And the song says, that will be our theme until
we die, and it will be the theme after we die, in heaven, unto
him that washed us from our sins in his own blood. Ours is a bloody
religion to most people. I thought about Rahab the harlot. Remember Rahab the harlot? The
prophets told her to hang that scarlet line out her window,
and so she did. And town people may have thought
that was just decor or something, but that was her life. Every
day, as long as she lived, that scarlet line was hanging out
her window. No, it wasn't a show. It wasn't
decor. It represents the blood. So we always mention the blood. We always talk about the blood. Read with me, beginning with
verse 16. Let's read a few verses here.
The Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to slay him. They healed
this man on the Sabbath. They'd done these things on the
Sabbath day. Jesus answered them, My Father
worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore, the Jews sought the
Moor to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath,
but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal
with God. And then answered Jesus and said
unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing
of himself, but what he seeth the Father do. But what things
soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father
loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth.
And he will show him greater things, greater works than these,
that ye may marvel." Our Lord said everything he did in these
verses in response to the Jews who said in verse 18, You make
yourself equal with God. Now, he did not tell them, God
is my father. He didn't say that, did he? He
just said, my father. But they knew what he was saying.
And people today know what he's saying, too. There's a certain
denomination that says he never said he was God. Oh, no. They
read it, too. They see it. They know exactly
what he's saying. They just don't like him. At
that time, they said to him, if you be the Christ, tell us
plainly. He said, I told you. I told you, and you believe not,
because you're not my sheep. They said you're, in another
place, John 10, they said to him, you're just a man, and you
make yourself to be God. The fact is, he is God. That's fact. He is equal with
God. To be equal with God, what does
that mean? That you're God. Philippians 2 says he thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself, he made
himself a body of a man. God Turn with me to 1 Timothy
3, and every one of us need to remember this verse. Every one
of us need to remember where it is and what it says by memory. 1 Timothy 3.16. The world knows
John 3.16. They think they know John 3.16.
That the only verse that anybody can quote is John 3.16. I want
you to know 1 Timothy 3.16. So you can answer them that ask
you a reason for the hope that is in you. Our only hope is that
that man who walked this planet is God. You understand? This is not doctrine here. This
is our God, Isaiah wrote. He'll save us. No one else can. 1 Timothy 3.16, without controversy. You have it? I want you to know
where this is. When I called upon you Wednesday, you were quoted. Seriously, this
is what we believe. If Jesus Christ is not God, he's
the greatest impostor who ever lived. If he's not God, he can't help
us. without controversy. It's controversy
with man, but where the truth is concerned, concerning God,
there is no controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in flesh. Is that what it says? I wonder
what these Bibles, the Jehovah's Witnesses and all of them, what
do they say? I haven't read it. What kind of Bible do they have?
I don't know. What does that say, sister? God was manifest
in flesh. What's that mean? The smallest
child in here understands what that means. It means God became
a man. Right? Isaiah quoted in Isaiah
7, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and call his name
God with us. Right? A child is born, a son
is given, called his name Wonderful Counselor, what? The Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father. But that Jesus can't be the son
of the Father. Yes, he can. And he is. I don't understand. I don't either,
but I believe him. This whole book, this whole Bible
declares, and I've just quoted a couple of things from This
whole Bible declares that God came to earth to save his people. No book declares it more clearly
than John's Gospel. You know that? No book declares
it more clearly than John's Gospel. The Bible begins, In the beginning,
God. Well, how does John begin? In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. That's Christ. The Word was made flesh. How
clear can God be? That that man who walked this
earth was the God who made this earth. It says he came to his
own, the Creator came to his creature, and they didn't know
him. They didn't receive him, didn't believe him. And this
whole world rejects its Creator, don't it? Fools. The Gospel of John declares Christ
being God more than any other. But God hides himself. You remember Isaiah 45, thou
art a God that hideth thyself, O God of Israel. His identity
was hidden. Go back to John 5. His identity was hidden from
the wise and recruited, but he revealed himself unto babes.
