[0:00] Let's turn our minds together this evening now to the words we read in John 5, John chapter 5, and looking at verses 39 and 40, where Jesus is saying, You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me. Yet you refuse to come to me, that you may have life.
[0:29] We are often told by those who oppose the Bible and the Gospel that the Bible's teaching and our beliefs as Christians are not based on proper evidence.
[0:49] Such as thoughts as, well, nobody has ever seen God, so how can you believe in a being that you don't see? Things like that, which are very often brought out as so-called claims against the Bible being the truth, against the Bible being true and accurate, reliable.
[1:10] And, of course, the following sentiment from that is that it's rather silly to actually live your life in a way that commits your life to following Jesus, to following God, to pleasing God, when, in fact, you have no evidence that they even exist.
[1:27] And even if Jesus did exist, well, he died, didn't he? And there's no such thing as resurrection, and therefore it's futile really to live that way of life.
[1:37] It's just a waste of your time. Well, you know, Jesus met very similar claims and very similar opposition when he himself lived in this world.
[1:52] In this very context, in this passage, you can see that there are three witnesses mentioned by him which back up his claims to be who he said he was.
[2:06] And to back up his claims as to the authority that he had to be doing these things and saying these things and setting himself up as one who had authority over human life.
[2:17] Indeed, you go to the next chapter as well, you find the same thing there where those that were opposing him said, well, what sign then do you do?
[2:28] What sign do you show us so that we might believe? In verse 30 there, what sign do you do that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
[2:40] And then they started comparing him to Moses. We know that Moses did all of these things in the days of our fathers long ago. What are you doing so as to give us, give some credibility to what you're actually saying to us and your claims?
[2:55] Well, Jesus, in this passage here from verse 30, he speaks about three witnesses that backed up his testimony about himself. First is John the Baptist.
[3:06] He's just referred to there as John. It's not the John who wrote this book. It's John the Baptist who came shortly before Jesus arrived on the scene publicly. John went about preaching the kingdom of God and preaching about someone who was just coming after him who would himself actually be the savior.
[3:26] Wasn't John the Baptist himself? He said, I'm not the savior. I'm not the Christ, but he is coming after me. I've been sent to prepare the way for him. So that's the first witness that he mentions there.
[3:38] The second witness that he mentions there are the signs that he was doing. Now, as you know, John's gospel sets out the miracles of Jesus using this word signs.
[3:50] They were signs. They were evidence of who he was. They themselves, these great miracles that he did. And John's gospel contains the great miracle, for example, of raising Lazarus from the dead in chapter 11.
[4:03] That was a sign because he really, before that, remember just immediately before that, he said, I am the resurrection and the life. And you could say, you could just imagine these people listening to him and saying, well, who's he?
[4:16] Who does he think he is? He's the resurrection and the life? How is he going to prove to us? What evidence is he going to give us that he's the resurrection and the life? And so Jesus called dead Lazarus, the dead body of Lazarus.
[4:32] He spoke into the tomb and Lazarus came out. And the amazing thing is that although many people saw that, they still didn't believe Jesus.
[4:44] And it really tells us something very important. That supposing you see the most spectacular, miraculous things that you think might convince you that God exists, that Jesus is real.
[4:56] What Jesus is saying is, if you don't believe what the Bible says, nothing else is going to convince you. That's what he's saying.
[5:08] The third testimony or the third witness is the witness of scripture, of the Bible itself. He calls it here, the works, he calls it here, the Father has sent me to bear witness about himself.
[5:22] You do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the scriptures, you are searching the scriptures, because you think in them you have eternal life.
[5:35] And it is they that bear witness about me. Now Jesus was talking there, of course, of the old, what we know as the Old Testament. They didn't have what you have as the New Testament, until after this Jesus had died and risen again.
[5:50] And people like John and Matthew and Paul wrote the books that we have in the New Testament. So the scriptures in the days of Jesus were the Old Testament scriptures.
