John 5:31-40 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.… I. A GRAVE INDICTMENT. 1. Nonacceptance of His Father's ambassador (ver. 38). 2. Unwillingness to partake of His salvation (ver. 40). 3. Rejection of His gracious message (ver. 47). II. A SUFFICIENT PROOF. 1. They entirely misconceived the nature and use of the Bible (ver. 39). That which had been given them so as to prepare them for Christ they had failed to understand. They beheld in it a sort of superior talisman that endowed them with eternal life. They never dreamed of searching it for light to lead them to the Son. It is possible for a Christian to make a Saviour of the Scriptures rather than of Christ. 2. They were devoid of true love to God. They made much profession of knowledge and zeal for God's law, but had no sincere regard for the Lawgiver. This was evinced by the fact that though they had the law it was not within them (ver. 38). 3. They were wholly out of sympathy with such a Saviour as Christ professed to be (ver. 43). Had He come as a temporal deliverer they would have rallied to His standard; but because He came in His Father's name and with His Father's love, and to do His Father's work, they would have none of Him. What a melancholy tale for that day and for this. 4. They were completely absorbed in their own personal ambitions (ver. 44), and so were incapable of appreciating Christ. 5. They were thoroughly steeped in scepticism even in regard to Moses (ver. 46, 47). Hence their unbelief in Him of whom Moses wrote, though not excusable, was not surprising. III. A FEARFUL FATE. 1. To be accused to the Father (ver. 45), to be impeached before the high tribunal of heaven as those who had dishonoured the Father's majesty in despising His Son. 2. To be prosecuted by Moses, the very law-giver in whom they had trusted. 3. To be deserted by the Son. Appalling retribution. Lessons: 1. A call to self-examination. 2. A note of warning. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. |
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