Okay, well, good morning everyone. Lovely to see you today and brilliant to see so many new faces as well.
My name is Graeme, I'm the pastor of the church here and here's what I'd love you to do.
I'd love you to turn back to those verses in John chapter 5, if you have them there in your Bibles.
And know that as you're doing that, you are looking at, according to the Guinness Book of Records,
you're looking at the best-selling book of all time.
Three quick fun facts for you.
Five billion Bibles have been sold to date.
Apparently, 1.6 million Bibles are sold around the world every month.
And somebody's worked out and calculated that that works out as something like 6.4 Bibles per second around the world right now are flying off the shelves.
Now, longevity like that, you have to say, is pretty extraordinary.
And maybe you hear those stats and to be honest, you're completely baffled.
Why would anyone be interested in this dated, cold and constraining book that Christians call the Bible?
Surely in 2023, we've moved on from all that kind of religious stuff.
What was it Boris said to us?
Every night during lockdown, we'll be guided by the science.
Why do we need this book?
Why do people get into this book?
Which is a great question.
Maybe it's one you've got here today.
It's a wonderful question.
And because it's a wonderful question, my invitation to you is to come to this passage today
and see the wonderful answer that's there for us.
You see, if all this was was a self-help book, the kind that offers us pearls of wisdom,
the kind of book that provides almost some spiritual caffeine to propel us into our days,
honestly, this book wouldn't get past the publishers.
And the answer, because of that, is because it does a pretty lousy job at being a self-help book, if we're honest.
Okay, no one's asking themselves, should I take that new job?
And it's going to find the immediate answer in one of the genealogies that you find in the Bible.
It's not a self-help book.
If that's what you're after, then can I recommend you flick over to Oprah,
because she does a far better job than the Bible does at that.
Let me put it to you that the answer to the question, what do people see in this book,
is not primarily what it says.
It's primarily who it reveals.
For if you come with me to our passage today, here is Jesus' claim about the Bible, and it's a biggie.
And taking these five words in English, verse 39,
the scriptures testify about me.
Which is either the most vain thing I think I've ever heard somebody say,
right, like something that someone on an audition tape for The Apprentice would come out with,
it's all about me,
or
he's right.
It's true, isn't it, in our own Christian walks at times,
that so often our problem is that we go looking at this book,
we come at it,
thinking it's about us.
When actually, the way more satisfying,
eye-opening, and life-changing experience
is to come at it looking for
him.
Or more precisely,
how he, Jesus Christ,
the great king,
is the glorious climax to God's promised plan
to rescue
guilty,
sinful,
clueless,
and weary human beings
like you and like me,
win them to himself,
and bless the nations of the world.
Now, let's we think that this is simply a matter of facts,
as if comprehension
is the barrier,
like to be a Christian is to find yourself entered in some kind of
biblical spelling bee.
Come with me to this passage,
and be sure to see
that Jesus is here
speaking to people who have all
the Old Testament
biblical knowledge they could ever need
at their fingertips.
So when Jesus says,
and look at it with me,
verse 39,
that you study the scriptures
because you think
that in them
you have eternal life.
That's what he means.
These religious leaders
are committed to learning
what the scriptures say.
I'm sure they could have
said it to us,
recited it almost verbatim.
Okay?
Like, if you think about it,
if Bible knowledge came up as a category
and mastermind,
these guys were sitting in a chair,
they would be rubbing their hands
with glee.
They're committed to learning what it says.
And they're committed to doing what scripture says.
And yet Jesus,
as in this passage today,
says you've completely missed the point.
See, here's what these men teach us.
That you can have both of those things,
learning and doing,
and still miss the point
that's the central point of the Bible.
I wonder if that rings true for you.
I remember playing football at university
with a ton of boys
who were from the western isles of Scotland.
And they put me as a new Christian to shame
because they knew their Bible off by heart.
They tried their best to live according to it.
They were cracking guys.
But let me just tell you,
they had zero interest in knowing the God
at the heart of it.
It is possible to do it.
And Jesus knows it.
You see, according to him,
when it comes to life,
it's not so much what we know,
it's who we know.
In immediate context,
Jesus has just healed a man
and told him to carry his mat on the Sabbath.
That's where we've been as a church
over the last couple of weeks
in John chapter five.
And that's the thing
that's caused a stir in Jerusalem.
So again, we've been thinking about the fact
that Jesus hasn't just posted a blog post
about who he is.
Okay, he's in conversation with creatures.
Again, you think about that,
that's incredible.
