John 5, the witnesses of our
Lord. Verse 30, the Master says, I
can of mine own self do nothing. He's speaking here of the Son
of God in human flesh, the Son of Man. He's the Messiah standing
on the earth. And he says, I can of my own
self separate from the Father, do nothing. Now, he's talking
here of the unity of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
He says, I can do nothing independent of my Father. I can do nothing
separated from the will and purpose of my Father, because I and my
Father are one. You know, the Scripture says
God cannot lie. Our Lord is saying here, I cannot
do anything of myself, apart from the Father. Scripture says
God cannot lie. And when the scripture says God
cannot lie, it's not implying any weakness on the part of God,
or any lack of power on the part of God. But God's very nature
will not permit him to lie. His very nature will not permit
him to lie. His nature can't produce a lie.
So the nature and person of this Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ,
our Redeemer, cannot produce anything contrary to the will
of the Father. I always do those things that
please my Father. Thank God he did. That's our
righteousness. He says here, as I hear, I judge,
as I hear my Father. I speak those things which my
Father gave me to speak. The words that I speak are not
my words, they are his words. And that's the very thing he
said of the Holy Spirit. In John 16, turn there just a
moment, John 16, verse 13, what the Savior says about himself,
he says, too, about the Holy Spirit, John 16, verse 13. How be it when he, the Spirit
of truth, is come? He'll guide you into all truth,
for he shall not speak of himself. I know sometimes we say, well,
he won't talk about himself. No, he won't either. He won't
glorify himself. But he's saying here he'll not
speak things that he decides to speak. As he hears, he judges. Christ said, as I hear, I judge.
And because it comes from the Father, it's just. That's what
he says here about the Holy Spirit. Whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak. and show you things to come."
That's what he's saying there in that verse when he says, I
can't have my own self do nothing. Then in verse 31, he says, if
I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. We've got
to be very careful in interpreting these words. It would be blasphemy. It'd be blasphemy to charge our
Lord with bearing false witness. Anything he says is true if he's
the only one that says it. That's true. Whatever he says
is true if he is the only one that says it. But what he's saying
here is this. He's speaking as the man Christ
Jesus. He's speaking as the Messiah.
And he declares this. If I am the only witness of who
I am and what I came to do, and of my relationship with the Father,
if I'm the only one who knows that, and who says that, and
who testifies to that fact, if I'm the only one, I'm the only
one, my witness is not credible. My witness will not hold up in
court. It's not valid before the law,
even in the court of the Jews. No man is admitted to the bar
or to the court or to the law as the only witness of himself.
The scripture says, I read it to you Wednesday night, let every
word be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. Let's
turn to that in Deuteronomy 19, you who are not here Wednesday
night. My wife Doris was called for
jury duty up in Catlesburg a few years ago, and they had a man
there charged with some crime. And they only had one witness,
just one, that's all. And the prosecuting attorney
said to the prospective jurors, does it present a problem to
you that there's just one witness in judgment on this man? Nearly
all of them said, that don't bother me. And I'm sitting there
thinking, it bothers me that there's just one witness because
the scripture says, Deuteronomy 19, verse 15, God says, one witness shall not
rise up against a man for any iniquity, for any sin, in any
sin that he sinneth, at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth
of three witnesses shall every word be established. Do you know
that's in the Bible seven times? Our Lord quoted it twice. And
that's what he says right here. He says, if I bear witness of
myself, if my testimony is only a testimony of who I
am and what I came to do. My relationship with the Father
is not credible. Not credible. But our Lord has more than one
witness. Verse 32. That's who we're talking about
this morning, our Lord's witness. He says there is another that
beareth witness of me. There's another man who beareth
witness of me. Another very special man. A man
who's alive today. He's in prison. that he's a liar,
John the Baptist. And his witness is true, and
he beareth witness of me still. There's another that he didn't
say did beareth witness, he said there's another that beareth
witness of me. And I know his witness is true, which he witnesses
of me. Now, he's talking about John
the Baptist, and he chose to use John the Baptist as his first
witness for the benefit of these scribes and Pharisees who were
familiar with the Old Testament scriptures. And John the Baptist's
ministry as the forerunner of Christ is over and over again
in the Old Testament. Let's read a few of them. Look
at Isaiah 40. Isaiah chapter 40. I'll give
you time to find it because these Old Testament prophecies are
so important because they testify of Christ. They bear witness
of Christ. Everything in the Old Testament
written of him was fulfilled by him. And here in Isaiah 40,
it says in verse 3, the voice of one of him that crieth in
the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted,
every mountain and hill be made low, the crooked shall be made
straight and the rough places plain, and the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed. That's the coming of Christ.
