I've entitled the message, I and My Father Are One. This is the Lord's declaration
of himself. Who is Jesus Christ? You know, if you know who he
is, you're saved. All who are saved know who he
is. All who are not saved do not
really know who he is. If you know who he is, it's because
you know him. Who is Jesus Christ? Well, he said, I and my father
are one. If he is who he says he is, this
is of infinite importance. If he's not who he says he is,
this is of no importance. Amen. The one thing that cannot be
said is this is of relative importance or moderate importance. I've said in the past, the gospel
of true is of infinite importance. If false, it's of no importance.
But the one thing it cannot be is moderately or relatively important. Now he said in verse 30 of our
text, I and my father are one, not very much alike, one. And they understood exactly what
he was saying because we read in verse 31, then The Jews took
up stones again to stone him. I mean, think of this. They picked
up rocks, and they were gonna throw it at him, all of them
in unison to kill him. That's what they thought of this
statement. And the Lord said in verse 32, Jesus answered them,
many good works have I showed you from my father. For which
of these works do you stone me? The Jews answered him saying,
for good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, because that
thou being a man, makest thyself God. That's what they were accusing
him of. They heard exactly what he meant
when he said, I and my father are one. He said to these people,
I am God. Can you imagine their response? You are looking at God. He said in John chapter 14, he
that hath seen me hath seen the Father. He didn't say it's as
if you had seen the Father. He said he that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. Look in verse 22. of John chapter 10. And it was at Jerusalem the feast
of the dedication and it was winter. Now this detail John
gives us tells us that there had elapsed some time between
verse 21 and 22. this Feast of the Dedication. And that's not talking about
a feast that is mentioned in the Old Testament, like the Passover
Feast or the Feast of Tabernacles. There were three main feasts.
This is a different feast. And this is the only time this feast
is mentioned, the Feast of Dedication. It's not found in the Old Testament
scriptures, but it's what we get the word Hanukkah. Is that
the way you say it? Hanukkah? The Jewish Hanukkah? Okay, I said it wrong, sorry.
Hanukkah. That's where this came from,
and it came from about 150 A.D. when the Maccabees had a revolt
against this person that had taken over Jerusalem, and this
was a celebration because of this, Hanukkah, and this is what
he's talking about. This is the only time this word
is mentioned in the scriptures, but that lets us know that some
time had elapsed between verses 21 and verse 22, it was a Jerusalem,
the feast of the dedication and it was winter and Jesus walked
in the temple in Solomon's porch. Verse 24, then came the Jews
round about him. They encircled him at this time.
I think what they were doing was trying to ensure that what
happened in John eight wouldn't take place again. Look in verse
59, John chapter eight, 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, and they experienced
this. They're getting ready to throw
the rocks at him, and all of a sudden he's gone. He passes
through the midst of them, and they didn't know what happened,
so I guess they were thinking, we're not gonna let this happen
again. So they encircled him, thinking that they had him trapped.
And look what they say to him, John chapter 10, verse 24. Then came the Jews, round about
him, they encircled him at this time. We're gonna make sure he
doesn't get away. And they said unto him, how long
dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be Christ, tell us plainly. How long are you going to hold
us in suspense? We're seeking the truth. And
you remain vague and ambiguous in your speech. surrounding him,
encircling him. If you're the Christ, the promised
Messiah, the Old Testament scriptures speaks of you, tell us plainly. We're tired of this vague, obscure
language that you're using, this speaking in code, this cryptic
language. Tell us plainly whether or not
you are the Christ. I told you. I've been telling you for three
years. I told you. You didn't believe,
but I told you. And you believed not. Now, when you believe not, you
hear the truth and you say, I'm not believing that. That's what
unbelief is. You choose to not believe. They heard what the Lord said
for three years and he said, you believed not. Verse 25, the works that I do
in my father's name, they bear witness of me. Do you know he
didn't even have to tell them who he was for them to see who
he was. He did what only He controlled the weather. Can
you imagine someone controlling the weather? They said, what
manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea do obey
him? In the previous chapter, he gave
sight to a man that was born blind. Only God can do that. They witnessed him creating matter.
