Again, tonight, the John's Gospel, and we're at
chapter 10.
Now, we're starting at verse 30 this evening,
and we're going down to the end of
the chapter.
Verse 30 reads like this, I and my
Father are one, and I'm calling this this
evening, Christ's confessed deity.
You see, I spoke to you last week
and pointed out that the word my is
in italics, and I think it's very necessary
to see this, because I believe, as many
other scholars believe, that the verse should read
like this, I and the Father are one.
You see, when Christ uses the word my
Father, in every other portion of the Gospels,
he always speaks of the servant of Jehovah.
You see, the very first utterance of Christ,
recorded, is this one, when Joseph and Mary
came seeking for him, when they had lost
him.
You remember, he responded by saying, which he
not that I must be about my Father's
business, and he's speaking of the servant of
Jehovah.
Almost his last words were, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And, again, it's the cry of the servant
who is the sacrifice.
But, on this occasion, he's not speaking of
the servant of Jehovah, he's speaking of the
co-equal.
Otherwise, he couldn't have put the I first,
he said I am, and if he's not
speaking of the co-equal of God, I
think it's very bad manners to put the
I first.
But, here we have the co-equal, and
the co-eternal one, saying I am the
Father.
You see, it's God the Father, and God
the Son here, is brought into the picture,
and we're calling this the concept deity of
Christ.
Then, we shall go on from there, to
look up the Jews revealed to prophecy.
The moment this tremendous statement that we'll look
up in detail in a moment was made,
verse thirty-one says, then the Jews took
up stones again to stone him.
Oh, when you see men with their hands
filled with stones, and their hearts filled with
murder, and their heads filled with envy, surely
we're about looking up to prophecy against a
wonderful person like Christ.
Surely this is to prophecy.
And then, we shall go on from there
to look up this supposed blasphemy.
Some people don't understand the meaning of verse
thirty, certainly the Jews did, because at the
end of verse thirty-three they said, we're
stoning thee for blasphemy, because that thou being
a man makest thyself gods.
Oh, they understood all right.
If the Jehovah's Witnesses don't understand verse thirty,
certainly the Jews did.
Oh yes, they understood what he was talking
about.
Thou being a man makest thyself gods.
This is the supposed blasphemy.
Oh, we'll look it up in detail in
a moment or two.
Then we shall move on from there to
Christ's affirmed surety.
You see, he spoke to them very gently
about their laws, and that it was written
in their law, I said, God said, ye
are gods.
You see, he called them gods unto whom
the word of God came, and the scripture
cometh be brutal.
Such a beautiful phrase.
How wonderful our Lord Jesus Christ gave us
this word.
He was absolutely sure, you might remember, that
the scripture, and when he put that word
in, he was embracing the prophets, and the
law, and the Psalms, all the old testament
that they had just then.
He said, the scripture cometh be brutal.
My, the modernists would need to sit up
a seat and learn, but they're too slow.
Then we shall take time to look at
this phrase tonight, verse 36, say ye of
him whom the Father hath sanctified, and we
want to look at Christ's sanctified capacity.
Then we shall go on to look at
the works, his ability, and we'll end with
this phrase that the people beyond Jordan said,
John did no medical, but all things that
John spake of this man were true.
Christ successed the domesty.
There are these verses before you, Christ confessed
deity, the Jews revealed depravity, Christ supposed blasphemy,
Christ's profound surety, Christ's sanctified capacity, Christ displayed
ability, and Christ successed the domesty.
Now there are the bones, but the bones
are no use, we need to put the
piece on the bones.
So let's really tackle this portion bit by
bit.
The Lord Jesus is speaking here in verse
30, and notice that he puts the I
first.
If you were speaking about your Father, you
would say my Father and I, but he
said I and the Father are one.
Not only do we get co-equality here,
and not only do we see unity in
the one, but we are gazing now at
Christ confessing his own dignity.
Yes, he is confessing that he's God.
He's just saying, I, God the Son, I'm
God the Father.
Now, I want you to get this one
mess, and there are great arguments about this.
You know, he's not talking like a Unitarian,
because there are quite a number in the
land, the Knights who have again embraced Unitarianism,
they call it one mess.
Oh, I know.
I believe he spoke at a trinity of
it, and I'm perfectly sure that the Bible
teaches the trinity, all right.
