John chapter 5, But Jesus answered
them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews
sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken
the Sabbath, but he said also that God was his Father, making
himself equal with God. Now that's the claim he makes
at this time. He says, I am equal with God. Now, if I make those claims and
bear witness to myself with nothing behind those claims, then my
witness is not true. For a man to make the claim of
equality with God, there must be something that verifies and
validates his claims. So in the next few verses, he
gives a threefold witness. Regarding the truthfulness of
this claim, this man, you think about this, this man standing
before them said, I am equal with God. All that God is, I
am. Now that's what he's saying.
That is some kind of claim. There better be something to
validate that for a man to just come up and make that claim with
nothing behind it. He says, if I just bear witness
to myself and there's nothing behind my claims, my witness
is not true. Now, here's his first witness that he calls to
stand, verse 32. There is another that bears witness
of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true.
I'm not just making this claim about myself. He said you sent
unto John and he bear witness unto the truth. Now he's talking
about John the Baptist. John the Baptist bore witness
of me. Now you remember who John the
Baptist is. He was foretold of in the Old Testament, the book
of Malachi, the book of Isaiah. He was the forerunner of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and he was sent to bear witness concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. That was his purpose. Look back
in John 1. John the Baptist, verse 6. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. Talking about John the Baptist,
the same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light
that all men through him might believe. Now he was not that
light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. Look at him bearing
witness in verse 29 of John chapter 1. The next day, John sees Jesus
coming unto him and says, Behold the Lamb of God. which taketh
away the sin of the world, this is he of whom I said, After me
cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before
I was ever around." He's the I am that I am before I ever
had any existence. And I knew him not, but that
he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing
with water, and John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descend
from heaven like a dove, and it abode on him. And I knew him
not, but he would send me to baptize with water. The same
said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending
and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the
Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear record that
this is the Son of God. Now that's John's witness. He
bore witness regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. Go back to John
chapter 5 now. Verse 33, You sent unto John,
and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony
from man. It's not like I need him to do
this. I received not testimony from
man, but these things I say unto you, that you might be saved.
Now he wasn't burning in a shining light. And you were willing for
a season to rejoice in his life. People were impressed with what
he had to say for a season. But now he calls upon his second
witness. Look in verse 36. But I have
a greater witness than that of John. Now remember, he's validating
his claims. But I have a greater witness
than that of John. For the works which the Father
hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness
of me that the Father hath sent me." Now, the Lord speaks of
His second witness, and He speaks of His own works that the Father
gave Him to finish. Now, I understand these in two
ways. First, I think of His works of
miracles that the Father gave Him to finish. And then I think
of the works he came to finish of salvation. Both of those are
included in this witness that he gives. Now, I want you to
think about this. He says this is this greater witness. First,
he demonstrated that he was equal with the Father by the miracles
that he performed. Now, Jesus Christ had authority
over demons. They couldn't make a move without
his permission. They said, what manner of man is this that even
the demons obey him? They trembled at his voice. Now, you want to talk about authority. He had control over demons. He demonstrated his equality
with God in his works of healing. He healed the sick. He gave sight
to the blind, not like these phony faith healers of our day
who talk about these faith... You know, he could walk into
a hospital and he did this in the same respect. He could go
into the hospital and heal anybody there. He didn't have to wait
for some kind of phony... all the stuff that's going on.
He demonstrated his power to actually heal. Only God can do
that. He demonstrated power to create.
He actually brought matter into existence that was not there
before. You remember what He fed the
5,000 men, not including the women and children, with just
five loaves and two small fishes. But food kept appearing and kept
appearing and kept appearing. He demonstrated power to create.
