In his sermon titled 'Jesus' Witnesses,' Jason Dohm discusses Jesus' claims of divinity and equality with God the Father as seen in John 5:16-40. Dohm explains that the Jewish leaders sought to kill Jesus because he made these bold claims and healed on the Sabbath, which they saw as blasphemous unless proven true. Jesus provides multiple witnesses to substantiate his claims: John the Baptist, his miraculous works, and the Scriptures themselves, all of which ultimately trace back to God the Father. John the Baptist serves as a forerunner, shedding light on Jesus' identity and mission. Jesus' works, such as healing the cripple, fulfill Old Testament prophecies and demonstrate his divine authority. Dohm stresses the importance of viewing the Old Testament as a testimony to Christ and warns against acquiring scriptural knowledge without genuine faith. Ultimately, he calls for a response of repentance and belief in Jesus, emphasizing that the gospel demands obedience.

I'll be reading out of John chapter 5. I'm going to read verses 16 through 40. Verse 16. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, My father has been working until now, and I have been working.

Therefore, the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. And then Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the Father do. For whatever he does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Most assuredly, I say to you, He who hears my word and believes in him who sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man.

Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

There is another who bears witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true. You have sent to John and he has borne witness to the truth, yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John's, for the works which the Father has given me to finish, the very works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me, and the Father himself who sent me has testified of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his form but you do not have his word abiding in you because whom he sent him you do not believe you search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and these are they which testify of me but you are not willing to come to me that you may have life oh father I pray that in your mercy there would not be one among us unwilling to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

This very day, oh Lord, send your Spirit as has been prayed, we continue to ask of you to send the Holy Spirit to help our brother to preach and for us to listen with open ears. Oh God it is a miracle to listen with open ears and open eyes. Help us to really hear today and to really see. We pray these things in His name, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. So not a week goes by where I'm not very aware of what a privilege it is to preach.

In some ways I work very hard on Sundays, almost without exception. I'm up at 5 o'clock. It was a lot earlier than that this morning. In other ways, it's the sweetest and most restful day of the week for me. Because I get to pour over these truths of Scripture.

It's been especially so as we've been in the Gospel of John. I hope you're getting a fraction of what I get. I just wanted to express my thankfulness that you buy my hours. Just allow me the privilege of preaching. It's so sweet to me to be able to do it.

The title of the sermon this morning is Jesus's witnesses. He's been making claims to his enemies that are either blasphemy or they are true. The Jews get it. In what Michael read, it's said twice that they were determined to kill him. It says that they had decided to kill him and they had decided all the more to kill Him.

This is not because they are misunderstanding, this is because they are perfectly understanding the claims that Jesus is making. They are claims that are either blasphemy against Almighty God or they are true. These are claims that if you make them, you better be able to back them up. Here Jesus is in our text backing them up. He is bringing forth lavish evidence, credible witnesses to show that these fantastic, tremendous claims that he is making are not blasphemy against a holy God, but they are true.

We broke our normal pattern last week. Our normal pattern is sequential exposition. We just worked through chapter by chapter, book by book, the Bible, little by little. Last week we had a topical sermon. So let's review where we are in chapter 5.

In the first 15 verses of the chapter, a crippled man, a man who had been crippled for 38 years, is told to rise up and to take his bed and to go home. This was on the Sabbath, which is a big problem for the Jewish leaders who believe that to pick up your mat and to walk with the mat that you picked up was a violation of the Sabbath. So, in verses 16-23, having been challenged about Jesus' instructions to this man who he has healed. Jesus responds to the challenge by declaring his equality and unity with the Father. He has the gall to say that his Father has been working until now and he's been working too.

He has life in himself and to say that all judgment has been entrusted to him by his Father. So He is expressing both equality with God and perfect unity with God. In other words, he keeps saying, I only do what my Father has given me to do. There is nothing that my Father desires me to do that I don't equally desire to do as well. I'm doing what my Father has told me to do.

In the next section, verses 24-30, Jesus further explains and expands upon that by saying that it is His voice which raises the spiritually dead and it is His voice that will raise in time to come the physically dead because why is it His voice? Well it's because the Father has granted him to have life in Himself. In other words, you and I borrow life. If God wasn't sustaining our life today, it would be over and gone. But God is not like that.

