Author: Jinson Thomas

Good morning, church! A warm welcome to all who have joined us today. As we move on ahead, I wanted to ask everyone if we’re prepared to hear from God’s Word this morning ? Even as we say “yes” (good thing) let’s also remember that hearing God’s Word also means being prepared to have our hearts examined. Are we ready for that?

Hebrews 4:12

[12] For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Are we ready for God’s Word to do that in our hearts this morning? Are we ready for God’s Word to discern our hidden thoughts and intentions of our hearts? If you truly want to know the Lord, then I hope your answer is yes.

If you’ve been tracking us as a church, you’re probably aware that we are going through a series titled Believing and Knowing Jesus from the Gospel of John. John’s entire purpose in writing this gospel book is so that we may believe (commit and entrust our lives to Jesus) and know Jesus (not surface-level knowing but knowing Him intimately and personally).

Today, we will study the third out of the seven signs mentioned in the gospel of John. As we discussed earlier, what’s the point of a sign? Right outside on the street, there’s a sign of Mukti Manch. Why is that there? To point us to this hall. In the same way, John carefully curated 7 signs in the Gospel so that we may be pointed to something about Jesus.

The sign that we’re going to study today will point us to Jesus’ Supreme Authority. Jesus as God’s Son has got power and authority. But before we go ahead, I would love to pray for us.

Let’s jump into our text for today in v1.

[1] After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

John sets up the context in which the sign takes place. There’s a festival of the Jews and Jesus decides to go to Jerusalem where all of this is taking place. So we can imagine large crowds. Jews travelling from all over to be there in Jerusalem. Especially the Jewish religious leaders who would have been really involved and out there at that time.

[2] Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.

Interestingly the Sheep Gate had huge importance for Jews because that’s the entrance from where they would bring in the sacrificial lambs to the Temple. Ironically it was Jesus – the perfect and ultimate sacrificial lamb who was walking through Sheep Gate.

Right beside the gate was a pool called Bethesda which means House of mercy. And this Bethesda pool was covered with a roof or a shade held together by five pillars.

[3] In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.

Under this shade right next to the pool there were a multitude of people with disabilities. Some were blind, some didn’t have limbs and some were paralyzed.

[5] One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

Among all of these people with disabilities, there was one man who was disabled for 38 long years! That’s a long time. A better part of his life was already spent with that disability.

You can just imagine how a long term disability could have taken a toll on his life. Let’s keep in mind that this is not 2026 but first century AD. Not just affected physically but spiritually (viewed as cursed by God forever), mentally & emotionally (you’re experiencing more lows than highs), relationally (they are social outcasts) and economically (they can’t earn an income, most would resort to begging).

His whole life had been defined by his physical disability. Even as John is describing this man’s condition, he wants us to know that this man had an unbelievably difficult life. Whatever we think is difficult, this man’s life was much harder than that.

[6] When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

It’s so interesting that out of all the multitudes in that place, Jesus took special notice of this man. And the verse tells us that Jesus “knew” that he had already been there a long time. Not only did Jesus know the number of years that he was disabled for, Jesus knew Him from the time He was formed and knitted together in His mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13).

Jesus fully knew and understood all that He suffered over the years. Nobody else knew him the way Jesus knew him. So when this verse says Jesus knew him, let’s know that it’s not just factual, surface level knowledge of the person. It’s not just his medical history like a doctor knows his patient. Jesus knows him from the inside out.

In the same way Jesus knows us from the inside out. So when we approach the Lord we don’t need to go to Him pretending to be someone else. We don’t need to go to Him with a long explanation of our background history. He knows us. He is our Creator. He is our Redeemer. So we can approach Him with honesty and sincerity just like a small child is with their parent.

So Jesus knew the man from the inside out, yet why is Jesus asking him if he wants to be healed? Didn’t Jesus know that he really wanted physical healing? Off course Jesus knew. Then why did He ask? We see that often in Jesus’ conversations. He probes further to draw out what’s there in people’s hearts.

Jesus already knows what’s in our hearts but He probes further so that people can themselves realize what they’ve been trusting in. Maybe they’ve been trusting in their own strength or other people’s strengths or maybe they’ve been trusting in the things of the world.

All of that comes to surface when Jesus asks those pointed questions. Do you really want to be healed? Are you prepared to live a different life post healing? Or have you become comfortable with the way things are right now?

[7] The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

Instead of answering Jesus with a yes or no, what does the man do? He puts the blame on others for his condition. It seems like there was some superstition that this pool had some magical powers. There was a belief in that day that an angel of the Lord would come and stir the pool at a certain point of the day, and whoever jumped into the pool first would get healed.

And so this man is complaining and blaming others for not supporting him to jump into the pool without realising that right before Him stands someone who has the authority to do whatever He wishes to do in the manner He wishes to do and nobody can defy that command.

 [8] Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”

Sometimes I think we get so familiar with stories like this in the Bible that we may end up missing the impact that it’s supposed to create in our hearts and minds. Jesus is telling a man who has been disabled for 38 years to simply get up, take up his bed and walk!

If you or I were to tell this to someone who has had experienced physical suffering for so many years, it would be considered a terribly insensitive joke. We just don’t say that and yet Jesus goes ahead and says these words.

[9] And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.

And guess what? Not after a few hours, not after a few days, what does this verse tell us? At once he was healed! Instantaneous healing. Even long term diseases, illnesses and disabilities – the Lord has the power to heal that instantly. That’s His Supreme Authority!

But does that mean that Jesus will always choose to heal all our diseases and disabilities? Sometimes we forget that there were a multitude of invalids who were at the pool that day. Jesus could have healed all of them. He has the supreme authority to do that but He didn’t do that. Why? Because Jesus’ ultimate goal was not to deliver physical healing and deliverance. Jesus’ ultimate goal was to deliver us from God’s wrath because of our sins.

It’s like asking a fireman – when a building is on fire, what is your main goal? Is it rescuing people or preserving their valuables? Rescuing people from getting burnt and dying is their number one priority.

Jesus’ No. 1 priority is rescuing you and me from God’s wrath. That’s why He came and went up on the cross and died for us. He died and was buried and on the third day He rose from the dead so that whoever repents and puts their full faith in Jesus (holds on to Jesus to rescue them) will be saved not just for this life but for all of eternity. And gift us and eternal relationship with God forever!

[10] So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” [11] But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” [12] They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” [13] Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.

It’s such an interesting response of the Jewish leaders. They’ve just witnessed a person with disability for 38 years being instantly healed and instead of marvelling at the miracle, instead of moving toward Jesus in faith, what are they doing?

They are more concerned about their Sabbath tradition being observed. Now let me clarify that the Sabbath law which was ordained by God and part of the 10 commandments did not prohibit people from being healed or carrying their bed and walking.

The Sabbath was designed by God to free His people from the burden of daily labor. The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work everyday. By giving the Sabbath, God wanted to give His people rest from their labor. God was telling them “Now that you’re under me, you can take rest and enjoy that rest”.

But the Jewish leaders made their own rules on top of this, and basically defined what constituted as work – carrying a load of this much weight and travelling this much distance is not observing the Sabbath according to them. And so the Sabbath became stifling for people rather than freeing and life giving.

I sometimes wonder how am I presenting the Sabbath to my children. Am I presenting it to them as a burden – something that they have to do as an obligation? Or something that is freeing so that they can be refreshed and freeing for them?

And so observing the Sabbath man made tradition was what the leaders were more worried about and they kept questioning the man who was healed. The man didn’t know who Jesus was, and so he just replied with an “I don’t know” to the Jewish leaders.

[14] Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

It’s a fascinating follow up conversation that Jesus has with the man. Jesus basically tells him that he shouldn’t go back into that pattern of sin or something worse would happen to him.

In this case it does seem like Jesus is connecting this man’s physical suffering to his sin. There was some connection with sin in his life. However, this is not a blanket rule for all physical suffering. We can’t look at this passage in isolation. There are many other instances where Jesus clearly explains that suffering and personal sin are not connected.

Let me share a few examples of the other side:

John 9:1-3

[1] As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. [2] And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” [3] Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

So in this case, physical suffering was there in this person’s life so that it would more clearly display God’s power and goodness.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 ESV

[7] So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. [8] Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. [9] But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

In Paul’s case physical suffering was in his life not due to sin but to instead to guard his heart from sin, keep his heart humble and help him desperately rely on God.

And so biblically speaking, it wouldn’t be right to associate every physical ailment, disease or suffering to a sin cause. Sometimes it’s related, other times there aren’t. In fact that was the predominant thought in biblical times, that suffering and sin is always connected. Jesus had to correct that way of thinking.

Coming back to this story, why does Jesus feel the need to have this follow up conversation on sin? After all, he had a physical disability problem which was solved right? Shouldn’t this be the end of the story?

Again, this should tell us that Jesus is more concerned about our spiritual eternal wellbeing than of our physical well-being. Jesus knows that although this man is physically okay now, that doesn’t guarantee that he’ll be okay in eternity. His physical healing is not an assurance of spiritual security. And we see this in his response to Jesus after this conversation.

[15] The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. [16] And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. [17] But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Unlike some of the other healing passages, where healed persons have shown gratitude, trusted in Jesus and followed Him, this man instead goes and tells the Jewish leaders about Jesus. This begins the face off between the Jewish leaders and Jesus. There’s no indication of saving faith in the life of this man and that’s what makes this sign so astonishing.

That Jesus would still use His Supreme Authority to physically heal someone whom He knew wouldn’t reciprocate in faith. Why would Jesus do that? That’s His mercy which is not dependent on how we will respond but despite our response. He will show mercy on Sabbath and non-Sabbath days. He will show mercy to those who don’t deserve it. Because that’s who He is.

The question we need to ask is : what is our response going to be to His mercy? Are we going to respond just like the disabled man? Or is it going to be of gratitude and love?

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 ESV

[14] For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; [15] and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Good morning church! A warm welcome to everyone who has joined us this morning. As a church we’ve been going through a series titled Believing and Knowing Jesus from the Gospel of John.

And it’s fascinating to know that the apostle John wrote this gospel with only one goal in mind. He wrote this book so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in his name. (John 20:31)

If Jesus is truly the Son of God, if Jesus is truly the Savior that God has been preparing for us from eternity past, then not believing in Him and not knowing Him would be the greatest tragedy of our lives.

I remember this story that was once shared by one of the missionaries from my previous church. This missionary had once gone to a village in Maharashtra and was asked to speak at a meeting there.

This missionary kept speaking about the legacy of my previous church – stating how St. Thomas had come to Kerala in AD52 and the result of his work was the eventual formation of this church.

He went on and on about the credentials of this church. And somewhere in between, one of the villagers stopped him and asked “If St. Thomas brought the Gospel of Jesus in AD52, why did it take you so long to bring it to us?”

Not believing and knowing Jesus is the greatest tragedy of anyone’s life.

That villager in Maharashtra recognized that. Do you and I recognize the gift of believing and knowing Jesus? Are we grateful that God has chosen us to believe and know Jesus?

I believe that’s why John wrote this Gospel. If you’re an unbeliever, then John’s purpose is that you would take that step of faith to believe and know Jesus. If you’re a believer, then John’s purpose is that you would be grateful for what Jesus has done for you and that you would trust and know Him deeper than you’ve done before. That you won’t be okay with all that you’ve known about Jesus so far.

So let that be the expectation of your heart today as we study God’s Word. Let that be the prayer of your heart today as we prepare to listen from God’s Word. Let’s ask God for help to be able to believe and know Jesus deeper today through this time with the Word.

Today’s passage happens right in the middle of a fascinating conversation between Jesus and an unnamed Samaritan woman. We don’t know her name but through the conversation we get to have a glimpse into her life and her struggles.

Unlike Nicodemus who was seen as the ideal spiritual leader of the day (you looked up to him and wanted to follow his lifestyle), she found herself on the other side of the spectrum where she was seen as an unspiritual person with promiscuous life, someone whose life you wouldn’t want to emulate.

That was the contrast between the two people and yet Jesus departed from his budding ministry in Judea where He was gaining more followers than John the Baptist. He leaves all of that, and was willing to travel through hostile territory so that he could meet with her. He treated her with the same gentleness and the same compassion just as He dealt with Nicodemus.

He was pleased to reveal Himself to this unnamed Samaritan woman who didn’t have her life put together. The last couple of verses that we read last week were so interesting because it seems like the Samaritan woman is trying to deflect and change the conversation and move on by saying “I know when the Messiah comes, he will tell us all things”.

And Jesus basically tells her “I am He”. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that’s me. The One around whom all of human history hinges on, that’s me! He was pleased to reveal Himself to this unnamed Samaritan woman who didn’t have her life sorted out.

