Chapter 5 of John's Gospel. In these early verses, our Lord
came to the pool called Bethesda, and He healed a man. He healed a man who had been
lame for 38 years. Everybody knew him. He'd been
lying there by that pool often on for years waiting for someone
to help him into the water after the angel disturbed the water.
But no one was there to help him. The Pharisees and the other
religious leaders knew this man. They saw him often because he
was always lying in this same place. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to
that pool one day. There were many people there,
many lame people. This was not the only lame man.
They were blind, the Scripture said, and half-naked. But our Lord walked over to this
one certain man and said to him, Will thou be
made whole? Well, he said, I have no man
when the waters trouble to put me into the pool. And while I'm
coming, struggling, crawling, or however trying to get down
there, someone steps in before me. And the Lord Jesus said to
this man, rise, take up your bed and walk. The man didn't
know who Christ was. Christ knew him, but he didn't
know Christ. And he did. He was healed immediately.
The scriptures said immediately he was made perfectly whole.
And he picked up his bed, rolled it up. It wasn't a cot, I'm sure, or
a large bed. It was a bedding, like a child's
or a young man's sleeping bag. And he rolled it up, put it on
his shoulder. and started walking down the
road with that bed, holding it with a strong arm, walking with
a strong leg. And these Pharisees saw him,
these religious fellows, and they said to him, they didn't
say a word about the fact the man was healed, the miracle,
this man made perfectly whole. But the Pharisees said to him,
It's not lawful for you to carry your bed on the Sabbath day. Oh, how the depravity and dishonesty
of religion is revealed here. They couldn't rejoice in the
fact that he was made whole. They couldn't rejoice in the
fact that he was healed. They couldn't rejoice in the
fact that God had vested him with a miracle. The only thing
that troubled them was he was violating their traditions, their
religious traditions. Here was a man that everybody
knew. Thirty-eight years is a long time. And he'd been by this pool,
lame, withered, hogged. And here he's made whole by the
sovereign mercy of God, by the grace and hand of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He's made perfectly whole. And
they say, it's not lawful for you to carry your bed on this
Sabbath day. Instead of rejoicing and giving
glory to God, these religious people were angry because this
man violated their traditions. Their ceremonies and traditions
were more important to them than the truth of God. And our Lord
had something to say to them. Look at verse 16. Verse 16. You see, the Messiah came, but
he didn't fit in to their religious traditions and practices and
beliefs. So it says in verse 16, "...therefore
did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because
he had done these things on the Sabbath day." And so our Lord
answers them, and I'm going to show you throughout this day
what he had to say to that religious crowd. He addresses the religionists,
their leaders, and all these religionists who followed these
leaders, and continue to follow them down
to this day. You know, it's an interesting
thing what Peter said to the people at on that day of Pentecost
when he was preaching. Turn to Acts chapter 2. Peter
addressed the same kind of multitude, a religious multitude, at the
religious feast called Pentecost. And he spoke to them concerning
the salvation in Christ, the salvation that God had given
in Christ. And he closed with these words
in Acts chapter 2, verse 39. Now listen. Let's read verse
38. Then Peter said to them, Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And
you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." He's talking
to this vast religious multitude. They were there to celebrate
Pentecost, this feast. They were on a religious
pilgrimage, a religious holiday, a religious convention. And he's
calling on them to repent and to believe God that their sins
might be put away. Verse 39, for he says, "...the
promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are
far off, Gentiles, every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue unto
heaven, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." And with
many other words did he testify and exhort, say, listen, save
yourselves. Deliver yourselves. Get out. Separate yourselves. From what? From this untoward generation. What's the word untoward or untoward
mean? Perverse, crooked, warped. That's the Greek meaning of that
word. Get out of this religious, warped,
perverse, crooked generation. That's who he was talking about.
That's who was there. Jews from all over the world.
From every known country. There were Pentecosts. So many
Sabbaths. Seven Sabbaths in a day. Fifty
a day. Pentecost. After Passover. Religious up to the neck. law-abiding,
moral, claiming God's their Father, following the Scriptures, teaching
the Scriptures, offering the sacrifices. And Peter gets up
before he finishes and says, you better repent and believe
on Christ. And you better get out as quick
as you can, separate yourself, deliver yourselves from this
twisted, warped, perverted, crooked, untoward generation of religious
people who don't know God. And that's the very people our
Lord is talking to right here. Here a man had been healed. Christ
by his sovereignty. This man didn't know Christ. Didn't know who he was. Never
asked him a thing. Never asked him to heal him.
