The sermon 'The Power of the Cross' by Scott Brown focuses on the centrality of the cross of Jesus Christ in Christian faith and history. Brown begins by reflecting on John 12:27-40, where Jesus speaks of his impending crucifixion and the power of the cross. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the cross as the center of history, fulfilling prophecies and signifying the ultimate purpose of Jesus' coming. The sermon highlights three key aspects of the power of the cross: the anguish Jesus experienced, which reflects his deep sympathy and substitution for humanity's sins; the judgment of the cross, where Satan's power is broken, and believers are freed from sin; and the drawing power of the cross, which calls people to salvation through its magnetic influence. Brown contrasts the expectations of the people for a conquering Messiah with Jesus' actual mission of sacrificial atonement. He urges listeners to rest in the power of the cross, to recognize its significance in their lives, and to respond to the call of salvation. The sermon concludes with a reflection on belief and unbelief, referencing the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies and the necessity of faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Please find verse 27 in John chapter 12. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose I came to this hour father glorify your name then a voice came from heaven saying I have both glorified it and will glorify it again well therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered and others said an angel has spoken to us. Then Jesus answered and said, this voice did not come because of me, but for your sake.

Now is the judgment of this world now the ruler of this world will be cast out and if I am lifted up from the earth will draw all people to myself This he said signifying by what death he would die Then the people answered him we've heard from the law that the Christ remains forever and How can you say? The Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? And then Jesus said to them, a little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.

He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them. But although he had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in him. That the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke. Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again, He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them. These things Isaiah said when he saw his glory and spoke of him. Father, we pray that you would reveal to us the power of the cross. We pray that you would show us your arm, your strength, that you would fill this church with the sense of the power of your arm to save amen please be seated God desires a strong church God desires a church that is strengthened by its visions and understandings of God. And here in this passage there are two things that are prominent.

And first is the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. This should be the main impetus to the power of the church. Isaiah speaks of it as the arm of the Lord. To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? A strong church is a church where the arm of the Lord has been revealed and this really helps us to understand what kind of church God desires us to be.

He desires us to be a church where the arm of the Lord is revealed. This is not something man-centered at all. Now, this passage has its primary focus on the power of the cross of Jesus Christ and that power is explained in many different ways. Each one of them really ought to be empowering to us. You know, we've come from a week, who knows what happened in your life?

And we're here to center all of our hopes and our cares upon the cross of Jesus Christ and What we find in the power of the cross the way that Jesus is speaking of it is that that at the cross Jesus takes your anguish and he breaks the power of sin and he draws you in. This is the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. It's such a beautiful picture. Now, these words here are the final scenes in Jesus' public ministry. And he's talking about Jesus' final words, but there are different kinds of belief and unbelief.

You'll notice this from here to the end of the chapter And You know what the focus is on the cross What he has kept ringing in my ear all week is this phrase, you know, to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Do you know the power of the cross of Jesus Christ? You know, every little boy wants you to check out his arm. Every little boy wants you to know how strong he is. And he, you know, he'll hold up his arms like that and you'll feel his little teeny skinny arms.

You'll say, oh, That is such a huge muscle. And every every little boy wants you to know how strong he is. But in this passage of scripture, the arm of the Lord is revealed in a very, very vivid way. It's the arm that we need more than than anything else and you know this this arm of the Lord this power of the cross of Jesus Christ was the primary message of the preaching of the Apostles and you know in 1st John chapter 3 verse 5 we see language that explains it and you know that he was manifested to take away our sins and in him there is no sin he was manifested to take away our sins That's the power of the cross We already read about this in John chapter 6 verse 51 Where his coming was designed to give life where he said I'm the living bread which came down from heaven if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever and the bread that I shall give is my flesh which I shall give for the life of the world this is the cross of Jesus Christ his sacrifice upon and the life that was revealed as a result of it.

