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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/tim-conway/johns-gospel-what-do-i-need-to-do-to-be-saved---part-2/
And I want you to biblically try to discern this, try to answer this. I did mention, what was it, a week or two ago, that I did hope to do kind of a part two on just the question that this young man had submitted.
And I'm going to read this again just to bring everybody up to speed. But you may remember, I read Matthew's gospel and I read John's gospel just in preparation for this study. And I was only able to cover Matthew that first time we visited this.
And I said that I might like to go back and look at John as well, because John has kind of a different flavor than the synoptics. And so I want to do that tonight. So I took last night and today and in some of my Bible reading moments and I went through 21 chapters of John again just to look at that and refresh my mind and see if there were other verses that perhaps would catch my attention in a second reading.
But anyway, just to bring everybody up to speed, there was a young man who wrote this to me. I'm seeking the Lord for salvation. I know that I can't be saved by my own works and I find that I'm trying to be saved by my works.
I'm now focusing on being saved by Jesus. I'm trying to figure out how to trust in Jesus. I've written some questions and answers in my meditation, but I've stumbled upon a question that I don't have an answer to and wanted to see if you can guide me.
Question. How can I place my faith in Christ? Now, he gives an answer, but that doesn't necessarily mean that his answer is right. People often pose questions, but even the question itself may not be valid based on what...
People make assumptions. I find oftentimes people make assumptions, and they're faulty assumptions. Now, I'm not saying necessarily that his answer is faulty, but listen to it. How can I place my faith in Christ?
Answer. By believing that He died on the cross for my sins. And he quotes Romans 5 .8. Now, I would say, folks, that is a faulty answer. How can I place my faith in Christ? Answer. By believing that He died on the cross for my sins.
Now, you say, wait, don't we believe that if we're Christians that Jesus died on the cross for my sins? Well, here's the thing. Listen very carefully to what I'm about to say. There are things that we believe in order to be saved.
And once saved, there are other things that we believe. I mean, for instance, if somebody offers me a gift. I don't know if I dealt with this last time. Well, let's say somebody gave me this cup as a gift.
Somebody in the church. So let's say somebody offers me a gift, because that's what salvation is. It's a gift. It's my grace. And so let's say that this cup represents salvation. Well, the way that I get the cup is not by believing the cup is mine before I get it.
You understand what I'm saying. The way to receive forgiveness of sins is not to believe that I'm forgiven before I'm forgiven. As I was emphasizing before, the Bible nowhere calls us to believe what may or may not be true.
Do I know if my sins are forgiven before they're forgiven? Do I know my sins are forgiven before I become a Christian? Do I know that my sins are forgiven before I experience the peace of God? No. Trying to force myself to believe that this gift is mine before I receive it is nowhere am I told to believe that a gift is mine before I receive it.
Even though once I receive it, it does become mine. You follow what I'm saying? So that there's a possibility of trying to believe something that an unbeliever really has no right to try to believe. You see, the Bible never tells us specifically as lost people to force ourselves or try to believe that Jesus died on the cross specifically for me.
And he also says, but God demonstrates His own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Well, yes, but Paul is speaking to the Roman church. He's speaking to people who are already Christians, who have already come to a place where they've experienced the joy, the peace, the sense of forgiveness.
Even as us men were considering this woman, young lady who was saved back in Ichabod Spencer's day. Well, the thing that happened, she was miserable. She recognized she wasn't a believer. And then what happened?
Well, she heard an Isaac Watts hymn being read by Spencer during a meeting and God used it to save her. And then what happened? Well, suddenly there was happiness. There was joy. There was peace. There was a sense of forgiveness.
Well, once that takes place, once the Spirit bears witness, and see, that's another thing. Spencer did not want to tell her she was a Christian. He wanted the Spirit to tell her that she was a Christian.
And when the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are indeed a Christian, well, yes, then absolutely we can believe that Jesus died for me. But when I'm lost, nowhere does the Bible say to believe what might not be true.
Because when a person's lost trying to force themselves to believe that their sins are forgiven, well, actually at that point in time their sins are not forgiven. And some people have this idea, well, I just have to believe that my sins are forgiven or I have to believe that Jesus died for my sins.
You see, that's what he's doing. I would say this, how can I place my faith in Christ? Let's back up and answer that question from John's Gospel. How can I place my faith in Christ? Well, do I believe Him or don't I believe Him?
I mean, that's the question that we have to ask. You see, what this guy's doing is he's trying, he said this, I know I can't be saved by my own works, but I find that I'm trying to be saved by my works.
And then he says, I'm trying to figure out how to trust in Jesus. And so I've written some questions. And he said, I've stumbled upon a question I don't have the answer to. But you know what? The very question that he says, how can I place my faith in Christ?
Answered by believing that He died on the cross for my sins. What he doesn't realize is that actually, as right as that might sound in your ears, you know what he's doing? He's still trying to be saved by his works.
You say, how? Well, because he's trying to force himself to believe that something is true, that God never guarantees Him is true. The Bible tells us to believe that which is always true. Saving faith is based on what's always true.
So, maybe you've heard me give this example before. But it's well worth giving. Years ago, I heard a man tell this story. He basically gave the imagery of a man. Maybe you've heard of tightrope walkers.
And I know that there's a man that walked a tightrope between the Twin Towers before they came down. And he walked across. And you just imagine a guy like that. A tightrope walker. There are men that can do that.
And, you know, if a man asked you, do you believe I can walk across this tightrope? Well, let's think about that for a second. If you never saw the man walk across the tightrope, and you basically didn't know anything about the man, you have no idea.
I mean, you might say yes, but does that mean you have faith that he can do it? I mean, you could say I suppose so, but is that faith? That's not trust. If the man does it, and he walks back and forth across that thing repeatedly, well, now you've got some evidence.
Now you've got some proof. Now, this is important because you recognize what Jesus did. Jesus came into the world, and He did miracles. Miracle after miracle after miracle. What is the Gospel of John all about?
The Gospel of John is primarily about seven miracles that Jesus did. When you get to the end, maybe you are familiar with this. When we get to the end of the Gospel of John, right at the end of chapter 20, there's still another chapter left there, but this is at the end of the book.
You get John 20, verse 30 and 31. Jesus did many other signs. Other than what? Well, other than the ones recorded by John in John's Gospel. Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written.
Seven signs. These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. You see, right there it is. That you may believe in Christ. How can I place my faith in Christ? Well, what would John say?
John would say, well, consider the seven miracles. Why? These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name. Well, you see, here's the thing.
If I view a man walk back and forth on that rope, and then he asks me, you think I can walk on that rope? I'd say, wow, you've been doing it all day. I think you can. I believe you can. And you know what?
If that man didn't only walk that tightrope between the Twin Towers in New York City, but if he actually started hovering over the gap between them, and he could fly over there, and then he can walk on an invisible rope, that there's not even a rope there.
You might remember Jesus walked on water. There's an imaginary foundation underneath that water somewhere. And Jesus actually did that. And Jesus actually turned water into wine. And Jesus actually raised the dead.
And Jesus actually did all these things. You see what's happening? He does the miracles, and He does them before us. And when we actually ask the question, well, how can I believe? How can I place my faith in Christ?
This doesn't have anything to do with sitting down and saying, oh, I've got to believe I'm saved. I've got to believe I'm saved. I've got to believe that Christ died for me. I've got to believe that my sins are forgiven.
What? The Bible never even talks that way. Does it talk that way to people that are already Christians? Well, yes, there's an assumption that once the Spirit of God bears witness that we're saved. Well, certainly, certainly.
If we're saved, we should believe that everything that's true about saved people is true about us. And that's what the Bible often does in the epistles, is it tells us who we are as Christians. That's one of the primary things that the epistles do.
They drive home the reality of what a Christian is. And we need to believe that we are what God has saved us to be. But you know what? When you're coming to Christ, when you're coming to Him in the beginning, when you're coming to Him to be saved, nowhere does the Bible say, well, just sit down and try as hard as you can to believe that you're saved.
Or sit down and try to believe as hard as you can that Jesus died for you. Or try to believe as hard as you can that your sins are forgiven. Or try to believe as hard as you can. Nothing about yourself, other than that you're broken, you're bankrupt.
