Share The Word

In this message, David Platt reminds us that God has given us a part to play in His mission, and it begins with sharing the Word.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
You are listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author,
and teacher David Platt.

SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
If you have a Bible, and I hope you do, let me invite
you to open to the book of John.
Feel free to use your table ofcontents if you need to.
While you're turning there tothe book of John, I want to ask
you a question.
Start off this morning with alittle Bible quiz.
One question.
Probably pretty simple,hopefully.

(00:30):
I want to know when and whereJesus said these words.
When and where was he when hesaid it is finished?
Anyone know?
He was on the cross, okay?
That's our first answer.
And that is one of the placeswhere Jesus said those words.
Look at John chapter 19, verse30.
One of the times where Jesussays it is finished.

(00:52):
This is where we often think of,immediately think, well, when
Jesus said he had finished, hewas done, he'd finished all that
he was supposed to do.
It was John chapter 19, verse30.
And he's sitting on the cross,it says, when he had finished,
when he had received the drink,Jesus said, It is finished.
And with that he bowed his headand he gave up his spirit.
But does anybody know the othertime when Jesus said that he was

(01:16):
finished?
Turn back two chapters to Johnchapter 17.
You look at John chapter 17,verse 4, Jesus uses the same
word there.
We kind of miss it because it'stranslated in some of our
translations differently, but itsays in verse 4, I brought you

(01:37):
glory.
This is Jesus praying to theFather, I brought you glory on
earth by completing or finishingthe work you gave me to do.
Same word in the originallanguage of the New Testament
that we see in John 19, verse30, is now used here in John
chapter 17, verse 4.
Now here's what I want us to dotoday.
I want us to think if Jesussaid, It is finished on the

(02:00):
cross, but he also said, I'vefinished the work you've given
me to do in John 17 before hewent to the cross, then, well,
this doesn't say the crosswasn't important.
That was obviously a veryimportant part of his work, but
there was also another work thathe was doing here.
That he could say even before hewent to the cross, I have
finished the work you've givenme to do.
You've got at the top of yournotes there.

(02:21):
I wanted us to begin by thinkingabout the work of Jesus this
morning.
And I think the work, thestrategy of Jesus revolved
around two main aspects.
One, in John chapter 19, verse30.
We'll call that a message ofredemption.
That was the picture on thecross.
Jesus was giving his life toredeem men and women, which
basically means to restore us toGod.

(02:43):
Now that was part of his work,and obviously the central part
of his work, giving his life onthe cross.
But in John 17, before he evenwent to the cross, he says, Past
tense, I've finished the workyou've given me to do.
What's he talking about there?
Well, let's call that John 17,verse 4, the method of
reproduction.
What you've got is two aspectsto Jesus' work.

(03:04):
Yes, he went to the cross and hedied on the cross to restore us
to the Father.
At the same time, he's showingus a picture here of how his
work also involved how thatmessage is going to be
reproduced throughout the entireworld.
And I think that's the picturewe've got in John chapter 17.
He says this at the beginning ofthis prayer, I've finished the
work you've given me to do.
And then he begins to describethat work.

(03:26):
And over the next 22 verses,what we've got a picture of,
Jesus summarizing his work onearth.
What's interesting, not one timedoes he mention a miracle that
he performed.
Not one time does he talk aboutthe blind who could now see, or
the person who was dead who wasnow alive, or the person who was
poor, who had come into contactwith him and been healed of

(03:48):
their sickness.
But 40 times, over 40 times,what he does is he mentions the
men God had given him out of theworld.
He never once mentions amiracle.
He never once mentions all themasses and multitudes of people
that followed him, but 40 timeshe mentions the men God had
given him out of the world.
So here's what I want you to do.
You've got John 17 open there.

(04:09):
I want you to take your pencilor your pen if you're okay with
marking your Bible.
If you're not, then you can justabstain from this exercise.
But if you're okay with markingyour Bible, here's what I want
you to do.
We're going to read through thisprayer.
And every time you see thedisciples mentioned, or even us
as disciples of Christ 2,000years later mentioned, then I

(04:30):
want you to, I've got I've put abox around each word in this
chapter that describes hisdisciples or us.
You might circle it, put asquare, underline it, whatever
it might be, but every time yousee the disciples mentioned, put
a mark there in your Bible.
Let's read this together.
Now keep in mind, we are cominginto a conversation between God

(04:50):
the Son and God the Father rightbefore he goes to the cross.
And he prays this prayer outloud for a reason.
His disciples are there in theupper room and they're
listening.
And here's what he says.
Verse 1.
He looked to heaven and heprayed.
Father, the time has come.
Glorify your Son, that your Sonmay glorify you.
For you granted him authorityover all people, that he might

(05:12):
give eternal life to all thoseyou have given him.
Now this is eternal life, thatthey may know you, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom youhave sent.
I have brought you glory onearth by completing the work you
gave me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me inyour presence with the glory I
had with you before the worldbegan.
Now some of you are thinking,all right, Dave, we got a long

(05:33):
way to go to get forty plustimes.
Well, get your pen, pencilready.
Verse 6 I have revealed you tothose whom you gave me out of
the world.
They were yours.
You gave them to me, and theyhave obeyed your word.
Now they know that everythingyou have given me comes from

(05:53):
you.
For I gave them the words yougave me, and they accepted them.
They knew with certainty that Icame from you, and they believed
that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I'm not praying for the world,but for those you have given me,
for they are yours.
All I have is yours, and all youhave is mine, and glory has come

(06:15):
to me through them.
I will remain in the world nolonger, but they are still in
the world, and I am coming toyou.
Holy Father, protect them by thepower of your name, the name you
gave me, so that they may be oneas we are one.
While I was with them, Iprotected them, and kept them
safe by that name you gave me.

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None has been lost except theone doomed to destruction, so
that Scripture would befulfilled.
I am coming to you now, but Isay these things while I am
still in the world, so that theymay have the full measure of my
joy within them.
I have given them your word, andthe world has hated them, for
they are not of the world.
My prayer is not that you takethem out of the world, but that

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you protect them from the evilone.
They are not of the world, evenas I am not of it.
Sanctify them by the truth.
Your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world, Ihave sent them into the world.
For them I sanctify myself, thatthey too may be truly
sanctified.
My prayer is not for them alone.
This is where disciples ofChrist come in after that,

(07:19):
including us.
I pray also for those who willbelieve in me through their
message, that all of them may beone.
Father, just as you are in meand I am in you.
May they also be in us, so thatthe world may believe you have
sent me.
I have given them the glory thatyou gave me, that they may be
one as we are one.
I in them, and you in me.

