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You can turn with me in your 
Bibles to John's gospel, John chapter five. John chapter five, we come to 
the end of this dispute between Jesus and religious leaders, 
most likely leaders, they're just identified as Jews, but 
the fact that they want to undertake to capitally punish him would 
indicate that they are part of the leadership connected somehow 
to the Sanhedrin or perhaps within the Sanhedrin. The last section, 
verses 41 to 47, Jesus acknowledges that they reject Him. He acknowledges 
that they did not receive His statements concerning His equality 
with the Father. So that will be our focus in 
41 to 47, but I want to pick up reading in chapter 5 at verse 
16. For this reason the Jews persecuted 
Jesus and sought to kill Him because He had done these things 
on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, my father has been working 
until now, and I have been working. Therefore, the Jews sought all 
the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath, 
but also said that God was his father, making himself equal 
with God. Then Jesus answered and said 
to them, most assuredly, I say to you, the son can do nothing 
of himself, but what he sees the father do. For whatever he 
does, the son also does in like manner. For the father loves 
the son and shows him all things that he himself does. And he 
will show him greater works than these that you may marvel. For 
as the father raises the dead and gives life to them, even 
so the son gives life to whom he will. For the father judges 
no one, but has committed all judgment to the son, that all 
should honor the son just as they honor the father. He who 
does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. 
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes 
in him who sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into 
judgment, but is passed from death into life. Most assuredly, 
I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will 
hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will 
live. For as the Father has life in 
Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 
and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because 
He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for the 
hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His 
voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection 
of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. I can of myself do nothing. As 
I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not 
seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me. If 
I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is 
another who bears witness of me, and I know that the witness 
which he witnesses of me is true. You have sent to John, and he 
has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony 
from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was 
the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time 
to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness 
than John's. For the works which the Father has given me to finish, 
the very works that I do bear witness of me, that the Father 
has sent me. And the Father Himself who sent 
Me has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice 
at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word 
abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for 
in them you think you have eternal life. And these are they which 
testify of Me. But you are not willing to come 
to Me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men, 
but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. 
I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If 
another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can 
you believe who receive honor from one another and do not seek 
the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I 
shall accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, 
Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you 
would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe 
his writings, how will you believe my words? Amen. Well, let us 
pray. our Father in heaven. Again, 
we pray for the ministry of the Holy Spirit who gave us the Word 
of God to guide us in our understanding of that Word of God and help 
us to see the glory of Jesus Christ so evidently on display 
in this chapter. It's a controversial section, 
they are leveling gross charges against Him, and yet God, He 
confirms their allegations, affirms that it is in case the truth 
that He is equal with the Father. So give us wisdom as we proceed 
again, forgive us for our sin and all those things that darken 
our understanding, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Well, as we 
have worked our way through this particular chapter, we see in 
verses 16 to 18 their opposition to the Lord. Now that comes on 
the heels of verses 1 to 15. We can never forget what caused 
this debacle. Jesus healed a paralyzed man. At the pool of Bethesda, Jesus 
gave this man the ability to rise up, to take up his mat, 
and to walk. That was the initial thing that 
caused concern on the part of the Jews. They wondered who it 
was, or who does this man think he is, to carry his mat on the 
Sabbath day. Well, the man, of course, passes 
the buck, not in a malicious way, but he says, the man who 
healed me told me to carry my mat and walk. And so, of course, 
they want to find out who he is. And when they confront Jesus, 
he equals himself with the Father. My father works until now, so 
I work as well. That brings the particular charge 
in verse 18 that they wanted to put him to death because he, 
being a man, made himself equal with God. So as we continue in 
the chapter, it's very important for us to listen. How does Jesus 
respond? Does he deflect this? Does he 
reject this? Does he say, no, it's not true 
that I have never claimed to be equal with God? He precisely 
and positively and affirmatively says that he is equal with the 
Father. He shows that equality in his relation to the Father 
in verses 19 to 23. And in that particular section 
in verses 20 and 21, he says that he has authority over life 
and judgment. So then in verses 24 to 30, he 
amplifies that. He shows us that two God-befitting 
tasks are his to carry out. He has sovereignty over life, 
and he is the one that will ultimately judge the living and the dead. 
