How about turning in your Bible
to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. This is indeed an awesome portion
of Scripture, the fifth chapter of John. Many things are dealt
with in this chapter. I thought it would benefit us
if we could read it And then I shall speak on just one single
verse, and that will be verse 40. And the Lord Jesus is speaking
to those that are, oh, they just follow him to try to
catch him in some misstatement or misdeed. And of course, their
quest is futile. They don't know who the Lord
Jesus is and they do not want to know. And that's true of every
one of us. And if it's not true of you this
morning, when did it change? And this statement is a universal
statement to every son and daughter of Adam. And you will not come
to me. that you might have life. Now
that's the natural state of every man, every human being. All right,
my purpose is now to read through verse 29 and then we'll finish
up the remaining verses in a little bit. John chapter 5, there's a feast of the Jews in
Jerusalem, probably the Passover, Though some would disagree with
that, but we don't even have to name it. It isn't named here
for us. After this, there was a feast
of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at
Jerusalem by the sheep market, a pool. which is called in the
Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches that would provide
shade. And under those porches, we read
in verse three, in these porches lay a great multitude of impotent
folk, people with various kinds of illnesses, or diseases or
other things that could be wrong with them. Blind, halt, that
is crippled, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled
the water. Whosoever then first after the
troubling of the water steps in was made whole of whatsoever
disease he had. And a certain man was there which
had an infirmity 38 years, 38 years. When Jesus saw him lie
or lying, laying down and knew that he
had been now a long time in that case, he said unto him, will
you be made whole? Are you willing to be made whole? That's a pertinent question. We could ask ourselves, are you
willing to be saved, to be converted, to be made a follower and a disciple
of the Lord Jesus? The man actually doesn't answer
the question. In verse seven, the impotent
man answered him, sir, I have no man when the water is troubled
to put me into the pool, but while I am coming, another steps
down before me. Jesus said unto him, Rise, take up your bed and walk. Rise, take up your bed and walk. And immediately, the man was
made whole and took up his bed and walked. And on the same day,
was the Sabbath. And you got to notice in the
four Gospels when you run into the word Sabbath because it is
often frequently in the four Gospels a point of controversy
between our Lord and the Jews. I call them the religious police.
You know he's trying to catch him doing something wrong. And
so they consider this to be a violation of the Sabbath. According to
Hebrews and according to the types and shadows and pictures
in the Old Testament, the Sabbath is a picture, a type, a shadow
of Christ himself. Christ is our Sabbath. Verse 10, the Jews therefore
said unto him that was cured, the man that was healed, it is the Sabbath day. It is
not lawful for you to carry your bed. Aren't you amazed that they could
not find even just a little tiny second to thank the Lord for this man's
healing? No, all they want to know is
what are you doing carrying your bed on the Sabbath day? It matters not to them who told
him to carry his bed. So in verse 11, he answered them,
He that made me whole, the same said unto me, take up your bed
and walk. Now, I suppose if someone heals
us or were to raise us from the dead, which is what happens spiritually
in conversion, whoever that is certainly has the right to tell
me what to do and for it to be right. So the man answered, he that
made me whole, the same said unto me, take up your bed and
walk. Then asked they him, what man
is that which said unto you, take up your bed and walk? And
the man that was healed, that little word wist means knew not. who it was for Jesus had conveyed
himself away, I take that to mean miraculously, a multitude
being in that place. Out of that whole crowd at that
pool of Bethesda, the Lord had mercy on how many? One, one. Men say God can't do that. Well,
he did. He did, and he's always exercised
that prerogative. We say he cannot do it. He said,
well, I did. Verse 14. Afterward, Jesus finds
him in the temple and said unto him, behold, you are made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing
come upon you. The man departed and told the
Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole. Now he had
no thought, I'm convinced, that this would in any way put our
Savior in hot water with these Jews. I think had he known what
they would do with this information, he would have withheld it. So
verse 16, and therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought
to slay him, actually to kill him. Why? Because he had done
these things on the Sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, my father
works hitherto, that is up until now, and I work. And just to remind you of what
you've probably heard already, if the triune God ever ceases
to work, there'll be nowhere for our lungs. This world will
not be here. This universe will not be held
in its suspension and in its orbits. Everything comes to an
end. if God ceases to act. So the Lord Jesus, his first
answer to these carping Jews is that my father works up until
now and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the
Moor to kill him because he had not only broken the Sabbath but
said also that God was his father, making himself equal with God. Now look back at that statement
in verse 17, please. My father works hitherto and
I work. Our Lord Jesus, and these Jews
knew it as plain as day, He's saying that God, my father works
and God, the son works up until now. They caught it without any
doubt. People can read their Bibles
and never see what that statement says. May the Lord open our eyes. Verse 19, then answered Jesus
and said unto them, Verily, verily, these verily's actually literally
mean amen, amen. And John's the only gospel that
has the double verily's. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the father do. For what thing soever he does,
These also does the Son likewise. Now there's the first declaration
of the absolute deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The only God
you and I will ever see, if we see him in grace and mercy, will
be the Lord Jesus. Number two, verse 20. Here's
the second one. The Father loves the Son. and
shows him all things that himself does. And he'll show him greater
works than these that you may marble." The third declaration
of the deity of Christ, for as the father raises up the dead
and quickens them, even so the son quickens whom he will, whomever
he will, he quickens. The word quicken means simply
to make a life, whether physically or spiritually, to make a life.
