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[0:00] Dear Lord, we are grateful for your book. In it we learn of you and find guidance and direction for our lives.

[0:15] Help us to learn to love your word and to eagerly dig into its pages. Amen.

[0:30] The message this morning is sovereignty, responsibility in John's gospel. And we're going to start digging.

[0:42] So please turn to John chapter 20. And we'll be looking at John 20, verses 19 to 31.

[1:00] So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, Peace be with you.

[1:25] And when he had said this, he showed them both his hands and his side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

[1:39] So Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.

[1:52] And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

[2:03] If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.

[2:16] But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

[2:29] So the other disciples were saying to him, We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, Unless I see in his hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

[2:57] After eight days, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, Peace be with you.

[3:18] Then he said to Thomas, Reach here with your finger, and see my hands. Reach here with your hand, and put it into my side.

[3:32] And do not be unbelieving, but believing. Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God.

[3:49] Jesus said to him, Because you have seen me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.

[4:04] Therefore, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.

[4:17] But these have been written, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life in his name.

[4:32] You will note the number of times that the word believe and belief is used here in John chapter 20.

[4:44] In fact, John tells us at the conclusion of the gospel that the very reason that this gospel was given was so that men might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

[4:55] It is utterly astounding to realize how much is accomplished in a human being's life solely on the basis of their belief.

[5:09] Because when you come to believe something, you are assigning that thing, whatever it is, to reality. You are saying this is what is.

[5:22] And you believe it because you presume it to be true. Thus, you are aligning yourself with reality. And this is, I am convinced, one of the great reasons that so much emphasis is placed upon believing.

[5:36] Because when we believe what God has revealed, and we assign that to being a state of realness, we are coming into agreement with God.

[5:52] Because God is a God of reality, not unreality. He is a God of truth and a God of light. And when you come to believe in what he has revealed, particularly the record regarding his Son, you are aligning yourself with what God says is true.

[6:12] And that greatly pleases him. Those who repudiate that are saying, in effect, that is not true. I do not believe it, and I do not embrace it.

[6:26] Well, a thing is true, or it isn't true. And away with this nonsense that would say, well, if it's true to you, it's true.

[6:42] It doesn't have to be true objectively, just as long as you think it's true. That is patent nonsense. Objective reality and objective truth is or is not.

[6:57] And this is one of the great issues that divides our whole culture today, is absolutism versus relativism. You've got your truth, and I've got my truth.

[7:09] And that way, nobody has to be wrong about anything. Everybody can be right. But it is a philosophical fallacy. It is illogical, and it is certainly unbiblical.

[7:23] We are to traffic in truth, be lovers of the truth, pursue the truth. We are to defend the truth. We are to revel and rejoice in the truth. How can you do that if truth, objective truth, doesn't even exist?

[7:38] It's an impossibility. Well, of all four of the Gospels that are given, John's Gospel so clearly sets forth, and unrepeatedly so, the maxim that belief precedes life, not vice versa, as the Calvinists insist.

[8:00] And we've already considered some of John's passages, and today we will invoke more such references. So, if you're still there in John, turn please to chapter 5 and verse 24.

[8:13] We are simply going to go through this Gospel and look at some of the verses that our Calvinist friends, including myself formerly, used to buttress the idea that God makes people alive first, on the basis of unconditional election.

[8:34] He quickens them and makes them alive, and as a result of their being made alive, and having spiritual life, then they believe. And in the Calvinist scheme of things, because of unconditional election, that is, that God selectively chooses individuals for salvation, and those he does not choose simply go on to perdition, but he chooses some, they are the elect, and he causes them to be alive, and that's what enables them to believe.

[9:06] Otherwise, they would be dead in their sins and unable to believe. But when God quickens them and makes them alive, then they are able to respond to the Gospel when they hear it. And some say, as our Calvinist friends say, the only reason any Christian is a Christian is because they are the elect of God, and they believe because they were unable to believe, and otherwise they weren't able, and so on and so on.