Only God can create. Nobody else can. He controlled the weather. Who's the only one who can control
the weather? What manner of man is this that even the winds and
the sea obey him? He demonstrated his equality
with God by his control of the weather. You know, on three different
occasions, at least, he raised the dead. One time, a fellow
had been in the grave four days. By this time, he stinks. Lazarus,
you know the story. Lazarus, come forth. And Edah
was dead, came forth. Only God. can raise the dead. Is that so? Only God can raise
the dead. Now, if you want, you can say,
I don't believe any of this. It's all a fairy tale. But you
must reject all the word of God if you do that and you're left
with nothing but doubts and uncertainties. And it's certain where you'll
end up. In the rejection of his word. And you can choose to not
believe this if you want to. It's all a fairy tale. It's a
free country. You can believe anything you want to. But he bore witness
with the miracles he performed. But he's not only referring to
his works of miracles, but he's also speaking of the work of
salvation the Father gave him to finish. And notice the way
he says this. He says in verse 36, I have greater witness than
that of John for the works which the Father hath given me. What?
To finish. To complete. to bring to completion. The same works that I do bear
witness of me that the Father has sent me. Now, His Father
gave Him a specific work to do. When He came and walked upon
this earth, He did so for a reason. You know, in the very first opening
chapter of the New Testament, Matthew chapter 1, verse 21,
we read, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save
His people from their sins. That's what He came to do. Now,
did He do it? Did He finish it? What were His last words from
Calvary's tree? It is finished. Now, we certainly do not preach
an unfinished work, incomplete, until you do your part to finish
it. There's nothing divine about that. We preach the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when He said it is finished,
that means a whole lot. The Scripture is fulfilled and
so on, but here's what rejoices me more than anything else. When
he said it is finished, that means the salvation of everybody
he died for was finished, accomplished, nothing left to do. I rest in
his finished work. Now, there's nothing divine about
an unfinished work that has to have your hand on it before the
work. That's not divine. That's purely
flesh. But he says, the works the Father
gave me to finish, to complete the same bear witness of me.
Now, there's the testimony. First, John the Baptist, then
the works the Father gave him to finish. Now, here's his third
testimony. Verse 37, And the Father himself, which hath sent
me, hath borne witness of me. Now, you know, two times we read
in the Gospels, two times it is baptism. First time. And then on the Mount of Transfiguration,
where the scripture says he was transfigured from before before
the disciples and his his his clothing actually became white
and glistening and his his face shined above the brightness of
the sun at this time, he was transfigured, his deity burst
through his humanity, whatever that means. His baptism and the transfiguration
of voice came from heaven. And what did He say? This is
My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him. And that's what God the Father
has to say. This is My Beloved Son. Here's the third witness.
This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him.
So here we have Christ's threefold witness about the truthfulness
of Himself. And they said, if I just bear
witness of myself, there's nothing to it. There's no validity to
it. But I have a threefold witness. First, John the Baptist, the
forerunner. Then, my works that I finished. Works of miracles
and the glorious work of salvation that He completed. And the voice
of God the Father. He bears witness to the truthfulness
of my claims. Now, after the Lord Gives us
this threefold witness. Remember, in the mouth of two
or three witnesses, let it be established. It's established. And you can believe or you cannot
believe, but it is established. This is God's witness concerning
himself. Now, after the Lord gives us
this threefold witness, he makes. These accusations against us,
it's hard to hear accusations against yourself. It's rough. But remember, he says in verse
34, I'm giving you these things that you might be saved. So there's
mercy in this. There's grace in this. But I
hope God will give us all grace to deal with these accusations
personally. Because this is the accusations
that Jesus Christ the Lord makes against you and me personally. Now, verse 37, here's the first
one. I see seven accusations down
to the end of this chapter. Here's the first accusation.
And he says in verse 37, And the Father himself which hath
sent me hath borne witness of me. And here's his first accusation. You've neither heard his voice
at any time, nor seen his shape. You've neither heard him, nor
seen him at any time. Now, you make all these religious
claims. I know God. I love God. I pray to God. He hears me. I
hear Him. I read His Word. I have fellowship
with God. I walk with God. I know God.
