Unwilling
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
Welcome
This mornings message is titled
“Unwilling”
Turn with me in your bibles to John to...
This morning we will sum up and conlcude our journey through
the foundational chapter 5
It also will put us a great position
to pause before jumping into chapter 6
starting next week we will
begin a 3 part series leading up to easter
culminating in the death and resurrection of our Lord
now,
why do I say this chapter is foundational?
Well lets take a look at the whole of Johns Gospel
See througout his writings
John makes refererence after reference to eternal life
to everlasting life
in fact, my very calling as a pastor
and your pastor is to invite you
and guide you into eternal life
If I stood up here and told you
that God through Jesus
wanted you to have a new car
or if I stood up here and told that the
message of the gospel was to make you successful
or to get you a better job
or maybe even that the message of the gospel was to make you
wealthy
well then I would not be staying true to the gospel
See the message of Christianity and the message of the gospel
is that we inherit eternal life through the forgiveness of our sin
and that one day, whether we are rich or poor
happy or unhappy
driving a Ford pinto or a new lexus
we will enter into that eternal life with God the Father
But, in order to do that John tells us
over and over in his Gospel
that we must believe
and not just believe in anything
not just in a higher power
or in some sort of moral good
NO
John tells us throughout all of his gospel
that there is a link between eternal life and belief
and that link is
Jesus Christ
see the at the heart of Johns message
is the fact that we must believe in order to receive
life
and if we are going to believe
it must be in Jesus Christ
and if we are going to believe in the Jesus Christ of the scriptures
then we must believe that he is God
the second member of the trinity
the uncreated eternal Son of God
and that he came down from His throne next to the Father
lived a perfect life
as he navigated the same things we go through
that he was persecuted
that he was tried unlawfully
that he was hung on a cross
and that he died for the sins
of the very people that may reject Him
then He rose again
to conquer death
all of that
so that we may have eternal life if only we believe in Him
whole heartily
Now, why did I just say all of that
Because the very foundation
the very reason he was able to do all of that
is because of His diety
Just as chapter 5 has laid out before us
See within this chapter
Jesus healed a man on the sabbath
which was a big deal to those Jews that were
watching
now when I say Jews here I do not mean the Jewish
people as a whole
but more so the leadership
the religios scribes and Pharisees
Then Jesus went on to say he has the authority to
heal on the sabbath because he is the lord of the sabbath
Then in v17-24 he declared Himself God by
saying he is the same as God in every way
then in 23 He said he is to be worshipped as God is worshipped
and honored as God is honored
then through 23-29 he gave his personal testimony as to why he
was who claimed to be
then starting in v30
as we saw last week
he brought more witnesses to the stand
as he defended his claim
and now
as we wrap us this chapter
Jesus will go from the defensive
to the offensive
and explain to them why they dont believe
and that is why this chapter is so foundational
because it paved the way for Christ’s equality and
diety with God
we are going to start this morning with the same verse we ended with
last week
because it sets up Jesus’ closing arguments
so let us stand
as we read the word of God!
John 5:40–47 “But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life. “I do not accept glory from people, but I know you—that you have no love for God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and yet you don’t accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. But if you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe my words?””
Pray!
Illustration
Illustration
Monkey with His hand caught in a Jar
You know, there is a rumor out there
and well, there may be some truth to this rumor
but, the rumor is that
we, human, are not that far removed from
the primates
as in according to the human genome
we are not that far removed from monkeys
genetically speaking
and if you believe in evolution
which I pray you dont
then you may believe that we
even came from monkeys
now, with that swimming around in your mind
let me continue
I once heard of a way that they
hunt monkeys in the jungle
see what they would do is
they would find a coconut
cut a hole in the coconut
and clean it out
now this hole would be just big
enough to for the open hand
of the monkey to reach in
now, why on earth would a monkey
put their hand in a coconut
well that is because they would put bait inside
of it
something like a piece of fruit
then, when the monkey with the
open hand would reach into the
coconut to grab the bait
and you know what is bigger than monkeys open
hand?
a monkeys fist
and you know what the hunters found out?
they found out that once the monkey had his hand in the coconut and ahold of the bait
the hunters could easily walk up to the monkey
and capture it
now you may ask, why wouldn't the monkey
just run away
and the reason the monkey wouldn’t run away
is because he couldn't get his closed fist
out of the coconut
see the monkey was unwilling to let go
of whatever was binding him
and due to his unwillingness
he became captured by it
see he could have easily let go
and he would have been free
but unfortunately, he was unwilling
which led to his demise
now. you probably know where I am going with this
see we really aren’t that far removed from monkeys
only it isn’t a piece of fruit in a coconut we are unwilling to let go of
it is sin and self love
its money
its popularity
its being accepted by others
it by leaning more on your own understanding
see all of those things are bait inside
of satan’s trap
and if we are only willing to let go of those things
we will pass from captivity
to freedom
that comes with Jesus
and this is exactly what the Jews were doing
they were unwilling to let go of their ways
their traditions
and they were unwilling to believe in who Jesus truly was
and this is exactly what Jesus is going to accuse them of
see
Jesus is about to give them
and us
3 reasons why they were unwilling to believe
Those are the fact that
They were unwilling to Glorify Christ
They were unwilling to Love God
and They were unwilling to believe the scriptures
so let us get started with v40, where we left off last week
with our first point
Unwilling to Glorify Christ
Unwilling to Glorify Christ
John 5:40 “But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.”
