WEBVTT 00:00:00.910 --> 00:00:10.100 Morning everybody. Nice to see you all. Just checking. I've just a slight admission in that 00:00:10.100 --> 00:00:16.480 when the preaching rota went out and we were all looking at which weeks we could do, I actually 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:21.620 picked this week because at the time it was the story of the woman caught in adultery and I thought 00:00:21.620 --> 00:00:26.840 oh I really want to do that one so I put my name next to this the woman caught in adultery and then 00:00:26.840 --> 00:00:31.420 we invited two guest speakers and everything got moved on two weeks and I've ended up with this 00:00:31.420 --> 00:00:36.700 passage this morning and my initial reaction when I read it was oh do you know what Nick I think you 00:00:36.700 --> 00:00:41.040 should do this because I don't think I can um it's my honest reaction and then I just said you know 00:00:41.040 --> 00:00:46.610 Erica you just have to just have to go for it and you just have to wrestle with it and work out what 00:00:46.610 --> 00:00:52.150 it's talking about and so this morning um I've been thinking about this passage for weeks and 00:00:52.150 --> 00:00:58.090 weeks and weeks now um and I just want to share just some of the things that I feel that God has 00:00:58.090 --> 00:01:04.790 opened my eyes to. And it's not going to be a great exegesis, hermeneutics, Greek this, Hebrew 00:01:04.790 --> 00:01:09.750 that, that's not me. But just what I believe the Holy Spirit has been sharing with me personally 00:01:09.750 --> 00:01:17.690 and I hope will be a blessing to you. So if you've got your Bibles, John chapter 8 verses 21 to 30. 00:01:18.330 --> 00:01:21.990 And I want to start by telling you a bit of a story many, many years ago, and it is many years 00:01:21.990 --> 00:01:27.850 ago it's probably about 18 years ago now my mum and dad were invited to a garden 00:01:27.850 --> 00:01:34.740 party at Buckingham Palace and it was a very posh occasion and they all went 00:01:34.740 --> 00:01:38.200 they've got all dressed up and I'm going to show you a picture of them now this 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:41.940 is my this is my contribution to a slide this morning this is all you get 00:01:41.940 --> 00:01:48.030 this is it aren't they lovely see I look like my mum don't I it was a very posh 00:01:48.030 --> 00:01:52.410 occasion and you can see he was he was the Wesleyan Reform Union ambassador so 00:01:52.410 --> 00:01:57.850 that's why sorry president that's why he's got the big like kind of mayoral chain around his neck 00:01:57.850 --> 00:02:04.470 and so we were very excited um and they were all dressed up and off they went and i think it was 00:02:04.470 --> 00:02:12.150 the pomp and the ceremony and the possibility of seeing royalty and famous faces and and we we spent 00:02:12.150 --> 00:02:15.450 the whole day saying things like to each other i wonder what they're doing now and i wonder who 00:02:15.450 --> 00:02:19.990 they're talking to now and i wonder who they've seen and um i'd met prince charles years before 00:02:19.990 --> 00:02:23.750 when he was in Ghana when I was very little and I was like I wonder if they've met him again 00:02:23.750 --> 00:02:31.130 and so at the end of the day all excitedly we rang them up and my dad picked up and my dad my 00:02:31.130 --> 00:02:36.610 mum is like me she yabba yabba yabba chat chat chat but my dad is a man of few words so when he 00:02:36.610 --> 00:02:40.690 speaks you really you really listen because when he speaks you just know it's going to be like 00:02:40.690 --> 00:02:47.210 an important utterance so we rang him and said oh dad how was it did you have a great time and 00:02:47.210 --> 00:02:58.270 his response was they had lovely ice cream that was it we were waiting to hear about the palace 00:02:58.270 --> 00:03:03.890 the royalty the amazing occasion and dad was telling us about the ice cream and I'm sure it 00:03:03.890 --> 00:03:09.050 was really nice ice cream now my mum and dad they were very frugal they grew up as missionaries but 00:03:09.050 --> 00:03:15.250 he had this thing about ice cream and after dinner on a Sunday he had a chest freezer in the garage 00:03:15.250 --> 00:03:18.670 and he would go out to the chest freezer and he would do this, right? 00:03:19.230 --> 00:03:20.390 Who wants what ice cream? 00:03:20.530 --> 00:03:24.310 I've got strawberry, vanilla, mint chocolate, rum and raisin, 00:03:24.430 --> 00:03:28.370 every possible ice cream that you could imagine is what he's got. 00:03:28.590 --> 00:03:30.870 And as I was thinking about this morning, 00:03:30.950 --> 00:03:35.150 I thought how funny it is that we can be in front of something 00:03:35.150 --> 00:03:39.630 quite extraordinary and only notice the ice cream. 