I've got a relationship with God. Everybody's going to make
claims like that. And he said, you've never heard
His voice and you have no idea who He is. Everything that you've
thought regarding God by nature is wrong. Every thought you've
had is wrong. You've never heard His voice.
You say you've heard from Him. No, you haven't. That's a lie.
He never spoke to you. You've never heard His voice.
You have no idea who He is or what He's really like. That's
the first accusation. You've never heard His voice.
You've never seen His shape. Have you ever been confronted
with the fact that you don't know God? You don't really know who He
is. You make claims. But you know, when the Lord deals
with somebody, when He makes Himself known to somebody, what
they find out is they don't know God. I don't have a clue. Have you ever been brought there
where you're just utterly ignorant? You don't know God. Now, that's His first claim.
Have you ever been brought there? I don't know. I have no idea
who He is. I've got my thoughts and they're all wrong. Everything
I think is wrong. I don't know him. He hasn't been
brought there. Let's go and read. Verse 38, And you have not his word abiding
in you, for whom he has sent him you believe not. Here's the second accusation.
You do not have his word abiding. living in you. Now, what's he
mean? You have not his word abiding
in you. Is he talking about words that
are in our heart? Well, in some respects, yes,
but that's not really what he's talking about. Who's the word
of God? Remember what he said in the opening of this book?
In the beginning was the word. The Word was with God and the
Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were created by Him. That's the Word He's
speaking of. And He says you don't have His
Word abiding in you. You don't have Christ in you.
Christ in you is the hope of glory. And what is the evidence
of someone having Christ in them? Look at it again. Verse 38. And
you have not His Word abiding in you for whom He has sent Him
you believe not. Now here's the evidence of Christ
being in you. You believe on Him. You really
do believe that He is who He says He is. You believe He's
God. You believe God sent Him and you believe He did what God
sent Him to do. You really believe that. As a
matter of fact, all your eggs are in that basket. You're relying
completely on this. He did what the Father sent Him
to do. That's my only hope of being saved. When Christ is in
somebody, they're going to believe on Him. And He said, you don't
believe on Me. These people saw Him, but they
didn't believe. He said, the reason being is you don't have
His Word abiding in you. Christ is not in you. I'm not
in you. That's the second accusation.
Now, have you ever dealt with the fact that you are nothing
but flesh? And I mean fallen flesh, sinful
flesh, no spiritual life. His Word doesn't abide in us. Well, here's the third accusation. Look in verse 39. Search the Scriptures. That reads
literally. You search the Scriptures. You pore over them. You study
them. You read them. You search the
Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. And they
are they which testify of Me." Now, here's his third accusation
against us. You're completely ignorant of the meaning of the
Scriptures. Oh, you study them. You read
them. You've got them quote. You can quote them. You'll even
fight for verbal inspiration. You believe that. you're totally
ignorant of the meaning of Scripture. Because every Scripture, what?
Testifies of Him. He said, you search the Scriptures
and then you think you can have eternal life if I can just obey
this rule and believe this doctrine. If I can just do this, I'll be
okay. And He says, you've missed the
whole meaning. They are they. Every single one of them. From
Genesis 1-1 to Revelation 22-21, they are they which testify of
Me. And you will not come to me that
you might have eternal life. And there's the third accusation.
You have no true understanding of the scriptures. Now, have
you ever been brought to this? The Bible's a closed book to
me. I can't figure it out. I'm completely dependent upon
Him to reveal it to me because I can't through my study, through
my diligence, I can't figure it out. The Bible's a closed
book to me. It's just above me. Have you
ever been brought there? I'm just ignorant of the meaning
of the Scripture. Here's the fourth accusation,
verse 39. You search the Scriptures. For
in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which
testify of me, every single one of them. And here's the fourth
accusation. You will not come to me that
you might have life. First, you don't have life. You're dead. Life is only in
me and you will not come to me that you might have life. You
won't do it. You just won't do it. There's
life in me. And anybody that comes to me,
I won't cast out. He made that promise. Him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. But he said, you will not come
to me. You know, I guess the biggest
lie ever told is that man has a free will. You will not come
to me. You won't do it. You're totally
chained to sin. You will not come to me. It's like there's life in me.
