The Five Fold Testimony of Jesus Christ: Part 4

We continue our study of the five-fold testimony, or you could call it a five-fold witness of who Jesus is. A testimony of Jesus given by Himself. This is part four, and as we continue this study through the Gospel of John, today I would like to conclude this particular section.

I want to try to pack in a lot here, and it's so important, so we're going to give application to everything that we have already seen from this entire chapter. Verse 31 to verse 47, actually from the beginning there to the end of this chapter, is the conclusion of it, and it's a powerful conclusion that Jesus speaks to these Jewish people that basically the Jewish leaders that were actually in, I mean, inflamed with Him, especially they were mad enough as they saw that the Lord healed this man, and they had an affliction.

We don't know exactly what it was. He was lame. Jesus told him to take up his bed and walk, and afterwards, that's exactly what happened. And He told them, then He sought them, Jesus found them in the temple, told them not to, He said, see you've been made well, sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.

Then the man departs, and he tells the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well, and at that, it's really a sad commentary on this man's life because you see he's not thankful after Jesus heals him.

He goes to the Jews, the Jews sought to persecute him, sought to kill him, and because he'd done these things on the Sabbath. We see the story, and it unfolds right before us as the Lord, first of all, heals this man on the Sabbath day, and everything has a snowball effect there, and they just become more inflamed in their hate to kill him, and it even gets worse as the Lord tells them that he's equal with the Father, and he is, and they thought he was really insane.

You see this in other parts of the gospel, some, they even came to the point that they said that he had a demon. It was that bad, and here he is, the son of the living God, he came to do nothing but good to save men's souls, and actually it's grace that he gives them such truth in a lengthy detail of himself here, giving it to them to pierce their hearts, but we will see that they were not convinced, and you know the ultimate end of it, they come to the realization that this is not the Son of God, and they hang him on a cross, and they crucify him.

That's what happens, but there's much for us to learn here in this wonderful lesson as we encounter, and we look at this wonderful story, and we're looking at the five-fold witness. It's really a four-fold, I say five-fold because Jesus himself is the witness, so a lot of the commentators do not include Jesus in it, even though he is the way, the truth, and the life, he's the very truth, but he, Jesus brings in other testimonies for himself in this, so it's four-fold actually, but I've included the Lord Jesus Christ making it five-fold, so I don't think that there's any wrong in that.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Jesus himself, he said in verse 31, if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true, and then he speaks of the witnesses, the four witnesses. So let's look at this story, and we'll, I'll be reading, I like to read the text from verse 31 to verse 47, and conclude this, and we're going to see what the Lord has in store for us today as we look at the application here for us.

Let me begin verse 31 to the end of the chapter, verse 47, hear the word of the living God. Jesus says, 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 a burning and a shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light, but I have greater witness than John's.

For the works which the Father has given me to finish, the very works that I do, I bear witness, they bear witness of me, and the Father has sent 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 the 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.

I do not receive honor from men, but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, him will you receive.

How can you believe who receive honor from one another, who receive honor from one another? And do not seek the honor that comes from only God. Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses, in whom you trust.

For if you believe Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? Stop there and let's pray and ask the Lord Lord's favor and his blessing within this hour as we hear God's word.

Our Father and our God in heaven, we come now, Lord, humbly beseech you, beseeching you. Lord, we've come to meet in your name, and we thank you, Father, that you have gathered us together today like this to encourage our hearts and souls.

We come to honor you, Father, and praise you, to glorify you through your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, in whom you well pleased. Lord, I think about what your word has spoken in Hebrews chapter 1, at various times, various ways, spoken times past to the fathers by the prophets, as in these last days spoken to us by your Son, in whom you have appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds, who being in the brightness of his glory and the express image of your person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged, cleansed our sins, and sat down at the right hand of your majesty on high.

Heaven becomes so much better than the angels, as by an inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Lord, our prayer, O God, speak, speak, Lord, for your servant hears. Open the eyes, Lord, of our hearts that we would see only Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord, we need this more than anything else. We need this more than just a challenge, Lord. We need changing. Change us, O God, creating us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. Lord, I pray that your blessed Holy Spirit would change us and to make us more and more like your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and we will forever give you the praise and the glory.

