Because of the Works Themselves

If you have your Bible with you, feel free to open it up to John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

The words will be on the screen so you can follow along there as well.

We're continuing the story of Jesus.

He's in the upper room with his disciples on the evening of his betrayal.

And he's giving his last words of comfort and encouragement and instruction to his friends, his followers.

He's told them that he's going away, but he's given them assurance that he's coming back.

And that when he does, they will be with him forever.

He told them that he is the way to the Father and the truth and the life.

And last Sunday, we heard Philip, one of the disciples, express his own heartfelt desire.

He said to Jesus, Lord, show us the Father.

And that will be enough for us.

Would you give us the chance to see God?

And we heard Jesus say, if you've seen me, you have seen the Father.

I am in the Father and the Father is in me.

Believe me, said Jesus.

We ended off on verse 11.

Jesus is talking here.

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.

Or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

You know, it may be a struggle, don't you think, for these men sitting around the table with Jesus

to accept what Jesus has been saying.

If you have seen me, you have seen the Father?

God?

What do the men around the table see when they look at Jesus?

Well, their basic human senses tell them that Jesus is a human being, just like us.

He's got skin and bones and flesh.

Eyes, mouth, ears.

He sleeps.

He eats.

He walks.

He talks.

Just like we do.

It's obvious to them that Jesus was truly human.

And so I imagine it would have been quite something for them to hear Jesus say this.

If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.

I am in him.

He is in me.

This goes beyond all the categories that the disciples would have had in their minds.

They knew about Moses, the man who saw God up on the mountain.

They knew about Samson, the man in whom God's spirit worked so powerfully that he had supernatural strength.

They knew about Samuel, the man who heard God's voice and spoke the very words of God.

They knew about Solomon, the man whose wisdom came from God's spirit.

But this, what Jesus is claiming here, goes beyond all of that.

Jesus, the man, claims to be one with God, the Father.

He claims to be a living, breathing, flesh and bones, human being, manifestation of God.

Is this not a tough pill to swallow?

Would doubts not be rising in your mind if you heard him say these things there in the room?

Does God expect you to just take Jesus' word for it?

What if somebody else was to come along and claim the same thing for himself?

Should we believe just anyone who makes these kinds of claims?

No.

God has provided evidence.

He's given us things that can be seen to verify, to authenticate the things which are unseen about Jesus' true nature.

And so Jesus says, believe me when I say that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me.

But if not, or at least, believe because of the works themselves.

Believe because of the works themselves.

What is Jesus saying here?

He's saying, if my words are too difficult for you to accept on their own,

think back to all the works that I have done, which you have witnessed.

What is Jesus talking about?

He's talking about his miracles.

And it kind of makes sense, doesn't it?

I mean, the things Jesus is calling them to believe,

these are pretty lofty things.

That God is in him, that he is in God.

He's asking them to believe that when he opens his mouth,

it's really God's words that are coming out.

What could prove that this is true?

Well, if Jesus can do things that only God can do,

well, that's a good proof.

That would be solid evidence, wouldn't it?

And so he's asking the disciples,

think back over all the works that I've been doing.

What works have we seen Jesus do in this gospel so far?

Well, back at the beginning,

we saw him turn six large stone jars worth of water

into the best, the finest of wines at the wedding in Cana.

We heard about the many signs that Jesus performed in Jerusalem

after that at the Passover festival,

signs which the likes of Nicodemus and his colleagues could scarcely deny.

We've seen Jesus knowing things about people

that he's never met before,

like Nathaniel and the Samaritan woman at the well.

She even acknowledged that somehow he had knowledge from God.

Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

We saw Jesus heal a certain royal official's son from miles away

while he was in a totally different town.

We watched as Jesus healed a man who had been paralyzed

and unable to walk for 38 years.

Jesus, and in an instant, he got up and walked.

We heard about how a great crowd began to follow Jesus

all through the Galilean territory

because, John says,

they saw the signs that he had performed

and how he was healing sick people again and again, repeatedly.

We watched as Jesus miraculously multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish

into enough food to feed a whole multitude out in the middle of nowhere.

We saw Jesus walk across the water of the Sea of Galilee

in the middle of the storm

and then get into the boat where the disciples were rowing.

We heard about how Jesus gave sight

to a man who had never seen before in his life,

who was born blind.

And then finally we saw how Jesus raised Lazarus back to life from the dead,

a man who had already been dead for four days.

And these are just the works that Jesus did that John has in his gospel.

I mean, we aren't even getting into the ones in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

These are amazing things.

These are things that only God can do.

It's only the power and working of God that can explain these things.

Now you might be sitting there and thinking,

well, how do we know that these testimonies in the Bible are accurate?

Well, first of all, I would encourage you to read them for yourself.

