Bible Text: John 1:1-3 | Pastor: Pastor Mike | Series: John | 01-07-2018

God’s Message: Jesus Saves!

John 1:1-3

Read John 1:1-3… The Word [Logos] refers to the ultimate expression,
representation and revelation of God in word, form, essence, nature, being,
authority.
The Word was with God – this means “face to face,” the Father and Son have
been together in fellowship, since the beginning, eternity past.
The Word was God – Jesus is God… (Colossians 2:9), “in Christ all the fullness of
the Deity lives in bodily form.”
Jesus and God are called by the same titles:
Holy One (Isaiah 10:20; Acts 3:14-15)
I AM (Exodus 3:14; John 8:24)
Judge (Genesis 18:25; 2Timothy 4:1)
Light (Psalm 27:1; John 8:12)
Lord of lords (Deuteronomy 10:17; Revelation 17:14)
Redeemer (Isaiah 41:14; 48:17; Ephesians 1:7)
Savior (Isaiah 43:11; Acts 4:12)
Jesus and God have the same attributes:
Eternal (Isaiah 9:6)
Immutable (Hebrews 13:8)
Omnipotent (Jeremiah 32:17)
Omnipresent (Proverbs 15:3)
Omniscient (1John 3:20)
Jesus does things only God can do:
Creates all things (John 1:3)
Sustains all things (Hebrews 1:3)
Forgives sin (Mark 2:6-12)
Raises the dead (John 5:21)
Receives worship (John 9:38)
Receives prayer (John 14:13-14)
John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have
seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of
grace and truth.” 18, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is
at the Father’s side, has made Him known.”
The Word of God put on flesh and was given the name Jesus; He lived among us
to show us the Father, that we might believe and be saved through Him.
John 1:29, 34, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look,
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” “I have seen and I testify
that this is the Son of God.”
John 3:14-15, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man
must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”
John 6:46-47, “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only
He has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.”
Those who believe in God [those who obey God] will be rewarded with eternal
life. True Belief is pleasing to God and is synonymous with true Faith (Hebrews
11:6), “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to
Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek
Him.”
John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Did He mean He would help us to enrich or improve our life? I don’t think so
John 20:31, “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”
The Greeks use three different words to describe life: Zoe, Bios, Psuche.
The Greek word translated “life” in both the above verses is Zoe, referring to the
uncreated, eternal life of God, the divine life uniquely possessed by God, granted
only to those who believe in Him, e.g., (John 1:4), “In Him was life, and that life
was the light of men.”
All living humans have “life,” but this is normally expressed in Scripture through
the other two words that are translated life:
Physical life of the material body is expressed as bios, from which comes the
word biology, e.g., in the parable of the sower (Luke 8:14), those who fall away
from true salvation do so because of “life’s worries, riches and pleasures,” those
things that feed the flesh.
Psychological life of the immaterial body is expressed as psuche [our soul, our
emotion and will] from which we get the word psychology, e.g., speaking of true
discipleship Jesus said (Matthew 16:25), “Whoever wants to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it,” that which we set our heart on.
Natural birth, includes both, physical life (bios) and immaterial life (psuche).
But when we trust and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are not only
forgiven our sins, we are granted eternal life (zoe), supernaturally born by divine
life from God.
John 1:13, “children born not of natural descent, F3 nor of human decision or a
husband’s will, but born of God” [from above, by the Spirit].
John 3:6-8, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You
should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows
wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or
where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
See John 6:28-29… God wants His divine life to be in us, in order that we
might live by and live out our lives for Him, so that it will be evident to those
around us (cf. 2Corinthians 5:17; Romans 3:10-12; 3:23-24; 5:8; 6:23: 8:1;
10:9-10, 13).
In the beginning (cf. Genesis 1:1) God created the heavens and the earth and ll
that is within them. After six days of creating the light, the heavens, the seas, the
plants, the fish, the birds, and all the animals, by simply speaking them into
existence:
Genesis 1:26, “God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our
likeness.’”
Genesis 2:7, “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, the man became a living being.”
God formed man, with His own hands, and then life was breathed into him by
the very mouth of God, face to face (cf. John 1:1).
Although the details of our individual lives may be very different, and we all, no
doubt, have different abilities, talents, strengths and weaknesses, essentially, God
wants the same for all of us.
God’s plan was to live in us and through us as we (Philippians 2:15-16),
“shine like stars in the universe [holding] out the word of life,” in our daily living,
while working, recreating, shopping, spending time with our families, time with our
brothers and sisters in Christ, and serving in and through our local church.
Our greatest duty to God is to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, who is (John
14:6), “the way and the truth and the life.” For no one will be saved, no one will be
made acceptable to God, no one will go to heaven, except by believing in [by
obeying] Him.
Our greatest duty to humanity is to tell them about this One who came to
forgive all our sins and provide eternal life, so that the divine nature of God might
live in us, now and forever, through Jesus Christ, our Lord: crucified, resurrected
and coming again.
We have heard the joyful sound: Jesus saves, Jesus saves!
Spread the gladness all around: Jesus saves, Jesus saves!
Bear the news to every land, climb the steeps and cross the waves;
onward! ’tis our Lord’s command: Jesus saves, Jesus saves!

Pator Mike
<‘(((><

Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: John

Read John 6:56-59… Jesus was speaking to a mostly unbelieving audience; so He used some very poignant and offensive metaphors to confront those who only wanted to see miracles and to receive earthly benefits from Jesus, continuing to reject Him as Messiah.
Read John 6:60-66… Notice their response to Jesus (verse 60), “This is a hard teaching [difficult statement]. Who can accept [listen to] it?” As we studied last week, Jesus is basically telling them that they must make a decision to commit to Him; for apart from believing in Him, there is no forgiveness, no salvation, no one will be made acceptable to God.
Jesus challenges their comfort zone, i.e., if what He has already said offends them (verse 58), that He came down from heaven; what He is telling them now is really going to upset them, (verse 61) that He will go back into heaven to be with the Father, where He was before He came down to earth.
These people are already upset with the metaphors He has been using (eating bread that came down from heaven, eating His flesh, drinking His blood), and now (verse 63) He tells them these are only symbols, that the priority is the spiritual meaning of the words He has spoken, not literal bread, flesh and blood.
The priority work of God (verse 64), is and has always been to believe in the One who came from the Father full of grace and truth, Jesus, God’s Son.
Numerous times in John’s gospel, already, we have noted the people’s inability or unwillingness to grasp spiritual truth (see 2:13-22; 3:1-8; 4:7-15).
In chapter 6 Jesus uses difficult and hard metaphors: His flesh, His blood, and Himself as the bread that came down from heaven. Jesus does this to separate those who genuinely believe in Him from those who do not!
Verse 65 makes it clear that genuine saving faith is the work of the Father Who draws true believers to Christ.
For a person to be in the crowd among those who witnessed miraculous healings or were fed a supernatural meal, does not equate to saving faith, e.g., going to church, having a Bible, or teaching a kid’s Sunday school class, by itself, is not evidence of salvation.
Look again at verse 66… Many of those who had been “following” Jesus, turned away and no longer walked with Him, i.e., they never really believed in Him.
1John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”
What appears to be irreconcilable tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility is found throughout the Scriptures; God’s desire is (cf. 1Timothy 2:3-4; 2Peter 3:9) for all people to be saved and for none to perish; but (cf. John 3:36; Acts 2:21) whoever rejects God’s Son will be eternally condemned, while everyone who calls on Him for forgiveness, believing in Him, will be saved.

