We'll begin in verse 28, we're still with Jesus' conversation with this woman he met at the well and psychar in the region of Samaria. And he talks to her and we discovered many things and we look on to what Jesus says about himself and his food this morning. Again in verse 28, this is God's word, eternally true. John 428, then leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ? They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile, as the disciples urged him, rabbi, eat something. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you know nothing about. Then his disciples said to each other, could someone have brought him food? My food, Jesus said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say four months more and then the harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the field. They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages. Even now he harvests the crop for eternal life so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying one sows and another reaps is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work and you have reaped the benefits of their labor. Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because the woman s testimony he told me everything I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him they urged him to stay with them and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, we no longer believe just because of what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves and we know that this man really is the savior of the world. Here in our reading let s respond and thankfulness. There s a response up here on the screen and in your bulletin as well. The word of the Lord. Thank you. Thanks indeed. Thanks indeed. Let s pray. I get excited about food. My mom sends to me. Yeah, I see some heads nodding there. My mom sends to us harbor sweets, which is one of the, you know, all these companies that do things at Christmas time. You know, they make all their money in December when they offer to give you a convenient gift to somebody and send it right to their home. And so these are droplets. And we love them. And whenever they come, we say yes, they ve come. Some of you have dropped off goodies for us. We love those two. We eat them all up. I know I m not the only one. When we came to Raleigh, one thing we learned quickly was our mother church was in North Raleigh. And the folks there loved food. And they talked about food and restaurants and movies that they ve seen all the time. It was like, wow, this is like, I had never been around such a, such a thing. But they loved food. Oh, have you been to this restaurant? They would kind of want up each other. You know, oh, but have you tried this place? You know, and just all back and forth all this really excited about food. It's okay to be excited about food. God tells us through Paul. God made it all. And so we can eat it and be thankful. He tells us as he writes to Timothy. And so that's good. But we do this all with a grain of salt or all in perspective. You know, it's okay to love a particular kind of food and get excited about that. But here in this passage, we realize that's not really where we live. That's not the thing that gives us this de happiness and joy in life. This restaurant or that restaurant or this kind of food. And so as you look in your outline here, you can, if you like to fill up lengths in an outline, you can do that. If you want to just listen, if you learn better that way, that's fine too. But God says to us here, and it's your number one there, to have your food. What you pursue in life, your food, what you pursue and like to live, the thing that you're getting for life, have your food, what you pursue in life, be not, that's your black, be not the common, the physical, the everyday, the ordinary. Don't have that be your food. Yeah, you need physical food. So eat, that's good, and God has given us food to eat and enjoy. The scriptures say this, and in the celebrations of God's people, they eat food, the fellowship offerings given at the temple were mainly eaten by those who brought the offerings, and they enjoyed those offerings, and God commanded them to eat those things. There's even a time when Aaron gives a sacrifice, and he and his sons are supposed to eat of it, and he doesn't, and Moses says, what are you doing? God's commanded that you eat of this, and there's trouble for Aaron, but Aaron's given this excuse, because he's just had two sons die, and he can eat his heart, his heart is sick, and the Lord says, okay, but food is good for us, and God has created the food for us to enjoy it and make us healthy to give us energy and all that kind of thing. But don't have that be the stuff of life for you, eating, eating food. This season there are lots of gifts that are given. One of my favorite Christmas songs, and I have just weird Christmas songs, I'll talk about it more tonight that I like. But one of my favorite Christmas songs, we had the John Denver Rocky Mountain Christmas album. Now, if you were around in the 70s, you know we didn't even know he was country. If you like country music, then great, we're together here. If you don't like country music, please excuse me. I didn't know he was country either. Back in the 70s, he was just that popular. So we got the John Denver Rocky Mountain Christmas album, which is the best Christmas album ever invented. You can laugh, that's okay. But even though I'm a pastor in all that, two of the songs that I like most on this album are two songs that have kind of, well, they have something to do with Christmas. One