We ask this in Jesus' name for your honor and glory. Amen. Well, over 600 years ago in church history in Wittenberg, Germany, from a little town of about 2 ,000 people roughly, a little monk by the name of Martin Luther would set the world on fire as God would use him and as he would recover the biblical gospel.

And it all started from, as God revealed this to him from Romans chapter 1, verse 17. And it speaks that, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. And it's quoted several times from the Scripture from the Old Testament.

It's also quoted again in the book of Hebrews and in Romans. The just shall live by faith, sola, alone. And he said all of heaven was poured into it. It's like he saw all of heaven. I really believe that's when he was born again.

The Spirit of God took a hold of him through the word of the living God and he taught it and he wrote it and he preached it and he lived it. One of the things Luther did remarkably well was also use the printing press.

We kind of think that's insignificant but I think there's a very important part the printing press played. He published a number of small booklets and those booklets was defending the faith that was once delivered to the saints but also was attack potpourri.

Rightly so because of the pope as and even in that day was a antichrist, not the antichrist. A lot of them thought that he was the antichrist in the last days but no doubt he was an antichrist. But rightly so.

He published a number of small booklets and he included also his sermons. Babylon in captivity was one of them and and in the language of the people in Wittenberg, Germany he wrote it in their language.

Which many things, many of the languages of that day as you well know which the church kept from the common people, the poorer people was in Latin and they didn't know how to read it. So it was namely the church that had to read the scriptures and what they little got was they got a lot of lies.

They never got the truth. Rather there was indulgences, there was lies upon lies. But Luther was used of God in many respects and the printing press played a great part of that. So he wrote these pamphlets in German and gave it to the people in Wittenberg, Germany and from the church in which he pastored there.

Pamphlets spread across Germany and he also had some, this is something else we don't think of quite often, but he had some artistic help from a man by the name of Lukas Kraenig. I hope I've said that right but Kraenig was the artist of the reformation time period and he not only made portraits of the famous reformers of that day but he also made little gospel pamphlets and gave a lot of artwork to it.

Attractive artistically and in a church building in Wittenberg, Germany, and I believe it's still there, it's considered to be the mother church of the reformation. It was known as St. Mary's where Luther preached in Wittenberg in 1514, I believe, and onward into the end of his life and there you could still see the paintings from Kraenig.

This artist that was used in an influential way along with Luther's pamphlets that was printed. Now at the center of the auditorium in this church you could see the reformation altarpieces that's in this church.

Paintings of communion, confession, and other ministries. And the point that I'm getting to here this morning in this introduction is this, is one picture that stands out and I have not been there to see it.

I'm sure those that have traveled there have seen this, but there's a picture of Luther and he's preaching with the Bible open and in this picture, it's a beautiful picture of how we see that he is pointing to the scriptures and he has his finger pointing to the text.

And I believe there's a great message to that for us in the opening of this is it's a beautiful picture of what we intend to do every week in the Lord's day at Redeeming Grace Church. Is open our Bible and we point to the text.

We point to the text. We point, and that is my desire, point you to the scriptures. To the scriptures alone. A finger on the text pointing to the text and another finger pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now we have the written word and which has revealed the living word, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what Luther was on fire about. It was this love of scripture and it was his love for the Lord. And that's what I like to present before you that this morning as we open up, I open up this text before you as a servant of the Lord and humbly as a privilege pointing you, pointing people to the Lord Jesus Christ with all eyes on Jesus and no eyes on man and not on the preacher.

And my aim and my goal in preaching is to to walk the bride down, so to speak, down the aisle each week to see the groom, to see Jesus Christ in him only, be captured and captivated by him. That's what this wonderful banner is about back here.

Soledeia Gloria, to God be to God be the glory alone. And this is what we're about at Redeeming Grace Church. The goal is not for people to walk away saying wow, what a great sermon, but what a great savior.