And on the heels of that, he then brings his witnesses for 
the defense. He says in verse 31, if I bear 
witness of myself, my witness is not true. He's not saying 
he's telling lies. He's not saying he's telling 
falsehoods. He's answering a capital charge. They want to put him 
to death for the twin crimes of Sabbath-breaking and for making 
himself equal with God, which was blasphemy. So he takes the 
biblical paradigm with reference to witness evidence, and he invokes 
witnesses for the defense. Deuteronomy 17 and 19 specify 
that in a capital trial, you had to have a plurality of witnesses 
before you could proceed to execution. So Jesus says, my testimony is 
not valid in a court of law on its own. So he invokes the testimony 
of John the Baptist. He invokes the testimony of his 
own works, which the father gave him in verse 36, vis-a-vis the 
healing of the lame man at Bethesda. And then he invokes the witness 
testimony of his father and then of the scriptures in verses 39 
to 40. And so in summary fashion, in verses 41 to 47, he essentially 
tells us they didn't agree, they didn't confess, they didn't believe, 
they didn't bow down, they didn't come to him, they didn't receive 
him. And so Jesus rebukes them as 
a result of their maltreatment or mistreatment of the son. Because 
as he has said repeatedly, and we'll say once again, if you 
do not receive the son, then you do not have the father. If 
you do not believe on the Son, then you have no relationship 
with God. There's no sort of pseudo-spirituality 
out there where persons have a right relationship with God 
who have not believed the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. That 
is simply a thing that does not exist. So let's look at this 
closing passage in John 5 under two heads. First, the rejection 
of the Son in verses 41 to 44. And then secondly, the accusation 
by Moses in verses 45 to 47. Now notice in 41 to 44, two things 
we need to consider. First, the lack of honor from 
men. And secondly, the absence of 
the love of God in them. Again, Jesus would probably be 
thrown out of churches today if he spoke the way he spoke, 
or if he spoke the way today that he spoke in the gospel narrative. 
He says things that were probably not well-received and just incensed 
and infuriated his hearers. When He told them things like 
He tells them in this particular section, you can see why they 
expressed outrage against Him. We can't justify it because they're 
godless, vile wretches who are denying the only Son and the 
Father who sent Him, but you can understand it from a human 
perspective. If you're a sinner and you hate 
Christ, and Christ rebukes you or reproves you, you typically 
don't say, hey, that's great, may you do that some more. They 
did not like him. They despised and hated him. 
And it ultimately culminates in the passion narrative. But 
notice this lack of honor from men. So in verse 31, he says, 
if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. He says 
a similar thing in verse 41. I do not receive honor from men. What does he mean by that? Notice 
in verse 44 the same language is given. How can you believe 
who receive honor from one another and do not seek the honor that 
comes from the only God? We need to understand what honor 
means in this particular passage. Honor, typically, or the Greek 
word translated here as honor, is usually translated or oftentimes 
translated as glory. So Jesus is not saying, I do 
not receive glory from men. He is speaking about honor. And 
this means honor as enhancement. Somebody enhances your character 
with the way they view you. Or recognition of status. That's what's in view. Recognition 
of status. I do not receive recognition 
of status from men. I'm not dependent upon it. In 
other words, he has asserted a particular status. You, being a man, make yourself 
equal with God, verse 18. And then he affirms that status. He says, that is precisely my 
status. Not a son by creation, not a 
son by adoption, but the son of God by nature, because of 
eternal generation. which he speaks of in verse 26. 
And so it's the recognition of status that's in view here. He 
says, I don't depend upon that. He had his own self-consciousness. 
He knew, of course, who he was. He's not the hippie Jesus of 
Jesus Christ superstar that sort of wandered around Palestine 
wondering what he was all about or doing what he was doing. For 
those of you who are young, you probably don't remember that. 
It happened in the 60s, Jesus Christ Superstar. It was a musical, 
and you had this sort of confused Christ that really didn't know 
what he was all about. And I think at times people have 
that understanding, and it's absolutely incorrect. Jesus always 
knew who he was. Jesus had that self-consciousness. Jesus, according to his humanity, 
read the Old Testament about himself. Jesus, according to 
his humanity, searched the scriptures and grew in understanding and 
wisdom. according to Luke's gospel. So he knew what he was about, 
but he means I'm not dependent upon the testimony of man. I'm 
not dependent upon a recognition of status by virtue of man. I 
have my own understanding and I have these several witnesses. 
I've got John the Baptist who testified. I've got the works 
that I've done that testify. I've got the Father who testifies, 
and I've got the Scriptures. You search the Scriptures, for 
in them you think you have eternal life, but these are they which 
testify of me." So he understands all too well who he is. It doesn't 
need to be the case that men confess him as the Son of God 
for him to be the Son of God. He is irrespective of whether 
we confess Him or not. That's what He means there when 
He says, I do not receive honor from men. The Lord does not depend 
upon the recognition of His status from men. He makes a similar 
statement over in John 8, in a similar context, where He is 
disputing with the religious leaders. Notice in John 8 at 
verse 54, Jesus answered, if I honor myself, my honor is nothing. 
It is my Father who honors me, of whom you say that He is your 
God. And remember, these persons, 
these Jews that he's speaking to, they're not the common heathen 
of our day, and I'm not trying to denigrate anybody here, but 
they had an understanding of the Old Testament. This is why 
when in the next point we see him say, I know that you don't 
have the love of God in you, Brethren, that had to challenge 
them at a very foundational level. Every Jew lived in light of the 
Shema in Deuteronomy 6. Here, O Israel, the Lord our 
God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your 
God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. For Jesus 
to say, I know that you don't have the love of God in you. 
These people didn't just sit there and say, wow, that's an 
interesting perspective. You can see later why in chapter 
eight and in chapter 10, they pick up stones to throw at him 
because he is a revolutionary as far as they are concerned. 
