Encountering Jesus

Transcript

Well, this morning we have a guest preacher, as Greg alluded to in his pastoral prayer. And it is kind of strange to introduce this guest preacher, because he’s been here so many times. He’s kind of not a guest anymore. But this is the first time that his wonderful wife, Blair, is with us. And I don’t mean to put you on blast, but she is an amazing woman, and she’s here with us this morning. And so, really, my introduction will be quite simple. Shai is a great friend of mine, and he is a great ministry partner. And it is my joy to have him come and preach and minister to us this morning. So would you please help me to welcome Shai once again? Can I pray for you? Father, we do thank you for our good brother, Shai. We pray that now, O Lord, you would give us the help of the Holy Spirit.

You would help us to be good listeners, good hearers. You would help us, Father, to be submitted under the authority of your Word. And we do pray that your Spirit would empower Shai, give him the words to say. And through the preaching of your Word this morning, would you change us? Would you convict us? Would you challenge us? But mostly, Father, would you conform us into the image of Jesus? We pray all these things in Christ’s name. Amen. Well, good morning. Is my mic on? Okay. Because if I have to get loud, I will get loud up in here, if need be. It is so good to be here with you again. As Thomas said, my wife is here this time, and we’ve been here for about a week, and we’ve really enjoyed Portland. I think in this entire week’s time, we’ve experienced personally maybe about 20 minutes

of sunshine that was clear sunshine, which we’re thankful for because that’s more than the last time I was here when we were snowed in. And I was told that never happens, but it just happened when I came. But nevertheless, greetings from Philly and Risen Christ Fellowship in Philadelphia, and grateful to be here to preach God’s Word this morning. If you have your Bibles, I want to encourage you to open up to the Gospel of John, Chapter 1.

The First Disciples

And in our passage today, we’re going to consider the calling of the first disciples to the Lord Jesus, and we’re going to consider what it means to encounter Jesus. So, I’m going to begin reading at verse 35, and I’m going to read verse 35 through verse 51. The next day again, John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, Behold, the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, What are you seeking? And they said to him, Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying? He said to them, Come, and you will see. So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, We have found the Messiah, which means Christ. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon, the son of John. You shall be called Cephas, which means Peter. The next day, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, Follow me. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit. 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. Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel. Jesus answered him, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these. 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. This is God’s word. Thanks be to God. What does it mean to have an encounter with Jesus? What does it mean to have an encounter with Jesus? I’m going to explain what’s happening in the passages and then I’m going to try to show how this is a prototype for what it means to have an encounter with Jesus. So the basic elements that we find in this account are true whenever anyone comes to

Christ. And so in verse 35, we see that John the Baptist is with two of his disciples. That would be John, the author of the Gospel of John, the human author, and Andrew. Jesus is there and then John the Baptist points him out just like he did the previous day. And John the Baptist is telling his disciples, there he is. In verse 38, the Lord Jesus engages them and then we learn in verse 40 that one of the two is Peter’s brother, Andrew, and the other is thought to be John who wrote the book. And that’s because whenever he mentions himself, he never does it by name. And so Andrew and John, they stay with Jesus and in that time, Andrew finds out enough from Jesus to convince him that he is the Messiah. And so he brings Peter to Jesus in verse 42. And then we see the next day, verse 43, it says that Jesus leaves where he was in Bethany

and then he travels about 20 miles north to Galilee where he finds Philip. And he tells Philip to follow him in verse 43. Philip interacts with Jesus and then based on that interaction, he finds Nathanael in verse 45 and he tells them that they found the one that the Old Testament pointed to. After some initial skepticism in verse 46, Nathanael interacts with Jesus in verse 47 and 48. Based on that interaction, he declares in verse 49 that Jesus is both the Son of God and the King of Israel. And then Jesus basically tells Nathanael, you haven’t seen anything yet. So that’s a brief overview of what’s happening here. We have two accounts of disciples having encounters with Jesus and then we see what follows afterward in each case. And so what I want to do is I want to look at it from the beginning and see what the

common themes are in the two accounts and how they form a picture of what it means for anyone to have an encounter with Jesus. So we’re going to be going back and forth between each account and so you’re going to need to be following along in your Bible in order to keep up. So each one of my observations here is about encountering Jesus. And I want to clarify that for our purposes, what I mean by encountering Jesus is encountering him in a saving way, encountering him in a saving way. Because in the Gospels, we see that there’s many people like Judas who have encounters with Jesus and they still end up condemned under the wrath of God. And so it’s not just a mere interaction with the Lord Jesus, but it’s actually encountering him in a saving way. John states his purpose for writing the book at the end of the book, that it was written

