This sermon was preached by Pastor Naftali Ogalo at Grace Baptist Church, Eldoret, Kenya. John chapter 5. I will read verse 31 to 39. So we're not going to read the whole passage again, but from verse 31. to 39. This is what the Bible says. If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony, but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamb that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. 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. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about me. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. Now, this morning God helping us would like us to draw some lessons from those few verses we have read. I just want to say this We prayed, giving thanks to God for the family conference which ended in Kisumu on Thursday night and people returned home on Friday morning. And just to say again, all who attended said it was of great value. It was very helpful. Obviously, apart from meeting new friends and old friends, and apart from the various foods which were there and the people enjoyed different meals which were served, the spiritual food, which was the Bible, the Word of God, which was preached and taught and discussed, was of great help to all who were there. And we really thank God for the conference. Later, I was told that over 85 people registered. Of course, there were a few who came and didn't register. But all who registered were 85 people. If you think of the fact that it was the very first one of its kind, a family conference of its kind, and 85 different people coming from different parts of the country, and the main speaker coming from Zambia, a pastor of a church in Zambia. We really have everything to thank God for. And so I'm saying it so that you are aware it went well, by the way. All who wanted to go from the church here, we made it possible for them to go. And so we are so thankful to God for that. All who expressed interest that they wanted to go were given that opportunity to be at the conference. Next year, we will plan another one. And every year, we will be doing that. And I want to ask you, prepare early, please, more in terms of the money that is needed, both for the registration and for the transport to that place. But prepare early. I didn't want to put it this way. As soon as we meet with the committee organizing it and we agree as to when next year it will be, in December next year, and how much it will cost, we will tell you immediately begin to save money for that. And it will be safer. We can say if you We will put your name down and how much you pay. So that by the time of the conference, you have it ready. Okay? So that you don't miss out. And remember, it is a family conference. In other words, you can go with the whole family. The mom, the dad, the children, or the parents, and the friends. So don't say, ah, then I'm not married, so I can't go. No, that's not the point. Everyone is invited. And the youngest this time was Marion, and she enjoyed her self-cabiza. In the days when the photos will be already, or at least the report will be out, you'll see her among others. And of course, there were older people and of course, teenagers. So it really went well. Please, let's pray that the things which were taught will bring much good to people's life, and then let's begin to pray that next year God will help us to plan. And in the days to come, in the years to come, we should be looking forward to hosting it in Eldoret here, okay? So it was good for us to be there and to learn, and then when the time comes, we will be able to host it. Okay, let's leave that aside. I want us to think about this passage, Matthew chapter five from verse 30. Excuse me, John chapter five, thank you. Ooh, I would have taken you straight. But John chapter five from verse 30 to 39. And by way of summary, by way of reminding you, we've been looking at a number, I've been preaching in the previous week in our last week I preached from Luke chapter 16 but the weeks before that I was preaching through the book of John and we were seeing one thing repeated again and again and this was what we saw that Jesus Christ the various people he met or he came across or if you like The people who came across Jesus, the ones who he interacted with were left changed. They were never the same again. You'd remember in chapter 4, we took a number of weeks as we were learning from the story of the Samaritan woman and how when she met Jesus, Jesus spoke to her. And her life was changed. And she ran back to the village, to the town, and told the people in the town about Jesus. And the town people came to where Jesus was at the well. And when Jesus spoke to them and taught them, they also were changed. And they even said, stay with us, don't go away, continue to teach us. And he stayed there a few more days. And then after that, we found when Jesus then was moving to another place, then there was what we described a man, an officer in Judah at that time, we call him in the town that we can understand, a state house officer. That's a very important person if you think of those who work, the officials who work in the state house in Nairobi. They are important people. But here was one working in the state house and he had a child who was sick. A son who was sick. And he had heard stories about how Jesus was doing people good by performing miracles and changing people's lives. and he traced where Jesus could be found and he told him please come over and help my son he is near the point of death and then while Jesus appeared to delay then this man said come quickly before my child dies and then we are told because Jesus saw