Month: April 2025

”I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, that you should die for me – a sinner, condemned, unclean”, but do I really appreciate the true awfulness of my sin – so awful it drove Jesus to die a horrible death on a cross to redeem me? I use the word easily, applying it to myself almost as if it is a badge of honour that qualifies me to receive Gods hard won forgiveness and to become one of His precious children.

”Words, if used often enough may lose some of the impact of their full meaning. Sin was the catalyst, the cause of the huge trouble creation is in, the huge trouble mankind in general and each one of you specifically experiences. Look around you at the suffering, disease, poverty, crime, war, floods, earthquakes, genocide, murder, rape et cetera et cetera and hang out a banner over it – a banner spelt SIN. And in the middle is I. Each one of you has this problem. Creation groans waiting for its release. Stop from time to time and remind yourself of the seriousness of that short word that lies beneath all this horror and appreciate Jesus’s death again afresh, understanding the absolute need for His awful suffering”.

We continue now by reading John14:25-31, as Jesus continues to introduce to us, the reader, the full understanding of what it means for His disciples (and us) to have a relationship with Him. Last time we met the One whom He called “the Counsellor” and saw how He was going to be the main player in building out and maintaining this supernatural relationship.

In vs 29 He closes the bracket which He opened at 13:19, where He explains the reason why He is using this time to explain these things. He is preparing them for the almost excruciating thought for them that He was soon going to leave them physically. I don’t think we can overestimate the huge sense of loss they were soon going to experience. He wanted to soften this by showing the fact that His leaving was actually going to benefit not only them but all of mankind after His death. He goes on to tell them that by telling them all these things in advance when they happened later it would greatly expand their faith in Him.

His death was going to make it possible for them to have such a close relationship with Him because the Father was going to actually give each one of them (and every believer since) the presence of His Spirit to dwell within them. And in this section He is explaining what the full significance of that will be.

In vs 26 He tells them that The Holy Spirit will continue to teach them and remind them of all the things He had said to them. We should stop there as we consider this. The key to us hearing Jesus through His word and any other way He decides to speak to us is the work of His Spirit, who is intimately bound to us every moment of the day and night. We have that supernatural connection! Friends it was the rediscovery of this that set off the Charismatic renewal. Because the Spirit is so humbly apparently quietly, working in the background He has over the years almost become lost in sight by many evangelicals. We need to be reminded of His work and rediscover the awe at the thought of His continued presence indwelling us and what that means for us as we live our Christian life.

If we are to be true witnesses for Jesus, it is the supernatural work of the Spirit that will make that possible and one of the best ways is explained in the next verse. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”.

Can I ask you, each one of you my beloved readers, do you know that peace? Or are your hearts deeply troubled. The presence of God’s peace in the midst of the turmoil of this world is one of the greatest witnesses to His supernatural work. Real peace (shalom) does not always come instantly, but grows as we grow in our faith and trust in His full providence over every aspect of our lives and those of our dear ones. But every true Christian should know something of this huge promise from our all powerful, all knowing Creator.

The passage ends with a reminder of the very real role of Satan in the turmoil of this world and the fact that we are warned in several places to be on our guard against His attacks, using the full armour that God has given us to resist him. It is when we are complacent towards him that we are the most vulnerable.

”Come let us leave” he ends the chapter with. So we will see next time how chapter 15 continues this revelation. God bless and take care.

Worthy – worthy – is the Lamb who is a King – the King of all creation – yet slain. He is worth everything I have and am.

“I receive your praise, as I receive the praises of countless millions of your brothers and sisters. The time will come when you will really understand how worthy I am. You will understand the true depth of the meaning of that word as it describes Me. How can you put a price or a worth on anything as great and stupendous as I am in my Father and for what I have done? Just allow it to sink in to your mind and cause it to well up in you with a sense of gratitude and love and express it in song yes, but also in obedience in all spheres of your life and your thoughts. It is cosmic but it is also personal – the great transformer of your life.”

As we read John 14:15-24, we are introduced to another aspect of the Trinity. We have met Jesus and discovered that He and the Father have such an intimate connection that Jesus Himself is described as being God. That the supernatural work He has done has been the Father working through Him. Vs 10. This new aspect is in fact a Person. Jesus calls Him the Comforter. The Greek word is actually “Paraclete” which means “one who comes beside you”.

