Discovering Christ In John

Q: What does the Bible say about believing in Jesus?

The Bible emphasizes that believing in Jesus is essential for eternal life. The significance of belief in Jesus is highlighted throughout the Gospel of John, particularly in John 20:30-31 where John states that he wrote these things so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. The act of believing is not merely a one-time event but an ongoing response to the truth of Christ. As believers, we are encouraged to continue in faith, through trials and circumstances, trusting that we will see the glory of God manifest in our lives as we abide in Christ.

Q: How do we know Jesus is the Son of God?

Jesus' declaration as the Son of God is affirmed by His works, miracles, and the testimonies of witnesses. In John's Gospel, Jesus repeatedly affirms His identity as the Son of God, which invokes the understanding that He is equal with God (John 10:33). His miracles serve as signs pointing to His divine nature; for instance, His healing of the blind man and the raising of Lazarus demonstrate His authority over life and death. Additionally, John the Baptist and the Father bear witness to His divine identity (John 1:34, John 5:37). These testimonies collectively affirm that Jesus is not just a prophet or good teacher but God incarnate, fully divine.

Q: Why is the concept of 'I Am' important in Christianity?

'I Am' statements emphasize Jesus' divine identity and authority as God. The 'I Am' statements in John’s Gospel are pivotal in understanding who Jesus is. When He uses 'I Am', He connects Himself to the divine name revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14, asserting His identity as God. For example, in John 8:58, He states, 'Before Abraham was, I am,' which clearly illustrates His eternal nature and divinity. These claims were not merely metaphorical; they incited the wrath of religious leaders who understood the implications of His words. Each 'I Am' statement propounds the essence of salvation, offering believers key truths about provision, guidance, and eternal life.

Q: How is salvation obtained according to John?

Salvation is obtained through faith in Jesus Christ alone, as He is the exclusive source of eternal life. John’s Gospel outlines clearly that salvation is not a result of human effort but solely through faith in Jesus. In John 3:16, Jesus states that whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life. This belief requires acknowledging Him as the sacrificial Lamb who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29) and trusting in His completed work on the cross. Throughout the gospel, Jesus emphasizes that the Spirit gives life and that flesh counts for nothing (John 6:63), underscoring that redemption is a completely divine act facilitated by grace through faith, apart from works.

Q: What does John say about the new birth?

The new birth is a sovereign work of God, essential for seeing and entering the Kingdom of God. In John 3, Jesus teaches Nicodemus about the necessity of being born again, which is essential for one to see the Kingdom of God. This new birth is not by human will or effort but is a sovereign act of God, as John 1:13 clarifies that those who are born of God are so by His will. The born-again experience implies a transformative work of the Holy Spirit that brings about a fundamental change in the believer's heart and nature, enabling them to respond in faith to the gospel and live for Christ.

