I please God to bless us together
this morning as we consider his word. Let's turn to the Gospel
of John, chapter 5, and we'll read verse 39. The Gospel of
John, chapter 5, and reading verse 39. Search the Scriptures,
for in them ye think ye have eternal life. and they are they
which testify of me." As we've read this chapter together
this morning, you will no doubt realize that Jesus was speaking
to the Jews. Those Jews who had disagreed
with that which he'd done, in healing that man who sat by the
pool of Bethesda and they criticized him because he had carried out
the healing on the Sabbath day. But it did of course give the
Lord Jesus a great opportunity to speak to these Jews and to
explain to them really the great and blessed office that he was
ordained to carry out. And of course they were aware
that they had been seeking for the Messiah, and they'd been
looking forward to the Messiah, but they did not believe that
Jesus was the Messiah. And so the Lord Jesus speaks
to them with reference to this great and important consideration. And he tells them to search the
scriptures. And of course that wasn't the
New Testament, they only of course had the Old Testament in those
days. But that's what he told them
to search. And he told them to search it,
and what he said, for in them ye think ye have eternal life.
They had been searching for eternal life in reading the Old Testament,
but they hadn't read it with those new eyes. They just read
it with Old Testament eyes. They hadn't looked forward to
seeing the Messiah as the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore he
tells them to go away really and search the scriptures, for
in them ye think ye have eternal life and they, are they, which
testify of me. they speak of the Lord Jesus
Christ and we're blessed today are we not with the New Testament
but we're also blessed with the Old Testament and the Old Testament
speaks to us of the Lord Jesus Christ and we should never think
that the Old Testament does not. It speaks really from Genesis
to Malachi with regards to the Lord Jesus Christ and when we
read the Old Testament, there is a temptation just to read
the accounts there as some interesting historical event. But we should
desire to read them with those new spiritual eyes and to seek
that we may observe the evidence there is of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because there is tremendous confirmation
for our faith as we read the Old Testament and we can read
all the many prophecies that direct us to the Lord Jesus Christ
and we today then are able to say, and it came to pass. It wasn't just mythology, it
was the Word of God and the Word of God never fails. The Word
of God is always true. and those prophecies of God always
come to pass. So we have this statement before
us here this morning, to search the Scriptures. Now there's a
tendency, isn't there, amongst us all, to read the Word of God
and to not search the Scriptures. You see, what we're doing, we're
just reading it. We're not searching it. We're
not really concerned to have the evidence of the Lord Jesus
Christ spoken of in the Old Testament. And it's very easy to be taken
up with the interesting accounts and to miss the great truth which
is set before us in the many types and the many shadows which
the Old Testament reveals. There is wonderful depth, there
is tremendous revelation, great strength to our faith as we're
able to observe all those situations which are developed in the Old
Testament to encourage us and to strengthen our faith today. Well, you know, you can start
at Genesis, you can work through to Malachi, and you can see there
the many types. Think of Adam, You can think
of Abraham, and you can think of Isaac, and you think of Jacob,
and you can think of Joseph, and you can think of David, and
you can think of Solomon, and you can go on through the Old
Testament. And in ways, in each of their
lives, there is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then you
can think of the many ceremonies that were introduced by Moses.