That can't be reproduced in a laboratory. He created matter. He brought
bread into existence that had not been in the universe before. He suspended the law of physics. He walked on the water. Only
God can do that. He did what only God could do
when he raised the dead. None of these things can be replicated
in a lab. My works bear witness of me. I don't even have to say who
I am because my works prove who I am. I am God. I do what only God can do. God manifests in the flesh. No mere man can do these things.
Now look what he says in verse 26. Remember, he said, I told you. He always spake plainly. My works bear witness of who
I am. And you believe not, verse 26,
but You believe not because you are not of my sheep, as I said
unto you. What a statement. He doesn't
say you're not my sheep because you don't believe. He says you
do not believe because you are not of my sheep. There are sheep and there are
goats. A sheep never becomes a goat
and a goat never becomes a sheep. And he says to these people,
the reason you do not believe is because you are not of my
sheep. This chapter had began in verse
one. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by
the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way,
The same as a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice. He calleth his own sheep by name,
and leads them out. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice, and a stranger will they not follow, but will
flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. All the shepherds would bring
their sheep at night into this big sheep pen. There would be
different flocks all in this sheep pen. And in the morning
when the shepherd would come, he would call out his sheep.
And guess what sheep would respond? The sheep that were his sheep.
They knew his voice and they would follow him. Who were the sheep? Well, he
calls them my sheep. Look in verse 27 of John chapter
10. My sheep. Not everybody's a sheep. My sheep. What's the evidence
of being a sheep? They hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me is greater than
all, and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand.
The sheep," and listen to me, the sheep are the elect. They
are the ones the Father gave to Him. Look in verse 14, I am
the good shepherd, know my sheep, and have known of mine, as the
Father knows me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. The sheep are those for whom
Christ died. They are the elect, those the
Father chose before time began to be saved. They are those for
whom Jesus Christ died. That's who the sheep are. Would you turn to John 8 for
just a moment? He said, you believe not because you're not of my
sheep. Look what he said in verse 43 of John chapter eight, when
he's speaking to those who did not believe, who were not his
sheep. He said in John 8, 43, why do you not understand my
speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word, you lack the ability. to hear my word. We're totally
dependent upon him to give us the grace to hear. And he says
to them, you cannot hear my word. You are your father the devil,
the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning and abode not in the truth because there's no
truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own for
he's a liar and the father of it. And because I tell you the
truth, you believe me not. Which of you convinces me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me? He
that's of God, heareth God's words. You therefore hear them
not. because you are not of God. Now these are the words of the
Lord. And he says the reason you don't hear, the reason you
don't believe, is because you're not of my sheep. Look in verse six of John chapter
10. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep." Now, who is the
door of? The sheep. All that ever came
before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. Now, this is so important. When
he says all that ever came before me, he's not talking about Isaiah
and Jeremiah, he's not saying they were all thieves and robbers,
the sheep didn't hear before them. What he's saying is this,
in this thing of salvation, if you think there's anything that
comes before me, if there's something you think you need to do before
you can be saved, all that is is a thief and a robber. A thief
seeking to rob God of glory, a robber seeking to rob you of
the only ground of assurance you could possibly have, which
is me. All that ever came before me, they're nothing but thieves
and robbers. But the sheep didn't hear them.
You see, there's something in a sheep that makes him know the
voice of the shepherd, and he flees from the voice of salvation
by works. Something you must do before
God can do something for you. That is salvation by works. The
sheep run from that. They do not hear that. Back to John 10, 27. My sheep
hear my voice. And I know them. Oh, the Lord knows his sheep.
