[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is the next message in our series on the book of John entitled, Jesus is God.
[0:13] Now if you go with me to John chapter 5, John chapter 5, today the question is, why won't men come to Jesus? Why won't men come to Jesus?
[0:26] And I want you to take your Bible. We're going to mark a couple of things. We've already read the passage, but I want you to realize that people rejected Jesus in his lifetime and they continue to reject him and we can learn a lot of things about that.
[0:40] There's a passage, there's a phrase in this passage that I've always liked and always wanted to preach, but a lot of times it didn't make as much sense to me as it does today.
[0:50] And I want you to read that with me. If you have your Bible, go with me to verse 38. Go with me to verse 38. It says in verse 38, and you have not his word abiding you for whom he hath sent him.
[1:03] You believe not search the scriptures for in them. You think you have eternal life and they are they which testify of me. Look in verse 40 and circle this, put some arrows pointing at it.
[1:17] And he says, and you will not come to me. You will not come to me. Look at verse 43. Circle this phrase in verse 43.
[1:29] You receive me not. He says in verse 43, I'm come in my father's name and you receive me not. Go back up if you would to verse 37.
[1:40] The father himself, which has sent me, hath borne witness of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his shape. You would think to yourself, well, they did hear his voice.
[1:50] Do you remember? It wasn't long ago at the baptism. It was a lot of people. The heavens opened and the voice spoke and he said, but you guys didn't hear him. And you guys don't know anything about him.
[2:01] And you guys don't have the word in you. Can I remind you who these people are? These are not lost people like you think of. These aren't people down at the bar. These aren't people out living a wicked lifestyle.
[2:12] These are super religious people that attended synagogue every week. And he said, you guys search the scriptures and, and, and you guys, you get, but you don't have the word in you.
[2:23] You think that you have eternal life in the scriptures, but you don't have the word. You don't have salvation. You don't have the word. You've not heard my father. And the key to that is if you look in verse 38 for whom he has seen.
[2:35] Him, you believe not. If you don't believe in Jesus, the Bible will make no sense to you. If you do not believe in Jesus, the Bible will make no sense to you.
[2:49] He says, you know, you guys, you guys have all this going on and yet you don't know me. So today I'm going to do two things. One, if you're here and you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, I'm going to show you why you're not coming to Christ.
[3:04] And I hope you'll just lower those barriers and you'll drop these things out of your life and you'll come and you'll put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross of Calvary. I'll show you that.
[3:14] And then the second thing I want to accomplish today is I want those of you that are soul winners and people that witness to your friends, you ought to learn today what's going on and why people refuse Jesus Christ.
[3:25] So you would be a better witness. That's about our heads for prayer. And that's God to work. Father, move today in the service and honor yourself and magnify yourself. And God, I pray that you would show your great power and I'll give you glory and honor and praise for all that you do in Jesus' precious name.
[3:42] Amen. Well, you know, Jesus just finished a miracle and he's doing miracle after miracle. He's turning water into wine and that started it up. And you know, he just keeps going through the scripture.
[3:53] Every miracle saying, I am God. I am God. In John chapter four, if you recall, he talks to the woman at the well and the way he tells the woman at the well, if you would ask, I'd give you a living water.
[4:05] And she said, she said, she ends up at the last of the story. She says something like this. She said, well, we know a Messiah is coming. We know a sent one is coming and he'll be able to tell us all things.
[4:15] And Jesus looked at her and said, you're looking at him. I'm the man. I'm the sent one. I'm from God. So Jesus is God. And now in this passage of scripture, he's going to call their attention to the fact that there are number one, you read it right this one down.
[4:28] There are five witnesses or four witnesses, excuse me. There are witnesses. There are witnesses to Jesus being God. There are witnesses to Jesus being God. I want to show you four that he calls forth in this passage of scripture.
[4:41] Go with me. If you would to John chapter four and verse 36, John chapter four, verse 36, John, the Baptist was a witness and Jesus calls him forth. We saw that on Thursday night.
