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Book: John
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John 12:44
I. Note the many radical claims that Jesus makes concerning
Himself in these verses.
A. To believe on Him was to believe on the Father who
sent Him.
B. To see Him was to see the Father.
C. He has come as a light into the world.
D. Those who believe in Him do not abide in darkness.
E. That He came to save the world.
F. If you do not believe in Him, you will be judged in the
last days by the word He has spoken.
G. He did not speak Himself but spoke the words the Father
commanded him to speak.
H. His commandment is life everlasting.
II. These are all very radical claims that demand a opinion and a
conscious reaction on your part.
A. These claims are either true or false, thus you either
believe them or not.
B. Not to believe them is to declare that He was either a
1. Liar, fraud, and a deceiver.
2. Or more kindly, He was suffering from delusions and
belonged in an institution.
III. What proofs are offered to substantiate His claims?
A. He said that His works testified in His defense.
1. He said, believe Me or else believe Me for My works
sake.
When Nicodemus came to him at night he said,
"We know that you are a teacher come from God for no
man can do the works that you do, unless God is with
him."
a. John has given us many of the signs that He
did to prove His claims.
1. He turned the water to wine.
2. He walked on the water.
3. He calmed the raging storm with a word.
4. He healed the sick.
5. He caused the lame to walk.
6. He opened the eyes of the blind.
7. He raised the dead.
2. His words. When many of His followers turned from
Him, He asked His disciples if they were also going
to go, and Peter answered, "To whom can we go? You
have the words of eternal life." When the officers
who were sent to arrest Him came back empty handed
and were asked why they did not bring Him in, they
responded, "Never has a man spoken like this man."
a. Jesus said, "Now I have told you these things
before they come to pass, that when they come
to pass, you might believe."
b. The words that I speak, they are Spirit and
they are life.
c. His words have and continue to inspire millions
throughout the ages to a higher and nobler
life. They have brought hope to the hopeless,
strength to the weak, comfort to the sorrowing.
3. He declared that His resurrection from the dead
would be the only sign given to the wicked and
perverse generation.
a. When He was asked to give them a sign as to by
what authority He had driven the money changers
out of the temple, He replied, "Destroy this
Temple and in three days, I will raise it up."
They answered, "We have been building on this
for forty six years, and you say that you will
raise it in three days?" But John tells us that
He was referring to the temple of His body.
b. When the Jews asked Him for a sign, He said the
only sign that they would receive was the sign
of the prophet Jonah, for as Jonah was three
days and three nights in the belly of the whale
so shall the Son of Man be three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth.
B. The evidence for the resurrection. Showed Himself alive
after His passion by many infallible proofs.
1. Hundreds of eyewitnesses.
a. Our system of jurisprudence where facts are
substantiated by the testimony of witnesses.
b. You say that you did not have opportunity to
cross examine the witnesses.
c. Let it be noted that the majority of the
witnesses gave their lives for maintaining that
their witness was true. Martus
4. We also have the many fufilled prophesies.
a. Let us say that we have decided to acclaim
ourselves as prophets speaking for God, and
will prove our claim by making some predictions
of the future. How far can we go in deceiving
men? We have to contend with the law of
compound probabilities. If California has a
major earthquake on the average of one in every
two years and I predict that Calif. will have
a major earthquake this year, a major
earthquake this year would not prove very much,
I had a 50\50 chance of being right, or one in
two. But if I would go on to say that the
earthquake would happen on June 13th, because
there is 365 days in a year, my chances of
being correct would jump to 1 in 730. 365x2.
If I would be so bold as to say that it will
happen at 2:03 p.m. then the chances would
jump to 1 in 1,051,200 If I should then be so
bold as to say that it will take place
precisely at 2:03 and 15 seconds, because there
are 60 seconds in a minute I must take 60x
1,051,200 which now means that my chances of
proving that I am a true prophet are 1 in
63,073,000. If it took place at 2:02 I would
still be a false prophet.
a. Peter speaks of being an eyewitness to His
glory that was manifested at His
transfiguration.
b. Of hearing the voice of God confirming that He
was His Son.
c. But then Peter adds, "We have the more sure
word of prophecy."
d. It should be noted that in just taking 5
factors concerning the earthquake we would be
able to make a powerful case for being a true
prophet. It should be noted that there were
more than three hundred predictions concerning
the Messiah that Jesus completely fulfilled.
Born in Bethlehem, betrayed by friend for 30
pieces of silver that were then tossed down in
the house of the Lord and then used to buy a
potters field to making triumphant entry on a
donkey.
B. There is sufficient proof and evidence that if you do not
believe it is not because it is not believable, but that
you don't want to believe.
1. Why would a person not want to believe His claims?
a. He claimed that if you believed in Him you
would never perish.
b. He claimed that if you believed in Him you were
not condemned, but have passed from death into
life.
c. He claimed that He came to give you life and
that more abundantly.
d. He claimed that He was the resurrection and the
life, and that if you live and believe in Him
you will never die.
e. He claimed that He was the way, the truth and
the life, and that no man could come to the
Father but by Him.
2. The reasons why a person does not want to believe
His claims is,
a. He has set a standard for living that they do
not want to live up to.
1. He said that it was more blessed to
give than to receive, and that goes
against my selfish nature.
2. He said I was to love my enemies, and
that goes against my desire for
vengeance.
3. He said for me to forgive, and that
goes against my pride.
4. He said to look at a woman lustfully
was sin, and that goes against my
lustful nature.
5. He said that to come after Him, you had
to deny yourself and take up your cross
and follow Him.
2. Those are not popular concepts in these
days of self glorying.
b. Jesus said that people will not come to the
light because the light exposes, and they love
the darkness rather than the light because
their deeds are evil.
2. If you do not believe in the claims of Jesus, I
would be very interested in hearing from you, as to
the reasons that you do not believe.
a. Some have said that if salvation was such a
great thing then way isn't everyone saved?
The value of soap is not questioned because
there are so many dirty people in the world.
b. Some have said that they believed until they
prayed and God did not answer their prayer.
c. I know of a man who said that he believed in
in the Bible until he saw a scripture that said
that rabbits chewed a cud.
1. The scripture that he was referring to
was the one that speaks of the hares
chewing the cud. For many years it was
thought the rabbit did not chew the
cud, but I read recently that new
research does reveal that the rabbit
did indeed do that which is similar to
chewing the cud. It does not have
multiple stomachs as does a cow, but a
process of chewing again its digested
food has been reported.
2. What do you suppose that man will say
when He stands before God at the great
judgment seat?
3. What will you say when you stand before
God and He asks you why you did not on
His Son Jesus Christ?
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