song is called Aspen Glow, and it's just about John Denver loved Aspen and he loved nature, and he was a mother nature boy as Paul McCartney would put it there. But one of the lines in this, he's talking about different things that come along with winter, with Aspen, but also with Christmas. And one of the lines is, see how much you may receive. And I remember the kid being a non-believer listening to this album and thinking, is that okay? To see how much I may receive. I mean, I wanted to receive a lot, but I knew there was probably something wrong with that, considering how much I may receive. But this reveals something about us. John Denver was just giving the okay there to being greedy for Christmas gifts, like we were as kids probably. But this reveals something about our hearts. We seek for things, for stuff, for physical things in life to give us satisfaction. If I get this new pair of shoes, or this new basketball, or if I get this FX track set, then I'll be happy. Or we can do that with relationships. If I just have somebody that I, somebody I can marry, then I'll be happy. And we look for physical stuff, the daily bread, stuff of life, thinking that will satisfy us. You can see this even with the attitude of the disciples here. Now, they were right to consider that Jesus needed food to eat. But as he did so often, especially in the gospel, John, he takes the opportunity to take the physical stuff of life that we understand very well, because we're dealing with it daily. And to say, there's really something spiritual that's parallel here that we ought to consider that's beyond the common, beyond the everyday, beyond the ordinary stuff of life, and jobs, and food, and that kind of thing. The world, just note this in your mind. The world goes after the physical. The world thinks all life is the physical. The world thinks, you know, our relationship with someone you marry is about ultimately about the physical. You know, good luck with that when you turn 70, right? And so it's not. And so there's great wisdom that God has for us that life is beyond the physical. We see in chapter 6, as we go along in the gospel, John, that people got all excited because Jesus created all this bread, and they ate all they wanted to. And they wanted to make Jesus their king because of it. And Jesus has to quell their enthusiasm there because it wasn't yet his hour to go to the cross with his upswell of him being a king. So the disciples are worried about this. You can look down to your Bibles there, verse 31, they say to Jesus, rabbi, eat something, much ado. But Jesus knows what satisfies the human being. And so he says something about himself. And Jesus is always kind of twofold force. The first part of Jesus that we really love and appreciate and absolutely can't do without is that he dies for us on the cross bearing our sins in his body. But also Jesus gives us an example in his life, in his incarnation, in these basically three, four years in which we have an account of this life. He gives us an example of how to live. And this is one of those things he's teaching us about, about how to live. He knows what satisfies us. He says, I have verse 32 next verse there for you. Verse 32, I have food to eat that you know nothing about. I have food to eat that you know nothing about. Now number two, number two. So don't pursue the ordinary. Don't pursue what the world is pursuing. You know, as I was in English, major words, words are collared, getting and spending. You know, the world is too much with us. Pursue instead, number two, as food to you, something as basic as food, something you need throughout your day. Pursue, it's food to you doing God's will, doing God's will. This is what satisfies you. This is what satisfies the human soul, whether the individual human soul realizes that yet or not. But certainly we have Christians. This is something we're supposed to understand. This is something we're supposed to get in our heads and get in our hearts. What satisfies me is doing God's will. And we do God's will as here's your next blank as Jesus did. Jesus gives us this perfect example of doing God's will. Now we always talk about this in a little funny way. Jesus doing God's will. We mean Jesus is doing the father's will. We do the father's will and Jesus will along with the Holy Spirit's empowerment in this. But we see this in verse 34. See verse 34 there. Jesus says, my food is to do the will of him who sent me really referring to the fact that he didn't send all through his life. But then to finish his work as well, that's speaking of going to the cross to finish the work that God has given me. This is our food. It was Jesus food and he shows us to what our lives are to be about doing the will of God. So don't go for don't have your life. Be about everyday ordinary stuff. Moses told God's people and did around me 111. It's your preparing to hear God's words on your front page there at the bottom. He said, he said this. Love the Lord your God and keep us requirements. His decree. His laws and his commands always. This is Moses as he's speaking in Deuteronomy about what's going to give you the good life in the promised land. What's going to get you? It's what Jesus said. See God and him first and all these other things will be added to you. This Jim read to us, God closed the lilies of the fields and they're not trying. They can't go from beyond where they're rooted and yet he closed them. Solomon and all his blender is not close as these or look at the birds, the air. God provides for them. They're not planning crops and then