Lazarus is Raised - The Reactions

Take your Bible this morning, turn with me to John 11. John 11, I think I said this last week, chapter 11 should be a well-worn place in your Bible by now. As a matter of fact, in our journey through the Gospel of John, your Scriptures should be well-worn. I encourage you to use your Bible purposefully. It's not a crime to write in your Bible, take notes in your Bible. Everybody has their own way of doing that. We have the wonderful privilege of having the Word of God written, where we can understand it, study it, know it, digest it.

So we encourage you to take notes and develop those disciplines and habits so that you can learn, not just for today, but for tomorrow. And if you take my Bibles, you'll see where I've studied and learned. Written things down is I want to learn the Word of God. And so John 11 should be a well-worn place in your Bible by now. Now, I've mentioned this all along that we're going to finish up. John 11 this morning, I think I announced that last Sunday, we'll finish up this chapter. And through this chapter, we have been following many different things. We've been following certain individuals, we've been following certain groups.

Also, we have been in a great multi-day event. And within this multi-day event, there have been many other, many specific events. There was the sickness of Lazarus, then ultimately it turned into the death of Lazarus. Then there's Jesus' delay in coming, when they sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick. Then there's this eventual raising of Lazarus from the dead. We finished that up last Sunday morning. Then there are the disciples. Then there's Mary, there's Martha, the sisters, then the Jews. We saw that the disciples, they were seemingly dragged into this situation. Does it seem like they wanted to go?

Does not seem like they wanted to be a part of what Jesus was doing. But He drugged them along. Then we saw the sisters. Then we specifically looked at Martha and Mary. They seem to have this situation just dumped into their lap. It was their brother who died, and all of these events took place right there in their home and near their home. And so we had this situation dumped into their lives. And then there were the Jews, they came to mourn. And we're going to see that they were divided about this situation. They were divided about this situation.

Now, just like all of the great miracles and the great messages of Jesus, here this morning we will see that the crowds of Jews were divided about this sign and about the one who performed this sign, and that was Jesus. Now, I want you to see this. This was always the case in the ministry of Jesus. Every time Jesus performed a miracle and every time He preached a great message, that led to division. You should see that pattern by now. We saw that in a great way in John chapter 6. It was a great two-day event. Jesus feeds the 5,000.

And we saw as Jesus identified the different types of people, the different crowds that were within that great crowd, we began to see the reasons why they were following. And at the end of that two-day event, it was just the 12. It was just the disciples. And so they were divided. And every time Jesus did wonderful things and preached wonderful words, there was division. Now, I want to pause here and I want to make a little application with this. When we present an unadulterated Jesus, when we present an unadulterated gospel, when we preach an unadulterated, the unadulterated Word of God, you will always have division.

Now, I know that makes a lot of people uncomfortable because we want to get along. We want to be sometimes a little ecumenical. And we want friends. We don't want to alienate people, especially in our homes and maybe in our families and in our workplaces. But when we as strong Christians preach an unadulterated Jesus, an unadulterated gospel, and the unaltered and unadulterated Word of God, there will be division. God starts working in your life. You start becoming a Christian at home and in your workplace. You start being a witness. God saves you. And all of a sudden, you start declaring the truths of the Word of God.

There might be division in your home. There might be division even with your own parents and your own siblings. There will be divisions at work. Why? It happened to Jesus. And if it happened to Jesus, it sure will happen to us. Now, I'm not saying we go and look for fights. I'm not saying we divide people of our own ideas. I'm not saying we look to divide. No. But the truths of the Word of God and the workings of God, it will always divide people. So what are we getting to this morning? We're getting to the end of John chapter 11. And we're going to be looking at the reactions of the Jews, the reaction of the Jews.

And we will see that they were divided. The crowd that had come, they were divided. And we will see how they reacted. We're going to cover verses 45 on down to verse 57. To finish the chapter, we'll cover all of these verses. We should not have a problem with time. And we're going to be looking at, Lazarus is raised, the reactions. The reactions. Now, you see the truths that we're going to look at this morning. Many believed. Some conspired. And then Jesus withdrew. The natural divisions there in the text, very easy to see.