faith that this man had he told him go your son lives or your son is healed if you like and actually the son was healed at that moment even without Jesus going to check on or to touch the son and when this man heard about that and his family heard about Jesus their lives were changed as though that is not enough in chapter 5 when Jesus came back to Jerusalem and as he entered there he met a man we are told a man who had been sick for 38 years and for some time he had been lying next to a pool like a swimming pool but he had been lying there and the story in chapter 5 is that at a particular time of the year, the waters would be disturbed. It was believed that an angel of God would come and stir the water. And when that happened, the first sick person, and of course there were sick people, the blind, the lame, the various different people, people with different illnesses. And we are told, the first one to jump into the water would be healed. But here was a cripple. Here was a person who had no hakwa nanamna and there was no one who could then, when the water starts, push him in. So by the time he's dragging himself to reach into the water, of course others would have jumped in before him. And they were getting healed and going home. He had to wait for another time when the water would be start. So this man for a long time lay there helpless and sick. And what happened? Jesus comes and he asked, would you like to be made well? Would you like to be made well? And he said, well, I have no one to help me. And Jesus tells him, get up, pick up your mat and walk. And the man walked. Amazing. And so this is the point we are making. Whenever Jesus met people, He changed their lives. They were never the same again. Quite a number of us here could testify that yes, when we met Jesus, when he met up with us, we are no longer the same again. Now we are not perfect. Me standing here, I am not perfect, but I am not what I once was. In terms of what we learned this morning in the Bible study, those of us who have met Jesus and our lives have changed, then my friends, the points we have learned there apply. Presently, those who are without Jesus, the Bible describes them as guilty. The Bible describes them as condemned and defiled. And in that state of guilt and condemnation of sin, If you die, then sad that you will perish. You will go to hell. And I also mention it is this Jesus who spoke and warned people about hell and judgment more than anybody else. But I'm saying this now that many of us here, having met Jesus, We are no longer the same again. However, this morning, this morning, this is the point I want to raise. You know, I could say, because Jesus has met up with us, or we have met Jesus, he has changed our lives, I want you also to be saved. Now that would be right. But according to our passage today, Jesus is telling us, listen, I have witnesses. Because my work, Jesus says, of coming into this world, my work is to save the world. But who really am I? Jesus may be saying. Do you really know who I am? I could speak about myself, but I am not going to speak about myself. I want others to speak about me. And Jesus then brings forward witnesses who speak about him. Now of course the greatest, the highest witness is his own father in heaven. We touched on that the last time we preached on, I preached on this and so just to remind you that the father in heaven is one of the highest and the greatest witnesses. But he has other three witnesses Witnesses who declare that he has come from God Witnesses therefore who declare that he has come as a saviour He should be believed and he should therefore be the one to give life And who are they? One is a man called John the Baptist Two are his miracles the mighty works that Jesus did, and three, the scriptures or the Bible. And so what we want to do then is to understand who these witnesses are, what is it that they witnessed about the Lord Jesus. And dear friends, the reason of doing this this morning is so that I may persuade you again. You know, every preaching that we do, is to the end that I may my desire is to say because of what I have said because of this Jesus whom I have described to you I want to hold your hand if I could I want to hold your hand and say come come to Jesus and of course it's a coming of faith it's a coming by faith Jesus is not somewhere here so that I drag you to him I wish I could but no it is Trusting in Jesus. Believing in Jesus. Relying upon Jesus. The Bible uses the word coming to Him. Trusting Him. And so, the first witness therefore, there are three, I trust you will remember. The first witness is John the Baptist. John the Baptist is a man who was born a little earlier than Jesus. for the very purpose of preparing the way forward. He goes ahead, like if the President was to come here in Adelaide tomorrow morning, you will guess what would happen today. We would have someone come from the State House or from the internal the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to come and make sure all is well, more in terms of the security. He comes and makes sure everything is sorted out. In that early morning, there are those who will... And then the president follows. Now, John the Baptist had such a task. John came and announced that one is coming behind me, one who is greater than I. One who is coming and will baptize in the spirit and with fire. Now Jesus talks about John the Baptist in this passage and look at what he says in verse 33. 