We're turning for our message
today to the Book of John, the 5th chapter. I'll be dealing
with verses 39 through 47. Now, I'd like very much for you
to take your Bible and open it to the 5th chapter of the Book
of John, and follow along with me as I bring your message on
this subject, Seven Charges Which Christ Brought Against the Religionists
of His Day. seven charges which our Lord
Jesus Christ brought against the religionists of his day.
Someone said years ago, time changes everything. Well, it's
true that time does change many things, but time doesn't change
everything. The songwriters pictured it this
way. He said, swift to its close ebbs
out life's little day. Earth's joys grow dim, its glories
pass away. Change and decay in all around
I see. O thou who changest not, abide
with me. God doesn't change. There are
several things that time cannot change. Number one, time has
not changed the fact of sin. It is still true that all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. It is still true
that all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone
to his own way. It is still true that the Lord
God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, and he says
there's none good, no, not one. There's none that seeketh after
God. They all together become unprofitable. So time hasn't
changed the fact of sin. And time hasn't changed the holiness
of God, nor the requirements of his holy law. The writer of
Scripture says that God dwelleth in a light to which no man can
approach. God dwelleth in holiness and
righteousness. Even the prophets of old cried,
Woe is me, I'm a man of unclean lips. And Lord, depart from me,
Peter said, I'm a sinful man. And Job said, I put my hand over
my mouth, for mine eyes have seen the Lord. Time hasn't changed
the holiness of God. And then time has not changed
the way that God saves sinners. It is still true that the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. It is still true without the
shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. It is still
true that Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and
no man cometh under the Father but by Him. Time hasn't changed
these things. Time hasn't changed the fact
of sin, the holiness of God, the requirements of His holy
law. nor the way that God redeems sinners. And unfortunately, time
has not changed man's efforts to merit salvation by his own
works. Time has not changed man's efforts
to merit heaven by his own good deeds. Paul wrote of the people
in his day. He said, I bear them record.
They have a zeal for God. They're enthusiastic about God
and religion and their tradition and ceremonies, but not according
to knowledge. They're ignorant of God's righteousness,
and they're going about to establish their own righteousness before
God. They are going about making much
ado to establish a righteousness of their own before God. And
in the fifth chapter of John, this passage I told you to turn
to a moment ago, our Lord Jesus Christ confronts the religionists
with four undeniable witnesses of his deity, his glory, and
his mission into this world. And yet they refused all of these
witnesses. They would not hear him. They
despised and rejected him. He said, John the Baptist, you
sent unto John. Back there in verse 33, he said,
you sent unto John, and you heard him. And John bore witness of
me. John was the last of the Old
Testament prophets. John was the forerunner of Christ.
John was the miraculous infant sent to Zacharias and Elizabeth. John came crying, Behold the
Lamb of God. And they rejoiced for a season
in his message, but they finally rejected what he had to say.
And then Christ said in verse 36, The works that I do, they
bear witness of me. Even Nicodemus said, no man could
do these miracles except God be with him. And another person
says, can a man open the eyes of a blind man except he be from
God? Christ said, the works that I
do, they bear witness of me. And the Father himself hath declared
that I am his Son. He said, this is my beloved Son. in whom I'm well pleased. In
verse 37, Christ said, you've never seen his shape nor heard
his voice, but he's born witness of me. This is my son, hear ye
him. And the scripture, in verse 39,
he said, the scriptures bear witness of me. But you search
the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life,
but you will not come to me that you might have life. So in spite
of all of these undeniable witnesses, the forerunner the works, the
voice of the Father from heaven, and the inspired word of God
itself, they despised him, they rejected him, they refused his
gospel of grace. And so our Lord brings seven
charges against these men. And I want you to compare them
with our own day. This is not just talking about
some folks that lived 2,000 years ago. This is talking about 1981. Time hasn't changed the fact
of sin, it hasn't changed the holiness of God, or the holiness
of his law, or the requirements of his law. Time hasn't changed
the way God saves sinners, and time hasn't changed man's efforts
to build a tower to the sky with his own works, or merit salvation
by his own deeds. And these are the people to whom
our Lord is speaking, and he brings seven charges against
them. The first one is in verse 39,
charge number one. Christ said, you search the scriptures,
that is, you study the Bible, you read the Bible. For in the
scriptures you think you have light, but they are they which
testify of me. Now, my friends, let us all have
a high regard and esteem for the written word of God. For
it barely is the Word of God. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And it's profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that's proceeded
from the mouth of God. It is the Word of God. And it
abideth forever. Our Lord said, Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but not one jot or tittle shall pass from
my word till it's all fulfilled. And his word is necessary to
salvation, for faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word
of God. And he that heareth my word and
believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life. But salvation
is not in the Bible. It's in Christ, about whom the
Bible is written, about whom the Bible speaks. whom the Scriptures
present. And this is what our Lord is
saying to these religionists. They were students of the Scripture.
