John, pt. 27 | John 5:37-47

John the Baptist, the Works of Christ, and Scripture as God’s Witness

My wife has pointed out that every time I get into the pulpit, the first thing I say is, all right, and I've never noticed it, nor could I stop it. She said that's how she knows where to edit. If you would turn in your copy of the scriptures to the Gospel of John, Chapter 5, we'll consider once again, verses 37 through 47, the Gospel of John, Chapter 5, 37 through 47.

Let me pray. Our glorious God, Lord, we have come to that moment in the service where we look to you to speak to us, to feed us. As the Israelites were dependent upon you in the wilderness to give to them manna, Lord, we look to you for manna, for Christ who has come down out of heaven.

And Lord, we ask that you give us this feast in his name, that you will use me this day to speak forth your truth. Amen. I'm going to begin reading the scripture, John, Chapter 5, 37 through 47. Jesus speaking to the religious Jews, he says,.

And the Father who sent me, he has bore witness about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. And you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he sent.

You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is these that bear witness about me. And you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory for man, but I know you, that you do not love God in yourselves.

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, the one who accuses you as Moses, in whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me. For he wrote about me. But you do not believe his writings.

How will you believe my words? To this I hope. I think that what we just said, my hope is only Jesus. My hope is only Jesus. He's speaking to a group of people that their hope was in the writings. They were looking to the law of God.

And they missed what the law of God brought before them. What the law of God, what the writings were speaking about. Our theme for this Lord's Day, as well as it was for last Lord's Day, is the means of Scripture.

And my proposition is this, if you do not believe that Jesus and the Father are equal, speaking about co-equal, co-eternal, then you do not believe the Scriptures. And that's the problem that we see in the Gospel of John when it comes to the religious leaders.

They do not believe that Jesus and the Father are equal. This week we're just going to pick up where we left off last week. But to make it confusing, right, because that's kind of what I do sometimes, to make it confusing, last week we were expounding off of the last point of a message that we preached two weeks ago.

And the message that we saw was the witness of Jesus given to us by God the Father in three different means. We saw the means of a human being, John the Baptist being this human being that the Scriptures, Jesus is speaking about.

Where John the Baptist, witness of Jesus, before Jesus came, he was speaking about one was coming who was going to baptize with Holy Spirit and fire, meaning that some people were going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, that they was going to be given spiritual life, and then that some people were not going to receive Him, and that those that do not receive Him are going to be baptized with fire, speaking about an eternal punishment.

And then when he sees Jesus coming, he says, Behold the Lamb of God, speaking of the shadow from the substance, he sees Jesus, and he knows the Old Testament Scripture, he knows that year after year they celebrate the Paschal Lamb, and he sees Jesus, and he sees the shadow of the Paschal Lamb lead into the feet of Jesus, and he says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

We no longer have to take a lamb and sacrifice it, and put the blood on our door, and consume its flesh, the meat of it. We no longer have to do these things. And then we saw the means of works, and the works here is speaking about the miraculous acts that Jesus was performing, whether it was healing the sick, or raising the dead, or feeding thousands of people with a sack lunch, but that God is witnessing of His Son through the works that Jesus is doing.

Jesus even says that the works that He does, it's the same works that the Father is doing, and that He's able to do these things because He somehow, and we spoke about His omniscience, how He's able to be on earth and in heaven, His humanity, Him wrapped in flesh is on earth, one place at one time, but His divinity, Him being truly God, He's able to hold all things together by the word of His power, but He's also able to be with the Father in heaven, and able to commune with the Father, and see the Father perform in works.

But He also speaks that God is witnessing of Jesus through the means of scripture, that we should be able to go to the Old Testament and see Christ. And I gave two basic ways of explaining it. One was, I used an analogy of my daughter, which the first week I used two, and then last week I went to the one, and this week I want to go back to one of those, and this one will be the one that we looked at in scripture three weeks ago.

The Bible tells us that if a man doesn't work, he doesn't eat. So you want to understand means, right? The means by which we get food is we have to work to get money. If you are not working to get money, you will not have food.

