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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/william-skates/pentateuch-linked-with-john-1-5/
Let's turn to the Gospel of John, please, chapter 5. John chapter 5, down to the end of the chapter, notice verse 46. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me. And if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
Notice that the Lord is speaking this, the Spirit of God is recording it, at the end of chapter 5 in John. Now, we could take other readings in the previous chapters, but I'll have to call upon your memory.
The words of Moses, the Lord is referring, of course, to the first five books of the Bible, often called the Pentateuch. Those first five books of the Bible are preparing the ground, preparing the way for the rest of the Old Testament, and for the rest of the Bible.
But it's interesting to notice that the first five chapters of the Gospel of John are recording that part of the Lord's ministry that comes early on, and overlapping with the ministry of John the Baptist.
John is mentioned in this chapter 5, and it's likely at this point that John is in prison. So five chapters in John, early on in the Lord's ministry, preparing the ground, preparing the way, if you will, for all that follows in the New Testament.
So I'm interested in the link, then, between the first five chapters of John and the first five books of our Bible, the Pentateuch, the words of Moses. Now, there are other links as well. It's often pointed out the very structure of John follows the structure of the tabernacle, the house of God, in the first five books of the Bible.
In chapters 1 to 12 of John, you have the Lord's public ministry corresponding with the court of the tabernacle, where there was work that was done for God, and we have work that is singular. The work of the Lord Jesus in John, my work, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.
Chapters 13 to 17, it's the private ministry of the Lord in the upper room, and that would correspond, perhaps, to the holy place. And we find in those chapters that witnesses are being strengthened for the time of his absence, work that is singular, witnesses strengthened.
And then, finally, we have his priestly work of atonement that follows, covering the chapters 18 through to 21, and that will link with the holy of holies in the tabernacle. And there you have the thought of worship that is supreme, and it is the Lord Jesus finishing that work of atonement as he offers himself without spot unto God.
So there are links with the Pentateuch. Notice in chapter 1 of John, we'll find in this chapter at least three links with the book of Genesis. We're introduced to the Lord Jesus as the Logos, as the Word, and the very structure of that first verse links us with the opening of the book of Genesis.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So we have his eternal existence. We have his distinct personality. We have his absolute deity, and without him was not anything made that was made.
And in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, the creation of the world. So the Lord Jesus was the instrument that, in the Godhead, he was the one that brought it into being. He spake and it was done.
He commanded and it stood fast. He spoke the Word, the Logos, the Word, the importance of the Word. When we come to verse 29 of chapter 1, we see him spoken of as the Lamb. Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, and it's the great thought of his redemptive work.
The Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God, the Paschal Lamb, who takes away the sin of the world. Links with Genesis 22, does it not, in our thinking? As we listen to the words of Abraham to Isaac, God will provide himself for a lamb, for a burnt offering.
We have the thought of sacrifice, the sun upon the altar, linking with the redemptive work, the redemption of the world. Then notice at the end of chapter 1, we have the ladder. So the Logos, the Lamb, and the ladder, and that would link, perhaps, in our thinking with Genesis 28, we've already been there this morning.
And that, in turn, will link with future glory. So we have the Lord's work in the past, his creatorial work. We have the thought of redemption, and that work which is being carried on even now as there are souls that are being brought into the benefit of his great redemptive work.
And ultimately, creation itself. We find in Revelation 5 that it is the Lamb who alone has the right to open the book and to loose the seals thereof. But in chapter 28 of Genesis, the ladder, and we have the thought of it at the end of chapter 1 in John, and it's linking with future glory, the administration of the world, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it.
Ascending, they have to go up first, because he is far above all. And then they descend, they go up with a question, they come down with the answer, in the administration of planet earth. You know, it's interesting that in the assembly, we bear testimony to that great truth of future glory and the future administration of this world by our Lord Jesus Christ.
We do that because he has the preeminence as the head. The men uncover their heads, and the sisters, they cover their heads with their long hair and with the artificial head covering. And angels are looking on, and they see in a world of chaos that there is a little sphere where the headship of Christ is acknowledged, and the fact that God is not finished with this creation, that there is coming a day when he will be seen to be the head of all things.
The head of all things. And the angels look on and bear testimony to that, to the witness of the assembly. And it is a statement of God's purpose for this world. And we have the privilege of carrying that out in assembly testimony.
Now, come quickly to chapter 2 in your thinking. If chapter 1 links with Genesis, chapter 2, we suggest, will link in our thinking with the book of Exodus. You know that in the book of Exodus, Moses is raised up as the deliverer.
Destined to be the deliverer of his people, but we notice that very early on in the experience of Moses, his mother had to relinquish close contact with him. All right? We come to John chapter 2, the marriage of Canaan of Galilee.