They were students of religion. They were students of theology.
They were students of doctrine. They knew the prophecies, and
they knew the traditions of their fathers, and they knew the laws,
and they knew the feast days, and holy days, and Sabbath days,
and they were orthodox and fundamental. And Christ said, you search the
Scriptures, you study the Scriptures, you pour over the Scriptures,
or in the Scriptures you think you have life, but the Scriptures
testify of me. Redemption and salvation is not
in a doctrine. or in a system of theology or
in a religious tradition, it's in a person. It does not say,
he that believeth the Bible shall be saved, but he that believeth
on the Son of God hath everlasting life. There's a difference. There's
a difference. It doesn't say, he that believeth
the doctrine shall be saved. It says, he that believeth on
the Son of God hath everlasting life. It's not he that hath a
copy of the Bible, he that hath the right creed or catechism,
but he that hath the Son hath everlasting life. Men make a
Savior out of the means. Did you know that? God has used
certain means to bring his revelation to men. He used Mary to bring
a Son into this world. And men, instead of worshiping
the Son, worship Mary. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave baptism. as a picture of redemption, his
death, burial, and resurrection, as an identification with him
in our profession of faith. And men make a Savior out of
baptism and ignore the Son. The Lord Jesus gave us the bread
and the wine as symbols of his broken body and shed blood, and
men try to find salvation in the elements instead of in the
person whom the elements represent. How blind we are! But we are
determined to have a part in the redemption of our soul. to
find some kind of basis on which we can be accepted through our
own deeds. And our Lord said, you search
the Scriptures. In them you think you have life. They are they
which testify of me. Here's the second charge against
the religionists. Verse 40, he said, you will not
come to me that you might have life. You will not come to me. Now, we're not talking here about
a bodily coming to Christ. Many came to him in that way,
not a physical coming. Salvation is not a physical walking
down a church aisle or walking down anywhere or presenting myself
physically anywhere. That's not salvation. Many people
came to Christ in this way while he was here on this earth. Nicodemus
came to him one night to talk theology. He came to discuss
theology, but he didn't come to Christ in a saving manner.
The rich young ruler came to Christ. He came to discuss his
righteousness, but he came He came physically. He came in the
flesh. Some people came to be healed.
Some people came to be fed. Christ said, I know why you're
following me. You're following me because I fed you the loaves
and fishes. Some came to trap him in his
talk. But some came as sinners to find
mercy, to find forgiveness. Some came in heart and faith,
and they found mercy, and they found grace. The leper came crying,
Lord, If you will, you can make me whole. A Canaanite woman came
crying, Lord, have mercy on me. And she received mercy. The publican
in the temple would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, but
smote upon his breast and cried to God, Lord, be merciful to
me, the sinner. He came in heart. He came in
spirit to Christ. He came in truth. And he found
mercy, the thief. He cried, Lord, remember me. when thou comest into thy kingdom.
But see, this is a work of grace. This is a work of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord Jesus Christ said in John 6, 44, No man can come to
me, except my Father which sent me drawing. And he that hath
heard of the Father, and learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
And every one that heareth of the Father, and learneth, comes
to Christ. It's a revelation of grace. It's
a work of the Holy Spirit. But this is the charge he brought
against these religionists. He said, you will not come to
me that you might have life. And this coming is not a physical
coming. It's a spiritual coming to Christ. And here's the third
charge he brought against them, verse 42. He said, I know you. I know you. You have not the
love of God in you. I know you. You see, God doesn't
see as man sees. Man looks on the outward countenance,
God looks on the heart. And God says, I know you, I know
you. Our Lord looked at these religionists
And they were all dressed in their religious garb, with their
broad phylacteries, you know, and their rolls of scripture
under their arms, and their funny-looking hats on their heads, and their
long beards, trying to look pious, and sweet, and holy, and righteous,
and loving the uppermost seats in the synagogue. And he just
pointed his finger at them, and he says, I know you. I know you. These people don't know you.
You fool them. People are fooled by your profession.
