Father, we confess before you that your word is so clear and so precise,
and we confess before you, Father, that there is lots within us that do not like that type of clarity and precision.
And we struggle, Father, with sin and with pride and with idols, and the clarity and precision of your word comes against the sin and the idols of our hearts.
And so, Father, we wince and then we waffle and then we forget.
And so, Father, we ask that just as your Holy Spirit caused your word written to be written,
we ask, Father, that in your kindness and in your mercy, you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, Father, and bring your word deeply into the command center of who we are.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So, once again this week, just by coincidence or providence, I had the great privilege to be able to go on Parliament Hill
and speak to the Parliament Hill Christian Fellowship on Friday.
They got to sort of get my early ramblings on this sermon.
That's sort of the deal.
And I'm not going to...
If you ever go on Parliament Hill, not like in the main entrance, but to the side,
where the actual Senate and some other members of Parliament, their business goes on,
when you come to the security now, you're met by two...
But you come to the door, you're met by two security guards.
And so, one of them asks for my ID and see if I'm on the list that will allow me to get through the first door.
And the other one, and I had a briefcase with me, says,
Could you open your briefcase for me, sir?
And then he says, as I'm opening, he said,
If there's anything dangerous in there, you better warn me now as you open it.
And I said, Well, the only thing dangerous in here is a Bible.
I said, It's banned in about 50 countries.
And he, without missing a beat, he said,
Well, it's not banned here yet.
You should be thankful.
And anyway, we chatted while we were going in.
And anyway, so we go in.
This is Canada.
It's not banned yet, according to the security guard.
But I think he was a brother.
I think he was hoping it wouldn't be banned.
One of my coffee shop that I went to for a long time,
I don't go to it anymore because the office is moved.
The guy who owned the coffee shop, really great guy,
a Palestinian Muslim from Jerusalem.
And he's been in Canada for quite a few years.
Very, very secular Muslim.
And really great guy.
I used to love talking with him.
And one of the things he said to me all the time,
especially if there's something bad in the news,
he said, George, if you've lived where I've lived,
you would say this,
Canada is the greatest country in the world.
That's what he said to me all the time.
If you've lived where I've lived,
Canada is the greatest country in the world.
And I say that because the text
that we're going to look at in a moment,
it's very, very un-Canadian.
In fact, it would make just about every Canadian wince.
And I'm talking about Canadian Christians.
We wince at its clarity.
We wince at the fact that lots and lots of Christians
are very comfortable with saying,
I have no problem with Jesus.
It's the church I have problems with,
but this is Jesus speaking.
And it just would be viewed by many, many people
as a very hard text.
In fact, I was just thinking about that.
It might very well be that this is the first time
you've ever come to a church.
Maybe you got dragged here for some reason.
Maybe you're on a bit of a religious quest.
And the text that we're about to look at,
it's on one hand a very, very stark and hard text.
It really is.
In fact, the reason that I called the sermon
Walking in Truth in a Post-Truth World
is because, partially it's the last verse,
but it's partially just that this truth is so clear
and it's so against our culture
and it's so against the inclination of our hearts
that we want to keep watering it down
or nuancing it or forgetting it
or going somewhere else.
And it's even harder
because we live in a post-truth world
and this is a very hard text.
So if you're a seeker
or you've just come here for some reason,
just bear with me as we go through this text.
I mean, one of the things you can take away,
hopefully you'll take a lot more away than just this,
but one of the things you can do
is that we don't hide anything about the Christian faith.
We preach through the Bible.
We go through the fine print, so to speak,
and you get to hear what Jesus himself has to say.
So let's look at the text.
Turn in your Bibles to John chapter 2
and we're beginning at verse 23.
John chapter 2, verse 23.
Last week, we looked at Jesus,
the miracle of turning the water into wine
and Jesus driving all the money changers
and others out of the temple
because he wanted pagans to be able to know
about the God that he was introducing.
And here's how the text then continues on.
It goes like this.
Now, when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast,
many believed in his name
when they saw the signs that he was doing.
And here the word signs means miracles.
It's talking about the fact that miracles mean something.
It's not just conjuring tricks that God has done,
that conjuring tricks don't mean anything.
They're just a matter of impressing.
John is trying to emphasize that if it really is a miracle,
it has meaning.
And it also shows here that,
as all of the gospel writers tell us,
all of the biographies of Jesus said
that Jesus performed lots and lots and lots of miracles.
