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[0:00] Amen. Thanks, Mark, for leading us thus far. Good morning to you.

[0:17] ! We pray that God will speak to us.! Lord God, Almighty God, we believe that you speak through your word. We believe that you address your people. We believe that you address those who are not yet your people, and that the word that comes through scripture is no less powerful than the word that formed the worlds. So please, may no one here go away untouched as we come to consider your word. So help speaker and hearers alike. Almighty God, we pray it in the name of your dear and great Son. Amen.

[1:08] Who is Jesus? Imagine yourself walking a narrow path through the mountains, with on one side a vertical wall of granite, and on the other side a steep drop. And along the path, straight in the middle of where you intend to go, a huge boulder is placed. And yeah, what do you do? Do you jump off the side?

[1:38] Don't think so. Do you try and climb up the vertical wall? How do you deal with this boulder? Do you go back? Do you find a way over? Jesus is planted in history like that big rock? And in front of each of us in our path of life is Jesus. And what are we going to do with him? How are we going to cope with him? What are we going to make of him? Every member of the human race has to face what to make of Jesus?

[2:20] Jesus is a person who challenges, he perplexes, but he refuses to be ignored.

[2:30] That's how it is today. That's how it was in those days. And in the chapters that we're reading, people are coming face to face with Jesus. They confront him, he confronts them.

[2:46] What do they make of him? How do they come to terms with who is Jesus? That's what we're going to look at this morning. And that's really the theme as we go through chapter seven and chapter eight. I'm going to try and set a bit of context first by asking the questions where, who, and when, which are always useful questions to ask. And then we've set a bit of context.

[3:10] There are a couple of points I'd like us to try and focus on from this chapter as God helps us. So let's do a where. Where does this all take place? Anybody know where this takes place?

[3:22] Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Yeah, that's right. It's Jerusalem. Jesus had been up in the north in Galilee, chapter seven, verse one. And then there was all this business of whether he would go to the feast in the south, in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the holy city of the Jews. It used to be God's headquarters on earth, but that's changed. There's a little picture of Jerusalem up the top there.

[3:52] And when Jesus was up north, it was safer. And he goes down south. He's going to enter conflict and danger. He goes down quietly. In chapter seven, verse 10, it says he went in in private or secretly.

[4:08] So this is not the triumphal entry when he goes in very publicly. This is a much more low-key arrival in Jerusalem. And you remember that Daniel took us through that question of whether Jesus's policy was to make a big show of himself at the earliest opportunity, show yourself openly.

[4:28] And we learned that Jesus had his own way of being lifted up and his own time scale. And that all focuses on the cross. So we asked where? It's in Jerusalem. And who? Who is in this chapter?

[4:47] And it's worth just noticing, I think it's helpful just to notice that there are various people. So in verse one, it says the Jews were seeking to kill him. And in verse 15, the Jews therefore marveled. Usually when he says Jews, I mean, they're all Jews, weren't they? So he usually means the leaders.

[5:11] And it's these people who say he's a deceiver. Verse 12, he's leading the people of the strife. He's a deceiver.

[5:23] So I'll put that group there. Then there's the crowd in verse 20. They answer, you have a demon. So the crowd, this is a feast. People came from all over the place. And perhaps these people are from the north.

[5:37] And they don't necessarily know what's been going on in Jerusalem. They know what's been going on in Galilee. And so there's the crowd. And then in 725, there is the people of Jerusalem. So they're perhaps more sophisticated.

[5:51] Perhaps they know a bit more. And it's they who have their own insight into what's going on. And the Pharisees, in verse 32, are another group of leaders. They are a strict, observant group.

[6:09] They're not officials. The Pharisees weren't sort of official leaders, but they ended up having a strong voice. So I'll put them in there. And then there's the chief priests in verse 32.

[6:24] And they are sort of aristocratic leaders, like the House of Lords or something like that, roughly speaking. So there's actually different groups of people taking different parts in this conversation with Jesus.

[6:39] And in chapter 7, verse 40, some of the people say, this really is the prophet. So some people are saying this. Some people are saying that. Some people are saying he's the prophet.

[6:53] And it's a rather telling verse in verse 43. There was a division among the people. There was a division. Jesus does that.

[7:04] He is such a controversial figure that people are divided over him. But all of these people would have thought they were okay with God.

[7:20] That's their starting point. We know God. We have the law of Moses. We're Jews. We're okay. And Jesus is saying to them, you're not. You're not okay.