Read John 6:67-69… This is the first time John uses the designation of “the Twelve” to speak of the disciples. It would seem that the majority of those following Christ leave Him at this time, and so Jesus asks the Twelve if they also want to leave Him.
Peter responds, “where would we go Lord,” “to whom could we possibly go?” “You alone are the means of eternal life, for You are the Holy One of God.”
You can sense Peter pondering something like, “Your words speak to our hearts as well as our minds. No one does miracles like You, and no one speaks with authority about the things of earth and the things of heaven, about the present and the future, the way you do.”
Notice, in verse 69, Peter says “we” believe and have come to know that You are the Son of God.
Read John 6:70-71… Jesus sovereignly chose the Twelve, knowing that Judas Iscariot, would betray Him.
Jesus knew the enemy of God, the devil, would use one of those who was close to Him, one who had been taught by God’s Son, one who witnessed the same miracles and enjoyed the same small group fellowship with Christ that the other eleven experienced; and yet, this one, right in their midst, was “a devil!”
Note: When we get to John 13 we will study much more about Judas and his betrayal of Jesus, along with the prophecies that predicted his treachery
God chose Judas, knowing that he would betray Christ, and that he would aid bringing about Christ’s death, by which we receive forgiveness for our sins.
Jesus had twelve core disciples, Judas was one of that small number who were very close to Christ; and yet, although Judas posed as a believer and follower of Jesus, he never really embraced Christ as Lord, let alone as Savior.
As far as the biblical record goes, none of the other eleven disciples ever suspected him; he was a skilled imposter who fooled everyone except Jesus, who of course knew his heart.
We should take note that whenever God’s work is being done, there will most likely be imposters, hypocrites, like Judas, among the flock of God. Satan often disguises his servants (sons and daughters of disobedience), so that they (2Corinthians 11:15), “masquerade as servants of righteousness.
1Peter 5:8, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
1Peter 4:7-11, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self- controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 6:51-59 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: John

Read John 6:51-59… Jesus is teaching at the synagogue in Capernaum,

where He and the disciples arrived after a very long night. The people He fed the day before on the mountain are seeking more free food, physical food!

Jesus says, “I Am the Living Bread!” This is the 5th time in chapter 6 that Jesus claims to be the living [or true] bread [of God] that came down out of heaven (cf. verses 33, 35, 48, 50, 51).

In verse 33 we are told the bread of God [the bread out of heaven] “gives life to the world.”

In verse 50 we are told that anyone who “eats” the true bread that comes down from heaven, which is also the flesh of Jesus, will not die, i.e., will live forever.

Here in verse 51, Jesus says, “anyone who eats this bread” [His flesh, He Himself, a person, God’s Son], will live forever.

Physical food [bread] is no good to us if we do not eat it; in the same way that spiritual truth is of no use to us if we don’t take it in, i.e., if we don’t believe it and act upon it there is no benefit to us.

Food in our cupboards or in the fridge will not satisfy our hunger until we take it out and eat it. When we eat food that contains carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, fiber, vitamins, etc., it becomes part of our body, it changes us.

The same is true spiritually, you can know a biblical [spiritual] truth, but if you don’t appropriate it, applying it to your life, you will not receive any benefit from it.

In verse 52 the Jews are arguing, grumbling, quarreling among themselves, in their ignorance I might add, saying, “How can this man Jesus give them His flesh to eat?” How can Jesus personally provide for them what they need to be made right with God?

Read again verses 53-56… Jesus doesn’t explain the meaning of what He is saying to them, but they should fully understand that He is not suggesting that they actually eat His flesh and drink His bread. They should know this without doubt, as it is central to the teaching of the Torah.

Genesis 9:3-4, “Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.”
Leviticus 17:10-12, “Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood-I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, ‘None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood.’”

God forbade the eating of flesh with blood in it, as well as the eating of blood itself!

Jesus uses some very difficult metaphors that actually apply to Him; He is the bread, the flesh and the blood that is necessary for a person to have eternal spiritual immortal life, not temporary biological mortal life.

Jesus, the bread from heaven, must be eaten, taken in; this is synonymous with believing in and receiving Him as the Christ, Lord and Savior (see John 6:40).

Do you see? The priority is to believe in God’s Son, that He came to forgive our sins, taking our punishment upon Himself, thus providing us with forgiveness and eternal life, making us right with God (see John 6:27-29).

Jesus is not saying we must drink His literal blood or eat His literal flesh; but that we must genuinely believe and trust in His sacrificial death; for He is the Lamb of God; His body was given and His blood was shed to provide forgiveness and eternal life with God.

The reason the Jews are unable to understand is that they are unwilling to consider a crucified Messiah [Savior]; that is inconceivable to them, even though the Scriptures are clear that this is the plan of God.

John 1:29, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Lambs were sacrificed on an alter; Jesus took away our sin by His death on the cross.

John 3:14-15, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” 1Corinthians 15:3-4, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Hebrews 9:12, “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.” 15, “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. 22, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

Hebrews 9:26-28, …“He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.”

Hebrews 10:5-7, “Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for Me; with burnt

offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am – it is written about Me in the scroll – I have come to do your will, O God [cf. Psalm 40:6-8].’” 10, “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

1Peter 3:18, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,

John 12:32-34, “‘But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.’ He said this to show the kind of death He was going to die. The crowd spoke up, ‘We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, The Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

Do you see that the metaphors of bread, flesh, blood, are not speaking of literal bread, flesh or blood; but are clearly speaking of God’s spiritual provision through which we are granted forgiveness and eternal life – an eternal spiritual and intimate relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

The message of salvation is very clearly revealed in the Scriptures. In Mark 1:14, 17, Jesus commands us to “Repent” [of our sins], to “Believe” [in Him for salvation], and to “Follow” [by feeding upon and obeying His Word].
Acts 2:21, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Acts 2:36-38, “‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

Baptism was the public identification with and declaration of Jesus as Lord [Almighty God] and Christ (Messiah, Savior].

Acts 16:29-31, “The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.’”

