Seeking before Hiding │ Msg 9/14

0:52 We'll be considering most of John 12 today, but I'll only read portions of it for the sake of time. So please join me as I read John chapter 12, verses 1 through 11, and then we'll skip down to verses 20 through 26. I'll be reading today from the New Living Translation. Join me now as I begin at John 12, verses 1 through 11.

1:47 a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, That perfume was worth a year's wage. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor. Not that he cared for the poor. He was a thief. And since he was in charge of the disciples' money, he often stole some for himself. Jesus replied, Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.

2:44 When all the people heard of Jesus' arrival, they flocked to see him, and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. Then the leading priest decided to kill Lazarus too, for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus. Now let's go to verse 20. Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, Sir, we want to meet Jesus. Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus. Jesus replied, Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone.

3:49 But its death will produce many new kernels, a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. If you knew that you had just one more week to live, how would you spend that week? If you knew that by Saturday night you would be surrounded by satin inside a box, your body would be, that is, and you would be buried the following Monday, what difference would it make in your six days between now and then? Would it be any different from the way you spent last week?

4:55 Certainly it would. I've asked that question all around the area this past week to different people from different walks of life, and I've gotten some of the most amazing answers you can imagine. A local filling station attendant that pumps gas day after day, and I sometime buy mine from him, was asked that question by me. he said, one week, huh? As he was watching the gauge flip on the meter.

5:32 And I said, yeah, that's right. One week to live. What would you do? He said, well... I would spend money and charge it on my credit card so fast, I would travel so far and never worry about how much it costs, leaving my debt to somebody else to work out. It tells you about its priorities, doesn't it? This man said to me, a week? Well, first of all, I would buy a massive amount of insurance. First thing I'd do. Second, I would quit my job and spend my time with my family. An educator said to me something like that. Most people mention their family, by the way, when answering the question.

6:30 educator said, I would spend my time with my children and we would talk about the most important things in life. Splendid answer. My secretary said, I would take care of all of the arrangements so that my burial wouldn't be a bothered anybody. Just like her. Isn't that interesting? What would you do? I can see your mind is just rolling. Some of your eyes are just spinning all around thinking about, wow, what would I do? That isn't an idle question. One week will be your last. It could be this one. That's the truth.

7:22 And when you think about the answer, you see, you express your priorities. When life is reduced to the bare minimum as far as duration is concerned, what you say you will do declares your priorities. A choir member told me just before I came into this service that a Wycliffe missionary knew that she had 20 minutes to live. Just before she lapsed into the coma, she got a hold of her little boy and her husband and told him, stay true to Jesus, walk with him. And then she died. It's not an idle question. It's a question that Jesus had to answer.

8:21 Because he, like no one else, knew that it was his last week. And he spent his time doing things that he considered to be of paramount importance. The gospel writers tell us that in various ways, but I was swept into a realization of it just this past week in my study. When I realized that of the 28 chapters in the Gospel of Matthew, 8 have to do with the last week. Of the 16 in Mark, 6 are devoted to the last days of Jesus. in Luke's gospel of 24 chapters, and in John, 21 chapters, 10 of which are devoted to the last week. Almost half the gospel account talks about what happened, how did Jesus spend his days the last week he was on earth.

9:25 This morning we begin what is the last week of Jesus in John chapter 12. And ironic though it may sound, the rest of our time in John will be spent on Jesus' last days. That in itself tells you of the emphasis of the gospel. In chapter 12, he begins the sixth day before his death, which takes place in chapter 19. Chapter 20 is the resurrection. Chapter 21 is sort of an epilogue, and the gospel is over. So the emphasis from here on is upon his death. Admittedly, we have taken great chunks of Scripture for the last several weeks. We've done it on purpose. Not that I've wanted to overlook things that were important, but I've wanted to emphasize the things that were, in a sweeping survey fashion, the most important.

10:27 So from chapter 4 through chapter 12, we have taken them one chapter at a time, virtually. We don't apologize for that. We planned it that way. However, beginning next Sunday, we will take our time because John does. He spends five chapters on one night. So that tells us that that's worth our time. Take the chart out of your bulletin this morning and glance over it with me, will you? The chart will help you get a synthesis of the final week of Jesus. It looks like a large triangle, and obviously it is a chart that shows the change in Jesus' ministry.