And as we divide them, you're going to see the different reactions here at the end of this wonderful event of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Let's look at the verses together starting in verse 5. This is immediately after Jesus is raised Lazarus. What do we see? "Many, therefore, of the Jews who had come to Mary and beheld what he had done believed in him." So what do we see? The great pinnacle of this event, the great climax has taken place. Many believed. Verse 46, "But some of them, they went away to the Pharisees and they told them the things which Jesus had done. Therefore, the chief priests in the Pharisees convened a council.

And they were saying, what are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him. And the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all. Nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation should not perish. Now this he did not say on his own initiative.

But being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but that he might gather together into one the children of God who were scattered abroad." And then we see verse 53, "So from that day on, they planned together to kill him." Then we see a transition here. This will finish up the chapter. Verse 54, "Therefore, Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews. But he went away from there to the country near the wilderness into the city called Ephraim. And there he stayed with the disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and then he went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover to purify themselves. Therefore, they were seeking for Jesus, and they were saying to one another as they stood in the temple." What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all? Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, they should report it that they might seize him. Now you see before you the truths that we're going to explore. Our first main truth this morning comes right out of verse 45, and that is many believed. It's very obvious there. Jesus is raised Lazarus.

Verse 45, many believed. And verse 45 begins to move away from the miracle and move to the reactions of those who were there. Now again, I'll repeat this, but it needs to be repeated. The miracle was a sign. John uses that language purposely, and the sign was meant to point people to Christ. It was meant to direct people to Christ to who he was, deity, God in the flesh, the very Son of God, Jesus the promised Messiah. And here we see that there were many who were directed to Jesus because of the miracle. The New American English Standard Version, the King James used that word, many. Now two questions out of this verse.

The first question, who were these many? Who were these many? These were those who came to see and to comfort Mary. Notice that Martha seemed to be the one who was at the forefront of the sisters. Remember, she was the one that conversed with Jesus there at the tomb. But here, as in verse 31, John emphasizes the connection of the Jews to Mary, not so much to Martha. Now a question, why? Why would this verse and verse 31 connect those Jews more so to Mary than to Martha? Could it be that she was more emotional? Could it be that she was more heartbroken? Could it be that she was more needy of friends to comfort and console her?

We really do not know specifically. That is a probing question. It's interesting to ponder. But we must see that these were those who came from Jerusalem. Verses 18 through 19 tell us this. They came to console the sisters. They are there in the home with Mary. And now they are identified with Mary again. But who were these? These were the Jews who came to comfort the family. Second question, what happened? What happened? Many there for the Jews who had come to Mary, they beheld what he had done. They believed. The answers are right there in the scripture. Notice what happened was they saw what Christ did.

They were witnesses of this wonderful miracle. They saw the great miracle. It was right in front of them. Jesus performed this miracle for them and for a testimony to them. And remember, this was the most powerful miracle thus far in the Gospel of John. And this was a sign. This was a sign. This was a miracle for them to direct them to Christ. One of the Bible commentators I read, Leon Morris, listened to his small quotation. It was the sight of the miracle which brought the effect. What effect? The effect of saving grace. Now I want to ask you a probing question in this. Was this too theatrical? Was this too much of an event?

You know, many of us have moved away from theatrics in the life of the church. We don't do theatrical events. We don't do emotional stirring events here because so many people abuse those things. But I've got to ask the question. Was this too theatrical, this event of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead? No, it was not. This was a demonstration of the power and the grace of Christ. And Leon Morris is right. It was the sight of the miracle which brought the effect of saving grace. So the second part of this question, what happened? They believed in him. What does it say? They believed in or on him.

The King James reads on while the modern translations read in. And notice this, John consistently uses this phrase to describe those who have genuine faith and trust in Christ all through the gospel. So what do we see? Who were these people? These were the Jews who came to comfort the family. What happened? They saw what Jesus did. They believed in or on Jesus. So we see that many believed. They saw what took place. The sign did its work, did its job, and it brought them to Christ. The sign functioned as it was intended to bring about a harvest of souls. So we need to see this. Many believed. Many believed.