33 to 35. you have sent to John and he has testified to the truth but before not that I accept human testimony but I mention it that you may be saved so you you also see here that Esau is not hiding his purpose of calling his testimony these witnesses he's saying John I'm calling him to be my witness to the end that you may be saved, and that satisfies. John was a lamb that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. And so Jesus here then says that John testifies in my favor. John was a testimony who bore testimony, a witness who bore testimony which was true. And he says that John was a lamb that burned and gave light. Now the time Jesus is saying this which is recorded in John chapter 5, John the Baptist had been persecuted, had been imprisoned and could well have died. You may remember the story how Herod captured John, locked him in prison because John had warned Herod, Herod you are doing wrong, don't take your brother's wife, that is sinful. But he refused. He said he locked John in prison and later John was killed. Now we may say, if John was such an important witness for Jesus, if John is someone who Jesus would call to stand and give testimony on behalf of Jesus After all, why did Jesus not protect him? Jesus was able, he could have protected him from Herod killing him and yet Jesus let that happen Why? Now Jesus is able Jesus is able to preserve us from problems, from trials, from an accident, but why does he allow, why did he allow this to happen? Jesus fully appreciated what John did. Jesus mentions John the Baptist to this end. Now he didn't preserve him from death, but he values very highly the witness that he bore. Why? Why did Jesus call the testimony of John? Why did Jesus say, what John said, I stand by it. It was this. Verse 34, the end of verse 34. But I mention it, that you may be saved. Now, it's amazing. Jesus never preserved John from death. He could have done it, but Jesus now uses the ministry and the teachings of John and he says, you know why? I stand by what he said because I want you people to be saved. Friends, Jesus calls John as a witness to the end that we may be saved. His greatest desire is that we may be rescued. Remember last week we looked at The idea of salvation, being saved, is to be forgiven our sins, to be pardoned, to be rescued. And the greatest desire that Jesus has is that we may be saved. It shows us his great love. It shows us his great concern for the sinners, that a sinner may not die, but may be saved. And he said, listen to what John had preached. Of course the world may hate us. John was hated. Only for a short time did the Jewish people like him. They appreciated him. But sooner or later he was gone. But Jesus is saying the theme for which he was raised was to the end that we may be saved. And I hope you will catch that. It's showing us that Jesus values everyone who stands for Him. No wonder later on the Bible tells us that if we confess Him as Lord, He also will confess us before His Father in Heaven. He will not abandon us or deny us. So even though John was not preserved from death, The work he did was to the end that we may be saved. Imagine what love. And so here, therefore, we see John as a witness. And it was to the end that we may be saved. And then there is another witness Jesus calls by. And this is now the witness of the miracles that Jesus did. The miracles are an evidence the miracles show that indeed Jesus is the Messiah and the Messiah means the one who is anointed by God to come and carry out the work of God and of course the work of the Messiah was to come and save and so Jesus is saying my miracles are an evidence that I am the Messiah look at verse 36 and 37 please I have testimony weightier than that of John. So we have seen John and the aim of John's testimony was to the end that we may be saved. Jesus is telling us there is even another one better. And this one is, I have a testimony weightier than John for the very work that the Father has given me to finish, if you like, the miracles that the Father has given me to finish and which I am doing. He testifies that the Father has sent me. And so here therefore it goes on to verse 37, And the Father who sent me hath himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice, nor seen his form. Every word that I am doing, they testify that the Father has sent me." Do you know what is unfortunate? When we read the Bible, even when we read the book of John alone, when we read from chapter 1 to chapter 5 so far, we see mighty miracles which Jesus did. Remember in chapter 2 what happened, Jesus turned water into wine at a at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. And people said, wow, we needed this wine at the beginning. This is super wine. Why didn't, did you give us weak center wine? And now you're giving us the better wine. And what happened is because of what Jesus had done to the water, he turned it into wine. And then my friends, Other miracles followed. The one at the pool of Bethesda where this 38 year old man, a man who had been sick for 38 years was healed. Another powerful evidence of the miracles of Jesus. The state house official, his son healed from far away. These are mighty miracles that are before us. showing that Jesus indeed is performing miracles. But what we see happening? People are not paying attention to the miracles of Jesus. What happened? People are instead turning to the so-called miracle workers of today. And I'm raising it because it's in this passage. Jesus has done great miracles. as he was sent to do by the father. But people turn to various so-called miracle workers of today and ignoring the miracles of Jesus. And they work themselves up and they cheat people along the way that come receive your miracle or see what miracle we have done. And so many of them have been proved to