And that's why the apostle Paul said, I determined it on nothing except the cross of Christ. So we're in such a critical part of the Gospel of John where the cross from now on is raised up before us so that we can see it. Now when we think about the cross there are a number of different things that are real to us. For example, like we're meeting today. Today is Sunday.

Why are we meeting Sunday? We are meeting on Sunday because after the resurrection the Church of Jesus started meeting on Sunday Why to celebrate the power of the resurrection? It was to it was to revel in the power of the cross. Our meeting today is really just an extension of what began a long time ago. And our two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, they're both centered on the cross.

In baptism, you die and you are raised again to new life in the in the Lord's Supper you celebrate the body and the blood of Jesus Christ as he hung on the cross and bore our sins and had an anguished soul so that our souls would not. So, you know, the cross is central to really everything that we do in the church today. And frankly, when we gather as a church, my greatest prayer is that we would know the power of the cross. People come in here, they've been beat up in different ways, they've sinned in different ways, they've ignored God in different ways, They've neglected Him, and they feel it. They feel it.

Some of you might have gotten in really big trouble this week, and your only hope is the wisdom of God and His Word and the power of the cross, and you need that. We all need that today. And So when we come here as a church, we're all such needy people of what of one thing? And that is the power of the cross of jesus christ That's why God calls us to come in and rest. We're here to rest in the power of the cross Today now if you're not resting in the power of the cross or flee to the cross Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

You know, they're really only two kinds of people here today. That's it Those who can rest and and you know all the songs have been calling us to rest on the cross today and now you're going to get a sermon that's going to do the same thing. That's what we're doing today. Either rest or Maybe for the first time in your life believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved So now when do these scenes take place? We're not sure I think it's probably Thursday You know Friday Jesus is hung on the cross on Sunday he is he's raised from the dead.

So we are right at the very end Jesus if we Think that John has given us a historical sequence, which he often doesn't The triumphal entry has already taken place for sure that is that has happened, but This is history. This is this is probably on Wednesday or Thursday And the many events recorded in the gospel writers give us a sense of where it is but remember it's critical that we understand this is not mythology this is history these people were walking on real streets in a real city that had real kings over it this is have you ever read mythology mythology doesn't read like this at all this is history this is the Word of God telling us what is the center of history and the center of history is the cross of Jesus Christ everything is summed up there So there's this looming shadow of the cross. We're very close to it in time You know, I read the other day that that one-fifth of the car of the content of the Gospels is the focus on the cross That might be true. Well, I mean we know we know that in the gospel of John You know almost half of the whole gospel is dedicated to the last week of Jesus life The other gospel writers are very similar in the way that they weight the importance of the information the miracles Unbelievable, but the cross is given more words than anything else so We're talking about the power of the cross and I you have an outline in front of you You see where I'm going with this.

I've divided this section in two divisions. First, the power of the cross, which takes us from verse 27 to verse 33, and then the reactions to what Jesus has said about it, about the cross, and what it all really means. So those are the two divisions. Now, as you can see, I'm going to use three headings to describe the power of the cross. And the first is the anguish of the cross, verses 27 to 29.

Then the judgment of the cross, verses 30 to 31. And then finally, the drawing power of the cross, in verses 32 and 33. Let's talk about The anguish of the cross. This is so important. This is also so helpful.

This is so emotionally satisfying I almost hate to use that kind of terminology, but it really is You'll see why? Mice now my soul is troubled and what shall I say father save me from this hour and it's almost like Jesus saying no no no no no don't save me from this hour but for this purpose I came for this hour Father glorify your name. So Jesus is troubled he he is He is literally shaking agitated terrified horrified. That's what that word means and Jesus Jesus is experiencing a shaking of his soul. We see this in Gethsemane.

By the way, John doesn't talk about Gethsemane. This is the most of Gethsemane you're gonna get in the Gospel of John right here. The other gospel writers record tremendous detail what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane it'll be hard to neglect that as we go through John but this is the first this is the place where you get a window into Gethsemane and that is the troubled soul of Jesus Christ. And what you find here is Jesus' preoccupation with the redeeming of sinners. Jesus Christ suffers anguish because of his mission to redeem sinners.