[6:00] But what he's saying is, they are actually witnesses to me, these scriptures. But you don't receive that testimony. And of course that's really pretty much the same as you and I face today.
[6:17] We say, well, we read in the Bible about Jesus. We read in the Bible about what he did. We read in the Bible about what he claimed. We read in the Bible about his authority.
[6:28] And the response to that is, yeah, but that's just fiction. That's just a book that's been written by people over a whole series of centuries and experiences.
[6:41] And it's ludicrous to say it's the word of God, because you've never seen God. Well, it brings you back to this crucial issue. What do you believe the Bible to be?
[6:54] The Bible claims for itself to be the word of God. The Bible claims for itself to speak with the authority of God.
[7:06] We either accept that or not. If we don't, we have a problem. If we do, we have a great advantage, because it brings to us something reliable, something that you can depend on, something that doesn't move with the changing times, something that will always be the same in its authority and its teaching, right down through the years of human life.
[7:29] And that brings us tonight to this essential. We've been looking for a couple of weeks at things which we've described as essential for us. Essential in the way in which we come to experience salvation in Jesus Christ, in relation to Jesus Christ.
[7:46] We've seen that it's essential to be born again, chapter 3 of John. We've seen that it's essential to be justified. Last time, Romans 5, verse 1. To have our sins forgiven and to have a standing of righteousness with God.
[7:59] Tonight, the essential is the essential of coming to Christ. What is it to come to Christ? Jesus is saying here, The scriptures bear testimony to me, and you're reading them, but you will reduce, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
[8:17] What is it to come to Jesus? You know, when I was thinking about that, through the week as my thoughts were running ahead to this passage, and to this particular sermon, I began to think, well, how would I explain to somebody what it is to come to Christ?
[8:36] And what does the Bible itself say, in a way that helps us to understand what it is to come to Christ? If it's really so essential, as the Bible says, to come to Christ, that we might have life.
[8:48] You see, we've been saying in these other essentials, why is it an essential? Why is this necessary? Well, you could say from this one, of course, it's very obvious, that we need to come to Christ in order to have life.
[9:00] We don't have spiritual life, life in relationship with God, life everlasting. We don't have that if we've not come to Christ.
[9:12] We come to Christ for that. That's why it's so important. That's why it's an essential. So what is it? How do you know what it is to come to Christ? How do you know if you've come to Christ?
[9:24] How do you tonight think about the idea of coming to Christ if you've not yet come to Christ? How does the invitation of the Gospel, where Jesus in Matthew 11, for example, says, Come to me, and you shall have rest for your souls.
[9:40] You might say, well, I'd love to do that. I'd love really to be a Christian. It's something that I've thought about, it's something that I know from the life of other people is a great advantage. I wish I was in their situation.
[9:52] But how do I come to Christ? How do I really come to Him? What's involved? Well, let me just put it in two headings, first of all.
[10:03] And let's see if we can arrange a few things under each of these to help us understand what this is. And the important thing for you and for me tonight is this. It's not so much that you understand what it is to come to Christ.
[10:17] The most important thing is that you come. If you've not come already, and if you have come to Him already, that you just keep on coming to Him.
[10:30] So, first of all, the first point is, studying the Bible should result in us coming to Christ. You see, what Jesus was saying to these people is, you are searching the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life.
[10:47] And it is they who testify about me. Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. In other words, he was saying here they were involved in a commendable practice.
[10:58] They were searching the Scriptures. Authorized version has, search the Scriptures. But the Greek word there can be either search, or you are searching. And it's better in the context to put it this way, that translating it this way, as in the ESV, you are searching.
[11:16] Jesus was saying to them, you are very busy searching the Scriptures, because you have a particular opinion about the Scriptures, that in these Scriptures, in these Scriptures of the Old Testament, you have eternal life.