He said, before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. What a staggering thought. Whom
he did foreknow. Then he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. How staggering. He knew me. Think of that crowd on judgment
day that our Lord tells us of in Matthew 7 on that day. Many
shall say unto me, Lord, Lord, you know us. Don't you remember? We preached in your name. In
your name, we cast out demons. We had works of power. In thy
name have we not done many wonderful works. Then shall I profess unto
them, Depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you. Now he knew exactly who they
were, and he knew everything they did, but he's saying, I
never loved you. I never knew you to worship my
person. I never knew you to believe on
me. My sheep know me, and I know
them. Let's go on reading. And, verse
27, they follow me. Now would you please listen to
this real carefully. Usually when people are talking about
this scripture, following Christ, what they think of is walking
in His steps, imitating Him, and so on. And I want to walk
in His steps. And I want to imitate Him. And I want to be just like
Him. But what's the Lord saying? Because
people use this, well, The way you measure whether or not you're
a believer is how well you're following Christ, how well you're
stepping in his steps. Now listen to me. When he says
follow me, what do you do when you follow somebody? You look
to him. You don't take your eyes off of him. You don't look down
at your feet. You'll lose him if you do that.
If you're looking at your walk, you're not gonna follow him.
You're looking at your feet. You don't look to the side to
see how someone else has fallen. Compare yourself with them. Don't
do that. Don't do that. Don't think that
way. You don't look behind you. You'll lose them for sure then.
I'm looking behind to see if I can find, think of something
that'll give me some evidence that God's done something for
me. I'm looking behind. No, you look to him alone right now all
the time. That's what it is to follow the
Lord Jesus Christ. You keep your eyes upon him.
You look to him only. When you look to him only, that
means he's all you have. You don't have anything else.
He's all you have. He's all you want. He's all you
need. My sheep, hear my voice. I know them. and they follow
me. Verse 28, and I give unto them
eternal life. The reason that they have it
is I gave it to them. I give unto them eternal life. Eternal life is not about the
longevity of that life, although that's included. This is the
life that never had a beginning and never had an ending because
it's the life of Christ as my life before God. That's what
eternal life is. It's His life is my life. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. Now, this is a life that's eternal,
isn't it? It never had a beginning. It'll never have an ending. And
this speaks of the security of the believer, the quality of
this life. I love when the Lord tells us
what eternal life is. When you have his life as your
life, this is life eternal. that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. That is eternal life. Oh, the quality of that life.
I've come that they might have life and that they might have
it more abundantly. And how abundant it is to have
the life of Christ as my life before God. That is eternal life. I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish. You see, if they could perish,
it wouldn't be eternal, would it? They shall never perish. Now, if they could, they would. If you could fall away, you would
fall away. And you know that. But because
they can't, they won't. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. Now, how strong is the hand of
the Lord Jesus Christ? Oh. His omnipotent hand. No one can pluck any of His sheep
from His hand. That's how safe they are. That's
how secure they are. My Father, verse 29, which gave
them Me. There's election. He gave them
to the Lord Jesus Christ before time began. My Father, which
gave them Me, is greater than all. Whatever you're thinking
of, he's greater, infinitely greater. My father, which gave
them me, is greater than all. And no man's able to pluck them
out of my father's hand. That's how secure they are. And
then he makes this transcendent, incredible statement with regard
to himself. And this is who he is. He says,
I and my father are one. Now, they knew what he meant
by that when they picked up those rocks to throw at him, didn't
they? They knew exactly what he meant. They made this accusation,
you being a man are making yourself God. He didn't make himself God. He is God. And they knew exactly
what he was saying. I and my father are one. Now they'd already been confronted
with this in John chapter five, and we're gonna go back to that
in a moment. But I and my father are one to
this degree. Now think of these words. I and
my father are one to this degree. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. If you've seen
Him, who He is, you have seen the living God, the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, He whom no man can see. All you're ever
going to see of the Father is the Son. You believe that? all you'll ever see of the father
is the son. I and my father are one, one
in essence, one in substance, one in attributes,
Somebody says, well, explain to me what the essence of God
is. I can't do that. But I know he is one with the
Father. I know that because he that has seen me has seen the
Father. Well, tell me about his substance. I can't tell you about
his substance. But I know whatever his substance
is, it's Jesus Christ. I know that. One with the Father. Colossians 2, verse 9 says, in
him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. I love the opening verse of the
gospel of John in the beginning. Was the word. The was was before
the beginning. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God as a distinct person, and the Word
was God. The same was eternally, infinitely
was in the beginning with God. One in purpose. Because they're one in person.
