Gospel of John, 11
John · Courtney Hemenway · Jun 1, 2008
Gospel of John (2008), No. 22
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492612496037

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Let's get into John. All right. We are on lesson 18. Does everybody have lesson 18? Do you guys have 18? I hope so. Everybody? There may be some over here. Do you need my help? No, I have. OK. All right. I'm going to go through and just read real quick because I always like when we, you know, sometimes we get down and we dissect things so much that we lose the whole kind of context. So I'm going to read through John. 22 through 42, real quick, and just go through it. This is the section that the questions are on. So John 10, 22 through 42, you can follow along.

At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter and Jesus was walking the temple in the portico of Solomon. The Jews then gathered around him and were saying to him, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you and you do not believe.

The works that I do in my Father's name, these testify of me. But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And I give eternal life to them and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one."

The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, I showed you many good works from the Father. For which of them are you stoning me? The Jews answered him, For good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy. And because you, being a man, make yourself out to be God. Jesus answered them, Has it not been written in your law, I said you are gods? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, you are blaspheming? Because I said, I am the Son of God. If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do them, though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.

Therefore they were seeking to seize him, and he eluded their grasp. And he went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing. And he was staying there. Many came to him and were saying, while John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true. Many believed in him there. Just a couple of things. One, the feast of dedication. Did Mike go over what that was? OK.

The other thing which, I'm sorry I wasn't here last week, one of the things that I think I've said several times is that John 10.28 was one of my anchor verses for many years, especially early in my Christian life. And that was one of the ones wherever I had doubt, I always went back to John 10, 28. Because that always was, you know, I'm in God's hand, and who can snatch me out of God's hand? And I can't climb out, I can't get out, I can't be snatched out. So whenever I had a doubt, I always went back to John 10, 28 and 29 there.

As I've gotten more into the identification truths, that to me, when John 10.28, when I was a young believer, that was one that I could climb out of. As I get into the identification truths and understand that, I am a new creature in Christ. Mike's talked about it, we've talked about it. How do you get out of that? How do you get out of that? So, John 10, 28 is a very secure verse, but when you really get the identification, what doubt is there?

You're a new creature in Christ. You're identified with Him. He is your very life. How does Christ get back on the cross, go back around? You can't do that. You're a new creature in Christ. So, I don't have that doubt anymore, because if you really understand the identification truths, How do I get out of my life in Christ? Like I said, I've said that many times on 1028, but it's like, well now in identification, that's reassuring, but I have more assurance in identification. I'm a new creature in Christ.

So I missed that question 8 by 1 class. So I'm going to go on now to 9, because I think he ended on 8. Is that correct? He told me I'm starting in 9. Does that sound right? Alright, in verse 31, the Jews, in question 9, lesson 18. In verse 31, the Jews try and stone him. Why? What's that? Yeah, and Jack? And that is?

Now being a man, make thyself proud. Yeah. For good work, we don't stone you. All those neat things you were doing, we don't stone you about that. It's just that little thing of equating yourself to God. We have a little problem with that one. So, Mike Snow in other words, they therefore took up stones to stone him. For Satan is a murderer as well as a liar. Nothing so awakens violence, even to death, as the truth which condemns men's pretending to religion, to their blinded and infuriated minds, it was blasphemy for him to say that he gave his followers eternal life beyond the weakness or the power of the creature, blasphemy to assert that he and the Father were one, whereas it is the truth, so vital and necessary, that none who reject it can be saved." So he basically, yeah, he's, and we'll get into that in the following questions, you know, the works, and remember, Kind of go back as to all these things through John 7, 8, 9, 10, now we're in 11.

Think of all the things that have gone on. The feeding of the 5,000, all these different things that have gone on. And he's told them how many times he's the bread of life. Go through all these different things. And yet, today, he's still being stoned for blasphemy. So, even all the things that he has done, they still want to stone him.

