Preaching in Stonehaven

 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-- with great patience and careful instruction.  (2 Tim. 4:2 NIV)

Paul gave this charge to Timothy as he wrote one of his final letters to the young pastor. This is also the charge that the 2 Timothy 4 Preaching Trust seeks to follow. This past Sunday, I had my first opportunity to put this charge into practice. Below is the video of the sermon I preached and the manuscript of the sermon. Thank you to all those who were praying for me and for the advancement of the Gospel.

Does Belief Shape Life?

 

Do you like to travel? I do, which you may have guessed from my accent. I am from the USA and moved to Edinburgh to study at Edinburgh Theological Seminary. Even though I’ve done a lot of traveling, I still have some anxiety, especially going to new places. What if I can’t find the place I’m going to? Will I get lost? What will I do if I get lost? What’s the first thing you do when you start feeling lost? You look for signs. Whenever you travel, it’s always important to notice the signs around you.

Signs can provide information, give a warning, or draw our attention to specific details. On the train here yesterday, I kept looking out the window to see the station signs. I worried that I might miss my stop. I didn’t want to get lost and keep people waiting.    If you’ve ever been in this situation, or been lost, you know the joy and sense of relief that a sign can bring.

The Gospel of John was written specifically to bring this type of joy and relief. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at seven signs in the book of John that point out a clear direction for our lives. The signs in John’s Gospel are the extraordinary or miraculous works that Jesus did, and a common refrain after each sign is that the people who saw the signs believed.

The Gospel of John is the forth Gospel account, but it is quite different from the other three gospels. All four gospels give a narrative of the life and work of Jesus. The Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are called the synoptic gospels because all have a common view or approach to telling the story of Jesus’ life. The synoptic gospels give more of a summery, describing many of the same events from similar viewpoints. John’s Gospel has a more unique approach. Many of the events and teachings of Jesus in John’s Gospel are not found in the other Gospels. The Fourth Gospel focuses more on who Jesus is. It explores the question “Why did Jesus come?” 

Today, we will be looking at the stated purpose of the Gospel of John - John’s goal in writing this account of Jesus’ life. Please turn in your Bibles to John 20 and we’ll read verses 30 and 31.

NIV John 20:30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (Jn. 20:30 NIV) 

So there we go, john’s Gospel is written that we believe and have life. That’s John’s goal, his reason for writing the book. The signs he’s compiled and the teachings of Jesus he recorded all have this unifying theme, belief and life. But what does it mean to believe? What does it mean to have “life in his name”? Does your belief shape your life?  Today, I want us to explore John’s thesis and these questions under two headings: First: Believe: What do we believe? And then, Receive: What happens when we believe?

First, Believe, what do you believe? What is it that John wants us to believe? What is Belief? Well, on one level, belief is confidence in the truth, or reliability of something. We all believe that this building wont fall down and that the weather tomorrow wont be in the 30s.

We believe these things because of the proof we have, not that these things are impossible, but we know from experience that they are very unlikely. John is saying that we are to believe in Jesus and he starts out by describing the proofs. Look at verse 30:  Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. Here, we have two proofs: first - the signs that are recorded, and then the book that they are recorded in.

Signs are a big deal in the Gospel of John. Signs give us information and point in a specific direction. The signs in John’s Gospel are miracles that Jesus performed, demonstrating his authority and divinity. John records Jesus turning water into wine, healing a wee lad and a crippled man, feeding over five thousand people, walking on water, giving sight to a blind man, and even raising the dead. John tells us that there were many other signs as well.

John specifically uses the term “sign” rather than “miracle” to refer to these events. He wants us to see that they are more than just wonders. They are distinguishing marks that show us who Jesus is. They show that God has come into the world in the person of Jesus. Jesus is shown living with people. He cares for their needs and builds relationships that not even death can end. John Calvin, one of the great reformers of the sixteenth century wrote this about John’s use of signs “…no other use is here assigned to miracles than to be the aids and supports of faith; for they serve to prepare the minds of men, that they may cherish greater reverence for the word of God...”

This brings us to the second proof, the written record. John wrote a book, as did the other gospel writers. They interviewed eyewitnesses and gave their own testimonies. They recorded first hand the life of Jesus. More that that, they wrote God’s words by God’s inspiration. All that we need to know about God, who Jesus is and how we are to relate to Him, is given to us in the Bible. John wrote his gospel primarily to Jewish believers, people with an understanding of what we call today the Old Testament. He wrote, knowing that he was building on God’s chosen method of communicating with people. The Bible is God’s ordinary means, or usual method of giving and strengthening belief. The Word of God is the basis for belief in God. 

That brings us to what we are to believe. John has given proof, but what does that proof point to. It points to a person; we are to believe in a person. -- Look at verse 31: But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. John gives here two descriptions of Jesus: the Messiah and the Son of God.

What is a “Messiah”? This term may not be too familiar to you outside of a religious context. One place we may hear of someone referred to as a messiah is in sports. When  a sports team recruits a new player that helps them win their first victory after a long string of defeats, we may referred to this person as a messiah. The idea of a messiah is one who brings aid or help to those in need. A messiah is someone who brings deliverance.  In the Jewish context John was writing to, this term embodied the hope and longing that God would send a person to reunite the nation and bring back the glory days. God did do just that. Jesus is the one God sent to bring freedom and victory. But it wasn’t the restoration of one nation state, but rather freedom and victory for all peoples and all nations. Jesus came as the savior of the whole world. As John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:16 NIV)

That brings us to the next description of Jesus, the Son of God. Why is this an important addition? Why does the messiah, the one who brings deliverance, have to be God himself? The answer lies in what He delivers us from.