He is challenging not only the biblical and the theological, 
but the political in first century Israel. And he has become a burden 
to them and upon them. The Lord does not receive honor 
from men. Not that he isn't entitled, not 
that his status shouldn't be recognized from every creature, 
every body, every being, everything, but he's not dependent upon it 
as in some sort of validation that it is as they think. That's 
what he means in that particular instance. Dill says, but his 
sense is that in asserting his equality with the father and 
in producing the testimonies he did in proof of it, His view 
was not to obtain honor and applause among men, but to vindicate himself 
and glorify his father. Now notice, secondly, he points 
out the lack or the absence of love for God in their hearts. Notice in verse 43. I'm sorry, 
verse 42. He gives the statement, but I 
know you that you do not have the love of God in you. He gives 
the reason in verse 43, and then he gives a question in verse 
44. But let's first look at his declaration in verse 42. But 
I know you that you do not have the love of God in you. Curious 
statement, isn't it? They don't know him. As far as 
they're concerned, he's just a self-appointed man that thinks 
he's God's son or thinks he's equal with God. They have no 
understanding whatsoever. They have no concept of him whatsoever. They can't make heads or tails 
out of him whatsoever. He's an enigma. He is a conundrum. He's a walking riddle in Israel 
in the first century. The commoners loved him. The 
people that were sick and needed healing loved him. The people 
that needed food loved him. Everybody received him. Not everybody, 
but people had this at least positive reception on the surface. 
Not these fellows. These fellows despised him and 
didn't want to learn anything. Notice there's no question, there's 
no, what do you mean when you say these sorts of things? What 
do you mean? Would have been a great opportunity 
for Jesus to discuss Trinitarianism. Could have explained to them 
how Trinitarianism isn't inconsistent with monotheism. In fact, I think 
that's what Jesus is doing in this particular passage. I don't 
want to read too much into it, but notice his reference at the 
end of verse 44. He says, the only God Now think about the 
context. He, being a man, is making himself 
equal with God. He affirms that reality and yet 
doesn't posit the existence of a plurality of gods. There's 
only one God. Consistent with that one God 
of Holy Scripture is Trinitarianism. The Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit. These men don't understand that, 
but these men didn't ask anything about that. So Jesus goes to 
where he knows with reference to their heart and their status 
beforehand. Verse 42, but I know you that 
you do not have the love of God in you. He knows based on his 
divinity. He knows what's in all men, right? 
He came to his own, his own received him not, John tells us that in 
John 1. But he knows according to his 
humanity. Brethren, I can tell at times when people are with 
me in the preaching and they're not. I can tell at times, now 
everybody's going to smile and perk up a little bit and not 
look at their watch for the next two minutes. You can kind of 
get the feel where people are at. It's intriguing, some of 
the old covenant or Old Testament language with reference to rage 
or fury or anger has to do with nostrils flaring. You get that, 
right? Somebody calls you out on something 
and your nostrils flare. That's not a good look for you. 
That typically means you haven't received it well. Or when persons 
kind of do like this when you want to have an open conversation. 
There's a bit of, you know, body chemistry that persons can read. 
Certainly, Jesus, according to his humanity, knew that they 
were not picking up what he was putting down. They did not follow 
him. They did not receive him. They 
did not believe him. And Jesus goes to the heart of 
the problem. Notice, I know you that you do 
not have the love of God in you. This means they do not have love 
for God. Now, that implies, infers, and 
argues that therefore they don't have God's love for them, but 
the focus of Jesus' indictment is that they themselves do not 
have love for God. Again, a revolutionary statement 
to persons that are well-versed in the Old Testament that persons 
who expressed their love and devotion to Yahweh of Israel 
might take exception with. What do you mean you know that 
we don't love God? What do you mean? you know that 
we don't have any desire for the true and living God. Well, 
Jesus expresses this. Notice in John 8, again, same 
sort of a thing. 8.42, Jesus said to them, if 
God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth 
and came from God, nor have I come of myself, but he sent me. And 
then in verse 47, he who is of God hears God's words, therefore 
you do not hear because you are not of God. And then when we 
look back at John chapter 5, we have to conclude that their 
response is similar to John 8 and 10. Though they didn't pick up 
stones to throw at him, they were nevertheless his enemy. 
They were nevertheless refusing. They were nevertheless not only 
not going to come to him, but they were nevertheless going 
to despise, loathe, and seek opportunity to rid the world 
of him. And then notice as well, verse 
42, I know you that you do not have the love of God in you. 
We've already seen this in John's gospel. Go back to John three 
for just a moment. John chapter three at verse 18. 
He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not 
believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in 
the name of the only begotten Son of God. Now notice in verse 
19, and this is the condemnation, that the light has come into 
the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their 
deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil 
hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds 
should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes 
to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they had 
been done in God. Look at that in verse 19. This 
is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world 
and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds 
were evil. So over in John 5, verse 42, 
I know you that you do not have the love of God in you. Jesus 
sees things more perceptively than we do. Now, that's an obvious 
statement, right? Jesus will always say things 
more perceptively than we do. But when you think of somebody 
who does not have love for God, you think of murderers, you think 
of pedophiles, you think of rapists, you think of bank robbers, you 
think of, you know, tyrants in government. You don't think of 
the religious. You don't think of the self-righteous. You don't think of persons steeped 
in the Bible, persons who confess the Shema and say that this is 
true of them. Brethren, sin is sin. If it's 
licentiousness, vis-a-vis crack dealing and murder, it's sin. 