Sometimes we have to surmise
what the intent of a writer is by reading what he has written
and then drawing conclusions from it. That is not the case
with John's gospel. The Apostle John tells us exactly
what he intended to accomplish by writing for us this gospel
narrative in these 21 chapters. Look at verse 30 of John chapter
20. And many other signs truly did
Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written
in this book. But these are written, these
things that I've described in these previous 20 chapters. These are written for this purpose.
that you might believe that Jesus, that man whom Matthew described
as God's King, that man that Mark described as God's faithful
servant, that man that Luke described as the perfect, ideal man, Jesus
of Nazareth, that you might believe that that That man who was crucified
upon the cursed tree, that man that the whole world despised
and rejected, that man is the Christ, the number one, the number
one. He who is the Christ is that
one of whom this book speaks, and he is exactly who and what
this book says he is, the Son of God. the Son of God." Now,
folks sometimes look at that, both liberals and other heretics,
and they say, well, there, you see the fact that he's called
the Son of God, that would imply that he's something less than
God himself. But the Jews would never have
thought that way, and indeed they didn't think that way. When
they thought he, when he said he was the Son of God, they said,
you've made yourself equal with God. Because to call someone
the son of something, Barnabas is called Barnabas, that was
his nickname, because the name means son of consolation. He was a man who was the epitome
of consolation. And this word, this phrase, son
of God, says he is himself that one who is the epitome of God. This is God, the son. Not one
who is like God. this is God the Son. And that
believing, you might have life through his name. Now there's
one word that's used throughout these 21 chapters that is really
the key to everything spiritual. One word that's used that is
the key to all spiritual knowledge, all spiritual understanding,
all spiritual growth all spiritual comfort, all spiritual consolation. This one word is used 98 times
in these 21 chapters. Any idea what it is? Believe. Believe. If thou wouldest believe,
thou shouldest see the glory of God. Oh, what we miss. by our unbelief. If you would believe, if you
would believe, Bob, Mary Lou, listen to me now. You've got
a granddaughter in tough shape. If you will believe, you will
see the glory of God, even in this. Bobby and Judy have been
through some tough times. got more ahead. If you will believe,
you will see the glory of God. If you would believe, you'd see
the glory of God in all the affairs of providence. If you would believe,
you'd see the glory of God in all the trials you face. If you
would believe, you'd see the glory of God in the salvation
of his people. If thou wouldest believe, thou
shouldest see the glory of God." Oh, God help us, believing to
believe. And quite literally, that's what
John's saying. He says, I've written these things so that
believing, you might continue to believe. Believing, you might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing
that you might have life through his name. Now, John's gospel
is considerably different from the other three gospel narratives.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke are what we call synoptic gospels. As
the word implies, that means they're very much alike. They
give us basically the same historic facts, giving the facts in a
slightly different light. There's some variation to the
things that Matthew, Mark, and Luke record. I don't mean variation
in the sense of contradiction. I mean variation in the sense
that they give us slightly different edge on things. John's gospel,
however, is neither a historical, biographical sketch of our Lord's
life and ministry, nor is it a textbook on theology. In preparation,
I read so many things that talked about John's theology and Johannine
theology and all that stuff, and I know it sounds fancy and
used big terms. This is not a textbook on theology.
John's gospel was written after all the other gospels were written.
John's gospel was not written, in fact, probably until the very
end of the first century, somewhere around 90 to 100 A.D. It was
written then by an old man. John was an old, old man, an
old man, an old man who had for most of his life experienced
the unceasing goodness, mercy, and grace of God in Christ. And
now this old man being moved by the Holy Spirit, being inspired
by the Spirit of God, is remembering those things that he was eyewitness
of when the Lord Jesus was upon this earth. And he writes this
gospel narrative under the direction and inspiration of God the Holy
Spirit, as he reflects upon the goodness, greatness, glory, and
grace of God. in Jesus Christ the Lord as he
had seen it, and as he had experienced it himself. Now, I'm interested
in that. This man who was God's faithful
servant now tells us about God's faithful Son, and his purpose
is to show us that he is the Christ, the Son of the living
God. Now, there are many distinctive
features to John's gospel. While he mentions no parables,
as do Matthew, Mark, and Luke, He does give us miracles that
neither Matthew, Martin, or Luke describe. He speaks of distinct
things, and the miracles that John records seem to be recorded
by divine inspiration for the purpose of laying a foundation
or opening the way for our Lord to give us some very needed,
clear gospel instruction. Let me give you an example. You
can just jot these down. Just before our Lord drove out
