Well, it's good to be here. It's always a joy for me in Virginia
to be able to be with you and an honor, indeed, to do so. Tonight, if you have your Bible,
would you turn with me, please, to John chapter 5. John chapter
5. I want to begin reading tonight
in verse 31. If you have your Bible or your tablet
or your phone or whatever you got. John chapter 5 verse 31
and I want to read down to verse 40. I need your prayers tonight. The
Lord would help us. The title of the message tonight
is the fourfold witness of Christ. The fourfold witness to Christ. Every day that I live and I'm
out and about no matter where I'm at in the city or the country. It amazes me that This generation has the wrong
concept of who God is. They've never seen his glory.
They've never been confronted with who he is. If a man's going to study the
scriptures, the first thing he needs to do is to find out who
God is, what he's like, what his attributes are. Secondly,
after he's done that, and it'll take him quite a while, he'll
never exhaust trying to find out who God is, he then needs
to study about who and what man is. This world believes in the enlightenment
of man, in the deity of man, the worthfulness of man, what
a great creature man is, and how he's able to solve all of
his problems, and he doesn't need God. Our job as gospel preachers is
to declare who the Lord Jesus Christ is. Paul said in 1 Corinthians
2 and verse 1, when I, brethren, came to you, I didn't come with
excellency of words, but I came knowing and preaching only one
thing, and that's Jesus Christ and him crucified. I'm determined not to know anything
else among you, save that. I wanted to say that before I
began, and let's pick up reading in verse 31 of John chapter five. The Lord Jesus is speaking here,
and the context of this chapter, after he had healed the paralytic
man, healed him on the Sabbath day, Jesus had said to the Jews,
hitherto my father worketh and I work. And they were highly
upset, not only because that he had healed a man on a Sabbath
day, but he made himself equal with God, calling himself the
son of God, God being his father. And with that, let's read verse
31. Jesus said, if I bear witness
of myself, My witness is not true. There is another that beareth
witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth
of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he beareth
witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from
man, but these things I say that ye might be saved. He was a burning
and shining light, and ye were willing for a season to rejoice
in his light. But I have greater witness than
that of John for the works which the Father hath given me to finish.
The same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father
hath sent me. And the Father himself which
hath sent me hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard
his voice at any time nor seen his shape. And ye have not his
word abiding in you, for whom he hath sent, him ye believe
not. Search the scriptures, for in
them, that is the scriptures, ye think ye have eternal life. And they, the scriptures, are
they which testify of me. And ye will not Come to me that
you might have life. The Lord Jesus Christ here, in
what I've read to you, gives a fourfold witness of who he
is. If you notice in verse 31, Jesus
said, if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he
came here, he came here to do the will of his father. He said, I didn't come to do
my own will, but the will of him that sent me. In Hebrews 13 and verse 20, the
writer of Hebrews said this, now the God of peace who brought
again from the dead the Lord Jesus that great shepherd of
the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make
you perfect to do his will. A covenant was made before the
foundation of the world. And this covenant, God, the father,
God, the son, and God, the Holy Spirit, covenanted together for
the purpose of bringing those whom God hath chosen to himself. This is the foundation of our
salvation. If you don't have this as a foundation
of your salvation, you don't have anything to stand on. For
without the everlasting covenant, without God declaring that he
chose the people before the foundation of the world, This was God's
eternal purpose. God decreed, God purposed to
have a people for himself. God the Father did the choosing,
not based on foreseen faith. Most people, the modern gospel,
most fundamentalists say, I believe in election. I believe that God
looked down through the telescope of time, saw who would believe
the preaching. and then say, okay, since he's
gonna believe that, I'm gonna choose him. But nothing can be
