God Bears Witness To the Son

Transcript

GR 351
3/2/1980
God Bears Witness to the Son
John 5:31-47
Gil Rugh

John's gospel, chapter 5. This chapter is focusing attention on the person of Jesus Christ in light of His claim to be one with the Father, to have a relationship of equality, and in effect to Himself be deity. This flowed out of the miracle that He performed at the first part of the chapter and the challenge that came to Him as a result of His doing that miracle on the Sabbath Day. And Jesus has claimed equality with God, being the One who will exercise judgment over all humanity, being the One who Himself is the life-giver, the One who will raise to life the dead at the appropriate time.

We noted these are two responsibilities that are limited to deity alone— that of giving life and that of exercising judgment. There are two kinds of life that Jesus claims to be able to give. In verse 25, He claimed to be able to give spiritual life. Those who would hear and believe would live. And then following in verses 28 and 29, He claimed to be able to raise back to physical life the dead, and the Jews understood that the Old Testament that it was clear that these were prerogatives of God. And with this Jesus claims to be the One who will exercise judgment over all humanity. In verse 27, He said the Father doesn't judge anyone. All judgment has been given to the Son. We went over the fact that this responsibility of judgment was delegated to the Son and does not imply any inferiority on the part of Christ but rather equality. The delegation is an indication of the order that exists in the Godhead, between Father and Son. But delegating a responsibility of deity to the Son is an indication that the Son is Himself God. God the Father could not delegate to a human being the right to give life or the right to judge the human race. So the fact that He delegates this to the Son indicates that the Son is more than humanity. That He is also deity. And then we looked in our last study together at the resurrections and judgments of Scripture—that all will be raised. The wicked and the righteous alike, but the will not be raised at the same time. All that Jesus is stressing in verses 28 and 29 is the fact of the resurrection. Other portions of Scripture lay out the order of the resurrections for us. We noted there would be the Church at the Rapture; Old Testament saints and Tribulations saints at the second coming to earth at the end of the Tribulation; and then there will be the wicked at the end of the 1,000-year millennium. And in connection with each of these resurrections, there is judgment. For believers, it’s a judgment for rewards—a different word was used that indicates a judgment seat where you come to be rewarded for what you’ve done.
For the wicked, it’s the Great White Throne as discussed in Revelation chapter 20 where they are consigned forever to eternal suffering in hell.

Now having claimed to be deity and claimed for Himself the prerogatives of deity, resurrection, giving life, and judgment, the question comes, Who says this is true? And this is what picks up in verse 31. "If I alone bear witness of Myself, My testimony is not true." In other words, it’s one thing to claim to be God, to claim to be the One who gives life and raises the dead, who claimed to be the One to judge all humanity. Where’s the proof? There has to be more than just a claim made. Now what Jesus is doing in verse 31 is acquiescing to the general pattern among men, established back in Deut. 17:6, where we are told that it is at the mouth of two or three witnesses that a fact will be established. So among men, it takes more than one witness to prove that something is true or false. So Jesus here is saying that this statement in light of a human perspective. If I were the only one to bear witness of myself, then my witness would not be true. You would not accept it as factual. But this is not an absolute statement, because it is true that Jesus could bear witness of Himself and that’s the only testimony that would be needed.

Look over in chapter 8 of John, verse 14. "Jesus answered and said to them, 'Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true...’" Now in chapter 5, He said ’If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.' Chapter 8, verse 14, He says ’Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true. For I know where I came from, and I know where I am going...’" In other words, He alone has the knowledge and understanding to accurately testify. Revelation calls Him the True Witness, the Faithful Witness. So while it’s true that Jesus Christ does not need any other testimonies, any other witnesses to validate His character and His person, for the benefit of men He has them. So back in chapter 5 He is speaking from the human perspective. For their benefit, there will be those who are called to testify. But not for His own, and that will become clear in a couple of verses.

