[0:00] Often, you'll see people going around with a tag, a name tag or a badge.
[0:13] Sometimes it's hanging from their neck or sometimes pinned to their jacket or to their jumper or to their shirt. And it'll have their name, a wee rectangular badge.
[0:26] It'll have their name, probably a photo, and who they work for. So that this is to identify who you are. Supposing it's somebody working in the council and they're going to visit a house.
[0:40] And when they come to the house, people in the house will be able to see this. And it'll show, it'll identify who this person is. Because there's the photo, there's the name, and there's who you work for.
[0:54] Or sometimes you'll go to a particular meeting or a conference with loads of people. And they're all strangers. You don't know who one person is or who the other is.
[1:06] And sometimes people are given your name. So you put your name on because they're all people you don't know. And you're able to say, I, Donald, or Morick, or whoever it is. So there's the name.
[1:17] And we see this where we're identifying people's names in a lot of different situations. You'll see it, say, in a game of football. You'll see people with their name.
[1:30] It's not only the number, but very often their name on the back of the shirt. Last week, we were saying how God doesn't need to be told our name.
[1:41] So that when we come to him in prayer, I don't need to come to the Lord and say, Lord, it's Kenny here. The Lord knows. We don't have to identify.
[1:52] In the same way as if we pick up the phone and phone somebody, we might have to tell them who it is. We often have to tell who's on the other end of the phone.
[2:02] But when we come to the Lord, we don't have to do that. He knows. But he not only that he knows who it is, but he knows everything about us.
[2:12] Now, we mentioned that last week, but you know, it goes even further than that. Do you know what the Bible tells us about God? It's that he knew everything about us before ever we were.
[2:25] You say to yourself, hold on a minute. I don't know if I can understand that. Well, you're not alone. Neither can I. But that's what the Bible tells us. That before we were even born, God knew everything about us.
[2:43] It's quite an amazing thing. And there's a man in the Bible who's called Jeremiah. And he was called by God from a very young age to go and work for the Lord.
[2:55] And Jeremiah, oh, he was really scared. And he says, I can't do it. I'm not fit. I'm not able. And the Lord said to Jeremiah, look, he said, not only do I know everything about you.
[3:10] This is what he said. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart and I appointed you to be a prophet.
[3:21] Before you were, I had your life planned out for you. And again, you say to yourself, that's huge.
[3:32] That's really big things to think about. But you see, that is why it is so important for us when we come into life and as we go along to say, well, Lord, if you're the God who not only knows everything about me, but knows what is best for my life, please, Lord, help me to put my hand in your hand.
[4:01] Please, Lord, give me the trust so that I will trust my life to you. Because, Lord, you're saying things that are, whoa, they blow my mind.
[4:14] They're too big. And you're not alone because, you know, even David said that. He said, such knowledge is too strange for me.
[4:25] It's too high to understand. When David began to think about how God knew everything, about him always from beginning to end, David said, you know, I can't get my head around that.
[4:39] It's too much for me. So if you think that sometimes you come and you say, oh, that's too much for me. You're not alone. David thought like that. We all think like that.
[4:50] But the wonderful thing is God is showing us this is how it is. And he's saying, look, I'll look after you. You put your life. Now, Jeremiah had a tough life.
[5:01] That didn't mean for Jeremiah that everything was going to go sailing well. There were things committed to Jeremiah. Jeremiah had a tough life. But God also told him that that's how it was going to be.
[5:14] That doesn't mean to say when we put our hand in the hand of the Lord that everything will always go the way we want it. But at the end of the day, and this is what we talk about, the end, when it all ends, it will end well.
[5:32] When we're out of the hand is in the hand of the Lord. In the fullness. We're not talking about just how things are here. But in the fullness, when we go on and measure into eternity.
[5:46] Now, we're going to sing again. It's from Psalm 138. This is from Sing Psalms. Psalm 138. And it's from verse 3. To the end of the psalm.
[5:59] The tune is where it comes. Psalm 138. Verse 3.