[7:32] Just your family background doesn't make you okay with God. Just knowing what the right thing to do doesn't make you okay with God. It's much deeper than that.

[7:45] So who and then when. Anybody know when it was? Or if I put it up there. I put it up there, so it's a pointless question, isn't it? It was the feast of, I've got the feast of booths in my translation.

[7:58] Have you got feast of tabernacles? In verse 2, what have you got? Chapter 7, verse 2. Feast of tabernacles.

[8:09] Yeah, tabernacle is a funny sounding word for a tent. I think booth probably means the same thing I've got in my translation. It is Sukkot, I think is the Jewish word for it.

[8:23] This feast is an important festival, important feast. It is a national memory of when they crossed the desert camping. And they went across the desert in tents when they'd been delivered from Egypt.

[8:39] And of course, that's a very rich memory of how as they crossed the desert, God provided them with water. You remember all of that about God providing them with water? He provided them with manna as well.

[8:52] And there was a pillar of fire and they were guided. And all that desert experience for the national memory of Israel is captured in this feast. And just to take it a little bit further, which might help for next time, and perhaps a time after that, some things happened at this festival.

[9:12] I read this up. A golden flagon filled with water was taken to the temple by the high priest. There's the golden flagon. And the Jewish commentators said, this is so brilliant.

[9:28] What goes on there? He who has not seen the joy of the place of water drawing has never in his life seen joy. Probably an exaggeration.

[9:40] But listen, this is such a wonderful festival. We've got water pouring and it's just amazing. And there was the lighting of four huge lamps.

[9:53] I don't know quite what they looked like. I put a seven-branch candlestick there in the hope that that might be reasonably accurate. And the light spread through the whole city. And there was blowing of trumpets and dancing and celebration.

[10:07] It was a really big festival. And apparently, the historian Josephus said it was a very popular festival. People said, oh, you know, Feast of Tabernacles.

[10:19] We must go to that. If you think of Glastonbury or I don't know what. But everybody went. Most popular feast.

[10:32] But the interesting thing, which has disappeared off the bottom of my slide, is the way Jesus sort of commandeers it and says it's about me. So I included that reading where Jesus says, water pouring?

[10:48] I'll tell you something. If you're thirsty, come to me and drink. And he's going to go on in 8 verse 12 to say, lights, I am the light of the world.

[10:59] But we haven't got to that bit yet. But I'll just mention it so that you're ready for it when it comes. So we're at the Feast of the Tabernacles or Feast of Booths in Jerusalem. And these chapters are sort of interwoven story of misunderstanding, confusion and division over this whole question of who is Jesus.

[11:29] Recognizing who this person really is. From my point of view as a preacher, I don't really want to preach so as to create confusion, misunderstanding and division.

[11:43] So I'm going to try my best to not do that in talking about this passage this morning. So I'd like to try and focus in two particular strands of what's going on here.

[11:55] Number one, there was confusion and misunderstanding and division over his teaching. His words.

[12:06] And secondly, there was confusion and misunderstanding and division over his origin. Where has he come from?

[12:17] And of course that feeds into who is he? Where does the Christ come from? Can this be the Christ?

[12:28] So those two things which we'll look at just one after another. His teaching and his origin. So let's look at his teaching.

[12:39] Is Jesus somebody we should take at his word? Key question. Key question. Actually, key question for the Church of England.

[12:51] You know, the Lambeth Conference just finished recently. I think a key question. Do we take Jesus at his word? If he said it, does that settle something?

[13:03] In our personal lives, if he tells us something in scripture, do we take, that's it. Good enough for me. Are his promises, do we take them and say, if he's promised it, it's good enough for me.

[13:16] Do we take Jesus at his word? Now, what do they say then about his word? So if you wouldn't mind sort of following through with me, I think that would be helpful. So if you notice in verse 46, the temple guards say, no one ever spoke like this man.

[13:36] He was a very impressive speaker, wasn't he? And going back to the beginning of the chapter, chapter 7, when he comes to the temple, verse 14, what's he doing?

[13:48] He's teaching. In the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. And this is amazing. It says the Jews, verse 15, marveled or were amazed.

[14:04] Jesus is an amazing person. There's two mentions of being amazed here. And his teaching is a cause of amazement. Do you just imagine that, going to hear somebody teach and you come back amazed.

[14:21] What we heard, no one ever spoke like this man. And the particular amazement that the Jews have in verse 15, just notice what it says.