So what He is going to do then through this section, is give those who testify on His behalf and there will be a number, starting with John the Baptist. Really, His Father is the key through all this and He will elude to His Father, but John the Baptist will be the first one we’ll deal with. And then His works and then His Father and the Scriptures. We’ll see that the Father is the One testifying through it all.

In verse 32, "There is another who bears witness of Me; and I know that the testimony which He bears of Me is true." Jesus says ’I’m not the only one; there is another one who testifies concerning Me and His testimony is true.’ Now I take it the reference here is to His Father, and that will come out clear in verse 37. But He first picks up then with John the Baptist, because the Father’s testimony is true but they are looking for people to testify. External, physical evidences as testimonies. So He eludes to the Father, and He will pick Him up directly in a couple of minutes.

But note verse 33. "You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth." So here is one who has testified to Me—John the Baptist. We saw this back in chapter one of John beginning with the 19th verse where John clearly testified concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ. "He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." But, Jesus says, "The witness which I receive is not from man; but I say these things, that you may be saved." So you note here. 'I am presenting these testimonies for your benefit not for mine.' He does not need men to testify concerning His person and character, because all men know about Him is what He has revealed to them. He knows where He came from, He knows where He's going. He doesn't need John the Baptist to validate Him, but men look for witnesses. So He says at the end of verse 34, "but I say these things, that you may be saved." I am telling you these things so that you might believe and have salvation, but I don't need testimonies. I don't need witnesses myself. The witness I receive is not from man.

Let's back up to verse 32, the Father will bear witness of Him. He knows that in His relationship to His Father. He knows who He is. The Father and Son are in agreement. But John is a witness that men have experienced.

In verse 35, "He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light." Interesting. John the Baptist came on the scene; there had not been a prophet in Israel for 400 years! And there was a certain excitement about his ministry. We see in the opening chapters of the synoptic gospels how the people came out in flocks, even the religious leaders, came and listened. John said 'You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee.' They didn't really believe but there was an excitement about his presence and about his ministry. And the Jews enjoyed that ministry in a certain sense for a while. 'You were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.' They got tired of it. They soon wearied of the message of repentance of sin and salvation, but they were excited about it. So Jesus is saying that John testified of me, and they knew about that. They had sent to John and John had told them about Christ. So there is a testimony. You say it has to be two or three witnesses; well, John testifies of me. But John is not the greatest testimony I have.

Verse 36. "But the witness which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me." Jesus says that the works are ever greater than the testimony of John the Baptist because the works flow out of His person. John’s is an external testimony. It could be wrong. John could be claiming something that could be true, but the power that was evident in the person of Christ and accomplished great miracles like the healing of the lame man at the beginning of chapter 5, you cannot deny the reality of that. That’s a greater testimony than John. That flows out of Me, and is an evidence, a direct evidence. It's the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish.

What you're going to see through this section is that the Father is bearing testimony to the Son really in all these areas because who was speaking through John the Baptist? Who gave him his message? God the Father. Who was working through Christ in the accomplishing of these great miracles? God the Father. We'll see even the Scriptures are the statement of the Father.

Now. The responsibility of the Jews was to consider this testimony. They were clamoring for evidence. Here is a man who is doing mighty miracles. The responsibility of the Jews was to evaluate, were these miracles genuine? Are they true miracles? If so, what does the one doing them claim? And do they support the claim that He makes? Now the Jews were unwilling to do that. The evidence went right by them. You note they had yet to consider the validity of the miracle of the healing of the lame man. They never questioned its reality. They never challenged the fact that a real miracle has been done, but they never consider the evidence here. They don't even talk about the miracle. They've only talked about it in relation to their Sabbath traditions because they are unwilling to consider the evidence.