That should encourage you and me because we know that even our lives are not always put together. Even our lives are not sorted all the time. Even if we are in a mess, Jesus delights to reveal Himself to us. So we should never think that Jesus expects us to be perfect before He reveals Himself to us. He knows we cannot be perfect. All we need to do is come to Him.

Matthew 11:28 ESV

[28] Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

This interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan woman should encourage us, assure us and brings us to Jesus’ feet once again.

Let’s look at V27

[27] Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”

Jesus’ disciples who had gone into the city to get food are back with food and they spot Jesus having this intense conversation with the Samaritan woman.

As we heard last week, it was forbidden for a Jewish man to speak to any woman on the street, not even his wife.

And so they see Jesus here breaking traditions, going against cultural norms and doing something that was considered inappropriate at that time. But instead of asking Jesus, they decided to avoid that conversation, slip that under the carpet and not bring it up again.

[28] So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, [29] “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” [30] They went out of the town and were coming to him.

The events described in these verses are remarkable! Actions speak louder than words. First things first. Why did the Samaritan woman come to the well in the first place? To draw water. So why would she leave that jar of water which she brought to well to draw water – why did she leave that and go away? Something has happened that is more critical than the water that she came to draw.

Secondly, we know that this woman had a very scandalous life. She faced a lot of public shame in her lifetime which is why she picked a time of the day to draw water when she knew no one else would be around. She tried her best to avoid the public eye because she knows that it will lead to judgments and humiliation.

And now how is it that she’s able to let down her guard, boldly stand in front of those very same people and tell them that she met a person who told her everything that she ever did? How in the world was she able to do that?

It’s because for the first time ever in her life she’s experienced what it means to be satisfied by the fountain of living waters. She spent all of her life going from one broken container to another through her multiple marriages and relationships and she’s returned back dry, empty and unsatisfied in her soul.

For the first time as she interacted with Jesus who knew everything about her – with all of the messy details – He didn’t use those details to humiliate her but to offer her living water to satisfy her soul.

What we’re seeing here is that the joy and satisfaction she’s experiencing in knowing Jesus has completely turned her life around. It’s making her do things that she was so terrified of doing earlier.

It’s causing her to be a bold witness of Jesus. “Can this be the Christ?” She’s not worried about people not taking her seriously, she’s only faithfully expressing what she’s just experienced.

And it’s also causing her to humbly acknowledge her sins before others. No longer is she worried about facing humiliation once she confesses, because the One whose opinion matters has already revealed Himself to her and offered her living water.

So right here, we are able to see the secret to bold witness and humble confession of sin – it’s when we experience joy and satisfaction in our relationship with Jesus.

When our cup is being filled with the joy and satisfaction of Jesus, we no longer look to others to do that for us. We no longer live under the insecurity of people’s opinions about us. We are actually freed to live out the life that God has called us to live.

So if we’re here today, desiring to be a bold witness for Jesus and also desiring to be authentic and not fake in your acknowledgement of your sins and weaknesses, we need to ask ourselves “have I been drinking from the fountain of living water? Have I been filling my spiritual cup with the joy of knowing Jesus?”

[31] Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” [32] But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” [33] So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” [34] Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

The disciples have brought food for Jesus from the town. They know that He’s physically hungry and so they urge Him to eat.

But Jesus responds to them saying that He’s got food that they aren’t aware of. The disciples are surprised by hearing this and are wondering if someone else brought food for Jesus.

Again like some of the other conversations that we’ve seen in the past, while people’s minds are only fixated on physical earthly things, Jesus often talks about spiritual things.

That’s what Jesus says in V34 – His food is to do the will of His Father and to complete that work. Just like in the same way as we need physical food to live – to sustain and satisfy us, Jesus is saying that obedience to His Father’s will and completing that work is what sustains and satisfies Him.

In other words, obeying His Father’s will & completing that work was more critical to Him than even eating physical food. Now that doesn’t mean that Jesus is saying that eating food is not important or that we shouldn’t take care of our health.

What He’s trying to say is that the mission on which Jesus was sent – to seek and save the lost was His top most priority. Everything else was secondary. It’s like a fireman saying “I have to go and rescue those people trapped in the building that has caught fire. That is my top most priority”.

Isn’t that encouraging to know that saving you and me was on Jesus’ top most priority? It’s not because we are some special, rare, lovable species. No, in fact we don’t deserve to be on Jesus’ top most priority because we are enemies by nature and by our actions. The Bible tells us that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

We shouldn’t be on God’s priority list at all. But that’s how amazing God’s love is for us – the Bible says that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Jesus went on the cross and died for you and me.

And on the third day He rose from the dead so that whoever repents and trusts in Jesus would be rescued from sin, Satan and death & adopted as children of God.

How gracious is our Lord that we would be on His top most priority despite our sin and weakness?

[35] Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. [36] Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. [37] For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ [38] I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

One of the familiar analogies that Jesus would often use is that of harvest. Farmers would sow seeds of grain and then wait for sometime so that the grain grows and matures. Once the grain changes color and becomes hard, it’s ready for harvesting. This whole process from start to end would take months.

So Jesus uses this analogy to tell his disciples that we don’t have to wait any longer for the spiritual harvest because harvest season is already here. In other words, people are already prepared and ready to believe in Jesus right now. We don’t have to wait anymore.

Already Jesus says we’re able to see the fruit of the harvest. We’re already seeing the impact. All we need to do is go and pluck out the ready grains. All of the prior work of sowing has already been done, we just have to reap now.

In the immediate context, it’s referring to the Samaritan people whose hearts were already prepared and ready to believe in Jesus. But what if we also tried applying that today? Do we look at the people around us and trust that God’s already prepared their hearts? Do we trust that God’s readied their hearts to believe in Him?

[39] Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”

Can you believe that? This unnamed Samaritan woman’s testimony brought many people to faith! Who was this woman? What kind of life did she live in the past? How many church services did she attend? How many years of ministry experience did she have? Which bible college did she go to? Nothing was there. She was a brand new believer and someone who the world considered unfit as an evangelist.

But this is the amazing truth – unfit evangelists are the best evangelists! Why? Because they have nothing else to boast about except Jesus. That’s when it truly impacts people’s hearts.

And so just seeing this from the Samaritan woman should encourage us to know that we don’t need any qualifications to be ready to witness for Jesus. If we are a believer and tasted the love of Jesus, we are qualified to share the Gospel with others.

 [40] So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. [41] And many more believed because of his word. [42] They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

These are such assuring, encouraging verses because it tells me that the burden of trying to convince people and make them believers is not my job. My job just like the Samaritan woman is just to introduce others to Jesus. Jesus is powerful and strong enough to convince, persuade and transform people’s lives. Jesus will do that. I’m only called to witness to what Jesus has done in my life & Jesus will do the convincing.

As I close, just want all of us to take a minute to prayerfully ask God to do this:

1. Fill our hearts with the joy and satisfaction of knowing Jesus through the Word
2. Help us to trust that God has already prepared people in our lives who are ready to believe
3. Pray for God to show us who are the people with whom we can witness to about what God has done for us in Jesus or open doors for us to read the Bible with them so that they can be convinced of Jesus themselves

Good morning church! Hope you’re doing well this morning. If you’ve been tracking with us, you’re aware that we have been going through a series titled Believing and Knowing Jesus from the Gospel of John.

And what we’ve realized is that this believing and knowing doesn’t simply mean believing in facts about Jesus or knowing facts about Jesus.

I can believe in a lot of facts about Jesus and still not surrender my life to Him. I can know a lot of facts about Jesus and yet not know Him personally. There’s a stark difference between believing facts about Jesus and truly believing in Him. There’s a stark difference between knowing facts about Jesus and truly knowing Him. That’s the journey that we have begun through the Gospel of John.

And so even today we are going to ask ourselves the same questions as we look at this well known passage. Do I really believe and know this Jesus who is revealed in today’s passage? Have I really surrendered my life to this Jesus who is revealed in this passage?

And so before we begin, let’s ask the Spirit to soften our hearts, and to help us understand & apply this passage to our lives this morning.

Jim Carrey – the famous Hollywood actor and comedian once famously said “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see it’s not the answer”.

So profound! The reason why we take this quote seriously is because Jim Carrey attained it all. He’s attained all the riches and fame in the world. With all of his power and influence, he can get hold of anything that he wants to get hold of and he’s saying that none of these is the answer to life. None of these can satisfy our hearts. All of these things that we often chase after will leave us empty. And so then what can satisfy us?

Well today’s passage is an answer to that question. In today’s passage, Jesus reveals Himself as the only One who can truly satisfy us. He is the Giver of Living Water.

Let’s jump into John 4:1:

[1] Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John [2] (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), [3] he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.

This is connected to last week’s passage where we see that Jesus kickstarting His earthly ministry and it was gaining traction. In fact a lot of the crowds were now going to Jesus and His disciples rather than John the Baptist.

And so John the Baptist’s disciples were intimidated by that and they thought that they were losing influence and they went up to John and aired their grievances to him.

And John tells them that Jesus is the bridegroom and so if people are going to Him, then he rejoices in that because that’s the way it should be. The bride should be with the bridegroom. John the Baptist was simply the friend of the bridegroom. He must increase, I must decrease. And so we saw John’s humble view of his own ministry.

And in these first three verses, we see Jesus’ view of his own ministry. Jesus wasn’t interested in the popularity and fame game. At a time when His ministry was growing and gaining traction. At a time when the religious leaders were beginning to take notice of Jesus, He leaves the area and goes to Galilee.

We can see that Jesus wasn’t in for this popularity game. Jesus wasn’t sidetracked by the growing fan following. He had a clear cut purpose for why He came to the world, and He was sticking to it.

[4] And he had to pass through Samaria.

It was necessary for him to pass through Samaria. Now this might seem like a simple fact, but there’s more to it. Because of the context. Jews and Samaritans were hostile enemies. Jews hated Samaritans.

They couldn’t stand them because they saw them as unclean people. Because Samaritans were children of Jews intermarrying with foreigners who had settled in their land.

On top of that, to make matters worse, the Samaritans had their own temple on Mount Gerizim. They had their own version of the first five books of the OT. They had their own version of Israelite history.

To use a loose modern example, their relationship was like that between India and Pakistan. Tensions were always very high between both people groups.

Jews would do everything they could to avoid interacting with a Samaritan (which is what is written in v9 also). If it meant that a Jew would need to take a longer route, they’ll do that just to avoid interacting with a Samaritan.

In that context, for Jesus to choose to go through Samaria was a huge deal. You can imagine the disciples of Jesus trying to talk him out of it. But no, Jesus had to go through Samaria because there was a divine purpose behind this journey.

[5] So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. [6] Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.

Jesus was fully human just as He was fully God. He experienced weariness and tiredness and exhaustion just like us. So whenever we experience that in this life, we should know that Jesus understands and relates with us.

It was about the sixth hour. [7] A woman from Samaria came to draw water.

It was around 12pm. What’s interesting is that that’s not the usual time when women came to draw water. They would usually come to draw water in the mornings or in the evenings when it would be cooler. This Samaritan woman seems like she’s coming to the well at a time when no one would be around. She wanted to avoid the public eye.

Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” [8] (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) [9] The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

Jesus initiates the conversation with this Samaritan woman and she’s taken aback by that. Firstly because of the heightened tensions between Jews and Samaritans.

But also, it’s because she was a woman. They lived in a very patriarchal society where it was forbidden to not speak with any woman on the street, not even their own wives.

Which is why her response was of shock and surprise. What Jesus was doing at that moment was something radical! He was engaging with a woman who was also a Samaritan. He was breaking all kinds of barriers and traditions at that very moment.

[10] Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

And so Jesus was basically telling her that if she really knew who it was who was speaking to her, she would ask him and he would give her living water.

What is this living water? It’s the only thing that can satisfy the deep longings of our hearts. For that we have to turn to a passage from OT.

Jeremiah 2:13 ESV

[13] for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

In this passage, what is God referring to Himself as? Fountain of Living waters. God is telling His people that He is the source of abundant living water. He is the source of abundant soul satisfying water.

But instead of going and drinking from the fountain of abundant living water, what have God’s people done? They are trying to drink from man made broken containers which have no capacity to hold water. These containers are empty. They cannot quench your longings of your heart and soul. They cannot satisfy.

So Jesus is recalling the same language out here where He’s telling the woman – I am the fountain of living water. I am the abundant supply of soul satisfying water. Come to me. Drink from me.

[11] The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? [12] Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”

She doesn’t understand his metaphor. She’s still thinking that Jesus is talking about physical drinking water. He’s not.