He is not borrowing life from anyone. He has life in Himself. The implication of that for us is that of what He has been granted to have in Himself, life in Himself, His Father has granted that to Him, He can give to us. He can be the source of life for us. He doesn't have to go anywhere to get life to give us.

He has it in and of Himself. Because the Father has granted Him to execute all judgment, as the judge He can say that our sins have been paid for because judgment has been entrusted to Him. Our life, we have it because it comes from Him. If you have life, it is because It comes from Jesus. He has it in Himself to give to you.

And He is the Judge. So He can tell you with great confidence that all has been made right between you and the Judge. He is the Judge. That is where we are in this one continuous discourse. I keep saying that.

One continuous discourse. Why? Because we're breaking this up into weeks. We need time to absorb these things and to unpack them. We need time to linger on them.

But Jesus wasn't lingering on them. He actually probably says this in maybe fifteen minutes or half an hour or something like that. This is one continuous discourse. The disjointedness that we have in taking it week by week was not part of this. I am working to try to keep all of this together with what was said, because it is one continuous discourse.

As we go to the text, let's go to the text in prayer. Our Father, I thank you for the sure and abundant foundation of our faith in your Son Jesus Christ. Oh, such a sure and abundant foundation. Our faith in Jesus is so well grounded. I thank you that this is just set before us on a silver platter in this text.

All of your people, We should have such joy in seeing how well grounded our faith in your Son is. I pray that it would be so. Fill us with joy today. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. I'd like to begin by speaking of the meaning of verse 31.

You'll notice the outline on the handout is a little different. It's not verse by verse, but it's sort of point by point, which follows verse by verse, so we will be pretty much going in sequence. But it is point by point. So the first point is the meaning of verse 31, why Jesus doesn't expect His testimony by itself to be sufficient. Now Think about that for a minute.

Why Jesus doesn't expect His testimony by itself to be sufficient. As I was writing that, I kept thinking, should I rephrase that? That makes me a little nervous to say it. Because we know that Jesus is God and that His testimony is perfect. So there was something in me as I was writing that that said, well, It should by itself be sufficient because we know that every jot and tittle is perfect and everlasting.

It is the eternal Word of God. Every word of Jesus is the eternal Word of God. Why wouldn't it be sufficient for itself. Let me read verse 31. Let's unpack it.

John chapter 5 verse 31, Jesus says, If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. So Jesus said it so we could say it. If he bears witness of himself, then his witness is not true. Now this seems to be contradicting John chapter 8. Now we haven't gotten there yet, so let me read it to you.

This is John chapter 8 verses 13 and 14. The Pharisees therefore said to him, to Jesus, You bear witness of yourself, Your witness is not true. Jesus answered and said to them, Even if I bear witness of myself, my witness is true. For I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from and where I am going." By the way, a few verses later in verse 18, he goes on to say that the Father bears witness of him.

He goes on to say many of the things that he says in our text today. In other words, his witness isn't alone. But the fact remains that in John chapter 8 he says, Even if I bear witness of myself, my witness is true. And then in John chapter 5, in our text, he says the exact opposite of that. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

How can that be? Is Jesus contradicting himself? Of course we say the answer to that is a resounding no. He is not contradicting himself. Jesus is making two completely different points.

In John chapter 8, the Pharisees are asserting that His witness is false as opposed to true. Jesus you are not telling the truth. But Jesus says, I know where I came from, and I know where I am going to. I know that I am God. Jesus is the truth, right?

He is the way, the truth, and the life. He doesn't tell the truth. He is the truth. It is impossible for Jesus as God to lie. Impossible for Jesus to lie.

So knowing his identity, that He is God and that it is impossible for Him to lie. He says this to the Pharisees, even if I bear witness of myself, my witness is true. Meaning that the content of all of His testimony, every jot and tittle of it, is completely, unbreakably true. What about our text? What about John chapter 5?

In our text, he is addressing whether such tremendous claims as he has been making should be accepted if they are not accompanied by evidence and credible witnesses. That is a completely different matter. I will say that again. In our text, John is addressing whether such tremendous claims, I am equal with the Father and I am perfectly unified with the Father. That is either blasphemy or true.