11:21 He tells us in his life what he considered most important. To begin with, I want you to notice the change from the public ministry to the private. There's an obvious transition. the small box toward the end of the triangle, he departed and hid himself. John 12, 36, the last part of the verse. Beginning at that point, to the end of his life, he is with his own chosen few. So when Jesus spent his last week on earth, he saw the time with his own family most important, his family of disciples, and he invested his time there. I also noticed that Jesus does not perform any more miracles the last week. As a matter of fact, last week the study of Lazarus being raised from the dead is the final miracle until the resurrection. So he is not out emphasizing the ministry to the world. He is not evangelizing Judea. He's not reaching Palestine. He is not even speaking of Rome, except to say that from those sources you will be persecuted, men.

12:41 He is engaged in preparing his own for his departure. Now, one other thought, and it's seen in the chart, he doesn't travel much. He's in Bethany for the raising of Lazarus. He slips away for the sake of escape to Ephraim, comes right back to Bethany for the supper that we look at today, and stays in Jerusalem until the day of his death. You notice on the chart that we are traveling today from six days before to five days to four days, and John doesn't mention the second or third day before, it goes right to the last day. That's chapter 13. So we are right at the word supper on the chart this morning. John chapter 12.

13:35 will you notice in this 12th chapter by survey fashion once again the mention of time let's analyze it for a moment verse 1 jesus therefore six days before the passover in case some of you don't know it he died on passover the greatest of the annual jewish feasts it was on that day jesus died on the cross so this is six days before his death. Clearly states that's when it happened. Look at verse 12. On the next day, which would obviously be five days before. So we have a blow-by-blow account of what John considered significant the sixth day and the fifth day before Jesus' death. He gives us the priorities in Jesus' life.

14:29 Now in verse 20 there is no mention of days but the harmony of the other three gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke assure us that when the Greeks sought Jesus it was on the fourth day before his death So if you wish, you could put in the margin of your Bible on the next day or four days before death right outside verse 20 And then look at chapter 13, verse 1. Now, before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come,

15:13 that he should depart out of this world to the Father. and it describes how he washed the disciples' feet. So the before the feast of verse 1 is a reference to the last night on earth before death. That kind of gives you a chronology of the last several sections in John's gospel. I just wanted you to see it so you would be oriented. Now, John chapter 12. Obviously, we will have to pick and choose, and those things that seem to be most important are the things we will emphasize. I'm sure we'll miss some things that you wish could be emphasized more, but we just cannot to keep the flow of thought. Now, in verses 1 through 11, we have Jesus at a supper in Bethany, six days before his death. Remember that.

16:08 Looming large in his mind is the imminency of his cross. He knows it's coming. He is with his own. And with him there was a very unusual person. Verse 1 tells us who he was. Lazarus was there, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. That's quite a person. That's quite an individual to have supper with. You can ask anybody, how will you spend your last week? But you can't ask anybody, how was it when you were in the grave? Except Lazarus. And maybe they talked about that. I have a feeling that that was part of the conversation. I wonder what he did experience. Obviously if he did indeed die, and he did certainly, then he spent four days of earth's time in the other world. Doesn't that blow your mind with curiosity? It does mine. Some people say, oh, don't worry about things like that. Oh, that's what makes life exciting is to think about things like that. One of these days, you'll spend four days in the other world and an eternity to follow.

17:28 Lazarus came back and he had supper with his Lord. And as you would expect, Martha was serving. Verse 2, she's always serving. Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table. He was there. But what about Mary? The family is made up of Martha, Lazarus, and Mary. What about the sister? She's doing something that is more important than anyone else at the table. Just before I read what John says, Mark tells us that she broke a vessel, a container that had in it a very expensive perfume called a spikenard ointment. It was a nard. It was a thick kind of aromatic substance. So she broke it as if not to save any of it.

18:25 Mark also tells us that she put it first on his head. Matthew tells us she did it during the supper. That's most unusual. Jewish women never reclined at the table with Jewish men, especially for supper. And they never literally let their hair down. Literally. But she did both. Verse 3. She took a pound of very costly ointment. It was genuine. She anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.

19:03 And the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. Can't you smell it? I've been smelling it all week. Just picturing it in my mind. Here they were at supper. They had finished the meal or maybe just about to finish. And all of a sudden the room was filled with a fragrance. There are some perfumes like that, aren't there? There are some aftershave or some colognes that are like that, and they just sort of fill the room when they're opened. This filled the room because there was a pound of it, and it was very, very expensive. And she, I guess we would say, smeared it, rubbed it. The word anoint means to rub. She rubbed it on his feet. And then with her hair, which she had let down, she began to wipe his feet and legs free of this ointment, this perfume. It was an act of worship.

