Sermon
The Miracles of Christ
October 27-28, 2001
Pastor Donald Sheley

I'm going to ask you to take your bulletins and in the bulletin I have inserted for you, and for your convenience, a chapter out of a textbook that we use in the study of the religions of the world. I'm just going to ask you to observe this with me and then I'm going to ask you to put it in your Bible and we'll go to our passage for our lesson today.

My deep concern is that we understand our faith. We're living in a world where religion now is becoming an issue, and ultimately, as I said in our service last week, I believe the ultimate conflagration of the ages will be a religious war, and the stage may be set now. Therefore it is imperative that we understand what we really believe as Christians, because we are going to be bombarded by various beliefs as religion takes the foremost in world news. And in this particular chapter written by Josh I think he has done a beautiful job in being very, very concise in his overview of our Christian faith. Would you like to join with me?

First of all on page 27 he discusses the doctrine of God. He says the doctrine of God is the same in all three branches of Christianity. And he gives us some of the great creeds of the past and discusses what we all believe in God. Then we're on page 29, and the reason for selecting this particular chapter is because he spends eight pages on the person of Christ. Notice page 29 he says 2000 years ago, Jesus asked His disciples the ultimate question: "Who do you say that I am?" And central to the Christian faith is the identity of its founder, Jesus Christ, and it's of monumental importance to have a proper view of who He is. And Josh goes through the doctrine of Christ. He says the Christian church has always affirmed that, although He was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit, God in human flesh, Jesus Christ was also fully man. The teaching of the Scriptures is clear with regard to His humanity. And then he concludes: therefore, it is made plain by Scriptures that Jesus was genuinely human. He possessed all the attributes of humanity.

Then he discusses the deity of Christ, and on page 30, we're going to talk about that in just a moment, Christ and His divine works and His miracles. And then he goes to page 31 and talks about the demonstration of God's power. Jesus not only claimed to be God; He also demonstrated that He had the ability to do things that only God could do. By demonstration; page 32 by association. And then he describes for us the attributes of God as found in Christ: self-existence. I'm on page 33. His eternalness. His all-knowing. He's all-powerful and present everywhere. Then he talks about the attributes: the holiness, the truth, the love, and the righteousness of God as characterized in Christ.

On page 36 he takes up the subject of Jesus receiving worship as God, and then he does something, at the bottom of the page, he says attributes ascribed to Yahweh in the Old Testament. That is, Jehovah of the Old Testament, are also used in reference to Jesus in the New Testament, demonstrating that Jesus is Yahweh. On page 37 I think something excellent, he takes the references to God in the Old Testament and he shows that reference to Christ being paralleled in the New Testament. Notice just one on Exodus 3:13 and 14: remember, Moses asked God, when I get to Pharaoh and he asks me who sent me, who shall I tell him? And God you tell him the I AM has sent you. God used that as His title. The I AM, the all sufficient, God. And Jesus, of course, moves that title across in the New Testament. It says, I am the door. I am the way. I am truth, and thus He picks up the identification of the God of the Old Testament. He, taking that position, as God incarnation in human flesh.

Now at the conclusion he says the teaching on the person of Jesus Christ from the Scripture is very clear. He was fully God and at the same time fully man. Any deviation from this position is not only unscriptural, it is also heretical. Stop there for a moment. And if you're using your pew Bible, the reason why Josh puts that sentence there is because of the verses we find in 1 John 4, and in your pew Bible it's page 820. 1 John; it's in the last part of your New Testament, and a very, very important verse. A very, very important truth because it blends into the theme of the whole gospel of John. Verse 2 of 1 John 4 says, By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. He says the very heart of all of truth faith is a belief that Jesus Christ was God in human flesh.

The next verse: and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and is now already in the world. Thus, any teaching that deviates from the teaching of the Scriptures concerning the person of Christ, is not only heretical, but it's antichrist. And we are living in a time where a religion is getting very much prominence, and that particular religion has no common understanding as we do as Christians as to the person of Christ. They are against Christ. And thus, we are dealing in a world where the antichrist message is being proclaimed, and it's the fastest growing message. It's the fastest growing religion in the world.

Now what I'd like for you to do -- is I made this and I glued it up so that the printing is there, the front and the center binder, so you can cut off the exterior borders and put it in the back of your Bible. And have it there as a reference because it is concise and it will, of course, give you answers when people ask you as to what you believe concerning the person of Jesus Christ.

Now let's take our Bibles. Back to our lesson, which we've been studying now for some time, in the gospel of John. It's nice to have all of you in church today, and we're not progressing to rapidly in our study, but I pray that we're learning much and that our hearts and our lives are growing in a love for Christ. We've come to John chapter 5, and we've been spending a lot of time in verses 31 through the end of the chapter. And just briefly for a setting, remember Christ went to the pool of Bethesda. The first of chapter 5. He heals a man who's been ill for 38 years. He's criticized by the religious leaders. He's accused of violating the Sabbath. He worked on the Sabbath -- told to man to pick up his bed and go home. That's working on the Sabbath.

