Do you realise that a vessel has to be put into the oven twice? And that is an analogy that I read somewhere that we have to go through the oven, okay more than once. Some people think "Oh I've just been through the most excruciating time in my life". But if you look at it, it was an opportunity for God to change you. And then you find that down the track there will be another opportunity for God to change you again. And so you have to go through the oven again. It's got to receive the glaze, that's right. The first time it's for the clay to bake and the second time is for the glaze. And you know what the glaze does, the glaze gives a beauty to the vessel. It's actually an ornamental thing and that's what God does when he puts us through the oven the second time. He creates a beautiful vessel, a glaze is put on it. You know and in between the first firing and the second firing the design is drawn on the vessel. All right? And for the design to be permanent, for the design to be fixed on the vessel, the beautiful design of God's plan and purpose, the vessel has to be fired again.

Is the oven hotter the second time around? The oven is hotter the second time around. I don't know what the Lord is doing here today, here's doing something with potters and ….. We will not be burnt but we will be shaped, we will be changed, we will be made better, more like Jesus.

(Talking from other people)

He strengthens you and hardens you through difficulties, that's right. And where is that found, Glenn? Isaiah 30 or 40, okay. Yes he strengthens and hardens you. And that's why the first time the clay which is soft is actually hardened. And the second time it's made an object of beauty. So for those of you who have been through the second firing, you should be an object of beauty. You know we are not supposed to object when God, what the word calls disciplines us, and when God basically tells us off. Because it is an opportunity for God to change us and make us better. Because only a father can discipline a child. A true father. Jeremiah 18. And I read from Verse 3 to 6 - 3 to 6 are the relevant verses. So meditate on this whole concept of the potter, the clay, because I think that's what the Lord is saying to us today. Go think about it. You need to be a willing vessel in the potter's hands and the quality of the clay is essential. Yes we are vessels made for honour - that's 1 Corinthians something isn't it? In Timothy, okay. But I think 1 Corinthians says that there are vessels for honour and there are vessels for dishonour. That's Timothy? Okay. Thank you. So we want to be vessels of honour. Okay let's get off potters and into Jesus. Jesus, all right?

Okay turn to the book of John because that's where most of our references will be today. The book of John. And since I spoke to you last week I have been studying even more on the life of Jesus. Because I am continuing my reading of J I Packer's book "Knowing God" and it's a wonderful book. It's not easy reading, it's heavy reading but it's really really revealing of the things of God. Now why was Jesus different. Last week we saw that Jesus made many outrageous statements and claims about himself, all right? In fact he actually, some bibles talk about his self revelation. His self designation. Okay Jesus revealed himself, he revealed the things about his life and about his mission because God the Father and the Holy Spirit were not there to do it for him. I mean he revealed it, God of course backed him up, the Holy Spirit backed him up in the way of miracles, but Jesus was the voice that revealed himself. And that's what the Pharisees objected to.

Before I forget, Dorothy wanted to clarify something. She's gone? She wanted to clarify something as a result of something I said last week, Dorothy Himes. She pointed out to me because I mentioned that Israel did not recognise Jesus as the messiah even though he fulfilled prophecy, even though he fulfilled the Old Testament. And Dorothy wanted to point out because Dorothy is involved with friends of Israel, that the bible actually says in Romans that God blinded their eyes, blinded the eyes of the nation of Israel so that we the gentiles could be grafted into the tree, all right? And the time of the gentiles is almost over, or is over now and the nation of Israel is coming into its own. So there was a period of time that God blinded the eyes of Israel so that we gentiles could have an opportunity to come into the kingdom of God. All right? So Dorothy wanted to point that out. She wanted to make sure that we didn't think that Israel was hardened by itself or because of sheer obstinance, but it was the work of God. And if you read Stan Thelchin, he's written a book called "Abandon" which I promoted on Sunshine and it's a wonderful book that explains the story of the nation of Israel.