And there's such detail in the Old Testament of all those things. First of all, of course, the
actual building of the temple, or rather building of the tabernacle
first, and then building of the temple. They all are of deep
significance in all the elements that the tabernacle and the temple
contain. It wasn't just some haphazard
arrangement, just some kind of building that was erected so
that they could gather conveniently for worship. It was far more
than that. And how good it is when the Holy
Spirit leads us to observe in those wonderful buildings the
reference in so many instances to the Lord Jesus Christ. In actual fact, we could probably
say that in every element, in the Old Testament statement with
regard to the tabernacle and the temple, there was a reference
to the Lord Jesus Christ. What a good thing it would be,
wouldn't it? If you and I go home and we search the scriptures
to find the references there are to the Lord Jesus Christ
in those buildings, and to pray that the Holy Spirit may direct
us to see Christ in those elements, indeed Christ in all the Scriptures. Now that really is then searching
the Scriptures. It's not just superficially reading
them like it appears the Jews did. Now the Jews had of course
their favourite portions and no doubt many of those favourite
portions were the sections which specifically related to the prophecy
of the Messiah. But they didn't read it rightly. They put their own interpretation
on it. And it's easy for us to put our
own interpretation on those Old Testament accounts today. But
nonetheless, what a blessing it is With the evidence we have
of the New Testament, to see how true they were, those wonderful
prophecies, and to realize, yes, Almighty God, by the Spirit of
God, ordained men of old to write those things which would come
to pass. And what a blessing it is when
we observe them. And we see them to strengthen
our faith to realize we today worship that same great God. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. Now, it's the Spirit that leads
us into all truth as it is in Jesus. And my friends, the Lord
Jesus here in this chapter speaks so powerfully to the Jews with
regards to himself. You see, they read the Old Testament,
but they never really viewed the Savior. And that's why he
tells them here, search the scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life. They thought they did, but they
were misled. And they are they which testify of me. Well, today, as we read the Old
Testament, Do they testify of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, we read together, didn't
we, this wonderful instruction. As the Jews, they sought to slay
the Lord Jesus, but Jesus came and he spoke to them, and he
said, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth
a father do, but what things ever he doeth, these also doeth
the Son likewise. There is complete unity and complete
harmony in the Word of God. And complete unity and complete
harmony with regard to the work of the Trinity, the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. And what a blessing when you
and I are given that grace, given those spiritual eyes to observe
this great and wonderful truth that we have before us here in
the Word of God. And so we read, For the Father
loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that he himself doeth. And he will show him greater
works than these, that ye may marvel. You see, to stand and
marvel at the revelation of God in the Word of God. That's why
we are to search the Scriptures. And then it is to have this revelation
and to marvel at the wonder of it, how everything fits together,
everything flows together. For as the Father raises up the
dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He
will. You see again, this wonderful
unity. For the Father judges no man,
but has committed all judgment unto the Son. You see how important
it is that we worship the Son, the co-equal with the Father.
He's not separate. He's not someone less. He's co-equal. And he says that all men should
honour the Son even as they honour the Father. There are those who
honour the Father and do not honour the Son. But the Word
of God tells us here very clearly, doesn't it, that all men should
honour the Son even as they honor the Father. And that's why we
are today are encouraged to search the Scriptures so that we might
have the evidence and the encouraging evidence that this is so. That we should honor the Son
as we honor the Father. There shouldn't be any discrepancy.
There shouldn't be any difference. There should be a wonderful unity.
There should be rejoicing. There should be desire in our
hearts. to honour the Son as we honour the Father. And the
Lord Jesus here is directing the Jews very clearly to this,
isn't he? They weren't honouring the Son.
They didn't believe in the Son. But the Lord Jesus speaks to
them very clearly, as it were, to awaken them out of their dead
condition into the spiritual life and how glorious it is when
the Holy Spirit quickens our soul. that we come to this knowledge
that is set down before us so wonderfully clearly. Very, very
I say unto you, he that heareth my word, the word of the Lord
Jesus, and believeth on him that sent me, believeth on the Father's
will, hath everlasting life. Now surely that's what we all
desire, do we not? Eternal life, everlasting life,
Well, the Word of God here directs us so clearly in this manner,
that we might believe on Him that sent me. We might believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life. You see, we have this double
statement here. If we are to be blessed with
the wonderful favour of eternal life, The Lord Jesus tells us,
he that heareth the word of God, the word of the Lord Jesus, and
believeth also on him that sent me, hath everlasting life. So he goes on, he says, I say
unto you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. Well, what that means is that
the Church of God, those people who will be called, who will
be converted, will hear the voice of the Lord Jesus. And if we
do not hear the voice of the Lord Jesus, does that not mean
that we are still spiritually dead? What does that mean? That means there's no spiritual
life in us. And if there's no spiritual life
in us, we are condemned. and eternal damnation will be
our lot. But if we've heard the voice
of the Lord Jesus, then we possess the blessing of everlasting life. And so he tells us, the hour
is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of
the Son of God and they that hear shall live. Well the great issue for us today
is to know that we are amongst the living. Those who are born
again by the Spirit of God and therefore the word is to search
the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life.
We might have thought so. We may not have possessed it
at all. They were under a delusion. The Jews were under delusion.