 [13] Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, [14] but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

In other words, Jesus is telling her that if she goes and tries to satisfy her soul with anything else in all of creation, she will come back empty. They are all broken containers. But if she comes to Jesus, guess what? He can fully satisfy the longings of her heart!

And the same applies to you and me as well. If we turn to our jobs to satisfy us, we will be empty and dry.

If we turn to our relationships to satisfy us, we will be empty and dry.

If we turn to our possessions and think that by buying everything that we can buy it will satisfy us, we will be empty and dry.

If we turn to our pleasures, thinking that if I can indulge in whatever pleasure I want to indulge it will satisfy us, we will be empty and dry.

If we turn to knowledge thinking that accumulating all the information in the world will satisfy us, we will be empty and dry.

There is nothing in all of creation that has the capacity to fulfill and satisfy the longings of our heart. Only Jesus can because He is the fountain of living waters.

An example that we sometimes use – what would happen if we fill our vehicle’s fuel tank with Pepsi instead of petrol or diesel. It’s not going to run. Why? Because the vehicle was made to run on petrol Or diesel. In the same way, you and I were created with longings that can only be fulfilled by our Creator. Everything else will fall short.

[15] The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

She still doesn’t get it because she’s still thinking about physical drinking water. Jesus doesn’t give up. He continues the conversation with her.

[16] Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” [17] The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; [18] for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” [19] The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

In order for her to receive this soul satisfying living water, she first needs to be confronted with her sinful and immoral lifestyle.

When we look at the Samaritan woman’s personal life, we realize that there’s a lot of mess involved. She’s gone from one relationship to another to another to another. And her current relationship isn’t a marriage, it’s a live-in relationship.

You can imagine how scandalous this was at that time. And yet Jesus wasn’t confronting her with her sinful lifestyle in order to name and shame her.

Jesus was confronting her with her sin so that she could come and confess before the One who knows what it is in man! So that she could realize her need for the real satisfier.

She went from relationship to relationship in order to find satisfaction but came back empty. So she has to acknowledge that before she receives the soul satisfying living water.

[20] Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

She tries deflecting the conversation from herself and moving to a theological debate on the right place of worship. How many times have we done that? Whenever we are convicted, instead of responding to the conviction by repentance, our defenses come up and we try to deflect to a theological discussion which is in the air and doesn’t address the heart issue.

[21] Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. [22] You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. [24] God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Although she was trying to deflect, Jesus didn’t stop the conversation. He carries on and reveals to her God’s intention in worship. It was never about this place or that place. It was always about people’s hearts. But people’s hearts are broken. So how were they going to worship?

And so God had to do something radical by sending His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins. He lived the life we needed to live but couldn’t. He died the death we deserved to die. He was buried and then on the third day rose again so that whoever may repent and put their faith in Jesus would be radically transformed to be able to worship God in spirit and truth.

What does that mean? It means where our worship is based on the truth of God as revealed in His Word. We are not worshipping our own ideas and concepts about God. We are worshipping what is true about God as He has told us in the Bible.

And when we have known God as revealed in His Word, the Spirit will take that truth and bring about authentic, genuine, sincere worship from our hearts.

To take a human example, what if I went up to my wife and told her “Angie, I just love your blonde hair. You look so beautiful and amazing in it”. Do you think she would feel loved by that? No, why? Because it’s not rooted in what’s true about her.

And so in the same manner, what God delights in is when we take what is true about Him as revealed in the Bible and worship and praise Him for that only.

Sometime back when we did our training for the worship team we spoke something similar to this. The closer we are to God’s word during our worship set, the more authentic our worship would be. The further we are from God’s word during our worship set, the less authentic our worship would be.

[25] The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” [26] Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Little did she know that the One with whom she was having this theological debate was her Messiah. Her Savior. Her soul satisfier!

This is the second one to one dialogue that Jesus has in the Gospel of John. The last time he had it, it was with Nicodemus. Interestingly she didn’t have any of the credentials that Nicodemus had. She didn’t have his OT knowledge. She didn’t have his moral standing as someone who followed the law rigorously externally.

She didn’t have his influence. She didn’t have the respect and stature in society. She was the polar opposite of a Nicodemus. And yet, Jesus was pleased to travel through that hostile territory in order to reveal Himself to her as her satisfier. He is the same today! He promises to do the same to any one of us who comes to Him this morning.

What is your response going to be to Jesus this morning?

Good morning church!Wishing you a happy new year! It’s so great to see you all on this first Sunday of the year. I pray that God would meet our deepest spiritual needs & longings this morning through His Word.

As a church we’ve been going through a series titled Believing and Knowing Jesus from the Gospel of John. John tells us that the whole purpose of this book is that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing we may have eternal life in His name. (John 20:31) And what is eternal life? It’s knowing Jesus! It’s knowing Jesus deeply and personally!

The goal is that as we go through this series, we would all say that we know Jesus not just because of what our pastor told us about Him. We know Jesus not just because of what our parents told us about Him. We know Jesus because we ourselves have a real relationship with Him. We know Him deeply and personally through His Word.

There might be some of us here who have known Jesus for many years. There might be some of us who have known Jesus for a few years. There might be some who haven’t begun that relationship.

Let me tell you something, we will all be challenged in different ways to ask ourselves what does it mean for us to know Jesus deeper than we’ve known Him before. To experience greater intimacy with Jesus than we’ve experienced before.

Pray

Ever since Jesus began His earthly ministry, He’s been giving people glimpses of who He is. He’s been revealing certain things about His character and what He’s come to do.

At the wedding at Cana where they had this wine crisis, Jesus revealed Himself as the sovereign ruler of the universe and the merciful provider for His people’s needs. Here is this being who controls everything in creation & has the ability to do the unbelievable like turning water into wine. But He’s also the merciful One who generously supplies for His people’s needs. And the full picture of that is understood on the cross.

And then He reveals that He is passionate for His Father’s glory & that He’s passionate about holiness in His people’s lives as He cleanses the Temple. He can’t stand the fact that the worship of God was being replaced by a marketplace. That the worship of God was being replaced by something else. That’s how serious Jesus is about His Father’s glory and holiness in our lives.

And so we’re beginning to see glimpses of who this Messiah is – who this Jesus is. And He’s already seeming quite different and unexpected to what people in those days were expecting from their Messiah.

So with that, let’s jump into our text today from John 2:23 onwards:

[23] Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

Now this should be exciting news!Jesus’ ministry seems to have taken off with a lot of successful responses. Because it says here that many believed in his name, many committed themselves to Jesus, many surrendered themselves to Jesus because of the miraculous signs that Jesus was doing.

You can imagine the disciples looking at the response of the crowds and getting thrilled. If I were in the disciples’ shoes, I would be getting really anxious at this point wondering if we needed to hire a stadium for Jesus’ next meeting. Because such was the response and the reaction from the crowds.

 [24] But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people [25] and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Now at first this seems a little difficult to understand. These crowds seem to be responding well to Jesus. They are believing in His name. They are committing themselves to Jesus. Why is Jesus now not entrusting Himself to them?

The answer is because He knew all people. He needed no one to bear witness about man for he himself knew what was in man. Jesus is able to look into our hearts. Jesus sees everything as it is in our hearts.

There’s nothing in us that can be hidden or covered or fabricated in the eyes of Jesus. He’s able to see through our insincere praises. He’s able to see through our ingenuine faith. He’s able to see through our inauthentic repentance.

On Sundays when we come to Him and sing “All to Jesus I surrender, I surrender all”, He’s able to look into our hearts and see if we’re actually willing to surrender all! When we sing, “Lord I give you my heart, I give you my soul, I live for you alone”, He’s actually seeing if that’s really the inclination of our heart or if it’s just empty words.

On the last day of a retreat or a revival meeting, when we raise our hands or walk down an aisle or pray a prayer to follow Jesus, He knows exactly what the condition of our hearts are as we do these things. He knows if we’re doing it out of faith or just to please man. That’s why He doesn’t get carried away simply by seeing our emotional response.

It’s a humbling thing for us to recognize that when we’re faking it, He knows it. Maybe our family won’t be able to tell. Maybe our closest friends won’t be able to tell. Jesus knows when we’re faking it.

he knew all people [25] and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Now let’s see how this passage connects with the next one.

[1] Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

 [2] This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

We’re introduced to a man called Nicodemus. And he’s a Pharisee – someone who was super religious – who strictly obeyed the Jewish law to the tee. They were the front benchers, the scholars when it came to external obedience of the law.

Not only was he a Pharisee, He was ruler of the Jews – a key decision maker in the Jewish court, a man of great influence with great knowledge of the Scriptures. People looked up to him as a spiritual leader! This is a big shot – a man of amazing spiritual credentials!

And this big shot – man of amazing spiritual credentials among Jews approaches Jesus interestingly not in daylight but at night which shows that he wanted to be discreet about it. He didn’t want people to know about this meeting with Jesus. It was a private, secret meet up.

He addresses Jesus as “Rabbi” or Teacher. Which is interesting because Jesus didn’t go through the formal route of becoming a Rabbi – which would involve years of seminary training & practice. Yet Nicodemus calls him as Rabbi which means that he had genuine respect for Jesus.

And he clarifies why he had so much of respect for Jesus. And it was because of the signs that Jesus performed. It became evident to Nicodemus that it was God who sent Jesus. It became evident to hin that God was with Jesus. These signs had God written all over it.

So far so good. It seems like Nicodemus is showing genuine faith in Jesus. For such a man who is of his stature to come and meet Jesus by night, honor Jesus and recognize God’s favor over him. Everything looks perfect until now.

[3] Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus stumps him by telling him to be born again. Difficult to understand? For us yes. But for Jesus- No, because he knows all people. He doesn’t need anyone to witness about man because he knows what is man. He sees what is in a person’s heart.

And even for a person like Nicodemus who had such amazing spiritual credentials, Jesus is telling him that he needs to be born again to see the kingdom of God! Isn’t that astounding?

If the front bencher in the spiritual class has no chance of getting into the kingdom of God by himself, then what chance do you and I have in entering the kingdom of God on our own performance? 0 percent.

Unless you are born again you cannot see the kingdom of God. If anything this verse should deeply humble all of us this morning.

Wait are you telling me that all those years of consistently trying to obey God’s law is not enough to get me in the kingdom of God? No. Are you telling me that all my bible knowledge that I’ve accumulated over the years isn’t enough to get me in the kingdom? No. Are you telling me that all the years of leading and shepherding God’s people isn’t enough to get me in the kingdom? Not at all.

You and I need to be born again.

[4] Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” [5] Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

[6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Nicodemus is having trouble understanding the concept of being born again. Because he’s thinking about physical birth and he’s thinking how can I go back into my mother’s womb a second time? This is not making sense to him.

Jesus responds to his confusion by clarifying that he’s not talking about physical birth. It’s a spiritual birth that has to take place as it says in V6.

In v5, Jesus tells him that unless a person is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now what is this water and the Spirit? Some people say that this is a reference to water baptism but not exactly. This is a reference to a very well known prophecy from Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 36:25-27

[25] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. [26] And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

This is God’s promise to His people that He made centuries before this. Being born of water refers to how all of us have a desperate need to be cleansed. Unlike the image that we would like to believe about ourselves, we are actually filthy and messed up on the inside.

And it’s not just our sins, our righteous acts are also filthy.

Isaiah 64:6 ESV

[6]  We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

Think about this – this is what Jesus is telling Nicodemus. That he needs to be cleansed on the inside. On the outside it might seem like he’s the best, he’s the front bencher but on the inside, he is filthy and messed up like any of us.

And being born of the Spirit refers to how we are all incapable of obeying God with the right heart motivations.

For us to be able to do that, God would need to put His own Spirit within us so that we would have new desires for the Lord. So that we would obey not out of fear of punishment or obligation but out of love for God.

It’s like a loving relationship between a child and the parent where the child obeys the parent not because the child is afraid that he will be kicked out of the house and the family but the child obeys out of love for the parent.

And so when Jesus says unless you are born of water and the Spirit, he’s telling Nicodemus that he needs cleansing from God and he needs a new Spirit which is wired to obey God as He desires. Right now Nicodemus isn’t capable of doing that.

Do you see your need? Do you see your helplessness?

[7] Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

[8] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Listening to all of this, Nicodemus was still coming to terms with being born again. Because he spent his whole life thinking that strict external obedience was what was required and here Jesus is saying that he needs to have spiritual birth. And in Nicodemus’ mind, he’s thinking how will that happen? What does he need to do in order to make himself experience spiritual birth? What is something that he can do with his hands to make it happen? Does he need to come up with a strategy and a plan?