So the accusation that the religious leaders throw at Christ is that He's violated the Sabbath and therefore He's guilty of death. When Christ seeks to defend Himself He said but the works of My Father are the same as My works. My Father works always. Every day of the week He's passing out mercy and grace. He's in charge of this great universe. God works all the time. Why are you only allowing Me to work six days? And you're saying I cannot show compassion, I cannot show love on the seventh day. And so now they accuse Him of blasphemy, making Himself equal with God.

So with those two charges Jesus goes on the defense, and in the passage before us He brings before His group that were criticizing Him -- He brings four witnesses to His deity. We noticed in verse 31 He says, if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. And we likened this as almost setting up a courtroom scene, because all the words here are testify and witness. You'll find it repeated over and over again throughout the passage. So we almost have a courtroom scene and Jesus is there. The accusation brings Him guilty of death. And so His first witness, verse 32, He says there is another. And remember we observed that most Bible scholars do not have a concise answer. Some believe that He's referring to the witness of His Father, and yet, He moves to that witness when He comes down to verse 37. So other Bible scholars say He's referring to the witness of the Spirit.

And when you go back, the first public demonstration that took place when He came out of the waters to commence His public ministry, remember a dove lights on His shoulder, which is the Holy Spirit, and a voice then speaks. So in reality the first witness to the public ministry of Christ was the witness of the Spirit of God in the appearance as a dove. We notice something very interesting. He doesn't leave the witness on the stand, only but a brief time. There is another that bears witness of Me, and I know that His witness is true. And almost with those words He excuses the first witness and moves to the second.

You have sent to John. Now He brings John the Baptist to witness to His deity, and we spent last Sunday going through the many passages, Matthew chapter 11 and others, which showed us the importance of John the Baptist's ministry. Verse 35 says he was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for time to rejoice.

Let's go back just a few pages to chapter 1 in John and here's the reference-a burning and shining lamp or light. In verse 6 of John 1, there was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

Thus, the message there is that Christ is the light because it's capitalized. In the passage before us it says that he was a bright and shining lamp, and the implication is that a lamp receives its source from the oil that's there. The light in reference, oft times, in the original is the light that is within itself, such as the sun. But here the reference is to a lamp that has been lit from an outside source.

We are called in Matthew chapter 6: you are the light of the world. We are lamps shining in our world lit by the light of Christ who has come to beam truth into our very being. Thus He is saying, John was a burning and he was a shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. In other words, when he preached what you wanted to hear you listen to Him, and the Bible tells us that when John began to preach down along the Jordan the throngs came to Him. But when they began to really listen, he opens one sermon by saying, ye generation of vipers. I've never got that brave to start a sermon that way (congregation chuckles). And then he denounces them for their sin. And his message is a message of repentance. It's a harsh message. It's the message of a prophet. And he's saying, for a while you hurried down to the banks of the Jordan to listen, but when he really started telling you the truth, you walked away. And finally they put him in a prison because he told the truth to Herod and said, you're sinning, you're living with your brother's wife. And as a result, they put him in prison and finally took his head. It said he was a lamp lit by the light. You listened while you like to hear what he said, but when the message really started hitting home, you killed him.

Verse 36, John steps down from the witness stand and the next witness takes his position. Listen to Jesus: but I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish-the very works that I do-bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. So He calls to the witness stand His works. Later on in his gospel He will say, you may not want to hear the words that I say; you may not want to believe them, but just observed what I do and My actions prove My deity.

Now already in the gospel of John in chapter 2 Jesus goes to a wedding ceremony. A massive problem occurs -- the host runs out of sufficiency to care for the crowd. The wine is all gone. Mary says, Jesus, here's a problem. Ultimately, Jesus looks down and sees 6 water jugs by the door, and says, fill them. They fill the water jugs and immediately they begin to disperse its contents and realize that it was marvelous wine. Now I'm not much in wine. I've always been a tea toddler. And I don't know the process of how you age wine, but I'm told that good wine takes a long time to age. The older the vintage, supposedly, the more costly it is and the better it is. It's just beyond me to think about drinking a $1500 bottle of wine. The point is this: that to age wine takes time, and the host at the wedding when he served this wine from the jars says, now this is strange. All weddings always serve the best wine first, and then after they've drunk -- in other words, when they get drunk they don't know what they're drinking so you can give them anything (congregation chuckles). And he said, you have withheld the finest till the last. And the miracle was Christ had compressed time into an instant and matured that wine to perfection before their very eyes.

His first miracle. His creative power in charge of the universe. Chapter 5, He's walked into the pool. Here's a man that's been lame for 38 years and the multitudes know it. And Jesus walks over and says, do you want to be healed? The man said yes. He said take up your bed and go. That's what has disturbed those Pharisees. They know He is a miracle worker. And Jesus is saying, listen, you may not want to listen to My words, but just follow Me around day after day and see what I do. They give evidence to My deity. Later on He gathers a group, 5000 men plus ladies and children. It could have been a group of 15,000. The they're hungry, and Jesus says to His disciples, is anybody here with food? And Thomas says we've got a little boy here who's got a lunchbox-a couple loaves and some fishes.

