John 10:1-28 - The Blessedness of Having the Lord as our Shepherd

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10.30am service, 2002-02-24

Text: John 10:1-28

In a message that was preached here two weeks ago we learned about having a truly blessed life - We learned from the Word of God that real blessedness is not found in one's material wealth, neither in a multitude of one's children nor in the great magnitude of one's lifespan on earth. And we saw that real blessedness can only be found in putting away our sins, living according to God's commandments, loving our fellow men and most of all, having an intimate personal relationship with God.

It would be good for us to take up this last strand of thought from that message - the blessedness of having an intimate relationship with God - and develop it a little further. As Christians, we stand in a very unique relationship with God, a relationship which is often likened to that of a shepherd's relationship with his sheep. This metaphor of the shepherd and sheep is found not just once, but many times in our Bibles. The most familiar passage is the 23rd psalm, which begins with those wonderful words, 'The Lord is my shepherd.' In another favorite psalm, which is Psalm 100, we joyfully acknowledge the truth that 'we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.'

The New Testament alone has over 70 passages that uses the same metaphor to describe our relationship with the Lord. For example, in Hebrews 13:20, Jesus is called the great Shepherd of the sheep. 'Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, make you perfect in every good work to do His will...' And in 1 Peter 2:25 Jesus is called 'the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.'

Shepherds do have a prominent place in the Scriptures. We all know that in the Christmas story, the first ones to hear the good news from the angels that Christ our Lord was born were the shepherds watching their flocks by night. The Old Testament patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all shepherds. Moses, the great Law-giver of Israel, spent 40 years of his life as a shepherd before he led the Israelites out of Egypt. And David, the greatest king of Israel, was only a shepherd boy when God appointed him to be king over His people.

But let us not imagine from all this, that shepherding was an easy, prestigious job, just sitting around and staring at the sheep all day and all night. Actually the opposite was true - it was lowly and hard menial work. The shepherd who takes good care of his sheep has to work very hard, and make many personal sacrifices. He had to walk great distances, looking for patches of grass, which were not abundant in Palestine because the rainfall there was very erratic. Even today water is still a big issue in Israel. That does not help the shepherds who have to find enough water for a flock that may be as large as a few hundred sheep.

Water is not the only problem. there were also predators like lions, bears and wolves who love to eat sheep meat. Sometimes they have to risk their own lives for the flock against attacks from these animals. The sheep also have to be guarded against robbers and thieves. Every single sheep has to be carefully accounted for and looked after, and this was difficult because sheep are not the easiest animals to care for. They are quite stupid and would often wander away from the flock. When a sheep is lost, it does not know how to find its way back to the flock, and it would just sit frozen in one place, until the shepherd finds it and has to literally carry it back on his shoulders (cf Luke 15:4,5).

Besides all that, the shepherd has to wash the sheep regularly, and tend to any wounds they may have. Sheep are prone to be infected with a disease called foot-rot, which shepherds have to watch out for. Once in a while, the shepherds would have to undertake the task of shearing the wool off their sheep.

When all these things are considered, I don't think any one of us here would like to exhange jobs with a shepherd, and especially to be a shepherd in Israel during biblical times. But knowing all this helps us now to understand why God chose to use the shepherd and sheep relationship as a picture of His relationship with us. It is precisely because the shepherd's task of meeting the needs of his sheep involves so much effort. So let us turn our Bibles to our text now, which is found in John 10:1-28, and read it (Read).

As we study this passage we will see that there are particularly three kinds of needs that Christ who is our Shepherd has to meet, in order for us to experience the blessedness of being His sheep. The first need is salvation.

The second is sustenance, and the third is security. And only when all these three needs are met can the sheep be truly blessed. Let us consider the first need - the need for Salvation

I. Our Shepherd Gave Himself For Our Salvation

A. His Privation for the sake of His Sheep (Jn 10:11,14-18) 

Let us read v.11 of John 10 again 'I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.'

Here we see that the test of a true shepherd is in the way that he reacts when his flock is being attacked. If he is not faithful to his calling, he will think only about his own safety. He will run away and allow his sheep to be destroyed, because he really doesn't care for the lives of the sheep. But a true shepherd will not think first about his own safety. His sheep are his main concern, and he must defend them at all costs, even if this means putting his own life in danger. And he will not rest nor give up until his sheep are fully out of danger.

This provides us with a picture of how the Lord has saved us from sin. Sin is like a ferocious predator, prowling around and ready to pounce on us and destroy us. Now when Christ our Shepherd saw that our lives were threatened with destruction by SIN, did He shrink away from the dreaded enemy and leave us to be devoured by the jaws of eternal death? No! Even though He knew exactly how awful and agonizing it was going to be for Him to face such a terrifying foe, He cared so much for you and me that He dealt once and for all with Sin. Jesus did not consider His own life as being too precious to lay down for His sheep. Not minding the danger to His own life, He bravely took hold of sin by its deadly jaws and delivered the awesome fatal blow to it on the Cross! However, in the process of doing this, His own life was taken. Christ our Good Shepherd was smitten, and for a while the sheep had no one to lead them, and were scattered. But when there seemed to be no hope at all, the Great Shepherd of the sheep came back to life, victorious over death, and was reunited with the sheep He loved so much.

Dearly beloved, we who have been saved from being devoured by sin should rejoice that our need for salvation from sin has been wonderfully met by our true and faithful Shepherd, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. How blessed we are to have Him as our Shepherd!

B. His Parable of The Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7) 

In one of the parables that Jesus told, we see again the same blessedness of having such a shepherd. This parable which is known as the 'Parable of the Lost Sheep' is found in Luke chapter 15, and I would like to read it to you: 'What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.'

Dearly beloved, you and I are just like that lost sheep, who had wandered far away from home. And Jesus Christ is that Shepherd searching for us, never giving up hope, climbing up and down the steep and dangerous mountain paths, until He finally finds us, and carries us home rejoicing! It is surely a great blessing to us, to have such a Shepherd - one who is willing to sacrifice the comforts of life and endure the worst of experiences to rescue us from sin. (Now, if there is anyone here today who is still lost in sin and under the sentence of eternal death, please, let me urge you not to delay to turn to the Good Shepherd. He will save you right now if you will turn to Him with all your heart.) 

And that is not all that He will do for His sheep, Let us go on to see another way in which we are blessed by having the Lord as our Shepherd.

II. Our Shepherd Provides Us With Sustenance 

This is blessing is the provision of our Sustenance. Here, we are looking at the day-to-day care of the shepherd for His sheep.

A. His Personal Care for the Sheep (10:3--calleth His own sheep by name) 

Let us go back to our text and read John 10:3-- 'To Him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear His voice: and He calleth His own sheep by name.' The point I want draw your attention to, is that the Shepherd calls His own sheep by name.

I believe that this indicates His Personal Care for His sheep. Let us try to understand this a little better by looking into the background of the situation described in this passage.

At the end of each day, the shepherd would bring his flock back from the pastures and lead them into an enclosure called a sheepfold. This enclosure was large and had high stone walls and only one door. The door was guarded by a porter who would not let anyone in except the shepherd. After having a night's rest at home, the shepherd would return to the sheepfold early the next morning. But there was one problem: sheepfolds were used not just by one shepherd alone, but usually by many shepherds to keep their sheep at night, and their flocks would all get mixed up together. And so, when a shepherd came, he would first have to separate his own sheep from the rest before leading them out of the fold. Now how could a shepherd do this?

Only by knowing each and every one of his sheep well by name. To an ordinary man every sheep looks the same, and it is very hard to tell one sheep from another. But to the shepherd who personally knows his sheep, each sheep of his has its own distinct features. He can easily recognize his own sheep, because he knows them all so well, even calling them by their own personal names. So when he calls them by their names, they come to him, and he then leads them out of the fold.

Now this is a picture of how well your Great Shepherd knows you. He is concerned not only about His church as a whole, but He is also deeply interested in the life of each and every individual in His church. He knows you personally and completely and He cares about your welfare. He is acquainted with every intimate detail of your life, and He knows exactly what you need, as well as how to meet that need. 

B. His Provision of Abundant Life for the Sheep (Jn 10:10, c.f. Ps 23:1-6) 

But more than that: He is able to meet every need of His sheep. In John 10:10 Christ says: 'I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.' This is a tremendous statement. Do you know what the Lord is saying? He is saying that His will for you is that you may have life, and not only life, but a life which is fuller, richer, and deeper than you can ever expect or imagine; a life which is much better than anything this world can offer.

He wants you to have life, and much more than life in your daily experience-- a life that is filled to overflowing with His blessings. This abundant life is graphically described in the 23rd psalm. Dr. John Davis, who wrote a commentary on the 23rd Psalm entitled 'The Perfect Shepherd' had this to say: 'in all the poetry of the world there is no passage that equals the charm, beauty and warmth of the 23rd Psalm. It has dried many tears and comforted troubled hearts throughout the ages.' I think he is right. If you just look through our hymnbook you will find many hymns that are based on the themes found in this psalm. Hymns like 'The Lord's My Shepherd,' 'He Leadeth Me,' 'All the Way My Savior Leads me' 'A King of Love My Shepherd Is'

This psalm was written by King David, the sweet psalmist of Israel and it is one of my favorite passages of scripture, because it assures me that as a result of our Lord's wonderful, loving care, we are blessed in all times, in all situations, even in times of great trial and danger. Let us turn our Bibles to this psalm and go through it verse by verse: 

'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.' This very first verse speaks of a life of contentment.

'He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.' This speaks of a life of joy and of peace.

'He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.' This verse speaks of refreshment and guidance.

'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and they staff they comfort me.' This obviously refers to our Lord's provision for us when we are going through difficult trials and suffering in life. The abundant life does not mean a life without trials, but rather a life of victory over life's trials and sufficienct grace to meet them through Christ.

'Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:' This speaks of deliverance.

'Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.' This phrase, can be translated 'my cup overflows' and it conveys the idea of abundance, as in the abundant life mentioned in John 10:10.

'Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.' The abundant life is meant to be the daily experience of everyone who belongs to Christ, and carries on right into eternity.

Well, after seeing all that our Great Shepherd promises to do for us, how can anyone of us not feel very blessed to be one of His sheep? But let us look at one more blesssing in having the Lord as our shepherd.

III. Our Shepherd Meets Our Need for Security 

This third and concluding point in our meditation, is how the Shepherd meets our need for Security. There are two important facts for us to observe here: The first is His Promise of Security for His sheep, and the second is His Power to Preserve His sheep.

A. His Promise of Security for His sheep: (v.9) 

In v.9 of our passage we notice that Jesus calls Himself the Door. This is a wonderful way of representing His provision of security for us. We all know that doors are very useful things. An open door may be an entrance to a place of delightful refuge and rest. But a door may also be locked to keep unwelcome intruders from coming into a place. And both of these ideas are found in our Lord's description of Himself as the door. In v.9 Jesus says that when we enter in by Him we shall be saved and find pasture. In v.8 and v.10 He mentions thieves and robbers, who want to break in to steal, kill and destroy. And in v.1 He states that thieves and robbers do not enter in by the door. They are unwelcome intruders and the door will never be open to allow them to enter in. And so they try to get in illegally by climbing in.

