WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:03.220 bировAL fingers. 00:00:03.220 –> 00:00:07.120 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Collin Smith of Open the Bible. 00:00:07.120 –> 00:00:14.720 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website, openthebible.org. 00:00:14.720 –> 00:00:17.760 Let’s get to the message. 00:00:17.760 –> 00:00:20.360 Here is Pastor Collin… 00:00:20.360 –> 00:00:23.400 Let’s open our Bible at John’s Gospel. 00:00:23.400 –> 00:00:28.200 The new series is called Meet Jesus and I think that that title is a good description 00:00:28.200 –> 00:00:33.740 of what we’re looking for, for ourselves and for others in this New Year. 00:00:33.740 –> 00:00:41.200 We want everytime that we gather together for worship that we will meet with Jesus Christ. 00:00:41.200 –> 00:00:45.560 We do not meet here to preserve a dying tradition. 00:00:45.560 –> 00:00:47.279 We meet here to worship a living Savior. 00:00:47.279 –> 00:00:48.439 Is that right? 00:00:48.439 –> 00:00:53.480 And always remember the most important question when you leave church… 00:00:53.480 –> 00:00:56.480 What’s the most important question when you leave church? 00:00:56.480 –> 00:01:01.340 It’s not, Did I learn anything new? 00:01:01.340 –> 00:01:03.340 It’s not, Did you like the music? 00:01:03.340 –> 00:01:09.300 It’s not even, Did you meet up with some good friends? 00:01:09.300 –> 00:01:14.419 The most important question when you leave church on a Sunday morning is, Did I meet 00:01:14.419 –> 00:01:15.559 with Jesus? 00:01:15.559 –> 00:01:17.639 Did you draw near to Jesus Christ? 00:01:17.639 –> 00:01:19.580 Did you meet with him? 00:01:19.580 –> 00:01:21.019 Did he draw near to you? 00:01:21.019 –> 00:01:26.019 Did you know what it was for him to give light to your mind and renew faith within your heart 00:01:26.019 –> 00:01:27.599 and bring strength to your soul? 00:01:27.599 –> 00:01:28.959 That’s why we gather. 00:01:28.959 –> 00:01:32.040 That’s why we, as it is on the front of the, your folder today. 00:01:32.040 –> 00:01:36.839 We read the word and we sing the word and we pray the word and we preach the word. 00:01:36.839 –> 00:01:44.300 We open the word of Christ in order to meet with the Christ of the word. 00:01:44.300 –> 00:01:49.580 And so, to meet with Jesus is what we want for ourselves today and every time we gather. 00:01:49.580 –> 00:01:53.160 It is also what we want for other people. 00:01:53.199 –> 00:01:59.680 During the Thrive campaign, we learned a statistic that really is worth keeping in mind, that 00:01:59.680 –> 00:02:07.160 one in every four people in America today have no experience whatsoever of church. 00:02:07.160 –> 00:02:13.160 One in every four people have never experienced what we are experiencing right now, a congregation 00:02:13.160 –> 00:02:18.179 of people gathering together to worship the living Lord Jesus Christ. 00:02:18.179 –> 00:02:22.660 Never had any experience, any of the elements of worship, don’t even know what it is. 00:02:23.380 –> 00:02:25.919 One in every four in America. 00:02:25.919 –> 00:02:33.039 And we want to be really intentional about inviting many of these people to the orchard 00:02:33.039 –> 00:02:37.080 in order to gather with us, in order to meet with Jesus. 00:02:37.080 –> 00:02:42.160 And that’s why at the center of our worship there is always an open Bible so that we are 00:02:42.160 –> 00:02:47.380 able to discover who he is and what he has done and what he is able to do for all who 00:02:47.539 –> 00:02:50.339 will put their trust in him. 00:02:50.679 –> 00:02:54.820 And we’re coming to John’s Gospel because John’s Gospel is a great place to meet with 00:02:54.820 –> 00:02:55.820 Jesus. 00:02:55.820 –> 00:03:01.940 We are looking at the early chapters in the first months of the year, but if you glance 00:03:01.940 –> 00:03:06.779 to the end of the Gospel, we have a little statement there about why it was written. 00:03:06.779 –> 00:03:10.600 John chapter 20 and verse 21 tells us that these are written. 00:03:10.600 –> 00:03:15.779 That is, this Gospel was written so you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son 00:03:15.860 –> 00:03:19.479 of God and that by believing you may have life in his name. 00:03:19.479 –> 00:03:23.899 Well, that’s a wonderful description of what we want this church to be. 00:03:23.899 –> 00:03:31.279 We want The Orchard to be a place where people from every imaginable background would come 00:03:31.279 –> 00:03:37.839 together and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God, and by believing 00:03:37.839 –> 00:03:39.360 have life in his name. 00:03:39.360 –> 00:03:43.520 So if you’re a visitor today – and I’ve spoken already this morning to a good number 00:03:44.160 –> 00:03:47.919 of people who’ve been here today beginning of a new year for the very, very first time 00:03:47.919 –> 00:03:52.539 – if you’re here for the first time or just very, very new, I do want to say again, 00:03:52.539 –> 00:03:55.020 as Darren said earlier, welcome! 00:03:55.020 –> 00:03:57.100 So glad that you are here. 00:03:57.100 –> 00:04:03.000 Glad that you are here if you have a Christian faith or if you have some other faith or if 00:04:03.000 –> 00:04:07.520 you have no faith at all we are very glad that you would be interested to come here 00:04:07.699 –> 00:04:14.100 to Seattle and to sit with us with a Bible open in order to meet with Jesus. 00:04:14.100 –> 00:04:18.040 That’s what we’re about here in this place. 00:04:18.040 –> 00:04:26.279 Now I want to focus today particularly on verse 18 of John 1 where John speaks to what 00:04:26.279 –> 00:04:30.679 surely must be the first issue on any journey to faith. 