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Come And See |
THAT YOU MIGHT BELIEVE John 20:30-31 I Want To See Jesus Introduction 1. There are multitudes of people today who have the desire to see Jesus.
2. There were those in the Bible who had the same desire. ( John 12:21)Luke 19:2-4 records, “And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.” 3. Many, today, are hindered from believing in Jesus, because they won’t believe in something they cannot see, feel, or touch. 4. This seems to remind us of a familiar passage in John 20:25, when Thomas, after Jesus’ resurrection was told by the other disciples, “We have seen the Lord”.5. Thomas responded, “Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25b)6. When Jesus arrived and performed His wishes, all He could say was, “My Lord and My God.” (John 20:28)7. Jesus said to Thomas , “because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (vs. 29)8. John then tells us that the things which are written in the word of God, are for us to believe in Jesus Christ. ( John 20:30-31).9. In other words, these men who were eye witnesses of Jesus, have left us human testimony, inspired by the Holy Spirit that we might believe. ( John 1:14; I John 1:1-4; I Peter 1:8-9)
10. It is therefore, our intention in this lesson and all of our lessons this week to examine the word of God, that we might believe in Jesus. 11. In this lesson we will view the effects of Jesus on the lives of those who have experienced Him, that we can know who He is and put our faith in Him. ---Let us begin with the testimony of … I. John The Baptist John 1:6) “He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to unloose.” (John 1:15, 27) - John also said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)2. John’s work was to bear witness of who Jesus is, and what He would do, that we might believe. ( John 1:6, 7)3. John was not the Light, but would bear witness of Him (Jesus). John 1:19) -John was asked, “Who art thou?” (vs.19), to which he responded, “I am not the Christ” (vs. 20)-The preists and Levites asked, “What then? Art thou Elias?”, and John said, “ I am not.” (vs. 21)-Finally, John was asked, “Art thou that prophet?”, and He said plainly, “No”. (vs. 21)- John reveals Himself as he is questioned one final time -John said in John 1:23, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.”-This claim made John the fulfillment of OT prophecy ( Isaiah 40:1-5)-If the voice was now being heard, then the glory would soon be revealed for all flesh to see. - John tells us in the Prologue of his gospel when that glory was revealed ( John 1:14-16).-Since John is now preparing the way of the Lord, the glory of Jehovah was about to be revealed. 4. John preached to the crowds concerning Jesus. “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, 36) -John was testifying that Jesus was going to be the sacrificial hope of the Old Testament scriptures. -Notice the implication: Jesus was the sacrifice for the sins of the world, which included “all flesh”. (Isaiah 40:5)-Therefore, Jew and Gentile can come to God through Jesus…the Lamb of God ( Isaiah 53:5-12)-John the Baptist also testified that, “I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:34)5. Some came to John with questions and He testified again. “He that was with you (Jesus) beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to Him.” -John’s simple explanation was, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)-In other words, I came before Him ( vs. 28), but He was before me and came down from heaven to fulfill the work of His Father. (John 5:33-38)B. The real question is do you believe?
2. Will you put your faith in Jesus? ---Our next testimony is not as lengthy but comes from the… II. Early Disciples Of Jesus “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41) -Andrew was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah to the point of telling others. 2. The next day Jesus found Philip “Follow Me” (John 1:43), and Philip followed Jesus only to be so impressed that he would testify to Nathaniel, “We have found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote” (John 1:45) -Nathaniel was not impressed only until he met Jesus to hear Him speak and he said, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art King of Israel” (John 1:49)B. These early disciples testify that Jesus is the Messiah, the one to which Moses and the prophets made mention, that He was the Son of God, and the King of Israel.
