How Jesus Revealed the Father I

Fred R. Coulter—January 12, 2013

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services! In this life what is the greatest thing that can happen to you? Being called of God! That is true. Knowing the Truth! That is also true. But where does all of that come from? It comes from God the Father! So we're going to see that the greatest thing can happen to anyone in this lifetime, is to have the true knowledge of God the Father, to understand Who He is!

We're going to see that Jesus has to make that happen. In the Old Testament you heard me say that there is no Psalm that starts out: 'Our Father.' The only place you can find it in Psa. 89:26, referring to David, who then will be in the first resurrection.

God the Father was not revealed in the Old Testament. There are references to Him as the Most High God, as the Ancient of Days. When you read in Gen. 1, 'Let Us make man in Our image after Our likeness,' you don't get the answer as to Who the 'Us' is until you get to John 17, 'That they may all be one in Us.' Jesus said, 'You in Me and I in You and they in Us that We all may be One.' Also, we've covered things concerning the Holy Spirit. There's no place that says the Holy Spirit is God and cannot be made so.

Psalm 89:26 is referring to David: "He shall cry to Me, 'My Father, You are my God, and the Rock of my salvation.'" That's referring to the resurrection.

Let's come to Isaiah 9; let's see what it says about Jesus. This is a very, very difficult one for the Jews to figure out, because we will see a little later, if you do not have the Son, you do not have the Father. The Jews cannot tell the true Christians that God is the Father in the Old Testament. Of course, a lot of the Protestants believe that and that's why they look to Jesus more than the Father.

Isaiah 9:6: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given' and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

Here Jesus is called The Everlasting Father. But He is not a father, yet. When will Jesus become a father? All those who are brought into the Kingdom of God under Jesus Christ and the saints will be the children of Jesus and the saints, because all of us today are being brought into the Kingdom of God because of God the Father through Jesus Christ. Of course, for the Jews you have to ask: How is it that He is going to be born of the flesh, and yet, called The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father?

Verse 7: "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and over His kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with righteousness from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."

How do you explain that? They wouldn't believe any of the prophecies concerning the coming of Jesus. Of course, the Old Testament is full of them. Let's see something really very important here for us to understand. Let's see what Jesus said concerning calling men father. Isn't it interesting that it seems like the religions of this world go to Scriptures that are given against them and use them or ignore them when it tells them not to do so. Of course, whenever there's a two-way talk show and there's a Catholic on there, this question always comes up.

Matthew 23:8: "But you are not to be called Rabbi; for one is your Master, the Christ, and all of you are brethren. Also, do not call anyone on the earth your Father; for one is your Father, Who is in heaven…. [not on the earth] …Neither be called Master; for one is your Master, the Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever will exalt himself shall be humbled; and whoever will humble himself shall be exalted" (vs 8-12).

So therefore, there is no Scriptural basis whatsoever to call any man a father, which the Catholics do and the pope, the 'holy father.' Both of those are blasphemous and against God!

You've heard the Scriptures that Jesus said, 'Many are called, but few are chosen.' And 'broad is the way that leads to destruction and narrow is the way that leads to life and few there are that find it.' I think we'll be really amazed how few it really is in relationship to all the human beings who have ever been born, lived and died.

Matthew 11:25: "At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to babes.'" God always does the opposite of what people think.

The world cannot know the Father. It's interesting that even the Protestants, they rely on Jesus and hardly ever mention the Father. Remember what we covered just last Sabbath. How do we begin our prayers? Our Father!
Now notice, revealed them to babes. "'Yes, Father, for it was well pleasing in Your sight to do this. All things were delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father except the Son… [And here is the key, right here:] …and the one to whom the Son personally chooses to reveal Him'" (vs 26-27).

Jesus is involved in your life. God the Father is involved in your life and you know the Father because He has been revealed. It is a spiritual thing that God does for each one He calls. So stop and think. I don't know what happened to you. I don't know what your circumstances were in your life, but think of this. What was the day—and I can look back and remember the day—that God used something to trigger your mind to respond to Him and then begin to search for the Truth. That's God intervening to do it.

Let me read a few statistics here concerning the use of the word father. The only place that it is used directly before it refers to the children of Israel coming out of their final captivity at the beginning of the Millennium, the only place it is used is there in Psa. 89:26. In the Gospel of John and 1-John the term Father, not counting the reference to Him referring to the Father is found 135 times. In the New Testament God the Father is found 108 times. So, John tells us more about the Father than any of the others in relationship to our calling and eternal life.