Look over in chapter 10 of John. Chapter 10. You have the same kind of context where Jesus is claiming to be deity. And He presents the miracles that He does as evidence of His deity. And in verse 37, "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me." Now you note here, again, the same kind of issue. Jesus claims that His works and the works of the Father are the same thing. "But if I do them (the works of the Father) though you do not believe Me, believe the works; that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." In other words what Jesus is saying is, if you have a hard time with what I say, just look at what I do. You have a hard time listening to My message, just look at the demonstrations of power that are being accomplished. That's the work of God. Believe then because of the proof offered. And just note while you're here the response of the Jews. "Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him." Do they consider the evidence? Do they say He's got a point? We are obligated to consider the witness, the testimony of these miracles? No! They are so aggravated that they can't contradict that testimony that they decide they have to kill him. You know, if you can't go against the evidence, you have to get rid of the evidence. That was basically what they were saying. And this is their attitude toward the miracles. Does it cause them to stop and think, well maybe this is the Son of God? No. By the time we get to the culminating miracle, the raising of Lazarus, they are going to determine they are going to have to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus because he is living proof of the power of Christ. They are unwilling to consider the evidence, although they are saying 'Give us proof, give us proof. Where are the witnesses, where are the testimonies?' Jesus says they're all around you.
Yeh, but we don't want to hear those. John—yes. But we don't want to hear John. What about the miracles? No. Don't want to hear them. You can see as we go through this section that the problem is not a lack of evidence. The problem is not that there is not the witness given. The problem is that men don't want to believe, and they cannot be convinced when they have made up their minds not to believe. Important note here, I just want to throw in.

I think that apologetics has value basically for the Christian. That’s going to be evident through this section because you do not convince the unbeliever. Apologetics serve to confirm our faith. They cause us to realize the firmness of the evidence, but the unbeliever is basically not impressed by the evidence and here is a clear indication of that.

Look over in chapter 2 of Acts. Acts chapter 2. Peter is preaching on the Day of Pentecost, verse 22—"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, you nailed to the cross..." But what of it? God attested to Him. He testified to Him, to the validity of His claims by the great miracles that He did. But did they respond to the miracles? They executed Him because they did not want to be confronted with evidence. Alright.

Back to chapter 5. Nonetheless it is a testimony that has to be considered. Men try to avoid this testimony today by denying the validity of the miracles.
And they want to throw out the only record and the only evidence that there is because they are just like the Jews of Jesus’ day. If Jesus Christ did miracles, and claimed to be the Son of God, then I am confronted with a dilemma. I must either believe in Him or be a fool. So I must find a way to discredit the evidence. So enough time has gone by and now I say what they wrote is not true. And the evidence presented is not true. Now the Jews couldn’t do that in Jesus’ time so you don't even find them questioning the validity of the miracles. They are obvious—no one denies them. Later on in Acts when the disciples do a miracle, the Jews respond that a great notable work has been done and we can’t deny that. How are we going to keep the word from spreading is the only question.

Now verse 37, "And the Father who sent Me, He has borne witness of Me." So we have John the Baptist, we have My miracles, and the Father Himself testifies on my behalf. Now He inserts here a condemning statement—"You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. And you do not have His word abiding in you..." You are totally ignorant of Him. Now these are religious leaders who are claiming to be able to evaluate the person and ministry of Jesus Christ as God's representatives. And Jesus says 'You never saw My Father, you never experienced His form, you don't have His word in you. You have no relationship with Him at all.' I take it that's the evidence. Now the time being eluded to—some would carry this back to the baptism when there was a verbal statement from the Father in Heaven concerning the person of Christ, His beloved Son. Some would carry it back to the Old Testament where you haven't seen His form, and in Genesis 32 we're told that Jacob wrestled with God and he claims to have seen God face to face. But Jesus is in effect telling them they have had no experience with God. They are cut off from God. His word is not part of their life. They have no communication with
God. Now that's a real striking statement to say to Jews who claim to be THE people of God, the chosen ones if they've never seen Him, if they've heard His voice, and they don't have His word in them. So they are ignorant of His testimony. So He says 'God the Father has testified of Me, but your problem is that you have no relationship with Him.'