[6:12] It's on page 179. The very day I called to you, you gave an answer to my plea. You made me bold within myself. With new resolve, you strengthened me.
[6:24] O Lord, let all earth's kings give praise. When from your mouth they hear your word, let them extol the ways of God, for great's the glory of the Lord. Down to the last verse.
[6:35] The Lord will certainly fulfill for me the purpose he commands. Your love endures forever, Lord. Preserve the works of your own hands. Psalm 138.
[6:46] From verse 3 to the end. The very day I called to you. You gave an answer to my plea.
[7:09] You made me bold within myself. With new resolve, you strengthened me.
[7:26] O Lord, let all earth's kings give praise. When from your mouth they hear your word, Let them extol the ways of God, For grace and glory of the Lord.
[8:01] All the Lord on wells on high, The lowly person he protects, Where else the proud and haughty one He knows a fall of angry jails.
[8:37] Although I won't have troubled past, Your tender care precedes my life.
[8:54] You raise your hand against my foes, Your right hand saves me from their strife.
[9:13] The Lord will certainly fulfill for me, The purpose he commands.
[9:30] Your love endures forever, Lord. Preserve the works of your own hands.
[9:50] Let us read now in John's Gospel, John chapter 14, And we'll read verses 1 to 14. John chapter 14, A reading from the beginning.
[10:00] Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.
[10:12] In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, Would I have told you That I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, And will take you to myself, That where I am, You may be also.
[10:28] And you know the way to where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.
[10:42] No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, You would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.
[10:53] Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long And you still do not know me, Philip?
[11:05] Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father And the Father is in me?
[11:16] The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, But the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father And the Father is in me.
[11:29] Or else, Believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever believes in me Will also do the works that I do. And greater works than these will he do, Because I am going to the Father.
[11:44] Whatever you ask in my name, This I will do, That the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.
[11:56] Amen, and may God bless to us This reading of his holy word. I'm going to sing again from the Scottish Psalter, Psalm 73. Psalm 73, Scottish Psalter, And from verse 23, The tune is Tiverton.
[12:10] Nevertheless, continually, O Lord, I am with thee. Thou dost me hold by my right hand, And still upholdest me. Thou with thy counsel while I live, Wilt me conduct and guide, And to thy glory afterward, Receive me to abide.
[12:28] Whom have I in the heavens high, But thee, O Lord, alone? And in the earth whom I desire, Besides thee there is none. My flesh and heart doth faint and fail, But God doth fail me never.
[12:40] For of my heart God is a strength And portion forever. Psalm 73, from verse 23, To the end, the tune is Tiverton. Nevertheless, continually. O Lord, I am with thee.
[13:06] Thou dost behold by my right hand, And still love upholdest me.
[13:20] Love with thy counsel while I live, Wilt me conduct and guide, And to thy glory afterward, Receive me to abide.
[13:47] Whom have I in the heavens high, But thee, O Lord, alone?
[14:01] And in the earth whom I desire, Besides thee there is none.
[14:14] My flesh and heart doth faint and fail, But God doth fail me never.
[14:29] For of my heart God is the strength, And portion forever.
[14:42] For of my heart God is the strength, For of my heart God is the strength, For of my heart forever. For of my heart God is the strength, There am not of holy from thee gold, Thou hast destroyed all.
[15:10] But surely it is good for me that I draw near to God.
[15:24] In God I trust that all thy works I may declare abroad.
[15:40] Let's turn for a little to the chapter we read, John 14. And I want us again just to consider briefly and by way of overview as we're working through this gospel, this section that we read probably a couple of years ago or maybe even less, we looked at these first two or three verses.
[16:01] But I want us just to look at this whole section this morning. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
[16:16] Now as we're looking at John chapter 13, we see it's quite a remarkable chapter. There was the foot washing. And of course there was when Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper.
[16:28] And then it was after that that he rose and washed the disciples' feet. And then there was the statement that tells us where Jesus was really troubled in his spirit, that he was distressed, anguished.
