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This sermon was preached on Sunday 8/07/2001 Am, by Kevin Matthews.
We have been considering the Gospel of John together over the course of the last year, and perhaps there are still some here who have not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. This is so notwithstanding the purpose of this great gospel, ‘But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name (Jn 20:31).’
Today we are going to consider the witnesses that are arrayed against you and your unbelief, for you who do not believe do so to your own peril. An awful future is ahead of you and I seek to give you what may be your last warning. There is clear evidence of the truth, and you have seen it and considered it, but yet you will not believe. You, as the Jews in our passage, refuse to hear the clear testimony given on Christ’s behalf.
Your unbelief does not rise so much from a want of evidence, as from a want of will to believe. You sinner who believe not, do not believe because you do not want to believe, your unbelief is your own fault and no one else is to blame for it. You have seen the evidence; it has been presented to you, but with hands over your ears and with closed eyes you have refused to take heed to it.
Your blood rests upon your own head this morning and my purpose in this message is to show you that it is so. You perish because you to choose to perish and so you will perish. You have no excuse if you choose not to believe, for before your ‘eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you (Gal 3:1).’ You know the truth but you will not have it.
Why should you believe? Hear the words of Jesus this morning and He will tell you why. Listen carefully as we hear Jesus rebuking the Jewish Leaders who would not believe in His day. Those men who had all the evidence before them and yet rejected it, for you stand with them in your unbelief.
‘If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true (Jn 5:31).’
It would be fair enough not to believe if Jesus came without evidence of His own claims. If this Man Jesus is to be believed on the basis of His own testimony alone, then you have every reason to reject His claim of Divinity, of Sovereignty and of He being the Way of Salvation for sinners. If there were no other evidence pointing to Jesus as the way by which you need to come in order to be saved, then you would do well to reject what He has to say. That’s what Jesus Himself is saying in this passage, ‘if there is no other evidence, then reject Me as a deceiver!’
Listen, listen, Jesus is not saying that He is a liar, but He is saying that if He did come alone and without evidence, then you could rightly regard Him as a liar, and that without sin - but the point is, that He does not come on the basis of His own testimony alone. There is more evidence! There is more proof! What will you do with this proof? Will you believe it?
‘What evidence is there,’ you ask? ‘I can’t see any evidence! Christianity is all an elaborate deception. If I could see Him I would believe. No one has come back from the dead and told me that Christianity is true. There is no proof. You Christians are all fools.’
Ahhh sinner, don’t be so hasty to believe the duplicity of the Devil. Jesus, in this passage this morning brings to your attention numerous witnesses and evidences of His claims and you would do well to listen to them. Jesus does not come alone with His claim of Divinity and of being the only way of salvation, for ‘There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true (5:32).’
Who is this other witness? Why, it is God Himself. His Father has provided a plethora of proof throughout the ages, an overflowing abundance of testimony to Jesus that cannot be lightly cast aside. God is truth and does not lie - sinner, you can believe the witness of God and the evidence He has provided, for it is from God Himself. In this passage Jesus begins to list the evidence and testimony that the Father has given of Him, God’s Son. Hear it and hear it well, for your salvation from sin and eternal misery depends upon it.
‘Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth (5:33).’
The first witness from the Father that is called forward against the Jewish Leaders by Jesus is John the Baptist, ‘a man sent from God (1:6).’ We have already seen that the Jews heard the witness of John to Jesus. Remember back in John one (1:19) when they came to John and questioned him about his ministry? There they wanted to know if John was the Christ, the Messiah. There John pointed the Jews to Jesus. John the Baptist was preparing the way for Him, making it clear to all that the Messiah was about to appear in fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy and promise and indeed that He had already come, for ‘but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not (1:26).’
John was the witness who pointed to Jesus as ‘the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (1:29,36)’ who also said, ‘I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God (1:34).’ John ‘was the burning and shining lamp (5:35)’ who pointed the way to Jesus as the true Light and Saviour of the world. His light was provided so that men and women and children could see through the darkness and go to Jesus for life and salvation.
