Faith Is Not Blind (John 5:30-47 Jeff Kliewer)

Yes, the contents that are in there are going to brighten their faces and give them an amazing day, but also the very Word of God is there to some children who may have never heard it before. Each one of those boxes represent a child.

Let's make that box bigger. I think the challenge was 400. I made it five. First service, I asked, does somebody say six? Let's build that because each one of these is a child and an opportunity. There are still boxes out there, but here's the thing, we got two weeks left.

Worship, Communion, and the Call to Focus on Christ

Darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be Your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be Your glorious name. You give and take away. You give and take away.

My heart will choose to say, blessed be Your name. You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, blessed be Your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be Your name.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be Your glorious name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be Your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be Your glorious name.

Lord, we come before You this morning. We are just honored that You chose us before the foundations of the world to redeem us, to call us Your child. Lord, we ask that this morning as we lift our voices to You, and as we focus on Your table, that we will never forget Your grace and Your mercy, Your redemption.

Lord, we focus on You this morning and You alone.

Love could remember no wrongs we have. Omniscient, all-knowing, He counts not their sum. Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore. They are many, His mercy is more. Patience would wait as we constantly roam.

What Father so tender is calling us home. He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor. They are many, His mercy is more. Praise the Lord. His mercy is more than darkness. His mercy is more than blindness.

He lavished on us. His blood was the cost. We stood beneath the death. He is tender and open to how God is leading you,.

And how His redemption is allowing you to see just the sin and wretchedness that we all have. As we come before the table, we know that His wounds set us free from that bondage of sin. His blood and His redemption was the bridge that needed to happen so that we could enter heaven.

Let's sing together, remembering the cross this morning.

It has been our tradition here at this church for many, many years that we celebrate communion on the first Sunday of every month. Now, although it is tradition, I do pray that this morning it is not routine, that you're not indifferent to it, but that we want to look at the scripture and really appreciate what He has done for us.

So I want to start with Isaiah chapter 6. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood the seraphim, each had six wings, with two He covered His face, with two He covered His feet, and with two He flew.

And one called to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of Him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

And I said, Woe is me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Now, there's something very, very Jewish in this text that I want to kind of highlight.

We in the English-speaking world may not see this, but when I used to work in printing and publishing, if we wanted to show emphasis in the text, we would highlight, we would make it bold, we would make it italic, change the font size.

And you know this, when you text somebody, when you yell at them, you put in all caps. So that's how you want to show emphasis in this English-speaking world that we live in. But in the Jewish mindset, it was different.

The Hebrew mindset, it was verbal repetition. And you're familiar with this because Jesus taught that way. Jesus was a Jewish rabbi. He would use verbal repetition when he wanted to show emphasis. Now, of course, everything he said was important.

But when he wanted to show more importance, he would say, Verily, verily, I say unto you. Or some versions say, Truly, truly. What he's really saying is, Amen, amen, I say unto you. Now, I love to say amen when Jeff is preaching in the middle of a sermon, but Jesus would do that before he said something to show emphasis, that this is important.

Listen. Now, with verbal repetition in the scriptures, there is only one attribute of God that is communicated to the third degree repetition. If you look at the text, it doesn't say, mercy, mercy, mercy.

It doesn't say, wrath, wrath, wrath. It doesn't say he's holy. It says, kadosh, kadosh, kadosh. Holy, holy, holy. And if you notice, the seraphim had to cover their eyes in the presence of God. Currently, I'm driving east when I go to work in the morning, and the sun is in my eyes, and I have to block the sun from blinding me.

I wonder if I'm going to sneeze in heaven, because I always sneeze when the sun shines in my eyes. But the seraphim had to cover their eyes because their presence was so holy. And Isaiah, in the presence of the Holy One, says, woe is me.

Imagine that. The prophet Isaiah, you'd think God chose him because he was perfect, that he wouldn't say what he said. And yet, even on the prophet's best day, he says, woe is me. I am lost. Now, the word woe in the Hebrew is interesting.

You might know this. Does anybody know what the Hebrew is in the scripture for woe? Matt, do you know what it is? You know this word. You're going to be surprised when you hear this. But the Hebrew is oy.

Oy.

You thought that that was a Yiddish word, didn't you? That's a Hebrew word. And originally, it meant grief and despair. It was a very heavy word. And Jesus used this when he talked to the Pharisees. He said, woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites.

