Walking in truth in a post-truth world

Father, we confess before you that your word is so clear and so precise,

and we confess before you, Father, that there is lots within us that do not like that type of clarity and precision.

And we struggle, Father, with sin and with pride and with idols, and the clarity and precision of your word comes against the sin and the idols of our hearts.

And so, Father, we wince and then we waffle and then we forget.

And so, Father, we ask that just as your Holy Spirit caused your word written to be written,

we ask, Father, that in your kindness and in your mercy, you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.

Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, Father, and bring your word deeply into the command center of who we are.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, once again this week, just by coincidence or providence, I had the great privilege to be able to go on Parliament Hill

and speak to the Parliament Hill Christian Fellowship on Friday.

They got to sort of get my early ramblings on this sermon.

That's sort of the deal.

And I'm not going to...

If you ever go on Parliament Hill, not like in the main entrance, but to the side,

where the actual Senate and some other members of Parliament, their business goes on,

when you come to the security now, you're met by two...

But you come to the door, you're met by two security guards.

And so, one of them asks for my ID and see if I'm on the list that will allow me to get through the first door.

And the other one, and I had a briefcase with me, says,

Could you open your briefcase for me, sir?

And then he says, as I'm opening, he said,

If there's anything dangerous in there, you better warn me now as you open it.

And I said, Well, the only thing dangerous in here is a Bible.

I said, It's banned in about 50 countries.

And he, without missing a beat, he said,

Well, it's not banned here yet.

You should be thankful.

And anyway, we chatted while we were going in.

And anyway, so we go in.

This is Canada.

It's not banned yet, according to the security guard.

But I think he was a brother.

I think he was hoping it wouldn't be banned.

One of my coffee shop that I went to for a long time,

I don't go to it anymore because the office is moved.

The guy who owned the coffee shop, really great guy,

a Palestinian Muslim from Jerusalem.

And he's been in Canada for quite a few years.

Very, very secular Muslim.

And really great guy.

I used to love talking with him.

And one of the things he said to me all the time,

especially if there's something bad in the news,

he said, George, if you've lived where I've lived,

you would say this,

Canada is the greatest country in the world.

That's what he said to me all the time.

If you've lived where I've lived,

Canada is the greatest country in the world.

And I say that because the text

that we're going to look at in a moment,

it's very, very un-Canadian.

In fact, it would make just about every Canadian wince.

And I'm talking about Canadian Christians.

We wince at its clarity.

We wince at the fact that lots and lots of Christians

are very comfortable with saying,

I have no problem with Jesus.

It's the church I have problems with,

but this is Jesus speaking.

And it just would be viewed by many, many people

as a very hard text.

In fact, I was just thinking about that.

It might very well be that this is the first time

you've ever come to a church.

Maybe you got dragged here for some reason.

Maybe you're on a bit of a religious quest.

And the text that we're about to look at,

it's on one hand a very, very stark and hard text.

It really is.

In fact, the reason that I called the sermon

Walking in Truth in a Post-Truth World

is because, partially it's the last verse,

but it's partially just that this truth is so clear

and it's so against our culture

and it's so against the inclination of our hearts

that we want to keep watering it down

or nuancing it or forgetting it

or going somewhere else.

And it's even harder

because we live in a post-truth world

and this is a very hard text.

So if you're a seeker

or you've just come here for some reason,

just bear with me as we go through this text.

I mean, one of the things you can take away,

hopefully you'll take a lot more away than just this,

but one of the things you can do

is that we don't hide anything about the Christian faith.

We preach through the Bible.

We go through the fine print, so to speak,

and you get to hear what Jesus himself has to say.

So let's look at the text.

Turn in your Bibles to John chapter 2

John 2 · chapter mention

and we're beginning at verse 23.

John chapter 2, verse 23.

John 2:23

Last week, we looked at Jesus,

the miracle of turning the water into wine

and Jesus driving all the money changers

and others out of the temple

because he wanted pagans to be able to know

about the God that he was introducing.

And here's how the text then continues on.

It goes like this.

Now, when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast,

many believed in his name

when they saw the signs that he was doing.

And here the word signs means miracles.

It's talking about the fact that miracles mean something.

It's not just conjuring tricks that God has done,

that conjuring tricks don't mean anything.

They're just a matter of impressing.

John is trying to emphasize that if it really is a miracle,

it has meaning.