00:04:30.679 –> 00:04:32.920 What’s the first question? 00:04:32.920 –> 00:04:34.899 Well, how can I know God? 00:04:35.100 –> 00:04:38.799 How can I come to know who God is? 00:04:38.799 –> 00:04:41.220 And John makes two statements here in this verse. 00:04:41.220 –> 00:04:45.859 No one has ever seen God. 00:04:45.859 –> 00:04:53.940 The only God who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. 00:04:53.940 –> 00:05:00.019 Now there are clearly two statements here, so let’s take them in order. 00:05:00.119 –> 00:05:05.019 The first, no one has ever seen God. 00:05:05.019 –> 00:05:14.160 Now friends, these words are of huge importance for all of us today as we live, I think very 00:05:14.179 –> 00:05:22.179 wonderfully, in a increasingly diverse and therefore very rich culture. 00:05:22.179 –> 00:05:28.619 Earlier generations in this country grew up in an environment that was so dominated by 00:05:28.619 –> 00:05:34.179 Christianity that there really only was one question, you know, do you believe it or do 00:05:34.179 –> 00:05:36.619 you not? 00:05:36.619 –> 00:05:44.619 But today a student going onto the campus of any university quickly realizes that there 00:05:44.660 –> 00:05:52.959 are people who profess many, many, many different beliefs on that campus, and there are Muslims 00:05:53.200 –> 00:05:59.239 and there are Jews and there are Christians and there are Hindus and there are Sikhs, 00:05:59.239 –> 00:06:03.640 there will be a new age group probably, a number of different varieties of that sort, 00:06:03.640 –> 00:06:10.079 and there will be some who are into the occult and all of them are all talking about God. 00:06:10.079 –> 00:06:16.279 Now here’s our student who arrives on the campus and all of these people are speaking 00:06:16.279 –> 00:06:22.920 about God, saying all kinds of different things in regards to him. How in the world is a thoughtful 00:06:23.040 –> 00:06:29.540 person to choose between them? That’s the question. And I think that the first thing 00:06:29.540 –> 00:06:34.540 to keep in mind for that student going onto the campus or indeed for any of us in the 00:06:34.540 –> 00:06:40.480 culture in which we live today is the first part of John chapter 1, in verse 18, no one 00:06:40.480 –> 00:06:47.480 has ever seen God. That cuts through a lot of clutter. No one has ever seen God. 00:06:53.459 –> 00:07:00.359 Now these words could hardly be clearer but they obviously raise some questions. What 00:07:00.359 –> 00:07:05.899 about the Old Testament? Didn’t Adam and Eve walk with God in the garden of Eden? Didn’t 00:07:05.899 –> 00:07:12.220 Moses speak with God, does it not say face to face? Does Isaiah not say in the year that 00:07:12.220 –> 00:07:18.920 King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord? Well there are indeed many occasions in the 00:07:18.920 –> 00:07:27.160 Old Testament when God appeared in a visible form. We call these Theophanies and they are 00:07:27.160 –> 00:07:33.839 wonderful examples of God making himself known in particular times and places and to particular 00:07:33.839 –> 00:07:43.140 people. But remember the Bible is very clear that God is spirit, he is invisible to us. 00:07:43.260 –> 00:07:50.799 Read later on in the New Testament these words, he dwells in unapproachable light and no one 00:07:50.799 –> 00:07:59.160 has ever seen him or can see him. When Isaiah says in the year that Uzziah died I saw the 00:07:59.160 –> 00:08:04.420 Lord you just need to read a couple of verses further and you get a more clearer description 00:08:04.420 –> 00:08:11.760 of what it was that he actually saw. He says I saw the hem of the lord’s garment, the 00:08:11.760 –> 00:08:20.739 edge of his train, and that filled the temple. So if you imagine a robe and the hem of the 00:08:20.739 –> 00:08:27.399 robe is so massive that it fills the entire sanctuary, fills it. And you look up and all 00:08:27.399 –> 00:08:31.720 you see is the hem of the robe filling this entire sanctuary, you can’t see anything 00:08:31.720 –> 00:08:36.080 beyond that, because all you can see is the hem of the robe. That’s what Isaiah saw. 00:08:37.000 –> 00:08:43.440 So it’s a manifestation of the presence of the Lord, little edge. And what about Moses? 00:08:43.440 –> 00:08:48.179 He says to God, I really want to see Your glory and you can read this in Exodus, in 00:08:48.179 –> 00:08:59.179 chapter 33, God says to Moses, you cannot see my face for man shall not see me and live. 00:08:59.559 –> 00:09:07.140 Moses, if you as a sinful person, we’re all sinners, were to be exposed to the direct 00:09:07.140 –> 00:09:13.440 and full knowledge of the glory of the Lord, you would be fried on the spot, you wouldn’t 00:09:13.440 –> 00:09:14.440 survive it. 00:09:14.440 –> 00:09:17.039 That’s what’s being said. 00:09:17.039 –> 00:09:19.099 And so then God said this, here’s what I’ll do. 00:09:19.099 –> 00:09:21.280 You do want to know me, Moses, that’s a good thing. 00:09:21.280 –> 00:09:27.840 So I’m gonna hide you in the cleft of a rock and I’m gonna put my hand over the cleft 00:09:28.000 –> 00:09:32.880 of the rock and I’m going to allow my glory to pass by and afterwards I’ll take my hand 00:09:32.880 –> 00:09:38.500 away, and then you will see, God says, my back, but you cannot see my face, because 00:09:38.500 –> 00:09:42.440 no-one can see the face of God and live. 00:09:42.440 –> 00:09:48.780 And so what Moses saw, if you like, was the afterburn of the glory of God having passed 00:09:48.780 –> 00:09:53.640 by the cleft of the rock. 00:09:53.640 –> 00:09:58.780 And in line with all of that truth from the Old Testament, here the apostle John says 00:09:58.780 –> 00:10:03.320 no-one has ever seen God. 00:10:03.320 –> 00:10:10.020 And friends I want us to take that in and just think through what that means here. 00:10:10.020 –> 00:10:20.820 What that means no-one has ever seen God, not Moses, not Muhammed, not the Dalai Lama, 00:10:20.820 –> 00:10:27.960 not any guru or any religious teacher from the West or from the East, no-one who lays 00:10:27.960 –> 00:10:35.539 claim on television or in a book of having had experiences or visions of another world, 00:10:35.539 –> 00:10:46.799 no prophet, no pastor, no person you can ever meet or read or hear or see in this world 00:10:46.799 –> 00:10:52.580 has ever seen God, period. 