When Jesus Moves, It's Not What You Think

Now, I'm just going to ask that you get out your Bibles. We're going to get in right now. This is really important. We didn't come here to hear a sage on the stage. I'm the last person that you should want to listen to. I want you to hear from the Lord God Almighty. And he's given us away through this book. It's called the Bible. So, if you brought a Bible, hold it in the air. Even if you didn't bring a Bible, I want everyone to participate in the count of three. I want you to shout word. Even if you're watching online, you can type it in the comments. Everyone's going to shout word on the count of three. Here we go. Ready? Here we go. One, two, three. Word. We're getting into God's word so that God's word gets into us. It's not what you think. It's not what you think. It's not what you think. And it's not what you think. And it's not what you think. What's not what you think? Faith.

Following Jesus. Believing in Jesus will at some point shatter your the reality of what you thought it would be like. Believing in Jesus is not easy. It's not comfortable and it's certainly not predictable. Last week we learned about a guy named Lazarus who was dead for 4 days. Most people say it's over when you're buried for 4 days. Even his own sister said, "Jesus, there's a stench. Why? Why would we open the door to this grave when he's been dead for 4 days? But this is my God. It's not what you think. He brings the dead to life. And it wasn't just a miracle in that moment bringing Lazarus back to life. It was a

movement. And here's the thing about Jesus. When there's a movement, there's change. And when there's change, people have a hard time. Right? But you really want to grow in your faith. You cannot stay the same with Jesus. He shatters the reality of what you thought about who God is, who you are, and it changes everything. Movements make people uncomfortable because you go to places you didn't know you would go. And today, I want you to see that faith is not what you think. Tell your neighbor it's not what you think. Many of you think, "If I just saw miracles, then I'd believe in Jesus. If God would just do what I've been asking him to do, then I would believe. I would go greater with God, I would surrender more with God if he would just do what I asked him to do." But the reality is that's not true. Miracles do not make

faith. The Bible says faith is the assurance of things hoped for. It's a conviction. It's evidence of things not seen. So if you see it, it's not faith at all. You just saw something cool, a miracle, but the reality is you believe in Jesus not because of what he can do, but because of who he is. Years ago in the late 90s, I've told this story before. My sister moved to about the worst place you can move to, North Dakota. She did it because it was cheaper to go to school there. It was cheaper to live there. But I'll tell you, if I had a list of 50 states I would want to live in, I believe that North Dakota's like on the bottom three. And that's no offense to anyone that might be listening or watching from North Dakota. I I'm not sure of the 16 people that live there if anyone does, but uh she moved to Fargo, North Dakota to go to school, and the winter that she first

experienced was one of the worst they had in years, which says a lot for North Dakota because she experienced negative degrees weeks after weeks after weeks. Not only was it negative for so long where you've got to put a heater on your engine so you could start your car in the morning, but they ex they got a ton of snow. I mean, the the drifts of snow, it was it was a bad blizzard week after week. And so, they got a ton of snow and then spring came. It was April and the sun came out and what happened to that snow? It melted and they have a a river there called the Red River. And it is it swelled up. They experienced this massive flood. In fact, it was the worst flood in Fargo since 1828. So, everyone had to be evacuated out of the city. She lived in an apartment downtown. She left the city, went to the country, went to a home just in time to

turn on the television to see what was happening because this was the days before smartphones. Today, we instantly get to hear what's happening. But back in the '9s, we didn't have smartphones to tell us what exactly was happening. You had to turn on the television. And she turned it on just in time to have helicopters recording what was happening in downtown Fargo. And it was on fire. an entire city blocked because the fire department couldn't get to the fire because of the flood and she watched her apartment building burn down. So, she experienced fires and floods and blizzards. So, she decided, I can't live here anymore. So, she moved to Southern California where I was going to school.

