Now, I'm going to bring a message
today from the book of John, chapter 5. John, chapter 5. If you want to follow in your
Bible, you open it now to the 5th chapter of John. I'm going
to do like I did last week and go verse by verse, almost phrase
by phrase through several verses of this 5th chapter of John.
Someone has written many years ago that the theme the theme
of Matthew's writings is Jesus Christ, son of David, king of
the Jews. That seems to be the theme through
the book of Matthew. And the theme through the book
of Mark is Jesus Christ, the servant. Mark presents Christ
as the servant. And then the book of Luke, the
theme of Luke's writings seems to be Jesus Christ, Son of Man. But John's Gospel has a definite
theme. The Gospel of John, the writings
of John, set forth Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He starts out
that way. He says in John 1, 1, "...in
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. And all things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made, and the Word,
the Son of God, was made flesh. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace
and full of truth." And here in John 5, the Master Himself,
the Lord Jesus Christ, so clearly reveals himself as the Son of
the Father, the Son of God. It's so clear he reveals himself
as the Son of God, and then when he reveals himself, his office,
his attributes, his character, and the proof of it, then he
brings six serious charges against all unbelief. And I want to get
to that. in this message. I'm going to
show you a few things, the proof of it, and then I'm going to
get to these six solemn and serious charges that He brings against
unbelief. But now open your Bible there
to John 5 and look at verse 17 and 18. John 5, 17, and the Lord
Jesus speaking here, He says, My Father worketh hitherto, and
I work. My Father works and I work. In other words, the work of redemption. What is the work of the Father?
The work of redemption. Covenant mercies. The Kingdom
of God. That's the work of God. Known
unto God are all His works from the beginning. We are His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus. So this work, He says, My Father's
work is My work. I must be about My Father's business.
My Father's work is my work. The work of the Father and the
work of the Son are one because I and my Father are one. All right, look now at verse
21. And he said, As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth
them. This is spiritual life. This
is quickening of sinners from dead bodies. a deadness in sin. You have the quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sin. And he said, as the Father quickeneth
the dead and giveth them life, even so the Son quickens and
gives life to whom He will. Salvation, the new birth, spiritual
life, is the work of God. Salvation's of the Lord. Salvation,
the new birth, spiritual life, is by the will of the Father.
We're born not by the will of the flesh or the will of man,
but by the will of God. And the new birth is by the will
of God. Spiritual life is the work and the will of God. He
said, I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful. And He said,
My Father quickeneth the dead, even so the Son quickeneth whom
He will. Look at verse 22. And the Father,
He said, the Father works and I work. The Father has power
to give life. I have power to give life. The
Father hath committed all judgment to the Son. All judgment. He said the Father judges no
man, verse 22, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. In other
words, I hate to use the word fate, but the fate of every human
being is in the hands of Jesus Christ. God has committed all
judgment, all righteousness, all final authority into the
hands of Jesus Christ. That's what he says here. The
Father judgeth no man, but he hath committed all judgment to
the Son. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath put all things in his hands. In John 17, he said this in verse
2, Thou hast given me authority over all flesh, everything, the
kingdom, the covenant, The creature is in the hands of Christ. Everything's
in His hands. God hath appointed a day in which
He'll judge the world by that man, Jesus Christ, whom He hath
appointed. And He hath given proof of it
in that He raised Him from the dead. In other words, I'm saying
this, and this is what Christ is saying, where a man stands
in the judgment depends on his relationship to Jesus Christ.
How a man stands in the judgment, what a man meets up with in the
judgment, all depends upon whether he's in Christ. He that hath
the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. Do you see what he's saying?
The Master reveals Himself as the Son of God. He said, My Father
works, I work. The work of the Father is the
work of the Son. My Father quickeneth whom He will. My Father giveth
life, raiseth up the dead whom He will. Even so the Son quickeneth
whom He will. And the Father judgeth no man.
