← ArchiveSunday, September 3, 2017DateSeptember 3, 2017Speaker—Text—Passages in this sermonHebrews 1:214:17Genesis 1:2622:58Genesis 2:1522:58John 324:35TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life the life was made manifest and we have seen it and testified to it and proclaimed to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you so that you too may have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with0:29his son Jesus Christ and we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete this is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in the darkness we lie and do not practice the truth0:55but if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth and the truth is not in us if we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to1:17cleanse us from all unrighteousness how's everyone doing this morning wonderful the weather is cooler I can wear my jacket now football has started I am worshiping with those that I love the one whom I love it's a great day to be alive1:38we will begin to start a new series today in first John so if you have your bibles with you join me in the book of first John is towards the end of the new Testament you turn all the way to the back to the maps and work your way your way forward you'll find it sooner rather than later in this series entitled shining light2:07on authentic faith shining light on authentic faith and John the writer is challenging us and challenging those that have real questions about what true faith looks like because john knows this jesus has taught us this we sometimes struggle with this that not everyone who calls himself a christ follower truly follows jesus christ not everyone who calls himself2:35baptist truly follows jesus christ not everyone who lives in the south truly follows jesus christ and so how can we tell the difference and by all means how do i know if i truly know jesus christ that's the answer that i want for myself because i believe god's word answers that for us so today we will ask this question can i even know god this is a question that many of you may have asked god can i3:04even know you last year in 2016 an israeli man petitioned a restraining order against god very odd apparently the plaintiff identified as mr david shoshan represented himself in a court in haifa which if you've ever been to israel is on the coast and he petitioned the court because he noted that god was3:29treating him harshly and not nicely and the court noted in the court records it is noted that god was not present to defend himself mr shoshan explained it this way he said he had made several attempts to contact police to report god's alleged crimes and that the patrol cars had been sent to the house over 103:58times 10 occasions police advised him to take out a restraining order the request by the judge was obviously denied and the judge said this he called mr shoshan delusional saying you cannot bring an accusation against god so we asked is the man truly delusional this quote jumped out at me though that god was not present to defend himself4:24because many of us if we are honest i know this is a place where we struggle with honesty but it is okay if you have come in here doubting that jesus is not who he says he is and if you doubt that god is who he says he is that's okay god is bigger than our doubts how do i know that because i came to god doubting and he crushed my doubts and there have been men and women throughout ages that have come4:52to god and said if you are true show me yourself c.s lewis lee strobel came to god's word and said i will prove god wrong and they end up believing because you cannot prove truth wrong so if you're here today and you struggle and you say is god real and i'm scared to ask that question i'm going to ask it for you and god's word will gloriously answer that in our life so can we know god john gives us three hinges5:17his absolutely is jesus is eternal life and it is the church can i know god look at jesus look at eternal life and look at the church let's pray father would we as people who seek you who are questioning lord would we leave here with a intense desire to know you more father help us5:46truly seek jesus christ because you are what we need when we need it by those we have already sung you are great you are marvelous your name is worthy to be praised lord there is nothing that we need that is not found in you so lord help us know you i pray this in jesus name amen and amen join me as we read6:09god's word together this is god's word to us that should blow our minds by the way that we can even know god and know his word verse 1 1st john that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have observed which we have touched with our hands concerning the word of life6:34and that life was revealed and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the father and was revealed to us what we have seen and heard we also declare to you so that you may also have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the father and with his son jesus christ6:59we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete that our joy may be complete so can you know god yes yes verse 1 why because of jesus christ we can know god because of jesus christ verse 1 that which was from the beginning uh here's what's awesome about jesus christ um jesus is not plan b so how do you know7:27that that which was from the beginning it doesn't say god created man and we sinned and god said oh no what do we do no that which was from the beginning jesus has always been god's plan of redemption which means that god's plans for us have always been from the beginning god's plan for you and for me is7:54always jesus christ sometimes we struggle because we say god show me your plan for me like god i want to see what you have for me and god says i have his name is jesus how what a glorious thoughts that which was from the beginning his name is jesus christ you know all religions in this world claim revelation8:15christianity is not exclusive in that