[16:42] And he made that statement that shook the disciples to the very core, that one of them was going to betray him. And following on from that, he told them that he was going to leave them.
[16:57] And that where he was going, they couldn't follow him, just they couldn't come with him. And then Peter, in declaring his love and commitment to Jesus, Jesus told Peter, Peter, before the cock roars, you're going to deny me.
[17:11] So it seemed to be one hammer blow after another. It started so well with the supper and the washing of the feet and some time of great intimacy.
[17:22] But then there seemed to be just one bit of bad news after another. That obviously threw the disciples. And they were obviously themselves very troubled.
[17:34] Because that's why Jesus says, let not your hearts be troubled. Jesus wouldn't say that, were it not for the fact that their hearts were troubled. Because he had told them all these things that had upset them.
[17:47] Can you imagine you're sitting there and Jesus says, one of you is going to betray me. And that's why, although it doesn't say in John's Gospel, they all started to say, is it me?
[17:58] And if we were there, that's exactly what we'd be doing. That was a real shock. And it must have been an awful shock to Peter to be told, hey Peter, it's not betrayal, but you're going to deny me.
[18:11] And then these disciples had spent three years in the immediate intimate presence with Jesus. They were with him everywhere, all the time. And he says, look, I'm going to leave you. I'm going away.
[18:22] And you can't come with me just now. So you can see how devastating these things were for the disciples. And so Jesus says, let not your hearts be troubled.
[18:34] And Jesus gives reasons why their hearts shouldn't be troubled. And the first reason is that they are to believe in God, believe also in me. So you could say that the first remedy for a troubled mind is faith.
[18:52] It is belief. Believe in God and believe in Jesus Christ. And this is where true, lasting peace comes from. Because when we face troubles, and we all face troubles of different kinds, might be for some very fortunate people here today, right now your life is trouble-free.
[19:14] There's nothing on your horizon that's causing you any form of disquiet, not even one pang of anxiety. But I would imagine if that is the case, you're in the minority.
[19:29] Because there's always, in life, just the nature of life, is there's always something there that's something in the back. It might be a big thing.
[19:39] It might be something that you're carrying with you all the time. It might be just a constant pain, a trouble, a sorrow, a bereavement, a loss. It might be something that's lying ahead that's filling you with uncertainty.
[19:53] There are issues ahead of you, and you just don't know how it's going to work out. You don't know how it's going to come together. All these kind of things, part and partial of life. And while we can try ourselves and deal with these things, and we try in different ways, in some ways, sometimes things work, sometimes things don't, sometimes things help, sometimes we make it worse.
[20:16] But the one thing that we should never dismiss or put away is bringing the matter to the Lord. That's not saying straight away that the Lord's going to just, like in some, you know, I use the word reverently, in some kind of magician's going to just sort everything out.
[20:34] But one of the things that the Lord will so often do for us, in our troubles, is give us peace. Because trouble, very often you can put in equals, trouble equals anxiety.
[20:47] Trouble equals unrest. But the Lord says, you cast your burden upon me. And I'll sustain you. Put your cares upon me, because I actually care for you.
[21:01] And the Lord tells us that if we fix our mind upon him, and give things over to him, that he will give us perfect peace. It's an amazing thought.
[21:13] We're told elsewhere in the Bible, it talks about the peace of God that passes all understanding, that passes knowledge. Now that doesn't mean that it's something that we cannot in any way experience, because we do experience.
[21:26] But it is that it's not something that could be worked or arrived at any other way, but in and through him. So this belief in the Lord, this giving of ourselves to the Lord, of resting our life, our troubles, our everything in his care, is absolutely essential.
[21:49] And the thing is that the Lord promises that one day he will set us free. Psalm 34, It doesn't say immediately, but yet at length, out of them all, the Lord has set them free.
[22:07] And so we find that Jesus equates himself here. Here's another of these. So often, right throughout the Bible, Jesus, the son, equates himself with the father, because he says, believe in God, believe also in me.