Now, how does this apply to you and how does this apply to us? For you, for me, for us, what we can learn here is the mysterious workings of the Spirit and the power of God. Now, what was taking place there was God ordained that the miracle be performed to direct people to Christ. That was mysterious and powerful. We cannot explain it other than the power of God. But in our day, when the Spirit of God moves upon men, moves upon women and children and teenagers alike, when the Spirit of God takes the preached word of God and the circumstances in their life and draws them to Christ, it is a mysterious work of God that brings them to Christ.

God used these circumstances. Used the death of Lazarus, the delay of Jesus, the mourning of the sisters. God used every single thing there to bring them to Christ. And for people today, we must see that no one moves to a church by coincidence. No one meets Christians by a coincidence. No new neighbor moves in our neighborhood by coincidence. And I can use many different hypotheticals to explain, but what am I trying to show you? God works in such a way to bring people to Christ. Now, specifically, I wanna say to you, if you are here in the life of this church, that's not an accident. It's not a coincidence.

You might think that you happen to be here, you happen to come here, no. This is a work of God. And God has so worked to bring you here. And hopefully, and prayerfully, we believe that God will bring people to faith in Christ as a work in the life of this church. So we see in verse 46, 45, many believe. Let's move on to verse 46. Let's notice that some conspire. There were some who conspired. This is a more lengthy passage starting in verse 46. What do we see? But some of them, they went away. They went to the Pharisees and they told them the things that Jesus had done.

Now, that verse might be disconnected with verse 47 in your Bible translation, but it really connects because it's a bridge from what's going on in verse 45 to this conspiracy to take Jesus' life. Verse 47, "Therefore, the chief priests, the Pharisees, "they convened a council." And this council, this Sanhedrin, conspired as to what to do with Jesus all the way down to verse 53. I won't read the verses again because of time. So what do we see? Here we will see different people who reject Jesus and they move from rejection to conspiring against him. This is nothing new.

We will see this even more throughout the rest of the Gospel of John, even so much so that they ultimately take his life. Obviously, we know that they didn't take his life. He laid it down, but you understand what I'm saying. Several things I want us to see out of these verses. Several things. First of all, some went from Jesus and the miracle to the Pharisees. We saw that in verse 46. Here, John does not state plainly the motive of this group. We don't know their motive in verse 46, but we can be certain of their motive because we can look at the Scriptures and look at the circumstances. Let me show you what I mean.

First of all, it was well known that the Jewish leadership, the Pharisees, hated Jesus. All of the Jews at that time would have known, they would have known the attitude and the belief of the Pharisees. Second, there is a sharp contrast between the Jews in verse 46 and the Jews in verse 45. So what am I showing you? John does not state the motive, but we can examine the circumstances and the text and know their motive. Their motive was not pure. Their motive was not to follow Jesus as the Savior. So they went from Jesus, they went from the miracle, they rejected it, and they went to the Pharisees.

Second, I want you to notice the council conspired. We see that in verse 47 all the way down to verse 48. The council, they conspired. What does it say? Chief priests, the Pharisees, they convened a council. They said, what are we doing? So they got together to discuss the matter. I want you to see the initiation of this council. It came from the Pharisees and not the Sadducees. The Pharisees were the more conservative of those two groups. The Pharisees were a smaller number. The Sadducees were greater in number.

They were more liberal in their theology, but the Pharisees, along with some of the chief priests, gathered a meeting of the Sanhedrin, and the Sanhedrin was the ruling body of Israel. They had a wide range of governing authority in religious and civil matters. So they had the authority to arrest Jesus. But notice what they said. There are three things I want you to see about how the council conspired. Notice they said, what are we doing? Look at the text. Pharisees convened a council, and they said, what are we doing? The King James reads, what do we do?

The new international version, some of you might have that version, it reads, what are we accomplishing? Now, all of these are accurate, because what is being said in the original language can be summarized this way. This is our language, but it captures the meaning. They were literally saying, what in the world are we doing? Now, what's the meaning? They are basically saying, we are not making any headway in dealing with this man in accomplishing our goals. What are we doing? The second question, or the second observation about this council conspiring is, they acknowledged a great ministry success by Jesus. What do they say?

