In this sermon, the speaker begins by emphasizing the importance of obeying Jesus' commands and loving Him. He explains that those who love Jesus will be loved by the Father and Jesus will disclose Himself to them. The speaker highlights that God is seeking people who will worship Him in spirit and truth and desires a close relationship with them. He acknowledges that humans are flawed and sinful, but God still desires a relationship with them despite their imperfections. The speaker marvels at the idea that such a magnificent God would want a relationship with insignificant human beings.

Now I want to ask you to do me a favour. And that is for just a little while to keep your little flashing lights from flashing so that I can concentrate upon this work that I'm about to undertake. Thank you. We begin with the word of God. Staggering statements are many in the Bible but for me there is none more staggering than these. It's Jesus that's speaking and I'm reading from St. John's Gospel. Listen to the words. The man who has received my commands and obeys them he it is who loves me and he who loves me will be loved by my Father and I will love him and disclose myself to him. Judas asked him, the other Judas, not Iscariot Lord, what can have happened that you mean to disclose yourself to us alone and not to the world? Jesus replied, anyone who loves me will heed what I say. Now this is the staggering bit. Anyone who loves me will heed what I say then my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. That is simply staggering, friends of mine. Anyone who loves me will heed what I say and my Father will love him and we, Father and Son we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Now this kind of suggests that it's possible for there to become some kind of relationship between humanity and divinity. It seems that it's possible, according to this reading for God Almighty and a human being to be in relationship. We'll come to him, says Jesus. We'll dwell in him, says Jesus. Relationship between the human and the divine seems to be possible. It sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it? Just think for a moment who we're talking about. We're talking about this mammoth, majestic, magnificent God who made the universe, who threw the stars in place and is still throwing them. Who could put everything of the known universe in his little back pocket and not notice that it was there? He's so big. His creative genius, his intelligence is massive. His knowledge is infinite. In fact, everything about him is infinite. There's no end to it. You start with God here and you can't find the edge. God is infinite. And this infinite, this majestic, this incredibly magnificent God can have a relationship with John Gowans? Are you kidding? Is it possible for God to be in relationship with a human being? Surely to a God as big as that, man is so tiny, he's a speck of dust in the universe. Why should God bother about it? Here is God, magnificent. Here is man, a grubby insect, obsessed with gathering money for his own comfort, obsessed with his own sexual needs and the filling of his belly and not much more. How can God who's as beautiful as that, as magnificent as that want some kind of relationship with something as despicable as this? What is man? What is man? Says the Bible. That you are mindful of him. Why do you bother about him? He's nothing, he's three times nothing and you are magnificent. Why do you even think of him? Why is your mind full of him? It sounds ridiculous. After all, what is man? What is man? What is he? What is he? Look at him. What is he? When I was a little kid in the primary class at Sunday school and at day school they used to teach me what man was. Did you learn it the same way as I did? We used to learn a rhyme which said, What are little boys made of? Do you remember that one? What are little boys made of? What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails and puppy dogs' tails, that's what little boys are made of. Don't applaud, I might continue. I didn't have any difficulty in believing it. What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails and puppy dogs' tails. Anybody knows there's nothing more beautiful in the world than frogs and snails and puppy dogs' tails. It was the second verse I had problems with. Do you remember the second verse? What are little girls made of? You know, don't you? Sugar and spice and all things nice. My foot, politically incorrect statement. I'll get some letters now. Well of course it satisfied me. And if I said my foot after it, it's because I've got two sisters and believe me they were not made of sugar and spice and all things nice. They would have pain in the neck most of the time. Neither of them are here, I dare to say it. Alright, there's a kind of a human answer. What are we made of? What are we? Well of course there's a biological answer. What is John Gowns? He's so much bone and so much flesh and so much blood and so much veins and so many sinews and just a little bit of brain. That's what man is according to the biologist. Well he's right of course. I have to tell you that if the biologist is anywhere near accurate something just short of 90% of you is water and it'll all kind of evaporate one day and they'll say is that all there is of him? There's a biological answer of what is man but it's an inadequate answer because it is addressing the question what is the body of man? And the body of man is not the whole of man. The body of man is the house in which the man lives. That's all. If I look at this house of body and this body of mine this flesh and blood and me you could say I'm made of bones and tissue and all that but in this house which won't last forever it's beginning to break up a bit already this house that won't last forever in this house there lives a John a John Gown an invisible John Gown. If you reach inside me if you investigate the person living in this house you'll find what I'm made of I made a few notes so that I don't stray there's a little bit of patience in here not much I've got to say there's a little bit of patience and there's an awful lot of impatience I'm terribly