The Witness of their Hearts<\/p>\n
John 5:42-44<\/p>\n
42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.<\/strong> 43<\/span><\/sup> I have come in My Father\u2019s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44<\/span><\/sup> How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?<\/p>\n As I was looking deeper at the context of this passage during the week, I noticed that these are very public lessons, where Jesus is schooling those who believed they were the teachers to the Jews, and it is broadly known as a section where Jesus draws upon many witnesses to condemn the men who would later condemn Jesus. \u3000Those witnesses against the listeners in this section include the witness of John in verses 33-35, the witness of works in verse 36, the witness of the Father in verses 37-39, the witness of Scripture which we discussed last week, the witness of their hearts which we will look at this week and finally the witness of Moses which we will cover next week.<\/p>\n Last week, we ended on verse 42 \u2013 <\/span>which reads “but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves”.\u3000 <\/b>We discussed more about the negative side of the question:\u3000 Why\u3000would someone choose to hang around religious situations if they didn\u2019t have the love of God within them. \u3000A few points we made were: 1) they might be afraid of missing out, 2) they might be afraid of missing a blessing, or perhaps they are just 3) covering their bases. \u3000They aren\u2019t really interested but just in case, it is there version of a Get out of Hell free card. \u3000But we didn\u2019t talk about what does have the love of God look like? \u3000I know that I am not going to cover this question to the full extent it requires, but there is among modern evangelicals an absence of assurance about their salvation. \u3000For goodness sakes, I know that the thought runs through my mind from time to time and I know that there are others who deal with this. \u3000So when we stop and think about the broad brush of what does it look like to be saved, I think I find a few things that can be either reassuring or and perhaps help us to accurately evaluate our spiritual condition. \u3000Now, keep in mind, there is a lot of discussion about this topic and I\u2019m not expecting to end the debate with my observations, but this is how I see it. \u3000If you see if differently, I\u2019m still not going to be surprised when I see you in heaven. \u3000Trust me when I tell you that in order to believe you must have perfect doctrine, I can almost assure you there is something you must have missed. None of us has perfect doctrine. There remains some mystery in the Christian faith. Each one of us is a work in progress.<\/span><\/p>\n What does loving God look like?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Just a few comments about things that don\u2019t impact our eternity \u2013 1) the rules we follow might determine our rewards but not our eternal zip code. \u3000In case you don\u2019t know this yet, there is no obedience to rules that can gain a square inch of heaven\u2019s ground.\u3000 \u30002) The frequency of our church attendance will help us grow, but unless we have submitted to the God of our Salvation, church attendance is really just a time thief. It steals away that extra time to relax over the weekend. \u3000Don\u2019t misunderstand me about this point \u2013 church attendance is biblical and important but it is not redemptive in the basic understanding of getting saved. We never<\/span><\/b> read, accept Jesus as your Savior and go to church and you will be saved. \u30003) The church we attend won\u2019t impact the fact that every person must accept Christ. \u3000No church will be saved as a whole, but rather the individuals there who have put their faith in Christ will be saved. \u3000By the way, there are not families that are redeemed as a unit. \u3000When the Bible says that he and his family about the jailer, the indication from all of scripture is that the rest of his family followed him in his prayer to join the family of God.<\/p>\n Jesus came in His Father\u2019s name – verse 43 – <\/span>I have come in My Father\u2019s name<\/b>. \u3000What does that imply about how Jesus came?\u3000 It means that He came representing the Father. \u3000It also means that Jesus came to bring God\u2019s message, which was a message of Grace and Truth. \u3000That is a remarkable combination of two things that don\u2019t always go together easily. \u3000Look at these two elements of the message of Jesus: And yet \u2013 Jesus declares that<\/span> “and you do not receive Me;”<\/b> How odd does that seem to you? \u3000That someone would not want to receive a message of Grace and Truth. \u3000Why would someone reject such a message?\u3000 I believe it was mainly because to accept such a message flies in the face of their belief that they were earning their own way into heaven, which was (and continues to be) a matter of pride.<\/span><\/p>\n And don\u2019t be misled about this mixture of Grace and Truth. \u3000You can\u2019t pick and choose from this list. \u3000What happens if you have Grace without Truth<\/span>?\u3000 What does that look like?\u3000 This is a very favorable combination in today\u2019s culture. \u3000You hear things like \u2013 How could a loving God condemn anyone to hell? \u3000These are the people who want to deny that all our righteous deeds, every good thing we have done are like filthy rags. \u3000If they were to edit our Bibles, the word sin would be removed and the idea of a Holy and Righteous God would be replaced with Santa Clause, who keeps track of naughty and nice but still gives you some pretty nice goodies none the less.<\/p>\n And what if you want to have Truth without Grace<\/span>? \u3000What does that look like?\u3000 This describes just about every cult that exists in the world, including legalism. \u3000These followers of truth agree that they are sinners but they are under the delusion that they can be good enough or do enough for show their devotion to counter any evil they might have done previously. Quite often they have redefined heaven but they always redefine the path to heaven. \u3000It\u2019s still narrow, but they control the rules and there is no room for Grace because in their opinion too much grace will lead to a license to commit any number of liberties. \u3000If someone worships at the alter of “salvation by obedience”, there is no room for stumbling and no room for wavering.