The Evidence
The Evidence
John 5:31-47 June 10, 2001
Introduction:
If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
This is a standard question that we often hear tossed around in our Christian culture to get us to think about how we are living in this world around us.
Are we living visibly any different from those around us in a way that proves Christ in us?
The flip side of this is that perhaps many of us don't want to be convicted.
Maybe we don't want to be convicted because we are not, in fact, convicted.
That is, we may not want to be convicted of being Christians because we are not really that convicted or convinced about Christ.
We can prove our faith by our commitment to it and in no other way. Any belief that does not command the one who holds it is not a real belief--it is only a pseudo-belief. It might shock some of us profoundly if we were suddenly brought face-to-face with our beliefs and forced to test them in the fires of practical living.
-- A.W. Tozer
So another question we might ask is, "How much evidence do you need to become convicted about Christ?"
Maybe we just need more evidence – evidence that demands a verdict (like the book of the same name by Josh McDowell).
A court of law requires evidence in order to convict someone.
You cannot be convicted unless you are guilty beyond a shadow of doubt, or at least that is the way it is supposed to work.
Others who have witnessed the event being charged, or have pertinent information regarding it, are called as witnesses.
You can act as your own witness and call your own witnesses, but you are not required to act as your own witness unless you want to.
And if the truth be known, the impartial witness of others carries much more weight.
When all the evidence has been submitted and reviewed, the judge or jury makes a decision about your case.
One of the most infamous cases in all U.S. history will finally come to rest tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. in the federal penitentiary at Terre Haute, IN.
Timothy McVeigh will die by lethal injection for bombing the federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, killing 168 people (over 500 were wounded).
He was originally scheduled to die on May 16, but when the FBI turned up 4,400 pages of evidence that it failed to produce during the 1997 trial, the execution was delayed.
As it turns out, the evidence was ruled insubstantial regarding the outcome of the case and his execution will proceed.
Indeed, even McVeigh says he is ready for it to proceed – he's convicted.
All the evidence is now in, but none of us likes to be judged before all the evidence is in, and the law gave him his legal right for its review.
But the evidence was overwhelming, even what wasn't previously presented, and the verdict will be carried out.
In our message last Sunday, we learned about solving the mystery of the Messiah, that is, that he is equal with God the Father (doing what he does) and yet subordinate to him (doing only what God does), and as such he has the life of God within himself which he can give to whom he pleases because God the Father has made him the judge of all mankind as the Son of Man.
Jesus had just given the Jews, and us, a lot of his own testimony of truth about who he is.
But now in the rest of this passage, he reminds the Jews, and us, that we may not in fact be convinced by his own testimony about himself and that there is a wealth of evidence we may not have considered.
So he offers us a broad sweep of confirming evidence from the entire scope of all God's revelation to mankind.
It will not change the truth of what he has given us already, but it will certainly add to the testimony of that truth.
In John 5:16-30, Jesus gives us his own testimony, but now in John 5:31-47 he backs it up with hard evidence.
Yes, there is enough evidence to convict Jesus of being God just as he was saying in v. 18, "---but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God."
In fact, he gives us five different kinds of evidence.
What is the Big Question this passage will answer?
Big Question:
What evidence other than his own testimony can Jesus offer to prove his claims that he is who he says he is?
Or---
How can we know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself?
I. Cycle One
A. Narrative (vv. 31-35)
Jesus acknowledges that for the legalistic Jews to have any sense of accepting his testimony about himself, he must put it in legal terms of evidence as in a court of law.
This is part of his strategy to condemn the Jews for their unbelief since in the end they will not even accept legal testimony about him.
So he gives them what they would require (Deut. 19:15) if they would accept even that.
But in doing so, Jesus categorically upholds the validity of his own testimony about himself.
13 The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid."
14 Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.
(John 8:13-14 NIVUS)
In reality what he is giving them here in this extended discourse is the joint testimony of the Father and the Son.
17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.
18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me."
(John 8:17-18 NIVUS)
The "another" that Jesus refers to in v. 32 is none less than God the Father who testifies.
And since the Jews readily say that they acknowledge God (even though Jesus says they do not really know him), Jesus proceeds with a well-rounded body of evidence from the entirety of God's revelation.
In v. 32 we get the first of eleven stative verbs in this passage.
Recall that there were only two of these in last week's passage about Jesus' own testimony about himself.
