Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us take this opportunity to find our seats, silence our electronics, and prepare our hearts for worship. you so so You so We welcome all of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to Dayspring Fellowship. We are delighted to have you with us this Lord's Day morning. I want to direct you in your bulletin this morning to notice that we are continuing during our Sunday school time to go through 1 Samuel. We were in chapter 13 this morning, titled, Your Kingdom Shall Not Continue, spoken by the Lord to King Saul. And then you'll see also that on Wednesday evening of this week, we have no Wednesday activities. Sermon passage for next week will be the very beginning of Jesus's high priestly prayer. So John 17, we'll just look at the first five verses, one through five. So I encourage you to be reading and praying through that yourself, reflecting on it in preparation for next week. Let's see, you will also notice across the page there that the free online resource that I am recommending for the month of August is this book by John Piper. This is the last Sunday I'll be recommending it. It's titled Battling Unbelief. defeating sin with superior pleasure. This is a book that is available completely for free online using the link there for you. It's one that I highly recommend to you, as you can probably notice just from the title. It is about our daily battle against sin and against unbelief, and Pastor John Piper gives us The remedy to that, which is to notice that the pleasures of this world which tempt us are just mirages in comparison to the real pleasure of knowing the Lord and having a relationship with him. And a part of battling and defeating unbelief is just believing in and trusting in God's promises for the future. So this book is one that will increase your hope for the future and what God has promised to do. Nursery volunteer opportunities are available. And if you are being led to enjoy one of those opportunities to be added to the rotation, see Susie Phillips to get signed up and added to it. Our September conference is coming up real soon. It's two weeks from today, Sunday evening, September the 8th, at Park Hills Baptist Church in Austin. That is just west of Mopac and just south of the river, and they're going to be hosting us for this free Christian conference. The title of the conference is The Church and Politics, Quit or Conquer? Following Christ Through Political Turmoil. And we have certainly seen a lot of that, and this will be very equipping for us to follow Christ through political turmoil. It will also be a great opportunity to get together with like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ. The doors will open at 4.30 p.m. that Sunday evening. Conference will begin at 5 p.m. and Pastor Ben Wright of Cedar Point Baptist Church, Pastor Josh Hayward of Kenney Avenue Baptist Church, and myself will be the three speakers. We're just going to give short 20-minute, I think, addresses, and then there'll be a panel discussion as well. So I encourage you to come and to take part in that, to be there. I think there might be some free little giveaways that they're going to have as well. And there will be some refreshments. Then there's also a parenting seminar that's coming up. It's being led by Juan and Janine Sanchez, who have raised a number of children, along with Josh and Christina Hayward, who are currently raising even more younger children. And that's going to be at Kinney Avenue Baptist Church on October of the 19th geared specifically for parents. And the cost is $10 per person. Childcare will be provided for free. And you can register using the link there in the bulletin. This will be very helpful to our parents. And then our annual day spring retreat is coming up. Last weekend in October, as always, we have these yellow colored flyers that are out on the hall table. You want to grab those. It'll give you a lot of information. And the main new information that you need to be aware of is that the deadline for registering for the retreat is one week from today. So you only have seven more days. to register for the retreat if you have not already. I was at a Bible conference all week out on the West Coast, just flew in yesterday afternoon. I've been very busy, but I've seen sign-ups coming in, and one of the things that I've noticed, I haven't been able to reach out to everyone who's done this yet, but several have made the mistake of signing up for Friday night and not Saturday night. And so you want to go back and look on SignUpGenius, check your registration, and see if maybe you're one of the people who signed up for a room for Friday but not for Saturday. Now, others signed up for Saturday but not for Friday, and I'm assuming that that is what they wanted. But for those who signed up for Friday and not Saturday, I'm assuming that's not what you wanted. And so what you'll do is just use that same link to go ahead and sign up for Saturday as well. I'll try to reach out to those of you who made that mistake as well. But grab one of these flyers before you leave here today. Don't forget to sign up before or within the week. That's all of our announcements, and so I want to direct you to your blue hymnal. We're gonna be in the blue hymnal all morning, so grab your blue hymnal. Turn with me in that blue hymnal to 353, hymn number 353 in the new blue, and please stand together for our call to worship. Our call to worship this morning, it comes from the 12th chapter of the first gospel, the gospel of Matthew. Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name, the Gentiles will hope. Let us sing together. you I heard an old, old story How a Savior came from glory How He gave His life on Calvary To save a wretch like me I heard about His groaning Of His precious blood's atoning Then I repented of my sins And won the victory O victory in Jesus, my Savior forever! He sought me and He bought me with His redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. I heard about His healing, Of His cleansing power revealing, How He made the lame to walk again, And caused the blind to see. And then I cried, Dear Jesus, Come and heal my broken spirit, And somehow Jesus came and brought to me the victory. O victory in Jesus, my Savior forever! He sought me and He bought me with His redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is to Him. Beneath the cleansing flood I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory And I heard about the streets of gold Beyond the crystal sea About the angels singing And the old redemption story And some sweet day I'll sing up there The song of victory O victory in Jesus, my Savior forever! He sought me and He bought me with His redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is to Him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. And let us pray together. Almighty God and Heavenly Father, we praise you for this victory in Jesus that you have given to us. And we join the praises of those in the heavenly places in Christ gathered before your throne, ceaselessly praising you this morning. We thank you, Lord God, that you