But if it's self-righteousness and Pharisaism, it is sin. And those sinners need the same 
grace. They need the same blood. They 
need the same Savior. See, Christ doesn't say, you're 
not like those robbers and those murderers and those crack dealers 
and those prostitutes because you have a little bit of love 
for my Father. He doesn't do that. Their actions 
demonstrated what was true at that foundational level. The 
fact that they reject the Savior means they reject the one who 
sent him. Whether you're a crack dealer 
or a legalist, the problem is, is that there is a lack of love 
for God Most High. Now, when I say legalist, I mean, 
you know, positively. I think we all have a bit of 
the legalist in us, and I think we all have a bit of the licentiousness 
in us. But I'm talking about reigning 
sin, this idea, this kind of a mindset where these men are 
so approving of themselves that they feel the need to put their 
nose into the business of the Savior King and call Him to account. And he does so. That's what's 
amazing. He doesn't just say, oh no, you 
don't love me, you don't believe on me, so forget about it. He 
answers them in great detail. He answers them with glorious 
answers or with logical inferences and connections to biblical theology 
all throughout the Bible. And yet they refuse him. They 
reject him. So notice, that brings us to 
the reason. Look at what he says. I know 
you that you do not have the love of God in you. Probably 
at this point, it would have arisen in their heads, well, 
how do you know? Right? Wouldn't you? Somebody said to 
you, I know that you don't have the love of God in you. That'd 
be a pretty powerful statement, wouldn't it? If somebody said 
to you, you're a professing Christian, you're religious, you read the 
Bible, you confess the Shema, you confess Trinitarianism, and 
somebody says, I know that you don't have the love of God in 
your heart. You probably get pretty upset 
by that, but the next thing would be, well, what's your proof? 
What's the reason? Why would you posit such a thing? 
Why would you make that kind of a declaration? Jesus supplies 
that information. Notice in verse 43. I have come 
in my father's name and you do not receive me. Here's how I 
know that you don't have the love of God in your hearts. Because 
him whom God sent is in your midst and instead of coming to 
me, receiving me, believing on me, you want to kill me. You 
want to deliver me up to the cross, ultimately. Proof positive 
that there was no love of God in their heart was the fact that 
He had come in His Father's name and you do not receive me. Notice, 
with reference to receive, that's what it means to come according 
to verse 40, and what it means to believe in verse 47. Belief 
is what is absolutely crucial in the Savior for all sinners 
everywhere. But the Bible uses metaphor, 
come to Jesus, how? By belief. Receive Jesus, how? By belief, faith in Him. So Christ is using those metaphors 
to indict them and to show them that the love of God is absent 
from their hearts because the one in the Father has sent, you 
have rejected Him. Now he makes this curious statement 
in the middle of verse 43. He says, I have come in my father's 
name and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, 
him you will receive. Now there's a lot of people that 
think that what he's talking about here are false Christs. 
that he's talking about the Antichrist, that he's talking about false 
prophets, that he's talking about any kind of pretender or any 
kind of faker that comes in the name of God Most High. I don't 
know that that's the point. I think the point is, is in verse 
43, I have come in my Father's name, which means clothed in 
His authority. And if another comes in his own 
name, not clothed in the authority of the Father, him you will receive. You have this ax to grind with 
the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who has come from the Father. 
But if others come, whether they be antichrists, whether they 
be false prophets, whether they be pretenders, whatever it might 
be, you'll receive them. Christ actually has that authority 
from on high as the one who has come from the Father. He is the 
Christ of John 1, 18. No one has seen God at any time. 
But the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, 
He has declared Him. And yet you reject Him, He says. 
You reject Me. So I've come in My Father's name. 
You don't receive Me. But if another comes in His own 
name, Him you will receive. He is describing or illustrating 
or underscoring once again his consubstantiality or his equality 
with the Father. Jesus didn't come in his own 
name. Jesus didn't come in his own 
authority. Jesus came from the Father. How many times, just up until 
this point in our study in John's Gospel, has Jesus emphasized 
that he's sent by the Father? That sending by the father means 
he's clothed with the father's authority. That he is not the 
son by creation, he's not the son by adoption, but he is the 
son by nature. So if a pretender comes, a fake 
comes, a false comes, then you're gonna go ahead and believe in 
him and all the while reject the genuine article. It's like 
somebody who finds, you know, fool's gold and sells real gold 
to go buy that piece of property where the fool's gold is. What 
are you, nuts? You're giving up, especially 
in this economy, you're going to get rid of real gold, real 
money, and you're going to get fake stuff? The real article 
is right before them, the one who is equal with the Father, 
because of the glory of the triune God, and they don't receive Him, 
they don't believe in Him, they don't come to Him. And now notice 
on the heels of that is question in verse 44. How can you believe 
who receive honor from one another and do not seek the honor that 
comes from the only God? This is not confined to this 
particular instance. Notice in John 12, 43. We're 
going to see the same depraved traits throughout these men as 
we work our way through John's gospel. Notice in John 12, 42, 
nevertheless, even among the rulers, many believed in him, 
but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest 
they should be put out of the synagogue. Cancel culture. First century religious style. Notice in verse 43, for they 
loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. See, 
Jesus knows his audience. He knows who he's dealing with. 
