Personal Evangelsim in Biblical Perspective:
iShare—Encounters with Jesus in John's Gospel –
Another Encounter in the Temple

John 7:14-52

By Dr. Harry Reeder III

Instead of reading the text that I will be preaching on and because this is taking place in a context that I don't want us to lose, I want to go back to the text in order to have our context, framework and ground for this study. I want to look at the encounter in the temple that started with the advice that Jesus received from His brothers. So I'd like to begin by reading the verses that precede the text we'll be looking at in this study. John 7:1-13 says

[1] After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. [2] Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. [3] So his brothers said to him, "Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. [4] For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world." [5] For not even his brothers believed in him. [6] Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. [7] The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. [8] You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come." [9] After saying this, he remained in Galilee. [10] But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. [11] The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, "Where is he?" [12] And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, "He is a good man," others said, "No, he is leading the people astray." [13] Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

The grass withers, the flower fades, God's Word abides forever and by His grace and mercy may His Word be preached for you.

Go back with me about 2100 years and it's a fall day in Palestine. It is October 29 AD and Jesus is doing ministry in Galilee. His brothers come up to Him and offer Him some unsolicited advice and even an admonition, aware that the Feast of Booths is the second largest feast and gathering in Jerusalem which is about to occur. The advice is if You want to be known publically why are you staying up here? Leave here and go to Jerusalem to show Yourself openly. Their advice is very simple. If you want to reach the people then go to where the people are. There is no better place to go to reach Jewish people than to go to Jerusalem and there is hardly any better time than the Feast of Booths. This is the feast that had been reclaimed in the days of Nehemiah that had been lost and prescribed by Moses. They wanted Him to do His miracles in Jerusalem and not up in Galilee.

We studied this in the last study that His brothers' advice revealed their unbelief and was motivated by their unbelief. While unbelief has many manifestations, appearances, categories and profiles, it has one single root, a common place where it grows. We have to be careful when using the word unbelief because there is really nobody that doesn't believe. Everybody believes something for that's how you function in life. The Devil believes. When the Bible talks about unbelief it's the unbelief in the message of the Word of God which says you're a sinner and can't save yourself. God has sent His Son, who is the, not a, Savior of sinners. Unbelievers say either I don't need a Savior or I can save myself or my religion can save me. I don't need the Savior and that's unbelief.

It comes as immoral unbelief or moral unbelief. It comes as religious unbelief or irreligious unbelief. It comes in many different packages but it all has one common ground. Jesus said, "You will not believe because you cannot believe and the reason you cannot believe is the guiding, dominating principle of the natural man dead in his sins. You seek glory from one another." It is self-absorption with the relentless pursuit of self- exaltation. His brothers were one more manifestation of that.

I really wrestled in my teenage years with the question of whether I would have been a Christian if I had lived in the days of Jesus. Surely I would have followed Him. Who wouldn't if they had been around Him? We are so dead in our sins that you can grow up in the same house with Jesus and not believe in Him, just like His brothers. We know their advice was out of unbelief because one, John tells us that as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit and because of the factor of it. They are telling Him to go up there and show "Yourself" and to do His miracles there so that people can see Him. No one does things in secret if they want to be known publically. There is the giveaway for they are looking at life through their eyes and not the way Jesus is looking at life. When we look at life through our lives we glorify ourselves. And if Jesus gets lifted up we'll just go right along with Him in that parade and we'll be fine as well.

Jesus knows the guiding principle of unbelief. It is the relentless pursuit of self- exaltation. In fact He says it is so strong that you will believe anybody rather than Me. You'll believe anybody that comes in their name who are motivated by their own glory instead of me. The reason why is that someone who starts a religion or a movement for their own glory no matter how bizarre or absurd, we will gladly join up with it because their very message both confirms our self-exaltation and will enable our self-exaltation. We love works religion. We love to take the Gospel and reframe it in terms of legalism or reframe it in terms of libertinism where I'm saved so I can do what I want to because I'm forgiven. We love to make something, even the Good News of the Gospel, about ourselves. We'll pervert the Gospel and it's the same thing with Jesus' brothers.

