I would like for you to turn
in your Bibles this morning to the book of John, chapter 5,
verse 43 and 44. My subject is entitled, Witnesses
of Truth. In John 5, 43, the Master said,
I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not. If another
shall come in his own name, him you will receive. How can you
believe who receive honor one of another and seek not the honor
that cometh from God only? Now, when skeptics and agnostics
and infidels have said all that they can say, there are three
broad facts with which they've not been able to deal, nor have
they been able to explain them away. Simple facts, plain facts,
but impossible to ignore. I challenge every opponent of
Christianity. I challenge every skeptic and
every infidel and every agnostic to leave the hypocrite alone.
Like the poor, Christ said, you have them with you always. Leave
the false preachers alone. There will always be crooks in
every profession who enter that profession, even the ministry,
for personal gain and personal glory. I challenge you to deal
with the three broad, plain facts of Christianity, the important
facts, and see how you fare. And those three facts are, first
of all, Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? And secondly, the Bible. How
do you account for that book, the Bible? How do you account
for that unusual book? And then the third fact, with
which I request you to deal is the result of true grace in a
believer's heart. Those are the three facts. Those
are the facts that cannot be answered. They cannot be dealt
with by skeptics, agnostics, or infidels. These skeptics prefer
to talk about the hypocrite and his claims and his hypocrisy. They prefer to talk about the
false preachers and false teachers who use the ministry for personal
gain and personal glory. But I focus your attention this
morning on Jesus Christ, the Bible, and the results of true
grace. The first question is this, what
do you think of Jesus Christ himself? Now, if Christianity
is a mere invention of men, as someone has said, an opium for
the people, or a foolish desire for a happy hunting ground, how
do you explain Jesus of Nazareth? He did live upon this earth.
His existence in history you cannot deny. Jesus Christ walked
on this earth. The calendar records time, dates,
B.C. before Christ, A.D. in the year of our Lord. He was
born in Bethlehem. That's a fact. He walked on this
earth. That's a fact. He died on a Roman
cross. That's a fact. And his disciples
say that he arose again. And he appeared to many of them,
and one time to over 500 brethren at once. Jesus Christ did live
on this earth. And then without force or bribery,
without arms or money, without an earthly kingdom or court,
from a despised people, the Jewish nation, which was in slavery
to the Roman Empire. From that despised nation, Jesus
Christ accomplished and left his name on more lips than all
other men on the earth combined. Who is Jesus Christ? There have
been hundreds of reformers. There have been hundreds of religious
leaders. There have been hundreds of self-style messiahs, but they
all came to live. Jesus Christ came to die. They
all leave monuments and memorials. You cannot authentically find
either his birthplace, or his death site, or his grave. All of these so-called religious
reformers and messiahs chose as their helpers the rich, the
powerful, and the influential. Jesus Christ chose the poor,
the despised, and the weak. These other messiahs and reformers
all commended human righteousness. Our Lord condemned it and preached
the righteousness of God. These religious messiahs and
reformers all seek those who could help them. Jesus Christ
said, I've come to seek and to save that which was lost. All
of the other messiahs and reformers promised success and happiness
to their followers. Our Lord said to his followers
in this world, ye shall have tribulation. All of these other
messiahs and reformers hold their followers to them with fear and
force and threats. One day the Lord Jesus Christ
turned to his twelve and said to them, will you also go away?
All of these other messiahs and reformers had palaces and mansions
and headquarters. Jesus Christ had no place to
lay his head. These other messiahs promised
recognition and reward to the faithful. Our Lord said, he at
his least shall be greatest, and he that would be greatest
among you, let him be your servant. Again, he said in the kingdom
of God, the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
All of the other messiahs and reformers say, follow me. I'll
show you the way." Jesus Christ said, I am the way. All the other messiahs and reformers
claimed to be messengers of God. Jesus Christ claimed to be God.
He said, I and my Father are one. All of the other messiahs
and religious reformers died, were buried, and stayed dead.
Jesus Christ rose again. And all of his promises and all
of his claim and all of his work rest upon the fact of His resurrection. In fact, the Apostle Paul, in
1 Corinthians 15, verse 14, said, If Christ be not risen, we are
found false witnesses of God. Our preaching is in vain. If
Jesus Christ be not risen, your faith is in vain. If Jesus Christ
be not risen, you are yet in your sins. If Jesus Christ be
not risen, those who died believing on Him are perished forever. Yes, all the other messiahs and
reformers and religious leaders have died. Jesus Christ died. They were buried. Jesus Christ
was buried. They stayed dead. You can visit
the grave of Mohammed. You can visit the grave of Buddha.