So, she moved to sunny Southern California. And one day, not too long after moving there from the frozen tundra of North Dakota, we went to lunch together and we went to Santa Monica. We went and and parked in a parking garage and we went to the third floor of the parking garage in the sixth stall and we went to the prominade and we had a wonderful lunch. We watched the street musicians and after a lovely afternoon, we went back to that parking garage. We went back to the third floor and we went to the sixth stall only to see that her car was not there. And she looked at me and I looked at her and we're both in disbelief after the type of year she just experienced. And she's she's like, "Really? Could this have happened?" And she started to cry. I lied and said, "It's going to be okay."

Even though I didn't know it was going to be okay because how many know when it rains it floods? So, we didn't know what to do. We said, "Here's what we'll do. We'll we'll leave the parking garage. We'll call the police and we we'll we really didn't even know what the next steps to So, we left the parking garage. We went to the sidewalk to look up only to see a building that looked exactly like the parking garage we were just in. So, we thought to ourselves, could it be that we were in the wrong parking garage? So, we we went to that new parking garage, went to the third floor, and went went to the sixth space only to discover her car was there. [Applause] We came to the wrong conclusion. Sometimes it's not what you think because you're in the wrong place and you have the wrong perspective. So it is when it comes to following Jesus.

Sometimes you you think you understand what's happening. You think you know uh what you're experiencing, but when it comes to Jesus, it it's not exactly like that. We're at a place in the book of John, if you got your Bibles, you can turn there now. We're looking at the life of Jesus. He he teaches with authority. He he heals with the power of God. But not everyone is in unity in believing in him. There's this rift that's happening. Some people don't like his teaching when he says you got to eat my flesh and drink my blood. That they abandon Jesus because things get weird. It gets uncomfortable. At this point, the religious leaders, they don't abandon Jesus. They're opposed to Jesus. So, you've got this rift that's happening. But yet, Jesus in the middle of it all repeatedly makes this claim. You've got to believe in me.

He doesn't say go do better, be better, act better. He says you must believe in me. In fact, John 7:38, Jesus said this. He said, "Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." Out of where? His heart. From the inside out, something's going to change if you believe in Jesus. Now, John explains to us, Jesus is referring to the Holy Spirit. So, you believe in Jesus. God's going to flow out of you. God's going to do a new thing. This is new thinking. Something is going to change inside of you that something's going to come out of you that you didn't even know would happen. And I'll tell you, when that happens, it's not what you think.

You could try to dream. You could try to uh evaluate in your life what that looks like, but the Bible says that you can't pray big enough for God. He's able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than you can ask. So, so what stops us from experiencing this abundant life that Jesus offers? I'll tell you what it is. Sin. If you avoid sin, if you deny sin, it will stop you from seeing Jesus. In John chapter nine, Jesus took a man who was born blind and allowed him to see. And the whole point of it was not a miracle that he brings sight to the blind. It's so that you would see. You need Jesus to see clearly. And sin will stop you from seeing Jesus and you'll come to a false conclusion with who he is. Sin will stop you from hungering and thirsting for Jesus and

you'll try to be satisfied in something else. But Jesus says you that you must come to him. He is the bread of life. He is the only way that you will never thirst again. So if you've ever been spiritually thirsty, which I know you have, it's a desire God puts inside of us. And the only way to be satisfied is in Jesus. But sin will stop you. A sinful heart will stop you from hearing the voice of a good shepherd. Jesus says in John chapter 10 that he is the good shepherd and his sheep hear his voice. So why doesn't everyone follow Jesus? Because some of us have gone astray. We think we don't need a good shepherd. I can do this on my own. And at some point, if you don't surrender to Jesus and believe in Jesus, you won't experience that everlasting life. And Jesus warns in John 8:24. I

told you that you would die in your sins. Sin leads to death. Jesus said it. I believe it. Believing in him leads to life. Sin leads to death, which is your ultimate enemy. That without a cure for death, you will forever be separated from God because you have a soul. You're not just made for this earth. This is a temporary journey to something greater. And when you die, you will either spend forever with God or forever apart from God. And Jesus says, I told you that you would die in your sins. Unless, come on, someone shout, "Unless." Unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. Believe that he's what? Well, John has told us repeatedly that Jesus has all authority. He is God in the