You Must Hear

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. So observation number one is that to encounter Jesus, you must first hear about him. To encounter Jesus, you must first hear about him. Look again at verse 35, we see John the Baptist hanging out with his two disciples, Andrew and John. And we learn from the Gospel accounts that John the Baptist had a powerful ministry that attracted many people, that many people were coming to be baptized by him. John the Baptist had been preaching about repentance. So when he would baptize people, it pointed to their need for spiritual cleansing. And John the Baptist was telling the nation of Israel that they shouldn’t assume that they were right with God because God had worked previously amongst their ancestors. He told them that they needed to repent.

And John the Baptist’s ministry was so powerful that it caused people to ask him, are you the Christ? Meaning, are you, John the Baptist, the coming one that we’re waiting for? And in verse 20, John said, no, I’m not the Christ. In other words, John the Baptist is saying, it’s not me, I’m just the opening act, I’m the previews, I’m not the main event. But the problem as we see in verse 33 is that John himself did not know who the Christ was. He says it, I myself did not know him. So there were all kinds of people coming to John and the Lord Jesus blended in with the crowd. Oftentimes, when we think back and we think about Jesus in his earthly ministry, we have this picture in our minds that the Shekinah glory followed Jesus everywhere he went. But that’s not the case.

Jesus looked like an ordinary man, he looked like any other first-century Jewish man. Isaiah 53 says that he had no form or majesty that we should look at him. So God had to reveal to John the Baptist that Jesus was the Christ. John the Baptist needed special revelation, and that’s exactly what he received in verse 33. He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, he on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. So John the Baptist, he heard directly from God, he baptizes Jesus, the heavens open up, and then there’s a voice, this is my beloved son with whom I am well-pleased. And so from there, Andrew and John hear about Jesus from John the Baptist. That’s what we saw in verse 36. Jesus walks by, John the Baptist says, behold, the Lamb of God.

John the Baptist is saying, that’s him, he’s the one. This is the one that I said was coming after me, who was before me. This is the one whose sandals I’m unworthy to tie, there he is. So John the Baptist tells Andrew, and then after his encounter with Jesus, Andrew tells his brother Peter in verse 41, we have found the Messiah. Jesus himself tells Philip to follow him in verse 43, and then based on that encounter, he tells Nathanael in verse 43, we found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote. And so do you see the pattern here? Each person in the passage was told about Jesus. Do you see the emphasis on hearing? John the Baptist says, he uses words to say, behold, the Lamb of God. Verse 37, the two disciples heard him say this. Verse 40, one of the two who heard John speak.

Verse 41, Andrew and Peter found Peter and said to him. Verse 43, Jesus said to Philip. Verse 45, Philip said to Nathanael. The point is for anyone to have an encounter with Jesus, they must first hear about him. Let me put it another way negatively. No one will ever have an encounter with Jesus who does not first hear about him. Romans 10.17, faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. This is the logic in Romans 10. Romans 10.13 says, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And that is good news. If you call on the name of the Lord, you will be saved. That was true back then and is true even right now here in Portland. If you call on the name of the Lord, you will be saved. Saved from what? Saved from the wrath of God, aka hell, eternal condemnation.

