Believe On Jesus

Key Texts:

REFLECTION: Titus 3:4-7

Titus 3:4–7 ESV

4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

SERMON READING: John 5:30-47

MEMORY: Matthew 5:40-42

Matthew 5:40–42 ESV

40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

BENEDICTION / CLOSING: Romans 15:13

Romans 15:13 ESV

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

INTRODUCTION:

Our last message from John’s Gospel was from Chapter 5…we were reminded:

NOBODY HAS AUTHORITY LIKE JESUS - LOOK AT WHAT HE DOES!

NOBODY DESERVES HONOR LIKE JESUS - LOOK AT WHO HE IS!

NOBODY HAS POWER LIKE JESUS - LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAYS!

NOBODY HOLDS ETERNITY LIKE JESUS - ONE DAY, WE’LL STAND BEFORE HIM!

Today, we finish out Chapter 5 with the logical conclusion…There’s nobody like him, so we need to BELIEVE ON JESUS!

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TRANSITION:

C. S. Lewis, writing to a dear friend who had rejected Christ and embraced atheism, wrote,

If [Christ] was not God, who or what was He?… The doctrine of Christ’s divinity seems to me not something stuck on … but something that peeps out at every point [of the New Testament] so that you have to unravel the whole web to get rid of it … and if you take away the Godhead of Christ, what is Christianity all about? (Cited in Town)send, “C. S. Lewis’ Theology”)

The answer to Lewis’s question is a resounding, “Nothing!” Without the deity of Jesus Christ, there’s no Christian faith, no gospel, no power to save!

Praise the LORD we weren’t left to wonder about who Jesus really is.

There are multiple witnesses in our text this morning.

There are multiple benefits in our text this morning.

We can believe on Jesus because of so many reliable witnesses!

RELIABLE WITNESSES!

John 5:30-37

Verses 30 & 31 are transitioning us from the last section to this one...

Jesus points out that if He is the only one that can “bear witness” or prove who He is, then it would not be accepted by the Jewish authorities.

They would see it as an arrogant claim of self-exaltation.

They’ve had people claim to be prophets before that weren’t. They’ve had people claim to be the Messiah that certainly were not!

He is not seeking an independent self-seal of approval; there are others that He can point to that testify to who He is!

SEE - MOST PEOPLE LIKE CERTAIN THINGS ABOUT JESUS...

…THEY LIKE THE IDEA OF JESUS.

…SOMEONE WHO LOVED WELL; DIED AS A MARTYR; LED A PEACEFUL REVOLUTION AGAINST THE ESTABLISHMENT.

none of these are GOOD / Complete pictures of Jesus!

what we believe about Jesus matters…for us…at it has consequences in almost EVERY SINGLE AREA OF OUR LIVES!

So who are these witnesses?

1. John the Baptist

John 5:32–35 ESV

32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

John the Baptist was preaching the Messiah was coming.

They liked that message.

They were excited about the dawning of the messianic age.

But when Jesus appeared and John pointed to Jesus as the Messiah, they didn’t like that as much.

Jesus didn’t fit their image of what the Messiah should be!

But JOHN was a faithful witness!

Jesus mentions,

2. The Works of God

John 5:36 ESV

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.

Nobody could do the works HE was doing unless He was sent by God. There has NEVER been nor will there ever be a miracle-worker like Jesus!

The handful of miracles up to this point were already enough; but it gets dialed up quite a bit and much more public in Chapter 6.

Jesus points to his validation from,

3. God, the Father

John 5:37 ESV

37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,

You know this one stung hard when He said it. Like when he dropped that truth bomb earlier in Chapter 5 LOOK AT VERSE 17 AGAIN...

John 5:17 ESV

17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

4. The Scriptures

John 5:38–39 ESV

38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

Jesus is clearly teaching us that a RIGHT UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE…ALWAYS POINTS TO HIM.

(By the way he’s talking about the Old Testament, here…so keep that in mind.)

Without Jesus, we’ll turn the Scripture into something it’s not.

Without the Scripture, we’ll turn Jesus into something He is not.

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Reliable witnesses, indeed:

John the Baptist

The Works of Jesus

God, The Father

The Scriptures

ALL POINTING US TO THE REALITY OF WHO CHRIST IS - TRULY GOD AND TRULY MAN!

You may be wondering, what impact this really has on your everyday life.

That’s a legitimate question. But it begs a bigger question.

IS THERE ANYTHING MORE IMPORTANT IN YOUR LIFE THAN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST?

IS THERE ANYONE MORE IMPORTANT IN YOUR LIFE THAN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST? The lover of your soul.

“We must guard against apathy and indifference about Christ’s deity.”

We need to be careful saying things like, “none of that really matters as long as I said a sinner’s prayer, right?”

Wrong.

You’ve got no one to pray to, no one to forgive sins without Jesus!

REAL-LIFE CONSEQUENCES!

John 5:39-47

The reality of Jesus Christ affects us EVERY DAY in EVERY WAY!

But since we don’t have time for 365 subpoints this morning...

…let’s just look at what’s in front of us.

When we believe on Jesus, it revolutionizes...

1. Our Understanding of Scripture

(let’s look at the text)

John 5:38–40 ESV

38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

You really can’t grasp the Scriptures without Christ gripping you!

The Pharisees thought they had a total grasp on the Scriptures…but THERE IS NO WAY THEY DID - IF THEY MINIMIZED JESUS.