You know, it's a very heavy word to use. And Isaiah, in the presence of God, said, woe is me. And it's amazing, as you look through scripture, this thread happens throughout scripture. When you come into his presence, you realize who you are.

Peter did that when he realized who Jesus was. When Jesus did the miracle with the fish and the nets, Peter said, depart from me, Lord, for I'm a sinful man. A prayer I'm so thankful the Lord doesn't answer when we say that.

But when we're in his presence, we realize who we are. And John in Revelation did the same thing. When he saw who Jesus was in his vision, he said, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And that's what happens to sinful man.

And even John, Isaiah, Peter, we realize who we are when we come into his presence. Now, I'm not trying to drive you away from the communion table. I'm trying to get you to understand that this is serious.

That when we take communion as believers, Jesus said, you do this in remembrance of me. Paul says that you do show forth the Lord's death until he comes. You know, it is something that we're looking at in his presence, being thankful for what he did.

Now, I want to give you hope. Because of all these different examples I've given, we say, woe is me, Lord, depart from me. However, looking at John in Revelation, when John saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

Now, one of my favorite words in scripture, but he laid his right hand on me saying, fear not, for I am the first and the last and the living one. I died, and behold, I'm alive forevermore. And I have the keys of death and Hades.

So there is hope for us as believers to come before him because of what he did on the cross for us. That we're washed in his blood. That we're forgiven of our sins. And we come to the table thanking him for what he did and eating his body and drinking his blood.

And we are thankful this morning for that. So if I could have the service come forward, please, as we distribute the elements. We're going to all take it together once they're all passed out. The bread first, and then the juice.

Jesus said in John chapter 6, 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. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

Let's pray.

Father, open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things from your word. We pray that you would give us eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts that believe the truth about Jesus Christ. I pray for any who are here today that have not yet come to Saving Faith.

I pray that you would open their eyes to see that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by him. And we pray for us who already believe this, that you would stir us up to go tell others the good news of what he's done.

So be with us now through the preaching and the hearing of your word, in Jesus' name, amen. In 1995, a Christian band named Big Tent Revival. Anybody here remember Big Tent Revival? Oh, good, a lot of you have known that group.

They wrote a song called Two Sets of Joneses. It is one of my all-time favorites. It's more of a story than a song, although it's put to music. And I remember hearing this song when I was in college in the early 2000s.

Well, I just graduated. And I just loved the picture it painted of believing in Christ and building a family. I wasn't married at the time, but I could envision building a family and how important that is versus what the world has to offer, which is sinking sand.

Here's how the song goes. This here is a song about two sets of joneses. So the idea here, let me pause, is that there's two sets of families, each having the last name Jones, but they're unrelated and they have different outcomes.

This here is a song about two sets of joneses, Rothschild and Evelyn, Reuben and Sue. Just for discussion through random selection, we've chosen two couples who haven't a clue. Rothschild was lucky to marry so wealthy.

Evelyn bought him a house on the beach. Reuben and Sue, they had nothing but Jesus. And each night they would pray that he'd care for them each. Evelyn's daddy was proud of young Rothschild, worked the late hours to be number one.

But just newlyweds, their marriage got rocky. He's flying to Dallas. She's having a son. Reuben was holding his Gideon's Bible. And he screamed, it's a boy, so that everyone heard. And the guys at the factory took a collection.

And again, God provided for bills they'd incurred. So what is the point of the story? What am I trying to say? Is your life based on the rock of Christ Jesus or sandy foundations you've managed to lay?

Well, needless to say, Evelyn left her husband and sued him for every penny he had. And I truly wish that those two would find Jesus before things get worse than they already have. And the rain came down.

It blew the four walls down. And the clouds, they rolled away. And one set of Joneses was standing that day. I love that song. And I always have because it pictures a life that's built on the rock Christ Jesus.

And that was Reuben and Sue. But also, the converse, if you build your life on sinking sand, when the storms come, there's no foundation and the walls of the house collapse. So it's such a wonderful picture of how important it is to build your life on the rock.

But you know, recently, in fact, last night, I got to thinking, whatever happened to the two boys that were born? I mean, Rothschild and Evelyn, they had a boy. And he was flying to Dallas while she was having a son.

And Reuben and Sue, they had a boy. And he screamed, it's a boy. So I got to thinking, it's been almost 30 years since that song was written in 1995. And times have changed a lot. So could there be an epilogue to the story?

I decided to write it myself. You ready?

For part two.