They thought they had eternal life. They were deluded because
they did not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a very solemn
situation, isn't it? And so here the Lord speaks,
for as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to
the Son to have life in himself. this great blessing of life,
how important it is that we possess life in our souls, and that we're
not left in a dead condition. The dead know not anything. They
might think they do, they just have a theoretical knowledge,
but there's no life in the soul. The vital thing for us today
is to know that we possess life in our soul. And therefore the
Jews were directed to search the scriptures so that they might
see the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament and therefore be encouraged
that they did possess life and come to that blessed observation
and they are they which testify of me. Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ
in the fullness of that which is revealed to us in the New
Testament. And hath given him authority
to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of God." What a
statement, isn't it? You think of that authority.
The Father hath given the Son authority. And hath given him
authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of
God. Koikoo, you see, with the Father,
not less, and he's given him authority. And so may we bow
down before that authority. And that authority, my friends,
is to believe on the only begotten Son of God. That's the authority
that we need to possess, the blessing of true belief. And so he tells us, marvel not
at this. You see, the Jews, well, they
were warned not to marvel at it. That's a temptation of the
devil to marvel and not believe it. So he says to them, marvel
not at this and indeed to those who are still dead in trespasses
and in sins. We are not to marvel at this
statement for the hour is coming and which all that are in the
graves shall hear his voice. You see, everybody one day will
hear his voice. My friends, what a blessing if
you and I have heard his voice, the voice of Jesus while we're
on the earth, while we possess natural life, because there will
come that day, that great day of the resurrection, when everyone
will hear his voice, when the Lord Jesus will come in the clouds
of glory, and every eye shall see him. No one can hide. There will be those who will
try to hide, and will call for the rocks to cover them. There
will be no success in that cry. And so the Lord tells them, and
shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection
of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of
damnation. Well, those who have done good
will be those who have been blessed with faith to believe the Lord
Jesus Christ. Those who have done evil will
be those who have not possessed faith to believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ and they will be brought to that resurrection
of damnation. The Word of God is exceedingly
straight and exceedingly solemn and my friends how important
it is that you and I are given this faith to be able to, as
he tells them, to search the Scriptures, for in them ye think
ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. So if we are amongst those who
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, what an encouragement it is to
us to search the Scriptures, the Old Testament, and to come
across those wonderful evidences that the Lord Jesus is so clearly
prophesied in the word of God, and shall come forth, yes, none
will remain in that dead condition, all will be raised, all will
be raised, all will hear. There's no such situation as
annihilation, there's no such situation as purgatory, No, the
word of God is very clear and it delivers us these great truths
that we are to take to our hearts and to recognize how important
they are. And so he says, and shall come
forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life
and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. There's just the two alternatives. There's no other way. You and
I, my friends, will be blessed with either the resurrection
of life or we shall be amongst those who have that terrible
resurrection of damnation. We'll all be resurrected. All
those who are called by God's grace and all those who are not.
And we should all stand before that judgment seat of Christ.
The Lord Jesus will be the judge of all the earth. My friends,
if we've ignored him, if we've turned our back upon him, What
a terrible, terrible day that will be when he looks at us and
he examines us as to whether we obeyed the Word of God, whether
we followed the Word of God, or whether we were deluded by
the great adversary of our souls, the devil. And so he goes on,
I can of mine own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment
is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the
Father which hath sent me." Yes, what a wonderful example we have
of the Lord Jesus Christ doing the will of his Father. And my
friend, what a wonderful example for us today to do the will of
our God. The Bible is full of direction,
isn't it? Full of direction to us today. But oh, do we possess,
do we cry, do we pray for that grace to be winning servants?
To hear the word of God. I bear witness of myself, my
witnesses. If I bear witness of myself,
my witness is not true. And there is another that beareth
witness of me. And I know that the witness which
he witnesses of me is true. Well, we know, do we not, in
the New Testament that the Lord Jesus had the witness of his
father on several occasions when the father spoke, this is my
beloved son, hear him. That's the father speaking. The father speaking to us, that
we are to hear his voice, his word. That's the words of the
father, we are to hear him. And the Lord Jesus used to say,
Speaks of that here so clear there is another the birth witness
of me the father himself And I know that the witness which
he witnesses of me is true Ye sent on the John and he bear
witness unto the truth Didn't he John the Baptist bear witness
didn't he of the Lord Jesus Christ as he said in the first chapter?
