David Jeremiah - Why the Nativity? - Part 2
As the shepherds left the stable that night, as the Bible tells us, they told everyone in their path of the things that had happened to them. Their lives would never again be the same. The sky would never seem so dark. They would know that just as they kept watch over their sheep by night, someone far greater was keeping watch over them.
There is something joyful found in the angel's announcement that night, something hopeful and peaceful in the picture of these poor shepherds gathered in the presence of the newborn King. And speaking of kings, our story's not over. Something wonderful is about to take place. The newborn King has the attention of royalty from worlds far, far away.
There is something magical and mysterious about the age-old picture. From across the continent, over the desert sand, beneath the blazing sun and silent stars, trudges a curious caravan. In distant lands, these men have read signs and portents in the evening sky, sensing an incredible truth that few other living souls were to recognize for years. We remember them as wise men, or Magi from the word we derive "magic," and theirs is indeed a story filled with wonder. Just who were these visitors from the east? Records from ancient history corroborate the star event over Bethlehem, and that these visitors came from the most unexpected of places. They were astrologers seeking to understand human events by reading the constellations. It is their habit to compare the skies to prophetic literature, including the Jewish scriptures.
Those scrolls speak of a King of the Jews whose coming would be heralded by a star. The Magi possess a copy of those scrolls. Among the most ancient of the writings is found this tantalizing reference: "I see him, but not here and now. I perceive him, but far in the distant future a star will rise from Jacob. A scepter will emerge from Israel". Numbers 24:17. For these wise men, there was nothing ambiguous about these words. If such a king was foretold more than 1,000 years earlier, he was worth traveling to see.
But though the coming of a King was prophesied, why was it this particular star in a sky full of stars that these wise men were attracted to? We have wondered that for centuries. Many have tried to explain away the celestial phenomenon as mere science or atmospheric disturbance. However, God created it, and the star served as God's beacon of light to lead the Magi directly to the presence of the Christ child. Perhaps the solution to the star is more wonderful for us as an unsolved mystery, a Christmas gift not to be unwrapped until that eternal day when skies are no more and when all of our questions will be answered. What matters so much more is the meaning of the star, for its light breaks through the pages of the gospel, calling us to come and worship. It shines so bright that people of other faiths and other lands might be compelled to come to the manger of the true Prince of Peace. It dominated the skies, reminding us that our faith is great enough for the world to see. The star would lead these wise men to the light of his presence like it will do for us today. And once we are there, even the brightest star seems dim by comparison.
Herod most likely heard about the commotion in Bethlehem a few years before, some woman giving birth in a cave and shepherds worshiping the child. He had tried to dismiss it as crazy talk. If he knew where the baby was now, he would take care of the situation, but the child's whereabouts were a mystery; and now these regal men stood before him, inquiring about a child being born King of the Jews. Herod took notice. If there remained in his life any purpose by this time, it was to root out heirs apparent. Herod tried to manipulate the wise men to lead him to the child.
But Herod would never find the King of the Jews. The wise men would never return with news of his whereabouts. While Herod wanted to squash the celebration of the newborn King, it only became greater, a celebration fit for the one and only King of kings.
The shepherds had come on the night when Jesus was born; but just as Mary and Joseph might have wondered how long their special child would remain a secret to the world, there now appeared these wise men to affirm that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. As Gabriel said, he is the Son of God. Therefore, he belongs to the world as the world belongs to him.
And one by one, each delegation addressed the child as King. Mary and Joseph were unlikely to forget the extravagant substances that were laid at the child's feet.
The object of their entire rigorous quest was one of worship, and worship of a God probably not their own, but a God who was reaching out to them to let them know that he had sent a Savior of the world and of all people.
The birth of this King may not have occurred in an opulent setting by human standard, but when our Lord finally stands revealed in all the glory of the next world, every wealthy ruler will bow before him, and in that moment, there will be no more great or least among mortals. No more princes, no more peasants, only the one eternal King among his beloved, adoring children, who stand hand in hand at the foot of the throne. The love of Jesus would continue as he moved throughout the world, healing, teaching, and changing hearts. His voice would be heard and his ministry felt wherever his followers traveled. As Jesus would increase in wisdom and in stature, can we doubt that his parents shared the angel's words over and over? "You are the Son of God. You will save people from their sins". But how? Why their son? Why Jesus?