Verse 23, that all men should honor the son even as they honor
the father. He that honors not the son honors
not the father which has sent him. Verily, verily, amen, amen, I
say unto you. He that hears my word and believes
on him that sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. In the very next verse, a double
verily. Amen, amen, 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." Now my friend, when the dead begin
to hear, God is at work. And that's the only way that
we'll ever be brought to hear spiritually, is for God to make
us to hear. He's in that business and he
does it quite well and he never fails and he never gets in a
hurry. He's never behind and he's never
early. Verse 26, I don't know if I gave
you all of them or not, but here's the fifth one of those declarations
of Christ deity. For as the father has life in
himself, so has he given to the son to have life in himself and
has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the
son of man. Marvel not at this for the hour
is coming in the which all that are in the grave shall hear his
voice. Now this day is not yet here, but when that day comes,
all that are in the graves, a grave of any kind, no matter how we
leave this world or what takes place with our bodies, this statement
must indeed be fulfilled. All that are in the graves shall
hear His voice. He speaks. and we all come, 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." And all of us, and all the human
race, born, live, and die looking straight to the resurrection
of damnation. And if that be not our end, it
is because God on purpose has intervened and changed our course,
raised us from spiritual death to spiritual life, made us believers
and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, we'll come back
to the rest of the reading. We'll have to do that a little
more quickly. May we return to John chapter
5. We'll pick up at verse 30. Now before we begin to read a
second time, may we pray. Oh, Lord, God of heaven and earth. And in our Lord Jesus Christ,
our heavenly father. Lord, we come to this book again. It is none other than the book
of God. It is your book from start to
finish. You've privileged us to meet
in a place where the Holy Scriptures are read frequently and often
at length. Lord, we count not on these things
to obtain your blessing. Your blessings are bestowed in
grace and mercy. And therefore, we plead for grace
and mercy. As we learned in our Bible class,
we are empty and you are all fullness. Lord, you know us infinitely,
infinitely better than we know ourselves. So we cast ourselves at your
feet, confess ourselves to be nothing, to be worms of the earth, to be miserable, sinful creatures
whose only hope is that the God of the Bible, the creator and maker of all
things, gives us in the depths of our
soul, an honest confession of a sinner, the chief of sinners. Lord, we are nothing. We have
nothing and we can do nothing, but you have everything. You
can do all things that you please. And so we seek purely and only
your grace and your mercy to be upon us in this place this
day and upon your word as we continue to read it and upon
our attempts to preach the precious gospel of Christ. Help us, O
Lord, we pray. Bless your word. Anoint your
word. Open our ears and our hearts
to your word. May we see Christ in this chapter
and in every chapter in this book. Help us, we pray for his
sake. Amen. All right, we pick up at
verse 30. I can of my own self do nothing. Now, these are the words of our
Savior. And you must be reminded that
this is a position that He put Himself into, to come into this
world and take on human flesh and to be subservient to His
Father. As the Son of God, the Lord Jesus
is equal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. But
in his nature as man, as the son of man, the Lord Jesus has
put himself in this submissive place. So he says, I can of my
own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge and my judgment
is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of him
that has sent me. If I bear witness of myself,
my witness is not true. There is another that bears witness
of me, namely the Father, and I know that the witness which
he witnesses of me is true. You sent unto John," referring
now to his detractors and those that were trying to trap him
and so forth, you sent to John the Baptist, and he bear witness
unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from
men, But these things I say that you
might be saved. Are you saved? Am I saved? We should know if we are. Speaking of John the Baptist,
verse 35, he was a burning and a shining light. And you were
willing for a season to rejoice in his light, John the Baptist's
