Sermon 27.12.15

[0:00] very short on numbers, I hear some are in the sick beds too, that's not so good have any of you had any cold in the last week or two?

[0:11] no, you've all escaped, that's good so, who got good Christmas presents this year? oh, little fingers, damn it, me good, yeah so, Bethany, what did you get?

[0:28] a bike, oh fantastic, and you've been riding all the time yeah, that's great, Natalie, what did you get?

[0:41] an iPod, wow, good stuff I still haven't got an iPod, I'm waiting for them that's grand, presents are great, aren't they?

[0:53] you open lots of presents, have you been playing with them all of the time? have you got bored with any of them yet? none whatsoever? I'm going to ask you a hard question now who can remember what they got for Christmas last year?

[1:14] all silent, terrible, your mums and your dads will be thinking you've forgotten already you might know something, Natalie, can you remember?

[1:24] yeah, what did you get for Christmas last year? a Kindle a Kindle oh yeah, look at the electronic stuff, that's good see, it was a bit of hard work though, wasn't it, remembering what you got as a present last year and this is what we often find, we really look forward to getting presents and we get exactly what we want and it's fantastic and then after a little while, we don't play with it quite so much because we get used to it and then after a bit longer than that, we might even grow out a bit like your bike a few years time, we'll be through bed and we're going, Dad, I need another bike and that bike will be left in the shed and forgotten about and that's quite a challenge, those presents that we're getting, we just after a while, we don't appreciate them any longer, we get bored of them remember last week, what David, the minister was saying to us about Jesus being the greatest gift of all and he's a gift to each and every one of us then we think to ourselves, well how is it that if other presents we don't play with them forever, we don't enjoy them forever, how can we enjoy Jesus forever?

[2:39] does anyone have any ideas for that? it's a big challenge, isn't it? i'll ask you another question, a dangerous one this time have any of you got bored with your mum and dad yet?

[2:55] no? good, right answer you know we don't get bored with our mum and dad because as we grow up we get ever more thankful to mum and dad for all the things they give us and also for the people that they are, the kind things that they do and as we get older and we get better able to understand things in life we get to appreciate everything that our mums and dads do for us all the more and therefore the older we get hopefully the more we love them that's something to keep in our own minds there and always to be grateful for mums and dads because in this life mums and dads are fantastic and a great gift to us and in the same way Christ has that supreme gift we can enjoy him forever because as we get older we'll get to know more about Christ we'll get to know more about Jesus and see how even more wonderful he is than we think today and when we go to be with him forever we will continue learning more and more forever about Jesus learning more about how wonderful he is and the wonderful things that he has done especially in dying on a cross to take away our sins so we can never become bored with Jesus he's the greatest gift and when you start thinking or forgetting about those Christmas presents that were wonderful today remember Jesus it's the same yesterday today and forever and we can never get tired of heaven we're going to sing a hymn now a hymn 539 and mission praise once in royal david city which speaks of jesus coming to earth once in royal david city stood a lowly cattle shed where a mother laid her baby in a manger of his bed in verse 2 he came down to earth from heaven who is god and lord of all and his shelter was his was a stable and his cradle was a stall the lord of glory the lord jesus christ came down to earth for us let us sing this hymn to god's praise now if we turn in our bibles to the first letter of john 1 john chapter 4 and reading from verse 7 1 john chapter 4 and verse 7 john writes dear friends let us love one another for love comes from god god everyone who loves has been born of god and knows god whoever does not love does not know god because god is love this is how god showed his love among us he sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him this is love not that we loved god but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins dear friends since god so loved us we also ought to love one another no one has ever seen god but if we love one another god lives in us and his love is made complete in us we know that we live in him and he in us because he has given us of his spirit and we have seen and testified that the father has sent his son to be the savior of the world if anyone acknowledges that jesus is the son of god god lives in him and he in god and so we know and rely on the love that god has for us god is love whoever lives in love lives in god and god in him in this way love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment because in this world we are like him

