He could have solved that problem by making us all robots. All He would have to do then is push a button and make us believe on Him as our Savior.
Illus: That would be a bit like a young man pulling a gun on a beautiful young lady, pointing it in her face, and saying, “Tell me that you love me."
Yes, God could have made us all robots that would say, "I love You," at the push of a button, but He does not want us to express love for Him because we are forced to do so. Instead, He chose to make us "free moral agents." He made us so we would be free to make a choice TO ACCEPT HIM or TO REJECT HIM.
Many do not accept Him for Who He said He was. They are free to do this, because God gave them that freedom. IT IS THEIR CHOICE.
When people choose to REJECT HIM, they have made the worst decision they could possibly make.
Jesus constantly preached to the people and told them Who He was, and that He wanted them to accept Him.
One day Jesus asked His disciples who did the people say that He was. He was not polling the people to collect information. Remember, the Lord Jesus is OMNISCIENT. There is not a thing that He does not already know, so He was not asking that question just to gain information.
Jesus was asking the question because He wanted His disciples to GET IT CLEAR in their minds WHO HE WAS!
The reply He got was, Matt. 16:14, "And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias, and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets."
But then the Lord brought it closer home. He asked them who they said that He was.
Peter then made this proclamation, Matt. 16:16, "...Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” When Peter made the proclamation that Christ was the Son of the living God, Jesus assured Peter that, based on that proclamation, the church should be built and the gates of hell itself would not prevail against it.
The task of getting people to recognize that Peter's proclamation is true, that Christ is the Son of God, is still being worked on today.
Whom do you say that Jesus is?
John, in this passage we are dealing with in this message, wants you to think about that.
Let me show you THREE things to consider from our text.
I. THE TESTIMONY OF HIS ACTS
Look at verse 6. We read, "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth." We see TWO proofs in verse 6 that show Christ is Who He said He is.
A. HIS BAPTISM
John said, "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ..." Some of might be saying that the fact John baptized Jesus does not prove anything. John may have baptized thousands of people.
Well the fact is, if Jesus' baptism had been like other believer's baptisms it would not prove He is the Son of God. All kinds of things can happen at baptisms.
Illus: One pastor baptized a lady who was deathly afraid of water. The lady was fine until it came time to go under, then she suddenly grabbed the pastor, and nearly drowned both of them. After the service the pastor asked why she had not told him she was so afraid. She told him she had prayed so hard and thought she would be all right.
Something special happened at Jesus baptism and it was not because He was afraid of anything.
John had baptized many, perhaps thousands, of people. Then came Jesus. John the Baptist, being the forerunner of Jesus, announced Jesus was the "Lamb of God...”
Then God gave John, and all present, a sign so that they might know Jesus was His son. Look at John 1:32. We read, "And John bare record, saving, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him."
John testified, verse 32, that he had seen, "...the Spirit, descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him." God had told John that this would happen (v. 33).
Listen, anyone who would have been present when the Lord Jesus was being baptized would have said, "I have seen many baptized, but never have I seen a baptism service like this one!"
Anyone would have left that baptism service concluding, as John did, "...this is the Son of God.”
HIS BAPTISM WAS A TESTIMONY OF THE FACT JESUS WAS GOD'S SON. Another witness is the WITNESS OF...
B. HIS BLOOD
Look again at verse 6 of our text. We read, "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ..."
Jesus' death and the blood the Lord shed on Calvary declares Him to be the Son of God.
Some might be saying, "So what! Many have shed their blood.” That is so, but no blood like the blood of the Lord Jesus has ever been shed.
It is the blood of the Lord Jesus that removes our sins.
Illus: The old hymn, "There Is Power In the Blood" is still precious to those who have been "washed in the blood of Jesus." We especially like the first verse. "Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's pow'r in the blood, pow'r in the blood; Would you o'er evil a victory win? There's wonderful power in the blood." (Lewis E. Jones)
Only the shed blood of the Son of God could cleanse us from our sins.
Jesus was the Lamb of God. He died for our sins.
• We read in Matt. 26:28, "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
• We read in Acts 20:28, " Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood."
• We read in 1 Peter 1:18-19, "Forasmuch as ve know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
This Bible is filled with scriptures that declare that we are saved by the blood of the Lord Jesus!
Ever since Jesus died on the cross and shed His precious blood for our sins, lost people, bound by sin, have been coming to Him to be cleansed from their sins.