Never sought him. Didn't even know who he was. And our Lord passed by, and in
his sovereign will, he quickeneth whom he willed, he said, Would
you be made whole? Take up your bed and walk. He
took it up and walked. And here was a notable miracle,
a power for only God could do. A man who was helpless is now
strong. A man who was weak is now in
full bloom, whole. They said, You're not supposed
to carry your bed on the Sabbath day. Blind as a bat, dumb as a box
of rocks, and yet religious leaders. And that's what we're surrounded
with. Same situation. And our Lord has something to
say to them. And He sets forth His deity,
His oneness with the Father, and His mission. Now I want you
to listen to what He says in John 5. So He answered them. The Lord Jesus Christ answered
them. And the first thing he said is
this, my Father worketh hitherto and I work. What does that mean?
He says the Father and the Son are one in redemption, in the
work of redemption. My Father works. What is the
Father's work? We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. What is the Father's work? He
that hath begun a good work in you will complete it in the day
of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus said in John 17,
Father, I have finished the work you gave me to do. What work
did he give him to do? This is a faithful saying that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. That's the work
he gave him to do. The work you gave me to do. I
have finished." And yes, when he stretched forth his arms on
Calvary's cross, he said, it's finished. What's finished? His life? No, he'll rise again. What's finished? The Old Testament
scriptures, types and pictures, yes. What's finished? I'll tell
you what's finished. Redemption. It's complete. It's finished. The work you gave
me to do is finished. I and my Father are one in redemption. The Father chose, the Son redeemed,
the Spirit called. Turn to John chapter 10. John
the 10th chapter. Listen to our Lord here. And
these men knew what He was saying. He's God. He's one with God. And he's one with God in redemption. My Father works and I work. We
work together. In John 10, verse 30, listen,
I and my Father are one. And then the Jews took up stones
again to stone him. And Jesus answered them, How
many good works have I showed you from my Father? For which
of these works do you stone me? The Jews answered, saying, For
good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy. And because
that thou being a man makest thyself God." He is. He is. Show us the Father, they
said. He said, you've seen me, you've
seen the Father. Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given. And the government shall be upon
his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to Himself. So this is what He says to that
religious crowd, I and my Father are one in redemption. We're one. Alright, notice, and
they knew what He was saying, look at verse 18, therefore they
sought the more to kill Him. He had not only broken their
Sabbath day, he had not only violated their traditions and thumbed his nose at their
ceremonies, but he said God was his Father,
making himself equal with God. Jesus Christ is God. God Almighty. That's who He is. He's God. God was in Christ. Great is the
mystery of godliness without controversy. God was manifest
in the flesh. Then he went on, look at verse
19. Then answered Jesus and said to them, you know, they just
said, well, you not only violated our Sabbath, but you claim to
be God. And then he answered them and said this, truly, truly,
I say unto you, listen, the Son can do nothing of himself. But
what he seeth the Father doeth, for what things wherever he doeth,
these also doeth the Son likewise." Now, the Lord Jesus, when He
said the Son can do nothing of Himself, you see that the Son
can do nothing of Himself? He doesn't limit or restrict
His power. He does not limit or restrict
His power. He can do what He will. But he
is saying, as the Messiah, as the second Adam, as the Christ, who is the Son,
cannot act independently of Him who is the Father. He cannot
act independently of Him who sent Him, because they're one.
And in Hebrews, he said, Father, a body has thou prepared me.
In the volume of the book it is written of me, I come to do
thy will, O God." So he said, I don't speak of myself, I speak
of Him who sent me. The works that I do are not my
works, the works of Him that sent me. The Son can do nothing
independently and separately from the Father, we're one. See what he's saying? We're one. And that's why in John 6, verse
37, he says, "...all that my Father giveth me shall come to
me." It can't be otherwise. "...all
that my Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh
out in no wise cast out." I couldn't cast out him who the Father sent.
See what he's saying? The Son can do nothing independently,
separately from the Father. They're one. All that my Father
giveth me, they'll come. And those that come whom he gave
me, I won't cast them out. For I came not to do my will,
but the will of him that sent me. And this is the will of him
that sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I'll lose nothing,
but raise it up at the last day." All right, thirdly, He's still
talking to them. Verse 20, he said, "...for the
Father loveth the Son." The Father loveth the Son. Write that down,
the Father loveth the Son. Whom does the Father love? The
Son. No doubt about that. It says in John 3, "...the Father
loveth the Son, and giveth all things into his hands." And here
he says, "...the Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all
things." I'm talking about all things. From eternity to eternity. All things in purpose, plan,
will, creation, that has been, that is, that will be. All things. And not known to us. A few things. All things the Father showed
the Son. When? And He's going to show him greatest
works, the fulfillment of all the purposes and plans, because
known unto God are all His works from the beginning. And He declares things that are
not as though they were. The Father dearly loves the Son.