way every every religion that you would turn to if you are seeking here this morning they're going to claim a divine religious experience for instance buddhism depends on profound insights gained by siddhartha gautama the buddha in his enlightenment under a badhi tree8:40we can carry it further hinduism looks to the vedas which are passed on from first man to the dawn of time islam says that the angel gabriel dictated divine truths to the prophet mohammed and you said well pastor why are you giving us a religious lesson here because christianity is different9:04christianity is different and this is why christianity depends on one man and his name is jesus christ if you take jesus away our faith my faith is nothing is as if god it's as if all of christianity puts christ on the cross and that is the chopping block it says you take it or leave9:31it but but christianity knowing god depends on jesus christ and it truly does if you remove jesus our faith crumbles you say well how can we prove then if jesus exists um well we can attack it in a scientific way um and this is what god leaves us with i want you to think through this analytically9:57i just think analytically some of you are where i am if i see it then i can believe it if i don't see it then i can't and there's going to be struggle with faith there so let's pretend this pretend my late great great great great grandfather who's passed away for years ago um reveals himself in the possess food hall right and he goes to eli's deli which is awesome if you haven't been i would recommend it it's a really neat place to go try out some food um and he he goes to this food hall and10:27he proclaims that he is divine truth and then he is no more so what would we do we would hopefully as rational people we would go to the food hall and say look did anyone see right caleb did you see josh's late late late grandfather um did you talk to him and if you talk to him what were you eating when you talk to him because that might be part of the problem right and and what did he say and were10:54you in your right mind were you struggling we have four books of the bible that tell us who jesus was what he said and what he did we have ancient documents that tell us that a man named jesus christ was crucified on a roman cross we have verification that the romans feared the jews feared that someone11:17would steal the body so they put professional soldiers at the tomb that no one would on their life go in that tomb and the next day three days later when they go to the tomb jesus christ is not there christianity hinges upon jesus christ and you say well i know that we're at church but do you believe11:43that and do you live it out do we live in a way that our knowledge of god is dependent upon jesus himself see this is john's answer to us you said well can i know god john's answer is look at jesus christ look at jesus christ look at verse one what was from the beginning what we have12:08heard right so if my great great great great grandfather um someone says that i saw him in downtown birmingham we're gonna go ask what did you hear and john this is not only what we have heard from jesus but what we have seen from him what we have observed and not only that what we have touched and some of you are here and you are like thomas the one who doubted and he said i will believe12:38jesus when i see the holes in his hands and when i can touch them and here is the glorious truth of jesus he revealed himself to thomas and said okay that's what you need here here they are and thomas believed can i know god yes his name is jesus christ look to jesus why did jesus come to the earth so that12:59you and i would believe now just think about this for a second it is unbelievable that jesus is jesus do you know of any other story and this is why the world looks at christianity with crazy eyes sometimes because we say look we're gonna worship someone today on sunday there was a man that lived thousands of13:25years ago and he was a really good guy he wasn't just good but he said he was god this is god coming to earth and he died for our sins but he didn't just die he rose again in three days and he didn't just rise again but he appeared to 500 people who saw verifiable saw that and then he rose he rose again and he ascended into heaven that is not believable other than jesus christ and why did jesus come to us so that13:53we may know that god revealed himself to us look at verse 2 that life was revealed to us here's something i love about scripture hebrews 1 2 says this in the last days that's now right the14:17last days there will be wars and rumor wars there'll be crazy countries that are blowing up atomic bombs north korea did that recently when i was sleeping last night um that's going to happen more by the way jesus said it was going to happen i believe it it will happen he has spoken to us by his son and god has appointed jesus heir of all things and has made the universe through him now listen to this about14:45jesus he is the radiance of god's glory and the exact expression of his nature did you hear that he is the radiance of god's glory and the exact expression of god's nature sustaining all things by his powerful word after making purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high so why does15:09that matter here's why it matters why would god send his only son his only son for you and for me because god wants you to know why would god why would god why would god go to all this trouble for us i know we think we're something special um in the realm of eternity like put yourself up to the sun you can't15:35even look at it except you have these magic glasses or it'll burn your eyes out and it's what millions of years away who am i compared to the sun and who am i that god would send his son that we would know god like god wants you to know him so if you're struggling here and you say well i want to know god i don't know if god wants me to know him god verse 2 the life was revealed revealing means a an16:03uncovering of himself god wants