Well, Roth and Reuben Jr. both grew up Joneses. But life was quite different for the two boys. Rothy would wear his virtual goggles, while Ruby made sticks and rocks into toys. Rothy read books about equity inclusion.

By high school, he chaired the diversity club. Ruby shot guns, because he loved to go hunting. By high school, he invented a new barbecue rub. Rothy was troubled by American history. And he hated himself for being a man.

Maybe he'd be heroic for discarding his gender. But after he did it, he hated the plan. Reuben had gotten married just out of high school. Now he screamed, it's a boy, so that everyone heard. And just like his dad, who told him about Jesus, when his son started reading, he was reading the word.

Now what is the point of my story? Why did I add chapter two? Christ is the same and will be forever. And he is still offering salvation to you. And the rain came down. It blew the four walls down. And the clouds, they rolled away.

And one set of Joneses was standing that day. You know, I thought about singing that to you, which would have gotten particularly interesting at this point, but I chose not to do that.

You're welcome.

The story does highlight the difference between a life that's built on the rock. And for generation after generation after generation, now for 2 ,000 years, when you build your life on the rock of Christ Jesus, you're building on a solid foundation that won't crumble.

But I thought about the second verse of the story because times have changed a lot. And back in 1995, there were people who were neglecting the message or even rejecting the message of Jesus altogether.

But today, there's an entire generation of kids who are indifferent to the message. They've never heard the gospel, and they think that it's impossible that anything could be true, as in absolutely true.

In the verses that I wrote, I said that Rothy was wearing virtual goggles. And that refers to the fact that he was rich and he had the wealthy toys that little Ruby didn't have. But I meant something else by that as well, and that is there is a generation of kids who are growing up in virtual reality.

And in that, they reject reality itself. They don't know that there is a such thing as absolute truth, that anything could be absolutely true for everyone because they've been raised in this bubble to believe that everybody has a private truth of their own.

And the only thing that would be counter to truth at that level would be somebody who is certain of their own positions. The one sin of this culture is to claim that your truth is true for everyone. That it is absolute.

That kind of certainty is an affront to this generation who thinks that there is no such thing as truth. I was at Princeton again recently, and I was talking to a philosophy student. And he had all the look of a philosopher, and as I tried to share the gospel with him, I realized we were disconnecting at the level of epistemology.

Epistemology means how do you know what you know? How do you know things? And I realized that I was coming from an epistemology that was an objective correspondence view of truth, and he was coming from a postmodern subjective view of truth that ultimately did not have reality as a foundation.

And so I took it back a step, and I said, let's just trace this back to where we're disagreeing. I said, can you at least admit that you exist? Like Descartes, I think, therefore I am. Can we at least start there and say your very existence proves that there is existence and that you exist.

You, as you sit here and having thoughts, exist. And the philosophy student said, oh no, I would not grant that. Oh boy, we have a problem. Houston, we have a problem. There was an epistemological foundational difference at the level of truth.

Church, do you realize that when you go out preaching a crucified and risen Christ, you do so from the foundation, from the solid rock of absolute truth and objectivity, not a subjectivity relative to the person, but an objective truth on which you can stand.

Jesus understood that. And when he preached to the Pharisees who were rejecting his lordship, he appealed to certain objective evidence, reasons to believe. And that is where we turn this morning in John chapter five, verses 30 to 47.

Faith in Jesus Christ is not a blind leap. Faith is a reasonable trust placed in a trustworthy person based on the evidence which that person himself provides. He provides us with four reasons to believe in him as Lord.

And guys, as I thought about it, I wondered, do we really need an entirely new evangelistic strategy for this new generation? And my conclusion is no. We need the age-old gospel, the message of Christ crucified and risen, and to appeal to the very things that Jesus appealed to.

Because although people are able to suppress the truth in their mind, reality itself is hard to hold down. And made in the image of God, people in the imago dei, in the image of God, have an awareness innately that they exist.

Suppress that truth however hard they try. And the facts of the gospel are facts that open eyes. And what we need to do is master these truths and bring them boldly into the public square. Let's read it.

John 5, 30 to 47. I'd like for you to try to find the four evidences to which Jesus himself appeals as we read. John 5, 30 and following. I can do nothing on my own accord. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John. And he has borne witness to the truth.

Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But 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. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me.

His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you. For you do not believe the one whom he has sent. Memorize this verse, church. Verse 39. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me.

Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people, but I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name and you do not receive me.

If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father.

There is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me. For he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?

Now, the first four chapters of John are the presentation of the Son of God. And I had 20 quotes from those sections, but I'm going to skip them because that would make this sermon about an hour and 20 minutes instead of short of an hour.