When somebody makes those claims, should you accept claims like those if they are not accompanied by evidence and credible witnesses, and the answer to that is a resounding NO. Someone makes claims that are either blasphemy against God or true to you today after church this afternoon. Today after church this afternoon, you are not even at liberty to accept those claims without evidence and credible witnesses. Listen to Deuteronomy 19 verse 15. 1.

One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits. By the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. The specific thing in Deuteronomy 19.15 is what happens if somebody accuses you of sin. But the broader principle is that important matters are established not by someone making self-assertions, but they are established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. When you are trying to establish any important matter, you can't be your own witness.

So do this. Go get a notary license. You know what a notary is? It's someone that the government gives a stamp to. You go through training and background checks and all that and the government puts their approval on you.

They give you a stamp, giving you the ability when somebody comes and signs a document to look at their ID and say, yes, this person was before me, I saw them sign, and I'm authorized to stamp, I watched them sign this document. That's a notary. Now, so you go get your notary license, then apply for a loan, and sign your name to the relevant documents, and notarize your own documents, and take them to closing. What would the lawyer say? Get out of here!

You can't notarize your own documents. This is the equivalent of that. Jesus is making claims that are either blasphemy or truth that salvation hangs upon, and they must rise or fall with evidence and credible witnesses. So Jesus is saying, I have the evidence and I have the credible witnesses. Now here is an application for us.

By the way, you'll notice on the handouts there's no section for applications. I'm sprinkling them through, that's why. Here's application number one. Have you thought of our faith, the Christian faith, as requiring you to check your brain at the door. Have you ever thought of the Christian faith as being, we walk by faith, not by sight, so evidence doesn't matter, witnesses doesn't matter, it's in a book, and our parents or the pastor says that we should believe the book.

We don't evaluate any of this critically, logically. We're required to check our brain at the door. The brain is for other things, not for this category of Christianity. This text, our text today, completely contradicts that. Jesus is not being expected to be believed about these fantastic claims that He is making, that are either blasphemy or truth that salvation hangs upon.

He is expecting to have to produce evidence and credible witnesses for his claims. If you thought that God required you to check your brain at the door, to leave your thinking behind in order to embrace Christianity, nothing could be further from the truth. Don't confuse that with me saying that evidence and credible witnesses will overcome the darkness of our nature. So that all you have to do is think your way into the kingdom. No, that's not what I'm saying.

But I am saying that our faith is completely compatible with sound thinking and logic and critical thinking. Our faith is compatible in every way with all of that, and God has never expected us to lay that aside. But having said that, beware of the darkness of nature. It will cause you to ignore the best, most overwhelming evidence. That's also what we see in our text.

People being given this overwhelming evidence and rejecting it anyway. But we're not being asked to check our brains at the door. Here's point number two. The overriding theme, the father is bearing witness. Before we go any further in this text, I want to just say that over the whole text is this banner that the Father is bearing witness.

So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's bearing. The Father is bearing witness. Our text speaks of the witness of the Father, the witness of John the Baptist, the witness of the works that Jesus is doing, the witness of the Old Testament Scriptures. But I'm arguing here, And I think it's right here in the text that if you trace every one of these four things back the father John the Baptist the works in Scripture trace any or all of those things back Upstream to the source to the fountain of that stream what you find is the father So really No matter which one of these I am talking about, I am going to keep tracing it upstream to the fountain of the stream, and it is always the Father. This is about God the Father testifying of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Father bears witness of His Son in various ways. So we are given the various ways. But ultimately it is the testimony of God the Father. Next point, the witness of John the Baptist. If you're filling in blanks, it's Baptist.

The witness of John the Baptist. Now look again at verses 33-35. John 5, 33-35. You have sent to John, says Jesus, and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved." He was the burning and shining lamp and you are willing for a time to rejoice in His light.

Here Jesus is talking about someone who has born witness to the fantastic claims that He is making that are either blasphemy or true. John the Baptist was such a witness. Verse 33 begins this way, You have sent to John. So Jesus is in Jerusalem, remember He has just healed a man at the pool of Bethesda, and He has now been confronted for his supposed Sabbath breaking that never was Sabbath breaking. And he is saying to these Pharisees in Jerusalem, you have sent to John.