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May they be brought to completeunity, to let the world know
that you sent me and have lovedme, loved them even as you have
loved me.
Father, I want those you havegiven me to be with me where I
am, and to see my glory, theglory you have given me because
you loved me before the creationof the world.
Righteous Father, though theworld does not know you, I know
you, and they know that you havesent me.

(08:02):
I have made you known to them,and will continue to make you
known in order that the love youhave for me may be in them, and
that I myself may be in them.
Do you get the point?
Over and over and over again,Jesus says at the beginning, I
have finished the work you'vegiven me to do.
And then 40 plus times, hereferences these, the small

(08:27):
group of men that he had pouredhis life into.
Could it be that his work, yes,exemplified in the cross, was
preceded by his work of pouringhis life into a few men, i.e.,
making disciples.
They were his life that he hadpoured into so that he comes to
the end of his ministry.
He says, everything is staked onthese guys.

(08:49):
Don't miss it.
Jesus' strategy depended on afew disciples' faithfulness to
advance this message ofredemption through a method of
reproduction.
His whole work, his whole lifeand ministry hinged on the
faithfulness of these few guys.
That's the overarching truththat infiltrates, infuses every
verse in John 17.

(09:10):
And everything hinged on themreproducing the message they
were going to see in the cross,just like he had done that in
their life.
As a result, I think John 17gives us a pretty incredible
picture of the heart of Jesus,the master disciple maker.
It gives us a picture into whatkind of work did Jesus do on

(09:32):
earth?
How did he do it?
How did he pray for the peoplearound him?
And what it's gonna do over thenext four weeks, this week, and
the next three weeks, it's gonnabegin to unpack what it means to
make disciples, and we're gonnalearn directly from the heart of
Jesus Himself.
Here's the urgent need that weneed to see.

(09:53):
Ladies and gentlemen, if we donot reproduce ourselves in
disciple making, then we will doa pitiful job of advancing the
message of redemption that hasbeen entrusted to us.
If we do not reproduce ourselvesin disciple making, then the
message of redemption on thecross in John 19, 30 will not be
advanced in the way Jesusdesires for it to be advanced.

(10:14):
And the results are all aroundus.
Over a billion people who havenever heard the message of
redemption.
A sixth of the world.

(10:45):
And not just there, but inBirmingham.
How can we most effectivelyadvance the message of
redemption?
You know, it's funny that in aday where we have more faculties
and more resources to advancethe gospel to the ends of the
earth than ever before.

(11:06):
In this day and age, with allthat we have, do you realize
that there are more unreachedpeople, more people today on the
earth who have never heard thename of Jesus than there were
before we invented the horselesscarriage?
And it's at this point that somemight think, well, man, we need
to rise up and start takingadvantage of all this technology

(11:29):
we have when the resources,let's let's start using all of
these things to begin advancingthe message.
And while I am wholeheartedlybehind using technology and any
resources we have to advance thegospel, here's the question I
want to ask this morning.
What if the answer is not in ourtechnology?
What if the answer is not in ourresources?

(11:52):
Ladies and gentlemen, what ifthis is a problem that our money
can't solve?
What if the main issue is nothow we use our technology and
our resources, but whether ornot we give ourselves to the
plan that Christ has outlined?
What if that's the core issue?
What if it's not about money orresources of technology?
What if it's about people and uspouring our lives into a few?

(12:14):
See, the urgent need at thatpoint leads to an urgent
question.
And the question is this will webe faithful to obey his plan?
And don't miss this.
Because if this mission isdependent on us using technology
and resources wisely, if us itdepends on us using all the
things that we have at ourdisposal, then that means our

(12:35):
brothers and sisters in Africaand in East Asia, who don't have
all that those resources, can'taccomplish the mission without
them.
But what's weird is it'sactually the exact opposite
that's true.
Those who have the leastresources are seeing the gospel
advance the quickest.
Those who have the mostresources are becoming stagnant
with the gospel.
Why is that?
Because we can become dependenton that which God has told us

(12:55):
not to become dependent on, andwe miss out on the plan of
making disciples of all nations.
So, what I want us to do overthe next four weeks is dive into
four components of what it meansto make disciples.
If you were not here last week,just to bring you up to speed,
the goal is that through thisseries, that you would be able
to ask, my prayer is that wecould ask anybody at the Church

(13:16):
of Brook Hills, how do you makedisciples?
And we would be able to say,This is how you make disciples.
I want to show you fourpractical components and not
just be able to say we know howto do it, but we're doing it.
So I want to want you to see afoundation in this prayer, and
then I want to dive into thefirst component.
So let's start with thefoundation for disciple making.
It's in these first five verses,and I want to read back over

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them one more time.
And instead of circling all thethey's and dems, I want you to
look for a couple word, one wordthat's mentioned a couple of
different times that reallybecomes the focus, the driving
force behind this prayer.
Listen to John 17, 1 through 5.
Foundation of disciple makinghere.
Prayer starts.
Father, the time has come.

(13:57):
Glorify your son, that your sonmay glorify you.
For you granted him authorityover all people, that he might
give eternal life to all thoseyou have given him.
Now, this is eternal life, thatthey may know you, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom youhave sent.
I brought you glory on earth bycompleting the work you gave me
to do.
And now, Father, glorify me inyour presence with the glory I

(14:20):
had before you with you beforethe world began.
Did you see one word mentionedfive different times?
Glorify your Son, that your Sonmay glorify you, the glory I had
with you before the world began.
The driving force in this prayeris the glory of God.
And we see it in two differentways.
First of all, God is glorifiedin the completion of the

(14:42):
incarnation.
What Jesus is doing is he'scoming to the end of his life
and his ministry here on earth.
And as he comes to the end, westudied the incarnation all
throughout December.
We saw how the Word becameflesh, dwelt among us, He lived,
He died, He rose from the grave,and now we're seeing the
completion of that full circle.
Jesus is about to ascend to theFather after he goes to the

(15:03):
cross, and he will be restoredto his glory.
This idea of glorifying yourselfor glorify me basically means to
clothe in splendor.
So Jesus is saying, Father, Ihave lived to clothe you in
splendor.
Now glorify me, bring me to thesplendor, restore me to the
splendor I had with you before Icame in the incarnation.
So we've got the completion ofthis whole picture.