He has committed all judgment to the Son." In other words,
before whom will we stand at the judgment? Before Christ. All judgments in His hand. It's
the Lamb on the throne. It's the Lion of the tribe of
Judah. and the Lamb in the midst of the throne as it had been
slain." That's Christ, all authority in heaven and earth. And then verse 23, "'He that
honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father who sent him.'" There's no way to honor the Father
if you don't honor the Son. They're one. My Father works,
I work. My Father quickens the dead, I quicken the dead. My
Father judges no man. I'm the judge. My Father hath
committed all judgment to me. And he that honoureth not the
Son honoureth not the Father that sent him. No man knows God
except the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him. Have
you ever seen God? No man has seen God at any time,
the Scripture says. He dwells in a light to which
no man can approach. Well, who has seen Him? The Son. Well, how can we see Him? He
that seeth the Son. That's what he told his disciples.
I and my Father one, he that seeth me seeth the Father. He
that knoweth me knoweth the Father. No man can honor, worship, or
please God except by faith in, love for, and devotion to his
Son. That's what it says right here. He that honoreth not the Son.
honoreth not the Father who sent him." It's literally, absolutely,
biblically impossible to know God apart from Jesus Christ. He's the revelation of God. God
spoke to our fathers, but the prophets hath in these last days
spoken to us by his Son. Now look at verse 24. My, what
awesome claims, and yet claims that are true. In verse 24, and
he says, and he that heareth my word, my word, my father works,
I work. My father gives life to whom
he will, son gives life to whom he will. My father judges no
man, all judgment's in my hands. And he that honoreth not the
son, honoreth not the father. And he says here, and he that
heareth my word and believes on him that sent me, He prepared
me a body. Thou hast prepared me a body,
he said. Lo, I come, in the volume of
the book it's written of me, to do Thy will, O my Father,
by which will we are sanctified once for all by the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ. The Father prepared him a body.
The Father sent him into the world. The Father gave him a
work to do. The Father commissioned and anointed
him as the Christ, the Redeemer of sinners. And he said, He that
believeth, heareth my word, and believes on him that sent me,
Jehovah God, just God and Savior, he has everlasting life. That
person that hears me, these words, and believes on him that sent
me, and to believe on the Fathers, to believe on the Son, to believe
on the Sons, to believe on the Father, they're one. He has right
now, he hath, H-A-T-H. One old country preacher says
that spell's got it. He got it. He hath everlasting
life. And what? And shall never come
into condemnation. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God, and there's therefore now no
condemnation to them who are in Christ, because He's already
passed from death to life. You see that in verse 24? For
as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to
have life in Himself. Now, my friends, these are awesome
claims, aren't they? This man, Jesus Christ, said,
I'm one with God. I give eternal life to whom I
will. I have all authority, all judgment in heaven and earth,
all control over all things. If a man doesn't honor me, he
can't know God. If a man doesn't believe on me
and hear me and follow me, he'll perish forever. But if he does
believe me, he'll have life everlasting. No man ever spoke like that.
You know, messiahs have come and gone. There's been a lot
of messiahs. There's been a lot of religious
prophets and religious leaders. And they've come and gone, these
messiahs, and have set forth ways and means and works and
system of morality by which men can find peace and find their
way to God and find happiness. But this man, this man Jesus
Christ, he actually says, He doesn't say, I'll show you how
to get to God. He says, come to me, I am God. He doesn't say, I'll show you
a way by which you can earn life. He said, believe on me, I am
life. And he says, all who do not know
me and love me and believe me will perish. Now, I ask this
question. On what authority? And by what reasons am I to believe
the claims of Jesus Christ? Well, look at verse 31. This
is interesting. Our Lord adds, when He made all
these claims, when He revealed His character and His attributes,
His oneness with the Father, His power and authority, He added,
now, verse 31, If I bear witness of myself and only my word, you
have only my word for these claims, then my witness is not true."
What's he saying? He's saying what the Bible says
all the way through, let every word be established by the mouth
of two or three witnesses. So our Lord said, if I don't
have witnesses to back up what I claim, then my witness is not
to be heeded, not to be heard." Well, who are the witnesses?
Well, he starts giving them. Look at verse 32, John the Baptist. John the Baptist, he said, bore
witness of me. He was the forerunner. He was
the miraculous son of Zacharias and Elizabeth. He was sent to
bear witness of Christ. He's the last of the Old Testament
prophets. He's the forerunner, John the
Baptist. miraculously conceived, miraculously
born, filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb, the last
of the Old Testament prophets. And he said, Behold the Lamb
of God, Jesus Christ, Son of God. To Him give all the prophets
witness. John the Baptist bore witness
of me. And then verse 36, he said, The works that I do bear
witness of me. The works that I do. The blind
see, The lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead live. I'm not talking about this foolishness
going on today about all these faith healers claiming to have
the power to break crutches. When our Lord healed a man, he walked. When our Lord gave
sight to the blind, they saw. When our Lord touched the coffin
of that dead man, he lived. Lazarus came forth from the grave.
