Show the Word

[0:00] Well, good morning again, and if you've got a Bible, you can turn with me to John 17. We're talking about how do we make disciples of all nations.

[0:12] And what I want us to do is, as we look and as we take a closer look at how do we make disciples, what does it look like when we make disciple-making at the center of the local church and the center of our lives, and what does it look like tangibly on a day-to-day basis.

[0:31] And it's deeper than what we do at church, and it's deeper than whatever ministry you are involved in. This is what our lives look like on a daily basis.

[0:41] So we're walking through the various components, four components that we're going to look at from Jesus' prayer in John 17. And just to see if you all were paying attention last week, and you weren't just here physically, what was the first component that we saw last week?

[1:00] The first component of disciple-making was? Share the Word. That's right. Share the Word.

[1:11] And what Jesus wants us to do, because the Word is at the center of disciple-making. Jesus, living out His life through us, is the center of disciple-making, and He's given us the authority to share His Word.

[1:28] Now, the second component that we're going to look at and spend our time here this morning is the second component of disciple-making is show the Word.

[1:40] Show the Word. Now, before we get much further, I want us to understand that these four components that we're going to be looking at are not necessarily chronological, not something that we do in a particular order, but it's something that we can be involved in doing maybe all of them at the same time, or different things at different times, different orders.

[2:02] And so it's not like, hey, you've got to do this, then you do that, then you do the other. These are all facets of the life and the ministry that Jesus modeled for us and what He showed through His disciples.

[2:20] So if we ask ourselves the question, how do we show? How do we do that? How do we show the Word to the people God has given to us?

[2:31] Remember last week we saw that Jesus has given us the power. He's given us the authority. He's also given us the people for which we can be making disciples.

[2:44] So I want us to look this morning at John, the Gospel of John, chapter 17. Remember the Word is the center of disciple-making, the Word made flesh, Christ making His life known to the world through His disciples.

[2:59] And this is Jesus praying for His disciples in John 17, verse number 6. He prays to His heavenly Father, I have manifested Your name, I have revealed Your name to the men You have given Me out of the world.

[3:15] They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You, for I have given to them the words which You have given Me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

[3:39] The beginning of their salvation journey, their understanding what Jesus taught them, and having received that, I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours, and all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.

[3:59] Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name, or protect them through Your name, those whom You have given Me, that they may be as one as We are.

[4:13] While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name, I protected them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, I have kept, and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, Judas Iscariot, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

[4:32] Now, disciple-making, we talked about last week about how Jesus has given to us the people, and we have the opportunity to impact others for the glory of Christ.

[4:44] He's given us the words. He's given us the authority to share those words. And so the question will be, how do we share the words? How do we show His word?

[4:57] And how do we display His character to the world? And that's the next thing that we see. How do we do that? The first point is, we as His disciples, we as the followers of Jesus, according to Jesus' prayer for His followers, His disciples, we show the character of God to them.

[5:20] And I want you to see how this unfolds in this prayer from the very beginning in verse number six. If you go back there, Jesus says in verse six, I have manifested your name to the men whom you've given me.

[5:35] Now, that's important because today when we name people, you realize that parents give some horribly atrocious names to their kids. Just saying.

[5:48] But back in the Old Testament time, back in Jesus' day, a name was more than just what you called your child. The name was supposed to be something they grew into, something that was supposed to speak to their character.

[6:04] And it was going to be talking about them. And when Jesus says, I showed or I displayed or I revealed your name to them, what Jesus was saying, I revealed God, Father, your character to them.

[6:17] I showed them you. When they looked at me, they were seeing your very character. Jesus was God up close with them. So when we look at Jesus, we see a picture of the goodness, the mercy of God, the power of God, the grace of God we see in the face of Jesus.

[6:39] And he didn't display it all in one glowing moment. And by saying, you know what, you want to learn about God? God, sit down, grab your pen, and I'm going to recite to you all the attributes of God.