Actually what Jesus is talking about here is a sheepfold. A while ago I had mentioned that each sheepfold had only one door. And that door was open to let the sheep find security in the sheepfold at night. There is no other way that the sheep can get into the sheepfold, than through that door. And this reminds us that there is no other way for anyone to find God's security and salvation, than through Jesus Christ. A few chapters later Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.' Let us not be fooled by any others who claim to be an alternative door to salvation and eternal life. There is only one door, and it is Jesus!

The door of the sheepfold was locked and guarded at night to prevent thieves and robbers from coming in to steal the sheep. And in this passage the thieves and robbers refer to false teachers and false prophets who try to fool God's people into thinking that they are from God, when their intention is actually to take advantage of the sheep. History provides examples of false teachers who have started cults like the Jehovah's witnesses and Mormons.

Now, there is one more use of doors that provides security for us: The door of the sheep enclosure not only keeps intruders out, but also keeps the sheep in. Sheep are very prone to straying away from the rest of the flock. That is why Isaiah 53:6 says 'All we like sheep have gone astray.' The door of the sheepfold was kept locked at night to ensure that none of the sheep would be lost. Imagine what would happen if someone forgot to lock the door of the sheepfold. He would come the next morning to find the whole sheepfold empty, and his sheep scattered all over the countryside! Now this illustrates one very important need that we have - a need to be preserved to the very end, after we are saved.

B. His Power to Preserve His Sheep (Jn 10:8) 

And Jesus made this promise in John 10:28 'And I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.' This is the promise given by our Great Shepherd. Do you notice how absolute and definite it is? There is no room in it for any doubt at all. Christ promises that not even a single one of His sheep shall perish. Every one who belongs to Him will not fail to obtain eternal life, no matter what happens to them.

Is there anything in this world that can provide better security than that? No. For even if a man could invent the strongest steel vault in the world, it would not be secure, because someone else who is equally smart would soon invent a way to breach that security and break into it. But the security which Jesus provides can never be breached. Even if all the armies of the world with every nuclear weapon available, should combine forces with Satan and all his fallen angels, in a concerted attempt to break through that security, they would never ever succeed!

Dearly beloved, if you truly belong to Christ, you have the greatest security for life and for eternity. Nothing can ever cause you to lose your security, not even yourself. Once you are saved, you are always saved.

This is one of the most important truths from the Scriptures we must always uphold, no matter what some others might say. No one who is saved can lose his salvation. But the question that you must ask yourself, is: Are you saved? Do you really belong to Christ? How can you know if you are truly one of the sheep of the ood Shepherd? Our meditation will not be complete until we have answered this question.

Let us look at our text again and we will find the answer, in v.27-- 'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me' If you belong to Christ, you would listen to Him, obey Him, and follow Him. No one should ever claim to be a sheep of the Good Shepherd, if he constantly remains deaf to the Shepherd's calls and instruction, and always refuses to follow Him. Dearly beloved, do you listen to the Good Shepherd's voice when He speaks to you? Are you living in obedience to His written Word? Are you following Him faithfully?

We bring this message to a close with an important thought: While we are really blessed in this present life to enjoy the all-comprehensive care of our Lord the Good Shepherd, let us not be complacent. For if we are truly His sheep, we must resolve to hear His voice attentively and to do His will dilligently. May we all resolve anew to keep on serving our Good Shepherd faithfully, since He has declared, 'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me'

John 01:35-51 - Finding Him Who Found You

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45 am service, 2007-05-06

Text: John 1:35-51

Many people would perhaps love to have an opportunity to meet or have a personal interview with a person of great rank or importance in the eyes of the world. The closest encounter of this sort that I ever had was 26 years ago when I met with the wife of the U.S. Ambassador. A friend of mine had brought me to lunch at a local sailing club and it so happened that my friend's father had invited the U.S. Ambassador to the club to sail in his boat that afternoon. 

After a brief introduction at lunch, the ambassador, my friend and his father got into the boat to set sail, and I was left sitting at the clubhouse with the ambassador's wife. I was only 19 then, but after I had got over the initial feeling of awe of being in her presence, I began to converse with her. As we talked I soon realized that she and her husband were really ordinary people. In fact both of them had suffered failed marriages before and their own marriage was the second one for both of them. The only children they had were the ones that they brought over from their previous marriages. 

Morever I found out that both of them were not believers, and that she was going deeply into astrology and the New Age movement. I sensed that she was searching for the truth, and so I took the opportunity to witness to her about Christ. Although she did not respond then to the gospel, she gave me her address and I corresponded with her for a while after that to tell her more about our Lord Jesus Christ. I have completely lost touch with her now but trust that God has somehow spoken to her heart. But what I learned from this interesting encounter is that one may be quite surprised when one gets to know the real person behind his or her outward facade. One may see something quite surprising.

Perhaps you too may have been similarly surprised before. It may have been by a famous professor you heard so much about, or an influential leader you admired, or an accomplished performer or a talented sportsman. You heard a lot of good and impressive things about him, and because of all that hype you get really thrilled and excited about him. You imagine him to be quite perfect and your esteem for him knows no bounds until the day when you have an unexpected opportunity to meet him and talk with him at length. And then you realize that not everything you had heard about him was true. You now find to your disappointment that beneath the exterior facade he actually has the very same faults and weaknesses as everyone else you have ever known. 

And the point that I want you to take note of is this: While many may have had such disappointing encounters with the ones whom they had held in very high esteem, it was not like that at all for those who encountered the Lord Jesus Christ. He stands uniquely apart from every person who has ever lived. Whatever great and glorious things that had ever been said about Him were all found to be true and real by those who had the opportunity to meet Him and follow Him closely. In fact they discovered to their amazement that they had not been told half of all the wonderful things that they found in Him! 

This is what we shall see now as we look at John 1:35-51. In this passage we see the very first encounters of 5 men with Jesus Christ. They had never met Him before, but their first encounters with Him were enough to convince them about who He really is. These 5 men were Andrew John, Simon, Philip and Nathanael. As we look at how each of them found Christ, I would like to suggest that we can learn 3 useful lessons. Firstly:

I. The Exciting Discovery of Finding Jesus (vv.35-41)

This discovery came about through the powerful witness of John the Baptist who had identified Jesus to be the 'Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world' (v.29). As we had seen in a previous sermon, this identification highlights the common need of all men - our need to have our sins removed from us. You may remember that we had already seen how John's bold preaching against sin had been so filled with impact that thousands of people from all walks of life confessed their sins and were baptized by him. But while this response was very necessary and good, it could not remove the sins which they had already committed. 

This removal of sins was something that John the Baptist could never provide to any of his followers. It was something that only the Lamb of God could provide. Therefore John the Baptist repeatedly pointed them to the Lamb of God so that they might seek after Him. 

And that was what two of his followers eventually did - they left John permanently to follow Jesus! John 1:35-37 'Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.' Do you think John was unhappy to see them leave him? No, not at all because their leaving was not a defection, but a graduation. John had done his part of laying the foundation for them - to make them sense their sinfulness and their need of a Saviour. But for the main curriculum, they must now graduate from his school and join the higher college of the Master Himself. 

Perhaps there may be some here who need to do the same thing. You have been seeking sincerely for God's truth. And as you read the Bible and listen to messages preached from God's Word, you have awakened to the sense of sin in your life and to the danger of eternal death that your soul is in. But you are still dwelling in this and haven't graduated from it yet. Dear friend, if this is your state you can remain where you are but go on to follow Christ. Put yourself directly under His personal care and instruction, and you will see that everything that you need is found in Him. 

You may have learnt a lot from an excellent Sunday School teacher, or gained much knowledge from a skilled Bible study leader, but if you haven't sat at the feet of Jesus Himself to learn directly from Him, you have missed learning everything that really matters! Jesus invites you to come and learn from Him now. He says, 'Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.' (Matthew 11:29)

He gave the same invitation to the two disciples who left John the Baptist to follow Him. When He turned and saw them in v.38 of our text He asked them what they were seeking for. They wanted to know where He was staying. In those days this was the proper way to ask for a personal interview with a Rabbi. In v.39 Jesus welcomed them immediately by saying, 'Come and see.' 

And then they spent the rest of the day enjoying the most wonderful fellowship with Him at the place where Jesus was staying. Since they were far away from His home in Nazareth, this was probably not a house but just a small room at a nearby inn, or even a cave in the vicinity of the Jordan River (cf. Matthew 8:20). But his humble abode did not matter at all to them, because anywhere with Jesus is just like heaven on earth! 

Within those precious hours with Jesus the two disciples probably asked Him every question that they had wanted to ask until they were satisfied by all the answers and gracious words that He spoke to them. Dearly beloved can you imagine what it must have been like for them to enjoy such personal fellowship with the Lord Jesus? The question to ask then is, 'Are you enjoying such personal fellowship with Jesus?' Every believer ought to be seeking and having this blessed experience of meeting with Jesus every day, because He is with us, just as He had promised in Matthew 28:20 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.'

But perhaps you have been missing out on this intimate fellowship because you are too busy to spend any time with Him. Or perhaps your daily quiet time has become merely an outward form with the same routine prayers and the same dull reading every day. Dearly beloved, you will not receive any benefit out of your quiet time unless you earnestly desire to meet Jesus there! You cannot gain much from it unless you know that He is present with you. The same thing also applies to taking the Lord's Supper, which we will be having shortly - it is meant to be a time for your soul to commune with Christ and to delight in being in His presence!

In our text we see that the two disciples returned from their stay with Jesus quite changed and refreshed! There wa joy on their faces as they went to tell others all that they had discovered when they found Jesus. One of them was Andrew and in v.41 we see him telling his brother, 'We have found the Messiah!' What is interesting here is that the words 'We have found' comes from the Greek verb 'Eureka.' This word has been made famous through the story of how Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, found the solution to a problem just as he was about to take a bath. He was trying to find a way to determine the volume of the king's crown and when water spilled over the sides of the bath tub as he was getting in, he suddenly found the answer. 

And the story goes that he so excited with this discovery that he ran through the streets without his clothes shouting, 'Eureka! Eureka!' which means, 'I've found it! I've found it!' Since then many others have used the word Eureka at the moment when they made important discoveries. The American Association for the Advancement of Science calls its late-breaking scientific news site the EurekAlert. In the 1850s when prospectors discovered tons of gold ore in California they became so fond of the word Eureka that it still stands today as the official state motto of California!

But none of these Eurekas can compare with the one that was said by those who had met Jesus Christ. In v.41 Andrew told his brother, 'We have found the Messiah!' and in v.45 Philip told Nathanael, 'We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' What they had found was definitely far more precious than all the gold in the world, for He was none other than the Son of God. 

Finding Jesus is just like finding a pearl of great price which a merchant would sell all that he has, in order to purchase (Matthew 13:46). What the disciples found in Him was more significant that any scientific discovery, for Jesus alone can solve our problem of sin and meet the deepest need of our hearts which is to know God and be reconciled to Him. 

And all through the ages, countless souls have echoed those same words when they were gloriously saved 'I have found Him!' I have found Him in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9). I have found Him who loved Me and gave Himself for Me (Galatians 2:20). I have found Him in whom I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7). 

But how about you, dearly beloved: Have you found Him? Have you come to Jesus and made Him your Lord and Saviour forever? If you have not found Him yet, I would urge you to do so today! For it is only when you have found Him that your sins will be forgiven and your joy will be full. If you have been looking for the way to be delivered from facing the awful penalty of all your sins in hell, Jesus is the answer! If you have been searching for truth that will set you free and give you everlasting life, look no further, for Jesus is the answer! 

