December 2024

Jewels from John: Part 5

Leave a Comment / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

The Jewels from John series is drawing to a close. This is part 5, and then in a month, I will publish the last part. As always, these are my reflections rather than carefully researched teachings.

John 14:27 “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Jesus had been telling his disciples that he would soon leave them but that the Holy Spirit would come in his place to be with them. I am pondering whether this was a specific word of comfort for those men so long ago or if we can apply it to ourselves today. Sometimes we take parts of the scriptures out of their intended context and force them to fit our circumstances. This inevitably leads to confusion and disappointment. However, perhaps worse is when we ignore scriptures as irrelevant to our modern lives and miss the blessing of the Lord.

There are many texts in both the Old and New Testaments where God the Father, an angel, or Jesus tells people not to be afraid, but in none of them is it clear that the words are to be applied generally. So, perhaps John 14 will help. Verses 25-27 record Jesus as saying: “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Does this not apply to us too? All Jesus-followers of all ages are instructed to be filled by the Holy Spirit and led by him. In Romans 8:14 Paul writes that “those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” It is well worth reading the whole of Romans chapter Eight to get this truth’s full scope and effect.

In addition, I am convinced that we can read the assurances made to biblical characters and ask, “Wonderful Holy Spirit, may I take this as your words to me here and now?” I am confident that when we do this with a yielded heart we will know his answer deep in our spirits.

Fear is a negative emotion that can help us when threatened by imminent danger, but most of the time it harms us and deprives us of a good future. Of all Jesus’s assurances, one we should remember often are his words, “Do not be afraid.”

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

John 15:5 “Apart from me you can do nothing.”

This is part of the Lord’s well-known teaching on the vine and the branches, but I have been reflecting on how literally and specifically we should take this. Of course, we can do lots of ‘stuff’ all by ourselves, so this can’t be what Jesus meant. Well, the context of what Jesus called ‘abundant fruit’ is the qualities that demonstrate that we are his disciples. Therefore, my understanding is that the fruit he talks about here are the things that have eternal spiritual significance and not temporal ‘things’ like money, possessions, and power. This is certainly how Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22

It is in this light that I read his statement in verse 7 “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” This is not a blank cheque to the goodies of this life, but rather an assurance that God will grant us a Christ-like character if we consistently seek this.

I have realised many times in my nearly five decades of following Jesus that only what I do and say in his name, according to his nature, and in the power of the Holy Spirit has any real value. No fine sermon will change even one heart if its words are not birthed in his spirit and conveyed in his power. No charity or ‘pastoring’ will yield anything except temporary gratitude if it does not conform to his character and will.

John 15:26-27 “But I will send you the Counsellor – the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will tell you all about me”. NLT

I selected the New Living Translation for the above quote because it phrases the last part of the sentence as ‘tell you about me’. This is more personal than the ‘he will bear witness about me’ in the ESV. I think the NLT is a better translation in this case because it aligns perfectly with John 14:26: “The Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

We know about Jesus through the inspired record of the scriptures and it is the Holy Spirit who enables us to comprehend what the printed words convey. What we know of Jesus and how he has changed our lives is the basis of our testimony. Some folks agonise over how to share the Gospel with others and resort to courses, how-to books and videos. However life-changing testimony is simply the sharing of the person of Jesus and the truth he brings. Also, if we have been born again by the Spirit of God into a living relationship with Jesus, then surely we know enough to share the way of salvation with others. Moreover, the Lord Jesus Christ is The Truth and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, so what we share with others is, in a very real sense, the way, the truth, and the life.

John 16:7-11 “Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

This is a complex and much-researched passage. My purpose here is to reflect rather than analyse, so I will limit myself to just one part of the passage – “in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me.” The Holy Spirit will convict and convince the people of the world of the true nature of sin. So many unsaved people are offended by what they understand as personal sin. They regard themselves as good people and see the idea that they are sinners as a judgmental label applied to them by pious Christians. I have heard so many evangelists respond to this ‘I am not a sinner’ claim by arguing that people who tell one lie or have one adulterous thought are by definition ’sinners’ in need of salvation. Well, this is not how Jesus defines sin in John 16. Instead, he defines it as not believing in him! Not believing that Jesus is God incarnate and that he is the only way to eternal life. Not believing that what he said as recorded in the scriptures is true and is to be taken seriously. Not believing that they are accountable to him and owe their very existence to him.

Jewels from John: Part 5 Read More »

The Jewel of Christmas

Leave a Comment / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

The first reflection in the Jewels from John series was on John 1:14 and I want to return to and reflect further on this now. Why? It is because just a few days after publishing this article we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Word become flesh.

