The Witnesses at Bethesda Part 2 - John 5:24

1:47So Jesus goes on. We've looked at this discourse, what I call the witness discourse, or you could easily call it the equality of God discourse. But Jesus then launches into this discourse and he calls forth several witnesses. The very first witness is himself. And it's not so much a witness as it is a declaration of who he is. And this discourse is broken up by three truly, truly statements. We've looked at the first one already in verse 19. The second one is in verse 24. And the third one is in verse 25 and following. So this breaks up this passage, three truly, truly statements. And what Jesus does in this witness discourse, he claims to be equal with God. Or he's already claimed to be equal with God, and now he is going to defend his equality with God, and he's going to even be more clear on the subject. If anybody ever wants to know whether Jesus or not ever claimed to be God, he certainly does, and he certainly does it right. Here, and he does it very emphatically and very aggressively. We looked at that last time, so we're not going to go into that. But what he basically says is that Jesus claims equality for five reasons. Number one, in verse 19, he says, I do what God does. In verse 20, I know what God knows.

3:23Verse 21, I give life as the Father gives life. Verse 22, I judge everything. God is judge. I am judge. And in verse 23, he says, I share God's glory. So he's making it very clear, I am equal with God. And so that's what he does. He speaks and he talks about the relationship between the Son and the Father. And that's what he's done so far. And the Jews were correct in their assessment that Jesus was claiming equality with God. And he reinforces his claim. And especially, look at verse 23. So that, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very exclusive statement. You cannot have the Father. You cannot be a true worshiper of God without the Lord Jesus Christ. In your life. Very emphatic, very to the point. And if Jesus considered himself in any way inferior to God, he certainly could not have made this statement. He says, you are to honor me as you honor the Father. He said, I am deserving, worthy of the same level of honor as Father God. That's bold.

4:57And that's what he's saying. He's saying, just as much, I deserve just as much honor as God. And if you do not give me such, you have no relationship with God at all. That's what he says to his opponents. And he described the nature between the Father and the Son. But then, in verse 24, that's our text this morning, Jesus goes on to describe how this relationship between God and man works. And he goes on to tell us who does truly honor God.

5:33Who does truly honor God? You know, so I think we bring it down personally to us today. Do you honor God? Are you sure you honor God? How do you know if your life is really honoring to God? Does this church honor God? How do we know if this church is honoring to God? How do we Know that we're really people that God looks down and receives honor from and says, Yes, they do honor me. How do we know this? It's very important, right? Very important for us to know. Very appropriate text for dedication. So we dedicate our new facilities and we dedicate ourselves in this new facility. It's very important to know how do we truly honor God.

6:27Well, that's what the text is all about this morning. He's going to explain this relationship between God and man. He's already explained the relationship between the Father and the Son, God, one God, Father, Son. And now he's going to explain that relationship of God and humanity. And there are two aspects of that relationship between God and man that I want you to understand so that you will know how to honor God and so that you will know why God brought us, Emmanuel Baptist Church, out here to Steep Hollow.

7:02Two aspects of the relationship with God. The first aspect is the connecting point between God and man. I want you to see two aspects of the relationship between God and man. And the first one is this connecting point between God and man. You need to understand this connecting point. Where is this connecting point between you and God? Where is it? How do you get there? What is its nature? How does it show up in our lives? That's the subject, the connecting point. And it's described, if you'll look back, by two verbs. The first verb is the one who is hearing. The second verb is the one who is believing.

7:50Are you connected to God? Well, then these two expressions are going to be true of you. You are, number one, currently hearing Jesus's words. Number two, you are currently believing that the Father sent Jesus. And we're going to look at these both in a little more depth here. Look back at verse 24. Truly, truly, I am saying to you. And when he talks like that, he's like saying, get this. Slow down. Get this. Truly, truly, I am saying to you, I am declaring to you, he who hears my word, he who is hearing my word is connected.