further from the truth. Salvation, God's choosing of
his elect, is not based on man's response. It's not based on anything
man can do. Romans chapter nine makes this
abundantly clear. When the Apostle Paul, preaching
to the Romans, said this, Jacob have I loved Esau have I hated
that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of
works And in verse 16 of Romans 9 he
said it is not of him that willeth Nor of him that runneth but of
God that showeth mercy Now this brings a hue and a cry from religion. This brings a hue and a cry from
everybody just about. They say it's not fair. It's
not fair that God would choose some and pass the others by. It's not fair. God loves everybody. Christ died for everybody. Those are two of the biggest
lies that have ever been told. They got started about 150 years
ago. But the scripture says, Jacob
have I loved. Esau have I hated. You say, preacher, I can't understand
why God would hate a man like Esau. I'll tell you what I can't
understand is why God would love a man like Jacob. Jacob was a crook. Wouldn't do
trade horses with Jacob. He's crooked as a dog's hind
leg. But God said, I love him. I love him. Esau was a man's
man. He was a hunter. But God said,
no. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. And the reason why I'm prefacing
my message with this, is what Jesus came here to do, was to
fulfill this decree, this purpose of God Almighty. Now, the Lord
Jesus Christ here When he said, if I bear witness
of myself, my witness isn't true. This does not show any weakness
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He came here for a purpose, for
a reason. And his mission was to do everything
according to the will of his father. When the Lord Jesus came
here, he didn't need a map to find where the elect was. When
he came here, he didn't have to ask directions as to where
to find them. But he sent his face like a flint. And everywhere he went, everywhere
that he went, he passed a lot of people by to find his chosen. Luke chapter 19, the story of
Zacchaeus, Jesus said, I tell you why I came to save Zacchaeus. The reason for this is, for he
also is a son of Abraham. For the son of man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost. And everything he did while
he was here on this earth was to seek and to save. that which is lost. Christ never acted independently
of the Father. He never did. In 1 John 5, 7,
the scripture declares this, there are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these
three are one. The Godhead is one in purpose,
one in will, and they're one in speech. These three are one. One in omnipotence, one in omniscience,
one in omnipresence. Turn with me, if you would, to
John 16. I want to show you something here. John chapter 16 and verse Just want to read a
few verses here. John 16, 13, Jesus said this,
how be it when he, the spirit of truth, you notice he says
he, the spirit's not an it, it's a he, when he, a person, The
Spirit of Truth has come. He will guide you into all truth,
for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear,
that shall He speak, and will show you things to come. Now
notice verse 14. He shall glorify Me. For he shall receive of mine
and shall show it unto you all things that the father hath are
mine. Therefore said I that he shall take of mine and shall
show it unto you. Now the Lord Jesus Christ came
here to fulfill God's holy law. In Matthew 5, 17, he said, I
didn't come to destroy the law or the prophets, but I came to
fulfill or to keep it. Now, in this fourfold witness
that I want to declare to you tonight, you say, preacher, why
in the world did the Lord Jesus Christ say these things? Why declare a fourfold witness? In Deuteronomy 19 and 15, I won't
ask you to turn to it, but the law of God declares, by the mouth
of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. And so the Lord Jesus Christ,
even in John 8, 17, alluded to this. So in the fulfilling of
God's holy law, He brings more than two witnesses. He brings
more than three witnesses. He brings four witnesses to declare
that He is the Messiah, the Chosen One of God. The first witness,
you'll notice, in verse 33, Jesus said is John the Baptist. He
said unto John, he bear witness unto the truth. Now John the
Baptist, if you'll turn with me to John chapter one, just
back a few pages, John chapter one and verse 19, here's what
John the Baptist had to say. This is the record of John when
the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who
are you? And he confessed and denied not,
but confessed, I'm not the Christ. And they asked him, what then?
Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you
that prophet? Are you that prophet that Moses
spoke about? He said, no, not him. Verse 22,
they said, well, who are you? Who are you? that we may give
an answer to them that sent us. What do you say of yourself? And here's what John said in
verse 23. I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make
straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. They which were sent were of
the Pharisees. John the Baptist was the forerunner
of Jesus Christ. And in Isaiah chapter 40 in verse
three, you'll find the prophecy that Isaiah has spoken about. Then I want you to notice what
the Lord Jesus had to say about John the Baptist. John the Baptist,
he said, of man born of woman, there is arisen no greater prophet. than John the Baptist, but he
also said this, but he that is least in the kingdom of heaven
is greater than he. It's one thing for men to brag
on a preacher, but to have the Lord Jesus Christ to say this
about John the Baptist, what a great honor it is. John said
in John 1 29, he said, I saw and bear record that this is
the son of God at his baptism. In Matthew chapter three, you
find it recorded. The Lord Jesus comes to John
the Baptist and the Lord Jesus says, John, I want you, I'm paraphrasing
of course, but John, I want you to baptize me. I can imagine
the look on John's face. Can you imagine the look on John's
face? when he says, John, I need you to baptize me. John said,
I've got need to be baptized of you, and you're coming to
me? Jesus said, John, suffer it to
be so now. For thus it becometh all righteousness. And he suffered it. But then
something took place. When Jesus came out of that water,
The Spirit of God came descending in the form of a dove, and a
voice from heaven was heard. And that voice said, this is
my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. And John said, when I saw that,
I knew who he was. Second of all, if we go back
to our text in John 5, not only the witness of John the Baptist,
but we have the works of the Father. John 5 verse 36, but
I have a greater witness than that of John for the works which
the Father hath given me to finish. The same works that I do bear
witness of me, that the Father hath sent me." The works of the Father that
Jesus performed were many in number. I think of what John
said in John 21, verse 25, when he said, there are many other
things that Jesus did. while he was here. And he said
the world would not be able to contain the books that should
be written of him. They were great in number. And
the works themselves were great. He healed the sick. He raised
the dead. He set the captive free. The
gospel was preached to the poor. Blinded eyes were opened. Lame
people walked. People who couldn't speak, talk.
The deaf were made to hear. Oh, the greatness
of his works. The publicity of his works. What he did was spread out through
all of the country. But the thing that stands out
to me in the works that Jesus did while he was here, was the
character of his works. He did not come just to display
his power, or even all power, of course, is his, but the character
of his works. Notice the compassion of his
works. I think about that woman who
had the issue of blood, spent all the money that she had on
physicians, doctors, and was nothing better but grew worse. She was determined to get to
the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, she was so determined,
she said, if I could just touch the hem of his garment, I know
I'll be made whole. And she fought her way through
the crowd. And she reached out. Boy, that's
faith. She reached out by faith and
she touched him, touched the hem of his garment. Jesus came
and he stopped and he said, who touched me? Of course, the disciples,
they said, what do you mean who touched you? Didn't you notice
all this crowd around you and you're asking us who touched
you? Jesus said, I perceive virtue. I perceive love. Went out of
me. Then that woman come trembling
and told him all the truth. I think of Mary Magdalene, one
of the worst ladies of the night of that day, who had seven devils. And she got down at the feet
of Jesus and she wept and she wept. And as her tears hit his
feet, she took the hairs of her head, dried the tears off of
his feet. Oh, the character of his works. Oh, what love, what love. What love. Have you ever sat
at home sometime in your kitchen or your living room or in your
study and pondered the thought Who am I? Who am I? Who am I that a king would bleed
and die for? Who am I that he would say, Lord,
not my will, but thy will be done? Who am I that God would
look at me So stooped in sin, so rebellious, so ungodly, so
wicked. Oh, he loved me. He loved me. And you know, I've never got
over it. I've never got over it. He loved me. He loved me. While he was here on this earth,
he had no place to lay his head. He said, the foxes have holes.
Birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere
to lay his head. Then thirdly, the third witness
of the father, not only John the Baptist, not only the works
that the father gave him to do, but the father himself. was a
witness to who he is. 400 years had passed since Malachi
ended his prophecy. 400 years had passed. Nobody
heard from God. And one day, there were some
shepherds on a hillside, and all of a sudden, without warning,
from heaven, the angels split the skies And they said, fear
not, for I bring you titans of great joy. It's going to be to
all people. For unto you this day is born
in the city of David a Savior, a Savior, a Savior, which is
Christ the Lord. And the angel told Mary, Mary,
the Holy Ghost is going to come upon you. And you're going to
be with child and that holy thing that's within you. You're going
to call his name, Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins. What a witness God, the father
showed to the world. I already talked to you about
his baptism and the father's approval, but also the father
at his transfiguration. In Luke chapter 9, verses 28
through 35, you can read it when you go home. But the Lord Jesus
Christ took Peter, James, and John up upon this mountain. And
all of a sudden, his face was transfigured. It became white
as snow. And Moses and Elijah appeared,
discussing him going to Calvary, discussing his death. That had been a sight to behold. And Peter, bless his heart, I
can identify with this man, can't you? He said, Lord, it's good
to be here. Sounds like a Baptist, don't
he? And he says, let's make three tents. Let's make one for you,
and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. And all of a sudden, there was
a cloud, and there was a voice like thunder that said, this
is my beloved son. Hear ye him, the witness of the Father. Then,
the fourth witness to the Lord Jesus Christ is the scriptures, the scriptures
themselves. Look in John 5, 39. He tells the Jews, search the
scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. They are
they which testify of me. But, you know, we have a greater
witness, a greater witness. You say, Preacher,
isn't that enough? Well, let's look at what Peter
said. Turn with me to Second Peter, chapter one. Second Peter chapter one, here's
what he had to say. There's nothing like the scriptures.