When our Lord Jesus was being baptized, just
as he came up out of the water,
and there he is, there's a voice from
heaven, and don't try to tell me he
was acting like a philoquist, because he's on
the bank, and the Father is speaking from
heaven, and in between comes the Spirit, like
a dove, and you've got Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit there.
I was talking to one of these fellows
who believes that Jesus is the Father and
the Spirit, and he doesn't believe in trinity,
he said they're one.
And here's a little verse that I've turned
into, and I'd like you to have a
look at.
It's in 2nd John, you know, 1st, 2nd,
3rd John, well, just 2nd John will do
you this time.
This is John writing on to the Elect
Lady, and here's what is said in 2nd
John, verse 9, just one chapter.
He said, Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in
the doctrine of Christ hath not God.
He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ,
he hath both the Father and the Son.
And I said to him, could you tell
me what the word both means?
And I would want to know again if
both means one.
My dear friends, of course there is one
God, but there is a plurality of persons
taught in the book.
In the beginning was the Word, and if
you want to go down John's Gospel and
find out who the Word was, you go
down to verse 14.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld His glory as of the
only begotten of the Father.
The Word was the only begotten of the
Father.
Here's the first verse again.
In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God.
Or as Hendrickson translated the actual Greek, the
Word was face to face with God.
Of course there are personalities in the Godhead,
but we're not after that so much tonight.
We're just getting the hold of this, that
Christ is confessing His deity here.
I am the Father of one.
One what?
One in purpose, one in power.
Why, the thing follows what we were asked
last week.
Watch this, go back a couple of verses.
See verse 28, it's talking about the sheep.
I give unto them eternal life, and they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
them out of My hands.
My Father which gave them Me is greater
than all, and no man is able to
pluck them out of My Father's hands.
I am the Father, I'm one in this
purpose.
We'll keep the sheep, yet they're one in
power.
Distinct personalities, both the Father and the Son,
but one in power.
But the thing that touched the Jews was
this, when He said, I am the Father,
when He placed Himself right there, they knew
exactly what He meant, My sitting in the
place of God, God the Son, of course.
And so, when this deity was confessed, then
the Jews took up stones again to stone
Him.
My dear friends, I think that this is
one of the saddest, one of the most
sorrowful things in the whole book.
And I'd like you to get the hold
of it.
Remember, the man who took up the stones,
the man that you're watching now with stones
in their hands, ready to stone the most
tender-hearted soul that ever walked the broad
eagles of earth, the most pure man that
ever breathed.
Remember, the hands that took up the stones
were religious hands, Pharisees they were, men steeped
in religion.
And I believe this, you know, with all
my heart, if you preach the way Christ
preached, and if you walk the way Christ
walked, and if you work the way Christ
worked, the dead-empty form of religion that's
around you will throw stones.
And if you're going to live for God,
my all that lives godly in Christ shall
suffer persecution.
The old, dead, hypocritical, pharisaical, dead formalists around
you will throw stones.
But I think that he spoke to them
very wonderfully, although the stones were in their
hands.
Look at verse 32, Jesus answered them, "'Many
good works have I told you from my
Father.
For which of those works do ye stone
me?' The Jews answered him, saying, "'For a
good work we've stoned thee not, but for
blasphemy, because that thou, being a man, makest
thyself God.'" You see, they were so darkened
in their understanding, and so vain in their
imagination, so blinded by the God of this
world, that even the moral glory of Christ
was veiled before them.
And, you know, he just looked at them
and said, "'For which of the good works
do you stone me?' And they come out
with a supposed blasphemy."
Now, let me put it to you like
this.
If Jesus Christ, who was born in Bethlehem
of the Virgin, if Jesus Christ was not
God, then the Jews were right.
My dear friend, if Jesus Christ was not
God, then this phrase, "'I am the Father
of one,' is most decidedly blasphemy.
And remember to let men fall down and
worship him, as he did on many occasions,
as again to make him a deceiver.
But there are no quibbles about it.
Jesus Christ was God.
I have no hesitation at all.
Praise the Lord for this tremendous fact."
You know, a Russell Light looked at me
once when I said, "'Jesus Christ was God.'"
And she said, "'God can't die.'" I said,
"'Does that mean he's stopping there?
He's putting the foot off there.'" I said,
"'God can't sleep.'" And he slept in the
hinder part of the book.
