The Greatness of Christ: Part 3

The Greatness of Christ in John 5

Continue our study through the gospel of John. We are at chapter 5 as we work through this and by God's help we're going to, I'm going to slow it down a little bit and we're going to, we went through it, these points last Lord's Day and we're going to backtrack a little and go deep sea fishing.

Praise God. I don't know about you, I love deep sea fishing, I've gotten sick a few times but when we go out in the deep ocean there's big fish. And I'm here to tell you there's some big, big fish to catch here this morning as the Holy Spirit would help us in this meditate on these verses and to glean everything we can and to take away what we learn here this morning as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ but not only to be hearers of the word but to be doers of the word.

So we continue in looking at the greatness of Jesus Christ and I'm going to be frank and honest with you, this is part 3, there will be several more parts to this because as you will see today we're in deep waters folks and it's wonderful.

I don't think we should rush through it. I believe this is all about the person of Jesus Christ and we really need to glean everything we can from these verses. And saying that, please bow with me as we seek the Lord in His face as we come to hear His word, to hear from heaven this morning in this hour of worship.

Let's pray.

Our Father in heaven, we do come to you now and we come before your throne of mercy and the only way we can come this morning is by faith through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of heaven, the Lord of glory, help and grace.

We ask for help and grace in time of need. Lord, we are needy, needy people and we are needy of yourself and really in nothing else. If there's truth to be said, it's from your word and it's all because of you.

So yes, as we have sung, be thou my vision, O Lord, high King of heaven. Lord, as the psalmist speaks of from 119, may this be our prayer. I will meditate on your precepts, contemplate, look into your ways, how I delight myself in your statutes.

I will not forget your word. Lord, your precepts, your ways, your statutes, your words, as has been said by David through the Holy Spirit, it is more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold and sweeter also than honey, than the honeycomb.

And moreover by them, your servant is warned and in keeping them, keeping them, there is.

A great reward.

Now Lord, may this be our utmost desire. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens and let your glory be above all the earth. We ask this for your honor and glory in the name that is above all names, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Glory of Christ Revealed in John 5:17-18

As we come to the Gospel of John chapter 5, our focus is in verse 19 to verse 30. We will not cover all this this morning. We are going to take this prayerfully and carefully. And I like to say this at the offset that please note that any sermon preached on these verses by even the best of preachers could not really come close by doing it justice.

I really believe that. I don't believe there's been a man alive even by the help of the Spirit of God has preached a perfect sermon. There's been Spirit anointed sermons and has blessed many. The only one that's really preached a perfect sermon is you find in Matthew 5, 6, and 7.

And that's the Lord Jesus Christ because He was the perfect man. He preached a perfect sermon. But as it comes to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ speaking of His own personhood, there's absolutely no way a perfect sermon can be preached.

So as I've studied through this and looked through this, I just want to bless you of what God has blessed me with and I want to share that blessing with you by the help of the Spirit of God. So it's got to be more than just what's in my head.

It's got to be in my heart. And I want to bless you as God has blessed me as I've poured forth in this study and it's just scratching the surface. So I covet your prayers this morning. David says in Psalm 139 verse 6, such knowledge is too wonderful for me.

It is high. I cannot attain it. Folks, these are very deep waters when we come to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and His works. But the person of Christ, thou art the Christ, Peter said. The Son of the living God packed in those ten words is incredible inspiration and revelation of who Jesus is.

And this is what we want to take with us. Make it a part of us. This should be our right attitude as we come before the Lord and an attitude of reverence and worship and awe and thanksgiving before God and His holy word that we are to tremble before His word.

So let me begin by setting before you at the beginning of this message two quotes that will give us a good launch on this message and I quote, first of all, one is a Puritan from the past which Brother Keith led and Brother Ben leads in our Sunday school is John Owen.

He's a powerful theologian in his day. He says this and I promise you this is a short quote. Most of the quotes today will be from the word of God, I promise you, but this is the launch us off. He says this, the ultimate end of true theology is the celebration of the praise of God.

