[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 7th of June, 2015. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
One particular Sabbath, Jesus entered Jerusalem and came upon a man who had suffered an infirmity for 38 years. Jesus healed the man and told him to take up his bed and walk, which the man did. The Jews told the man he was breaking the law by carrying a load on the Sabbath, but he answered he was simply doing what Jesus told him to do. So the Jews took issue with Jesus for ordering the man to break the law. But Jesus responded He was only doing the work of His Father, as His Father had been doing all along.
The Apostle John tells us this declaration enflamed the Jews and made them all the more determined to put an end to Jesus. For not only had He broken the Sabbath but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
Listen and follow along to what Jesus offered to the Jews for witnesses of His authority, as recorded by the Apostle John in his Gospel account, chapter 5 verses 31 through 47, from the Contemporary English Version of our Bible…
The Apostle John tells us this declaration enflamed the Jews and made them all the more determined to put an end to Jesus. For not only had He broken the Sabbath but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
Listen and follow along to what Jesus offered to the Jews for witnesses of His authority, as recorded by the Apostle John in his Gospel account, chapter 5 verses 31 through 47, from the Contemporary English Version of our Bible…
31 “If I speak for myself, there is no way to prove I am telling the truth. 32 But there is someone else who speaks for Me, and I know what He says is true. 33 You sent messengers to John, and he told them the truth. 34 I don’t depend on what people say about Me, but I tell you these things so that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that gave a lot of light, and you were glad to enjoy his light for a while.
36 “But something more important than John speaks for Me. I mean the things that the Father has given Me to do! All of these speak for Me and prove that the Father sent Me.
37 “The Father who sent Me also speaks for Me, but you have never heard His voice or seen Him face to face. 38 You have not believed His message, because you refused to have faith in the One He sent.
39 “You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about Me, 40 but you refuse to come to Me for eternal life.
41 “I don’t care about human praise, 42 but I do know that none of you love God. 43 I have come with My Father’s authority, and you have not welcomed Me. But you will welcome people who come on their own. 44 How could you possibly believe? You like to have your friends praise you, and you don’t care about praise that the only God can give!
45 “Don’t think that I will be the one to accuse you to the Father. You have put your hope in Moses, yet he is the very one who will accuse you. 46 Moses wrote about Me, and if you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me. 47 But if you don’t believe what Moses wrote, how can you believe what I say?”
--John 5:31-47 (CEV)
Let us pray… Father, my personal prayer is that may all I do and say bring unity to Your Son’s church and not division. May I be a channel for Your love and peace to flow through to each of Your children. May I serve as Your voice this and every morning, speaking Your word to Your people. And may Your Holy Spirit move throughout this room, touching every soul with Your grace. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Mr. George Sweeting, in his book The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, tells of a man by the name of John Currier who was found guilty of murder in 1949 and sentenced to life in prison. At some point while serving his sentence, John was transferred and then paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.
Nineteen years later, in 1968, John's sentence was terminated, and a letter bearing the good news was sent to him. But John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it. Life on that farm was hard and held no promise for the future. Yet John kept doing what he was told even after the farmer for whom he worked had died.
Ten more years went by before a state parole officer learned about John's plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man.
Mr. Sweeting concluded this story by asking a rather haunting question: "Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message - the most important in your life - and year after year that urgent message was never delivered?"
You know me, Family – I like to ask questions, too…
Have we here this morning all heard the Good News about Jesus and the promise of eternal life He offers? Have we accepted that news and found freedom in Christ? Have we shared that good news with those who are still enslaved by sin? Are we doing all we can to make sure the people who so desperately need it receive that most important message?
In today’s scripture, Jesus speaks of many witnesses to His authority, many “voices” that proclaim Him to be Lord, the Christ, the true Son of God. I count at least five testifiers to His true identity:
First was John the Baptist, who witnessed and testified to the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus when He rose from the waters after being baptized, and the voice from heaven proclaiming Jesus to be the Son of God, of whom the Father was proud.
But a greater proof than John’s testimony are the great feats and miracles Jesus performed during His ministry, the works God gave Him to finish, the very works that He was sent to do. Could any mere human have performed such miracles, even today?