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Jesus is going back to theFather because this had been the
driving passion at the heart ofJesus over and over again in the
book of John.
Think 17 different times we seethis emphasis on glorifying the
Father through Christ.
Jesus driving passion.
John chapter 12, verse 28, he'spraying, Father, what shall I
say?
Save me from this hour as heprepares for the cross.

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And he says in verse 28, No,this is why I came.
Father, glorify your name.
Clothe yourself with splendorthrough my life.
But that's not where it stops.
If it stops there with Jesusgoing back and being the
incarnation being completed,then that happened 2,000 years
ago.
How does that affect us today?

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And how does that affect thesedisciples then?
And what we see is that God isglorified not just in the
completion of the incarnation,but God is glorified in the
continuation of the incarnation.
The word was made flesh in Jesus2,000 years ago.
But the beauty of the gospel isthat when he goes back to be
with the Father, now the Word isbeing made flesh in who?

(16:30):
In you and me and us.
That Christ lives in us, Christin you, Colossians 1.27 says,
the hope of glory.
Christ is making himself knownthrough us.
We are his hands, we are hisfeet, we are his mouthpieces, we
are the word made flesh today.
That's why he prayed over andover again for these guys.
It's almost as if Jesus issaying to the Father, Father, it

(16:54):
is best for your glory that youbring me back to you, because
when you do, then I will show myshow the word made flesh in each
one of these guys as they go outinto the world.
And the incarnation willcontinue over and over and over
again.
And here we're getting to theheart of disciple making.
We know, scripture's clear, thatwe were all created to bring
glory to God.

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How do you do that?
How do you glorify God?
And the picture is you let theword become flesh in you, in
your life, and you let Christlive through you and Him become
a reality in and through you ona daily, on a weekly basis.
And so that's the foundation.
As a result, the word is at thecenter of disciple making.

(17:35):
The word and the sense of theperson of Christ living in us,
as well as the word that we'reabout to read in just a second,
that shows the emphasis on hisactual words, his commands.
So with that foundation, here'swhat I want us to dive into.
The first component of disciplemaking that we're going to see
here in John chapter 17.
Component number one is to sharethe word.

(17:56):
This is where disciple makingstarts.
And I want us to dive into Johnchapter 17, verse 6 through 8 in
particular.
And I want you to see how Jesusbegan with these guys, how he
began to bring them to himselfand how he began to make
disciples.
Listen to what he says.

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Now, obviously it was still alittle incomplete because you
just hadn't gone to the crossyet, and the ramifications of
the gospel had not been spelledout completely.
But these guys, undoubtedly,throughout the book of John, had
come to the point where they hadembraced Christ and they had
basically said, We trust you arewho you say you are.
We're going to follow you.
We're with you.
They had identified themselveswith faith in Christ.

(19:08):
They had come to that initialpoint.
So Jesus had shared the wordwith them and they had received
it.
That's where disciple makingstarts.
And we see it not just in Jesus'life with these guys, but in
their response to Jesus.
Flip with me back to Johnchapter 1.
Go back to the first chapter inJohn with me.
And I want you to see threedifferent people that encounter

(19:28):
Jesus.
This is the introduction toJesus in John chapter 1.
And three different peopleencounter him.
I want you to see what they dofirst thing as they encounter
him.
Some of you have studied thisalready this morning in your
small groups.
You've looked at these passages.
Look at John chapter 1, verse29.
This is the introduction ofJesus, the word made flesh.
And verse 29 says, The next dayJohn, meaning John the Baptist,

(19:53):
saw Jesus coming toward him, andhe said, Look, the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of theworld.
So as soon as John sees Jesus,he proclaims, he shares the
truth about Jesus.
Look, the Lamb of God who takesaway the sin of the world.
Now look at what happens as aresult.
Go over to verse 40 in Johnchapter 1.
It says, Andrew, Simon Peter'sbrother, was one of the two who

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heard what John had said and whohad followed Jesus.
And the first thing Andrew didwas to find his brother Simon
and tell him, we have found theMessiah, that is the Christ.
And he brought him to Jesus.
So John sees Jesus, he announceswho he is.
Andrew sees who he is.
First thing he does is he goesand tells Simon, then look down
in verse 44.
Philip, like Andrew and Peter,was from the town of Bethsaida,

(20:38):
Philip found Nathaniel and toldhim, We have found the one Moses
wrote about in the law, andabout whom the prophets also
wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, theson of Joseph.
So three people encounter Jesus,and the first thing they do is
what?
They share that word, shareChrist, introduce others to
Christ, share Christ with peoplearound them.

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This is the first component ofdisciple making, and it's very
simple, it's natural.
If we're gonna make disciples ofChrist, then we have to
introduce people to Christ,right?
That only makes sense.
And it was natural for them inJohn chapter 1.
But I think we've missed this.
I think we've missed thisdrastically in the church today.

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What we've done is we haveseparated.
Now I'm gonna use a term herethat I know has some negative
stereotypes, alright?
Evangelism.
Okay, there, it's out there.
Okay?
Now this is a this is a greatbiblical term.
It talks about sharing goodnews, but as soon as I say that
word, you've got images ofpeople on TV trying to get your
money or asking you to come andput your hand on the screen so

(21:44):
they can pray for you, okay?
Put that aside, all right?
What we've got is evangelismhere.
Evangelism.
What we do is we come up withprograms for evangelism, and
then we put discipleship overhere.
And we say, well, you gotdiscipleship over here and
evangelism over here.
And most of us are gifted.
We like doing discipleship, andabout two of us like doing

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evangelism.
And so the really outgoing, kindof out there people do
evangelism, and the rest of usdo discipleship and clean up the
mess they've made.
And so that's what we do.
And we separate the twotogether.
But we've got to realize firstof all, evangelism is no program
in the church, and discipleshipis not a program in the church.