Second Peter chapter one and verse 15. Moreover, I will endeavor that
ye may be able after my deceased to have these things always in
remembrance. For we've not followed cunningly
devised fables when we made known unto you the power and the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory When there came such a voice to him from
the excellent glory, this is my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased. And this voice, which came from
heaven, we heard when we were in the Holy Mount. Now here in
verse 19, here it is. There's something better than
what they witnessed at the Transfiguration. Something even better. Look in
verse 19, we have also a more sure word of prophecy. Where unto you do well to take
heed as a light that shineth in a dark place until the day
dawn and the day star rise in your hearts, knowing this first,
that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy men of God speak as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. This blessed book. I wasn't there on the Mount of
Transfiguration and you wasn't either, but I've got this book. Amen. I wasn't there when Jesus
was baptized, but I've got this book. Peter says it's a more
sure, word of prophecy. You see, the Jews thought they
had eternal life by searching the scriptures. They thought
they had a corner on God. They trusted in observing their
ceremonies, keeping the Sabbath, being circumcised, but they were
totally ignorant of who the scriptures spoke about. And did you know
nothing's changed from that day to this? Nothing's changed. People are tied up with works.
They're tied up with sacraments. They're tied up with trying to
keep the law, trying to do the very best that they can. But
the scriptures do not speak of these things. They speak of a
person, and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. But the scriptures, in order
to be understood, John said in John chapter three, he says,
a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Turn with me to Luke 24. Luke chapter 24. verse 44. And he said unto them, this is
the Lord Jesus after his resurrection. He's speaking to his disciples.
And he said this, these are the words which I speak unto you
while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled,
which were written Three things in the law of Moses. And in the
prophets. And in the Psalms. Concerning. Me. Concerning me. Deuteronomy 18 and 18, Moses
said. The Lord's going to raise up
a prophet unto you from among you like unto your brethren. and him shall you listen to. In the prophets, in Isaiah 7,
14, behold, a virgin shall conceive and be with child. In Isaiah
9, in verse 6, he shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. In Isaiah
42 verses 1 through 4, the prophet declared the Lord Jesus Christ
to be mine elect in whom I trust and he shall not fail. He shall not fail. And then in
Isaiah 53, oh, what blessed truth. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was laid upon him, and by his
stripes we are healed. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He made his grave with the wicked. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. And in the Psalms, Psalm 22, my God, my God, why, why have
you forsaken me? You had to bend at the cross
that day to hear what that cry sounded like. I've heard many
people try to describe what that cry sounded like. I can't. I
can't even imagine that forsaken cry. God turned his back on his
darling son, the son of his love, the one he was well pleased with. He turned his back on him. Why
did he do it? The cry comes back, God's holy. He's thrice holy. The heavens
are not even pure in his sight. And a verse in 2 Corinthians
5 and verse 21, I wish I could plumb the depths of it. For he hath made him, and the
words to be are in italics, you can just Take them out, they
don't need to be there. For he hath made him sin for
us. Who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. We go back to our text in verse
45, after Jesus had said those things, Luke 24, verse 45, he
said, then opened he their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. That's the only way you never
learn anything. He has to open your understanding. You mean, preacher, I'm educated.