00:03:41.570 --> 00:03:44.930 And also we can be in front of something so extraordinary 00:03:44.930 --> 00:03:50.150 and as I'm thinking about the ice cream because I'm not an ice cream person there is so much about 00:03:50.150 --> 00:04:02.030 that list who eats rum and raisin whoa whoa what about mint chocolate oh oh that's just like cough 00:04:02.030 --> 00:04:07.170 mixture um but immediately as I'm going through this in my head I'm thinking about all the things 00:04:07.170 --> 00:04:11.370 that I like of the ice cream that I like which is basically vanilla and all the other stuff that I 00:04:11.370 --> 00:04:15.250 would turn my nose up and I just thought how funny it is that we can be in the presence of 00:04:15.250 --> 00:04:20.430 extraordinary things and only notice the ordinary and then when we're noticing the ordinary we're 00:04:20.430 --> 00:04:25.470 already working out what we don't like and what we do like and I wonder whether sometimes that's 00:04:25.470 --> 00:04:32.480 how we are with Jesus that we become so familiar with the things surrounding Jesus the church the 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:40.000 worship the teaching which all of those are great but yet lose sight of the wonder the extraordinary 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:45.360 Jesus who stands in front of us. And this morning, that's what I really want to speak 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:50.100 about. There is so much about what we do is great, and there are niggles and they are 00:04:50.100 --> 00:04:57.740 normal. But this morning, I just somehow want to bring us back to this extraordinary, the 00:04:57.740 --> 00:05:07.340 extraordinary Jesus who stands in front of us this morning. Amen. You're very quiet. 00:05:07.340 --> 00:05:14.620 just keep smiling at me so last week Nick spoke about from John 8 verse 12 and he says 00:05:14.620 --> 00:05:20.060 Jesus makes this incredible declaration about himself he says I am the light of the world and 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:25.820 then it goes on to say if you follow me you won't have to walk in darkness and I just thought all 00:05:25.820 --> 00:05:33.460 week I've been thinking about that how how clear that is how clear if you follow me you don't have 00:05:33.460 --> 00:05:39.940 to live in this place of darkness. It's just so clear. And we have this extraordinary light living 00:05:39.940 --> 00:05:45.420 in front of us, standing in front of us, and we don't have to live in darkness. That's the choice. 00:05:46.820 --> 00:05:52.980 And just in my mind, imagining all the times when I focused on the ice cream. Now, today's passage 00:05:52.980 --> 00:05:59.120 isn't a completely different passage. It follows on the same conversation, and we're going to start 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:05.660 in verse 21. And at the beginning of verse 21, my translation is slightly different, but that's 00:06:05.660 --> 00:06:14.620 fine. I actually prefer this one. The Bible says, once more, Jesus said to them. Verse 21 for me 00:06:14.620 --> 00:06:25.060 starts later, Jesus said to them again. How many of you as parents have had to repeat yourself 00:06:25.060 --> 00:06:28.440 over and over and over again 00:06:28.440 --> 00:06:31.460 before your children have grasped the message, 00:06:31.580 --> 00:06:33.020 the importance of the message 00:06:33.020 --> 00:06:34.780 that you're trying to get across. 00:06:34.940 --> 00:06:36.000 And I love this. 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:37.880 He says, once more, Jesus said to them, 00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:39.440 and then he goes on to say this. 00:06:39.520 --> 00:06:41.360 Later, Jesus said to them again, 00:06:41.900 --> 00:06:44.200 I am going away and you will search for me, 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:46.000 but will die in your sin. 00:06:46.440 --> 00:06:48.280 You cannot come where I am going. 00:06:48.840 --> 00:06:51.490 The people asked, is he planning to commit suicide? 00:06:52.430 --> 00:06:53.410 What does he mean? 00:06:54.030 --> 00:06:55.530 You cannot come where I am going. 00:06:56.530 --> 00:07:00.470 Jesus continued, you are from below and I am from above. 00:07:01.210 --> 00:07:03.950 You belong to this world and I do not. 00:07:04.730 --> 00:07:06.990 And that is why I said that you will die in your sins 00:07:06.990 --> 00:07:11.330 for unless you believe that I am who I claim to be, 00:07:11.830 --> 00:07:13.150 you will die in your sin. 00:07:14.410 --> 00:07:16.670 Verse 25, I love this little one-liner here. 00:07:17.310 --> 00:07:19.150 Who are you? They asked. 00:07:20.190 --> 00:07:22.250 Once more, Jesus says, 00:07:22.250 --> 00:07:27.440 um I've lost my place because my glasses have slipped off the end of the nose Jesus replied 00:07:27.440 --> 00:07:35.780 the one I have always claimed to be I have much to say about you and much to condemn but I won't 00:07:35.780 --> 00:07:41.480 for I say only what I've heard from the one who sent me and he is completely truthful but they 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:47.300 still didn't understand that he was talking about his father so Jesus said when you have lifted up 00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:54.260 the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I am he. I do nothing on my own, 00:07:54.320 --> 00:08:00.580 but say only what the Father taught me, and the one who sent me is with me. He has not deserted 00:08:00.580 --> 00:08:05.990 me, for I always do what pleases him. And then there's this little verse at the end, verse 30 00:08:05.990 --> 00:08:13.940 said, then many who had heard him say these things believed in him. And I think it's interesting that 00:08:13.940 --> 00:08:21.810 it says many. It doesn't say all. It doesn't say all. Now, verse 25 really jumped out at me as I 00:08:21.810 --> 00:08:28.150 was preparing when the people turned to Jesus and they asked him, who are you? Jesus had already 00:08:28.150 --> 00:08:32.670 spent a lot of time declaring that he was the light of the world, declaring that unless you 00:08:32.670 --> 00:08:37.670 are with me, you will live in darkness. He'd spoken about the father who'd sent him and he'd 00:08:37.670 --> 00:08:42.290 explained he was from the above and not of this world. He was telling them that if they believe 00:08:42.290 --> 