This is what God cares about most, redeeming sinners. And this is seen here. Now in Gethsemane, in Matthew chapter 26 verse 38, Jesus says to his disciples, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death Stay here and watch with me and then he went further and he fell on his face and he prayed to his father and he said, Oh my father, if it is possible, let this cut pass for me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. So Jesus here is, is nearing the time in Gethsemane and he's, and he's feeling it already as far as we can tell and here in Jesus anguish Is as I said something that ought to be so emotionally satisfying for us.

Why would I say that? Because Jesus, when he has anguish, is sympathizing with our sins, with our weaknesses. He is entering into our sorrows, literally taking the punishment for all of our sorrows. All of the emotional hardship and damage and trouble that we deserve from our sins Jesus takes. That's why this should be so emotionally satisfying.

He has relieved you of your sorrows. He took all of your sorrows. He experienced all the anguish that we ever deserved and we deserve so much anguish. You know, there are times when we have anguish and we just need to remember, Lord, you took my anguish, here you take it. There are many times in our lives when we need to do that and to recognize that he has absorbed the anguish that we deserved to experience.

Just be careful brothers and sisters. Are you absorbing anguish that you were never meant for? But rather you were meant to praise the Lord Jesus Christ for taking your anguish that you deserved. And I'm not saying that we should be insensitive to our sin. I'm not saying that we shouldn't repent of our sin.

I'm not saying that we should not grieve over our sin. I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying there is an inappropriate way where We grieve Forgetting that Jesus Christ received all of the grievance already So he's entering into our sorrows You know David said remember not the sins of my youth. There's a time when we need to just say that and but Jesus was troubled. He in chapter 11 in the previous chapter we saw that he groaned.

It's a very similar kind of he's groaning for for the troubles of sin and in even in that last chapter when Jesus enters into the sorrows of Mary, whose brother had just died, remember he wept with her. He wept with her even though he knew he was going to heal that man and bring him out of the grave in just a few minutes. He enters into our sorrows. And that's the theme of Jesus' ministry with his disciples. And it comes out over and over again.

Jesus wasn't grieving over the pain of the cross. Jesus wasn't saying, oh no, you know, this is going to be really hard to have nails driven into my hands. Oh no, I'm going to be speared with a spear. Oh no, this is going to hurt. No The suffering that Jesus experienced on the cross Was by order of magnitude greater than any physical suffering, you know I mean you see this in history you think about the martyrs if you read the accounts of the martyrs many of the martyrs They they don't seem in many of them don't even seem to be experiencing that much pain even though they're being burned they're they're praising God they're actually forgiving those who are killing them I'm confident they felt pain but that but the pain that Jesus was experienced was experiencing it Here in his anguish was far beyond anything That is experienced in physical pain of some damage to your physical body He says this he says but For this purpose I came to this hour.

For this purpose I came. Now, let your eyes just and your mind rest on that for a minute. For this purpose I came. This is why it's right to say that the cross is the center of history. This is the purpose of the coming of the Son of God.

Jesus Christ was fulfilling a prophecy that was originally given in Genesis 3.15 that he would come and he would crush the head of the serpent. All of history is centered in this event. And that's why he says, for this purpose, I came to this hour. The writer of Hebrews says that he passed through the heavens and he came, and then he returned to his father. This is the reason.

This is the center of history. It's right to study history, but this is the center of history. You know, if you go to the universities and the educational institutions of this world, they will not tell you that this is the center of history. They'll call it something else, mainly mythology, but it's the center of history and so the focus of Jesus prayer Is not save me from this hour the focus of Jesus prayer is glorify Your name So Jesus did not come to avoid anguish, he came to experience the anguish that his children deserved. And he is redeeming sinners from the curse of the law.