And it also shows here that,

as all of the gospel writers tell us,

all of the biographies of Jesus said

that Jesus performed lots and lots and lots of miracles.

They just record a few of them.

And that's what we see here.

Jesus has actually only performed one miracle,

and it wasn't even in Jerusalem.

But here we see that even in Jerusalem,

he performed lots of other miracles

that they just aren't recorded.

So we'll read that again.

Verse 23.

Now, when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast,

many believed in his name

when they saw the signs that he was doing.

But Jesus, on his part,

did not entrust himself to them

because he knew all people

and needed no one to bear witness about human beings,

for he himself knew what was in human beings.

Now, did you notice this?

This is just the mildest little bit

of non-Canadian stuff in this text.

In fact, what we're going to see with this text

is that Jesus keeps doubling down.

We think, wow, that's very un-Canadian.

And then he doubles down.

He makes it even more un-Canadian.

And then he makes it even more un-Canadian.

And then he makes it more un-Canadian.

And why is this sort of an un-Canadian thing to say?

Well, what is the thing that we want to say about people?

You know, I might want to say to my kids,

I believe in you.

You know?

What do I want to maybe say to my staff?

I believe in you.

You know?

I believe in you.

But what does the text here say about Jesus?

Jesus says about people,

I don't believe in you.

Look, that's what it says here.

Verse 24,

But Jesus, on his part,

did not entrust himself.

And the word,

we're going to talk about this a little bit later,

but the word entrust himself

is another way of translating the word

believe or faith.

It's another way.

It's going to be very important later on

that we sort of,

it's sort of very interesting to understand

that part of the meaning of having faith

or believing in Jesus

is to entrust yourself to him.

And so when it says here in the text,

but Jesus, on his part,

did not entrust himself.

He did not believe.

He did not have faith in the people

because he knew all people.

And he needed no one to bear witness

about human beings

for he himself knew what was in man.

Sounds like a cynical thing.

As you'll see by the end of the text

and what you would have seen

if you'd been looking at the earlier weeks,

if you could put up the first point,

that would be very great.

Because Jesus knows me,

he does not believe in me.

Because he loves me,

he gave himself to save me.

See, this is what stops it

just from being a cynical text.

Because all sorts of us

don't believe in people.

But it's a very Canadian thing to say.

It's a very power of positive thinking.

Say, I believe in you,

I believe in you,

I believe in you.

It's sort of a shock

to see that Jesus doesn't believe in us.

He knows us,

and because he knows me,

he doesn't believe in me.

But he knows me,

doesn't mean,

and he does something far better

than believing in me.

He knows what's in me.

He knows I have idol issues.

He knows I have sin issues.

He knows I have darkness issues.

He knows I have all sorts of things

that betray people,

that betray myself,

that are self-centered.

And so rather than believing in me,

he gives himself for me

and dies for me to save me.

All I can say is,

thanks be to God,

he doesn't believe in me.

And thanks be to God,

he's not a cynic.

Now,

this is,

this is just sort of a,

I've taken something

which could be

very un-Canadian,

it's still sort of a hard thing

for us to maybe grasp.

And because I've sort of told you

the end of the text,

we've sort of taken some

of the sting out of it.

And that's going to be

a bit of a pattern

all the way through this text

is if you just bear with it,

it's still going to be

very, very stark.

But some of the sting

is taken out of it.

But Jesus is going to

keep pressing into

this particular issue

in very, very stark ways.

And in fact,

it comes up very next

because although

he's called a Pharisee,

really what you see

in the very next little bit

is Jesus meets a Canadian.

Jesus meets a Canadian

professor of religion.

He meets a Canadian journalist.

He meets a Canadian politician.

You might not realize

that he meets a Canadian,

but just listen

and you'll see.

Look at what happens

in chapter 3, verse 1.

Now there was a man

of the Pharisees

named Nicodemus,

a ruler of the Jews.

George, that doesn't sound

very Canadian.

Just wait.

This man came to Jesus

by night and said to him,

Rabbi, teacher,

in other words,

we know that you are

a teacher come from God

for no one can do

these signs that you do

unless God is with them.

Now just pause.

That is an unbelievably

Canadian statement

about Jesus.

If you were to say

at the University of Ottawa,

Jesus is a teacher

come from God.

They go, okay, yeah?

But that turns your crank.

Mohammed is a teacher

comes from God, you know?

Krishna, you know?