00:08:47.870 that he, everything that they believe about him has eternal significance, and yet they still ask 00:08:47.870 --> 00:08:54.840 the question, who are you? Standing right in front of them is Jesus. They'd been hearing him speak, 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:59.940 they'd been questioning him, debating with him, listening to his claims, yet struggling to 00:08:59.940 --> 00:09:05.340 recognize who he really was. And I find that quite astonishing. Astonishing because I kind of think 00:09:05.340 --> 00:09:10.320 that I wouldn't be like that, but I'm very certain when I think about it, I probably would be like 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:16.940 that. And I wonder this morning whether you can see yourself in that question, hearing about Jesus 00:09:16.940 --> 00:09:23.620 once more. Knowing the stories, if I asked you about the story of Gideon, who could tell me that 00:09:23.620 --> 00:09:29.980 story? If I asked you about the story of Samson, who could tell you that me that story? What about 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:36.020 Goliath? What about the Bethlehem story? What about the story of the resurrection and the cross? Who 00:09:36.020 --> 00:09:40.300 can tell me all the different things and what happened on the third day, all of that stuff? 00:09:40.740 --> 00:09:45.490 But I wonder if we ask the question, as Jesus is, 00:09:45.490 --> 00:09:48.750 knowing the stories, understanding the language of Christianity, 00:09:49.310 --> 00:09:52.130 familiar with the church, appreciative of Christian values 00:09:52.130 --> 00:09:54.070 and the things that Christians believe, 00:09:54.570 --> 00:09:57.830 and still not really know who he is, 00:09:58.610 --> 00:10:00.970 as he has revealed himself to be. 00:10:01.070 --> 00:10:03.210 Because I was surprised as a youngster 00:10:03.210 --> 00:10:08.230 when I realised, I went to school with somebody who was called Jesus, 00:10:09.540 --> 00:10:11.120 and I remember being quite surprised 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:13.540 because in my head, I grew up in a Christian family. 00:10:13.620 --> 00:10:16.080 I just imagined that there was only one person called Jesus 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:18.160 and he was the one that died on the cross 00:10:18.160 --> 00:10:20.520 and that nobody else in the history of the world 00:10:20.520 --> 00:10:22.980 ever before or after or ever again would be called Jesus. 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:25.780 I was really surprised that there's like a whole generation of people, 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:27.840 a whole world of people called Jesus. 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:29.580 That's right, isn't it? 00:10:29.780 --> 00:10:30.980 Yeah, please nod your head at me. 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:34.160 And I remember thinking that that was quite interesting 00:10:34.160 --> 00:10:39.230 because the Jesus that I'm talking about this morning 00:10:39.230 --> 00:10:44.930 is not the Jesus that we have imagined or worked out in our heads or the Jesus that we have made 00:10:44.930 --> 00:10:54.900 in our image or our understanding or the limiting of our experience, but the Jesus as he has 00:10:54.900 --> 00:11:02.590 revealed himself. And there is really a difference between knowing about Jesus and entrusting 00:11:02.590 --> 00:11:09.670 ourselves to the Jesus who stands before us this morning as he reveals himself. Between hearing his 00:11:09.670 --> 00:11:15.230 words and becoming familiar with all the stories and yet allowing those words to shape our lives 00:11:15.230 --> 00:11:21.640 there's a huge difference between that and perhaps there's a danger that over time we become so 00:11:21.640 --> 00:11:27.180 accustomed to hearing about jesus that we really stop listening to what he says about himself 00:11:27.180 --> 00:11:32.640 um i do manual handling training from time to time and one of the things i talk about is 00:11:32.640 --> 00:11:37.720 is when accidents and incidents happen and feel people fall out of hoists and stuff like that 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:42.760 I always ask the question, which members of staff do you think are most likely to have 00:11:42.760 --> 00:11:47.800 incidents and accidents where elderly people fall out of hoists? I'm asking that question 00:11:47.800 --> 00:11:58.490 to you this morning. Sorry? No, not managers. Thank you. Say it in a big voice, Matthew 00:11:58.490 --> 00:12:05.940 Brown. Those most familiar. And that's not just in care homes, that's right across the 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:11.020 board when you look at the industry of work. It's when we become most familiar. I drive 00:12:11.020 --> 00:12:16.480 from here from my house to here several times in the week and I have to admit on the way there are 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:22.180 many times I arrive and I think to myself I wonder how I got here because I can't actually remember 00:12:22.180 --> 00:12:27.220 the journey and I'm really hoping that I didn't knock someone over because I can't I'm so familiar 00:12:27.220 --> 00:12:32.820 with the journey backwards and forwards and familiar familiarity breeds this certain kind 00:12:32.820 --> 00:12:38.280 of complacency and well I know the stories and I know this Jesus and I know what he's like and 00:12:38.280 --> 00:12:45.660 and and but familiarity actually is an undermining thing and I believe that Jesus wants to reveal 00:12:45.660 --> 00:12:52.280 himself to us over and over again how he truly is not made in the image in our imagination 00:12:52.280 --> 00:12:58.340 John tells us something in the gospel in his gospel chapter 1 verse 10 to 11 he says he was 00:12:58.340 --> 00:13:04.980 in the world and though the world was made through him the world didn't recognize him 00:13:04.980 --> 00:13:14.410 he came to that which was his own that belonged to him that he created that he made that he spoke 00:13:14.410 --> 00:13:23.570 life into but his own did not receive him they simply didn't recognize the Jesus standing in 00:13:23.570 --> 00:13:30.570 front of them and the tragedy isn't that God is silent he has spoken he's spoken all the way 00:13:30.570 --> 00:13:35.600 through the pages of the scripture. It's not that he hasn't spoken. And it's not that the light 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:41.340 hasn't come. It's nothing like that. The light has come. But simply, we don't, people don't, 00:13:41.380 --> 00:13:47.800 the world don't recognize the Jesus that is standing in front of them. And John 1, 12 goes 00:13:47.800 --> 00:13:57.340 on to say, yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, not in the spelling of 00:13:57.340 --> 00:14:04.050 his name, J-E-S-U-S, but in the believing in the name of the Jesus standing in front of them, 00:14:04.330 --> 00:14:11.230 for those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. And that's the 00:14:11.230 --> 00:14:18.070 gift. It's a revelation of Jesus, who he says he is, and not what we say or the rest of the world 00:14:18.070 --> 00:14:24.120 says. So I want to ask you the question this morning, why does believing in Jesus matter 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:31.370 so much. Well, verse 24 tells us, I told you that you would die in your sins if you do not believe 00:14:31.370 --> 00:14:37.850 that I am he. You will indeed die in your sins. He's already told them that he's the light of the 00:14:37.850 --> 00:14:41.890 world. He's already told them that if you follow me, you'll walk out of the light. You don't have 00:14:41.890 --> 00:14:46.600 to live in that place. You can live in the light. He's done all of that. But what he's actually 00:14:46.600 --> 00:14:53.370 saying is the absence of me is what brings darkness. It's the absence of him. If Jesus 00:14:53.370 --> 00:15:00.080 is the saviour, then the absence of him in my life is what binds me to sin. That's what it means. 00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:07.680 If Jesus truly is the saviour of the world and he is absent from me, I'm bound to sin. If he is 00:15:07.680 --> 00:15:14.220 absent from me, then I'm walking in darkness. If Jesus is the one who gives life, then the absence 00:15:14.220 --> 00:15:25.820 of him is what? Sure? Death. Yes. And Jesus here is describing the reality of our condition apart 00:15:25.820 --> 00:15:33.400 from him. He is not trying to scare us. He's not scaring us. He's saying the absence of me, if I am 00:15:33.400 --> 00:15:40.440 not in your world, if I am not in your life, if I am not there, if I am not present, then the absence 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:47.200 of me is what brings darkness. The absence of me is what binds you to sin and what controls you. 00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:53.260 He's not inventing a consequence to frighten people into following him. He's telling them 00:15:53.260 --> 00:15:59.560 the truth about who he really is. And there's an important difference between a warning and a 00:15:59.560 --> 00:16:06.760 threat. A threat is intended to coerce or intimidate or scare people into making decisions. 00:16:06.900 --> 00:16:12.460 I was so frightened of hell as a child that I was like, oh Lord, save me, save me, save me every day 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:19.310 because I was petrified of hell. But a warning is something different. A warning tells us that 00:16:19.310 --> 00:16:24.930 there's danger out there. A warning tells us that, and it's given by somebody who loves us. Guys, 00:16:24.930 --> 00:16:30.350 be careful. When we are warned by somebody we love, it's not a threat. It's not coercion. It's 00:16:30.350 --> 00:16:36.110 not control. It's not designed to frighten us. It's because Jesus actually loves us with all 00:16:36.110 --> 00:16:41.010 his heart that he's saying to you, I want to let you know that if you live with me, you don't have 00:16:41.010 --> 00:16:45.610 to live in this darkness. If you live with me, you don't have to be attached to that sin. If you live 00:16:45.610 --> 00:16:51.570 with me, you don't have to be separated from me into eternity. That's what being with Jesus 00:16:51.570 --> 00:16:58.600 actually means. So a warning tells us about danger, and sometimes the most loving thing 00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:05.720 someone can give us is a warning that there's danger ahead. If Jesus had remained silent and 00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:11.000 not declared who he was, that would have been the most unkind thing. But he was standing in front of 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:15.920 them, he was saying, I am the light of the world. If you come to me, you don't have to walk in this 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:23.750 darkness. What an incredible gift of grace. Anybody like warnings? We get a bit upy. I get 00:17:23.750 --> 00:17:28.630 a bit upy when I'm warned about something. I get a bit like, well, who do you think you are? 00:17:29.370 --> 00:17:38.420 