And number one, in an everlasting covenant, A covenant He made
with Adam, Moses, Noah, Abraham, and David was made with men. This covenant He brought again
from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep
through the blood of the everlasting covenant. This covenant He made
with Christ and showed Him all things. Gave Him a people. made him their surety, surety
of the everlasting covenant. He made this covenant with Christ.
It's a kingdom. He put into his hands the kingdom,
the future, every believer. And God chose, this was before
the world began, before creation. And God chose his sheep in Christ
before the foundation of the world. He was a lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. The sheep that He would redeem
were given to Him before the foundation of the world. The
covenant that He would fulfill was made and delivered into His
hands before the foundation of the world. And God's love and mercies, the
sure mercies of David, were conferred upon Christ the heir before the
foundation of the world. And Romans 8 says nothing can
separate us from that love which is in Christ Jesus. God hateth the workers of iniquity. He loves the Son. God's angry
with the wicked every day, demonstrated by the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah,
the destruction of Jerusalem, and hell. loves the Son. Christ said, I'm
telling you, the Father loves the Son, and all who are in the
Son, and all whom He gave to the Son. Only Christ knows the will and
purpose and covenant because it was made with Him. In the
volume of the book that's written of me, lo, I come to do thy will,
by the which will we are sanctified. And that covenant is fulfilled
by him. It's vested in him. It's made
with him. It pleased God that in him should
all fullness dwell, and it's fulfilled by him who, being the
brightness of his glory when he had purged our sins, sat down
on the right hand of God. And it's only through a union
with him that that inheritance is mine. He's the husband. We're the bride. He's the heir. We're joint heirs. Joint heirs. He's the vine. We're the branches.
He's the head. We're the body. Father loves the Son. Made the
covenant with Him. Showed Him all things. Vested
everything in Him. crucified him, raised him from
the dead, seated him on his right hand, till his enemies be made
his footstool, and his sons be made like him. That's what he
said to them. Now look at verse 21. Listen. As the Father raiseth up the
dead, and quicken, gives him life,
even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. People talk today in
religion, they talk a lot about the sovereignty of God. But most of them do not really
believe God is sovereign. Did you know that? People say
Jesus is Lord. I've seen these large campaigns
and they have a sign up over the speakers platform, thousands
of people, Jesus is Lord. And then the preacher will say
to the people out there, the sign says Jesus is Lord. But
he'll say to the people, won't you let Jesus be your Lord? I
thought He is Lord. You ever hear them say, make
Jesus the Lord of your life? Wait a minute now, is He Lord
or did I make Him Lord? I hear them say, why don't you
accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Wait a minute. That sign
says He is. Is He or isn't He? No, they don't
believe it. He's saying here, the Father
is Lord of life. He gives life. God said, I kill,
I make alive. I wound, I heal. I create light
and darkness, good and evil. I, the Lord, God, King, Sovereign,
Almighty, do all these things. Does He or doesn't He? He says
He does. He says that the Father is Lord of life. The Son will
give life to whom He will. He quickens whom He will. He
gives life to whom He will. He saves whom He will. He is already Lord. Nobody makes
Him Lord. They recognize Him. They bow
to Him. But everybody is going to bow
to Him. And everybody is going to recognize Him. It just depends
on when, here or at the judgment. But God said He highly exalted
him and already given him a name above every name that every knee
shall bow and every tongue shall confess, He is Lord. In heaven, earth, and hell, He's
Lord. He'll save whom He will. I heard a song one time on a
religious station And I'm convinced the EPA, Environmental Protection
Association, ought to shut down all religious television and
radio stations because they're polluting the air. The worst
pollution in this world is coming from religious television stations.
I can stand Armco's smoke. I can breathe it and not mind
a bit in the world as long as men are working, making a living.
But I can't stand the odor and stench that comes from people
who are blaspheming God. I heard a song on one of those
programs. It made headlines in heaven when I got saved. They
put out an extra, extra read all about it. Mike Bartram got
saved. If the Lord saved that old scallywag,
they already knew it in heaven. His name was written there for
the foundation of the world. Made headlines here. Why would
God save a fellow like that? Now that is the headline. That
deserves an extra, doesn't it, Mike? That deserves everybody
to sit up and take notes. Why under heaven would God save
you and me? That ought to be an extra. Nobody takes God by surprise. They do this peanut God that
people are preaching today, but not the God of the Bible. The Father gives and takes life,
the Father quickens the dead, and the Son will quicken whom
He will. Turn to Romans 9, Romans chapter
9. Listen to Paul. Romans chapter
9, verse 11. Romans 9, 11. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good
or evil at the purpose of God, according to God's election might
stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said to
her, the mother, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written,
Jacob have a love, but Esau have a hated. Now what shall we say
then? What you got to say about that?
