This Changes Everything [PART 15] | Mike de Vetter | Sunday 16th August

[00:00:03] Come on, let's read from verse 17. [00:00:05] In his defense, Jesus said to them, my Father is always at his work to this very day. And I too am working for this reason. They tried all the more to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus gave them this answer. [00:00:26] Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself. He can only do what he sees his Father doing. Because whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them to life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son that all may honor the Son to say, honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Very truly, I tell you, whoever hears my Word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but is crossed over from death to life. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the reading of your Word. Thank you. That when we read your Word, we are connecting with you, Lord Jesus, you are the Word. From the very beginning, as we've been learning, you are the Word. [00:01:28] Your Word remains today with the same power as when it was first spoken. So today, would you transform our hearts and our minds to think more like you? May your Word transform us today. In Jesus name, amen. [00:01:44] Have you ever been so focused on something that the very thing that you should have been focused on in front of you, you completely miss? [00:01:54] You know, you're looking for your car keys and you're looking in every other place, but they're actually right there in front of you. You know, maybe it's a husband look, which then the wife's look says, well, what about that thing right there? Give us a little one of those waves, gentlemen. Yeah. [00:02:10] What about walking into a room and you just completely forget why you walked into the room? [00:02:15] And over summer, it's getting worse. I know that. [00:02:19] Or possibly, possibly worse. [00:02:22] This is a little confession as a father, being in the room with my children and they're focused on telling me something really important and I completely miss it because my mind's somewhere else. [00:02:32] Yeah, sometimes I got a very true from the front row. She knows. [00:02:38] She knows. She says, is this a good time, dad? I'm like, I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. I wasn't focused like I should be. [00:02:45] But, you know, sometimes we're looking so hard on something else that we fail to see what's actually there in front of us. [00:02:51] I think this is what's happening in John chapter 5. [00:02:54] The passage we're reading is following on directly from the passage earlier in John chapter five, where this man who's been paralyzed for 38 years is healed by Jesus. [00:03:05] Jesus says, get up, take your mat and walk. [00:03:09] An incredible miracle. [00:03:11] 38 years of disappointment, now hope. 38 years of watching the life he longed for in other people now becoming a reality. [00:03:21] 38 years of hoping today might be the day that I finally get my miracle. And Jesus says, get up, take up your mat and walk. [00:03:30] And instantly everything changes. [00:03:34] Can you imagine the celebration? [00:03:36] Can you imagine the shouts of joy from people around going, wow, this man has got his miracle. But that's not what we read. [00:03:44] We read some Pharisees saying, you picked up your mat on the Sabbath, like the miracle is right there. God has broken through. His kingdom is right here in front of them. You picked up your mat on the Sabbath. [00:04:00] What should have been the focus of celebration. [00:04:04] They were focused on the absolute wrong thing. [00:04:07] It's unbelievable, right? [00:04:10] But is it possible that could be us as well? [00:04:12] Is it possible that sometimes we can be so focused on church or life or whatever it is that we miss Jesus? [00:04:19] We can be so focused on work. And there's a moment where Jesus is saying, I'm inviting you into something special, Mike. I'm inviting you to have a moment here to share me with someone, but I'm busy doing the work. [00:04:33] We can become so committed to tradition that we overlook a transformation that God is wanting to do. [00:04:40] We can be so passionate about trying to prove that we're right when God is saying, I want to do something, but it's different to the way it's been done before. [00:04:50] In the verses that follow the encounter with this man who'd been paralyzed for 38 years, the Pharisees encounter Jesus. And Jesus speaks three, or he makes three. Sorry, four