So not only has John publicly testified to the identity and work of Jesus Christ, but these Pharisees that Jesus is talking to sought out John's testimony. So it is impossible that these that Jesus is talking to is unaware of John's testimony because not only did he do it for everyone, not only was he making public declarations about Jesus' identity and work, they sought out his testimony. And He is referring to what is recorded in John chapter 1. So flip back to John chapter 1. Just to remind us where we have been and to remind us that they solicited, they sought out John the Baptist's testimony.

John chapter 1, I'm going to read verses 19-34. John chapter 1, 19-34. Now this is the testimony of John. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? So again, they solicited, they sought out John the Baptist' testimony.

He, John the Baptist, confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, what then, are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, no.

Then they said to him, who are you that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord." So John the Baptist, what does he say of himself? He says, I'm Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3. He quotes Isaiah 40 verse 3, which would have been instantly recognized as a prophecy about a forerunner to the Savior that God was promising.

God promised to send a Savior, but He promised to send someone who would go before a herald, before that Savior, to make straight the way of that Savior. John says, I am that. 24. Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?

John answered them saying, I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know. It is he who coming after me is preferred before me whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose." These things were done in Beth-Abarah, beyond the Jordan where John was baptizing. The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said, After me comes a man who was preferred before me, for he was before me. I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel.

Therefore I came baptizing with water. And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." across the Gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you have different times where John is testifying, publicly testifying. And it's always the same thing.

I'm nothing, one coming after me is everything, I'm not even worthy to untie his sandals. He is the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. I am Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3. I am Malachi chapter 1. I am the fulfillment of God's promises to send a forerunner before the Messiah.

Jesus calls John the Baptist the burning and shining lamp. John the Baptist gave the people light about Jesus. That's what he's saying. John the Baptist gave people light. He gave people truth about Jesus.

He shined light on the identity and the work of Jesus. If you are still in chapter 1, look at verses 6-11. There was a man sent from God whose name was John, this is John the Baptist. This man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light.

That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own did not receive him. That perfectly matches with our text. He came to His own and His own did not receive Him.

He was a burning and shining lamp throwing flooding light onto the identity and work of Jesus Christ. Now it wasn't that light, the light of the world, but it was a burning and shining lamp that sent illuminating truth on the identity and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Jesus says something that we might not expect. We are back in our text. Look now again at verse 34.

Jesus says, Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things, that you may be saved. Now what does that mean? Surely Jesus is not demeaning the testimony of John the Baptist. Surely he's not belittling John the Baptist and he's not belittling the testimony of John the Baptist. Let's trace the testimony of John the Baptist as a witness upstream to the fountain that the stream comes from.

Did John the Baptist raise himself up? Did John the Baptist send himself? No, we have the birth accounts of John the Baptist. John the Baptist didn't come from nowhere. John the Baptist was announced by an angel in the temple to his father, who said exactly who he would be and what he was to do.

So not only is he the subject of Bible prophecies that are hundreds and maybe thousands, that are really old, not only is he the subject of Bible prophecies that are really old, He also, his birth was announced, the pregnancy of his mother was announced by an angel to his father when he was doing his priestly duties in the temple. So of course he didn't raise himself up, Of course he didn't send himself. Was his testimony his own? No, we just read in John chapter 1, God who sent him said, the one that the Spirit descends on like a dove, He's the one. And he saw it with his own eyes.

His testimony was not his own. His testimony was given to him very, very specifically, explicitly by God the Father. What Jesus is saying simply means that Jesus isn't relevant because of John the Baptist's testimony, but that John the Baptist is relevant because of Jesus' identity. That's what this means. I'll say it again.

Jesus isn't relevant because of John the Baptist's testimony. John the Baptist's testimony doesn't make Jesus relevant. John the Baptist is relevant because of Jesus' identity. It is Jesus' identity that makes John the Baptist something, not the other way around. John the Baptist is a herald.

What is a herald? A herald is one designated to go before the king to say, the king is coming! The king! Now, just think of the absurdity of a herald who can say who the king is. I just pick a guy out and say, the king is coming, he is the king.

But the herald doesn't make the king. How absurd. The king just is. And he has people to go before him to say the King is coming. The Herald doesn't make the King, the King makes the Herald.

That's the whole point of why Jesus says he doesn't accept the testimony of men. He says these things that they may be saved. In other words, John the Baptist was for us, not for Jesus. John the Baptist is for you, Not for Jesus. John the Baptist coming and being who he was and saying what he did didn't add anything to Jesus, didn't make him anything that he wasn't already.