you to know him so if you don't know god it's not on god it's on us god wants you to know him and that is a glorious peaceful truth in my life because there is nothing about me that i should know anything about god and yet he wants us to know him because he is good he is loving but knowing god is not16:34a momentary decision or a a momentary event i want you to think at verse 2 again um that life was revealed we have seen it and we testify and declare to you um here's the struggle sometimes with religious people and i and i say that because i am one right um we want to say this so no i want to know god i really want to know god because god wants me to know him and that is17:02mind-blowing if so we talk about well if i just put my faith in jesus if i just confess him as lord at one point then i will know him knowledge of god is not a one-time momentary decision in our life it is it is an unveiling of god's goodness throughout time to me because i believe it this way like if god poured all of who he was in my mind like we could not contain a sliver of who god is so if you're here17:29and you think that you've made it on the knowledge scale of who god is um let me say this very nicely you haven't arrived yet right you you it's a it's a pre-season poll they don't mean anything right you got to play the game um but so we can't we can't just sit on our seats and say man look at what i know because knowledge of god is not a mental ascent god wants to continually pour himself into me that i may17:59know him through his word and so i ask you are you hungering and thirsting for knowing god in your life and before you say yes here's what here's what scares me to death the more i know god the more uncomfortable i become right so the more i get to the light of god i'm like lord there's some dark things in my life that there's some clauses that i don't want to go into and and we're talking about18:26behavior and god is saying look let's look at your heart first like god don't that's that's like the rooms in our house that no one goes into is this where the you know it's like past the christmas decorations you don't go in those rooms like the knowledge of god transforms our life he wants you to know him he wants you to draw closer to his presence and he wants you to continually hunger and thirst for18:50his knowledge and john reminds us of this john ask us are you listening to jesus verse one right from the beginning what we have heard are you listening to jesus not only are you listening to him but are you looking at jesus your verse one that we have seen with our eyes and are you reaching out to him john says that we have touched him with our hands there is19:18nothing more crucial to our faith than jesus christ so why do we make our faith about other things why do we get wrapped up in petty arguments about things that are not about jesus look we have a lost world we have neighbors that if they die tonight without christ they are going to an an eternity in hell without jesus so who cares that their grass is too long19:48why don't you well we should go cut it for them right you say well i don't want to do that i don't have time the closer i get to jesus the more i realize i need to love my neighbor we need to live a life where we are seeking the knowledge of god and the transformation that comes through his power to the gospel and that we can say lord i want to hear you i want to know you and20:14lord let me touch you if you are here today and you say well can i even know him ask that question ask the question god can i know you and strap on your seat belt because god is going to show you who he is that's why jesus came that we might know god verse one he said well how else i don't believe yet okay i'm glad you asked secondly the second hinge in our lives how can we know god how can we have20:43authentic faith verse two that life was revealed we have seen it and we testify and we declare to you the eternal life that was with the father and that was revealed to us john reminds us this see you can know god is real because you have life and that life is ultimately found in jesus christ you see21:06to know and follow jesus is to know god himself and to know god is to know and have true life and so i'm going to be sort of harsh on the religious people if you're not religious this is a great day to come to church you get a break um listen the very fact that you and i are alive21:28right now is a testimony to the common grace of god right there look i have done things in my life that if god was not looking out for me way before i was looking out for me i wouldn't be here now i've i've eaten things i have hit my head on things i've just done foolish boy things and i still do21:53that because the more men you get together in a room the lower the iq goes right and i'm okay admitting that right because it's one guy is going to say i bet you i can jump off the stage without hurting myself two guys are going to say i bet you i can jump off the balcony three guys are going to say who's going to repel off the ceiling we do things that if god wasn't looking out for us by his common grace we would22:18already be dead now think about this spiritually sin in itself leads to death so one sin in my life should lead to immediate death and i am a sinner in the hands of a god who cannot tolerate sin the fact that i am here today is common grace of god like we don't deserve life i know we think that way but god created22:40us and fashioned us in his image and then we sing a song earlier it is his breath and our lungs that in genesis 1 26 were made in his image in genesis 2 15 the bible says that god breathed life into the nostrils of man that the fact that we're even alive is a testimony that god is real and that he is good23:06and we just ignore that sometimes we we get up and we take our lives for granted so now let me get messy for us listen if you follow jesus you should have life that is more full and life in abundance we as people who say we honor jesus christ should be full of life not