Grace Haven Church

0:00 Alrighty, we're going to start a new season today, a new series, sorry, not a new season, we're already in a new season.

0:07 Who's ready for a new chapter, a new series?

0:12 And so I really hope that today, as we start this new series, my job is not to make you your head swell with information.

0:22 Knowledge can puff up, but it's love that builds up.

0:27 And I really want to try and set the tone today about what we're going to do.

0:33 And so I haven't really settled on a title for this series, but at the moment I would say today's call, Jesus is the key that unlocks the Bible.

0:40 Jesus is the key that unlocks the Bible.

0:43 And what I'm going to try and do is I'm going to try and help us really just see Jesus and then from that position understand who He is, why it's important that we understand who He is, and then try to weave that into the books.

0:59 And we're going to start with the New Testament books.

1:02 So let me just give you a few thoughts about this first.

1:05 And I'm going to start with Hebrews chapter one, okay?

1:08 But the Gospel of John is where I'm going to try and share the most from today's message, the Gospel of John.

1:14 Is that okay?

1:15 So Hebrews one says this, He

1:46 regulates the universe by the mighty power of His command.

1:49 He is the one who died to cleanse us and cleared our record of all sin, and then sat down in the highest honour beside the great God of heaven.

2:02 Jesus is the filter and the lens that we need in order to fully engage with our Bible.

2:10 Jesus is the key that unlocks the rest.

2:14 And I know I'm making statements and it's possibly better to just make questions, present questions.

2:20 Is Jesus the key that unlocks the rest?

2:23 And I just think that's okay to understand that.

2:26 But let me give you some of the tensions that we have to be aware of.

2:29 Did Jesus really exist is definitely a real valid question that people may have in their lives, or maybe it's a question you've asked at one point.

2:38 Is the New Testament a reliable document?

2:40 Is it reliable historically?

2:43 Does Jesus claim Are there any reliable sources that confirm this outside of the Bible?

2:50 There's lots of things that we can ask when it comes to this.

2:53 What is the Bible?

2:54 What makes it unique?

2:57 What makes it God's Word?

2:59 Can I trust the Bible?

3:00 Is it reliable?

3:01 How does the Bible have authority?

3:04 These are just a few of many questions that maybe you've had, maybe we still have, or maybe people who wouldn't be here today that maybe would have their back in their minds.

3:15 I think sometimes we can put all these questions out there, but I think sometimes people don't even care.

3:21 We're not in a time of reason and logic, we're in a very interesting time where you could even say we're post-everything, possibly even post-Christian.

3:30 The challenge we face is we love Jesus because we have a personal relationship with Him.

3:36 We love the Word of God because we realise it's important as followers of Christ to read God's Word and to apply it to our lives.

3:43 But on its own, it's got to be more than just well I'm good with Jesus and I'm good with the Bible.

3:50 It's got to be a little bit more let's broaden this out a little bit.

3:54 Let's maybe stretch it out a little bit to go well let's have a little bit more thought about that.

3:59 And that's what I want to try and help us with understanding.

4:02 I mean if we go for just and we try to take that pathway, which is a valid pathway, there is a lot of critiques, there is a lot of methodologies, there are a lot of scholars and competent people that are constantly looking at the Old Testament, New Testament, the scripts, the literature, the text.

4:21 It is constantly being overlooked, it's been reviewed, it's been argued, debated.

4:27 So that's not really the purpose of today or the next few weeks.

4:31 I think we've got to understand though that if we look at it on just a purely practical level, there are thousands and thousands and thousands of documents and manuscripts and text and literature that has been found and is available.

4:49 Copies of copies of copies and thousands and thousands when it comes to the New Testament, the Old Testament, but predominantly the New Testament there is absolutely thousands.

4:59 And if we just take one ancient document from the classics, if you could say that, the Iliad by Homer, there's only about 600 plus copies that have been found in the context connected to that and yet we make sure Homer is read through every school that I know of.