8:37Are you hearing his words? Now, what is hearing Jesus' words involve? Well, two things. First, proximity. Second, relationship. Hearing involves proximity. I mean, you're here today. You're in proximity of my words. We have somewhat of a relationship. Because you're close enough to hear my words. There is proximity. Well, hearing Jesus' word implies proximity. And it may surprise some of you, but even in Jesus' day, those who were hearing the words of Jesus had to rely upon witness accounts. They were dependent upon reliable witness accounts. Of course, many in Jesus' day heard him directly, but only a few were constantly with him. And so, even then, people had to depend upon reliable witness to Jesus' words. And the same is true today. We depend upon the reliable witnesses of Scripture to hear the words of Jesus. And we can only know the Christ of Scripture through what? Through the Scripture. There is no other place where you can know the Christ of Scripture except through Scripture. And those who are not hearing the words, those who will not come under the teaching or under the preaching or not be involved in the daily interaction of the Word of God, are not connected to God. And that's what Jesus is saying here. You want to know who truly is connected to God?

10:26Those who are connected to God have close proximity to Christ. Words. No words of Christ. If you're not on a daily basis or on a routine in your life, bringing yourselves to hear Christ's words, you're not connected to him. You see, your time in God's Word and your connection to a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church is far more of an indicator of your connection to God than you may realize. You see, if there is no proximity, there is no relationship.

11:07So the first connecting point or the hearing God's Word involves proximity. It also involves relationship. And the hearing that Jesus is talking about here is the kind of listening that goes beyond the ears. You're not just hearing my vocal cords utter noises and goes into your ears and take them in. That's not the kind of listening he's talking about. We're talking about a hearing that involves the heart, a hearing that wants to learn, a hearing that acknowledges he has something to say and that we have something to learn. It's a hearing that is desirous to take down notes, to understand, so that you can heed, so that you can obey. That's the kind of hearing, to emulate him, to put into practice. That's the kind of hearing.

12:01The opposite of hearing is contending with God or challenging God or disregarding the things of God. I think that's where a lot of us in our culture fall today, just a disregard. You know, I remember a kid, you've probably seen this before, a kid that says to his mom, and his mom's telling him and puts his fingers in his ears and says, I can't hear you. You can keep on talking, but I can't hear a word you're saying. What is that effectively doing? Well, it's getting him in trouble, for sure, but what is it?

12:38He's severing the relationship. I have no relationship with you. In fact, I was reading an article about North Korea this past week that one of the most frightening things is the very limited amount of communication that they are having with the rest of the world. They don't have an embassy over here, and it's very few embassies that they have around the world, and the embassies that they do have are shut up tighter than a drum. And it's this lack of communication that is very frightening about North Korea today because it indicates a severance of relationship.

13:17But Christ's followers have a relationship with him. They want his words. They love his words. In fact, John 10, 27, Jesus says, My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. So those who demonstrate a pattern of hearing Jesus' words are connected to him. It's that simple and it's that exclusive. Any system of man, any philosophy, any religion that isn't centered upon Jesus Christ's word has no part with God. Jesus' own words. Those who are hearing. So why are we here? Why were we downtown? What are we doing out here? Well, a church's primary responsibility is to make the words of Scripture accessible to their community, accessible in our community, accessible to our community. That is why we're here. So that we can keep alive the proclamation, the words of Christ, so that there are those, so that we could come into proximity of those words, so that we could esteem those words, so that we can have relationship with the one who uttered those words.

14:38No words of Jesus, no relationship. So the connecting point between God and man is described, as I said, by two verbs. The first is the ones hearing. But look back and notice the and. There's a conjunction there. And the one believing that the Father has sent Jesus. The one believing the Father has sent Jesus. Look back. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who is hearing my word and is believing him who sent me. That's the sense of the verb. The one who is believing in the one who has sent me. That's the idea. Those who are connected to Jesus aren't just hearing his words as if he were some great philosopher, or if he was a great teacher, or if he was a wise man, or some historical figure that we need to probe into. No, those who are connected to God believe that God is in Jesus. That Jesus' words are the words of the Father Himself, given to us. You want to know what your heavenly Father wants you to hear? It's the words of Jesus. And that's what Jesus is saying right there in this situation with the Jews that wanted to, or accusing him of being worthy of death.

16:06You see, when you hear Jesus' words, you hear the Father's words. And that's what Jesus is saying. It's interesting to note that the word for belief is the same word that is translated as faith. When you come down, you see faith is sometimes translated as belief, and belief is sometimes translated as faith. But to understand what Jesus Jesus is saying here, you really need to understand how the Apostle John communicates this idea of faith. You see, the concept in John's gospel, belief, he describes belief, is always a verb. It's always a verb. And Leon Morris points out that while the verb pisteo is found 98 times, the noun pistis is completely absent. 98 times, he uses the verb believe. He never uses the noun. So faith isn't something you have, faith is something that you do. It's something that you exercise. And this is remarkable because Matthew only uses the word belief 11 times. Luke uses it, or Mark uses it 10 times, Luke uses it nine times. So if you add all of the other uses of this word together and you multiply it by three, John still uses this word more. It's that important. So belief is always expressed as a verb. Second, belief in John's gospel is always very specific, always very specific.

