If you would, please open with me your Bibles to John chapter 5. John chapter 5 this morning, we're going to begin in verse 30 and we're going to be thinking about the remainder of the chapter, verses 30 through 47. Just as we're getting our places in John chapter 5, if you were to come into this context as you're reading through the Gospel of John, what you'll find is the beginning of chapter 5, Jesus heals the man at the Pool of Bethesda. This man's been an invalid for 38 years. Jesus heals him, and it happens to be the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders, of course, are very upset by this, and they're questioning the man. Who was it that healed you? And he didn't even know. Jesus finds him again in the temple courts and he speaks to him. He actually calls him to faith. And then the man immediately goes back to the Jewish leaders and says, okay, now I know who it was. It was him. If you look down at verse 18, it says, this is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. Because when the Jews confronted him, For healing on the Sabbath, Jesus said, I'm, my father's at work and so am I. And so not only are they now trying to indict him as a Sabbath breaker, but also as a blasphemer. And this is the context that we come into. So I want us to read, beginning in verse 30, and we'll read through the end of the chapter. So please hear the word of God. Jesus speaking. I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me, his voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one he has sent. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is they that bear witness about me. Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people, but I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? Let's pray together. Our God in heaven, we thank you. And we ask for your grace, your mercy, your goodness, your compassion this morning. Father, as we consider this scripture passage, we ask that you would clear away distractions, gather our hearts, gather our minds, work in them, transform them, not for any outward show, but for your glory and for your goodness. And Father, we ask that you would do these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I've recently heard of two different court cases where a key witness was brought in, one who really made a difference in that case. Even a few weeks ago, I heard of a really interesting and unique trial where the man's own writings and his own voice recordings of his writings were used to prove his guilt. You may even know who I'm referencing. Well, the terms witness and testimony are central to this passage. Actually, they're found 10 times in these verses. And here, Jesus is bringing witnesses to the stand. If you look through the Gospel of John, chapter 5, I mentioned to you, we see a conflict emerge. Well, that conflict escalates through John 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and you could probably argue even throughout the rest of the Gospel. In a way, these people are trying to put Jesus on trial. Well, He's a Sabbath-breaker. Well, He's a blasphemer. You see, in the Old Testament, at least two eyewitnesses were required to indict somebody of a serious crime. Their testimonies had to be in complete agreement. You go back, you read Deuteronomy chapter seven, read Deuteronomy chapter, I'm sorry, 17 and 19, and you'll see that very thing. And in this section, as I mentioned, Jesus being charged with violation of the Sabbath and claiming to be equal with God. And many would argue here that as Jesus is bringing the witnesses to the stand, he's defending himself to validate his testimony. And if you look at verse 31, He says this, if I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. Now we know that obviously his testimony is true. It's always true. He is the God-man. But when we understand Deuteronomy 17 and Deuteronomy 19, we see it in that context. What he's saying is it wouldn't be legally valid. In our court system, so to speak, it wouldn't be considered as legally valid. But a lot of commentators would say, Jesus is on the defense here. He's being condemned by these leaders and he's defending himself and he's bringing witnesses to his defense. But when you read Deuteronomy 17 and Deuteronomy 19, it's not the defendant that has to bring the witnesses to validate their testimony, it's the accuser. The accuser has to have multiple witnesses to validate the crime. So Jesus isn't on the defense. in this passage. Jesus has actually turned the tables. This is the irony. They're coming after Him and yet He has turned the tables and they're the ones on trial. Look at verse 22. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son. Verse 27. He has given Him authority to execute judgment because He is the Son of Man. Verse 30. I can do nothing on my own as I hear I judge and my judgment is just. Here Jesus is the judge of the world and he's bringing the witnesses to the stand to prove the guilt of the world. The tables are turned. They are under his judgment, not the other way around. So this morning, as we think about this text, we're gonna think about it in that context, this idea of testimony, witnesses. And I want us to receive the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. to believe in Him. That's the simple call of this text. Now as we consider that, I want us to think about it in three ways. I want us to think about the testifiers, the testimony, and then the test. Testifiers, testimony, test. So the testifiers, who is it that comes to the stand as a witness? Who is it that testifies? And then the testimony, what is their testimony like? What are they saying? And then the test. How does it apply to the hearers? How does it apply to us as we hear? So let's begin and let's... Think about the testifiers first, the witnesses who corroborate the testimony of Christ. Now I mentioned to you that Jesus healed this man, John chapter 5, and then we read verse 18. But that section in between, verses 19 through 29 here, Jesus testifies. And Jesus there actually speaks the gospel of life to these same hearers. Take a look at verse 24, he says, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.'" And then down later in verses 28-29, there he speaks about a day when the voice of God will be heard and those would come out of the tombs to either eternal life or eternal damnation. He testifies But here he now calls witnesses to the stand to corroborate his testimony. And if you read down through this section and you start to count up who are the witnesses that you see, you'll probably count four of them. I'm going to say there's five. but I'm actually gonna group them into three. And so let's think about these three groups of witnesses. First of all, we have the witness of the triune God. The witness of the triune God. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, the triune God witnessing to Christ. And you see it in verse 32. You see it in verse 36, seven, and eight. But let's think about that triune God and how he witnesses. First of all, he mentions He says, you've never heard His voice. You've never seen His form. And if you think back through the ministry of Christ, even up to this point, the voice of the Father was audible at the baptism of Jesus. This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. And then again at the transfiguration later, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him. If you look at chapter 8 verse 18, Jesus says this, He says, I'm the one who bears witness about myself and the Father who sent me bears witness about me. The Father is revealed in and through the Son. Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father. He says, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I and the Father are one. He is the image of the invisible God. The Father is revealed in His teaching, in His compassion, in His mighty works that we see in verse 36. Even Nicodemus understood this very clearly. Back in John chapter 3 when Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, chapter 3 verse 2, Nicodemus says this, We know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. He understood it. He got it. I want you to see also verse 32. Verse 32 says this, there is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. Now that's a really interesting verse, because that word another is the word alas in Greek, and that's significant because alas refers to one of the same kind. And that's different from heteros, which is one of a different kind or one of a different sort. Remember, he just gets done saying, I'm God. And they understood him clearly. They're trying to indict him because he is claiming to be equal with God. And now he says there's one of the same kind who bears witness. So this is either the Father or the Holy Spirit. Well it's also that same word is used of the Holy Spirit in chapter 14 verse 16. So given this fact it could be a reference to the Father and it could be a reference to the Holy Spirit. There's really no way to be absolutely sure. Now of course you see the Father's testimony in verses 37 and 38 after He speaks about John the Baptist. you see him speaking about the Father specifically. So in that narrow context, the Father is really in view. And he is also in verse 17 where Jesus says, my Father is working until now and I am working. And pretty much every commentator I read said they believe that verse 32 is a reference to the Father. And even if we give them that, even if that is true, even though it's not, you can't be absolutely sure, that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit's not here? Of course He is. Of course He is. We'll call Him the unnamed witness. This is why I said if you look down through, you'll count four pretty easily, explicitly. But there's a fifth, and that's the Holy Spirit. You think about Him all through the Gospel of John. He's there at the baptism of Christ. He's there in that conversation with Nicodemus when Jesus says, you must be born again or born from above. And then He says, you've got to be born by the Spirit. He's there in John the Baptist preaching. When John the Baptist says that Jesus is filled with the Spirit