He had six bypasses yesterday,
but he's doing fine. I told Lita, he's going to feel
so much better, he won't believe it. I mean, when I had that thing
go to my chest, I couldn't believe how much better I felt. We're
thankful for that. He's doing well. And Randy and
Debbie's brothers, Going for a consultation? No,
he already went. Already went? Yeah. Then he thinks
it might be a dumb doctor who might want to operate, but I
don't think he can do it. I don't know. So remember him
in your prayers also. And we're going to have jalapenos
on Sundays. Fresh jalapenos. All right. OK, that's it for the announcement.
Tip number 46, hold for 1,000 tones to sing. My gracious. Jesus Jesus. for me. glory to god the church in earth and heaven. From Thou, Almighty King, help us, I beg
to sing, Father all-glorious, Lord all-victorious,
come and reign over us, ancient of age. Come, Thou incarnate
Word, girdle Thy mighty sword, our prayer attend. Come and Thy
people bless, and give Thy mercies, Spirit of holiness, on us besiege! Come, Holy Comforter, Thy sacred
witness bear! In this flower, Thou who almighty
art, Thou who reign every hour, And e'er from us depart, Spirit
of God. To the great one in three, Eternal
praises be, If you have your Bibles, turn with me please to
John, the fifth chapter. Marie verses 5, verse 31 through
39 in John 5, that chapter. Verse 31, if I bear witness of
myself, my witness is not true. There is another that bears witness
of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true.
He sent him to John. and he bear witness unto the
truth. But I receive not the testimony of man, but these things
I say that you might be saved. He was a burning and a shining
light, and ye are willing, and ye were willing
for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness
than that of John, For the works which the Father hath given me
to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that
the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself which
has sent me hath borne witness of me. He hath neither heard
his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And he hath not his
word abiding in you. For whom he hath sent, he believeth
not. Search the scriptures, for in
them you think you'll find eternal life, and they are they that
testify of me. Our Father in heaven, we come
in the blessed name and glory of this person, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who even now sits at thy right hand. Having purged our sins, he sits there enthroned as our
king, our soccer, who rules this universe with absolute sway.
We thank you, Father, that you have taken power into yourself
in that reign. We know that left to ourselves
to be without hope, without help, we can do nothing. We are nothing. Now everything. We are thankful
for what you required of a human being to be saved. You supplied
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise you for that. He is
our only hope in this world. We have no one in heaven but
him and no one do we desire on earth but him. Father, we pray for those who
are sick and going through trials, although it's their case. We
ask, Lord, that you be with them and comfort them. Blessed be
the day that he now is in recovery with his heart operation. And
with Randy, as he's still suffering with his cancer. For the others
who requested prayer, Lord, we ask your help for them. And we
ask your help for us tonight, as we gather here, that you might
be pleased by your spirit to take the things of Christ and
reveal them unto us. Teach us. what our Lord was teaching
these people. Show us, Lord, how indeed He
is the Son of God. Help us now, we pray in Christ's
name. Amen. Now thus far, in this fifth
chapter, the Lord has asserted His deity before the Jews who
wish to put Him to death. Now, if you were taking notes,
whose declarations run like this, declaring his deity in Proverbs
in verses 16 through 18, his deity in his will in verse 19,
his deity in knowledge and omniscience in verse 20, his sovereignty
in verse 21, his deity in honor in verses 22 and 23, and giving
of life in verses 24 through 26, and judicial power and authority
in verses 27 through 30. Now, in all these attributes,
he's testified of himself. He said this about himself. He's
saying to these people, this is who I am. He bore witness,
as it were, of himself. Now, knowing the testimony of
oneself is often suspect to people. When a person talks about himself
all the time, people suspect that something might not be right. So in verse 31, he says, if I
bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. He is not saying
that what he said was untrue. But according to the law, a single
testimony, especially concerning one's self, establishes nothing. You speak about yourself, you
establish nothing. If you're the only one that speaks
about you, you establish nothing. Look over at Deuteronomy chapter
19. This is part of the law given
to the man who came. Chapter 19 and verse 15, one
witness shall not rise up against a man for In the mouth of two witnesses,
or the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
So there must be two or three witnesses. Now remember, Colossians
said, I witnessed of myself, therefore my witness is not true.