Jesus does go up to the feast but He doesn't go up to show Himself to die. He will go to the Feast of the Passover to do that in a little bit over a year. He doesn't go up to this feast to show miracles. He goes up not publically, but privately. What happens before He gets there? Before we go into this I want you to be on the alert for something. Be on the alert for what has to happen to me and in me for me to come and believe in Christ instead of perish in unbelief. Secondly, if I have come to Christ and I want to hear the Word of Christ, who should I listen to? Jesus gives some big warnings about this. When all is said and done the learner becomes like the teacher. Thirdly, why is this chapter (John 7) and Jesus' encounter in the Temple here so important in terms of what Jesus is telling us about belief and unbelief?

We know why John wrote the Gospel of John. John wrote the Gospel moved by the Holy Spirit and has said "I have written these things that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and that in believing you might have life." So Jesus is the Savior. How do I come to Him? I come by faith. What is stopping me from coming? It is my unbelief. What is at the root of unbelief? It is the pursuit of self-exaltation and my own glory. So what has to happen? So let's look at our text for this study.

I want to go through this text by examining the four questions to Jesus from the people and the four answers that Jesus gives. John 7:14 says [14] About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. His brothers wanted Jesus to come up to the Temple to do miracles but He was not coming up publically but privately. He is not coming to this feast to die but to another to do that and that will be when His time has come. He comes to teach not to do miracles. By the way, the remnants of the thirteen steps He would have climbed to go into the court of the Gentiles in this Temple are still there in Jerusalem which is where He would have been teaching. So He is standing there on Temple Mount teaching.

John 7:15 says [15] The Jews therefore marveled, saying, "How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?" Here is question number one. They are marveling at the fact that this Man has learning and He has never studied. I think initially many think when they see the word marveled here that the Jews are getting close to accepting Jesus but actually they are not marveling at Him and what He is saying. The concept of marveling in this verse is that they are offended that He would get up and teach with no credentials. Where is Your MDiv, Your DD, Your letters? That is what they are marveling at. Back in those days you wouldn't have been looking for letters behind your name like we do today but you would have looked for who had trained you. Your credentials back then didn't come from a degree but who taught you (like Gamaliel or from the school of Hillel). So who is it that taught you and how is it that you come to teach these things that are here? So they are challenging His role as Rabbi. So Jesus answers this question.

John 7:16-18 says [16] So Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. [17] If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. [18] The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. He is saying "I am sent by My Father, not Gamaliel or Hillel. He is true so what I teach is true. If you want the will of My Father then you will know that I am teaching the Truth and you will believe." So He is telling them He has credentials. He has been sent from the Father and how do you know the Father sent Me. You won't know until you want to do His will, but if you want to do His will you will know that the Father sent Me and that what I am saying is true because the One who sent Me is true, therefore what I say is true. In other words, what I am saying is infallible, inherent truth. There is no falsehood. It's absolutely trustworthy and reliable. If you want the will of God you will know that.

My brothers have to learn this and so do you. I didn't come to get glory from men. I came shrouding My glory and I came to give glory to My Father. I have come to do His will and I have brought the truth given to Me to you. Here is in the glory of His perfect humanity, communicating that what He is saying He is saying because the Father sent Him and what the Father has given to Him is what He is teaching. So what He is teaching is infallible and true. The negative side is that there is no falsehood within it. One of the ways that you know it is that He didn't come seeking His glory. He came from the glory of the Father. He came in humiliation, not in seeking His own glory. So that was the first question and answer. Now let's see what the next question is.

As He begins to substantiate this He says this to them in the next part. John 7:19- 20 says [19] Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?" [20] The crowd answered, "You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?" Here is their second question. They are saying "You are crazy. You are paranoid. You're schizophrenic. There is no one trying to kill you. Who is seeking to kill you?" We call that plausible denial. We didn't leave an email trail. What are you talking about that Jesus' people are trying to kill You. So Jesus answers them again.

John 7:21-24 says [21] Jesus answered them, "I did one work, and you all marvel at it. [22] Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. (Moses didn't institute circumcision for it started from God through Abraham, the patriarchs.) [23] If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a (man completely whole, NAS) man's whole body well? (He healed a man completely. He was completely well.) [24] Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment."

Jesus is saying "What do you mean by asking who is trying to kill Me, for everyone is trying to kill Me." When did this start? It started back in John 5 when Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath. When He did this they immediately brought accusation number one which was He had broken the Sabbath and He broke it in two ways. One way that He broke it was by healing on the Sabbath. The second way was that He told the man to carry his possessions with him when He said "Get up and take your bed and walk" and that violated the 39th rule of Sabbath breaking by the Rabbis which was you can't carry your own possessions on the Sabbath. So in their eyes Jesus broke the Sabbath and caused that man to break the Sabbath but Jesus said "I'm doing the work of My Father" and they said "Now You're guilty of blasphemy and You must die because You called God Your Father claiming Your deity."

