If all I have is Christ, I have
all. He's all I want to have. Sure do miss everybody and so
much look forward to the time where we can meet together with
each other. I've actually thought about what
it's going to be like to see everybody once again, but I love
you all dearly and thinking about you every day. Looking forward
to this being over, Lord's in control. I'm going to read a
verse of scripture from John chapter 20, if you wanna read
with me. And tonight at 6 p.m., I'm going
to be speaking upon this subject, the breastplate of righteousness. From the armor Paul mentions
in Ephesians chapter six, that every believers to put on, we're
going to consider the breastplate of righteousness. Now, in John
chapter 20, beginning in verse 30, and let me give the title
of this message before I read this passage of scripture. Believing
what? Believing what? 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. They're not recorded in scripture,
but these are written for this purpose. These are written that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing, you might have life through his name. Let's pray. Lord, we ask him, the name of
our blessed son, that you would be pleased to speak in power
to our hearts for Christ's sake, and that we might be enabled
by your spirit, by your grace, to believe that Jesus is the
Christ, thy son, and to believing we might have life through his
name. Lord, make that so for Christ's
sake. Lord, we pray for our nation. We pray for the world at this
time. We pray that your will would be done, that you'd give
our leaders wisdom in this difficult time. We pray that if it be your
will, that you would cause our lives to return to the way they
were. And we also ask that you would
use this and cause people to look to thy son and call upon
his name. We're so thankful that you're
in control of everything. And Lord, we know that you've
sent this and that it's for your glory and for the good of your
people. Lord, we pray for the forgiveness of sins for Christ's
sake. Give us grace to love you more
and love one another more. In Christ's name we pray, amen. I don't believe that I could
bring a more important message than the message I'm going to
attempt to bring this morning. So pray for me that I don't get
in the way and muddy the waters. Believing what? Now John gives
us the reason he is writing, and that ought to grab our attention. This is why I've written this
book. Now in verse 30, he said, in
many other signs, truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book. Now these signs verified
who he was. He controlled the weather. What
manner of man is this that even the winds and seas obey him? There's a sign. He brought matter
into existence that had not been in the universe, doing what only
God can do, creating something from nothing. He healed the sick
and I'm not talking about some kind of gradual healing. There
could be somebody that was a quadriplegic laying on the ground, and he'd
say, get up, and they'd get up and start leaping immediately.
Only God can do that. He raised the dead. People who
were dead and had actually got into the process of decay and
stank like Lazarus, he raised from the dead. He did what only
God can do. Look in verse 25 of chapter 21,
there are also many other things which Jesus did that which if
they should be written everyone, I suppose that even the whole
world itself could not contain the books that should be written.
Oh the signs of the Lord that he gave to let us know who he
is. But I think it's interesting
that nobody ever believed because of a sign. The only way you'll
believe and the only way I believe is if he gives us faith. And notice it says in verse 30,
and many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his
disciples, which are not written in this book. Now, when unbelievers
asked for signs, he refused them. He did not give them. He had nothing to prove to them
and he wasn't trying to make himself credible to them. He
didn't give signs to those who demanded a sign from him. He
only gave signs to his disciples. Now in verse 31 he says, but
these are written, written down in the book of God, written down
in divine inspiration. These are written. Now he's talking
about the content of the book of John but when he's writing
this he could have said this of the whole Bible. These are
written. This is the religion of this
book. Our only appeal is scripture. Second Timothy 3 16 says all
scripture. is given by inspiration of God. Isaiah said to the law and to
the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it's
because there's no light in them. The scriptures, these things
are written. Well, somebody says that so-and-so,
the famous preacher of the past believed this. Does it make any
difference? Our only appeal is scripture. God's revelation, the written
word of God. And John says, these are written
for this purpose, that you, that you. Now let me remind you, the
Bible isn't written to other people. It's written to you. The Bible doesn't tell other
people what to do. It tells you what to do. Don't worry about anybody else
at this time. This is to you. John says, these
are written that you might believe. This is the purpose of the writing,
that you might believe. Now to believe is to acknowledge
something to be true. But it's more than that. It's
to think it to be true. It's to rejoice that it is true. It's to be persuaded of. It's to place your confidence
in that which is true. It is to rely on that which is
true. That's what believing is. It's
relying. It's placing your confidence
in. It's placing your hope. It's
believing that which is spoken to be true. Now listen to this
scripture. 2 Timothy 1, verse 12. I think that this is as clear
a definition of what it is to believe as you find in all the
Word of God. Paul says in 2 Timothy 1, verse
12, I know whom I have believed. Not simply I know what I believed,
I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded, I've been
persuaded, that he is able, here's what I'm persuaded of, his ability.
