Two or Three Witnesses

I like singing. It's always a joy to sing. I hope God's put a new song in your heart.

I used to sing rock and roll, but I'm singing new songs now. A new song, even praise unto our God. Those are the good songs to sing.

Well, I'm glad that you're all here and we are, as a church, we are going through the book of the Gospel of John. And we're going to be looking back at John chapter 5. We've been teaching through the book of John. Last week I mentioned, I just want to remind you again, the importance of, I know that many times when I study and meditate and think about as week goes to week, I stop every once in a while and say, you know, we haven't talked about anything practical for months.

And practical things to obey and things to do. And I told you a few weeks ago that much of the Bible, I just made an estimate having taught through it for many years, that about 80% of it is not about do this, do this, do this, but it's about getting to know him. And this is life eternal that we might know him.

And, of course, in knowing him it motivates us to do and certainly doing is a part of knowing him. But knowing him is important. Christianity is not just give me some things to do.

Christianity is getting to know who God is. And that's a long process. It's going to take all eternity to get to know him in his fullness.

So much of the Gospel of John, there's going to be some practical things. I'm going to weave some practical things in here today. But much of the Gospel of John is simply getting to know him, to know your husband and know about him, his purposes, his will, his desire.

And so we've been going through John chapter 5 here the last few months. We're going to continue starting here in verse number 30. Because some of you are visiting and we normally do this, but it does help to have some review before we jump into these next seven or eight verses.

But I'd like to just give you some review. If you have a red-letter Bible, you'll notice in John chapter 5 verses 19 all the way down through verse 47 is red letters, meaning that this is the Lord Jesus speaking. And he is speaking and answering some things that have been brought to his attention back in verse number 17.

But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Verse 18, Therefore the Jews sought the Lord to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Then answered Jesus and said.

And then you have this long statement that the Lord Jesus makes. And so from verse 19 all the way to the end of the chapter is his response to the Jews questioning whether he is equal with God or questioning his deity. And the Lord is beginning to open up their hearts and minds to his deity.

Later on he'll make it real plain. He'll say, I and my Father are one. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

But now he is just starting to open them up to the idea of him being deity. And so we talked a few weeks ago about, as he goes down through here, verse 19, on down he talks about some of the attributes that the Father has given to the Son to make the Son equal with the Father. Verse 21, we looked at, For as the Father raises up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

And so the Son has the same power to quicken and raise the dead. Verse 22, For the Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. Wow.

The Father, God the Father in the Jews' mindset, he is the eternal judge. But God the Father has handed all judgment to the Son. The Son is going to judge everybody.

The dead and the living. And so Jesus has been given judgment. And then verse 23, Here is why, That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.

He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. And remember we talked about this last time. If people do not believe that Jesus is God's Son and deity, then they do not honor God the Father.

If you reject who Jesus is, you also reject the Father. But if you receive the Son, you receive the Father also. And so there were many questions back in this day, and even today there are many questions about who is the Lord Jesus.

Is he God? Is he an angel? Is he a spirit? Is he man? Well, the Bible answers those questions. And we're going to talk a little bit about that here this morning. John's Gospel tells us who he is in a very real way.

Two titles that are given to the Lord Jesus that describe not only his deity but his humanity. And that is he is the Son of God and he is the Son of Man. Son of God and he is the Son of Man.

He has the nature of God. He is the Son of God. He was his Father.

He was conceived by the Holy Ghost. And yet he has the nature of humanity because his mother was Mary, Mary being a sinful woman. And so he has both the nature of God and he has the nature of man.

The fullness of the God had dwelt in him bodily, yet he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. That's amazing. And so he is both Son of God and Son of Man.

And though he walked on water which showed his deity, he was weary and had to sit. In John chapter 4, you remember, on a well because he was weary. And though he stood there and raised the dead, the Lazarus came out of the grave, yet he wept at the same incident.

And so he not only shows his deity, but in the very same incident, you see his humanity coming out also. And so he is both the Son of God and the Son of Man. And throughout church history, there's been back and forth, you know, some struggles with the idea of Son of God and Son of Man.