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Second, there's no way we'reever gonna get world evangelism
without disciple making, it'snot gonna happen.
How do you know?
Well, look at the world, okay?
You're not gonna get worldevangelism without disciple
making.
Similarly, you cannot dodiscipleship apart from
evangelism to focus on knowingChrist but not sharing Christ,

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that certainly doesn't add upnowhere in scripture.
And so we've got to bring thesetwo together.
It's interesting.
Even when you read books ondisciple making today, many
times they leave evangelismcompletely out of the picture.
And I think unnecessarily andfrankly unbiblically.
And so we need to bring thistogether that sharing the word

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is a part of making disciples.
Now don't tune me out, okay?
Some of you have already said,okay, this is one of those
evangelism sermons gonna make mefeel bad, gonna give me a guilt
trip, and then uh that's not thepoint, okay?
Just stay with me, hang with me,because I think as we see this
unfold in Jesus' heart and theway he interacted with his
disciples, that we're gonna seesome truths come out.

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They're gonna be reallyencouraging for us and hopefully
change some of those stereotypeswe have with that word, okay?
I want you to see a few truthsthat arise.
First of all, this firstcomponent of disciple making,
share the word.
Our confidence in sharing theword is grounded in God's
sovereignty, not our savvy.

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Our confidence in sharing theword is grounded in God's
sovereignty, not our savvy.
Now, I want you to see how thisunfolds in the verses we just
read.
In John 17, we'll come backthere.
We're going to be turning to afew different places in John,
and we'll always come back toJohn 17 here.
I want you to listen to theseverses, and I want you to think
about.
This idea of sovereignty meanscontrol or authority or

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dominion, that God is sovereign.
He is in control.
I want you to hear these versesand ask the question as I read
them to you.
Who's in control here?
Who's got the authority here?
Who's doing the work here?
Listen to this.
Jesus says, I have revealed youto those whom you gave me out of
the world.
They were yours.
You gave them to me, and theyhave obeyed your word.

(24:37):
Now they know that everythingyou've given me comes from you,
for I gave them the words yougave me, and they accepted them.
They knew with certainty that Icame from you, and they believed
that you sent me.
Who's doing most of the workhere?
It's the Father.
If we didn't know Jesus' heartand the way he loved these
disciples, we would think he's alittle frustrated at this point.

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God, you gave these guys to me.
They're not they're not thatsharp, but they're yours.
You put me in this mess, and Igave them the words you gave me,
and now I'm stuck with them.
So I come to the end of my lifeand I finish the work, and this
is this is it.
The Father's sovereign behindthis whole thing.
He's the one who gave thesethese guys, he gave the words,

(25:23):
he gave them to him, he sent himto them.
God is sovereign over this wholething.
Now, some of you that's makingyou a little uneasy because
you're starting to think, well,does God give some people and
not other people?
How does this whole thing work?
Is God just controlling us likewe're robots?
Well, don't miss it.
Don't miss it.
When we're talking about God'ssovereignty here, the goal is

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not for us to now get into adebate on predestination in the
room.
That's not the goal.
Here's why.
Because this passage is prettyclear to tell us that these guys
had a part in this thing.
They believed, they obeyed, theyaccepted the words.
There is human responsibilityover all over these things.
And somehow, and I can'tdescribe exactly how, but God's

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sovereignty and ourresponsibility don't conflict.
They come together, they're allover scripture together.
We can get into trouble when webegin to emphasize God's
sovereignty all the time, and wemiss out on the fact that we
we're a part of this thing.
We have responsibility.
At the same time, we begin tofocus on, well, I'm in control
and I'm doing these things whenGod is in control.
They go together.

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I want you to see in thoseverses what the Father gave
Jesus, and the implication iswhat he gives us.
First of all, he gives us thepeople.
He gives us the people over andover again.
Jesus says, You gave these guysto me.
The whole prayer started off.
You granted him authority overall people that he might give
eternal life to all those youhave given him.

(26:47):
This is really neat.
I want you to think about thiswith me.
The disciples, and even us, whenyou get to the last part of the
prayer, the disciples aredescribed as the Father's gift
to the Son.
And I want you to think aboutthat with me.
We're used to thinking of theFather's gift to us being

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Christ.
John 3.16, God so loved theworld that he gave his only
begotten Son, or one and onlySon.
He gave him as a gift to us.
Do you realize what John isshowing us here?
The Holy Spirit is telling usthat we are the Father's gift to
the Son.
Let that soak in for a secondfor you personally to realize

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that you are a gift from God theFather to God the Son.
Precious and honored and valuedby Him in a way that nothing in
this world can compare with.
So He gave the people, He gavethem to Him.
Not just gave us He gives us thepeople, but second, He gives us
the words.
Jesus says, You gave me thesewords that I gave them, gave to

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them.
So He gives us the people and Hegives us the words.
And then third, He gives us theauthority.
Gives us the authority.
We see that in the fact thatJesus, the Son, had been sent by
the Father, but even way back upin verse 2, when it said, You
granted him authority over allpeople, that he might give
eternal life to all those whoyou have given him.
So Jesus had the authority togive eternal life to all those

(28:21):
the Father had given to him.
So the Father gave the people,the Father gave the words, the
Father gave the authority, andJesus' job at that point was
pretty easy.
Now I want you to think with meabout how this affects the way
we share the word.
Could it be that God desires togive us the people as well?

(28:44):
Could it be that just like hesaid to Paul in Acts chapter 18?
You remember that story?
Paul's in Corinth, he's having areally rough time, people aren't
liking him, they're persecutinghim, many people aren't coming
to faith in Christ, he's havinga real difficult time.
What happens?
Jesus comes to Paul in a vision,he's thinking about leaving, and

(29:04):
Jesus says, Don't go anywhere,stay in the Corinth, because I
have many people in this city.
So stay here.
And he did, he stayed there fora couple of years, and many
people came to faith in Christ,and a great church was born.
Could it be that God has peoplein Birmingham that he desires to
bring to faith in him?