---It should encourage us to take note that there is more testimony in… III. Mary The Mother Of Jesus John 2) “what have I to do with you”. -In this Jesus was saying that there was a greater power at work -She must have been impressed, because she told the servants, “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it” (John 2:1-5)-Now that is motherly advice, at it’s finest. -Certainly, we must all see a need for obeying Christ. 2. Mary also gave silent testimony at the cross of Calvary ( John 19)John 19:26-27) -What a heart rendering picture this is… -All Mary had to say was, “This is not the Son of God! _____ is His father…Not God!” -She said nothing, knowing that He indeed was who He claimed to be. -So she gives a great testimony as she allows her Son to die under the accusation in John 19:7, “he made Himself the Son of God”-This is mute testimony to the Lord’s claim, “I am from above…I am not of this world” (John 8:23)B. Mary kept silent to show the difference between the blackness of falsehood and the character of truth.
---There is still more evidence as we consider… IV. Nicodemus “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him” (John 3:2) 2. Nicodemus also defended Jesus that He might be heard ( John 7)“Doth our Law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?” (John 7:50-51) -Nicodemus had already heard Jesus, “a teacher come from God”, and he had already seen what He did, “no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him”-Nicodemus could defend Him from experience. 3. Finally, Nicodemus continues His testimony at the burial of Jesus ( John 19)“teacher come from God” (John 19:38-42) B. We will never know what came of Nicodemus, other than the fact that He knew that Jesus was “from God”
---For further testimony of Jesus, let us look to … V. The Samaritans “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.” (John 4:19) -Whatever Jesus had revealed to her, He could not have known by any other means than if God would have revealed it. -The message caused her to tell others as well. She said, “Come, see a man, who told me all things that ever I did: can this be the Christ? (John 4:29)2. Jesus received testimony of the other Samaritans John 4:39-40) -The Bible informs us that many Samaritans believed, not only on the women’s testimony, but also on hearing the word of Jesus firsthand. ( John 4:41)-The women’s testimony, along with what Jesus said Himself, convinced the people, “that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” (John 4:42)B. This Jesus was more than a good teacher…to those who heard Him, He was the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
---Perhaps we can add to our study of testimony… VI. Peter John 6:66) “Would you also go away?” (6:67) “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and know that thou art the Holy One of God.” -Peter did deny Him in a moment of weakness, but later continue in the words that lead to eternal life. B. Peter’s testimony is worthy of our consideration
---As we continue we notice the testimony of … VII. The Multitudes, The Jews, And The Pharisees John 7) “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know.” (John 6:42) -This points out that they accepted His miracle, but not His Deity. -After this miracle, Jesus went up to the feast of tabernacles, and the Jew were in search of Him saying, “Where is He?” (John 7:11).-Some when talking about Jesus said ( verse 12), “He is a good man”, while some said, “Not so, but He leadeth the multitude astray”-After Jesus had arrived, the testimony of the multitudes was based on pure evidence as they said, “Can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is the Christ?” (John 7:26)John 7:20, 30-31) 2. The Jews inform us of the effects of Jesus on their lives. John 7:15, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” -Jesus had the knowledge of God to share with the people. -Further, it is written, “Many of them said, He hath a demon, and is mad; why hear ye Him? Other said, ‘These are not the sayings of one possessed with a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?’” (John 10:20-21)-This shows their prejudice to Jesus as they knew that a notable miracle had been performed, that a demon cannot perform it, but only one with the power of God. 3. The Pharisees also gave valid testimony John 9:16), the people acknowledged the sign, but not the source. -When Jesus raised Lazarus, the council said, “What do we? For this man doeth many signs? (John 11:47)-The witness here is that Jesus did many signs and they could not deny it. -These Pharisees also testified the influence of these signs - John 11:48 says, “If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him: and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”-Third, the Pharisees confessed that they could not stop the increase of His popularity, as it is written, ( John 12:19), “ Behold how ye prevail nothing?; lo, the world is gone after Him.”-When the Pharisees realized that that could not slow the effect of Jesus on the people, they had one alternative …death. ( John 11:49-50)B. Although Jesus showed that He is the Son of God, many went against Him even to the point of crucifying Him. “Crucify Him, Crucify Him”? 2. Or, will you recognize that Jesus is indeed the Lord of Lords putting your faith in Him? ---Next we learn of Jesus through the record of … VIII. The Officers John 7) “Never man so spake” (John 7:46) -Jesus had really impressed them with His knowledge 2. These officers were questioned for their inability to arrest Jesus. “Are you also led astray?” -Remember these men were speaking in ignorance, but the officers knew something about Jesus that was special. B. To be led astray is to not follow Jesus