Of course, God Himself testified to the validity of Jesus’ claim to the divine when He made that statement from heaven, speaking with pride of His Son. But the Jews did not hear His voice, nor do they even have the true word of God in them. And what an indictment of the religious leadership that was!
The fourth witness to Jesus’ authority can be found in the very scriptures that the Jews searched through, as do we, too, I pray. But Jesus claimed the Jews searched the texts looking for salvation and eternal life without seeing the very thing they sought standing right before them! They looked to their scripture but refused to come to Jesus.
And the fifth witness by my reckoning is that ancient Jewish hero, Moses, who wrote about Jesus so very long ago. If you’re wondering about that last, let’s look for a moment at just one reference Moses made to Jesus. Let’s go back to the Garden of Eden, with God rebuking the serpent just after Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord, as Moses recorded in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15…
Mr. George Sweeting, in his book The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, tells of a man by the name of John Currier who was found guilty of murder in 1949 and sentenced to life in prison. At some point while serving his sentence, John was transferred and then paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.
Nineteen years later, in 1968, John's sentence was terminated, and a letter bearing the good news was sent to him. But John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it. Life on that farm was hard and held no promise for the future. Yet John kept doing what he was told even after the farmer for whom he worked had died.
Ten more years went by before a state parole officer learned about John's plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man.
Mr. Sweeting concluded this story by asking a rather haunting question: "Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message - the most important in your life - and year after year that urgent message was never delivered?"
You know me, Family – I like to ask questions, too…
Have we here this morning all heard the Good News about Jesus and the promise of eternal life He offers? Have we accepted that news and found freedom in Christ? Have we shared that good news with those who are still enslaved by sin? Are we doing all we can to make sure the people who so desperately need it receive that most important message?
In today’s scripture, Jesus speaks of many witnesses to His authority, many “voices” that proclaim Him to be Lord, the Christ, the true Son of God. I count at least five testifiers to His true identity:
First was John the Baptist, who witnessed and testified to the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus when He rose from the waters after being baptized, and the voice from heaven proclaiming Jesus to be the Son of God, of whom the Father was proud.
But a greater proof than John’s testimony are the great feats and miracles Jesus performed during His ministry, the works God gave Him to finish, the very works that He was sent to do. Could any mere human have performed such miracles, even today?
Of course, God Himself testified to the validity of Jesus’ claim to the divine when He made that statement from heaven, speaking with pride of His Son. But the Jews did not hear His voice, nor do they even have the true word of God in them. And what an indictment of the religious leadership that was!
The fourth witness to Jesus’ authority can be found in the very scriptures that the Jews searched through, as do we, too, I pray. But Jesus claimed the Jews searched the texts looking for salvation and eternal life without seeing the very thing they sought standing right before them! They looked to their scripture but refused to come to Jesus.
And the fifth witness by my reckoning is that ancient Jewish hero, Moses, who wrote about Jesus so very long ago. If you’re wondering about that last, let’s look for a moment at just one reference Moses made to Jesus. Let’s go back to the Garden of Eden, with God rebuking the serpent just after Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord, as Moses recorded in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15…
15 “And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
--Genesis 3:15 (NKJV)
Now the “S” in “her Seed” and the “H” in “His heel” are both capitalized, which means they refer to a divine being. In this case, they point to Jesus, the Messiah, the Seed of Eve.
So with all those testimonies Jesus points out, how could anyone not believe? How could the Jews refuse to accept Jesus on the basis of His miracles alone? How could people today refuse Him with all we know and all we can see and read?
Well, there are people who simply won’t accept Jesus. They don’t believe in Him or in the Good News that He brings to this fallen world. They don’t believe a word of what He or anyone else says, no matter how many testimonies or witnesses they hear. But maybe they just haven’t heard it from the right person yet.
They are not likely to listen to a preacher, like me, just because I am a preacher and they don’t think me to be objective. They might not pay any attention to 99 out of a 100 people that try to explain what Jesus means to them. But that one remaining person may just be someone they will listen to, someone who just happens to touch them in the right way, someone that catches their interest and lights a spark in their soul. That one person just might be you.