They just record a few of them.
And that's what we see here.
Jesus has actually only performed one miracle,
and it wasn't even in Jerusalem.
But here we see that even in Jerusalem,
he performed lots of other miracles
that they just aren't recorded.
So we'll read that again.
Verse 23.
Now, when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast,
many believed in his name
when they saw the signs that he was doing.
But Jesus, on his part,
did not entrust himself to them
because he knew all people
and needed no one to bear witness about human beings,
for he himself knew what was in human beings.
Now, did you notice this?
This is just the mildest little bit
of non-Canadian stuff in this text.
In fact, what we're going to see with this text
is that Jesus keeps doubling down.
We think, wow, that's very un-Canadian.
And then he doubles down.
He makes it even more un-Canadian.
And then he makes it even more un-Canadian.
And then he makes it more un-Canadian.
And why is this sort of an un-Canadian thing to say?
Well, what is the thing that we want to say about people?
You know, I might want to say to my kids,
I believe in you.
You know?
What do I want to maybe say to my staff?
I believe in you.
You know?
I believe in you.
But what does the text here say about Jesus?
Jesus says about people,
I don't believe in you.
Look, that's what it says here.
Verse 24,
But Jesus, on his part,
did not entrust himself.
And the word,
we're going to talk about this a little bit later,
but the word entrust himself
is another way of translating the word
believe or faith.
It's another way.
It's going to be very important later on
that we sort of,
it's sort of very interesting to understand
that part of the meaning of having faith
or believing in Jesus
is to entrust yourself to him.
And so when it says here in the text,
but Jesus, on his part,
did not entrust himself.
He did not believe.
He did not have faith in the people
because he knew all people.
And he needed no one to bear witness
about human beings
for he himself knew what was in man.
Sounds like a cynical thing.
As you'll see by the end of the text
and what you would have seen
if you'd been looking at the earlier weeks,
if you could put up the first point,
that would be very great.
Because Jesus knows me,
he does not believe in me.
Because he loves me,
he gave himself to save me.
See, this is what stops it
just from being a cynical text.
Because all sorts of us
don't believe in people.
But it's a very Canadian thing to say.
It's a very power of positive thinking.
Say, I believe in you,
I believe in you,
I believe in you.
It's sort of a shock
to see that Jesus doesn't believe in us.
He knows us,
and because he knows me,
he doesn't believe in me.
But he knows me,
doesn't mean,
and he does something far better
than believing in me.
He knows what's in me.
He knows I have idol issues.
He knows I have sin issues.
He knows I have darkness issues.
He knows I have all sorts of things
that betray people,
that betray myself,
that are self-centered.
And so rather than believing in me,
he gives himself for me
and dies for me to save me.
All I can say is,
thanks be to God,
he doesn't believe in me.
And thanks be to God,
he's not a cynic.
Now,
this is,
this is just sort of a,
I've taken something
which could be
very un-Canadian,
it's still sort of a hard thing
for us to maybe grasp.
And because I've sort of told you
the end of the text,
we've sort of taken some
of the sting out of it.
And that's going to be
a bit of a pattern
all the way through this text
is if you just bear with it,
it's still going to be
very, very stark.
But some of the sting
is taken out of it.
But Jesus is going to
keep pressing into
this particular issue
in very, very stark ways.
And in fact,
it comes up very next
because although
he's called a Pharisee,
really what you see
in the very next little bit
is Jesus meets a Canadian.
Jesus meets a Canadian
professor of religion.
He meets a Canadian journalist.
He meets a Canadian politician.
You might not realize
that he meets a Canadian,
but just listen
and you'll see.
Look at what happens
in chapter 3, verse 1.
Now there was a man
of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus,
a ruler of the Jews.
George, that doesn't sound
very Canadian.
Just wait.
This man came to Jesus
by night and said to him,
Rabbi, teacher,
in other words,
we know that you are
a teacher come from God
for no one can do
these signs that you do
unless God is with them.
Now just pause.
That is an unbelievably
Canadian statement
about Jesus.
If you were to say
at the University of Ottawa,
Jesus is a teacher
come from God.
They go, okay, yeah?
But that turns your crank.
Mohammed is a teacher
comes from God, you know?
Krishna, you know?
You would not raise
a single eyebrow
in any editorial room
or any university faculty
by making a statement
that Jesus is a teacher
come from God.
