Transcript
Speaker: Those you who follow the news closely will remember this story. Several years ago, it was a major national story that came out. Investigators spent months collecting evidence on an Idaho college campus because four young college-age kids were viciously murdered.
Speaker: Netflix has also come out with a documentary for those of you who prefer to watch instead of read. Quite entertaining.
Speaker: Hundreds of hours of surveillance footage captured. Tons of fingerprints were found. Phone records were scoured. Eyewitness testimony after eyewitness testimony.
Speaker: They even found DNA at the scene. Each of these little pieces, these little clues, were very important to the overall picture.
Speaker: This picture painted a horrible scene that unfolded on this college campus.
Speaker: I just put a note to myself after reading about this story and then watching that documentary that the evidence was overwhelming. And indeed this gentleman that they found who was a teacher's assistant, somebody who studied criminology, he was found guilty, murdered, four life sentences back to back.
Speaker: They interviewed one of the jurors after the fact, and this young lady, she said, the evidence was stacked against this guy. She said, I knew what all the evidence said.
Speaker: She said, I knew what picture it painted, but I simply struggled with accepting what it would mean.
Speaker: Brothers and sisters, that statement reveals something profound about our human nature.
Speaker: Sometimes the greatest obstacle isn't a lack of evidence, it's the cost of accepting what that evidence demands in your life and in my life.
Speaker: For example, you go to the doctor to get your annual checkup, and he starts saying numbers like LDL and HDL, high cholesterol.
Speaker: You need to change your diet. To which you say, I'm looking for a second opinion.
Speaker: Is there anybody else at Baylor Scott that can give me a second opinion? I don't like where this is going. The diagnosis is clear. The medical tests don't lie.
Speaker: But accepting that diagnosis means that you're going have to change your eating habits.
Speaker: What about that spouse that you have that lovingly points out every so often that very hurtful behavior that you exhibit? Deep down you know that spouse is right.
Speaker: But admitting that requires first humility, and second, it requires you and I to change that hurtful behavior. See friends, the issue isn't information, it's not evidence, it's surrender.
Speaker: And that's exactly where Jesus takes us today as we wrap up John chapter 5. I know you're thinking to yourself, man, we spent a lot of time in one single chapter. This is just the way chapter 5 happens to be broken out.
Speaker: If you've been follows i' following with us these last couple of weeks, Jesus healed this man at the pool of Bethsaida. Do you remember this? And when he did that, he already declared something miraculous.
Speaker: He said he's equal with the Father. We said that was explosive to say something like that in front of these Jewish people. He then goes on to say that he possessed all authority over life and that one day he will judge the world.
Speaker: I put in my notes what an extraordinary claim Jesus made. I thought this whole week to myself, imagine if we clicked on the news here, local Cameron, Cameron 5 or 10. I don't even know what channel that is I watch in the morning sometimes.
Speaker: What if somebody jumped on the news and claimed to be equal with God today in 2026?
Speaker: What would we say after we said that person's crazy, they're out of their mind? We might very well follow up with, well, can they validate that or can they verify that?
Speaker: What evidence do they have to that claim? Brothers and sisters, in John chapter 5 today, Jesus welcomes that type of question. Rather than just saying, hey, believe me, I'm God, he begins presenting this very beautifully crafted case, presenting witness after witness after witness.
Speaker: And it's no surprise that we'll see that the religious figures, the religious elite, they don't buy this. Matter of fact, they reject it outright.
Speaker: If you're somebody who follows social media, you'll see this past week on the First Baptist page, we simply put this statement. If there's so much so much evidence out there for people to believe in Jesus, why do so many people reject him?
Speaker: Well, we're going to answer that today, in the next hour and a half.
Speaker: Right before we go to potluck.
Speaker: Are you ready to hear a word from God? Somebody say, let's go. Let's try that again. Let's go. Verse 31, chapter 5.
Speaker: If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. But someone else is also testifying about me. And I assure you that everything he says about me is true.
Speaker: In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true. Of course, I have no need of human witness, but I say these things so that you might be saved.
Speaker: John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message.
Speaker: Let's pause there. Jesus begins here in verse 31 with this statement that may sound at first glance confusing. If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid.