You would not raise

a single eyebrow

in any editorial room

or any university faculty

by making a statement

that Jesus is a teacher

come from God.

Now, you know,

the atheists and all

might say,

well, yeah, yeah,

blah, blah, blah, woof, woof.

But, you know,

basically as long as

it's an innocuous statement

like that,

that's a completely

fine statement

in any coffee shop

in Canada.

It doesn't matter

if it's a Bridgehead

or a Tim Hortons.

It doesn't matter.

It's just,

it's a very,

very Canadian statement.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus

and says,

Jesus,

you're a teacher.

You're a teacher

comes from God.

You do mighty things

that only God can do.

And we'd all say that's,

I mean,

what could you say to that?

What does Jesus say to it?

Jesus,

well,

Jesus goes in a very,

very,

very odd direction.

Look what he says

in response to it.

And it's very interesting.

It says,

Jesus answered him.

And you might say to yourself,

one moment,

Nicodemus didn't ask a question.

But what Jesus is doing

is answering the claim.

He's answering the claim.

He's not answering the question.

He's answering or responding

to the claim,

the good Canadian claim

that Jesus is a teacher

come from God.

and he says,

verily,

verily,

or truly,

truly,

it's a very important statement

in John's gospel.

It can also be translated

as amen,

amen.

It means,

pay attention

to what I'm about to say.

This is the solemn truth,

the whole truth,

nothing but the truth.

This is world-changing,

absolutely important stuff

that I'm about to say to you.

Truly,

truly,

I say to you,

unless

one is born again,

he cannot see

the kingdom of God.

Could you put that up

on the screen,

please?

That's the next point.

And we need to have

the artwork in between

as well,

right?

But Jesus says,

truly,

truly,

unless

one is born again,

he cannot

see the kingdom of God.

Do you sort of notice

that's an unbelievably,

from a Canadian point of view,

that's an unbelievably

angular,

absolute,

exclusive statement.

Now,

those of you who come

to the church

more than once

know that often I'll say

when we come to a very

difficult text

that if you know

the original language,

the Hebrew or the Greek,

it gives it a bit of a

different nuance

or a flavor.

And this might be

the place where I would say

that if you knew

the original language,

it gives it a different flavor,

but actually,

it's,

that's a,

if you could go back

to the point,

that's a,

that's a perfectly

accurate

translation

of the original language.

Unless

one is born again,

he cannot

see the kingdom of God.

that's

just a very,

very hard

stain

to say

in Canada.

And

it's hard

for us to want

to almost keep

that in our mind

when we think

about loved ones

who under

no reasonable

way or expectation

would we think

that they would

be born again.

Whatever that text

means,

we probably

wouldn't think

it was them.

For maybe

our parents

or our

brothers or sisters

or our best friends

or our co-workers,

for people

of different religions,

it's

a very,

very,

very stark

absolute

statement.

unless one

is born again,

he cannot

see the kingdom

of God.

Now,

some of you

might say,

okay,

well,

George,

that's really

interesting.

I mean,

that's wow,

whoa,

whoa.

And that's

Jesus,

right?

That's not

like these

weird monks

in the Middle

Ages

who got

sex-starved

and

didn't eat

enough

and got

delirious

and came

up with

really,

really

kooky,

crazy

doctrines

that we

still

foolishly

believe,

like this

is Jesus

speaking.

But maybe

this is just

the beginning

of a conversation

and as

the conversation

goes on,

Jesus is

going to

nuance it

in different

ways and

bring in

other ways

of looking

at it.

He's just

trying to

catch our

attention,

George,

the way you

often try

to catch

our attention.

Well,

let's see

what he

does.

Jesus is

trying to

catch our

attention,

but the

hard part

about this

text,

for us

as Canadians,

is that

he keeps

doubling down.

Look at

verses 4

and 5.

Jesus says

unless one

is born

again,

he cannot

see the

kingdom of

God.

So Nicodemus

in verse 4

says to

Jesus,

now by the

way,

the word

born again,

it's one

of these

times when

some of

your versions

might say

born from

above.

And in

the Greek,

the original

language,

it can be

translated either

way.

It has a

dual meaning,

a double

meaning.

And so

Nicodemus,

rather than

taking it

that means

being born

from above,

in other

words,

that God

somehow

gives you

a birth

different

than your

birth that

you already

had,

Nicodemus

takes it

in this

born a

second time

sense.