And before we read here, if you don't mind, hold your finger here. Turn back to 1 John once. John is writing this one too, 1 John chapter 5. There's a lot in the Bible about this, but I want to bring out one point here.

In 1 John chapter 5, starting in verse number 4, this is the same John who wrote the Gospel of John. It says this, 1 John chapter 5, verse 4, For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water.

These are important words here. Many times, you know, when you read the Bible, you just read over certain verses. I don't know what that means.

I'm just going to go on. But verse 6, this is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ. Not by water only, but by water and blood.

And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. Now, notice verse 7, For there are three that bear record in heaven, or witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. Now, we're not going to explain all this today because we don't have time, but these three are bearing witness to his divinity.

And in verse number 8, And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one. Now, in 1 John chapter 5, what John is talking about here is there are three witnesses in heaven that bear witness to the deity of Christ, and there are three witnesses on the earth that bear witness to his humanity. And he mentions here the water, and the blood, and the Spirit.

Now, jump back with me to John chapter 19. I'm going to ask you to turn to a few places today, and you'll see what John refers to here in John chapter 19, and verse number 32. Just think about this.

You're back in Jesus' day, and you're wondering, Is Jesus deity, and is Jesus humanity? You know, the Jehovah's Witnesses think Jesus was an angel. Many people think that Jesus was just a spirit. Some people just think that Jesus was deity only.

He was not humanity. And so how do we understand this? Well, there are three that bear record, John says, in heaven of his deity, but there are also three that bear record of his humanity, and those are the water, the Spirit, and the blood. And if you look down here at John chapter 19 and verse number 32, there are some very important words here that John gives us.

Then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

Now notice verse 35. And he that saw it, that was John, bear record, or witness, and this record is true. And he knoweth that he saith true that you might believe.

Now someone would say, what's the importance of John saying these words and then being in the Scriptures that the soldier came and pierced his side, and John said, I saw it. It came out, blood and water. What does that mean? Well, John says, I saw his humanity.

There was no question about it. Blood and water came pouring out of his side when he died, just like any human being. If you'd stick a spear in the side of a human being, blood and water came forth out of him.

And there's also another witness who was mentioned, the spirit. If you look back up to verse number 30 here, when Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished, and he bowed his head and he gave up the ghost. Humanity gives up the ghost.

Humanity, when they die, give up the spirit. And so there are testimonies here. He gave up the ghost, the spirit.

I was standing beside an older lady. Some of you remember her, Grandma Josie, when she gave up the ghost and the spirit of life left her body. That shows she's a human.

It doesn't happen to deities. It doesn't happen to angels. It doesn't happen to spirits.

And then that Roman soldier pierced the Lord's side, and out of that side flowed blood and water. And so these three are a testimony, John says, to his humanity. He was a human being as well as he was a deity or he was God in a human body.

So with that in mind, just in a little review, I'd like to go back and look at some of the verses now here. In John chapter number 5, I'm going to read down through here. Maybe we could stand to our feet to give you a time to stretch.

And we're going to talk about some witnesses from John chapter 5, verse 31 to verse 38. And some of you young children can count how many times the word witness is used here. By the way, the word testify or testimony is also from the same Greek word that is translated witness.

So I'm going to read John 5, 31 to 38, and notice the word witness as we go down through here. If I bear a witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true.

You sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man, but these things I say that you might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light, and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

But I have greater witness than that of John, for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself which hath sent me hath borne witness of me. You have neither heard his voice in any time nor seen his shape, and you have not his word biding in you for whom he hath sent him you believe not.

Notice those words witness. We're going to talk about three witnesses here this morning that Jesus gives that bear witness to his deity. Remember, he is responding to those Jews who are flabbergasted that he is making himself equal with God.

He's going to give them three witnesses to prove that he is equal with God, that he is the Son of God. So let's just have a word of prayer, and we can be seated and we'll look at those witnesses. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the revelation of your word that we can know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

And so, Lord, may you open up our hearts here this morning to have revelation and understanding of our Lord and Master and Savior and our God. May you teach us and instruct us, and may we all be encouraged as we learn and know more about you today. Lord, open up our hearts and minds.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right, you can be seated. Some of you remember Brother Stevens also.