[4:52] The Bible says in verse 36, I have greater witness than that of John for the works, which the father has given me to finish the same works that I do bear witness of me that the father has sent me. Look in verse 36 and underline it said the witness of John.
[5:06] And we saw that Thursday night, but you know that John the Baptist came out and he said, Hey, Jesus is God. He starts off in the very first one. He says, Hey, John, the apostle says in the beginning was the word.
[5:17] The word was with God and the word was God. Verse 14. He says, and that word became flesh. God in heaven became flesh and dwelt among us. John the Baptist saw him.
[5:28] John the Baptist said, Hey, he's greater than I am because he was before me. And he pointed at him. He said, behold, the lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. So John the Baptist was a forerunner.
[5:39] And he said over and over, Jesus is God. Jesus is God. And then John, Jesus now comes and he says, Hey, he says, I want to tell you that John the Baptist was a witness to me, but he's not the only witness.
[5:52] I have John's not the only witness. It says I am who I say I am. The second one is that Jesus said, my works testify of me. Look, if you would, same verse, John chapter five, verse 36.
[6:04] I have a greater witness than that of John. The works which the father has given me to finish the same works that I do bear witness to me that the father has sent me. Jesus said, let me just go ahead and tell you what I'm doing.
[6:17] Nobody else does. I am. I am God. And my works testify that. And by the way, they knew that everybody. There are, I'm going to show you testimony after testimony.
[6:28] John had told him he was the greatest preacher of his day. He told him Jesus is God. And the second thing Jesus said, all right, let's talk about my miracles. Let's talk about my signs. Let's talk about my works. And let's see if I am.
[6:39] Do you remember what it said in John chapter three and verse two? Nicodemus said, John three, two, John, Jesus, Nicodemus said, the same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him.
[6:59] Nicodemus says, we, is he talking about, he's talking about all the other Jewish leaders. He talked about all the Jewish people. He said, Hey, there's something special about you because nobody can do all the stuff you do.
[7:11] If God is not with them. Look, if you would, at John chapter seven and verse 37, the people of the community, they recognized the works of Jesus. Verse 31. And many of the people believed on him and said, when Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these, which this man had done?
[7:29] Is it possible that the sent one, the anointed one, the Christ, the Messiah could do more works than this guy who's here? His works tell us Jesus is God.
[7:43] And the religious leaders do the same thing. Look at John chapter 11 and verse 47, John 11, 47. Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees of council and said, what do we do? For this guy does a lot of miracles.
[7:55] This guy does many miracles. Now look this way. Just a second. There was proof. That's two witnesses been called for. John, tell us you're the greatest preacher of the day. Tell us is Jesus God.
[8:06] Yes, he is. Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Jesus said, that's witness. Number one. Let me bring up witness. Number two. What are my works say to you? You ever seen anybody like me? You see, if I can do what I can do.
[8:18] And by the way, I'm going to keep doing it all through the book of John. And when I get through, you got to say he must not be normal. He must be the, I mean, he must be God. He must be somebody special. He said, well, I got a third witness.
[8:28] Let me call him forward. He said, my father, my father. He tells you I'm God. Look, if you would, in John chapter five and verse 37. And the father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me.
[8:41] You have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his shape. You have not his word abiding in you for whom he has sent him. You believe not. He said, now, let me just tell you, my father told y'all I'm God. My father told you I'm his son.
[8:53] My father told you he's well pleased in me. My father told you who I am. Now, I know you don't, you didn't even hear him. And you didn't see it because you won't believe. Because if you won't believe, you won't see it.
[9:03] But he did, you remember what he said in Matthew chapter three. In Matthew chapter three, verse 16 and 17. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight way out of the water. And lo, the heavens were opened upon him, unto him.
[9:15] And he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Holy Spirit coming down.
[9:26] God opening up the heavens. Son being baptized. Everybody listen. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Mount of Transfiguration. Matthew chapter 17, verses one through five.