I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day. Now here's a key word to understand. what it is to believe. It's found
in this word Paul said, I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which
I've committed to him against that day. What'd you commit,
Paul? The entire salvation of my soul,
I'm completely dependent upon him to make me accepted before
God in that great day. I'm looking at an airplane. Here's
an illustration. I'm looking at an airplane. And
I believe that airplane can get me across the Atlantic to the
other side. I believe it can. Now, I commit
myself to it when I get in the airplane and trust the airplane
to get me to the other side. I don't help. I'm just in the
airplane. Now, think of two people. One
Olympic athlete goes into the airplane. Another at the very
verge of death goes into the airplane. These two people in
the airplane Both of them are equally dependent on the airplane
to get them over. The athlete is not more likely
to get over than the person who is very sick. If the plane makes
it, they both get over. They're both completely dependent
upon the plane. Now, in this thing of that great
day, if I'm in Christ and he comes into the Father, unto the
Father, I'll get there too. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh to the Father,
but by me. Now, if those two people get
to the desired destination that were in the plane, there's only
one reason they get there, because the plane gets there. And if
you and I get to heaven, there will be one singular reason. because Christ is there. And
I was in him when he entered the presence of the Father in
heaven, I did too. Now, let's look at this verse
again, verse 31, but these are written that you might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Now, notice what he doesn't say. Everything else but the person
of Christ. These are written that you might believe that Jesus
is the Christ. Now, faith has nothing to do
with what you believe about yourself. or with what you believe about
somebody else, except for the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is not, listen to me carefully,
faith is not believing that you're saved. Faith is not believing
that Jesus Christ died for your sins. Faith is not believing
that you've been regenerated and born again. Faith does not
operate in the realm of evidence for or against your salvation. Let me repeat that. Faith does
not operate in the realm of evidence that you think either makes you
think you are saved or you're not saved. That has nothing to
do with faith. The content of true faith is
that you believe that Jesus Christ, that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God. That's the content of faith,
that you believe that Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter,
the one spoken of in scripture, You believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God. That is the content of faith. What about, forget it. Do you believe when God looks
in your heart, what does he see? Do you believe that Jesus is
The Christ, the Son of God. When the Ethiopian eunuch had
heard Philip preach the gospel, he said, see, here's water. What
hinders me from being baptized? And Philip said, if you believe
with all your heart, you may. And the eunuch said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He didn't say, I believe
I'm saved. He didn't say, I believe Christ
died for my sin. He didn't say, I believe I'm one of the elect.
What his faith was was concerning the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. I believe. I'm relying on this
one the scripture speaks of, Jesus of Nazareth. The carpenter
is the Christ, the son of God. Everything is predicated on who
he is. When that is known, everything
else will fall into place. Jesus Christ is the son of God. Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter,
the one born in a cow stable in poverty. He is the Christ,
God's Christ, the Son of God. Now, question, what is meant
by Christ being the Son of God? Isn't every believer a son of
God? Yes. To as many as received Him,
to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on His name. John said, Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God. There are many sons of God, but
there is only one, holy one of God. There is only one, only begotten
Son of God. John 1 18, no man has seen God
at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Five times,
John calls the Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God. Now, what is meant by the only
begotten Son? This indicates Him being the
only begotten Son, that He is the sole representative of the
being and character of the invisible God. He only is the brightness
of God's glory and the express image of his person. Now the
things that I'm saying, I don't understand, I just believe. He's
the only begotten Son of God. And this begetting is not an
event time. There wasn't a time when he was
begotten of God, but it's a fact irrespective of time. The Christ
did not become the only begotten Son. He necessarily and eternally
is the Son. He, a person, possesses every
attribute of pure Godhead. Colossians 2 9 says, In him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. What mystery! What glory! The only begotten
Son of God, every attribute of God, every attribute of the God
of the Bible, he possesses in its fullness. I love it in John
chapter 14 verse 1 when he said, you believe in God, believe also
in me. What you believe of God, believe
of me because I'm his fellow, I'm his equal, I am his son. You see, when the Pharisees got
mad at him for calling himself a son saying he was equal with
God, they were right. He is equal with God because
only one is equal with God, God Himself. No one else but God
can be equal with God. You believe God created the universe? Believe that regarding me. I
did. Do you believe God is absolutely
sovereign and in control of everything and every event and every person
and everything? Believe the same thing concerning
me. Do you believe God is all-powerful? Believe that concerning me. Do
you believe God is independent, that He has no needs? Believe
that concerning me. Do you believe God is immutable,
that He can't change? Believe that concerning me. Jesus
Christ the same, yesterday, today, and forever. Do you believe God
is merciful and gracious? I am merciful and gracious. I delight in mercy. Whatever
you believe regarding the God of the Bible, believe also concerning
Isaiah chapter nine, six. Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given. That son was not born, that son
is the eternal son. Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given, and the government should be upon his shoulders.
