STUDY THEME: GOD’S BOOK OF GRACE. SS02-23-03
THE BIBLE: ITS TESTIMONY. JOHN 5:31-35, 36, 37-38, 39-47; ACTS 17:1-6, 10-12.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO JOHN 5.
In two different passages---one that describes Jesus and His ministry, and the other describes Paul and his ministry---we read about the testimony of the Word of God about Jesus. The theme appears often in John’s Gospel; 1:29, 1:40-51, 2:11 and 4:54; 3:11-13 and 4:1.
In the broader text in John 5, Jesus calls on four specific witnesses, other than Himself, to make testimony of who He is.
Possibly one of the best testimonies of Jesus ever given was given that Sunday afternoon, the day of His resurrection, as He joined two men walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Luke 24:27 says as they walked along Jesus,
"beginning at Moses and all the prophets expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself."1. PLEASE READ JOHN 5:31-35.
What does Jesus mean in Vs. 31,
"If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true?" He means that if He alone bears witness of Himself, that testimony is not valid. We read elsewhere that "In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established." He says, "Now if you have to depend only upon what I say, I recognize that that would not be valid as a testimony." Then He adds, "But I have other witnesses to corroborate what I have been telling you." He then brings four additional witnesses that give absolutely clear testimonies to the fact that He is indeed the Sent One of the Father, and all these are in addition to His own declaration.In these verses 31-35, we have the witness of John the Baptist. Jesus might have borne witness of Himself alone, but He declined to do it. Instead He said,
"There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true." In John 1: 6-8, John the apostle wrote, "There was a man sent from God whose name was John (the baptizer). This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through Him might believe. He (John) was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light." Then in John 1:15-34, we have the witness of John the Baptist. He concludes in John 1:34, "I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." On another occasion he pointed Jesus out and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."When John wrote his Gospel the witness of John the Baptist had been silent for some time. Herod had slain him, but his testimony remained, and today we may still hear the voice of John the Baptist declaring that Jesus is the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Pre-existent One. You will find additional witness of John the Baptist concerning Jesus in Matt. 3:1-17, Mark 1: 11, and Luke 3: 1-22.
But now the Savior says,
I have another witness." What is this witness? Please look with me at John 5:36. Jesus said "The works which the Father hath given Me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me." And that is the reason for the miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ. He wrought those mighty acts of power in order that He might prove that He was the Sent One of the Father. But Jesus never wrought a miracle simply to magnify Himself. They were performed to alleviate human suffering and help mankind.All this had been predicted beforehand in the O.T. The prophets had declared that the eyes of the blind should be opened, the ears of the deaf should be made to hear, the lame man should leap with joy, sorrow and sickness should flee away, and the prison-house of sin should be opened. These things the Lord fulfilled during those three years. These wonderful works and miracles, those mighty acts of His, all bore testimony to the fact that He was indeed the Sent One of the Father.
Look at that poor leper. He comes to Him all covered with sores. He cries out in agony,
"Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." Jesus looks upon him and He, the Holy One, is not afraid of being defiled by this uncleanness, so He puts His hand on him and says, "I will, be thou clean." Do you think that man doubted that Jesus was sent from the Father? Would he raise any question as to the Deity of the Son of God?And that poor widow outside of the city of Nain, following the funeral procession of her only son, till Jesus came and stopped it all! Mr. Moody said, "You can’t find any direction as to how to conduct a funeral service in the Bible. Jesus broke up every funeral He ever attended! So he interfered here, and said to the young man, "
I say unto thee, arise," and Jesus gave him to his mother. Do you think she doubted that He was the Sent One of the Father? "The same works that I do bear witness of Me."Go over to Bethany by that grave in the hillside, and listen as Jesus cries with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth,: and see him come shuffling out, bound by grave-clothes, and the two sisters rush to meet that beloved brother brought back from the dead. Any doubt there that Jesus is the Sent One of the Father? These were the works that bore witness of Him.
Time will not permit us to recount all the other wonderful works that bore witness of Him. But the most wonderful thing of all, when at last He Himself had died and yielded His spirit to the Father, and His body had been laid away in the tomb, and on the third day He came forth and was declared to be the Son of God with power. Yes, the works of Jesus bear witness to the fact that He is the Son of God.