And,

you know,

it's hard

to know

whether Nicodemus

is just

being a

little bit

picky here

about,

Jesus,

why are you

going off

on this

weird tangent?

Listen,

what you're

saying doesn't

really make

any sense.

And that's

what Nicodemus

in effect

says.

verse 4,

Nicodemus

said to

Jesus,

how can

a man

be born

when he

is old?

Can he

enter a

second time

in his

mother's

womb

and be

born?

And at

this point

in time,

Jesus said,

yeah,

I'm just

joshing you.

I don't

mean it

like that,

you know,

good on

you for

catching it.

What does

Jesus say?

Jesus says

in verse

5,

Jesus answered,

verily,

verily,

I say

to you,

unless one

is born

of water

and the

spirit,

he cannot

enter

the kingdom

of God.

Notice that

again?

The unless

and the

cannot,

he repeats

himself.

He says,

unless one

is born

of water

and the

spirit,

he cannot

see the

kingdom

of God.

Now,

at this

point in

time,

what a

lot of

us do

is say,

George,

is that

referring to

baptism?

Is he

saying here

that,

is that like

are the

certain

denominations

and churches

right,

that you

have to

be

baptized

and

at the

same

time

that you're

baptized,

you receive

the Holy

Spirit and

then you

see the

kingdom

of God?

Or is

it just

referring to

the fact

that water

is a bit

of an

analogy

for birth?

And,

and,

I mean,

just very

quickly,

it can't

be referring

to baptism

for two

simple

reasons.

There's more

than that,

but there's

two simple

reasons.

In one of

the,

in the

synoptic

gospels,

there's a

very parallel

type of

phrase,

identical

phrase,

but with

a different

word.

Rather than

water and

the Spirit,

it says

fire and

the Holy

Spirit.

And no

denomination

thinks you

should be

sprayed with

a flamethrower

so you

can go to

heaven.

So why

do you

take water

to mean

baptism,

but fire

to not

mean

fire?

It doesn't

mean that.

The second

thing is

Jesus in

a moment

is going

to say

to Nicodemus,

listen,

if you've

studied the

Tanakh,

what we now

call the

Old Testament,

you should

understand what

I'm talking

about.

And if

Jesus is

referring to

baptism,

which he

doesn't

make an

ordinance

until after

his

resurrection,

then it

would be

completely

unjust for

him to

complain that

Nicodemus

doesn't

understand.

And Jesus

is never

unjust and

unfair.

water.

So it's

not

referring,

it's

referring,

it goes

back to

different

images in

Isaiah and

Ezekiel,

how water

gives life

and water

also cleanses.

And unless

the Holy

Spirit comes

into our

life in a

way that

gives us

life,

unless the

Holy Spirit

comes into

us in a

way that

cleanses

us,

and that's

something that

God does,

unless that

happens,

we cannot

see the

kingdom of

God.

But here's

the important

reason here,

here's the

big thing,

here's why I

called the

sermon Walking

in Truth in

a Post-Truth

Culture.

You see how

the devil

plays us?

The devil

plays us.

How does he

play us?

In the

commentary that

I, one of

the commentaries

that I read to

prepare for

this, this

just tried to

figure out

whether it's

baptism or

not, goes

on for

about ten

pages.

And why?

Because there's

Roman Catholic,

Eastern Orthodox,

Lutheran,

Presbyterian,

Evangelical Anglican,

Baptist, all

these different

battles around

this, and by

the end of

it, if I

was not

doing my

job, by

the end of

it, I'd

say, so

that's why

the Roman

Catholics and

Eastern

Orthodox are

wrong, and

that's why

the Anglo

Catholics and

the Baptists

are wrong, and

that's why

we're right.

And you know

what we've

completely

forgotten?

Unless you're

born again, you

cannot see the

kingdom of God.

devil will

use the

Bible to

get us

way

sidetracked so

we're no

longer sitting

under the

sting of the

text.

And so I'm

not going to

talk about what

the different

views are.

I want us to

see how easy

it is to get

sidetracked away

from this very,

very, very

stark statement

of Jesus.

And then,

if we keep

reading the

text,

because you

see, often

what will

happen in a

sermon is the

sermon will

stop right

there after a

long, long,

long sidebar on

baptism, and

we've completely

forgotten that

unless we are

born again,

born from

above, born

of the

Holy Spirit,

we cannot

see or

enter the

kingdom of

God.

But Jesus,

he doesn't

get us

sidetracked.