Those were in v.22 & 24 where Jesus said he had been entrusted with all judgment and that those to whom he gives eternal life have crossed over from death to life.
The sense of a stative verb is an aspect that says the action is "complete with ongoing results."
The action is highlighted and right in front of us as assured and complete and ongoing.
The stative verb in v. 32 (I know) says that Jesus is absolutely sure of himself and his Father's testimony about him.
So the first item of evidence is John the Baptist.
"You have sent" and "he has testified" in v. 33 are two more of these stative or highlighted verbs.
Indeed the Jews had sent priests and Levites to John in 1:19 to ask who he was and received the answer that he was not the Christ but that the Christ was coming and they must prepare for him.
The verbs tell us that John's testimony still rests with them and holds them to account.
They were bound to give his testimony proper consideration.
Now Jesus puts in a disclaimer here that he doesn't need human testimony.
He is, as God, above the need for human affirmation, but he mentions it as part of his body of evidence that the Jews might turn and believe.
In a sense, they had believed John since Jesus says in v. 35 that they chose to enjoy his light for a time.
But their faith was superficial and short-lived.
Isn't it strange that at times we would rather choose to accept a person's statements about another and yet not accept the person himself that the statements are about?
It is as if we yearn for hearsay and second hand evidence.
Perhaps they are less threatening than the real person.
But to accept John's preaching, even superficially, and reject the one he preached about was hypocrisy.
It is likely that by the time Jesus spoke this that John was already in prison since Jesus speaks of him in past tense, "was a lamp that burned."
What a testimony that Jesus gives John here that he "burned out" for him.
We just got a letter from Dorothy Barnett and her husband, Paul, missionaries we support in Kenya, that she celebrated her 90th birthday in April and wants prayer that they will continue to be used by God in their old age.
Isn't that a blessing to know that there are some who have no other desire than to go to their graves serving him with all they possess?
That is a testimony that we can all give Jesus, and he can use us as evidence to the unbelieving that there are those of us who live for him alone, and it is in him alone that you will live.
We are evidence that Jesus is Lord when we burn brightly for him.
Can Jesus point to us and say, "I mention him/her that you might be saved?"
B. Implication
We know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of John the Baptist's testimony about him.
We can also know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of our own testimony about him.
C. Illustration
You know what your own country is like. I'm a visitor, and I wouldn't presume to speak about America. But I know what Great Britain is like. I know something about the growing dishonesty, corruption, immorality, violence, pornography, the diminishing respect for human life, and the increase in abortion.
Whose fault is it? Let me put it like this: if the house is dark at night, there is no sense in blaming the house. That's what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is, "Where is the light?"
If meat goes bad, there is no sense in blaming the meat. That is what happens when the bacteria are allowed to breed unchecked. The question to ask is, "Where is the salt?"
If society becomes corrupt like a dark night or stinking fish, there's no sense in blaming society. That's what happens when fallen human society is left to itself and human evil is unrestrained and unchecked. The question to ask is "Where is the church?"
-- John Stott
It's tough to be in the dark and not let the dark get in you. The unending struggle for the Christian is to walk in the light and at the same time keep moving into the shadows.
-- Tim Goble
The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light.
-- Felix Adler
D. Application
So let us live and burn for Christ that we might testify with him on his behalf that he is Lord.
Paul tells us in Romans that it is our relationship to God through Christ that will eventually make the Jews jealous and move their hearts to have what we have in him.
Romans 10:19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, "I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding."
Romans 11:11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.
Romans 11:14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.
II. Cycle Two
A. Narrative (v. 36)
Now not to discount John but surpassing him, Jesus brings his own works into the body of evidence.
Actions always speak louder than words since our actions prove the truth of what was said.
So Jesus refers to his own works that could not be done unless it was God who has sent him to do those works.
What were those works?
They were in the broad scope of his ministry most notably exemplified by his miracles.
And here in this verse we come across two more of those stative verbs.
One is that the Father "has given" Jesus work to finish and the other is that the Father "has sent" him.
So the idea is that the works Jesus did are ongoing testimony for all time about who he is.
Jesus never did miracles just for show but to prove his claims about who he was.
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
(John 3:19-21 NIVUS)
Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me,
(John 10:25 NIVUS)
Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
(John 14:11 NIVUS)
But what are some of those miracles?