the money changers out of the temple, and told them how that
he was about to build a greater, more glorious temple by his own
death and resurrection as our substitute, our Savior turned
water into wine, showing that he has power over all things
as God. just before declaring himself
to be the Son of God in chapter 5, that one into whose hands
the Father has committed all things as the Son of Man. Our
Lord Jesus healed the nobleman's son and healed an impotent man
at the Pool of Bethesda so that no one could question him. He
is declaring himself here to be God Almighty. This man who
has come and healed this nobleman's son, this man who took this impotent
man who had been impotent for thirty-eight years, and gave
him fullness of health, restored all health to him, and also spoke
to him peace and pardon. This man claims to be himself,
God Almighty, and that's what the 5th chapter is about. Then
in chapter 6, just before telling us that he is the bread of life,
The Lord Jesus fed five thousand men with five loaves of bread
and two fish. In the sixth chapter again, the
Lord Jesus came walking across the stormy sea to his disciples,
showing that he has dominion over all things, teaching us
to trust him. And he does this just before
the disciples. went through what I suspect was
one of the most difficult times they had while they walked on
this earth. At this time, there were multitudes
following the Master. Multitudes. They had eaten the
loaves and fishes. And the Lord Jesus looked at
them and said, I know why you're following me. They believed on
him, but they didn't believe on him. John says they believed
on him, but they didn't believe on him. Jesus didn't commit himself
to them because they didn't really believe on it. They simply said
they believed it. He said, I know why you're following
me. It's because of what you think you're going to get from
me. That's the only reason. And so it is with most religious
people. Religious people have spasms of religion. They go through
little fits of religion, and families get excited, mom and
daddy get excited, sons and daughters get excited. Oh, they're so interested
in the kingdom of God, so interested in things of God. Now, because
they had some trouble, now they're trying to get out of it. When
I was a boy growing up, I wasn't raised in a religious
home. That's not so. Everybody's raised
in a religious home. Some religions are just worse than others. But
we didn't go to church a lot. But I'll tell you when we went.
Every time there was a lot of trouble brewing, go to church.
Go to church. Go to church. And the only time
I ever remember having any religious instruction of any kind, when
I'd get in a lot of trouble, mother would get the Bible out
and start reading to me about hell, trying to scare the hell out
of me. That was it. That was all there was to it.
That was all there was to it. Well, our Lord looked at these
folks. He said, I know how you follow
me. And then he began to preach to them, preach the gospel of
his grace to them. And these disciples watched these
professed disciples, almost all of them, turn and walk no more
with him. Man, that's tough. That's tough
for those who abide, for those who go on believing. Our Lord
said, will you also go away? Peter spoke for all of them.
He said, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life. And then in the 8th chapter, our Lord declared
in verse 12, I am the light of the world. He that followeth
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
And then to show that he is indeed the light of the world, he takes
a blind man, a man who was born blind and gave him sight. And
he said in verse In verse 5, I believe it is here, I am the
light of the world. Makes it clear, this is what
I was talking about. And then in chapter 11, our Lord told
Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. Now let me show
you what I mean by that. I'm going out to the tomb of
your brother and I'm going to show you how I raised the dead.
I am the resurrection and the life. Our Lord uses this word,
these two words, I am. and there are two words in the
original language, I Am. And that, too, is another distinctive
of John's gospel. He gives us these seven great
I Ams of our Master. I want you to look at them with
me. Now, I Am is a combination of words which are exactly the
same as those by which God Almighty made himself known to Moses.
When the Lord first appeared to Moses in the burning bush
and said, Moses, you go to Pharaoh, you go deliver my people. And
Moses said, well, how am I going to do that? Who shall I tell
them sent me? And Moses said, you go tell them
I am has sent thee. I am. I am is God, the eternal
redeemer and savior of his people. Our Lord says in John 6, 35,
I am the bread of life. If we would live, we must eat
this bread. I am the bread of life. Faith
in Christ is eating this bread, taking his life and making it
ours by faith, trusting him. He says in chapter 8, verse 12,
I am the light of the world. If we would see, we must have
his light. We must have it. We cannot see,
except he come and give us light. In chapter 10, verse 7, he says,
I am the door, the door of the sheep. If we would enter into
life, we must enter in by this door and by no other. In chapter
10, verse 11, he says, I am the good shepherd. I am the good
shepherd. If we would be saved, we must
be saved by the good shepherd. Sheep do not save themselves. Sheep do not rescue themselves. Sheep do not help themselves.
As a matter of fact, you know the only thing sheep can do is
hurt themselves. Whoever heard tell of a sheep
defending itself? Whoever heard tell of a sheep finding its way
anywhere? Whoever heard tell of a sheep, a sheep can't even