light. But I have greater witness than
that of John, for the works which the Father has given me to finish,
the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father
has sent me." And the third witness. John the
Baptist, the works of our Savior, and now the Father. And the Father
himself, which has sent me, has borne witness of me. You have neither heard his voice
at any time, nor seen his shape, and you have
not his word abiding in you. And all of those statements in
37 and 38, our savior lays to this one account for whom he
has sent, whom God has sent Christ, whom God has sent. You believe
him not. There's the evidence. Now verse 39, search the scriptures
for in them you think you have eternal life and they are they
which testify of me. Genesis to revelation is a testimony
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Now our text, verse 40. and you will not come to me that you might have life." Well, if nobody will come to
Christ, how can anybody be saved? You ever heard of a character
in our Bibles by the name of Mephibosheth? David fetched him And that's how God brings sinners
to himself. He fetches them. It's called
fetching grace. 2 Samuel 9, I think you'll find
the account. All right, let's finish reading
verse 41. I receive not honor from men,
but I know you that you have not the love of God in you. I'm
come in my father's name and you receive me not. If another shall come in his
own name, him you will receive. We'd rather be deceived than
to know the truth. Lord have mercy, what's wrong
with us? How can you believe which receive
honor one of another? Nobody passes them out like religious
organizations. And seek not the honor that comes
from God only. Do not think that I'll accuse
you to the Father. There is one that accuses you,
even Moses, in whom you supposedly, pretendedly trust. For had you believed Moses, You
would have believed me. For Moses wrote of me. If you believe not his writings,
Moses' writings, how shall you believe my words? In other words,
if you've got problems with Genesis, you've got problems with Matthew. You can't just say, well, that
part of the scriptures I don't accept. You might as well throw
your Bible away because that's what that means. Oh, I believe
this and I believe that. That's hogwash. That won't fly. All right, let's come to our
text. Verse 40. And you will not come to me that
you might have life. I'd like to take each word, and
I know I shall not finish it if I do, but I got to try. First
place I want you to turn, and if you don't wish to turn, that
is fine, Psalms 36. And for some of you, this is just
a reminder of what you've already heard. You see, when we come to this
At the very beginning of this statement in John 5.40, we come
to this plural of the word you. In the King James it's ye, but
we would say you. We make no distinction in that
word between the singular and the plural. But here it is plural
and therefore in our minds it must be plural. You will not
come. Now who is this person called
you? My point is this, it is you and
me and all other members of Adam's race. And yet when we read our
Bibles, we put somebody else in that spot and we exempt ourselves. Let me show you. Here's a lesson
that would be tremendously beneficial if you've not already learned
it. And if you have it, it wouldn't hurt for you to be reminded of
it. Acts 36 verse 1. Here's how to read the Bible. The transgression of the wicked,
these are David's words by the way, the transgression of the
wicked says within my heart, there is no fear of God before
his eyes. Now if you've never read that
and put yourself as being the person referred to, Because I'll
guarantee you one thing, David is talking about David. And if
David's talking about David, he's talking about me. This is
my state by nature. And except for the grace of God,
I would still be in this condition. And even now I might read this
book and exempt myself from statements that ought to be applied to me.
So when we come to our Bibles, we do a poor job of putting ourself
in the text. And we must be in this text in
John 5 verse 40. Who is this that will not come
to Christ? You and me. Well, preacher, I'm
not that bad. Well, you got some things to
learn and God can teach you. I don't know if he will, but
he can if he will. We got a world of things to learn
about ourselves and a world of things to learn about our Savior.
But if you ever find out who He is, you'll find out who you
are. I promise you that. Second word in our text is the
word will. Now we live in a part of the
world that is free will from the courthouse to the outhouse
and all in between. Everybody and his brother Believes
that man has certain capabilities and certain inalienable rights.