There are seven of them in the Gospel of John:
1. The turning of water into wine. )2:1-11)
2. The healing of the official's son. (4:43-54)
3. The healing of a paralytic. (5:1-15)
4. The feeding of the multitude. (6:1-14)
5. The walking on the water. (6:16-21)
6. The cure of the blind man. (9:1-41)
7. The raising of lazarus. (11:1-44)
These miracles are signs because they point to something beyond themselves.
They point to the one who did them, not just to grandstand his power, but to meet the emergencies and necessities of life and to show that these things are to be found in him.
Generally, these miracles were followed by a confession of belief on the part of many spectators.
We see this principle even into the time of the apostles as they did miracles in the name of Jesus that people might believe, and they did.
B. Implication
We know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of the works he did in his ministry.
We know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of our testimony about his work in us.
C. Illustration
When a visitor was looking around St. Paul's Cathedral he saw monuments erected to the greatest persons of the British empire but none to the architect who has dreamed this poem in stone. Feeling that the architect had been forgotten, he asked the guide, "Where is the monument to the architect?" The guide led him to a dimly lighted crypt beside a slab in the floor and told him the body of the architect, Sir Christopher Wren, lay beneath that slab. On the wall of the crypt a tablet contained this inscription: Lecture is monumentum requires circumspice. "If you would see his monument, look about you."
If you would see the monument of Jesus, look about you. Look at the orphans' homes, the hospitals, the Christian colleges, the missionaries; look at the homes that have been blessed, the lives that have been lifted, the hearts that have been comforted, the souls that have been saved, the spiritual skylines of the world which have been raised nearer to heaven. Look about you and see the monuments of Jesus!
-- 1989 Minister's Manual
Major Osipovich, an air force pilot for the former USSR, planned to give a talk at his children's school about peace. But he would need time off during the day to give his talk, so he volunteered for night duty. And that's how Major Osipovich found himself patrolling the skies over the eastern regions of the Soviet Union on September 1, 1983--the night Korean Air Lines Flight KE007 strayed into Soviet air space.
Soon the Soviet pilot was caught in a series of blunders and misinformation. In the end, Major Osipovich followed orders and shot down the unidentified aircraft. The actions of an air force major preparing to talk about peace plunged 240 passengers to their deaths and sparked an international incident that pushed world powers to a stand-off. Our talk is important. But our actions carry far more weight.
-- Leadership
D. Application
Perhaps someone can look at you as a miraculous monument to the Savior's grace.
Here too you can stand at the heart of his testimony to the world.
We must live as miracles of his grace and prove him to the world by his works in us.
III. Cycle Three
A. Narrative (vv. 37-38)
Not only has John testified, and the works of Jesus testified, but God the Father has himself testified concerning Jesus.
Although John does not mention it in his gospel, the other gospels (synoptics) record the words of the Father at the baptism of Jesus by John.
And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
(Matthew 3:17 NIVUS)
But this may not be all that Jesus is referring to here.
Of course, God also spoke through his word in the Scriptures which Jesus says here does not dwell in them, and we will discuss the evidence of the Scriptures next.
But I feel that Jesus is also saying here that he himself is evidence of the Father right before their very ears and eyes that they may hear and see.
Jesus says that his hearers have not understood God's revelation to them because they have not believed him whom God had sent.
They could not hear or see God because they had not believed Jesus who was God in the flesh that they might hear and see.
It is what would seem a vicious circle.
Openness of belief must precede the reception of truth.
Here again we have some stative verbs – three of them: "the Father has testified," and "you have never heard – nor seen."
So since the testimony of the Father about the Son is complete and forever ongoing, our failure or refusal to see and hear him will also continue as long as we reject the Son – we can only know God through Christ.
In other words, since God's testimony always stands, we are condemned as long as we reject it since we would have no excuse.
The greatest tragedy of man is to ignore the voice of God even in this present age.
It would seem that most of the crowd that was there at the baptism of Jesus heard not a sound since Jesus says here that they have never heard him.
We could look ahead to John 12:27-30 for an example of this selective hearing.
27 ¶ "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.
28 Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."
29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30 Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine.
(John 12:27-30 NIVUS)
It is to our benefit to hear him, and in this present age we must rely on the Holy Spirit's witness as Jesus says in John 16:13-14.
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
(John 16:13-14 NIVUS)
B. Implication
We know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of the testimony of the Father about him.