So Jesus self designated himself but you know I can self designate myself. I can tell you things but you have to realise that the things I tell you have to be backed up , there has to be fruit in my life to back up the things I say, there have to be gifts in my life and my gifts will make room for me, my gifts will show people who I am. And you will agree with me that whatever Jesus said he was able to back it up by the things he did, by the things that happened and most especially by his death and resurrection. So Jesus made statements but they were completely backed up. So now one of the other things that made Jesus different, okay the first one is that he backed up everything he said. His self designation was backed up by the fruit in his life and the second thing I want to say about Jesus that made him different is that he is the only person who ever lived on earth who said that he had the power to forgive sin. If we look at Luke Chapter 7 and Verse 47 now. Luke Chapter 7 and Verse 47. And this is the story of the sinful woman who anointed Jesus with expensive oil. And in Verse 47 Jesus says of her: 'Therefore I say to you her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much but to whom little is forgiven the same loves little'. Okay, she is described as the sinful woman and Jesus said "her sins are forgiven". Now Jesus said in Mark Chapter 2, can you turn to Mark Chapter 2. Now here is an instance where the Pharisees got very angry with Jesus. Mark Chapter 2 and Verse 10. Now this is the story of the paralytic that was lowered through the roof of a house and Jesus saw the faith of the friends and in Verse 5 of Mark Chapter 2: 'Jesus saw their faith and he said to the paralytic "Son your sins are forgiven you". And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts - "why does this man speak blasphemies like this. Who can forgive sins but God alone". But immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves he said to them "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven you" or to say "arise, take up your bed and walk" but that you may know that the son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins he said to the paralytic "I say to you arise, take up your bed and go to your house". Immediately he rose, took up the bed and went out in the presence of them all so that all were amazed and glorified God saying "we never saw anything like this".

Okay so Jesus said that he had the power to forgive sins. If you look at all the great religious leaders of the world, none of them would have ever said that they had the power to forgive sins. And this sets apart Jesus from any other religious leader. That he had the power to forgive sins because he was God. None of the others can make that claim.

The third thing that made Jesus different was that Jesus performed miracles signs and wonders. Jesus performed miracles signs and wonders. Turn to John Chapter 4. We're actually going to look at John Chapter 4, Chapter 5 and Chapter 6. I'm not going to read, I'm just going to point out, okay? John Chapter 4, 5 and 6. In John Chapter 4 Jesus healed a noble man's son. In John Chapter 5 he healed the man that lay beside the pool of Bethesda. In John Chapter 6 he fed the five thousand and he walked on the sea. All right? So these three chapters show you some of the miracles the signs and wonders that Jesus did. Now miracles, these miracles that Jesus did backed his claim to divinity. Okay, the fact that Jesus performed miracles signs and wonders backed up his claim to divinity. Other religious leaders might teach you or philosophise but very few of them can produce the number, the quantity of miracles that Jesus did. In fact J I Packer says that Jesus was a man of action.

You know if you look at the life of Jesus he had three years of ministry, three years of ministry. And in those three years he healed, he taught, he preached, he walked, he clarified, he healed, I mean look at the things, he jam packed his ministry into three years. And I was thinking this morning, I was thinking to myself as I drove in this morning, if I had three years what would I do with it. Would I be able to do the things that Jesus did in three years. Three years, change the world and impacted us for eternity. Three short years, he was a man of action. He performed numerous miracles. In fact the word says that if all the things that Jesus said and did were written down you couldn't find a book that would be thick enough to write down the things that Jesus did. He did so much in three years. All right? So Jesus backed up his claim to divinity.

Number four - why was Jesus different? He not only exercised the power of miracles signs and wonders with human beings, he exercised the power of miracles or divine power against nature. Against nature. All right, Mark Chapter 4 and Verse 39. Jesus was on the sea and a storm broke out and in Verse 39: 'Jesus arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "please be still" and the wind ceased and there was a great calm, and he said to his disciples "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith". And they feared exceedingly and said to one another "Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey him?" His claim to divinity, his claim to be a divine person was backed up when nature obeyed him implicitly. Nature, the sea, the wind and the waves obeyed him. So Jesus was different. I'm actually trying to emulate this, you know. When we have a winter storm, especially in the middle of the night. I will lie in bed and say "In Jesus' name be still", you know "In Jesus name be still". And you know it works, it really works. I'm using the most powerful name on earth, the name of Jesus. But it's not immediate. The wind and the rain take a while to respond, but I imagine that when Jesus spoke there was an immediate response because they recognised the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. When he speaks it works.