impatient it's got to be done now and I mean now and do it now please that's my nature it's all in there you can have a look if you like you'll find it there's a little bit of tolerance it's amazing how much actually there's quite a bit of tolerance it's amazing what I can put up with and given my job it's just as well isn't it I can tolerate all kinds of things and all kinds of people but mind you there's a limit to it the fuse is a long one the toleration line is long but sooner or later down it goes and up goes the big bang there's a little bit of tolerance and a bit of intolerance in me I'm only talking about myself perhaps you recognise yourself there's a little bit of generosity in me I can be moved to putting my hand in my pocket and being generous now and then but there's a whole lot more of meanness in me I wasn't born in Scotland for nothing I count my pennies and I don't give them away too easily there's a bit of generosity there you've got to dig around but it's there but there's an awful lot of meanness there which I have to try and do something about there's a lot of pity in me I am easily moved I cry easily when somebody's hurting the wells of my pity are deep if you dig deep in me you'll find a lot of pity but also if you dig around you'll find there's a lot of cruelty too that's the John Gown that lives in this house there's a lot of kindness there there's a lot of cruelty there's a bit of mercy but alongside it there's a mercilessness which is ugly in the extreme there's a forgiving spirit here if you poke around inside the man that lives in this house you'll find a lot of forgiving spirit there he finds it easy to forgive perhaps because he needs himself so much forgiveness but there's plenty of forgiveness there I'm not short on forgiveness because I've needed so much myself there's a little bit of selflessness there but there's an awful lot of selfishness as well there's a little bit of graciousness there I can be quite gracious sometimes but sometimes I am disgraceful there's a lot of gratitude there but I have been known to be ungrateful there's a bit of purity there and there's a lot of dirt there's a lot of decency and there's a spot of lewdness living in here there's a compassionate spirit that's easily moved and there's an insensitive spirit that sometimes wants to close its eyes to need I'll tell you when you walk down the streets of the European capitals you find beggars on the street with a baby in their arms and my heart begins to be moved and so what do I do? I insensitize my eyes so that I don't see them there's compassion but alongside the compassion there's a not wanting to know spirits what are little boys made of? our inner me is a bundle of spiritual qualities some good, some not so good and some not good at all and every one of you sitting in these seats tonight are that kind of person if we could take the lid off if we could look inside what kind of mixture would we find in you? I've described what we can find in me and it's a pretty honest description if we took the lid off you what would we find? who is the real person? you see the body is marvelous it can play tricks it can pretend it can hide why do you think the beauticians make so much money? of course the body can disguise itself and mutton passes as lamb as the old prophet used to say oh you can lie with a body but you can't lie with a spirit thank God it's hidden you can't see all that I've just described, can you? all you see is this grey haired guy with a slightly balding patch which he tries to cover carefully every morning that's all you see of this you can't see all that inside, can you? but I'll tell you something the real John Gown is that John Gown and the real you the real you is that mixture of spiritual qualities that I've described you are not flesh and blood alone the flesh and blood is the house and one day you'll get out of it because it's crumbling but the you in you is a spiritual being and spiritual things last forever that's why we should be very concerned what kind of inner person we are because that inner person is going to last forever someday they'll put this house of mine in a box but they can't put the spirit me in a box it will survive you can't borrow you can't bury my tenderness my generosity my kindness my pity my mercy my compassion those are spiritual things and the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are unseen are eternal that's the Bible message that's why I preach because I want this inner me to be fit for heaven I'm going to get stuck with it forever that's why I'm keen to put more patience in there more purity less aggressiveness more charity more compassion more kindness more forgiveness I want to be beautiful because the me in me will live forever please God make me beautiful the me in me that's the prayer of every Christian and certainly the prayer of every salvationist please what are you? you're not a fleshly being essentially you are all spiritual beings who will live forever man is spirit haven't we heard that somewhere before? man is spirit sounds familiar why does it sound familiar? because we remember a conversation that Jesus had with a woman by the well in Samaria and he told her profound things that he hadn't even told his disciples he said to the woman at the well God is spirit hang on a minute for the last five minutes I've been telling you that you are spirit and Jesus said God is spirit spirit with spirit can meet that should surprise nobody God made man in his own image which means that the spirit who is God made the spirit which is man and there is possibly relationship between spirit and spirit God is spirit is he a mixture like me then? if we took the top off God and we looked inside the personality of the almighty what would we find? would we find impatience and patience purity and impurity forgiving spirit and revengeful spirit would we find decency and indecency would we find love and hatred oh no God is spirit but every aspect of that spirit which is God is good there's only patience, no impatience there's only forgiveness, there's no unforgiveness there's only love and compassion and kindness and