going back to those crops and eating from that place. They're just flying around. God provides for them things and gives them the ability to find out from flying around what they need to eat. So Jesus said, don't worry about your life. Don't worry about your food to eat. Don't worry as you say to me, rabbi eat something and we're not to worry about those things either. Rather, we're to worry about fulfilling God's will. God help me walk in your ways today. I know you'll take care of me in other ways. This is what Jesus does. He had no sin, no deceit was found in his mouth. Jesus 100% of the time was doing his father's will. So again, Jesus is our example. John 638, Jesus said, I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me. Jesus cared about this, doing the father's will, so much so that even when the father's will for him, for Jesus, was to die for our sins. No, that's not a command that we're given. We can't find that in the law in the Bible, but that's a command that Jesus is given to die you yourself, Jesus, as a sacrifice, not for your sins, but for the sins of other people. Even when that is what is doing the father's will, Jesus does it. That's how committed Jesus is to doing the fathers to doing the fathers will. And what's the father's will? Mark 1045. In Jesus knew that you can get surprised when he arrived on earth. That was going to be the father's will for him. That was his intent when he came to be incarnated in the womb of the Virgin Mary. And so Mark 1045, Jesus said, the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his wife as a ransom for many. Jesus came to do the father's will. The father's will was to love us, to have compassion upon us, to have our sins removed from us so that we could be in his presence. And so he placed our sins on Jesus' body and sacrificed him instead. So this is Jesus' commitment. Jesus had been promised in Psalm 2, which is also promised to David and Jesus' son of David has this promise as well, ultimately. God promises David in Psalm 2 and it's David's response to the Davidic covenant, which we can find in 1 Chronicles 17 and 2 Samuel 7. Psalm 2 is David responding to God's promise that God would give David a people and that he would be their king. And so we see this come true fully in Jesus in Psalm 2, but the issue is this, Jesus has to buy his people, just to buy his people out of their slavery.
See, we're people as Jesus would later say in the Gospel John as well in John 8, whoever sins is a slave of sin. And so we were all slaves of sin before we came to faith in Jesus. We were out there sinning, we were slaves of sin and guess who was our master, not Pharaoh. He was not our slave master, like he was for the Old Testament Israelites. They had to do his will or else they had no choice but to do Pharaoh's will. But this is all a physical representation, a shadow of what it's like for us and our souls. We are slaves to sin prior to coming to know Jesus with Satan as our master, the master, the king of the dominion of darkness, the prince of the power of the air. This is how Scripture refers to Satan himself and Colossians to and Ephesians to as well. So it's no wonder when Jesus arrives back into heaven in Revelation 5, upon his ascension that what is said of him is that he has bought us with his blood. Listen to what heaven proclaims of Jesus as he appears back in heaven having been during his incarnation on the earth and away from heaven. It appears back there at the beginning of Revelation 5 and in Revelation 5.9 it says heaven sang a new song and here's what they sing to Jesus. You are worthy to take the scroll, the scroll is the list of God's elect, those who will ever be saved and it's sealed with seven seals. And no one's worthy to open that scroll. Here's why they're not worthy to open that scroll. If you want this people, if you want to be their king, if you want to open these seals, you've got to buy this scroll. Unless you've bought this scroll with the names of these people who you can claim as the citizens of heaven, the citizens of you in your kingdom, you can't have this scroll and lose its seals and read their names and call them into your kingdom. Right? Like in all for those of you older at recess and in gym class when your name is called and you get to be on that team. That's what we get to hear at final judgment, but here's what Jesus had to do. People want to have and say you are worthy to take the scroll to open its seals now they just determined that nobody in heaven was worthy. And here's why no one in heaven was worthy to take the scroll and open its seals to have a people who would be his in its kingdom. Because you were slain Jesus because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Jesus purchased us this was Jesus doing the will of the father purchasing the people the father had their names all written out. But Jesus had to buy us get a bias from our slavery right like you could buy someone out of slavery. And the New Testament era everyone who was a slave had gone into basically voluntarily and could buy their way out of their own slavery. But even in American slavery which is something very different than what we see in scripture someone could be bought out of their slavery. But Jesus buys us he has bought us if we're a believer here if you're a believer here you have been bought out of your slavery to sin by Jesus and the currency used to buy your freedom was Jesus blood. And so Jesus shed his blood and he buys he buys us there so Jesus shed his blood and that's him doing the father's will he obeyed the father