00:10:52.580 –> 00:10:58.159 So here’s what that means for a student going on to the campus. Don’t be gullible. Don’t 00:10:58.159 –> 00:11:04.000 be naive. Don’t believe everything you hear. A lot of people have the idea that if you’re 00:11:04.000 –> 00:11:08.659 going to have faith, the first thing you have to do is park your mind and become the most 00:11:08.659 –> 00:11:13.919 naive person on the face of the Earth, not according to what John is saying here. He’s 00:11:14.580 –> 00:11:19.320 saying, don’t believe everything that you hear. All of these claims that are out there, 00:11:19.320 –> 00:11:25.799 put every religious claim you ever hear in your entire life through this filter, no-one 00:11:25.799 –> 00:11:31.159 has ever seen God. 00:11:31.159 –> 00:11:38.000 By the way, that’s the answer to authoritarianism. You’re some big-shot pastor who arises within 00:11:38.000 –> 00:11:42.559 a church and suddenly is trying to tell everyone what to do, that’s how cults get going, by 00:11:42.559 –> 00:11:47.880 the way, isn’t it? And what’s your answer to someone that starts trying to make every 00:11:47.880 –> 00:11:53.039 decision for your life and tell you everything that you should be doing? Here’s how you’d 00:11:53.039 –> 00:12:01.039 answer, you have not seen God. No one has ever seen God. There’s a tremendous freedom 00:12:01.039 –> 00:12:05.260 that comes from knowing that. It clears away all the clutter. 00:12:06.119 –> 00:12:16.679 Now notice the second statement here. The only God who is at the Father’s side has 00:12:16.679 –> 00:12:23.900 made Him known. Now John is referring here of course to Jesus Christ who is the subject 00:12:23.900 –> 00:12:29.640 of the gospel and is the subject of the entire Bible. If we ask the question, how is it that 00:12:29.640 –> 00:12:35.700 Jesus Christ can make God known? How then can He do what no religion has ever done? 00:12:35.700 –> 00:12:42.320 And what no other person past, present and future could ever do? Well, obviously verse 00:12:42.320 –> 00:12:49.340 eighteen is the conclusion to this introduction or prologue to John’s gospel. And I want you 00:12:49.340 –> 00:12:55.760 to see that these verses, the opening verses of Johns gospel actually give us a seven fold 00:12:56.219 –> 00:13:02.599 description of the unique glory of Jesus Christ which when all of these things are laid together 00:13:02.599 –> 00:13:07.400 you can see why John draws the conclusion from this that the only God who is at the 00:13:07.400 –> 00:13:13.479 father’s side has made him known. Let me give it to you in a sentence. Jesus Christ 00:13:13.479 –> 00:13:21.219 according to these verses of the Bible is the eternal, personal, divine, creating, life 00:13:21.380 –> 00:13:25.900 giving, incarnate son of God. There’s a seven fold description of his unique glory. 00:13:25.900 –> 00:13:32.900 Jesus Christ is the eternal, personal, divine, creating, life giving incarnate son of God. 00:13:33.900 –> 00:13:39.900 Look at each of these things in these verses. First, he’s eternal. In the beginning was 00:13:39.900 –> 00:13:46.900 the word. You see thank God it does not say, in the beginning was God and no one has ever 00:13:47.679 –> 00:13:54.679 seen him or made him known. If that was the case there would be no point in us being here. 00:13:55.179 –> 00:13:58.859 It does not say in the beginning was God and no one has ever seen him or made him known. 00:13:58.859 –> 00:14:05.859 It says, in the beginning was the word. So God speaks. God communicates himself. He makes 00:14:06.659 –> 00:14:11.479 himself known. That’s what we’re being told here. 00:14:12.440 –> 00:14:14.840 I said in the earlier service, you know, some of you may have 00:14:14.840 –> 00:14:19.919 not have heard this story, but I heard it many many times years ago and then 00:14:19.919 –> 00:14:23.580 someone in the foyer said I’m so glad you told that story and gave the answer 00:14:23.580 –> 00:14:27.559 to it because I was reading last night in a philosophy class and it had exactly 00:14:27.559 –> 00:14:32.159 this story. So if you’re on campus you might hear it. I thought it was too old 00:14:32.159 –> 00:14:34.799 to repeat but there you are. It’s apparently in a philosophy class that’s 00:14:34.799 –> 00:14:37.820 being taught today. Here’s how the story goes. People are 00:14:37.900 –> 00:14:44.440 critical of faith and it goes like this that all religions are really like the 00:14:44.440 –> 00:14:51.260 attempts of blind men to describe an elephant and what happens, you see, is 00:14:51.260 –> 00:14:57.799 that one blind man gets hold of the tail of the elephant and says an elephant 00:14:57.799 –> 00:15:04.700 it’s like a long thin rope and another blind man he gets hold of the front of 00:15:04.700 –> 00:15:07.299 the elephant, the trunk of the elephant and he says no no no that’s definitely 00:15:07.419 –> 00:15:14.179 not right an elephant is like a long long flexible tube and then there’s 00:15:14.179 –> 00:15:17.599 another guy who is at the side of the elephant he’s saying you guys must be 