[22:22] It's an amazing statement. Of course, this was one of the reasons why the Jews were wanting to put him to death. He was making himself equal to God the father. Well, continually he's doing that.
[22:33] And then Jesus goes on to say, in my father's house are many rooms, many dwelling places. Sometimes it has been translated as mansions because of the account of the many rooms.
[22:47] Literally, the word is, it's an abiding place. It's a dwelling place. And really the idea is, it's a place where there is plenty of room.
[22:58] Room for you, room for me. That's basically what it is saying. And it's an abiding place. In other words, it's a, this dwelling place, it's a place forever.
[23:11] And what Jesus is, one of the things that he's doing here, yes, he's showing the abundance of room, but he's also showing the permanence of it.
[23:22] It's in contrast to this world. Because the one thing we don't have in this world is permanence. It doesn't matter what we have. It's only for a while. You know, that's one of the, it's one of the, I suppose, one of the difficult things.
[23:37] Whether it's in relationships, or whether it's in possessions, or property, or whether it's in, in abilities, or gifts, or whatever we are, or whatever we have, in this world, it's, we would want to hold on to so much, but we can't.
[23:53] It's the nature of this world. And what Jesus is doing here, in a sense, is contrasting the transient nature of this world to the permanent state of the world to come, where it's permanent.
[24:07] It's forever. It's an abiding, never to be disrupted, never to be removed, never to be taken out. The mansion, the dwelling place, and it's a place, what we see in heaven, it is a place of great glory and splendor.
[24:21] It's forever. Plenty of room. That's really what it is saying. Remember how Jesus, when he sent the, he was talking in the parable of the great supper, and you know, there's so many people who went out into the highways and hedges, compel them to come in, he says, because yet there is room.
[24:38] There's room. Imagine how awful it would be if we were to be told today, hey, do you know something? This is a great gospel, great news about safety in Jesus Christ, great news about salvation, but you know the bad news is, heaven's full.
[24:54] No more room. Oh, that would be, that would be awful. But that's not, the Lord is saying, hey, there's room.
[25:05] Yet there is room. There's more room. There's more room. Go out and tell people. Plenty of room. The only person that there's no room for, for again, what the scripture is telling us, are those who just do not want Jesus.
[25:20] Those who push him away. Because at the end, Jesus says, well, if you spend your life pushing me away, then I'll just give you what you've chosen. You won't, there won't be room for you with me, because you didn't want me.
[25:32] You didn't want me here, but this is the great news of this salvation. And the wonderful thing is that Jesus is saying to people, look, come to me.
[25:43] Just come to me. And so, I think it's one of the things that's in the mind, certainly in the mind of the Christian as we travel through, is that that's where we're going.
[25:55] One of the things that happens when a person becomes a Christian is that the Holy Spirit, and again, as we go on through the chapters here, we see more and more of the work of the Holy Spirit, because Jesus talks a lot about the comforter, or the counselor, or the advocate, or the helper, different names that are given for the Holy Spirit.
[26:15] It's going to come and going to do so much within the life of the person. One of the things that happens the moment that we come to faith in Jesus Christ is that the seed of heaven is born in our heart.
[26:31] So that we're able right away, instead of being unsure about God, uncertain how he feels to us, instead of running away from God, we automatically start running to God.
[26:46] And there is also born in us this knowledge of where we're going, and it's heaven. And, you know, as we go on, there's a growing desire for it.
[26:57] That's why it says in Hebrews that, you remember how it tells us that they desired a better country. That is a heavenly. That although Abraham was given the promise of the whole land, and he saw that, and he was walking around, yet he was still looking beyond that.
[27:18] That's the way you and I are. Even although there are many, many great blessings in this world, many things that fill our lives with good things, yet we're not bound, we're not grounded here.
[27:31] And one of the things God teaches us is that we have to hang loosely to the things that we have here, because as we say that they are, at the end of the day, temporary, although we wish we could hang on.