Bring it here. But Thomas said, Jesus, it's not enough. It won't feed them all. Jesus said just bring them here. Now you're standing in the crowd that day. Maybe you're way back there in the last quarter, you're in the last 10,000 or 5000. You're watching this. Here's Jesus standing here. He's got this little handful of food, blesses it, and then He says to His disciples now I want you to line up here. Give them each a basket, and they do, and the baskets fill to overflowing. All twelve of them. And you're watching. All twelve of them are full. Now He said take them out and serve them.

Now if I'm sitting in the back bench I'm going to wonder if I'm going to get my share, but by the time they get to the back bench the food is still the same. The baskets are full. Amazing, and then they have to collect what's left over.

I want to show you something about miracles. It's a fascinating thing to me. Jesus always involved human beings in the miracles. You know, He could have said to those waterpots (claps hands) full, but He didn't. He had them go fill them. He could have said to that crowd of 5000 or 15,000 -- now everybody close your eyes, cup your hands, now open your eyes. And He could have filled their hands of food. Right? But what He did was He said, disciples, I'll give this to you and you participate in the miracle.

Now I want to show you where this truth is really personal. We're standing with a crowd and, we're in Chapter 11 of John, and Jesus is at the tomb of Lazarus. He's died. He's dead. And Jesus weeps along with the rest of them, and then finally He says, now I want you to remove the stone. Martha said, just a second. Jesus, he's been dead for four days and he stinks. You're going to mess of the atmosphere with his order. Jesus said, if you do what I tell you, you'll see the glory of God. Notice, human involvement again in the miracle. When the stone was removed here comes Lazarus wrapped as a mummy. He said take it off, lose him and let him go. That's amazing.

You say, well what about miracles? I say this: we miss a lot of the miraculous in our own lives and Christian experience because we won't move the stone. We know that there's something that God wants in our lives for Him to complete what He wants to do, and we stubbornly resist oft times. He said if you do this, the miracle will happen. And for each of us the stone is different. But I believe that we as Christians live far below the miraculous because we won't participate in the miracle. We just kind of leave it all up to Him, and yet, almost every miracle that He did He asked for participation.

Jesus is standing there. His first witness has quickly moved off and on the stand, which we believe to be the Holy Spirit, then there's John. They know. They heard John. Many of them were down there at the river. They listened to his message: Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. And Jesus said if you would have listen to John, would have been saved. That's how important his witness was. And Jesus then, witness number three, if you just watch what I do it gives evidence to My deity.

There's a sadness about the scene because we know how it concludes. They walk off and let their unbelief continue to grow, and ultimately they nail Him to a cross, even though they've got all the evidence. In fact, when you come to Lazarus and the old Pharisees are listening and watching all the people turning to Christ, they said if we don't stop this guy now, everybody will believe in Him. They knew that those miracles were of God, and yet they chose disbelief. They chose to reject.

As a preacher I've sat in my office this weekend said, Jesus, that must have hurt You deeply. Here You're giving them the evidence of who You are and yet with absolute deliberate rebellion they reject Your deity and ultimately, nail You to a cross. The rejection of the message and the messenger. Come to John chapter 6, and He stood before the folks and said I am -- I am the bread of life. If you'll eat of Me, you'll live. Here's God Almighty in human flesh saying to mankind if you'll just eat of Me, believe in Me, you'll live. When you get to the end of the discourse most of them had left the scene.

I've never preached a sermon in 50 years where my crowd got up and walked out on me. When I do that'll probably be the last sermon I preach. But Jesus preached one of the greatest sermons of time and eternity -- I am the bread of life -- and they walked out on Him. And probably one of the most pity filled statements of the Bible, is Jesus looks at the twelve and says, will you also go away? Do you feel it? Will you also go away? Thank God for old Peter. He said, Lord, to whom can we go? Only You have the words of eternal life. But the crowd missed it. And even though Jesus gave a beautiful defense for His deity, ladies and gentlemen, persons who don't believe choose not to believe. Not because the evidence isn't strong enough. They just choose to reject the evidence.

Paul Johnson, the great writer from the University of California, in his many books on evolution comes to this conclusion: you're only an evolutionist because you reject the facts, and that's true. Because the truth of God story of creation far exceeds anything the evolutionists have ever tried to say. One is an unbeliever not because there's not enough evidence, but because they choose to close their hearts to truth. And they'll die in their unbelief.

Jesus, we're not like those Pharisees. We with open heart have put our trust in You and believe You to be the divine Son of God. God manifested in human flesh, our Savior, our Lord, our God. We don't walk away Jesus. Thank you for speaking to our heart, and our hearts become even hungrier for truth and for Your presence. We don't want to ever be guilty of walking away from You dear Jesus or walking away from truth. We love You and we worship You, Christ, O Christ, our Savior. And everybody said, amen. God bless you.