The Lord Jesus speaks to his mother. He says this, woman, what have I to do with thee? My hour is not yet come, referring to the cross. So far as recorded words go, we find it is not until the cross that the Lord Jesus is recorded as speaking again to his mother.
So from the very outset of his ministry, woman, what have I to do with thee? And then upon the cross, woman, behold thy son. But there is the relinquishing of natural ties. Why? For the service of God.
There was a higher priority in the life of the Lord Jesus than even the display of natural affection. It was that he might be doing the will of his father. It was serving God. Just a practical thought there.
You know, when we come to assembly meetings, it is a place where in all things, he must have the preeminence, and it's a testimony to his preeminence in the gathered company. I do not feel it appropriate to sit at the breaking of bread and be hugging my wife much as I love her.
It's not the time, it's not the place. In all things, he must have the preeminence. The relinquishing of natural affection for a higher priority, the service of God. We'll notice in chapter 2, verse 13, that the Jews' Passover was at hand.
That's a direct reference, of course, to Exodus chapter 12. And then we find that the Lord Jesus, immediately following that reference, he proceeds to cleanse the temple. What's he doing? He's cleaning the house.
He's taking out of it, as it were, following the line of the feast of unleavened bread, the leaven out of the house. We've already been reminded this morning of the need for households that are pure. Not only family households, but when you come to the household of the assembly, if you like, that is also a place where there has to be the removal of leaven.
We get that in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. But our family households, they need to be marked by purity. And the removal of all that is defiling and corrupting the influence of the leaven needs to be removed.
I noticed at the end of that chapter 2, it says that Jesus did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men. Reminds us, as we've already been reminded of that mixed multitude that came out of Egypt, they were not all genuine, they were not all pure.
And we find by the time you come to numbers that they are complaining, that mixed multitude is complaining and they're lusting after Egypt again. Even when that remnant came back from Babylon, you remember that there were those amongst them that wanted to be priests, but they could not prove their genealogy, and so they were as polluted put from the priesthood.
Not everything that proclaims or professes to be of God is necessarily of God. That's why in the assembly, there is a need for care and reception. Because we live in a day when not only the wheat is growing, but there is also the terrors that are growing.
And there's a need to test that which comes in to the assembly. When you come to chapter 3 of John, if our line is to be consistent and to be right, this is gonna have to link with Leviticus, isn't it?
And when you come to Leviticus, you have man moving into the sanctuary. And it is God coming out and drawing man to himself. And in order to reach that sanctuary, he had to first of all pass the altar and the laver before you could reach the sanctuary.
And so in John chapter 3, we read that the son of man must be lifted up, a direct reference to his death, you have the altar. That whosoever believeth on him as the one that was lifted up should not perish but have everlasting life.
And in order to approach into the sanctuary of God, there must be sanctified life, except a man be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God. So there is a need for new life, and we read except a man be born of water.
Even the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. So if we're gonna enter into the sanctuary, there must be spiritual life. And he has saved us, says Titus chapter 3 verse 5, by the washing of regeneration.
There's the laver. That involves the new birth, the washing of regeneration. And then there is the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Brethren and sisters, you and I daily, constantly, need to be renewed in our souls before God.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he said, though our outward man perish, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. A need for constant renewing, constantly to be in the word of God, constantly to be before him in spiritual exercise, in prayer before God, in intercession for others, in supplication before his throne.
Enjoying the Lord in our souls, walking in the spirit. And if we are walking in the spirit, there will be that love, there will be that joy, there will be that peace. And the ninefold fruit of the spirit, which is singular, fruit.
You can't have eight of them and be lacking in joy. It all has to come as one package. So if there's a lack of joy amongst us, mark it down. There's a lack of spirituality amongst us. Getting off the track.
Colossians chapter 3 says, you have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. There's the secret of spiritual life.
It is to be Christ-like after the image of him that created him. Sanctify yourselves, therefore, and be ye holy, was the language of Leviticus. And in the assembly, we find there is a concentration of sanctified life.
For holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, forever. It is a group of people that have been born again, that are moving in fellowship with the spirit of God, that are daily renewed in their life, in their experience.
And they come together as a group of sanctified life to bear testimony for God in this world. Chapter 3, linking with the book of Leviticus. Chapter 4. In the book of Numbers, we find Israel is journeying through a wilderness.
They are often tired, they are often hungry, they are found thirsty. And the Lord draws near and graciously provides for them and gives them that water from the flinty rock. Come to John chapter 4. Jesus and his disciples are journeying through Samaria.
And Jesus is wearied with his journey, and he sat thus by the well. His disciples are hungry, and they go to buy bread. But so far as the Lord is concerned, it says that he has meat that they know not of.