People are fooled by your claims and by your words. People are
fooled by you, but I know you," he said. I know you. And this is what I know about
you. You have not the love of God in you. You don't love God,
you love yourself. You see, if men love God, they
love his word. That's right. Men who love God
say, Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth. Men who love God love
his holiness. They love his law. David said,
I love my law. Men who love God love his judgment.
That's right. They love his judgments. They
cry, true and righteous are his judgments. They don't question
God's judgment. Men who love God love his people.
Men who love God love his son. You can't love the father and
not love the son. But Christ said, I know you.
I know you. You have not the love of God
in you. No matter what you profess outwardly, no matter how many
people you fool with your professions and claims, I know you. And he's the one with whom I
must deal. He's the one whom I must face.
He's the one before whom I must appear. He's the one in whose
eyes all things are naked and open. I know you. I know you,
he said. You have not the love of God
in you. And here's the fourth charge he brought against them,
verse 43. I want you to listen to this.
Our Lord said, I am come in my Father's name, and you receive
me not. Let another come in his own name,
and him you will receive. Now you listen to this, what
a terrible charge to bring against supposedly intelligent men. I
come in my Father's name with the right witnesses, with the
right credentials, to fulfill the Scripture, and you won't
receive me. But let another come without
credentials, without any prophecy or promise, in his own name,
seeking his own glory and his own gain, and him you will receive. Now this is true, we see it in
the Bible. Listen, he came to his own and his own received
him not. Scripture says he was in the
world and the world was made by him and the world knew him
not. It says in Isaiah 53, he was
despised, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, rejected of men. There was no comeliness about
him, no beauty that we should desire him. He looked at his
disciples and he said, my brethren, marvel not if the world hate
you. It hated me before it ever hated you. Men seem to have no
trouble believing error. No matter how ridiculous the
error is, they have no trouble believing it. But they rebel
against the truth. And that's what our Lord is saying
in John 3, 19. This is condemnation. Light is coming to this world,
but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds
are evil. The most absurd and ridiculous
thing will be accepted in the name of religion. The most absurd
and ridiculous promise, and promotion, and program, and preacher. A preacher can be so dishonest
as to wind up in jail and people still follow him, no matter how
ridiculous he is, while grace, mercy, and truth are rejected.
And the reason for that is error is natural to men of darkness.
They love darkness. They're children of darkness.
They love error. Truth must be revealed. Error
comes natural with us by nature, you see, we're sons of Adam.
He said to those men, you're of your father, the devil. He
was a liar from the beginning and you're his sons. But truth
must be revealed. Listen to this scripture. I had
not seen, ear had not heard. Neither hath he entered the heart
of man the things that God has prepared for them that love him,
but he hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit
searches the deep things of God. What man knoweth the things of
a man, save the Spirit of man that is in him? Even so the things
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit. For the natural man receiveth
not the things of God, the foolishness to him. But the spiritual man
receiveth them because they're spiritually revealed. You see,
the natural mind is enmity against God. So I come, he said, in my
father's name, and you receive me not. Let another come in his
own name, and him you will receive. In the most absurd and ridiculous
fashion, dressed in the silliest-looking religious uniform, and men receive
me. All right, here's the fifth charge
that our Lord brought against those religionists, verse 44,
that he says, how can you believe? Now watch this. How can you believe?
Who receive honor one of another, and you seek not the honor which
comes from God only. Now, ye seek honor one of another. Men love titles. I'm talking
about in religion, in religion. They love titles. They love to
be called rabbi, professor, doctor, bishop, reverend. They love recognition. They love praise. They love the
uppermost seats in the synagogue. They love to serve on committees.
They like to have authority. They love that recognition. They
pray to be seen of men. They fast to be seen of men.
They give to receive honor of men. They seek rewards. It's
no fun to pray if you don't tell people about it. It's no pleasure
to fast if nobody knows about it but you. It's no fun to give
unless somebody at least knows you're doing it so they can pat
you on the back. We seek honor one of another. We don't seek
the honor that comes from God. And what this is is one worm
bragging on another worm. That's all in the world it is.
He said, when you pray to be seen of men, you have your reward.
When they see you and brag on you, that's your reward. When
you fast to be seen of men and they see you and brag on you,
that's your reward. When you give alms to be seen of men,
to be bragged on, And they see you and brag on you, that's it,
you've rounded up, you've got what you're looking for, goodbye.
