The Thread of Glory
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Following John's exalted view of Christ from one end of his Gospel to the other.
Text: John 20:30-31
Date: 08/30/2020, the Combined service.
Series: "John: Encountering Love" Part 192
Description:
Immediately after one of the clearest Christological confessions in Scripture ("My Lord and my God"), John summarizes the underlying goal and purpose for his book-- that those who read it will attain eternal life by believing wholly in the Resurrected Jesus Christ. Although many people see this as the climax of John's Gospel, we will expand on that assumption by tracing the themes stated in our text through the entire book to the very opening words of the Gospel. As we conduct our own summary of John's purpose, we will find he exhibits both the heart of an evangelist (bringing salvation to unbelievers), and the heart of a pastor (bringing sanctification, strength and comfort to believers). Ultimately we will thrill to the way John exalts Jesus as both Savior and Lord by following his thread of glory from one end of his Gospel to the other.
View:
Options:
I. Introduction, Heb. 13:17.
II. Exposition of the text, John 20:30-31.
A. Context
B. Revisiting Thomas' confession, John 20:28-29.
1. The confession, John 20:28.
a. Unmistakable words.
b. Revealing words.
i. The "Christ-man".
ii. The "Christ-God";
2. The transition, John 20:29.
a. Faith through hearing, Rom. 10:17.
b. The road to blessing, 1Pet. 1:8-9.
C. Revealing the purpose of John's Gospel.
1. Overview
2. The significance of signs, vs. 30.
a. Getting the conjunction right.
b. Discussing "signs".
c. The "other" signs.
d. Eye witnesses.
e. A sufficient revelation, John 21:25.
3. The glorious purpose, vs. 31.
a. The signs revealing the divinity of Christ.
i. Changing water into wine, John 2:1-11.
ii. Healing a nobleman's son, John 4:46-54.
iii. Healing an invalid at Bethsaida, John 5:1-15.
iv. Feeding the five thousand, John 6:1-14.
v. Walking on water and calming the sea, John 6:16-21.
vi. Healing a blind man, John 9:1-41.
vii. Raising Lazarus, John 11:1-44.
viii. The Resurrection, John 20:1-29.
b. The centrality and desired result of belief.
i. The heart of an evangelist, John 6:44,17:6, 20:29.
ii. The heart of a pastor, Rom. 8:37, John 10:10.
c. Christ, the Objective of belief.
i. The Christ, Isa. 42:1-4, Jer. 32:29-40.
ii. The Son of God.
d. The glorious rewards of belief.
i. Belief that brings rewards.
ii. The eschatological meaning of "life", John 3:15, 14:6.
iii. The immediate implications of "life", John 10:9-11.
iv. Life in the "name" of Jesus.
III. Application
A. Defining the audience.
1. John's audience.
2. Today's audience.
B. John's "thread of glory".
1. Finding the thread's beginning, John 1:1-3,12-13,14,34,49.
2. Following the thread.
a. The great "I am", John 14:9,11, 10:30, 6:48, 8:12, 10:9, 10:14, 11:25, 14:6, 15:1, 8:58.
b. The Second Person of a Triune God.
i. His relationship with the Father, John 5:25-27, 5:18, 10:27-30.
ii. His relationship with the Spirit, John 14:16, 26, 15:26, 16:7.
c. The Savior of the world, John 3:16,17, 1:29, 3:14,15, 10:11,17, 12:28, 17:1-5.
3. Warnings for unbelief, John 3:18,36, 12:46-49.
IV. Conclusion, John 1:1, 20:28, 1:12-13, 20:31.