So that was another. Jesus performed signs and wonders but he also exercised divine power against nature. Now here is another thing that made Jesus different. He raised the dead to life, he raised the dead to life. If you turn to Luke Chapter 7 and Verse 11. Luke 7 and Verse 11 was the story of the son of widow of Nain. The dead person was the only son of the woman and Verse 13 says: 'When the Lord saw the widow he had compassion on her and he said to her "Do not weep". Then he came and touched the open coffin and those who carried him stood still, and he said "Young man I say to you arise". So he who was dead sat up and began to speak and he presented him to his mother. Then fear came upon all and they glorified God saying "A great prophet has risen up among us and God has visited his people". Do you notice that the effect of Jesus' miracles is that God was glorified, God was glorified. And ** Hagen points out that to raise someone from the dead involves three spiritual gifts. And remember Jesus had them all.

First of all you have to have the gift of healing because the person usually dies of something. You know you die of an illness, you don't just die, okay? So the person has to be healed. Then you have to have the spiritual gift of miracles operating in your life because it takes a miracle to call back the spirit from Heaven or from wherever it is, okay? It takes a miracle. And then it takes the gift of faith, okay the spiritual gift of faith. Because it requires great faith to do this. All right so three spiritual gifts have to be in operation before you can raise someone from the dead. It has been done, okay? There is a pastor called Coulton in Sri Lanka, he raises people from the dead. Yes! He has, I don't know - he's raised about three if I'm not mistaken. And it has been done.

When I was in bible school we had a student called Samson, do you remember Samson? Samson from Solomon Islands. And Samson was walking along Shepperton Road or Albany Highway and a little girl was knocked down by a bus and she died and Samson being a man of great faith he ran up to her and he said "In the name of Jesus rise!" and she rose from the dead. And he went to this bible college, that's right! And the parents, I'm not sure whether the parents were with her at that time. They were so grateful that when we had our bible college party they brought the little girl. She was only about 5 or 6 and they came to thank Samson. You know because he had, well first of all he had a lot of gumption to go and do it, you know? That took faith. That took faith. And then he had these two other gifts offered him because he healed her of whatever was wrong when the bus knocked her over, and then he did the gift of miracles and raised her from the dead. So it's still happening ladies, it's still happening. Miracles are still alive today, and Jesus raised people from the dead.

Now look at, where were we? Luke, right. Now look at John Chapter 11. Famous story of Lazarus. John Chapter 11 and Verse 43. I think I'll start reading from 41: 'Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying'. Now remember he had been dead three days, there is no doubt that he was dead, okay? He was dead. 'They took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said "Father I thank you that you have heard me and I know that you always hear me but because of the people who are standing by I said this that they may believe that you sent me". Now when he had said these things he cried with a loud voice "Lazarus come forth" and he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was wrapped with a cloth and Jesus said to them "Lose him and let him go".

The Lord has just reminded me of a story that happened in Malaysia and I heard about it, okay? So I'm telling you what someone else told me. But the wife of one of our church members died. She died of cancer. And the family could not get over it, they were really really quite devastated by it. So they kept the body for three days which is against the law. They kept the body and they summoned the full gospel businessmen's fellowship of Malaysia to pray for her because they said "we believe that it was not her time to die". So these great men of God, these full gospel businessmen they were absolutely full of faith, they came to pray for her. And as they were praying for her there was a phone call and the phone call was from America. And two people have told me this so I really believe it is a true story. The phone call was from America from a person who knew the family, this person in America knew the family but did not know them intimately. They were friends. And this person from America rang up and said "I was praying this morning and the Lord asked me to tell you that the lady you are praying for doesn't want to come back." That the Lord gave her an opportunity to come back after these men had prayed for her but she told the Lord "I don't want to come back". And so I'm saying that in this situation there was a possibility that she could have been raised from the dead, you know because there was so much prayer that went out for it. But she told the Lord "I don't want to come back". Because she said "I waited all my life to be with Jesus, why would I want to come back". So this happened in Malaysia and it happened about ten years ago and two people from my church because they were members of my church, two people told me about it so I know and I believe that it's a true story, okay?