A weary world rejoiced at the arrival of a long-awaited Messiah, a Savior; and we have much to rejoice about as well. The world is still weary, and maybe you feel the weariness. We're overwhelmed with our stressful lives. The headlines trouble us and the future appears unsure and frightening. Even Christmas, the season of joy, is a quagmire of pressure, but here's what I want you to know. Joy comes when you least expect it. Joy comes when wars are raging and famine is spreading and headlines are screaming. Joy comes when finances are low and pressure is great and circumstances are bleak. Joy comes when the Romans are occupying your land and Caesar wants his taxes. That's just the kind of moment when God breaks through with good tidings of great joy.
Why the nativity? Because the birth of Christ changes everything. It changed the world, and it can change you. He can bring you joy in a life devoid of joy, hope in hopeless times, and peace in an uncertain world. Why the nativity? Because for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.
Simply put, why the nativity? You. Let Christmas awaken you to your need for a Savior. The nativity is a picture of God offering to redeem us through his Son, an offer to tell all people from every land. So however or whenever God speaks to you, there's no better time to awaken to a fresh start by giving your life to Jesus Christ.
Sheila Walsh: Every year, millions of people around the globe celebrate Christmas, but what does it mean? Hello, I'm Sheila Walsh, and in just a moment I'm going to have the privilege of talking to someone who has devoted his life to the real meaning of Christmas and most recently with his film production about the birth of Jesus, "Why the Nativity"? Drawing from both the Old and New Testaments, noted pastor and theologian Dr. David Jeremiah provides answers to our questions about the nativity and gives us compelling reasons to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Hello, Dr. Jeremiah. It is so wonderful to be here.
Dr. David Jeremiah: Sheila, thank you for coming to do this.
Sheila Walsh: This is amazing. We're on the Bethlehem-Nazareth backlot of your brand new movie, docudrama, "Why the Nativity"? And I have to say, I very rarely run out of words. This is spectacular.
Dr. David Jeremiah: You know, Sheila, I've been in the real Bethlehem in Israel, but sitting here is almost more overwhelming than when I was there because of all that's gone in to make this as authentic as we could.
Sheila Walsh: The attention to detail is absolutely breathtaking.
Dr. David Jeremiah: Yeah, I tell you what, I couldn't be more excited and more proud of our guys and gals who worked on this. This has been an obsession with them for almost three years now and been through a lot of ups and downs and starts and stops, but here we are.
Sheila Walsh: Yep, we'll talk about some of that. But before we get to the actual movie, this began as a book. Tell us about that.
Dr. David Jeremiah: You know, every book is like an adventure. I know you're an author, so you know what I mean. People always ask you, "Why did you write that book"? And if you stop for a moment and think about it, there's always a reason. And this book started like this. I was in my office one day and a friend of mine, who is the president of Tyndale House, Ron Beers, called and said that they wanted to do this book project where we would answer 25 questions about the nativity, and we brought our team together and worked on it, and "Why the Nativity"? was the result.
Sheila Walsh: A project like this, I've never seen anything quite like this, was a daunting task for you and for your amazing staff to even begin a project like this.
Dr. David Jeremiah: I think a lot of times, if we knew at the beginning what it was going to take for us to get to the end, we might have said, "You know, let's don't do this". But we had a great sense of what this could mean. And we have a guy on our staff named Paul Joiner, who has a background in this and knows a lot about it, and we had no doubt that if we got everything together, Paul could pull it off.
Sheila Walsh: Now, thinking about the timeline, you start a project like this and then COVID hits. How did that impact things?
Dr. David Jeremiah: Sheila, that was so discouraging because we had just gotten a sense of momentum. All of these sets are built, not here, the facades are built in different places. And that we'd got started, and then we started getting messages back: we don't have any workers. Nobody can come to work. And so we had to shut it all down, and we didn't know what to do. We just sort of said, "Well, let's try to get through COVID and see what happens".
Sheila Walsh: Were you ever tempted to just give up because it was too overwhelming?
Dr. David Jeremiah: Well, if you were among the inner circle of this group, you would know there was a meeting one day in the conference room. We were about halfway into our budget and we had half way to go. It's kind of like you're in the middle of the lake and it's as far to the other side as it is to go back where you started. And we had this discussion, and I remember there were some tears in that meeting. I'll never forget it. For a moment we thought, "Maybe this isn't going to happen". And then I remember saying, "Look, we've never started anything in the past that we didn't finish, and we're going to finish this. I don't know how we're going to finish it, but we're going to finish it. So let's quit talking about not finishing it. Let's finish this". And we all took a deep breath and began part two.