And when you have found that all your deepest needs are met in Him then you must not keep Him all to yourself. When you have experienced the fullness of His love and you have drunk deeply from His life-giving streams, it is only right that you should share these blessings with others. This is the second lesson that we will learn now:

II. The Explicit Desire to Find Souls for Jesus (vv.40-42,45)

Let us look at verses 40-42 'One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus.' According to this, Andrew immediately went to look for his own brother. And what he did is the most natural thing anyone would do - to think first about those who are closest to oneself. That would include one's own spouse, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. 

We thank God that many Lifers have done their best to bring their loved ones to find salvation in Christ. Quite a number who have been baptized here came to know Christ as a result of the witness of relatives who are members of our church. One family in our church had been praying for their mother's salvation for many years. Their prayers were answered when she was hospitalized at the age of 97 for a lung infection. While she was in hospital the grandchildren came and shared the Gospel with her in Cantonese. After one of them prayed for her, she kept silent for a while and was quite deep in thought. Finally she told them that she wanted to follow Christ! She never turned back.

Perhaps many of us may have loved ones who are still outside Christ. If you really love them, would you not want to see them saved? Would you not want to do all that you can to seek their salvation while there is still time? But what have you done so far to bring them to the Lord? Let us follow the example of Andrew who did 3 good things for his brother Simon. Firstly, v.41 says that he went to find him. Secondly, Andrew told him about Christ and probably all about his own personal encounter with Him as well. And thirdly v.42 tells us that he brought Simon to meet Christ. Perhaps God wants you to be an Andrew today by doing these three things for a particular person in your immediate family or in your extended family. And if you commit yourself to do this with God's help, who knows that the outcome might be just like that of Andrew's brother - he was gloriously saved. 

Andrew never wrote any book of the New Testament. He never preached a great sermon at Pentecost to deliver thousands of souls from hell fire. Neither did Andrew open the door of the Gospel to the Gentiles. But he did one very loving act - He brought his own brother to Christ, and that brother became the one whom God used to do all those great things! If it were not for this loving act of Andrew, Simon Peter would perhaps never have known Christ and served Him the way he did. God may not call you to be another Simon Peter, but perhaps He may call you to be an Andrew - an instrument by whom He will bring another Simon Peter to salvation! 

In our passage of scripture, we see that Andrew was not the only one who brought a soul to Jesus Christ. Another person who did this was Philip. Let us read vv.45-46 'Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.' This event took place not long after Philip himself had begun to follow Christ (v.43). 

Unlike Simon who was Andrew's brother, Nathanael was not related to Philip. They were from two separate towns in Galilee. Philip was from Bethsaida (v.44) and Nathanael was from Cana (21:2). But both of them did have one common interest - they were both intently studying the Old Testament to learn about the promised Messiah. Perhaps they had spent many hours before, discussing the books of Moses and the writings of the prophets with one another. And when Philip found that Jesus was the Messiah, he naturally could not wait to share this significant finding with Nathanael. And Nathanael then found Christ.

Here we learn of another channel by which souls are brought to salvation in Christ: It is through people with whom we share a common interest. Dearly beloved, think about the people with whom who share something in common - If you are a working adult it may be your colleagues at work. If you are a businessman, it may be your business associates. If you are a student it may be your classmates or those you meet in your CCA. If you are retired, it may be the fellow retirees that you meet at social functions. How wonderful it would be if these people can come to know Christ through what you share in common with them. I know of one member of our church who was brought to Christ through her golfing partner who is also a Lifer! 

There are so many possibilities when you consider who you may share a common interest with, other than those who are already in Christ. But the decisive factor is your willingness to share Christ. Are you willing to do what Philip did for Nathanael, and have the joy of seeing a soul saved by Jesus Christ? 

Some of us may be afraid that they will not respond positively or that they may feel offended. One way to overcome this fear is to learn the principle that salvation is not the result of our efforts but of the unseen work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of sinners. If anyone does find Jesus and believe in Him it is only because Jesus found him first. This brings us to the third and final lesson that we will learn from the way the first disciples met Christ.

III. The Exceptional Privilege of Being Found by Jesus (vv.43-51)

In our passage it may seem that salvation depends on being at the right place at the right time, or on being related to the right person whether ashis brother or as his friend. So if you happen to be at Bethabara to hear John the Baptist pointing out Jesus as the Lamb of God, good for you. If you happen to be one of Andrew's brothers or sisters, how fortunate you are. If you happen to know Philip and share his interest in looking for the Messiah, you would probably have the opportunity to meet Jesus and be saved. Is it purely by chance then that you are saved? No. Behind all these events God's unseen providence was at work to bring each specific person to the Lord. And it is the Lord Himself who chooses those who will be saved and who will be His disciples.

The clearest example in our text is that of Philip - Jesus called him directly in v.43. But in v.42 we see that it was actually the case for Simon, because Jesus immediately recognized him and even gave him the new name 'Cephas' which tells about the important role that Simon would play in the church later on. Nathanael's calling also came from Christ Himself. This is evident v.48 where Jesus revealed to him, 'Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.' Jesus revealed this wonderful truth to all His disciples much later on. In John 15:16 He told them, 'Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit'

What a startling revelation this must have been to them, as each of them remembered how they first met Jesus and responded to His call. They now realized that none of them became His followers by chance. Everything had been carefully planned from the start. It was Jesus who had found each of them, and not they who had found Him. They did not know Him before they met Him, but He had already known each of them. And this also means that He will keep them firm to the very end.

If you are a child of God, let this be a constant source of comfort for you: The day that you found Jesus Christ and believed in Him as your Saviour and Lord was not where your salvation began. Your salvation actually began deep in the secret counsel of God where from eternity, He had already chosen you and loved you and planned every event in your life to bring about your salvation and sanctification. Now that you are God's chosen vessel you must let Him use your life to fulfill His ultimate purpose in this world. May you follow your Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.

John 01:19-34 - An Identification Parade With A Difference

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45 am service, 2007-03-25

Text: John 1:19-34

The title of this sermon tells us what our focus will be on - identification. There are times when we encounter problems in making a right identification of a person. In fact we sometimes make a wrong identification and with disastrous results. Have you ever seen someone from behind whom you thought was your friend and you called out to him only to be disappointed and embarrassed when he turned out to be someone else? Even knowing a person's name does not guarantee that you will not identify him wrongly, because many people may share the same name. Take for example the name David Tan - there are four members of our church who have that name! 

If you were to look up someone's name in a phone book to get his phone number you may have great difficulty contacting the right person if his name happens to be Mr Tan Ah Kow - there are 35 Tan Ah Kows listed there. And if you were to look up my name in the phone book using only my Chinese name 'Seet Chim Seng' you might find yourself talking not to me but to someone who lives in Choa Chu Kang Central!

The consequences of not making the right identification are much worse when the person is someone of great importance. And in no instance is it more crucial for us to make the right identification than when identifying the Lord who came into the world to save sinners. In our first sermon of this series on John's Gospel 3 weeks ago, we had seen that God was manifested in frail human flesh and that John 1:14 contains the most important words: 'And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.' He came into this world and entered into a new dimension of existence through the gateway of human birth in order to identify Himself with us. 

And so complete and intimate was His identification with humanity, that it was not immediately evident to all that He was actually God in the flesh. 'He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.' (v.10) He lived on earth as a man among men, mingling with all kinds of people, experiencing our joys, our tears, our cares and disappointments. Only those like Joseph and Mary who knew Jesus well enough and had watched Him grow up from childhood into adulthood, would have known that He was truly God in the flesh. And those who had any opportunity to interact with Him at length (for example, the religious teachers at the Temple in Luke 2:46,47) would soon realize that He was no ordinary person and would think quite highly of Him. 

But to the rest of humanity who saw Him at his daily work in a lowly carpenter's workshop or who exchanged greetings with him on the dusty streets of Nazareth, Jesus appeared outwardly to be no different from anyone else. The question then is how would He be properly identified to the world as its Lord and Saviour? How would the correct identification of Him be made so that all Israel would know who He really is and why He had come into the world in human flesh?

As we look at our text in John 1:19-34 this morning, we see that God provided Jesus with a special forerunner to identify Him to the world. And this forerunner came at a time when that identification was most needed - when Jesus was about to launch His public ministry in Israel. This forerunner was John the Baptist. 

I. The Forerunner's Prophetic Authority (vv.19-28)

You will notice that the text began with the words, 'And this is the record of John' and it ends on the same note with John the Baptist saying, 'And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.' The words 'John bare record' also appear in v.32. This record or testimony that John bore about Jesus was of great value to the Jews, because of the esteem that he had from them. From the time of his birth it was already known that John would be 'the prophet of the Highest' and the forerunner of the Lord (Luke 1:76). Although he came from the privileged line of the priests of Israel, the early call he had received to be a prophet of God set him on a path that was altogether different from all his brethren. He grew up in a harsh desert environment eating nothing but locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4). There he spent much of his time in solitude with God until the time was ripe for him to begin his ministry.

And when his ministry began his preaching was so bold, so powerful and so effective that thousands of people came from all over Israel to hear him and to be baptized by him. Matthew 3:5-6 tells us that 'Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.' People from all walks of life came - fishermen, soldiers, despised publicans, and even many of the Pharisees and the Saducees, who were the religious elite of Israel. 

And they came not to have their ears tickled by someone's eloquent, popular or inspiring preaching. They came to have their conscience sensitized, their deepest sins exposed, their hearts pricked, and their lives radically changed! The fearless, Spirit-filled preaching of John the Baptist brought them all under conviction and they repented of their sins and were baptized by him to signify their total change of attitude toward sin. John the Baptist was truly a remarkable prophet of God, a man of great conviction and power whose life made a huge impact on the people who lived in his time. Jesus said that 'Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.' (Luke 7:28)

But there was also another reason why such great crowds of people came to listen to John the Baptist. It was a time when messianic expectations ran very high in Israel, and people were desperately longing and looking for any indications that Israel's Deliverer had arrived, to bring about the restoration of Israel spiritually as well as politically, as foretold by the OT prophets. Besides this, for about 400 years God had not sent any prophet to His people. After the prophet Malachi had delivered the last word of God to His people, the prophetic voice fell silent. And so we can understand why everyone was so excited to hear John the Baptist when he appeared on the scene. 

And John proved to be everything that they had hoped to see in a true prophet of God. His rustic appearance resembled that of the prophet Elijah. Like the prophets of old he spoke with divine authority and he spared neither king nor commoner from receiving the full blast of God's rebuke and call to repentance. And because he preached at Bethabara which was in the vicinity of the place where the prophet Elijah was last seen before he was taken up to heaven, many thought that John was actually Elijah who had returned to earth from heaven! This was further supported by Malachi's prophecy that God would one day send Elijah the prophet back to Israel before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes (Malachi 4:5,6).

Others thought that John the Baptist was not Elijah but the prophet that Moses had foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15 'The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.' This Prophet like unto Moses was to be the final Prophet from the Lord, whose authority would surpass even that of Moses. Now the Lord's apostles later on revealed under divine inspiration that Christ was the fulfillment of this prophecy. But the Jews in John's time thought that that Prophet would be some other person than their Messiah. 