His meat was to do the will of him that sent him and to finish his work. But that work involved a visit with a fallen woman there by the well. And you remember that dear woman, as she comes to get a draft of natural water, she returns with, she goes home again with a very well springing up in her soul.
She left her water pot, but she went away with the well. And the Lord Jesus supplied her, her every need spiritually, everlastingly. Everlasting life. And he is the supply that met her need that day. Shall never thirst again.
I'm going to ask you a question. The Christ of God supplied a draft of living water to the flinty heart of that dear woman. Do you believe today, brethren and sisters, as we move through this wilderness, as we journey on through this life, do you believe that Christ is enough to meet our every need?
Is he enough in the assembly to satisfy every need of his people? Kind of links with what our brother Davidson has been bringing before us. Or is there a need for all this other stuff that is creeping in, in different places?
Or if it's not brought into the assembly, we find the saints are going out to find it elsewhere. As though that makes it right. When I read the New Testament, I find that there is only one place for Christians to be corporately worshipping God.
And that is within the parameters of a New Testament assembly, scripturally gathered and functioning for his glory. Nothing else. So if there is enough in Christ to meet her every spiritual need. Another question.
Are we thrilled enough with him to seek that others too would come to know him? Come see a man that told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? And she was thrilled with having met the Savior.
Are we still thrilled about it? We've heard a little about numbers at conferences going down. Wisconsin and Iowa have been noted in the past for their gospel zeal. But we need to be careful, brethren and sisters, that that could be on the way down too.
Are you still as zealous about supporting the gospel and inviting others to come see a man as once we were? Chapter 5. The book of Deuteronomy is the second law. That's what the word Deuteronomy means.
And it describes the content of the book. It is the reiteration of truth to the people of Israel. The words of Moses are being repeated again. As they are about to enter into their inheritance into the land of Canaan.
And if they're going to enter into their inheritance, the point seems to be this. They're going to do it in the strength of these words. These are the words. That will strengthen them. That will enable them to march forward into the land of Egypt.
You know, it took 38 years for all the Egypt-born people to die off. 38 years. But now Israel is moving on. And they're going to do it in the strength of His word. Did you notice now in chapter 5 of John, there's a man at the pool of Bethesda.
The house of loving kindness. And he has been marginalized and he has been infirmed for 38 years. Interesting. But he heard words that day that changed his life. As the Lord Jesus spoke to him and said, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
As you look at that man, there's this that you could say about him. He's moving on. He's moving on now. He's moving on in the strength of the words that have been spoken. He heard that word. He literally obeyed that word.
And in obeying that word, he was walking. Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. He heard. He obeyed. He walked. The principle is the same for you and I, brethren and sisters. If we are going to move on into the full enjoyment of our inheritance in Christ, there's only one way to do it.
And that is to hear His word, to obey it, and then to walk it out in testimony to the Lord. Chapter 5 introduces us as well to the opposition of the Jews. You know, instead of being full of wonder and amazement and even worship at what they witnessed that day, they're all full of criticism.
Hard-nosed criticism. That here's a man who was healed on the Sabbath day, and all they could see was the external form of things. And they missed the wonder of His presence amongst them. They missed the significance of what had taken place.
They missed it. Maybe there's a tendency in our hearts from time to time to do just the same thing. To be taken up with the form of things. Coming to meeting. And you should be there. And dressing right.
And you should dress right. And keeping your shoes polished. And your Bible bag in nice order and all the rest of it. That's fine. That's dandy. But listen, it takes more than the form of things. If we miss the wonder of His presence amongst us, we have missed it.
At opposition, we still face opposition, don't we? There are enemies all around us. There's the enemy of the world. And the flesh. And the devil. You and I can only have victory over those things which would rob us of the enjoyment of His presence.
If we're found in His Word. If we're listening to His Word. If we're obeying His Word. And if we're walking it out in daily testimony. In verse 21 and 22 we see the agency of the Son to accomplish the will of the Father.
All judgment is committed unto Him. And He makes this statement that even the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. They that hear shall live. It's actually looking right forward to the end of time itself.
The resurrection of the unjust. It's brought in here in chapter 5. So clearly it's the authority of His Word that endures. It's central to the very purposes of God. The plan of God for the rest of time.
It's the authority of His Word. It's our privilege, brethren and sisters. More it's our responsibility to take His Word on board. To hear it. To read it. To study it. To be present at the ministry meetings and the Bible readings.
To be involved in reading it and learning it and obeying it. Not only the New Testament but the Old Testament too. They're both linked together. The Bible is a unified book of truth from God. It is His Word.
And it endures. And our blessing. Blessing in our households. Blessing in the assembly. Blessing in our lives. Our joy is dependent upon us. Learning it. Reading it. Obeying it. And carrying it out from day to day in our experience.
May the Lord bless His Word.