Now, I want start here even though we briefly ended with it last week
just to get on the same page with all of this
unwilling or not willing business
See Jesus laid out all the evidence that we discussed last week
proving in my opinion
the fact that he is in fact the son
of God
and that He is in fact the savior of the world
for those that believe
yet they still did not believe
now the reason they didn’t believe
are still many of the very reasons many
don’t believe even to this day
and it wasn’t because they had had a bad childhood
or anything like that
the main reason people don’t believe today is
that they are unwilling to do so
see many are holding on to the very things that
they cant let go of
pride, oh pride
that was the downfall of satan
and it is one of the biggest downfalls for us
or maybe it greed
and work
anyone struggle with that?
or how about self righteousness
this is what the Jews held onto so tightly
maybe its lust for stuff or things
maybe it’s it all the evil in the world
or the tragic loss of a loved one
there are a ton of reasons people give for not
believing in God and Jesus for salvation
stumbling blocks we could call them
but no matter what it is
one thing still says the same
at the very heart of the situation
at the very core
is their unwillingness to do so
See Jesus is the answer and the solution to
all the things mentioned above
but I want us to understand one thing
even if this is all you hear today
and that is the fact that
that when this life is over
we are going to be responsible for only one
thing when we stand before God
and that thing is whether we were willing to believe in Him
or not
see when God looks at our lives
when he looks at all we did
all we thought
every little minute detail of our hearts
he will see one thing and one thing only
either he will see
our lives bathed in sin, and unrighteousness
visible through our unbelief
or…
he will see our lives washed clean
by the blood of Christ
O’ precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow
no other fount I know
nothing but the blood of Jesus
when he looks down through the veil
of our belief
He will not see all we have done
he will see only what Christ has done
See God gets %100 of the credit when
we come to him in faith
but we get %100 of the credit when we dont
and it is this very reason that Jesus continues in verse 41
John 5:41 ““I do not accept glory from people,”
another way to put this is to say
you do not glorify me
because you do not believe
and that is fine
because Jesus is not looking for our
approval
he doesn’t need it
he is looking for the approval of the Father
he is looking to glorify
the father in all that he does
and that is exactly what we should do
we should long to glorify
God in all things that we do
when we go to work
we should work as though we are working for the lord
because that brings Him glory
when we raise our kids
when we feed the chickens
when we stub our toe
or when we cut the same board 3 times and its
still too short
we should do it all for the glory of God
To glorify God is to praise His attributes,
praise His works,
trust His name,
obey His Word.
right
because He is holy,
and we are NOT
faithful, merciful, gracious, loving, majestic, sovereign, and powerful,
and that’s just the start
of ways that we can describe him
but instead what do we do?
we look to glorify others
football players
authors
whatever flavor that may be
See God does not want praise
and glorification
from those who privately worship other
things
He wants all of us
He wants all of our praise
all of our Glory
because without that
without the willingness to
glorify Him
we have the second accusation Jesus is making
and our second point of the morning
comes with our unwillingness to glorify Him
The Unwillingness to Love God
The Unwillingness to Love God
John 5:42 “but I know you—that you have no love for God within you.”
Brothers and sister, when we do not Glorify God
when we are unwilling to glorify Him
then we will also be unable
and frankly unwilling
to truly
Love Him
Think about it..
God knows us
He knows what is in the heart of man
of people
John 2:25 “and because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man.”
Think about the end of this gospel
when Jesus is talking with Peter
John 21:17 “He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said.”
Jesus knows us!
He knows those that truly love
him
and those that are just giving Him lip service
and he knew the hearts of these Jews
He knew that they would say with their mouths
that they love God
yet with their hearts they did not
Matthew 15:8–9 “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines human commands.””
One of my commentaries said it this way
“The reality of our love for God is seen in our submission to Jesus
Christ
Love is more than the declaration of our lips.
Love is seen in our actions.