He was one who lifted up a principle in the Bible. He sometimes used it a little bit differently. I wouldn't use it in the way he did, but he mentioned many times that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established.

In other words, the man could not be condemned on the basis of one witness. You needed to have two or three witnesses. Two or three witnesses are essential.

And so as the Lord gives us here the witnesses that prove of his deity, he actually gives us three witnesses. We have three witnesses of his deity here. But I want to share a little bit here before we get into those witnesses about the first verse that is mentioned here because this is important.

I think we can get some practical understanding out of verse number 31. He says, if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. Now, Jesus removes himself as one of the witnesses.

And he doesn't have to do that because he is perfect. If you look back to verse 30, he says, I can of mine own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which has sent me.

In other words, Jesus could bear witness, and later on in the book of John, he does bear witness of himself. But here he is speaking from humanity's perspective, and he is saying, I am not going to bear witness of myself. Humanity does not do a very good job in bearing witness of itself because humanity has a will, and we have a difficult time laying down that will.

And so self-witness is not a very good witness because we have many prejudices, and we have many biases. And so the Master starts off by saying, I could bear witness to who I am, but you know what, I'm not going to bear witness of myself. I'm going to let others.

Other witnesses bear witness of me. And so to bear witness of yourself, humanly speaking, is not a valid witness because of our personal bias. For example, let's say someone commits a murder and he stands before the judge, and the judge says, son, did you do this murder? The man says, no, I didn't.

And the judge says, well, there you go. Case is dismissed. The man said he didn't do it.

That's all we need. He's a witness. Well, you know that wouldn't work, would it? Because most criminals are unwilling to acknowledge their crimes.

And so self-witness, especially amongst all of us, is not a good witness at all. Judgment is only good and just when there is no will involved of myself, and that's very hard for us to get to that place. Isn't that the truth? To just be honest, completely honest, and having no will.

Someone said it this way. When we sing our own praises, we tend to sing them an octave or two too high. Would you agree with that? When we sing our own praises, we tend to sing them an octave or two too high.

And when we sing our own failures, we tend to forget the lyrics altogether. Somebody said this morning, forgetting those things which are behind. And so you find people, generally speaking, humanity, because we are self-centered, singing their praises often, but confessions are hard to get.

And when they're made, they are very sketchy and very cloudy. And that's because of human nature. Human nature does not like to just speak truth.

And so Jesus says here, if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. I know someone very close to me, we used to say this to that individual, that whatever she says, you take it and divide it always by two. She exaggerated so much that what she said, you divide by two.

And so we tend to be that way as human beings. I learned this in marriage counseling. When you counsel some people, a couple in marriage, I sat down with that husband, and I said, well, just tell me what's going on in your marriage.

And that husband will say things, and in about 15 minutes, I'm ready to, I'm going to go and put that wife in her place, I'll tell you. That woman, she treats this man so awful. So I go to the wife, and I'm ready to give her a good tongue-lashing.

And I said, well, you go ahead and tell me what's going on. And then she starts telling me her side of the story. It's like, whoa, good thing I didn't say anything to her, because I'm about ready to go back and give that man a tongue-lashing.

And so we all have certain prejudices and certain biases in our judgment. And so when we are self-witnesses to our own actions, you know how we tend to do. We tend to kind of schmooze them around a little bit just to make ourselves look good.

So the Pharisee says, I fast twice in the week. I tithe all that I possess. Notice he lifts up his positives, but he doesn't mention any negatives in his life.

You know who he does mention the negatives of? Oh, the other people. This extortioner, this unjust person, this adulterer, and even this publican. You know, it's always the other people that are negative.

So we tend to fudge the positive and leave off the negative. Self-witness is generally very biased. It's very prejudiced.

And so Jesus says, I do not bear witness of myself because my witness would not be true. There's a good example of this in the Bible. Do you remember when Nathan came to David? David committed sin with Bathsheba and had Uriah murdered.