But to summarize, the first four chapters present the Son of God with evidence. Again and again you'll see the repetition of, come and see, come and see. There are signs, there are wonders that point to Jesus as the Son of God.

So he's presented. But as you go to chapter 5, you have the introduction of opponents. And this opposition is actually strategically placed from chapter 5 to chapter 12 for a very important reason. Now listen, when we study the scripture, we don't want to atomize the text.

We want to see scripture within a context and within a flow of an entire book. John's point is that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. And here's how he does it. For four chapters, he presents the truth and the evidence for that truth, namely his miracles and his claims.

But then, beginning in chapter 5, he shows the opponents and the opposition.

Why?

Because critical thinking, which is what our culture has lost, is the ability to cross-examine claims and see if they hold up. Proverbs 18, 17. One man seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

Here in chapters 5 to 12, we have the cross-examination.

Of the claim.

Paul will write this way. Again and again, in the book of Romans, he will introduce a hypothetical objector to what he's saying, and then he'll answer the objection. And by doing that, we come to a more robust,.

Founded, secure.

Understanding of the truth. So the Pharisees, they're objecting to these claims, and Jesus will double down on the claim and then hear what we have is him meeting the claim head-on and overcoming the objection.

How does he do it? He appeals to four lines of evidence. The first is his own testimony. Chapter 5, verse 30 and 31. The first line of evidence to establish his claim is his own testimony. Now you'll notice he says in verse 31, if I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.

Picture someone claiming that they can walk on air, but nobody saw it. There's no witnesses except the person himself who said, I walk on air. How much credence would you give to this person? Well, there was a so-called prophet in Malawi recently who tried to overcome that problem.

He got some of his friends to record him walking on air. So the video camera was placed at the bottom of a staircase and as this so-called prophet came down the steps, it appeared that he took two more steps on air and then stepped down to the ground.

It was meant to be a marvelous sign that he's truly a prophet of God. Trouble is, with the cinematography of how he captured this, you could see the shadows of the people who were holding him up on either side.

And worse than that, you heard a click of the door after the people slip out and then the camera pans to the left and right to show you that there's nobody there. It was pitiful. Such a sad attempt to convince the world that this is the great prophet of Malawi.

And he is the most famous man in Malawi, interestingly enough. Calls himself Major One. But contrast that with the miracles of Jesus who walked on water but does not claim, I walked on water. Well, who's your witness?

Me, myself, and I. Not the case at all. The disciples in the boat saw him walk on water and they worshipped him and in fact, they distanced themselves. They were so overwhelmed by the holiness of that moment.

And these witnesses, credible as they are, were willing to die for the things that they saw and testified to. Now, consider the words of Jesus. He does, in fact, give testimony to himself, doesn't he?

He claims here in the text and in the preceding verses leading up to verse 30, his unique relationship with the Father. That he does the very things that his Father does. He claims to see everything that the Father does.

He makes very bold claims. And that testimony then needs to be brought as the first line of evidence. Is it believable? Are the words of Jesus believable? Well, here we have the analogy that C .S. Lewis makes and a good argument for the apologist.

C .S. Lewis was a great Christian who converted from atheism when he truly considered the claims of Christ. And he said, what do you think of a man who claims to be God? I'm summarizing, not quoting. What do you think of a man who claims to be God?

Such a one is either the Lord he claims to be, a liar, or a lunatic, on par with the man who claims to be a poached egg. C .S. Lewis had a way with words. Anybody who would claim to be God but wasn't is some kind of absolute lunatic.

Like the man who claims to be a poached egg. But consider what else Jesus said. The words of Jesus have been passed down for 2 ,000 years and remain today the most profound words ever spoken. If you were to ask what is the core ethical teaching that most people in the world regard as a summation of ethics, the most famous ethical teaching in the world came from the mouth of Jesus and it is, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Doesn't sound like the mad rantings of a lunatic. This is the man who said, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Profound.

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Turn the other cheek. All novel ideas that have changed the world. When asked what is the most important commandment in the entire Old Testament, Jesus was able to summarize the entire Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, in two verses.

No one had ever done this.

Before him.

And he summarizes also the 10 commandments with the first table of the law being vertical towards God and the second table of the law being horizontal towards man. Jesus says, love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself.

How profound is that?

All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. Sounds more like the words of a Lord than a lunatic. He goes on to say in other places, but many who are first will be last. Take note of that because many who are last will be first.