I mean, look, the most important thing about yourself that the Bible says is that nobody who's well is going to seek a doctor. What you want to look at in yourself is, do I have any need? Am I broken?
Am I depraved? Am I sinful? Is there something wrong with me that only Jesus can answer? That He's the answer to? That's the real question. The real question comes down to trust. I see that Jesus not only has walked back and forth on that tightrope, but I see Jesus flies across the gap.
I see He walks on thin air. And then I see that He's taken others on His back. I see that He can walk between these two buildings on that rope, and sometimes even without a rope, and He can carry somebody on His back.
In fact, I've watched Him carry five people on His back and fly from one building to the other. And now when He comes to me and He says, do you think I can walk that tightrope between the buildings? I say, absolutely.
I mean, I've not only seen you walk on that, I've seen you fly across there. And I've seen you walk on an invisible rope. I've seen you walk on thin air. And I've seen you take five guys on your back.
And you see, then He says, we'll climb on my back, and I'm going to take you across. You see that, folks, that is exactly where our faith is tested. When you say, how can I believe? How can I place my faith in Christ?
Well, look at what He's done. Can you place all your weight on it? Because that's what He says. I mean, He says, believe in me. He says, trust me. He says, follow me. So I want you to see in John's Gospel, remember this.
Jesus did many other signs, but John says, I recorded seven. He doesn't say seven right here, but there are seven. If you read John's Gospel, it's very plain what the seven miracles are. You see, the real issue is this.
Do I believe that Jesus is able to save me? Do I believe that if I trust Him, I'm not going to be ashamed? Do I believe that because of the miracles that He's done, I mean, am I convinced this is indeed the Christ?
This is the One. Jesus is the Christ. He is the Son of God. And you know what? By believing, you may have life in His name. Now, it never tells you to sit down and believe you have life in His name before you actually trust Him.
That's not the faith. The faith isn't sit down and try to believe as hard as you can that you have life in His name. That's not what it says. What it says is, you look at what Jesus does. You look at the signs.
What's a sign? A sign tells us something. Signs show us a truth. They communicate. They give us information. It's a sign. What does it tell you? It tells you that Jesus is able to help you. What it says is that if you trust Him, if you believe in Him, these things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name.
Believing in Him. Not believing that you have life in His name. By believing on Him, you may have life in His name. That's the issue. It's Him. We start with Him. We've got to look at Him. This doesn't have to do with me trying to believe that I'm saved or that He died on the cross for me or that my sins are forgiven.
This has to do with looking at Him. Who is He? What did He do? And you'll see that. Okay, let's do a survey of John's Gospel. And so, again, in the two times that I've read it over these last couple weeks, I just went through and I put a green asterisk in my Bible.
And every verse that I felt like spoke something to this reality. Now, here we go, John. We're going to move through here. But I just want us to think, what is this saying? John 1. That's where we're at.
If you've got your Bibles and you want to follow along, John 1. So, John 1 .7 says that John came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through Him. So you get a feeling.
He came. John came as a witness. He bore witness about the light. Well, who's the light? Well, verse 4. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. So John came to bear witness about Christ. About the Word.
The Word is the light that all might believe through Him. But you see, what's my point here? It's the witness about Christ. That's where faith finds its objective. We have to be crystal clear on this.
The fact is, saving faith involves a person as its object. And we are not that person. Saving faith does not center on any reality about me. Whether I'm saved, my sins are forgiven. That is not saving faith.
That is not where saving faith is targeted. That's not where it's aimed. Where is it aimed? It's aimed at the witness of Christ. And the witness is always this. You're never asked to believe what God hasn't revealed.
Saving faith is not centered on anything about Christ that isn't revealed in the Bible. Recognize that. How do we know that? Well, faith comes by hearing. And hearing by what? Not any wild thought that just happens to cross our mind.
No. It's by the Word of Christ. The Word of God is where we find the substance for what we must believe to be believers. And it has to do with the witness about Christ. Well, Christ isn't out walking tightropes.
But he did greater things than that. So that's where our focus needs to be. What does God send his Son into the world? We might say this. What did God send the prophets to tell us about Christ? What did John get sent into the world to tell us about Christ?
What did Christ come to tell us about Christ? And what do the apostles follow along to tell us about Christ? You see, it's the witness of Christ. That's what verse 7. It's witness about the light. So that's the first thing.
Then verse 12. Chapter 1 verse 12. But to all who did receive Christ, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God. Now, again, notice the order. Nowhere does the Bible say that the way to be saved is to sit down and try to believe that you're a child of God.
That's not what this says. This does not say that, well, in order to be saved, in order to trust Christ, in order to place your faith in Christ, that what you have to do is believe that you're a child of God.
No, that's not right. You see, that's looking at something about yourself. That's yourself and what's true about you. The truth is, you don't know if you're a child of God. The truth is that that could be right, that could be wrong.
The Bible never tells us to believe something that may or may not be true. Whether we're children of God or not, we don't know. I mean, what we have to do is focus on Him. You see, all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, then what follows?
He gives the right to become a child of God. But what happens first? We receive Him. It's not that we try to convince ourselves that we're a child of God. No, what happens first is you have to be so convinced about Christ that you're in a place where you receive Him.
You receive Him. It doesn't say you sit tight and do nothing, because there's nothing you can do. That's not what it says. It says that you have a responsibility to basically view Christ. I mean, think about John.
He gives us this book. Why did He give us this book? He gave us these signs. Why did He give us these signs? That you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And in believing, you may have eternal life in His name.
But see, the thing is this. What's your responsibility? You need to watch Him walk that tightrope. You need to watch Him fly across there. You need to watch Him carry five people on His back at one time.
And then when He says to you, jump on my back, you receive Him. What does receive Him mean? Receive Him means when He comes and says, climb on my back, you get on. That's what receive Him. You take Him as your own.
You take Him because something in what He's done, these signs indicate. You see, it's not saying you just are supposed to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Uh-uh. Look at Him walk the tightrope and be convinced.
That's what John's saying. Look at these signs. Look at the seven signs that I've given you and be convinced. And so when Jesus says, get on board, you receive Him. When He comes to you, you embrace Him.
That's the issue. And you've got to receive Him. Listen, if you sit still and you just become a good hyper-Calvinist and you say, I can't do it. No one can come unto Christ unless the Father draws me.
I'll tell you this, every single person that's ever been saved has received Christ. Everyone down from the first to the last. Everyone who has ever been saved has received Christ. And if you don't receive Christ, it's because you refuse to receive Christ.
And if you just sit there and want to talk about God's sovereignty and election, folks, you don't find that here. If you're ever going to be in a position where you're going to have that right to become a child of God, you've got to receive Him.
And you see what John's saying. We receive Him based on what we know to be true about Him. Can you trust Him? Has He done such things that gives you the idea that, you know what, He's trustworthy? Let's keep going here.
So, now we go to chapter 1, verse 29. So here, John the Baptist sees Jesus coming toward him. And he says, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Okay, now that's key. Why did I go to that one?
Well, because that is true no matter what is true about you. You see, that is a truth you can hang your weight on. That is a truth that is true all the time. That is a truth that is true whether He has taken your sin away or not.
You see what I'm saying? You see, if you just simply sit down and you say, okay, how can I place my faith in Christ? Well, I've got to believe that Jesus has taken my sin away. You know what? You don't know that.
The Bible doesn't guarantee you that. The Bible doesn't tell you for certain your sins have been taken away. But what it does tell you for certain is that this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Now that you can bank your weight on. You see, if you've got sin and you recognize, I need a Savior. I need somebody. I need pardon. I need somebody that can deal with the sin that I have. Well, you know what?
Here's the truth to lay your weight on. This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And so you can trust him to take yours away. The faith, the how can I place my faith in Christ is not believing what might or might not be true about me.
It's what's true about him and what's true of him. What's true of him is he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And you see, I can bank my soul on that reality. But you see, it's always the object of my faith is always away from myself.
The object. Saving faith involves a person. And that person isn't me. It always involves a person as its object. And it's impossible to have faith in a person without having a knowledge of that person.
You hear what I'm saying? You see, it's the knowledge of him walking that tightrope. It's the knowledge of, you know what? There's a fire on my side. And he's taking people across that tightrope to the other side to safety.