Do you see? You cannot eat or drink something to be saved, neither can baptism save anyone; in fact no ritual or good works can save you. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone. His blood was shed and His body was put to death, on the cross; He took our punishment and paid full price for our sins, reconciling us with God (see Romans 3:10-12, 19-24; 6:23; 5:8-11; 8:1-2; 10:9-10, 13).

Read again verses 57-59… Jesus is the Word of God; and so, to feed on Christ is to feed on the Word of God (see John 1:1-4, 14, 18). Jesus is the Bread Who came down from Heaven, the Spiritual Bread of God Who provides Spiritual Life to all those who believe in Christ.

Matthew 4:1-4, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” [cf. Deuteronomy 8:3].

Everything Jesus said came straight from the Father, everything Jesus did was given Him to do by the Father.

Everything we need for life on earth [physical temporary life], and everything we need for life in heaven [spiritual eternal life] we are given in and through Jesus Christ: crucified, resurrected and coming again.
2Peter 1:1-4, “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

This is not about eating bread, eating flesh, or drinking blood; this is about repenting of sin, believing in Jesus Christ for forgiveness, and obeying God’s Word.

God required a perfect, divine and eternal sacrifice to be offered on the alter; that alter was the cross at Calvary, the shed blood and dead body of Jesus Christ was that sacrifice.

Jesus is the Bread of God, the True Bread, the Bread of Life, Who came down from the Father in Heaven to offer up His own flesh [or body] unto death, allowing His own blood to be shed, for our sins, so that all those who believe in and receive Him are granted forgiveness and eternal life.

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 6:30-50 | Preacher: Pastor Mike | Series: John

11.05.17 ~ John 6:30-50, The Bread from Heaven.
Last week’s study ended with John 6:28-29, where the people ask what they

need to do to be right with God; Jesus tells them they must believe in the One sent by God, the One Who came from the Father.
John 6:30-33… Clearly, many of these people had witnessed the healing Jesus did before providing a meal for some 20,000 (men, women and children), made from a young boy’s lunch of five small barley loaves and two fish. And yet, despite the miracles they had already seen, these people ask Him what “work” He will do to prove that He has come from God with authority and power.

These people were spiritually blind and deaf, always demanding another sign, yet unwilling to be convinced of Jesus’ deity. Jesus repeatedly rebukes the unbelieving hardness of heart of Israel (Luke 16:31), “they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

At the Cross, the religious leaders of Israel mocked and taunted Jesus in His suffering (Mark 15:32), “Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”

When Jesus rose from the grave, the Jews paid the soldiers (who were guarding the tomb) to spread the story that Jesus’ disciples had taken His body away.

The crowd before Jesus in Capernaum demands that He prove He is from God by doing a repeat performance of yesterday’s meal. They challenge Jesus (verse 31) to provide bread from heaven for them, as Moses did for the nation of Israel during their 40 year journey in the desert.

Clearly these Jews are unaware of the facts of the events that occurred when Israel wandered through the wilderness headed for Canaan.

Yes, God had provided manna for Israel (along with quail, for meat), but the manna was not (verse 32) “the true bread from heaven,” given by the Father, for the true bread was yet to come.

The “true bread of God” is a person, God’s Son, “He who comes down from heaven and gives life [Gk. zoe = spiritual life] to the world” (see John 1:1-4, 14, 18). Jesus is the true bread from God [heaven]; He is the One sent by God, full of grace and truth; the One who came down from heaven to show us the Father; and yet, these Jews are now comparing Jesus to Moses?
Hebrews 3:3, “Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.”
Moses was Created; Jesus is the Creator…

It was God who provided manna for Israel, not Moses. Moses was simply the food server, Jesus was the bread. Moses was just a man, Jesus, however, is God!

Read John 6:34-40… Again, the people have completely missed the significance of what Jesus had done and what He is now saying to them.

Instead of coming to the Jesus Christ, the Messiah, God’s Son, who now stands before them, in order to receive forgiveness and eternal life, it seems they would rather have a continual supply of bread.

Jesus tries again to break through their stubborn, carnal and self-centered hearts, telling them that He is the bread of life, and if they would come to Him they would never be (spiritually) hungry or thirsty again.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said (Matthew 5:6), “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” to overflowing.

Physical bread is eaten and satisfies the body for a time, but it must be acquired and eaten again and again and again, in order to provide sustenance and relief from hunger.

Jesus wants to satisfy their deepest and most critical need, to be made right with God; but in order to do that they must believe in Him as Savior, confessing Him as Lord, repenting of their sins, i.e., they must come to Him to have life [forgiveness and eternal life], and yet they just want to see another miracle and to have Jesus provide another free meal.

How dull these people are (cf. verses 28-29), instead of asking for forgiveness and eternal life, they demand that Jesus prove Himself by providing bread (cf. verses 30-31, 34); they are asking for miracles that satisfy their physical needs, and yet, Jesus has come down from heaven, from the Father, to do the Father’s will in providing spiritual life, eternal life; but in order to receive this they must believe in Him (cf. verses 38-40).

Read John 6:41-50… These people are incredulous! All they have seen Him do and heard Him say (miraculous signs of healing diseases and feeding large crowds; not to mention walking on water, calming the storm, teleporting the ship and twelve disciples to their destination), and now they are grumbling; saying this is Jesus, whose family they know, how can a “mere man” say He came down from heaven and is able to grant eternal life. Jesus commands them (verse 43) to “stop grumbling!”

Jesus has come from the Father (who is in heaven), to do the Father’s will on earth, as it is written in the Prophets.
Isaiah 54:13, “All your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children’s peace.”

Last Wednesday night we studied how God the Father gives us peace through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is called (cf. Isaiah 9:6) the “Prince of Peace.”

Jesus brings peace from God to all those who believe in Him, for they receive eternal life from (John 6:48) “the Bread of Life,” all that is necessary for the forgiveness of sins and life eternal, is found in and granted by Jesus Christ.

Orthodox Jews are proud about being “children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” they are also self-righteous as followers of Moses, the giver of the Law. But the truth is, Moses didn’t provide the Israelites with manna, God did, and yet all those who ate the bread eventually died; and Moses didn’t write the Law, God did, and yet no one would be made acceptable to God by keeping the Law!

It is not through human ancestry or strict adherence to law keeping or religious rituals that a person is made righteous in the sight of God (cf John 1:11-13).

Jesus says (John 6:50) we must eat or partake of Him, Who He is (metaphorically, this is to believe in and receive) Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, Who came down from heaven to provide forgiveness for our sins.
John 11:25-27, Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? ‘Yes, Lord,” she told Him, ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.’”

It really is all about Jesus Christ, God’s Son: Crucified, Resurrected and Coming Again. He is the Heavenly Bread of Life from God, in Him and through Him we have been given everything we need for our temporary life on earth and our eternal life in heaven.