That goes to the age-old question, not age-old, but I always get this. Well, if Jesus was sitting right here, would that change you? I always got that when I was a young believer, too. Just think of Jesus sitting right in that seat. Would that change you? Would that make a difference?

Yes? No? No. Huh? No. You know, I think initially, yeah, wow, you know, but look at all that what they saw and what they're going to see with Lazarus, you know, all these things. And did it change him? What's funny to me is they ask him in verse 24, you know, tell us plainly. Okay, I am. Tell us plainly. Was that the answer that they wanted? No. So, Jesus claimed to be one with the Father. What are some of the possibilities of that statement? One, he was lying. What else?

He was a madman. That's the typical one. He's a madman. He's insane. Others? He's telling the truth. He's telling the truth. He's telling the truth. That's definitely the option. He also could have been misunderstood. Although, plainly, I tell you, I am who I am. Or he's joking, wasn't serious. He was, you know, he was just, you know, dragging him along, you know, all this kind of stuff. All those options are available. But we know it's the truth.

How do you deny with all these things and what he's about to do with Lazarus, feeding the 5,000, walking on the water, all these things that he has done. Raise your hand if you've walked on water. Raise your hand if you've been able to manifest food miraculously to feed 5,000 people. If we are, the next time we have a fellowship meal, we're calling on you. You know, who's done all these things? You know, he's clearly gone and demonstrated all these things. And he keeps telling them, I am the bread of life. I am. I am. I am. I am.

And they still don't believe him. They think he's insane. You know, it's great to see all these great miracles. The Jews liked all those great miracles. Don't mess with the law and all of our system yet. So he's still battling all that, even after all this.

And you see the intensity as it comes up. It now comes to the statement, plainly, I am the Son of God. How more clearly can I tell you? Isn't that how it is today? So many people wanting to work out their own salvation? Oh yeah, that's what I'm saying.

If Jesus sat right next to you, You'd be, oh, but, you know, walks out of the room. We'd fall right back into the same thing. It comes down to faith in his word. Believing what he said. You know, seeing it would be miraculous, marvelous, but, you know, look at all what they saw, and they still rejected him. You know, we're cut out of the same cloth. you know, as a sinful, or sinful nature. So, alright, Jesus asked, by which works do they condemn him? They say it is because he, and question ten, they say it is because he claims to be God.

How does he answer their charge? What was his response? This is kind of an interesting one. He pointed to their law. He pointed to their law, and how? What did he say? Which is kind of odd when you read this. I think it loses some in the English. What does he say? What?

It is not written. It is not written in your law. I said you are gods. In verse 34, Jesus answered him, Has it not been written in your law, I said, you are gods? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, you are blaspheming, because I said, I am the Son of God?

Where does this come from in the scripture? Let me look at that. Psalm 82.6. Yeah, can you read that one? Do you have that? I said you are gods and all of you are sons of the one God. Yeah. So, what does that mean? Like I said, it loses something in translation. How could he be accused of blasphemy when this term was applied to angels and to men? Actually, this one is a little bit different.

In Psalm 82 he calls judges Elohim, or gods, as commissioned by God and responsible to judge in His name. The word used in John 10, 34 and 36 is actually theos, which is the supreme divinity. It's also a magistrate in the Hebrew language. So he was basically going back to the Psalms 82 which is saying judges, not gods, basically giving the authority.

I have this million dollar word that I looked in William Kelly that I'll bring up, the type of argument that is. But it's basically, theos can be in Hebrew mean a magistrate or a judge. And that's what the Psalms verse was saying, judges. And this is from William Kelly, his notes on this. But he meets them on their own ground by an a fissuri argument. How do you like that million dollar word? So, I had to look that one up. A for Jory? A for Jory. It's an illegal term. It is.