[6:55] No, what did he do? He said, follow me. And he lived out the character of God. And then he used those teachable moments to display the character of God.

[7:08] Involved in it was teaching some truth and was telling them, but most of it, he showed them the character of God. Then he says, this is why this is God's character.

[7:19] And this is what it means to be a follower of me. So that's where you and I come in as we see two truths unfold.

[7:31] The first thing that we see in Jesus' prayer is that we are all his representatives. We are all his representatives. And it's not just for super Christians.

[7:41] It's not just for the ones that are called to a life of missionary service in a foreign land. It's for every single one of us. We are all the representatives of Jesus Christ.

[7:53] The Bible says we, all of us, have been entrusted with a ministry of reconciliation to go tap someone on the shoulder and say, hey, God loves you. And God is offering you a chance for freedom and life with God, with me, eternally.

[8:09] And so that's who we are. It's not necessarily the responsibility of the church as an institution. It's the responsibility of the church as we are here today, individuals scattered throughout this auditorium.

[8:23] We are representing God up close and personal. The world is seeing God's goodness. The world can see God's character. The world can see God's mercy.

[8:34] The world can see God's grace. The world can see his meekness, his character that he has entrusted to us. And it's a huge, huge responsibility.

[8:46] The question is, how are people in your home? How are people in your neighborhood? How are people at work going to see God's character displayed?

[8:57] How are they going to see his perfect patience played out in suffering? How are they going to see the unending love of God unless we're showing it to those who don't deserve his love?

[9:12] That's how the world sees God. They see him through us. They see his character, his patience, his kindness and goodness through us. And how are they going to see courage in the face of trial unless they see it lived out in our lives?

[9:29] So God has given us the people in our lives just as he gave those disciples, those 12 men, to Jesus Christ when he said, you reveal my character to them.

[9:41] Secondly, how do we do that? Well, the second thing, the second point is we see in his prayer that we have all of his resources. We have been given all the resources at our disposal to display the character of God.

[9:58] We have his Holy Spirit. We have been entrusted with the word. We have been entrusted with the power and the authority to share that word. Now, don't miss this. Everything that Jesus is revealing to his disciples because they're listening to that prayer.

[10:13] Jesus is praying to his Father in heaven, but they're hearing the prayer. That's how John was able to write this down because he heard it with his own ears. Everything that Jesus revealed to these disciples, God had given him.

[10:26] Look at verse 10. You know, Jesus said, now all that's mine is yours. All I have is yours and all you have is mine. John 10.

[10:37] So everything that Jesus had, the Father had given him. Then look down at verse 11 as he prays in the middle of that verse. Holy Father, he says, I have kept them in your name.

[10:47] He says, protect them by the power of your name, your character. Same phrase we saw up in verse number six. The name that you gave me. You gave me your character.

[10:58] You gave me your person. Verse 12. He says, while I was with them, he says, I kept them. I protected them and kept them safe by the power of your word, by the name that you gave me.

[11:12] So everything Jesus had, the Father gave him. Now, Jesus is God. But what Jesus is saying here for the benefit of his disciples is everything that I have, God, you entrusted to me as I took on the form of human flesh.

[11:31] Now, at this point, we're thinking, well, that was Jesus. I mean, he's God. Of course he can say that everything he has, the Father's given him. And we're not.

[11:42] So how does that apply to us? Well, here's the good news. Everything that Jesus has from the Father, he's given to you and to me. He's given to you and to me.

[11:55] Look at it. It continues throughout the rest of this chapter. Look at what Jesus says in verse 14. He's talking about his disciples. He says in verse 14, he says, I have given them your word.

[12:07] Same word you gave me. I gave them your word. Look down at verse 22. Jesus says, I have given them, in verse 22, and the glory which you gave me, I have given them.

[12:20] That they may be one just as we are. Verse 23, he says, I in them, you in me. That they may be made perfect in one.

[12:34] That the world may know that you have sent me and you have loved me. Look down at verse 26.