And all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it. And the boy said, Cry. And he said, Well, now,
Lord, what shall I cry? He's the forerunner. You tell
them all flesh is grass, and all the glory, goodliness thereof
is as a flower to feel. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely
the people is Christ. Look at verse 10. Behold, the
Lord God will come. He'll come with strong hand,
and his arm will rule for him, and his reward is with him, his
works before him. This is Christ. He'll feed his
flock like a shepherd. He'll gather the lambs with his
arms, he'll carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those
that are with him. That's John the Baptist in the
Old Testament, prophesied of his ministry, the witness of
Christ. Let me show you another one. I turn to Malachi. The very
last book in the Old Testament, 400 years before Christ came. This is the last of the witnesses
in the Old Testament, leading to John the Baptist. Malachi 3, verse 1, the last
book in the Old Testament. Behold, I'll send my messenger,
and he'll prepare the way before me. What did you just read in
Isaiah 40? Prepare you the way of the Lord.
He'll prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek,
the Messiah, the desire of all nations, the priest like Melchizedek,
the prophet like Moses, the son of David, the root of Jesse,
the Lord whom you seek, upon whom you look, shall suddenly
come to his temple. Come to his temple. And that
morning, that old priest, Simeon, was standing in the temple. God
had said to him, you'll not see death until you see the Lord's
Christ. You'll not die until you see the Lord's Christ, the
Messiah. That old man's hair was white
and beard was long, shoulders stooped. He's waiting for the
consolation of Israel. And in walked Mary with that
baby in her arms to do as the Old Testament required of a mother
with a young child. And that old man took that baby
up in his arms with the promise of God on his heart. Now he said,
Lord, let your servant depart in peace. I have seen your salvation. The messenger has come to the
temple. The Lord whom you seek will come to his temple. He is
the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. Behold, he
shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. Malachi 4. Here is another
prophecy of John the Baptist. Malachi Now then, this is the last word
in the Old Testament. She's closed now with this. Behold,
look up and listen. I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
I'll send you that prophet like Elijah. And the Lord Jesus told
who that is. He told his disciples who this
is. No need to wonder who this prophet is. It comes before Christ
as a forerunner. Matthew 11. No need to wonder
who that is, because the Savior himself tells us who it is. Matthew 11, verse 11. John was still in prison, and
John had inquired of the Lord, Are you he that should come,
or do we look for another? He was down in prison and he
thought, this thing winding up, you know, and no Messiah. But
he understood. In verse 11, Matthew 11, Verily
I say unto you, Christ said this, I say unto you, Among them that
are born of women, there is not risen a greater than John the
Baptist. Notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of God,
the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of
John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence.
and the energetic and the serious-minded, take it by force. For all the
prophets and all the law prophesied unto John," now listen, and if
you'll receive it, this is Elijah, that word Elias is Elijah, which
was to come. Our Lord says if you'll receive
it, this is the one Malachi was talking about. when he said,
just before the coming of the great day of the Lord, I'll send
the pocket. And that's John the Baptist.