Do you know what that means? I used to, but I couldn't tell you right now. I'm an expert witness in cases. All the Latin that goes in, I'm like, so I have to figure these things. You know, circumvita and all the, you know, your resume. What does it mean? Well, I looked it up. A for sure, with greater reason or more convincing force, used in drawing a conclusion that is inferred to be even more certain than another. So basically he's saying, basically taking their law, their law, and putting it back on them. He's saying, you know, you know the Psalms, they knew the Psalms, and it says you're gods. Well, that was magistrate or authority.

So he puts it back on him, kind of in a little twisted, but in a way that, you know, how do you refute your own law? And so, let me read on with Kelly. But he meets them on their own ground by an a fissure argument, which left his personal glory untouched. Thus does he reason most conclusively from the less to the greater.

For every Jew knew that their inspired books, as for instance Psalm 82, calls judges Elohim, gods, as commissioned by God and responsible to judge in His name. If such a title could be used of a mere magistrate in scripture, and its authority is indissoluble, how unreasonable to tax with blasphemy Him whom the Father set apart and sent into the world because He said He was God's Son. He is not affirming or demonstrating what He is in this, but simply convicting them of their perverseness on the ground of their law. They had not the least excuse whilst they claim adherence to their law of divine authority. If God called the judges by His names as being His representatives, How much more was it due to him who had a place so unique?

So basically, he's putting their law back at them and saying, you know, you call it mean, blaspheming, but you didn't seem to have a problem with the judges being called gods or Elohim. So he's basically just kind of putting it back in their face and saying, you're stoning me because of this. And it's a little odd because, like I said, To me, and I don't know, even with all the references that I've looked up, I still am not that comfortable with the answer of it. Because it's like, he's claiming to be God. There's no question. He's saying, I am the Son of God. Blamely, I am the Son of God.

So in this argument, he kind of twists it back and says about magistrates, how that, but it's really kind of a different term. Yeah, George. So he's really not trying to convince them in these verses that he is who he claims to be. He's already been, they've already rejected that. He's simply convicting them of the fact that it would not have been blasphemy to claim to be God back here when these were just humans and just judges. Now I'm the son of God, so it's even more over the top to blaspheme against me.

He's not trying to convince them. That was what was hard to understand. I think that's a good point. I think it's more the process. He's going after them of the law and how you do this. He's not trying to convince them that I am the son of God. He already did that. He's already plainly done that. It's more just getting back on where they are in the process and how they do it. Gee, you did it here. and I am the Son of God and you're accusing me.

So yeah, so it's a little odd when I first read that and I started studying it. It's like, you know, didn't I say you're all gods? Wow. So there's some loss in I think the English when you start looking at it and then looking back at it. So anyway, clear? Well I'm glad you explained that because Jack and I were trying to figure it out, you know, and one morning we did a lot of talking about it, and I don't think we really clarified the whole thing. Well, I think it's kind of the way George is. I think, you know, it's kind of, that's what I kind of, it wasn't that he was convicting them, that, you know, he was trying to convince them that he was the Son of God.

It's obviously not the other alternative, right? I mean, he's not, he's not putting forth the idea that, well, we're all gods. No, no. So it's not, it's either that or we're the other. And that's why I said somewhat in the English it gets lost. I mean, it's hard when you read that. It's like, we're all gods? So yeah, it's not that we're all gods. It's certainly not that. But I think you're right. The point is he's not trying to convince them that he is the son of God.

He's just kind of the a-for-sure argument. He's taking what they have and making the point back at them. Kind of hitting the process rather than trying to convince them of something. What is their pretension of being righteous and observing all that the law brings out. He does it all the time. He takes their system and goes, okay. They feel so secure in their law, in their process, their religion, that he's going, okay, what about this?

Yeah, it's not convincing, but it's just twisting them in their system and putting it back in their face. He's done that routinely, and as I said, he plainly tells them who he is. It wasn't that we're all gods and I'm just one of them. It wasn't that. But he goes back on that argument. Anything else that's clear? Clear as mud? That one, like I said, unless you really get in and kind of dig it apart, it's kind of one of those harder ones to understand just on face until you go back through it a little bit. All right, question 11.