The Apostle John did not include a nativity account in his Gospel. Instead, he referenced probably the most mysterious, wonderful, and incomprehensible event in human history. The Word, who was with God in the beginning and was indeed God, “became flesh and made his dwelling among us”. The 25^th of December each year is designated as the time to remember and celebrate this marvellous event.

I want to avoid the complex and often obtuse doctrine of the incarnation and rather say this: In the year 3BC the great and glorious second person of the divine Godhead became a human being! He was, and still is for all eternity, fully man and fully God. He is the visible image of the invisible God, the fullness of divinity in bodily form, and the exact representation of the Godhead.

How can we understand this? We cannot because we do not have the capacity to comprehend this wonder. At best, we can construct models, form theories, and formulate doctrines, all of which fall far short of reality. A multi-dimensional reality that is both natural and supernatural and that spans heaven and earth. A wonder beyond our experience and vocabulary.

In ancient times God was thought to live in impenetrable light hidden from mortal view. He was so incomprehensible to humans that even his name was the enigmatic “I am who I am”. Then the timeline of human history inverted from BC to AD in the cosmic inflection point we call the incarnation. God the Son presented himself to the created world and displayed his glory, full of grace and truth. Behold your God!

Yet he did not appear in a flash of light as a superman among feeble mortals, but as a baby, born of a human mother. In her womb, the essence of God merged with her DNA and formed a new and wonderful creation. And this God-child was given the name Jesus, which in the Hebrew tongue means ‘Saviour’. “I-am-who-I am, the saviour of humanity”.

Jesus Christ the Lord lived for thirty-three and a half years on this planet and during that time he experienced all we experience. Childhood, adolescence, and maturity. Pain, joy, and change. Fully human in all senses of the word.

This is the Jewel of Christmas. This is the wonder of the incarnation. This is what we celebrate on Christmas day.

Now, thousands of years later, we can know the answers to the deepest questions of life – what is God like? Does he care? Is he good? The answer is ‘Look to Jesus … yes he is good and caring. Look to Jesus and you will know what God is like.’ How should I live? Is there a life after this? What is my purpose? Look to Jesus.

The Jewel of Christmas Read More »

TruthTalks: Jewels from John: Part 4

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Jewels from John Part 4

If you have missed out on following this gem of a series called “Jewels from John” it isn’t too late for you to start listening from part one HERE. If you have been listening along, click on the button below to play the latest TruthTalks podcast or read the post HERE

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Jewels from John: Part 4

Leave a Comment / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

I am back with another four Jewels from John.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”.

This comes at the end of Jesus’ analogy of the sheepfold. The watchman (John the Baptist) guards the sheep during the night and when the shepherd comes in the morning he opens the gate and the shepherd (Jesus) leads the animals out to pasture. He makes the point that ‘the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.’ He likens the religious leaders of Israel to thieves, killers, destroyers and cowardly hired hands who fail to protect the sheep. I want to focus on the last half of verse ten.

Jesus came into this world to give life in the fullest sense. In his thirty-three and a half years on this planet, he did nothing to hurt, break, or diminish. He healed the sick, freed the demonised, and even raised the dead. He taught all who would listen that he was the way into eternal life and the gate out of eternal death.

When I talk to unbelievers about the ways of God, they sometimes accuse him of harshness, favouritism, and dominance. Some cite Old Testament accounts of blood, gore, and slaughtered babies. My response, which I believe is the only meaningful response, is to point them to Jesus. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the fullness and the image of the invisible God. He, God the Son, became a man and stood before humanity crying out “Here I am, your God! See me, hear me, and know that I love you!” So I say to those who seek truth, “What do you think of Jesus? Do you think he spoke the truth? Do you think that he was utterly good?”

The distressing thing is that most people who are not born again cannot answer those questions. They do not know because they have not read even one of the Gospels, let alone all four. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but often the folk who have the Gospel data obtained it in a lifeless religious environment as part of a formal induction process. Those who have read bits of the account of the life of Jesus on Earth argue that they still cannot answer my questions because they doubt that the scriptures are genuine and reliable.

At the risk of oversimplifying, let me say this: If you have read all four Gospels then you must surely have discerned that they are true witnesses to the life of Jesus Christ.

They show no collusion with other authors and there are enough minor differences in perspective and detail to have the ring of authenticity. So, given that the Gospels are reliable accounts of his life, then who is this man they write of? Isn’t he one that you would trust and follow? Does he not evidence that he was prepared to suffer huge personal loss to save those who trusted in him?