give birth to its own young by itself. Sheep have got to have
a shepherd. And if we would be saved, the
sheep of God, we must be saved by the work of the shepherd.
Then in chapter 11, verse 25, our Lord says to Martha, I am
the resurrection and the life. If we would be partakers of resurrection
glory, if we would live forever before God Almighty, we must
be raised from the dead in Christ, with Christ, and by Christ. That's
what salvation And then in chapter 14, verse 6, the Lord says, I
am the way, the truth, and the life. He does not say, I am a
way, a truth, and a life. He says, I am the way, without
me there is no going. I am the truth, without me there
is no knowing. I am the life, without me there
is no living. If we would have eternal life,
We must be in the way, and we must know the truth, and we must
be given the life. And in chapter 15, verse 1, the
Lord Jesus says, I am the true vine. If we would live before
God, if we would bring forth fruit to God, we must be graft
into this vine, and draw all life from this vine. A graft
requires two cuts. The first cut is in the stalk
tree. The other is in the limb to be
grafted. The Lord Jesus was cut to death
in our room instead as our substitute. And we, when we are cut to the
heart by his convinced of sin, of righteousness and of judgment,
he binds us to Christ, and binding us to Christ, grafts us in Christ. And now, you can kind of spot
a knot where the graft is made, but the graft and the branch
are just one. If we have life, we must draw
life only from him. I am the truth, I am, you are
the Now, the fact that our Lord Jesus used this name, I Am, to
describe himself is very, very significant. He uses this name,
and as he does, he enraged the Jews, because they understood
exactly what he meant by it. Look in chapter 8, verse 58. Real smart liberals and religious
infidels can't figure these things out, but these Jews to whom he
was speaking, they understood exactly what he was saying. John
8, verse 58. Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Well, what's so profound about
that? Look at verse 59. Then took they up stones to cast
at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went
out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed
by. Well, why were they going to kill him? Look at chapter
10, verse 33. The Jews answered him, saying,
For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, because
thou, being a man, makest thyself God." They understood very clearly. He stood before them as a man
in human flesh, just like me, standing in front of you. A man,
a real man. And he says to those Jews, My
name is I Am. That means, I am God. That's
exactly what he said. This man is God. Another distinctive
of John's gospel is John lays great emphasis on the fact that
our Lord Jesus continually spoke of a specific time and hour for
which he came into this world. On one occasion, his disciples
asked him to go up to Jerusalem and make himself known. Actually,
what they wanted, these were his family and his friends and
those who professed a faith in his name, they wanted him to
go up and show off. They wanted him to go up and
make somebody whole. We're following the Messiah,
the Christ. Go up and show them. And the Lord refused to go up.
He said, My hour hasn't yet come. They attempted to kill him on
several occasions, and they couldn't because his hour had not yet
come. And then the Lord Jesus began to set his face toward
Jerusalem, to go up to suffer and die in our room instead.
And he said, Now my hour has come. Listen to this. For this cause came I unto this
hour. the book of John actually has
just two divisions. It's a little striking when you
realize it. Remember, John's purpose is to show us that Jesus
Christ is God, to show us that this man is God. So chapters
1 through 12 deal with just our Lord's those three years of our
Lord's earthly ministry. It says nothing about his earlier
life. John just deals with these three years of our Lord's public
ministry, showing us who this man is and what he accomplished.
When you get to chapter 13, beginning in chapter 13, verse 1, everything
that you read from there to the end of chapter 21 took place
on the last day that our Savior walked on this earth. and goes
through that third day when we're raised up from the dead. When
you get to chapter 13, everything written in chapter 13, 14, 15,
16, 17, 18, 19, took place within the last few
hours that our Savior conversed with his disciples on this earth. And John thought that was very,
very, very important, and I do too. Take a quick look at the
first 12 chapters. First, John tells us that Jesus
Christ is our God. And he opens his book in the
first chapter by declaring this emphatically and declaring it
unmistakably, as dogmatically as possible. He doesn't offer
any proof. I like to read good theology.
I like to read good theology books. I recall my first semester
taking theology class, I was just overawed by some things. They began to offer lots of arguments
to prove the existence of God. And boy, I was just, I sat spellbound. They used terms I'd never heard
before. I wrote them down, looked up the meanings, memorized them.
And now I realize it was just so much fancy gobbledygook. Didn't mean a thing. You see,
God Almighty offers no proof for his existence. And you're
not going to prove his existence to anybody. John declares it. And you'll understand who he
is when you believe. That's all. That's all. So this
is how John begins. In the beginning was the word
And the word was with God, and the word was God. Oh, what does
that mean? A word. I've been trying to think
all day today of things to express to you the message of this book.