have conned people or lied to people about these miracles. I'm telling you friends, if you want a miracle that will cause you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that you may be saved, look to Jesus. Look to Jesus. Now you could choose any of these great miracles and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but I want to turn you to one other miracle. The greatest miracle of all. And which one is it? The fact that the Lord Jesus Christ died and rose again. The greatest miracle that has ever happened. You remember last week when I was preaching, I showed you that in Luke chapter 16, the rich man, when he had died and he was in hell, pleaded with Abraham, if you like, in heaven, with Lazarus by his bosom. And then the rich man was saying, okay, if really I can't be sorted out and my situation be changed, let Lazarus go back and warn my people so that they don't come here in this place of torment. And Abraham says, no, no, no, that cannot happen. In fact, they have God's word. And then the man was saying, oh, God's word is not enough. But if someone would rise from the dead and go speak to them, then they will change. In fact, they will repent. Ah, then of course Abraham told him, listen, unless they believe the scripture, even if someone should rise from the dead, they will not be saved. And I finished last week by pointing out to you, yes, there is one miracle that has happened. The greatest miracle. Someone has risen from the dead indeed and has gone and has been proclaimed and that is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And so today we are again in this passage seeing my friends that the greatest miracle Jesus has performed is him coming back to life from the dead. He died for three days and now he comes back to life. To what end that we may believe that the Father has sent him? If Jesus had died, what would we conclude? My friends, we would conclude that his aim has failed. He has failed to bring deliverance he has failed to please his father so that in his name we may find or have life and have forgiveness but because he died truly and was buried and then he rose again the conclusion of the matter is that the father is pleased with him that the father has accepted his task His work of coming to die for sinners. That is the importance of the mighty resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I hope that these things are making sense. There is a passage of the Bible, if you don't lose John chapter 4, but please turn to Romans. So if you move forward to Romans chapter 4, Don't lose John chapter 5, but now turn to Romans chapter 4. Because there we are told the reason why Jesus came back to life. Why he was raised from death. Why resurrection took place. And so chapter 4, the last verse in chapter 4, that verse 25, this is what we find. He, Jesus, was delivered over to death for our sins, okay? So that tells us Jesus died because of our sins. He died as a punishment for our sins. But it goes on, the verse goes on to tell us, and was raised to life. Why? For our justification. Now justification looks like a big word but those of you who have been here for a few weeks you know we have learned something about justification and we will continue to because it is in the Bible. What does it mean? It means to be declared righteous before God. It means that God looks at me who all along has been a sinner, guilty, condemned, defiled But because I trust in the Lord Jesus as my Savior, then God declares me not guilty. God pronounces me accepted with Him. So that now, instead of living in fear of the coming judgment of hell, then now I live in peace. And that's the purpose of why he rose again or why he was resurrected. And so therefore, the mighty miracles of the Lord Jesus are to point us to the fact that he is the savior. He is the one who removes us from the judgment of sin. So I've shown you two. John the Baptist was a witness so that people may be saved. The miracles of Jesus and particularly his resurrection were there so that we may be saved, so that we may be declared not guilty before God. And then finally, the scriptures. The scriptures also are there to testify that indeed Jesus is the Messiah so that we may be saved. Look at verse 39 and 34. We are back now of course to John chapter 5. John chapter 5 verse 39 and 40. This is what we read in verse 39. You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you will possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about me. yet you refuse to come to me to have life. Now when the Bible talks, when you read somewhere in the New Testament and it's written the scriptures, we are supposed to understand the scriptures to mean the Old Testament. We are supposed to mean from Genesis all the way to Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, that is the scriptures. Of course, the New Testament is also scriptures. But we are specifically referring to the Old Testament. Why? It's because during the time when Jesus was in this world and teaching and performing miracles, the only Bible they had was from Genesis to Malachi. It's only after Jesus had died and rose again and gone to heaven, then later his disciples, his apostles, began to write and to put together what we now have as the New Testament. So during this time, all they possessed was the Old Testament. You know what that teaches us? An easy. Every part of the Old Testament is meant to teach about Christ. When you read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, all the way through to Malachi. Dear friends, we are supposed to understand more and more about the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you