17:44The way to eternal life is not to have some vague notions about some God out there somewhere that will look down and sometime give you some kind of good things in the end. That's not the kind of faith that's going to be. Going to connect you to God. The kind of believing that John exhorts us to have, and he wants his hearers to have, is the kind of faith that believes that God is in Jesus. That's the kind of faith. Look back at verse 24. Notice the phrase, and believes him who sent me. Literally, the one who is currently believing in the one having sent me. So, what Jesus is basically saying here is that the Father is as much an object of saving faith as Jesus is.

18:36He's saying, get this, and let's settle on this. You want to understand God? You want to understand the mind of God? You want to understand the Father, your Heavenly Father? Understand this: that your Heavenly Father is of a character and a nature to send somebody like Jesus to you. Not just like Jesus, sends Jesus to you. What you hear from Christ, what you see in Christ, is given to you by your Heavenly Father. That's his communication to you. It's interesting how later in John 14, Philip's going to say to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it will be enough for us. And Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not come to know me, Philip?

19:31He who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father abiding me does his work. Wow. Listen, all that Jesus said and all that he did culminated in the cross as an expression of the Father's love for you.

20:02He's saying, that's what you need to understand. Yes, understand that God is in me, but understand what God is doing through me and what that says about you and God's love for you and his desire to have relationship with you. You see, for John, faith isn't something a person has. It's something that you do. It's an activity. I love how one Leon Morris said, he said, belief is an activity that takes people right out of themselves and makes them one with Christ. And when you believe in Christ, you become one with Christ, one with God. That's the way. That's the connecting point between God and man.

20:53You see, belief inevitably involves the awareness of one's incident. Sufficiency and a personal trust in Christ's sufficiency. That's why we believe. And it's very important to underscore here that so far in John, one thing you should be very well aware of right now is such belief is impossible for man to accomplish by himself. This is why faith is a work of God. That's going to be very plain in John chapter 6. The very work of God is that you believe in his Son. That is the work. That is what God is doing. That is being raised from the dead. That is John 3, being born again. That is John 4, living water. That something has to change within us. And that change is a believing relationship.

21:48So going back to the conflict at Bethesda, Jesus is telling his opponents, I am just as much an object of saving faith as the Father is. So he's boldly asserted his equality one more time. But what he's telling them, he's saying, Look, I'm giving you all this evidence. I'm telling you, I'm bringing all these witnesses forward so that you will understand that God is in me. I'm showing you a picture of who I am. Look at what I do. Look at what God does. Look at what I do. Look at what God come to the conclusion that God is in me. And then understand why God is in me. God wants a relationship.

22:28And that's what He is. Telling his opponents. But now, going back to the time when John wrote these words to his audience, John wants his audience to know where our final resting place is. Our final resting place is in God Himself. It's not just in the man, Jesus Christ, it is in the very Father God Himself. The fountain of blessing is God. It's interesting, this church was originally called Saints' Rest. And if you build an understanding of where the true rest of the saints is at, the true rest is in Christ, in the words of Christ, who has been sent by the Father Himself, so that our faith is ultimately in God, that Christ is in God, the Father is in Christ, so that our resting place is in God the Father. And the question, the big question in Scripture is: who are the blessed ones of the earth? Who are those in whom the Father is well pleased? I mean, it's a question, right? Is God well pleased with you? How do you know?

23:51One of the major themes of Genesis is blessing. Blessing. Who has the blessing of God? Who does not have the blessing of God? And boy, it's a living drama, right? Who has it? Who's not? You've got Jacob and Esau, and you've got this blessing, and you see it come through. Why did Noah make it out, and the rest didn't? Where is this blessing? How does one get this blessing on his or her life? Well, that's one of the main themes of Genesis. In fact, I'm going to quote a major theologian, heavyweight, here in our midst, though she's not here today. Her name's Nancy Baber.

