WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.140 To believe or not to believe? That is the question. That is the question that John, the Apostle John presents to us in his Gospel. 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:25.620 If you have read John's Gospel before, you might recognise these verses that come near the end in verse 30 and 31 of chapter 20. 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:37.920 It is coming to the end of his Gospel, isn't it? And we get this wonderful, clear, straightforward, no-nonsense statement of John's writing. 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:50.520 And verse 30 and 31, this is the shortest summary of John's theology and his purpose and the content of the whole book of John. 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:59.140 What is your Gospel about, John? These things are written, he says, that you will believe. 00:01:00.160 --> 00:01:04.879 That you will believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:08.439 That is what this Gospel is all about. 00:01:09.879 --> 00:01:24.640 His aim centres on the beautifully simple, yet intricately complex, the wonderfully easy, yet demanding action of Christian belief. 00:01:25.759 --> 00:01:28.819 Of belief in the man, Jesus Christ. 00:01:28.819 --> 00:01:32.979 Of course, John's not unique in this, is he? 00:01:33.039 --> 00:01:41.139 That idea of belief in Jesus Christ is all across the New Testament, particularly in the Gospels. 00:01:42.039 --> 00:01:46.579 The word belief is used lots and lots by the other Gospel writers. 00:01:46.759 --> 00:01:51.939 Mark uses it 11 times, 14 in the Gospel of Matthew, 9 in Luke. 00:01:51.939 --> 00:01:56.099 But in comparison, John outweighs them all. 00:01:57.340 --> 00:02:00.900 He mentions belief 98 times. 00:02:02.420 --> 00:02:12.479 Belief punctuates his whole narrative of the life and the death and the resurrection and the appearance of Jesus from the dead. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:24.939 So, from the curious seeds of belief in Nicodemus in John 3, to the simple belief of a Samaritan woman in John 4. 00:02:25.799 --> 00:02:33.060 From the short-lived, superficial belief of those who eat bread and fish at the feeding of the 5,000. 00:02:33.060 --> 00:02:36.800 To the simple belief of a blind man. 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:40.659 From the struggles of doubting Thomas. 00:02:41.640 --> 00:02:43.840 And the growing belief of his disciples. 00:02:44.259 --> 00:02:48.420 This question of belief is what it's all about for John. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:58.460 When you read his Gospel, John's main concern about you is what you believe about this person, Jesus. 00:02:58.460 --> 00:03:04.260 With John, it can never be just an interesting diversion. 00:03:05.420 --> 00:03:11.439 Or one theory among many other equally valid theories of life and of religion. 00:03:12.180 --> 00:03:15.540 There is only one spectrum that concerns him. 00:03:15.659 --> 00:03:18.879 One concern, it's the belief in Jesus spectrum. 00:03:19.740 --> 00:03:25.939 Of whether you believe who Jesus is, who he claims to be. 00:03:25.939 --> 00:03:34.699 So, in the coming weeks, we're going to trace the contours of this belief in John's Gospel. 00:03:35.819 --> 00:03:36.960 Who it's in. 00:03:37.979 --> 00:03:39.840 What actually it is. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:41.020 What it isn't. 00:03:42.099 --> 00:03:45.860 What it does to a person when they believe. 00:03:46.659 --> 00:03:48.960 What it will change for you. 00:03:49.659 --> 00:03:51.780 What it will lead to in your life. 00:03:51.780 --> 00:04:02.080 And strangely, as we begin to do that, we find actually, we can sense the landscape of the journey at the end here. 00:04:02.659 --> 00:04:03.599 In John 20. 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:05.199 In the verses that we read. 00:04:06.860 --> 00:04:08.280 Verses 30 and 31. 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:11.280 They are such dense verses. 00:04:12.219 --> 00:04:13.240 Of writing. 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:23.019 It's as if the gravity of the whole of John's Gospel is being pulled into just two verses at the end of chapter 20. 00:04:24.379 --> 00:04:31.680 Depending on where you slice them, you will see the whole of John's Gospel here in summary form. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:38.780 Now, theologians and writers have argued about who John writes his Gospel for. 00:04:38.900 --> 00:04:39.920 Who is the audience? 00:04:40.220 --> 00:04:41.600 Who is he aiming this at? 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:43.500 Is it Jews? 00:04:43.620 --> 00:04:46.079 Is it Hellenistic Jewish converts? 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:47.340 Is it Gentiles? 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:48.139 Is it believers? 