5:20 And yet we have a massive challenge just even considering the New Testament and the ancient.

5:24 So I realise what I'm saying is obviously something that we have to engage with and wrestle with and we have to be intelligent about, but sometimes it's not even about evidence because I've found people will just ignore any evidence even if it's mounted up as high as the highest buildings in the world.

5:42 If people don't want to believe, they will not believe.

5:45 And I've told you, if you're needy, you can ignore the truth, if you're wanty, you can misuse the truth.

5:51 So my purpose today is not to come from an evidence-based background.

5:56 What I'm going to try and do is to point us towards the Word of God and allow us to look at it with fresh eyes and allow us to see things that maybe we didn't see and allow us to consider things that maybe we haven't considered.

6:10 And for others who have seen these things that I'm sharing today, maybe it can refresh us and strengthen and help us to have a fresh perspective that brings strength and energy into our relationship with Jesus.

6:22 So the challenge of the 21st century for you and I is how do we trust the Word of God?

6:28 We live in a society that considers the Bible as repressive or just irrelevant for life today.

6:35 In other words, we don't need God's Word for our lives.

6:38 We can think for ourselves, we can advance our lives in society without God's Word.

6:44 Oh, really, can we?

6:48 This attitude has influenced every area of our lives.

6:51 Family, parenting, education, politics, government, entertainment, arts, business, medicine, science, innovation.

6:58 All of it has been affected from this worldview.

7:03 We do not need God and we don't need a repressive, irrelevant book called the Bible.

7:11 Who makes these statements?

7:13 Who makes these conclusions?

7:15 Who makes these pronouncements?

7:17 Often it's not something we've heard, it's something we experience.

7:20 Why as a church we are constantly being cancelled and denied access to venues when anyone else from any other type of walk of life can have access to them, but we are denied access to buildings because we're a church, because we believe in Jesus.

7:35 Do you take time to look at our good works?

7:37 Do you even care about the sponsoring of children and the building of water wells?

7:41 You just do that to cover up.

7:43 Now it's a judgment, now it's personal.

7:45 See how complicated it can get within seconds?

7:49 We are called to build a church in Berlin.

7:53 I believe God's put that on our hearts.

7:55 I believe we are called to make and take new ground.

7:59 I believe the size church we are, we're not where we were in 2019, but we will get back and go beyond that again.

8:06 It's going to take some time.

8:07 Momentum isn't easily found when it's lost, but there's got to be more to why I'm here.

8:13 It can't be convenience alone.

8:15 It's got to be this is my family.

8:16 This is the place I'm growing and this is where I'm going, getting to know God, not just my own personal walk within, but what I'm learning from others.

8:25 So let me just talk about this for a moment because the challenge I think I want to pick today is the real key for everything else.

8:34 Did Jesus claim to be God?

8:37 Because I'm going to think about everything else we could go through, but if this could be the hinge that opens the door, could this be the defining thing that makes everything else work?

8:49 And that's why I wanted to pick this one today.

8:51 Did Jesus claim to be God?

8:54 The divinity of Christ is the most distinctive Christian belief or doctrine of them all.

9:02 A Christian, a follower of Christ is defined as one who believes that Jesus is God.

9:10 No other religion or belief system makes these claims.

9:14 Buddhists do not believe that Buddha was God and Muslims do not believe that Muhammad was God.

9:19 Recognising Christ as God is the key to unlocking all the other doctrinal doors of Christianity.

9:26 If we accept that Christ is God

9:30 and He taught with divine authority, we don't get to pick and choose which teachings we like or dislike.

9:38 Well, I like this one.

9:39 I hate this one.

9:40 Oh, this one.

9:41 Oh, you can't rip pages of your Bible and still call it a Bible.

9:51 If Christ is divine, then the incarnation God taking on human form is the most important event in the history of humanity.

10:01 It is the hinge of history.

10:03 It changes everything.

10:04 If Jesus Christ is God, then when He died on the cross, He provided a means for God and humanity to be reconciled.