Now, you know,
the atheists and all
might say,
well, yeah, yeah,
blah, blah, blah, woof, woof.
But, you know,
basically as long as
it's an innocuous statement
like that,
that's a completely
fine statement
in any coffee shop
in Canada.
It doesn't matter
if it's a Bridgehead
or a Tim Hortons.
It doesn't matter.
It's just,
it's a very,
very Canadian statement.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus
and says,
Jesus,
you're a teacher.
You're a teacher
comes from God.
You do mighty things
that only God can do.
And we'd all say that's,
I mean,
what could you say to that?
What does Jesus say to it?
Jesus,
well,
Jesus goes in a very,
very,
very odd direction.
Look what he says
in response to it.
And it's very interesting.
It says,
Jesus answered him.
And you might say to yourself,
one moment,
Nicodemus didn't ask a question.
But what Jesus is doing
is answering the claim.
He's answering the claim.
He's not answering the question.
He's answering or responding
to the claim,
the good Canadian claim
that Jesus is a teacher
come from God.
and he says,
verily,
or truly,
truly,
it's a very important statement
in John's gospel.
It can also be translated
as amen,
amen.
It means,
pay attention
to what I'm about to say.
This is the solemn truth,
the whole truth,
nothing but the truth.
This is world-changing,
absolutely important stuff
that I'm about to say to you.
Truly,
truly,
I say to you,
unless
one is born again,
he cannot see
the kingdom of God.
Could you put that up
on the screen,
please?
That's the next point.
And we need to have
the artwork in between
as well,
right?
But Jesus says,
truly,
unless
one is born again,
he cannot
see the kingdom of God.
Do you sort of notice
that's an unbelievably,
from a Canadian point of view,
that's an unbelievably
angular,
absolute,
exclusive statement.
Now,
those of you who come
to the church
more than once
know that often I'll say
when we come to a very
difficult text
that if you know
the original language,
the Hebrew or the Greek,
it gives it a bit of a
different nuance
or a flavor.
And this might be
the place where I would say
that if you knew
the original language,
it gives it a different flavor,
but actually,
it's,
that's a,
if you could go back
to the point,
that's a,
that's a perfectly
accurate
translation
of the original language.
Unless
one is born again,
he cannot
see the kingdom of God.
that's
just a very,
very hard
stain
to say
in Canada.
And
it's hard
for us to want
to almost keep
that in our mind
when we think
about loved ones
who under
no reasonable
way or expectation
would we think
that they would
be born again.
Whatever that text
means,
we probably
wouldn't think
it was them.
For maybe
our parents
or our
brothers or sisters
or our best friends
or our co-workers,
for people
of different religions,
it's
a very,
very,
very stark
absolute
statement.
unless one
is born again,
he cannot
see the kingdom
of God.
Now,
some of you
might say,
okay,
well,
George,
that's really
interesting.
I mean,
that's wow,
whoa,
whoa.
And that's
Jesus,
right?
That's not
like these
weird monks
in the Middle
Ages
who got
sex-starved
and
didn't eat
enough
and got
delirious
and came
up with
really,
really
kooky,
crazy
doctrines
that we
still
foolishly
believe,
like this
is Jesus
speaking.
But maybe
this is just
the beginning
of a conversation
and as
the conversation
goes on,
Jesus is
going to
nuance it
in different
ways and
bring in
other ways
of looking
at it.
He's just
trying to
catch our
attention,
George,
the way you
often try
to catch
our attention.
Well,
let's see
what he
does.
Jesus is
trying to
catch our
attention,
but the
hard part
about this
text,
for us
as Canadians,
is that
he keeps
doubling down.
Look at
verses 4
and 5.
Jesus says
unless one
is born
again,
he cannot
see the
kingdom of
God.
So Nicodemus
in verse 4
says to
Jesus,
now by the
way,
the word
born again,
it's one
of these
times when
some of
your versions
might say
born from
above.
And in
the Greek,
the original
language,
it can be
translated either
way.
It has a
dual meaning,
a double
meaning.
And so
Nicodemus,
rather than
taking it
that means
being born
from above,
in other
words,
that God
somehow
gives you
a birth
different
than your
birth that
you already
had,
Nicodemus
takes it
in this
born a
second time
sense.
And,
you know,
it's hard
to know
whether Nicodemus
is just
being a
little bit
picky here
about,
Jesus,
why are you
going off
on this
weird tangent?