Right? It's for you that you might know that Jesus is who He is. You might know that identity and the work of Jesus Christ, that He might be a credible witness sent from God. Here Here's another application, application number two. We must never forget that Everything hangs on Jesus' identity and Jesus' work.

We have nothing if Jesus isn't who He said He is. We have nothing if Jesus didn't do what he said he was going to do in going to the cross and atoning for sin. If we learn nothing from John the Baptist, we should learn that Jesus is everything and we are nothing. Jesus himself said of John the Baptist, of those born of women, there's never been anyone greater than John the Baptist. What does that make you and I?

Because John the Baptist said, I'm not even worthy to untie his shoes. In our laboring for the Lord in this world, you can start to think that you are something. But The point here is that John the Baptist never did. John the Baptist, as great as he was, laboring in ways that we'll never labor for the Lord, never thought he was anything. He always thought that Jesus was everything.

Finally, Jesus says, you were willing for a season of time to rejoice in John the Baptist's light. These are the stony ground hearers from Matthew 13, you know the parable of the soils. And some seed, which is the Word of God, falls upon stony ground, and immediately it springs up and is received with joy. There is no root, and it doesn't last when the sun comes out and beats down. It was great to go out and hear this wild prophet whose clothes were camel hair and who ate locusts and he was saying radical things and it was fun to go hear him.

And the things that he was saying were received with joy. But when the implications began to set in that he was testifying of Jesus and that he must be received as king, they fell away. You were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But there was no root, like the stony ground hearers. There was no root.

So when the implications of what was being taught and what was being received began having to be worked out in life. They wanted nothing to do with it. The next point, the witness of the works. Jesus says that he has a greater witness than even the witness of John the Baptist, a prophet sent by God. There is even a greater witness than this mighty prophet of God in his words.

Jesus says a couple of things about the works. One, they are works given him by his father to accomplish. Jesus didn't just come and start doing works. They were works that were given to him by his Father to do and to finish and to complete. So again, as we are tracing this witness of works upstream to the fountain, again we find the Father.

He gave these works to be done. And again, Jesus is pounding the drum of perfect unity with His Father. In this one continuous discourse, this is the third time he said it, I do what my Father gave me to do. So, one, they are works given to him by his Father to accomplish. Two, they mean God is his Father and that His Father has sent Him.

These works say something, declare something, indicate something. The works aren't just works, they have meaning. They are making a declaration and they are declaring that God is His Father and that His Father has sent Him to do these works. We have an immediate context, don't we? What is that?

A crippled man for 38 years rising and taking his mat and going. When I was preaching on that text, I quoted Isaiah chapter 35. Listen to Isaiah chapter 35. Isaiah chapter 35 is rich with prophecy about the Messiah. It is so clear when you read Isaiah 35 that this is about the times of the Messiah.

Then in Isaiah 35 verses 5 and 6 we read this, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing, for water shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert." The times of the Messiah are going to be like desert times, and yet springs are going to well up in the desert, and Blind people are going to see. Deaf people are going to hear. The lame are going to leap like a deer. The dumb are going to praise God.

So it's not simply that Jesus is doing amazing works. He is. It's amazing that a man who was crippled for 38 years stands up and picks up his mat and puts it on his shoulder and can go. That is amazing. But it's also that when God promised to send a Savior through His prophets, so often He joined that promise with, here is how you will recognize it.

Often with the prophetic promise came a mark of the times and of the works of the Messiah. They are marks of the Messiah. And as we read through the Gospels, They are just being ticked off one after another. The Old Testament prophecies, the Messiah will do this, the Messiah will do this, the Messiah will do this. These things will be happening in the times of the Messiah.

You read the Gospels. Check mark, Check mark, check mark, check mark, check mark, check mark. J.C. Ryle says this of the works of Jesus Christ. Tremendously helpful.

Listen to this, J.C. Ryle, Five things should always be noted about our Lord's miracle. One, their number. There are many miracles in the Bible, and yet Jesus does a flood of them. Every other Bible personality at best Another Bible personality at best does a trickle compared to Jesus.