20:06 The writer to the hymn refers to being lost in wonder and love and praise. That's Mary that day. She cared not who was there. She did not care the time of day or if it was protocol or if it was good Jewish custom to let her hair wipe his feet. She was lost in praise. When you are lost in wonder and love and praise, you are oblivious to your surroundings. And she was.

20:39 But Judas wasn't. He was highly incensed by that. he said something that sounded terribly impressive. Verse 4. Verse 5. Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii, or $50, which is about 11 months' wage?

21:01 Why wasn't this given to the poor? Now, when you hear that, you would think, wow, that's a real stroke of unselfishness on Judah's part. He wasn't half bad. But John is writing this gospel 60 years removed from the incident. Don't forget that.

21:24 And looking back 60 years before, from his hindsight vantage point, John adds verse 6. Now, he said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief.

21:46 And as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. Look at verse 6. It tells us three things about Judas that John did not then know, but 60 years later he realized. They discovered it soon after the death of Christ. First, Judas was a thief. Second, Judas was the treasurer of the band of disciples. He was no doubt the most intelligent, the only one that was not monolingual, the only one that was Judean by birth, not a Galilean. He was picked to be the treasured one, most trusted, Surprising to many people, Judas was not even assumed to be in the act of betrayal until later, after the act itself. The third thing we notice is that he used to pilfer what was put into it.

22:55 We have a term in our English language, shoplifting. It goes back to the Greek word to lift, and that is what is used here. He used to lift what was put in the purse. Now, they didn't know it at the time. The tense that is used by John suggests that this lifting went on day after day, week after week. No wonder they never had any money. Judas kept lifting from the purse the coins that were there. And so Jesus stopped him short. Verse 7, Jesus said, Let her alone, which is a nice biblical way of saying, shut up, Judas. Be quiet. Don't interrupt this act of worship. Let her alone in order that she may keep it for the day of my burial.

23:51 The text is a little complicated and it's a little uncertain as to exactly what this verse actually means, but the other three Gospels clarify it. It means that she has saved it for my burial and therefore let her alone. She is doing this deed in honor of my death. But it was unusual. Let me be very frank with you. It was so unusual it would be like you're sending a spray of flowers to someone before their death.

24:23 How did she know that he was to die? The disciples didn't know it. They didn't know it the night of the Last Supper. You know what they were arguing about around the table in the Last Supper? They were arguing over who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom. That's when he washed their feet, by the way. They weren't worried about the death. They didn't even know it was coming. we give them tremendous credit later on they deserve it but at the time you know they'd never read the gospel of john so they didn't have it together you've had 20 centuries as it were to put it all together they had none they had left their nets their business their whole bag and they had given it all to christ they couldn't even think of his dying they were planning on being charter members in a whole new kingdom. That's why they all departed and ran when he died. Totally confused. That's why Peter said the next day, let's go fishing.

25:25 Let's put it out of our mind. It was a bad dream. Now, Judas, you see, was not worshiping. He was planning a betrayal. Nobody knew it. And it took sixty years later for John to help us see the insight that they then did not see. Now verse 9. The great multitude, therefore, of the Jews learned that he was there. Where? In Bethany at this supper. And they came, not just for Jesus' sake, but that they might see Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead. You see, Lazarus was, in the very real sense of the word, a sideshow. And I don't mean to cheapen the act of the miracle, but that's what he was seen as by the public. He was a freak of nature.

26:21 Nobody had died four days in the tomb and lived to tell the story like Lazarus. So when he walked back on the earth, when he was in Palestine, in the city of Jerusalem, people followed him like flies. You can just see him peering in the window, waiting to talk to him, to look at him, to discuss this event. But what is interesting is that this man Lazarus was an instrument used of God to bring people to a knowledge of Christ. That's why it says in verse 10, they wanted to kill him. The chief priests took counsel that they might put him to death. Why? Because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away and many of them were believing in Jesus. Isn't that something?

27:13 God would use anybody, any circumstance, he is pleased to use for the cause of Jesus Christ. I think we would be absolutely amazed to know what an impact our lives were having on other people. Probably would be a great encouragement to us. Most of you actually wrestle with the feeling that God isn't using me. Or I'm not really a significant part of the plan. I can't teach and I don't really minister in the sense of the churchy sense of the word. Why am I a part of the plan? And you live with the guilt of that. Your very life and occasionally those well-chosen wise words like goats penetrate hearts, the likes of which you will not know until eternity.