without measure, he's there in John chapter 6, where Jesus says the Spirit gives life and the flesh counts for nothing. In chapter 7, he's the living water. And then you get to the upper rim discourse and he's all over there, the helper, the paraclete, the comforter. Chapter 14 and 15 and 16, there's a lot that Jesus says about the Holy Spirit, that one who's going to be sent by the Father and the Son. He's all over. He's the one who convicts the world, and perhaps this fits this context really well. He's the one who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. The unnamed witness. So the whole Trinity, witnesses to Christ. I want to read you the larger catechism, question 43. Because we think about it, and we think, well, the Father is working through the Son, but the Son's ascended to heaven. The Holy Spirit, obviously, is active. So how is this witnessing all working by the Trinity? And I think this helps us. Larger catechism 43. How does Christ execute the office of a prophet? See, all people must hear and heed the truth of God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Well, the second witness that's brought to the stand here is the witness of the Scriptures themselves. You see that in verses 39 through 47. You have the witness of the Trinity, but you also have the witness of Scriptures here and in full display argument to the Jews here in this section is that the Scriptures spoke of Him. You know some people would say, well there wasn't really an expectation of Christ, He just shows up as this baby in a manger in Bethlehem and oh, there He is. And there are stars in the sky, and there are angels in the sky, and there are all these things. But the Bible did speak of Him. There was an anticipation, there was expectation. We think all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 verse 15, we call it the first gospel. There it speaks of a Messiah who would save his people. And then progressively throughout the whole Old Testament, and these Jewish leaders, well they should have known it better than anybody. I love how it's said in our confession, Westminster Confession, Chapter 7, Article 5, it talks about the Old Testament containing promises and prophecies and sacrifices and other types or pictures, ordinances that point to Christ and always pointed to Christ. And it says that through the Spirit of God, all these things were able to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah. See, they didn't have a generic faith. Abraham, he didn't have a generic faith. Moses didn't have a generic faith. They had a Christ-centered faith, a messianic faith. The Old Testament scriptures spoke of Christ. Now, Pastor Jeff, he's going to begin very shortly a sermon series on the book of Acts. And one of the things we're going to see in the book of Acts is that early church, before even the New Testament was written, all they had was the Old Testament. But what was their approach as they took that Gospel from Judea, from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria to the ends of the earth? Well, their approach, first of all, was to go into the synagogues and open their Old Testaments and preach Christ and say, look, here is what this Scripture says, and here's Christ. Here is Christ. You see Paul doing that over and over. You see Philip doing it and others will be interested to see that as Pastor Jeff unpacks that for us. You know, there are many instances in the world today where man's ideas are placed on center stage. And sometimes those ideas just happen to align with scripture, perhaps by the common grace of God, and yet this is the only place where we can actually say, thus saith the Lord. Wouldn't you have loved that? In that presidential debate just a couple days ago, if somebody said, thus saith the Lord, especially if they were saying it accurately and rightly, But we have that in the Scriptures. So listen to the Scriptures. Many voices are out there, many voices clamoring for your attention, but only the Word of God, only the Scriptures are completely reliable. So we have the witness of the Trinity, and the witness of the Scriptures, and the third is the witness of the Church. Now here verses 33 through 35 specifically speak of John the Baptist, the final, the greatest Old Testament prophet, the forerunner of Jesus Christ, the one who goes ahead of him and clears the way. Here he's called a burning and a shining lamp. He brings illumination, he brings heat. Nevertheless, as you see in the beginning of the gospel in what we call the prologue, John chapter 1, verses 1 through 18. It says that John was not the light. He came to bear witness to the light, but he was not the light. The true light coming into the world, that's Jesus Christ. And John was bearing witness to him. And in the sense, and in this sense, he represents the voice of the church, the true church. Sad irony is he's speaking to leaders of the outward church in this time, these Jewish leaders who are actually rejecting the truth of God, rejecting the scriptures, rejecting the testimony of the Trinity, rejecting the