He's not just throwing out invective or vitriol to be a mean fellow. He is upbraiding them at that 
foundational level. They have no love for God and 
that no love for God is manifested in their rejection of the son. 
Remember in verse 23, who does not honor the son does not honor 
the father. Verse 24, he who hears my word 
and believes in him who sent me. Verse 38, but you do not 
have his word abiding in you because whom he sent, him you 
do not believe. He summarizes all of that in 
verse 44. How can you believe who receive 
honor from one another and do not receive the honor that comes 
from the only God? Again, I think the background 
here of the only God reference is likely Deuteronomy 6. It's 
likely Israel's monotheism. So Jesus, in a context where 
they're stumbling over monotheism, affirms Trinitarianism and his 
own equality with the Father. Cyril of Alexandria says, now 
he says only, to distinguish God from the gods of the Gentiles. 
He does not put himself outside the honor of the only. This is 
very important, brethren, and I hope you get it, and I hope 
you listen. Jesus is not putting himself outside the only God. Jesus is putting himself inside 
the only God. Jesus is including himself. Remember 
the charge of verse 18, you being a man, make yourself equal with 
God. He's affirmed it all the way 
to this point. Do you think he's going to abandon 
ship now and say, well, I'm not the only God. I'm not of the 
nature of my father. No, he's including himself. So 
he says, only to distinguish God from the gods of the Gentiles. 
He does not put himself outside the honor of the only. After 
all, the fullness of the holy and consubstantial Trinity ascends, 
as we have already often said, to the one nature and glory of 
the divinity. Beautiful, wonderful, amen. If you missed it, text me, email 
me, write me, carrier pigeon me. I will send you that Cyril 
of Alexandria quote because it's money. Jesus is not putting himself 
outside of the only God. If he spends verses 19 to 40 
to affirm that he is the son by nature, why in verse 44 would 
he abandon that? and say, oh yeah, you guys are 
right. I'm not really equal with my father. He's affirming it. In Trinitarian categories, the 
son eternally begotten of the father has the nature of the 
father. Now notice secondly, and finally, 
the accusation by Moses in verses 45 to 47. I can't imagine how much How better 
to portray this situation? He's already said to them, I 
know that you don't have the love of God in your hearts. I 
mean, if smoke isn't coming out of their ears and their nostrils 
aren't flaring like that by now, when he tells them what they 
really think of Moses, imagine saying to a Jew, you have no 
concern for Moses. You disregard Moses. You don't care about Moses. Brethren, that's huge. Don't 
ever for a moment think that Jesus was not a lightning rod 
or a controversial figure in his walk through Israel in the 
first century. Dropping bombs like these on 
the religious leaders? Oh, you could hear it on CNN. 
Oh, and then he had the gall to say this. Oh, and then he 
had the goal to do this. And oh, then he had the goal 
to say that he was actually equal with the father. He would have 
been condemned and he was condemned. And that's what ultimately led 
to his crucifixion. Notice two things here, the accusation 
by Moses and verses 45 and 46, and then the rebuke by the Lord 
Jesus. Notice verse 45. Do not think 
that I shall accuse you to the father. Much depends on the definition 
of accused. It means what we think it means. 
Nearly always it's used as a legal, technical term to bring charges 
in court, specifically here before God's tribunal. So bring charges 
in court, specifically here before God's tribunal. Do not think 
that I shall accuse you to the Father. Now, I don't think that 
Jesus means that he has no role or activity in the accusation 
of sinners or in the condemnation of sinners. Remember in the previous 
section in chapter 5, verses 28 to 30, he speaks of himself 
as being the judge of all men. The dead will hear the voice 
of the Son of God and all who are in the graves will arise, 
the righteous to everlasting life and to the unrighteous to 
everlasting death. He's not suggesting that he's 
not somehow involved in the penal sanctions or in the punishment 
of sinners. It's probably more akin to what 
we see in John 3. You go back there for just a moment. John 
3 at verse 17. For God did not send his son 
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through 
him might be saved. Right? When you ask the question 
of the Bible, what's the coming of the son of man with reference 
to his first mission? Well, it is to save his people 
from their sins, right? It is to live. It is to die. 
It is to be raised again the third day, such that all who 
look to him in faith will have everlasting life. His ministry 
when he comes is to seek and to save that which was lost. 
Luke 19 10. Remember that instance with Zacchaeus? 
Everybody grumbles because Jesus promises Zacchaeus, I need to 
go to your house and eat dinner. Everybody grumbles and whines 
and complains because this guy's a really bad sinner. And why 
would Jesus ever want to be around him? Because the son of man has 
come to seek and to save that which was lost. But if you look 
at verse 18, He who believes in him is not condemned, but 
he who does not believe is condemned already. Jesus doesn't need to 
come in the first coming to condemn the world. The world's already 
condemned. He's coming to save sinners out 
of the world. The same thing is true here in 
John chapter 5. I'm not here to accuse you. I'm 
here to answer your charge. I'm here to confirm that I am 
equal with the Father. But in terms of accusation, there's 
another one in your history. There's another one in your lives. 
