Sermon Tone Analysis

!!!                                                           The Witness of the Father & Scriptures

 

!

The Witnesses.

A.

The Father (v.37-38)

1.

The Father Himself sent Jesus & has testified of Him.

q         We know that in Matthews Gospel at Jesus’ baptism, a voice came from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (3:17).

q         At the transfiguration a voice came out of the cloud saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Hear Him”! (Matt.17:5)

q         Jesus Himself said in John’s Gospel that “the God the Father has set His seal on Him” this means that the Father has authorized and authenticated the Son as the Giver of life (6:27).

q         At the Triumphal Entry, Jesus said to the Father, “Glorify Your Name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, /saying,/ “I have both glorified /it/ and will glorify /it/ again.”

q         Jesus also said “the Father who sent Him bears witness of Him” (8:18)

/               The Father Has Testified Through the Holy Scriptures /

                      Many today reject the authority of the Scriptures (RCC) exalt human traditions

                                           

2.

They have never heard His voice, nor seen His form.

Some people may think they have seen God, but they have not.

However, it is not because God has not spoken or shown what He is like.

He has revealed the truth about Himself and the coming of His Son.

Þ   Some in the /Old Testament/ did hear and see what God was like (Genesis 32:30; Exodus 24:10; Exodus 33:11; Numbers 12:8; Deut.

4:12; Deut.

5:4, 24; Samuel 3:1ff).

Þ   Some in the /New Testament/ did hear and see what God was like: Simeon (Luke 1:25f), Anna (Luke 1:36f), and others (John 1:40f; John 12:28-30).

However, most down through the centuries have not heard and seen God, and most still do not.

Þ        The voice of God is in His Creation (Psalm 19:1-4) & Jesus Himself (John 14:19, 24; Heb 1:2)

Þ        The form of God is Jesus Himself (John 14:9; 2 Cor.4:4; Heb 1:3)

Þ       Your physical body just could not handle seeing the face of God.

It'd be like trying to stand in the sun; you'd be consumed (Ex.33:18-23)

Today we can hear God through His Written Word (John 3:16; 15:15)

 

3.

They Did not have the Fathers Word abiding in them

If they would have believed that Jesus was the one prophesied in the O.T. they would have the Fathers Word abiding in them, but since they did not believe in Jesus, this proves they do not have His Word abiding in them.

q        John 1:11 says that, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him”

q        Jesus is the Living Word who became flesh (John 1:1, 14)

q        We are His disciples if we abide in His Word (John 8:31)

q        Jesus insisted that anyone who believed in Him was at the same time exercising belief in God the Father (John 12:44-48).

Jesus explained that He was the personal manifestation of God (see 1:18; Col. 1:15; Heb.

1:3).

1)        /The Word Of God Must Be Abiding In A Person.

This means two things./

/(a)      //The Word of God must be “in you” not just among you (John 5:38)/.

The Jews had the Word of God all around him: on his desk and table, in his home and church, on his tongue, and sounding upon his ears.

However, he did not have the Word in his heart, and unless something is within, it is not abiding in a person.

/(b)      //The Word of God must be “abiding.”

/

It must not only be allowed to come into a person’s mind and heart, it must be grasped and clung to.

It must stay within and remain and not be allowed to depart.

/Abiding/ means the Word of God is...

q         living, moving, ruling, and reigning in a person’s life and heart.

q         stirring, convicting, and challenging a person.

q         leading to confession, repentance, growth, and maturity in the Christian Life.

Thought 1.

When God’s word /truly abides/ in a person, that person naturally /accepts what God says and lives as God says/, and that person believes God’s Son.

It would be impossible to accept what God says and not accept what He says about His Son.

To reject what God says about His Son is to reject God’s Word.

If a person does not believe God’s Son, to whom God witnesses, then God’s Word does not abide in that person.

B.

The Scriptures (v.39-

 

1.

You Search the Scriptures . . .

/Searching the Scriptures is important in the Life of the Christian.

Paul told Timothy to/:

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

(2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV)

       /Because the Scriptures equip us for good work:  /

All Scripture /is/ given by inspiration of God, and /is/ profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

(2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV)

       /Paul Even commended the Berean’s for their diligence in this:/

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily /to find out/ whether these things were so.

(Acts 17:11 NKJV)

/Searching the Scriptures Will Also Equip to Test the Spirits:   /

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

(1 John 4:1 NKJV)

 

*/The Origin Of Scripture Is God/*

/The Old Testament prophets received their messages from the mouth of God by their frequent statements/, “Thus says the Lord.”

/Ezekiel testified time after time that he spoke the words God had given to him/.

Moreover he said to me, "Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.

And go, get you to the exiles, to your people, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD'; whether they hear or refuse to hear."  (Ezek.

3:10-11)

/Thus, the message spoken by the prophets was the message given to them by the Lord/

The Lord said to Moses, “Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak."

And you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.

(Ex.

4:12,15 cf.

Ex. 7:1-2)

/The prophet Jeremiah wrote,/

Now the word of the LORD came to me saying  "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Then the LORD put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

(Jer.

1:4,5,9)

       /Paul Wrote To The Galatians That It Was God Who Gave Him His Message, /

But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood.”

(Gal.

1:15,16) /Paul did not get his message from his fellow apostles-it came directly from God.  /

/The disciple John wrote, /

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."

(Rev.

1:10,11) 

/Paul’s emphasis, then, is on the origin of the Scriptures: that which is God-breathed is:/

produced by the creative breath of the Almighty.

In the same way God breathed the universe into existence, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.

For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood forth.”

(Ps.

33:6,9) The same way God-breathed the Bible into existence.

/Sometimes the word “Scripture” is used in place of the word “God.”/

And the scripture . . .

preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed."

(Galatians 3:8).