Sheila Walsh: That's why you're such a visionary leader. You need someone to stand up and say, "No, we're burning the ships behind us and we're going forward". I think that's marvelous. I wondered how working on a project like this has maybe impacted all that. I mean, there's been so many people working on this. How has it impacted those?
Dr. David Jeremiah: You know, Sheila, there's so many stories about people whose lives have been impacted. One of the things that I think is really cool is that we have used some people in the set who aren't from our faith, people who are just really good actors and actresses. And we used a lot of technical people that they aren't from our church and they don't know who we are, but they've come on this set and they've seen the love of Jesus in the lives of our people, and it's had an amazing impact on them. And we hear this almost every day, that God is in this because he's in the people that are doing it.
Sheila Walsh: One of the things that I see happening, and perhaps you have too, is... like, I remember one year my husband and I put a nativity scene in our yard and one of our neighbors complained, and it seems to be happening more and more often. Have you seen that, and is that why this is so important?
Dr. David Jeremiah: There's a joke that goes around that if you have a baby Jesus, you need to put a GPS in him 'cause they'd come and steal him, and that's true. We actually had a nativity scene on our campus at Shadow Mountain and somebody stole Baby Jesus out of the manger, and then they put up a lot of fuss over it, you know. I think we might have kind of gotten through that phase; we had that. They're on to assaulting other things now, but they've kind of left that alone. And many of us have just said, "Okay, we're going to double down and do it more and make it more visible".
Sheila Walsh: So I just want to let people know a few of the statistics to make sure I got it all right, 'cause this is fascinating to me. So "Why the Nativity"? is an original screenplay with an original score created from creative people on your staff and from the television and film industry, employing more than 1,000 people during this production, with more than 100 roles, 19 of them children and animals. And they know what you say about working with children and animals, but we decided we would just do that anyway. And it will be aired on networks and streaming platforms everywhere this Christmas and for Christmases to come. So much effort and creativity has gone into this, and I guess my bottom line question is, why?
Dr. David Jeremiah: There's always been something about Turning Point. It's in the DNA here that we want to do things nobody's ever done before. Nobody's ever done anything quite like this as a ministry. I mean, we're certainly not going to say that we've done something that is better than anything else, but we've done something unique for a ministry and we've done it with our own people primarily leading the way under Paul's leadership and my son David, who has been very much involved in the administration of all of this. We started, and I don't think we realized how big this would end up being. You take a step and then you take the next step and everything continues to multiply till all of a sudden you look up and you walk into this place where we are tonight and it's hard to comprehend, it's hard to believe. You know, Sheila, there's something to be said about doing projects, that when they're done, they're so amazing that only God can get the credit.
Sheila Walsh: I love that.
Dr. David Jeremiah: And that's what I think is happening here. I mean, we all worked hard, we know we had a part in this, but this is not something that humanity can pull off. If God were not in this, we couldn't be doing what we're doing.
Sheila Walsh: Wow. In describing the motivation behind this incredible docudrama "Why the Nativity," you talk about the nativity as being the pivotal moment in human history.
Dr. David Jeremiah: Well, Sheila, when Jesus entered this world, everything changed, even the calendars; and the people forget that. You know, do you believe in Jesus? Well, you have to believe that something happened, because everything changed. We who are Christians know that he came to change us, but he also changed the world and he brought hope where there wasn't any hope. He brought peace into hostility. Yes, the coming of Jesus Christ into this world was the watershed of history.
Sheila Walsh: You are known, loved, and respected because of your teaching on biblical prophecy. But when we look at the nativity, it didn't start there, did it? It started thousands of years ago. Why were the prophets so important?
Dr. David Jeremiah: Well, 700 years before, people like Micah and Isaiah, Jeremiah, started to talk about the coming of the Messiah. "The Messiah is going to come". Isaiah said that a virgin will be with child. That child is going to be called Emmanuel, and the hope of the Messiah was in the heart of the Jewish people. They misunderstood who he was and many perhaps even still struggle with that, but he was the Messiah who would come also to be the Redeemer. The prophets talked about it. In fact, I just was reminded yesterday in something I was reading that there are 316 prophecies that were literally fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus Christ, and you can trace them in the Bible and in history.