[12:44] At the very end, he says to them, and I have declared to them your name and will declare it that the love with which you loved me may be in what?

[12:58] In them. So the whole ministry of Jesus Christ for those three or three and a half years with his disciples was the process of him imparting to them everything the Father had given to Jesus.

[13:18] So what we see is a process. God gave to Jesus. Jesus gives to his disciples. God has given to us through his Holy Spirit, and we impart and we entrust that into the lives of those that we are discipling.

[13:34] And we may not realize it, but I want us to see this, and I want us to really get this, to understand this, because so many who call themselves Christians miss this point entirely.

[13:48] And it is this, the world longs to see a demonstration of Christ that accompanies our explanation of Christ.

[14:06] I'm convinced that our culture really wants to see the character of God. You know, they've had their fill of churchgoers who espouse their conservative views on this issue or that issue.

[14:17] No matter how right they may be. They're tired of that. They don't care. But when they begin to see God demonstrated, his character demonstrated in our life, his love, his mercy, his compassion, his grace demonstrated through us, then they're going to say, well, maybe I do need to listen to their explanation.

[14:44] Because skeptics don't care about what you say. Skeptics care about how you live and how you demonstrate. Not just demonstrate goodness.

[14:57] They want to see how you demonstrate forgiveness. They want to see how you and I demonstrate mercy and grace. Instead of pointing our fingers at people, Jesus never did that.

[15:09] Jesus showed them mercy and grace and love. And that was attractive to them. And then he shared them the truth of how they can have a new life. That's why they were attracted to Jesus.

[15:20] It was Jesus' whole method. What we see in the Gospels is, you know, not sitting down and saying, you know, this is, you wondered how God's, what's God's like? Pull out your pen and I'm going to show you.

[15:31] But what happens when our lives become the Gospel tract? And we live lives that are attractive to the world. Lives that say, I'm not judging you.

[15:45] I'm loving you and I want something better for you. And here's the answer. Here's the answer to your pain. Here's the answer that will step in and walk with you in your sorrow.

[15:59] Walk with you. And who can break the chains of sin that bind you and the habits that are destroying your life. He can bring something new.

[16:10] He can give you a brand new nature. And that's what we can do as we reveal the character of God. He is irresistible. His Holy Spirit can help us to make Him irresistible to the world.

[16:27] He's good. He's gracious. If we would let the original disciple maker in our lives out, then I believe we're going to see a difference in our sharing and showing the Word.

[16:41] And secondly, not only do we display His character to the world, Secondly, we live for His glory through them.

[16:53] See, not only do we display His character, and that's what disciple making is. The whole process of disciple making is showing God's character and imparting God's character to others that we're bringing along.

[17:08] So we're displaying His character in those that we are discipling. But next, we live for God's glory through those that we're discipling.

[17:19] And we're going to see that here. I want us to see that in chapter 17. Let's go back to verse 9 and 10. These two verses here almost seem like, you know, what's He really saying here?

[17:31] You can almost skip over them. But they are really loaded with meaning. Look at verse number 9 of chapter 17. He says, I pray for them.

[17:42] He's talking about His disciples. And He says, I'm not praying for the world. I don't pray for the world, but I pray for those whom you have given Me, for they are yours.

[17:56] Verse 10, And all mine is yours, and yours are mine. What does He say next about these guys that He is imparting His life into?

[18:07] He says, Glory comes to Me through them. I'm glorified in them. So what does Jesus say? He says, Not only am I showing your character to them, I get my glory from them.

[18:26] Catch that. Don't miss it. Do you want to glorify God? Do you want to be glorified by God? Jesus says, You get it through those you disciple.

[18:38] Because, and we'll see Paul, the Apostle Paul, a little bit later, over and over again. Talk about that. He talks about when He stands before God, that He's going to get the well done, good and faithful servant, because of the people that He discipled.

[18:52] And what we're seeing here is, Jesus says, I've got, I get glory from these that I'm discipling. So here are the bookends. He says, I pray for them, and glory comes to me through them.