All these identifications of John the Baptist as the Messiah, as Elijah and as the Prophet like unto Moses were of course grossly mistaken. But they do help us to see what high esteem and authority he had in the eyes of the people. In their minds, if anyone was to be the Messiah, John the Baptist would certainly be the best candidate of that time. And if he is not the Messiah, then surely he must be some other great personage such as Elijah or the Prophet like unto Moses. 

But what was John's own response to all this? He denied them outrightly in vv.20 and 21 of our text. The only identification he gave of himself was in v.22 'I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.' What a contrasting view John had of himself! He saw himself as being nothing more than a voice - a nameless voice with only one role: to call all men to prepare for the Lord's appearance to Israel. By identifying himself in this manner John the Baptist was only being true to his calling as the Lord's forerunner. 

In ancient times, whenever a great king went forth among his subjects, he would be preceded by someone called a forerunner. The sole duty of the forerunner was to get everyone in the way ready to welcome his majesty. Wherever he went to herald the king's approach people would stop whatever they were doing and prepare to pay homage to their king. Now, here is the point that we want to take note of: As long as the king was the one who received such homage, the forerunner's joy was full and complete. He had done his job well. But if anyone were to pay homage to him rather than to the king, the forerunner would be most upset, for that would certainly diminish the honour that the king ought to receive. 

This explains why John the Baptist described himself in v.23 only as a 'voice crying out in the wilderness.' He want no attention to be diverted away from the Person he was introducing to Israel. This also helps us to understand why John answered the question about his baptism in v.25 by saying 'I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.' Can you see in this answer how John spoke the barest minimum about his own water baptism and gave more prominence to the One who comes after Him? To him, knowing the purpose of his water baptism was nothing compared to knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. As John would say later on, 'He must increase, but I must decrease.' (John 3:30)

Let us learn an important lesson from this: Like John the Baptist, our greatest desire should always be to exalt the name of Christ above our own name. He must increase but we must decrease. Dearly beloved, if you are seeking great things for yourself, seek them not. Speak less of yourself and more about Christ. Let the honour of Christ become the goal of everything that you do. Use whatever respect or esteem that you receive from others to point them to Christ. Turn every personal success in your life into an opportunity to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. Whenever someone compliments or praises you for any achievement be quick to give all credit to Christ and what He has done for you. Always remember that the greatest privilege you will ever have is to show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9)!

Perhaps you may want to know now what you should be testifying about Jesus Christ. This is what we will see now as we look at the next section of our text on:

II. The Forerunner's Priestly Announcement (vv.29-30)

According to v.29, this announcement of John the Baptist concerning Jesus came about the very next day when he saw Jesus coming to him. Now, this was not the first time that Jesus had come to John. According to the other Gospel writers more than 40 days earlier, Jesus had come to John to be baptized in the river Jordan. Now, since Jesus has no sin there was really no need for Him to be baptized by John the Baptist. But Jesus went through the waters of baptism in order to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15). The righteousness here may be a reference to the OT Laws which required all candidates for the priesthood to be baptized with water before they could begin their service at the Tabernacle or Temple at the age of 30 (Number 8:6-7). Since Christ was to become our great high priest, He had to abide by that Law and therefore He submitted Himself to John's water baptism. Following this event, Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the Devil. 

After spending 40 days and 40 nights there and resisting every temptation from the Devil victoriously, Jesus returned to John at Bethabara. And that was the time when John the Baptist saw Him coming and made that important announcement in v.29 of our text: 'Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.' Now the words that John used here actually come from the vocabulary of the priesthood, which John was most familiar with since he was from the priestly line of Aaron. The words describe an offering that was to be made for sin. There are several important points that we should take note of here: 

Firstly we observe that John called Jesus a lamb. This reflects the sacrifical character of His ministry, because lambs occupied a very prominent place in the Temple sacrifices. Two lambs were offered at the Temple's altar every day, one in the morning and the other in the evening, and two more lambs were added to the sacrifices on each Sabbath day. Each lamb was only a year old, and as the lamb was led to the altar to be slaughtered, it was a perfect picture of humble, meek submission. There was no sound of protest or struggle at all. And this becomes an apt description of how Christ went to the Cross of Calvary. In Isaiah 53:7 we are told that 'He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.'

The meekness of the lamb is also an apt description of our Saviour's meek and gentle character (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:1) that attracts all sinners to come to Him. That is perhaps why Jesus loves to be called 'The Lamb.' In the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, Jesus is called 'The Lamb' no less than 27 times, making this His most used designation in His heavenly glory. When all of us who are saved gather around His throne in heaven one day, the song that we will sing to give praise unto Him is: 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.'

The next thing we observe in the announcement of John is that he called Jesus not just 'the Lamb,' but the Lamb of God. This emphasizes that He is the lamb that God Himself provides for us, to be our substitute. When Abraham obeyed the Lord's command by taking his son Isaac up Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice, Isaac said to him, 'Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?' (Genesis 22:7) Abraham's reply to him was, 'My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.' And those words have found their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God! 

The third thing that we must observe in John's announcement is found in the words 'taketh away.' This is translated from one Greek word (airo) which has the meaning of carrying away a burden, and in the process of doing this, also bearing the full weight of that burden. When God took away the sins of the world in the time of Noah, they were carried away by the waters of the Great Flood. But at the same time the waters also took away the lives of all who were responsible for those sins. It was as if they all sank into the deep floodwaters under the weight of their own sins. 

But the Good News is that there is now a way to take the sin of the world away without also taking the lives of sinners away - but that new way required God's only begotten Son, Jesus to be weighed down to death by the awful weight of our sins. Dearly beloved, let us reflect deeply on this amazing truth: The only way that Jesus could take away our sin was to bear it all on Himself. He who had no sins of His own to bear, lovingly chose to bear the sin of all believers. 

This brings us now to the fourth thing about John's announcement that we want to take special note of. It is not only your sin or my sin which the Lamb of God takes away, but it is the sin of the world - the world which consists of all kinds of believers both Jew and Gentile, old and young, rich and poor. All alike must come to the same Lamb to have their sins taken away! God has made no other provision than this for the taking away of sins. This truth is stated clearly in Acts 4:12 'Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.' Dear friends, if you have not come to Him yet I would urge you to do so right now. Come to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Now, perhaps some of you may want to ask, 'How can I know for sure that John the Baptist has made the right identification? He may have the authority of a prophet, but prophets are still men and perhaps they may sometimes be mistaken. How sure was John that he had recognized the right person as the Lamb of God? What evidence did he have? Is there any possibility at all that John the Baptist could have been biased, because after all Jesus was related to him since their mothers were cousins according to Luke 1:36?' The answers to these questions can be found in the last section of our text:

III. The Forerunner's Permanent Attestation (vv.31-34)

First of all, take note of the words, 'And I knew Him not' in v.31. Notice that they appear again in v.33. This emphasis clears away any doubts that there was some kind of secret collusion between him and Jesus to choose Jesus as the Messiah. John may have met Jesus before, and perhaps he had even sensed that God had greater plans for this younger cousin of his than for him. But John really did not know that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel and the Son of God - until he saw a sign from God when he baptized Jesus. That special sign settled the matter of identification for John once and for all. Let us read v.33 to see what that sign was: 'And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.'

Here we see that God had already revealed to John the Baptist that he would see the Holy Spirit descending and remaining on the one who is the Messiah. How exciting it must have been for him to look for the appearing of this sign from God. As he preached to the multitudes daily on the banks of the river Jordan, he might have looked at the sea of faces before him and wondered which one of them would be the one upon whom the Holy Spirit would descend. 

Then one day it really happened. And so glorious was the sight of the Spirit's descent upon Jesus that John could never forget it. From that day onward it became the foundation stone of his testimony, and he would speak about it with glad conviction, 'I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.' (v.32) Let us read the full account in Matthew's Gospel to understand the amazing phenomenon that John saw. Matthew 3:16-17 'And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'

What is really of great significance here is that this sign revealed as never before all three persons of the Godhead together at the same time! We see God the Father speaking from heaven. We see God the Son fulfilling all righteousness on earth, and we see God the Holy Spirit descending from the Father to the Son and remaining on the Son. Never before had anyone set their eyes on such a unique manifestation of the Triune God as this! It was as if that very spot where Jesus was baptized was suddenly transformed into the Holy of the Holies of God's Temple and John the Baptist was standing within the veil, overwhelmed by the sublime vision of God's blazing glory, a glory that every priest and prophet before him could only dream of witnessing! 

What greater proof of identification do you need than this record of John the Baptist, that Jesus Christ is, beyond all doubt, the beloved Son of God? Can there ever be any attestation better than the one that comes from the Triune God that Jesus is truly the eternal Word who was made flesh, and the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world? 

Dearly beloved, if the Word of God that you have heard this morning has convinced you that you have made the right identification of Jesus when you received Him as your Lord and Saviour, then you must now give Him the first place that He deserves in your life, for the Son of God came not only to save you from sin, but also to claim full ownership of your life. You must let Him reign in your heart and direct your life until everyone can see Christ in you. Let Him stamp His own divine image in you, so that no one would have much difficulty in identifying you with Jesus Christ.

John 01:1-18 - Basking In The Light Of the Son

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45 am service, 2007-03-04

Text: John 1:1-18

The title of this morning's message is 'Basking in the light of the Son.' You may have noticed that there is a pun here on the word 'Son.' Some people love to go basking in the sunlight at a beach either to warm their bodies or to give their skin a brown tan. This is especially so in colder climates where there are much fewer days of sunshine than we have here. I think we in Singapore are usually more interested in cooling ourselves off with air-conditioning than with soaking up the blazing rays of the sun. But though we may not care too much for sunbathing, that does not diminish the great importance of sunlight to us.

Life would be impossible without the light of the sun! Even though it comes from a source which is 150 million km away, it virtually provides all the energy to sustain life in the world. Its power is marvelously harnessed through the ingenious machinery of photosynthesis to produce sugar molecules and hydrocarbon chains out of air and water. All our food and fossil fuels were generated through this in sufficiently large amounts to keep us and all our machines going. 

It should amaze us what awesome energy and power God has invested in sunlight. The power of sunlight is the power that drives the water cycle, without which we would have no fresh water. Think of the devastating winds of a typhoon or hurricane - they are also powered by the rays of the sun. If some disaster were to suddenly stop the earth from receiving any sunlight at all, life would soon cease and all things on earth would freeze and come to a dead standstill! All these facts about sunlight helps us now to appreciate better the importance of another kind of light - an eternal, supernatural light that is of far greater importance to life: The light of God's only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

This happens to be one the great themes of the Gospel of John. Beginning today we will embark on an expository study of this book. It was written by the youngest of the 12 disciples of Jesus, who also became the one who was closest to the Lord ('the disciple whom Jesus loved'). And John, the son of Zebedee, as he was called, outlived all the rest of the apostles and lived to a ripe old age. Five books of the Bible were written by him, including the fourth Gospel.

John's Gospel was the last of the four gospels to be written (between 80 - 100 AD) and it is quite distinct from the other three. While the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke were designed to provide readers with a detailed historical account about the life and works of Jesus Christ, John's Gospel was designed to establish more fully the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. It was written with one main purpose, which is stated at the end of the book: 'are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.' (John 20:31). Knowing this helps us now to understand what we should hope to gain through this entire series of sermons from the Gospel of John. Firstly, it can convince sinners to believe in Christ for salvation. It will benefit those who desire to know how they can be rescued from eternal death through trusting in Jesus Christ. Thus John's Gospel is always recommended to seekers and new Christians for their personal study. 

