It's dealing with John chapter
5 and the witness of men. The witness of Christ, the Spirit,
and the water, and the blood. It bears witness to Christ, the
three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the
Spirit. And the three witnesses that bear a witness on the earth. And then it says, if we receive
the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. And he that
believeth the record that God hath given him hath the witness
in himself. And I went over to this verse
of scripture, these few scriptures that I read today, and looked
at them Wednesday night. And I got to thinking about this
witness of Christ, bearing witness of Christ, and looking at Christ. And John's Gospel You know, speaks
of Christ in his lordship, his glory, his deity. He speaks of
Christ like nobody else does. And he did that in his little
epistles. In fact, he said, if a man brings
any other doctrine to you than the doctrine of Christ, don't
even bid him Godspeed. Don't let him into your house.
Don't even do that if he comes with something else. And he talked
about bearing witness of Christ, and here the Lord Jesus Christ
is bearing witness, and we want to talk about the witnesses of
Christ. And here in verse 31, look what
he says. You know our Lord Jesus Christ,
He talks about witnessing. And here's the first thing He
says, talking about witness. He's speaking to Jews now. He
started back over here in verse 17 and he's speaking to a bunch
of Jews and he's been dealing with himself being equal with
the Father. And then he comes down talking about, now you've
heard me say I'm one with God. I'm one with the Father. And
in fact, they said there in verse 18, 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 so our Lord comes down to talking about witnessing.
Witnessing. And He says this, if I bear witness
of myself, my witness is not true. And our Lord is talking
to them and telling them according to the law. Their law. Moses'
law. That a mere man, he knew that
just witnessing of himself wouldn't be acceptable. At the mouth of
two or three witnesses, everything must be established. And when
he says, if I witness of myself, my witness is not true. That
means it's not valid by your standards. What I say is not
valid by your standards. You got to have more witnesses
than just myself. But outwardly to human eyes,
our Lord Jesus was just an ordinary man. Nothing extraordinary about
him except his claims. And to believers now, to believers
what he says is true. That's the only witness we need
him to what he says is true. And as a man, he is true. But he said up here in verse
44, look what he says here. How can you believe which receive
honor one of another and seeketh not the honor that cometh from
God only? Now, you know, in this world
in which we live today, men are very, very keen to bear witness
of themselves. Men love to talk about themselves.
And they really, really like to talk about their opinions,
their feelings, what they think. And they call them talking heads.
And they, you know, we got everybody's got an opinion about something.
And the higher up you get, the more opinions you got, and the
more people ought to pay attention to. But when men bear witness
to themselves, this is one of the things they say, don't you
know who I am? Don't you know who I am? I remember
a fellow, he's gone now, but he was a character. But anyway, that's what he did.
He went over here to Tansy one time, he wanted to look about
buying a piece of property. And they didn't wait on him quick
enough, and he said, don't you know who I am? I can buy anything
here that I want to buy two times over. And because you ain't waiting
on me, I'm leaving. Don't you know who I am? Don't
you know about my education? This is what people do about
their bearing witness of themselves. Don't you know what position
I have? Don't you know the influence? Do you know how influential I
am and what I could do for you? And if you had me in your church,
it would be a sight how I could bring folks, and I've got such
influence, I could fill your pews up for you. Oh my. In fact, I told you about
Wayne Boyd that man and woman that he had known for years was
coming to hear him preach and finally his wife told Wayne's
wife because he is so educated says he's just not educated enough
for us. Just not educated enough for
us. That's why they said about our Lord, where did this man
get this learning? Where did this man get this learning?
Where did this man get this wisdom? And then men bear witness of
themselves. And that's why you can't, you
know, you can't, when a fella start talking about himself,
just go somewhere else. Leave him to talk to himself,
because if he's gonna talk about himself, he's gonna talk about
himself to himself. Just let him talk to himself.