(29:25):
That he is sovereignly drawingto himself.
Could it be that when it comesto the sharing the word thing,
we're not out on our own tryingto do this work for God?
Could it be that he is right nowworking all over the city to
draw people to himself and he issovereignly bringing our paths
across the paths of people thisweek that he is drawing to
himself, that we have theopportunity to simply join him

(29:47):
in what he is doing?
What an incredible truth tothink that God is sovereignly
working in people's lives, thatyou will intersect with this
week.
He's given us the people.
And not just the people, but thewords.
Isn't it good to know thatsharing the word is not
dependent on our intellectualcapacities, our ability to

(30:11):
master and bolster this greatargument for why someone should
give their life to Christ?
He gives us the words.
Now, there's some people todaywho say that in our culture,
21st century culture, pretty farremoved from the Bible, you
really can't use the word whensharing the gospel with people.
You can't use the word becausepeople won't listen to it, they

(30:33):
don't respect it, they don'ttrust it, they don't attribute
much to it, and so it's not veryeffective.
Well, I'm not in favor of usgoing out and just quoting all
of our memory verses to a lostand dying world so they see our
Bible drill skills.
However, I think we are ignorantand foolish if we think that we

(30:57):
can do God a favor by taking hisword out of sharing the gospel
with people around us and thinkthat we're going to be more
effective.
We're not that good.
We're not that sharp, and wedon't have that many skills.
He has promised, don't miss it.
He has promised that when thisword is shared, he has
guaranteed that it will bearfruit.
It will lead people to Christ.

(31:17):
Guaranteed.

The question is (31:18):
will we share the word?
He gives us the words.
He gives us the people, he givesus the words, and he gives us
the authority.
This is why Jesus said at thevery beginning of the Great
Commission, all authority inheaven and earth has been given
to me.
Matthew chapter 11, verse 27,Luke chapter 10, verse 22, both
say that all authority has beeninvested in Jesus.

(31:38):
That he has authority over everyworld religion, philosophical
system in the world today tobring people to eternal life.
Now, with that behind you, thinkof the confidence this gives us
in making disciples.
That he gives us the people, hegives us the words, and he gives
us the authority.

(31:58):
I remember the first time thesetruths began to come home to me
in a new way.
It was two years ago, almostthis exact time, two years ago,
when I was in India.
Some of you have heard me talkabout my trip to India that
particular time.
In a city with seven millionpeople, most of whom had never
even heard the name of Jesus.

(32:19):
And as we would walk into thecity, our job every day was to
go and share Jesus with people,just to have conversations and
share Jesus.
These are people, when you saythe name Jesus, they say, Who is
that?
First time they're hearing thename Jesus.
We would walk everywhere wewent, we were just literally
surrounded by thousands ofpeople.
We would go to a park or thispart of the city, thousands of

(32:40):
people everywhere.
And what began to grip me wasthe realization as that I walked
out into that city, opened thedoors and stepped out and
thousands of people, theconfidence that somewhere in
this group of a thousand peopleat this park, there was somebody
that God was working in theirlife.

(33:01):
That I was not out there on myown.
He had been working all along.
And that my job was simply tofind the people that he was
working in their hearts, to besensitive to that.
And then once I found them, tobegin to share the words that
had been entrusted to me.
And to give them a picture ofChrist and to know, talk about
the authority, to know that inthat city that was filled with

(33:21):
Hinduism and Islam, that JesusChrist had authority over every
single foreign God that wasbeing worshipped there.
And Jesus Christ had authorityover every single belief and
reincarnation or this or that,everything he had authority
over.
That's great confidence when yougo out to make disciples.
Think about it.
He gives us the people.
I remember one time when I thinkabout that and see that truth.

(33:45):
I remember in East Asia, a guynamed Charlie, he's a professor.
And Heather and I, my wife andI, are in his apartment.
This is another area of theworld where very few people know
about Jesus.
Somebody had actually given hima Bible.
And so Charlie comes up to me.
We're sitting in his apartment.
He comes up, he sets the Bibledown in front of me, and he

(34:08):
says, I need you to tell me howI can have a meaningful life
based on that book.
You ever looking for like an endto share the gospel?
Well, there it was.
Ah, okay.
Um and so we do.
God gives the people, He givesus the words.

(34:29):
When I think about that, I thinkabout uh in New Orleans a friend
of mine named Byron and I, oneday walking around in the
neighborhood around our churchand just getting to know folks,
praying with folks, and umsharing the gospel as the Lord
provided opportunities.
And I remember we were walkingby this one guy's house, he's up
on his porch and uh kind of abohemian type guy, and uh and we

(34:54):
start a conversation.
Hey, how's it going, man?
And immediately he says, I don'twant it, and uh, I don't know
what you're selling, but I don'twant it.
And we say, Well, we're actuallyfrom the church on the street,
and he says, Okay, I don't wantit.
And uh he was just real, realstandoffish, not wanting
anything to do, and I'mthinking, okay, maybe we need to
move on here.
And he just says, you know, Iappreciate what you guys, what
you guys do, but I'm I'm kind ofmore new age, and I think just

(35:18):
he begins to talk about howeverything in the universe
happens for a reason.
And and I'm thinking, okay, it'stime to move on.
About that time, Byron, he'sstanding next to me, he said,
Well, if that's true, then whatdo you think the reason is for
us coming in contact with youtoday?

(35:39):
I thought, man, Byron, that waspretty good.
Then I started to get a littlemad, kind of jealous, like,
Lord, why didn't you give methat line?
I mean, that was sharp.
And this guy, an instant before,cold as can be, he sits up and
he says, now that's a goodquestion.
And he walks out to us on thestreet.

(36:00):
And he says, Well, let's thinkabout that.
And we start sharing the gospelwith this guy.
He gives us the words, and hegives us the authority.
What I always think about atthis point is the last five or
six years of my life beforecoming here and spending week
after week in the French Quarterof New Orleans with homeless men

(36:23):
and women who were engrossed inalcoholism and other vices that
this world has trapped them inthe fortune card readers and
tarot card readers and palmreaders and the voodoo queen of
New Orleans who were outrightpagan, say we we are pagan in

(36:49):
our beliefs, and to know inevery single conversation that
Jesus Christ has the power toovercome anything in these
folks' lives, to bring aneternal life, and to see him do
it.
See him take the guy who grossedin alcohol, began to come to

(37:12):
church and to get saved and tobe baptized, and now to lead in
homeless ministry in New Orleansat that church.
He has authority.
He gives us the words, he givesus the people, he gives us the
authority.
This is our confidence in thecycle making.
It's not dependent on oursalvage, but on his sovereignty.