Sheila Walsh: Stay tuned; we'll be right back with more about "Why the Nativity," the docudrama film from Dr. David Jeremiah.
Sheila Walsh: Thank you for joining us. I'm Sheila Walsh, here again to talk with Dr. David Jeremiah about his docudrama film, "Why the Nativity"? One of the things that I have often wondered was why did God pick that particular time in human history for Jesus to be born?
Dr. David Jeremiah: Well, you know, if you study history, you realize that it was Jesus or oblivion. History was at a very, very challenging point. The Romans were in charge. They were running the world. They aren't called the iron legions of Rome for nothing. There was also some other things that were going on. For instance, Rome had kind of united the world so it would make it possible for the message to be shared, and Greek had become almost like English is in the world. And so at that particular time, at a time of great need and darkness, at a time when the message could be received and could go quickly to other parts of the world, the Bible says in the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son. What a great message.
Sheila Walsh: Wow, so, I'd love to talk about the central characters of the nativity. Let's talk about Mary. Why did God choose this particular young woman to be the mother of the Son of God?
Dr. David Jeremiah: I'm not sure that we will ever know all of the reasons for that, but what we know about her is she was a godly young woman. She was certainly among the many women in Israel who thought they might one day be the mother of the Messiah. That was a hope that was kind of in the hearts of many young women. When Gabriel came and told her that she was the one, it must have been quite a shock to her. I don't think she was expecting it. I don't think she felt she was qualified. Her songs that she created and the way she responded to it tells you she was a very humble person, and I always think about that one phrase that she had when she heard it. She said, "Be it unto me according to your Word". That was her heart. She was ready to receive whatever God wanted to do for her.
Sheila Walsh: One of my favorite depictions in the movie is the way that Joseph is depicted. You show so beautifully that they were very much in love, young teenagers very much in love. But they were about to get married. They were betrothed, which was a very serious thing, and then suddenly Mary is with child. Why did God choose Joseph? He had to be quite a special man.
Dr. David Jeremiah: You know, I have a sermon that I've preached a couple of times during the Christmas season called "The Forgotten Man of Christmas," because Joseph is sort of like a walk-on player and then after the Christmas story, he's never heard from again. He just walks off the stage and he disappears into the world. But Joseph was a man who was willing to do what God wanted him to do, and he didn't have to be in the center of the story. He was a supportive man, worked in a carpenter shop, and obviously loved Mary much. I mean, he passed the test of love when he found out that she was pregnant and he knew it wasn't because of him and yet here she is, with child, and she says that it happened in a certain way, a way that had never been responsible for a child to ever be born before in history. She was with child of the Holy Spirit, and the angel came and told him that and God granted him the faith to believe it, and he lived it and he protected her. And he wasn't the center of the story, but he was really the most important next character in the story.
Sheila Walsh: Talking about that, why was a virgin birth so important, that Mary had never been with a man?
Dr. David Jeremiah: Well, the Messiah had to be perfect. He had to be the perfect Son of God, and he also had to be human. And if he had gotten his humanity the way we get ours, he would also have sin in his life. So he had to come into humanity without the agency of a sinful human being. And so he was born of Mary, but he was born of the Holy Spirit so that he could be the sinless Son of God.
Sheila Walsh: So why Bethlehem? Not the most auspicious. I mean, it wasn't Jerusalem. Why was it important that he was born in Bethlehem?
Dr. David Jeremiah: Well, the Bible said that he would be, Bethlehem Ephrathah would be his home. But, you know, Bethlehem was a pretty special place. Rachel was buried there, and so Ruth and Naomi were buried there, and Bethlehem has a really cool name. The word Bethlehem means "house of bread," and Jesus Christ came to be the bread of life. He was born there, obviously, because he happened to be there when taxation was going on, registration was going on. And I remember reading somewhere that if Mary had been pregnant with Jesus one month before that, he would have been born here. If she had been pregnant one month after that, he would have been born here. But she was pregnant with Jesus at such a time that when the census took place, he would be in Bethlehem, thus fulfilling the prophecy of the Old Testament prophets.
Sheila Walsh: And the place where he was born, I love the way it's depicted. It's like in a cold, kind of dusty cave, not a palace.