Listen,
what you're
saying doesn't
really make
any sense.
And that's
what Nicodemus
in effect
says.
verse 4,
Nicodemus
said to
Jesus,
how can
a man
be born
when he
is old?
Can he
enter a
second time
in his
mother's
womb
and be
born?
And at
this point
in time,
Jesus said,
yeah,
I'm just
joshing you.
I don't
mean it
like that,
you know,
good on
you for
catching it.
What does
Jesus say?
Jesus says
in verse
5,
Jesus answered,
verily,
I say
to you,
unless one
is born
of water
and the
spirit,
he cannot
enter
the kingdom
of God.
Notice that
again?
The unless
and the
cannot,
he repeats
himself.
He says,
unless one
is born
of water
and the
spirit,
he cannot
see the
kingdom
of God.
Now,
at this
point in
time,
what a
lot of
us do
is say,
George,
is that
referring to
baptism?
Is he
saying here
that,
is that like
are the
certain
denominations
and churches
right,
that you
have to
be
baptized
and
at the
same
time
that you're
baptized,
you receive
the Holy
Spirit and
then you
see the
kingdom
of God?
Or is
it just
referring to
the fact
that water
is a bit
of an
analogy
for birth?
And,
and,
I mean,
just very
quickly,
it can't
be referring
to baptism
for two
simple
reasons.
There's more
than that,
but there's
two simple
reasons.
In one of
the,
in the
synoptic
gospels,
there's a
very parallel
type of
phrase,
identical
phrase,
but with
a different
word.
Rather than
water and
the Spirit,
it says
fire and
the Holy
Spirit.
And no
denomination
thinks you
should be
sprayed with
a flamethrower
so you
can go to
heaven.
So why
do you
take water
to mean
baptism,
but fire
to not
mean
fire?
It doesn't
mean that.
The second
thing is
Jesus in
a moment
is going
to say
to Nicodemus,
listen,
if you've
studied the
Tanakh,
what we now
call the
Old Testament,
you should
understand what
I'm talking
about.
And if
Jesus is
referring to
baptism,
which he
doesn't
make an
ordinance
until after
his
resurrection,
then it
would be
completely
unjust for
him to
complain that
Nicodemus
doesn't
understand.
And Jesus
is never
unjust and
unfair.
water.
So it's
not
referring,
it's
referring,
it goes
back to
different
images in
Isaiah and
Ezekiel,
how water
gives life
and water
also cleanses.
And unless
the Holy
Spirit comes
into our
life in a
way that
gives us
life,
unless the
Holy Spirit
comes into
us in a
way that
cleanses
us,
and that's
something that
God does,
unless that
happens,
we cannot
see the
kingdom of
God.
But here's
the important
reason here,
here's the
big thing,
here's why I
called the
sermon Walking
in Truth in
a Post-Truth
Culture.
You see how
the devil
plays us?
The devil
plays us.
How does he
play us?
In the
commentary that
I, one of
the commentaries
that I read to
prepare for
this, this
just tried to
figure out
whether it's
baptism or
not, goes
on for
about ten
pages.
And why?
Because there's
Roman Catholic,
Eastern Orthodox,
Lutheran,
Presbyterian,
Evangelical Anglican,
Baptist, all
these different
battles around
this, and by
the end of
it, if I
was not
doing my
job, by
the end of
it, I'd
say, so
that's why
the Roman
Catholics and
Eastern
Orthodox are
wrong, and
that's why
the Anglo
Catholics and
the Baptists
are wrong, and
that's why
we're right.
And you know
what we've
completely
forgotten?
Unless you're
born again, you
cannot see the
kingdom of God.
devil will
use the
Bible to
get us
way
sidetracked so
we're no
longer sitting
under the
sting of the
text.
And so I'm
not going to
talk about what
the different
views are.
I want us to
see how easy
it is to get
sidetracked away
from this very,
very, very
stark statement
of Jesus.
And then,
if we keep
reading the
text,
because you
see, often
what will
happen in a
sermon is the
sermon will
stop right
there after a
long, long,
long sidebar on
baptism, and
we've completely
forgotten that
unless we are
born again,
born from
above, born
of the
Holy Spirit,
we cannot
see or
enter the
kingdom of
God.
But Jesus,
he doesn't
get us
sidetracked.