[9:38] They see all, they see these people. Verse one says, after six days, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John and his brother. And he brings them into a high mountain. And his face shines and his raiment is white.
[9:50] And Moses and Elias are there talking with him. And they said, wow. And in verse five, the father speaks again. This is my beloved son. You know, they just don't want to believe.
[10:01] John said he was really God. John said he was the son of God. John said that I give testimony of him. The works that he did said he was. The father said he was. But it doesn't matter even if they hear it from heaven.
[10:13] They don't want to believe. Third or fourth witness that he has. Look at John chapter five and verse 39. John 5, 39. Search the scriptures. For in them you think you have eternal life.
[10:25] And they are they which testify of me. Just knowing the facts of scripture is not enough. These guys knew the scriptures. They knew how many patriarchs there were.
[10:38] They knew how many books of the Bible they were. They knew how many tribes there were. They knew all the Bible facts. Like many of you, they knew all the Bible facts. They knew about Bethlehem. They knew about David. They knew about Bathsheba.
[10:49] They knew about Samson. They knew all these Bible facts. But they don't believe. They don't understand. They don't let it drive them home. He said the scriptures speak of me.
[10:59] In fact, this is a little bit. He's going to call Moses and say, Moses wrote about me, but you guys didn't believe. Watch this if you would. These guys. Now, I need you to listen to this. Really? Seriously, this worries me about us.
[11:10] Because we're Baptist and because we go to church and because we live in the southeast and because we've heard about Jesus all of our lives, somehow we almost get this idea that we're born saved.
[11:23] It's like we get this idea we're all right with God. It's like we get this idea, hey, hey, hey, I'm from the southeast. I'm from the Bible Belt. I'm from the buckle on the Bible Belt. I must be okay. That's what these Pharisees were.
[11:35] That's what these Jewish leaders were. They really believed they were. They said, we do search the scriptures. And he said, but when you search the scriptures, you don't see the truth. When you search the scriptures, you don't see that God sent his son to be a sacrifice.
[11:49] You don't see that God's the one that does the saving. You figure out how you can save your own self. Look what the Bible says, if you would. And you need to look this up. Romans chapter 10 and verse 3.
[12:01] Romans chapter 10 and verse 3. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
[12:12] You know what their problem was? Their problem was, as they read the Bible, they were like, check, done that one. Check, done that one. Yep, doing pretty good on that one too. Oh, by the way, that one says I'm a pretty good guy.
[12:22] Wow, I'm looking good. And they kept reading the Bible. And all right through the Bible, they're like, yep, yep, yep. We're the people. We're Jews. We're the nation of Israel. We're the select. We're the elected. We're the ones. We're the people. We're the people.
[12:33] We're the people. And he said, all you do is read the Bible to figure out how good you are. You read the Bible to figure out how good you are. But it's not about how good you are.
[12:44] It's about how good God is. He said, you guys got it all messed up. You go around trying to establish your own righteousness. Well, I'm a son of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and I can trace my lineage all the way to here, so I must be okay.
[12:56] Oh, I know all the Old Testament rules, and I've got the Bible down clear. But what they were doing, now listen to this. They were establishing their own righteousness. How many of you are doing that? How many of you really got your little checklist?
[13:09] And you're like, hey, I don't rape and murder and pillage, and I don't do all these bad things, and I'm a good guy, and I'm a good neighbor, and I take good care of my wife, and I go to church, and I give money, and I tithe, and I give the faith promise.
[13:20] I must be okay. Hey, that's your righteousness. And here's what he said in Romans chapter 10 and verse 3 right there that you're looking at right behind my head. He said they established their own righteousness, but they haven't submitted to the righteousness of God.
[13:33] I don't really have time to go to this, but I wish you'd think about this. All through the Old Testament, all they did was mess up. There's not one good guy in the Old Testament. Everybody in the Old Testament failed and failed and failed again and failed and failed again.
[13:45] And you know what saved them? You know what cleansed them? There was a lamb that was slain, and his blood was shed, and that's how their sin was taken care of. And by the way, you're a failure, and you can't fix it, and you can't straighten it up, and it's always the lamb and his blood that was shed.