And Jesus gives him an analogy of the wind. The wind blows where it wishes. The wind present in nature does it’s own thing. We can’t control it from our side. We just experience it – we hear it’s noise, we feel the pressure of the wind. But it comes and goes as it wishes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

In other words, just like you and I have no part in controlling the wind. You and I have no part in bringing about spiritual rebirth. It’s a supernatural gift of God!

So the question I want to ask us this morning is “Are you born again?” Have you truly experienced spiritual rebirth? As we see in this passage this morning – Nicodemus had the best of credentials. He had all the bible knowledge. He had all the required obedience. He had all the leadership qualities. He had all the accomplishments. But yet he was not born again.

If you’ve not been born again, I just want to let you know that today is another opportunity for us to know that the one who tells us to be born again is God’s Son who went up on the cross to die for you and me.

His sacrifice is what cleanses us from our sins and idols. He was buried and then rose again on the Third Day so that anyone who repents and puts that their trust in Jesus’ life and sacrifice for them would be cleansed from the inside out, they will be given a new heart of flesh and a new Spirit to help us obey God.

And if you’ve been a believer – you look at this passage, you look at your life and you see the fruit of the Gospel, the question we need to ask is “are you living a life that demonstrates that you’ve been cleansed of your idols?”

Are you living a life where obedience to God is a joy for you and not a burden? Your not looking at obedience as a rule book but loving service. And let’s be honest because the Jesus we’re dealing with knows what is in man. He knows what is in our hearts.

This is an opportunity for us to repent of our idols & turn to Him for forgiveness and restoration.

1 John 1:9 ESV

[9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Good morning church! Hope you’re doing well. Just wanted to welcome all who have joined us here at the hall & those who have tuned in online. So glad that you’re with us this morning. As a church we began a new series last week titled Believing and Knowing Jesus from the Gospel of John.

And what we’re trying to do through this series is understand how we can believe, know, love and enjoy Jesus better. If you’re sitting here this morning with a longing in your heart “Lord, I’m not happy with a surface level relationship with you. Lord, I don’t want to have a transactional, “matlabi” relationship with you. I really want to know you. I really want to love you deeper. I really want to enjoy my relationship with you.”

If that’s your prayer and the longing of your heart, then the gospel of John is the perfect place to experience that. Because it will reveal Jesus to you in a fresh, radical way. So I’d invite all of us to come each week with a sense of expectancy and longing for a deeper relationship and walk with Jesus. But it’s not just limited to us, the gospel of John is a perfect place to introduce our unbelieving family and friends to Jesus. So if it’s possible, please invite your family and friends to join us in this journey. You’ll never know how God can use this series to change their lives. 

But before we begin, let’s ask God for His help to use this time to help us know and love Him better.

Pray

I love origin stories! Especially while watching a superhero movie, I’ve always been fascinated by the origin story of the main character. Because it gives us a glimpse into their background, childhood, family and experiences. It helps us make sense of who they are today in the light of their background & experiences. It helps us make sense of what they do today in the light of their background & experiences. Origin stories are important and fascinating!

Now the apostle John has the tough task of describing Jesus’ origin story in the first chapter. That’s a huge deal, right? Because he’s not describing the origin story of an ordinary human being. He’s describing the origin story of the Son of God!  That’s why John doesn’t begin from Jesus’ childhood on earth. John goes back to eternity past and says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God”. While everything in creation has a start date, a manufacturing date or a date of birth. Jesus – the Son of God didn’t have a start date, manufacturing date or a date of birth. He always existed! He is the pre-existent God.

Take a minute to allow this to sink in – this Jesus to whom we sing songs of praise and worship, this Jesus to whom we lift our prayers to, this Jesus who we have a relationship with – has always been there even before the universe was made. Rulers, nations, generations in human history have come and gone, and this Jesus has seen, intervened and sovereignly controlled every single thing that has happened in human history. And why do we fear the uncertainties of tomorrow when we know that this Jesus, the pre-existent God is with us!

And the origin story continues in today’s passage from verses 5:

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Jesus is referred to as the “light” in this verse. And why do you think John refers to Jesus as the light? What happens when we turn on the light in a dark room? We are able to see things clearly. We are able to see things as they are. We may have eyes, but if there’s no light, we are as good as blind. So by Jesus being the light, John is telling us that He is the one who helps us see God clearly. He is the one who helps us see ourselves more clearly. He is the one who helps us see the world more clearly. For a believer in Christ, salvation is like turning the lights on. At one point of time, we couldn’t understand and know God. We didn’t know who we were. We didn’t understand the brokenness in the world. But suddenly when Jesus came into our lives, the lights turned on and we were able to see God, ourselves and the world more clearly. And the verse says that “darkness hasn’t overcome the light”. So bright and powerful is Jesus as the light, that no darkness can overcome it. In this world, we might be discouraged and depressed when we look at the sin inside us and the sin in the world. But you know what this verse tells us? This darkness is no comparison, or no match to Jesus’ light. What’s our hope in a broken world? That Jesus is the light. All He needs to do is turn on the light.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

In these verses, John is referring to the other John “John the Baptist”. He says in v6 that John was sent from God. His appointment letter didn’t come from a missionary organization or a church. His appointment came from God directly! And what was he appointed by God to do? To be a witness to the light. An eye-witness to the light!

Think about the role of an eye-witness in a court. The eye-witness is not supposed to talk about himself. The eye-witness is not supposed to make up a story of what took place. The eye-witness simply needs to state the facts exactly as he saw it. That’s what John the Baptist came to do. He was appointed to tell people about the light – that is Jesus! It goes on to say “so that all might believe through him”.

On account of his witness, people would entrust their lives onto Jesus. People would commit their lives to Jesus. People would surrender their lives to Jesus. It was a very clear cut agenda. Very clear cut appointment letter that was given to John the Baptist. He was a godly man. He was a holy man. He called out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He called out the immorality of Herod. All that was there but his main agenda was to be a witness to the light – so that all might believe in Jesus through his testimony.

V8. “He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light”. The role was clearly defined. He was not going to take centre stage. He was not going to be in the limelight. He was not going to be the showstopper. His job was to simply be a witness.

And although this passage is talking about John the Baptist, I think we can apply this to our lives as well. What would it look like if we saw ourselves as witnesses to the light? The goal is not to be the greatest preacher. The goal is not to be a theologian. The goal is simply to be a witness. Just state the fact of who Jesus is, what He did for us and how that has changed your life. No need to add, subtract or modify any details. Just tell it as it is.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

Just imagine the anticipation that should have been for the true light which was coming into the world. I’m always amazed to see the kind of frenzy every time an international artist comes to India for a concert. People are willing to pay enormous amounts to buy tickets, wait for months until the concert happens and then stand in the sun for hours before their favorite artist comes on stage. So much effort and anticipation for an ordinary human being, how much more should it have been for the true light who was coming into the world?

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

These verses give us a picture of the heartache that Jesus experienced as he stepped into the world. This wasn’t a case of a famous personality not being greeted or respected properly by people. This was the case of the Son of God who created the world in which we live in, created all of us coming to us, but instead of being welcomed with open arms and joy, received rejection and hostility from us. Imagine how heartbreaking it is to be rejected by your own people. It’s like a father hearing his child tell him“I don’t want to have anything to do with you”.  The truth is that when we lived for ourselves, that’s exactly what we told God, maybe not with our words, but with our actions and lifestyle. When we wanted to grab the control of our lives and live it our own way, that’s what we told Jesus “I don’t want to have anything to do with you”. That’s our sorry, dangerous situation in which all of us humans find ourselves in. Is there any hope?

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Wow! What an amazing verse of hope! But if we do receive him, if we do believe and commit ourselves to Him, he will give us the privilege of being the children of God! Did we have anything to take credit for in becoming children of God? Is it because we read our Bibles well? Is it because we have maintained a great prayer life? Is it because we attended church regularly? Have we been able to do such a great job that we’ve forced God’s hand in making us His children?

No! It’s a gift! It’s a privilege. V13 – “who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God”. If you’re here today feeling low and discouraged, feeling unworthy to be called a child of God because of how you’ve messed up, know that you’re a child of God not because of what you’ve done or not done, but because of God chose to give you the gift of sonship in Jesus. Remind yourself “I don’t know why. I don’t deserve it but God decided to give me the gift of being His son or daughter”.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

How amazing is this truth? The pre-existent God who created us and sustains us as human beings has chosen to take on the form of a human being. And taking the form of humanity wasn’t a glamorous task for Jesus. Philippians 2 describes it in this way “Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men”. Jesus willingly entered his own home not as the owner but as a servant when he put on human flesh. And the verse says that he dwelt among us. In other words, Jesus decided to stay with us and among us. The apostle John says that “we’ve seen his glory, glory as of the Son of the Father, full of grace and truth”.  John is saying that after spending time with Jesus, he is testifying and bearing witness to the fact that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.

15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)  16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

In these verses there are a series of comparisons with great men of faith. First comparison – Jesus with John the Baptist. John the Baptist himself said that Jesus is greater because He existed before him as the pre-existent God. Second comparison – Jesus and Moses. Jesus is greater because through Moses people only got to know God’s high expectations and how badly we fail in meeting those expectations. In Moses, people got to know that God’s expectation is 100% holiness and obedience and people fail miserably in meeting those expectations.

But through Jesus, people got to also know God’s grace and truth, they also got to know God’s way of fixing the huge gap between us and God. Jesus was the only person who lived the life that God wanted us to live (100% holiness and obedience). But the Gospel message is that celebrating the victory of cent percent, Jesus decided to pay the price for all of us – people who were on 0%. When Jesus went up on the cross, He didn’t go up because He did anything wrong. He went up because we failed in our pursuit of holiness and obedience. He took our punishment. He became the scapegoat for us. He died for us. He was buried and then on the third day he rose again from the dead so that whoever repents of their sins and puts their full trust in Jesus, would now be treated as though they got 100% holiness and obedience. That’s grace! 

18 No one has ever seen God; God, the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Finally verse 18 closes with this amazing truth that nobody can know God by their own. But Jesus, God’s own Son – who is at the Father’s side – other versions say “he is at the bosom of the Father” – “He is in the closest relationship with the Father”. Jesus who knows His Father from the inside out and Jesus delights in making the Father known to us. He delights in revealing His Father’s heart to us. Jesus has brought the Father to us! 

Dear Church! This is our Lord Jesus!

• He is the pre-existent God
• He is the light
• He is the one who gives us the privilege of being children of God
• He is the one who gives us grace and truth
• He has come to bring the Father to us

Good morning everyone! Hope you’re doing well this morning. Over the last few weeks, as a church we’ve been going through a series titled Understanding Church where we’re trying to understand church through the lens of the Bible. Why is that important? Because we all have a tendency to move away from God’s heart and design for the church. We see that happening in many churches around the world where churches are driven by the culture around them more than God’s heart and design as revealed in the Bible.

For example, if the culture around them doesn’t talk about sin but only talks about self-affirmation, then that’s the same culture that seeps into the church where they only affirm everybody and never talk about sin. But on the other hand, the Bible confronts our sins all the time. It won’t take too long before we are confronted with our sin, our unbelief, our pride and our selfishness. 

That’s why it’s vital that we not only have this series once in a while but actually have routine reminders of what is God’s heart and design for His church. And also to check and see if we are on the same track in line with God’s heart and design as revealed in the Bible.

Couple of weeks back we spoke about the Purpose of the Church. Last week we spoke about Leaders in the Church and this week we will talk about Marks of a True Church. Today as we look around us, we’ll find churches of all kinds. Churches with different kinds of music – traditional churches will have a choir singing along with hymns and an organ.

Modern churches will have more contemporary worship music with more instruments. Even in the preaching, you’ll find preachers of different styles – some who are lighthearted just love to entertain, others who are more serious and focused during the preaching time.

In other words, you’ll most likely be able to find a church that suits your taste or preference. If we simply go by “I like this in a church, I don’t like this in a church” – just by our likes and preferences, we’ll actually end up finding a church that suits our liking because there’s that many varieties of churches out there.

But the question is, is this the right way of evaluating a church simply on the basis of our tastes, liking and preference? How do we know if this is actually a True church or not? How do we know if the Gathering church is a True church or not? Or if God moves us to another city tomorrow where we’ll need to find a new church, how do we know which church to plug ourselves into?

Thankfully we don’t have to go around searching for answers. We have our Bibles and also have faithful men and women in church history who have wrestled with this same question “what are the marks of a True Church?” and they have studied the Scriptures and have provided us with help to navigate through this. Before we go ahead, let’s ask God to help us learn and apply this today.