See if they bear the marks of authenticity.

There's a man named J. Warner Wallace.

He's a famous and very successful cold case detective.

His job for years has been to pour over the testimonies

and the evidence that's been left behind from unsolved homicide cases.

Having done so for many years, he's been very successful.

He's come to solve many of them.

He's come to see quite clearly what are the marks of authenticity

in people's testimonies, in their statements that they gave.

Even many years after the events took place.

I'm not going to go into his whole story.

If you're interested, you can buy and read his book.

It's called Cold Case Christianity.

But the gist of his story is that in his effort to disprove

the accounts of the New Testament about Jesus,

he applied the same rigorous discipline that he applied to all of these cold cases,

these homicide cases.

He applied that to the accounts in the New Testament

in order to disprove them.

And at the end of his analysis, he gave his life to Jesus

because he couldn't discount these testimonies.

In fact, the opposite.

They seemed to bear all the marks of authenticity

that he was so familiar with from all these other eyewitness accounts

and testimonies that he's studied over the years.

You don't even have to read his book to see that.

Let me point out just two things here in John's Gospel

that lead us that way.

Back in chapter 6,

Why was it that there was this huge crowd of thousands of people

following Jesus around, even out into the wilderness,

out into the place where nobody lives?

John says,

So it wasn't just John and his buddies,

the twelve disciples,

who saw these miracles, these works of Jesus.

There were literally thousands of witnesses

all over Israel.

who had been healed,

who had seen Jesus heal,

or who at the very least knew of someone.

They could verify,

yeah, that person,

they had this persistent disability,

disease, condition,

and after they went and saw Jesus,

they were healed.

I mean, think about this.

With thousands of witnesses

who saw the miracles that Jesus did,

if John is just making all this up,

I mean, there's no way he could get away with saying this.

I mean, probably many of these people are still alive,

even as John writes this.

They would have been willing to confirm or discredit,

give their own testimony of what really happened.

The second thing I want to point you to is the testimony of Jesus' enemies.

They would have loved to expose Jesus as a fraud,

or as a clever magician.

They would have loved to be able to show how Jesus did all these miracles.

But even by their own admission,

they could not deny the miracles of Jesus.

You'll remember when Jesus talked with Nicodemus,

Nicodemus kind of spoke on behalf of the Jewish leaders.

He said,

Rabbi,

we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.

Why?

For no one could perform the signs that you are doing

if God were not with him.

He admitted it.

Real miracles.

Real signs.

And again,

later on,

John chapter 11,

John 11 · chapter mention

the Jewish council met together.

The chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

What are we accomplishing?

They asked.

Here is this man performing many signs.

If we let him go on like this,

everyone will believe in him.

And then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.

We'll forget the bleak forecast for a moment.

Notice that even they acknowledged,

yes,

he's performing signs.

He's doing amazing things.

And they tried to discredit him.

It's not as though they didn't try.

We saw that as they grilled the man who had been blind from birth.

Do you remember that?

They conducted an official investigation.

They brought in the man's parents to confirm.

Was he indeed born blind?

They brought in people who knew the man and friends.

Was he actually blind from birth?

Yes,

yes,

yes,

yes.

They all said.

And it was plain as day in front of them that he could now see.

Who did this so that now you can see?

What happened?

Jesus did it.

He said.

So if even the opponents of Jesus had to acknowledge his miracles as genuine,

perhaps we should give a second thought to just writing off all these accounts as historical fiction.

I mean,

think about this.

5,000 plus people out in the middle of nowhere with Jesus on the other side of Galilee.

What was it that they were chewing on?

What did they have in their mouths?

Where did it come from?

They didn't even dispute with Jesus over the fact that he had made all that bread and all that fish seemingly out of nowhere.

They ate it.

No,

their argument was,

what does this sign point to?

What does it really mean?

Well,

now Jesus is telling his disciples what the signs,

the miracles,

and all the things that he's been doing mean.

They mean that the father is in him and that he is in the father.

They mean that Jesus is indeed one with the father,

the divine son.

God here among us walking in human flesh.

As crazy as it sounds,

it's true.

Believe me,

says Jesus,

because of the works that I've been doing.

Think back over those things.

Only God can do such things.

God's not going to work miracles through some shady imposter

who's just putting on a world-class act to make himself famous.

Or rich on the backs of his followers.

God's not going to work miracles through a liar,

through a deceiver.

If the miracles are happening,

and they're being undeniably witnessed by thousands,

even undeniably acknowledged by Jesus' enemies,

then God is truly at work.

And Jesus,

the man doing these things,

speaks the truth.

There's just no way around it.

We should also remember that this is not the first time

that Jesus has called the people

to believe in him because of the works that he's doing.

Remember back to John chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

This was a more public moment.