And you won't come. You know, I can preach the Gospel
so clearly. If the Lord enables me. I'm not
talking about my ability to preach. But I can tell the truth so clearly. And you know what? You won't
come. And here's the crime of human
nature. Here's the sinfulness of human
nature. You won't come. You can hear the truth and say,
I don't want to go that direction. I don't believe that. I'm not
going that way. You will not come. And listen to me. I can say this
to everybody in this room. Everybody in this room. You say,
well, what about the people out there? Well, we're not worried about
them right now. We're just talking about the people in this room. You've heard the
Gospel. And if you're not saved, it's
because you would not come. You would not come. Well, God didn't elect me. That's
not the problem. You would not come. Have you ever dealt with your
own responsibility in this thing? Your problems are your fault.
The corruption of your nature is found in your will. You will
not come. That's why God sends men to hell.
Because they will not come. Here's life. Here's complete
life in Christ. Life before God's holy law. Perfection
before God's holy law. Spiritual life. It's all to be
had in Christ. You hear that? And you will not
go. Now, every one of us have been
guilty of that beginning here. Every one of us have been guilty.
You will not come to me that you might have life. Verse 41. He says, I receive not honor
from men. I don't need your affirmation,
is what he's saying. I don't need your approval. I
don't need you to agree with me. Do you think the Lord needs
our agreement? If I don't believe, does that detract from His person
or His glory in any way? He says, I receive not honor
from men. I don't need your affirmation
regarding my truthfulness. I am that I am. You know, I read
that passage in Exodus 3, 14. I am that I am. You know, there's
another place over here in John chapter 8, verse 24. He said,
if you believe not that I am. Not I was, not I will be, not
I could be, not I should be, but I am that I am. If you believe
not that I am, you shall die in your sins. Well, that stopped
you, won't it? He said, I received not honor
from men, verse 42, but I know you. I know you, that you have
not the love of God in you." The Lord says, I know you fellas. I know you all together. I know
you up and down. I know what you're thinking.
I know you, He says, that you do not have the love of God in
you. You don't have a drop of blood
for God. You talk about it, but you don't
even know who He is. You don't love Him. You don't love His
attributes. You don't love His sovereignty. It's who He is.
His holiness is who He is. His justice is who He is. How
He saves is who He is. And He says to this group of
people, you don't have any love for God and you don't love men.
You talk about love for men, but you don't really love them.
The only person you love is yourself. You don't have the love of God
in you. Now, that's his accusation against
me and against you. You know, by nature, this is
a solemn thing to think about. By nature, I'm born in this world,
the Lord's enemy. Not friendly, but His enemy. Irreconcilable differences, and
I'm the problem. I'm the problem. No love for
God. As a matter of fact, by nature, there's a hatred for
the living God. God, as He's revealed in His
Word. He says, I know you. that you don't have the love
of God dwelling in you. Verse 43. Here's his sixth accusation. I'm coming in my father's name.
And you receive me not. If another shall come in his
own name, him you'll receive. I come evidently. You're the Lord. It's so obvious He's God. If
you've got eyes to see. It's so obvious that He's the
message of this book. It's so obvious He is who He
is. I mean, anybody can see this if they have eyes to see. And
He said, but you won't receive Me. I come in My own name so
clearly, and you won't receive Me. Yet if somebody else comes
in His own name, some sinful man, you'll receive Him. You'll
believe some sinful man, but you don't believe Me. How can
you believe, verse 44, how can you believe which receive honor
one of another and seek not that honor that comes from God only? You know, you can't believe as
long as you're more concerned about what men think than what
God thinks. That's what he's saying. You
fellas, and we've all been guilty of this. How can you believe
when you're more concerned about what men think and what men say
about you and their opinion of you? How can you believe which
receive honor one from another and you don't look for that honor
that comes from God only? How can you believe? The fact
of the matter is you can't as long as you're controlled by
men's opinions rather than what God says. Verse 45, here's the set of that
accusation. Do not think that I'll accuse
you to the Father. There is one that accuses you,
even Moses, in whom you trust. You say, well, we believe Moses'
writings. For had you believed Moses, you would have believed
me. For he wrote of me, but if you
believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words? Now,
here's the bottom line, he says, and this is the accusation he
brings to everyone. You don't believe the Bible.