It wasn't put on like you're seeing today. It wasn't that
sort of thing. Nicodemus said, no man could
do what you do except God be with him. And then he noticed
this, verse 37, he said, the father hath borne witness of
me. At his birth, God hung a star over a manger and sent the angels
down to announce his birth to the shepherds. At his baptism,
God spake from heaven and said, this is my beloved son. in whom
I'm well pleased." At His transfiguration, the Father spoke again and said,
"'This is My Son. Hear Him.' At His death, the
sun refused to shine. The veil in the temple was rent
in twain. The rocks quaked. The dead rose. At His resurrection, the angels
came down and stood at His open tomb and said to the disciples,
"'Why do you seek the living among the dead? He's not here.
At His ascension, God sent the angels again, and they said to
the disciples, This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into
heaven, shall so come in like manner as you've seen Him go.
Yes, the Father, He said, hath borne witness of me." That's
three witnesses, three powerful witnesses. John the Baptist,
all the Old Testament prophets, the works that He did, the Father
Himself. And then he says, the Scriptures
testified me, bear witness, testified, bear witness. You find anyone,
anywhere, who fulfills every picture, every type, every pattern
of the Old Testament, you'll find the Messiah. And he did.
Seed of woman, seed of Abraham, root of Jesse, tribe of Judah,
son of David, born in Bethlehem. Passover lamb, rock smitten,
serpent lifted up, lion of the tribe of Judah, Passover tabernacle,
priesthood. He is indeed the prophet, priest,
and the king, Christ Jesus. But, and here's the third part
of the message. In the face of all these claims,
our Lord Jesus Christ, I and my Father once, As the Father
quickeneth the dead, the Son quickeneth the dead. All judgment
in my hands. He that heareth me believeth
on me at the light. And then the witnesses. John
the Baptist, the Old Testament prophets, the Father, the works
he did, the scriptures. Undeniable witnesses. In the
face of all these claims, and certain proof of these claims
by these very powerful witnesses, Men did not and do not believe
on Him. They did not then, they do not
now. And therefore, He then brings
six serious charges against unbelief. Now, He tells us who He is and
what He did and why He did it. He tells us about the witnesses,
clear witnesses, undeniable witnesses, but they still said crucify Him.
We'll not have this man reign over us. And so he brings six
serious charges against unbelief. Now here they are. He's talking
to religious people now. He's not talking to the harlots
and the drunks and the publicans. He's talking to religious folks.
And he says in verse 39, now watch this, six serious charges.
He said, all right, you search the scriptures. You're busy studying
the Bible, no question about it. These men who were listening
to him, they were scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees and lawyers. They were searching the Scriptures,
studying the Scriptures, teaching the Scriptures. For he said,
in them, that is, in the Scriptures, you think you have life. But they are they which testify
of me. There's no life in the Bible.
Life's in Christ. I have great love for the Word
of God. I have great gratitude for the Word of God. The Bible
is God's Word, but eternal life's not in the Bible. Eternal life's
in Christ. The Bible didn't die for me.
The Bible wasn't buried and rose again. Christ was buried and
rose again. He bore my sins in His body on
the tree. There's no life in the law. There's no life in the
ceremonies. There's no life in a knowledge
of the Bible. Somebody says, I know my Bible, but do you know
Him of whom the Bible speaks? These fellows knew the Bible
too. Life is in the Son of God, it's not in the Bible. Christ said, you read the Bible,
you quote the Bible, you study the Bible, you search the Bible, but there they which testify
of me, and you won't come to me. You see, if a man reads the
Bible and does not come to understand who Christ is, and what Christ
did and why Christ did it, that God may be just and justifying
where Christ is. And he's read the Bible in vain.
He's read it to no avail. He searched it in vain. And that's
what he's saying to these people. You search the Scriptures, you
know about the feast and the laws and the tabernacle and the
priesthood and all these ceremonies and ordinances and baptism and
Lord's table and all, but do you know Him? Do you know Christ? The Bible testifies of Christ.