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 6:16-29 | Pastor: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: John |

Last week we studied the feeding of the 5,000, after which (John 6:14-15) Jesus

sent His disciples away (Matthew 14:22) and withdrew by Himself to the mountain. Today we are going to look at the 5th miraculous sign recorded in the gospel of

John, which immediately follows the feeding of the large crowd.
As we learned last week, the Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, Luke) provide very

important additional information about the events we are studying in John. When Jesus sent His disciples away, according to Mark 6:45, they probably

sailed to Bethsaida, which is not very far from where Jesus fed the crowds, but far enough to get away form this mass of people.

It would seem the disciples planned to meet Jesus at Bethsaida, before crossing over to Capernaum together (cf. Matthew 14:34; Mark 6:53).
Read John 6:16-19… When evening came (it was getting dark) the disciples went to the shoreline and got back into the boat they had arrived in. They were, no doubt, expecting Jesus to meet up with them, and go together to Capernaum, but He didn’t show, it was dark, so they headed for Capernaum on the northwest shore of the Lake.

Note: The Sea of Galilee is a fresh water lake about 700 feet below sea level, surrounded by hills that are about 2000 feet above sea level. This geography helps to formulate the conditions which cause very violent storms on the Sea of Galilee.

As the disciples cross the lake, John tells us that a sudden storm comes up, driven by strong winds that (Matthew 14:24; Mark 6:47-48), push the boat away from the land toward the middle of the lake, for they are heading into the wind; the disciples strain at the oars trying to reach safety near the shore.

But these guys are not making much progress; in fact, they left Bethsaida after dark, and it is now (cf. Matthew 14:25; Mark 6:48) the fourth watch of the night (1800-2100, 2100-2400, 2400-0300, 0300-0600), and they have only gone (3-4 miles).

Jesus is alone on the mountain praying (cf. Matthew 14:23; Mark 6:46); the storm is raging and the disciples (cf. Mark 4:37; Luke 8:23) are worried that the waves might flood and overturn their boat.

Jesus now comes walking on the water toward them; the disciples are frightened, (cf. Matthew 14:26; Mark 6:49) crying out in terror, thinking Jesus is a ghost.
Read John 6:20-21… The disciples are frightened that they are going to capsize and because they mistake Jesus for a ghost. Jesus tries to calm their fears saying to them, “It is I, don’t be afraid.”

You think these guys were ready and willing to have Jesus in the boat with them? Oh yes! But something else happens before Jesus gets into the boat; not only did Jesus walk on water, but Peter also (very briefly) is allowed to walk on the water before almost drowning (see Matthew 14:28-31).

We also learn (cf. Matthew 14:32; Mark 6:51) that when Jesus and Peter climb into the boat, “the wind stopped blowing and the storm was calmed,” and the disciples were completely amazed (cf. Mark 4:41); in fact, the disciples worshipped Jesus, saying (cf. Matthew 14:33), “Truly You are the Son of God.”

John records another miracle (verse 21), telling us,“immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.” Wow! Jesus steps into the boat, the storm quits and immediately they are all transported to their destination.
Read John 6:22-24… Jesus and the disciples had crossed the lake during a very long night and were now at Capernaum. But back on the eastern side of the lake where they had departed from, the crowds were looking for Jesus, no doubt, they were hungry and hoping to get another free meal from Jesus.

The crowds were aware that only one small boat had been anchored on shore the previous day, the one the disciples had arrived in with Jesus prior to the miraculous lunch. That boat is now gone, as are Jesus and His disciples.

Verse 23 is kind of parenthetical, in that, it tells us that other small boats from Tiberias arrived where Jesus had fed the crowds, but it doesn’t say why.
John MacArthur speculates that, “Perhaps the owners of the boats had heard of the miraculous feeding and had come to investigate. Or they may have come to pick up friends and loved ones, or to act as water taxis, seeking to cash in on the large numbers of people in need of transportation. Or they may have been forced to seek shelter from the same storm in which the disciples had been caught the night before.”

Whatever reason the small boats ended up there, it is clear that when the crowds realized both Jesus and His disciples were gone, they got into the small boats and made their way to Capernaum, looking for Jesus.

Matthew 4:12-13 tells us that when Jesus heard about John the Baptist being put into prison, He left Nazareth and went to Capernaum to live, so it would be a logical place for the people to look for Him.
Read John 6:25-29… The people finally find Jesus and ask Him how He got to Capernaum, which Jesus does not answer; but instead, He confronts a more important problem, beginning with “Amen, amen” [Truly, truly, or I tell you the truth]. Jesus wants their attention, for He is going to rebuke them for totally missing the importance of the miracle He did by feeding all of them with one boy’s lunch.

It is no wonder Jesus didn’t answer their question about how He got to Capernaum – His miraculous feeding of the crowd the day before had led them to try and make Him King by force; can you imagine if they also knew that He had walked on water, calmed the storm and then, instantaneously transported the boat, with the disciples in it, to their destination.

Earlier in chapter 4 with the Samaritan woman, Jesus distinguished between physical water from the well and living water [eternal life] that He alone could provide.

The free lunch people who had eaten the fish and bread are seeking more food for their physical bodies; but Jesus is emphasizing that they should be seeking spiritual food from Him, for He is the Bread of Life, and they should be seeking spiritual nourishment that only the Son of Man, Who has God’s Seal upon Him [God’s approval and authority]. Only Christ, the Word of God, can provide eternal life.

Matthew 4:4, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” [cf. Deuteronomy 8:3]

Do you see, much more important than literal bread that brings temporary relief to our physical bodies from hunger, is the Word of God, for it satisfies and nurtures us supernaturally, providing eternal benefits.

We have already studied (cf. John 1:1-3, 14, 18) that Jesus Christ is the Word of God [Logos, fullness of God] Who became flesh and walked among us to show us the Father that we might hear, believe and be saved.

The people ask (John 6:28) what they must do to earn eternal life. This was a common concern in Israel: The rich young ruler (cf. Matthew 19:16) and the expert in the law (cf. Luke 10:25), both basically asked Jesus the same question: What do I have to do to be saved, i.e., what work must I do to inherit eternal life?

Salvation cannot be acquired by works (cf. Romans 3:20), and no one will be counted as righteous through the work of keeping the law , yet (James 2:17) “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead,” (James 2:26) “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

Jesus answers the people by saying (John 6:29),”The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”

Basically, Jesus tells them that the only “work” that is acceptable to God is to believe in God’s Son, who happens to be standing right before them!

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-10), “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Jesus Christ is (John 14:6), “the way and the truth and the life.” No one comes to the Father, accept through Him, i.e., no one is acceptable to God, let alone righteous; no one is forgiven by God, let alone saved; no one, that is, except for all who believe in God’s Son, confessing Him as Lord and receiving Him as Savior, for to all such as these will be granted a new birth, by God’s Spirit, into the family of God and we will spend eternity with God in heaven.