<\/p>\n At the core of both these ideas (Grace without Truth and Truth without Grace) is the principle that Jesus addresses in the next part of this verse. \u3000<\/span>If another comes in his own name, you will receive him<\/b>. These are the ones who have several traits that are common among these false Messiahs. \u3000And that is exactly what they are.\u3000 They share some very damnable traits:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n Jesus now asks a very piercing question. \u3000This is probably a question that should bother any good person who is attempting to earn their salvation. <\/span>How can you believe<\/b>?\u3000 This is of course a rhetorical question. \u3000Jesus doesn\u2019t expect an answer because He is going to give them a reason why they can\u2019t believe. \u3000There are things that get in the way of believing.\u3000 Everyone who lives eternally in heaven will have believed God. \u3000But here is an indication why these listeners can not believe. Jesus is saying, you aren\u2019t getting to heaven. \u3000Jesus looked at the crowd and diagnosed their illness as a group. \u3000This group, says Jesus, all have the same hindrance to accepting Him as the One, as being sent by the Father.\u3000 What is stopping them from believing?<\/span><\/p>\n When you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?<\/b>\u3000 The one thing pointed out to this group is that they were so interested in getting glory from each other that they would refuse to see the glory that is from the one and only God.\u3000 It\u2019s like a bunch of people all holding hands, all heading for cliff. \u3000If you tell them in order to save themselves, they must let go of the hands of the ones next to them, but they refuse to let go because holding hands is more important than being saved. \u3000\u3000The item changes from person to person, but there are still many who refuse to believe because of something that they refuse to let go. \u3000These listeners have too much invested in the direction they are heading to ever consider changing direction. \u3000It\u2019s like the guy who is running through the woods.\u3000 When asked where he\u2019s heading, he says “I don\u2019t know \u2013 but I\u2019m making good time.” Or he might answer, “I have no idea, but I sure love running”<\/span><\/p>\n Once again we return to the principle of not doing the natural thing. \u3000The natural thing is to want all that this world has to offer. \u3000All the praise of your fellow human beings.\u3000 All the adulation of the crowd. \u3000And sometimes we pursue that praise by who we are, or what we buy, or what we do. \u3000Things we own don\u2019t define us unless we attempt to find our glory from one another.\u3000 When we pursue man\u2019s approval, we are running with the wrong crowd, trying to please people who in all honestly, probably don\u2019t really care a whole hill of beans.\u3000 But this is the natural tendency.\u3000 It is unnatural to seek the glory that is from God, and the fact that it is unnatural is an indication that the source of a desire to live like this is from God. \u3000We aren\u2019t born with the desire to want what God offers, but we are born again with this desire. \u3000This is yet another indication that the life in us is something different than what lives in the unregenerate man and woman hearts.<\/p>\n God\u2019s glory comes on His terms and these people did not like God\u2019s terms. \u3000They had a lot invested in the building up their heavenly resume and they didn\u2019t want someone telling them all their works were like filthy rags.<\/p>\n As I come to the end of the time available, I want to underline a few points. \u3000There are two different points to be made about the lesson today.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Am I striving to live against my natural inclinations \u2013 or do I not understand what the heck this guy is trying to explain?\u3000 If you can\u2019t comprehend this message, turn to others who teach the truth probably clearer than I do. \u3000Before seeking the truth, ask for God\u2019s guidance.\u3000 Remember the verse above I quoted? \u3000Heb. 11:6 – <\/span>he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n If you did understand much of what I taught today, we all need to strive more to live unnaturally, go against our normal grain and live spiritually as per so many instructions in the New Testament. \u3000Not to earn a salvation that has been provided for free, but rather because this is our new nature and our new creature. \u3000Live like the eternal life that you have within you indicates you should live. \u3000Remember even the Christian life is a life of faith, trusting Christ every day to lead and guide us. \u3000Seeking to glorify the One and only Son of the Most High.\u3000 It\u2019s all about Jesus folks.\u3000 Now and forever.\u3000 Jesus has taught these listeners that it was the testimony of their own hearts that restricted them from believing.<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Witness of their Hearts John 5:42-44 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 43 I have come in My Father\u2019s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[46],"tags":[49,51,50],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1007"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1022,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007\/revisions\/1022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\n<\/span> 1) Grace = God\u2019s free gift of Salvation, free in that we have to accept it.
\n<\/span><\/span> 2) Truth = we are hopeless without God\u2019s help, also know as sinner and separated from God without hope of ever bridging that gap without God\u2019s help.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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