Jesus says to them, "You have come to that position to kill Me, why? It is because I healed a man on the Sabbath?" Jesus is some kind of Teacher. He says to them "You all claim to be teachers of the law so let's go back to Moses. When Moses reaffirmed circumcision and put it in the Pentateuch, it said we are supposed to circumcise our covenant child on the eighth day. Now what if the eighth day falls on the Sabbath? It's not only permissible but commanded to do work of circumcision on the Sabbath. Now here is a command from Moses that you ought to know that calls him to do a good work on the Sabbath which is symbolic of purification and consecration. I actually made a man whole on the Sabbath, not symbolically but he is whole physically and then I said 'rise up and sin no more.' I worked in his body, his heart and his soul and if you are commanded to do the good work of a symbol on the Sabbath, what is it when the fulfillment of the symbol fits the man's life? Yet you are trying to kill Me because I violated your traditions and not the Word of God."

When He does that they come up with a third question. John 7:25-27 says [25] Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, "Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? [26] And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? [27] But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from." So their question is 'how can this be the Christ?' Why aren't they trying to kill Him? Is He really the Christ? Yet He can't be the Christ because we know where He comes from. He was born in Bethlehem and is from Nazareth. You won't know where the Christ comes from. Isn't that true? So how does Jesus answer that?

Jesus just keeps teaching. Is He getting a good response? No and humanly speaking that has to be discouraging to Him. But what does He know? He knows that faith comes by hearing so He keeps on preaching and teaching. He doesn't quit. He stays the course. So keep praying that God's people will keep proclaiming the Gospel to the lost and those who are called to preach will keep preaching. The motivation will not come from the response of the people but from the smile of God and the call of God. He kept preaching and teaching. John 7:28-31a says [28] So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, "You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. [29] I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me." [30] So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. [31a] Yet many of the people believed in him.

So they say "Well, they're not coming to kill Him so He must be the Christ yet we know where He comes from and you're not going to know where the Christ comes from." He says "Oh you think you know where I come from. You think I come from Bethlehem and Nazareth. Actually I don't come from there for I came from heaven. (He descended.) The Father sent Me who is true to speak the truth." With this He makes three powerful statements. The first statement is He said "I know Him." The second statement is He said "I come from Him." The third statement He said was "He sent Me." He said "I did not come of My own accord." In other words, Jesus is saying in the economy of the Trinity the Father sends the Son. So He didn't come on His own accord but on the Father's on whom He knows who sent Him to us. He came in accord with Him (the Father) but not of His own accord. He didn't come from Bethlehem and Nazareth but from heaven and God the Father sent Him. I know Him. He sent Me and I have come from Him.

My dear friends, that is an extraordinary claim and the biggest decision of your life is what are you going to do with it? I know Him. I come from Him. He sent Me. Praise the Lord for verse 31 for it says that many people believed in Him. Now we are starting to see some fruit as He stays the course in proclaiming the truth, even under skepticism, ridicule, mocking, duress, and assault. Then they come with the fourth and final question.

John 7:31b-32 says [31b] They said, "When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?" [32] The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. So how does Jesus answer their question of will the Christ come and do more miracles than Him?

John 7:33-36 says [33] Jesus then said, "I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. [34] You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come." (Jesus' response.) [35] The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? [36] What does he mean by saying, 'You will seek me and you will not find me,' and, 'Where I am you cannot come'?" They want to know what He means when He says 'You will seek Me and you will not find Me. Where I am you cannot go.'

I want to give you three takeaways in our commitment to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ from this text. Here are three things that I think will be extremely helpful for us and necessary. Before I give this takeaway let me refresh our memories. The Bible says that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him in whom they have not heard? How shall they hear Him without a preacher and how shall they preach unless they are sent? Faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ, the Ramah, not Logos. In other words, those whom Jesus sends who are faithful to Him and lift Him up, He Himself begins to speak through them. So when a preacher preaches Christ and is faithful to God's Word and the Spirit of God blesses, Christ Himself will speak to the heart of His people. When you His people go and share the Gospel proclaiming the Gospel not for your own glory but for Christ's glory and are faithful, Christ Himself will speak through you and His sheep know His voice and they follow Me.