And you know what? The witness of God is that this is the only one who can save the people that are perishing on this side of the rope. He is the one who takes away the sin of the world. He is the only one who can take people across that tightrope to safety on the other side.
He's the only one. So, we need to recognize that. That we've got to have a knowledge of the person. That's why John tells us what he tells us. That's what witness means. John the Baptist came to bear witness to the light.
That means to tell us about. Nowhere does the Bible expect us to believe in a person until we have knowledge about that person. We've got the facts about that person. The fact is, he's the Lamb of God.
And he takes away the sin of the world. So, if we've got somebody that's got sin sickness, soul sickness, then here's the one. This is the witness about him. And you know what? Did Jesus not talk that way?
He said, which is easier to say, your sins be forgiven you or rise up and walk. But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to pardon sin, to forgive sin, rise up and walk. You see what's happening there?
The truth is that we need to recognize that he is the only one that has authority to forgive sins. He's the one. Okay, we're going to keep going. John 1 .49. So here's Nathanael. You remember what happened.
Nathanael gets brought by Philip to Christ. Nathanael is wondering, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Because why? The Bible said that the Messiah was going to come from Bethlehem. And so, you know what?
That's not a bad thing to talk about. God doesn't expect us to believe what he has never told us. And here's Nathanael. And he's saying, I know my Bible, and I know that Micah tells me that it's going to be Bethlehem.
Anyway, Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit. Nathanael said to him, How do you know me? Jesus answered him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.
Now, you know what's going through Nathanael's mind? Hey, wait a second. I was under that fig tree all by myself, and there was nobody in sight. Nathanael answers him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.
But now here's the thing. That's faith. Faith is recognizing Him for who He is. That's faith. That's believing. He believes that He is indeed the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. You are the Messiah.
You are the one that we have been waiting for. You indeed are the one, back up to verse 45, that Moses spoke about in the Law, and the prophets wrote about. This is indeed the one. Why? What was it based on?
It was based on information about Christ. You see, He wasn't talking this way just a few moments before. Why? Because He didn't have this information. What information got hold of Him? The fact that Jesus was able to see Him under that tree.
Now here's the thing. You can say, well, but I haven't had that experience myself. But you know what? Jesus said, blessed are those who believe and haven't seen. You see, the fact is that Jesus did these things regardless of whether we see them firsthand or not.
We walk by faith, not by sight. We're called to believe. You see, the thing is, this really happened, that Jesus was capable of seeing Nathaniel under that fig tree when he wasn't physically present. How did that happen?
Well, however it happened, it has convinced Nathaniel that this is indeed the Son of God. And you know what? The fact is, it's true. The fact is that Jesus turned water into wine and He saw Nathaniel under that fig tree.
The truth is that He raised Lazarus from the dead. Whether you and I were there or not, the fact is, it's true. And so what does that mean to us? You see, that's the issue. What do I do with that information?
Well, it tells me He is the one who takes away the sin of the world. I can trust Him. You see, Nathaniel wasn't trying to believe that he was under the tree. He wasn't trying to believe that he's a believer.
He wasn't trying to believe anything about himself. What he recognizes is that Jesus had the ability to see him. You see, it's got to do with Jesus' ability. It comes down to that very reality. Saving faith involves a person as its object.
And it's impossible to have faith in that person until we have facts about that person. And what fact did he get hit with? He got hit with the fact that Jesus could see him under that fig tree. And it blew him away.
And it ought to blow us away. Why? Because Jesus could see him under that fig tree. It's just as real and it's just as true today that Jesus had that ability then and has that ability now. And so, again, I'm stressing this.
We've got to have facts. We've got to have knowledge of this person. John says you need to know Jesus and the signs that He did. He's a miracle worker. That's what needs to captivate you. This Christ can do whatever you need to have done to heal your soul.
That's what the issue is. This is the one who's been appointed by God to be the one who deals with the sins of the world. Okay, let's keep going. Chapter 2, verse 11. Here's the first of His signs. John tells us over in chapter 20, these signs.
Jesus did a lot of things, but He recorded these signs. Here's the first one. Jesus did it at Cana in Galilee and manifested His glory. Okay, that's key. And His disciples believed in Him. You see it?
You can see what's happened. What's happened? Well, they're at this wedding. They run out of wine. Jesus tells them to draw water, the servants there, and to fill up the jars with water. And they filled them.
And He had one of the servants draw from one of these containers and take the contents to the Master of Ceremonies. And it was done. And it was wine. And it was good wine. And the water became wine. And what does this mean?
It's a sign. You see the point. It's a sign. What does our faith rest in? Our faith doesn't rest in whether I've repented enough. It doesn't rest in whether I thirst enough. It doesn't rest in whether I have enough faith.
Whether I've been heavy laden enough. It doesn't rest in any of those things. That is not the object of saving faith. Saving faith right here has to do with what? The glory of Christ. That's exactly what 2 .11 says.
It says He manifested His glory. What is His glory? It's what's true about Him. It's what's beautiful about Him. This is the issue. When we say, in answer to the question, How can I place my faith in Christ?
Well, behold Him. See Him. See who He is. See what He did. See His signs. You see, that's a far cry different than sitting down and trying to believe that He died on the cross for my sins specifically.
Did He die for sin? Yes. Is He the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world? Yes. Is there none other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved? Yes. But it doesn't guarantee me that I'm saved.
The Bible guarantees me that there's no other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. It guarantees me He's the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. But it doesn't guarantee me that my sins have been taken away.
You see what I'm saying? You see, faith must always be based on what the Bible says is always true. Not what might or might not be true. It's as this guy says in the end. He says, can I believe Colossians 2 .13?
I feel like if I believe and meditated on it. He says, I'm not truly believing. I'm only believing in vain or believing a lie. You know what? That's absolutely right. Somebody can try to believe they're saved and it's a lie.
Because they're not really saved. They can try to believe that Jesus died for their sin. But it's a lie. He didn't. They can try to believe that He's done some specific thing for their soul and made them alive in Christ.
And the fact is He hasn't done it. But you know what? The Bible never calls us to believe. Saving faith is not ever anchored in what might or might not be true about me. But I'll tell you this. No matter what's true of me, He's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
No matter what's true about me, He saw Nathaniel under that tree. No matter what's true about me, He turned water into wine. You see the issue? No matter what's true about me, He's walked that tightrope.
No matter what's true about me, He's flown from one building to the other. No matter what's true about me, He's taken many across that tightrope. You see, that's the issue. And so then when He comes and says to me, receive me and I'll take you across that tightrope.
Ah, you see, He's not telling me believe you're on the other side already before it actually happens. He doesn't say believe that the gift of being on the other side is yours. Believe before you have it.
No, never are we called to try to believe ourselves to be on the other side. And if I believe hard enough, then I'll be on the other side. No. What I need to believe is that Jesus is the tightrope walker.
And so when He comes along in a wheelbarrow and He says, climb in, I'm going to take you across. You know what? We get in. We get in. Why? Because we know. We know. We've heard the accounts. We know the signs.
And those signs are saying this way to life. Those signs are saying this is the only one who can save your soul. Okay, let's look at another verse here. If we go to chapter 2, verse 19. Jesus answered them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.
And see, I stuck an asterisk by that one. Why? Because it's true. Jesus rose. This is one of the most important truths of the Gospel. Jesus rose after three days. And you know what? That is true no matter if you get saved or not.
That is true whether you're a Christian right now or not. That is absolutely true. Did Jesus Christ rise from the dead? Yes. What does that say? It says that the Father accepted His payment. It says that He triumphed over death.
It says He triumphed over sin. Because if He didn't rise, then we of all men are most miserable that are professing Christians. Why would be? Because He's not risen from the dead. Then we're still in our sins.
You see, the only way somebody can be rescued from their sin is based on the reality that Jesus paid the price. And the reason we know that the price was paid is because the wage of sin is death. And death couldn't hold them, which means the wage was paid.
And you know what? That's true. He paid the wage for sin. That is true whether I believe it or not. He is the one who came out of the grave. He is the one that God put His seal on. He is the one who is triumphant over death.
That is all true whether I ever become a believer or not. Here's another one. John 2, verse 22. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed.
Now see, that's key. They believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. You see again what our faith is based on. It's based on what the Bible actually does say. It's based on what Jesus actually says.