We know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of the continuing testimony of the Father through the Spirit about him.
C. Illustration
So long as the church pretends or assumes to preach absolute values, but actually preaches relative and secondary values, it will merely hasten the process of disintegration. We are asked to turn to the church for our enlightenment, but when we do so we find that the voice of the church is not inspired. The voice of the church today, we find, is the echo of our own voices. When we consult the church we hear only what we ourselves have said.
There is only one way out of the spiral, and the way out is the sound of a voice, not our voice, but a voice coming from something beyond ourselves, in the existence of which we cannot disbelieve. It is the duty of the pastors to hear this voice, to cause us to hear it, and to tell us what it says.
-- Fortune Magazine, January 1940
D. Application
Are you listening to the voice of God that still speaks about the Savior, the H.S. who convicts the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
There is evidence for the one who would hear it.
IV. Cycle Four
A. Narrative (vv. 39-44)
Now the Jews thought that they knew all about God since they had the Scriptures.
Trouble is, God was in the process here of writing more of them.
But they were proud about what they knew.
But this was somewhat of a default.
After the destruction of the temple of Solomon in 586 BC, the Jewish scholars of the exile substituted the study of the Law for the observance of the temple ritual and sacrifices.
They thought that the study of the Scriptures would bring them life.
So by default, they substituted the study of Scripture for worship.
They became ingrown and carried out the condemnation that took them into exile in the first place.
So Jesus tells them to look into the Scriptures with another focus since they testify about him through and through.
Remember what Jesus told his own disciples?
25 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?"
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
(Luke 24:25-27, 44 NIVUS)
They were refusing to see this and come to him for eternal life.
Jesus hits the nail on the head when he says the reason for their lapse is that they have lost the love of God in their hearts.
He charges them with accepting the one who comes in his own name rather than himself who comes in God's name so they can spread praise among one another rather than toward him.
This causes me to picture all these bibliolaters sitting around congratulating one another on how well they can strain out gnats while they swallow camels (Mt. 23:24).
But Jesus said he didn't need that kind of glory.
He tells us to make an effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God, which of course is to believe on the one he has sent.
Barabbas came in his own name and they accepted him, but Jesus came in the name of God and they crucified him.
But he has received glory ever since because he came in his Father's name and did his Father's work.
Two more stative verbs here: Jesus "knows" those who don't have the love of God in their hearts and he "has come" in his Father's name.
Jesus "knows" all men (2:24) since he is God and eternal.
He knows our hearts inside out for all time.
His knowledge is complete and it has ongoing results.
His "coming" is also a one time completed event with ongoing results to offer the world grace until that time when he comes again as judge.
Now you may have noticed a word I used a few sentences back, and you may wonder, "What is a bibliolater?"
That is a person who worships the Scriptures.
One notable world religion that is deep into this is Sikhism.
They have their holy book set up like an idol in the Golden Temple of Amritsar, India.
An attendant will wave a fan over it to venerate or revere it while it is being read.
We even have those that lean toward bibliolatry in our own Christian faith that worship a particular version of the Bible, for instance, in competition for their allegiance rather than the Savior it is all about.
Much division and confusion has been caused by those who say there is only one correct version of the English translation.
The only correct version is the one originally written in Hebrew (Aramaic) and Greek.
That is why we say in our doctrinal statements that we believe the Scriptures to be the authoritative word of God as originally written.
There can never be any truly correct translation since no one language directly corresponds to another.
You can translate word for word but never exactly.
Some concepts cannot be directly translated, only explained.
Besides, the words are not sacred, the message is. The words are the means.
And everything must be understood in ever increasing circles of context.
We detract from the praise and glory of Jesus when we sit around congratulating ourselves on how well we have divided the word of God when we have not understood the message or truly received the One the message is about.
We must be able to both interpret and apply truth.
Let us not strain out gnats while we swallow camels.
B. Implication
We know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of the testimony of Scripture about him.
C. Illustration
We could continue with many more prophecies and fulfillments. I have selected only a few of the major ones to give an idea of Jesus' remarkable life as it fulfilled one after another of the prophecies that told of the Messiah, in some cases, thousands of years before He was born. Again, in Evidence that Demands a Verdict, we see that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled just eight of the major prophecies that Jesus fulfilled are 1 in 10 to the 17th power. That is, one in 100,000,000,000,000,000.