2. PLEASE READ JOHN 5: 37-38.
We have had three witnesses. Now there is another, in Vs. 37, "
And the Father Himself, which hath sent Me, hath born witness of Me." How did the Father bear witness to the fact that Jesus was His Eternal Son, sent into the world for our salvation? When the Savior offered Himself at the Jordan to become the substituted for our sins, and John baptized Him there; when He came up from the watery grave, the heavens opened and the Spirit of God was seen descending like a dove, and the Father’s voice was heard saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!" (or, in whom I have found all My delight.") This was the Father’s testimony.Not only then, but, on the Mount of Transfiguration, once more the Father said,
"This is My Beloved Son: hear Him!" And later on when Jesus on that other occasion lifted up His voice and said, "Father, glorify Thy name," a voice was heard from heaven saying, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." Three times the voice of the Father was heard from heaven accrediting the Person and the mission of His blessed Son, while here on earth.3. PLEASE READ JOHN 5: 39-47.
Then there is a fifth witness. Vs. 39 says, "
Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of Me". Certainly the Spirit of God again and again commands us to search this blessed Word. He was talking to these leaders in Israel. They read and studied their Bibles, and He said to them, "Ye search the Scriptures, believing that, in them ye had eternal life." That is, you take it for granted that you are going to have life by becoming familiar with and obeying the Scripture, but unless you trust the One of whom the Scripture speaks, you will not have eternal life. In 2 Tim. 3:15, when speaking to Timothy who had been brought up on the Word of God, the apostle said, "From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus."Notice that it is not simply familiarity with the Bible that will give you eternal life. It is becoming acquainted with the blessed Son, who is the theme of the story. So Jesus says, "You have the Bible. Go back into the O.T. and as you read the O.T. you will find that they are speaking of Me." He was the theme of the entire O.T.
All through the O.T. we have Jesus preached in type and in prophecy.
"They are they which testify of Me." The Scriptures tell of Jesus and Christ authenticates the Scriptures. Prophecy after prophecy was fulfilled in Him.He shows that the entire O.T. is the Word of the living God. Now He says,
"You read your Bible, and yet you will not come to Me that you might have eternal life." My dear friend, do you know Christ? You are familiar with the Bible and some of you are depending upon that knowledge for salvation. Have you received the Christ of whom that Book speaks? Have you trusted the Savior of whom the prophets wrote? Have you believed in the One who came in grace to die for sinners? This is the theme of the whole Bible. It is a pitiful thing to pretend to honor the Bible while rejecting the Christ of the Bible.PLEASE TURN NOW TO THE BOOK OF ACTS.
4. PLEASE READ CTS 17: 1-6.
These events took place on Paul’s second missionary journey. The coming of Christianity to Thessalonica was an event of the first importance. The great Roman road from the Adriatic Sea to the Middle East was called the Egnation Way; and the main street of Thessalonica was actually part of that road. If Christianity was firmly founded in Thessalonica it would spread both east and west along that road until the road become a very highway of the progress of the Kingdom of God.
The very first verse of this chapter is an extraordinary example of the economy of Luke, the writer of Acts. It sounds like a pleasant stroll; but in fact Philippi was 33 Roman miles from Amphipolis; Amphipolis was 30 miles from Apollonia; and Appolonia was 37 miles from Thessalonica. A journey of over 100 miles is dismissed in one sentence.
As usual Paul began his work in Thessalonica in the Synagogue. All the persecution that followed Paul through the Asian cities were due to the Jews; yet in Europe Paul continued to go first to the Synagogue. In Vs. 3 Paul’s argument was twofold: that (1) according to the Scriptures, the Christ (Messiah) had to suffer and rise again: and (2) Jesus of Nazareth was that Messiah.
Paul’s one theme was Jesus Christ, whom he proved to be the true Savior, the promised Messiah, and who, as the O.T. declared, must necessarily have suffered for sin and risen from the dead. The Epistles show further the great stress laid upon the Second Coming of Christ as the glorious King. It was the last doctrine upon which the enemies of Paul laid hold, as they aroused a mob in the city and attempted to seize the Apostle.