I love that. The ultimate end of true theology is the celebration of the praise of God and His glory and grace in the eternal salvation of sinners. End quote. The second one I like to set before you comes from an evangelist and he's one of my favorite speakers and he's a missionary and it's from our brother Paul Washer.

He's a powerful preacher and he can preach by the way just as good in Spanish as he can in English which is amazing but it's the spirit of God and this man has such a heart and passion for Jesus Christ and I take this quote here from the book and I'm thankful I was able to, the church helped me purchase this at the G3 conference, it's the preeminent Christ.

I've been reading through it and I think it's very significant and fitting as we go through the gospel of John, it's focused on the person of Jesus Christ and of course Washer's taken that from Colossians 1 which is really our theme here at Redeeming Grace Church that in all things Christ may have the preeminence.

Washer says this in making much of God, he says, to glorify or praise God we must know something of His manifest excellencies. We must know something of His manifest excellencies. These find their clearest expression in the person of Jesus Christ.

In 2 Corinthians he quotes this, 4 -6, the apostle Paul wrote that the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is found in the face of Christ. His meaning is unmistakable. The knowledge of God is most clearly revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and His great work of redemption on behalf of His people, end quote.

I thought that was two really good launching quotes from these godly men to help us here this morning as we dive into the word of God and hear God's word and what God's word has to say about Jesus. But not only as it is God's word, written word that is inspired, these are the words of the Savior Himself, the Master Himself, speaking of His own authority, His own personhood, His own testimony.

Now as we see these verses from John 5, 17 -30, even to the very end of the chapter to verse 47, we should see more than just mere sentences or phrases that is before us in the holy word.

Of God.

I pray that God would always save us from apathy as we open God's word, that there's something fresh, there's a fresh fire here, there is a fire from the spirit of God that will burn into us and change us this morning.

And it comes from the words of Christ, inspired, God breathed, all sufficient word of God and from the words in the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself in full and clear revelation it comes to us and it comes to us to reveal, He comes to reveal the Father and how the Father is like and we see the religious crowd and the people that crucified, they really didn't know how God was like.

But Jesus did and after all not only was He with the Father, He's God Himself of the second person of the Trinity and this whole section is really speaking about His equality with the Father, His equality with God, comes in great revelation.

Who is Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus Christ is the greatest question, it's a great question to ask anyone, not only in the church but also those outside of the church that do not know God. I question if people in the churches really know that answer.

But we can know it if we come back to the word of God and read through the gospels and ask God to help us. Who is Christ?

Who is He?

Let me quote Hebrews 1 verse 1 to 4. The writer of Hebrews says this, God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, who be in the brightness of His glory in the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, and having become so much better than the angels, He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

It's all about the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ in Him crucified, Christ in Him buried, Christ and resurrected, Christ glorified, Christ interceding, Christ coming back again, Christ is all in all. John's gospel we see time and time again, the deity of Jesus Christ is shining forth, it's bursting forth through the pages of scripture.

Especially in this wonderful gospel of John, the theme is really the deity of Christ, His divinity, His, who He is, this is Christ, He is deity, He is God in flesh. Doesn't that remind you of John 1 verse 1 to 5?

Amen.

Look at how John the apostle begins his book, in the beginning was the Word, the Logos, and the Word, the Logos was with God, and the Word was God, and He was in the beginning with God. All things, just like the book of Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews, just like the writer of Colossians, Paul, all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made, and Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it or overpower it.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came into His own, and His own did not receive Him. And it's interesting that we pick right up here in verse 17 of chapter 5, because this is in context of Jesus makes a statement of His equality with God, and His own people, His own did not receive Him, rejected Him.