[6:57] there is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment the one who fears is not made perfect in love we love because he first loved us if anyone says i love god yet hates his brother he is a liar but anyone who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love god whom he has not seen and he has given us this command whoever loves god must also love his brother everyone who believes that jesus is the christ is born of god and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well this is how we know that we love the children of god by loving god and carrying out his commands this is love for god to obey his commands and his commands are not burdensome for everyone born of god overcomes the world this is the victory that has overcome the world even our faith who is it that overcomes the world only he who believes that jesus is the son of god this is the one who came by water and blood and blood jesus christ he did not come by water only but by water and blood and it is the spirit who testifies because the spirit is the truth for there are three that testify the spirit the water and the blood and the three are in agreement we accept man's testimony but god's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of god which he has given about his son anyone who believes in the son of god has this testimony in his heart anyone who does not believe god has made him out to be a liar because he has not believed the testimony god has given about his son and this is the testimony god has given us eternal life and this life is in his son he who has the son has life he who does not have the son of god does not have life amen may god bless this reading of his word gordon is now going to lead us in prayers of intercession let us pray gracious and ever-blessed lord we thank you that we can come and we can bow before you and in coming heavenly father before you this morning we do indeed acknowledge that you are our lord and our savior and we thank you that we can come and worship and praise you and that heavenly father we can give you the glory and honor that you are due and we pray as we bow here before you that each one of us heavenly father in the quietness of our own hearts as we lift our prayers to you that we would indeed remember that you are a god that hears and answers prayer and that you would heavenly father encourage each one of us to be fervent before you and pray for heavenly father we thank you for prayers that you have already answered prayers that have been honored heavenly father in times past and as we continue to see your hand revealed to us heavenly father within our congregation we thank you heavenly father that we can come and we can acknowledge that your will is done and heavenly father as we come this morning we come with thankfulness for this time of family that we have had over these past days this time this time of coming together heavenly father and remembering your son jesus of how he was born and deathly him in the stables and how the shepherds came and how the wise men heavenly father followed the staff and how they left that place and went and bore testimony

[11:00] of how they had seen the angels and the angels had commanded them to go and they went and worship and in turn we come and worship this morning and thank you for jesus for his birth but most importantly heavenly father we thank you for the life that he lived and the death that he endured for us that our sins that are red as crimson are washed as white as snow and heavenly father as we have sought over these past days through the ministry of this congregation led by your servant here and heavenly father to reach out into this community with your work and we thank you that we can come heavenly father and even in the ministry and going out with the tracts on Thursdays we thank you heavenly father and that work heavenly father will not return unto you void as your word was put in heavenly father that those that walk in darkness may indeed see a glorious light and with heavenly father that they would turn unto you so we thank you heavenly father for the ministry that we are part of here each one of us with our own part whether it be in silent prayer at home or even in the setting up in the church here in the leadership but most importantly we pray for our minister baby heavenly father that your hand would indeed continue to be stayed upon and even this morning as he goes to preaching news and that heavenly father that you would bless the congregation there through the preaching of your work and that you would uphold David heavenly father that you would indeed use him use him mightfully according to your purpose we thank you for his ministry here and heavenly father we pray that you would bless us through the preaching of the work and that heavenly father each one of us would be challenged to seek out the plan that you have for us and heavenly father that each one of us would be used for your glory and heavenly father as we come and we intercede before you at this time remember again the young ones that have gone to the sunday school the young ones that are on holiday and those that are laid low through sickness at this time each one of them very much part of this congregation and heavenly father as they grow up within the the fellowship here we pray that they would indeed know what it is to be rooted and grounded in your world and heavenly father that they would know what it is to remember their creator in the days of their years before the evil days come that they can say that they have no pleasure in it and heavenly father we pray for the sunday school teachers for those that lead in the youth fellowship heavenly father that you would guide them in their ministry that you would uphold them and heavenly father that they would indeed be able to sow seeds for you in the lives of these youngs and that heavenly father that even one day would see fruit born for you we pray heavenly father for communities at this time that are blighted with floods even in our own lands heavenly father we see it here in this country those heavenly father that have seen devastation in a number of times the waters rise heavenly father and the fear will come through the door again we pray heavenly father that you would uphold them for the work of the church in that age heavenly father an area that has been so blessed through the preaching of your word