[19:07] What is He trying to show us about disciple making? I think it's a few things. As we think about the way Jesus poured Himself into the lives of these guys, I think He's showing us, first of all, when it comes to the people that God's given us, and God does that, He gives you, and He gives me people in our lives that we can have the opportunity to impact in our families, in our neighborhood, in our work.

[19:34] See, we're put there, and they're put there for a reason. Not by accident. God's given them to us for us to be able to disciple them. And in our spheres of influence, first of all, I think what we see Jesus teaching through this prayer is that we need to set our focus on them.

[19:54] that we need to set our focus on them. Jesus is saying, I'm praying for these 12 guys, God. Father, I'm praying for these 12 guys.

[20:07] And He's saying, that's who I'm praying for. And He would even go as far as to say, I'm not praying for the world. What? Jesus, you're not going to pray for the world?

[20:20] You know, I thought that's kind of surprising. Jesus, I thought you loved the world. But He's setting His focus on them. As a matter of fact, the closer He got to the cross, it's not less time that He spent with them.

[20:37] He spent more time with them. As a matter of fact, the last few weeks, He spent all of His time with them. And why is that? If He only had a week left, He's spending all the time He has with these guys to impart everything that He can more than everyone else in the world put together.

[20:55] More time than He spent with the crowds, He spent with them. His focus was completely on those whom He was discipling. Now, why is that?

[21:07] Could it possibly be because discipling and disciple building is a process that takes time? Sometimes can be messy. And it's not something we can do in an hour.

[21:18] It's not a process that happens overnight. You know, we can't make disciples from the newest or the latest fad we read in a book. It's not the way we make disciples.

[21:31] It's a slow and it's a tedious process. It has its ups and it has its downs. Now, fast forward 2,000 years later, and often, what do we refer discipleship to?

[21:43] We refer to it as a program. We refer to it as something that we do in a one-hour class every week. Matter of fact, there are some churches that in the evenings, before their evening service, they'll have a discipleship study.

[21:59] And we're making disciples one hour a week in a classroom lecturing to them. The world was Jesus' classroom.

[22:10] His discipleship process was not based on lecture and not based on a classroom. His disciple-making was based on you follow me, look at how I do it, let's do it together, and you see me exhibit and demonstrate God's character, and along the way, I'm going to give you some tidbits of information, but the majority of it was a life imparted to another life.

[22:39] That's disciple-making. If we think we can can disciple-making into an hour class a week, I think we're deeply mistaken. It cannot be done.

[22:50] Jesus didn't do it that way, and there's got to be a reason why more than half of those who supposedly pray a prayer of faith and join a church end up falling out eventually because we never really made disciples.

[23:06] We put them in a classroom and filled their heads with knowledge, and it never really caught on in their life. There's a difference between teaching someone something and making a disciple.

[23:17] Knowledge does not make a disciple. I don't care how much they know. They could know every sin. They could quote every word of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. They could be a good person and never sin any of those social sins that's accepted in Christianity and never be a disciple because they're not living with Jesus.

[23:37] They don't have that vibrant, personal, working relationship showing the grace and the mercy and the love of God on a daily basis and not reproducing themselves. I'm not hearing any amens.

[23:49] That's what Jesus taught. And so he set his focus on them. Not the world. He set his focus on them. Not the crowds. He set his focus on them.

[24:00] The second thing that we're going to see and I think this is going to it surprises me as I read this. The second thing that we see is we need to set we need to see the world through those we're discipling.

[24:14] We need to see the world through those we are discipling because what does Jesus say? He says verse 9 I'm praying for whom?

[24:25] I'm praying for those I'm discipling I'm praying for these guys but I'm not praying for the world. What's up with that Jesus? Did you just ignore what is going to be written in John or what was written in John 3.16 that John would write eventually?

[24:45] God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. But what is he saying? He says I'm not praying for the world. He goes out of his way to tell us he's not praying for the world.