Behold the Lamb of God Now taketh away the sin of the world. What
a witness that was. And it's important and very interesting
for us to realise that the Lord directed John the Baptist to
use that illustration. Behold the Lamb of God. Now the Jewish people would have
been familiar with the sacrificial lamb and they would have been
aware of the sacrificial lamb pointed to the Messiah, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And therefore it was not any
odd words that John the Baptist spoke, but under the influence
of the Holy Spirit, he directed the people to say, behold, the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who would indeed be the saviour of sinners, that
one who would be that great sacrifice. Wasn't it a wonderful confirmation
of that prophecy? Wasn't it a wonderful confirmation
of all those sacrifices which have been carried out for centuries? And those believing Jews, those
who possessed faith in their heart, would have looked Beyond
the mere sacrifice of the Lamb, they would have beheld the Lamb
of God. Yes, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And therefore, John the Baptist
was able to come and to speak those tremendous words, behold
the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. That's
what he'd come to do. That's what the Savior had come
into the world. No wonder, wasn't it? that Lord the Father said,
this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Yes, he was
pleased at what the son was doing. What was the son doing? He was
doing the will of his father. And so we see here then that
Lord Jesus speaks in this way. And he tells us, ye sent unto John, And he bear
witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from
man. But these things I say that ye
might be saved. This is a vital thing, isn't
it? That you and I are saved. Saved from ourselves. Saved from
the wrath to come. And what is it? It's to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's to hear his voice. It's
to hear his words. He's speaking to us this morning
through these words. He speaks of John the Baptist,
he was a burning and a 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 has given me to finish. They weren't to be left undone.
They weren't to be left devoid of that great finish. The Father had given Him to finish.
It was the work the Father had given Him. It wasn't a work that
came from anyone else. It came from His Father. And
that finished work was to bring salvation to all the living Church
of God. What a wonderful work it was.
The works which the Father had given Me to finish, the same
works that I do, Bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent
me." You see, there was a confirmation. This was the work of God the
Father. This was being fulfilled by God
the Son, in that perfect unity, in that perfect love, one for
another, and in that perfect love for sinful mankind. Oh, what love, wasn't it? What
love there was, of God the Father. what love there was of God the
Son, what love there was of God the Holy Spirit to save lost
mankind. Those who will hear the voice
of the Lord Jesus Christ 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, neither have we. My friends,
has God given us faith to believe in God the Father? To believe
there is a God the Father, a God the Father who we can pray to
through the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ, and come our
Father who art in heaven. And ye have not his word abiding
in you, for whom he hath sent him ye believe. He's speaking
you see of these Jewish people and so he comes down then and
speaks to them My friends that speaks to us today search the
scriptures For in them you think you have eternal life and they
are they which testify of me there is then a wonderful favor
and a wonderful blessing in searching the Word of God and There is,
I believe today, a great failure in searching the Scriptures.
There's a great lack of knowledge because we don't search the Scriptures. There's a great ignorance, is
there not, because we do not search the Scriptures and we
very easily give up. We say, well I can't understand,
so we shut the book and we move on to something else. What a
blessing if the Spirit of God gives us that hunger after spiritual
life, after real life. Because you see, that life which
the Spirit gives us is that which wells up within us. And it's like that well of water.
Do you know that well of water which the Spirit gives? It's
that crystal clear. It's pure. It seeks after the
knowledge of God. It seeks after knowledge of God
the Father, knowledge of God the Son, and the knowledge of
God the Holy Spirit. You see, we sometimes pray, and
it's a good prayer of course, that we might grow in grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But
the tendency may be just to think, well, that's just going to happen.