(37:32):
Can I let you know a littlesecret here?
You gotta keep it in here, okay?
Here's the secret.
God's got this thing rigged.
This whole mission is in thehands of the Father.

(37:57):
And it cannot fail.
His plan will be accomplished.
The question is, are we going toget in on it?
Are we going to be faithful toobey his plan and take him at
his word and trust hissovereignty that he wants to

(38:20):
give people in Birmingham?
Give us the words.
Your walk with Christ will riseto all kinds of new heights.
And your journey and your faithin him, your dependence on him
will rise to all kinds of newheights when we begin to give
ourselves to his plan.
Okay.
That's his sovereignty, not oursavvy.

(38:41):
Does that free you up, some?
It's not dependent on us.
That's good news.
It's good as I look across thisroom.
We're not the sharp the sharpestgroup, but his sovereignty is in
control.
I mean that in the best way asyour pastor.
Okay.
Second.
When we share the word, when weshare the word, we share eternal

(39:02):
life, not religious laws.
Okay?
When we share the word, we shareeternal life, not religious
laws.
Now I want you to see how thisunfolds, because in verse 6 to
8, it's talking about how theyobeyed your word and they
believed in you and they trustedyou and they accepted you.
What's it talking about there?
And we've got a clue back up inverse 3, just kind of a summary
statement, along with John 20,verse 31 of the whole book of

(39:24):
John, where it says, this iseternal life, that they may know
you, the only true God, andJesus Christ whom you have sent.
So when we share the word, weshare eternal life.
They may know you.
This is a theme all throughoutthe book of John.
Let me show it to you.
We're gonna fly through these,but I want you to see them,
maybe circle them in yourBibles.
Look back in John chapter 1again.
Let me take you on a quick tour,and I want to show you life,

(39:46):
eternal life, over and over andover again, emphasized by Jesus,
in the life of Jesus.
Listen to this.
John chapter 1, verse 4.
This is the introduction to whoJesus is.
Give us the picture.
This is his identity.
It says in John chapter 1, verse4.
I just want to show you someplaces where we see life and
eternal life.
In him, verse 4.

(40:06):
In Jesus was life, and that lifewas the light of men.
His very essence was life.
In him is life, life is found.
Now look over in John chapter 3.
John chapter 3, verse 14.
This is Jesus' conversation withthis guy named Nicodemus.
He's telling him you need to beborn again.
Well, what does that mean?
Listen to what he says in verse14.

(40:26):
Just as Moses lifted up thesnake in the desert, so the Son
of Man must be lifted up, sothat everyone who believes in
him may have what?
Eternal life.
Then we know the next verse.
Quote it with me if you know it.
God so loved the world that hegave his only begotten son that
whoever believes in him willnever perish, but will have
eternal life.

(40:46):
That's the picture here.
He's giving eternal life.
John chapter 4, verse 14.
He's having a conversation withthis Samaritan woman of the
well, crossing all kinds ofboundaries.
And what does he say to her?
He says, Whoever drinks thewater I give him will never
thirst.
Indeed, the water I give himwill become in him a spring of
water, welling up to eternallife.

(41:07):
Look over in John chapter 5.
John chapter 5, verse 21.
This is a great text right herethat describes some of the
things we've been talking about,how the Father is working.
Look at verse 21.
It says, just as the Fatherraises the dead and gives them
life, even so the Son gives lifeto whom he is pleased to give

(41:27):
it.
Look over in John chapter 6.
Look at John chapter 6, verse33.
Jesus feeds over 5,000 peoplewith a little bit of food.
As a result, he draws a crowd.
Free food.
We like this guy.
And so they're following him.
Look at what happens in verse33.
He says, The bread of God is hewho comes down from heaven and
gives life to the world.

(41:47):
Not just temporary life, butlife, true, eternal life.
Verse 35.
Jesus declared, I am the breadof life.
He who comes to me will never gohungry, and he who believes in
me will never be thirsty.
Never.
It is eternal life.
Just as a side note, thischapter right here is so huge
for showing us God's sovereigntybecause he talks about some of

(42:08):
the things we see in John 17.
I want you to hear what Jesustells the crowd.
He's got tons of crowdsfollowing him.
Look at verse 53.
This is what Jesus said.
He says, I tell you the truth,unless you eat the flesh of the
Son of Man and drink his blood,you have no life in you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinksmy blood has eternal life, and I
will raise him up at the lastday.

(42:28):
Is that a little weird?
If you're following Jesus, isn'tit good to know?
Jesus said that, and peoplefollowed him, so we are we can
be confident as we share.
God's working behind this thing.
Keep going.
John chapter 10.
Look at John chapter 10.
Look at verse 10.
Jesus gives us a summarystatement.

(42:49):
He says, the thief comes only tosteal, only to steal and kill
and destroy.
John 10, 10 says, I have comethat they may have life and have
it to the full.
Look over in verse 27.
My sheep listen to my voice.
I know them and they follow me.
Here it is.
I give them eternal life, andthey shall never perish.

(43:10):
No one can snatch them out of myhand.
Isn't that good news?
Isn't it good to know thatthere's absolutely nothing you
can do to earn your salvation asa result?
There's nothing you can do tolose your salvation.
God's got you in his hand.
By his grace, by the finishedwork of Christ on the cross, we
can be assured of eternal life.
That's good news.
Keep going over John chapter 11,verse 25.

(43:30):
John chapter 11, verse 25.
Lazarus being raised from thedead on this story, Jesus said
to Martha, I am the resurrectionand the life.
He who believes in me will liveeven though he dies.
And whoever lives and believesin me will never die.
One more, John chapter 14.
Jesus is talking about heaven.
He's talking about where he'sheaded.
Thomas asked him, we don't knowwhere you're going, so how can

(43:53):
we know the way?
And Jesus says, I am the way andthe truth and the life.
No one comes to the Fatherexcept through me.
Over and over again, we see thecentral purpose of Jesus, at the
center of his mission, was toimpart life.
And so when you come to John 17,it says, eternal life is this.