He's saying, I'm the only one who's witnessed of myself. In Matthew chapter 18, the same
language is used, according to Deuteronomy, Matthew 18, verse
16, says this. But if he will not hear thee,
then take with thee one or two more, and in the mouth of the
two or three witnesses every word may be established." This
is what our Lord is setting forth here in this passage of Scripture.
Under the law, which was the bailiwick of the Jews and Christ's
to fulfill, under which the Jews had sought to put him to death,
he knew that a man testifying unto himself was not credible.
not credible and was not acceptable to those who were hearing him.
In today's judicial arena, it is the reason why attorneys are
generally unwilling to put a defendant on the witness stand, because
he's talking about himself. And generally, people don't believe
what's being said. Generally, this is the rule,
but more so if the one witnessing is claiming to be the Son of
God. That's what he's witnessing to. Often when I've been accused
of some deed, and I have reverted to this principle setting forth
to face my accuser, and then it had to be established in the
face of two or three witnesses, it usually ends the conversation
very quickly on that basis. Because most of the time when
people say something about themselves, it's what they've heard, and
it's just gossip. The elect might serve you in
the days to come when someone says something about you or they
heard something about you, you just say, well, I need to face
my accuser. And he needs to be established in the face of two
or three witnesses while he's here. Usually that does end the
conversation. The Lord knows that the Jews
will have every right to disallow his testimony if it's just him
testifying. So he brings forth four witnesses,
and that's the Zion message tonight, the witnesses. four witnesses
that support him. He knows what he said about himself,
thus far. He brings forth four witnesses
to support what he said that he is indeed the Son of God.
First, though he seeks no testimony of man, he said that back in
chapter 2 and verse 22 and 23, I think it was. He says, now when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover and the feast day, many believed in his name
when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit
himself unto men, because he knew all men, and needed not
that any should testify of him, or testify of man, for he knew
what was in man. He knew what was in man. In verse
34, he says the same thing, but I received not the testimony
from man, but these things I say that you might be saved. Now
what he's saying is what I've said. about myself. If you believe
that I am indeed the Son of God, then you say, but here's another
witness. He declares that John the Baptist testified of him.
He said, there is another, in verse 32, that beareth witness
of me, and I know that the witness which he witnessed of me is true.
That was what was said about John the Baptist, I think it
was in John 10, 43, 44, somewhere in there. He says, John the Baptist did no miracles,
but everything he said about Christ was true. Boy, what an
epithet to put on your gravestone. Everything he said about Christ
was true. He sent unto John, and he bare
witness unto the truth. But I received not the testimony
from him, but these things that I said that you might have said.
He was a burning and shining light, and he was willing, and
you were willing for a season to rejoice in him. He said, John
gave witness of me. So there's not only him that's
testifying, here's another witness. The Jews had some true respect
for John the Baptist, and many had received his baptism, even
though he was not particularly gracious in his preaching. and the way he addressed them.
He did not begin his discourse by saying, ladies and gentlemen,
or dearly beloved, or brothers and sisters. Generally, when
he opened his discourse, he said he referred to those he was speaking
to as vipers and snakes, and asked them who had warned them
from the wrath to come. He preached repentance, because
the kingdom of God was at hand. And we know that when that term
is used in the New Testament, especially in the gospels, the
kingdom of God means his sovereignty, It means his kingdom. It means
that he's the ruler of all. So he's saying the sovereignty
of God and salvation is here, is at hand. He was talking about
the one who he saw coming down the road. When he saw it, he
testified of Christ, didn't he? He said, behold, the Lamb of
God hath taken away the sin of the world. Behold, the Lamb of
God. He required that they bring forth
fruits of repentance. He didn't just repeat repentance
because that was the law said to repent and the old covenant
said to repent. You know that simply meant turning
from one behavior to another behavior, turning away from sin
and not doing it anymore. And that's generally what he
meant. He preached a different kind of repentance. If you look over
at Luke chapter 3, Chapter 3, verses 1-14, it speaks
of John. It says, Now in the fifteenth
year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being
governor of Judea, and Herod being the tetrarch of Galilee,
and his brother Philip tetrarch of Etheria, and a regent of Trichonitis,
and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas,
being the high priest, the word of God, came unto John, the son
of Zacharias, John the Baptist, in the wilderness. And he came
into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance
for the remission of sins. And it is written in the book
of Isaiah, as it's written in the book of Isaiah, the prophet
saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare you
the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Every valley shall
be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low.