[14:00] In fact, can I remind you that those same Jews reading the Old Testament missed Isaiah 64, 6, where it says, but we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags, and we do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away.
[14:18] First thing I want you to see this morning, look this way. There are four witnesses. Four witnesses. Jesus is God. You must believe in him. You must believe in him because he is God.
[14:32] John the Baptist told you he was, and my works tell you that I am, and my Father spoke it from heaven and said I was, and not only that, if you read the Bible, you'll know I am. But the second thing is they just refused to come to Jesus.
[14:47] Men clenched their fist and shook it in God's face and said, I will not come. Look at verse 40. Look at verse 40. And you will not come to me. You will not come to me that you might have life.
[15:01] He said you won't come. By the way, he wanted him to come. He wanted him to come. You got your Bible open? John chapter 3 and verse 17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
[15:14] God wasn't up in heaven saying, I'd like to just fry me a bunch of people. I'd like to just send a bunch of people to hell. He said, no, sir. That's not how it is. He said the Son came into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved.
[15:27] In John chapter 4 and verse 42, he said, he said unto the woman, now we believe, not because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.
[15:41] Old Testament, which some of you somehow get so twisted and you think that God in the Old Testament was a big, bad, mean, bully God and he was all law, which is totally not true, which means you totally don't understand the Bible.
[15:53] And all of a sudden you get the New Testament and you've got this really good God and this really good Jesus who takes care of everything, which is true, but the same is true about the Old Testament. In Ezekiel 18, verse 23, God said, have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?
[16:08] Sent the Lord God not that he should return from his ways and live. God said, I don't want people to die and go to hell. That's not what I want. John 3, 16, he said, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
[16:24] You remember how the book started in John 1, 11? He said, he came to his own and his own received him not. His own received him not. You see, he wanted them to come, but they rejected the truth.
[16:35] They rejected the witness. And by the way, if you die and go to hell this morning, it'll be because you reject the truth. If you die and go to hell this morning, it'll be because you stand up and say, I will not admit that I'm a sinner before God.
[16:46] I will not accept that Jesus paid the debt on the cross. You'll have no one to blame but you. In John 3, 19 and 20, the Bible said, and this is the condemnation that light has come to the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
[17:04] For everyone that doeth evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. He said, you know why y'all don't want to hear the truth? You know why you don't want to know about Jesus? You know why you don't want to find out about him because your deeds are evil and you don't want to come to the light.
[17:19] Verse 43, 543, I'm coming in my father's name and you receive me not. If another shall come in his own name, him will you receive. Amazingly, Jesus said, you guys don't believe anybody.
[17:30] Some guy can come selling some junk and you believe him if he came in somebody else's name, but I come in the father's name and you will not believe me. Come in the name of a political party, you'll believe me. Come in the name of some store, you'll believe me.
[17:42] But if I come in the name of my father, you won't believe me. See, they thought they were already in good shape. You know, we need to stop this morning and examine ourselves and make sure we're not religious, but lost.
[17:57] So many of our people, Christian in between, in the ethical media, I don't know how you say that in English, quotation marks, so many Christians are going to go to hell.
[18:10] Oh, they're not truly Christians, but they sure think they are. They sure think they are. Verse 39, search the scriptures. For in them, you think you have eternal life.
[18:21] And they are they which testify of me. You guys read the Bible, but you don't even realize it's talking about me. You know scriptures, but you don't know the God of the scriptures. You guys are good hearers, but not good doers.
[18:33] You think you can know without believing, but you can't. You're more concerned about what your friends think. There are people sitting in this room. Let me just tell you, you know what you're thinking this morning?
[18:44] You're thinking, well, I'm all right. In my opinion, that's what you like to say. In my opinion, I mean, the way I see it and the way the Bible speaks to me, I think I'm doing okay.