Howard Hendricks, a longtime professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, once said, “In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering.” That can be quite a frustrating experience, can’t it? You’re trying to speak, trying to get your message out, but the words just won’t come. Your brain can pick out the right words, but your mouth refuses to form them. And you stammer and you stutter as you strain to form a coherent sentence.
On the other side, you are trying really hard to understand. You’re waiting patiently for the words to flow but instead they dribble out in clumps and wads. Where is the message? What is this person trying to tell me?
If both sides of this conversation are patient and really want to communicate, the message will eventually be delivered. But what if the person you’re trying to reach doesn’t want to hear what you have to say? What if they just want to get on with their own life and not have to worry about all this Christianity stuff? What if they’d rather keep enjoying the things they do and the independence they cherish rather than to obey this Jesus person or claim Him to be their Master? What if they’re just not willing to stand there while we stammer away, trying to form a sentence that will carry the message of salvation? What can we do?
As the Apostle Paul anticipated his death, he wrote a second letter to his dear friend and protégé Timothy, offering him and us an instruction and an encouragement. Listen as I read from 2nd Timothy chapter 1, the first part of verse 8 and the last part of verse 12…
So with all those testimonies Jesus points out, how could anyone not believe? How could the Jews refuse to accept Jesus on the basis of His miracles alone? How could people today refuse Him with all we know and all we can see and read?
Well, there are people who simply won’t accept Jesus. They don’t believe in Him or in the Good News that He brings to this fallen world. They don’t believe a word of what He or anyone else says, no matter how many testimonies or witnesses they hear. But maybe they just haven’t heard it from the right person yet.
They are not likely to listen to a preacher, like me, just because I am a preacher and they don’t think me to be objective. They might not pay any attention to 99 out of a 100 people that try to explain what Jesus means to them. But that one remaining person may just be someone they will listen to, someone who just happens to touch them in the right way, someone that catches their interest and lights a spark in their soul. That one person just might be you.
Howard Hendricks, a longtime professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, once said, “In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering.” That can be quite a frustrating experience, can’t it? You’re trying to speak, trying to get your message out, but the words just won’t come. Your brain can pick out the right words, but your mouth refuses to form them. And you stammer and you stutter as you strain to form a coherent sentence.
On the other side, you are trying really hard to understand. You’re waiting patiently for the words to flow but instead they dribble out in clumps and wads. Where is the message? What is this person trying to tell me?
If both sides of this conversation are patient and really want to communicate, the message will eventually be delivered. But what if the person you’re trying to reach doesn’t want to hear what you have to say? What if they just want to get on with their own life and not have to worry about all this Christianity stuff? What if they’d rather keep enjoying the things they do and the independence they cherish rather than to obey this Jesus person or claim Him to be their Master? What if they’re just not willing to stand there while we stammer away, trying to form a sentence that will carry the message of salvation? What can we do?
As the Apostle Paul anticipated his death, he wrote a second letter to his dear friend and protégé Timothy, offering him and us an instruction and an encouragement. Listen as I read from 2nd Timothy chapter 1, the first part of verse 8 and the last part of verse 12…
8a Don’t be ashamed to speak for our Lord.
12b I know the one I have faith in, and I am sure that He can guard until the last day what He has trusted me with.
--2 Timothy 1:8a, 12b (CEV)
You see, the neat thing is, it doesn’t matter if we stutter or not when we’re trying to get our message across. It doesn’t matter if we seem to struggle just giving voice to our testimony about Jesus. If we are willing to let Him, God will place us on the path of someone who needs Jesus - whether they know it or not, whether they believe it or not. He will put us on that path because we are the only one that person will listen to. And it won’t matter what we say, because the Holy Spirit will do the talking. We just have to be there, at the right place and at the right time – God will do the rest.
In the first part of verse 17 from the 2nd chapter of his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul provides this wonderful assurance…
In the first part of verse 17 from the 2nd chapter of his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul provides this wonderful assurance…
17 Your faith in the Lord and your service are like a sacrifice offered to Him.
--Philippians 2:17a (CEV)
By our faith in His Son Jesus Christ, when we make an offering to the Lord of our service, He will accept that sacrifice and honor it. All we have to do is try, to sacrifice some of our time for Jesus, to stand up as a witness to Him and the Good News He brought into this dark and fallen world.