"'And God can't be weary.'" And he was
weary sitting on the well.
"'Course God can't die, and God can't sleep,
and God can't be weary, but God manifest
in flesh can.'" Other then, he says, "'God
manifests in flesh, and God manifests in flesh
can die, and did die.'" Yes, when we
take the cup and break the bread, he
was what we say.
As often as you drink, as often as
you eat this bread and drink this cup,
now watch it, "'Ye do so the Lord's
way.'" That's what the book says.
"'When he hung in yon cross, with his
hair matted with sweat, and his face battered
beyond recognition, and his bones pulled out of
joint, and his back furrowed with the Roman
lock, what a spectacle!
Paul penned these words, "'If the princes of
this world had known, they would not have
crucified Christ, the Lord of Glory.'" Now, that's
who he was, the Lord of Glory.
God manifest in flesh.
Oh, don't only that as the theologians.
Let's stand just for a moment at the
cross, poor we measurable things of the dusk,
sinners of the deepest dark, and remember that
God's lovely Son loved me.
You know what the old missionary said?
Jesus Christ be God and died for me.
There is no sacrifice too great for me
to make for him.
Get the hold of the back page.
My only supposed blasphemy.
Yes, he was really God, but let's move
on.
I think this is a tremendous answer that's
being made now.
Verse 34, Jesus answered them, "'Is it not
written in you, Lord?
I said, ye are God.'" And you know
that's in Psalm 82.
Let's have a look at the psalm just
for a moment.
It's the 82nd psalm, and it's very wonderful
to notice this.
Our Lord knew the book, didn't he?
And remember, even as a man he had
to learn.
Now, we're after the 82nd psalm.
Verse 1, "'God standeth in the congregation of
the mighty.'" I think the congregation of the
mighty just then was the whole nation of
Israel.
He judges among the gods, and I believe
the gods, on this occasion, is a word
given to the judges in Israel.
You see, when Moses took the whole nation
upon his shoulders, he thought the weight could
be too much, and you remember, judges were
appointed, and as they stood in the gate
and had the particular cases, they gave a
judgment.
And here, just because they speak to the
nation the word of God, given to them
by God, they're called gods.
And God's speaking to them now, "'How long
will ye judge unjustly and accept the persons
of the wicked, defend the poor and fatherless,
do justice to the afflicted and needy, deliver
the poor and needy, rid them out of
the hand of the wicked?
They know not, neither will they understand.
They walk on in darkness, all the foundations
of the earth are out of course.
I have said, ye are gods, and all
of you are children of the Messiah.'" You
see, this word was applied to the judges
in Israel, and as they stood there to
give judgment, and the word of God came
through them, as these particular needy folks stood
before them, God said, "'I have said, ye
are gods,' and our Lord Jesus, you know,
remembered this time, as he did all the
others, and now on this occasion he's turning
them back, and here's what he's saying to
them.
Let's get back to John 10, verse 34,
"'Jesus answered them, "'Is it not written in
your law, I said, ye are gods, if
ye call them gods, unto whom the word
of God came, and the scripture done was
broken, say ye of him whom the Father
hath sanctified and sent into the world, thou
blasphemous, because I said, I am the Son
of God.'" Oh, they got it all right,
you know, when he said, "'I am the
Father,' they knew that he was talking about
God the Son, they knew he was making
himself God, and now he's just putting it
up to them, he's saying this to them,
he's saying, you know, you're inconsistent, you never
fell out with God when he called the
judges an Israel God, and some of them
were unjust, but you haven't found any fault
with me, and yet now you take up
stones to stone me.
My, he was driving home their inconsistency and
his eternality, and it was very wonderfully done."
But you know how many of us here,
when we are placed in the tight corner
by the enemy, could go to Psalm 82
and bring out something.
There's very many of us.
When the devil came to chasten in the
wilderness, do you remember he answered three times,
"'It is written, it is written, it is
written,' and he got the three portions from
the book of Deuteronomy, and how many of
us know the very chapters that he did.
And always you will find this, that our
wonderful Lord, when the lion was roaring, and
the enemy was near, and they were trying
to beset him round about, could put his
hand into the book, and from some seemingly
almost unknown portion, bring out the very thing
that won the day."
And let me tell you this, he's only
putting his finger on one word in Psalm
82, it's the word God.
And the boys that don't believe in candor,
and verbal inspiration, they're going to be in
a fix in a minute.
