Sermon nugget Weds April 2, 2008
Theme- Evidence for truth
Verses- John 5:36-38 "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.
37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. (NIV)
THE TESTIMONY OF GOD, THE FATHER vs.36-38
As far as Jesus is concerned the only evidence that is needed is what God the Father thinks. His voice was audible at Jesus’ baptism. "This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.” Maybe as the author, John, reflected over the events of Jesus Christ he recalled the most unusual experience up on the mountain top of the transfiguration and remembered again the witness of the Father who spoke those words again. Peter, James and John would not be the same.
But most did not have those experiences. Since God is spirit He is not seen with our physical eyes. His witness is also an internal one. People have experienced that divine touch that is so hard to put into words, that you cannot put on an observation table or under a microscope. Just like you cannot analyze love, so God cannot be analyzed by science but that does not deny reality. Unfortunately, many people have hardened their inner hearts to God. They would know him if they wanted to, but since they do not want to they do not know him. "His word does not dwell in you, for you do not believe in the one he sent."
C. S. Lewis observed, “There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”
Astronaut James Irwin was a Christian before he was chosen for the three member Apollo 15 crew but it profoundly and permanently influenced his faith. “The hours spent on the moon were the most thrilling of my life, not because I was there, but because I could feel the presence of God. I returned determined to share with others that profound experience with God on the moon and to lift man to his highest flight through life…that Jesus walking on Earth was more important that man walking on the moon.”
Charles Duke did not become a believer until a number of years after he and other members of Apollo 16 crew blasted off for the moon. He believed Jesus was a great teacher but his marriage was breaking apart and his goal of being rich did not satisfy him. He saw a change in his wife who told him she found a peace and purpose to her life that she had never known. He decided to explore what she was talking about. He writes “As I sat in the easy chair with a cup of coffee in my hand and the Bible in my lap the scales suddenly fell from my eyes. I saw that God had loved Charles Duke from the time He created the world and all of a sudden I realized I was faced with the most important question I had ever faced. In my heart Jesus was saying to me, who do you say that I am? The only choices I could see were that Jesus was either the Son of God or a big liar.”
Duke says his conversion resulted in a healed marriage. Later a ministry developed in which he and his wife pray for the sick. “I have never known such an exciting life, a life filled with the love, peace, joy and power of God.”
God gives witness to the reality and truth of the person of Jesus Christ in many ways if we but listen.
Pastor Dale.