So Jesus raised the dead to life. Now a lot of people would be skeptical about people being raised from the dead but in the name of Jesus it has been done and it's still being done today. It's still being done today. And I can tell you that it's very very rare that any other religious leader would raise someone from the dead. Jesus was unique. He was unique, he was different, he was God.

Now the word also tells us that Jesus was both God and man. Look at John Chapter 1, he was unique. So point No. 6 is that Jesus was both divine and human. John Chapter 1 declares this. John Chapter 1 starting at Verse 1: 'In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it'. And then it goes on to Verse 9: 'This was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own did not receive him and as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man but of God'. Okay, so Jesus was both divine and human. He was born, he was born physically into this world. Luke tells us that because it talks about the birth of Jesus. But John Chapter 1 makes it very clear that Jesus was divine. He was both divine and human. Look at Verse 14 of John Chapter 1: 'And the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth and John bore witness of him and cried out saying "This is he of whom I said, he who comes after me is preferred before me for he was before me and of his fullness we have all received and grace for grace. But the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No-one has seen God at any time. The only begotten son who is in the bosom of his Father, he has declared him".

So Jesus declares God. I like that picture of Jesus being in the bosom of the Father. I think the Father has a very big bosom because it contained Jesus, you know? I mean God is so big and I talked last week about the co-operation between different members of the trinity, how they are one and they contain each other. And yet they do different things. But there is total co-operation. But it is the son who is in the bosom of the Father. It's a very warm analogy, a very almost motherly, don't you think? That he contains Jesus.

So Jesus was both divine and human. Now look at Verse 29 of the same Chapter: 'The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and he said "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said 'after me is a man who is preferred before me for he was before me'. I did not know him but that he should be revealed to Israel and therefore I came baptising with water". So John bore witness that Jesus was the lamb of the world, the messiah that Israel was expecting. Okay John came as a forerunner to the arrival of the messiah.

Okay point No. 7, Jesus was a God-man on a mission, Jesus was a God-man on a mission - (hyphenated God-man). And J I Packer says and he makes the point here that Jesus came to die. Jesus was born to die. That was his mission. His mission, what he was sent for was to die. So from the very beginning Jesus knew that this was his mission. To die for us. Because that was the only way to appease God's justice. We had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the only way God's justice could be appeased was by the death of a sinless perfect sacrifice, okay? And Jesus fulfilled that. And the other thing that J I Packer, the other point he makes is that, and initially I didn't understand this, but he said that Jesus feared to die. And a lot of people have pointed out that in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus was actually in torment about dying. And J I Packer explains why. Here was the perfect sinless son of God and on the cross the sins of the world were placed on him. The sins of the world were placed on him, he became an object of great - what does Isaiah say, he was marred - he became a thing of, a disgusting thing, because of the sin of the world. He was shunned, shamed, by the sin of the world. Imagine all of the entire sin of the world being placed on him. That is what Jesus dreaded, says J I Packer. He dreaded having the sin of the world being put on him. He was sinless, he was the son of God, he was glorious, he was perfect, and the sin of the world was put on him, and he had to go down into Hades for us. And Jesus dreaded this, he dreaded doing this, you know. And I can understand what it was like. So Jesus came on a mission and his mission was to die. He was born to die.