[11:28] So that's why you're searching them. That's why you're busy studying them. They were involved in a very commendable practice. He was not calling upon them to begin searching the Scriptures.
[11:40] He wasn't saying, he's not saying to us tonight, go and begin to read your Bibles. He's saying to us all here, or most of us, I'm sure, you're already reading your Bibles.
[11:50] You already know the Bible. You know what it is. You know much of its content. You know the main parts of it. Especially, you are searching, you're studying these words in the Scriptures.
[12:02] And you know, the word search there, really means, to study diligently. That's what these people, were actually doing already, as Jesus addressed them, as he took up the issue of, how they would not come to him, though they were searching the Scriptures.
[12:23] He was actually aware of the fact, that they were making a very diligent exercise, of searching the Scriptures. if they were really studying them. It wasn't a casual, or an occasional acquaintance, with Scriptures, that these people were involved with at all.
[12:46] He was saying to them, you're not, you're refusing to come to me, but the one thing he couldn't say to them, was that they were not searching the Scriptures. That really poses the question, for you and for me, how do you use your Bible?
[13:06] What place does it have in your daily experience? And when you come to read your Bible, how do you read it? Do you read it, with that diligent studying of it?
[13:18] Or do you just read it? Do you read it prayerfully, asking that God will help you to understand, the various aspects of what you're reading? Are you and I, searching the Scriptures, as diligently, as studiously, with such a, a mind, as really wants to get into, the inner meaning, to the core meaning, of these Scriptures, the way these people were?
[13:42] Well, we should be. You know, there are many millions of people tonight, in the world, who don't have a Bible, at least, don't have a complete copy of the Bible.
[13:54] And they would love to be, in your position, in my position, where you have access to copies of the Bible, in abundance, in church buildings, and in your homes, and all the rest of it.
[14:06] And you know, there's a huge, huge privilege, that God has brought us into. To have a Bible, to have the liberty, and the freedom to use it.
[14:20] But do we have the inclination? Do we have that diligent search of it? Are we using this Bible, the way God intends? Are we actually giving God, the place that's due to Him, and the privilege that He's giving us, are we giving that, the place that we should, when we read these verses, in the Bible?
[14:42] You are searching the Scripture. And, then the second thing is, He talks about, a mistaken conclusion. Because, He says, you think, that in them, you have eternal life.
[14:55] Now, you might say, well, surely they were right in that. Surely, these were the words of God, that God had given to them, down through the years, of the Old Testament. Were they not right, in studying the Scriptures, with this conviction, and with this conclusion, that these Scriptures, had in them, eternal life?
[15:16] Well, no. They weren't right. The Scriptures, are themselves, a means, towards, eternal life.
[15:26] That's why Jesus is saying, they testify, about me. And, it's coming to Him, that brings you, to have eternal life.
[15:37] Not coming to the Scriptures, in themselves. These people, were busy, studying the Scriptures, but that's where, the exercise ended. They were convinced, that the Scriptures, themselves, and their busyness, in studying, that would lead to them, possessing, eternal life.
[15:52] That's why, all the way through, these passages here, in John, in keeping with, Paul's testimony, about himself, before he was, converted by Christ, all that he had, to place before him, as the way, into eternal life, was his own doing, his own works, his own diligence, his own uprightness, his own keeping, of the law.
[16:17] And, if you go into, the next chapter, for example, here, where these people, again, follow Jesus, and, are, wanting to, know more from him, of his teaching, and asking him more questions, and, challenging him, about other things, they said to him, in verse 28, what must we do, to be doing, the works of God?
[16:39] See, that's their view. What must we be doing, to inherit, eternal life? What must I do, so that by doing it, I will then come, to have eternal life?
[16:51] They were studying, the scriptures, because in them, and in that activity, they thought, that they had eternal life, that they were within, the safety, of God's, God being their, God being their, Savior, and that inevitably, because they were doing that, they would not be, amongst the lost, they would be, the saved.