dead right we should be people23:33that when the community comes to us that they should look at us and they say you know what you don't live in the same way but you live like something that i want because you have life but your home is destroyed and you still have life and joy where does that come from the stock market took a crash you still have life and joy you've been diagnosed with cancer and your life is still full you've walked through24:02hardships and you have life we need to have life church it's okay to celebrate the life that we have in jesus christ we should not be spiritual sourpusses because we're lying to the world right jesus frees me not enslaves me and that is a testimony that he is good eternal life is a testimony that god is real24:26and that we can know him isn't this what jesus says in john 3 jesus says that everyone who believes in me will have eternal life i don't know about you but i love life and i love jesus and we should be life giving life living people so maybe today as you respond to god's grace you need to say lord i've24:51just been living like a dead man father i have not been a light that you have called me to be would help me enjoy your grace because people are looking at me and asking can i know god and we can say yes because i have life i have life more full so pastor what does that look like look at look at verse 1 john says i have heard i've seen i have felt jesus and concern in the life which was revealed this word25:21of life we see it and we testify to you a fulfilled and whole life is only found in jesus christ so well how can you say that um because the bible says it that i could gain the whole world and it25:38would profit me nothing if i lose my soul and look at the things that we chase in life right we we want a good house in a great neighborhood and then we get the house in the good neighborhood and we we begin to think hmm how about another house or a bigger house or we have like three kids to cut you know to cut26:06the grass and do the dishes you're like that's not enough because i still have to work and because i got to feed the kids but they don't just work for free unfortunately and we have to pay tuition and nothing in this world satisfies us and why is that because god has put a longing in our heart for eternity and only jesus can fill that hole no degree you say wow well if i just learn more i will be satisfied26:35look i have a terminal degree so in my foot that's the highest degree you can go you almost die that's why they call it terminal um right so in in the bible right so if anyone should be able to get to a point where they feel like they can gain eternal life through a degree you think a bible degree would be that um it does not fulfill me one27:02sliver of what christ does it is worthless without the power of the resurrection in my life and there is no job there is no salary there is no retirement there is nothing in our lives that satisfy us satisfy us it is only jesus christ why because life true life is knowing god and him alone27:29in a satisfied soul to be satisfied in christ leads to a satisfied soul i went to zambia this year some of you went to dominican and other places and they have nothing and yet they have everything i mean you go there and they are worshiping and you can see they are fulfilled and they have joy and they know god and they don't have anything27:58i can sell my car and support them for the rest of their life and i don't drive a um a tesla right or a lamborghini i drive a toyota put that in perspective and yet they have joy why because joy is found in jesus and we need to tell the world that but we need to tell the world that we work but we work for the lord can i know god yes because jesus is a revelation of god to us god wants you to know him can i know god28:29yes because he wants us to have life and life more full a satisfied soul always leads to a satisfied life and a soul that is starving always leads to a life that is starving if you're here and you think something's missing you know what it probably is be satisfied in jesus today because that is a longing that god has28:53put in your heart can i know god yes look at jesus yes look at life and lastly verse three and four look to the church verse three what we have seen and what we have heard we declare to you that you may also have fellowship i'm reading from the hcsb with us indeed our fellowship is with the father and with29:16his son jesus christ i love god's word because it is it's really good for people who are hard of hearing and hard of headedness all right so john says twice i've written you these things that that you may have fellowship and we're like okay that's awesome we're together we have fellowship but our fellowship together then results in fellowship with who the next fellowship with god so there's a direct connection29:44with my life in jesus and my life with you guys so whether you like it or not i am a part of you in all my maroon and white glory think about that though the people you sit with right now matter because they are eternally linked to your life how can we know god look at the church fellowship is a christ-centered god-given grace so30:13my fellowship with others is a picture of my fellowship and my knowledge of god so don't get frustrated people who don't want to go to church it's possible more than likely they don't know jesus the reason i go to church is not that i will get to know jesus the reason i fellowship is because i know30:40the father and my fellowship with the father leaves me with you and that is a picture of god's grace and his knowledge to the world in his ted talk john sutherland he's a police officer in london gave this beautiful story and he tells about something that's called the lockhart the locart exchange31:04principle some of you who are in law enforcement know about this it was developed by dr edmond locart in france and the principle has a simple premise he said that every contact leaves a trace every contact leaves a trace in other words every criminal