And because Nathan wanted David to give judgment on his sin, but he didn't say to Nathan, Nathan, I know you've sinned. God's revealing this sin, and I want you to bring judgment on this sin. And he gave David a story.

Remember that? He talked about a man who had his sheep stolen, I think, and the poor man. And David listens to this story about this man, and somebody stole his sheep and killed his sheep. And, you know, David's getting furious, and Nathan says, what should we do about this? And, of course, David says, he ought to be killed.

And then those four famous words that Nathan says to David, thou art the man. Oh, all of a sudden judgment ought to be different now because I'm the one who's under judgment. And so we tend to look at things differently based upon our bias and our prejudices.

That's why in our judgment system in America we have this woman, a symbol of justice, is this woman who's blind. And so judgment depends upon blindness. It depends upon you looking or not being able to see whether this person is a black man or a white man or a Mexican, whether or not this person is rich or poor, whether or not this person is male or female, whether or not this person is a friend of yours or an enemy.

And so she is blind so that her judgment is just. And that's why it's difficult for us as human beings to judge ourselves accurately because we have prejudices and biases. Our judgments are often clouded by bias.

We are brought up with certain experiences, and those experiences of life oftentimes bias us. For example, I'll just give some of my biases. I grew up in a white community, and I went to public school where there were all white students.

And I spent a lot of time at a golf course where there was all rich white people. And so I had a bias because of the environment that I grew up in. It was bias toward whites and against anything else that wasn't white.

It was bias toward Mexican. It was bias toward Puerto Rican. It was bias toward black people.

And if I would have seen a colored person walking in our community, I would have said in a sense in my heart, what is that person doing here? Just a bias. And that's not a good thing. And so we all have and we carry biases in our hearts.

But praise God, the Bible says that in Romans 1, our minds can be renewed and that we don't have to continue with those biases. And as the Lord saved me and began to conform or transform my thought process, Lord willing I am getting further and further away from those biases. And those biases don't have an effect.

And I think we all have some of those biases in our life because of how we grew up. Some of you, we experienced this with foster children. I don't know how you are with this.

But I have still in my heart some bias. Some bias about race and ethnicity that I find myself when they call and they say, would you like to take this foster child? In my heart there is, oh, I hope this, this, and this. And I have still some bias.

And may God deliver me from all of that bias that I can, as the Bible says, have no respect of person, no prejudice, no judgment. And so the Word of God is given to us to help renew our minds so as to remove all bias and prejudice. There's also some religious biases that we have, and we face that here.

You know, Paul, he considered all of his religious past as dumb. He put it in his past. He didn't even go to the apostles, Peter and them, for a period of three whole years because he didn't want to have any religious bias or he didn't want to have any prejudice in his life.

And the Bible says he went and he received revelation from the Lord. He said, I want a clean slate. I don't want any bias in my life.

And, you know, I don't know why God chose Paul. He had 12 apostles. Of course, one of them fell, but Paul was chosen seemingly to go to the Gentiles because it seemed like that the Jews had some religious bias.

You remember Peter seemed to have some bias against the Gentiles. Remember when Galatians chapter 2, when Peter was sitting with the Gentiles and then the Jews came, Peter removed himself from the Gentiles and came and began to associate with the Jews because of his bias in his heart. And, of course, Paul rebuked him.

He said, you're not walking according to the faith of the gospel. You have a religious bias in your heart. And I know some of us, we face that.

We have some biases in our heart. I'll share a bias that I thought about in my own life that affects the way I evaluate people. I grew up in a sports idolatrous situation, not a religious situation.

I grew up, we had sports in our family, and I was an idolater in many ways. I mean, I loved sports, and our family loved sports. My father and my mother, all of my siblings played sports.

The one sport that was really the center of our whole life was the sport of golf. Played it all the time, except in the winter, obviously. But even in the winter, I was out.

If I could get the snow melted, I'd be out on the golf course playing golf. Basketball was a huge idol in my life. I loved to play basketball.

I loved to watch basketball. We had inside our house ping pong tables and pool tables. I played ping pong and pool.

I played golf and basketball, and I thought about this. I may not have missed a single day of my life as a youth not doing one of those four things. It was just constant.