[9:28] We've been down that road. So we are looking at some of the passages that seem to support that idea. However, there is no place that we find in John's Gospel that gives us any indication at all that life comes before believing.

[9:48] Rather, we find repeated instances, not only in John's Gospel, but throughout Scripture, where life comes after believing. We are passed from death into life.

[10:03] That is, from spiritual death into spiritual life. And that seems to be the order all through Scripture. Well, then, how do our Calvinist friends arrive at this life first and then believe?

[10:16] It fits the system. You have to have it in order to sustain the Calvinist train of thought. Otherwise, you cannot get past that first item of all being spiritually incapable of responding.

[10:35] That's the T in tulip, which is the total depravity. That means that you are dead. You are absolutely dead. You can't respond any more than a corpse could respond to stimuli.

[10:46] You can't respond spiritually. So, God has to make you alive because you are one of the elect so that you can respond. And if he does that, you will respond. And if you're not elect and he does not choose you, you're out.

[11:01] It doesn't make any difference what you believe about anything. If you are not elect, you are not elect. You are doomed. And that's it. Your will, your volition, has nothing whatever to do with it.

[11:15] Nothing. In the Calvinist scheme of things. And in taking that view, they do succeed in really extolling the absolute sovereignty of God.

[11:30] And when we say God is sovereign, we mean God not only has the power and the ability to do all things after his own will, he also possesses the right to do so.

[11:45] He has the moral right to order all things after the counsel of his own will because he is sovereign. And he has brought all things into existence so it is his to do with as he pleases.

[11:57] And the Calvinist friends would say he is pleased to choose some to election and to allow others to go to perdition. Their will and their volition has nothing whatever to do with it.

[12:08] And if you tell the Calvinist, I am saved because I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal savior, they say, no, no, no, no, no. You are saved because you were eternally elect in Christ.

[12:20] And that's what enabled you to believe. And you didn't have anything to do with it. God did it all. So I commend their motivation and their desire, which is to glorify God by giving to him absolute and complete sovereignty.

[12:37] I can understand their eagerness to do that. And God certainly deserves all the recognition we can give them. But, all throughout Scripture, beginning in Genesis, all throughout Scripture, God demonstrates time and time and time again that whereas he could have acted entirely alone without any human agency at all, he repeatedly utilizes human agency.

[13:10] Didn't have to, but he does. Noah is an excellent example. God could have saved that family of eight in any number of ways.

[13:21] But he chose to utilize a human being and human efforts, human input, in order to save those eight souls.

[13:33] He didn't do that because he had to. God wasn't desperate and looked down and said, I've got to find somebody. Noah, maybe he can do it. No, no, no. That's nonsense. God was pleased to use Noah not because he had to, because he chose to.

[13:50] And all throughout Scripture, we find God graciously condescending to utilize human beings in his plan and program.

[14:03] Always because he was simply pleased to do so, not because he had to do so. He was pleased to use Abraham and Sarah in the manner in which he did to affect the whole nation of Israel and all of those that came from it.

[14:21] And as you go all through Scripture, he was pleased to use. Do you think God really had to use Moses to get the children of Israel out of Egypt? He could have sent an angel.

[14:32] He could have affected their deliverance on his own. He could have just said the word and it would have been done and they would have been packing their bags and moving out of Egypt and the Egyptians wouldn't have been able to do anything.

[14:42] He could have done. But he used people. He used Moses. You come into the New Testament and he's using John the Baptist. He doesn't have to use him. God doesn't need anybody.

[14:56] God is not dependent upon anybody. But he is pleased to use us. And we ought to consider ourselves incredibly privileged that he does.

[15:12] So, of all of John's Gospels, of all the four Gospels, John so clearly sets forth the maxim that belief precedes life, not vice versa as the Calvinists insist.

[15:27] And we have already considered some of John's passages and today we invoke more such references. And while you're turning to John 5 and verse 24 if you haven't already found it, let me just run this by you and think about this.