The proof of love is not what we say
but what we do”
Beloved, we will show who or
what we love by how we spend our
time and our actions
we may think we love God
but we must then ask ourselves
where is our proof
My boys are all in school
and in science class one thing that
they must do is generate a hypothesis
then prove whether that hypothesis
is true
through steps
through time
through expression
and evaluation
and that is the same for us
Matthew 22:37 “He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
just like we are to glorify God in all that we do
we are to Love God with all that we have
and to follow his commandments
and do what he told us to do
and for the Jews of this day
4 times Jesus has told them
in v 30,36,37,38 and now
that he was sent from the Father
The same Father the say that they
vow to love
yet He was rejected
John 5:43 “I have come in my Father’s name, and yet you don’t accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.”
do you know that over the centuries
there have been roughly 64 messiahs
Josephus (the jewish historian)
noted that there was a huge uprising
of “messiahs” leading up to the Jewish revolt
that led to the destruction of the temple
then 60 years after that
there was another uprising
that led to more Jewish revolt and more
persecution by the romans
what is interesting
is that none of these false
messiahs
to my knowledge at least
were unlawfully tried
beaten
hung on a cross
buried
and rose again
Yet!
Jesus just told them
you accepted them!
But you do not accept me!
he says on top of that
they dont even come on any authority
they come in their own name
under their own authority
and you accept them
yet I (Jesus) come with all this proof
and witness
and signs and wonders
yet you dont accept me!
See the Jews followed and accepted
these other guys
because they told them what they wanted to hear
They offered easy victory
political power
material gain
and advantage
but Christ!
well he offered the Cross!
see the Jews and many religious leaders today
want to draw attention to themselves
many want to be in the spot light
they want that self glorification
and they would gladly glorify others
if that led to their glory
but when we follow Christ
we will not receive earthly glory
when we follow Christ
we will be ridiculed
we will be pushed aside
we will be made fun of
because loving and glorifying
Christ is not popular
at least in its truest form
this whole emotional
entertainment based theology
that many are preaching now
is no different than of that day
making big shows of worship
extravagant prayers
and giving in public
how is that different
then what we see in
Luke 18:9–14 “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.””
True glory comes only from God
That is why Jesus continued in
John 5:44 “How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?”
See these men were more concerned with how
they would appear to others
then they were about the glory and love of God
They were unwilling
to humble themselves
unwilling to believe
and therefore unwilling to love God
which brings us to our final point of the morning
Unwilling to Believe Scripture
Unwilling to Believe Scripture
John 5:45 “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope.”
Finally Jesus says
Look, I am done accusing you of your unwillingness
to follow and believe in who I am
someone else will do that
you say you follow Moses
that he is your patriac along with Abraham
well then!
He will even accuse you
To the Jews, Moses was a big deal
he was the author of the Pentateuch
the first 5 books of the bible
the same 5 books that they would all
probably have memorized by the time they turned 10
the same author of the verses they carried in their
phylacteries
remember, those little boxes on their wrist
and forehead
yea, Moses was a big deal to them
and to tell them
that he would be the one
accusing them to the father
the very one they placed so much hope in
would become their accuser
must have sounded just crazy to them
it would have been incomprehensible
for them to wrap their heads around
Jesus continued with
John 5:46 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.”
and when Jesus said this he didn’t have
one particular verse in mind
he meant the entire Pentateuch
the entire bible as we learned last week
see Moses was the author of the OT Law
the mosaic law to be exact
the very law they so adamantly followed
but within their obsession with following
the law
they missed the point
and they ignored the clear evidence
that Jesus was the messiah
See within the OT law
is a deeper understanding
while they saw the OT law as the means to salvation
that wasn’t it at all
the law was only given so that it would
reveal our sinfulness
and our inability
to save our selves
Moses wrote that man is sinful
and rebellious
and needs a savior
just look at the 10 commandments
they show us how to obey God
and each and every one of us fail
no one except Jesus of course
Moses also wrote of a promised deliverer
one that would
deliver them from that sin
from that rebellion
and what they missed
was that of all the things Moses wrote about
they were all focused on the Christ to come
John 5:47 “But if you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe my words?””
This entire chapter stemmed from the issue
of healing on the sabbath
we saw introduced verses 9-10
and this chapter ends with Jesus referring to the writing of Moses
So this chapter
begins and ends with
the mosaic law
And we can’t miss the connection
between the witness of scripture in verses 39-40
and emphasis on Moses’ writings here
See the Jews were unwilling to
let go of the “view” of
scripture
Let go of the pride that came with what they thought was
perfect obedience to it
they wouldn't let that go
and embrace the
diety and salvation that
came from Christ
So this morning
as we finish up
we must all ask ourselves
what are we unwilling to let go of?
what is keeping our hand in that preverbal coconut
is it pride?
Is it self love?
what ever it is?
my prayer this morning
for all of us
is that we go from unwilling to let go of that thing
to being willing to let go of it
because if we simply open our hands
if we simply allow God through Christ Jesus to rescue us from that trap
then we will be able to truly
and willingly
glorify him
Love him
and come to know Him through the study
Of scripture
So as we enter into a time of invitation
Lets reflect on that
lets reflect on what we are still holding onto
and let go of it
Let Jesus rule your life
This is a time of prayer and commitment
If you would like to pray with me
or one of our deacons about your salvation
or any other needs
now is the time
also, if you would like to begin the process of
becoming a member here
you can come up front as well
Let us pray
Let’s sing
“Trust and Obey”
because that is exactly
what we are called to do