28:13 What a marvelous thought, huh? Lazarus just by living was a cause of the gospel being shared. Just by living. He was a walking miracle. Well, now, suddenly John changes the scenery. At the end of verse 11, it's like the end of a road with no sign. All of a sudden the pavement stops and there's grass growing. And you wonder, where was this to lead? We're not told. it's the last time, the last week of Jesus' life. If you're spending your last week on earth, you're not pondering and spending time on insignificant things or last-minute thoughts. You're dealing with big issues, great chunks of priorities. And so John quickly shifts, and we go from a room that is filled with the fragrant spices that Mary applied to Jesus to a street scene, like the Rose Parade in Pasadena.

29:24 I think of that every time I read of the triumphal entry. That's the kind of scene it was. Verse 12. On the next day, great multitude who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, what did they do? Well, they took the branches of the palm trees. They went out to meet him and they began to cry out, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. Wow, what a scene.

30:03 The other gospel writers sort of fill in the blanks here. The multitude was made up of those that had seen Lazarus raised and those that had heard of his being raised. We know that from the two verses, 17 and 18, of this passage. Those that saw, verse 17, they were there when he was raised out of the tomb. Those that didn't see but had heard about it, verse 18, they heard that he had performed that sign. They were there. The streets were lined with people. That wasn't unusual. You know, in the Roman world, it wasn't unusual at all for the emperor and some of his cohorts to make this great chariot ride down through the streets of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was sort of the boot on the heel of Rome. And the little finger of land that stretched all along the easternmost portion of the Mediterranean, just a constant movement of Roman traffic.

31:00 In Jerusalem, right there in the hotbed of activity, there would come thundering horses and chariots and all sorts of columns of soldiers. It wasn't unusual, but this one was. Here we've got a scene like the rose parade, but there are no great floats. There are no great flowers. You know who's in the parade? One person. Humble figure. People on the side of the road are waving these big palm fronds, and they're saying something unusual. Hosanna. You've heard it all your life. Do you know what it means? It means, save us, we pray. Save us now, is the idea. They put their garments in the road, and the one in the parade on a donkey walked over those garments. Psalm 118 had told them what to do.

32:04 When Messiah comes, you will honor him with those words. And so they were fulfilling prophecy, actually. Whether they knew it or not is questionable. Jesus certainly knew it because he was very careful to pick the right animal for the fulfillment of prophecy. Isn't it unusual that he didn't choose a horse? That's the animal of victory and conquest. But he took a donkey. A donkey! Bill Counts, in his fine book, Once a Carpenter, writes this. One part of that scene seemed utterly incongruous for the triumphal entry of Messiah King. He was riding on a donkey coat. Horses were the animals of conquest and victory.

32:58 symbolized humility and peace. No ancient king would ever have ridden victoriously into a city on a donkey. But over 500 years earlier, a prophet named Zechariah had said, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Your king is coming to you. He is just, endowed with salvation, humble, mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Isn't that just like Jesus? The Pharisees had taught that when Messiah came, he would be coming on a white horse from the heavens.

33:56 He came like a little baby wrapped in grave wrappings in an insignificant inn in Bethlehem, born of a teenage Jewish mother, and the world looked upon her child as an illegitimate. What a strange set of paradoxes, and that's just like Jesus. And you know what is even more amazing? Is that even though he didn't fit the image of a king, people followed him. That's why the Pharisees said in verse 19 that the world has gone after him. bothered them.

34:51 I honestly wonder if right after that they didn't assassinate Lazarus. Nothing is ever said of Lazarus' death. We're never told. But he was part of the reason the multitude was so large. And I just wonder if maybe that wasn't the end of Lazarus because it was the beginning of the end of Jesus. again we come to a sudden ending. The street stops, no more pavement, and John shifts to another day. He's coming closer to death. You see, that's the flow of thought I want you to see. It's just like you were keeping a journal of your last week on earth. You wouldn't necessarily try to tie in from one day to the next. You would mention those things significant and you'd turn the page on the next day and you'd go into that. That's what John's doing. And all of a sudden we don't find him surrounded by a frantic, hectic, active city.

35:54 We find a group of Greeks who are never even named. In fact, this is the only gospel account that even mentions the Greeks. And they are looking for Jesus. Look at verse 20, for example. There were certain Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast. These came to Philip. Why Philip? Why not Matthew? Why not Andrew? Well, Philip was the only disciple that had a Greek name. His name means lover of horses. They came to Philip and they said to him, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. You see, the Jews looked down on the Greeks.