flesh. John chapter 1. He's clothed himself in the very flesh that he created. 100% God, 100% man, coming to do what no one's done before. He's the Messiah, the Savior. And when Lazarus dies, he comes to see Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary. And what we discover with Jesus is he will meet you where you are. With Martha, she needed a good dose of the word of God. There's got to be some Marthas in the room today that just need to hear the word of God. Jesus said to Martha when she complained, "Jesus, if you were here, my brother wouldn't have died." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes shall believes believes in me,

though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. And then Jesus asked the question, not just to Martha, but to you today, do you believe this? See, Jesus says, here's here's truth. You believe in me, your heart stops beating. You don't die. you start living. This is what he offers us. He met Martha with the promised word of God which does not fail. You see, if you reject Jesus today, it doesn't stop Jesus from being God. If you refuse this invitation to believe in him, God's plans will prevail whether you believe it or not.

And so, we see that Jesus is not hindered by the opposition. He's not hindered by the abandonment. He fulfills his mission to do what needs to be done. When he sees Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, he doesn't give her the word. He he meets her where she is. And the Bible tells us in the shortest Bible verse, John 11:35, Jesus wept. You need to know that sometimes you just need the presence of God. Jesus will promise in the coming chapters that by believing in him, he gives a helper, the Holy Spirit. That's God himself. That when you're hurting, he meets you in that space and in that place. And so he promised with his own words, "I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Despite what your feelings say, despite what you think, it's not what you think. He's with you." And so we

pick up in today's text where Lazarus has been brought to life. And what we're going to see today is it's it's not exactly what you think. And you've got a choice. What will you do with Jesus? If you're able to, would you stand for the reading of God's word? John chapter 11, I'm going to read to you today verses 45- 57. We're going to make it all the way through chapter 11. Here we go. I'm going to read this and then I want you to see the application for our lives today. Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary had seen what he did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If

we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. And the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." But one of them, Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not the whole nation should perish. He said he he did not say this of his own accord. But being the high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on, they made plans to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness to a town

called Ephereim. And there he stayed with his disciples. Now the Passover, the Jews, was at hand. And many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, "What do you think that he will not come to the feast at all?" Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know so that they might arrest him. This is the word of the Lord. As you're taking a seat, tell somebody it's not what you think. Come on. It's not what you think. Not everyone will respond to Jesus in the same way.

We see that right away in John 11. Jesus does a mighty miracle and we're told in verse 45, many of those who were there believed. Many believed. We've had many believe here at Journey Church. Every single week we see someone say yes to Jesus. And in just a moment at the end of this sermon, I'm going to give you an opportunity that if you've never believed in Jesus, today is your day of salvation. Not another day, not a better day. I tell you today is the day. And many on this day, they saw something wonderful. They they saw a man who was dead come back to life. And many of them believed. But I need you to know today that evidence, even if I prove to you that God can do miracle, is not enough for faith.

I could try to prove it to you all day. Last week, I testified to healings in this church. And wouldn't you know it, just sharing that testimony, someone else came forward and said, "Oh yeah, by the way, I prayed for my husband a few months ago who had cancer and it wasn't looking good and he's healed as well. But that's not enough. The bills that were built up because of this cancer, they were big and they were unpredictable and we we didn't see a way. But don't you know, we have a waymaking God and he miraculously provided for all the finances, too." I could tell you that. And some people are going to be increased in the faith and say, "That's my God. I believe. I heard that through the six or seven that clapped." And then there will be the naysayers that will say something like, "Oh yeah, that that's good for them, but it didn't happen to me and I know somebody else that prayed and that didn't happen."

