Post-Camp Bible Study

Transcription

1 Post-Camp Bible Study 1

2 What s Inside? Session one Gre>ter than all - Page 3 Goal: Students to understand there is no one greater than Jesus Christ. session two Gre>ter in his kingdom - Page 7 Goal: Students to understand that true greatness is found by being a part of God s kingdom/family. session three Gre>ter servant or leader - Page 10 Goal: Students to understand that true greatness is found in being a servant of Christ and others; to lead by serving. session four Gre>ter testimonies - Page 13 Goal: Students to understand that the testimony of God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit and His Word is greater than all other testimonies. 2

3 Gre>ter than all [Goal: Students understand there is no one GREATER than Jesus Christ.] #1 Jesus is the Messiah; John the Baptist is not. GREATER a word that means prominent, eminent, important, distinguished, illustrious, celebrated, honored, acclaimed, admired, esteemed, revered, renowned, notable, famous, famed, well-known; leading, top, major, principal, first-rate, matchless, peerless, star. All of us, if we re honest, would love to be described by any one of these words. Our ego, pride and flesh hungers for this kind of notoriety from our friends, teachers, neighbors, coaches - basically from anyone we know. When we think of GREATNESS in the Bible, John the Baptist is one of those names that is at the top of the list. He is the same guy that had the honor of baptizing Jesus Christ. There is no one else in history that can say they baptized Jesus. Let s see what John the Baptist says about himself in comparison with Jesus Christ! Read John 3: John the Baptist makes it very clear in John 3:28: You yourselves can testify that I said, I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of Him. John the Baptist was the forerunner (a person or thing that precedes the coming of someone or something else). So, John the Baptist is simply the announcer, the messenger, to let people know our Lord Jesus Christ was coming. John prepared the way for the Messiah to arrive through preaching repentance. Matthew 3:1-3 says, Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight! Read John 3:29. John uses the analogy of the bridegroom and the bridegroom s friend, the best man, to show that Christ is the bridegroom and John the Baptist is the friend. In John 3:29, John says, The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. John says, I ve been waiting for the voice of the Messiah, the bridegroom, and I have heard His voice and my joy is now complete. The Messiah was finally here! The children of Israel had been waiting for God to show up, for He had been silent for 400 years, and NOW He s finally arrived. The nation of Israel had not heard anything from God for 400 years and then, BOOM, Christ comes as a baby and now He s around 30-years-old and John the Baptist is proclaiming, The long awaited Messiah is HERE!!! Can you imagine God being completely silent just for a day, a week, a month or even a year? I sure can t. 3

4 Ask students: Matthew 3:4 says of John the Baptist, Now John himself had a garment of camel s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. What do you think it was like, not to hear from God for 400 years and then, all of a sudden, a guy shows up looking like some homeless person? The people of Jerusalem were hungry for God. They had been waiting and watching for some kind of sign, anything that would let them know that God had spoken. So, when John the Baptist begins to proclaim the coming of the Messiah, they respond with the right response. Matthew 3:5-6 says, Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. Ask students: What does it mean to confess our sins? (It means to admit or state that one has committed a crime or is at fault in some way.) The people knew they had sin in their lives and they were confessing that sin because they did not want to meet the Messiah with any unconfessed sin in their hearts. But some were hearing a message of judgment from John the Baptist because they had been acting as if God was still showing up at the temple like He had centuries before. Matthew 3:7-10 says, But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father ; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Transition: If we re not careful, we settle for a religion, a set of religious rules and regulations, instead of pursuing intimate fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Religion is all about man trying to earn God s favor through his own works. That s exactly what the Pharisees and Sadducees had been doing for years. Christianity is all about a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing He alone forgives sin and gives us His favor, grace and mercy because of His love for us. #2 John s baptism outward; Jesus baptism inward. Read Matthew 3: As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. John makes it quite clear that he is simply baptizing them with water for repentance. It was the peoples way of expressing their desire to be cleansed within. Jesus had not sent the Holy Spirit because He was there in the flesh. People were being baptized because they desired to be cleansed of their sin. John s baptism did not cleanse them, but the people were outwardly responding to what they hoped would happen inwardly through the coming Messiah. Jesus was coming and as John proclaimed, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. John let the people know, Jesus would baptize them with His Holy Spirit. Not only that, but also that Jesus was coming to clean out the trash. Wheat and chaff were used different times in Scripture to denote the difference between those who were saved through a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ and those who were lost and dead in their trespasses and sins. The wheat is used to feed others and to bear more fruit, but 4