Jesus does far and away exponentially more miracles than any other Bible personality. So one, they are number two. Their greatness. A man, for instance, raised from the dead. Multiple people actually raised from the dead.

A man blind from birth, sees. A man crippled for 38 years, arises and walks, the greatness of the miracles, three, their publicity. They were generally not done in a corner, but in open day, and before many witnesses, and often before his enemies." Have you ever thought about that? The public nature of Jesus' miracles. A few of them were done with just a few people, but most of them were done with a multitude looking on, even and especially his enemies.

Number four, their character. They were almost always works of love, mercy, and compassion, helpful and beneficial to man, and not mere barren exhibitions of power. Think about Jesus' miracles. Isn't that true? The character of his miracles.

Were these just parting of the Red Sea, exhibitions of power? Well, there's a few of those. He didn't walk on water. So there are a few just barren exhibitions of power, as Ryle puts it, but Ryle is dead on. Almost all of them were acts of mercy towards men.

5. Lastly, their direct appeal to men's senses. They were visible and would bear any examination. We're a little bit ahead in working through John at the nursing home. On Tuesday night I was preaching on the man who was born blind who Jesus healed.

The Pharisees keep going back to witnesses and to his mom and dad. Are you sure this is your son? Yes, this is our son. Are you sure he was born blind? Yes, he was born blind.

This is right to Ryle's point. He did miracles that you could verify. Was he or was he not, this mother and father's son, born blind? These are things that you can know and check on. Jesus' works say so much.

Quoting again from John chapter 20. I bet we've probably quoted this every week in John. That's okay, we're going to keep going. John chapter 20 verses 30 and 31. John 20, 30, 31, and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

Why did the Father give the Son these works to do? So that you could believe, And then in believing you could have life. He wanted you to have evidence. He wasn't expecting you to just Take Jesus at His word as He utters these things that are either blasphemy or true in salvation, rises or falls on it. He wanted you to have evidence.

He has given you evidence. Here is an application. Application number three. What are you going to do with the works? There is anyone who is not a believer, I challenge you to bottom out on this, to trace this out to the end, and decide what you are going to do with the works.

Maybe you say, who knows if these things ever happened? Consider this. None of Jesus' enemies ever said that. Now think about that. The easiest thing for an enemy, a skeptic, an opponent of Jesus is to say, that never happened.

Why don't they ever say that? Now they say things like, that must be demonic power. But they were never able, the ones who were there and had the most information and were witnesses, his enemies never said that never happened. They attributed it to other things, but the ones who were there and witnesses never said that never happened. Next point.

Just back to that application for a minute. Hey, decide what you're going to do about these works. Decide what you're going to do about these works. Ultimately, we have to decide whether the spectacular claims of the Lord Jesus Christ are blasphemy or true. Everything else falls into place once you've done that.

Next point, the witness of the Father through Scripture. The witness of the Father through Scripture. Now Jesus asserts that the Father sent him and has testified of him, but he makes it clear that he is not talking about an audible voice, a voice from heaven. He is making it clear in our text that he is not talking about a voice from heaven, and he is making it clear that He is not talking about an audible voice, a voice from heaven. He is making it clear in our text, I am not talking about a voice from heaven, and He is making it clear that He is not talking about a visible appearance of the Father.

Listen again to verses 37-39. Jesus says, And the Father Himself who sent me has testified of me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of Me." So Jesus is asserting that his Father in heaven has testified of him.

But he is clear. It's not an audible voice. It's not a visible appearance. It's Scripture. That's what this means.

It is clear that Jesus is speaking of the testimony of His Father through Scripture. Now fast forward to the road to Emmaus. This is Luke chapter 24. It is after the death of Jesus Christ, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He disguises his identity, but he joins two disciples on the road walking to Emmaus.

This is where we pick it up in Luke 24 verses 25 through 27. Then He, Jesus said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken, ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Jesus starts in Moses. What do you mean Moses?

Genesis. Starting at the very beginning, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, that's Moses. And some Psalms by the way, He wrote a few Psalms. Starting at Moses, starting at the beginning, and through all the prophets, Christ preached Christ through the Old Testament. Don't you wish you were there?

I do. Acts chapter 2, Peter on the day of Pentecost, preaches Christ from Joel and the Psalms. There is no New Testament yet. What is he preaching from? Well, we have the sermon.