I've been to college. You're telling me I can't figure
out the gospel? That's what I'm saying. Well,
I've built skyscrapers and big city buildings and made all kinds
of great things, and you're telling me I don't have the intelligence
to figure out the gospel? That's exactly what I'm saying.
unless the Holy Spirit lets you see who Jesus is. You'll never see it. You'll never
see it. He opened their understanding. Yes. Then in verse 47, and that
repentance, And remission of sins be preached in his name
among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. And he said, you're
witnesses of these things. It's all about him. It's all
about Christ. In Acts 4.12, Peter said, neither
is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Paul
declared to the Greeks in Acts 17.30, at times of this ignorance,
God winked at, but now commandeth he all men everywhere to repent
because he has appointed a day in which he'll judge the world
in righteousness. By that man, what man's he talking
about? By that man that he hath ordained
the son of his love, that he hath raised him from the dead.
Let's go back to our text in John five, and I'll try to wind
this up. We see the fourfold witness of
Christ, John the Baptist, the works of the Father, the Father
himself, and the scriptures. Then we come to the conclusion,
John 5, 40. Jesus said, and ye will not come
to me that you might have life. In
the face of all these witnesses, they still remained in unbelief. What is unbelief? Is unbelief
ignorance? No. Unbelief is the willful refusal
to submit to the truth. We will not have this man to
rule over us. No, sir. We will not have him. When he was here, they followed
him because of his miracles. They followed him because he
fed the 5,000. Jesus even said so. Said, you're following me
because of the miracles. But when they found out what
his doctrine was, when he said, except you eat my flesh and drink
my blood, you have no life in you. They said, this is a hard
saying. Who can hear it? And from that
time, they walked no more with him. Nobody left but the 12. And he even said to them, will
you also go with me? Peter said, to whom shall we
go? You've got the words of eternal
life. There's nobody else to go to
but you. We ain't going anywhere. You
will not come to me. Where does that come from? It
comes from the want of the will. Comes from the want of the will.
The seed of unbelief is in the will. You see, the will of the
natural man is chained, handcuffed to his nature. He can't act outside
of his nature. That's who he is. That's who
he is. In order for a man to savingly
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, something's got to take place. Something supernatural has to
happen. As Paul told the Ephesians, you
hath he quickened who were dead. D-E-A-D, dead. Not physically,
but spiritually. For the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness unto
him. Neither can he know them because
they're spiritually discerned. That will's got to be changed. And only regeneration can do
that. That's what the New Birth is. Nicodemus couldn't figure it
out. He said, I know that you're a teacher come from God. I figured
out that much. Because nobody can do the things
you're doing except God be with him. And Jesus wouldn't even
address his statement. He said, Nicodemus, except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said, how can a man? be born the second time. Can
he enter into his mother's womb and be born again? He was totally
blinded to it. Just like everybody here. That's right. Jesus said, Nicodemus,
that which is born of flesh is flesh. That which is born of
spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you,
you must be born again. How can these things be? Jesus
described it in John 3, 8. He described it. Here's what
he said. He said, Nicodemus, it's like the wind. The wind
bloweth where it listeth. In other words, it blows where
it wants to. and you can hear the sound thereof.
But you can't tell where it came from, and you can't tell where
it go. So is everyone that's born of
the Spirit. Say, what does that mean, preacher?
It's got to come to a man. God has to be pleased to reveal
his Son in you. Paul said in Galatians 1 and
verse 15, but when it pleased God, that's when it'll take place. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace,
to do what? To reveal his son in me. That's That ever happened to you? Oh, if it hasn't. My soul hurts for you. Because
unless you're born again, you'll never see the inside of God's
heaven. Since man's will is chained to
his nature, see, his will isn't free. He's got to be born again. to have that new nature. That's
right. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of his power. Most people have a misconception
and I promise I'm going to get down here in a minute. You know
they think that God's going to you know grab somebody by the
hair of the head and just drag them kicking and screaming whether
they want to be saved or not that's the common straw man that
you know people do it's not that way at all when the scripture
says thy people shall be willing you know what it is that makes
them willing it's that love you see when you find out who he
is And Christ has been revealed
to you. Oh, it's that love. Oh, it's that love. I can't explain
it to you. But it's that love, that wonderful
love. I have loved you with an everlasting
love. When a man's been born again,
it's that love. No man can come unto me except
the Father which sent me draw him. And I'll raise him up at
the last day. It's written in the prophets.
They shall all be taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath
heard and learned of the Father cometh, cometh unto me. Yes. To end this, I can only say this,
salvation's in a person. It's in a person. It's not in what you know, it's
who you know. Do you know him?