(44:15):
And the emphasis is not on thefact that it's everlasting
existence.
The point is that you now knowthe everlasting God.
That you walk with the eternalGod.
And it says they might know,know the true God.
This word is more than justintellectual knowledge.
It's a word that we see allthroughout scripture to describe
an intimate faith, an intimatetrust.

(44:38):
Even in Genesis chapter 4, justto give you a little picture and
translate Greek translation ofthe Old Testament, it uses this
word to describe how Adam knewhis wife Eve.
And they had a child as a resultof knowing each other.
That is more than intellectualascent in Genesis chapter 4,

(44:59):
verse 1.
It is an intimate relationship.
That's the picture we're gettinghere of knowing God.
That life is found in each andevery day.
From now through all ofeternity.
Each day exhausting more andmore the infinite goodness and

(45:22):
grace and mercy and greatness ofour God.
And there is no end to hisgoodness.
There is no end to hisgreatness.
We will never tire of this life.
And it starts now.
That's the picture.
So when we share the word,that's what we share.
And I want you to think abouthow we miss this.

(45:43):
Oftentimes when we think aboutsharing the word, the whole
evangelism thing, we begin tothink about all the things that
we need to know to say.
Things we need to say.
This is what you do.
At that point, we're gettinginto some laws.

Here's the deal (45:55):
if we share laws, we need to have programs.
If we share laws, then we needto have programs that tell us
how to share the laws.
And if we share laws, we need tomemorize presentations.
And we need to be well versed inthe presentations we can recite
in order to share the laws thatare necessary to share.

(46:18):
So we need to have programs,need to memorize presentations,
and we need to organizeprojects.
So we need to get together andcome up with some projects so we
can go and share these laws.
If we share laws, we need tohave programs, memorize
presentations, and organizeprojects.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give youthe contemporary picture of

(46:38):
evangelism in the church.
Programs that we participate in.
Presentations that we learn andwe're trained in, and projects
that we now go out and do.
Now, I'm not saying that any ofthose things are bad in and of
themselves.
In fact, I think some of themcan be very helpful tools.

(47:02):
But I want to free you up some.
One of the reasons we think wecan't be effective in sharing
the word is because we haven'tbeen through the program or
don't know the presentation ordon't have the assigned project.
When the beauty of it is, if allif we are sharing life, then the
only thing we need to know is aperson.
The only thing we need to knowis a person.

(47:24):
It is his life in us.
Now, some of you at this pointare thinking, Dave, I'm not
buying it.
I've tried this thing before,tried to share the gospel, and
you don't just need a person,you need some help.
You need to know what to say andhow to move, how to say this or
that, and you don't want to messup all these things.

(47:46):
You need you need some training.
You need some training.
And I'm not saying training isbad, but I am saying training is
not necessary.
Did any of these guys in Johnchapter 1 have training when
they introduce these other guys?
Let me bring it into our world.
How many of you are grandparentsin here?
Anybody grandparents?
Okay.
Got a lot of a lot ofgrandparents.

(48:06):
Okay.
Those of you who aregrandparents, let me ask you a
question.
How many of you, asgrandparents, enjoy talking
about your grandchildren?
Any anyone?
Okay, all right.
That's most most everybody.
Okay.
All right.
Well, if that's the case, thenlet me ask you, how many of you
have been trained in how to talkabout your grandchildren as a
grandparent?

(48:28):
How many of you have taken thecourse?
Okay, just to make sure nobody'sleft out here.
Let me ask you a question.
How many of you over the lastweek or two have mentioned the
name Nick Saban?
Anybody?
If you're not raising your hand,you're lying, okay?

(48:50):
How many of you receivedtraining on how to talk about
Nick Saban at the office?
In the neighborhood?
In the home.
God help us what's on our mindsand what's on our hearts comes
out of our mouths.
May it be so that Jesus Christis at the center of our minds
and he's at the center of ourhearts so that he comes out of
our mouths.

(49:12):
And may we not be a people whocome up with a list of reasons
why he's not coming out of ourmouths.
May we be a people who share theword.
Let his life flow through you.
How meaningless ourconversations can be when we
have the message of eternallife.

(49:36):
And this is this is good news.
That we don't need these things.
We have Jesus who gives us thepeople, the words, and the
authority.
Last truth that arises from John17, verse 6 through 8, that I
hope is a comfort for us isthis.
Sharing the Word is designed tohumble us and to honor Christ.

(50:01):
Sharing the Word is designed,the whole picture is, you know,
God's got the whole thingrigged, and it's designed to
humble us and to honor Christ.
Now, we've seen this already inthese few verses.
Everything Jesus did pointedback to the Father.
And he's intentional to tell usnot just that I know these

(50:21):
things came from you, but theseguys know they came from you.
These guys know that you sentme.
These guys know that your wordsare coming through me.
The whole thing was designedeven in Jesus' own life so that
the Father was exalted.
So that everything would pointto him, not even to himself.

(50:42):
Now think about how that relatesto us.
The greatest obstacle in thisroom, I know the greatest
obstacle in this room to sharingthe word is fear.
Anxiety, intimidation, whateveryou want to call it, it's fear.

(51:07):
And if you've ever felt thatkind of fear, when it comes to
this idea of sharing the word, Iwant you to be comforted by
this.
If you experience fear, thenthat's that's a confidence you
can have that God designed itfor you to have fear.

(51:31):
And you may not think that'svery encouraging, but it is
because it's in our fear that heshows his power most clearly.
And it's in our intimidationthat he shows his strength.
And this whole thing is designedso that our weaknesses are put

(51:52):
on display and his strength ismagnified.
And people don't say, This guydid this in my life.
They say, God did this in mylife.
Now, yes, they led me there, buthere's the deal.
This goes back to the whole ourintellectual arguments.
You can come up with a greatargument, but somebody else is

(52:12):
gonna have a better argumentover here, and a better argument
over here, and a better argumentover here if it's based on us.
However, God the Father isbehind this whole thing.
And the beauty of it is this iswhere this comfort comes in.
Christ is exalted through ourweakness.
Christ desires to be exaltedthrough our weakness.
And not just to be exalted inour weakness.

(52:33):
So we say, well, I was weak andhe was strong, but follow up on
that.
Not only is Christ exalted inour weakness, but people, praise
God, are saved through ourwitness.
And we are in on the plan ofGod.
We are in on his mission in theworld.
I'll never forget first person Ihad the opportunity to lead to
faith in Christ.