bold statements that really upset them, really confronted their thinking. [00:05:10] Let's look at the first one this morning. [00:05:12] In verse 17. [00:05:14] Jesus is always working. [00:05:17] Jesus makes a statement. My Father is always at his work to this very day. And I, too, am working. [00:05:24] I'm working. [00:05:25] So is the Father. [00:05:26] Now, this statement would have shocked the listener, would have shocked the Pharisees, because what was Jesus? [00:05:33] What was the accusation was, this man was working on a day that had been set aside for rest and worship. [00:05:40] He'd Picked up his mat on a day where he should have been worshiping God and experiencing a time of rest. [00:05:48] And Jesus says, we're always working. There's no stopping. [00:05:52] We're not stopping. We're still going. [00:05:56] Genesis tells us that God rested on the seventh day. [00:06:00] Was it because God was tired? [00:06:03] No, it's because he wanted to model something for us. Because as humans, we get tired. [00:06:09] God never tires. He never slumbers, he never sleeps. He doesn't need to lie down at 3 o' clock in the afternoon when it's a little bit too hot. [00:06:17] God is always working because God didn't stop working. He ceased from creation in that moment. [00:06:26] But he never stopped sustaining, never stopped working and sustaining creation. See, if God stopped, even just for a moment, the stars would fall out of place, the breath in our lungs would cease to exist, our hearts would stop beating. If God did not sustain life. God is always working. [00:06:47] And the reason the universe continues is because God continues. [00:06:51] Jesus says, my Father has not stopped working and neither will I. I'll never stop working either. [00:06:58] So this isn't just about a healing on a Sabbath. This is a declaration that the work of the Son in relationship with the Father is inseparable. [00:07:08] The Father and the Son are one. [00:07:11] Verse 18 tells us exactly how the Pharisees understood Him. [00:07:15] It says they tried all the more to kill him. [00:07:18] These wonderful religious people seeing a miracle of God and they want to kill him because he was calling God, his own Father, making himself equal with God. The Pharisees, they understood his claim perfectly. [00:07:34] Jesus was claiming equality with God and that upset them. [00:07:39] This healing wasn't about breaking the Sabbath. This healing was revealing the heart of God. A God who is always restoring, a God who is always redeeming, a God who is always pursuing, a God who is always bringing life. [00:07:56] There are seasons. I know in your life and mine where it feels like God is not working. [00:08:02] Anyone experience one of those ones? Anyone in the middle of one of those right now where it doesn't seem like God is working? Certainly not in the way that we would prescribe, but he is working. He never ceases to work. [00:08:16] You know that song Waymaker? Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. [00:08:24] We're in trouble if we. If our faith is based on our feelings. [00:08:29] Because I'll tell you what, my feelings fail me every single day of my life. And there's a moment where I have to take those feelings that I'm experiencing which are real. It's okay to have feelings, but if those feelings trump the faith that God is asking me to live by, then I'm out of order. [00:08:46] And I've got to come back in line with this thought that God is always working, even when I can't see evidence of it. [00:08:56] Maybe you're praying for a miracle. [00:09:00] Maybe parents or couples, you're praying for a child. Maybe you're praying for a healing. Maybe you're praying into a relationship. Maybe you're praying into a business deal. Maybe. Maybe you're praying about your future and the hope that is there in front of you and you're saying, God, it doesn't seem to be happening like I thought. [00:09:19] Here's a great reminder. God's silence is never God's absence. [00:09:25] God's silence is never God's absence. [00:09:28] He hasn't gone missing. He hasn't forgotten to turn up to work, because God is always working. [00:09:35] And I have watched over many, many years of following Jesus that sometimes my miracle, the thing that I'm believing for, is just not ready yet, because God's got something lined up at another point. That connection of something that God is doing in my life might be happening in somebody else's life. He's got this beautiful tapestry that he's weaving of humanity, and we see the backside of it, don't we? If you've