[24:59] Is he doing it because he doesn't care for the world? I don't think so. But I think what he's doing is he is as he's praying to the Father what he's saying is he knows that he's about to go to the Father.

[25:18] He knows that he is not going to be able to win the world personally physically and reach everyone.

[25:29] He's going to die for us die in our place but what was going to happen these guys that he's discipling were going to be the vehicle through which he saw the world.

[25:43] He saw the world coming to him through these guys. He says I'm about to go to the Father but I'm about ready to be out of this world but you are still in this world guys or they are still in this world Father.

[25:56] So Jesus is seeing the world through these twelve guys and what we see next is and this may sound unusual you may say pastor you've really lost it I think we need to stake our life on them because that's what Jesus did.

[26:14] Jesus staked his life Jesus staked the future of the world on twelve guys one of them was as he said the son of perdition he ended up leaving Jesus but what Jesus did was Jesus staked the entire future of the world on these guys he was discipling and what do we see happen we literally see the Bible says the world was turned upside down with their message and with their life and so Jesus says I'm not praying for the world these guys I'm praying for and they're going to reach the world do you realize that everything we do for Jesus has an impact on the world has an impact on the future of the world one person at a time because how do we know that this one person that you and I might be it might be a child it might be a neighbor it might be a coworker that we're Adam Spurgeon or someone who God will raise up to reach millions for him so everything we do can reach the world for God let's take a little bit of a segue from

[27:29] Jesus here and he says Jesus said I stake my glory on them stake my life on them now turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 1 Corinthians 10 and we'll see how this plays out in the life of the apostle Paul there are going to be some verses that we are very familiar with you may want to underline them put a note there somewhere but I think we're going to see disciple making at the center and the heart of what the apostle Paul is saying we may never have related these verses with disciple making but you're going to see that they're intimately related with disciple making 1 Corinthians 10 31 therefore whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of God and we're thinking well that's just for God no we do that to make disciples you don't see that just wait so everything we do we do the glory of God whatever you drink do it for God's glory whatever you eat do it for God's glory is what

[28:38] Paul is saying now what does that look like 1 Corinthians 10 32 and 33 Paul goes on to say give no offense either to the Jews or the Greeks or to the church of God just as I also please all men in all things not seeking my own profit but the profit of many that they may be saved so he's saying don't cause anyone to stumble whether Jews or Greeks or the church he says even as I try to please everybody in every way listen to what he says this is the heart of a disciple making he says for I am not seeking my own good but the good of the many so that they might be saved that's why Paul was saying this Paul was saying this with the heart of a disciple maker I'm doing these things I'm all things to so that they'll be saved so that they will see God's character through me 1 Corinthians 11 1 we intimated that this verse last week the week before 1

[29:47] Corinthians 11 1 Paul says imitate me just as I also imitate Christ follow my example and you will be following Christ now is that a bold statement or what Paul what what did you just get a little flash of pride no I don't think so I think what Paul was saying I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ I'm living for him everything that I do I want to do for the glory that God would receive the glory and he's saying I'm doing this so that others can be saved so he says if you follow me imitate me you will be imitating Christ now let's go over to Philippians chapter three almost says the same thing in Philippians chapter three verse 17 the picture this is a picture of what it means to stake your life on those that you are discipling verse 17 he says brethren join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have for us a pattern let's look at verse 20 chapter 4 verse 1 he says for our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the

[31:07] Savior the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself so he's talking about the glory that's going to come one day but notice he says this therefore my beloved brethren my beloved and longed for brethren he says you are my joy and my crown so stand fast in the Lord what did Jesus pray to the heavenly father father they're yours you have kept them I have kept them meaning they're still true to you except for one but these guys are still true to your word still true to you and they're going to change the world they're the ones that are going to change the world so Paul looked at the believers who were in front of him and said I love you I long for you now when you get down to verse 9 in

