If you went into work tomorrow
and someone came up to you and said, I know God, I'm from him
and he sent me. Would you believe him? I wouldn't. I would be utterly
incredulous and probably a bit irritated. Christ says, I know God. I am from him and he sent me. I've entitled this message, The
Claims of Christ. We see from verse 30 what they
thought of his claims when he said, I know him for I'm from
him and he has sent me. Then they sought to take him.
That means they sought to arrest him. But obviously they didn't understand
what he was saying or they wouldn't try that. But no man laid hands
on him because his hour was not yet come. Jesus Christ is either who he
said he is or he is the most arrogant, self-deluded, deceitful
person to ever live. He's either who he said he is or he is a deceiver. Don't say, well, I believe he
was a good man. He's either who he said he is
or he is a deceiver. What do you think of Jesus Christ? What do you think of his claim? I know God and I'm from him. and he sent me." What are your
thoughts regarding his claim? In verse 19 of this chapter, I love what the Lord says, Did
not Moses give you the law? And yet none of you keep the
law. Why go ye about to kill me? People answered and said, you
have a devil. Who's going about to kill you?
You have some kind of conspiracy thought in your head. No, he
didn't. He knew exactly what they were
doing. Jesus answered and said unto
them, I've done one work and you all marvel. And this is talking
about when he healed the paralytic in John chapter five, and he
did so on the Sabbath day. And they became very angry over
this. They wanted to kill him because he healed somebody on
the Sabbath day. They had no understanding of
the Sabbath and they thought you're breaking the Sabbath.
Demonstrating their utter ignorance of what the Sabbath was in the
first place. Verse 22, Moses therefore gave
unto you circumcision, not because it's of Moses, but of the fathers,
and you on the Sabbath day circumcise a man. Now, on the eighth day
after you were born, if you were male, you were to be circumcised.
Sometimes that would fall on the Sabbath day. They didn't
go ahead and wait nine days or do it a day early. No, they did
it on the eighth day and they didn't break the Sabbath. Lord
says, you're accusing me of breaking the Sabbath? Verse 23, if a man
on the Sabbath day received circumcision that the law of Moses should
not be broken, are you angry at me because I've made a man
every whit hole on the Sabbath day? Judge not according to the
appearance, but judge righteous judgment. That's what we considered
last week. Then said some of them of Jerusalem, is not this
he whom they seek to kill? Now they understood, these bystanders. They knew that the Jews wanted
him dead, and yet they see him speaking so openly, so freely. Is not this he whom they seek
to kill? But lo, he speaketh boldly, and
they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers now know indeed
that this is very Christ? Could it be that the rulers now
think he's Christ? They were wanting to kill him,
but now they're not doing anything. And he speaks boldly. Verse 27,
how be it we know this man whence he is, speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we know this man from whence he is, but when Christ
cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. Now, they say with regard
to the Lord Jesus Christ, We know where he's from. We know
his address. We know his mom and dad. We know
his brothers and sisters. We know where he is from. In reality, they didn't know
where he was from. They thought he was from Nazareth.
They didn't know he was from Bethlehem, the place where God
said the Christ would come from. All they knew was Jesus of Nazareth. Could any good thing come out
of Nazareth? They believed him to be from Nazareth. We know
where this man is from. They thought he was from Galilee.
Look in John 7, verse 52. They answered and said unto him,
Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look, for out of Galilee
ariseth no prophet. They thought the Lord was from
Galilee. That's where Nazareth was. What they thought they knew,
This presupposition they made as to where He was from was incorrect
knowledge. He wasn't from Galilee. He was
from Bethlehem. And what they thought about knowing
where Christ would come from in the first place was wrong.