His name should be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God. the everlasting Father, and the
Prince of Peace. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, a distinct person, and the Word was God. We believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God. He made many pre-incarnate appearances
before he became flesh some 2,000 years ago. Right after our first
parents fell in the garden, it was he, the voice of God, that
was walking in the cool of the evening. He was that great Melchizedek,
the priest after the orator of Melchizedek, who met Abraham
after the slaughter of the kings. And he blessed him. And he gave
him bread and wine, prefiguring the Lord's table. I love the
way the writer to the Hebrew says, without all contradiction,
the less is blessed of the better. He is the better. He's the one
who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and spoke from the
burning bush. And I love the simplicity of
that. This bush that burned, that could
not be consumed. This fire did not need the energy
of the wood to keep it going. That speaks of the deity of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's utterly independent. He
has no needs. Think of how needy you and I
are. He has no needs. I think of the wood that could
not be consumed. This speaks of the perfect humanity
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that even the wrath of God could not
consume him, such as the dignity and glory of his person. The
wrath didn't consume him. He consumed the wrath so that
it was no more. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. And from the bush is where he
said to Moses, I am that I am. That's the name of God. Not I was, could be, will be,
should be, wanna be. I am that I am. And he said to the Pharisees,
If you believe not that I am, you shall die in your sins. Before Abraham was, I am. When they came to arrest him,
a great crowd He said, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
He said, I am. And the power of his voice knocked
them backwards. He's letting them know I am as
the one speaking, and I'm no victim. I'm in control of everything
that is taking place. I love what Nebuchadnezzar said
after the three Men were cast into the fiery furnace. In Daniel
chapter three, did not we cast three men bound into the furnace? Lo, I see four men walking loose,
and the fourth is like unto the Son of God. At his birth, the angel said,
that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God. At his baptism, the voice from
heaven came down, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well
pleased. The same thing that was said
on the Mount of Transfiguration when The Lord was transfigured
before his disciples, and I don't understand this, but somehow
his face shone like the sun, his deity burst through his humanity,
and a voice came from heaven. This is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased. Hear ye him. I love Peter's great confession
when the Lord said, Whom say ye that I am? Thou art the Christ,
the Son, of the living God. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah.
Flesh and blood didn't reveal that to thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. When he was nailed to the cross
at the very end and cried out, it is finished, and gave up the
ghost, the scripture says, the rocks rent and the earth quaked. And what did the Roman centurion
say? Surely this was the Son of God. Now this one who is the
Son of God was made flesh in order to be God's Christ. And this is so critical that
you and I understand what is meant by Christ. These things
are written that you might believe that Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth,
the Son of Joseph and Mary, the carpenter, Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of the living God. 1 Timothy 3.16 says, great is
the mystery of godliness. God, the Son of God, was manifest
in the flesh. And we beheld his glory, the
glories of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us and he was made flesh in order to be the Christ. Now, the Christ is the Greek
word for the Messiah, and Messiah means the anointed one. God sent him for this purpose
to be the Christ, the anointed one. Now, in the Old Testament,
there were Three offices that involved the anointing of oil
that signified this is the person God anointed for this task. Three offices. First, there was
the prophet. Maybe you remember how Elijah
anointed with oil, Elisha, to be God's prophet. And there was
the priest. Aaron was anointed with oil to
signify that he was God's priest and the king. You'll remember
when God spoke to Samuel regarding David, he says, rise up and anoint
him for this is he. He is God's king, the prophet,
the priest, and the king. Now a prophet brings God's word. Thus saith the Lord. That's the office of a prophet.
