Jesus, where some prayers have been answered the way you wanted and some have not, where you've had earthly joys and disappointments, will the time come in your life where you were like, "I'm not sure. I'm not sure 40:50 about this Jesus person." The only way that could happen is if somewhere along the way the person of Jesus has not become precious to you. Something else. His benefits, the house he gives you because you're misses Jesus, the the car 41:05 he gets you because you're misses Jesus, the clothes he gets you. And I'm talking about even spiritual clothes, spiritual houses, and spiritual blessings, where the giver is more important is not more important to you than the gift 41:18 himself. Like that wonderful hymn of A.B. Simpson that we sing, "Once it was the blessing, now it is the Lord. Once his gifts I wanted, now the giver I own. He's mine. And it doesn't matter what gifts he gives me or doesn't give me. I have the 41:34 giver himself. And he decides what gifts he wants to give. He's the giver. You know, if you have the giver, you never have any need. The king of love my shepherd is. And I want nothing because I have the king of love my shepherd. 41:50 The Lord The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. It's a wonderful song. So, he says, "Are you the expected one or do we look for someone else?" Isn't sad words that the man who spent all his time pointing people to Jesus, the time 42:03 eventually came because he himself didn't know Jesus personally and couldn't. But now we can. But because he didn't know Jesus, you see the end result and all of a sudden these doubts are creeping in and it's like, uh I haven't seen Jesus do this for me or 42:19 do that for me. I'm having some doubts. And then Jesus you know, says he cured somebody, he says to verse 22, "Hey, go and tell them what you have heard, what you've seen and heard." Verse 22. The blind receive sight, etc. etc. 42:36 Let's skip down verse 28. I say to you, "Among those born of women, there is no one greater than John." It's wonderful that John was a such a accurate pointer to Jesus. He did it so perfectly that people were willing to 42:51 leave his church and follow Jesus. I'll say this boldly. I hope to point you to Jesus so faithfully that if the time ever comes where you see that I'm not following Jesus anymore, you'll leave this church and join another church that's following 43:05 Jesus. I can say that boldly. My ambition in life is not that you'll be here or you'll follow me, but you'll follow me if as long as I'm following Christ. And by God's grace, I will follow Christ until the end of my life. But that's the 43:19 John preached so perfectly. He was the lamp, it says in John 1. He He was the lamp that was shining and he did it so clearly. He pointed to Christ so faithfully that people left his church and followed Jesus. And yet he So, he was the greatest man 43:36 born of woman, yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. So, our testimony must be greater than the testimony of just what what John the Baptist's disciples had. Is it possible that you come to God for 43:51 salvation, come to Jesus for salvation? Would you say that that's a bad thing? I was just sitting there while we were singing and I thought about this verse in Isaiah 12. I wanted us to see it together. Isaiah chapter 12. 44:09 This is a beautiful picture of life with Christ that Isaiah got a picture of. I don't believe he actually experienced it. Isaiah 12 We'll begin reading at verse one. And you can read the context of it in 44:29 the last few verses of 11 where it says there will be a highway from Assyria and the remnant of God's people will be left. And then he says, verse one, "Then you will say on that day, I will give thanks to you, oh Lord, for although you were 44:41 angry with me, your anger is turned away and you comfort me." So, here he's talking about a people who's experienced God's anger and judgment. "Although you were angry with me, your anger is turned away and you comfort me. 44:58 Behold, God is my salvation." That's a phrase that just ran like was a peel of thunder in my mind this morning when we're saying, "God is my salvation." It's quite a different thing from saying God saves me. God gives me salvation. 45:17 God is my salvation. I know I know for years I came to Jesus for salvation. I said, "Lord Jesus, please save me. Please give me salvation as a gift." And I got forgiveness of sins. I got cleansing. I got justification as gifts from him. 45:34 But it was quite a different thing for me to say, "God is my salvation." That means my salvation comes from being with Jesus himself, not him wa- washing my sins away. And this is again sadly what's being preached in Christendom where it's come 45:50 to Jesus, get your sins forgiven, and you continue to live your self-centered life. My salvation comes from being with Jesus himself. That's my salvation. It's no longer something he gives me, but Jesus himself being my salvation. 46:05 God is my salvation, and so I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. I came to him for salvation once upon a time. Now he has become my salvation. Let's go back to John 5. 