And you know what? You only know what Jesus said if it's recorded in the Bible. You don't know anything that He said, and you don't know any of the miracles that He did. All these other signs John spoke about, we don't know about them.
That can't be the basis for faith. Why? Because you don't know about them. Nope. Our faith always comes down to what is written in Scripture. Thus saith the Lord. And it comes down to what Christ has spoken.
And you see, you can put your faith right there. You can put your weight on that truth right there. Don't ever think to be saved that a person has to believe something not in the Bible. So many people are trying to figure out, have I come to the end of myself?
That's not the basis for faith. The Bible never says so. The Bible doesn't tell you if you've sufficiently come to the end of yourself. What it's told you is if you go to Christ, He will give you rest.
Does the Bible ever tell you if you've repented enough? Never. Does the Bible ever tell you if you're heavy laden enough? Never. Does it ever tell you whether your faith is sufficient? Nope. It doesn't say whether your faith is sufficient or not.
But it says that Christ is a sufficient object for your faith. Trust Him. Believe Him. That's what Scripture says. See, it never tells you to try to force yourself to believe you're born again. Or to try to force yourself to believe that your sins are forgiven.
Or to force yourself to believe you've repented enough. It never tells you to do that. Ever. It never tells you to believe a certain thing about yourself. Until you have trusted Christ and the Spirit of God bears witness that you're a child of God, then certainly all that is true of a child of God is yours to take for yourself.
But you're never given license to think that that's what you have to believe to be saved. Never. Never, never, never. Okay. If you go to John 2 verse 25 -24, Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them because He knew all people, and needed no one to bear witness about man, for He Himself knew what was in man.
And then you know what's going to happen. We go into the next chapter where it talks about being born again. And I would just say this. These people, it says many believed in His name. But it was superficial.
Superficial. How can you tell superficial? Superficial is when people believe the facts. They say they do. Yeah, I believe. I mean, I don't have any reason to doubt that Jesus rose from the dead. But you know where it really comes, the rubber meets the road?
It's when He says, follow Me. Are you really ready to take Him at His Word and to do what He says? You see, this... Anyway, we'll move on from there. If you go to chapter 3, verse 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
Now, let's just key in on that. Because again, you know, the question that I had is, how do I know I'm saved? How can I place my faith in Christ? And this guy writing says, how can I believe I'm saved if there's no evidence of salvation?
Well, you shouldn't. I mean, bottom line, he's trying to believe things about himself that simply aren't true. That the Bible never tells him to believe. If you go back to this verse right here, John 3, verse 14.
You see the point here? Moses lifted up the serpent. As that happened, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. So, what happened with Moses and the serpent? This is key. They got bit. Never were they told to sit down and try to believe that they were healed.
No. That isn't what healed them by sitting down and trying to believe they were healed. What did they have to believe? They had to believe that if they looked at this serpent, they'd be healed. You know what?
You didn't have to convince any of them whether or not they'd been bitten by a serpent. They knew it. If they didn't know they were bitten by a serpent, what are you going to do with that? I mean, what would you do with somebody that's been bitten by a serpent, but they didn't know they'd been bitten by a serpent?
You say that's crazy. That's crazy talk. If somebody's dying and they feel the venom coursing through their veins, of course they know. They've got two puncture wounds on their leg. Of course they knew.
It was extremely painful. Well, look, if somebody doesn't need healing, then this doesn't apply. Bottom line. Nobody's going to look unless they've been bit. Right? I mean, they're not going to savingly look.
People out of curiosity might look. The curious type are the type that we heard about back there in Chapter 2 of John's Gospel. You know, Jesus didn't commit himself. They had a curiosity. They saw Jesus do things and they said, oh, yeah, he did that.
I mean, they believed on that level. Oh, did you see him heal that guy? But see, that's different. That's different than when you know you've got venom that's going to kill you and you have been told that if you look up at this serpent, this brazen serpent, you'll be healed.
And you look up. Why? Because you believe. You believe if you look at that thing. And you know what, everybody that looked, they were healed. You say, but that's too easy. I want to sit down and I want to have this certain experience and I want to force myself to believe that I've repented enough.
What? I mean, if somebody would have said that, no, I'm not going to look at that serpent. I'm just going to sit down and I am going to try to imagine that Jesus died on the cross for me. I'm going to try to imagine that that serpent up there is for me.
See, I'm going to try to believe that serpent. Without looking at the serpent, I'm just going to try to believe that it's for me. That serpent's being lifted up to heal me. That's crazy. That's crazy.
What does it mean to look at Christ lifted up? It means I see He got lifted up on that cross for sin. And I've got sin. I've been bitten by a snake. And I need the healing that only can come from Him.
You see, that's what Jesus says. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. That's the issue. Believes in Him.
Not trying to believe something about myself. You believe in Him. What do you believe about Him? Well, that's God's means of healing me. That's what we believe. For God so loved the world, John 3 .16, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish.
You see, we believe in Him. What do we believe about Him? Well, John says, I've given you these signs that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ. Verse 18, chapter 3, whoever believes in Him is not condemned.
You see, your faith is in Him. I believe He is who He says He is. I believe He's the Lamb of God that came to take away the sins. I believe that just like Moses lifted up the serpent, so He's been lifted up.
And I look at Him in trust. Whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And then verse 21, whoever does... Now, this is key. Whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that His works have been carried out in God.
Now, that's key. What does it mean to come to the light? It means to come to Christ. Whoever does what is true. Now, I'm going to show you this connection throughout John's Gospel. Whoever does what is true.
I would say this, if anybody believes that Christ is who He says He is, then do what's true. Do what accords with truth. Trusting Him, begin to live your life doing what is true. And it will be clearly seen that your works have been carried out in God.
You see, do what's true, going to the light, and that's how it's clearly seen that your works have been carried out in God. But you're going to do what's true. Don't sit still. Don't sit still trying to believe you're saved.
Believe Christ is who He says He is, and do what He tells you to do. That's doing the truth. He's the truth. He gives you the way of truth. Let's keep going here. In John 3, verse 32, it says, He bears witness to what He has seen and heard, yet no one receives His testimony.
This is like we found in chapter 1, that He came to His own, and yet His own didn't receive Him, but to as many as received Him and believed in His name, He gave the right to be children of God. Well, it's the same thing.
It says no one receives His testimony, but then it turns right around and says somebody does, whoever receives. Well, you know, the idea obviously is that He's being rejected, and yet the fact is there are some people who are coming out of their rejection of Him, and they're receiving His testimony.
Whoever receives His testimony, what does that mean? It means to receive what He has testified to about Himself. What is Jesus saying? And what does it mean to receive it? It means, you know what, I'm going to build my life on it.
It's Him on that tightrope saying, get on my back. Come with me. All in. I'm the way to life. Look at me. Receive me. Trust me. Climb on. And you climb on by, you set your seal to the fact that God is true when you take Jesus at His word, what He said.
Now, verse 36 of John 3, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life. Now that's key. Why is that key? Now, I recognize if you've got the King James or the New King James, it doesn't say that.
But, folks, that second word there is indeed obey. There's no textual issue. There's no textual variant there. That is the word obey. It is a different word than believes. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.
Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God remains on him. It could be, I don't know, but maybe the King James translators were trying to protect against, you know, they wanted to drive home faith rather than works in the way that they did that.
But listen, listen to me. Faith, really believing, being committed to Christ, trusting Christ. You see, faith has a trusting element. When Jesus says, climb in my arms, I'm going to carry you across this tightrope.
It's tested. Your trust of Christ is tested by whether you obey Him or not. He says, climb in my arms. If you say no, why wouldn't you climb in His arms when the Bible says He's the Savior of the world?
Why would you not? Only one reason. Only one reason. You don't believe in Him. Whatever you believe is only superficial. The demons believe. James says, show me your faith. I'll show you my faith by my works.
Obedience to Christ is the proof that we really believe what we're saying. Listen, obeying Christ means you throw in entirely to Him being King and Master and Lord and the one who has totalitarian authority in your life.
And when He says, here's what I want you to do with your life, here's what I want you to do with your money, here's what I want you to do with your time, you say, you know what? I believe you're the Savior of the world and I trust you.
And when you say not to lay up treasure on earth, I'm not going to do it. When you say redeem the time, I'm going to do it. When you tell me to gouge out eyes, I'm going to do it. When you tell me that I need to carry my cross and die to my own ambitions, when you tell me that I need to love you more than mother or father, son or daughter, I'm going to do it.