And that's what they said about C. H. Spurgeon. There was a critic that came to criticize him one time to focus on how they can trip him up, focused on sermon. And after they got there and they started pinning this stuff down and they were trying to find some flaws in this man, they left that place and said what a great savior is Jesus Christ.

They forgot about criticizing Spurgeon. May that be our goal today and our aim is to see Jesus in him only. Now the Apostle Paul said this in Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 2, I believe. He says, I'm determined or I'm resolved to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Jesus Christ and him crucified. Sadly to say, the religious leaders in John chapter 5 were saying we know everything except Jesus Christ and him crucified. They knew everything else. And why I say that is they searched the scriptures as we would see in in the text.

And Jesus gives them a loving rebuke and he says, you search the scriptures for in them you think you have, you think you have eternal life. And these are they which testify of me. The scriptures, the motive as we open up the word of God is all about Jesus Christ and him crucified.

It's all about his person, his works of who he is. And these religious leaders were blind to this. This is a very powerful text before us today from John 5 and it's a passage from Jesus that basically says he testifies of himself and he testifies to the holy scripture.

And like I said, it concludes in verse 31 to verse 47. This particular section of discourse Jesus takes up the motif established in John chapter 1 verse 7 which says this, this man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe.

That all through him might believe through Jesus Christ and and and it discusses the witnesses who have been sent to testify of his identity as the son of the living God and being equal with God the father.

And the witnesses listed here in the text as I've briefly mentioned is first of all we see Christ himself. I include Christ himself. There's four witnesses but I I'll say Christ himself because I believe he is one of the witnesses of himself in verse 31 and verse 32.

Verse 32 he basically Jesus says there's another who bears witness of me and it's not said he doesn't say who it is specifically. Some people believe he's speaking of John the Baptist. Some commentators say it's the Holy Spirit but I would say he's speaking about the Father.

He does say that later on. Second, John the Baptist from verse 33 to verse 35. Specifically John the Baptist. And third, God the Father in verse 37 to 38. And you see the signs. I'm sorry that should be the signs is third.

Jesus's signs of the wonders. And fourth in verse 37 to 38 he speaks of God the Father. Fifth and last it's the scriptures. It's the holy scriptures in verse 39 to verse 40 45 to 47. All five testimonies or all four you could say testified to God sending Jesus to bring eternal life to those who would believe in him.

Believing in Jesus Christ is the the key theme of the entire fourth gospel, the gospel of John. And where we get this from? John chapter 20 verse 31. You hear this repeated time and time again because as we go through this entire book it's all about this one verse folks.

This is the application, but these are written that you may believe that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing you may have life in his name. That is the application.

To believe in him and only through him and believing in him can we have life and life eternal through his name. John chapter 21 verse 24. He says this and John speaks of himself. This is the disciple who testifies of these things and wrote these things and we know he has an assurance here.

Listen. We know that his testimony is true. Amen? God's testimony is true of himself and Jesus's testimony is true of himself and he brings four other witnesses along with himself here to testify of who he is.

John chapter 1 verse 12. Here's another one I think we can we can add in there as an application. But as many as received him to them he gave the right or the power to become children of God to those who believe in his name.

Do you believe in his name today? Do you believe that he is the Son of the Living God? And I'm not just talking about making a confession with your mind, I'm talking about with the heart. Man believes unto righteousness.

Have you believed with your heart? That's what matters. Now notice with me in chapter 5 here of John's gospel. Verse 46 and 47. Jesus says to these hard-hearted unbelieving Jews, if you believe Moses you would believe me for he wrote about me and if you do not believe his writings how will you believe in my words?

How? So Jesus sets this great truth in question form before them at the conclusion of this discourse. He leaves it with a question that they may search their own hearts. He gives them the truth. So these so-called theologians, these so-called bible scholars that studied from the law like Nicodemus were missing the whole point of the scriptures for they testified of Jesus Christ.

The scriptures testified of Christ. Again, verse 39. You search the scriptures. You pour over the scriptures. You study the scriptures. You look into the scriptures and he says because you, here's a key word, you think, you think that in them you have eternal life and it is they that bear witness of me.