[14:31] Now in my translation it says, how is it that this man has learning when he has never studied? And I looked it up and it actually says, how does this man know letters and hasn't studied?

[14:46] How does this man know the letters, the writing? And I think the letters that they're referring to is the law and the prophets, you know, the scriptures.

[14:57] How does he know this so well and he hasn't been to Oxford? Or he hasn't been to Cambridge. He hasn't been to a proper university.

[15:10] And they're amazed by that. So Jesus understands scripture so it would appear. Now in verse 20, when Jesus says something, they say, you have a demon.

[15:27] It's an interesting other reaction, isn't it? You're absolutely crazy. I think that's what they're meaning. You know, something's got something weird has got hold of you.

[15:38] And Jesus replies to this thing about knowing scripture, knowing the law of Moses in verse 21.

[15:50] And he says, Moses gave you circumcision. You circumcise a man on the Sabbath.

[16:01] And isn't it right? If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a whole man's body well?

[16:13] It is about these things in the writing. Circumcision and the Sabbath. And these things are in the law of Moses. The Sabbath is, of course, God's working week where he worked for six days and rested on the seventh.

[16:30] And he says, there's another thing written in the law of Moses, which is in the ten words. You shall not murder. And Jesus says, verse 19, You guys don't keep the law.

[16:47] You're trying to murder me. So there's a thing going on about Jesus' relationship, Jesus' teaching, and how that fits with the writings, the law of Moses.

[17:07] Now, how does Jesus answer this? It's worth looking carefully at what he does say. So in verse 15, they raise this question. He knows the writings, but he hasn't studied them.

[17:19] And verse 16, Jesus says, my teaching is not from, what did your verse say?

[17:30] From me? From myself? It's not mine only? Something like that. It's not just from me, but him who sent me.

[17:43] I'm not just making this up myself. If it has authority and power, it's because God, who wrote the Bible, is telling me what to say.

[18:01] I don't speak off my own bat. I put it there. Anybody can go into the open market or on the seafront and say anything really, can't they?

[18:12] They could say any crazy thing. I mean, nowadays in social media, anybody can get up and sort of do a selfie really, a selfie, isn't it?

[18:25] To tell people about me. To say, look how beautiful I am. Look at what poses I can strike. Look at me. Or listen to me. This is my view.

[18:36] This is my POV. This is my point of view. This is me. I've got this. And is this what Jesus is doing? A sort of verbal selfie. And he says, no, it isn't about me in that sense.

[18:49] My teaching is not from me, but the one who sent me, God the Father. And later on, Jesus will say, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

[19:03] And what he's really saying here is if you've heard me, you've heard the Father. That's who you're hearing when I speak. And of course, you can say, well, how on earth can we know that?

[19:19] Anybody can claim anything, can't they? If you've ever, if you've got the slightest acquaintance with the internet, you'll know you can find any crazy view you want on the internet, and people will say, this is true.

[19:35] How do we know what's true? How do we know that Jesus has the authority of speaking from the Father? Well, that's a good question.

[19:47] So I think, just looking at this matter of his teaching, let's look at what Jesus says are the reasons that we should believe him. And I think we can pick these out.

[19:58] Number one, look at what I do. there's actually submerged in here quite a bit about doing. Doing the law, the things that people do.

[20:10] And in verse 21, Jesus says, I did, or I actioned, or I performed one work. You all marvel at it. And this presumably was raising the paralyzed man in chapter five, which was done on the Sabbath.

[20:29] And Jesus said, this is what I did. Look at what I do. What I did, I raised a paralyzed man who was completely stuck in his life.

[20:40] He couldn't get, he couldn't get to the pool. You remember, he couldn't find healing. He was completely stuck. And I healed that man. And he got up and he walked and his life was restored.

[20:52] And I did it on Shabbat. I did it on the Sabbath. And, I'm getting ahead of myself. I healed and restored function to a whole man.

[21:03] And I did it on the day of the Shabbat. And what day is that? What's the point of that day? It is a day of rest and refreshment made for human beings, made to do them good.

[21:17] And that's when I did that. That's what I did, says Jesus. I did people good. Didn't I? Did that man good?

[21:28] How could anybody deny it? Let's just look at what the Pharisees or these Jewish leaders are trying to do. Jesus says in verse 19, you're trying to kill me.

[21:40] You don't do the law. Why do you seek to kill me? Jesus has an insight into what's going on, doesn't he?

[21:51] But it is true. And it will be borne out in the end, won't it? What are they trying to do? Are they trying to do good? Are they trying to help? Or are they trying to take away this good man's life?