ever done tapestry, you've seen tapestry before. You look at the back of it, you go, wow, why would you spend all of your time creating that until you flip the tapestry and you see the beauty and the intricate design, the placement of every stitch. And this is what God will reveal and we will see. [00:10:20] We will see the plan he has for humanity. [00:10:25] But for now, it might feel like we're looking at the back of a tapestry with all these pieces out of place. [00:10:31] But often the greatest work is happening beneath the surface. [00:10:35] You know, when a seed falls to the ground and dies, at some point, it produces a harvest. But there is a moment where it feels like everything is dead and buried. [00:10:44] But you know what? Underneath the surface, there are roots that are going down. Often the roots will go down first before it shoots up. Because if it shoots up and there's no roots, guess what? [00:10:57] The plant falls down. [00:10:59] Sometimes God is working on the roots in our lives, but he is still working. [00:11:05] So Jesus, he made this bold claim. Jesus is always working. The second thing, second statement is that Jesus only does what he sees the Father doing. [00:11:15] He only does what he sees the father doing. Verse 19. The son can do nothing by himself. He can only do what he sees his Father doing. [00:11:24] Now, these words could seem surprising. Jesus has no power. [00:11:29] He doesn't have any power. [00:11:31] That's not what he's saying. [00:11:33] This is not a description of limitation of Jesus. This is a description of relationship that God the Father and the Son have together. [00:11:44] Amy and I make decisions all the time, but we don't always make the same. The decision, the decision together. In a moment, Amy doesn't call me on a Tuesday and say, mike, I'm thinking of buying some food for the family. [00:11:57] Is that okay? She doesn't have to ask my permission. We've already agreed upon that in advance, that, yes, we like to eat. [00:12:05] And you might look at me and say a little bit too much, but we've already agreed on some things together. But then there are some other things that we say, hey, this is going to cost beyond budget. This is going to go beyond what we are thinking or, or had even talked about. Let's have the conversation around that. [00:12:22] Now, obviously my relationship with Amy is very different to the relationship with God the Father and the Son. But there is an agreement that they would work together. And the heart of Jesus was that he would do only what he sees the Father doing. Jesus never acts independently. Everything he does flows out of a perfect unity with his Father. [00:12:44] Every miracle, every word, every confrontation, every act of compassion. [00:12:50] Jesus is working according to the will of his Father. [00:12:54] And Jesus perfectly reflects his Father in every moment. [00:12:59] And we need to understand that Jesus even wrestled with this. He was fully God and fully human. [00:13:07] But in the garden of Gethsemane, there's a moment where the weight of what was about to take place, taking on the burden of sin upon his shoulders, as was promised and prophesied. [00:13:19] And he says, father, if it would be possible, would you take this weight? Would you take this burden? Would you take this off me? [00:13:28] But not my will yours be done. [00:13:32] I love the amount of times we read in scripture. Early the next morning, Jesus got up to pray. [00:13:39] I wonder what those conversations would have looked like. I've always imagined Jesus getting alone with his Father out of the busyness and the mess of the day before and everything. [00:13:50] Father, here we are again. [00:13:54] What are you seeing today? [00:13:56] What's happening? What do I need to look for? Who's going to be walking past me? Who's the person making a lot of noise? But actually that's not the person you want to touch. [00:14:07] I wonder if those conversations were preparing him for the ministry that was about to come. Father, let me do your will. Let me see what you're doing and let me get involved in that. [00:14:18] If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus because he's doing what God the Father is doing. [00:14:25] Over the last week or so, an amazing team of volunteers and staff have been clearing out Signal House in preparation for us to go back in there. Come on. [00:14:35] Unnecessary clean out. [00:14:38] Also in northern hay, a lot of rubbish has been cleared out of the space. [00:14:42] And there was a guy that came to collect