And the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways
shall be made plain. And all flesh shall see the salvation
of God. So his message was a message of salvation. Then said he to
the multitude that came forth to be baptized, old generation
of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy for meat, suitable for
repentance. And begin not by saying yourselves,
we have Abraham, our father. That's the first thing they're
to repent of, their lineage, their ancestry. Remember what
John said in the first chapter, born not of the flesh, not of
the bloods, that's ancestry, not of the will of man, but by
the will of God. So he's speaking generally, without
saying it, he's speaking about the new birth. And now also the
axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that bringeth
forth good fruit, bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down
and cast into a fire. And the people asked him, because
remember, he was a bold fellow. He came out of the desert, came
out of the caves wearing a camel hair robe and eating locusts
and wild honey, probably didn't shave, looked like a Nazarite,
and was kind of a scary fellow. It was said of him, he said,
gee, they didn't like his preaching because it just made them sad.
They said, we're not going to mourn to your preaching. You're
going to make us cry. So that's kind of it. So they
said, what shall we do? They were affected by his preaching.
And he answered and said to them, he that hath two coats, let him
impart with one that hath none. And he that hath meat, let him
do likewise. Feed the poor, he said. Then
came the publicans to be baptized. Now, the publicans, you know,
were tax collectors. They were the most hated. They
actually were set on a scale lower than the worst of sinners.
When you see it mentioned in scripture, it never says sinners
and publicans. It always says publicans and
sinners. They're the first in the line of what it is to be
a sinner. They took taxes from the people and they overcharged
them and took that money for themselves. It was more than
the taxes they collected from Rome. The public was baptized,
and he said, you master, what shall we do? What shall we do? And he said, and there is that
no more than that which you appointed to you. Don't cheat people, don't
cheat people. And then the soldiers came, likewise
demanding him saying, and what shall we do? And he said, do
violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with
your wages. So that was the kind of repentance
that John preached, and it had an effect. You can see that the
people, when they heard him preach, they swore, I mean, what's he
gonna do? Remember the same thing with Peter, the priest at Pentecost?
After he said to Jesus Christ, the one you crucified, God has
made both for and in Christ, they said, really, then why should
we do it? The Spirit had spoken to their
hearts. Now each of these had more to
do than just turning from a particular offense. They addressed these
repentants, the John priests, which were parents that had to
do with the mind, and the heart, and the ancestry, and the wallet.
All of those things were involved in the repentance that he spoke
of. John the Baptist was what? Witness number one. Jesus Christ
said, I testify to myself and my testimony will be truth, which
is me. And he's going to be witness number one. And then he declares
he has a greater witness than John's witness. Look at verse
36. But I have a greater witness than that of John. For the works
which the Father hath given me to finish the same works that
I do They bear witness of me that the Father has sent me.
So here's another way. The Father has sent him on a
mission with a work to finish. That's the line. Not only to
do, but a work to finish. And up to this point, the evidence
of that mission was displayed in the miracles that he performed.
But our Lord meant more than that. He spoke of fulfilling
the law, which he came to do. He spoke of preaching the gospel,
which he came to do. He spoke of his impeccable life.