What is the connection between being called gods and the Word of God? Basically, we've gone through that. The reference to gods means authority given to Jewish leaders through the absolute veracity of the Word of God. So basically it's going back to that Psalm 82 verse that's saying the authority or that was given to the judges or the authority was given to the magistrates. Question 12. What does verse 36 prove about the Son? And verse 36 is, Do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, You are blaspheming, because I said, I am the Son of God? So what do you learn about that? About the Son?

Don't all speak at once. Keep the comments down. Okay. He was sanctified. Sanctified. Number one, sanctified. And what does sanctified mean? Set apart. Yeah, set apart. The Greek word is... to make holy, to sanctify, to consecrate, devote, set apart from a common to a sacred use, since in the Jewish ritual this was one of the great objects of purification." So in this one it's actually spoken of persons to consecrate as being set apart of God and sent by Him for the performance of His will.

So that's the actual Greek on it in that particular instance, John 10.36. What is another thing that this verse proves about Jesus? God himself. Others? And I'll give kind of an offshoot of that one. Anything else it says in the verse? Okay, expand on what Winnie said. It basically said he was always the son. you know, eternal. He says... He's the unique one of a kind. Yeah, He's unique, He's eternal. It says that He was always the Son.

He did not become the Son at physical birth. He was sanctified by the Father before the birth. And then, as this verse says, He was sent into the world. So, basically, He's sanctified, set apart, But he's always been the son. Always. And it wasn't at birth, because it says he was then sent into the world. So it wasn't that at his birth, here, he was the son of God. He was the son of God and then sent into the world. So he's always been the son. It wasn't just at birth, his physical. He was God's son from eternity. in his confession of faith, he says, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Yeah. And you know, you see more and more of those. I always love that.

But then three, you know, three verses later, I'm out of the boat. You know, I'm, you know, and I've I've had some conversations over the week, and if we get in far enough into 19, which if I be quiet and go on, there are a lot of things that, you know, the analogies today and what we do today, you know, and when we look at these and we beat them up, all I do is look in the mirror.

You know, what do I do? You know? And I just, you know, we have the truths, and yet, you know, do we know them, or do we know them? And I beat these people up, you know, oh, how could they, you know, three minutes later fall off the boat? Well, what did I do this morning, you know? So anyway, we'll get into that a little bit. Okay, in question, what, yeah.

I was talking to Marla Epps after class last Sunday, and we were wondering if the Jews were expecting the Messiah to be deity. Yes, I believe he is deity. They expected him, I think, to be deity because he was the one who was going to... I know what they expected him to do, but did they expect him to be equal with God? I don't think so.

They certainly had the information. I think Isaiah 53 makes it pretty clear that he's going to be who he's going to be, but I think that's an interesting point. They wanted a political leader who would lead them into all the promises of the Old Testament concerning the Jews, but were they expecting deity? They should have, but that's a good point. I don't know. I have to look at that. They have a whole bunch of references that say that. I have to think about that one. I think they did because it would have to be the power and all the things they have to know from all the scriptures.

Most of their things were, as we see, kind of the free lunch when it was feed the 5,000. They were looking for the free lunch. They wanted miracles, they wanted all the stuff. But on the other hand, they had Moses who was able to perform miracles. They had other men, Elijah, they weren't deity.

But it would be an interesting question too. Yeah, because I think ruler and all the things... I'll have to think about that if that's what they expected, yeah. Because I think in scripture they would have to be, but I guess what I was trying to get at with the free lunch and all the different things, what they wanted in the Messiah, they're under the Roman rule, all the things that they wanted to have, them being in control, not under somebody's thumb. They wanted a ruler that would take them as the chosen, and that's what they were looking for. But did they think a deity too? In scripture it is, but whether they were thinking that or they were thinking just politically, that they wanted out of the political realm that they were in, and did they care if it was a deity or not?

