Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Notes
Transcript
How do you know it’s the voice of God?
How do you know it’s the voice of God?
Issued a call to CLC- felt very sacred and official - because it is!
What are the criteria for discerning where one should serve?
Prayer, deep introspection and conversation - utter silence -
Finally a blog post (Do you like it where you are? Will you be paid a living wage there?)
Today is set to clear up some largely evangelical chatter in the Christian atmosphere: I heard God say”
In a recent article a girl said she broke up with her boyfriend because God told her to and then when she told her mother the mom said ‘weird because God told me you were going to get married’.
In general here’s three steps to take:
Confirm your ‘hearing’ with the church
It must come true
It must conform to scripture
You confirm it with the Church:
You confirm it with the Church:
A. Bring someone else in- does this make sense?
On the next day he wanted to depart for Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow me!”
It’s likely that Andrew took Jesus to Galilee to meet Philip.
Inviting people to hear the truth is not difficult - two words. Follow me.
Inviting people to church is not hard now- send the link.
How many of you are here simply because someone said ‘come to church with me’
B. Get a sceptic:
Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Again- the community offers an apologetic. There’s plenty of crazy in consensus. Find a nay-sayer.
Let’s not forget that Thomas doubted and we can be thankful for it.
As we look at and participate in our increasingly divided world it is important for us to look firmly at our own presuppositions and the world around us, as Nathaniel does of Christ.
The Gospel according to John 4. Jesus Gains Two More Disciples, Philip and Nathaniel (1:43–51)
‘Honest inquiry is a sovereign cure for prejudice. Nazareth might be all that Nathanael thought, but there is an exception to prove every rule; and what an exception these young men had found!’ (Bruce, p. 60).
This transitions us to the next point, encouraging people to see the truth.
It must come/be true
It must come/be true
When Nathaniel is sceptical about Jesus, Jesus tells him something true
You were doing this:
Friend who does interrogations - all we need is one true thing about them and usually they then confess
Your fingerprints are on the box.
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
The fig tree is an OT sign of peace and God’s blessings:
And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon.
Nathaniel heard Jesus mention this and it acted as a type of Jewish Shibboleth (if you don’t know what that is you should read your bible more). Hint Judges 12
Jesus tells Nathaniel that what he sees will come true.
And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
In Revelation what is the closing scene at the end of the age in the New creation?
I AM TELLING YOU THE TRUTH!!
This leads us to the final portion- It must conform to scripture
Does it conform to Scripture?
Does it conform to Scripture?
In the gospel lesson we most clearly see this story conform with the word of God because the word takes on flesh:
Nathaniel calls Jesus by His three titles that we know to be true.
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
Rabbi (Nicodemus a Pharisee (An AGENT OF THE CHURCH) comes to Jesus and says:
This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
John ends his Gospel by reassuring us:
but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
How is Jesus titled at His death? King
They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.
God can speak to us in any way that He wishes, yet He most clearly speaks to us in His revealed word.
Friends whenever someone tells you they have heard God tell them something what we should immediately ask is- what does this tell you and me about Jesus?
Jesus is the body of Christ- the one who sends the Holy spirit to fill His body, His temple - US THE CHURCH
Jesus is the way the truth and the life
Jesus is the Word Made Flesh
Here is the terrible stinker about purporting to have heard God’s voice without actually doing anything to confirm it against what God has already said in Christ. When I alone have heard God’s voice I alone am righteous.
Prophecy of this sort needs to be called what it is- idolatry and self righteousness.
It is a continued effort to remake the laws and words of God to fit my selfish ambition or to make my sin look not quite so bad. It is the sin of the garden- to try and know everything.
Whatever you do, as you try to interpret your world, maybe the question is not so much what is God saying but what has God said in Jesus?
728 How Firm a Foundation
How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He has said
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
The good news is that Jesus says these true words for you and me in John:
You are saved by Jesus. Not by your thoughts, words, or deeds.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,