I've been working on it since last night, trying to find ways
to express to you the message of this book. Now, no matter
how much I get up here, and I have to work to get anything up there,
but no matter how much I get up here, you won't know it. until
I open my mouth and speak a word. The word is that by which a man
communicates his will, his thoughts, his mind, his being. And Jesus
Christ is the word by which God speaks to men. No other way. No other way. God doesn't speak
to men. Not in these days since the word
came. Not in these days since he of
whom the written word speaks, the living word, came and accomplished
redemption for us. God does not speak to men in
dreams, in visions, by angels. He does not come and give you
a direct line to heaven, no matter how good you think you are. No,
sir. God speaks to sinners by his
word, Jesus Christ, who is revealed in this written word. And this
word He's God. That's what it says. The Word
was God. The Lord Jesus Christ, this One who is God, the Word,
is the second person of the Holy Trinity, all together equal with
the Father. The same was in the beginning
with God. He's all together with God, face
to face with, equal with God. He thinks it no longer to be
equal with God, because that's what He is. He's the Creator
of all things, by whom all things were made, without whom was not
anything made that was made. He is the incarnate God, our
Savior. Look at chapter 1, verse 14. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
the Father, full of grace and truth. Let me pause a minute and throw
a little something extra in. Have you ever noticed how careful,
how very careful the historic narratives that we've had before
us, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, how very careful they are
not to give us any indication at all of what the Lord Jesus
looked like in his human flesh? Pretty good chances that he had
dark eyes. That's about all I know, because
he was a Jew. Fairly good chance he had dark hair, because he
was a Jew. But we don't know anything else about him. All
the pictures that folks think, most of them are a little effeminate,
we thought somebody a little light in the lopers, but even
the other ones. I got an email just recently,
somebody sent it to me, this is a picture of Christ made up
by an artist just from the descriptions in the Gospels. And I didn't
have time to fool with him, I'd have written back to him, I said,
where'd you get the description? No. Why? Because number one, God
Almighty has forbidden the use of idolatry in any way, shape,
or form. So if you've got any pictures
that folks commonly call pictures of Christ, burn them. I don't care how much they cost,
burn them. Burn them. If they're gold, melt them down
and make you something fancy out of them. Get rid of the idol.
Get rid of it. That's all it is. And there's
a good reason for this. No matter what men portray, No
matter what they portray, you're not going to portray what John
here describes. We saw his glory. I'm not talking
about a halo around his head. We saw his glory. We saw in that
man the glory of God. We saw his glory. Look at chapter
1, verse 18. This is how John describes him.
No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father. He declared Him. This One, who
is here on earth, is in the bosom of the Father, and He has come
and declared God to us. And He's our Savior. Look at
verse 29. John the Baptist, the next day, saith Jesus coming
unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God. This is the One
that all those lambs were talking about. This is the Paschal Lamb! This is the Sanatani Lamb! This
is the Lamb offered to God, which taketh away the sin of the world. In chapter 2, our Lord went to
the marriage feast in Canaan of Galilee. There are many, many
lessons there, but I'll just call your attention to one. He
hung around until they had drunk all the wine that they had, barrels
of it. It must have been a big feast.
And he said, you go fill those barrels up to the brim with water. Now carry it to the governor
of the feast. And he took a taste of that. And the governor of
the feast said to the bridegroom, said, most folks don't do this,
but you say the best wine to last. That's what our Savior does,
our great Bridegroom. Oh, what good he has given us!
But he saves the best to last, and I hath not seen, nor heard,
neither hath it entered into the heart of men, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him. In chapter 3,
you are so familiar with the words of this chapter. Nicodemus
came to the Lord Jesus, and our Lord carries on this remarkable,
simply and simply profound conversation about the new birth. Back in chapter 1, he tells us
plainly that the new birth is God's work. Look at verse 11
of chapter 1. He came unto his own, and his own received him
not. But as many as received him, to them gave his power,
the right and authority to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name. Oh, now there, if I do something
for him, he'll do something for me. No, no, no, read the next
verse. Which were born. They received him. They believe
on his name, yes, but the reason is because they were born not
of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but
of God. Now in chapter 3, our Lord begins
to show us both the nature and the necessity of the new birth.
Here's the necessity. You were born wrong the first
time. You're corrupt, depraved, fallen, blind and dead. And so
until a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He can't see it. I don't care
how clearly you show the picture to him, he can't see it. I don't
care how bright the light is shining around him, he can't
