Rejecting the Claims of Christ

Pastor Mike will be speaking on Rejecting the Claims of Christ. He will be in John 10:31-42

We do not determine our values on what the world is doing or what is popular or some personality but rather my friends we determine what is right and what is wrong by the word of God. You’re listening to Hope Worth Having radio program and this is Pastor Mike Sanders and we are excited that we have this opportunity to minister to you.

Today we’re going to be in the Gospel of John and we’re going to be in John chapter 10 verse 31 through 42 and we’re going to be talking about rejecting the claims of Christ. Jesus encountered his fair share of skeptics.

We’re going to learn how he addressed those who did not believe that he was the true Messiah. I know this passage is going to be encouraging to you. It’s going to help you in defending your faith and so let’s get into the Bible today and let’s learn more in the Gospel of John.

If you have your Bible this morning I want you to join me in the Gospel of John, John chapter 10 and whether you’re on your device or you have your tangible Bible with you then I want you to go to John 10 verse 31 is our text this morning.

When we come to John chapter 10 verse 31 through 42 we are reminded that Jesus encountered his fair share of skeptics during his ministry. The Gospel of John stresses the antagonism of religious leaders towards Jesus.

As a matter of fact we see that if you will if you’re able to just go to John chapter 5 I just want to highlight a couple of verses up to John chapter 10 and verse 16 of chapter 5. The Bible says this, that therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay Him because He had done these things on the Sabbath.

Then we jump over to John chapter 7. Again the Bible says after these things Jesus walked in Galilee where He would not walk in Judea because the Jews sought to kill Him. In our text this morning, verse 31, the Bible says in John chapter 10 that the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.

Three times in the Gospel of John it is recorded that the religious leaders took up stones and attempted to kill Him. Why is this? Why the confrontation, why the antagonism towards Christ? It is simply this, that Jesus presented Himself to be God.

He presented Himself to be God. Again, we see that Jesus says in verse 32 of John chapter 10, Many good works have I showed you, from my Father, for which of those works do you stone me? And the Jews answered Him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, because that you, being a man, make yourself God.

The Jews struggled that Jesus would present Himself as being God, that He would declare unto them that He was sent from the Father, and that He was the Savior for all who believe in Him. And this was something they wrestled with in their minds and in their hearts.

And that’s why I’ve entitled this message, Rejecting the Claims of Christ. Because Jesus begins to explain to those who were confrontational and resistant to Him what it really means to reject Christ, to reject the claim that Christ is God, to reject the claim that He was sent from the Father and that He is the Savior of the world.

I want you to note first of all in our text that to reject Christ’s claims is to reject His works. For us to understand what Jesus is saying, I want us to jump back to verse 25. Before we dive into our text, let’s get a little bit of context.

In verse 25 of chapter 10, Jesus said, not. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.” In essence, Jesus is saying that all that I’m doing here on this earth, all that I’m doing is pointing you to the truth that I am God.

I am sent from the Father, and I am the Savior of mankind. And so then we jump down to verse 32 again, and Jesus says, many good works have I showed you. From my Father, for which of those works do you stone me?

And then we jump up over to verse 37. Jesus says, if I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though you believe me not, believe the works that you may know and believe that the Father is in me.

and I in him.” Jesus did not expect anyone to believe him merely by him just making an assertion that he is God. Because there were already many people walking on the earth at that time claiming to be a messiah, claiming to be a God.

But the distinguishing factor about Jesus is not only did he verbally claim to be the Savior, but he showed that he was the Savior. He demonstrated it through his works, and so it was the argument of the apostles.

In Acts chapter 10, the apostle Peter said this, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

And the argument this morning is not that we are called to jump in blindly to believe Jesus, but we are called to look at the evidence, the evidence of his life and his works, the things that he accomplished on this earth, the miracles that Jesus performed, attested to the legitimacy of his claim that he is God.