-- Max Anders
Two Chinese jugglers have been making a public exhibition of their skill. One of them is set up as a target, and the other shows his dexterity by hurling knives that stick into the board at his comrade's back, close to the man's body. These deadly weapons fix themselves between his arms and legs, and between each of his fingers, they fly past his ears, and over his head, and on each side of his neck. The art is not to hit him. There seem to be quite a number of preachers who are remarkably proficient in the same art in the mental and spiritual departments.
-- Charles Haddon Spurgeon
D. Application
Do we have a love for Christ in our hearts that surpasses even the Scriptures that testify about him?
If we get lost in the book for the words we will never see the message of the Author.
We must make an art of hitting the heart.
When I first started graduate school at MBI, I took some classes that required me to read various books and critique them.
Not knowing any better just what the professor wanted, I took this legalistic approach of finding all the typos and clerical errors in the book.
But that was not what I needed to do.
I was supposed to critique what the author said.
It was the message that was important, not the words.
Have we received the witness of God's testimony in the Scriptures about his Son?
It's important to use your talents. But if that's the end of it, there is a disillusionment that sets in between the ages of 35 and 50. This is commonly called the mid-life crisis. I believe that it is more a phenomenon of a wrong value system than it is the age group in which it occurs. All of a sudden you realize the ladder you've been climbing is leaning against the wrong wall.
-- James Dobson
Will we grow up only to discover our ladder was against the wrong wall?
V. Cycle Five
A. Narrative (vv. 45-47)
The last piece of evidence entered into this courtroom scene by Jesus is prime.
If you mess with Moses you mess with the Jewish psyche.
This is the clincher and hinges on the scriptural record Jesus just mentioned.
The Jewish obedience to the Law of Moses was a source of pride.
Their very hope in securing God's favor rested in their relationship to Moses.
But now Jesus says that if they reject him they reject Moses.
And they reject him because they don't believe Moses.
Now that is an indictment toward a Jew!
We have our last stative verb here when Jesus says "your hopes are set" on Moses.
In other words, their hopes are falsely complete and ongoing in Moses and the results are disastrous since they will not come to Jesus for eternal life.
Remember what Jesus taught about the rich man and Lazarus?
29 "Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 "‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 "He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’"
(Luke 16:29-31 NIVUS)
Let us remind ourselves what Moses wrote about the Messiah:
The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.
(Genesis 49:10 NIVUS)
Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb.
(Exodus 12:21 NIVUS)
From the Israelite community he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.
(Leviticus 16:5 NIVUS)
"I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth.
(Numbers 24:17 NIVUS)
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.
(Deuteronomy 18:15 NIVUS)
Just as Moses acted as the intercessor between God and the Jewish people during his leadership of them in the desert (like the incident with the golden calf), so the Jews thought that Moses would intercede for them even in the final judgment.
And so they set their hopes on Moses.
They didn't need a Savior so they thought.
Their idea of a Messiah was more political than spiritual.
And so Jesus says their accuser is Moses on whom they depend since he wrote that the Messiah would come and they must depend on him.
In a sense it was the revelation of the divine will and promise in the Pentateuch as a whole even more than particular passages.
B. Implication
We know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of the testimony of Moses about him.
C. Illustration
D. Application
Conclusion:
At the beginning of this discourse by Jesus to the Jews (v. 16) he was put on trial, so to speak, for healing on the Sabbath. Now at the end (vv. 45-46) it is the Jews who stand condemned by Jesus who is vindicated by the wealth of evidence he has entered into the court record. Jesus has put the evidence in terms that the Jews should be able to understand. Now they have nothing to say, nothing they can say until another time when they will try to catch him off guard (impossible).
Now the evidence stands before us too.
And what can we say except that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Big Answer:
What evidence other than his own testimony can Jesus offer to prove his claims that he is who he says he is? Or---
How can we know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself?
We know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of John the Baptist's testimony about him.
We know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of the works he did in his ministry.
We know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of the testimony of the Father about him.
We know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of the testimony of Scripture about him.
We know that Jesus is telling us the truth about himself because of the testimony of Moses about him.
Timeless Truth:
The best evidence of the truth of Christ is all of the above.
In natural matters faith follows evidence and is impossible without it, but in the reality of the spirit, faith precedes understanding; it does not follow it. The natural man must know in order to believe; the spiritual man must believe in order to know.
A. W. Tozer