This man is performing many signs, and if we let him go on like this, all men will believe. They acknowledged a great success. They state that he is performing signs and miracles. They don't deny them. And they also state their belief that many will believe on him. Now, notice the verses. Your translations read, all men. This is an exaggeration on their part. See, they're emotionally upset. This reveals their fears. They're fearful of Jesus. They're fearful of the ramifications of his success as well. So they acknowledged a great ministry success in Jesus. Then also notice they were fearful of the Romans. What do they say? Verse 48.

And the Romans will come, and they will take away both our place and our nations. In other words, what are we doing? If we let this keep going on, the Romans will come. They were fearful. They knew that major social change or any messianic movements among the people would not be allowed by the Romans. The Romans would have seen any type of social change along these lines as a move towards nationalism among the Jews. But the root of their fears was that they might lose their place, lose their position, and they did not want to lose their power. You see? So notice that counsel conspired. What are we doing? He is accomplishing great things.

They were fearful of those ramifications from the Romans. Third, I want you to notice that Caiaphas conspired. See how it's progressing? Some of the Jews, they went away to the Pharisees. In verse 46, the counsel conspired, and now we see that Caiaphas conspired. Look at verse 49. But a certain one of them, Caiaphas. So now Caiaphas steps up in the counsel. Now, this Caiaphas was a well-known high priest. He was the son-in-law of Annas, who had previously been a high priest. Now, Caiaphas was very politically motivated because he was appointed by the Romans, and he had a great deal of power and influence.

And here we will see that he was very frustrated with the counsel's inability to do something about Jesus. He goes on to forcefully make a plan that will rid them of this problem. So I want you to notice his plan. First of all, he proposed death. Look at verse 50. What does he say? You know nothing at all. There's his force. Nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man shall die for the people. What is he saying? He is proposing death, and he is adding emphasis to this need for death, the death of Jesus, by stating that if they were not to rid Jesus of Jesus, that the nation would be destroyed. You see?

He emphasizing this by saying that if they do not get rid of Jesus, the nation will be destroyed. Caiaphas is backing the council into a corner by using this language. John MacArthur points out that his patriotism was covering over his sheer hatred of Jesus. Listen to this little quotation by MacArthur. It explains his motives well. And I quote, "His outward veneer of patriotic concern masked his seething hatred and jealousy of Jesus." You see that? He proposed death, and he backed the council into a corner. And then notice, he prophesied Jesus' death. Look at verse 51, 52.

Now this he did not say of his own initiative, but as the high priest that year, he prophesied. And there he goes on into verse 52. Now, this might be confusing for some of you. This in no way, this in no way means that Caiaphas was a prophet of God, but he was in that office of the high priest. And though his motives were political and personal, he did not speak the truth concerning Jesus. He understood Jesus' death as being rid of a problem, while the purposes of God were that his death would be a sacrificial death.

This reminds us that God can fulfill the plans of, can fulfill the plans of the wicked, but in a matter that they did not desire. God can take the most wicked plans from the most wicked men to fulfill his plans and his purposes. Are we seeing that in our study of Ezra? Has not God used pagan peoples and pagan nations for his purposes? So Caiaphas did not have the mind in the heart of God. No, he was fulfilling his purposes, but God's purposes were greater than his purposes. So what do we see?

Some of those who saw the miracle in verse 46, they ran to the Pharisees, the council conspired, Caiaphas conspired, and then forth, we have a broad conspiracy. Look at verse 53. So from that day on, they plan together to kill him. Caiaphas succeeds in drawing and pulling the council together. Caiaphas' words in influence had been a great motivator within the council. Whereas before they were indecisive, they were incompetent, and now they were unified in one purpose, and that was to kill Jesus. So what do we see here in verse 53? A summary of their heart. So from that day on, they plan together to kill him.

So what are we seeing here with Caiaphas? Here we see things among the Jewish leadership, they are moving fast with the council and with Caiaphas. They were indecisive, and they were divided as to how to deal with Jesus until now. Now they are a unified body with great power to destroy Jesus. Now how does this apply to you and to me? I think the greatest place of application can come out of verse 46. What do we see? But some of them went away. They went to the Pharisees, and they told them the things which Jesus had done. I've really pondered over that verse all week, and I think it really applies to people today more so than you might think.