The creator of all things
come down in the person of Jesus
and he's dialoguing with people.
And in so doing, verse 18,
because he's healed that man on the Sabbath
and because he's told that man
to lift up his mat and walk,
verse 18, he's made a claim
to be equal to God.
And we saw that Jesus went on
to explain who he is, right?
The son of God,
the apple of the father's eye,
the one who has seen the father
since before the beginning of the world.
And he's come to reveal him
and his heart to a dying world
that's lost in the sinking sand
of our sin and death.
Which is why if you're here today
and you're wondering
who is this God and what he is like,
our passage last week said to us,
clearly, look at Jesus.
He reveals the father.
Look at Jesus.
And now Jesus gives them
almost three bits of evidence
to give that claim,
credibility,
credibility in the eyes
of the watching world.
And I guess this is what we might know today
as corroborating evidence.
You heard of that?
Corroborating evidence.
You know, I've got a friend called Bob.
Bob is a lecturer
at Edinburgh Theological Seminary.
Bob is also a chaplain
at Edinburgh's biggest prison
out of Sotten.
And I remember vividly him once telling me,
he said,
see when three guys come up to me
in his lovely New Jersey accent,
okay,
when three guys come up to me
and they give me precisely
the same tale of events,
precisely the same running order
of what happened,
I'm immediately smelling a rat.
Okay?
And that's where corroborating evidence
is very persuasive and convincing
because it's evidence
that's been gathered
from different sources
but comes together
to provide you
with a consistent
and full picture.
It's very persuasive.
It's why when I was in law,
remember,
this is what you looked for
for evidence,
corroboration.
Corroboration.
And that's what we have here.
And in keeping with Jewish law
that looked for exactly
the same thing,
Jesus says,
here are three bits of evidence
that back up my claim to divinity.
Now, we'll go through these
really quickly,
but come with me
and you'll see
that this stuff stacks up.
Here's the first one.
Jesus says,
verse 33,
how about you trust
the man who announced me?
Okay?
John the Baptist is here.
This great
and predicted
forerunner
to Jesus
who would come on the scene
just before
the Lord himself would come,
according to scripture.
And we met this guy
back at chapter one.
He arrived on the scene
in the region
causing a stir
because he was telling people
to leave behind
their old sinful ways,
come out,
allow God
to transform your heart
and like a moth
to a flame
be led towards the light.
That was John the Baptist.
And Jesus calls him here
a burning
and a shining lamp.
You see it?
In other words,
this guy,
John,
was a man
in the pitch black
with a flashlight
in his hand
and he was shining
it straight at me,
says Jesus.
And secondly,
says Jesus,
how about you trust
the works
that affirm me?
You see,
every single miracle
that Jesus does,
the type that defies
all human logic
and expectations
is a megaphone
announcing to the world
the breaking in
of God's rule
and reign.
And not only
are they
wonderful foretastes
of what will be true
physically
and emotionally
for every believer
one day
when Jesus returns,
but every work
is also
the Father's
stamp of approval
on the person
of Jesus
and his claims.
And thirdly,
Jesus says,
how about you trust
the voice
that adores me?
You see verse 37?
Jesus says,
the Father
bore witness
about me.
Genuinely understood
there to be a reference
to Jesus' baptism
when the Father's
voice
thundered
from heaven
and when
he came up
out of the water
said,
this is
my
son.
With him
I am
well pleased.
So there's
your three bits
of evidence
says Jesus,
the man
that announces
me,
the works
that affirm
me,
and the voice
that adores
me.
Now what connects
those three things?
I've been thinking
about this all week.
What connects
those three things?
Well,
I take it
it's that all
three of these
things are not
like random
shooting stars
we would see
in an evening,
right?
Never saw that
coming.
If only someone
had said.
I take it
all of these
three things
are right
there in
the scriptures.
Okay,
John the Baptist
that the voice
in the wilderness
saying make
straight the
path for the
Lord.
Again,
he's not
come out
of nowhere.
It's Isaiah
chapter 40
you read about
him there.
The works
that the one
God's promised
one would
come and
his arrival
would cause
the lame
to leap for
joy and
who would
take the
infirmities
of God's
people on
himself.
It's Isaiah
53.
The father
who delights
in his son
his heart
is bursting
with emotion
as he looks
at him
and considers
what he's
come to do.
The servant
is talked
about in
Isaiah 42.
It's all
right there
which makes
you wonder
if these guys
have all the
Bible knowledge
at their
disposal
why are they
not seeing
it?