Salvation is in Christ alone (Acts 4:12), “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be
saved,” (Philippians 2:10-11), “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 6:1-15 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: John

The last two weeks we studied a variety of biblical evidence for the deity of Jesus Christ: the testimony of John the Baptist, the Father, the works of Christ, the Disciples record in the Scriptures and the Scriptures themselves.
John 5:36, “”I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given Me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent Me.”

When you think of all the miracles done and the divine teaching given by Jesus, it is amazing, considering the supernatural works Jesus did and could have done; yet He chose to do those miracles that clearly demonstrated His love and compassion upon mankind (chap. 2, 4, 5): turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana, so that the wedding couple would not be disgraced, healing the officials son from a distance because of the faith the official had in Jesus to do this, and then healing a man on the Sabbath, who had been an invalid for 38 years.

Today we will look at the miraculous feeding of 5,000 men (not counting the women and children who would have also been there).

This is the fourth sign recorded by the Apostle John, again, these are given to prove that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and the Son of God. It is significant that this miracle is the only miracle (apart from Christ’s resurrection) that is also recorded in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 14:13-20; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17).

When you think of the number of people affected by this miracle, it raises it to the level of being Christ’s largest recorded miracle.
Read John 6:1-4… John writes, “sometime after this,” meaning after the events that occurred in chapter 5. The location is “the far shore of the Sea of

Galilee” (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), named for the city of Tiberias that was founded by Herod Antipas and was named after Emperor Tiberias (cf. Luke 3:1).

The disciples and Jesus had gone to the eastern side of the lake, in order to get away from the crowds and have a time of rest; but also, it would seem, the death of John the Baptist was part of the impetus for going there (cf. Matthew 14:1-13).

It would seem that a large crowd followed Jesus on foot, walking around the shore line to where He came ashore (cf. Mark 6:32-34); the people (Matthew 14:14) were there waiting when Jesus and His disciples arrived, as they (John 6:2), had seen “the miraculous signs He had performed on the sick.”

It would appear that the people were there to see miracles, to get something for themselves from Christ, rather than to hail Him as the Messiah and worship Him.

Jesus takes His men (John 6:3) up on the mountainside, no doubt, wanting some time to be with them, then John mentions that the time for the Passover was near (perhaps a reason for the large crowd, Jews traveling to Jerusalem for this very important feast that commemorates the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Read John 6:5-9… “Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him.” The Synoptics add (Matthew 14:14), that He healed their sick; (Mark 6:34), that He

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had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and (Luke 9:11), He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God [heaven].

We also learn from the Synoptics (Matthew 14:15; Mark 6:35; Luke 9:12) that it was very late in the day and this place was desolate, and therefore there was absolutely nowhere close for the people to go to buy food for themselves.

John 6:5b records, “He [Jesus] said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’” Do you think Jesus didn’t know the answer to that question? Of course He did (verse 6), He already knew what He was going to do, but was testing the disciples- did they have faith in Him?

Phillip (verse 7) is concerned about how much it would cost for each person to have a bite of bread [200 denarii = 8 month’s wages; a denarius equalled one days wage for common labor (cf. Matthew 20:2), 24 work days in a month (4 weeks, 6 days a week) X 8 = 192 denarii].

Maybe these guys forgot about the wedding in Cana? Jesus turned about 180 gallons of water into wine.

Notice (verses 8-9a), it would seem that Andrew had been trying to find out how much food was available among these people, and so he brings this boy to Jesus who has five barley loaves and two fish.
Note: In Mark 6:38 we learn that Jesus had commanded the disciples to go through the crowd and find out how much food was available.

So, Andrew finds this boy with a large lunch and brings him to Jesus, but them immediately expressed doubt that it is going to make any difference (verse 9b), “but how far will they go among so many?”
Read John 6:10-13… Jesus tells the disciples to have the people sit down, and John notes that there is much grass (Spring, March-April, Passover). We learn from Mark 6:40, that the disciples sit the people down in groups of 50 and 100; no doubt this will make it much easier to get the food to them all. There are 5,000 men [John 6:10, written this way because it is a patriarchal society], there were no doubt women and children as well, for families were traveling to Passover; so this easily brings the total number of people to between 15-20,000.

Jesus distributes the bread and then the fish, to the people. The Synoptics tell us that Jesus used the disciples to do this; even though they had just displayed a lack of faith in Him, concerning the feeding of these people, Jesus is now going to allow them to witness and be part of this marvelous event.

Jesus (verse 11) takes the loaves of bread and gives thanks, then passes them to the disciples who, in turn, take them to the groups of people; Jesus does the same thing with the fish. This is amazing! Jesus partials out pieces of bread from the loaves and it seems to just keep multiplying; He does the same thing with the fish, but the bread and fish seem to just keep multiplying.

Verse 12 tells us that everyone ate as much as they wanted, to the point of being filled, satiated, no more hunger…. Then Jesus tells the disciples to gather up all the leftovers after everyone had finished eaten. It would seem, from John’s narrative (John 6:13) that only the pieces of bread are picked up, perhaps there wasn’t any fish leftover?

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Mark 6:43, “the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.”

After feeding 15-20,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish from a Jewish boy’s lunch, there are enough leftovers to fill 12 baskets; one for each disciple’s next meal. Did this break through the shallow faith that had been displayed by the disciples, especially Phillip and Andrew, at the onset of the dilemma of how to feed all those people out in the middle of nowhere?

Read John 6:14… The people who had just been supernaturally fed were amazed, and began to quote a prophecy that had been given by Moses.
Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you (cf. Acts 3:22).

Mark 1:15, “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” 17 “Come, follow Me.” See John 10:11, 14-15, 27-30…

The thing is, the Jews seemed to be much more interested in having their physical needs met, i.e., if this Jesus could heal all their illnesses and provide food everyday, they would make Him king, go with Him to Jerusalem and overthrow the Romans.

But, Jesus came to set them free from sin not Roman rule. He did not come to offer some prosperity gospel of health, wealth and happiness; He came to offer forgiveness for sin by dying for our sins, He came to offer birth into God’s family by God’s Spirit, He came to provide eternal life through His own resurrection from the grave; and all this is God’s gift through Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Creator, Savior Lord and Judge over all.

Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of

God the Father.”
ReadJohn6:15… JesusismercifulandgraciousandHelovesmankind;butHe also calls sinners to turn from their sin, repent and acknowledge Him as Lord.

Jesus will not be taken by force, nor will He be used to simply fulfill people’s felt needs and wants.

Jesus withdrew from this crowd and went farther up the mountain to be alone; for these people were not seeking or receiving Him for the right reasons, just like so many people today who do not acknowledge that this Jesus, who was crucified for our sins, buried, and then rose from the grave on the third day, is both Sovereign Lord and Sacrificial Savior for all who believe in Him.