The Jews ‘were willing for a season to rejoice in his light (5:35),’ and you too sinner were pleased to hear what John had to say regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, but like the Jews it was only for a time. You liked what he said, but you were unwilling to take heed to it. You rejoiced in his light for a time, but you refused to follow that light to its Source, even to Jesus Himself. You contemplated what was said, but in the weeks that followed you also have rejected his testimony and it has come to nothing in you.
‘But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved (5:34).’
Jesus didn’t need to hear the testimony of John the Baptist, for He already knew who He was. His claims are in no way dependent on what John thinks, or on what John says, on what the Jews think, or on what you think, or what anybody else says - He is ‘the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name (Jn 20:31).’ This is so whether you choose to believe it or not.
The witness of John is given not for Christ’s benefit but for you. His testimony is from God and brought for your consideration that you might be saved. You need to consider this testimony and to take heed to it so that you will be delivered from your sin - ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (1:29,36)!’ He gives man an opportunity to hear the testimony about Jesus and to respond to it that he might not perish in his sin.
The Jews considered him a prophet and that his words were therefore from God, and if that’s so, why didn’t they believe him? If John speaks the truth from God then surely you must believe what He says about Jesus, for he is God’s witness to Jesus. But you won’t believe - why? His words warn you of the wrath to come and the only way to flee from it is through Jesus, why won’t you go to Christ for that deliverance?
Are you not satisfied with the witness of John the Baptist? Then consider a greater witness then John the Baptist.
‘But I have 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 (5:36).’
What is this greater witness that Jesus brings to the attention of the Jewish Leaders who are speaking against Him? What is this witness that testifies to you of Jesus Divinity and that He therefore speaks the truth and is the way of salvation? It is the very miracles that Jesus performs. These are signs that point to Jesus, saying, ‘look; this is God before you! They are not performed in order to entertain or amuse you, they are telling you something - this is God! You should listen to what He has to say!’ They cannot be easily ignored sinner, what will you do with these signs?
These miracles are signs given to Jesus to perform by the Father to bear witness to His Divinity. They are far more important than the words of a fallible man. These are God things and not man things. They declare to a watching world and to you that Jesus is who He says He is, that He is God and that He speaks the Truth, for they ‘manifested His glory (2:11).’ Nicodemus considered these signs and was forced to this conclusion, ‘ Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him (3:2).’ Later in John Jesus tells us that ‘the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me (10:25).’
Can there be any doubt sinner, can an ordinary man do these things? These are God things and not man things, only God can do them. These signs bear witness that Jesus is God and that the One you are rejecting is God Himself. Will you not believe He who is so obviously God Himself? Will you not take heed to what He says? If you won’t believe God, whom will you believe?
‘And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not (5:37,38).’
These Jews claim to believe in God, yet they haven’t heard Him and they haven’t seen Him. But they still have His testimony of Jesus, for it has been given to them by the Father through the Old Testament Scriptures.
Sure, you haven’t heard or seen God, but you also have His clear testimony to Jesus in this written Word. God speaks to you as He did to the Jews through the Scriptures. He bears witness to Jesus day in and day out through the Bible, will you hear Him?
The Jews had the Old Testament and you have both the Old and New Testaments, but have you heard His witness to Jesus? The Jews had not exercised a shred of faith in Jesus, yet they had God’s witness to Him and claimed that they believed God. Unbeliever, you have God’s witness to Jesus in your hands and you also do not believe.
You say you believe in God, but yet you do not believe His testimony concerning Jesus. You’re religious, so what! Real religion is the religion of Jesus; real knowledge of this Book means a real knowledge and relationship with Jesus. Believing in God means believing in Jesus.
‘Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me (5:39).’
What a tragedy! The Jews actually read their Bibles and more than that, they studied it. They thought that by immersing themselves in the Old Testament they would find eternal life. They looked diligently; they left no stone unturned, yet they did not find the life they sought even though they thought they had it. They carefully considered the witness of the Father and yet did not recognize or believe in Jesus. How is it with you sinner?