Pray

In the 16th century, the Roman Catholic church argued that the only true church of Jesus was the one that followed the authority of the pope. Any other church that did not follow the authority of the pope wasn’t considered a true church. They saw all others as false churches. Praise God for raising up faithful brothers and sisters (known as the Reformers) who fought against that and said “No, a true church isn’t one that follows the authority of the pope but one that submits to the authority of God’s Word”. What they said is that their loyalty & allegiance was not to the pope but to the Word. So these Reformers searched the Scriptures, they did a lot of the ground work for us and they boiled it down to 3 Marks of a True Church:

Just one caveat before we proceed. Whatever we study today shouldn’t be something that makes us arrogantly go around judging other churches saying “you’re a false church, you’re a false church, you’re a true church”. This is meant to be an internal check for us to see if our church is actually showing marks of a True Church. With that let’s go to the 3 marks of a True Church:

1. Pure Preaching of the Word (2 Tim 4:1-5)

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

The context of this passage is that this is the last and final letter written by Paul that’s recorded in Scripture. Paul thinks that he’s going to die soon and so he’s writing this personal letter to his spiritual son & dear friend Timothy with some very very important instructions. If you and I were on our death bed, we want our closest family members and friends around us at that time. And what we would want to share with them at that time is not small talk but very very important instructions that the people closest to us need to know. That’s the same theme with Paul’s letter here and above everything else that he wants to tell Timothy, what does he tell him here?

Preach the Word! And did you notice that he’s not making a suggestion to Timothy. He’s not telling Timothy “when you think it’s convenient, do this”. In fact the seriousness of this command is heightened by the fact that he’s saying it “in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:” He’s calling God as witness to this instruction which is being made to Timothy. In other words, Paul is reminding Timothy that his accountability doesn’t lie with Paul. Timothy’s accountability to the preaching of the Word doesn’t stop the moment Paul dies. Timothy’s accountability is with the Lord. That’s how seriously this command needs to be taken. 

Preach the Word! Not his own thoughts. Not an inspirational, motivational talk. Not news. Not politics. Not what’s trending. He is called to Preach God’s Word. How does that happen?

• Preaching in Context: When we read a book or watch a movie, we don’t jump into the middle of the book or movie, remove a quote and make our own interpretation of what that quote means. We read the book or watch a movie from start to end and try to understand that quote on the basis of its context. But somehow we do the same thing with the Bible. Everything that is written in the Bible was written in a certain historical context and it’s important to know what that is.
  • For example: A much loved passage for many of us Jeremiah 29:11 – 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope was not said in the context of prosperity but in the context of judgment to assure the Israelites that God would restore them after 70 years.
• Preach with the author’s intent in mind: God used multiple biblical authors to write books of the Bible and each of those books had a specific purpose to why it was written. In many cases, the author of the book mentions the reason explicitly:
  • 1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
• Preach with Gospel centrality: On the road to Emmaus, Jesus tells the 2 disciples that all of the Scriptures from start to end were about Jesus and His sacrificial work on the cross. Lk 24:27: And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. If we’re not bringing out Jesus and His work on the cross through our preaching, we are missing the point of preaching. We can be saying a lot of nice things in our messages, but if there’s no Jesus and no cross, it’s meaningless.

Preaching the Word would involve Context, Author’s intent and Gospel Centrality.

In V3-5, Paul tells Timothy to be always ready to preach the Word because a time is coming when people will grow tired of hearing the pure Word and will want preachers to preach what they want them to preach. And Paul is telling Timothy to not give into that.

And that’s so different from every other field or industry. In the world today, every product or service offered is consumer focused. Success is measured on the basis of how well we’ve understood our consumer and given them what they want. And Paul’s instruction is the opposite. He’s telling Timothy “No, you don’t get into giving people what their itching ears want to hear, you should be faithful in preaching God’s Word. Your accountability lies with God”.

But not only is the Pure Preaching of the Word a mark of a True church, but also

2. Pure Administration of the Ordinances

By ordinances or sacraments we are referring to the rituals that the Lord Jesus instituted and commanded us to partake in namely baptism and the Lord’s Supper. How amazing that God has given us visual reminders of the Gospel through the rituals of baptism and Lord’s Supper?

Baptism: Matt 28:19-20: 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Usually at the Gathering, whenever we have the baptism we usually ask 3 questions to the person getting baptized? Are you aware and admit that you are a condemned sinner before a Holy God? Do you fully trust in the work of Jesus Christ that was done on your behalf on the cross? Do you promise to let go of your old life and follow Jesus for the rest of your life? If the answer is Yes to all, then we go ahead and baptize. Those questions capture the essence of what baptism is. It’s a declaration of our great sinfulness but also a declaration of Jesus’ great saving grace!

Lord’s Supper: Luke 22:19-20: 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Lord’s Supper is a frequent reminder of God’s new covenant with us! We were reading through Joshua yesterday and it was the part where the Gibeonites deceived Joshua and the leaders of Israel pretending to be from a far off country. What happened is that Joshua and the leaders believed them and made a covenant with them and later on figured out that they were from Canaan itself. Upon hearing this, the Israelite congregation got angry and wanted to lay their hands on the Gibeonites but didn’t do it because of the prior covenant that was made between them and the leaders of Israel. If that’s how seriously human covenants are taken, you can imagine how much more seriously God takes the covenant He makes with us & He’s graciously given us this visual reminder through the Lord’s Supper every week.

We may tell the Lord, “God, you don’t know how terrible I’ve been. You don’t know how I’ve done the same sin again and again. I don’t deserve to be your child”. And God tells us “I know what you’ve done but that doesn’t change my relationship with you because I’ve made a prior covenant in my Son’s blood. Nothing can change that”. And so when we see the Lord’s Supper in that light, it is actually meant to reassure us.

So there’s the Pure Preaching of the Word and the Pure Administration of the ordinances

3. Practice of Church Discipline

When we usually hear the phrase “church discipline”, we usually think of a negative connotation of punishment/excommunication, but that’s not the reason why God wants discipline. The main purpose of discipline is restoration and repentance. Look with me at Matt 18:15-17:

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

I think a lot of the time, we only focus on V17. But even before that there are multiple attempts made to help the sinning brother or sister come to repentance. The goal is restoration and repentance! And if you see the steps taken – it’s not to humiliate or embarrass. It’s one to one & then if that doesn’t work. Then bring two others to speak to the person.

And then when all means are exhausted and the person is simply unwilling to repent, then V17 because then the person isn’t demonstrating a heart to be made right with God. And why is that important to God? Because our God is Holy and He desires holiness among His people as well.

Doesn’t God discipline us? Hebrews 12 tells us that God disciplines us (not punishes) because He treats us as His children. He disciplines us so that we can share in His holiness. Parents out here, we discipline our children because we want them to be corrected not because we want to harm them or embarrass them. When we look at discipline with those lenses, discipline is a loving thing we can do for a brother or sister in Jesus is correct them lovingly and bring them to repentance and restoration. Wouldn’t you do that for your own family member if you loved them?

And so discipline is also a mark to show if the church is a True church. Is the church actually pursuing holiness? Is the church actually lovingly nudging each other to seek holiness in their lives?

Finally, how do we apply this sermon on the marks of a true Church?

1. Ask ourselves if we do see these 3 marks in the Gathering today?
2. If these marks are there, what should our heart’s response be to each one of them?
   1. How should my heart respond to the preaching of the Word each week?
   1. How should my heart respond when I partake of the elements of the Lord’s Supper each week?
   1. How should I respond to my brother or sister if I’m aware that they are in sin? How am I to respond to someone who is pointing out a sin in my life?

Good morning church! A warm welcome to everyone who has joined us here in-person and all who have tuned in online. Our prayer is that by the time we leave this hall today, we would all grow in loving and enjoying Jesus more than we did before. Our prayer is that our hearts would be full with Jesus’ love by the time we step out of this hall. And one of the primary ways by which that happens is when we hear our Shepherd’s voice through the preaching of the Word:

This is what Jesus says in John 10:27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

That’s why we take this time with the Word very seriously. Because the goal is not to hear the pastor’s voice. The goal is not to hear the pastor’s message. The goal is to hear Jesus’ voice as His Word is being preached. And if that’s the goal, then you and I need the Spirit’s help to tune our ears to Jesus’ voice & also give us a humble heart to follow Jesus. Would you join me in prayer?

Pray

Last week we began a new series titled Understanding Church. And what we saw is that we all have a tendency to move away from God’s heart and design for the church. We could very well be a part of a thriving church but have expectations that don’t match with God’s heart and design. And that’s precisely why all of us need to have regular, routine bible reminders so that we can set aside our own human expectations for the church and embrace God’s expectations – God’s heart and design for the church. 

So this week we’ll be turning to Leaders in the Church. Let me clarify that when I say leaders, I’m referring to the pastors or elders within a church. Just to start off – let’s start with the question “Why”. Why have leaders? Why does God place pastors or elders within a church? What’s God’s intention in doing that?

To compare it with sports – is it just because every team needs to have a captain? Or to use an example from the workplace – is it because every company needs to have a CEO? Is that how God is looking at this? Having a strong, decisive leader who makes long term plans & strategies for the church. Someone who is tasked to manage the church just like a captain of a sports team or CEO of a company. Is that God’s corporate style of managing His church? The answer is NO. That’s why we need to get back to the Bible and find out what is God’s heart and design for a pastor. One quick passage before we jump into the qualifications in 1 Tim 3.

Acts 20:28-31: This is Paul’s farewell address to the pastors in the Ephesian church. In this we get a few clues on why God has placed pastors in churches.

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

1. Feed the church: V28 says To care for the church of God. The original Greek translates that word care as “feed” – Feed the church of God. It’s a picture of a shepherd feeding and taking care of his sheep. That’s the role of the pastor. And how does the pastor feed the church? With the Word of God. Whatever the pastor’s involved in – instruction, encouragement, correction, counselling – whatever it may be, it needs to be done by God’s Word. If God’s Word is missing, (if the pastor is using his idea or some worldly idea) then the pastor isn’t feeding the church.

The other thing to note is that the sheep doesn’t belong to the pastor, the sheep belongs to Jesus. “Which he obtained with his own blood”. Even as the pastor feeds and takes care of the church, He’s called to do it with humility knowing that he’s handling the church of God which Jesus purchased with His own blood.

2. Protect the church: In V29-31, Paul uses the same shepherd analogy to reveal another aspect of a pastor which is to protect the sheep. He’s not just feeding the sheep, but he’s also protecting the sheep from fierce wolves. Who are these fierce wolves? False teachers whose only agenda is to hurt and harm God’s people.

It says “they’ll do these things to draw disciples after them”. Their teaching will probably seem very attractive. It’ll be very appealing to your heart but the reality is that it’ll take you away from your Savior and His work. And so one of the main duties of the pastor is to have a great concern for protecting the sheep. Paul in fact says that for three years with tears, He admonished them to be alert.

So God’s placed pastors in the church to feed and to protect the church. But there’s one more reason why God’s placed pastors in churches, and that’s what we find in today’s passage which is

Be an example to the church: “to model what it means to be a follower of Jesus”. They are called to be pacesetters. To show others what it means to have your life shaped by the Gospel. They are not just called to preach it, they are also called to live it out as examples for the church. That’s why there’s a list of qualifications to be a pastor. I remember in one of my previous churches, people would be viewed as pastoral candidates if they showed enough enthusiasm and involvement in the local church. But this list doesn’t mention any of that, let’s look at these biblical qualifications to be a pastor:

V1: The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task – I find this qualification very very interesting, because it starts with a desire in a person’s heart. God prepares individuals and puts a desire in people’s hearts to become pastors. The pastor doesn’t choose that journey for himself. It begins from a desire that God places in his heart. But what is this desire supposed to be for? A life of position, influence, power, money? None of that. Because the end of the verse says “he desires a noble task”. In other words, he desires good labor or good toil. In other words, the desire is not for position or power, the desire is to labor for people. The desire is to toil for people. The desire is to serve people. The person who is being prepared to be a pastor knows fully well that he is being called to a life of toil and labor for people.

V2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach – These are must-have qualifications, not could-have or good-to-have qualifications. That word “above reproach” actually means blameless. Now this doesn’t mean “sinlessness”, otherwise no one would qualify. But what this means is someone who is above scandalous reproach. Someone who is not known for his scandalous lifestyle. Someone who has a good moral standing in the church and outside as well. Someone who is currently pursuing purity and holiness. Because this person is supposed to be an example and a pace-setter for the church.

the husband of one wife – Husband which tells us that the role of a pastor is designated for a man and not a woman. Men are not superior to women. Men are not more capable than women. But this is just part of God’s design of how God wants to lead the church. But coming to this qualification – this means a person who is a one-woman man. A man who is faithful to his wife.