He's picking out one word.
He says, you know that word, God, is
in Psalm 82, and you never could think
about it.
He's bringing it out now.
Strange.
Thank God he left this on record.
The scriptures shall not be broken.
Thank God he left that on record.
The whole of the Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, just the Judges, and so
on, right through to Malachi, the whole of
the Old Testament, our blessed, wonderful Lord said,
cannot be broken.
My friends, the modern would need to sit
down at the feet of Jesus and learn
all they can, that this is indeed the
infallible, inspired, impregnable, unchangeable, eternal
work of the living God.
Don't ever forget it is.
But he did two things in the argument.
What's this?
First of all, he said to them, if
it's not written in your law, I said,
ye are God's.
If ye call them God's, unto whom the
word of God came, and the scripture cannot
be broken, say ye of him whom the
Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world.
And so we want to have a look
at this sanctification that became Christ, even before
he came into the world.
You know, I believe that in our country
today, there is more nonsense taught about sanctification
than any other subject that I know of.
I'm sure of it.
It's a good thing I would look around
each one of you now and say, what
do you think that sanctification means?
Or you just turn it over in your
mind.
What do you think it means?
Because if you're thinking that it means the
second blessing just now, then Christ got it
before he came, because he was sanctified before
he was sent.
I know people in the country who preach
that sanctification means the eradication of the nature.
Is this what happened to Christ before he
came?
Well, you can't make it mean one thing
one day, you know, and make it mean
another thing another day, or other ways.
Language is no use.
You know, I had a schoolmaster who came
into the back room one night.
He was in the ridge.
I had said something like what I'm saying
now.
And he came in the ridge and said
to me, you know right well that sanctification
means the second blessing.
I know nothing of the kind, I say.
And here's a wee verse that I turn
them to, and you just have a look
at it.
And don't forget it after you do look
at it, and remember it again.
It's just like Christ.
It's the Word of God, and it's handwritten
by Brooklyn.
Look at it.
It's 1 Corinthians, and it's chapter 7.
1 Corinthians, chapter 7, and
it says, verse 14, carefully, carefully, for the
unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and
the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband.
So, I simply asked the schoolmaster, has the
unbelieving husband got the second blessing?
Now, you wouldn't need very much intelligence to
answer the question, would you?
And he just knew exactly where he was.
You see, first of all, we see that
this book talks about Christ being sanctified before
he came, and this book talks about an
unbelieving husband being sanctified.
Very careful what we say about sanctification, because
just whatever you're going to make at least
you have got it.
Now, just in case you misunderstand me, don't
go out of the place saying this.
If you have an experience that brought you
nearer to the Lord, I'm not talking about
your experience.
I'm not talking about the doctrine of sanctification.
I'm not talking...
I knew a lot of old dead Baptists
could do with some sort of an experience.
I do.
Now, let's get the whole thing correct, and
then you'll not blame me for something I
didn't say.
My dear friends, many a man and woman
has got gloriously saved, and for years only
lived a sort of half-hearted, carnal existence,
and came to the place where they surrendered
all to God and began to live.
Well, if you got there, God bless you,
but don't start to make that a doctrine.
That's your experience.
Don't drive it into something that it doesn't
apply to.
Keep it out of it.
We'll deal with sanctification now, because our blessed
Lord and the unbelieving husband who had
sanctified him would mean something that will fit
into both of them.
And if you would like me to take
it further, I'll show you something more.
All right, come on, we'll start and we
might as well finish.
First Corinthians, and we're at the first chapter,
and we're at the first verse.
Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus
Christ through the will of God, and to
see these, our brothers, unto the church of
God which is at thorns, to them that
are sanctified in Christ Jesus.
That's what he's writing to.
He's writing to people that are sanctified.
All right, if you think they've got the
second blessing, have a look at how they're
living in the third chapter, will you?
See chapter three?
See verse one?
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you
as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even
as unto babes in Christ.
I have fed you with milk and not
with meat, for hitherto you were not able
to bear it, neither yet now are you
able, for you are yet carnal.
For whereas there is among you envy and
strife and division, are you not carnal, and
what of men?
Yet these carnal Christians, this carnal child, is
called sanctified in the first verse.
Is that right?
He's writing for these people who were sanctified.
All right now, we've got problems on our
hands now.