So the only way to have food is you have to work to get money to buy food. If a man doesn't work, he doesn't eat. Now Paul was explaining this in a way that there was people at the church who were unwilling to work, but they wanted to be provided for.

And Paul was telling them in the church, listen, if these people don't work, don't feed them. But when we take that into our context today, we understand that if you live a life where you do not have a job, and maybe you're dependent upon mom and dad to feed you.

One day mom and dad is not going to be here, right? Everyone will die, right? And if you lived your whole life sleeping on mom and dad's couch, and your mom and dad passes, and you've never had a job, you're going to starve.

You're going to find yourself homeless. So the means by which we are able to provide for ourself and for our family is a job, where we are able to earn money and we can eat. So that's what I'm speaking about with means, is that God the Father is witnessing to them and to us who Jesus is, particularly in the text by John the Baptist.

And we also have the apostles through the works that Jesus has performed and through scripture. And I spoke about how in hindsight, we even have a better witness in scripture than they did because we have the Holy Testament.

So we're able to see the apostles who walk with Jesus explain, tell us these miraculous works of Jesus. In our outline, we're going to expound on that third point, the means of scripture. We're going to do so in four subheadings.

We looked at two of them last week. Today, we will only be looking at one. We saw God has spoken in scripture. Point number two, carnal men do not accept the scriptures. And this is the one we'll look at today.

Number three, the scriptures accuse you to the Father. And the next week, we'll look at number four, the scriptures bear witness of the Son. And as we transition, last week, we saw that God spoke in scripture.

I mentioned this, that scripture is the primary source by which we hear from God. And in that, in the scriptures, we are able to see His handiwork. And we've been visiting that in John through the works of Jesus Christ.

And ladies and gentlemen, listen, I would argue in the next week, we're going to focus in on this. I would argue that the scriptures, in the scriptures, we see that Christ, we see the message of Christ by way of promises, prophecy, and shadows.

Promises, prophecies, and shadows. So next week, that's what we'll focus on. Promises, prophecies, and shadows. Scripture is all-sufficient, inerrant, and infallible. All-sufficient meaning that it is more than enough, right?

What we have here, this is more than enough. The light by which we have been given when it comes to extra biblical writings such as commentaries that speak about scriptures, like these things are great, right?

Our London Baptist Confession of Faith is great, right? We have all these extra biblical writings that are great. We love these things. But ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to faith and practice, look no further than scripture.

It is all-sufficient. It is enough. They are inerrant, meaning the scriptures are incapable of being wrong. The scriptures are incapable of being wrong. It means that they are without error or fault in all of its teachings.

Men may error in interpretation, but the scriptures are without error. They are also infallible, meaning the scriptures are perfect. They're perfect. Inerrant means there are no errors. Infallible means there can be no errors.

The reason why they are inerrant is because they are infallible. You may come across something that seems to be a contradiction, but when you look closer, you will find that it is only an apparent contradiction.

That if you keep reading, you will see that there is no contradictions. I started reading the Bible September 11, 2001. I've been reading it every day since. And I thought I found some things that didn't make sense.

As I kept reading, kept pushing through, kept mowing it down, mowing it over, scriptures proved to be all-sufficient, inerrant, and infallible. We also saw that carnal men do not, listen, they do not accept the scriptures.

And they do not because they cannot accept the scriptures, right? We saw last week when I was reading John chapter 12 about a prophecy given in Isaiah 53, where it talks about the arm of the Lord. Isaiah says to God, to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

To whom?

And it goes on to speak about that they cannot receive it. Unless the arm of the Lord has been revealed to you, you cannot receive it. They do not accept it because they cannot. And they cannot unless they hear the voice of Jesus in the gospel.

And that's what we saw in John chapter 5. That unless, as I'm speaking forth, as you're speaking forth the gospel truth, unless Jesus calls forth, unless He calls them forth from their spiritual deadness, they cannot accept it.