leaves a trace where he goes and you say well that's that's common knowledge because if they touch the door you leave a fingerprint but it's not31:34just fingerprints every step that a criminal takes leaves an imprint often the breasts that they can leave that they breathe will leave dna the hairs that fall off every touch a criminal makes for our law enforcement thankfully leaves an impression this is the low cart principle and this helps our law31:57enforcement solve crimes that seem unsolvable you see evidence does not forget and so sunderland in his speaking at the ted talk says this he said this also has a profound impact on our lives some of you are thinking well i'm not a criminal why would you share that information because every contact that you and i have in life leaves an impression every contact leaves an impression every time two people come in contact32:26and exchange takes place so it could be between friends strangers we either have the chance to encourage ignore hold out a hand or we can withdraw from it have you ever been in a place and you were struggling and someone just gave you a nod and a smile and it lifted your spirits have you ever been in a place and you walk by and you just feel like someone's giving you the cold shoulder32:55you're like what in the world is that person's but why would they do that to an angel i don't understand have you ever felt i have i hate that feeling um because our contacts are important this is what john is telling to us and how much more so does our contacts now as followers of jesus christ have eternal33:19impact so the way i greet you makes a difference right and when i extend a hand to someone who is in need it has eternal ripples for the grace and the glory of god you say well why does that matter because the way we interact with each other in the world depends on how much we know god if we know him at all first john our fellowship with others is indeed our fellowship with the father33:48are you fellowshipping well and then john says this we are writing you these things that our joy may be complete our joy may be i love this about god's word joy increases when our faith is shared joy increases when our faith is shared if you are not someone that has a lot of joy ask yourself this34:18when's the last time you shared your faith that's a hard question to ask isn't it when's the last time you shared your faith you say well that's difficult i understand that sharing our faith is not natural that's why it is god given and holy spirit driven the times in my life where i share my faith not here but out there are the times that i depend most on the holy spirit in my life because i know that no34:46sinner turns to jesus on his own because i know that this sinner never turned to jesus on his own have you shared your faith you said well no you're not joyful and maybe it's time that you began to see joy that only the holy spirit can rot in your heart i had a friend friday that was going through a difficult time and i said look let's hang out and i said i have a project he said what is that so we're35:13going to go to the icu so that's a horrible place to take someone that's going through a bad time but we were able to gather around a dear brother who's had a stroke and we spent time in his hospital room praying and encouraging and sharing and you know what happened to our hearts when we left the joy of christ flooded our soul with the expectation that when we prayed to our father he listens and i can35:37pray to my heavenly father because god wants me to know him and through christ i can know god what a beautiful thought that is church increase your joy so well i don't know anyone that doesn't know jesus that is a lie from the devil go to walmart today go eat out look around now36:06find someone that needs god's grace that is what the lord has equipped us to do share your faith that our joy may increase what is the chief end of man but to know god and to make him known do you know36:26god today so how can we respond church how can we respond to god's grace i i think there's several ways here one if you are a believer and a follower of christ we're going to sing a song of invitation and redemption and maybe you don't need to come to the altar and bow your head but maybe you need to stand up and sing as loud as you can you say well i don't have a singing voice i didn't ask if you did36:53but maybe you need to sing a song that says lord i want to champion to the world what life looks like and god i might break the glass that's okay we have insurance but i want the world to know that my song is not coming from my voice it's coming from my heart and lord i've been quiet for far too long and maybe your time of response to be a song of declaration that the world needs to know that he has given you37:19life that you may live it out eternal life doesn't start when we die it starts when we die to self and live as christ church we need to get our act together and live like people who know jesus maybe you're here and you're struggling and you don't know if you can know and maybe today is the first time you've actually heard someone say that you can know god look to37:47jesus god sent his son that you may know him john says listen look observe touch you can know christ and you say well if i sued him right now he couldn't defend himself in court let me tell you this one day you and i will stand in the court of the cosmos and look the judge in the face and he will say josh38:11you have fallen short of the image i made you you do not deserve life what is your answer and that is when jesus is going to say father don't judge him he deserves it but lord remember i died on the cross so lord i took his place i took his place that josh would know you father that is the power of38:33the gospel that we who are dead in our sins might have life in christ if we will submit to him as king of kings and if you walked in here today not knowing god do not leave without knowing him look to jesus find38:54life and fellowship much let's pray father