There's another figure that you need to take into consideration. 
It's Moses who accuses you. It is Moses who indicts you. 
It is Moses who upbraids you. Notice in verse 45, do not think 
that I shall accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses 
you, Moses, in whom you trust. Now the word trust is used here, 
there, there, and then he says you don't believe. So we wonder, 
how does he, how can they trust in him and not trust in him? 
How can they believe in him and not believe in him? Well, it's 
the same thing as verse 39. You search the scriptures, for 
in them you think you have eternal life, but these are they which 
testify of me. You show your allegiance to, 
and you confess your devotion to the writings of Moses, but 
Moses wrote about me. So you're betraying a fundamental 
commitment here. Just as I know you don't have 
the love of the Father in you, or the love for God in your hearts 
because you reject me, so I know you don't love Moses because 
you reject me. In other words, everything in 
terms of scripture is all about Jesus. He is the scope of scripture, 
as we noted in John 5 at verse 39. Do not think that I shall 
accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, 
Moses, in whom you trust. And then notice, he gives a very 
simple So simple that people in the 21st century should be 
able to get it. A simple logical syllogism to 
illustrate his point. He says, for if you believed 
Moses, you would believe me. For he wrote about me. Logic 
that even our civil authorities could get. Logic that even judges 
on the bench could get. Logic that all of us in the pew 
can get, right? If you do not believe in Christ, 
you reject Moses. It's the same argument that he 
made relative to the Father. I know you don't love God because 
you've rejected Him whom He sent. I know you don't love Moses, 
and I know you don't trust his writings, because Moses wrote 
about me. And if you deny me, then you 
reject Moses, right? Everybody see? Very, very easy 
logic. Very simple deduction. Very simple 
in the sense that we easily get it, but so did they. They would 
have been incensed at this point. Now notice that leads him to 
rebuke them in verse 47. He says, if you do not believe 
his writings, how will you believe my words? You see, he not only 
makes himself equal with the Father, according to their charge 
in 518, but he shows himself superior to Moses. Because if 
Moses is writing about Jesus, if Jesus is the content of the 
Pentateuch, then Jesus is more glorious than Moses himself. 
Isn't that a wonderful deduction that he brings out? They wouldn't 
have said, yes. They would have said, no, we 
hate this man and we want to murder him. He's foul. He's polluted. He's horrible. He's telling us that we don't 
love God. He's telling us that we don't 
believe Moses. Again, brethren, if you don't 
see controversy in the life and ministry of Jesus, you're not 
reading the gospel narrative. Christianity and culture very 
often in the history of the world, I know this is going to be a 
shocker, clash. There are people out there that despise our Christ. There are people out there that 
despise his word. There are people out there that 
despise his ethics. Just look at abortion. Look at 
euthanasia for the practical fruits of people who despise 
our Christ. Look at this emphasis on sexual 
perversion today. for a demonstration of persons 
that despise our Christ. Look at the infatuation with 
a naturalistic explanation of the world. Look at the love for 
Darwin out there. Why? Because they hate our Christ. They wanna remove the world of 
the one for of him and through him and to him are all things. 
They wanna get rid of that which they hate. Now, when we ask the 
question, how did Moses write about Jesus? Well, Moses wrote 
about Jesus a lot. The first instance is in Genesis 
chapter 3 at verse 15, where God promises there will be a 
skull-crushing seed of the woman who will decimate the devil. 
It's a blessed statement of our Christ in the hands of Moses. Jesus says, that you're rejecting 
me indicates that you do not believe Genesis 3.15. We move 
on in the writings of Moses to Genesis 22, that instance when 
Abraham is told to take his son, his only son, the son that he 
loves, up to Mount Moriah, the future site of the temple, and 
there sacrifice him. Well, Isaac figures out we've 
got the wood, we've got the fire, but we don't have the sacrifice, 
dad. What does Abraham tell him? He 
tells him the Lord will provide. And when Abraham's about to drop 
the knife into Isaac, the angel of the Lord stays his hand. They 
look back and what do you see? A ram caught in the thicket of 
the bush. That becomes the substitute for Isaac. And then we have Moses 
writing about the Lamb of God. Moses, or John the Baptist rather, 
in John 1 29 says, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the 
sin of the world. Where do we find that in the writings of 
Moses? We call it the book of Leviticus. It's a big book and 
it is very detailed about blood atonement. It's very detailed 
about how sinful guilty man stands in the presence of a holy God. 
So Moses wrote about Jesus all throughout Leviticus. What about 
numbers? Well, John 3 helps us because 
there was this type that took place in the wilderness in Numbers 
21. The children of Israel were whining 
and grumbling. I know, surprise, but they were 
whining and grumbling. So God sends fiery serpents to 
bite them, to punish them, to bring punitive sanctions upon 
them. And then Moses cries out for 
assistance. And God says, build a brazen 
serpent, raise it up in the wilderness, and whoever looks will live. 