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 5:30-47 | Preacher: Pastor Mike | Series: John

Previously in John 5 we studied how Jesus, the Christ [Messiah], God’s Son, is equal to the Father, in that:

They both have the power to raise the dead. They both have life within themselves.
They both give life to whomever they choose. They are both to be honored equally.

They are equal in authority yet, (verse 22) the Father has given all judgement to His Son, the reason being (verse 27), the Son of God is also the Son of Man.

Jesus was conceived in the womb of a woman in Nazareth, born in a stable in Bethlehem, raised as a child in Galilee; and yet, after He stepped out into the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist, He embarked on a 3.5 year ministry bringing the Light and Life of God to mankind, in order to expose our sin and offer His own life on our behalf, as payment to God, that we might receive forgiveness and eternal life through Him.

Jesus was tested and tempted as are we, yet He did not sin, for He (Hebrews 4:15), “has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet is without sin.” He is the Son of Man, God the Son, who came as the Lamb of God, the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins.

Read John 5:30… Christ came to do the Father’s will, and there were given several irrefutable witnesses to the divine nature and authority of Christ.

Read John 5:31… For a person to give testimony concerning himself, is not conclusive evidence and therefore considered invalid.

The NASB says, their testimony is not true, meaning, a man’s testimony about himself is not admissible as legal evidence in a court of law; there must be corroborating evidentiary testimony that provides proof of what he has stated (Deuteronomy 19:15), “A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
Read John 5:32-37… Jesus says John the Baptizer was a testifying witness as to who the Anointed One of God, the Messiah, is (see John 1:6-8; 19-34). But the supreme witness to Christ’s Messiahship is the Father.

In John 5:32, the NASB capitalizes the pronoun “His” in front of the word testimony, referring to the Father, this is further clarified, as we will see, in verses 37-38.

Notice in verse 34, even though John the Baptist was God’s witness to Christ’s divinity (cf John 1:23), the priority was on Christ the Lord (cf John 1:29-31), the provider of forgiveness and salvation.

Back to John 5:33-34… John (verse 35) was filled with the Holy Spirit and was a revealing light that captivated the Jews for a short time, as he (the first prophet of God for 400 years , since God left the Temple at the close of the Old Testament) was now proclaiming the imminent coming of Israel’s Messiah.

Luke 1:15, “He (John) will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.”
John called the people to repent, to be baptized and to come to the Savior, Jesus

Christ, the Son of God.
John’s ministry was to draw attention to Christ, for He alone is the Savior and provider of eternal life.

The Jews were superficially attracted to John’s powerful preaching, for a short time (remember, there had been no prophet for 400 years), but ultimately (cf. verse 35) they turned away from the light of the truth that John revealed about Christ — conditioned by hundreds of years of religious rituals, trying to maintain a relationship with God — they were blinded to the very presence of God [Jesus Christ] among them (see John 1:1-4, 14, 18).

Read John 5:36… The testimony of the miracles Christ did among them was divine evidence of His deity (see John 10:25).

Remember when Nicodemus (cf John 3:1-2) speaking to Jesus at night said, “we know you are a teacher who as come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs You are doing if God were not with Him.”

Everything Jesus said and did was given to Him by the Father, as a testimony that Jesus was from the Father, sent by the Father, with the full authority of the Father.

Read John 5:37a… The Father Himself testifies to the sovereign nature and purpose of Christ (see Matthew 3:13-17 [pp. Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22] 17:1-5 [the witness of Peter, James and John when Christ was transfigured before them]; see 2Peter 1:16-18).

Read John 5:37b-38… John the Baptizer testified that God the Son had come in the flesh of Jesus; the Father spoke from heaven about His Son, commissioning Him, as He began His ministry of the Gospel of Christ.

Jesus obediently proclaimed God’s message of salvation for 3.5 years, performing many miraculous signs, and yet, the Jews still did not believe in Him as their Messiah, called Immanuel [God with us], named Jesus [Greek], Yeshua [Hebrew] meaning God’s Salvation [Savior]. He was both Lord and Savior the One and Only Son of God (see Acts 2:36).

By rejecting God the Son, the Jews, as a Nation, also rejected God the Father who had sent Him, as they still do today; but through those first Jewish Christians, the message of Salvation through Christ has gone out to the ends of the earth.

John the Baptist is long since dead, and therefore is not testifying; Jesus Christ the Lord is at the right hand of the Father in heaven, He is no longer performing signs and wonders among us; the Father no longer speaks audibly from heaven concerning His Son; but today and until the Lord returns to bring us where He is, we have the witness and the sovereign testimony of the Scriptures concerning Jesus Christ, and next week we will study the sovereign testifying witness of the Scriptures themselves, but today, I want to close with the words of John the Apostle, concerning all that is written in the 66 Books of the Bible that have been revealed to us from God (John 20:31), “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 5:24-29 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: John

Read John 5:24-29… Everyone who hears the gospel of Christ and believes Him receives forgiveness for sins and eternal life; those who reject Him will receive judgment. The truth is, everyone will live forever, either with the Lord in heaven, or apart from the Lord, in hell.

Before we confess our sins and believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, we are considered by God to be spiritually dead in our sins. When we repent and believe in Jesus we are granted new life in Christ (see Ephesians 5:1-5).

Even though we are made spiritually alive in Christ, these earthly bodies will one day wear out and die; and so, we will receive new resurrection bodies. Jesus Christ will one day (Philippians 3:20-21), “transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”

Unbelievers will also one day receive resurrection bodies; but instead of bodies that are fitted for eternity in heaven, they will receive bodies that are fitted for eternity in hell (see Revelation 20:11-15).

The truth of resurrection is taught throughout the Bible; in Genesis 22:5, Abraham and Isaac are going up on the mountain, where Abraham will sacrifice his son Isaac; but as they depart those who had come with them Abraham says, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
Hebrews 11:17-19, “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.’”
Job 14:14, “If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.”
Job 19:25-27, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes, I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”
Daniel 12:2, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Jesus said (Matthew 22:31-32), “about the resurrection of the dead–have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? [Exodus 3:6] He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” John 11:25, “Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies.”

When Paul was standing before Felix in Acts 24:15, he said his hope was in God, “that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”

Back to John 5:25-26… Jesus says, “a time is coming and has now come.” All of us who now belong to Christ, were dead in our sins before we received His forgiveness; that is the time that “has now come,” for our spirit has been granted eternal life in Christ.

Ephesians 2:6-7… This is the time that “is coming,” when our physical bodies will be raised [resurrected] as eternal bodies (see 1Corinthians 15:35-54).

Those without Christ are considered to be spiritually dead, although they are physically alive, as were all of us prior to salvation (Colossians 2:13-14), “When you were dead in your sins… God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code… He took it away, nailing it to the cross.”