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:49.300 Is it non-believers? 00:04:49.300 --> 00:04:54.520 Is John wanting to speak to people who don't believe? 00:04:54.939 --> 00:04:57.740 And he wants them to cross that line into belief? 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:01.780 Or to help people who already do believe grow? 00:05:03.060 --> 00:05:05.020 Well, I think it's both. 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:10.000 John's aim is that you will believe for the first time. 00:05:10.819 --> 00:05:15.139 Or that you will keep believing and growing in your believing. 00:05:15.139 --> 00:05:23.199 So, I want us to see three things in this kind of kernel, essential passage here. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:24.339 This summary passage. 00:05:25.060 --> 00:05:26.659 The last two verses of chapter 20. 00:05:27.479 --> 00:05:29.879 First of all, the fuel of Christian belief. 00:05:30.779 --> 00:05:35.199 The fuel of Christian belief are the signs of Jesus. 00:05:36.219 --> 00:05:37.199 The signs of Jesus. 00:05:38.819 --> 00:05:45.079 John tells us here, doesn't he, that the belief that he wants us to experience, 00:05:45.139 --> 00:05:55.560 and to enact, belief in Jesus is founded upon when a person comes into contact with the signs, 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:58.919 or the miracles that Jesus did. 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:01.180 See what he says here. 00:06:01.219 --> 00:06:05.680 Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, 00:06:05.899 --> 00:06:08.279 which are not written in this book. 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:15.879 But these signs, these miracles that Jesus did, are written that you may believe. 00:06:17.339 --> 00:06:19.059 How do you come to believe? 00:06:19.559 --> 00:06:21.599 How do you come to become a Christian? 00:06:22.899 --> 00:06:31.139 It is by taking the time to see the signs and the miracles that Jesus did. 00:06:31.139 --> 00:06:40.439 He uses the word signs, doesn't he, because they are things that Jesus did that point to something about himself. 00:06:41.860 --> 00:06:45.939 They're not just meant to be a bit of interesting info that you can stash away, 00:06:46.599 --> 00:06:52.139 but they are signs to point you somewhere, to move you somewhere. 00:06:52.139 --> 00:06:55.719 Jesus' signs are miracles. 00:06:55.879 --> 00:07:04.599 They are self-revelation, as the means by which a person comes to believe something about him. 00:07:05.819 --> 00:07:12.539 So belief in Jesus starts here, and it continues, and it grows in the same place, 00:07:13.180 --> 00:07:18.339 with the signs that he did, with seeing them and contemplating them, 00:07:18.339 --> 00:07:21.799 with the miracles that Jesus did. 00:07:23.599 --> 00:07:30.179 And if you think about it, I wonder if you think that that is a strange place to start. 00:07:31.299 --> 00:07:36.339 If you were to try and convince somebody the truth of the Christian faith, 00:07:36.579 --> 00:07:38.279 where would you begin, I wonder? 00:07:39.500 --> 00:07:45.019 Francis Schaeffer was famously asked to speak at a university mission, 00:07:45.019 --> 00:07:51.500 and on the first day, a group of philosophy students appeared at one of these sessions. 00:07:52.779 --> 00:07:59.339 But his first session, to their surprise, wasn't on the problem of suffering in the world, 00:08:00.219 --> 00:08:03.060 or the authenticity of the biblical manuscripts. 00:08:04.259 --> 00:08:08.919 It wasn't on the philosophical, ontological reason for God's existence. 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:14.680 But the first session that he led was a session on angels. 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:20.180 He said, there's really no point you listening to my philosophical arguments 00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:24.620 if you don't grasp the profound importance of the existence of angels. 00:08:26.340 --> 00:08:29.439 It was an unusual place to start, wasn't it? 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:34.600 Would you start a conversation on the Christian faith about angels? 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:34.920 angels. 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:38.159 It was strange. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.600 But what Schaeffer grasped there, 00:08:43.379 --> 00:08:46.279 was that the Christian faith is at heart, 00:08:46.980 --> 00:08:49.700 a belief in supernatural reality. 00:08:51.220 --> 00:08:55.340 It is a supernatural faith in supernatural things. 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:03.440 Where the truth is that reality is more than what we can just see in the world. 00:09:04.600 --> 00:09:09.300 Christian belief believes in spiritual things. 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:11.240 In the soul. 00:09:12.259 --> 00:09:12.980 In heaven. 