The Pharisees were convinced of their righteousness because of their HEAD KNOWLEDGE, their ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS, and the echo chamber of self-congratulatory PHARISEES PATTING THEMSELVES ON THE BACK.

The Pharisees regarded the Scriptures with such esteem that they thought that just by really really studying the parchment and letters of Scripture they had eternal life.

The Jews actually had a very superstitious reverence about the Word of God. It led them to some very eccentric (strange) behavior when they handled or copied the Scriptures.

Now, as students of the Bible, we have benefited from some of the controls they had in place...

…but they idolized parchment and ink in a way that we cannot.

Their understanding was OFF because they didn’t have Jesus!

Even today, people make major missteps with Scripture. They fail to see Jesus in Scripture because they misunderstand the purpose of the Bible. The Bible was not written simply for our INFORMATION…God revealed Himself to humanity in a language we could understand for our TRANSFORMATION!

Some think the Bible is just a book of ancient tales.

Some think the Bible is just a book full of moralistic lessons.

Some think the Bible is like a driver’s manual for life.

Some think the Bible is a book of secret codes...

One extreme: people search the Bible for hidden messages and try to decipher some crazy numerology.

Not quite as extreme…but still problematic: people who search the Bible for inspirational nuggets to impact each day—a little chicken soup for their souls.

If you’re a Christian and you read the Bible while missing the point, you’re going to struggle with confusion, discouragement, frustration, ineffectiveness, and stagnation:

Confusion because the parts won’t make sense by themselves.

Discouragement because it will seem like a duty instead of a delight.

Frustration because your love for the Scriptures won’t grow.

Ineffectiveness because you won’t understand why it matters in your life.

Stagnation because you won’t see growth in understanding or maturity.

We need to guard against being distracted by secondary concerns.

A church should be defined by its commitment to Christ, not personal preferences.

As Christians, we must be vigilant to help one another keep the main thing the main thing.

The main thing is “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2).

Believing on Jesus as the Scripture says, is evidence of...

2. Our Love for God

John 5:42–43 ESV

42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 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.

We won’t love God properly without Jesus Christ.

Mark Lykins was ministering to man that walked into this sanctuary one Sunday.

Liked Jesus, but rejected the Father!

He was winsome and Spirit-led in his response, but in no uncertain terms, he conveyed “it doesn’t work that way according to God’s Word”

It’s a package deal.

Jesus says, you’ll literally engage and submit to just about anyone BUT me! But you are not IN STEP with the Father if you are OUT OF STEP with me.

It’s a package deal!

Believing on Jesus as the Scripture says, reshapes...

3. Our Worship of God

John 5:44 ESV

44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

Without Jesus, we will MISPLACE GLORY THAT BELONGS ONLY TO GOD!

We will GIVE it to the wrong people/things!

We will TAKE it for ourselves.!

The Pharisees were really good (or really bad) at this!

Church leaders can do this - they’re easy to point out.

But everyday people can do this…it can happen among the pews pretty easily.

- No other gods before me!

- Don’t try to create something that you give all your heart to.

- (Shmah) Love me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength...

We worship Jesus! We worship God! The Holy Spirit points us toward Christ!

Believing on Jesus, as the Scripture says, is the only thing that impacts...

4. Our Standing before God

John 5:45–47 ESV

45 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. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

The only hope that the Pharisees, the other rulers, the Jewish people of Jesus’s day (and even the Gentiles) - would have to be able to stand ON THE RIGHT SIDE at Judgment Day was to BELIEVE ON JESUS!

Remember, Jesus said in John 3…LET’S TURN THERE REAL QUICK

John 3:16–18 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

They were already condemned. One day the final verdict would be read aloud…but they are headed for destruction by DEFAULT!

The only hope you and I have for JUDGMENT DAY,…and even for hope in this life is to BELIEVE ON JESUS.

It’s not a one-time thing. Salvation is, for sure. But every single day, we need to cast ourselves totally on Christ...

It frames EVERYTHING! It puts EVERYTHING IN ITS PROPER PLACE!

These past two weeks, I’ve had some travel that put me through the airport in Salt Lake City. It’s breathtaking.

Out most of the windows you’re looking at parts of the Rocky Mountains.

There’s a spot in one of the common areas that has this massive window where you can see such beauty. Planes landing and taking off with the backdrop of this magnificent Wasatch Mountain Range or Wasatch Mountains. You can see for miles.

Imagine standing there with me...when someone comes us and taps us on the shoulder.

We turn to see a little man standing next to us.

He says, “It’s incredible isn’t it? I mean, this a wonderful window!

Do you see how it is set in steel and how the glass is tinted?”

Then he takes out a tool begins to scrape at a corner of the window, saying, “I’m going to do a chemical analysis of this window, and if you will give me your name and phone number, I’ll call you and let you know what this window is made out of.”

Of course we would think the man was a little strange.

He missed the whole purpose of the window.

The window was created to show the great beauty of these spectacular mountains and valleys...but all he saw was the frame.

If we’re not careful, we’ll focus on the wrong things.

Your life is not your own - it’s not about you.

Your marriage, your singleness, your job, your schoolwork…all of these are WINDOWS that point to Jesus!

When we believe on Jesus…we live like it.

Not only will we avoid judgment.

we will passionately worship and honor God every chance we get!

we will love God well, which means we’ll also love others well.

and we will have a greater understanding of God’s Word!

Will you believe on JESUS today?