All people stand condemned by the law and Jesus Christ becomes the curse, becomes accursed in place of those who deserve to be cursed by the law. Now I was reading, I think, I think it was J.C. Ryle and he said something that maybe only theologians say, but he said that this is the imputation of man's sin to Christ okay the imputation of man's sin to Christ there is there's this matter of imputation the believer receives an imputation of the righteousness and the obedience of Christ the obedience of Christ is imputed is laid over is saturated throughout your soul in salvation his righteousness not your own Nobody can be saved by their own righteousness. Righteousness must be imputed or another way to say it, his obedience was imputed Anybody disobey the Lord this week his obedience was imputed to you and Then on the other hand the imputation of man's sin to Christ This is his substitutionary Atonement Our sins were laid on him. Jesus Christ never broke one single law of God.

And yet, While he hates sin and he hates law breaking, he was condemned for our law breaking. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but by his righteousness alone. And our sin was imputed upon him and his righteousness his obedience was imputed to us and Jesus Was sinless, but he became sin second Corinthians 521 says this so succinctly for He God God made him Jesus who knew no sin to be sin For us that we might become the righteousness of God in him so he he literally became sin he received the imputation of our sin so that we might become the righteousness of God This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Praise God.

Praise God for such a mentally and emotionally relieving gospel. To know that you're free. When the church gathers together, it's a gathering of free people. Amazing. You're free!

Praise God, you're free! By His stripes you were healed. He was in anguish to relieve you of your anguish. Jesus' anguish ought to be your comfort every day of the week while we recognize that our iniquity was laid on him. That's why this is called the day of rest.

When you celebrate The death and the resurrection of Jesus you got yourself a day of rest. You got yourself a day of freedom. You got yourself Substitution So thank you the Lord for that and then the Lord the Lord God from heaven answers from heaven and when Jesus says this It's very interesting then a voice came from heaven Okay Jesus says I'm in anguish and his father's voice starts booming And some people think it was thunder and other other thing. It's an angel. They don't know what it was But it was amazing whatever it was And now this is the third time God speaks audibly recorded in the Gospels You know, what do we say about this I mean I think Well, we're not and we're not told but obviously the father is endorsing the son's anguish He's endorsing the work on the cross.

The Father is unified with the Son. The Father loves the Son. The Father is caring for the Son. The Father sends the Son. The Father is going to receive the Son back.

This is a picture of fathers and sons laid out for us. It's such a beautiful picture. But the Father is affirming His Son's anguish. And why? Because He's glorifying Himself.

What does that mean? When you read the words, these words here that that he came to glorify his father, what that means, well here's what it means. To glorify the Father is to exalt everything about him. And what is he like? Well, the Lord Jesus is putting on display what he's like, and he's displaying the love of God he's displaying the grace of God he's displaying the wrath of God towards sin and the judgment of God and the truth of God Jesus is glorifying his father's attributes we know we had a study on the attributes of God Well, Jesus is glorifying those in his Coming and in his cross that he's facing in the cross.

You see all the attributes of God displayed. The love of God, the mercy of God, the patience of God, the loving kind, everything about God is loaded up in the cross. And I mean, and there's this cosmic reality too. Notice There's a voice from heaven. There's a God who is there.

We're not alone There is a father and there is a son and there is a Holy Spirit and they are working together In history to save sinners This is this cosmic and there are angels in heaven who are giving aid to those who would inherit eternal salvation So there's this cosmic element of The life of Jesus his father is speaking by the way, You know if you've ever run into a modalist or one as pentecostals You need to read this verse to them because the father is speaking to the son. You can't there are two different people here for sure and Then the judgment of the cross verse 30 and 31 and Jesus answered and said this voice did not come because of me but for your sake now is the Judgment of this world now the ruler of this world will be cast out now we're talking about the blessings of the cross and the first blessing is the anguish of Jesus Christ that took all your anguish now Is the judgment of the cross and that judgment is that Satan is cast out Satan is dethroned on the cross and The world stands condemned the Serpent's head is crushed This is the blessing of the cross of Jesus Christ.