5 the chaff is empty, it s the husk, the pod, the shell and is not useful for anything because it is empty. So, it is burned in the fire. Believers have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, so they have the seed of righteousness in them through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Lost people are empty, they are like a husk, a pod or an empty shell, because they are dead in their sin. Without Christ they will be separated from God forever and will burn in the fire. John wanted his listeners to know that one day our Messiah:...will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Transition: The questions we must ask ourselves are these: Am I filled with the Holy Spirit? Have I surrendered to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior or am I living for myself, trying to earn God s favor through my own efforts while I remain dead on the inside because of my trespasses and sins? Am I living a lie, making people think I m a Christian, but I know that I m just playing the game? #3 Jesus must be Greater, because He s Greater than all! Read John 3:30. He must become greater; I must become less. Wow! Those are some powerful words! John is letting everyone know that Christ is who they need, not him. John had followers, but he wanted to be sure he was pointing them to Christ. He wanted them to know that Christ is the Messiah they had been waiting for and that their wait was over. Each of us must make a choice to either live in our sin our selfish ways and hope for the best or we surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, Creator, Redeemer, Lord, Master and Friend and be filled with His life through His Holy Spirit. God s Word is clear, we must willingly humble ourselves before Him and He will give us His grace. Pride will only keep us separated from our God and King. James 4:6: But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. James 4:10: Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. 1 Peter 3:8: To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit 1 Peter 5:5:...all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 1 Peter 5:6: Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time. We, as believers, are here as living, breathing, walking, serving testimonies of who Christ is. We MUST chose to die, moment by moment, to what our flesh hungers for and truly live our lives in a manner worthy of Him, to proclaim and honor Him in ALL we do, say and even think. We know that He, through His Holy Spirit, lives in each of us. We know we have ALL we need to live for Christ. We know ALL of His fruit dwells in us and it is His fruit that we are to bear in and through our lives. The question we need to answer, each day, is this: When someone comes across my path do they walk 5

6 away knowing Christ or simply knowing me? For Him to become GREATER and us to become less means we chose to die to our flesh and live by His Spirit through our actions, attitude, words and even our thoughts. Let s make sure we re praying with, and for, each other so our Lord Jesus Christ is GREATER in and through ALL of us. For He truly is GREATER than all! Close in prayer. Ask students to deeply consider where they are in their relationship with Christ. Do they humble themselves before Him and others OR are they still dead in their sin because they have not surrendered to Christ as their Lord and Savior? Do they know, believe and live according to the fact the Jesus is GREATER than all? 6