Carnal men, such as these Jewish leaders, are those that give glory the same way that they receive glory. And that is by one another. Look at verse 44, Jesus speaking. He says, how can you believe? And now He's about to tell them why they can't believe.

When you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God. To them, keeping the law of Moses was not to please God. It was to look good before the eyes of other men.

They wasn't doing this to please God. They were doing this to please those that they were around. They wanted to look good. They wanted to look righteous, have an appearance of righteousness. Matthew chapter 23, Jesus condemns them for this.

They loved John 12, remember? They love the glory that comes from man rather than the glory that comes from God. And the glory that comes from God in John chapter 12, it's speaking about Jesus Christ.

The glory, God sent His glory in the person of Jesus Christ. And they loved the glory that they would receive from one another more than the glory of God. So the kind of people who would receive one another in their own name, if that one would give them glory for their accolades.

They would pay compliments to them. That's the whole purpose of them keeping the law. They were trying to attain their own righteousness, and in that righteousness, it was to receive accolades, to receive glory for what they are doing.

The Law Accuses Sinners Before the Father

So our third subheading from last week, we're looking at this week, and it is the Scriptures accuse you to the Father. And we'll be in verse 45. Again, Jesus is speaking to the religious Jews who are trying to persecute Him for healing a lame person and for calling God his own Father.

He says to them,.

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses. And whom you have set your hope. Moses here, as well as in most of the Scriptures, when it's speaking like this, can be replaced with the word law.

I don't believe Jesus to be communicating that Moses is in God's ear whispering. Right? He's in God's ears whispering, accusing men and women. I don't believe that's what this is saying. The first five books of the Bible, they're called the Torah.

The Torah can be translated in English as teachings, instructions, or law. Commonly translated as law. The Torah is the first five books of the Bible, and it's also known as the books of Moses. The books of Moses.

So what Jesus says here in verse 45, He says, do not think that I have come to accuse you to the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, and whom you have set your hope. We have to remember that these Jewish leaders, they were looking to the books of Moses.

When it says that they were searching the Scriptures, they were looking to the books of Moses. I believe Jesus is telling them the one who accuses you is the law. The very thing that they are looking to for eternal life, is their accuser before God.

Look back at verse 39. He says, do not, hold on, yeah, 39. Speaking to them, He says, you search the Scriptures. And I believe here He's speaking about the law. Because that you think that in them you have eternal life, right?

The law was keep the law and live. Keep the law and live. They search the Scriptures in order to keep the law and live. And He says to them, it is these, these Scriptures, these, this law, that bears witness about me.

So the very thing that they're looking to live, bears witness about Christ, and it casts judgment on them. I think that's Jesus' point. What He's doing is, you heard that saying where they're twisting the knife, right?

Right? He's made a point. Now He's twisting the knife. The very thing that you are looking to, thinking that in them you have life, they speak of me, and they accuse you to the Father. In the Reformed and Lutheran circles, we have something called the three uses of the law.

And if you watch my podcast this past week, we spoke about the three uses of the law. So the first use is a mirror. The second use is a curb. And the third use is a guide. So the first use, we look at the law the same way as we look in the mirror.

Second use is a curb. The Reformed and Lutheran believe that the curb is for our government. They are to establish godly laws, and they are to do so in a way that restrains man from being as evil as they could be.

Kind of works like the curb on the side of the road. So you have a sidewalk. And let's say if the car is going the miles per hour that there should be going. So if you're in a 30 mile per hour highway, a neighborhood, and they have a sidewalk, and if that car, the driver is not paying attention and they hit the curb, it kind of will guide them back to where they are.

But if that car is going past the speed limit, it could jump the curb. So it's not perfect. But it's to keep the person from being as evil as they could be. And if they choose to jump the curb, then the law is there to bring to bear, right?

They're there to prosecute. So our government is to have godly laws according to the three uses of the law. They are to restrain the evil, and if the evil is not restrained, they are to prosecute, punish the person for jumping the curb.