Point No. 8, Jesus was the only man who has ever been resurrected never to die again. Now we talked about Jesus raising people from the dead. But the people that Jesus raised from the dead and the people who are being raised from the dead, they will die. They will die again because they will grow old and the will die. But Jesus is the only one who was raised from the dead never to die again. Because when he was raised he had a glorious body. Now Moses died and the bible tells me in Exodus that God had to hide the body of Moses because the children of Israel would have worshipped him. God had to bury Moses. He had to hide the body away and bury it so that they didn't make a shrine out of it. Did you see the pictures of the shrine of Diana. It is sad isn't it that they've taken a human being and made a shrine. And that's our tendency. The human tendency is to worship that which has been different, that has been good, that has been outstanding even. Like they go to Mecca to worship at the tomb of Mohammed, that black object. You know you see pictures of Mecca, there is a big black box called the Kabba, that contains the remains of Mohammed. And they go there on a pilgrimage. If you go to India, I'm not sure but I think there's probably something that remains of the founder of Buddhism. Everywhere where there is the remains of someone who was good, who was different, people have a tendency to worship. Like people have a tendency - like Elvis exactly! Elvis is not dead? Have you got an inside story on that? Have you seen him lately?

So everyone, you know we have a tendency to worship angels. And that's why angels are invisible most of the time because we have a tendency to fall at their feet and worship as John did in the book of revelation. So this is a human failing, all right? And Jesus was the only man with an empty tomb, the only founder of a faith with an empty tomb. And you can visit his tomb in Israel, but it's empty. Hallelujah, that's right.

Okay, point No. 9. Jesus' life teachings and testimonies strengthened after his death, strengthened after his death, okay? Josh McDowell makes the point, he says "Men would be prepared to follow a lie". When men follow the teachings of Buddha, the teachings of Confucius and the teachings of Mohammed they are following a lie, okay they are. Anything, Jehovah's Witnesses, anything, they are all lies. "Men would be prepared to follow a lie but they will not die for a lie if they know that it is a lie". Now these men - these twelve men - they lived and you know they did everything with Jesus for three years. They were in a totally, you know a close relationship with him. They knew Jesus through and through for three years, they walked and talked and lived with him and they knew when Jesus died and they knew when Jesus rose from the dead. And they were prepared to die. In fact they say out of the twelve apostles if I'm not mistaken, eleven of them were martyred for their faith, only John died of old age. Eleven disciples were martyred. They were not dying for a lie. They knew it to be the truth. The church grew, the church thrived after the death of Jesus because the men who lived and followed Jesus, they knew it was the truth, they knew this was the son of God. And their testimonies built the church. The word of God was written after the death of Jesus. You see Mohammed if I'm not mistaken, Mohammed actually wrote the Koran, he wrote the Koran. The sayings of Buddha were, the sayings of Confucius were written during his lifetime. All these men made sure there was a written record of what they said and did during their lifetime but Jesus, the words of Jesus, the testimony of Jesus, the word of God, was written after Jesus died. In fact some 50 years after Jesus died. This book will explain that okay? "Jesus Life or Legend".

And it was 50 years or more after Jesus died. At the end of the first century and the beginning of the second century that the words of Jesus were put down in writing. It was unusual. Because by that time people should have forgotten, people should have misrepresented, in fact when they traced the manuscripts that were written of the word of God they find the manuscripts that are in existence that they have not changed. All the manuscripts that exist of the word of God that is written, they are all similar. There is no great discrepancy between them. All right? The word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit has kept the word of God accurate, which is amazing. Because when they go back and look at the writings of philosophers that died after Jesus they find that the manuscripts have changed dramatically. The only thing that has changed in the manuscripts of the word of God is probably the commas or the grammar, you know the little grammatical things, but the word is in tact, the word is unchanged. And the red writing, that's right.

Okay, point No. 10, Jesus was prepared to receive honour and worship as God. Matthew Chapter 14 and Verse 33 shows us this. Matthew 14 and 33: 'Jesus was prepared to receive worship and honour. Then those who were in the boat came and worshipped him saying "truly you are the son of God". Did Jesus reject their worship? No. He accepted their worship because he was God, he was the son of God. The point that's made by John Young in "The Case Against Christ" is that other religious leaders were not prepared to accept worship. Mohammed said "I am only a prophet". Buddha said "I am an enlightened teacher", okay? Other religious leaders will not accept your worship because they know they are not God. But Jesus accepted worship, Jesus accepted honour.

