In 1831, William Bathurst penned these lines that we will sing here in just a little bit. Oh, for a faith that will not shrink, though pressed by every foe, that will not tremble on the brink of any earthly woe. That should, I hope, be our desire, that we would have a faith that will not shrink. a faith that rather will grow, a faith that rests squarely and firmly in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin. We're going to turn back in our Bibles this morning to John chapter 12, and of course last Sunday we did a review sermon on what we learned in our Vacation Bible School with the young people. But here in John chapter 12, I think this is what Jesus wanted to occur in the hearts of His own people, that is, the Jews, that they would have a faith in Him that would not shrink, though pressed by every foe, that would not tremble on the brink of any earthly woe. And certainly, if you go to verse 36, that is what Jesus intended when he called out to them and even pleaded for them to believe in the light. Verse 36 again. While ye have the light, Jesus says, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of the light. Of course, there in verse 35, he even says to walk with the light, to walk in the light. Of course, we've seen all throughout the Gospel of John that Jesus is that light. Jesus was the light of His people, and Jesus is the light of the world. He remains that way. And so Jesus shined His light upon them so that they, and through the testimony of Scripture, so that we might believe in the light, that we might believe in Jesus as the light, that we might believe in Him. However, as we see in the final week of Jesus' life and ministry, which commenced with the first part of this chapter, John chapter 12, we know that the vast majority of his people, the vast majority of the Jews, do not end up believing in him as their light. They do not end up believing in him as their true Messiah. They were looking for a Messiah that would save them from the Roman powers, but Jesus came to be the Savior from their sin. And in the verses that we come to next, There in verses 37 through 43, we actually find two very sad and unfortunate reactions to the light that Jesus shined upon them. We can even say that those who experienced the light of Jesus wasted their light. Many years ago, John Piper, former pastor of Baptist Church there in Minnesota, he wrote a book that talked about wasting your life, or not wasting your life. In a real sense, they not only wasted their life, they wasted their life because they wasted their light, the light that Jesus shined upon them. And those two reactions are a faith that is wanting, which is of course no faith at all, and that truly is a waste of Christ's light in their life. But also we're going to see a weak faith, which without God's transforming power will avail nothing at all. And so even those who do believe can waste their light, the light of their Messiah, the Lord Jesus. And so it's these two reactions that will lead to the final fulfillment of Jesus's mission to this world when he dies on the cross for our sin. So let's read together these verses. Picking up there in verse 37 through verse 43. John continues, But though, though he, Jesus, had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him, that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe. because that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Isaiah when he saw His glory and spake of Him. Nevertheless, among the chief rulers also, many believed on Him, because of the Pharisees. They did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." Again, two very sad, unfortunate responses in which both those who did not believe in the Lord and those who even at least nominally believed in the Lord wasted the light. that the Lord shined upon them. Now the first thing that we find in these verses there in verse 37 is confirmation that Jesus did shine his light upon the lives of these people. Really, all of these people. Jesus shined his light by doing, according to verse 37, so many miracles before them. So again, as the light of the world, as the light of his own people, the light even of the Jews, Jesus shined his light personally upon them. Personally. He himself did miracles not only before them, but even for many of them. Imagine those that actually experienced the physical touch of Jesus in order to receive healing from whatever malady that they had. Whether they were sick, whether they had missing limbs, or whether they had some kind of blindness that had been with them for a little while, or even from their birth, Jesus shined his light upon them by performing these miracles upon them. Now we've looked at many of those miracles already, which according to John, were not just miracles of power, they were true signs. They were signs of his nature and identity. Now I don't know if you came here to church on 200, yeah, 200 coming north. But one of the things that I saw just coming up to the stop signs there at 300 was there was a fifth stop sign. Anybody see that coming in? It's kind of laying on the ground. And I told Patrice, I said, I'm not sure why they would have needed a fifth stop sign in this intersection, because they already had the four. But this one, for some reason, was laying down there. But what are those signs for? It's to tell people what they're supposed to do when they come up to that. That crossing, right? When they come up to that four-way. Well, that's why Jesus