Now, those of us who are already saved can also benefit much from this study of John's Gospel - to remind us about the grounds for our belief. It does not do us any good to have a blind belief in Christ. We ought to be constantly reminded how firm and unshakeable the grounds for our belief really are. And more importantly, we need to know the One we believe in very well. It is only by knowing Jesus Christ well through His Word that we can be fully 'persuaded that He is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him against that Day' (2 Timothy 1:12)! It is only by knowing Him whom the apostle John wrote about in the most exalted tones that we can live by faith in Him daily and have a closer walk with Him! 

And perhaps there may be others here who have already known the Lord Jesus for years and have also enjoyed many precious intimate moments with Him. But somehow it is not the same right now. Christ does not seem to be as real and as close to you as He was before. If this is true of you, the revival that your soul needs may come from a fresh study of your Lord and Saviour in the Gospel of John. This is one book that helps Christians to 'turn their eyes upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful face.' With these goals in mind, we shall now embark on our study of John's Gospel.

Let us begin by turning to John chapter 1 and read from the first verse to verse 18. Here in this passage we can discover three great reasons why we should believe in Jesus Christ: Firstly because He is our true Light. Secondly, because He gives us divine Life. And thirdly, because He fully Reveals God to us. Let us consider the first reason:

I. Jesus is Our True Light (vv.1-9)

The key to understanding this first section of our passage is found in the word 'true' of v.9. This word bears the idea of what is real and original, like a prototype which becomes the model or standard for all the rest that come after it to follow. This means that there can be only one original, true Light. Whatever other lights there may be are not the true Light. At best they are just mere copies, mere images or reflections of the true Light. And none of these other lights can ever take the place of the true Light, who is Jesus Christ.

This was the case with John the Baptist, who is mentioned in in vv.6-8. John the Baptist was truly a great prophet in his time, bringing hundreds of people to repentance by his fearless preaching and daring even to confront wicked kings and princes about their sins. John was most definitely a servant or messenger of the Lord, and therefore many would look to him as their light. About 20 years after his death, Paul the apostle found some of his followers living in the city of Ephesus (Acts 19). In fact there is a small sect today (about 50,000 strong) known as the Mandaeans living in the Iranian province of Khuzestan, who follow the teachings of John the Baptist to this day! Although John the Baptist was obviously a light from God, he was not the true Light. He was one of the many lights and witnesses that God had given to man. How do we know this? By looking at the different ways in which he and Christ are introduced here.

John the Baptist is introduced with the words of v.6 'There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.' Please compare this now with the words of the first verse: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' Can you spot the differences? Firstly, we see that John's existence had a beginning: he appeared at a particular time in history. Christ, on the other hand had no beginning, for He was already in existence in the beginning. 

Secondly, we see that John was a man. Christ, on the other hand, is God Himself. Thirdly, John was sent from God - that implies his subordination to God. Christ, on the other hand, was with God - that implies His equality with God. Fourthly, according to v.7, John 'came for a witness, to bear witness to the Light.' His role depended entirely on the One whom he bears witness to. The role of Jesus Christ, on the other hand, depends on nothing at all, because v.3 says, 'without him was not any thing made that was made.' All things find their origin and purpose in Him, and depend upon Him for their existence.

Dearly beloved, with such clear contrasts between Jesus Christ and John the Baptist, we can now understand better why Christ is called the true Light. He far exceeds every other light through which God has given eternal truths to man. In the course of human history many great luminaries have emerged. Each race, country, and culture has produced its own exceptional people - their prophets, sages and wise men - people who have provided them with some wisdom and glimpses of eternal truth. They are certainly worthy of some attention. But none of them are worthy enough of the trust and honour that should be given to the only original true Light for all mankind.

Besides this, according to Matthew 5:14, we Christians are called the light of the world. Like John the Baptist we too are sent from God to bear witness to the world, and so we must let our light shine before men. But even if we were to do this extremely well, none of us will ever have the unique distinction that belongs to the one and only true Light for all mankind. That distinction belongs only to our Lord Jesus. As the true Light, Jesus is the only One who is worthy of the fullest trust of every man. This is the point of the statement in v.9 'That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' Jesus Himself said, 'I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.' (John 8:12)

What should this mean to us? It means that if you have not trusted in Jesus yet for your salvation, you ought to do so right now, because He is your true Light. Please stop entertaining the common but utterly false notion that there are many different ways to God or that all religions can lead to the same God. This is not true. The only way to God and to eternal life is through believing in Jesus Christ. And that belief must be totally exclusive, because believing that Christ is the true Light means you can no longer regard any other faith or religion to be your true Light. And believing that Christ is your true Light will also lead you to discover that He is the only One who can give you divine Life. This leads us now to the second reason for believing in Christ:

II. Jesus Gives Us Divine Life (vv.10-13)

That is the main thrust of verses 10-13 of our text. Firstly we see our dire need for divine life. It is found in the cold response given to Jesus by the world and the Jews when He came. It says that Jesus was in the world which He had made, and yet the world at large did not know Him. And Jesus came to His own people, but they did not receive Him. In fact they despised, abused and crucified Him. 

What do these responses show about the world and Israel? They bring out the darkness of sin. Verse 5 tells us that 'the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.' Why were they unable to comprehend and receive the Lord Jesus Christ? It is because sin had made them dead and totally unresponsive to God their Maker! This is the awful effect that sin has on all mankind even to this day. Every unsaved person is dead to God and to the things of God. They make no sense to him. And the worst thing is that he does not know that he is dead. He thinks that he is very much alive. But he actually needs life most urgently, and that life can only come from believing in Jesus Christ. 

John 1:12 says, 'But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.' Now, please observe that the verse does not stop there. It continues in v.13 by saying, 'Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.' This part is extremenly important because without it, there would be no answer to the question: If the world did not know Him and even Christ's own people did not receive Him because of sin, how then can anyone at all receive Him and believe on His name? All are in the same uncomprehending darkness. If your darkness keeps you from comprehending the Light, how can you ever receive that Light? 

Verse 13 gives us the answer - you must be born again, and this new birth will give you a new nature - one that is no longer dead but alive to God, one that is able to comprehend, receive and believe in Christ! And this new birth is something that only God can do to you. No one has the power nor even the desire to work his own new birth because all are dead in sin. It is only by the sovereign grace of God that a sinner has the ability to receive Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. 

We will be dealing a lot more with this truth of the new birth when we come to the third chapter of John's Gospel. But for now it is important for us to consider how we may apply this truth. It is applied by examining ourselves to see if we have truly been born of God. How can you tell if you are born of God? There is no birth certificate that you can refer to, to determine this. However verse 12 provides 3 helpful clues: Firstly, have you received Christ? Was there a time in your life when you had personally asked Jesus to save you from sin and give you eternal life? Secondly, have you become a child of God? A child naturally bears some resemblance to his parents. Has your character and conduct changed over time to bear more and more resemblance to the image of God? 

Is there also an inward conviction from the Holy Spirit assuring you that you are God's child, and prompting you to call Him your heavenly Father? Thirdly, do you believe on the name of Jesus? The word 'believe' used here in v.12 is found in a form that implies continued action in the original Greek NT. This implies a faith and dependence on Christ that endures. Have you persevered in trusting in Christ? 

Dearly beloved, if you examine yourself with questions like these and you are able to answer them affirmatively and with all honesty, then you have good reasons to rejoice in your salvation. No one should assume that they are saved on any grounds other than these. No one gets saved by joining a church or by attending its services regularly. No one gets saved by being born into a Christian family. As Jesus Himself said to Nicodemus, 'Ye must be born again.' (John 3:7) 

And if you are now convinced that you have been mistaken about your salvation, and you need to be born again, please do not wait to settle this matter with the Lord. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ right now. And how can you believe? Through hearing the Word of God as it is preached to you. Romans 10:17 says, 'faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.' You have already heard two reasons why you should believe in Christ: Firstly He is your true Light. Secondly, He gives you divine life. As we come to the last 5 verses of our text we will find one more compelling reason that must convince us to believe in Him:

III. Jesus Reveals God to Us Fully (vv.14-18)

Verse 14 begins with the words, 'And the Word was made flesh.' (See 1 Timothy 3:16 'God was manifest in the flesh') These are the most important words to our ears in this whole passage, and perhaps even in the whole of Scripture! Why? Because they express so well the mystery of the incarnation: That in Jesus Christ, the all-present, all-mighty and all-knowing God was manifested in our own frail human flesh. 

Here is the greatest mystery of all time: How can God become a frail and mortal creature? This frailty becomes even more pronounced when we consider that He did not become flesh immediately as a full-grown man, but as a newborn baby. There is really no stage of growth where a man's frailty is more evident than at the time of his birth. When a newborn baby has just emerged from its mother's womb, it needs all the tender loving care that it can get in order to survive. And the question to ask is: How can it be possible for the all-powerful God to be reduced to this?

The difference between deity and humanity is so infinitely vast that many who have tried to understand the incarnation through their own human reasoning have failed to grasp this truth. This is why false doctrines concerning either the deity of Christ or the humanity of Christ have ravaged the church from time to time. In the 2nd century there were the Gnostics who believed that it was not really God who became flesh in Jesus, but only one of His lesser emanations. At the same time there was another group, called the Docetists, which believed in the full deity of Christ, but completely denied His humanity. In the 4th century there were the Arians who denied the deity of Jesus, and today there are many cults (e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons) that do the same. The reason for the emergence of all these heresies is always the same: It is the inability to accept with simple child-like faith what the Bible plainly teaches about the incarnation: 'The Word was made flesh.'

To us who believe in the incarnation, this is not merely a doctrine to be defended, but a precious truth to be fully appreciated and applied in our life. For it is through the incarnation that we have now received the fullest revelation of God. God did not lose any of His divine attributes when He was made flesh. He entered into a new dimension of existence through the gateway of human birth, but He fully retained His divine nature, while taking on an additional human nature. Hence Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. That makes Him God's ultimate and final revelation of Himself to us, which is clearer and sharper than any other mode of revelation - whether by the Old Testament Law that Moses gave to Israel (v.17), or by the prophets, or by visions and dreams. 

If we can liken revelation to viewing a picture, then all the earlier modes of divine revelation would be like looking at an old 3 inch x 5 inch low-resolution photograph, which does not show much detail. That is what we had to be contented with back in the early days of monochrome photography. The ultimate revelation of God when He was made flesh would then be like watching a high definition moving image on a 60 inch screen where even the tiniest details can be seen most clearly. This is definitely much better than the all earlier low-resolution photographs we used to look at. And we thank God that this is the kind of revelation of Him that we now have in Christ: God manifested in the flesh!

One result of God being manifested in the flesh is that His disciples who walked with Him, talked, ate and lived with him for about three and a half years could testify in v.14 that they had 'beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father' and that they had all received of His fullness and grace for grace (v.16). According to v.15 even John the Baptist was able to recognise the eternal God revealed in Christ, since he testified, 'He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me.' The last part of this may not have made much sense to the people who heard him at that time, since it was generally known that John the Baptist was at least 6 months older than Jesus. By saying that Jesus existed before Him, John was showing Christ's pre-incarnate existence as the eternal God.