They're one in purpose. The one God in three distinct
persons. Turn back to John chapter five
for a moment. This is what they'd already been confronted with. Now they were upset about him,
what they consider breaking the Sabbath. In John chapter five,
he did this on the Sabbath. He healed a man on the Sabbath
day. What crime? How can he do this? He couldn't
be of God if he healed somebody miraculously on the Sabbath day.
And the Lord says in verse 17, but Jesus answered them, my father
worketh hitherto and I work. We're doing the same thing. His
works are my works. My works are his works. Therefore,
the Jews sought the Lord to kill him because not only had he broken
the Sabbath, but he said also that God was his father, making
himself equal with God. There's only one person who's
equal with God. God. equal with God. Verse 19, then. Answered Jesus
and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do
nothing of himself. I don't act independently. But
what he seeth the Father do, what the Father does, I do. I
do what I see him do. For what thingsoever he doeth,
these also doeth the Son likewise. My works are the works of the
Father. Verse 20. For the Father loveth the Son,
and showeth him all things that himself doeth. And he will show
him greater works than these that you may marvel for, as the
Father raises up the dead." Now he's showing us here how he's
one with the Father in power. Who's the only one who can raise
the dead? Who is the only one that can
raise the dead? Jesus Christ, the Lord. And look
what he says, for as the father raises up the dead and quickens
them, even so the son quickens whom he will. Now he's one with
the father in power, he raises the dead. He's one with the father
in sovereignty. He said the son quickens whom
he will. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
sovereign of the universe. What that means is me and you
are in his hand. Do you realize that? You right now are in His hand
and He can do with you whatsoever He is pleased to do. And there's
only one thing that's an appropriate response to that. Lord, save
me. Have mercy on me. Do something for me. I can't
do anything for myself. I can't save myself. I'm in your hand.
Would you be pleased to save me? That's the only appropriate
response. If you have some kind of response, well, I have nothing
I can do. If he's sovereign and I can't save him, nothing I can
do. No, that's fatalism. That's not
an appropriate belief toward that. No, you say, Lord, if you're
the sovereign of the universe, sovereignly save me. Will my
salvation for Christ's sake, please do that. He's one with
the Father in sovereignty. He's one in judgment. Look in
verse 22. For the Father judges no man,
but has committed all judgment to the Son. Verse 30. I can of
my own self do nothing as I hear I judge. And my judgment is just
because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father, which
has sent me. Now, what that means is there's only one judge and
that's Him. God, the Father, God, the Son,
God, the Holy Spirit. Their judgment is the only judgment
that counts. I don't want to be, I want to be careful the
way I say this, but I was at a baseball game last night, the
UK game, and on almost every call that was a ball against
a Kentucky player, I would hear screaming, that's not right,
that's not right. I don't agree with that. Guess
what? There's only one judgment that
counts, that's the umpire. And there's only one judgment that
counts. That's God's judgment. He says, I am the judge. My father
is the judge. And my judgment is the only one
that counts. What you think of me, I want
you to think well of me. Don't think I'm indifferent about
this. But what you think of me doesn't
even count. What does he think of me? How
does he judge me? What I think of you? It doesn't
count. Are you one he sees in Christ? That's the only thing that counts.
He is the only judge. They're one in honor. Look in
verse 23, that all men Verse 23, that all men should honor
the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not
the Son, honoreth not the Father which is sent him. If you don't
give all honor to the Son as God, the God of glory, the creator,
the sovereign of the universe, you don't honor the Father. If
you don't honor the Son, just like that, you don't honor the
Father at all. They're wanting independence.