And the third use is a guide. This is for Christians only. We are to use the law of God as a guide. So we read scripture knowing the law and gospel distinction. And we read scripture using the law as our guide with Jesus as a flashlight.

The flashlight of Jesus is the law and gospel distinction. And so we're able to govern our life by following Christ, by knowing what he has kept, knowing what the law is, knowing what the gospel is, not mixing the two together.

We're able to live out our Christian life. If you listen to our podcast, we dive into it really deep. That's not today. What I really want us to focus on, at least for a moment, is the first use of the law.

The first use of the law, again, as I said earlier, it acts as a mirror. When you look into a mirror, the mirror reflects back to you what you look like, right? I don't look into a mirror, and when I look into a mirror, I don't have blonde hair, blonde beard with a good looking face, right?

It doesn't lie to me at all. It tells me the truth that I'm losing my hair, and I'm getting some gray in my brown beard, and I got this to deal with, right? It does not tell lies. It tells me exactly what I look like.

And I would add so to the law of Moses concerning first use, right? We look into the transcendent law, the transcendent law, which was first written on the heart of Adam, and now, since the fall, is written on the conscience of all men.

And what it does is, it does two things. It accuses or excuses you, right? I mean, if you have not stolen something, and you look to the law, and it says, do not steal, it excuses you. But if you have stolen something, and you look to the law, it accuses you, right?

That's what the transcendent Ten Commandments moral law does. And when we sin, according to 1 John 3, verse 4, we break that transcendent law, and when we look at the Mosaic law concerning judicial punishment, it shows us what we deserve.

And so you put those two together, it's the accusing part of God's law, right? So if you murder someone, the Ten Commandments transcendent law says,.

Do not murder.

You've murdered someone, judicial punishment tells us that we deserve death. We deserve to die. Now, whether our government applies that law or not, that second use of the law, and that's something that we as the church have no part in, but it's the law doing what the law does.

The transcendent law, and when I say that, I need you to think Ten Commandments. It tells us what sin is, and the Mosaic law tells us what we deserve. So the first use of the law is for believers, as well as unbelievers.

To the believer, it gives us a constant reminder of our need for Christ. So I look to the law, I was talking earlier with a group of people, and we spoke about how even as Christians, we're both saint and sinner, right?

I am right now standing before you positionally righteous because of what Christ has done. But I also wear this garment right here, this flesh, right? Jesus has not come, I have not received a new body.

Even when I die, I don't receive a new body. But Jesus has not come, I don't receive a new body, right? So I'm living my life in flesh, and I still sin. I still sin, right? So I'm right now standing before you a saint, as well as a sinner.

So I look to the first use of the law. Again, it doesn't lie to me. I know because of the long gospel distinction, because of what Christ has done, I'm positionally righteous before God, but I also know that I struggle with sin.

And my struggle with sin points me to my need for Christ, where I don't walk around as if I'm levitating or riding on a high horse, right? I know that I still need Christ, even as someone who has been purchased by the blood of Christ.

I know because of the law, the transcendent law that I break, I still need Christ. And to the unbeliever, by way of evangelism, you are to use the law of God to show them their sin and their need for Christ.

We are to bring about to the world the law, righteousness, and judgment. We are not to hide to the world what is their fate if they do not believe and repent. Please turn with me to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3, we're going to read verses 19 and 20.

Before I read that though, in Romans 1, we see the gospel of God's power. And Paul tells us that the gospel of God's power is for salvation, and it is to everyone who believes. First to the Jew, and then to the Gentile.

That the gospel is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first, and then to the Gentile. But also in chapter 1, it points out the Gentile's rejection of God. And that through their rejection, they are cursed with a burning sin towards God.

And so the Jews don't get on their high horse. Romans 2 starts. And in Romans 2, Paul tells the Jews not to judge the Gentiles because they themselves practice the same sins that the Gentiles are cursed with.

The law does. It puts things in right perspective. And in Romans 3, Jew, Gentile are condemned. The gospel, Romans 1, is for everyone who believes. To the Jew and to the Gentile. Chapter 3, Jew and Gentile are condemned.