Let's come to John 6 and I reference you to the sermon that I gave, The Holy Spirit and the Seven Spirits of God. I'm going to put that one on the CD that this sermon goes out on so that you'll have it right handy. Those seven Spirits are the eyes of God that come directly from the throne of God. Never think, 'Oh, God doesn't know anything about me, doesn't care anything about me.' Yes, He does!

He bypasses everyone to come directly to you. Think about that. Does that not show the love of God to you? Does that not show to you that in God's eyes, if you respond to God, you are highly important to him? Yes, indeed! So you can become His children. This is a phenomenal thing. It's not like people in the world, just casually assume things or reject things.

There is an absolute barrier that no one, of their own efforts, can go through. I've been doing some reading in the book of Job, preparation to read it and record it. It is absolutely amazing that Job counted his obedience as greater righteousness than God's. Amazing!

This is why it's so important, because no one in the world, they can't go to outer space, they can't go to the bottom of the ocean, they can't go to the highest mountain, they can't go to the most Holy place on earth, wherever that may be, and find God. No one can claim, 'I did this, I did that, I did the other thing,' like Job did and say God was obligated to do something for me.

John 6:44: "No one… [that means no one, anywhere, at any time] …can come to Me unless the Father, Who sent Me, draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day." Just a little side bar here concerning the last day: That is not the Last Great Day. Let's look at the calendar just a little differently than we normally do because there are two ways to look at the calendar:

• beginning with Passover to the Last Great Day
• beginning with Trumpets and ending in Pentecost

Pentecost is the last day of the 50-day count and the last day counting from Trumpets through the Holy Days. So. it's a true statement. What is it that we know? This was also a sin of Job's, because Job had his mind full of idols of himself.

Verse 45 "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'…." How are you taught by God? Through His Spirit and through His Word! Furthermore, we know later in the book of John that when we receive the Spirit of God, there are two parts of the Spirit of God:

• the begettal of the Father
• the Spirit of Christ

Christ said, 'We will make Our abode with that one.' In other words, dwell in that one. This is how we're taught. You know the prophecies we read before; if you take the Bible and say, 'Here read it.' They say, 'I don't know what it means.' You have doctor's degrees and all of this sort of thing, tell us what it means. 'I don't know.' You give it to the unlearned man and you say, 'Read it, tell me what it means.' He says, I don't know, I'm not learned.' Coming along with the understanding and the revelation of the Father is the knowledge of the Truth which God alone can give and that comes the Father!

Verse 45: "'…they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore, everyone who has heard from the Father… [and answers the call] …and has learned, comes to Me. No one has seen the Father except He Who is from God; He has seen the Father" (vs 45-46). If anyone says, 'God the Father spoke to me.' No He hasn't!

Let's see how this is reinforced. Let's see what a tremendous blessing it is. What I want you to understand is this:

• it does not matter what the circumstances are around you.
• it does not matter how old you are.
• it doe snot matter how young you are o
• it does not matter the education that you may have had or may not have had

What matters is:

• the calling of God the Father—that's the greatest things in your life
• to receive the Holy Spirit of God
• to know the Word of God and have it written in your heart and in your mind
• to know that that calling is unto eternal life

That's the greatest thing that can happen!

Verse 63: "It is the Spirit that gives life… [the Spirit from God] …the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life." So, you combine the Spirit of God, the activity of God in your life. You combine that with the Word of God. This causes you to grow in grace and knowledge, understanding, faith and belief in all of these things, because the words of God are Spirit and they are life.

Verse 64: "But there are some of you who do not believe… [Some of the apostles, even after they saw Jesus resurrected. didn't believe. I'm sure they did when they received the Holy Spirit.] …For Jesus knew from the beginning who were the ones that did not believe, and who would betray Him." There are two categories there. The one is plural and the other is singular.

Verse 65: "And He said, 'For this reason, I have said to you, no one can come to Me unless it has been given to him from My Father.'" I want you to think about that. I've mentioned this before, but it's so easy to get involved in looking at the circumstances and things around us and in the world and many people think they can make them better. Other people are working to make them worse, but God is working to rescue all of mankind in His time and in His plan."…I have said to you, no one can come to Me unless it has been given to him from My Father."

What I want you to understand is how much the Father is involved in our lives. The book of John brings this out tremendously. So, we're going to do some survey in the book of John and see those. All of these are basic; I've gone over these before, but how do we grow in faith?

• by the Word of God
• by the hearing
• by the preaching
• by going over and over and over it

Have you gone through the Bible, read it, read certain parts of the Bible and then come back over it again and you read it and it's almost like, 'I never knew that was there.' The reason is because it's layered and it's inspired as Jesus said, because it is Spirit and it is life;it is inspired by God. These words, backed with the Spirit of God, are the things then that we need to really let work in our lives.