He keeps
going deeper
into it.
He keeps
doubling down.
Look at what
happens immediately
after that.
Verse 5.
We'll read
verse 5 again.
Truly, truly,
verily, verily,
I say to you,
unless one is
born of water
and the
Holy Spirit,
he cannot
enter the
kingdom of
God.
That which is
born of the
flesh is
flesh, and
that which is
born of the
Holy Spirit
is spirit.
That means in
this case it
is something
of the
Spirit.
Do not
marvel that I
said to you,
you must be
born again.
Third time,
you must be
born again.
The wind blows
where it wishes
and you hear
its sound, but
you do not
know where it
comes from or
where it goes,
so it is with
everyone who is
born of the
Spirit.
He comes back
to it again and
again and again
and again.
And here, by the
way, is if the
devil hasn't
completely sidetracked
us on baptism, now
with this, the
wind blows where
it is, that's
where the devil
sidetracks us
again and we
get off on this
long discussion
maybe about the
Pentecostals and
charismatics and
baptism and what
this symbolism
means.
And before we
know it, we've
completely and
utterly forgotten
the starkness of
the text.
If you could put
up the next
point, that would
be great.
In fact, when
Jesus says that
that which is
born of the
flesh is flesh
and that which
is born of the
Spirit is spirit,
in verse 6, what
he's saying is that
humans can only
produce what
humans can
produce.
I need what
only God can
do.
That's the word
flesh in this
particular case is
referring to human
beings in all of
our frailty.
And the fact of
the matter is, is
that whether it's a
human institution
like that, lots of
us human beings
together, what we
produce will be what
humans can produce.
In a sense, a
church without the
Bible and without
the gospel is no
different than a
mosque or a
synagogue or the
liberal caucus or
the conservative
caucus or the
CBC newsroom.
Well, just human
beings producing
what only human
beings can produce.
And everything that
human beings produce
is frail.
It'll pass away.
It will die.
It has marks of
rebellion and sin in
it.
And what Jesus is
reminding Nicodemus,
and this is, by the
way, very important
in just a little
tiny thing, the
whole social justice
progressive movement
in the Western
world is a movement
that desires the
kingdom of God
without God.
And thinks it
knows how the
kingdom of God
without God will
come upon us.
And this text is
saying, you know
what?
What is human will
only produce what
is human.
Human beings will
never produce a
kingdom of God
without God.
We need God to do
what only God can do
because human beings
will only produce
that which is weak
and frail.
people.
Let's continue on
in verse 9.
Sorry, maybe I've
already...
So now Nicodemus
comes to the
point where he
now is asking a
very, very honest
question.
He's taken
back by what
Jesus has said
and he, in
verse 9, says
to him,
how can these
things be?
And Jesus
answered him,
are you the
teacher of Israel
and yet you do
not understand
these things?
Verily, verily, I
say to you, we
speak of what we
know and bear
witness to what
we have seen,
but you do not
receive our
testimony.
If I have told
you earthly
things and you
do not believe,
how can you
believe if I
tell you heavenly
things?
Just pause.
What he means
here by earthly
is things that
have happened on
earth, even if
they're spiritual
things.
He's really
referring to the
things that he's
already referred
to.
Now, heavenly
things, he's
going to explain
that right in a
moment.
No one has
ascended into
heaven except he
who descended
from heaven, the
Son of Man.
If you could put
up the next
point, that would
be great.
What Jesus is
saying here,
Jesus says that
he is not a
teacher come from
God.
He is God come
to teach and
save.
Remember I
said he's
going to keep
doubling down?
The typical
Canadian thing
will be to
pay a compliment
to Jesus because
Canadians, we
like to try to
get along together
with each other.
A typical
Canadian thing
would say,
Mohammed is a
teacher come
from God,
Jesus is a
teacher come
from God,
your yoga
instructor,
teacher come
from God,
or however you
want to put it,
but we want to
try to respect
it.
And Nicodemus
begins this
whole conversation
with his
Canadian
compliment to
Jesus, and
by this point
in time, after
Jesus is
completely and
utterly undermining
his Canadian
categories, he
even goes
further, and
that's the
point of him
saying,
verse 12,
verse 13,
no one has
ascended into
heaven.
In other
words, no
human being
has been able
to go right
up into the
very councils
of God and
grasp God by
the unaided
exercise of
their human
mind and
their human
power, no
one.