In addition to all this Jesus Himself said plainly, 'he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father' (John 14:9). And verse 18 of our text states the same truth so well: 'No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.' Jesus came to declare God, to tell out God. That is why John designated Him in our text as the Word (V.1 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.'). This designation comes from the word 'logos' which the Greeks used to express the ideas of reason and creative control, the principle which controls the universe and animates the world. When used in the Bible however, the keynote idea of logos is divine revelation. And here it is used to designate God the Son as the ultimate and final revelation of God to all mankind. Just as we use words to express our thoughts to others, so the Son expresses God to us. Just as our words reveal our heart and mind to others; so the Son expresses, manifests and shows God to us.

Now, what should all this mean to you? It means that through the Son of God you can now know God and walk closely with Him. Earlier on we saw that Jesus is the only true Light who shines the knowledge of God right within our hearts. We have also seen that He gives us divine Life from the moment we are born again, and thus we are now spiritually alive and able to comprehend the things of God. Dearly beloved, if you are truly born of God what priority do you give to knowing Him? Do you spend sufficient time to bask in the light of the Son? Or are you allowing the cares of this world to rob you of the blessings of having a close walk with Him? If the Lord has spoken to your heart and convicted you through His Word, please do something about it.

John 01:14 - The Word Was Made Flesh

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC Combined Christmas Service, 2005-12-25

Text: John 1:14

On this morning's Combined Christmas Praise Service we have gathered together to remember the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ which took place some 2,005 years ago. Dear Friends, there has not been any birth in history surrounded with as many fascinating happenings and events as this particular one: For no other birth in the world was already known and predicted by two prophets 700 years before it happened! No other birth in the world was brought about by the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit in the life of a virgin. No other birth was ever heralded by multitudes of angels singing in the night sky. No other birth brought wise men all the way from the east (despite the dangers and difficulties of traveling), to worship the one who was born, with the costliest gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh! 

All these events put together are obviously designed to declare to the world the importance of this birth: That here in the city of Bethlehem, and in a lowly stable, (which is the most unlikely place for it to happen) something entirely new and unprecedented in all recorded history was happening, something that would have the most far-reaching consequences on mankind, and on the whole world for ages to come. Let us find out what it is by reading from our text in John 1:14 'And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.' 

You will notice that the subject of this verse is 'the Word.' To find out who or what the Word mentioned here is, we must read the first 3 verses of the same chapter: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.' (John 1:1-3) From this we learn that the Word is actually God Himself, the Creator of all things, who has existed from the beginning, and that really means that He has been there from a timeless eternity. Now, v.1 says that the Word was with God. The Word is God the Son, and is distinguished from God the Father, although they are actually one God, and not two. This truth is utterly incomprehensible to our finite minds, because God Himself is infinite and beyond any man's ability to fully comprehend.

But what we can comprehend and should comprehend is why God the Son is called 'the Word' in this passage. This designation is translated from the Greek word 'logos.' To the Greek mind, this word, logos, expressed the ideas of reason and creative control, the principle which controls the universe and animates the world. When used in the Bible, the keynote idea of the word, logos is divine revelation. And it is used here as a designation for God the Son, to denote that He is the ultimate revelation of God to all mankind. The only way that man can know God is through Him.

Having understood what is meant by 'the Word,' which is the subject of this passage, we are now ready to learn what v.14 teaches us about the Word. There are three significant truths for us here. Firstly, we learn that

I. God Became a Man

This truth is found in the beginning of the verse which says, 'And the Word was made Flesh.' I want you to observe the contrast between this and v.1. Verse 1 states that the Word 'was,' referring to its permanent condition or state, while v. 14 now states that the Word 'was made' flesh, involving a change in state. This is the basic statement of the Incarnation, for God entered into a new dimension of existence through the gateway of human birth. And what makes this so amazing is that 'the flesh' that our Almighty God assumed unto Himself in the incarnation is, of all things, human flesh - Human flesh in all its frailty and mortality! 1 Peter 1:24 tells us: 'For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.' What an apt illustration grass is, of the frailty of our flesh!

Dearly Beloved, here now is the greatest mystery of all time: How can God who is almighty and all-powerful become a frail and mortal human being? Now, this frailty becomes even more pronounced when we consider that God did not become flesh immediately as a full-grown man, but as a newborn babe. You know, there is no stage of growth where man's frailty can be seen more clearly than at the time when he is born. When a newborn baby has just emerged from its mother's womb, it needs all the tender loving care that it can get in order to survive.

Actually of all God's creatures, newborn humans are the ones who need the most care. A newborn elephant or giraffe is able to stand on its feet within twenty minutes. A newborn monkey is able to cling to its mother while she swings from tree to tree. Newborn kittens are able to smell and feel their way to their mother's belly to begin drinking milk within just a few minutes of birth. How about a newborn human being? The only thing that it can do is to cry loudly for help!

And so the question that we ask is: How can the Almighty God be reduced to being such a vulnerable and helpless form, that has to be carried, fed with milk, bathed, have his diapers changed, and gradually be taught how to talk, how to walk and how to put on His own clothes? Many have tried to explain this mystery, but failed. Even the great scientist Sir Isaac Newton who discovered gravity could never explain this. To him it was impossible for an infinite God to become a finite creature. And because he could not understand this, he rejected it altogether. 

But his rejection does not mean that this great event did not take place. According to 1 Timothy 3:16, 'And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.' Dearly beloved, the way in which God was manifest in the flesh must forever remain a great and glorious mystery to us, because human minds are simply incapable of understanding it. We must simply accept it with child-like faith in God's written Word. And as we do that, we will then be able to understand and appreciate its full significance.

And what is its significance? As John Calvin has put it so well, Christ, the Son of God became the Son of Man so that we the sons of men may become the sons of God. He came down to earth, so that we might go up to heaven. He took our frail human nature on Himself, so that we might put on His divine nature (i.e. restoring the image of God in us)! What a marvelous truth this is!

Dearly beloved, this morning we are celebrating the awesome event when our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Living and True God became as one of us. While retaining in full His own divine nature, He willingly took on our human nature, thus lowering Himself all the way down to the level of puny man, lower even than the angels. And then He lived here on Earth with man for 33 years. This brings us to the next significant truth we can learn from our sermon text:

II. God Lived with Man

This comes from the second part of the verse which tells us that the Word 'dwelt among us.' The verb translated 'dwelt' literally means 'to pitch a tent.' And this may be an allusion to the Tabernacle, the large tent that was pitched right at the centre of the Israelite camp where God dwelled with His people during their journey to the Promised Land. To the people of Israel, there was no blessing that is greater than to have God dwelling among them. 

They could see Him visibly leading them as the Pillar of Cloud by Day and the Pillar of Fire by night, and whenever they set up camp to rest in their journey, that same pillar would rest on the Tabernacle.

Now, when Christ was born, God dwelt with His people once again, but this time, the tent that He used was not one that is made of cloth and animal skins like the Tabernacle wa made of. This time, the tent was frail human flesh and blood, in which He dwelled or 'tabernacled' among men for 33 years. Now if you have spent most of your life living in the comforts of a large condominium or palatial home, and then you left that all behind to live for a few months in a small tent in the middle of a dense jungle, then you may be able to understand quite well, what it was like for God the Son to 'tabernacle' with men on Earth.

The Lord of glory left His usual place in Heaven above, and accepted the austere conditions of human life and environment, with all the attendant temporal limitations that all humans experience. He had to submit Himself to being limited by time and space. He had to experience hunger, thirst, tiredness, pain and suffering. The birth by which he began his human existence took place in the most unsterile delivery room - in a stable where cows and asses gave birth (It was not at all like a delivery ward in our Kandang Kerbau Hospital, for it was a real kandang kerbau, which means 'a place where cows are kept' in Malay). His baby cot was a manger, which was actually a feeding trough for the animals, probably stained with the saliva that drools from their mouths as they eat from it! We can only imagine how dirty, smelly and unhygienic it must have been. Why did our God endure such indignities as these? He did it in order to be our Emmanuel 'God with us.'

The best rulers in history have always been those who were very close to their people, who came down from their ivory towers to the level of their subjects. One example was a king of Russia by the name of Peter (1672-1725). As a young man he joined the Russian army. Instead of immediately accepting a commander's post (which he could easily have accepted), he chose to start right at the bottom and enlist as a private. Although he was king, he had to do all the unpleasant menial work like cleaning the army barracks. But he worked his way up the ranks until he became the commander-in-chief of his own army. He also built up his navy to become a formidable force. Today he is remembered as 'Tsar Peter the Great.'

The same thing is even more true of Christ - he too had to experience the suffering and deprivation of those who are down at the grassroots level, in order to be perfectly identifed with us. It is no wonder that the prophet Isaiah called Him, 'a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.' (Isaiah 53:3). Hebrews 2:11 speaks of how complete His identification with us became as a result of this 'For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.'

Dearly beloved, you must never not cease to be amazed at this wonderful truth: that Christ your God should call you His brother or His sister. It should mean a whole lot to us, because it speaks of His closeness to us, to identify with us. When Christ calls you His 'brother' he is saying that He is just like your own sibling. He can fully identify with you in all your griefs, sorrows, fears, disappointments and frustrations. Is there any feeling you have that Jesus cannot understand? No. Is there any difficulty or fear you have that He cannot fully appreciate? Not at all. Why? It is because Jesus became like us and has dwelt here with us.

In his full humanity Christ was hungry, tired and thirsty. He lived without the comfort and luxury that the rich enjoyed. He was born in a lowly stable and raised in a carpenter's house. When He began His ministry at the age of 30 He traveled all over Israel on foot. In Matthew 8:20 Jesus Himself said, 'The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.' 

In John 4, Jesus was so tired after two days of traveling on foot, that He sat down at a well and had to ask a woman who came to the well to draw out some water from the well for Him to drink.

In John 11, when his good friend Lazarus died, we see our Lord in His full humanity weeping with the two bereaved sisters. In fact the shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35 'Jesus wept.' Though this verse only has two words it speaks volumes! It speaks of the fact that in the fullness of time, the Lord our God came Himself down from His highest ranking majesty, and glory to dwell among us, to 'tabernacle' and rub shoulders with the common ranks of humanity by putting on our own frail nature of flesh and blood, and He wept with us! What a great condescension this is!

And what makes His condescension even greater is the fact that the world that He dwelled in for those 33 years is soaked and saturated with sin, all kinds of wrongdoing, evil schemes of wicked men and crimes - the very things that He utterly hates? We can never fully fathom How Jesus was able to put up with all these things, because we are all sinners and we feel very much at home in such a sinful environment - it is our element! But to Jesus Christ, every moment of dwelling in this world of sin, was only possible through His endurance! And at the end of His earthly existence, Jesus even endured the great agony of dying a most painful death on the cross of Calvary.

Dear friends, no one has ever condescended to do as much as the Lord Jesus did when He was born into this world. No one ever gone through such a great degree of discomfort and endurance. What was it then that made the all-mighty, all-powerful God dwell among us? 

III. God Came to Save Man

The answer can be found in the third part of our sermon text: 'and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.' This glory that John the Gospel writer speaks of here, is none other than the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God who is given to save the world from sin. John was an eyewitness to the last 3 years of Christ's life. During those 3 eventful years, John became part of the inner circle of Christ's disciples. He was thus privileged to behold glorious things about Jesus that no one else were able to behold.