in other words even in this. So a in your outline there to a Jesus did the will the father even when that meant pursuing his own death and realize that Jesus pursued his own death. He said the things he needed to say he did the things he needed to do in the right places to get everything set up for his own death. So even if the last supper he turns to Judas and says do what's in your heart. And he sends Judas off to do this he doesn't have he doesn't say everybody tackled Judas let's tie him up. No the disciples don't even know what's going on and they're saying no we don't want this to happen to you for you to be betrayed and they say is it I. If it's me time me up so I won't betray you. But instead Jesus just privately says it's just go go and do it. He says the things that infuriate the high priest. Are you the Christ the son of God which was David language are you claiming to be our king. And Jesus went up some he not only said this he says I am but then he claims to be the eternal king who will judge them in the end and you'll see the son of man returning in the clouds. And they knew what that meant and as soon as Jesus said that the high priest even though he had no witnesses that could agree with each other. He says what more have we need for witnesses. We've heard the blasphemy. So Jesus pursues his own death because he's delusely was pursuing obeying the father. And that's a lesson for us were to zealously obey the father not to be accepted by him but we know but because we know his will is best for us. So someone's will is the best for you zealously pursue it. Now be to be Jesus doing the father's will what's his work what's his food Jesus doing the father's will which was dying for his people that was his finishing his work has meant salvation for all his people. Make that connection doing the will of God on Jesus part has made salvation for his people part from that no salvation. And so you know we we Jim read for us he was 10 sevens for 10 and so that can be confusing passage there and God says Jesus now here's the conversation he was 10 that we read it's a conversation between the father and Jesus the son. Father says with burn offerings and sacrifices I'm not pleased Jesus I didn't send you to the earth to offer an ox a bowl or a goat. And if you only give that to me I am not pleased instead the father says Jesus a body have I prepared for you get that that sounds funny when we read it but when we understand this is a conversation between the father and son then we get it God the father has given Jesus a body to sacrifice. Jesus that body you're walking around in that's your sacrifice to me that's what I'm going to place the sins of the people I've sent you to redeem that's the body that's the body you are going to sacrifice not a bowl or a goat not a lamb. If you offer that I will not be pleased and so what's Jesus say I am here on earth I'm here to do your will oh God any displaces the old bulls and goats and lambs and pigeons with the new his own body now once for all the sacrifice of Jesus body for us. So Jesus doing the father's will is what gets us salvation Jesus offers himself as the sacrifice for us so Colossians 1 22 Paul writes there he has reconciled you by Christ physical body through death to present you holy in a site without blemish and free from accusation. Now see see know that as in Jesus case you're doing you're doing of God's will brings good things were to make this connection is Christians one were make that to make the connection that doing God's will doesn't earn me salvation Jesus doing God's will earned me salvation my salvation is about Jesus doing the will the father. Okay that's very clear from scripture and we see that in Colossians one in Hebrews 10 that's what earns me salvation but in our lives we're God calls us not to live our lives like an idiot and idiots live their lives spurning the will of God spurning the commands of God because God is framed human beings and he knows what's good for them. And so he gives us command so that we can live according to them like you hear me say often we don't put strawberry preserves in our gas tank. That's not good for our cars we put gasoline in our gas tank because that's what's good for our cars and so when your dad explains to you as a five year old this is gasoline and we put it in our cars and son we don't put a peanut butter jelly sandwich in our car unless maybe we're test she likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a lot. She offered Mallory a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the hospital a day after Mallory was born or maybe that dead yeah and Tesla loved her sister and so she walked up to her with her caffeine peanut butter and jelly sandwich and wake med. But God gets us laws God gets us commands not because he doesn't like us not because he doesn't have a way to save us. He saves us through what Jesus does for Jesus doing of his will but he gives us his commands because good thing where we're framed the earth is framed earth works according to God's commands and as we fulfill these commands we do these commands things get better and better force when I am honest things are better for me and you know what that involves me. But we fear that and we ought not to fear it because our sins are forgiven by the one who counts with. We fear that but we ought not to you know how much healing happens when we tell somebody you're right I'm sorry. You know how much healing happens in a relationship when we do that you're right I'm sorry we fear that because we think they're going to slap us