Make the effort. Make the sacrifice. And maybe save a soul.
Who speaks for Jesus? We do.
Amen.
Let us pray… Heavenly Father, when Your Son Jesus walked this earth, He performed miracles beyond our ability to even comprehend. He fulfilled prophecies spoken hundreds, even thousands of years before He came to us in human form as a tiny baby, one of us. These mighty acts should have served as signs to a world that had for so long yearned for a Redeemer, a Messiah, a Christ. Yet the world did not know Him - the world refused to know Him.
Father, You have blessed us with the faith and wisdom to realize just who Jesus is, and to accept Him as not only our Christ, our Savior, but also as our Lord and Master. Please help us honor that pledge, Lord, to give our lives to Jesus, to follow His commands, to obey His and Your word. Because we live in the world, Lord, we struggle to not let its influence control our lives. The world might not know or respect You, Lord Jesus, but we do. We want only to serve You while we take breath.
Lord Jesus, You gave us a command to go into the world making disciples, sharing Your Gospel, that best of all possible Good News, with people who may not want to hear it, but who so desperately need to. Strengthen us, Lord; encourage us to do Your bidding. Let us be the one person that someone might actually pause and listen to. And that through us they might come to You. Help us, please Jesus, to put aside our differences among ourselves so that we can show unity as a church within a world that is increasingly fragmented by conflict and turmoil. Let us stand as a beacon of hope to those who seek shelter from the storm of life raging around them.
Father God, please listen now as we pause here in the quiet, under the cover of this beautiful building You have blessed us with, as we lift our personal needs and our thanks to You straight from our hearts...
Father God, fill us now with Your love, Your peace, Your strength. Empower us through Your Holy Spirit to carry out the mission Your Son Jesus gave us. Soften the hearts of those we encounter that they may hear our testimony. May we be a witness to Your mercy, Your grace, and Your promise of salvation through Your Son our Lord.
In the blessed name of Jesus we give You thanks, we seek Your forgiveness, we ask for Your help, and we earnestly pray. Amen.
Make the effort. Make the sacrifice. And maybe save a soul.
Who speaks for Jesus? We do.
Amen.
Let us pray… Heavenly Father, when Your Son Jesus walked this earth, He performed miracles beyond our ability to even comprehend. He fulfilled prophecies spoken hundreds, even thousands of years before He came to us in human form as a tiny baby, one of us. These mighty acts should have served as signs to a world that had for so long yearned for a Redeemer, a Messiah, a Christ. Yet the world did not know Him - the world refused to know Him.
Father, You have blessed us with the faith and wisdom to realize just who Jesus is, and to accept Him as not only our Christ, our Savior, but also as our Lord and Master. Please help us honor that pledge, Lord, to give our lives to Jesus, to follow His commands, to obey His and Your word. Because we live in the world, Lord, we struggle to not let its influence control our lives. The world might not know or respect You, Lord Jesus, but we do. We want only to serve You while we take breath.
Lord Jesus, You gave us a command to go into the world making disciples, sharing Your Gospel, that best of all possible Good News, with people who may not want to hear it, but who so desperately need to. Strengthen us, Lord; encourage us to do Your bidding. Let us be the one person that someone might actually pause and listen to. And that through us they might come to You. Help us, please Jesus, to put aside our differences among ourselves so that we can show unity as a church within a world that is increasingly fragmented by conflict and turmoil. Let us stand as a beacon of hope to those who seek shelter from the storm of life raging around them.
Father God, please listen now as we pause here in the quiet, under the cover of this beautiful building You have blessed us with, as we lift our personal needs and our thanks to You straight from our hearts...
Father God, fill us now with Your love, Your peace, Your strength. Empower us through Your Holy Spirit to carry out the mission Your Son Jesus gave us. Soften the hearts of those we encounter that they may hear our testimony. May we be a witness to Your mercy, Your grace, and Your promise of salvation through Your Son our Lord.
In the blessed name of Jesus we give You thanks, we seek Your forgiveness, we ask for Your help, and we earnestly pray. Amen.
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