[27:44] And then Jesus shows how all this is tied into his departure. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you? I go to prepare a place for you.
[27:56] And that's what Jesus is going to do. And he says, look, I'm going to have to leave you. But one of the things I'm going to do, as I have this place for you, I've told you there's an abiding place in heaven, but I've got to prepare that place for you.
[28:15] And in order to prepare that place for you, there's something I've got to do. Now he doesn't spell it out here, but we know from the rest. That is, he had to go to the cross.
[28:26] The preparation of heaven for his people was worked out on the cross. Everything that Jesus did on the cross, he did for us. Every single thing.
[28:37] And we can work, we could spend ages working through how every little part brought together is working out for this. Now, you know, if you go to stay with somebody, you're going away for two or three days to stay with somebody, often you'll say, hey, don't go to too much trouble.
[28:54] I don't, don't, don't spend, don't go to too much preparation, because you don't want to put people out. But you always have to, if people are coming to stay with you, there has to be a bit of preparation.
[29:06] You've got to prepare a bed, you're going to have to prepare extra food, there's going to be, there's going to be, there's got to be preparation. And that's why often you say, now don't put your shelves out. well, that's what Jesus was doing.
[29:19] But, my word, he really put himself out. Nobody prepared for anybody. Nobody gave themselves in preparation for anybody coming to stay.
[29:30] Jesus is preparing for all his people coming to glory. This is it. This is the preparation. And nobody paid. And nobody did in the way of preparation like Jesus.
[29:46] Because you look at the cross, you look at his agonies, look at his sufferings, that's the preparation. That's him preparing heaven for you.
[29:58] So this is what Jesus is saying. And then he says, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am, there you may be also.
[30:12] That's what Jesus is saying. In its fullest sense, I believe, this talks about the return of Jesus Christ. But I think it also talks about the very fact that it would talk about the time of death when we leave this world to go to be with him.
[30:30] And then Jesus goes on and he says, and you know the way to where I am going. And Thomas says to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?
[30:42] Now, well, here's Thomas coming in. We don't read an awful lot about Thomas, but you know, every time we come across Thomas, Thomas is either confused or he's down, or he's a bit mixed up.
[30:56] Edward, I don't mean to be harsh on Thomas, but he obviously wasn't the sharpest tool in the pack, because Thomas is the kind of person who every time we meet him, he's in a situation where he just doesn't get it.
[31:12] And I don't want to be harsh on Thomas, because in every likelihood, if I was there, I'd be just like Thomas as well. And there's so much, you see, we have the light, we have the full light of all that happened.
[31:24] They were still, although they were trusting in Jesus, there was so much they still didn't understand. But you know, one of the wonderful things about God's people is we're all different.
[31:35] You know, there are some religions where people are kind of all brought into, that they're almost like clones of one another. Well, that's certainly not the case in the Christian faith.
[31:45] We're a right mixed bunch. And we still have our own individual characteristics and our own different mannerisms and our own different personalities. And that's the beauty of it, there is room for people to express themselves as how they are.
[32:01] Although there is within each person, there is the working towards changing them to the image of Jesus Christ. It's an ongoing process. We're full of flaws.
[32:12] Some people have great intellectual gifts. Some have huge practical gifts. Some are quick to understand. Some are slow to understand. Some are quick at speech. Some are slow at speech.
[32:23] Just such a wide variety. Well, Thomas, when we look at the disciples, Thomas is one of those who was always just not getting it. But you know, the amazing thing is that probably two of Jesus' great statements come from his dealings with Thomas.
[32:42] Because I'm so glad that Thomas was totally perplexed and confused. And I'm so glad that Thomas had the courage to really say, hey, I just don't understand.
[32:59] Because Thomas might have just kept these thoughts to himself and said, I don't want to show myself up. I don't want to show myself up before Jesus and say, but Thomas, to his credit, he says to Jesus, I don't know where you're going and I don't know the way.