Now, what's the second charge? Verse 40. He said, You will not
come to me that you might have life. Now, one thing is clear from
the earlier scriptures, the Son of God is life. The Son of God
has life in Himself, and the Son of God gives life. If I want
to drink of water, I've got to go to the fountain where the
water is. And if a man's gonna have life,
he's gonna have to go where life is. Gonna have to go to Him who
is life. There are people who come to
a church. They'll come to the front of the church. They'll
come to an altar. They'll come to a denomination.
They'll come to a feast. They'll come to a law. They'll
come to a system of doctrine. They'll come to an experience,
but they won't come to Christ. That's what's astounding. You
will not come to me. These are serious charges. He
says, you're searching the scriptures, you're studying the Bible, you're
memorizing the Bible. But the Bible testifies of me. The Bible is a hymn book, H-I-M. It's Christ. And you won't come
to me that you might have life. Life's in a person. What is it
to come to Christ? You say, well, he says you won't
come to me. What is it to come to Christ?
He said, no man can come to me except my Father draw him. Well,
what is it to come to Christ? Well, it's to recognize Him for
who He is. It's to address myself to Him,
not to one of His preachers or soul winners or counselors or
somebody on a telephone. Go to Him. It's to address myself
to Him as He is, as I am. It's to look away from everything
else and everyone else and look to Christ alone. Look to me,
He said, and be saved. It's to look to Him and believe
on Him. And it's to keep on coming to Him. Keep on coming to Him. But you won't do it, He said.
You'll go to a preacher. You'll go to the front. You'll
come out of the balcony. You'll go to these big meetings
and stream down to the front while they sing Just As I Am.
You'll go down there to a preacher or go to the front or go to a
bench or go to a counselor. They don't have salvation. They
don't have life. He said, You won't come to me.
I'm the way, the truth, and the life, Christ said. Here's the
third charge. You don't have the love of God
in you, verse 42. You have not the love of God
in you. We got a lot of love of self in us, haven't we? A
lot of love for this world in us. Men love darkness rather
than light. We got a love for natural life,
but not the love of God. What is the love of God? Well,
it's the gift of God. It's shed abroad in the heart
by the Holy Spirit. It's a love for God. It's to
love God as God is. It's to love God as He's revealed
in His Word. It's to love the true and living
God. It's a sympathetic and compassionate
love for others. It's the fruit of the Spirit
of God. It's the love of God. You don't have the love of God
in you. You've got love for self, but no love. That's the reason
He told us to love others if we love ourselves, because we
sure love ourselves. But the love of God is the love
for God. It's the love of God. It's the
love from God. Here's the fourth charge. I'm
come in my Father's name, He said. I come in my Father's name.
I come to reveal the Father, to manifest the Father. The Father
sent me. I come to redeem a people. And
you won't receive me. You receive me not. If another
comes in his own name, you'll receive him. Oh, I tell you,
people are quick to receive error. The more phony a conman preacher
is, the more people will follow him. That's right. It's so sad
in this day. People will accept so-called
philosophers, religionists, and every voice on the block, but
Christ said, you won't come to me. I come in my Father's name
and you won't come to me, you won't receive me. Let another
come in his own name and him you will receive." What's the
fifth charge? You seek not the honor that comes
from God only. You'd rather have the honor and
applause of the world. I tell you the temporary honors
and riches and applause of this world mean more to people than
the favor of God Almighty. If we can just see our name in
the paper or our face on television or some recognition some way,
get more money, more riches, more status, more this, that
and the other, we seek honor that comes from me and it's a
fading, perishing honor. And we seek not to honor that
comes from God. That's a serious charge. And
then last of all, verse 46 and 47, He said, you believe not
the writings of Moses. Had you believed Moses, you'd
believe me. Moses wrote of me. Oh, we'll quote Moses, but we
don't believe him. Just like preachers, I hear them
quoting Luther and Calvin and Spurgeon. They don't believe
what those men preach. And we quote Moses, but we don't
believe him. Moses wrote of Christ. Now, if you want this message,
it's called Six Charges Against Unbelief, John chapter 5. and the one I brought last week
on the shepherd of the sheep. Write for it. Send two dollars.
Here's the address. Until next week, may God bless
you, everyone.