Right?

It tells us that there's good news. There's a gospel. There's redemption. Then it goes on to explain to us that we're condemned. Here in Romans 3, verses 19 and 20, I'm going to argue that this is transcendent law.

This is not ceremonial and judicial law because those things separated the Jew from the Gentile. Those things separated the Jew from the Gentiles. As I'm reading, I want you to notice, it's the whole world is under the law of God at this time.

The whole world is under the law of God. Therefore, it is transcendent. Moral law. Ten commandments. The law that was written on the heart of Adam. So as I read it, I want you to notice it says the whole world and that through this law that it's speaking of, it brings about the knowledge of sin.

That's first use of the law. That's what I've been talking about concerning the first use. So listen, beginning in verse 19, we'll read verse 20. It says, now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are in the law, so that every mouth may be shut.

And the whole world may become accountable to God. Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

Right?

I'm looking in the mirror.

I don't have blonde hair, blue eyes, pretty face. I have fallen out hair. Grayish, brownish, gray beard. And I'm dealing with this, right? It does not lighten me. We look to the transcendent law, the one that we've broken.

And first John tells us when we break that law, we sin. I look to that law and it tells me I'm not who I, you know, if I pretend to be someone, I'm not who I'm pretending to be. I have to understand that I am both a saint, positionally righteous, and a sinner in need of Christ.

Now my need of Christ is not like the unbeliever. I don't need him to rescue me in salvation. I need him to sustain me in sanctification, right? I need him to hold me together. Listen, if you think I got this together, ask my wife.

It's not together, right? I need him to hold this together, right? I need him to hold this together. If he doesn't, I'm going to fall apart. So we're going to really dive into this first use and third use.

We'll try not to take as much time as I did last week. And if you paid it, be honest with you, I don't know how much time I took last week. As I went to start my clock, it didn't work. It's working now.

So let's give grace. All right. So the point that was just made is through the moral law comes the knowledge of sin. And I don't know who all listened to my podcast last week. And if I did, just follow with me.

We're kind of going to go through an exercise that I did. Please turn with me to 1 John. We want the law to do what the law does. 1 John chapter 2, beginning in verse 3, John, the apostle, speaks. He says, and by this, we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments.

You want to know if you have come to know him? It's by you keeping his commandments. Scared yet? The one who says, I have come to know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar. And the truth is not in him.

But whoever keeps his word, how are you doing? Truly in him, the love of God has been perfected. By this, we know that we have come to know him. The one who says that he abides in him ought in himself to walk in the same manner as he walked.

Ladies and gentlemen, how are you doing? Do you see your need for Christ? Do you see, understand from scripture, law and gospel distinction, that you are positionally righteous, but at the same time you fall, fail miserably?

That you are, you do not live, like if we just focus here, like if this is our only text right here, we do not match up, right? We do not keep his commandments perfect, right? So we're liars if we say that we're in Christ.

Like this is what this is, this is trying to get at it. What it's doing, it's taking that first use of the law and it's putting to bear on us, letting us see that we do not walk in the same manner as he walked.

And by that wisdom, man, I need Christ.

I profess faith with my mouth and I'm still struggling with sin. I'm still struggling with lust. I'm still struggling with the thoughts of stealing something when I'm at a store,.

Whatever it may be, right?

We're in this flesh and we have struggles and we can't seem to overcome these things. First use of the law, it's bringing to bear. It's still showing us that even though we're saved, we need Christ. And ladies and gentlemen, if this gossip, this letter that John wrote, ended there, there would be no hope.

But you just keep reading. In chapter three, verse 23, explains to us what he was just talking about. He says, and this is his commandment, that one that we're supposed to keep in chapter two. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ.

Now, how are you doing?

You feel the weight lift off of you?

Right? This is third use of the law. First use condemns you. Third use shows you the practicalities, how you practice out the law. That we believe in the name of the son, Jesus Christ. And love one another just as he, just as he gave his, excuse me, love one another just as he has commanded us.