the rubbish and we filled up the back of his trailer. And then the conversation. He says, what kind of church is this? [00:14:50] And I said, we're a Pentecostal church. What does that mean? He says, well, we believe that God still works today in people's lives. He wants a relationship with us. And you know, we try and love God with all of our heart and our soul and our mind and our strength and we, we try to love people like that. [00:15:07] I said, what's your faith experience? He says, ah. And then he began to tell me about a really heartbreaking experience he had at a church school growing up as a child. It just pushed him away from his faith. I said, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. That was your experience. [00:15:24] And I said, we fail. We make a mess as humans. So therefore, in churches we also get it wrong sometimes. [00:15:32] I said, but don't let your experience of Christianity be based on just a person or an experience. I said, look at Jesus. Because if you want to know who God is, you want to know how much he loved the world, look at Jesus. Because he embodied that love of the Father. And we had this great conversation. [00:15:50] We talked about pain and suffering. [00:15:54] We talked about the challenges of following Jesus. [00:15:58] Paul says, I want to know Christ. [00:16:00] I do too. He says, well, then know the power of the resurrection and the fellowship of the suffering. [00:16:06] Power and the pain held together an equal portion. [00:16:10] It's like, okay. [00:16:12] I could see his face soften, his heart soften as he realized that I'm just a normal person trying to seek after God. [00:16:21] He might come here one day. [00:16:23] The invitation has been given. Who knows? [00:16:26] But if you want to know who God is, look at the Son. See, when Jesus welcomes sinners, God the Father welcomes sinners. When Jesus touched the leper, the Father God healed the leper. [00:16:38] When Jesus forgives, the Father forgives. [00:16:42] And Jesus doesn't simply tell us about God. He shows us God. [00:16:47] The writer says to the Hebrews, the sun is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being. [00:16:55] Jesus is the perfect image of an invisible God. [00:17:00] And I wonder if sometimes we ask the wrong question. [00:17:03] Sometimes I wonder if I say, God, I've got this really good idea. Would you mind blessing it for me? [00:17:09] I think this would be really great. I think this could be great. Could you just make sure it all works out? [00:17:15] What if our prayer shifts a little bit? What if our prayer says, father, what are you doing? [00:17:20] God the Father, what are you doing? What do I see your son doing? And can I partner with that? [00:17:27] As a church, one of our core values is that we're to love extravagantly, which means that when we live our lives, we're not thinking about ourselves. In a society that says, this is all about me and this egocentric thought, I'm building my kingdom, building my empire. What if we step into tomorrow with a prayer that says, God, what are you already doing in somebody's life? What if I could come in and give into that person's life? Love, wisdom, kindness, compassion. Rather than blazing through my day, ticking off the list and getting all the things done which are important and missing a moment to love somebody where they go, wow, why would you take time to bless me and to love me? [00:18:11] Just don't do it on the boss's dime, okay? Don't be lazy, okay? But find some time at lunch. Have that conversation with somebody. [00:18:19] Jesus is the perfect image of the invisible God. [00:18:24] The third thought this morning is that Jesus gives life into dead situations. [00:18:31] Jesus gives life into dead situations, verse 21. Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life. [00:18:40] You know, this miracle at Bethesda, it wasn't just about walking. [00:18:45] It was about life. [00:18:47] Throughout John's Gospels and right throughout all of the Gospels, life was one of the central themes. [00:18:53] Not merely existing, not merely surviving, but another one of our values. Thriving, authentically. [00:19:00] Real life, abundant life, eternal life. And this man thought his biggest problem was paralysis. But Jesus realized the biggest problem and he communicated. The biggest problem was a spiritual death, that we can't recover. [00:19:16] We can have life. We think we can have breath in our lungs but be spiritually dead. [00:19:23] Jesus knew humanity's greatest problem was spiritual death. [00:19:27] And