The blessed Lord was sanctified before he came.
The unbelieving husband got sanctified by the believing
wife.
The carnal Corinthians were sanctified according to the
first verse.
Friends, you know, this is a wonderful subject.
Don't, don't just try to twist the word
of God.
This word, sanctified, or sanctification, it has a
root meaning that can never at any time
be changed, and the root meaning just means
this.
Sanctified means to be set apart, and sanctification
means separation.
Do you see the Lord before he came?
He's the eternal Father, that's what he's getting
at here.
And before he came, he was set apart
by the Father.
Now, what's your wording?
We're not John 10 again.
I want you to get this, because this
is very important.
Now, watch this.
Verse 35, If he called them gods unto
whom the word of God came, and the
Scriptures had not been broken, say ye of
him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent
into the world.
Now, I want you to notice who did
the sanctifying.
Did you notice that?
The Father.
Can't you see there are some exclusive brethren,
and they don't believe in the eternal sonship,
and they would try to put me in
a corner sometimes to prove that Christ was
the eternal Son.
They believe that the sonship begun at Bethlehem.
Well, I'll prove the opposite, just now.
Who sanctified the Father?
When?
Before he came into the world.
The Father set them apart.
Now, wait a minute.
You know, there couldn't be the Father without
the Son.
You see, the moment you got married, you
didn't become a father.
Your fatherhood just runs along as far as
the sonship, or the childship in your family.
The day the wee fellow was born, you
became the father, and they're both running equal,
on the same length of time.
And if the father was setting apart, who
was to be the son?
So, he was the son before he came.
I'm sure your book taught you long ago
that the Father sent the Son to be
the Savior of the world.
But wait a minute.
The Father set them apart.
For what?
Well, watch.
We'll go to 1 Peter.
1 Peter.
I think this is a lovely one.
Just for the sake of time, verse 18.
For as much as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things, of silver
and gold, from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot, who verily was full
ordained before Christ, the foundation of the world.
Sorry, way back yonder.
Before the hills in August stood, when earth
received its frame, way back in yon chancel
chamber of eternity, the power set the Son
apart to be the Lamb.
There was no afterthought, you know.
My dear friend, God had the whole thing
cut and dried before he ever promised a
Savior to Adam in Eden.
He had a Lamb prepared in the Eden
above.
Oh, it was no afterthought.
You see, he was full ordained to be
the Lamb.
The eternal chancel took place from the Father's
end.
You, the Eternal Son, you're after God, and
you have to become the sacrifice to deal
with sin, to meet the requirements of this
holy throne, and you have to so satisfy
us that you'll be raised the third day
to be the Savior of all who will
believe.
A wonderful story, isn't it?
Yes, the Father set him apart to be
the Lamb.
All right, let's go further.
We're going back to Titus, and we're at
the first chapter of Titus.
This is a lovely one.
Titus, chapter 1, verse 1.
Paul, it thrills me every time I see
this man writing these letters in the New
Testament.
No popish nonsense here.
This Paul, not the very Reverend Gregory this
or that or the other, no, no.
This Paul, you can see his humility.
Our servant of God, you can see his
honesty.
An apostle of Jesus Christ, you can see
his authority.
According to the faith of God's elect.
Don't you know God's elect need to have
faith?
Lovely rephrasing there, mind you.
The faith of God's elect.
On the acknowledging of the truth, which is
after godliness.
Yes, if we're the servants of God, and
if we've got any gifts, if we're the
elect through faith, you know, we need to
be practicing things down here.
Godliness.
They're all tied up together.
What's this?
In hope of eternal life, which God that
cometh alive promised before the world began.
Who did he promise it to?
Well, if he promised it before the world
began, he didn't promise it to everyone.
Is that right?
My dear friend, he promised it to the
Eternal Son.
Is that, you know?
If you become the Lamb and finish the
work and rise again from the dead, I'll
make you the life giver.
And you can only get life eternal in
Christ.
Is that right?
Because God's death is a pass.
No hope is peace.
A new ritual of any touch can give
you life.
Jesus alone can only get life.
And he that hath the Son hath life.
And he that hath not the Son, he
can be sprinkled of God's Christ by immersion,
or stuck in any creed, but he hasn't
got life.
You can't get life without Christ.
God promised this before the world began.
Well, do you see this?
God set him apart, yes, to be the
Lamb.