When you tell me that I need to love you more than any family relation, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do what you tell me to do. You see, obedience is the test of what we really believe. It always is.
And what does obedience have to do with? Your will. Your will. Jesus says, climb on board. That means all in. You know what He said. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things I say? In other words, you don't really believe it.
If you believe I'm Lord, you'll do what I say. You can call me Lord, many do that. Remember Matthew 7? Many are going to say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, we did this, that, and the other thing. He's going to say, I never knew you.
You see, folks, you can call Him Lord and believe He's Lord and it's superficial. What's the test as to what you truly believe? If you truly believe this is the Son of God, this is the Christ, this is the only way to life, this is the one who can rescue my soul, this is the one who forgives my sin, this is the one who saves His people from their sin, this is the one who is Lord, then you'll do what He says.
And you'll do it right now. You're not going to wait. You're not going to try to imagine, oh, I'm trying to believe that I've repented enough. No. No. It comes down to this. Have you seen the signs? Did you see Him turn water into wine?
Did you see Him know who Nathaniel was under that fig tree? Did you see that? Is that sufficient for you to say, I'm all in? Looking to Him and trusting Him, I'm going to do what He tells me. Why? Because He tells me.
Do you think Jesus doesn't want you to do what He tells you? Does Jesus tell you, sit there and wait to be saved before you obey Me? No. He demands obedience now, immediately. Why would somebody not obey?
Because they don't believe. So we keep going here. John 4, verse 10. Now this is the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that's saying to you, give Me a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.
And what's my point here? Well, the living water is there for the asking. I mean, it's there to be had. It's a gift. It doesn't tell you to believe that you have the gift before you receive it. Even though once you receive it, you will have the gift.
It never tells you to believe beforehand that you have a gift. Never. That's not saving faith. Saving faith is this. Do you believe what's said here? What is said here in this verse? Well, Jesus is saying He's the one who has the living water.
He's the one that has to be asked if you're going to get it. That's the point. We can go to John 4, verse 39. This is where the woman took off and she went and told in town all about Jesus telling her what she had done and the fact that she had five husbands, the man she was with now, and many Samaritans, verse 39, from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony.
He told me all that I ever did. Now, do you see this? They believed. Why? Because of a testimony. Nothing about them. It wasn't them trying to believe that God had done any specific thing to them. No, that's never the object of saving faith.
What was the object of saving faith? It was the testimony about what Christ had done. Christ specifically had told this woman about all that she ever did. That's how the Samaritan woman said it. Come see a man who told me all that I ever did.
Can this be the Christ? Well, you see what it's based on? Can this be the Christ? She's believing it's the Christ. Why would she think that? Well, because He told me everything that I did. How is that possible?
That's like seeing Nathaniel under the tree. How is that possible? Well, it's possible because this is indeed the Son of God. And that's what these things are signs to tell us. And so, many believed because of the woman's testimony.
He told me all that I ever did. But you see what the object is. The object is He told me all that I ever did. You see the issue? She's not focusing on all I ever did. That's not the focus. It's not me.
It's not what I did. What did she do? She had all these husbands and she was now sleeping with a guy that wasn't her husband. That's what she did. All she did and all her part is in the equation is the sin she did.
But what did He do? You see, that's what caused her to say, Is this the Christ? Nothing about her. She wasn't saying, Oh, well, I tried to believe hard enough that I had this water of life. Is this not the Christ?
No. She was looking at what He did. What He did was He was a prophet. What He did was He was able to tell her things about herself that she didn't probably think that hardly anybody else knew. And here He is a total stranger and He's telling her, What's this all about?
He's got the ability to know things that He's not been told. He's got the ability to know the thoughts of men. I mean, that's what's going on with this one. Who is this? You see, that's what she woke up to.
Who is this? This guy's offering me eternal life. He said, If I would have asked, I would have had it. And He just told me everything I did. And you know what? That wasn't only convincing to her. That was convincing to the other people.
Because it says they believed. But then what happened? Well, He stays there two more days and many believe because of His word. You see, they said to the woman, It's no longer because of what you said that we believe.
For we have heard it for ourselves. We know this is indeed the Savior of the world. You see the issue? What He said trumped what she said. What did she say? Well, she was witnessing about Him. And He undoubtedly witnessed about Himself.
But now they're hearing it firsthand from Him. And they don't need the second-hand witness from her. But all together, it all had to do with Him. It didn't have anything to do with what they were trying to believe was real about themselves.
Nothing like that. They weren't trying to do what this guy that wrote. I tried to believe and meditate on the fact that believing Colossians 2 .13, believing that I've been given life and been made alive together with Him and had all my transgressions forgiven.
They're not trying to sit down and imagine that the gift of this water of life is already theirs. That's not what they're trying to imagine. You see where their eyes are? Their eyes are on a person. Their eyes, they're gaining knowledge.
You see, the woman didn't believe in Jesus before she had knowledge about Him. She knew about herself. It was Him knowing about herself. That was information and factual about Him. He's a mind reader.
He's a prophet. He knows. He should not know that. He knows that. You see, this is the issue. We have to marvel at Christ. That's when you get on His back when He says, follow me. That's when you follow Him across that tightrope.
That's when you climb into His arms, when you've beheld Him and you've recognized Him and seen Him for what He is. Okay, let's keep moving along here. Now, if we go to chapter 5, verse 24. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life.
He does not come into judgment. Now, this is interesting. Because throughout John, Jesus is often going to say that we need to believe two things. One, that Jesus came from the Father. And two, that the Father is the one who is actually to be believed.
I mean, not that that's contrary with believing in Christ. But the Father is to be believed. Which Jesus keeps saying, My teaching is not My own. My teaching comes from Him who sent Me. And so, what's happening here is this is constant.
I mean, when we look at Jesus, do you believe He came from the Father? I mean, do you really believe it? Well, then you should be all in. Because if He came from the Father, He came from the Father to seek and save sinners.
He came from the Father. What did He tell Pilate? Well, I mean, we see that at the end of this book. He said, I came to bear witness to the truth. Not truth about meteorology. Not truth about astronomy.
He came to bear truth about salvation. How to be saved. That's what He came to bear truth about. And the fact is, do you believe it? Do you believe He really came from the Father? Do you believe that the truth He spoke was the Father's truth?
That He didn't speak of His own accord. He spoke what the Father had taught Him. What the Father had given Him to teach. That's a repeated theme here. Now, go to verse 25. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming.
It is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who hear will live. Okay, that's interesting. Okay, so we need to receive Christ. We need to look at Christ lifted up and believe and trust Him.
Just like that serpent was lifted up in the wilderness. But, how's that going to happen? You hear His voice. You hear the truth. You remember what happened to the Samaritans? Well, we don't believe because of your testimony, Samaritan lady.
Now we believe because we've heard Him. You see, that's hearing. When somebody hears and they don't do, they deceive their own selves. Hearing, people that really hear, they live. And He says, the dead are going to hear the voice of the Son of God.
That's what we have to ask. Have we heard anything in His voice? If you say, no, I haven't heard anything that makes me think I'm going to live my whole life for Him. Okay, well, you're not believing.
Because if you truly believed that He is who He says He is. And that He actually came from the Father. And He's the only way to eternal life. And He's the only one that has an answer for the sins that you've committed.
That you know what, you're going to throw in with. If you really believe that this is the treasure above all treasures. If you believe that to die is to be in paradise. If you really believe that Jesus says, look, to be saved.
I mean, to escape hell, you want to do everything possible. I mean, He tells His disciples, leap for joy. Because your names are recorded in heaven. I mean, if we really believe that what Jesus says. If we've got ears to hear His voice.
We're going to throw all in with Him. We won't hesitate. We're going to get up and follow Him. We're going to go. I mean, when you hear His voice. When you hear Him in the Bible. Do you hear such things as compel you to obey His voice?
To keep His commandments. To look to Him. Abide in Him. Because without Him, you can do nothing. Do you really believe that? If I believe that without Him, I can't do anything that's pleasing to the Lord.
Then I'm going to do what I can. I'm going to cry to Him. I'm going to ask Him. I'm going to talk to Him. I'm going to plead with Him. In John 5 verse 29, it says this. Do it verse 28. Don't marvel at this.