the healing pointed to something far greater. Jesus doesn't simply improve lives, he resurrects them. [00:19:35] So my life isn't just better because of Jesus. My life is new. If anyone is in Christ, they are what they are. A new creation, Brand new. Not a 2.0, not a 2.2 version of Mike, but a new creation. [00:19:52] The healing pointed to something far greater. [00:19:55] Jesus doesn't simply improve Lives, he resurrects them. [00:19:58] Think about John's gospel. Water into wine, the blind see. Lazarus walks out of a tomb. The cross could not hold Jesus. [00:20:08] And every miracle whispers the same truth. Jesus brings life where death would reign, where death and darkness want to hold us. Jesus comes in and says, let there be light and let there be life into our situation. [00:20:23] And maybe there's places in your life, your dreams, your hopes, maybe even your relationships, maybe your finances, maybe things that are happening in your workplace. Maybe you're feeling like it's just dead and buried. [00:20:38] Jesus says, I can bring life to that. [00:20:41] I'll bring life. Bring life. [00:20:45] The enemy loves to convince us, doesn't he? Too late. [00:20:49] I'm following Jesus. Too late. You made a mess. [00:20:52] Anyone ever been reminded of the sin you did yesterday or the day before? God says, I want to take you into a new place. [00:21:00] And the devil says, yeah, but what about now? If you have a conviction of the Holy Spirit, deal with it. [00:21:08] Have that conversation with God and say, God, I'm sorry. [00:21:11] I sinned. Forgive me, I repent. I turn and I walk with you. [00:21:17] When I've done that, the devil holds nothing on me. The devil holds nothing on you. [00:21:24] It's too late. [00:21:26] 38 years. It's too late. [00:21:29] Lazarus, four days dead in a tomb. Behold, he stinketh. It's too late. [00:21:35] A Roman cross, the Messiah in a tomb. It's too late. [00:21:42] Except for Jesus, it's not too late. Especially when he specializes in life. [00:21:48] You know, in John 10, there's two mission statements that sit side by side. [00:21:53] The devil comes to kill, steal and destroy. [00:21:57] So when you see evidence of that, you know the devil is at work. [00:22:01] But Jesus says, I have come that you might have what? [00:22:05] Life and life to the full. Life in its full fullness. [00:22:10] He specializes in impossible situations, as Mark said this morning, and never underestimate what God might do in one word and one moment. [00:22:20] One encounter with Christ changed 38 years of disappointment. This man was never the same again. [00:22:27] And then lastly, if the team can join me, Jesus has authority to judge. [00:22:33] Jesus has authority to judge. [00:22:35] Jesus says something quite extraordinary. He says, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son. [00:22:43] The one who heals, the one who forgives, the one who gives life, is also the one before every man and woman will stand. [00:22:55] Sometimes we separate these truths. It's a little bit easier for me to think that Jesus is my savior, he is my healer. [00:23:05] Am I equally as comfortable as Jesus is my judge? [00:23:10] But John holds them together. [00:23:12] Why? [00:23:14] Because only the one who knows? Every human heart can judge every human heart. [00:23:19] We don't have a great high priest that says in Hebrews that can't sympathize with what it's like to be a human. [00:23:27] Jesus knows. [00:23:29] Jesus experienced every fear and potential disappointment and anxious thought. He experienced all of those things that we experience, and yet he did not sin. [00:23:44] Jesus knows. He understands. [00:23:47] He sees our wrestle with sin, he sees our wrestle with the flesh. [00:23:53] He sees our doubts and he sees our fears. [00:23:57] And one day we will stand before him and he will judge us. [00:24:03] Now, that sounds terrifying. And it should be. [00:24:09] I think the righteous judgment of God is something that we probably don't take seriously enough, but here's why we can. [00:24:19] It can humble us and it can also comfort us. Because one day, every thought, every word, every action, I'll have to stand before God and the Son will judge me for that. [00:24:30] So that kind of humbles me a little bit, right? [00:24:33] But it also comforts me because it reminds me that judgment is the Lord's, not mine. [00:24:41] Anyone being wronged, no one been hurt, anyone been misrepresented, I think we probably all have. [00:24:51] Anybody would like some judgment to fall on some people? [00:24:55] Come