They testify of me, Jesus says. So that word think basically is saying you're deceived. You think you have eternal life but you don't. They were missing the whole point. They missed the hero of the story and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the hero of scripture. He's the point. He's the whole person. He's everything. He's the subject of the whole entire bible from Genesis to Revelation and instead of glorifying Jesus they sought glory from one another.

They sought their glory and their applause from one another and they formed these crowds of these these groups. Pharisees in a crowd in a in a clique so to speak. It's possible. Let me say some things here.

Hear me out on this and this is going to be some strong truth I want to bring before you but it's the truth. It's possible to be a, it's possible to be a bible scholar and not be a follower of Jesus Christ.

It's possible to study the scriptures but not believe in Jesus Christ. It's even possible to be very religious and go to church all your life and not to be captivated by Jesus Christ. It's even possible to have your eyes on all sorts of religious personalities in the bible and know all about the bible and quote the bible but not have your eyes on Jesus Christ.

Even the demons know who God is and they tremble. A .W. Tozer says the devil is a greater theologian than any of us and he's a devil still. The point of studying the scriptures beloved is not to have intellectual bible knowledge about God.

The point of bible study and knowing the scriptures is to see Jesus Christ in his beauty and know him and come to know him and to be conformed into his likeness. That's the point of scripture. That we would be like Jesus.

After all a disciple is what? A disciple is a follower, a learner of Christ but he follows his master to be like his master. And Jesus said that. Now it points us to the study of scriptures and Jesus Christ is all about it.

The third witness was the Father. Verse 37 and 38. He said this, 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. He came to do the will of God.

Bear witness of me and the Father has sent me. And then he said this in verse 38, but you do not have his word abiding in you. He was direct and said that with clarity. He told these religious Jews but you do not have his word abiding in you.

Because whom he sent him you do not believe. That's the reason why. They did not believe in Christ. They did not believe in the one that was speaking to them. And that's serious. Jesus is already referred to the Father in verse 32.

As I mentioned there's another who bears witness of me. That's the Father. I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true. And in that Christ knows the Father has sent him and he sent him on a mission to rescue the perishing.

He came to seek and save the lost and call sinners to repentance. Repentance is huge folks. That's the message. He comes to save us to the uttermost but he comes to save us from our sins but we must repent.

That's the command. Repent and believe the gospel. Repent, believe the gospel. This is the fact that's established with truthfulness of his claims being equal with God the Father. Now Christ was equal with God, right?

We saw this in his works. We see that he's in verse 19 to verse 20. He's also claimed that he was equal with God in his person from verse 17 to verse 18. That's first actually. Then his works in verse 19 to verse 20.

He's equal with God the Father in his power and his sovereignty in verse 21. He's equal with God the Father in his judgment in verse 22. He's equal with the Father in his honor in verse 23 and 24. And in all that he's equal with the Father.

And verse 18 says, therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath but mainly wrought but also that he said that God was his Father making himself equal with God.

That's the reason they put him on the cross. That's the reason that they crucified the Lord of glory because of the claims that he made right here in this chapter. Now despite the Father bearing witness about him and giving obvious proofs in which I mentioned there in that text, of that Jesus doesn't anticipate the Jews will accept him.

He knows this. Why does he tell them? If he already knows they're not going to accept him. Let's just say it's sheer grace and the mercy of God that God has given them even an opportunity to hear his word.

But you see he gives them the word but because of the blindness and the hardness of their heart they're just eaten up with unbelief, folks. Unbelief of who he is. They refuse to believe him. They refuse to believe in Christ.

Then he gives them three powerful indictments. We looked at this from verse 37 to verse 38. Those two verses, notice in verse 37, and the Father himself who sent me has testified of me. Again, that word testify.

Has testified of me. That's the first indictment. Then you have neither heard his voice. This is what he said. You have neither heard his voice at any time. You don't know. You have not heard God's voice.