[17:12] And that's why, they're saying, what must we be doing, to be doing, the works of God? And you notice, how Jesus answered, this, is the work of God, that you believe, in him, whom he has sent.
[17:30] He didn't say, this is the work of God, that you keep on, studying the scriptures. Of course, Jesus didn't think, that studying the scriptures, was not a good thing. But what he was saying is, it's not a good thing, to actually, come to the conclusion, that if you study the scripture, and do nothing else, you're going to have, eternal life.
[17:53] Because their serious failure, is the next thing, that he mentions. Yet, you refuse, to come to me, so that you might, have life.
[18:07] They were treating, the scriptures, as an end in itself. They were treating, the exercise of, studying the scriptures, diligently, as sufficient for them, to come into the possession, of eternal life.
[18:26] Now, you need to take, verse 39 with you here, because, it's saying here, it is they, that bear witness, about me, yet you refuse, to come to me.
[18:36] You see, they were studying, Moses, and by Moses, there is meant, in the passage, is meant, really, pretty much, most of the, Old Testament, especially to do, with the law, and the things of the law, that were given to Moses, by God.
[18:51] Moses is their hero. And to be studying, Moses, and the things of Moses, is really the way, into eternal life. But what Jesus is saying, is, your hero, was actually writing, about me.
[19:06] Because, Moses, testified about me. If you believe, Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote, about me. That's the point, that hasn't clicked, with them.
[19:17] That's the point, they refuse, to acknowledge, that the scriptures, they are studying, ought to bring them, to Jesus. Ought to bring them, to accept Jesus, and his claims.
[19:28] Ought to bring them, to accept this one, that is teaching them, and speaking to them, and doing these miracles, and that they ought, to accept him, as the son of God, because the scriptures, they are studying, actually testify, to who he is, and the works, that he came to do.
[19:44] That's why, he's now saying to them, yes, they're doing, a commendable thing, in studying the scriptures, but they're doing it, under the mistaken conclusion, that that itself, will give them, eternal life, and therefore, thirdly, they now have, a serious failure, because they refuse, to come to him.
[20:01] They don't see, that the scripture, actually testifies, to Jesus, so when Jesus, comes before them, and sets out his claims, they reject him, and they reject him, even, to the extent, that now, they're determined, to get rid of him, and to put him to death.
[20:22] Now you can see, why, coming to Christ, is an essential, because, studying the Bible, is the means, towards that.
[20:37] Studying the Bible, should result, in us, coming to Christ, not just, leaving it, at the matter, of studying, the Bible itself. So there's, three steps, and put them, to yourself, tonight, I have to put them, to myself, because I preach, the gospel, doesn't mean, that that itself, guarantees, that I'm a Christian, that I know Christ, that I've come, to Christ.
[21:03] Everybody's, got to do this, for themselves, whatever their position, in the church, or in life. Three steps, reading the scriptures. Second one, knowing, that in these scriptures, there's a means, to Christ, to bring you, to Christ.
[21:23] Third step, coming, to Christ. While you're involved, I'm sure, all of you, in the first step, you are studying, the scriptures.
[21:35] At least, reading the scriptures. You're making use, of the Bible, in your daily life. But don't make, the mistake, that these people made.
[21:46] But that itself, is enough, to ensure, that when you die, you'll go to heaven. Because Jesus, is saying, your study, of the Bible, should bring you to me, should lead you, to myself.
[22:03] And that's, what they were not doing. You refused, to come to me, that you might have life. In other words, it's the difference, really, between being religious, and being saved.
[22:17] There's a sense, in which, every single one, of us here tonight, could say, I'm a religious person. I have a religion. I have the Christian religion. That's the religion, that I follow.
[22:28] And as part of that religion, I go to church. I go to worship services. I like going to church. I see it as my duty. I also see it as, something that is beneficial, to me.
[22:42] I know it's right, to do it. And I want to do it. And Jesus is saying, of course that's right. Of course that's fine. You have a religion, you've got the right religion.