Had my friends over, we'd play basketball, play golf, play pool. We had a pool table, a ping pong table in our house. And so when I got converted and I had children, guess what I didn't want my children to do? I was bound and determined because of my experiences to not let my children have golf clubs.

And my children are here. When my parents came, their grandparents came and wanted to get them something for their birthday or for their Christmas, and they'd say, do you want us to get them some golf clubs? I'd say, please, do not get them golf clubs. Do not get them a basketball or a basketball hoop because growing up, we had basketball hoops everywhere.

Basement, back porch, garage, in the front of the house. We just loved to play basketball. Ping pong and pool table in my basement.

We would play it hours and hours. And so when my children grew up, I had a bias against certain sports activities. Children, we're not going to have golf clubs.

We're not going to have basketball hoops. We're not going to have pool tables. We're not going to have ping pong tables in our house.

And then someone comes along and says, how about a volleyball? I say, that's great. Bring it on. I even put up a volleyball net for our children out in the front yard.

Baseball, fine. My children and I, they can tell you we threw baseball and played baseball at our house. Many, many sports.

I wanted my children to get involved in fishing and hunting. Some of you grew up, that was your item. And so my children grew up away from golf, basketball, ping pong, and pool, to volleyball, baseball, fishing, and hunting.

You know why that was? Because I have a bias. And my bias is against certain sporting activities. And so when you think of basketball, I don't want it in my house.

But volleyball is okay. There's two balls. One's orange and one's white.

And you back and forth. What's the difference? Biblically, how can you disseminate between basketball being wrong and volleyball being okay? You can't. But in my heart, I have a bias.

And I have a prejudice. And so we all have those kind of things. And we all deal with them.

And so Jesus here in verse 31, he says, If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. Self-witness is not a good witness. Now I want to look at some of the witnesses that he gives us here.

Starting in verse number 2, there are three witnesses to his deity. And the first one is John the Baptist. Let's read starting in verse number 32.

There is another that bears witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true. You sent unto John, and he bear witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from man, but these things I say unto you that you might be saved.

He was a burning and a shining light, and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. Now John the Baptist is the first witness here that Jesus gives to his deity. John was an honorable prophet to the Jews.

The multitudes, if you remember, came out to hear him and were baptized of him. Verse 35 says they were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. And if you go back to verse number 34, it says, But I receive not testimony from man, but these things I say unto you, I say that you might be saved.

In other words, what he's saying to them is this. I have three witnesses of who I am. You're probably not going to like the next two, but I think you'd be open to hear John the Baptist.

And I'm going to give you John the Baptist as my first witness. And you were willing to rejoice in his light. You went to his baptism, multitudes of you.

You thought he was an honorable prophet, so let's hear what John the Baptist said, And if you're willing to receive his witness, you can be saved, because he witnessed of me who I was, or who I am. So he brings up John the Baptist here first. And so I'd like to go back and review.

We talked about this in John chapter 1, but let's go back to John 1, and let's look here at John the Baptist's witness of who Jesus is. He does a good job of it. You know, it's amazing.

I thought about this. This was a year ago we went over this. It's been a year.

We went from chapter 1 to chapter 5. But here is John's witness, starting in John chapter 1, verse 15. John, bear witness. Here is his witness.

Of him, speaking of Jesus, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. Now, here's the first witness that John gives, that Jesus was before him, before John the Baptist.

Now, how many of you know who was born first, John the Baptist or Jesus? John the Baptist was. Remember, Mary goes to Elizabeth, and John the Baptist is in Elizabeth's womb. And so here John the Baptist starts off by saying that Jesus, and the Jews knew that Jesus was born later than John the Baptist.

Here it is, Jesus is before me. Remember what Jesus said, went to the Jews before Abraham was? I am. In other words, John is saying that Jesus is preexistent.

He is not merely a man that was born six months after me. He was before me. Verse 18, here's another thing he says about Jesus.

No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Jesus Christ is God declared or revealed in human flesh.

Jesus Christ is revealing or declaring God. No man has seen God at any time. But Jesus Christ is revealing him to you.