John 14:6: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the Way… [We read this every Passover—don't we? Not a way, but the way.] …and the Truth… [not a Truth among many other truths] …and the Life… [there is one eternal life, not many eternal lives] …no one… [There is a division, there is an absolute spiritual barrier. Unless the Father draws you, you can't come to Christ. And unless you come to Christ, you cannot come to the Father. They are in complete unity and They make the decision.] …comes to the Father except through Me.'" Can't be done any other way.

We'll do some surveying in the Gospel of John. I don't know how many times I've gone over these, preached these, read them, and everything, but every time I go over it I get more out of it. I'm not going to get into the thing concerning the trinity. We have the two appendices concerning it. These are very powerful words and have great meaning, because they go back right to the beginning.

John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God… [face-to-face—'pros ton theon'—with God. What did Jesus say? 'I and My Father are one. Not one person, but

• one in Spirit
• one in mind
• one in purpose
• one in attitude
• one as a family

"…and the Word was God." That very first verse, so many people have ignored, even those who have been in the Church of God who now say, Jesus did not exist until He was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary. If they believe that, then what are you going to do with all the Scriptures where Jesus said, 'I have come from above. What if you see Me go back from where I came?'

Just to make sure everyone understands what's going on, v 2: "He was in the beginning with God." Doesn't that tie in with Gen. 1:26, 'Let Us make man in Our image after Our likeness.' Then you can put: —after that. The rest of the Bible shows how we are going to become after His kind. That's the whole story of the Bible.

Verse 3: "All things… [everything that there is] …came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him."

Let's see the greatness of God and His dealings with us, and how then it's so important that we don't let the little mundane things take us down, the things that come along day-to-day. Remember what God had to tell Jeremiah. Jeremiah said, 'Oh, Lord, why are You calling me, I'm just a youth.' He said, 'Don't worry about that. I'm going to make your forehead like flint and your mind like bronze.' Jeremiah had to be one man against the whole nation of Judah.

Now here's the God we are dealing with, Hebrews 1:1: "God, Who spoke to the fathers at different times in the past and in many ways by the prophets, has spoken to us in these last days by His Son." Think of the phenomenal thing that it was. When you really look at it, it is a miracle that there is the Bible. It is a greater miracle that there is the New Testament, because God came manifested in the flesh and taught His disciples, who became apostles.

Stop and think about this for a minute, to show you about 'many are called, but few are chosen.' How many people did Jesus heal? Probably thousands and thousands of them! Where were they? Maybe some of them were at the temple on the Day of Pentecost, and maybe some of them were converted on that day, but how many were there? 3,000! Interesting! People want the blessing of God and as soon as they receive it, they go their way. Just like the ten lepers. Nine of them left; they were healed and only one came back and thanked Him and he was a Samaritan. Look at what is in our lives, brethren. Then stop and think of what value is a 'religion'? A 'religion' is a counterfeit. A 'religion' is a false way.

Verse 2: "Whom He has appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds; Who, being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person, and upholding all things by the Word of His own power…" (vs 2-3).

Remember what Jesus told the apostles just before He ascended. He said, 'All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me.' The Word of His own power. All He has to do is speak and it is or speak and it's not.

"…when He had by Himself purged our sins… [He had to do it alone] …sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…. [That's what we're dealing with: Christ!] …Having been made so much greater than any of the angels, inasmuch as He has inherited a name exceedingly superior to them. For to which of the angels did He ever say, 'You are My Son; this day I have begotten You'? And again, 'I will be a Father to Him, and He will be a Son to Me'? And again, when He brought the Firstborn into the world, He said, 'Let all the angels of God worship Him'" (vs 3-6).

Think about Who is dealing in your life with the Spirit of God. Then think about all your troubles and difficulties that you have to go through day-by-day, week-by-week. This is why we need the Sabbath every week so that we can come before God, He can teach us, we can be filled with His Spirit in knowledge,Truth and understanding. That's what it's for. If there was ever a time you didn't keep the Sabbath when you knew you should have, how did that work out? Not very well! With that in mind, God is there to help us and to change us and to convert us. Remember the promise: He's not ever going to leave us! He is not ever going to forsake us!

John 1:4: "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness but the darkness does not comprehend it" (vs 4-5). Who is the lord of the darkness? Satan the devil! What does it say about this earth? If you have The Messiah I like the way that that is sung by the baritone. He sings, 'Darkness has covered the earth.' Makes you feel oppressed just listening to it. That's the way it is in the world.