This passage is perhaps the most expansive in describing the person and work of the Holy Spirit that we have. Notice first of all the continued context of the intimacy of relationship. Jesus with the Father and flowing from that us. But now this “Person” of the Spirit who Jesus is introducing to us appears to be the very factor that is going to draw us into the same sort of relationship with Jesus that He has with the Father.

Three times in these few verses Jesus reaffirms that he is speaking of our relationship with Him and the whole Trinity. Vs 15 If you love me you will keep my commands.

Vs 20 b, I am in the Father and the Father is in Me, and I am in you.

Vs 23 b My Father will love him (you), and we will come to him (you) and make our home with him. (You)

Key to this relationship is the other statement which is repeated: Obedience vv 15, 21 23. We need to understand it is not obedience that brings the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. Obedience is the fruit of our relationship with the Trinity. It is a demonstration that we have entered into this relationship. It is Jesus way of saying, “this is for those who have become my children, who are now part of the family”. Notice that the emphasis is not on faith here. The emphasis is on obedience. Does that mean that faith is not important? No – it means we only know that someone really has faith by seeing them live a life of obedience to Jesus commands.

In other words the clearest indication of the reality of our faith is the fruit we produce, here described as obedience. It is with that in mind that God sends the Comforter. He is the one through whom we are going to be enabled to produce fruit. Galatians 5:22 His role is to maintain and bring to fruition the relationship that God desires with us and the reason He sent His Son to die. His role is integral to that of the Father and the Son, as important in completing the relationship triangle. Yet He is the least visible. His work is to throw light on the Father and the Son.

Historically in the evangelical church the role of The Holy Spirit has often been neglected in their teaching. The charismatic renewal of the 70’s and 80’s was almost a reaction to that and focused to a large degree on a rediscovery of the importance of the Spirit’s role. Unfortunately as often happens it brought that role so much to the foreground that it changed it from a sort of silent partner in the Trinity to being on the forefront of the stage. That has subsided to some extent and I think everyone is more aware and sensitive today to the work He is doing.

Ultimately He is then an integral part of this relationship which Jesus is unfolding in these chapters. So as the Easter events are unfolding over the next days remember that it is His Spirit that is making all this real and interpreting it for us. What a wonderful God we serve!

May you all have a blessed Easter as we remember and relive the most important part of our faith which we call “The Way”. God bless till next week.

A wooden cross? The symbol of the most painful death by execution for the worst of criminals. How could that be the symbol of our faith? The symbol of Hope for everyone?

“That is what sets the whole of the Christian Faith apart from any other belief system. The enigma – the King of all creation, the very Creator, condemned as a common criminal of the worst kind. Take it in. Stricken for us! Made to be a guilt offering for you and everyone else who deserves to die for their sin of rejecting God as the only true one to worship, obey and follow. Every morning as you wake up and take your first breath, it should come home to you again in a flood of grateful thanks. That moment which changed the world, changed history, and set you free. Yes I did it for you personally and for every other person who would choose to believe and receive the most precious gift of eternal life with Me in the centre”.

We continue today with the conversation Jesus was having with His disciples about His departure, His destination and how they were to follow Him as the only Way. We read John 14:8-14.b

Jesus continues the conversation about who He is. We have already considered previously the importance of seeing Jesus as no less than God Himself, clothed in human flesh. It was obviously hard for the disciples to take that in and process it, just as it is for us today. We can read it over and over again, but until it grips our hearts it will not make any real difference. Key to seeing this are words like,”Don’t you know Me, Philip?”, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”. “Believe Me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in Me”.

The trend of this conversation is leading to an astounding statement. A principle which will be fleshed out more in the coming chapters. “You may ask Me anything in My name, and I will do it.” How did He get there from the previous conversation? What does it really mean? What did. It mean to those disciples and what does it mean for you and me today? I suppose this statement and others like it have been debated and written about many, many times over the years and that is not the purpose of this platform.

What i believe we need to see is the progression in Jesus’s thoughts. He is describing the close relationship He has with the Father and then goes on to explain that the miracles He has done have arisen from God within that relationship which he has with the Father. And now what? How does that affect us?