Unless it's dog poo. I mean, nobody likes to walk in dog poo, do they? I'm always telling Nick, 00:17:38.520 --> 00:17:41.440 watch that dog poo there, watch that dog poo there, mainly because I don't want it on his 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.580 shoes. And when it's on his shoes, it comes into the house. And when it comes into the house, 00:17:44.600 --> 00:17:49.020 it goes over the place and it stinks really bad. It's a warning from somebody who loves him. 00:17:49.020 --> 00:17:57.850 please don't stand in that dog poo because if you do, you face the wrath of Erica if you walk that 00:17:57.850 --> 00:18:04.010 up the stairs. So Jesus is warning. He's gently telling the people that he loves the most, guys, 00:18:04.150 --> 00:18:11.270 believe in me as I have revealed myself to you. And that's why Jesus matters so much. That's why 00:18:11.270 --> 00:18:15.670 we are unlike any other religion on the face of the earth. This is why Nick mentioned it last week, 00:18:15.670 --> 00:18:21.890 the name of Jesus, the person of Jesus as he has revealed himself is so important because that is 00:18:21.890 --> 00:18:27.450 the only route out of darkness, that is the only route into salvation, that is the only route that 00:18:27.450 --> 00:18:33.530 will separate us from the consequence of sin, not just our sin but the sin done to us and the sin 00:18:33.530 --> 00:18:42.300 that surrounds us. This is a message from a heavenly father to people that he loves, not with 00:18:42.300 --> 00:18:46.320 a big stick saying, if you don't do this, this is what's going to happen to you. That's nothing 00:18:46.320 --> 00:18:52.860 like it at all. He's saying, here I am. And if you believe in me, if you believe I am who I say I am, 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:57.220 then you don't have to live apart from me. You don't have to live connected to your sin. You 00:18:57.220 --> 00:19:01.200 don't have to live in bondage. You don't have to live in darkness. You don't have to live in the 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:08.540 state that you're in. You can walk free into the light. But it's if you believe in Jesus as he has 00:19:08.540 --> 00:19:15.660 revealed himself. So the next question I was thinking about as I was preparing, first of all, 00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:20.040 why does believing in Jesus matter so much? Well, because he's the only one that's the light. You 00:19:20.040 --> 00:19:26.480 can only have one light of the world. You can't have many. There's only one. Which Jesus are we 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:35.010 believing in? Who is the Jesus I believe in? Is the Jesus I believe in the same Jesus who stood 00:19:35.010 --> 00:19:42.670 before these people as he revealed himself or is it possible to have a view of Jesus that is true 00:19:42.670 --> 00:19:50.190 as far as it goes but is far too small and I as I was reading that I just felt like the conviction 00:19:50.190 --> 00:19:58.150 of the Holy Spirit because the Jesus that I can make for myself is about this size and easy to 00:19:58.150 --> 00:20:05.210 handle and yet we're talking about the Jesus that is from above and I'm from below the one connected 00:20:05.210 --> 00:20:12.870 to the Father, the Son of God. And if I see Jesus only as a teacher and nothing else, which some 00:20:12.870 --> 00:20:19.230 people do and some religions do as well, I can appreciate his wisdom and follow the advice I 00:20:19.230 --> 00:20:25.130 agree with. But what happens when he teaches something that I don't like? Have you ever 00:20:25.130 --> 00:20:30.900 argued with a teacher? I argued with a teacher once because I didn't agree with evolution and 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:35.100 so it was a part of my A-level thing. I didn't agree with evolution, but we had this debate 00:20:35.100 --> 00:20:38.320 and I felt able to stand in front of that teacher 00:20:38.320 --> 00:20:41.160 and say actually I don't agree with what you're saying 00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:43.020 I have a different point of view 00:20:43.020 --> 00:20:46.160 and it's possible to come to Jesus 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:47.920 with a similar kind of mindset 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:50.120 where he reveals his truth to us 00:20:50.120 --> 00:20:51.200 and then we say things like 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:53.700 well I'm really glad that you've spoken to me about that Jesus 00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:56.980 but I've actually got a little slightly different slant 00:20:56.980 --> 00:21:00.300 or emphasis to what you might be meaning 00:21:00.300 --> 00:21:04.100 and if he's simply a teacher 00:21:04.100 --> 00:21:11.400 I can pick and choose what I accept but if I am seeing Jesus as he has revealed himself as Lord 00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:17.840 his words carry authority that go far beyond good advice and you know what I don't get to decide 00:21:17.840 --> 00:21:22.620 which parts of his teaching are worthy of my obedience but I can see myself thinking actually 00:21:22.620 --> 00:21:29.300 the Jesus that I want is this Jesus over here this Jesus over here will not lead me into light 00:21:29.300 --> 00:21:38.140 it's this Jesus, big Jesus, royalty Jesus, extraordinary Jesus, this Jesus that will 00:21:38.140 --> 00:21:43.300 lead me into life. But how easy we go down the road of creating a Jesus that makes us feel 00:21:43.300 --> 00:21:49.450 