I don't know. I'll have to think about that a little bit. I'll look at that. I don't know what Mike said last week, so it started that way. thinking about everything, he wanted displacement on the Roman rule, like you just said, and whether they even thought about him being deity. Whether they cared about it or not, they just wanted out of the condition that they were in, get me out of here, and have that free lunch ready for me too. I don't know.

Whether they counted on it being deity or not, whether that was you know, a primary, and then the secondary was the political. I think it's kind of the reverse, they went on the political, and then, oh yeah, you know, I don't know, I'll have to look at that.

Alright, um, 13, in verse 25, he points to his word and works as a testimony. In verse 25, He points to His Word and works as a testimony. What is He asking them to do in verses 37 and 38? And they say, If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do them, though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that they may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am the Father. What was He asking them to do?

Easy question. Believe what he was saying. The works. Well, not what he's saying only, but... The works. The works. It's not what I say, it's what I do. In that case. Is that what parents do? Is that what parents say? Do as I say, not as I do? No way. Yeah, he was asking to look at their works, you know.

Were they not of the Father? Were they not miraculous? How could someone else do the things and not be of the Father, is basically what he's saying. How do you do all these things and not be of the Father? You know, they accuse him of, again, of being, you know, was he possessed, was he, you know, they've kind of gone through this argument a couple times, but I think so many have been stacked up that it wasn't possessed, but, you know, you're either from the Father or, Not.

And I think he's just saying, look at what I've done. How can I not be the father? Name me somebody else who's fed the 5,000, walked on the water, done all these things. He's getting to the point where it's like, everything I'm doing, you can't refute. So, Kelly has another one too.

There was no denying the irresistible force of this appeal. The character of his works bore testimony, not only to divine power, but to this and the fullness of love. Think as they might of him, the works were unmistakable, that they might learn and come to know the unity of the Father and the Son. It is not that he enfeebles the dignity of his person or the truth of his words, but he was pleading with them in dealing with their consciences. by those works which attested to his deity, not more the power than the grace of God, and consequently his glory, who wrote them. But self-will holds out against all proofs."

That was the one I was getting, you know? I see all that, but I don't believe it. You know? And that's why I kind of go back to the argument a few... Jesus was sitting right here. Somehow, well, no. Somehow our old man would refute that. Our self-will would somehow try to negate that. And that's where they're at, right? They're so skeptical. Yeah, and it's the old man, who feels comfortable in the law, feels comfortable in all this, and the little system of religion. So even though they see all this, self-will still denies this. So did this reasoning or logic convince the Jews who were gathered with him? Did it convince them? What happened in verse 49?

Or 39, excuse me. 49. I added a few verses. Yes, I added a few. 39, excuse me. And I started to arrest him. Take him. Take him.

Which, when we get into the next, in 11, this becomes important. And he eluded their grasp. You know, these have to be miraculous things, I think. You know, here's Jesus, gathered, speaking, talking, doing all this, and okay, we're going to grab you. Gone. There's got to be a little divine intervention in this, because how do you elude a crowd that's going to stone you, that's going to seize you, and all this kind of stuff. So, another testimony of Christ. They're coming to seize him, and he eludes them. Think about when we get into some of the questions in Question 11, that'll come back. Question 14, what was the reason some believed? We see that in verse 40 in 41-42. Everything that John the Baptist said that was true. Everything he said, hey, this guy's doing.

And verse 40, and he went away beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptized, and he was staying there. Many came to him and were saying, while John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true. Many believed in him there. So they're going back, you know, John proclaimed and pointed to this guy, and everything's true.

Everything's true. You know, they'd heard John. John was the forerunner, proclaiming. And now they see, and it's like, wow, the light bulb went off. Everything that John said is true about this man. So they believed. Why did not more people follow and believe? Skeptical white man. The old nature again, you know? And this is from Mike's note on this.

The conflict about him in their minds of the people ranges from John 7 through 1019. He was an enigma to the people, and they had trouble coming to a conclusion about him. Each new encounter provoked fresh discussion and heated debate. He had spoken the same truths to unbelievers as he spoke to believers, and although he had done the same works before them as others, they still did not receive him.