7 Gre>ter in His Kingdom [Goal: Students to understand that true greatness is found by being a part of God s kingdom/family.] Specifically discuss: Our Lord Jesus Christ is GREATER than all others, therefore, we must continue to die to self (decrease) and He must continually increase as we grow in intimacy with Him and His Word. #1 Greater than all other men. Read Matthew 11:11. Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. AND Luke 7:28. I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. What does it mean to be GREATER than someone else? (Ask for a response.) The dictionary defines GREATER as prominent, eminent, important, distinguished, illustrious, celebrated, honored, acclaimed, admired, esteemed, revered, renowned, notable, famous, famed, well-known; leading, top, major, principal, first-rate, matchless, peerless, star. Yesterday, we learned that Jesus is Greater than all and that He must increase in our lives and we must decrease (die to our sinful passions and desires). But now Jesus is saying that John the Baptist is greater than anyone who has been born among women. So, what does this mean? Well, let s first read Matthew 11:9-10: But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You. Also, let s read Luke 7:26-27: But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You. Jesus is asking the people who had been followers of John, and who had been baptized for repentance by John, the question: Did you go the see a prophet? And then Jesus tells them, YES that s exactly what you saw. He s not only a prophet, but he s much more. John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets and he was given the honor to be the messenger of the King, announcing the coming of the Messiah and the kingdom of God. Jesus tells the people that they saw, one who is more than a prophet. Jesus knew that John would soon die for simply being His messenger, the one who was preparing everyone for Jesus coming and His kingdom being at hand. Jesus wanted His hearers to know that even though John the Baptist was in prison, he was there because the religious leaders of the day totally missed John s message about the Messiah due to their pride and arrogance. John was NOT in prison due to him breaking the law in some way. Transition: Now the question we have to ask is: If no one who has been born is greater than John, then how can those who are least in the kingdom of God be greater than John? #2 Greater in heaven than on earth. Read Matthew 11:11 and Luke 7:28 AGAIN. 7

8 While John is GREATER than anyone else born among women, he is still no GREATER than the least in the kingdom of God. The point that Jesus is making here is quite clear. It s NOT about how great John the Baptist was on earth. In comparison to those in the kingdom of God, John the Baptist is not GREATER than the least of those in God s Kingdom. Even though John the Baptist was the last of the prophets setting the stage for Christ Himself, those in God s kingdom are God s children, totally and completely sanctified, justified and purified by God s grace! John the Baptist is also one of God s children, so he too belongs to our King. Yet, in God s kingdom in heaven our adoption has been made complete and we receive all of the inheritance God has in store for us through Christ. In this world there will be those who are considered GREATER than others, but to be truly GREATER is to be a child of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Our Heavenly Daddy is the Creator of all creation, the King and Master of all. This means we, as His children, are part of God s royal family. In God s eyes that makes us royalty and this position in Christ will NEVER change and will NEVER end. Philippians 3:20-21 says, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Everyone in God s kingdom, right now, has BEEN transformed from their humble state and they ve been conformed with the body of Christ s glory through Christ s power. Therefore, we need to make sure we measure who is truly GREATER by God s standard and not by what the world sees as greater. Transition: That brings us to our last point of the day. If everyone in heaven is GREATER than anyone here on earth, then how can we be sure that we are part of that GREATER family of God in God s kingdom? God s Word is clear. Salvation only comes through Jesus Christ. He alone is our Savior! #3 Greater rest through Christ alone. Read Matthew 11: Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Do you see what Jesus is saying here? He says that being GREATER is not about us carrying heavy burdens. It s not about how hard we work to make ourselves GREATER. It s not about our work load or what we do to build ourselves up. Instead, it s about taking on His yoke, learning from Him and following His leadership in our lives. Being under Christ s leadership means being a part of His family, His plans, His purpose and His pleasure. The New Living Translation reads like this: Then Jesus said, Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light. Being a part of God s kingdom is GREATER indeed. Many people in our world today are following people they consider GREATER than anyone else they have ever known or heard of. There are many people, by the world s standards, who are GREATER in their areas of expertise. Some of those people from past generations are as follows: 8

9 Humanitarians - Albert Schweitzer, Raoul Wallenberg, Martin Luther King, Jr., Desmond Tutu, The Dalai Lama. Thinkers and Philosophers - Confucius, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Kings, Emperors and Politicians - Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Kublai Khan, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev. Religious Leaders - Muhammad, Buddha, Moses, Martin Luther. Musicians and Composers - Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Arturo Toscanini, George Gershwin, Louis Armstrong, The Beatles. Writers - Homer, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain. Painters, Sculptors and Architects - Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Vincent van Gogh, Frank Lloyd Wright, Pablo Picasso. Actors and Photographers - Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, Steven Spielberg. Scientists - Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Louis Pasteur, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein. Inventors - Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Alva Edison, Orville and Wilbur Wright. Explorers and Pioneers - Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Neil Armstrong. Close in Prayer. My prayer today is that if you ve believed the lie that being GREATER is all about your accomplishments or work, and that it s your burden to bear, you will stop believing the lie and simply realize that being GREATER only comes through surrendering to Christ to be a part of His family, His Kingdom and His rest and that you will walk with Him! Let s Pray. 9