00:15:17.599 –> 00:15:20.099 blind or something I don’t know what you’re talking about he says an 00:15:20.099 –> 00:15:23.440 elephants like a high wall made of leather 00:15:23.440 –> 00:15:29.380 and so the conclusion of the the story goes this is what of course all religion 00:15:29.380 –> 00:15:35.260 is no one has ever seen God we’re all just like blind men and so we’re like 00:15:35.539 –> 00:15:40.640 men attempting to describe the elephant and therefore we’re all speaking across 00:15:40.640 –> 00:15:43.419 each other and so forth and so on now how are you going to respond to that 00:15:43.419 –> 00:15:49.159 story when it comes up in your philosophy class see I think that a good 00:15:49.159 –> 00:15:58.000 response to that story is what if the elephant were to speak what if the 00:15:58.719 –> 00:16:09.359 could say let me tell you who I am I am a very complex animal with a trunk and a 00:16:09.359 –> 00:16:19.539 body and a tail listen to me you blind men and I will tell you who I am and you 00:16:19.539 –> 00:16:25.919 will be able to make sense of your experience now do you see the 00:16:25.919 –> 00:16:31.159 significance of this in the beginning was the Word the living God who has 00:16:31.159 –> 00:16:36.900 created all things speaks he communicates himself he tells us who he 00:16:36.900 –> 00:16:40.500 is otherwise we would be complete ignorance because no one has ever seen 00:16:40.500 –> 00:16:47.679 God but there is a way in which he can be known and it begins with the fact 00:16:47.780 –> 00:16:56.260 that in the beginning was the Word that speaks I’ll tell you who I am then 00:16:56.260 –> 00:17:01.440 you’ll be able to make some sense of your experience second this Word is 00:17:01.440 –> 00:17:10.920 personal the Word was with God verse 1 so there’s personhood here we’re coming 00:17:10.920 –> 00:17:16.599 right to the central truth of the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ the great truth 00:17:16.599 –> 00:17:21.680 of the Trinity itself is is right here in the scriptures and derived from here 00:17:21.680 –> 00:17:26.280 as well as from many many other places the word is not an aspect of God the 00:17:26.280 –> 00:17:30.880 word is not a characteristic of God like God’s mercy or God’s love there is 00:17:30.880 –> 00:17:37.280 distinct personality here the word is Him all things were made by Him and 00:17:37.280 –> 00:17:43.839 without Him nothing it was made that has been made so he’s with God that is 00:17:43.880 –> 00:17:51.520 personality he has personhood but notice that this is a divine person because not 00:17:51.520 –> 00:17:55.560 only was the word with God the word was God he was God he’s not part of the 00:17:55.560 –> 00:18:01.000 creation he does some kind of emanation he’s not like an angel created by God or 00:18:01.000 –> 00:18:07.920 like ourselves notice how the same twin truths that relate to our Lord Jesus 00:18:08.239 –> 00:18:12.319 Christ are stated in verse 1 and again in the same way 00:18:12.319 –> 00:18:17.619 in verse 18 in verse one we’re told that the word was with God there’s 00:18:17.619 –> 00:18:26.939 personhood and was God there’s deity and in verse 18 he is the only God and he is 00:18:26.939 –> 00:18:30.699 at the Father’s side so there’s deity and there is personhood you have the 00:18:30.699 –> 00:18:36.439 same thing in verse 1 and in verse 18 and this eternal word who is personal 00:18:36.680 –> 00:18:43.000 and who is divine is creating it was through him that all things were made 00:18:43.000 –> 00:18:47.520 the reason that there is some knowledge of God that can be gained from the 00:18:47.520 –> 00:18:52.119 created order the rivers the moon and the stars and so forth they speak of his 00:18:52.119 –> 00:18:58.000 greatness they pour forth speech is that they are the handiwork of this eternal 00:18:58.000 –> 00:19:04.060 Word of God therefore they bear some impression of who he is and some 00:19:04.079 –> 00:19:09.619 expression of who he is cuz he’s the Creator he’s the life giver in him was 00:19:09.619 –> 00:19:15.219 life verse 4. Dr. Jim Packer says here is the Bible’s answer to the problem of the 00:19:15.219 –> 00:19:20.660 origin and the continuance of life in all its forms life is given and 00:19:20.660 –> 00:19:30.739 maintained by the word so what is it that makes me alive and that question 00:19:31.500 –> 00:19:38.300 who makes me alive it’s this word of God it’s God who breathes life into me 00:19:38.300 –> 00:19:43.760 through this being who is being introduced to us here in these verses 00:19:43.760 –> 00:19:50.300 and he became incarnate this word became flesh verse 14 and dwelt among us so the 00:19:50.300 –> 00:19:54.920 baby who lay in that manger we’ve been celebrating at Christmas really was the 00:19:54.939 –> 00:20:01.959 eternal Word of God God himself with us that’s what John is saying and as we 00:20:01.959 –> 00:20:07.280 listen to the very words of Jesus we are listening to God speaking God in Christ 00:20:07.280 –> 00:20:11.900 reconciling the world to himself and he is the Son of God 00:20:11.900 –> 00:20:15.800 He’s the only Son from the Father the word became flesh and dwelt among us 00:20:15.800 –> 00:20:20.319 we’ve seen his glory as of the only Son of the Father full of grace and truth so 00:20:20.420 –> 00:20:25.900 he’s introducing Jesus meet Jesus you’re gonna hear all kinds of stories about 00:20:25.900 –> 00:20:31.599 him in the gospel here words that he spoke let me tell you John says right up 00:20:31.599 –> 00:20:35.199 front who he is I’ll give you a sevenfold description of his glory Jesus 00:20:35.199 –> 00:20:39.520 Christ you’re gonna meet in this gospel is none other than the eternal personal 