Look in verse 26. For as the father hath life in
himself, what does God need? Does he need you? No. Does he
need anything for his happiness, for his existence? Me and you
need food, water, sleep. He's utterly independent. No
needs. Somebody says, well, he saved
us because he's lonely. No, he wasn't. Perfect fellowship between the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit eternally. He has no needs. Verse 26, for as the Father hath
life in himself, so hath he given the Son to have life in himself. The utter independence of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They're one in authority. Look
in verse 26 or 27. and hath given him authority
to execute judgment because he is the son of man. Now, in light of who he is, I
want to close. In light of who he is, he said, I and my father
are one. In saying that, he is saying,
I am God. In light of who he is, Number
one, he is to be worshiped as God. Just like that leopard did when
he came and worshiped him, falling at his feet, saying, Lord, if
you will, you can make me clean. That's worship. That's what the Bible says, that's
what the Lord says in worship. Behold, the leper came and worshiped
him. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. Understand, because of who he
is, one with the Father, that all sin is against him. Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. My sin is against
him. Can't you sin against somebody
else? Well, I'm sure you can, but that's not what the Bible
says. Against thee and thee only have I sinned. If he's one with
the Father, that means he's the creator. Jesus Christ is the
creator. He's the one who created the
universe. That means he's controlling everything. Always has, always
will. Whatever's taking place, he is
in absolute control of, and he himself is salvation. I love
what Simeon said when he saw the baby, eight days old. He knew who he was. He saw the
Lord's Christ. He knew exactly who he was. He
said, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace for mine
eyes have seen thy salvation. Jesus Christ is God's salvation
because of who he is, Whatever he intended to do, he did. Because who he is? He's incapable of failure. You
know when people preach that Jesus Christ could die for somebody
and they wind up in hell anyway? All they prove by that is they
don't know who He is. Because if you know who He is, you know
He must be successful in whatever He intends to do. On the very
opening pages of the New Testament, Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. Did He do it?
Did He do it? is finished. My salvation was accomplished. Because of who He is, having
His righteousness as my personal righteousness is having the righteousness
of God as my personal righteousness. And let me tell you, my hand
didn't have anything to do with this. My thumbprint is not on
this righteousness anywhere. It's the righteousness of Jesus
Christ as my righteousness before God. Oh, what a Savior. He's
one with the Father. is the only object of faith. Because of who he is. He's the
only object of faith. Look unto me. That's Christ speaking. Look unto me. Nowhere else. Look unto me. Don't look at the
preacher. Don't look at the church. Don't
look at your experience. Look unto me. and be ye saved
all the ends of the earth, for I am God. There's none like me. Now, I and my Father are one. Who Jesus Christ is, is the content
of saving faith. Let's take those two thieves. One knew who Christ was. The
other didn't. Now the one who knew who Christ
was only knew because the Lord revealed himself to him. But
he knew who it was hanging on the cross. That other thief died in his
sins. He didn't know who he was. Saving
faith is knowing who he is. If you know who he is, you will
believe. No doubt in my mind about it. If you know who he
is, you must believe. And if you do not believe, it's
because you're clueless as to who he really is. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God? That, my dear friend, is saving
faith. If you believe He's the Son of
God, you trust Him to save you. You believe in His ability to
save you. What do they do? They picked
up stones to cast at Him, but by His grace, we bow before Him
and confess who He is. There's no more glorious thing
that we can say with regard to Him than this, He is one with
the Father. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
Lord Jesus Christ. Who is one with yourself. And Lord, we cannot believe except
you give us the faith and we ask for the gift of saving faith
to believe on your son. To believe who he is. and what he did as all in our
salvation. Bless your word for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen. Kate Hands is now going to confess
Christ in Believer's Baptism. So we'll do that after the psalm. Come listen to him.