Jesus answered them, verse 17 of chapter 5, note that there is no question, I think that's interesting, yet the Lord gives an ultimate word of authority concerning the work of the Father, the work of the Son, concerning the healing on the Sabbath as He healed this man that was paralyzed for 38 years, and then He goes to the synagogues and reports to the Jewish leaders, these religious people, that it was Jesus that did this, and they were so upset that He did this work on the Sabbath, and took up His mattress and walked, and then they got furiated with Jesus that He even healed on the Sabbath.

Now, they even more furiated, and sought the more to kill Him as we will see, kill Jesus because He makes Himself equal with God. That's the context, that's the background of really what Jesus is about to say here about Himself.

But Jesus answered them, My Father has been working unto now, and I have been working. And Jesus was about His Father's business, wasn't He? He was always doing the will of the Father, and He did it perfectly, and He always did those things that God was doing, God the Father was doing.

Verse 18, Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him.

Why?

The text tells us, because He did not only break the Sabbath, only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. In other words, as far as in the Jewish mind, that Jesus committed ultimate blasphemy.

This man must be insane, he's crazy, he's making himself equal with God? Who does he think he is? They literally thought he was insane.

They did.

This shattering fact, this great truth is clearly understood by the religious leaders. They got what Jesus was saying. And as Paul the Apostle said, if they'd known who He really was, they would never crucify the Lord of Glory.

They would have never crucified Him. So it's all decreed in the plan and the mind of God that this was to happen. So Jesus really expected the persecution. Jesus was never on the defense, He was always on the offense.

And here He makes a tremendous statement about Himself. Earth shattering, heaven shattering. They understood this clearly. Number one, that Jesus said that God was His Father. And number two, that He was making Himself equal with God, so His claim was absolutely unquestionable.

And they knew exactly what He was claiming. Interesting to note too here, as a footnote, John the Baptist made the statement of the testimony of Jesus Christ. And you know what John the Baptist said in John 1, verse 34.

And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. See the prophet John the Baptist knew God and he was a man that was intimate with God and he knew who Christ was. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

So verse 17 and 18 gives us the background. Jesus claimed equality with God the Father. A second claim was in verse 17, Jesus said, my Father has been working until now and I have been working. Interesting he's speaking about working here.

He's talking about working on the Sabbath. The Father has been working until now and I have been working. The Father works slowly. I loved George MacDonald's wonderful quote last week. I'm not going to re-quote it, but it's wonderful how the Father works slowly in nature and Jesus comes and immediately, instantly works.

Wonderful. But never apart from the Father. Always with the Father. Always one with the Father because He is God. He is the express image of the Father. God the Father never ceases to work even on the Sabbath.

Yes, it is true as we looked at that when God created the world, scripture says that God rested on the Sabbath day, the Sabbath day. But what does that mean? Well that technically means that He rested from His creative work.

He's working in other ways, in mercy, in gentleness, in kindness, in compassion, in patience. But this is His creative work. Not from His other work, which would be His work of love, mercy, and His work of helping and caring and His tender compassions, looking after and overseeing the sovereign ways and governing His world.

I love that old hymn. This is my Father's world. God's always working. He never slumbers, He never sleeps, as the psalmist says. Note this, Jesus said, and I work. Jesus says, I work. Meaning that He Himself did good.

He always did good, went about doing good, always. And that's the purity of the holiness of Jesus Christ. He always did good. There was never anything He did bad. The bad falls on us. I like what Augustine, you can say it either way, Augustine or Augustine, he said, everything that is good is God's, but everything else bad is my fault.

Absolutely. Sounds like a simple statement, but actually it's profound if you really look at it. But Jesus always did good. He did good on the Sabbath as well as God the Father did good. And again, it's clearly claiming to be equal with God, claiming to have the same right to work even as God works, that is to erase the wrongs of the laws of man, to establish the just and compassionate laws of God.

It's amazing everything that Jesus did. He comes to reveal the Father in every way. Now we move to the infallible proofs of Jesus Christ, and again, I'm going to just cover two points this morning because of time, but I'd like for us to look at what the Scriptures have to say about these proofs, especially through the Gospel of John.