[32:08] Philippians chapter 4 he says the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me these do you learned or whatever you received from me whatever you saw me do now turn over to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 19 and 20 this is where we're going to see it 1 Thessalonians 2 19 and 20 Paul says for what is our hope or what is our joy or what is our crown of rejoicing remember he talked about that you're my joy you're my crown I rejoice over you he says is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming so what is Paul saying where's my glory where's my joy where's my crown he says my crown my joy my rejoicing is seeing you standing before

[33:22] God having kept the faith did you catch that Paul is staking his life on those he's discipling Paul is staking his future Paul is staking on what he hears from God on these he's not staking it on his goodness he's not staking it on his own life he says when I get before God he says I'm going to receive glory from God through you I'm going to receive glory from God because of you because of those who came to know Jesus through him those who came to know Jesus through his ministry for what is our hope our joy or crown of rejoicing is it not you you're my crown you're my joy you're my crown of rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming for you and for our glory he we live for other people not live for ourselves but we live so others might come to know Jesus that's when the world gets changed that's when the world begins to be saved when we live for them just like

[34:31] Paul lived for them just like Jesus lived for those 12 guys and just like Paul lived for those that came to know Jesus just like Timothy lived for those that he was sharing God bless us because we are just following the example that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gave us and then the next thing we see is we nurture his holiness in them we nurture his holiness let's go back to John 17 we nurture his holiness in them when we come to verse 11 and we see Jesus offer this petition it's an individual petition or a prayer for these guys he starts off in verse 11 he says now I am no longer in the world but these are in the world and I come to you holy father keep through your name protect through your name those whom you have given me that they may be as one or maybe one as we are this is the first this is the only time in the

[35:37] New Testament that Jesus calls God that holy he emphasizes God's holiness and why is that why does he emphasize the holiness of God as he's praying for these men because I believe we nurture God's holiness and we are able to show God's holiness through the lives of those that we disciple verse 12 he says while I was in the world while I was with them in the world I kept them in your name those whom you have given me I have kept and none of them is lost except the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled all places we take a look at and Jesus is not necessarily talking about physical protection here because what would he say to them later they hate me they're going to hate you matter fact he says you live for me they'll kill you how can he pray for their protection knowing firm to his word and living a life for him making other disciples and what we see is we're seeing a contrast between them and the world

[36:55] Jesus says I'm going to leave the world you're still in the world I cannot reach the world when I leave but I'm staking my I'm staking the future of the world on you you guys are going to win the world father these guys are going to win the world. They are going to be making disciples just as I have discipled them. And I think when it comes to showing God's holiness, I think we need to avoid two extremes.

[37:24] I think there's two extremes that we need to avoid. The first extreme is total separation from the world. And you're saying, Pastor, where are you going with that? Well, I'm talking primarily physical separation here. We know that separation, we know that holiness means separation. We're not to be engaged in the same sin. We're not to be engaged in the same lifestyle that those who are in the world under the influence of Satan is. But what does Jesus say? How can they win the world unless they're in the world? So if we separate ourselves, you know, Jesus didn't say, okay, Michael, rev up the airplanes. We're going to go and we're going to go and we're going to rescue them from the world because it's tough out there. It's evil. No, he didn't say that. What does he say? No, I'm leaving them in the world because that's how they'll reach the world. So total separation from the world is not biblical. Total separation from the world is never what the Bible teaches. We are to be totally separated from the sin and the sinful lifestyle of the world and our own lives. But it doesn't mean we separate ourselves from the world. Sometimes we get those two mixed up. We cannot reach the world if we're lobbing grenades over the wall. That's never going to happen. It's not what he prays. So we avoid total separation from the people in the world.

[38:43] We see that over and over again. Paul says the same thing. He says, we can't not be rubbing shoulders with people because he says, then God, you'd have to take them out of the world. You'd have to bring them up to heaven because that's the only way we're not going to be around the others. But at the same time, there's an opposite extreme. Lest you think, okay, pastor, you've gone liberal. You've gone into heresy. No, I'm not. I'm just going biblical. The second extreme is total saturation in the world.