Jesus made that astonishing statement

in John chapter 10,

John 10:30

verse 30.

It's just above the black words there.

He said,

I and the Father are one.

Amazing.

And his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him.

But Jesus said to them,

I have shown you many good works from the Father.

For which of these do you stone me?

We're not stoning you for any good work,

they replied,

but for blasphemy,

because you,

a mere man,

claim to be God.

And a little further down,

what does Jesus say to them?

He says,

do not believe me

unless I do the works of my Father.

But if I do them,

even though you don't believe me,

believe the works

that you may know and understand

that I,

that the Father is in me

and I in the Father.

So Jesus has said this before.

Remember,

are you having a hard time

swallowing this truth

that Jesus is the God-man,

both divine and human,

truly God,

truly man,

at the same time,

one with God.

Twice Jesus has said it,

believe me,

I am.

And if you can't take my word for it,

look at the things I've been doing.

It's the testimony.

It's the evidence.

Here's where I want to go with this this morning.

This really applies in two ways.

First of all,

if you are not yet a believer in Jesus,

can I challenge you?

Can I challenge you to give

the eyewitness accounts of Jesus' life

a fair hearing?

We call them the Gospels.

It's Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Four men who wrote about

what happened with Jesus.

Can I challenge you to read through

each of them once?

And I'm not going to tell you

before you do it

to just believe them.

But I will encourage you

to have an open heart

and simply to pray

and say,

God, if you're real,

if this is true,

would you make that clear to me?

Would you show me

as I read through these accounts?

Maybe you're thinking,

well, I would do that,

but

what if I find out

at the end of it all

that they are true?

Because I don't really like

to think about the change

that might be required

in my life

if it's all true.

What if I have to give up

some stuff that I really love

in order to be a follower

of Jesus?

Well, let me put your mind

at ease.

Two things.

I'll say it.

Don't worry about the change

that is required

to become a follower

of Jesus.

First of all,

if it's true,

it's true.

I mean,

you can't escape

the consequences

of the truth.

You can run from them,

but if this is all true,

you're going to have

a day of reckoning

eventually,

whether you want it

or not.

And so it's best

to acknowledge this.

It's best to have

that moment

now

rather than

later

on the final day

when you find yourself

with deep regret

and it's too late.

second,

another reason

why we don't

need to worry

about this change

that's required.

Jesus was very clear.

There is change

required in your life

if you become

a follower of his.

Absolutely there is.

He said it in a number

of different ways

and not just a little change,

not just a little adjustment,

but a big change.

But Jesus also said

that he is the one

that works

that change

in us.

we wouldn't be left

to ourselves

to bring it about,

he said.

God's power

comes to work

in us.

God gives us

his Holy Spirit

who works

in us

and he enables us

to be

and to do

what we never could

before.

More than that,

he doesn't just

enable us

to do the good things,

he actually changes

our hearts

so that we desire

the good

and the beautiful

and the right.

It's a wonderful thing

so if you do not believe,

if you have not yet

done that,

I want to challenge you

this morning

to have an open heart

and to simply pray

and ask God,

if this is all true,

if you're real

and this is all true,

would you make that clear

to me as I read

through these accounts

one by one

and then do it?

I promise you,

it'll turn your life

upside down.

But what if upside down

is really right side up?

And all this time

you've been living

upside down

all along,

maybe that's why

things aren't going

so well.

So that's my challenge

for you this morning.

If you have not yet

believed in Jesus

yet,

many of us

in this room,

of course,

we have.

We believe in Jesus.

What's there here

for us this morning?

Most of us

have already heard

all this

in past sermons

or we've heard it

from reading

our Bible.

We're already familiar

with the many miracles

that Jesus did

and we're familiar

with the fact

of who Jesus is.

So what do we do

with all this?

Well, I really do believe

there is something special

here for us

in just this one verse

for us this morning.

You know,

we all know

that God wants us

to share our faith

with others,

with people

who don't believe,

people who've never heard.

We know that

he wants us

to do that

in hopes

that they will come

to share

in our faith,

to believe,

to be saved,

to find life

in Jesus

just like we have.

We know

that's our mission.

Go and make

disciples

of all nations,

said Jesus.

That's our mission.

Of course,

to make a disciple

of Jesus

requires

first

that we tell people

about him.

I mean,

how can you begin

to follow someone

if you've never

even heard of them?

Or,

the way Paul said it

in his letter

to the church

at Rome,

he said,

everyone who

calls on the name

of the Lord

will be saved.

But how can they

believe in the one

of whom they

have not heard?

And so,

our job,

we all know,

as followers of Jesus,

is to tell people

about him.

And we all know

that.

If you're a believer,

I know that you

know that.

But sometimes

we don't do it.

We choose

to stay quiet.