[22:57] But that doesn't mean, you're saved. That doesn't mean, you have eternal life. That doesn't mean, you're ready to die. That doesn't mean, you're going to go to heaven, when you die.
[23:11] You have to, come, to Christ. And to come to Christ, is essential, to have eternal life. So secondly, to have eternal life, we must come, to Jesus.
[23:26] There's the question, we had at the beginning, what does that involve? Where does it take place? Is it just a decision, on my part? Is it something, that is so mysterious, that I just can't get into it?
[23:42] Is it a very complicated matter? What does it involve? Well, it does involve, a lot of things. It's a spiritual matter.
[23:53] It's a matter of, your inner soul, or of your, your mind, and your will, coming to, as we'll see, give yourself, and your life, to Jesus, to be your Lord.
[24:08] But there are two things, in coming to Christ, that we learn from the Bible, and indeed, from this passage, there are two things, that help us to understand, what it is, and how we must set about doing.
[24:19] It's a matter of, believing, and leaving. It's a matter of, believing, and then also, leaving. Two things go together. Verse 38, You do not have his word, abiding in you, for you do not believe, the one, whom he has sent.
[24:40] And then he goes on, to speak about, coming to him, that you may have life. Now John likes to, combine, the various, great themes, that he speaks about, and that he writes about, in his gospel.
[24:54] The theme here, of his word, God's word, abiding in us. Speaks elsewhere, about Jesus, abiding in us, and we abiding in Jesus. He loves to combine these, and they kind of, interflow, among each other, as these great truths, are brought before us.
[25:12] But what you can, what you can conclude, from that, is that, believing in Jesus, and coming to Jesus, amount really, to the same thing.
[25:24] Because, coming to Jesus, in your mind, in your soul, with your will, coming to Jesus, willingly, is a matter of, entrusting your life to him. In other words, when you refuse, to believe in him, to entrust your life to him, to trust in him, as your savior, you're doing it, what you're doing really, is refusing to come to him.
[25:45] It amounts to the same thing. And to come to Jesus, is to come to believe in him, to come to trust in him, to come to entrust, yourself to him. It's a personal, act.
[25:58] Nobody else, can do it for you. Nobody else, can do it in your place. And God, will not do it for you. What Jesus, is saying to these people, is quite clear.
[26:11] You, refuse, to come to me. You refuse, to believe in me, as to who I am, what I'm here to do, in your presence.
[26:22] And this word, refuse, is a very interesting one too. It's actually, I think, better to translate it, the way it is in the authorized version, which simply says, you will not come to me, so that you might have life.
[26:40] It does mean, you refuse to come to me, but when you use the word, will, it actually brings something into it, that is so very important for us. Because what these people were doing, was just closing their will, to coming to Christ.
[26:55] Your will, is what lies behind your actions, isn't it? When you came, to church tonight, you willed to come to church. Your will was active. You're not here unwillingly, I hope.
[27:07] You're here, because you willed to be here, because you want to be here. What Jesus is saying, or saying to them is, you will not come to me.
[27:19] Coming to Jesus, is a matter of your will. It's a matter of coming to trust in him, willingly. A matter of coming to give your will, to him as well.
[27:34] You know, because the last thing really, that we want to surrender, is our will. Your will as in charge, if you like, of your life, this control room, that's in your mind, or in your soul, in the spiritual part of you, as a personal human being.
[27:51] That will, is really the control room, of your life. It actually determines, what you do or don't do, what you believe, and don't believe. It's the decisions, it's the actions of your life.
[28:03] The will, is what actually lies, behind these. what you do, in coming to Christ, is, including everything else, you bring your will to him.
[28:17] And you say, Lord, I want you to rule my life. I want your will, to rule my will. I want your commands, your priorities, to be the things, that govern, my thinking, my life, my conclusions, my actions, rather than my own.