did these powerful miracles. To show who he was and why he came. To show his power, to show his grace, to show all of these things. To show his night and his true nature and identity. Jesus himself shined his light upon the people personally. Again, he had done so many miracles before them. But also, Jesus shined his light powerfully. Again, Jesus personally and powerfully made the blind to see, the lame to walk, the lepers to be cleansed, the deaf to hear, and even the dead to be raised back to life. In fact, that was the most recent miracle. When Jesus raised someone that was dead for some time, for four days, he'd been in the tomb, and Jesus brought that man back to life. He was powerful. in what he could do. So all of these miracles, all of his signs were meant to both confirm his claims and to convince his critics. And yet, how many actually believed in who he was and why he came and what he said he was? Sadly, way too few. Again, Jesus shined his light upon the people personally and powerfully throughout his entire ministry, but then also Jesus shined his light plentifully. Also, according to verse 37, Jesus had done so many miracles before them. Now, in the gospel of John, we only have a few select signs and miracles given to us. But even John himself testifies that there were so many miracles that were done. Even at the end of his gospel, John says in John 20, 30. Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. Now there's even more that are written in the other Gospels, right? In the other synoptic Gospels. But there were many other signs that haven't made any of those Gospel accounts. In fact, in the very last verse of the Gospel of John, in John 21-25, he adds this. And there are also many other things which Jesus did The witch, if they should be written, everyone, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. So again, Jesus shined his light upon the people personally and powerfully and plentifully. And John and his other apostles were certainly impressed. But what about so many of the rest? Instead of listening to Jesus's plea to believe in the light, what does John reveal to us again there in verse 37? He says, though he had done so many miracles before him, though Jesus had performed so many signs personally and powerfully and plentifully before them, what was their response? Yet they believed not on him. This means that they did not believe in Jesus as the kind of Messiah that he claimed to be. This is, they did not believe in the light. They wasted the light that Jesus shined upon them in all those ways. Now based on this alone, according to the world's perspective, Jesus would have been a complete failure. Perhaps even Jesus' closest disciples were starting to think this about him as well. Wait a second. He came into his own, and he showed himself as the light of the world to so many people in all of these ways, and yet his own received him not. Really, Jesus? Are you the one that is to come? Are you the one that is to deliver us? Are you the one that is our Messiah? How do we think about success and failure in our culture? You know, all you have to do is watch television, and you come up with all kinds of claims and promises, right? You know, there are mattresses that say that they are the best mattresses in all the world. You know, you lay on that mattress and you will sleep like you've never slept before, even pillows. They make all these glowing claims and all these glowing promises. Well, how do you know that they are true? Well, you look and see how their sales have gone. and you see how many have actually been returned. Well, this mattress did not live up to that standard or this pillow was not as comfortable as you said that was. And so from a business standpoint, you look at all these promises and you see how many of those promises were fulfilled by the following that they get. A truly successful company is one that keeps the claims of their promises and have all kinds of people coming back for more. That is how the world thinks about success and failure in business. That's how they think about success in politics. We, of course, have a new presidential election coming up here next year. And it's interesting because in the Republican field, once again, there is over a dozen, I think, people that are running. And in order to make it to that first debate as a Republican candidate for the presidency, You have to have so many people giving money to you and your campaign in order to even get a place on the stage. And you may have even heard in the news that our former vice president actually is having a hard time getting the necessary requirements to be able to be on that stage to debate others. And so, again, we say, well, is that campaign a success? Can that campaign be a success? But you know, this is also something that we think about in religion. It's about the following, right? Now, if you've been hearing about Jesus for the first time through the Gospel of John, like many of the people that John was writing to, you might have come to the conclusion by this point that Jesus was a failure as well. Again, Jesus came to his own, he shined his light upon them personally and powerfully and plentifully, and yet many of them did not believe in him. because they did not see him as the Savior that they needed for their sin. And so they would have thought that he was a failure as well. And that is why John wants us to know that even when, number one, faith is wanting in this