across the face right. But instead that's what they're longing to hear anyway so we know that doing God's will brings good things for us just like Jesus showed us. The scriptures tell us this you know Philippians 2 9 through 10 it tells us that doing God's will that is Jesus humiliating himself taking the form of a servant in an obeying the father even to death on a cross equals this that's verses 5 through 8 verses 9 through 11 that God raises him from the dead and fits him at his right hand and gives him Jesus the name above all names so that every. Knees shall that's pretty good every knee shall bow and every time confess that he is Lord that's a king word that he is Lord. So all will bow before him you know how that happens he obeys the father and so we've got little pictures of that in our own lives we obey the father not because it's the way he accepts us he accepts us because our sins have been placed on Jesus. We obey the father because that just brings good things we're honest we do right we live for other people instead of for ourselves we we ask the question what what would I want from me if I were that person right doing to others is you would have them do for you and there's great satisfaction in that in our souls that I haven't been selfish that I won't get called out for my selfishness. And if I do get called out for myself issues I will be able to speak truly and show that I wasn't being selfish. We've watched the movie it's a wonderful life last night I love the movie I was you know kind of a little touchy about it when my kids didn't get it. You know if you've seen that movie it's you know if we can get over the 1947 stuff I love the 1977 47 stuff but if we can get over that we see here's it and you know you know it's it's a dramatic irony irony you know all the good George Bailey has done for everybody and that nobody is seen. And in those little scenes and it's a wonderful life right you've got the angels talking and you can hear their voices again it's Clarence and. God or whoever it's supposed to be they don't define it and say that you know he saves his pharmacist that he's working for as a kid has a sundae in the war and gets a telegram and he's so distraught he's drunk and he puts together a potion or whatever you know some medicine. And has you know George Bailey deliver it but George Bailey sees that he's putting some kind of poison in this and so so George doesn't deliver this to the person and the pharmacist gets a call where's my medicine and so George gets back and George is slapped in the year by this pharmacist back in those days when you could do such a thing to someone else's kid. And then he has hearing loss for the rest of his life but then the pharmacist finds out you know George explains to him you were upset and I understand you were upset and you know it's just really kind to him and then the pharmacist realize you you saved me I didn't kill somebody and you saved my career here's a pharmacist and he and he hugs George Bailey and the voices that anyone ever did George ever tell anybody about that and the answers you know right. So it's a wonderful life is a great movie because he's done all these things for all these people without getting any recognition and he just hears stuff and he says but they'll be happy if I eat my happiness right now if I don't get if I don't go to college if I take the bank another four years. And so you know he's done all these things and so that's good for us and good for our soul that's what that movie gets that that I like so much we do stuff and we don't worry about people seeing it like our deacons they do so much stuff that you guys don't see and they don't worry about seeing it and there's so much inward satisfaction of that because God sees it's good for us to do the will of God. It makes us feel good but also good things happen for us relationally and for us personally and so this is why James the Jesus half brother writes and James 125 but the man who looks intently at the perfect law that's how he speaks to the commands of God he calls him the perfect law that gives freedom. We're freed from our slavery to sin. We're freed from our selfishness. We're freed from what we think will be best for us and free to follow what God knows is best for us those are his commands. The man who looks intently in the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this living a life of having your food be doing the will of God. One who continues to do this not forgetting what he has heard but doing it he will be blessed in what he does. Doing the will of God is not a bummer. Doing the will of God is not a thing of guilt and oh I didn't get to do this. Doing the will of God is a thing of inward satisfaction that nobody understands and we sit like Jesus does in front of his disciples and says I have food to eat that you know nothing about. You know I did okay in high school and my classmates look at me and say what in the world is he doing? Even when they find out what he's what he's what I'm doing sorry to beat Bo Jackson for you there. Even when they find out what I'm doing they say well you must have a big church by now huh? And I said no small church and I see their puzzlement and I know I have food to eat and I'm so rich and they know nothing about it because there's a sweetness in doing the will of the Lord. There's a sweetness and in the world looking at us and saying what? There's a sweetness and you're arriving at church at rainbow lanes and not in a great cathedral somewhere that looks nice. There's a sweetness to that God sees that God