see it. I don't care how precise the preacher is in his argument,
he can't see. I don't care how much you raise
your voice and fuss, he still can't see. He can't see until
he's born again. He can't see anything spiritual. I hear folks all the time say,
well, he's coming to the knowledge of the Lord. It ain't a process. He gives light, and you see. And until he gives light, you
don't see. Until a man is born again, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God. Not possible. The new birth precedes
everything. You cannot enter into this kingdom. You cannot see this kingdom until
you're born again. And this new birth is the sovereign,
irresistible work of God the Holy Spirit like the wind blows
where it will. You can't tell where it's been
or where it's coming. Now which way is blowing? So
is everyone that is born of God, born by God's Spirit. I sometimes
hear preachers who ought to know better. God's going to save this one.
That one's gone. No hope for him. God sends his spirit where he
will, when he will, and when he does, sinners are born again. And the basis of it all is the
redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him have everlasting life. And then in the fourth chapter,
we read that our Lord must needs go through Samaria. How come? That's out of the way. It doesn't
make good sense to go that way. A smart man wouldn't go that
way. It costs too much to go that way. It's out of the way.
Besides that, it's Samaria. And who in their right mind would
go to Samaria unless they had to? He had to. He said he must
needs go through Samaria. How come? Because there was a
woman down there who was a sinner whom God Almighty in His sovereign
grace had chosen for whom the time of love had come, and grace
brought her to the place where mercy would be revealed in her
soul, at exactly the time when grace brought the Son of God
to meet the chosen sinner with the fullness of his mercy." I just caught your eye, David.
God in his providence at the time of love caused our paths
to cross. so that you hear the Savior's
voice and believe on him. What's God doing in his providence? He's moving in the predestined
path to the place where he will make himself known to chosen
at the time of his love. That's what he's doing. That's
what he's doing. And then in the 5th chapter,
our Lord comes to this impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda.
What a picture this is of his grace. We're told plainly that
there were many there around that Pool of Bethesda, religiously
superstitious, waiting for a moving of the waters. When an angel
would come down and move the waters, the first one who jumped
in was healed. Enough of that. But these folks were blind and
haught and lame and withered and impotent. many of them there,
multitudes. You can imagine the place, everybody
confident this is holy water. Somehow the angels come down
here and stir up the water, and if I can get in there first,
I'll be made whole. And here this man lays, in this
great crowd of folks. And the Lord Jesus came to that
one certain man. because that one certain man
was the object of his mercy. And he spoke his word of grace
to that one certain man, and immediately the man was made
whole. And so it is with every chosen
object of mercy. When Christ comes seeking, he
finds his sheep, and immediately they're made whole. And then
in the fifth chapter, I would urge you to read this chapter
very carefully, and read it very, very thoroughly. Our Lord speaks
of the witnesses to himself. Now, as you read this chapter,
and you hear our Lord say, I can do nothing of myself. Oh, there
you see, Jesus is really less than God. He's not really, not
really right up there with the Father. Our Lord Jesus says specifically
in this chapter, the Father gave all things to him as the Son
of Man. He gave nothing to him as the
Son of God, commanded nothing of him as the Son of God. But
our Lord is here speaking of his authority as our surety,
whom the Father trusted, to whom the Father trusted all his purpose
of grace, all the souls of his people, and all the glory of
the triune God, and the Son voluntarily assumed responsibility for them
all. And he comes here, and the Father
has now given him preeminence over all as the Son of Man, who
is the Son of God, our Mediator and our Savior. And there were
many who bore witness of him. John the Baptist bore witness
of him as the Christ, the Lamb of God, verse 33, 34, and 35.
His own works, we're told in verse 36, bear witness of him. still folks didn't believe. In
verse 37, the Father, he says, bear witness of me. The Father
bore witness of him at his transfiguration, trusting him as our surety from
all eternity, bore witness of him at his baptism. The Father
bore witness of him putting all things into his hands as the
Son of Man and giving him preeminence over all things. And this book
bears witness of it. Look at verse The Father himself
which hath sent me hath borne witness of me, and ye have neither
heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have
not his word abiding in you, for whom he hath sent, him ye
believe not. Search the scriptures, for in
them ye think ye have eternal life, and ye have missed the
whole thing." and they are they which testify of me." Then it
says in verse 46 and 47, it says, Moses and the Lord bore witness
of me. Moses bore witness of me. And typically, prophetically,
bear witness of me, even when I am about to die, as he cries,
it is finished, and yields up the ghost, the veil of the temple
is ripped from the top to bottom, and Moses in the log symbolically
says, there, it's all finished, for he's finished it all. And
then in chapter 6, we see our Savior's message. Multitudes