But oh, don't you know what I've done? Don't you know what I've
accomplished? Oh my goodness, look what I've
accomplished in my life. Oh my goodness, I've accomplished
this, I've built this, I've accomplished that, and I've built this, and
I've done this, and I've done that other thing. Don't you know
where I'm from? Don't you know my daddy, my granddaddy? Oh my. I was talking to some
folks, and you know what their reason for going to the place
they went? Because they're same educational level and same social
economic level. In other words, they're smart
as I am, as socially acceptable as I am, and make as much money
as I do. That's the three reasons they
gave for going where they go. Christ wasn't mentioned, the
gospel wasn't mentioned, the truth wasn't mentioned. That's
what men, that's men bearing witness to themselves. And one
of the worst things that they say now is that people think
this and I'm not belittling anybody. People say, well, don't you know
I'm really a patriot? Everybody ought to be a patriot
in America. Everybody ought to be patriotic. But that being
a patriotic and being in the military does not cut nothing
when it comes to being before God. Does not mean nothing. Ain't that right? Yeah, I've
got the flag flying now. I've got two of them flying.
But that flag, that's for my benefit and anybody else's. But
it's not for God's. God ain't paying no attention
to that. And oh, and they'll tell you, boy, I should really
be recognized. Oh, I tell you what. And people
get offended. There was a preacher here that
him and his congregation used to come all the time. He still
pastors the same church. And he told some folks, he said,
the reason I didn't ever go back was because the preacher, Brother
Don, he didn't recognize me. He was here for several years.
He didn't recognize me. He didn't recognize who I was.
He didn't say, there's this pastor from such and such a place. And
he'd keep coming. But our Lord said, I don't even
bear witness to myself. If I do, my witness is not true,
because it's not according to the scripture. Not according
to the scripture. But to believers, his word is
true. But he says in verse 32, look what he says, there is another,
John 5, 32, there is another that beareth witness of me, and
I know that the witness he which is of me is true. There's another
person that beareth witness of me. And I know that what he witnesses
about me is true. And he's talking about John.
Look what he says there. You sent unto John. You went
to John. You went to John to find... He
bore witness to me. You went to John to find out
who John was. They went to John and said, Are
you the Christ? Are you that prophet that should come? He
said, No, I'm not. He said, you know what I am?
I'm nothing but a voice crying out in the wilderness. There's
coming one after me who was before me, who is preferred before me.
See, he bore witness, everything he did bore witness to Christ.
And he said, I'm not worthy to bow down and loosen his shoelace.
He said, I'm not that Christ. And then he says this, he told
a bunch, he said, listen, you can't receive nothing unless
he gives it to you from heaven. He said, I'm just the voice of
the bridegroom. The bridegroom, I'm telling about
the bridegroom who's going to come. He did not talk about himself. He talked about Christ who was
before him. He called him the Lamb of God. He called him the
Bridegroom. He said, He must increase, I
must decrease. And the more He increases, the
less I'll be. And that's what He said. He said,
He's the one whom the Father sealed. And He said this about
our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, The Father hath given
all things into His hands. John bore every time he opened
his mouth. He was bearing witness to Christ
He said I'm just a forerunner of him, but look what our Lord
said here in verse 34 But I received our testimony of being from man
I Don't need a man to testify that look what he said, but these
things I say that you might be saved. I And what he's saying,
I receive not. When he says, I receive not testimony
of man, he says, I don't seek it out. I don't grasp after it. I don't have to have recognition
from a man, just a mere man. I don't have to do that. He said,
I made myself of no reputation. He said, I'm just, he said, when
I come among men, there was no beauty about me that they should
desire me. And he said, I don't seek to
prove my words. By John. I don't need to prove
who I am by what John said. I don't need to prove what I've
accomplished by what John said. I didn't seek to prove my words
by John or any mere man. My word, our Lord Jesus said,
is sufficient. But he said, it's for your sake
I give you these witnesses that, look what he says, that you might
be saved. Now this is what our Savior said.
I don't need John's witness They needed John's witness, because
they sent unto John. And John bore witness of Christ.
So that left him with, he said, I don't need John's witness,
but you're the one that needs John's witness to say that's
the Lamb of God. And John came to prepare the
way for him. And then look what he says here
in verse 35. But he was a burning and a shining
light. Oh, while John was here, I mean,
he burned. Burned with zeal. Burned with
love. Burned with the truth. Burned
with the scriptures in his heart. He wasn't afraid of any man.