[15:41] In what form or manner did God make himself known to Israel prior to the coming of the Messiah? How did God reveal himself, his plan, and his program to Israel before Jesus ever came on the scene?

[16:01] Well, if you're thinking of Hebrews chapter 1 and the way the book opens, God, at sundry times and in divers manners, in times past, spoke unto us by the fathers and through the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us in his Son.

[16:25] So, before Jesus ever came on the scene and was born in that manger in Bethlehem, God was revealing himself to the nation of Israel through the prophets and, on occasion, through personal appearances, whereby God appeared to Abraham, and God appeared to Joshua, and God appeared to Moses in undeniable ways.

[16:50] God But then, when once the Messiah came on the scene, in what form or manner does God make himself known to all of humanity after the coming of the Messiah?

[17:09] The role is just reversed. Before the Messiah comes, God is informing Israel about the coming of the Messiah, Messiah, and when the Messiah arrives on the scene in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, when the Messiah arrives on the scene, those who previously responded to God's revelation are ready to welcome him.

[17:38] Those who were already negative toward God's revelation before the Messiah ever came, are ready to oppose him. And that's what we have. Now that he has come, died on that cross, been resurrected, and ascended, what is the mode of operation?

[17:56] How is this revelation thing working now? Before it was the Father revealing himself directly to Israel, then Christ came on the scene, and once he did, now the methodology has reversed, and now it is you come to know the Father through the Son.

[18:18] this is the whole basis of John 14, 6. No man can come unto the Father but by me. The Son came to reveal the Father. And of course, the Spirit of God is involved in both of those venues.

[18:33] So let's look, if we may, at John chapter 5 and verse 24. I want to finish this, if we can, in John's gospel, because I have things that are of great concern to Calvinists and non-Calvinists that are in Romans, particularly in chapter 9, and Esau have I, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated, and it seems to be a buttressing argument for the Calvinists, but I think we will see to the contrary.

[19:06] Here in John chapter 5, in verse, well, look at verse 22, not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son.

[19:21] Now this is a transfer of responsibility. God was doing the judging before, now he's transferred it to the Son, and then he goes on to say, in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.

[19:36] He who does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father who sent him. This is an unmistakable alliance that Jesus is making between himself and the Father.

[19:49] And the point is very, very clear that you cannot have one without the other. That is really important to understand.

[20:01] And this sheds light on those who rejected Christ as the Messiah when he came. Remember the scribes and Pharisees, particularly their religious establishment. And I've emphasized, and so say I now again, the reason they had such difficulty in accepting Jesus and just flatly rejected him was because they were already in a mode of rejection with the Father before Jesus ever came on the scene.

[20:30] If you do a little bit of historical investigation into what was going on in the nation of Israel prior to the time that Jesus came, I mean like 50 to 100 years before Jesus came on the scene, you will realize that the nation of Israel was steeped in debauchery, in hypocrisy, the religious establishment was shot through and through with corruption, things were really, really bad, morally and religiously.

[21:00] And yet they had all of the outward demonstration of religion and propriety. These are those of whom Jesus said when quoting Isaiah, these people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

[21:18] In other words, they had all of the externals that go along with religion. They put on a good show. They had all their ducks in a row when it came to formality and propriety and tradition and all the rest of it, but it was dead as a doornail.

[21:36] He said, outwardly, you guys look real good, like whitewashed sepulchers just with a fresh coat of white paint on them and they're beautiful and attractive and you can see them glistening in the sunlight from afar off, but when you get up and examine what's inside, death, putrefaction, dead bones, rotting corpses.

[22:00] And he said, that's what Israel is. That's the true picture. Where did they get that? That was all in the self-help human works, do-goodism, offer the right sacrifices, jump through the right hoops and all the rest of it.

[22:21] And it was all religiosity. It's like people today who mistake churchianity for christianity.

[22:33] We've got more churchianity in this country than we have christianity. And this is a principal reason why christians are having such little impact.