46:23 We're looking at all these different idols that we could make, earthly idols that we could make out of things that God gives us. Whether it's even salvation. But here John 5:36, we'll continue reading where we left off. 46:41 Is it possible that we want Jesus' works, the things that Jesus can do, miracles? Many people in Christendom are taken up with miracles. And if you they say, you know, they're they're taken up with promoting miracles that Jesus can do, 46:56 mighty works. Here's what Jesus says. The testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John. John 5:36. For the work which the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I do testify about me, that the Father has sent me. 47:17 The works that Jesus did testify about him. And here here's I believe the point of what Jesus was saying. It's possible for you to look at what Jesus is doing for you, and what Jesus can do for you, and miss that the whole purpose of that work was to 47:33 testify about Jesus. And that's why this is is the the alignment, you know, Jesus said that this generation looks for a sign. They're looking for a sign. Give me a sign. Do something miraculous. Lord, prove to me that you are really 47:47 who you are by doing this miracle, and answering this prayer, and performing this mighty work. He says, the danger is that you might see that mighty work and miss that the whole reason for that work was to point to me. You know, the 48:02 the book of John records a number of miracles, but doesn't call them miracles. They're called signs. These signs Jesus did. You read in the very first miracle, John chapter 2. What was the purpose of the wine? The water being turned into wine. Was it 48:19 so that you could brag about I was at that wedding where the water was turned to wine? And if God does a miracle in your life and God does a miracle in our midst and whatever it might be, what is the purpose of that? Is it simply so that we 48:31 could say he did such a great work or is that Jesus becomes more precious to us? Jesus said this in John chapter 11 when he was interacting with Martha and Mary. Um see, what Mary and Martha and again, 48:55 let's let's learn from the lesson that that of their lives and what Jesus Jesus interaction with them. What Mary and Martha wanted was for Jesus to either not have allowed their brother to die or having died that they would raise him 49:11 back to life, that he would raise him back to life. That's what they wanted. Lord, I'm putting you in a box. I want you to do this miracle for me and here's how I expect you to do it. Now, it's it's implied in the story, but 49:23 the reason I say it that way is because so often we do that, don't we? Lord, you're a miracle working God. You can do amazing things. Now, I want you to do the exactly this and here's I'm what I'm telling you to do. Prove that you're God 49:33 by doing this. Now, who is God in that situation? If I tell God what he should do and he does it, I'm God. I told him what to do. I said, Lord, you need to answer this prayer exactly like this. Now, do it. And he's at my beck and call. 49:48 And like we read, he is not served by human hands. He's not answerable to you on how you expect him to do the miracle. Says, "I'm God. You trust me. Prove that I'm God by submitting your prayers and your petitions to me 50:04 and see how I will do the miracle. It might not be how you expected it to be. In fact, it probably won't be. But, I will do it. And so, I think of Mary and Martha saying, "Lord, you know, why didn't you you you should have come." You know the 50:19 story. You should have come where where Yeah, let's read it. John 11 verse 21. Here's Martha putting Jesus in a box. This is God. This is Martha who had Jesus in her home. I believe she believed that he was really the Messiah, 50:32 the son of God. And here she is saying, "Lord, you're you're God, but somehow you missed the plot. You could have done such a mighty miracle in healing my brother if you had come 4 days ago." John 11 verse 20. Martha, therefore, 50:49 when she heard that Jesus was coming went to meet him, but Mary stayed at the house. And Martha said to Jesus, verse 21, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. You could have proved how powerful you 51:01 are by answering my prayer the way I wanted it." Listen to the deception in that statement. Listen to the idolatry in that statement. Lord, it sounds good. Lord, you could have proved how powerful you are if you had answered my prayer. 