---Our next witness is… IX. A Man Born Blind John 9) John 9:6-7) -Those who saw the miracle questioned the man about his healing. -All that he could say of Jesus was that, “He is a prophet”-As the Pharisees were not satisfied with the man’s testimony, they approached his parents, who for fear of the Jews would not testify. ( John 9:18-23)-So as the Pharisees said that Jesus was a sinner, the man responded, “Whether he is a sinner, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25)-This man who now saw asked the Pharisees if they would be His disciples, yet they would continue to follow Moses. -The man who now could see said, “If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.” (John 9:33)-The man was cast out, for his belief of Jesus, and Jesus found him and said, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?”-The man said, “Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?”-Jesus responded, “Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee”2. The man said, “Lord, I believe”, and then he worshipped Jesus. (John 9:35-38)B. This man born blind now has seen Jesus the one recognized as a prophet, a worshipper of God, one who does God’s will, and that comes from God and is the Son of God.
---The evidence is further established as we consider … X. Mary And Martha John 11) “if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” (John 11:21) Mary said the same (11:32) -This shows their faith in what Jesus could have done to save their brother. -But even Martha had hope for the present, as she says, “But I know that even now, whatever you ask of God, God will give it to you” (John 11:22)-Jesus said, “Thy brother shall rise again” (11:23)-Martha states, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (11:24)-Although some view this as a doubt on Martha’s part, she was actually showing her faith in the Lord’s ability to raise all on the last day. -Jesus shows this by saying, “I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in Me, though He were dead, yet shall he live.”-Martha confessed, “I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world” (John 11:27)2. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and many others including Mary and Martha believed on Him, even to the point of telling others. ( John 11:45-47)B. The testimony is abounding and we cannot deny the power of God in Christ…that He can even raise the dead to life.
---To this list of incredible testimony, we add… XI. The Disciples At Supper John 16) John ch.14-16) John 6:68) -Now at the close of their time together the disciples express this truth, “Now we are sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest from above.” (John 16:30)2. The ultimate conclusion was that Jesus came from the Father, and was sent to reveal God through His life and teachings. B. If the disciples came to that conclusion, after experiencing the Lord, will you not believe their report?
---To this evidence we can add… XII. Pilate “I find no crime in Him” (John 18:38) -The crowed continued their desire to see Him killed, and Pilate having Jesus scourged, slapped and mocked, brought Him out and said “ I find no fault in Him” (John 19:4)-As Jesus stood before the crowd, Pilate said, “Behold the man”, the crowed resounded the words, “Crucify Him”. (John 19:5-6)-Pilate should have had the boldness to stand on his first statement , “I find no fault in Him”, but for whatever reason he said, “Take ye Him, and crucify Him: for I find no fault in Him.”2. Pilate’s recognition as a Roman ruler of who Jesus was (innocent at that), will stand the test of all time, as testimony for our faith.
Conclusion 1. Tonight, we have looked at the testimony concerning Jesus that you might believe, even though you have not seen Him. 2 . He left His home in glory to die for all mankind that we might have life in His name. ( John 20:31-32)3. Jesus said we must believe… Do you believe in Jesus? 4. Someday we will all see Him, but will we be ready for that day? ( Acts 1:9-11; II Thessalonians 1:7-10)5. We will see Him someday, but have we believed, and obeyed the testimony.
6. Will you still say, ‘I will not believe, unless I see Him’? ( I Peter 1:8-9)7. Will you come in faith, trusting and obeying His every word? |
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