Before the Throne of God

Before the Throne of God

Ryan & Bethany Reedy - 4/30/2023

Key Passage: Isaiah 6

Method • Questions

What Stood Out To You from Isaiah 6?

• The overlap between the heavenly and earthly realms

• Isaiah’s response to a holy God.

What Questions do you have? 

Who is King Uzziah?

• Uzziah was a pretty good King, but the people of his time were not! 

• 2 Chronicles 27

Who/What are the Seraphim?

• Isaiah 6:2

• The burning ones

• Numbers 21

• venomous snakes

• Ezekiel 10, Revelation 4

• Other passages that depict similarly strange heavenly creatures 

Shaking and Smoke?

• Isaiah 6:4

• The building shakes but doesn’t break at the voices of these beings

• Both of these things point to God’s glory.

What do we learn about God from this story?

What did Isaiah experience?

• He saw

• A high and lofty throne

• His robe filled the temple

• He heard

• Holy Holy Holy

• Supremely and completely

• He felt 

• The shaking

• He smelled

• The smoke

A Special Name of God

• Yahweh Sabaoth

• Lord of Hosts

• Lord Almighty

• Lord of Heaven’s Armies

• Also seen in Psalm 46

• This name reminds us of God’s protection. He’s there when we call out in times of need.

What do we learn about people from this story?

• Isaiah 6:5 - Isaiah’s response to seeing God is complete humility.

• He is overwhelmed and undone.

• Isaiah is completely dependent on God’s grace and mercy 

• Romans 5:6

• Isaiah doesn’t reject God, He receives God’s gift.

Isaiah’s response

• Woe is me

• Isaiah 6:5

• Here I am. Send Me

• Isaiah 6:8

What is OUR response to God’s presence and invitation in our lives?

How do the people of Isaiah’s time respond?

• Rejection (Isaiah 6:9-10)

• John 12:37-43

• Remnant (Isaiah 6:11-13)

Before the throne of God

• Revelation 7:9-10

• “Missions exist because worship doesn’t”

How do I live out what I learned?

• I have seen the King

• Here I am. Send me.

• Lord, how long will this go on?

Why Was Jesus Crucified?

Why Was Jesus Crucified? 

Dave Riddle - 3/26/2023

Key Passage: John 19:17-27

The Place

• Golgotha (19:17)

• An intimidating location

• “If you cross us, we cross you”

The Proclamation

• “The King of The Jews” (19:19)

• Pilate was trying to be antagonistic, but he inadvertently stumbled on the truth.

• See also Caiaphus in John 11:50

The Prophecy 

• Dividing his clothes, casting lots. (19:23-24)

• Fulfillment of Psalm 22

The Provision

• Providing for his mom (19:25-27)

• Here is your mother. Here is your son.

• Providing for the criminal on the cross (Luke 23:39-43)

• Providing salvation for us

• John 12:32 - As for Me, if I am  lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to Myself.

The Person

• No one takes my life from me, I lay it down on my own. John 10:18

• He willingly laid down his own life.

The Point

• Redemption and Adoption!

• Galatians 4:4-5

• He bears so much love for us. A love that isn’t just spoken, but is demonstrated in the most powerful way.

• Are you part of those that have been redeemed, or are you not?

• Are you a child of the King, or are you not?

Walk & Believe

Walk & Believe

Dave Riddle - 2/26/2023

Key Passage: John 12:34-41

A Rebuttal

• John 12:34

• You say the messiah will be “lifted up”/glorified/killed but that’s not what we have heard…

Jesus Responds

• John 12:35-36

• For Jesus, Walk and Believe are synonymous.

• Watch for these words through the end of the chapter.

Isaiah’s Prophecies Revealed in Jesus 

• John 12:37-41

• The Word of God will either spur us on to action or it will condemn us.

A Fruitful Life Requires Death

A Fruitful Life Requires Death

Dave Riddle - 2/19/2023

Key Passage: John 12:20-33

Greeks Come Looking for Jesus

• John 12:20-22

Jesus’ Time Has Come

• John 12:23

• Compare to “my time has not yet come” in John 2, John 7, etc.

Fruitful Life Requires Death

• John 12:24-25

• Just as Jesus had to die to provide life, we have to die to our sin to have a fruitful life.

The Father Honors The One Who Serves

• John 12:26 - if anyone serves me, he must follow me.

• It has been said that “follow me” is the whole of a Christian’s duty, and “to be where Christ is” is the whole of their reward.

“My Soul is Troubled”

• John 12:27

• Troubled = tarassō (Greek) - stirred up, agitated, inward commotion, to take away one’s calmness of mind.

• Like a blender bottle 

Jesus knew what was coming

• John 12:30-33

Hosanna!

Hosanna!

Dave Riddle - 2/12/2023

Key Passage: John 12:4-19

Judas Asks A Legitimate Question

• John 12:5

  • Mary just poured a year’s wages on Jesus feet.

Judas Has Impure Motives

• John 12:6

  • His concern wasn’t actually rooted in his concern for the poor.

Jesus Responds 

• John 12:7-8

  • The Dueteronomy passage Jesus quotes here talks about the importance of generosity. 