[22:46] You know, if all of the people, if all of the people who are categorized in the official listing as christians were, would probably set this country on its nose with change and effectiveness and dynamic.

[23:05] But that is not the case. So, truly, truly, verse 24, I say to you, he who hears my word, now look at the order here, and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

[23:31] And here is just one more example where we find no indication at all that Jesus is giving any credence to the idea that you who believe in me, of course, the reason you believe in me is because you were previously elected.

[23:46] There isn't even a hint of that, and there's no way that we can inject that in there and be responsible. And let's come over to chapter 6. chapter 6 of John's gospel, in verse 37, all that the Father gives me shall come to me.

[24:09] And our Calvinist friends, of course, say, well, this means all that the Father has elected come to me. But that's not what the text says.

[24:22] it says, all that the Father gives me. How is it that the Father gives these to the Son? Now, this answer is not very profound.

[24:33] It's rather simple. The Father had them to give. And He gave them to the Son. The Father had them to give because they had already placed themselves in a right relationship with the Father.

[24:52] And that, too, was on the basis of grace, not on the basis of sacrifices or religion or works or anything of the kind, because man has always been justified by faith, always on the basis of belief.

[25:07] Sometimes, exactly what was required to be believed is not all that clear, but in every instance, it was always related to believing whatever it was that God had revealed about Himself.

[25:21] They believed that. And as you go through the hall of faith in Hebrews chapter 11, you find one instance after another. By faith, Jacob. By faith, Abraham.

[25:32] By faith, Moses. By faith, Isis. By faith, that. And all it means is, because they believed what God said, that's why they did what they did. Because Noah believed what God told him, he built an ark.

[25:46] Because Moses believed what God told him, he led the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. Because Joshua believed what God told him, he took over the reins after Moses passed off the scene and led the children of Israel.

[26:00] In all of those cases, it's because they believed God. And I've told you and told you, for 40 years I've been telling you this, more than anything else, God just wants to be believed.

[26:14] Because to not believe Him is to insult Him. And God does not take well to insults. God has this strange notion that because He is God and is the God of truth, He is worthy of being believed.

[26:33] And to refuse to believe Him is downright evil. And that's how He categorizes it. in chapter 6 and verse 37, all that the Father gives me shall come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out.

[26:54] For I have come down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that of all He has given me, I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

[27:09] For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I myself will raise Him.

[27:22] Up on the last day. Now this is very simplistic, but you see the order is given here. How can we possibly responsibly inject any kind of a predetermined, prearranged, prechosen into this?

[27:40] There is just no room for it. It does great disservice to the text to say, well, yes, but behind this all is the idea of election, and that's why it just will not fly.

[27:53] Come over, if you will, to verse 65, same chapter, John 6, in verse 65. And he was saying, for this reason I have said to you, and this is really powerful, very powerful, and this is a favorite verse that my Calvinist friends used, and that I used for many years when I taught this.

[28:15] For this reason I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father. Father, what's the whole context of this thing?

[28:28] It is, you were either on right terms with the Father, or you were on wrong terms with the Father. If you were on wrong terms with the Father, he didn't give you to Jesus Christ, he never had you.

[28:41] You belonged to the scribe and Pharisee's ilk, he never did have you. They aren't given to the Son, only those whom the Father had, he gives to the Son. And who did the Father have?

[28:53] All those who believe whatever revelation the Father had given by that time. And reading on, no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father.

[29:08] And the Father granted it because they belong to him. And the essence of this is, everyone that belongs to the Father belongs to the Son. And everyone that belongs to the Son belongs to the Father.

[29:21] You cannot separate these. They are in tandem. chapter 8 and verse 19. And he is talking, if you go back to verse 13, we see clearly that he's talking to the Pharisees.

[29:43] Now, not all the Pharisees were nasty. There were a few. There was Joseph of Arimathea, there was Nicodemus, and there were probably other Pharisees who were really on the right page.

[29:57] But by and large, most of the Pharisees were so caught up in their own self-righteousness and their own goodness that they confronted Christ constantly.