Is the unrighteousness, is God unfair? God forbid. He said to
Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I'll have
compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it's not
of him that willeth, it's not of him that runneth, it's of
God that showeth mercy. Not of him that willeth free
will, it's not of him that runneth down the aisle, it's of God that
showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith to Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might
show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth, even Pharaoh. Serve the purpose of God in his
rebellion. Moses in his obedience, Pharaoh
in his rebellion. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he'll harden. I will say then, well, why does
he yet find fault? Who can resist his will? Nay,
but, old man, who are you to reply against God? Shall the
thing formed say to him that formed it, why do you make me
this way? Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same
lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? The Son quickeneth whom He will.
Salvation is by the will, all right, by the will of God. That's
right. Salvation of sinners is by the
will of God. And then our Lord went on, I'll
close in a moment. Verse 21, the crown writes, verse
22, "...the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment
to the Son." Listen, that all should honor the Son, worship
the Son, even as they honor the Father. Even as they honor the Father.
"...he that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father that
sent him." Listen, tell me a moment. the pictures of Jesus, which
the religious world keeps producing, putting in Bibles pictures of
a man called Jesus. They keep producing these pictures,
hanging them in their homes and hanging them in their churches,
and worshiping these pictures. And it reveals a total ignorance
of who Christ is. Read that verse again, 23, that
all men should honor, reverence, worship the Son as they worship
the Father. He that honoreth not the Son,
honoreth not the Father. These pictures of poetry in Christ
as He was, as a babe. He's not a babe, He's the King
of kings and Lord of lords. as a carpenter, as a shepherd
out on the hillside, as a weak man. He was weak. He humbled
himself, became obedient unto death, took upon himself the
form of a servant. He's not a servant, he's the
Lord. And when we see him, we're going
to see him not as he was. They have pictures of him hanging
on a cross. That's not honoring the Son. When we see Him, we're going
to see Him not as He was, but as He is. Turn to Revelation,
chapter 1. After His resurrection, John
saw Him on the Isle of Patmos. Listen to what he said. Verse
12, Revelation 1, verse 12, to see the boys that spake with
me. And being turned, I saw seven
golden candlesticks." That's the seven churches. And in the
midst of the seven churches, one like to the Son of Man, clothed
with a garment down to the foot, girded about the paps with a
golden girdle, his head and his hair as white as wool, as white
as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire. And his feet, like fine
brass, as if they burned in a furnace, his voice as the voice of many
waters. He had in his right hand seven
stars, that's the ministers. And out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shining. And when
I saw him, I fell at his feet as a dead man." Huh? He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father." Watch your pictures. Idols, images of things in heaven
brought down to the point of blasphemy. And he said to me, don't be afraid. I'm the first and the last. I'm
he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore,
and I have the keys of hell and death." And Christ is talking to the
religious crowd here, and He's telling them, you honor the Son like you would
the Father. And you don't honor the Son,
you don't honor the Father that sent Him. That's a serious charge. And then he says, "...the Father
and I are one, not only in worship, but in regeneration and resurrection."
Listen to verse 24, "...verily I say unto you, He that heareth
my word, and believeth on them that sent me, hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life. Verily I say unto you, the hour
is coming, and right now is, when the dead Who's he talking
about here? He's talking about dead sinners.
He's not talking about people in the graveyard. He talks about
them later. Right now he's talking about
we're dead in trespasses and sin, as in Adam all die. And
that now, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead, dead
sons of Adam, sinners, will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and they that hear will live. How are dead sinners made alive?
By hearing the voice of the Son of God. It's by His voice, by His power,
by His Word. How do you hear the voice of
the Son of God? Look at verse 24 again. "...he that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life." You don't have to hear Him speak audibly. When He speaks
through His Word, that's Him speaking. That's how dead sinners... that's how they're saved. by
hearing the voice of the Son of God, hearing his word, and
he that heareth shall live." Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, name high
above all in hell and earth or sky, angels and men before him
fall, and devils fear and fly. Lord Jesus Christ,
name to sinners so dear, the name to sinners given, it scatters
all their guilty fears and turns their hell into heaven. Lord
Jesus Christ. Prisoners' fetters break, crushes
Satan's head. Power into helpless souls it
speaks, and life from the dead. I'm happy if with
every breath I may but know that name, Lord Jesus Christ. If I may but know that name and
preach that name and cry in death, Behold the Lamb of God. May God give us an understanding
of who he is, what he came to do and where
he is now, and enable us to be able to sing his matchless worth.
Let's sing that number, number 48. Oh, could I speak the matchless
worth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a joy that would be
to be able.