[18:54] No, you're not. No, you're not. That's a lie. That's what those Jewish people said. Don't do that. What's the Bible say? Search the scriptures. Some of us won't get saved this morning because we're more worried about what other people think.
[19:08] You, in fact, wouldn't come to this altar. You wouldn't put your faith in Christ because you're afraid somebody would laugh at you or somebody wouldn't think well of you or some of your family. Look what he said in John 5, verse 44. How can you believe which receive honor one of another and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?
[19:23] He said, you guys are more worried about what each other think than you are about what God thinks. You Jews are all sitting over there in a corner and some of you really wish you could get saved and some of you really want to believe but instead of believing, you're like, I don't know what Uncle Tom will say and Aunt Susie will say and I don't know what the other people are saying.
[19:40] I don't know what the other people are saying. And you won't trust Jesus. They thought they were good enough on their own. They didn't think they needed to repent and turn to Christ. They used the Bible as a way of defending their way of life instead of seeking truth to apply to their life.
[19:57] So here's Jesus' answer. You've got to go with me. He says, I don't accuse you. Moses accuses you. You've got to remember what they're doing. They're looking at Jesus and saying, we don't believe you.
[20:08] We believe Moses. He said, well, your hero Moses is the one that accuses you. Go to John chapter 5, verse 45. Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. You already got somebody accusing you.
[20:20] That's Moses, the guy you trust. For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me. For he, Moses, wrote of me. But if you believe not his writing, Moses is writing, how shall you believe my words?
[20:34] Would you listen to hear? Did you know that nothing in the Bible was written to show you how good you are? Did you hear that? There's not a verse in the Bible where you can go read it and say, well, I'm doing okay.
[20:47] Every verse in the Bible screams, no, you're not. Every verse in the Bible says, you stink. Every verse in the Bible says, you sinned. Every verse in the Bible says, you failed.
[21:00] And only Jesus can redeem you and save you. Jesus says, okay, I brought four witnesses and you won't listen. I want you to be saved, but you refuse to believe you.
[21:10] I give you eternal life, but you won't come to me. You say you're hiding behind Moses. Well, I'll tell you what, in the great day when judgment happens, your hero Moses will be the one that steps forward and says, he broke every rule I ever was used to pen and write down.
[21:26] Look what your Bible says in Galatians chapter three, verses 19 through 24. Verse 19, he said, why do you have the law? Wherefore then serveth the law? Why was the law written?
[21:37] That's verse 19. Skip down to verse 21. And the Bible says, is the law then against the promise of God? God forbid. For if there had been given a law, which could have given life, verily righteousness would have come by, should have been by the law.
[21:52] But the scripture has concluded all under sin. Look, if you would, verse 22, underline it, put a star about all under sin.
[22:04] He said, when you take all the scripture and you write it down, let me just tell you what it says. It says Pharisees are under sin. It says Gentiles are under sin. It says religious leaders are under sin. It says every human beings under sin.
[22:15] All have sin. You know why he wrote that stuff in the Old Testament about all those rules? They were never for you to keep. They were never for you to keep. They were to show you you're sick.
[22:28] They were to show you you're a failure. They were to bring you to Jesus. Galatians chapter three, verse 20, Galatians chapter three, verse 23.
[22:40] But before the faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up under faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us under Christ that we might be justified.
[22:53] You know what the Bible did? The Bible comes and it says this. The Bible says this. It says, hey, have you ever told a lie? All liars have their part in a lake of fire. You ever been proud? Oh, you guys are going to hell too. You ever looked at somebody and lusted after her in your heart, thought things you shouldn't have thought?
[23:07] Going to hell. Everybody's going to hell. That's it. You're all in trouble. And whenever we finally realize it, we go, oh, I'm in trouble.
[23:18] I have nowhere to go. I'm in big problems. He says, good. I've got a solution for you. I've got Jesus who died on a cross to pay your sin. You ever read the Pilgrim's Progress?
[23:29] If you haven't, you should. Get a children's version if you have to, but it's written in the 1500s. It's a great book. And in the book, he's reading this book. Pilgrim is reading this book. It's the Bible.