Hold your finger there and jump to John chapter 14. In John chapter 14, verse 5, I will read a couple of verses here. This is the story of Thomas, John 14, verse 5. Remember, Thomas was a doubter, didn't believe that Jesus was resurrected.

Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. If you had known me, you should have known my Father also.

And from henceforth you know him and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffices us. And Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you? And yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.

And how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? He that hath seen me, Philip, hath seen the Father. If you've seen Jesus Christ, you've seen the Father. And so John the Baptist says that Jesus is declaring the Father to you, the nation of Israel.

Jump down to verse 23 in John chapter 1 again. Go back to John 1 verse 23. This is John's testimony of who Jesus is.

In verse 23, and we're just skipping down through here, He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. I like this one. If you're ever talking to a Jehovah's Witness and you want to prove the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is a good one to do it.

Speaking here, John the Baptist is speaking of himself. He says, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as saith the prophet Isaiah. So if you go back to the book of Isaiah, you don't have to turn there.

I'll do that for you. This prophecy in Isaiah chapter 40, here's what it says. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

And that word God is Elohim. That's the word that's used more often in the Old Testament, translated God, Elohim. So make a highway for our God.

And so John the Baptist is here saying, prepare the way of the Lord. Make a highway for our God. God is coming to humanity.

Again, another testimony of John the Baptist of who Jesus is to the nation of Israel. Jump down to verse 27. He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latch it I am not worthy to unloose.

Now John was an honored prophet. The Jews honored him. But John the Baptist said, I am not worthy to get down and even loosen the latching of his shoes.

I'm certainly not worthy to wash his feet. I'm not even worthy to unloose. And so he is way above me.

And then look down here to one more in verse 30. Verse 30. This is he whom I said after me, cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me.

And I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore I am come baptizing with water. And John bare record or witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, and upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same as he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare record or witness that this is the Son of God. So God told John, when you see the Spirit of God descending upon a certain individual, you'll know that this is my Son.

And so John bares record that at the baptism I saw heaven open and the Spirit of God descending upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And so John gives here from verse 15 all the way down to verse 34 about five witnesses of the deity of Jesus Christ. That he is God revealed in a human body.

That he was before me. That I'm not worthy to unloose a latchet of his shoes. That I saw the Spirit of God descending upon him.

That he is that Old Testament revelation of he who would come, who would make the valleys. What was that prophecy? Isaiah's prophecy. He'll come, make a highway for our God.

And so John is bearing witness to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's the first witness that Jesus brings up here in John chapter 5. It's John the Baptist who bore witness. Now let's look at the second witness as we have time here.

It's in John chapter 5 verse 36. Jesus goes on. He gives a second witness.

One is not enough. Verse 36. But I have greater witness than that of John.

For the works which the Father hath given me to finish. The same works that I do. They bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me.

And so Jesus says, listen, I'm not going to witness it myself. But I got some witnesses that will show you I'm deity, I'm equal with God. One is John the Baptist.

Go back and listen to what he said. You thought he was a bright and shining light. You honored him.

Just listen to what he said. Well, if you won't believe that, hey, why don't you try this witness? The works that I do. The works that I do, they bear witness of me.

And I believe that each of the miracles that Jesus did was to bear witness of his deity. If you go through all these miracles, all these amazing things that Jesus did, each of them bear witness to his deity. The first one, one of the most amazing ones to me, that bear witness to his deity was when he turned water to wine.

At Cana, the first miracle, that bore witness to his deity. How can a human being turn water to wine and make that wine appear to be aged? Make that wine appear to have sat in a cellar for 50 to 100 years to age? How can someone transcend time? How can someone make time come to a moment and make something 50 or 100 years old in a second? Well, the only way someone can do that is if they themselves transcend time. And so the very first miracle that Jesus did proved that he was deity.

He raised Lazarus from the dead, proving he has the power over death, and he only has the power to give life. The Bible says that God only has immortality. So Jesus gave life to Lazarus.

He cast out devils. He had power over angels. When he cast the devil out of the Manic Acagodera, he calmed the sea.