You say you do, but you don't pay any attention to what it
says. Because if you would have believed Moses' writings, you
would have believed my words. Now, here's the seventh accusation. You really don't believe the
Bible. You don't believe the Word of
God. Now, here we have our Lord's
sevenfold accusation against you and against me. He says,
you've never seen God. You've never heard His voice.
You've never seen His shape. In all your religious professions,
you've never really seen who God is. You don't have His Word
abiding in you. You have no spiritual nature. You're all flesh. You don't have
Christ in you. You're ignorant of the meaning
of the Scriptures. You won't come to me for life. You have
no love for God. You're more concerned about what
men think and what God thinks, and you really haven't believed
the Bible. You've just used it to justify
your own position rather than to bow what it says. You've searched
in it to maintain your doctrine rather than to bow to what God
says in his word. You don't really believe the
Bible. Now, that's his accusations against us. Now, here's the question
I want to ask you. How do you plead? How do you plead? Now, those
are big accusations. How do you plead? Not guilty. Not guilty. Well, what you're
doing is saying Christ is a liar if you plead not guilty. How
do you personally plead to these accusations the Lord levels against
you? There's only one plea. guilty as charged. That every mouth may be stopped. No excuses. No extenuating circumstances. That's the truth. That every
mouth may be stopped. And all the world stands guilty
before God. Now, how do you plead? Now, he's leveled his accusations.
There's no doubt about the truthfulness of him. He's given the threefold
witness. You've got no excuse. I've got
no excuse. And yet he makes these accusations against us. And I
tell you what, if you're a believer and you see every one of them
are true, that's what the Lord brought you to, to show you your
need of him. How do you plead? I'm calling for a verdict right
now. How do you plead? Now, Christ levels these accusations
against you. How do you plead? Do you see that his accusations
against you are true? Well, here is where faith begins. Agreement with God. That's where faith begins. You
agree with what he says in his Word. Do you agree with God? You see, You have to see God
in order to agree with God. You've seen him in his word now.
Now, if you say guilty as charged, there's a reason you say guilty
as charged. He's made himself known to you.
He's shown you who he is. And that's why you say guilty
as charged. You agree with him. You've seen his shape. You've
heard his voice. That's why you plead guilty. I couldn't help
but think of that Syro-Phoenician woman when the Lord said, it's
not me. It is not right to take the children's
bread and to cast it to dogs. You remember her response? Truth,
Lord. Truth. What you say is the truth. Every accusation you level against
me is the truth. And the reason you now agree
with God is because you see who He is. This is what a believer
does. He sees who God is. This is where
we begin. We find out who God is. It's
not until you see who He is that you're going to see who you are.
And when you see who He is, you'll see who you are. Now, the reason
you see Him is His Word abides in you. Remember that accusation
he leveled against everybody? You have not God's Word abiding
in you? Well, if you see who he is, there's
a reason you see who he is. His Word abides in you. Life abides in you. And here's the evidence that
his Word abides in you. You believe on him whom he sent.