In Matthew 28:9, I'll just give you the references and in John 5 and 23 are other instances where Jesus accepted worship. Matthew 14:33, Matthew 28 and 9 and John 5 and 23.

Point No. 11. His own disciples who walked and talked and lived with him acknowledged him as God. I don't know about you but when I am close to a person like my family, they kind of know me warts and all, don't you think? Okay if you live and eat and do everything with somebody for three years, you kind of reveal yourself to them. And the result of that was that the very disciples of Jesus acknowledged him as God. Look at Matthew 16 and 16, Matthew 16 and 16, Verse 15: 'Jesus asked Peter "Who do you say that I am". Simon Peter answered and said "You are the Christ, the son of the living God". This was from Peter, Peter who was one of Jesus' closest disciples. And the other references are John Chapter 1 Verse 49 and John Chapter 11 and Verse 27. We're going to have to speed up because of the time.

Okay point No. 12. Jesus understood men's hearts. You know it's very hard to understand what men are thinking because we all wear a veneer. It's very very hard to know what a person is really thinking. But Jesus could look straight into the heart of a person and know what they are thinking. Remember we just read the story of the paralytic and his friend and the scribes reasoned in their hearts and Jesus knew what they were reasoning in their hearts, Jesus knew. Also in John - I like this story - sorry, Mark Chapter 10, turn to Mark Chapter 10. I love this story. It's about the rich young ruler. Mark Chapter 10 and Verse 21. This is the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and said: "Jesus good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" And Jesus told him, you know have you done all this, have you kept the Commandments and he said yes. Verse 20: 'And the rich young ruler answered and said to Jesus "Teacher all these things I have kept from my youth". Verse 21: 'And Jesus looking at him loved him and said to him "One thing you lack. Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in Heaven and come take up the cross and follow me". And he was sad at this word and went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.'

You know I love this rich young ruler because I think he is so reflective of us. Jesus saw into the heart of this rich young ruler. He was a nice guy, he was a really nice guy, he had a good heart, he kept the law as far as he was able he kept it perfectly. But there was one thing that was more important to him than God and that was his riches. He loved his riches more than he loved God. And you know it's so indicative of us because I often search my heart and think "you know God, if you asked me to give up everything I have, all my comforts, would I be willing? Would I be willing?" And I think of Leonie and I think of all that she's had to give up. She's given up the first world for the third world. You know that calls for a real sacrifice. And you know this rich young man, this good young man, this sweet wonderful young man, he was not willing to do it. Jesus didn't ask him to do it because poverty is wonderful. He asked him to do it because he wanted him (Jesus) to be first and riches were first. In this young man's heart God was not first, riches were first.

I heard Joyce Meyers say the other day. She said "God wants you to have all the good things but He also wants you to have God first in your heart". If you have God first in your heart he will give you the desires of your heart. He will. But he just wants you to have God first in your heart. There's nothing wrong with your desires, there's nothing wrong with comforts. It's only wrong when they come first and God comes a poor second. So I love this rich young ruler, I identify with him, I really do. And after reading it I have searched my heart and I think I went through an experience you know when we were building the house, where we were about to lose everything and God spoke to my heart and he said "If I am first in your life I will give you back everything" and I had to learn to put God first in my life. And then he gave me back everything. And I had to go through a real experience where before God could use me God had to make sure that He was number one in my life.

Okay so I'm giving you some more references here. Luke 5 and 22 and John 2 and 23. That Jesus understood men's hearts, that he could discern, he could look into their hearts and he could discern their intents and their purposes. And that set apart Jesus from every other religious leader. He could discern people's hearts.