00:09:13.340 --> 00:09:14.040 In hell. 00:09:14.220 --> 00:09:15.820 In unseen things. 00:09:15.940 --> 00:09:16.639 In angels. 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:23.360 And Schaeffer understood what at the heart was important for John here. 00:09:24.220 --> 00:09:26.040 For John, that is crucial. 00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:31.120 He has no hesitation, doesn't he, in laying his cards on the table 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:34.699 and bringing up the subject of Jesus' miracles. 00:09:35.959 --> 00:09:36.860 His signs. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:41.039 Of supernatural activity. 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:45.360 People read the Gospels, don't they? 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:48.740 And they say, well, water doesn't just turn into wine. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:50.480 It must have been a magic trick. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:58.180 You can't feed a stadium of people with a few bits of bread and a couple of fish from a lunchbox. 00:09:58.500 --> 00:09:59.980 And you'd be right, wouldn't you? 00:10:00.820 --> 00:10:03.800 And that is precisely what makes them special. 00:10:04.759 --> 00:10:05.399 The signs. 00:10:05.560 --> 00:10:10.940 They are miracles precisely because they don't happen in the natural world. 00:10:10.940 --> 00:10:13.760 They are supernatural works. 00:10:14.500 --> 00:10:17.740 Because they don't normally naturally happen. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:24.540 And throughout the Gospel, it is people's response to the supernatural activity of Jesus. 00:10:24.740 --> 00:10:25.420 His miracles. 00:10:26.520 --> 00:10:29.580 To the signs that answer the question for them. 00:10:29.740 --> 00:10:32.280 To believe or not to believe. 00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:40.079 Earlier in chapter 2, he writes, just after Jesus turns the water into the wine at the wedding. 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:45.379 He says, this was the first of his signs that Jesus did in Cana of Galilee. 00:10:46.179 --> 00:10:48.519 And he manifested his glory. 00:10:49.779 --> 00:10:52.240 And his disciples believed him. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:53.299 In him. 00:10:54.980 --> 00:10:59.079 The signs that the miracles shout out to us of something, don't they? 00:10:59.079 --> 00:11:00.079 In him. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:00.180 In him. 00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:02.759 They arouse belief. 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:04.780 They stir us up. 00:11:04.900 --> 00:11:08.680 They show us someone who is very familiar as a human being. 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:12.139 Walking and talking around with his disciples on the earth. 00:11:12.259 --> 00:11:15.440 But yet, as a man, he is profoundly different. 00:11:17.100 --> 00:11:20.120 A man who is invested with glory. 00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:22.320 The glory of God. 00:11:24.100 --> 00:11:28.480 No other person who has ever walked on the face of this planet. 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:31.700 Has or ever will be like him. 00:11:33.180 --> 00:11:33.659 Muhammad. 00:11:34.180 --> 00:11:34.899 Or Gandhi. 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:35.800 Or the Pope. 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:36.519 Or Buddha. 00:11:37.259 --> 00:11:38.300 Have been influential. 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:38.940 Haven't they? 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:40.379 But no other person. 00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:43.320 No other person has done these signs. 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:45.120 And these miracles. 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:47.980 That manifest this kind of glory. 00:11:47.980 --> 00:11:55.539 Not forgetting, isn't it, that the verses that come immediately before our verses today. 00:11:56.600 --> 00:12:02.240 Where Thomas grasps the miracle of Jesus' resurrection. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:07.060 The scars are the signs given to Thomas. 00:12:07.700 --> 00:12:08.759 That turn him. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:10.519 That arouse belief in him. 00:12:10.659 --> 00:12:11.320 My Lord. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:12.480 My God. 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:16.419 Dead people don't just get up and walk, do they? 00:12:16.419 --> 00:12:19.759 Dead people don't just appear in a room with the doors locked. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:22.120 It's a miracle. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:26.980 And Jesus' miracles, they are interruptions. 