world, that his faith is lacking, that there is no faith in this world, and even the hearts of those who Jesus shined his light upon in that personal, powerful, and plentiful way, God's plan for Jesus, God's plan for the gospel, was not frustrated, and God's purpose for Jesus did not fail. You see, the world would think that Jesus was a failure, but God is saying, no, even when faith is wanting in this world, His plan is never frustrated, and His plan will never fail. And that is why, after describing the reaction of unbelief in the majority of the people, John brings in the testimony of the prophet Isaiah. In fact, there's two times where he brings in the prophecy of Isaiah, but this first one is from Isaiah 53, verse 1. If you know anything about Isaiah 53, you know that that is the passage that talks about the suffering servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is coming as a lamb to the slaughter, but he opens not his mouth. We're not going to take the time to go back to Isaiah 53 and read the context of this. But what we learn from this is that even when faith is wanting, even when faith is lacking, even when there is unbelief, God's plan for Jesus is not frustrated. And that's why John quotes Isaiah there in verse 38, when he says that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake. And that was a direct quote from Isaiah 53, verse one, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed." In other words, the reaction of unbelief in their true Messiah by the Jews was foretold by Isaiah some 700 years before. Now, not only did this have relevance to Isaiah's ministry, They didn't listen to Isaiah. In fact, when Isaiah chapter six, when God shows himself in a vision to Isaiah high and lifted up, right? And he says, who's going to go? And Isaiah says, I'll go, send me. And then the Lord says to Isaiah, well, you can go, but they're not gonna listen to you. And so people would look at Isaiah's ministry and say, well, that was a miserable failure. But this did not just have relevance to Isaiah's ministry 700 years ago. He was actually prophesying about the Lord's ministry, Jesus's ministry, 700 years later. Because true to Isaiah's prophecy, the people ultimately rejected both the words and the works of Jesus who came to bring relief, redemption, and rescue to their souls. That was the report that Isaiah gave. This report is found in Isaiah 52 verses 9 through 10, which says this, Break forth into joy. Sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord hath comforted his people. That's relief. He hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all nations. That's rescue. And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of their God. See, that was the message of the gospel. 700 years before Jesus came to fulfill the message of the gospel. But even the people back then didn't believe it. They didn't want to listen to Isaiah's report. Because they didn't realize that their salvation was not from the powers that be, but rather from the power of their own sin. In fact, in Isaiah 53 verse 5, we're told that he, referring to that lamb that would be slain, to the Lord Jesus, he was wounded for what? Our transgressions. He was bruised for what? For our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. See, it wasn't about political help or rescue or relief. It was about spiritual help and rescue and relief. So even though faith was wanting in the hearts of so many who heard the words of Jesus and who saw the works of Jesus, yet God's plan for Jesus was not frustrated. In fact, their unbelief, now this is hard for us to even imagine, their unbelief was actually part of God's plan of the gospel. It was already factored in. Colson's parents came over yesterday and was taking some stuff back and forth between here and Ohio. had the chance to talk to his dad a little bit about how his work was going. And he said that coming up toward the end of July, they actually have to have all of the potential projects for the next year submitted. I mean, this is six months before this year ends, and they have to kind of have an idea of what projects they might want to pursue into 2024. And the whole point of that is to be able to budget for it, to get the money out there for it, to foresee those needs and to provide for those needs. And so really in any budget, even our church's budget, what we try to do is we try to forecast things, right? And sometimes as you're forecasting things, you take into account the unknowns. You take into the account of those things that really you don't know if it's gonna happen or not, but you still have to budget for it. Yet Jesus, when we see it took place in his life, it was all foretold in advance, and yet nothing was unforeseen in the plan of God. This is an eternal plan that God had established even before the foundations of this world were made, and He even factored in the unbelief of His people in order to fulfill His promise of bringing redemption to this world. That is how powerful and sovereign our God is. That's why God's plan for Jesus could never be frustrated. But you know, this is still something that those of us who do believe in Jesus can take comfort in. Because in a world that is full of unbelief, and you don't have to go very far, and you know that this world is full of unbelief, God's plan for Jesus, God's plan for his gospel, God's plan for his church, God's plan for you cannot be frustrated. because it's already been factored