The Village Church
Jesus Unplugged - Audio
We have listened to Jesus unplug who he is or what he came to do in his own words. He listened to him, set the record straight about himself, clearing up misunderstandings. He unplugged about his life. He unplugged about his cross. Both were part of the work the father gave him to do. You see Christ glorified the father through his life, through his cross that was through his earthly ministry and through his death. You see Jesus truly existed on the face of this earth. His life was not some made up religious propaganda. It wasn't some religious folktale. Everything the gospel says about Jesus is real history. It happened. It took place. The incarnation happened. The virgin birth happened. The miracles he performed happened. The betrayal by one of his disciples happened. The denial and the scattering of his disciples happened. The trial before the religious Jewish leaders happened. The beating he took by the Roman soldiers happened. The death sentence happened. The carrying of his cross happened. The nails been driven into his hands and feet happened. His death on the cross is real history. And the words spoken by Jesus in the end were actually spoken by him. What did he say? It is finish. It is finish. And after he said that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Through his life, through his death, he finished the work the father sent him to do. We've seen that he fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law. He paid off our sin debt. His death satisfied the wrath of God. He reconciled us to God the father. And now he offers. He turned a life to sinful people like us. As we look at John 17 5 this morning, I want you to keep all those things I just said in mine. When I read that verse, I want you to see that verse as if Jesus has already completed his work. I'm going to ask you to begin in verse one, but we're going to zero in on verse five. John 17, turn my Bible around, and read upside down. But get in in verse one. When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hour has come. Glorify your son to the son and glorify you. Since you have given him authority of all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him, and this is eternal life, that I know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorify you on earth, having accomplished the work you gave me to do. And now, father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I have with you before the world existed. Please pray with me. Lord, as we come to your word, I pray that your spirit will take what is said and apply it to my heart and the hearts of everyone is here. We need the spirit to move. We need him to move in a mighty way. We need him to apply the truth to every area of our life. If he doesn't move, nothing gets done. So, spirit of God. Encourage the people of God. In Christ name I pray. Amen. In verse 5, we see Jesus making one more request for the Father to glorify him. This is a request for glorification because Jesus has finished the work the Father sent him to do. And so he says to the Father, not glorify the Son, not glorify me. He wanted to be glorified in the Father's own presence. In other words, Jesus was asking the Father to glorify him with the Father's own self. Jesus, these words were looking forward to his homecoming. When he was once again, be with the Father in glory. Several times in the Gospel of John, Jesus told his disciples he was going back to the Father, going back to the Father. In chapter 13, he says, Jesus knew his hour has come to depart out of this world and go to the Father. In John 14, he says, I'm going to the Father. I'm going to him who sent me. I'm leaving the world and going to the Father. You see, Jesus here was looking beyond being glorified on earth to be glorified with the Father in heaven and paradise. It was his desire to be glorified with God the Father, to be glorified with him with the glory that he had with the Father before the world existed. Eternal glorification looking beyond his present moment and his circumstances, to be glorified with the eternal glory that he had before the world was ever created. One Christian said, Jesus' glory with the Father is from everlasting as well as his existence with the Father. He is from eternity, the brightness of the Father's glory. Christ being glorified includes all the honor, power, and joys of his exalted state, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive what? Power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, blessings. To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessings, honor, glory, and might forever and ever. That's Jesus. I hope you see what Jesus is saying with these words. Think about it. To be glorified with the eternal glory that he had before the world existed. If that's true, then you know what that means? Before man created pagan gods, Jesus existed. That's what he's saying. Before there were idols, I am. I am. Before the Greek gods, I am. Before there was ancestry worship, I am. Before there was Confucius, I am. Before there was Buddha, I am. Before any god or any idols that man has ever bowed down to and worshipped, Jesus says, I am. I existed before them and beyond that. In the beginning was the word. That word was with God. That word was God. He was with God in the beginning and all the things that were made were made through him and without him was not anything that had been made that was made. In him was life and that life was the light of men, light shines in darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. That's the beginning of John. The darkness of the cross did not overcome Jesus, did not overcome him. Unlike all the other major figures and all the other world religions, the darkness of death was too weak to overcome Jesus. Death was not powerful enough to hold him in the grave. It was too weak. You see, death did not take Jesus's life. You know that, right? He voluntarily allowed himself to die. We know that he raised from the dead and he would never die again. Death no longer has been me in over him. And in John 2, Jesus told, he told this to the Jew. He said, destroyed his temple and in three days, I'm going to rise it up. And you know what? Three days he did. I'm telling you, Jesus was a bad man. And I'm using that in a positive, if you confuse right now, in a positive way. There was never any doubt in Jesus's mind about his resurrection. It was going to happen. It just didn't happen. He knew it was going to happen. He knew it was going to happen. And with these verse, and this verse here in John 17, he anticipated the resurrection. And now Father, glorify me in your own presence, the presence I had with you before the world existed. For that request to happen, he had to resurrect. Jesus knew he had to go through the surface of the cross. But he also knew he was going to rise up from that grave on the third day. He knew he was going to send him to the heavens. Christians, we don't worship and serve and follow a dead Lord and Savior. But one who is alive and well, do you live your life that way? Is Jesus dead? Do you live as Jesus is dead? Do you live as if he's alive and well? In the season for you, even now, in glory. At this moment, he's sitting at the right hand of God to follow Almighty. He is your advocate before the Father. And that should bring comfort to your soul this morning. It should feel you with joy and gratefulness to know that Jesus is mindful of you even now. Does it? Do you rejoice and praise God for the resurrection? You should because realize this, if Easter didn't happen, if Easter is just about a burning and some eggs and new outfits, new outfits, then we're in big trouble. We're in big trouble. If Jesus did not rise from the grave, they're all wasting your time. We are all fools. I'm the biggest one because I want to seminary and everything for this stuff. If it didn't happen, Paul says in 1st Corinthians, if Christ has not been raised from the dead, your faith is brutal, worthless, worthless, like gone on the bottom of your shoe worthess if Christ did not rise. And if he didn't, guess what? You're still in your sins. You're still lost. You're still lost. He also says that those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. That means all your relatives who said they know Jesus are dead. If Jesus did not rise from the grave, they're all lost. Well, all eternity, if the resurrection didn't happen, perished, gone. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we of all people, most to be people, wow, if it didn't happen. We're the most. People should feel sorry for poor Christians because we are fools. You see, the cross is wonderful and so is the resurrection. It's just as wonderful. Jesus conquered the grave period. The resurrection of Christ happened in history. It's not a myth. It's not a tale. It's an actual historical event. You know the world, they don't understand that. I mean the history China even tried to do technology last year to show it did actually happen. They don't believe it. It's impossible, they say. You Christians believe anything they say. The world demands real proof. Give me the real proof, Alex, that the resurrection happened. Have you read the Gospels? Our witness accounts for folks sold Jesus empty tomb. He appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time. He appeared to the disciples. Our witness accounts of him are singing into heaven. The proof is here, here, but they don't believe. It's not enough because the Bible was just a religious book. It doesn't have history in it. It's just a religious book. I want some other documented source, some other proof, some scientific proof. Or you know, they simply just don't care. Even if you give all the proof in the world to a person, they still won't believe. Jesus walked on the face of the earth and people still rejected him. I know you say, "Well, if I was there, I would have believed." Sure. You would have been one of the ones saying crucified. We always think we're different. If I was there, I sure wouldn't have done that. We're all 2020, right? No. You would have probably been the one saying crucified him. You see, scientific proof cannot produce in a person what is needed to believe. It can't free a person from sin. The proof the world seeks would never take away their blindness. Never. No way, any believer would be able to convince a non-believer that each should actually happen apart from the work of another person. It takes someone else working behind the scenes. So Jesus went to heaven to be with the Father, but him going to heaven benefited his people. Do you know why? Do you know the ascension was a benefit to you? Okay, well, I'll tell you why. John 16 7 says, "I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. If I do not go away, the helper will not come." What? The helper will not come, but if I go, I will send him to you. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus told his disciples that he's going to send them the promise upon them, the promise that he promised to them was going to come to them. He told them to stay in the city until you are clothed with power on high. And that happened in Acts 2. I mean, Acts 1, "The power on high is the helper, the Holy Spirit, is the work of the Holy Spirit that turns a pagan into a believer, a non-believer into a believer. If the spirit ain't knocking, there ain't no door going to be opened. There ain't nothing going to happen. The spirit gives life. The flesh. There's no helper at all. Only the spirit produces faith in the person which allows that person to accept and to embrace and to believe the Gospel. In seven in faith because the spirit ain't moving people, you ain't going to believe nothing. You ain't going to embrace anything. You think because I want the seminary that qualifies me, the spirit has to be working in me. You can intellectually believe stuff, but if the spirit ain't moving, it's not going to come into your heart without the spirit moving. The spirit, Jesus says, we convict the world concerning sin, concerning righteousness and judgment. That's the spirit's job. Anytime you can visit us in, that's the spirit. Anytime someone comes to a believer, the spirit did it. He gives the spirit to live inside of his people for the purpose of being our helper and our counselor. You benefit from him going to heaven because the spirit of God lives in each one of you if you're a believer. Do you live that way? Do you believe that? That the spirit of God lives in your heart in each and every one of us. We've seen Jesus unplug about his life, his cross, his resurrection, his ascension. And there are great benefits given to us through the finished work of Christ. Great benefits, but our receiving them, our enjoyment of them, our resting in them, our embracing of them only comes through the effectual power and effectual work of the spirit. Period, not you, not because you're smart enough, not because you're new on that, the spirit. So if you ain't embracing them, if you ain't living in them, then you need to have the spirit of God to take your heart there because that's the only way it's going to get there. It's the spirit speaking to you this morning. Is he? Are you encouraged this morning? Do you finally see your need for a savior? Do you have saving faith? Or do you simply know Jesus by association? What do you mean by that, Alex? I mean you associate with him on certain days, Christmas, Easter and Mother's Day. That's what I mean. You know, you're a little religious fix. Well a little religious fix is not saving faith. Saving faith is you surrendering your life to Christ, receiving and depending upon him alone for your salvation. Even if you've been a believer for 30 years, you've never stopped looking at Jesus. Never. You never get beyond that. Your need of him, his finished work. Remember the song, How He Loves Us. How He Loves Us. You were loved by God this morning. How, Alex, how can you prove that to me? He showed you his love for you and why you were still a sin of Christ out for you. That's how it crossed. The greatest demonstration of God's love was a serpent of his son for your sin. If that doesn't convince you, nothing will convince you. That's it. That's it. We messed up in the garden and we're Adam's sin. Death came into the world. Do you realize the son of God suffered the death for what we brought into the world? He allowed himself to die to make us right with him? That's the gospel. That's Christianity. That's saving faith. We all need a Savior. And what I'm telling you, Jesus is that Savior. He makes you right with God. What's Rosaleth thinks of about that? He makes you right with God through his death upon the cross. Salvation is available to you this morning. This morning is available to you. Do you want it? C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite Christian authors. He says of humans, he says, "We are half hearted creatures, fooling about with drink, sex and vision. When infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum, because we cannot imagine what is meant by holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. Far too easily pleased. Is that you? Is that your life? I'm here to tell you, don't settle for knowing Jesus by association. Don't settle for just making mud pies in the slums and being easily pleased with the lesser things of life. I'm telling you, infinite joy is offered to you. A holiday to see is offered to you all through the finished work of Christ, his life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension. And if you want that, I'll be up here. I have the elders come up front and we will talk with you about that, how you can have the infinite joy. Please pray with me. Father God, thank you for Christ's finished work, that there's nothing else that needs to be done. When he said it is finished, man, baby, it's finished. There's nothing that we can add to it. Can't add anything else to it. All we can do is receive it in faith. And so I pray for those who are here who have known you for years, I pray that you are a lot of fire in them that hasn't been named years for you. A greater love for you, a greater passion for you, and that, oh, overflowing to every area of their life, and they just can't keep it in. They got to share the gospel with everybody. And I pray for those who may be here who don't know you, that your spirit will take your gospel and open up their heart. And then they may see the need for a wonderful Savior, and that this infinite joy and this holiday to see can be theirs all through the finished work of Christ. Pray for this in Jesus' name, amen.