10:14 No event in history could be more important to every person on earth than that.

10:21 It has tremendous implication for us now.

10:24 For if Jesus Christ is God, then since He is omnipotent and present right now, He can transform you and me and our lives right now as nothing and no one else possibly could.

10:39 He is here.

10:40 He's not just there.

10:41 He is here and He's already in our future.

10:44 He is the God of past, the present and the future.

10:47 Let me say it another way.

10:49 If He is the author of the Bible and we are reading our Bible, don't be surprised that the author might turn up in the presence of the Holy Spirit and begin to speak to you.

11:01 I love books and now and again I get to meet the author of the book.

11:07 Sometimes I'll go to a bookstore where there is an author who is coming in to sign books and to talk a little bit about the book and I've had a privilege to be a part of some of their moments and it's always interesting because when you hear the author's voice and you read their book, you can begin to hear their voice.

11:23 It's like reading letters sometimes.

11:24 When my wife writes a letter, you will hear her voice.

11:31 Well let me tell you, when you read the Bible, the challenge is can you hear His voice and

11:39 that's the challenge you and I face.

11:41 If Jesus is not in the picture, the Bible can be problematic.

11:45 It can be interesting and it can be difficult.

11:47 It can be amazing and it can be well that's just another great book but it is above all books.

11:55 There's no circulation that equals the Bible anywhere close.

12:00 The longevity and the influence the biblical text has had upon literature, humanity, every part of fabric of our society, it's undeniable it is above all books but just because that is true does not mean that people are running to Jesus.

12:18 So we have to be careful on what we're trying to do here and my job today is not to back up all the evidence and to make all the claims and to defend this and defend that.

12:27 There are scholars who do this amazingly well.

12:30 There is a place for this to exist and to happen but our Sunday services are about meeting Jesus.

12:39 When you talk about Jesus, don't be surprised the Holy Spirit turns up.

12:47 If He is God, it is singly the most important defining event that has ever happened in the human story.

12:58 So let's turn to one of the Gospels and we're going to stay with the Gospel of John

13:06 If Christ is divine, He has the right to our entire lives.

13:22 And this is the essence of our faith.

13:27 When Jesus applies the title I Am to Himself, He claims to be God, not a helper to God, not a great teacher,

13:40 but the divine, eternal, pre-existing, infinite, perfect being.

13:47 John chapter 8 verse 58, Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

14:00 Now I know what I'm doing right now.

14:02 I'm quoting from the Bible.

14:04 And if you don't believe the Bible is true or authoritative or divine or inspirational or inspired by God, then we're going to have a big challenge here because now you're going to use a lot of things.

14:17 But again, that's nothing wrong with that because the thing is we can challenge anything.

14:21 We should arrest critical thinking in our presumptions and assumptions.

14:27 We shouldn't just take things because it's said.

14:30 We should be willing to test it, challenge it, consider it, look at it.

14:34 But there is so much dissecting of these statements, looking at historical reliability again and again and again, that it comes to a point where eventually you've got to say yes or no. If you're going to the beach and you live in Berlin and you want to get to Rügen or you want to get to Binz where I just was with my dogs and my wife just a few weeks ago, it took two and a half, three hours

14:59 to drive there.

15:00 Sorry, did I say something wrong with my wife and my dogs?

15:19 We were driving to the beach

15:24 and but I didn't drive the car into the sea.

15:28 I got out just before and walked to the and then I walked into the water.

15:34 What am I saying if I can still keep you in this moment is you can do the research and you can do the debating and the arguing and the cross referencing and all of the scholarly work that is before us.

15:49 You can choose a medium that's going to take you as close as you can to the sea, but you've got to get out of whatever you're using and make the final walk.

16:00 It's always a leap of faith.

16:02 It always has been, it always will be.

16:05 When you decide to buy a new washing machine at home, you might put three or four options together.

16:10 You might look at the German state of approval.