Speaker: It almost sounds as if Jesus is questioning his own truthfulness, but you have to understand what's going on. you have to understand the context a little bit. This is where it's helpful to know a little bit about the Mosaic law, a little bit about Jewish custom,
Speaker: It'll make this matter a little clearer for you. Jewish law, the Mosaic law, said you couldn't simply tell somebody, have a claim against you all by yourself.
Speaker: You had him another witness, or better yet, two or more witnesses.
Speaker: Deuteronomy chapter 19 says you must not convict anybody of a crime on the testimony of only one witness, The facts of that case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Speaker: This wasn't because that one person who showed up was necessarily dishonest, but it's because justice required confirmation of two or more. Now Jesus willingly submits to that standard.
Speaker: Notice his humility. This is the son of God. is the eternal son of God. He doesn't say, hey, I'm God. I don't owe you any type of explanation. Instead, he patiently walks his opponents through the evidence. Put my notes, what patience, what grace?
Speaker: Boy, I need both of those. That's what I put a note to myself this week. Here is the creator of all the universe reasoning with his creatures.
Speaker: We learn something about God himself in this picture. He's a God of reason.
Speaker: You know the number one reason most people reject Christianity outright? They say, well, intellectually, I have to like check my brain out. it' It's blind faith, which you'll hear a lot of times.
Speaker: Brothers and sisters, biblical faith is not blind faith. Nobody is asking you to check out logic. or reason. Our faith, our biblical faith is rooted.
Speaker: If you're somebody wants to take a note, this is the first note I want you to write down. It's not blind faith. It is reasonable trust based upon trustworthy evidence.
Speaker: Biblical faith is reasonable trust based upon trustworthy evidence. Our faith rests on history. Real witnesses, real people, real events, a real empty tomb.
Speaker: Christianity has never feared honest investigation. It welcomes it. Matter of fact, most of the by time they make it through, they've seen all the evidence they need and they turn their life over to Christ.
Speaker: Following Christ is the most important decision you'll ever make.
Speaker: He's never asked you to take a leap of faith in the dark. You notice that? He's flooded that pathway for you and I with His light. He simply asked you to take a step of faith.
Speaker: People today say, well, I would believe in God if there was just more evidence.
Speaker: And if I could just say pastorally this, and for those of you who are not members of this church, I am not your pastor, but I'm saying this in a loving, kind way. How much more evidence do you need?
Speaker: I've shown you everything you need to know for you to give your life over to Jesus. Why are you waiting?
Speaker: He presents this first witness, look at me, verse 32, I love this. He says, but somebody else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything says about me is true.
Speaker: you want to circle that word, someone, someone else here is ultimately pointing to God the Father, but then he says, in fact, look, i sent you sent investigators, listen to this, you sent them to go see who?
Speaker: JB, John the Baptist, our favorite guy in the Baptist church, right? Outside of Jesus. He says, you went investigate John and his testimony about me was true.
Speaker: He reminds them, you went out to inspect what John was saying and John was pointing to me and yet you rejected that message as well. You remember when we talked about John the Baptist?
Speaker: You remember we were going through that account? All the people were flocking out to the wilderness to see him. He had his own group of followers. They all were anxious to hear him preach. The religious leaders traveled out there to question him.
Speaker: John could have easily said, look at all these people that are following me. I'm somebody important. He could have built up his own platform. Can you imagine how many Facebook followers John the Baptist would have had back in the day?
Speaker: Instead, you know what he did? He constantly pointed to the one that was coming. I'm not the Messiah, he said. I'm the voice crying out in the wilderness. Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Speaker: He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. John wasn't pointing to himself. He was pointing to Christ.
Speaker: John understood his assignment. John understood his role. He understood his position. John wasn't the destination. He was the signpost pointing to Jesus.
Speaker: He was a witness. This word witness here the Greek is martyria. It's where we get our English word martyr from. refers to the testimony given by somebody who was actually seen.
Speaker: This is eyewitness testimony and knows the truth.
Speaker: John's life teaches us that the greatest purpose of any believer is not to draw attention to ourselves, but to point people to Jesus.
Speaker: After this great main event youth thing we had last night, I sent Kathy Barrett message, just a word of encouragement. Hey, great job. Hey, it was a lot of work.
Speaker: Hey, you pulled it off.
Speaker: She just simply said, you know, Jesus got the glory. That's all that matters. Amen? That's the type of response you want from your your youth director here at First Baptist Church.