He keeps

going deeper

into it.

He keeps

doubling down.

Look at what

happens immediately

after that.

Verse 5.

We'll read

verse 5 again.

Truly, truly,

verily, verily,

I say to you,

unless one is

born of water

and the

Holy Spirit,

he cannot

enter the

kingdom of

God.

That which is

born of the

flesh is

flesh, and

that which is

born of the

Holy Spirit

is spirit.

That means in

this case it

is something

of the

Spirit.

Do not

marvel that I

said to you,

you must be

born again.

Third time,

you must be

born again.

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.

He comes back

to it again and

again and again

and again.

And here, by the

way, is if the

devil hasn't

completely sidetracked

us on baptism, now

with this, the

wind blows where

it is, that's

where the devil

sidetracks us

again and we

get off on this

long discussion

maybe about the

Pentecostals and

charismatics and

baptism and what

this symbolism

means.

And before we

know it, we've

completely and

utterly forgotten

the starkness of

the text.

If you could put

up the next

point, that would

be great.

In fact, when

Jesus says that

that which is

born of the

flesh is flesh

and that which

is born of the

Spirit is spirit,

in verse 6, what

he's saying is that

humans can only

produce what

humans can

produce.

I need what

only God can

do.

That's the word

flesh in this

particular case is

referring to human

beings in all of

our frailty.

And the fact of

the matter is, is

that whether it's a

human institution

like that, lots of

us human beings

together, what we

produce will be what

humans can produce.

In a sense, a

church without the

Bible and without

the gospel is no

different than a

mosque or a

synagogue or the

liberal caucus or

the conservative

caucus or the

CBC newsroom.

Well, just human

beings producing

what only human

beings can produce.

And everything that

human beings produce

is frail.

It'll pass away.

It will die.

It has marks of

rebellion and sin in

it.

And what Jesus is

reminding Nicodemus,

and this is, by the

way, very important

in just a little

tiny thing, the

whole social justice

progressive movement

in the Western

world is a movement

that desires the

kingdom of God

without God.

And thinks it

knows how the

kingdom of God

without God will

come upon us.

And this text is

saying, you know

what?

What is human will

only produce what

is human.

Human beings will

never produce a

kingdom of God

without God.

We need God to do

what only God can do

because human beings

will only produce

that which is weak

and frail.

people.

Let's continue on

in verse 9.

Sorry, maybe I've

already...

So now Nicodemus

comes to the

point where he

now is asking a

very, very honest

question.

He's taken

back by what

Jesus has said

and he, in

verse 9, says

to him,

how can these

things be?

And Jesus

answered him,

are you the

teacher of Israel

and yet you do

not understand

these things?

Verily, verily, I

say to you, we

speak of what we

know and bear

witness to what

we have seen,

but you do not

receive our

testimony.

If I have told

you earthly

things and you

do not believe,

how can you

believe if I

tell you heavenly

things?

Just pause.

What he means

here by earthly

is things that

have happened on

earth, even if

they're spiritual

things.

He's really

referring to the

things that he's

already referred

to.

Now, heavenly

things, he's

going to explain

that right in a

moment.

No one has

ascended into

heaven except he

who descended

from heaven, the

Son of Man.

If you could put

up the next

point, that would

be great.

What Jesus is

saying here,

Jesus says that

he is not a

teacher come from

God.

He is God come

to teach and

save.

Remember I

said he's

going to keep

doubling down?

The typical

Canadian thing

will be to

pay a compliment

to Jesus because

Canadians, we

like to try to

get along together

with each other.

A typical

Canadian thing

would say,

Mohammed is a

teacher come

from God,

Jesus is a

teacher come

from God,

your yoga

instructor,

teacher come

from God,

or however you

want to put it,

but we want to

try to respect

it.

And Nicodemus

begins this

whole conversation

with his

Canadian

compliment to

Jesus, and

by this point

in time, after

Jesus is

completely and

utterly undermining

his Canadian

categories, he

even goes

further, and

that's the

point of him

saying,

verse 12,

verse 13,

no one has

ascended into

heaven.

In other

words, no

human being

has been able

to go right

up into the

very councils

of God and

grasp God by

the unaided

exercise of

their human

mind and

their human

power, no

one.

But he,

Jesus, is

one who is

descended from

heaven.