You really do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Do
you believe that? Do you believe it's God, God the Son? Do you
believe that He accomplished salvation? Yes, I do. That's faith. That's faith. His Word abides in you, and you
now know the meaning of every scripture. Every single one of
them. Now, I might not know how to
get... I know the answer. I might not know how to get to the answer,
but I know what the answer is. You know, I took a lot of tests
like that. I knew the answer. I didn't know how to get there,
If I got the right answer, that's okay with me, as long as I get
the good grip. Well, I know the answer to every scripture. Christ
Jesus. Now, I might not know how to
get there, but I know that's the answer. Now, may the Lord give
us wisdom to know how to get there, but as long as I know
the answer, I'm okay. Christ Jesus is the answer to every
scripture. To Him give all the prophets
witness. He is the meaning of every scripture. I know the meaning of scripture. And you now come to Him for life.
Whosoever will. I love this scripture. Whosoever
will. Are you willing to be saved by
Christ? Are you? Are you willing to be
saved by Him? Are you willing for Him to get
all the glory and salvation? Are you willing to be saved by
free grace alone? Are you willing? Whosoever will. Let Him come and take the water
of life freely. You come to Him for life because
you know there's no life anywhere else. And you come to Him for
life. Life before God's holy law. Perfection
before God. I have that in Him. I've got
life before His law. I've got life in my heart and
my soul. Christ in me. And I come to Him for that life.
I come to Him for all things. You know this thing of coming
to Christ. He said you will not come. I
tell you what, when He gives you A new heart. A new nature. You come. You come to Him for
all things. You come to Him for your faith.
You don't come to Him with faith. You come to Him to give you faith.
You come to Him to give you repentance. You come to Him to give you...
You come to Him for all things. It's a continual coming to the
Lord Jesus Christ. You come. And you now have the
love of God in you. You really love Him. You love
Him as He's revealed in His Word. You love every one of His attributes. That's who He is. You love His
holiness. There was a time when you didn't.
You thought He was too strict. Now you love His holiness. You
love His absolute justice. You love His sovereign control
of all things. You love His love. You love His
mercy. You love His power. You love
His wisdom. Everything about Him, you love. You now love Him. You've got
the love of God in you. And now you're infinitely more
concerned over what God thinks than what men think. You know,
I can say this to everybody. Now, I want your good thoughts
of me. I want you to like me. And you want my good thoughts
of you. We're not indifferent about things like that, but when
it comes right down to it, do you really care what I think
compared to what he thinks? No, not at all. I care about
is what he thinks of me. And if I had his approval, I'd
like to have yours, but I'm not going to live with. I'm not going
to die if I don't get it. I want your but if I had his approval,
if I had his hand on me, if I had his mercy toward me. That's all I want, and if you're
a believer, that's all you want. You're really not concerned about
what anybody thinks as long as you have his approval and his
mercy. in his grace, and here's the
bottom line, you really do believe the Bible. You really believe the Bible
is the word of God, and you bow to what God says in his word,
and you do what all who really believe the Bible do, you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And look what he said in verse
4, do not think that I, verse 45, do not think that I'll accuse
you of the Father. There is one that accuses you,
even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you
would have believed me. For he wrote of me. But if you
believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words? Now,
here is now you might ask yourself, do I just believe the Bible is
the word of God because that's what I've been indoctrinated
in, what I've been taught all my life? Or do I really believe
the Bible is God's holy word, his revelation of himself? Well,
here's how you can answer that question. Do you believe on Christ? Do you? If you do, you really believe
that He is your salvation before God. If you do, you believe the
Bible is the Word of God. That proves you really believe
it. And if you don't look only to Him, that proves you don't
really believe the Bible. I'll tell you this, anybody who
really believes the Bible is the Word of God, That individual
is saved. If they really believe it. I'm
not just talking about saying they believe it. A lot of people say
that. But I'm talking about somebody who really believes God's Word. That person is a saved individual. God's done a work of grace in
their heart and they bow to the Word of God. Well, how do you
plead? Guilty or not guilty? Well, if
you plead not guilty, you're in trouble. But if you plead
guilty as charged. That's salvation. Agreeing with
God. May God give us all grace to
agree with him. Let's pray together.