What does it mean to call on the name of the Lord? It means that first, you must agree with God that you have sinned against him and that you deserve to be punished for that sin. It means agreeing with God that there’s nothing that you can do to make yourself right with God. It means believing that God, in his love and his mercy, sent his son Jesus into the world, that Jesus lived a perfect life, that he died on the cross, that he rose from the grave, and that if you turn from your sin and believe in him, you will be saved from the coming judgment. As Jesus said in John 5, 24, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

That is the good news. And if you are a Christian this morning, that’s the good news that has saved your soul. Praise be to God. And so, Paul continues in Romans 10, he says, how will they call on him in whom they have not believed? It’s a rhetorical question. The answer is, they won’t. And how are they to believe in him of whom they’ve never heard? They won’t. There’s a famous saying that’s falsely attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, which says, preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words. That’s nonsense. Without words, it is not the gospel. Each one of you who is a Christian, you are a Christian because somebody told you about the Lord. And most likely, it was somebody who was close to you. For me, it was my mom. I give praise to God that I had a praying mother who told me about Jesus

when I was a teenager, even when I was unwilling to hear it. When I would say to her, mom, you know what, if that Christianity stuff works for you, great, but don’t try to push it off on me. Praise be to God that she pushed it off on me because here I am now, saved, redeemed by my Lord, and now telling you about Jesus. Who was it for you? Was it a parent? Was it a grandparent? For my wife, it was her grandma, mama. She learned by mama’s example. Every morning, 6 a.m. in the morning, mama would be up praying for her family, and that stuck with my wife. Who was it for you?

In Peter’s case, it was his brother, Andrew, who led him to Christ. Verse 41, he says, he found his own brother. As we all know, Peter became well-known in the church, authoring two New Testament epistles. Peter was used greatly of God, and yet it was Andrew who led Peter to the Lord. Praise God for Andrew. Have you received any encouragement from the letters of 1 and 2 Peter? Praise, that’s the Holy Spirit, but humanly speaking, praise God for Andrew. You want to do something significant for the Lord? Be faithful to tell those who are close to you about Jesus. Some people are really good at talking to strangers, and praise be to God for that. But the more usual way that God works is through people that are close to you, just regular people in your life. Evangelism starts at home, usually. Philip already knew Andrew and Peter.

So, as we see in verse 44, Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Bethsaida was a very small place, maybe a couple thousand people, if that. And so, Philip tells his friend, Nathanael. So, the first disciples that were called, they weren’t just this random group of strangers. They were people who had natural relationships. They were already connected by friendship or blood. And so, the application is crystal clear, right? Do you have family members who are unbelievers? Tell them about Jesus. You have good friends who are not Christians, tell them about Jesus. Moms, dads, tell your kids about Jesus. Grandparents, tell your grandchildren. And your adult children, if they’re not believers, tell them about Jesus. Children, children, all the children in the building. Right up here, kids. Yeah, I’m talking to you, children. Yes, children. This is why your mommy or your daddy tell you about Jesus.

If you ever wonder why, why does mommy, why does daddy always talk to me about Jesus? It’s because knowing Jesus is the best possible thing in the world. And your parents want you to know Jesus. They want you to know that Jesus died on the cross for all of our sins, and that you, children, you are not too young to place your faith in Jesus. You can believe in Jesus even as a child. You don’t have to wait until you get old like your mom and dad. You can believe in Jesus now. And if you believe in him, the word of God promises you, children, that you today can have eternal life. If you have any questions about that, ask your mommy, ask your daddy about that. So that’s point one. You must hear about Jesus in order to have an encounter with him. Number two, to encounter Jesus, you must spend time with him for yourself.

You Must Experience

To encounter Jesus, you must spend time with him for yourself. Hearing about Jesus is essential, but it is not enough to only hear about him. You have got to spend time with him and get to know him personally. And there’s no substitute for it. So nobody can know Jesus for you. You must know him for yourself. After Andrew and John identified Jesus, it says in verse 38, Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, what are you seeking? And they said to him, Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying? Verse 39, Jesus says, come and you will see. So Andrew and John had heard about Jesus from John the Baptist, but as great and trustworthy as John the Baptist was, that was not enough. They wanted to spend time with Jesus for themselves. Now, it was common in that day for disciples or learners to follow after

their teacher, like to literally walk behind their teachers. But that was usually after the relationship had been established. So here, we see Andrew and John basically stalking Jesus. They’re just following behind him before that official relationship had even been established. And we see at the end of verse 39 that it was about the 10th hour or 4 p.m. So it was late in the day, which meant that people would be in for the night. And so when they say, where are you staying? They’re basically saying, we want to spend time with you. Wherever you’re staying, that’s where we want to be. And the fact that they called him rabbi, which was a very honorable title, it means that they were humbling themselves before him. So Jesus invites them. He says, come and you will see. And then you see the same thing with Peter. Andrew tells him about Jesus in verse 41.