When they are cleansed from their sins something miraculous takes place in their lives.
• DOPE ADDICTS are immediately delivered from their sins.
• ALCOHOLICS are immediately delivered from their sins
• GAMBLERS are immediately delivered from their sins.
• PROSTITUTES are immediately delivered from their sins.
• LIARS are immediately delivered from their sins.
The concrete proof TODAY that JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, is that ALL WHO COME TO HIM TO BE CLEANSED BY HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD ARE DELIVERED!
We have all seen people in sin who have tried every imaginable way on earth to find peace.
Illus: These who are in sin are like the woman told about in Mark 5, verses 25-34. We read, "And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth And he said unto her, Daughter. thy faith hath made thee whole: go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."
Notice especially verse 26, which says, "And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse."
Not only could they not help her, but they made her condition even worse.
While we recognize there are good doctors, we also recognize there are some who will kill you.
The Bible tells us that poor woman, "...had suffered many things of many physicians...”
To make matters worse, not only did they leave her is worse shape physically, they also left her worse off financially. They took all her money, leaving her broke.
When she heard of what Jesus had done and she heard that He was coming, the Bible says, verse 28, "...For she said, If I may touch but his clothes I shall be whole…”
She did touch Him and the Bible says, verse 29, "And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague."
The Bible says as soon as she came into contact with Jesus, verse 29 again, "...and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague."
She is a perfect example of so many who have tried all kinds of things to get themselves straightened out but they only made matters worse and have a lot less money.
But, the moment a person, by faith, accepts Christ and that cleansing blood that was shed on Calvary for his sins he is immediately healed of the sins that plagued his life.
HIS BAPTISM and HIS BLOOD declare unto us that Jesus is Who He said He was.
THIS IS THE TESTIMONY OF HIS ACTS.
Also, look at...
II. THE TESTIMONY OF HEAVEN
WHOM DO YOU SAY THAT HE IS! There are three witnesses in heaven that declare Jesus is Who He says He is.
Look at verse 7. We read, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word. and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”
A. THERE IS THE WITNESS OF GOD, THE FATHER
When the Lord Jesus was baptized, not only was the sign of the Holy Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove and abiding on Him convincing evidence, there was more!
The VOICE OF GOD, The Father from heaven was a sign.
Look at Matthew 3:17. We read, "And lo a voice from heaven, saving, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
No one could accuse John the Baptist of having a loud speaker in the bushes somewhere to speak through and say, "This is my beloved Son...”
They heard this voice miraculously from God in a day before there were loud speakers.
This was overwhelming evidence to John the Baptist, and everyone else, that Jesus was indeed THE SON OF GOD!
This is THE WITNESS OF GOD THE FATHER. Also...
B. THERE IS THE WITNESS OF THE WORD
Look again at verse 7. We read, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”
The GOSPELS and the EPISTLES declare unto us that Jesus is the Messiah.
The Bible says, in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Notice, the Bible states that JESUS IS THE WORD OF GOD.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
We have to remember that a word is an expression of an idea or a thought.
God had a THOUGHT that He wanted to convey to mankind. God wanted to convey that thought IN FLESH, so God became a man and dwelt among us. The WORD OF GOD is a testimony that Jesus is Who He says He is. We also have another witness in heaven.
C. THERE IS THE WITNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Verse 7 has caused a lot of controversy among some Bible scholars. Some argue that it is not written in some of the better manuscripts. That is, as you know, there were no printing presses when God's Word was being written. The people wrote everything by hand. Men like Dr. A. T. Robertson state that verse 7 was probably written in a margin by some scribe and later another scribe came along and included it in the scriptures, implying that God did not intend it be there.
They can take that position if they so choose, but if they do, I am going to defend the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible by saying the footnotes or margin notes are NOT inspired.
One thing the Holy Spirit of God does, He exalts the Lord Jesus. He has not come to exalt Himself.
The Holy Spirit, from within, speaks to us and assures us that Christ is Who He says He is.
Conclusion:
The Lord asked, Matthew 16:13b, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" Look at verse 8 of our text. We read, “And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and these three agree in one."
Notice, there are three witnesses on earth, and all three of these witnesses agree that Jesus is the Son of God.
Illus: You can go into any court in this nation with three witness who agree positively, and prove your case.
I. THE TESTIMONY OF HIS ACTS
II. THE TESTIMONY OF HEAVEN