00:20:39.520 –> 00:20:44.160 divine creative life giving incarnate Son of God that’s who you’re gonna meet 00:20:44.300 –> 00:20:51.719 this one was with the Father from the beginning at the Father side he is one 00:20:51.719 –> 00:20:56.939 with the Father he is God and he is God with us he has come down from the Father 00:20:56.939 –> 00:21:08.099 this is how he and he alone is able to make the Father known now that is the 00:21:08.099 –> 00:21:11.719 essence of what we have in these marvelous verses that are at the 00:21:11.719 –> 00:21:16.680 beginning of John’s gospel let’s get now to the application the question before 00:21:16.680 –> 00:21:28.459 us is how can I know God how can we know who God is and I would suggest you 00:21:28.459 –> 00:21:35.060 there are at least three answers out there in our culture today and what John 00:21:35.060 –> 00:21:40.319 says here speaks to every one of them one answer to the question how can I 00:21:40.339 –> 00:21:47.520 know who God is is some people say well we can’t know that’s the answer of 00:21:47.520 –> 00:21:52.880 agnosticism of course we can’t know actually the number of people who are in 00:21:52.880 –> 00:21:58.479 the don’t know category according to all religious surveys that I’ve seen is 00:21:58.479 –> 00:22:05.119 rapidly increasing the don’t knows I I don’t know when it comes to things about 00:22:05.160 –> 00:22:10.160 God I don’t know and it may well be I would be surprised if it was not the 00:22:10.160 –> 00:22:14.459 case that there maybe many people a good number of people in the congregation 00:22:14.459 –> 00:22:19.359 today and that would be your honest position and again I’m so glad that you 00:22:19.359 –> 00:22:23.199 would be here and that we would be able to sit here together with an open Bible 00:22:23.199 –> 00:22:28.619 and to submit ourselves to open our minds and our hearts to what is said 00:22:28.619 –> 00:22:34.800 here with regards to Jesus Christ but your position maybe right now you say 00:22:34.900 –> 00:22:37.979 well you know what I’ve not been able really to get to the place of committing 00:22:37.979 –> 00:22:43.420 myself to any particular faith or creed on the other hand why am I here in 00:22:43.420 –> 00:22:49.099 church well I’m not an atheist I have a sense that there may be something out 00:22:49.099 –> 00:22:54.400 there just don’t know what it is I don’t know I don’t know and because I don’t 00:22:54.400 –> 00:23:01.219 know that’s why I’ve not been able to commit myself now do you see friend 00:23:01.239 –> 00:23:07.180 where that’s your position do you see how what John says here speaks 00:23:07.180 –> 00:23:14.760 to you and gives to you the most marvelous invitation you’re saying I 00:23:14.760 –> 00:23:25.599 don’t know I don’t know God and John is saying that the Son of God has come into 00:23:25.599 –> 00:23:31.479 the world in order to make Him known? 00:23:31.479 –> 00:23:35.439 Do you see how Jesus then offers 00:23:35.439 –> 00:23:41.599 to you something very very wonderful and why this gospel that we’re opening up 00:23:41.599 –> 00:23:45.099 together that is written for the very purpose that you may believe that Jesus 00:23:45.099 –> 00:23:49.239 is this Christ the Son of God and that you may have life in his name do you see 00:23:49.239 –> 00:23:51.579 why how this speaks to you? 00:23:51.979 –> 00:23:54.219 Some of you 00:23:54.219 –> 00:23:58.339 who are committed Christians who are gonna speak this week there’s going to be 00:23:58.339 –> 00:24:02.819 a conversation will happen with a friend or a colleague work a neighbour member 00:24:02.819 –> 00:24:08.099 of the wider family or whoever who is I don’t know with regards to Christian 00:24:08.099 –> 00:24:11.739 faith and you know they may say to you well how was your new year and what did 00:24:11.739 –> 00:24:15.079 you do over the weekend oh yeah you were in church and so forth and they might 00:24:15.079 –> 00:24:18.540 say to you hey that’s great if you find it helpful but you know it’s I just 00:24:18.640 –> 00:24:21.939 don’t know I’m agnostic when it comes to these things 00:24:21.939 –> 00:24:27.339 well you could say to them something like this and it might be helpful you 00:24:27.339 –> 00:24:30.780 could say you know what I understand how you could come to that conclusion I mean 00:24:30.780 –> 00:24:34.579 we were writing in the Bible just this weekend it actually says in the Bible no 00:24:34.579 –> 00:24:39.020 one has ever seen God I could understand why you would say well how could any of 00:24:39.020 –> 00:24:43.459 us possibly know but have you ever looked at the second half of the verse 00:24:43.459 –> 00:24:48.040 that says that because in the second half of the verse it says 00:24:48.040 –> 00:24:55.760 God the one and only who’s at the Father’s side has made him known so it 00:24:55.760 –> 00:25:00.319 would be a great mistake for anyone who’s a don’t know in church today to 00:25:00.319 –> 00:25:06.760 kind of say you know that was interesting but I don’t know and go off 00:25:06.760 –> 00:25:10.060 get something to eat pick up a game and just move on with your life that’d be a 00:25:10.060 –> 00:25:13.760 great mistake that would be for you to miss a great opportunity that is held 00:25:14.520 –> 00:25:20.959 before you today God the one and only who is at the Father’s side has made him 00:25:20.959 –> 00:25:29.079 known and John is telling you that if you get to know Jesus Christ you really 00:25:29.079 –> 00:25:35.180 will know God and that this gospel has been written precisely for this purpose 00:25:35.180 –> 00:25:38.160 so that you should believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God and that by 00:25:38.160 –> 00:25:43.319 