He revealed himself to whom he would. And if you know and believe
him to be God, you're so blessed. The Son of God has come and given
us an understanding of what might know him that is true or in him
that is true. This is the eternal God and eternal
life. He revealed himself. In Matthew
11, he said to his disciple, and most of the things he revealed
about himself were to his disciple in private. He showed them, remember
he took them up on the mountain, three of them, he chose them,
to show them who he really is, God who dwelleth in light that
no man could approach unto. He peeled back that robe of flesh
to reveal who he is. And they all hit the ground. John fell at his feet as a dead
man. Our Lord said to John, I'm the first, I'm the last, I'm
the beginning. Our Lord said to John. Let me read that to
you. The other day I had a conversation
with a lady. She told me she was a Jehovah's
Witness. Turn to Revelation 1. I want
you to see that. Revelation 1. So you have this
to quote. Okay? Revelation 1. Turn there. This woman told me, I'm a Jehovah's
Witness and I want to talk to you. I said, hold on. I said,
I am diametrically opposed to everything you believe. I believe
exactly contrary to what you believe. I said, I believe and
I'm sure that Jesus Christ is God Almighty and you don't. I said, we don't have anything
to talk about. You know, she said, you're right. And that was it. I believe that
Jesus Christ is God Almighty. Do you? Look at this. Here's
his very words out of his mouth. Verse 8. John 1.8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and
which is to come, the Almighty. The Almighty God. That's who
Jesus Christ is. Go back to our text. I almost
devoted a whole message to verse 17, on Christ our Sabbath. The
Jews, they worshiped the day like the Sabbath day administered
today. They thought they kept the Sabbath
day. And they were just incensed against
him, angry at him for thinking that he broke the Sabbath. No,
he didn't break the Sabbath. He is the Sabbath. They just
didn't know what the Sabbath represented. It represents the
day. You don't worship a day, you
don't keep a day. Keeping a day won't do you any
good whatsoever. Believing Christ will save you
only. But Christ is our Sabbath. He's the one who finished the
work like God finished the work of creation and rested. Did God
quit working? When God created the heavens
and the earth and man, he said, it's very good, and God rested. And it said the seventh day,
this is where all are read, no works on this day. Did God quit
working? If he did, everything would just
die. He said, God worketh all things
at the counsel of his own. He never quit working. It's God
that doeth all things according to his own will. But when he
rested from creation, that means nothing else is going to be created.
Nothing's going to change. It's all exactly like I made
it. It's going to be that way until it ends. This is no subtraction. Creation. Well, in salvation,
You see, Christ is both the Creator, He created all things, He was
there, He created all things, didn't He? That makes Him God.
Well, when Christ came to do the work of salvation, the last
thing He said on the cross was, It is finished. He finished the
work of salvation. There is no work for any human,
it's not a cooperative effort on God and us working this out.
No, no, no, no. Christ did the work, and he said
it's finished. And God was pleased with what
he did. Complete. You're complete. Nothing
else to do. That's complete. Regeneration. Complete. And so we rest. There, that's my message on that.
We look to Him, we trust Him. It's not by works of righteousness
that we do. It's His work. He finished the
work. We rest in Him. Christ is our
Sanhedrin. Okay? So that's why He said that
to them. And the Jews hated Him for that.
They hated Him. Now look at this. Now they sought to kill him because
they thought he broke the Sabbath, but he said he made himself equal
with God. And our Lord said, what the Son
seeth the Father do, that's what I do. Read this with me in the
first person as Christ, read this this way, okay? Then answered Jesus, and said
unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I can do nothing of
myself but what I see my Father do. What things he doeth, knoweth
also I do. The Father loveth me, and showeth
all things to me, and he will show me greater things than thee.
Verse 21, the Father raises up God, and raises up the dead,
and quickeneth them, even so I quicken whom I will. Keep reading. God judges no man, and yet committeth
all judgment to me. Keep reading on. All men should honor me like
they honor God. Now, does that bring it into
perspective? He that honors not me honors
not God. That's pretty clear, isn't it? What does he say? He that heareth
my word believeth on God that sent me. and hath everlasting
life, for not coming to condemnation, is passed from death." What he said was, the son does
everything that the father does. I do what God does. What I do
is what God did. And I'm done. All right? He did things only
God could do. He created. He literally created
the heaven and the earth. And when he came here, as a man,
he turned water into wine. You can't do that. He did. Nobody
can do that. He did. How? Word. He just spoke. Let there be wine. Five loaves and two fishes and
five thousand people. How's everybody going to eat?
With just that, Christ said. Be filled, filled up those barrels
and fed all of those people with the Word. He created. As a man,
he created. He controls creation. He does
only what God can do. He controls creation. When he
came here to this earth, though a man, the animals, the elements,
devils, everything, he controlled them. The animals. A dove landed on his shoulder.