10 Gre>ter leader or servant? [Goal: Students to understand that true greatness is found in being a servant of Christ and others; to lead by serving.] Specifically discuss: Being a part of God s family and being one of His children is GREATER than anything this world could ever offer us in position, praise or power. The people of this world who measure being GREATER than others are missing the bigger picture of all God has for them. #1 Who is truly Greater in this world? Read Luke 22: And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called Benefactors. But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves. Ask students: Have you ever had an argument or a discussion with your friends about who is GREATER than the other? Have you ever fought about who is better at sports, music, video games or something else? (Ask for a response.) That s exactly what s going on with the disciples. They have just eaten the Lord s Supper with our Lord Jesus Christ and they get into an argument about who is GREATER than who. These young men were about years-old at this point in their lives. They ve spent three years following Jesus, learning from Him, watching His example of how to live, seeing numerous miracles, performing miracles themselves through God s power and they are now arguing about who is GREATER among them. Jesus knows exactly what s going on here. Let s look again at what He has to say to them. Read Luke 22:25: And He said to them, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called Benefactors. Jesus, first of all, reminds them of how the world lives. Jesus says, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called Benefactors. In the New Living Translation it says, In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called friends of the people. Jesus is reminding them that those in this world who are GREATER intimidate people, bully people and threaten people into submission in order to follow them. Jesus says, the people call their kings and lords, benefactors, (a person who gives some form of help to benefit a person, group or organization) and friends of the people, but the disciples all knew that the kings of their day were anything BUT benefactors or friends of the people. Jesus wanted them to understand that the world s way of being GREATER is not what He had modeled for them for the past three years, nor was it what He wanted to see from them now or in the future. Jesus, within the following few hours was going to be arrested, beaten and then crucified. He is leaving His disciples some of the last words He will ever share with them while living in a human body. 10

11 Transition: So, the question we have to ask is: If being GREATER is not about beating people down, intimidating them into submission or bullying people, then how can we be GREATER in this world? #2 Greater means serving, not bullying. Read Luke 22:26-27, AGAIN. Jesus makes it very clear to His disciples that being GREATER is not about rank, position, money, power, bullying, intimidation, threatening, etc. It s all about serving. No doubt, in this world in which we live being GREATER than everyone else is all about how much money we make, what position we hold and how much we own. It is about leading through intimidation and force, normally accompanied with a stern, critical approach to all that s done. It was the same when Jesus walked on this earth. As children of our Lord Jesus Christ, He wants us to be different then the world. He told those twelve young men then, and He makes it clear to us now, that if we are going to be GREATER than those in this world, then we must serve one another. We must lead by being that living example of what Jesus modeled for us. Jesus was, is and always will be the greatest of all, GREATER than all kings (monarchs or rulers), GREATER than all lords, GREATER than any human ever born or ever to be born. Yet, He came and served and gave Himself sacrificially for us. He modeled for His disciples what being GREATER is all about. Being GREATER is all about serving. Jesus never asked His followers to do what He was not already doing. 1. I do it. (Matthew 9:35) Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 2. I do it and they are with me. (Luke 8:1) Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, 3. They do it and I am with them. (Luke 9:1-2) And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. 4. They do it and I am in the background to encourage. (The Book of Acts) Transition: The final questions we need to answer today are these: If being GREATER is all about serving, than where do we start? What does that look like for us? How do I serve when everything in me fights so hard against serving others? #3 Greater service comes through surrender. Read John 13: So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. In this passage, our Lord Jesus Christ has just finished washing the disciples feet. Remember this is still the night of the Last Supper and our Lord Jesus Christ wants them to know what He s called them to do. This also lets us know what He s called us to do. 11