believing you should have life in his name so surely the right response is not 00:25:43.439 –> 00:25:48.020 for you to say well it’s very interesting but I don’t know surely the right 00:25:48.020 –> 00:25:53.640 response for you is to say you know what I need to learn from Jesus I need to 00:25:53.640 –> 00:25:58.079 start opening this Bible I need to come back Sunday by Sunday place myself under 00:25:58.079 –> 00:26:03.560 this Bible let Jesus become my teacher because he’s the only one who can teach 00:26:03.560 –> 00:26:07.660 me what I do not know and he’s the one who can bring me into a knowledge of 00:26:07.880 –> 00:26:16.099 us God I otherwise could not possibly ever know that’s one position we can’t 00:26:16.099 –> 00:26:22.319 know and you can see how John speaks to that very very clearly here’s a second 00:26:22.319 –> 00:26:26.380 answer to the question how do we know who God is how can we know God how can 00:26:26.380 –> 00:26:31.640 we grow in our knowledge of God well a second answer that’s out there and again 00:26:31.839 –> 00:26:37.160 increasingly common I think is we all know it’s kind of the opposite if we 00:26:37.160 –> 00:26:44.520 can’t know is the answer of agnosticism then we all know is really the answer of 00:26:44.520 –> 00:26:52.920 mysticism and mysticism has been surprisingly attractive down through the 00:26:52.920 –> 00:26:57.119 centuries to many evangelical Christians it has 00:26:57.119 –> 00:27:02.880 been a kind of lure that has caught many evangelical Christians over the 00:27:02.880 –> 00:27:09.160 years and led them away from sure foundations of faith and for that reason 00:27:09.160 –> 00:27:16.199 I want us to make this application today evangelicals have for many many 00:27:16.199 –> 00:27:21.319 years centuries talked about having a quiet time 00:27:21.359 –> 00:27:29.920 that’s a good thing by that evangelicals have meant a time of reading the Bible 00:27:29.920 –> 00:27:38.260 which is how God speaks to us and prayer which is how we speak to God and with 00:27:38.260 –> 00:27:42.359 that understanding I hope that you would have made it a commitment and that it 00:27:42.359 –> 00:27:45.619 would already be a practice and if not that it would be beginning this New Year 00:27:45.619 –> 00:27:50.260 that you should have such a time of reading the Bible and of prayer and that 00:27:50.540 –> 00:27:56.199 you weave it into the regular pattern of your daily life so that you know what it 00:27:56.199 –> 00:27:59.579 is to walk with God, to listen to his voice through the scriptures and to be 00:27:59.579 –> 00:28:05.719 able to speak to him, to walk and to live in fellowship with him. But here’s what’s 00:28:05.719 –> 00:28:12.699 happened and it’s a change that perhaps some have not noticed. As large parts of 00:28:12.699 –> 00:28:20.780 the church are drifting away from the scriptures, many people have latched on 00:28:20.780 –> 00:28:25.760 to the idea, including many evangelicals have latched on to the idea, that we can 00:28:25.760 –> 00:28:34.780 listen to God simply by being quiet. In fact, it has become alarmingly common 00:28:34.979 –> 00:28:41.660 among Christians to think that listening to God means being quiet and 00:28:41.660 –> 00:28:48.939 basically listening to your own heart. Now here’s the problem with that. God 00:28:48.939 –> 00:28:55.319 says, and I’m quoting Isaiah chapter 55 and verse eight, my thoughts are not your 00:28:55.319 –> 00:29:02.579 thoughts and your thoughts are not my thoughts. 00:29:02.579 –> 00:29:08.939 If you believe that you listen to God by 00:29:08.939 –> 00:29:13.339 becoming quiet and tuning into your own heart, what you have actually done is you 00:29:13.339 –> 00:29:18.219 have put your own heart in the place of God himself. You have made an idol of 00:29:18.219 –> 00:29:21.959 your own heart and if you make an idol of your own heart, here’s what you’ll do. 00:29:21.959 –> 00:29:25.420 You’ll spend your life following the impulses of your own heart, and who in 00:29:25.420 –> 00:29:31.880 the world knows where that will lead you? Thank God the Gospel does not begin by 00:29:32.020 –> 00:29:38.400 saying, in the beginning where our hearts, and our hearts were with God and our 00:29:38.400 –> 00:29:45.839 hearts were God. It does not say that. It says in the beginning was the Word and 00:29:45.839 –> 00:29:52.959 the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word became flesh and He has 00:29:52.959 –> 00:29:59.180 made the Father known, so that the entrance of God’s Word, that is the 00:30:00.119 –> 00:30:04.300 only know Christ through the scriptures. We do not know Christ apart from 00:30:04.300 –> 00:30:07.680 the scriptures. We’re only left with a Christ we imagine if we close our 00:30:07.680 –> 00:30:14.719 Bibles. The entrance of God’s Word gives light. Now let me try and put this as 00:30:14.719 –> 00:30:23.040 clearly as I possibly can so that we get it. You won’t get to know God by having 00:30:23.040 –> 00:30:27.239 a time every day where you reflect on your own thoughts and feelings, sitting 00:30:27.800 –> 00:30:31.540 your legs curled up on a sofa with a cup of coffee and Christian music playing 00:30:31.540 –> 00:30:35.400 in the background. You will not get to know God. That’s not 00:30:35.400 –> 00:30:41.060 how you get to know God. And you might be surprised how many evangelicals 00:30:41.060 –> 00:30:45.000 actually have bought into that. That’s my version of the quiet time. 00:30:45.000 –> 00:30:50.339 A cup of coffee, Christian music, and I sit curled up on the sofa and I got my 00:30:50.339 –> 00:30:55.479 journal and I reflect on my thoughts and feelings and tune in and this is my 00:30:55.479 –> 00:31:06.099 