36:47 The Greeks were inveterate travelers. One tourist of the last century said that every time he traveled from the Sphinx to the great monuments of Rome, he always looked closely and could usually find the scratching out of a Greek name on most of those monuments and most of those rocks in all of his travels. They traveled everywhere and usually left the sign behind that they had been there. That's the way the Greeks were. One of their poets wrote and said to them, Oh, you Athenians, you never rest yourselves. That's the Greek. And when they came to Palestine, they were looked down upon. The Jews didn't like them there, especially at the time of feasting. That's a Jewish custom. The ethnic thick line of tradition was pretty heavy. And they saw the Greeks, and the Greeks probably felt ill at ease, but they sought out Philip, and Philip didn't know what to do.

37:48 So look at what he did. I like this. Philip, verse 22, came and told Andrew. And what did Andrew do? Well, Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. Andrew has appeared on the pages of John's gospel three times. Not one time is he significant, but in all three times he's bringing somebody to Christ. The first time is in John 1, where he brings his brother, Peter. Can you imagine living, being known all your life as Peter's brother? You know, someone introduced you and they said, this is Andrew. Andrew what? Well, I don't know. He's Peter's brother. Oh, Peter! Yeah, he's Peter's brother. That would be a drag, wouldn't it? That's what he was all of his life, Peter's brother. He brought Peter to Christ. A few chapters later, they're feeding the 5,000, and he's the one that talks the little boy out of his lunch, remember?

38:46 Brings the little boy up and says, look, here's the sandwich. We got it all ready. It's Andrew. He's bringing someone to Christ, and here are the Greeks. Maybe Andrew wasn't too swift. He wasn't really an intellectual, really sharp, really able to, you know, wow the crowds. But he was faithful to bring them to Christ. You know what I'm going to say, don't you?

39:12 That's our job. Well, I want to tell you something. That is your job, bringing people to Christ. The most delightful experience in earth, on this earth, on this planet, in this time, is not to leave your work and go into some kind of full-time work, unless, of course, that's God's calling for you. But in your sphere of influence, use it to bring people to Christ. That's what Andrew did. It was the most normal thing in the world. He just didn't know any better, if I could put it in those terms. When these Greeks came and they were, you know, where do you put Greeks when it's Passover? Well, he puts them at Jesus' feet. And boy, did Jesus tell them the truth. Look at what he says.

40:09 In fact, he is so preoccupied, it's almost impossible to chart or outline what Jesus says. It's almost as though they weren't even standing there. Verse 23, Jesus answered them, and he says, The hour has come. This is the hour that we've been waiting for. This is the hour of his death. He looked at those Greeks as if to say prophetically, You're part of my plan in the future. the weight, the crushing load of the cross came down on him, and out came the first time the words, The cross is imminent. I find four great themes in the last part of John 12, and I just want to give them to you as we close this morning.

41:02 First, the cross is imminent. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Now turn, verse 27. Now my soul has become troubled Look at that I have the word now Circle 27 Look at verse 31 Twice it appears Now judgment has come Now the ruler of this world is cast out The cross is imminent When those Greeks came They had no idea They were coming upon one Who faced imminent death The second theme is the pain is great. Verse 27. What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.

41:53 No, for this purpose I came to this hour. I think in our familiarity with the cross, we have a tendency to forget and overlook and forfeit the time spent in the moving passion surrounding the cross.

42:14 That's why we have the Lord's table, by the way. Not only to remember our Savior's death, but the anguish. This is the body. This is the blood. This is my body. This is my blood. This is the pain. This is the cost. It was so severe that when he got to Gethsemane, he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. And at the last night said, Oh God, if it's possible, take the cup from me. Pain was great, severe, crushing. Third theme is the need is urgent. Verse 35, just a little while longer and the light is among you. Walk in the light while you have the opportunity.

43:08 You know the need is urgent this very day. You won't realize how urgent until the day of your death. It's urgent. The light is present. Act upon the light. Fourth, the response is different. That's the fourth theme. It goes from 37 all the way to the end. There's a closeness between the Father and the Son.

43:37 The response is different. Look at verse 37. Though he had performed so many signs, yet they were not believing in him. Then John adds in those verses that follow, this didn't surprise God. God's calling the shots. Jesus wasn't on a lark. It was all his plan. Verse 42, and there were those that did believe in him but never made it known, just like some of you here today. Different response. Crowding into this passage are a couple or three practical principles I find here, and I want to leave them with you. They are all three woven into the fabric of these fifty verses. First is this, salvation is not designed for certain types.