God told him. He told him to. Come here, dove. Try that. The wild beast. He was with the
wild beast when he was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild
beast. I'm absolutely certain they all
lay at his feet. Perfect harmony like all the
animals on the ark did with Noah. He changed a wild beast into
tame creatures at the feet of their Creator. A wild ass's coat
came to nobody that had ever ridden him, and nobody could
ride him, and he came to cry. He just came to cry, like you'd
call a dog. Come here, come here. And he
lowered his head, and Christ got on him, and that wild ass's
coat just kind of glowed meek and low, and he just walked into
town. Fish. So get in the net. Fish! The elements, the wind. A huge
storm arose at sea that he raised. He raised the storm. He was on
land, his disciples in a ship, and he said, Let there be a storm.
And it did. And they were in the ship, and
he watched them. It was all on purpose. He was going to reveal
himself. For them, nobody else, for them, all right? And they
thought they were all going to drown, the winds and the waves
and everything against them, going to bring them down. And
our Lord came walking on the ocean, walking on the sea. Claps his footsteps in the sea
and rides upon the storm. That's God. Man can't walk on
water. God can, and he did. He walked
on the water, and he came and got in that boat, and the winds
and the waves ceased. Another time he did the same
thing. He walked out on the bow of the ship after resting, and
he said, Be still. And the wind quit blowing, and
the ocean lay at his feet. The ocean lay at his feet. And the disciples said, What
manner of man is this? He's not just a man. This is
God. He's equal. He is God. Devils. Devils that we know who you are.
Have you come to torment us? He said, get in those pigs. Get. They ran violently down the hill.
He's God. He controls the creation that
he creates. He's God. He's judge and justifier. He's the judge. Look at verse
27. He hath given him authority to
execute judgment, because he's a son of man. Verse 22. The Father
judges no man. God judges no man who has committed
all judgment under God the Son. He's the judge. He's the one
that judges. He said in another place, I have
the keys of hell and death at my side. He's the justifier. There were two men that walked
in the temple. We're told not to judge. We're not men's judge.
We don't decide the fate of anyone. We can't do it. We're told not
to even try. He's the judge. God's the judge,
right? Well, Jesus Christ said, I judge. Two men walked in the temple,
one seemed moral and upright, and everybody was impressed with
this religious man, a Pharisee. Another man came in, he's guilty,
everybody looked. Everybody in town hated him and
knew he was a guilty sinner. Here you've got a guilty sinner,
here you've got a moral and upright man who seems to keep the law.
And Jesus Christ said, this man is justified, this one is condemned. He said of the publican, completely,
totally justified, clear, wholly unrighteous in my sight, cleared
of all charges. Who shall lay anything to charge
of God's elect? Who justifies? Who is it that justifies? He
said, I tell you, this man went home justified. Why? I say so. I like that. Some people don't
like that. You can't do that. The Pharisee
said, I just did. I love it. With a word. Justify. Condemn. Condemn. A woman caught in the
act of adultery. Everybody knew she was guilty.
Caught in the very act. And they brought her to the feet
of the judge. They brought her to the feet
of God Almighty and cast her at his feet. And they said, The
law saith she is to be stoned. What do you say? He said, Completely cleared of all charges. Her sins are completely and totally
innocent. I don't condemn her of one thing. Who shall lay anything to charge
of God's attack? It is God that justified it.
Who is he that condemned her? Christ died. God died. Purchased the church with his
own blood. Who can forgive sins but God? That's what they said to him.