Go back to 1 John chapter 5. The first epistle of John written by the same writer of the gospel which we are studying. 1 John chapter 5. Again, John is bringing witnesses to the fore concerning the person and work of Christ. And note verse 9. "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater for the witness of God is this, that He has borne witness concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son. This is the witness that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." Now that's the testimony of God. That God has provided eternal life for mankind and that life is found only in His Son. Now you can believe it or you can say God is a liar, but you will note that those are the only two choices that we are given. But note in verses 9 and 10, that God has borne witness. And in verse 10, ’the one who believes in the Son has the witness in himself...’ God has testified in Scripture—we're going to talk about the Scriptures in a moment—concerning His Son Jesus Christ. So those who believe in the Son have an inner confirmation concerning the validity of this testimony. I take it we're talking primarily about the ministry of the Spirit in our life. As a believer, as you study the Scripture, study concerning Christ, it is confirmed to you that it is valid. Now there is a certain subjectivity to this. This is an evidence that I cannot communicate to an unbeliever, so in that sense it is subjective. It occurs in the realm of my experience. But it is not subjective from the standpoint that it is limited to experience. It is my experience based upon the clear statement of God, but only those who are believers know what I’m talking about. Did you ever sit down and share something from the Scripture with an unbeliever; and say 'Just read this, read these verses.’ And they read them and they just ooze the truth to you! Boy, this is so clear and so strong, you just wait for them to be zapped in their seat! And they read it and they say ’Well, that’s interesting. Just words. Just a statement. I don’t believe it.’ How can you not believe it, it’s so clear?!’ But you have the Spirit of God confirming the Word of God in your life, and there is no doubt, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world! He has confirmed that and established that to Me. Now it’s not true because He has established and confirmed that to me. It’s true because He said it in His Word! But He has confirmed and established His Word to me as His child. Those of you who are believers know exactly what I’m talking about. Those of you who are not believers, it’s just a lot of muddle! Oh sure, easy way out, to say it’s confirmed to those who believe. You want me to believe without the evidence. Just believe everything you say and then I’ll know, huh? Well, to an extent that's the only way you can go. It's like the creation of the world. All the evidence points positively to the fact that a personal God created this world. I can't see an intelligent person believing anything else. Excuse me if you're offended. But, Hebrews chapter 3 says it's by faith that we understand the worlds were created by God. I didn't come to understand that because it was proven positively to me. I came to believe and now I understand the evidence.