Speaker: Jesus adds this interesting observation. Look at in me, verse 34. He says, John, John the Baptist, was like a burning and shining lamp. And you were excited for a while to hear about his message, right? ah I wrote down in my notes alongside my study Bible, book.
Speaker: Need observation. Why does he point out that John was like this burning and shining lamp? And why were they only excited for a while? I put a question mark there. Those three words for a while, brothers sisters, those carry tremendous amount of weight in this.
Speaker: They admired John. They enjoyed John. They even celebrated John. But the moment John said, my message requires repentance, they were like, I don't know about that message. That's not for me.
Speaker: Then they moved on. That word for lamp, that means like a portable carry lamp, like an oil lamp that you would have. It means John wasn't the sun, the S-U-N, right?
Speaker: He wasn't the source of the light. He simply reflected God's light. And those leaders, those religious leaders, they liked that light until it started shining on them and exposing them.
Speaker: And I put to myself, isn't that so true today? Boy, we can get behind charismatic pastors that sound really good. Podcast guys that give great messages.
Speaker: But man, when that Bible message comes across and that word of God starts convicting us about the sin in our life, suddenly we start to feel little uncomfortable.
Speaker: It's like walking into your garage and flipping on the lights. know, we have a big dog food container out in our garage and we transport some of that dog food into the house so we feed the dogs. But this major container's right out in the garage and and I fear going out and flicking on the lights of the garage because there's cockroaches out there, if I can just be honest. And we have a pest guy comes out but there's still cockroaches every once while.
Speaker: I fear snakes, spiders, and I'm not a big fan of cockroaches, especially Texas cockroaches. But do you realize those cockroaches are there when the lights are out?
Speaker: But we don't see them until we turn that light on. When we turn all that light on, it exposes. That's what the Word of God does to us, brothers sisters. When we hear it, when we hear it preached and it's convicting our lives, we can't turn away from that. We have to adhere to what His Word says.
Speaker: Now, John the Baptist testimony is powerful here. But he's not finished. Jesus moves on. he He says, if you dismiss John's word, well, let me just bring you another witness. I'm going to bring you the second witness here.
Speaker: The very works in which I have performed, he says, the very miracles that I have performed, tell you a lot about who I am. Let's look at verse 36.
Speaker: says, but I have greater witness than John, my teachings and my miracles. though That's the second. says, the Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they proved that he sent me.
Speaker: Right? Who's the second witness? He says, the very works in which the Father has given me.
Speaker: These should say something about who I am. He says, in essence, if you don't take John's word for it, well, just look what my father is doing through me. Look at how he builds his case.
Speaker: He moves on from the human witness of John the Baptist to the divine evidence in God the Father. And it's a testimony I put in my notes, which is impossible to ignore.
Speaker: He begins, he says, but I have a greater witness than John. Why greater? Well, because these miracles cannot simply be dismissed as somebody's opinion. This is significant. John wants us to see that Jesus' miracles were never supposed to be just some display of supernatural power.
Speaker: It was always pointing towards the Father. Look what the Father has assigned me to do. Every miracle was a visible revelation of who Jesus is. Think back, just if you will, in our study in John.
Speaker: I flipped back this week, back to chapter 1, and I just kind of started looking through each of the miracles. The first miracle... In Cana, he turns water into wine. He's not merely rescuing an embarrassing bridegroom there.
Speaker: It's revealing Jesus is the only one who brings joy and abundant life. Then move on to Bethsaida a couple weeks ago. Jesus heals a man who had not been able to walk for 38 years. That miracle wasn't about restoring legs.
Speaker: We said it revealed Jesus' authority to restore what sin had broken him.
Speaker: And as looked through, I kept thinking myself this week, what does all of this say about who Jesus is? If it really is all about Jesus, which which it is, I put it at the very top of my Bible study notes today.
Speaker: it's It's every kid's favorite sermon. Because they can go home today and their parents can say, what was the sermon about? And they simply have to say, Jesus. It's all about Jesus.
Speaker: What I want you to write down and look at this week is John chapter 20, verse 30 through 31.
Speaker: This is the purpose statement for all of John. We've gone over this several times in different sermons. But he tells us exactly why Jesus has selected these particular miracles.
Speaker: It says, the disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book, meaning in John's gospel. But these are written so that, circle so that, that's your word, that's your purpose statement.
Speaker: So that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him, you will have life by the power of His name. Everything that is spoken in the Gospel of John points back to this very truth.