He was a lamb that was without spot or blemish. And he spoke
of his sacrificial death that redeemed his elect. All that's
involved in what the work that he came to finish. And he finished
the work. John 17, which we'll see somewhere
down in the future when we get to that part of the book, he
said, I have finished the work. John 18, he says this on the
cross. He said, Father gave me a work
to do. A work to do. These works were
proof that God was his father and sent him. These works were
proof of that. He was a man sent from God. Nicodemus,
who didn't even have spiritual life, saw that the fact that
Jesus Christ was different from anybody else. He saw that this
man did these miracles. He had to be a man sent from
God. God had to send him. Now, he
may have been thinking he was a prophet. Or he may have been in the back
of his mind wondering if he was the Messiah. I don't know. But
he didn't understand until God gave him life to understand.
But he saw that Jesus Christ did this, and he said, this must
be a man from God. He said, this is witness number
two. The works he did, that the Father
sent him to do, was the second witness. So now he has himself,
he has John the Baptist, And he has the words. Then in verses
37 and 38, the Lord speaks of an even greater witness. He says
this, and the Father himself, which has sent me, hath borne
witness of me. He hath neither heard his voice
at any time, nor seen his shape. And he hath not his word abiding
in you, for whom he hath sent ye believe not. The father himself
has been a witness of Jesus Christ, his beloved son. The father did
so with voices from heaven twice. And at our Lord's baptism, when
John baptized the Lord and raised him out of the water, a dove
descended on him. That's the Holy Spirit. And then
a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son, in whom I
am well pleased. Hear me him. The same voice came
on the Mount of Transfiguration after Peter, being astonished
at Jesus Christ, talking with Elijah and Moses, who had come
across time somehow and were now standing with the Lord Jesus
Christ and speaking of His death and His accomplishments in Jerusalem. They were all astonished at that.
Peter said, you know, we ought to just build some statues here. Let's build a statue of Moses.
Let's build a statue of Elijah. Let's build one of Jesus. Let's
have us three statues. The law, the prophets, and Jesus
Christ. Let's have that. And while the
words were yet in his mouth, a great fog came across that
whole multitude. They couldn't even see each other
across the campfire. And a voice from heaven cried
out, this is my beloved son. You hear him because you see
Moses and the prophets spake of the Lord Jesus Christ. They
spake of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord will say that Moses
wrote of him in this very book. He'll say that Abraham saw my
day and was glad in this very book. But all of them gave witness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke from heaven. Those texts
are Matthew 3 and Matthew 17. And there's three that bear witness
in heaven. First John, chapter 5. First
John, chapter 5, verse 7, for there are three that bear record
in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost. And these three are one. So we
have the witness of heaven. But we also have the witness
on earth that says this. There are three that bear witness
on earth. The Spirit, which gives life. And the water, which is
the baptism and confession of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
blood, which washes away sin. And these three agree in one. They're all in agreement. They're
saying exactly or basically the same thing. Those who stood hearing
him knew not that God was speaking to them. Because he said, the
word of God is not in you, because you don't believe on him whom
God has sent. They had the scriptures and the words of the prophets
who all testified of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Peter
said in Acts chapter 10 and verse 43. All the prophets gave witness
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we've been studying the prophets
in the Old Testament for a long time, and we know it's all about
Christ. In Genesis, he's the seat of warmth. In Exodus, he's
the paschal lamb. In Leviticus, he's the atonement
for sin. In Numbers, he's the brazen serpent.