Then Andrew brings him to Jesus so Peter can see for himself. Same with Philip. He follows Jesus in verse 43, experiences Jesus for himself. And then based on that, he tells Nathanael. Now, what we see with Nathanael, however, is a different disposition than Andrew and John. And maybe it’s because Nathanael didn’t hear it from John the Baptist, but from his friend Philip. Whatever the case may be, Nathanael’s first response is a question of skepticism. In verse 46, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Now, much has been made about why Nathanael said this. And I’ve heard all kinds of interesting things read into it. We don’t know exactly why he said it other than the fact that Nazareth was insignificant. So it could have to do with Nathanael’s expectation of where the Messiah would be from. Maybe he was expecting Philip to say, we found him of whom Moses in the law

and also the prophets wrote Jesus of Jerusalem or Jesus of Bethlehem. Of course, we know what Nathanael didn’t know at the time, which is that Jesus actually was born in Bethlehem, fulfilling the prophecy in Micah 5.2, but he was raised in Nazareth. Nazareth is not even mentioned in the Old Testament. It’s just another place. It’s kind of like Milwaukee, Oregon. It’s not bad, it’s just you just don’t expect anything significant necessarily to come from there. Maybe some people do. Sorry, oh, my bad, my bad. All right, we’ll talk about that after. No disrespect to Milwaukeeans. I only thought there was one Milwaukee in Wisconsin, though, until I got out here, but that’s.. Okay, all right. Notice how Philip responds to Nathanael’s skepticism in verse 46. Does he argue with him about the significance of Nazareth? Does he engage in a theological debate? Nope. He says the same thing that Jesus told Andrew and John in verse 39,

come and see. Can anything come out of Nazareth? Come and see. This is very instructive for us. There’s a place for apologetics or defending the faith, but that’s not what brings people to Jesus. You must bring people to Jesus. As much as you can, try to get people to interact with Christ. The way we do that today is through the Bible or inviting people to church where the Bible is taught. If they won’t come to church, have them read a section of Scripture and then talk about it. If they won’t do that, find an article from a Christian perspective on something that they’re interested in. Bring them to Jesus. All the while, be praying because ultimately, it’s going to have to be the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. So we can do all of the inviting and evangelizing we want, but at the end of the day, we have to depend on the work of the Holy Spirit

to open their eyes to be able to see who Jesus is. Philip brings Nathanael to Jesus, and within a few moments, Nathanael is like, he’s calling him rabbi in verse 49. So he was skeptical. Philip says, come and see. He interacts with Jesus for a little bit, and then he’s calling him rabbi. Andrew calls Jesus rabbi immediately. Nathanael first says, how do you know me? And then Jesus blows his mind, and then not only comes rabbi, but son of God, king of Israel. It’s the same with us. Some of us heard about Jesus for as long as we can remember before we believe. So we may have already had some kind of respect for him. Other people, like Nathanael, are a bit more skeptical. Either way, we must be brought to Jesus to experience him for ourselves. It’s like the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, right?

She encounters Jesus. She goes back and tells her town. And then it says in John 4.40, when the Samaritans came to him, they asked Jesus to stay with them, and he stayed there for two days. And they said to the woman, it’s no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the savior of the world. Is this your testimony? Have you experienced Jesus for yourself? Are you at the point where you’re no longer going off of hearsay because you yourself have tasted and seen that God is good? No one is saved by someone else’s encounter with Jesus. That’s point number two. Number three, to encounter Jesus is to be challenged by him. To encounter Jesus is to be challenged by him. If Jesus does not challenge you, I would submit that you are not believing

in the Jesus of the Bible. If Jesus already agrees with everything that you already believe and doesn’t challenge any of your beliefs at all, you’re believing in yourself, not Jesus. Jesus challenges everybody. Think about it. He’s God. He’s infinite. He’s perfect. We’re human. We’re finite. We’re flawed. We’re sinful. He must challenge us. We come to Christ by being challenged initially that we were wrong about everything. We were wrong about God. We were wrong about ourselves. And it’s not until we open God’s word to understand, wait a second, God is actually holy and his eyes are too pure to look on sin. It’s through opening the scriptures that we learn that I’m actually, I’m more sinful than I actually believed I was. We didn’t come to that conclusion on our own. That was through revelation, and God revealed to us, wait a second, the way that I’ve been going about my life this whole time has been in opposition