Speaker: That Jesus is the Son of God and it's through Him that you will have eternal life.
Speaker: They all point to a person. Where are at time-wise? Oh, we're doing great. I've got another hour.
Speaker: It points us to Jesus and ah and and I feel like a Baptist, if y'all can look up just for a second. rest of you guys are going to off the hook here for a second. I think sometimes we can elevate even God's Word above our relationship with Jesus.
Speaker: Sometimes this becomes somehow how we get saved. And it's not. It's this personal relationship with Jesus. God's Word always points us to Jesus.
Speaker: It's all about Jesus.
Speaker: Our temptation sometimes is to elevate God's word to where where it shouldn't be. We have to keep it balanced. We can weham become so fascinated sometimes, study so hard, become real Bible students that we miss Jesus himself.
Speaker: This is what the religious elite, by the way, it's happening to them. They're missing the person who's right in front of them. Alright, Jesus raises the stakes even one step higher. Look at verse 37. It says, And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself.
Speaker: Think about what he's saying here, friends. He's saying the creator of heaven and earth has personally testified concerning his son, and that son is Jesus.
Speaker: Right? Jesus' baptism. The Father declared, This is my dearly beloved son who brings me great joy. Later, Matthew 7, he says, This is my dearly beloved Son who brings me great joy. Listen to him.
Speaker: The Father's testimony was evident all throughout Jesus' ministry, pointing to Jesus. Everything that Jesus did reflected the God the Father's character perfectly, in perfect unity.
Speaker: In just a few weeks, maybe a few months, we'll get to chapter 10.
Speaker: Chapter 10, Jesus makes this phenomenal statement. He says, Father and I are one. This Hebrew word translated here the Greek, era ehod meaning there's only one.
Speaker: There's only one God and the Father and I are one. And I just put a note to myself, this is the linchpin argument for all Mormons. They can't get past this.
Speaker: They cannot get past this argument because they want to separate Jesus from as the son of God and they want to separate God the Father as separate. Three gods. Brothers sisters there's only one God.
Speaker: Anytime you have the Mormons come to your door, you simply just pointing point them right there, John 10.30. Put that in your notes. John 10.30. And you do it loving way, if I could just say that.
Speaker: Several times we've had the Mormons come to our house. You'd think they would have learned by now, but they don't. And I love them just the same because I point them right there. They can't get beyond John 1.1 and they can't get beyond John 10.30.
Speaker: just put a note to myself for those who aren't familiar. Mormonism is not Christianity. They're not the same. They use a lot of similar words, but they're not the same.
Speaker: Because they reject who Jesus is. He is the Son of God. And by rejecting Jesus, they reject God the Father who sent Him.
Speaker: What a major point of contention for me in the sermon this week is you cannot claim to know God while rejecting Jesus as Son. It's impossible.
Speaker: It's a difficult truth for these religious leaders to hear, and it's a difficult truth for many people to accept today. They they want a God that's somewhere out there, but they don't want to believe in Jesus who was sent by him.
Speaker: All the fathers who have sons, raise your hand. If you're father here today and you have a son, all right, good. This is for you. Imagine if you sent your son to deliver an important message on your behalf.
Speaker: You gave him exactly what to say, you gave him exact order to say it, and your son went out and he gave it exactly. He communicated exactly as you told him he did it an A plus job.
Speaker: And that person who received that message rejected it. They're not rejecting the messenger, they're rejecting the sender. They're rejecting God the Father.
Speaker: Jesus says exactly that, he says, the Father has sent me and to reject me means that you reject him. The real problem is not intellectual for some of you. It's very spiritual problem.
Speaker: He says here in verse 38, and I'm going to kind of try to land a little bit here, and I'm goingnna do i'm going to read the New Living Translation, and then going translate it a little bit for you. Verse 38, he says, You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, and you do not have his message in your hearts because you do not believe him you do not believe me, the one he sent to you.
Speaker: Here's the ransom translation, if I may. And I'm stick real close, but I'm gonna make it very very relative to you. He's speaking to these religious people who don't believe he's the son of God.
Speaker: He says, you all, imagine him collecting these guys in a circle. Hey, come here I wanna tell you something. you all, as he looks at their eyes and he scans them in the circle.
Speaker: You guys have never heard his voice or seen him face to face. And you all do not have his message in your hearts because you do not believe me, the one he sent to Would have been a slap in the face to these to these Bible experts, to these religious elite, to these people that everybody admired.