16:13 You might look at the seal approval that this is the greatest, this is the best, this is a 2 .9, this is a 3 .2.

16:19 You might look at all the things that we can make decisions on, but at the end of the day, it's still a leap of faith which one you buy.

16:27 And life is always like that.

16:30 This beautiful thing called faith, it's not blind.

16:36 It's not blind.

16:38 God has revealed Himself through creation.

16:42 God has revealed Himself through the Bible and God has revealed Himself through the person and the words and the teachings and the actions of the person of Jesus.

16:53 So we have got something to work with.

16:58 But John's gospel is interesting and that's why I wanted to stay with it today.

17:03 The gospel of John.

17:06 Let's look at the other ones quickly, briefly.

17:08 The gospel of Matthew focuses on Jesus, the Jewish Messiah.

17:12 Mark's gospel focuses on Jesus who ushers in the kingdom of God.

17:15 Mark's gospel is possibly the one that came first and it moves quickly.

17:20 It's the shortest of the gospels.

17:25 Luke's gospel gives an attention to Jesus welcoming outsiders.

17:29 Luke's gospel is profound, like I said before a few weeks ago, because this starts with women, it continues with women and it finishes with women.

17:37 Women are a key feature of Luke's gospel.

17:39 Children are also a key feature.

17:41 Outsiders are a key feature.

17:43 Who is my neighbour is a key feature.

17:49 Luke's interacting and including outsiders.

17:53 But John's gospel focus on Jesus as the eternal Son of God.

18:00 That's why we need to consider it and refresh ourselves.

18:02 One of the most well-known verses that comes from the gospel of John, who knows what it is?

18:08 Who knows what it is?

18:10 John 3 .16 Life.

18:22 Irish farmers ride it on their barns.

18:26 You go to Ireland, there's not many farms, you won't find John 3 .16 written on their barns, their buildings.

18:36 It's one of the well-known verses for us in the 21st century anyway, but it's coming from the gospel of John.

18:42 Listen quickly, just give you some perspective.

18:44 The author, it's widely accepted.

18:47 Obviously John the apostle, the son of Zebedee, whose brother was James John, and James were in the boat mending the nets when Jesus turned up.

18:57 After he called Simon and his brother, he turned around and there's two guys in a boat mending the nets and Jesus calls them.

19:03 You know, if you're picking a team, you need to look at the way Jesus picks teams.

19:06 He is the absolute master of team picking, team building.

19:10 You want to build a great team at Amazon, get some tips from Jesus.

19:14 Amen.

19:15 By the way, these are great team builders.

19:16 I'm picking on them.

19:17 But the point I'm making is Jesus is a master at team building.

19:21 He picks a guy like Peter to step out of the boat.

19:23 You need a leader that knows how to go out into the, you know, I'm not here to tell you what to do, but I am possibly here to point us in the right direction.

19:33 And Peter's like, he's just ready to go for it.

19:36 You need guys who can just step out, mission people.

19:39 They're ready to go for it, but you need other people who can maintain the mission.

19:44 Jesus picks Simon and you're going to go for it.

19:48 And then he picks James and John because they are washing the nets.

19:53 They're maintaining the nets.

19:54 You need not just the go-getters.

19:56 You need those who know how to maintain that which the go-getters get.

20:01 Amen.

20:02 Anyway, just a side issue there, but it's interesting, but John is the author who's been accredited with the Gospel of John, and probably written around the 17 CE.

20:14 This is when Rome is dominating.

20:17 They're not at their peak, but Roman Empire is expanding significantly.

20:21 And this is where we get the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.

20:25 This is a massive issue.

20:26 This is a very disruptive time in history.

20:30 People are displaced.

20:31 The audience is very possible, Greeks speaking, Jews and Gentiles.

20:35 So it's a mixed audience because there's strong Jewish references throughout the text.

20:39 And yet there's other things that will clearly speak to Gentile followers of Christ.

20:44 The Roman world was dominant, like I said, so life was changing for many and it was incredibly challenging.