Because you got to know that evidence is not what faith is built upon. It's Jesus. It It's not believing because he's done something for me. So we have the same miracle Lazarus brought to life. Many verse 45 said believed. But then we see verse 46. But some of them went to the Pharisees. These are the religious, we could call them political leaders of the day. They're the ones that align with the the Roman Empire to make sure that the Jews can do what the Jews want to do. So so they would live the in a certain way and they would have this relationship with the Roman government. They were the political leaders to make sure that they got their Jewish way. And some of them went to the Pharisees to tell them what Jesus had done. They were tattletales.

Or as we used to say in p prison, they were snitches. And you know what happens to snitches? They get stitches. You must have gone to prison, too. I'm just saying. I got to imagine at this point that the disciples are like, "Hey, hey, hey. Why are you going to go tattletail on my rabbi, on my teacher?" Because some people believed and some people rejected Jesus. Same miracle, different results. Why does that happen? Because it's your human heart that has to believe in Jesus. This is not just a religion that I could force you to follow Jesus. It's got to be sincere from inside of you. Some of you today have been experiencing death. And I'm here to tell you that what Jesus did for Lazarus, he can do for you. He brings the dead to life.

And it's in this place today that you have to decide who is Jesus. And the Bible tells us he is Lord. He is king. He is sovereign. Which means he's completely in control no matter what's happening. He is supreme over all. And God's plans will prevail whether you believe him or not. So what stops all of us from believing in Jesus? What stop those from believing in Jesus that day? I'll tell you it's the same thing in this day as it is in our day. The number one thing that will stop you from doing great things by faith is fear. Fear is the paralysis of faith. And when you're paralyzed, you can't move in the way that you're designed to move. And it's by faith that you're able to take the same authority Jesus had and apply it to your life.

You can cast out demons. You can heal the sick. You could preach the gospel. You are the minister of the gospel in Jesus. But why isn't the church operating in this way? I'll tell you is called fear. And you know what fear really is? It's being worried about something that hasn't happened. But you've envisioned what's going to happen. So instead of doing that thing, you said, "I think I know what's going to happen, so I'm not going to do it. If I surrender to Jesus, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to lose friends. If I surrender to Jesus, he's going to tell me to give up something I love. If I surrender to Jesus, he's going to tell me to go to Timbuktu and I don't want to go there. I don't even know where it is. I don't If I surrender to Jesus, I'm going to be a Jesus. If I surren I'm not sure I'm good enough to surren There's all these ifs when it comes to fear.

You know what Jesus told us to do? He says in Matthew 6:34, you ought to memorize this, tattoo it on your heart so that you could preach better to yourself than any preacher. He says in Matthew 6:34, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow." He says,"Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Jesus essentially saying like, "You can barely get through today. Why would you also bring tomorrow into today?" If I could just paraphrase it this way, just take it one day at a time. Bring what you're going through today to God. If you're wondering, "Well, that sounds good. Do not be anxious about tomorrow. Pastor, it sounds good. I'm not sure what that looks like." Well, Jesus told us in the previous verse, verse 33, you really should memorize this one and get that tattooed over this

one. It's Matthew 6:33. It says this, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." What are these things? All all the things that you want to worry about when you bring them to Jesus, it changes everything. Now, what's the kingdom? It's I didn't even put this verse up there, but it says, "Seek first king." What's the kingdom? It's the way of Jesus. That's the kingdom. So, when we pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done." We're saying, "The way of Jesus." He's the king. He's got a way. What would happen if we had his way here on earth? Because that's the way it is in heaven. He's the king of kings. It's all good in heaven. No sickness, no sorrow, no sin. That's kingdom, my friends. So, seek first the way of Jesus. Seek first King Jesus. Seek first his way, which is the right way. It's

righteousness. Everything else will be added to you if you go after Jesus. Here's what happens. John puts it this way when he writes the letter. He says, "Perfect love drives out fear." Fear slips into your heart. You kick it out. You evict that fear. You say, "There's no room for that. I've got the love of Jesus." The love of Jesus says that I have all authority. The love of Jesus says I can do all things through Christ. The love of Jesus says I'm more than a conqueror. The love of Jesus says nothing can separate me from the love of God. If I'm naked, if I go through famine, if I go through war, no, no, no. I still got Jesus. So, I'm not going to fear about my provision. I'm not going to fear about what I don't. I'm not going to fear about that which hasn't happened yet. I'm going to believe in Jesus.