But he,
Jesus, is
one who is
descended from
heaven.
So what we
have,
Nicodemus,
here's this
big claim,
if you went
back in a
time machine,
John, in
many, many
ways throughout
the whole
gospel is
claiming that
he's just
telling you
what actually
happened, as
if he's in a
court of law
under oath.
And you
could go and
you would see
Nicodemus and
Jesus talking at
night, and
Jesus, without a
smile, without a
smirk, without
arrogance, he
says, I am not a
teacher from God,
I am God, come to
teach and save.
This is a
pretty preposterous
claim.
If you could
put up the
next point, last
week we looked
at Jesus
predicting his
resurrection.
In a few
moments we're
going to see
Jesus predicting
his crucifixion.
But here's the
big claim, I'm
not going to
get into much
of an
apologetic around
it, but this
is what the
whole Christian
faith stands
and falls on in
terms of being a
reasonable thing.
Why should we
take any of this
seriously?
I mean, quite
literally, you
could go down to
the Shepherds of
Good Hope, you
could go down to
the Union Mission
and you would
meet all sorts of
people who would
think they are
somebody like
Jesus or God.
I would bet
there's at least
a thousand people
in Ottawa who
think that they're
God.
And I don't mean
any type of, you
know, just the way
your boss, she
might think she's
God or he might
think he's God or
acts like that.
No, I mean, they
actually probably
would say to you
with a completely
serious face, you
should worship me, I'm
God.
I mean, there's
probably all sorts of
people in Ottawa.
But if the
resurrection of Jesus
happened, then who he
is and what he says is
vindicated.
If he was not
resurrected, what he
says is garbage.
Just as if you went
down to the Royal
Ottawa or the
psychiatric ward of
the civic or the
Union Mission or the
Salvation Army or the
Shepherds of Good
Hope and somebody
said, they're God,
you would know it's
garbage.
Jesus keeps doubling
down.
Now, in the 10 or
11 minutes I have
left, Jesus starts to
unpack this in both
very hopeful and
very, very
startling ways.
He's going to talk
a little bit about
how it is that he
can make us born
again.
If you could put up
the next image, yeah,
that's a pretty
gruesome one, eh?
Jesus is now going to
talk to Nicodemus about
a story in the Old
Testament that's
knack in Numbers
chapter 21.
Hear what he says.
It's in verse 15.
Actually, we'll do
verse 14, 15, and
16.
And as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the
Son of Man be lifted
up, that whoever
believes in him may
have eternal life.
For God so loved the
world that he gave his
one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him
should not perish, but
have eternal life.
And he's making a
reference to a story
when Israel is wandering
in the wilderness, and
they've had a time of
particular complaint
against God, rebellion
against God, just
calling God names.
And part of the
judgment is that there
becomes these snakes that
come, and they're
poisonous snakes, maybe
adders.
And as they bite
people, they get sick
and they die.
And they call out to
God for mercy that God
would deliver them.
And so God says to
Moses, in the center of
the camp, put up a big
pole.
And on the pole, put an
image, make an image of
the snakes that are
biting you and killing
you.
And anybody who looks at
the serpent on the top
of the pole,
people, if you look, you
won't die, you'll be
healed.
Story in the book of
Numbers, chapter 21.
And that's what Jesus
says about himself.
And it's a very, very
powerful story if you think
about it for a second.
If the person who's bit by
the snake looks to Moses,
they will die.
They look to their
parents, they will die.
They look to the
tabernacle, they will die.
If they look to Joshua, they
will die.
If they look at what God
has said, the serpent on the
pole, they will live.
How is this very relevant
for us?
If you look to the church,
you will die.
If you look to the bishop,
you will die.
If you look to a ritual like
communion or baptism, just as
rituals, you will die.
If you look to praise music,
if you look to Trudeau, if
you look to your prof, you
look to your mom, you look
to your dad, you will die.
If you look to Jesus, you
will live.
If you look to Jesus, you
will live.
See, Jesus just keeps
doubling it down.
If you could put up the
next point.
In a very, very simple
way, what is this looking
to Jesus?
What is this believing?
You go back and you read
through this whole text, you
will see time and time and
time throughout John's
gospel in this text, it
keeps telling you believing
in Jesus.
It doesn't mean having an
idea about Jesus.
Demons have ideas about
Jesus that are more
accurate than yours and
mine, but they are still
demons.