You are deaf. You are not only spiritually blind. You are spiritually deaf. Second indictment, he says, nor seen his form. You have not even seen his form. You do not know him. You have neither heard his voice at any time.

Second indictment, you have not seen his form. Third indictment, verse 38. But you do not have his word abiding in you because whom he sent him you do not believe. In these closing statements in this chapter, it is to the scriptures that Jesus now turns as his final witness with special attention given to Moses, the prophet Moses.

And there's a reason why he uses Moses. That's not accidental. Because he knows that they trusted Moses. He was the main prophet that wrote and gave us the Pentateuch. And we do believe. And by the way, Jesus uses Moses because that tells us something else, doesn't it?

It tells us that the word of God, all of the word of God is inspired. It's God breathed. It's given by God. Men wrote it, but God was breathing through them as they were just writing this down. It was just not in the mere language of men.

It was God, the Holy Spirit, breathing upon them, moved by the Holy Spirit. They gave the word of God. Thus saith the Lord. They were like instruments, conduits that God was just breathing upon them. Moses was one of those prophets that he used in a great way because Moses, scripture says, he was one of the meekest man on the face of the earth at that time.

And he was a prophet that knew God face to face. He saw the glory of God, the backside of God's glory anyway. Moses wrote about Jesus Christ. And this is not only in the passage in here and the only passage in John that claims that the Old Testament points to Jesus, but we've already gone this way.

But let me stir up your memory once again. If you remember in John 1, verse 45, Philip found Nathanael. Nathanael is also known as Bartholomew. And said to him, what did he say? We have found him, we have found him, of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

We have found him.

And they believed he was the Messiah. Now, as we know from Genesis 3, verse 15 was a great pro-evangel. God himself is the first one that gave the gospel to fallen humanity, to Adam and Eve when they fell in the garden.

He gives them the promise. And onward from that point, we anticipate the one true Messiah, the Savior, the Lord to come in the future. And they knew this. And that's why Eve, when she first... If you noticed in the Scripture when she first had Cain, I have given birth to a man.

She was excited because at that time she thought,.

This could be the Messiah.

But it wasn't.

As we've come to find out, it would not come till over 6 ,000 years later. Actually, the firstborn she had there was Cain, right? Then she had another one, Abel. And you know the story. Cain ended up being the first religious man, by the way.

He was a worshipper of God. And he ended up killing Abel, who was really a true believer and worshipped God because he loved God. Cain was like a false believer, a false worshipper. And the promise is given of the one who will crush the head of the serpent in Genesis 3 .15.

And we read about him here in the fourth gospel of Jesus Christ. And also in the book of Acts, it gives us numerous sermons showing how the apostles viewed the Old Testament. They are preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified, buried, and resurrected.

That was the message. And Peter preaches it on the day of Pentecost. And 3 ,000 souls were saved. And the power of the Holy Spirit used that sermon by Peter preaching Christ. 3 ,000 came and 3 ,000 were added to the church.

And Stephen's sermon, as you well know, Stephen, one of the first deacons of the church, as he preached Christ to the self-righteous Sanhedrin. And by the way, that was some of the same crowd that crucified Christ.

They were cut to the heart because he preached Christ. He went through the entire Bible and paraphrased and pointed to Jesus Christ. And they hated what they heard. They stopped up their ears, pricked to the heart, ran after Him, and stoned Him to death.

They preached Christ. And he preached it to the self-righteous Sanhedrin there, full of pride. And we see in the epistles, we see Peter and we see Paul. And Paul that gave us most of the New Testament.

We see these apostles, how they sum up, really, and I like what MacArthur says here, all of the epistles is basically commentary on the life and teachings of Jesus. It's the commentary on the person and works of Jesus Christ.

And then we got the book of Revelation that tells us about the consummation to come, about the great glorious coming of Jesus Christ, and when He's going to come back. And it tells us warnings of the wrath to come and to flee from it, and that Christ is going to soon return.

And by the way, we anticipate that today, don't we? And He's coming. And He will come back in power and glory, as Jesus says, with all the holy angels and the saints. And by the way, it's not going to be like this left behind series as we see it, like this mamby-pamby Jesus.