Well, He is following the thought which flows from that revealing and reminding the disciples of the relationship He has with them. This relationship is intended to be equally intimate to His relationship with the Father. So within that relationship they and us not only have the same intimacy but also the full benefit of the power which He has displayed in doing the miracles He has just mentioned. Notice the words, “It is the Father living in me, who is doing the work”. Just so we have the benefit of Him being within us and so we have access through Him, not only to the presence of God but to His full power.

This is actually quite mind-blowing. What is happening now is a start to a slow revelation of the full benefits of being in a relationship with the Father through Jesus. We need to take this carefully, one step at a time to peel back the layers so that we can eventually understand the full meaning of this enormous privilege we have as Christians, as children of a loving Father. I think that most of us do not really fully appreciate what this means and therefore don’t fully embrace the complete benefits of our relationship with Him.

As we approach Easter meditate on these truths and I will see you next week again.

Worthy is the Lamb, the Darling of Heaven crucified, worthy is the Lamb, crown you with many crowns, seated on the throne.

”Close your eyes and let the visual images I use to transmit my message of hope and salvation to you, play out before you. A lamb – the combination of helplessness, of true humility, apparently unable to fend for itself. Yet given the highest honour – the throne of the world, the ultimate ruler and King. That is how my nature is meant to unfold to you. Embrace it in your heart; the picture of a lamb, not just any lamb, a Lamb so precious that He is known as the “Darling of Heaven”, being mistreated and killed by the most brutal means, for a purpose – to take the Father‘s wrath on Himself so that you all may go free – what a Saviour – deserving all your worship – worthy indeed is the Lamb to receive many crowns.”

Now back to John’s gospel. Just a few verses as they are so rich in meaning, ch 14:1-7. Before the members of the early church became known as Christians they called themselves “The Way”. Each one was part of this exciting new movement which was focused on one main purpose. They had discovered the true “Way” and wanted to reflect that to the world. Where did they get that idea? I suppose the whole of Jesus’s teaching would have reflected that, but the actual passage where this title arises is the one we read today.

Jesus has been trying to get His disciples to understand that He was going to leave them soon, meaning His approaching sacrifice on the cross. It must have been most puzzling to them as on the one hand He said He was leaving them and on the other that He was not really going away. Vs 36 must have been really difficult for them. “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later” What on earth was He talking about?

This is where the impetuous Peter puts his foot in it as usual, insisting nothing would stop him from following Jesus! Please don’t be too hard on him. Imagine their confusion. He was the Messiah, coming to rescue Israel and now He is “going away”without apparently having accomplished anything.

So in Ch 14 Jesus tries to introduce them again to the difference between this world and the Spirit world which no-one can see. In reality, what Jesus says here is mind-boggling. This is not your ultimate abode. This world is only temporary, the place He was going to is permanent, and guess what, Jesus has gone ahead to sort things out for them and for all of us, so that we will not only get there but be most welcomed, with our own place specially prepared for us.

It is not coincidental that this passage is recited at many funerals. It is one of the most encouraging passages in the bible. Unfortunately we have all heard it recited off pat so often that we are often no longer struck by this tremendous message. Stop and let that thought sink in to your inner heart.

But now we come to the key to this passage. Can you see what it is? Thomas leads us to it. “We don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the Way? Then comes the favourite passage of every true believer: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through Me”.

Christians are often accused of being exclusive. This passage is exclusive! There is no other way, if you are to believe the bible. It has become fashionable to suggest that there are many ways to heaven depending on what faith you follow, but this verse gives that the lie. Our way is exclusive and our life style should show how different we are. However we should not use this exclusivity to turn inward and show our backs to the world. Our faith is ultimately invitational and we should at all times have our arms wide open to welcome the world like Jesus’s were on the cross, but not at the expense of our belief!

The early Christians understood this clearly. Perhaps that is one reason the early church grew at such a phenomenal rate. They had the message and lived the lifestyle. Loving Jesus first and their neighbours like themselves. Is that how you picture your lifestyle to be? If someone had to describe you would they put that first?

Friends, as we approach Easter, we are going to hear several deep truths, maybe repeated in various ways. Do not let that interfere with the awe you should be feeling to be part of this, most exciting, exclusive Way. Be ready to share it with whosoever the Lord brings across your path. God bless till next week.