The more they are enlightened, the more they are in darkness. Think about all the technology we have and they are more vulnerable than they have ever been at any time in the history of the world. Just throw the switch. Everything stops. Turn off the electricity. All he has to do is send an angel to blow on the satellites and everything is over. We're all massed into together in the cities—aren't we?

That's why at the end-time the whole world system is likened to the great city Babylon; 60% of us live in cities today, and how quickly will all of the catastrophes come upon us because we're all crowded in together.

Then it talks about John the Baptist, he was sent. He testified of Christ, v 9: "The true Light was that which enlightens everyone who comes into the world." Think about that! Every single human being receives the spirit of man at conception. That gives them the light of life for their life. God directly gives it. That's something.

Verse 10: "He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, but the world did not know Him." Was there any time where Jesus said, 'Hey, everybody, you ought to recognize Me, I'm the One Who made the world'? No, He didn't! He humbled Himself and took upon Him the form of a slave. What did He do? He taught the Word of God! There wasn't one thing He said or did that was not in accord with what God the Father and He had planned out.

Verse 11: "He came to His own…" Who were His own? He was the son of His forefather David—correct? He came to the Jews! He came to His own people. He came to where there was the temple that He had them build. He came to the place where He had put His name. He came to those who had the Old Testament, the Word of God. Who had all the prophecies concerning Him. When things were first beginning to happen right after His birth and the wise men came to Herod and they wanted to know where the King of the Jews would be born. They brought the priests and the wise men and they said, 'In Bethlehem of Judea.' So, they knew!

Lesson to learn: Never put your own knowledge ahead of the knowledge of God! That's how traditions have come about with religions, though they claim to be from God.

Verse 11: "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." That's astonishing! It would be like someone who is lost for many, many years and he came home, knocked on the door. 'Hello, this is me.' Me? (whatever your name is) I don't know you. 'Well, open the door and look.' You're not my son, you're not my daughter; get out of here. That's what they did to Him—didn't they? They crucified Him!

Verse 12: "But as many as received Him… [How do we receive Christ? By repentance and baptism and receiving of the Holy Spirit!] …to them He gave authority to become the children of God…" Think of that! That's what God wants from every one of us. It's really amazing, going back and reading the book of Job, Job was so stuck on what he was doing he couldn't even see the Truth about God. Another thing that's interesting, too: He knew nothing of Satan the devil. Very interesting! Now we'll see there are some parallels a little later concerning that.

"…even to those who believe in His name" (v 12). That belief is more than just saying, 'I believe in the name of Jesus.' That belief is based upon faith that you take action toward God and God leads you to that.

Verse 13: "Who were not begotten by bloodlines… [it doesn't matter who your forefather was] …nor by the will of the flesh… [whether naturally or in vitro] …nor by the will of man, but by the will of God." Why are you here? Because of the will of God!

Verse 14: "And the Word became flesh… [or was made flesh] …and tabernacled among us (and we ourselves beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten with the Father), full of grace and Truth." Jesus was the only one begotten in the way that He was born of the flesh. We are begotten again by the Spirit of God and that's an entirely different proposition. He was the only one that way! Who does that exclude? Mary and everyone else!

Verse 15: "John testified concerning Him, and proclaimed, saying, 'This was He of Whom I said, "He Who comes after me has precedence over me because He was before me."'…. [He existed before me] …And of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace" (vs 15-16). If you haven't gone through the sermons that we have on Grace Upon Grace, by all means do so because you need to understand this. Since God has dealt in your life and He has called you, you have repented, you have been baptized, you have been growing in grace and knowledge; you are beyond that division line that's with the world.

That means you stand in grace. You stand under grace because is dealing directly in your life. God the Father has called you. Jesus Christ has worked with God the Father to bring you to the point where you are now. This is a great and a fantastic thing to understand and remember.

So, just think of this: Every time you are tempted to get angry or you get mad about something or you sin or something goes wrong or it doesn't come out the way that you want: stop, think and remember just what we've covered up to this point—that God the Father and Jesus Christ are personally, They control the whole heavens and the universe. Like God told Job, 'Job, where were you when I stretched out the heavens?' God, Who did all of that, is involved directly in your life and has given you of His Holy Spirit in your mind to become His sons and daughters!

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Let's continue on in how God deals with us and it's directly with God the Father and Jesus Christ. I think that that is one of the things that will strengthen us spiritually when we see difficulties and problems that come along. Let's see what Jesus told us to do and then we will see that God is doing something in return. Remember, when we are seeking God, God will seek us. When we are coming to God with His Spirit, He will come to us.

Someone is out there in the world and they don't know where to go, they don't know what to do. They have problems and difficulties in their lives and so they turn to God. How's God going to hear them? What is it that God is going to do?