[30:12] And we are looking at chapter 8 and verse 19. And the Pharisees, they were saying to him, where is your father? Jesus answered, you know neither me nor my father.

[30:29] If you knew me, you would know my father also. Do you see how this verifies what we've been saying? If you're right with the father, you're automatically right with the son. And when Jesus came on the scene, those who embraced him, received him, beginning with the 12 apostles whom he chose, those and the multitude of other who are signed on as disciples, even though they were not apostles, they were on the side of Jesus the Messiah, and they believed he was the one spoken of by Moses and the prophets, he was sent from God.

[31:05] They identified with that. And because they were already in a positive position with the father, the transition to the son was automatic.

[31:17] they had no difficulty at all in embracing Jesus as the Messiah because they were already in a proper spiritual frame. And those who weren't were the ones who gave him all the grief and the ones who rejected him.

[31:33] If you knew me, you would know my father also. And look at verse 32. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

[31:45] knowing the truth precedes freedom. Knowing the truth precedes freedom. It isn't freedom and then the truth.

[31:58] It isn't life and then belief. It is belief and then life. That order is sustained not only on this front, but on others as well. Knowing the truth precedes freedom, not vice versa.

[32:12] And while we're still here in John's gospel, let's go to verse 38, same chapter. John 8 and verse 38.

[32:23] I speak the things which I have seen with my father. Therefore, you also do the things which you heard from your father.

[32:35] Oh, now, wait a minute, what's he saying here? Christ is clearly saying, I have a different father than you. We don't have the same dad. You have yours and I have mine.

[32:48] They are not the same. Now, it is amazing how many people would like to just have everybody one big happy family, but it is not so. I speak the things which I have seen with my father.

[33:10] therefore, you also do the things which you heard from your father. In other words, that's why you reject me, because you have a different father than I. They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father.

[33:25] Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.

[33:35] this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father. You see the dichotomy here? Could it be any clearer?

[33:46] Could it be any plainer? They're coming from two different worlds. To belong to the father meant that you would willingly embrace the son when he came on the scene.

[33:59] And this is also tied up with Jesus saying, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. Wow. And he really meant that.

[34:11] Chapter 10. John's Gospel. Chapter 10. Verse 22.

[34:29] At that time, the feast of the dedication took place at Jerusalem. And it was winter. Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. The Jews therefore gathered around him and were saying to him, how long will you keep us in suspense?

[34:46] If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my father's name, these bear witness of me.

[35:03] but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.

[35:26] My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the father are one.

[35:42] The Jews took up stones again to stone him, and Jesus answered and said, I showed you many good works from the father, for which of them are you stoning me?

[35:55] The Jews answered him, for a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself out to be God.

[36:07] And Jesus answered them, has it not been written in your law? I said, you are gods. This is a quote from the Psalms. And all this was an appeal to these unbelievers to come over to the right side on the basis of what he had done.

[36:49] That should be evidence enough for you. But of course for minds that are bolted shut, it isn't. And in chapter 11, right next door, in verse 24, Martha said to him, this is in connection with his about to raise Lazarus from the dead.

[37:10] And Martha said to him regarding her brother Lazarus, I know Lazarus that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.

[37:25] He who believes in me shall live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?

[37:36] He who believes will live. Why is he going to live? Well, Martha, I'm glad you asked that question. The reason he's going to live is because he has been unconditionally elected by God my father in eternity past.

[37:54] Can you read that into that? Well, you have to. If you're going to sustain the Calvinist position, you have to say, well, it doesn't actually say that, but that's what it means.

[38:09] Well, if words mean anything, it just won't fly. He who believes will live. And he isn't living and then believing. He's believing and then living.

[38:24] The life is imparted upon regeneration. Regeneration is salvation, and I can't make a distinction between them. Regeneration means to be made over, to be made new.

[38:38] When something is generated, it is fashioned or made or brought into existence. It is generated.

[38:48] When it is regenerated, it is brought anew into existence. Regeneration is salvation.