Well, that's what Jesus is, isn't it? That's how he interprets 
it. In John 3, 14, he says, just as Moses lifted up the serpent 
in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. So Moses 
wrote about Jesus in Genesis. He wrote about, oh, I missed 
Exodus. Exodus again, deliverance, redemption, power, the display 
of God's mighty right arm, bringing his people out of bondage. He 
writes about him in Leviticus. He writes about him in Numbers. 
What about in Deuteronomy? Deuteronomy 18, there's a promise 
of a prophet like me. Moses said, him you shall hear. So Moses wrote all about the 
Lord Jesus Christ. And these men rejecting Christ 
display a rejection of Moses. If you do not believe his writings, 
how will you believe my words? It's just not going to happen 
because I'm the content, the subject matter of what that godly 
man in history wrote about for your benefit and for your blessing. And I've come in the flesh, the 
glorious incarnation of the Son of God. Again, back to the prologue. The Word became flesh and dwelt 
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten 
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Yet they didn't have 
eyes to see, they didn't have hearts to interpret, they didn't 
have the power of the Spirit abiding in them such that they 
could make heads or tails out of this. So Jesus rebukes them, 
Jesus reproves them, and Jesus ends this particular dispute 
with the religious leaders on that note. You don't have the 
love of the Father and you certainly have no regard for Moses. Perhaps 
that's one of the reasons why in chapters 8 and 10, it's even 
more heightened in terms of the nature of the combat. Well, in 
conclusion, summary of the chapter, the charges leveled against the 
Savior in verse 18. The answer is given by Christ 
throughout the rest of the chapter. I'm sure that early on, I mentioned 
how Jehovah's Witnesses, they take 518, passages like it, and 
they say, well, that's what they thought. They thought that Jesus 
was asserting equality with the Father. Yeah, and they were right. 
They were absolutely, positively bang on. And Jesus confirmed 
them in that assertion of making himself equal with God. Such 
that in chapters 8 and in chapter 10, they want to pick up stones 
to throw at him because as far as they're concerned, he is guilty 
of the sin and crime of blasphemy. Blasphemy was a punishable offense, 
a capital offense under Leviticus 24. And so these men did know 
all too well what he had claimed and what he had asserted, but 
they continue to reject and resist those claims and those assertions. Secondly, and this is a bit of 
a test for all of us, what do we think of the son? I mean, 
I think that's ultimately what we get at the end of chapter 
five. Isn't the big question always 
what think ye of Christ? Isn't it? Doesn't it all? All 
roads come back there in terms of religious discussion, theology 
and Bible. How do I know if I'm saved? How 
do I know if this person is saved? How do I know if I'm going to 
heaven? What do we think of Christ? If we reject Him and we resist 
Him and we despise Him, then we're not saved. But if we believe 
on Him, we've come to Him, we've received Him, we have faith in 
Him, that's a blessed sign that we're heaven-bound. Now, in terms 
of these particular men, the rejection of the Son manifests 
a rejection of the Scriptures. Verses 39 and 40. Again, if you 
have a willingness to search the Scriptures and an unwillingness 
to come to Christ, things are not good in your soul. You've 
missed the point of the Scriptures. Secondly, the rejection of the 
son manifests a lack of love for the father. And I don't wanna 
pick on all those people out there that have this generic 
spirituality. Are you religious? No, I'm spiritual. It just sounds so hyper pious, 
doesn't it? Oh, well, he's spiritual. I'm 
just a sinner saved by grace. That sounds somewhat offended. 
That's a bit offensive, but I'm spiritual. I have a relationship 
with God in my own way. In your own way? What does that 
even mean, in your own way? Typically, it means you've refashioned 
God into a servant to do your bidding, typically, because we 
want God for certain positive benefits, but we don't want God 
for certain negative implications. We want God to bless us and to 
serve us and to always make us win, but yay, walking through 
the valley of the shadow of death is not something that God should 
bring to me. So there's this super spiritual mentality out 
there that has no regard for Jesus Christ. If you don't have 
Christ, you don't have the Father. If you haven't believed on Jesus, 
you don't love the Father. Third, the rejection of the Son 
manifests their pride and their love of the praise of men. Look 
at verse 44. How can you believe who receive 
honor from one another and do not seek the honor that comes 
from the only God? A brother reminded me of Hebrews 
11 this morning. Without faith, it is impossible 
to please God. And the one who comes to God 
must not only believe that He is, but that He is a rewarder 
of them that diligently seek Him. There's certain truths, 
certain statements, certain declarations or propositions about this God 
that you need to understand and know. You need to appropriate 
them by faith. With reference to these men, 
they rejected the Son and it manifested their own pride and 
their own love of the praise of men. They didn't seek the 
honor that comes from the only God. They didn't court the favor 
of the Father by rightly receiving the Son. They reject the Son, 
they despise the Son, they want to murder the Son on trumped 
up charges that are false. He didn't Sabbath break and he 
didn't blaspheme in making himself equal with God. And then the 
rejection of the Son, and this targets specifically the Jews, 
is a rejection of Moses. The Jews today are still looking 
for the Messiah. That's what differentiates Judaism 
and Christianity. As far as Christianity is concerned, 
Messiah has come. Messiah is our Lord Jesus Christ. All of the prophets, all of the 
law pointed to him. The Lord Jesus interprets it 
that way in Luke chapter 24. He interprets it that way in 