So in 1 John 5 John is talking about that confirmation that believers have. Back in the gospel of John chapter 5, these who are unbelievers have no confirmation. In an effect, what we have here is again an evidence that apologetics do not win people. I believe there is a place for apologetics and believers ought to present the evidence, and we ought to be aware of the evidence. But we often think, 'Oh, if I were only sharper I could nail them to the wall and they'd have to believe.' But you know? The only thing that brings about faith is the hearing of the gospel and the ministry of the Spirit to bring about that faith. The evidence confirms to me, apologetics just further clarifies and give me a greater appreciation. But I have yet to with all my brilliant arguments ever argue someone into faith in Christ. No matter how brilliant it is and you think you've got them so nailed to the wall that they couldn't get out no matter how hard they tried, and they turn around and walk away. You say 'What do you mean, you can't! You're boxed in, you have to believe!' 'What do you mean I have to believe? See you later.' And they walk down the street and some man who couldn't present apologetics if he wanted to, gives them a gospel tract and tells them Christ died for him and he believes it. So what we have back in John chapter 5 is the clear statement in verse 37 that they have no experience with the Father. That's their problem. They can't appreciate the fact that Jesus is the Son of God because they don't because they were the ones who had received the Old Testament. They are the ones to whom the oracles of God had been committed. They were entrusted with the Word of God. You know the problem? The message of the Old Testament is concerning Jesus Christ. Know what the next verse says? "You are unwilling to come to Me that you may have life." So the very life they were seeking in the Scriptures they were unwilling to have, because they were unwilling to come to Jesus Christ. So you see where it all comes down to? Again, here's another evidence. An evidence that they regarded very highly—the Scriptures. The Scriptures speak about Me. But you know what? You won't come to Me that you might have the life that the Scriptures promise. There could be no more striking evidence given to a Jew than to say 'Yes, the Scriptures testify concerning Me. But you won't come to Me.' And you note where the total burden of responsibility is placed? He does not say 'Well, it's hard for you to come to Me because you have been raised in a contrary environment. All your education has been contrary to accepting Me as Messiah. Your parents raised you in such a strict Old Testament environment that you never perceived the real issues.' Know what He says? 'You are unwilling to come to Me.' When it boils down to the bottom line, you don't want to come to Me to have life. That's it. The Scriptures testify, but you won't come to Me that you may have life. And what you have here is the unity of the testimony—Old and New Testament alike testify concerning Jesus Christ. From Genesis to Revelation it is an unfolding of the person and character and work of the Son of God. It's one united testimony and He's going to come back to this, but He has inserted in verses 41 to 44 a real problem. "I do not receive glory from men..." Jesus was not looking to be elevated by men. "But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves." Now a real problem here. Here are men who study the Scriptures. Men like the scribes whose lives were given to scriptural studies, and they don't know the Messiah of the Scriptures and they
don't love the God of the Scriptures. Now that goes on today. I hope that you know. There are individuals who are great scholars of the Scriptures, and yet they do not understand concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ. They write some outstanding material. Over the last month or two I've read a number of commentaries by a man who is widely known for his writings on the New Testament and it amazes me the perception and insight he has in matters pertaining to grammar and history. But you know, again and again I was amazed as I read through various commentaries that he has written that he comes up and then veers off. He misses the point. I say How can this man with all of his knowledge, with his grasp of the Greek language, with his grasp of the historical background so miss the message of the Scriptures. Yet he is a man who does not believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. He does not believe in the necessity of salvation through faith in Him and His finished work. He is a Universalist. He is William Barkley, so you don't all run up and ask me afterwards. He died about a year ago. Tremendous insights in many areas, yet when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, he misses the point.

Just like these men. But you know what really concerns me? We as Christians if we're not careful can fall into the same kind of pattern. Now we're believers, but you know what these Jews were doing? They were studying and handling the Scriptures as an end in and of itself. Being sure they had precise, correct copies, counting the number of letters, going from each end to the middle to make sure you are at the right letter so you didn't leave any letters out. To preserve and then care for it. To know meticulously all the details of it. But that's as far as it went. The study and preservation of the Scriptures became and end in and of itself. And that can happen to us as believers. We study the Scriptures to know more about the Scriptures. That’s not the goal. The goal is to study the Scriptures to know more about Christ so that we become more like Him. Isn't that what Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 11 Cor. 3:18, that I can preach it to you. And that’s the same with each of us as believers. We need to be careful. We have a strong emphasis on doctrine and Bible truth, but we need to be careful that it is in the proper context and perspective, that our lives are changed. It doesn’t excite me near as much to know someone knows a lot about the Bible as to know a person’s life is conformed to the Scripture. And they are not necessarily one and the same.

Now I think that’s the difference when Jesus says in verse 38, "You do not have His word abiding in you..." They could have passed doctrinal exams. They could have passed tests regarding Old Testament facts and knowledge. But the Word of God was not living in them, it was not a vital part of their lives. It didn’t change their life. And you know, you can ask yourself—Is my life being changed to become more and more like the character of Christ? Is my life being more and more conformed to the Scriptures that I’ve been studying? That's the goal I have to ask myself. Gil, is your life different because you’ve studied the 5th chapter of John? What impact has that made upon you? Have you allowed the Spirit to conform you to that so that you are more like Christ? Or have you been concerned about preaching good sermons on the 5th chapter of John, has that been the goal and the end?