There's so much practical help for us in this as well. The writer of Hebrews uses some language I think is helpful, here it is. Hebrews chapter two, verse 14. That through death, he might destroy him who had the power of death that is the devil destroying the power of death and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject the bondage so this dethronement of Satan is the destruction of death and the releasing from fear of those who fear death After being subject to bondage your whole life long Well the next verse I really like he says For indeed he does not give aid to angels, But he does give aid to the seed of Abraham in other words You know, he's destroying the power the power of the devil and he's doing it to give you aid to help you and In the cross God did something to help you Satan was cast out in Revelation 12 10, you know, we read about this final throwing out of Satan where the accuser of the brethren who has been accusing the brethren day and night has been cast down and The devil is finally cast into the lake of fire though.

However, though he he is His power is damaged and the and the and he is dethroned at the cross The power of sin is broken at the cross. That means that when you believe in Jesus Christ, that means that you're no longer in bondage to sin. Everybody who's turned to Jesus Christ and said, Lord, have mercy on me a sinner. I want to follow you. I believe in you.

I repent of my sins. Anybody who's ever said that genuinely has been saved, and every person who has been saved knows that from that time on, the power of sin was really broken. Now, it doesn't mean that the power of sin is no longer operating, but it is broken. And you're no longer in bondage. And you now have the power to turn to Christ.

You have the power to turn away from sin. A power that you never ever had before. You know, that's why when Jesus sent his 70 out to preach, you know, when they came back he said, I saw Satan falling, because that's what Jesus does. He makes Satan fall. And here, Jesus is destroying the works of the devil.

Now, you remember, look back at your life. You Remember when you used to be putty in his hands, you were just subject to every wind of his doctrine and he ran you, he ran you ragged. And while you still struggle with sin, he's not running over you like he used to. And things are different, he really did deliver you. You think about the addictions, you think about the sorrows, the brokenness you once had and now you're being restored now you are being sanctified and you're So far away from what you used to be, it's not even funny.

You look at yourself and you say, oh, I've not made any progress, but you know what? If you really analyze it, you've made a lot more progress than you think. Because we still are struggling with sin, We often think that it hasn't been broken. But if you would look and see the difference, you would rejoice in what God has done. That He really is sanctifying you.

And you're no longer putty in His hands. This is part of the whole meaning of to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed you know has the arm of the Lord has his strength been revealed to you I mean Have you been turning from sin probably more than ever since your conversion? That's the arm of the Lord working in your life. You know some of you were adulterers some of you did all kinds of despicable things for many years and guess what you're not doing that anymore because the power of sin has been broken praise god for that the hatred that used to exist in your heart the brokenness the depression god's just been pulling you out of that ever since and you're not the same person anymore praise God for the power of the cross praise God and then there's the drawing power of the cross not only not only the anguish of the cross to take your anguish not only not only the judgment of the cross to throw the devil down and put him in his place but then there's the drawing power of the cross verses 32 and 33 now this is a verse that's often misinterpreted or misunderstood it's easy to see why it's misunderstood and I if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all peoples to myself this he said signifying by what death he would die now people often think this means if you lift up, if you lift up Christ, if a preacher lifts up Christ, like I'm trying to do today, if a preacher lifts up Christ, then He'll be drawing all men to himself.

That's not actually exactly what he's saying. He is actually talking about the literal Being lifted up on a cross Okay, he's not talking about a preacher saying look at Jesus hanging on the cross he is talking about the cross and That the verse 33 explains it this he said signifying by what death he would die Not by what men would do but what he would do. Okay, so just understand that Now he mentions two things lifting up lifting up Again we read about this in John 3 verse 14 and As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." So that's the lifting up that he's talking about.

The lifting up is the lifting up on the cross. And the lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness was a picture, was a prefigurement, a type of the cross of Jesus Christ. And then, so he's lifted up and then he draws all men if he if he is lifted up he'll draw all peoples to himself and What what Jesus is saying is that the cross itself will have a drawing power in people's hearts. The cross will connect with people's hearts in some way, and it will draw them. And we know this already.