And you
see it's
not a
matter of
them not
having quite
joined the
dots yet.
It's more
that they
won't join
the dots.
I think this
is really
insightful.
And why?
Well John
gives us two
reasons.
They're kind
of wrapped
up in this
one verse.
And here's
reason number
one verse
44.
That they
love the
glory that
comes from
men.
Okay.
If these
guys were
around today
they'd be
following
each other
on Twitter
they'd be
liking each
other's
tweets
they'd be
retweeting
each other's
tweets
in some
kind of
religious
echo
chamber.
They love
and they
exist for
their own
glory.
You get
this description
of the
Pharisees as
we move
through the
Gospels.
Right?
Just think
about two
longs.
They have
long robes
so that
everyone can
see how
important they
are and
they love
long prayers
so that
everyone can
hear their
eloquence.
They live
for the
praise of
men.
They love
the praise
of men
over and
above the
praise of
God.
So they're
glory stealers.
And reason
number two
verse 45
is that they
love self
justifying.
And if you
listen carefully
enough you'll
see how both
of these things
line up in what
Bogdan has just
shared with us.
That's why
verse 45 they
love the law
of Moses which I
take it is code
there for the
Ten Commandments.
How God had
told his
people having
saved them by
his power by
his grace to
live for him
and said that's
how I want you
to live for
me.
They had
become not a
means by which
they saw the
brokenness of
their own
hearts.
How just our
inability to
live up to
this holy
life that God
has called us
to and their
desperate need
of him.
But actually
they resorted
to being a
tick-bock
exercise by
which they
could say
done that,
not done
that, not
done that,
not committed
murder today.
And they
give the
impression that
they're good
with God
because they
haven't done
those certain
things.
And Jesus
sees straight
through it.
And there's
maybe something
you've got in
your mind
today.
You say
well religion
Christianity
is full of
hypocrisy.
And friends,
know how God
feels about
that.
When you
read the
Gospels,
what you'll
see is that
Jesus has
some of his
sharpest words
of rebuke,
not for the
moral failures,
but rather for
the religious
hypocrites.
He sees
straight through
it.
And Jesus
outs them on
it here.
And he
outs us on
it too.
Because here's
a confession.
I love my
own glory.
I love my
own praise.
I love it
when people
speak well of
me.
And I so
often trust
my attempts
at trying
to make
me good.
And dear
friends,
if that is
the hamster
wheel that
you're currently
on,
living for
the praise
of others,
trying to
get your
identity
from what
others think
about you,
then I'm
sure you'll
know that
that is a
lonely and
exhausting
place to
live your
life.
And the
message of
the gospel,
which is why
we're here
today,
to celebrate
yes,
what God
has done
in Bogdan's
life,
but more so
the Savior
who loves
us all.
Jesus comes
along,
and you've
got to get
this straight,
he doesn't
like me just
the way I
am.
That is the
gospel to
Lady Gaga.
It doesn't
work.
He doesn't
love me just
the way I
am.
He doesn't
like me just
the way I
am.
No,
Jesus goes
so much
better.
He loves
me despite
of who I
am.
And that's
the gospel
today.
spend any
time with
Jesus and
you'll soon
discover you
are dealing
with a
God who
doesn't just
tolerate people
who don't
like him.
You're dealing
with a God
who came to
die for his
enemies.
To the
extent that he
will offer
his life on
the cross
in the place
of death
that you and
I deserve
to die
to save
us from
our sin,
from an
eternal
existence,
facing his
wrath.
And so if
that's how
you and I
are saved,
then we've
got to
understand that
Jesus outed
us on the
cross as
people who
are in need
of that
salvation.
He outs
me as a
sinner and
he saves
me from
the vain
exercise that
is self-justifying.
And this is a
place where I
can be honest
about my
complete spiritual
need before
anyone in
the world.
Because it's
Jesus that
saved me.
It's not just
like he topped
up my attempts
at good
works.
No, no, no.
Jesus saved
me completely.
And he saves
me out of
that lonely
self-absorbed
existence where
I live for
my own glory.
He saves me
out of it
and he puts
a new heart
of flesh
in me
and he turns
me and he's
shaping me
so that the
way I want
to live my
life, the
very reason
that you and
I were made
was to exist
for and
bask in the
glory of
Jesus who
loves us.
You see,
here's what
Jesus knows
has happened
to their
hearts.
Verse 42,
he says,
you do not
have the
love of God
within you.
Right?