For an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come out. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life. Those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. And so I would just say this.
The hour is coming. All who are in the tombs are going to hear His voice. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life. Well, you know what? If you have ears to hear His voice, then do good. Do good.
How do you do good? You follow Him. You do the things He tells you to do. You do it like He tells you to do it. You do it with the heart He tells you to do it with. You do it in faith as He tells you to do it with.
And without Him, you can't do anything. And so, receive Him. Call upon Him. Ask Him. Keep asking Him. Keep asking Him. Ask Him every moment of the rest of your life to give you the help that you need.
Look at what it says here in verse 36. The testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
Now you see, that's the same truth we've been looking at. His works. His works bear witness. When He can tell that woman, this is true. Folks, this is true. There was really a woman at a well in Samaria.
And Jesus told her all the things she'd done. There was really a man named Nathanael who sat under a fig tree. It was a real fig tree. And Nathanael sat under there and the Lord saw him. There was a real wedding in Cana of Galilee.
And Jesus turned that water into wine. These things are true. There's no question. These things actually have happened. And Jesus is saying, this is the proof. This is the witness. This bears witness about me.
That is where faith. You ask the question, how can I place my faith in Christ? Well, I mean, why do you place your faith in anything? Why would you place your faith in your Father? Because you know facts about Him.
He's proven trustworthy. Okay. Do you not know any facts about Christ? Has He not proven trustworthy? I mean, He says, look at my works. They tell you I'm trustworthy. Because think about His works. They weren't just demonstrations of almighty power.
They were acts of kindness towards mankind. He's showing not just that He's powerful. He shows He's kind. He's compassionate. He's sympathetic. He shows that anybody that comes to Him with needs, He's willing to answer.
What does it say in verse 40? Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. You want to get that. To as many as received Him, chapter 1 said, they've been given the right to become the sons and daughters.
But you know what? Why don't people come to Him? Because they refuse to come. Why do they refuse to come? They don't trust Him. Plain and simple, they don't trust Him. When He says, climb on my back and I'll take you across the tightrope, nope, not doing that.
You see, we can say, you can see the tightrope guy walk the rope back and forth. And you can say, yeah, I believe he can do that. But it's, you know, it's a casual assertion. Yeah, I see him. But you see, you're not being put to the test.
You're not being put to the test. And so he says, you think I can go across that tightrope with a wheelbarrow? Well, I've been watching you walk across that tightrope without a wheelbarrow. So, you know, you probably can.
And then he says, do you think I can take a person in the wheelbarrow? Well, I just saw you go across there with the wheelbarrow. You probably can. And when he says, get in the wheelbarrow. You see, that's where your faith is tested.
Oh, do I really believe this guy can take me across in this wheelbarrow? Well, see, before it was just kind of speculative. You know, you assented to the reality because your eyes had seen. But now you're being asked to walk by faith, not by sight.
Because you haven't seen him take you across. You may have seen him take others across. You may see him take that wheelbarrow across. You may read the accounts about him going across. But now this is where it's tested as to what you really believe.
Do you believe he can take a person across that tightrope in a wheelbarrow? If you won't get in the wheelbarrow, guess what it says about what you truly believe? That's the issue. You refuse to come to me.
I'm standing here. You're on a building that's burning. You're on that twin tower over there. And that one's on fire. The one over on the other side is not on fire. It's the place of safety. I got a wheelbarrow here and I got the tightrope going across.
And I'll take you across and I'll save you. And you say, no, I'm not getting in that wheelbarrow. And guess what happens? You will perish on the burning building. And this is what God has said. God has said, my son is the tightrope walker.
He's never fallen off of it. He never will fall off of it. He can go across there in a wheelbarrow. I want to show you how he can fly. I want to show you who he can heal. I want to show you the dead he can raise.
I want to show you what he can do. And in watching all that he can do, you should know that I'm the one that's sent down there to walk tightropes with a wheelbarrow and take people across and get them safely to the other side.
And you say, I've heard that. I've seen that. I've read that. And I'm not getting in the wheelbarrow. And then you go to hell. And folks, that's bottom line. This is what this is all about. This has nothing to do with, well, am I too fat to get in the wheelbarrow?
Am I this, that, or the other? It has nothing to do with you. That's the issue. It has nothing to do with you and what you believe about you. Nothing. It has nothing to do with whether you have the right repentance to get across that rope or you've come to the end of yourself and you can get across that rope.
I mean, like what? I've come to the end of myself and now I'm going to be able to walk the rope? That's craziness. No, the issue is this. Do you recognize such things about yourself that you need one to put you in that wheelbarrow and take you across to get you to safety?
And if you do, you recognize, yes, I've been bitten by the serpent. I need to be healed. Well, did you know that there has been a brazen serpent lifted up on a pole? And if you just look at it, no, I didn't know that, but now I know that.
You see, there's facts. You've got facts. This is facts about a person because it's no longer a serpent lifted up. It's now Christ lifted up as he is lifted up. Where is he lifted up? He's lifted up on a cross.
You see what this is all about. You come to the end here, John 5, verse 47. If you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? You see, that's the issue. Do we believe Scripture? Do we believe that Moses said that there's a prophet coming who's like him?
And if we don't listen to him, it's not going to go well with us. We're going to be called to account. And how will you believe my words? You see, Jesus wants us to believe his words. His words are life.
That's what he says. His words are life. That means, here's what it means. It means what he tells you is the path to life. It means that even when he tells you that he wants you to do works, that's the path to life.
You see, but it doesn't start with works. It starts with trusting him. See, if I trust him, I'll do what he says. It starts with faith in him. Don't think it's works. Don't ever think it's works when he tells you to obey him.
Because he tells you to get in the wheelbarrow. And you see, as many as don't obey him, the wrath of God rests upon them already. If you won't obey him, then you don't believe he is who he says he is.
Do you believe his words? You say, oh, I believe them. Do you believe him? Where's the test? The test is if I see you in the wheelbarrow getting carted across the tightrope by Christ. That's the test.
If you go get in the wheelbarrow, then I know you trust him. And you can know if you're in the wheelbarrow by whether you obey him or not. Okay, so we keep going here. Now we're in chapter 6. Look at verse 26.
Jesus answered them, truly, truly I say to you, you're seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. But you see, Jesus is referring to the signs again. It's like he's saying to them, it would be good if you followed me because you saw the signs.
But that's not why you're following me. Not because you really believe that I am who I am being declared to be by the signs. You just know you got a free meal. You go to verse 29. Jesus answered them, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent.
That's the work. You see, in verse 28, they said to him, what must we do to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered them, this is the work of God that you believe in him. You believe in him. Now, you could look at that and say, oh, it's the work of God because God causes me to believe in him.
But that doesn't sound like what it says. See, they said, what must we do? They didn't say, what must God do for us to get. They said, what must we do? Don't take this as work salvation. What's the work?
The work is this. If you're not a Christian, your primary work is that you need to see Christ for who he is. You have not taken the knowledge. You have not taken the facts about Christ and processed them correctly.
And you want to know what the work of God is for you? That you believe in him whom he has sent. You see, he sent him. You need to believe in him. Why aren't you believing in him? What has Christ possibly done that you're not believing in him?
Have you closed your ears to his voice? He says, you won't come to me that you might have life. What has he possibly done that you won't come to him? You say, I am coming to him. Are you obeying him? Are you obeying the son of God?
Are you doing everything that he tells you? Are you trusting him to help you do what he has called you to do? I mean, without exception. No exceptions. When you read his word, are you following him? Are you doing what he says?
You see, that's the issue. That's the test. Because if you don't obey him, condemnation abides. Notice furthermore, verse 35. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger.
Whoever believes in me shall never thirst. We've got this repeatedly. Let's just see this over and over. 36, I said to you that you have seen me, and yet do not believe. Notice that. Somebody would say, how could they not believe in him if they saw him?
People say all the time, well, if I could just see it, I would believe it. Uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh. That's not what we're talking about here. That's clear. They believed that Jesus was a real person.
There's no question about that. When he says you don't believe, this doesn't come down to whether they believed he was a true historical figure or not. No, none of that. You see, believing him means to trust.