have included us as a part of that redeemed multitude from every nation, tribe, and tongue. And we pray, Lord God, that you would help us to match our worship in magnitude to your glory and to your majesty. We pray, Heavenly Father, that we would remember your great love towards us, your great mercy. We pray, Lord God, for the conviction of sin against you and the granting of repentance so that we might prepare our hearts to commune with you and with your people today. We thank you that every one of the sins of your people is washed away by this cleansing flood, by the blood of the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for the great joy of coming before you in prayer and in worship. And we thank you, Lord God, for the opportunity that we have to hear you speaking to us through your perfect, inerrant word today. So we pray that you would open our ears, open our hearts to attend ourselves to all these means of grace today, that you would do your sovereign work in every heart here. And we pray, Lord God, that you would ensure that all that we do would be done sincerely and in a way that would elevate our love and our mercy. for one another and that would give you all the glory and honor and praise. We ask all of these things in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. You know, it's one thing to sing these songs. It's another thing to believe them and to live them out. You know, for those of us who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, I mean, do we really believe that we have victory right now? Christ has died on the cross for your sins, and that penalty was not something that we could pay, and he paid it for us. And through his death, if you're struggling with sin, which is every single one of us in here, and if you trusted in him, we have the greatest victory But for those of you who don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, there is victory that is possible for you. You won't attain it on your own, you won't achieve it through your own works, but Christ died so you could have it. So, as we continue to sing about Christ, let us turn to hymn number 372, For Our God Reigns. How lovely o'er the mountains are the feet of Him who brings good news. Good news, announcing peace, proclaiming news of happiness. Our God reigns. Our God reigns. Our God reigns. ♪ Our God reigns ♪ Our God reigns ♪ Our God reigns ♪ He had no stately form ♪ He had no majesty ♪ That we should be ♪ Drawn to him He was despised and we took no account of Him, yet now He reigns with the Most High. Our God reigns! Our God reigns! Our God reigns Our God reigns Out of the tomb He came with grace and majesty He is alive He is alive God loves us so, see here His hands, His feet, His side. Yes, we know He is alive! Our God reigns! Our God reigns! Our God reigns. Our God reigns. All right. Please turn to hymn 543. 543. Till the storm passes by. In the dark of the midnight, have I oft hid my face? While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place. Mid the crash of the thunder, precious Lord, hear my cry. Keep me safe till the storm passes by. Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more, till the clouds roll forever from the sky. Hold me fast, let me stand in the hallow of the hand. Keep me safe till the storm passes by. Many times Satan whispered, there's no need to try For there's no end to sorrow, there's no hope I am blind But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I will rise Where the storm never darkens the skies Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more, till the clouds roll forever from the sky. Hold me fast, let me stand in the hallow of the hand, keep me safe till the storm passes by. When the long night has ended and the storms come no more, let me stand in thy presence on that bright, peaceful shore. In the land where the tempest never comes, Lord, may I dwell with thee when the storm passes by. Amen. Now we have the reading of God's word. Good morning. Our scripture reading this morning comes from Ephesians chapter 2 verses 4 through 9. but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised up with him and sealed with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that sorry, so that the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of your own doing. It is a gift from God, not a result of works, but that no one may boast. We celebrate the accomplishment of that great salvation by God's grace alone, apart from works every Lord's Day here at Day Spring. One of the things that we emphasize at this part of our Lord's Day service is the unity that we have as brothers and sisters adopted into the one family of God. we partake of the one bread because we are one body. And so as we invite you to the table, there's nothing that divides God's people. And so all who belong to the Lord are welcome to participate in this supper. The requirements of this supper are exactly the same requirements for adjoining this church. And so you don't have to be a Baptist or a paedo-baptist. You can be a premillennialist, postmillennialist, an amillennialist. We don't make divisions over non-essential matters. You can be pro-Israel or anti-Israel. You can be pro-vaccine or anti-vax. We allow all kinds of people. That's one of the miracles of salvation, is how God brings so many different people with so many different backgrounds, so many different opinions, and views, and theological positions, and unites us together into one body. The three things that we do ask of you are these. First and most importantly, that you are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. You are not looking to your own efforts, to your own goodness, to anything that you have done at all. You are looking to Jesus Christ and what He has done, what He has accomplished in living the life that we have all failed to live, a life of obedience to His Father, which He did in the place of His people, in our stead, and went to the cross in our stead, took upon Himself the judgment against our sins, the wrath of God that we deserve, being forsaken by the Father. He endured that forsakenness that we deserved so that we might not ever be forsaken by God. And so we are ones who have been saved by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, to his glory alone. And then secondly, we ask that you be a baptized believer, but we do leave the details of your baptism up to your own individual conscience. And then finally, we ask that you not be under church discipline from your own local congregation where your membership resides, so that we might respect the work of our sovereign Lord as he builds his church here in this world. As we prepare our hearts now to celebrate the Lord's Supper together. I invite you to take your blue hymnal again and turn to 321 as we reflect upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. Blue hymnal 321, when I survey the wondrous cross. Let us sing together. When I surveyed the wondrous cross On which the Prince of Glory died My riches gained I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God. All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood. See from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love. flowed mingled down. Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, O thorns composed, so rich a crown, were the whole realm of nature mine that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. Good morning. From Mark chapter 2, And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came bringing him a paralytic, carried by four men, And when they could not get near Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him. And when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately Jesus, perceiving in His Spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise, take up your bed, and walk? but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all so that they were all amazed and glorified God saying, we never saw anything like this. This is a well-known story of Jesus forgiving and healing a paralytic. There are many things that people usually focus on when considering this story. First and foremost is Jesus in His display of authority and power to forgive the paralytic's sins and heal him. Then there's the faith of the paralytic himself coming to Jesus as the only one who could heal him. We consider also the scribes who were always looking to trap Jesus and accuse him of blasphemy. These are all worthy of focus and consideration, but I want to focus on another group this morning. The paralytic's four friends. The paralytic couldn't get to Jesus by himself. He had to be brought. He had to be willing to be brought, but he had to be brought. He had four friends who loved him enough to bring him. But then they're faced with a challenge. There was too great a crowd and they wouldn't move. You know the scribes were going to give up their place. They can't get to Jesus. So do they turn to their friend and say, sorry, we brought you but we can't get you to see him. No. They get to work to make a path for him. But it's not an easy path. They get on top of the house and start removing the roof so that they can lower him down. This is no simple undertaking. Furthermore, it's not their house. They are begging the permission and tolerance of the owner to do this. These guys have to work hard to bring their friend to the Lord. They get to witness with joy the Lord forgiving and restoring their friend. And when the job of putting the roof back together, which they had to do, when they have to start that job, it's a little easier now because now there's at least five of them to work. These men showed great faith. that the work they were doing to bring their friend to Jesus would not be in vain. Brothers and sisters, how hard are you willing to work to bring your friends and family to the Lord? Sometimes it takes a lot that will require your display of faith and perseverance. The Lord will do the work and He will do it without you. But you get, if you're involved, you get the joy of seeing the Lord work in their heart and bring them to saving faith and all that effort is small in comparison to that. You may not see it for years, if ever, but you know that if God, that God is faithful and He will call all whom He has chosen This was his whole purpose in coming to pay the awful penalty of sin on our behalf, which is what we remember and celebrate now. And so I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world." Brothers and sisters, let's take a moment to examine ourselves. Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for the work that You have done through Your Son on our behalf. He paid the penalty for us and You called us to Him that we might be changed and redeemed and join Your kingdom. Lord, you did not call idle servants. You called us to work. Lord, strengthen us, equip us, and encourage us. Though the path may be difficult, if there are those we love who do not know you, let us show how much we love them. It may be nothing but continual prayer for them or setting an example or being a faithful witness. But Lord, that is what you have called us to be, to be ambassadors of your kingdom in a dark world, to let the light shine through us. It is not our light, it is yours, Lord. May we be faithful and may you strengthen us And may the day come when we see the fruit of your work through us in a dark world. For your honor and glory alone, in Jesus' name, amen. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. This is the body of the Lord which is given for you. This cup is the new covenant in Christ's blood, shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sin. Take your blue hymnals one last time. We will be singing hymn 777, the number of completion. And we'll be singing On Jordan Stormy Banks. And after we sing this song, we will be singing the first and the last lines of Amazing Grace to go with it. On Jordan's stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye To Canaan's fair and happy land Where my possessions lie I am bound for the promised land I am bound for the promised land Oh, who will come and go with me? I am bound for the promised land All o'er those wide extended plains shines one eternal day. There God the sun forever reigns and scatters night away. I am bound for the promised land. I am bound for the promised land. Oh, who will come and go with me? I am bound for the promised land. No chilling winds nor poisonous breath can reach that hellfall shore. Sickness and sorrow, pain and death are felt and feared no more. I am bound for the promised land. I am bound for the promised land. Oh, who will come and go with me? I am bound for the promised land. When shall I reach that happy place and be forever blessed? When shall I see my father's face and his bruisome breast? I am bound for the promised land. I am bound for the promised land. Oh, who will come and go with me? I am bound for the promised land. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now I'm found Was blind, but now I see Was blind, but now I see Was blind, but now I see I once was lost, but now I'm found Was blind, but now I see When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've known less days to sing God's praise than when we've first begun. And when we've first begun, and when we've first begun, we've known less days to sing God's praise than when we've first begun. All right, now take your red hymnals. If you find your red hymnal in the rack in front of you, turn in the back of the red hymnal to page 802. 802 in the back of your red. And we're gonna read responsibly together Psalm 46. Please stand together. God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most God is within her. She will not fall. God will help her at break of day. The Lord Almighty is with us. Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Let us pray together. Our blessed God and Father, we come before you to praise your holy name, to thank you, Lord God, that you are our mighty fortress, our rock who never forsakes us. You watch over us, protecting us, providing for all of our needs. We thank you, Lord God, for your tender mercies, which are new every morning. We thank you for showering us with blessing, and we thank you for the fellowship partnership that we have together in the gospel. Our Father, we lift up those who are absent from us today. We pray that you would be with all who join us online. We thank you, merciful God, for caring for the sick among us. We thank you that the government is upon the shoulders of your ruling and reigning son. We pray for President Biden and for all of our earthly leaders, that you would give them repentance and forgiveness. We lift up to you our lost loved ones, that you would have mercy upon them and bring them to saving faith in Christ Jesus. We pray, Lord God, that you would be with Pastor Samuel Klintock at Park Hills Baptist Church this morning, as he leads our Austin area brothers and sisters there in worship of you this morning. pray that you would add to their numbers and that you would deepen their faith. We pray for all of the ministries that go out from this congregation, and we pray, Lord, that you would be with all of our missionaries across this world, that you would do your sovereign work in South Africa and in India and in Belize and Guyana and in Papua New Guinea and throughout this world. We pray that the gospel of King Jesus and his finished work upon the cross would go forth in power to all nations, that all Israel would be saved. And so we pray that the whole earth might be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, you may be seated and our children may go out to Children's Church at this time. And as they go up, please turn with me in your copy of God's glorious word back to the 16th chapter of the Gospel of John, John chapter 16. We're actually going to finish up this chapter today Jesus has been speaking to his 11 disciples, preparing them for what's ahead as the shadow of the cross loomed closer and closer. And today we're going to look at the very last paragraph of this intimate speech to his disciples before Jesus then prays to the Father in chapter 17, where he prays for these disciples in this high priestly prayer. He also prays for believers in the future like you and me. He even prays for himself. We're going to see that beginning next week. But first here, as Jesus ends this speech, he does so in a really bracing and unexpected way. He ends by cluing his disciples in to their own weakness. Let's read it. Chapter 16, beginning in verse 29. His disciples said, ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech. Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you. This is why we believe that you came from God. Jesus answered them, do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming. Indeed, it has come. when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world. And if you're a leader, if you're a coach, for example, that is not normally the way that you would end a locker room speech before the big game. What you expect is something more like, hey guys, listen up, hard times are coming. So stay with me, stay strong, stand firm. I'm glad to hear that you're feeling more self-confident. Hold on to that. Don't lose that. You've got this. Believe in yourselves. Believe also in me. And now let's go get out there and show the world. Let's do this. Ready, team, go. That's how you'd end the pep rally if you're trying to buck up your guys to do something very difficult and very hard. But that's not what Jesus does here at all. I mean, verse 29, the disciples They are feeling pretty good about themselves. They say to Jesus, okay, okay, now we get it. We understand you, Jesus, and we believe. And Jesus says, do you get it, though? You actually don't get it. And in fact, when push comes to shove, and it's about to, you're gonna scatter to the winds and you're gonna abandon me all alone. That's what you're about to do. So why does he do that? I mean, if you wanted to pull the rug out from under your team, you'd get them into the locker room as they're all shouting and yelling about how they're feeling, great confidence about the big game. And the coach would say, let me tell you what's about to happen here. You're going to get out there on the court, and you're going to fail. They're going to dunk on you 15 times. You're going to get beat in the end by 50 points. If you want to pull out the rug from under your team, that's exactly what you do. So why does Jesus do that? Why not buck up the disciples here and sort of get them ready to go into this really difficult, really hard time? Well, I think if you look at the words, if you look at the structure of this little section, you can see what the Lord Jesus is doing here. And he is, in fact, bucking them up for what's about to take place. He is. He is, in fact, getting them ready. But he's getting them ready in the right way, in the way that will actually help them. Let me show you just the structure of it. Here in verses 29 to 32, you've got this section where the disciples profess all this confidence about their own understanding, and Jesus just completely rejects that, tells them, about the cowardice and the weakness that actually lies at the bottom of their hearts. But then in verse 33, he moves on to tell them that even though that's the case, even though that's true, even though their confidence is shallow and their cowardice is deep, even though that's true, even though the world is going to do everything it can to exploit the fact that they are weak cowards, and so try to destroy them. He says, you will stand firm and have peace. The thing here that's shocking, though, is the reason for that. It's because he himself has overcome the world. So you see the point. What happens here is that right at the end of the speech, Jesus sees this little spark of self-confidence igniting in his own disciples. He sees just a little flash of self-reliance, self-faith, confidence in their own abilities, their own understanding, their own strength. And what does he do with it? He immediately snuffs it out. Don't have faith in yourself. Don't rely on yourself. That's not the way, he says. Where does your faith belong? Where does your peace come from? Where does your strength to stand firm and remain firm come from? Where does courage actually come from? Not yourself, he says, but me. Courage and strength and perseverance come in who I am and what I am about to do. So here's the main idea of what Jesus is telling his disciples, and therefore telling us, because we're also disciples of Jesus. Don't look for strength and peace in the Christian life in your own effort and steadfastness. Don't look for peace and strength in the Christian life in your own effort and steadfastness. Find it instead in the victory Jesus won for you. Find it instead in the victory Jesus won for you. I'll say that whole thing again. Don't look for peace and strength in the Christian life in your own effort and steadfastness. Find it instead in the victory Jesus won for you. Now, I realize that at first that might sound like some kind of spiritual mumbo jumbo higher life kind of nonsense, but it's not. It is as real as the disciples' heartbreak that they were experiencing here, and it's as critical as the moment they were living in right there in that room looking into their master's eyes. Their entire world was about to fall apart. And you see what happened when they