So Jesus says in verse 41, "I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another shall come in his own name, you will receive him." The evidence that they don’t love God. And I take it that’s the stress here in ’You don’t have the love of God in yourselves.’ Primarily, love for God. The proof of it is that they don’t receive His Son.
They would have claimed to love God, to love the word of God, but the proof is, Do they receive His Son or not? And that’s the evidence Jesus gives.

He says ’If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.’ And that’s been true of the Jews. They have accepted false Messiahs over the years, but not the true one. It will culminate in the coming of the Antichrist, who will present himself as the Savior and protector of Israel and the Jews will accept him as such. But he comes in his own name, not the name of God.
He's not sent by God.

The issue in verse 44. "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?" Know the problem here? When all said and done, these religious people were more interested in glory from men than they were glory from God. They were concerned honor them, that men praise them, that men give them glory; and this was a barrier to coming to Jesus Christ. Jesus said 'That's not an issue for Me; I'm not looking for man's glory. I don't accept it from man.' And if you've studied at all the life of Christ you know He didn't get it from men. Now we can understand that that's a problem. Men love the glory of men. We're all wanting to be spoken well of. We all want to be looked up to. We want to be honored by other people. You know how it is even as a Christian? How sometimes it is difficult to speak that word of Christ because you are afraid. What will they think of me if I speak up for Christ in this situation? I don't want them to look down on me or think I'm strange or weird or one of these far out religious people, and you know the flesh hasn't changed. The flesh, the old me always wants the honor of men. I want men to look up to me. He's a success, he's a good guy. He's this and that, and I desire the acclaim of men. And it's a barrier to coming to Jesus Christ because make no mistake about it, when a person comes to accept Jesus Christ and identify with Him, that is not looked up to in the world but is looked down upon. Look at the Apostle Paul. He was looked up to in Israel. He was a leader. Had glory and esteem and prestige. He became a believer and what did he have for the rest of his life? And these Pharisees had counted the cost and they decided the glory of men was better than the glory that God gives. Now can you imagine that? It shows how sinful we really are. That when I lay it out, I would rather have you speak well of me, I’d rather have men exalt and honor me for a brief period of time on earth than the honor of God for eternity. It’s mind-boggling, isn’t it. I like to read history about different men who have influenced history, particular biblical history and Roman emperors and leaders etc. from the Greek empires. It always amazes me as I think of some of the tremendous splendor that surrounded some of these individuals and yet now it seems so trite and so insignificant. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Magnificent. All they are today are ruins, and yet where are the kings who enjoyed the splendor? The fact that men honored them, that men exalted them becomes insignificant, doesn't it. The fact that men acclaimed Nero and condemned Paul, 2,000 years later who would want to be Nero? Nobody. But you know, it's so difficult to make those decisions in the here and now because we want to be spoken well of. And oh it's important to me to be important, to have men think well of me, to be exalted. And coming to Christ brings a stigma. To be identified with Him marks me off.

And Jesus says very simply, verse 44, 'Your problem is that you'd rather have men's glory rather than God's glory.' And you can't have both. You ought to be clear on that. James says 'Friendship with the world is to be the enemy of God.' We think that we've got the best of both worlds as Christians. I'll be a secret Christian and then God will honor me and the world will honor me. But I think we just fool ourselves.

Verse 45, and through verse 47 really, He ties it back to the Scripture.
He picked up with the Scripture in verse 38 where they don't have His Word abiding in them. Now He comes back. The problem is they don't love God, they want man's glory. Now back to the Scripture and what the Scripture says about them. "Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope." I think this is an important statement. Often people are concerned that we as Christians judge those who don’t believe like we don’t believe. And yet Jesus says here that judgment has occurred. He says in fact, Moses accuses you already. The accusation is going on. So Jesus says 'I don't have to condemn you. I don't accuse you. Moses already accuses you.’ And really what we’re saying is, What does the Scripture say about a man or woman who does not believe in Jesus Christ? That they are going to spend eternity separated from God in hell. And they say 'That's terrible to judge people. They are religious, they are doing their best.' But the Scriptures already accuse you. Hasn't waited for Gil Rugh to speak the word. Thousands of years ago, God spoke and the accusation stands still already—you are accused.