Son of God. And he stands at the voice of the church declaring the truth of Christ to a lost and a dying world. Now think about how that application extends to us The Church is the human instrument to witness Christ to this world. As I said, the Father worked through the Son. He sent the Son. The Son has ascended, and He is in heaven. But His prophetic office continues, and that's through the Spirit and the Word, as we read in the Catechism. But who is it that takes that Word and speaks it to the world? Well, it's the Church. And it goes out to every unit of society. Matthew 28 where it says, go. We are to go to individuals. We are also to go to families, businesses, governments, even to churches and declare the Word of God. So we have a testimony. We have the testimony of the Trinity. We have the testimony of the Scriptures. We have the testimony of the church. Now I want us to think about that testimony. What is it like? What is it like? We have the testifiers, those who give the testimony, but now what is that testimony like? We know who spoke it, but what is it like? Well, I'm going to give us three things that arise from this text as we think about this testimony, what it's like. First of all, it is true. And this is one of the things I pointed out to you earlier as we were opening Psalm 100. I said, remember that last part where it says, it's truth for all times firmly stood? And I said, we're going to hear about that in John chapter 5. Well, that's true because it is true and that's something that arises in this text actually three times. I want you to see two of them. Look at verse 32. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. What is truth? Well, truth is that which accords with reality. Now, our day and age is a strange one, because in certain ways, reality is something that's being rejected and cast aside in our day and age. Things that are obvious, things that are true, things that are clear and compelling and axiomatic, self-evident, are being set aside, and it's almost like a make-believe world, and yet that doesn't change the truth. And that doesn't change the fact that the truth is still powerful and important. And the truth can cut through lies and make belief. Jesus said, if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. And you'll be free indeed. I remember Dr. Prouto, Denny Prouto, he had a gospel tract, and I can't remember exactly what it said on the front. It said, you cannot escape, and I can't remember exactly, but in my mind, I think it might have said, you cannot escape the truth. And that's true. You can deny it, you can try to set it aside, you can try to ignore it, but you can't ultimately escape it. Brothers and sisters, as the church, as the people of God, we ought to be those who speak the truth. We are the ones who have the truth. And not just that general truth from general revelation, we have the truth of the Bible. And we can speak it. And we're called to speak the truth in love. So first of all, that testimony, what is it like? It's true. Secondly, it is clear. Take a look at verse 36. Jesus says here, See, Christ was doing the work of God, and it was obvious. It was evident. It couldn't be denied. Now, there were some who were playing make-believe that wanted to deny it. Some of the Pharisees said, oh, well, that's of Belial, that's of the devil. And they attributed his works to the devil, and Jesus said they committed the unpardonable sin. But it was undeniable. Even Nicodemus, as we saw in chapter 3, verse 2, he says, no one can do the works that you're doing unless he's from God. It's undeniable. It's clear. And there are certain clear truths that God has made known even in creation. Think about Romans chapter 1 beginning in verse 18. It says God has made certain things plain. His invisible attributes and so forth. These things He has made plain even in creation. Psalm 19, we're gonna sing the latter half of it in just a little, but the first half of Psalm 19, it is God's clarity in creation. It begins with these words, the heavens declare the glory of God, even in creation. As we said, you can try to deny the truth, you can act as if it's not there, you could try to live in a way that's out of accord with the truth, but you can't ultimately escape it. It's like if you're in a swimming pool, and you may have done this before, and you have a raft or a balloon or a ball or something like that, and you push it under the water, and it wants to keep popping back up. And that's what Romans says. It says they try to suppress the truth in unrighteousness, but you can't hold it down. It's just going to come back up. You ultimately can't deny it. It's powerful. It's significant. It's clear. I saw a video just a few weeks ago. And it was people marching in a parade, a parade that happens around this time of the year, and there was a pastor or some sort of a Christian, and he was just calmly and seemed to be kindly reading the scriptures. And the people, a couple people in his near perimeter, well, they were just very unhappy, and they were screaming with anger and rage. The