Dr. David Jeremiah: You know what, I think one of the things that will surprise a lot of people, and it kind of surprised me because I've told this story so many times and read it right out of Scripture and, you know, they went to the inn, and there's no room in the inn. And so they're born in what we thought was a shed. But history tells us it probably wasn't a shed at all, it was a cave that was on the property there. And so we built a cave on our set. We have a cave for Jesus to be born in. As you think about that and some of the other aspects of the birth of Jesus, Sheila, God went out of his way to put the gospel on the lower shelf so that everyone could feel welcome. I mean, he wasn't born, as you said, in a palace. Had he been born in a palace, then some people might have thought that he was only for the aristocracy. But he was born in a stable so that the least among all of us could be accepted. And we'll talk about that, I'm sure, in a few moments, about the shepherds, but that's why he did that. He came so that no matter who we are, or what we've done, or where we've been, or how we may even think of ourselves, he is for us and he is available and he's reachable.
Sheila Walsh: I think the depiction of the shepherds might even be one of my very favorite moments because they were looked down on, they were despised, they were nobodies.
Dr. David Jeremiah: You know what, I've done a lot of homework on the shepherds. A shepherd was so despised, they were not allowed to be a witness in court. They were not allowed in the temple. They couldn't worship. So Jesus chose the least of all people to whom he would first reveal himself as the Messiah. The shepherds remind us of how much God loves us, how much he loves all of us. And I would just stop and say at this moment, maybe somebody's watching this interview and you think, you know, "I'd like to be a Christian, but I'm probably not good enough". You don't have to be good enough to be a Christian. You just have to be willing to let God's goodness invade your life as he did.
Sheila Walsh: Yeah, when those who were the least likely to be invited to the party became the only ones invited to the party, that's just the heart of God. So let's talk about the kings. There was the Silk Road from China. There was the spice road from Africa. So many people coming to Jerusalem. I mean, just coming from all over the world. Why a star? Why was that important?
Dr. David Jeremiah: The star led them in a way that violated the way stars move. The star wasn't going in the right direction as far as the universe is concerned, and it was obviously a miraculous star. I mean, I've heard all of the stories about how it was this and that and how this came together, but it wasn't an accident. It was God's star. It was God's miraculous star to bring the wise men to where they could worship the Lord, and the wise men tell us that he's also here for the aristocratic and for those who are in the higher level. Sometimes they're harder to reach than the shepherds.
Sheila Walsh: That's true.
Dr. David Jeremiah: And they came to worship, and they picture the importance of worshiping Jesus. So many times in the Christmas scene, the shepherds and the wise men appear together, but they were never together. The wise men came maybe two years later, and they came from a long way. Their journey was an arduous journey. They came to worship the Lord with the determination that most of us don't have, and they came bearing gifts to the Lord Jesus to express their love, and obviously because they believed in the prophecy and that it was being fulfilled.
Sheila Walsh: Why those specific gifts: the gold, frankincense, and myrrh?
Dr. David Jeremiah: Well, those gifts are really significant. Gold obviously is the gift of the king. I think when they opened that treasure, nobody had to ask what that's all about. This is a kingly gift. Frankincense was an aroma that was very familiar to people who went to the temple. So when you've smelled frankincense, you felt like you were in the temple. I know that, I was thinking about that today when I was reading over this, that sometimes certain smells remind you of a place. Like, for instance, I'll just tell you this. We stayed one time in a hotel that had an incredible aroma. When you walk in the door, it was just like, and I asked my wife, "What is that"? And believe it or not, we went to the gift shop and they sold it. They sold the aroma, and I bought some of it and I brought it home. And it was a candle. And every time we would light that candle, I would think of that hotel. And I think that's what frankincense meant. Frankincense was a very powerful aroma. And then of course, myrrh was the surprising one because myrrh is an embalming fluid, and it was a picture of the coming death of Jesus. I'm not really sure how much they understood about that. Probably not as much as we think or maybe as much as we write into the script for them, but it was nonetheless a powerful reminder that Jesus one day would be wrapped as a mummy and myrrh would be between the cloth that he was wrapped in.
Sheila Walsh: The one person who was not happy about the arrival of the baby was King Herod. Why was he so afraid?
Dr. David Jeremiah: He was ticked off, and many people don't know that Herod was at the end of his life when this happened. He was a very sick man. He was very paranoid. He was trying to rule the Jews, and he wasn't doing all that great. His job was to keep the Jews in line for Rome. He struggled a lot. And then one day these guys come to town and they say, "We are come to find the king of the Jews. Can you tell us where he is"? And he's the king of the Jews and here's people telling him, "There's another king of the Jews". And he doesn't like that at all. So he tried to seduce them into ultimately revealing to him who the king of the Jews was that they were looking for, and you know the rest of the story.