I'm going to sit down in my armchair, it's just going to flow in. Well,
here's the encouragement. Search the scriptures. Yes, you
see, we are to search the scriptures. We are to work. James tells us,
faith without works is dead. And this is a good and gracious
God-given work. to search the Scriptures. And
we're told in all work there is truth, in all labour there
is profit, and it is a labour to search the Scriptures, and
you'll get a lot of opposition. The devil doesn't want you to
pick the Bible up, he wants you to pick the newspaper up, he
wants you to pick the magazines up, he doesn't want you to pick
the Bible up. And you might pick the Bible
up, and you might open it, and you think, well, I don't find
this very encouraging, Well, that's why, you see, it's a labor. That's why we are encouraged
to search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal
life, and they are they which testify of me. So you see, if
we are praying that we might grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and I pray and I hope
we all do that, my friends, may we then be found searching the
scriptures. Search in the Scriptures that
Christ may be revealed to us. Christ may be revealed to us.
Christ is in the Scriptures. Sometimes it's fairly obvious. Sometimes it's not so obvious.
And therefore we need to search. But bless God, when we do search
and we do see Christ, You know, that's a wonderful blessing. Our souls will rejoice. Well,
bless God that he's revealed himself unto us as he is not
unto the world. He does reveal himself through
the scriptures. Bless God today we have the scriptures. It's not a closed book. It's
not a book that we can't read. We have it in our own language
and it's there for us to read and to search. Search the scriptures
for in them you think you have eternal life and they are they
which testify me. Now these words we've thought
upon this morning are addressed to unbelievers. My friends are
also addressed to the Church of God for our encouragement
so that we might realize yes well by the grace of God I have
heard the word of Jesus and By the grace of God, I do believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. By the grace of God, I do believe
in his finished work. By the grace of God, I do believe
he is the Lamb of God, the taker of the way, the sinner of the
world. So what will that do? Strengthen our faith. It would
encourage us to realise, yes, we're on the right way. We're
on the right path, the way that leads to eternal life, eternal
blessings. Now then, Lord Jesus, he speaks
to these Jews and he says this, and you will not come to me that
you might have life. You say, what were they doing?
They were labouring in their own strength. They were labouring
to come to an understanding on their own terms. They were not
willing to come and to bow down to the Lord Jesus Christ. They weren't willing to hear
the words that the Lord Jesus spoke in the 11th chapter of
Matthew, when he tells us, come unto me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden. Now you see, if we are labouring
in searching the Scriptures, we are to come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Come unto me, all ye that labour
in a heavy laden, and I will give you rest. We won't find
rest ourselves outside of Christ. I mean by that spiritual rest.
The only rest is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
so he says, come unto me. all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light, My friends, these Jews would have found no rest really.
They'd have been laboring. They'd never found any rest because
they weren't looking, they weren't coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. They weren't hearing the gracious,
encouraging words of the Savior. But here the Lord speaks to them
very clearly and very wonderfully. And when you think how antagonistic
they were, how they were attacking the Lord Jesus Christ, how they
desired that he might be destroyed. And our old nature is just like
that. Because what we are saying is
this, we will not have the Lord Jesus Christ to reign over us. We won't have him as our king. We want to be king. We want to
rule our own lives. Many people today say, I'm in
control of my life. So they think, but they're misguided.
My friends, what a blessing if we bow down before the Lord Jesus
Christ with that humble submission to Him as our King, as our Lord
and Master, and desiring to willingly come to Him and to seek for His
favor and to seek for His blessing and to pray for that grace, to
pray for that faith to come and to be able to believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. That's what the Apostle said,
didn't he, when he came, when the Philippian jailer came to
him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. And so true it is. But you see,
we need the great blessing of faith to do that. Well, remember
the Lord says, he giveth, he giveth faith, he gives faith.
What a favor then, if you and I possess that faith to come
this morning, and to believe these great and important truths
that we've meditated upon. They are wonderful truths, because
what does it do? It elevates God. It elevates God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, so that in our hearts we bow
down and worship the Lord God. He is lifted up. He is honoured
and glorified in our hearts. What a blessing then, my friends,
to be found humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he might exalt us in due time, casting all our care upon
him, believing that he cares for us. So may we hear the words
of encouragement this morning, the Saviour himself to search
the scriptures, because they are they which testify of me. And as we do it prayerfully and
carefully, then may the Lord indeed come and bless our souls
with a greater and better understanding of the great work of himself
and rejoice in all that the Old Testament displays to us through
those wonderful ceremonial laws and all the tabernacle and temple
and all those types of Christ so that our faith may be strengthened
and we may rejoice in a crucified and glorified Saviour. Amen.