[22:06] And so, first of all, we can look at what Jesus does. And if you're going to believe somebody, would you prefer to believe a sort of somebody who is malicious and deceptive, who's trying to plot and scheme to kill somebody, or would you prefer to believe somebody who does good and restores people and does it on the day of goodness on Shabbat?

[22:38] And I'll tell you, I know who I prefer to believe. I know who I prefer to believe. Jesus is saying, if you look at what I do, I am reflecting the nature of my Father.

[22:53] I do good on a day for doing good. Look at what I do. Let's look at a second thing that Jesus points out, why I do it.

[23:03] Jesus says in verse 18, the one who speaks from himself or the one who speaks on his own or the one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory.

[23:24] I think that's the sort of culture of selfies, isn't it? Look at me. how many likes do I get? I'm seeking my own glory.

[23:37] I'm seeking approval. I'm seeking for people to like me and back me. Even presidents of the United States have done this, haven't they?

[23:49] They set themselves up, this is what I am, this is what I think and I want you to trust me and follow me. It is a self thing. The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory.

[24:02] But Jesus says, the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true. That's what he says in verse 18. If this motivation is not for self but for God, there is truth there.

[24:19] It isn't about being selfish and self-centered and my glory, it is about God. And he says, there is a key to understanding my teaching.

[24:34] Good question. Do I say this to look good, to get approval for my own glory, for my own pleasure, or do I do it for the glory and approval of God? And Jesus says, look at my motivation.

[24:50] That shows you that I'm somebody to be trusted and believed. And Jesus says, look at my life, see why I do things, and who would you prefer to believe?

[25:03] A self-centered narcissist who is just trying to get followers for himself, or a selfless, God-centered person of integrity, which is who Jesus is.

[25:18] Who would you prefer to believe? Look at what I do and look at why I do it. And then Jesus says, here's another thing which will enable you not to be confused, not to misunderstand, not to be divided, but to know for sure.

[25:40] And he says, look at yourself. Look at why you do things. Verse 17, if anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I'm speaking on my own authority.

[25:57] If anyone's will is to do God's will, that person will know whether I'm speaking just off my own, top of my own head, or whether I'm speaking from God.

[26:09] God. And this says something about us, doesn't it? So I don't know everybody here, but I could imagine somebody maybe coming into a church, particularly at this time, round about the Queen's funeral, saying, I'd like to know.

[26:27] I'd like to know what the truth is. I'd like to know what reality is about. I'd like to know who Jesus is.

[26:38] I want to know those things. And Jesus says, well, you can know it, but what's your motive? What are you going to do with that information once you've got it?

[26:53] He says, if you are genuine, you will say, I want to know, and whatever it is that God shows me, I will accept it. I want to know, and whatever it is that God says I should be doing, I will do it.

[27:11] I want to know, and whatever it costs me, I'm willing to pay it. That's quite a searching thing, isn't it?

[27:21] If anybody's will is to do God's will, he will know whether my teaching is from God or from myself. And so I really ask all of us, what is it that we want?

[27:34] What are we in it for? And if we really want to know and go on knowing, then we have to settle it in our minds, I will do whatever I hear him say.

[27:51] Whatever I hear him say, whatever I hear him promise, I will trust. Whatever he tells me to do, I will do it, because my will is to do the will of God. And I guess as many of us as Christians will have a habit of reading the Bible every day, not a bad question to say, when I read it, am I prepared to do what it says?

[28:14] Am I prepared to take on board what it says? As my faults and sins are pointed out, am I prepared to repent? Do I actually want to do that? Do I want to have light cast into my life so that the darkness can be got rid of?

[28:31] My life, whatever he says, in any area of my life, I will do his will.

[28:42] If he touches my money, that's his to touch, and I will do his will. My leisure time, ah, no, you're not touching that. Actually, yes, you are.

[28:55] Whatever his will is, I will do his will. My family, whatever he says about my family, even my family, whatever he says, I will do.

[29:07] My outward life, you know, my career, my professional development, my work-life balance, all that sort of thing, whatever he says, I will do.

[29:18] My inner life, the bits that other people don't see, but God sees. Whatever his will is, I will do it. My present, where I am now, which I might complain about, or say, if I was God, I wouldn't have put me here.

[29:37] Well, he has put you here, that was his will, accept it, and my future. Whatever he says for me for the future, whether he sends me to Kurdistan, or sends me to Kemptown, I will go where he sends, I will do what he does, what he tells me to do.