were told that, their very first impulse about the news that their world's about to fall apart. And they are so much like us in this. Their first impulse was to try to meet that unraveling by leaning back on their own resources, by leaning back on their own strength and their own understanding of this whole situation. Oh Jesus, now we understand. We got it. Now we are ready for anything. But Jesus, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that that was gonna fail. He knew that they don't got this, they're not up for this, and that that was about to become just wrenchingly obvious to all of them when they get swallowed up in utter confusion and fear and scattering just in the next few hours. That giddy self-reliance that they have It's about to collapse hard and fast. And so he says, stop that. Don't comfort yourselves by thinking you understand now. You don't. You're going to need peace. You're going to need courage. You're going to need to stand so strong that you will die for these things one day. That's what you're going to need. And what's going to give you that kind of strength is not leaning on your own resources, but knowing what I have done and resting, trusting, and reveling in that. That's how you're going to stand. That's true for them. That's true for us, too. And that's what we're going to talk about today. We are not strong, brothers and sisters, any of us. We are not up for this in and of ourselves. You look across this room and you may see someone who you think is a strong Christian. If that person is actually strong, they are not strong because of themselves. We are, all of us, only strong because our Savior has already conquered for us. So just two points to the sermon this morning, two easy points. Number one, our weakness. Number two, His victory. It's that simple. Number one, our weakness. Number two, His victory. So number one, Our weakness. Up in verse 25, Jesus had mentioned, almost in an offhanded kind of way to his disciples, that there was a time coming when he would no longer speak to them in figures of speech, like parables. That there's an hour coming when it's going to be just as plain as day. We talked last week about how that clarity, it was only going to come when everything was accomplished, right? All the great events of salvation history, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension. And then when all of that happened, all of these things that Jesus said would fall into place, and the Holy Spirit would come, and the Spirit would illuminate these things even further until you got the New Testament being written, not in parables, right? The New Testament is just written in straightforward statements. You know, Christ exhausted the wrath of God in his body on the tree, that kind of thing. Just as straightforward as you could possibly get. He tells them that hour is coming, and then in verse 28 he says this kind of relatively plain thing about his life trajectory, right? He came from the Father into the world, and now he's going out of the world, he's leaving the world, going back to the Father. There's no parable there, no riddle, no figure of speech. It's a relatively plain thing that he says to them. And so in verse 29, the disciples get all excited that Jesus has just said this relatively plain thing to them. And they say, oh, OK, now we see. Now you're speaking plainly and not using figures of speech. And so they're basically thinking that what Jesus had just promised about a time of clarity, that that time has now arrived. Well, they're wrong. about that. But they think they've got it. Now we see. Now we've got it. And then you look at the next couple of verses, they go on to explain to Jesus what they think that they've got, what they think they understand now. So verse 30, now we know that you know all things and that you don't even need anybody to ask you questions. So Jesus, he's just been answering their questions without the disciples even having to ask those questions. So what you've got here is probably actually not some grand profession that they've come to an understanding that Jesus is omniscient, just like God. When they say, you know all things, it's probably more like you are so very wise and knowledgeable, Jesus, that you even anticipate our questions before we even ask. And then look at their grand finale there at the end of verse 30. This is the great big thing that they think now that they've understood. He's just said, I came from the Father into the world. I'm leaving the world to go back to the Father. And they say, we understand that you came from God. But Jesus is completely unimpressed. And why is that? Why is Jesus so completely unimpressed? It's because their opinion of Jesus, it was high. Their opinion and judgment of him is correct, but it's not nearly high enough. It's not nearly correct enough. They've got a true, yes, but utterly insufficient understanding of who he is. It's not an unusual thing for human beings to have a kind of true but utterly insufficient understanding of who God is or who Jesus is. I mean, think about it, that's probably the default position of the vast majority of people in the world today. A true, true but utterly insufficient understanding of Jesus, right? Generally, a positive understanding of who he was, who he is, but totally missing the mark, right? He's a good teacher. He's a famous philosopher. He's even a great religious leader and a prophet. And basically everyone would say, yeah, sure. I mean, he's the founder of a huge worldwide religion. He's one of the most influential people in the entire history of the world. And so, hey, I'll give him that. I mean, maybe that's where you sit with Jesus today. You respect him. You like him. Maybe you've even read some of what he has said in the Gospels. And so you have a great and high opinion of Jesus, but from a distance. And that's about as far as it goes. Not much interest beyond that, right? Great historical figure, great philosopher, great teacher, changed the world. But that's kind of it. Well, if that's you, I hope that you will see here what Jesus would say about that. Because he'd say that just like these disciples, you're not getting it. And that if you went a little deeper, if you really did the work to understand him, to get to know him, you would find him to be not just immensely interesting, which he is once you understand what he's actually claiming about himself, but maybe you would even find him to be worthy of your faith and of your entire life. Is that possible? I think it is. You know, it's possible for Christians, too, to fall into this kind of insufficient understanding of who Jesus is, even if you've got a ton of knowledge about him. You can still have an insufficient understanding of who Jesus is, especially when the rubber hits the road, right? I think some Christians wind up living in a kind of functional atheism. functional atheism from time to time in our lives. When circumstances press down on us, when we lose sight of the death and resurrection and ascension and reign and rule of Jesus, we can have these moments in our lives where we function as atheists. And it's