The apostle John (1John 3:14) says that Christians, “have passed from death to life.” God’s Son, Jesus Christ can give life (John 5:21), just as the Father gives life, because (John 5:26), “He has life in Himself,” meaning, He wasn’t created, He is the Creator; and therefore, He can grant life to whomever He chooses.
Read John 5:27-29… As the Son has authority to give life, He also has authority to execute judgment upon mankind. As the Son of Man [Jesus favorite designation for Himself], He is the only one sovereignly qualified to judge mankind (see Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:14-16).

God’s Son, fully God and yet fully man, is able to judge all of mankind, for He wore a body of flesh and was tempted as we are tempted, yet He did not sin; He suffered, yet not for His own crimes but for ours.

Notice again (John 5:28-29), “a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

Unlike the spiritual resurrection we receive at salvation, this is the future bodily resurrection of the righteous dead whose souls are in heaven with Christ (cf. 2Corinthians 5:6-8), and the wicked dead whose souls are in torment in Hades (cf Luke 16:22-23).

The bodies of everyone who has ever lived will be raised; like when Jesus commanded, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead are raised in a sequence:
1. When Christ returns in the air (1Thessalonians 4:16), the bodies of all true believers from Pentecost to the Rapture are raised.
2. Old Testament believers, and all those saved during the Tribulation will be raised at the end of the Tribulation (Revelation 20:4; Daniel 12:2).

3. Believers who die during the Millennium Kingdom will either be immediately given their resurrection bodies, or at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, the Bible isn’t clear.

Back to John 5:29b, it says that those who have done good [deeds] are resurrected to eternal life, and those who have done evil [deeds] are raised in condemnation [resurrection of judgment].

No one goes to heaven or hell by their own works or merits, for salvation is clearly the work of God (cf. Romans 3:10-12, 20-24, 28; 5:1-2, 8; 6:23; 8:1; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10); therefore “good” works are simply the evidence of salvation, “Faith without works is dead,” (James 2:17); whereas, those who reject salvation through Christ are referenced in John 5:29b as those who have committed “evil” deeds.

Whatever pleases God is good, whatever doesn’t is evil. Believing in His Son is good, rejecting Him is evil.
1Timothy 2:3-4, “God our Savior …wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

2Peter 3:9, “The Lord is …not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

The premier chapter on resurrection (1Corinthians 15) ends with, “Therefore, my dear brothers [sisters, children of age], stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

The future hope we have is eternal life with God in heaven, new bodies that will never experience pain, decay or death (Romans 12:1), “Therefore, I urge you, brothers [sisters, children of age], in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act [or service] of worship.

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 5:16-24 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: John

Read John 5:16-18… Last week I noted how Sabbath observance was at the top of priorities for the Jews of Jesus’ day. Which makes Jesus’ response, to those who are challenging Him for violating the Sabbath (verse 16), quite remarkable.

Jesus basically tells them that the Father doesn’t stop working on the Sabbath, and neither does He, for the constraint to cease working on the Sabbath doesn’t apply to God, it was made for man’s benefit (Mark 2:27), “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
See Genesis 2:1-3… “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.”

Notice that all of God’s work was (verse 1) “completed” by the end of the sixth day, and so (verse 2) God “rested,” meaning that God ceased creating, as everything was done.
Isaiah 40:28, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary.”

Although God doesn’t get tired or weary, men do, and so the Sabbath when God rested, was given as a divine example that man should rest one day out of each week (see Exodus 20:9-11).

God finished creating the world in six days, but He continues to sustain everything in and through Christ (Hebrews 1:3), “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word.”

When Jesus stated that He worked on the Sabbath just as the Father does, He was declaring that He was fully equal with God and (Matthew 12:8), “the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Just like the Father, the Son, Jesus Christ, continues to do good and to show mercy on the Sabbath; this is a rebuke to the Jewish religious leaders who had accused Him of violating the Sabbath by healing the man who had been an invalid for 38 years.

In verse 16 we read that the Jews were seeking to kill Jesus, not only for breaking the Sabbath (at least in their darkened minds), but for calling God His own Father, thus claiming to be equal with God.
Read John 5:19-21… For any man to claim equality with God was blasphemy. Jesus affirms (verse 19) the veracity and significance of what He said, “I tell you the truth” [lit. “Truly, truly” [amen, amen].

Jesus is saying that the Father would have done the same thing concerning the invalid man; in fact, Jesus is only doing what the Father has shown Him to do, for the Son was always in obedience to the Father (John 10:30), “[He] and the Father are One.” Jesus said (John 14:9), “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

So, for the Jews to accuse Jesus of wrong doing is to accuse the Father who sent Him, for Jesus did what the Father wanted to be done (John 5:20), “the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does.” The word used for love here is the word phileo, meaning deep feelings and warm affection like that of a father for his own son.

Jesus then says that the Father is going to show Him even greater things than the healing of an invalid, as amazing as that was.

Jesus declares (verse 21) the Father has authority and power to raise the dead, to give life; and the Son also has the power to give life to whoever He desires to do so, even one who is dead!
John 10:17-18, “The reason my Father loves Me is that I lay down my life–only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Jesus, the Son of God, is equal to the Father, in that He can raise a physically dead person to life; but Jesus is also able to raise to life those who are spiritually dead, and to grant them eternal life (see John 6:37-40; 11:25-26, 39-44).

Jesus, God the Son, can not only raise one who was physically dead, He also provides spiritual [eternal] life to whomever He chooses.
Read John 5:22-24… Wow! Not only does the Son have authority to raise the dead; He also has been given (verse 22) authority to judge all people. This is an especially powerful statement, because Genesis 18:25 says, “God is the judge of all the earth.” And so, Christ’s judgement will be the very same as the Father’s judgement.

2Thessalonians 1:8-9, “He [the Lord Jesus Christ] will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.”

Acts 17:31, “For [God] has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead” (see Romans 1:1-4).

The Son of God will be sovereign Judge over the world, and so (John 5:23), the Son will be honored just as the Father who sent Him is to be honored. You see, the Father is actually honored more when the Son receives honor, for this was the plan and purpose of God from the beginning.

The divine, sovereign and eternal unity between the Father and the Son is incomprehensible, when One of them receives glory, the Other One also receives glory. In Isaiah 42:8 God declares, “I will not give My glory to another,” And yet, here in John 5, the Father declares that everyone will honor the Son.
John 6:28-29, The people asked Jesus, ”What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent.”

Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Eventually everyone is going to give honor to Jesus Christ, for He came from heaven to show us the Father and to offer forgiveness for sins and eternal life, through His own sacrificial death and sovereign resurrection.

In John 5:24 Jesus reaffirms His authority to give eternal life; ”I tell you the truth,” [lit. truly, truly [ah-main, ah-main], declaring that those who hear His message [the gospel] and believe the Father who sent Him receive eternal life.