But what will allow you to believe in Jesus? Would a miracle do it? Well, I'm here to tell you miracles do not make faith. You see, at some point, you've got to say, is Jesus greater than your fear? The chief priests, verse 47, the chief priests, which were very important people, the leaders of they they didn't have it, the church at the time, but the leaders of of of the of the synagogues, the the temple, and the Pharisees, the political leaders, and the council, which is also known as the Sanhedrin, which was mostly uh Sadducees. You got all these people who who theologically don't agree. They agreed on one thing. We don't like Jesus. So the crowds can come together and they can sound right. This is the authority of religion. Do you know sometimes the authority gets it wrong.

So you got all them coming together and they say, "What are we to do for this man performs many signs?" They admitted Jesus is doing so many miracles. They knew that his miracles were real. They they not only heard about these things, some of them saw these things. They're admitting he's doing great things. And then they say, "If we keep this up, everyone's going to believe in him." But what they didn't know is it's not miracles that make you believe in Jesus. It's Jesus that makes you believe in Jesus. But they're worried, what's going to happen if everyone believes in Jesus? And then fear kicks in. If we don't do something about this, verse 48, if we let him go on like this, this is fear. Fear always has an if. If we let him go on, everyone who will believe in him, the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. You know what

they're deep down saying is we're going to lose our position, our power, and control. The the same thing will happen in your life. You'll start to control these things. Earlier this week, as a staff, we always study the text that will be preached on Sunday. And Pastor Noah made this great statement. He said, "You can't discern what you don't know. You can't discern what you don't know." Now, they knew Jesus could do miracles, but they could not discern who Jesus was. They knew he was a miracle maker. They just did not know him as Messiah. Another way I could put this is you don't know what you don't know. Okay, I could put it a different way. It's not what you think.

You think if this happened and if this happened then then somehow something would be different. And don't you think for just a moment this is just something antiquated or what they did in the days of old because all of us have been gripped by this type of fear. I could remember it a few years ago during the pandemic and the authorities were telling us what to do. Come on somebody. And I just want to say the authorities don't always get it right. Even in the church, you don't put your hope in a preacher, a priest, or religion. You put your hope in Jesus. That that's really important because people will let you down. Here's what I've heard from people that give up on God. I've been hurt by the church. I

just want to say really, people let you down. Yep. You're going to be hurt in church. Can we just testify now? Put up your hand right now. You're going to be hurt in church. You're full of a bunch of people around you. I know you want to slap them, but Jesus says, "Love them. Forgive them. Pray for them. That's what Jesus says to do." Somehow Christians say, "I believe in Jesus. I was hurt by the church. I'm giving up on God." That's not what Jesus says to do. I know some of you, your parents hurt you. If you're with your parents, don't say amen. But I know your parents have hurt you. You know why? Your parents are people. And some are much more messed up than others. And this is what the world's going to say. You were traumatized as a child and you got to stay that way.

That's why you're so messed up. I tell you why you're messed up. You're a person. You're born into this. The Bible says you're born into sin. So, we got to stop the labels of I am who I am because my parents messed me up. No. Welcome to the club, my friends. We take this to the highest authority. We live in the greatest country in the world. But I tell you, our politicians are people. I don't know why every election season we put our hope in who we think is a savior, but they're a politician for goodness sakes. They're going to let you down. They're going to lie. There's going to be a scandal. And they did something dumb in their 20s that's going to carry with them later on. And if they don't give their lives to Jesus, they might replicate it in their 30s, their 40s, and their 50s.