His death has drawn billions to himself throughout history, billions. And J.C. Ryle said it like this, the cross will be like a magnet that will draw the filings. The cross is like a magnet. And because people have a sense that they are sinners, people know that they're sinners.

And people know that they need forgiveness, they need atonement, and they don't know how to get it. But there is a way by the cross of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ was lifted up on that cross, and it would have a drawing power spiritually in people's lives with people that have guilty consciences, people who know things are not right. And this is one way that God, the Father, draws people to Jesus Christ. In John 644, Jesus says, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day.

The Father is using the cross to draw them into himself so that they would be raised up just like Jesus was raised up. I love the way Hosea talks about this, Hosea 11. He says that we're drawn with cords of love. Well, the cross is Tied to these cords of love I drew them with gentle cords with bands of love I And I was to them as one who take the yoke from their neck and Stooped and fed them How about that? That's the cross right there.

Drawn by cords of love, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest with bands of love, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And then taking the yoke off their neck, take my yoke upon you and learn from me. In Isaiah 53, he takes your sin off of you like a yoke and puts it on himself. And then he says, I stooped and fed them. The Lord Jesus Christ is resurrected, he goes to heaven, the Spirit is poured out and he feeds his people.

Hosea 11, four, snapshot of the cross right there. And all tongues and tribes and nations, I will draw all peoples to myself. The people here, I believe, is implied. It's the Gentiles, all these people. This is worked out in the book of Acts, Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.

This is the missionary enterprise. Jesus Christ is crucified and He will draw all peoples to Himself. All peoples and this is why we are always involved in going to other nations. That's what you do. That's what the church does.

God draws you, He pulls you in. You're running in the opposite direction. And He turns you around. He turns you around because you have a revelation of your sin. A lot of times people get turned around because they do something extremely harmful.

And it hurts so bad. And that pain from that sin hurts so bad that they turn. But you are turned around and you are drawn. And the word of the cross was compelling to you. You saw the mercy of Jesus Christ.

You saw the love of Christ. And you came. He had his arms open and you believed that He would feed you and He would care for you. He would never leave you or forsake you. You believe that and you came.

That's the drawing power of the cross. To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Has the arm of the Lord been revealed to you and the drawing power and the breaking of the power of sin in the relieving of your anguish? Has the arm of the Lord, that's the arm of the Lord. The arm of the Lord is manifested when you're drawn to him that's the arm of the Lord do you know the arm of the Lord has the arm of the Lord been revealed to you And then you have these reactions to the cross after this disclosure of the power of the cross In verse verses 34 through 37 the people answer Him and They say we have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever How can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up?

Who is this Son of Man? Who are you talking about? We don't recognize him what Jesus just said is not what we were thinking would be our Messiah okay that's that's the whole idea Jesus is not the conqueror they expected and the people they give their verdict they want a different Messiah they don't want a Messiah on the cross they don't want an anguished Messiah who will be lifted up on the cross I will be lifted up they knew what that meant that meant on a cross that meant Roman crucifixion That's what that meant and they knew exactly that wasn't what they wanted they wanted victory they they You know, they the prosperity gospel is alive and well in all centuries. They wanted they wanted a prosperity gospel They didn't want a suffering servant There's a poem that I read this week. It's called Jesus and Alexander.

Jesus and Alexander died at 33. One died in Babylon, one died on Calvary. One gained all for self and one himself he gave. One conquered every throne, the other every grave. Jesus and Alexander died at 33.

The Greek made all men slaves, the Jew made all men free. One built a throne of blood, the other built on love. The one was born of earth, the other born from above one won all this earth to lose all earth and heaven the other gave up all that all to him be given the Greek forever died the Jew forever lives well they wanted they wanted a dear they wanted an Alexander the great they wanted somebody who could make it happen for them materially politically military military And that wasn't the king that Jesus was. They did not want a crucifixion, they wanted a conquering king. And this is what the crowd always wanted.

The prosperity gospels and the false gospels are everywhere. You can hear you can listen to them. You can read their their authors you know listen to bethel music. This is the prosperity gospel. It's it's often witchcraft actually Listen to hill song.