We need deliverance from more than just bad people acting wickedly. God has sent many men to bring this kind of deliverance over the course of history. Specifically for the nation of Israel, we can read in the Old Testament about people like Joshua, King David, and others. These men worked to unite the people and bring about peace and prosperity. But it never lasted. Not only did their changes not last, these people weren’t perfect. We can also read in the Bible about their failures. All mankind is fallen; all are sinners, forever separated from God. God had yet to send a messiah that would bring about eternal victory. Not just victory over the tyrants and oppression, but victory over sin and death.

This deliverance could only come by a man who could live a perfect life and then willingly suffer the punishment of sin. And this happened. God sent Jesus to be the messiah. But all men have sinned; humanity is lost in sin. The Bible teaches us the Jesus was fully man, and yet born in a miraculous way, without sin. John’s Gospel teaches us that He is the Son of God. As the Son of God, Jesus was perfect - able to perfectly keep God’s law. Jesus alone was able to live the perfect life and take the punishment for sin as a perfect substitute. This is what we are called to believe in: Jesus, the messiah, the Son of God, who brings eternal victory.

So what do you believe? What are you trusting in? What gives you hope? Maybe your hear today and you don’t really get this talk about belief and faith and messiahs. Ask yourself, what do I believe? Is there one thing that motivates me?    As you think about this, know that what we’ll be studying here in the book of John addresses these questions. Read through the book of John and come hear the sermons about the signs and see how the Bible portrays Jesus. Can you believe in Him?

If you’re here today and you do believe in Jesus, you’ve heard about the messiah and you know that the Son of God saves, then reflect on your belief. Do you find your belief sometimes tested? Do you find that your belief and actions don’t always line up? I know I struggle with that. We too should read through John and study Jesus. As you hear about the signs of who Jesus is, let them encourage and challenge you.  Encourage your faith, that you believe in a strong and powerful God. Challenge you as they show the perfect life of Christ.

I hope you are getting the idea at this point that belief is more than just an acceptance of facts. We can claim truths, but if we don’t put them into practice, then there is no reality to them. You can believe in gravity, but it’s not until you jump that you understand its effects. So too, believe in Jesus is more than knowing facts about him, it involves a trusting obedience. This brings us to our second point, Receive: What happens when we believe? Let’s look again at verse 31: But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 

Right off the bat, we see that we receive life: believe shapes our life. It says by believing we will have life in his name. So what does this look like? What does it mean to have life in the name of Jesus?

Well, first off, it means that our belief should be shaping our lives. Everything from our hopes and dreams to the day-to-day decisions relate to what we believe. We may not realize it, but our beliefs do shape everything we do. If you believe it is important to be healthy, you will eat healthily and exercise.

While a healthy life is a good thing, is not your relationship with your creator a better thing? God has created us and called us to be in a relationship with him. If you believe that, shouldn’t it shape how you live your life? Doesn’t that give us an ultimate hope and a day-to-day motivation? That’s what the Gospel of John teaches us. That’s what Jesus’ ministry on earth was all about. He came not only to tell us the facts about God, but also to show us what living out our belief looks like. I don’t know if you’re use to getting homework, but go home and study John 3:1-21. You’ll find here Jesus teaching Nicodemus that belief involves being “Born again.”

Just that phrase should make us mindful that believing in Jesus changes the way we live. Being born again is a work of God, the Holy Spirit calling you to believe in Jesus and giving you the strength to put that belief into practice. This is seen in how we follow Jesus’ example. Do we love God? Do we love our neighbors and care for those around us? Do we actually help the poor, the hurting, as Jesus did? This is what new birth in the Spirit will lead to: following Jesus example both in how we relate to God and to those around us. That section in John 3 ends with these words:

John 3:18-21 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.  (Jn. 3:18 NIV)

Here we see how belief shapes our life. Not only is belief an affirmation of facts it is to be practiced in our lives. Belief in Jesus gives new life. But as we read that passage, did any part of it make you feel uncomfortable? Did you tense up at all with phrases like “condemned” “people love darkness” “their deeds will be exposed”? I don’t know about you, but these phrases strike fear in me. When we are told that God sees our innermost thoughts, our every action, can anyone be unafraid or unashamed? Believing in facts can only go so far, living according to the beliefs can only do so much.

In my heart I know that I cannot make myself believe. I do not always act in a way that God would accept. But that’s what the work of Christ covers. This belief we are called to have is not in our own power to save ourselves, but in God’s Son, Jesus, coming to earth to give us His perfect life. If you believe in Jesus, you will not be condemned for you are given His perfect life. In Christ, we can come to the light and not be afraid or ashamed. We are to believe in Christ as our righteousness and follow his example out of loving obedience, not fearful enslavement. This is the new birth, life in His name.

How are you coming today? Do you feel lost, in need of direction? Are you looking for a signpost to get your bearings? If you are here today, hearing this message of a messiah for the first time, I would invite you to believe in him. Put your trust in the Son of God. See his signs and walk according to his path. It means a new life goal and direction, and you are assured that God will accept you.

Maybe you’re here today feeling like you’ve lost your way. You’ve heard about God and maybe you even believe, but is belief shaping your life? Is your future hope and daily life lived in light of God’s presence? Come to Jesus. Confess your sins and let God’s word be a comfort to you. Consider your life and what it means to live out your beliefs. Start by sharing what you belief with those around you. As we said earlier, the Gospel of John was written to believers, but many scalars also note that it was written to them to be a tool, to be shared with those around them. And I would challenge you to but that into practice. Invite  your friends and neighbors to hear about the signs that Jesus did in the Gospel. Invite them to come with you on Sunday mornings to here the good news of the Gospel and that hearing, they may believe.