Notice what's taking place in verse 46. It's very sad. This group actually saw what Jesus did. They heard his words, but they rejected, and then they reported. They rejected Christ, the miracles of Christ, the wonderful power of God, and what did they do? They rejected what Christ did, and then they reported. So what did they do? They exchanged the work of Christ for what? Legalistic rules and religion from man. That's what they were doing. Rather than Christ and fellowship with the believers, they would rather unify with who? These legalistic, hate-filled religious leaders.

So for us, we must see that there are those who observe the work of the church, they observe the workings of Christ. Many times, they observe Christ saving certain individuals, but yet there are people today, they will reject the work of the church, and the true workings of Christ for what? Legalistic rules and religion. I've seen people come in contact with the true church, the true preaching of the word of God, God drawing lost sinners to himself, service and the work of the church. Listen, I have watched people reject that, and go to what? Legalism, rules, and man-made church.

People do it all the time, and they're exactly like these people in verse 46. Again, go back to what those people did. You realize that they saw the very resurrected body of Lazarus, a dead man come to life. They watched on the faces of the disciples, and Mary and Martha, Christ do a great work within them. They saw the demonstrated power of the very Son of God, and they walked away from it for religion, and rules, and legalism, and hate-filled people. People do that today.

I've watched people reject the work of the church, and they end up off in some corner with rules, their own convictions, and their own little way, and it's powerless, and it won't reach the world, and they're exactly like these people in verse 46. Let's move on. Let's notice the third main truth. Jesus withdrew. Jesus withdrew. We see how the progression of the chapter moves away from the miracle. Many believed, then some went away. There's this conspiracy among the council, and then notice how it even changes.

Jesus therefore no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but he went away from there, into the wilderness with his disciples. So here we see Jesus make a deliberate decision to remove himself from the public arena. Did this purposely. The Jews were unified like never before to kill Jesus, but it was not his time. Being in perfect control of the situation because he was God, Jesus withdrew. Now three things out of this withdrawal I want us to see. First of all, Jesus withdrew from his disciples. What does it say? Says that in the verse, that he went away, he withdrew from the public arena, and what does it say?

He went to spend time with his disciples. The text says that Jesus went to Ephraim. This city is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 13, 19. It is located some four miles from Bethel on the edge of the wilderness. This would have been far enough away from the plans of the religious leaders. But notice the end of the verse. The end of the verse says, and there he stayed with the disciples. Jesus was keeping his disciples close. He withdrew, but he withdrew to be with them. We don't know what he taught them. We don't know what he said, but this was purposeful as he was preparing them for the cross and the purposes that he had for them.

Second notice, the crowds were seeking him. Verse 55, the Passover of the Jews was at hand. Many people went up to Jerusalem. Why? We know the significance of the Passover and they were seeking him. John tells us that this was the time of the Passover and it was the most important of the yearly feast. This would have created a major movement of people. They would have moved to Jerusalem. This was a high mark, a high time in the Jewish calendar and the Jewish life. And listen, that time of the Passover, coupled with the fever around Jesus, this debate around Jesus, would have created quite an event.

They were there in Jerusalem for the Passover and many were seeking Jesus. And then the third thing I want us to see is that the religious leaders were seeking him. What does verse 57 say? The chief priests, the Pharisees, they gave orders that if anyone knew where he was, that he should report it, that they might seize him. This verse reveals two things about these religious leaders. First, it reveals their intense hatred of Jesus. They were consolidated now. They were all together. They had made up their mind. And from now on, in John's account, we will see this unified hatred. And then second, they sent word among the people.

They sent out word that if the people were to find Jesus, to turn him over. The New American Standard reads reported that they might seize him. What do we see? The religious leaders had a plan. So here we see Jesus exercising full control over the situation. The leadership was unified. They were solidified in their attempt to kill Jesus. But Jesus withdrew until the proper time. He withdrew to continue to pour into the disciples. He always took those times away to pour into those disciples. Now, there are several things that we can observe here. First of all, the greatest thing is the very control of Jesus.

He is deity God in the flesh and he is in control. But beyond that, something very personal I want us to see is the fact that he spends time with the disciples. For you and for me, we need to see that Christ Jesus himself desires to spend time with us. But not just to spend time with us, but in the times when things are chaotic, when we have difficulties, major problems, decisions to make, troubles at home, difficulties at work, that is when we need to spend time with Christ in the wilderness the most. Look at the journey with the disciples.