24:35She was here. She's downtown directing people over here. But she has this assignment as we work through seminary. In seminary, we're working through this whole book of Genesis. And she was asked to write what is the theme, what is the purpose of Genesis in basically one sentence. And this is what she said. And she asked me to review it, and it's good. She said, the creator of the universe initiates a relationship with mankind and begins to unfold his plan of blessing in light of man's failure through one chosen family line. Very good synopsis of what's taking place in Genesis. Comes down, this blessing comes down through one family line. That family line ultimately leads to the man in the glory, Jesus Christ, in whom God is well pleased.

25:31J.C. Ryle says, the gospel that invites the sinner to believe in Jesus as his Redeemer and advocate invites him at the same time to believe in the Father who was well pleased with all who trust in his Son. So, where is the place of blessing? Those who trust in his Son. The covenant has come through the pages of Scripture to the man, the glory, Jesus Christ, to his Son. God is in Christ, and those who are in Christ are well-pleasing to the Father, not on their own right, but because of the merits of Christ. Micah 6:8 asks the question: What does God require of you? The answer is to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. What does walking humbly with your God look like? Well, to starters, we know this: God does not require you to come up with payment for your sins. God does not require you to accomplish something great in the eyes of humanity. He doesn't ask you to accomplish something great or something that would wow him in eternity. No, his heart, his mind, he is captivated. He loves his son in whom he is well pleased, and all of those who are in him.

27:01Hear him. They want to hear his son. They are coming behind and listening to the son. They are trusting in his son. That's what walking humbly with your God looks like. Those who are hearing the words of Christ and believing that the Father has sent him and heeding the words of Christ, these are the ones who are walking humbly with God. He has come to you, oh man. And what does he require? That you trust deeply that indeed the Father is in Christ and that you are invited to be in Christ simply by believing.

27:44So ask him. Ask him to come in, say, I believe, and ask him to help your unbelief. You see, the way to have God's blessing on your life is to trust in God's Son. And this is the message that the apostle wants his audience to hear. This is what John wants us to get. John understands the way to blessing. He says, I understand the scriptures. I understand the way to have the blessing of God upon your life. It's in Christ Jesus. Now come.

28:19So what does Emmanuel exist for? Why did God bring us out here? It is to point people to the way of God's blessing. We know how one. Can be blessed by God, it's by trusting deeply in his Son. That is the connecting point. That is the blessing point. And we know that. Many in this community do not. I'm afraid some in this room do not. That's why we keep the words of life. That's why we're here.

28:56So those who are blessed by God are those who are hearing the words of Jesus and believing that the Father is in Christ. It is not possible to believe what the Father says and turn away from Jesus. That's how tight the connection Jesus makes there. We're going to shift gears. I wanted you to understand the connecting point between God and man, and it's in Jesus. It's exclusive. It's his words. It's there. But now I want you to see the blessing that's upon those who are connected to Jesus. I want you to see the manifestation of God's blessing upon those who are connected to him. So, I want you to see the blessing upon those connected to God. And there are three expressions that Jesus uses to communicate this blessing. Look at verse 24 again. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment. Judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

30:04The three expressions has eternal life, does not come into judgment, has passed out of death into life. The first expression deals with the believer's present. The second expression deals with the believer's future. The third expression deals with the believer's past. I want to look at each one quickly. Look at the present. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, is having, is holding, is obtaining, or it has in his possession, current possession. He has eternal life.

30:44What is eternal life? What is eternal life? We often think of eternal life as what, just infinity of days, length of days, eternity, right? Well, certainly duration is implied in that, but there's something more here, and that is the quality of life. Literally, a more literal translation would be: is having life the eternal kind, life the eternal kind. You see, there is an earthly kind of life, and there is an eternal kind of life. There is an earthly quality and an eternal quality. The earthly quality of life or character of life is characterized by human failure, by sin, by weakness, and by separation. From God. And we are all born into this earthly kind of life. And the very work of the gospel, the very work of Christ Himself, and the very work of the, through the communication of his gospel, is to raise people out of this earthly kind of life and give them a new kind of life, an eternal kind of life, a kind of life that reflects the character of eternity. This is the new condition.