So the first takeaway is who is it who will listen to Christ and those through whom He speaks? Jesus said twice to Nicodemus "You cannot see and you cannot enter the Kingdom of God unless (a necessary condition for a desired effect) you are born again." So who will listen to those who share the Word of Christ? It is those who are born again. What is the natural condition when you speak to them? We are dead in our sins. When you were dead in your sins God showed His mercy by causing you to be born again to a Living Hope and this is found in Ephesians 2. So you have to be born again to respond. When you speak to a dead person what does a dead person do? They don't answer unless something supernatural works in their heart and life that they can respond. So we know the new birth has to happen. Secondly we know that if it doesn't happen, the giveaway is the relentless pursuit of self-exaltation.

Jesus has just given us another insight. Who will listen to the truth of Christ? In John 7 He tells us who is going to listen. He tells us with great clarity. John 7:17 says [17] If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. In other words, the new birth not only changes the trajectory of our life from self-exaltation to God exaltation but it changes the direction of our heart from our will to God's will. Who will listen to God's Word? It is those whom God works in who desire to do His will. What is it that creates a hunger and thirst for the Word of Christ? It is a desire to do God's will. As believers there can be times in your life where we kind of lose track and we get off track and that's why we're not really hungry for the preaching and teaching of God's Word. That's why we're not really reading our Bible or prioritizing the hearing and the reading of the Scripture. It's because our will is starting to get back into supremacy.

What you want to do and what you want to know you will cross any barrier to get there. Football games, recreation, infatuation or whatever gets our will, will get our ear. The issue in our life is not intellectual. The issue in our life is our heart and our will. Unless God's sovereign grace, sending grace from the Father, saving grace from the Son and transforming grace from the Holy Spirit, gets hold of our heart we won't have time for Jesus. Those who want His will want to hear Him and know His Word is true. They also hunger and thirst for it. Let me try and show you this in the Scriptures. Romans 1:18-23 says

[18] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. [19] For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20] For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. [21] For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. [22] Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

What is the problem? It's not information. The problem is that man suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. I want to do my not His will. Therefore because I don't want to do His will I will not hunger for His Word, listen to His Word or believe in Him whom the Word speaks. We suppress the truth in unrighteousness so what has to happen is the Lord by His grace comes and works in our life so that our heart is moved from self. We will not because we cannot because we're seeking our own glory and when God changes our heart we'll want to seek Him. That's why our forbearers put as the first thing in our catechism, 'what is the chief end of man?' The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. I'm not talking about this just in the world but even in our professing churches today we have changed that to the chief end of God is to make me happy to do what I will.

Where does my joy come from? It comes from glorifying God. When you want to glorify Him that means you have been set free from your will. So instead of you will not because you cannot because you seek His glory, now He changes the heart so that you want to seek His glory which means you can come to Him and you will come to Him because it's His will that has become your will. What did Jesus show us? Not my will be done but thy will be done. How does He teach us to pray? Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. When that is beating in our heart we'll believe Jesus and hunger for His Word. We'll know its truth and we'll listen to the teaching of His Word. We'll also hunger for it. It's the supremacy of God's will in my heart that sets us free. Jesus emphasizes that in John 8.

The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. Whose will is supreme? Jesus said "If anyone wants to do the will of God he will know the truth and love the truth. John 8:39-45 says

[39] They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, [40] but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. [41] You are doing the works your father did." They said to him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God." [42] Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. [43] Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. [44] You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. [45] But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. When God changes our will when He is our Father and we've been born again into the family of God, then we will not only be able to see and enter the Kingdom but we will want to because it's His will that is our will.

The second takeaway is to whom should I listen? John 7:17-18 says [17] If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. [18] The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Obviously, in speaking of Christ that is imperfection. Jesus is not here physically for He has been raised and transformed. He is at the right hand of the Father but you and I have to believe by the Word of Christ which means Christ speaks through those whom He has called. After the parable of the sower Jesus said "Be careful who you listen to." I realize I'm running the risk of emptying a church but who do you listen to?

Jesus says to look for two things. Are they fastened to the truth? Do they preach the truth and say 'no' to falsehood? Secondly, they are selfless. They are constantly attempting to battle that old man that wants to make it about you and say 'no' to self- exaltation. Those whom God uses are selfless. They don't seek their own glory but the glory of the One who sent them. I believe that is one of the greatest keys to your evangelism and to every preacher. Preacher, be faithful to the truth. Preacher, hide yourself behind the cross. It's not you, it's Jesus.