20:50 People were displaced like we see people leaving the Ukraine.

20:54 People are being displaced in all parts of the world.

20:58 And that's just a small picture, but this is exactly what's going on in their time.

21:02 And there was lots of people moving around.

21:05 Jews were forced to out of their comfort zone.

21:07 Gentiles were now coexisting with people with different belief system, different ideas, different ideologies.

21:14 And that's what I love about this text because it gives you a glimpse of what's going on.

21:19 Tension, disruption, people coexisting with different ideas, different worship, different styles, different ways of seeing life.

21:30 And so the audience is possible that they were second to generation followers of Christ.

21:36 John is an eyewitness to Jesus.

21:38 So he's not speaking from secondhand knowledge.

21:41 He's speaking from first hand.

21:43 I'm an eyewitness.

21:44 I was there.

21:45 He called me when I was in a boat.

21:46 I got out of the boat and started following.

21:48 I ate the fish kippers that he cooked.

21:50 I was a favourite one at the table when it came to barbecue fish.

21:54 Amen.

21:55 Like he was there.

21:59 And so if people are starting to change it, people are starting to twist it.

22:03 People are adding things, taking things away, watering it down to make it acceptable to a culture of the day.

22:09 He's an eyewitness.

22:10 You don't let eyewitnesses stand around and just say, oh yeah, do whatever you want, do whatever you want.

22:15 It's very unlikely that people are messing with it because it was written at a time where eyewitnesses were still alive.

22:22 These are just some of the thoughts.

22:23 You can challenge them.

22:24 You can argue with them.

22:25 But at the end of the day, that's not what's going on here.

22:29 The audience that the Gospel of John for the first time desperately needed to know that Jesus is God.

22:38 They needed to know he was more than just a good teacher, a moral philosopher.

22:42 If they got to know that he wasn't just a wise sage or someone that we can get Greek or Jewish philosophy from, they needed to know that he is who he said he was.

22:51 And that's why John's Gospel is profound because he tells them exactly in a very difficult time in history, this is who he is.

23:00 This is why you can hold on to him.

23:02 This is what he can do for you.

23:04 And this is why he's bigger than Caesar and he's bigger than anyone you can imagine.

23:11 And that's why the audience held on to it with life and purpose and hope.

23:19 They didn't turn it into a little devotion and a Bible study to make us warm and feel good about ourselves.

23:23 Take the box, I'm a good Christian.

23:25 It was better than that, bigger than that, more meaningful than that.

23:32 The audience needed to hear something that they could hold on to.

23:37 What do you need to hear that's going to give you hope?

23:40 What are you going to hold on to that's going to pull you through tragedy?

23:43 What are you going to hold on to to get your eyes above the passing of a queen or a monarch or someone that you love and have seen stability come from?

23:51 She has gone.

23:52 She has gone to be with her Saviour.

23:54 And now we as people who look up to people that we aspire to, or at least admire from, role models in life can come and go, but Jesus never goes.

24:05 He is always here.

24:09 Nothing wrong to look up to someone who inspires you, sports or worship, when it comes to entertainment or music or songwriters or anyone that you admire, but someone that is better than all of them put together is Jesus.

24:24 And that's what John's Gospel does.

24:27 He tells the audience right then in the first century, this is how it's going to help you keep your head above the waves.

24:36 The temple's been smashed.

24:38 You imagine someone right now moving in with their military and smashing the TV tower.

24:45 What's tragic about our generation, we're probably going to film it on Instagram.

24:51 Because we're so detached from sometimes reality is like we'd probably film the falling of the TV tower than to be overwhelmed by what is happening.

25:02 I'm not saying that as a judgment.

25:04 I'm just saying it's interesting how we perceive things that are going on.

25:07 It doesn't always register in the moment, but you imagine a follower of Jesus seeing the temple that was built by Solomon that was glorious.

25:17 If you see any artistic impressions or anything, you see the welling wall today that is presumably part of that.