12 To catch the full meaning of what our Lord did, we have to understand the position of a foot washer in Jesus day. Out of all the slaves, the foot washer was the lowliest of jobs. There was no slave more lowly than the foot washer. It was a job that no one wanted, but most servants had to start in that position in order to gain more responsibility within the servants role. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords, humbled Himself before His disciples and washed their feet to show them that being GREATER in God s Kingdom comes through serving each other. Our Lord asks them in John 13:12: Do you know what I have done to you? At this point, they really did not know because they had been arguing just moments before about who was GREATER. Jesus then says to them in John 13:13-16: You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. Jesus was pointing out that if He, who is GREATER than them, was willing to wash their feet, then they also ought to wash one another s feet. Today, we have to be willing to serve each other and do the lowliest of jobs, tasks and work in order to be an example to those around us. He gave us this example so we would follow it. Jesus says in John 13:17: If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. We are the slaves and He is our Master. We will never be GREATER than Him. He is the one who has called us to Himself. He called us into His Kingdom so we could be sent by Him to do what He did. It s not about us being GREATER, but it s about being totally obedient to the One who is GREATER and will always be GREATER. Here at Crossings, we know that God, through His Holy Spirit dwelling in us, has gifted every believer with gifts to serve Him and glorify Him by serving those around us. He has called us to His work and His ministry in order to have an impact on others with the Good News of Jesus Christ. We call it The Beyond Effect. The Beyond Effect: Combining your passion with your burden to share the Gospel with the least of these in your community and around the world. One of the best ways we can live a life of service is to take part in The Beyond Effect. The Beyond Effect is not just a one-time event or offering. The Beyond Effect is a lifestyle. It s living a life of service to glorify God. We MUST be willing to serve one another in order to walk in obedience to our Lord. Close in prayer. My prayer today is that you will clearly see how God has gifted you and that you will begin to use those gifts to wash the feet of everyone around you. That you will stop pursuing being GREATER in the eyes of the world and follow through on what God, and God alone, defines as being GREATER. Let s Pray. 12

13 Gre>ter testimonies [Goal: Students to understand that the testimony of God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit and His Word is GREATER than all other testimonies.] Specifically discuss: Being GREATER in this world is not what we are to pursue. We are called to serve, and not be served, so that others will see Christ in us. Being GREATER is all about surrendering to our Lord through serving Him and serving those with whom He allows us to cross paths. #1 The Greater testimony of God the Father. Read John 5:31-34, If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. Ask students: Have you ever tried to prove a point to someone and they simply would not believe you? So, you said, let s go ask (insert name) and they ll tell you the same thing. In religion, a testimony is (proof, evidence, witness, confirmation, verification, demonstration, illustration, indication) of the truth of a matter. Our Lord Jesus Christ is laying the foundation of who He is. He is declaring to the religious leaders of His day that if He alone testified about Himself than His testimony would NOT be true, BUT there is one who also testifies of Christ and that is God the Father. Jesus says in John 5:37-38: And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. Jesus proclaims to the Jewish leaders that God the Father has testified about Him. They have never heard God the Father AND that they did not have His Word in them because they NEVER believed God in the first place. WOW! That s not only a rebuke, but a definitive clarification that Jesus Christ is God and that He has been confirmed by the testimony of God the Father. The Jewish leaders of that day were trying to figure out how to kill Jesus. In John 5:18, it clearly says, For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. The testimony of God the Father should have been more than enough to confirm that Jesus is God. But the Jewish people were struggling with the fact that God had come in the form of a human being. They just could not get their minds wrapped around the fact that God Himself was speaking to them. Imagine if Jesus Christ came in the flesh today. With all of the technology available, with all of the news sources and social networking, do you think people would be quicker to believe in who He is OR would they be just as skeptical as the Jewish people of Jesus day? As we learned earlier this week, John the Baptist was the last of the O.T. prophets. He had the privilege of announcing that the Messiah had finally arrived. Many of the Jews believed his message, but did it last? 13