In Thessalonica Paul’s great success was not so much among the Jews as among the Gentiles who were attached to the Synagogue because of the attraction of the Jewish faith. This infuriated the Jews for they looked on these very Gentiles as their natural preserves and Paul was stealing them, as they thought, before their very eyes. Vs. 4 describes the initial response in Thessalonica. Some of the Jews responded positively and believed. But of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few responded positively.
The methods the Jews took to stop Paul were low in the extreme. First, they aroused people who could only be described as "the corner boys," or "the loafers of the market place." Paul was staying with Jason but was not there at the time. When they had dragged Jason and his friends before the magistrates they charged the Christian preachers with preaching political insurrection and rebellion---a charge which they knew was a lie.
The central charge was that of high treason against Caesar; that they were preaching "that there is another King, one Jesus."
"Those," they said, "who are upsetting the civilized world have arrived here." That is one of the greatest compliments which has ever been paid to Christianity. Actually, Paul and Silas turned the city right side up with the preaching of the Word of God. When Christianity really goes into action it must cause a revolution both in the life of the individual and in the life of society.After Paul had preached three weeks in Thessalonica, his enemies started a riot protesting the work of the Christian missionaries. With the result we are familiar. The apostle left Thessalonica; but the victor there must be measured by the Thessalonian letters. It became a center from which the Gospel sounded out through the whole region, even after the Apostle had left; and the Thessalonians themselves are revealed in his description,
"Ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven." Paul and Silas were sent away.5. PLEASE READ ACTS 17: 10-12.
Berea was 60 miles west of Thessalonica. So they passed to Berea, and there again to the synagogue of the Jews they came. Even though Berea was an out of the way town, Luke describes the Bereans as ‘more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica." They were "open minded toward" the Word of God. Undoubtedly the process of preaching was identical, but notice the difference. Vs. 11 says that they searched the Scriptures daily, examining them, sifting the evidence. They listened to Paul’s preaching with a cautious skepticism that motivated them to turn to the Scriptures to verify the testimony Paul and Silas gave to them. As a result, many believed the testimony about Christ given in the Scriptures.
Three things stand out in this short section. The preaching of Paul was almost entirely scriptural. He set the people of Berea searching the Scriptures. The one thing that made the Jews certain that Jesus was not the Messiah was the fact that He had been crucified. To them a man who had been crucified was a man accursed. It was no doubt in passages like Isaiah 53 that Paul set the people of Berea to find a forecast of the work of Jesus. Believing the O.T. many of the Bereans believed the Gospel of Christ.
In what did their nobility consist? We generally say in reading the story, that they were more noble in that they manifested greater readiness to receive. But it was not quick belief that made them noble, for they were skeptical; but their skepticism was accompanied by determined anxiety to find out. The noble hearer is not the man who immediately says Yes, to the interpretation of the preacher. The noble hearer is the man who appeals again and again to the Scriptures themselves, to find out if these things be true.
I sometimes think that the greater advantage that the Bereans had was that they would get their Bible down and say, Is this man right? That is nobility. It is not the nobility of the readiness to believe anything. It is the nobility of being determined to find out if human interpretation is in accord with the actual Scripture. Paul interpreted the Scripture before the Bereans, and they listened with a skeptical and honest inquiry, a determination to seek and know and examine, and they made the Scriptures the test of the interpretation.
Those in Thessalolnica were persuaded, and those in Berea believed. Those who were not so noble needed persuasion; but the men who sifted for themselves, and were skeptical, came to find a larger faith their own. Paul’s stay in Thessalonica shows how the Gospel should be preached; his experience in Berea shows how it should be received.
Those who study the Bible but reject Jesus miss the life Jesus alone can give. The Bible points to Him. The focus of the good news in the Bible is the death of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead. People need to carefully examine the Bible eagerly and daily. Those who hear the good news should believe the message and join a Bible-believing church. The life impact of this lesson is to help us regularly study the Scriptures to learn about and follow Jesus.
The central subject of Scripture is Jesus. The Scripture presents Jesus as a fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel. The Scripture testifies that Jesus is the Savior who provides life to all who believe in Him.
NEXT SUNDAY WE BEGIN A 5 LESSON STUDY OF PRAYER. THE FIRST LESSON DEALS WITH "PRAYING TO PLEASE GOD." A.V. DAUGHERTY SS02-23-03