The profound words of the Messiah. Jesus taught us to render to Caesar that which is Caesar's and to God that which is God's, the basis of the country in which we live and the separation of powers. Jesus said, let him who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.

Wow.

That sure blew up their paradigm, didn't it? And this is the one who says, I am the light of the world. This is the one who says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. We need to take seriously the testimony of Jesus because this is a credible,.

Man,.

Credible testimony to himself. That's the first thing. But what was the second? Look at verses 32 to 35. The second evidence that Jesus appealed to, which you also need to appeal to because if Jesus did it, it's a pretty good model, isn't it?

There is another who bears witness about me and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.

He was a burning and a shining lamp and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. So we're talking this morning about epistemology. How do you know what you know? How can you know something?

How can you, therefore, knowing the truth, be saved? Your knowledge of the truth doesn't change the reality of it outside of yourself. Jesus is Lord, whether you believe it or not. But for your sake, in order that you may be saved, he appeals to the testimony of John the Baptist, because this testimony is reliable.

Here is a man who went to the wilderness, clothed in camel hair and eating locusts and honey, and by himself, preaching in the wilderness, garnered the attention of an entire nation. And everyone agreed that this is a prophet of God.

Until the Pharisees finally rejected him and Herod had his head cut off, as prophets are often treated, because he began to say that Jesus is the Christ. He bore testimony. And you see, this is significant because Malachi, in chapter 3, verses 1 to 5, and the last verses of the Old Testament, foretold that a forerunner would come on the scene, an announcer, who would say, this is the Messiah.

And in fact, Jesus says, if you are willing to receive it, He is the Elijah to come. The final Old Testament prophet. The one God sent to announce the appearance of the Son of God into the world. John the Baptist was a unique man.

Jesus called him the greatest prior to the coming.

Of the kingdom.

At Pentecost. John the Baptist is a reliable witness. And he's the second. But notice that something is building in the text. Jesus' own self-awareness, and then John the Baptist.

But look,.

At verse 36, the word but indicates there's an elevation here to something even more reliable. It says in verse 36, but 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.

By his works, he refers to his miracles. That he walks on water. That he multiplies the bread and feeds 5 ,000. Notice that in the objections to Jesus, nobody denied that the miracles were real. Nobody thought it might be a hoax.

It was plain and before their eyes. The blind received their sight. Dead Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days and he walked out and everybody saw it. The only thing that the objectors could say to this is that he does these supernatural things by the power of Beelzebub rather than by the power of God.

But it is in fact the power of God speaking through the works. Now I think that Jesus has in view something beyond the miracles.

That Jesus did.

Look in the text more carefully. Verse 36. But 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.

In all the things that Jesus accomplished, he was heading somewhere. He was going somewhere and that place was the cross. In fact, as he died on the cross and we'll see this in John 19 I believe it's verse 28 and 30.

Jesus says, Tetelestai. It is finished meaning it is accomplished. The work that Jesus came to do was only on the side to do miracles to testify to him but supremely to go to the cross of Calvary and die the death that we deserve.

This work of Jesus on the cross was work done for me that I could not do for myself. For me to pay for my own sin is death. The wages of sin is death and it is to go to hell. But Jesus appeared to do a work for me that I could not do.

And church, this is the wisdom and power of God to bring men to salvation. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. The work that Jesus did dying in the place of sinners is power in the message of it.

He did not need to do it in front of every person who ever lived in order for it to testify. For God's plan was that Jesus would die once for sinners. And he put credible witnesses at the foot of the cross including John the one who remained among the twelve.

And Mary and some of the other women remained. And others watched from afar. It cannot be denied that Jesus was crucified. History understands that. But the power in the message and I've seen this again and again in witnessing is in the meaning the work of the cross.

When you tell someone why Jesus died it has power to convert them. The message of the cross that Jesus died to be the payment for sin to accomplish the work that you could not do as a substitute to die in my place.

When you explain that meaning to someone this evidence is the word of God in power. The power of the word goes forth to that person to bring life to the unbelieving heart. And so we're building here. You have the objective evidence considering whoever spoke like this man.

Do you remember in John chapter 7 when the Pharisees who are very angry at this point because if you notice in the text Jesus is coming at them. He's saying you don't even believe in Moses let alone me.

So they're ready to kill him. In John chapter 7 they send out some soldiers and they say go and arrest him and bring him back here. They're ready to kill him right there in the text. But the soldiers come back and they say why didn't you arrest him?