It means to get in the wheelbarrow. You see, he's saying to them, you've seen me? You know that I'm here. You know that I'm healing. You know I'm doing miracles. You know I'm doing signs. But you haven't climbed in the wheelbarrow.
Why not? Verse 37, all the Father gives me will come to me. Whoever comes to me I will never cast out. Look, don't get hung up on the all the Father gives me will come to me. Don't get so hung up on that.
The fact is, whoever comes, you know what? Let's just say it how it is. Every single person that has ever gotten saved in human history has come to Christ. And you know what? Jesus says that those that don't get saved, they don't get saved because they refuse to come.
That's the issue. Verse 40, this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him. You see, what does it mean to look on the Son? It means to behold Him. How do you behold Him?
He's not here. He's not out on the street. There's only one way to behold Him. You see the facts about Christ that are in Scripture. You see the signs He did. You hear what He taught. That's how it happens.
Verse 45, it's written in the Prophets, they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. You know what? Take heed how you hear. Learn what the Father says about Christ.
What does He say about Him? This is the Father's teaching. All that Jesus came to teach, this is the Father's teaching. He says, this is My Son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear Him. We need to listen to Him.
And we want to learn. You want to learn who this Christ is. Don't dwell on who you are. I mean, yes, you've got sins that you need salvation from. But that's enough to know that you're sick. It's enough to know you're sick to need a doctor.
Beyond that, your focus is not to be on yourself. Or anything that's happening to yourself. You don't want to sit there, wet your finger and hold it up to the wind. Hmm, am I experiencing salvation? Is God giving me a regeneration experience?
None of that. None of that. Jesus is saying, listen to Me. Listen to My Father. Listen to our testimony. Verse 51, I am the living bread. He doesn't say sit there and try to figure out whether you're being born again or not.
Or God is giving you a new heart. No, none of that. Look at who I am. I am the living bread. I came down from heaven. If you eat of this bread, you're going to live forever. You go to verse 53. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. How do you feed on that? It's feeding on his humanity. It's feeding on the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
And we know that He took His humanity to that cross and He shed His blood. And in His humanity and in His death as a human being, there is life as a substitute in My place. There is life for me. And I'm going to live on that.
I am going to sing that. My hope is going to be there. My trust is going to be there. I have no other hope than that. And because my hope rests there, I'm going to do what He says. I'm going to go where He goes.
I'm going to listen to what He says in His Word, and I am going to strive looking to Him to do it. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in me, and I in him, verse 56. Verse 57, as the Living Father sent Me, I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on Me, he also will live because of Me.
I mean, He just keeps repeating this. He's the bread of life. He came down from heaven. We need to eat this bread, and we will live forever. He keeps saying it over and over. Verse 58, this is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died.
Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. And then, of course, you go down to verse 68, and you've got all the people going away, and Jesus says to the 12, you guys want to go away as well? And Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life. I mean, I just ask all of you right now, do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus alone has the words of eternal life? Then you won't go anywhere else. You won't go after the world.
You won't go after the idols. You won't go anywhere else. See, that is faith in Christ. He's not saying, well, I'm trying to believe whether I have eternal life. No, no, no, no, no. Nothing about Himself here.
He's looking outside Himself, away from self. Peter is. And he's got his eyes locked on Christ, and he says, I know this about You. Nothing about facts about Himself. Nothing about, oh, do I feel born again?
Do I feel like I have a new heart? Do I feel anything about? Nope. Lord, I know this. I know this about You. You. You have the words of eternal life. And you see the faith. We're not going anywhere. We're not going anywhere.
We're sticking right here. Why? Because we believe. You see, we got in the wheelbarrow, and you're asking us whether we want to get out of the wheelbarrow. And we don't want to get out of the wheelbarrow, because we know you're the only guy that can take a person in a wheelbarrow across between these two buildings.
And there's nobody else. And we want to get to the other side, because we know that on the other side is life. And we know that you're the only way that knows the way. You're the only one that knows the way.
You're the way. You're the truth. You're the life. You're the only wheelbarrow hauler who's ever been successful. There are no others. And your Father sent you specifically to take people across in that wheelbarrow, and there's nobody else that can do it.
He's never sent anybody else to do it. And you know what? We're not getting out of the wheelbarrow just because other people get out of the wheelbarrow. We're not getting out, because we know you're the only one that knows how to cross that rope.
So I'm all in. That's what we have here. Chapter 7, verse 7. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it that its works are evil. Okay. Is there anything for you to know about yourself?
Yes. But it doesn't have to do with whether you've believed enough, come to the end of yourself enough. Nope. You need to know one thing about yourself. There's one thing stated in Scripture. Scripture never tells you whether Christ died for your sins specifically.
It doesn't tell you whether you're one of the elect. It doesn't tell you whether you're regenerated. The Bible never tells you specifically whether you're going to be born again. It doesn't tell you whether you've been heavy-laden enough, or whether you've thirsted enough, or whether your repentance is sufficient.
But you know what the Bible does tell you about you that you can bank on? Right here. It tells you that your works are evil. You can rest on that. He's testifying about the world, obviously. The stock we come from when we're lost.
There's none that does good. Not one. Everything we do when we're children of wrath. We're sons of disobedience. We follow the course of this world. We follow the prince of the power of the air. We don't do any good.
Our works are evil. You go down to verse 17. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God. What a statement. If your will is to do God's will, you will know whether the teaching is from God.
Whether Jesus' teaching is from God, or whether He's made it up. Whether it's just His own opinion. You see what He's saying? If your will is to do God's will. One of the problems is people don't want to believe because they want their own will.
They don't want to be saved the way that Jesus saves. And that's the real issue. Or there's this. Verse 19. Has not Moses given you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? See, that comes back to the truth we saw in verse 7.
None of us keeps the law. Verse 24. Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. Well, that's key. Because what does this mean? If a person's going to be saved, they've got to think right.
Think about Christ. Think right thoughts about Christ. Judge Christ with right judgment. Means judge based on what Scripture says. Believe what Scripture says. We go to John 7. Verse 31. Many of the people believed in Him.
They said, when the Christ appears, will He do more signs than this man has done? But again, you see the issue. Saving faith. I recognize that these people that are believing in Him. Is it the kind of faith that we found in John 2 where Jesus didn't commit?
Or are these genuine? Well, either way, the point is this. They're asking questions about Christ. Not about themselves. You'll never stare at yourself in the mirror and get saved. Not ever. Never. Never happens.
Where do you look? Look at the guy taking the wheelbarrow across the rope. You see, sit there and study that. That's what these people were doing. Wow. We've seen him go back and forth across that rope with that wheelbarrow quite a few times now.
And you know what? He's not only taken one person in there. We've seen him go across with 25 people hanging off that thing. In fact, we've seen him go across between the two buildings when there wasn't even a rope out there.
You know what? We think this is the Christ. You see, if the faith is real, receive Him and go get in the wheelbarrow. We go down to 37. On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out.
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. But you see what the object of faith here is, it's not, oh, do I thirst enough? No. It's come to me. Why? I'm the thirst quencher. When I take you across that rope between the two buildings, I am going to give you to eat and drink as you go across.
I'm going to satisfy you. Come to me for that reason. I'll give you to drink. I'll satisfy your appetites. Oh, he knows how to satisfy. Don't ever think, oh, this is drudgery. If you believe that, you're just believing the devil's lie.
That's not the truth. Jesus is satisfying. He will satisfy your soul. He's basically saying, receive me. You'll find that out. Go to chapter 8, verse 12. Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Now notice that. I'm the light of the world. I shine. I shine light into the dark ignorance of your brain. Listen to me. Watch me in the pages of Scripture.
I'm light. Light. I'll show you the way. I'll show you the way across on that rope. I'll show you the way to escape. Whoever follows me will not walk in the darkness. Okay, I'm just going to end right here.
But you need to see this. Hear what he's saying. If you follow him, how do you follow him? Listen to what he says. If you do what he says, he doesn't say, that's work salvation. He says, no. If you follow me, you won't walk in the darkness.
You'll have the light of life. But you see, it's when you believe him that you obey him. It's when you believe him, you'll follow him. When you believe him, his word will abide in you. It means you'll do what it says.
And if you do what his word says, you'll walk in the light. You see, this is where the faith is. And he says, come over. Get in my wheelbarrow. Now I'll tell you about the wheelbarrow life. I'll be with you.