[15:00] during the summer months for many years heavenly father that as people see the floods that they may indeed heavenly father think of the flood that covered the earth and how you made provision and even now heavenly father you make provision for each one of us that all we have to do is call upon you and we are saved and heavenly father we pray that your hand would be upon them that even in the bleakness of the times that they experienced and heavenly father that they would indeed see that there is light and that you are indeed the light for the world and heavenly father for the wars that we know of across the lands heavenly father so many wars in the name of the witch so many wars as people seek power heavenly father for their own needs but we come at this time of christmas and we remember the peace that covered the earth when your son was born and heavenly father we would pray for that peace at this time the refugees heavenly father would wander seeking a new home that they would find that rest in you heavenly father and even as our own borders are open heavenly father for refugees to come in some even coming to the island here and heavenly father that you would prepare us that we would see the opportunity for ministry and heavenly father that even if they settle here for a while and return to their own country that they would return heavenly father with your word in their hearts heavenly father that your word would indeed go forth further that even out of these atrocities heavenly father that souls would be one and your work would be expanded heavenly father guide us we pray we pray for your servant Duncan as he breaks down your work for us this morning heavenly father that we would be able to apply your work to our own hearts that word of correction that word of courage and tell my father that we would indeed know that through you there is indeed love and how we must love one another oh heavenly father we thank you for the greatest gift of thy son jesus that great symbol of your love for us and we pray that we would not lose sight of it and we tell my father that as we go forward into a new year in this coming that we would go forward heavenly father examining ourselves calling upon you and asking for you to direct our paths and direct our hearts and tell my father that we would indeed be used mightfully by you as individuals and collectively as a congregation for the problems of your kingdom here and we pray this in jesus precious name amen we shall sing once again from mission praise number 211 and praise to 11 heart the herald angels sing glory to the newborn king peace on earth and mercy mild god and sinners reconciled let's sing this hymn to god's praise it seems we're not able to hit the heights that the angels can reach if we turn back to our reading in one john chapter four

[19:05] and then i want to focus today on words we find in verse nine one chapter john chapter four and verse nine this is how god showed his love among us he sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him we obviously think about jesus christ coming into the world and we think about him taking human flesh and when we actually look at this verse we see also a very important point that he was sent into the world and sent extremely importantly that we might live and i want to just to think very much on this today in the context of three points firstly a sent son or a sent saviour secondly a loving father and thirdly living children so let us think first on this sent son and the lord jesus christ we might actually think for a minute on the fact that christ was sent into the world it immediately should make us think that the very fact that someone had to come from outside of this world and would speak quite clearly to us that in fact internal action in the world to resolve the problem was simply not going to be good enough and we spend our lives thinking that we can solve the issues that face us and the challenges that face us and yet there are some things that are completely beyond what man can do we know from what david has been preaching so ably in ephesians that by nature we are dead in our sins and because we are dead there was no one upon the face of this earth who was able to address the problem no human being could fix the problem that there was between god and man and therefore the simple fact was that god had to do something he had to do something in order to satisfy his justice and his righteousness in dealing with a rebellious people who were sinning against him and against his law and he didn't simply have to send his son potentially there were other choices available to him when we think of god dealing with the israelites in the old testament he gives examples of the children of israel being told to totally destroy individual cities which was a demonstration of god's power and god's authority and god's righteous dealing with the sins of rebellious people to totally destroy everything and that was before them and god could realistically have decided to totally destroy the earth and everyone who was in it and to have nothing more to do with it that would have satisfied god's justice obviously that was not going to satisfy god's love in dealing with this world but when we think about it we need to ask well why would he have sent his son and not anybody else he obviously decided that no angel was going to be good enough to send to this world he couldn't send an angel or any other heavenly being as an ambassador to seek peace and when nations seek peace one with another and they'll send an ambassador or an important person and but the peace that comes between nations does not usually involve full reparations and full payment of the cost of one nation taking the blame