If them Pharisees would talk to him, and he said, how in the
world? They said, if you don't repent, the wrath of God is going
to be on you. He was not afraid of man. He
was a voice in that wilderness crying out. And oh, He said He
was a willing, a burning. And He shined, oh my, everywhere
He went He shined. The shining light. And oh my. And this is what it means. Our Lord said, He that confesses
Me before men, I will confess them before My Father which is
in heaven. That's exactly what He's doing. He's bearing witness
to John. John confessed Christ everywhere
he went. John confessed Christ. He had
disciples that followed him around. He saw the Lord Jesus Christ
and said, follow Him. And our Lord said, because John
confessed me, and honored me, and glorified me, and spoke of
me, and was a shining light of my truth, a shining light of
the Scriptures, a shining light in the truth, and then how he
dealt with men, and burned after zeal, and burned with passion
for me, and burned with passion for the truth. And he said, I'm
going to confess him. I wonder, I wonder what kind
of life, I wonder what I, you know, I know I'm not, I know
that if I got any life it has to be through Christ. But I wonder
what kind of life we are. Do we burn? Do we burn within
His heel? Do we burn with love? Are we
like those disciples who said our hearts did burn within us? Do we shine as lights in this
world as the gospel? Do we shine as lights with truth? Do we shine as lights in love,
in grace, in kindness, in forgiveness? Are we burning in love for one
another? Do we burn in love with the gospel? Do we burn in love for Christ?
Oh, I tell you, John said to our Lord, and if our Lord, what's
He going to confess about us? And that's why he said, you know,
Paul said this, Awake out of darkness, among whom he shines his lights
in the world. Oh my. But he sent unto John,
he was a burning and a shining light. And look what he said,
And you were willing for a season, for a period of time, to rejoice
in his light. willing for a time to rejoice
in his life. And here's what he means by that.
As long as John was popular, as long as John was out there
preaching, as long as John was living, as long as he was popular
and there was a bunch of crowds that was following him, before
he was put in prison he had a great following. But boy, when they
started putting him in prison, they started fading away. Huh? oh my and you know what Herod
the scripture said Herod he called John up there and called him
a holy man and called said I heard him gladly heard him gladly and
then he is the very one said go take his head and bring it
to me so they were willing for a season willing to rejoice in
him willing to brag on him willing to follow him until he was put
in prison And that's like these stony ground hearers. People
will hear the gospel. They'll hear the truth. And all
of a sudden they say, man, that's wonderful. Oh, I love that. And
then trouble arises. Persecution arises by and by. And they get offended. And then
they quit. They go away, he said, because
of persecution, because of the Word. They're just stony ground
hearers. They got no root in themselves. They got no root
in the Word. No root in the Scriptures. And
our Lord said in John 8, 31, if you continue in my word, then
are you my disciples indeed. And how in the world are we going
to know we're disciples indeed? Continue in his word. Continue
to believe his word. And then look what he said in
verse 36. Oh, he had John for, John bore witness of him. My
witness is not true if I just bear witness of myself. That's,
that's what you, that's the standard that you go by. And he says,
John bore witness of me. And he said in verse 36, but
I have a greater witness than that of John. What is it? The works that I do, the works
that I do, which the Father has given, listen to this, which
the Father has given me to finish. He gave me some works to do and
to finish them works. The same works that I do, they
bear witness of me. These works that I do bear witness
of me that the Father sent me into this world. The Father sent
me into this world. And oh my, His works, oh His
works. Look over in John 10 with me
for a moment. John 10, 25. You know, His works
bore witness of Him and that's where those people are going
to really, the people that saw His works and saw His miracles,
can you imagine what it's going to be like for them at the judgment? Look what He said here in John,
they said in verse 24, He's this worse for bear witness of him
then came to Jews round about him and said unto him How long
does thou make us to doubt if thou be the Christ tell us plainly?