The Scripture tells us where He will come from. Bethlehem. 28, then cried Jesus in the temple
as he taught saying, you both know me and you know whence I
am. And I'm not come of myself, but
he that sent me is true whom you know not. And as he's saying,
you know me and where I'm from. Well, he says in the same verse,
you don't know me. You don't know me. Some of the
translations put a question mark after, you both know me and you
know whence I am, do you? Do you know me? Do you really
know me? Kind of like when the Lord said
to his disciples, do you now believe? You say you do, do you
really? Do you really know whence I am? He says, I've not come of myself,
but he that sent me is true whom you know not, but I know him. Now here's his claim. I know him. For I am from him and he hath
sent me. And this is either a grandiose, perhaps schizophrenic, histrionic personality disorder
born of self-delusion and self-grandeur, or he is who he says he is. I know him. No man has seen God at any time
beyond the begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father. He
hath declared Him. I know Him. There is no one that really knows
God, but him. I want you to think about that
statement. Now, if I'm a believer, I realize I know him. I know
him, but not like Christ knows him. Christ said, I know him
all together. I know God perfectly. I know
God with omniscience. I know everything concerning
God. I know him. Turn with me for
a moment to Matthew chapter 11. Verse 25. At that time. Jesus answered and said, I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed
them unto babes. Who hid these things? God did. God did. He hid these things. What things? The things of salvation.
God hid them. He hid them from the wise and
prudent and revealed them unto babes even so father for so it
seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my father and no man knoweth the son Father, neither knoweth
any man the Father, save the Son. And he to whomsoever the
Son will reveal Him." He knows the Father. He knows God infinitely. And He said to them, you don't
know Him. You see, no man has the ability
to know God unless Jesus Christ reveals it, just as we just read. I think of what the Lord said
in John 17, verses 2 and 3. He said, Thou hast given him
power over all flesh. That means you. That means me.
Thou hast given him power, authority. over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." And
this is eternal life. That they might know thee, the
only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Now he says to these people,
you don't know it. I do. In John chapter 8, verses 54
and 55, he said, if I said I don't know him, I'd be a liar, like
you are. The way he speaks. But I know
him and keep his saying. Now, you may know me, but you
don't know me altogether. There's a lot of things about
me you don't know. And I know you, but I don't know you altogether.
There are a lot of things about you and concerning you. I do
not know, but he knows me altogether and he knows the Father altogether
because he's one with God. He said, I and my Father are
one, equal with God. He knows everything there is
to know about God with omniscience. That's what he means when he
says, I know him. Yeah, we know a little bit. He knows him altogether. He knows God. He understands
God. He loves God because he is God. Equal with the Father. Jesus Christ is God Almighty,
the creator of the universe, the absolute sovereign of all. Jesus Christ is God. with the father. Next thing he says, he says,
I'm from him. I'm from him. I remember that
original question. If somebody came up to you and
says, I know God, I'm from him. And he sent me for the Lord says,
I'm from him. He is my origin. Turn to John
chapter eight, just across the page. John chapter eight, verse
37. I know that you're Abraham's
seed, but you seek to kill me, because my word hath no place
in you. I speak that which I've seen
with my father, and you do that which you've seen with your father.
They answered and said unto him, Abraham's our father, Jesus saith
unto them, if you were Abraham's children, you'd do the works
of Abraham, but now you seek to kill me. A man that has told
you the truth, which I've heard of God. This did not Abraham,
you do the deeds of your father. Then said they unto him, we be
not born of fornication. We have one father, even God.
Jesus said unto them, if God were your father. you would love
me, for I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me. Why don't you understand my speech?
Even because you can't hear my word. I'm from God, he says. I'm from Ashland, Kentucky. Where
I'm from. I was born at King's Daughter's
Hospital, September 9th, 1959. When the birthplace of Christ
is foretold, we read this in Micah chapter five, but thou
Bethlehem Eprethah, though thou be little among the thousands
of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth to me. That's to
be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been of old from everlasting. Jesus Christ from Bethlehem as
God ordained. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, face to
face with God, literally. The Word was God. He knows God. He's from God and
God sent. This is what he says. This is
his claims with regard to himself. I know God. I know him altogether. You won't know anything with
regard to him apart from me. I know God. I'm from him. And he sent me. He's called in Hebrews 3.1, the
apostle or the sent one of our profession. John 3, 17, for God
sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world. Aren't
you thankful for that? But that the world through Him
might be saved. You see, the world was already
condemned. He didn't have to come to condemn the world. He came,
the Father sent Him to save the world. Matthew 1.21, thou shalt
call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. That's what the father sent him
to do. To save, not to condemn, to save his people from their
sins. Listen to this scripture, 1 Timothy
1.15. Christ Jesus, he initially says, this is a faithful thing.
and worthy of all acceptation. You ought to find this, the best
news you've ever heard. That Christ Jesus came into the
world. Remember he said, he sent me.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Not to make them savable, not
to give them an opportunity to be saved, Not to offer them salvation. You know, I can't stand it when
preachers say, God offers you salvation. He does no such thing.
