Can I Get A Witness?
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Intro
Intro
We are currently at a point where Jesus is continuing His defense of claim to be equal to God and that He is God’s Son.
Remember, He had just healed a lame man.
On the Sabbath and there was a question of His authority.
Previously, He had just come from Samaria where there was a 2 day revival based on a young woman that was on the fringe of society, a social outcast who came to believe that she mattered to God, because He visited her personally and told her of all that she had done.
So, here we are, God is visiting us here, and wants to set us free, and sometimes we wonder if He can. Does He have the authority? I tell you, I assure you, that He does and He can.
At the end of this morning I want you to understand that there are witnesses to your salvation. Scripture is trustworthy in defining us, but are we choosing to believe something else about who we are?
Christ has set us free!
Christ has bought us redemption!
Christ has allowed us to be adopted into the family of God!
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John
30 “I can do nothing on my own. 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. 31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 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. 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. 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, 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. 41 I do not receive glory from people. 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. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 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 5 Witnesses
John the Baptist
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 5
Witness of John
33 “You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.
34 “But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.
35 “He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
John continued to testify about Jesus
7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Mk. 1:
25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
2. The Witness of Works
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 5
Witness of Works
36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 5
36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.
5:36. Though John the Baptist was a great voice for God, he did not do any miracles (10:41). The “signs” were specific works which God had assigned for the Son to do. These miracles were predicted in the Old Testament (Isa. 35:5–6). Jesus’ work was a clear manifestation that God was with Him and that He worked through Him (cf. Nicodemus’ words [John 3:2]; Jesus’ logic [Mark 3:23–29]; and the lesson from an ex-blind man [John 9:30–33]).
Prediction
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
Nicodemus
2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—
Mk.
3. The Witness of the Father
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 5
Witness of the Father
37 “And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.
38 “You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.
Up to this point, there is only one place where the Father could have testified to who Jesus was, and we get this from the other Gospels
17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Mt. 3:3
This was of course from the baptism of Jesus
4. The Witness of the Scripture
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 5
Witness of the Scripture
39 “aYou search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
41 “I do not receive glory from men;
42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
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.
44 “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 5
39 “aYou search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
41 “I do not receive glory from men;
42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
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.
44 “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?
If the Jewish Leaders were truly honest with themselves, they would have confessed to not being able to live up to the Law themselves, so in fact they were not even worthy to judge based on the Law.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
But again, this was more of an outward sign & not an inward heart change.
5. The Witness of Moses
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 5
45 “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.
46 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.
47 “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Moses foretold of the coming of Jesus
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
As a matter of fact when Jesus rose again & spoke with the two disciples on the Emaus road
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
The interesting thing here is that the Jewish Leaders thought that they were trusting Moses, but they missed him completely. I don’t want you to miss this.
Application:
So where does this leave us? What do we do with this? What is the application?
Again, I will say: Scripture is trustworthy in defining us, but are we choosing to believe something else about who we are?
Christ has set us free!
Christ has bought us redemption!
Christ has allowed us to be adopted into the family of God!
What does Scripture witness about us?
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17
I want to steal something that I heard yesterday from a pastor friend.
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2631. κατάκριμα katakrima, kat-ak´-ree-mah; from 2632; an adverse sentence (the verdict):—condemnation.
Literarily this phrase “No Condemnation” means that there is no process for condemning us anymore.
You see here is the truth of the matter. Jesus had witnesses who were trustworthy testifying to who He is. They testify, as in a court of law, there is only one court that Jesus would be concerned about and that is His Father’s court. His Father’s throne room.
1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
That is the court room that I would like for you to get a hold of. That is what I want you to get a vision of. That Jesus, the One who the angels cry “Holy” to over and over and over again, that is who has taken away the process for you to be condemned by the shedding of His own blood.
Now who are you going to believe? Are you going to believe the lies of those that might be jealous? Are you going to listen to the deceiver?
From the beginning Satan has been lying to us. God in the Garden of Eden told Adam & Eve who they were and then Satan came and twisted God’s Word and led them to believe something that was untrue.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
Gen. 3:
I want you to get a hold of you really are. Get a picture of who God says you are, He is trustworthy.
He Is by Aaron Jeoffrey - (video by Wayne Wood)