And in our corporate world, this would never be a qualification for a leader right? However, it’s a very important qualification in the church because marriage after all is a picture of the committed relationship between Jesus and His church. In many ways, the pastor is called to show how faithful, how loving, how gracious Jesus is to His church through his own marriage.

Sober-minded & self controlled – Somebody who is clear headed and able to make sound judgments. Somebody who is not known for making rash and irresponsible decisions. Somebody who is not easily influenced by what is happening or what is said and is able to still be balanced in their response.

Respectable – Someone who has an orderly lifestyle not an extravagant one. He will have a relatively normal, simple, orderly life which others can look up to.

Hospitable – Someone who is kind and available to guests and visitors. That doesn’t mean that the person would need to host the most grand dinner parties, but someone who is known for being a welcoming person. Welcome begins in the person’s heart first.

Able to teach – Out of all the qualifications listed here, this is the only one that deals with skill. All the others are not skill based but character and attitude based. Able to teach means this person should be able to correctly divide God’s Word for His people. Some amount of training would have been done (maybe formal or informal) to be able to correctly handle God’s Word. He doesn’t fit his thoughts into a passage. He doesn’t take verses out of context. He takes time to understand the passage in its original context and then be able to explain & apply the passage for his congregation. And as he’s doing this, people are being built up and encouraged in the Lord.

3. Not a drunkard – Not given to wine, not known for excessive drinking, not turning to alcohol as a solution for life’s problems, not looking at alcohol to self-medicate yourself.

Not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome – Somebody who is not always trying to pick a fight, someone who’s not always finding themselves in the middle of an argument but instead trying to diffuse fights and bring about peace.

Not a lover of money – The actual Greek word doesn’t just refer to money but greed for money and possessions. There isn’t a constant craving to acquire and buy new stuff. On the other hand, there isn’t a stingyness when it comes to giving money or stuff away. In other words, there is a healthy relationship that they maintain between themselves and their money and possessions. Their heart isn’t tied to their wallet.

4. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? – It’s so interesting that one of the qualifications for being an elder or a pastor is to see how we’re managing our families! The reason Paul gives for that is because the church is not a social group that I sign up for, the church is a family. In the church, the pastor takes the responsibility of a father who has been given a divine calling to lead the church spiritually. Therefore the test of that calling actually happens within a pastor’s home by seeing how he cares and shepherds his own family.

5. He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil – He mustn’t be a fresh brand new believer who isn’t matured because then he’ll easily be taken over by pride and fall quickly into the trap of Satan. Pushing people into the position of a pastor too quickly can actually do more harm than good. So Paul’s command is to wait and test the person for maturity before making them a pastor. Even if the need is great, we shouldn’t too quickly fast track a believer to the position of a pastor without examining his maturity.

6. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil – Also, another important thing is for the pastoral candidate to have a good reputation among outsiders. This is not to say that the pastor would need to be popular and loved by outsiders. It’s basically saying that when outsiders look at the pastor’s life, it shouldn’t be something which brings the Gospel to disrepute. Why? Because that can hurt not only the person’s faith but also hurt the witness of the church to a lost and dying world.

Pastors are called to feed the sheep, protect the sheep and be an example for the sheep. But can pastors do this on their own strength? No, absolutely not. And that’s why it’s important for us to acknowledge that the only way pastors can remain faithful to their calling of feeding, protecting and being an example is if they understand how much the Good Shepherd – The Chief Shepherd has done and is doing for them.

John 10:11-16:

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

We can only mimic what we’ve seen and experienced ourselves.

1. Pray for your pastor: So requesting your prayers not so that I can be the best pastor but so that I get to know my Good Shepherd deeper every single day. The better I know my good shepherd, the better I will be able to do what God has called me to do.
2. Trust & be led by your pastor: Heb 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
3. Pray that God would prepare more pastors from within us so that more can be done to care for the church and also to equip the church for the work of ministry
4. Pastors lead the way, but people also need to pursue these qualities

Good morning, church! If all of us could be candid, how are we feeling this morning? Well, let me encourage us to know that God is fully aware of how we’re doing this morning & He intends to not drain us & pull us down but to revive us and lift us up.  And one of the main ways in which He revives and lifts us up is by speaking to us through the preached word.

So be assured – God wants to speak to us this morning. He wants to revive us. He wants to lift us up. The question is – are we listening? Are we prepared to have open ears and humble hearts to listen to Him this morning?

Or are we going to allow our worries, our fears, our distractions, our guilt, our frustrations, or sometimes it’s just our tiredness to suck out our joy and keep us from listening to His voice?

And to be honest, it can be a real struggle. And that’s why we need God’s help from the get-go itself to prepare us so that we can listen to Him. So let’s pray earnestly.

Pray

As most of us might be aware, we’ve just completed a series from the book of Job. It took us about 7 months to finish it, and now that we’ve completed the series, we’ll be doing a standalone sermon this week.

And the question that we’re trying to answer this morning is “What does God desire to see in our prayer lives?” If God could express His utmost concern, what matters most to Him when it comes to our prayer lives, what would it be?

A lot of the time when we talk about praying, we talk about it only from a human perspective – where we say prayer is talking to God & expressing ourselves honestly to God.

And that’s all true, but what if we flipped that around and looked at prayer from God’s perspective. What does God intend to see in our prayer lives? As we grow and mature in our relationship with the Lord, what should the focus & the emphasis of our prayers be?

And the best part is that we don’t have to guess or imagine the answer to this question. The Lord Himself spells it out for us in Matt 6. He clearly tells us what God desires to see in our prayer lives. What is that?

1. Prayer life that is private (V5-6)

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Just to give a quick context of this passage – just to know where it’s placed. It’s part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, where He teaches on various topics. One interesting thing to note in the entire Sermon on the Mount is that Jesus keeps giving a radically different kingdom perspective on each topic that He addresses.

What people expect Jesus to say on these topics, and what Jesus ends up saying on these topics are totally different. Which is why Jesus often says “You have heard it said”…. “But I say to you”.

People’s expectations are on one side, and Jesus’ expectations on the other. Because Jesus’ perspective is a kingdom perspective and our perspective is often an earthly perspective.

Let’s keep that thought in mind even as we come to Chapter 6. And V1 sets the context for all the other verses which are going to follow. It says in V1 – “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven”.  

Who are we trying to please as we do these spiritual things? Who is our audience? Who are we most conscious about? So we can already see that Jesus is more concerned about our hearts than what’s seen on the outside.

And it’s the same idea which follows in V5 when He speaks about prayer. He says that when we pray, we should not be like the hypocrites. Now who were the hypocrites? Hypocrites were Greek actors who would wear masks to play different roles.

It’s so interesting that that’s where we get the word hypocrisy from. Wearing a spiritual mask, playing the role of a really spiritual character, but on the inside I’m a very different person. Already by simply hearing the word “hypocrites”, that should challenge us to ask ourselves – am I truly spiritual at heart or am I just playing the role of a spiritual person wearing a mask?

What is it that the hypocrites do? “For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others”. They love praying in public settings where they can be seen by others.

Where there are people to see them and appreciate them and praise them for their outstanding spiritual lives. “Truly I say to you, they have received their reward”. By saying reward, Jesus isn’t commending them, He’s calling out their sin. He’s saying that their only reward is going to be “people’s praise”. That’s what they want, that’s what they will get.

Now how is Jesus contrasting this with a kingdom perspective? By talking about a person’s private prayer life.  6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Our private prayer life – prayers that we do when no one else is watching – that’s what God delights in. Now that is not to say that public prayer is a bad thing. In fact there are other passages in Scripture which command us to pray in corporate worship.

But if all that we do is have a public prayer life without a private prayer life, then that’s a problem. Because then that reveals a deeper heart issue where we are most concerned about ourselves than we are about God.

If all that we have is a public prayer life, then the focus is no longer on God, it’s only on us. It’s self-centredness – how can I use prayer to get people to like me and appreciate me?

Jesus is pointing this out because all of us have this tendency within us. So what’s the solution – repent and then prioritize having a private prayer life when no one is watching. Focus on having God as the audience and no other.

2. Prayer life that is simple (V7-8)

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

It’s so interesting that in this verse, Jesus uses the example of Gentiles – people who prayed to pagan gods. And what they would do is repeat the names of their gods over and over again or the use the same words without thinking.

Mindless repetition because they felt like that is what would get the attention of their gods. Can that happen in the Christian life as well? Where we think that if we repeat certain words or phrases, then God will answer us.

Another form of this is when we use a lot of jargons in our conversations with God. We sometimes think that the more jargons we use, the more theologically technical words we use, God will be impressed and He will listen to us more.

And what Jesus is telling us is the opposite. He’s telling us that God knows what we need even before we say it. If God knows what we need even before we say it, then it can be simple.

I’m praying not to get God’s attention or to impress Him, I’m praying because I love Him and want to grow in a relationship with Him. So my prayers can be simple just like I would converse with my family.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when we have a comfort level with our family, we don’t necessarily think about having the perfect grammar or perfect sentences. We know that our family understands. In the same way, our prayers can be simple with God and yet have depth as we grow in our knowledge and understanding of His word.

3. Prayer life that is reverent (V9)

9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.

Jesus proceeds to give us model prayer in the Lord’s Prayer which is why He says “Pray then like this” and not “Pray this”. He’s giving a pattern of prayer or telling us elements that need to be in our prayers.

The first thing that stands out for us is the fact that Jesus encourages us to address God as our Father in heaven. Wow! Just take a minute to allow that thought to sink in. The Almighty God who created the entire universe with His command has invited us to know Him not as our boss or CEO but as our Father. We can relate to Him intimately and personally as a child would with their parents. So even as we begin our prayers, we can begin with the understanding that we are speaking to our Father in heaven.

The second thing that we see in this verse is the phrase “Hallowed be your name”. May your name be treated with the highest honor and be set apart as holy. We remind ourselves that we are not speaking to a peer. We are not speaking to a fellow human. We are speaking to somebody equal to us. We are speaking with Holy, Righteous, Glorious and Just God. And if that’s the case, then the only right way to approach God is with reverence.

If you and I were to meet a head of state – either a President of a country or the PM of a country, what would our posture be? Automatically our hands in front of us, body posture leaning forward out of respect for the person in that position. And this is simply an earthly head of state. How much more reverence should we have and what should our posture be as we approach the King of Glory? As we approach the One who is a Consuming Fire?

4. Prayer life that is submissive (V10)

10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.

The natural next step of acknowledging God as Holy & also our Father is desiring to see God’s kingdom & purposes advance and also a willing submission to Him. To take forward that example of us standing in front of a Head of State, we wouldn’t go and direct the Head of State to fulfill our agenda, our purposes and plans. We wouldn’t demand and throw our frustration if the Head of State doesn’t follow our agenda. In fact, we would humbly ask them what their purposes and plans are, and we will do all that we can to fulfill their wishes. There is a submissiveness. There is a surrender. There is obedience to give up our purposes and plans for the purposes and plans of someone greater than us.

That’s the same attitude which is desired in our prayer life. So the question that we need to ask ourselves is this – am I really concerned about God’s kingdom purposes and the advancement of the Gospel or am I most concerned about my little kingdom and the advancement of my goals in life? What is most important to me? If God’s will for us was different from my will for my life, would I still gladly and willingly submit to Him? Or is my submission to God conditional? Where we say “God, I will submit and surrender to you only as long as it is convenient and it meets my expectation?”

5. Prayer life that is dependent (V11)

11 Give us this day our daily bread,

And now we come to our needs! It’s so interesting to see this in the pattern of prayer Jesus gives us. We start from God – we revere Him, we adore Him, we submit to Him and now we are in the right place to ask Him for our needs. There is a definite place for us to come to God with our needs.

And the verse says “daily bread” – not weekly, monthly, yearly – daily bread which means that God desires that we come to Him every single day and trust Him to provide us with what we need for that day. And the next day we go back to Him and ask Him to provide us for the next. This is not to say that we shouldn’t save or invest. But the focus of this prayer is to acknowledge who is your provider. It’s not your job. It’s not your business. It’s not your family. It’s not your government. God is our Provider and because He is faithful, He will faithfully provide us with what we need every single day. God is not promising a luxurious and glamorous life but He promises to faithfully care and provide for His children with what they need every single day.