[23:39] And as he reads this book, this big load gets built on his back until he's got this huge load on his back. And he can hardly bear it because all he can think is, I must run. I must flee.
[23:50] I must get out of the city of destruction. The wrath of God is coming. I've got to run. And he can't figure out any way to get all the junk off his back. And he tries being good, but no matter how much he tries being good, this is such a burden, he can't help it.
[24:03] And one day he gets to Calvary and Jesus takes the load away and saves him. That's what Jesus said. Hey, I'm not the one, I'm not the one's going to accuse you on that day.
[24:13] I didn't come to condemn you. I'm not here like a policeman. I'm here like a savior. I'm here to save you. Moses will accuse you. In Romans chapter three and verse 19, the Bible says, now we know that what's things to ever the law says, it says to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God.
[24:36] You see, some of us were, I mean, we've really been raised good. Some of us had very good moral parents. And you know, we've never had a drop of alcohol to drink and we never had sex outside of marriage.
[24:46] And we never, I mean, the worst thing we ever done is got a speeding ticket or we ran a stop sign and that's our big sin. And so we all kind of look around and go, Ooh, I think that guy's a drunkard. Ooh, I think that guy's an adulterer.
[24:58] Ooh, I think that guy. And he said, but I wrote the law so all your big mouths would be shut up. I'll stop every one of your mouths and every one of you figure out you have sinned against a holy God.
[25:11] You're ignorant of his righteousness. They didn't really believe Moses. They read it. They probably memorized it, but they didn't believe Moses. They used Moses.
[25:24] They were like, ha, the Bible says this. We got to keep the Sabbath day. So we'll build 39 rules so we always keep the Sabbath day. And so they go around all the time being real careful not to break any of the major rules.
[25:37] They had all kinds of ways. Moses told them about their sin. Moses told them about their need of a savior. There was a lamb all through Moses' writings.
[25:49] Every time they messed up, he'd say, go ahead and sacrifice a lamb. They were in the nation of Egypt and there's going to be a Passover day. Go ahead and sacrifice a lamb. All through the Bible, Moses told them, but they got out of the scriptures what they wanted to get.
[26:01] That's what's happening all over this nation today. There are tons of people going to a feel-good church today. And they're going to walk in and somebody's going to open a Bible and they're going to let them walk out of there thinking, I'm in pretty good shape.
[26:13] But let me just tell you, you're not in good shape if you have not come to the place that you realize you sinned against the Holy God and you placed your faith and trust in Christ. You're not in good shape.
[26:25] Most men, these men, did not want to see their sinful condition. They were excited. We're the chosen people. We can't fail. They thought it was because of what they did and didn't realize it was the cross.
[26:39] Here's some practical lessons and I quit. There's ample proof of who Jesus is and was and what he was doing. But men didn't want to believe it.
[26:50] Today, all over the place, men are going to talk to you about Jesus being a great teacher. They're going to talk to you about Jesus being the best that ever lived. They're going to talk to you about Jesus being a great example. They love Jesus but they don't want to admit that he was God in human flesh.
[27:07] They don't want to admit he was God. They prefer to see Jesus the way they want him, not the way God said he was. They don't want to see themselves as a sinner in need of a savior.
[27:20] The question is not who Jesus is but who do you really think you are? Questioning who Jesus is because he is. Who do you think you are?
[27:32] Do you realize you're a sinner? Everybody in this room right now, those of you who are saved ought to be going, yes, I did realize that. Yes, he did die for my sins.
[27:42] Yes, I have the free gift. Yes, I can walk out here knowing it's God's grace that saved me. He wants people to be saved and to come to him but they refuse. Men prefer to find comfort in their prideful ability to think.
[27:56] Well, I've thought that one through. I just don't see how God could be like that. You've got it all worked out, haven't you? That's what the Pharisees said. Search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life but you don't believe me so the words of God aren't in you.