John 5, 39. You search the scriptures. These 
are they which testify of me. So Jews today are waiting for 
Messiah. Well, according to Messiah, they 
hate Moses, or they rejected Moses, or they don't care about 
Moses. Now, I'm not suggesting you get 
on Facebook this afternoon or Twitter and get into some war 
over this with your Jewish friends or whatever, but this is the 
rub. You cannot claim to love the 
writings of Moses and reject the person of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. And then finally, the big emphasis 
in the passage is on the consubstantiality of the son with the father. He 
is, in fact, equal with the father. The equality with the father 
is seen in the son's testimony concerning himself, verses 19 
to 30. It is seen as well in the confirmation 
of the witnesses. The Baptist, he declares in 134 
that this is the Son of God. It is declared by the works of 
Jesus vis-a-vis the healing of the man at Bethesda. It is testified 
by the Father and by the Scripture. He is equal with the Father. Our confession of faith is consistent 
with monotheism in chapter 2, paragraph 3. So the oneness of God, divine 
simplicity, essence or substance, in this divine and infinite being 
there are three persons, or subsistences, the Father, the Word, or Son, 
and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having 
the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided. The Father 
is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding. The Son is eternally 
begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father 
and the Son. all infinite without beginning, therefore but one 
God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished 
by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations." 
That's a great summary statement of the doctrine of the Trinity. 
And everything that Christ says here is consistent with it. He doesn't exclude himself from 
the only God, but he is equal with the Father. And our confessional 
statement ends, underscoring the practical benefit of Trinitarianism. I think this is a problem in 
the church today. or in churches today. Oh, that's 
just so theoretical. It's so hard for me to wrap my 
mind around that God is one and three. It's really not. In this divine and infinite being, 
the oneness of God, the singularity of God at the essence level or 
substance, there are three persons. I mean, you may not fully understand 
every jot and diddle of it, but in terms of a proposition, it's 
not contradictory. It's not paradoxical. We're not 
saying God's one in one sense and three in the same sense. 
That would be a paradox. It would be a contradiction. 
It would be logical foolishness. But in terms of our understanding 
of the doctrine of the Trinity, again, people think, well, yeah, 
I know there's one God and three persons. Okay, that's fine. But 
our confession ends with this note. It says, which doctrine 
of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God 
and comfortable dependence on Him? What a beautiful thing. 
You mean my knowledge of God, what I know of God, how I understand 
God, produces and promotes in my own heart comfort? Later in 
the high priestly prayer, Jesus is going to give us the very 
essence of eternal life. John 17, 3, and this is eternal 
life. That they may know Thee, the 
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. See what 
heaven's going to be. It's not going to just be looking 
at all the blessings He has given us, but looking at the blesser 
himself. marveling at the goodness of 
God Most High, marveling at the triune nature of our blessed 
Father, Son, and Spirit. It is a glorious truth. It is 
the truth of the Bible. And if we reject that truth, 
we put in its place an idol, and we're not worshiping the 
true and the living God. The final observation comes from 
John 20, 30, and 31. John writes his gospel. John 
gives us an account of the signs in the gospel, vis-a-vis the 
healing of the paralyzed man at Bethesda, so that you might 
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and 
that by believing you may have life in his name. Do not leave 
here like these Jews. Do not leave here resisting and 
rejecting and saying, oh no, he can't really be equal with 
the Father, even though he says he's equal with the Father in 
verse after verse after verse. Come to him. John 5.40. Receive 
Him by faith. Believe in Him. Look to Him. 
In the language of John 3, 14 and 15, just as Moses lifted 
up the serpent. What happened? They looked and 
they lived. The same is true with the Son of Man. You look 
to Him in faith and you will live. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we thank you for your word, we thank you for 
the teaching of our blessed Savior. And we know it was controversial 
then, it's controversial now, but it's glorious, it's wonderful, 
the fact that our blessed Savior is equal with the Father, that 
he is the second person of the triune God, who for us men and 
for our salvation came down from heaven. We praise You for His 
work of redemption, we praise You for His current session at 
the right hand, and we look forward to His coming again in glory 
to judge the living and the dead. And may it be the case that we 
will be cleansed in His blood and clothed in His righteousness 
and ready to meet Him on that day. And we ask in Jesus' name. 
Amen. We'll turn to 564 as we close 
out our worship, singing a hymn of doxology to our God. is is And blessed be His glorious name 
through all eternity. On all earth let His glory ring. Oh The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ 
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you 
all. Amen. God, thank you for the Lord's 
day. Thank you for this rest that we have in our blessed Savior. 
Thank you for the fellowship of the saints and the communion 
of your people. We praise you for the ministry of the Holy 
Spirit. We pray, God, that you would help us to sanctify the 
day, to call this day a delight and bring us together tonight 
that we may worship you as a church body. And we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. You can be seated for a brief 
time of meditation.