Now look back at my text, John 5. In John 32, he says, there's
another that bears witness of me, and I know his witness is
true, because he witnessed of me which he witnesses true. Now
verse 33, you fellas sent to John, you inquired of John. You sent a delegation to John,
you sent a deputation of priests and Levites to inquire of John,
and he told you, he bore witness of the truth. You sent a delegation
to him. Let's read about that in John
1. Let's read about that delegation. These, these, John was a, you
know sometimes the movies, I tell you in television, they picture
John the Baptist as some wild man out there in the wilderness.
Have you seen John the Baptist in these movies? Long, stringy
hair and a wild, raving maniac. That wasn't John the Baptist.
John the Baptist was a miracle child born of Zacharias and Elizabeth
when they were as old as Abraham and Sarah. And God promised Zacharias that
he would give a son that would be a prophet of God and his Zechariah
had trouble believing it. And the angel of the Lord says,
you'll be dumb till that boy is born. You won't speak a word. And God struck him dumb. Elizabeth
was the kin to Mary. Six months before
the Lord Jesus was conceived, John the Baptist was conceived
in the womb of Elizabeth. And his daddy was dumb till that
boy was born. And the angel said, call him
John. Call him John. And when John was born, his daddy
still hadn't spoken a word in nine months. And when John was
born, the people around said, what are you going to name him?
And his mama said, we're going to name him John. And one of
those people said, there's no John in your household. You can't
name him John. There's never been a John in
your house. He's going to be. And they asked his daddy. They
said, what are you going to name him? But he couldn't talk. So
they gave him a pin and a quill. And he wrote, his name is John. And when he did, God opened his
mouth and he praised the Lord. That's right. Our God is so wonderful. Well, these fellows, let me tell
you about the way they looked at John. They feared him. The king feared John. Herod feared
John. He went out to Herod. He did
many things. He admired John. The priests
and the Levites, they feared John. They respected him. They
knew his character. And here in John 1, turn over
there, they sent a whole bunch of these fellows, these priests
and Levites and big-time fellows, rulers of the Jews, they sent
them out there in the wilderness where John was preaching, and
all these people were going to hear him. It says all Judea and
all Jerusalem went to the wilderness to hear John. That's what scripture
says in Matthew 3. And they were baptized out of
him, everybody but the priests and the Pharisees. The common
people heard him gladly. The common people heard him gladly.
And it says in verse 19, this is the record, John 1, 19, this
is the record of John. The Jews sent priests and Levites
from Jerusalem, and they went on a long journey. He was down
beyond Jordan preaching. And these fellows came all the
way from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you? You reckon all of
these fellows would have gone to ask some maniac out in the
wilderness, ranting and raving, who he is? They don't care who
he is. But they worry about this fellow. He's God's anointed,
the greatest man born of woman. Who are you? And he confessed
and denied not, but confessed, I'm not the Christ. They even
thought he might be the Messiah. They held him in such repute
and honor. He said, I'm not the Messiah.
Well, they asked him, who then? Are you Elijah? Are you that
prophet? Are you Elijah? He said, I'm
not. Are you that prophet? What prophet?
Deuteronomy 18? Well, these fellows knew the
Scripture. In Deuteronomy 18, God said to Moses, I'll raise
up a prophet among the people like unto you, and him shall
the people hear, and anybody who won't hear him, I'll deal
with him. They said, that's who you are?
No. Well, they said, who are you?