He saves. He saves. Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners. Not good people, not righteous
people, not holy people, sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Of whom Paul says, I am the chief. Move over, Paul. John chapter three, verse 34.
He whom God had sent speaketh the words of God. You know, all we have the words of
God. He whom God sent speaketh the words of God. He spake as
one having authority. I love, if you go on reading
in John chapter 7, where they sent some people to arrest the
Lord Jesus and they come back. He said, why haven't you arrested
him? He said, never man spake like this man. Nobody's ever
spoke like him. He speaks the words of God. God, who at sundry times and
diverse manners spake in times passed unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his son. He's the God who speaks. He's the God who speaks. John 5, 36, the Lord said, my
works also bear witness of me that he sent me. He did what
only God can do. Now you can close your eyes to
that and say, well, I don't believe he did those things. He says
he did. And he did what only God could
do. He brought matter into existence
that was not there. He raised the dead. He gave sight to the
blind. He did what only God could do. He says the works that I
have done bear witness that the father has sent me. Listen to
this scripture from John chapter six, verse 29. This is the work
of God that you believe on him whom he has sent. John chapter 6 verse 38, I came
down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him
that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me, that of all which He hath given me I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. John chapter
8 verse 42, I proceeded forth and came from God, neither came
I of myself, but He sent me. And this is eternal life that
they might know thee and the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. I know God. I'm from him. He
sent me. Now, the fact that the father
sent him tells us that he was before his father ever sent him.
You see, he is the pre-existent eternal son of God. He was before he came into this
world. How many times did he say, I
came down from heaven? I came down from heaven. Now,
if I said, I came down from heaven, you'd say, you're crazy. You
did not. We know where you were born. But he said, I came down
from heaven. The father sent me. He was before he was sent. I
am that I am. He said at the end of John chapter
eight, before Abraham was, I am. That's God's name. I am that
I am. His father sent him. The word
was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. The
glory as of the only begotten father, the only begotten of
the father full of grace and truth. his father sent him, and
he did what his father sent him to do. Turn with me to John chapter
six. Turn back a few pages. I've quoted
this. Verse 38. For I came down from heaven. He said that seven or eight times
in this particular sermon. I came down from heaven, not
to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the father's will,
which has sent me that of all which he has given me, I should
lose nothing. but should raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the
last day." Now, he knows God altogether. He came from God. And he did
what God sent him to do. Now, here's the question. What
did God send him to do? What did God send him to do? Well, this verse of Scripture
tells us, I came to do the will of him that sent me, and this
is the will of him that sent me, that, listen to the words,
of all which he hath given me I should lose, Nothing. Who are
those the father gave him? The elect. Those God the father gave to
his son to be his bride. The elect. Now somebody may think
you're implying that he didn't come to save everybody. I'm not
implying it, he didn't. That's important for me to understand
and not just because I'm thinking, well, why didn't he do it? He came to save those the father
gave him, the elect. You see, he's no failure. He
didn't come to save somebody and then end up being in hell.
That would mean he failed. That would mean he failed to
do what he intended to do. If he intended to save you and
you're not saved, he failed. Is that right? But that's not
what he came to do. He came to save those the Father
gave him. That is the elect. I wish I could
say this the way I want to say it with the proper attitude.
I want to say this right. But this is the gospel. That
He did everything. That there's nothing for me.