51:22 And then she says, "Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." And Jesus said, "Your Your uh said to her, "Your brother will rise again." And Martha Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the 51:33 resurrection of the last day." And then Jesus says to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. I am the life. If you have me, don't look at the dead Lazarus. Don't look at how long it's been. Don't look at the sickness. I am if you have me, 51:49 you have resurrection. If you have me, you have life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. Um Mary says the same thing, verse 32. When Mary came where Jesus was, she saw him and fell at his feet. She says the 52:05 same thing, "Lord, you could have done such a mighty thing if you had showed up before my brother died. If you had been here, my brother would not have died." Um and then, you know, they say uh verse 52:22 38, Jesus says 39, Jesus says remove the stone and Martha's still doubting. She's like, "No, Lord, it's too late. You missed your chance to prove how powerful you are." But that statement, Jesus saying, "I am the resurrection and the life." What you 52:36 see there, how even Mary and Martha, even Mary with all her the same Mary who sat at Jesus' feet and listened to him. Even her in that moment where calamity hit, where her brother died, she missed it. And it's written for our instruction. 52:54 So, and I say and I think about that story, I pray, "Lord, may it never be that some circumstance, some blessing you give me, or some trial you allow me to go through ever causes me to miss out on the fact that you are who you want. 53:10 That in you I have life. You are the resurrection and the life. Even if it's a circumstance that looks like death, I have you. I'm in you. I have life. I have resurrection. Even though there's turmoil, even though there's sickness, even though there's 53:24 trial, even though there's pain, I have you and I have resurrection. I have life. This is the lesson that I'm learning from there. Let's go back to John 5. Other things that we can make as idols. Earthly idols. Verse 39, you can make the scriptures an 53:44 idol instead of Jesus. Verse 39, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. You know, we've been We've for a couple years now we've been emphasizing read your Bible, read your Bible, read your Bible. We share Bible 54:01 reading passages. We have books that we're reading that point us to the word of God. But what's the point of it all, dear brothers and sisters? Are you searching the scriptures? Are you faithfully reading your Bible and 54:11 listening to a daily devotion and listening to you know, reading concordances or listening to sermons about those passages and all that, searching them thinking that in them you have life? You search the scriptures because and 54:25 you make sure you know the doctrine right, you can say. Because you think that in them you have eternal life. But it is these that testify about me. I remember some years ago and this changed my Bible reading drastically. 54:40 Every time I'd open the Bible and start reading I'd say, "Lord Jesus, you're here in this book somewhere. You, the person of Jesus, you're here in this book somewhere. There's life in this book. No other, no theological book, no sermon could ever 54:56 do that for you. All it could do is point you to this book and explain things to you and show you how Jesus the person is in this book. And once you read it, if Jesus doesn't become alive to you and and you don't know Jesus more personally, we've missed 55:11 it. Now we're searching the scriptures and we're looking at the concordance and listen to another sermon and listen to another sermon and listen to another sermon. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal 55:21 life, but the scriptures simply testify about me. With all our searching, brothers and sisters, with all our meetings and our Bible studies and our prayer meetings, are they testifying about Jesus in a way that the person of Jesus has become more 55:35 precious to you, then we understand it. Wanting just wanting scripture knowledge is an idol. Let's continue reading. Another idol. Verse 44. How can you believe when you receive 55:53 glory from one another? And you do not seek the glory that is from above or the honor. Is the literal word or fame. You seek the honor from one another. You seek the honor of people. Your opinion Your people's opinion of you 56:08 matters. This is an idol. It could be what people think about me at RLCF. Do they think I'm a spiritual person? If that means anything to you, Jesus you have an idol in your life. When you're really taken up with Jesus, 56:23 when Jesus is precious to you, it matters zero what people think of you. It's a very It's a very difficult thing to be free from. I'll tell you that. I see it even in my own life. I I say, "Lord Jesus, you're precious to me. 56:36 You're everything to me." And I say that often to him. And then I realize that if the opinion of people matters even a little bit to me, that's an idol in my life. Can you have an idol in your house while worshiping Jesus? A very simple 56:50 question. No, you can't. But the opinion of even one person, let me tell you plainly, brothers and sisters, the opinion of us elders of you could be an idol. If you want us elders to think that you're a spiritual person, I want to 57:04 tell you be forsake that. We're men. Our breath is in our nostrils. Like it says, IT DOESN'T MATTER what we think about you. Is Jesus precious to you? We could be completely wrong about your spiritual condition for good or for worse. I don't know. But 57:20 what Jesus thinks about you Is Jesus truly precious to you? Can you answer that question