comfortable. What if I see Jesus only as a prophet? And again, some religions do that. 00:21:50.320 --> 00:21:56.380 I might admire his message and recognize that he speaks truth, but I'll still treat him as one 00:21:56.380 --> 00:22:04.370 religious voice among many, deciding for myself whether to accept what he says. Yet Jesus reveals 00:22:04.370 --> 00:22:11.430 himself to us so much more. He is the one sent by the Father, the one, the one, the capital one, 00:22:11.590 --> 00:22:21.220 O, big O-N-E, the one from above. If I only see Jesus as miracle worker and fixer, who answers 00:22:21.220 --> 00:22:26.680 my prayers and heals and provides and fixes my problems, of course he's so gracious that he does 00:22:26.680 --> 00:22:32.740 those things. And we can bring our needs to him because he deeply cares about us. But what happens 00:22:32.740 --> 00:22:38.960 when the miracle doesn't come or life doesn't work out how I hoped it? If my faith is built on this 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:46.240 small Jesus that I have created, I'll lose sight of who he actually is. Jesus hasn't simply come 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:56.620 to make my life or your life comfortable. Hallelujah. He's come to save you. And sometimes 00:22:56.620 --> 00:23:03.520 that feels uncomfortable. And sometimes that feels really difficult. And I'm not going to 00:23:03.520 --> 00:23:07.540 apologize for that. I want him to apologize to me sometimes for making me feel uncomfortable. But 00:23:07.540 --> 00:23:15.400 he's not come to make my life or your life comfortable. He's come to save us. Thank you. 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:22.830 He's come to rescue you. And not only that, when he rescues you, he reconciles you with God 00:23:22.830 --> 00:23:29.570 and gives you life. He lifts you up out of the miry clay. And how I imagine it is it's like he 00:23:29.570 --> 00:23:35.110 reaches down and grabs you by the scruff of your neck, hoiks you up. It's not a comfortable 00:23:35.110 --> 00:23:42.440 sensation. But if I only see Jesus as miracle worker and fixer, before long he will disappoint 00:23:42.440 --> 00:23:49.860 me. And when he disappoints me, then I will lose my faith, whatever that faith is in. But yet if I 00:23:49.860 --> 00:23:56.140 believe Jesus, who he says he is, as he reveals himself, then when things don't work out quite 00:23:56.140 --> 00:24:02.720 how I plan them to, or I don't receive the healing that I feel I should receive, there is trust 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:09.820 that actually he's got a better and bigger plan, and he is sovereign over every situation. 00:24:11.010 --> 00:24:19.710 And sometimes we see Jesus simply as friend. And yes, he is friend. That's precious. And in fact, 00:24:19.710 --> 00:24:24.050 he calls his disciples friends, and we can know his love and his tenderness and his nearness. 00:24:24.570 --> 00:24:31.660 But if I only see him as friend, I might welcome his comfort, but I'll resist his correction. 00:24:34.030 --> 00:24:39.250 I might want him alongside me in my decisions without allowing him to be lord over these 00:24:39.250 --> 00:24:48.790 decisions. And his friendship is precious, but it doesn't cancel his lordship. This is Jesus, 00:24:48.790 --> 00:25:00.310 Lord he is not as I heard many years ago almighty God he is almighty God and almighty God has stepped 00:25:00.310 --> 00:25:11.530 down and chosen to be my friend but his position almighty God not almighty God his friendship is 00:25:11.530 --> 00:25:17.270 precious and I'm so grateful for his tenderness and his love and his nearness but it doesn't 00:25:17.270 --> 00:25:26.690 cancel out his lordship. And today is about beholding the real Jesus, not the Jesus of mine, 00:25:27.390 --> 00:25:34.780 yours, or the world's making. He's not here simply to make us comfortable, but to show us who he 00:25:34.780 --> 00:25:41.640 really is. Look at what he says about himself. In John's gospel, Jesus says, I am the bread of life. 00:25:42.670 --> 00:25:48.050 He's not just someone who gives us a scrap to eat, an encouragement when we're hungry, 00:25:48.050 --> 00:25:52.110 but he satisfies our deepest spiritual needs. 00:25:52.210 --> 00:25:56.630 This Jesus satisfies our deepest spiritual needs. 00:25:57.690 --> 00:25:59.250 He says, I am the light of the world, 00:25:59.330 --> 00:26:01.790 not just someone who gives us a few helpful directions 00:26:01.790 --> 00:26:06.030 like a sat-nav that we can turn on and off when we feel like 00:26:06.030 --> 00:26:08.850 or change the accent or change the language 00:26:08.850 --> 00:26:12.210 or divert or revert or put another route in place. 00:26:12.270 --> 00:26:13.130 He's not one of those. 00:26:13.230 --> 00:26:16.030 He is the light without whom we remain in darkness. 00:26:16.250 --> 00:26:17.190 And I want to tell you this morning, 00:26:17.190 --> 00:26:22.250 if you don't know the light of Jesus, your path will be treacherous because there's nothing to 00:26:22.250 --> 00:26:30.190 illuminate it. He is the light of the world. He says, I am the gate. He doesn't just point to a 00:26:30.190 --> 00:26:35.430 door and say, if you go that way, you'll be okay. He says, actually, if you come to me and come 00:26:35.430 --> 00:26:42.100 through me, you will enter into salvation and safety. He doesn't make it difficult. 