[29:56] If your will is to do God's will, you will know. Otherwise, you will always be seeking, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.

[30:10] I saw there are churches that have got many, many people like this, that come along, and they know there's something there, and from time to time they get a bit closer to it, and then from time to time they find it doesn't mean very much, and they're sort of partly in and partly out, because they've never decided what you say I will do.

[30:31] So if you're one of those people, decide it today. Put behind you, sort of half in, half out, put behind you, never quite sure, go for it, whatever he says, I will do it, you will know.

[30:52] So his teaching. Is Jesus someone we should take at his word, look at his deeds, look at his motivation, and tell God you really want to know and will do whatever he shows you is true, and you won't be in confusion, but in certainty through God given faith.

[31:08] That was the first thing. So let's look at the second thing, his origin. His origin. I'm not trying to show off, but I have a cordless drill at home, and that's the old version with the old batteries.

[31:23] I needed a new battery, and I ordered one, and the question was would I buy, it's a Bosch, I'm not showing off, but it is a Bosch, it's not a default though, it is a Bosch, and to get a replacement battery, battery, so you can pay a lot and get a genuine Bosch battery from Germany, up there, or, forgive me, but I think it would be true, an inferior one from China.

[31:54] Yeah, I've had inferior batteries on my laptop before, and sort of regretted it. The imitation from the wrong place, in this case, I'm not trying to be political about it, but anyway, the imitation deceives me because it says it will do something it doesn't do it, it will let me down when I'm in the middle of drilling through a wall, it will not see me through, and it will not have the power I need, but the real thing I can trust, it will give me the power I need, it will get me through, will not let me down, and that's the sort of saviour I'd like, the real article, yes?

[32:37] Yeah. So, what we're looking at here, is Jesus the real article? Is he the real Christ? And that's the point of the whole of John's gospel, to persuade us that he is, it says it at the end, that you will, I've written this whole thing, that you will believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you will have life in his name.

[32:59] So, it's all written to persuade us that Jesus is the Christ. And I should just stop and say what a Christ is. I think two words mean the same thing.

[33:10] Christ is based on the Greek word, Messiah is based on the Hebrew word. It means the anointed one. And the anointed one, just doing this very quickly, could be a king, a prophet, or a priest.

[33:26] They're anointed figures. In the earlier chapters, Jesus has shown himself, he didn't use the word Christ, but he said, I am the bread from heaven which gives eternal life.

[33:40] And I'd like to fix on that thought of the Christ. The one who gives eternal life, the one who links earthly people with heaven.

[33:51] You need to be born from above, and that's what Jesus comes to bring. So I could put a bridge between heaven and earth. I'm going to focus on that part of it.

[34:04] And what we need is that person who is linked to heaven and linked to earth, a mediator if you like, the way to God, who, if you put it this way, holds the hand of God and can also reach down and hold our hand and link us and bring us to the Father.

[34:26] That's the sort of Christ that we need. Nothing less than that will do. And what does this chapter tell us about Jesus?

[34:39] Well, in verse 12, people think he's a good man. In verse 13, other people say he's a deceiver.

[34:49] He leads people astray. I love words. The original word is the word from which we get our word planet. planet.

[35:00] And a planet, those of you who know astronomy, all the other stars sort of stay in place. And planets dot around and go all over the place. They wander. They go all over the place.

[35:12] And he's saying that Jesus isn't fixed and steady. He sort of takes you anywhere, really. Lead you all over the shop. He will lead people to stray.

[35:23] And verse 20, people said he was crazy, had a demon. In verse 26, they're saying, can it be the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But then they say, well, I don't know.

[35:37] In verse 27, they say, but we know where this man comes from. And when the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.

[35:49] An interesting thing to say. Say more or less that in your version in front of you. We know where he comes from. Do they? Really? But when the Christ comes, it'll be a complete mystery.

[36:03] Oh, okay. And where do they think he does come from? Presumably, they think he comes from Galilee, up north.

[36:17] Verse 40, they say somebody thinks he is a prophet. And then verse 41, others say this is the Christ. And then, this is a confusing thing. They say, some people say, wait a minute, let's just get this.

[36:33] I'm getting myself in a muddle, aren't I? We know where this man comes from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from. And then in verse 41, they say he comes from Galilee.

[36:45] Now, that's not right, is it? In the Bible, doesn't it say he comes from Bethlehem? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?