And remember, it also says that we ought to abide in him. It tells you in verse 24 how that happens. And the one who keeps his commandments, what's his commandments? Believing in the name of Jesus Christ and loving our neighbors.

The one who keeps his commandments, who's doing these things, abides in him. And in him, we know that, we know by this, that he abides in us by the spirit to whom he has given us. Do you have the Holy Spirit?

Right?

So the first use of the law shows us our need for Christ. The law brings to bear our sin upon us. Third use of the law shows us how we live it out. We believe in the name of the son, Jesus Christ. You want to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength?

Here's how you do it. You believe in the name of the son. That's the first part of the Decalogue. Second part of the Decalogue, the part where you love your neighbors. You're like, well, how do we do this?

Well, let's look at some scripture. Turn with me to Galatians chapter 5. We're going to be in two places. We're going to be in Galatians chapter 5, and we're going to be in Colossians chapter 3. So if you can turn to both of those, we're moving fast through that.

Galatians chapter 5, beginning in verse 22. Paul being our author here, he says,. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such things there is no law. Over in Colossians chapter 3, beginning in verse 12, says this. Still Paul, our author. So as to the elect of God, holy and beloved. Notice he calls the elect holy and beloved.

That's speaking to the saint part of us. Put on a heart of compassion. So he's telling us what to do. Kind of follows after that, what we just read in Galatians. Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Listen, bearing with one another. And right here, graciously forgiving each other. Well, why would we need to forgive each other? Because we still have that sinner part attached to us. Graciously forgiving one another, each other.

Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord has graciously forgiven you, so also should you. Above all, these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. So how does this play out, right?

You are to be loving to me, to be patient with me, to have self-control around me, right? You are to be kind to me, gentleness to me. And when I'm not to you, you are to forgive me. Vice versa. That's how we love our neighbors, right?

We are to display the fruit of the Spirit to one another. And whenever there might be a time where I'm not in that saint mode, but that flesh mode starts to show a little more, and you're not to hold that against me, you're to be forgiven.

That's the Christian life. We are to believe in Jesus Christ, and we are to love our neighbors. We are to display to them the fruit of the Spirit, and we are to be forgiven, right? And that goes both ways.

That's why in our constitution of this church, it says that if you've done something to me, I'm not to gossip about you. I'm to go to you and have a conversation where we can work this out. We do not need to let little things come in between us as believers.

This is how we know that we've come to know him. You know why? Because it goes against the flesh, right? Oh, you poked my eye?

I got a poker too, right?

That's not what Jesus teaches. Third use of the law, we are to believe in him and love one another. And listen, sheep bite. They bite the shepherds. They also bite each other, and we are to forgive one another.

That's third use of the law. Now I want us to look to, hopefully, hoping that this will kind of bring things together, make it make some sense, Romans chapter 1. We're going to see where these things don't happen.

Romans chapter 1, we'll look at verses 18 through 32. And as we read, we're going to see what happens when a nation rejects God. And we're also going to see if a nation doesn't acknowledge God, that they cannot love their neighbor.

We're going to see the difference between our nations and the church. And if your church looks like the nation, what are we doing, right? What are we doing? So let's look at chapter 1. I'm going to kind of read quickly as I can, beginning in verse 18.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them.

You know there's a God, it is evident within you, right? For God has made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and His divine nature, have been clearly seen, right?

You can't look at a building and say, hey, there's no builder, right? Building builder, right? Two plus two equals four, right? It's been clearly seen. There's, since there's a creation, there is a creator.

It has been clearly seen, been understood that what has been made so that they are without excuse. So because there's a creation, creation, if there's a creation, there must be a creator. He's given them creation to show them that there is a God.

And because there is a creation that points to Him, all humanity is without excuse. For even though they knew God, know Him how? Because they can see His creation. They did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts was darkened.

So notice here, because they didn't acknowledge Him, their heart becomes darkened. Professing to be wise, they become fools and they exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and birds and of four-footed animals, of incrawling creatures.