may not find the name the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, but the more you study the Bible, the more you realize, ah, so these things are teaching about Christ who will be born. Now that is very important. The Old Testament, the Scriptures, are all about the Lord Jesus Christ. But I ask this question, why don't people then understand more? Why don't they know more about Christ in the Old Testament? Because the problem is, people don't search the Scriptures. That is what Jesus is telling these people. You are not searching the scriptures as you ought. If we search because we want to see and find and understand Jesus so that we may believe in him, you will. Because that is why the Bible was given. such descriptions and when we fail to know the Bible then we live in ignorance and what happens? We are in error. We do wrong. We fail to please God as we ought. My friends we have seen many witnesses here about Jesus. John the Baptist and the miracles And now also the Bible, the scriptures, that these things if we search them diligently we should have or possess eternal life. I want to plead with every one of us. Why not take these things seriously? Why not take the witnesses that Jesus Christ sets before us here seriously? Again, when I started, that's when I said, we could stand here, or different ones of us here could say, you know, Jesus has saved me. And I want you also to be saved. Jesus is a good man. Jesus is powerful to save. We could say that. But no, this morning, I've shown you that people like John the Baptist had one language. They did what they did. They spoke what they spoke to the end that people may believe and that's what Jesus has told us. His miracles and the greatest one that he was resurrected from the life was to the end that we may also be saved. The scriptures verse 39 and 40 show us also that the purpose why they are there is to the end that we may have eternal life. Three powerful witnesses. I'm pleading with you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us somewhere, Matthew 11, 11, that of all people born of women, there was no one who could be compared to John the Baptist. He was the greatest. Jesus could say, I live by his testimony. He spoke to the end that people may be saved. And then Jesus goes on to say, but even those who then came after John, if they believe in me, we do well to quote that verse properly. Matthew 11, 11, let me, that will be the last passage to quote. Matthew 11, 11, it says this, so that we are faithful to God's word, it says this, I tell you the truth. A man was born of women. There has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist. And yet, he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Now there is so much we could learn from that. But surely it is this. John, a mighty man that he was, Jesus could point to him and say, what he stood for, I stand for. He stood for salvation of sinners. And if you would accept that and be saved, remember John lived under the Old Testament plan. under the previous arrangement. But those who believe John's word find themselves under the New Testament, under the arrangement that the Lord Jesus Christ himself brought. And that, among other things, shows us salvation is so important that if you are saved, the Lord Jesus prices you very high in his kingdom. I have to end here. Why won't you be saved? Why will you not receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior? Look at witnesses we have seen, John the Baptist, the mighty miracles he did, the testimony of the Bible itself. And all that Jesus desires is that we may be saved. Are you saved? If you are rejoiced In fact, if you are saved, rejoice, because in that sense, you are greater than John the Baptist. But if you are not saved, then I have to end by warning you. We don't know about our tomorrow. We don't know if we will live to see next Sunday. Some people, of course, languish in struggle or bodily ailment, and then finally they die. But some people, they just die like that. Of late, we have heard of people who they go to sleep, but they never wake up from their sleep. Their time has come to stand before judgment. And I want not to threaten you, but I want to persuade you Therefore to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that you may be saved. Because that is the purpose why he raised these three witnesses. Now if you want to honestly turn to the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved, don't let this day go by. Even where you are seated, even today, this moment, you honestly can pray, Lord Jesus have mercy on me. Grant me the faith that is needed to trust you that I may be your child, that I may be forgiven my sins. Well, if you want to talk more about these things even privately, please, I am here and you can come and we can talk. My desire is to persuade you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, our God, for your word. You've shown us through three powerful witnesses that indeed the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. And it's our prayer that we will always cling to him, that we will always praise him. Help us then to know more about Jesus. There is much more to know about Jesus. Oh, help us. knowing more that we will love Him, obey Him, and serve Him. These things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We do hope you have been blessed by the sermon you have heard. We want to encourage you to tune in to more of similar messages. We also want to encourage you If you are able, come and join with us in our worship services at Grace Baptist Church, West Indies, Eldoret, just behind Cogo Flats. Thank you.