[33:16] And this is a disciple of Jesus. And it's in response to that that Jesus gives a great statement. I am the way, the truth, and the life. You remember another time when Thomas wouldn't believe the resurrection.
[33:30] And the other disciples told him, hey, Jesus has risen. We've seen him. Thomas says, no. And then Thomas says, you know something, unless I actually put my fingers into the nail print, I will not believe.
[33:43] And then Jesus revealed himself to Thomas. And remember he said to Thomas, right, reach out. Thomas just looked at him and he said, oh, my Lord and my God. And Jesus said to Thomas, blessed are those whom having not seen, yet believe.
[34:03] That's where we are today. And that's one of the great, assuring verses of scripture to God's people. Blessed are those whom having not seen, yet believe.
[34:17] So Thomas is one of these people that I'm so thankful for. Had his dark moments, his confusion, was slow to understand, and yet was so open in what he was saying.
[34:31] Because we bring wonderful responses from Jesus to Thomas. So Jesus is here saying to Thomas, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
[34:43] And Jesus in fact goes on to say, no one comes to the Father except through me. In this day of religious pluralism, that we can believe any God or come any way we want.
[34:59] A lot of people find fault with the church for being so authoritative in what they say here. And often people are characterized as being bigots.
[35:12] They say, that's bigoted language to say that there is no other way. There's no other way to God but in and through Jesus Christ. How can you bring this exclusiveness to Christianity for this very reason?
[35:26] This is the Son of God who is speaking. This is not something that the church worked out from some obscure little passage or little version scripture somewhere that you've had to work your way right through and say, well, you know, I think this is what it could mean but there's a debate about it.
[35:42] No. These are the words of Jesus. They couldn't be clearer. They couldn't be more definitive. And Jesus is saying very simply, I am the way, the truth and the life.
[35:54] No one comes to the Father, to God, except through me. I am the way. I am the door. I am the truth.
[36:05] I am life. And that is why it is so essential that people are pointed to Jesus. It's becoming increasingly difficult as we say in this day where people say you don't have the right to put forward your ideas in this way.
[36:26] Well, it's not our ideas. And of course, in evangelism we have to be sensitive, we have to be careful, and it has to be done in love, and all these things. Of course, all these things. But it's very important that people are brought to see.
[36:40] And people will often say, but many of the great religions of the world, you look at them and there's wonderful aspects to it. Yes, of course there are. In many of the world religions there are virtues, there are qualities, and there are parts of it.
[36:54] And you say, you know, that's very noble. They can see real virtue in that. But when it comes down to the fundamental, the all important, unless we're focused upon Jesus and make Jesus the way of access to God, unless we do that, then we're wrong.
[37:17] And you can have people who are lovely people, and sincere people, and honest people, but they can be sincerely wrong, and honestly wrong. And this is, we've always got to come back to what does Jesus say?
[37:29] Well, this is exactly what he's saying. And he says, I am the way speaks to us about a destination. If you're going to go somewhere, you're going to a destination, and you go a particular route.
[37:44] Jesus is really saying, I'm the route. I am the route. I am the you're going to journey to eternal life. You want to journey to the Father. You want to journey to the heavenly, the dwelling place.
[37:56] Well, the journey is through me. I am the way. No other way. Don't try it. you're wasting your time. I am the truth. We live in a day where people do search for the truth.
[38:11] People wonder, is there such a thing as truth? Is there absolute truth? People ask all these questions. People say today there are no absolutes. Everything is moving. The truth is you can make it what you want.
[38:24] Jesus is saying Pilate, in fact, there's nothing new under the sun. People think that this kind of language is what is truth? You can make truth. Whatever you want it is.
[38:35] That is new. It's modern. It's not. Pilate asked that question. When he was faced with Jesus, what is truth? as he faced the one who is here saying, I am the truth.
[38:48] I am the way. I am the truth. And I am the life. I am life. That's what Jesus says to us.
[39:01] That whoever has me, whoever has a son, has life. And then after saying this, very briefly just as we come to the conclusion, Philip said to him, Lord, show us the father, and it is enough for us.