before God himself? That he's everything to you. Then you'll never get offended. And he Jesus says, "You can never believe. You will never be able to 57:36 believe if you're worried about what people think about you." The opinion of people if that matters anything to you, you can never believe. I'd like to close by looking at the story in Luke 24 of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and 57:52 it's a beautiful picture of what our church could be like. I see two two options. It could be like these two disciples, one of them was named Cleopas. We don't know what the other person's name was. It's a picture of the church before 58:10 Jesus is precious to them. Before they really known Jesus. And a picture of the church after. Before or after. So, here's these Here's the church uh pictured by these two men. It's not just one, it's two. They're having 58:25 fellowship. Verse 13, Luke 24:13, "Behold, two of two of them were going that very day in a village named Emmaus, which was about 7 mi from Jerusalem. And they were having fellowship with each other. They were talking with each other about all 58:39 these things which had taken place." Now, these were disciples of Jesus. People who had followed Jesus. And yet Jesus was not in their midst. They didn't really know him in the way that he wanted them to know him. And while they were talking and 58:53 discussing, Jesus himself approached and began traveling with them, but they their eyes were prevented from knowing him. So, this is not only a church that is speaking about Jesus, but Jesus is actually sitting in their midst. 59:09 If you knew that Jesus was sitting in a church, would you think that that's a good church? I would have thought yes, but their eyes had not yet been opened. I believe Jesus is in our midst. But it's possible that he's sitting here 59:21 in our midst and some of us don't really know him. Let me say that again, brothers and sisters. It brings real fear in my heart. I believe the presence of the Lord is in our midst. We pray for it. I believe I believe he's here. But it is 59:33 possible to sit in a church where the presence of Jesus is there and not know him. Absolutely. It was just like these Jesus was walking alongside them and he was talking to them even. Jesus could be the one preaching the sermons through 59:48 through the messages that you hear here, but you don't actually know him. And Jesus says in verse 17, this is the before they know Jesus church. They were saying to him, "What are Jesus said to them, "What are these words that 1:00:04 you were exchanging with one another?" And they they were amazed and Cleopas said, "Don't you know, you know, verse 19 Jesus says, "What things?" They said, "The things about Jesus the Nazarene." I mean they're they're talking to Jesus 1:00:19 about Jesus. Cuz their eyes have they've got idols in their mind. They're wondering about all these things. And I tell you, you know, even even the last few years with with COVID and and politics and all this stuff, it's just all these things going 1:00:34 on taking up conversation time. And and movements in different churches and all these things, you know, that's great. Let it be for the for for the Lord to deal with each one of us, but in the midst of all that's going on in the 1:00:46 world in the midst of all that's going on in Christendom, is it just more conversation? What things? All these things. About Jesus. They don't know Jesus. He says, "These things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty 1:01:05 indeed." This is verse 19. "And word in the sight of God and all the people and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him." See, these disciples know the facts. They know the doctrine. They delivered him to the sentence to 1:01:19 the sentence of death and crucified him. "But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. And you can see this. It says, "Nah, he somehow didn't." Jesus wasn't everything to them, and they missed it. They were looking for 1:01:32 something. They were looking for the redemption of Israel, but not for Jesus himself. And then it says, you know, they you read the rest of the story, and then Jesus says, "Foolish men, this was about Christ." And you read later on 1:01:47 that their hearts were burning within them. Is it possible for you to sit and listen to a sermon and be in a church where your heart is burning, but you still haven't seen Jesus? There's something more than just your heart burning, 1:01:58 brothers and sisters. It is having your eyes open to see Jesus. Because I've sat in meetings where my heart was burning. It's like, "Wow, really? It's possible to really see Jesus?" And I went away not having seen him. See, these are It's not enough to just 1:02:11 be stirred by a sermon. And you have your heart burning within you. Wow, I heard a good word today. Good word, brother. But, have you seen Jesus? And these men had their hearts burning within him within them, and they still 1:02:23 hadn't seen Jesus. "Were not our hearts burning within us while Jesus was speaking?" Verse 32. But, Jesus had not yet been revealed to them. While Jesus