Doesn't matter who they are. Doesn't matter what color their skin is. Doesn't matter which political party they're on. You can't believe in the ways of this world. You've got to believe in Jesus. Yet, the one thing that will stop you from that is fear. Fear will make you come to the wrong conclusions. Fear will convince you your car is stolen. Fear will will heighten the emotional state of where you are. Have you noticed that fear will make you say some things that maybe you don't even believe, but because of fear, it starts manifesting in your life. It's not the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It's the fruit of fear. And

instead of worshiping Jesus, God who's in the flesh, what was happening then was worry. And so the same thing slips into the church today. If you come in with anxiety and you don't give it to God, you won't really worship. You can look like you're worshiping. I've done it before. But deep in your heart, you know that you're just carrying on worry, anxiety. Listen, if Jesus doesn't fit into your plan, he will take over your plan and you'll discover it's not what you think. I love this scripture today because one of them, Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, by the way, Caiaphas is not a good guy just because he's the high priest. He's the top dog. He's the only one that can go into the Holy of Holies into the temple. And he essentially

tells everyone that's arguing about what to do with Jesus, if I could just paraphrase in the Keith International version, he says, "Shut up." Verse 49, he says, "You guys know nothing at all. I'm the high priest. Listen up. You don't understand that it's better, verse 50, that one man should die for all the people than the entire nation perishing." So, we don't have to worry about the Jewish people, the Israelites, dying. We just got to get rid of one guy and we'll be okay. Now, John notes later on in life, he'll later record this. John 11:51. Listen, he didn't realize that he's actually prophesying the truth. Now, I believe this actually happened when when you study what high priests would do. They they they they wore special clothes.

They prayed a certain way that other people couldn't. They received prophetic words from God. I believe Caiaphas actually received this message from God. But it's not always what you think. He thought if we could just sabotage Jesus plans, we'll be okay. Yet Jesus told us in John chapter 10 that no one could take his life. He lays down his life on his own. So he died on the cross not because anyone took his life. He willingly gave it up. So although note this here, this is in the Bible. Caiaphas tries to sabotage Jesus from the beginning of time. Sin was not God's plan. But he had a solution for sin. He knew what he would do in Jesus.

So God sabotages Caiaphas's sabotage. I'm just asking you to reflect on your own life. Have you ever had a plan and God came and sabotaged it? Hallelujah. And don't think that you're good enough that God won't use anything in your life. A disease, a divorce, anything. You You can try to project what you think is happening in your life, but I'm here to tell you, God's got a better plan. And this plan was that one would die for all the people, but he willingly did it because it was his plan from the beginning. Here's the message. One man should die. John 11:50. Here's the message. One man should die. God had a plan from the beginning for your sin so

that you would believe in him. Yet this was not in the mind of Caiaphas. It's not what you think. Jesus therefore, look at verse 54. He therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews because he wasn't going to let them take his life. Instead, he went to the wilderness. Everyone say wilderness. Wilderness. Wilderness is the place you don't want to be. Wilderness is the desert. It's dry. Wilderness are where the beasts are. Wilderness is where God does his greatest work. It's not always at church. It's not always with other people. It often happens, and I mean no exaggeration from this, you see it throughout all the scriptures. It often happens in the wilderness when you get real with God.

Doesn't mean you're necessarily running from God. It means you meet with God in in the wilderness and there he was. See, Jesus knew that he was not going to let them take his life. We said this last week and I want to reiterate it again today. God is never late and he's never early. He's always on time. Always. He wasn't going to let them take his life. He's right on time. I don't know what breakthrough you don't have yet. What prayer God hasn't answered yet. I don't know where you're at, but here's what I do know about God in your life. This is his plan. He's on time. Just tell your neighbor. They're not listening to me. You tell them he's on time. He's on time. Come on, somebody. You're wondering where he is. He hasn't stopped being God so that you could question him. He wants you to believe in