25:23 But I'm telling you today, we've got to understand it was everything to people and to see it brought to naught was absolutely devastating.

25:33 And that's why Gospel of John came our way.

25:36 It's not just a good idea or, oh, I need to encourage a few people.

25:40 Let's put some thoughts down.

25:41 Oh, Jesus did this.

25:42 Jesus did this.

25:43 Oh, by the way, it's better than It's God speaking through humanity.

25:51 There's a lot of things he didn't say because it says not everything Jesus did is written here.

25:56 If we wrote everything he did, we would not have enough books to contain in the world.

26:01 And what he's saying is I'm going to take some of the things inspired by the Holy Spirit that you're going to need to hold onto.

26:07 So let me give you some of the things that Jesus said.

26:09 The purpose of the book, I believe, is found in John chapter 20, verse 31, if you can come on the screen.

26:18 The purpose of the book, the purpose of John's Gospel.

26:23 These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah,

26:32 the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

26:41 I believe that's the summary of the purpose of the book, is that you will know that he is God.

26:48 But let me give you quickly, and I know I've run out of time here.

26:52 You're ready to go.

26:52 We're ready to worship.

26:54 But again, my job today was not to fill your head with knowledge or to offend you.

27:00 Sometimes that happens, but I don't really wake up and say, God, who can I offend today?

27:05 I'm always surprised when it happens, but I hear from time to time it does happen.

27:10 My purpose is just to get you curious about, oh my goodness, I haven't read John for a long time.

27:16 I'm going to have a go this week.

27:17 Oh my goodness, if it meant so much to them, maybe it could mean so much to me, because we are living in a similar time of disruption.

27:26 Things that we trust.

27:27 Energy is not as stable as what we thought.

27:29 Prices are not consistent, and the markets are not where we thought they would be.

27:34 We are going to be paying more than we thought.

27:36 We are paying more for food than we thought.

27:38 It's not because food is more expensive.

27:39 It's because of everything that gets our food to us is more expensive.

27:44 And so we are wrestling these things.

27:45 Oh, well, I'll just stop tithing for a year.

27:47 It's not the solution.

27:49 Oh, well, I'll just pull back from giving.

27:50 It's not the solution.

27:52 You've got to have a revelation of who he is.

27:54 He's your provider.

27:55 He is bigger than the markets.

27:57 He's bigger than the economy.

28:02 He's bringing you home.

28:04 He's bigger.

28:07 The first thing he makes a statement is in John chapter six.

28:10 I'm not going to read all the Bible verses to you, okay, because we won't have time in this service, but you can download them.

28:16 We can provide the notes for you.

28:19 By the way, I've also put together Jesus in every book of the Bible, and it would take me another 15 minutes to get through that.

28:29 And I'm not saying that to waste your time.

28:31 I'm just saying that if you want to know Jesus in every book of the Bible, I will take time to show it to you, but you can get it for yourself.

28:39 If you're hungry.

28:41 I was going to call this the hunger series, but I decided not to.

28:46 The first thing he says in John chapter six, I am the bread of life.

28:52 In my area, people will queue for hours to go to a local bakery.

28:55 There's two bakeries around the corner.

28:57 No, I want to go to this one.

29:00 I've never figured that out.

29:01 But now I go to that bakery.

29:02 I know why, because it's delicious, lecker, lecker, lecker.

29:06 These cream puffs.

29:10 But what I'm trying to say is, Jesus said, I am the bread of life.

29:16 You can eat stale bread.

29:18 He said, but my bread is everlasting.

29:23 I know we think about food on a natural everyday level because we need energy to keep going, but do you ever think about spiritual bread?

29:31 You can be physically energized, energetic, but are you spiritually energetic?

29:35 And you can't get the energy from the Spirit without the Word of God.

29:40 So Jesus said, I am the bread of life.

29:41 Number two, he said, I am the light of the world.