[39:00] When regeneration takes place, that is the impartation of new life. That is being made alive on the inside so that we become a new person internally than what we were before.

[39:19] And there is no indication anywhere that that ever precedes believing. It always follows believing. I cannot think of one single instance in all of the older New Testament where a right relationship with God is established before one exercises their volition to believe what God has revealed.

[39:45] Not one single solitary instance. Yet, that all must be assumed that it is that way if you are of the Calvinist persuasion.

[39:56] and it just won't fly. She said, Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even who comes into the world.

[40:13] And when she said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, the teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she rose quickly and was coming to him.

[40:26] Now, Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still in the place where Martha met him. And we're not going to take time to develop the scene here of the actual raising of Lazarus, but it's a wonderful reading.

[40:45] Chapter 12, and verse 44. One of the reasons we are spending this time in John is because none of the other gospel writers so clearly spell out this formula as does John.

[40:59] And little wonder then that John is called the gospel of belief. Not that the other three gospels do not emphasize believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. They do, but John focuses on it in a way that the others do not.

[41:12] And in John chapter 12 and verse 44, Jesus cried out and said, he who believes in me does not believe in me, but in him who sent me, and he who beholds me beholds the one who sent me.

[41:32] I have come as light into the world that everyone who believes in me may not remain in darkness. And the darkness, of course, is present until the light comes, and it's always, that's the same formula again.

[41:49] And if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has one who judges him.

[42:06] The word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father himself who sent me has given me commandment what to say and what to speak.

[42:21] And I know that his commandment is eternal life, therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me. And chapter 13 and verse 20.

[42:37] Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me. And he who receives me, receives him who sent me.

[42:52] You see, when the Jews rejected the Father, John the Baptist came on the scene, they rejected John. Why? Because John and the Father were connected.

[43:03] John opens his gospel by saying, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. The religious establishment never accepted him as such.

[43:16] Because they were already on the other side of the Father. So they rejected John. And when John introduced Jesus, guess what? Well, they rejected him too. Of course they did. They had no choice.

[43:27] They were already into that. That's what they had to do. This is what Jesus meant when he said, and you cannot believe.

[43:38] Why not? because you had already put yourself in that position. That was your mode. That was your modus operandi. That's where you were coming from. That's what you're all about. You can't believe.

[43:48] You won't allow yourself to believe. Just like a lot of people today who say, I just can't believe that. No, no, no. You won't believe. And you won't believe because you don't want to believe.

[44:02] And if you don't want to believe, if you don't want to believe, you can find a dozen reasons for not believing. And every one of them seems like a good one to you. It's not a problem.

[44:14] We can convince ourselves of anything along these lines. Chapter 14, verse 6 and 7.

[44:29] Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes unto the Father but through me. Now, before, they were coming to the Father first, then to the Son.

[44:42] Now, Jesus is saying, you come to the Father through me. A or B or B or A, they are the same. They are inseparable.

[44:53] You cannot have a love affair with God the Father and reject the Son. It is an absolute impossibility. And you know something? this is where 99.9 tenths percent of Judaism is today.

[45:11] You cannot talk to the average Jew about Jesus being the Messiah. They just come unglued. They just don't buy that. Many of them won't even use his name. They call him that man.

[45:23] That man. What man? Well, you know that man. Jesus of Nazareth. that's where most Jews are today.

[45:35] They are in the same position as was the religious establishment of Israel when Jesus came on the scene. And nothing has changed in Judaism today. They are still in that same mode of rejection.

[45:48] They do not accept the Son because they were already on outs with the Father. And they still are. Generation after generation after generation after generation they are consigned to that unbelief.

[46:00] verse 7 If you had known me you would have known my Father also.

[46:11] No exceptions. Well we'll take God nice general generic we'll embrace God but don't come around here with this Jesus stuff.

[46:27] Uh-uh. that dog won't hunt either. That's just not valid. You cannot have the one without the other. Many in our public circles today are given to this.