Matthew 7:7: "Ask…" That's what you do when you pray. You ask, 'Oh, God, I'm here, help me.' Don't do like the man who was stuck in a river, flood all around him and he was stuck up in a tree. He said, 'Oh, God, help me.' So, He sent a crew with a boat to get him. He said, 'No, no, I'm trusting in God.' He was out there a little while longer and so they tried to throw a line to him to get him. He said, 'No, no, I'm waiting for God to deliver me.' Finally, here comes a helicopter, drops a line right down to him, right where he could grasp it. He said, 'No, no, I'm waiting for God to help me.' So finally the tree fell over, he drowned and died. When he was resurrected, he asked God. He said, 'Why didn't You rescue me? I prayed and asked you to help me.' He said, 'I did. I sent the boat and you refused it. I sent the line and you refused it. I sent a helicopter and you refused it.'

Verse 7: "Ask, and it shall be given to you… [maybe someone else will bring it to you, but God sends it] …Seek, and you shall find…. [Seek with the right motive. If you want the Truth and you come across the Truth and the Truth convicts you of something you need to do and something you need to change, then you need to do that.] …Knock, and it shall be opened to you." This also has the meaning in the Greek: Seek and keep on seeking; knock and keep on knocking.

Verse 8: "For everyone… [it doesn't say only those who are on my good list] …who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it shall be opened."

Let's see how God responds when we do that because unless God is there and unless God responds, how are we ever to know? Remember I said I'm going to include the sermon, The Holy Spirit and the Seven Spirits of God, with this. God's seven Spirits are the seven eyes that go to and fro in the earth seeking out those who are seeking Him. God responds!

John 4:19: "The woman said to Him, 'Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet… [this is the woman at the well in Samaria] …Our fathers worshiped in this mountain… [their temple, their religion, and everything] …but you say that the place where it is obligatory to worship is in Jerusalem'" (vs 19-20). That was true. The only place there was a temple of God was at Jerusalem.

Remember when King Solomon gave the dedication prayer of the temple, he said, 'If Your people turn to this place and pray…' That's what they would do. They would face toward where Jerusalem was and they would pray.

Verse 21: "Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you shall neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. You do not know what you worship. We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews'…. [that is, coming out of the Jewish nation] …But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers…" (vs 21-23)

Are there false worshipers of God? How is it that people can worship God in vain and yet think they're worshiping the true God? By having their own traditions! Those are the false worshipers. Even the Apostle Paul wrote of false brethren.

"…shall worship the Father in spirit and in Truth…" (v 23). That means it has to be from your heart and your mind and your spirit toward God. Not through idols, not through rosary beads, but you're seeking God Himself. And "…in Truth…" means according to the Word of God. 'Your Word is Truth.' Jesus said, 'Sanctify them in Your Truth.'

"…for the Father is indeed seeking… [through the seven Spirits of God] …those who worship Him in this manner. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in Truth'" (vs 23-24). That means they are obligated to. This becomes very important. This is why we have the things that we have in the model prayer that Jesus gave us.

We're going to see what Jesus did, how He did it, how it works with the Father, how it confounded those who were even at the temple there in Jerusalem. After He healed the man who had the infirmity for 38 years and told him, 'Pick up your bed roll and walk,' the religious leaders got all mad and said, 'He broke the Sabbath.'

Did you know that the Protestants actually believe that since this mistranslation, 'broke the Sabbath,' therefore, Jesus did away with it. They actually believe that! He loosed the Sabbath from their rule that you couldn't roll up a bedroll and carry it. They took the command, 'You shall not carry a burden on the Sabbath,' that God gave in the Old Testament as that 'you can't carry anything above a certain weight or a certain size and you could only walk so far.' They were mad at Him and wanted to kill Him because He had done that on the Sabbath.

John 5:17: "But Jesus answered them, 'My Father is working until now, and I work.'" There is spiritual work done on the Sabbath and whatever physical effort is necessary to carry out the spiritual work that's perfectly fine to do. God is working when we are:

• studying His Word
• praying with His Spirit
• yielding to God
• wanting to do the things of God
• learning of God

• God is converting us
• God is correcting us
• God is doing all of these things to us continuously.

Another way of putting it is how the Apostle Paul said that it is through the washing—that is cleansing; of the water—that is the Spirit; of the Word, the Word of God. As He puts His Word in our hearts and in our minds, He is doing that. So that's how we worship God in Spirit and in Truth and that's how we understand what to do on the Sabbath Day.

Notice how receptive; remember what we read in the first chapter? He came to His own and they didn't receive Him!