29:44 John chapter eight, again, again, Jesus said, I'm the light of the world.

29:47 Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but I have the light of life.

29:52 These are big statements.

29:54 These are claims that no other religious founder, anyone that has ever taught anything or any worldview has ever claimed.

30:02 He is singular.

30:03 He is on his own in these claims.

30:07 No one's been stupid enough, I guess, in one way to say these things.

30:13 And if they have said it, they usually be on drugs or they've been off their head or they've been crazy enough.

30:20 And that's been found out within a certain timeframe.

30:22 Jesus makes very bold claims.

30:26 He doesn't hide that He's God.

30:28 He says it.

30:31 I am the light of the world.

30:33 Number three, He says in John chapter 10, I am the door.

30:37 I am the door.

30:37 If anyone enters by me, they will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

30:44 The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.

30:47 I came that they may have life and life more abundantly.

30:52 Number four, I am the good shepherd.

30:54 John chapter 10, I am the good shepherd.

30:59 The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

31:01 The hired hand runs when the wolf comes because he has no care or concern for the sheep.

31:09 One of the ways you know you've got a shepherd is because they will lay down their life for you.

31:15 A hired hand will run when the wolf comes.

31:19 It's one of the ways you know you've got a good person on team because it's easy to run.

31:23 But are you willing to stay and take a hit for someone else?

31:28 Jesus says, I am the good shepherd.

31:29 I am the door.

31:30 Number five, I am the resurrection and the life.

31:32 John chapter nine, Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am the life.

31:36 He said it to Mary.

31:37 He said it to Martha because their brother Lazarus had died and they were upset.

31:41 And they said, oh, I know He's going to come back in the resurrection.

31:44 And Jesus said, no, I'm the resurrection.

31:47 I am alive.

31:49 Lazarus, come forth.

31:52 And listen, I love that He said Lazarus come forth because He said it was such authority if He hadn't have said any else, if He had not have said another name, every dead person would have come forth because He had that much authority.

32:06 He said Lazarus come forth.

32:08 If He hadn't have said every dead person.

32:12 Just a little thing to think about.

32:16 I am the resurrection and the life.

32:17 Number six, the way and the truth and the life.

32:19 John chapter 14, I am the way.

32:21 I am the truth.

32:23 I am the life.

32:24 Oh, that is so offensive to modern Berliners.

32:28 If you said to your friends in Berlin, I'm searching.

32:31 Oh, so am I. We're all searching.

32:44 Searching is not offensive.

32:46 Are you searching?

32:48 I'm searching.

32:49 We're all searching.

32:50 Search, search, search.

32:52 Keep searching.

32:53 Search, search, search.

32:55 But when you move from searching to found,

32:59 it's okay for denning apps.

33:01 Search, search, search.

33:02 Found.

33:04 Not much laughter on that one, but we'll move on.

33:08 But you do it spiritually speaking or anything remotely connected to God.

33:12 Searching, searching, searching.

33:13 I'm spiritual.

33:14 I'm spiritual.

33:14 Oh, we're all spiritual.

33:15 And then we go from, I found what I've been looking for.

33:21 His name is Jesus.

33:23 Oh, you have become the most offensive person in Berlin.

33:29 They will cancel venues on you.

33:31 They will delete you and remove you if they possibly can.

33:36 Don't think I'm crazy.

33:37 I'm not crazy.

33:42 I've been the way, the truth and the life.

33:44 Again, no one has ever made that claim, only Jesus.

33:48 And John's gospel lets the followers, second, third generation followers of Christ, 21st century followers of Christ know that Jesus has said himself.

34:00 So again, back to my start.

34:03 If he is not God, we are the most deceived people.

34:08 But if he is, we are the most free, loved, forgiven people that you could ever imagine.

34:23 And the final one, he said, I am the true vine.

34:26 By emphasising a true vine, he is also indirectly highlighting it's possible to be connected to the wrong vine.

34:34 And many people are connected to a vine that is not true.

34:41 And it will not satisfy.