This is the prosperity gospel too. It all comes out of the same hole. You have to be very careful. Everything that you hear that poses as Christian isn't. That's exactly what was happening here.

They wanted a different Jesus. It's the prosperity gospel in different forms And Then Jesus he he's warning he actually issues a final call. This is his final call by the way verse 35 This is it. Jesus will not speak to the crowd anymore. This is his final speech that we have recorded to the crowd.

A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going While you have the light believe in the light that you may become sons of light and then John says these things Jesus Spoke and Departed and it was hidden from there. These are his last words walk in the light. I am here I've shown you my father's glory.

I Will take your sorrows. I am destroying the works of the devil walk in the light Follow me and then it says he disappeared The opportunity was over God's patience had run out. It was the final warning. His patience has run out. His patience has run out and he issues this final call to his hearers there.

You know, while you have the light, believe. Don't turn away. You know, today is the day of salvation. But in spite of all these signs, they did not believe. He did many signs.

He did many miracles, it says there. He did many, but they still did not believe. And then John records the reason. The reason why the unbelievers stayed that way, because some did believe and Others didn't and now he's going to speak about why the unbelievers did not believe and he quotes Isaiah He quotes Isaiah 53 and he quotes Isaiah 6 To Two of the mountain peaks in Isaiah, two of the most famous chapters in the entire corpus of Isaiah are quoted right here. That the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled which he spoke, Lord who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again, he has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them. These things Isaiah said when he saw his glory and spoke of him." You know, the rest of this chapter focuses on belief, belief and unbelief. We'll get to that in the next session in this chapter. Now, hey for those of you who have been to universities and who have been in seminaries who say that Isaiah was written by multiple authors, you ever heard that? You know, you have, there's Deutero Isaiah.

You know, the German critics said, no, no, no, no, Isaiah didn't write this. There were these two authors, and there's the first Isaiah and the second Isaiah and if you've been to seminary you've heard this gobbledygook let's just make this really clear Jesus believed that Isaiah wrote Isaiah 6 and Isaiah 53, okay? That's what he believed. So if you believe the critics, you can have them. They're not believers.

In Jesus, so Isaiah 53 really presents the summary of the entire purpose of history and for the entire reason for the writing of the Bible and that is the substitutionary death and atonement of Jesus Christ and and Isaiah reveals why some don't believe And theologians call this the judicial hardening, the judicial judgment. And it's the doctrine of election that God does harden the hearts of some and they won't believe. The hardening of the Old Testament and the hardening in the New Testament saints was a hardening against Jesus Christ. And so what should we say about that? What we should say what work what we're what we are called to say.

And that is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Turn to him, recognize that his cross, his death, his resurrection is the center of history and everything in your life will be judged by it, everything will be. So turn to Jesus Christ, believe in Him. And know the power of the cross. Know what it's like to have your anguish taken from you.

Know what it's like to have the power of sin broken in you. Know what it's like to be drawn to a fountain of living water, to be drawn to something so much better than anything you ever drank from before. You know, has the arm of the Lord been revealed to you? And how has it been revealed? You know, we who believe in Jesus, we're here in the middle of a day and it's the day of rest and it really is a day to recount just how the arm of the Lord has been revealed.

That's what I want us to do today. Let's just consider how His arm has been revealed. You know, we're going to have lunch together. Let's talk about it. How has God blessed you?

How has he helped you? How has he revealed his arm, his real strength to you in these ways that have been identified here? Would you pray with me? Lord, Lord, we thank you for the might of your arm, for the power of your name, for the love of your whole kingdom oh Lord we thank you for the many relieving helpful things that you've done for us pray Lord that you would give us such a day of celebration in it today and Lord that you would in the intervening hours of the day that you would draw some by the cross who haven't come and knelt before the cross and they would kneel today that today would be the day and they would say he drew me he drew me with cords of love and he fed me and I am his and he is mine Amen.