It started at the beginning of the chapter when he drags them along and there at the end, when things are at a fever pitch, the Jews are wanting to seize him. They had to be as fearful as they ever were. Jesus just spends time with him in the wilderness. Some of you will not have the victory that you need. Some of you will not have the intimacy with Christ. Some of you will not have wisdom to make the right decisions. Some of you will not have that leadership of the Spirit until you decide you're going to spend time with Jesus in the wilderness. You might have to get up a little earlier. You might have to stay up a little later.

You might say, "Pastor, you don't understand. "I need my sleep." Sometimes you just might need to drink some strong coffee. You might need to get up a little earlier. You might need to stay up a little later. You might need to turn off entertainments like the television. You might need to find you a quiet place and get away. What am I showing you? Jesus purposely brought these disciples along because he knew best for them. So what do we see in these verses? The title of the message this morning is, Lazarus is Raised the Reactions. The reactions. Jesus performed this great miracle to direct people to himself. He was successful.

The miracle did its job. Verse 45 states that many believed. They believed in him. God was working among the crowd. God was working in the disciples. God was working in the sisters. And listen, he had a harvest of souls as a result of the workings through the miracle. But what I want you to see in conclusion is this. God is working in your circumstances as well. God has brought you here as well. God has ordained that you are here and you need to examine and you need to realize and you need to see how you are reacting to the work of God around you. How are you reacting to the preached word of God?

How are you reacting to the truths of the word of God? Week in and week out. How are you reacting to the work of this church and the opportunities to serve and the leadership of the pastors that God has put before you? How are you reacting to the work of God around you? Because the true work of the church is the work of God right here on earth. I've said it a thousand times, the center of God's activity on earth is in the New Testament church. And how are you reacting? Three questions for you to ponder in this conclusion. First question is this. Are you being drawn to Christ and his works here? Are you being drawn?

And what I mean by being drawn, are you like the disciples and the sisters and Lazarus? Are you being drawn and responding positively to that? And each day, each week, you are drawn more and more and you identify and it is a part of your life. Are you being drawn? And second question is, are you moving away from Christ and what he is doing here? If you're not careful, circumstances in life, friends in your life, even family in your life, listen, everybody has difficult circumstances. The sisters, the disciples, they had circumstances, fears, emotions. Listen, are you moving away from Christ and what Christ is doing here?

If you allow it, circumstances and friends and family and opportunities and hobbies, all these things will draw you away from Christ and you will allow them and look, you react according to how you wanna be. Don't blame your decisions on the circumstances around you. Now, many times we are providentially hindered. Many times things do arise, but what am I showing you? Sometimes we allow things to draw us away from Christ and we just submit. Many times circumstances and things draw us away from the work of the church and we just let it happen.

Third question is, are you moving from Christ and what he is doing here to rules and regulations and empty religion? I've known people that have done that. It never ends up in victory. It never ends up in moving their family towards Christ. It never ends up in their children coming to know Christ. It never turns out that they serve the church and serve others and reach the world. No, empty religion and rules and regulation will never do that. You know, if you really think about these questions, they apply to two different people. They apply to the lost and they apply to the Christian.

Those of you, I would encourage you to jot those questions down, remember those questions and pray over those questions this week and be honest with how you are answering them. So what do we see? It's been a great event in chapter 11. A wonderful event. We've examined the disciples thoroughly. We have looked and learned at the sisters and how they reacted in many different set of circumstances concerning their brother. We have looked at the Jews and how they have reacted. Some rejected and some believe. Some even went and reported as they conspired. So what do we see? This great event of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

We've learned from the disciples. We've learned from the sisters and we've looked at the Jews. So I finished this message. I finished this chapter with the title of the message. Lazarus is raised, the reactions. How are you reacting to the truths that we have learned? For some of you, if you react properly, you'll end up coming to faith in Christ for the very first time, truly being born again. But those of us who are Christian, if we react properly, we will grow and we will be obedient. And we will move along in our discipleship and our love for him, little by little, day by day, week by week, year by year. Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, I thank you for this message this morning.