We may give an answer to them that sent us. We're a delegation,
a deputation of important people sent by the highest of all of
them. We want to tell them who you
are. What do you say of yourself? Here's his testimony. But our
Lord said, he bear witness of me. Boy, this is beautiful, listen. He said, I'm the voice of one
crying in the wilderness. That ought to ring a bell, shouldn't
it? Isaiah 40, the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He
said, that's who I am. Isaiah 40. Make straight the
way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah. And they which were sent
were of the Pharisees, and they asked him, saying, Why do you
baptize then if you're not the Christ and you're not Elijah
and you're not that prophet Moses promised? He answered them saying,
I baptize you with water, but there standeth one among you
whom you know not. There is one already here, born
in Bethlehem, walking the streets of Judea and the lanes of Capernaum,
whom you don't know. He came on his own, you don't
receive him. He it is, whose coming after
me is preferred before me, whose shoelaces I am not worthy to
unloose. He has all preeminence. And these
things were done in Beth-Avora, beyond Jordan, where John was
baptized. And the next day, John seeth
Jesus coming unto him, and he said, Behold the Lamb of God,
that taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said,
After me cometh a man which is preferred before me. He was before
me. He's from the foundation of the
world, eternal. And I knew him not, but he that
sent me. But he, that he should be made
manifest to Israel, therefore am I baptizing with water. And
John bear record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven
like a dove in a boat upon him, and I knew it not, but he that
sent me to baptize with water. The same said to me, upon whom
you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same
as he that is baptized with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, I bear
record, This is the Son of God. This is the Son of God. I go
back to my text. Verse 34, Our Lord said that
I receive not testimony from man. I don't need a man to tell
people who I am, but these things I say that you might be saved.
You see, these men were familiar with the scriptures, and by the
scriptures let every word be established. And what our Lord
was doing was taking them back to their own Bible and showing
them that John the Baptist was prophesied by Isaiah, by Malachi,
by all these prophets of old, and his coming was the fulfillment
of that prophecy, that these people might be saved. What they
were rejecting and resisting was the promise of their own
prophets. their own pocket. Now look at
verse 35. He was a burning and a shining
light. My, what a light he was. He said, I'm not that light.
I'm a witness of that light, that all men through him might
believe. And you were willing for Caesar to rejoice in his
light. One of the old writers said this
about John the Baptist and these fellows' relationship with him.
He said this. When John first appeared, they
were proud of him. They gloried in him that a man
of such gifts and wisdom should be raised up among the Jews. They were in captivity then.
John the Baptist, even Herod was going to hear him preach.
The court, all Judean. And they flocked to him. They
flocked about him. Many of the Pharisees and the
rulers came to hear him, that's what Matthew said. But when they
found out, he was not the Messiah. When they found out, he was not
Elijah, and he was not that prophet. But he came to bear witness of
Jesus of Nazareth, when they found that out. When John the
Baptist pushed their attention from him to the hated Christ,
pushed their attention from him to the Messiah. when they found out that he came
to bear witness to Jesus of Nazareth, that Jesus Christ is the Messiah,
the Son of God. And John's message ran contrary
to their thoughts of their own righteousness. John's message,
he said, bring forth fruits of meat for repentance. His message
ran contrary to their thoughts of their own righteousness, that
their works and their ceremonies and their traditions were of
no use, that Jesus of Nazareth came not to establish an earthly
kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom of righteousness and peace, and
die as a sacrifice for sinners, they despised John. They despised John and they rejected
his baptism. The scripture says they refused
the witness of God against themselves. All right, verse 36, Christ said, John the Baptist bore witness
of me. Verse 36, I have greater witness than that of John. The works which the Father hath
given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness
of me that the Father sent me. What's he talking about, the
works? He said on one occasion, If you believe not me for my
sake, believe the works of mine." Well, I think, in a sense, he
refers to the miracles that he performed. The Old Testament
speaks of that. Turn to Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35,
verse 4 through 6. Isaiah 35. I'm saying that Christ did mighty miracles, many
complete miracles, miracles impossible for a human being to perform.
It says here in Isaiah 35, verse 3, "...strengthen ye the weak
hands, confirm the feeble knees, and say to them that are of a
fearful heart, Be strong, fear not, Behold, your God will come
with vengeance, even God with a recompense. He'll come and
save you. And then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and
the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, and the lame man will
leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing, and in
the wilderness shall waters break forth, break out like streams
in the desert. But when our Lord, when John
the Baptist sent disciples to our Lord and said, are you the
Christ or do we look for another? He said, you go tell John what
you've seen. The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the
dead are raised. And Nicodemus came and said to
him, we know you're from God because nobody could do what
these miracles you do except God be with you. And the Pharisees knew this.