Not only that he is God, but that he is sent from the Father and that he is the Savior of all who believe in him. It is unfortunate that the leaders, the religious leaders of the day witnessed the many miracles of Christ.

And yet it did not lead them to a heart of repentance, but rather rejection. Which reminds me that seeing is not always believing, is it? That some people, no matter what they see and no matter how much evidence is before For them they refuse to believe.

Consider this, that as we have been walking through the Gospel of John, that even up to John chapter 10, we ourselves have seen that John has recorded the signs and the miracles of Christ. And we have watched that people have witnessed that Jesus turned water into wine.

That He gave the blind sight. That He walked on water. That He fed thousands of people by simply multiplying miraculously a little boy’s lunch. We have watched Jesus Christ set free those who were demon possessed.

We have seen Jesus healed those who are diseased. As we continue to study the Gospel of John, we will see that He will raise the dead. Jesus’ life, Jesus’ work was a ministry of demonstrating to all who would see that He has authority and power over diseases.

He has authority and power over demons of this world. He has authority and a power over death itself. And yet the Bible says that they picked up stones and were ready to stone Him. What I want you to note this morning is that to deny who Jesus is, His claims, is to deny His works.

You have to reject His works but it doesn’t have to be true in your life because the evidence is overwhelming that Christ has shown Himself to be the true Savior. And I’m often asked why did Jesus perform these great miracles?

And I think that first of all that He wanted to come and bring hope to many people who were suffering. And He wanted people to know that Christ cares, that God Himself cares for every hurting heart, that He cares for those who find themselves in the most difficult and physical situations.

But I also think that Christ wanted to give us a prototype of what is to come. What is to come for the future for all who believe in Jesus Christ? That because of His power over death, because He is the resurrected Savior and the One who sits at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf.

That one day for all of us who believe in Jesus Christ, the complete healing is going to take place when we stand in the presence of God. with brand new bodies worshiping him in all of his glory and majesty and giving him the praise and thanksgiving that he is worthy of.

And this is what we have to look forward to. And that death is just a transition for all who love Jesus Christ. And that for those who know him as their personal savior, we are transitioning into a new life that God has prepared for those who love him.

And that God has prepared a place and that God has prepared our hearts. That we would not only have a new song on this earth, but we would have a new song in heaven as we give him glory. This is the living hope that indwells within us.

And the validation that this living hope is not something that is just hopeful in the sense of… We’ll see if it happens. I think it might happen, I don’t know. But the validation that this hope is real and true is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In that His resurrection, and get this church, His resurrection is our resurrection. His resurrection is my resurrection and that I will be resurrected like He is. As Paul reminds us that Christ is the first fruit of the resurrection.

Meaning not that He was the first in chronological order but He was the first in type that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is unlike any other resurrection that had taken place before. The Bible records several resurrections before Jesus.

But there was no resurrection like the resurrection of Christ. Why? Because every resurrection before Christ was a resurrection unto death. But the resurrection of Christ is unique and stands out for it is the resurrection unto life.

And what waits for us is that we have newness of life in this earth but we have newness of life in Jesus Christ and I’m telling you my friends, what waits for us is beyond what our minds can understand or fully grapple with.

It is amazing to think about that. And yet, there are those who do not believe. And it’s stunning because when you look at the works of Christ in the gospels, you cannot help but be filled with hope in your heart.

When John wrote his gospel, it is not a chronological gospel but rather it is an evangelistic gospel. gospel. Scholars sometimes call it the gospel of belief. Why is that? Well I want you to turn over to John 20 because here we capture the heart of this gospel that John wrote in John chapter 20 in verse 30 through 31.

Thank you for bringing your Bibles this morning. Thank you for using your devices not for social media but for the Bible, amen. Verse 30, many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you might what?

You might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name. That is the purpose of this gospel. It is the gospel of belief. It is the gospel of evangelism.

It is the gospel that is drawing you to a true faith in Jesus Christ. He is not asking you to step out this morning and say, I’ll just hope these people are right. But rather he says, look at my works.