[23:10] as often as not the wars that happen between nations are very much complicated and have faults on both sides but god was in the situation where there was no blame to be attached to him and no angel could deal with the situation and so he sent his son god sent what was precious to him and very importantly he sent his son telling us that he sent his son it was by the father's will it was god's will that jesus would come here jesus did not just come into this world of his own devices it wasn't his own thought taking independent action but this was god the father his will and jesus delighting to do his father's will came into the earth and that we might live through him and we see in verse 10 tells us this is love not that we love god but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins jesus wasn't simply sent into the world in order to give us new life but first of all he had to pay the price for our sin and in this version of the bible it talks about an atoning sacrifice if you have footnotes you would notice in modern versions you might say an alternative reading would be to turn aside the wrath of god or in the um king james version it uses a word called propitiation and quite a complicated word but one which talks about taking away the wrath and the anger of god against sin and when we we don't tend to use that word in daily life these days but uh... we do use it in the context of thinking uh... wanting to deal uh... on a difficult subject with somebody else and we'll say well i'm just waiting for a propitious moment and looking for the the moment in time when the person is in the best frame of mind the best mood for us to tackle them on this particular issue but propitiation is about taking away the righteous anger of god against sin and about paying that price so that we ourselves would not have to pay it uh... jesus had to take on human flesh because there was no uh... human being no man or woman uh... could possibly stand righteous before god none of the angels uh... could deal with this situation because they uh... were heavenly beings they were not human uh... so christ himself uh... came down to this earth taking on uh... flesh uh... just uh... like us living a life uh... just like us and dealing with all the issues of life as we have to deal with them uh... and eventually going to the cross jesus uh... willingly came but he was a sent son sent uh... by his father that's the first point the sent son the second point is looking at the loving father it's very easy when we think uh... of christ coming into the world and of the relationship that believers have with christ that we think principally of christ as the loving uh... one the loving savior the one who loved us uh... and came to this earth to die for our sins uh... and it can be very easy both for non-christians and for christians alike uh... to think uh... of the father uh... as more stern uh... as more remote uh... and indeed as less loving uh... than the son uh... when we think of uh... how the bible reveals god the father to us uh... as one who has a holy law uh... and who as one who has to uh...

[27:12] uh... judge uh... sinners according to that law uh... and as one who is righteously angry uh... about the breaking of that law uh... we tend to start divorcing that aspect of god's character from uh... the fact uh... that he is a loving father uh... and unfortunately many people in this world today will deliberately misrepresent uh... uh... the father in the context of what we have been talking here of the substitutionary atonement of christ both outside uh... the church and within uh... uh... uh... churches you will hear people saying uh... that the substitutionary atonement is a terrible doctrine and speaks of a terrible god and that is simply and clearly misunderstanding uh... the great challenge uh... that god had to face in dealing with sin the great evil that sin was uh... and is and most importantly it completely misses the fact that god uh... in dealing with sin in this way was showing his love to a far greater degree uh... than uh... would have been possible uh... in any other way verse 10 tells us quite clearly this is love not that we love god but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins it was precisely because he loved us and because of his love that he sent his son romans 5 and 8 tells us that god demonstrates his own love for us in this while we were still sinners christ died for us while still sinners uh... not in our saved state but in our unconverted state in all our rebellion in all our hatred against god god still loved uh... so much that he was willing to send christ into the world god sending uh... christ uh... is clearly spelled out in many different texts uh... throughout scripture uh... and is the action of a loving uh... and a hearing god and just think uh... upon uh... the death uh... and the majesty uh... of this lover uh... a father who was willing uh... that his son should pay the ultimate price uh... and uh...

[29:37] uh... and that uh... he himself would be separated uh... from his son and sending his son into the world and uh...

[29:48] if we think about it what will parents not do for their children uh... you know if a child for example uh... is diagnosed and suffering with cancer uh... and uh...