Oh sinner, you search the Scriptures - so did the Jews, and they missed the mark. What about you? You read them; you study them, for in them you think you will find life and acceptance with God. You make sure you read a little each day, but for what? You also have no life do you? Why? Why will you not believe the Bible?
The Scriptures teach the way of life, for they testify of Jesus and salvation through Him, but that’s not what you want to hear. The Bible points you to Jesus as the only way, as the only truth, and as the only life yet you never rest in Jesus.
By all means read the Bible, search the Scriptures, and hear it preached - but heed the message, for it speaks and testifies of Jesus as the way of salvation. Don’t look for something else in the Bible as the way to salvation, for you won’t find anything else. It is all Jesus - every prophecy, every type, every promise, every ritual, every everything points to Jesus. How can you miss it? You can’t, but many do. Is it so with you? Why? Why will you not believe?
The Jews thought they had found the way of salvation through the Law, but in fact they had not. In fact what they did do was to reject Jesus by resting in the Law. The Law didn’t offer another way of acceptance with God, for Moses spoke about Jesus.
‘Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words (5:45-47)?’
The very words in which they trusted for their acceptance with God spoke about Jesus and instead of believing what Moses said about Jesus they devised their own scheme and method of acceptance with God. Their careful study led them to Hell. Sinner, if you also reject the clear message of salvation through Jesus Christ alone and come up with your own method, even if it is based on the Scriptures in some twisted way, these very same Scriptures that you have read, studied and memorised will bear witness against you in the last day, for they all speak about Jesus.
These all speak about Jesus. He is the message of the Bible. Why will you not believe Him? Why will you not trust Him for your salvation? You have read about Him and you have about Him in countless messages and Bible studies - why won’t you believe?
‘And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life (5:40).’
You have heard the truth and you have read the truth, yet you will not accept the truth. The reason is not want of evidence, for there is plenty to be had. It is not want of hearing it, for you have heard it preached. It is not want of opportunity, for you have had a lifetime. It is because you won’t go to Christ in order to have it. You simply refuse to come to Jesus that you might have life. What wicked and obstinate rebellion this is. The gospel is plain and you have heard it but won‘t have it. You say you can’t come, but for some reason you simply won’t.
‘And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved (3:19,20).’
The Greek original here points to the reason why sinners won’t come to Christ; it is because they simply aren’t interested in doing so. The Jews weren’t interested and neither are you - you don’t want the salvation that is given in Jesus, you want something else, no matter what it is, it isn’t the Saviour. ‘And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life (5:40).’ Friend, your blood is upon your own head.
‘But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive (5:42,43).’
Jesus sees your heart today and He knows why you will not come to Him for life. I do not know why and no one else knows why, but He does. He ‘ needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man (2:25).’ He knows what keeps you from Him, He knows. He knows your heart sinner and your thoughts - He knows sinner, He knows.
These Jews didn’t really love God even though they said they did, for they rejected the One He sent, and neither do you love God, for you also reject the One He has sent to save sinners. You say ‘Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble (Jam 2:19)!’
You profess to believe, to want salvation from sin, but you don’t go to Him that you might have life. There is no real intent to go, for you are happy where you are already.
‘How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only (5:44)?’
Perhaps the reason you do not go to Jesus in order to have salvation is because you have already got what you want, the praise of men. Perhaps it is enough that many people already believe that you are saved and accept you as such. You do not seek the honour that comes from God and therefore you do not have it.
You may have fooled many and received praise from many for your "faith" in Jesus, but God knows your real state. You have no acceptance from God at all, but only a certain expectation of certain doom at His hands.
Sinner, you know the gospel, it has been preached to you before and you know that it is Jesus alone who saves from sin through the instrumentality of faith. Go to Him that you might have life, that you might be saved from the wrath to come, for it is coming and may be sooner then you think.
Flee to Jesus, just as you are, confessing your unbelief and trust Jesus for your salvation. Turn from your hardened rebellion and rest in Christ alone as your acceptance with God and you will have it. Don’t put off today what you may not have opportunity tomorrow to do, for the end is nigh and for you sinner it is not good.
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