When He comes back, it's going to be the wrath of the Lamb. And He's going to smite nations down. And the enemies will lick the dust, as it says in Psalms. And He's going to do it with the word of His mouth, because out of the word of His mouth, all He has to do is speak a word.

It's a sharp two-edged sword. John 2, 22, notice this. The Scripture says, Therefore when He had risen from the dead, speaking of Jesus, His disciples remembered that He said this to them, and they believed the Scriptures.

The Scriptures and the word which Jesus has said. John 7, 42, has not the Scripture said that Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem where David was?

The Scriptures.

It's reliable. I was speaking to a family member later this week, one I have a heavy burden for in my own family, to come to repentance and believe the gospel. And she happened to get on this thing. She's watching so much television and hearing all this garbage on the television.

And she started telling me about the shroud. The shroud. This could be the image of Jesus. This could be Christ. And oh, they're guessing that this was Jesus. And it had so many marks on it. And there's this image that's almost like that's still there.

And I said, I told her, I said, this is almost as bad as the Roman Catholics worshiping this image of this shroud. And I said, and all along you got dust on your Bible in your house. And there is the more reliable source.

The word of God. Don't get caught up. I told her, don't get caught up in hearing all that trash on the television. It's distractions to take you away from the word of the living God. You've got the Bible.

It's more reliable than anything else in this world. Even if it is true, not about the shroud, but let's just say the Ark on Mount Ararat, what the archaeologists say in Russia that it is. I don't believe.

We don't believe that because they tell us, right? We believe it because the word of God tells us. And it's true because God's word is reliable.

The scriptures. The scriptures.

Jesus says this of the scriptures in John chapter 8. You can turn with me there. Look at a few chapters over. Look at John chapter 8. Look at verse 56 through 59. Notice what Jesus says. He's speaking to the same self-righteous Pharisees and these religious people.

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and was glad. He saw it. He saw it by faith. It was accounted unto righteousness because of his faith. Moses saw him by faith. In verse 57, then the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old and you have seen Abraham.

And Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was I am. Jesus says right there, he is the great I am. And how did they respond? Look at verse 59. Then they took up stones to throw at him.

But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them and so passed by. Not that he was afraid to be martyred. No, he knew his time was not yet come. He knew why he was here.

He was to go to the death of the cross to die and bleed for our sins. That's why he hid himself and went to the temple, going through the midst of them and so he passed by. And also, if you go to chapter 20 of John, look at verse 8 and 9.

This is after Jesus rose again from the dead. Let me go to verse 8. Then the other disciples, speaking of John, he's speaking of himself when he says the other disciple, whom came to the tomb first. He outran Peter, probably because he was younger than Peter.

He went also and he saw and believed. He saw and believed. Notice verse 9. For as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

The scriptures they believed. The Apostle Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Turn with me there, please. And you will see that he has a great commentary on this. And by the way, I want you to think about this for a minute.

The Apostle Paul, being a terrorist at that time, terrorizing the church of the living God, was not seeking after Christ. Christ came seeking after him. Christ converted him. That is such a powerful testimony of the grace and the power of God.

Never give up on your loved ones, folks. Christ could go after them. Christ goes after them as you pray for them and intercede for them. Christ can change them. And here's a man that had a one-on-one experience with Jesus Christ.

And I bring that out because notice what he says. Moreover, in verse 1, Brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you stand, by which also you are saved, was saved by the gospel.

You stand by the gospel. You're saved by the gospel. And he says this, If you hold fast that word which I preached to you. So there's a holding fast to continue perseverance of the saints. Unless you believed in vain.

Unless you believed in vain. And notice what he says. Verse 3, For I deliver to you first of all that which also received. He received it in his conversion. That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.

I want you to notice how many times he says according to the scriptures here. That he was buried. That he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. According to the scriptures. He didn't say according to my experience.

He didn't say because I met Jesus and I saw the Christ and I was blinded on the road of Damascus. No, he says according to the scripture. Notice he never pointed people to his conversion, to his experience.