in. You know, sometimes we do fret over this world, and we see that things, that evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse, and it seems like even in our own school systems, even out here in some of the rural communities of Indiana, it's starting to go away of some of the school systems on either coasts, and we grow frustrated. We grow frustrated at the unbelief of this world. Yet it does not frustrate God's plan. And that's why we can take confidence in His plan. We can take comfort in what He is doing. But then, in addition to this, when faith is wanting in this world or in people's lives, God's purpose for Jesus will never fail. God's plan for Jesus will never be frustrated, and God's purpose for Jesus will never fail. And that's why John quotes Isaiah again in verses 39 and 40. He continues, therefore, or on account of this, they could not believe. So earlier, we're told that they would not believe because that was part of God's plan prophesied 700 years before and even from eternity past. And now he says, therefore, they could not believe because, Isaiah said again, he hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." Now the question is there in verse 40, is who is He? Who is He? Well, John is quoting about the time when Isaiah saw from Isaiah 6 the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. That He is the Lord. So again, verse 39, those who would not believe, could not believe, because He, the Lord, hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. But not only is that the Lord, if you look down at verse 41, John even tells us, these things said Isaiah when he saw His glory, and spake of him." When Isaiah saw the Lord in Isaiah 6, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ in all of his majestic glory sitting in the throne of heaven. Jesus was the one who fulfilled this passage and this verse upon his people. And really, through this, John reveals that when the Jews would not believe the words and works of Jesus, Again, who hath heard our reports, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? The time came when they could not believe because they had refused to heed Jesus' call back in verse 36. In other words, they wasted their light. And when the Jews wasted their light, God Himself took that light away from them so that they could not believe the light they even were given. They refused to believe in the light. while they had the light. Again, this is something that is a cautionary tale for all who are in this world who have ever heard the gospel. Don't waste your light. Don't waste the light that God has given to you, because if you do, it may come a point where you cannot believe, even as you would not believe. Now this is something that is a hard statement from this passage and yet it is something that we see time and again in scripture. When a person is given light from the Lord and they resist that light, eventually God will honor their wish and take away even the light that they have. You see, none of us come into this world in an instant state. None of us come in this world with neither a bent toward the Lord or against the Lord. We all come with a bent against the Lord. And so we all come with that would not before that could not. But when the light of the gospel is shined in any way, shape, or form, when you hear that message of God's truth, or you even see the goodness that God has poured out to you in this world, and you resist it, you ignore it, you don't listen to it, you don't see it, there's a danger there. Because God may actually leave you alone to your sin. Also, when a person hardens their heart to the grace shown to them by the Lord, eventually God will just let them go by blinding their eyes and hardening their hearts even more. All you have to do is read Romans chapter 1 and you see that process in play. And what happens is this becomes the first installment of the Lord's judgment on them. This is what happened to Pharaoh. You know, the young people were here for our vacation Bible school, and we learned a little bit about Moses leading God's people out of the land of Egypt, and Pharaoh was the king of Egypt. And when God told him through Moses to let my people go, and he said that over and over and over again, When you read through the passage, you'll notice that not only are we told that Pharaoh hardened his heart, which is clear, God was showing him sign after sign, miracle after miracle, plague after plague, and Pharaoh hardened his heart. He resisted God's attempt to get through to him. But we're also told that God hardened his heart as well. In fact, you have the same amount of times where Pharaoh hardened his heart five times, it's said, and then another five times that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. But do you realize that all God ever has to do to harden a sinner's heart is just to leave us alone in our sin? Paige and I were working on a project at our house, just, I guess, for the last three weeks or so, and as we were doing so, we finally got it all together, and we put some flagstones out in our yard, and we ended up putting some dirt in between the cracks of the flagstones, and the dirt was still kind of moist. And so it was still a little dark, and it really had a striking look to it. It was very pretty, I thought, with the dark soil in between all of the flagstones. But over time in that day, with the sun out, the heat was on, the moisture that was in that soil was evaporated out. And