He had power over nature. Even the disciples said, man, even the winds and the waves obey this God. And so all these miracles were just a proof of his divinity.

He fed 5,000, showing that he is the great sustainer of humanity. He feeds humanity miraculously. I'll just turn here and read John 10.

You don't have to turn there. I'll ask you to turn to some other passages here in a little bit. But John 10, in verse number 22, says this.

And it was at Jerusalem, the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

I thought he was already doing that. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.

Jump over to verse 37. If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I am in him.

So the Lord is doing these works, amazing works, to bear witness of his deity. And so we have John the Baptist, and we have the works that Jesus is doing. One of the greatest works of all time was the work of his resurrection.

Remember the Jews said, show us a sign. Show us something that we can believe you. He says, okay, I'll give you a sign.

Just like Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so the Son of Man is going to be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And you destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. If any, any work that Jesus did proved his deity, it was the resurrection.

His resurrection proved his deity. We're not going to read the story, but in John, you remember the story of the man that was blind from his youth, and there was a big fuss about how did you get healed. This blind man says, I don't even know who the guy is, what he is, what his name is, but all I know is this, I was blind and now I see.

And they finally cornered this guy and his parents, and he makes some amazing statements. And in John chapter 9, he says this. In John chapter 9, verse 29, this is a conclusion of a lengthy statement.

He says this. We know that God spake unto Moses, or this is a Jew speaking, as for this fellow we know not from whence he is. Verse 30, the man answered and said unto them, Why, herein is a marvelous thing that you know not from whence he is, speaking of Jesus, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.

Now we know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a worshiper of God and doeth his will him, you hear it. And I like verse 32. Since the world began, was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind? If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.

So this man says, wait a minute, I go back in my memory and I can't think of anyone since the world began that could do this kind of stuff. You guys, you know he's talking to the Jews, you guys are the religious people that know this stuff. Don't you see? Don't you understand? I mean, nobody's been able to do this kind of stuff.

And so the works that Jesus did, the miracles bore witness to his deity. Okay, one more time here. Look at John chapter 20.

We're staying in the book of John. I'm not asking you to move very far. John chapter 20, verse 30.

This is after Thomas reaches in his side and thrusts his hand in his side and says, my Lord and my God. I like verse 30 and 31 of John chapter 20. And many other signs or miracles truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples.

Do you realize that? Do you realize that there are many things that Jesus did that was miraculous in the presence of the 12 that we don't get in this Bible? We get some of his miracles. But many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, and here's why, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of what? God.

I wrote these miracles and told this, bear this witness to you that you might believe that Jesus is the son of God. You might believe that he is deity and that believing you might have life through his name. You know, it's very important for you to believe that Jesus is the son of God.

He is deity. So all these works were for that purpose, to bear witness of his deity. So we have John the Baptist, or excuse me, Jesus said, I'm not going to bear witness to myself, but I have three that will bear witness to me.

John the Baptist, why don't you listen to him? Look at all the works I'm doing. And then finally here there's one more witness that he mentions, and let's look at John chapter 5 again. John 5 and verse 37.

John 5 verse 37, And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape, and you have not his word abiding in you, for whom he hath sent him you believe not. Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me, and you will not come to me that you might have life.

And so here it says in verse 37, The Father has borne witness of me. Now the Father has borne witness of the Lord Jesus through the word of God it says, through the Old Testament passages, but they, the Jews, failed to see who Jesus was, who was coming, who the Messiah was. And listen, one of the reasons they failed to see was because they didn't love the word of God.

They had a bunch of head knowledge. They could have told you like they did where the Lord was going to be born, but they had no love for the word of God. They loved this present world just like it is today.

They were more concerned about their jobs this week. They were more concerned about the cars and vehicles and chariots they were driving. They were more concerned about the money in their pockets and their businesses.

And yes, they were taught all these things, and they had a head knowledge like many people in the church today have a head knowledge of a lot of these spiritual things, but they didn't love the word of God. And the Messiah came right in front of them, and they didn't see, and they were blinded. And I think it's going to happen the same way when the Messiah returns the next time.