purity and honesty and reliability and selflessness that's what God is made of you're spirit, he's spirit but we're a mixture he is totally pure he is totally honest he is absolutely reliable and he is utterly holy holy, holy is the Lord of hosts I haven't solved the problem, have I? how is it possible for a spirit, a spiritual being who is totally holy how is it possible for him to have some kind of relationship with this mixed horrible and good person that I am how can it be done? well we'll come to it in a minute we're going to pause and I'm going to ask Judith to sing Judy to sing, Judy Gotswich she's going to sing God is spirit maybe when she's sung it we'll sing the chorus before I go on please come Judith and let's hear this song it's from one of the musicals listen to the message of it before we go on God's worship him must worship him in truth he breaks the boundaries of the narrow he is coming God is spirit holy spirit they that worship him must worship him in truth now you've understood the words of Jesus when he said God is spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit the spiritual quality the spiritual being that John Gown has to worship with the spiritual being that God is this is where worship takes place and it has to be done in honesty and that's often where we fall down it has to be done in spirit and in truth and honestly we're so good at pretending and when we want to worship when we want to be contacted when we want to be in relationship when we want to be in communication when we want to be in communion with God we can't pretend the real me has to expose itself to the real God and worship him in spirit and in truth and when I worship him in spirit and in truth I see my own unholiness and I long to have more of his that's real worship worship in spirit and in truth the exposure of the real spiritual John Gown in all its ugliness and its weaknesses before a beautiful and holy God with a request that the promise of Jesus shall be made good and the God who is outside of me will come inside of me and sort this out this is relationship this is relationship this communication at depth in spirit with the God who is spirit God is spirit totally holy and our relationship with him is possible because we are spiritual beings now there is one or two little bits I need to put right I believe that it's possible first of all because I experience it myself I am one of the worshippers in spirit and in truth I'm totally honest when I come to God and that's the basis of a true relationship with God if you're kidding yourself there's no hope for you you've got to be totally honest with God it's this ugliness here Lord that needs attention it's that intolerance there I'd like you to do something about will you alter this, modify that you know the Lord has been working on me and he's working on me still and I thank him because the transformation though it may be life long is certain let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me all his wonderful passion put that in here Lord that's why I want a relationship with your Holy Spirit so that this inside me this real me shall be modified adjusted made beautiful where it's ugly and strong where it's sweet I want to have a relationship with the Holy God because I want to be holy and the one who hungers and thirsts after righteousness is going to get it it's possible that's the good news now this is the other part of the good news and this staggered me when I first understood it Jesus said those that worship God God is spirit and those that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth and then he added something that absolutely blows the mind listen God is spirit those that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth and the father is looking for worshippers like this to worship him that's what Jesus said this staggering thing to me is that Jesus says that just as I'm longing for relationship with God God is looking for people who want to be friends of his related to him in communication with him becoming like him God is looking in these ranks for people who will worship him in spirit and in truth he's looking for you he wants you he wants you to be close if any man obeys me and loves me said Jesus we'll come into him we want to come into him that's the promise but oh it's got to be an honest relationship you've got to open this ugly me and let him in and he begins to sort it out perhaps it will take a lifetime to sort it out but perhaps that's what a lifetime is for the relationship is a transforming friendship it changes me we've already sung my prayer this week I won't ask you to sing it again I just want you to make it yours this spiritual me needs attention modification, alteration transformation because this John who lives in here knows it's not all good and in his heart of hearts has been born this longing to be holy which means to be like Jesus to be like Jesus this hope possesses me in every thought and deed in the spiritual me this is my aim my creed to be like Jesus this hope possesses me his spirit this God who is holy spirit his spirit helping me like him I'll be now are you ready to open the door to the inner you to those cavernous places that aren't pretty those bits of the real you which you're not particularly proud of the relationship with the holy spirit of God will purify and cleanse but you've got to be honest and open every door this Lord and this Lord and this Lord clean it up, clean it out make me pure, make me like Jesus are you ready for that if not I'm wasting my time here this congress doesn't mean anything I would love to see every person in this building saying in me Lord in me Lord thy will fulfilled in the inner corridors of my being make me beautiful, make me Christ like and do it now begin now God is spirit he is spirit and if you don't worship him with your spirit it's not worship you can put your body in any place you like it you can put it on its knees it doesn't mean a thing if the spirit in you is not on its knees you can stand for hours with your hands in the air with your body you can say majesty, majesty but if he's not majesty in here he's majesty nowhere