Jesus answered them. I told you and you believe not
now listen to this the works that I do in my father's name
They bear witness of me Look down verse 37 John If I do not the works of my Father,
don't believe me. If the works that I do are not
the works of my Father, then don't believe me. But if I do
the works of my Father, though you believe not me, believe the
works. If you don't believe me, believe the works. Look at the
works that I do, that you may know and believe that the Father's
in me and I'm in Him. Now let me give you seven things,
seven things about our Lord's works, several things about our
Lord's miracles. There was a number of them, the
number of them. They were very, very many. Oh, He said many,
many, the very many works that He did. Oh, He said they called
them very many. And then their greatness. They
were mighty in nature. You know, He went up to, you
remember when He went up to the pool of Bethesda? People's laying
all over the place. And at this time when the water
was troubled and whoever got in there got healed like that.
Well, our Lord walked by there and there's a man been laying
there for years and years and years. And he said, will thou
be made whole? There's people everywhere, but
he just spoke to one man. He said, will thou be made whole?
He said, how can I? No man will put me in the pool.
All they can think about is nobody will pick me up and put me in
that pool. Our Lord Jesus said, I say unto thee, arise and take
up your bed and walk. Everybody there saw that fellow
get up and walk. That's a miracle. That's works.
Oh, and listen, look in John 9.32. Look what he said in John
9.32. This is something that our Lord
did that, oh my, this is talking about the greatness of His work.
He says here in John 9.32, Since the world began, was it not heard
that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind? It's
since the beginning of the world. Thus this time began. Nobody's
ever opened the eyes of a blind man born blind and was old when
he opened his eyes. Nobody's ever done that before.
And nobody ever raised a dead man that had been dead for four
days. But our Lord Jesus Christ did. And there was a multitude
standing there. Lazarus, come forth. And oh, who else could walk on
water but the Lord Jesus Christ. Those disciples were in a storm.
And there our Lord Jesus come walking to them in the middle
of the night. And just stepped up on the boat.
Just stepped up on the boat. And one time they was in this
great, great storm. And the Lord Jesus, to show that
He was a man, was tired, weary, and He was asleep. And they got
in this horrible storm. And they come and woke the Lord
Jesus up and said, Master, Master, don't you care that we're in
a position to perish? And our Lord Jesus got up and
showed that He was God. He said, Peace, be still. And everything just got calm
and quiet. And it's peaceful. And one time he fed over 4,000
with two fish and five loaves of bread. Another time he fed
over 5,000 with bread and fish. And one time, he took, and then
they took out 12 baskets of fragments. They had 12 baskets of food left
over. And then what about the time
that our Lord Jesus Christ, you know, He would look at the people
and just speak to them and things would happen. Just speak His
Word and things would happen. Oh, what a blessed man our Savior
was. God and man, God and man. And not only were their number
great, and not only were they great in themselves than very
many in the number and then they were great and they was done
publicly they were all done publicly for everybody to see lots and
lots of witnesses before many many witnesses how many people
do you reckon that he witnessed to that people witnessed to him
how many do you reckon and our Lord even when he healed the
leper you know what he done He said, go to the law. He said,
my work can be examined. My miracles can be examined.
And all they were done publicly for everybody to see, many to
witness. And then their character, the
character of his works. They were works of love. They
were works of love. They were works of mercy. He
said, I'll have mercy, not sacrifice. They were works of compassion.
He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. And what did He do?
He fed them. What did He do? He made them
to sit down in the green grass. What did He do? He fed them when
they were hungry. And they were helpful. I mean,
beloved, when people were in trouble, they had these great
needs and our Lord Jesus Christ was helpful in His works. He
wasn't just exhibiting His power. Like these fellas do on TV, these
miracle workers on TV. And they want everybody to see
what kind of great power they have. Our Lord didn't do that
just to exhibit His power. He had the power. Everybody knows
He had the power. And I'll tell you what, their
direct appeal, they had a direct appeal to man's senses. I mean,
they were visible. Everything that our Lord Jesus
Christ did was visible and everything he did could bear examination.
You can examine it. He told the leper, he said, go
to the priest and show thyself to the priest. You know what
he said was? When the law examines you and you being a leper and
everybody knows you as unclean. Now you can go back to the law
and let them examine you and the law have to pronounce you
clean. The law will have to pronounce you free. The law can't say you're unclean
anymore. You can come into God's presence.