functional, because it's not like we have a deep-rooted, thoughtful atheism in those moments, right? If someone were to ask us, do you really think there is no God? We would say, of course not. I know that there is a God. I believe. But in our functioning, in our living, we're acting as if there is no God. Because that's the natural, just gravitational pull of our hearts. And it takes a whole lot of diligence to counter that pull. But the fact that you and I have this tendency to live in a functional atheism so often in our lives, that is worth noticing. And it's worth fighting. We can have an insufficient knowledge of Jesus, even when we have a lot of knowledge about him. Anyway, Jesus, he meets the disciples' self-confidence here with a question. Do you now believe? Jesus is just flat out not buying it from the disciples. And so he goes on in verse 32 to tell them the truth about what's about to happen. They're all, you know, hopped up about their newfound confidence and who he is and thinking that they're going to, you know, run the ball down the field. He comes in verse 32 and says, nope, that's not what's about to happen. Behold, the hour is coming. Indeed, it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone." Now, a few details about this. First, I want you to notice here that the hour, which is always in John's gospel, the hour of his death, that hour is no longer coming. He says, it has come. It is upon them. now, because the cross is looming large now. Second, far from standing strong in that hour, they're about to be scattered. Now, that's actually not Jesus just coming up with the word scattered. He's pulling that word from the Old Testament there. It's coming from Zechariah 13, 7, where it said, you know, strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. Now why is that important? Because it's not just an evocative image of sheep and their shepherd. It's important because in the context of Isaiah, that's actually a prophecy of the Messiah King, who is going to be killed, Zechariah says, in order to save his people from death. But then he shows up again at the end of the book of Zechariah after his death. So you've got a picture of the death and the resurrection. of the Messiah who's dying to save his people, as a good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. So when Jesus says, you are those who are about to be scattered, he's saying, you are those sheep in Zechariah 13, which of course makes me then the shepherd, the king, the one who's about to die to save my people, and then to come through the other side of that resurrected. and then raining over the world. So he's got a, Jesus has a very deep understanding, quite obviously, of who he is and what is about to take place here. Third, look at the phrase there, each to his own home. You're all gonna be scattered, each to his own home. That's not really what it says. The ESV has added the word home there, because without saying home, it just sounds a little strange. It actually just says, about to be scattered, each to his own. Now, it turns out that they do scatter each to their own houses, so the ESV is not totally unjustified in adding that word that's not there in the original, but I think Jesus leaving that word off there, it points to something a whole lot deeper, and frankly, a whole lot sadder. It means you're all going to be scattered, each to your own, each to your own little world, your own little isolated reality alone in your grief and in your brokenness and in your fear, cut off from your brothers. It's just an incredibly sad picture to be scattered, each to your own. And what's the result of all of this? Well, fourth, Jesus would be left all alone, all of his friends abandoning him. I mean, he's not utterly alone, at least for most of the ordeal. Like he says here, the Father is going to be with him through most of it until the darkness falls, the judgment falls, and he is forsaken by the Father. And none of his friends are going to be there. They're not going to stand with them. They're not going to go to the cross with them. The work of redemption, of saving you, of saving me from our sins, that was always Jesus's, and Jesus's alone. He did it all by himself. And at the very height of it, even after his friends had abandoned him and he was alone in a human sense, at the height of the whole thing, at the apex of the suffering at that cosmic moment, when the wrath of God was poured out and the sentence of death was executed upon Jesus Christ for you and for me, Not even his father's presence was there. And he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He was left totally and completely alone to accomplish the salvation of his people, to be forsaken in our place. You see, the point of all this, though, let's just back up and think about it. in the sort of shadow of the looming cross. The disciples were trying as hard as they could to find something to hold on to, something to rely on, to find something in all of this darkness, some foundation to stand upon that would give them strength. And what they settled on in this moment was their own understanding of the situation. What they found to stand on was their own confidence that when it all went down, they had enough knowledge about Jesus. They had enough loyalty to Jesus. They had a high enough opinion of Jesus to remain faithful to him, to remain strong. That's what they found to stand on. But what Jesus saw through just in an instant is that it's not enough. It's not even close to enough. And that just becomes blindingly clear because what, in fact, did happen They turned tail and ran. They were broken and terrified of being arrested themselves. They were scattered, each to his own. They're like those men on the road to Emmaus. Remember what they said to Jesus? Didn't know he was Jesus. They said, we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. And implied in that, devastatingly, is, but now we know better. But now we know better. We had really, really hoped that he was the one. But now we know better. It's too easy, I think, to look down on the disciples for their scattering away from Jesus. It's too easy to say, why didn't you just stand firm? Why didn't you just stay strong? Why didn't you at least stay together? But one of the greatest lessons you can learn in life is that Self-confidence is a brittle, brittle platform. We all try to stand on it. We try to stand on it as individuals. We try to stand on it as institutions. We try to stand on it as local churches. And as a result, we don't tend to stand firm, not for very long. We are all, every one of us, Every institution, every one of us individually, we are just primed like a stretched bow to go each to our own at the slightest bit of difficulty. We know that in ourselves individually. That's true also of Dayspring. For the past five years especially, we as a congregation, we have enjoyed, greatly enjoyed, just the exquisite delicacy of real, genuine church unity. It's been glorious. It's a beautiful thing. to have this group of people who are unified in their love for Jesus and their love for each other as Jesus' people, and who aren't just, you