sees your sacrifice you're doing the will of God you're here we offer God's word and nothing else. That's our church we're a food truck you know that right right we have we spent no money on chairs. We spent we spent no money on we're not the cheese factory there are no murals on the wall. We've spent nothing for our our wait staff to eat we spent no high money on on chefs to come in. No no ambiance right there we are there used to be stripes painted up here same stripes that are out there. And God sees that you're here because you love the will of God you're here because you love God's word that's all we offer and that's by intent. But we don't want you to get confused and and and in a cloud of that that being a Christian is about something else than knowing God and serving him. That's what being a Christian is about knowing God serving him. So have this be your food as well do the father's will as he lays it out for you in the Bible. Now next number three number three pursue as part of doing God's will as food to you growing the church it's Jesus did. Now we talked about this and we're going to just hit the other side of the other side of the coin so to speak. Doing do part do as part of God's do God's will as part of your food growing the church as Jesus did. This is really the context for this passage what is Jesus talking about what's his food his food is talking to the people who are coming from this Samaritan town. That's his food that's what he lives for he didn't come to the earth to eat food you know the code. He didn't come to earth to eat food he came to earth to feed people God's word to feed them the gospel that's the food they really needed though they didn't know it. So it says I have food that you know nothing about and that's his food growing the church growing the number of people who understand his greatness forgiveness how they can have eternal life through belief in him. And so the punchline of this passage is all these people believe so we take part in that to again Jesus is example. He is the gospel for us we believe in him and we have eternal life that's the cross side of it but he's also example for us his food was to tell people about himself and our food is to tell people about our great God Jesus. That's satisfying for us you know for those of you maybe most of you have I don't know who've had someone close to you you know come to faith you know what can be more satisfying than that. You might sister shared the gospel with me you know what can be more satisfying than that we in this church there you know so many of you have come to faith here. But for whomever was what a satisfaction to think they're here there'll be in heaven there'll be in the new heavens in the earth because of something I said. That's so much more satisfying than eating lobster tail that's my favorite food it is lobster tails here and it's gone kind of like mad cow right now. But Jesus came to do the will the father that was his food and the will the father was to seek and to save the lost that's what Jesus says at the end of that Luke 19 passage we looked at last week. He came to seek and to save the lost so Jesus is in our example here look at verses 40 and 41 verses 40 and 41 here there we see Jesus stayed two days that's Jesus feasting. He's sharing the gospel he's sharing the grace of God even to Samaritans even to women you know which was not common for his day and among Jews during his days which was in this interpretation of the Old Testament. But he stays with them two days there he's seeking and saving the lost and then you read verse 41 see there verse 41 and because of his words many more became believers. See Jesus was about growing the church he was on his way to a festival but he stops for two days because that was that was his food growing growing the church that was the father's will for him. So the father seeks worshipers you can look back in verse 23 what kind of worshipers does he want he wants those who worship him in truth about a month ago we talked about what that meant to worship and truth it meant to worship the true God and the true God is Jesus who came to earth. And so that's the food there the father seeks these worshipers who worship in truth who worship Jesus the true God in the presence of the spirit but it's not just food for Jesus to speak and to work and to save he calls you in me to this work as well for this to be our food as well. So the general sense where our food is doing God's will obeying his commands but there's this other sense in which doing God's will is growing his church to whatever we can do to grow to grow his church words here and words there so no you can participate and are called to participate in this just like the Samaritan woman look at verse 28 verse 28. Look what she does she's found Jesus is just said I am the Christ that's our message Jesus is the Christ is the king of creation who came down to earth to save us that's our message and so she goes to her village with this message there so she leaves her water jar verse 28 leaving her water jar the woman went back to the town and said to the people come and see a man and told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ and we see an axe one eight that Jesus calls people to believe in him and to be Jesus calls the people who believe in him to be his witnesses wherever we are today as some area to the ends of the earth where to be his witnesses that's his last words. to his disciples and so those are his last words to us here to be his witnesses now a few things about pursuing the growth of the church