He saw how Jesus turned water into wine. He saw how Jesus healed a paralysed man, and a man who was born blind, how He fed 5,000 with 5 loaves and two fishes, and how He raised Lazarus back to life after beind dead for 4 days. He had even seen Jesus transfigured on a mount and speaking with Moses and Elijah in His heavenly glory. But of all these things that John had witnessed, none can compare with the glory of Christ which was displayed at His death and resurrection. It is because these two events reveal a divine glory that is unique only to the only begotten Son of God, John devotes 9 out of the 21 chapters of His book (43 %) to describe the death and resurrection of Christ in full detail.

No one, not even the God the Father and God the Holy Spirit possesses this glory that is unique only to God the Son. It was His glory alone to die on the cross for our sins and to bring life and immortality to light by His resurrection from the dead!

Dear friends, it was only at the cross of Calvary and at the empty tomb that the glory of the only-begotten Son was fully revealed. The cross of Christ is the supreme demonstration of God's wonderful grace to sinners. The resurrection of Christ is the supreme demonstration that God remains true to all His covenant promises - especially His promise to conquer death and hell. And both of these were possible only because 'the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us.'

If Jesus had not been born in human flesh, He would never have been able to die on the cross for us, in our place, because none but human flesh can ever bear God's punishment for human sins. And if Jesus had not been born in human flesh, He would never have been able to resurrect from the grave, because He needs to have a body of flesh to be risen from the dead. Hence, we proclaim to all today that Jesus was born in order to die, and to be resurrected from death.

What all this means is that the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which 'the Word was made flesh,' and in which God the Son took on our human nature, was absolutely essential and necessary for Him to accomplish His glorious work of saving us from sin. Whenever we celebrate Christmas let this thought be foremost in our minds: We are celebrating God's entrance into this world to save sinners! 

And whenever we celebrate Christmas we must praise the Lord Jesus for His tremendous love for us that made Him willing to be born into this sinful world to save us. Now, dear friends, please think about this carefully: Has there ever been any love that is as great as this love? Has anyone ever loved us so selflessly, so wonderfully and so completely that way that God loved us in Christ?

As we meditate on all these things, let us realise just how greatly Jesus loves us to have done all these things for us. Can you see now what a great Saviour and Friend you have in Him? What will you do now in response to this? If you haven't turned to Jesus yet, please do so right now. Why do you delay so long to make such a wonderful Lord your Saviour? Don't you realize that there is no one else who can save you? Don't you know that He loves you and cares for you?

It would be a most tragic thing indeed for anyone of us here to continue to refuse to turn Jesus after hearing this message, because it would mean turning away from One who has condescended to become a man like you, to identify Himself completely with you, in order to save you. Won't you stop resisting His outward calls to you to be saved? Jesus says, 'Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.' (Matthew 11:28-30) Won't you open your heart right now in obedience to God's command, and ask Him to take away all your sins and to be your Saviour forever? My prayer for anyone here who is still unsaved is that you will come to Jesus right now.

And for those of us who have already turned to Christ and have been saved, my prayer for you is that you will respond to what you have heard today with much greater love and appreciation for your Lord Jesus Christ. Such a Saviour as our Lord Jesus surely deserves our heart's deepest praises. Rededicate yourself now to know Him and to serve Him well. 

Please go and tell your loved ones and friends all about Him, so that they may turn to Him and make Him their Lord and Saviour. May this knowledge of Jesus Christ as the Word who was made Flesh stir up our hearts now to greater heights of devotion to Him, so that we may make Him supreme in our life.

Acts 24:1-27 - A Conscience Void of Offence 

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at Life BPC 8am & 11am Svc, 2016-11-20

 

One of the marvels of modern technology is the GPS or Global Positioning System. This can be a big help to us whenever we need to find directions to an unfamiliar location. All we need to do is to key in the address and then follow all the instructions given – “After 300 meters turn left,” or “keep right at the fork” or “Continue straight.” It is so easy and convenient to use, and I am sure many of us have used GPS applications installed in our mobile phones or gadgets while driving or commuting.

However I am sure that many of us have also found that the directions given are not always accurate. The App may tell us to make a right turn, but we discover that we can’t do that because there is no break in the road divider, and so we have to travel much further until we reach a U-turn. These occasional errors are not as bad as the ones that some people have experienced with their GPS. Instead of guiding them to their destination, it led them into a lake or up into a narrow mountain path. Thankfully, such disasters do not happen very often, and they only cause embarrassment to the drivers who had trusted too much in their GPS and had to be rescued. 

There is however, a built-in GPS in us which we use to guide us along our journey through life. And if errors occur with it, the results can be awfully destructive – immoral or dishonest behaviour, broken lives and broken relationships, or in extreme cases – a public scandal and a criminal record. We call this built-in GPS our Conscience. God has made us all to be moral beings. We are all born with a moral compass that guides us to do the right thing. This is what the Bible says in Romans 2:14-15 – “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.”

It is our conscience that evaluates our actions and intentions. It is an internal judge that examines all that we do and say. Whenever we think of doing something right, it makes us feel good. But whenever we think about doing something wrong, our conscience disturbs us and makes us feel uneasy, in order to prevent us from doing it. And if we persist to do it, our conscience will create a sense of guilt in us that doesn’t go away until we have put things right. 

One passage of Scripture which shows the importance of obeying one’s conscience is Acts chapter 24. This chapter describes how the apostle Paul defended himself against certain accusations before a Roman governor called Felix. You may recall from the previous sermons we had from the Book of Acts, that a huge riot broke out in Jerusalem when Paul was there. The Jews thought that he had desecrated the Temple by bringing Gentiles into it (21:28). Thankfully, the Roman authorities stopped the riot and took Paul into custody. Then a secret plot to assassinate Paul was discovered in time (23:16), and he was quickly dispatched to Caesarea where a proper trial was to be conducted before Felix, the Roman Governor of Judea (23:33). 

Let us turn to Acts chapter 24 to see Paul’s defense against all the charges that were brought against him before Felix, and how he later addressed Felix and his wife. This entire chapter has a legal setting– It is just like the scene in a Court of Law. Paul was the accused, the Jews were the plaintiffs, and the Roman governor Felix was the judge. The Jews hired an eloquent lawyer named Tertullus to plead their case against Paul (v.2). Paul presented his own defence, citing the lack of any evidence against him (v.13) and the absence of all the witnesses (v.19). Felix therefore adjourned the hearing to a later time when a key witness would arrive (v.22). Paul was kept under house arrest, to await the resumption of the trial (v.23). On the surface, everything appeared to be done in a very nice and proper legal manner.

But beneath the outward veneer of propriety, we see the subtle manner that sin works in the hearts of men. In v.2 Tertullus tries to win the judge over with sweet words of flattery: “Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence…” 

In v.5 Paul is deliberately cast in the worst possible light. He is labelled as a “pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: who also hath gone about to profane the temple.” The Jews on the other hand are portrayed as poor victims who had been terribly wronged – all they ever wanted to do was to give Paul a fair trial (v.6). But unfortunately the chief captain of the Romans viciously snatched him away from them, thus obstructing the course of justice (v.7). And now they are seeking the help of Felix to put things right by allowing them to judge this ‘pestilent fellow’ in their own Jewish court. What a horribly distorted picture Felix was given here!

But Felix knew the Jews too well to miss their real motives for wanting to have Paul. He had no intention of helping them at all. He never summoned the chief captain to give his testimony after that, and so the trial was never resumed. But Felix also had no intention of helping Paul. Even though he knew that Paul was not guilty and should be released, he let Paul remain under house arrest right until the end of his term as governor. Do you know why Felix did this? Verse 26 tells us – “He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him...” What a clear abuse of authority this is! 

The one who should really be put on trial is not Paul, but Felix. And God allowed him to have a little preview of the trial that awaits him at God’s final judgment. This happened when Felix and his wife Drusilla sent for Paul to hear what he had to say. Verse 25 tells us, “And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled…”

Why did he tremble? It is because his own conscience condemned him severely. It was now his turn to be the accused, and he could not escape from the guilt and shame of his many sins. What a huge contrast this was to Paul, who did not tremble at all during his trial despite the accusations the Jews had made against him through their high-powered lawyer. Why did Paul not tremble before them? It is because his conscience was clear – it was a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men. Actually, among all the people who stood in the court that day, the only one who had a clear conscience was Paul.

Dearly beloved, as we live in a world full of temptations to sin, it is good for us to learn about the Conscience we all have, so that we will too would desire to have a conscience that is void of offence. There are three lessons we need to learn about our conscience. 

1. It Is Useful to Prevent Sin.

Let us look again at verse 16 where Paul said, “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.” Paul’s conscience had helped to keep him from sinning against God and against men. This in turn gave him the moral courage to stand alone against all the wicked people around him. Paul was able to face all his accusers without trembling. He was able to speak before the judge so boldly, because he had done nothing wrong. His conscience had done him a really great service.

That shows how useful our conscience can be to us. Whenever we contemplate some sinful thought or action, it serves as a warning bell. It tells us that danger is coming. This can help us to live without offence toward God. E.g. when somebody praises you for a work that is well done, and you begin to entertain great thoughts about yourself, your conscience will sound the alarm – “God deserves the glory for this, not you!” You can thank God that your conscience was there to stop you from committing the sin of pride.

A good conscience also helps us to live without offence toward men. E.g. You pay for something that you have purchased, but the cashier makes a mistake and gives you more change than you should receive. You feel tempted to keep it and walk out of the shop, but your conscience begins to nag at you – “That money is not yours to keep – go back now and return it!” Thank God for a conscience that has kept you from stealing.

Here is another situation: As you drive out of a parking lot you accidentally put a dent in the car that is parked beside you. Since nobody saw the accident, you begin to drive off as you are already late for an appointment. But your conscience pricks you: “Leave a note on the damaged car to bear responsibility for its repair!”

Here then is the application of knowing this: Make sure that you pay attention to the warnings of your conscience. Whenever you feel tempted to do something sinful, follow your conscience. Don’t debate with it. Don’t ask, “Why can’t I do this?” That will lead you on the wrong track. When conscience speaks, just follow it. If you want to be safe, get into the habit of following your conscience. Do this consistently, and you will become strong morally. You will enjoy the fruits of having a clear conscience and be able to bear a good testimony for God before the world. 

One problem that you will face however, is that conscience sometimes does not work as well as it should. In the beginning God created man with a reliable conscience. But when man sinned his conscience became faulty and therefore it is not as reliable as before. This has affected man’s ability to make good moral judgments. This is one reason why a person may sometimes think that he is doing something good when he is really doing something evil. As Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” It is only when a person is saved by Jesus Christ that his conscience is renewed as he is instructed in the will of God through His Word and the Holy Spirit.

The apostle Paul was just like that. Before he was saved, he did a lot of evil against God’s people out of a blind, misguided zeal. He went all out to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ. It was only after he was converted on the road to Damascus that Paul began to see how sinful his actions really were. He realized that he was a “blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious.” (1 Timothy 1:13) And as his renewed conscience began to work, he repented of all his sins and was forgiven. 