John 11:33, 35 & 38 ‘When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled … Jesus wept … Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb’.

Too often Jesus is portrayed as stern and austere or suffering stoically. He is projected as an ‘Iron Man’ of pre-action hero times. It is hard to relate to someone like that because we are not at all like this. However, it is a false picture that owes more to grim religiosity than it does to scriptural truth. Jesus felt emotions just like you and I experience emotions. When he saw Mary and Martha grieving over the death of their brother Lazarus, he was moved to tears. When he sat praying before he was arrested, sentenced, and crucified Jesus experienced such emotional pain that he sweated blood! (Luke 22:44)

The Lord Jesus experienced the worst that this sin-sick world can dish up and he did so that he could empathise fully with our human condition. You know that trite expression “I love you to death”? Well, Jesus loved us to death and beyond.

When we go through dark and troubled times, our response to Jesus should never be “But why me Lord?” No, a truer, and more helpful response is, “Thank you Lord for being with me through this and experiencing my pain and turmoil with me.” When we do this, it is as though we can feel an invisible hand on our shoulder.

John 12:47 “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it”.

Why, I wonder, are we so quick to judge ourselves and each other when Jesus does not judge us?

John 12:47 is not the only place in John’s Gospel that records this truth. For instance, “You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one” (John 8:15). We have no mandate for judging others. In fact, Matthew says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged”.

Then there is also that incredible statement recorded in John 12:48 “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day”. This passage may well have slipped past you because most of us understand that, whilst the Lord does not judge us now, he surely will on the ‘last day’. But, no! It is we ourselves who, by our responses, stand condemned in the court of heaven. Anyone who hears the truth and does not believe is judged by default. The Court of Heaven, the place of Final Judgement’ is not a place of condemnation to those who know Jesus as Saviour and Lord. For them, it is a place of great joy and worship. The words we will hear from the Master’s lips will not be “You bad, bad person!” but “Welcome home my good and faithful servant.”

Many years ago I read an account of a man’s experience of death and his return from the life beyond. It was the first of many books with similar and sometimes conflicting accounts. Not everything in this book rang true to me and I suspected that the author had added material at some time after his experience. However, I was moved to tears, and I am not saying this euphemistically, when I read the account of his encounter with the Lord of Life, Jesus. Here are a few snippets:

“Far more even than power, what emanated from this Presence was unconditional love. An astonishing love. A love beyond my wildest imagining. This love knew every unlovable thing about me … When I say He knew everything about me, this was simply an observable fact. For into that room along with His radiant presence — simultaneously, though in telling about it I have to describe them one by one — had also entered every single episode of my entire life. Everything that had ever happened to me was simply there, in full view, contemporary and current, all seemingly taking place at that moment … Every detail of twenty years of living was there to be looked at. The good, the bad, the high points, the run-of-the-mill. And with this all-inclusive view came a question. It was implicit in every scene and, like the scenes themselves, seemed to proceed from the living Light beside me. What did you do with your life? … If I had suspected before that there was mirth in the Presence beside me, now I was sure of it: the brightness seemed to vibrate and shimmer with a kind of holy laughter — not at me and my silliness, not a mocking laughter, but a mirth that seemed to say that in spite of all error and tragedy, joy was more lasting still. And in the ecstasy of that laughter I realized that it was I who was judging the events around us so harshly. It was I who saw them as trivial, self-centered, unimportant. No such condemnation came from the glory shining round me. He was not blaming or reproaching. He was simply loving me. Filling the world with Himself and yet somehow attending to me personally. Waiting for my answer to the question that still hung in the dazzling air. What have you done with your life to show Me?”

Ritchie, George G.; Sherrill, Elizabeth. Return from Tomorrow. Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

John 13:17 “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them”.

I want to end this group of four Jewels from John with a short and simple thought. We need to know what Jesus said, and we find that in the bible.

However, we are blessed not as much by knowing as we are by doing.

Jesus’ words are to be acted on if true blessing is to flow through us to others. D.L.Moody is credited with penning the words, “The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives.” Bible study is good and necessary, but in application is the true blessing.

Jewels from John: Part 4 Read More »

Jewels from John: Part 5

John 14:27 “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

John 15:5 “Apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:26-27 “But I will send you the Counsellor – the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will tell you all about me”. NLT

The Jewel of Christmas

TruthTalks: Jewels from John: Part 4

Jewels from John: Part 4

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”.

John 11:33, 35 & 38 ‘When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled … Jesus wept … Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb’.

John 12:47 “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it”.

John 13:17 “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them”.

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