• Who were the priests? Those that God set in office!
• Who were the Levites? Those that God set in office!
• Who were the Pharisees and the other ones? They were those who were supposedly representing God!
• Did they say, 'Oh, this is wonderful. Oh, what a great thing!' and bow down and worship Him? No!

Verse 18: "So then, on account of this saying, the Jews ought all the more to kill Him…" Good lesson. It does not matter how good things are on the outside if on the inside you have sin and murder and hate and all of these things. It doesn't count.

"…not only because He had loosed the Sabbath, but also because He had called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God" (v 18). Good example! My son, Jonathan, is here. He's getting up in his 40s now, moving along, trying to catch up with me, but I'm outstripping him. I remember when he was born—I was there—look at him today. He's more equal than me. He is taller than me and looks down upon me.

He is not equal in knowledge in the Bible, but he's catching up. He is equal to me in every way. He's an adult. He can think. He has his own mind; he makes his own choices; he has his own family. He lives his own life, and now he's got to deal with his own kids—lots of luck, keep at it—and he's doing a pretty good job with it.

They understood when He said, 'My Father.' They understood what that meant. Instead of really believing the Scriptures and believing Christ, they sought to kill Him. Notice how Jesus handled this and this reveals the Father to us:

Verse 19: "Therefore, Jesus answered and said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, the Son has no power to do anything of Himself…" Think about that in relationship to the healing on the Sabbath. If it would have been wrong to heal on the Sabbath, God the Father would not have healed him.

"…but only what He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, these things the Son also does in the same manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing…." (vs 19-20). That will also be given to us in time. Isn't that amazing? Think of that!

"…And He will show Him greater works that these, so that you may be filled with wonder. For even as the Father raises the dead and gives life, in the same way also, the Son gives life to whom He will" (vs 20-21). That's equal with the Father—correct? He verified that yes, that's equal with the Father!

Verse 22: "For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son." Why? Because He was God manifested in the flesh and He knew what it was like to be a human being! Whereas, God the Father has always been in heaven and has not had to deal with the things in the flesh as Jesus had to deal with them.

Verse 23: "So that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father… [That is a statement being fulfilled and a prophetic statement, too. They don't all honor the Father now.] …The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him. Truly, truly I say to you, the one who hears My Word, and believes Him Whosent Me… [reference to the Father; notice how He's revealing the Father in everything that He does] …has everlasting life… [You have to add other Scriptures into it. You must repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit.] …and does not come into judgment… [That is judgment for your sins because they have been forgiven and you pray every day to have your sins forgiven so you don't come into the judgment. 'The wages of sin is death.'] …for he has passed from death into life" (vs 23-24).

If you are under grace, look at it this way: you are standing under life. If you are not in the grace of God, you are standing under death. Does that make sense? I'll show you. Always remember, you must all the Scriptures together! You can't take a Scripture here and use it for one reason and the Scripture over here and use it for another reason. You must put it all together.

It says that he 'who believes in Him has everlasting life.' The rest of the New Testament gives the conditions on how that is possible. We will see that when you stand in the grace of God, that is your standing before God. There are only two classes of people:

• those who stand in the way of man, the world, and Satan the devil, which is death
• those who have the Holy Spirit of God and they're under grace, they stand in life.

If you're faithful to the end, you'll be resurrected and given eternal life as a spirit being. So, even your death in the flesh is completely overturned.

Romans 4:22, speaking of Abraham: "As a result, it was also imputed to him for righteousness. But it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; rather, it was also written for our sakes, to whom it shall be imputed—to those who believe in Him… [remember what Jesus said] …Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses… [the wages of sin is death and He took upon Himself our death] …and was raised for our justification" (vs 22-25)—to have our sins forgiven and to be a perpetual priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Romans 5:1: "Therefore, having been justified by faith…" Not by work of law of Judaism. Not by sacrifice at the temple. Not by a work that a priest may tell you to do. By faith you believe God! God says if you repent of your sins they will be forgiven. As far as the east is from the west they are removed from us. Of course, we need that day by day. Jesus said, 'Sufficient for the day thereof is the evil of it.'

"…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Whom we also have access…" (vs 1-2). That is access to God the Father. Remember, this is a spiritual operation that is under grace. God is not dealing with the people in the world the same way He's dealing with us. This is why, when you read about the prophetic history of the seven churches in Rev. 2 and 3, when the churches start going the way of the world, God corrects them—correct? Jesus said, 'I have this against you, repent.' Or 'I have that against you, repent.' Remember? You can't mix the two!

Verse 2: "Through Whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand…" You stand before God in a condition of grace and that is not just the forgiveness of sin; that is your whole status before God!