Jesus says, look at my works, even if you don’t believe me in what I say, look at my works and see if they do not verify that I am sent from the Father, that I truly am God. And I am the savior of the world.

To reject the claims of Christ is also to reject His word. It is to reject God’s word. Look at verse 34 through 36. Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law? Or your Bible is how we would term it today.

Is it not written in your law? I said, you are God’s. If you called them God’s unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, say ye of Him whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, thou blasphemous, because I said, I am the Son of God.

Jesus calls the skeptics back to the Bible. He calls them back to the word of God. They’re wrestling over the fact that He would claim to be equal with the Father, that He would claim to be the Son of God, that He would claim to be sent from the Father.

And Jesus is saying, doesn’t your Bible say, doesn’t your Bible say that you are God’s? And what He means by this, it’s simply a quotation from the Psalmist in Psalm 82, verse six, which is referring to those who have great responsibility, who are judges and counsel people, they represent.

represent God administrating justice on the earth The psalmist is most likely referring to Moses Who stood before Pharaoh as the representative of God? He was clothed in the authority of God having the right to demand obedience to the Word of God Not because he and somehow partook in the nature of God being God but rather because he was God’s ambassador and So Jesus says that the Hebrew word Elohim has been used in different ways Throughout your own Bible and that as it is used in the Bible and unique ways to present those who represent God What is so blasphemous?

about me, meaning Jesus, standing before others and saying that I am God. Jesus is showing them that the Word of God represents people in different ways. And so why are they struggling with the fact that He would call Himself God?

Jesus’ argument could be understood in this way, if you will. One scholar writes, and I quote, rather than taking offense because this word is used of me, referring to what Christ would say, you should examine my credentials that prove my Father has sent me into this world, end of quote.

And the point being is that Jesus is calling them back to the Bible, and He makes a profound statement in relating to the Bible. In verse 35, again, the Scriptures cannot be broken. There’s continuity in the God’s Word.

There’s unity in God’s Word. There’s an arity in God’s Word, meaning that the Scriptures are without air. And so if God would use the Hebrew word Elohim in this way, what’s wrong with me, referring, meaning Christ, referring to Himself as the Son of God.

And what Jesus is calling His skeptics to do is go back to the Bible and let the Bible be the authority of your life. To reject the claims of Christ is to reject His Word. It is to reject the authority of God’s Word in your life.

Maybe you’ve heard people say the Bible’s just an ancient book, full of errors and contradictions, which leads many to wonder, does the Bible… contain heirs. Jesus said the scripture cannot be broken.

He is reminding us that God’s Word is infallible. That in the original manuscripts we have the inerrancy and the fullness of what God wants us to know. His Word is truth and it cannot be broken. I love what the psalmist said in Psalm 12 verse 6 that the words of the Lord are pure.

They are pure words as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. The scriptures are declaring even of itself that they are the words of God and they are His pure words and there are no heirs in them.

As John set out in his gospel to teach that Christ not only was and is God Himself, that He is sent from the Father, and that He is the Savior of mankind. John wrote these words in John 3, verse 34, referring to Christ, for He whom God has sent utters the words of God, for He gives the Spirit without measure.

And so it is that Christ speaks the truth of God. And He speaks the words of God, and therefore His words come from the Father. And you and I have the Word of God today. We have God’s Word, and it is the final authority of our life.

And the question before us is, do we see the Bible as our final authority? Is it our measuring stick in how we conduct our lives, how we live our lives? Do we just see it as a book full of fables, written by people who had outrageous ideas of religion?

Or do we see it as truly God breathed, His love letter, God’s love letter to you, to me? Do we see it as the literal words of God that have come to us? How we live our lives in light of the Bible. It says a lot of what we believe.

We do not determine our values. We do not determine our principles by politics, circumstances. We do not determine our values on what the world is doing, or what is popular, or some personality. But rather, my friends, we determine what is right and what is wrong by the Word of God.