time with God. You speak to God in prayer. God speaks to you through his 00:31:06.099 –> 00:31:12.479 word. If the elephant did not speak the men indeed would be very blind. And God 00:31:12.479 –> 00:31:21.280 does speak. But he speaks through his word. You listen to God with an open 00:31:21.280 –> 00:31:25.219 Bible because that is how he speaks. Now let me just apply this and push it just 00:31:25.219 –> 00:31:28.579 one step further there’s been and I think this is a very good thing, a kind 00:31:28.579 –> 00:31:33.119 of resurgence of interest in journaling over these last 00:31:33.119 –> 00:31:37.300 years. I mean just look at the array of beautiful journals that are on sale in 00:31:37.300 –> 00:31:40.959 any bookstore these days you can see that there’s a big market for this. Not 00:31:40.959 –> 00:31:45.099 only among Christians but very very widely and many of us may have made a 00:31:45.099 –> 00:31:47.780 commitment to you know I’m going to journal this year. I’m going to write 00:31:47.780 –> 00:31:51.459 things down and so forth and so on. That’s really a very very good thing. I 00:31:51.640 –> 00:31:57.020 have not always but during critical periods of my life particularly where 00:31:57.020 –> 00:32:00.459 there seemed to be an important issue or perhaps change or whatever I’ve found it 00:32:00.459 –> 00:32:03.180 very helpful to write down thoughts and feelings 00:32:03.180 –> 00:32:06.160 and impressions, things that people have said, questions people have asked and so 00:32:06.160 –> 00:32:09.900 forth and so on and then you look back over them on a period of time. That’s 00:32:09.900 –> 00:32:15.839 a good thing to do. But if you want to do that you bought a nice shiny new journal 00:32:15.839 –> 00:32:19.020 with a lovely cover here’s what to write in the front page 00:32:19.040 –> 00:32:24.339 before you even get started in the new year. Write on that first page so that 00:32:24.339 –> 00:32:34.619 you never forget it. This is a journal of my thoughts and feelings. They will 00:32:34.619 –> 00:32:41.920 change over time and they have no eternal significance whatever. Write that 00:32:41.920 –> 00:32:47.119 on the front page and then fill out your entire journal and it will be a record 00:32:47.119 –> 00:32:50.380 of all you’ve ever thought and felt and it will be very fascinating to go back 00:32:50.380 –> 00:32:55.760 years later and you say my goodness to think I once thought that. But if you’re 00:32:55.760 –> 00:33:00.719 keen on journaling here’s what I want you to do. Go buy a second journal, a 00:33:00.719 –> 00:33:06.979 different cover so you can always tell the two apart and write on the inside of 00:33:07.140 –> 00:33:18.780 one. This is a journal of what God is teaching me through his Word. God’s Word 00:33:18.780 –> 00:33:28.339 is truth, it abides forever, and those who trust in him will never be put to shame. 00:33:28.339 –> 00:33:33.900 And you use that journal to write down what God is teaching you from an open 00:33:34.420 –> 00:33:41.979 Bible concerning Jesus Christ as you meditate on, and reflect, and apply, and believe all 00:33:41.979 –> 00:33:47.459 that you are reading in the scriptures. What I’m pleading with you today is to get beyond 00:33:47.459 –> 00:33:52.300 the self-absorbed world of sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee or the Christian 00:33:52.300 –> 00:33:58.660 music and reflecting merely on your own feelings. I’m saying get the Bible open on the mix, 00:33:58.660 –> 00:34:02.280 fine with the coffee, fine with the sofa, and I don’t even mind the Christian music, 00:34:02.280 –> 00:34:09.239 but get the Bible open because that’s how God speaks to you. And if you’re not practicing 00:34:09.239 –> 00:34:16.620 that, you’ve really slid into mysticism much more than you realize. This is core to Christian 00:34:16.620 –> 00:34:21.780 belief. No one has ever seen God. It’s the Son of God, the Word of God, the one and only 00:34:21.780 –> 00:34:25.580 is at the Father’s side who has made him known, and we know him through the scriptures. So 00:34:25.580 –> 00:34:30.479 get your Bible open if you want to know God. Make it your commitment this year that whatever 00:34:30.479 –> 00:34:35.280 you do in your time, you’re gonna make sure that you immerse yourself in some part of 00:34:35.280 –> 00:34:39.899 the Word of God and make it part of your commitment to say, in every week, I’m gonna do that and 00:34:39.899 –> 00:34:44.000 I’m gonna be part of a church that really believes that we’re about immersing ourselves 00:34:44.000 –> 00:34:50.540 in the Word of God, and I want to be part of that because how else will I possibly come 00:34:50.540 –> 00:34:58.179 to know him? So, some people say, how are we gonna know God? We can’t. Well, John says, 00:34:58.260 –> 00:35:00.300 God says no, no, no, that’s not the case, the one and only has come 00:35:00.300 –> 00:35:05.840 to make him known. Some people say well, we all know him, it’s just in our hearts, it’s 00:35:05.840 –> 00:35:09.939 by intuition, it’s what we’re thinking and what we’re feeling and John says, no, nobody 00:35:09.939 –> 00:35:15.979 has ever seen God and it’s only through Jesus Christ that you have the true knowledge of 00:35:15.979 –> 00:35:20.939 God, and this Christ is the Christ of the Word. And so, that then takes us to the third 00:35:20.939 –> 00:35:24.780 answer, which of course is what John is saying, and what’s before us today. How do I know 00:35:24.899 –> 00:35:31.899 who God is? Jesus Christ knows. That’s it, Jesus Christ knows. No one has ever seen God, 00:35:33.659 –> 00:35:40.659 the only God who is at the father’s side, he has made him known. And what that means 00:35:42.340 –> 