[39:14] Just as bad as the other. Total, and I think worse than the other in some ways. Total saturation in the world is the other extreme we are to stay away from. These guys were going to be in the world.

[39:29] That's what Jesus is telling his heavenly father. It says in verses 13 and 14, he says they're part of the world. He says, I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word that the and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. So they were not saturated with the world. They were just in the world and not of the world. So some people think that if we're going to be effective in the world, that we're going to have to look like the world and talk like the world. It's not what the Bible teaches. I don't think that's what Jesus is saying here. Not like the world. We're just with the world. Not like the world. And we're not different just for the sake of being weird. We're different when we're like Jesus Christ. We've got to be careful here. If we think about this, the Church of England and the

[40:33] Church in England. If we think back just a hundred years ago, a man by the name of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, auditoriums were being filled. They were having to rent larger and larger auditoriums. People were coming to Jesus Christ by the thousands and the tens of thousands. But think of today, just a little over a hundred years later. Those places are empty. And the Church in England is in trouble.

[41:03] As a matter of fact, one writer said this, In England, the Church accommodated the drives for money, status, and power, and the new order. Secularism had infiltrated the Church on a grand scale. At first, as a sincere way to attract worldly people. Does that sound familiar?

[41:19] But gradually, secularism became dominant and transformed the Church. The Church began to look like the world. Now, that doesn't mean that we just look different for the sake of looking different.

[41:37] What that means is if the world cannot see, if the world looks at us and sees us the same as they are, with engaged in the same sinful practices, engaged with the same problems, husbands treating wives the same way they do, wives treating husbands the same way they do, families not raising up their kids properly as they do, then what are they going to see that we have to offer? So I think the point is, we need to realize that both of those are opposite extremes, and we need to understand we are in the world, but not of the world. We are going to reach the world by going to the world and sharing God with them. And then, lastly, we need to accept the responsibility of total sacrifice for the world, as we're coming down to a close. And you say, well, pastor, what do you mean by total sacrifice?

[42:32] Well, I guarantee you there's some things in some of our lives here today, probably all of our lives, that we need to sacrifice. The first thing is, there may be some of us here who are bound by sinful habits, and we're getting pleasure from them. Sacrifice our personal pleasure. Sacrifice whatever those sinful habits are for the sake of reaching others for the gospel. That's another thing. Maybe you need to sacrifice our pride to reach the world. But there's one thing that I guarantee you that we all need to sacrifice, and that's sacrifice our fear. Because the Bible says that God has not given to us that spirit of fear, and He's able to take that fear and turn it into courage for reaching others. And as we come back to a close, so what now? Some questions. Who can I share the word to? Or who can I show the word to?

[43:41] Who can I show the word to? Not just in your home, but in your neighborhood, in your school, in your workplace. Who can I show the word to? Secondly, how can I show them the word? Not accidentally. Not haphazardly, and hope it happens. But how can I intentionally show the word of God to those who need Jesus? And then lastly, what do I need to sacrifice in order to show them the word? And I think what I'd like for us to do, as our invitation, if Jess could come up at this time, and I want us to think about, spend a few moments in silence, asking ourselves those three questions.

[44:35] Who can I show the word to this week? Who can I, by following the example of Jesus, reveal the character of God through me to them this week?

[44:53] Secondly, how can I do that? Make a phone call? Set up a breakfast or coffee time together? Invite them over?

[45:04] Go, do something. What can I do? How can I show the word to them? And then lastly, what can I sacrifice? Am I afraid to do it? Am I scared?

[45:16] Is there sin in my life that I need to take care of? That I need to go before God and say, God, I confess. This is sin. And I turn it over to you.

[45:27] Because I don't want anything to hinder my ability to demonstrate your character to them.

[45:41] I don't want my demonstration to get in the way of my explanation. So, Father, what can I sacrifice for them? Let's all stand as we take those few moments.

[45:51] Thank you.