him that what he's doing is greater than what you can see. Now, the Passover, and I'm going to conclude the text, but I need you to think of this for a moment. John says, "The Passover of the Jews was at hand. Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, purify themselves. They're getting ready for Passover. Huge feast. Millions would travel to come to Jerusalem for the Passover." Now, John doesn't note this here just for some historical timeline stamp that you'd say, "Oh, this happened at the Passover." That's when Christ was crucified at the Passover. It's so much more. And he's been saying this the whole book. He's saying every feast that we celebrate actually points us to the person, Jesus. So the Passover is not just a celebration where we get to eat food and remember what God's done. We get to remember who God is. He's still I am the

resurrection and the life. Now what is the Passover? If you're unfamiliar with this, you're new to church, let me just quickly go over this history. Exodus 12 says the Israelites were stuck in Egypt. They were slaves hundreds of years. God provided a deliverer in Moses and he would go to Pharaoh and say, "Let my people go." And God sent plagues. And the last was the worst. Exodus 12 verse one. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt. They're still in Egypt. This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. God is in the business of new beginnings. He wants to do something new in you. Even if you've been stuck a long time. Verse three, tell the congregation of Israel that on the 10th month of the 10th day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their father's

house, a lamb for a household. Now, God explains even deeper to Moses. Make sure it has no blemish. Look for the best. You only give God your best. Look for an unblenmished male lamb. Look at verse seven. What do you do with that lamb? You kill it. Then take, you shall take some of that blood and put it on the door puss posts and the lentils of the house in which they eat. So take the blood of the lamb, put it on your home where everyone comes in and out. It represents the whole family. This day, verse 14, shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations as a statute forever. You shall keep it as a feast. For that night, a spirit of death came over every home. And the homes that did not had have blood experienced death. Those that

had blood, that spirit of death passed over. They experienced life. It was not the end of their story because of the blood of the lamb. Now, it was during this time that Jesus is going to choose to get on a donkey, as the prophet would say, and enter Jerusalem. It was at this time that Christ would willingly go to the cross. He who was without sin took your sin on the cross. It's at this time that this Jesus, the one whom John the Baptist in John chapter 1 says, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." You see, Jesus wasn't in Jerusalem yet for Passover because he did not come to go to Passover. He came to be the Passover.

He is the lamb that was slain so that you don't experience death. Now, the chief priest and the Pharisee had given orders, verse 57, that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know so that they might arrest him. Just fast forward in the story here. One of the 12 disciples, Judas, eventually betrays Jesus because I think he may have trusted authority more than he trusted Jesus. There are times that we've got to actually trust God and we we've got to test his word. We got to go to his word. We've got to test it with the power and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. John mentions this plot so that we would see that it's only thickening. And today, I want you to see that Jesus is going to meet you right where you are.

But even if you get a miracle, that's not enough for you to believe in him. Will you take Jesus at his word? John 3:16, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. God's word warns us in John 3:36, that whoever believes in the son has eternal life, but whoever does not, this is the truth, you have a soul. And if you choose not to believe in the one that made you, who loves you, who's taken your sin on the cross, whoever does not obey the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. You can be set free today. What does God desire for you? John 6:29. This is the work of God that you believe. Shout believe. Believe in him whom he sent. Not because you see

it, not because you feel it, but believe in him because of who he is today. and you will see and you will trust and you will get to experience a mighty move of God. The same is true today as it was in Jesus day. He's still bringing the dead to life. How many you ever been changed by Jesus? Shout, "Amen." Amen. I'll tell you today, I don't know what you walked in here with. I can't assume that because you came to church that you've surrendered your life to Jesus. But you have two choices. To believe Jesus or reject Jesus. You see, in just a few chapters, we're going to see that we're at the final days of Jesus in the book of John. And they're going to think that they took his life. They're going to think that they crucified him. But really, he was displaying what kind of a king he is.