[28:47] Have you come to that? Have you come before Jesus, on your own, privately, in your thoughts, in the speaking of your soul?
[29:01] Have you said to him, Lord, please, take my life, under your control. Take my will, and make it thine.
[29:14] Take everything about me. And let me be yours. That's what it means, to come to Christ.
[29:25] You come willingly, you come with your will, to hand it over to him. You come with, your trust, and you place it, in him.
[29:37] It's a believing, a willing believing, a willing, and trusting. And that's what, Jesus, remember, this is the word, of God. Remember, this is God, speaking to us, live tonight.
[29:52] This is not a recorded message. This is live, from heaven, through this word, because, this is the word, of God. It is a live, event for us.
[30:03] That's the great thing, about coming to church, to have the gospel preached, and to hear the gospel preached, to be under the word preached, which the Bible tells us, is God's main, means, towards saving us, and towards building us up, in faith, and understanding.
[30:18] It is a live event. God is active, and God is speaking to you, and God is addressing your soul, and God is actually reaching, reaching into your mind, into your conscience, into your emotions, into everything, that's in your soul tonight.
[30:34] And he's saying, I know you're searching the scriptures. I know you have a high view, of the scriptures. But will you come to me? Will you give me your will? Will you give me your heart?
[30:44] Will you give me your life? Will you give me your future? Will you give me all of that? Will you trust in me? Will you give your life to me? So, that you may have, life.
[30:59] Secondly, coming to Christ, means leaving. If you come to some place, you have to be, leaving another place. And, surely one of the best, if not the best, illustrations, of this spiritually, is what you find in Luke 15.
[31:15] Remember when we went through the Gospel of Luke recently, chapter 15, that great parable of the prodigal son. He left home. He couldn't bear to be at home, any longer, didn't like the environment, off he went.
[31:31] Got into trouble. Instead of going home, he joined himself to, someone in, what called there, the far country. And he gave him a menial task.
[31:42] Sent him to feed pigs. Very soon he was really at rock bottom. He was desperate even to eat the food the pigs were being fed with. And then something happened.
[31:57] Something important happened. He came to himself. He came to realize the truth about himself. He came to realize his need. He came to realize where he really was, in comparison to what he had left.
[32:12] And he said, in my father's house, there's bread enough, and to spare. And I'm here perishing with hunger. I'll arise, I'll get up of here, and I'll go to my father.
[32:23] And that's what he did. He went back home. And his father welcomed him. He'd been looking out for him. He didn't say to him, what are you coming back here for?
[32:37] Or he didn't say, go and dress yourself up, go and take a shower. I'm not going to embrace you. I'm not going to receive you back into the house till you've actually washed up and made yourself more presentable.
[32:48] What did he do? He ran towards him. Think of it. Think of it. All this filth, all the stink, of having lived with pigs, all of these months, however long it was.
[32:59] The father ran towards him, threw his arms around him, clasped him to his bosom, and even smothered the prayer that he'd been practicing.
[33:11] He didn't even allow to finish it. Then he began to celebrate. What's all that about? Well, the chapter begins, as you know, with people who accused Jesus of something that they just could not accept.
[33:27] And it's one of the most special things you'll read in the whole Bible. That's what they said about him. This man receives sinners and eats with them. The riffraff of the world.
[33:38] He doesn't sit and eat with posh people like us, Pharisees, who know the Bible so well. He accuses us. But he goes and eats with sinners and with harlots, with publicans, with prostitutes.
[33:51] He actually deals with them and changes their lives and they're all following him. Well, that's what it's about. That's the welcome Jesus gives to those who come to him.
[34:04] That's what's waiting for them. It doesn't matter your background. It doesn't matter where you've been in your life. It doesn't matter what you're bringing with you in terms of your confession, in terms of your past, in terms of your ignorance.