Their hearts
have gone
really hard.
It's like if
you've ever
left the lid
off of Play-Doh
for any length
of time,
spot the life
stage I am
at what
happens to
it,
what happens
to it?
It just
goes hard.
Right?
Can't do
anything with it.
It just
goes brittle.
And that's
what Jesus
is saying
about their
hearts here.
I'll be
honest with
you,
here's my
greatest fear
for my
Christian life.
And Bogdan,
make this
your greatest
fear as well.
That my
heart just
goes cold
and it
goes brittle
to the
point where
I just
don't have
the love
of God
in my
heart.
That my
heart grows
callous and
stops being
thrilled with
and molded
by the
Jesus who
loved me
and who
gave himself
for me.
it was
late 20th
century
American
theologian
J.
Gresham
Mackin
who once
said that
Christianity
is the
religion of
the broken
heart.
You see,
the human
heart will
find itself
in losing
itself.
And when
you discover
the life
that's in
Jesus,
it is the
most liberating
place to
be.
And so
my question
to you as
we begin to
wrap up is
do you know
him?
Have you
considered him?
Have you read
about him?
Have you spent
time with
him?
The one who
can give you
and I
living in
this world
hope in
the midst
of despair
and purpose
in the midst
of confusion.
That's
Jesus.
So what
do people
see in
this book?
I take
it the
answer is
that the
spirit of
God
through the
word of
God
does the
work of
God
in
satisfying
our
thirsty
and needy
souls
with the
Christ of
God.
Who as we
encounter him
here says
verse 40
come to me
whoever you
are come to
me and
have life.
you know
just as we
close and
maybe to
help convince
you of the
truth of
this let
me just
tell you a
story I
heard recently
from a
man who
works down
in London
called
Richard
Burgonan
and he
travels around
the country
telling people
about the
word of
God and
why they
should read
it and I
was hearing
him talk
and he
was telling
me about
this Chinese
woman who
once ran
up to him
and proceeded
to tell him
the story about
how she became
a Christian.
Now I don't
know if you
know the
history of
China but
it was in
the part of
that country's
history when
Mao was in
power and he
wanted to put
an end to
the influence
and the spread
of Christianity
and one of the
ways he sought
to do that
was to order
all the
Christian
missionaries
to get out
and so the
Christian
missionaries
left and
they took
everything with
them except
can you guess
it their
Bibles so
no missionaries
there but
tons of Bibles
there and the
locals being
quite resourceful
people they
found these
Bibles and
they found
that they were
made of really
good quality
paper so what
they did again
being resourceful
people is they
ripped the pages
up and this
one lady was
telling us
telling him
about her
family used
it to use
it as
wallpaper on
the family
home and
she was the
fifth generation
of someone in
her family to
become a
Christian because
they'd first
read about
Jesus on
the wallpaper
in the family
home what
they nicknamed
the Bible
room
convinces us
doesn't it
that the
power is in
the word of
God as the
spirit of God
takes the word
of God and
reveals to us
the glorious
Christ of God
that's right at
the centre of
it see people
why do people
love this book
Jesus says
it's because the
scriptures testify
about me
it's him
for God who
said let light
shine out of
darkness
made his light
shine in our
hearts to give
us the light
of the knowledge
of God's glory
displayed in the
face of Christ
and that's the
call this morning
as God speaks
to us through
his word
have you met
his son
do you know
his son
friends today
would be a
great morning
as we've heard
as we've sung
and as we've
prayed and we've
heard from
Bogdan just
about the
difference that
Jesus makes
today would be a
great day to
explore him if you
haven't done that
already we'd love
to do that if you
want to explore him
you want to read
the Bible with
someone there's
tons of them at
the back please
take one that's
our gift to you
but if you have
any questions about
any of this stuff
please do come and
speak to anyone
you've seen up
the front today
it would be our
joy to introduce
you to him
let me pray
and so father
we're just so
thankful for
Jesus today
there is just
simply no one
like him who's
in the business
of saving people
from their sin
and transforming
them so that
they become more
like him
and so father
we thank you
for this morning
where we've just
been enjoying
hearing about
the new life
that Jesus
gives
and so lord
I pray that
in this moment
now as we
finish up our
time together
and as we
spend some time
together afterwards
that your spirit
would be moving
amongst us
and would he
in our conversations
in our minds
and as we go on
from here and
meditate and think
about these things
may your spirit
reveal to us
a glorious
Jesus
and it's in his
wonderful name
that we pray
amen