So what we

have,

Nicodemus,

here's this

big claim,

if you went

back in a

time machine,

John, in

many, many

ways throughout

the whole

gospel is

claiming that

he's just

telling you

what actually

happened, as

if he's in a

court of law

under oath.

And you

could go and

you would see

Nicodemus and

Jesus talking at

night, and

Jesus, without a

smile, without a

smirk, without

arrogance, he

says, I am not a

teacher from God,

I am God, come to

teach and save.

This is a

pretty preposterous

claim.

If you could

put up the

next point, last

week we looked

at Jesus

predicting his

resurrection.

In a few

moments we're

going to see

Jesus predicting

his crucifixion.

But here's the

big claim, I'm

not going to

get into much

of an

apologetic around

it, but this

is what the

whole Christian

faith stands

and falls on in

terms of being a

reasonable thing.

Why should we

take any of this

seriously?

I mean, quite

literally, you

could go down to

the Shepherds of

Good Hope, you

could go down to

the Union Mission

and you would

meet all sorts of

people who would

think they are

somebody like

Jesus or God.

I would bet

there's at least

a thousand people

in Ottawa who

think that they're

God.

And I don't mean

any type of, you

know, just the way

your boss, she

might think she's

God or he might

think he's God or

acts like that.

No, I mean, they

actually probably

would say to you

with a completely

serious face, you

should worship me, I'm

God.

I mean, there's

probably all sorts of

people in Ottawa.

But if the

resurrection of Jesus

happened, then who he

is and what he says is

vindicated.

If he was not

resurrected, what he

says is garbage.

Just as if you went

down to the Royal

Ottawa or the

psychiatric ward of

the civic or the

Union Mission or the

Salvation Army or the

Shepherds of Good

Hope and somebody

said, they're God,

you would know it's

garbage.

Jesus keeps doubling

down.

Now, in the 10 or

11 minutes I have

left, Jesus starts to

unpack this in both

very hopeful and

very, very

startling ways.

He's going to talk

a little bit about

how it is that he

can make us born

again.

If you could put up

the next image, yeah,

that's a pretty

gruesome one, eh?

Jesus is now going to

talk to Nicodemus about

a story in the Old

Testament that's

knack in Numbers

Numbers 21 · chapter mention

chapter 21.

Hear what he says.

It's in verse 15.

Actually, we'll do

verse 14, 15, and

16.

And as Moses lifted

up the serpent in the

wilderness, so must the

Son of Man be lifted

up, that whoever

believes in him may

have eternal life.

For God so loved the

world that he gave his

one and only Son, that

whoever believes in him

should not perish, but

have eternal life.

And he's making a

reference to a story

when Israel is wandering

in the wilderness, and

they've had a time of

particular complaint

against God, rebellion

against God, just

calling God names.

And part of the

judgment is that there

becomes these snakes that

come, and they're

poisonous snakes, maybe

adders.

And as they bite

people, they get sick

and they die.

And they call out to

God for mercy that God

would deliver them.

And so God says to

Moses, in the center of

the camp, put up a big

pole.

And on the pole, put an

image, make an image of

the snakes that are

biting you and killing

you.

And anybody who looks at

the serpent on the top

of the pole,

people, if you look, you

won't die, you'll be

healed.

Story in the book of

Numbers, chapter 21.

Numbers 21 · chapter mention

And that's what Jesus

says about himself.

And it's a very, very

powerful story if you think

about it for a second.

If the person who's bit by

the snake looks to Moses,

they will die.

They look to their

parents, they will die.

They look to the

tabernacle, they will die.

If they look to Joshua, they

will die.

If they look at what God

has said, the serpent on the

pole, they will live.

How is this very relevant

for us?

If you look to the church,

you will die.

If you look to the bishop,

you will die.

If you look to a ritual like

communion or baptism, just as

rituals, you will die.

If you look to praise music,

if you look to Trudeau, if

you look to your prof, you

look to your mom, you look

to your dad, you will die.

If you look to Jesus, you

will live.

If you look to Jesus, you

will live.

See, Jesus just keeps

doubling it down.

If you could put up the

next point.

In a very, very simple

way, what is this looking

to Jesus?

What is this believing?

You go back and you read

through this whole text, you

will see time and time and

time throughout John's

gospel in this text, it

keeps telling you believing

in Jesus.

It doesn't mean having an

idea about Jesus.

Demons have ideas about

Jesus that are more

accurate than yours and

mine, but they are still

demons.

In a sense, it is a

believing into Jesus.