it didn't take very long for it, that darker soil, to turn into that gray, hard, dry soil. Nothing had to happen else. I didn't have to do anything else. I didn't have to bring a fan out. I didn't have to bring a heater out. The sun did it itself. And that's what happens when you waste your light. God at times will say, okay, you would not, so now you cannot. And I'm just going to not shine the light anymore. He leaves you in your sin. The moment of grace is over. All God ever has to do to harden a sinner's heart is to leave us alone in our sin. That's why Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 6-2, Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Because if anyone resists God's light and God's grace as found in Jesus, at some point, he may remove that light and grace, and it will be too late. That can happen in life, but we all know it can happen at death. So this means that the appeal of the gospel is urgent. It's urgent for you. We must not waste the light that God has given to us. It's urgent for me. I must not waste the light that God has given to me. It's urgent for the people that you share the gospel and the light with. It's not just a passing matter that you can take or leave. It's a matter of life and death. They need to not waste his light. But you know, this also means that even when faith is wanting, again, even when faith is lacking, even when unbelief is rampant in this world as it's always been, God's plan is never frustrated and God's purpose will never fail. Because once again, it was through the blindness of their eyes and the hardness of their hearts that God was able to bring about the relief and redemption and rescue that he promised to the world. Imagine if all of these people did accept the light that Jesus had shined upon them and they accepted him as that Messiah. Things would have changed. Things would have been different, but we know it could not have been different because of what Isaiah has told us. This was part of God's plan. This was part of God's purpose. And so God even used their unbelief to fulfill his promise to bring about salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. It was through the blindness and hardness of those Jews in those days that Jesus Christ would be lifted up on that old rugged cross to shed his blood for our sin. And so even though faith is still wanting in the hearts of so many in this world, we need to remember that God's plan is never frustrated. God's plan will never fail. and that we can take comfort in. But then, in these verses we find another sad reaction, another unfortunate reaction to the light of Jesus, and that was even a faith that is weak. A faith that is weak. So when faith is weak, even in those who do believe in Jesus, at least in some measure, we find that reaction in verse 42, where John continues, nevertheless, and this is kind of a bright shining moment in the midst of this dark gloom that we just talked about how many so many did not believe nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him lest they should not or lest they should be put out of the synagogue for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God now at first In the first part of verse 42, we find something to cheer about, don't we? Nevertheless, among the chief rulers also many believed on him. So Jesus' personal and powerful and plentiful signs and miracles were taken to heart by many of those who were actually chief rulers in Israel. So even though for the most part God blinded the eyes and hardened the hearts of the people so he could accomplish his plan and purpose in the gospel, God did open the eyes and soften the hearts of some. just like He did for us. If you know Jesus as your Savior, He did something special in your life. He opened your eyes, He softened your heart, and He did so here as well, so that many might believe in Jesus. But what kind of faith did their faith turn out to be? Sadly, it turned out to be a weak faith. In other words, they too wasted their light. They too wasted the powerful, plentiful, personal light that Jesus shined upon them with his miracles and signs and words and all of those things. So even though they committed themselves to Christ, at least to some extent, they struggled with courage for Christ. Just like so many of us even here today, just like so many Christians in this world today. There's been a change in our heart. We've accepted the light of the gospel. We believed on the Lord Jesus Christ so that we are saved. But have we still wasted that light? Because even though we might be committed to Christ in some way, we might be committed to Christ on Sunday. We might be committed to Christ in some aspect of our life. Yet, do we really have that courage and ongoing commitment for Christ? Are we wasting the light that Jesus has still shined upon us? John, tells us why they struggle. First of all, when faith is weak, it is often because of an ongoing fear. When faith is weak, it is often because of an ongoing fear of man over the fear of God. And that was the case of these Jewish leaders who there in verse 42 again, because of the Pharisees, some of these chief rulers may have been Pharisees themselves, but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess Jesus. lest they should be put out of the synagogue." You see, they remembered what happened to some who followed Jesus. In fact, one that John mentioned, that he was cast out of the synagogue because he put his faith in