The same thing is true with you and I in general preaching or sharing the Gospel. Don't modify the message. It's a scandal to the world. The world does not want to hear they need a Savior or they can't save themselves or their religion can't save them. Be gracious, be humble but be bold and give the truth in love. Be faithful to the truth. Secondly, be selfless. This isn't about how many decisions I can get for Jesus or notch my gun at the next testimony meeting. This is "Jesus I want to get out of the way. Use me to give the truth to people about Jesus." Be selfless and faithful to the truth. That is who is effective as an evangelist. That's whom the Lord will use.

How do we choose who to listen to today? Does he have a tattoo? Are his clothes from Abercrombie and Fitch or Joseph A. Banks? Jesus said to give true discernment. Don't look out here but look internally. Look inside and use My metrics. You are looking for truthfulness, faithfulness and selflessness. The second thing is to ask God to make us that way. God, when we share Christ with people help us to be truthful in love and help us to die to be selfless. It is about His glory not ours.

The last takeaway is why is this so important? John 7:34, 36 says [34] You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come." [36] What does he mean by saying, 'You will seek me and you will not find me,' and, 'Where I am you cannot come'?" What does He mean by this? Let's look at John 8:21 which says [21] So he said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come." He is saying "I have descended and I'm only with you a little while longer and then I'll ascend. If you die in your sins apart from Me, you'll seek Me and you won't find Me, not savingly. You will find Me as Judge but not as Savior. It's appointed unto men to die and then the judgment and on that day you cannot seek Me as Savior. You will not find Me and where I am you can't come." Do you remember the rich man and Lazarus? It said there was a great chasm fixed between us. You can't come to us and we can't come to you. Where I am you cannot go.

This is the day of grace. I plead with you that if you have not come to Christ and you have been seeking what He provides, today seek Him who has sought you. It is His will and His glory that can become true joy in your life. All for Your glory we have been chosen. Come to Him and give yourself to Him. I plead with you. It's Jesus. Go right to Him and say "Jesus I come." For if you come not on this side of eternity, on that side you can't come.

I want to give you one last verse. This is so encouraging to me. People say to me "Harry if you believe in the sovereignty of God why do you evangelize?" If I didn't believe in the sovereignty of God I wouldn't evangelize. I wouldn't go around prodding dead corpses but I believe God brings like through us sharing the Gospel. Acts 13:48-49 says [48] And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. [49] And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. God was working here to change their heart. They were born again. They wanted God's will not their life and they believed. Instead of they could not come, they did come because it was God's will that became the heartbeat of their life.

What about Birmingham, this world and the United States? Let's look at Acts 18:8-10 which says [8] Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. [9] And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, [10] for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people." There is no problem with the harvest. All we need are the reapers. That's why we can go because God has many people to be saved in this city and in this world. I know that because He hasn't come back yet and He won't come back until they have all been gathered.

There is a man in our church that at our Sportsman Blast will give away a free fishing trip. One of our elders won it one year and I knew that elder could not fish well and he has to be worse than me. I said to the man who gave away the trip "This is going to be a disappointment for him." The man said to me "Oh no, he'll catch it." I said "Why?" He said "I know the pond to take him to." I said "What do you mean?" He said, "It's stocked." Go fish for men. It's stocked. Go with the joy of the Lord because on this day of grace He says "If you seek Me you will find Me. After than when you seek Me you won't find Me."

On this day of grace to all who find Him, I go to prepare a place for you so that where I am there you who die in Christ, may be with Me for all of eternity. I go to prepare a place for you so that where I am there you may be also. Let's go fishing for it is the will of God and we want to do His will. Let's pray.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for the time we could be together in Your Word. Thank You for that Word and its majesty and glory. Praise be to Your Name. Friend, if you prayed that prayer "Jesus I come" would you contact us here at Briarwood at (205) 776-5200. We'd like to give you some things to read. This is the first day of forever for you. Father, for those who know Christ may they take great joy for Jesus has many to be saved and He uses us to bring them. Praise His Name forever. Jesus You know the Father. You came from the Father. He sent You to bring us and others with us to glory. Praise Your Name forever, all creatures of our God and King, Amen.