Bible doesn't say that's a sin. Well, it clearly does. Bible is true and it's clear. And deep down, people know it. They know it. It's not an intellectual barrier, it's a moral issue. And here, in our context, Christ's works, verse 36, were unmistakable, incomparable. He left no doubt. So brothers and sisters, one of the takeaways that we can have here with the clarity of God's Word is that we ought to have confidence. You know, when we read Hebrews 3, there are people who are wavering in their faith and were called to hold on to our confidence. We have a reason for confidence. This isn't shifting sand. This is solid rock. We have truth. We have clarity. Have confidence. Well, the third characteristic I want you to see about the testimony this morning is that it is life-giving. It's true, it's clear. Thirdly, it is life-giving. Take a look at verse 34. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. Jesus is speaking to deniers, detractors, and yet, Even as the judge who is calling witnesses to the stand, who's on the offensive, even in that case, he is calling them to salvation. He's speaking a word that can save, so that you may be saved. Verse 40, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. See, this is a life-giving testimony that you may be saved, that you may have life. And again, this comes down to a personal responsibility. As I said, it's not an intellectual barrier. This is a moral issue. It's a personal responsibility to receive this testimony. And in this way, it's decisively clear. It clearly separates those who come to Christ and those who turn away from Him. And this is what I want to consider in our third point this morning. So we saw the testifiers, those who give the testimony, the witnesses. We saw the testimony. Thirdly, let us now consider the test. And there are three tests here. before these unbelieving Jewish leaders. And we can put ourselves against these same tests. First of all, verse 35, they rejoiced for a while in the light of John the Baptist. He was tremendously popular for a time. Remember that. He was a popular guy, but ultimately, they rejected him. Ultimately, they didn't believe him. Why? Because they rejected the one that he preached about. He didn't come, He said, I must decrease, and Jesus must increase. He was one bearing witness to the light. And they ultimately rejected Him, His message, and the one He spoke about. They failed the test at this point. Will you rejoice temporarily in the light? Here today and gone tomorrow, or will you hold on to Christ? Think about the seeds. David Whitlett just recently preached about the parable of the sower, and there's that one seed that falls on the rocky ground, and it doesn't take root, and it sprouts up, and then it withers away. And Jesus explains it, and he says, well, when times of tribulation come, because of the word, they fall away. Let that not be us. Let us hold on to this testimony, this clear and powerful and true and life-giving testimony. Let's not rejoice temporarily in the light. Let us rejoice in it always, laying hold of its truth, laying hold of its clarity, laying hold of its salvation. Colossians 3, verse 16 says, let the word of Christ dwell in you. Not just come and go, let it dwell. Abide. Jesus says, I am the vine and you are the branches. If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. But apart from me, you can do nothing. See, we need to get into this word, but we need this word to be in us. And that leads us to our second test. Verse 37, Jesus says they haven't heard his voice. and they haven't seen His form. What an indictment. It's an interesting irony that here are ones who are searching the Scriptures most diligently, yet they never hear the voice of God in the Scriptures that are His Word. Furthermore, they didn't have His Word dwelling and abiding in them, verse 38, evidenced by the fact that They didn't have the love of God in them. You see that in verse 42. So they haven't heard his voice, they haven't seen his form, they don't have the word of God abiding in them, and they don't have the love of God in them. The very one that they say that they look to most, Moses, Jesus says he's the very one that's going to prove you guilty if you continue on the course that you're on. They're setting their hopes on Moses, but not really, because Jesus said, he spoke about me. So they're setting their hopes on Moses in a superficial way. Really, they're setting their hopes on themselves, their traditions, their own glory. Jesus said, you're not taking the glory of God, right? That's our first catechism, to glorify God. That's the umbrella, the roof of all of it, the overarching superstructure. And these guys are seeking their own glory, their own traditions. They're frauds. We ought to embrace his word and hear his voice in that word, abiding in that word, having the love of God in our hearts, seeking the glory of God, not our own glory. Geneva Study Bible said this, "...Christ is declared to be the only Savior, by John's voice and infinite miracles, and by the testimonies of all the