know, spinning off like a centrifuge into 50 different directions. It is a beautiful and rare thing. But if you know anything about human history, about church history, even about this local church's history, If you know anything about human nature, even Christian human nature, this rare jewel of Christian unity, unity in Christ, is also something that we need to understand could shatter with a whisper. Jesus says, you will be scattered. It's not just a promise and a prophecy to the disciples. It's also a warning to Jesus's church. And brothers and sisters, we seem to be living, don't we, in an age of scattering, of people running to their corners, of gathering up into their platoons and their divisions, and each going to his own. It's happening in this nation in which we are sojourners. We sojourn here as aliens. And it's happening in the broader evangelical movement. You can see it happening. And the thing is, it is inevitable, it's inevitable that those forces out there will pull on us in here. They just will. You can't be a ship in the ocean without the ship getting buffeted by the waves. And we are very, very much a ship in the ocean. We're getting buffeted and pulled by the waves and the currents and the impulse to scatter will be strong, even in this place where there's so, so much good happening. So let's fight that. Let's be determined to fight that. Let's be constantly aware of that danger and know that it's going to come and fight it. What God has given us here at Dayspring is a precious thing, these precious years of unity. Let's work to protect that. as those currents in this land, on the one hand, and in the evangelical world, on the other hand, pull on us left and right and center, fight it. So how do we do that? How do we do that? Not by self-confidence. Not by confidence in Dayspring, in our constitution and bylaws, in our traditions. Not even in our solid theology. That would be the same mistake the disciples are making here. So how do we fight it? We do what Jesus says in verse 33. We know him. We revel in him. And we let that knowledge and love and reveling in him bring us peace that passes all understanding. Which brings us now to point number two. Point number two, his victory. Our weakness, His victory. In verse 33, Jesus turns from what's about to happen to the disciples because of their self-confidence, their weakness. He gives them the antidote to it, and this is amazing. Put your eyes on verse 33. I've said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but take heart. I have overcome the world." That's the antidote to self-confidence that's about to destroy them, at least for a moment. Ultimately, he's going to bring them through it, but for the moment, it's going to destroy them. And here is the antidote. It's obvious that they don't take the medicine, right? Not immediately. But even once everything's done, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, Holy Spirit coming, even once everything falls into place for them, he wants them to know what the medicine is for that continuing impulse in their hearts towards self-reliance and therefore towards scattering. He wants them to know what they should do in the future instead of this kind of self-confidence. So when the persecution starts, when they're about to put you on trial and torture you and crucify you upside down, Peter, what is it that's going to give you the courage and the peace that you need to endure that? When the hammer of the state and the temple comes down on the brand new little fledgling congregation in Jerusalem. What is going to give you the peace and the strength to stand firm under that and to not give up the mission because of all the suffering? Well, it's not your own understanding. It's not your own inevitably insufficient opinion of Jesus. It is his victory, his conquering the world. And you're being swept up into that victory. Let's consider this verse in some detail. Look at that first sentence. He says, I've said these things to you that in me you may have peace. Well, what are these things that he has said? Is it just this paragraph? Is it the sentence right above this? What's he talking about there? He doesn't specify, right? But probably, probably he's talking about everything that he's been telling them in this whole discourse since chapter 13. They will have peace and strength and courage as they start to understand more and more deeply the things that he's been telling them in this intimate moment that he loves them, that He's preparing for them a place for them to be with Him in heaven, in His Father's presence, that He's gonna send the Holy Spirit as a helper, a comforter to strengthen them and to convict the world of its sin and its righteousness and its justice, that they'll gain strength, they'll gain courage, they'll gain peace. as they more and more deeply understand that when they pray now to the Father, they're doing so in Jesus's name, in His authority. And He's interceding for them and reigning on their behalf. That He's about to be enthroned, in fact, as the human King of the universe. And what he wants them to understand is that all those things are gonna give them peace and confidence and joy and strength and all the rest of it. They didn't do any of that. They didn't enthrone Jesus. They didn't earn the coming of the Holy Spirit. They didn't earn the benefit of bold access to the Father in Jesus's name. They didn't earn his love. It was all just given to them freely. And Jesus says it's those things, those things that you're just given. that will grow and cultivate peace and joy and comfort in your hearts. It's not the things you do, Jesus says, it's the things I do for you. So let me pause here and ask you, where does your heart and mind tend to go for comfort? When you run into trials and hardships and difficulties and sorrows, does it go to, I can handle this, I'm strong, I'm a Christian, I'm talented, I'm a courageous person, I can do this. Where does your mind and heart go to? Does it go to Jesus? What he's done for you, what he's accomplished for you, what he's freely given to you, secured for you. Look at the last little sentence there. Take heart. Take heart. Look at the logic of it. Take heart. Why? How do you take heart? In other words, how does peace come? Take heart, I have overcome the world. I've conquered it. I've defeated it. I sit enthroned above it. And I do so not just for my own glory, but for your good, if you're united to me. Because of that, take heart. You ever given much thought to how Jesus conquered the world? What does he mean when he says, it's a super famous verse, right? Take heart, I have overcome the world. You put that on coffee mugs and t-shirts. We do that as Christians. But what does it mean? Well, first you got to understand what the world is there. We've talked about this a lot as we've studied John's Gospel, but it just means the entire world system that is in rebellion, in opposition to God. When Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, the world went into rebellion against and opposition to God. King Adam. acting as vice-regent under God, as king over the created order. When