The Witness of the Word - John 5:37-47

Jesus delivers one piece of truth after another, destroying all His accuser’s arguments. His last witness is the most powerful witness of them all, and that is saying something! First He called upon His Father, then He called upon John the Baptist, then He called upon His works…what could be more powerful than these? His final witness is the witness of the Word!

Read with me beginning in verse 37...

Now, I know what you are thinking, “How can I say that the Word is a greater witness than the Father?” Allow me to share with you three reasons for this. First we have...

The Purpose of the Word vv. 37-38

Two words come to mind from these verses:

Witness

Jesus is telling these men in verse 37, once again, that He was sent to them by God, His Father

Pay very close attention to the phrase, “Ye have neither heard His Voice at any time, nor seen His shape.”

Heard = listen to, to understand or to pay attention to

It refers to an act of the will

It is not that they could not hear the voice of God, but that they chose to ignore it!

Shape = appearance

I want you to consider for a minute, that God was standing right before them...

And Jesus says to them…you have chosen not to see Him (Me).

This begs the question: Where could they hear Him and How would they know Him? For this answer we look at the...

Proof

Notice clearly Jesus condemnation on them...

“And ye have not his word abiding in you...”!

There it is my friends, they were ignoring the voice of God by ignoring His Word!

These were religious people

These were men who were supposed to know the Word of God

They were reading it, but not believing it!

Had they believed it they would have discerned the voice of God

They would have recognized their Messiah

Instead they ignored the purpose of God’s Word

The purpose of the world of God is to reveal, but our sin has blinded us! If these religious leaders in Jesus’day could not understand the purpose of the Word of God, why are we so shocked by what is going on in our world today?

In Jesus’ day they may have not believed what they read, but at least they were reading it! Most Christians today do not even open their Bibles outside of a church service. Most believers today do not even share the gospel with others today. Most believers do not even talk about Scripture with other believers. And we wonder what is wrong with the world? We are neglecting the purpose of the Word! IT is the great revealer! It reveals our sin, as well as our Savior!

Church if we want revival we have got to be serious about the purpose of God’s Word! We have got to get back to the purpose of God’s Word! First we see the purpose, next we see...

The Power of the Word vv. 39-44

I’ve already said this, but I’m going to say it again: The Bible is a great revealer!

It Reveals the Savior v. 39

The Jews suspected the answer to eternal life lay somewhere buried in Scripture

My friends, I want you to know today that the Word of God is indeed a treasure chest of wealth untold, but PRAISE GOD it is not buried treasure!

All you must do is look into it and you have no trouble finding the Savior!

These poor Jews looked and looked, but they were looking for a formula to earn salvation

God’s salvation is not difficult to obtain, and in their case, it was standing right in front of them!

But that’s not all it reveals...

It Reveals our Sin

Will you read these next verses with me?

What a terrible examination of the human condition

Notice they:

Chose to reject their Messiah

“You will not come to me, that ye may have life”

They willingly rejected Jesus

Their rejection began here

It will end at Calvary

This is why Jesus could say to them “I know , that ye have not the love of God in you.”

It gets worse!

Will one day choose to accept the Antichrist

A very wise man once told me, “Whenever you choose to reject the truth, the only choice left is to accept a lie.”

Jesus came to them in the name of His Father, Yahweh, and they rejected Him

One day there is coming one in his own name, and they will accept him to what would be their own destruction if it were not for the will of God

When someone asks me today why I put so much truth in the Bible the answer I give is that it is powerful! No other book, no other writing, no other author could possibly know me like the author of this book!

Other books may suggest solutions to your problems, but this book, gives you the answer! Other books may lay the blame for your problems at the feet of your parents, your peers, or your circumstances, but the Bible shows you the source of your problem: You! You are a sinner, and praise God, there is a Savior!

One more truth before we leave, notice...

The Permanence of the Word vv. 45-47

Why was the Word of God Jesus’ “Ace in the hole”? Because the Word of God is eternal!

Read these last verses with me...

Next to Abraham, Moses was the most revered man in Israel’s history. He was the law giver,and the law they would never question. In fact, the Jews would eventually become so obsessed with the law that they would in a way worship it! They would add to the law given by God their own ideas, concepts and traditions. They would take what was intended to demonstrate their utter dependence upon God and turn it into a legalistic system bringing people into subjection.

Jesus says that He will not accuse them, He will let Moses do that for Him. Why? For the simple reason that long before Jesus walked the earth, Moses wrote about Him in the books of the law. He was:

The Ark of Noah in Genesis 6-8

The offering of Isaac Genesis 22

The Ladder of Jacob’s dream Genesis 28

The life story of Joseph Genesis 37-50

The Passover Lamb

The manna from Heaven

The riven rock

The serpent on the pole

The tabernacle

The Ark of the Covenant

What is my point today? Simple. If Moses spoke of Jesus in these instances and many more beside, then that was enough to prove to the Jews the permanence of the Word of God. It is also enough to prove to us today that if every instance predicting the first coming of the Lord was true and has come to pass, then what right do we have to refuse to believe the authenticity of the second coming!

Take Away

What is our take away? This: The Bible is still the most powerful witnessing tool available to us today! It has survived every attack, it has outlasted its critics, and it will be here long after we are gone! Do not forget these three truths:

The Bible’s Purpose is to witness and prove that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

The Bible’s Power reveals our sin and the Savior!

The Bible’s Permanence will outlive us all

Here is a promise I make to you, no matter who you are, right here, right now, you find yourself in one of two positions: You have heard the gospel and believed on Jesus as your Savior, or you have rejected His promise of forgiveness.

If you know Him as your Savior today, then I call on you to live like it.

If you have rejected Him to this point, I call on you to repent and call on Him before it is too late.