44:34 Thank you. There's Mary. She seems to be an unlikely suspect to believe in Jesus. Preoccupied, dreamy, arty, meditative, given to feelings and the emotion of the moment. You know who seemed to be a much more likely suspect? It's Judas. I'd have picked him any time. I'd have voted for him to keep the money. He was the most impressive one of the group, but he walked three years with Jesus and rejected. There's no certain type. I've heard people say, salvation is not for me, I'm not the type. Name one type. Look around. Have you ever seen a crazier group in all your life than us? Some tall, some short, some fat, some thin, some old, some young, some mature, some immature, Some gray, some no hair.

45:33 Some can sing, some can't. All different types. It's part of his plan. Let me tell you another one. It's in here. Worship is not limited to specific times. Mary worshiped at supper. The crowd worshiped in the street. The Greeks worshiped out of curiosity. They found him. isn't limited to specific times. My family and I took off this past summer for a few days up at Tahoe and we rented a little camping trailer and dragged it all the way up there. My wife and younger kids slept in that and my boy and I slept out under those strange things we call the stars. You know those things you used to see back in the 40s, 50s? They're up there. up in Tahoe you see them. You know what I did? I worshipped every night. Worshipped. Drove a big old camper I'd borrowed from a guy and a big old pickup around the winding roads of Tahoe. Worshipped around those curves. Worshipped at the scenery. Worshipped at the quiet times. Worshipped at Midnight, no special time for worship.

46:54 Don't box God into a time. The most awesome experiences of vacation come at times of breathtaking worship in scenery you don't normally look at. You walk on the sand, you just kick the sand around on the beach or do you worship the God of the surf? The third truth I see is Christianity is not implemented on selfish terms, not on your life. Salvation is not designed for certain types. Worship is not limited to certain or specific times. Christianity is not implemented on selfish terms. Verses 24, 25, and 26.

47:48 That's a good home project for you. We won't take the time now. You read it on your own. It's the most incredible account of how Jesus says the life is to be lived. You really want to keep? Give. You want to wind up with nothing? Keep. You want to be great? Serve. You want to be nothing? Try to be great. Works against the whole human counsel. It's like Jim Elliot said, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. One moment after you die, you'll realize the real joy of giving or the emptiness of keeping. What if it were your last week?

48:34 What difference would it make? Dr. James Dobson passed on a true story of his experience in a hospital where he was practicing. Dr. Dobson tells the story, it's true, of a little five-year-old black boy. His mother was large and loving and beautiful right down deep inside, loved Jesus with all her heart. little boy was dying of lung cancer. And she came to that hospital day after day to visit that little fella. It may surprise some of you to know that children who die of terminal illnesses usually die alone because of the denial factor in their parents. They could hardly handle the pressure of being there at the time. I don't fault them for that. I would probably wrestle with that same problem.

49:35 Well, this mother was different. She came every day. Little boy just was suffering so. One night while she was gone home, there began to come sounds out of the room where this little boy was. Little boy was saying, I hear the bells. I hear the bells. They're ringing. He said that through the night, and nurses thought very little of it. Next morning the mother came, walked into the nurse's station and asked, how's my boy? They said, well, he's hallucinating. He keeps talking about hearing bells. It's probably the medication. And she stopped and pointed her finger at the nurse and said, Now you listen to me.

50:31 He is not hallucinating. He is not out of his head. I told my boy weeks ago that when the pain got so bad he couldn't breathe, when it got really bad that he was going up to heaven to be with the Lord Jesus. And I said, when it got really bad, he was to look up in the corner of his room toward heaven and to listen for the bells. They'd be ringing.

51:04 They'd be ringing for him. And she swept down the hall and turned into that room and saw that little boy that she had born. And she picked him up and held him in her big arms and rocked him. And he talked about the bells until they were just an echo. Mmm. That mother and that child were able to face death because of the security they had in Jesus Christ. That's the only way. I don't know what it's going to take for some of you to make that decision. For the life of me, I don't know what it'll take.

51:54 Let's bow our heads together this morning, please. Forgive me, I don't want to play upon your emotions in making a decision this important, but, friend, emotion is a part of the way we're made. It's pretty difficult to make a life-changing decision without some emotion. Friend, it may be your boy next. It may be you. In the waiting arms of the Lord Jesus, anxious to take you.