he rebelled against God, the whole creation went with him. So it's the whole world system, it's economics, it's societies, it's governments, it's culture considered in its opposition to God. Now what Jesus tells us is that when you put your faith and your trust, your reliance in Him, you are plucked out of that system that's in opposition to God, and you are placed in His eternal kingdom. We've been brought out of darkness into His marvelous light, transferred from the world and its opposition to God from that kingdom into His kingdom. That's the kind of plucking that happens when you become a Christian. But that's what He means. I have overcome this entire system that has set itself in opposition to and in rebellion against my Father. How does He do it? Well, he does it through his life and death and resurrection. I mean, think about it. In his life, never once did Jesus buckle to the pressure of that system, the system that was opposed to the Lord and to himself as the Lord's anointed. Never once did he buckle to it, nor did he buckle to the temptation of that world. And Satan, remember, Satan showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, offered him all the entire world system in opposition to God, said, this whole thing of mine is yours, Jesus, if only you bow down and worship me. And Jesus said, no, I'm going to roll this whole thing back. I'm gonna win all of these nations by redeeming from them, from every nation, tribe, and language, people for my own possession. And Jesus showed this in his life, what he had come to do, right? He would walk up to somebody who was sick. The disease would flee. The sick could reach out and just touch the very edge, the hem of his garment, and the disease would flee. He was overcoming the world in rebellion against God through his life. He overcame it even more in his death, right? He overcame the curse that fell because of our sin upon the world. And when all of that curse was exhausted in his own body, as Peter says, as he hung on the tree, so that the sword that hangs over your head and my head because of our sins. It doesn't fall on us if we're Christian. It is plunged into his heart and he dies so that we don't have to. Imagine the moment when Jesus cried out from the cross, it is finished. And then he says, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit and his head falls. Can you imagine the cackling of the demons because they thought the world had won? We've crushed the Son of God. It's over. I've often wondered if the cackling stopped quickly or slowly. When the curtain of the temple ripped from top to bottom, when the graves broke open and the graveyard cracked open, you've got to wonder, If Satan said, wait, what was that? Why are the graves open? Jesus overcame the world. He overcame death. He overcame the world. in his resurrection from the dead, when he conquered death, the final and greatest weapon of the world in rebellion against God, the final and most dangerous and most grotesque and horrible weapon for wreaking destruction, Jesus conquered it. He owns it. And he'll destroy it in the end. He overcame the world in rebellion to God. So take heart. and be at peace. Look at the middle of that verse, right in the middle of verse 33. In me you will have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. So in Jesus His people will have peace, and at the same time in the world, they're gonna have tribulation. You can think of it a lot like Noah's Ark, right? You're in the safe, secure boat, but bouncing around on the massive waves at the same time. That is the Christian experience. You're gonna have trouble and tribulation and hardship. That's inevitable. But if you're in the Ark, If you're in the ark of Jesus Christ, on top of those ceaseless waves, you will also have peace. Genuine, real peace, even in the midst of it. You'll have a heart that's at peace because you'll have a heart that is doing what? Resting in the fact that your king, your king is a conquering king who has overcome the world. And because you're His, because you belong to Him, you're united to Him, you're branched to the vine of life. And therefore you have overcome the world too. This is what Paul wants you to understand when he says, you know, that you're already seated in the heavenlies with King Jesus, as we heard my Sandra read for us earlier. No, not bodily, not yet bodily, but you're united to the one who's seated, who's enthroned in victory over the world. And it's a done deal. One more quick thing. After the resurrection, the disciples would get the logic of all of this. And after that, there wasn't going to be any more scattering each to his own. I mean, once they grasped the fact that Jesus wasn't overcome, he wasn't thrown down, they were united hard in the mission of taking the gospel to the world. And that's how they could submit themselves. That's how they could submit themselves to all kinds of horrible circumstances, to all kinds of martyrdoms, you know, as time went on. That's what kept the church from being ripped apart by persecution. That's how it works. That's how a church ultimately can remain united, even as the world is ripping things apart all around it and trying to rip a church apart. All the divisions out there in our world, they're pressing in and trying to bring division here as well. It's by by making our eyes and our hearts full of the reality of who Jesus is and what he has done, and then reveling in that victory, right? Letting the peace of that reality fill our hearts and fill our church. And when that happens, when that happens, there's no more scattering. Because we're all looking in the same direction. We're not all looking each to his own. We are all Christ's, and we are looking in the same direction, and we're all pulling the same way toward eternity. Brothers and sisters, let's keep doing that until that day. Let us pray. Our Lord Jesus, we thank you that you have taught us so clearly here about the impotence and the bankruptcy of our own self-confidence and about our desperate need to look to you, to look to you to find peace and joy in the fact that you are enthroned and you reign and rule over all and you do so for our good. You have overcome the world. So help us, Lord, to take heart. Our Heavenly Father, we pray that you would help us as individuals and as a local church to bring these truths deeply into our hearts, that we would press on in our faith, in our confidence in Jesus and in his mission for his glory and for the good of his church. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Please stand together. Be sure to greet visitors and greet one another. And just as a reminder, be sure this week, if you haven't already, sign up for the October Retreat, which is coming up. This is the week that you need to sign up. Check your sign up and make sure you didn't just sign up for Friday night and missed Saturday. Some of you did that, so you want to check that. And then we'll talk about signing up for service opportunities and payment later. But the deadline to sign up is what we're focused on this week. Well, now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.