Point No. 13. Jesus changes lives, he transforms lives. You can have, most other religious leaders can impose change on your life, they can tell you you have to do one, two, three, four, to be my leader. You have to give up your worldly goods, you have to cut your hair off or you have to dress in a saffron robe and chant "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna". You have to do all these things to be my leader. But the difference between those leaders and Jesus is that Jesus goes straight for the heart. He changes you from the inside out and that is real change and that is permanent change and that is not superficial change. That is real change. Ezekiel said that 'I will take out the heart of stone and I will replace it with a heart of flesh'. And the reference to this is - no I'm not giving you a reference here, I'm asking you to look at the lives of the disciples. How in the book of Acts it says: 'These timid men who ran away when Jesus was arrested, they would change into bold witnesses for Jesus Christ'. And it doesn't happen if there is not a real change, okay? The disciples, the lives of the disciples bears it out. The life of C S Lewis. C S Lewis was an intellectual at Oxford and Cambridge and when he came to a serving knowledge of Jesus Christ he changed. He began to write books about his faith and he is one of the leading Christian writers today. John Young talks about an actor called ……

(Other side of tape)

But John Young gives the story of James Fox, how he was a man who had no peace and he was about to in fact suicide and Jesus came into his life and he transformed him and his acting life became better after he was a Christian. So if you come across the name James Fox remember it.

Point No. 14. Jesus had total authority over demons. Demons recognised Jesus' authority when Jesus spoke to the demons at Gethsemane they said "what have we to do with you Jesus, it's not our time yet". They recognised the authority and the power of Jesus. And I'm just going to give you the reference. Matthew Chapter 8 and Verse 28 and Matthew Chapter 9 and Verse 32.

Moving right along. Point No. 15. Jesus' teaching was fresh and new, fresh and new. It was different from anything they had heard before because he spoke with authority and he made the scriptures come alive and he was different from the scribes and the Pharisees and people recognised that. In fact his teachings could always be said to be paradoxical because he said "If you want to live, you must die. If you want to be great in the kingdom of God, you must be a servant". Okay, what else did he say, it was all paradoxical. "The first shall be last and the last shall be first". Okay, they were all paradoxes. It was something that the people had never heard before. In fact J I Packer makes the point that Jesus was an enigma to his disciples. They had never seen anyone like him before. They were struggling to understand this man who lived with them, who was so much superior to them. They could not understand him, he was an enigma.

Point No. 16. Jesus' life has profoundly impacted the world more than any other life. He has profoundly impacted the world. In fact when Christian Life Television broadcasts it says it very well. He never wrote a book, he never did all the things that rich and famous people do, he didn't have a TV programme, a column in the newspaper, even a book review! But he has, he lived for 33 years and he made the most profound impact on the world. And he never lived outside Israel, he never travelled outside Israel, he was born in an obscure village. He lived and taught the Jews only. He spoke Aramaic and Hebrew which are real kind of languages that are not generally known. And yet this man has profoundly impacted life on earth. In fact this book by John Young tells you, as soon as I find it, it tells you the lifespan of the different religious leaders. It says that Jesus lived for only 33 years - here we are. Confucius lived until the age of 72, Buddha lived until the age of 80, Mohammed lived until the age of 62 and Carl Marx lived until the age of 64. Jesus died at the age of 33. He spent only three years in the public eye in a remote place. When he died he left no writing and only a few dispirited demoralised followers. And yet we base our entire calendar on his life. R W Emerson said this about the name of Jesus. "His name is not so much written as ploughed into the history of the world", okay. That's the difference about Jesus.

And my last point which has to be my last point because we've run out of time is - his words were words of Heavenly wisdom. His words were words of Heavenly wisdom. You know one of the things I discover as I read the words of Jesus is that it has so many layers or meanings. I read it one way it applies to my life, I look at it another way it applies to a different area of my life. His words have got like layers of meanings, so many meanings, they are not just one level of meaning, they are many levels of meanings. Many applications to my life. He had a deep message for the world, and the more you study it the deeper it becomes.

I have to end, no more time. Thank you.

Back