• access to God
• praying directly to God
• God intervening in your life
• growing in grace and knowledge
• understanding the Truth of God
• having your sins forgiven daily

All of those are part of the conditions that we find by being under grace.

"…this grace in which we stand, and we ourselves boast in the hope of the glory of God…. [notice how he looks at things in the world]: …And not only this, but we also boast in tribulations… [haven't arrived at that point, yet] …realizing that tribulation brings forth endurance" (vs 2-3). I can look back and see how God has worked that out too. That's why we have them come along. How is God going to know whether you'll really believe Him or not unless you have something that comes against you which challenges that belief and you overcome it.

Verse 4: "And endurance brings forth character… [because you're enduring] …and character brings forth hope…. [we're talking about that today because of what God is doing] …And the hope of God never makes us ashamed because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us" (vs 4-5). Those are really powerful Scriptures.

John 5:28 is quite a witness. The reason this becomes important, this chapter coupled with John 8 shows the difference between the true way of God and a religion that became perverted, though it was based on the laws of God.

John 5:28: "Do not wonder at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves shall hear His voice And shall come forth: those who have practiced good unto a resurrection of life, and those who have practiced evil unto a resurrection of judgment" (vs 28-29).

Verse 30 is what Job had to learn. Think of this. Here's the one who was part of Elohim, divested Himself of His glory, took upon Him the form of a man, had all the things that men do in His life, and yet, overcame.

Verse 30: "I have no power to do anything of Myself…" Spiritually speaking that is the challenge for all of us.

Stop and look at even those who claim to be in the Churches of God. Do they have a pet little doctrine over here that they like to do? We've had some come to us who wear their phylacteries, and had little tassels on it. This was supposed to put them in better standing with God. No, that is an idol in the mind and on them.

What is the greatest sin of a human being? Jesus had to overcome the greatest sin of human beings. What is the greatest sin of human beings? Thinking they can improve on God! How? By inserting their own ideas and their own ways!

If you have the book, Judaism—Revelation of Moses, or Religion of Men?, read it! That will literally blow your mind as to how far the Jews removed themselves from God. When Christ came, yes, there were Jews who repented, that's true. Yes, they were the first ones to receive the Gospel, that is true. But look at where they are today and how they've been down through history.

It does not pay to fight against God. It does not pay to add your way, your doctrines, your little pet theories to the ways of God. There are things we don't understand so we have to admit and say we don't understand. We can guess a little bit about it, but that is just a guess. But when you say, 'This is the way that it is,' when it's not so, not of God. You've done exactly the sin that all human beings have to overcome. That is, no one can come to God and tell Him what to do! That began with Cain.

So this is why Jesus said, v 30: "I have no power to do anything of Myself…" If He did anything of Himself, then He would be denying the Father—correct?

"…but as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father, Who sent Me" (v 30). Go back to that model prayer, 'Our Father Who is in heaven; hallowed by Your name; Your will be done on earth (that means in our lives) as it is in heaven.' There are no transgressors in heaven. Satan and the demons were cast down.

This is why it's so important to understand that, because as Jesus reveals the Father to us, we know we have to do the will of the Father. We find more of it in the Gospel of John and 1-John.

Verse 31: "If I bear witness of Myself, My testimony is not true." Stop and think about your church experience. You go back through the years—when the Church was seeking the will of God, when the Church was preaching the Truth of God—were there blessings? Was there growth? Didn't we have very few disputes and problems? Yes, indeed! And they were generally solved.

But when the Church—through the sub-leaders of the Church—began exalting the leader and the man, what happened? That became an idol for the whole Church—did it not? Even one of the sons of the leader, said, 'If this man tells you something to do, you take it as a command from God.' Those were the seeds that eventually led to its complete destruction! Need to understand that. That's why Jesus said, 'I do nothing of Myself.' He doesn't testify of Himself.

Verse 32: "There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the testimony that he witnesses concerning Me is true. You have sent to John… [Yes, they did. They went to John and he said, 'Who are you? Are the Christ? Are you that prophet? Are you Elijah?' He said, 'No, I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness.'] …and he has borne witness to the Truth. Now I do not receive witness from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved" (vs 32-34). He's saying, 'Look, I'm giving you an opportunity for salvation.'

Verse 35: "He was a burning and shining light, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works that the Father gave Me to complete, the very works that I am doing, themselves bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me'" (vs 35-36).

The grave position that people put themselves in when they reject Jesus Christ as taught from the Bible. There are some who believe that He was an angel. Not true! He was literally God. There are some who believe that He didn't exist until He was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary. Not true! All of those are the things that are contrary to the will of God and lead to problems and destruction. Let's see what happened here as Jesus brings this out concerning them.