00:12:27.220 --> 00:12:33.679 They are intrusions into the natural world of supernatural power. 00:12:35.939 --> 00:12:40.639 It's not just the physical, visual miracles though that manifest his glory. 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:48.740 Belief throughout the gospel and rejection hinges also on the glory that is seen in his words. 00:12:48.740 --> 00:12:57.659 Earlier in John 7, people hear Jesus and they say, no one ever spoke like this man. 00:12:58.779 --> 00:13:04.080 Just before Jesus is arrested in John 18, he says, I am he. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:06.259 The one that they're looking for. 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:08.560 And they draw back and fall to the ground. 00:13:10.379 --> 00:13:16.580 It's not just the works of Jesus that manifest his glory. 00:13:16.580 --> 00:13:17.940 But it's his words. 00:13:18.740 --> 00:13:21.139 In fact, it is, isn't it? 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:23.440 Everything he does in his body. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:28.820 John opens the gospel by saying that the word became flesh. 00:13:29.560 --> 00:13:31.419 And we've seen his glory. 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:34.240 Everything about him. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:35.879 His words. 00:13:36.100 --> 00:13:37.120 His works. 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:40.580 That familiarness of him. 00:13:40.580 --> 00:13:43.980 And yet the profoundly otherworldliness about him. 00:13:44.900 --> 00:13:48.280 The profoundly manifesting his glory. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:52.320 Profoundly supernatural words and works of Jesus. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:57.720 And John tells us, doesn't he, he's got a huge wealth of material. 00:13:58.820 --> 00:14:03.660 He says that Jesus did many other signs but that they're not written in this book. 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:07.460 This is just to say that this is a sample in John's gospel. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:10.300 This is just a bite-sized chunk. 00:14:10.299 --> 00:14:13.219 As if he's saying, I could say more. 00:14:13.319 --> 00:14:16.240 But if I tried to say it all, we'd just be here forever. 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:21.379 I cannot exhaust all of the manifestations. 00:14:21.379 --> 00:14:27.079 All of the works and the words of Jesus that manifest his glory. 00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:31.759 But that leads us on to the question, doesn't it? 00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:34.600 What exactly is John expecting us to see? 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.379 What are we to hear? 00:14:39.980 --> 00:14:45.940 How can we see the signs when they happened so long ago? 00:14:47.340 --> 00:14:50.680 What should we look for today with our eyes? 00:14:50.679 --> 00:15:01.679 Should we believe in the gospel by seeing tears on the statue of the Virgin Mary in a church somewhere? 00:15:02.819 --> 00:15:08.179 Should I believe in the gospel because there is a relic that I can go and see? 00:15:08.979 --> 00:15:12.239 Or there's a bit of cloth with the imprint of Jesus' face on it? 00:15:13.199 --> 00:15:16.359 Will I believe if I get a vision in a dream? 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:21.720 Or should I believe just because I feel like it's the right thing to do? 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:23.000 Well, John says no. 00:15:24.300 --> 00:15:31.360 John understands actually that there is a separation, isn't there, between us now and 2,000 years later 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:35.279 and the signs that were done by Jesus in history then. 00:15:35.379 --> 00:15:37.100 That happened 2,000 years ago. 00:15:37.259 --> 00:15:41.000 He is not here right now in his body, is he? 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:45.519 So that I can go and get wine from that water urn. 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:52.159 I cannot see him now walking and talking in his resurrected body. 00:15:53.500 --> 00:15:56.180 So the source of belief are the signs of belief. 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:02.639 But secondly, the messenger of Christian belief is the apostles' writing. 00:16:03.659 --> 00:16:04.800 The apostles' writing. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:09.980 There's an interesting detail in verse 30. 00:16:09.980 --> 00:16:12.820 Jesus did many other signs. 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:14.940 And here's the interesting bit that he adds in. 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:17.480 In the presence of his disciples. 