In Deuteronomy, he's the city of refuge. In Joshua, he's Rahab's
stark scarlet cord. In Judges, he's the angel of
the Lord. In Ruth, he's the kingdom redeemer. In 1 Samuel, he's the
slayer of the enemies. In 2 Samuel, he's the gracious
king. In 1 Kings, he's the builder of the temple. In 2 Kings, he's
the great prophet. In Chronicles, he's the ark of
blessing. In 2 Chronicles, he's the defender of the people. Ezra,
he's the restorer of his people. In Nehemiah, he's the redeemer
of his people. In Esther, he's the preserver
of his people. In Job, he's the day's man. In
Psalm, he's the good shepherd. In Proverbs, he's the wisdom
of God. In Ecclesiastes, he's the teacher of wisdom. In Solomon's
Song, he's the beloved of Christ in his church, in Isaiah he's
the substitute for sinners, in Jeremiah he's the Lord our righteousness,
in Lamentations he's the Lord our portion, in Ezekiel he's
the glory of God, and on and on and on. You go through every
book in the Bible. And those are just one of the
references. One of the references. All the prophets, from Genesis
to Malachi, gave witness of Jesus Christ. He said man witnesses
of himself. That's not true. My goodness,
he's piling up the witnesses, isn't he? He's piling up the
witnesses. Some have seen him, and they
got the message of who he is from God, those who have seen
him. He said, you've not seen his
face. You've not seen his person. And they were looking right at
him, but they didn't see him. But Peter, when asked who men
said that he was, Peter said, Now art the Son of God. Now art
Christ the Son of the Living God. And the Lord said, flesh
and blood is not of your use to you, but the Lord and the
Father, which is in heaven. So the Heavenly Father is the
witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. So you have John the Baptist.
You have the works that Christ did. You have the Father being
a witness to him. So two or three witnesses, I
think, is a standard. And the final witness, witness
number four, is the greatest witness of all, the Scripture. Genesis to Malachi is what they
had at this time. They testify of Christ. And is
it greater than John the Baptist? Greater than the works of Christ?
Greater than the Father himself? That's something isn't it? Well
look at what he says in Psalm 138. David said, I will worship toward
thy holy temple and praise thy name for thy loving kindness
and for thy truth, for thou hast magnified thy word above all
thy name. What you hold in your hand is
the greatest witness of all. It's the greatest witness of
all. Our Lord said it this way in verse 39, you search the scriptures
for him and him you think eternal life, but they are they that
testify of me. That's what a witness does, he
testifies. The scriptures testify of the
Lord Jesus Christ. There's no greater witness of
Christ being the Son of God, yea, God himself and the Word
of God, who is both Christ in person and Christ in revelation. In the first chapter of this
book, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God, the same as in the beginning with God.
And the Word was made flesh, and Russell my messenger will
be on his door as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. You see, the only way that Christ is known in this
Word, the only way, he's not known by seeing him on the side
of a towel. He's not seen, he's not known
by seeing him on an apron. He's not sown, known by seeing
him as a statue. or a picture on the wall. He's
not known by any of that. He's known one way in this world.
One way is through this book. Through this book. Our Lord talking
to the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke chapter 24,
verse 26 and 27. They were just stunned, astounded
that Christ had gone to the cross and died. Now he was resurrected. And they just wasn't, they didn't
think that was the plan they had when he was coming. And so
he says in verse 26 of Luke 24, ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and enter into glory? And beginning at where? Moses,
Genesis. beginning at Moses, and all the
prophets. He expanded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself, beginning at Moses. He proved that Christ had to
go to the cross and suffer, by going to Moses and the prophets.
By going to Moses and the prophets. Then he'd go on to verse 44.
He said, These are the words which I spake unto you while
I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
are written, in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the
Psalms concerning me, then the open heather understanding that
they might understand the Scriptures. Your understanding of the Scriptures is knowing Christ. Knowing who
he is and what he's done the word of God the Old Testament
and the New Testament is only preached by the preaching of
the gospel of Jesus Christ Preaching of the gospel is the way the
word is preached A lot of people say I'm preaching the word and
they'll take this verse and that verse of this book and that book
and expand that book and never mention Christ. They're not The only way the word of God
is preached is to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It's
to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what Peter said
in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 25. But the word of the
Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. This is the word which by the
gospel. He said this is the word which
is preached unto you. He said this is the word which by the
gospel is preached unto you. In the face of two or three witnesses
the thing is established. Our Lord has provided four unimpeachable
witnesses. So it is absolutely established
that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God. Father bless us to
understand and pray in Christ's name.