God set him apart to be the life
giver, to get eternal life.
Now, watch again, without Ephesians now, at the
first chapter, verse three, just to get the
connection.
Ephesians, chapter one, verse three, Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in the heavenlies in Christ, opposing as he
hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world.
I want you to get this.
You know, when God, the great Trinity, in
the eternal past, in the council chambers of
eternity, tossed this thing over and planned it
all out, the eternal Son, by the eternal
power, was set apart to be the Lamb.
And when he would finish the work and
be brought back from the dead, he would
be the life giver.
But he was not only set apart to
be the Lamb and the life giver, he
would go on up back to the truth
as the Lord of the elect.
He was set apart before the foundation of
the world as the Lord of the elect.
My, they were all chosen in him.
In case you're worrying about the other two
cases, watch this.
When Paul went into Cairn and was saying
his preaching to a village, there are only
twenty houses, and he stands out in the
middle of the street and he preaches this
great message that God's Son came to be
the Lamb and rose again as the life
giver and he'll be the Lord of all
who really trust in him.
Supposing a wee woman at the end of
the street trusts the Christ, you see all
the rest of the houses in the village,
well her house is different from theirs now.
There's a wee woman in there that knows
the Lord, and her husband is different from
all the other husbands.
You see, her husband is set apart because
there's light in the house now, and he's
set apart from the rest of the village,
and the unbelieving husband is set apart.
You see these Corinthians, well the moment they
trusted the Lord Jesus and ventured their all
upon his atoning blood, they were set apart
as the sheep of the great shepherd, but
the trouble is they were living carnal lives.
But nevertheless, through faith and the sacrifice, they
were set apart.
And the only sanctification that I know for
the day in which we're living is found
in John 17, I read verse 17, and
if you don't know it, here it is.
Christ is praying, will come to us in
a night or two, and he cries, sanctify
them through my truth.
They would love to be sanctified without the
truth.
When we preach believer's baptism, you dodge it.
What's up with you?
Are you afraid of the word?
Well then, don't talk about holiness, just give
it up.
Why are you concerned about talking about sanctification
and holiness?
Well, I'll tell you how you get sanctified,
through opinion to the book.
And you know, when the Lord talks to
some of you boys that are stuck in
some of these secret clubs about coming out
and being separate and touching not the unclean
things, you dodge it.
Don't you?
Go home and sleep all of the night.
You're stuck in it.
And the Lord is saying, come out and
touch not the unclean things.
May God set you apart for himself through
his words.
But I want you to get this.
Let's get back to John 10.
John 10, I think this is lovely, how
the Lord Jesus puts it to them.
He says, verse 36, Say ye of him
whom the Father hath sanctified, and then sent
into the world.
He was set apart as the Lamb, as
the life-giver, as the Lord of the
elect, before he ever stepped out of the
ivory powers of the tomb.
And then, when the fullness of the time
was come, he came into the world.
My, he's got a clear argument now.
He says, you fellas, you didn't object to
God calling your own son as God?
How can you say of the one whom
the Father set apart, and then sent into
the world?
How blasphemous.
You know, he's tying them up, isn't he?
Yes, and then he went just a little
bit further.
He said this, verse 37, If I do
not the works of my Father, believe me
not, but if I do, though ye believe
not me, believe the works, that ye may
know and believe that the Father is in
me, and I in him.
You know, he's going from the books to
his position, and now he's going to vindicate
everything by the very works that were accomplished.
My, he can just look at them full
on the face.
Didn't he give sight to the blind?
Didn't he cleanse the leper?
Didn't he raise the dead?
He said, just have a look at the
works, and if you can't believe me, believe
the works.
And you know, the moment that he quoted
the books, and showed his position, and produced
the works, my, they were in a very
tight corner, and they did what they always
do.
They're going to fight now.
Watch, verse 39, Therefore they sought again to
take you.
My, can't you see the depravity?
Oh, this sinful heart that dwells in every
human breast.
Mine is that carnality, man, that is enmity
against God.
And whether the book speaks, or the Christ
stands, or the works are produced, this causes
the poverty of all.
So resist God, and it does, you know.
We're no better than they were.
My, I thought they'd take him again.
Look this way, verse 40, And they went
away, and went away again, and he went
away again, beyond Jordan, into the place where
John had first baptized, and there he abode.