[28:12] They wanted to fit in with the majority of people and what they believed. They used the Bible and other things to feel good about themselves. Men prefer to attack the Bible because if not it attacks them.
[28:26] We don't like the Bible because buddy it comes right down our alley. It's amazing. Two thousand years later it says I know you. I know you.
[28:37] I know who you are. I know where you're from. I know what you've done and I know where you're going. This is the living word of God. It's not our responsibility by the way to get people to accept Christ but it is our responsibility to give them the evidence that Jesus is God and he's the only means of salvation.
[28:55] God wants to save them. We're sent to take the message to them. We know that most will reject the message but that's not our part of the equation. Ours is to give the message and theirs is to believe.
[29:08] People go to hell because they will not come to Christ. They will not believe. That's what he said in the passage. So here it is. Are you ready? He's God. He said and you won't listen to me and you won't come.
[29:23] And you hide in the Bible. You hide in the what's the killer of the whole thing is they were Bible people on their way to hell. They knew the Bible.
[29:33] They wrote the Bible. They memorized the Bible. And he said search the scriptures. You think you have life in them but you don't know me. Rejected Jesus.
[29:44] This morning I say to you I say to you that God loves you. He cares about you. He died on the cross to pay your sin debt. You're in this place because he's reaching to you right now and telling you the truth and you won't receive him because you've got 22 reasons why you're okay.
[30:03] Because you think you're in good shape. Because other people told you you were okay. Everybody agrees with you but you don't want to look at what the Bible says. This morning live this morning leave those things.
[30:17] Trust Jesus. The Bible says you have sinned. The Bible says you have failed God. The Bible says you do deserve hell. There's not one good person in this room.
[30:28] He he shows us clearly we are sinners. There's none righteous no not one. All have failed and come short sinned and come short of the glory of God.
[30:40] We've all failed God. But Jesus paid the debt. He bought your salvation. Will you trust him?
[30:50] Don't hide behind public opinion. Don't hide behind what your mama said or your grandmama said or your cousins and your aunts and your uncles or the people you work with. Don't seek honor from people.
[31:02] Find out what God says. Don't say I know some Bible verses that say I'm okay. Humble yourself and say I'm a sinner. In need of a savior.
[31:14] Father in heaven I love you. I pray your name would be honored. God I pray you'd save somebody today. I pray you'd drive that truth home. I pray some people would trust you. I pray your name would be glorified and honored.
[31:24] God I know that it's going to take a major humbling for us to admit that we've sinned but I pray God that you'd do that in some lives today and I pray that your name would be glorified beyond anything I could ever dream of today because of how you work in our lives.
[31:39] With every head bowed and every eye closed would you examine yourself and see if you're religious but lost. Would you examine your life and see if you have done things and that's why you think you're okay or if there was a time in your life when you humbly came to him knowing that you had sinned against God you were convicted of your sin the Holy Spirit showed you your sinful condition and you trusted Jesus.
[32:07] If that didn't happen today's your day I want to help you. If you'd raise your hand I'll take the Bible I'll have somebody take the Bible and I'll show you how to know you'd go to heaven if you die. Is there anybody like that in the room that say man I need somebody to show me from the scriptures how to know that I'm saved.
[32:20] Is there anybody like that in the room? Just hold your hand up let me pray for you. Are there any Christians in here that would say I need to be bolder in witnessing I need to make it clear to people how Jesus died and how Jesus paid the price and I need to quit seeking the popularity and just be straight to the point that it's Jesus that did not speak to your heart is anybody like that?
[32:42] Amen. Let's tell people about Jesus. It is Jesus and it is all Jesus. The altar's open you can come and pray for people you want to witness to you can come and get things right with God and if you need to talk to somebody you can do that right now and we'll take the Bible and show you how to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're saved.
[33:00] Father God work today magnify yourself and I'll give you all praise and all honor and all glory for all that you do. We love you. You have been listening to Austin Gardner Pastor of Vision Baptist Church For contact information location service times or more audio and video recordings log on to www.visionbaptist.com