00:16:19.060 --> 00:16:22.920 In the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:24.259 Why does he say that? 00:16:26.139 --> 00:16:30.000 Well, for starters, it shows, doesn't it, that the signs were authentic, 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:32.980 that they really happened, that there were eyewitnesses. 00:16:32.980 --> 00:16:35.379 But I think there's more to this. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:41.300 That comment in the presence of his disciples comes, doesn't it, 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:45.039 in the context of Thomas' belief. 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:49.779 Who saw and believed in the presence of Jesus. 00:16:50.920 --> 00:16:52.379 Do you remember what Jesus says to him? 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:54.320 Have you believed because you've seen? 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:58.760 Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:16:59.460 Verse 29. 00:17:01.060 --> 00:17:07.259 Thomas is one of those disciples in whose presence Jesus did these amazing things. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:15.140 But after Thomas, there is going to be a break with that kind of experience. 00:17:16.360 --> 00:17:22.940 There will come a time when no one will believe in the circumstances that Thomas believed in. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:32.539 Jesus anticipates a time when people will be blessed when they don't believe in the signs in the physical presence of Jesus. 00:17:33.679 --> 00:17:39.079 They will believe not because of physical manifestations of signs and of miracles, 00:17:39.659 --> 00:17:42.779 but through what has been written. 00:17:44.460 --> 00:17:49.079 The logic of verse 29, isn't it, is that those who have not seen, 00:17:49.919 --> 00:17:52.339 who have not been in the physical presence of Jesus, 00:17:52.339 --> 00:17:54.559 but believe are blessed. 00:17:55.939 --> 00:18:01.439 And so John says, look, I am writing this so that that person can be you. 00:18:02.500 --> 00:18:05.579 So that even though you're not in his presence, 00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:08.119 you can believe and you can be blessed. 00:18:09.980 --> 00:18:13.839 John says that his book, his words, 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:29.500 John and the other apostles, 00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:32.619 those who write down the signs as a record, 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:34.459 are the link, aren't they, 00:18:34.460 --> 00:18:38.680 between those who have seen in the presence of Jesus 00:18:38.680 --> 00:18:42.160 and those who will believe through their word. 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:50.220 So today, the way to experience the signs and miracles of Jesus 00:18:50.220 --> 00:18:52.840 is in the written word about them. 00:18:54.460 --> 00:18:59.000 The medium, the vehicle, if you like, of the words 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:01.299 is actually a big part of the message. 00:19:01.299 --> 00:19:07.159 Jesus has decided not to give us pictures, has he? 00:19:07.740 --> 00:19:12.159 He's not given us illustrations in terms of physical things. 00:19:13.159 --> 00:19:16.279 He's not given us a video or a cartoon. 00:19:17.740 --> 00:19:19.460 He's given us words. 00:19:20.940 --> 00:19:24.680 These signs are written that we may believe. 00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:32.259 The signs that lead us to believe are given in oral and literary form 00:19:32.259 --> 00:19:34.660 rather than visual form. 00:19:36.299 --> 00:19:38.779 And that is particularly challenging for us, isn't it, 00:19:38.779 --> 00:19:40.720 in our visual heavy culture, 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:43.440 in our image-based world. 00:19:44.259 --> 00:19:46.380 Maybe it feels a little bit dull, doesn't it, 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:49.799 to come and sit and look at words on a page. 00:19:51.019 --> 00:19:53.560 That is not a very attractive thing today. 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:58.919 But that is exactly how Jesus has decided to operate here. 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:04.779 Can't God just appear to me at the end of my bed? 00:20:05.779 --> 00:20:08.359 Can't he just appear on the TV screen 00:20:08.359 --> 00:20:10.319 and interrupt Fiona Bruce? 00:20:11.899 --> 00:20:16.500 No, because belief in his apostles' testimony 00:20:16.500 --> 00:20:19.200 is part of the question of belief. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:23.620 It is part of what belief actually is. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:27.680 To take God at his word. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:30.779 To listen to his voice. 00:20:31.580 --> 00:20:32.960 And to trust in it. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:36.340 And John says these words 00:20:36.340 --> 00:20:38.539 aren't just any other words 00:20:38.539 --> 00:20:40.100 that you can read in any other book. 00:20:40.360 --> 00:20:42.500 It's interesting, the word written there, 00:20:42.580 --> 00:20:43.620 these things are written, 00:20:43.619 --> 00:20:46.739 is the same word that he would use 00:20:46.739 --> 00:20:48.679 to quote the Old Testament. 00:20:49.639 --> 00:20:50.739 You know when he would say, 00:20:50.879 --> 00:20:53.199 it is written in the Old Testament. 00:20:54.599 --> 00:20:56.039 It's the same word here. 00:20:56.119 --> 00:20:56.759 He's saying, isn't he, 00:20:56.779 --> 00:20:58.779 that my words in this gospel 00:20:58.779 --> 00:21:01.619 are on a par with Old Testament scripture. 00:21:03.059 --> 00:21:06.119 This gospel is inspired by God. 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:08.779 He has, through me, 00:21:08.919 --> 00:21:11.039 written these words on this page. 00:21:13.099 --> 00:21:15.379 These words in this place here, 00:21:15.500 --> 00:21:19.039 they are the place to experience 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:20.619 the signs of Jesus today. 00:21:22.059 --> 00:21:23.099 The fuel of belief, 00:21:23.259 --> 00:21:23.959 the signs of Jesus, 00:21:24.099 --> 00:21:25.119 the messenger of belief, 00:21:25.239 --> 00:21:26.019 the apostles' word. 00:21:26.199 --> 00:21:27.839 Thirdly and lastly, 00:21:27.979 --> 00:21:29.779 the goal of Christian belief. 00:21:29.779 --> 00:21:32.599 The goal of Christian belief, 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:34.779 life in his name. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:37.119 Life in his name. 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:40.720 I heard someone on the radio 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:41.660 the other day saying, 00:21:41.779 --> 00:21:44.680 wherever you find the divine is fine. 00:21:46.139 --> 00:21:48.379 And that's what people think, isn't it? 00:21:49.420 --> 00:21:52.559 There is this kind of fluid goop 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:54.019 of truth 00:21:54.019 --> 00:21:56.539 that we just float around in. 00:21:56.639 --> 00:21:57.339 Actually, really, 00:21:57.500 --> 00:21:58.819 it's just truth is basically 00:21:58.819 --> 00:22:00.500 what you want it to be, isn't it? 00:22:01.819 --> 00:22:03.200 And John is really clear. 00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:05.639 He wants us to accept 00:22:05.639 --> 00:22:07.619 propositional truths. 00:22:08.980 --> 00:22:10.319 He wants us to accept 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:12.159 what he's saying as right 00:22:12.159 --> 00:22:13.639 and as wrong, 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:16.059 of true and of false. 00:22:16.500 --> 00:22:19.799 And those things are really clear 00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:22.099 and black and white often in his gospel. 00:22:22.099 --> 00:22:24.799 But John's purpose is not just academic. 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:27.919 Look at verse 31 again. 00:22:28.819 --> 00:22:31.319 That by believing, 00:22:31.500 --> 00:22:33.919 we will have life in his name. 00:22:35.500 --> 00:22:38.480 It isn't simply that we agree with John, 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:38.859 is it? 00:22:39.919 --> 00:22:41.379 That we kind of assent 00:22:41.379 --> 00:22:42.419 to what he's saying. 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:44.379 That we agree about who Jesus is. 00:22:44.439 --> 00:22:46.059 That we share in his opinion 00:22:46.059 --> 00:22:47.559 about the identity of Jesus. 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:50.279 That the name of Jesus is the Christ, 00:22:50.399 --> 00:22:51.299 the Son of God. 00:22:51.299 --> 00:22:54.139 Because that name itself 00:22:54.139 --> 00:22:55.859 can never just be about 00:22:55.859 --> 00:22:57.519 an incidental piece of trivia. 00:22:59.099 --> 00:23:00.259 If the man, 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:01.619 Jesus Christ, 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:04.259 is a supernatural man, 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:05.680 if he is God, 00:23:06.539 --> 00:23:08.259 manifested in a body, 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:10.919 if he is invested 00:23:10.919 --> 00:23:12.819 with the glory of God, 00:23:13.259 --> 00:23:14.839 if he is the Christ, 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:16.919 the promised king 00:23:16.919 --> 00:23:17.799 to rescue 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:20.119 God's people from death, 00:23:20.180 --> 00:23:22.440 if he died and rose from the dead, 00:23:22.899 --> 00:23:23.980 and is alive today, 00:23:24.139 --> 00:23:25.579 belief in him 00:23:25.579 --> 00:23:27.539 will never just be 00:23:27.539 --> 00:23:28.480 a nice add-on, 00:23:28.539 --> 00:23:28.779 will it? 00:23:28.819 --> 00:23:29.799 It will never just be 00:23:29.799 --> 00:23:30.980 a lifestyle choice. 