Turn to John 11. They were troubled over these
miracles. John 11. And incidentally, Evelyn, this
is that last sermon that Bill preached before he left here
at 13th Street. This is the one. John 11, verse
47. Listen to this. Then gathered
the chief priests and the Pharisees and the council and said, Now
what are we going to do? Do it in any miracles. We've
got to do something. If we leave him alone, everybody's
going to believe on him. And the Romans will come and
take away our place and our nation. And one of them named Cacophas,
the high priest, that same year, said to them, you don't know
anything. Now consider, isn't it expedient for us that one
man should die for the people rather than a whole nation perish?
Verse 51 said, he didn't say this of himself, but being a
high priest he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation,
and not for that nation only, but also that also he should
gather together in one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
But these fellows were upset. And they said, he's doing so
many miracles, everybody's going to believe on him. So Caiaphas,
the high priest, said, well, let's kill him. It'd be better
for him to die than everybody else die. And that's what the
Lord said. It's better for him to die than
all of you die. So he died for us. And we're set free. But miracles. But you know, the miracles are
only pictures of his work. The miracles make the blind to
see and the deaf to hear and the lame to walk and the dead
to be raised. That's not salvation. That's a picture of salvation.
That's not our Lord's work. He didn't come down here just
to heal folks, because they're going to die again, they'll raise
the dead. He came to save. He came that
the spiritually blind might save. That's the works that the Father
gave him to do. He came that those who can't
hear God will be able to hear God. He came that those who are
dead in sin should be raised. And all of these people that
our Lord healed, making the blind to see, is a picture of, I see. I didn't see. I couldn't see. I wouldn't see. But he performed
a work of grace, and now I do see. I do see. I see Christ as
the Redeemer. I see I'm a sinner without help,
without hope, without God in this world. And He's my only
hope. His blood makes atonement for
my soul. His righteousness gives me a
perfect standing before God. And I see! And I'll never be
blind again. And I hear Him speak through
His Word. Him the Speaker from Heaven. I'm hearing Him this
morning. I hope you're not just hearing
me. I hope you're hearing Him. And I can walk, I can run like
a deer. This old man's perishing, but inside I'm hopping around.
I'm renewed every day. I'm alive by Christ. That's his
word. He said that, look at John 5
again, verse 36. I have greater witness than that
of John, the works which the Father hath given me to finish.
Where they finish? On the cross. He said it's finished. In John 17, where I preached
tonight, he said, Father, now glorify thy Son, that thy Son
may glorify thee. I have finished the works you
gave me to do. That's the works that testify
of him. And nobody knows Christ until
they know those works. Nobody knows who he is or why
he came or where he is now unless they see in him the works of
God completely finished. in him dwelleth all the fulness
of the Godhead, body, and the new complete image." Verse 37, our Lord bore witness, John the
Baptist bore witness, his redeeming works bear witness, and the Father
himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. But
you've never heard his voice before. at any time nor seen
his shape." He's talking about all people, never heard the voice
of God. Almighty God bore witness. I'm talking about the Father
now, about the Father. The Father bore witness of Christ
through the prophets. He spake to our fathers and prophets. The Father bore witness of Christ
in the Old Testament scriptures. The Father bore witness of Christ
by angels that visited the earth and bore witness. Abraham entertained
angels. He spoke to other people by angels.
He bore witness by angels in the New Testament. The angel
came to the angel wrestle with Jacob. That's the angel of the
Lord. That's not the Father. That was the Son. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the angel
of the Lord, appeared and spoke to people before his incarnation.