so practical stuff for you as a Christian about growing the church a a first thing know that this will sound counterintuitive first know that you will find you will find the small gate that leads to life get that's Matthew 714 Jesus said that. If you will find it it leads to life the wide gate leads to destruction the broad road leads to destruction and many enter through it many do he says but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it so know this as you pursue the growth of the church only a few will find it. But know this that few here's your blank is a percentage few is a percentage if you've only got 10 that's one that's not very many but if you got a million you know and you got 10% of that that's what 100,000 that's a lot of people a few of a million that's 100,000 people that's a lot of people with eternal life right so it's a percentage to percentage. B know that many now we're going to say the opposite but we're going to explain it know that many and many more I'm just quoting Jesus and John here many and many more will come into Christ kingdom through belief in him and so you know verse 39 many come out to him and then verse 30 or verse 41 look at verse 41 there I mean 30 39 go ahead and look at 39 many of the Americans from that town believed in him because they want testimony so many believed it's a big group then verse 41 and because of his words that is after Jesus had stayed two days and they heard more many more became believers. And so this is our great hope that many and many more will come to Christ kingdom through belief in him and that's the goal people believing and that's why we read about nebuchadnezzar stream of the statue this morning chapter two we read of these kingdoms there's the gold kingdom the statue the head that's Babylon and then there's the chest and chest and arms of silver and that's a Persia who takes over and then there's the bronze you know that's a lot of people. You know belly and thighs and that's that's a Greece and then Rome comes along and it's this iron kingdom but iron mixed with clay down at the feet but in the midst of this and this is the dream nebuchadnezzar has that he can't he doesn't know the meaning of but God his Daniel the meaning of this dream and then in the midst of this fourth kingdom Rome what happens a rock not cut out by human hands. It sounds like Jesus comes and it smashes all the kingdoms of the world remember it's a unified statue but what crumbles the kingdoms of man is this rock that strikes the feet of the statue and then we're told this is a kingdom that will have no end. The kingdom of Babylon had an end the kingdom of Persia had an end the kingdom of Greece had an end the kingdom of Rome had an end but in the midst of Rome comes Jesus and it comes out from the gate saying the kingdom of God is at hand. I'm the rock who strikes the feet of Rome. I'm the rock who strikes the feet of all the kingdoms of men and I'm a kingdom who won't go away. I won't end like Rome. I won't end like that one I won't end like these other kingdoms and that's how there are many in the kingdom of God. Remember that we're never the majority because Jesus told us we wouldn't be in terms of looking out at society only a few will find it. But if only a few find it in every generation and every other kingdom only last seven generations at most then you've got a bigger kingdom than everybody sounds like a mustard seed right. It's all a seed but it's planted but it grows and grows and over the centuries it becomes the largest plant in the garden. And all the birds come to nest in it which is part of nebuchadnezzars during the day or four as well and that's the case. There are many people and they keep coming to faith in Christ who I'm getting all these references like Neil Diamond right they're coming to America they keep coming they keep coming to the church person after person after person so know that I think it's 10% of people who are really regenerating. Know that only one you know even though it may be only one that's not from that's not word from the Lord that's just me but know that you know maybe one of 10 people that are not believers around you will believe. But you know what you know more than 10 people and even if you know 10 non-believers one of them is going to come to faith. If you know 20 two of them you know 100 you know check your Facebook now see how many friends yet. Some of them are believers already but realize this many come to faith and this is good this is good hope for since that takes us to this task just knowing that that many come to believe. You know even here in this village here many and many more come to believe but it's not the whole village but it's a lot of people a lot of people come to believe in Jesus so have have good hope have good hope there so see see. And I think certainly where the biggest kingdom now in the year 2023 I mean all the people that have come to faith in Jesus I mean it out it's more than more than any kingdom that's been on the earth already. But see know that the field of the world has many who are right for harvest Jesus tells us in verse 35 don't think that there's going to be a later time when you can share the gospel and 100% 100% the people can believe. It's right the field is right for harvest now the 10% I shouldn't be keep saying that that's just my opinion that the few who do believe Jesus does a few so I'll say that the few who do believe they're right right now. They're right right now even though it's 10% sorry it's a few who are right right now they are right. So seek to grow the