Verse 37: "And the Father Himself, Who sent Me, has borne witness of Me. You have neither heard His voice nor seen His form at any time." Anytime includes what? Clear back to the days of Moses—right? Did Moses see God in His glorified form? Yes! Did he talk to God? Yes! That was not the Father because no man has seen Him at any time or heard His voice.

Here comes the indictment; look how He led up to this and offered them salvation. saying to them, 'Look, I know who you are. I know you're the leaders. I know you're the priests. I know you're the Levites, but I'm not here to do My own will. What I have is the Word of God so that you can be saved.' And they didn't respond to it.

Verse 38: "And you do not have His Word dwelling in you…" What did they have dwelling in them? Their own ideas, their own traditions and murder and hate—correct? Yes, indeed!

"…for you do not believe Him Whom He has sent. You search the Scriptures… [They all had it—didn't they? They had access to it. They were supposed to be the leaders in it—correct? They were supposed to understand it, right? Yes!] …for in them you think that you have eternal life; and they are the ones that testify of Me…. [no repentance here]: …But you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I have known you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves" (vs 38-42).

Do we really love God with all our heart, mind, soul and being? Did not God also tell them that back in Deut. 6: 'You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your being, and love your neighbor as yourself'? And yet, they sought to kill Him; they knew the Scriptures. They had Moses and they rejected it. This also tells us that as Jesus reveals the Father to those whom He calls, the eyes of those that reject Him are closed and they don't understand.

Verse 43: "I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; but if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.'" And yes, after Jesus came they were several who proclaimed themselves to be messiahs, the most notable was Bar Kokhba and Rabbi Akiva said, 'He is the Messiah.' Down through the history of the Jews they've had hundreds of those that were claimed to be the Messiah.

Remember the Lubovitzs and the chief Rabbi Schmerzen? He was supposed to be the Messiah. He died. It took them two years to get over the fact that he died because they kept saying, 'He's going to be resurrected back to life.' A lot of the Jews believed him. There's only one Messiah and that's Jesus Christ and He came from God the Father.

Verse 43: "I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; but if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How are you able to believe, you who receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" (vs 43-44). How are you able to believe? They didn't! You go back and read Matt. 23. That's really a scathing attack on the scribes and Pharisees, really something.

Verse 45: "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, in whom you have hope." Let's look at something very interesting here. This verb 'accuses' is in the present tense. "…There is one who accuses you…" It's either present tense, but it's probably a participle, a present-tense participle, meaning it is actively happening on an ongoing basis.

• What does it say about the Word of God? 'The Word of God is living.'It is spiritual!
• What did Paul write about concerning Abel? Abel's sacrifice was righteous and his testimony speaks today!
• What does that tell us about the Word of God? The Word of God is never at any time coming to an end!

Everything that Moses did with the laws and things, Christ elevated it to a higher level—did He not? Didn't do away with anything.

Some of the little physical things are no longer necessary because we have the Spirit of God within us, but He didn't do away with the Law. What do you think about those who say, 'We're good Protestants and you don't have to read anything in the Old Testament, because all of that's fulfilled.' Look at what they are missing. Who is accusing them? Moses! In particularly concerning what? The Sabbath and the Holy Days!

"…There is one who accuses you, even Moses, in whom you have hope. But if you believed Moses…" (v 45). What is He saying here? Their traditions as it is Mark 7: 'Full well you reject the commandments of God that you may keep your own tradition.' The commandments of God were given through Moses—right?

"…you would have believed Me; for he wrote about Me. And if you do not believe his writings, how shall you believe My words?'" (vs 46-47). This reveals to us about the Father—doesn't it? Reveals more about God's way overall when we put it all together.

We'll continue next time on how John revealed the Father because it is really a fantastic study for us to know and understand.

Scriptural References:

• Psalm 89:26
• Isaiah 9:6-7
• Matthew 23:8-12
• Matthew 11:25-27
• John 6:44-46, 63-65
• John 14:6
• John 1:1-3
• Hebrews 1:1-6
• John 1:4-5, 9-16
• Matthew 7:7-8
• John 4:19-24
• John 5:17-24
• Romans 4:22-25
• Romans 5:1-5
• John 5:28-47

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 1
• John 17
• Genesis 1:26
• Revelation 2; 3
• John 8
• Deuteronomy 6
• Mark 7

Also referenced:

• Sermon: The Holy Spirit and the Seven Spirits of God
• Sermon Series: Grace Upon Grace
• Book: Judaism—Revelation of Moses, or Religion of Men? by Philip Neal

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 1-20-13
Formatted: bo—1-22-13

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