Jesus, and he did so publicly. And they were afraid of that. Now just imagine how much God could have used these men if they had openly confessed their confidence in and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. After all, these were the rulers of Israel. These are the ones that were up there. These are the ones that people looked up to. And if they would have publicly professed the Lord Jesus Christ, how many of them would have listened to what they had to say? But instead, they had a greater fear of man than of God. You see, they had held a prominent place in Jewish religion and society. And so they did not want to give up their inclusion in the synagogue or their importance or even their influence over the people in the synagogue because they were afraid of what they might lose instead of rejoicing in what they had gained by believing in Christ. So yes, they accepted Jesus's light to some extent, but they wasted so much of his light because they were afraid of what man might think of them or do to them. Is that the case of us? We have some commitment, some level of commitment to Christ, some level of faith in Christ, and yet we still have wasted so much of the light of life that God has given to us to have a courage for Him to shine our light as well. Now, why does John include this here? He includes it to show us that even when God opens our eyes and soften our hearts to believe in Jesus like they did, again, John says many of these rulers of Israel believed. Yet we are still so weak in ourselves and so prone to the fear of man that we need him to open our eyes wider and to continue to soften our hearts to his grace. Just like we saw on Wednesday night from Psalm 119 verse 18, we need to pray every day, open thou mine eyes, that I might see wonderful things out of your law. You might say, well, God opened my eyes, God softened my heart. I haven't wasted the light because I believe in Jesus. And yet we still need him to open our eyes wider and soften our hearts more so that we can grow in our commitment to and our courage for Christ. Because only when God does this can our faith in him, our fellowship with him, and even our following after him be strengthened and fortified with his might. And that's why we need to pray every day, God, help me not to waste your light. But to use it, to accept it, to believe it, So when your faith is weak, think about why. Why is your faith so weak? Why is my faith so weak? Is it because there is an ongoing fear of man in our heart? Because I'm more concerned about what people think of me than what God thinks of me. When you have that fear of man in your heart, that is what will keep you as a secret, silent, and even spineless Christian. Pray to God to strengthen your faith. But then we can also see when faith is weak, it is often also because of an ongoing focus. An ongoing focus of man's favor over against God's favor. An ongoing focus of man's favor over against God's favor. Again, just like these Jewish leaders, last verse there in verse 43, they loved the praise or the glory of men more than the praise and the glory of God. kind of goes hand-in-hand with the fear of man. They were afraid of what man might do to them, but they were more impressed with the favor of man than even of God's. So even though they had some faith in Christ, their faith needed to grow. You see, a weak faith is focused more on who you can see with your eyes and their praise, more than the one you can't see in His praise. Wasn't this one of the problems of doubting Thomas, even after the resurrection of Jesus? And he said, unless I see Jesus with my own eyes and I touch him with my own hands, I will not believe. And then Jesus shows up and he says, Thomas, look at me, see me, touch me with your own hands. And of course, Thomas bowed before the Lord and said, my Lord and my God. And Jesus said, oh, blessed are those who have not seen with their own eyes and yet have believed. See, that's what this faith is. Our desire should be that we want His praise, even though we don't hear it from His own lips yet, we will. That's a promise. And that's why the Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5-7, we walk out by faith and not by sight. Now even though faith was weak in the hearts of these men, is that the end of the story for them? I don't think so, because God was able to strengthen their weak faith and use some of them in his plan as well. In fact, if you go with me to chapter 19, the same book here, more than likely a man by the name of Joseph of Arimathea was one of those chief rulers who believed in Jesus. For a while he was a silent, secret and spineless Christian. But we actually first meet him in verse 38 of chapter 19, right after Jesus's death, where we are told this, Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, that faith was secret no longer. He besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore and took the body of Jesus and did what with his body? He put the body of Jesus in his own tomb. Secret no longer. God strengthened the weak faith of Joseph so that he might serve Jesus even in his death. Also, if you look to the next verse, in verse 39, another one of the chief rulers who believed in Jesus would have been Nicodemus, that Pharisee who came to Jesus by night all the way back in John chapter 3. And here it is, the next time that we see him is with Joseph. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight to anoint the body of Jesus. So once again, God strengthened his faith too, so that he might serve Jesus in his death as well. So what do we find here? Even though faith may be wanting or faith may be weak in someone's heart, it's not always the end of their story. Because not only can God strengthen your faith in Christ when it's weak, and we need to pray that God would do that every day for us, for our church, for our family. God can even use someone's unbelief in Christ to fulfill his sovereign plan. He did then, and he still will today. So when you see faith wanting in this world, take comfort in the fact that God's plan and God's purpose is still being carried out for his glory and for our good. We don't have to be frustrated at faithlessness because God will fulfill his plan. But you know, we still need to pray and we still can pray that the Lord would open their eyes and soften their hearts so that they might believe and be saved. Because after all, God did open your eyes at some point in your life, and God did soften your heart at some point in your life, so that you would come to the light and believe in the light, so that you could walk in the light and someday see the light. Don't waste your light. But pray. Pray that God would open these people's eyes and soften their hearts. You know, we have our prayer list on Wednesday nights, and sometimes we add, and names that we know need the Lord. There are other names that perhaps we've forgotten who they are or who knew this person, yet they're still there. That's one of the things that we can pray for the unbelief of others that the Lord would do this so that the day of His grace would not end in their life. But when you see weak faith in your own heart, take up the challenge Take up the challenge to have the right kind of fear and the right kind of focus for your faith, not the fear of man, not the favor of man, but rather the fear of God and the favor and praise and glory of the Lord. But we need to also pray that the Lord will open our eyes wider, don't we? Because so often that's the reason why we have weak faith is we see things through our own perspective. We need to pray, God, lift up my eyes so that I might see things from your perspective. Pray, open our eyes wider, soften our hearts more so that our confidence and courage will grow and strengthen. As we close and we sing this hymn, pray these words to the Lord. Oh, for a faith that will not shrink, though pressed by every foe, that will not tremble on the brink of any earthly woe. Don't waste your light by unbelief or by a weak faith, but pray for a faith that will not shrink. Let's close in prayer. Gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank you again for this passage that again reminds us that Some of the response and reaction to Jesus was not positive. It was very negative. Even some, or many even, who believed in Jesus and had some level of commitment to Jesus also had a faith in you that was far from what it should be. It was very weak. And yet, Lord, we know that even when faith is wanting, even when faith is weak, that it does not frustrate your plan, and your purpose for the gospel will not fail. Because Lord, you account for that already in your plan and purpose for your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But Lord, that does not take away the responsibility that man has to respond to the light that they've been given by you, the light of your grace, the light of the gospel, the light of your goodness to us every single day of our lives, the light of your word, the light that we just received from hearing about the Lord even today. Oh, Lord, help us not to waste your light by not believing in the light and walking in the light. But Father, I pray that you will strengthen our faith. Lord, if there's someone here who, first of all, has faith lacking in their life, and they've been resisting the gospel call to believe in the light while they have the light, oh, Father, help them to resist no longer. Open their eyes, open their ears, soften their hearts to your truth, Lord, so that they might respond, repent, and believe the gospel, so that they might be saved. Lord, we know that your arm is so powerful that you can break through the hardest heart. You did so in so many lives in scripture. You did so even the Apostle Paul. But Lord, help him to realize. Help us to realize that when we hear the gospel, Lord, we must not put off. The responsibility to turn from ourselves and to turn to Jesus Christ, because today is a day of salvation. Oh, Father, I pray that people would respond through your power even today. But yet, Lord, I know perhaps we are more like these chief rulers who have a faith that, though real, is somewhat weak. Because, Lord, we have a greater focus on the fear of man and the favor of man than of you. And so, Father, I pray that you will give us a faith that will not shrink, but rather a faith that will grow, a faith that is strong, a faith that is courageous, a faith that is bold, a faith, Lord, that is one that you can use in this world in unmistakable ways. Father, increase our faith so that, Lord, we might not waste our light, the light that you shine through your word, through Christ. and Lord, even through the world around us, help us to consider Lord our faith today. And may we come to you with our hands open, ready to receive a stronger faith because it rests squarely in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask all these things in his precious name. Amen.