prophets, but the world, being addicted to false prophets and desirous to seem religious, does not see any of these things." See, studying the Scripture alone does not impart life. It could be really just an academic exercise. Scripture offers eternal life, but only in so much as it points people to Jesus Christ, who is eternal life and the source of eternal life. The entire Bible, from Genesis all the way to Revelation, speaks of Christ. If we go to the Scriptures and we don't see Christ, we're missing what the Scriptures is actually telling us. Proof that they didn't believe Moses is that they didn't believe Christ. Anyone who truly seeks to receive God's word will receive Christ. They would have to. The word is about him. and it leads us to accept him. Think about Luke 16 for a moment. Remember the story, it may be a parable, it may be an actual story, but there's a story of the rich man and Lazarus, and remember they both die. Lazarus is at Abraham's bosom. The rich man is in hell, and the rich man's in torment, and he says, look, send him and let him talk to my brothers because I don't want them to be in this torment like I am. And you remember Abraham's answer. He says they have Moses and the prophets. In other words, they have the scriptures. If they don't listen to them, they won't even believe, even if somebody rises from the dead. If we truly go to the scriptures, we will truly go to Christ. If we really embrace his word and hear his voice, we will believe the testimony of Jesus Christ. And as Christians, I want to urge and encourage you to never doubt that. If you believe in the Scriptures, you believe in Christ. Scripture, let it drive you to Him. When you go to His Word, go to Him. Well, there's a third test. You find that in verse 38 in the latter half of the verse. Let me just read that. He says, let me just read the whole verse. You do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. See that third test that they failed, they rejected the son, and really this is the crescendo of it all. They rejected the son. Remember, they're putting him on trial, but they had it backwards. He's the judge. and they're under his judgment, and yet there's a word even for them to be saved. His testimony, it's valid. And he brings many witnesses to the stand. He has manifold evidence. J.C. Ryle said this, unbelief does not arise so much from the want of evidence as from the want of will to believe." See, the testimony was there. It's not the wrong testimony. It's the right testimony. It has all the right things. You have all the right witnesses and all the right evidence. All of it's there. You just have to want to believe it. And they stubbornly refused to come to Him. Verse 40. Now I mentioned to you earlier that the words witness and testimony and testify and those sorts of words are found 10 times and that's kind of a theme of this passage, but the other ones that are found frequently here are the words believe and receive, 11 times in this text. And really, that's the centerpiece as it gets to our hearts. Yet these people, verses 43 and 44, they seek the glory of man. rather than the glory of God. They fail the test at this point. How about you? Have you received the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior? Always let the Scriptures lead you to Him. And it says here that they lead us to Him for eternal life. But he says in John chapter 10, not just eternal life, he also gives abundant life. He says, I come that you may have life and have it abundantly, have it to the full. Verse 40 says, come to him. Verse 43 says, receive him. Verse 46, believe him. That's our call. Jews fail the test. But by the grace of God, may the opposite be true for all of us. We've seen the testifiers, the testimony, and the test this morning. The whole Trinity testifies to Christ. The Scriptures testify to Christ. The Church testifies to Christ. This testimony is true. It's clear. It's life-giving. Rejoice in the light. Embrace the Word. Come to the Son. Receive the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in Him. Let's pray. Our God, we thank you for the true testimony that we have in your Word. And we thank you, God, for the work of your Spirit, that unnamed witness, through whom we may believe your scriptures, your word, your truth, and may see Christ in it. Father, may we lay hold of our confidence, not in our own strength, but in your strength. May we know that we're in your hands and you're holding us, Lord. And who can take us, who could pluck us from your hands? So may we be reminded and encouraged and strengthened in your truth, even in a world that is rejecting truth. And Father, we pray for that lost and dying world, that they would know the truth. Give us boldness, give us grace to speak the truth to our neighbors, to our friends, to our co-workers, to our classmates, to our Teammates, anyone who's in our circles, may we live out and speak the truth of the word. And God, we pray through your spirit that you would change hearts and lives through it. And we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.