He wrestled with Jacob. He was Melchizedek who met Abraham. And judges, when Manoah and his
wife made that altar and sacrificed that sacrifice to the Lord, and
the angel of the Lord was standing here, he's the one who told them
to offer that sacrifice. And they offered a sacrifice
which is a type of Christ. It's a sacrifice of blood. that
they offered and built the fire, and as the smoke was going to
heaven, this angel of the Lord got in that sacrifice and rose
up in the smoke. And just before that, one of
them said, Who are you? He said, My name's Secret. Wonderful. That was Christ. It has to be. No angel of God would get into
a sacrifice, would even have anything to touch about a sacrifice. He is our sacrifice. See, they
were offering that Lamb a picture, but the Lamb. That's right. So God, the Son
spoke, the angel spoke, but Father didn't. But when our Lord Jesus Christ
stood in that river, Jordan, with John the Baptist, the Scripture
says, Lo, a voice from heaven. Christ said, I have greater witness
than what verse 37, the Father himself which sent me bore witness
to me. Scripture says when he stood
in that river, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved Son
in whom I'm well pleased. That's the Father. That's when he spoke and bore
witness to Christ. And our Lord took three disciples,
Peter, James, and John, and went to the mountain to pray. And while on that mountain, the
scripture says, he was transfigured. His clothes glistened like the
sun. And they appeared talking with
him, Moses and Elijah. Moses, who represents the law,
Elijah, the prophets, the law and the prophets. They appeared
and talked with him. What did they talk about? I know,
it's in Scripture. They talked about his death on
the cross, that's what it said. And they talked about the death
he would accomplish, the works that he would accomplish. And
when Moses and Elijah disappeared, and Lord, they saw none but Jesus
only. And a cloud engulfed them. And
a voice out of that cloud said, this is my son, hear him. That's a powerful witness. And
one time our Lord Jesus was walking along, and He lifted His eyes
to heaven and said, Father, glorify Thy name. And the voice from
heaven said, I have glorified it, and I'll glorify it again. My Father Himself is a forewitness of me. That's one of the chief reasons
I believe who he is and worship him. He's the father's son. And all these other religions,
they don't have a father and a son and a Holy Spirit and a
sacrifice for sinners. They don't have a salvation.
They've got a code of morality and a code of other things, but
they don't have a code of righteousness. That's right. But there's one
more witness, down in verse 39. And he told them in verse 38
there, he said, you fellows, you don't have his word abiding
in you. You read it, but you don't have it abiding in your
heart. My word hath no place in your
heart, he said. My word hath no place in your
heart. And the proof of that is, him
whom God sent, they don't believe. But now he says in verse 39,
you search the scriptures. And they did. They were students
of the scriptures. They searched the scriptures,
read the scriptures, taught the scriptures, transcribed the scriptures.
Why? Because in the scriptures you
think you have eternal life. I tell you, these fellas had
a Bible in their hands. as people do today, the Bible
in their hands. They read the scriptures as people
do today. They memorize the scriptures
as people do today. They hear the scriptures preached,
at least in word, and they read its laws and endeavor
to keep them. And they observe the days of
the scripture and the laws of the scripture and the ordinances
of the scripture. and try to do the works of the
scriptures because they think in the scriptures they have life. That's what he says to me. You have the scriptures. You
search the scriptures. You do that because you think
that's where life is. But he says the scriptures testify
of me. I'm the life. I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. You can't come to God by the
scriptures. You come to God by Christ. The scriptures won't
wash you and make you clean, but His blood will. The scriptures
won't clothe your nakedness and give you righteousness, but He
will. They testify of me. And He says, you won't come to
Me. You'll come to the front, you'll
come to the preacher, you'll come to the priest and confess
your sins. You'll come to anything but to
Him who has the power to make you whole. Isaiah said, who believes what
we got to say? Who believes our witness? Who
believes our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? I kind of think everybody in
here this morning is saying, I do. I do. I believe. Lord, I believe. Help
my unbelief. Increase my faith. I believe.
I believe He's the Christ, the Son of the living God. pleased the Lord to bruise him,
he hath put him to grieve, when I shall make his soul an offering
for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and
thank God the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. I want to be in the hand of him
in whose hand the pleasure of the Lord is prospering. That's
where I want to be. And I am.