on, let that go. [00:24:58] Let that go. Let the sun judge. [00:25:01] Don't be held in that place of judgment over somebody else. Because the same measure you judge someone else, you'll be measured, you'll be judged the same. [00:25:10] Release that judgment on somebody else and say, jesus, they're in your hands and bless them. Bless them. Rather than curse them, bless them, say, Jesus, they are in your hands. [00:25:24] And here's why. We know the One who holds every heart can judge every heart. [00:25:29] Because this judgment is never unfair. [00:25:32] It's never biased, it's never misinformed. [00:25:36] It always has the full facts. It's very hard when you're having a conversation, trying to work out who's right and who said this and who said that. [00:25:43] And he is perfectly righteous. [00:25:47] Every hidden act of evil, every injustice, every wound, every tear, Jesus sees. [00:25:54] And Jesus will make all things right. [00:25:59] And so, because Jesus is working, because Jesus is doing what he sees the Father doing, because Jesus brings dead things to life, because Jesus is our judge. [00:26:12] Therefore, verse 23 brings to an incredible climax that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. [00:26:23] Notice, Jesus doesn't ask to be admired or respected or appreciated, but to be honoured. [00:26:32] He says a son deserves the very same honour that the Father should receive. [00:26:38] This is an astonishing claim, leaving us with only two possibilities. [00:26:42] Either he's committing blasphemy or he is indeed God. [00:26:47] You see, as Lewis once famously said, with all the claims that Jesus made, there can only be three thoughts. He's either a lunatic, a liar, or he's Lord. [00:26:59] And here today, none of us are without excuse because we've all heard it. [00:27:05] We've all heard the statements Jesus made. [00:27:08] And how will we respond? [00:27:10] Because there is grace and mercy for every sinner that would say, I recognize the sin of my life, I recognize that I should be judged for something. [00:27:23] And yet Jesus, the great high priest, the judge says, I will take all of the judgment that was due to you, Mike, and I'm going to take it on myself. I'm going to die on a cross. [00:27:38] I'm going to be dead and buried with your sin. [00:27:42] As when we baptize someone, the they go into the water, symbolizing that the old is gone. [00:27:47] And Jesus says, you'll be raised to life. So when the enemy says, what about that? [00:27:52] You say, the righteous judge has already covered that by the blood of his name, the blood of the Lamb, written, paid in full, friends, that is your inheritance in Christ, the righteousness. Not through your works, not through you being a good person or being better than you were yesterday. But the blood of Jesus written in full. Your sins have been paid for. [00:28:21] The tragedy wasn't that the Pharisees misunderstood him. [00:28:25] They did understand his claims. [00:28:28] The tragedy is that they refused to bow. [00:28:32] They refused to say, you are worthy. [00:28:35] I give you honour Jesus, because only you could bring that miracle. [00:28:42] The criticism of the Pharisees was that they would not honor him. And Jesus says, would you honor the Father and me? [00:28:53] Verse 24. And I close with this. Very truly, I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but is crossed by over from death to life, sins, debt, paid in full by the blood of Jesus. [00:29:10] The question isn't whether Jesus is still working. He's already answered that. He says, my Father is always at work and I too am working. The question is, will we have eyes to see? [00:29:21] Will we be about our Father's worth? So I wonder, have we become so focused on what we think God should do that we've stopped asking what he's doing and would invite that partnership with Him? [00:29:39] Could it be that Jesus is already at work in your family, in your workplace, in your waiting, in your disappointment? [00:29:48] But like the Pharisees, you're looking at the mat. [00:29:52] What about the mat? [00:29:55] Jesus says, there is life that has come, a life available. Would you receive it? [00:30:00] Because Jesus is still working. [00:30:02] He's still perfectly revealing the Father. He's still bringing life into dead situations. He's still the righteous judge, and therefore he is still the one who should receive all honour. [00:30:15] And I just wonder whether we could stand to our feet and just declare that he's worthy. [00:30:23] You. [00:30:25] You're worthy of it.