That's the actual

original language in the

original language.

It's entrusting myself

wholly to him.

It's believing that because

of his death and

resurrection upon the

cross, he has vindicated

that what he says is the

truth.

And that if I look to

him, believing what he

says, if I look to him

and entrust myself to him, if

I, in a sense, am just

entrusting myself into him,

believing into him, that's

all I do, and he does all

the rest.

In fact, if you could put up

the next point, please.

I entrust myself to Jesus and

what he accomplished for me,

and then, that as we'll see

in just this, which has

already gone on, and in the

next few verses, in the next

few minutes, what happens?

What does Jesus say happen to

us?

Like the image of the

looking at the serpent is

it's a very powerful image

that what happens is that

something like a cross in the

very center of the camp, that

which, in a sense, is the

sin, and is the punishment of

the sin, and represents the

sin, and by being a serpent,

it even has a bit of a

hearkening back to Genesis 3

and the rebellion against God.

It's sin, it's the punishment

of sin, and it's put upon the

on a pole.

And Jesus will bear the penalty

for my sins upon a cross.

And so I entrust myself to

Jesus, that's all I do, and

what do you accomplish for me?

I don't say, by the way, I've

been a missionary, I've been a

pastor, I've been a good dad,

I'm really good looking, you

know, I have a low body fat

count, I have a big bank

balance, I'm really cute, I'm

funny, like it's nothing like

that.

You just entrust yourself to

Jesus, and what do you

accomplish for me?

And this text says, you know

what happens?

What is it that God does for

us in the person of his Son?

The penalty for all my sin is

paid.

What happens when I put my

trust in Jesus?

I am born from above.

I am born of the Holy Spirit.

I am born from God.

What happens when I entrust

myself to Jesus?

I receive that which only God

can give, because my children

will die, my grandchildren will

die, my great-grandchildren

will die.

I cannot give them eternal

life.

Only God can give me eternal

life.

And when I entrust myself to

Jesus, I receive eternal life.

And in John 3, 16, when it

talks about, for God so loved the

world that he gave his one and

only Son to the end, that whoever

believes in him will not perish,

but have eternal life, I begin to

know the uncreated, eternal,

unfailing love of God.

Because that's the love of God.

It is uncreated.

It is eternal.

It is unfailing.

Jesus doesn't believe in me,

but this is what he gives me.

Let's finish the text.

Verse 16 again.

For God so loved the world that he

gave his one and only Son.

By the way, when it says, for God so

loved the world, what it's saying

here, it has a double meaning.

What it's meaning is, if you just

think about this for a second,

this is how much God loves you.

God loves you so much that in he

and the person of his Son comes

down from heaven to die like a

serpent on the cross for you.

That is how much God loves you.

His love is beyond the wildest

imagination of the greatest

narcissist.

And at the same time, when we see

Jesus dying on the cross, we can

see this is, this we see now, God's

love for human beings.

Just, you know, as an aside, you

know, I'm not going to tell you a

spoiler alert.

Just, it's not going to be a

spoiler alert, but if you've ever

watched one of the best series on

war, like a movie, it's the Band of

Brothers.

Those of you who have seen it, you'll

all say that's a spectacular series.

In one of the last episodes, it's

called The Final Patrol.

And it's so, it's so interesting

regardless to this, because what in

what in the world is the normal way

that things happen in the world?

Like, should McGinty have been going

to jail or Livingston?

Those of you who follow politics in

Ontario.

But the powerful people don't die, the

little people die.

The powerful people send the little

people to die.

The Band of Brothers, the Final

Patrol, the World War II is almost

over, but the bigwigs send the lowly

grunts out on a patrol that could get

them killed and don't want to go.

I'm not going to say anything else.

Watch the series.

It's a great episode.

But that's the way of the world.

But what happens here?

God himself dies, not the little

people, but God dies for the little

people because he loves you and loves

me.

Verse 16 again.

For God so loved the world that he

gave his one and only son that whoever

believes in him should not perish but

have eternal life.

For God did not send his son into the

world to condemn the world.

And the word condemn here, it's not

meant the way condemn is used normally

in English.

Condemn, I'm sorry, I know it's going

to touch on some things, but you know

with his whole social media campaign

of Twitter and condemning people and

social media, it's very powerful.

It just means that we put people down,

we accuse them of things.

Condemn here, it's a language of the

law courts.

It's a language of what happens after

there's been a fair trial.