(52:54):
Sitting at a school cafeteriatable and across from one of my
buddies, and just the two of us,and I had a track.
I don't know if you know what atrack is.
It's basically just a littleleaflet booklet, paper
presentation of the gospel.
And so I thought, okay, well, Iguess I should share the gospel
with my buddy.

(53:14):
And so I pull out the track andI just kind of read through it.
Jesus died on a cross.
And I read through the thing andI get to the end.
Ask the question now, would youlike to give your heart to
Jesus?
And I remember Scott looking atme and he said, He said, Yeah, I

(53:37):
would.
And I thought, you would.
What do I do now?
Pray this prayer.
And I remember right there infront of me seeing my friend's
life that was headed to aChristeless eternity to take an

(54:02):
eternal turn to lifeeverlasting.
Let me tell you what I didn'twalk away and say.
That was an incrediblepresentation of the gospel.
Let me tell you what I didn'twalk away with.
Confidence in myself.
I walked away with greatconfidence in the power of the

(54:23):
Holy Spirit to draw people toChrist.
We don't get there to that kindof confidence until we let Him
show it in our lives.
And this is why we don't wait toa certain point.
Some of you are thinking, aswe're going in this series on
disciple making, you'rethinking, well, I need to get

(54:44):
some things right in my ownlife, and then I'll start making
disciples.
That's not the point.
The point is, as we begin totake responsibility for the plan
of Christ and give ourselves tomaking disciples, it causes us
to shape up.
It causes us to do what we havebeen putting off forever because
now, now our spiritual life isbeginning to affect the lives of
others around us.

(55:05):
And that's exactly what Christsaid.
Look in verse 10.
You've got to see this.
He comes to the end and he saysthe end of this part, and he
says, All I have is yours, andall you have is mine.
And listen to this, and gloryhas come to me through them.
Jesus says, My glory is seen inthem and their lives.

(55:26):
These guys.
Eleven guys, because we see wesee Judas mentioned here, eleven
guys.
He says, My glory comes throughthem.
I lived for them.
So that they would pour theirlives into others.
That's the whole picture.
So the question I want to askyou this morning is this will we

(55:46):
live so that Christ receivesglory in others?
Now you see why disciple makingcannot be self-centered.
And why it's no longer about inmy life, put a box around my
life and my family and my house,and we will live to glorify God.

(56:06):
If that is what we do and wemake disciples in our house,
which we need to be doing,obviously, moms and dad across
this room, pulling their life intheir children and showing them
Christ, undoubtedly.
But if we stop there, then howwill we ever reach an unreached
world with the gospel?
What happens when just like welive for those people that are

(56:26):
closest to us, we begin to liveso the glory of Christ is seen
in others around us.
And we live our Christian livesnot for our sake, but for
others' sake.
So that they see Christ in us.
Now you see the core of disciplemaking.
Why it's not about us, but it'sabout them.
That's what Paul says.
You get to 1 Thessalonianschapter 2, verse 19 through 20.

(56:47):
He's telling the church there,he says, You are my crown, you
are my joy.
I live for you.
If you succeed with the gospel,then that is the picture in my
life.
I glory in you.
You're my crown, you're my joy.
What happens when an entirefaith family of believers begins
to see others in our communitylike that?

(57:08):
We begin to live for others'sake.
That's why.
That's why I told you last weekthat I don't live for the
institutional survival of thechurch at Brook Hills.
My dream is not for biggerbuildings and bigger programs.
My dream is the lives that arerepresented in this room.
You are.

(57:28):
You are life.
You are the life of Christ beingmade known throughout this
community.
You are my dreams.
And what happens when we beginto live like that for each
other?
Begin to live so that Christ isreceiving glory and all the
people around us.
Then the gospel is starting tomultiply, and the message of
redemption is advancing rapidlythrough reproduction.

(57:52):
God, may it be so.
Jesus had taken staked his wholelife and ministry on these guys.
The entire success of this plandepended on their faithfulness
to follow his example and tobegin doing that by sharing the
word.
So what do we do?

(58:13):
What does this mean for us?
Two questions I want to ask youvery, very simply.
Number one, do you know theword?
Do you know the word?
And I want to ask that questionin the silence of this room all
across to every picture.

(58:37):
John A.12 makes it very clearthat you can be stuck on church
and religion all your life andnever know Jesus.
And so I want to ask you pointlike do you know eternal life?
Do you know Jesus?

(59:00):
An intimate trust andrelationship with Him.
Do you know the Word?
And if you do, second, will youshare the Word?
Will you share the Word?

(59:22):
And to this point, and I want tolead us into a time where we we
pray together across this room.
In just a second, we're gonnastand and Jim's gonna lead us in
music and we're gonna singtogether about going deeper in
our knowledge of him.

(59:43):
And I'm gonna ask some leadersfrom the church to be up here at
the front, and I'm just gonnaopen up this area at the front
for two main types of people.
First, for those of you who arehere this morning.
And you don't know the word, andyou've not come to a knowledge

(01:00:06):
of eternal life through him.
And I want to urge you not to goanother second without trusting
him.
And there's some leaders whowill be up here at the front.
Their purpose in being here isto be available for you, to come
down while we're seeing andothers are responding in
different ways, for you to cometo one of them and say, How do I

(01:00:26):
know the word?
And for them to share with youhow you can know eternal life
through Jesus.
God, may guards be let down, maypride be let down across this
room this morning as people cometo faith and the word.
And second, I want to open upthis area, whether it's praying
with leaders or just praying ifyou'd like to up here at the

(01:00:48):
front.
If sharing the word has not beena part of your walk with Christ,
and you would say this morning,I need to put a stake in the
ground and say, even in myweakness, I'm going to trust him
and I'm going to trust what hegives and begin to give myself
to this.
I want to give you anopportunity just to do business
with God and to spend some timewith him.

(01:01:12):
You might even, if you havepeople in your life at work or
at home in your neighborhood,that you have been praying for,
you have had on your mind, evenas we've been talking about this
today, for you to have a time,for us to have a time where we
come before the Father in thisroom and just call out for
people that we long to see cometo know eternal life through
Christ.
I want to give you anopportunity to do that.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:32):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radical.net.