You can visit the grave of Confucius. You can visit the grave of every
false Christ or messiah who ever lived. But there's no need to
go to the grave of Jesus Christ. For one Sunday morning, his own
followers went to that grave and they saw an angel standing
there who declared, why do you seek the living among the dead?
He's not here, he's risen. Jesus Christ arose again. And
all of his work and all of his promises depend upon that resurrection. The followers of earthly messiahs
are rewarded for their work on the behalf of their reformers
and for their loyalty to their reformers and for their righteousness. But the followers of Jesus Christ
are rewarded for His work. He redeemed us. He obeyed the
law for us. He died for our sins. They are
rewarded for His faithfulness and His righteousness. So my
friend, I ask you this question. How do you explain Jesus Christ?
Peter explained Him this way. When our Lord said, Whom do you
say that I am? He said, Thou art the Christ
the Son of the Living God. And our Lord said, Blessed art
thou, Simon, upon this rock I will build my church. How do you explain
Jesus Christ? I say that Jesus of Nazareth
is the Son of God. Lord, lead me to seek Thee, and
seeking Thee to find Thee, and finding Thee to trust Thee, and
trusting Thee to serve Thee. That's the first fact of Christianity. Who is Jesus Christ? He asked
that himself. They came to him one day, the
lawyers and scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees, and they began
to ask him questions about paying taxes, observing days, keeping
laws, about eternity. And when they finished all their
questions and he'd put them to silence, he asked them a question. And this was the question. What
think ye of Jesus Christ? Whose son is he? And that's the
question you have to face, and that's the question you have
to deal with. You may look upon some man who claims to know Christ,
and who claims to love Christ, and who claims to believe on
Christ. And you can find all manner of fault with him. You
can find all manner of weaknesses in him. You can find all manner
of discrepancies. But you cannot find one weakness
or discrepancy in Jesus of Nazareth. He's the Son of God. And He's
the Savior, not His followers. He's the Redeemer. not his preachers. He's the one with whom we have
to deal and with whom we have to do. God has committed all
judgment into the hand of Jesus Christ. John 5 says, the Father
judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son. So my
question to you this morning is this, what think ye of Jesus
Christ? And then the second question
is this, how do you explain the Bible? Now Christianity is the
mere invention of men. If Christianity has no divine
authority and it has no divine foundation, how do you explain
the Bible? How do you explain the Bible?
How is it that the Bible is what it is? The Bible dates back 3,500
years. The Bible was written by 40 men,
men of God, holy men, the Scripture says. The Bible was written by
40 men of God over a period of 1,500 years, and without collaboration,
and without consultation, for most of these men never saw one
another and never knew one another. And yet all 66 of these books
written by these 40 men brought together in one Bible tell one
story of redemption, one message of salvation, the revelation
of one person Back in the days of Christ, some of the religious
leaders said, we have Moses. We have the writings of Moses.
We don't need what you have to say. And Christ said, Moses wrote
of me. Yes, in Genesis, Moses wrote
of Christ, the seed of woman, the sacrifice of Abel, the coat
of skin that covered Adam and Eve. Moses wrote of Christ. In Exodus, Moses wrote of Christ. He wrote of the Passover lamb.
When Israel was down in Egypt and God would slay the firstborn,
he said, put the blood on the lintel and on the doorpost. When
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. That's Christ, the Passover
lamb. That rock in the wilderness is Christ. That bread from heaven
is Christ. When Moses wrote the book of
Leviticus and told of the great priesthood, Christ is our great
high priest. When he wrote of the atonement,
Christ is the atonement. When he wrote of the incense
that was burned daily in the tabernacle. That incense is the
intercessory prayers of Christ. When he wrote in the book of
Numbers about the brazen serpent lifted up in the wilderness,
our Lord said himself, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that
whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting
life. In Deuteronomy, Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy and he
told about the cities of refuge where the manslayer could flee
and find refuge from vengeance and be saved from death. And
Christ is that city of refuge. Then Joshua, what about Joshua's
writings? Do you see Rahab's scarlet line
as it hangs out the window over the walls of Jericho, the walls
soon to be destroyed? That red line saved her life
and that line is the blood of Jesus Christ. The book of Ruth,
Christ is the kinsman redeemer. The book of Psalms, Christ is
my shepherd. The book of Proverbs, Christ
is my wisdom. The book of Isaiah, Christ is
my substitute. To him give all the prophets
witness. Christ is the Old Testament.