Jesus Challenges Us

to God, which is dead wrong. And Jesus challenged that belief. And it was only through being challenged that our eyes were open that we embraced Christ for who he is and received him as our savior. So Jesus challenges us. And I see challenges from Jesus here in a number of things that he says in this passage. One thing that he challenges is our motives. Look at verse 38. He says, what are you seeking? That is a very profound question from Jesus. And it is a challenge to Andrew and John in the area of their motives. What do you want? Why are you following me? Jesus challenges us today, what are you seeking? Very important question. Many people hang around Jesus, not because they love Jesus, but because they see him as the way to get something else. I think about my kids who love ice cream.

Children, any children in here who love ice cream? Any? So, and older children who love ice cream. So our kids love ice cream. And when it’s a dinner night and they know that there’s going to be dessert and it’s going to be ice cream after dinner, we can slip in those Brussels sprouts, right? Because we can slip in the Brussels sprouts because if they don’t eat the Brussels sprouts, they’re not going to get the ice cream. And so the kids, because they love ice cream so much, will endure the Brussels sprouts. Well, my wife makes good Brussels sprouts, if that’s possible. But the point is, as they’re eating the Brussels sprouts, they’re not eating it for the enjoyment of the Brussels sprouts per se. The only thing they can think about is they want ice cream.

So they’re eating the Brussels sprouts for the sake of the ice cream. Unfortunately, a lot of times that’s how people treat Jesus. They endure Jesus for the sake of something else that they want. It could be money. It could be anything that just gets rid of my guilty feelings. It could be community, right? So there’s things about just Christian community that are just attractive. I mean, just think about it. You have a group of people who are generally loving and hospitable and give the benefit of the doubt and are generally.. Like, who doesn’t want that, right? So many people are searching for community. And a lot of times what can happen is people can be attracted to the community of Jesus without actually knowing Jesus himself. Feelings of belonging is another one. Maybe just the avoidance of hell. You’ve heard about the scariness of the wrath of God and said,

well, I don’t want that. And so if I just need to be around Jesus, then okay. Yes, Jesus does save people from the wrath of God. But what believers understand is that while that may have gotten you in the door and God is gracious to use that, that’s not what keeps us all the way through. What keeps us all the way through is not the fear of hell, but it’s growing in our love and adoration and appreciation of Jesus because we’ve had a true encounter with him. How about you? What do you seek? What are you looking for? At the root, the answer is actually the same for everybody. Ultimately, we’re looking for significance. We’re looking for fulfillment, meaning, happiness. God designed us in this way. This is the reason why people do things like drugs. It’s the reason why people go from relationship to relationship,

or job to job, or experience to experience. We were meant to find that significance and happiness in God. I love this quote from Augustine. He says, you have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. Anything other than a relationship with God through Jesus Christ will not satisfy. And to truly encounter Jesus is to realize that. Again, and again, and again. John 6.35, Jesus told them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. Whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Jesus is food and water for the soul. So he challenges our motives. Next, he challenges our very identity. He challenges our very identity. Look again at verse 43. Jesus looked at him and said, you are Simon, the son of John. You shall be Cephas, which means Peter. This is how you know that Jesus is a boss.

He meets him for the first time and he changes his name. Imagine that. You meet somebody and someone’s like, hey, I’m Bob. You’re like, no, you’re not Bob. You’re Marcus. Wait, what? And it’s interesting, Peter does not protest. We don’t see any protest coming from Peter. And this is a prophecy and it’s been fulfilled. This is mind-blowing. Jesus was right in everything that he said and specifically what he said about Peter. And he changes his very identity and he does that with us as well in a very profound way. Just think about it. Before anything, we are Christians. That’s our chief identity. Now, sometimes we can, in error, find our identity in other things, our ultimate identity in other things. But fundamentally, we are united with Christ as believers. That’s our chief identity. And so we must beware allowing anything other than Christ to ultimately define