And one of the

reasons we might

stay quiet

is because

we're just not

worried about,

we're worried

about not

knowing what

to say.

We imagine

ourselves having

these kinds

of conversations

with people

and I tell

them about

Jesus and I

tell them that

they need to

believe in him,

that he is the

son of God,

that he is

God.

But what if

they're skeptical

when I tell

them?

What if they

say,

ah,

those are

pretty lofty

claims for a

man who lived

2,000 years

ago?

Why should I

believe that?

Good question.

Why should they

believe that?

Why should they

believe these

things Jesus is

saying about

himself?

And depending

on what you've

been taught

since you came

to believe,

you might be

thinking,

oh man,

now is the

time to pull

out that book

on evangelism

that I read

one time.

What am I

supposed to

say next?

Or now is

the time to

pull out that

apologetics book.

What was the

ontological argument

again?

Or was it the

cosmological argument?

I forget.

You know what?

I'm not very good

at answering these

kinds of questions.

I'm just going to

leave the sharing

of my faith up

to Pastor Josh

church on

Sunday mornings.

Maybe I'll get

the book Case

for Christ or

Cold Case

Christianity and

I'll pass it out

to them and

maybe they'll

read it.

Now there's

nothing wrong

with these

books and I

hope you do

invite people to

come to church.

I hope you do

read these kind

of books and

learn what you

can from them.

There's so much

value in them.

But what if

there was a

simpler and easier

way to answer

that question?

Why should I

believe in

Jesus?

Jesus shows us

that there is an

easier answer to

that question.

How did Jesus

answer the question?

Why should we

believe in you,

Jesus?

Why should we

believe the things

that you're saying?

Jesus said,

if you can't

take my own

word for it,

believe because

of the works

themselves.

the works

that I have

been doing.

Think about

this.

How did he

handle the

doubts rising

in people's

minds?

He called

them to think

about, to

look at, to

consider the

things that he'd

been doing, the

signs, the

miracles.

Why?

Because they

are the best

argument.

They are the

best evidence

that what Jesus

said is true.

Isn't that

wonderful?

You don't have

to memorize the

ontological

argument, whatever

that is.

If people have

doubts, if they

raise objections,

if they question,

why should I

believe in Jesus?

We just have to

do what Jesus

did.

Read it for

yourself.

Look at the

things that he

did.

What explains

these things?

Isn't it

obvious that God

was at work in

all of these

moments and all

these eyewitnesses

who saw these

things?

These works of

Jesus, they are

the evidence.

They are the

argument.

They are the

testimony being

given by God the

Father about his

son, that Jesus

really is who he

says he is.

Just tell them the

story of Jesus or

some of it.

tell them about

that time he

turned water into

wine.

Tell them about

that time he fed

the multitude out

in the middle of

nowhere.

Tell them about

that time that he

raised Lazarus from

the dead four days

later.

Encourage them to

dig out their own

Bible, read it for

themselves.

The works

themselves, the

things he did, the

signs, the

miracles, all of it

recorded here in

our Bibles about

what Jesus did.

This is the

ultimate apologetics

book written by

God himself.

But what if they

simply refuse to

believe in the

supernatural, Josh?

What if they say,

well, that's

impossible for Jesus

to have done these

things.

I don't believe any

of that.

Push back.

Ask them.

What about the

thousands of people

who were following

him around and

witnessed these

things?

Ask them, why

were his opponents

so frustrated?

Why did they go so

far as to kill him

when they could have

just exposed him as

a fraud?

And what of the

disciples?

Why would they give

up their lives if it

was all a sham?

All a big hoax?

What did they stand

to gain?

let the Bible, let

God's testimony work

on their hearts.

There's power in it.

The works themselves,

believe because of the

works themselves,

said Jesus.

So let's be a church.

Let's be Christians that

tell the story of Jesus,

the whole thing.

Let's make it our

mission to tell this

community about both

the words that Jesus

spoke and the works

that Jesus did.

And by God's grace,

may many more come to

believe in his name.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven,

thank you so much for

your word and that you

speak from heaven to

our hearts through

these pages.

I pray that each one

of us in this room

here today would be

deeply stirred and

transformed and changed

by your word.

I pray that we would

act on the things

that we hear.

I pray and ask that

you would give us

courage and boldness

in conversations

with people.

Help us to remember

that our lives are

short, our days are

numbered, and

eternity is coming.

And it matters so

much that we know

your son.

Put that on our

hearts.

I pray.

And lead us in

sharing the good

news of Jesus

with this community.

We ask for

creativity.

We ask for

wisdom.

And we ask for

true love in our

hearts for the

people here in

Davidson.

To your name be the

glory.

Amen.

Yep.

We ask for

everyone.

Hyah.

Truly.