14 Transition: Each testimony shared was just another confirmation of who Jesus Christ was, is and always will be. We may think that with all of our technology and resources available, that people surely would be different today. Yet, most would be just like the Jewish people of Jesus day for John s testimony, followed by Jesus, did not last long with them. #2 The Greater testimony of Jesus over John s. Read John 5:33-36 AGAIN. Jesus continues to speak to the Jews and, of course, this is a paraphrase. Jesus basically says, You went out, or you sent people out, to listen to John and John testified that I Am the coming Messiah, that I am the One prophesied about throughout the Old Testament. Then Jesus declares to them, I really do not need a man to testify about me, but I m sharing these things with you so that you will be saved, set free from your sin and set free from the bondage you are in. It s hard for us to imagine having Jesus Christ right there talking with them and them not realizing who He is. But then again, is it really that hard to imagine? God has given us tons and tons of resources. He s given us people all around us who proclaim Him and His works in their own lives and in the lives of others. He s given us thousands of equippers of the saints (Ephesians 4:11-12). Their responsibility is to equip all of God s people to do God s work so that the body of Christ His church is healthy and strong and doing what the church is supposed to do. God does not want us to be immature in our faith in Him. He does not want us influenced by people who try to trick us with their lies. The equippers are here to teach and train us so we not fall into the doubts and fears. Jesus goes on to say, John s testimony of me is true, but I have a GREATER testimony than John s simply through My own words and the miracles you have seen me perform. God the Father sent me to do these miracles and they are more than enough proof of who I AM. Jesus is trying to help them understand that the proof/testimony of Him is overwhelming and they are missing it completely. Transition: Jesus does not stop there though; He takes it one step further. Not only is the testimony of God the Father GREATER and the testimony of Jesus Himself GREATER, but there is one more testimony that is GREATER. #3 The Greater testimony of God s Word. Read John 5: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. 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? Our Lord Jesus Christ lays out the final testimony of Himself HIS WORD! He says to them, You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me! Yet you refuse to come to Me to receive this life. 14

15 Our pride can get in the way of us seeing what s real, accepting the truth, changing our selfish ways and receiving life through the Lord Jesus Christ. That is exactly what was happening here in this Scripture and it s exactly what continues to happen today in peoples lives all around the world. The testimony of God s Word is so clear. God s Word contains all that we need to know to obey God s will for us: 1. God s Word enables us to be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). 2. God s Word teaches us all we need to know for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:2-3). 3. God s system of faith will never be revealed again. It was once and for all delivered (Jude 1:3). 4. We must speak the words that God has spoken to us (1 Peter 4:11). 5. We must abide in the teaching that God has given to us in His Word (2 John 1:9). Jesus loving rebukes them, and us, if we are unwilling to believe and live in God s Word. Jesus says, For I have come to you in My Father s name, and you have rejected Me. Yet, if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. No wonder you can t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God. Are we quick to listen to what is on TV, the internet or social media, and believe it as truth? Yet, we spend little time listening to God and His Word, which are the ONLY truth we have and can count on? Jesus leaves them with this truth: Yet it isn t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes. If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. But since you don t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say? The Jews of Jesus day would say, We believe what Moses wrote! Yet, Jesus says, No you [don t] because Moses spoke of Me and you don t believe Me. Do you believe? Is your life giving evidence of what you say you believe? The GREATER testimony for us is not just our words, but also that our actions and thoughts match our words. Close in prayer. My prayer today is that you will clearly see how God has given us EVERYTHING we need to know Him and to walk in obedience to Him. His testimonies are true and the evidence of our belief comes out in the way we live. Let s Pray. 15