But he says when you pray, enter into your closet and shut the
door. When you fast, wash your face, comb your hair, don't you
tell a soul about it. Don't you tell a soul. But we
seek honor that comes from men. What is the honor that comes
from God? It's being made glorious within, gracious within, not
without. It's having a new name, not a
new house. It's being an heir of God, not
an heir of men. Our Lord said, don't rejoice
that the demons are subject unto you. That's nothing to kick up
your heels about. I saw Satan fall from heaven
like lightning. You rejoice that your name is
written in the book of life. I tell you, we count the reproach
of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. when
we know his name, when we love his truth, when we seek the honor
that comes from God only. You better bury earthly honor.
You better be done with it. He that shall save his life shall
lose it, but he that shall lose his life for my sake shall find
it. Here's the sixth charge he brought against those men. Verse
45, he said, You trust in Moses. You trust in Moses. You trust
in Moses. Now, it wasn't Moses himself
in whom they trusted. He was dead. But what Christ
is saying is you trust the law of Moses to save you. You trust the fact that you're
keeping the law. They rested in the law. They
made their boast of the law. In fact, the rich young ruler
came to him and said, what good thing must I do to inherit life?
And Christ said, to expose his arrogance and pride and self-righteousness,
he said, keep the law. Why, he said, I've kept all these
from my youth up, what lack I yet? Paul said, tell me, ye that desire
to be under the law, the law, the holy law of God, do you not
hear the law? Don't you hear what the law says?
Don't you hear what the law requires? The law requires perfection in
birth, in deed, in spirit, in attitude, in imagination, in
word, perfection. The law cannot save. It never
was given to save. It can only serve to condemn.
What the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
and that's every man, that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world become guilty, guilty, guilty before God. You trust
in the law. Christ said you trust in Moses.
And Moses can't save. Moses can't save. And then here's
the final charge he brought against them in verse 47. He said, if
you believe not the writings of Moses. Now, what are we talking
about when we're talking about the writings of Moses? Well,
my friends, we're talking about the Old Testament scriptures.
We're talking about Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
and all the rest of them. But those are the writings of
Moses, the first five books of the Bible. They said, we have
Moses. He said, if you had believed
Moses, you'd have believed me. Moses wrote of me. Did you know
nearly every time that the word scriptures is used in the New
Testament. It's referring to the Old Testament
Scriptures nearly every time. At first, he said that the Scriptures
might be fulfilled. Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, was buried and rose again according to the
Scriptures. You see, the Old Testament Scriptures is Christ
in promise, Christ in prophecy, Christ in picture, Christ in
type, Christ in symbol, Paul said, I preach unto you the gospel
by which you are saved, wherein you stand, in which you believe,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture,
according to the Word of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared
to some of his disciples on the road to Emmaus after he arose
from the grave. And he sat down, the Scripture
says in Luke 24, verse 44 through 48. taught them the scriptures, opened
their understanding as they might understand the scriptures, the
Old Testament. And he said, everything written in the writings of Moses,
in the prophets, in the law, in the Psalms, in the scriptures,
are fulfilled concerning me. To him give all the prophets
witness that he is the Redeemer, and in his name is the remission
of sin. Now here's what our Lord is saying
in this seventh charge. He said, if you believe not the
writings of Moses, How shall you believe my word?" You see,
Scripture is interpreted in the light of Scripture. Whatever
is written in the New Testament is already written in the Old
Testament. The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed,
and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. For example,
when Israel was down in the land of Egypt, and God was going to
come through at midnight and destroy the firstborn in every
home, He had Moses and the people of Israel put blood on the doorpost
and on the lintel, both sides of the door on the lintel. And
he said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Passover,
I'll pass over you. And they kept that Passover every
year, commemorating their deliverance from Egypt. Well, our Lord met
with his disciples in the book of Luke, chapter 22, it's written,
and assembled them around a table to eat the Passover, commemorating
the deliverance from Egypt. And he said, as he broke the
bread, He said, this is my body broken to you. This is my blood
shed for you. The Passover of the Old Testament
now is ended and fulfilled. Why? Because Christ is our Passover. And we no longer slay a lamb.
We no longer shed the blood of a lamb. We no longer eat what
we call the Passover feast. We now look to Christ, who is
our Passover, trust in him, and we eat of the bread and the wine,
which represents his body and his blood. Christ is our Passover.
Same thing is true of the rock in the Old Testament. That rock
is Christ. The brazen serpent lifted up. That serpent pictures
Christ, prophesies of Christ. So our Lord says, if you don't
believe Moses, you're not going to believe me.