00:35:49.340 for us friends is that no one else ever stands beside him, about who else has it ever been 00:35:50.060 –> 00:35:57.060 said or could it ever be said that he is the eternal, personal, divine creating, life-giving, 00:35:57.800 –> 00:36:04.800 incarnate son of God. You say, why do Christians worship Jesus? Because of who he is and no 00:36:04.800 –> 00:36:11.800 one else can ever stand beside him. Who else could ever say I am the way and the truth 00:36:11.919 –> 00:36:18.919 and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me, except this eternal and personal and 00:36:19.260 –> 00:36:25.120 divine, creating, life-giving incarnate son of God. But he says it. And what that means 00:36:25.120 –> 00:36:32.120 as John introduces us to this Jesus is that you will not find any higher way than you 00:36:32.600 –> 00:36:36.360 will find in him. You will not find any more reliable truth than you will find in him. 00:36:36.399 –> 00:36:42.840 You certainly will never find a better life then you can find in him. Believe it my friend. 00:36:42.840 –> 00:36:47.560 And not only I there no one who can stand beside him, there will never be anyone who 00:36:47.560 –> 00:36:53.000 goes beyond him. See we live in this world of upgrades, don’t we? Where everything 00:36:53.000 –> 00:36:56.919 is built on obsolescence. Every product you buy within a few months or at the very most 00:36:56.919 –> 00:37:02.899 of after years, will be on the heap and it will be replaced by some later and more impressive 00:37:03.820 –> 00:37:09.100 and it will be replaced by some later and more improved model. But no one has ever gone 00:37:09.100 –> 00:37:15.459 beyond Jesus Christ and no one ever can and no one ever will. Not in this world and not 00:37:15.459 –> 00:37:19.179 even in heaven itself and the world to come for all eternity. 00:37:19.179 –> 00:37:24.820 And man by the name of H.R. Mcintosh wrote a sentence that has moved me. And so I share 00:37:24.820 –> 00:37:31.459 it with you. He says this, never in any experience of God here or hereafter. 00:37:31.760 –> 00:37:37.000 So, he’s talking about experience that you can have in this world or experience that 00:37:37.000 –> 00:37:42.360 you will have in the eternal world that lies beyond. He says, never in any experience of 00:37:42.360 –> 00:37:49.860 God here or hereafter will you or I ever find anything that is not already there for us 00:37:49.860 –> 00:37:52.500 in Jesus Christ, the word made flesh. 00:37:52.500 –> 00:37:59.600 You never move beyond him. You never outgrow him. How could you, when you look at who he 00:37:59.659 –> 00:38:01.939 is. 00:38:01.939 –> 00:38:05.760 That’s why at the end of the Bible John, who wrote this gospel, he’s given this marvelous 00:38:05.760 –> 00:38:10.399 glimpse, a vision of the people of God at the end of time and they’re there in the presence 00:38:10.399 –> 00:38:14.659 of the Lord in heaven. And he looks through the crowd, and he sees at the center, there’s 00:38:14.659 –> 00:38:20.280 a throne, and on the throne is the lamb. That’s one of the ways in which John introduces Jesus. 00:38:20.280 –> 00:38:25.340 We’ll see in a couple of weeks, the lamb of God who was slain, who laid down his life 00:38:25.419 –> 00:38:33.340 We’re thinking about that at the commission table. And it says he is their shepherd. And 00:38:33.340 –> 00:38:39.520 he is the one who leads them into springs of living water. In other words every joy 00:38:39.520 –> 00:38:46.179 for the people of God forever and forever is with him, and through him, and in him, 00:38:46.179 –> 00:38:55.260 and never without him. You take the kids to some park, a theme park or a park where there’s 00:38:55.280 –> 00:38:59.959 rides or whatever that is, you pay your way and you go and what’s the first instinct 00:38:59.959 –> 00:39:05.459 of the kids? They want to run off on their own! They want to say let’s go and explore 00:39:05.459 –> 00:39:13.239 these rides, and the swings, or the slides, or shoots, or rides, or whatever it is! Heaven 00:39:13.239 –> 00:39:17.080 will not be like that. It will not be that Christian believers will come and will see 00:39:17.080 –> 00:39:21.080 Jesus and will say, Oh, Jesus, thank you, aren’t you wonderful. And then after we’ve 00:39:21.340 –> 00:39:27.820 there for a bit we say, hey, let’s go, let’s go into the celestial playground! No! No, 00:39:27.820 –> 00:39:34.820 all our joy is in him! And every joy we experience is with Him, and through Him, and because 00:39:35.080 –> 00:39:41.520 of Him, and in Him. He’s the shepherd that’s leading us into everlasting springs of water 00:39:41.520 –> 00:39:48.919 and of life and of joy. Our life and our joy is in knowing him! And that’s why the beginning 00:39:49.000 –> 00:39:56.000 of life and the beginning of joy is when you meet Jesus. 00:39:56.439 –> 00:40:08.320 Let’s pray. Father, we’re so grateful that you have not remained unknown to us, but that 00:40:08.600 –> 00:40:15.360 you have come to us in the person of your Son, Jesus Christ, the eternal word, who has 00:40:15.600 –> 00:40:22.600 made the Father known. And therefore, with gladness, we look to Him and put our trust 00:40:23.419 –> 00:40:28.199 in Him and believe in Him and would follow and serve Him all the days of our lives and 00:40:28.199 –> 00:40:34.439 count Him to be our greatest prize and our greatest joy, and to His name therefore be 00:40:34.439 –> 00:40:41.439 all the praise and all the glory, and God’s people together said, Amen. 00:40:42.260 –> 00:40:46.520 You’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. To contact 00:40:46.520 –> 00:40:53.520 us call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website, OpenTheBible.org.