[30:01] the parent knows that child will die any loving caring parent will more than willingly say to the doctors uh... to treat the cancer uh... to cut it out with the surgeon's knife uh... to treat it uh... with chemotherapy with radiotherapy with any therapy imaginable if only it will save the son and in those circumstances no one would ever accuse uh... a father or a mother of hating their child of being uncaring for all the pain and the suffering that they put their child through and in a far greater way uh... God was willing for his son uh... to go through immense pain immense suffering uh... as he dealt with sin uh... upon this earth uh... not because of his love for his son but because of his love uh... for us lost and ruined sinners uh... the love of the father is a truly amazing uh... love that is deeper far deeper than the love that any parent uh... can have for a child upon this earth uh... if we think of the separation uh... of the father and the son when jesus uh... was upon the cross and the desolation uh... that jesus had to face uh... highlighted by him crying out my god my god why have you forsaken me terrible desolation in that situation that christ had to face as his father turned his face away from his son uh... and jesus no longer had the felt presence uh... of his father upon the cross so think for a minute what did that mean for god the father was he sitting there hard hearted in heaven turned away from his son dealing with a purely legal transaction that the law might be satisfied that his justice might be satisfied i don't believe that for a minute as christ was crying out my god my god uh... in heaven god must have been crying to himself my son my son and we think elsewhere in scripture of uh... speaking of god dealing with time a day is like a thousand years or a thousand years it's like a day and we think of history going by with all the evil that there is in this earth and how it just goes by as in a flash and then god deals with it but i'm sure for every day that christ spent upon this earth it must have seemed like a thousand years to his father for the separation that there was in the two for his son having to live in an evil world having to deal day in and day out with sinners having to be in some senses physically closer to the devil than he was to the father the separation and the suffering of the father in heaven was truly great alongside the suffering of jesus the son upon this earth and very importantly for us when christ was suffering upon the cross he was showing both the father's love for the lost and showing his father's love for justice and very importantly jesus the son shared his father's desire for his righteous anger against sin to be dealt with for god's justice to be satisfied upon the cross he was only too willing to do his father's will and he had no second thought whatsoever at any stage of turning away from his father's will because the will of the father and the son were one and over

[34:02] and above that god the father wanted to see his son exalted and glorified every parent wants to see their children do well and truly loving parents don't love their children more because of what they achieve but they're only too delighted when they do achieve things in this world and they love to see them do well and god the father wanted to see his son exalted and glorified and on the cross he showed in the most amazing way his love for lost and ruined sinners his love did not increase by sending christ to the cross but christ is exalted and glorified and raised to the highest place and given the name that is above every other name because of what he was willing to go through and the father blessed his son because of that obedience so there we have the two points of the sent son and sent by a loving father and the third point I want to look at is this one of living children coming from the second part of our verse this is how god showed his love among us he sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him as we mentioned already by nature we are dead in our sins and only external action only that action of god sending his son into the world would be able to save us but what if god could have pardoned sin could have dealt with sin but had not done anything to show his love to us to give us any relationship with himself had simply paid the price of sin and freed us from our prison think today of prisoners who spend many many years in prison for their crimes and according to our justice system at the end of the time when the crime the sentence has been dealt with the crime has been paid for they are then released back into society if you just release a prisoner who's been in prison for many years and let him walk on the streets what is he going to do he's no longer part of the society that he left he's got no job prospects because people aren't going to give him employment if he's got no employment history and if he's been in prison it can be much more challenging to get work he's possibly lost contact with all his friends and all his family and many prisoners in that situation would say life what life have I got

[36:51] I haven't got a life whatsoever even though I am free we have an example of that in scripture when David was estranged from his son Absalom and David allowed Absalom to come back into the city of Jerusalem after a time that gave instructions that Absalom was not to see his face and ultimately this led to Absalom leading a rebellion against him so if we do not have that relationship with God if we do not have genuine life there is nothing to look forward to no purpose in life we know that what was man created for he was created to glorify God and to enjoy him forever in a living and a loving relationship I want to think on five aspects of Christian life that we see from this chapter here of what it means to live through