followed him. the cause of the loaves and fishes.
And the Lord Jesus took his winnowing fan in his hand and thoroughly
purges his floor. He gathers the sheep into the
garner and binds up the tares for the burning. And he does
that by the preaching of the gospel. What did our Lord preach
that caused these folks all to abandon him and forsake him?
religious though they were, the very same thing you hear preached
in this place every time you come, the gospel of his free
grace. He declared in verses 39 and
40 that salvation is by the will of God. In verse 44 he declared
that natural man, totally depraved, cannot and will not come to him. So salvation by man's will is
an impossibility. In verse 45 he says this thing
of salvation is all together by God's sovereign, irresistible
grace. In verse 47, he tells us that salvation can be possessed
only by faith in him, by eating his flesh and drinking his blood,
trusting his righteousness and his atonement as our only ground
of acceptance with God. In verse 51, he tells us that
this salvation is obtained by Christ laying down his life for
sinners scattered through all the world. My life I give. I lay it down for people everywhere."
And then he says to us, it's the spirit that quickens, the
flesh puppets nothing. Now, these folks who from that
time went back and walked no more with him, look at them in chapter 6 and
verse 15, see what they were trying to do back there? I'm
talking about just a little while before They wanted to take him
by force and make him a king on their terms. They loved religion. They loved religion and loved
what religion would do for them. And they would love to have him
as a king on their terms. But his gospel, his grace, his
redemption, salvation, by him alone they will not have. Now, our Lord came in chapter
7 to the feast of the Jews. It's called here the Jews' Feast
of the Tabernacles for a reason. It's called the Jews' Feast of
Tabernacles because they had so perverted it, it was no longer
God's feast. And they came up to Jerusalem.
And the Lord Jesus on the last day of the feast, he finally
went up in the middle of the week and he saw folks coming back
from the Bible conference. And they went through all their
ceremonies and all their rituals. And they were coming back just
as empty as they were when they went up. And he said, if any
man thirsts, let him come to me. Look at it. In the last day,
the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any
man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." What does that
mean? He that believeth on me. That's
what it is. Come, thirsty soul, and believe
on the Son of God. In chapter 8, we have this adulterous
woman, condemned by the law, scorned by the religious world.
She was an adulteress. But the Lord Jesus stooped down
to the earth, and rose up again, and said to that woman, Neither
do I condemn thee. He who is God stooped down here,
assumed my sin, put my sin away, and arose to heaven again, and
he declares, Neither do I condemn thee, and forgives our sins."
Look at chapter 9. Our Lord is about to give us
his discourse on the Good Shepherd, and it begins with this man in
chapter 9 who was born blind. He healed him. And you know what
happened to him because the Son of God healed him? I mean, this
is all that he did. This is all that he did. He just
saw. That's all he did. He just saw. The Son of God gave him eyes
to see. And so the religious folks put
him out of church. They put him out of church. Because
they said, how did you come to have your son? He said, we did
it. Oh, you can't say that. They put him out. And as soon
as the master found out they had unchurched him, He came and
put him in the church. He came to him and said, Do you
believe on the Son of God? He said, The one talking to you,
that's who I'm talking about. Oh, I believe. And the master
opens the door and brings in his lost sheep. And in the 10th
chapter he explains it. He said, I'm the good shepherd.
The good shepherd calls his own sheep by name. The Good Shepherd
gives his life for his sheep. The Good Shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep. He's got sheep in this world.
And he came to save his sheep. And he must and shall save all
his sheep. And when he calls his sheep by
name, he gives them eternal life. And they shall never perish.
Because I'm the Good Shepherd. And that's all there is to it.
And then in chapter 11, our Lord raised Lazarus from the dead.
Let me move on to chapter 13. The Lord washes his disciples'
feet. And his reason was not to establish a strange ordinance
in the church for religious folks to go through, come to church
when they have high communion, take a good bath and wash your
feet before you get here, and then have somebody else to wash your
feet. That's not what his purpose was. His purpose was to show
us how to love each other. willingly, gladly, performs the
most menial, thankless of tasks for the sheer comfort of its
object. Now by this shall all men know
you are my

Discovering Christ In John

What does the Bible say about believing in Jesus?

How do we know Jesus is the Son of God?

Why is the concept of 'I Am' important in Christianity?

How is salvation obtained according to John?

What does John say about the new birth?

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Discovering Christ In John

What does the Bible say about believing in Jesus?

How do we know Jesus is the Son of God?

Why is the concept of 'I Am' important in Christianity?

How is salvation obtained according to John?

What does John say about the new birth?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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