34:44 But you have connection to the true vine.

34:47 And Jesus said, John 15, I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser.

34:54 These are seven very bold claims that Jesus made about his divinity.

35:02 My prayer for all of us that follow Jesus is not we're not doing it blindly.

35:06 We're not doing it because we've got nothing else to do.

35:08 We're not doing it because our parents told us to do it, not doing it because of some other situation or circumstances.

35:18 For you and I, is he God?

35:22 And if he is, what does that mean for me, for my future, for my health, my wife, my family, my children, my job, my career, my aspirations, my dreams.

35:35 If he's God, he has got you.

35:39 If he is God, he is more than able to provide, to do what he said he can do.

35:46 I am the life.

35:52 And if the first century believers could hold on to it, could the 21st century believers hold on to it?

35:58 Could it build strength into them?

35:59 And it did.

36:00 Could it build strength into us?

36:02 And it will.

36:04 The Gospel of John is just one of the books of the New Testament, but it's a profound book because it gets straight to the point.

36:14 Does Jesus claim divinity?

36:21 So if he's not, we're all in trouble.

36:24 There's more problems connected to that statement than you could imagine.

36:29 Survival of the fittest.

36:30 Figure it out.

36:31 Do the best you can.

36:33 But if he is, we better understand what that means.

36:37 He's got everything.

36:44 You never have to worry ever again.

36:46 And if you do, you know where to go.

36:50 You never have to let fear dominate your life again.

36:52 And if you do, you know his love is going to cast out every fear.

36:57 If you forget his promises again, he will come again graciously alongside you and say, my promises are yes and amen in Christ Jesus.

37:05 It's never no. It's always yes.

37:07 It's always yes.

37:09 He stands before the Father interceding on our behalf.

37:14 So he's got your husband.

37:15 He's got your wife.

37:17 He's got your children.

37:18 He's got your future.

37:20 He's got your past.

37:21 He's got you now.

37:23 And he will always be yours.

37:25 And he belongs to you.

37:27 And we belong to him.

37:29 His name is Yahweh.

37:31 His name is Jesus.

37:33 His name is King.

37:35 His name is King.

37:37 Soon coming King.

37:39 Come on, let's lift a shout of praise.

37:42 Let's lift a shout of praise in this place.

39:39 You know, God's people are unstoppable.

39:42 The enemy cannot stop us singing.

39:45 The enemy will never be able to put out the fire in our lives.

39:48 He is a defeated foe.

39:50 He's a liar from the beginning.

39:52 And I want to tell you today, through the Gospel of John, that Jesus has made absolute a declaration that we can trust him with everything in Jesus' name.

40:00 So you keep going.

40:01 And we, as followers of Christ, unashamedly, unapologetically, we choose to follow the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

40:12 How we conduct our lives and how we speak of each other and how we interact with each other will give the world a glimpse of something they've never seen.

40:23 I pray that we will show the respect towards humanity that Jesus has shown to us.

40:28 I pray that we'll never have this superior mentality that I'm right and you're wrong because that is just ugly at every level.

40:34 It's not what Jesus did and we are not called to be self-righteous.

40:39 Humility marks our lives because Christ was the greatest example of humility.

40:46 But you can reflect him and you can represent him, but you first got to get to know him.

40:51 And I believe the Bible will mean more to you when you know who he is because you'll find that he's in every book of the Bible.

40:58 There's not one reference and then not one book.

41:01 And I know Mel mentioned yesterday the bad Ecclesiastes, but at the end of the day, he is our wisdom.

41:06 Even if human wisdom fell short, he's still the wisdom.

41:09 Because you put Proverbs and Ecclesiastes together, he is our wisdom.

41:14 He's in every book of the Bible,

41:24 but once you get him, he's the key that unlocks all the rest.

2022-09-14 - Jesus Is The Key That Unlocks The Bible (Gospel of John) - Mark Wilkinson.

Find your way.

Start with the teachings.