was explaining the things. Jesus You know, it's possible. What are 1:02:39 we seeing here? It's possible for Jesus himself to be sitting here behind this pulpit, not me. Jesus himself sitting here, and your hearts would burn within you, but you don't know him. Jesus himself in our midst and not know 1:02:53 him. What a tragedy that would be. What a great danger. And then they approached the village, and then Jesus says, "Okay, are you satisfied with a burning heart? Are you satisfied that the sermon was great, the singing was great, all these 1:03:06 Do you had a great time of prayer and all that? Are you satisfied? Can I move on now? You met with me for a few hours?" And they said, "No, stay." They begged him. They urged him saying, "Stay with us, Lord. This burning heart means there's 1:03:22 something more." And oh, they saw Jesus. They urged him to stay with them. And then he says, "Okay, I'm glad you asked." And he reclined at the table with them, and he took bread and blessed it, and breaking it, he began 1:03:38 giving it to them. When they received that to the bread is a beautiful picture. It is receiving something personally from the Lord. It says that he broke the bed bread and gave it to them. And something happened. Want you to get a picture here. They 1:03:52 they've walked with him, they've heard they've heard the doctrine, they they've asked him to stay. He's sitting at the table, and then he breaks that bread and gives a piece to Cleopas. This is a personal This is not a corporate thing 1:04:03 anymore. This is Jesus and Cleopas. And Jesus and that other disciple saying, "I have something for you, Santosh. I have something for you." Put your name there. And he gives this piece of bread to Cleopas. And it says when 1:04:18 when he gave them the bread, their eyes were opened and they knew him. Their eyes were opened, and they knew him. Verse 31. It says in verse 35 that they knew him by the breaking of the bread. Verse 35, the last part of verse 35. 1:04:37 They recognized Jesus by the breaking of bread. You know, I I read this again this morning, and I was like, "Lord, I want the breaking of bread, not just the communion time that we have, but even the breaking of bread that we you do 1:04:48 here to be a personal thing." You know, our experience here is meaningful only if each one of us individually by sitting here, and Jesus himself taking a piece of bread and giving it to you, then it's meaningful. Otherwise, it's a 1:05:05 waste of time. If all you got was a nice time together, we sang some praises together, we listened to a message together, we had some sharing, if God laid something in your heart, you shared it and we ate a meal together. If that's 1:05:16 all you had was a corporate thing, then we missed it. We have an idol. And when Jesus broke the bread and gave it to Cleopas, Jesus broke the bread and gave it to the other disciple, then it became the church, as it were. 1:05:30 Then they knew, it says, then they knew him. They knew him by the breaking of bread. That phrase of Mary's earlier you read in John 20, "I have seen the Lord." Mary Magdalene says, "I've seen the Lord." So, we have three ways that we 1:05:47 can respond to this and I want to leave you with that. Let's turn back to Acts 17. You see that in the response of these people in the in Athens. Acts 17, verse 32. Verse 30, you know that verse? We've 1:06:06 said it often in this church. Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, you didn't know that you had idols in your life, Christian idols. Now you do. Things that have been idols in your life, now you do. The times of ignorance 1:06:19 God overlooks. Now he says, "Repent." Now God is declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent of these idols. Verse 32, and when they heard this, some began to sneer. It says, "I like my idols too much." That's one way to respond. 1:06:37 Another way to respond, it says, "Ah, let's come back next week and hear another sermon like the one we heard today." Some said, "We shall hear you again concerning this." Hey, preach that same message again. Can you preach a little 1:06:48 bit more about how we should be taken up to Jesus? Is it possible that you just want to hear another sermon about devotion to Jesus instead of actually having devotion to Jesus? That's the second way to respond. And then there was a few, it says, 1:07:03 verse 34, "Some men joined Paul and believed. They repented of those idols. They followed Paul and believed in him. How will you respond? You know, we could continue. By God's grace, we will continue to have meetings here at River 1:07:20 of Life, but I pray with all of my heart that these meetings will be ones in which each one of us individually, and children, you too, that you can hear Jesus speak to you personally today. Something personal to you that's not just a sermon that you 1:07:35 heard from Brother Santosh or somebody else, but a personal piece of bread that Jesus gave to you, and you touched his hand when he gave it to you. And there was a a spiritual contact with him that happened. That will change your life, not another 1:07:51 sermon. Amen.