Sheila Walsh: Yeah, okay, some rapid fire questions. I'm just going to give you a name, and tell us a bite-sized thought on each. What do we learn from Mary?
Dr. David Jeremiah: I learn the humility of this woman. "Lord, I don't understand all this; nobody can ever explain it to me. I'm 15 years old, but be it unto me according to your Word".
Sheila Walsh: What about Joseph?
Dr. David Jeremiah: Joseph is the steady, faithful man who believed God against all odds. He had to believe a story that nobody else would ever have believed apart from the input of the angel.
Sheila Walsh: What do we take from the shepherds' story?
Dr. David Jeremiah: The shepherds remind us that God's love reaches to the least of all, and that they can come to Christ.
Sheila Walsh: And what about the wise men?
Dr. David Jeremiah: And the wise men tell us the other story, that God loves us. He loves the most among us and the least among us, and he loves us all the same.
Sheila Walsh: I want to ask you about, at the end of your book "Why the Nativity," which I read again, and it's fabulous. But you end by asking three questions, which I love. So let's talk about the last three questions in the book. Why did Jesus come?
Dr. David Jeremiah: Well, you know, he tells us in the Bible why he came. He said, "I have come to seek and to save that which is lost". That's why he came for unbelievers and for those of us who are Christians. He said, "I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly". Those two reasons cover the scope of his coming. He came to be the Savior. I always tell people that he's the only person who was ever particularly born for the purpose of dying. He came for one reason: to die. And from the very beginning, he set his face toward the cross, and his life for us who are believers is the life of Christ is the abundant life.
Sheila Walsh: And why must he come again?
Dr. David Jeremiah: Well, first of all, he said he would.
Sheila Walsh: Yes, amen.
Dr. David Jeremiah: And interestingly enough, I said there were 316 prophecies of his first coming. There are more than three times that many prophecies of his second coming. He's coming again to ultimately fulfill his purpose and bring peace to this earth, to gather his people to himself to those who have put their trust in him, to serve his kingdom, and then forever to be with him.
Sheila Walsh: Let me just ask for anyone who's watching this. Why is it so important that they believe in Jesus?
Dr. David Jeremiah: Well, Jesus proves by his life and his ministry, by the way, not just from biblical proof but from secular proof. I've been doing a project where much of the information is from a historian by the name of Josephus, who was highly regarded. And he came to fulfill the prophecies concerning him in the Old Testament, and he said himself, "I have come to do your will, O God". So he came to fulfill the will of his Father, and his purpose was to pay the penalty for our sin so that we could believe in him, and he said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. And if you want to come to the Father, you have to come through me, because I am the bridge between heaven and earth". He was 100% God and 100% man, the only one who could do what needed to be done in bringing us together for forgiveness and redemption. So if you don't believe in him, there's no plan B. There's only one plan.
Sheila Walsh: There's one scene in the movie that I think more than anything I've ever seen before perfectly depicts John 3:16, and that's when the three kings leave after having been with the very young Jesus and they're in the streets and they're with the people. It so clearly shows God so loves the whole world. It's a powerful scene. A lot of people think, "Well, that's good for you, but what does God feel about me"?
Dr. David Jeremiah: The Bible tells us the story, and the result of putting one's faith in Christ is quite evident to anyone who wants to really examine it. It's not an isolated story. For all these many years since he came, hundreds of thousands of people have put their trust in Christ. He is the truth. If you put your trust in him, he will do for you what he's done for all those who put the trust in him. And let me just cover one little thought about this, because I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
So many people say, "Well, that's not my truth, that's your truth; I don't believe in that". But the truth of Jesus is true for everyone everywhere always. It's not implicated by how we respond to it. Some people give you the impression that since they don't believe in it, it isn't true. You cannot make the truth of Jesus untrue by simply saying, "I don't accept it". He is the truth.
If you want to know the truth, the Bible says in John you can know the truth. The Bible says God will reveal himself to anyone who truly wants to know the truth. So if you're talking about this in your own heart or with your friends, ask yourself this question: Do I want to just perpetuate my disbelief, or do I really want to know the truth? Because if you want to know the truth and you follow the Spirit's direction in your life, you will come to the truth.