So the first proof is given in verse 19, and that speaks of His perfect obedience to the Father. His perfect obedience. I can really make a one-corner out of this because so much is said about His perfect.

Obedience.

His perfect obedience to the Father. Look at verse 19. Then Jesus answered and said to them, most assuredly, or surely, surely, amen, amen. In other words, cut your ears on and really listen in. I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do.

But whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. Now it's very interesting here that, I think Brother Keith, you pointed this out to me. I think this is very observant. This begins, this section right here from verse 19 all the way to verse 47.

Look at how many words the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of. He speaks of His authority. He speaks of His equality with God the Father. Life and judgment are through the Son. Then from verse 31 to verse 47, He speaks of the fourfold witness.

But you notice something here. This is the longest uninterrupted speech of Jesus in the Gospel. Isn't that incredible?

And you know something?

What is He speaking about? He's speaking about Himself.

Who He is.

His authority. He expounds it perfectly. Is He previously, in His previous statement in verse 17, the purpose is really twofold. Number one, the first, and I speak of the twofold purpose here, number one, Jesus refutes the authority of the fleshly, earthly motivations of the religious Jews.

He refutes them, rightly so. This is the Lord of glory. And number two, in summary, Jesus shows us that what should be the true motive and the benefits of that motivation. So this speech of Christ that He gives can be divided into two parts.

One, from verse 19 to verse 29, is really an examination of two types of work that Jesus has in common with the Father. Giving of the life and judging of sin. And second, the other part would be an actual judgment against those who challenged Him.

A judgment will come upon them, and a judgment will come upon any of us that would dare challenge the authority of Jesus Christ. Can you imagine, as R .C. Sproul would rightly say, that this dirt from the earth would challenge the Almighty living God?

It's really ignorance and foolishness to the utmost degree. And I would say foolishness, probably. Only a fool would challenge the Almighty God. Well, in verse 19, Jesus claims that His every action is justified because it is motivated by God the Father, and God the Father is pleased with the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son.

Even more so, every single action, every single motive, mirrors God's working in the world. His first proof was that Jesus was equal with God, was actually His perfect obedience to the Father. This is really staggering.

Now, if you were to compare the perfect obedience to Jesus to our obedience, it's absolutely no comparison, because we cannot even obey God within just a few minutes, and I'm sure within this hour of worship that somehow we have broken God's law of our mind-wandering or not really focusing and pleasing God completely.

But I want you to think of this, Jesus, every minute, every second, from the day He was born to the day He died on the cross until He left to glory, everything that He did in motive and heart and mind, action, was all pleasing to God the Father and upheld the law perfectly.

Isn't that incredible? It is incredible. But He did it. And He did it as the Son of Man. He never cheated in a sense of leaning back on His divinity. He did it as a man full of the Holy Spirit, because He represented us.

More of that later.

His perfect obedience.

Jesus stated two astounding facts here. First of all was that He did not act alone. Jesus did not act alone. He did not act independent of God the Father. His will, even though Jesus had His own will, He did not do His own will.

He did the will of the Father. He acted in full, perfect submission in accordance to the will of the Father. This is so important as we look into His perfect obedience this morning. Now, fasten your seatbelts, we're going to dive into scriptures here.

So hang with me. Taking from John 5 .30, we jump to John 7 .28. You can turn with me if you like, because a lot of these is right in the Gospel of John. Jesus cried out as He taught in the temple, saying, You both know Me and you know where I am from.

And I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. Who is He speaking of? The Father. The Father sent Him. Everything that He did, He did and pleased the Father. John 8 .28, then Jesus said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man.

And I'm interested in that word, lift up. He says it also in John 3 .14 as He spoke to Nicodemus, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. That lifting up is Calvary's cross, His crucifixion.