Moses, now of all things. Moses was the one upon whom the Jews based their hope. Their hope for eternity. Their devotion to Moses and the Law they felt would get them to heaven. And now Jesus comes directly on and says Moses accuses you. "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" That's almost unreal to these Jews. That He could say I don't believe Moses? But Jesus is saying 'Moses is writing about Me. He wrote of Me. If you really believed Moses, you'd believe in Me.' And that's true today. There is not a Jew alive who believes the Old Testament who does not believe in Jesus Christ of the New Testament. You say 'Well, I met one who said he did.' Jesus is standing before a number who say they do. They died for that Old Testament, remember. Many were martyred for it. Men were mutilated horribly for it. And yet they did not believe the Scriptures because they did not believe in Jesus Christ. You see where it all comes back to again? What is your attitude toward Jesus Christ? Have you come to believe in Him or not? Moses testifies concerning Him. Moses wrote about Jesus Christ from Genesis to Revelation, the entire Scripture focuses attention upon Jesus Christ. There is not a person who believes the Scriptures, who does not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the One who died for the sins of the world. You say 'Wait a minute, I know a lot of people who believe the Scripture but don't believe that.' No. You don't. They really don't believe the Scripture. That's the message of the Scriptures. They may believe some ideas they have about the Scriptures. They may believe the religious traditions they have been taught about the Scriptures, but they don't believe the message of the Scriptures because that's the message of the Scriptures—Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the One provided by God. So you see how the testimony of God the Father pervades everything else. Who sent the prophet John and gave Him His message? God the Father. Who empowered the Son as a man upon the earth to do these mighty miracles? God the Father. Who authored the Scriptures, and moved upon men to write the words of God? God the Father did. Then what are men doing when they reject the Son? They are rejecting the testimony of the Father. Again, you see how inseparably they are joined together. The one who rejects the Son rejects the Father who sent Him. They go hand in hand. There is not a person on earth who believes in God who does not believe in Jesus Christ. God—capital G. There are many people who believe in god—small g. But the One, true and living God, the only people who really believe in Him are the ones who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. That's narrow enough to be offensive. But that's what Jesus has done here, isn't it? He has told them that their beliefs are not good enough. Their religious traditions are not good enough. Only what God has said and done are good enough, and they must place their confidence and faith in what God is doing, not what they are doing. In what God has said, not what they say. In God's provision, not theirs. And that provision is the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. He's the One who came to earth, to die to pay the penalty for sin. The only question is, are you willing to come to Him to have life? Why are you unwilling to come to Him that you may have life? Did you ever think of that? Why are you unwilling to come to Him? He loved you and died for you, and yet you are unwilling to come to Him that you may have life? That's simply an indication of how rebellious in our sin we really are. We're so in love with the glory we have among men that we'd forego the glory that God gives for eternity. Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for the clarity and simplicity of your Word. Lord, for the greatness of the person of Jesus Christ. Lord, for the testimony given concerning Him. Lord, for the presence of the Spirit to confirm the Word in the lives of those who believe. Lord, we desire that those who are here who have yet to come to Him, Lord, that the Spirit might work upon their will. Might open their eyes to see the greatness of your love, the greatness of your salvation; Lord that they might come to Jesus Christ and in Him find life.

Pray for those of us who have believed, have life. Lord, pray that we might be a people who are being conformed moment by moment and day by day to the glorious character of our Savior. To the Word as we've considered it today. Lord, don't allow us to become complacent and satisfied to just hear the Word and go about our activities. Our desire is that the Spirit would mold us and shape us that we would be more and more like Jesus Christ, that your purposes be accomplished in us and preparing us for the glory of your presence, for we pray in Jesus' name