Speaker: Jesus tells them God's word does not truly dwell within them. They possess the scriptures, but the scriptures don't possess them. You might have memorized God's word, but it's not in your heart and it's not transforming you.
Speaker: I've heard it described this way by a prominent pastor. He said, owning a cookbook doesn't make you a chef.
Speaker: You can read the recipe. You can memorize the ingredients. You can even quote which page that's on. But until you actually prepare that meal, that recipe remains words on a paper.
Speaker: The same is true for you, brothers and sisters. You can attend Bible church. You can come to church here. You can go to Bible study class. You can know a lot about theology. All those things are great things. All those things are wonderful things.
Speaker: But none of those things save you. Only Christ saves you. And the Bible's purpose is to point us to reveal our brokenness and our need of Jesus.
Speaker: He says, verse 39, jump down there, he says, you search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. Right? They're elevating God's word above this personal relationship with Jesus.
Speaker: You search, you examine, you study, you investigate, you gather all the evidence, and you still somehow think that this saves you. These are not casual readers. They're experts. They're memorized large portions of the Old Testament. They've copied it. They've taught it. They've debated it. They've protected it. They've devoted their lives to it, and they've missed the point.
Speaker: Some of you here this morning are sitting here, and you're missing the point.
Speaker: He says it's not the scriptures that save you. It is the scriptures that point to me. i and I alone have the ability to save.
Speaker: It's not just a warning for first century Pharisees. It's a warning for you and I today.
Speaker: We can often forget the ultimate purpose of the Bible and that's to point us to Jesus. Alright. I'm going to wrap it. I say we have at least four more pages of notes and it's just not going to happen today.
Speaker: I'm be selective.
Speaker: How do we apply this to our lives today, this week?
Speaker: I want you just to continue to hold your Bible in its proper light. Understanding its proper authority in your life. But this week, I want you to treat your daily Bible reading a little bit differently, if you will.
Speaker: Before you jump in, whether it's early in the morning for some of you who are morning people or it's late in the evening, before you jump in and start reading, I want you just to pause for 30 seconds and I want you to pray this simple prayer.
Speaker: Father, don't let me merely learn about Jesus today. Help me to see him and to love him more deeply and to obey what your word shows me about him.
Speaker: And when you're finished reading, Simply say this, what did that passion show me about Jesus?
Speaker: And how am I supposed to respond to that truth? That simple practice, brothers and sisters, will keep the guardrails, if you will, when you read your Bible. It'll keep you from merely taking this for information's sake, for knowledge's sake.
Speaker: And it'll help you move from God's Word from your head to your heart and from your heart to your everyday lives. Amen? What if you don't know Jesus today? I thought about that as I asked each one of these young folks who were getting ready to be baptized. First question I had for them is, ah do you do you know Jesus? Do you have a relationship with Jesus? Is he your Lord and Savior?
Speaker: That's the same question I'm going ask you today as as Judy gets ready to play.
Speaker: Be honest with yourselves.
Speaker: I love it. Last night at the at the at the main event, The lights were down. But, you know, if I could just change one thing pastorally about this church, I would turn all the lights down in here whenever I preach.
Speaker: So that you don't see each other. And so whenever I ask you to pray, you guys pray without seeing anybody in front you. And when I ask for you to really inspect your heart, that you could care a less who's sitting next to you because you couldn't see him Because brothers sisters, there's going to come a time in your life that you're going to stand in front of the Almighty.
Speaker: And it's not going to matter who's who's sitting next to you. Perhaps you've never trusted your life to Christ. The Bible says today could be that day. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 10, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Speaker: You don't need a miracle. You don't need another argument. You don't need any more evidence. You've heard it all. You have everything you need to do. You just need to respond. Today, as Judy plays, will you please come forward?
Speaker: Will you be bold enough? The pastor said last night, be bold kids, stand up and come forward. I will tell you adults, be bold today. Don't miss this opportunity as Judy plays stand up. For some of you, you may already know Christ, but the invitation may be different today.
Speaker: Are you seeking the approval of man instead of the approval of God? If that's you today, would you come forward? Lord, give me the courage to follow regardless what everybody else may say, regardless of what it means to my family.
Speaker: Would you come forward? If that's your prayer, He will gladly answer it, and I will gladly welcome you down front.