You can come into the camp. Oh my. Everything He did could
bear examination. And they were not like the works
of these miracle workers today. I tell you what, our Lord Jesus,
and here's the sixth thing about them. They weren't staged. They
weren't staged. All people stage these things
today. You know, Billy Graham, I'm going to tell you this. You
know, when Billy Graham used to have these big meetings, what
they would do, they would see people in the congregation. So
when he'd give his invitation, people would get up and start
moving because they know that if one person started moving,
other people start moving. And they would manipulate crowds
that way. And they thought that was, you
know, I'll get up and I'll start walking toward the front. And
then people, everybody will start walking. They had a place seated.
And these miracle workers, they got, listen, they got this stage. They'll have people coming in
in the wheelchair and, you know, they'll get up and walk out of
the wheelchair and go to dance and carry on like that. That's
on stage. They, you know, I seen one time
how that they had a fellow, you know, had a short leg, a long
leg, a short leg. Well, this preacher is going
to make that long leg grow. What it was is that he had his
leg bent just a little bit and that fellow went to pull it,
pull it, pull it on. He said, see, they're the same. And it was obvious what they
were doing. But our Lord didn't stage His
things. His was spontaneous. People would
come to Him. When they heard that He was there,
they brought those that had need of healing to Him. He wasn't
staged. There, as our Lord went about
His ministry, He was teaching one day and they took all the
stuff off of a roof just to let a fellow down to get to Him.
Men would say, when they heard about Him being in town, they
said, would you go tell Him that I've got a sick servant? I'm
not worried that He'd come under my house. What do you tell Him? I've got a sick servant. All
He's got to do is just send the word and He'll be okay. He'll
be alright. Oh, nothing, nothing, nothing
stays by Him. And then there's effectualness.
You know what our Lord did last time? If He healed a man, he
stayed healed. If He cleansed a leper, he stayed
cleansed. If He raised a dead man, he is
alive. And they were immediate. They
were instantaneous. They were complete. And they
were perfect. Immediately it said this happened.
Immediately they had that. Oh my. So His works were a witness
of Him. Look what it says here in verse
37. And the Father Himself. Oh, I like what it says there.
John 5.37, excuse me. Back where we were. John 5.37. Oh my, John bears witness. The
words bear witness. And then look what he says in
verse 37. The Father Himself. Oh, the Father Himself. He talked
to him like he's... The Father Himself hath sent
me, and listen to this, hath borne witness of me. Huh? The Father Himself has borne
witness of me. And look what He says, you have
neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His shape. Oh my! They didn't see God in Christ.
They didn't see God in Christ. And he said, and he told his
disciples, he told Philip, he said, Philip, show us the Father.
That'll suffice us. We won't ask for any more information.
That'll be sufficient for us. And he said, Philip, have you
seen me such a long time and haven't seen the Father? For
he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And the witness, what are you
talking about the Father which hath bore witness to me, which
hath sent me? Well, the Father started bearing
witness in Genesis. The Father bore witness of our
Lord Jesus Christ in Genesis 3.15. It's when He's talked about
the seed of the woman. The Father bore witness to Him
in the Passover Lamb. The Father bore witness to Him
in the Ark. The Father bore witness to Him
in Moses. The Father bore witness to Him
in Joshua. The Father bore witness to Him
in Isaiah, in Malachi, Zephaniah, Zechariah. Jeremiah as he ever
prophet to him all the prophets he witnessed and when our Lord
Jesus Went through his resurrection. He was walking along with them
there and he took the Psalms the prophets and the law and
Moses and opened their understanding all the things concerning himself
concerning himself and all he says the father bore witness
of me and the law bore witness of me ever sacrifice ever bloodshedding
ever priest Melchizedek all bore witness to me and all listen
our Lord he says the father is three times that the father bore
witness to the to the Lord Jesus Christ while he's on the earth
at his baptism at his baptism the Lord Jesus Christ when he
was baptized of John the Father spoke from heaven spoke from
heaven John heard it and everybody there heard it this this one's
been baptized this one that's going into this water this one
whom John's going to put under the water and he's going to come
back up out this one right here That's my beloved son. That's
who he is. He's not just my son. He's my
beloved son, whom I delight in, I rejoice in, I glory in, and
I honor him. This is my beloved son. And not only that, in whom I'm
well pleased. I'm satisfied with everything
about him. And then, on the Mount of Transfiguration,
Oh, Simon Peter being like me, he said, Oh Lord, it's so good
for us to be here. So good. How many services you
go to say, boy, it sure was good to be here. I'm glad I heard
that. Oh, he said, let's build three
tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah and
one for you. God spoke a big cloud came down
just like it did over the tabernacle in the camp big cloud came down
and God said This is my son You listen to him you hear what he's
got to say Moses and Elijah's here to talk about what he's
going to accomplish by his death Huh? Oh my and then look what
he says there in verse 38 And you have not, you have not His Word abiding in you. You
know, He said you have not His Word abiding in you. John 8.37,
if I'm not mistaken, says that they found no place for the Word. People didn't find a place in
their heart for the Word. They found no place for it. And
here our Lord says, and you have not his word abiding in you.