He is preaching from the prophet Joel and he is preaching from the Psalms. Acts chapter 7, Stephen, an even greater deacon than our own deacons, preaches Christ from Deuteronomy and he is martyred. Acts chapter 28, such a precious text. Paul, it's the last chapter of Acts, Paul comes to Rome to be tried before Caesar, and he is under house arrest, and he is at liberty for people to come see him. So he summons the Jews in Rome to come and see him.

This is Acts chapter 28 verse 3, so when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets from morning till evening. Just like Jesus on the road to Emmaus, Moses and all the prophets, Paul starts in the morning and he preaches through lunch and the afternoon, and it's evening and he is still preaching Christ from Moses and the prophets. Jesus is the central subject of the promises made to Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and King David. Think of all those promises. God making promises to Adam in Genesis 3.

The seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. Jesus is the central subject of those promises to Adam. Think of the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Most of those are promises given to Abraham and then just restated to his son Isaac, to his grandson Jacob. These promises are about a seed through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed.

Jesus is the central subject of those promises. Think of the promises made to King David that throughout all eternity, one of his progeny, One of his great-great-great-great-grandsons would sit on the throne forever and ever to be given an eternal kingdom. Jesus is the central subject of those promises. Jesus is the central subject of the ceremonial law. Sacrifices.

You sinners, you lay your hands on the animal that has been prescribed, one without blemish, And you kill that animal so that the innocent dies for the guilty. All these things in the ceremonial law, even way outside of the killing of animals, so many on and on and on, the ceremonial law are types. They are shadows that point forward to the reality, and Jesus is the reality of all of it. He is the central subject of the ceremonial law. Jesus is the central subject of the prophets.

They include the Psalms in that. There are many Messianic prophecies, prophecies foretelling about the Messiah in the Psalms. And then all the prophets, their central subject is Jesus Christ. Is He the only subject of the promises made to the fathers? No, He is the central subject.

Is he the only subject of the promises made to the fathers? No. He is the central subject. Is he the only subject of the prophets? No, but he is the central subject of the prophets.

Here is an application. This is application number four. Mission number four, homework. Savor Christ in the Old Testament. Savor Him in the Old Testament.

Seeing Christ in the Old Testament, not inventing things, it is not a stretch. You might have heard this. The Old Testament is Christ concealed. The New Testament is Christ revealed. I appreciate that for what that's saying.

It is true. Christ is in full bloom in unmistakable clarity in the New Testament. But What I don't like about that statement is he is really clear in the Old Testament in many places. Josh just read Isaiah 53, how can you miss Christ there? In so many places he is not concealed at all.

He is laying right there on the surface. For those who have eyes to see and grasp the meaning of the New Testament and then you go back and you read through it adds such texture and depth and richness to your understanding of Christ to see him in so many places. My Bible reading plan has me in Leviticus. Oh man, Leviticus. All this stuff that just seems like, what does this have to do with me?

And yet, the more you start thinking, how is this a representation of Christ? It's so clear. So clear and beautiful. Savor Christ in the Old Testament. Listen to Paul in 2 Timothy 3.15.

He is writing to Timothy, 2 Timothy 3.15, and he says, From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, but Timothy only has the Old Testament Scriptures. For the purposes of this verse and understanding it, throughout the New Testament, from childhood you have known the Old Testament, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is able to make you wise for salvation. Does it mean that the Old Testament will save you? No.

But All the truths that you need to be saved are there in the Old Testament. Savor them. The last point. The price of mastering the facts but missing The theme. So if you're filling in blanks, it's facts and theme.

There are two blanks. Facts and theme. Mastering the facts, the price of mastering the facts, but missing the theme. A man in men's Bible study, speaking of the Pharisees, and what we see of the Pharisees in this text says, the Scriptures were their end, not the means to an end. Meaning, the Scriptures are supposed to take you to a location, But for the Pharisees, they became the location.

Listen to what the ESV Study Bible says in one of their notes. The ESV Study Bible says, the study of the Bible ought to result in genuine faith in Jesus, followed by obedient action and transformed lives, not merely acquisition of Bible knowledge." Bingo! That note pegs it. The study of the Bible ought to result in genuine faith in Jesus, not merely acquisition of Bible knowledge. Think of what Jesus is indicating in our text and tremble.