    • Jesus isn’t diminishing the importance of generosity to the poor. 

    • He is acknowledging the importance of what Mary had done in light of his looming death.

The Plot to Murder Lazarus

• John 12:9-11

  • Evil builds upon evil

  • Sin spreads and grows

Hosanna!

• John 12:12

  • Hebrew means “save us”

  • Greek usage is uncertain

• A general expression of excitement

  • Hip hip hooray!

    • We know what we mean even if we can’t define the specific words.

Three Responses To The Presence of Jesus

Three Responses To The Presence of Jesus

Dave Riddle - 2/5/2023

Key Passage: John 12:1-11

The authorities want to arrest Jesus

• John 11:49-57

  • Jesus is wanted

  • He retreats to the wilderness

  • As Passover arrives, everyone is looking for Jesus to arrest him.

A Feast in Jesus’ Honor

• John 12:1-3

  • Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are there.

Martha - Practical Service

• John 12:2

• Martha is serving, as always.

  • This time she is serving without complaining. The serving wasn’t the problem. Her heart was.

Lazarus - Practicing His Presence

• John 12:2

• Lazarus is reclining at the table, enjoying the presence of Jesus.

  • Brother Lawrence: Practicing the presence of God.

  • Speechless and awed to just be alive.

Mary - Extravagant Acts of Humility and Devotion 

• John 12:3

• Mary shows complete and total devotion and humility.

  • It would be typical to anoint someone’s head. Incredibly unique and extraordinary to anoint someone’s feet with such an expensive product

  • Highly remarkable for a Jewish woman to let her hair down in public.

Each of these reactions are appropriate and good 

• At different times in our lives we are called to respond to Jesus in different ways.

  • We are called to respond to Jesus in each of these three ways.

Don’t Let Your Heart Be Troubled

Message begins around 32:30

Don’t Let Your Heart Be Troubled

Dave Riddle • 04/24/2022

Key Passage: John 14:1-15

Don’t let your heart be troubled

• John 14:1

  • Troubled = tarassō (Greek) - stirred up, agitated, inward commotion, to take away one’s calmness of mind.

• John 12:27 - “now my heart is troubled”

  • Jesus faced this too!

    • Not a sin issue.

The answer for a troubled heart

• John 14:1 - “believe in God, believe also in me “

  • Believe = pistueo (Greek): to think to be true. To be persuaded of; to place confidence in. To have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing). To believe.

I’ve got a spot for you 

• John 14:2-4

  • A place for you

  • “You will be with me!”

  • you know the way to where I am going.

Wait… where are you going?

• John 14:5 (HCSB): “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where You’re going. How can we know the way?”

  • Thomas sets it up on tee for Jesus

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life

• John 14:6

  • No one comes to the Father except through Jesus

Know and See

• John 14:7

  • Know = ginōskō: to know experiential, in contrast to oida, which means to know intuitively or perceive.

  • See = horaō - to stare at. to see, i.e. become acquainted with by experience, to experience.

They Miss the Point

• John 14:8

  • They still don’t get it.

• John 14:9

  • Philip… you still don’t know me?

  • The one who has seen (horaō) me has seen the Father.

• John 14:10-11

  • There is such a close relationship between Jesus and the father that you can’t separate them.

A Surprising Promise

• John 14:12 - Don’t miss this!

  • The one who believes in me will do even greater works than me.

    • Not exclusively referring to miracles, but instead referring to the entirety of His life.

    • Why? The Holy Spirit is coming.

      • The impact of the ministry of the church goes worldwide as a result of the power of the Spirit.

I Will Do It

• John 14:13-14

  • Ask in my name, and I will do it.

    • Jesus is not a divine vending machine or our personal Genie.

    • When we are aligned with Jesus’ mission and motives and allow God to use us He will do incredible things.

Keep My Commands

• John 14:15 - if you love me, you will keep my commands.

  • Keep = tēreō - to attend to carefully, take care of.

How often do we stress over things that have little eternal significance?

• Everything we do is rooted in our faith and trust in Jesus as leader of our life.

Jesus, Judas, and Peter

Jesus, Judas, and Peter
The Gospel of John - Part 26 • 3/28/21
Key passage: John 13:18-38

He Knows

• John 13:18

  • He wasn’t fooled or surprised by Judas’ plot or Peter’s inconsistency

• John 13:19-21

  • He Knows what is going to happen and who is going to betray Him.

He Feels

• John 13:21

  • “He was troubled in His spirit”

    • Not the first time: John 11 at the death of Lazarus. Also, John 12:27.

He Observes

• He observes the group dynamic of His followers.

  • John whispers to Jesus and Jesus’ reply seems to be to John alone.

    • John 13:26

He Facilitates

• John 13:27

  • Judas, it’s time. Do it now.

He Fulfills

• John 13:31-33

  • “Glorified” in the past tense.

  • He Knows what is going to happen and He is sure that His mission will be completed.

He Challenges

• John 13:34-35

  • Love one another just as I have loved you. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples.

He Confronts

• John 13:36-38

  • Will you lay down your life for me?