He forgave a man sick of the palsy. It was a man that he had
them bring to him. He couldn't come. He had them bring this lame man
to his feast. And the first thing he said to
this man who was sick of the palsy, the first thing he said
was, He may have been Christus thirty
years old. This man may have been fifty,
sixty, who knows how old he was. Son? Well, who's talking to him? His father. Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. And they said, who can forgive
sins but God? That's right. That's right. He's the only one
that can forgive sins. The only one that can forgive
sins. The only man who ever lived who
can forgive sins. There's lots of impostors. There's
lots of pretenders, like that pope. Papa, that means father. He ain't my father. Oh, don't you wish the Lord would
reveal himself to some of your Catholic family and neighbors
and all that? I wrote this down. Years ago,
I was in the home of a lady who was a Catholic. And she had on
her wall, and I wrote it down because it was so awful, She
had, of course, a crucifix there, poor helpless Jesus hanging there,
you know. I think she had another picture
of him in Mary's arms, Mary's holding up poor Jesus. Anyway, I told her, that's an
item. She said, oh, that's a raven
image, that crucifix. He said, oh no, I don't worship
that, so we'll throw it in the trash can. Let's see you throw
it in the trash can right now. Oh, I can't do that. She had a plaque on the wall
sent to her by Pope John Paul, and this is what it said. The
Holy Father, John Paul, paternally, as your father, imparts his apostolic
blessing to, and had her name, on the occasion of her birthday,
I'm sure she paid money to get this plaque in it, as a pledge
of heavenly favors. Now, I'm your father. And I pledge
you heavenly favors. I have that right. There's only one who can impart
heavenly favors. It's Jesus Christ. There's only
one who can forgive sins. Jesus Christ. He's called the
Great High Priest, whom the Father hears only him and him alone. And everyone, here's the good
thing, the wonderful thing, the merciful thing, is everyone who
comes in his name, who calls upon him in Jesus Christ's name,
is frankly, freely, fully, forever forgiven of all sins. All manner of sin forgiven. Wiped out. Paid for. Cleaned. And God said, how has God said
so? Because Christ forgives sin.
Because Christ died. He's the only one, he's like
God, he's the only one that can change a man's heart. He's the
only one that can give a man a new heart, a new mind, like
old Simon Peter. I love the story of Simon Peter,
don't you? You know, for a minute, the Lord let him revert back
to what he was, an old cussing Probably a drunk, all-time sailor.
That's what they did. That's what sailors do. And that's
how the Lord found him. That's how the Lord found him.
That's who the Lord came to save. It was that old drunken sailor,
Simon Peter. He'd fight anybody. Our Lord
came along one day, walking on the sea, purposely looking for
that man and his brother. And on down the road, two others,
just like him. And the Lord with a word, Kelly,
with a word. He didn't ask him. He didn't
beg him. He didn't make a proposition
to him. He didn't invite him. He said, follow me, and walked
off. And Simon Peter dropped everything,
dropped his boat, dropped his nest. James and John got their
father, their family, got out of those boats another time.
Simon Peter couldn't get out of the boat fast enough, swimming
like a dog to his master. The Lord leaves that man right
there. You're mine, he said. You belong
to me. I came for you. Follow me. He
walked off. And he did. And followed him
the rest of his life. Who can do that but God? Modern religion, there's Jesus
standing outside hoping you'll just open the door. Not mine.
He breaks the door down. He is the door. With a word, sister, with a word.
Is that what he did to you? With a word. He said, You believe,
don't you? I do. You're mine. I came for what belongs to me,
and you're coming with me. Aren't you glad? I'm so glad. And you're not getting away. You'll never pay. I'll never
let you make one wrong. I'll come back and get you again.
Why? Because you belong to me." He
said, all souls are mine. Now who can say that but God? You know, he reveals himself
to his people. I was going to have you turn
to John 14, you know that. Yes, turn there. John 14, just
a few pages. Look at this. Now, he's talking
to his disciple. After Judas Iscariot left, that
imposter, that fake, that phony, didn't know pride. After he left,
then the Lord said, Now, I'm going to talk to you, my family. Isn't it, John? That's when he
said all these things to his people. None of that just applies
to anyone but his people, his chosen, isn't it? All right,
look at chapter 14. He said unto them, verse 6, I
am the way, the truth, and the life. Who can say that but God? In John 5, it says the Father
hath life in himself, the Son hath life in himself. In other
words, I give life. Who can say that but God? I am
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. If ye have known me, ye should
have known my Father. And from henceforth ye know him.
Who? The Father. God. You've seen him. God? Yes,
they were looking at God. And this is what they argue,
the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses. It says, no man hath seen God
at any time. No man can see or hath seen God
at any time. Well, hold on now. Job said that
he, I shall see God with my eyes. Christ just said, you've seen
me, you've seen God. Look at it. He's talking to his
people. Philip saith unto the Lord, well,
show us the Father, and it sufficeth. Jesus said unto him, Have I been
so long time with thee, and yet thou hast not known me, Philip?
He that hath seen me hath seen thee, Father." Don't you believe? Verse 10.
Now this is a marvelous verse. I am in the Father, Father's
in me. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself. But Christ never left the bosom
of the Father. How can that be? I don't understand. I don't either,
but I believe. I believe that man is God. If he's not, we're idolaters. He let people worship him. The
Scripture says, Worship him alone shall you worship. The Father
said, Worship Read on, verse 10, verse 11. Believe me, I am
in the Father, and the Father is in me. And believe the very
works said. The only one that can do what
God did is God. Go back to our text in John 5.