[34:19] It doesn't matter all of these things. The Lord Jesus Christ will take care of it as he will receive you and clasp you to his own bosom and say, the important thing is that you've come back to me.
[34:35] You're studying the scriptures, but you will not come back to me that you might have life. In order to come to him, you've got to leave where you are without Christ.
[34:54] You've got to leave your lostness. You've got to leave your own best opinions. You see, the prodigal came back to the father who is the figure that represents Jesus in the parable.
[35:09] The prodigal came back home. He brought his past, he brought his wrong, he brought his failures. All of that was built into his confession, but he didn't bring the pigs.
[35:20] He left them where they were. They belonged to his past lifestyle. He didn't bring that with him. He left that behind. When you come to Jesus, to come to him truly, to come to him properly, like we said, it's a matter of believing, it's handing over your will to him.
[35:39] That means cutting off your link with your past way of life, with your Christless way of life, with your lost way of life. Have you done that?
[35:51] Are you prepared to do that? It's unessential. Without it, you can't be saved. Without it, there's no eternal life.
[36:05] Without it, you continue to be lost, however well you get on in life, however happy you are in yourself. what is really important as an essential is that you and I come to Christ by believing and leaving.
[36:26] At the same time, you come to him. We're told in 1 Peter 2, verse 4, that coming to Christ also is not just believing and leaving in a once-for-alls sort of sense, but also that you keep coming to.
[36:44] Once you've come to him, you keep coming to him. You have a relationship with him. A living relationship. These people didn't have a living relationship with Jesus at all, though they were so schooled in the scriptures.
[37:01] And there you see is the thing again for you and for me. Has the Bible, have I used the Bible in such a way that's brought me into a living relationship with Jesus so that he, every day for me, is the main figure in my life.
[37:19] Come to him so that you might have life. And keep coming to him to have that life fed into your soul.
[37:29] In a place in France, in Alsace, there is a famous altarpiece that's been carved and painted.
[37:42] The painter was a man called Matthias Grunewald. Lived in the 1500s. And that altarpiece is just like a large painting.
[37:52] It's got a centerpiece and two side parts to it as well. and in the center part of it is a wonderful painting of Christ hanging on the cross.
[38:07] And on one side of him collapsing into the arms of the apostle John is his mother Mary. On the other side of him is the figure of John the Baptist.
[38:18] Of course, John the Baptist was dead by the time Jesus was crucified. He had been beheaded by Herod or under his orders. But, the painting really is a representation of what Jesus meant to John the Baptist and what John the Baptist ministry was about as well as what the cross of Christ was about.
[38:37] And, the noticeable, the really standout feature in the painting is the hand of John the Baptist or rather his index finger which has been made particularly prominent by the painter.
[38:51] There is the cross of Christ and Jesus hanging on the cross beside him and there is John the Baptist and the thing you notice immediately about him is his index finger. This long pointing index finger.
[39:05] Where is it pointing to? It's pointing to the crucified Jesus beside him. Because, as you know from John's Gospel, that's what John in his ministry said, Behold, the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world.
[39:25] And, tonight, that's what Scripture has done for you. Scripture's long index finger has reached out and pointed to this Jesus and set him before you as the one in whom you have eternal life.
[39:45] will you come to? Will you stay away? Surely not. Let's pray.
[39:57] O Lord, O God, we give thanks that you are the substance of the Gospel.
[40:10] If you are the one who has given us your word and in it that you declared yourself to be the Savior of sinners, we acknowledge, O Lord, that we are all sinners, that we all have that basic fault of being sinfully lost.
[40:27] And that we are indeed in our own hearts by nature at enmity with you. We pray, Lord, that you would grant us the grace and the power of your Spirit, and through the instruction of your word, bring us, we pray, to come to you.
[40:43] And help us to give ourselves to you, every aspect of our very being, so that we may come to know that we have indeed come to Jesus. Lord, we pray, receive us, and hear our prayers for Jesus' sake.
[40:59] Amen.