In a sense, it is a
believing into Jesus.
That's the actual
original language in the
original language.
It's entrusting myself
wholly to him.
It's believing that because
of his death and
resurrection upon the
cross, he has vindicated
that what he says is the
truth.
And that if I look to
him, believing what he
says, if I look to him
and entrust myself to him, if
I, in a sense, am just
entrusting myself into him,
believing into him, that's
all I do, and he does all
the rest.
In fact, if you could put up
the next point, please.
I entrust myself to Jesus and
what he accomplished for me,
and then, that as we'll see
in just this, which has
already gone on, and in the
next few verses, in the next
few minutes, what happens?
What does Jesus say happen to
us?
Like the image of the
looking at the serpent is
it's a very powerful image
that what happens is that
something like a cross in the
very center of the camp, that
which, in a sense, is the
sin, and is the punishment of
the sin, and represents the
sin, and by being a serpent,
it even has a bit of a
hearkening back to Genesis 3
and the rebellion against God.
It's sin, it's the punishment
of sin, and it's put upon the
on a pole.
And Jesus will bear the penalty
for my sins upon a cross.
And so I entrust myself to
Jesus, that's all I do, and
what do you accomplish for me?
I don't say, by the way, I've
been a missionary, I've been a
pastor, I've been a good dad,
I'm really good looking, you
know, I have a low body fat
count, I have a big bank
balance, I'm really cute, I'm
funny, like it's nothing like
that.
You just entrust yourself to
Jesus, and what do you
accomplish for me?
And this text says, you know
what happens?
What is it that God does for
us in the person of his Son?
The penalty for all my sin is
paid.
What happens when I put my
trust in Jesus?
I am born from above.
I am born of the Holy Spirit.
I am born from God.
What happens when I entrust
myself to Jesus?
I receive that which only God
can give, because my children
will die, my grandchildren will
die, my great-grandchildren
will die.
I cannot give them eternal
life.
Only God can give me eternal
life.
And when I entrust myself to
Jesus, I receive eternal life.
And in John 3, 16, when it
talks about, for God so loved the
world that he gave his one and
only Son to the end, that whoever
believes in him will not perish,
but have eternal life, I begin to
know the uncreated, eternal,
unfailing love of God.
Because that's the love of God.
It is uncreated.
It is eternal.
It is unfailing.
Jesus doesn't believe in me,
but this is what he gives me.
Let's finish the text.
Verse 16 again.
For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only Son.
By the way, when it says, for God so
loved the world, what it's saying
here, it has a double meaning.
What it's meaning is, if you just
think about this for a second,
this is how much God loves you.
God loves you so much that in he
and the person of his Son comes
down from heaven to die like a
serpent on the cross for you.
That is how much God loves you.
His love is beyond the wildest
imagination of the greatest
narcissist.
And at the same time, when we see
Jesus dying on the cross, we can
see this is, this we see now, God's
love for human beings.
Just, you know, as an aside, you
know, I'm not going to tell you a
spoiler alert.
Just, it's not going to be a
spoiler alert, but if you've ever
watched one of the best series on
war, like a movie, it's the Band of
Brothers.
Those of you who have seen it, you'll
all say that's a spectacular series.
In one of the last episodes, it's
called The Final Patrol.
And it's so, it's so interesting
regardless to this, because what in
what in the world is the normal way
that things happen in the world?
Like, should McGinty have been going
to jail or Livingston?
Those of you who follow politics in
Ontario.
But the powerful people don't die, the
little people die.
The powerful people send the little
people to die.
The Band of Brothers, the Final
Patrol, the World War II is almost
over, but the bigwigs send the lowly
grunts out on a patrol that could get
them killed and don't want to go.
I'm not going to say anything else.
Watch the series.
It's a great episode.
But that's the way of the world.
But what happens here?
God himself dies, not the little
people, but God dies for the little
people because he loves you and loves
me.
Verse 16 again.
For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only son that whoever
believes in him should not perish but
have eternal life.
For God did not send his son into the
world to condemn the world.
And the word condemn here, it's not
meant the way condemn is used normally
in English.
Condemn, I'm sorry, I know it's going
to touch on some things, but you know
with his whole social media campaign
of Twitter and condemning people and
social media, it's very powerful.
It just means that we put people down,
we accuse them of things.
Condemn here, it's a language of the
law courts.