Let me wrap this up. It says, holy, great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
The ancient of day became an infant. The father became a son. I don't understand, but it's
so. You know, I am, some of you knew
my father, Henry Mayhem. I'm just as much a man as he
is, right? I'm a man. And you know, the
older I get, the more I become like him. Some of you say it,
and you turn on the radio, and you say, you sound just like
him. Well, that's fitting, isn't it? Christ said, the words I
speak, it's not me, it's the Father. We're one. We're the same. We're equal. You have God the
Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three, they're
one. They're one. They're equal. They're to be
worshipped the same, because they are. They're all God. Look at verse 21. He said, The
Father raises up the dead and quickeneth them, so the Son quickeneth
whom he will. Deuteronomy 32, verse 39, God
said this, See now, that I, even I, am healed. This is God speaking. This is Jehovah speaking. He
said, I kill and I make a life. Well, Jesus Christ just said,
I make a life. Didn't he? I make a life. That's his God. One time he raised
a widow's son. I love that every funeral he
attended, the person lived. Every casket he came by, because
He's life, you can't be dead in the presence of God. The widow's
son, rise up. Who can raise the dead but God?
Who can give life but God? He's God. Jairus' daughter, Lazarus,
he said that in verse 24. He that heareth my word, verse
25, 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. He did that to Lazarus a few
chapters later, and he did it 2,000 years later, did it to
me, and some of you here did it. Live. I came by, you were
dead in the Trespass Center, it was a, that time was a time
of love, he said, live. And here we are. He's God. All judgment. And look at verse
23. This is a command. Christ said, All should honor
the Son as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. I believe Brother
Crabtree has this on his bulletin. All should honor the Son as they
honor the Father. All should worship the Son as
they worship the Father. All should worship Jesus Christ
the way they worship God. If you don't believe and worship
Jesus Christ as God, you don't know God. That's what he said. That's what he said. And he said in verse 24, verily,
verily. And one of these days we'll just
look at all the verily, verily. Verse 25, verily, verily. You
know what that word is? Amen. It's the exact same word as amen.
He said, amen, amen. Amen means it's so. It's true. It's truth. Amen, amen. And our Lord said the amen before
he said anything else. What I'm telling you is absolute
truth. It's true. Let the amen sound
from his people again. He's called the Amen in the Revelation. But listen to this. David often
wrote in the psalm, Amen and Amen. Only in John's gospel does
he say, Verily, verily. Amen, Amen. David often wrote
Amen and Amen. Listen to Psalm 72. His name shall endure forever.
His name shall continue as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed
in him. All nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the
God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. Blessed be his
glorious name forever, and let the whole earth be filled with
his glory." Who? Jesus Christ. And he ends by
saying, Amen and Amen. Verily, verily. I said. Every time he said, barely,
barely, he said, I said. The words that he speak are the
words of God. And he said, oh, he said in verse
28, marveled in verse 27, he's given him judgment to execute
judgment also. He's a son of man because he
became a man and lived as a man and touched the feet of our infirmities.
And as a man, he became sin. As a man, he fulfilled all righteousness
for us. So as a man, that's why he said
that, son of man. But He said, those that hear
His voice and believe on Him shall live. What a promise that
is. What a promise. He said, the day is coming, the
hour is coming when all the graves are going to be opened up. Those
that hear His voice. He said this in the next chapter.
He said, this is the will of the Father. Of all that He gave
me, I should lose nothing. Raise Him up. I'm going to raise
Him up. He's coming for His home. God is coming for His home. Raise Him out of the grave. Just
like He quickened them By the gospel, the first time, he's
coming back to this earth and he's going to call all of his
own that he died for out of the grave, come, be with me forever. He goes on to say in verse 31,
if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. He goes
on to talk about how that John bore witness of him, how that
the prophets bore witness of him, that God the Father bore
witness of him. This is my Son. You're Him. Is it necessary you believe that
Jesus Christ is God to be saved? It's not a doctrine to believe.
It's not a fact to believe. He's God. And when God makes Himself known
to you, you can't help but do that. You do that. You know Him.
This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true
God. Who's that? Jesus Christ. The only God we'll
ever see, the only God we'll ever look upon is Jesus Christ. And yet there's... Do you understand? Can you explain that? So, He's
God, and we must, we must call him such. He must believe on
it. All right. John, you come lead us in closing.