If He died for me, I must be saved. That's the gospel. My only hope. I hope I say this
every time I preach. The only hope that this sinner
has that I'll be in heaven is that Jesus Christ died for my sins
and put them away and made me perfect before God. That's the
only hope I have. That's what he did. This is the
will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me,
I should not lose one of them, but raise them up again at that
last day. Now, Jesus Christ came, number
one, to glorify his father. Number two, to save those the
father gave him, to save his bride. And both of those were
realized in his death. He completely glorified God. He said in John chapter 17, verse
four, I've glorified thee on the earth. I finished the work
thou gavest me to do. He did what the Father sent him
to do. Look at verse 40. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
him may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at the
last day." Now, somebody says, that's discouraging to say that
he only died for his people, that he only died for the elect. What if I want to be saved? Good
question. Good question What does he say? He says this is the will of him
that sent me that everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on
him now understand Election doesn't prevent someone from being saved
The death of Christ for his elect doesn't prevent anyone from being
saved if you see the son. Now, that doesn't mean you see
him physically. I don't know what he looks like
physically. You know, every time I see a picture of him, I just
think, oh, you know. How do you know what he looks
like? Nobody does. That's idolatry. You know, have
a, he's God. to have a picture of him up or
some figure of him nailed to a cross? It means seeing who he is. It means seeing that he does
know God because he is God. It's seeing he is from God and
God sent him. Seeing who he is. That is the issue. Who is Jesus
Christ? Who is he? He said, I'm the one that knows
God because I am God. Jesus Christ is God. He came
from God and God sent him. He sent him. That's the Father's intent. Now if you know who He is, here's
what will prove it. You believe on Him. You will
believe on Him. If you know who He is, you will
believe on Him. You do believe on Him if you
know who He is. Now this is His claim. This is His claim. I know God. all together. I'm from him and
he sent me. Do you believe he knows God? Do you believe he's from God?
Do you believe that God sent him? Now there are three responses that a person can make
to this, his claim concerning himself. Now, let me repeat,
if you come up to me and say, I know God, I'm from him, he
sent me, I'm not going to believe you. I'm just not. And the same thing
with you toward me, as far as a man making this claim, only
God can make this claim. I know him. I know him all together. I'm from him. He sent me. Now, what is your response? There are only three responses. Unbelief. I don't believe that. Apathy and indifference. So what? Or faith. I believe. What's your response? You say, I don't believe that.
Okay. I can't convince you. Only God
can. You're in the hands of the sovereign
God. And the only way you'll believe is if he gives you that
faith. And if you believe him, he's
giving you that faith. You know that, don't you? Faith
is the gift of God. By grace are you saved through
faith. Isn't that not of yourselves? It's the gift of God, not of
works. Lest any man should boast. The
second response, indifference. So what? Well my, that's worse
than unbelief. Something so glorious and it
doesn't mean anything to you? That's worse than, how horrendous. Or faith. Believing the message. Turn with me to Acts chapter
nine for a moment. This is what we're going to close
with. When this chapter began, Paul
did not know who Jesus Christ was. He knew his name. He knew him as Jesus of Nazareth.
He knew him as the one he wanted to blot out, but he didn't know
him. Verse one. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high
priest and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues,
that if he found any of this way, this way of Christ, this
way of truth, this way of grace, if he found any of this way,
whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto
Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came
near unto Damascus, And suddenly there shined round about him
a light from heaven. The other account says it was
above the brightness of the sun. Now I can't imagine something
being above the brightness of the sun but he is. And he fell to the earth. and heard a voice saying unto
him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom thou persecutest. It's hard for thee to kick against
the pricks, you're only hurting yourself in what you're doing. And he trembling and astonished
said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? Now, whenever anyone finds out
who Jesus Christ is, this is their response. Not, here's what I'm going to
do. What will thou have me to do? Is that your response? When you
find out who he is, he knows God. He came from God. God sent him and he did what
God sent him to do. When he said it is finished,
he had completed what God sent him to do. The salvation of the
elect, the salvation of all who come to him, all who see him. Now you see who he is? Lord,
what wilt thou have me to do? What must we do? that we might
work the works of God. This is the work of God, that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. What will he have you to
do? He'll have you to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Young people, old people, middle-aged
people, Everybody else? What are you to do? You are commanded
right now to believe on Him. He who knows God, who's from
God, and was sent of God. You are to believe, to trust
Him, to rely on him to save you. That is what he would have you
to do. If you're thinking, well, I need
to straighten out my life, I need to, I hope you do. But that's not what he's calling
upon you to do. He's calling upon you to believe on the name
of his son. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? He knew he couldn't save himself.
What must I do to be saved? Believe, not work, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. I mean, saved in such a way as
you're going to be brought before God and judgment, and there's
going to be no fault in you. You'll be without sin. You'll
be perfect. You'll be absolutely. That's
what saved is. Believe the gospel. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name. That you would give us the grace. To believe. On this one who knows
you. That is from you. And that you
sent. We ask that we would be given
the grace. To simply rest. in Him who He is and what He
did as all of our salvation. In Christ's blessed name we pray,
amen.