[46:39] You can stand up in their assemblies and their club meetings or whatever and you talk in vague general terms about God and you're okay with the Muslim.

[46:51] You're okay with the Jew. You're okay with the Christian. supposedly. You're okay with the Mormon. You're okay with everybody. Just keep it nice and general and God.

[47:04] And the scriptures will not allow for that. You reject one. You reject the other. You accept one. You accept the other. We must hurry on. Chapter 14 verse 11.

[47:20] Believe me that I am in the father and the father in me otherwise believe on account of the works themselves. Truly I say to you he who believes in me the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than me shall he do because I go to the father and this has to do with the spirit of God coming.

[47:44] Verse 16 I will ask the father and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever. That is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive. because it does not behold him or know him but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you.

[48:02] Verse 20 In that day you shall know that I am in my father and you in me and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them he it is who loves me and he who loves me shall be loved by my father and I will love him and will disclose myself to him.

[48:23] Judas not Iscariot said to him Lord what then has happened that you are going to disclose yourself to us and not to the world. Jesus answered and said if anyone loves me he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him he who does not love me does not keep my words and the word which you hear is not mine but the father who sent me and it's all tied together and in chapter 15 our last chapter verse 23 and 24 in that day you will ask me no question truly truly I say to you if you shall ask the father for anything he will give it to you in my name until now you have asked nothing in my name ask and you will receive that your joy may be made full and then we could look at 16 3 yes 16 3 and these things they will do because they have not known the father or me you see how frequent this appears in

[49:43] John's gospel you see how the package goes together inseparable father and son it's a beautiful picture and the father has given all that belonged to him to the son because the father had them to give they had come to the father automatically they go to the son now today we come to the father through the son we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and God Christ said there is no way of coming to the father but through me so anyone who would have one must take the other you cannot pick and choose you cannot say well take the son but I don't want the father no take the father but I don't want no and we haven't even addressed the subject of the spirit of God but he too is involved in this and you know how the spirit of God figures into this remember what Jesus said about all manner of sin shall be forgiven unto man but blasphemy against the

[50:48] Holy Spirit will not be forgiven neither in this age nor in the age to come you know what that means it means once the father is rejected the son is rejected once the spirit is rejected that's the only member of the Godhead remaining and once the spirit of God is rejected which is tantamount and comes on the heels of rejecting the father and the son then there's no place to go there's no help there's no hope anyone rejecting the spirit is utterly isolated from God permanently that's why it is not forgiven in this age or in the age to come no way of access remains open once all members of the Godhead have been denied wow what a sobering thought what a sobering thought we are saved because we have believed the message that God has given of his son and in concert the father provided the son and the son was offered through the eternal spirit all members of the

[52:13] Godhead active and operative and when you have any one you automatically have all three this is Christ this is God in you he shall be in you and with you just marvelous absolutely marvelous and it all comes on the basis of simply utilizing your will and saying that's what God said I believe it would you pray with me thank you father for the simple truth that you are not far removed from any one of us because the answer and the avenue to eternal life and peace with God and rest and joy and hope and forgiveness and comfort and all of these things are just as near as our own mind because all we have to do is exercise our mind our will and say on the basis of what you have declared about your son

[53:25] Jesus Christ died for my sin I believe that I understand that to be true and on the basis of who Jesus is and what he did for me I want to trust him as my personal sin bearer and savior he's all I have and all I want and I just want to right here and now I want to say Lord Jesus I want you you died for me and I want to put my trust in you I want to exercise my will that you have given me and say I believe you because you cannot lie and I want to trust you thank you for dying on that cross for me here's my belief father for any who may have made that decision perhaps after hearing the message of grace many many times but never really coming to grips with it we pray that you will stimulate their thinking and give them the understanding that only the spirit of

[54:40]  God can impart when a heart is opened to it thank you for it in Christ's wonderful name amen if you made such a decision be sure to let me know or tell somebody else here we have some literature items we'd like to give you have a wonderful rest of the day