6. Prayer life that is repentant (V12)

12 and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Repentance is a critical part of the Christian life, not just on the day when we first believed, but every single day until Jesus comes again. And the reason we daily repent and confess our sins is not because we’re terrified that God’s going to punish us and kick us out of the door. No, if we have trusted in Jesus, then he assures us by saying, “no one can snatch them out of my hand”. So then why do we repent and confess? Because we value a relationship with God, and we don’t want anything to come in the way to hinder our walk with the Lord. We want that intimacy with the Lord to be restored. We don’t want to be cold in our relationship with God.

Sometimes when I feel cold in my walk with the Lord, I try and ask myself, “What is the unconfessed sin that I’m carrying with me? What is the guilt that I carry that stops me from enjoying my relationship with Jesus?” It’s an opportunity to repent.

7. Prayer life that seeks help to resist temptation (V13)

13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.

God is not tempted and neither does He tempt us, as it says in James 1. So this verse actually means “lead us away from temptation” or “allow us to be spared from circumstances that lead us to sin”. And it’s a prayer that acknowledges our weakness and vulnerability to temptation and the attacks of Satan. “God, I know my heart and its tendencies. Would you please help me to not try to push the boundary as much as I can, but to stay far from tempting circumstances so that my heart and affections can be real for you? I’m weak, Lord, would you please help me to fight the attacks of Satan in my life?”

8. Prayer life that is based on grace (V14-15)

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

For the longest time I thought that this verse meant conditional forgiveness. Where I thought that the onus is on our actions to see if God forgives us or not. But that’s not what it means. What this verse means is that anyone who has tasted the grace and forgiveness of God cannot have any reason to hold back grace and forgiveness from anyone else.

Whenever we harbor a grudge or unforgiveness against anyone and then justify that by saying “I know I need to forgive, but you don’t know what this person did and how he / she hurt me not once but several times”, whenever we do that we forget how much God has forgiven us in Christ. The offenses that anyone has ever done to us is a fraction of what we’ve done to God and yet God lavishly forgave us through the life and death of Jesus Christ. And so therefore our prayer lives absolutely need to be soaked in reminders of grace every single day. Every single day, let our prayers express gratitude to God’s grace in Jesus.

Good morning, church! Hope you’re well. As you all know, it’s Baby Jason’s dedication today, and as a church, we couldn’t be more thrilled for Vijay, Sharon, and Jason. The dedication will happen a little later, but the occasion of a dedication gives us a good opportunity to get some instruction on family life.

So today we’ll take a pause from our Job series and try to answer this question: Why does God place us in families? What is God’s purpose in family life? Specifically, what’s God’s purpose in parenting?

Because when you look at the world around you, it’ll give a wide range of answers. When you talk about family life and children, a lot of people will tell you that it’s because of social expectations. You’ll hear things like “You’ve been married for a few years, so when’s the baby coming?” It’s social pressure or social expectation which makes us think about having children. If we don’t have children, then that’s going to invite a lot of questions from people around us.

Another reason that was true of our parent’s generation was that they saw their children as an investment. They would invest heavily in their education, giving them the best that they could with the hope that their children would one day become really successful and repay the favor. This investment that they’ve made in their children would reap multiplying dividends.

And then there’s a reason that is more common to our generation which is viewing children as a means to prove our self worth. I’m going to raise my children as a personal project of mine so that at the end of the day people will recognize and appreciate me for being a standout dad or mom to my kid. I’m proving my self worth through my children. The worst thing that could happen to me is for my children to make me look bad in front of others.

There could be many more reasons that you’ll find on why people choose to have families, choose to have children. But there could also be reasons to not have children which is increasingly becoming the case among people living in urban cities.

One of the reasons is financial strain – “How can we take care of another human being in such an expensive world? We only have enough for ourselves, and if we have children, that’s going to add a financial strain in our lives.” Another reason is the fear of losing our freedom – “Right now there’s a lot of freedom & space that we experience as a couple. That will be taken away from us the moment we have children. It’s too much of a responsibility”. So children are viewed as a burden rather than a gift to the family. 

Where am I going with this? I want all of us to take a minute to analyze what we think is the purpose of a family? Some of us are already parents here. Some others would be parents sometime in the future. If you’re neither of these two, you definitely know someone who is a parent right now. It’s something that all of us can relate to: What’s God’s purpose in parenting?

That’s what we’ll try to address this morning as we look at Psalm 78. Before we proceed, I’d love to pray for us.

Pray

This Psalm was written by Asaph who was a worship leader in David’s time. He wrote 12 Psalms and some were songs that were sung by the whole congregation. In fact if we see the caption under the title of this Psalm, it says a “maskil” by Asaph. It was probably a note or a scale on which the song was being sung. Almost like it was saying “to be sung on E minor”.

This was most likely a song that was regularly sung by the congregation. For us modern day believers, this would seem like a strange, unusual worship song. It probably wouldn’t make it to our worship setlist. Why? Because a lot of it, especially the latter part of Psalm 78 talks about sin, rebellion, God’s judgment.

We’re not used to hearing these themes being preached, let alone singing about it during worship. And yet in David’s time, they had no such problem. Singing songs during worship wasn’t about feeling good or experiencing an emotional high. Singing songs of worship was a time of instruction where their hearts were being instructed on how to be faithful to God.

The context is that this was an instructive, warning worship song. Within this instructive, warning worship song, it addresses the question: Why does God place us in families? What is God’s purpose in parenting?

1. Parents are God’s instruments to reveal the glorious deeds of the Lord (V1-4)

1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
    I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
    that our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
    but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done.

The Psalm starts out by Asaph calling for people’s attention in V1. He’s urging people to pay careful attention to what he’s about to say. There’s an urgency to what he’s saying. This is absolutely critical for God’s people to know. He’s basically telling them “You need to drop what you’re doing and pay close attention!”

In V2, it says that he “will utter dark sayings from of old”. What are these dark sayings? When we use the word “dark” we refer to subjects that are sinister or evil or disturbing. But that’s not what is referred to out here. It’s referring to “difficult to understand” subjects, perplexing topics that when God’s people spend time talking about it, it will prove to be beneficial to them.

And in V3, he clarifies that this isn’t “brand new information”. This is not “breaking news”. These are stories about God which their forefathers have considered to be so important, so significant that they have delicately passed it down through generations.

In V4, Psalmist is saying that it’s not just relevant for our generation, it’s relevant for the next generation as well. That’s why we are not going to keep this hidden from them. The next generation ought to know this. What is that?

the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,

    and the wonders that he has done.

Notice it doesn’t just say “deeds of the Lord”. It says “glorious deeds of the Lord”. The deeds of the Lord that He’s performed for His people are nothing short of glorious. These are praiseworthy actions. These are astounding feats. As you look through OT history, these are unbelievable deeds that God has actually done. Parting the Red Sea so that His people could walk on dry ground. Feeding His people with manna from heaven for 40 years every single day.

It goes on to say “and his might, and the wonders that he has done”. The glorious deeds of the Lord reveal His might and power. If we all read the miraculous accounts in the Bible, we would be left with only two choices – either it’s all a lie – too good to be true OR it’s actually true and that the God of the Bible is all-powerful, almighty God! One of the amazing stories in the Bible is that God made the sun stand still for an entire day so that God’s people could defeat their enemies. For 24 hours, the sun didn’t go down. Either it’s a lie or it’s true and the God of the Bible is the all powerful, almighty God. Josh 10:14 – that passage ends by stating “Surely God was fighting for Israel”.

But what does this have to do with parenting you may ask? Parents have a unique calling to be used as an instrument of God to reveal these glorious deeds of the Lord to their children! Take a moment to allow this to sink in. It’s not the Sunday School teachers role, it’s the parent’s role to reveal these glorious deeds of the Lord to their children so that they can step back and be amazed and at wonder thinking about the God of the Bible.

When was the last time we saw our children amazed thinking about the God of the Bible? When was the last time we saw wonder in the eyes of our children as they thought about the God of the Bible? Oftentimes our children aren’t amazed, because they don’t see the amazement and wonder in our eyes as parents. They probably see more excitement, more amazement, more wonder in our eyes for a great sportsperson or celebrity or businessmen but they simply don’t see that when we talk about God.

And so this is deeply convicting because we need to acknowledge that we are sometimes the barrier in keeping God’s glorious deeds from our children. Our confession and prayer should be this “God, would you please help me stand at wonder and amazement at glorious deeds first? Help me to be so amazed by it that comes through as I tell my children about You”.

Not only are Parents are God’s instruments to reveal the glorious deeds of the Lord but

 2. Parents are God’s instruments to set children’s hope in God (V5-8)

5 He established a testimony in Jacob
    and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
    to teach to their children,
6 that the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
    but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their fathers,
    a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
    whose spirit was not faithful to God.

V5 & 6 tell us that it’s not only the glorious deeds of the Lord which need to be taught to our children, it’s also the commands of the Lord which needs to be taught to them. By teaching them the commands, we’re giving them a picture of what it means to be in relationship with Holy God. We’re communicating to our children who is the real boss of our home – are we the boss or is God the boss? We’re revealing to our kids whose approval matters the most in our home – does our approval matter the most or is it God’s approval?

As believers, we’re not obeying God’s commands and teaching our kids to do the same to get God to love and accept us. No, we’re already fully loved and accepted because of the best, perfect work that Jesus did for us. But we obey God’s commands out of loving service. Jesus said in John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands. “He is my Master and I love Him” – that’s why we obey Him & that’s why we teach our kids to do so as well.

And what is the Psalmist saying will be achieved by teaching commands to our children? V7. They would set their hope in God. Parents cannot save their children, only the Lord can save their children. But what parents can do is prepare the soil for children to have ample opportunities to place their hope and trust in God. When parents out of obedience make radical choices for their families which seem crazy to the rest of the world, it’ll prepare the soil for their children to have ample opportunities to place their hope in God.

This time of the year is a little tough on our kids because they see their friends participating in many activities revolving around idols. It’s hard on them because they feel like they are missing out but at the same time it’s opening up many opportunities to have conversations with our children on why we can’t participate – it’s because we love and worship our God. We believe that somewhere deep in their hearts, God will use this to prepare the soil to have ample opportunities to put their hope in God.

And the Psalmist goes on to say “and not forget the works of God,
    but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their fathers,
    a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
    whose spirit was not faithful to God.”

Psalmist’s main concern is forgetfulness and how that translates to gradual unfaithfulness. His concern is that if the parents don’t consistently remind their children of God’s glorious deeds and commands, that they would forget the Lord and gradually become unfaithful to Him. The history of Israel actually revealed that so clearly. Psalmist gives many examples of this in the following verses:

9 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow,
    turned back on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant,
    but refused to walk according to his law.

11 They forgot his works
    and the wonders that he had shown them.

Have you ever considered how dangerous forgetfulness is to your & your children’s spiritual life? Maybe initially, there was this zeal and priority that was placed on God and the things of God. But then, as life gets more complicated, busier, more stuff is added into our schedule, which now competes with our time with God and the things of God. And next thing you know is forgetfulness – where we forget the promises of God, the work of God that He did for us, we forget the call of God to live a holy life, we forget the people of God and eventually that leads us to forgetting God Himself.

So what’s the antidote? God knows that we are forgetful so He’s given us so many means of grace by which we can remember Him. He’s given us His Word. He’s given us our church family. He’s given us the Lord’s Supper by saying “Do this in remembrance of me”. These are all means of grace to keep us from forgetting and being unfaithful to the Lord.

Parents, make sure those guard rails are put in place for yourself and your children so that you are fighting the tendency to forget God and the things of God. We are God’s instruments to set our children’s hope in God.

Brothers and sisters, as we studied today, it’s such a huge calling and privilege to be chosen as tools and instruments of God in the lives of our children. God’s purpose in using us is is two fold:

• To reveal the glorious deeds of the Lord
• To set children’s hope in God

Is that easy for us to do? No. If we’re honest, both of these are impossible to do on our own strength. We know how our own pride and selfishness keeps us from being used as God’s instruments to our children. So we need grace – Grace to first be able to acknowledge our helplessness (parents tend to think they are self sufficient). Grace that makes us run to Jesus for forgiveness (because we will mess up often). Grace to surrender ourselves to God’s purpose in parenting (our tendency is to follow our own purposes. )

Good morning everyone! Hope you’re doing well this morning. If you’ve been tracking with us, you’re probably aware that as a church we’ve been going through a series titled God’s blessing in suffering from the book of Job. Interestingly, we’ve been journeying through this book for the last 6-7 months. Before I start, here’s a quick question for all of us this morning. If you could use one word to describe the series so far, what would you say? And let’s try to be as honest & candid as we can be. 

One of the feelings that we might be experiencing through this book is “frustration” – frustration in the manner in which Job is having this debate with his friends and with God.