00:23:31.259 --> 00:23:33.759 It can only lead to one thing. 00:23:35.019 --> 00:23:35.500 Life. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:38.960 Life in his name. 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:41.180 Now and forever. 00:23:43.380 --> 00:23:44.779 Life in John 00:23:44.779 --> 00:23:45.900 is this kind of 00:23:45.900 --> 00:23:48.259 all-embracing term 00:23:48.259 --> 00:23:50.100 for salvation 00:23:50.100 --> 00:23:51.380 in the gospel. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:54.860 It's not just a never-ending 00:23:54.860 --> 00:23:56.140 kind of life 00:23:56.140 --> 00:23:57.400 that just never stops, 00:23:57.500 --> 00:23:59.440 but a full and restful 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:00.860 and fulfilling, 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:02.340 glorious life. 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:05.380 The apostle Paul says, 00:24:05.460 --> 00:24:05.759 doesn't he, 00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:07.420 that the wages of sin, 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:08.860 the result of sin, 00:24:08.859 --> 00:24:10.139 when we rebel against God, 00:24:10.199 --> 00:24:10.899 it is death. 00:24:12.879 --> 00:24:13.699 The wages, 00:24:14.179 --> 00:24:16.039 or the end of belief, 00:24:16.779 --> 00:24:17.779 is life. 00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:20.939 Belief in this name 00:24:20.939 --> 00:24:21.679 of Jesus 00:24:21.679 --> 00:24:24.179 will bring a reversal 00:24:24.179 --> 00:24:27.139 to the normal way of things 00:24:27.139 --> 00:24:27.959 in the world, 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:28.779 in your life. 00:24:28.879 --> 00:24:30.159 It will bring a reversal 00:24:30.159 --> 00:24:31.719 of all that is wrong 00:24:31.719 --> 00:24:33.859 with you and with me 00:24:33.859 --> 00:24:35.359 and with this world. 00:24:35.500 --> 00:24:36.359 It will reverse 00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:37.799 and change the outcome 00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:38.599 of your life. 00:24:38.859 --> 00:24:41.259 this belief 00:24:41.259 --> 00:24:42.219 is never just 00:24:42.219 --> 00:24:43.359 an end in itself. 00:24:45.219 --> 00:24:46.099 So these are 00:24:46.099 --> 00:24:47.539 his intentions 00:24:47.539 --> 00:24:48.599 and they are good, 00:24:48.659 --> 00:24:48.919 aren't they? 00:24:48.979 --> 00:24:49.939 Not to shackle you, 00:24:50.019 --> 00:24:51.319 not to close your mind, 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:54.139 but to direct you 00:24:54.139 --> 00:24:55.000 to this goal 00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:55.979 of personal 00:24:55.979 --> 00:24:57.419 life 00:24:57.419 --> 00:24:58.919 in this one person, 00:24:59.099 --> 00:24:59.339 Jesus. 00:24:59.339 --> 00:24:59.579 Jesus. 00:25:01.859 --> 00:25:03.279 Maybe over the next week 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:04.759 read through John's gospel 00:25:04.759 --> 00:25:06.259 if you've got a bible. 00:25:07.959 --> 00:25:09.559 And when you do that 00:25:09.559 --> 00:25:10.740 and you get to this point 00:25:10.740 --> 00:25:12.079 at the end of chapter 20, 00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:13.240 it's as if, 00:25:13.299 --> 00:25:13.579 isn't it, 00:25:13.579 --> 00:25:14.119 John is saying, 00:25:14.220 --> 00:25:14.359 great, 00:25:14.439 --> 00:25:15.319 you've read my gospel, 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:16.859 now go back. 00:25:17.819 --> 00:25:19.000 Go back to the beginning. 00:25:19.159 --> 00:25:19.559 Go back 00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:20.279 and ponder 00:25:20.279 --> 00:25:22.419 what this will mean 00:25:22.419 --> 00:25:23.099 for you 00:25:23.099 --> 00:25:25.199 to have belief 00:25:25.199 --> 00:25:25.779 in Jesus. 00:25:26.179 --> 00:25:26.639 Go back 00:25:26.639 --> 00:25:28.059 and revisit 00:25:28.059 --> 00:25:29.159 the signs. 00:25:30.359 --> 00:25:30.899 Go back 00:25:30.899 --> 00:25:31.539 and revisit 00:25:31.539 --> 00:25:32.500 his words 00:25:32.500 --> 00:25:33.480 and his works. 00:25:33.859 --> 00:25:34.500 Revisit 00:25:34.500 --> 00:25:35.159 him. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:37.119 Review 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:38.099 where you are 00:25:38.099 --> 00:25:39.039 with this belief. 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:41.759 Maybe bring a friend 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:42.779 along for the journey 00:25:42.779 --> 00:25:43.659 next time. 00:25:44.659 --> 00:25:45.899 Ask the question, 00:25:45.900 --> 00:25:47.920 to believe 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:50.120 or not to believe. 00:25:50.560 --> 00:25:51.200 Let's pray.