[39:15] Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long? And you still do not know me, Philip? And here again we see this man, Philip, who was again one of the great disciples, because here's somebody else.
[39:35] And Jesus is saying to him, look, this is where we see the tenderness and the love of Jesus. We never see Jesus being angry, but sometimes you almost feel that there's a hint of exasperation with Jesus.
[39:54] Because that's what he says, having said, remember he said, no one comes to the father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my father also.
[40:05] And Philip says to Lord, show us the father and it's enough for us. And Jesus says, have I been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip?
[40:19] Now, Jesus knew that Philip was a really top disciple. Philip was one of the first that Jesus called. And Philip's faith from the very dawn is brilliant.
[40:34] Because straight away, what does Philip do? When Philip finds called by Jesus, Jesus reveals himself to Philip, Philip goes straight off and gets Nathanael. And he says to Nathanael, hey, we've found the Messiah.
[40:47] We've found the one that the prophets have talked about. We've found Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. And remember how Nathanael says, Nazareth? Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?
[41:00] And Philip gave us that great you can almost hear Philip thinking and saying, how am I going to stand here debating the issue?
[41:12] So he says to Nathanael, ah, Nathanael, come and see. Come for yourself. Come and meet with Jesus. That will sort it out. And that's the greatest thing that we can do is ask people to come to meet with Jesus.
[41:25] So here's this man, Nathanael, who right at the very beginning understood who Jesus was. And yet, here's Nathanael three years later, and he's never really fully grasped who Jesus is and was.
[41:43] And again, I find that encouraging. It's like what we're saying to the children. Sometimes, unlike, as David said, such knowledge is too strange for me, it's too high to understand.
[41:54] Sometimes I'm sometimes struggling to grasp. Sometimes I lay hold of it, and then it's like I kind of lose it again. I seem to grasp things, and then I've forgotten what it was I've grasped.
[42:07] Disciples are just so beautifully full of all kind of quirks, and full often of just not being able to piece it all together in the way that we would expect them to, but they're so like ourselves.
[42:24] And so, Jesus is again saying to Philip, look, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. And he's showing that you cannot see me, Philip, without seeing the father.
[42:38] And that's still true. We cannot separate, so sometimes we do, the father and the son. They are, although there is a distinguishing, and theologically we distinguish the father and son, one.
[42:55] Yet there is an inseparable bound. While they are distinct, they are also one. And so there is this, when we see Jesus, we see the father and such like.
[43:07] But when Jesus says, have I been so long with you, and you still don't know me, I'm sure there are times that Jesus says the same to us as well.
[43:20] I've been with you day and night. I've been with you in the good times and the bad times. I've been here with you in worship. I'm even here with you when you forget all about me. I'm still with you even when you're sinning.
[43:34] And there are times where Jesus is saying, have I been with you so long and you still don't know me? And I believe he will specifically say that over the times when we wonder in our minds and in our hearts where we're not focused and where other forces and other powers are sometimes drawing us aside.
[44:00] I don't believe that there's anybody here who has never ever been tempted, as it were, to go back. Not that you would, not saying for one moment that you'd turn around and say, I'm packing in Christianity, I'm going back to my old ways.
[44:16] Not saying that. But that your past, the old ways, the way the world had you and so on, calls you away in the corridors of your mind and saying, hey, remember these trouble-free days?
[44:34] Remember how it used to be like? It was good then, wasn't it? You hear devils, Satan comes in as well. And you say to yourself, oh, that's not Christian experience.
[44:45] Well, you go to the Old Testament, which was God's picture book. You look at Israel delivered out of Egypt. They were in slavery. There was a period of infant genocide going on.
[44:57] They were in shackles. They were bound. God delivered them. And they're wandering through the wilderness. It wasn't easy. But you know one of the things you study through the journey of the Israelites in the wilderness?
[45:09] Do you know one of the things they often did? They hankered back to Egypt. God had to reprimand them. Because there were times they were saying, it was better for us in Egypt.