He told a bunch there in Matthew 22, he says, he said this. He says, you neither know the
scriptures nor the power of God. And look, you don't have his
word abiding. If you had his word abiding, and you know what
you'd do? You'd believe me. You would believe me. You'd believe
what I have to say. Huh? You'd believe it. Look how
many nots. He said here in verse 38, he
said, you believe not. You believe not. Verse 44. You receive not. You won't receive
me not. In verse 47. But if you believe not, he is
right. He won't believe Moses. Not. Three nots. And then here's
another witness of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's talking about witnesses.
I'm a witness of myself. So I've got, he said, in the
mouth of two or three witnesses, every word will be established.
There's four witnesses here. John, the works, the Father,
and then look here. Search the scriptures. Look in
the scriptures. Search them. And he's talking
about the Old Testament. You go back and search the Scriptures.
Go back and look through the Scriptures. And this is why,
because they are they which testify me. The Old Testament Scriptures
testify me. They witness to me. They speak
about me. John's gone. Our Lord's in glory. We've never seen God. But we
have a more sure word of prophecy than that. What authority, what
importance our Lord attaches to His Word. What He said is
there's no appeal beyond His Word. No appeal beyond His Word. And then He says, search the
Scriptures. There's two things He's telling us here. He says,
I appeal to you. I appeal to you, search the Scriptures.
You want to know what? That's what they did over in
the Bereas. They were more noble than those in Thessalonica in
that they searched the scriptures to see whether these things were
so or not. And then it was a command. Search
the scriptures. You think you got life? You think
you're going to get life from them? But if you don't see what
they say about me, you ain't getting nothing out of them.
And that's what he's saying about you. You think, and oh my, And
our Lord Jesus is telling them, this is one of your articles
of faith. That you say you go to the Scriptures and you look
to them to give you life. But if you don't see what they
say about me, you don't get any life. Because they testify of
me. They tell about me and what I
do. And all my searcher, searcher,
searcher, for they testify of me. And our Lord Jesus Christ,
when He gives life, when He gives life, do you know how He gives
it? Through the Word. He uses the Word as the seed,
as the power. He gives the life. He says, the
words that I speak unto you, the words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. Their spirit and their
life. Our Father, oh our Father, thank
you for the gospel. Thank you for the truth. Oh,
I bless you for thy word. Oh, thy word, thy word. Such
power, such freedom, such liberty, that it gives us such comfort,
such assurance, such hope. And Lord, for those who are here,
that the word don't affect them that way. It don't give them
hope. It don't give them comfort. It don't give them assurance. And they feel like they're outside,
that they don't see Christ in the Scriptures. I pray that you'd
be pleased to open their eyes, to open their heart. Oh, Holy
Spirit, you take the things of Christ, you show it to them.
Because all they hear is a preacher, Lord, let them hear from the
Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, you are the only one who can take
the things of Christ and make them real here today. We bless
you for your great love were with you, loved us. Bless you
for your keeping power. Bless you for your strength that
only you can give. In Christ's blessed name, amen. Amen. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. Thank you, Lord, for Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me thy great salvation, so rich and free. I'll see you tonight,
6 o'clock, God willing. And remember, no Wednesday night
service.