Instead of sensitivity, they had stubbornness. Instead of fellowship, they had alienation. Instead of obedience, they had rebellion. Instead of life, they had death. Instead of assurance, they had danger. Instead of security, they had perdition. And my question was, how is that different from us when we know the truth and yet don't believe? You know, let's beat these people up. They didn't believe. They said all this, and they didn't believe. Okay.

I've had some discussions this week and it goes, you know, in the grace class. I want to teach the grace class, because I've gotten this far in thinking about grace and all the truths of grace. I know those. And I go through, you know, I struggle with what's called out to be a husband. You know? I know it. I see it. You know? What is different? What is different? I see the truth. I know the truth. But do I believe it? So, as much as we beat them up, I just go look in the mirror. And I do the same thing. I see the truth. I see grace. Unmerited. Unlimited. But Lord, if I just Unmerited.

So many of these things, and yet I auger right into the ground. And they do the same thing. So as much as I want to throw stones at these people for, he was right there. All those miracles, all those things. We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have his completed work. So as much as I want them, go look in the mirror. We're not much different. Mike is going to be mad at me. I got through with 18, that was good. So I'll give him all my notes on 19 now. I'll just go ahead and if we can, I'm going to read verses 1 through 42 again just to kind of put us in Actually not that, through 29. John 11, 1 through 29, just so we can frame it. Let's bring up one point. After this discourse that Jesus has and he escapes out of there, and then verse 46, and he went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John at first baptized, and there he abode.

And this is a turning point. Yeah. Israel has been set aside now. And then he goes on to bring up this story about Lazarus to illustrate another great truth. Yeah, see, and that's a good point, you know. And I think it comes down to what Pei said, plainly. I am the Son of God. Believe it or not, you know, believe it or not.

And so now it gets to, and really we're getting Lazarus now with the resurrection power and some different things that we'll see. And that is true, it changes. But Israel has been set aside here. Yeah, yeah. It's a turning point in his ministry. And the change and then coming back and some things, yeah. He didn't go back to the temple again. No, that's a good point. I'll just read it and we'll get prep for 19. John 11 and verses 1 through 29.

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus and Bethany, in the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sister sent word to him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. But when Jesus heard this, he said, This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister Lazarus, so when he heard that he was sick, he then stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this, he said to his disciples, Let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and you are going there again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. This he said, and after that he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep. This is great when you get into their logic.

The disciples then said to him, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he'll recover. Did they want to go down there? Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, so that we may die with him. So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb four days.

Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. Martha, therefore, when she had heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet him. But Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said to Jesus, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died.

Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, yes Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even he who comes into the world. When she said this, she went away and called Mary, her sister, saying secretly, the teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to him."

I don't know if we can get one second away. Maybe I'll just leave it there and then probably what I may do is I'll take these first questions next week since I've got them. got them ready, but interesting section here on Lazarus, the responses, what this shows. So if you can, really take a look at the questions this week. I think Jack said this is a turning point in his ministry, and this shows a lot, resurrection, some of those things too, and the resurrection, again, delve into that. a little bit what that means and some of the verses that are called out in here. But it's a good passage. Please try and look at the lessons for 19 and we'll get some good discussion. Alright, let's close.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. We thank you again just for your word. We thank you for your indwelling spirit. And we just thank you for just the word that you provided to us as we look into it and see just some of the histories, some of the things that have gone on, and we look at the responses. Father, we know just how we would respond to many of these things if we respond in our old nature.

Father, we can just rest in the fact that we are new creatures in Christ, and we thank you that that there is no way, as John 10, 1028, get out of your hand. Well, we can't because our very life is in the life of the Lord Jesus. So Father, we just rest in that. We pray that we will grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So Father, we just commit this day to you. We thank you again for your word and your spirit and just the peace that we have in you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.