The Old Testament is Christ. And in the Old Testament we have
Christ in picture. In the New Testament we have
Christ in person. They said we have Abraham. Christ
said Abraham saw my day. He saw my day and rejoiced. And
then in the book of Acts, chapter 10, The scripture tells us that
every prophet who ever wrote, wrote with one object, and that
is to reveal Christ. He wrote with one goal, to make
Christ known. For to him, give all the prophets
witness. Yes, this book, written by 40
men of God, over a period of 1,500 years, when it was brought
together, tells one story, one message of redemption, and reveals
one person. Let me tell you this, how do
you explain this Bible? This book is hated by most leaders. This book is mocked by most people. This book is the butt of jokes
by natural men. And yet this book continues to
be read in over 1,000 languages. There are more Bibles sold than
all other books combined all over this world. And this book
has endured the test of time. Where are the books written by
men, even 300 years ago, 400 years ago, 500 years ago. But
here's a book in which the last entry was recorded 2,000 years
ago. And it was written in two languages,
now considered dead. It's endured the test of time.
This Bible has endured the test of nationality and custom. Where
are the English books read by Chinese people? Where are the
Chinese books read by Russian people? Where are the Russian
books read by Spanish people? Where are the Spanish books read
in Africa? But this Bible, on the streets
of Pakistan, on the streets of Hong Kong, on the streets of
New York, on the streets of Brazil, on the streets of Mexico, Canada,
wherever you go, this Bible means the same. to every person, no
matter what their nationality, no matter what their color, no
matter what their custom, no matter what their background.
It's endured the test of time and the test of nationality and
the test of custom. How do you explain that? And
then how do you explain this, that this Bible has endured the
test of class? It doesn't matter whether a man's
a lawyer or whether a man's a laborer. The Bible is open. The Bible,
to him, is a precious book, if he knows God. if he loves Christ.
It doesn't matter whether a man's rich or a man's poor, whether
he's educated or uneducated, whether he's young or old. The
Bible is the same to all. It's endured the test of class.
And at the same time, it tells the truth about men. It does
not gloss over our errors. It does not talk about our dignity.
It presents us in the light of God's holy law, in the light
of God's holy truth, in the light of God's holy judgment. Tells
us that we're sinners. There's none righteous. No, not
one. There's none that understand it. There's none that seeketh
after God We all together become unprofitable. There's none good
No, not one the Lord God looked down from heaven to see if there
were any that did do good and he said they're all together
become Unprofitable he says even our righteousness is a filthy
rag He talks about how we've sinned and come short of the
glory of God and yet men read this book Though it reveals their
sins, and it reveals the sins of their hearts, and their minds,
and their imaginations, and their actions, it reveals the sins
of motive and attitude. It tells the truth about us.
It even tells the truth about our heroes of faith. It doesn't
gloss over David's sins, or gloss over Abraham's liars, or gloss
over Moses' temper, or gloss over Peter's denial. It tells
the truth. And then it tells the truth about
God. The Bible reveals the truth about God, because it is the
Word of God. And this is a claim that no other book can make.
Other books may talk about God, but the Bible says this is God
speaking. Other books may present their opinion of God, but the
Bible says this is God's Word. And then the Bible is deep, and
yet it's simple. The Bible is mysterious, and
yet it's plain. My Word will not return unto
me void. All scriptures given by inspiration of God is profitable
for doctrine, reproof, for correction, instruction, and righteousness.
The scripture says holy men of God spake as they were moved
by the Holy Spirit. It's an inspired book. It's a
God-breathed book. And no book ever closes with
this statement. If any man takes away from the
words of this book, God said, I'll take away his part in the
book of life. And if any man adds to the words of this book,
I'll add to him the plagues written in this book. No book makes that
claim, but God can make that claim because this is his word.
It is written, it is finished, it is complete, it is sufficient,
it is enough, and heaven and earth shall pass away. But not
one jot or one tittle, and that's the smallest part, that's the
hyphen marks and the quotation marks and the little marks there
that you don't even know anything about, have very little to do
with a word. Not one jot or tittle shall pass
from this book till every bit of it be fulfilled. What about
the Bible? I ask you to deal with that book.