A lot of people have a lot of head knowledge. And he's going to come, and they're not going to see it. They're going to miss it.

Unless we love the word of God. And so the word of God bore witness. Jesus said the words that God has spoken in the Old Covenant, they testify of me, they witness of me.

The Old Testament Scripture gave many witnesses. I'm not going to go back and go through many of them. I'm just going to give you my favorite one.

If you ever want to talk to someone and you have a Jehovah's Witness at your door, Isaiah chapter 9 is a very good verse for them. Here is one of my favorites. Isaiah 9 verse 6, A child is born unto us, a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father.

Here, Brother John, that's a good one for us. Some Muslim comes and says, how can a father be a son? That's impossible. Right there, a child is born, he shall be called the Everlasting Father.

He's a son and he's a father. And so God has, and we can go to many, many places in the Old Testament, but God has through his Word born witness to who Jesus is. And if you would have loved the Word of God and given your heart to the Word of God, you would have seen it.

That's why those wise men saw it. Even when this child was just a babe, two years old, they came and they bowed and worshipped him. Because they knew that this child was not just a two-year-old human, that this child was deity.

So they found that because they loved the Word of God. Well, there's also just another testimony that God gave at the baptism, Matthew 3, 17, when Jesus was baptized. It says, and lo, a voice from heaven.

Oh, that's a good testimony, isn't it? This is my beloved Son. Oh, thunder. So that's a pretty clear testimony of who Jesus is, for those who were there.

So there are three witnesses that the Lord is trying to give the Jews here who question whether you making yourself equal with God, something's not right here. Well, let me just share with you. I'm not going to testify.

Don't listen to my words. But why don't you listen to John the Baptist? He'll give you a witness. Why don't you listen? Oh, watch my works.

They'll witness. Why don't you hearken unto the voice of my Father? He's borne witness of me throughout the Old Testament. Well, let's make some practical lessons here in closing.

If Jesus needed two or three witnesses to prove he's the Son of God, you need two or three witnesses to prove that you're a Son of God too. Someone mentioned that this morning here in our testimony time. But for you to stand up and be a self-witness and say, I'm a Christian, in a court of law, that's not going to carry much weight.

But do you have witnesses? You know, you ought to have witnesses from your brothers and sisters around you that you're a child of God. John the Baptist, a human. Ah, I'll bear witness to him.

He is the Son of God. You know, people ought to bear witness. I see the love of God in this person's heart, in this person's life.

I see a life. They shall see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. It ought to be plain and evident to people around us that you are a child of God.

I mean, if you look like the world and people can't tell that there's a you in the world, there's something not good. There's no good witness there. But there ought to be a second witness, too, and that's your works.

Amen? Faith without works is dead. And so do you have the works to bear witness of a changed life? Someone mentioned that this morning, a new creation. I have no doubt in my mind that this is a Bible principle.

In the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established. When you stand before God on the day of judgment and the only witness you have is, Lord, I'm a Christian, it's not going to be enough. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, didn't I know you? I was a Christian.

Apart from me. It's not going to be enough just to say and make a profession that you're a Christian. You need two or three witnesses.

Do your works bear witness to a changed life? And I remember teaching through 1 John, and I believe that if you have works that bear witness, 1 John says that someone else will bear witness to you, that the Holy Spirit will bear witness to you that you are a child of God. And so there are many witnesses to affirm the reality of your Christianity. One ought to be those who know you and are around you.

The other ought to be the works of your life. And the third ought to be the Holy Spirit of God that bears witness that you are a child of God. And so if you can claim conversion and go on in life and not have any other witness other than the fact that I'm a Christian, I pray to prayer, and yet there's no other witnesses.

I'm just letting you know ahead of time, one witness is not enough. It's not enough. You need two or three witnesses.

And so may God give us those witnesses. And so Jesus is the Son of God. He's also the Son of Man.

And John will talk about His humanity, but He also spends a lot of time on His deity. And it's important that we know that, that we might know Him, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. So let's close this morning with a word of prayer.

And may the Lord bless you as you receive Him.