What’s frustrating is that even now neither party is willing to budge, neither party is willing to give way. Job’s friends continue to say that his terrible suffering is caused by some secret, hidden sin in his life. Job continues to deny any hidden sin & instead protests against God, saying that He’s being a bully.

So we’ve reached this point in Chapter 31 where Job is frustrated with his friends, his friends are frustrated with Job, Job is frustrated with God and as we read, we too are frustrated with Job and his friends.

But apparently we’re supposed to feel this frustration – that’s how the book was written – so that we can appreciate God’s response in the later chapters. God is not a “miserable comforter” like Job’s friends and neither is God “unjust” as Job portrays him out to be. So I’d ask us all to be patient as the story unfolds over the next few weeks.

But you may ask “God will reply later, but what about today’s passage?” What we’ll see today is Job’s final, last, concluding appeal before God. Even at the end of chapter we see this – “the words of Job are ended”. He is not going to say anything more after this. This is his last, final attempt to prove his innocence.

This is like a tense courtroom scene where the defendant makes his concluding remarks. And what does Job do to prove His innocence?

He takes an oath of clearance. What was it? In the OT, once the accused exhausts all the usual means of showing proof to clear his name, then he turns to “an oath of clearance”. That’s his last resort.

Here the accused will need to list out all the things they have not committed and swear before God. Which means that if the accused is found guilty of having done all the things they said they didn’t do, then God’s curse would come upon them.

But if indeed they didn’t do the things that they said they didn’t commit, then they would be spared by God.

So the oath of clearance was a risky, dangerous thing to do, because it would bring God into the equation. And that’s precisely what Job wanted! By taking the oath of clearance and listing all the things that he has not committed, he is asking God to either bring the curses of the oath if he’s guilty or to spare him and declare him innocent. So the stakes are really high!

Let’s look at Job’s oath of clearance. These are the list of things that Job says he didn’t commit:

1. Lust (V1-4)

1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
    how then could I gaze at a virgin?

The NIV puts it in this way: “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. I find it interesting that Job doesn’t say “I’ve avoided looking at young women lustfully”. He says that he’s made a covenant with his eyes to not look lustfully.

Covenant meant a serious commitment. It was a binding agreement, a contract that parties would make with each other in ancient times. Breaking a covenant would result in serious repercussions.

And it’s interesting that that’s the kind of resolve – a covenant type of resolve – that Job made when it came to the subject of lust. He didn’t take lust lightly. He didn’t downplay lust by saying “Oh, I’m just an admirer of beauty”. He didn’t just say to himself “Technically I’m not doing anything wrong to anyone. I’m just entertaining certain thoughts about the person. It’s not affecting that person, it’s just in my mind”.  He didn’t have that kind of casual approach toward lust. He understood the seriousness of it & made a covenant with his eyes to not look lustfully at a woman.

And the reason he made that covenant with his eyes is because of V2-4.

2 What would be my portion from God above
    and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
    and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
4 Does not he see my ways
    and number all my steps?

There was a fear and an awareness of God watching Him and knowing his most private thoughts and intentions. He knew that there is no hiding before this God. There is no denying before this God. There is no downplaying before this God. There is no justifying before this God. This God knows everything. He knows his most private thoughts. Job had a fear and an awareness of God.

And fear doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing all the time. It can sometimes be a healthy thing. Sometimes fear protects us from getting ourselves into dangerous situations. If we’re in a jungle and we see a bear approaching, fear would make us run toward safety. Similarly, it was a healthy healthy fear of God & an awareness of God that made Job make this covenant with his eyes.

And that should instruct us to long for this kind of healthy fear and awareness of God. Our prayer should be “God, would you please give me a real awareness of Who You Are? God, would you please give me this healthy fear which will guard me from lusting after others?”

Lust was the first, the other thing that Job said he didn’t commit was

2. Dishonesty (V5-8)

5 “If I have walked with falsehood
    and my foot has hastened to deceit;
6 (Let me be weighed in a just balance,
    and let God know my integrity!)
7 if my step has turned aside from the way
    and my heart has gone after my eyes,
    and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
8 then let me sow, and another eat,
    and let what grows for me be rooted out.

In these verses, Job is saying that he steered clear of dishonesty both in his words and actions. V5 uses two words to describe dishonesty – falsehood and deceit. Falsehood is the practice of telling something that is not true – telling lies. “Oh, it’s just a white lie – it’s not harming anyone”. “Lies are okay as long as it’s helping someone”. No, that’s still falsehood.

Deceit goes a little further – it is a deliberate act of distorting the truth with the purpose of misleading; it’s being cunning; it’s being manipulative; it’s changing facts to suit your convenience.

Then we see the oath of clearance displayed here. Job is saying that if he is found guilty of being dishonest in his words and actions, then let God take whatever he’s worked hard for & hand it to someone else. If he’s in the wrong, then someone else should enjoy the fruit of his hard work.

The next thing that Job said he didn’t do was

3. Adultery (V9-12)

9 “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
    and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
10 then let my wife grind for another,
    and let others bow down on her.
11 For that would be a heinous crime;
    that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
12 for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
    and it would burn to the root all my increase.

Job is saying that he didn’t entertain thoughts of adultery. He didn’t entertain thoughts of cheating on his wife. And if he was found guilty for doing that, then (oath of clearance) let his wife be taken away and given to other men!! Let everything that Job has burn up in flames.

V11 and 12 shows how he viewed adultery – as a heinous crime (very wicked thing, something that’s twisted). Something that needed severe punishment and something that deserves fiery destruction – ancient times they had named the place of destruction “Abaddon”! In other words adultery is destructive! 

And yet when we look at the world around us, adultery isn’t often pictured as a heinous crime. In fact some movies glorify adultery.

At most it’s something that people are embarrassed by, and people will explain it away by saying things like “because they experience neglect in their marriage relationship, hence they were forced to confide in someone outside marriage”.  But no, it should be called as it is : a heinous crime! Something that is wicked. Something that is so destructive.

But not just that, he also didn’t commit

4. Oppression (V13-15)

13 “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
    when they brought a complaint against me,
14 what then shall I do when God rises up?
    When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
    And did not one fashion us in the womb?

Job said that he never rejected any grievance brought to him by his servants. He gave his servants and subordinates freedom to approach him with their complaints even if it was against him.

Though he had the power and influence to suppress their complaints, he never did because he recognized that there is a superboss in heaven whom everyone reports to. What will Job do when his servants escalate to the superboss? And this superboss in heaven doesn’t show any partiality.

When we become powerful, when we have the power to hire someone else, when we become bosses (it could be at work where you’re a manager or at home where you’ve got house help) , there’s often a tendency to be abusive because we feel that our authority allows them to get away with abuse. And yet passages like this and others in the NT tell us a different story:

Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. (Col 4:1)

Another thing Job said that he didn’t do was:

5. Ungenerous (V16-23)

16 “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
    or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 or have eaten my morsel alone,
    and the fatherless has not eaten of it
18 (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,
    and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow),
19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
    or the needy without covering,
20 if his body has not blessed me,
    and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
    because I saw my help in the gate,
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
    and let my arm be broken from its socket.
23 For I was in terror of calamity from God,
    and I could not have faced his majesty.

The most vulnerable of people which Job’s friends accused him of abusing: the poor, the widow and the orphan, Job is saying that this same vulnerable group of people was given special attention and shown extreme generosity by him. He looked after the poor, the widows and the orphan with the wealth that he had.

The reason he did that was not as a CSR activity, it was not to get a tax deduction like many people do today, but because of V23 – out of a real fear of God. He knew that he would face judgment if he took advantage of this vulnerable section of people. After all they have a special place in God’s heart.

But not just that, Job also said that he didn’t commit:

6. Idolatry (V24-28)

24 “If I have made gold my trust
    or called fine gold my confidence,
25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
    or because my hand had found much,
26 if I have looked at the sun when it shone,
    or the moon moving in splendor,
27 and my heart has been secretly enticed,
    and my mouth has kissed my hand,
28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
    for I would have been false to God above.

Don’t you find it interesting that the man who was known as the greatest in the East is saying that he didn’t look at his gold, his treasure, his bank balance to find his confidence and security in them? (His sense of security didn’t come from his gold and bank balance)

The richest man of the East says that he didn’t look at his great wealth and say “I’m happy and joyful because I have all this great wealth”.

Neither did he look at the created things of the world like the sun, moon, animals, the gadgets, the clothes, the shoes, the house, the holiday destination, a position of prominence, or certain people and worshiped them instead. We see that in his response since tragedy hit him. Don’t you find it interesting that not even once does he ask God to return back what he lost? Oftentimes we become aware of our idols only when we end up losing them. Job is saying that he kept any form of idolatry far away from him.

Why? V28 – Because that would be false to God above. In other words, that would be being unfaithful to God. And he wasn’t okay with that. He saw everything in relation to God. Isn’t that amazing? The reason why Job didn’t end up worshipping his wealth or anything else in creation was because he didn’t want to be unfaithful to God. “How can I do this against my God?” – that was the question he constantly asked himself.

Not just that, he also said that he wasn’t:

7. Revengeful (V29-30)

29 “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
    or exulted when evil overtook him
30 (I have not let my mouth sin
    by asking for his life with a curse),

Even as Job’s enemies (those who hated him) were facing misfortune, Job didn’t see that as an opportunity to gloat and enjoy seeing their misery. He didn’t see that as an opportunity to curse them because of how terribly they’ve treated him.

And then Job also said that he wasn’t

8. Unwelcoming (V31-32)

31 if the men of my tent have not said,
    ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’

32 (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
    I have opened my doors to the traveler),

In ancient times, there weren’t that many inns and hotels available & so travellers would often be at the mercy of kind hearted people who would open up their homes to them. And Job is saying that his servants went out welcoming travellers so that they would have adequate food & shelter. In other words, he’s going out of his way to be hospitable and welcoming.

Not just that, Job said that he wasn’t also:

9. Hypocritical (V33-34)

33 if I have concealed my transgressions as others do
    by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
34 because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
    and the contempt of families terrified me,
    so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—

In these 2 verses Job exposes the sin of hypocrisy which is to behave a certain way on the outside but be totally different on the inside.

On the outside there’s a very holy exterior, but on the inside there’s a very unholy interior. And he exposes it to say that the reason why people are hypocritical is (v34) because they fear man. It is because they want to please people all the time. It is because they are enslaved to people’s affirmations. It’s because in their hearts – People are Big but God is small.

And the final thing Job says he didn’t do is:

10. Exploitation (V38-40)

38 “If my land has cried out against me
    and its furrows have wept together,
39 if I have eaten its yield without payment
    and made its owners breathe their last,
40 let thorns grow instead of wheat,
    and foul weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.

With the kind of wealth that Job had in those days, he would have been buying and investing in land day in and day out. And yet, Job is saying that he never did that by exploiting anyone. He never achieved success at the expense of other people. And then in V40 again – oath of clearance – if he’s guilty, then let all of his land be destroyed immediately.

And so Job has made his final attempt to prove his innocence. He’s invoked the oath of clearance telling God – “Now you decide. If I’m guilty of any of these things that I said I’ve not committed, then you curse me and destroy me. But if not, then clear my name and declare me as innocent”. That’s what he desires.

And in the coming chapters we will come to God’s response to him but what I wanted us to think about is this: what if we had the chance to make an oath of clearance for the same 10 things that Job said he didn’t commit? What would the result be? Would we be found guilty or innocent? Let me list out the 10 once more:

Lust, Dishonesty, Adultery, Oppression, Ungenerous, Idolatry, Revengeful, Unwelcoming, Hypocritical, Exploitation

Some of us may say “I’m guilty for some things in this list, but for others I think I’m okay. Don’t I get passing marks?”

James 2:10: For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

So what’s our hope? We have someone better than Job who came for us. Someone had come 2000 years ago who was more righteous than Job. Even with Job’s integrity, he was still a broken sinner who needed redemption which is why he himself says in Job 19 “I know that my redeemer lives”.  He knew he needed a redeemer himself.

This redeemer was none other than God’s own Son Jesus Christ. Every place where we failed, Jesus succeeded. Have you failed the fight with <>? Jesus has succeeded. And then Jesus went up on the cross to pay the penalty for all our failures. He paid the price for our guilt. He died on the cross for us, was buried and rose again on the Third Day so that whoever repents of their sins and puts their faith in Jesus would miraculously be declared innocent and not guilty! How come? How did this come about? It’s because Jesus has transferred His successes to us.

So let the list not lead us to despondency, but drive us to be more aware of our desperate helplessness & our great help which has been provided in Christ Jesus. He only can remove our guilt, He only can make us innocent & He only can transform us into children who live like innocent children in this broken world.