[36:59] Oh, they're confused, aren't they? They come from Galilee or from Bethlehem? That's where he ought to come from.

[37:10] And they're thinking about his sort of earthly origins. And Jesus doesn't actually address that at all. He says, verse 28, you know me and you know where I come from.

[37:25] Hmm. I think in the NIV it says, yes, you know me. And I wonder whether he's being sarcastic and saying, yeah, you know me, you know where I come from.

[37:37] Hmm. Yeah. No, you don't. But what he goes on to talk about, doesn't sort of solve the problem or you think I come from Galilee, but actually I was born in Bethlehem.

[37:51] He says, actually, there's a much more fundamental answer than that. I didn't put the verse, did I? So let's see, where was it? You know me?

[38:04] Where did it put? I have not come from myself, but him who sent me is true. 28. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.

[38:15] I was sent, Jesus says, that's the thing, I was sent from heaven. From heaven you came, helpless babe, entered our world, your glory veiled. That's actually where I came from.

[38:31] And I think he is being sarcastic or ironic, because he says, you don't really know where I come from. You think I came from Galilee or ought to have come from Bethlehem, but actually I've come from heaven.

[38:44] And Aaron very helpfully, when he was taking us through chapter 5, pointed out the number of times Jesus says, I'm the bread from heaven. I'm the bread from heaven.

[38:54] I've been sent from heaven. And here he is saying that I've come from heaven. I'm the sent one.

[39:06] And several times he says, for example, in verse 16, he who sent me, I can't see the other verses just at the moment.

[39:17] 28. You know me, where I come. He who sent me is true. I know him, I come from him and he sent me.

[39:30] I've come from heaven, says Jesus. And in verse 30, he says, oh, I got this right. I'm looking for where I am going.

[39:43] In a little while I'm going to him who sent me. I think that's 33, isn't it? I will be with you a little longer, then I am going to him who sent me. I've been sent from heaven and I'm going back to heaven.

[39:57] That's really what you should know about my origin. I come from heaven, I'll go back to heaven. And of course, as a sort of footnote to that, where I am, you cannot come, verse 34.

[40:12] you will seek me and not find me. Where I am, you cannot come. I came from heaven, I'm going back to heaven, and you can't get there. And of course, they misunderstand that, and they think, oh, he's going on a foreign tour, he's going to the Greeks, we're not going there.

[40:28] you can't come to heaven, unless I bring you. When Jesus says to the disciples, he says, well, no, this is this one, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

[40:46] No one comes to the Father except through me. There's no way to heaven apart from through me, says Jesus. That's what you should know about my origin.

[40:57] I can take you to heaven, I can take you to the Father, and I'm the only one who can. Christ comes from Bethlehem, the home of King David, but he will be called a Nazarene, so his location in Galilee is also in Scripture, but more important, he comes from heaven and goes to heaven.

[41:21] He alone can take us to heaven, and in chapter 14 verse 2, he says these memorable words, I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am, you will be also.

[41:36] What a precious promise that is, isn't it? I think we should stake our lives on that. One day, Jesus will say, the grave is not the end. I've gone all that way to prepare a place for you, I want you to be there, I want you to be there, and I will come and get you, and I will take you home with me to heaven.

[42:02] That's who Jesus is, that's what he does, and I think that is just the most precious promise, isn't it, for every believer? If we haven't got that, we've really missed the point.

[42:14] So, in Jesus' day, he was at the center of misunderstanding and confusion and division, as he still is today, but we are told here about his origin.

[42:31] He came from heaven, sent by the Father to save, and has gone back to heaven. He is the Christ, the Son of God, and you could say this is his role to bring people to heaven, and that he does.

[42:45] His authority in his teaching, we take him at his word. That's right, isn't it? That's how we live, by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

[42:57] I take him at his word. If you're not sure about it, look at the things he did. He did the things the Father showed him, doing the good like the Lord God. The sort of person I'd like to glory.

[43:16] That gives us all the confidence of the integrity of Jesus. For us to make sure that we are wanting to do his will. He won't play games.

[43:28] If we're going to play games with him, there is no certainty and definiteness. Many years ago, God put that into my heart to want to do his will.

[43:43] It took a long time to get to that point. But if you are unsure, ask God to put that into your heart. That you want to do his will whatever it costs.

[43:56] And then instead of him being a rock of obstacle and challenge and hindrance, he will be a ladder to heaven. Amen.

[44:10]  We're going to sing that above the clash of creeds, the many voices.