church and do the will of the father they're right for harvest first 35 and D here's the good news for us and we talked about last week we talked about a couple of months ago too and this has been great news for me. D in your growing the church get the burden off your back and realize this if you pick up what I'm going to say you know what I'm going to say. Simply talk simply talk about Jesus and in the parenthesis they're convincing isn't necessary. Simply talk about Jesus convincing isn't necessary. Look at what this woman says John 429 she doesn't talk about forgiveness of sins she hasn't had this long discourse with people to prove to them to bring out believe in it. That's what she does she says come see a man who told me everything ever did could this be the Christ and then we get down the out of verse 39 many of some Americans believe from the time believed in him because of the woman's testimony. She didn't convince she just threw something out there and maybe all we have to throw out is I'm a Christian what do you mean well I believe that Jesus is alive. I believe that he rose from the dead maybe they'll cut you off right there but you've got something out there you just throw something out there like this woman it doesn't have to be come tell me the man he told me everything I ever did because Jesus didn't do that to you so you can't say that. But just whatever you have from him you throw out there just something you don't have to convince that can they can get their mind and their heart going they know God is real and that he exists. That's Romans one they know they're suppressing the truth they feel uncomfortable about it. They get their guard up and they say all that silly all that silly all that so and they tell themselves over and over again trying to convince themselves that what they know is true is not true because they don't have a solution yet for meeting Jesus at the last day. And so maybe what you say will get them thinking why are people who are Christians happy why are they satisfied in him. So simply talk about Jesus many of the Samaritsons you can't believe because the woman's testimony you told me everything I ever did so not convincing just talking about him so here's our summary here's our summary for this morning back to food trucks ever see a food truck. You know there's one I love the picture of the food truck that's it he hasn't been there a long time now about a year at pool road and Fritzard up on the way to Raleigh from where we are it's he's literally in the dirt across from a grocery store that now it's not a grocery store. He's dev gas there and now it's just it's got squirrels there's an old and old building but you know what you see a food truck and it's like a gas station parking lot and people are standing there and they're eating food in a gas station parking lot. Why because it's good food and they're satisfied. That's what we look like to the world you know not just our church in particular. That's what we look like in the world because we've given up physical food ordinary food common food for the real stuff and so to the world they're saying why are they eating in a parking lot. Why are they eating in dust on a country corner and what happens with these food trucks how they stay in business is people say this is really good and they go back to work and people say oh what do you got and they evangelize right they say it's this food truck he's on the ex on a new you know he's on the ex on a new burn just north of 440 and they say is it good. That's really good you got to come I'll go tomorrow you can come with me right that's evangelism it's easy evangelism because there's no you're a bad person. If they don't agree to come and even if they say you're crazy I'm not going to food truck you're with food poisoning you know you just laugh it off it's low risk but that's that's what we are as Christians. We're food truck eaters say we eat the good food that Jesus has given us that the world knows nothing about lots of people around at that's who we are we're standing in a parking lot so to speak we're sitting in the bowling alley talking about how good Jesus is why the food is really good it's worth standing in a parking lot for whether it's dirt or asphalt it's worth getting up on a Sunday morning for it's worth like last year worshipping him on Christmas morning instead of opening presents right away or getting up extra early to open presents which for kids in a problem anyway. But God in his past just showing us that his food is better than the common stuff of life the the getting and spending he says you through this fastest this morning and here's your your blanks for you have the food of your life be not ordinary common things have what you get excited about what you see in yourself be not your job not your friend. Not your friendships not will I get a spouse or not will I you know how much money will I have or can I get this car or will people like me have that not be your food that's common stuff that's what the world goes after so that's common stuff but have as your food the doing of the father's well the doing of the father's world that's what will satisfy your soul and along with that is part of doing the father's well the growing of Christ church. Have that just be you know you can't do that when you're in your bed but you know you had low opportunities here and there where you can help grow Christ church even if you'll never see that person again maybe that person will leave by something you said in a store somewhere on a cruise or you know wherever you are.