Jesus indicates that these Scripture experts were unsaved. Jesus is talking to people who have already forgotten more Scripture than you'll ever know. Jesus is talking to men who had memorized large sections of the Old Testament, which is more than two-thirds of the Bible. My guess is we will never know Scripture like they knew it. They were not born again.

They were spiritually dead, even though they had acquired all that Scripture knowledge. The difference between knowing a lot of Bible and having the Father's Word abiding in you is the difference between life and death. You can have a lot of Bible knowledge and not have the Father's Word abiding in you and be as spiritually dead as a doornail. They thought that the truths of Scripture represented a system and that if you just worked within the system you would be saved. Wrong.

They thought, Look at this body of truth. It gives us the system. And now we just plug ourselves into the system, we work within the system, and there is eternal life. Wrong! This body of truth pointed to a person, the God-man, Jesus Christ and His work.

Oh, there is work in the body of truth, only you've already failed at it. And He does it in its entirety perfectly. And you tap into it by faith. Scripture has no value outside of faith in Christ. Are you awake?

I want you to be shaken by what I just said. Scripture has no value, zero value, outside of faith in Jesus Christ. Now, if you have faith in Jesus Christ, There are all sorts of other value that is unlocked for you. If you are outside of faith in Christ, Scripture will mean nothing good for you. God, man, Christ, response is the forest of Scripture.

What do I mean by that? You recognize these four words in sequence, right? God, man, Christ response. You say it over and over again. It's a total abbreviation of the Gospel.

God in His perfect power and holiness, the all-knowing, almighty Judge, man who has been plunged into sin by a rebellion and the whole race is in rebellion, none is righteous, no not one. Christ is the solution to that problem. It is death on the cross. And these truths, God, man, Christ, demands a response. What are you going to do with that?

That is the forest of Scripture. But there are many trees in that forest and it is impossible to intensely study some of those trees and miss the forest. The experts on trees in the forest know nothing of the forest. Here is an application. Application number five.

And we're done. Have you surrendered to the person through repenting and believing. The body of truth is not a system to plug yourself into and do the work and then you get eternal life. The body of truth points you to a person and he does the work. You lay hold of him by repenting and believing.

Have you surrendered to this person through repenting and believing? The Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 8 calls refusing to do this not obeying the Gospel. He is describing people who will burn up in hell unendingly. They'll burn up but never be burned up. Unendingly the subjects of the torments of hell, and He says while they are there, why they are there, He says why they are there in hell.

They would not obey the gospel. We think of the gospel as something to be believed and that is true, but it's also something to be obeyed. The gospel makes demands of you and the gospel makes demands of me that will either be embraced and you will obey those demands or they will be rejected. Jesus says it this way in our text, You are not willing to come to me that you may have life. You are not willing to come to me.

You are okay with the trees, but you want nothing to do with the forest. You are not willing to come to me, but you may have life. You won't obey the gospel. When that happens, when someone is not willing to come to the Lord Jesus Christ that they may have life, it is not a lack of credible witnesses. Ultimately, it is a refusal which is cloaked in all sorts of high sounding excuses for not believing the perfectly believable.

Because you love darkness. It's exactly what Jesus said in John chapter 3. It's not that there's not compelling overwhelming evidence. It's that you love darkness. Yes, you have all sorts of high sounding excuses for why you can't believe and you won't obey the gospel, but at the bottom of it, when you strip all of that away, you find a love for darkness.

This is a wonderful text. I wish I could end on a high note, but I feel like I should end with the sternest warning that you can play the game and acquire endless amounts of Bible knowledge, but be outside of Christ. Some are here playing the game, and they've got us all fooled. The joke is never on God. The joke is always on us.

If we acquire the Bible knowledge and we think we have the body of truth. It's a system. I'm plugged into the system. I'm working in the system. This is eternal life.

It is not eternal life. Eternal life comes by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Father, thank you for the abundant evidence. God, if there's anyone now who's rejecting Christ, they've got in their minds and airtight reasons why they cannot believe that you would give them eyes to see the folly of rejecting the overwhelming evidence that you have given us in your Word that will render every man, woman, boy or girl inexcusable before you in the day of judgment. O God, let us come to this text and tremble in our hearts.

I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.