00:26:43.100 --> 00:26:47.320 Have you ever been on one of those games where you have to tick door A, door B, or door C? 00:26:47.860 --> 00:26:49.060 and hope you get the right one. 00:26:49.820 --> 00:26:52.460 There's only one door, only one door, 00:26:52.560 --> 00:26:54.840 and you have to come through Jesus to get to the other side. 00:26:55.280 --> 00:26:56.660 He says, I am the good shepherd, 00:26:57.180 --> 00:26:59.460 not just someone who gives occasional advice, 00:26:59.940 --> 00:27:01.280 but the shepherd who knows his sheep, 00:27:01.420 --> 00:27:03.040 leads them, and lays down his life for them. 00:27:03.080 --> 00:27:05.740 This is this Jesus here, not the Jesus that I've made. 00:27:06.320 --> 00:27:08.460 He says, I am the resurrection and the life, 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:11.860 not just someone who helps me to cope with death. 00:27:12.300 --> 00:27:16.120 I'm going to say that bit again. 00:27:16.120 --> 00:27:25.480 he is not just someone who helps me to cope with death he is the one who has power over death 00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:32.820 itself my death your death everybody's death the death of my loved ones everything else all the 00:27:32.820 --> 00:27:40.390 things about death that we wrestle with Jesus says I am the resurrection and the life I am the one 00:27:40.390 --> 00:27:46.890 who has power over death itself, if you follow me, you don't have to live in that darkness. 00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:56.980 He goes on to say, I am the way and the truth and the life, not just one helpful guide among many, 00:27:57.700 --> 00:28:03.780 but the one through whom we get to the Father. There's only one way. The world will tell you of 00:28:03.780 --> 00:28:08.140 a different type of Jesus, where you can have Jesus and lots and lots of other things attached 00:28:08.140 --> 00:28:12.600 to it. There is only one way. And he says, if you follow me, you don't have to live in 00:28:12.600 --> 00:28:19.120 that darkness. He says, I am the true vine, not just someone who helps me to improve myself. 00:28:21.070 --> 00:28:25.490 I love all those statements about being true to yourself and what you need to do in life 00:28:25.490 --> 00:28:33.020 is discover yourself and all of that. Actually, nothing about that in life at all. It's about 00:28:33.020 --> 00:28:38.600 discovering who Jesus is, not actually discovering more about myself. I'd rather keep who I really 00:28:38.600 --> 00:28:44.740 am hidden. It's about discovering Jesus. Jesus isn't a collection of helpful qualities. He's the 00:28:44.740 --> 00:28:50.080 son of God. He's the savior. He's the light of the world. He's the one sent from above, the one who 00:28:50.080 --> 00:28:55.300 reveals the father, the one who will be lifted up on the cross. Only this Jesus can give us the life 00:28:55.300 --> 00:29:00.260 he promises. And I just want to say to you this morning, none of us, not anybody from the beginning 00:29:00.260 --> 00:29:05.720 of Adam to the end of time gets to decide who Jesus is. And yet we have a whole world out there 00:29:05.720 --> 00:29:10.260 who is fighting and making decisions about who Jesus is 00:29:10.260 --> 00:29:12.140 and what he proclaims to be and all of that. 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:14.380 Jesus knows exactly who he is 00:29:14.380 --> 00:29:16.460 and he is revealing himself to us 00:29:16.460 --> 00:29:19.960 and he's so gracious because he does it once more and once more. 00:29:20.040 --> 00:29:21.680 Every song we sang this morning 00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:24.020 was about Jesus revealing himself to us. 00:29:24.060 --> 00:29:25.260 Every scripture you read, 00:29:25.540 --> 00:29:27.820 it's about Jesus standing in front of us and saying, 00:29:28.220 --> 00:29:29.780 this is who I am. 00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:33.880 If you follow me, you don't have to walk in that darkness. 00:29:33.880 --> 00:29:41.380 us. No one gets to decide who Jesus is. The only choice we have is whether we will recognise and 00:29:41.380 --> 00:29:49.030 respond to the one who he has revealed himself to be. Are you still with me? Good, I'm nearly done. 00:29:49.430 --> 00:29:55.270 Well, yeah. The danger of being close without believing is the next thing that popped into 00:29:55.270 --> 00:30:00.630 my head. So that brings us back to the people standing before Jesus in John 8. These weren't 00:30:00.630 --> 00:30:05.790 people who had never heard of Jesus or had never encountered his teaching. They were standing 00:30:05.790 --> 00:30:09.850 right in front of him, they had listened to him, they had questioned him, they had debated with him, 00:30:10.110 --> 00:30:14.930 they'd received the extraordinary revelation, and yet Jesus still says to them, unless you believe 00:30:14.930 --> 00:30:22.010 that I am he, as revealed in my word, you will die in your sin. Again, it's not a threat, it's a warning. 00:30:23.260 --> 00:30:30.890 There is a danger of proximity without faith. Being close to Jesus is not necessarily the same 00:30:30.890 --> 00:30:32.490 as believing in Jesus. 00:30:33.030 --> 00:30:34.670 We can be close to the language 00:30:34.670 --> 00:30:36.530 and close to the experience 00:30:36.530 --> 00:30:38.250 and close to all those things, 00:30:38.590 --> 00:30:40.550 but it's actually what I say 00:30:40.550 --> 00:30:42.370 about who I believe in 00:30:42.370 --> 00:30:44.250 is what makes the difference. 00:30:45.370 --> 00:30:46.910 I can believe in the church. 00:30:49.020 --> 00:30:50.160 If you believe in the church, 00:30:50.200 --> 00:30:50.960 I'll just tell you now, 00:30:51.040 --> 00:30:51.760 you'll get disappointed. 