I'm talking religion now, not politics. That man can do a lot
of things for himself. And religion has conspired and
her preachers have served this end to convey to men that God
has done everything He can do for you. And now the rest is
up to you. And if you don't provide that
rest that is up to you, then the Lord Jesus in his death on
the tree cannot help you at all. And I tell you, that is the biggest
lie ever to come out of hell. That when our Lord Jesus purchased
the salvation of his people on the cross, He will never lose
not one single solitary one. And if he does, he's nothing
and nobody and his honor is fallen to the ground. He said, not one
of them shall be lost. They're his sheep. But you see,
man does not wish to come. You can look this up later. Romans
9 16 says it's not of him that salvation is being spoken of
in those verses. It is not of him that wills has
nothing to do with my will or your will. It is not of him that
wills or of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. The difference is not in us.
The difference is in God. Third word is not. You will not. All right. Are you right here in John? Could
you just flip over to verse chapter chapter eight for just one little
second. Let me read you just two verses
of scripture in John chapter 8. Our Lord has been teaching particularly
since verse 12 in chapter 8 of John. And as he gets down to
verse 30, we find that many people, and I don't know how they evidence
this, but it says that many believed on him. So I don't know what
kind of expression or how this was known or anything like that. And the Lord Jesus made a statement
to these new converts, professedly so, in verse 32. And you shall know the truth
and the truth shall make you free. And they got jumping mad. What
do you mean free? We've never been anything but
free. And they'd been in captivity
to virtually every neighboring nation. And when these words
were spoken, they were in bondage as a province under the Roman
heel, the Roman Empire. And it was only just a few short
years from when these words were spoken that Rome rolled into
Jerusalem and razed that temple to the ground
and it has never ever been rebuilt in over 20 centuries. Obviously, man by nature is not
free. The Bible teaches clearly that
we are slaves to the devil and slaves to sin and slaves to this
world and only the power of God's grace in Christ can rescue us
from that. Third word is the word come. The word come. Look back at chapter
6 in John for just a second, please. In John 6, I had a bunch of others
to ask you to look with me at, but I'll take just two out of
this chapter, verses 44 and 45. And by the way, in the verses
leading up to verse 44, The Lord Jesus is speaking the very language
that I referred you to just a moment ago, in which all that the Father
gives me shall come to me, and him that comes to me I will in
no wise cast out." Not a one, cast out. Here he says in verse
44 of chapter 6, no man can come to me. In our text, in John 5, 40, it
says, you will not come. It does not say you cannot come. It says you will not come, which
is a much greater crime than cannot. No man can come to me except
the father which has sent me draw him. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. It is written in the prophets,
this comes from Isaiah 54, and they shall all be taught of God.
Every man therefore that has heard and has learned of the
father does what? Comes to Christ. If God takes
you for his pupil, you are coming to Christ. I promise you. I promise you. I don't know who
you are. All right, back to our text. You will not come to me. To me. Now listen carefully. I'm going to be candid with you.
I don't have any time left, so I've got to make a few words
count. Salvation is accomplished when God in His
grace and by His Spirit brings a sinner to Christ. Now religion
has devised all kinds of things that they tell you is the same
thing as being born again. They start out by saying if you'll
raise your hand. Or if you'll walk the aisle and
come to the front. Listen, when you deal with divine
spiritual things, there ain't the movement of a single muscle,
not a one. Where are you going to go? These
are deceptions. Come to the altar. This ain't
no altar. This is a pulpit. It is not an
altar. There is no altar left on the
face of this earth anywhere. The only altar there is, is our
blessed Savior himself. He's the altar, he's the sacrifice,
and he's the priest that offers the sacrifice. And for that matter,
he's the God that receives it. He's everything. Everything. So there are a thousand deceptions
that preachers tell people every day that rolls by. If you'll
do this, God will do that. You have to turn that saying
completely around. Here's the truth. If God does
something for you, you'll do something. And until he does,
you won't. You may pretend to, you may profess
to, you may think you have, but I'm telling you haven't. Dead
sinners just can't do anything until they're made alive And
then they don't think they can do anything the rest of their
days, but in spite of them, God uses them. Now that's the truth. That's the truth.