He brings men God's word. Thus saith the Lord. But this prophet never said,
thus saith the Lord. He said, I say unto you. Oh, what a prophet this is. The
priest brought a sacrifice that would bring men to God. They bring the blood of an animal
sacrifice which can never take away sins to bring men to God
representatively, but this man brought his own blood to God
to represent men to God. Now these priests, the blood
of those animals could never take away sin. Oh, but this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at
the right hand of the majesty on high from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool for by one offering,
that offering he brings to God, he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. All other kings have a borrowed
authority He's the king whose will is always done because he
is the king of kings and the lord of lords. These things are
written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ. And notice what he says next,
and that believing, that believing, believing what? Believing, relying
upon, having confidence in, trusting in His Word as the Word from
God. Everything you believe is because
it's something He said, because it is written. That's the ground
of what we believe. He said it. When He said, you
believe in God, believe also in Me, well, we do, because this
is His Word. We believe what the Bible says. We believe what God has said. That great prophet, the one who
is the very Word of God. Everything we believe comes from
what He has said. We're relying on what He has
said. For instance, when He said, as
the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. We could never
believe that unless He said it. But He said it as the Father
hath loved me. Oh, the love of the Father to
the Son. So have I loved you. We believe that because He said
it. All of what we believe is predicated
on what our great prophet said. Believing. We're relying. We're relying on his sacrifice
that he brings to the Father as all that is needed to make
us holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. We're relying on
his sacrifice. Nothing else is needed. Who he
is and what he did. Believing. We're relying on his
sacrifice to bring us into God's presence and make us acceptable.
Believing. We're believing. We're relying
upon. We're having confidence in the fact that he is king of
kings and his will is always done and we're relying on him
as the king to will all things needed for our salvation as the
King of Kings. We're completely relying on Jesus
as the Christ and the reason He's such a completely successful
Christ is He is the Son of God. Now that's what we're called
upon to believe, believing. These things are written that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God,
and that believing, you might have life through his name. Now don't miss this believing. Believing, it's in the present
tense. Faith is always in the present tense. Believing, right
now believing. Forget yesterday. Don't try to
figure out whether you're saved by yesterday's experience. Believe
today. Forget tomorrow. You're not even
promised tomorrow. You might think, well, if I can
do this tomorrow, no, forget it right now. Believing. Believing right now. Here's the
evidence of salvation. Do you believe right now? Forget
yesterday. Forget tomorrow. They don't even count. Believing. Present. Right now. Believing. These things are written that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing you might have life through his name. Now in this act of believing,
that's the evidence that you have life. And I'm not talking
about eternal existence. I'm talking about eternal life.
I'm talking about the life of God in your soul. I'm talking
about the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Now listen to me, there's only one life that God accepts.
That's the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody says, I'm concerned
about my life. I realize that, but let me remind
you, there's only one life that He accepts. That is the life. That is the righteousness and
the merits, the perfect life of the Lord Jesus Christ. the
believing. You may have life through his
name. You don't have life because of
your faith. You don't have life because of
your believing. You have life through his name. That name which is above every
name. Now the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ represents his attributes. It's the person behind the name.
It's who he is. His name is his His name is His
sovereignty. His name is His justice. His
name is His independence. His name is His immutability.
All that He is, every attribute of God, is what brings and causes
me and you to have life. We have life through His name,
not through our believing or because of our believing, through
His name. And that's what we believe. We
believe we have life through His name. name. Now this is what we believe.
Believing what? Believing that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that Jesus of Nazareth is God's Christ, God's prophet, God's
priest, God's king? And he is God's prophet, God's
priest, and God's king because he is the eternal, uncreated
Son of God, equal with the Father, one with God because he is God. And whatever he does must be
successful. That's what the thief believed.
He said, Lord, remember me when you come in your kingdom. You're
not gonna stay dead. You're gonna come back as a mighty
reigning king because you're the Lord. You're God. Remember
me when you come into your kingdom. Here's the question. Here's the
issue. Here's the issue between you
and God. What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? I know the answer to that question.
He is the son of the living God. Let's pray. Lord, we stand by your grace in all at
the glory and majesty of thy son. And we confess from the
very depths of our hearts that He is all in our salvation. He's all to you. He's all in
the Bible. He's all in faith. And He's all
in our salvation. Bless this message for your glory
and our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.