It's a language of what happens after
there's been a fair trial.
And all of the evidence has been
looked at and the judge declares you
guilty.
That's the language.
It's not the emotional name calling
language.
It's a language from the law court.
Talk to some of the lawyers who are
present here.
And even in perfect Canadian justice,
but the trial has been through.
All of the evidence has been
presented.
All of the evidence is weighed.
And at the end of it, the judge says
guilty or not guilty.
And that's the language condemned.
Read it again.
Verse 17.
For God did not send his son into the
world to condemn the world, but in order
that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, is
declared innocent.
But whoever does not believe is condemned
already because he has not believed in the name of
the only son of God.
And this is the judgment.
The light has come into the world.
And people love the darkness rather than the light
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come to the light, lest his works should be
exposed.
Could you put up the next point, please?
In your natural state, in my natural state, you hate the
light and love the darkness.
I mean, if you don't think that's true, just try to actually
have a completely honest apology.
You've done something wrong.
And how hard is it for you or me to actually give a full, honest,
unvarnished apology with no insinuation that the other person
contributed to it, no excuse, no extenuating circumstance.
And if you're honest, it's something we rarely do perfectly, maybe never do perfectly.
And even if we manage to get the words out perfectly, many of us inside of
ourselves are hoping that the other person will acknowledge some responsibility
because at the deepest level of our heart, we haven't fully come to the light.
And so this text is saying in your natural state, you hate the light and love the darkness.
So God gives you what you want and what you deserve.
Endless darkness.
You have hated the light.
You don't want the light in your life.
When you die, you will go where there is no light.
You have loved darkness and said darkness is your friend.
And when you die, God says, I will send you to outer darkness.
Can you put up the next point?
This text as well is saying, that's the thing here about the light coming into the world.
And it's a wonderful phrase from John.
It refers to both conscience, the fact of a created order, of a moral order,
of our different ways of knowing about God, all the different pointers that exist from God.
It's what Paul talks about in the book of Romans.
No one will have a valid excuse before God for rejecting him.
No one will be able to say that there was not enough light from God
or that he did not love us enough.
If you could put up the final point, that would be great.
If you could all stand.
This is maybe one of the greatest verses in the Bible.
It's Jesus speaking to you and me.
What's just been said to us today is very, very, very, very, very, very stark.
And it is really, truly telling us that apart from Christ,
we are doomed to perish,
to spend an eternity in endless darkness.
But this is not God's heart for you and me.
His heart for you and me
is that we would humble ourselves
and entrust ourselves to Jesus.
For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son
that whoever believes in him should not perish
but have eternal life.
Friends, if you are here
and you have not yet entrusted yourself to Jesus,
there is no better time than right now, today,
to entrust yourself to Jesus.
Jesus is like, you know,
if there was a perfect cure for cancer
that was just discovered
and a doctor comes and gives you
and he says, I have very terrible news,
you have cancer.
In a sense, when he tells you that you have cancer,
you are closer to health than before he told you that
because before he told you that,
you wouldn't have gone seeking a cure.
And Jesus tells us how great is our danger and our doom.
But he only does it in the context
of how great God's salvation is
for even the best and even the worst.
There is no time better than now
to entrust yourself to Jesus.
And for those of us who have done that before,
we don't have to keep entrusting ourselves to Jesus,
but this is why the mission statement of this church
is that God whose Holy Spirit will move in our lives
so that we are disciples of Jesus,
gripped by the gospel.
So we are freed up to live for his glory
and to pray and to share to the end
that our loved ones and friends will also come
to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Let's bow our heads in prayer.
Father,
we thank you, Father,
that these really hard words are said to us
by the one who died for us,
the one who came from heaven to live amongst us,
to die for us,
that, Father,
he is sharing his heart
for everyone who is here
and everyone that we meet,
that he is not saying this
to merely frighten us or depress us,
but, Father,
that he is saying this
to drive us to our knees,
to drive us to throw our arms out wide
and call out upon you
to entrust ourselves to you,
to entrust ourselves to Jesus.
Father,
may your Holy Spirit
move in our hearts and lives
that we will be disciples of Jesus
who are gripped by the gospel,
learning to live for your glory.
And, Father,
give us a heart for the lost
and a boldness
to bear witness to Jesus
here in Ottawa
and to the ends of the earth.
And we ask this in the name of Jesus,
your Son and our Savior.
Amen.