31:57And it's the eternal kind of life is characterized by fellowship or union with God. Whereas the earthly kind of life is characterized by separation from God and all that goes with it, death. And the eternal kind of life is characterized by fellowship with God and all that goes with that, life. And it has already begun. When you die, when your body dies, you don't die. It's a transfer. See, the spiritual order of eternity is not subject to decay or extinction. Neither are those who are born into life eternal. John 7:3, Jesus says, This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Listen to me. Jesus, yes, you have to have eternity of days. Or to know God, you have to have eternity because God is eternal and you are going to have to be eternal.

33:10But the very quality of life, the very life itself, is knowing God. But they're never going to decay. It's never going to change. And we'll keep reading. Look at the future. We've looked at the present condition of believers. Now I want you to see the future or the current direction of believers. Look back at verse 24. Say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and, number two, does not come into judgment. That is, he is not coming into condemnation. He is not coming towards, he's not heading, he's not being brought. He is not coming to condemnation. Condemnation isn't on his or her horizon at all.

34:00They are not on a trajectory to death. Those who live on an earthly kind of life, they are on a trajectory to condemnation. Those who are connected to God are not, of course, moving to the second death. John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge. The world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already. In other words, there's already a trajectory going into the second death, the eternal separation from God forever. But those who believe are raised out of that earthly quality of life and into an eternal quality of life, and such that their future is one of continued life. They're not even on a trajectory to being condemned. So we've looked at their present, we've looked at their future. Now I want to look at the past, the past, past actions, something that has taken place in the past of every believer. Look back at verse 24.

35:25They have passed out of death into life. That is, he has departed. That's the meaning of the word. He has departed from one state and gone into another. It's like leaving California and going into Texas, right? From death to life, right? You see, the current possession and the future destination of those who are connected to God is based upon an event that has taken place. If you are a believer in Christ, there is something that has already taken place in your life.

36:00And that is that you have been transferred. You have departed the realm of the dead to the realm of the living. And the perfect tense makes this an absolute statement. Absolute. They have gone from death to life. They are not on a trajectory to death anymore. They cannot die anymore. And this is what those who would believe that you can lose your salvation do not understand this text at all. Also, those who believe that baptism is necessary for salvation do not understand this text at all. The connecting point between God and man is not water, but it's the one who is hearing and believing. This is the one who is possessing eternal life. Now, I do think a person who is hearing the words of Christ will submit themselves to believers' baptism, not as a way to inherit eternal life, but because they have eternal life. And some of you may need to give yourself to the waters of baptism. Maybe you were baptized at a time when you weren't a believer, and you need to come and be baptized as a believer. And certainly those who are hearing the words of Christ will heed the words of Christ.

37:26Well, time's about out. I wanted to bring before you two aspects of the relationship between God and man so that you on an individual level will know how to honor God. You honor God by hearing him, by hearing the words of Christ, and by believing that, yes, the Father Himself is in Christ, exclusively in Him, in a unique way. And if you do not have Christ, you do not have a relationship with the Father, and I don't care how clever you are in your philosophy.

38:02But the second reason I wanted to bring this text before us is God has led us out here to Steep Hollow to be a community of people that will honor him by keeping his words alive and on the conscience of this community. Question, do you honor God? That's where it gets really personal. Do you really honor God? Are you demonstrating a pattern of hearing Jesus' words? Do you believe that the Father sent him for your benefit?

38:42Do you point others to the way of God's blessing by and through your trusting and obedience to Christ? Listen, we point the way, not by signs, not by how well we articulate our theology, though that can be very important. Important. We point others to the way of Christ by our loving and trusting obedience to Him. That is where the dwelling place, it's not the temple as we would think of in Solomon's day. It is the people in the sanctuary.

39:24We are here to be a community of hearers of Jesus, a community of believers in the Father, a community that points the way to God's blessing. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you, Father, for the tremendous gift that we have in Christ, your Son. We have your very words Himself. We have a reliable witness recorded for us in writing, in the Scriptures. Father, you have given us of your Spirit that we might be connected to you through your words, through understanding and believing. Father, and you know that our faith is weak, and so we ask for you to strengthen our faith. We ask for those here today that do not know you that today would be the day that they are raised from the dead by believing in you, and that you would, by your grace, draw them, that they would hear your voice. And Father, I pray now for this community in which we're in, that we would be your company. Covenant people, truly reflecting your grace, your words, that we will be a covenant people who hear and obey and reach out. Father, we thank you for all of this. Thank you for our new facility. In Jesus' name, amen.