[45:23] Aye. In the desert although they have nowhere to call home, they're free. In Egypt they were tied in shackles of slavery.
[45:36] They were in bondage. Now they're free. But it says they hankered for the flesh parts of Egypt. don't tell me that the Christian never ever has a wee tap on the shoulder.
[45:53] And you know when we have the wee tap on the shoulder like that, I believe Jesus is saying, do you not, do you not yet know me? Get your focus right.
[46:04] You've lost your focus. You need to get back to focusing upon me. And then there's just so much we could say here.
[46:14] the last thing that we say just in one word and it is this. As Jesus goes on and he says, believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me or else believe on account of the works themselves.
[46:26] Truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do and greater works than these will he do. People will say, oh, greater works than Jesus?
[46:38] What do you mean? Well, I think very simply what Jesus is talking about here is the great work, the work of the kingdom. And Jesus is saying, you know, although I am the king of the kingdom and although I have been proclaiming and teaching, you, and that's the disciples who are following, you're going to do even greater work than I ever did in this world with regard to the kingdom.
[47:05] And that's extraordinary. you see the condescension of Jesus. He's saying to them, I'm going to give you greater results than I ever had. Peter preached one day shortly after Jesus had been put to death and rose to heaven at Pentecost and 3,000 people were converted.
[47:26] That never happened in the time that Jesus was in this world. So that's fulfillment of what Jesus is saying, even greater.
[47:38] And that is our great encouragement today to go on with the gospel and seek to bring the gospel to people. This great promise that there is still loads of room in heaven and that the power to evangelize is still given to us.
[47:53] Let us pray. Lord, our God, we give thanks for this gospel and for all that it teaches us and we pray that we might have receptive and understanding hearts.
[48:04] Oh, Lord, be with us and encourage us in the faith. May we not be fearful, but may we be faithful. Lord, bless us, we pray, and bless all those who are in need.
[48:16] We give thanks, oh, Lord, for the MND afternoon yesterday and the tremendous sum that was raised for that particular illness, the motor neuron, which is such a debilitating and such a crippling illness.
[48:31] and we pray for Margie here, who was at the heart of this and who is ill herself. We ask, Lord, to sustain her and bless her and we pray for all who are seeking to raise awareness and to raise money in order for research and development and hopefully to find something that will alleviate and help.
[48:56] we're so aware, Lord, we live in a world that is riddled with so many different diseases, so many illnesses, but we pray, oh, Lord, that as a great physician that you will work.
[49:08] Watch over us, we pray, and take away your sin. Bless the kippa tea in the hall after. In Jesus' name we ask all. Amen. Our concluding psalm is Psalm 23. I'm just going to sing from Sing Psalms.
[49:19] Sing the whole psalm. Psalm number 23. The Lord is my shepherd, and oh, what shall I know?
[49:37] He makes me lie down where the green pastures grow. He leads me to rest where the calm waters flow. My wandering steps he brings back to his way, and straight paths of righteousness making me stay.
[49:51] And this he has done, his great name to display. To the last verse, so surely your covenant mercy and grace will follow me closely in all of my ways.
[50:01] I will dwell in the house of the Lord all my days. Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, no one shall I know.
[50:20] He He makes me live where the green pastures grow. He leads me to rest where the calm waters flow.
[50:38] My wandering steps he brings back to his way, in straight paths of righteousness making me stay.
[50:54] And this he has done, this faith, name to this way. Though I walk in death's valley where darkness is near, because you are with me, no evil and fear, your love and your suffering bring me comfort and cheer.
[51:29] In the sight of my enemies at table you spread, the oil of rejoicing you pour on my head, my path over goes and I graciously fed.
[51:54] Surely your covenant and mercy and grace will follow me closely in all of my ways I will dwell in the house of the Lord Almighty Now may the grace, mercy, and peace of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest and abide upon each one of you now and forever more.
[52:27] Amen.