Stop talking about the hypocrite and the false preachers and the
denominations and about the pride of people who claim to be God's
people. Stop talking about their waywardness and wickedness and
all of these other things and start dealing with the facts
of Christianity. Who is Jesus Christ? And what
about this book, the Bible? And then I'll tell you the third
thing. How do you explain the results of Christianity? How
do you explain the results? If true Christianity is but the
invention of men, and it has no power beyond the resolve and
determination of natural flesh. How do you explain the results
of faith, real true faith, in nations where Christ is preached,
in communities where Christ is proclaimed, in homes where Christ
is king, and in people whose Lord and Savior is Jesus Christ? Now, compare countries. My friends,
I've been all over the world. I could tell you of countries
I visited. I visited Canada, and Mexico, and Japan, and the
Philippines, and Ireland, and Spain, and France, and Germany,
and England, and all of these countries, and yet I say unto
you, and I'm not saying there are any countries that are Christian
throughout, but what I'm saying is this, that nations where Jesus
Christ is preached where the gospel of redemption is preached,
where the Bible is revered and respected and read, where Jesus
Christ is known by the people, where they believe on him, individual
freedom is recognized like nowhere else in the world. And I'll tell
you something else, human life is highly regarded as it's nowhere
else regarded in the world. And human rights are recognized. And governments are subject to
people and not people to government. and laws of morality are enforced. You take any country where Christ
is preached and you'll find that human life is respected, you'll
find that human rights are recognized, and you'll find that individual
freedom is recognized. Our very freedom in this country
was brought about by people who were fleeing from oppression,
coming to a place where they could worship God and preach
the gospel, of the Bible and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes,
travel the world over, and I say unto you that the countries where
Jesus Christ is preached and recognized and loved and worshipped,
and you'll find there's a difference that you can't explain any other
way than to say that God is here. God is here, and God's grace
is here, and God's mercy is here. Compare communities. Compare
communities where strong gospel churches preach the gospel of
Jesus Christ. and with communities where there
are no churches, and where the gospel is not preached. Compare
homes. I say you enter into a home where
Christ is not known, and where He does not have preeminence,
and where He is not loved and believed on. And there you'll
find drunkenness, and you'll find divorce, and you'll find
hatred, and you'll find division. You go to a home where Christ
is known, and you'll find love, and you'll find mercy, and you'll
find grace, and you'll find tenderness, You'll find a home that's united
together and people whose hearts are drawn together, knit together
in bonds of love and grace and mercy and compare individuals. Find a man who knows the Son
of God and explain the change that came about in his life when
he met God. The drunkard becomes sober. Jesus
Christ makes the difference. The harlot becomes pure. Christ
makes the difference. The profane swearer becomes holy
in his conversation. The liar tells the truth. The
hater begins to love. And the crooked becomes honest.
If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. For Jesus Christ
finds men in ignorance, and He gives them truth. Jesus Christ,
our Lord, finds men in darkness, and He gives them light. Jesus
Christ finds men in sin, and He makes them holy. Jesus Christ
finds men in superstition, and He gives them hope. Jesus Christ
finds men in despair, and He gives them rest. Jesus Christ
finds men in enmity, and He gives them peace. Jesus Christ finds
men in death, and He gives them life. One of the hymn writers
has put it in these words. He said, All that I was, my guilt,
my death was all my own. All that I am, I owe to Thee,
my gracious Lord, alone. The evil of my former state was
mine, and only mine. The good in which I now rejoice
is Thine, and only Thine. All that I am, even here on earth,
and all that I hope to be, when Jesus comes and glory dawns,
I owe, dear Lord, to Thee. Many years ago there was an old,
old preacher who was arrested for preaching the gospel. You
know, back during the days of the Reformation, people were
arrested, jailed, imprisoned, and slain for preaching the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Somebody said that there were
three foundations of the Reformation in which Luther and Calvin and
Zwingli and these men were leaders. And we owe much to these men.
We owe our freedom, not only religious freedom, but political
freedom to these men who brought us out of darkness and potpourri
and superstition. And they say there are three
foundations of that Reformation. And those three foundations are
these. The Bible, and the Bible alone. Not subject to interpretation
by men. Not the Bible plus what the church
says, or what some clergyman says, or what some ecclesiastical
ruler says, but the Bible alone. And Christ alone for salvation.
Not Christ in my works, but Christ alone. Not Christ in baptism,
or Christ in the law, or Christ in the church, but Christ alone.
And then the third foundation is grace alone. That's what I'm
preaching. That's what I'm asking you to deal with and face and
contend with. Who is Jesus Christ? What is
this book, the Bible? And what does the grace of God
do for a sinner? Well, this old preacher was brought before the
tribunal, before the court. And they told him to stop preaching
this gospel of redemption, of substitution of Jesus Christ.
He says, I shall not stop. I shall preach what God revealed
in my heart. They said, well, we'll put you in prison. He said,
you can imprison my body, but my soul is free. That made them
angry. They said, we'll take away all
your property. He said, it all belongs to God. That made them
even more angry. They said, we'll kill you. And
he said, I'm crucified with Christ. I died 50 years ago when I came
to know the Son of God. There's nothing you can do to
me. My home is in glory. The kingdom of which I am a part
is the kingdom of God, and my sole purpose and desire is to
serve and glorify my living Lord." And somebody said, he's a fool,
let him go. Well, maybe so. Maybe we're fools
for Christ's sake. But I presented to you this morning
three broad facts, and I challenge you to face them and deal with
them in honest and truth. Who is Jesus Christ? How do you
account for the Bible? And how do you account for the
great results? that takes place when a man really meets God.
I'm not talking about when he makes a religious profession,
when he really meets God.