He must be lifted up. It's decreed. He knew His one task, His one mission. He was so fervent and compassionate. It was to go to the cross and die. Not only the physical sufferings, but the wrath of God upon Himself that He would be made sin.

The perfect Lamb of God. To take our sin as the substitute. The Lamb of God. That's so important concerning the Gospel. But Jesus said, when you lift up the Son of Man. The Son of Man. He always regarded Himself.

He says He is the Son of God. Yes, He's the Son of God, but Son of Man. Son of Man. Then you will know that I am He. And that I do nothing of Myself. But as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. He demonstrated it.

He spoke it.

And everything that He did, He did in perfect accordance and perfect submission to God the Father. It's just absolutely amazing and incredible. Here's another one. John 14 .10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me?

It's a question.

The words that I speak to you, I do not speak of My own authority. But the Father who dwells in Me does the works. A lot of the modalists take these verses and twist it all around. The false teachers, beware of these people, folks.

They try to say that Jesus is the Father and the Spirit. That is not so. When Jesus is speaking that the Father dwells in Him. He's speaking that He is God.

He is Deity.

He's not saying He is the Father. He is the Son. But He is God. He never denied that one. But the modalists will say, oh no, Jesus is the Father. Jesus is the Spirit. And they twist it all around. And then they basically say, well, if you try to teach that there's a triune God here.

And I've heard one of their false leaders speak of this. You actually have three gods. How false is that? Now we know that we cannot explain the Trinity. It's a divine mystery. But let me say this. God is God.

How it works and how they work together, I don't know. How and the details. But we do know that it's the Father, the Son and the Spirit. There's one God in three persons. It's a divine mystery. It's a great mystery.

But that's what the Scripture teaches. And personally, if we don't believe in that, we're in serious trouble. That is a major doctrine. Verse 11. Jesus said, believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me.

Or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. In other words, when he said, if you can't believe this by what I'm telling you, believe and look at the works that I do. Perfect obedience to his Father's will.

He never acted independently of God the Father. He never did anything of his own accordance. Everything was in complete submission to the Father. Nor did he ever act selfishly. He never did something separately of himself.

It was always what pleased the Father. He never did walk separately from God the Father. He was always doing the will of his Father. Doing his work. Always one with the Father. Second here, Jesus did exactly what he saw the Father do.

Now that's an incredible verse, isn't it? He always did exactly what the Father would do. But what he sees, he says, the Son can do nothing of himself. But what he sees the Father do, for whatever he does, the Son also does in like manner.

It's a deep verse, folks. There are three claims here, I would say. In my observation as I was studying this. One is that Jesus was in perfect, unbroken communion with God.

Perfect, unbroken communion with God.

He was never, ever apart from the Father. I would say probably the only time that there was a separateness, even though there was a separation, was when he died on the cross and he leaned on that verse in Psalm 22.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And there is where he took that hell. Now this is beyond our comprehension, that Jesus the Son, that was always one with the Father, was always in perfect communion with the Father, and within those hours of darkness, took hell upon himself.

On the cross. Really, it needs no commentary. I agree with G. Campbell Morgan, when we come to that verse, just put your hand to your mouth and shut it up and just bow.

Amen.

It's just too deep for us. But Jesus was in perfect, unbroken communion with God. The second thing I observe here is, Jesus was of the very same nature in the person of God, and three, we see Jesus acted as God because he was God.

He acted as God because he was God. He did exactly what God the Father did. He did the very same things, he says, in like manner. In the very same manner. And Jesus was perfectly, perfectly obedient to the Father.

Matthew chapter 11, verse 27, as Jesus is praying, and before he says that wonderful, wonderful verse, he invites, come unto me all you labor and heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

You know, it's a wonderful invitation verse, isn't it? To those that had the burden of the law upon their backs. And Jesus said, you come unto me. But before he said that, he said this, in verse 27, all things have been delivered to me by my Father.

And listen to what he says, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son. And the one to whom the Son wills to reveal. So in other words, God will reveal himself to whomever he pleases to reveal.