[37:54] Christ to live through him in our reading it's quite clear from chapter 5 verse 11 where John writes this is the testimony God has given us eternal life and this life is in his son our life in Christian terms is in Christ and it is through Christ verse 12 he who has the son of God has life he who does not have the son of God does not have life there's nothing could be more clear more stark than that statement he who has the son of God has life he who does not have the son of God does not have life the only way you can have genuine life in this world is if you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ if you believe in him and you come to God through him if you are not in Christ scripture says you are dead in your sins and like that prisoner we were talking about you're wandering around in a world without genuine life without genuine hope without genuine purpose so that life comes in

[39:10] Christ in the son himself and anyone who is in Christ lives through him and because of him we can only come to God in that way we can only live through Christ because Christ was the only way of mediation the only way of reconciliation with God but that life is very important it's not a life set alone it's a life whereby we are adopted into God's family Ephesians 1 and 5 and Galatians 3.26 says you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus God wasn't satisfied just to save us from our sins he wanted more than that and each and every believer is adopted is brought into God's family is indeed a brother of the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into that family and that life through Christ is a wonderful life because it's not just a life that comes in but it's a life that flows out streams of living water will flow from within any believer

[40:21] John 7 and 38 God sends his son by his spirit into our lives and that life cannot remain within it must flow out it's an incredible thing when we think about it and something that I think none of us as believers would claim unless it was written here in God's word it's almost too much for us to believe when we sit and we look at these verses and we think upon these things that the life of Christ is in every believer we see that in the second point and that God lives in us verse 12 God lives in us and his love is made complete in us and verse 15 if anyone acknowledges Jesus is the son of God God lives in him and then also in verse 4 it's implicit there you children are from God and have overcome them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world we have to fight against the devil in this world it's a genuine reality but we have one living in us as believers who is greater than the one who is in the world

[41:38] God lives in us and we live in God verse 13 we know that we live in him and he in us because he has given us of his spirit verse 15 which we just read God lives in him and he in God each and every believer lives in God Colossians 3 tells us your life is hidden with Christ in God it's a wonderful picture that of our lives as believers hidden with Christ in God it's a place of intimacy and it's a place of safety we are in God's family we are under God's protection and we are safe in those circumstances the fourth point is that we live this Christian life in love in verse 16 God is love whoever lives in love lives in

[42:38] God and God in him whoever lives in love lives in God what kind of love is this we need to ask ourselves it's defined there by those three simple words God is love and it's very important when we look at these verses and we think about the love of God that we define love itself by our understanding of God as revealed in the scriptures and not do the opposite which so many people are inclined to do particularly unbelievers who would define God by how they understand love in a world where they have no concept of what God's love itself is we must define love by our understanding of God and not the other way around God is love Father's love showed clearly when Jesus is praying in the garden of Gethsemane he said

[43:45] I have loved them even as you have loved me the love that Christ had for his disciples when he was on the earth the love that Christ has for us as his disciples today is the same love that the Father has for the Son the same love that God has for the Lord Jesus Christ verse 19 we love because he first loved us that's the same love that sent Christ to the world is the love that we love others with it's a complete and it's a transforming love verse 12 if we love one another God lives in us and his love is made complete in us and verse 17 in this way love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment because in this world we are like him love is made complete in us and we are like him in this world it is a transforming love as the love of

[44:56] Christ at work in the life of each and every believer transforms them to be like Christ how often we quite rightly grieve at the fact that we in our own minds appear to be nothing like Christ whatsoever as we continually turn away from his word and live lives that are not genuinely worthy of him but scripture tells us clearly that that process is happening in the lives of believers they are being transformed being made like him and for many of us we are first attracted to the church of Jesus Christ because we could see that there was something different in the lives of believers than in the unbelievers that we knew it is very imperfect upon this earth but it is there and it is clear and I would say to anyone who is not in Christ today you surely know from looking at the believers around you that at least some of them will show you something special of the Lord

