Study inJohn’s Gospel

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Christian Profiling

Chap 17v8

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IntroductionIn recent years people have asked, “How can we tell if there are terrorists living on our doorstep?” Until the failed attempt to bomb Glasgow Airport, many thought that profiling potential terrorists was straightforward. It was thought that medical professionals did not fit the profile… though now many of these assumptions have been shown to be flawed.

“How can people tell if there are Christians living on their doorstep?” Is there a clear cut profile? No, for only God can read the human heart. That said, whenever we admit new members to the church or seek to engage others in Christian service we find ourselves having to make judgments.

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IntroductionHow then do we determine the genuine article? Human feelings are not a reliable guide. Sadly, some measure spiritual reality by the depth of their feelings.

This is sometimes accompanied by a certain anti-intellectualism in which historical facts and biblical doctrines are neglected and emotion is everything. But the great difficulty with this approach is that feelings come and go. So that a person may consider himself a Christian one moment and not the next.

Welcome to rollercoaster Christianity! For that is what this approach produces.

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IntroductionThe test of denominational affiliation is no more reliable. Every denomination is made up of a mixture of people, some are Christians and some, by their own confession, are not.

A fresh faced young student appeared at a fresher’s bookstall at university. He was clearly delighted to find others who shared his faith and love for Jesus. But when he discovered they belonged to a different denomination from his own, his face was bathed in incredulity. He said, “But there are no Christians in the Church of Scotland”. He had been taught, wrongly, to spot Christians by their denominational affiliation!

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A Second SequenceJesus’ profile of a Christian has four components cf v8: 1. the giving of God's Word2. the receiving of the Word3. knowing, 4. and believing. First Jesus says, "For I gave them the words you gave me." Why is this so important? The Word of God is the only thing powerful enough to bring men and women to faith. Nothing else can do it. The Word is God's tool. Luther knew this and writes, “We must make a great difference between God's word and the word of man. A man's word is a little sound, that flies into the air, and soon vanishes; but the Word of God is greater than heaven and earth ...for it forms part of the power of God, and endures everlastingly".

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A Second SequenceThis has practical implications for mission. If the conversion of an individual came about as the result of human reason and persuasion, then our words would be sufficient and we could then win others by force of argument. But this is not enough. Of course arguments form a part of our Christian Apologetics and have their place. God uses them. But salvation is a resurrection miracle. It creates new spiritual life; it is nothing short of spiritual rebirth. And clearly, only the Word of God, not our words, can accomplish that.

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A Second SequenceGod could bring everyone to faith by the snap of a finger if he wished. But the means he has chosen is through his Word, preached and shared by his people and applied to the hearts of individuals by his Holy Spirit. God’s people share in this great work. Through them, God's Word is conveyed to those who need so desperately to hear it. Paul wrote, "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ"

But does that not make human instrumentality redundant? No Paul prefaces his statement concerning faith and hearing by saying, "how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Rom.10v17

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Receiving God’s WordSecondly, Jesus speaks of his followers receiving or accepting God’s Word. It is possible for the Word of God to "go in one ear and out the other." More than this is required. There must also be a receiving of that Word so that it sinks down into the mind and becomes the basis for our thinking and meditating afterward. When we receive a visitor, we open the door; we welcome them, sit them down and give them our undivided attention. That is what is in mind here.

What should we be praying for as we engage in mission as God’s Word is shared and Christian witness given? “Lord enable them to receive your Word and make the soil of their heart receptive to the Word that is sown.”

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KnowledgeThirdly, Jesus talks about the knowledge of certain things. Now while a fuller understanding develops after we have come to faith in Christ, unless there is a substantial basic knowledge for faith to lay hold of, then faith is reduced to "blind faith," which is not a true biblical faith at all.

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Do we need reasons to undergird our faith, and do we need reasons to present that faith to others? On one level, the answer to these questions is ‘no’, if we are asking whether all doubt must be cleared away before God can bring a person to faith. God obviously saves many without resolving their doubts, and some retain a great many throughout their Christian life and experience. Knowledge does not need to be encyclopaedic for faith to be genuine!

KnowledgeThat said, knowledge does play a role in faith, for faith is commitment to One, whom we have come to know through the communication of certain facts. And so Peter tells believers to "be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”, 1Pet.3v15.

As a road atlas helps the driver locate his destination, so evidences of the truth help those who are seeking after God. Reasons for faith create a climate in which belief can be born. Faith is not unreasonable though it goes beyond human reason.

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KnowledgeIn the context of John 17, this means that certain convictions about Jesus preceded faith in him. And they revolve around the identity of his person and the substance of his teaching. Jesus indicates this by saying: "They knew with certainty that I came from you," v8 and "they know that everything you have given me comes from you." v7.

In other words, before we commit our lives to Jesus we must be convinced that he is divine, that his teaching is true, and that his mission was to die on the cross as our substitute, bearing the penalty for our sin. If we are not convinced of these truths, we believe in a phantom.

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Faith and ActionHaving stressed the importance of knowledge, we must not, however, fall into the trap of stopping there, as if Christianity were only a process of learning certain facts about Jesus or,acquiring some kind of encyclopaedic knowledge. That, among other things, is what the Gnostic heretics taught.

But not Jesus, for his fourth and final point is the most important consideration of all – in the matter of faith. He concludes by saying, “they believed that you sent me.” They committed themselves to the truths Jesus taught and trusted their future safety to him!

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Faith and ActionFaith is not blind trust, but it is not only knowledge either. Rather, it is a personal commitment based upon that knowledge but going beyond it in the sense that, having come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as God, the one who follows him is thereafter willing to follow him in areas about which he has quite limited knowledge or in which he has doubts.

Faith like this involves action. So we often say that in the biblical sense, faith is believing in God as he is revealed in Jesus Christ and then acting upon it. An illustration of faith could be to fall backwards believing that the person behind you will do as he says, he will catch you!

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Faith and ActionAt the time of this prayer the disciples understood very little of Jesus’ teaching. Oh days previously Peter had affirmed, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”, Matt. 16v16. That was genuine faith.

But days later and a few hours before this prayer in Jn. 14v9, Jesus had rebuked his disciples saying, "Don't you know me even after I have been among you such a long time?”

Clearly they understood who he was but their understanding was still incomplete.

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Faith and ActionOh you say, we can identify with the weakness and poverty of the disciples’ understanding! But there was strength there too, not their own, it was produced by the words of Christ, which had by now entered into them. His words were within them. That is the point! And, like a seed planted in fruitful ground, those words began to produce fruitful spiritual life. They were alive - that’s the important thing - spiritually alive! This new life and all that it produces is ‘the profile’, the identifying mark of the Christian.

Jesus confidently, says, "They have received my words, they know who I am, and have believed on me as their Saviour."

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ConclusionThis then is the shared experience of all God's people. They may vary in understanding, courage, and many other things, but they have received his Word, given it their undivided attention, and by so doing have not merely accumulated knowledge about him, but come to place their trust in him and as a result will inevitably continue to grow in the power of his life and be fruitful for him.

Do you fit the profile? If not then make up your mind to do so today!

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