God will have mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy on. And people say, no, hold on now. I could do something about that. Oh, really? How can you? There's nobody that can really understand the revelation of God unless God wills it.

That's why we must cry out for mercy. We can't make this happen with our own energy and our own strength and our own willpower. No, that's why salvation is of the Lord. In John 7, 29, let me give you some verses to back this up.

Jesus said, but I know him, for I am from him. Jesus is speaking of the Father. For I know him, for I am from him.

And he sent me.

Jesus is the great missionary. And he did the greatest mission of all.

To come.

To become flesh in the incarnation. To enter into this world without the Adamic nature. That's the purpose of the incarnation. Born of the Virgin Mary. Because he did not come into this world with the Adamic nature.

There was no sin in him. He said that of himself. John 8, 55. He says, yet have I not known him. I'm sorry. Yet you have not known him. He's speaking to the religious Jews. Yet you have not known him.

But I know him. And if I say I do not know him. I shall be a liar like you. Wow, he's already calling them liars. Because all men are liars. Isn't that what Paul said? Let God be true and every man found liar.

Be a liar. And he says, but I do know him.

And keep his words.

You hear what Jesus is saying?

He knows the Father perfectly. And he always keeps his word. This is another claim of Jesus. The Son's perfect knowledge of the Father. And the perfect obedience to the Father. Here's another one. John 10, 15.

As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. This is a wonderful, wonderful chapter. And a wonderful verse. On how Jesus died for the sheep. The elect. To those that God has ordained to believe.

Before the foundation of the world. He says, I lay down my life. As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father. So the Father has perfect knowledge of the Son. And the Son has perfect knowledge of the Father.

That's basically what it's saying. And the Son lays down his own life. In perfect submission to the will of the Father.

For the sheep.

Who's the sheep?

Those who believe.

I love what Calvin said. You know, Calvin gets a lot of bad raps nowadays. You know, you're a Calvinist. And really, his words are really twisted up. And you mentioned you're a Calvinist in churches today.

You really get ready for a stone to come your way. But you know, Calvin said it right. Someone asked him once. He says, how do you know that you're God's elect? He made a simple answer today. He gave a simple answer.

He says, believe. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's God's elect. John 10 .30. I, my Father, are one. Look at the depth within that one verse. I and my Father are one.

Not two.

One.

John 10 .37 -38. If I do not do the works of my Father, I do not believe me. But if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works. Again, he says this. Believe the works that you may know. And believe that the Father is in me and I in him.

John 17 .11. Now we're talking about Jesus praying before the Father. Listen to these, some of these prayers. I picked a few verses from John 17. Because it goes along so much. And it goes right in sync with everything he says in verse 19 in John chapter 5.

He says this. Now I am no longer in the world. But these are in the world. He's speaking of his disciples. He's speaking of the believers. We're in this world. And then what does he say? I come to you, Holy Father.

This is a prayer as he prays to the Father. And he says, keep through your name. Always upholding the name of God perfectly. Perfectly. It's the Son of Man. Keeping God's name perfectly holy. And he says, Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me.

That they may be one as we are. And by the way, every prayer that Jesus has offered to the Father has and will be answered. Because God the Father always honors the prayers of the Son. As he represents us before the throne.

His people, his church, his sheep, his elect. I'm interested in this wonderful prayer. And I challenge people in this sometimes. I say, show me one time that Jesus prays for the world. Not once. He prays for his own, folks.

He prays for his own. Listen to what he says in verse 22. I'm sorry, verse 21 and 22 of John chapter 17. That they all may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you. That they also may be one in us.

That the world may believe that you sent me. The unity of truth is within corporate worship. As we are coming together in oneness with the Father and the Son. In oneness and truth. As Jesus prays to the Father.

That unity. This is also taken out of context today too. As the ecumenical movement is really on the move. Trying to bring Catholics and other religions of the world. And trying to use these verses here.