[46:03] Jesus Christ and you should be desiring that same love for your own life as well it's a love that causes us to love one another verse 12 if we love one another God's love God lives in us and his love is made complete in us and it causes us to be obedient to God's commands verse 21 he has given us this command whoever loves God must also love his brother here we have a command to love and this brings us back to that point of defining love by our understanding of God not by our understanding of what's portrayed as love on the TV or in novels or anything like that we are commanded to love society would tell us today that's impossible love is something you fall into love is something that just happens between the right people but no scripture tells us we are to love one another scripture tells us we are to love our husbands we are to love our wives and we are to love our children and there are times when it can be difficult to love people around us but this scripture is there and the command is there and those who make an effort to love find that they do genuinely love others and they do see things in others to love and they see God at work in the lives of others we are commanded to love we don't just turn away from someone because they are not doing the things we want them to do we are to obey

[47:44] God's commands and the wonderful thing about God's commands chapter 5 and verse 3 this is love for God to obey his commands and his commands are not burdensome there is no burden in following the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ there is no burden in following God's law any believer here today will be able to say quite clearly that the burden the heavy weight that came upon them or comes upon them is always when they are not following the commands that God has given to them final point about this life in Christ it's an eternal life we know from John 3 16 that God sent Christ into the world that we might be saved and that we might have eternal life in John 17 verse 2 and I say it's worth having a look at

[48:47] Jesus' prayer upon the cross if you have time this afternoon and just look at the connections really between what he says here in his prayer and what the apostle John picks up on in this letter John 17 verse 2 Jesus said you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him each and every believer who is given by the father to the son has eternal life there are none who do not get eternal life it is there for each and everyone who trusts in Christ and what does this eternal life consist of Jesus goes on to say in his prayer now this is eternal life that they may know God they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent eternal life consists of knowing the father and the son the wonderful thing for every believer is getting to know more about

[49:59] God the father and God the son and so same to the children area no less going to stop loving the Lord Jesus Christ than you would stop loving your own loving father and mother you're not going to run out of a love for Christ or get bored with Christ anymore than if you spend your life with your parents or with your family family and you decide and you're truly happy with them sadly there are plenty of people in the world today who are only too willing to walk out on their families but in any genuinely loving family people just simply do not want to be apart for any length of time at all eternal life is there and eternal life is about knowing Christ and about knowing God the father and each of us can know that we have eternal life 1 John 5 and 13

[51:01] John concluded everything by saying I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life that knowledge is there for each and every believer each and every one can look into his own heart and say do I have the love of God in my heart do I love the son as I love the father do I love the people of God these are the things that indicate to us that we are in Christ and if we can look into our hearts and see these things we can have confidence that we have eternal life not a confidence based upon ourselves but a confidence based upon what Christ has done for us and the love that Christ has given to us we know that we have eternal life do you know this in your heart today and do you know that loving father who sent the son that each and everyone who is here today might live through faith in him

[52:11] Lord our God we praise and worship you today that you are the holy God the God who is righteously angry at sin and yet the God who divides the way of dealing with that sin by sending his son to die upon a cross Lord we marvel that you could love people as truly unlovable as ourselves that from before time began you love us and chose us to be in Christ we thank you oh Lord our God that your word is there for each and every person in this world that Lord that each and every individual can turn from their ways can turn to Christ and can live and Lord God have that eternal life we pray for your blessing upon your gospel today to the very ends of the year that souls will be brought into your kingdom that new people would be born today as babes in

[53:19] Christ and Lord would go on to grow and mature in the love and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the Father who loved the world so much that he was willing to send his one and only son we pray Lord that you give us the grace to remember these things to meditate upon them and to put that love into action in our lives that others might be called to Christ through us and that we might be a praising people who love one another with all our hearts and who love a lost and a needy world in Jesus name we pray Amen we close by singing mission praise 162 162 from heaven you came helpless babe entered our world your glory veiled not to be served but to serve and get your life that we might live let's sing this hymn to God's praise the grace of the Lord

[54:33] Jesus Christ the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all z God aole the Father Holy will will make