From that moment onward Paul “exercised himself to have always a conscience that is void of offence toward God and toward men.” That was what he testified in v.16. The word ‘exercise’ here is in a form that implies continuous or repeated action. It means that Paul made efforts to keep his conscience in good working order. This brings us now to the second lesson we should learn about our conscience… 

2. It Must be Maintained to Be Kept Useful.

What exactly does your conscience need in order to be well maintained and kept useful? Let me suggest four things to you. Firstly, it needs to be kept under God’s Rule: You should always let the Lord have complete rule over your conscience. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” You must never allow anyone bind your conscience by making you promise to do everything he says without question. Christ alone is Lord of your conscience. 

The second thing your conscience needs is God’s Word. Your conscience must be constantly equipped with God’s Word so that every judgment it makes will be fully aligned with God’s will. As Psalm 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” At the beginning of this sermon I talked about GPS errors. How can these be avoided? The accuracy of the GPS in your phone depends largely on its connection with the signal of at least three satellites that are orbiting the earth. GPS errors are often the result of a blocked signal (E.g. when we drive through a tunnel) In the same way, if you want to have a conscience that makes no errors, be sure to read or hear God’s Word regularly. Each time you do this, your conscience is recalibrated by an absolute standard, which is God’s unchanging Word.

And please ensure that God’s Word is the only standard you use for every decision you make. I want you to consider what Martin Luther said when stood before the Holy Roman Emperor at the Diet of Worms in April 1521 and was told to take back his teachings. But Luther didn't see any proof against his 95 theses which would move him to recant. He said, “Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.”

We go on to the third thing that your conscience needs, which is God’s Power. You must trust God for the power you need to follow its directions. While conscience is a great help to warn you of danger, it cannot give you the power to avoid it. A month ago the Australian news reported about an armed robber who turned himself in to the police because of his guilty conscience. What is interesting is that this was the fourth time that this young man had done this. He had been turning himself in each time he committed a crime since 2009 because his conscience was very effective: It gave him no peace. But this did not prevent him from committing another crime. 

This problem is mentioned in Romans 7:18-19 – “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” Thus we need something more than a conscience to live a life that is morally upright and free from the power of sin – We need the Holy Spirit’s power. How thankful we ought to be for the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts! Let us keep walking in the Spirit and submitting to His control. 

There is another thing that your conscience cannot do for you – It cannot remove the guilt of your sins. It will torment you with guilt every time you commit sin, but it cannot remove that guilt from you. Thus, the fourth thing which your conscience needs in order to work well is God’s Forgiveness, which comes only through the death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I speak now to anyone here who has been struggling with a guilty conscience for a long time, perhaps for things you have done or for things you have not done. You don’t have to be troubled by this guilt anymore, because Christ has shed His precious blood on the cross to purge your conscience as Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works [or works that lead to death] to serve the living God?”

How can we appropriate this purging of our conscience? We can appropriate it by confessing our sins to God each time we are convicted of them. 1 John 1:9 says. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” How wonderful it is to be forgiven and to have the burden of guilt completely removed from one’s conscience. As King David said,“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” (Psalm 32:1-2)

Thus we have seen four things that we can do to maintain a conscience that is void of offence: They have to do with God’s Rule, God’s Word, God’s Power and God’s Forgiveness. 

Coming back to our passage, we that Paul exercised himself to always have a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men. The Roman Governor Felix, on the other hand had a conscience that was full of offence toward God and toward men. According to well-known historians like Tacitus and Josephus, Antonius Felix was an ambitious Roman slave who craved for power and position. He became the governor of Judea by political intrigue. He was known for his frequent displays of ferocity and cruelty – the flattery that was lavished on him in v.2 was thoroughly hypocritical, for the Jews actually disliked him.  

Felix was also known for his immoral behavior. Drusilla, who is mentioned in v.24, was his second wife. She was already married to a Syrian king, but Felix was so captivated by her beauty that he persuaded her to abandon her husband and marry him. Felix was also motivated by greed, as can be seen by the bribe he expected in v.26. 

That’s why he trembled when Paul “reasoned about righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come.” His conscience was convicting him that he lacked righteousness and temperance. His conscience made him tremble with fear as he realized that he could not escape from the judgment to come. But what did Felix do with his conscience? He simply ignored it. He did not fall down on his knees like the Philippian jailer in Acts 16 had done and ask, “What must I do to be saved?”

He stopped Paul from proceeding any further and said to him, “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.” This brings us now to the third lesson we should learn about our conscience…

3. It Will Become Useless if It Is Ignored.

It is sad that many people who come under conviction of their sins do not repent. They choose to ignore that conviction, and continue to commit those sins. They may even say to their conscience, “I will heed your warning at a more convenient time!” But that more convenient time never comes. And after some time they cease to feel any more pangs of guilt and shame whenever they sin, because their conscience has been seared as it were, with a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:2). It has become dead and useless. 

So please don’t ignore your conscience. Be sensitive to its warnings. When you commit sin, be sure to confess it immediately and seek God’s forgiveness. Do you know what will happen if you do not confess your sins? In order to suppress your guilt feelings you may convince yourself that your sin is alright. This will lead you to commit it again and say, “It’s not so bad. Nothing happened to me. Everybody is doing it. After all, I am not as bad as many others.” Then little by little your boundaries will extend further and further, until you believe that there is nothing wrong with your sins. God says in Isaiah 5:20,“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness.”

It is very disastrous to have a conscience that no longer works for you. What do you think will happen to a building that has its fire alarm system completely disabled? It will burn down and be completely destroyed!

I will end this sermon with a word to those who are still unsaved: Please do not delay to respond to God as He speaks to you. God wants you to know that you have disobeyed His commandments. You have broken the laws which are written in your heart. Does your conscience agree with this? I am quite sure that it does. When the Jews brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus demanding that she be stoned to death for her sin, He replied, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (John 8:7) They were all so convicted by their own conscience that they went out one by one, beginning with the eldest, even unto the last. No one was left to cast a stone at her because no one was without sin. Can you claim to be without sin?

God has shown His great love and kindness to you. He has given you many opportunities to repent of your sins and turn to Jesus Christ for salvation. But as long as you refuse to do this, God cannot withhold the judgment you deserve for all your sins. Do you tremble at this thought? Do you feel uneasy about the judgement to come? If you do, then that’s a good sign: It means that your conscience is doing its work. And the right way to respond to such uneasiness is to confess your sins and seek God’s forgiveness through the death of Christ on the Cross. 

Will you turn to Him and be saved today? Or will you end up just like the Roman governor Felix? History records that two years after he ignored his conscience, Felix lost his position because of some atrocities that he committed. He was recalled to Rome to answer all the charges brought against him by the Jews. And he would have suffered severe punishment if not for the pleas of his influential brother before the Roman emperor Nero. Felix was spared from a death sentence, but he will not be spared from the sentence of eternal death. And when that happens he will only be able to look back with great regret at the time when God spoke to him through his conscience, and he will wish that he had heeded the warning when he had the opportunity to do so.

So please do not end up like Felix. If your conscience is sounding the alarm, repent of your sins right now and turn to Jesus Christ without any more delay.

  1. Acts 11:19-30 - Antioch: The Planting of a New Church
  2. Acts 10:25-37 - God Is No Respecter of Persons
  3. Acts 10:1-8; 21-24 - Cornelius: A Just and God Fearing Man
  4. Acts 08:5-8; 26-40 - Always Ready to Serve

Subcategories

Gospel in Dialect

Do you face a language barrier when trying to witness for Christ to dialect-speaking relatives? Or do you need to polish up your Mandarin in order to share the Gospel with your Mandarin-speaking friends? This Gospel toolkit will help you to learn how to share the Gospel in Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew.

There are 15 lessons covering the various topics in gospel presentation. Each lesson consists of a set of phrases, written in English, Chinese characters and Hanyu Pinyin.

To hear the proper pronunciation of the phrase, click on the respective plugin associated with each phrase. When the phrase is read for you, you should repeat it aloud. You can keep on playing back the phrase and repeating it aloud until you have mastered the phrase. Then go on to the next phrase in the lesson.

As you learn to speak new phrases, keep on reviewing the ones that you have learnt. Finally, test yourself to see if you can say the following in Mandarin / dialect aloud: 

Family

Introduction

Why a family resource page?  It has been often said that the family is the most important institution in the nation.  But never has this sentiment been as greatly emphasized in our history as a nation than now in recent times.  Indeed, the family is the most important institution because it is the first environment to which every person is exposed; it is the primary influence of a person, especially in his early formative years.  And failure of the family to influence and mould the child positively has contributed to the moral and ethical breakdown of societies.  Even the expert opinions of sociologists and psychologists point to the truth of this statement.  Counselors and mental health workers increasingly have to rely on Family Therapy to deal with the problems of the clients, seeing as how many adult conflicts and problems are actually conflicts and problems not resolved in youth within the family.  Of course, it is not surprising to find such delinquency and immaturity in the world.  And sadly, it is not surprising to find such worldliness and worldly problems in the church, as families capitulate their God-given rights.  More than ever, there is need for a family resource page, where families can be encouraged and taught to raise up Godly homes and to revive the Covenant family.  

And one of the main emphases of this resource page is on the subject and discipline of Family Worship.  According to the Westminster Directory of Family Worship, we are told that “BESIDES the publick worship in congregations, mercifully established in this land in great purity, it is expedient and necessary that secret worship of each person alone, and private worship of families, be pressed and set up; that, with national reformation, the profession and power of godliness, both personal and domestick, be advanced.”  Herein, it is suggested that national and ecclesiastical revival finds its genesis in the home.  And this is biblical. 

The theological foundations of family worship is in Deuteronomy 4:9,10 where believers are told to “keep thy soul diligently…[and to]…teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.” 

It is also in Deuteronomy 6:4-7 where the words which God had commanded believers should be taught diligently to their children, that they should “talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”  The chief Christian educators of our children are their parents, who have been given this sacred duty.

Psalm 78:2-7 also teaches this, especially when it says regarding the law “which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.” 

According to Dr Joel Beeke, “Every church desires growth. Surprisingly few churches, however, seek to promote internal church growth by stressing the need to raise children in covenantal truth. Few seriously grapple with why many adolescents become nominal members with mere notional faith or abandon evangelical truth for unbiblical doctrine and modes of worship. I believe one major reason for this failure is the lack of stress upon family worship. In many churches and homes family worship is an optional thing, or at most a superficial exercise such as a brief table grace before meals. Consequently, many children grow up with no experience or impression of Christian faith and worship as a daily reality.”

“Would we see revival among our children? Let us remember that God often uses the restoration of family worship to usher in church revival. For example, the 1677 church covenant of the Puritan congregation in Dorchester, Massachusetts, included the commitment ‘to reform our families, engaging ourselves to a conscientious care to set before us and to maintain the worship of God in them; and to walk in our houses with perfect hearts in a faithful discharge of all domestic duties, educating, instructing, and charging our children and households to keep the ways of the Lord.’”

Douglas Kelly says that “Family religion, which depends not a little on the household head daily leading the family before God in worship, is one of the most powerful structures that the covenant-keeping God has given for the expansion of redemption through the generations, so that countless multitudes may be brought into communion with and worship” of God. 

So may these resources help all Lifers to build up their families in the fear and admonition of the Lord; that Family Worship would not be an optional exercise but a time of day and activity well-sought after by Godly parents and children.  Amen.

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