who we are. So he challenges our identity. And then also he challenges our priorities. Look at verse 43. He simply tells Philip, follow me. Following Jesus. It’s deeper than how we tend to think today about following. So when we think about follow, we think about social media, Facebook, and Twitter, social media, right? You follow somebody, it doesn’t cost you anything. You just click a button and you just remain at a distance, right? So we’re in a culture where, you know, you ask, have you talked to so-and-so? Like, well, I haven’t talked to them but I’ve seen them on my feed and so I know exactly what’s going on in their lives, right? And we can go for years without actually interacting with people but we feel okay with it because, well, we know what’s going on. Well, that’s not.. We don’t follow Jesus in that way, like at a distance.

To follow Jesus implies intimacy and it’s not on our own terms. We cannot follow Jesus at a distance. Some of us try to treat Jesus like he’s a Facebook friend rather than our Lord. But Luke 14, 26, Jesus says, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brother, and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Jesus must be our number one priority above everything else, even our own lives. Jesus is worthy to be followed in this way because of who he is. And we can see who he is through how he’s referred to in this chapter. He’s the Lamb of God who sacrifices himself to God. He’s the rabbi who teaches his disciples about God.

He’s the Messiah who fulfills the promises of God. He’s the prophet who speaks for God. He’s the Son of God who’s the same divine nature as God. He’s the King of Israel who was specifically chosen by God. He’s the Son of Man from Daniel 7 who was exalted and given an everlasting kingdom for the glory of God. He’s the only one who can make the claims that he makes and it not be crazy. And Jesus cuts through Nathanael’s skepticism by displaying this supernatural knowledge of him. Look again at verse 47. Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and he said of him, behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there’s no deceit. Nathanael said, how do you know me? Jesus answered, before Philip called you when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. So Jesus knew Nathanael’s character. Not only that, he knew what Nathanael was doing and where he was even though he

The New Bethel

wasn’t physically there. And so we see Jesus’ omniscience that he knows all things. Only God knows the heart. And Jesus is kind enough to reveal himself and Nathanael is floored by it. And so Jesus answers, because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You’ll see greater things than these. Verse 51, 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. And so to truly understand this, we have to go back to Genesis chapter 28 and this account of Jacob. And so in my time, as I close these next last couple of minutes, I want to point us back to, turn with me to Genesis chapter 28, and we’ll close on this. Genesis 28, beginning at verse 10, it says, Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran.

And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth. And the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give to you and your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it. And he was afraid and said, how awesome is this place. This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. And I like this quote from John Piper as he reflects on the account of Jacob and what Jesus says. He says, Jesus was saying to Nathaniel, if you follow me, you’re going to see far greater manifestations of my divine glory than what you just saw. I am the final decisive link with heaven, both upward and downward. When we move heavenward, we move on the son of man.

When God moves earthward, he moves on the son of man. And it’s very interesting here that the you here, when Jesus says what you will see, that you is plural, so it’s not just for Nathaniel. And so the idea here is that Jesus is the new Bethel or the new meeting place. So it’s no longer confined to one space or one particular spatial location or this temple right here. No, we are, as the people of God, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. And so if we trust in Jesus, when we come to him by faith over and over again, by the grace of God, we meet with God through him. Jesus is the connector between earth and heaven. And the glory of the gospel is that it’s true now in this life, and for the believer, it will be true for all eternity.

He will always be the place where we meet God. This means that wherever we are, whether it’s in your car, your office, your home, your shower, whatever the case may be, if we are coming to God through faith in Jesus, then that is a holy place where God meets with us. And so praise be to God that we, as his people, have him forever. He is ours. He is our God. We are his people. Place your trust in him today if you have not, and if you have, continue to come to him over and over and over again, even as we get the privilege to come to him next in the Lord’s Supper. Let’s pray. Our Father in heaven, we give you praise for Jesus. We thank you that you have not left us on our own, but that through Christ, we have a continual meeting place with God.

I pray that you would help us all to regularly and continually encounter the Lord Jesus. And for anyone who does not know you, I pray that you would convince them, even in these next moments of the truthfulness of all of these things, that they also may have an encounter with Jesus. And we ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.