What did the Father say? When Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3:17), “a voice from heaven said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”

And when Jesus was on the mountain talking with with Moses and Elijah, while Peter, James and John were watching (Matthew 17:5), “a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

This is so awesome: Jesus says that he who hears His message (His death as payment for our sins; His resurrection to grant us eternal life) and also believes the One who sent Him (God the Father) “has eternal life and will not be condemned; for he has crossed over from death to life” (cf. Romans 8:1).

The claims of Jesus Christ are imperatives, in that every person must make a decision to either believe and receive Him or to reject Him, there is no middle ground, no neutral position; as Jesus said (Luke 11:23), “Whoever is not with Me is against Me.”

John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”
John 6:40, “For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Jesus is the giver of life and He gives it freely to anyone who believes in Him as God’s Son, Lord and Savior, Creator and Judge over all; but to all who reject Him, He will one day pronounce judgement on them.
1John 5:11-13, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 5:1-18 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: John

Read John 5:1-9a… Notice it says “sometime later” [NASB, after these things], meaning after Christ’s ministry in Galilee was finished, He headed for Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Five other times in his gospel John refers to a feast of the Jews, but each time except for this one, he says which feast it is (cf. 2:13; 6:4; 7:2; 10:22; 11:55), three times – Passover, one time – Tabernacles, and one time – Dedication [Hanukkah].

John doesn’t tell us which feast it is , but seems to mention it as the reason Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Once there (verse 2) we find Him near the sheep gate (cf Nehemiah 3:1, 32; 12:39), by a pool called Bethesda (house of outpourings or mercies) that has five covered colonnades [NASB, porticoes] or porches.

There are many sick, blind, lame and otherwise disabled people laying around on the covered porches, waiting for the waters to be stirred (note: the pool was most likely fed by an intermittent spring; when the spring brought water into the pool it would appear to be stirred).

There was a man (verse 5) who had been an invalid for 38 years, (verse 6) Jesus noticed him and learned [lit. knew, supernaturally] that he had been this way for a long time, so Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well.

The man must have believed that when the water was stirred the first one into the water would be healed, but (verse 7) he had no one to help him get into the water, so someone else always got in first.

Perhaps Jesus would help him get into the water at the right moment, but Jesus then (verse 8) told him to “get up and pick up his mat,” at that moment (verse 9), the man was healed, so he picked up his mat and walked.

Interesting, this man had not professed any faith or belief in Jesus, in fact, he didn’t even know who the man was who healed him. God’s grace was often given to those who had not expressed faith in Him beforehand (cf. Matthew 8:14-15; 9:32-33; Mark 7:32-35; 8:22-25; Luke 14:1-4; 22:50-51; John 9:1-7). This is a good illustration of God’s unconditional love.
Read John 5:1-9b-14… We are told that this happened on a Sabbath, and some religious leaders (perhaps Pharisees of priests) notice the healing and confronted the man about carrying his mat on the Sabbath, totally unimpressed, evidently, with the healing that had taken place; more concerned with their man-made Sabbath rules and regulations (verse 10), “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

The man was fearful of the authorities and didn’t want to get in trouble with the religious leaders, so he said to them (verse 11), “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pickup up you mat and walk.’”

The Jews basically ask the man (verse 12), who is the one who told you to pick up your matt and walk. No doubt the Jews were thinking themselves, “who would dare to violate or challenge the traditions of the elders?”

The religious leaders’ legalistic obsession with their own man-made Sabbath laws was a constant point of contention between Jesus and Israel’s legalistic religious orthodoxy (cf. Matthew 12:1-14; Mark 2:23-3:6; Luke 6:1-11; John 7:21-23). The Teachers of the Law had become experts at substituting, even elevating, their own rituals, traditions and additional laws, in place of God’s commands.

The Old Testament prohibited working on the Sabbath, but what God clearly had in mind was that the Israelites would not engage in their normal business or occupations on the Sabbath, but would cease from that work.

But of course the rabbis and religious leaders had added to God’s law over time, in fact they had made a list of 39 different categories of work, and on that list was carrying any burden or load – which should not apply to the man at the pool anyway, as he was not carrying on his normal work.

Isn’t it interesting that instead of being happy for this man who had been an invalid for almost 40 years and was now walking around, they were upset because they considered that he had broken one of their regulations!

But you know (verse 13) the man who had been healed had no idea who the one was who had healed him, and clearly Jesus wasn’t their in view but had slipped away into the crowd. The truth was, Jesus had engaged the man at the pool, then had healed him and yet Jesus never told the man His name.

Jesus often did His stealth get away routine, i.e., “now you see Me, now you don’t,” “catch Me if you can, oh by the way, you can’t!”:

John 8:59, “they [the Jews] picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus hid Himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.”

John 10:39, “Again they tried to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp.”
John 12:36b, “When He had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid Himself from

them.”

Read John 5:14-15… But Jesus finding the man later, said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

And what does the man do, he goes to the Jews and snitches on Jesus as the one who had healed him and told him to carry his mat on the Sabbath.

God’s Word is clear that illness is not always the result of personal sin, but we also know that unrepentant sin can bring God’s discipline, resulting in illness, even death (see Deuteronomy 28:58-61; 1Corinthians 11:30).

It would seem (John 5:14) that the man’s illness was a result of his own personal sin.

Jesus’ warns him, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you,” suggesting that the man needs to deal with his sin problem, or it could lead to death – and that would be death apart from salvation, i.e., eternal hell – much worse than 38 years as an invalid!

John doesn’t tell us this man was born an invalid, but that he had been one for 38 years, and we don’t know how old he is.

This man has been healed and given another chance at life and what does he do? He goes to the Jews and gives the name of the man who healed him.
Read John 5:16-18… It is hard to decide who is worse here, the man who was healed and yet would not head Christ’s warning or the Jews who seem to care less about the good deed done by Jesus in healing this man after 38 years of pain and suffering, and instead are consumed with the fact that He was doing this on the Sabbath.

Jesus showed no reverence or fear for the pseudo religious authority of the Jews who considered Jesus not only guilty of violating the Sabbath, but even worse, He had incited another Israelite to do the same by carrying his matt on the Sabbath, considered to be work in their deranged and self consumed minds.

The Jews were concerned that Jesus would continue to incite the people to not respect their religious authority and their laws concerning Sabbath keeping.

The religious leaders were supposed present honor, praise and worship to God, and yet, here stands God the Son before them, disrupting the religious hold they have over the people through burdensome laws and rituals; and not only that, He is calling God His own Father. How do they respond? With a hatred that drives them to want to kill Him.

They just don’t get it (see John 5:39-40). Jesus had come to offer them a personal relationship with God, but they preferred their religious prestige and authority.

Colossians 2:16-17, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”

Pastor Mike <‘(((><