So, I ask you today, will you crown him king of your heart? Or will you continue to crucify him? Will you continue to count him as someone that you acknowledge in your life? you you know that he's real, but you've not surrendered or believed in him. Oh, my friend, you're missing eternal life, life abundantly. Too many of us, and I know right here in this room right now, still clinging to control because of fear. I want you to alleviate that today. I want you to loosen that and say, "I'm no longer going to worry. I'm going to worship." This is not a matter of what you can do. It's a matter of what God's going to do in you when you prioritize him. So, I invite the band up right now. I'm going to just ask this is the moment you get

serious with God. This is the moment I'm going to ask that every eye close right now. Just close your eyes right where you are. I want you to seriously consider the state of your soul. You see, the Bible does not say you have to be good enough to get into heaven. That is a lie from the pit of hell that the devil wants you to think you could be good enough to please God. You can't. There's only one that was good enough. Jesus Christ. He loves you so much. He died for your sins so that you don't have to carry that sin anymore. You are forgiven, my friend, once you've believed in Jesus. Jesus promised by believing in him, out of you will flow rivers of living water. That's the Holy Spirit. You cannot stay the same with Jesus. And I want to offer today for that person that's uncertain of their salvation that from this day forward, you can be saved.

It's not about seeing it or feeling it. It's about believing in Jesus today. So, I want to offer you an opportunity. This is your moment to publicly between you and God. I've asked eyes to be closed just to focus on the Lord right now. God is real. What are you going to do with this? If you want to believe and receive salvation and Jesus today, the forgiveness of your sins, will you just raise your hand nice and high and keep it up? Just keep it up. We're going to bring a booklet to you. Those of you who have raised your hands, I see you all over the room. You alone, I want you to open up your eyes. Those who have raised their hands, God loves you and he's proud of you. He loves you. He loves you. Young man, right here, he loves you. He forgives you. From this day forward, you're not the same. You are who God

says you are. You got a warrior inside of you, something bigger than you know. This is the best decision you can ever make. I don't care what any parent says, teacher says, what the world says. This is the most important decision to believe in Jesus. More important than who you marry, what college or career you have. This is it. God loves you. Anyone else say yes to Jesus? I I saw a hand over here. Who was it over here? Praise God. Amen. You are forgiven, set free. This is the moment that you get to live the life God wants for you. Many miracles are coming in Jesus name. Believe in him. God's going to use you. Anyone else today just say yes to Jesus.

Raise your hand. Keep it up high. I know all over the place we got to see today salvation in this house is so right. Oh, praise God. Amen. Amen. Amen means it's true. If you could look at me, the one that just got amen means it's true. You start saying amen more than anything else. I don't know what words have come out of your mouth before, but amen means needs to be the most common word used out of your mouth. So that you know that God is true. Whatever the devil brings your way, I need you to just start professing. Amen. It's already done. He's going to try to lie to you. But the Bible says, "No weapon formed against you will prosper." There's weapons, but there's one greater

than the weapons. It's Jesus. So, you just start proclaiming, "Amen." I join you today. My faith with yours. Amen. God's going to do some great things through you. I'm so proud of you. For those who have raised their hands today, I'm going to pray and I want you to join me in prayer. Prayer is talking to God. It's listening to God. You could pray anywhere, anytime. All God wants from you is a real heart. Not the right words. He just wants you to pray to him all the time. And when you say amen, it's not the end of the prayer. It just means I believe what I've prayed today. I'm going to just do a short prayer. Join with me in this prayer. Anyone who's ever believed, let's join with those doing it for the first time. You'll see how easy it is, but it's not going to make it a comfortable life. It's going to make it a great life. So, repeat after me. Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I believe in you. I believe in you.

Forgive me of my sins. Forgive me of my s. I receive the Holy Spirit. I am no longer dead. I am no longer dead. I am alive in Christ. I am a child of God. In Jesus name. Amen. And amen. You can all open your eyes and let's celebrate what God has done today. Praise be to God.