Oh, I'm not going to leave you. Believe me, the handles of that wheelbarrow are firmly in my hands. I will never let go of them. Now, when you cross that rope in this wheelbarrow, I want you to live all out for me.
And by the way, I'm light, resurrection, life. I'm the treasure that's worth going and selling everything to have. I will not disappoint you. I have the words of eternal life. I know the way to paradise, the paradise of God.
And you know what? When I take you across in the wheelbarrow, you'll have a sense of peace, a sense of joy, a sense of forgiveness. I'll manifest myself to you. You will begin to sense me in newer, fresher ways.
And yeah, I don't want you to live for the world. I don't want you to follow that course anymore. I want you to be my witnesses. I want you to do what I want you to do with your money. I am going to be the chief love of your life.
I'm going to make you my bride. It's okay to love your family members, but love for me is always going to be supreme. And get in the wheelbarrow. It's a good way. It's a safe way. It's a way of salvation.
It's a way away from danger. Get in. And he says, whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. And you know what the Pharisees said? You're bearing witness about yourself.
Your testimony is not true. Jesus said, even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true. For I know where I come from and where I'm going. You don't know where I'm coming from or where I'm going.
But you see, he does know. And what's his testimony? His testimony is what he tells us about himself. Let me ask you this. When he turned water into wine, what did he tell you? I'll tell you what he told me.
He told me that he did not save me. He doesn't save anybody to make their life a drudgery. Wine at a wedding? A wedding is a time of celebration. And to add the best wine? He's not sanctioning drunkenness, but he's certainly sanctioning joy and gladness.
We heard about the angels and this whole festal array. Folks, Jesus is saying, look at the first miracle that I did. What does it tell you about me? Look at me. Look at me feed 5 ,000 people. What does it tell you about me?
Look at me raise Lazarus from the dead. What does that tell you about me? Look at me raise the centurion's son to wellness. What does that say? Are you not going to trust? Seriously? When you watch me raise the dead, heal the sick, are you not going to climb in?
When the first thing my father had me do in this world is turn water into wine to show you the kind of God that He is and the kind of joy that He means to bring mankind into, are you not going to climb?
Are you going to believe the devil and disbelieve me? Are you going to believe that the way of sin, the way of your idols, whatever idol it is, whether it's your money, whether it's just your own will, your family members, are you going to turn your back on me?
Are you going to seek the glory of man more than the glory of eternal life? I will take you to the very throne of God and bless you, the pure in heart, they will see God. I will show you the face of my Father.
Jesus said to His disciples, if you guys really knew what you had, He tells them they ought to shout and leap for joy. Salvation is no drudgery. Following Christ is not rotten apples. Following Christ is not miserable and dismal and somehow God trying to keep you down.
He says, I offer you life and I offer it in abundance. I will wipe every tear away. There will be no more death and no more sorrow and no more sickness. Through all the coming ages, my Father and I, the Spirit of God, this triune God, we will shower upon you the riches of grace in tender kindness.
Through all the coming ages, God Almighty is going to exercise His might, His wisdom, His authority, His goodness to be bestowing the vast treasures of His kindness, the riches of grace in kindness. One age after another age after another age just satisfying our soul, giving us the riches.
I mean, He bestows His riches on all who call upon Him. Seriously? You're not going to get in the wheelbarrow? And I wouldn't know what else to say.
Would you say that the word believe is sometimes associated with this innermost kind of mysticistic or mystical attribute? And if you say somebody take God at His word, follow Him, it is more direct?
Or, yeah. Well, I would say this, that clearly the signs... I mean, it's impossible to have faith in a person without having a knowledge of that person. I mean, our faith is in a person. Like we would trust a father or we would trust a friend.
This is the fact that John is saying, I've given you accounts of miracles that Jesus has done. I want you to believe He's a miracle worker. I want you to believe He turned water into wine. I want you to believe He healed the official son.
I want you to believe He healed the invalid at the pool of Bethesda. He fed the 5 ,000. He healed the man in John 9 born blind. He raised Lazarus from the dead. And He Himself came out of the grave. See, faith doesn't focus on me believing.
Faith doesn't focus on if I believe. Faith isn't some mystical aspect of faith. Faith is outside of me. My faith has to latch on to the fact that it's not focusing on believing whether or not I have an interest or a lack of interest in the saving work of Christ.
Faith believes upon the saving work of Christ as my only hope. And there's a difference between the two. One is believing that something has happened to me. The other is believing that Jesus is able to cause something to happen to me.
And if we get to where our focus is faith and not Christ, then I think we enter into this realm of the mystical. I think what we have to realize is that God comes along and He tells us. Can you think of the names and the titles that have been given to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Why didn't the Bible just call Him Jesus? Because every single title, every single name, every single description of Christ is meant to teach us something. What's it doing? It's giving us facts. It's giving us facts that are testimony.
It's testifying of who Christ is. It's a knowledge of that person. Consider, He's called the Christ. He's called Jesus Christ. He's called Jesus of Nazareth. He's called the wisdom of God, the exact imprint, the radiance of the glory of God.
He's called the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, Son of the Most High God. He's called the Holy One of God. He's called the Angel of the Lord. He's called the Firstborn. He's called the Physician.
He's called the Door. He's called the Way. He's called the Truth. He's called the Life. He's called the Messenger of the Covenant. He's called Jesus of Nazareth. He's called Emmanuel. He calls Himself I Am.
He's called the Son of David. He's called the Son of Mary. He's called the Man of Sorrows. He's called Jesus Christ the Righteous in 1 John 2. He's called the Bridegroom. He's called the Branch. He's called the Bread of Life.
I mean, it just goes on. He's called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He's called the Advocate. He's called the Captain of our Salvation. He's called the Prince of Life. I mean, you just think of all the names.
Every one of these is, boom, your faith is supposed to lock in. Wow, I can take Him to mean what that means. I mean, it comes down to this person. He came. He was announced by the angel to Mary. He was conceived in her womb by the Spirit.
This is the offspring of David who would sit on David's throne. The Holy One of God. The Word that was made flesh. We're called Emmanuel, God with us. He was indeed born of this Virgin. He laid aside the glory that He had with His Father from before the foundations of the world.
He came into this world to bear witness to the truth. Why? To seek and save the lost. He came in righteousness. He came pure. He came blameless. He was that spotless Lamb of God, always about His Father's business.
That's what He told His earthly parents. Here He was. This is the Messiah. This is indeed the one that Moses spoke about. And always, always, He never did anything to bring any shadow between Himself and His Father.
I mean, the water can't resist becoming wine when He says what He says. Disease can't resist becoming healthy when He gives the Word. The dead can't resist breathing again when He says live. When you see the 5 ,000, they're fed.
And they not only were fed, but they had more than they ever started with. And they've got 12 baskets. This is the one who is the Lord of lords. This is the one indeed that before whom every knee will bow, every tongue will confess.
I mean, it's like everything just goes there. Everything focuses on this one. The government is upon His shoulders. We don't have any impotent little Savior. And He stands there on the edge of that building with that wheelbarrow on that rope.
And He says is that not enough? Am I not born enough witness? Have the prophets not spoke of Me? And Moses spoke of Me? And the Scriptures spoke of Me? And My works speak of Me? And My Father has spoken about Me?
And I testify about Me? Is that not enough? Is that not enough to get you in this wheelbarrow? Because if that's not enough, folks, there is not enough. You will never have enough. That right there is what He's given.
And you know what? It's been sufficient down through the ages to say to people here's the testimony and to have people say, wow, I believe that. I'm getting in that wheelbarrow. And if we try to say things about faith that move off of facts about this person, then yeah, people can be all mystical.
There's all sorts of ways. The devil wants to twist and distort this every way he possibly can. Well, Father, thank You. I know my own soul just feels glad, excited, wanting to shout. Your Word is clear.
The facts about Christ are glorious. It's just almost too much the Savior You've given us. It's glorious. It's outstanding. It's wonderful. It makes us speechless. What thinky of Christ? Christ, all we can say is wow.
He's beautiful. He's precious. He's a treasure beyond all treasures. The unsearchable riches of Christ, oh Lord, help us to search them. Save, save, save by this glorious Savior of the world. We ask this in Christ's name, amen.