And I remind you, churches, I have said to you often that the church always has the temptation to go to the extremes. and we can go to the extreme of legalism, and we can go to the extreme of liberalism, but let us always strive to be balanced in that we draw the line where God draws the line.

And if God doesn’t draw the line, we don’t draw the line. And we understand that we just live by the word of God. We live by His truths, they guide our life, why? Because Paul taught us in 2 Timothy 3 .16 that all scripture is given by inspiration of God.

And it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. So God is going to, through His word, He’s gonna correct my life, He’s gonna change my life. He’s gonna give me the direction for my life.

God’s word is profitable, it’s a benefit to my life. And I see it as authoritative in my life. And so to reject Christ is to reject His word. Jesus said for verily I say unto you till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass From the law till all be fulfilled Even Jesus Exalted the credibility of God’s Word the inerrancy when Jesus uses the word jot and tittle he’s talking about the punctuation marks of the Hebrew language and He’s saying that even down to the punctuation God’s Word Will stand forever You come to God’s Word you can be confident that it is historically reliable That in the Bible it is historically accurate That when you come to the Bible when you read it everything in history is true now historians have had to do their research and even when they have been skeptical about geography and different places and events and even different leaderships kings and rulers Through archaeology they have learned that the Bible is right and the Bible is true It is trustworthy.

It is reliable this morning. The Bible is historically accurate But it is scientifically accurate the Bible Scientifically is right in line sometimes skeptics question the Bible But my friends The Bible is a hundred percent true Long before mankind learned that the earth was round the prophet Isaiah had already said it was round and for years People believed that the world was flat But God’s Word had said it was round and What I’m trying to tell you is that it doesn’t matter how much we dive the different angles we might take we can trust this Bible Listen to what Peter taught us in 2nd Peter verse 20 and 21,

knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but by holy men of God, who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Here’s what that means. Is that God gave us his word, it originated with him. It didn’t originate with people. It didn’t originate with a man, but it originated with God. And how did God communicate his word to us?

He communicated it through his prophets and through his apostles, who penned down the words of God that we have today, in the context of their personalities, in the context of their circumstances. In the context of their strengths and their weaknesses, we still have the literal word of God.

God amazingly has given us his word. 100% we have it. And so we are honored and blessed to have so much of God’s word and not only so much of God’s word and even though some may complain about it, we have it in many different translations.

Some struggle with different translations, but I thank God for the translations. And I tell you why, because if you’re a church historian, if you read a little bit about church history, you’ll realize that the church has always struggled with translations.

But when Jerome was going to translate, who was a Bible translator, when he was gonna translate the Bible, the church became very upset with him and they began to persecute him. And they were frustrated that he would try to translate the Bible in a common language that people could understand.

When we study the life of John Wycliffe, we see that his heart and passion was that the Bible would be translated in a language that the plowman could understand it. And so the Bible should be translated.

And the Bible should be translated from generation to generation in languages that we can understand, but not just for us English speaking people, but for the entire globe, for every people group, they should have a translation of the Bible in their language.

And because God is gonna use his word, it will not return void. And just as we heard this testimony this morning, God is gonna use it to bring people to eternal life in Jesus Christ. Can we say amen?

John did not write a chronological gospel. He wrote an evangelistic gospel and he shares with us story after story, miracle after miracle, that authenticates who Christ is. John wrote the gospel so that unbelievers would believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Today I hope that as you are hearing these gospel truths and you’re learning more about Jesus, that if you’re an unbeliever that you would come to Christ and believe in Him, that you would take the opportunity to call upon the name of the Lord.

The Bible says whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you have made that decision and responded to the gospel, reach out to us on our website at hopeworthhaving .com. Let us know how God is working in your life.

We want to help you send you some material for For your next step, whatever that next step is, we want you to know that we’re here to help you. So please visit our website and take advantage of that opportunity.

This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ, there is hope worth having.