00:30:53.860 --> 00:30:54.440 Won't you? 00:30:57.160 --> 00:30:58.760 Or did you just mutter under your breath 00:30:58.760 --> 00:31:00.540 and speak for yourself, did you say? 00:31:03.140 --> 00:31:04.840 If you believe in Christian values, 00:31:04.840 --> 00:31:08.540 we're no different to any of the other groups on the face of the earth. Lots of people out there 00:31:08.540 --> 00:31:12.140 have got Christian values. I just don't call them Christian values, but we all know where they've 00:31:12.140 --> 00:31:16.560 come from, don't we? We can be close to the language of Christianity, know when to say 00:31:16.560 --> 00:31:21.620 amen at the right time, close to community, to the worship and all of that. But none of those 00:31:21.620 --> 00:31:26.820 things matter. It's about what we do with Jesus himself. And it's not enough to say that Jesus 00:31:26.820 --> 00:31:33.120 existed. Satan knows that Jesus exists. So it's not about whether Jesus existed or not, 00:31:33.120 --> 00:31:34.880 or whether we believe he was a good teacher 00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:36.480 or whether we agree with his values. 00:31:36.800 --> 00:31:38.040 It's whether or not we are saying, 00:31:38.120 --> 00:31:39.660 Jesus, you are the light of the world 00:31:39.660 --> 00:31:42.000 and I believe that you are the one 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:43.520 as you revealed yourself to be 00:31:43.520 --> 00:31:44.960 and I'm going to follow you. 00:31:45.640 --> 00:31:47.300 We make decisions every day, 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:49.620 some small and some that are insignificant. 00:31:50.840 --> 00:31:53.240 Others will shape the whole direction of your life. 00:31:54.040 --> 00:31:56.300 Young people, there are a few of you scattered in here, 00:31:56.380 --> 00:31:57.800 some of the decisions that you'll make, 00:31:58.180 --> 00:31:59.760 where you'll live, who you'll marry, 00:31:59.760 --> 00:32:01.000 what career you'll pursue, 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:04.900 how we how you spend your money what you'll do in the future the world will 00:32:04.900 --> 00:32:08.560 tell you that those are the most important decisions that you need to 00:32:08.560 --> 00:32:13.300 make in your life some of them are very important some of the decisions that you 00:32:13.300 --> 00:32:18.160 make about your future your career your spouse all of those things will have 00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:24.110 consequences that last decades even lifetimes but Jesus presents us with a 00:32:24.110 --> 00:32:28.730 decision that reaches beyond this life and into eternity in fact it is the most 00:32:28.730 --> 00:32:39.470 important decision that you will ever have to make, is what will you do with this Jesus? 00:32:40.670 --> 00:32:48.250 Who do you believe he is? It's the only decision with eternal consequences. And Jesus says, 00:32:48.250 --> 00:32:53.210 if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sin. And that's not because 00:32:53.210 --> 00:32:58.550 he is there with a big stick saying, I hate people. It's because he's saying, absence from me, 00:32:58.550 --> 00:33:05.310 separation from me being apart from me is what brings the darkness is what attaches us to sin 00:33:05.310 --> 00:33:16.020 says hear the warning in light of the invitation Jesus says I am the light of the world the free 00:33:16.020 --> 00:33:20.900 invitation this morning is to say actually Jesus I don't get it all I don't fully understand it all 00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:28.120 but I want to believe you as you say you are help me to follow you so that I can walk in the light 00:33:28.120 --> 00:33:29.620 and not in darkness. 00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:32.000 And verse 30 says, and I'm just going to finish now, 00:33:32.080 --> 00:33:36.980 verse 30 said, many believed, but not everyone. 00:33:38.560 --> 00:33:39.900 Jesus stood right in front of them, 00:33:40.020 --> 00:33:40.920 revealing who he was. 00:33:41.220 --> 00:33:43.060 Still some didn't believe. 00:33:43.160 --> 00:33:44.740 And Jesus stands before us this morning, 00:33:44.820 --> 00:33:46.880 as I've said, every song that we've sung this morning, 00:33:47.480 --> 00:33:49.320 every word, every prayer prayed, 00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:51.580 every word in this scripture, 00:33:51.580 --> 00:33:55.640 this precious book, reveals who Jesus really is. 00:33:55.720 --> 00:33:57.780 And the invitation for us this morning 00:33:57.780 --> 00:34:01.400 is not to rest in the familiarity of what we know 00:34:01.400 --> 00:34:03.760 or what we think we know or in our own intelligence 00:34:03.760 --> 00:34:05.460 or what the world says 00:34:05.460 --> 00:34:07.280 or what the intelligence of the world says, 00:34:07.360 --> 00:34:09.080 all of that, it's not to rest on that, 00:34:09.380 --> 00:34:10.380 but to say, actually, Jesus, 00:34:10.520 --> 00:34:12.140 I know you have revealed yourself. 00:34:12.300 --> 00:34:14.080 You are revealing yourself to me. 00:34:14.580 --> 00:34:17.780 Teach me what it means to follow this Jesus. 00:34:18.520 --> 00:34:22.400 Teach me what it means to embrace uncomfortable life 00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:24.380 if it means I discover who you are 00:34:24.380 --> 00:34:27.800 and I can walk in your life, in your light. 00:34:29.460 --> 00:34:32.540 We don't get to decide who Jesus is, 00:34:33.240 --> 00:34:34.680 but my question this morning is, 00:34:34.820 --> 00:34:39.020 what will you do with the Jesus as he is revealed in the scripture? 00:34:39.700 --> 00:34:39.960 Amen.