And all of the evidence has been

looked at and the judge declares you

guilty.

That's the language.

It's not the emotional name calling

language.

It's a language from the law court.

Talk to some of the lawyers who are

present here.

And even in perfect Canadian justice,

but the trial has been through.

All of the evidence has been

presented.

All of the evidence is weighed.

And at the end of it, the judge says

guilty or not guilty.

And that's the language condemned.

Read it again.

Verse 17.

Verse 17.

For God did not send his son into the

world to condemn the world, but in order

that the world might be saved through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, is

declared innocent.

But whoever does not believe is condemned

already because he has not believed in the name of

the only son of God.

And this is the judgment.

The light has come into the world.

And people love the darkness rather than the light

because their works were evil.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light

and does not come to the light, lest his works should be

exposed.

Could you put up the next point, please?

In your natural state, in my natural state, you hate the

light and love the darkness.

I mean, if you don't think that's true, just try to actually

have a completely honest apology.

You've done something wrong.

And how hard is it for you or me to actually give a full, honest,

unvarnished apology with no insinuation that the other person

contributed to it, no excuse, no extenuating circumstance.

And if you're honest, it's something we rarely do perfectly, maybe never do perfectly.

And even if we manage to get the words out perfectly, many of us inside of

ourselves are hoping that the other person will acknowledge some responsibility

because at the deepest level of our heart, we haven't fully come to the light.

And so this text is saying in your natural state, you hate the light and love the darkness.

So God gives you what you want and what you deserve.

Endless darkness.

You have hated the light.

You don't want the light in your life.

When you die, you will go where there is no light.

You have loved darkness and said darkness is your friend.

And when you die, God says, I will send you to outer darkness.

Can you put up the next point?

This text as well is saying, that's the thing here about the light coming into the world.

And it's a wonderful phrase from John.

It refers to both conscience, the fact of a created order, of a moral order,

of our different ways of knowing about God, all the different pointers that exist from God.

It's what Paul talks about in the book of Romans.

No one will have a valid excuse before God for rejecting him.

No one will be able to say that there was not enough light from God

or that he did not love us enough.

If you could put up the final point, that would be great.

If you could all stand.

This is maybe one of the greatest verses in the Bible.

It's Jesus speaking to you and me.

What's just been said to us today is very, very, very, very, very, very stark.

And it is really, truly telling us that apart from Christ,

we are doomed to perish,

to spend an eternity in endless darkness.

But this is not God's heart for you and me.

His heart for you and me

is that we would humble ourselves

and entrust ourselves to Jesus.

For God so loved the world

that he gave his one and only Son

that whoever believes in him should not perish

but have eternal life.

Friends, if you are here

and you have not yet entrusted yourself to Jesus,

there is no better time than right now, today,

to entrust yourself to Jesus.

Jesus is like, you know,

if there was a perfect cure for cancer

that was just discovered

and a doctor comes and gives you

and he says, I have very terrible news,

you have cancer.

In a sense, when he tells you that you have cancer,

you are closer to health than before he told you that

because before he told you that,

you wouldn't have gone seeking a cure.

And Jesus tells us how great is our danger and our doom.

But he only does it in the context

of how great God's salvation is

for even the best and even the worst.

There is no time better than now

to entrust yourself to Jesus.

And for those of us who have done that before,

we don't have to keep entrusting ourselves to Jesus,

but this is why the mission statement of this church

is that God whose Holy Spirit will move in our lives

so that we are disciples of Jesus,

gripped by the gospel.

So we are freed up to live for his glory

and to pray and to share to the end

that our loved ones and friends will also come

to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Let's bow our heads in prayer.

Father,

we thank you, Father,

that these really hard words are said to us

by the one who died for us,

the one who came from heaven to live amongst us,

to die for us,

that, Father,

he is sharing his heart

for everyone who is here

and everyone that we meet,

that he is not saying this

to merely frighten us or depress us,

but, Father,

that he is saying this

to drive us to our knees,

to drive us to throw our arms out wide

and call out upon you

to entrust ourselves to you,

to entrust ourselves to Jesus.

Father,

may your Holy Spirit

move in our hearts and lives

that we will be disciples of Jesus

who are gripped by the gospel,

learning to live for your glory.

And, Father,

give us a heart for the lost

and a boldness

to bear witness to Jesus

here in Ottawa

and to the ends of the earth.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus,

your Son and our Savior.

Amen.