And many resorted unto him, and said, John
did no miracle.
Isn't that a lovely way of saying it?
You know, miracles were not necessary to accredit
the prophets.
They were not the credentials of the prophets.
You know, there are a lot of people,
you know, and if he didn't do something
spectacular, my, you wouldn't be anybody at all.
Oh, let me tell you that John was
the last of the old Testament prophets, and
our Lord Jesus Christ said, there was not
a greater born among women.
And our Lord Jesus Christ, in his own
word, revealed that John was filled with the
Holy Ghost from his mother's womb.
But he did no miracle.
No, a prophet didn't need to do miracles
to be accredited.
You know, some people, unless you're always doing
what they want you to do, my, they
wouldn't recognize your gift, you know.
You see, when God is talking in Corinthians
about the church, he says, he hath set
some in the church first apostles.
They were gifts, you know.
They had certain gifts.
The apostles had certain gifts.
And then, secondly, came prophets.
Of course, they were New Testament prophets.
And then, thirdly, and mark that, came teachers.
That's what I'm supposed to say.
They're running third years.
And when Paul outlines all these gifts, he
just asks questions.
He said, are all the disciples in the
body apostles?
Are all the believers prophets?
No.
Are all teachers?
No.
Do all have the gift of miracles?
No.
Do all speak with tongues?
No.
That's what they talk about, you know, sometimes.
Oh, they've all got to talk with tongues.
Well, you want to go back and learn
the book again.
My dear friends, just be careful of what
you're going to make the credential of any
gift.
John was a prophet.
But he did no miracle.
But what's this?
But all things that John speak of this
man were true.
Oh, isn't that lovely?
My, he didn't do any spectacular works, but
he really brought forth some remarkable words, didn't
he?
My, he was a real preacher.
And all that John speak of this man
was true.
And I'll tell you one or two of
the things, and then you can follow on,
you see.
First of all, you'll notice this, that John
looked at the crowd, and he said, just
stand as one among you.
The lot to the fool's shoes are not
worthy to sit down in the moose.
He's prepared before me, for he was before
me.
Mind you, that was some saying for John.
For John, according to flesh, was six months
older than Christ.
Six months older.
How could he make a doubt that Christ
was before him?
You see, he's seeing the eternality of the
Son.
He knew who he was.
And when John speak of his eternality, it
was true.
But as John looked at him, he said,
behold the Lamb.
Yes, the one who came down out of
eternity had come to be the Lamb of
God, the one who would go to the
cross and give the sacrifice for the sin
of the world, the one who would so
satisfy God that he would rise again the
third day and he'd become the Savior of
all who would believe.
Mind, John talked about his eternality, and then
he talked about his sufficiently.
And then John said, you know, I'm not
worthy to stoop down and lose a shoe.
He was thinking of his glory, and the
majesty, and the authority that belonged to Christ.
And then he said something else.
Do you remember this?
When they came to him and said, you
know, he's gathering up all the disciples and
you're losing out.
Do you remember what he said?
He, that hath the bride, is the bridegroom.
And he was thinking of Christ's capacity down
here.
Oh, let's have a real look at him
tonight.
His eternality, his own sufficiency, his glory, his
majesty, his authority, his capacity, he owns the
bride.
And every soul that trusts is in the
bride just now.
You see the last verse of this chapter?
And many believe on him there.
Friend, I want to talk to you on
saved ones here tonight.
And I want to put this straight to
you.
I want you to be honest.
Do you really think that this one who
came was the eternal son of God?
What do you think now?
Do you really believe that he came into
the world to save sinners by becoming the
Lamb of God?
Do you really believe he rose again from
the dead?
And tonight there is no alternative.
Then trust him, trust him now.
Why don't you step out and fall at
his feet if you believe this.
And before you leave the church tonight, say
Lord Jesus.
In this place tonight, knowing who you are,
and how far you came, and what you
endured, and how you went to Calvary and
died and rose again to be my savior,
here and now, I accept you.
Oh, to God we could change the church
tonight.
Many believe on him here.
Oh God, we thank thee for thy, thine
eternal son.
We thank thee that the son of God
who made the world became the Lamb of
God for the world.
And we bless thee that he rose again
and tonight he's the savior of the world.
And that life eternal is found in him
for whosoever will believe.
Oh God, bless the saints and save the
lost and magnify thy lovely son.
Amen.